[X] "I'm going to be. I am, aren't I, Tenzo-sensei?"
Dumbly, the boy nods.
"Oh, how nice," Sakura's mother says. "When is she starting at the Academy?"
She directs the question at Tenzo, but it takes him a moment to realize this. "What? Oh! Ah, Naruto-chan will be joining the Academy at the discretion of her mother Kushina-sama."
"See, Sakura?" the woman says, smiling. "Everyone has to wait until their mommies think they're ready."
Sakura pouts, and looks down at the ground. Unfortunately, this makes her wreath fall off, but you manage to catch it before she can so much as sigh.
Her big green eyes blink at you as though she expects you to say something. You just smile.
"Can I play in your fort?" she asks finally.
"-'please?'" her mother amends.
"Please~?" Sakura repeats.
You're about to tell her 'of course', when Tenzo finally gets a proper hold on himself. "Naruto-chan, we really should be getting back," he says, somewhere halfway between excitement and panic. "I have to discuss something with your mother."
"Very well, sensei," you say, slightly disappointed. To Sakura you say, "The fort and the apple tree should last, but the flowers probably won't, so enjoy them."
"Okay! Bye-bye Naru-chan!"
=
Mother's eyes bug.
"Okay. Well, first thing's first, aside from the Hokage, you aren't sharing that theory with anyone outside this room. Naruto has enough pressure on her already without some opportunistic asshole proclaiming her Rikudo Sennin reborn, ya got that?"
"Yes, ma'am," Tenzo says fervently.
"Naruto, forget you heard him say anything."
"Already forgotten, Mother."
You get the distinct impression that fate is laughing at you. Your greatest desire is to be left alone to get on with your life, and it tosses you into a world whose Buddha-figure's abilities apparently match yours.
Adjusting the timer on the privacy seal on the door - a nervous habit of hers - Mother continues: "Secondly, is there any reason to expect she can't still learn Mokuton techniques? I know bloodlines don't usually work like that, but this isn't a normal kekkei genkai we're talking about here."
Tenzo sighs. "I can't say for sure, Kushina-sama. There's no denying that Yang Release is a parent to the Mokuton the same way it is to every form of elemental ninjutsu, but aside from the Sage himself, there haven't been any pure Yang users in recorded history, to my knowledge. Naruto-chan might be able to replicate the Shodai's jutsu, or she may be limited to her own custom techniques." He looks a little disturbed. "Though should that be the case, 'limited' is probably the wrong word."
"Don't you have a D-rank supplementary jutsu?" Mother asks. "Something that'll let her sprout a sapling or something, if she's capable?"
"Naruto-chan," Tenzo says, "can you put your hands into these two seals and push your energy out?"
Mother snickers for a moment at his unfortunate choice of phrasing, but quickly gets over it and leans forward eagerly.
He runs through the two handseals at a snail's pace, making sure you see and copy each one, obviously not channelling any of his own chakra; smart of him, to avoid you mimicking the results without mimicking the method.
[X] Channel your youki without altering it internally; attempt to use the handseals for their intended purpose, moulding life energy.
[X] Alter your youki as you normally would before expelling it; 'wake up' the floorboards beneath the tatami.
