"Have you heard? It seems that the White Fang failed some big mission and caused damage to the village." Rin said beside me as she was trying to heal the fish she had in front of her with the healing jutsu.
"Oh, I heard it as well. Everyone has been talking about how he caused damage to the village when he abandoned the mission just to save his companions." Shizune mentions as she finishes her own assignment in the form of a seriously injured rabbit that now was fully healed. Cleaning the sweat from her small face she turned in my direction and asked. "What do you think, Sets-kun?" Shizune asks using the nickname she gave me.
As it turns out, since the three of us study in the hospital after class so much we became friendly with each other and Shizune forgave and forgot about me kinda creeping her out that first time very easily. She is an excellent doormat personality… I mean, she is extremely kind and forgiving, just look at how she acted in CANON when she traveled with Tsunade and would sometimes go hungry just because her teacher wanted to spend her entire clan fortune in useless gambling (note to self, follow Tsunade around for a while when she goes out to get some extra cash from that fat sheep).
"Honestly? I don't understand what the big deal is?" I said with a shrug while still reading a book Shizune brought me from the library of Tsunade about the herbs found in this world and various medicine creation methods used here.
So fascinating, some I have long since recognized but there are some herbs and whatnot I have never seen before and I am itching to try and test if they could have some unique effects as medicines.
Besides, the simple fact is that I saw how those ninjas who Sakumo brought over were incapacitated by poison. If I were to be in their situation, I would rather have with me some herbs I could use to create some type of antidote at the absolute least.
It is only logical to prepare if you ask me.
"Really?" Rin voiced, stopping her work to look at me in curiosity. "I would expect you to be harsh with him, you are usually rather harsh with everyone."
"No, I am not. Now focus on your training or let the fish die in your watch and it becomes my dinner." I said as I turned the page from the book.
The two girls look at one another with exasperated expressions I promptly and justly ignore before I explain.
"If you ask me, Sakumo did the right thing. He showed the Will of Fire and did not abandon his companions… but he still caused some damage to the village with this mission failure so he just needs to do something to balance it out. Saving your fellow teammates on a mission is not wrong, those who think that it is fine to sacrifice anything just like that just lack the right will of fire."
I mean, I personally would have probably done the same as Sakumo if I were in his spot since saving my allies is more important and I saw how desperate the man was when he arrived. He cared a lot for his companions, he was the sort of guy you wanted on your side in a mission.
And if someone wanted to complain about me, I would just punch the person's teeth out (if I were in Sakumo's position and had his strength, of course). The guy has worked for the village his entire life and almost died in the mission, he barely managed to come back and he did so while carrying all the others desperately. If someone wants to complain about what he did, he should really kick the person in the balls to shut them the hell up and show them who's boss.
"But, isn't the will of fire to sacrifice for the sake of the village staying strong?" Rin said with a hint of doubt and I sigh.
This is what happens when you brainwash kids constantly since young, they become partially retard.
"While sacrificing when needed may be honorable, living to fight another day is still not wrong. I have read in the records of my clan how the village was created for the sake of giving us children a better future and lessening the number of wars. That was the dream of the First Hokage, that the ninjas of older generations should be willing to sacrifice for the sake of future ones, but one should only do so as an absolute last resort. The village is not in any mortal peril or something, so if the White Fang does something to counterbalance the troubles he lets happen it should be fine and, if others say it isn't, then screw them."
With that I closed the book and stood back up. I was honestly tired of this sort of discussion since it has been happening all the time all over the entire village. Worse, it seems everyone thinks it should be normal for Sakumo to just sacrifice the rest of his anbu team for a mission. I am 99% sure they don't even know what it was about.
Heck, I don't know what the mission was about but I have heard it caused some serious damage and such. I mean, maybe it did, but why would everyone in the village know of this? It is not like he would go out and scream the details of a mission, especially one against someone clearly powerful if he came back injured and with his companions so heavily hurt and poisoned.
My personal bet is that it has something to do with Sand village, the poison and the fact that the anbu he brought back had many injuries clearly from hidden weapons is as clear as any of the signs of this. No clue what exactly the mission was though, but that everyone and their uncle knows about it feels mighty suspicious to me.
I remember the lessons from T&I department, how one should pay attention to details when analyzing a situation. I have two choices here, I can either ignore it and let events happen normally (which will likely end with Sakumo hanging around and being found by Kakashi who enters depression), OR I try and help the man into NOT being an utter bitch about just some insults from the useless rabble he can kill in under five seconds.
You know what? The war will most likely start soon and Konoha needs as many 'strong players' as it possibly can since it is almost guaranteed that all villages will come to attack it once more. Sakumo is a proper S class shinobi who is an expert assassin, having him around would be extremely useful… and if he is the commander in the front and I am assigned to it I can stay safely in the rear.
Two birds with one stone baby. And as for whoever is spreading the rumors, they are most likely just wanting to ruin Sakumo's reputation since he was a strong contender for the fourth Hokage position. My personal bet would be Danzou who wants to become Hokage or have Orochimaru become one, the man has enough connections and motives to try and destroy Sakumo's reputation, but even he would NOT be so dumb as to want the man to die now.
A war is clearly gonna happen, losing any Elite Jounin, much less a strong S class shinobi, is a much greater loss to the village than any damage than whatever mission Sakumo failed at might be.
So, how about we go and talk Sakumo out of hanging out with the worms in the dirt?
Getting to the Hatake's residence, I can't help but raise a brow at this place. I mean, the front yard and several places all over it have things thrown in and there thrown in and there is even some toilet paper there and… is that a poster with the word 'traitor' in it?
Sheesh, talk about childish things.
Approaching the house I knocked it and the door was furiously opened by a clearly enraged Kakashi who came out spitting fire.
"I already said it, the next person who came to say that to my father I would stab!" Kakashi said with his short sword in hand. I had to actually jump back as the boy attacked before he even saw who it was on the other side.
"Hey there, is this a way to greet your buddies, buck teeth."
I almost laughed as I saw Kakashi's hand tightening his hands even further in his sword.
"I came to check on your father, don't worry." I said. "Just wanted to make sure he is doing fine with his body."
"He is fine, you can go." Kakashi said and I just rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, yeah, I am still coming in. No offense, but I should be able to know better if he is healthy or not than you. Medic-nin in training, of course." I said with a slightly smug tone.
I dunno why, but provoking him is always funny. Making this kid who likes to act tough go red in the face and act out of his 'I am too cool for this' persona.
"Kakashi, let him in." A tired voice said from inside the house and Kakashi reluctantly let me in.
Getting inside it was clear that things were not going all that well here. Sakumo was slumped over a sofa with a depressed expression and it seems like he has not been taking care of himself all that much if his cheeks getting slightly sunken in is any indication.
"So it was you, huh. I remember you, that Hyuga kid I talked to when Kakashi went to enroll, I even heard you defeated my kid a few times." Sakumo said with a tired tone while taking a bottle of heavy sake and taking a swing. "Did you also come over to yell at me for abandoning the mission, for doing what I did?"
"No, not in the slightest." I said honestly. "I was in the hospital when you came in carrying those ninjas. I noticed you were never checked for any injuries or something so I decided to come and check."
"I am fine, kid. I know my body well and I was not poisoned like the others. That red haired kid and Ebizo failed in getting to me, even if they still succeeded in making things go to shit."
Oh, right, that so-called super important mission. If the rumors are right, Sakumo here was supposed to intercept a huge shipment of metal pieces and parts for puppets made in the land of Steel for the land of Wind. With Sakumo failing his interception it means Sand has obtained enough pieces and parts to make perhaps more than a thousand puppets, which means their war potential is increased by a huge margin.
Still, that is no excuse for the man to act this way.
"Yeah, yeah, you are doing great and your kid does not have buck teeth or some face deformity or something. Now, how about you just let me check if you are doing alright?"
"... Do as you wish." Sakumo says, both of us ignoring the sound of teeth grinding against each other coming from Kakashi.
Heh, you want me to stop calling you that? Show what is beneath the mask, buck teeth.
Anyway, I approached Sakumo and, with his permission, used my byakugan and… wow.
Like, his body was just a perfect well oiled machine. Amongst all the bodies I have seen, I never saw one whose muscles and everything was cared for and trained in such a perfect fashion. I am sure that in time Guy would be just like it, if not better, but it is still surprising.
I would love to know just how he trained, it would serve as a great basis for my own physical training regimen I must create in the future.
Shelving that thought for later I continued to analyze his body and noticed that he really wasn't injured. He really must be just that strong, huh.
"Well, at least you really are not hurt. Glad to know that."
"Yeah, yeah, just tell whoever sent you that I am fine." Sakumo said, clearly not in a good place right now.
"... No one sent me. I just thought you might be hurt so I came to check. You are a hero after all, this is the least I can do." I said easily and the man gave a sad chuckle.
"Hero, huh? Not according to more than half the village, I am just a disgrace. I failed as a ninja by abandoning the mission, trash." Sakumo said and I felt so glad copyright didn't exist in this world or I might get a lawsuit in my ass for what I am about to say.
"I understand, ninjas are supposed to be tools for the village and the rules were clear that you should have finished the mission regardless of the sacrifice." I said and the man seemed to deflate even further before I spoke. "Ninjas who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their companions are worse than scum."
With that, not just Sakumo but Kakashi both jolted. Seeing this, I continue.
"You failed a mission and caused damage to the village, that is the truth. But you saved your fellow ninjas and were a hero for doing so, if others want to admit this or not it really shouldn't matter. You, mister Hatake, is a true hero for me and many others."
The man actually almost tears up at that. Damn, his emotions really are not in control at all.
"Besides, if you feel guilty about what happened, then just work hard to compensate a hundred times over for whatever damage you have done. And if others still call you out about it, well, ignore them. Beat them up. Break their legs and send them to the hospital for me to heal them up, I would love to practice some more."
Sakumo at that looked pensive and snorted with a hint of amusement at my last statement.
"If everyone that complains about me, I break their legs, then you would get a lot of work you know?"
I just shrug.
"It is a good experience for me and other trainees who are preparing for the future war."
At the mention of war, Sakumo's eyes hardened but a hint of shine seemed to appear on the corner of his eyes that simply did not exist before.
Getting up I stretch a bit and speak.
"Now, I gotta get going for my evening training. Would you two mind joining me for it? I have a lot of questions for you, mister Hatake, about physical training." I say and the man looks at the bottle on his hand and puts it on the table.
"I suppose it wouldn't hurt." The man said and soon I, together with the Hatake father and son, were walking away from the house.
Passing through the village, angry mutterings and finger pointing was presented all over, Sakumo's face growing darker at a visible rate before we arrived at the gates of Konoha where-
"Oh, young Setsuna! We were starting to get worried you would have started your youthful training before us!"
"Yeah, good to see you come and… Why is Kakashi here too? Did he finally accept my challenge?!"
Dyu and Guy said respectfully causing Kakashi's brows to twitch before he turned a glare in my direction I easily and expertly ignored.
"Mister Duy, I invited lord Sakumo and his son to come with us to train. Is that a problem?" I said
"Of course not, the more the merrier!" Duy said with his usual bright smile before coming over to Sakumo and speaking to him. "I hope we can get along."
"Uhm, me too." Sakumo said, clearly not used to someone like Duy who is so much 'in your face'.
"YOSH! My youth is burning, you feel it Guy!" Duy said.
"Yes, dad!" Guy said, as if a mini clone of his father.
And so we went on to 'burn our youth'. Honestly, I have been working out with them for almost a year now and I still do not understand what they mean by 'burning our youth', but I still just plain enjoy their antics so whatever.
Still, we had a productive evening and I noticed Sakumo and Duy talking more and more, especially after some asshats threw insults at Duy and Sakumo with Sakumo seeing how Duy reacted to them.
Well, I guess this should work. If my spiel right out of famous phrases doesn't work in getting Sakumo out of depression, then Duy would. If Guy was able to make Kakashi stop being a depressed mess after, well, his life, then Duy would certainly make Sakumo get better.
So, good news, Sakumo is no longer a depressed mess that looks like he might just kill himself at any time.
Bad news, the guy took a 180 and no longer looked like a samurai or something, instead he was wearing the same green thighs as Duy and was yelling about youth half as much as Duy, which was still a lot.
Worse news, Duy and Sakumo becoming apparently best friends in maybe three days or so, meaning they are working together to make our group as a whole use those horrendous green thighs. Pretty sure I would die using one of those, mostly because a main clan member would just kill me for 'shaming' the Hyuga family by wearing such a thing, but those two were very insistent about it.
At least I am not the only one suffering. Kakashi seems to be on the exact same boat as me, if not worse since it was his actual father who was trying to change his wardrobe and I caught the man running after Kakashi more than once with one such outfit in hand..
Poor Kakashi, at least it is you and not me there.
Heh, at least the two adults started to work together to improve our physical training several steps further. Sakumo, as a very experienced shinobi with several dozen S rank missions completed and no clan to sustain, had a lot, and I do mean a LOT of money to spend and the guy was not of the cheap type.
He pretty much modified part of the Hatake residence into a big ass gym with top notch equipment as well as bought us all training weights for the body, much like the ones Rock Lee would eventually use. And that was saying nothing of the guy spicing up our general diets by buying meat from giant beasts as well as special herbs that only grow in places like the forest of death.
I found it fascinating, those beasts grew so big due to naturally absorbing nature energy and it seems like eating their meat helps one's physique a little bit. The herbs were much the same it seems, the forest of death being, according to Sakumo, a place that Hashirama set up long ago to help train nature energy with the beasts and plants inside serving as training for the ninjas of Konoha as well as a resource to improve them. Of course, things from there are expensive as all hell and it belongs to the Senjuu clan which only allows others to enter with the permission of the Hokage for training or during the Chunin exams. As for the boost, it is honestly not that much, not by a long shot, but with my eyes I could see how our bodies and chakra would improve a little bit every time we eat these.
Sakumo even let me take some of those herbs and plants home for me to study. I dunno if I would be able to get that much from them but it would be interesting to try something with those plants in terms of making medicine and pills.
… Looking at it again, I guess it does make more sense how those lazy ass idiots from the main branch could reach Jonin level by age 20 or so even with most not even training all that hard, they must eat this sort of good stuff from a young while our side branch eats not even their scraps.
Well, whatever, I am still happy with how my life is going now and am improving at a fast speed. I just hope I can be strong enough for when the Third War starts.