Ch.2 school life and friends.
"My name is Suzuri Uzumaki, I like my oka-san's omurice, practicing my calligraphy, and playing ninja!" It had been a week since his otou-san left with the messenger, and while he and his oka-san were worried, time marched on. He now stood in front of a class of children his age.
'Not as many red heads as I thought there would be' looking over the classroom there were 19 other students, and while some had the same red hair as Suzuri many others had blond and white hair.
"Very good, you may return to your seat, next we have…" as Suzuri returned to his seat he couldn't help but think about what he overheard that morning, before he left for the academy.
Start Flashback
A woman who he recognized as his mothers friend Tomoko was sitting across from his mother sipping tea.
"From what I've been told, the last two shipments of explosive seals were attacked by anbu from kumo. If it wasn't for the new early warning seals everyone would have died." The happy face she normally wore was gone, replaced with worry.
"Ashina-sama has gone to Konaha to ask for the hokage's help with keeping the sea lanes traversable." Tokomo continued half heartedly.
"It's a shame that Tobirama-sama was assassinated. I pray that the new hokage, Sarutobi I believe his name is, will honor our alliance." Sumi said with a sigh, worry written clearly on her face.
End flashback
'If the other nations are already harassing the shipping lanes, then chances are that Konoha might not help.' Suzuri let his mind wonder as his classmates introduced themselves.
'Tokomo-san mentioned that Saritobi was the new hokage, that means Danzo is now an advisor. If what I remember is correct then chances are he will try and dissuade the hokage from sending much aid.' As the introductions finished the teacher, Kashikoi, handed out a pamphlet that outlined what they needed for class for the next few weeks. After that the day passed quickly until lunch came around.
Suzuri sat off to the side of the school yard to eat the bento his oka-san packed for him, in it were three sticks of yakitori on a bed of white rice, with a side of carrot and apple slices. Finally wrapped in paper were some Konpeitou.
"ItadakiMasu!" Suzuri wasted no time devouring his lunch. He had long known that his mother's cooking was amazing, and the konpeitou were perfect for his sweet tooth. Finished eating, he started stretching. It might be a different world, and he may have a new body, but sitting down for long still made his joints stiff.
"Suzuri, right? Me and some of the others want to play ninja, but we need another person to keep the teams even." A white haired boy with yellow eyes said, walking up to him with a smile on his face.
"Sure, sounds fun!" Suzuri said, putting away his now empty bento box. This was the first day of school, international politics aren't his problem yet. He was six years old, his focus should be on making friends, and having fun…oh and learning how to be a ninja!
The white haired boy, Akoma Otsuka, led Suzumi to a group of four other boys, who were standing by a tree in the schoolyard.
'Ninja' is a simple game, played with two teams made up of at least two per team. One team hides while the other team searches, it's up to the hiding team to work together and stay hidden until the round is over, if one of the hiding is found then they have to try and 'escape' with help of their teammates, if the searchers tag you, you're out. When all the hiders are found the round is over.It's to help teach children teamwork and stealth. It was not a lie, when Suzuri told his class he enjoyed playing 'Ninja'. It's essentially a combination of hide and go seek with tag!
His team consisted of a blond haired boy named Koukai Namikaze who had on a blue haori over a white shirt with black shorts and open toed sandals, and a white haired girl named Murari Otsuka who wore a purple long sleeved turtleneck and a pair of blue shorts with the same open toed sandals. They were to be the searching team, while they waited for the other team to hide, Koukai started to question his teammates.
"What are your favorite colors? Do you have any hobbies? I like to read, do you?" The boy was talking a mile a minute and would have kept going if Murai didn't stop him, by flicking his forehead.
"Jeez, one question at a time! We can't answer otherwise. Anyways to answer your first question my favorite color is purple. " She huffed at the energetic blond.
"And my favorite color is green," Suzuri quipped, happy to get asked such a mundane question.
"Ah, good. My favorite color is blue. Sorry if I was talking too fast, I'm just really excited! Anyway, do you have any hobbies?" The young chatterbox apologized and asked all in one breath.
"Well, I enjoy calligraphy, as I told the class earlier. I also enjoy fishing at the docks." Suzuri responded with a smile, remembering the fishing pole his mother gave him for his fifth birthday.
"hmmm, well I like to help my oka-san cook. Hey um, I don't mind you asking but…well, why are you asking?" Murai asked curiosity outweighing the slight annoyance of her teammates' quick talking.
"My otou-san told me that if I want to work well on a team I should do my best to know my teammates." Koukai responded, smiling as bright as a little sun.
"That makes sense, nobody likes working with strangers after all." As Suzuri said this, anbu from all over had the collective urge to sneeze.
'In truth, it's not bad advice. Change the questions to what our specialties are, what equipment we carry, what set up we need to pull off our jutsu, and you have a good new squad introduction' Suzuri thought to himself, making a mental note to remember those questions for later. After a short while they began to search for the other team, however with so few places to hide the game of 'Ninja' quickly developed into a simple game of tag. They played together for the rest of their break.
Returning to the classroom, they were told to get changed into their workout clothes, and come to the training ground at the back of the school.
Once they had all gathered at the training grounds they were put through physical tests such as running laps around the training ground, push ups, sit ups, and long jumps. Then they were asked to show how fast they could form hand seals with proper form. By the time class ended for the day, most of the children were panting. Uzumaki endurance or not, the teachers pushed their students to find just what the were working with.
When the school day was over many parents had gathered at the front gate to walk their children home. Among them was Sumi, wearing her woodworking apron over a dull green dress with her long red hair tied up in a bun. Eagerly awaiting to hear all about her firstborn son's first day at school. While he usually acted very mature for his age, she couldn't help but chuckle when she remembered how excited he was to start the academy.
'That kid of mine, I hope he's not disappointed by how boring the academy is. Oh who am I kidding knowing Suzuri he probably spent the class time daydreaming! Not that his teachers would be able to tell, i swear he has his fathers brain, and my straight face.' Sumi chuckled to herself as Suzuri ran over to her with his pack on his back, followed by two other kids.
"Oookaaa-saaan! I had so much fun today" Suzuri called out to Sumi with a smile on his face.
"I'm happy for you Suzuri-chan, who are your friends?" Sumi chuckled happily with her son, giving a curious glance to the two children following him who were clearly of the Namikaze and Otsuka clans. Their hair collors were just to distinct to be anything else.
"Ah these are my friends, Koukoi-kun and Murari-chan! We played 'Ninja' at lunch, then worked together all through the training time!" Suzuri was happy to show off his friends to oka-san, after six years he rarely had many friends his age. Yet in one day he made two friends at once!
"Ah, I see! It is nice to meet you Koukoi-chan, Murari-chan, thank you for playing with my Suzuri-chan." Sumi gave a happy smile to the two children, proud to see her son making friends so quickly.
"Oh it was no bother! Suzuri-kun is really fast so it was fun to play with him!"The Otsuka girl said with a wide smile before running to a tall man with white hair who was likely her otou-san.
"Yeah, I can't wait to play with you again tomorrow Suzuri-kun, bye!" The Namikaze boy quiped while running to a group of older kids who all had matching blond hair.
With a final wave to his classmates Sumi and Suzuri made their way home for the night.
XxX
The next two weeks followed the same pattern of waking up, going to school, pay just enough attention during class time to follow along, play with his friends at lunch, then train for the second half of the day. With the knowledge he had from his past life, the basic math that the class was teaching was to simple. Meanwhile the reading and writing tests were no harder, thanks to his otou-san's tutoring and calligraphy lessons. The only subject that kept his attention was history.
He learned that the warring clans era lasted for over a century, and was brought to an end when the various clans followed the example of the Senju and Uchiha and formed villages of their own.
Many clans formed alliances with each other and selected leaders to speak to the daimyo's of the various lands, who agreed to give them land to form large scale villages to reside in. With the exception of some wandering clans who didn't want to be chained to a single employer, all the once warring clans now serve a daimio of the elemental nations, not as separate familial mercenary groups, but as proper military organizations.
Furthermore he finally found the reason that nearly all the other lands were willing to destroy Uzushio without fear of reprisal. Uzushiogakure does not serve a proper daimio instead it is under the control and command of the Uzumaki clan. Who's clan head holds a recognized nobel rank due to their wealth and military history.
XxX
Well that's chapter 2. I'm almost done with the base world building. I don't want to rush the story but I've admittedly never been a fun of dragging out the child arc in these kinds of stories. That said I hope you enjoy the new characters, I'm basing the children's personalities off of younger cousins and neighbors kids.
With that said if you see a grammatical error please point it out in the comments, I'll do my best to fix them.
Until next time, stay safe!
Emerald Bandit