Our Own House

"Read it in a tale, One too tall to be real"


Now before I get too ahead of myself, I want to make something clear: despite my recent breakthrough, I still was very, very bad at chakra. People had been telling me for years that I had a relatively large store of it - and they were right. When I wanted to perform a jutsu, like for example the transformation jutsu. I could jam my network with four times the amount necessary and perform flawlessly.

I'm a quick learner though. It only took me one two hour training session to see that was a bad idea. Dumping so much chakra into E-rank techniques was exhausting. Being chakra depleted left you feeling drained in every sense of the word. In a heart beat I was, suddenly sluggish, achey, droopy-eyed, and starving all at once.

Yeah, Biwako hadn't been happy with me when I got home that evening.

Finding the balance between too much and too little though was difficult. I didn't really have a good concept yet of what "a lot" of chakra felt like. Again, I'd only recently realized what any chakra felt like at all.

And of course, there was more to do with chakra than just jutsu. You could use it to enhance your movements, stringing it through your muscles to make them faster and stronger. I tried that once or twice too, but quickly found that too much chakra there threw my entire system off balance. I'd take a step with so much force that I'd end up pounding a hole in the ground with my foot and face planting.

So yeah, while I was certainly making progress now, I still had a lot to learn.

Thankfully, I finally like I was back on pace with my classmates, which honestly was a lot more than I could have ever hoped for before.

Hiruzen, Biwako, and Jin-sensei were all over the moon for me when I told then our new discovery, and Tonbo was getting pats on the back all around. Life couldn't have been better for the moment; although the usual drama always persisted.

The latest came in June - on Isamu's birthday actually. He was turning twelve - a birthday which was apparently very important because it was the age that they had been expecting him to graduate from the Academy. Of course the war had thrown a wrench in that plan, but that was beside the point. There were some important Sarutobi clan rituals that had to be observed this year. They were just more of a pre-chunin celebration for Isamu than a pre-genin one since Isamu was due to take the upcoming exams. Hiruzen had personally taken the day off to oversee the proceedings, as head of the Sarutobi clan.

Naturally, Asuma was grumpy as all get out.

It was beyond me what his exact problem was this time. Sometimes I wondered if just the sight of Hiruzen made him mad, because we never seemed to have peace when the two were in the same room.

"Why do I have to wear this stupid robe?" Asuma grumbled under his breath, as he looked at himself in the mirror of our shared room.

"Because we don't raise savages in this house," I replied lightly, with the best Biwako impression I could muster. He glared at me, apparently not amused by my joking.

"You don't understand," he huffed. "You don't have to sit through the stupid ceremony."

"I'll trade with you," I offered. "I'll go to the super secret ritual, and you can stay here and study for a few hours."

He just rolled his eyes. Probably because I was being royally unhelpful. See, I wasn't allowed to the Sarutobi clan's rituals. Attendance to these sorts of events was restricted to clansman only. If we're being honest, I was more than a little disappointed about the whole thing, but I would live. The main reason I wanted to go anyways was because the idea of a clan right of passage fascinated me. My intellectual interest really wasn't the best excuse for them to break tradition.

One day when Tsunade returned maybe I'd ask her if the Senju ever did stuff like this back in the day. My gut told me that they must have.

"Asuma-kun, are you ready?" Biwako called from the kitchen.

"Yeah," he responded.

"Have fun with your family," I smiled as he made way for the door.

"Those old farts don't even talk to me," he muttered unhappily. Then with a final wave, he disappeared into the hallway.

I sighed the moment he was gone and collapsed back into my bed. I was currently half way through a book called "Weapons Ware" and I knew that if I was feeling industrious, I'd be able to finish it before they all returned. Honestly though, I had lost interest in it the other day, after I'd gotten past the fifth chapter.

Remember when I told you about my spar with Genma? Remember what he said to me?

He recommended that I get a weapon to compensate for my tiny wingspan.

It'd been on my mind ever since he'd mentioned them. The only reason I hadn't picked one up already was because, well, I hadn't exactly been sure where to start. There were a million and one options for a shinobi to choose from when it came to weapons. Even if you narrowed it down to a category, like swords for instance, there was a lot of nuance in the exact type of sword to pick.

Plus, beyond that, I needed a teacher. No matter how much I loved a good how-to book, it would only get me so far. I needed someone to help me change my entire taijutsu style from that of a basic brawler to a weapon's specialist. Without that supervision, I was bound to pick up a handful of bad habits that would be a pain to correct down the line. It'd be better to learn things right the first time around.

Of course, I'm sure if I really wanted to learn something specific, Biwako or Jin-sensei would have found me the proper tutor. My adoptive mother was basically one of the most well connected women in the entire village after all. Nobody would refuse a favor from the Hokage's wife. Plus, I'm sure quite a few people might consider teaching one of the last remaining Senju to be somewhat of an honor.

Basically, all that considered, I was stuck back at the first problem- hence my choice in dry informative weapons literature. As I was saying, I'd gotten to chapter five before a ludicrous idea struck me, and now the rest of the reading seemed more and more pointless by the minute. Chapter five was all about the pros and cons of bojutsu, or staff fighting techniques.

Now a staff is kind of a strange weapon for a shinobi to wield. For one, they typically aren't sharp, making it slightly more difficult to kill someone with. Secondly, they take two hands to use, so hand seals in the heat of battle are an issue as well. Why was this specific weapon sticking out to me so much then? Well, see I already knew who could teach me the art of bojutsu.

The trouble was, I couldn't decide how to ask the Hokage to be my private tutor.

Yeah, that's right. Hiruzen was one of the most famous bojutsu specialists of all time. Nicknamed, the professor, he'd be literally the perfect teacher.

He was always so busy though - it seemed almost out of the question to imagine he'd even have the time. Yet a small voice in the back of my mind was telling me to bother him anyway. Part of me just wanted to be selfish, to get those few extra hours a week in with him all to myself. The other part knew though that it wasn't odd for a Hokage to take students while he was in office. Hiruzen had taught Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru during the peace period between the first and second shinobi wars, and Tobirama had taught Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu before that.

I wasn't even asking for him to become my full time teacher - just a tutor a few hours a week. Was that so bad?

Maybe I'd catch him after the Sarutobi clan ceremony was over.

With a sigh, I shut the weapons book after making it through another chapter and a half. I seemed to have subconsciously made up my mind - there was no reason to keep on trudging through the next few chapters on distance weaponry anymore. Hopping up from my bed, I made my way into the living room to see what other books we had lying around for me to get into. Not going to lie, it was days like these that I missed television. I think I'd gotten through every book in Biwako and Hiruzen's library already, and there was only so many times you can re-read the same few books before getting bored.

Today I decided to go for the classic Konoha History textbook. Village literature was always my favorite, even though I knew most of it already because of reincarnation bullshit. It was just interesting to see their perspective on it all. Anywho, I'd read Hiruzen's copy a hundred times over, but it was still my go-to bored book nonetheless.

I made it through the entire thing in the few hours that my family was out of the house. Just as I went to close the back cover, I heard the click of the front door opening, and saw my favorite genin poke his head through into the house.

They were back.

"Natsuki-chan!" Isamu's voice rang through the foyer.

"Hey," I called back, waving to catch his attention. Isamu was in similar dress clothes those Asuma put on earlier, though he seemed to have an odd bulge where the robes folded over his chest. Looking at him, he seemed pretty animated, by Isamu standards. Something about his expression was positively glowing. Behind him, the rest of the family took their time walking in. Hiruzen was looking at Isamu and me with a happy crinkle in his eyes, while Biwako seemed to be humming beside him.

The only one that looked remotely unhappy was Asuma, but his sour expression seemed unusually dire. I was the resident expert on interpreting Asuma's moods, given that I spent basically all of my time with him. In that moment, I swear, the kid looked like he was absolutely burning. One glance at him and I felt immediately uneasy. Hopefully he'd hold whatever it was in for another twenty minutes. I had a feeling that I needed to talk to him, urgently.

For the moment though, it was Isamu's day, and I had to respect that. See, when my adoptive older brother caught sight of me, the biggest grin spread over his face, and he came rushing into the living room.

"Want to see something?" Isamu asked me happily.

"Sure," I nodded.

Up close, I suddenly realized that the bulge in his robes seemed to be moving. Isamu seemed to be cradling it almost with his left arm. Kneeling down, he lifted the fold in his robe to reveal a small brown monkey, maybe the size of a 4 month old baby, sound asleep against his chest.

I let out a small gasp of surprise and leapt to my feet. "Where'd you get a monkey from?" I blinked, staring at the thing.

"It's family tradition. The clan has a partnership with a monkey summoning contract, and the future head of clan always partners with the future monkey king when they're a genin," Isamu explained. "Dad's partner Enma presented me with him today - that's what the ceremony was for. I'm going to teach him how to fight now."

"Did you name him?" I asked, reaching out and running my finger over the fur on its head. The baby monkey let out a satisfied pur.

"Well he's Enma's son, so Enma named him. He's called Sanno," Isamu told me.

I nodded, mildly disappointment that Isamu already had a name for him. I was going to suggest that they call him Abu - like the monkey from Aladdin. Oh well.

"Do you think-" I started. Before I got the sentence out, however, I was interrupted.

"Enough about the stupid monkey," Asuma exploded suddenly. I winced, looking up to see him glaring at us with his fists clenched and chest heaving.

"Asuma!" Biwako snapped harshly. I braced myself for the coming unexpected shit storm.

"It's always him," Asuma pointed a vapid finger at his brother. Isamu shifted uncomfortably.

"Wha-," Isamu began, but despite being the topic of Asuma's outburst, the kid didn't seem to really care about what his brother had to say.

"It's like you don't even care," Asuma cut Isamu off, spinning around towards his parents. His brown eyes bored into his father.

Ah, he was talking to Hiruzen now. I think he always was.

"We discussed this Asuma. Clan rules were made long before even your grandfather was born. Isamu is going to be the head of the clan one day. That means he will have extra privileges, but only because he'll have more responsibility one day. There's nothing more to it," Hiruzen said. The old man was the picture of calm, though his age was starting to show a bit.

"It's not just about the dumb clan stuff," Asuma rounded, just getting started.

"Asuma Sarutobi don't you dare start this now. It is your brother's day," Biwako cut in, looking like she was ready to commit murder.

I had to hand it to Asuma, he looked his mother dead in the eye, not even flinching. It was like he was actually asking for death because I swear she was going to murder him.

"It's okay Biwako, let him talk," Hiruzen shook his head. "Get it out Asuma."

"You're never home," Asuma burst out, not needing any more permission to start yelling. "And when you are home, it's always because you've got some stupid duty to do. It's always obligation this and honor that. Or it's always for him. Other things are important too - not everything has to be about shinobi and the village. Y-you don't even see that!"

"We've talked this to death Asuma. If you don't understand why it has to be like this by now, then I don't think I can explain it to you," Hiruzen sighed. "One day, when you're older and you truly understand what it is to be a ninja yourself, it will make sense. I promise."

"You always promise," Asuma's face twisted. Then without any more warning her turned and walked right back out through the front door.

Nobody made move to follow him.

Sometimes, he just needed to let his anger settle by himself. I sure as hell knew nothing I was going to say could make it better, at least. This chip Asuma always carried about his father had a life of it's own. It was like a demon that sat just beneath the surface, and when it reared it's ugly face, there was no controlling it. It was one of the few things Asuma and I didn't talk about often - a burden I couldn't share with him. The best I could ever do when it came to Hiruzen, was offer my company as a distraction.

"That boy," Biwako finally sighed.

"He'll come back tonight," Hiruzen shook his head. "You should talk to him again then. He won't listen to me."

"Did I do something?" Isamu asked, sounding crestfallen.

"You know what your brother's like. He's always struggled with my work duties," Hiruzen shook his head. Then looking sharply at Isamu he added," He's not angry at you, not at all. He never was."

I bumped my shoulder silently into Isamu as he nodded.

"I've still got that cake for you Isamu. I made it with the green tea flavored icing, but if you're both too tired..." Biwako looked at us with a ghost of a smile.

She didn't have to say the word cake twice. Both of us were on our feet in half a heartbeat, bounding off towards the kitchen and trying to put Asuma's outburst out the room. Green tea flavored icing doesn't sound like it has any right to be good, but for whatever reason, Biwako's secret recipe was literally to die for. We always savored the chance to gorge ourselves on her deserts when she allowed it.

Asuma would be disappointed later that he missed this.

With the family settling in for desert, now was as good a time as any for me to get my own burning questions off my chest.

"Mm, I don't know if now's a bad time, after you know..." I started, rocking in my chair while everyone started digging into their cake. "But I actually had a question for you Hiruzen-san."

"Hm?" Hiruzen grunted, while Biwako shot me a suspicious look.

"Well see, you know I've been doing pretty well in taijutsu class, but recently some new kids joined us. They're older, and a lot bigger too. My size is a real problem when I fight them," I rambled, dancing around the point. "And one of them said that I could use something to help make up for the fact that I'm so small."

I paused, looking at them to see if I'd struck a bad chord. They were all just staring at me curiously though. No rejection apparent yet.

"He said I could pick up a weapon, and that'd help give me a little more reach. And I've been doing some research, and thought maybe I could learn bojutsu... like you," I finished.

The room was silent for a beat, as my palms started sweating in anticipation. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Hiruzen smiled.

"It's been a while since someone has asked the Hokage to be their own personal tutor," he chuckled. I felt my cheeks go red. Nonetheless, I seemed to have put him suddenly into a good mood. "I think I can arrange to teach you," he continued. "It will be hard work, however, and you'll have to accommodate my schedule. If you want, perhaps I could also find a teacher for you who has a bit more free ti-"

"No, if you think you can, I'd like you to be my sensei," I grinned, exchanging a giddy look with Isamu. He smiled at me, while he subtly fed his baby monkey, Sanno, a bit of frosting under the table.

"Very well, we'll start this week," Hiruzen nodded.

"Great," I agreed. With that, we all went about the rest of desert, chatting about random things and generally being as happy as we could be given Asuma's absence. I was over the moon, beside myself with how well my conversation with Hiruzen had gone.

Lessons couldn't start soon enough.


Hiruzen wasn't joking when he said I was going to need to work hard if I was going to learn to use a staff. We started almost immediately after I requested he tutor me. The following day was a Monday, and I went to school as planned. When we were released for the day however, Jin-sensei called after me.

"Natsuki-chan wait, don't run off with Asuma or Guy," she said as I slid out of my seat to go start my evening conditioning exercise.

I made confused eye contact with Asuma, not sure what Jin-sensei needed.

"Will Natsuki be here very long sensei?" Guy asked from the row in front of me. "We were going to run fifty laps around the village today!"

"Yes she will be, maybe you should start without her Guy," Jin-sensei smirked. Guy turned to me, not thrown at all by the fact that I wouldn't be joining to run today.

"I will run 100 laps then, to make up for those you'll miss!" he declared. Then without further ado, he scurried out of the room, presumably to start his work out. I snorted, watching him go. Sometimes you just couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous he was.

"What did you need to talk to me about," I asked Jin-sensei, trotting down to join her at the front of the room.

Asuma followed me as well, his curiosity probably getting the better of his manners. I didn't mind though. I was sure that I'd just end up telling him about any conversation I'd have with Jin-sensei later anyways. This would save me the trouble of having to explain anything.

Jin-sensei looked over at Asuma for a moment, before accepting his presence and reaching underneath her desk and pulling out a three foot long staff and a brown leather strap holder from underneath her desk.

"The Hokage dropped this off to me during lunch time. He said to tell you to meet him in training room 300 upstairs when you finished for the day," she said. I nodded, gingerly taking the staff into my hands and feeling its weight.

It was just shorter than I was when standing it on it's end, and the wood felt smooth in my palms. When I adjusted the shoulder strap on my back, the staff fit neatly into it- making it much more portable. I imagined, however, that I'd need to figure out how to make the staff retractable or something. Sitting with a big pole strapped to your back couldn't be easy.

"The Hokage?" Asuma's voice cut into my conscious. My stomach twisted, as I realized I hadn't told him about the bojutsu training yet. After he had run off last weekend, I hadn't wanted to make him angry with more talk of his father. We had just fallen back into our normal routine, and I'd left the drama to be settled between him and his parents.

Maybe that had been a bad idea.

"Ah yeah," I shifted, rubbing the back of my head. "I asked Hiruzen-san to teach me bojutsu this weekend."

"Oh," Asuma said, his dark eyes staring at the weapon I had just strapped to my back. For once, I felt like I couldn't read him. My stomach turned. "Well have fun I guess," he deadpanned suddenly, before turning around and leaving the room. I frowned, feeling guilt turn over in my stomach.

I should have told him earlier. He shouldn't have found out from Jin-sensei.

"Thank you for delivering the message," I sighed, waving at my teacher before heading up the stairs to find Hiruzen.


Hiruzen was a strict teacher. When I was with him during staff training, he expected everything from me to be perfect. When you were learning to fight with a staff, he said, it wasn't really about the weapon at all. It was about how you held your body. Your spine had to be straight, your movements all deliberate. A staff had no sharp point, but when handled correctly, you could snap an enemy's spine with a well placed thwack! Learning to be both fluid and inflexible at the same time was key.

In the beginning we spent most sessions just going through simple motions. I felt like the karate kid, swinging my new staff around my body with no idea how it would translate into real combat. Hiruzen would stand there with his own staff, adjusting my arms and giving me pointed instruction.

Straighten your back. Raise your arms. Widen your feet. Never drop your chin.

Despite his high expectations, Hiruzen was always the picture of calm. When I did something wrong, he'd tell me in exactly the same tone he used when I did something right. I never felt like he was yelling at me, the way Jin-sensei sometimes would, though I suppose I never got much praise either. That was okay though. The fact that he'd taken personal time out of his schedule to teach me said enough.

Plus, no matter how serious Hiruzen could be during our lessons, the facade always dropped immediately when the lesson was over.

"Hm, alright Natsuki-chan, I think that's enough for one day," he'd say. "Come, I'll take you out for ice cream before I get back to work."

Then we'd stop by the sweets parlor that was around the corner from the Academy for thirty minutes and I'd head back for the evening. It was nice. When I was with Hiruzen, sometimes I felt almost like he really was my father, teaching me to follow in his footsteps. I felt like he respected me in a way that most adults didn't. He spoke to me in the same tone that he used for Biwako or Tsunade. It was like every hour that I spent in bojutsu training, was an hour that I could pretend to be more than just an eight year old kid.

Asuma was horribly jealous of course. He didn't talk to me for a week after he found out that Hiruzen was personally tutoring me. Those seven days of my life were awful. Thankfully, I think Kurenai of all people, went up and gave him a piece of her mind after asking me about our fight during kunoichi class. That evening, he offered to share his rice with me during dinner, and I took that as a peace offering. I still made a point never to talk about my training with him after that.

No need to rub salt in that wound.

Any who, the months rolled by, and life moved on. I got better wielding my staff, to the point that I could use it during Academy sparring lessons - Genma nodded in approval when he saw I'd taken his advice. With this final skill clicking into place, I finally felt a sense of readiness wash over me. I think my entire class was feeling it as well. Our time as Academy students was dwindling.

Sooner rather than later, it'd be time to graduate and become genin.


Arc Tittle and Chapter Quote from song Our House by the MisterWives


A/N, Sorry this chapter took longer than I anticipated for me to finish. I hit a big wall of major writers block with it. Although I think I'm happy enough with how it came out.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and remember to leave another one :D

Until next time,

Aule