Author's Note: Sorry for the long update time. I totally got sucked into playing Mass Effect Andromeda and then it was hard to switch my brain from Science fiction to Fantasy.
The training with the team finished for the day but I didn't immediately run for Kushina. I'd made the mistake of potentially revealing my plans for Kakashi by smiling at him and I resolved to wait for a while before I struck. It wasn't like I was on a time limit or something so I would be patient and then strike when he believed himself safe from reprisal.
After the training ended I was expecting Hina or Shisui to pressure me to find out what had happened, but other than giving one more curious glance they had left without a word. I'm sure that either Hina told her clan about it or they simply saw how different my chakra network looked after the surgery because at the end of the week I was given an invite to Hinata's, the current clans head's daughter's, birthday celebration.
Oh sure they also invited Kushina and the girls as well but it was mainly addressed to me. I found it curious that they didn't include Minato as well but after asking him about it later he said it was about the Hokage being neutral in clan affairs and not being seen as favoring one clan or the other. As such he would not be invited to these kinds of events unless they also invited every other clan head as well. Bah! Politics everywhere.
Either way I had more than two months' worth of notice before the actual event and after going over it with Kushina and Minato I decided to attend the event. Other than that I spent a large amount of time with Orochimaru and his apprentice in the medical labs where I was instructed to use Angel's Breath to bring male clones, with different bloodlines, to full health. I had an inkling about what they were being used for but it really wasn't my business and I didn't care.
Time continued to pass and I was cleared for duty once more after my week off. We took an easy C rank escort just to get back into the swing of things and then we were off taking harder missions. Months began to pass and when the time came I went to the birthday celebration of Hinata. Somehow, and I'm not quite sure how, the Hyuga were even more dry and boring during a ceremony than the Uchiha. The only saving grace of the entire thing was that they served exceptionally good food.
I was only too eager to give my gift, a bouquet of crystal flowers which took forever to get correct with my crappy control, and leave as soon as was politely possible. I had already cleared the gift with Minato and he had said it was an acceptable use of my new bloodline. Plus it would confirm their suspicions that something had happened to me and serve as a word of caution to prying too much or at least that's what the flower arrangement said. The language of flowers wasn't something I really studied but Kushina helped me out there.
My accepting of the Hyuga invitation might have been a mistake in the end though because then the offers started to come from the other clans as well. I literally couldn't decline them without seeming like I was snubbing them and that wouldn't due at all so I made my way through the clans. The Akimichi, the Nara and the Yamanka were allies with clan heirs all turning 1 at around the same time so they had a group celebration which I actually enjoyed. I even got into an eating contest with an Akimichi which drew in a crowd at the spectacle. My opponent was a… big fellow like most of the Akimichi were and as the dishes continued to pile up the crowd began cheering at us.
By the time our pile of dishes was twice my height he paused at his next bite of food and turned quite green before turning to the side and barfing. The surrounding crowd let out cheers or groans and I saw money being exchanged as I was announced the winner. The voucher for 50% off the next time I was at an Akimichi restaurant was nice as was the fact that my competitor had taken his defeat with grace and invited me to have a rematch anytime I was willing. Delicious free food was delicious free food and I took him up on his offer several times over the coming months.
Around 6 months after I had resolved to set Kushina on Kakashi for his porn reading habits I made a passing remark about it in front of her. There had been a terrible stillness like the calm before a storm as she spoke. "You said he reads orange books while on missions?"
I nodded cautiously. "And giggles a lot while he reads them. Hina said he was disgusting for reading such filth out in public but he just shrugged her off."
'And slipped her a couple of the books when they thought no one else was looking but I didn't need to rat her out.' She was a teammate and a friend whereas Kakashi was Minato's old student making him like my older brother in a way. An estranged antisocial one but a brother nevertheless and it was the duty of little brothers everywhere to get their older brothers in trouble.
"I see." Her eyes narrowed and a stony expression formed on her face. "I'll be right back I need to go take care of something." She flickered out of the room and I leaned back in my chair to address the empty room.
"So what will it take to not tell Kakashi about my involvement?" A small spy camera appeared on the table in front of me and I raised an eyebrow before nodding. "Pictures of his punishment? I can do that." I picked up the camera and tucked it away before I sped after Kushina to the chuckles of the hidden ANBU.
It was easy enough to find her as all I had to do was follow the heart rending wails of a man losing his most precious possessions. As I reached the source of the commotion I found Kakashi rapped in chakra chains, hanging upside down in the air, whilst Kushina stood next to a roaring bonfire and an impressive stack of books. "I've told you time after time not to read that pervert's smut but you just didn't listen now did you?" She negligently picked up a book and tossed it into the fire as he wiggled in his bonds.
"NOOOO! My precious! Not Mika and her promiscuous twin sister!" Fat anime style tears dripped out of his one visible eye and I laughed silently as I took pictures with the camera.
Kushina snorted and rolled her eyes at his exclamation. "Oh please, you're almost 15 get a girlfriend or something." She tossed another book into the fire and ignored his wailing laments. "At the rate you're going I wouldn't be surprised if Shiro got married before you. Now just hang there for a moment while I take care of the rest of the filth and then we'll have a nice long chat." I had everything I wanted out of this so taking one more photo I slipped away to head back to base.
Once I got there I threw the camera towards where I thought the ANBU was and was rewarded with watching it disappear. "I want copies of any of the photos for blackmailing purposes."
"Acceptable." A monotone voice drifted around the room seemingly coming from all around me.
"Great. Just drop them off when they're developed." I was interrupted with my discussion to the 'empty' room by Mito and Karin running in and demanding that I play dress up with them. I agreed of course, their puppy dog eyes were to powerful for me, but I did give a scathing look towards where I thought the ANBU agent was to warn them of the consequences of any candid photos that they might be tempted to take.
Life continued on and Kakashi was moody for a couple of months after Kushina's book burning torture. I was pretty sure that he knew I was responsible for the act yet nothing came of it for the time being. Regardless I would keep my guard up around him for as long as necessary. If I could wait 6 months then I'm sure he could as well. Other than that I continued to train my new bloodline and started going to tea ceremonies with Anko and her friend Kurenai Yuhi, a fair haired red eyed genin. Apparently she enjoyed tea ceremonies and after learning about me going with Hina approached me with the intent to join her. I didn't mind going and it was interesting to see her go from the slightly crazy kunoichi to a poised lady on the flip of a switch.
Time kept passing me by as my 7th birthday passed and a couple of weeks after word trickled down through the grapevine that Kiri had devolved into an outright civil war. That was about the extent of the information I heard before it seemed like Kiri cut off all outside contact. I knew from Saiko that Root was taking an interest in it and absconding with anything useful they could get their hands on during the chaos. I was not part of any of those missions though as I was still working with Orochimaru in his lab, learning how to be a better medic, and creating clones when necessary.
On what I'm sure was a completely unrelated note quite a few people seemed to be pregnant around the village. Even Saiko was showing a baby bump and boy did that throw me for a loop when I saw it. We had just finished a particularly difficult work out and retired to a mixed bath for a bit of relaxation when I saw that her baggy clothes had been hiding the slight swell of her stomach. "Are you pregnant?" I blurted out as soon as I saw her disrobe before I blushed at my outburst.
Luckily she seemed more amused at it than anything else and reached down to gently rub at her stomach. "Yes I am. It was time for me to start a new phase of my life so I did."
"Oh." Was all I could say as my thoughts reeled from this revelation. I had built Saiko up as someone so completely committed to her duty that she didn't have a life outside of being a kunoichi. Seeing proof that she did threw me off. "Congratulations. Who's the father?"
She turned to fully face me and as her dark eyes bore into mine she lifted an elegant eyebrow. "Why you of course."
'Error 404, does not compute.' My mind experienced a blue screen of death but I was soon drawn out of my mental breakdown by the sound of laughter and the click of a camera. With an iron focus of will I drew myself back to the present to see Saiko putting away a small camera and smiling at me. "Kakashi sends his regards for the prank. I might have to prank you more often if I get to see your face hold so much expression."
'A prank? Damnit I've been had.' Shaking the last vestiges of shock out of my system I spoke up. "So are you actually pregnant or was that part of the prank?"
A look I've never seen before appeared in her eyes as she smiled. "No that's real and you are more than partially responsible for me being pregnant."
'And there's the shock again.' "How?"
She pulled me into the bath so we could soak as we talked. "Your use of your jutsu when I was maimed restored my ability to have children. Then your work with Orochimaru allowed for me to have a donor to become pregnant."
"Oh." She smiled at me and leaned against the side of the tub, relaxing in the warm water. I took a quick look down at her stomach, partially hidden by the water, and back up at her before asking, "I could see how you could think that but how far along are you?"
"Two months. I was going to tell you sooner but Kakashi and Kushina conspired to prank you so I waited until I was showing."
"I'll have to destroy the camera." I muttered as she smirked at me.
"Good luck with that. I've already made copies and hidden the negatives away." I cursed silently in my mind. I guess being told you're a father was a greater shock than I thought because it's throwing me off my game. "Regardless I wanted to ask whether or not you would be the child's godfather?"
"I would be honored to but don't you have people who are older than me who you could ask?" My voice was cautious as I didn't want to offend her.
She shrugged and slipped further into the water. "My life was consumed by my duty to the village before I met you. I didn't have friends I had acquaintances and squad mates. After training, and practically raising you, you're one of the few people I'm actually close to that could be a godfather. I've already asked Kushina to be the godmother and she accepted."
"Then of course I accept but what's going to happen with Root and you training me?"
"We're setting up an identity at the moment but I'll either be a chunin within the cryptology department or heading into the Torture and Interrogation department. As for training you that will be put on hold when the pregnancy advances but I'll still have time after I give birth."
I let everything sink in for a moment before I slowly nodded. "Okay that makes sense. It'll just be weird seeing you without your mask on all the time. What would our cover be for why I'm interacting with you all the time?"
She sent me a look of approval before she responded. "You'll have saved my life during a border patrol that went wrong and being the grateful single mother that I am I latched onto you."
"Why not the other way around? Why am I saving your life instead of you saving me?"
"Because I'm supposed to be a nobody chunin in the field of cryptology whilst you're a rising star, the adopted son of the Hokage, winner of the Chunin Exams at age 6-"
"Alright, alright I get it." I cut her off as I frantically waved my arms in front of me. I guess I still have trouble when people are praising me like I did in my old life.
"Either way you'll be my little errand runner later. Consider it training for when you get married." I let out a slight groan at the thought of being at the whims of a pregnant woman again and sunk deeper into the water as she laughed at me. "Oh yes I'll be expecting foot massages every day and weird food combinations at all hours. Then when the baby is born you get to babysit them as well because the poor single mother needs her rest so soon after giving birth."
"You could tear through a squad of Iwa ninja and be back in time to kick my ass in training. You don't need rest." I muttered under my breath as she stood from the water and made to leave.
"True enough and don't you forget it. You're done for the night so you can continue to soak if you want." She paused at the doorway and looked back at me. "Thank you for accepting my offer."
"You're important to me so of course I accepted." I tried to wave it off as unimportant and she just hummed at my response before leaving me alone in the tub. I sank deeper into the water as she left and stayed there for a good long while as I came to terms with Saiko being pregnant. Eventually I was roused from my thoughts as a mixture of male and female Root members entered the tub and rising from the water I took my leave.
After Saiko's revelation and a good natured ribbing from Kushina the next time she saw me life continued onwards. About 7 months afterwards Mito, Karin and Kushina were able to return back to their home as Kushina had finally cracked the seal necessary to stop space time ninjutsu from being used within its field. I even helped set up the barriers around certain portions of Konoha, mainly the school, ANBU headquartes, Root bases, Kushina's house and several clan compounds.
We weren't able to cover Konoha completely because they did require chakra to maintain and Minato's signature move was a space time ninjutsu so cutting off access to his main weapon would be foolish. Regardless we deemed it enough and it was funny seeing Mito and Karin blink owlishly at all the people after their extended time underground. By now of course Saiko was off duty and as she had stated I was on gopher duty for her.
I think she got some kind of sick amusement sending me scurrying for the weirdest combinations of food. I shuddered at the memory of the salted pickle, hot sauce, chocolate with a dash of honey monstrosity. Sometimes I regret having perfect recall. Just a few short months later and Saiko gave birth to a baby boy with a tuff of brown hair and dark grey eyes. She named him Takashi and it was odd seeing such a stern woman cooing over her newborn baby.
Regardless my left hand glowed green as I brought it over my right hand to examine it. 'Yep, definitely shattered.' I went to work repairing it and ignored the amused glances I felt as I worked. 'Mental note to self, don't hold insanely strong women's hands when they're giving birth.' I was just finishing restoring my health to full when I heard Saiko speak.
"Do you want to hold him?" Glancing up I saw Saiko holding Takashi towards me wrapped in blankets and sleeping already. Apparently being born took it out of him. I carefully took him from her and cradled him in my arms as she smiled at me before letting out a huge yawn. She shuffled to the side of the bed and patted the space next to her so taking care not to disturb Takashi I laid down next to her and she wrapped an arm around me. It was silent for a moment as she pulled me closer and ran a gentle finger along Takashi's cheek before she let out another huge yawn. "I love you both." I heard her murmur as she fell asleep next to me.
A brief ball of warmth formed in my chest before it was swept away and I made myself more comfortable as I heard a clicking noise from above me. Looking up I saw an ANBU with a wolf mask taking photos and I raised an eyebrow at them. They let their chakra loose for an instant and I relaxed before subtly nodding at Kakashi. I guess he was sent by Kushina to get pictures. With the minor mystery solved I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep next to Saiko and my new godson.
The next few weeks were hectic as Saiko settled into the life of a new mother. I helped out when I could which was mainly getting Takashi back to sleep if he woke up in the middle of the night so Saiko could actually sleep. The perils of never having to sleep I suppose you get put on baby duty. Other than that it was… nice being able to see Saiko's face all the time although it still weirded me out a bit seeing her being so affectionate. Motherhood really does change people though.
Of course my life couldn't just revolve around Saiko and my godson as I spent plenty of time going on short missions, playing with Mito and Karin, and training, always training. I did have a break one day where Kushina took Mito and Karin to Mikoto's house where they were introduced to Sasuke for the first time. Sasuke, being 3 wasn't at the girls are icky stage yet so after a short awkward period they settled for playing ninja out in the garden while Itachi and I watched. He was recently promoted to chunin and while the vest was a bit too big for him at the moment it suited him. Our quiet conversation was interrupted by shouting from our younger siblings.
"Shiro is the best brother!" I looked over to see Karin angrily stomping her foot as Sasuke moodily stared back.
"No, Itachi is the best!"
"Shiro!" Mito joined in.
"Itachi!" Sasuke yelled louder as the two girls ganged up on him. They went back and forth while I looked back over to Itachi as the corner of my mouth twitched upwards in a smirk. Play along. I signaled to him and then rose to make my way towards the arguing children.
When I got close enough I spoke over them. "Well now it seems we have a disagreement on our hands." They stopped shouting and looked towards Itachi and I. "There is only one way to settle this." I made two crystal swords and tossed one to Itachi. "A duel to decide which brother is the best because there can be only one best big brother."
I pointedly ignored the feel of Itachi's deadpan stare that bore into my back as they cheered. "If you all get over to the porch we'll start our duel." They scrambled away and I turned to face Itachi. His eyes seemed to scream, 'Really?' but I just gave him a slight smile and glanced at our siblings who seemed to be vibrating in place they were so excited.
His eyes followed mine and he let out a nearly unperceivable sigh as he began to test the sword. I'm sure he would find it nearly flawless with the only problem being that I had made them look sharp but as dull as a butter knife. Finished with his inspection his eyes turned red as his fully matured sharingan stared at me. I raised an eyebrow at that. For all that he seemed to not care about this it looked like he really wanted to win. At an unseen signal we both moved and our swords clashed together.
Of course we both wanted to win but it was also a show for the siblings so while we were going fast we didn't go as fast as we could, merely extremely quick bordering on blurring for them and slow for us. It seemed to be enough for them as I could hear their excited yelling in the background and even Kushina and Mikoto had wandered out of the house to see what was going on. That seemed to be the signal to turn on the ridiculous and we both began using outlandish moves that would have gotten us killed but looked awesome. I even got in a double front flip with a downward slash as I jumped over his head. Totally ridiculous but it was fun.
It came to an end when we 'stabbed' each other through the chest and collapsed to the ground. There was three cries of dismay and I watched under my lidded eyes as Mito and Karin ran towards me. When they got close enough I sprang up and grabbed them both into a hug much to their shrieking delight. I just ignored their tiny fists hitting me for playing such a prank on them although Mito's had quite the amount of force behind them. Must be the Kyubi giving her strength.
Looking over I saw Itachi poking Sasuke on the forehead? Why would he do that? Ignoring it for the moment I focused back on Karin and Mito who were babbling on about how cool that was and if I'd teach them how to do that and on and on and on. Their impassioned questions brought me short as I realized that once they turned 4 their official training would begin. Sure they had been playing games that were disguised as training but now it would be serious.
My arms tightened around them at the thought and I resolved to make sure they were as ready as possible. There was no point thinking I could hide them from the world. Mito was the container of the Kyubi and needed as much training she could get while Karin was a natural sensor and they were both daughters of the Hokage to boot. Whether they were ready or not enemies would come for them but hopefully not until they were ready.
This thought filled my mind for the next several months as I turned 8 and both of them turned 4. Almost immediately it was apparent that Mito would be directed towards more physical training whereas Karin would have a standard workout plan for now. All this ran through my mind as I ran alongside them. Mito wasn't even breathing hard and indeed seemed unaware of any physical strain caused by the run while Karin was beginning to huff and puff.
We continued our run until Karin was about to collapse and I made a clone that continued onwards with Mito as I stopped next to Karin. She fell to the ground gasping for air and I gently pulled her back to her feet. "Let's make sure you stretch and have a cool down walk before you stop."
Her face was beet red from exhaustion but she managed to wheeze out, "Do I have to?"
"If you want to be an amazing ninja like your big brother you do." That seemed to be enough for her and she slowly started copying what I was doing. As soon as we were finished I got her a large jug of water which she drank from greedily as my clone and Mito ran past us. Karin didn't seem to notice at all and I took the jug away from her before she drowned herself which made her whine at me. "You've done your katas and exercise for the day so let's your on something different." I took out a piece of cloth and wrapped it around her head, covering her eyes in the process, then took her hands. "We're going to work on you sensing chakra."
"What's chakra?"
"Chakra is the spiritual and physical mix of energy we use to create jutsus." I saw she didn't really understand so I continued. "Think of it as your mind and your body's energy mixing together and flowing throughout you. Now I'm going to flow my chakra around and I want you to tell me which hand it's going to. Don't peek."
"O-Okay." She sounded unsure of herself which we would have to fix sooner rather than later. I channeled chakra into my right hand, her left, and the training started. We got to the point where I was moving around her and releasing chakra for her to pinpoint before I saw her start to become bored of the exercise. Her progress was phenomenal anyways so I decided to stop there as Mito bounded around trying to tag my clone. 'Jeez she has a lot of stamina. Only after 3 hours of running does it look like she's a little out of breath.'
Shaking my thoughts off I peeled the impromptu blindfold off Karin and scooped her up into a princess carry. "You did an amazing job today. At this rate you'll be a ninja in no time." 'Although I would push for her to be at least a midlevel chunin before she even stepped foot outside of Konoha but that wasn't going to be happening.'
Her face lit up in a blush and she wriggled in my grip before giggling as Mito face planted after taking a running dive at my clone. I raised an eyebrow at why my clone would allow that before I saw her bounce back up looking no worse for wear and tear after my clone. I felt a sweat drop form before I shook my head and went inside where Kushina would take over Karin's reading and writing tuition. After I dropped her off I left to go meet my team at the North Gate. We had a protection mission in the capital and I had to get going.
They were already waiting for me and after a quick greeting we headed off towards the capital. It took us the rest of the day but the mission didn't start until tomorrow so we simply checked into a hotel for the night and early the next morning we met our client.
As soon as I set eyes on the grease covered lump of lard that called itself a noble I felt a headache forming. I just knew this was going to be a pain in the ass to be around him and I was right. It took nearly 4 hours just to leave his sprawling house and between shouting at his servants he… well insinuation was a word that was lost on him. He was more blunt than a tree to the forehead.
His eyes roved up and down Hina and he would lick his lips from time to time with no attempt to hide his behavior. In fact he outright stated that she would be welcome to join him in his tent to keep his bed warm. In the 2 years that I've known her Hina has become far more graceful and dare I say beautiful, but she was only 12. While this society would think nothing of her being so young I was certainly bothered by it and while her Hyuga mask was in place I saw the signs that she was furious. Kakashi must have seen it as well as he signaled me to take her place in the inner circle of protection while she took my place.
As I passed her by she sent a grateful look my way and I noted the disappointed look on the lard's face before he took in my appearance and the creepy look was back. 'Damn pedophile,' I thought as a shiver went up my back.
Luckily we got underway soon afterwards but unfortunately the lard took a young street urchin with us as well. She was probably only 12 at the most and felt and looked like a civilian to us all but we had to be close enough to intervene if she was not no matter how disgusting the client so we took turns on top of his carriage listening to the sounds coming from within.
As the sun set and we made camp for the night the girl hobbled out of the carriage and went to the nearby stream to presumably clean herself up. I could smell blood on her and the water turned red once she entered it confirming it. As she slowly washed herself I considered the merits of hiring an A rank assassination after this mission was done and once she was fully clad once more I hopped down next to her.
"Miss, I'm a healer and I can heal you if you're injured."
"W-what?"
"If you're in pain I can make it go away." I said softly and I saw her hands tighten before she cautiously nodded. My hands glowed green and I ran them over her before focusing on the vaginal and rectal tearing while leaving the bruises for later. It didn't take long to heal them up and I took care of underlying issues of the bruises but didn't heal the blemishes because I didn't know how the pedo would react. Finishing up I took a step back and she gave me a look that was uncomfortably close to hero worship. 'I was no hero because if I was then I certainly wouldn't have left you at the mercy of his attention so please don't give me that look.'
"Thank you!"
I didn't say anything and simply leapt back up to the safety of the trees where Hina was waiting. She nudged me and sent a small approving smile my way when I looked over at her. I simply gave her a small nod as I went back to my assigned spot. Later I also saw Shisui and Kakashi each give me their own approval of my actions. Letting out a soft sigh I felt my headache intensify. This was going to be a long mission.
The rest of the week was much the same as we slowly plodded along the road towards Tanzaku Quarters, our destination, as each night I healed the girl. She never offered her name and I never asked but the awe and worship were still there even after I did nothing to stop her from gaining her wounds. The Pedo kept up his blatant offers to Hina and by the time we reached Tanzaku Quarters I knew Hina was close to killing him.
Perhaps luckily as soon as we reached our destination he took to drinking and gambling, what the town was famous for, before passing out rather quickly after losing a boat load of money. His servants carried him back to his hotel and we had a day free from his horrendous behavior which probably saved his life which was a pity although it saved Hina from getting into trouble.
The next day the Pedo's mood turned for the worse as he realized how badly he had lost and his ranting could probably be heard halfway across the town. He stormed out of the hotel and went straight back to the gambling table as though he could magically make up his losses. Of course he just lost even more and we had to step in when the bouncers for the place closed on him when he struck the dealer. That could have ended badly for them but they saw we were ninjas and backed down although I did see Kakashi slip some money to them as we followed our shouting client out the door.
The pattern repeated itself for the next few days and although the gambling halls bouncers stayed near Mr. Pedo they clearly didn't want to stop the flow of cash. After all why would you slaughter the cow when you could milk it dry? After losing a small fortune Mr. Pedo finally had enough and we left Tanzaku Quarters for the capital. Just another week of this and we would be through with this piece of shit.
The street urchin had the worst of it as each day she emerged more and more injured from the carriage and I kept healing her while leaving superficial marks on her so it wouldn't seem like she was being healed. This continued until the walls of the capital were in sight and I heard a roar from the carriage. With a bang the door was opened and she was thrown from the inside to land heavily on the side of the road.
Mr. Pedo emerged closely after her yelling up a storm and quite clearly deep into his alcohol. "You lazy whore! We had a deal and you broke it!"
"N-no I just-"
"No, you get nothing from me! In fact, ninja kill her!" The briefest of glances at each other told us we weren't going to follow that. We were paid to protect not kill, at least this time, and he was an ass. I jumped down next to her and took in the wild eyed panic in her eyes before focusing on Mr. Pedo.
"With all due respect sir. We'll take the girl away." I had every intention of placing a hit contract out on him later, or even killing him myself, but for now I had to appear nice to the servants.
His eyes bulged and a look of fury overtook him. "No! Do you have any idea who I am…" I kept half an ear to his self-important wank fest as I communicated with Kakashi. 'I think if I did it right I could skin him alive. It would be hard to do but Saiko did show me those interrogation techniques for a reason.' I finished signing Kakashi and he laid down on a branch looking like he was about to fall asleep as he left everything to my discretion. The lazy bastard.
"… Well?" I mentally reviewed everything he said. If my memory was correct, and it was, he was a branch house of a branch house of a minor noble house. So a spoiled man child living off the last bit of prestige and fortune of his ancestors. Well if he wants to throw around titles might as well indulge him.
I raised my nose in the air and stared down at him even though he was taller than I was. It was a simple technique. All you had to do was imagine the other person as less important than pond scum which was easily achieved in this case. "I'm the son of the Hokage." I said quietly but my voice rang throughout the convoy.
"So no I will not be strapped down to your bed and have my ass fucked until I bleed. Furthermore I think the Hyuga and the Uchiha clans wouldn't take kindly to their members being treated likewise." It took a moment to sink into that thick inebriated skull but Mr. Pedo turned pasty white when he realized just who he had insulted. I must say it did nothing for his looks at all and my nose wrinkled as an odious smell wafted past me before his eyes rolled back into his head as he fainted.
'Really?' I stared at his collapsed form for a moment before I had several of the servants lift him back into his carriage and double time it for the city. We still had the mission to finish and as soon as he was back inside his house we would take our pay and leave. As the convoy began to move at a pace that wasn't comparable to a snail I created a clone that went to work healing the girl as chakra strings floated her alongside me.
Her wide eyed stare lasted all of five minutes before she was able to speak up. "What are you going to do with me?" I mentally sighed. 'I have no idea really.'
"How much were you going to be paid?" I asked mostly to stall for time.
"500 ryo." I narrowed my eyes at her in warning and she rephrased it. "250 ryo."
'Damn. Only a little more than two braces of kunai.' "Do you have any marketable skills? Oh, and don't lie I'll know."
She bit her lip and my clone popped as it finished its job. "I don't know? Could I be like you?" There was the hint of hero worship again. I glanced over to Hina and her veins around her eyes bulged briefly before she minutely shook her head. That just confirmed what I was sensing from her. A minuscule amount of chakra that would probably take years of work to even reach genin levels. Sure back in my first life with a little work she would have been a world class Olympian but here that just wouldn't cut it.
"While that remains an option if you pursue it on your own I can't help you there."
"Oh." She said sadly.
"Is there anything that interests you besides being a ninja that you could work towards?" I was kind of just throwing things out here. I could just give her money and send her on her way but she would probably be mugged or killed over it within a week if I gave her any appreciable amount.
"Sewing?" She said after a long pause but I latched onto it. I sent some clones ahead as the convoy pulled into Mr. Pedo's house. A quick search yielded our B rank pay and I went towards where I found the Tailoring Guild. A little bribe money to take on another apprentice and a formal apprenticeship was signed for the urchin I now knew as Suzume. Before I left I made 5 scrolls with 4,000 ryo each and handed them to her along with instructions on how to open them.
Then we left because she was giving me vibes that she was going to hug me and I really couldn't take that from someone I basically left to be tortured for two weeks because it would reflect badly on Konoha. She had a roof over her head, food, money if she was smart enough to hide it and a future beyond spreading her legs. That was all I could reasonably do for her.
The run back to Konoha was quiet although the tension racked up when we started encountering multiple squads of ninja roaming the area. Thankfully they were friendly but we were challenged almost every twenty miles. Konoha was out in force and I had no idea why. The gate guards were no help and they just stated that we all needed to check in with either or clans or families at once. I said my hasty goodbyes and set off for home as quickly as possible.
I could feel Mito and Karin upstairs while Kushina was in the living room. As soon as I entered her head whipped up and she gave me a sad smile before beckoning me over to her. "Mom, what's happening?"
"Kumo," she spat out before taking a moment to compose herself. "You know how the peace delegation arrived last week?" I nodded and she continued. "Well it was apparently a ploy the whole time. Not even a day after the ink was signed the lead delegate snuck into the Hyuga compound and tried to kidnap their heiress. He didn't get far before he was killed and she was returned unharmed but it seems like more than one elder was in on it and now Kumo is demanding the head of the clan head for killing the leader of the peace delegate."
I blinked heavily at that. "What kind of idiots do they take us for? In fact why would they even attempt this? Kiri is exploding internally, Iwa is practically tapped out for manpower and while our allies Taki and Suna were also hit hard they should come to our defense. They have no allies and nothing to gain from this. Their reputation will also take a huge hit for using their diplomatic immunity to try to kidnap a clan heiress."
She shook her head and sighed heavily. "All points that Minato has raised to both me and the clan heads. We won't give into their demands and it looks like things are taking a turn for the worst."
"So it will be war then?" She pulled me onto her lap then stroked my hair with one hand and hugged me with the other.
"I don't know."
Age: 8 years - 1 month
Title: Root Shinobi, Son of a Kage
LVL: 28 - 67% to next LVL
HP: 1,610/1,610
Chakra: 63,714/63,714
Elemental Affinity: Water, Earth
Bloodline: Crystal Release
STR: 169(219)
VIT: 161
END: 159
DEX: 174(191)
INT: 151(161)
WIS: 132(141)
LCK: 30
Points: 74
Money: 671,359
Skills increased:
Yin Manipulation 35 - 65
Yang Manipulation 35 – 65
Water Manipulation 92 – 100: Prestige of Water Resistance: Decreases the damage of water based attacks by 0.5% at LVL 1: Now LVL 10
Lightning Manipulation 70 – 100: Prestige of Lightning Resistance: Decreases the damage of lighting based attacks by 0.5% at LVL 1: Now LVL 3
Fire Manipulation 25 - 48
Wind Manipulation 53 – 84
Crystal Release 1 – 56
Earth Manipulation 1 – 45
Angel's Breath 3 – 5
Apprentice Mystical Palm to Journeyman to Expert: Heals 40hp/min internal injuries
Known Earth and Fire techniques maxed with ongoing prestige skills
Kenjutsu Adept 7 – Expert 6
Giant Strength – Giant Strength 1: 30% bonus to STR
Troll Regeneration – TR 1: 3% Bonus to health regen
Iron Skin – Steel Skin: 30% damage reduction
Chakra Pool – CP 1: 30% increase in chakra capacity
Pain tolerance 28 – 36
Poison Resistance 61 - 71
Meditation 63 – 76
Sneak 89 – 97
Sense Chakra 69 – 78
Transparent Escape 1 – 10
Unseen Threat (Passive) LVL 10 Max
The haze that surrounds the user when moving will be decreased at the cost of speed.
Decreases haze effect by 100%
Decreases movement speed by 90%
Fuinjutsu Foundations 89 – 100
Seal Manipulation( Active(Varies)) LVL 10
The art of increasing or decreasing the size of a preexisting seal by 100%.
Blood Seal(Passive) LVL 8 – 89
The art of substituting blood instead of a mixture of blood and ink.
Puppy dog eyes 4 - 41
Skills Learned
Crystal Sword (Active D rank (100(61))) LVL 10 – MAX
Creates a sword of varying length and size anywhere on the users body.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Prestige skills
Crystal shurikens (Active D Rank (100(61))) LVL 10 – Max
Creates a storm of crystal shurikens that fly towards an enemy.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Prestige Skills
Jade Crystal Prison (Active C Rank (250(152))) LVL 10 – Max
Encases a single target in crystal. If the crystal is shattered, the victim disintegrates along with the crystal particles.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Prestige skills
Crystal Armor (Active/Passive B Rank (500(305))) LVL 10 – Max
The user can create a shell of crystal that surrounds the user protecting them from harm. If the user is completely covered an additional 100 chakra is used per minute to sustain the technique but the armor can be created and not actively moved resulting in just the initial cost.
Decreases casting time by 50%
*Prestige Skills
Tearing Crystal Falling Dragon (Active A Rank (1000(610))) LVL 8 – 56
The user crystallizes a material in the area and then turns it into a dragon. It can be used as a means to attack or to travel. Several dragons can also be used at once.
Decreases casting time by 40%