(I have this story running on multiple websites, so I count the votes from all of them. Just so it doesn't confuse others why even with the two Taijutsu votes above Jutsu was chosen.)
[X] Train Jutsu
…
In the end, Shinji decided to train, resting and lazing about just before graduation didn't sound like a good idea to him. After all, his Ninja Career is just beginning, and resting now wasn't a good idea. Unlike many other children, he wasn't too disillusioned with what being a ninja meant.
His Taijutsu was good enough, though his Style was the basics of the academy so most clan kids could defeat him, with a few exceptions. So unless he started training physically, which wouldn't have any effect by tomorrow, Shinji decided to train Ninjutsu. Mostly the Replacement Jutsu, he was sure that even if he became Jonin, that jutsu would be useful. Even life-saving.
But even then, he sat on his bed and contemplated. Training mindlessly wouldn't lead to good results and he knew that. Yet, he tried to think of something, anything that he had missed while he was learning the three basic Jutsu. In his class, he was one of the best ones in using the basic jutsu. He never had an accident when using them, and has known how to use them for years now.
While the Clone and Transformation Jutsu had somewhat limited usages, and when you used them, going through all the hand-signs wasn't a problem. Especially the transformation jutsu, which had only one hand sign.
'Right! Hand Signs!'
Suddenly an idea struck Shinji, and he remembered many times when Iruka -sensei had used only one hand sign for the replacement jutsu.
'How didn't I realize this sooner? It had been right in front of my eyes all along!'
While Shinji wasn't exactly sure how someone could do that, he was determined to at least learn the replacement jutsu to do it faster, because by the speed every Academy Student does it, the jutsu was mostly useless, on par with the other E Rank Jutsu.
Still, he had hours to train and was excited to finally be able to make something of himself. "It should be around six hours until dinner," he muttered and started training religiously.
Finally, the door that had been closed for so long, due to a lack of someone willing to teach him the next level was opened. Shinji knew why the Ninja Clan kids were ahead of him, they had someone to teach them. Even Sasuke, whose whole clan was dead, undoubtedly had a library of the Uchiha Clan Ninjutsu.
But now, he finally found a way to catch up to them.
…
Shinji passed the whole day of training and he didn't know if it was because of finally being decisive in becoming a ninja or maybe he was finally trying something new with the Jutsu he had already learned.
But as he trained, his Replacement Jutsu and Clone Jutsu improved by leaps and bounds. He had finally gotten a new idea and kept training. It made him excited, just like when he learned ninjutsu for the first time.
As the sky turned dark, with only the filing lamp keeping him company, Shinji lept training with an excited smile on his face. Finally, just as he was on the brink of his chakra dropping below 20% and entering the early stages of Chakra Exhaustion.
*Poof*
Shinji replaced himself with the sheets on his bed. His smile couldn't get any wider. "Well, I tried to replace myself with the chair, but at least this shows that it is possible."
While in the Academy, Shinji worked hard to learn the three basic Jutsu and did so faster than most. But he never thought to try it with fewer hand signs. The Replacement Jutsu might not be ready to be used in combat with fewer hand signs yet, but now he had the key to the door that had been locked to him for quite a while now. Like a child who got a new toy, he felt a burst of joy. He could finally taste the feeling of progress, of getting better.
He was about to continue practicing, but then remembered that he was almost to the brink of chakra exhaustion and stopped. While the Replacement Jutsu didn't use a lot of chakra, training it for hours would have its effect too.
So with excitement bubbling inside of him, Shinji fell asleep.
…
As the next day came about, Shinji woke up early and his chakra was back to normal. His fingers twitched, wanting to train the Replacement Jutsu since the Genin Exams wouldn't start until a couple more hours. But he held that feeling of excitement in, knowing that he had to be at the top of his game when the exam took place.
Looking around his room, Shinji didn't know what to do. So he decided to go to the Academy, even though it was a little early. Better than staying here, where excitement could get the best of him and he might start training.
..
As he walked down the road, a path that he had taken thousands of times, Shinji felt kind of nostalgic, remembering how he used to be at the bottom of the class in physical competitions when he joined. But now he has gotten better, even some of the clan kids, like Ino and Hinata, were below him. Shikamaru too, but the Nara outranked him in the intelligence department, even though their grades were kinda similar.
'I always wondered why Shikamaru never tried harder. He is the smartest one in our class, even though he doesn't show it. I bet he could get the highest test marks if he tried, even a little.'
While most of the class considered Shikamaru a lazy bum, who in the future wouldn't make that good of a ninja. Shinji could see through that demeanor, unlike most of his classmates.
Shinji stopped thinking about others and focused. He couldn't wait until he became a Genin as then he would be able to learn more than just the basic Taijutsu Style that was taught in the academy.
'So many Jutsu…'
When he arrived at the school, it was empty as he expected and except for a couple of janitors, no one else was there. Going to his classroom, he saw that surprisingly, someone else was there. Sasuke Uchiha, the last member of the Uchiha Clan.
Sasuke gave Shinji a side-glance and looked back towards the window. Neither said anything as they just stood there, silently, as he went to his seat in the back. Knowing that the Uchiha wouldn't even reply or just snort in annoyance if he tried to speak.
Shinji had observed how the last Uchiha in Konoha acted and didn't have a favorable opinion of him. First and foremost, Sasuke had no friends, not even the other clan kids. While that wasn't a big deal, for normal people. But the last Uchiha had the responsibility of rebuilding the clan. At least that was what everyone expected of him.
Suddenly, the sliding door to the classroom creaked open and Mizuki -sensei's head popped in. Like always, he had a gentle smile on his face. "Oh? Someone was already here? Sasuke, and… Shinji?"
He noticed how Mizuki said his name, he was a little unsure even though he had been teaching him for years now.
Shinji almost sighed in annoyance. But had to keep it in. The last thing he wanted to do was piss off a teacher on exam day.
This was why he didn't like Mizuki -sensei because while he acted nice and all that, to Shinji, it wasn't a good thing. Iruka worried about his students. While he yelled at them quite a lot, it was because he cared about his students and their futures.
This showed that one of them cared, instead of letting any mistake his students made slide by and not saying anything. Doing that would only be detrimental to their growth.
"You must have been excited about the exam," Mizuki smiled, going towards the desk and taking out a stack of documents, and walking out. Before he did so, he turned towards Shinji and Sasuke.
"I remember when I had my own Graduation Day," he scratched the back of his head nervously, "Hahahaha, those days were quite memorable. I accidentally drank rotten milk that day, and almost failed."
After saying that, he walked off, neither Shinji nor Sasuke said anything. The former folded his arms, he wanted to go train his Replacement Jutsu and felt like time was passing by too slowly.
…
After some time, the quietness in the classroom subsided, as other students came in with a feeling of insecurity and excitement dwelling amongst everyone amongst them. As the class was about to start, even the usually late Naruto had come in time.
Mizuki came in, with a paper in his hand. "I will call your names in alphabetical order. When your name is called, come forward and I will take you to the testing room."
"There is gonna be another room?"
"Oh, God! I thought there would be someone else before me and I could see what the test even was like."
"Wait? Wasn't there a written exam?"
Many of the students started getting a little nervous, but Shinji wasn't amongst them. Having already done some minor 'investigation' if it could be even called that. He just asked the teachers, and some students who failed, and this test wasn't the problem, but the one that came after it was. Though he didn't know exactly what that entailed, as no one spoke about what came after.
"C'mon now everyone, let's calm down," Mizuki remarked, which caused them all to settle. "Let's start, Amara."
…
After a while, a dozen names were called. Right after Shino Aburame, another clan kid that was kind of quiet and was quiet, kind of like Shinji, neither of them ever stood out.
"Shinji, it's your turn," Mizuki waved to him in a friendly manner, patting him on the back as they walked in the hallways. "Don't worry too much. You're one of the students I am confident in passing this exam. You will become a great ninja someday."
Shinji nodded and thanked his teacher, but he guessed that Mizuki -sensei probably told this to everyone already. Entering an empty classroom with only a desk with two chairs where the teachers sat and a chair in the middle of the room. Once he entered, Shinji felt that there was something weird going on, but decided to dismiss this feeling and concentrate on the exam.
Iruka smiled when he saw him. "Shinji, show me the three basic Jutsu."
"Yes, sensei," he went through all of the hand signs and used clones, transformation, and replacement flawlessly.
Shinji didn't try to show how he could somewhat use the Replacement Jutsu with one less hand sign. To him, doing that, sounded like a way to recklessly mess up the exam while trying to look cool.
"Good, you pass," Iruka nodded proudly.
Shinji was excited, even though he was confident he would pass, there was always that doubt in the back of his mind. He picked up a headband, which would serve as head protection too and after thanking his teachers, Shinji walked out with a document in his hand that he had to fill up by tomorrow and come to the Hokage's Office.
Still, equipped with his new headband, Shinji had one place in mind that he had to visit. The library, where an official Ninja and Genin, could learn Ninjutsu. Though it was just scrolls and no one to teach him, it was better than nothing. He knew that his peers that were a part of a Ninja Clan by now knew their clan jutsu and he didn't want to be left behind.
…
After the 'class' was quickly finished, most of the students jumped outside excitedly to their parents.
"Momma! Poppa! I passed!"
"Yes, I did it!"
"I am a Genin, finally!"
Sounds of laughter and happiness filled the academy's courtyard. Shinji wasn't amongst them, not because he wasn't happy, but he was just reminded that he had no parents and no one to celebrate with him.
Still, unlike the usual pang of jealousy in his heart, he was excited to finally learn some new Jutsu. He saw the sad Naruto in a swing who seemed lonely, but Shinji wasn't too worried about that. Having expected something like this already as Naruto had a reputation of a prankster who was a bad student, he slept through most of the classes even when he rarely was there.
He didn't pay too much attention to the sad Naruto. Instead, Shinji decided that today he would treat himself. Every month, he gets a small stipend of money, and he never was a big spender and had been saving it this whole time. But for today, he was going to splurge a little.
Of course for Shinji, splurging money is going to a local Dango Shop and buying some Dango. He didn't have a lot of money saved up, his monthly stipends were that small.
After getting some sweets, he contemplated what to do next, when suddenly he noticed Naruto and Mizuki talking atop a roof.
Now that wouldn't be weird or anything, but Shinji felt like there was something strange as Naruto seemed happy for some reason. Why would a guy who just failed an exam be so happy? He couldn't hear what they were talking about, but it felt suspicious.
____________________
[Pick one, and write your choice in the comments down below.]
A ○ Observe what Mizuki and Naruto are up to. Something feels weird.
B ○ Go to the library and learn some more Jutsu. Knowing that they are necessary.
C ○ Go back home and train the Replacement Jutsu. That was a lifesaver. You will keep in mind to go to the library another day.
________
Relationships:
Naruto 5/10 (Doesn't know you even exist. You don't know each other.)
Sasuke 4/10 (He learned that you were in the same classroom today. Consider everyone in the class below him, and not even worth talking to.)
________
Stats Update:
Ninjutsu: 1 -> 1.1
Replacement (E Rank) [Mastery 50% -> 58%]
Transformation (E Rank) [Mastery 50% -> 51%]
Clone (E Rank) [Mastery 50% -> 55%]
Author Note: Shinji seeing Naruto and Mizuki was all luck. I rolled a dice and he stumbled on them by accident and now there is a new choice. Originally that wasn't going to be a choice, but the dice have spoken.
P.S: Changes in the Status Page will be shown at the end of each chapter so the readers can keep track of the changes.
P.P.S: I rolled a d20 dice for Shinji whether he would notice to do his jutsu with fewer hand signs. Normally he needed 15 to pass the roll, but since Intelligence stat is quite high I decided he needed 10 or more, lessening the needed roll. The roll landed on 18.
