Chapter 1
The Son of the Senju
Nawaki was not a morning person. This was rather evident on the morning where he was to finally join a genin squad. His sister's persistent tapping on his shoulder did not seem to wake the eleven year old up. He swatted her hand away and continued dreaming about a dish of yakiniku at his favorite yakiniku place.
Tsunade who was now exasperated by her younger brother's behavior clenched her fist, readying herself to smash some sense into her younger brother's head. She was an elite jounin of the village and was a former student of the Third Hokage. She had also inherited the Strength of a Hundred seal from her grandmother and was known for her fearsome strength and excellent ninjutsu throughout the village.
In the nick of the moment, Nawaki snapped his grey eyes opened to see his onee chan with a fist a few centimeters away from his face. He quickly rolled out of his bed and landed with a thud on the wooden flooring of their house.
Tsunade was Nawaki's only family in the village. Their grandfather had died early and their great uncle, Tobirama passed away defending the village against some rogue ninjas. Their grandmother had shifted back to her home village after her husband's premature death and Nawaki only saw her once a year. Their parents had perished in the fight against some rogue ninjas when Nawaki was baby in a cradle.
But the lack of family never seemed to disturb Nawaki. He had several friends at the Academy whom he considered to be his brothers such as Asuma and the rowdy Uchiha boy, Obito. Also Jiriaya, his sister's former teammate acted like an uncle to the brown haired head of the Senju clan.
Nawaki scratched his head and flashed a cheesy smile to his fuming sister who now had a look of annoyance plastered on her normally beautiful features.
"Sorry one chan! But I was having a really good dream!" He tried to reason with the princess of Konoha.
"Do you want to be late for your first day? Being a genin is not a piece of cake!" she reprimanded him.
He flinched at the strict tone of her voice. But the moment had passed and Tsunade lovingly ruffled his hair before planting a kiss on his forehead.
"Get ready fast. I'll walk you." She promised before walking out of his room.
Nawaki eagerly nodded at his older sister and scrambled over to his chest of drawers to pick his outfit for the day. It was simple navy shirt with a high collar and grey pants. He did not want anything fancy. Nawaki Senju was a shinobi and not an actress that he had to look pretty.
Nawaki enthusiastically picked up his forehead protector that he had been handed a week ago at his graduation ceremony. He looked at himself in the mirror that adorned a wall of his room. He did not have the natural good looks which his prodigy classmate, Kakashi had been blessed with. His face was still chubby and Tsunade had once remarked that he still looked like a baby.
He wondered who his jounin sensei would be. All the children wanted to be in Minato sensei's squad. The man was known as the Yellow Flash of Konoha for a reason and everyone wanted to learn from the most probably future Hokage.
He walked out of the room to smell burning eggs. His sister might be an adept kunoichi but she lacked culinary skills to the point that they mostly ate food brought from outside or dropped by Sarutobi sama's house to have the delicious food prepared by his wife, Biwako sama.
"It's okay onee chan! I asked Asuma to bring some extra food." Nawaki consoled her.
"I'm sure I would have gotten the recipe right if I wasn't distracted. I have too much work these days." She tried reasoning for her failure.
Nawaki knew that his sister was a hard worker and was never frightened or stressed by the amount of work the Hokage delegated to her. She was simply trying to make an excuse for her poor cooking skills. But he did not make any funny comments and picked up his bag which had been packed by Tsunade the previous night.
"Let's get going." He said to her. Tsunade threw the overcooked eggs in the trash and picked up her bag before following her younger brother outside their apartment.
The sight of his foster uncle, Jiraiya standing at the bottom of the stairs of the apartment complex brought a smile to his face.
"Uncle Jiraiya!" He cooed at the white haired man.
"Couldn't miss my man's first day as a genin for the world!" Jiraiya said to the younger brother of his crush.
"Did you get me anything?" Nawaki eagerly asked the Frog sage.
"Not today, kiddo. Tell you what. Once you complete your first mission as a genin I'll treat you to some yakiniku." Jiraiya promised.
"Jiraiya, don't make promises that you can't keep." Tsunade chided him.
"I intend to keep this one Tsunade hime." He assured her.
Tsunade simply sighed.
"Well Nawaki and I will be on our way. I don't him to be late for his first day." Tsunade said and took her younger brother's hand and started to walk.
"Onee chan! Don't hold my hand! It looks bad!" Nawaki squealed at his older sister.
Tsunade with a smile on her lips continued holding her brother's hand until they reached the Academy.
(*)
The academy instructor had a sheet of paper with the new genin teams listed on them. He gave a cough to stop the ruckus in the class. He glared at Nawaki Senju and Obito Uchiha who were up to their usual mischief in a corner of the class.
"We will start with team 1. This team will be managed by Namikaze Minato."
A series of oohs and aahs went across the classroom. Everyone was eager to hear who had been assigned to Minato sensei's squad.
"The team consists of Hatake Kakashi,"
The girls of class instantly began ogling and congratulating the son of the White Fang of Konoha.
"Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha." He completed. Obito beamed at Rin whom he secretly admired from afar.
"You're lucky. You got the best sensei plus the girl of your dreams." Nawaki said jealously to Obito.
"But that prick Hatake is in the same team." Obito grumbled before shooting a look of hate towards Kakashi who was being pestered by Rin now.
The instructor continued reading the names of students assigned to different teams. Mighty Guy, the boy who swore to become great by simply using taijutsu, Ebisu and Genma were assigned to Akimichi Chouza, the heir of the Akimichi clan known for their body altering jutsus.
"Team 10 is the last team. This team will be under Nara Shikakau."
The genius of Konoha, Nawaki thought. So this man will be my sensei. He did not much about the silent but intelligent head of the Nara clan except that he was exceptional when it came to forming strategies and was made a jounin commander and was a sitting member of the daimyo's council.
"Senju Nawaki, Sarutobi Asuma and Yuhi Kurenai are members of this team."
Nawaki gave a thumbs up to his friend Asuma. He did not know Kurenai that well but she seemed kind and was a close friend of Asuma.
"You will meet your jounin senseis in a place chosen by them. This will happen after lunch since the jounin senseis themselves are not aware of their teams until now. You are excused for the rest of the morning." The instructor informed them.
On his way out with Obito, he bumped into Kakashi.
"If isn't the loser of the two most famous clans of Konoha." Kakashi bluntly said to them.
"Kakashi, what is your problem seriously?" Obito blurted out.
"Yeah!" Nawaki joined it.
"If only your grandfather could see you today Nawaki. How proud he would have been. The grandson of Hashirama Senju has finished nearly at the bottom of the class!" Kakashi mocked him.
"Nawaki felt himself reddening up.
"You just wait and watch! I'll be Hokage one day!" Nawaki announced.
"No that's going to be me!" Obito argued.
(*)
The data sheets about his future students were in front of him. None of them had really stood out in Academy despite their lineage. Asuma being the son of the Third had average grades and did not show any acumen in any area of ninja specialization. Nawaki called himself the grandson of the founder of the village but he had finished second last in the class of twenty and his instructor had warned Shikaku that he could be quite troublesome. Oh how the jounin commander hated troublesome things. Kurenai showed promise in genjutsu but she lacked stamina and strength.
He was to meet his students after lunch and he was not particularly looking forward to it. He was used to having a hearty lunch and to compliment it an occasional glass of sake followed by a long afternoon nap. But the need to pass on the Will of Fire came before long afternoon naps.
He liked playing shogi because he could exercise his brain without having to exert himself. Shikaku related himself to the knight on the shogi board. The knight was not exactly the strongest player on the board but his flexible movements allowed him to use strategies to win the game.
The afternoon came too fast and soon Shikaku found himself in front of two eager and one bored genins.
"My name is Nara Shikaku and I am your jounin sensei. We will be conducting missions as a four man squad from now on until you are promoted to chunin." He began.
He was instantly interrupted by the brown haired Senju clan head.
"What happens when we become chunin?" He foolishly asked.
"We can become team leaders ,smart stuff." The Third's son retorted.
Shikaku overlooked this and proceeded to continue his introduction.
"I like playing shogi and taking afternoon naps. I dislike troublesome women and household chores. My ambition is to retire young and sleep the entire day." He drawled in a bored tone.
"Sensei, what kind of stupid ambition is that? Sleeping all day! What kind of shinobi are you?" The idiotic boy instantly began.
"Sensei, I think you and I will get along." Asuma said with a smirk.
"Now then Asuma. What do you like, dislike and what are your ambitions?" Shikaku asked.
"I like being lazy. I hate my dad's nagging. My ambition is nothing at the moment." He said.
"How can you say that? Your father is the Hokage!" Nawaki interrupted again.
"What about you, Kurenai?" He asked not paying heed to the brat.
"I like drinking green tea and taking evening strolls. I dislike nothing in particular.."
"What about cockroaches?" Asuma asked with a smug grin.
"That was one time, Asuma!" She protested.
"My ambition is to protect the future generation of Konoha." She finished.
'Finally my turn!" Nawaki shouted while jumping on his table.
"My name is Senju Nawaki! You better remember it! And my dream is to become Hokage!"
A/N- Hello, chioocheep here. Please leave a review.