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--Yr 54—31, Dec--

The next day, Kiyoshi could be seen taking sneaky glances at his mother, while he was supposed to be watching the strokes she placed onto the page, she was teaching him more about fuinjutsu. The memory of last night was still fresh in his mind, he wanted to know more.

Feeling the curious gaze of her son, she put the brush down and turned her gaze towards him, "Yes?" she spoke, wondering why her son was staring at her, did he have a question?

"Where did you learn fuinjutsu? And did you find it hard to learn" Kiyoshi asked straight away after receiving his mother's full attention.

"My kaa-san taught me and no I didn't find it hard to learn. I suppose you can say our family have it easy with using it" her simple reply came.

"My Obaa-chan…" Kiyoshi sounded out, "Did your tou-san know fuinjutsu too?" he continued with his questioning.

She nodded her head, "Yes, most of my family did" she answered softly as she stared straight ahead, reminiscing the past that she had lost.

Kiyoshi rested the side of his face on the palm of his hand while his elbow was rested against the coffee table they were working on and stared in keen interest at his mother.

"Tell me about your family" came his reply, he was quite curious about the Uzumaki, after all, wasn't Naruto an Uzumaki?

She turned her lingering gaze towards her child, seemingly surprised he had asked about her family.

Silence spread across the room as she was in thought. Kiyoshi couldn't help but feel sorry for her, he was asking questions that were only making her relive her past a past she obviously missed dearly. Something happened and he knew it. He really didn't know much and he wish he did

She sighed before speaking once again, "My family was a big one" she started.

"How big" Kiyoshi interrupted, his curious gaze still lingering on her as he stared, he couldn't help but notice once again at how young she looked.

"As big as a small village, our home was called Uzushiogakure" she answered softly, her gaze returned to the wall in front of them once more.

"Was?" he asked, knowing what the answer would be.

She sighed lightly, "Yes, was. It was destroyed a few years ago. We were a big clan, the Uzumaki clan. We were a very happy family, even though we were so large we were all so kind and caring to each other. We did everything we could to protect and help one another." She continued with a small smile on her face as Kiyoshi listened.

"They were loud and joyful, never once was there a day without noise." She said with a soft chuckle.

Kiyoshi smiled lightly as he watched his mother chuckled. He wished he could have met this family.

"The Uzumaki were well known for our fuinjutsu, many people in our clan were able to do it, it was practically some sort of unsaid tradition. We had many masters of the art, but unfortunately, the talent we had was what led to the Uzumaki's downfall." She spoke, with a sigh to follow behind.

"Huh? Being good at fuinjutsu?" Kiyoshi voiced out seemingly confused, he wasn't all that knowledgeable about the downfall of the Uzumaki, he knew how some of the villages such as Iwa and worked together to get rid of their common enemy, which was Uzushiogakure, but now that he thinks about it makes sense.

Konoha and Uzushiogakure were sister villages or something, and they had helped each other when in need- only if Konoha were able to save Uzushiogakure.

Thinking of their destruction, he knew it was because of the second war, that the other villages didn't want Uzumaki to help Konoha, so they destroyed it- he only knew that because of his friend's explanation, he wished he were here.

"Hm," she hummed, "We were very talented at it, that others started to fear how large we were becoming. Not only that but it was around before the second shinobi war had started, I suppose they didn't want the Uzumaki to be a problem for them. They feared how strong we were becoming and decided to put an end to our growing village."

A comfortable silence took over the atmosphere as his mother continued with the fuinjutsu.

"That's why we live here isn't it? And why you don't go by Uzumaki… I do listen you know, when you're shopping they call you Suisha-san. How is it you met tou-chan? Are you married to him?" he asked.

She didn't say anything for a little while, until she brought her hand to his face, pushing his red hair from his forehead.

She looked down at him with a forced smile, he could tell she was hiding her pain- her sorrow.

"I suppose I should have expected these questions sooner. Your first question, yes. That is why we live here, I was there when my home was destroyed… that's how you tou-san, Satoshi died. Perhaps I'll tell you more when you've grown up… and no, you tou-chan and I have been never married, I suppose we co-parents, raising yu together… he's the greatest friend I could ask for and a good tou-chan, isn't he?"

Kiyoshi nodded, agreeing with her, and smiled, "Yeah, the best" he responded, in his quiet voice. There, now he knew why he seemed shocked when he first called the man 'tou-chan'.

"Then what's my name kaa-chan?" he couldn't help but ask, it was confusing.

"Am I Senju Kiyoshi… am I Uzumaki Kiyoshi or am I Suisha Kiysohi?"

Her slender finger poked his heart, "You're my precious miracle. Kiyoshi, you are both a Senju and an Uzumaki, both a blessing and a curse… you will always and forever be a Senju and Uzumaki, as your tou-san and I's blood runs through these veins" she told him, her finger touching his wrist, he looked at it then met her eyes.

"Suisha Kiyoshi, it is just a name. That is the name you go by, it's far too dangerous for you to take either Senju or Uzumaki but when you are older and can fend for yourself, you can make that decision of what name you wish to go by." She continued.

"I want to become a shinobi, like… Satoshi-tou. What do you think about that?" he said slowly, watching her carefully.

"I… I think that it will be something you must work hard for if you wish to be the best. I won't stop you from doing something you wish to do. I was a civilian… I still am, so I am not knowledgeable in the shinobi arts, but I am a master in fuinjutsu, which is a useful skill for a shinobi to have. It was one of the things that made the Uzumaki so powerful. I'll teach you all I know, so you may survive and live a long life," she told him with a smile, then pushed the strands of his red hair from his forehead, placing a small kiss there.

He smiled in appreciation, "And what do you think tou-chan will think about it?" he asked, she pondered the question, "Satoshi-" he cut her off as she began.

"-I meant, the living one… tou-chan." He told her, raising a brow, she snorted at her mistake.

"I think, that you better become the best. I don't feel like attending my son's funeral." They heard a drawl, from behind them. "Daisuke!" his mother said in a scolding tone.

Kiyoshi stood, "Really, I thought you didn't like ninjas?" he asked the man, nearing him with each step, looking up at him. "What I want is for you to be happy, and if becoming one does that then who am I to stop you." His father told him, ruffling his hair.

"Stupendous!" Kiyoshi exclaimed. Hearing that both his mother and father laughed. He didn't blame them, he seemed to have gotten a habit of using the new words he learned, and that one he learned yesterday after hearing his father say it and proceeded to demand for the meaning.

Later that afternoon, his father needed to go to the market and allowed Kiyoshi to follow him.

At the moment Kiyoshi was holding on to his father's hand as they both were walking through the streets of the small village that they lived in, their farm was just on the outskirts of the village.

If it were his choice he wouldn't be holding the man's hand, but apparently, he had a habit of getting easily distracted and end up getting lost, it was just that he loved seeing it all.

His mother stopped at a fruit stall after being greeted by the shopkeeper, "Ah, Daisuke-san! Back to restock?" the man said in a joking tone, "Now, now. We both know that was done last week." His father responded.

The shopkeeper looked down, "And I see you've brought a little helper with you this time. Your son has really grown, Daisuke-san." The man told his father then looked back at him, "Do you remember me Kiyoshi-kun?" the man asked.

No.

He didn't remember this man at all, perhaps when he was younger and he had yet to learn to walk, they met, but his attention wouldn't have been on this man.

"No," he told them man, which resulted in him snorting. The two of the adults began talking amongst themselves. He tugged on his father's hand. Noticing the store that wasn't too far, it was a book store. His father looked down, humming in question, he pointed at the store, "Can I buy a book?" he simply asked.

His father looked in the direction his finger was pointed at then sighed, "Alright, here" he told his son, handing him a note, "Don't stray away from there, come back immediately your done." He nodded at the instruction racing towards the shop.

Dodging and ducking through people, that didn't seem to notice his short stature.

He found himself walking back and forth, through the book shelves inspecting the books, looking for the ones for ninjas. Finally, he found the section and began reading each title.

He was looking for something to do with taijutsu, then his eyes stopped on a particular one, it had the word 'Taijutsu' in the title, yet he couldn't read it, the whole title that is. He was met with an unfamiliar word, one he had yet to learn.

He picked it up, staring at it for what seemed ages, there was no point. No matter how much he looked at it, the meaning of the word and pronunciation wouldn't pop into his mind. He turned his head hearing voices.

"Are you seriously getting another edition? Can't you just wait until we get back?" one voice said.

"Stop bothering me, go do something useful before we leave." Was the response that person got, he heard the other person scoff, but it seemed they listened as he heard the door open, the chatter of the street becoming one with the noise within the shop for a few seconds that the door was open.

It was closed again, separating the noise.

Looking up he could see the tip hair of the person he heard. This person was the only other person within the shop other than the shopkeeper who seemed busy reading something as they leaned on the counter.

Walking to the end of the aisle, with the book still in hand, he walked towards the man- boy? He seemed about 16, and was a ninja! He saw the headband, which was one of a ninja. The boy seemed to notice him, turning his head down to look at Kiyoshi giving Kiyoshi a better look at the headband.

It was a Konaho headband… he was glad it was, if it were any other one he wouldn't be able to tell which village they were from.

He noticed the flash of confusion and shock that flashed through the ninja's face when he stared at Kiyoshi, but those emotions seemed to come into quick check. His face was now set in neutral, though Kiyoshi could feel it.

His chakra felt airy, it was loud.

The boy was tall, he had dark brown hair, that was neatly tied in the back. His dark brown eyes staring down at him.

He turned his book around not caring for pleasantries, "This word right here" he started, then pointed at the word, tapping it, "What is it?"

"Oh… 'elementariness' it says 'The Elementariness of Taijutsu'" the ninja read out to him, his eyes moving from the title of the book to his face, "Ele- elements" Kiyoshi tried pronouncing the word, frowning as he did so.

"El-e-men-tari-ness" the man repeated this time slowing down, breaking the words up, which Kiyoshi was thankful for.

He looked up at the boy and nodded, in appreciation, "Elementariness" Kiyohis repeated finally getting it. "Thank you, shinobi-san," he told the boy.

An amused looked crossed his face.

"Another question, what does it mean?" he asked the ninja, "Ah, the meaning? I suppose it's something to do with constituting the basics, essential or fundamental part of something." The ninja answered his questions, to which Kiyoshi nodded at.

"Alright…" Kiyoshi said slowly, before speaking again, "Cont-s… con" that was the gave up, Kiyoshi looked at the boy expectantly, and the boy smiled. "Constituting, it is the present participle of 'Constitute'. I suppose it means to be 'a part of a whole'." The ninja told him.

"Con-sti-tut-ing" the boy repeated slowly and Kiyoshi repeated it.

"And, the other word you said, fund.." he trailed off.

"Fundamental. It's an adjective, meaning 'forming a necessary base or core; of central importance.' Pronounced as fun-da-men-tal."

The book was exactly what he needed.

He nodded again, "Thank you, sorry for bothering you shinobi-san" he bowed his head slightly, and the man's mouth twitched.

He began walking away then heard the boy's voice again, "Ano, what is your name?" the question was innocent enough, but the way he said it had Kiyoshi slightly confusing. Perhaps he was curious if Kiyoshi was an Uzumaki?

His mother did say something about Uzimami's being known for having red hair, "Suisha Kiyoshi." He told the boy.

He saw the small frown that appeared on the boy's face as if he was expecting something else but said nothing as Kiyoshi ran off to pay for the book.

It didn't take much to convince the shopkeeper to let him buy the book, all he had to say was he was getting it for his older sibling.

Later that night he read through the book. In the beginning, it gave some sort of gist about it. It spoke about how training in a wide variety of techniques is an aid to achieving this state of 'no mind.'

The achievement of 'no mind,' like many other things in life, must be experienced to be comprehended. It's possible to tell if a martial artist has progressed to this point. There are multiple levels of achievement and understanding with 'no mind,' just as there are with everything else that is naturally human. It had nothing to do with a person's position.

The speed with which one performs his skills is an indication of this state of mind. This is a good clue if someone looks to be moving in slow motion when responding to an unexpected technique. It was important to be successful with one's counter, but there was more to it than just going slowly.

If the attacker whose technique was countered sees the man who moves from 'no mind,' he will view him as little more than a blur. This odd predicament of slow-motion to an outside observer and rapid motion to an inner witness is just one of the signs of true accomplishment.

Another distinguishing feature is a complete lack of hesitation. Someone who learns a technique from nothing has no idea what they're doing until they execute it. Rather, he has no idea what he is going to do until he has already done it.

Lastly from what he read, in the introduction. There should be no exaggeration when doing a technique.

It was taught in all various forms, but also such subjects as strategy and nature observation.

--Yr 54—10, Jan—Konohagakure--

He took a breath before knocking on the door, it had already been a few hours since his team and himself had come back from their mission that resulted in them passing through a small village. One that he couldn't get out of his mind, because of that small boy, a boy that looked too much like Satoshi-senpai.

They have been on many missions, so many that he could remember them all. It wasn't strange for them to be going on so many missions, as they were in the middle of the second shinobi war, which had started just nearly two years ago.

His team had already been assigned with another mission when they had reported back with the Hokage, which was unusual, but wasn't since the mission was one the Hokage had personally assigned to them, therefore wished to hear of the success.

The Hokage had seemed to see his thoughtfulness, during the meeting and questioned it. He didn't want to say anything then, perhaps the Hokage noticed it- of course, he did. He was the Hokage, he was the Hokage for a reason. He scheduled a meeting later for him to tell him what was on his mind, no matter how he tried to tell the Hokage it was nothing, it didn't stop this meeting from happening.

Finally, he knocked.

His knock was greeted by the voice of the Hokage who answered, "Come in." At that response, the Anbu at his side opened the door, while he stayed back.

"Ito Ren to see you, Hokage-sama," the masked Anbu announce to the Hokage, alerting him of Ren's presence. The Sandaime Hokage waved a hand, gesturing for him to come in, "Let him in." the Hokage spoke again.

"Ren-kun" the Hokage greeted, sending him a nod. The Hokage's brown eyes pierced into his soul. He bowed slightly in respect, "Hokay-sama." He greeted back as he stood before his desk, his arms straight at his side as he stood there.

"I really don't think anything I have to… is worth wasting your time, Hokage-sama. You're a busy man, especially with this war, all of us doing our part, your part being one of the most important, and I don't want to make this more complicated with such-" Ren stopped his rambling when he saw his Hokage raise a hand, stopping him.

The look he was given told him all he needed to go, so he spoke again, this time telling him what he wanted to hear.

"During the mission, 092. On our way back from said location, we went through a small village within the Land of Earth, a village called 'Han'ei no Mura'. During our time there I went to the market book shop, to retrieve a book, to read on the way back, as we stocked up on the necessities, there… Hokage-sama, there I met a young boy, perhaps the age of two? Three?" Ren told the man who was listening intently.

The Hokage hummed, showing he was listening, "And what was it that had you bothered?" the Sandaime Hokage questioned.

"…He looked exactly like Satoshi-sama," Ren responded, he couldn't tell what the Hokage was thinking. He had his emotion concealed perfectly, no look of confusion, shock, etc.

"He looked too similar to Satoshi-sama, that a possible relation wasn't out of the question. He had his eyes, his face. The only difference was his hair… he had red hair- the hair of an Uzumaki. I know it's not widely known among the ranks that Satoshi had been to Uzushiogakure, but I was aware of that fact, he had told me before his departure. He died in Uzushiogakure… who was to say he was not with an Uzumaki that survived the attack, one that bore him a son…" Ren trailed off.

The Hokage sighed, leaning back on his chair, thoughts swirling through his mind as his eyes rested on the ceiling. "I see your reasoning, Ren-kun." Their eyes met again, "Was this written on your team report?" the Hokage's tone was stern, and demanding.

Ren shook his head, "No, Hokage-sama."

"Did follow the boy? Did you see if his mother was indeed an Uzumaki? Or perhaps he's an orphan?" The Hokage questioned.

"Apploigise, Hokage-sama. I didn't pursue it further other than just having these thoughts of the possibility. I didn't think it wise, too… Sorry."

"You should have said something sooner!" The Hokage shouted, "What if I didn't organise for this, meeting? Would you have just kept this to yourself?! A Senju, who is not within Konoha, do you know the severity of the situation if this is true? If another village is to know of this… if he truly is of the blood of Senju Satoshi, then he is the great-grandson of Senju Hashirama, with the possibility of having his bloodline. For him to be in the wrong hands… they would mould him into a destructible weapon, to use against us."

Ren stared at the Hokage, slightly stunned, truly seeing the situation clearly. He felt ashamed, the tone the Hokage was using didn't make it any better.

He was curious what the Hokage's next course of action would be, who would he send to check this story? Was the child truly his senpai's child? He was old enough to be.

"What you've said here, shall not leave this room. No other ear shall hear this from you. Do I make myself clear, Chunin Ito?"

He stood straight, at the tone of authority, "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

"Dismissed."