My new life goes on (1)

…

Okay, so as you might expect my first meeting with Orochima-no, Kiyohime (yup, still digesting that) went about as well as you thought. Not that anything bad happened, but nothing good technically happened either…I think. My burst of nervous giggling did induce a reaction out of the pale 13 year old shinobi. She seemed shocked.

I think…

To be honest, I was back to using her eyes to identify any sort of emotion. It spoke of her skills as a shinobi or general lack of social skills that she's able to keep such a poker face. It's like she was wearing a second mask under the one she took off.

From my best guess, I take it that she literally expected anything but me actually laughing at the sight of her face. Yes, it was my nerves acting up, but she didn't know that. She probably expected me to cry or freak out once I got a good look at her. And that's not to say that she was horrifying to look at because she was beautiful.

Her delicate features and long flowing black hair really gave her such a mystique air about her. But those snake-like eyes of hers (not sure about those purple markings around her eyes, and were they tattoos or birth marks?) and her pale complexion did would put some off. When compared to cute little bunnies, who generally get a positive response from the general public, snakes possessed more distinguishing features that made them be viewed as either dangerous or unsettling.

Now add her snake-like features to her lack of/difficulty in emoting, and you'd naturally get uncomfortable or hell even scared if you somehow manage to get on her shit list or be some target for a mission. Doubly so if you were like me, who's a sensor and can feel just how unsettling her chakra was.

Anyways, I still decided to be a little wary of her while she continued (and failed) to cradle me in her arms. She was still a version of Orochimaru, so caution is always needed. But god was it awkward, both her words and posture were stiff as hell. Plus, neither of us broke eye contact and I'm certain that she didn't blink even once and that meant that I couldn't blink lest I miss something. Also, because I decided to make a game out of it.

Sadly I lost and she only continued to keep looking at me.

Thankfully, she decided to end this madness by handing me back to father once mother's quiet snickering became full on laughter at the apparent genius's inability to hold and speak with an infant. I did not miss the way that the 13 year old's chakra went back to simmering something fierce.

Please don't push the buttons of the creepy snake girl, mother. I don't want to find you or myself strapped to some table getting dissected in the future.

So, to mediate, I waved at her with the exuberance of a baby my age and said. "Bye…Sna…key…" Using her name would have been more effective but I doubted I could have said it fully without botching it up. So, mother's nickname would have to do.

I might have done goofed with my attempt because they stood stock still. She was back to wearing that darn mask that I couldn't get a good read of her, and the shadows of the night along with the distance between us hid her unnerving eyes.

So, the only thing I could tell was that she looking directly at me over her shoulder. While my mother proudly laughed and my father nervously chuckled, Kiyohime still kept her gaze on me. I couldn't get a read from her chakra, but like her it felt stilled. To be frank it felt a little jarring, but I pushed through and kept waving with a smile.

Show no retreat! Kill her with cuteness! Use your newborn youth to the fullest!

"YOOOOOOUTH!"

…

I (and strangely everyone else) naturally ignored that fiery bellow from god knows where to focus on the future(?) snake-pedo defector. Her staring lasted for ten long seconds then finally I received a response.

A bare nod of the head (well, I tried…) and a curt farewell to both father and I before flickering into the shadows (huh, so that's what the Body Flicker Technique looks like). Yup, just to father and me while intentionally leaving mother out of it. Not that she seemed to mind since she was still preoccupied laughing at father's retreating kouhai.

And like that my first birthday party came to a rather stunning conclusion.

I not only learned that I was born in the same generation as Konoha 11's parents, but that I was also the godson to Hatake Sakumo, the "Eternal Genin" Might Dai is actually a Chunin, Graunty Mito's cake baking skills are the just as legendary as her craft in fuinjutsu (note to self, learn to weaponize cuteness to attain more), and that "Orochimaru" was now named Kiyohime and lacked a crucial little "snake" down below than her original counterpart.

So, yeah, fun day…

Nice to know that most of my foreknowledge will be thrown out the window because of all of these changes. Well at least on the bright side I won't have to stress over the little details like if I were born in Kakashi or Naruto's generation. Meaning more time to get comfortable in my own new skin and get the lay of everything starting with my gifts!

…And they're about what you'd expect a group of adults would get for a one year old. The stereotypical wooden toys, stuffed animals and other baby accessories. Stuff that I will eventually outgrow and cease using as time passes.

…What? I'm not going to give/throw them away, they're mine! Especially that big stuffed panda that Hanako Hyuga got me. It was so FLUFFY! So, for blessing me with Po (yeah, I cleverly named it after one of my favorite characters in animated cinema, shut up), I promised myself that I would do everything in my power to ensure my knuckleheaded cousin won't die a gruesome death before she can shack up with him.

Moving down the list of presents that I received, I got a pair of wooden dumbbells. Need I even say from who. Thankfully, I won't have to worry about getting nightmares pertaining to a certain bushy browed ninja dressed up as a clown. Or if my nightmares really wanted to scare me for life, dressed up as Ronald McDonald. As a grown up, I started wondering how that fast food chain restaurant's mascot never scared children away at first glance.

Now of course my parents wouldn't let me have actual dumbbells since I was still a growing infant, but thankfully Dai had some sense to not get me the actual thing and purchased toy versions instead. They were still a little heavy for me, so I playfully made of use of them. To my family it must have looked like I was playing around but I was actually going through some old exercises that I remembered, albeit with some difficulty since my short limbs would stifle my progress and cause me to have a few messy tumbles.

And while Dai's gift was more physical, Sakumo's was more mental in the form of some books! Now of course they weren't advanced. Just what you'd expect for kids to read. A children's hiragana book, a cartoonish book about animals (mainly dogs…I know what a shocker), and a heavily censored book pertaining to the Sage of Six Paths the progenitor of all chakra. The former two books were incredibly useful since I really needed to study more of the language and having the animal book can be good practice for references.

As for the last book, I found it's information to be rather lacking. Don't get me wrong it was very informative, but it wasn't anything that I already knew. In fact, I actually knew more about the Sage of Six Paths or should I say Hagoromo, his brother Hamura, his sons both Indra and Ashura, and above all else Kaguya. The book mentions that chakra virtually surrounds the living world and plays a crucial part in our bodies, but it doesn't elaborate.

It mentions the crucial stuff like the Chakra network system, another body system that's only found in this world's populace, but it doesn't go into specifics. "There's even chakra that flows through you" along with other uplifting drivel that's meant to "wow" a lesser developed reader.

So, in all the books were nice.

Everything was just nice…

Though there was this last odd present that my father brought home a couple days afterwards. An envelope filled with what I assumed was money and a small silken bag filled with a variety of handmade confections.

Apparently the late gifter was father's "Shishou".

"It's such a shame, but don't worry Kisuke-chan. Shishou's been a little too preoccupied with…" Father trailed off with an awkward smile as he patted my head. "Settling another new matter that required his full attention. Were he to be free, he would have gladly came to see you again."

"Tch, should have figured that old stone-hearted Cyclops would gimp out and be the unimaginative type to use money as a gift for a baby." Mother grumpily examined the envelope containing approximately 90,000 ryo. "The least that Mr. Honorable Godfather could have done was step in to say a simple how do you do before leaving in silence as he always does." Whoever this guy was, mother was not a fan.

Oh, and apparently this Shishou guy was another Godfather, neat. I wonder who is…

"C, you know that's not true. Shishou really is busy and he's not that stone-hearted, he just…he just really has a hard time expressing himself outside of his duty to Konoha." Father sighed.

"Well, he certainly doesn't have a hard time expressing himself to me whenever we have the misfortune to talk." Tossing the envelope onto the table of the dining room, mother irately tapped her finger on the fine brown oaken surface.

"Like I said C, this takes time."

"Yeah, yeah…" Mother waved it off. "You said that already, and I've made peace that not everyone, even a marginal percent, of this village will naturally like me, but even I wouldn't mind if that man and I won't be the best of friends anytime into the future." Soon I was lifted from my spot at the table examining my pieces of candy before being grabbed and plunked onto mother's lap. She looked to be distracting herself with my spiky mess of hair. "Seriously, you and Hokage-sama truly have the patience of Abbots to deal with that Cyclops."

"Shishou's simply a cautious person is all, he isn't that bad. Once you really get to know him, you'll see where we're coming from."

"That's a shame because I want to know less of him each time that we cross paths."

"C…"

"Face it Tanjiro, good old Cyclops isn't the most pleasant of people to be around. Is he an extraordinary Shinobi? Begrudgingly, yes. But beyond that…" Mother blew a loud raspberry at father.

Father opened his mouth to immediately retort but stopped himself short. He pondered it for a while before lightly frowning. "Shishou isn't that bad…" Yep, by that weak defense, even he wasn't fully against mother's point.

A skittish smile tugging at her lips, mother hummed. "Oh really, then lets put that to the test, shall we?"

Oho, boy this won't be good…

"I'm heading out for my medical lessons. Bye, everyone!"

With perfect timing, who should appear walking past the dining room with an armful of medical books was Tsunade, and judging based on her Hitai-ate-less forehead, she was basically free to be dragged into mother and father's rousing discussion.

"Hey, Tsuna-chan, a quick moment if you will!" Mother waved the young girl over with a little too much enthusiasm.

"Sorry, C-san, but I really have to go. I'm already cutting it close as it is, and I really don't want to be yelled at by Shikako-sensei again." Tsunade gulped as she swiftly stood between the sliding door connecting the hallway to the dining room. Her bare feet shifting to and fro to prepare herself for a quick dash out of the compound.

"Rushing off by the skin of your teeth again I see." Father crossed his arms and smiled in amusement. Yet being finely attuned to being a child to a set of parents before this life, I didn't miss the way his eyes knowingly narrowed at the young 13 year old. "Let me guess, you stayed up reading all night when you should have been resting in bed."

"O-Of course n-not, Tanjiro-nii!" Yeah, you'd have much more compelling case if you weren't sputtering and looking redder than a tomato, Tsunade.

"I see, then tell me. Explain those stray ink marks on your cheek." Father rubbed his chin.

"W-What!?" My gullible cousin gaped and immediately slammed her books on the dining table to examine her features. "How, I actually missed some? B-But I made sure to check after my ba…"

"…" Father's smile widened while Tsunade's face paled at the realization that she'd just been duped by father and herself. Yeah, she might play the part of the wise older sister to Nawaki and sometimes to me, but she was in this stage of her life, she was still a growing child. Made more apparent by my father keeping a vigilant and fair watch over her.

"Oh…" Tsunade's palm became quite intimate with her forehead.

"Oh, indeed…" Father shook his head. "You being diligent with your studies is all well and good, but that doesn't mean that you should forgo rest. Whenever a moment of respite is offered in between missions, a good shinobi must take it to replenish their spirit. That way they become less of a liability in the future missions to come."

"H-Hai, Tanjiro-nii…" It was both surreal and funny to see Tsunade getting scolded. Usually, father would scold Nawaki for his more reckless tendencies, but seeing it happen to Tsunade was like a breath of fresh air.

"Teehee~!" So, I laughed as a wave of good old Schadenfreude hit me, and apparently mother too as she snickered at the embarrassed girl. Obviously, Tsunade huffed and vexingly tap her feet against the room's tatami mats.

"Now while this is entertaining, I'd like to get back on topic with what I wanted to ask, Tsuna-chan." Mother picked up the envelope filled with ryo.

"But-!"

"Now, now, don't worry. I'm sure you'll get a pass if you ask Tanjiro here to accompany you to your lesson and make up some reason why you were late."

"Really!?"

"Now wait a minute…" Poor father…

"But only if you settle something for us by giving us your opinion." Mother's smile widened as Tsunade happily took the bait. I'm sorry father, but it looks like your sage words weren't going to win out this day.

"What are your thoughts on…" In a single motion, mother flicked her wrist and tossed the envelope on the table over to Tsunade, who skillfully caught the spiraling item it without even flinching. Ninja reflexes indeed. "Him…"

One glance at the name on it and Tsunade immediately looked uncomfortable. Whether it was because of the man himself or not wanting to voice her true feelings about him without being offensive was up in the air at this point. "Oh, him… Well, I think…that he's fine, I guess." Again, you'd be more convincing if you weren't so expressive. Her expression wilted under the gaping look that father sent her.

"R-Really, Tsuna-chan? Do you really find Shishou to be that unpleasant?"

"I-It's not like that. I don't mind when he visits, and I do appreciate the monetary gifts that he gives us every Rinne Festival."

Ah, so to clarify that was technically this world's version of Christmas, but instead of commercialism and Santa Claus, it was basically a holiday to pray for those no longer with us and the exchanging of gifts with our loved ones. Of course that translated to either family or that special "someone" you've been infatuated with the following year.

Natch, me being the adorable baby that I was, I got a considerable amount of gifts from my family. Everyone else in the clan also exchanged with each other with both Tsunade and Nawaki getting a little extra from others beyond the clan. So, I wasn't surprised at all to find that Tsunade had received a stack of gifts that littered the floor of her room (which was naturally cleaner than Nawaki's). My cousin was beautiful and Jiraiya wasn't the only hormone ridden boy in the village to catch notice.

Sadly, she wasn't interested in answering the confessions that came with each gift. Ouch. I might not have known their names, but I could already tell that Tsunade would be blunt with her answer. As for Jiraiya, yeah, I already knew how that old song and dance worked.

…Well, I think, I didn't quite hear complain about the "loud-mouthed pervert" trying to woo her. Well that's fair since I'm still a baby and have yet to really be apart of their lives outside of home beyond going with them to walk around or be forced to accompany them for grocery shopping.

Now onto Nawaki who was quite frankly the opposite of Tsunade, he received one gift rather happily and after my first birthday, I could piece who exactly gave it to him. It was a nice yin-yang necklace that he's been sporting ever since and the delighted glances that I saw Hanako gave him during my B-day told me of the joy that she had with him wearing it.

Seriously, I have to do everything in my power to help them out.

They're just too precious.

Oh, right back to paying attention!

"…But he's a little too…" Tsunade awkwardly trailed off.

"Intense? Unpleasant? A hardass? A brick wall? Scary?"

"The first part." The girl shook her head as mother rattled off negative characteristics. Seriously, whoever this person is, was my other godfather? Just who is he? "…and maybe the last part… I don't know…" The poor girl rubbed the back of neck, looking around the dining room as if her searching for an answer. "He has the same feel as Sensei, but to me he seems a little too cold, and that makes it hard to really approach him…"

"See?" Mother smirked at father.

"Sorry, Tanjiro-nii, but I really think you and Sensei are part of the few who might see things differently from me." Tsunade looked apologetic.

"From us." Mother pronounced as if the majority that felt the same as Tsunade was factual. Even at this point I was beginning to lean towards their side. But not fully, I won't judge someone until I've fully seen their character for myself. Yeah, Orochi-I mean Kiyohime may have given me the willies, but she seemed okay and well trusted by father (who's shown to be obviously competent). So, like with her, I'll remain cautious but open-minded.

Wouldn't want to go into a panic attack in case my godfather turned out to be fucking Danzo of all people. But really what are the odds, the female Orochimaru was already pushing it.

"Okay, I will admit that Shishou can be a little…much, but he's really not that bad. He's very loyal, cares for his comrades, and only ever wants what's best for the village's future."

"And we're not denying it, Tanjiro. Again, he's begrudgingly a great shinobi, but…" C gestured her hand for Tsunade to finish that thought much to the girl's reluctance.

"He's literally not that approachable beyond that…" Tsunade put it as delicately as possible, too bad mother was as subtle as a barbershop quartet breaking the bad news to an AIDs patient (yeah, that was an early Family Guy's reference when it was good).

"Meaning the good old cyclops sucks in generally anything that isn't work related." Mother shrugged. "I mean, in comparison, at least I can get a reaction out of little Snakey. With that guy, I can barely work up the motivation to even get a wince out of him, and he'd naturally just let it slide of him like water over stone."

All father could do was let out a heavy sigh. Judging on his refusal to say much, he must have somewhat felt the same way. Though less rudely worded than mother. Still, he looked ever so adamant to defend his "Shishou". I sort of understand, sometimes you view people differently from others and it can be difficult to get others to see things the same way you do.

Unless he's being tricked by a façade, but I highly doubt that since…ninja. They're made to deceive and see through any form of deception.

To try and prove his point once more, a passing Nawaki just managed to be pulled into mother and father's plight. The moment Tsunade passed the named envelope to Nawaki, and mother asked her question, the boy responded with a tight thinning of his lips, light sweating and an immediate backpedal out of the dining room while swiftly slamming the door shut behind him.

The smug smile on mother's face followed father's hunched form out of the dining room to escort and help give an excuse for Tsunade's tardiness for her medical lesson. It didn't work. The stacks of books that a miffed Tsunade brought home later that day supported it. Father also came back with a sheepish smile scratching the back of his neck as if he just got back from a heavy scolding.

He muttered. "Y-Yeah, Shikako-san is as strict as ever…" Yeah, whoever this "Shikako" lady was probably wasn't the type of person to be happily Dreaming of Sunshine. Better take note to remember if I've actually seen her or make a future reference not to piss her off if Tsunade of all people was scared of getting on her bad side.

Anyways, life continued on from there. I still had no clue who this "Shishou" guy was, but I enjoyed his offering of sweets nonetheless. An offering that kept being sent to our home every once and a while father came back from his duties. Each time he would explain the reasoning why my supposed Godfather hasn't come to see me, but I didn't mind. Besides, it was the usual trite excuses of him being busy and work requiring his full focus.

I understand though. I'm not going to pout all the time about a person who I have no clue about not coming to see me. Much less complain when my parents were ripped away on duty than always stay with me. I'm not Boruto nor will I ever be…

Oh god I'm probably going to run into Boruto now…

That'll be a challenge. Nope, just going to put it off for later. The thought of dealing with Naruto in the future is already enough for me as is.

To get my mind to focus on more important things, I meditated and got a clearer understanding of my chakra. Which still felt quite toasty in my belly. It probably helped that being a sensor type made me a little sensitive to this strange new energy coursing in my body. Now the thing to focus on would be manipulating said chakra to parts of my body so I can use it to interact with the outside world such as with leaves, water, and trees. Y'know the basic exercises for chakra control.

Easier said than done. My one year old body was still developing so there were road blocks that came with my experimentation. Meditating made it easier to better sense my chakra, but actually moving it around my chakra pathway system was another story altogether. The sensation for when I do actually move my chakra from center if only a little felt like an unleashed dam of a river flowing through me before disappointingly flowing back when I would lose concentration.

It was frustrating yet educational. I was making progress and that was comforting. Also, very frustrating because I desperately wanted to crawl around the compound's ceilings and walls like spider-man. It would have been hilarious to see my family freak out to one day see that I was not in my crib while watched them on the ceiling.

Hehe, no, that would be mean. Especially in a world where shinobi nonchalantly cradle rob just to steal a clan's bloodline limit. So, I'll just stick with crawling around like spider-man for the future when I've finally gotten down chakra manipulation and chakra control.

The days and months to pass were otherwise occupied with me playing with my new toys like that sticky kunai and shuriken toy set with the sticky bulls-eye target that someone got for me. It was really fun to play, but it helped me decide on one thing for my immediate future.

I am never going to ever like throwing shuriken. Nothing against them, but I find throwing kunai better since they're more reminiscent to the old dart board games that I used to play in my past life. Plus kunai just seem more versatile than shuriken since they're also great for both close and long range combat. My skills were adequate at worst and semi-above average at best, and this was with a one year old body using fake ninja tools.

I wonder if I'd get better when I'm with an older body…?

Hm…

Bah, enough about contemplating the future. I decided to live in the now and that meant abusing my baby status! So one day, after finally escaping the watchful eye of mother's pack tiger summoning by my fifth atte-.

"Not this time, little cub."

Okay, so my seventh attempt at escape from that dastardly Hageshi was a success. I had successfully infiltrated the perimeter of my target. Now it was time to steer clear of any traps.

A stack of books barring my path? Heroic jump!

My feet padded against the ground as I ran around the mess of texts.

Oh no, a hazardous array of scrolls that have fallen from a tipped over bin? Heroic jump and Heroic front flip!

"Nyeh…ghuh…" I exerted significant control over my center of balance to side step through the mess of somewhat big (compared to my small size) scrolls.

Huzzah! I'm almost to target's locati-! Dramatic Gasp! What is that!?

I stopped as I noticed an article of clothing on the floor. Could it be…? Could I have finally found my target at last!?

…Nah.

I kicked the black lacy fabric aside to reach my destination! Now all I had to do was crack the code. This was going to require all my skill and wits to avoid the alarm…

With a firm hold, I pulled the dresser's handle with all my might. Phew! Curse these weak yet cute little arms! I will not fail my mission!

…

…

…

HAHA! I have succeeded! I quietly cheered and raised my hands in the air as I quickly looked to search for my prize. Or rather which prize I should wear to honor my victory.

Hm…pink? Nah.

Black? Nope.

Polkadots? Pfft, please I have more class than that.

Blue and white stripes? Nope!

White? Well, my hair is white and it naturally matches so…why the hell not!

Grabbing the large piece of my acquired treasure, I immediately wrapped it around my head and snapped the string under my chin. I pushed up the two cones to properly resemble a pair of "horns". Yes, I've done it!

Giddily smiling I toddled over to the large mirror in the room and checked myself over. Man, it's a little hard to see a different you when you've so used to seeing the old face you had from another life. I still had baby fat, but I could tell that like with how I inherited my mother's darker skinned complexion, I also received her defined features like the shape of her face and her green eye color (thankfully, I didn't receive that dark sclerae with no pupils trait from her). The shape of my eyes were pretty much like my father's along with his (and also my grandfather's) unruly white spiky hair.

White spiky hair that was being obstructed by the br-I mean my new white "hat" that gloriously stood atop of my head. It really matched with the blue kimono shirt and black pants.

Now with everything in place, it was about time I cross off one achievement from my bucket list. Taking a deep breath, I relished my moment of triumph and began.

I'm a buff baby that can dance like a man,

I can shake-ah my fanny, I can shake-ah my can!

I'm a tough tootin' baby, I can punch-ah yo buns!

Punch-ah yo buns, I can punch-ah yo buns!

If you're an evil witch, I will punch you for fun!

After I finished humming to the lyrics of my head, I panted as I did a perfect (lie) replication of my favorite show's dance. Yes! …What? Don't judge me! This was the perfect moment for me to reenact that scene. This pudgy adorable body of mine won't last forever, y'know and so I decided to shake my money maker before my age caught up with me.

Now time to start from the first verse once more!

"AHEM!"

W-What? I turned around from the mirror to spot death, I mean, my totally not fuming cousin Tsunade glaring at me with a mixture of exasperation, annoyance, and amusement. Crap, she's back from her mission, but how? I thought she would've been out for far longer!

"So…" Her eyes trailed up to the hat (her bra) that was strapped to my head. "You enjoying yourself?"

"…" Run away! Giddish laughter spilled forth from my lips as I made a (clumsy) run for the door just past her. You'll never catch me al-oh, she caught me.

"...Have anything to say for yourself?" She huffed as carried me up to look her in the eye.

"Bap." I gave her a playful boop on the nose and giggled. Thankfully it did lighten her mood as a small smile crept up on her lips.

"Stop that I'm supposed to be mad here you know…" She sighed after I gave her another boop on the nose. Yes, that's good write this off as me being completely random with my chaos as any other toddler before me. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Well at least I can say that you didn't cause as much of as mess as you did with your mommy and daddy, and Nawaki."

Yeah…this wasn't my first rodeo, it just gets bored so I sometimes stumble my way into the rooms in the compound and try on the clothes of my family despite them being way too large for my infant body. It led to some rather shocking revelations like the fact that my mother was once a Kumo shinobi. How'd I pick up on that? Well, in her closet, I just happen to have found an old and worn white flak jacket with a just as worn and dented Kumogakure hitai-ate (forehead protector).

That explained somethings about my mother. Like that black tattoo etched into her shoulder with the word "Narukami" written in kanji. Hehe, yep, my lessons were starting to pay off to where I can begin to steadily read the language now!

But I wonder, how was it that mother was able to integrate herself into Konoha and Senju of all people if that were the case. Not that I'm complaining because if they hadn't, I wouldn't have been born, but the point remains. Out of all the other villages both Iwagakure and Kumogakure held such heated relations with Konoha with Iwagakure being the more relentless in its attempts to claim more of Konoha's lands. Kumogakure was no better, but they're interests also lied elsewhere in the unsavory attempts to kidnap users of bloodline limits whether they be grown adults or children to take back and experiment to see how they can use their gifts for themselves.

I know that since the stuff with Hinata hasn't happened yet because she has yet to be born doesn't mean that they might not have attempted to steal any more bloodline users from Konoha. So, what exactly is the dealio with that?

Anyways as I was now placed under Tsunade's supervision before everyone came home, I relished in the looks of barely contained laughter that Nawaki and mother were going through while father good-naturedly sighed after Tsunade spilled my weird attempts at staving of boredom. It was after this that it was decided that Nawaki would be watching me the next day during the weekend.

And you know I was a little excited to spend more time with my boisterous cousin. I was growing up just fine and so my body allowed me to be more active when playing with him when outside. Though he did have to hold back whenever we played tag and any other games.

But no. Apparently, I was somehow experiencing karma for my messy attempts at alleviating boredom by digging the closets of my family member because right after all the responsible members of the clan left the compound, I was dragged by Nawaki to one of the many parks in the village and lo and behold.

Guess who we found waiting for us.

Yup, one Koga Inuzuka and in his arms was one infant Tsume Inuzuka, who was more preoccupied with playing with the dog lazily laying atop of the elder Inuzuka's head.

"Koga…"

"Senju…"

Boy, I can already imagine the sparks clashing between their heated glares. I just knew that whatever reason we were brought here was going to turn out incredibly stupid. Further signs were them getting into a heated argument a couple feet away while leaving Tsume and I to sit on the blanket covered grass to play with Koga's small ninken partner. His name was apparently Hachika as Koga introduced rather kindly. Which was strange since I thought he'd be as aggressive with me as he was with Nawaki, but I suppose it came down to the fact that I was still a baby and that Hachika rather liked me as they immediately went straight to licking my face. Sadly little Tsume did not share Koga's sentiment and was…possessive of the pup.

"Hachi…mine…" Aw, she looked adorable when she pouted, well, okay, snarled (which looked as threatening as it sounds from a one year old) that way while wrapping the yapping pup into her short arms away from me. I couldn't possibly be mad at that. Seriously if I had the mentality of a baby my age, I probably would have thrown a fit.

But nah, I was fine. I might have preferred dogs to cats (don't tell mom), but after I had to give up a few dogs in my old life due to me lacking the time to care for them, I sort of outgrew that "IWANTAPET!" phase a long time ago. So now they're just meh to me.

So nodding sagely, I gave the territorial Inuzuka baby a nod. "That's…fine. We gucchi."

"Gushi?" Gone was her possessiveness over the pup and in it's place confusion at my use of otherworldly slang.

"Gucchi." I nodded.

"Gushi." She imitated me with the thumbs up and everything. Not like I expected a rousing conversation since she like many other babies in my age group were still grasping on anything to properly grow. Eventually the bickering boys ceased their spat to finally focus on us again. Apparently there was a reason that we were brought here.

A race. Or more specifically a baby race between me and Tsume.

I had no clue why this was even happening but then I got around to hearing the two sling more insults at one another.

"Hah! Prepare to eat your words, mutt! Kisuke's going to leave you're little sister in the dirt!"

"Tch! Shows what you know, bastard! Tsu-chan's been learning to crawl and walk like a pro. She's even almost fast enough to keep up with Hachika when he's walking around the house." Should that really be an accomplishment, I doubt a walking down could be that fast, but then again this was a ninja hound.

"Oh yeah, well I'll have you know that Kisuke's been walking way before your sister could and he's been able to do a lot of crazy stuff too. Like somehow crawling out of his crib." Something to which I still do. "Infiltrate me and my sister's rooms." Ah, good times. "And he's already even learning how to read and write!"

Did I forget to mention that my parents have taken more notice of my quick growth that they decided to further my lessons, and occasionally leave my writing lessons to Graunty Mito, which my father strongly recommended. That excited me because 1) Yay, I get to spend more time with that sweet and marvelous lady, and 2) yay for future Calligraphy lessons!

Just to clarify, I suck at drawing, so I mostly put most of my stock towards writing than anything else. It eventually became a calming process for whenever I had too much on my plate and needed another outlet to express myself. The art of repetition was stale method of growth unless you found some actual joy in the deed that it's centered around. It even filled me with some joy to have people acknowledge my penmanship. It also filled me with greater joy that Graunty Mito saw promise in my shaky writing (curse these grubby little baby hands!) of this world's kanji and hiragana. With some more time I might even upgrade from a pencil to those fancy brushes and inks that I see lying around in her room.

But enough about my growing hobbies because the insanity unfolding before me took more credence.

"Lets finally settle this. Loser has to buy the winner a meal of Yakiniku for a week!" Nawaki growled.

"Fine by me! The meat will only taste all the more better when baying and crying for mercy, Senju!" Koga growled back as both boys angrily pressed their foreheads together. Please stop, I don't want to see you guys accidentally pull an accidental Naruto x Sasuke kiss like in the manga!

"In your dreams, and to top it all off when you lose, I'll be doing this celebratory dance!" Wait, hold on what is h-? How the hell does Nawaki know the Elbows and Knees dance!?

"In your dreams, Senju! Besides, your skills as a dancer are just as terrible as your skills as a shinobi!"

"Screw you!"

"Besides, I'm going to be the one dancing over your pathetic remains when you lose. Just. Like. THIS!" Oh my god, Koga's flossing! For the love of god why is he flossing!

The amount of cringe was so much that I intentionally decided to forgo winning my set of races in order to get into consistent ties with Tsume when we crawled and walked over the blanket. Eventually things had to end when Tsume started crying from being hungry and cranky from all this playing, and much to their mortification, they both technically lost/won.

So they basically had to treat each other to Yakiniku with no complaints. What had been a match between racing their infant family members soon turned into a race to empty the other person's wallet.

And that wouldn't be the only time that this happened because to break that little tie of ours, the two blockheads decided to bring us along to apart of more pointless challenges just to get one over the other.

And I had to say was that the amounts of cringe that followed was nightmare inducing, and then there was that one time that Dai of all people came across us while in the middle of his youthful training to be Tsume and I's referee and…ugh!

No, I don't even want to talk about it. For a while I think I've had my fill of green spandex baby onesies for a while, and when I'm older, I'm burning it.

I just wanted to focus on the birthdays of my cousins that were coming next month in August. It really is convenient that Tsunade's birthday (August 2) was just seven days ahead of Nawaki's (August 9). And what my father had in store for both of them would make for an impressive show to watch.