"… and… done!" I beamed, setting the brush down and stretching my hands upwards. Outside my window, birds were chirping away (an unnaturally large amount content with settling out of my window) and the golden rays of the sun for only just peeking out over the Hokage Mountain.

The new Uzumaki Clan compound was actually a compound lying unused ever since the village was founded, supposed to be for a mystery clan that never actually joined. It lay between the Uchiha and Senju Compounds, which made me suspicious a bit, since there wasn't really any other clan besides my new namesake's that mattered. Regardless, the place was actually just a little smaller than the absurdly large Uchiha Compound and was pretty ancient Japanese in architecture. The buildings looked noticeably older than any other in the village, even the ones closer to the mountain.

The house we chose to inhabit was the Clan Head's house – since Shaak TI was, officially now, the head. Naruto, Tenten, her, and I all lived in the large two-story house that would give a Hyuuga propriety-envy. It was completely made of wood, with rice paper doors and proper mats everywhere. Needless to say, we had a lot of renovating to do. The only thing that saved this place going up in flames from Kurama's attack two years ago was that it was on the opposite side of the village.

Kaiza chose to live in a slightly smaller house adjacent to ours. I invited him to stay in our own, since there were so many rooms, but he just shrugged it off. I didn't push – a seal master and a master-smith needs his own space after all.

I looked on the scrolls in front of me with satisfaction. My Shadow Clones and I worked most of yesterday and the entire night to translate and replace appropriate words of the textbooks I lifted from Karakura. All academic levels, and most subjects that were available in the bookstores – all books of true knowledge were transcribed and carefully edited. I honestly could live with the age the Elemental Countries seemed to be stuck in, but a few tech comforts that I wouldn't have to hide would be more than welcome.

I gathered all the scrolls and placed them on one large sealing scroll, then flared my chakra. In the faintest plume of smoke, the scrolls vanished. Nodding, satisfied, I stood and turned to my window. There were not a lot of trees in the compound, so I could get a clear view of over the wall and of Naka Lake.

"Good morning, Gundan-kun!"

"Gah!" A burst of hyper-heated air shot out from my forehead and only just missed Kakashi, travelling forward into the air and exploding harmlessly a few hundred meters away. "Don't do that! And why are you outside my window so early in the morning?"

"A little birdie told me you were going to Konoha General before your team meeting today." He shrugged. "So, I decided to accompany you since I don't have anything to do."

I eyed him with clear (and comical, given the crinkling of his eyes) suspicion, "Did Hokage-sama put you up to this?"

"Ah, it wounds me that you would think of me so poorly." He whined.

"Do your flames of youth need fanning? I'm sure Gai would be happy to entertain you if I find him." I smirked, arching an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure I heard him run past the compound a few hours ago…"

He shuddered. "You wouldn't."

I just shrugged. "Depends. If you behave, I won't. If you do…" I trailed.

I let that threat hang in the air and turned to my closet, pulling out my new ninja gear. Since I didn't want to sew the Uzumaki clan-symbol onto my Onmitsukido armor set, I opted to equip that as one of the four sets of gear I could now interchange with due to the reward from Athena's Bossfight. It worked sort of like Dragon Age Origins' weapon-interchange system, but it worked for all parts of my gear. I assigned the set and my [Akuma-sha] to slot number two and decided to assign a warrior-based gear and a wizard-based gear to two other slots.

That left the default slot, so I decided to actually go out and buy ninja gear for a change. With Kakashi, Gai, and a harried-looking Kurenai somehow roped into assisting me. I still have absolutely no idea how or why she showed up, but she kept shivering and muttering about youth, so I guess Gai was involved…?

Anyway, she apparently proved important since she was actually appalled at my fashion sense (after awkward introductions) and took it upon herself to help me purchase a set that, and I quote, 'accentuates your beauty'. I gave Kakashi a dirty glare for 'coughing' at that.

The problem was actually I, and Tobirama by extension, looked pretty much androgynous, and I so hated that. I only picked out my character so long ago, but I was already regretting going along with what I considered to be handsome back when I was alive. Seeing that my growing hair didn't help things, I paid the barber a visit. After even more directions from Kurenai, I looked appropriately boyish and moved on to purchase my gear.

I saw no need for any protective gear. Even my old set didn't do much for protection, so I didn't see it as an issue. Instead, I opted for materials that reduced friction – although expensive, it was well worth it. A crimson kimono held close by a black obi, brown shorts, and black ninja sandals. It passed Kurenai's approval and my taste. A patch of the Uzumaki swirl (which the tailor apparently kept stacks of, the freak) went on the upper back of all seven sets of the outfit I purchased. Hey, I may not need to change that often, but appearances must be kept. The Leaf forehead-protector, I didn't want to tie around my forehead. Instead, I had it made into a happuri, much like Tobirama and Yamato. A kunai pouch went on the underside of each of my wrists, and a shuriken holster on my forearms, hidden by the billowing sleeves.

Now fully dressed, I took a step onto the table and off the window, letting weightlessness take over. "Let's get going, shall we?" I asked, offering Kakashi a smile and picking him up with chakra strings. "I do have to finish in an hour, after all?"

He tensed when he was suddenly suspended in the air, but relaxed and sighed resignedly. "There's no slowing down with you, is there?"

"My, my, Kakashi." I smirked, deftly soaring through the air. Around us, a flock of birds flew, but I paid them no mind. This animal thing was… strange, but not unbearable. "Have I grown on you?"

"You'd like to think that, wouldn't you?" he continued in that same tone. "You're worse than Gai…"

"Don't be so hard on him. He's our comrade, and so deserves our respect." I chided.

The man was about to speak when-

"Youth! Such an inspiring sense of brotherhood, Gundan-kun!" Gai shouted from somewhere below us. I looked down to see him actually following us. "Only the best think like you do!"

Kakashi just gave me a smug look.

The Hatake and I touched down in front of the Hospital just as Gai himself did, amidst the absolute silence of early morning, and offered us a thumbs-up. "What a youthful way to travel!"

I mentally tried to recall if Gai and Bee ever met for longer than a few days… and decided to never let that happen. You couldn't really dislike Gai – he was sunshine in a bottle of ADHD charged up to a hundred thousand volts; however, if you add rapping to that…

"Please maintain silence. We are outside the Hospital, after all."

I turned and… blinked in surprise. "Kabuto?"

The boy with large round glasses blinked at me in a disturbing way. "Ah, you must be Gundan-sama, the one who ended Danzo-sama."

I rubbed my eyes. "You're a year older than me, so please don't refer to me as higher than yourself."

Kabuto looked down. "After Danzo-sama's death, Hokage-sama tried to send us off to where we were before he collected us. Mother… she said that she was incredibly grateful to you for ending that man, but he duties as an orphanage mother would not allow her to come here in person. Instead, she sent me in her stead, as her shadow, to help you in whatever way necessary."

I blinked.

"Ah, I see you've already met your new ward." A familiar voice spoke, and I looked up to see Tsunade coming towards us with a very young-looking Shizune at her side, and a large file in her hands. "Sensei asked me to hand him over to your care. Super-brat, meet medical-brat. Medical-brat, meet super-brat." She introduced us.

Shizune sweat-dropped. "Tsunade-sama…"

I gulped. "What do you mean by 'ward'?"

"Kabuto here is to be a part of the Uzumaki Clan." Tsunade shrugged. "Honestly, it's more about his bloodline than it is about anything else. He regenerates far quicker than normal human possibility, and being as vitality is a trademark trait amongst the Uzumaki Clan…"

I internally grumbled. Just because the kid could regenerate, doesn't mean he's an Uzumaki. I mean, in the original timeline, he goes on to be-

…

"Of course! We would love to have Kabuto as a part of the Uzumaki Clan!" I beamed, pulling him close to give him a tight hug. "Welcome to your new family, Kabuto-san!"

"H- hai…" Kabuto murmured, clearly shocked.

This works majorly in my favor. Not only do I get to manipulate where Kabuto's future goes, but I also get a chance to enable his 'rebirth' as his own person early. A loose end tied up!

"Good to hear that." Tsunade grinned, then held the file out for me to take. "Now, let's see how this water-healing of yours works, shall we?"

"Alas, even though I wish to witness this youthful miracle, I must finish my morning routine." Gai fell into depression. Wow, that's a little extra. "However, I look forward to seeing you heal another someday, Gundan-kun!" And with that, he was off.

I waved in goodbye, then accepted the file with a determined air.

Turns out, it works pretty well. Healing through bending can't be explained entirely. The best I can infer is that I make the energy of the water resonate with the energy in someone, convincing the inflicted to use my energy to heal them. Of course, this theory gets blown to hell when you consider the fact that I don't need to use energy while bending anymore, but that could be chalked up to more gamer shenanigans.

Be it a simple gash, or a lost-cause limb, or even an amputated limb entirely, my healing allowed me to cure anything. Poison in someone's system? Use a combination of bending-healing to encourage the poison to move somewhere easily extractable and bending itself to draw it out. Upset stomach? Heal. Amputated limb? Regrow the damn thing with water-healing. There seemed to be no limit to my healing, and that just made me happy. If it were any other technique, I'd probably be depressed, but this was healing. Plus, this meant I could heal anything chakra can.

Another thing Tsunade managed to note was that my Chi was greatly compatible with chakra, being a half of the whole. Ninja patients of mine healed far faster (even keeping in mind the astronomical rate) then civilian ones, and the greater the amount of chakra a person had, the better the healing was.

At the end of the hour that I had available, Gai, Kabuto and Shizune were in awe and Tsunade was frustrated since she couldn't replicate it somehow – she also had a water affinity and believed it to be enough. Kakashi was just resigned, although he did get an earful when he attempted to whip out Jiraiya's book to read… which made his mood worse, come to think of it.

"It doesn't work that way." I shook my head at Tsunade and explained my theory. "Unless you have my bloodline, I don't think it's going to work."

"Those eyes are worse than the Sharingan." Tsunade huffed. "You've emptied the Hospital. EMPTIED! There's practically no patient left here besides the psych ward and the coma ward!"

"More time for research, then." I smoothly pointed out. "Team 2 also doesn't get neglected this way. Anytime you have a major case on your hands, call me in – I'm always available to help. In fact," I hummed in thought, "if you could arrange for it, I could also heal ninjas who've been pulled off duty because of an injury."

Tsunade just glared at me with twitching eyes and stormed off.

I blinked. "What did I say?"

"Um… Tsunade-sama has… she worked her whole life trying to find a better medical jutsu than the mystical palm." Shizune hesitantly explained. "Perhaps… to see you effortlessly do what she struggles to…"

Ah, Nawaki and Dan. She's imagining that she could have saved them if she knew my technique back then. Unfortunately for her, no one besides another water-bending master could do what I do, and I don't think there has been a healing master in Avatar canon. "Should I apologize?"

"No, no. Tsunade-sama may be quick to anger, but she also is quick to calm. She'll see the clearer picture soon enough." She quickly bowed before I could say anything else. "Forgive me, but I wish to check on her." She excused herself and dashed out.

"I… didn't mean to upset her…" and I really didn't! I just wanted to help…

A hand came to rest on my shoulder, and I glanced surprised at its owner. "Gundan-sama, you should not feel apologetic for offering aid." Kabuto firmly said. I smiled and was about to thank him when he continued. "Instead, you must attempt to wrangle out sympathy from this ordeal you've been put through, and then wring it for all its worth. If you follow this route, you may be able to turn the village against Tsunade or even the Senju Clan as a whole. If you so wished, you could cause a Civil War because of the influence you hold."

Kakashi and I sweat-dropped. "Um… okay… thanks, Kabuto."

He adjusted his glasses with his finger. "It is my pleasure to share with you my knowledge."

Okay, I guess Kabuto had only just started training with Danzo or something because he's totally sociopathic or something. I created a clone to escort him back to our compound and made my way to my own training ground with Kakashi. Since people had finally begun to come out, I didn't want to fly anymore and instead opted to run.

"Why are you still here?" I bluntly asked. "The Hokage doesn't still have doubts about me, does he?"

Kakashi sighed. "Honestly? He made me quit ANBU to watch over you and assigned another team to Naruto. But he won't accept me back anymore or assign me any missions." He glared a little. "Since you're the reason I'm stuck here, I might as well accompany you as much as possible."

Oh, right. Going out of the village was a big NO-NO unless you were a Sannin or on a mission. Totally forgot about that. Plus, I don't think the Sannin exemption is even in effect yet. At this point in the timeline, Tsunade should have left, which she hasn't, and Orochimaru should be well on his way to defecting, which he also isn't. Jiraiya could be out of the village for long periods of time, but ever since I first met him, he's always been here in some form or the other.

It really makes you wonder if the fan-theory that Jiraiya as away because of Naruto looking a lot like Minato was real. And I still don't know why Tsunade is here in the first place.

"You'll live." I waved him off. In fact… "If you stick around while the kiddos are practicing, I'll let you in on a secret I discovered to help me train from my visions. I have to be with you to work, but you'll at least be training in your down-time."

Kakashi eye-smiled. "Thank you, Gundan-kun."

Why was he making me blush? Ridiculous man. "Yeah, well, whatever." I looked away. I still didn't know what was under that mask, but still…

Nope. Not falling into that straight-crush trap again. Twice is horrible enough.

We landed into our team clearing to see Itachi already at work with a tree, and Mai focusing intently on the bird perched on another.

"Ohayo, minna." I greeted, plopping myself on the ground. "Sensei isn't here yet?"

Both looked up from what they were doing and shared a smile. "I don't know about yours, Gundan-kun, but my sensei is already here." Mai cheekily said.

"Please don't let Orochimaru-sensei hear you say that." I groaned. "I've already got to train Team 2 sometime in the future, anyway.

Itachi gave me a meaningful glance. "Does it have to do with… that?"

I felt Kakashi's inquisitive gaze but ignored it. "Yep. I don't want anything happening in a situation that can't be controlled. Speaking of which, Mai." I turned to her. "We're going to have an intense fight sometime this week. I want to test something."

The bird collapsed as her entire frame locked up. "An… intense fight?"

I nodded. "Just got to check something. Don't be so terrified; I'd never kill you."

"Kill… not injure?" Mai sweated profusely.

"Well, no pain no gain, and all that jazz." I waved her off.

Just then, there was a pop right next to my ear, and enraged hissing could be heard. "Silly godling, if you leave me behind again, I will find a way to talk to these humans and tell them about your darkest secret."

My jaw popped open. "You wouldn't." I accused, eyes narrowing at my familiar.

Boop hissed out a strange brand of serpentine laughter. "If that is what you wish to think…"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, yeah. Boop, this is everyone. The two children there are on my team – Uchiha Itachi and Yamanaka Mai. And the male next to me is a … friend, Hatake Kakashi. Guys," I continued, switching to Japanese, "this is Boop, my familiar."

"Pleased to meet you." Mai and Itachi bowed.

"Yo." Kakashi lazily waved.

"The children I approve of." Boop bobbed his head. "The male smells of ancient knowledge, and the girl smells of otherworldly power. The male, however… leaves much t be desired."

I decided to not translate that bit.

A swirl of leaves interrupted this strange conversation, and soon Orochimaru was there with us, a grinning Anko at his side. "Ah, my students. It has been a long few days…" his eyes took in Itachi and Mai appreciatively. "You have improved. This is good. I would not stand for an idle waste of time."

"Arigato, sensei!" Mai beamed. And it was true. I may be far beyond what anyone in this world could reach, and that's why my training was grueling by their standards. For all intents and purposes, Itachi was already a splendid ninja, so he wasn't worked as hard as Mai, who probably thought every day of training a little bit of hell somewhere deep down in her heart.

Orochimaru nodded and made two shadow clones. "These two will assess your skill level again, and provide you with material for your first bit of training."

"Actually, sensei, if I may…" I interrupted. At the man's tilt of his head, I pulled out a sealing scroll and flared my chakra. In two puffs of smoke, two similar giant scrolls were laying in front of me. "Remember when I said we'd do everything as a team?"

The man was instantly in front of me, eyeing the yellow and red scrolls with interest. "And where, if you can tell me, did you find the location of two summoning scrolls?"

Kakashi scrutinized the scrolls as I hinted, "I don't know, sensei, it's like I had a dream of it." I gave him a meaningful glance.

Apparently, the scroll the man with the stall had given me in Suisen had been a summoning contract, which, when I unlocked with a little bit of chakra, was actually blank. Unlike most contracts, it did not have any illustration to show which tribe it belonged to, and an absence of names belied the fact that it has never been used. However, I had a good feeling about it, and I trusted my instincts. The other one was the Chocobo contract. Mai, and the Yamanaka Clan by extension ought to make good use of it.

His eyes narrowed. "I see." He unfurled them and looked them over with a critical eye while Itachi and Mai traded loaded glances. Something told me I should be paying more attention to their thoughts, but intruding their privacy to sate my curiosity was a dick move.

"And are you certain they're… safe?" he trailed, looking up at me with interest. The Chocobo scroll actually had several drawings of them, so I guess he thinks it's a chicken contract or something; it's the other one he's worried about.

"Positive." I nodded.

"Very well." He turned to address the entirety of the team. "What we have here, little children, are summoning contracts. I do hope you know what they are?"

Mai nodded. "Around the world, there are several tribes of creatures who have learned to master chakra much like ourselves, only stronger, since they seem to have harnessed the type of chakra that naturally occurs in the world around us. A summoning contract is a way of designating allegiance, with their approval, of course."

"After an aspiring summoner signs the contract, the first summons is usually advised to be done with most of the chakra the person has." Itachi continued. "There usually is a test of some sort administered by the first summon. If the person passes the test, his name remains on the scroll and is accepted as a summoner. If he doesn't his name vanishes and may try up to one more time before he is banned altogether."

Orochimaru radiated smugness. "I believe I have the smartest Genin team in history. This is befitting of a man of my stature." He set down the snake scroll in front of me and I nudged the other two to roll to a stop in front of the others. "Unfurl your scrolls. In order to sign a summoning contract, one uses blood. Nick your pointer finger carefully and use it to write your name. Then poke the pads of all your fingers, slather your hand in blood, and stamp it on the bottom of the same column."

We all did so without much fuss, the otherwise silent training ground filled with the bickering of Kakashi and Anko.

"Very good." The man praised when we were done. "Now, observe the hand-signs I am using. Copy them, and slam your hand on the ground, hopefully without screaming the name of your technique like an imbecile. Mold as much chakra as you safely can while retaining some to complete the challenge set before you." Then, he leaped back a safe distance.

The three of shared a look and followed through. Three muted thuds echoed in the clearing.

POOF!

Two massive and one slightly lesser puff of smoke appeared.

"What the, someone signed the contract?"

"Kweh, this is most unexpected."

"So, I finally get to see him…"

I manipulated the air and blew the smoke away. The sight before me didn't trouble me a bit, but Itachi and Mai were frozen in awe.

Manda, in all his purple glory, coiled on the ground in front of me. "Well, well, well, what have we here?"

A giant silver Chocobo was gazing at Mai inquisitively. "This is… a human? Why are you so small, kweh?"

And in front of Itachi, to my complete surprise, a gigantic turtle with leonine features occupied the little remaining area in the training ground. It reminded me of a scaled-down lion-turtle. "Did you summon me here, brat?"

I completely ignored the other two animals and focused on Manda. Fleetingly, the question of exactly how my two teammates were able to gather enough chakra to summon the bosses of their contracts (probably) floated through my head, but I set it aside for late consideration.

"Greetings, Manda-sama. I am the one who can speak to snakes." I bowed. "I wish to be able to sign your contract."

"This one is great. I can smell it." Boop hissed into my ear as he, too, ducked his head in respect. "Do not offend him."

"Interesting." The Snake Boss narrowed his eyes, then they abruptly widened. He spoke quickly in a far more hissier tone, which I took to be translated Parseltongue. "God of Death, why do you wish to ally with us? Surely we are not as powerful as your lowliest servant?"

"You can sense that?" I asked sheepishly. This was unexpected.

Manda bobbed his giant head. "Of course. Those who practice the way of nature are far more informed than these humans. You do my summoner a far greater honor than he will ever realize, being his student." Here, he looked towards Itachi and Mai. "I see that those you call comrades are also touched by you."

"I didn't harm them, did I?" I worriedly asked. Boop hissed in disapproval.

"Not at all. I sense a strange type of chakra within the boy – while he has far less than Orochimaru, it is almost a hundred times more potent – perhaps this is how he was able to summon the Lion-turtle Boss Genbu." Manda observed. "He's a moody one. Your female, on the other hand, seems to have some sort of foreign energy fluctuation centered around her left hand that pulses with your chakra. You placed it there. Perhaps drawing upon it was what allowed her to call… whatever that is."

"That's a Chocobo. They're native to another dimension entirely." I informed him.

"If they move against us, they'll be digested quickly enough." Manda waved his tail dismissively. Boop accompanied this with hissed laughter, which drew Manda's attention to him. "You already carry one of our kind with you?" he bowed his head, bringing it to scent Boop inquisitively. "An honor it is, for us. The caverns of Ryuuchi will resonate with our joyous praises."

I sweat-dropped. "Um… I'm not really that great…"

"Humility does not become you, God." Manda chastised, rearing back to look at me much alike a mother would at a child for misbehaving. "Hold yourself as high as your stature implies. It is bad enough that Orochimaru and his two comrades forced us summons to reconcile… I will not have you, God or no, behaving like a fragile leaf-minded simpleton."

My brows almost reached my hairline. "You made peace with the slugs and the toads? How did Gamabunta react?"

"Were it not for Katsuyu, the world would either gain a new snake-skin wallet or a tad-skin satchel." Manda snorted.

"If I am to be your summoner, will I have to offer sacrifices every time I deem it fit to summon you?" I asked, queasy. This was the only part about having a contract with the snakes I dread.

"I beg your pardon?" Manda looked confused…

… which I too felt. "You require sacrifices to be summoned in the field, do you not?" In fact, I distinctly remember Manda almost ordering Orochimaru to get him a hundred sacrifices while Kabuto and he rode atop his head.

"I do not understand. Us snakes seek to gain the most from any endeavor, true, but we do not unnecessarily demand sacrifices." The purple snake mused. "There is a clause in the contract that states that someone who perverts their soul is subject to more conditions to summon us, but I don't recall there being any amount of sacrifices involved."

Ah, that explains it. Orochimaru hasn't created his immortality jutsu yet, so the Snake Clan isn't irritated with him either. But then what was that title attached to his name… [Incomplete Snake Sage], what did it mean? I asked Manda as much.

"Ah, that is merely the chrysalis he is undergoing." Manda sagely, no pun intended, nodded. "As you may know, snakes test our sages by injecting them with pure nature chakra straight with our fangs. We only accept the strongest summoners, and our sages are to be held to even higher standards. Orochimaru had borne the initial injection, but now must allow his body to acclimatize to the flow of natural energy. As such, we call this phase chrysalis, since it changes the body of the sage at the very smallest level."

That makes sense. "Thank you for answering my questions, Manda-sama. Will you accept me as a summoner?"

The snake shivered. "To hear a god address me as being higher than himself… it pleases me." He looked at me for a long moment. "You bear more energy than most humans can fathom. I sense your potential to be far greater than your servant even. Somehow, I feel as if there is a large part of your power that you have locked away, only to be used under the direst of the circumstances."

How could he POSSIBLY know that?!

"I approve. Lulling your enemy into a false sense of security, then striking… it is a most serpentine thing to do." Manda bobbed his head and grinned a fanged smile. "I approve you, God, as our summoner. Henceforth, us snakes will carry the banner of Death with pride."

"Sure but… don't let anyone know I'm who I am, okay?" I weakly laughed. "You know, hiding one's strengths and all that."

Manda just looked at me for a long time, then nodded. "Of course, God. However, if you ever do visit Ryuuchi Cave, you will be given the respect you deserve." He promised, then vanished in another plume of smoke.

Just then, my wrist began to burn. I looked down at my right hand to see a twining snake slowly wrapping around it. When it stilled, I recognized it as a summoning tattoo, one like Orochimaru wore.

PING!

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Snake Summoning (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

By signing the contract and being approved, you are now able to summon snakes. Alongside being excellent combat additives, snakes can also introduce and counteract poisons, transfer messages, and spy easily.

Cost: Proportionate to size of snake summoned.

Limit: 1 at a time. ]

Speaking of which, I waved the screen away and made my way back towards the gathered three since Itachi and Mai still weren't finished. "It is done." I said simply.

Orochimaru nodded with approval, and Anko grinned. "Perfect, wonder-boy! Now we get to learn snake jutsu," here she sidled up to me, "together."

"Kakashi might get jealous if you keep so close to me, Anko-san." I warned her playfully, extracting myself from her grip.

"Ah, so you're not as oblivious as you think." Anko beamed.

I frowned. "What are you talking about? It's obvious to anyone the two of you like each other."

Anko gave me a deadpan expression, and somewhere nearby I heard someone groan in irritation. "Never mind."

"While we wait for the others," Orochimaru stepped in, looking at me oddly, "I will instruct you on how to route your summons throughout your body."

It took me less than five minutes to grasp the concept, which seemed to baffle Anko and make Orochimaru smile that creepy-but-not-really smile of his. However, since my friends still hadn't finished with their tests, I decided to do some elemental training. Mai was still trying to hold onto a happily dancing Chocobo (complete with several mini ones around them playing a dance beat), and Itachi was still deep in a debate with Genbu on the opposite side of the training ground.

In response to the decisive refusal by both Orochimaru and Kakashi, not wanting to risk my 'bloodline', I whipped out the page of Chakra Paper and channeled a drop of energy into it. It split into four – one burned to ash, one began to tear because it was too drenched, one crumbled into dust, and one crinkled into such a tight ball that it almost grew impossibly hard.

Immediately, five screens appeared in front of me.

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Fire Chakra Manipulation (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

Having a natural fire affinity, you are able to transform your chakra into fire itself, allowing you to use affiliated techniques.]

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Water Chakra Manipulation (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

Having a natural water affinity, you are able to transform your chakra into water itself, allowing you to use affiliated techniques.]

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Earth Chakra Manipulation (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

Having a natural earth affinity, you are able to transform your chakra into earth itself, allowing you to use affiliated techniques.]

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Lightning Chakra Manipulation (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

Having a natural fire affinity, you are able to transform your chakra into lightning itself, allowing you to use affiliated techniques.]

[Due to a special action, a skill has been created!

Ninja Art: Wind Chakra Manipulation (Active) Lv 1 (0.0%)

Having a natural wind affinity, you are able to transform your chakra into wind itself, allowing you to use affiliated techniques.]

I waved them away nonchalantly. So that's all…? Intriguing. I wonder why I didn't get a skill for Yin and Yang manipulation… I guess because it didn't appear in the chakra paper results…?

"This… is impossible." Orochimaru whispered. "One's affinity does not simply change… and we tested you recently…"

I shrugged. "Maybe it's my bloodline acting up again?"

Kakashi rubbed his eyes. "Gundan…"

"What?" I asked, defensive. "I didn't do anything!" Not true at all, but Itachi knowing is bad enough. I can't just go around telling people that I can give out bloodlines like candy, especially now that my perk list has dried up, however temporarily. I guess I have to either do something special or wait for something to happen to unlock more options.

Anko just shook her head.

"Okay, so I know the exercises for Wind training, but not for the others." I spoke into the silence (ignoring the background noise of a band and a deep, reverberating voice), "Throw me a bone here."

Orochimaru looked at me, then nodded. "Alright. If you are familiar with the sort of training that you must do… somehow… then the others should seem along the same lines to you. DO you know how to produce Wind chakra?"

"Split your chakra into two and grind them into an edge, yeah, yeah." I nodded.

"For fire, you must hit two portions of chakra together to spark. For water, you must fold it onto itself until it gains volume. For Earth, you must compress it together. For lightning, you must grant one portion a positive, and the other a negative charge." He instructed. "Your goal will be to burn, drench, crumble, and crinkle a leaf respectively."

"Sounds easy enough." I shrugged, then turned to the nearest tree. I brought my hands up in a cross-sign and made four shadow clones, who sped forward. I myself created a chakra string to pull back then leaves for myself and decided to focus on fire.

I concentrated. Mixing my chi and reiryoku, I created chakra within myself. Then, I separated it into two and stuck them against each other as if I were striking two stones to make a campfire. After a couple of tries, I understood how to spark it, and did so, letting the feeling of heat permeate my chakra. I slowly let it flow into the leaf…

A small portion of it, barely more than the tip, was set alight, but it puttered out just as quickly. Ignoring the notification that came up, I tried again, only to get a slightly better result.

I settled in for a long while of training under the disbelieving expressions of the other occupants of the clearing.

By the time Itachi and Mai were done (finally), I had already leveled up my elemental skills beyond level twenty, but it was slowing down. At the twenty-five-level mark, they gained additional damage and reduced jutsu costs, however, the leaf exercises stopped adding any experience at all. When I asked Orochimaru about the next step and showed him the mastery over the exercises I acquired, he took it in stride, although Anko kept trying to dispel a non-existent illusion and Kakashi seemed depressed.

I understand why my astronomical rate of progress could make anyone get a heart attack. Naruto took quite a few days to get just one element down, and that's with the help of an upwards of a hundred shadow clones. I, however, have the [Strengthened Gamer's Mind and Body] and [Energy Medium] skills, which allow me to learn five times faster and control my chakra far more effectively. Add in the fact that my skills level up faster than normal already…

The speed of learning this is surprising but understandable.

So Orochimaru explained the next steps. For fire, I had to burn down a tree using nothing but pure chakra manipulation. For water, I had to drench a large amount of sand. For earth, I had to crumble a giant rock. For lightning, I had to dry up and crinkle a large freshly cut log.

So, I set to work and managed to get it up to level thirty-eight by the time they were done. My teammates looked exhausted, one physically and the other mentally, but clutched the contracts in their hands with a sense of possession.

"I take it that the tests went smoothly, then?" Orochimaru asked, beaming cheerfully. It was… an odd expression to see on his face. "As expected of my students."

"I was given permission to hold the contract in my clan." Itachi quietly noted. Clearly, whatever conversation he'd had with Genbu had shaken him.

"Same." Mai noted, sounding tired. "Although I'm so sure it that's a good thing… those birds tired even me out."

"To… your clans?" Kakashi blinked. "Hm… I expect we'll be seeing a lot of the bosses in the next month or so if entire clans are going to be signing contracts."

Anko turned to grin at me. "It seems nothing ever remains dull around you."

I grinned back. "What's life without any excitement?"

Just then, an ANBU landed near us and perhaps barely had time to blink before he had to dodge a spike that shot out from the earth. "Don't do that!" I hissed, blushing.

The cat-masked purple-haired woman turned to look at Kakashi in askance.

"He doesn't like being surprised." He said in way of explanation.

"I see." Wait, I knew that voice… of course, Yuugao! "The Hokage summons you to the front of the gate, Gundan-san."

I nodded. "Of course." Then, I offered a hand. "Would you like to accompany me?"

She stared at my hand for the longest minute… then took it. I smirked, and apparated.

Yuugao wrenched her hand out of my grasp as if it were burned. "What… what was that?"

"Teleportation, to the lesser mind." I smirked. "To a more philosophical one…"

"You shall not prevent me from prostrating before Jashin-sama!"

Wait… I knew that voice, too. I sped to the gates in a swirl of black lightning, surprised beyond measure. Sure enough, a very familiar character was about to pierce his heard with his collapsible rod…

"Hidan!"