Time Flows Like Water

  The initial buzz surrounding Link’s return to the Ninja Academy didn’t st long. He remained distant and unapproachable, with no friends or even cssmates he could exge a few extra words with.

  Day by day, his physical fitness and chakra reserves improved steadily. While the growth wasn’t as rapid as in his first ten months of training, it was still respectable. His hand-seal speed also made signifit progress.

  Yet, in other ways, he was at a standstill.

  The teags of the Ninja Academy grew increasingly disected from his own bat philosophy. As an adult with a firm worldview and logical mi, he was difficult to influence. Certainly, no amount of history lessons could inspire him to develop a deep love for the vilge.

  At most, he occasionally faked a bit of enthusiasm to keep up appearances.

  With his improving physical dition, advang age, aless training, Link’s food ption increased dramatically. To plicate matters, he spent a lot on soldier pills as part of expl his bat strategies—an expensive iment.

  Soon, evewo subsidies he received were no longer enough.

  For the better part of six months, he spent nearly every day hunting and fishing iraining grounds outside Konoha to fill his belly.

  His frequent forays into the wild, coupled with solitary training, turned him into something of a deli at the academy. Skipping csses became the norm. Fortunately, the homeroom teacher—a character so insequential they would never appear again—was uanding of Link’s unique circumstances and didn’t give him trouble for it.

  It became evident that he wasn’t suited to the Academy’s structured enviro. A year of refi was enough.

  What he needed now was more jutsu, more money, and higher status.

  …

  Another year passed without much excitement, bringing him closer to the moment of destiny: Naruto Uzumaki’s graduation.

  Feeling a touch of ay, Link immediately attehe first day of the graduation exam. This time, the test was e Jutsu.

  And as expected, his peculiar version of e Jutsu was not going to cut it in a traditional evaluation.

  Instead to force it, he sought out the homeroom teacher and easily obtained a new forehead protector—after all, his previous one had been revoked.

  Thankfully, there was o retake his photograph; his old one was still on file. After a brief period of team assigs, he met his eammates.

  “Hey, Link! What kind of person do you think our Team Five’s sensei will be?”

  Iris, a lively boy with a ponytail, asked with excitement. Wearing his fresh forehead protector, he already looked like a clumsy rookie.

  (Note: Iris is the same impulsive student who collided with Narut the infamous Naruto-Sasuke “first kiss” se.)

  Link gnced around the still-crowded , a trace of unease fshing in his mind. “Hopefully not someone who’s always te.”

  He silently prayed their new sensei wouldn’t be Kakashi Hatake. One year’s dey had been enough—another would be disastrous.

  “Strong ninjas don’t show up te,” scoffed a girl with her legs propped up on a desk. Her tone was casual but dismissive. “If we get some tardy, useless sehen I’ll really be out of luck—stu a team with you two.”

  Her name was Ami, another member of the Team Five. (Note: Ami is another background character from the Naruto databooks. She bullied Sakura aedly failed to graduate.)

  “Hey! What are you implying?” Iris yelled, pointing an accusatory fi Ami.

  Ami shrugged, her eyes drifting to the ceiling, saying nothing more.

  Link sighed. An impulsive idiot and a girl with a princess plex.

  As long as Kakashi Hatake wasn’t their sensei, he could tolerate these two as teammates for a while. After all, demonstrating leadership ability was essential to his goal of advang to in.

  But first, they’d need a little "talk" after meeting their sensei.

  “Team Five: Link, Iris, Ami.”

  A jonin with dark green eye shadow and a high ponytail ehe room, calling their names.

  …

  Ten Minutes Later – Academy Training Grounds

  “Let’s start with introdus,” the jonin said. After a pause, he added, “My name is Nara Ensui. Jonin.” (Note: Nara Ensui appears in the Freat Ninja War as a member of the Nara .)

  “Link.”

  “Iris.”

  “Ami.”

  “Just your names?” Ensui asked, though his tone suggested he didn’t expect more. “Alright then. Following tradition, tomorrow m at Training Ground Seven, there’ll be a small test. Anyone who fails will be sent back to the Academy. Got it?”

  “Got it.” x3

  The jonin g them, his expression one of mild annoyance. “Well then—dismissed.”

  And just like that, he vanished.

  Ami turo leave, but Link called out, “Wait. I o have a word with you two, my ‘teammates.’”

  “What’s up?” Iris asked, his curiosity piqued. To him, Link was just a youeammate in need of guidance.

  Ami, however, tinued walking as if she hadn’t heard him.

  “Whoosh—thud!”

  The sound of clothing brushing the air was followed by Ami being pio the ground.

  Twisting her fingers backward, Link stared at Ami and spoke coldly, one word at a time: “I said, I o talk to you two. Teammates.”

  He released Ami, who immediately scrambled to her feet and, seething with anger, drew a kunai to strike him.

  Na?ve.

  A sed ter, a kunai was at Ami’s neck, held silently against her skin.

  “Dear teammate,” Link’s young voice was chilling, sending shivers down their spines. “Did you hear me this time?”

  Though he couldn’t match Kakashi Hatake or elite jonin in skill, Link’s chakra trol was leagues above his peers. He had mastered tree climbing and water walking long before entering the Academy, enabling him to move faster and strike sooner.

  With the kunai’s bde grazing her ned drawing a thin line of blood, Ami froze. Beads of cold sweat trickled down her face as she whispered, “What do you want to talk about?”

  Link pulled back the kunai, calmly wiping its edge on her shoulder before sheathing it.

  “Training Ground Seven. One hour.”