FanFic Fiesta Entry! Add this to you library to support me!!
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My name? You'll learn it soon enough.
So come, join my journey. Watch as I take this "evolved" bloodline, this power forged from oppression and freed by revolution, and tear through the shinobi world.
The "Upper Class" Uzumaki, in their pride, failed.
Konoha, in its cowardice, betrayed them.
But I will not fail.
I will lead the Hidden Cloud to its absolute peak.
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Just then, a voice, sharp and powerful enough to pierce a mountain, shattered my internal monologue.
"RAIDEN UZUMAKI!! GET OUT OF YOUR BATH TUB! IT'S ALMOST TIME TO GO TO THE ACADEMY. YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LATE ON YOUR FIRST DAY!!"
I jolted, hot water sloshing over the side of the tub. That voice... it belonged to the only person in Kumogakure who could make me, the future apex of the shinobi world, flinch.
My mother.
That's right. My name is Raiden Uzumaki, and before conquering the world, I really need to leave for the academy. If I don't, my mom, Akane Uzumaki, will personally end my story before it even begins. And trust me, her fuinjutsu-enhanced wooden spoon is a more terrifying weapon than anything the Upper Class Uzumaki ever dreamed of.
"RAIDEN!!!!!"
"COMING, MOM!" I yelled, scrambling out of the water and grabbing a towel.
To truly understand my journey, you must first understand my home.
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Third Person POV:-
Kumogakure, the Village Hidden in the Clouds.(The Pic)
It is not a village in the traditional sense, not like the sprawling, flat stretch of Konoha.
Kumo is a fortress. It is a statement of power and defiance, carved into the very peaks of the most treacherous, uninhabitable mountain range on the continent.
The Hidden Cloud lives above the world.
Tall, jagged peaks of dark, lightning-scarred rock spear the sky, rising so high that the air is thin and crisp. The village is a series of massive, cylindrical structures built directly into the sides of these mountains, connected by a dizzying network of suspension bridges, external staircases, and pulley-operated lifts. The central and largest of these structures, the one that serves as the Raikage's office, is a monolithic blue-tiled tower that seems to hold up the sky.
Far below, a sea of white clouds blankets the world, obscuring the land beneath. The only sounds are the constant whistling of the wind as it tears through the mountain passes and the occasional, distant crackle of lightning.
This is not a gentle place. It is a land of stone, steel, and storm. It breeds shinobi who are tough, resilient, and unyielding, because the mountain demands nothing less.
And in this village, a small, six-year-old boy with white hair made his way across one of these high bridges, the wind whipping his hair around. This was Raiden Uzumaki, and he was, indeed, running late.
He skipped the main lift, opting for a riskier but faster series of service ladders bolted to the cliff face, his small hands and feet finding holds with a practiced ease. He moved with a supernatural agility, his massive, inherited chakra reserves already making his six-year-old body far more durable and responsive than that of a normal child's.
He landed on a wide, stone plaza buzzing with activity. This was the main way to the Academy, a building that looked more like a reinforced bunker than a school.
"Oi! Took you long enough!"
Raiden grinned, skidding to a halt. "Had to make a strategic escape."
"Strategic escape from your mom?" a new voice asked.
Standing there were his three, and arguably only, friends.
"What's good, The White Uzumaki?" a red-haired girl said, punching him lightly on the shoulder.
This was Karui. Even at six, she was a ball of kinetic, impatient energy. Her bright red hair was a messy mop, as always.
"Don't call him that, Karui, you know he hates it," sighed the blonde girl next to her. This was Samui. She was Karui's opposite in every way: calm, collected, and quiet. Her pale blonde hair was cut neatly, and she watched the world with a cool, analytical gaze that was unnerving on a child.
"Yeah, but what if he is the White Uzumaki?" a third voice chimed in.
Omoi, a silver-haired boy with an ever thoughtful, bordering-on-anxious expression, was already sucking on a lollipop, even at this hour.
"I mean, think about it. 'White' like the clouds we live in, and 'Uzumaki' like the... you know... the other ones. What if it's a prophecy? What if it means he's destined to fall off one of these bridges and vanish into the white clouds? Oh man, that's a terrible omen. We shouldn't be his friends, it's too dangerous."
Karui smacked him on the back of the head. "Shut up, Omoi! You're gonna be late 'cause you're too busy overthinking."
Raiden just laughed and slapped Omoi on the back, nearly sending him sprawling. "Just call me Raiden, you jackasses."
The four of them were a strange sight. Karui, the fiery, loud-mouthed brawler. Samui, the quiet, stoic observer. Omoi, the anxious, overthinking strategist. And then there was Raiden.
Even at six, Raiden was... different. It was, as always, the hair. It wasn't just white. It was a stark, brilliant, almost glowing white, like freshly fallen snow. It was long for a boy, falling in unruly, silky strands around his face and down his back. It was a stark contrast to the red his ancestors were famous for, a mutation his family had embraced.(Pic)
But it was his eyes that truly set him apart. They weren't the blue or violet of the Uzumaki, nor the dark eyes common in Kumo. They were bright, golden-yellow. He was lean and wiry, but he moved with a fluid grace, a lot of power thrumming just beneath his skin that the other kids could instinctively feel.
"So, first day," Omoi muttered, shifting his lollipop to the other cheek as they walked. "I bet we'll have to fight to the death. They'll probably give us rusty kunai and lock us in a room. The last one standing gets to be a Genin. I am not ready for this."
"They don't do that, idiot," Karui snapped. "My cousin told me they just... make you do push-ups. And run. Lots of running."
"I'd rather fight to the death," Omoi mumbled.
"I just hope our sensei is strong," Samui said quietly, her first words in several minutes.
"Strong?" Omoi's eyes lit up. "You mean, like him? Like the Raikage?!"
He immediately puffed out his chest and struck a ridiculous pose, flexing his nonexistent six-year-old biceps. "YEAAAAH! The Third Raikage! The strongest man alive! He fought the Eight-Tails to a standstill! He's got a body of pure steel! He's so cool!"
Karui rolled her eyes, but Raiden saw her smile. In Kumo, the Raikage was more than a leader; he was a superhero.
"Or!" Omoi suddenly shouted, changing tactics and beginning to hop and skip, waving his arms in rhythm. "Maybe we'll get Killer B-sama! YO! YO! Goin' to class, gonna pass, I'm the best, screw the rest! Bakayaro! Konoyaro! YEAH!"
Karui's patience finally snapped. "OH MY GOD, OMOI, IF YOU DON'T SHUT UP, I'M GOING TO THROW YOU OFF THE BRIDGE!"
"See?!" Omoi yelped, dodging her swing. "It is an omen!"
Samui just let out a long, weary sigh, a sound she had perfected at a very young age.
Raiden just watched them, a small smile on his face. He looked up at the monolithic blue tower where the Raikage resided.
"Meh," he said, his voice quiet but clear over the whistling wind.
His three friends stopped their bickering and looked at him.
"Meh?" Karui repeated, confused.
Raiden's golden-yellow eyes seemed to glow. "Watch me. I'm going to be stronger than both of them."
The statement hung in the thin mountain air. It was so absurd, so colossally arrogant, that the three of them just stared at him. Stronger than A, the Third Raikage? Stronger than Killer B, the perfect Jinchūriki?
Then, all at once, they burst out laughing.
"You're insane, Raiden!" Karui cackled, wiping a tear from her eye.
"He's so insane!" Omoi agreed, laughing around his lollipop. "He'll probably challenge the Raikage tomorrow and get zapped into a pile of white-haired ash! I can see it now!"
Raiden just kept smiling.
The laughter died down, and Karui slung an arm around his neck, pulling him into a rough headlock. "But hell yeah," she said, her voice full of grinning conviction. "We believe you."
"Totally," Samui nodded, a rare, small smile on her face.
"Yeah," Omoi added, "but maybe wait until we're at least Genin before you pick that fight, okay? I don't want to be an orphan and friendless."
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They finally reached the Academy. They found their assigned classroom, which looked like a conference room with stone walls, narrow slit windows, and metal desks bolted to the floor. It was already filling with other six-year-olds, all buzzing with energy.
Raiden, Karui, Samui, and Omoi claimed a row of desks near the back.
Just as the bell chimed, a deep, resonant gong that echoed off the mountains, and the door slid open. A woman walked in. She was tall, with dark hair pulled into a tight, practical bun, and she wore the standard Kumo Chūnin flak jacket. Her eyes were sharp, and she scanned the room once, an expression of no-nonsense professionalism on her face. The chatter instantly died.
"Good morning," she said, her voice as crisp as the mountain air. "My name is Yugiri-sensei. I will be your homeroom instructor for the next six years."
She turned and wrote her name on the chalkboard.
"Welcome to the Kumogakure Shinobi Academy. Most of you are here because you want to become strong. You want to protect our village. You want to be like the Raikage, or Killer B."
A few kids, Omoi included, nodded enthusiastically.
"That is a good goal," Yugiri-sensei continued. "But 'strong' is not a word we take lightly here. This is not a game. This is not a play. This is where your life as a shinobi of the Cloud begins. While I expect you to have fun, I also expect you to train until your muscles tear and your chakra is dry. Is that understood?"
"YES, SENSEI!" the class shouted.
"Good. Now, you should know Kumo's philosophy on education. It is different from other villages."
"In this class, there will be prodigies. Those of you who are stronger, faster, or smarter than your peers."
A few kids puffed out their chests.
"You will not be rushed. You will not be graduated early," she said, her voice firm, cutting off any building arrogance. "In Kumo, we believe that rushing a talented shinobi only hampers their growth. It creates specialists who are brilliant at one thing but failures at everything else. You will stay with your class. You will learn teamwork, patience, and how to lead. You will be given extra, more difficult training, yes, but your duty is to pull your comrades up with you."
She then looked to the other side of the room. "Then there will be those of you who learn more slowly. Those who struggle."
A few children looked down, shuffling their feet.
"You will also stay in this class," Yugiri-sensei said, her voice just as firm. "We do not discard weak links; we forge them until they are as strong as the rest of the chain. Staying with your class helps with confidence. You will learn by watching and training with your stronger peers. You will learn that hard work can, and will, bridge the talent gap to a huge extent."
She stopped in the center of the room, her gaze sweeping over every single child.
"I have one simple rule. You will never make fun of each other in this room. I will not tolerate it. Not for how strong someone is, or how weak. Not for how they look, or how they talk, or how they react to different things. You are not just classmates. As of this moment, you are all fellow future shinobi of the Hidden Cloud. You are comrades. And you will always respect your comrades."
She let that sink in. The room was dead silent.
"You are here to become the next generation. The next storm. The future protectors of this village. You will work hard. You will sweat. You will bleed. And you will do it together."
A fire lit in the room. The kids were leaning forward, their eyes wide. This wasn't a boring speech. This was a promise.
Raiden felt a familiar thrill, the dancing chakra under his skin. He looked at Karui, who was grinning, her fist clenched. He saw Samui nod once, her eyes focused. Even Omoi had stopped chewing his lollipop, his expression one of rare, total seriousness.
Yugiri-sensei smiled, a small, thin smile which was all steel.
"So," she asked, her voice rising, "are all of you ready to become ninjas?"
The entire class exploded.
"YEAHHHHH!"
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