(Author's Edit: Fucking fuck! That was the wrong fucking chapter! That was my first draft, and I had a look at it and realized it wouldn't work out because Multiple SI-inserts has already been done to death. I kept that draft anyway as a warning about dumb ideas, and somehow posted it anyway. I don't rely on the on-site editor to do anything more than add breaklines, so I didn't recognize that mess-up until I woke up this morning and saw all the reviews. Fuck me. My bad! This is the correct one!)
Okay.
Change of plans.
I'm gonna run the gamut over here until the Academy Arc is over, then go back to Project Arachas. So, like, five more chapters. Or six. Still a work in progress. I'll try to update each as fast as I can so that I can go back to Arachas. That one's gonna be my biggest fanfic by far and a good warm-up for my own original WIPs, though Ifrit will be a close second.
My bad. I may or may not have ADHD, so my interest just goes woop! woop! from one thing to another like a bunny on Red Bull - or Naruto. Or the plot bunnies are just running rampant and that's probably the most reasonable explanation for this. Either way, my bad.
Enjoy!
Chapter One
Where Do I Begin? Do I begin?
The first and final year in the Academy was hell.
It took me six days to figure out how to reconcile my spiritual energy with the body of this orphan and 'reconnect' to 'my' chakra.
Day one went something like:
"It's there," Hana grunted, pulsing her chakra into my shoulder sharply. I hissed at the hot, uncomfortable flash of foreign, concentrated heat. I stared at her with momentary anger and confusion, because what she did was in no way refined and a sort of equivalent to that moment of 'what the hell' when someone slapped you or spilled tea on you for no apparent reason. "Use it. Concentrate."
I put my hands up in the Ram seal, mirroring how Minato did it rather than how I did it (I was 13, okay!? Shut up!). The world rang around me as I focused inward, ignoring my thoughts and trying, trying to find that Pool, the spiral from which chakra generated itself...
Then, on a whim, I shifted my hands. Hare. Reverse Hare. Horse. Dragon. Ox. Tiger. Snake. Dragon. Dog. Boar. Bird - oh, so that's how Bird works, that seal always did confuse the fuck out of me. Ox. Tiger. Boar. Monkey. Snake. Ram. Dragon.
Nothing.
I winced as Hana flashed her hot energy in my body again. "Nothing?"
"No. I don't understand..."
"No, you do," she accused. "Chakra is formed from spiritual energy and physical energy. There is a balance you maintain between the both of them, for the best results in your capacity and potency. You maintain that balance from the day you access your chakra, through training, through studying. It isn't so easy to let slip that you could possibly lose access to your chakra like this. But, given weeks, perhaps even months of not actively using your chakra, or training... they said you were studious but average, last year. Were you simply riding the coattails of your work on theory and physical?" She pulsed her chakra into my body again, much harsher than before, and I grunted in pain. "Your laziness will not stand here, Yakushi. Concentrate!"
And nothing.
The next day, she ignored me. I ignored her back.
Day four, before I could even enter the school, she popped in out of nowhere, grabbed me on the back of my head and then my stomach flipped and twisted the world blurred and I felt the atmosphere giving me a great big slap of wind and how are we going so fucking fast what the hell -
Then we appeared in an unfamiliar building, which I could barely make out past my bleary state - that and I was fighting the urge to blow chunks, something I hadn't done in years.
Shunshin, I realized. Probably Shunshin. Or a subtler version of Hiraishin for all the fuck I know. God.
"Urp." I groaned, sealing my mouth with my hand. "Dafff...huq?!"
She did not, apparently, give a shit. "Move."
I barely had time to read anything about my surroundings before she half-led, half-pushed me inside. I had no idea what was going on, but my legs stumbled along with it, and antiseptic filled my nose.
Am I... in a hospital...?
By the time I'd regained my wits, she sat me down on a bed.
"What the hell?!" I groaned.
"What happened?" she demanded.
"What?"
"Do. You. Know. What. Happened. To. Your. Chakra?" She enunciated each word like she was speaking to an idiot.
"What happened to my chakra?" I repeated helplessly.
"That is my question, yes." Her eyes narrowed. "Were you attacked? Were you sealed? Your records show you were perfectly able to access your chakra last year, until the final day. What happened?"
"I don't know," I shrugged. "I genuinely have no idea what really happened."
But I had a theory. Chakra was formed from a combination of physical energy/stamina and spiritual energy. There was a balance to be struck between both that would ultimately supply the generation of those reserves. Minato was fine.
...Was fine, until I came into his body. So what happened? Was it my age and weakness unbalancing the combination so utterly that I couldn't access my chakra at all? Why? Specifically, why me? It worked out for everyone else on fanon...
...And not just fanon, canon! Orochimaru was literally the walking, talking example of spiritual transfer and takeover specifically not affecting the new host body. So, me? Why? Or was there something else he did in the process of said takeover, something the ROB didn't? Did they not know they had to do it?
...Or were they doing this for their entertainment? They would, wouldn't they? Fucker.
The door opened - when'd it close? - and a doctor walked in...
Hol' up. Wait.
She had white eyes.
She was a Hyuuga. She was a doctor.
She was a Hyuuga doctor.
A-A Hyuuga doctor walked in. A Hyuuga was allowed to be a medic-nin.
Oh god. Someone actually did the fucking smart thing in this world.
What?
Whaaaaa?
Please hold. has temporarily lost all functions due to an unexpected technical issue and has to be shut down. All unsaved progress will be lost...
"Greetings, everyone," she bowed to us. Hagane bowed back, and I almost forgot to do the same.
"Greetings, Hyuuga-san."
"G-Greetings, Hyuuga-san."
"Is this our patient today, Hagane-san?" the pale-eyed doctor inquired, smiling down at me.
"Minato Yakushi. He seems to be unable to access his chakra."
"Oh?" Both of her eyebrows went up. "Interesting. Shall I examine you, Yakushi-san?"
"If it wouldn't inconvenience you," I replied politely.
"Please, sit." I sat. "Chakra exhaustion?"
"No."
"He has been able to use chakra before?"
"Normally."
"No seals?"
"Yakushi?"
I shook my head. "None that I know of."
"Hm." The doctor considered the issue. "The last visitation you had was four years ago, but that was for a minor injury. Do I have your permission to perform a diagnosis with my Byakugan?"
I stilled, wondering for a moment, but I decided to allow her - it was most likely nowhere near as bad as being examined by a Yamanaka. "Yes."
"Let's see, then..." She activated her Byakugan seallessly - it was unexpectedly intense and a bit creepy to see the veins in her eyes bulge out like the veins on Dwayne Johnson's biceps. She frowned in puzzlement, shut her Byakugan down, then ran through a series of handseals, reactivating it, somehow even more intense than before.
"Interesting..." She hummed. "Try activating your chakra."
"Like..." I raised my hands in the Ram seal.
"Yes. Try to flare it."
I shifted on the bed, going into a meditative pose, and focused inward again in yet another effort to find my ever-elusive energy reserves. Every inch of my body, not just my stomach from which it originated. From the crown of my head to the toes of my feet, I looked everywhere.
Nothing, fuckdammit.
"How odd," the doctor hummed. "Your pathways are fully formed, your tenketsu are in perfect shape, but... why are your Gates closed?"
"Closed?" Hana and I echoed simultaneously. I was too surprised to call out jinx.
"Completely shut," she nodded. "You should be in far worse shape, considering that."
"What do you mean, closed? What gates?" I asked, realizing belatedly that I probably wasn't supposed to really remember what Chakra Gates did - I never found anything on Minato's books and notes. More than likely, that was advanced theory - round about Chuunin-level, probably, because the Academy didn't want to risk any of the kids accidentally opening a Gate flat-out and tearing themselves apart.
"Hm." The Hyuuga tilted her head in clear curiosity, not shutting off her intimidating eyes. "They don't teach you about Chakra Gates at the Academy?"
Silence.
I thought back to my notes. "If they did, I probably forgot."
"Not since Masato Sakai," Hana supplied.
"Masato Sakai..." the Hyuuga hummed. "Would it be that boy with..."
"Yes. It was deemed too dangerous, because if Sakai did, then other children could try opening their own without supervision."
"Well, that sounds dangerous," I hummed. "I'm guessing Chakra Gates are, what, some kind of internal valves? They regulate... what do they regulate in our Chakra?"
Hana regarded me with a raised eyebrow. "You have an interesting head for connecting dots, Yakushi. Why do we not see this in the Academy?"
I blinked. "Uh..."
"Must he know?" Hana inquired of the doctor, now completely ignoring me.
"I suppose it couldn't hurt," the doctor shrugged. "He's already figured out enough to at least know the basics." With that decision made, she turned back to me. "Chakra gates, as you deduced, are indeed internal regulators. They regulate how much chakra we can use, in order to ensure that we don't overexert ourselves and either tear our own bodies apart or completely exhaust ourselves to the point of death. So, from what I can tell, somehow, your Gates were closed, well beyond what they should be, yet I see no chakra suppressant seals on any part of your body. The fact that you don't seem to be in any sort of pain or illness is impressive - your spiritual energy is very strong for your age. Did anything unusual happen to you during your summer break?"
Well, I did reincarnate and take over this poor fucker's body... but no, that wasn't during summer break.
"Not that I know of, no," I said slowly, trying to poke at anything left of Minato's memories. "No, I don't think so. Nothing unusual happened to me over the summer break."
(Which, technically, was the truth.)
"If anything happened, I was probably asleep."
"I see." The Hyuga hummed. "Well, I think we have a way forward - we must try to reopen your valves so you can access your chakra again. Mind you, this will be a delicate operation, one you'll have to actively participate in. We'll ease the way forward for you, but ultimately, it's up to you to unlock your chakra."
"I understand." I took a second to breathe. "Um, when can we start?"
"Well, we must make the appropriate arrangements and prepare a room for you," the Hyuuga nodded. "So after school, I would say, would work."
"Agreed," Hana nodded. "Minato, to the front doors. I will meet you there, and we will return to the Academy."
Ah, shit. Private discussion. What did I fuck up?
Keeping any trepidation out of my face, I nodded. "Sure."
I got off the bed, moving out. The whole time, I tried my best to suppress any buzz of nerves on me. I ran through the whole conversation. Where did I go wrong? Did it work out? Would I end up being exposed to Yamanaka or getting Danzo'd? The two of them were fucking ninja - one Chuunin and one Hyuuga medic (so Chuunin, bare minimum). They had to have seen through me.
What do I do? Will they actually help me? Am I fucked?
Jesus. Fucking. ROB.
I would strangle that motherfucker if I ever got my hands on them!
Hana maintained her silence as her student left, letting Maki Hyūga keep an eye on him as he made his way to the front of the hospital.
When the doctor disabled her Kekkei Genkai, she decided to speak up. "Your thoughts, Maki-san?"
"You definitely need a Hyūga to check your students, and soon," Maki nodded. "Luckily, you have one volunteer. This is the second case of chakra defects in our young, and a bit more unusual than the last one. I believe his name is Rock Lee?"
"What was wrong with him?"
"Genetic defect. We have reason to suspect one of his parents was someone familiar to you - Isshin Hagakure."
"Isshin?" Hana's eyes widened in recognition of her dead teammate. "I didn't know he had a son."
"It's not confirmed yet; we still have to run a DNA test."
"I can ask him later today."
"Good. Please do that. Remember when Akasuna no Sasori ran into your old Genin squad?"
Hana inhaled, suppressing her bitterness at the memories of that clusterfuck with... well, perhaps not ease, but practised habit. "Why?"
Shunsui Uchiha, Isshin, and their then-new sensei, Gekko Hayate, had come off the worst in that clash. Shunsui developed lung cancer and died. Isshin was crippled, managed to adapt and made steps towards being a Silent Killing specialist, but suffered an untimely death in the Kyuubi attack. Hayate-Sensei walked it off with a chronic lung infection. Hana was in ANBU Boot Camp at the time, and had not been privy to that patrol routine then.
She was certain that, if not saved them, she could've made some vital difference. They did return with vital intel about Sasori that they shared with Suna, which thus managed to head them off and ultimately form the treaty they currently had. It was one of the more significant steps to the end of the Third Shinobi War that would culminate in the Yellow Flash Massacre, but the cost to her old team still gnawed at her conscience.
Gekko-sensei wouldn't tell her differently.
And then that fucking drunk Sannin lost her boyfriend and then lost her shit and abandoned the village. She could've saved them. Just the thought of it irritated Hana. Did that stupid blonde really think she was the only one that lost loved ones in that stupid war?
"Tsunade was not present to attend him, but the Medic-Nin team on hand managed to save him. However, Hagakure's Gates would malfunction and filter less chakra to him since then, ultimately crippling his Ninjutsu ability."
"That's why he had to change his specialization," Hana nodded.
"A good decision, too," Maki approved. "He was a talented assassin since it was easier for him to suppress his Chakra, but far from the Ninjutsu specialist he used to be. The theory is that Rock Lee's own Gates were completely closed for years as a result of the defect passed on genetically, and somehow this wasn't discovered until his examination last year. We managed to perform the Opening, but he'll never be able to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu of any notable caliber, if at all, so he's doomed to Dead Last." The Hyūga scoffed ruefully. "This hospital's standards have been falling since Tsunade-sama left."
Yet another black mark against her, in Hana's opinion.
"Genetic defects cannot explain Yakushi's case, though," Hana pointed out, wanting to be done with the subject. "His chakra use was completely within the norm for his age group last semester."
"Yes, that is something we have to investigate, it certainly is unusual," Maki nodded. "Thankfully, we caught it right on time, so it shouldn't be as difficult as it was with Rock Lee. Bring him back this afternoon, won't you?"
"Of course."
Hana and Maki parted ways, both having quite a few things to think about.
If Lee really was Isshin's son...
Hana had to keep a sharp eye on his progress - same with Yakushi.
Author's Notes:
I can't believe my fucking mistake. Completely derailed the story, now I have to live with the accidental reviews to the wrong fucking update. That'll teach me to post shit when I'm half-asleep.
If I don't finish up the next one today, I'll post tomorrow.
My bad.
See you next time.