Chapter 1: The Oddball and the Genius
Konoha Year 42, late March.
The Ninja Academy was about to begin its new term, and the entrance exam results had been posted that very day. Children and parents crowded around the notice board, buzzing with excited chatter.
At the very front of the crowd, a father-son pair dressed in matching green jumpsuits had drawn more than a few irritated looks from the people around them.
The thick-mustached Might Duy hoisted his son up onto his shoulders, ignoring the ridicule all around him, cheering him on at full volume. Might Guy, still desperately scanning the board, swayed left and right until the futility of it finally got to him and he muttered under his breath:
"Not there. Still not there... still not there..."
Even though he'd half-expected this after the exam, seeing it confirmed put a look of real disappointment on Might Guy's face. The sounds around him only made it worse.
"Found it!"
"I passed!"
"That's my boy..."
"Congratulations!"
"..."
The group of six-year-olds and their parents erupted into happy cheers. Being a ninja came with danger, sure, but it was still a respectable, well-paying career, the best shot a commoner had at moving up in the world.
"Son, keep looking..."
Might Duy's expression grew more intense as he kept up the encouragement. He was mid-sentence when he felt something wet hit his face. He looked up instinctively, and found his son already in tears.
"It's not there, Dad. My name isn't on the board."
"Guy, you gave it everything you had. That effort will be rewarded."
Might Duy looked up at his son and gradually raised his voice. As Guy's tears kept falling, his father's voice swelled to a roar that drowned out every snicker around them:
"On the road ahead, soaked in tears, you will find your name! Keep searching!"
"Yes, sir!"
Encouraged by his father, Might Guy blinked back his tears and replied sharply. He stopped crying, squared his shoulders, and resumed swaying side to side, searching for a name that wasn't there.
"Might Guy..."
Shiranui Genma, stuck at the very front of the crowd with that non-stop noise booming directly overhead, wore a look of pure exasperation. At six he already considered himself practically grown, and he leaned over with a world-weary air to mutter:
"That guy really doesn't get it. His name's not just going to magically appear."
Beside him, Ebisu adjusted the sunglasses on his nose, a look of pity crossing his face as he sighed:
"I can barely watch..."
Furukawa Osamu had been listening to his two friends whisper. He noticed the father and son's mood sinking and raised his voice just enough to cut in:
"Don't forget there's a supplementary enrollment list. Relax, he'll make it in."
The Might Duy and Guy duo spun around at once, like they'd just heard the most incredible news in the world. Both sets of eyes went wide, thick black eyebrows shooting upward in unison.
Under the heat of that combined stare, a slightly flustered Furukawa Osamu unconsciously glanced down at his black turtleneck short-sleeve and black pants, then ran a hand through his lightly wavy black hair.
He was about to say more when the father-son pair cut him off:
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!"
They bellowed in unison, thumbs thrust to the sky. Staring at those impossibly bright smiles, Osamu had the strange feeling their teeth were literally gleaming...
The people nearby instinctively took a step back. The crowd fell into an awkward silence, until a shout from somewhere behind broke the tension:
"Osamu, let's go. The orientation's about to start."
Hatake Kakashi, scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face, hands tucked in his pockets, called out to Furukawa Osamu with his usual unhurried expression.
The crowd erupted back into noise, and the snickering started up again.
Before Osamu could offer any more words of encouragement, Shiranui Genma and Ebisu grabbed him by the arms and hauled him out of the crowd. Behind them, the Might Duy and Guy duo had already turned back to motivating each other:
"If I run five hundred laps around the training grounds, I'll definitely make the supplementary list!"
"Guy!"
Osamu glanced back at the father and son, fists clenched, tears streaming, the whole picture turned up to eleven. He could only shake his head inwardly.
Those are some seriously anime-level tears.
*
A near-kidnapping attempt on the Jinchuriki candidate had put Konoha on edge, and under orders from the higher-ups, the Ninja Academy had further relaxed its enrollment age requirements.
Konoha wouldn't be sending genin directly to the front lines, but the village still needed to build up its genin pool early to cover low-risk, non-combat assignments.
In the tiered lecture hall of Year One, Class A, a chunin teacher named Kimura Ryosuke, a plain-looking man with a scar down his left cheek, patiently fielded questions from parents after the orientation, never once letting impatience show on his face.
When the session finally wound down, Kimura Ryosuke looked down at the two boys standing beside Hatake Sakumo and smiled warmly:
"Teaching geniuses is real pressure."
"At their age I was still playing ninja games, and Kakashi has already mastered the three basic shinobi techniques. Worthy of Sakumo's son."
The parents and students still in the room all looked toward the masked Hatake Kakashi. But Hatake Sakumo, dressed in plain clothes, simply ruffled Furukawa Osamu's hair and smiled:
"Osamu's natural gift for ninjutsu is even stronger than Kakashi's."
"Please give them both strict guidance over the coming years. Starting at the Academy is just the beginning."
Hearing that praise from the White Fang of Konoha, Kimura Ryosuke looked briefly surprised, then recalled what he'd seen during the entrance exam and gave a slow nod.
Like Kakashi, Furukawa Osamu wouldn't turn five until September.
"Sakumo-sama, Ryosuke-sensei, I'll work twice as hard over the next few years."
Osamu responded immediately, his young face showing just the right mix of earnestness and excitement. Beside him, Kakashi quickly turned his head away and muttered under his breath:
"Father, I'll have C-rank ninjutsu mastered soon too."
Kimura Ryosuke laughed out loud at that. Thoroughly pleased to be teaching two such prodigies, he encouraged them both at once:
"Ha! That's the spirit of geniuses competing! Give it everything you've got, Kakashi, Osamu!"
Kakashi and Furukawa Osamu gave slight bows. They noticed more than a few girls in the room staring their way. The other boys responded with a collective scoff. Good-looking kids with talent were the absolute worst.
"Osamu! Kakashi! Want to play kick-the-can?"
Shiranui Genma called out from the doorway, a candy stick dangling from the corner of his mouth, a crowd of classmates massed behind him. Osamu felt a flicker of reluctance inside, but on the outside he flashed an easy grin:
"You're it. I'm on my way!"
Kakashi, who genuinely wanted to go too, didn't move. He looked up at his father, then muttered to himself:
"I just want to train..."
Hatake Sakumo gave his not-quite-honest son a pat on the back, watched Kakashi shuffle out the door with a reluctant look on his face, and only then gave a quiet nod.
A steady stream of teachers came by to pay their respects. The White Fang of Konoha greeted each one without a trace of arrogance, all the while turning over a quiet thought about the Furukavas, who had given their lives on a mission not so long ago:
Osamu will become a fine ninja.
*
Out on the Academy training grounds, Furukawa Osamu had flipped over the wooden fence and pressed his feet to a tree branch. Hanging upside down, he extended his right hand and pressed it flat against the bark, activating his Gathering Technique.
Watching the "Essence" notification appear once more in his field of vision, Osamu turned the thought over quietly in his mind:
If I used Gathering on the God Tree itself... what would I get?