Naruto: Master of Two Kekkei Genkai

AN: I changed the tone of how its been written, I feel this is better moving forward. Also add POV's as soon we will be switching between characters moving forward throughout the story.

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(Kumio POV)

The day after graduation didn't feel like a celebration. No cheering. No feast. Just gray skies, a steady mist, and tension so thick it might as well have been a blade pressed to my throat.

I stood outside the academy courtyard again, only this time not as a student. My new headband rested in my hand, not on my forehead yet. Still felt too heavy. Like I hadn't earned it. Around me, the others stood just like I did, freshly minted genin, still waiting for whatever came next.

Kuriko stood to my left, her arms crossed as she bounced lightly on her feet, like she was ready to bolt if someone gave the word. Shien was off to my right, quiet and unreadable as usual, eyes scanning the yard like we were already in enemy territory. None of us said a word.

Then the academy doors opened, and Instructor Karaji walked out with a scroll tucked under his arm. He looked even more tired than usual. Probably had to watch too many kids die before their second birthday on the battlefield. His eyes swept over us like we were just a checklist he needed to get through.

"Formation," he said without looking up.

We snapped into line. The training ingrained to us from all the time spent at the academy.

Karaji unrolled the scroll and started reading.

"Team One. Yuki Kumio. Hozuki Shien. Kuriko Ueno."

There was a beat of silence before I stepped forward. Kuriko let out a quick breath and fell into step beside me. Shien followed a half second later. Felt right, if any team made sense, it was this one.

"Your jonin instructor is Hamaki," Karaji said, glancing over toward the far wall of the courtyard.

I followed his gaze and saw her standing there, tall, lean, sword across her back, and eyes sharp enough to cut stone. She didn't look like the type to hold our hands or tell us "good job" for staying alive. She looked like she expected us to die. Soon.

Kuriko leaned in a little. "She doesn't look like a people person."

"She doesn't look like a patient person either," I muttered back.

"Move," Hamaki said, already walking off toward the outer gates. We followed without a word.

She didn't say much on the walk, just led us out of the academy grounds, past the market, through the thickening mist until we reached a clearing outside the village. There wasn't much out there, just old training stumps, broken targets, and frost-covered logs. Probably forgotten by most.

"This is your staging area," Hamaki said, tossing a scroll down at our feet. "Get used to it."

Shien picked it up and cracked the seal, scanning the contents. His brow furrowed slightly. "Reinforcement duty… South border post. Escort and hold the line."

"Land of Steam front," I added, reading over his shoulder. "Not a light deployment."

Kuriko whistled. "Guess we're getting tossed in already."

Hamaki looked us over. "You want to be treated like shinobi? Then you fight like shinobi. This isn't some training drill. This is war. And you're in it now."

"Understood," I said, keeping my tone flat.

Hamaki nodded once. "Twelve hours. Be at the south gate, full gear, ready to move. If you're late, I leave you behind."

Then she vanished into the fog like she was never there.

I went home and started packing. Didn't take long. Kunai, wire, seals, extra rations. My father's tanto, cold and perfect in my hands. The weight of my clan pressed against my spine as I slid it into place. When I stepped into the main hall, both of my parents were waiting.

"You're being deployed," my father said. Not a question.

"South front," I replied.

He stepped forward and held something out to me. A light blue sash, the kind worn by my grandfather during his last campaign. I accepted it and tied it across my chest without a word.

My mother came over and wrapped her arms around me. Tight. Like she knew she'd never get the chance again.

"Come back to us," she said softly.

Nidoka poked her head out from behind the hall doorway, holding a small carved fox figurine in her hands.

"Here," she whispered, stepping forward. "For luck."

I knelt down and took it, brushing her hair gently. "I'll be back. Promise."

She nodded and hugged me tightly before darting off again. 

Twelve hours later, our team was at the gate. Hamaki was already there, leaning against a wagon stacked with medical supplies. She gave us a quick glance, then turned to the other shinobi in the convoy, all chuunin, all older than us.

"Briefing's simple," she said. "You protect the med carts. We reach Post Four at the Land of Steam border by nightfall tomorrow. After that, we hold until rotation or death."

No one asked questions. Not like they'd be answered anyway. We slipped into formation, three steps behind the carts, and set off into the fog.

The land outside the village felt unfamiliar. Even though we'd trained out here dozens of times, this wasn't a drill. The mist was heavier. The silence deeper. Every snapping branch and flurry of birds felt like an ambush waiting to happen.

Kuriko kept pace beside me, one hand always hovering near her blade. Shien ranged a little farther out, eyes constantly scanning, steps so light he barely left footprints.

Hamaki moved like a shadow, always ahead, always just out of reach. Hours passed. Snow began to fall again, mixing with the ever-present mist. My fingers stayed loose near my weapons. My breath remained steady. Every step was one closer to war.

That night, we set camp in a narrow ravine. The chuunin lit small fires and took watch. Hamaki had us sit with her a little ways off.

"You're not children anymore," she said simply, tossing each of us a ration pack. "You don't get to act like it."

"Did we ever?" Kuriko asked, dryly.

Hamaki didn't smile. "No. You just forgot that for a while."

Shien opened his pack and started eating without a word.

I looked at the firelight dancing across the stone walls. My thoughts drifted back to Nidoka. Back to the academy courtyard. Back to the old pine tree and the eleven lines we carved into its bark.

We weren't the same kids anymore. We couldn't afford to be.

Sometime after midnight, I stood watch on a nearby cliff, scanning the horizon. My chakra pulsed quietly under my skin, the cold seeping into the air, not me. The mist moved, slow and deliberate, brushing over my shoulders like an old friend.

Shien came up beside me a moment later.

"You think we're ready for this?" he asked.

"No," I said honestly. "But we go anyway."

He nodded once. "I'm glad it's you two beside me."

I didn't respond, but I felt the same.

Kuriko's voice drifted up from below. "You two better not be having a moment without me."

We both let out a small chuckle.

Yeah. We were in this now. War and all.

But we were in it together.