5 Baby on the Wall!

Since the unfortunate incident, Zeus was put under much tighter surveillance. Bikawo spent more time with him and left even later during the night when Zeus actually felt tired from all the mental training. Additionally, Hiruzen had moved the scrolls away, saying that they were too dangerous to be read by an infant, for genin ninjutsu required a stabilized chakra.

Hiruzen added that Zeus simply had too little chakra, and it would grow in the future, but using it in any way right now could result in a crippled constitution. Of course, Zeus didn't listen to the old man, knowing his body better than everyone else. He continued advancing his chakra control, coming up with a few interesting usages of his own, which didn't require any hand signs.

Another year passed quite promptly, with nothing notable happening. Zeus could finally walk with stability and didn't require rest every few minutes. Moreover, Zeus could finally speak, but using his voice too extensively hurt his throat quite a lot.

It seemed that reaching two years of age signaled some level of maturity, and Zeus finally graduated from an enclosed bed. Now, he had his own, much more comfortable mattress. Bikawo also started paying less attention to him, as he was becoming more mature. Unfortunately, war was at its peak, and Zeus was rarely let out of the house.

If he did, then it was with Asuma, who had grown even more aloof over this year. He had just turned ten recently and became a chunin, so Hiruzen didn't pester him anymore about staying at home. He was strong enough to take care of himself, and he had even participated in a mission away from the village recently.

'I wish that was the case for me...' Zeus sighed. This room was slowly but surely suffocating him, and he wanted to just go out and explore this fascinating world. Unfortunately, he was still too young, and he acknowledged that. He didn't want to die just because he was two years old.

"Who am I kidding?" Zeus mumbled to himself, hopping from the bed, his white hair covering his forehead. With his blue eyes, Zeus stared at the window and then opened it smoothly. "Just because I am two years old doesn't mean just anyone can kill me. Let those bastards come!"

He said a little more loudly and then grabbed his own mouth, slowly turning around to check whether anyone heard his voice. Thankfully, it didn't seem so, hence Zeus continued with his prior business. Climbing onto the edge of the window, Zeus breathed in refreshingly.

Staring at the Hidden Leaf Village from above, Zeus smiled deeply. It looked extremely poor and unadvanced, but it was beaming with life, even during the war. It was much better than that town of gods.

Moonlight fell upon Zeus, reflecting from his smooth white hair, as he glanced down. His room was quite high up, and falling would probably result in some unwanted injuries. Yet, there was no fear in Zeus's eyes, as he latched onto the window and swung himself upwards.

While in the air, Zeus pushed some chakra toward his bare feet. It was a trick that he had learned quite some time ago, as he understood that by properly spreading his chakra, he could stick onto things. His hair fluttering in the wind, Zeus stepped onto the wall and stopped horizontally on a vertical wall.

Smiling and giggling, Zeus started running up and down the wall, enjoying this little moment of freedom to the fullest. He continued to perform dangerous stunts, even going as far as trying to make a flip, which was a foul idea. While doing so, he almost fell face forth to the ground, and he only managed to grab onto the window at the last moment.

'I should probably not go overboard, some people might see this.' Zeus considered, not really wanting to be exposed. How would he explain walking on walls as a two-year-old? 'Still, that was fun.'

Zeus rushed upwards, deciding to also check out the rooftop before going to sleep. He almost flew straight up, landing on the rooftop with a crouch. An even greater view of the sky opened up for him, as he gazed at the stars, momentarily thinking as to what his fellow gods were up to.

It was just briefly, though.

'The hell is this smell?' Zeus flared his nostrils, frowning upon realizing that it was coming from behind. Promptly, he turned around and got into a fighting stance, which looked quite comical, considering his skinny body and cute face.

There, sitting against the rooftop's edge, Asuma was looking at Zeus with a bewildered face. In his mouth, there was a cigarette, which had fallen to the ground during this little interchange.

"Fuck me...why does this keep happening whenever I try to do something?" Zeus cursed loudly, only to understand that he had actually blurted that aloud. He grabbed his mouth, staring at Asuma with funny eyes.

"Zeus, how the hell did you get up here?" Asuma asked with a puzzled expression, peeking down below and seeing his opened window. "Aren't you just two years old? Where did you learn how to walk on walls?"

Zeus calmed himself down, trying not to panic. It was good that he was caught by Asuma, and not by others. Scanning Asuma, he tried to discern the situation. Perhaps not everything was that bad...No, actually, he could turn this situation in his favor.

"A bird came flying, so I decided to grab onto it." Zeus lied with a straight face, earning another strange look from Asuma. Taking a few steps forward, Zeus lifted the cigarette that had fallen onto the ground. "Actually, I am more interested in what you were doing here. Aren't you too young to be smoking?"

"Young? Zeus, you have just turned two. What do you know?" Asuma dismissed him with a wave of his hand, taking out another cigarette from a parcel. "Go back to sleep."

'Is he trying to act cool?' Zeus thought to himself. "Maybe I don't know many things, but Hiruzen does, don't you think?"

This caused Asuma to stop. "Are you threatening to tell on me? Don't you think that I can do the same?"

"Well, let's do it then. Who do you think Hiruzen would believe? A two-year-old walking on rooftops doesn't sound too believable." Zeus smiled slyly, pointing towards the cigarette in his hand. "On the other hand, I even have proof of your inhumane act."

Asuma stared at Zeus for a few moments before sighing. "What do you want?"

"That's how we should have started." Zeus threw the cigarette onto the ground. "I want that Basic Ninjutsu scroll and a few history books. Perhaps even a map with all the villages depicted in it."

"You know, that scroll isn't something kids your age should play around with," Asuma said, but Zeus remained indifferent. "At least, that is the case for normal kids, which doesn't seem to apply to you."

"So, are you gonna do it?"

"Whatever, Zeus, just don't get hurt. I will bring everything to you tomorrow." Asuma sighed, putting the cigarette into his mouth and lighting it up. "Are you sure you are two years old? For some reason, it feels like I am talking with a sly old man."

'Am I sly?' Zeus thought to himself. He hated deception and lies, for he had always confronted everything with strength. However, now that he was powerless, beguiling others was inevitable, and it actually felt quite good.

Perhaps he was indeed sly.

Or maybe Asuma was just a pushover.

***

If anyone is up for a chess game, I have created a Discord server: https://discord.gg/ChRTxYs7

Insert a Gif: Asuma Smoking!