*Smack*

*Pound*

*Slash*

Sounds of a force hitting a log could be heard in the Nara forest.

Kanoko was currently taking hits at a practice log with a kunai in one hand. She panted, taking a small break, before going back at it. She did this every morning, afternoon and night. She had so much to fix and improve in concern to this body. Her chakra reserve being one (glaringly large) problem.

The only way to improve her chakra reserves would be to physically train her body and mind. Kanoko knew her spiritual energy wasn't a problem, but even with years of training to her body and mind, she would still struggle to get to where she was before dying.

On the bright side, she was slowly increasing her small chakra reserves. She could now flow chakra to her arm and out onto objects – which is critical to fuinjutsu at the very least.

After she finished her training, she would run to Naruto's house and grab her fuinjutsu supplies. Then she would be able to start testing a theory she had been bouncing around in her head: Stealing chakra from her opponents.

Such a seal was going to prove challenging however.

Not only does she have to figure out a way to actually remove the chakra from the enemy, but then she had to find a way to adequately store it. Kanoko, as Tobirama, had created many storage seals, so that wasn't much of an issue, but where she stored it was the problem.

Say she decides to steal the chakra, and then seal it in a scroll. What happens if the scroll is knocked out of her hand or it catches on fire? There were too many scenarios. A ninja battle is decided in seconds.

She couldn't afford to waste those seconds.

The only option she could think of right now was a seal on her body. It would be easily accessible and her opponent wouldn't be able to remove it from her without taking one her body parts – which wasn't likely to happen.

But then that again, begs the question, how is she supposed to suck away their chakra?

And say she figures that part out; she still hasn't come up with a way to introduce their chakra into her network, to use as her own.

Kanoko knew it would take time, but if she wanted to be even remotely as powerful as she once was, she needed to figure out alternate forms of obtaining chakra.

Kanoko stopped hitting the log in front of her and stood there panting. She wiped her forehead before heading back to her house. She reasoned she should get some water and a wash cloth for her face before she continues her training. It was going to be a long night, after all.

The academy was loud with chatter from students.

Much to Kanoko's irritation, she hadn't arrived early enough. So, for today, she was sitting next to her brother today, waiting for class to begin.

"Next time, I'm leaving him home." Kanoko thought glaring at her brother, who sat in-between her and his friend, Choji.

Iruka-sensei then came into the classroom and called the class to order.

"Ok! Let's start with roll call. Let's see here… Where's Naruto?" Iruka-sensei asked looking around the room.

Kanoko closed her eyes to focus on the chakras around her. She was just relearning her old skill and her range was still very limited, but she could at least feel those around her – and she couldn't feel Naruto.

Next to her, Shikamaru narrowed his eyes in thought.

"He knows something." Kanoko thought.

"Oi. Shikamaru. What do you know?" Kanoko asked her brother with a flat tone.

Shikamaru looked back at her with a thoughtful look, saying, "Yesterday, Choji and I were walking around the merchant section of the village and we saw Naruto. He was in front of a mask shop. The owner threw a mask at him and told him to leave."

Kanoko raised her eyebrow and asked, "What did he do?"

Choji added in, "Nothing, from what we can tell, but everyone was looking at him weirdly."

Kanoko looked back to her brother for clarification, "Weirdly."

"Yeah. I can't explain it. Like they were unsure of him… or scared?" Shikamaru answered with his eyes closed, thinking back on the incident.

Kanoko was confused. What was scary about Naruto?

"I'm missing vital information here." Kanoko thought to herself. She ignored whatever Iruka-sensei was talking about in favor of solving this mystery.

The Nara family was eating breakfast, surprisingly, peacefully. Kanoko was sitting next to her father, while Shikamaru was across from her, with her mother at his side. They were all eating silently when, again surprisingly, Shikamaru interrupted the peace with a question.

"Tou-san, can I ask you about something that's been bugging me?"

Kanoko's more mature side stopped her from making a smart remark in answer to his question.

Shikaku finished his mouthful before asking, "What is it?"

Shikamaru waved his chopsticks around and said, "It's about Naruto. Why does everyone avoid him like the plague?"

Kanoko looked to her father, also curious about his answer.

When no answer came, Shikamaru asked, "Did he do something wrong?"

There was a bit of silence before Shikaku put his chopsticks down asking, "Shikamaru, why don't you tell me how you feel about Naruto?"

"Seriously? Now were talking about our feelings? It was a simple question that requires a factual answer. Ugg, this family… Bunch of emotional infants… Well, except for Yoshino. Thank the Shinigami for her."

Shikamaru looked shocked, "Uhh… You, you wanna know how I feel?"

"No, no we do not." Kanoko thought with distaste.

Shikamaru looked away to think before saying, "Huh, I never thought about it before." Looking back he finished with, "Well he's not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but he is pretty funny. I don't think we'll be buddies or anything, but it's not like I want to avoid him."

Shikaku smiled at his son. "Well then, ignore the others. I say, treat him however you want to." Shikaku said, closing his eyes, still grinning.

Kanoko looked up at her father, trying to communicate with her eyes, "You're not off the hook yet. I need more than that to be satisfied."

Shikaku saw his daughter's look and sighed. "She's just like her mother." Shikaku thought before returning to his food.

Kanoko ditched her brother this morning, so she got a prime spot at the back of the class near the window. Rather happy with herself, she gazed out the window, thinking about the seal she was trying to create.

She got distracted when Iruka-sensei came in and call the class to order.

Iruka-sensei placed his hands on the desk and aggressively asked the class, "OK! Has anyone seen Naruto?!"

He did not sound happy.

"Nope, haven't seen him!" Hibachi said with a grin and his hands up.

Suddenly her brother got up and slammed his hands on his desk before shouting, "I saw him this morning heading into the back hills!"

"Pipe down Shikamaru!" Hibachi told Shikamaru, standing up with his friend to glare at her brother.

"What are you doing?!" Hibachi's friend asked.

Iruka-sensei looked concern before asking, "Into the back hills…?"

Leaning over slightly, Shikamaru continued, "He went looking for corpses, didn't he Hibachi? Your pranks have gotten annoying and so have you."

"Stay here and study!" Iruka-sensei shouted before running out in a cold sweat.

"Way to go Shikamaru! You're such a rat!" Hibachi yelled at her brother.

"Whatever, you went too far. You call Naruto an annoyance, but at least he is funny. You're just stupid." Shikamaru responded with an angry look back before sitting down.

Hibachi was red in the face with anger, he reached out and grabbed Shikamaru's collar.

"Shikamaru!" Choji screamed, scared for his friend.

"Hibachi! Don't!" His friend yelled at him, hoping he'll let go of Shikamaru.

"You're going to get it Shikamaru!" With that Hibachi pulled back his fist to hit Shikamaru. Shikamaru closed his eyes in anticipation.

When Shikamaru didn't feel the blow, he opened his eyes.

Hibachi's fist was being held, stopping the blow from occurring, and had a kunai pressed to his throat.

"You will release my brother." Kanoko's tone completely void of emotion. Her eyes were sharp and focused, staring directly at Hibachi, daring him to do anything, but what she demanded.

Hibachi was terrified. He let go of Shikamaru's collar, not daring to move an inch.

Kanoko stared at Hibachi a little longer before stating, in a voice full of promise, "Don't you ever touch him again."

And with that, she removed the kunai and release his fist before walking calmly back to her seat.

The whole class was silent before opening their books to study – as instructed by their teacher.

All, but one.

Shikamaru just watched his sister.

"I didn't think she cared…"

After a few minutes, the class decided this free period meant they could leave class. Even Shikamaru and Choji left to go get snacks.

Kanoko stayed in her seat, following her instructor's orders.

She couldn't stop this nagging feeling however.

From what Kanoko gathered, Naruto went into a part of the forest where a recent attack on the village had taken place. She reasoned that Iruka-sensei ran out to find him because other threats were suspected to be in the area.

"Well, it's nothing that concerns me. After all, Iruka-sensei went after him. All I would do is add to the chaos." Kanoko thought with her eyes closed. She was correct. She wasn't even a genin and she was still working through some of her own limitations.

She could even die (again) - not ideal.

Kanoko gazed out the window.

Passing by with a book in his hand was a tall, silver haired shinobi.

"I recognize him… He's one of Shikaku's subordinates. That means he's a jounin." Kanoko thought before jumping out the window.

She ran up to the jounin and caught his attention by coughing loudly.

"Can I help you?" He asked slowly, looking down.

"Hai. My teacher, Umino Iruka, ran into the forest to catch a student in danger. I would like you to assist him." Kanoko told the jounin in a flat, no room for compromise, voice.

The jounin moved his face away from his book, raising an eyebrow at the demand before saying, "Oh? And why should I?"

Kanoko stared back at him, not at all impressed and stated simply, "Because the student's name is Uzumaki Naruto and I have a feeling he's important to the village."

Kanoko then turned around and walked away with her hands in her pockets, but not before adding with a wave, "And if you require more motivation, my father's the jounin commander. I'm sure there is a plethora of D-rank missions that need completing…"

The jounin just stared shocked at Kanoko's back before taking off swift in the direction of the forest.

Kanoko was walking back from the village library when she reached the academy. As she was passing it, she saw Iruka-sensei and Naruto at the tree with the swing. They both were smiling and laughing. They looked scraped up, but no worse for wear.

A small smile formed on her face as she heard a piece of the conversation as she passed.

Once she was far enough away, she looked toward the First Hokage's stone face with a smirk.

"The will of fire, huh?"

She closed her eyes, smile still on her face, as she continued on her path.