Chapter 2: The White Haired Prodigy (2/2)
12 Years ago:
It was a quiet day in Konoha; there were some signs of rain and slightly cold wind blowing from the south.
The Toad Sage was currently in the home of Sarutobi Hiruzen, his old Sensei and father figure. The two were sitting down, having a long talk, while they waited for their other guest to appear.
"I must ask, do you think Tsunade is still living in Tanzaku or that she has moved on already?" Hiruzen asked his old student.
"Hard to say, I didn't exactly see her on my way out," it's been nearly a month since he bumped into Tsunade.
Jiraiya himself doesn't really remember how he left Tanzaku. He remembered waking up naked on top of a tree with the worst hangover ever. He had asked Minato what kind of sake it was, the Fourth Hokage explained that it was a very special sake, because there were only a few bottles in existence, and the man who brewed them passed away without showing anyone the recipe for it. Jiraiya didn't really give any details about the events that happened, only that he had a horrible hangover because of it, which Minato laughed at and apologized for not warning him about.
Although there was something on Jiraiya's mind since that day— he swore that he heard Tsunade's voice, but everything went blank before he woke up on top of that tree.
His thoughts were interrupted by his former student Minato, who just entered the room.
"You two didn't start without me, did you?" Minato asked his former sensei and the former hokage.
"Of course not," Hiruzen answered.
At times Jiraiya, Minato, and Hiruzen would get together to play cards. It was a pastime they did at least once a week. Minato looked forward to it since he would often get a bit stressed out as Hokage, due to the enormous amount of paperwork that he had to get done.
Meanwhile, at the main gates of Konoha.
Two young chūnin assigned to the post were severely bored due to the lack of traffic in and out of the city. One of them was tapping his foot anxiously, while the other was trying to take a nap. Both of them were subconsciously wanting something interesting to happen.
Unfortunately, they got their wish. They heard very loud sounds coming toward the village and heavy tremors shaking the ground.
"What is this?" The chūnin, who was trying to take a nap, asked.
"Is this an earthquake?" The other one asked.
As the tremors got stronger and the sounds louder, the two chūnin looked outside of the gate and saw two women approaching the village.
"Oh, Kami, that's Tsunade."
"The Slug Princess?"
She was approaching the village; they could both see she was furious, as there was a black aura surrounding her, and every step she took, left a small web-like pattern on the ground. Not to mention the red fire in her eye,, that would send even the mightiest and bravest shinobi cowering into a corner.
Following Tsunade was a fair-skinned girl of average height and slender build, with onyx eyes and jet-black hair; her hair is straight and shoulder-length with bangs that cover her ears and frame her face. She was following the Slug Princess, desperately trying to calm her down.
They passed the two chūnin, who had absolutely no courage to even attempt entertaining the idea of trying to stop them.
"Who do you think put her in a state?" the sleepyhead chūnin asked.
"Whoever it was, they're dead meat," spoke the anxious chūnin, curiously wondering who it was.
The two chūnin started to imagine what she was going to do once she caught whoever wronged her, horrible flashes started to pass through their heads, causing them to silently pray for the person who was about to meet a terrible fate.
"Hah! I won!" Jiraiya cheered, he had won the second round of the game.
"Alright, be honest Sensei, are you cheating?" Minato asked, frustrated, as he was having a hard time believing Jiraiya had those exact cards by pure luck.
"Yes, I'll have to agree with Minato on this one," Hiruzen said, smoking his pipe.
"Oh come on you two, I'm just very lucky today," Jiraiya spoke, with a big smile.
Unfortunately, the Toad Sage's happiness was short-lived. The three started hearing very loud noises, quickly growing louder, and getting closer to the room they were in. The noises made them feel uneasy as they got closer and closer. Before they knew it, someone kicked the door down, making it fly in the direction of the table they were sitting on. The three quickly jumped out of the way, preparing themselves to see who the intruder was.
Only to make very confused faces when they saw that the intruder was none other than Tsunade.
"There you are, you perverted bastard! When I get my hands on you, I'm going to rip your manhood through your ass!" Once she yelled that both Minato and Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya apprehensively, wondering what exactly Jiraiya did to make her this furious. The Toad Sage, on the other hand, subconsciously took a step back in fear, covering his manhood at the mental image his mind had conjured up.
"What did you do now, Sensei?" Minato asked, thinking that whatever his sensei did to earn this amount of anger from her, must have been the worst thing he has ever done.
"Nothing, I didn't do anything!" Jiraiya replied quickly, his tone sounding very near desperation.
As Tsunade approaches the three men, several ANBU members enter the room to defend the Hokage. "Tsunade-sama, please stop your advances towards the Hokage, or else we will have no choice but to use force—" one of the ANBU spoke, but froze mid-sentence, when Tsunade locked eyes with him, he saw nothing but promises of pain, suffering, and a dash of living hell on earth in those honey-colored orbs.
Tsunade glared at the other ANBU, and they swore her eyes were drilling holes into their heads. She spoke in a tone that all but guaranteed pain and death if he did not listen and obey, "If you and your friends here know what's good for you, all of you will move and stay out of my way. Because if you don't, by the time I'm done with you, the Medic-nins won't be able to tell the difference between your asses and your heads."
All the ANBU looked at one another, and silently nodded in agreement, as if they could read each other's mind, they turned to Minato who was looking at them in silent curiosity before they spoke in strange unison, "Forgive us, Hokage-sama, but we enjoy living too much and having our body parts the way they are now," all the ANBU spoke together, at which point they used the Body Flicker Jutsu to escape the room.
Although Minato was sure that he wasn't in any danger, this made him slap his forehead in frustration. "Cowards! What happened to protecting and serving the Hokage with your lives?!" he spoke in frustration, looking at the previous Hokage.
"Minato, my boy, I don't think Tsunade was threatening them," Hiruzen could tell that Tsunade meant what she was saying, which disturbed him even more, and he had the urge to follow their example and get out of there because he could tell that she was there to kill someone.
Tsunade started to walk towards Jiraiya, who was inching back in fear.
"Hey now, Hime, I don't know what you think I did, but I'm innocent," apparently, saying that, only made things worse, as the fire that was already in Tsunade's eyes grew wider, she grabbed the Toad Sage by the neck, and smashed him against the wall.
"Innocent! You dare tell me that you're innocent, you bastard!" Tsunade yelled in response.
Seeing the situation play out, Minato decided to say, in a desperate attempt to save his sensei from his demise at the hands of the Slug Princess. "Listen, Tsunade, I don't know what Jiraiya Sensei did to make you so mad, but I'm sure, whatever it was, we can work it out, without the need for violence."
She looked at Minato. "Oh yes, I almost forgot, this is your fault, too!" she yelled at the Fourth Hokage.
After Minato heard that, his face turned into confusion. "What? What did I—" Unfortunately, before Minato could finish his question, Tsunade grabbed his collar and smashed him into the wall right beside Jiraiya.
Now holding the Toad Sage by the neck and the Yellow Flash of the Leaf by the collar, both men feared for their lives; although, neither of them knew exactly what they did to be in this situation.
"Wait! Wait! What did I do?" Minato desperately asked.
"You gave this perverted bastard, that weird sake!" Tsunade yelled at him. "He used to take advantage of me while I was too drunk to think straight."
Minato quickly looked at his sensei, who looked as confused as him. Minato came to a conclusion. Did they spend the night together while drunk on the special sake? he thought.
"Wait a minute?! What are you talking about, Hime? I woke up naked on a tree after drinking that sake." Jiraiya told her.
"You woke up in my room, and I threw you out through the window after I realized what you did!" Tsunade yelled back, tightening her grip on his neck.
All three men had different reactions after hearing that.
Hiruzen was paralyzed, hoping that this was all a big misunderstanding and that Jiraiya didn't do what Tsunade is accusing him of.
Minato was shocked and feeling guilty because this misunderstanding started because he didn't warn his sensei of how potent the sake was.
Jiraiya, on the other hand, had one particular thing in mind. I spent the night with Hime— and I don't remember a thing! Jiraiya thought in agony, because just the idea that he got to partake in the fruits of those heavenly bosoms of hers, and not remembering, was a fate worse than death. Even while he was being strangled to death by her, he was using all his mental capabilities to try and remember. Was she a moaner or a screamer?! Please, I need to know! The Toad Sage cried internally, trying to remember.
Suddenly, Shizune finally catches up with Tsunade, and enters the room, she sees the entire scene, while panting in fatigue. Hiruzen sees her and decides to talk to her. "Hello, Shizune," he greeted. "I assume you already know what is going on," he says, nodding her head in response, putting her hands on the former Hokage's shoulders.
"Please, Hiruzen, you gotta make her calm down," Shizune spoke , her voice full of worry.
"I don't think there's anything I can do," Hiruzen remarked, puffing his pipe while observing the situation again.
"Please! Tsunade can't have this amount of stress in her condition," Shizune pleaded, very near desperation.
Hiruzen's expression quickly turned to one of worry. "What condition?" he asked, concerned.
Shizune approached his ear and whispered something.
The moment he heard what she said, Hiruzen's eyes grew the size of saucers on his wrinkled face, as his jaw hit the floor, making his pipe fall from his mouth. He turned to look at Tsunade, who was still strangling Jiraiya, and holding Minato tightly; slowly, he approached and looked at her angry face. "Tsunade... is it true?" he asked.
"Didn't you hear what I said just now! This filthy pervert took advantage of me while I was too drunk to think straight!" She repeated what she said previously.
"Tsunade, it was my fault, okay. That was a special sake that I had stored, I forgot to warn him that it was stronger than regular sake," Minato quickly clarified. "Please don't kill my sensei!" he begged.
"Oh... so that's what happened," Hiruzen spoke as he looked at Minato. "But that's not what I mean. What Shizune just told me is true?"
Tsunade closed her eyes in frustration before finally letting go of Jiraiya and Minato. "Yes."
"What? What is going on?" Minato asked, getting off the floor and went to check on his sensei, who appeared to be more damaged by the fact he didn't remember the night he spent with Tsunade, rather than almost being strangled to death by her.
"I'll say it plain and simple so you two dumbasses can understand!" she yelled at Minato and Jiraiya, who froze in fear. "That perverted bastard sensei of yours got me pregnant!" she roared.
This, of course, got an immediate reaction from the two famous shinobi.
Minato's eyed grew almost inhumanly wide, making it look like they were going to jump out of his eye sockets.
Jiraiya was doing a perfect imitation of a gaping fish since his brain had shut down, simply not being able to compute what his ears just absorbed.
Shizune couldn't blame them since she was in the same boat when she found out. When Tsunade told her that Jiraiya got her drunk on some weird sake, and took advantage of her, she knew that there was an explanation for it, but the entire situation still sounded absurd to her.
"Tsunade, please, calm down! All this stress isn't good for the baby," Shizune pleaded.
Surprisingly, this comment seemed to have gotten through to Tsunade. She paused to gather her thoughts and started to calm down a bit after taking a deep breath.
Jiraiya's brain started working again, and he approached Tsunade. "Y-y-you're p-p-preg-pregnant?" Jiraiya barely uttered above a whisper, since his brain hadn't completely recovered from the sudden shut-down.
"Isn't that what I just said, you damn pervert?!" Tsunade retorted with gritted teeth, severely wanting to gauge his eyes out with a blunt senbon while simultaneously trying to control herself.
"Ju-Just tell me one thing... Did we really— Can you please give me the details?"
The elder Sarutobi smacked his palm to his face and covered his eyes in embarrassment, partially because Jiraiya was never one of his brightest pupils, and also because he wouldn't have to see the dismemberment and murder of someone he considered a son at the hands of someone he considered a daughter. The Sandaime had the right idea since Tsunade swiftly pounced on Jiraiya like a real live cougar while screaming out, "You damn Pervert!" before proceeding to beat him within an inch of his life.
"Tsunade, please!" Shizune begged her. The dark-haired girl was fearful of what the stress would do to not only the baby but to her sensei as well. Even the little piglet Tonton was trying to get her master to calm down by biting and pulling at Tsunade's high heeled sandals.
Minato, who was still in astonishment at what Tsunade had told them, spared a small part of his mind to feel sorry for his sensei since it technically was his fault that the man was probably about to be sent to the afterlife.
Not even a few seconds in, the self-proclaimed super pervert was screaming out in pain, and begging for mercy, but, unfortunately, he was receiving none, as Tsunade continued to beat the father of her baby to within an inch of his life. After about ten minutes or so, Tsunade had mauled Jiraiya to the point that he didn't even look human anymore, and shouldn't be alive by all rights; Shizune was finally able to calm her sensei down again.
After the ordeal was done, Sarutobi approached his former student. "I can't believe it, how are you feeling?"
"Not great, Sensei!" Tsunade spoke, still angry.
"You're going to be a mother; you can't tell me the only thing you're feeling right now is rage," Hiruzen prompted.
Tsunade took a deep breath before speaking. "Well... excluding the fact that the pervert over there is the father... It actually feels— nice."
Hiruzen couldn't help but smile, after hearing that. Since she was a child, Tsunade might finally heal from her depression that she had been falling down since the loss of her lover, Dan, and her little brother Nawaki. Even though he knew Tsunade might be disappointed that it was not Dan's child she was carrying, it didn't change the fact that it was her child, and she would love it all the same, that he was sure of.
"Aaaahhh.'' A small grunt came from Jiraiya, who everyone kept thinking that he had to have some sort of bloodline limit or something to be able to receive so many injuries and survive. He stood up from the ground, although he didn't look so good.
"Congratulations, Sensei! You're gonna be a father." Minato said happily to his sensei.
Jiraiya was still in agonizing pain from the beating he just received, but he couldn't help smiling. [
"As much as I hate to ruin this great news, there are matters that we must discuss," Hiruzen quickeningly interrupted whatever anyone was going to say next. "Tell me, Tsunade, does anyone else know that you're pregnant?"
"Other than you, Shizune, Minato, and the perverted bastard over here, then no," Tsunade said while pointing at Jiraiya and Minato.
"That's good."
"Why is that good?" Tsunade asked with a confused look.
"Tsunade, you are the last living member of the Senju Clan. Even though your clan has long been diminished in numbers, the Senju's power and prestige is still well known and respected all over the Five Great Shinobi Nations. The fact that you're carrying a child means that he, or she, will be the clan's heir," Sarutobi explained. "They will attempt to kidnap your child in the hopes of holding them hostage in order to force you to do what they want, or to train them, to fight for them. Other villages may just kidnap them and use the child to rebuild the Senju Clan in their territory," this explanation gradually made Tsunade more worried. "And let's not forget that both you and your clan still have many enemies out there that would like nothing more than to end the Senju bloodline once and for all, or would just like to hurt you by killing your child."
After hearing that, she instinctively wrapped both her arms around her abdomen protectively as more and more dangerous possibilities swarmed through her mind for her child's future. She hadn't really considered the dangers her child would face just because of their lineage.
"This is why we need to make a plan," Sarutobi added. "Perhaps you could come back to the village an—" he tried to suggest before being interrupted.
"No! I told you before I will not stay in this accursed village. Besides Shizune and this child, I've lost every single member of my family to it. I will not lose another person to this village again!" she stubbornly stomped her foot down on the floor, causing the room to shake, making her point clear.
"Tsunade, you can't go around traveling while you're pregnant! You're putting our child in danger." Jiraiya was quick to argue.
"My child! Like I'd ever let you anywhere near them," Tsunade retorted. "Especially if it's a boy, cause there's no way in hell, that I'm letting you turn him into a pervert like you!" she assured him.
"Hey! That's not fair." Jiraiya rebuffed. "I know that you're still mad at me, but you can't keep me away from their life."
"Watch me, Pervert!" she snapped.
For the next hour, a full-blown argument between the two parents happened, with Hiruzen, Shizune, and Minato observing from afar.
"Why do I have the feeling that this is going to happen often from now on," Minato commented.
"Because it will," Hiruzen added.
"Oh boy, I'm going to have to cover the baby's ear when this happens," Shizune remarked, imagining this type of argument happening in front of the child.
"Oink, oink!" Tonton squealed, and Shizune was sure she was agreeing with her.
The three only stood there, watching the future parents argue about their unborn child.
I wonder what their child will turn out to be? Hiruzen thought while thinking about the future.
Present day:
The shadow clone of Senju Seiryu was currently fighting with a boy named Rock Lee.
As the two were attacking each other, they quickly realized that the fight was proving itself very challenging for both of them.
Seiryu's clone was having difficulty defending himself against Rock Lee's attacks. Lee was considerably faster than Seiryu, but his attacks aren't as powerful. He successfully managed to block his attacks so far. His fighting style was very interesting, Seiryu himself was curious where Rock Lee learned to fight like this.
Rock Lee, on the other hand, was being exceptionally cautious with Seiryu's attacks. The moment that the two charged at each other, Lee could tell that Seiryu's strength was superior to his, which wouldn't be a problem because usually stronger opponents were slow and easy to outmatch with speed, but Lee quickly discovered that this was not going to be the case. Although Lee was faster, Seiryu's speed almost managed to surpass him, and that, alongside his strength, made him a dangerous opponent. So far, Lee managed to evade his attacks, because he knew if his attack landed, the damage would be high.
Seiryu threw a punch which Lee evaded by moving his head to the left, but he followed the attack with a spinning back-fist, which Lee also evaded by doing a back handspring, creating a distance between the two. The distance was short lived as Seiryu threw a side-kick, which Lee moved aside to evade, then, he fakes a high kick that Lee prepares to evade, but was fooled, and Seiryu threw a low kick that landed on his leg.
Lee instantly felt the damage from the kick, but he didn't have time to recover due to Seiryu following it with a spinning-kick. Lee moved his arms up to block the impact; however, the kick sent him flying into a nearby tree, making him crash on it.
He's good. I wonder if I would be winning if he was using his full potential, Seiryu thought, as he saw Rock Lee standing up from his attack; he could tell he was holding back because of the terms he put on the fight.
In contrast, Lee had something else in mind. He's great! I definitely picked a worthy opponent. Lee thought, standing up to continue.
Meanwhile, Seiryu's other clone was sitting down on a bench, having a nice cup of tea with very nice company.
"Despite its usefulness, Genjutsu is rarely employed, most shinobi preferring the real, tangible effects of Ninjutsu and Taijutsu over the imagined effects of Genjutsu."
After meeting Yūhi Kurenai at the bookstore, Seiryu noticed that she was carrying books about Genjutsu, and when asked about it, he discovered that she was actually a jōnin specialized in Genjutsu. Seiryu couldn't resist and asked her several questions, to his surprise, Kurenai was actually very enthusiastic about it, and before he knew it, he was carrying a pile of books that involved Genjutsu (not that it was a problem to him, his parent weren't very knowledgeable about Genjutsu, and he could use the extra information).
As soon as she finished picking up books for him, she asked if he wanted some tea, which he accepted. The two sat down on a bench and talked more about the subject.
"I heard that it's because the difficulty of performing Genjutsu in the first place presents an additional barrier to its use," Seiryu argued with her.
"Genjutsu required precise chakra control in order to manipulate the target's senses, and advanced intelligence to make the illusion convincing," she explained to him. "Those are prerequisites that several lack." Kurenai looked at the sun. "I'm sorry— I have to go meet someone."
"Oh, Okay." Seiryu finished his cup of tea and grabbed all the books that he purchased. "Thanks again, for the tea and for helping me find useful books."
She smiled before also standing up from the bench. "It was no trouble! If we meet again, and you have more questions, feel free to ask."
He nodded in appreciation and turned his back to her, walking in the direction of his apartment.
"Alright, Class, that's it for today," Iruka spoke to everyone. "Now, remember…"
Seiryu was bored in class; mostly, he already knew everything that Iruka was teaching. He also had to deal with everyone eyeing in wonder, though it wasn't that bad, he heard several things coming from the other students.
Things like:
"Do you think he's strong?"
"He's the son of the Slug Princess, of course, he is."
"We're gonna see it tomorrow. I wonder who he's going to face on the Taijutsu test."
"He's so handsome."
"Yeah, but Sasuke is more."
"Do you think so? I think Senju-sama is more."
"Senju-sama does have prettier hair, though... I wonder what he does to look so nice."
"Do you think he can beat Sasuke?"
Among similar things, he kept hearing. He already figured out that Sasuke was the last member of the Uchiha Clan. The Uchiha used to be rivals of his own clan and the most powerful clan in the village. Until their infamous massacre. Now, the title of the most powerful clan in the village definitely goes to the Hyūga.
He also noticed that Sasuke, just like everyone else, was eyeing him. But, Seiryu noticed that he was eyeing him in a more calculating form.
He doesn't look like much, but I can't judge on appearances, Sasuke thought, as he analyzed Senju Seiryu. Sasuke really wanted to know if Seiryu lives up to the legendary standard the Senju Clan possesses.
"Tomorrow, don't forget to arrive on time for the exam." Iruka finally ended the class.
Everyone got up and made their way to the exit. Seiryu was hungry and was planning on getting some lunch. Except, before he did.
"Hey, Hinata!" Seiryu called Hinata, who was making her way towards the door.
"Y-Y-Yes S-S-Seiyu-sama." Hinata shyly answers, looking down.
"Do you want to go out with me to eat something?" Seiryu asked with a smile, which made her already red face become an even deeper shade of red.
"Y-Y-You a-actually w-wa-want t-to g-go o-o-out w-with m-me?" Hinata nervously asked; she couldn't believe that Seiryu thought she was someone worth going out with.
"Yes, I don't know many people here, and I really don't like eating alone," Seiryu replied while scratching his head. "But, if you don't want t—"
"No! N-no I-I'd lov-love to." She quickly assured, stuttering like always.
"Great, it's good to have a friend to eat with," Seiryu told her.
"F-F-Friends?" Hinata asked. She did not have many friends, other than her younger sister; the majority of the other students stayed away from her, thinking she would not talk to since since she came from one of the most noble clans in all of Konoha, not to mention many of the students thought Hinata was weird as she hardly ever spoke, always stuttered, and never looked at people in the face, looking down all the time when speaking to someone.
"Yes, well... if you want to be friends with me," Seiryu replied.
"I... I do." Hinata answered.
"Great, let's go then." he signals her to follow him, which she does, still a bit red from the invite.
The two walked behind the rest of the Academy students who were all talking. As they passed through them and finally exited the Academy, Seiryu instantly became frustrated when he saw Konohamaru sitting on a swing in a tree in front of the Academy. Seiryu quickly approached him to talk. "Seriously?"
"Hey, Boss." Konohamaru greeted him.
"Why are you following me?" Seiryu bluntly asked the boy.
"I want you to teach me that jutsu with the water," Konohamaru told him. "I'm not stopping until you do."
Seiryu slapped his forehead in regret for using it in the first place. "Listen, I couldn't teach even if my life depended on it. That was a Nature Transformation. It's an advanced form of chakra control. And the reason I was able to do it, is because I have an affinity towards water," he explained, but Konohamaru didn't seem to understand. "The fact that you didn't understand a word I said just proves my point."
The white-haired boy noticed that several of the students from the Academy were staring at him and Konohamaru; Seiryu could hear what they were saying.
"Isn't that the Hokage's grandson?"
"What's that teaching a jutsu with water?"
"Wait, was he going out with Hinata?"
It just kept going. Seiryu exhales a bit, realizing that getting rid of Konohamaru wasn't going to happen any time soon, so he decided to make a compromise.
"Hey, I'm going to have lunch with my friend here." he said, pointing at Hinata, who just stood there, shyly listening to their conversation. "You wanna come along?"
"Really?" Konohamaru asked with a smile.
"Yes," he answered before turning to Hinata. "Do you mind if he comes along?" he asked her.
"Ummm... No," she replied.
"Okay, then."
He started to walk in the direction of the street, both of them following him; before he realized that he didn't really know any good places to eat besides the ramen stand. He then sees some students from his class and decides to ask them a question. "Excuse me?" he yelled, getting their attention. "Do any of you know a good place to eat around here?"
They had confused looks until one of them answered the question. "There's the Yakiniku Q, which is a Korean Gyū-Kaku-style yakiniku restaurant, not far from here." a fat boy with swirl markings on his cheeks told him. Seiryu heard that his name was Chōji.
"If you show me the way, I'll pay for lunch for you too." Seiryu offered.
Chōji's eyes widened when he heard that. "Seriously?" he asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I'll pay for everyone that comes along," he announced to the other students that were with him.
Besides Chōji, there was a boy with a dog on top of his head, Seiryu heard his name was Kiba, and another boy that looked exceptionally bored, named Shikamaru. As soon as Chōji heard what he said, he ran very quickly. "Follow me then?" he asked.
Seiryu, Konohamaru, and Hinata started following him. Shikamaru and Kiba looked at each other in confusion, but soon, they were not far behind. "Free food! Hey, wait for me!" Kiba yelled as he tried to catch up to them with his partner Akamaru barking alongside him.
As Kiba ran to catch up with them, Shikamaru lazily started walking in the same direction. "How troublesome."
"One, two, three!"
In the meantime, Seiryu's last clone was doing target practice with the smith's daughter, Tenten. She took him to the back of the store where there was a decent space to train. The two have been competing on how many targets they can hit with a shuriken, but the completion they got five ties so far. "UGH! Another tie." Tenten complains as both manage to hit the target.
"Let's move along to something else," Seiryu said, he was tired of throwing shurikens.
Since the two started practice, Seiryu and Tenten had been experimenting with several sorts of weapons. The weapons were: tonfa, bō, tantō, nunchaku, kama, and a few others. Tenten was impressed by his skills. "Well, I'm about to run out of weapons to showcase." she told him. "How about we both have a friendly spar."
Seiryu stared at her a bit, deciding. "Okay."
"Great. Pick a weapon that you're the most proficient with, and I'll do the same," Tenten explained, pointing at the table where the weapons they used to practice were.
The choice was obvious to Seiryu; he picked a blunt sword. Tenten, on the other hand, picked a three-section staff.
"I'll have to warn you, I'm pretty good with these," she warns, spinning the staff before getting into her fight stance.
"It's alright, I'm ready," he replied as he positioned himself into a iaido stance, which looked odd without the scabbard.
"Alright, on three," Tenten tells him; both prepared themselves. "One, two, three!" As soon as she counted to three, she charged at Seiryu, but the moment she got close, Seiryu drew the blade from the iaido stance so quickly that Tenten was unable to defend herself against it. The blunt sword landed on the staff; the impact caused it to fly from Tenten's hand and fly towards a house behind the store, crashing into the window.
"AAAAAHHHHHHH!" The two heard someone scream as the staff broke through the window of the house.
Seiryu and Tenten look at each other with very worried looks.
The fight between Rock Lee and the shadow clone of Seiryu Senju was still going on.
Both simultaneously threw punches and kicks at each other. Seiryu blocked his attacks while Lee dodged them.
I really need to ask him about his fighting-style of his. It's a very interesting one. Seiryu thought as they kept attacking each other.
He doesn't look even a little bit tired. Lee realized, noticing that he was still fighting with the same intensity as him.
This time, Seiryu charges at him with a front kid, but Lee jumps quickly, making Seiryu lose sight of him. Lee lands behind Seiryu and goes for an attack. Unfortunately, Seiryu noticed that Lee was behind him and evaded the punch that he tried to throw at him. Then, he quickly turned around and kicked Lee's stomach before hitting his face with a left hook, finishing the fight by throwing a right uppercut to his jaw. The uppercut made Lee fly off the ground, landing a considerable distance from where he was.
Dammit, I think I went a little overboard. His Taijutsu skills were great. I'm sure he was holding back. Seiryu's clone thought in deep frustration as he saw the now knocked out Lee lying on the ground. I think I had enough training for today. The shadow clone finally puffed out of existence.
The moment the clone disappeared, Rock Lee opened his eyes and stood up. "I'm not done yet!" he yelled, but as soon as he did, he noticed no one was there anymore. "Huh? Where did he go?" Rock Lee searched around for Seiryu, not realizing he was fighting a shadow clone the whole time.
The real Senju Seiryu was sitting down on a table with Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Inuzuka Kiba, Sarutobi Konohamaru and Hyūga Hinata. Each of them was a member of a clan. Seiryu was getting to know them while they ate. Chōji was the one eating the most out of all the group, which made Seiryu thankful he had enough money to pay for the poor decision of inviting him to lunch.
While he waited for his order, he received the experience of what happened with one of his shadow clones. He saw their fight with a boy named Rock Lee and made a mental note to search for him to learn about his Taijutsu style.
They were all asking different questions to Seiryu.
"Alright, each of you can ask any question that you'd like to me," Seiryu informed them as he ate a bit of gyūtan.
"Okay, me first," Konohamaru exclaimed. "Where did you get that cool looking sword I saw you carrying yesterday?"
The others had confused expressions since none of them saw him with this sword.
"I got it in the Land of Iron; my Kenjutsu master gave it to me," Seiryu explained to Konohamaru.
"Who was he?" Konohamaru asked.
"You already asked a question. It's someone else's turn." Seiryu replied, which made Konohamaru mad because he really wanted to know.
"My turn," Kiba was the next one to ask. "Is it true your mother can summon slugs?"
"Yes, I saw her summoning one, one time, but it was a small one. I heard she can summon a giant slug, but I never actually saw it," Seiryu told him.
"That is so cool," Kiba said with his dog barking, which Seiryu assumed meant Akamaru agreed with him.
Shikamaru exhales a bit while drinking a cup of tea due to the fact Chōji ate with his mouth open, making sounds which were not pleasant to hear. "Where did you get so much money?" Chōji asked; he was about to order another round of meat.
Seiryu doesn't really know how to answer; half of his money came from gambling with his mother, a habit that started when Seiryu was four, his mother was taking him to eat some popsicles and ended up making a stop in a gambling house that was on the way. She told him she was playing a game for grown-ups and Seiryu asked if he could play too, she said yes, but to her shock, he won the game. Before he knew it, he was basically playing every single game in that gambling house.
He can still remember what his mother said about the whole situation.
"Figures, while I got all the bad luck in gambling, my kid gets all the good luck. I'm completely sure that this is Kami's way to slap me in the face." Seiryu remembered his mother muttering as he kept winning. In the end, they got kicked out of the gambling house because they kept winning non-stop. Seiryu still remembers how his mother nearly suffocated him to death with her chest when she grabbed him into a hug once she saw the amount that he had won.
The other half came from his father, who gave him ten percent of each of his books sold, which was a pretty considerable amount considering how well his father's books sold.
"Half is from my mother, and the other half is my father." Seiryu decided to answer this way.
That brought up another question, which Shikamaru decided to ask. "Who exactly is your father?"
Before Seiryu could answer, Konohamaru replied. "His father is Jiraiya, the Toad Sage."
Shikamaru's lazy eyes grew wide.
Kiba spat the drink he was gulping down, accidentally wetting Akamaru.
Chōji's mouth fell on the table, causing the food to fall from his mouth.
Hinata, who has been quiet the whole time, let out a small gasp.
A sudden silence spread across the table, which luckily, was broken by Kiba. "You're the son of two of the Legendary Sannin?!" he asked in disbelief.
Seiryu just gave him a thumbs up in response.
Meanwhile, Seiryu's clone and Tenten were facing some repercussions from their little incident.
"What a pair of reckless children!" And old lady who lived in the house behind the store came down from the house and started to yell at them for breaking her window.
Tenten and Seiryu were both on their knees, apologizing for what happened.
"I'm so sorry." Tenten apologized.
"No, it was my fault." Seiryu tried to take the blame, but Tenten just wouldn't have it.
"No, it was mine!" Tenten tried to argue.
"I don't care who's fault it was!" The old lady yelled at them. "What are your names?"
"Tenten."
"Senju Seiryu."
The moment Seiryu said his name, both the old lady and Tenten stared at the boy with a shocked expression.
What?! Senju Seiryu? I thought Tsunade, the Slug Princess, was the last member of the Senju Clan. Tenten thought as she stared at Seiryu.
The old lady, on the other hand, started to sweat a lot before bowing to him and walked back to her house.
Seiryu had a large sweat-drop at the back of his head after witnessing that. "Well... that was quick." Seiryu joked before turning to Tenten, who was eyeing him strangely. "What?" he asked.
"Hey." Suddenly, they heard someone calling them. It was Tenten's father; he was carrying Seiryu's sword. "Your sword is finished."
Seiryu quickly stood up and walked towards him. "Thank you very much," he thanked him. He reached for his pouch and paid the money for his work. "There's a little extra in there for the weapons that are on the table," Seiryu added, walking to the table and grabbing the weapons, something that actually impressed both the smith and his daughter, carrying all those weapons at once wasn't an easy task. "Thanks," he told Tenten, before making his way to the exit, the clone wanted to get home to be able to puff out of existence.
"Hey, wait!" he heard Tenten calling, but the clone really wanted to get to the apartment before the real Seiryu got home.
Back at the restaurant, Seiryu was about to pay one more round of food for Chōji. "Alright, but this is the last one," he tells him. "One more round for my big-boned friend here!" Seiryu yelled to the waitress, which made Chōji smile wild.
"Where does he find space to put so much food?" Konohamaru asked them since that was the eleventh portion Seiryu ordered for Chōji.
"I think inside his belly, there's an endless hole or something," Kiba answered, Akamaru barking in agreement.
Even Shikamaru was starting to get frustrated; he really wanted to take a nap.
Hinata stood there quietly. Seiryu is so nice for buying his meal, Hinata thought. She was impressed by how generous Seiryu was.
Luckily for them, the last round arrived quickly. While Chōji ate his last round of food, Seiryu raised his cup. "Now, I just wanted to say something," he gained everyone's attention. "The reason why I invited you guys here today is because I suspect that the Hokage delayed the exam because of me. I just wanted to apologize to you guys for the inconvenience, but I also did this because I might end up on a team with one of you, and I wanted to get to know you guys better."
"Nah, it's cool." Although Kiba was still a bit annoyed that Seiryu was allowed to skip the Academy and go straight to the exam, he found Seiryu to be a solid guy, especially after this gesture.
"It was troublesome, but I'm fine with it." Shikamaru, who was on the edge of falling asleep, said.
"Man, you're awesome! There's nothing to forgive." Chōji, himself, had nothing to complain about, the moment Seiryu bought that eleventh portion of food, he decided they were friends for life.
"Umm… T-Thanks f-for i-i-inviting me." Hinata thanked him; she was happy enough to be invited for something.
Soon enough, Chōji finished his last portion, and the six of them left the restaurant.
Seiryu said goodbye to Chōji, Shikamaru, and Kiba, he told them that he would walk Konohamaru and Hinata home, in response, Konohamaru smiled and Hinata blushed.
The three arrived quickly at the Hyūga compound. Seiryu then said goodbye to Hinata.
"Thank you very much for your company, Hinata." Seiryu thanked her, bowing in gratitude.
Hinata instantly got nervous. "I-I… It w-wa-wasn't a-any trouble." Hinata stuttered nervously (Seiryu thought it was adorable).
"Well, if that's the case, would you like to go out with me again?" Seiryu asked with a smile, which caused Hinata's face to get even redder.
Suddenly, Hinata passed out, causing Seiryu and Konohamaru to get worried.
"Is she okay?" Konohamaru asked him.
"Ummm…." Seiryu didn't know, he knew she was shy, but he definitely was not expecting this to happen.
"Hey! What are you two doing with her?" They saw someone coming out of the compound; it was a member of the clan, Seiryu recognized the eyes.
"We were just talking, but then she just passed out," Seiryu explained.
"Identify yourselves," the Hyūga member demanded.
"Sarutobi Konohamaru."
"Senju Seiryu."
As soon as the two spoke their names, the man quickly changed his tone. "My apologies, Senju-sama, Sarutobi-sama, I'll take her inside for her to rest." The Clan member quickly picked Hinata up and took her inside.
Seiryu made a very confused face before looking at Konohamaru. "What just happened?"
"Get used to it, because it's gonna be worse for you than it is for me," Konohamaru said from experience, this type of thing happens once people hear his name.
Seiryu cringed at that a bit before he started to walk to take Konohamaru home.
"Can you show me some cool jutsu to use against the old man?" Konohamaru asked as they walked in the direction of his home.
"Why do you attack your grandfather anyway?" Seiryu asked, frustrated.
"So I can finally defeat him and become Hokage." Konohamaru declared, filled with lots of determination.
"Hah! Listen, even if by some miracle, you managed to defeat your grandfather, that doesn't mean they're gonna make you hokage," Seiryu explained to him. "Besides, what kind of idiot wants to be a hokage anyway? Most of what he does is paperwork."
"That's not true." Konohamaru denied.
"Tell me one thing that you saw your grandfather doing that didn't involve paperwork?" Seiryu challenged.
Konohamaru didn't know how to answer that.
Seiryu exhales a bit. "Look, If you're serious about becoming hokage, there's only one piece of advice I can give you."
Konohamaru paid full attention to him.
"There's no easy way to become hokage, there isn't an easy way to become stronger either. You wanna be hokage, you gotta prove to everyone that you're up for the job, and there's no way that you're gonna do that acting like a royal brat," he bluntly told him. "The hokage is supposed to be a walking embodiment of the Will of Fire, as long as you're not that, you're never gonna be a hokage."
Konohamaru stayed quiet, looking down a bit, absorbing what Seiryu just said, but then, he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
"I can't teach you anything now, because I have my training to worry about, but as soon as I adapt myself to the shinobi life, if you're still interested then, I'll teach you a thing or two."
"Really?" Konohamaru instantly cheered up.
"Yup…. But seriously, lose that helmet, it looks stupid."
The hokage was currently relaxing; he had finished his duties for the day. Enjoying the peacefulness since Konohamaru hadn't attempted any surprise attacks the entire day. As he smokes his pipe, he notices two people approaching. The moment they got close enough, he noticed it was his grandson, and a boy he considered his grandson in everything but blood.
"Good night, you two." Hiruzen greeted them.
"Hey, old man." Konohamaru greeted in return.
"Good night, Hokage," Seiryu said formally.
"Did you two spend the whole day together?" Not the Hiruzen minded, of course, it was good that Konohamaru got good influences on him; it kept him from his surprise attacks, which made his work much easier.
"Yeah, he took me, some other guys, and a girl, to a restaurant and paid for all of us," Konohamaru told his grandfather with a smile. "Good night, Seiryu," he said goodbye before entering his home.
Hiruzen couldn't help but notice Konohamaru wasn't wearing his helmet anymore.
"What are you doing? Weren't you supposed to be doing some hokage work or something?" Seiryu asked him.
"I finish my duties earlier today, I'm taking some time for a bit of leisure," Hiruzen replied, as he puffed out smoke from his pipe.
"Does this 'leisure' involve reading one of my father's books?" Seiryu inquired, causing Hiruzen to sweat a bit, considering that he was planning on grabbing one of Jiraiya's books.
"No, of course not." Hiruzen denied, but Seiryu was not convinced.
"Well, if that's the case, do you want to do something?" Seiryu asked, he really wanted to get to know the hokage better, considering his parents always spoke highly of him.
Hiruzen was surprised by the request. "Hmm... would you be interested in playing a game with me?"
Before they know it, Seiryu and Hiruzen were sitting down in a room playing shōgi. Seiryu never really played, so Hiruzen took the time to explain the rules to him, he caught onto them quickly, and the two started to play.
"So, tell me, how was your first day at the Academy?" Hiruzen was curious, considering one of the council members suggested delaying the exam until tomorrow, in order for young Seiryu to get to know his fellow ninjas. He thought it would be a good idea since most of the students know each other for years, while Seiryu didn't.
"It was... okay, I guess. I already know most of what they were teaching in class." Seiryu explained. His mother, father, and Aunt Shizune already taught him most of what was being taught. "But, I invited a few students for lunch after class."
"Oh? Who were they?"
He then proceeded to explain to him how he invited Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Chōji, Inuzuka Kiba, Sarutobi Konohamaru, and Hyūga Hinata to lunch. He then told him about what they talked about and how Chōji ate more than everyone.
Hiruzen couldn't help but chuckle a bit, Seiryu learned the hard way that the members of the Akimichi Clan were big eaters. "Well, I'm glad you took time to try to make some friends," Hiruzen commented.
"I might end up in a team with them, so it's better to become friends with them," Seiryu said, smiling as he moved one of his pieces on the board.
Hiruzen grinned in response.
They continued their game quietly until Seiryu decided to ask the hokage a question that had been in his head for some time.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
"How did the Fourth Hokage die?" It was a question that troubled him for a long time. Neither of his parents ever answered him, and he really wanted to know, considering that Namikaze Minato was his godfather.
Hiruzen was surprised by the question. He knew Jiraiya probably didn't talk about it because it was too painful, and Tsunade didn't really know how it happened. The hokage exhaled a bit of smoke before answering. "To be honest, he was murdered in his office alongside several ANBU members," he replied.
"But... Wasn't he one of the most powerful shinobi in history? How could someone kill him so easily?" Seiryu was confused, his father always spoke highly of his godfather; just the idea that someone managed to kill him so easily was absurd.
"That's the biggest mystery, we don't know who killed him, but we do have suspects," Hiruzen explained.
"Like who?" The young Senju really wanted to know.
"Well, the first suspects were the Legendary Three Ninja, but we quickly starched them out, considering one was his master that loved him like a son, and the other had no reason whatsoever to do such a thing," Hiruzen pointed out. "We did suspect the third one, but your father told me that he found some traces of him, but he was too far away from the village to be an accomplice." The third one was Orochimaru, Jiraiya was sure there was no way he would have done it.
"Besides them, who else?" Seiryu knew that his parents would never do such a thing.
"Well... there was also Minato's former teammates," Hiruzen mentioned.
Now that Seiryu thought about it, his father never really mentioned who else he trained beside his godfather. "What are their names?"
"One of them was a boy named Tatsuya. He left the village long ago, and no one truly knows his location. Although he does have a brother who might know where he is."
"What the brother's name?"
"Teuchi."
Seiryu's eyes widen in recognition. "Teuchi? The guy from the ramen restaurant?" It was the name of the man that served him ramen the day he arrived in the village, also the father of the girl that proposed the same day.
"Oh, you already know him." Hiruzen has eaten at his restaurant a few times; his ramen is really good. "But I must mention, your father did say Tatsuya was a very skilled shinobi. He had an amazing ability in Earth Release."
"I see, so... who was the other one."
"His name is Uchiha Fugaku." Hiruzen told him.
Seiryu was surprised hearing that. "Wait... My father trained an Uchiha? And aren't teams supposed to be made up of two shinobi and one kunoichi?" he asked in confusion.
"Normally, that was the case, but we make special exceptions when we don't have a kunoichi available for a team," Hiruzen explained. "And yes... but... your father once told me that he considered Fugaku, his worst student."
"Really? Why?" Seiryu was curious, his father had a laid back attitude, and he couldn't see him considering someone better or worse at something.
"Not in terms of skills, Fugaku's talents were considered comparable to Minato's: it was his behavior that was problematic. Fukaku was a bitter and envious child. He had this obsession the prove he was better than Minato, which often put his team in danger." Hiruzen couldn't really blame him for being envious, Minato's achievements cast a giant shadow that his teammates were never able to escape. Fugaku was the primary suspect of Minato's murder, and the Uchiha were placed under close surveillance afterwords."
"Was it ever proven that it was him?"
"No," Hiruzen replied sadly, the mistrust and isolation from the rest of the village created feelings of ill-will amongst the Uchiha. To this day, it is still believed that Fugaku ordered the burning of the Senju estate.
"And now, there is no way to discover since the Uchiha were pretty much exterminated," Seiryu said stoically.
"There are still two members left, which happen to be Fugaku's sons." Hiruzen rebuffed. "You probably met one of them today, Uchiha Sasuke."
Seiryu recognized the name. He had noticed a spiky-haired boy eyeing him during class. "The other son was the one that massacred the clan, wasn't it?"
"Yes, Itachi was his name. A very promising boy."
After that, the two just kept playing the game in silence. Sarutobi was only a few moves from beating Seiryu, and he was about to move a piece until Seiryu asked him one more question.
"What happened to Minato's wife?"
Surprised, Hiruzen answered the question. "She... disappeared a week after Minato's death, no one knows where she went." Hiruzen declared sadly, both Hiruzen and Jiraiya had been searching for Kushina since that day. The hokage still has hope that they will find her.
Seiryu looked down a bit. "I see," he moved a piece. "I really wish I met Uncle Minato."
Hiruzen couldn't help but smile when he heard that. "Uncle Minato?"
"I call my godmother, Aunt, so why can't I call him, Uncle?" Seiryu asked him.
"No reason and, you did meet him." Hiruzen pointed out. "He saw you after you were born."
"But I don't exactly remember that moment."
"No, I guess not." Hireuzen moved his last piece, winning the game. "Victory is mine."
"Well, this was fun, but I guess I should go home now," Seiryu said, standing up. "Can we do this again?" he asked.
"That would be great. Maybe I'll invite my son, Asuma, to join us. He also enjoys playing." Hiruzen told him.
"Great, see you soon, grandpa," Seiryu bid him goodbye.
Hiruzen didn't bother commenting on being called grandpa; he considered Seiryu as a grandson in everything but blood. "Good luck with the exam," he told him as he reached the door.
"Luck is for the unprepared."