AN: Ok so I mentioned that I had some more parts of this story outlined if I decided to continue on, and the overwhelming majority of the feedback I have received about this story has asked for me to go ahead and turn those outlines into prose and publish them here. Thus, here we are. Thanks for your support.
The next few chapters are from an outline that I had titled "Snippets of Academy and Genin Life." As the title implies, these chapters will show snippets of life for the Uzumaki during Naruto's time in the Academy and as a Genin. There is an emphasis on worldbuilding and exploring the Uzumaki Clan and their relationship with the village over things like action, adventure, or romance.
That being said, the 3rd and final set of chapters that I have outlines for are focused on the chunin exams, so if this batch of chapters doesn't float your boat hopefully the next one does.
Overall status:
Chapters 1-3: Outline 1, Prologue - Already Published
Chapters 4-?: Outline 2, Academy and Genin Life - Publishing Now
Chapters ?-?: Outline 3, Chunin Exams - Outline is done, but I make no promises on how long it will take to turn into prose.
- 9 Years Later, Hokage Tower Complex Conference Room B -
Uzumaki Yoshide took his assigned seat in Conference Room B. Unlike the normal meeting rooms, which gave the Clan Heads very prominent seating and was designed for discussion and debate, this room was designed to look more like a lecture hall and was often used by the Jonin Commander to brief their subordinates about various things.
On this day though the room was crowded with a veritable whose who of Konoha. In addition to the elders and the clan heads, various wealthy business men, the heads of prominent non-clan shinobi families, and even representatives of the Daimyo were in attendance, along with a number of jonin.
Seated on either side of Yoshide were other clan heads, and he made casual small talk with them until Hiruzen Sartubobi walked up to the podium, flanked on either side by Shikaku Nara in his capacity as Jonin Commander, and Choza Akimichi in his capacity as head of the village's Department of Education and Shinobi Training. The arrival of the trio on the podium essentially silenced the rest of the room.
"Good morning everyone, and thank you for being here for the annual academy graduation briefing" began the Hokage.
"We have a talented crop of academy students who are eligible for the graduation exam this year, and at this meeting we'll go over some information about the class as a whole and discussion possible candidates to serve as jonin-sensei. I know we have some new faces in this meeting, so I've asked our head of Education and Training, Akimichi Choza, to give you a high level overview of this graduating class' time in the academy."
His introduction complete, the Hokage stepped aside, allowing the head of the Akimichi Clan to take over.
"Thank you, Lord Hokage. In total 150 Academy students are eligible to take the graduation exam this year. Broadly, we can divide these students into two categories..."
As Choza went on, Yoshide could only smile, it always surprised him how the heads of the Akimichi, Nara, and Yamanaka Clans could be black-out drunk one night, and then up and the peak of professionalism the next morning.
The actual information presented was nothing new to Yoshide,
50 of those who were eligible to take the graduation had actually passed the exam in previous years, but had failed the true exam and had chosen to return to the academy to try again. If they passed the true exam this time, they'd finally become genin.
It was the group of 100 students who would be attempting to graduate for the first time that Yoshide was much more interested in, and he paid close attention when Choza began discussing them.
6 Years prior, when this graduating class had entered the academy, they had been divided into 4 classes based on skill level and ability.
In the bottom class, no students were expected to pass the academy graduation exam, and in the 6 years prior only 3 of those students had even been able to unlock their chakra.
This wasn't uncommon. A lot of civilians sent their kids to the shinobi academy, but kids from a purely civilian background rarely had enough chakra reserves to amount to anything. There is a reason that Shinobi tended to marry other shinobi. Genetics played a big role in chakra.
Overall, Choza estimated that about 66 students would pass the academy graduation exam, and that of those 66 about 33 would pass the true exam and become genin.
Those that passed the first exam but failed the second would be given the opportunity to return to the academy and try again the next year. Each student had 3 total attempts to pass the true exam.
If they couldn't pass in 3 attempts, they'd be offered a spot in the village reserves. There, they'd live and work as a civilian in day-to-day life, but would continue to train their shinobi skills, and could be called up to serve during emergencies and times of war.
In the top class, which was almost entirely composed of students from clan backgrounds, with the exception of one civilian, each of the 24 student was expected to pass both exams, with the remaining 9 expected to pass a jonin instructor's exam coming from the second highest class, and all coming from shinobi backgrounds.
With his overview out of the way, Choza dived into brief profiles of the top 10 students overall, and it was here that Yoshide paid very close attention, after all both his daughter and his future clan head were among the expected graduates.
"Of course, we won't be ranking these students yet, I won't have those details until after their exam next week." Choza was saying, "but overall our anticipated top 10 this year is one of the strongest batches of students in many years.
The heirs of several clans are among the expected top 10, including Aburame Shino, Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Uzumaki Naruto, and Yamanaka Ino."
Those who knew how to get read a shinobi's metaphorical poker face were easily able to tell how pleased the heads of those clans were that their sons, daughter, and 'nephew' all placed so highly.
"In addition, various other relatives of current clan heads are in the top 10. Hyuuga Hinata is one of Lord Hyuuga's daughters. Inuzuka Kiba is Lady Inuzuka's second child, Uchiha Sasuke is Lady Uchiha's youngest, and Uzumaki Karin is the daughter of the Lord Regent of the Uzumaki Clan. Finally, for the first time since the Yondaime, a child from a purely civilian background is expected to graduate in the top 10, Haruno Sakura."
There was a lot to unpack there. Yoshide was naturally proud of his daughter's work, but it was expected, and there were fewer ramifications from it than the announcement of Sasuke and Sakura both having a projected top 10 status.
Indeed, the announcement Sakura's performance had sent a flurry of whispers throughout the meeting room. The Haruno merchant guild were well known for not just their wealth and influence, but for their desire to establish market control not just in the capital, where their headquarters was located, but in Konoha. They'd been trying to negotiate contracts and alliances with Shinobi clans for years.
There was even a rumor circulating among the clan heads that Sakura's enrollment in the Shinobi Academy had not been her own choice, rather the guild entered her with the sole purpose of having her catch the eye of some young clan heir so that they could marry her off and create an alliance with a clan.
I can't say for certain if that is the reason she was enrolled in the academy or not, but the representatives of the Haruno Merchant Guild have certainly expressed an enthusiasm for offering her hand in marriage to Lord Naruto. Yoshide thought, reflecting on those rumors.
Then there is the case of the Uchiha...
Several years prior, duing Naruto and co's second year at the academy, word had reached the village higher-ups that the discontent among assorted members of the Uchiha Clan had grown past the metaphorical boiling point, and that a small faction was seeking support from their clan members for a coup.
A very discreet investigation had revealed the number of Uchiha onboard with the plan was small, only 30 or so members. But that the group included several high ranking members, including the Clan Head, Uchiha Fugaku.
The clan's heir, Uchiha Itachi was the one who had reported the coup, and noted that another faction, led by his mother, Uchiha Mikoto, was actively opposed to the idea.
Various high ranking officials in the village with their own agendas took advantage of the situation, and the end result was that a small group of Uchiha ended up very publicly executing the group planning the coup, with Mikoto personally executing her husband. Itachi was also involved.
While this prevented the coup from taking place, it led to a division within the Uchiha Clan. A majority supported Mikoto and Itachi, but there was a smaller but very present faction that felt that the two had too much blood on their hands to lead the clan.
This faction wanted to Sasuke replace his elder brother as the heir, and to exile both Mikoto and Itachi from the clan. The clan's internal politics were said to be incredibly tense, and Sasuke placing among the top 10 graduates, while expected, likely wouldn't help the situation.
Yoshide was pulled from his musings by Choza handing the meeting back over to the Hokage, who then opened the floor for suggestions on possible jonin sensei.
A number of names were put forward for consideration, each usually eliciting a few arguments for and against by various meeting attendees. But it was one attendee who caused the most obvious reactions after speaking just three words: "I nominate myself."
"Of course you do, Kakashi-kun" the elderly Hokage responded. A small number of attendees, Hokage and Uzumaki regent both included sported knowing smiles, having anticipated this outcome.
For others, Kakashi's actions required an explanation.
"Lord Hatake, you have generally shown yourself to be averse to teaching in the past, why the sudden interest now?"
"Well, for one, I do have a very young son at home, and I'd actually like to be around as Obito grows up. Then there's the fact that Anko is 3 months pregnant with our second child, so I'd really rather stay close to the village."
Kakashi's explanation was interrupted by a round of congratulatory remarks, Yoshide's own well-wishes among them, the Uzumaki regent had been unaware that the Lord and Lady of the Hatake were expecting a second child.
"Then there's the fact that I believe that I am perhaps the perfect candidate to teach Lady Uchiha's youngest."
"How so, Lord Hatake?"
Kakashi turned to face the aristocrat that the Daimyo had dispatched from the capital, speaking to the man's face as he responded.
"I won't get into too much detail, but suffice to say that it would be best if young Sasuke's sensei was capable of teaching him about the Sharingan. That narrows down the candidates for his sensei to the various Uchiha jonin and myself. Given the division within their clan, any Uchiha assigned by the village to teach Sasuke could be interpreted as the village picking a side in the clan's internal affairs. Leaving me the only possible candidate who is both neutral in said affairs and capable of providing instruction on the Sharingan."
A nod from Mikoto confirmed the point, and Kakashi turned back to address the meeting as a whole:
"And finally, I'm interested in my sensei's legacy."
The majority of those in the room who know the identity of both of Naruto's parents understood exactly what Kakashi meant, and either smiled or scowled depending on how their knowledge of the current host of the 9-Tailes and thoughts on Jinchuuriki in general, but either way this group was small.
For the majority, who only knew the identity of Naruto's mother, there was confusion about just what legacy of the Yondaime Kakashi was referring to.
His smile only haven gotten wider the more Kakashi spoke, Hiruzen was practically grinning from ear to ear when he silenced any further discussion of Kakashi's candidacy, moving the discussion on to other names.
At the end of the long yet satisfying meeting, after saying his farewells to various other clan heads and dignitaries, Uzumaki Yoshide found himself passing by the jonin lounge/ready room just at the same time that Uzumaki Kozumu was signing out from a shift as a stand-by Jonin.
The two Uzushio born shinobi then found themselves passing by the C and D rank mission assignment desk just as Konoha genin team 9, under the leadership of jonin sensei Might Gai were collecting their paychecks, having just completed their final D rank of the day.
This happy coincidence allowed Uzumaki Tenten, the former clan-less orphan to sneak a hug from her adopted father when she thought her teammates weren't looking. After a few more moments to say her farewells to her teammates, Tenten joined her father and her clan regent in walking out of the Hokage Tower Administrative Complex, and on to the streets of Konoha.
The Uzumaki Clan Compound was on the outskirts of the village, a long ways away from the Tower.
Apparently in the years prior to the Uzumaki officially resettling in Konoha there was a faction of village officials that were trying to convince the Uchiha to give up their centrally located complex and take that plot of land, much to the disdain of the Sharingan wielders.
As such, the petition for a plot of land for the Uzumaki Clan had been welcomed and supported by the Uchiha, who were able to maintain their preferred compound location. It meant that the Uzumaki were on the outskirts, but it also meant that the land came cheap, as the Uchiha had subsidized a portion of the costs to incentive the new clan to take the land. Given their desire to hide away Naruto in his early years of life, the location had worked out quite well for the Uzumaki.
One of the results of the Uzumaki compound's location was that the most convenient route between the Hokage Tower and the compound ran right past the village Shinobi Academy. Based on the time of day, near the time that the academy released Yoshide, Kozumu, and Tenten were expecting that portion of their route home to be quite crowded.
And indeed it was, though that was not wholly unpleasant.
A crowd of red-headed Uzumaki academy students were swarmed around the few adult clan members who had come to meet them. Included among them was one of the few non-red-heads to be counted among the clan's membership. Uzumaki Shizune, wife of Kozumu and mother of Tenten.
She seemed to be struggling, attempting to corral the youngest Uzumaki academy students while also dealing with a clearly upset toddler, Tenten's youngest sibling, whom she held in her arms.
Some of the older Uzumaki Academy students, such as the 3 Uzumaki in their final year of academy study: Uzumaki Daisuke, Yoshide's daughter Karin, and of course Naruto, were trying to assist her, but apprentice of Tsunade or not corralling that many children was not an easy task for one person. Particularly considering children currently outnumbered adults in the Uzumaki clan. Yoshide, Kozumu, and Tenten couldn't have arrived at a better time.
Tenten immediately shifted into "big sister" mode, taking her youngest sibling from her mother's arms and corralling her middle two siblings. She may have been the only one of the 4 to not be Kozumu and Shizune's biological child, but all her two brothers and her sister all looked up to her and would follow her anywhere.
No longer having to worry about her youngest, and now assisted by her husband and Yoshide in addition to the final-year academy students, Shizune was able to quickly take charge of the situation, corralling all the 25 or so Uzumaki Clan members currently enrolled in the academy and marching them off toward the Uzumaki Compound.
For Yoshide and Kozumu, the sight brought back memories of the state of the clan a decade earlier: Less than 30 adults, 5 children, and 1 on the way. The future had looked bleak.
Between the adoptions and the baby boom, things had completely changed. As he had predicted, the great seal master Takahiro had been busy performing the adoption ritual over the years. His task was to ensure that those who were adopted into the clan and were young enough to survive said ritual, or born half-uzumaki as the result of a clan member marrying an outsider, were transformed into full-blooded Uzumaki Clan members.
Because of this there were almost as many full-blooded Uzumaki children currently enrolled in the academy then there had been adults in that meeting all those years prior. And that was just the children that were old enough to attend the academy, which under peace-time regulations wasn't possible until a child was either seven years of age, or would hit that milestone during their first 8 months of attendance. What a difference a decade could make. If such a big change had happened in this decade, Yoshide and Kozumu couldn't help but wonder what the next decade would hold for the "Children of the Whirlpools."
AN: I'm not normally a big fan of OCs, but the nature of this story being what it is necessitates a fairly large number of OCs. There just aren't that many Uzumaki Characters in canon. As it is we've seen the following original characters:
Uzumaki Yoshide is the Regent of the Uzumaki. Kushina designated him as her successor in case something happened to her before Naruto was ready to lead the clan. He was born in Uzu, but was a child during the fall of the village. He is similar in age to Kushina. If I remember canon correctly, Kushina was 24 when she died. Yoshide is in his mid twenties at the start of this story, maybe a year or two older. This puts him in his mid 30s here in chapter 4.
I toyed with the idea of making him Naruto's actual Uncle, but the way I have set this up if Yoshide actually was Kushina's elder brother he likely would have been higher up in the clan's line of succession and likely would have been the clan head, passing the title onto his daughter Karin (the canon Karin, btw.) Therefore, he's not actually Naruto's uncle, but Naruto refers to him as such because Yoshide and his wife ended up being Naruto's primary caregivers and guardians.
His wife is an as of yet unnamed OC, and he is the father of Karin along with some other OC children.
Uzumaki Kozumu is a jonin of Konoha who specializes in Uzumaki style Kenjutsu. He was born in Uzu. In the prologue (chapters 1-3) he is somewhere between the ages of 18 and 22. This would put him in his late 20s to early 30s here in chapter 4. He adopts the canon character Tenten, and marries the cannon character Kato Shizune (now Uzumaki Shizune). In addition to their adopted daughter, the couple have three biological children.
Uzumaki Takahiro is an elder of the Uzumaki clan and the only 'fuinjutsu grandmaster' to survive the destruction of the village. He had retired prior to the end of the 2nd shinobi war, and was out of the village on vacation when it was destroyed. He is 80 in chapter 1, and will be in his early to mid 90s when he appears next.
Uzumaki Daisuke is a young member of the Uzumaki Clan who is the same age as Naruto and Karin. Like Tenten, he was born in Konoha and was an orphan who was adopted by a yet unnamed Uzumaki clan member and successfully underwent the clan's adoption ritual. If I ever refer to the 4 Uzumaki or something along those lines, it will be a reference to Naruto, Karin, Tenten, and Daisuke. At this time I have no plans to make him a major character or anything like that, but he'll be around, always on the periphery.
The clan's adoption ritual is an idea that I can't take credit for. Other authors here on this site have used a similar idea. In the context of this story, the adoption ritual is an Uzumaki Clan secret technique. A fuinjutsu that modifies the DNA of the person it is used on, essentially making them full-blooded Uzumaki. There is an inherit danger in the ritual, and it is therefore only considered safe for people under the age of 5, when the body is less developed and the chakra is less likely to be awakened or developed.
As such, Takahiro uses it on two broad groups of people: Young adoptees like Tenten and Daisuke, and children born to one Uzumaki parent and one non-Uzumaki parent, such as Naruto and the biological children of Kozumu and Shizune.
Hope that provides a bit of insight into some of the OC Uzumaki that we have seen so far, as well as how people like Naruto and Tenten have Uzumaki style hair and are able to use Uzumaki abilities.
Thanks again for reading.