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Black hair. Thin frame. Malnourished, almost.
He looks nothing like the Cloud shinobi I've heard about, Shizune thought.
From what she knew, Cloud ninja were built like tanks—their arms thicker than most people's legs. And the lips. Always those ridiculous sausage lips.
Would he grow into that kind of look someday?
But when she examined Seiji more closely, his lips seemed perfectly normal. Thin, even elegant.
"Flashlight."
Tsunade's voice cut through Shizune's thoughts.
"Ah—yes!" Shizune startled, fumbling in her pouch before quickly handing Tsunade the tool.
When she looked up, she realized the boy she'd been staring at was smiling at her.
Her heart skipped. She immediately ducked her head, cheeks warming. Of course he noticed her staring—how embarrassing.
"You know, a smiling Uchiha is rare." Tsunade arched a brow.
Maybe it figured. A kid picked up outside the village wasn't bound by the usual pride and coldness the Uchiha carried like armor.
To be honest, Tsunade wouldn't even have bothered coming here if the fuss hadn't been so big. The old man had practically shoved her over. With her hemophobia, this was the last place she wanted to be.
"Because your eyes are beautiful, Lady Tsunade," Seiji said. "Like they're full of stars."
"Oh?"
Her hand curled into a fist. If this brat couldn't back that up, she was going to give him one hell of a punch for making fun of her.
"When you examined me, I felt how much responsibility shone in your eyes," Seiji continued without hesitation. "Despite your status, you treated someone like me—a nobody Uchiha—with such care. I've read plenty of stories, Lady Tsunade, and you're exactly like the healer in those tales, the one who saves lives wherever she goes."
"Of course she is," Mikoto chuckled from the corner, covering her mouth. "Tsunade's one of the Legendary Sannin, the greatest medical ninja in the village. Of course she's a healer."
Tsunade relaxed, unclenching her fist.
So that's what he meant—praise for her medical ninjutsu.
Huh. This kid knew how to talk.
"If I could ever learn medical ninjutsu like yours," Seiji said earnestly, "I'd want to use it to help people too. I really wish I could be like you, Lady Tsunade."
"Medical ninja require Yang-natured chakra," Tsunade replied flatly. "Without it, you'll never be one."
She stood up, brushing it aside. To Mikoto, she said she'd dig into the records later and have another medic—Nonō Yakushi, one of the best—come evaluate the boy's condition.
Shizune scrambled to follow her mentor.
"Seiji, you should rest now," Mikoto added gently before leaving as well. "We'll arrange your schooling soon."
In a blink, the once-crowded room was empty.
"Well, I'm no Naruto blessed by destiny," Seiji muttered to himself with a wry smile.
Naruto, who could even convince Tsunade—long gone from the village—to return and take up the Hokage's mantle.
Her refusal didn't sting; Seiji expected it. If Tsunade had truly been interested, she would have checked his chakra affinity on the spot. Someone like her could tell instantly.
But she didn't.
Because he was an Uchiha, first and foremost.
Life rarely gave you what you wanted.
Still, Seiji wasn't discouraged. His thoughts turned to Nonō Yakushi.
If he could win her over, he could learn medical ninjutsu.
The Uchiha clan had no great medics. Graduates were funneled straight into the Konoha Police, taught only basic healing techniques at the Academy. Who had the time or interest to pursue medicine when most spent peacetime playing guard and wartime charging the front lines?
Ironically, the clan's best "medic" might've been Madara himself—always ready to perform eye transplants at the drop of a kunai.
But for Seiji, medical ninjutsu was survival.
This was a world of glass cannons. Sasuke's six-tomoe Rinnegan had been blinded by nothing more than a stray kunai. If someone with real healing skill had been there, maybe even that could've been saved.
And in the brutal wars ahead, who could guarantee they wouldn't be the one missing an arm or a leg someday?
Hashirama's cells weren't exactly a standard option.
Fortunately, Seiji had already invested much of his meager chakra reserves into tests, and the results were clear: he did have Yang affinity.
Not everyone did. Sasuke, according to official materials, lacked Yang; Naruto, on the other hand, lacked Yin.
You could train to develop affinities, but that cost years—sometimes a lifetime.
If you were born with one, though, everything came easier.
Seiji rose from the tatami, drifting to the window without even realizing it. He slid it open.
A fine rain pattered against the trees, leaves whispering under its touch.
A chill autumn wind swept into the room.
Seiji smiled faintly.
"It's just a little wind and frost, nothing more."
He already had a plan for drawing Nonō Yakushi closer.
In the future, she would become the head of an orphanage—so devoted to those children she even joined the disbanded Root to protect them.
Everyone had their obsessions. Some chased power until their dying day, some threw it away in search of immortality.
Nonō's? She loved children.
…
The next day.
Ninja Academy.
"This is our new student, Uchiha Seiji."
The instructor, a chūnin, gestured for him to write his name on the board.
Seiji picked up a piece of chalk and wrote neatly. When he glanced at the class, he spotted familiar faces—Obito, Kakashi, Rin, even Genma Shiranui.
"Your handwriting's beautiful," Rin said warmly.
"Hey, Rin," Obito whispered. "That guy's from the Land of Lightning, you know."
All brawn, no brains—that's what Cloud shinobi were supposed to be. Rin had better not be fooled by appearances.
"Please take care of me," Seiji said with a gentle smile, taking his assigned seat by the window in the back.
"All right, class, let's begin."
The teacher coughed lightly and launched into the lesson.
Lately, the Uchiha's reputation in the village wasn't great. Still, most teachers liked having them in class—they were easier to teach.
Normally, new students had to take a simple Trait test, mostly to gauge chakra reserves and basic control through a simple genjutsu or ninjutsu. Nothing serious. As long as you met the minimum, you passed.
And Seiji, even as a transfer, would have no trouble keeping pace. Clan kids always had training outside the classroom.
Soon the bell rang for recess.
"I heard you're from the Land of Lightning, Seiji?" Rin asked, walking over. Her seat wasn't far from his.
"That's right."
"Do you think you'll be able to keep up here? You joined us midway, after all."
She was genuinely curious. Until they graduated and earned their forehead protectors, Academy students weren't allowed to leave the village. Only licensed shinobi—or a handful of exceptions—could cross the gates freely.
"I'll manage," Seiji said, closing his book. He picked up another one and flipped it open, glancing at her from under his lashes.
"Actually, Rin… would you teach me some of Konoha's ninjutsu?"
"....."