[Kukui Tanku]

I looked at the man I was visitng with a smile, I hadn't had time to do much before the day ended, but I knew Shisui was going to be up. So, I waited until Mika would be asleep to talk to him. Upon entering his room, I noticed Mika asleep and Shisui stroking her hair. "You know, I was worried sick about her... I didn't expect her to have to fight an S-ranked Ninja on her first mission" Shisui chuckled. "Not even I had that terrible of luck

"Sorry for that, my bad," I said quietly. Sitting down on the bed and looking down at Mika. "My luck's worse than yours., I joked, which made Shisui smile slightly.

Shisui laughed again, quietly as to not wake Mika up. "You know, Mika told me everything. You took quite a beating Kukui... I hate that you had to do so, but I'm kind of happy... Mika didn't need to go through that. Sorry," I saw Shisui glance at the cards.

"I'd hope for the same if I were in your shoes," I responded instantly, dealing Shisui a hand of cards for Uno. "I almost died after all," I grabbed the summon tag I was given a while ago now. "I kinda forgot about this the first time around, and the second time I left this with Hayate-sensei in case the Rubber Man went for him and Mika first."

"Forgot huh... Well, I'm glad you didn't need to summon Kyouka," Shisui placed down a plus two, I countered right away and he groaned as he drew four. "You really need to do that? That was just mean," Shisui said as I placed down a color change.

I chuckled. "I needed to for sure. I was just an idiot," I smirked. "And yes, I needed to do that. Also, red," Shisui quietly cursed and I quietly laughed before I looked at Mika. "How's she doing? I haven't had the chance to talk to her alone yet and I don't know how she's holding up," Trauma was a serious thing. And whilst I personally was okay, I was worried about my friends. I'd need to keep watch of them.

"She's doing alright I think," Shisui smiled softly. "She's a little down after the mission but I just think she's sad she didn't get in on the action. I imagine she would have been spitting fireballs at the Rubber Man... It would be a funny thing to see," Shisui then looked at me, "How do you feel? You were brutalized and nearly died. I doubt anyone can shrug that off."

I rubbed the back of my head. "I'm a little shaken I guess..," I didn't want to die again. But at the same time, I couldn't be scared. There were way bigger threats to me. "But after facing death once I guess I'm just not scared of it."

"You faced death before? Don't tell me you have some sort of secret life or something?" Shisui said as he placed down a plus four, I mentally cursed as I picked up four cards... All Plus two's... Nevermind! I deadpanned at Shisui.

"Naruto tried to cook for us all once," I shuddered, remembering it. Naruto was really good at making campfire food. But when it came to anything else that wasn't microwaveable, it was like he made everything poisonous somehow. "Trivial I know but that day still haunts me."

"Naruto! Don't use the defrost setting!" I shouted, looking at Naruto as he stuck the beef into the microwave... Likely ruining the food by proxy already. It was a bad day to have eyes as Naruto ignored me and turned the microwave on. What came out of the microwave smelt horrible. And it looked vaguely brown but without any crust on it... Everything went black then.

I shuddered at the memory. Shisui chuckled again. "I won't question it, but I'm sure there's a deeper reason. Again, I won't que- Oh fuck you for that you little shit," I placed down a plus two as Shisui was on his last card. He grabbed two and placed down a card, I then changed the color with a draw four.

"Red," I smirked.

"Fuck you."

"Don't be talking like that, your sister's sleeping. You don't want her to dream about swear words, don't you?" I asked, placing down another plus two. 'I'm gonna make him rage hard by the end of today.' I laughed to myself.

"That won't work, she already can swear like a sailor. And that's not how dreaming works," Shisui responded, placing down a plus two, only for me to counter with one of my own. "Just how many do you have?"

"Yes," I laughed as Shisui sighed.

I smiled as I looked down at my student. "It has been a while, Hanabi," I snapped my fingers and a burst of flame left my hand which got Hanabi's attention, "How've you been?" I grinned as I saw Hanabi's eyes widen and she pretty much teleported to me.

"Sensei!" Hanabi coughed after realizing how loud she was. "I mean, sensei, you're back. How was your mission?" Hanabi asked, I could see her trying not to smile which made me chuckle. I missed Hanabi a lot... She and Fuu would have gotten along nicely.

"It went well. I encountered a really strong Ninja and me and a new friend kicked him to the curb," I hummed and saw Hanabi preparing to speak once more, I put a finger into the air and laughed again. "Before you ask, they were injured and they may or may not be alive still," Hanabi pouted, "Anyways, how are you little one? Is your training going well? Are you used to the Training Regimen I gave you," I asked smiling.

"I'm not little," Hanabi said before I laughed, she tried to jab me in the stomach, but I dodged and leaned on a tree without a care in the world. "You've gotten a lot faster..," Hanabi smiled. "My training has been going well, I've actually been able to use a sword in class! Well a wooden one, but I'm able to beat everyone even without the Gentle Fist now! And I'm startign to get used to the Training Regimen... You're a slave driver."

I chuckled "That I may be, but wise I am. And, good. I'm surprised Iruka let you do so but oh well," I unsealed a wooden sword. "Show me how fast you can swing," I threw it to Hanabi and she grabbed it effortlessly, with speed I wish I had when I started, she swung the sword. I hummed and took the sword back. "You're getting faster as well. You're already faster than I was after I started."

"Thanks sensei," Hanabi mumbled before looking up at me. "What will you teach me today, Sensei?" She asked with a gleam in her eyes. She quickly calmed down and went back into her "Hyuuga Mode" as I liked to call it. "Will it be another Jutsu?"

I nodded. "Sorta. But not really," I then unsealed a leaf. "One of the things I included in the Regimen was Earth Manipulation since that's your affinity, or at least I think so," Hanabi's eyes widened. "Because I am not a responsible adult I shouldn't be doing this, but after the mission I went on, I kinda want you to be prepared. So, I'll teach you how to become an Earth Bender!"

Hanabi's eyes shone in excitement before they gained a curious glint. "What's an Earth Bender?"

"Don't worry about it," I waved Hanabi off before handing her the leaf and unsealing one of my own. "We'll be doing this for about an hour before we move on to something else. I just want to introduce you to the concept since it is fairly simple," I was also using this as an excuse to grind earth manipulation a little bit. So it was a win for both of us.

"Okay..," Hanabi took the leaf. "I'm going to have to put my chakra into this, right?" I nodded, Hanabi really was smart! Smarter than I was when I was her age... then again, I was in a relatively safer and nicer world. "Can you show me how to do this, Kukui-Sensei?"

My smile grew... 'I wonder how Iruka feels when he's called Iruka-sensei... Because I feel nice.' I held the leaf in my hands and Hanabi activated her Byakugan. "I'm already somewhat adept at this, but even so that doesn't mean you'll be able to copy my progress instantly," I slowly began to pour earth chakra into the leaf, slowly turning it to dust. Hanabi began to do the same to her leaf, but at a much slower and sedate pace.

"My leaf's turning to dust a lot slower than yours... It's because your more experienced, right?" Hanabi asked as she deactivated her Byakugan and stared intently at the leaf. I nodded and grinned. "This is going to take a long time..," Hanabi groaned, "How are you already doing this, this quickly?"

"Because I knew Earth Manipulation beforehand through Earth clones," I smirked. "You have that advantage as well. I'd give it a month or two. And then you'll be adept at the first stage of Earth Manipulation. And then you'll be able to learn much more jutsu."

Hanabi nodded. "Alright Sensei."

For a while, me and Hanabi sat there, pouring chakra into our leaves. Mine was almost completely dusted and I heard two pings as the hour went by, Looking at Hanabi's leaf I could see she was making decent progress for day one. I was so proud of her!

Eventually, I looked up at the sun and saw that an hour had passed. "Stop," Hanabi stopped and glanced up as me as I threw the remains of my leaf away. "You're doing good. I'm proud of you and your progress, Hanabi."

Hanabi smiled, "Thanks sensei..," Hanabi yawned, "What will we do now?"

"Rest," I said, unsealing a pillow. "You poured a lot of chakra into the leaf, and I can tell you've already had an exhausting day. So rest, use this time to recover and let your body and mind feel better," I also unsealed some fire wood. "When you wake up I'll teach you how to cook rabbit."

Before Hanabi could protest her head hit the pillow.

I chuckled. Before I could make sure she was okay, I felt a flare of chakra, turning around I saw nothing... Odd.

Before I could do anything else, I made sure I had some tea ready. Not only that but I made sure to have two chairs ready and my table cleared of any notes I had strewn about. I knew what was coming tonight, Hiruzen was likely going to show up. Either dramatically or by knocking. I didn't know but I had candles ready anyways.

I sat down and waited for the Hokage. I had managed to avoid him yesterday but I know my luck would run out today. And today was likely going to involve a heavy conversation. I was prepared to talk about a lot tonight. Not everything I knew though of course.

I began to take a sip of my tea when I felt it, a small gust of wind and the appearance of three chakra signatures. "Hello Hokage-sama. Two Anbu I see. Cat and Tora?" I guessed as I gestured for the Hokage to sit down. I didn't feel any pulse of chakra in response but I knew they were the ones here... I knew their chakra well enough. "You two can have a cup of tea as well if you'd like."

The Hokage sat down in front of me. Not Hiruzen Sarutobi. "I appreciate the Gesture Kukui," He took a sip of his tea. "I presume you know what we are going to be talking about today, don't you?" The Hokage asked as I idly felt the chakra of Tora slip behind me and grab my tea pot.

"I do," I said, grabbed a piece of paper, and read its contents. "I know who the Kyuubi Jinchuuriki is, Naruto Uzumaki," I clasped my hands together and put my head on them. "My friend. But I know you know that. So, I assume this is going to be about how I know village secrets."

The Hokage nodded. "Our conversation today will be about that. I'd like to know how a genin found out about a state secret. I presume you know another given the emphasis on Naruto's surname," Hiruzen said, taking another sip of tea. "I will not punish you for knowing such secrets, but I would like to figure out how you know. I have my guesses but confirmation from you is needed."

"Well, I'm a sensor," I said, sitting up fully and gesturing to where I could sense the Anbu, "But we both know that's not it," I hummed and got out a book I had stolen a few months back for a conversation like this. "The Fourth Hokage was said to be the one to kill the Kyuubi. But chakra cannot be killed. But it can be sealed, however. And seeing as Naruto has whisker marks like a fox, he was born on the day of the Kyuubi attack, and how many adults dislike him I could deduce that he was the one who hosted the Kyuubi."

"A simple deduction," The Hokage said, his tone neutral. "I understand how you came to that conclusion... Now, I'm sure there's another secret you know about that you should tell me how you know," Hiruzen made a go-on gesture. He then glanced to his Anbu. "They know."

I nodded. "Okay. well, Naruto is the child of the Yondaime and Kushina Uzumaki," I leaned forward. "Naruto has blond hair and blue eyes like the late Yondaimes. And the last name of Kushina Uzumaki. Now, those could just be coincidences. But from all accounts I could get, written and from stories, the Hokage was an honorable man. He would never ask another person to have their child become a Jinchuuriki knowing the scorn they would face."

I felt like I was using a Reddit post here for some reason... But it fit, I just wanted this to be over already so Hiruzen could leave and go home and I could start designing the Earth Seal.

The Hokage's features softened. "Minato was always the honorable type... Your explanation makes sense. But why would you even try to figure that out specifically? And what will you do with this information?" Hiruzen asked, taking another sip of the tea.

"Because, why not? I saw the coincidence and tried to find out if a theory I had made sense," I shrugged. "As for what I'll do with this information, well absolutely nothing," Hiruzen's face shifted into a shocked look before being pulled back into a calm facade quickly after. "Naruto more than deserves to know, don't get me wrong," I took a sip of my tea as well. "But he's not exactly in the best place. He's only starting to feel comfortable and happy," Hiruzen looked saddened at that. "Him figuring out that for his entire life he has been lied too will kinda ruin that. I want him to at least be in a better place before he's told."

"I see," Hiruzen nodded, his eyes betraying his calm facade and showing sadness. "I would have liked for him to know at a much younger age. Minato wanted Naruto to be honored as a hero. But those wishes have been spat on due to the fear and hate of the people," The Hokage sighed then and was silent for a minute. "Naruto will be told about the Kyuubi and his Parents sometime soon. I originally intended to do so a few weeks from now but I think I will wait for a few more months.

"That is wise, Hokage-sama," I said, shooting Tora a glare as I stood up and finished my tea... He was usually formal and didn't do anything, but he was a tea enjoyer as well. Evil bastards. My pot of tea was delivered to me, empty. I sighed and began to make another kennel of tea. I then turned back to the Hokage, "Is that all, Hokage-sama?"

Hiruzen nodded. "That was all I wanted to talk to you about, Kukui-kun," Hiruzen stood up and glanced at his Anbu before looking back at me. "Thank you for answering my questions today, Kukui-kun. I do hope my next visit is a more positive one."

"I do as well, but you never know what can happen. Hopefully next time is about something much more positive," I smiled at the Hokage. "Good Night, Hokage-sama!" I said cheerfully as the Hokage opened the door and walked out.

"Goodnight Kukui-kun, I wish you good luck in your research," Hiruzen said as he closed the door. The Anbu's chakra dissapeared as well. Glancing at my table, I could see something.

A scroll.

Taking a look at it, I noticed it was a scroll for some basic earth release techniques... A gift huh? Did he know I was teaching Hanabi? Or was this a coincidence? Because whilst it was nice to know them should I lose my seals somehow, I didn't really need them...

But I'd happily take them.

"Well, today was a good day," I smiled.

"Lucky bastards," Suigetsu groaned. "I want to go on a C-rank mission too!" He said as we watched Mika and Naruto go at it. Just kicking the shit out of each other. They were sparring like the winner would get their deepest wish granted. Suigetsu whistled as Naruto had a tooth knocked out. "Does this happen a lot?"

"If you get one, don't go for a diplomatic mission," I advised as we looked on. "And yeah... out of the four of us, Mika and Naruto spar like their lives depend on it. And it can get worrying at times," I winced as Naruto was then punched in where no man should be before promptly kicking Mika in the face and into a tree.

"You say that as if you didn't literally burn down half of a small forest in Takigakure when sparring with Fuu," Tenten piped up as she watched Naruto intently. "You are just as bad as them, if not worse," Suigetsu blinked in shock before looking at me, ready to say something.

"And you say that as if you didn't use every blunt weapon you had on Kakashi's balls the moment he opened his perverted book," Sasuke muttered, causing me and Suigetsu to shudder. That day wasn't good for Kakashi. He got caught lacking and he paid dearly for it. "You all are crazy."

Suigetsu slowly slid away from me and Tenten. Well, Tenten more than me. "I agree with the Emo. You guys are crazy... " He then turned his attention to me. "What kind of fucking attack do you have that can burn down forests?" Suigetsu asked as we saw Mika be kicked to us before she promptly jumped back into the spar.

"A big one," I responded as we looked back at the fight... "Should we stop them."

Naruto jumped over Mika, grabbing her shoulders and slamming her into the dirt before landing a nasty punch to her face. Mika responded by promptly kneeing him in the stomach and slamming his face into the dirt and throwing him over to us... Tenten caught Naruto then. "Thanks Ten-chan!" Naruto said and both Suigetsu and I laughed as Tenten's face exploded in crimson and Naruto jumped back into fighting Mika.

"If you stop it its one of us next, Kukui," Sasuke said as the fight continued, he shuddered. "I'm not stupid, fighting Mika or Naruto in Taijutsu is not a smart idea," It appeared that he had been humbled a bit more... Good for him.

"He's got a point... again," Suigetsu grumbled, "I like my teeth. And whilst I can turn into water, I'm honestly not sure if I could stay intact if they punch me," Suigetsu gulped. "I don't wanna try and reform myself, that's not a fun thing to do."

"I'll take your word for it," I hummed and slammed my hands onto the floor after a set of hand seals, raising an earth wall. 'Thank you again, Hiruzen.' A jutsu I was more than happy to learn until I could do it with a seal. The wall was shaken as something crashed into it. "Intuition... I wonder who this is."

"I think we should stop this..," Tenten said. "It's starting to get a bit out of hand," Immediately, we all backed away from Tenten as she sighed, "I'll do it. I wasn't going to ask any of you to do it anyway," Gee, I wonder why.

"Alright! Better you than us!" I looked behind me, "Men we're safe!" Suigetsu cheered as Sasuke just sighed at our antics. I could see the smallest of smiles form on his face, however, so that was nice. I then looked to Tenten. "I'll lower the wall," Tenten nodded as I placed my hands on the floor.

The wall fell and it revealed Naruto who Tenten grabbed.

"Alright, enough of this. It's getting too violent and I'm sure Hayate-sensei and Kakashi-sensei don't want to have to spend the next three hours babysitting you in the hospital for broken bones or something," Mika and Naruto pouted.

"But things were just starting to get fun!" Mika said, crossing her arms.

"Yeah! We were about to use jutsu!" Naruto said grinning.

"I don't care. That is incredibly dangerous and you both could get seriously hurt. And I don't want that," Tenten said with finality which made Naruto and Mika frown and grumble something intelligent. So just stop, you both can beat up Kakashi-sensei instead."

That got a smile out of Mika and Naruto.

"Poor Kakashi," I muttered. He wouldn't get out completely unscathed. He's good. But he's still dealing with a determined and battle hungry Naruto and Mika. He wasn't going to have a lot of fun today for sure.

Suigetsu elbowed me then, "Better him than us."

"Agreed," Sasuke said as he slurped on a packet of tomato sauce I brought for him... No idea why he did it. But he liked it, so I made them for him... Also, he just agreed with Suigetsu. Hell must have frozen over for sure.

"Oh god... The impossible's happen," I heard, Turning around I saw Kakashi. "Suigetsu and Sasuke agreeing with each other? The end of the world must be here," Kakashi closed his Icha Icha book then and looked at Tenten who was arming Naruto and Mika...

"I think she's just using this as an excuse to let out her frustration..," I looked at Kakashi and waved at him. "If you run now, they won't catch you."

Kakashi chuckled. "Thanks for the advice, but I won't need it. It'll be nice to have a warm up."

"He's going to get his ass kicked," Suigetsu bluntly said as Kakashi prepared to face them. "He won't go all out and that's what's gonna bone him."

"Yeah... It'll be funny at least," I unsealed some popcorn.

It was gonna be a good time

Fun Fact: Most, if not all of this chapter was written within three hours, this was the second thing written because I want to inflate my word count in a writing challenge I'm in and I really need to do things quickly.

Wow... I started this at like... 1:19 AM I think. And it's 2:44 AM Rn... That means I wrote 4k words in like a hundred or so minutes... I think that has to be a new record for me, Like damn, I'm genuinely impressed. Anyways, at the time of writing this I'm completely disregarding my sleep cycle and school because I have the writing challenge I need to win. I can take a break next month, for now I need to be competitive.

I enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, it was really fun and fast paced for me since I wrote this in such a short frame of time.