Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Naruto, the world, the characters or any of the situations. All of these belong to the creator Masashi Kishimoto.
—
Chapter 27
Sensei
Utakata had grown to care for his fellow jinchuuriki. So much so that he had decided to stay in the shared house instead of returning to the home he already had in Kirigakure. Well, it wasn't much of a home but his master's old abode. It stopped being home when Harusame tried to extract Saiken. The six tails jinchuuriki was planning on moving out once he had the funds to do so.
But he was enjoying his time with the other jinchuuriki. Despite not talking much and generally staying in the background, the energy of the rest was affecting him. Saiken was certainly enjoying the occasion.
The extra time to devote to training was also welcome for the brown haired shinobi. He had got a head start technically, being in close proximity with Yagura who was a perfect jinchuuriki. So he was advancing at a good pace, especially with the added help from Yugito and Killer B. The latter's raps had annoyed him and most of the others at first, but they had gotten long used to it.
Utakata could say he was content for the moment. He almost had complete control of his tailed beast transformation and Saiken's abilities with it. He had his solitude when needed. And lastly, everything was peaceful in the village.
The adult jinchuuriki was taking a calming stroll through Kiri's woodland area. He was conversing with Saiken at the moment, having learned to adapt to his tenant's bubbly personality.
A week before his birthday had come around. Making the jinchuuriki officially an adult in the eyes of society. His birthday's were usually a small celebration with his master, and sometimes Yagura's family and Mei. This time though it was without his master and including the jinchuuriki. That was one of the few times he didn't mind being the centre of attention.
But the spotlight from the event was finally dying down. So Utakata enjoyed the quiet while it lasted, away from the village and people.
However, while listening to one of Saiken's vibrant stories about clouds, there was a noise. It sounded like fast, light footsteps coming from behind him. Alert, Utakata stiffened his posture and turned, ready to see if it were a threat or not.
It was not a threat. It was a young girl around six years old with blonde hair and azure eyes. This was not just any girl though, for it was Yui, Yagura's bright daughter who Utakata had met many times before.
"Yui?" Said man stated confused as the girl ran up to him eagerly.
"Hey Utakata!" Yui greeted loudly, bouncing a little on her feet.
"What are you doing all the way out here? Does your father know you're out here?" Utakata asked, still confused as to why the kid was here.
"Papa told me to try asking you for help on my training." The blonde explained causally with a wide smile.
"You need help with training?" The jinchuuriki said, raising an eyebrow. After receiving another nod he then realized something. "And your father told you to ask me for help?" He asked to which was confirmed from the girl.
Internally sighing, Utakata put together what was going on. "Yagura's trying to help me get over my master stigma." He thought.
It had been more then half a year since Harusame had died. Half of year of Utakata trying to move past the incident. Initially, he had disliked the concept of a master and student relationship. He had been generalizing the entire concept to his own experience, which dampened the view. Masters in general had reminded him of Harusame.
Though, as time moved on, Utakata was slowly recovering and changing his views. He kept in mind that his old master had been trying to help him. Most of all, he had grown okay with the idea of becoming one himself. Utakata had always liked to teach when he was little, he had admired his master in that aspect. But, he didn't feel ready yet, the idea wasn't that comfortable with the young man.
Yagura knew of this, and thus had sent his eager daughter out for Utakata to teach and try to move past the incident for good.
The bubble user was hesitant, but Yui looked extremely excited and he didn't want to disappoint the kid. Plus, it wouldn't look good if it got around the he had made the Mizukage's child upset. The villagers didn't need another reason to hate him.
So giving the girl a pat on the head, the two began walking to a river where Utakata could judge on what Yui needed help on.
The blonde was excitedly talking about everything and anything. Utakata himself was reflecting on this new development. The Rokubi jinchuuriki had decided to distance himself from the group when in public, to make sure no one grew suspicious of their identities. The villagers had a blatant bias toward Yagura as he was the Mizukage, they still treated Utakata the same.
He hoped the village wouldn't extend the treatment to Yui, but he knew that she would probably be fine.
The kunoichi hopeful was already showing her natural prowess with the water release techniques. It made sense though, seeing as both her parents were well known users of the element.
At the moment, the only thing he could think of was water clones. So Utakata spent the rest of the afternoon teaching the girl how to perfect the technique until the clone was an exact replica of her.
After that the jinchuuriki told the girl he would meet her at the Mizukage's mansion the next day. And Utakata spent the rest of his day planning out a training schedule despite his hesitation.
—
When morning came Utakata walked the familiar path to the home of the Karatachi's. He had come over many times already, being well acquainted with the family as a honorary older brother to the kids.
Yagura himself, the sly bastard, was waiting with his daughter when handing the girl to him. The Mizukage had a knowing smirk on his face too, which basically said. "You know I know what I'm doing."
"Hey Yui, ready to go?" Utakata asked the azure eyed girl, who eagerly replied.
"I'm ready Sensei." Yui replied, oblivious to the man's stigma.
"Heh. I would prefer just Utakata please." The six tails jinchuuriki corrected quietly.
"Okay, Utakata sensei." The girl answered, grinning brightly as she dragged the brown haired shinobi away.
"Have a good day you two!" Yagura called out after them, with a replica of Yui's grin on his own face.
"Did they plan this out?" The younger shinobi wondered before sighing at the older man's cheekiness, Utakata then took Yui out to continue her training.
It turns out that Utakata was as much a teacher as Yui was a prodigy. He had taken to tutoring the girl naturally after getting the hang of it. Yui had known most of the D and C rank jutsus, so he had taught her a few B ranks. Though, those were too, easily mastered so he had to switch to physical training instead.
It was a month into their mentorship when Utakata took his student out to eat in Kirigakure. This was after much pestering and begging from the girl, as her master was extremely hesitant. He didn't want Yui to see his usual treatment from the villagers, which he would inevitably get if Yagura wasn't around. Eventually, the girl's constant pleading wore the jinchuuriki down.
Besides, Utakata thought, she was Yagura's daughter. The villagers probably wouldn't act inappropriately around the kid. He was wrong.
Sometimes he forgot that there were people in Kirigakure who didn't know what the Mizukage, let alone his kids looked like. But how they still knew what he looked like, he didn't know.
The duo were peacefully walking through the streets of Kiri, to an old diner that Yui liked going to with her family. The conversation had turned to food related topics. Yui regaling the tale of the miracle that was sugar.
Suddenly a middle aged couple with greying hair stopped in front of the two. The couple observed them with a judging look, and the woman scoffed as she looked from Yui to Utakata.
"Can we help you?" Utakata asked cautiously though a little irritated.
"Hey little girl, are you okay? Is this monster hurting you?" The man asked with a gruff voice, trying to sound concerned.
Yui gave a look of confusion as she observed the scene. The question surprised her as well.
"I'm okay, why wouldn't I be? I'm with Utakata sensei so the monster wouldn't be able to hurt anyone." The blonde replied with a confused but confidant look.
"The monster actually has a student. How did that get approved by the Mizukage." The woman questioned coldly, sneering at the jinchuuriki.
"Hey! He's not a monster! Don't talk about my sensei like that!" Yui retorted angrily, punching her small fist in the air.
"Oh really? Kid do you know what happened to his old master?" The man this time questioned rudely.
Utakata felt a little nervous now, knowing what the couple was going to say. "HIs old master died because of the monster here. You're sensei is a murderer kid." The man explained with a cruel snarl.
The azure eyed kunoichi in training paused and went silent at hearing that. She looked at Utakata's crestfallen face for confirmation and saw the guilt, letting out a small gasp when she realized it to be true.
"You should get away from him while you still can kid. Nothing good will come out of this monster teaching our next generation of ninja." The woman called out as she and her husband then left the scene.
"Well… I suppose it was fun while it lasted…" Utakata thought in his head sadly as he waited for the inevitable accusations from Yui.
"Don't worry Utakata! I'm sure it will be fine!" Saiken tried to comfort their pessimistic host.
"Thanks Saiken." The jinchuuriki thought back, though he himself didn't believe in the optimistic words.
"Utakata sensei? Did they call you a monster because of Saiken?" Yui asked quietly, having learned about the tailed beasts from her father in a positive light.
"Yeah. The people in Kiri don't have the best opinions when it's about me." The brown haired jounin explained, inside he was waiting for the topic of Harusame to come up.
"But, isn't Saiken and Isobu good?" The blonde asked confused, looking to the ground.
"Their siblings, don't have the best reputations around here." Utakata stated, looking at his student with a sad look.
"What happened to your old master Utakata sensei?" Yui finally asked, causing the jinchuuriki to sigh.
"How should I explain this to a near seven year old. A smart kid but still." Utakata wondered to himself, as he subconsciously started to blow some bubbles through his trusted pipe. "You know how sometimes people go away, for good Yui?" He started slowly, nervously.
The girl nodded as they took a seat, leaning against a stone wall. The mist surrounded them like a wall, guarding them from the outside gazes of Kiri. "Well, my old master left like that." The jinchuuriki elaborated on, making the girl's eyes widen more as she nodded again.
"I know what death is sensei." She mumbled quietly. "What did it have to do with you though?" The girl questioned as her azure eyes pierced his sullen gaze.
Utakata drew a sharp breath in, before letting more bubbles fly out through the mist.
"My master had the best intentions for me. He was looking out for me, really. But, he tried to take Saiken away." Utakata said slowly and distantly, reliving the memory in his head.
He remembered the pain and the feeling of betrayal that had burned in his chest as Saiken took control to save him. Yui brought her legs into her chest as she thought about this new information. Her young mind trying to comprehend it.
"If he cared about you then why did he want to take Saiken away?" She asked after a short silence.
"He didn't think Saiken was good. He just didn't understand." The older shinobi explained softly.
"Oh… okay…" Yui said back, drawing in another silence.
"I bet she thinks I'm a bad person now. She probably doesn't want me as her sensei anymore." Utakata glumly concluded in his head. He sighed as he then planned his next words, though Saiken tried to frantically dissuade their host. "So, do you still want me to be your sensei Yui?" The jounin asked with a defeated tone.
"Huh?" The girl went, blinking rapidly.
"After learning that I caused the death of someone. You probably don't feel comfortable around me, let alone having me continue teaching you." He continued, avoiding her gaze.
"No! I still want you to be my sensei Utakata!" Yui hurriedly gestured while shaking her head.
"Really?" Utakata said, surprised.
"Papa trusts you. And I've known you for a really long time too. I don't care about what meanies like them think." She defended passionately.
"But, I just told you that I-" The jinchuuriki tried to say before the girl cut him off.
"I don't care about that Sensei!" Yui insisted, with a fire that suggested that she was not giving this up.
Utakata blinked, blowing more bubbles briefly before letting his pipe fall. Then a warm, relieved smile blossomed on his face.
"Alight then Yui, alright." He stated gently as he and the kid got up.
Yui grabbed the young man's legs, looking up at his surprised face with a cheery grin.
"Can we get food now please? I'm hungry and Mama and Papa will want me home soon." The girl asked, with that same trusting demeanour that Utakata had always known from her.
"Yeah, come on kid." He said back still smiling, the two proceeding to continue their journey to the diner.
"Right Utakata sensei!" Yui yelled back happily.
—
More time passed, and the time for their little mentorship had to end. This disappointed both of them, but Yui wanted to start training on her own for a while before she entered the academy next year. Kirigakure had lowered the acceptance age in exchange for training for more years before graduating.
The master had taken his student out to a river for one last training session before she would officially be leaving his tutorship.
When they were done and Utakata had to walk the girl back to the Mizukage, Yui struck up another conversation.
"Thank you for teaching me all sort of things Utakata sensei." She said which brought a small smile to the man's face.
He had gotten used to the girl calling him sensei after two months. "It was a pleasure teaching you Yui." He answered softly.
"What are you going to do now though Sensei?" The girl asked after some more silence passed, she skipped along the trail with light undetectable steps.
"I'll go back to training and then back to my duties as a jounin." Utakata explained with a fond look on his face, he had enjoyed teaching the girl.
Yui looked a little sad at this answer though. "Did you want me to say something else?" The jinchuuriki asked confused at his former student.
"It's just, you're a really good teacher sensei! I'm really going to miss learning from you." Yui expressed with a slight pout.
They were getting closer to the Mizukage's house now, Yui would go off on her own. Utakata thought about his future, he did like teaching.
"I, might consider becoming a jounin sensei in the future. With my own team maybe." He mused out loud, bring a bright hopeful smile to the blonde's face.
"That would be really cool Utakata!" She stated happily. "I got to go home now! Bye Sensei!" Yui called as she ran up to her family, giving the jinchuuriki one last wave.
Utakata smiled at the parting gesture, he whistled a soft melody as he made his way back to the jinchuuriki's house. He was in deep thought and contemplation while wandering the cold, misty streets.
"What do you think Saiken? Would I make a good team leader?" He asked his tenant curiously.
"Yeah! You can do it!" Saiken enthusiastically cheered, though they were always positive and bright.
"Hmm." The jinchuuriki said out loud as he further pondered the position.
He would consider it, definitely consider it.
—
Authors Note: Once again sorry for not focusing on training this chapter. Next chapter is going to have fighting in it though. Hope you enjoyed and please review!