Tsunade rushed through the hospital, heedless of the shrieking doctors or nurses, her mind focused only on her destination.
The place where her brother was. She burst through the door and stopped in her tracks, her wide eyes wavering. Tears started pouring down as her wobbly steps finally reached the charred remains of her... brother.
She looked at the still body. And the completely intact Necklace of her Grandfather. She could only stare in shock at it, her mind blank.
Orochimaru looked at his completely distraught teammate and couldn't help but to feel bad. It should have been a simple mission. He shouldn't have even been the leader! He was only a casual observer! But... they just had to be ambushed! The stupid Senju boy just had to get out of sight when he was admiring the other boy, ahem, the skill of the other boy in the team, and walk onto an exploding tag!
As he watched what remained of the Senju clan, Orochimaru yet again couldn't help but ponder about his mortality. He knew the kid shouted about his dreams everywhere he went. But... he ended up as a corpse.
Will I have the same fate?
Somehow, that thought frightened him out of his wits.
"Tsunade, I am sorry. It was a trap..."
He stopped himself as he saw Tsunade completely non-responding with a horror-filled expression. She needed time. Orochimaru sadly nodded and left. His disgust for Konoha's higher-ups increased. It was they who sent them there for a 'common reconnaissance'. Even going as far as saying it was a completely safe thing. That they already checked with ANBU and are sending three genins, one Senju, one Uchiha, and one Kurama, and him right under the ambush of five jonin! This could have severely hurt his chances of becoming the Hokage! He sensed something smelly and it was not Jiraiya for once!
...
The funeral was a quick affair.
Tsunade was used to those. She attended a few every year. Her clan was now... only her. A shudder ran through her body. Only her. Only a woman who is utterly unable to recreate it. Only... god. The Senju clan is dead!
A traitorous thought started to fill her mind. She mostly wondered why was Nawaki personally requested for that mission right after she talked with her Sensei about her inability to have children. Why wasn't the last fertile Senju kept inside the village? Why...
But she waved them away. Her sensei would never... Stupid girl, she admonished herself. These days, she completely disregarded the hospital. All she had to do was sign off the dead at the end of the day. The dead that could survive if she could bring herself to look them over. But... she didn't care. She spent her days sitting in front of Nawaki's grave. Pondering... what to do. In the end, it was all meaningless. Her life was meaningless.
Then her eyes brightened as she remembered the energy spike. She promised to Nawaki. She promised him she will look forward and fulfill her own dreams.
With a broken smile and hitched sobs, Tsunade decided. She will find out what caused the spike and she will find out why she was so drawn to it. Nawaki would want her to. To live. To fulfill her dreams. The sadness in her mind cleared and she started to look forward. A new determination filling her.
Tsunade suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and barely restrained herself from killing whoever dared to touch her.
"Are you fine?"
Tsunade jerked her head toward the voice and found a light-blue haired man.
"Dan..." She murmured, making the man astonished that she remembered him.
What the heck is this annoyance doing here? He is stalking me again? Geez... Trying to approach me when I am at my lowest?
Tsunade frowned. Canon Tsunade would be moved that someone cared. But then again, canon Tsunade was emotionally so down she literally wouldn't mind dying. This Tsunade, however, had a goal. Determination to live.
The man was trying to get closer to her for two years straight! She would understand if he had a crush but... He didn't! As a medic she could see his body reactions! Tsunade really didn't know what the man wanted from her.
"I am fine." She politely smiled, albeit a tad bit too forcedly for her taste.
"Ah... okay." Dan didn't think he would find her like this. Hokage told him to approach Tsunade and make sure she is feeling fine. He fancied himself a somewhat smart man and knew the underlying meaning of these words. If he got closer to her and got the support of the head of the Senju clan, meaning Tsunade, becoming a Hokage would be easier than ever. Hiruzen really wanted to desperately give someone the hat. Dan resisted the urge to chuckle in order to appear compassionate.
"What about..." He tried to start a conversation.
Tsunade stood up, ignoring him, and brushed past him before he could even finish the sentence.
Dan could only look at her leaving back with his cold gaze as a loud colorful curse left his mouth, making the nearby grandmas look at him threateningly while raising their garden hoes.
"Did I approach too abruptly?" He asked himself quietly. "Fuck. The bitch! Two years and she still doesn't give me even a second of her time..." The flowers in his hand were violently thrown onto the ground as he ruffled his hair in annoyance. "If I ever get her I am going to fuck her silly until she won't be able to think about anything else than me!"
Dan calmed down as he stomped onto the flowers for a few times from the sheer frustration he felt.
"The worst part is that I really do start to like her." He sighed with a bitter grimace as he calmed down. "I would probably desperately fall in love with her with enough time... Hiruzen, you sly fox." Dan muttered and shook his head as he decided to pay his respect to the deceased since he is already at the cemetery.
Tsunade marched on into the Senju Compound and entered the library. Her library. It all now solely belonged to her. She had money. She had knowledge. She had privileges. She lacked only family. They were all dead. Sigh.
Now, if only the war ended and she could leave this hellhole of sad memories and self-imposed bastards who would never give money to save lives.
Oh, she understood that Hiruzen-sensei was not to blame. Even though it was him who always rejected her medic per team proposal. It was the elders who always whispered into his ear. The trusted elders that were Hiruzen-sensei's teammates. The same greedy bastards that would rather people die than their pocket change to suffer. The same people he trusted more than his own pupils!
Tsunade was fed-up. Fed-up with politics. Fed-up with funerals. Fed-up with Konoha. She wanted to leave and she WILL leave. She will find what caused the spike that is filling her mind and she will die happy, taking the Senju clan with her to an early grave. That was the plan.
Nodding to herself, she approached the shelves.
"Now... let me see. Nature energy, nature energy..."
She browsed through the books, looking for anything even remotely helpful for her future endeavors.
"Sigh. If only I didn't take Shizune Kato as my apprentice." She mumbled, not even realizing that Dan was also called Kato.
"Ah, screw it. That girl can form medical chakra as six years old! I can take her with me when I leave and then deposit her back in Konoha after her training is finished." Tsunade ruffled her hair and with 'Un.' her decision was made
A year passed since Rei and Konan found their Mokuton ability. They both decided to abuse the shit out of it and spammed trees whenever possible. Whenever they were sure that nobody watched. This also made them evade any and all towns or villages as they entered the Ame mountains and didn't leave them for the entire year!
It was a very quiet area. Nothing important. Nothing really advantageous. The shinobi didn't come here. They encountered one lone Kumo spy but Rei and Konan made the spy meet his maker swiftly.
Surprisingly the loot was quite good!
Most of their time was spent on affinity training though.
As Rei thought, this tree spamming made them unconsciously better at Water and Earth affinity.
They didn't know the exercises for the affinities other than the one with the paper so they trained what they found hard.
Both Konan and Rei could float a boulder while sitting on it for three hours until their chakra depleted. This was what they found hardest when it came to Earth affinity. They had to continuously mold earth chakra and supply the boulder with it to make it float through gravity.
Rei started to seriously suspect that Onoki was not floating himself but the specks of dust on the soles of his feet and in his clothes that pushed him up. Or maybe he just used his rock-hard brain for it? Who knows.
This exercise though... They could not do it with smaller rocks while sitting on them yet. Nor with something bigger and heavier than an adult human. That would take an enormous amount of chakra from them. They still needed more practice... More perfection.
As for water release... They focused on the feeling of water in the atmosphere.
Both Konan and Rei could even feel the water in the clouds! But pulling it outta them? Meh...
Thankfully in Ame no Kuni water was supplied very frequently. Their first exercise that took them three whole months was all about standing in the rain and making sure the droplets evade them. They simply had to stay dry. Which was a freaking chore when you are walking in a downpour! They had to ALWAYS supply water chakra and coat themself with it. It was like a human-shaped make-shift umbrella or aura around them. It was completely invisible but it worked!
When they were both sure they could stay dry even under a waterfall, they tried something more... challenging.
They tried to pull water out of the surroundings. Easy, right? They were in a country where Water ALWAYS fell from the sky. But...
But no. They tried to pull the water in the surroundings and add it to the clouds! It was a back-breaker but their improved mid-chunin reserves barely managed it! It was more about water chakra control anyway than the amount of their chakra. This made sure there was ALWAYS a downpour in their location. But no worries they had their umbrella no Jutsu!
The downpour was not the result. Only a step. When they finally managed to make a downpour they had to... stop it. Make the rain in their location stop. Keep it in the clouds. Both Rei and Konan felt as if the heavens were pushing onto them during that excercise. The rain WANTED to pour down onto the earth but they held. They held insane amounts of water in the sky. Until... the clouds started to get charged with lightning and instead of downpour, a lightning storm started.
Rei used this for his lightning chakra training as he made sure to try and use his raiton chakra to redirect the lightning strikes where he wanted to. Mostly on the trees Konan was creating. She became incredibly proficient in it.
No wonder though. Konan found a new cheat for herself. Rei was quite fed-up with her Kekkei Tota when he found out. It was yet another bullshit in his opinion!
Konan could change the tree into slices of paper. They didn't even need to be made by mokuton! Just mokuton chakra supplied to a very normal tree and 'bam'. One tree could be changed to thousands of slices of paper. The best part? The chakra used for that was actually minimal if she raised the tree herself via mokuton. Konan now had ALWAYS thousands of papers soaked in her chakra. She just had to grow them from the ground.
Rei vowed he would train hard when he saw it... Fortunately, his Water manipulation was a helluva lot better than Konan's. As for Earth, they were about the same.
Rei always added nature chakra into the water, increasing its volume and density. His chakra nature manipulation was leaps and bounds above Konan. Where she could potentially create a house-sized ball of water in ten minutes. Rei could create an entire lake in five. And then there was his lightning affinity... Hehe. Zap-zzzzap.
Their biggest problem was, they still had no Jutsu so they could not compare what they could do with actual ninjas.
Rei found a few kenjutsu scrolls on the poor Kumo lad and he trained with his chokuto. Konan just shrugged them off and said her futon paper is enough for cutting power.
But they both knew she was kinda behind in her futon. By now it was more effective to maul her enemies with doton-hardened paper than cut them with futon-enhanced paper. The damned paper was hard as steel. If she stacked enough, she could even block her futon-enhanced paper and that was telling something since these could literally fly through three trees and then make a hole through a half of a boulder. Hell, the thickness of that paper shield was not even an inch!
Yes... maybe they really overdid their doton affinity training a little. Considering they were ten while their bodies looked twelve years old.
Konan was actually able to completely soak up an entire lake with her papers and make them still look as if they didn't even have a drop of water on them. The more her water affinity improved the more bullshit that aspect of her Kekkei Tota became.
Rei started to see why it was so rare and people were so amazed by it. Her papers may not have the destructibility of Dust release but the sheer utility? Konan was carrying a lake with her everywhere and it didn't even burden her.
When she learns to change her body into paper like her canon counterpart? She will literally HAVE a lake inside of her body and could potentially also harden it to the levels of her doton-hardened paper shield that blocked the futon shuriken. Rei shuddered at the future prospects.
Rei on the other hand could not carry so much water with him. He compensated. He could pull enough water to create a ball of the size of a small house almost instantly. Most of the time it was enough but he knew it was nowhere near Hoshigaki Kisame or the best Water users.
He also used doton chakra on his clothes to make them harder to penetrate while retaining their flexibility. A trick learned from Konan. But his doton enhanced with nature chakra was much tougher.
His kenjutsu with raiton chakra was getting better and better by the day and he was even able to use a minuscule amount of nature chakra to make his lightning a shimmering greyish black. But nevertheless, it was much more powerful than the blue one. He barely controlled it as his lightning affinity was the least trained so far. A pity that his Supreme Chakra Control talent worked perfectly only for regular chakra. In elemental chakra, it helped a whole lot but it was still far from perfect.
Rei was the proudest of his body strength. He left Konan completely in dust in this department. She was still very powerful in taijutsu but Rei was even more so. The nature chakra he pulled into his body each night enhanced him leaps and bounds, making him faster, stronger, more durable. He was quite sad that Konan was having at most one-third of his enhancement since her body was unable to use the nature chakra to its fullest extent. Alas, she just did not have the godly talent for it.
Rei was shaping up to be quite the swordsman. It would certainly be helpful when he finally starts Senjutsu training...
But slowly, their training time ended and they decided they had enough of the mountains. It was time to leave and get some experience... and loot.
--
Rei and Konan were going down the mountains, hand in hand. Rei was leisure while Konan was outright skipping. She didn't really care where they were as long as she was with Rei...
They were almost in the closest village to the mountain and finally reached a road frequented by merchants that want to avoid shinobi skirmishes.
Konan suddenly stopped skipping and was about to raise her free hand, her papers about to burst from her sleeve, but Rei squeezed the hand he held. Konan looked at him questioningly only to find him minutely shaking his head.
Shrugging they continued.
'Suddenly' a band of ten men jumped out of the bushes! They barely scrambled out of them with scratches all around their bodies and barely managed to 'surround' Rei and Konan in a very loose formation. They held... weapons. More like gardening tools really. Their clothes were torn and their expressions distraught as they panted. The men weren't even burly. More like starving. The leader even had to catch his breath for a few seconds before he looked ready to let out a sound again...
How... underwhelming.
Thought Rei as he was deadpanning at the men.
Tsk.
Thought Konan as she rolled her eyes, infusing her paper with futon chakra. Only one gesture from Rei and she was ready to slaughter these nuisances.
"Y-you! Su-surrender a-and we wi-will not har-harm you!"
"Har har, hardly." Rei dryly uttered.
The bandits looked at the twelve years old looking boy as if he was an idiot. He was being threatened by a bunch of scrawn-, ahem, powerful men and was openly mocking them?
"Yo-you should know wha-what's best fo-for you!" The leader shouted.
He was getting more and more uneasy about these two kids by the second. Normal kids would be already pissing themselves but these two looked at him as if he was insane! He chose them as a target because their clothes looked expensive! They looked wealthy! At worst he could probably ask for a ransom from some wealthy merchant who was most likely their father! But...
"Look, man," Rei slowly but purposefully puffed his chokuto into existence, making the men freeze. "we can do this your way, or... we can do it my way."
The 'bandits' froze. They have never seen a ninja in their life. Ninja's were rare! But they did hear about the might of theirs! After all, their country was ravaged by shinobi! The merchants sang the atrocities these, these... things did. Whole towns disappearing... Yes, shinobis were a scary existence for the common folk. Especially during a war.
"I am sorry!" The leader threw himself on his knees, straight into dogeza. "We didn't mean to shinobi-sa, no, shinobi-sama!"
"We didn't mean to!" The rest of the bandits quickly followed.
Rei almost did a double-take. He could only awkwardly look at snickering Konan.
"Look, man. If you wanna play a bandit, at least get the mannerism right, kay? Now, lead us to your village."
Rei rubbed his forehead in exasperation at these idiots while Konan slightly pouted that her paper shurikens won't be used. For now.
Rei and Konan quickly found themselves sitting in the kitchen of the village Elder who was 'coincidentally' the father of the idiot playing a bandit.
The bandit group was ten farmers who thought to make their lives better by stealing. They never thought about the consequences, really. They were currently in seiza as their spouses and parents were berating them while Rei only sat behind the table, his chin supported by his hands as his elbows were on the table. He happily watched, beaming every time one of these idiots was smacked.
Serves them right! Haha.
"What were you thinking, you, you, you!" With every 'you' the wife of the leader delivered a painful swat on his forehead with a roll of paper. The man was growing quite a bruise on his forehead.
"I am sorry dear!" He exclaimed with tears and snot streaming down his cheeks.
The woman looked as if her anger was sated after beating the man but... Rei was a petty person, too petty to let it go.
"You know, if it was any other shinobi you would be all dead." He exclaimed cheerfully, attracting attention as he started to explain his reasoning. "It was obvious they were not bandits but farmers from some village around. This is the only village around though. Hence, your actions could have cost this village its life." He told them with a fake-cheerful eye smile, still beaming at them.
The woman brokenly turned back to her husband, snarl on her face as she gripped the knife in her hand tighter.
Oh shit...
Rei excitedly thought as he used his chakra string to get the knife from the woman, making her turn to him.
"No butchering your husband. You can beat him senseless though." Rei eye smiled.
"With pleasure." She cracked her knuckles as the terrified man let out a manly high-pitched squeal!
Rei just watched in amusement as the idiot suffered a beating or two... or ten. After all, he was the mastermind and every man in his little group had a spouse… or mother… or father that wanted to tear him a new one.
Ah, what a fine way to spend an afternoon~! Nothing beats watching some well-deserved justified violence!
Rei grinned from ear to ear.
The village they were in was a very out of hand, peaceful if a bit too poor one. They didn't need the outer world much. They could make enough clothes, grow enough food, and even had some cattle. They were not affected by the war much except that more merchants were passing by their village in recent months. Which was a good thing.
The reason for 'banditry' was that their crops for this year were very, very poor. This happened at least once per decade so it was not a new situation. The men would just need to go to the town and find some work there for a few months in order to buy enough food for their household. Nothing new.
The problem was the war. The towns would not let them get work. They were barely able to function as it was. They could not take new workers. The village would starve. It was an apparent and very distinct possibility for the village and it was looming over their heads, getting closer by the day as their food supplies dwindled. But the villagers knew they indeed do have a way out. But...
The merchants who passed usually had enough money. And they more often than not looked for a companion on a cold night. If men could not make enough money, women could. That was what drove the man to try his hand on banditry. He just didn't want his wife to sell her body in order to ensure their daughter will have enough to eat.
It was clear the villagers were mostly resigned and one of them was rumored to even start offering his three daughters to the merchants for a night. Rei could believe it, the girls did not look happy when he saw them. Gloomy and resigned.
But... this was the reality of this world. And yet, here they were. The villagers sharing their food with him and Konan. He couldn't do anything but shake his head at the kindness of these people.
That's why he was now, in the middle of the night, standing with Konan on the edge of their field. They surprisingly grew potatoes! He and Konan connected their hands and focused on molding chakra.
Apparently one could use chakra without molding. They could grow a tree without molding. But if one adds molding, it becomes a Jutsu. Because molding gives the chakra a kind of a manual direction. It strengthens the effect exponentially and makes chakra possible to affect the world more.
For example, Hashirama had a lot more chakra than Rei and Konan together. But even he would be able to raise at most thirty trees with his chakra supply alone. But when one added molding and made it into Jutsu? He was suddenly able to raise forests and gigantic statues, capable of restraining a bijuu. That is why Jutsus were so revered. The growth of strength rose exponentially while the cost decreased even more. That was what determined the rank of a Jutsu. How much stronger it was comparable to its cost. Of course, higher rank needed higher destructibility.
Also, one can not spit the ocean like Hoshigaki Kisame with water chakra alone. Oh, Rei tried. But... after he produced only an ordinary spit over hundred times he gave up. He could only gather water from his surroundings and affect it with his water chakra. Like he and Konan did with the clouds.
But once one creates the chakra in his throat and MOLD it? It suddenly became possible. Same with fire. Same with earth. Same with any element. It was almost laughable and Rei understood that hand signs were nothing but pre-learned sets of molding. One of the Iwa-nin had a book about it but it made no sense to Rei until he realized that simple single thing about molding. Kids are taught hand signs and how to mold their chakra instinctively according to these signs in the academy. Some are better, some worse. But if one wanted to be shinobi he had to know how to mold his chakra. That's why some people could skip some hand signs. They just could mold the jutsu without them because they were very proficient in it.
That's what Rei and Konan wanted to do. But it was hard. Learning to mold their chakra without a crutch. But they preserved! By now, after an entire half-year of on and off of trying, they could still only instinctively mold chakra according to one hand sign. It was a long run, indeed.
They molded the chakra, slowly, kneaded it, and interwove it into their Jutsu. It took them thirty minutes of continuous molding and focusing but finally, they had what they wanted.
"Mokuton: Gift of Mother Nature." They quietly whispered together.
A small tree rose in front of them and as it reached 4 meters in height it stopped growing. Instantly tendrils of wood burst from the ground around it and started to enwrap the tree in a spiral-like motion, leaving not even a bit of the original tree visible. When they were done, it looked like a weird thick tree with a spiral-like bark.
This tree had enough density and the ability to channel nature energy. It did it in two ways. First, the outer shell strengthened itself with the energy. It would take at least B-ranked jutsu or chakra metal to penetrate the bark. Impossible for the villagers. It was a precaution from having the tree chopped down by some greedy schmuck. It also looked incredibly ordinary and was masked from the senses of a ninja. Unless it was a Senju or Sage in sage mode, both would have to be close, nobody would be able to realize what it was.
The inner tree though, that was a masterpiece they were able to do only thanks to a year of continuous use of Mokuton and learning about it. It gathered nature chakra and dispersed it into the ground, revitalizing it and enriching it. The fields around the tree would grow crops at an insane rate and it will be very healthy too. The harvest could be done once per two months all year long. Even the dreary weather or winter would not impede it. Ah, the wonders of chakra!
"Well. That done..."
Suddenly they heard leaves shuffling from the direction of the forest. They didn't need to be caught using Mokuton! They chose the night to not be, dammit! They quickly turned around and saw...
Show menu
"You..." Rei and Konan stopped in their tracks as the small seven years old girl timidly walked out of the woods.
"What are you doing here?" Konan coldly asked, her eyes narrowing.
The girl just looked to the ground as she clenched her old battered plushie to her chest.
"I couldn't sleep so I went on a walk."
Rei raised his eyebrow.
"And do your parents know you 'went on a walk'?"
The girl blushed and shook her head, making Rei chuckle.
He came closer and patted her on the head, neither he nor the girl noticing the murderous glare Konan gave the girl.
"What's your name?" He smiled at the girl.
"Rena."
"Ah, Rena-chan, is it?"
Konan's glare intensified as her eyes narrowed.
"So, Rena-chan, we are helping your village but for the magic to hold, you will have to keep this secret. Can you do that?" Rei squatted in front of the girl and looked directly into her eyes.
"Un." Rena timidly nodded.
"Ah, pinky promise?" Rey reached his pinky to her.
"Pinky promise!" Rena happily hooked her pinky around his.
"It will be our little secret, then."
"Un!"
He stood up and patted her again.
"Good girl."
Rei's body instantly stiffened as he felt the minuscule amount of killing intent from behind him. He slowly turned around and saw Konan with an impassive expression, only her eyebrow slightly twitching as her eyes were dangerously set on the girl.
"Ahahaha!" He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "Konan, let's go and take this girl home, shall we?"
Konan finally tore her eyes from the girl and looked at Rei with a pout but nodded.
Later that night, they were in their room as Konan still sulked. Rei approached her and put his hand on her head, ruffling her hair.
"You should know that I intend to have more women. I already told you." He gently told her.
"I know." Konan hugged his torso. "It's just... I won't allow you to take any useless girl!"
"Useless?" Rei tilted his head.
"Un!"
"Ah, now you are just trying to be cute."
Konan blushed and buried her face into his stomach as he laughed.
"If you want another woman, it will be Kunoichi. A strong kunoichi or someone with potential." Konan mumbled.
"May I know why?" Rei asked as he stroked her hair.
"Because I want to be special." Konan ashamedly whispered.
"Special?"
"Yes. I want to be the only civilian girl you took under your care and nurtured from the scratch. I want to be special." Konan said with determination burning in her eyes.
"So, let me get this straight," Rei groaned. "you don't mind I will make a harem as long as you are the only girl who joined it as a civilian? Seriously?"
"It's dumb, I know." Konan bit her lower lip cutely. "But it is my reason."
"You will be always special to me, Konan." Rei told her softly.
"I know. The connection through the seal is iron-clad." Konan nodded. "You don't even know how many times I wanted to have sex with you."
She put her finger to Rei's lips, preventing him from interrupting.
"I can hold myself until we are at least thirteen. Three more years." She said it with such longing and need, Rei almost faltered but his mouth spoke on instinct.
"Fifteen."
Konan pouted but gave a whiny reluctant nod before she continued.
"But I know we won't be able to separate anymore. You gave me something that day. And I was insufficient. That much I know. I stopped seeing other males as something desirable. They are but strangers. Just thought of kissing one of them disgusts me."
"I didn't know, Konan." Rei told her and got a weak smile in return.
"I know you don't feel that way. My soul... it was too small compared to yours. I took what I could take. Those... talents as you called them. And in exchange, I gave you the entirety of what I am. However insufficient it was compared to what I received from your soul." Konan looked to the ground. "I am not complaining. I love it. I love you. I know you love me. That you will always love me. It is kind of freeing, really. Not having to doubt it since we are bound... even beyond death."
Konan softly sighed but then her eyes went hard.
"But if you want another girl, she WILL join us in this bond. She WILL be a strong kunoichi. And due to my pettiness, she WON'T be a civilian. If you want a civilian to join, make her into kunoichi first and then, fine." Konan strongly told him. "But in exchange, you have to agree that you are my master!" She blushed and whispered quietly. "Danna-sama."
Rei rubbed his forehead in frustration.
"Shit. I knew telling you the story about Grayfia Lucifuge was a bad idea..." He mumbled to himself, making Konan snicker.
"FINE." He sighed in exasperation but then chuckled, bemused. "Guess, these are acceptable terms, Konan-chan~."
Rei started patting Konan's head and saw her closing her eyes in delight as she put her head on his lap and enjoyed the care.
"Good girl." He whispered to her, making her shudder.
He sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying Konan's silky hair, thinking about what he just heard. Yes, he had his suspicions. The small changes in their relationship after the mishap with the link seal were a big tell. Especially since both vividly remembered what happened. He never thought it seemed like that to Konan. He knew they were linked. But he didn't know his soul took so much from Konan's. But it made sense. His soul was older and had even these talents. Hers? It had only itself.
The most I could do... is to make her as happy as possible.
He thought as he watched his almost purring girl.
"Why did you let the girl walk away?" Konan suddenly asked, her eyes still closed.
"Yes?"
"The girl. She saw our Mokuton." Konan's ambers softly opened and peered to Rei's emeralds.
"Ah... she is small." He moved his hand dismissively. "Even if she started screaming about people growing trees... Civilians mostly do not know about Senju unless it is in a capital city or some very wealthy and knowledgeable merchant. Even then, nobody would believe her. There is also no proof as the tree would need a Senju or Sage to be in close proximity to verify it. It would take either a very hopeful and determined person or a complete idiot to believe her."
"I see, you basically let her see important information without any danger to us even if she babbled. She is a child... I see. True. Nobody is as delusional as to believe another Mokuton user emerged. Much less two..."
And with that, Konan tackled Rei to the bed, cuddling with him as they both fell asleep.
It will be only years later when the small girl, Rena, finally breaks her promise for the first time. Coincidentally it will be, as Rei put it, a very hopeful and determined person. A very hopeful and determined person who was on the verge of despair as for years she taped in the darkness, having no clue about the spike of nature energy she felt in Ame.
That person will come to the tree, and her determination will grow exponentially as she will break down crying due to receiving the first clue in years. That person will be able to fully feel the overpowering life force permeating from the tree to the ground because that person will be Senju and since she felt the spike of nature energy, her feeling for nature energy started slowly growing. She will feel finally at home, feeling the chakra in that tree. And she will be completely aware of what kind of a powerful Mokuton technique this was as the nature energy will engulf her senses. And as Konan put it, she will be delusional enough to believe two Mokuton users emerged. And Tsunade Senju will be damned to not find them!
Without their knowledge, this small act of kindness toward the village will mark Rei and Konan as a target, no, an obsession for a very determined kunoichi who won't stop at anything to find them. Even if she had to turn the Elemental Nations upside down, rock by rock.
For, the sensitivity of Senju works in both directions. As she could somewhat feel the nature energy. The nature energy could feel her too. While not sentient, it could carry intent. Tsunade was too close to the linking and the intent clearly connected. It made her soul tremble as it felt the connection that was made. Even Tsunade didn't know why, but she wanted it. She craved it. And, unknown to her, a minuscule part of her soul... was already not hers
Rei and Konan woke up at noon, cuddled together, only to find out that the village is teeming with life. A particularly big caravan arrived in the morning and villagers were helping to unpack the tents, set a camp, and whatnot.
Rei and Konan clothed themselves and went out with the intention to go to the woods to train.
On their way, they were stopped by a man. One of the merchants. He was a burly thuggish looking man a little under 2 meters with shaggy black hair. He ogled Konan's body as if she was a piece of meat.
"Girl, wanna earn something?" He grinned at her.
The worried Village Elder was about to intervene when the man blinked and then froze. The tip of Rei's chokuto was right under his neck, as Rei coldly said.
"Try anything with my girl and your head will fly. Understood?"
The man started quivering. He might be strong but the boy in front of him was fast!
"I asked if we understand each other." Rei asked, his lips curling into a chilling menacing smile as the tip of his chokuto stabbed a little into the man's neck, just enough to draw blood.
The man wanted to fervently nod his head from the sheer fear he was feeling but then he remembered the sharp pointy blade on his neck and gulped. It hurt!
"Ye-yes!" He shrieked.
"Good." Rei smiled sweetly at the man. "And don't forget. This was your only chance. Next time I won't be so lenient."
He took his chokuto away from the man's throat and the man nodded fervently.
"Come on." Rei turned to Konan and gestured to her to follow with a slight gentle smile.
...
Rei and Konan returned to the village in the evening, exhausted from their training. They entered the house of the Village Elder, heading to the room that was given to them for 500 Ryo a day. Their insistence. The man needed it and they didn't plan to stay longer than three days. Tomorrow they will be off.
As they neared the staircase, one of the merchants suddenly approached them.
"Excuse me." He smiled amiably. "May I talk to you for a while?"
Konan looked at Rei who noted with the corner of his eye that the merchant spotted their little exchange but didn't comment. Rei felt something fishy about the man but... he was clearly a civilian.
Shrugging, Rei nodded and continued up the stairs with Konan. The merchant getting the message followed silently behind them.
They entered their room and Konan quickly flopped onto the bed. They were exhausted, not dirty. When one learns to draw water from the atmosphere, creating a bath is easy. Konan was always giddy when they bathed. After all, both Konan and Rei long ago forsake the propriety and started bathing together, going as far as making out during it. They wouldn't have sex until their bodies were physically ready and both were fine with that much intimacy. A bit of touching and kissing though...
Rei, seeing that Konan was already in the world of her own as she hugged her pillow to her chest with a blissful smile and daydreamed, decided to entertain the merchant.
He gestured to a chair in the corner and sat on the edge of his bed.
"So? How can I help you?"
The merchant rubbed the back of his head.
"Ah, I am Karubo Sazaro. Nice to meet you."
"Rei Yotsuba." Rei smiled and nodded.
"Actually, I wanted to ask if it would be possible to hire you to act as my bodyguards. I am actually heading out of the Ame as my business is concluded, you see. I am afraid to meet bandits along the way. I saw you handle Munuro this morning and immediately decided to try..." He laughed awkwardly.
"Hmmm." Rei pondered. The man was going out of Ame. That meant... they may be able to cross the border if they will be checked as his bodyguards.
Sure, they could cross it even without it but it would be much more dangerous if they were caught by either the country they were leaving or the one they were entering. This basically gave Rei a valid and legal reason to do so!
He smiled at the man and decided to ask more.
"I am tempted. But tell me more. How long would you need our service, the pay, you know, the usual." Rei told him casually.
Karubo, seeing Rei basically agreed if the conditions are good enough, decided to be quite generous.
"I offer you 500 Ryo each per day."
Rei raised his eyebrow at that. While not much, alright. But if they accept they would tag along at least half a month and that's without crossing the border as the civilian speed is very slow. That would be 7 500 Ryo for half a month.
500 Ryo per day may seem a little insufficient but it is quite generous in this day and age. Especially since there is no village backing him and Konan.
This would be a classic C-rank mission. Meaning they should get 50 000 Ryo if they were from a shinobi village. Well, not really since Ame is a war-zone but Rei doubted the merchant wanted to walk into a skirmish. Anyway, that amount would be divided between teammates and the village... Let's say, the village takes ten percent... who was he kidding. It would be more...
Anyway, hypothetically ten percent. That is 5 000 off.
Assuming it is a standard jonin, three genin team from Konoha, the jonin would get a lot more than genin. 20 000? 15 000? Maybe. The genin would be left with 10 000 each or less. More likely than not, less.
So, Karubo's offer of 7 500 for each Rei and Konan was fair. Incredibly so. They looked like children but showed skill. Karubo probably didn't want to spend the entire 50 000 Ryo for a proper team and wanted to save some money for himself.
Now, if he wanted Rei and Konan to accompany him further... their paycheck would only get fatter and if they left Ame... that would be considered a win in Rei's books.
"Okay. How long and to where would you need us to tag along?" Rei asked carefully and observed the man's mannerisms. It would not do for him to lead Konan into a trap, after all.
Karubo weakly smiled.
"I am going to Mizu no Kuni... uh, if you prove to be good, I would like you to accompany me there."
Rei froze. This was starting to sound fishy. Mizu no Kuni... fishy indeed.
That would take them to cross multiple borders and at least three months of travel by land to reach a port town and another few days on a boat. The paycheck was also big but most importantly...
"Ah, don't worry! You will be able to leave whenever you want!" The man started nervously waving his arms around.
Rei nodded.
"We can accompany you. But one of these days, you WILL tell me your real reason for approaching us." Rei told the man sharply, making him stiffen.
Karubo could only stiffly nod with a broken smile.
"I promise it is nothing detrimental to you nor your companion but I must know if you have skill first. If you don't, excuse me for my language, then it wouldn't matter."
Rei could feel the seriousness in his voice and accepted the answer.
"Fair enough."
"We are setting out tomorrow at noon."
"We will be there."
And with that Karubo left, leaving Rei alone. Thinking about this encounter. In the end, it is beneficial for him and Konan. If they managed to cross to other lands... Especially one of the Big Five where almost no skirmishes were happening, they could let loose more in their training. Right now they always trained and slelt with one eye open to avoid ambush...
Konan was not very eager to travel with the caravan. She grumbled that her alone time with Rei was interrupted when Rei was not around. She could see the mocking gazes of other guards who didn't see Rei handle the big thuggish man. They were looking at them as if they were baggage. In the end, Konan didn't care about their opinion but she thought it would be much better for her to travel with Rei alone. Not to say, faster! She didn't understand why Rei accepted the job since they had enough money from stealing. But she did not voice her complaints to Rei. She long ago decided to follow him. She would tell him only when she felt him doing something bad for his health.
Rei, contrary to Konan's beliefs, knew well enough how she felt. He even told her that this would help them legally cross the border but she didn't care. He knew Konan wouldn't mind blowing a few outposts to smithereens in order to cross the border with 'bang'. He could just exasperatedly shrug and cease caring.
...
Konan and Rei sat on Karubo's wagon, holding hands and just relaxing. It was a week since they started their journey with Karubo and so far, only a few bandits popped up that were handled by the other merchant's guards.
But today, just an hour ago, they left the caravan as Karubo was heading towards the Land of River as crossing to Land of Fire was easier through it.
Karubo was humming a song when Konan's hand suddenly tensed. Rei noticed it and instantly knew her papers were disturbed and activated his nature sensing... they were chased by a few people from the caravan. All of which were guards that looked at them mockingly. Rei sighed and nodded wearily at Konan.
He wanted to try his kenjutsu anyway so this was a good thing.
...
Twenty men suddenly jumped out of the foliage. Rei and Konan were watching them in complete disinterest since the men were as obvious as the sun in the sky as they tried to sneak around.
"Karubo! You better leave all your money here!" A blonde man with a katana shouted in a mocking and loud tone.
"Kaito! What is the meaning of this! My fath-, ahem..." Kurabo blushed but continued after clearing his throat. "Why are you doing this!?"
"Eh? Money... isn't it obvious? You made it so easy when you picked two children to protect you!" Kaito laughed while his group of misfits followed and also started laughing.
"Boss!" One man with a crooked nose pointed towards Konan and Rei, making Kaito nod.
"Boy! We can let you leave unharmed. But the girl stays. She is old enough to entertain us!" He condescendingly remarked.
It only proved to make Rei madder and his eyes grew cold.
Rei sighed as his cold eyes didn't leave Kaito and hopped down from the carriage. It was time to play with these guys. His hand held the chokuto as he approached the men.
He stood in front of the wagon, directly opposite Kaito and his goons, prepared for the fight.
"Will it be alright?" Karubo leaned towards Konan and asked quietly. "There are twenty of them!"
"It's fine." She rolled her eyes as her feet excitedly dangled from the wagon.
"See that, boys! The twerp wants to cha-" Kaito taunted but Rei already disappeared from his previous spot.
Rei channeled raiton chakra into his body. Not much but it helped to raise his speed. He appeared in the middle of the twenty thugs, his chokuto at the ready as he swung it in a circular motion, slicing through three of them at once.
The other thugs saw what happened and quickly jumped back warily.
Rei stood in the middle of their encirclement, holding his chokuto leisurely in his hand with a bored expression. Those men were no shinobi. They were mercenaries. But even then...
He sidestepped a sword swipe from the left and twisted his body to the left into a small jump as another sword approached him from the right side. As his feet touched the ground, he jumped up, raising his legs into crouch mid-air as weapons skewered the air where his torso previously was.
His feet dropped onto the bunch of collided weapons and with a spin, two men lost their heads. The other ten men who were holding the weapons, and therefore, in the range of his chokuto quickly let their weapons go and retreated backward, unsheathing their spare knives, katanas, or whatever they had. The weapons fell to the ground but Rei just lazily hopped down the second they were released from the hold of the thugs.
Kaito and four of his best were looking at the remaining ten of their subordinates, cursing that they already lost five to someone they called a child.
"Good. Let me handle this." Kaito sneered and took his katana out, charging at Rei who was looking at him in apathy.
Does the idiot even realize, I am not even using any chakra except the initial raiton dash?
He thought as he saw the man approaching.
Kaito saw Rei frozen in his spot as a winning smile spread through his face. He had the little shit! He will...
Rei coated his sword in raiton chakra and before Kaito could slash at him, he bisected both Kaito and his katana.
"And this is why you never fight against shinobi unless you are a skilled samurai or shinobi yourself." Rei shook his head with a 'tsk. tsk. tsk' noise.
"Shinobi..." The remaining fourteen men looked at their fallen leader and muttered surprised at what just happened.
Rei dashed into the group of four men who were Kaito's best and as he came closer, he swung his chokuto, parrying a slash. His body was still advancing and with a half-turn, it harmlessly passed the sword of his enemy and his chokuto dislodged from the parry, getting inside the guard of the attacker, cleaving through him.
Rei didn't stop. As his sword went through the man, he took out a kunai, twirling it through his fingers until it was high enough and he grabbed it tightly, blocking the sword of another man. Rei pushed his body towards that man, evading yet another slash from the third enemy, and as his body entered the personal space of the man whose sword he was blocking with his kunai, he pushed the sword aside, getting a clear path towards the man's neck with his kunai. The man didn't live long after that.
Rei stabbed the kunai up to the handle to the man's neck and let it go, grabbing the shoulder of the man, spinning his almost lifeless body into a slash, using it as a shield. The man who slashed was bewildered that he just killed a comrade and Rei's chokuto found a quick purchase as it pierced his head through the eye, right over the shoulder of the man he used as a shield.
Rei's other hand snaked around the neck of the man, grabbing the handle of the kunai still embedded in his neck and ripped it out, letting blood gush like a waterfall, the man who was used as a shield finally died while Rei flung the kunai to the forehead of the last man who was frozen from horror, killing him.
Ten seconds passed since Kaito died and none of his four lieutenants were still standing.
"Konan. Rest is yours." He shrugged, not really interested in fighting common mercenaries.
Konan nodded and ten high-speed, thin paper slices flew right into the chests of the other ten men, killing them.
Karubo could only stare in bewilderment. He was expecting it, alright. He knew the power of shinobi. But to see twenty men felled in under thirty seconds was still something chilling. Especially when done by kids around twelve!