Hatake Sakumo's House

The next day, Araki and Kushina walked towards the Hatake Sakumo's house. As far as Araki was aware of, Hatake Sakumo was the last surviving member of the Hatake Clan.

He had married a clan member of Inazuka Clan. It seems that he and his wife loved each other very much. And with Hatake Sakumo's prowess in the battlefield and his power, the Inazuka Clan consented to his marriage with their clan member.

Araki and Kushina soon reached their house. The house was located at the western side of Konoha. It was quite some distance away from the compounds of the other great clans of Konoha.

At that moment, Hatake Sakumo left his house. He seemed to be in a hurry. Araki and Kushina noticed that he looked quite frightened as he immediately took off in the direction of Hokage's office.

Araki didn't overthink about it. He said to Kushina, "Let's go to his house and wait for him…"

"Alright." Kushina readily agreed to his idea and started walking towards the house.

After they were right out of the house, they knocked on the door and called out, "Hello, is someone here?"

Soon enough, the two heard a pleasant voice from inside the house, "Yes, is there something you need?"

A brown-haired woman with some face marks on her face appeared in front of them. She stared at Araki and Kushina and looked quite confused. She had never seen these two kids here before.

"Hello, Miss. I am Senju Araki."

"And I am Uzumaki Kushina."

The woman's eyes widened a little when she heard that this young boy was Senju Araki. As a member of the Inazuka Clan, she was aware of who Senju Araki was.

Even though he was young in terms of age, he was still one of the most influential persons in Konoha. She had also heard rumours of how a Wood Release Bloodline user had dealt massive damage to the Three Great Villages Army.

"Why would the Clan Head of the Senju Clan come here?" She asked while staring at Senju Araki's face.

"I wouldn't hide it from you. I came here to meet Hatake Sakumo. But I saw that he had just left the house in a hurry, so we were planning to wait for him here. Is that acceptable?" He asked with a neutral look on his face.

The woman thought for some time before nodding her head, "Alright, please come in. Don't mind our small house."

Araki gave her a smile in return and said, "Don't worry, until the age of 7, I lived in a shack. I am still somewhat uncomfortable in Senju Clan Manor. Your house gives me a feeling as if I am home." These were his honest thoughts.

Kushina added, "I also don't mind it." The two walked inside the guest room.

The woman left the guest room and brought tea for the two of them. The two started drinking tea, and Kushina looked at the woman before asking her, "Where did Hatake Sakumo go?"

"The Third Hokage ordered him to give him a detailed report in the early morning. But, Sakumo was far too tired and woke up late. He went to the Hokage Office without even having his breakfast because he is afraid that the Hokage would scold him for being late." The woman said while smiling at them. She was a little embarrassed while telling them about her Husband's lateness. It certainly didn't give a good impression.

Araki frowned at that moment. Although he knew that this man had certain privileges, he didn't think that this man was so loyal to the Hokage.

"Can I ask why you wanted to meet Sakumo?" She asked with an interested look in her eyes.

Thinking for some moments, Araki replied to her, "We both wish to become his apprentices. We wanted to be trained by him and wanted to ask what his requirements would be to train us."

"You want to be Sakumo's apprentices? Why so?" She asked them eagerly.

"Because of certain reasons, we do not wish to become Konoha's Shinobi. However, we still want to learn some skills from someone we can call a teacher. I believe that Hatake Sakumo was the most appropriate man for this." Araki answered her truthfully.

"Aren't you the Senju Clan Head? Why do you not want to become a shinobi of Konoha?"

"I dislike the way the current Hokage runs things. To him, I am no more than a tool. The thought of serving him sickens me greatly. That is why I at least want to be trained by someone who I hold in high regard." Araki said with a small smile on his face.

"I am sure Sakumo would be delighted to know that you trusted him to train the two of you. But… there is a low chance he would be willing to teach you. He is rarely free from his missions, after all…" From her tone, Araki got the feeling that the Hokage kept Sakumo so busy that he wasn't able to spend enough time with his wife. Well, it was natural for anyone to use a shinobi of his calibre.

"I promise we won't take up too much of his time. Just a few instructions and then he can leave us to figure out on our own. Actually, I wanted to start my elemental training. I have realised that my chakra training has seemingly encountered a bottleneck. Though there are many exercises in the books, I feel like someone's instruction would be more valuable." He stated quite calmly.

The Woman's eyes narrowed at that moment as she said, "Are you sure you only want him to give you some instructions? What about asking him to stay by your side while you train."

Shaking his head negatively, Araki answered, "That would mean our talent is not sufficient, and we aren't qualified to receive instructions from Konoha's White Fang."

"And what of the payment. Sakumo won't teach you for free, you know." The woman's eyes seemed to be twinkling while staring at Araki.

"My Elder Sister Tsunade and I have inherited half of the Senju clan's property, but I am the current head of the Senju Clan. I have quite a few forests I can give him for free." He nonchalantly stated which made the woman's eyes twinkle with excitement.

She immediately closed the distance between them and held his hand, "We have a deal."

"Huh?" Araki showed off a confused expression. What did this woman mean they had a deal? Could she make a decision in place of Hatake Sakumo? That shouldn't be possible, right?

Well, these would be his thoughts until he would hear this woman lecturing Hatake Sakumo into accepting Araki and Kushina as his apprentices.