Naruto: Reaching the Stars

Kisuke lay on his back on the grass of the forty-third training ground, panting heavily. Sweat soaked his clothes as he caught his breath. Beside him, the scroll titled "Body Flicker Technique" fluttered slightly in the breeze.

He had been working on this technique for the past three days, but progress was frustratingly slow. The Body Flicker Technique was supposed to let a ninja move instantly from one place to another, but it was proving much harder to master than he expected.

Kisuke sat up and glanced at the scroll. The instructions seemed simple enough, but there was a warning about how much chakra it could use. The technique required focusing chakra with the tiger hand seal, then releasing it through specific chakra points in the calves to accelerate, almost like a human rocket. The scroll even mentioned that with practice, and enough chakra, you wouldn't need the hand seal at all.

But every time Kisuke tried it, he stumbled, making little progress. He had tried focusing his chakra differently, adjusting his stance, and varying his speed, but nothing seemed to work.

'If only Daiki were here,' Kisuke thought. 'It would be easier to learn this with his help.'

Unfortunately, Daiki was assigned to a border patrol mission and wouldn't be back for several months. Kisuke's mother, Kirikou, was sad when he left, but she understood his duties.

Determined, Kisuke stood up for another attempt. He formed the tiger hand seal and focused his chakra into his calves. He took a deep breath, visualizing the burst of speed that would send him across the training ground. Then, he released his chakra.

This time, he felt a stronger push, but it was still uncontrolled. He stumbled forward, covering a bit more distance than before but landed awkwardly on the grass.

Despite the setbacks, Kisuke didn't get discouraged. In fact, he felt more enthusiastic each time he practiced, a grin never leaving his face.

'I don't know if I'm not talented enough or if these ninjas just expect everyone to learn from these vague scrolls.'

His main problem was that he couldn't control his body properly during the technique, and his vision wasn't used to the high speed, which made him dizzy.

Sighing, Kisuke thought, 'The scroll isn't helping much. I need to change my approach and break the technique down.'

He decided to divide the technique into four stages. The first stage was the easiest: getting used to the chakra flow in his calves and moving the chakra toward the tenketsu points as fast as possible. He spent a few days honing his chakra control using the needle sign to concentrate.

Once he got used to the feeling, he moved to the second stage, where he performed the Body Flicker with only a small amount of chakra. This way, his eyes could adjust to the tunnel vision he experienced during the technique.

The third stage involved increasing the distance he could travel. This part was both easy and hard. It was easy because he just needed to use more chakra to go farther, but hard because his vision and body had to adapt to the longer distance.

It took him a few weeks to finish this stage, eventually covering twenty-five meters in one flicker. This wasn't his limit, though. Technically, the Body Flicker Technique allows you to travel as far as your chakra output allows. But there's a limit to how much chakra you can release at once through the tenketsu points. For now, twenty-five meters was Kisuke's limit due to his weak body, but it would increase as he got older and better at the technique.

Finally, the fourth stage was simple: before performing the Body Flicker, he would release a puff of smoke to confuse the enemy, making it harder for them to track his movement.

Standing in the training ground, Kisuke formed the hand seal. A puff of smoke erupted, covering his body, and he reappeared ten meters away.

This time, his vision remained clear, and his body felt more in control. He repeated the technique several times, landing smoothly on his feet without stumbling.

Kisuke couldn't help but laugh out loud. He had finally done it.

"Yes!" he shouted, his excitement echoing through the training ground.

The Body Flicker might be considered a low-level technique, but Kisuke was still thrilled. This was the first jutsu he had ever mastered in this world, and hopefully, there would be many more to come.

Lying back down on the grass, Kisuke whispered to himself, "I did it," closing his eyes and enjoying the moment.

After a while, he opened his eyes and looked up at the sun, high in the sky. 'It's around lunchtime. I should head back, or Kirikou will get angry.'

Getting up, he brushed the dirt off his clothes before heading home.

Kisuke still felt awkward calling Kirikou "Mom" since she was only a few years older than him, but after nearly two months of getting along, he accepted her as a close relative. She had shown him so much care and love, and their relationship was quite harmonious, even though a small part of him still felt guilty about deceiving her by pretending to be her son. But there was nothing he could do about it. If asked, he wouldn't regret possessing Kisuke's body, because it gave him a second chance at life, and he was determined to live it to the fullest.

Kisuke entered his mother's store and saw Kirikou standing outside, talking to another woman with long, dark hair tied back in a simple ponytail. The woman was wearing a modest kimono.

When Kirikou noticed him, she smiled warmly. "Kisuke! You're finally back."

"Mom," he greeted her, giving her a hug as usual before turning to the other woman. "Aunt Kanao, it's been a while."

Kanao, a civilian from the Senju clan and Kirikou's closest friend, smiled at him. "It has been a while! But I see you've grown into a handsome young man while I was away."

Kisuke remembered that Kanao was married to a traveling merchant and spent most of her time traveling around the Land of Fire. She was likely here to catch up with Kirikou and deliver goods since she often supplied flowers and herbs to Kirikou at a discount because of their friendship.

"Hehe, I told you my son would grow up to be the most handsome," Kirikou said proudly, puffing out her chest. But then she sighed. "Unfortunately, he only thinks about training and has no interest in girls. I just don't know how many hearts he'll break with his indifference."

Kisuke's eyes twitched. He was still getting used to how openly people in this world talked about relationships, even with children.

"Sigh, we're in the same boat," Kanao sighed, looking defeated. "My daughter is the same..." Thinking about her daughter, Kanao sighed again.

"Well, I'm going to wash up," Kisuke said, deciding to escape the conversation.

But as he started walking, Kanao stopped him. Confused, he turned to see what she wanted.

"Here, take this," she said, handing him a small piece of paper.

"Huh?" Kisuke looked at the paper, noticing it was blank.

Kanao smiled. "That's a chakra induction paper. It'll show your chakra affinity."

"What?!" Kisuke looked at the paper in surprise, then back at Kanao. He knew how valuable this paper was and hadn't asked Kirikou for one because of the cost. He never expected Kanao to give him one.

Kirikou, realizing the paper's value, tried to pay Kanao for it. "Kanao, this is too much. Let me pay you."

Kanao shook her head. "No, Kirikou. It's a gift for Kisuke. I missed his birthday and wanted to give him something special."

Knowing her friend wouldn't accept money, Kirikou simply thanked her. "Thank you, Kanao." She then made Kisuke bow his head in gratitude.

"Thank you, Aunt Kanao," Kisuke said sincerely, bowing.

Kanao urged him to try the paper. "Go ahead, Kisuke. See what your affinity is."

Seeing no reason to hide it, Kisuke focused and channeled his chakra into the paper.

The paper immediately reacted, splitting in half and getting wet at the same time.

"Wow," Kanao said, her eyes wide. "You have two affinities: wind and water. That's quite rare."

Despite being a civilian, Kanao knew some ninja things because of her Senju background. She knew how uncommon it was to have two affinities at once. Her own daughter had only a lightning affinity.

Kisuke looked at the paper in amazement. "Wind and water..."

Though slightly disappointed not to have lightning as his main affinity, he didn't let it bother him too much.

Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't learn jutsu from other elements—just that it would be harder.

Kirikou beamed with pride. "My son is truly special." She hugged him tightly. "I'm so proud of you, Kisuke. You're going to do great things."

Snapping out of his thoughts, Kisuke looked at Kirikou, still not fully used to her affection. "I'll try my best."

With that, Kisuke excused himself to wash up, feeling more motivated than ever. Knowing his affinities helped him plan which jutsu to master first.