During the next few months I continue to play with the demon wolves and practice my chakra control. From what I understand so far the better control I have of my chakra the easier it is to use a smaller amount to do any jutsus and could even reduce the amount of hand signs even faster than just using a lot of practice. I also came to understand that my chakra release would be even more effective the better my chakra control was. Basically turning what was essentially a hammer into a sword, much more precise. So I decided to focus on my control and ignore my release for now.
I found out that demon wolves absorbed chakra along with their normal food in order to survive. The reason why they were so aggressive to others is because they barely produced enough inside of themselves to survive and couldn't absorb nature chakra due to the need to balance the two chakras. They needed to attack others in order to get the chakra needed to survive.
It was thus no surprise that all three of them loved me for giving them my chakra. It took a bit to give them chakra the first day since they were all basically starved, but they actually don't need very much, just enough to stay topped off. With how thick my chakra was I didn't have any problem feeding them, I could have easily fed a ton more even as a baby much less when I got older.
I listened in to talks by Tsume to Hana and the other ninjas in the compound. Perks of being a baby is that nobody cares if you listen to them since they think you don't understand them and are willing to say secrets.
I found out that Asuma was still gone and that Naruto was placed in an orphanage. There was a little argument among the leaders of the village about leaving the nine tails inside of a baby that couldn't defend itself, but the third who had become hokage again after Minato's death declared that the upper level ninjas and anbu would be kept around to keep an eye on Naruto and then he declared that it was now a law that nobody was allowed to talk about the current whereabouts of the ninetails. It also didn't help that a majority of the village hated and feared the nine tails.
Kakashi had joined Anbu ROOT to spy on Danzo who had been taking in a number of children and ninja. Not really all that surprising seeing as with a disaster like this the disappearance of orphans wouldn't really be a huge concern. I bet between Danzo and Orochimaru at least half of the orphans in the village are gone, but nothing I can do about it now.
I spent my days just practicing my control and increasing my bond with the demon wolves and the rest of the Inuzuka clan. Kiba was still just a baby so I didn't bother playing with him much, occasionally I would play with him a little, but it was always something like how an adult would play with a baby.
My control had finally reached the point by my first birthday that I could now walk on walls. I scared the crap out of Tsume when she found me watching her from the roof of her office without making a noise. I only got caught because her dog told her he could smell me in the room. It was funny watching her search the room for me in a panic when she couldn't find me before looking up at me with a look of shock. Of course she was even more shocked when I laughed and jumped down at her. She caught me and snorted before telling me that I was a 100 years too young to get a surprise attack on her. I just laughed and went out to practice some more.
This was a rather difficult time for people since Orochimaru's experimenting had been found out. He ran from the village after Hiruzen let him go. Apparently even though Orochimaru had been experimenting on children the third couldn't bring himself to kill his own student. Probably the same reason he wasn't able to just kill Danzo. Much too soft hearted in my opinion, but hey sometimes you need those sorts in order to be a contrast to the ones who are to callous. Though it wasn't all bad since a peace treaty did get signed to end the war.
Tsunade finally sent a letter to the hokage the week before I turned three. Apparently Asuma had finally found her and she was going to be coming back to the village for a little while. Tsume and the others were freaking out about that since I hadn't said a single word the entire time I was there despite Kiba having learned to talk since a while ago. I was checked by Asari and she found nothing wrong with me.
Tsume decided to try and coax me to speak with offers of gifts which didn't interest me in the least. I mean really, a stuffed animal or a ball. I might be a child, but that is borderline insulting.
Since the gifts didn't work she decided to go with punishment instead. She was quite angry when the first word I ever said was "hag." I received a spanking for that one and I haven't said a word since. Hana protected me from Tsume when she was about ready to strangle me in frustration. I of course decided to have fun by turning and hugging Hana and saying. "Pretty big sister the hag is scary." I said it in front of everyone including the demon wolves, who then fell over in laughter.
They both froze up along with the other ninjas and their dogs before Tsume got all red faced in anger and Hana got red faced with a blush. The rest of the ninja and the dogs including Tsume's own dog burst into laughter.
Tsume yelled out before lunging at me while I hid behind Hana and Tsume chased me.
"Mom stop chasing him." Hana said before patting her on the head and picking me up with a smile.
"Damn kid dared to call me a hag." Tsume said bitterly.
"Well you wanted him to talk, now he talks and you can't exactly be angry that what he says isn't something you like seeing as you threatened him into it."
"Fine, I can't wait to see how Tsunade reacts when she hears the brat." Tsume said with a grin.
"I wonder." One of the ninjas said to her after walking up to us.
"What?" Tsume and Hana ask.
"Well he hasn't talked all this time even after Kiba and other kids his age have been talking for a while now, and he has always shown that he is obviously smarter than the other kids. So I was wondering if he had somehow not spoken on purpose just for this joke."
Everyone looked at me as I made the most innocent face I could.
"No way." Tsume and Hana said together.
"Not speaking just to play a joke on us is a bit much at his age isn't it?" Hana said while looking at Tsume.
Tsume just looked at me as I began to get a bit nervous before she grinned widely and grabbed me by the cheeks and stretched them.
"You think I haven't realized when you're trying to act all innocent from your pranks you little brat. To think that you had planned this whole thing out just to poke fun at me."
I got free and started dodging Tsume as fast as I could while yelling out "pretty sister save me."
Everyone gave each other looks before bursting into laughter.
That was a good day even if it did end up with me being a little bruised, though those healed in a matter of minutes.
After two weeks had passed I was told that we were going to the hokage's office where he would normally hand out assignments to the ninja. It was time to meet with Tsunade.
When I got there with Tsume we entered a reception area with a desk to the side. Tsume left me on a chair on the other side of the room to wait while she went to talk to the receptionist.
As I was sitting there a tall blond woman with big boobs and a mark on her forehead sat down next to me. It was obviously Tsunade, but I decided to pretend I didn't know who it was to mess with her a bit.
"So kid, you look a bit young to be taking missions, you here with your parent or something." She asked me while looking at Tsume and the receptionist who were pretending to not notice her talking to me.
"Nah, I'm here to meet with my relative, her name is Tsunade, have you heard of her."
"Not really no, but from what I have heard she is an amazing mednin and is quite beautiful." She said with a self satisfied smirk.
"Yeah, I heard that too." I sighed out. "I also heard that she is a terrible drunk who is violent and a gambler. She apparently had a bunch of men who wanted to marry her, but when she beat a couple of them half to death while she was drunk and showed off her debts all of them ran as fast as they could or went and started relationships on the spur of the moment in terror at the thought of being with her. Everyone figured that as the last of her bloodline that it would die out with her being unable to get married." I said with an innocent smile at her as she looked at me with a look like she had been hit with every word I said. "I hope that she is nicer to me then to the other guys since I don't think it would be good if she beats up children." I said as she fell to her knees with her hands on the floor as if she had just been one shotted in the gut.
Tsume burst out laughing while the receptionist lady was on her knees from holding in her laughter.
Tsume came over after she finished laughing. "Hey brat, that there is Tsunade who you are about to knock out with your shenanigans. You should apologize to her, even if you are being accurate." She said with a grin.
"Really Tsume, you too?" Tsunade whined while holding onto Tsume's pants.
"You ruined my fun aunty Tsume." I pouted.
"You knew who I was?" Tsunade asked in shock.
"I asked one of the guys at the compound about you. I figured it was best to know about my relative before we met." I nodded with a smile.
"Then why would you be so mean to me and act like you didn't know me." Tsunade asked with a little anger in her tone.
"It's not like I waited for three whole years for my only living relative to show up while they were going around and having the time of their life gambling and drinking away all of the families money causing us to instead be littered with bills from debt collectors. It's not like I'm going to have to slave away the rest of my life to try and earn enough money so that any children I might have don't end up saddled with the debts of the previous generation. It's not like my only remaining family member never even got me a birthday present in my entire life even though my birthday was less than a week ago. It's not like I would be mad about any of that at all." I said with a smile as Tsunade looked on with mounting horror with every passing sentence.
Tsunade just crawled to a corner and started drawing circles while I sat there with a smug smile before Tsume smacked the back of my head.
"I thought I told you to apologize not make her feel even worse." Tsume growled at me.
"Hey that hurt." I whined. "It's not like I lied or anything."
"You might not have lied, but it isn't nice to be mean to your only living relative when you haven't even known each other for less then an hour. Also don't even try to pretend that me smacking you in the head hurt. I saw how the twins tossed you through the fence and you jumping right back in to rough house with them."
"You what?" Tsunade asked in shock upon hearing what Tsume said. "Whoever is tossing a three year old child through a fence is going to get a beating like they would never forget." Tsunade said with a fire in her eyes.
"We have a lot to talk about Tsunade." Tsume said with a wry grin.
"You can enter now." A woman says as she comes out of the hokage's office.
"Listen to this Shizune." Tsunade starts before being interrupted as Shizune tells her she'll listen to her later and rushing her inside as Tsunade starts grumbling complaints. Shizune had been standing there for a little while and just watching everything play out.
"So it looks like you two have already met." Hiruzen says with a smirk after seeing Tsunade pouting as I walk in and sit next to his desk on a chair he had set up for me.
The last time I had seen him was a week ago on my birthday since they finally knew I could talk. He knew I was smart and decided that I could come up with my own name instead of the random names I had been called. The nicer ones had been calling me little prince while the ones I had pranked had called me demon prince. Only Tsume ever called me brat. I called her hag though so it equaled out. She was mad about it until I told her that she was my hag while giving her a hug which made her equal parts mad and warm.
I had called him gramps and told him he should get a chair for me since standing all stiff like wasn't very friendly. He had laughed and told me he would get me one later. He had apparently followed through on getting the chair.
"Hi gramps, we met out in there and talked for a bit." I told him with a smile.
"Can't you call him with something more respectful brat?" Tsume scolded me.
"I will stop calling him gramps when he stops having gramps candy on his desk." I told her while eating one of the hard candies that he had on his desk in a bowl.
"It is fine Tsume, it is quite nice and endearing to see that he feels comfortable enough with me to call me gramps. Though you will need to be respectful in official situations Alex." Hiruzen told me with a smile.
"Wow, you really are quite soft on him aren't you." Tsunade said with a look of surprise on her face.
"Well he is quite straightforward in his affections and doesn't go off for years at a time without any contact whatsoever other than to send debt collectors swarming around my office trying to bill me with debts from a certain student of mine who had the gall to tell them that if they couldn't contact you they should instead come to my office." Hiruzen said while steepling his fingers with a smile that looked like an asura grin.
"Hahaha." Tsunade nervously laughed before having her head pushed down in a bow by Shizune.
"We are terribly sorry for all the trouble Third Hokage sama. I will make sure to try and stop anymore of such situations in the future." Shizune said while also bowing. Surprisingly there was also a pig next to them who also bowed down. If I remember right the pig is called Tonton.
"So now that we got all that out of the way I think it's about time to discuss where the brat here is going to go." Tsume said as she ruffled my hair. I was mostly focused on the candy.
"Well from a legal standpoint Tsunade as the only living relative of his would be the one to be his guardian, however he has been living at the Inuzuka compound for three years now. So I guess it would be up to him."
"Wait, you're going to let the kid decide." Tsunade exclaimed in shock.
"Tsunade, I would advise you to not underestimate Alex's mind too much, he has shown to be extremely intelligent and occasionally shows wisdom that even I was surprised to hear." Hiruzen lightly scolded her.
"The brat has proven to be more cunning than some of the genin at my place and has been teaching some of them tricks such as simple traps or some ways to use math to get an upper hand in situations. Worse was the times he made me an example of how to use psychology and traps to make me rush into a trap in front of an entire group of genin and their ninken. I spent a month having to check for traps before even walking around the house." Tsume shuddered from the memory.
I just smiled innocently as I continued tonguing my candy.
"I see, well I still am not sure it is wise to let a three year old child decide on where he should live." Shizune said while looking at me.
"I wouldn't mind living with Tsunade if she was capable of handling my needs." I said after swallowing the last bit of the candy before anyone could continue arguing. "It isn't a good idea to live away from family if you have one, however if said family can't take care of me and help me grow up properly then it might be best not to live with her."
"What do you mean?" Tsunade suddenly said angrily. "Of course you will come live with me, being with family is extremely important regardless of situation."
"I think he means that he would like to be with you Tsunade san." Shizune said quietly. "However if you can't take care of his needs properly he would rather stay where he can get his needs met."
I think I like Shizune quite a bit, she is understanding my meaning pretty darn well, even the unsaid parts. I nodded to show that she had said what I was meaning.
"Well that shouldn't be to difficult to get a three year old needs met, What's the problem?" Tsunade asked with a snort causing both Hiruzen and Tsume to face palm while Shizune just looked at her like an idiot. Even Tonton looked at her like it was wondering if Tsunade had lost her mind.
"You need a house and enough money to take care of the food and utilities as well as providing clothing bedding and other essentials for raising a child. Not to mention that a child as young as three years old is an absolute handful to handle in the best situations. Alex is a genius unlike anything I've ever seen and is equally as troublesome." Hiruzen sighed out as he started explaining to Tsunade how naive she was being.
"You have a ridiculous amount of debt to pay off and while the Senju estate has remained closed off and untouched it is however also a place that nobody has been able to enter since the formation only allows those of his blood as well as those accompanied by his blood relatives to live there. Nobody knows if there is any danger within the estate." Hiruzen continued.
"You will also need to keep in mind that since Alex is a Senju there might be people who attempt to either kidnap him or get close to him in an attempt to get something from him. If you do become his guardian it will come with a lot of responsibility and you would need to actually parent him properly." Hiruzen finished speaking while giving Tsunade a sharp look that was causing her to squirm.
"Not to mention the brats partners which will be even more of a handful." Tsume said with a sigh causing everyone to look at her as I focused on eating a second piece of candy.
"What do you mean partners Tsume? You never told me about any partners." Hiruzen asked.
"Well honestly I didn't think it was possible myself. I mean it has never happened before and was honestly considered as impossible." Tsume grumbled out.
"It can't be that bad can it?" Shizune said worriedly.
"The brat here somehow managed to become partners with two twin demon wolves." Tsume all but growled out causing them to all suck in a breath of air.
"Aren't demon wolves an A to S+ rank extermination mission monster. How in the world did he become partners to things like that." Tsunade yelled out in shock.
"We had a mother demon wolf and her pups that had been attacked and chased out of their territory staying with us at our compound. We were using her as a deterrent from other animals or monsters coming into our compound and attacking our pups while she used us for a safe place to live and free food."
"This kid here somehow managed to sneak into their pen and made friends with them the first day he was at our compound and has only gotten closer to them since. The mother demon wolf basically considers him the same as one of her pups while the twins see him as their weird brother or something. While the mother demon wolf has since let them all leave the den to go do their own things the twins and the brat here do everything together."
"I think Kuromaru and Herashi have hit it off really well and might be thinking about puppies soon." I added in causing Kuromaru to whine in embarrassment as Tsume shot him a look.
"Well that's interesting." Tsume smiled in a teasing manner at Kuromaru.
"She doesn't speak very often, but she is quiet the woman." Kuromaru said with a slight nod as he tried to act dignified. His tail gave him away though since his partner was apparently okay with him being with Herashi.
"We're getting off track here." Tsunade suddenly exclaimed. "I still don't think family should be separated. If I need to get a job or take on some missions I will, but I will not let Alex be alone no matter what. Especially since I know that he exists now I will raise him with my all." Tsunade said while raising her fist with a fire in her eyes.
"Very well then." Hiruzen clapped. "Then I believe that I will leave Alex in your care Tsunade, but keep in mind that Asari and I will be checking on him and making sure that you are raising him properly. If either of us hear that you aren't doing it properly we'll be removing him from your care. Hiruzen said seriously. Is that fine with you Alex?" He said turning to me as I swallowed another piece of candy.
"Sure, though I will need to talk to Herashi and the twins and say our goodbyes to the rest of the compound." I nodded before jumping off the chair.
"Very well, I will see you again soon Alex, also happy birthday." Hiruzen said with a fond smile and a nod.
"Well let's go brat." Tsume said with a smile. "It'll be sad to see you go, but at least you'll be Tsunade's problem now."
"I'll miss you too hag, but don't worry. I'll come by every once in a while and lay a trap just for you." I said as I ran ahead with a grin.
"Don't you dare you fricken brat." Tsume yelled after me as she chased after me.
"Well it is nice to see those two get along so well, I think." Shizune said with her head tilted in confusion.
"Come on Shizune we need to hurry or we won't be able to catch up to them." Tsunade yelled back at her as she ran after us towards the Inuzuka compound.
Once we got back to the compound I let out a sharp whistle and saw as two large shadows busted through a paper door that had obviously been repaired a number of times before getting tackled to the ground and covered in wolf slobber as the twins began to lick me as if they hadn't seen me in days.
"I swear those two are doing it on purpose now." Tsume sighed. "The door was wide open why in the world did they have to go through the closed part."
Tsunade ran up next to her and stared in shock as the two demon wolves showered me in affection. "Wow, you weren't kidding. Those are demon wolves for sure." She said to Tsume.
"Yeah, but don't worry, they are super affectionate and protective of Alex." Tsume said as she turned to Tsunade.
"Hey you two get off of me." I said as I pushed them off of me. "Come on and meet Tsunade. We're going to be living with her and Shizune there at a new house." I told the two.
They nodded at me and walked over to Tsunade and sniffed her and Shizune to get their scent. Once they reached Tonton though the poor pig almost pooped itself in fear as the two wolves sniffed at it before turning back to me and asked. "Snack?"
"No that is Tsunade's partner you two. It's name is Tonton and is her partner like you two are mine, or like how Kuromaru is Tsume's partner."
"Tsunade this is Tsun and Dere. Tsun is the one with the white fur on the chest and her forehead while Dere is the one with the one with a grey zigzag on his back."
"How odd to have a snack as a partner." Dere said as he licked his fangs.
"Don't scare the little thing now brother." Tsun said as she turned to the pig. "Don't worry Tonton we won't eat you since it would be wrong to eat the partner of our alpha's relative."
Tonton seemed to relax a bit until Dere said. "At least until you die or become feeble that is."
I swear that since that day the pig made a decision that changed the future of the shinobi world. Might Guy and Rock Lee would occasionally tell people about how when going around the village on their workouts they would see a little pig doing training that would put them to shame, almost as if the pigs very survival was on the line. They would tell of how the almighty youthful pig would inspire the two to work even harder on their training. Others would mention how a pig shaped shadow would occasionally be seen knocking over purse snatchers faster than they could blink and how a few years later there would come to be a field of pigs that somehow could fight off genin level ninja on their own. That is a different story though so back to the real one.
I went around the compound and said my goodbyes to everyone, which was fine for the ones who liked me as they were happy for me, while the ones who didn't were happy to see me leave. Of course I then pretended to have second thoughts about it since I wanted to make sure we mended our relationships. They gave me whatever I wanted in order to make me leave as soon as possible. I got 15 kunai, a sword, 7 soldier pills, a sash, a pouch, and 10 senbon needles. Tsume was speechless to say the least.
Herashi was fine to see us go and simply nuzzled all three of us kids before telling us to be safe on our journeys and to make sure to come visit her regularly so she can see how we become fine adults.
Kiba said he was glad to see us go, but he started crying and gave me a hug while I was in the middle of packing. He wouldn't quit crying until I told him that big ninjas don't cry and promised him that I would definitely see him again.
After all that was done Tsume led all of us outside the compound and gave me a hug. "You know you can always come back here whenever you want Alex. This will always be your home."
I would like to say that having lived for more years then 99 percent of the world would make me less emotional, but I cried at that and promised to come visit a lot later on. Tsume also was crying a bit and even Tsunade and Shizune cried a bit. Surprisingly even Tonton let out some slight sounds of sniffling. I didn't know pigs could do that, but hey, ninja world mechanics.
Tsunade promised to bring me by when we had settled in properly and Tsume and her shared a handshake and made plans to have some drinks some time soon to share stories.
Tsun and Dere let out howls as we were about ready to head off and we heard the entire compound also let out howls from all the dogs and Herashi. After a second I turned around and started running as fast as I could causing Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton to rush to catch up as Tsun and Dere ran next to me easily keeping pace.
"Why are you running so fast Alex?" Tsunade asked me with a confused look.
"These two idiots just made an entire compound howl out, literally every shinobi around is going to be panicking thinking that the village is under attack or something, of course I'm going to run." I yell behind me as I try to go even faster.
"Oh shit." Tsunade says before grabbing me and putting me under her arm before running as fast as she could. "Let's get out of here." She yelled out with a huge grin.
I think I'm going to love living with her.