Yesterday's speech by the Third Hokage marked the end of Uchiha Tatsumi's final summer at the Ninja Academy.
Post-holiday syndrome was real—most students were still mentally stuck in summer break. Uchiha Tatsumi didn't mind, but many other kids clearly hadn't adjusted back yet.
Kushina came to class today, but Nawaki was still absent.
Their homeroom teacher, Nishimura-sensei, stood at the podium with a scowl. Not that his face wasn't already stern to begin with.
By this stage, there wasn't much left to teach at the Academy. Rather than listening to lectures that were mostly filler, Uchiha Tatsumi preferred to sit at the back of the classroom and focus on practicing his Wind Release chakra transformation.
After just one class period, he hadn't made much progress, but he'd already burned through a significant amount of chakra.
"Tatsumi, what are you doing?" Minato asked, puzzled.
Uchiha Tatsumi had his hand under the desk, half of his body obscured as he moved rhythmically. It looked… suspicious.
Minato was concerned. After all, Nishimura-sensei had been eyeing Tatsumi the entire lesson.
The teacher's expression had gone from confused, to angry, to shocked. And by the time the class ended, it had turned into something close to admiration.
That reaction made Minato even more curious. If even a veteran teacher was impressed, it must be something special.
"I'm practicing chakra nature transformation," Tatsumi said calmly as he popped a pill to stimulate chakra flow.
"Oh… That's it?" Minato sounded slightly let down.
"I've done it before," Tatsumi added. "That time it was Fire Release."
"You have dual natures?"
Tatsumi grinned. "Actually, I've got three. But keep that to yourself. I'm trying to stay low-key here—don't want to make enemies."
Tatsumi sighed dramatically. "Being a ninja is hard. Being a good ninja is harder. But being a low-key good ninja? Impossible. The pressure of being 'that kid' everyone compares to is real."
Minato rolled his eyes and decided to stop talking to him.
Then Tatsumi tossed a slip of chakra paper toward Minato.
"What's this?" Minato asked.
"Chakra paper. You've been practicing shape transformation for a while, right? Might as well test your nature now."
Minato nodded and accepted the paper.
"Just channel chakra into it. If it splits, it's wind. If it burns, it's fire. If it gets damp, it's water. If it wrinkles, it's lightning. And if it crumbles, it's earth," Tatsumi explained.
He then returned to refining his Wind Release.
"What did yours say?" Tatsumi asked after a moment.
"Wind and water," Minato said, a little disappointed. Like most kids, he had dreamed of having all five.
"Wind and water?" Tatsumi was momentarily surprised.
He'd expected wind—after all, Naruto later inherits that affinity. But water was unexpected.
Well, Minato was exceptional.
Still, Tatsumi couldn't help but think: Naruto, what happened? Your parents had wind and water affinities and Flying Thunder God, and you inherited only wind?
"The wind affinity's useful, but water might be a problem... I only have training scrolls for fire, lightning, and wind."
"It's fine," Minato smiled. "We can ask Jiraiya-sensei when the time comes."
"True." Tatsumi nodded. Having a teacher makes life easier.
No jutsu? Let the teacher handle it.
No training method? Teacher again.
No girls? Well… bring the teacher.
"By the way, where's Mikoto?" Minato asked.
Tatsumi gestured to the quiet girl beside him. "She's also dual-natured—fire and lightning."
Typical for the Uchiha. Fire was a given, and lightning sometimes appeared.
He then glanced toward Kushina, who was sprawled across her desk.
"Kushina, your turn," he said.
He gave her the same explanation he gave Minato.
"What's the point of this?" Kushina asked.
"Not much right now," Tatsumi shrugged. "But it helps guide your development later. You already have solid chakra control, so it's good info to have."
"What affinity?" he asked after a moment.
"Wind," she replied.
Tatsumi nodded. As expected.
So Naruto really did inherit from her. But Minato's genes were still strong. The Uzumaki line was known for red hair, but somehow Minato's yellow hair had become dominant—even Tsunade's hair color had changed from her grandfather Hashirama's.
Just as Minato began reviewing a sealing scroll, Tatsumi continued his wind chakra training.
Then someone new wandered over—a kid from the Inuzuka clan.
Since the war had begun, many teachers had been deployed, leaving larger class sizes and fewer instructors. That meant classes were longer, and teachers like Nishimura had to rotate between classrooms.
With the teacher gone, the kids were left to themselves.
Inuzuka must've been bored—he came over while Tatsumi and Minato were chatting.
"Where's your mutt?" Tatsumi asked.
"My mutt? Oh—you mean Shinobi. He's at home. He just got his shots, so he's grounded for two days."
"Ninja dogs get vaccinated?" Tatsumi blinked. "Wouldn't it be easier to just let them bite people and spread rabies?"
"Why, are you into my dog or something?" Inuzuka asked.
"No thanks," Tatsumi said. "I already have a summon."
As if on cue, a pale white snake slithered out from Tatsumi's collar, licked his neck, and disappeared.
"You seriously keep a snake on you?" Inuzuka said, stunned. "And I thought having a dog on my head was wild."
"Snakes are cooler."
Inuzuka didn't leave. Instead, he glanced at Kushina.
But Kushina didn't even acknowledge his presence. That hit him harder than expected.
Tatsumi noticed. Those wistful, tangled eyes—it almost looked like… interest?
Was he crushing on Kushina?
Tatsumi thought back. They barely had any interaction. The only time they did was when Inuzuka laughed at her and got decked for it.
Wait… was this Stockholm Syndrome? Or maybe a secret masochist?
Just then, Kushina rolled over at her desk.
Inuzuka perked up, thinking she was going to speak to him.
But she didn't spare him a glance.
"Tatsumi, Grandma wants to see you," she said plainly.
Tatsumi nodded.
Visit patreon.com/TEA_QUILL to get 30+ chapters