N:RTK: 9. The Guardian.

Disclaimer: This fanfiction is a creative work inspired by the Naruto universe created by Masashi Kishimoto. It is not intended for profit or to infringe upon any copyrights associated with the original series. All recognizable characters and settings belong to their respective creators.

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Last time on Naruto: Road To Kage. Chapter 8: Sage vs Sage; Fake vs Sun —

"I won't force you to stay, you'll be free to leave whenever you want but know that there will always be a room for you here." She reassured him with a kind smile, almost like a grandmother.

"Arigatō.. Mito-sama." He slowly whispered, with a grateful smile and finally passed out from exerting himself too much.

He had been barely holding his concious despite the exhaustion, despite the inhuman levels of pain he was under. Just to hear that he had achieved his goal of becoming her student.

Now Continuing —

Watching the happy smile that came onto his face for a brief second when he heard that he had passed and became her student brought a smile to her face as well.

But when she looked at his injuries and blood coming out of his mouth, she couldn't help but let out an exasperated sigh.

She already had one fool in her life who just didn't know when to give up and retreat, she really didn't need another one. But the deal had already been struck and she was gonna keep up her end of the bargain.

Also, she really wanted to see what a truly gifted child in the arts of fuinjutsu can achieve. She summoned another clone to gently carry Satoru and also to administer first aid, while she sent out a pulse of chakra towards her hubby to let him know that she needed his help.

It wasn't like she couldn't help him but she wanted her student to be treated by the best medic in the shinobi nations and that was her husband. Also, she wanted to hear his assessment of her student; he had already admitted to having a below-average-sized chakra pool.

If anyone had asked her if a child with such a huge disadvantage should study fuinjutsu. Then she would've straight-out told them that it was a waste of time, as they wouldn't even be able to prime a seal.

But after meeting with Satoru her eyes have been opened to the vast possibilities in the field of fuinjutsu.

She reminisced how her teacher back at the Uzumaki clan had taught her that with the help of fuinjutsu nearly anything was possible as long as one had the imagination and ingenuity to make it happen.

She had seen him enter a "perfect" sage mode in the fight and he's not even 6 years old yet. After her diagnostic jutsu was done scanning Satoru's body.

She found that he had broken two ribs and the bones in six of his fingers to different degrees. The ankle of his right foot was shattered beyond what she could heal. And the shinbone of his right leg was littered with hairline fractures.

And that wasn't all; she found that, due to opening the first of the [Eight Forbidden Gates], Satoru had overstressed his brain. There didn't seem to be any signs of long-term damage.

But he would definitely be mentally exhausted for the next week or two, even after her husband was done healing him.

'But how in the seven hells did he even learn to open the Eight Hidden Gates?!' She couldn't help but ask herself in her mind, as she finally was getting an understanding of how troublesome of a student she had just taken under her wing.

.

..

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Meanwhile, Hashirama was sweating quite a bit from the heat and humidity that were finally getting to him. To say that he was surprised by Satoru's final attack would be an understatement.

The young Shinobi—yes, he referred to Satoru as a Shinobi—because, to him, anyone who had to fight with such great will and even pull off a quasi-S rank ninja technique was a bona fide Shinobi in his eyes, regardless of their age.

He was impressed by how smartly Satoru-kun played out their fight.

After feeling the surrounding heat to drop to a manageable degree, he began dissolving the base of the wooden Avatar so he could get out and take a look at the damage. Just his chakra sense and connection with the surrounding nature told him of the extent of the devastation.

The damage had spread to over half of the training ground, while the fire was self-contained in the whirlwind. He felt the heat rise to such a degree that the surrounding trees started to dry up and combust into flames. Such was the power of jutsu that Satoru used in proxy through his seals.

After their fight, Satoru reminded him even more of his brother; the whole time, he acted like he wanted to maintain a distance from him. But what he actually wanted was to lull him into a false sense of security in his superior level of strength.

And then all he had to do was block one attack, so he himself could launch his own sure kill attack and with it being at point-blank range. There was no way for him to block or dodge unless he stopped his own attack.

It was here that the false sense of security he had instilled in him that decided to follow through on his attack. It wasn't until he threw those paper tags at his torso that his instincts screamed danger in his mind.

If he had the speed of Jonin, he might have been able to dodge those tags, but in the few milliseconds he got. He was only to twist his body enough to not get hit in the chest; he thought he had cleared them entirely.

But as it passed right by his arm, he felt them activate and suddenly wrap around his elbow and bicep. He tried to tear them off before they were primed, but it was useless as they had already seeped into his skin.

It left him no choice, but to use the wood release; he could have just cut off his arm and regrow it. But his precious tsu-chan was watching the match, and he wasn't going to look weak in front of her.

So, he instantly entered sage mode, and activated the [Wooden Avatar Jutsu]. He had come up with it after studying the Susanoo of his late friend closely, he made it in his memory.

Currently, it is the strongest defensive jutsu in his arsenal.

And even though he only used it's first stage, he was surprised to see the amount of damage young Satoru's fire tornado did to his Avatar. Though he could guess that it was mostly likely because of the sage chakra that Satoru-kun used to prime all his seals.

As he finally got out of it, he turned around to look at the damage with his eyes; the outer shell of the wooden construct was completely blackened.

Suddenly, he felt his wife's chakra surge in waves towards him; it was their special way of communicating.

It seemed like she needed his medical assistance with Satoru; it came as no surprise to him, as he had truly pushed the young Shinobi beyond his limits. Looking around at the training ground, a barren, blackened ground greeted his sight.

He was glad that he didn't deactivate the sage mode yet, as he felt like he would need it. If he wanted to be done with healing and repairing the training ground to its previous condition in time, So he could head back and take care of Satoru.

He brought his hands together in the snake hand sign and called out, "[Wood Release: Nativity of a Sea of Trees]." It was a weaker version of the [Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees] that he used to create the forests surrounding Konoha.

This was the part of his power that always brought a smile to his face, while almost every jutsu is destructive in nature when done on a large scale. His wood release depended all on his intent; he wanted to regrow the forests, so that was all his jutsu was doing.

If he wanted to attack someone then the trees would start twisting and snaking around them, or if he wanted to defend himself then they would grow around him like a dome to protect him from any attack.

His wood release was one of the very few chakra natures that could create and give birth to life rather than just mindlessly destroy. He felt blessed to have this power, with which he was able to fulfill his dream and create Konoha with his friend.

Though, how it all ended, still saddened him, and he felt low whenever you remembered how he had to kill his friend with his own hands. In the end he could not save one of the few friends he had in life, Madara's fate was a tragedy he couldn't change.

He only hoped that his friend will find peace in the Pure Lands after being reunited with his brother.

"Brother." He heard Tobirama call out to him.

"Hmm." He hummed in thought as turned around.

"It's time, we shouldn't keep Mito-ane-sama waiting. You know how she gets if you are late."

"Yes, let's not." He said with a laugh wrapping his arm around his brothers shoulder, as he put aside his regretful thoughts about Madara and tried to move on.

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..

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"So how bad were his injuries, Hashi?" She asked as she sat beside her student. He had been cleaned up and healed, and was now resting on a futon.

"Well.. it isn't something that we don't often see in the line of shinobi work." He said, trying to downplay it and skirt around the topic, as he didn't want to hurt his wife.

"Hashi, just tell me.." She said again, with a sigh.

"He had broken 16 bones just from his fingers, his left wrist had fractures as well. He had 2 broken ribs and 4 with hairline fractures."

"His chakra pathways were strained to their limits, but thankfully it wasn't damaged to an irrevocable degree."

"Also, his constant use of the first gate has put a heavy strain on his brain. There's no permanent damage, but he will definitely be needing at least 2 weeks of bed rest."

"That's with me healing him and the constant influx of sage chakra in his body."

She nodded understanding that he wanted her to have some stern words with her student so he wouldn't go far this ever again in a spar when he isn't ready for it.

"What can you tell me about the sage chakra, is it harming him in any way?" She asked about the one thing that was bothering her, as she wasn't that knowledgeable about sage chakra other than the basics that hashi told her.

"From my scans that I ran, I found no harmful effects. But I did confirm my theory that this constant influx of sage chakra has been slowly strengthening his body and increasing the size of his chakra pool."

"Though, the increase is so miniscule that it can only be properly measured if we measure it on a longer time period."

"There were also small ruptures in his blood vessels and internal organs, probably due to using the seal that mimicked the body flicker jutsu."

Hearing that made her wince at the thought of how much pain Satoru must have been under while trying to fight back. Maybe she had stacked the odds a little too much against.

"His body just isn't ready to handle moving at those speeds. After all, there is a reason why we restrict that only experienced chunins and above get to learn that technique despite it only being a D rank."

"I would recommend you to forbid him from using that seal until his physique at least reaches chunin rank."

"I will definitely talk to him about it, anything else?" She said seriously, she swore to herself she would make sure that he understood just how reckless he had been.

She knew it sounded hypocritical, as she was the one who wanted to see all that he could do. And now that she had seen it, she really wished she didn't push Satoru-kun that hard.

"Tobirama has a request to m—." Hashirama said as he gestured for his younger brother to speak up.

But before his little brother could even get a word in, his wife raised her hand to stop him from speaking and made her stance clear at where she stood. "What is it?"

"If it's regarding any of the seals my student created, then he," she said pointing at Tobirama, "will have to negotiate with him and give something equally valuable in return."

"Don't forget Tobi-kun, Satoru-kun is now under my wing, so don't even think about it." Mito said, turning towards the younger of the two brothers.

"I understand, elder sister and please even I'm not that low to just demand a jutsu or seal from its creator for free." Tobirama said in an exasperated tone, his elder sister really wasn't going to let go of time when he fooled a group of Uzumaki shinobis into helping him take down an enemy camp for free.

"Good." She said with a hmph!

"Hashi, how would you rank my student's potential and talent?" She asked turning to her husband, wanting to see how he would evaluate his talent.

"His creativity and talent for fuin-jutsu is unlike anything I have seen before. He definitely surpasses Tobirama in how quickly he picked up the art." He said looking at her with a smile.

"But sadly his physique isn't upto the mark, even if trained his entire the highest rank his physique might achieve would be high chunin.. maybe a jonin but even that will only be possible if he trains in one of those secret martial arts."

"The same goes for his chakra pool that is showing stunted growth, but it's not all doom and gloom. I could see that through his own training and sage chakra being pumped into his body."

"All his flaws are slowly correcting themselves, but that rate is too slow and if he will even succeed is hard to say. He will need your help to improve the seal that is responsible for the sage chakra." She heard his assessment with rapt attention as this was definitely something she could help him out with.

"If he can do that then he could maybe grow to the rank of an elite jounin and if he can perfect his sage mode then even the kage level might be in his reach, no matter how temporary."

"I see Arigatō Hashi. I'll be making your favorite dishes tonight." She said with a fond smile, she didn't cook much now at her age. But she knew he still loved her cooking the most, so she would cook for him whenever he did something for her.

"Yay! Can I go gambling? I heard a new casino opened up in the neighboring town." He asked excitedly, trying his luck. Maybe his wife might be in a good mood and allow him to go.

"So soon? but I trashed the last one just a few days back." She said so soon in a normal tone but the rest, she just muttered under her breath so he wouldn't hear.

"What?" Hashirama asked innocently.

"Nothing." She replied with a pout.

"So can I go please?" He asked again with a pitiful face.

"Ughhh, okay but limit your bets, nothing beyond hundred thousand ryo got it?" She said with an exasperated tone.

"Hai! Let's go tsu–" Hashirama said, calling out to Tsunade but he was stopped by his wife.

"And you can't take Tsunade with you." Mito said with a stern voice.

"Whaaa.. but why?!" Hashirama said like a baby, with a pout.

"I don't want her learning that bad habit from you." Mito replied with an irked face like she was done answering his foolish questions.

"But what's the probl–" Hashirama asked with a pout.

"The problem is that unlike you she only keeps losing, so keep her away from it." She said in a severe tone.

"Yes." Hashirama grumbled under his breath but agreed in the end.

"And how long are you going to pretend to be asleep, dear student of mine?" She asked with a quirky smile.

"Eh.. you seemed busy so I didn't want to disturb you." Satoru said with a smile of his own as he opened just his left eye to look at his teacher.

"The only reason I am not hitting you for the crazy stunt you pulled, is because I was the one who told you to go all out and impress me. And I think in the condition you're in right now, even a little tap from me might bring you to death's door."

"I've never felt so happy to be called weak before." Satoru said jokingly as he laughed as his own joke and Hashirama joined along.

"At least you got a sense of humor." Hashirama said, chuckling.

"Go." Mito said with narrowed eyes and with her hands on her hips.

"Hai. Hai." Hashirama chuckled as he made his retreat with a smile on his face. Tobirama remained silent, sitting at the back of the room, as he observed the exchange between the student and his teacher.

"Satoru, do you remember that I accepted your request to become my student before you passed out?" She asked, wanting to see how much he recalled.

He just nodded.

"Well, I got two offers for you now." She had given it a lot of thought and decided to give him the choice.

"In the first you'll just be my student, it comes with no obligation towards the Senju Clan other than just those that come with becoming one's student."

"If you accept this offer, you'll get more freedom, but I won't be able to teach you the [Uzumaki Secret Fuinjutsu Arts]."

He nodded in understanding and gestured for her to give the other option.

"The other is where, rather than being a student.. you'll be a Guardian."

"Guardian?" He muttered questioningly.

"A guardian is like a retainer but one with more privileges, it's the only way for an outsider to become a member of a clan.. well other than marrying into it."

"So if I accept to become a "guardian," I'll be a member of the Senju clan?" He asked, feeling confused, as he didn't hear or see anything like it in the manga or anime. But he was in an AU Naruto world, so maybe this was one of the changes.

"Not just the Senju but you'll also become a member of the Uzumaki clan, don't forget I belong to both clans." She said with a proud smile.

He nodded in understanding and then turned his towards her as he asked, "So what kind of obligations will I have to the Senju clan or even the Uzumaki?"

"You'll be with me here in Konoha, so nothing towards the Uzumaki clan. As for the Senju, you'll just have to do what every other member does."

"And what's that Mito-sama?" He was intrigued.

"The active Shinobi fight in the frontline, the retired one's train the next generation, the merchants provide a powerful financial backing, and so do the clan members of other vocations." She said, giving a brief rundown of the roles everyone played.

"A guardian is a role where you'll perform the roles of an advisor, a bodyguard and if the situation demands it, even a teacher."

"Huh?! What? A teacher? Me?!" He asked surprised, pointing at his face whilst lying down, and then winced at the pain from moving his hand.

"Don't move." She said sternly, he nodded obediently, "The way you're now you're actually pretty qualified to train my granddaughter Tsunade."

"You'll also be in-charge of her protection later on."

"Me? But I can barely even fight off a chunin."

"And? Who are you even comparing yourself to Satoru?" She asked with a frustrated look on her face.

He remained silent, he couldn't bring himself to tell that he was comparing himself to the best out there, because that was stupid. 

"You are not even 6 years old, for kami's sake. You barely had a month of formal training before you threw yourself into solo training to learn fuin-jutsu."

"You had no clan. No family or even friends to guide you.. and yet.. just look at what you've achieved."

"Hold your head up high Satoru-kun." She was staring him right in the eye, the sincerity and conviction was palpable.

"I've seen hundreds of Uzumakis who were told that they were geniuses in the art of seals. I was one of them."

"But when I looked at you, pulling one original seal after the other, for the first time. I felt humbled for the first time in my life."

"You'll do great things, Satoru-kun, there's no doubt about that in my mind but please don't rush into. Pace yourself, get comfortable walking, before you start running."

"I understand, sensei." He said, trying to hold back his tears that were blurring his vision, feeling recognized for all the hard work he had put in for the past 9 months felt cathartic. Seeing her recognize his talent and validate him with her sincere praise was even better.

— To be continued…

In the next chapter of Omniscient Read—

Cough* *Cough*

I meant in the next chapter of Naruto: Road to Kage.

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Word Count: 3,346 words (without the author's notes and disclaimer.)

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{Closing Author's Note: Thanks for reading my Naruto fanfic, this is part of my exclusive works that's only available here on pat. reon.

With 12 additional chapters available on patreon and the link is in the author's thoughts section at the bottom of this chapter.

Anyways, I hope everyone is happy and healthy, this is bye for now but I will be back in a few hours with the H:HHS chapter. }