It was… quiet, when I woke up again. Not exactly silent, just calm. There was a rhythmic beat, soothing and enticing.
I know how selfish it sounds, but I felt like I deserved the calm, the serenity. Whispers, comforting and deep, indecipherable through the thick walls of warmth, the occasional song, the occasional light touch and rub along the borders of my afterlife, as if they were trying to coax me into sleep over and over again. And honestly, I couldn't bring myself to mind one bit. Sleep sounded nice. Sleep within this comforting, red tinged darkness of a watery grave.
But of course, it couldn't last. Good things never last.
The watery walls started to drain, to contract, to become cramped. The place I had been in for a very long time, something I could consider a home, became a prison, an ever-shrinking jail. Voices, once reassuring, were frustrated and harried. There were even screams, coming from a high pitched voice. A woman, no doubt. All too much, all too fast, but I had dealt with worse things. I prepared myself for what was to come.
A bright light came into my view, and it was as bright as the morning sun. Not as bright as a flashbang. It stung my eyes, and I closed them reflexively. No, the light still penetrated my eyelids. They were thin. Why would my eyelids be that thin?
The noises became far more prominent now. Screams from the woman, calls for… something from others, a masculine voice from around the same place as the woman, collected and hopeful, yet somewhat angry.
And thus, I was reborn, into the body of a tiny little female child with bright blonde hair and blue eyes.
Not exactly what I expected.
I discovered early on that they were speaking Japanese. I wasn't fluent in it, but I knew a few phrases, a few words. I had to be able to know a bit about the language, to communicate with allies and enemies alike.
It took maybe a year for me to truly realize that this was not some stereotypical divine punishment for the blood on my hands. It was simply me, being reborn, into a body that simply wasn't the one I was used to.
I could make do, I always did. Learning to live with a new body, especially a one year old toddler girl's body, would take some work.
"What's your name, cutie?" a friend of my new mother - I might as well get used to calling her that - asked me, in that light hearted voice people use when talking to children.
"Tatsumi Yamanaka," I answered, with no flair to my voice. I know they expected me to be active, to shout it in enjoyment for finally learning it, but I couldn't muster up the energy for it. Should, couldn't.
Still, it didn't seem to deter her, as she squealed delightfully and started pinching my cheeks. "Aren't you just the most adorable one?"
I would appreciate it if she just let go, but you don't have this kind of happiness forever. Who was I to deprive someone of it? The victim of the pinching, that's who.
I tried to turn my head away from her, to slap the hand away, and that did seem to signal to her that I didn't like having my cheeks pinched well enough for her to stop it.
I was only a year old at that point, and I could already talk somewhat decently. My throat didn't lend itself well to anything but adorable squeals and gurgles though, but I could talk. It was important to be able to communicate.
My mother walked home, through dirt streets surrounded with tall sand coloured cement and rosy wooden buildings, into a fairly nondescript structure that was at least seven meters tall, obviously an apartment building.
She went up three floors to open a dark brown wood door, and step into a fairly clean apartment. No trash anywhere, shoes and sandals set to the side, a fairly narrow hallway that lead to rooms, a kitchen, a living room, and a bathroom. A very modest apartment. Our home.
I would never complain about it, for I had nothing to complain about. Living in the wild behind enemy lines for an uninterrupted - relatively speaking - 522 days gives you an appreciation for civilization.
She put me down onto the brown cloth couch in the living room and said, "Okay Tatsumi, mama is going to go to the grocer's. You'll be a good girl and stay here, okay?"
Why was I reborn as a girl? I didn't voice those thoughts, I simply smiled and nodded. I wasn't one to betray the trust anyone would put in me, much less that of my own mother. Whether she was my mother or not wasn't up for questioning. She had given birth to this body I inhabited, and was therefore my mother.
My mother smiled back and kissed my forehead. "I love you, little daughter of mine," she whispered, before leaving through the front door, locking it on the way.
But I still couldn't complain much about my situation, despite the difference in biological equipment. My mother and father were attentive, loving, and stable. They were fantastic parents, better than my previous ones had been - although that might not have said much.
I was slated for the perfect upbringing.
And of course, by the time I was three years old, the realization that I had an abundance of this strange energy called 'chakra' came to light.
"She has this much chakra? Our daughter will become a great shinobi!" my father whooped for joy, kissing my scalp, digging his nose in my ridiculously soft blonde hair.
My mother simply smiled as she rocked me to sleep.
I could get used to that… little… rocking...
And it was three years later when I was signed up for the Shinobi Academy, and started to learn more about the world, about this strange energy I felt within my body. I couldn't direct the energy to save my life, at least not as I was now. That would have to change. The sheer combat potential was enormous, and had to be fully realized before it was too late.
I became the top student within a week, and stayed there for the rest of the time spent at the Academy. It wasn't really hard, I had a massive head start.
The world was strange, the academic system biased in favour of ultra-nationalism and blind loyalty in the supreme overlord of the village, the Hokage, who effectively ruled the entire Fire Country, alongside the Daimyo. There were extensive history lessons, with the ever so typical revisionism in place to make Konoha seem as if it was the greatest of all villages, and all other hidden villages were at best ignorant fools and at worst malevolent tyrants.
But curiously, I found myself not minding the absurd amount of inflated self-importance, because I could look past it. I knew that greatness for the village was necessary for the betterment of our own families. The teachers kept trying to hammer in the notions of family and unity into us, and while it was necessary for everyone else, it wasn't for me. I already knew it was important. I could sense that even the teachers stopped really preaching the ideals to me.
It was a lack of unity that caused the chaos back home, after all.
Nevertheless, I still did my best. Apparently, my best was so astoundingly impressive that I was bumped to the last class after the first one was complete.
I don't intend to brag, but I believe I was better than even them.
One criticism I did have of the Academy is that it is too lax. The punishments given to troublemakers should be more severe. Pain is the best teacher.
When I graduated, I did of course graduate with flying colours. All S ranks on those papers. Everyone knew papers meant nothing, but it was in the physical aspects where I outshone even the legendary Sakumo Hatake when he was an academy student.
In taijutsu, no opponent lasted for more than two seconds. The teachers were the only exception, and that was because of size. My typical approach of going in to finish the job as quickly as possible always paid off. My fighting style relied heavily on knocking opponents out, laying them flat on the ground, or otherwise going for the head or throat. Even those who saw that weren't fast enough to counter me, because I could counter their counters. Someone tries blocking the throat with their arms? Punch the stomach, then the side of the head, since their vision will likely be slightly impaired by their own arms. They move back? Hook a leg behind their knee and make them collapse. They will instinctively put their arms behind them to soften the blow of the fall. I then deliver the finishing strike to the throat as they're falling.
"Excellent job as always, Tatsumi!" my teacher would say, while my hand was flat on my opponent's throat, some white haired kid with anger issues. I wasn't out to choke him. I don't choke people. I make them choke on their own.
I was also the best in ninjutsu and genjutsu. Apparently, doing techniques seallessly was a Jounin level skill. That lead me to believe that it wasn't actually a Jounin level skill as much as it was just mental age and discipline.
It didn't matter in the end.
I was sorted into Team 11. Best two shinobi graduates, sorted with the worst, as tradition dictated. It was a bit muddled because I was a Yamanaka, a clan kid, but I was only six - what a laugh - so I wasn't included in any talks.
And shortly after, the Third Shinobi World War began. The reasons for war were ignored. All people knew was that they were at war once again.
Team cohesion didn't last very long after the worst teammate died to a kunai to the forehead on a low-key escort mission. I didn't see the kunai incoming. I was too preoccupied keeping myself alive against two presumably chuunin level Iwa shinobi.
We got through the ambush, finished the escort mission, came back to the village, and were almost immediately sent back out on another mission, this one a retrieval mission.
As predicted, it ended terribly. I was 7 years old at the time. My sensei, a black haired man with an eyepatch over his right eye, was captured by the enemy, leaving only me and my only remaining teammate, whose hair was as brown as the little arrogant shit he was, wanted to drop everything and defect to the Hidden Sand Village, since they were the least involved in the war.
He only drew exactly three more breaths after he proposed that the two of us should leave together before I knocked him out.
With some pretty heavy baggage on my back, I snuck around the vicinity carefully. We were obviously not up against sensors, because we weren't being discovered at all. Instead, what happened was that a couple of Kumo chuunin found it very strange that they had some metal sticking out of their throats.
They had been guarding an entrance to a small building, and inside this building was my sensei, sans right arm. In front of the Kumo jounin's feet was the missing arm.
There was a nasty amount of blood everywhere. I've seen worse, but it was still pretty bad.
The jounin obviously didn't expect someone not even a decade old to be any threat at all, and just threw a kunai at me.
He also didn't expect me to be able to catch the kunai, throw it at the ropes that held my sensei down, cutting those ropes.
And he most definitely didn't expect a 12 year old body being thrown at him as a visual distraction, either.
Too bad that's what he got, in addition to a well placed punch to the testes, leaving him in enough pain for me to grab hold of his legs and pull, making him turn back so fast that his skull cracked on the concrete floor, spilling blood and skin tissue around his head in an unholy circle.
I rushed forward and stomped on his throat hard, cracking the spine. Finishing the job.
"T-Tatsumi…" my sensei stammered. Blood loss, severe pain. Administer pain killers immediately, losing a comrade already would spell bad news for this life.
I dug my hand into his pouch, scrambling for the pain killer pills and blood replenishment pills.
There it was, pale blue pills and blood red pills. I took one of each and jammed them into his mouth. "Chew," I commanded, as I once more dug into his pouch. He had to have bandages somewhere. The pills would buy me some time to find something to cover the wound.
I didn't find anything, so I turned to the fallen soldier and with a knife cut off a pant leg and used it as a makeshift tourniquet. I pulled and pulled on the end once I had tied the thing properly. Harder, harder, and blood still gushed out of the half of his stump of an arm. There wasn't enough time, the tanks would arrive soon, and if we didn't save him, the info he had would-
He died of blood loss some few seconds later, with a smile on his face.
His last words were, "I'm so proud of you."
Why did it always have to be like this?
It didn't take long for me to realize that he had died. A few seconds, at most. It took me a minute to let go of the makeshift tourniquet. It took me even longer to realize that tanks didn't exist in this world, and that there would be no enemy - or friendly - reinforcements coming.
I took out a scroll in my pouch and sealed my sensei into it. I burned the remaining arm.
I completed the mission, retrieving the scroll from the informant. Some white haired man with a large nose and ridiculously impractical green sandals. Gave me an odd look. I can't blame him. I had a much older child - relatively older - on my back, and we were both covered in a moderate amount of blood.
"It isn't ours."
I got the feeling that wasn't what he was worried about.
It took a few hours for me to get back to Konoha. The leaves were bright green, my mind was dull grey.
I was promoted to chuunin pretty much on the spot. My teammate still remained genin, set for the next rotation. He rightfully deserved it, the fucking traitor.
I was assigned to archiving for a while in the war, studying and training. Probably as a way to let me cope with the loss of my entire team.
They didn't understand that my way of coping was to fight harder. I had dealt with the loss of close friends twenty three times before. I have learned how to make sure I wouldn't fall. I wouldn't complain about being assigned to archiving though. Time wasn't a premium.
It was only a few months before I was once more on mission detail, first one being an assassination mission to kill off a jounin commander of Kiri's. I was to lead Team 15 on the mission.
It ended surprisingly well, considering it was a jounin commander, and we were one chuunin and three genin. No lasting injuries, with the exception of three mentally scarred teenagers. They would never again see a 7 year old kill a 33 year old that quickly and that violently. Although to be fair, I haven't seen one do that before either.
I cut off the commander's head and sealed it in a scroll for safe-keeping and confirming the kill, then burned the body with a nicely placed fire jutsu.
One thing that struck me when I came back from the mission was that the guy that I reported back to was shocked. He expected a mission failure, or a loss of some sort.
It was common in my own world's planet spanning war to go on suicide missions, or on missions where loss or casualty was expected. Very common. There were 9 billion people on the planet, sacrificing a dozen people on an operation was nothing in the face of the objective.
But for there to not even be a single casualty for that immensely high risk mission was the surprising part.
But no, that's not the kind of shock he had. It was not the happy kind of surprise. He did not look pleased at our survival. Why? He had something to hide. A spy? Maybe. Should I report it to the general? An option to consider. However, getting an audience with him would be tough, too much bureaucracy. Investigating the potential spy on my own was also an option, but presented its own challenges. What if I had to take a mission? What if I was wrong? I know that I didn't read the spy's expression wrong, I'm too used to reading facial expressions for that, so me being wrong is out of the question.
Reporting it to the general- to the Hokage it is. Glancing at the nameplate, I memorized both his appearance and the name as I finished the report.
I almost reflexively saluted, but I caught myself and bowed instead before I left.
Old habits die hard.
I dismissed Team 15, and found out that some deity must have been smiling down on me, because I caught the Hokage at a particularly good time.
"Ah, Yamanaka, yes?" the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, asked.
I stood ramrod stiff and bowed deeply. "Yes, Ge- Hokage-sama."
Almost slipped again. Once with the salute, now with general. The Hokage definitely noticed, although I could only barely tell. What a talented man.
Hiruzen smiled and didn't let my slip-up distract him. He waved his hand at me. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about, little miss?"
I righted myself back up and stared him in the eye. He didn't expect such a resolute stare from a 7 year old. Good. He would pay attention to what I would say then. "I have reasons to believe that Toshio Haruzawa is a spy."
That didn't go over very well with the Hokage, so we spent a while talking about why exactly I thought that the guy was a spy. I did manage to convince the 52 year old leader to investigate. That's a point in my favour.
I would spend only a minute wondering if the Hokage was suspecting me of being a spy, before tossing the idea. I was in the body of a 7 year old girl, and I could tell that he examined my every movement when I reported about the potential spy. He did not see anything worth noting, aside from my oddly mature behaviour. A very, very old man in a 7 year old girl's body. Not exactly the most inconspicuous combination.
I managed to hug my mother and father before going to bed and get a good night's sleep after wishing them a good night, before I was called once more to the Hokage office.
Sarutobi told me about the investigation into Toshio Haruzawa, the spy. Apparently, he really was a spy, one from Kiri. Undercover for at least five years. Talented, serviceable, somewhat unremarkable. A good spy. Not a perfect one.
He then upgraded me to the rank of jounin. I bowed and accepted the responsibilities the rank gave.
We looked into each other's eyes. I could see hate for the world, hate for the war for forcing him to promote a 7 year old to the rank of jounin to compensate for the lack of active shinobi. I could see regret, misery, and despair. The eyes of an old man with a thousand gallons of innocent blood on his hands, sinking deep into his skin.
He saw something he thought was impossible for a 7 year old girl to have. He saw empathy - as opposed to sympathy - for a 52 year old murderer, leader of murderers.
I don't know what went through his head. Maybe he thought that I understood him in ways no one else did. Maybe he thought that he wasn't making a mistake after all.
I would prove to not only him but to myself that he wasn't making a mistake by giving me such prestigious rank. I would earn the rank. Just like before.
We looked into each other's eyes for a long time, silently communicating far more than a girl not even a decade old and an old man in his sixth decade should be able to, until someone knocked on the door, interrupting our little session.
I was dismissed, told to go to the missions office. I was given a mission, and this time I was to lead Team 5, called something along the lines of "Team Minako" or whatever. The name didn't really matter. The mission objective was to cut off the Iwa supply line through Kusa, by destroying the Kannabi Bridge.
The team was composed of four individuals. Two chuunin and two jounin. Interesting combination, but I was given the leadership role, despite being the junior jounin. Not that I was complaining, the look of the other jounin spoke of irrationality and inexperience. Having someone like him in that vital role would spell disaster for the mission.
"Pack for five days' travel. One day to go to the bridge, one back. The other three days are for safety's sake. I'll take care of explosives. Makashi-"
"Kakashi."
"Whatever. You're second-in-command. Poribito-"
"It's Obito!"
"Whatever. And Bin-
"It's Rin, actually."
"Whatever. Bin, Poribito, you're to be Makashi's and my backup, in case things go wrong. Stay behind us and out of danger as much as possible, and whatever you do, follow our orders."
I could see that white hair of Makashi's bobbing in the corner of my eye, as if he was planning something.
"My orders take priority over Makashi's." There, that should snuff that plan right out.
"Excuse me," the brown haired girl, Bin, asked. She must belong to a clan of some sort, those purple diagonal stripes on her cheeks really didn't suit her image. "But how come you're our leader, and not Kakashi? Doesn't he have seniority?"
I shrugged, taking a mental note of Poribito's self-assured smirk that was pointed at Makashi, and Makashi's grumbling. "Orders from the mission office. Higher up. Got a complaint, take it to them, not me."
Poribito looked like he was about to explode from laughter, but held himself well enough to at least say a few words. "S-So what you're saying is that this girl here is better than Kakashi?"
I squinted at him. "Don't you recognize me, Poribito?"
Poribito chuckled airily a few times before he really calmed down and looked at me. "Well, no, but- oh. Oh, okay."
Recognition, finally. "And who am I?"
I must have made my glower a bit harsher than intended. He was getting nervous now. "Y-You're, ah… aren't you Tatsumi Yamanaka, the best student the Academy has had… ever?"
I hadn't heard of that one. He must have been trying to kiss my ass. What a coward, afraid of a 7 year old. "Yes. Now go, we need to pack. You too, Bin, Makashi. I've already packed. I'll wait for you here. If you're not back in fifteen minutes, I'll come get you."
And that's how I got to know Team 5, Team Minako. They wanted me to call them Team Minato. I knew it was the proper name, but I didn't respect them enough to use them. Only people deserving of respect got proper naming from me. It started out as a consequence of bad memory, and ended up as a habit.
We stopped around two klicks away from the mission objective. We had to stop, because there was a supply caravan coming through, a heavily guarded one. Makashi wanted to disregard them and continue on, but I ordered him down.
I could tell that he'd be a disobedient little anger filled brat. I'd have to stamp that out as quickly as possible.
We had to wait half an hour after the caravan disappeared across the horizon, meaning the team was getting restless. They were too used to action of the high adrenaline variety. Or perhaps they were expecting it. Either way, it lent itself to Poribito's excessive movements and jerkiness. Some form of hyperactivity disorder? Doubt it, I'd have spotted the symptoms beforehand. Probably just an idiot.
"Poribito, stop moving," I whispered harshly at him. He took a deep breath - too loud for my tastes - and slowly calmed his nerves.
"Captain," Bin called in a very low voice - acceptably low. I turned my head slightly, signalling that I was listening. I still kept most of my attention to the surroundings though. Rarely can you trust even your own senses. "I think they're gone now."
I shook my head 'no' and returned to the hiding spot I was in. No, they weren't gone until one half hour more.
Makashi sighed rather explosively all of a sudden. "Yamanaka, they're gone-"
He couldn't end his sentence. My foot had collided with his throat, sending him on a crash course for the tree behind him. I didn't stop, I rushed forward, exploiting his dazed state. Bin and Poribito shouted out in confusion, trying in vain to get me to stop.
I had to teach Makashi a lesson he would never forget, lest he be the death of the team, of the family, of the village, of the nation.
I grabbed hold of his shoulder, and with a chakra covered thumb pierced the skin into the muscle, tearing it and disabling his right arm. With my other hand I punched his nose, breaking it. Blood gushed out of it, making him choke on his own blood. The mask he treasured so much would be his own downfall.
He tried to interfere with his left arm, but I used my own arm to punch his upper arm in a vulnerable spot, breaking the bone, disabling his only remaining arm. Then, pulling my left hand out of his shoulder, I gave him another punch to the temple, knocking him out cold.
Makashi's unconscious body slumped down off the branch and would have hit the ground with a dull thump had Poribito not intercepted the course. The boy stopped on a low branch and turned to glare at me. He'd never thank me for this, he'd never forgive me for this, but he would one day understand why I did it.
Bin, on the other hand, jumped to the branch I was on, but stayed a good distance away from me. She was clever, but not clever enough to know that distance didn't matter one bit if I decided to attack her. My gun is in the holster on my left hip. Bullets move faster than-
"What the hell was that, captain?!" she shouted, trying vainly to appear threatening. In the background I could hear Makashi becoming lucid again. Being unconscious for much longer would be worrisome. I would also like for him to hear what I had to say. He deserved it.
"Makashi was being disobedient and disrespectful to the chain of command. That cannot and will not be tolerated," I answered, my gaze turning stony, perhaps even a little hostile. Bin took a small step back from my look. Good. It is better to be feared than to be loved, if you cannot be both.
I could see the sweat starting to pour down Bin's face, the fear and anger becoming a dangerous mix on her face. "A-And disabling him is the best thing you could do about that?"
I shook my head. "No, but it was the fastest. Besides, he's not disabled. I just broke his nose and arms. He will make a full recovery if he receives immediate medical attention. And you're a medic."
Bin gasped, tears beginning to well up in her eyes, and with a jerk of my head, she jumped down to start healing Makashi. Poribito on the other hand didn't stop glaring hatefully at me. He jumped up to the branch and started walking in my personal space once Bin took Makashi from him. He jabbed a finger into my chest. A jarring feeling, but he'd come to regret it, probably. "What did you do that for? Why did you attack Kakashi, our teammate?"
I grabbed his finger and twisted, earning a pained groan from black haired chuunin. "Listen to me, and listen to me good, Poribito. Makashi was not obeying the chain of command. If I order you, the junior, to jump, you don't ask me why you have to jump, you ask how high. Do you understand?" I punctuated my sentence with a hard jerk of my hand, almost dislocating Poribito's finger, eliciting a low scream from him as he grabbed hold of my hand. It wouldn't matter what he tried, he wouldn't get me to let go unless he understood.
"Fine, fine, just let go!"
And I did.
"Team Minako, regroup," I ordered, and with Makashi around her shoulders, Bin jumped up to the branch Poribito and I were on. Makashi hung off on Bin's shoulders far more heavily than a jounin ever should, but I did knock him out pretty good. "It is clear that we have a problem with communication. I am the team leader, the captain. During the mission, my word is law. If you do not follow the laws I set, you will be punished. If you do not respect the chain of command, you will be punished. Your free will is worthless during the mission unless you are in command, and you are not in command, I am. So from here on out, you will listen and obey me. I will not repeat myself. Since our little scuffle doesn't seem to have attracted any hostiles, we will continue to pursue the mission objective, which is to destroy the Kannabi Bridge. Let's go."
And with that, we continued on our merry way towards the bridge. It took ten minutes to plant all the necessary explosives in the correct places, but when they were planted, and the entire team was at a safe distance away, I detonated them.
Let it be known that demolition was an artform. Do it wrong, just a tiny bit wrong, and your head will be pierced with debris, your body will be smirched with splinters, and your companions will have a very bad time, even if they are behind inch thick metal cover.
But do it right… there is no feeling quite like watching a plume of fire and destruction rise through the air, an explosion you yourself have caused deliberately.
The mission was a success, the bridge was completely destroyed. No caravan would be able to go past that thing, probably ever again.
The return trip would have been without any further conflict, had it not been for Poribito's goddamn sneeze attracting enemy Iwa shinobi.
The only injury in the engagement was Poribito's pride, because Makashi, despite his disobedience, was still a decent shinobi. Between him and me, the two Iwa jounin - maybe they were chuunin, it didn't really matter - died before they could get a proper hit in.
"I will be writing about this in my report," I murmured loudly enough for the team to hear. I got a satisfyingly despaired moan from Poribito.
All in all, a bunch of unprofessional losers. Whoever their teacher was, he should be replaced or be disciplined into doing a better job. This kind of disrespect to authority cannot be tolerated.
We all reported back to the mission office with a mission success. Apparently, Team 5's sensei was there. Some blond guy, with a bit too much girliness put in there to be comfortable. At least he was identifiably male, just not masculine.
That would explain why he was so lackadaisical in training his students. Women and the effeminate didn't make for excellent trainers.
I should look in a mirror.
I decided to leave the full report at the mission desk, but I didn't expect it to show how inefficient Minako was as a teacher. I had to report to the Hokage for that.
He already knew who I was. He might just let me in.
The secretary apparently also knew who I was, and she nodded at me, letting me pass. I politely nodded back.
I could hear voices from the other side of the door, but I couldn't recognize what was being said. The work of seals? Doubtful. Seals would have stopped all noise. Perhaps it was just thick walls, or undeveloped ears. I knocked on the door, and the voices stopped.
"Come in," I could hear clearly.
Never mind, it was seal work after all. I wonder why it didn't stop all noise.
I opened the door, stepped in, and politely closed the door, and bowed to the four other occupants of the room.
Shimura Danzo, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, and the one I wanted to meet, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
I did not know what it was that they talked about, but it was very clear that it was not intended to be for my ears.
They could speak of it later, I had to give a report. "Lord Hokage," I began, bowing deeply. "I have a concern I wish to raise with you regarding one of your jounin-sensei."
I could practically feel his eyebrow raise while my nose was pointed at the floor.
"Is this that girl that has made the Yamanaka head so unbearably smug? Tatsumi Yamanaka?" the old woman, Koharu Utatane, asked rhetorically. Unmoving and dignified indeed.
Sarutobi chuckled. "Yes, that would be her. Tell me, child, what is it that you want to tell me? It's all right, these three can be trusted."
It took me a second or two to continue. Sarutobi trusted these three people, but I knew people like Danzo. The kind who thought that the betterment of his own position was the betterment of the faction he aligned himself with. Not always an incorrect assumption, just usually.
"It is about Minako Mumokaze, Lord Hokage."
"Who? Do you mean Minato Namikaze?"
Goddamn fucking habit. "Yes, Lord Mitokado. Minato Mumo- I mean Namikaze's team, Team 5, or Team Minako- Minato, are unprofessional, disobedient to the chain of command, and disrespectful to their superiors. While the mission was a complete success, I had to subdue Makashi Itake- Kakashi Hatake. He was the most averse to following the chain of command, sir."
I couldn't see them as they deliberated on my words. "I see."
"Hiruzen, you know what this means, don't you?" Danzo asked.
A pause. "What about Team Minato's skills?" Mitokado asked.
"Their skills are satisfactory, considering their age, Lord Mitokado, with Maka- Kakashi Hatake's skills befitting of a lower skilled chuunin. Given that we are in a war, it would make sense that he remains a jounin for the time being, but I recommend demoting him to chuunin once we have won the war."
A chuckle from Danzo. "How old are you, Yamanaka?"
"I am… 7 years old, Lord Danzo."
A pause, again. I couldn't see any of their potential non-verbal communication. My nose was pointed at the floor.
This time, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up. "Tatsumi Yamanaka, your concerns are of Minato Namikaze's performance as a team leader, then?"
I shook my head. "No, Lord Hokage. My concerns are of Minato Namikaze's performance as a trainer of any kind. While Team Minato are acceptable in accordance to their age, they are not nearly skilled enough to be able to complete the mission we were given on their own. Minato Namikaze is lax in his training, and allows too much free thought in his students in regards to command. This is especially visible in Kakashi Hatake."
"Yes, mentioned something about Hatake." Another pause. "Your concerns are noted, Tatsumi. Dismissed."
I nodded, turned, and left. I had a family to visit.
It was shortly after my mission that the war ended, with the Third Hokage and the Third Tsuchikage signing a peace treaty. It was a worthless paper document, but it would have to do.
No more lives would be lost in this conflict, only in the next.
Apparently, all of Team Minato was demoted back to the genin rank after the war ended. Good. The unprofessional should not be allowed to have leading roles.
And thus, an era of relative peace ensued. I took up missions, enjoyed my time with my family, trained till I bled. For at least two years, anyway.
For when I was 9 years old, the village would be torn asunder.
I remember when I felt the awful, hateful chakra of the Nine Tailed Beast. I was reporting a successful B-rank mission, and the mission director nodded satisfied, stamping the mission report with a success marker. I remember that just as the stamp was complete, the malice overpowered every shinobi's senses, even my own. I had never felt such hate before, such a lust for revenge on the whole world. I had met people who wanted to destroy humanity, who could destroy humanity. I was intimately familiar with their emotions.
Their emotions could not compare.
I remember that I was following my instincts, pulling a kunai out of my pouch and diving through the window, at the source of this sheer loathing of all things living, in an attempt to neutralize it.
The first thing I saw was the silhouette. A gigantic fox with nine swishing tails, nigh invisible chains struggling to hold it down. The fox was larger than even the Hokage Monument, its maw ready to chew upon the hapless Konoha citizens.
The second thing I noticed was its colour. A bright orange, the colour of fire.
And the third thing I noticed was the noise. The screams of flustering civilians and the commands of harried shinobi.
All of them, they all ran away. The shinobi ran away with the pretense of guiding the civilians to safety.
Cowards, every single one of them.
I ran forward, collecting my wits as I jumped from rooftop to crumbling rooftop, analyzing the situation as much as I could. The people were dying, my people were dying, suffering.
I couldn't let my people die.
Fire rose from the buildings, people, men, women, children, were buried under rubble, crying for their families and friends to save them, to help them get away from the misery of pain and death.
I jumped down to the streets to pull a chunk of rock off the arm of a man who was cradling a bawling baby in his other arm. Not waiting to hear his thanks, I flickered over to another man who was buried under rubble. Dead. Flickered, dead, flicker, dead, flicker, alive, save, flicker, alive, save, flicker, dead-
Then a particularly large chunk of rock hit the side of my head. It sent me to the depths of unconsciousness.
I woke up in a hospital bed. I wasn't aware that it was a hospital bed. The usual beeping of the heart monitor wasn't there to accompany it. What did tell me that it was the hospital was the bright colour of the ceiling and the sunflower in a glass on the counter to my right.
I didn't have the energy to move. I could move my body, I knew that. I even tried it out. My fingers moved, my legs moved, my arms moved, neck, feet, toes, hands, everything was in perfect working order. But after I had checked, I just ceased all movement besides breathing and blinking.
No one was around yet. I could see the button that was supposed to call a nurse, but I didn't press it. From the sounds of it, they really didn't need to take care of someone who just woke up.
My people had died. They had suffered, and I had done so little to save them. The attackers would pay, the tracks of their vehicles and the indentations of their footsteps would be filled with their viscous blood.
It took me too long to remember that there had been only one attacker, and it was a giant nine tailed fox.
It took till dusk for me to gather the energy to press the button. The noises outside had dampened quite a bit, the nurses and doctors and medics didn't seem nearly as distressed as before. They might be able to help now. I wouldn't judge them if they weren't.
It didn't even take a whole minute for a nurse to check up on me. Now that's what I call efficiency.
I was checked, double checked, and found to have no injuries besides some bruises here and there. Apparently it wasn't just adrenaline that had surged through my body when I was trying to help.
"Miss nurse," I asked. "How many…?"
She didn't answer. "What's the casualty rate among… the civilians?"
She didn't answer.
Too many, then.
I was checked out a day later. Both my parents were there. Thank the almighty heavens they were safe. I have never appreciated being picked up and held in a hug as much as that day, and I would imagine that I never again would.
We celebrated almost immediately upon our return home. Our home was on the other side of Konoha, the other side of the place that had been ambushed by the orange fox.
I would ask what had happened later. Now was not the time.
Not when I was eating the most delicious tasting cake and drinking the most delicious tasting milk I had ever had in my life. I loved my family. I loved my clan. There was nothing I wouldn't do for them.
I did some exercises the day after to help my muscles get back into shape, and continued with those exercises for a week before I returned to active duty. Most missions now were about rebuilding Konoha.
One thing that was good with the destruction of so much property was that rebuilding was now much easier. Building structures that were reinforced, better planning, better materials, everything.
When nothing is left, when you have hit rock bottom, you only have one direction to go, and that direction is up.
I knocked on the door of the Hokage's office. "Come in," the wizened old voice of the Hokage came. I let myself in. "Ah, Tatsumi. How nice to see you fully recovered," he said.
I nodded. "Thank you, Lord Hokage."
A pause. We both looked into each other's eyes. Immediate understanding was between our gazes.
"You want to know what caused this."
"I do."
He sighed heavily, leaning back into his chair. He waved at the chair on the other side of his desk, and I promptly sat down on it, my back straight on the back of the chair.
"Are you aware of the Tailed Beasts?"
"Yes."
"That was the strongest of them all, the Nine Tailed Fox. It had been sealed inside… inside someone. But something happened that made the seal unstable, allowing it to get out. It shouldn't have happened, but it did. Something went wrong. We don't know what yet, but we will, soon."
He took a lighter to his pipe, taking a few puffs out of it. "The fox has been sealed once more. What happened then will not happen again."
"What has it been sealed into?"
A pause. He looked into my eyes for a moment before sighing. "Tatsumi Yamanaka, I will give you a life long S-rank mission."
My back straightened some more. "Yes, Lord Hokage."
"Take care of Naruto Uzumaki. Be his big sister. Please. Treat him well. He will face hardships unlike those we have faced. Ostracized for what is sealed within him. He will have few friends, if any at all. Please, for the sake of Konoha, take care of him."
The thing that killed our people was still alive. It was inside this child.
Children are the most valuable resource our army has, and the general - the Hokage threw one at the beast.
It must be a valuable beast indeed. Power like that in the hands of the enemy would spell disaster.
I nodded firmly, putting a hand over my heart. "I accept this mission, Lord Hokage."
The weight of the world wasn't lifted from his shoulders, but I could see that my statement gave him strength. "Thank you, Tatsumi."
I was dismissed shortly after, with instructions on where to find Boruto. No wait, that's an unreasonably awful name. Let's just go with Naruto.
The Konoha Orphanage was a large building, it could fit 150 children comfortably, while also taking into account the staff, the kitchen, and the other facilities.
There were over 400 children currently registered in it.
Finding Naruto Uzumaki was easy, considering the number of orphaned children. When I saw him, I understood why. Not many children had whisker tattoos.
It could really not be more obvious that he was the container of the Nine Tailed Fox.
I brought him home, and my mother and father immediately took a liking to the bubbly bawling baby. Good. I would have to move out if they didn't.
4 years later, when I was 13, I was approached by the new Yamanaka clan head, Inoichi Yamanaka. He proposed a training regimen in the Yamanaka clan's techniques.
I immediately said yes. The idea that I could assure people's allegiances with a hundred percent accuracy was as attractive an idea as having a nuclear bomb in your arsenal.
It turned out I was a natural at the Yamanaka clan's techniques, even when it came to defending my own mind from attacks. Inoichi Yamanaka tried again and again, with more and more effective techniques to penetrate my mind, but there were naturally occurring barriers that just would not give up. He described it "as if it is a seasoned veteran's mind, with experience that would put even the Third's to shame."
He wasn't entirely off mark.
He also taught me the ability to erase or change memories. He tried to get me to understand that such an ability should only be used when investigating into possible betrayals, and even then be used sparingly.
I listened, I understood, but I wouldn't comply. Memories shape us in ways the environment doesn't. If I captured an enemy and had the option of changing the enemy's allegiance, make them completely and utterly loyal to me, why wouldn't I?
I never told Inoichi about this. He would cease training in these techniques immediately, and possibly have me detained. I knew his type. Nice and caring, but when the chips were down, he'd do his duty.
All while training, I took good care of the little Naruto. He was a cute boy, very energetic. Too energetic, if you were to ask me. Always bouncing, always in motion, especially when I wanted to sleep.
But whenever I carried him in my arms, I felt a joy rising in my chest, one not unlike that one time when...
It was a good kind of happiness. I knew it wouldn't last forever - children grow up - but I would appreciate it as long as it was allowed to last.
Though training was difficult, what with taking care of a child at the same time. I made do. My parents helped a lot in that regard, but I refused to be dependent on their aid in raising him.
For six years I would take care of the little bundle of energy and happiness, before he was admitted into the academy. I sought to give him small hints and tips and tricks on what to do, to help him along the way.
"But sis, no, you're not supposed to help me! I'm a big boy now, I can do this on my own!"
I would just pat him on the head and say, "Of course, little one. One thing you have to know when it comes to shuriken is that their trajectory can twist mid-flight if you throw it right."
"Sis!"
And it was surprisingly emotional to see him go out of my sight with a bunch of other children, some shinobi teachers I recognized, and some I didn't, herding them into their respective classrooms.
I could almost feel tears running down my cheeks. I was so proud of him…
"There there, Tatsumi, he's going to be okay," my mother said soothingly, rubbing my back. "It's going to be okay."
I shook my head and cleared my throat. I was getting attached to the kid. Too attached, but attachments can promote strength. It wasn't the end of the world.
"I know, mother. I'm not worried about him. I'm just proud. That's all."
She smiled and hugged me tightly. "You're getting older, developing those maternal instincts of yours, huh?"
I hugged back and smiled. Maternal, paternal, one or the other.
Naruto wasn't the happiest when I picked him up. "What's wrong?"
He pouted very cutely. "Nothing!"
It only took a look for him to tell me. He grumbled a bit, "It's this kid, something Uchiha. He's an idiot, all selfish and stuff, and his hair looks like a duck's butt! And he gets all the attention and he's not good at all, he's just a huge moron!"
I put my hand on top of his head. He looked at me, curiosity sparkling in those bright blue eyes. "Naruto, one day you will realize that those words will apply to more than just that Uchiha."
He blinked. "What?"
I shook my head. "Don't mind me. You're saying that this Uchiha is an idiot?"
And that made him forget all about what I had said. Off to a rant on some dark haired individual who I had never met.
It was a few weeks after that I got an S rank mission from the Hokage.
"Naruto," I said, bending down and hugging him. "Study hard, become strong, and serve the village faithfully, okay?"
He looked at me weirdly, but he didn't get to reply. I ran up a wall to get to the Hokage's office.
"Lord Hokage, I was informed that I have a mission assigned to me. What are the details?" I said, kneeling on the ground with a hand over my heart.
He took a few moments to answer, taking a puff or two from his pipe. "Tatsumi Yamanaka, this is a solo mission, and I fully expect you to die in it."
I nodded firmly. It was an S rank mission. Those don't get handed out lightly. Although it was strange that I would technically be on two S rank missions, one of which was the protection of Naruto. What was his plan?
Three beats of the heart before he continued. "Assassinate the Third Tsuchikage."
I did not expect that. Assassinate the Third Tsuchikage, all on my own. Doable, but only just. Could it be that... "Is there a time limit?"
"Before the end of the month."
So a week. This wouldn't be easy. The Third Tsuchikage is notoriously fleet of foot, and incredibly skilled when it comes to earth techniques. Landing a hit on someone like that is nigh on impossible. With how sturdy the typical Iwa Jounin is, getting an actual hit on the Tsuchikage that would also do damage would be even more difficult. But still possible nonetheless.
But why me? Voicing my thoughts did not matter, this was a mission handed to me by the general- by the Hokage, and there was no way I would not accept it.
"Your will be done, Lord Hokage. The Tsuchikage will be in the Pure Land before the next full moon."
I rose from my place. Once more I resisted the urge to salute. "Yamanaka. I expect that you'll not only die, but also fail. I hope beyond reason that you will succeed and return alive."
I nodded, once more firmly. "I understand, Lord Hokage."
Time to break out the big guns, then.
The first thing I did was procure some gunpowder. Easy. Saltpeter, charcoal, sulfur. Golden rule, 75, 15, 10. Gunpowder made. Put it into a small metal casing, put a pointed metal cap to cover it all, plus something that would ignite the gunpowder that would go through the metal casing.
Now for the gun.
It took four days to get to Iwagakure. It was surprisingly easy to get in. A chakra suppressant seal that made it look like I was a civilian, neutral clothes, no headband, brown hair colouring, black eye contacts. They checked over my equipment, but they had never seen a gun or bullets before. I got through, no problem.
I stayed at a hotel. A fairly cheap place, but the service was excellent. I expected nothing, I got a mint on my pillow.
From my window, I could see the Tsuchikage's office. I could not see the Tsuchikage, though. He was much too short for that. I'd have to get a better vantage point. There was a tall building next to the hotel with a rooftop entrance. That would have to do.
Chakra suppressant seal, check. Bolt unobstructed, check. Bullet in the chamber, check. Zero in the scope, check.
Inhale. Four heartbeats. Exhale. Four heartbeats. Inhale. Four heartbeats. Exhale. Pull the trigger.
The Third Tsuchikage, Oonoki of Both Scales, had his head explode in a shower of bone, blood, and brain matter. And not a single chakra trace. In this selectively technologically backward world, this was the perfect murder. No one would be able to trace it. The only clue would be a loud bang, but by the time someone found the Tsuchikage and connected the loud noise to the dead leader, I would be outside the village walls, uncatchable.
I disassembled the sniper rifle and put the components in my bag, then I left.
I was just about to leave the gates when an Iwa Chunin came up to me. "Stop right there!"
I had no time for this. I pulled out a kunai, ripped the chakra suppression seal off, and plunged the point of the knife into the man's skull, killing him on the spot.
That definitely raised the alarm. A masked Jounin leapt down to engage me, but he lasted for only a second before he was burnt to a crisp by lightning. I didn't take any chances, I had to leave.
I fled straight towards the Land of Lightning, hoping to somehow frame them in some way.
I had three pursuers. Two of them were Jounin, quite obvious from the strength of their chakra, but one of them had to be a Jinchuuriki. Two sources of chakra coming from the same place, and there being too much too.
I had only faced such odds twice before. Neither had ended pretty.
A clearing on the border between the Land of Iron and the Land of Rice. Perfect. I discarded the bag on the side of the clearing, well out of the way.
Roshi, the Four Tails Jinchuuriki, with two Jounin as back-up. This would be difficult. I'd be restricted to lightning and wind, and be outnumbered three to one.
Not as hard as sixteen to one, but a Jinchuuriki could count as at least ten opponents, not even counting the Tailed Beast.
I shook off my robe and placed it on top of the bag.
"Let's get this over with."
I bent backwards, a scorching hot foot careening past my face. The heat from the fire surrounding the Jinchuuriki's body was searing. Had to get away. I crouched and used the momentum to jump straight into one of the Jounin.
My hand was on her face, and with lightning I fried her brain, killing her in less than a single second. Two to one. Better odds, but still not great.
I swung around the corpse and pushed it off me with my feet, using the hand on its face as a lever, straight into an attack from the Jinchuuriki. The corpse exploded into a shower of burning blood and gore, blinding the Four Tails long enough for me to stab the last Jounin through his nose and hand with a quickly drawn kunai, into the brain stem.
One on one. Technically two on one, depending on how you look at it.
I twisted out of the way of a fist, then another, and leapt high over the last opponent. I landed a fair distance away from him, but distance meant little when both could cross a kilometer in less than a minute. I slammed my hands together and snapped my fingers. Lightning burst out of my hands and crashed into the Jinchuuriki's fire covered form. And of course, it did next to nothing. I'd have to rethink my method of engagement.
A dash backwards, then one to the left, to avoid the furious Jinchuuriki's rapid attacks.
One low dash forward to duck underneath a strike, cover my arm in chakra, jab my hand up to hit the man's chin with the heel of my hand.
The heat completely dissipated and the Jinchuuriki's consciousness slipped away as his brain was rattled into darkness. His body had enough momentum to it that it dragged itself along the grass, digging a faint trench into the dirt.
I took a breather and shook my hand to clear the shock. Better anticlimactic than dead.
I shook my head and bent down to pick up the unconscious Roshi. I tied his forearms together, his hands touching the other's elbows, and his ankles to his thighs. He wouldn't be moving anywhere any time soon. For good measure I slapped a seal I got from the Third Hokage that was supposed to temporarily seal away a Tailed Beast onto his forehead. It was supposed to only be used on Naruto, but this would have to suffice.
I lifted him up by the scruff of his shirt and dragging him to where I had stored my things, and donned my robe, threw my bag over my shoulder, threw the living baggage over my other shoulder, and made for Konoha. I left the remains of the Iwa shinobi behind, hopefully they would think that it was indeed the Cloud that had attacked.
To say that the Third was surprised was an understatement. Not only had I completed an S rank mission that was supposed to be nigh on impossible, I had retrieved one of the Jinchuriki, shinobi whose importance is second only to the Kage.
When I saw the Hokage's expression, I knew that this was something he wanted to happen, but at the same time something he didn't want to happen.
I could see what he wanted then. He wanted Naruto to feel misery, to test the stability of the seal. Emotions played a key role in any seal that contained a Tailed Beast.
The game he played was too dangerous for his own good, that old man.
"You did well, Tatsumi. Very well indeed."
"Thank you, Lord Hokage."
And then I went to pick up Naruto from the academy. He was incredibly cheerful when he laid eyes upon me, sprinting towards me with his arms up, as if his body told me to pick him up. I did, of course. "How was school while I've been away, Naruto?" I asked with a smile.
And that sent him off on a rant about the supposed unfairness of teachers being rude to him, about the classes being boring, classmates being annoying… truly, just the usual Naruto.
I had to go back to training with the Yamanaka clan head for a final evaluation.
I was to infiltrate his mind, extract information pertaining to… something. A code to a safe, or the location of the code, who had the code, or if there even was a code or a safe to begin with.
That wasn't even the hard part. The hard part was that I had to do it without Inoichi noticing anything.
I succeeded with flying colours. It was a bit tricky to get Inoichi in his sleep without waking him up, but chakra is capable of a great deal of things.
It wasn't even a safe to begin with, either. I had to say a sequence of words to him, and only he knew that sequence. "On the twenty third day of the eleventh month, the answer to happiness comes."
What a strange saying. Twenty third of September had already passed, and nothing special had happened that day. Could just be a phrase.
Wait, no. Was that not the birthday of the clan head's daughter? Ino, I think it was. She must've been a classmate of Naruto's. I could ask.
"Naruto…"
He turned his head upwards, his sky blue eyes looking into mine. His form was hunched over homework on the dinner table. "Yeah?"
"Do you know of someone called Ino?"
Naruto's face lit up in recognition. "Oh yeah, she's pretty nice. Ino Yamanaka, right? She's, ah, pretty, and-"
I smirked. Pretty, huh? "Naruto, is she in your class?"
Unperturbed of the interruption, he nodded. "Yeah, we sit beside each other. We've been classmates the entire time."
Oh my. "Friends too, I hope."
Naruto grinned widely, "Oh yeah, definitely! We're great friends! Best thing is that she also hates duckbutt!"
My smirk widened. Perhaps… no, they're only 10 years old, no need to play match maker yet. "I'm glad to hear that. Treat her well, all right? She's my niece, after all."
"She's what?!"
I sensed an ANBU coming around to knock on the door, interrupting whatever my reply might be. I stood up and opened the door before he - correction, she could actually knock on it. "Yes?"
Unperturbed, the ninja reported that I was requested to visit the Hokage. I gave a firm nod to dismiss her, turned, and gave Naruto a pat on the head. "I'm off to visit the Hokage, Naruto. I'll be right back, okay?"
Naruto grinned wider than necessary. Still a genuine smile. What a nice boy. "Don't worry, sis! I'll be done with homework before you're back, believe it!"
I might actually believe him. He didn't have that much left.
I knocked on the door to the Hokage's office and upon being called in, entered. I immediately recognized Kakashi Hatake, Might Guy, Obito Uchiha, and a variety of other jounin.
They all had a stance that told me that they had stayed there for a while. They had been waiting for me.
Before the Hokage could get a word out, I began. "Cut straight to the point."
I could tell my brashness shocked all the occupants of room with the obvious exception of the one addressed.
Hiruzen Sarutobi chuckled, with a strangely sad set of eyes on him. "Very well then. Have a seat, Tatsumi. I have an important announcement to make."
I did what he told. Curiously, the only seat available was a single chair in front of his desk, everyone else was already standing at attention.
"As you said, I will not beat around the bush. You are next in line to be the Hokage."
I can't say I was not surprised. Judging by the reactions of the people in the room, they had already been told. I nodded. "Next in line, but not yet. When?"
He smiled. The two of us practically ignored everyone else in the room as we spoke to each other. "There'll be a chuunin exam in Konoha in three years. I want you to be the one to prepare for it and represent Konoha as the Hokage during it. Your inauguration will take place five months before our esteemed guests will arrive, so six months before the Chuunin exams proper start."
"Understood. Is there anything I should do to prepare for this? Any administrative work?"
He leaned back in his chair, letting out a small breath and smiled. "You're going to do half the workload I have and will get. I am confident that you can complete that easily."
In other words, it's for me to get used to more, and him to get used to less.
"When will that arrangement start?"
"Tomorrow. My back's aching, I need to rest. Dismissed, all of you."
Without even glancing at any of the other occupants of the office, I rose from the chair, gave a polite bow to the Hokage, turned, and left the office through the door.
I was halfway back home from that short meeting when an ANBU agent appeared beside me. Not by surprise, of course. What was surprising, or at least curious, was the lack of markings on the ANBU mask, and the uniform. It wasn't standard issue ANBU.
This was either a member of a special kind of ANBU, or not ANBU at all. Judging by the chakra, it was low-level chunin, so it was likely not an official ANBU. "What is it?"
"Lord Danzo requests your presence, lady Yamanaka."
Lord Danzo… he probably wanted me to be a puppet of his. He definitely respected me enough to not fuck around too much.
"Lead me to him."
The not-actually-ANBU knelt down. "It requires you to be blindfolded."
I scoffed and turned away. "Then forget it. Tell him to come to me if he really wants to talk to me."
I did wait a second before jumping off the roof, to see if the not-ANBU would do anything. Seemed like Danzo was smart enough to not cause any trouble either.
I opened the door to the apartment to see a lazily doodling Naruto who looked up when I entered. "Sis! You're back! What'd the old man want?" he said as he threw his pencil onto the table while running towards me with open arms.
I welcomed him, of course, and lifted him up to hug him. I gave off an obviously fake groan of exertion. "Naruto, you're getting too big for your sis to do stuff like this, you know."
He just grinned. "Never! So what'd he want, huh?"
I set him down on the floor and patted his head. "You know that he's really old by now, right?"
"Well obviously, he's got wrinkles and shit-"
I smacked the back of his head. "Language. And yes, he's wrinkly. He's old, and he decided to not be Hokage for much longer. So he told me that he had decided to make me the heir to the position."
"That's fucking aweso-"
I gave him another smack on the head. "Language."
He gave a groan but lightened within a second. "That's so cool! You're gonna be the bestest Hokage ever, believe it!"
I smiled at him. "How about we celebrate this occasion with something?"
He groaned much harder than before. "I swear, if you say dango-"
"With dango."
And now it was a groan of despair. Positively delicious.
I couldn't help but give a moan of pleasure as the sweet taste of dango went down my throat. "This is the life."
"I know right? This is the best," my fellow compatriot of dango, Anko, said beside me. She was fairly young, and with purple hair. I can't say I've ever seen naturally occurring purple hair, but here she was.
"I don't know what you heathens talk about, but whatever it is, it's filthy," Naruto said as he grouchily nibbled at his stick with dango.
I just ignored him. "Hey Anko," I said after swallowing a bit more. "How's your new technique going? That one with the…" I drawled on, waving a hand around to gesture something or other.
A flash of recognition lit in her eyes. "Oh yeah, that. It's going okay, but the snakes don't go far enough yet. The range's like twenty metres, but I want fifty. Doesn't quite work just yet, but I'm making headway!"
I smiled and patted her head. She smacked it away with a pair of flushed cheeks. "Oh come on, I'm older than you, thank you very much!"
"Sure, but I'm better, and I'm a jounin. You're still chuunin."
"No need to remind me…" she grumbled moodily.
Author's Note: I've been trying a new method of writing, namely where I don't use any kind of markings to denote a jump in time, only hints in the text.
At the end there, Naruto is 10, Tatsumi is 19. See if you can spot the differences with this and canon, by the way.
And another thing, there's absolutely no guarantee I'll be continuing this story. This is the first chapter, and potentially the last. I've already got the story line cooked up in my head, but actually getting down onto paper is a whole different game.