Sealing Salientia - Chapter 37: Residence - Author: PenSmoke

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor make any profit from writing this.

Previously on Sealing Salientia: As he drifted off to sleep, the last thing Naruto heard was the cry from inside his own body. "What?!"

Konoha
Wednesday, October 14th, Year 71

Down the streets of Konoha, meandering through the twists and turns of the clans residential district, Iruka Umino wandered. It was a pleasant day so far, sun shining brightly in the cerulean sky, a few lazy clouds drifting through the atmosphere. The warm light fell upon his cheeks as he smiled at another passerby.

He was on his way to hopefully receive a private lesson from Tsunade at her clan compound, as part of his new regimen of training. After having passed the Chunin Exams, the team that he was accustomed to working with was going to be split up. Itachi was being sent to the Capital to serve in the Twelve Guardians, and Kabuto had been appointed to work under the Snake Sannin, Orochimaru. Both of those were anticipated. His own recommendation had been completely unexpected.

He thought back to the meeting that had taken place earlier today, where the Fifth Hokage had told him that the ANBU Commander had personally requested him to join the ANBU for his medical techniques and knowledge to boost the corps. He had been hoping to be assigned to the hospital, but this was perhaps even better.

He had then spent several hours sorting out a new lease on a ninja apartment, which was another hassle, as apparently an entire complex had been blown apart by a domestic disturbance earlier in the day. This had caused the process of finding a new place much more difficult, and Iruka had ended up taking far more time than he had initially wanted to take.

He had tried to meet with Tsunade multiple times throughout the day, but word on the street was that her and the other Sannin, Jiraiya had been fighting, and she seemed to be mysteriously unavailable by the time he had reached the hospital. Shizune had been his savior at the moment, and told him to find the slug princess outside the gates of the Senju compound after work for the best chance. She had been very explicit to mention staying outside the gates, and he had paid attention.

Finally hoping to receive a batch of good luck, he trotted down the dirt paths in the direction of the clan district, keeping his eyes out for the bushes that were supposed to surround the compound. Upon catching sight of the correct spot, he promptly made his way to the gate.

From a distance, as he strode briskly towards the main gate, he noticed a younger boy with white hair turn into the entrance and walk inside. While the boy appeared ever so slightly familiar, Iruka wasn't able to place the child immediately. He tried dashing up to the gate quickly, hoping to catch the boy and perhaps gain entrance himself, but by the time that he reached the pillars denoting the Senju clan, the snow-headed child had vanished.

Iruka sighed, and began waiting. Within his group he was known to easily be the most patient, able to sit and stalk prey for hours and hours. While the end-goal was typically to dissect his catch, the process was similar when waiting for superiors or other targets. He sat down with his back to a pillar and began a thought exercise, spying any nearby wildlife and determining the correct angle and power with which to throw a kunai to cut it down perfectly.

He had mentally killed 15 birds, 3 squirrels, a stray cat and about five thousand ants before anything disturbed his attention. A tall, buxom lady was walking with an even taller white-haired man. Being a student of Konoha, he instantly recognized the two Sannin, Tsunade and Jiraiya. He rose to his feet, causing their attention to shift briefly away from each other to him. He felt the gazes of the two powerful ninja resting upon him, and there was a small drop in the pit of his stomach, as if he had just intruded upon a private moment. He quickly saluted his superiors, and waited until they acknowledged his presence in a more formal manner.

A soft, lilting voice caressed his ears. "And how may I help you?" Tsunade spoke in a calm manner, though the undercurrent cut through, indicating that she did not want to be wasting her time on anything unimportant.

"Hello, Lady Tsunade. I have a scroll about ANBU training regimens that I was instructed to provide to you." He reached into his pouch to procure the scroll that Lord Hokage had provided him earlier in the day. It still bore the seal of the Hokage's office, which Tsunade quickly inspected and then flicked off. Silence carried the moment as hazel eyes consumed the words written within. A spark of indignation, a flash of curiosity and then a broad smile followed suit.

A low mumbling followed as she rolled up the parchment in a quick movement. "So, this is the opportunity he was talking about? I see." Tsunade replied in a more formal tone than she had previously used. "You must be Iruka then?"

He nodded his head quickly.

"Well, from what I just read, you have quite some talent. Congratulations on passing the Chunin Exams. I heard that there was a Konoha team that had crushed the competition, quite literally in some cases."

Iruka beamed from the unexpected praise. He hadn't really thought that his passing of the Exams would have netted such a reaction from legendary ninja. In fact, Itachi, Kabuto and himself had joked about just how easy it all was during the process. It felt like they were beating up on little kids at times. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade." He paused for a moment, not sure if this was the best time to ask, but then decided to forge on ahead anyway.

"I had hoped that I could receive some advanced medical training from you directly for my next assignment." The thought that a new division of ANBU was going to be created and he would be playing a prominent role in it had already started to weigh heavily on his mind earlier in the day, and he was quite eager to get as much training as he could to hopefully rise to the challenge.

"I see. Is there anything in particular that you feel you need training on?" Tsunade responded to his statement in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Uh…" He hadn't really anticipated this question, if he was honest with himself. "I was hoping you could tell me?"

The laugh he heard wasn't exceptionally mean, but it did dig in a bit, cutting through the recent burst of pride to deflate his ego. "You don't know, do you?" Iruka shook his head, somewhat bewildered.

The voice of the slug princess ceased, and the toad summoner spoke up, "That's quite alright. Often, if a student comes in demanding that they learn about one thing, they totally ignore anything that doesn't relate to that one topic, and they miss out on so many other possibilities. One must open their mind to new information. There is always so much out there to learn."

Tsunade's voice returned, "Talking like that, you sound like Orochimaru."

Jiraiya's face made an expression like he had just eaten a mouthful of umeboshi plums. Then, flailing wildly, and in an over-dramatic fashion, he acted out as if he had been stabbed. "Your words wound me deep, oh beautiful lady!"

Tsunade just looked at him deadpan for a moment, until the white-haired man flopped to the ground, at which point she cracked a small smile. "Get up you goofball, you're getting dirt on me."

Jiraiya peeked one eye open, having closed them to feign death. After a moment he sprang back to his feet, brushing himself clean of dust from the streets.

When their attention returned to him, Iruka found himself thinking that these high-level ninjas were a little eccentric. He reasoned that most high-tier ninja probably had odd coping mechanisms, as this wasn't his first case of seeing such odd behavior. His attention focused as Tsunade started speaking again.

"Well, as the lovable idiot was saying." Jiraiya shot her a mini glare crossed with a smirk. "Sometimes it is a good thing not to know what you need to learn. Come with us, we were just heading to my house. We can discuss a preliminary training schedule for your new assignment." Tsunade motioned towards the gate that opened in the wall a few feet behind him.

Iruka quickly fell in line behind his superiors as they walked down the path. His attention wavered from them for a moment though, as he looked around at the flowers and vines and trees that surrounded him. It was a very relaxing environment, and it seemed to immediately have a calming effect on him. He felt the stress and tension from the crazy day he had been having suddenly start to drain from his body. His consciousness clouded slightly and he fell behind a few steps, just gazing at a particularly beautiful flower. The crimson petals mixed with a bright orange stamen and small specks of yellow pollen mesmerized him and he reached out a hand to see how it felt.

Within a split second, he was yanked out of his reverie by a forceful hand grasping his own arm, and reality crashed back into him with the sudden pull from the offending appendage. Tsunade was looking at him in the eyes, saying only "Don't wander."

Iruka shook his head, and realized that he must have fallen for a genjutsu, and as such quickly scanned the area as best as he was able to. Apparently Jiraiya noticed his actions and correctly guessed what he was doing, as the white-haired man spoke up a moment later. "It's not a genjutsu, Iruka. It's the flowers themselves."

At his confused expression, Jiraiya nudged Tsunade, who responded with a quick nod of approval before walking further into the compound. Jiraiya and Iruka followed suit while the older man spoke. "You are aware of the Shodaime and his ability, correct?" Iruka nodded briskly, all students were taught of the skills of Hashirama Senju and the wood bearing abilities he possessed. "These plants were all placed here by the Shodaime on purpose. The flowers all emit a scent that is alluring to humans, and the thorns on the stems have a paralytic toxin on them. They are a natural barrier that allows an extra level of safety in this world of ninja. Since it isn't a jutsu or chakra technique of any kind, it is even effective against most ninja, as I'm sure you just noticed."

Iruka nodded along, understanding flooding in. A clan compound in these days would just be an easy target if unprotected. But, a ninja who tried to sneak in through these bushes would be paralyzed through contact with any of them. And, judging by how deep the field was, it would take a very high-level ninja to attempt to jump it in one leap. Perhaps not a perfect barrier, but definitely effective.

Jiraiya turned away after his brief explanation, resuming his conversation with Tsunade as they trotted down the path at a brisk pace. Iruka walked directly behind them, looking around, but making sure to stay directly behind, as to not wander off again. The variety of flowers that the Shodaime had created was astounding. Red roses stood out from a brilliant green leaved bush. A bright purple iris stood atop a long slender stalk, petals opened up to the world. Yellow marigolds covered spots in between other bushes crowding for sunlight space.

A flash of white caught his attention. That didn't look like a flower that he knew of. It looked a bit more like hair. He paused in stride for just a moment, hesitatingly wondering if he should venture off the path again. Staring at it a bit more, he heard the footsteps in front of him stop, and an annoyed female voice tensely state, "I said don't wander!"

But the voice cut off after seeing him still on the path, and he felt their gaze shift from him to the direction that he was staring at.

A moment later, the bushes were obscured by gray smoke, out of which a magenta-shaded toad foot stomped down to flatten out the bushes. A flash of red and gray flickered in and out of the area, a voice called out "Thanks Gamaken!", and Jiraiya was now carrying a slightly familiar form.

While Iruka didn't immediately recognize it, the white blob that he had spotted was indeed hair. A small boy, perhaps 6 years old, now lay limp in Jiraiya's arms. Tsunade hopped into action immediately, taking vital signs. "He's breathing. Seems fine."

While there were some signs of panic on the older man's face, they disappeared once he heard this statement. The anxious look was replaced by a combination of relief and annoyance. "By Log, he has to get into trouble everywhere doesn't he?"

AN: Yay, back to writing! Between wedding, honeymoon, getting kids in school and then dealing with an outbreak of coronavirus in our household, everything has settled back down to normal. Found time to write a little bit each day this week, and things are looking good to progress back to normal writing levels. Still a short chapter, but they should be growing longer over the next months. I still have a long way to go in this story.