Juugo Uzumaki - Chapter 34

Miyumi shut the door to her home behind her, removing her shoes with a flick as she swept inside.

"Hizashi?" she called, checking the sitting room. "HIZASHI!"

She activated her Byakugan, scouring the house for her wayward husband. He was always doing something, never still as she spotted him by the koi pond, feeding the fish from a swollen bag.

"That man."

Miyumi stomped across the wooden floor, intent on telling Hizashi what she'd found as she stepped into the garden.

"Hizashi," she called gain, looking down at the pebbled path. "Ow. Ow."

Her husband wasn't even looking, still throwing feed across the koi pond.

"HIZASHI!" she screeched, hearing Hizashi turn with a deep sigh.

He looked at his hobbling, struggling wife as she gestured him over. "There are shoes by the door," he said, walking down the pebbled path to her. "Honestly."

She grabbed his robe.

"Never mind that," she huffed, holding his arms in need. "You'll have to carry me."

He hoisted her up, the act well practiced as a small giggle escaped her.

"You've gotten heavier," he commented, arriving back by the koi pond. "It's those lunches, restaurant food is bad for you."

He set her down in the grass, finding his hands smooth her ruffled kimono.

Miyumi was beautiful, as she turned hurriedly towards him. "Hizashi," she said, searching his calm face. "I had lunch with him."

He blinked.

"Who?" he said in confusion. "What about Emiko?"

Miyumi waved it off. "She never showed, unreliable as always," she was unbothered by her old sensei's habits.

This was far more important.

"So…"

"Juugo. Hizashi!" she stomped on the grass. "Juuuuugo!"

Hizashi groaned, not this again as he turned to the koi pond. "I told you to stop harassing him," he said, giving her an annoyed glare. "Neji doesn't want to be friends with the boy."

His poor son, being dragged around by his obsessed mother. They'd discussed the matter more than once since their dinner over a month ago, and still she wouldn't relent.

"Miyumi," he said tiredly, seeing her turn away from him. "Why do you keep doing this. She's gone, Juugo can't bring her back."

Hizashi had never been close with Kushina, not even after he'd married Miyumi. There were other factors to account for, some of which only the Hokage knew.

"Come on. Feed the fish with me."

He rattled the bag, knowing his wife secretly enjoyed it.

…

It was no use, as she remained stubbornly turned away, looking across her beautiful flowers that filled the garden.

"What happened at lunch," he said, facing the pond as he threw some feed in. "I'll listen. Promise."

Hizashi raised the bag to her again, waiting with a smile as she slowly turned around. "My turn," she said, stealing the bag.

She took a big scoop with her hand, throwing it in as they watched the small pellets splatter the water.

The koi fish were hungry today, gobbling them up as they jostled the surface.

"Juugo isn't enjoying the Academy," she said with an even tilt, passing the bag back to him. "He'd left for lunch, so he says. But I know Iruka would never allow it."

Hizashi agreed easily, each of them knowing Iruka well.

All the clans did, making a point to know who was teaching their children. "But that's not our problem," reiterated Hizashi, having made the point before. "He's an orphan. Regardless of his hair colour."

Fact. He wasn't their problem as Hizashi threw another handful.

"Your turn."

Miyumi took it, throwing some more with increased intensity. "Why don't you see," she said heatedly, grabbing an even bigger handful. "Juugo isn't just another orphan. Haven't you been listening!"

She tossed the bag back to him.

"He's an Uzumaki! I know it. And so do you," she stepped closer, trying to understand why her husband refused to see. "I've seen that chakra before. So full of life, just like hers!"

Kushina's chakra had been unique, like warm sunlight on a cloudy day as Hizashi rubbed his head, looking back to his wife with fatigue. "It's not that simple," he said. "And his chakra isn't the same."

It was in fact, completely different from Kushina's. "Kushina's was warm," he stated, seeing his wife agree. "Juugo's isn't. It's more like…"

Miyumi smiled. Hizashi hadn't the time to ponder as she had. "Like a forest in bloom," she stated, having been stuck for an answer too. "I know at first glance it might seem different, but underneath it's just like hers. It has the same… power."

She touched his chest, peering up at him. "It is the same."

Hizashi felt her arms wrap around his middle, unable to resist as he hugged her back. His wife was more convinced than ever, which led him back to what she'd first said. "What happened at lunch then," he asked, drawing away slightly. "Did he tell you something?"

It wasn't impossible that Juugo would know about his family, if they truly were Uzumaki.

Which in his mind, was still up for debate as Miyumi shook her head.

"Juugo's still as reticent as before, even more so actually," she mused, feeling a deep frustration at his continued question dodging.

But that was just it, it was the things he didn't answer that had truly settled her mind. "I asked him where he grew up, before the Orphanage."

She'd wanted to know, it was harmless really as Hizashi prompted her on.

"The Land of Grass. By the sea with his Grandfather who he says, had been very old."

She frowned, her eyes trailing across the garden. "He said he didn't remember the rest."

And perhaps he didn't, perhaps she was entirely wrong. But the Uzumaki were scattered, their generations lost in the wind from young to old. Who knew where they'd all ended up, the few that had survived.

But there was one thing she did know, and that was how long-lived they were.

It wouldn't be impossible, for this 'Grandfather' to actually be Juugo's father.

Farfetched, she knew, as Hizashi spoke to her gently. "But still," he said, not knowing what it was his wife was thinking. "That's not proof. He is only six Miyumi, I wouldn't remember."

"Yes," she admitted. "I know. But Hizashi-"

He shook his head, embracing her again.

"Let him be," he said, hoping she'd listen. "If you're right, and he is an Uzumaki. Then it won't do to bother him so. He might just hold a grudge."

He chuckled, lightening the mood. Hizashi could actually see it happening too, having experienced first-hand how persistent Miyumi could be. "Agreed?"

Miyumi mumbled, snuggling within his arms as they stood by the koi pond.

"Agreed," she said eventually.

She supposed it didn't matter if he was or wasn't an Uzumaki, as they began to walk back to the house.

Juugo was here, a student of Konoha.

It would all come to light eventually.

Break.

Juugo walked down the steps to his base, enjoying the dark swirling around him. "Miyumi…" he muttered, his voice laced with a deep annoyance.

She was not what he'd hoped, as he arrived at the large cave now his own. Juugo hadn't known what she'd wanted before, putting it down to the business with Neji and her wanting a friend for him.

But it wasn't that at all, not by far as Juugo transformed, sighing with relief as his chakra unchained.

Miyumi wanted to know his past, prying with a motive that seemed an obsession.

That was it, as Juugo rolled his shoulders, widening his stance as he felt the seals around him, checking they were up and functional.

It was taxing having to restrain his chakra all day, as he'd been forced to do since starting the Academy.

The Byakugan, it was the cause of many troubles for Juugo. All of which were a tiresome bother, just like the people who owned them as the air fizzled with heat.

Juugo would practice Taijutsu first, get used to the forms while using his Kekkei Genkai, then move onto Ninjutsu as he leapt away.

Smash.

He struck the wall with a fist, wanting to test his strength as the stone dislodged around it. There were fissures, cracking like webs across the stone. Juugo had gotten stronger, hopping back as he whipped through the forms, thrusting and striking as he once again thought of the issues at hand.

One: Miyumi had a motive, one beyond the kind and friendly as he flipped, spinning down with a heel through the floor.

Two; the Academy was quickly becoming a bore, his needs unmet by the teachers there.

And three, as his fists boxed an invisible opponent, creating pressure enough to shunt him back.

Juugo was itching to leave the village, to explore past the barrier and into the world at large.

The question though, as chakra roared through vents on his back.

Was he strong enough?

"HA!"

…

He panted.

His progress was too slow as he sprinted back to a spot by the stairs. The Academy would take years to teach him anything of note, which he hoped would actually happen one of these days.

So far. It was Mizuki and his books that had taught him the most, and he wasn't even loyal to Konoha.

There was the leaf too, arguably the only good thing that came from the Academy.

Juugo shook his head, having long concluded who Mizuki worked for – or at least allied with.

The Demon Snake.

How else could he have entered that base, as Juugo turned to the cave at large.

Time to try another jutsu, one that would take advantage of the moist air down here, which seemed to leak from the end near the forest.

Juugo repeated the seals for a water jutsu, taking a deep breath as he came to the very last.

…

He spat it out, sending a beam of water out across the cave, shocked as its tip carved through the stone.

The pressure tried to push Juugo back, prompting his mouth to close, ending the chakra which had drawn the water from the surrounding air.

"Cool."

The stone was damaged, looking like a stick had been drawn through sand.

Juugo tried another, finishing with his hands raised high in front of him, forming the Ram on each as water circled around him form. It thickened, turning to a coiling river as Juugo began to circle his arms, trying to control the flow as an enormous ball tumbled around him.

He smiled, covering his eyes and mouth for a deep-sea dive as he let the water fall.

It swallowed him whole, forming a great explosion of water with him directly inside. Juugo was just a passenger now, tumbling in the waves as they spread across the rocky floor.

Bump.

Juugo rolled for a moment, quickly finding his feet as the water ebbed, leaving a large puddle all around him.

"The air's so dry," he commented, feeling the air tingle his throat. "Perfect."

This was his goal all along, to make a pond he could work with from just the air around. It wasn't deep though, as he walked further in.

He'd seen how shinobi could walk on water, even Genin and certainly Anbu, who he'd glimpsed that day through the soggy reeds.

Juugo didn't care much for walking up trees, already a great climber. He'd learn tree walking too, right after he could walk on water.

Which now his control was better should be possible as he tried it out, placing a food atop the water.

In his memories, he remembered feeling their chakra funnel from their feet, creating a tension on the water that allowed them to walk.

…

The water resisted, buffering as he directed chakra out through the souls of his feet.

A little more.

Blast.

Juugo flipped, spiralling in the air before landing in a wet splat. He looked up, scowling as the water flicked against his face.

Too much, as he rose to his feet.

…

Blast.

This might take a while, as Juugo tried again and again.

And again.

Three hours later.

"Yes!"

He wobbled slightly, balancing on a shallow pool he'd landed by, after who knows how many attempts.

It was still unsteady, the water trembling below as a wave grew beneath him, forcing him to step away while he let them settle.

He stepped cautiously back on, getting better every time he did, smoother and with less water tickling between his toes. It was a shame then, as Juugo felt his skin cool, glowing at his command before transformation disappeared entirely.

That dinner would be soon, and this time as he headed for the stairs, it wouldn't be 'well-done.'

Break.

"Sorry again Iruka," said Suzi, seeing him out of her office. "It's really not like him, he wouldn't hurt her intentionally."

Juugo wasn't like that, never as Iruka stepped away.

He bowed. "I think so too. Sakura assures me it was all a misunderstanding."

And that she'd asked him to, for some inexplicable reason as Suzi nodded quickly.

"Iruka," she said, escorting him out as they passed reception. "I was wondering. If you're not busy…"

He looked back to her, the two nearing the large doors as Suzi plucked the courage.

Iruka was a slow poke, and she was tired of waiting for another date.

"Would yo-"

"I would love to," smiled Iruka as they came to stop by the door. He took her hand, meeting her blinking eyes. "I had been meaning to ask. But the Academy."

He looked down, slumping. "You know how it is," he said, feeling warm and comforted as she rubbed his hand with thumb.

She leaned into him. "I know…" she whispered, tilting up as her nose nudged his chin leadingly.

Iruka kissed her, feeling her waist with his hands as she kissed him back, her hands moving to stroke his neck with soft fingers. "Iruka," she whispered, moving to his neck as she kissed him. "Come with me."

His hands pressed her close, smoothing the fabric around her soft hips as he kissed her again.

She smiled, taking his hand as she led him away.

AN

Yeah, that was nice. Miyumi's a little crazy, but it's all good.

Thanks for all the comments across the platforms, some great feedback. Also thanks to Pa – treon dot .com / bactum subscribers, always appreciate the support (thumbs up emoji).

Till next time then!!