"Are you excited, Shu?"

As he turned to looked at the matron woman, Miu, he found her expression to be something akin to pride. He didn't remember much about his original life. He was incredibly thankful for it though. The trauma from whatever death he had suffered had been spared from him.

Shu turned back towards Miu. "I guess? I'm more surprised that I was allowed to attend at my age at all." he said, rubbing his hands together for warmth. Konoha's winter had a bit of a bite to it that left him longing for a blanket.

Miu nodded, "I know you're probably wondering why but it's because the Hokage recognizes your potential. Not just any child your age can use their chakra. It takes years of training to master and you can already do what no other person your age can."

"Yeah?" He asked with genuine curiosity. "What's that?"

"Summon it." She said simply.

Shu rolled my eyes as he pulled my scarf up over my mouth and nose. He knew that to the people of this world he must have seemed like some prodigy and maybe he was, but calling forth your chakra when all you could do all day was sit around was nothing to be impressed about. Anybody with his mental age could have figured this out.

Truth be told, he was ecstatic. He had gotten the chance to have what equated to literal superpowers. He didn't care if he had to train them. On a much darker note, Shu had quickly realized that he didn't really have an option. Not if I wanted to stay alive in the coming years. He'd been amazingly lucky to be born near Konoha. Whoever his parents were, Shu was glad they'd made it to Konoha before surrendering him to the village.

As they made their way to the front doors, Shu found himself questioning his luck because there, in all of his glory, stood the current Hokage, Minato Namikaze, in the flesh, in front of the academy doors. He wore a smile that would make any woman swoon, judging by the matron's face. Shu might have been more excited himself if not for the looming threat of Naruto's birth and what it would bring could be on its way at any point.

"Welcome, Shu. I'm very excited to have you on board. Miu, here, tells me that you've already figured out how to use your chakra." Minato said with an excited grin that seemed to radiate warmth.

He nodded, "Yeah, but I don't see what the big deal is. Can't a lot of people at my age do that already?"

Minato shook his head. "Nope. In fact, you are only the second person to do so in the last few years at your age."

Shu's interest showed on his face. Perhaps he could pinpoint the year. "Really? Who would the other person be?"

"Itachi Uchiha. He's about a year older than you but won't be enrolling until he's a little older. So, seeing as that's the case, I want you to seek out and learn what you can from your peers. Ko Hyuga is an upperclassman and quite advanced and may help you. Head on inside. They're expecting you." And with that, Minato vanished in a flash of yellow.

Shu couldn't contain his smile at seeing the hiraishin. Although, it quickly fell off of his face as he came to the realization of how old Itachi Uchiha was. Seeing as how it was January and Itachi was five, that meant that Sasuke was to be born soon. And by proxy, Naruto was as well. Shu's thoughts were in hyper drive as he thought of ways to survive the attack. Naruto was born on October 10th, so that gave him. . . roughly nine months to become competent enough to escape the area. He couldn't afford to slouch.

As Shu walked through the academy's halls, he found himself somewhat impressed. They didn't really advertise it but the technology level was higher than expected. Its growth was a bit inconsistent but he gave it a pass due to the existence of shinobi and samurai. As he stopped at the classroom, he rapped his knuckles against the door. The talking on the other end stopped.

"You may enter." A woman's voice answered.

As he opened the door before stopping inside, he found himself overtaken by his inner fanboy as the sight that greeted him was an exact replica of the room that he remembered from the show. Shaking himself out of my stupor, he spoke up, "Uh, hello. Is this room 2?"

"It is. You must be Shu. Welcome to the ninja academy. Introduce yourself and then take the seat nearest Hana over there." She said pointing at a young girl.

He turned and bowed, "My name is Shu Kazami. A pleasure to meet you all."

A chorus of hello's greeted him in return before he went and took a seat. As he turned, the academy teacher introduced herself. "Welcome, Shu. My name is Suzume. I am the new instructor for the kunoichi classes so you won't see me too often. I'm currently filling in for another instructor at the moment."

Shu looked her up and down. She was really young. Late teens, possibly early twenties. He nodded before going to take his seat.

"When Daikoku gets here, he will explain your class schedule and how it will work in comparison to your studies. As for now, take your seat and we will resume the lesson.

It was then that he realized that he was ever thankful he'd be getting early lessons in the ninja classes because this was boring. He had assumed that, when he'd seen kids his own age, he would be learning to be a ninja alongside them. What Shu had failed to realize is that the children in this classroom were all five years old. And they were not learning how to be ninja, only to read and write.

Shu let out a groan as his head slowly sank onto the table. He hoped that this Daikoku guy would get here soon. He could feel myself withering away in the face of absolute boredom. For an hour, He tried to listen to the teacher explain the writing curriculum. Over the last four years, He had taught himself the written language, if only for the fact that he had had nothing else to do. Being a cognizant infant gives one a lot of free time.

"Shu Kazami?" A male voice rang out through the class. His head perked up instantly.

"Yes?" Shu asked with hope, his head shooting up from his arms.

"Come with me."

He quickly stood and followed the man out of the classroom before taking in his appearance. He was a fairly large man with a goatee and brown hair. He wore the typical chunin vest that all the instructors wore alongside a bandana headband. He looked a little familiar. "Are you Daikoku?"

"Yep. And that's Daikoku sensei to you from now on until you graduate." He said with light heartedly before smiling. "Now, onto your schedule. You'll be doing those classes in the morning to build up your grammar and educational level. Your shinobi classes will be the second half of your day which we will spend building your chakra and teaching you to manipulate with older children."

Before he could go any further, Shu spoke up. "Actually, I can already read and write. And my math is fine."

Daikoku stopped and turned to face me. "Really? All right. What's two times six?"

"Twelve." he continued. "I know how to multiply and divide. Geometry is fairly easy and besides working on my advanced grammar, I think I'm okay with everything else."

Daikoku gave me a considerate look. "Huh, I imagine that class was pretty boring for you then?"

I nodded, "I already knew everything in that class."

Daikoku let out a smile. "You kids, always in a rush to learn the ninja stuff. Alright. Tomorrow, I will have a test with questions that will get more advanced as the test goes on. That will let me know what level I should put you at education-wise. What I can say for certain is that you've never thrown a kunai."

Shu smiled and shook his head. "No, sir."

"Okay, if I deem you academically fit, your day will consist of the shinobi classes from morning till night." Daikoku opened a door. "For now, introduce yourself to the class and take a seat."

With a nod he stepped in front of everyone and introduced himself to the older class. "Hello, my name is Shu Kazami."

"Sensei, why is there one so young in our class?" A boy with jet black hair and pale white eyes asked. A Hyuga. Upon looking at the class, Shu saw that there were quite a few Hyuga in this class.

Daikoku looked at the boy. "Shu here is quite the surprise in the village. At his age he has already taught himself to manipulate chakra. Seeing as how it would be a bit foolish to let him stagnate, Lord Fourth has decided to put him in the youngest shinobi class. We'll be finding out tomorrow how much of his day will be spent here. Do you have any more questions, Ko?"

Thoughts of the name Ko Hyuga rang through his head. It definitely rings some bells. Perhaps one of Hinata's guards? Shu cursed his faulty memory.

"Yes, one more. This time of the day is sparring and practical lessons. Is his grammar level the reason he was not in the earlier lessons regarding chakra theory?" Ko asked.

Daikoku nodded. "Indeed. We were unaware that Shu could already read as well as he could. As I said, he will be getting a test to determine if he will maintain a permanent standing in class."

Shu was set on getting a permanent spot in this class. His sanity, and safety, depended on it.

Satisfied with the answer, Ko lowered his hand before paying attention. Shu noticed that these students were all around eight years old. Four years older than himself. He quickly took a seat near the back before looking out the window.

Being reborn into a new world and a fictional one at that was amazing. He wanted to see anything and everything. Everything from the buildings to the technology resembled the late eighties which surprised him. The show never showcased its level of technology too well and now Shu was getting first hand experience. He was certain that one of the movies did have a train that Naruto outran but there were a few things that he found were missing. For one, Konoha had heaters but air conditioning had yet to be invented. It was a good thing that he was a little kid right now because he was sure he'd have died from the summer heat. Shu was not too fond of snow but he found it much better than the heat.

Shu's thoughts shifted to the lack of transportation. No vehicles whatsoever were around. Not even bikes. It was strange but it was probably due to chakra. He'd think about it later. As he listened to Daikoku getting everyone ready for shuriken training, his focus was caught by Ko's notebook. There was a detailed sketch of what looked to be an alternate nervous system. His staring must have caught Daikoku's attention because he honed in on me.

"Shu, something you'd like to share?"

"Uh, no. I was," he stammered before pointing at Ko, "I was just interested in his drawing. It looked like a. . . I was looking at his drawing." he muttered, sinking into my chair.

Ko looked at his notebook before Daikoku walked up and inspected it. "What does it look like to you?"

He felt a bit self conscious being stared at by a class full of kids but he shrugged, "Like a nervous system." Shu said quietly.

Ko reached over before handing him a text book and turning the pages to a specific chapter. There sat an official copy of the drawing that Ko had. "It's the chakra pathway system. It spans the entire body and is what allows you to use chakra in the first place."

Shu was extremely intrigued as he sat forward, examining the picture. It was much more advanced than the few blue lines the show had shown. He pointed to one of the small nodes along the lines. "This is a tenketsu right? It's what the gentle fist targets?"

Ko's surprise was clear as day before he slowly nodded, "Yes. Those are the tenketsu. You'll learn about those if you are to remain in this class."

To any other kid, I'm sure Ko would have come across as a bit of an ass, but Shu knew better. This was how the Hyuga were. He was just awkward like all kids who were ahead of their peers. He nodded before smiling. "Thanks."

Daikoku handed Ko his text book back. "Alright then. Shu, you'll get your materials sometime tomorrow. As for now though, everyone outside. It's shuriken training time."

"But it's too cold outside." Several kids whined. They weren't wrong though. It was the middle of January and the snow was knee deep.

"Good thing you all have coats then, huh?" He said with a boisterous grin. Shu smiled, deciding right then that he kind of liked this guy.

By the time class had ended, Shu had realized two things. One, he was actually pretty good with shuriken and kunai. It had taken him a few minutes to learn the technique but I'd gotten the hang of it. And two, touching metal weapons in freezing temperatures didn't mesh well. At all.

As he stepped into the orphanage, he found a form shoved in my face by none other than Minato himself. Shu eyed the man with a raised eyebrow as he took the form. "Minato? What's this?"

Minato gave a smile. "It's a registration form. Now that you've joined the ninja academy, you get to have your own apartment. Every new recruit gets one of these forms. Normally, you'd have to wait till you were about eight to ten years old. But, seeing as how you are actually going to be working with kunai and shuriken, you can't be exposing the non-ninja children to the weaponry that you'll be receiving. So, you get your own place."

Shu's excitement was palpable. The orphanage is a cozy little space but he was afforded no privacy and he wouldn't take being surrounded by toddlers and infants all day over a place of his own. He had accepted that he wasn't going to get adopted and now that he was getting his own apartment, that was all the confirmation he needed. But it didn't bother him any.

"So, I fill this out and I get an assigned apartment?" he asked with a bit of excitement.

Minato shook his head, "I can have one assigned but seeing as how you're so young, I'm giving you a bit of leeway. Do you have any preferences? I can work with you on it."

"Uh," He decided to push his luck a bit. "Is there any way I can get a house?"

Minato raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you can. But you'll be paying it off as soon as you graduate the academy and start doing missions. You get a stipend from the village that we immediately take a percentage from so you don't have to worry about bills and rent. It leaves you with only groceries."

Shu winced. That's what he expected. But seeing as how it was on the table, he was still going to try for the house. "Would the stipend act as a loan that I'd have to pay back in the event of a house rather than an apartment?"

Minato nodded, "You're pretty perceptive. Yes, the stipend would act as a loan that would cover the property. It would also be much more sizable and you would need to start paying it back as soon as you start taking missions. If you choose to go with an apartment, you don't need to pay this back."

He nodded. "And what did you choose when you were my age?"

Minato grinned. "I chose the house which I still live in to this day."

Shu grinned back before nodding, "Then let's go with a house."

Minato smiled and helped him fill out the form. They settled on a house towards the village walls near the east side. It was a two story, three bedroom house with a sizable yard and a large fence for privacy. Well, as private as one could get in a village of ninja. He had helped him pick one that was affordable and that would be inside his price range as a fresh genin.

By the end of the tour and the paperwork, Shu had turned to ask him a question that had been bugging him all day. "Why are you taking time out of your day to help me? I'm sure there are other things that you have to be doing as a Hokage."

Minato smiled. "In all honesty, I haven't told anyone else this but. . . my wife and I are having a child. She's been spending a lot of time around the orphanage looking at the babies and I'm trying to get a feel for it, ya know? Hanging out with you is helping me get my feet under me in preparation, so to speak."

A pang of guilt shot through him. He knew that I couldn't say anything lest he be branded as crazy. He scratched his head, "That's the red haired woman, Kushina?"

He nodded. "Yep. Love of my life."

"Well, I'm sure you'll be a great dad." Shu said with a smile. "You've helped me out a lot today. Daikoku says he's got a test for me tomorrow to determine where I stand academically. Besides maybe history, I'm sure I'm ahead of even Ko's class."

Minate laughed, "You think so?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But, um. . . can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, go for it." Minato said nonchalantly as they walked through the market.

"Is the hiraishin a ninjutsu or a fuinjutsu?" Shu needed to know.

Minato chuckled. "It's a ninjutsu. I can see why one might think that with the seal on my kunai, but it is indeed a ninjutsu. I initially learned the second hokage's version before making improvements on it."

Shu nodded. So he was right. Minato was a top seal master but that wasn't what gave him the capability to use the hiraishin.

"Well, if that's all, I'll see you later." Minato said as we stopped at the Orphanage doors. "You'll have a busy week and so will I. Let me know how your schooling goes next time we talk."

And then he was gone. Shu let out a dejected sigh. This guilt was going to kill him.

Shu had moved into my own place, a whole month passed, and true to his words, he had passed the tests with ease and had gone to the absolute limits of what the test could allow. He knew for a fact that he had gotten a few of the questions wrong regarding math by the end. His language level capped out around the average adult which was really all he needed.

The sparring was fun and Ko was very helpful in helping him catch up to his peers. Turns out that the academy's taijutsu style is only a foundation to be built on. He was glad he remembered some boxing from his last life or those days would probably have hurt a lot more. Not that it helped him much. Ko was merciless in showing me where my openings were.

Shurikenjutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu were all very simple as well. But he hadn't expected too much with only learning a henge and how to break out of a genjutsu. The class hadn't learned the replacement jutsu or the clone either. What had Ko envious however, was when Shu had finally figured out how to walk on walls. The chakra control was no joke. It sucked. Like a lot. Although, it did surprise Daikoku sensei quite a bit when he asked who had taught me how to do that. He couldn't say Kakashi for obvious reasons so he had just said he'd figured it out. That was also the day that he learned he had a lot of Chakra as well. Like a stupid amount for someone his age. When they had discussed how chakra was formed by not only physical energies but mental as well, the answer as to why his chakra was much larger had become clear. Shu's body was compensating for the mental chakra being outputted in his body. Reincarnation played a bigger part in his life than he had initially thought. Then, the day that shaped his future arrived.

"The chakra pathway system is intricately weaved within the body, transporting chakra through the body and each organ just like the circulatory system does with blood. Now the fascinating part about the system is that it's partly responsible in the creation of chakra itself as well, as every cell and protein in the body are connected to this system."

Shu's eyes were glued to the box tv that had been rolled into the classroom. Everyone was falling asleep during the boring lesson. Even Ko had dozed off. But Shu was intrigued. Not just by the lesson, but by the television itself. It looked like a typical television one might have seen just before flatscreens started becoming more prominent.

"They serve the same function for chakra as blood vessels do for blood. Along the chakra pathways, there are 361 nodes called tenketsu that control the flow of chakra like circuit breakers, and within those tenketsu are–"

The television abruptly shut off before smoke started pouring out of the back. Everyone let out a sigh of relief before Daikoku shook his head. "Damn it. That was the only TV the academy had."

"Oh well." Ko said flatly, "Does this mean we can go home for the day?"

Daikoku sighed before nodding, "Consider it an early get out. You're free to go."

A chorus of cheers lit up the classroom as everyone ran out the door. Shu watched Daikoku leave the room as well before he walked up to the television. Quickly checking the hallway for any of the teachers he turned back towards the television. Now, normally, he wouldn't think twice about a tv breaking and smoking. But, the smoke had been distinctly blue. Shu had a sneaking suspicion that technology operated differently than what he was used to. Quickly examining it, he found the screws that held the back together and undid them.

What greeted him was a mass of weird tubes and wires. It looked familiar but so foreign at the same time. Pulling apart the main console piece that he quickly identified as the bulb placement, he began to examine the glass tubing. Clicking the power button, he watched as electricity flowed through the tube almost like a liquid. A moment later, he saw the smoke pouring out of the bulb before he flicked the power off.

His next interest was the circuitry. The main motherboard, if it could be called that, had a fan on it that seemed to be damaged. Shu narrowed his eyes in confusion. This looked. . . familiar. He quickly stood up before jumping across the room and grabbing his textbook. Jumping back to the tv, he opened the book to the image that Ko had shown him a month ago. The chakra pathway system. He knew it looked familiar. The tubing resembled a chakra pathway system. And if the tubing was the pathways, then the circuit nodes must be the tenketsu.

His interest was peaked as he examined the fan. He immediately identified the blue smoke being a result of the bulb's heat. It should have cooled before it ever got to this point though. After a few seconds of examining it, he found the cause. There was a small vial, almost miniscule in size, that was displaced. These small glass vials were all over the interior and he realized that if that was the equivalent of a gate, then the flow of energy had been blocked, causing it to back up and concentrate on the closest outlet. The bulb.

He quickly secured all of the nodes in place before tightening the screws before clicking the power button to no avail. Something wasn't right. Taking one more look, he noticed that one of the vials seemed out of place. A building error. Taking the excess vial out, I tried the power button once more. The bulb turned on, displaying a projected image on the wall. Shu smiled in satisfaction. If that was how all technology worked, then he understood the progression rate of this world's tech levels. Putting it all back together, he placed the tv back on its stand before pushing the button off and then back on.

–Within those tenketsu are eight gates which control body function and strain levels. The–

I flicked the volume on and off before trying all the buttons. The volume worked, so did the channels, and the power button.

"Huh. That wasn't so hard." Shu muttered to himself with a grin.

"Wow, that was amazing!"

He whipped around to see Minato standing in the doorway alongside Daikoku and a very attractive redhead. No doubt Kushina. Shu marveled at how her hair was redder than the show portrayed. He found it weird seeing something like that in real life.

"Uh, hey Minato." he said nervously. "What's up?"

Kushina walked forward and pushed the power button on and off. "You understand this type of stuff?"

"Somewhat. I mean, it's fairly simple. It's basically a chakra network but on a technological scale. All I had to do was find the blockage." he said, eyeing Kushina.

Daikoku walked up to it as well before Kushina opened the back of the tv. Examining it, he nodded. "What was wrong with it?"

"The bulb overheated. When I looked at it, I saw that there the energy flow wasn't reaching the fan and–"

"And so it found the nearest outlet, being the bulb." Minato said with a nod. "So how'd you fix it?"

"I took this out." Shu said, holding up the small glass vial. "Think of it like the inner gates. This one was an open gate. It was pushing too much energy in a single direction, causing the flow to not enter the fan correctly. So, I. . . 'closed' the gate, stabilizing the flow." he said, handing it to Minato.

Minato examined it before looking at Kushina. "Is it stable?"

Kushina nodded. "Yeah. In fact, I'd say it works better than before, ya know?"

Shu did his best to suppress his laugh at the verbal tic. He could definitely hear Naruto in her voice. When she turned her gaze at him, he stood up a little straighter before turning back towards Minato. "I can see why the designer thought to put this one in front of the fan's path. The others manage large amounts of energy at any given time. Putting one there might have helped the fan's input but really, all it did was force the energy past it, dispersing it back into the bulb. Removing it should fix it completely though."

Kushina playfully narrowed her eyes at Shu. Laughing at her tic was probably not a good idea in front of her. Minato cleared his throat before turning towards Daikoku. "Isn't this the same issue that everyone in the village is having with their televisions?"

"Yes Lord Seventh. Normally turning them off for an hour or two fixed the problems but they'd eventually begin to smoke. Everyone was worried they'd catch on fire so many have been cautious with them as a result."

Minato looked at Daikoku. "Can you go check one for me quickly? See if the issues match up?"

Daikoku vanished in a swirl of leaves before returning a minute later. "Yes, that did seem to be the issue. The screen's heat is gone and the fan is working correctly."

"Alright." Minato smiled. "Go inform Lord Third of the resolved issue. He'll take care of it from there." After Daikoku left, Minato turned back towards me. "Thank you, Shu. You just saved us a lot of money today."

"How much money?" he asked in confusion. "It's just a couple TV's right? I can't imagine they're too expensive."

"Each one of these is about 20,000 ryo." Minato said simply.

Shu's eyes widened, '20,000 ryo! That's the equivalent of 2,000 dollars a TV! And not even a good TV.' he thought to himself. "What the f–" Kushina's glare silenced him.

"Watch your mouth young man." Kushina scolded.

Shu hastily before looking back at Minato. "Why? What, is it made of chakra metal or something?"

"Well, yes, but that metal isn't that expensive. It's not just material cost. You have to take into account the labor to build one, the tools required, shipping costs, and the state of economics in the village. The fact that the third ninja war only ended around five years ago is a big factor in itself." He explained.

He stopped to think about that for a minute. This wasn't some flatscreen tv. It was a retro grade box. In all honesty, Minato was probably correct about the price match. He didn't know how much a TV was in the 80's or 90's but it was probably expensive as well. "Still. That's a bit steep, don't ya think?"

"Perhaps, a little. But," Minato smiled, "People enjoy them."

"So," Shu's mind drifted to what Minato had said earlier regarding saving money. "Is there a reward for fixing the television problem?" he asked slyly. Maybe he could get the house paid off in one go.

Minato eyed me, "That depends. What were you thinking?"

"If I could get the house paid for?" he asked hopefully.

Minato chuckled, shaking his head. "Best I can do is half off. Taxes need to be accounted for. But that was a given regardless."

"Ugh, figures." Shu muttered with annoyance to Minato's amusement.

"But is that all you wanted?" Kushina asked? "We could teach you something. As long as it's not too much trouble of course."

Shu realized that he could probably get a jutsu out of this. He already knew how to do the rasengan for obvious reasons. The fireball would be good but he didn't know if that was an Uchiha only thing. Then his mind jumped towards injuries. "Can you teach me a jutsu?"

Kushina rolled her eyes but smiled. "Jeez, what kind of kid are you that you didn't immediately ask for a jutsu?"

"Alright, which one?" Minato asked.

"The mystical palm?" He asked. That seemed extremely practical.

Kushina and Minato's eyes widened. Kushina let out a nervous laugh, "We can't actually do that. In fact, very few medic nin in the village can do that."

I was taken aback. "What? But I see every doctor using it all the time."

"Oh! You mean medical chakra. Shu, the mystical palm jutsu is not something anybody can just learn. It takes rigorous training and discipline. But if you want to learn medical chakra I can show you how to do that."

"So that's not what they use when their hands are glowing green?" He asked in surprise.

Minato shook his head. "No. It's just medical chakra. But if you keep working with medical chakra, you can learn the mystical palm jutsu. But, uh, with your reserves that could pose a challenge."

"What do you mean?" He asked. He knew his reserves were high for his age but they couldn't be too high.

"You're chakra levels match mine when I first started out as a genin. They will only get larger as you get older and you're only four Shu. Starting your control now will definitely be in your best interest." Minato asked.

"Huh. I guess that makes sense. But I still want to learn medical chakra."

Minato nodded with a smile, "Alright."

It was a few days before he got the hang of medical chakra. He remembered something about Sakura teaching a class on medical ninjutsu with coffee and milk, making a flower blossom, and a fish coming back to life. Turns out that he was kinda okay at medical ninjutsu. By the end of the third day, Shu found he could heal bruises and small cuts.

As he laid in bed, his mind drifted back to the TV before he looked at the glass vial on the nightstand. Gently picking it up, he examined it. Could he use this to develop a jutsu of some sort? Boruto had that weird wrist jutsu thing in his show. Maybe he could make that? It didn't seem too hard. If it was that compact, and the TV's looked like that, then maybe he could figure it out.

He let out a sigh before putting the vial back down. He would think about it later.

It was another three months before something of note happened. Shu had been training like a madman, working on his speed and strength. There was no doubt in his mind that he wouldn't be able to help in anything during the nine tails attack. Not at his age. So, he settled for speed training. Wearing weights sucked but Lee showed that it worked. Running in a river with weights was even harder. And sparring with weights on? Shu didn't even want to think about that. Within two weeks, he had upped the weight when he had grown comfortable. It was during this that he discovered the amazing and superb benefits of medical chakra. Soreness no longer plagued me in the mornings.

He had taught himself to run on water by this point, which had further boosted his chakra control. What Shu hadn't accounted for was that the only person that could keep up in a spar after that was Ko. It seems that Kakashi's method of teaching team 7 in the show had worked exactly as he said it would. Boosting your chakra control wasn't just good for jutsu, it heightened your body's strengths and senses. He wasn't sure what level he was at at the moment, but without those weights on, he could clear the village in a little under two and a half minutes.

With his speed at an acceptable level, he needed to route an escape route away from the village. This brought him to the top of the Hokage monument. As he stared out over the village, the warm summer air drifted through his hair. It was a beautiful sight when one stopped to look. He could almost forget that Konoha just got out of a war four years ago. He closed his eyes, remembering when Kurama attacked the village. Minato would appear on top of the monument and stop the tailed beast bomb before teleporting him away. Which meant. . .

He nodded, marking a spot on the map of Konoha he had drawn out where Kurama was most likely to appear. If Shu started on top of the monument, he'd have a free escape just by turning around. If he was at the bottom, his escape routes were limited to left or right. If he was at his house, he was already at the edge of the village so it didn't really matter which way he ran. And worst case scenario, if Kurama was right on top of him, he would just throw caution to the wind and run in any direction.

"My, what is a child doing all the way up here, I wonder?"

The hair on the back of his neck stood up before he calmed himself. Before him stood Orochimaru, who had not left the village yet. Putting on his most childlike innocent face, he turned towards him, "Just training. Daikoku sensei said we should familiarize ourselves with the village so that we know best how to help one another in a hurry."

Orochimaru raised an eyebrow before glancing towards the map. "Is that so? Well, Daikoku isn't wrong about that per say, but there are more important things to worry about."

"Oh? Like what?" he asked, a bit curious. Maybe he can get something out of this.

"Like focusing on your strengths. I've noticed you running around the village quite a bit Shu. Your speed is quite impressive for your age. You're faster than several genin I know. Yet, I can't help but wonder why you work so hard compared to your peers. Is there a reason for it?"

He had been prepared for this line of questioning, thankfully, and didn't make any outward signs of nervousness. "Ko said that since I've started so late I need to work much harder than everyone else to get caught up. So I've been making a really big effort to be able to stand beside my classmates."

Orochimaru narrowed his eyes in an indiscernible expression before taking a step forward. "If that's the case then perhaps–"

"Orochimaru, how's it going?" Minato said cheerfully as he appeared beside me.

Orochimaru gave a smile back. "Nothing, just talking to Shu here. He's a very promising young man and I've seen him training his speed."

"Isn't he? I've noticed it myself. But ignoring that for a moment, Jiraya sensei is looking for you. He seemed pretty serious. I'd get moving if I were you." Minato said, his smile never leaving his face.

Orochimaru nodded before vanishing in a swirl of leaves. Minato and Shu stood in silence for a moment before Shu decided to break it. "How's Kushina's pregnancy going?"

Minato's head snapped towards me. His thoughts shifted to the secrecy of her pregnancy before remembering that he had indeed told Shu of her pregnancy months ago. After a second he schooled his features. "It's going well. She's due in October. We're not sure which day but we're excited."

Shu turned to walk off, his guilt eating away at his soul, "October 10th. That's the date."

"Yeah? How can you be sure?" He asked curiously.

He shrugged, not turning back to face him. "I dunno. I just do."

Minato hummed before he responded, a smile present in his tone, "I'll mark it down."

"See ya Minato." He simply said before jumping back into the village.

Four months passed before September 23nd arrived. His birthday. He was more scared than ever and looked for anything to take his mind off of the coming month. Sleep was becoming a bit harder to get. He had started working on everything to keep my mind off of. . . well, everything. His speed was very high as was my strength. HIs medical ninjutsu was excelling and he could heal poisons, stab wounds, and he could even mend broken bones. Medicines and herbal infusions eluded him but his medical chakra was potent according to Daikoku. They said he was gifted with medical ninjutsu, but he didn't think so. It wasn't like he was aiming to be a medic or anything. The only reason he had chosen to learn it in the first place was to keep himself alive, not others.

Unfortunately, Minato had been right about his chakra. With all the training, his reserves were growing fast and that meant he had to keep up with my control. Thankfully, medical ninjutsu requires an extreme amount of chakra control so that was covered. According to Daikoku, his chakra had reached just above the size of the average chunin's level. Apparently its potency was rising as well. A rare combination, apparently. He was honestly wondering when they would cap out. Having large amounts of chakra was great and all if you were a ninjutsu specialist he supposed, but he wasn't. Shu shook his head. It wasn't like he had a bloodline to give him an edge. It didn't even make him special next to someone like Naruto or Kisame. Besides the extra stamina, it only caused him problems when doing medic training.

He looked at the clock. 12:13 am. He let out a breath before getting out of bed and heading to his living room. A TV that Minato had given him sat there. Flicking it on showed the very few channels that there were. There was a Konoha news channel which only ran in the mornings and seeing as how it was the middle of the night, that was a bust. The second was a music channel. Basically a repeat of music. The final one was a channel that ran movies with really bad quality and no color. Shu let out a groan before flicking it onto a really bad movie about a ninja and a samurai revenge plot.

As he watched the movie mindlessly, a pounding came at my front door, startling him enough that he instantly drew a kunai. He narrowed his eyes as he walked up to the door before a desperate voice came through the door. "Shu! Are you there! Please open the door!"

"Kushina?" Shu opened the door, positioning myself in a way that would allow him to evade if needed. As he looked at her, he noticed the dirt and blood on her clothes as she looked back at him frantically. He also noticed the absent baby bump. No doubt a henge as she was due in only a month. He opened the door all the way before setting his kunai down. "Can I help you? I'm fairly certain you shouldn't be on your feet."

Kushina shook her head, "That doesn't matter. How good is your medical ninjutsu?"

Shu deadpanned at her. "It's alright I guess. I can mend bones and muscle and heal fairly serious injuries. Why?"

Kushina simply grabbed my arm and before he could react, he found himself in the middle of the hospital. Looking beside her, he found Minato with a hand on her shoulder and an apologetic look aimed at him.

He shot an irritated look at them before yanking his arm out of her grip. "Don't do that. It's unsettling." he grumbled, doing his best to keep his anger in check. The lack of sleep had made him quite irritable.

"Sorry, Shu." Minato apologized, "But we need your help for the night."

"What's going on?" He asked as he looked around, the sounds of heartbeat monitors and groans filling my ears. The smell of antiseptic chemicals was drowning in another sharper, more metallic smell. He turned when he noticed the normally white floors were stained with large amounts of blood.

A doctor that Shu recognized saw him and began rushing over. Sera Yamanaka, a pretty blonde who had taught him about medical chakra a couple of times. "Lord Fourth, Lady Kushina, thank you for retrieving him. I'm out of chakra and Kosuke is beginning to suffer from chakra exhaustion."

Shu turned back to Minato. "I'm fairly certain I made my stance clear on being a doctor." He would not have someone's death on his hands because he wasn't skilled enough at medical ninjutsu.

Minato gave me a look that showed slight disappointment but an understanding one at the same time. "I know, but as it stands, you are the only person in the village that has large amounts of chakra and is a skilled enough medic."

"How do you run out of doctors?" He asked with irritation. "And what is going on?"

Sera spoke gently, "There was an attack on one of our squads. We've lost two already and most of the doctors were running low on chakra before the injured were brought in. Everyone who's available who can do something already is, Shu."

Shu looked at Kushina, "Didn't you teach me how to–" He stopped talking as he realized why Kushina couldn't help. He doubted she had the strength to even weave much chakra in general without putting stress on her pregnancy. Minato sent him a pointed look that told him he knew that I understood.

Shu let out a groan, before sighing, "Fine. Lead the way, I guess."

The sight that greeted him was. . . not for the faint of heart, to say the least. There were, in total, seventeen men and six women in the ICU with injuries ranging from life threatening to mild. Mild in the sense that a missing eye or lost limbs weren't immediately fatal. Shu would be lying if he said that he didn't feel sick right away.

"I thought the war was over."

Sera nodded, "It is. But there's still missions to be done and not everyone is satisfied with the outcome. There are still stragglers that want to continue the fighting. Come, help where you can."

As they walked past several doctors, he got a few grateful glances. But what he took notice of the most was how tired they were. Some had begun to sway in fatigue. He decided to ask a question that was plaguing his mind. "Why are they so low on chakra?"

"Contrary to belief kid," One of the injured men said with a gravelly voice, "Most medic nin have very low chakra reserves. It's their potency and chakra control that lets them do this for hours. Only a few select medic nin have high reserves. Besides our head doctor, Kosuke, most of these doctors can't do this for very long without rest. It's why we have so many medic nin swap out with each other."

He looked around at the nine doctors. "Where is everyone else? I know I've seen others."

"On missions. And the ones who are here are already chakra exhausted and unconscious." A doctor said from the side, wiping sweat from his brow.

Sera stepped up to the man known as Kosuke, "You need to take it easy, Kosuke."

Shu immediately pegged him as a Nara. He glanced at Shu with a focused look. This guy looked more sleep deprived than himself. "I'm fine."

"You're not, Kosuke. You're about to pass out." An injured man wearing a jonin vest said weakly from the side.

As Shu scanned the injured he almost did a double take upon realising that he was staring at Hiashi Hyuga kneeling beside a woman with a baby in his hands. She looked like she was on the verge of death.

It was then that Shu realised the terrible burden put in front of him. He was the only one here who could help without risk of passing out. And he had to choose. This wasn't fair. Anger shot through him but he pushed it down. He needed to focus. He caught faint whispers from Hiashi to this woman about the baby. The name Neji slipped out and Shu understood that this wasn't Hiashi, it was Hizashi. And the woman was Neji's mother. He walked up to them before looking at her.

Hizashi looked at him, tears flowing from his eyes. Shu channeled chakra to my hands before getting to work. The surprise in his eyes told him he was probably expecting his wife to die tonight.

A slash along her abdomen that should have, in all rights, disemboweled her. She also had a stab wound in her chest through her lung. Thankfully, the wounds were clean. It must have been an incredibly sharp sword. Shu healed her lung first before moving on to her stomach. It took no more than ten seconds. Her eyes fluttered open before looking at me. Shu gave her a glare as she tried to sit up that caused her to stay laying down. He looked at Hizashi.

"Use your Byakugan. Is she fully healed?" He wiped his eyes before nodding. After a moment, his eyes lit up before he nodded once more. "Yes, she's healed. Just lost blood. Thank you."

Shu nodded before looking at Sera. "She needs blood." Sera nodded before getting her an IV and a blood bag. He looked around at the rest of the patients. One down, twenty five to go.

As he helped heal each person, Sera accompanied him, guiding him on the more severe injuries. One by one, the doctors stopped and sat down in gratitude. With four men and one woman left and no life threatening injuries, Shu looked at Kosuke as he stumbled to the floor, taking a knee as his breathing became labored.

"Why don't you eat a chakra pill? Wouldn't that help?" Shu asked him as Sera helped him up.

He laughed weakly, "Chakra pills! Oh, that's a good one kid!" he said before Sera laid him onto a nearby chair as he passed out.

Shu hummed at that before shaking his head, finishing healing the others. He could dwell on it later. He looked at Sera in concern as she began to stagger as well. "Are you okay?"

Sera waved him away. "I'm just tired. No need to worry." She looked around at all of the doctors who had either fallen unconscious or were about to. "Shu, how much Chakra do you have left?"

He thought about that,taking note that he still felt full of energy. He shrugged, "I feel the same as when I came in here. No different."

Sera smiled. "That's good. Right now, you're the only one left with any chakra at all for at least an hour or two. Can you manage that?"

I nodded. "Yeah." Sera nodded before her eyes began to close as she drifted off into sleep. "Sera?" Shu turned to look at the other doctors, "Mira? Kosuke? Ano?"

They were all out cold. Shu let out a noise of irritation, "Minato, you so owe me." As he walked up to the last patient, he noticed the Uchiha crest on their shirt. "So, what's wrong with you?"

She chuckled. "Your bedside manner is terrible."

"So I've been told." he said dryly. "So. . . ?"

"Kosuke already healed what he could. I'm just waiting for my brother. As for what he couldn't, well. . ." She explained, holding up her arm, or rather, lack of one, her eyes closed. Her tone sounded a bit bitter. "Just as well, I suppose. Not like I could continue being a ninja anyways."

"Why's that?" Shu asked. She opened her eyes, showing off milky white circles. "Huh, and here I was thinking I was looking at an Uchiha, not a Hyuga."

"Ha! You little asshole." She laughed out loud.

Shu smiled. "So what happened?"

"I used a jutsu and it backfired on me." She explained.

Shu took note of her wording, his mind drifting to thoughts of the mangekyou sharingan. Unfortunately he couldn't voice that out loud, so instead he focused on her eyes before pulling out a medical flashlight.

"Let me save you the trouble. I'm blind." She said with no small amount of sadness and a hint of bitterness. Shu could tell that this bothered her immensely. He knew it'd bother him.

"Can you see any light at all?" He asked, shining a light in one eye. She shook her head.

"No."

He shined it into her other eye. "What about now?"

She paused, before slowly nodding. "Yes, but it's minute. If I wasn't looking for it, I wouldn't notice."

"I've seen this before." Shu said, standing back up. "But ignoring that for a second, why don't you just get an eye transplant? Surely having your sight back is better than having a sharingan, right?"

She shook her head, her tone becoming soft. "It's not possible. Only dojutsu can be transplanted. I would have done that years ago if I could." Shu's eyes widened in surprise. This was news to him. He had always assumed that chakra could just transplant an eye but it did make sense now that he thought about it. She raised her head, "Do you know what caused the blindness?"

"If I'm right, the proteins in your eye's lenses have broken down and begun to come together. Tell me, when you first started going blind, did you get cloudy spots in your eyes? Was it harder to see at night? Were colors faded? Any halos around lights?"

"Y-yes, all of that." She said with something that sounded a bit hopeful.

He nodded, "Yeah." he let out a sound of irritation as he struggled to remember to no avail. "I know what this is called, I just can't remember."

"Can you fix it?" A voice said from behind him. Turning around, he found Minato standing with an Uchiha man.

"Ah, uh, unfortunately no. When the proteins in your lens break down, it stops being able to take light into your retina. Essentially, the lens is destroyed. But I suppose you could replace the lens. It should be a simple surgery in theory." I explained. "I couldn't do it, but I'd imagine someone like Tsunade could."

The man nodded before Minato stepped forward. "Thank you Shu. I don't know how many would have made it if not for your help."

He waved him away. In all honesty, it was a good thing that he got this chance. He was always wondering if his medical jutsu was any good or not. This confirmed it for him. "It was a little irritating, but it's fine."

Minato looked towards the sleeping doctors before looking back at him. "Are they okay?"

"Sera said that they'll be fine after some sleep before she passed out." Shu shrugged.

Minato smiled, "You can head home Shu. I don't think anything serious will come into the hospital." Shu nodded before he turned back towards the man. He caught his name in a hushed whisper as they walked a few feet away. Fugaku. Shu marveled at the man who was Sasuke's dad. He looked. . . unassuming. He certainly didn't radiate power or anything like one would expect. But he guessed they wouldn't be ninja if they did. "See ya, Minato."

Without so much as looking back at them, he left the hospital, desperate to get home to obtain what little sleep he could get. He wasn't even able to get down the street before Minato came rushing back towards me. "Shu, come back! One of the Yamanaka is about to give birth and I'm not–"

Shu let out a groan as he whirled on his heel, heading back into the hospital. "I'm five! I don't know how to deliver a baby. Just have one of the other doctors take a chakra pill." He said with some annoyance.

Minato looked confused, "Do you mean a food pill?"

"Yes, obviously." He snapped as he walked towards the room with a wailing woman.

Minato looked at him with confusion. "Shu, food pills don't restore your chakra. They give you stamina, sure, but no medicine in the world can give you your chakra back once it's gone. Maybe speed up your recovery, but not immediately give it back."

"What? But that's not–" he was cut off by a blonde man rushing towards Minato.

"Minato, where are the doctors?"

"You're looking at the sum total, buddy. Everyone else is unconscious" Shu said flatly. "And I assume you're the husband of the screaming pregnant woman?"

He didn't even respond to the snark, ushering him into the room with his wife.

And that was how he helped deliver Ino Yamanaka.

"Shu, food pills don't restore your chakra. They give you stamina, sure, but no medicine in the world can give you your chakra back once it's gone. Maybe speed up your recovery, but not immediately give it back."

Minato's words bounced around his head like an annoying fly that wouldn't buzz off. He did know that he would not deal with that hospital situation again. If the doctors didn't have enough chakra to do their work then he'd find a way to give them extra chakra. He lazily looked at Daikoku sensei as he gave a lecture on Chakra and its inner workings. He couldn't even fall asleep in class because of the fear induced insomnia he was suffering from.

"The state of Chakra is pure energy but unique in its own way and thus follows special rules of transformative properties to a point. What makes chakra so special is that it can take on other aspects of nature transformation and–"

Shu stopped in his tracks, sitting up straight and paying attention to what his teacher had just said. Daikoku noticed instantly. "Yes, Shu?"

"Chakra is energy, right? Does that mean it follows the principles of conservation of mass and energy?" he asked anxiously. If he was right, then. . .

Daikoku looked confused. "I'm confused? What do you mean, Shu?"

"Uh," Shu searched for the right words, "So chakra can be shifted into another state of matter in a nature transformation, right?"

"Yes, under the right circumstances." Daikoku nodded.

"So, if chakra, as an energy source, can be shifted into mass during a transformation, could one shift chakra into another state of matter while maintaining its form of energy?" Shu asked.

Daikoku opened his mouth before closing it. "I. . . don't know. Energy follows a set of laws and will stay as energy and so it can't take a form of matter. Chakra is different though." Daikoku said with a thoughtful look on his face before smiling. "I don't see why it wouldn't be able to though. Good question, Shu. Now as I was saying. . ."

He sat back in disbelief. If this was true, then everything he knew about physics needed to be relearned. He needed to test this. If he could change the state of chakra, then maybe he could. . . he let out a groan as I thought about what this could mean for ninjutsu and genjutsu. Maybe it could help him come up with something regarding the nine tails attack

He needed to put it to the test. As he left the class at the end of the day, Shu began looking for the one person who he knew could help me. Granted, it was probably a bad idea, but he should be fine. Hopefully.

As he wandered the village, taking in the bustling streets of the village, he headed for the marketplace. With any luck, Shu would find him there. It was pretty packed this evening. It was the end of summer and a warm night with a cool breeze that made it optimal to be outside. Normally, Shu would be enjoying this type of night, but all he could think of was Kurama's attack.

It seemed luck was on his side because there, at Ichiraku Ramen, sat the man he was looking for. His black hair, pale skin, and striking yellow eyes were not as menacing as when he'd met him four months ago. He was also wearing a smile as he chatted away with a few other shinobi.

"Orochimaru." Shu started.

He turned around to look at him. "Ah, Shu Kazami. To what do I owe this visit?" There was the creepy snake ninja he knew.

"Can you help me with something? I recently learned something about chakra that Daikoku sensei couldn't give me a straight answer on." Shu explained.

"Oh? What would that be?" A man said from Orochimaru's side.

"You probably won't understand it. Which is why I'm asking Orochimaru." Shu said, trying not to sound arrogant. Unfortunately, that's exactly how he had come across.

"Oh yeah? Well, I'll be the judge of that. Maybe everyone here can understand it." He said with a cocky grin.

Shu nodded, "Very well." He pulled out his notebook before setting it in front of Orochimaru. "Today, Daikoku sensei spoke on the nature of Chakra and its properties during nature transformations. Now, I was under the impression that in the material world the state of matter and the forms of energy are not interchangeable unless put through specific circumstances. Energy cannot contain mass and so it cannot take on states of matter. Meaning that energy's forms are limited to two examples that all subforms fall into."

"Correct. Kinetic and potential." Orochimaru nodded.

"But Chakra is special in the way that we can mold it into a state of matter by changing its forms in nature transformation. But that isn't what I wanted to ask. The typical laws of physics do not allow for energy to contain mass without going through a transformation, but my question was, could one shift chakra into another form of matter while retaining its form of energy?"

All the shinobi looked at each other before shrugging and turning back around, continuing their meals. Orochimaru hummed as he studied the notes. Finally he nodded with a sigh, "Before I answer, what brought this on?"

"I assume you heard about the attack two days ago?" Shu asked.

He nodded, "I did. But how did you hear about it?"

"Kushina and Minato came and got me. Apparently, the doctors were already exhausted and low on chakra. I was the only person in the village with large reserves and the medical know how to help at that time, as all of the other medic nin were out of the village."

Orochimaru nodded, "You still haven't answered my question."

"Simply put, I learned medical ninjutsu for myself, not to heal others. I refuse to thrust into that position again when there are others more qualified than me. At the end of the night, Minato explained that food pills do not restore chakra. I was under the belief that they did and had been referring to them as chakra pills before that night."

"So you want to find a way to give chakra back to someone immediately who has run out?" He asked. Shu nodded in affirmation.

Orochimaru smiled, "As good a reason as any. To answer your question, yes and no. I've seen chakra in different states of matter but not as you might be thinking. Liquid chakra and solid chakra are very common. They typically have different properties such as being extremely hot or cold. Maybe adhesive or maybe flammable. It really depends. But there was no doubt that it was pure chakra."

Shu slowly nodded. If that was the case then maybe he could contain it and use it like a stim shot. Another question popped in his mind, "Why can't someone just inject chakra into someone else, replenishing the other's chakra levels?"

Orochimaru shrugged before taking a sip of his drink, "They typically can't because everyone's chakra signature is different. It's like blood types in that regard. You can't give a person with A- blood a dose of A blood. It just doesn't take. But some people can. Although it's a unique case whenever it becomes available."

Karin flashed through Shu's mind. "Like biting an Uzumaki?"

Orochimaru grinned, "Indeed. You have done your research, I'll give you that."

The television's inner workings came to Shu's mind before bowing, "Thank you. You've answered my questions perfectly. I'll leave you to your meal." he said before walking away.

Orochimaru frowned before standing. "Is that all? Do you have any more questions?"

"Nope. In fact, I think you've just given me the key on how to do it." Shu said with an excited grin. He furrowed his brow before nodding.

"If you do manage to do whatever it is you're attempting, will you show me when you're done? I'm always interested in new fields of study."

"Sure," he said as he ran back to my house. If he was right, then it should be pretty simple.

It had been thirteen days of nonstop work but he had done it. It didn't look pretty by any means but it did what he wanted it to. Before him sat the guts of his television strewn around his living room as he looked at the device before him. It was a crude design that could probably stand to be improved if he'd had more time and materials. It had been enough to take his mind off the attack to let him attain some sleep.

It was a strange box like a mishmash of wires and circuitry with chakra flowing through it. Inside the box sat five vials consisting of black chakra steel and tempered glass. Shu took one of them out of the container and held it in his hand. Closing his eyes, he pushed his chakra out through his hand and into the vial. After a moment, the vial turned completely purple as he poured more and more chakra into it. At about half of his chakra, Shu decided to stop.

He watched the chakra in the vial swirl around before slowly becoming white, erasing the chakra signature until it was pure chakra. He picked up all of the other vials but one and put them in his bag before rushing out the door to the hospital with a grin on his face. As he rushed into the hospital, he found Sera eating her lunch with Kushina. They stopped when she noticed him.

"Ya know, Shu, you're supposed to be in school right now? What are you even doing over here?" Kushina scolded lightly. A flash of realization passed through him as he remembered that he had been skipping school for the last week and a half. He was actually curious as to why no one had come and checked on me.

"He's been working on something. I put a form into the school excusing his presence." Orochimaru's voice said from behind him. Shu turned to find Orochimaru standing there beside Minato of all people alongside Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Kushina looked irritated. "You can't just go do that! He's a kid and needs to go to school. Minato, tell him."

Minato rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, chuckling nervously. "I'm actually the one who okayed it."

"What!" Kushina's face twisted into anger as her hair rose up in the air like tails. "Cool!" Shu said with some amazement. His face must have been enough to calm her down because she quickly sat back down, her hair falling back into place, albeit with some embarrassment.

"So, you've completed it?" Orochimaru asked excitedly. "I'm quite excited to see your results."

"As are we." Hiruzen said from beside Minato.

Shu nodded, his excitement matching their's. He reached into his bag before placing the vial onto the table, its soft white glow emanating through the glass. Orochimaru examined it as he twisted it around. "Where did you get the materials for this?"

"It, uh. . ." Shu stammered, suddenly thinking that maybe destroying a gift might not go over well.

"It's your television, isn't it?" Minato said. He nodded, slightly embarrassed.

"What's it do?" Kushina asked.

"What's your chakra levels at Sera?" Shu asked.

She swallowed her food before taking on a thoughtful look. "I'd say a little over half."

Shu nodded before taking the vial from Orochimaru before twisting the metal. Two small needles came out of the end. "Stab yourself in the arm or leg."

Sera looked at everyone with some hesitance. "This is safe, correct?"

I nodded. "I've already tested it on myself."

Sera looked unsure but did as instructed. No sooner had she inserted the needle in her arm did her eyes go wide with surprise. "My chakra! It's back. How did–"

"It took me a while but I figured it out." Shu said with a proud grin. "Now there should be no reason for me to help out at the hospital again."

Hiruzen laughed out loud. "Is that really the reason you did this?"

"Yeah. I don't want to have to deal with all of that. Leave that to the doctors." Shu said, nodding.

Orochimaru reached out and picked up one of the vials. "Fascinating. Is there a limit to the amount it can hold?"

"If there is, I haven't found it. I used up half my chakra filling the vial that Sera just took. I imagine a jonin's reserves would probably be the upper limit."

"So, I just channel chakra into it?" Orochimaru asked. Shu nodded. At that, Orochimaru channeled his chakra into it for a whole ten seconds. After a moment, Orochimaru spoke up, "That took a little under ten percent of my chakra. So about two jonin's worth of chakra." Orochimaru nodded before looking at it turning white. "Why is the chakra white? And what if one were to put in other types of chakra such as medical chakra?"

He. . . hadn't considered that. "I don't know. I haven't tested that before." Shu said, taking the vial from Orochimaru. "As to your other question, it's white because it erases one's unique chakra signature, letting the chakra enter one's body without any complications."

He channeled medical chakra into his hand before pushing it into the vial. He didn't put in a lot but enough that he would normally use it to heal a cracked bone. They all watched as the chakra swirled, retaining its bright green color. "Huh, that's interesting."

"What is it, my boy?" Hiruzen asked.

Shu narrowed his eyes before swiftly drawing a kunai and plunging it into his hand. "Shu! What the hell is wrong with you!" Kushina yelled in concern as she went to grab my hand.

"Hold on. I'm testing something." He grit out through clenched teeth. He injected the vial into his arm and watched as the wound healed extremely rapidly, far faster than he was capable of, and left no visible scarring. There was still a lot of chakra still left in the vial as well.

Orochimaru's eyes widened. He went to say something but was interrupted by my sound of pain as Kushina brought her hand down on top of my head, "You idiot! Are you stupid!"

Shu quickly backed up, rubbing his head. Ow. "Hey, Minato, you're a sage right?"

"Don't ignore me!" Kushina yelled, her hair floating wildly.

He nodded nervously, eyeing his wife. "I am, although I'm not very good at it."

Shu waved him off. "That doesn't matter. Could you put some sage chakra into this? I want to know if it will work with that as well."

He took the vial before nodding. "Sure, I can do that."

Sera finished her sandwich as she stood up before taking the vial with medical chakra from my hands and charging it with medical chakra. She nodded before handing it to Minato. "While I'm happy your research was a success, you still need to go to school, and Lord Fourth needs to verify the safety of these as well."

Shu wanted to argue but every adult looked at him with an expectant look. Even Orochimaru. He let out a sigh, "Fine."

Minato ruffled his hair, "Don't worry, I'll give these back to you once I've checked them."

He turned and headed for the door, slightly grumbling.

Shu walked quietly in the rubble of the village. He'd been lucky. No one had needed him that night and so he'd just stayed home. When Kurama had attacked, he'd watched from the window. He hadn't even had the chance to do anything even if he'd wanted to. At least, that's what he told himself. Within fifteen minutes, Minato appeared and teleported the fox away from the village.

The village was deathly silent besides the occasional ninja and the moans of pain from the few surviving shinobi. All children and civilians had been evacuated. Nobody had noticed him throughout the chaos which surprised him. As guilt overtook Shu, he heard a soft voice to his side. A woman lay in the rubble.

As he walked over to her, he looked at the woman's back. There was a deep slash along her midsection that had no doubt left her paralyzed. She was still breathing albeit barely. Her eyes were unfocused and he was stunned she wasn't dead yet. Leaning down, he examined the wound. It was far beyond what he could fix. He reached into his pack before pulling out the vial he had kept for himself. Shu took a deep breath before charging it with medical chakra.

"Miss, can you hear me? If you can, squeeze." He asked her, taking her hand. She squeezed his hand, lightly turning her head towards the source of his voice. "I don't have the medical prowess to heal you. But I have a device that can. It's only been tested on heavy bruising and a stab wound. I don't know what it will do on an injury as severe as yours. If you want me to, I will use it. But I need your permission."

There was a pause before she squeezed Shu's hand. Shu nodded before gently taking the vial and injecting the chakra near the injury. He watched as the vial emptied itself into her before the wound closed. A sickening crack was heard before she let out a small sound of pain. As the last bits of chakra drained, her eyes became focused. She blinked before she gasped for air.

"Are you coherent?" Shu asked.

"Yes," She bit out, "I'm awake." Her breathing was harsh as she laid flat on the ground. As she looked at him, her eyes widened. "You're. . . just a little kid."

Shu nodded, "I'm five. What's your name?"

"I'm–" she gasped in pain as she tried to maneuver a bit, "I'm Kohari Umino."

"Umino? Like Iruka Umino?" Shu asked in surprise.

Her eyes widened. "Where's Iruka? Is he okay?"

"He's okay, Kohari." A voice said from behind him. Shu turned, only to see Shikaku Nara. "We got him out of the village."

"And Ikkaku?" She asked with a hopeful face.

Shikaku was silent as he shook his head, "I'm sorry."

Kohari simply nodded, tears coming out of her eyes as she looked back at Shu. "Can you help the others? Your device, it can heal right?"

Shu looked at her before nodding. "Yes, but I don't know the after effects on major injuries. I'd rather not use it at all. How are you feeling?" He said, running a palm over her back, medical chakra coating it.

"I'm in a lot of pain. My back is on fire," she let out a gasp, "And I can't feel anything below my hips."

Shikaku watched in surprise. "You're a medic nin? At your age?"

"No," Shu said as he shook his head, "I learned this for myself, but that's kind of redundant at the moment. Your spinal cord was severed, and the medical chakra forced it back into place. It seems that while it healed you, it couldn't account for the missing bone fragments nor the tissue loss."

She smiled, sweat running down her face. "You're only telling me what I already figured out. Go with Shikaku, help others. As long as you can."

Shu looked conflicted but nodded nonetheless as she passed out. Shikaku examined her before nodding, calling several shinobi over as they carefully loaded her onto a stretcher. He let out a breath before looking at Shu, "Well, I don't want to tell you this, but, you're pretty much all we've got at the moment. The other shinobi are gathering the medic nin as we speak."

Shu nodded before setting out with Shikaku. A grueling hour passed before Shu stopped. He was quiet as his thoughts swirled through his mind. The guilt of Minato and Kushina's deaths coupled with Kurama's attack weighed heavily on his mind.

"Hey, kid, are you alright? If you're running low on chakra you can take a break." A man said from the side. Shu waved him off before getting back to helping. At some point, Shu walked away from the rest of the shinobi before taking a seat on a nearby bench and passing out from exhaustion.

"Hey, wake up. Are you alright?" A familiar voice said.

Shu let out a groan before opening his eyes. The morning sun was shining down on his face as he looked around. The village was in very good condition all things considered. The attack had been isolated to the southern side of the village and he'd been removed from the interior thanks to Hiruzen and Enma.

"Yeah, I'm okay. What time is it?" Shu asked, looking up at the silhouette. As his eyes adjusted, he found himself staring at a shinobi he was very familiar with but had never met.

"Well, if you need any help finding your parents, you just come to me or Kakashi. We'll make sure you find your way home." Might Guy said. Behind him stood a silver haired ninja with a mask covering his nose and mouth.

Shu let out a small chuckle before nodding. Shu stood up and stretched. As he began to walk home, he ignored the people as best he could. As he walked up to his house, he stopped. His door was wide open and he could hear rustling inside. He let out a sigh.

"Hey, if you need help, just ask." Shu said as he stepped inside.

"Shu?" An all too familiar voice said from the living room. Shu's eyes widened as he ran into the living room. There stood Minato Namikaze, looking as healthy as could be. A few cuts and scrapes, but fine nonetheless.

"Minato?" Shu said in stunned surprise. "How are you alive? Where's Kushina?"

Minato gave a solemn expression, "She's fine for the moment. . . But we shouldn't be in all honesty. It's actually thanks to you that we survived."

Shu looked taken aback by that. "How is it thanks to me?"

Minato reached into his pocket before pulling out a broken glass vial. "You were right. Not only did the vials transfer chakra, giving me enough chakra to continue fighting, it also transferred sage chakra, allowing me to enter sage mode immediately. It was risky but it paid off."

Shu was stunned as his mind ran through everything that could be affected but shook his head with a smile. With Minato, he'd be fine. "That's great to hear!" Shu exclaimed, his worries lifting from his shoulders.

Minato smiled before kneeling, taking on a serious face. "Shu, how long did it take for you to build those vials?"

"About a week. Why?" Shu asked, his attention fully focused on Minato's expression.

Minato swore under his breath. "What about just making one?"

"Well, I made them all at the same time. If I focused on one, maybe three days." Minato swore, his expression becoming pained. "Why, what's wrong?"

Minato closed his eyes, his expression looking pained. "Kushina, she. . .All of the vials broke in the battle. And without one-" He went silent, hanging his head.

Shu just looked at the man before gently tapping his shoulder. Minato looked up at him, his eyes glassy. Shu reached into his pocket before producing the last vial he had kept for himself. Minato's eyes widened as he gently took it. He stood up in relief before pulling Shu into a hug, "Thank you, Shu."

As Minato let him go, he walked towards the front door before Shu spoke up. "So, is your kid okay?"

Minato smiled, "Menma's fine. He's in good health and should be alright." And with that he teleported away in a yellow flash.

And upon hearing the name Menma, all of Shu's worries came back full force.

First ever Naruto fanfic. This character has been floating around in my head and I've always wanted to write a Naruto fanfic. Let me know your thoughts on it, I'm always a fan of feedback. I'll try and keep up a stable update time of at least once every two months. Maybe once a month. Otherwise, Enjoy.