New Faces, Old Rumors
Two weeks after the Ninja Academy began its term, two new names were added to the roster.
"Astra Uzumaki""Kushina Uzumaki"
The moment their names were posted, whispers started. Rumours moved faster than chakra through tenketsu points.
"Who?""Wait, didn't the Uzumaki clan get—""Are they even Genin-level already?""I heard one of them trained under Lady Mito herself!"
By the time Astra and Kushina stepped through the Academy gates, a hush fell like someone had muted the entire courtyard.
Kushina, bold as ever, wore her signature scowl and confidence like a badge of honor. Her red hair whipped behind her as she walked half a step ahead of Astra, chin up, eyes scanning the room for someone to challenge her immediately.
Astra, on the other hand, held his hands behind his back and stared upward at the Academy's facade like it was a mild curiosity. His white hair swayed as he moved like a breeze, his expression unreadable—though the tiny red parasol strapped to his back certainly made him more memorable.
"Why are they staring at us?" Kushina muttered under her breath.
"Maybe it's because you're pretty," Astra said with a blink.
Kushina's cheeks instantly flushed. "Wh-what! Shut up, you weirdo! Don't just say that!"
(〃▽〃) ← That's her actual face.
Their homeroom teacher, Umino Kenji, a middle-aged chunin with too much stress and not enough patience, cleared his throat.
"Ahem. These are your new classmates. Please don't scare them away on the first day."
Someone in the back muttered, "I think we should be scared of them."
The Calm and the Crimson Hurricane
The first lesson was chakra balancing—standing on the wall using chakra control alone.
Most kids wobbled or flailed.
Kushina? Instantly stuck herself sideways, grinning.
Astra? He didn't just stand. He walked sideways like it was a dance floor.
"Hey, hey, sensei? This is Genin stuff, right?" one student whispered.
"They're freaks," another said. "No way they're our age."
Kushina caught wind of it, of course.
She stomped down, cracking the wood floor. "Say that to my face, coward!"
A blonde boy tried to look tough. "Tch. All I said was—"
She launched at him.
Astra casually slid between them, a plate of cookies in hand. "Kushina," he said mildly, "you forgot to eat lunch."
(￣ω￣)ノ🍪
Kushina blinked.
"...Oh."
Fight avoided. Barely.
Tsunade, watching from behind a shaded balcony, sighed deeply. "Walking nuclear weapons," she muttered. "One's a landmine with legs. The other's a kitten pretending to be a sage."
Unsettling Grace
By midweek, the Academy students had developed a code.
Don't annoy the red one.Don't look the white one in the eyes too long.
During sparring practice, a Uchiha kid Arata, eight, smug stepped into the ring with Kushina and made the mistake of calling her "carrot-head."
Within seconds, his nose was bleeding, and his pride was in pieces.
When he got up and glared at her, really glared, Astra stood up from the corner with slow grace.
He walked forward and placed a single hand on Arata's shoulder.
No killing intent. No outward pressure. Just… stillness.
And yet every single person in the room held their breath. Even the teacher froze.
Arata sat back down without a word.
Astra returned to his seat and resumed sipping from a tiny cup of jasmine tea.
(¬_¬)☕
Tsunade's Heart Hurts. Literally.
Later that night, Tsunade sat in the Senju compound's quiet library, staring at a half-finished report and a full glass of sake.
She didn't drink.
Yet.
"They're just kids," she muttered to herself.
"Tiny, precious… gods-damned terrifying kids."
She leaned back, staring up at the ceiling, recalling Astra's unreadable smile and Kushina's chaos-like thunder in human form.
"I don't know what this feeling is…" she whispered.
Then she imagined Astra handing someone cookies mid-duel again.
"…It makes my chest hurt. Like—like I wanna scold him and protect him and maybe—no. No."
(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)← Her internal expression
She groaned. "What the hell is wrong with me?"
From the hallway, Shizune (or a younger nurse in training) peeked in.
"Are you talking to yourself again, Tsunade-sama?"
"No."
"…You sure?"
"YES."
The Smile Behind the Mask
Somewhere beneath Konoha, far below where lanterns reached, in a dimly-lit Root facility…
An ANBU knelt in front of Danzo Shimura.
"The report?" Danzo asked.
The ANBU's voice trembled slightly. "I encountered the child."
Danzo frowned. "Which one?"
"The boy. Astra Uzumaki."
Danzo's fingers paused on his cane.
"…And?"
The ANBU hesitated.
"He smiled at me."
Danzo's eye narrowed. "That's all?"
"No, sir. He smiled at me… and I couldn't move. Not out of fear. Out of—something I don't understand."
Danzo's silence stretched long.
Finally, he spoke.
"…It's time we accelerate the plan."
╰(°▽°)╯