[Hiruzen Sarutobi]

Hiruzen was proud of Konoha. He had seen it grow from a mere sapling to the great tree it was today. For over fifty years he had been Hokage and for those fifty years he had watched people grow. From His own students to their students to people unrelated. Of course there were a few hiccups. Hiruzen still regretted Orochimaru of course. But there was a lot of good shinobi who had helped keep Konoha afloat.

Of course it wasn't just his shinobi that led to Konoha being the great tree it is now. Konoha was the most varied village out there in terms of the Shinobi arts. Kumo had mainly Taijutsu, Kenjutsu, and Ninjutsu, Iwa mainly had Medical jutsu and Ninjutsu although the former's quality was... questionable, Kiri had Kenjutsu, Genjutsu, and stealth, and Suna had puppetry, fans, and fuinjutsu. Of course Suna was the second mot varied due to the special arts they had but they didn't specialize in the amount of things that Konoha did.

Konoha had all kinds of people with specialties in Bukijutsu, Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Genjutsu, Medical Ninjutsu, and the most underused of the bunch, Fuinjutsu.

Fuinjutsu was a dangerous yet powerful artwork. The definition of a "Seal" was broad. Obviously, the core of the art was sealing. But it was a varied art nonetheless. Seals allowed Tobirama-sensei to create a seal that allowed people to teleport. Said seal was hard to learn though. It also allowed one to summon the death god.

Of course not all Fuinjutsu wasn't that powerful. But most were decently powerful. But Fuinjutsu was hard to learn so not many shinobi learned the art. Even less got past level one. So the few that did were people to take notice.

It was why Minato had put a Fuinjutsu class in the academy. Currently there were six students in the class in the most prominent year. Four of them didn't appear to have much talent in the art. But two of them were people that were already at level two and three respectively. Although both knew level four seals and one a level five seal. One of those two weren't a surprise. Naruto-kun was his parents son after all. He'd probably be nearing level four by graduation and level five by the time he was a chuunin.

But the other person was a surprise.

Kukui Tanku.

Hiruzen had heard of the boy. Both from the academy teachers and from Naruto who was grumbling something about a jutsu the boy used to be faster. At first it just seemed like he was a particularly impressive civilian kid who had good grades after becoming motivated for whatever reason.

Then he entered Fuinjutsu class.

Instantly he was placed as a level two Fuinjutsu user due to the mastery he displayed over the seals of level two. He then learned the connector and control seal. His sensei had come to him worrying about thier student doing something stupid. And whilst there was nothing Hiruzen could do he did decide to keep an eye on his development.

That got a lot easier when he befriended Naruto-kun. Thats how he got introduced into Fuinjutsu. Hiruzen was glad he was too since this'd get him to graduate early if he studied enough. But he got from Naruto that Kukui was doing research on multiple different seals.

The Elemental seal being one of them. Eventually he got the Elemental seal down which led to what Kakashi was telling him. The Ember seal. A level five seal. It was the combination of the Elemental seal and the connector seal. It allowed the user to use one massive attack of a specific element without hand seals.

Useful in a fight but not completely. But Hiruzen was even more suprised when he heard the seal was just a prototype and it had yet to be finished. It was missing the level four Stabilizer seal. The stabilizer seal was what would make it legendary. It would allow the user to control the chakra in the seal and shape it before being used. Effectively giving the user jutsu without hand seals.

Now Hiruzen was very happy that one of his future shinobi was a Fuinjutsu user that had already created a level five seal combination in the Academy. But he felt that the boy needed guidance. Hiruzen had been spying on the boy for the past week with his orb and he sees the seeds of something great.

The boy was the most intelligent person in the class that wasn't a Nara and he was incredible in Taijutsu although he was better with a sword. He'd likely be better with a weapon like a staff. Hiruzen could only imagine the boy with an earth affinity. The ability to use earth Ninjutsu without seals was something that was terrifying.

There was a lot of potential in the boy. More than in young Sasuke and in Naruto-kun. He reminded him of a Minato with a more Kushina esque personality at times. But he was ultimately his own person. One who had the potential to rival the Yondaime Hokage.

Hiruzen knew he was getting too old for the Hokage hat. He barely had time to train so he was out of shape. He needed a successor. Hiruzen knew Naruto wanted to be Hokage and he'd groom him for the hat... but he just wasn't emotionally ready. He was too childish. He could see childishness in the young Tanku when out but he's seen him when alone. When doing his research. There was a reason he reminded him of Minato.

The world needed to be reminded why Konoha was so renowned Kumo and Iwa have been getting antsy recently. There needed to be another prodigy that would make them fear Konoha once more.

Kukui Tanku was that prodigy.

He could simply give him a jonin to teach him and to teach him Fuinjutsu. But there aren't many Jonin in Konoha who could do this. Kakashi came to mind but he had another team for him. No other Jonin would be fit for the task.

Hiruzen had an idea. One that would piss Danzo off and give him a chance to right the wrongs he made with his first and only students. He could teach Kukui Tanku and make him his apprentice.

This idea was one that he barely considered as he didn't know the academy student or who he was personally. He only knew what he got from the crystal orb. It was better to meet someone in person to get an idea of who they truly are than to listen to them through the crystal ball.

So that was what he was going to do. Talk to a potential future student.

...After he finished his paperwork.

[Fire Manipulation has leveled up]

I looked at the ash in my hand. It was class time and we had been doing the exercise. I looked at the only other person close to being as far as I was. Sasuke. He was still missing some pieces in the leaf and not all of it was crumpled.

I have done it. I finished the leaf exercise. It had been a long few months. But I had done it. Almost Nine months into my life I had done it. I felt happy. Really happy. Now all I needed to do was finish the stabilizer seal and master wall walking. Then I'd feel safe. I'd be able to fight with everything in my arsenal and feel strong. I had fire manipulation and I could use it to its fullest thanks to seals when I got the Stabilizer seal down.

"Huh you've got it before the Uchiha, brat?" Kaori-sensei suddenly appeared next to me, "Alright well then. As promised earlier in the year you get a jutsu. Since you got it down first I'll give you a C-rank instead of an E-rank one since there's no D-ranks." This was going to be my first Elemental jutsu... I had obviously learned the academy three earlier in the year but they were unimpressive. Even though I was making a seal to do this stuff for me. Learning a jutsu was still gonna be great. "So brat what'll it be? I'm giving you two choices here,"

She held up two scrolls as everyone decided to look on. This was a test wasn't it? Kaori-sensei liked to test us with two choices. One was a worse choice than the other. If we picked the better one we got nothing else. If we picked the bad one we got the bad one and more course work. So far I remained safe.

I looked at the two scrolls. The Phoenix Flower Jutsu and the Great Fireball jutsu. Kaori-sensei liked practicality. We had gone over famous jutsu in class before and these were two of them. The Phoenix fire jutsu was quicker, less chakra consuming, and it could potentially do more damage then the Great Fireball jutsu. "Phoenix Flower Jutsu." It'd be nice to know if I ever ran out of chakra in my seals.

Kaori-sensei smiled, "Good choice brat. Now good luck learning that because thats your final for the year! I'd recommend studying it first," Kaori-sensei sat back on her desk, "Alright you idiots back to work. Second also gets a C-ranked jutsu for their labor." Ah yes what a way to encourage them.

I meanwhile looked at my scroll and opened it. The Jutsu seemed simple enough. I just needed to shape fire into small balls and then spit them out. Easy right? It probably wasn't easy but I could probably get it down within the rest of the day. I felt a smile spread across my face.

"By the way," I looked up at Kaori-sensei, "You can leave brat. You don't have to come back until the final exam to showcase what you know." Oh that just made it even better. I could go outside for a bit and train tree walking! It was at level nine. I had a feeling it'd max out soon. Also I could almost hear Naruto grumble "Unfair" which was beautiful. He'd get there soon. He was the third clsoest to getting the Leaf exercise done.

I nodded and saluted Kaori-sensei as I walked out.

Alright, this was gonna be a good day. Quickly enough I made it outside and nobody was here. Good. I didn't want to spend my new found free time talking to someone and explaining why I was out of class at the moment.

It had been a good few weeks so far. This was just the Cherry on top. I looked back at the scroll in my hands... 'Might as well give it a go.' I channeled chakra in my stomach. Shaping five small balls of chakra and slowly channeled fire into them. 'Simple enough so far.'

I felt them come up and I felt my throat start to heat up. I quickly channeled chakra to it to make sure it stayed safe. "Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" I spat all five Fire Balls at a training dummy and they all hit their mark. The Dummy began to burn.

'Holy shit. First try!' Given it was a very simple jutsu... but still... It was a nice change of pace. Something that I loved was when something was easy. After months of... well everything being hard something easy was great. I did feel pretty drained though.

[New skill Unlocked: Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu]

[Phoenix Flower Jutsu lvl 1:

User creates fireballs in their stomach they can spit out.

Cost: 20 chakra points per ball]

Yeah that explained it... I spent a fourth of my chakra on that jutsu. "Man that was draining..." I then watched the fire burn. Oh yeah, How was I going to explain this? I mean it wasn't a big deal since training dummies were destroyed all the time. But using a fire jutsu on one had to get me in trouble.

Suddenly I felt a lot of Chakra signatures behind me and I heard a cough. I turned around to see Iruka, "Kukui could you please explain to me why your outside of class? Its still Ninjutsu class if I recall correctly." Iruka's stern voice was something I was used too. But this was more stern than us- Oh yeah first years were with him. I forgot this was the time first years went outside. They all looked amazed... Also I could see some chibi characters I recognised. Konohamaru and Hanabi being among them.

I rubbed the back of my head, "You see that burnt dummy there?" I pointed back to the fire, "Well I finished the leaf exercise and I was given a C-rank jutsu for being the one to finish it first. The Phoenix Flower jutsu if your wondering. So I was allowed to leave and now I decided to see if I could do the Jutsu,"

I saw a twinge of pride on Iruka's face appear before it died a firey death, "Of course Kaori would give an academy student a C-ranked jutsu. I presume you got it down?" I nodded, "Well then thats quite impressive." The pride reappeared, "Now since your here I'd like to ask a favor of you Kukui. Would you watch the first years for me? I forgot something in class and I wouldn't them to be unsupervised."

I looked at the twenty students there... 'Ah fuck it why not.' They seemed like a quiet bunch. That or they were waiting to be little shits. "Sure Sensei! I'll watch the first years for you. MAybe teach them something. Nothing dangerous," Okay maybe something dangerous but not by shinobi's standards.

Iruka smiled, "Thank you Kukui." He then turned around, "Alright this is Kukui Tanku. He's going to watch you all for a few minutes. Please listen to him whilst I'm gone," The first years all in unison said "Okay Sensei" And it made Iruka's smile widen a bit. Iruka then shunshiend away.

Leaving me with twenty kids.

'I suddenly feel very out of my depth.' I watched them all or a second before I opted to say something before they decided to stop being quiet, "Alright so does anyone want to ask any questions? I'd be happy to answer any you might have." 20 hands shot up at the same time and I sighed. "One at a time..." I chuckled before smiling, "You." I pointed to a kid wearing a white vest.

He immediately grinned, "Can you teach us that cool jutsu?" Yeah this is about what I expected. Didn't I say to Iruka I'd teach them nothing Dangerous? Yeah I did... Like thirty seconds ago.

I sighed, "No I'm afraid not. But in your fifth year you could take Ninjutsu class electives that can give you the possibility of learning the jutsu if you have a fire affinity like me." Many children in the Naruto world were so much more... quiet... I could get used to this. I used to be in a childrens hospital in my past. Children were loud. My answer to the boy's question seemed to make half the class groan. "I can possibly teach you something though. Any more questions?" Half the classes hands didn't raise. I picked out a random girl in the Crowd. Hanabi Hyuuga. "How about you little one?"

The girl narrowed her eyes, "I'm not little!" I chuckled at that. She was tiny. Like three feet tall. Now what was her question? "What can you teach us?" Something that probably wasn't hyuuga friendly. They were famously anal about their Gentle fist style. Most were.

'Tree Walking would be a good thing to get them started on. But I think I'll teach them the leaf exercise first.' It wasn't dangerous and it could help them massively later. "Well I could teach you a jutsu that's child friendly." The Transformation would work well but it ultimately wasn't that useful. Many seemed to perk up at the mention of a jutsu, "But I want to teach you something more practical." I walked up the tree and grabbed a leaf. Luckily for me it was a small tree. "No not this. If I ever get the chance to I might teach you it. But I'm going to teach you chakra control."

"Chakra control?" Hanabi Narrowed her eyes, "The Leaf excercise! I've already done that," She wined.

Well then I'd teach her the more dangerous thing. "Okay then. Well I'll teach you ho to walk on walls." I heard a few "No Fairs." From the kids but I ignored them. "This'll allow you to do more jutsu in the future. Now..." I grabbed a few more leaves and threw them at my temporary students. 'God Bless Tree Walking.' "Alright. For the Nineteen of you who appear to haven't learned it yet. Take your chakra and use channel it to a finger tip. Think of it as a platform or a beam and then lift it up."

I watched as the academy students tried to do it and most failed, "Okay not bad for your first attempts... Now. Keep trying. Once you have gotten Ten Leaves total on your hands you are ready for Tree walking." I then looked at Hanabi Hyuuga, "Hey I wanna test a theory I have. Can you activate your Byakugan?" If she could then man this would be cool.

Hanabi nodded, "I can. Why do you ask?" She tilted her head.

I grinned, "Well I assume you know of the Uchiha's ability to copy jutsu via seeing the chakra in a person and memorizing the hand seals, correct?" Hyuuga and Uchiha knew a lot about each other. Rivals and all. Hanabi nodded once again, "Well the Hyuuga should be able to not jut copy jutsu but anything with Chakra."

"Really?" Hanabi's eyes opened wide, "How? that should be impossible!"

Ah I loved shocking kids. "It shouldn't be. The byakugan can see Chakra correct?" I got another nod. "Well from what I know from basic text books it doesn't have a photographic memory feature. But if you memorize the flow of chakra in the persons body. You should be able to replicate it."

If Hanabi widened her eyes any more then her eyelids would be inside her head, "That'd mean I could copy a whole bunch of cool jutsu!" She then covered her mouth and I chuckled, "Sorry for the outburst."

I waved her off, "It wasn't an outburst. You just got excited over the endless possibilities. Now in theory it makes sense. But in practice we need to see so activate your Byakugan and watch." Hanabi nodded and activated her Byakugan. I then began walking up the tree once more.

[Wall Walking Exercise has leveled up]

[Wall walking exercise lvl max:

Allows user to walk on vertical surfaces with skill according to lvl

Cost: 1 Chakra points per second]

I ignored the screen as I walked down and Gestured to Hanabi to try.

She walked up the tree and...

She got it first try wow.

"Huh that worked..." Oh hey Iruka was back! I quickly waved and then began running. I wasn't sticking around for this.

"Wait!"

I didn't hear who said it but I wasn't waiting.

I barely dodged a kick from Mika and grinned. We were sparring and I had gotten faster it seems. Mika was also wearing heavy weight seals. Everybody wins here. She got faster and I go- I quickly had to duck under a punch and then a kick. I grabbed Mika's leg and then threw her to the side, kicking her quickly for good measure. She quickly flipped Mid-air and landed on her feet.

"You were right! This was a good idea! Thanks for the Weight Seals Tenten! Now this is more even!" Mika's legs held all the weight. Her kicks hurt more but her punches were far more manageable thinks to my constitution stat. Although getting kicked felt like what I imagine getting kicked by Naruto would have felt like if he was the first person I sparred in this world. At least now though I could fight... although I was tired. And Loosing.

Mika began running toward me once more and I barely ducked under a kick and blocked a punch. I held back a wince and sweeped out her legs and punched her on the way down. Mika quickly got her bearings and then kicked my feet out from under me and then grabbed me. "Shit." She stood up and took me with her. She lifted me completely off the ground. 'Damn taller girl... ' She was also very strong.

Mika chuckled. "Give up?" I nodded. "Alright. Thats fifty-seven to me. One to you." The one time I won was with pure luck. It was just yesterday too. I managed to sweep out her legs and then kick her in the head as she pummeled my chest with some brutal punches.

I groaned as I was dropped onto the ground, "Gee, thanks." I stood up with a groan and Mika chuckled again. I wiped dust off of me and looked to Naruto and Tenten who were analyzing the elemental seal and attempting to get a good wind ratio. "Thats the only victory I'll have for a while." I wasn't bitter. I had my own strengths at the moment. Sure I could be the best... but my friends were better in certain areas.

Tenten with Bukijutsu, Naruto with traps, Mika with... well everything else. But I had my future combat seal, some ideas I had that certainly would pack a punch, and my sheer desire to not die in the near future. Which whilst wasn't much. If anything.

I felt a pat on the back, "Relax or I'll beat you in a spar again. Your better in Fuinjutsu than both of them. Sure your mediocre in a fight. Only marginally less so than Tenten without her weapons but your better than like all but three members of my class and they're a year older than you! All we need to do is get you a bit better and you'll be a good fighter in no time!" That felt comforting I suppose.

I smiled, "I guess. But Naruto's a natural at Fuinjutsu. Two weeks after learning of its existence he became a level two seal master and the only reason why he wasn't a level three was the elemental seal," Sure the first two levels were the easiest to learn but still It took me at least a month for each.

"Huh... Well you've got better ideas than him at least so theres that. I'm sure he can't come up with something on the level of your barrier idea!" Domain Expansion. Something I wanted to bring to this world... I needed a domain though actually... and to know how to make barriers first. That was the next thing I was going to work on probably. "Naruto may be better in a fight with his fists but that head of yours is a real pain sometimes," God bless Mika. I needed to hear that.

Suddenly Tenten threw a kunai at the seal and I laughed, "Thanks... I needed to hear that." I then watched as Naruto then screamed something unintelligible and destroyed his seal, "Music to my ears." Sure I hated seeing my friends mad but after so many times getting my ass kicked I deserved a good laugh.

"Man they're really pissed today. Should we go calm them down now?" Mika asked with a tilt of her head as we watched the two rage. Naruto and Tenten then began to hug and cry, "Now this is just getting sad."

I nodded. "Yeah... I think we should just let them cry it out of their systems. Nothing we can say will help them get over the soul crushing feeling of failure. Trust me." Failure is something that hurt deeply when it came to Fuinjutsu. Reassurances were hollow when it came to the art.

"Oh," Mika turned to look back at them, "Well... wanna spar again?" Mika's grin made me gulp. I didn't have a say in this didn't I?

"Sure... I'm gonna get my ass kicked, am I?" I looked back at Mika.

Mika's grin told me I indeed was.

"Alright class today we're going to be doing a very special excersise with a special guest today." Iruka smiled at the class, "Its something we haven't done before but since this year is rather special. We want to make sure your all ready for your shinobi life. If you graduate soon or not."

What would we be doing? Over the past few days we've done an obstacle course with sixth years throwing stuff at us, a stealth excercise, and an information protecting one. None of them had special guests to teach them or to help with them. So this must be a particularly important thing.

I raised my hand since Iruka didn't elaborate yet, "So, Sensei what are we going to do today and why is there someone coming today and not anyone all those other days," What would this day be? If the last few days were about an important thing in the Shinobi arts... evasion, stealth, and protecting classified documents... Poisons? Interrogation? Genjutsu detction? Those were things we hadn't covered yet in class.

Iruka smiled, "I'm glad you asked Kukui. You see there are a few important things that we have yet to go over yet. Those being how to deal with poisons, interrogations, and Genjutsu," Bingo. I'm sure the smarter kids in class guessed it too, "Today we're going to be focusing on Genjutsu. The reason why there's someone here today is because she is one of the people who's interested in some of the students here and wants to talk to them. But first we are going to make sure everyone can dispell a genjutsu,"

Iruka then gestured toward the door, "You can come in now." The door opened and it revealed a woman with fair skin, black untamed hair, and red eyes. Kurenai Yuhi. He then looked back at the class, "This is Kurenai Yuhi. Konoha's best Genjutsu user." I felt Hinata's chakra fluctuate. She's suprised... Damn sensing won't turn off sometimes.

Kurenai smiled at everyone and I swear I could hear Kiba say something lewd, "As Iruka said I am Kurenai Yuhi. And I am here to help you all at the very least dispell a jutsu. As Iruka also said I will be talking with a few of you today." The smile temporarily turned icy as her eyes darted around the room toward most of the future Kunoichi of this class, "So I would like to keep this fast since there is thirty of you after all. Who would like to volunteer to go first and then see if you can break out of a genjutsu. We will go from there."

I looked around the class who all looked at the resident lap rat and sighed, "Well I'm being betrayed by my class so I guess i'll go first," Shouldn't Sasuke have been the one to go first? Isn't he like super interested in Genjutsu to stop Itachi? My memory was a bit hazy there.

"Alright." The woman nodded, "Alright what is your name? And what is your worse fear?"

My mind flickered back to the abyss temporarily and I shook my head to get the images out, "I'm Kukui Tanku... I really hate sensory deprevation. "That was the closest thing I could think of that I feared. After dying once fear becomes second to survival.

Suddenly I felt most my my senses dissapear. 'Oh fuck.' I placed a hand on my chest and I could still feel. I then took a deep breath. I can still feel. Its not that bad. I could also sense chakra. Specifically the chakra inside me. I quickly channeled my chakra through my Tenketsu and felt the chakra dissapear. My other senses came back to me quickly enough. I looked to a suprised Kurenai, "A wanring would have been nice..." That got a laugh out of Naruto. Real nice guy. " Welp that was terrible."

[New Skill Unlocked: Genjutsu dissapation]

[Genjutsu dissapation lvl 1:

A tecnique that allows user to dissapate Genjutsu

Cost: 10 chakra points per second]

'This'll be useful. Glad to have it.'

The woman nodded, "It was since it was your worst fear. Sorry for not warning you by the way. It wouldn't have worked as well without it." That was true but it still sucked. "Now will you be willing to share how you broe out of the Genjutsu." Yeah this was going to be helpful.

I rubbed the back of my head, "Well I'm a sensor so it was kinda easy for me. Once I knew it was a genjutsu I found the chakra and my system and pushed it out with my chakra which led to the Genjutsu dispelling." I then yawned, "Although I'm sure that helps nobody else here except for the last part,"

Kurenai Nodded, "That is correct but the second part of what you said helps. Now most Genjutsu are easy to recognise. Now how about we get another person to test this but this time without them being a sensor?" She looked around, "Anyone?"

Sasuke raised his hand.

Poor bastard.

So yeah this is a longer chapter than yesterdays. Well the one I wrote yesterday. We actually hit 5k words with this one and I'm genuinely surprised. But I shouldn't be since I really enjoyed this one. From the first part with Hiruzen which I'm gonna explain to the last part with Kurenai which wasn't in the original draft of this chapter.

Now onto the part with Hiruzen. So some of you may know that Hiruzen took Kukui on as his apprentice before the Finals in the Chuunin exams in NS. Here though? Well since its obviously going in that direction now I might as well explain. Hiruzen is a tired old man. Most of his mistakes as Hokage came in his second term when he was just tired of being the Hokage. So he sees a promising young and decently mature boy who's already made something incredible and has the potential to do so much more and decides that he's gonna nurture that and help him take the damn hat. I think its reasonable enough. Besides it'd make sense for the torture Imma put Kukui through.

Next is the Fire bit/Kukui meets Hanabi. Kukui was Hanabi's mentor in NS but after Hidan iirc. Here I decided to build up to it a bit and have it happen earlier. This comes with the added bonus of getting to share a theory I'm really passionate about. Also the bit with him completing the fire excercise was neat. I also figured I'd give Kukui a W here with the Phoenix Flower jutsu.

Second to last is the bit with Mika and Kukui. I gotta admit I love writing Mika again. Her and Kukui interacting is always fun and having someone who believes in Kukui is better. She's gonna be as important as she was in NS.

Last is the Genjutsu part. Originally I was gonna write out the stealth bit as I originally loved the idea. But before writing it I decided I didn't want to do it. I managed to come up with it last second as I though it'd fit with the idea of the exams. So I did it. It also helped me give Kukui this skill.

Anyways yeah that was the chapter. See y'all later!

Random question about the last five chapters: What do you think of Kukui's little group?

- Tobi!