A Senju Tale: Change Of Fate 5 Starting At The Academy

It was a warm, clear night. Not a single noise could be heard. Through the silence, a voice called out, "Nawaki! It's time for bed! You need to get plenty of sleep before your first day at the academy tomorrow!" Almost instantaneously, Nawaki flickered next to Toka as she said, "I see your training is going well. If you do just as well with your studies, you'll do great at the academy." Toka smiled as she bent down and picked up Nawaki. He then said, "Okasan, I can walk myself to bed! I don't need you to carry me." Nawaki made a pouting face as Toka turned and kissed the top of his head. She then said, "You're still my little boy. That means I can still baby you a little bit." Nawaki blushed and said, "Okayyy." Toka carried Nawaki all the way to his bed and placed him down before crouching down and saying, "Okay, since you're such a big boy now, go wash up and get ready for bed all by yourself. I'll walk you over to the academy in the morning. Okay? I love you sweetie." Nawaki smiled and replied, "Love you too."

Nawaki got ready for bed and then tucked himself in before saying, "So Kensho, how are we looking?" Kensho's face popped up as he said, "Let's take a look!" The status page popped up.

Age: 4 years, 3 months

Height: 3' 7"

Weight: 39 lbs

Chakra Levels: C

Chakra Control: B

Elemental Affinities: Earth, Water

Bloodlines: Wood Release (Kekkei Genkai), Uzumaki

t.i.tles: None

"d.a.m.n, I guess I earned it with all the training that I've put in." Kensho smiled and then replied, "Yep, you definitely put in a lot of work. Are you excited for your first day at the academy tomorrow?" Nawaki smiled and said, "Of course I am. I can't wait to make some friends and see how I compare to the other kids. Anyways, I think I'll actually sleep tonight. I want to clear my head so I can be at my best tomorrow. Goodnight Kensho." Nawaki closed his eyes as Kensho replied, "Goodnight Nawaki."

After what felt like just a moment, Toka came rus.h.i.+ng into Nawaki's bedroom and yelled, "NAWAKI! WAKE UP! YOU ARE GONNA BE LATE!" Slowly opening his eyes, Nawaki noticed that it was fully light outside. After taking a moment to process everything, he freaked out. "OH NO OH NO!" he yelled as he scrambled out of bed. Nawaki quickly got dressed, brushed his teeth and flew through the house to the kitchen. Toka was standing patiently waiting for Nawaki with a light breakfast wrapped in a napkin that she prepared for him. Nawaki grabbed it and started scarfing it down as they walked out the door. Once Nawaki finished eating, they picked up the pace and began flickering down the street towards the academy.

With about a minute to go before the entrance ceremony was set to start, the second hokage scanned the crowd. Realizing that his niece and grand nephew were still not here, he sighed. Just as he was about to start, he noticed two people flicker into the back of the crowd. Smirking, he realized that Toka and Nawaki had arrived. He turned to the crowd and began his speech. Tobirama started by welcoming all of the new students and their parents. He went on for a few minutes about the meaning of Konoha and how Has.h.i.+rama worked so hard to create it. Then he explained what would be happening on this first day and then handed it over to the academy head, Kohaku Yak.u.mo. He then dismissed all of the parents and asked for the new students to follow him over to the training grounds. Toka gave Nawaki a hug and said, "Have a great first day. I'll see you later!" Nawaki smiled and replied, "You too, later!" He then dashed off to join the other kids as they moved over to the academy training grounds.

Once they were all in front of Yak.u.mo Sensei, he said, "First, I would like to welcome all of you to the academy on behalf of the other teachers. I hope you enjoy your time here and create some lasting memories. Next, let's start with the entrance examinations. First, we will split everyone off into three groups. Group one will be made up of everyone from a ninja clan. Group two will be anyone that is not from a ninja clan that still wishes to study to become a ninja. Group three will be anyone that does not wish to become a ninja or is not sure yet. Alright, now group up!" As he said that, Yak.u.mo and two other teachers set up to receive the three groups. As a part of group one, Nawaki went to join the kids gathered around Yak.u.mo sensei. Noticing Nawaki, he signaled for him to come over. Nawaki walked up to him and bowed saying, "Ohayo Yak.u.mo Sensei, it is a pleasure to meet you. My name is Senju Nawaki." Seeing Nawaki stand back up, Yak.u.mo replied, "Ah yes, Nawaki. It is a pleasure to meet you too. Hokage sama told me to keep an eye on you. I look forward to seeing what you've got." He smiled and then turned to the rest of the group before saying, "Now that we have separated into groups, I will explain the various things that we will do today. First, we will all do some shuriken and kunai throwing. Next, each of you will demonstrate a jutsu for me. After that, we will do an obstacle course to test your physical capabilities. Lastly, you will each partic.i.p.ate in a tai jutsu spar to demonstrate martial arts skills. Is everyone ready?" "Hai Yak.u.mo Sensei." everyone said in unison.

'Hmmm, aside from the first part of the test, this should be pretty easy. I haven't gotten much practice with weapons so I guess I'll have to do some more training.' Kensho could be heard laughing before saying, "You call that practice? That was more like a baby playing with some toys! HAHAHA!" Nawaki ignored Kensho and took note of a few of the kids in his group. The notable ones included Uchiha Fugaku, Hyuga Hias.h.i.+, Hyuga Hizas.h.i.+, Nara s.h.i.+kaku, Akimichi Choza, Yamanaka Inoichi, and Aburame s.h.i.+bi. There were a few other kids in the group but Nawaki didn't pay too much attention to them. Yak.u.mo stood down at the end of the weapon range. Turning to the group he said, "Each of you will take 5 kunai and 5 shuriken. Throw them at the targets and you will be scored. Who wants to go first?" No one stepped forward. Seeing this, Nawaki decided to volunteer since he wanted to try something.

As Nawaki stepped up to gather the weapons, Yak.u.mo said, "Ah, Nawaki. Let's see what you can do!" Nawaki picked up the weapons and walked to the opposite end of the range. As he stepped up, he closed his eyes. This caught the attention of Yak.u.mo and a few of the kids as they widened their eyes. With his eyes closed, Nawaki sensed around him. He felt the range, the flow of energy, and the targets that he was aiming to hit. In a smooth and fluid motion Nawaki threw the shuriken one by one at the targets before doing the same with the kunai. After opening his eyes, he smiled at the result. "8/10. Very nice job! Who will go next?" Yak.u.mo said after Nawaki finished. Aside from one shuriken and one kunai, all of them hit their mark. Fugaku glared at Nawaki thinking he was showing off. As Nawaki walked back to the group, he felt the attention and made eye contact with Fugaku. Fugaku then stepped forward, breaking their eye contact to go next. He quickly gathered the weapons and threw all 5 shuriken simultaneously and then did the same with the kunai. Yak.u.mo then said, "10/10. As expected of the Uchiha Clan. Great job. Who will go next?"

The shuriken throwing concluded with no surprising results. Other than the kids that Nawaki took note of, no one else exceeded a score of 7. Next, was the jutsu demonstration. Following the last test, Nawaki stepped up to go first. He would finally get to show the fruits of his labor over the past 2 years. He stepped into the clearing and quickly made a few hand signs before saying, "Mokuton: Wood Dome Jutsu". As he said this, he slammed his hands into the ground and a wood dome rose to surround him. After a few seconds, he released the jutsu and the wood receded back into the ground. He smirked and glanced at Fugaku who just glared back at him. Just like last time, Fugaku stepped up and went next. Quickly doing some hand signs he then said, "Katon: Gokakyu no jutsu". He inhaled and as he let go of the breath, a huge fireball shot out from his mouth. The rest of the kids all demonstrated their jutsu one by one. The only other one which caught Nawaki's interest was s.h.i.+kaku's shadow manipulation. This was the specialty of the Nara clan and was quite useful in a variety of situations.

After that, it was time for the obstacle course. Yak.u.mo stood in front of the group and said, "For this test, we will run through this obstacle course. Two of you will go at a time. Remember, this is not a race so try not to hurt yourselves. Alright, pair up!" Almost immediately, Nawaki and Fugaku made eye contact and walked towards each other. Seeing this, Yak.u.mo smiled. This was the cla.s.sic UchihSenju rivalry. After everyone went through the course, Nawaki and Fugaku had the best times. They finished in 3.9 and 3.85 seconds respectively.

Finally, it was time for the tai jutsu spars. Turning to the group, Yak.u.mo said, "For this last test, we will do a taijutsu spar. You will only be allowed to use taijutsu and nothing else. Pick your opponents among yourselves. Before you start, you will form the unison sign with your sparring partner. After your spar, you will form the sign of reconciliation. Let's get started!" Both Nawaki and Fugaku quickly moved forward into the sparring ring. Yak.u.mo smiled before saying, "Alright, are you both ready?" They both nodded and formed the unison sign. Almost immediately they began to move in a blur. To most of the students, only the moments when they struck each other was visible. Between them both flickering around the ring and their high speed movements, the spar could only be described as amazing.

In the ring, Nawaki and Fugaku were quite evenly matched. Nawaki rushed forward with a right hook only to be parried by Fugaku's left hand while he countered with a kick. Nawaki raised his left leg to block the kick before das.h.i.+ng backwards. Fugaku did not let up as he followed Nawaki. Using a left hook as a feint he jabbed with his right hand and knocked Nawaki down. Taking this chance, he pounced and locked Nawaki under his body weight. Yak.u.mo then called out, "That's enough. Fugaku is the winner." Fugaku released Nawaki and when they looked at each other, they both smiled. "Fugaku, Uchiha Fugaku." Smiling, Nawaki replied, "Nawaki, Senju Nawaki." After forming the reconciliation sign, they walked away together and watched the remaining spars.

Of all the other fights, the only notable one was between the Hyuga twins. Their taijutsu prowess was not to be underestimated. Eventually, Hias.h.i.+ came out on top. Standing in front of the group, Yak.u.mo informed them that all of them would be placed into cla.s.s 1-A. "I'll see you all tomorrow morning. Report straight to your cla.s.sroom and your teacher will meet you there. Enjoy the rest of your day." he said to the group. They all responded in unison, "Hai sensei." As they were dismissed, Nawaki walked alongside Fugaku towards the academy gates. Turning to him, Nawaki said, "That was a great spar. Your taijutsu is amazing. Do you want to start training together? I have plenty of s.p.a.ce over on my clan grounds and it is getting harder to improve training alone." After thinking for a moment, Fugaku replied saying, "That sounds like a good idea. I see you as one of the few people here that are on par with my skill level. Wanna start after cla.s.s tomorrow?" Nawaki smiled and replied, "Sure! See you tomorrow!" Nawaki turned and ran off to meet Toka at the gates.

"So how was your first day?" Hearing her question, Nawaki smiled and replied, "I think I made a good impression. I think I made a friend too! Some Uchiha kid. He was really talented." Toka smiled and then said, "That is great, I'm so proud of you!" Once they got home, Toka prepared dinner while Nawaki went off to meditate. While dinner was being prepared, Toka sensed two chakra signatures entering the Senju grounds. After focusing on them, he hopped up and ran towards them yelling, "Onee-chan, Otou-san!" It had been a few days since he last saw either of them. Tsunade and Tetsuya had been out on missions as usual. It was getting very busy as of late for the Konoha ninja. As they sat down for dinner, the mood in the room started to dissipate. Suddenly, Tetsuya picked up his head and said, "Guys, there is some bad news. According to Hokage sama, the Second Great s.h.i.+n.o.bi war has begun."