Remember, Remember

The two went into the school, through the massive main corridor and into the third year room, where a group of eight and nine year olds were staring out into nothingness with a bored expression, alongside a few who were studiously following the teacher's every word, and finally the kids in the back of the class, doing whatever the hell they wanted.

But, when the principal and a new kid entered, all eyes shifted onto the two of them. The teacher coughed lightly after around ten seconds of staring made the whole situation awkward. The principal nodded.

"Please, introduce yourself to the class." The teacher said as Principal Hisaru left.

"Like what?" Kakuzu asked, cocking his head a bit.

"Oh, you know. Likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams for the future?" The teacher replied while Kakuzu inwardly thought, 'So, that tradition was around all the way back in the Warring States Era? Kakashi used it, and so did some others. To think, the practice was so old.'

"Hmm, likes? Strength and peace, I suppose. Dislikes? A lot of things, in particular weakness, I have no hobbies beside training. What I have can't be called a dream, rather a future, and that is the extermination of the Noibaro clan and attaining a high strength."

The entire class just looked at him, then turned away in boredom, a few laughing at his chuuniness. The teacher just nodded with a strained smile and spoke. "Well, anyway, let's get on with the class. You can choose to sit anywhere there's an open seat."

Everyone sneakily covered open seats nearby, so the teacher was forced to assign him a seat next to a young boy named Moriko.

The first class was incredibly boring, even while informative, and Kakuzu considered that he might try graduating even earlier than he intended, however, after clan politics/brainwashing/laws class was over, Ninjutsu began.

The class was called Ninjutsu, but it was less about ninjutsu and more about chakra theory. There was the practical section of the class, in which the students practiced molding hand signs (which Kakuzu completely forgot about practicing), chakra control, and memorizing jutsu, then the theoretical section, concerning chakra theory, which was fairly advanced for young students.

Taijutsu class had little to do with actual Taijutsu, and more about physical training: PE class. Or at least it seemed to be so until an hour in, the students were all called to finish their set, then return to the classroom. Upon arriving there, the whole room had been transformed into an arena,

Each student had the opportunity to hold a practice fight using only taijutsu, and because he was new, Kakuzu got two fights. His first opponent was one of the youngest in the class, Hideyoshi, to Kakuzu's surprise, was incredibly civil. Over the past two weeks, everyone had either treated him like utter scum as an outsider, or, once by a fruit stand worker, treasured as the last member of an allied clan.

Hideyoshi, however, looked at him with eyes that didn't distinguish him from anyone else with hate or adoration. It was also the first fight Kakuzu faced, as he practically assassinated his second opponent, and his first was taken down, after his chakra was awoken, with little issue.

The two faced each other, making the seal of confrontation, and rushed toward each other. Hideyoshi was extremely competent for such a young boy, around six or seven, at the clan taijutsu style, and Kakuzu at the most beginner stages of the War Dragon's Rage.

Crushing Basin was the name of the Takira clan's main taijutsu, though others were available, though only in exchange for merit. The basis behind it is that by moving from a flowing assault like a river to a string of powerful, crushing attacks like a waterfall, the user could wear out their attacker, then strike back with incredible force.

Because of this, Kakuzu wanted to force Hideyoshi to attack first. What he wasn't counting on, however, was for Hideyoshi to start with the assault section. Kakuzu quickly blocked, but being forced to do so slightly earlier than expected threw him off his balance and a fist came dangerously close to his face.

However, Kakuzu used his thrown off momentum to his advantage by roundhouse kicking Hideyoshi's side, then wrapped his leg around Hideyoshi to pull himself back to balance, ending it with a punch to his face as Hideyoshi had no way to fight in such incredibly close combat, excluding a headbutt that could have been more debilitating to himself.

Kakuzu was announced as the winner of the fight, leading to a split in the class between those few who were awestruck by his achievements and those who hated him for being an outsider stronger than them.

After the rest of the matches ended, including Kakuzu's with an older boy who couldn't see past the first feint, it was time for the free period, in which he went over everything he had learned that day, as well as the curriculum for the next couple of weeks in Clan class, then finally, the personal study session with the old man.

The shadow clone jutsu wasn't yet created by Tobirama, leaving the principal to delegate his work to another for the next couple of hours. As the two walked outside, The old man looked down to Kakuzu.

"Can I assume that you have chosen what it is you wish to study under my tutelage?" He spoke, looking down on the boy, and waiting to hear something like taijutsu.

"Ninjutsu. I already have fairly large reserves but only one jutsu."

Hisaru looked down and smiled a bit, despite it being noticeably fake. "Ehem, Kakuzu, your clan is notorious for being pretty bad at ninjutsu. Your reserves wouldn't be the problem, rather it's something like a kekkei genkai passed down in your clan. You just tend to have a hard time controlling your chakra in anything but bursts, like you might use in taijutsu."

"Really, I've never noticed anything like that, though. I can use ninjutsu just fine, as far as I can tell." 'Guess it's a good thing that I'm so good at controlling myself as a reincarnate, then, as my lack of childishness means I can train more than other kids without getting bored. Though I was slower than Naruto. He got the first two steps, tree and wall walking, across just a few days.'

Meanwhile the elder shivered a bit, concerned at the ideathat a clan known for pretty big reserves and little control had a prodigy with big reserves and good control, but then shook it off, thinking the kid wasn't as good as he thought himself to be. "Really? Let's see your jutsu then."

The two were standing on the earthy floor beneath the academy and the large tree that made up, when the boy made three seals, having already lowered the original requirement by three hand seals. "Earth Release: Mud Mouth Jutsu." He muttered, putting in a fair amount of chakra, around 40%.

The earth swirled up around a wooden training dummy as the D-rank jutsu activated, swallowing it whole, and pulled it underground, taking around ten full seconds to do so. That was the limitation of a D-rank. Around a quarter of a typical genin's chakra would take ten seconds to suck a four foot tall person underground.

While Kakuzu was focusing, Hisaru was staring intently at the lack of wasted chakra. The latter had only ever revealed such to the clan head, but he was actually a sensor, even if it wasn't to a great degree: a hot commodity, especially outside of the large clans. 'His chakra control is insane! Did he start with this or train this up from a normal level/ Either way, he's a monster!'

When he finished, Hisaru clapped slowly. "Well, it seems I was wrong about you. You're the first among your clan in decades to be able to use chakra so well! It would seem you have some talent in Earth Release, so that's what I'll teach you. Some clans have the ability to get paper tags that can determine chakra nature, and this is one of them. Earth along with water are my main elemental affinities, so you're in luck, as I can teach you at least Earth jutsu."

The main training apart from ninjutsu, Kakuzu's affinities being earth and water as well, was learning the Crushing Basin and other important clan matters, the most interesting of which by far was the Hero Water. The conversation came around three weeks after Kakuzu began attending school.

"Kakuzu, now that you are more well known and accepted in the clan, the head has allowed me to tell you of our most important and well kept secrets. The Hero Water. Somehow, the waterfall flowing from the darkest section of the tree produces a special kind of liquid that can enhance chakra levels. Every 100 years, enough is produced for a visible effect, but for those who aren't strong enough, it will result in death. The latest batch has been ready for seven years now, with nobody who has the right to drink is willing to, solely because of its danger. I am sorry, but because of your circumstances, it will take quite a bit for you to get the permission, and only in the unique circumstance that it requires you to for our survival. Now, let me ask, do you understand you are not allowed to touch it?" The old man said, levying almost all of his killing intent on his student.

"Yes sir, I promise not to touch it, on my word as a ninja of the Takira Clan." Kakuzu replied heartily. 'Well, at least not unless I have to for revenge, that is.'

Nothing else of particular importance happened for a long time. As Kakuzu aged, he was able to draw on more and more of his physical energy, giving him more chakra by the day. As more time passed, the amount of time he trained with the principal increased. Soon, the two were spending six hours together training each day, and the principal delegated much of his work to others. But, Kakuzu was taking everything in like it was candy, and before long, he was eight, graduating from the academy, and recognized as the greatest genius the clan had seen in generations.

It was a cold day on November 5th, the fifth anniversary of the burning of Kakuzu's old clan. He was walking around on the roof of the cave, holding a black gemstone of some sort, as he put it into the blade of a kunai. As was his tradition every year, he made a small cut on his hand, letting it freely fall down to the ground.

His cold stare was creeping along the drops of blood that fell to the ground and he spoke, "Remember, remember! The fifth of November, the gunpowder, treason, and plot. They lay out by their homes, while they have left me to rot, and I have not forgot."

Behind him, also on the roof, were two young boys, around four years older, but still subservient. Kakuzu spoke once more, this time referencing them, "Hideyoshi. Moriko. It's time."

Those two were indeed the same from his very first class. Hideyoshi was a bit of an oddball. He was an orphan, but his parents had sealed away his emotions. Literally. They used fuinjutsu. Nobody had actually noticed it, as emotion was the only thing it affected, having no bearing on his chakra. When Kakuzu unsealed them with a basic unsealing, Hideyoshi was so thrilled that he became Kakuzu's most loyal follower.

Moriko was comparatively normal. He was also an orphan, and didn't have any particular problems with Kakuzu in the beginning, only blocking the open seat next to him to fit in. So, the two sitting together often, they eventually became friends, now comfortably best friends.

Unfortunately, Kakuzu learned that the information on Jiongu was not in the possession of the Takira Clan, so he would likely have to wait until Takigakure had formed.

Speaking of which, Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju, both around sixteen, were now extremely famous, not only for their combat prowess, but because despite their age, they were already both soon to be heads of their clans, and were engaging in talks with the Fire Daimyo about creating a new system, which they called the Hidden Villages system. The one in the Land of Fire would be known as Konohagakure.

Kiri, Suna, Kumo, and Iwa were growing traction at the same speed as Konoha was, under Byakuren Kirimako, Reto Kazemana, A Raitochi, and Ishikawa Iwatani, respectively. It would still be at least five years before the villages were finally created, however.

The group of three under Kakuzu were going to finally strike back at the Noibaro Clan, by sabotaging a massive raid they were about to lead against the Beru clan, who used flying ants to fight. The entire shinobi force was going out to raid, and while they did so, the three had received permission to kill any Noibaro that remained behind in their clan and take hold of their jutsu.

So, the three set off. Unlike the Takira, the Noibaro were rather open about everything they were doing, and as such, they were one of the richest clans, the daimyo tending to hire them as they were easy to find.

After twelve hours of running at ninja speed through the trees, the two arrived at the defenseless village. Kakuzu sat on a tree meditating as a massive shout resounded throughout the village, caused by the beginning of the slaughter, and led at the moment by Hideyoshi and Moriko.

Suddenly, he stood up, and leapt directly over the village. He landed on a three story building full of slaves, 80 in total, some for work and some for the ninja's pleasure, and began making hand signs. After 46, he ended on one he created himself, helping him focus his chakra in an odd manner.

He slowly created in his hands a small, highly pressurized ball, using most of his chakra with this one A rank jutsu. Still not at the level of Rasengan-spamming Naruto in terms of sheer amount of chakra. He was no Uzumaki, after all.

"Earth Release: Heavenly Rockslide." He spoke while slowly lifting the ball upward. When it was around six hundred feet up, he shunshinned away and released the technique. While it was good for causing destruction, it was incredibly chakra intensive, not to mention nigh useless in a one-on-one fight.

As both hands moved away from each other, the hand sign caused the reverse of the usual to happen. Instead of losing focus without the hand sign, his chakra gained focus. This was the only way Kakuzu could use this technique, extremely akin to Light Weight Rock Jutsu, but easier.

The way it worked was by making an extremely complex version of the Snake sign, which took away concentration from chakra, and despite it naturally wanting to turn the chakra into an earth style technique, without the user's concentration, it cannot.

When the sign is released and the user focuses on using their chakra in the intended nature release, something of a blowback occurs. It puts a strain on the chakra system, but because of it, earth chakra is used with both greater efficiency and potency.

All that to say, when his fingers came apart, Kakuzu flattened a bit, then focused on what he wanted the ball to do. This was only his third personal creation as of yet, but it was a doozy, and as the ball expanded a bit, rocks started shooting from it all over the village.

Each one was around the size of a preteen, and they came down with fairly high force. After around 50 rocks of such size were launched, a fair part of the village was crushed by them. But Kakuzu wasn't done. He started channeling the last vestiges of his chakra into one more technique. "Earth Style: Expanding Rock."

This was the part of the jutsu he used earlier to expand the small dense ball of pure earth chakra into a total the size of a house, his first of the three real creations. That was one of the easier parts of the technique though, compared to making it stay in the air from a bastardized Light Weight Rock Jutsu, his second technique.

Each previous rock expanded to twice their size, then Kakuzu smirked, making a half tiger seal. He spoke one simple word. "Katsu."

He had been forced to spend quite a bit of money to get fifty explosive tags, but they were worth it now. 'Well, all those years ago, I said I have no likes except strength, but explosions are pretty cool too.'

One explosive tag was hidden within each four foot radius stone, and their explosions sent the newly created rubble and rocks everywhere. This was a combination he called "Santa's Gifts," though nobody really got it.

Nearly everyone was already dead at that point, excluding the slaves who were under the technique, and whom it went around. Unfortunately, there were at least some ninja, though by no means high in rank, who were left to guard the prisoners and defend against attacks. Fortunately, they were put down quickly by the chakra-full Hideyoshi and Moriko.

The Noibaro never left strong sentries as attacking them was effectively a death wish. However, their attackers seemingly either had not heard of such, or they simply didn't care. Moriko ran through the burning, crushed village, around the screaming citizens, into the slave building.

Some of those slaves were indeed members of the Takira Clan. Many were not. Those were put down, both to eliminate witnesses and hurt other clans. There would be no illusion about who did this after the 24 Takira slaves were rescued. Two of them died. They wanted to after their torture, and Kakuzu, much to the horror of the other boys, acquiesced.

Three others offered to stuff themselves full of explosive tags to take out a few ninja, as they also didn't particularly want to live, but wished to do one final service to the country. Their names would be added to the Takira Story, written into one of the massive main cave walls.

When the two preteens asked why Kakuzu, who they considered good (despite murdering an entire mostly defenseless village, they believed it was good as it was for the clan), would allow the girls to do this to themselves, he told the two of the horrors that the girls likely underwent there.

He also told them the same happened to his mother and sister, and though they had none, they were able to empathize, developing a hatred for this clan, as the Takira never did anything similar.

The two left with the nineteen slaves they had freed, seven more of them women whose pride was still brightly glowing, but Kakuzu stayed behind. He wrote onto a piece of paper the entirety of the original The Fifth of November, nailed it onto the double doors of the clan leader's home (the concubines and wife of whom were now dead), then quickly followed behind.

Two days later, the Noibaro ninja returned to the village, and finding nobody alive, many fell to their knees weeping, or lost sanity, choosing to commit suicide at the very sight, or wildly raved about. The clan leader stood at the front of his house. He walked in to see his family, the women and children he loved, laying in puddles of their own dried blood. His eyes twinkled dangerously as he released his pressure, and black tentacles came out of his body.

"I'LL REMEMBER THIS, TAKIRA CLAN!"