"My name is Jin. As you can see, I'm an Uchiha, though some of them would rather not admit it." Jin spread his hands with a nonchalant shrug, earning glares from the Uchiha students in the classroom. If not for the presence of Instructor Inoue at the front, they might have given him a piece of their minds. They'd never seen an Uchiha with such abysmal talent.
Inoue Satoru, clad in a green flak jacket and sporting a Leaf headband despite his youthful age, already had a head full of white hair. He coughed, rubbing his temples. He could already tell Jin would be a problem student. He already had one of those; another… was still a big problem! "Thank you for your introduction, Jin. You may take your seat."
Jin sat down, arms crossed, as whispers rippled through the classroom. His enhanced hearing, a benefit of the Foundation Training, picked them up easily.
"Isn't he that Uchiha who failed the ninja exams twice?"
"What's he doing in our class?"
"Yeah, shouldn't he be in Class C?"
The Academy was divided into three classes: A, B, and C. Officially, there was no difference, but in reality, Class A was comprised mostly of clan children and exceptional commoners. Class B held the less talented clan members and the majority of the commoners, like a certain Uchiha who couldn't perform ninjutsu and was perpetually stuck in Class B, only to be inexplicably transferred to Class A this year.
As for Class C… that was the most… interesting class. It was where ninjas who had washed out of active duty were sent back to the Academy. Kings and queens of the schoolyard, yet failures in the real world. The proverbial dumping ground.
Logically, Jin, the acknowledged failure of the Uchiha, should have been in Class C. His first failure had been excused due to his clan status, allowing him to remain in Class B. This time, even the Uchiha name shouldn't have saved him. How did he end up in Class A?
Whatever the reason, Jin didn't care. In fact, he was delighted.
He turned to the golden-haired boy beside him, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Yo, you're Namikaze Minato, right? I hear you're always at the top of the class."
Minato, met with Jin's almost predatory grin, returned a flawless, sunny smile. It was a clash of good and evil.
(Jin: I'm not the evil one!)
"Just the result of hard work. I look forward to learning from you this year, Jin-senpai," Minato replied politely.
"Happy to help, happy to help." Jin clapped Minato on the shoulder, radiating an aura of "I've got your back."
Suddenly, a wave of killing intent washed over him. He turned to see a red-haired girl glaring daggers at him, her lips moving silently. Utilizing basic lip-reading skills, Jin deciphered her words: "What do you think you're doing to my minion?!"
Jin offered her what he considered a charming smile and a thumbs-up.
"Bam!" Kushina slammed her fist on the desk, drawing the attention of the entire class. Her reputation as the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero was well-earned. "What are you looking at?!" she snarled.
Everyone quickly averted their gaze. This was the girl who had beaten up a Genin before even graduating from the Academy.
"Kushina, we're in class," Inoue reminded her cautiously. This little firecracker was another force to be reckoned with.
Kushina ignored him completely, and the lesson continued. Jin, ignoring the burning glare from behind, fought off drowsiness. Only Minato and Kushina were familiar faces in this class.
Minato, Kushina's self-proclaimed minion, offered Jin an apologetic smile.
Jin felt the killing intent intensifying. Whatever. He was sleepy. Between the murderous aura and Inoue's droning lecture, Jin drifted off. There wasn't much point in listening anyway. The final year curriculum boiled down to three things:
First, and most prevalent, was indoctrination into the Will of Fire. Lectures extolled the virtues of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and his contributions to the village, with brief mentions of the First Hokage's founding and the Second Hokage's heroic sacrifice. Any other accomplishments were omitted, left for students to discover on their own. After all, the "God of Shinobi" Hiruzen surely surpassed his predecessors.
The other two components were ninjutsu training and sparring practice.
When the dismissal bell finally rang, several Uchiha students moved to confront Jin. His lack of talent was a disgrace to the clan. They might as well force him to drop out. Of course, dropping out wasn't an option for an Uchiha. That was a privilege reserved for commoners.
On the path home, bathed in the warm glow of the setting sun, Minato walked beside Kushina. The light illuminated her profile, giving her an almost ethereal beauty. Minato blushed slightly.
Kushina, oblivious to his reaction, fumed. "Minato, you're my minion! Don't be nice to that jerk!" He was her only minion! She couldn't let anyone else steal him away. Minato's blushing only reinforced her opinion that he was a bit too…girly.
Suddenly, a figure dropped from a tree, startling Kushina. "Aah!" she shrieked, hiding behind Minato. Recognizing Jin, she lunged forward, her red hair practically crackling with rage. "You Uchiha jerk!"
Jin hung upside down from a branch. "Well, you were talking about me behind my back. Consider it payback."
"I wasn't scared!" Kushina retorted defensively.
"That's not the point," Jin sighed. He had a soft spot for tsunderes, but he preferred the blonde variety. He turned to Minato, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Minato, how about a friendly spar between classmates?" He had his eye on Minato, one of the few true geniuses in the Naruto world.
Minato hesitated, scratching his head. He wasn't fond of pointless fights.
Kushina stepped forward, hands on her hips. "If you want to bully my minion, you have to go through me!"
"No can do," Jin shook his head. "I'm afraid I'll make you cry, and then someone will come looking for me." He was also terrified of accidentally provoking the Nine-Tails inside her. That would be a disaster.
"I'll make you cry, you jerk!" Kushina charged, launching a powerful right hook. The punch was fast and heavy, whistling through the air.
But even the strongest punch was useless if it didn't connect. Jin sidestepped easily, dodging Kushina's flurry of blows with effortless grace. Only his hair ruffled in the wind of her attacks.
When Kushina finally paused, panting, Jin was still fresh, a playful smirk on his face. "Is that all you've got?"
"Jerk!" Infuriated, Kushina lashed out with a roundhouse kick. Jin dodged again, tripping her with a swift kick to her supporting leg. She spun through the air and landed face-first in the dirt.
Jin stood over her, hands clasped behind his back, the picture of a martial arts master. "That's called the Level Sand Wild Goose."
"I'll kill you!" Kushina roared, struggling to get up. Minato rushed forward, restraining her.
"You're no match for him. I'll avenge you."
Kushina looked at Minato doubtfully. He flashed her a reassuring smile. "Minato, beat him up!" she yelled.
Minato grinned, releasing her and approaching Jin.
They stood facing each other, a tense silence hanging in the air. Then, they moved, blurring into a whirlwind of fists and feet. Kushina's red hair whipped around her as she watched in stunned silence.
"Amazing… are they really still Academy students?"
Minato, the perennial top student, and Jin, the supposed failure, both possessed taijutsu skills that surpassed the average Genin. She could probably beat them, but only through brute strength. These two were all about speed and technique.
Minato, however, was struggling. He'd underestimated Jin. Every blow he landed felt like hitting a rock. If not for Jin's short sleeves, he would have suspected hidden weights. And Jin's reflexes were inhuman.
Jin was like a fighting machine, switching between offense and defense seamlessly. And Minato couldn't land a single hit. Jin was dodging, not blocking.
Jin's fist connected with Minato's face. "Bam!"
Minato dissolved into a puff of smoke, a substitution log taking his place. He reappeared behind Jin, launching a kick.
In a flash, Jin grabbed the log, lifting it overhead and spinning, using it to slam Minato in the chest, sending him flying.
Minato skidded across the ground, coming to a halt in a kneeling position. A sharp kunai pressed against his forehead.
He looked up to see Jin beaming down at him. "You lose."
Minato, unfazed, grinned back. "I lose." He turned to a stunned Kushina, slightly embarrassed. "I guess I'm no match for Jin-senpai."
"He's older than you! It's not fair!" Kushina declared, scowling at Jin. There was a two-year age difference between them.
Minato, however, turned serious. "A loss is a loss," he told Kushina firmly.
Kushina looked away, pouting.
"Don't be so sure," Jin said, a sly grin spreading across his face. "My strength comes from a secret."
"Do you want to learn it?" He'd finally revealed his true intentions.
"I can teach you!"