The streets of Konoha buzzed gently with early-afternoon life as six children walked together down a dirt and cobble path.
Three boys and three girls moved in a loose cluster. Their sandals slapped against the ground and their voices overlapped in bursts of laughter and argument. Okuda Tomomori walked backwards for a moment, he was talking animatedly with his arms until Mori Fūma yanked the collar of his shirt, saving him from colliding with another passing shinobi. Another girl, Natsuko Sarutobi, rolled her eyes but smiled anyway.
Konoha Village smelled like home. Fresh bread drifted along the breeze from a nearby bakery, the smell of ink and paper lingered from a stationary shop, and the faint twang of iron came from the many weapons stalls and blacksmiths that could be found strategically placed around Konohagakure.
Wind chimes clinked frequently underneath eaves found further down the road and an old woman stood nearby, sweeping the forefront of her mini grocery outlet. She paused and watched the six kids go by, and amusement flickered across her face.
The children crossed a small bridge where the canal reflected the blue Konoha sky in rippled fragments. Okuda leaned over the railing to peer into the water.
"Come on! Hurry up!" Mori fired back. They were already leaving.
The group pressed on, energy undiminished, as their conversation shifted from training complaints to rumors about Academy instructors, then–inevitably–back to food.
"I'M STARVING!" Okuda complained.
"Me too." Sen Aburame agreed.
"Make me three!" Nana Inuzuka cheerfully joined in.
"I could certainly eat." Ando Kaze commented.
They turned onto a broader street, and the familiar shape of the Konoha Ninja Library came into view. It was tall, quiet, and dignified; its windows glowed underneath the sun, and the wood that it was constructed from–Hashirama's surely–seemed to only stand stronger after all these years.
The children slowed instinctively as they neared it and their voices lowered out of habit, even if none of them could explain why. Then, Nana Inuzuka pointed across the street.
A small gyoza shop sat neatly beside the corner of the road. Vines had overgrown onto its roof and steam curled invitingly out from beneath its maroon noren curtain. The sizzling sound of food in the pan carried through the air next, alongside a rich and mouth-watering aroma.
All six kids stopped at once. They looked at each other, and none rebuked.
All six kids crossed the street together, and their excitement bubbled with every step. They started debating fillings and sauces as well as argued over who was going to pay. Ultimately, it was split between the Clan kids–Sen had to pay for Okuda, Natsuko for Ando, and Nana for Mori.
Nana Inuzuka offered to pay for everyone, but the five vehemently refused it. They had invited her, after all; and if this somehow got back to the Third Hokage–that a member of his Clan was groveling for food from the other Clans… it just didn't look good inside of anyone's brain.
After lunch, the students still had an hour left before they had to be back for the latter half of their exams, and with the Konoha Ninja Library right across the street, it was the natural place to go.
The Konoha Ninja Library had heavy wooden doors that opened with a deep, echoing crack. Subsequently, the six children stepped inside.
The main floor of the library stretched out far and wide in quiet grandeur. Tall shelves, packed with scrolls, bound volumes, and carefully labeled records rose in orderly columns around the edges of the building. Sunlight poured in from above, illuminating motes of dust that floated in the air as well as the freshly polished floors beneath their feet. The library smelled of ink and of old paper; and of something else, something herbal, like dried leaves and the faint burn of incense.
Above them, the library rose four stories tall. Wooden balconies ringed the upper floors, each level stacked with increasingly sealed information. Staircases climbed upwards from two corners of the library, but at the base of each set of them stood clear signage, painted in formal brushtrokes–
"SECOND FLOOR AND ABOVE"
"AUTHORIZED SHINOBI ONLY"
A pair of uniformed shinobi sat at a central desk, meanwhile, with clear observation of all entrances and exits to the building at large. Their presence was calm, yet unmistakably firm. Mori's eyes followed the line of staircases up towards the higher floors until Natsuko pulled at her sleeve.
"Don't even think about it." Natsuko whispered with surprising clarity.
"I wasn't!" Mori hissed. She was.
The group of six drifted further into the library's public section. The main floor was still impressive; there were shelves dedicated to chakra theory basics, elemental affinities, village history, and even famous missions that had long been declassified. On the other side, diagrams of hand seals and anatomical charts lined the walls, each poster was carefully mounted and meticulously preserved.
Ando Kaze ran his finger along the spine of a thick book titled Foundations of Chakra Control and winced at the thick layer of dust that came away on his finger. Natsuko Sarutobi scanned a separate shelf labeled Konoha Pre-Founding.
Near the center of the library, long tables offered space for the public to read and study. A few other Ninja Academy students were already seated there, hunched over scrolls, bickering over the exam that they had likely just failed.
Then, the six children gathered around their own table.
"We have about twenty minutes before we have to go back." Natsuko calculated in her mind.
"And?" Mori Fūma asked. What the hell were they going to find in a library?
"AND everyone should look for something that they're interested in pursuing. Maybe more advanced chakra control training. Maybe a way to try and test your own nature affinities. You seem to be obsessed with mastering the Mud Clone–why don't you try to find something on earth nature transformation?" Natsuko spelled it out for her.
The nine-year old's black-eyes widened. "WAIT!" She shouted at a volume inappropriate for the library.
"The library has that?? Jutsu stuff??" It seemed Mori's predecessor knew nothing about it. Neither did Mori, apparently.
Natsuko Sarutobi looked at Ando. Then, at Nana Inuzuka.
"Where did you think all of the village's information was stored? In some top-secret base? If you think about it, it's even harder to steal something out in the open than it is somewhere hidden. And none of the really important stuff is here anyway, just stuff that every village sort of.. already knows? In a weird way." The Sarutobi girl reasoned.
Mori Fūma scrunched her brows. "Then why do we have to go to school? If it's all in the library?"
This time, it was Ando's turn to look suspiciously at the others. Nana was here, so he couldn't be too specific.
"I mean.. did you ever go to the library before? The same could be said about then." Ando said.
"I–" Mori paused. Then paled.
"Was it really the same on Earth?" She thought.
Meanwhile, the others had already scattered in various directions.
Natsuko and, believe it or not, Okuda Tomomori visited the chakra control section together. Natsuko visited because, as a Sarutobi, she was more likely to have more than one natural elemental affinity–and the more she had the better she needed her chakra control to be, to be able to switch from one element to another. Moreover, what Natsuko had said the other day, she truly believed in; that chakra control was the foundation of everything. Better chakra control allowed for power scaling in the form of more accurately fueling ninjutsu, it reduced the learning curve across practically all forms of ninjutsu, and it was the only reliable way to reduce the hand seal count (other than spam the jutsu, but not everyone had infinite chakra).
Okuda Tomomori visited because he had always dreamed of the day of wielding power beyond himself, and now–finally–the opportunity presented itself to him. There was only one small, slight issue–his chakra control was atrocious. He had spent a month on tree climbing already, and yet still he regularly fell whenever he got distracted. His dreams were not crushed, however.
Not yet.
Like all the others, his memories came equipped with the three basic techniques. Okuda was able to perform the Transformation Jutsu, the Substitution Jutsu, and the basic Clone Jutsu without any problems. He could perform ninjutsu. He was not like the future Rock Lee, who could not perform any ninjutsu whatsoever. He had hope. And he would never let it go.
Ando Kaze roamed near the available introductory medical books. He clearly had the best natural chakra control and becoming a medic was an easy shoo-in into the Hokage's faction–assuming he eventually made it up high enough the ladder to catch Tsunade's eye.
Hell, he also didn't know if he even had Yang Release, but if not him, then who else? Sen had too much bug stuff going on. Mori's chakra control didn't look good enough. Okuda didn't need to be mentioned; and Natsuko will likely have to learn twenty-billion ninjutsu, she'll have no time to study both medicine and practice its Release, Ando reasoned.
Nana Inuzuka led Mori Fūma to the Earth Release section, meanwhile. Although she had no hopes of successfully performing the jutsu for this month's exam–she was determined to showcase her skills during the next one, and for that, she needed to master the jutsu first.
At the same time, Sen Aburame stuck with the two girls in the Earth Release section. Although his Clan primarily focused on their signature insect ninjutsu, many of them also carried an Earth Release affinity–perhaps caused due to their proximity to earth. Either way, it was more than likely that Sen also had Earth Release, so whatever transformation technique Mori decided to practice, Sen planned on copying.
Soon, the twenty minutes were over and it was time to reconvene and return to the Ninja Academy. A competition awaited them.