Aura Store!

Kakashi Hatake sat perched on the edge of a random rooftop, book in hand, posture relaxed, eye unreadable. 

To any outsider, he looked like he was simply enjoying a peaceful afternoon with his beloved Icha Icha Paradise. In reality, his mind was running through everything he had observed today.

Three students. Three very different cases.

One was the son of his late Sensei.

One was the last loyal Uchiha of the village.

And one was… something else entirely.

Naruto was exactly what he expected—loud, impatient, and completely incapable of sitting still. 

A whirlwind of energy with zero subtlety and even less skill. He had scraped his way through the Academy with sheer force of will and, well, some external assistance that Kakashi was already well aware of. 

The kid was practically bursting at the seams with chakra, but had no idea how to actually use it. Raw potential, completely untamed. A trainwreck waiting to happen.

And yet, despite everything… the cold shoulders, the whispers, the way the villagers looked at him… Naruto still smiled. He still tried. 

There was something admirable about that. It reminded Kakashi of… well. Someone he hadn't thought about in a long time.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was predictable in an entirely different way. The way he carried himself, the way he spoke, the way his eyes sharpened whenever his thoughts drifted to that man—Kakashi had seen it before. 

The file had told him everything: top of his class, naturally gifted, leagues ahead of his peers in raw talent. But talent alone wasn't enough to survive.

And the way Sasuke looked at the world… dark, empty, utterly consumed by revenge… was something Kakashi recognized far too well. 

He was a child standing on the edge of something dangerous, teetering, ready to fall. And fate, with its twisted sense of humor, had handed Kakashi the responsibility of catching him. Again. Another Uchiha. Another chance.

He sighed, rubbing his temple.

But all of that, while expected, wasn't what had truly occupied his thoughts since he left the team.

No. That honor belonged entirely to Haruno Sakura.

Kakashi flipped a page of his book without actually reading it.

Because what the hell had he just witnessed today?

Her Academy records described her as average. No notable combat skills. High intelligence, sure, but weak in practical ability. Her biggest defining trait, according to the file, was being an obsessive Sasuke fangirl.

And yet.

Today, when he'd been watching from the outside window… she had walked into that classroom completely silent. 

Dressed for battle. Wearing a shinobi flak jacket… correctly, at twelve. Moving like she belonged in it.

Then came the senbon trick.

Kakashi had seen precision before. He had spent years watching ANBU operatives thread kunai through impossible angles with deadly efficiency. And that? That was ANBU-tier finesse. On day one. With zero hesitation.

And the real kicker?

That presence.

From the moment she walked into the room, something about her was off. She didn't move like a fresh Genin. She didn't act like one either. She carried an unnatural sense of control, as if every step, every action, was calculated.

And then there was her declaration.

"To surpass… and to kill a certain man."

The way Sasuke's face had twitched at that had been hilarious. The way she had delivered it, though?

Kakashi had been watching people lie and manipulate for years. He knew when someone was acting.

She wasn't acting.

She meant it.

But the question was—who the hell was she talking about?

Because Kakashi had done his research. The Haruno family had no missing-nin. No known enemies. No tragic backstory. Nothing that should produce this.

And yet, here she was.

Not just different from the files. Completely unrecognizable.

Kakashi sighed and finally closed his book, staring up at the clouds.

Well.

Tomorrow was going to be very, very interesting.

***

Sakura nodded to herself, arms crossed as she perched effortlessly on the window ledge of some random building in the village.

Her Aura Balance: 118 AP.

All that… in half a day.

And the day wasn't even over yet!

She could still go out and farm more Aura off civilians!

Some cool rooftop leaping? A well-timed dramatic stare into the distance? A perfectly executed sip of tea at a street vendor while the wind conveniently picked up and ruffled her clothes?

Limitless farming potential.

But first… the shop.

Sakura hummed to herself and navigated through the Aura Shop's interface, her eyes scanning the options as they appeared before her.

Aura Shop: Available Purchases

Stealth Booster (Rank 1) – 75 AP(Move 25% quieter, decrease chances of detection. Allows for peak ninja energy.)

Enhanced Reflexes (Rank 1) – 90 AP(Your body reacts before your brain does. Excellent for dodging sudden attacks or catching thrown objects without looking.)

Tactical Awareness (Rank 1) – 80 AP(Gain a passive sixth sense for danger, subtle movements, and battle openings.)

Kunai Dexterity – 50 AP(Improves kunai handling. Allows for stylish spins and flourishes. Gains bonus Aura when showing off.)

Cool Pill (One-Time Use) – 60 AP(For the next 24 hours, anything you do will look insanely cool. Walking? Cool. Drinking water? Cool. Dramatic pauses? Ultra Cool. Boosts all passive Aura farming.)

Phantom Flicker – 100 AP(An advanced Body Flicker Technique, but with style. Instead of vanishing in a burst of leaves like basic Konoha shinobi, your movement leaves behind a flickering afterimage of yourself, a visual ghost that lingers for half a second before vanishing. Causes confusion, looks dope as hell.)

Sakura exhaled through her nose.

Kunai Dexterity? Pfft.

She was a Senbon Loyalist.

Kunai were for plebeians who needed big, clunky weapons to compensate for lack of technique. Real shinobi wielded precision.

Senbon could be hidden anywhere.

Senbon could be flipped through fingers like a card trick.

Senbon could be thrown in such a way that the enemy wouldn't even realize they'd been hit until she appeared beside them—silently, ominously—and plucked the needle from their body with an unreadable look in her eyes.

Perfection.

A single, imaginary tear almost rolled down her cheek.

But back to the shop.

The Cool Pill and the Phantom Flicker.

Those… those were necessary.

The Cool Pill would last 24 hours, which meant she could pop it now and it'd still be active for tomorrow's Bell Test.

Which meant…

She could use the Cool Pill now to farm extra Aura today, and then use the extra Aura to buy the Phantom Flicker.

Peak strategy. Flawless economy.

Sakura smirked, then casually selected the Cool Pill and confirmed her purchase.

Ding!

[Aura Shop Purchase Successful!]

[Aura Balance: 58 AP]

She pulled out the Cool Pill—a tiny, jet-black tablet.

With the grace of someone who knew she was already cool but was about to ascend to even greater heights, she flicked it into her mouth, swallowed, and waited.

…

…

And then it hit.

Her hoodie felt heavier.

Her flak jacket sat better on her shoulders.

The wind was suddenly perfectly timed with her movements.

She exhaled, and it sounded like a dramatic moment in an anime.

She tilted her head slightly, and the angle was mysteriously attractive.

She pushed off the window ledge and landed with a silent grace that made a random passerby instinctively stop and stare.

Ding!

[Aura System]+3 AP gained.(Farming Method: Cool Hooded Landing in Front of a Civilian.)

Perfect.

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When this fic reaches 15k words and can finally be ranked, I'll start uploading once per day. And for every 100 power stones, you can get an extra chapter. 

However, by then, you can feel free to read the extra chapters through my patreon!

But for now... stones and reviews!

Patreon: Teddartic