My new life goes on (2)

Eventually the month of August did roll around the corner and on it's first days were the prep and celebration for one Tsunade Senju. The whole setup was a bit more intimate than my own birthday where literally most of the village's well-known shinobi clans (barring the Uchiha, unsurprisingly) attended. But I surmised that it was because the birth of a new possible heir to the Senju clan from the clan's current Head naturally held more precedent like for any other newborn clan heir.

Still that didn't mean that Tsunade wouldn't get her fair share of guests visiting her.

"Hah! Guess who managed to make it to your party in time and even had the chance to get you a gift in the process…This guy!" Proclaimed the one and only Pervy Shinobi (I don't think he's old enough or trained enough to properly get his canon title of "Sage") himself, Jiraiya. Again, it was a little surreal seeing a canon character and such an influential one at that up close and in real life.

Especially when he was trying to pull off those Kabuki poses to seem more striking. I gave it a 4/10 because I want to be nice and because seeing it up close like this, it looks a little ridiculous when he's not standing on a frog. Also doesn't help that he's holding a pink wrapped gift box in his raised hand.

Though the initial wonder I would have had when seeing him while clinging to the leg of my annoyed older cousin was killed the moment, he tried peeking at her and my mother. Yeah, watching a pervert spy on ladies from behind a television screen and a page of the manga was different than being around them in real life when they were peeking at the ladies in your family. Though my knowledge on him from Kishimoto's works did give me a positive bias towards the guy, it did not cloud my thoughts to his less unsavory character traits.

"Oh well if it isn't the little perv himself." Tsunade huffed and crossed her arms. "What? You finally got sick of playing with your frogs just to see little ol' me?"

"Okay first off, they are not frogs. They're toads. There's a difference." Jiraiya jabbed his finger in Tsunade's face to which she bat away.

"Whatever." Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"And secondly, of course I did! We're comrades, there's no way I would miss out on your birthday! The venerable Jiraiya-sama would never forget his teammate's special day!" Wow, he really just spoke about himself in the third person. Now I can see how the Third Hokage drew parallels between him and Naruto and vice versa for the rest of the Sannin and Team 7.

"Then explain why you didn't deem to show your venerable presence to my party last year?"

"Not true! I came on time and everything!"

"You came to celebrate with us the week after you idiot!"

"Its not my fault! Time over at Mount Myoboku is weird, you don't understand how hard it is trying to keep track of the days the-ouch!" I had no clue whether Tsunade was still starting to develop her chakra-enhanced strength or was simply that inherently strong, but DAMN, she sent Jiraiya tumbling to the ground with but a flick of her finger.

"You're so full of sh…" She paused, looked down at me, the highly impressionable child with a set of wide horrified eyes. She was cautious about the fact that I might just parrot whatever curse she had on the tip of her tongue for later. And she was right to be terrified.

Even mother who drops the occasional f-bomb does so when away from my presence. Doesn't mean that I can't hear them from the thin walls of the compound. Especially…at night…

My parents were young and healthy adults. It made me happy to see that in this new life my biological parents were happy to be together, but…I also hate it because it was just so goddamn awkward hearing them do their business when I'm trying to sleep with my fuzzy panda plushie Po.

But back to cussing. Yeah, I would just drop the s-word after the party when everything's settled. I wasn't going to do it during the party, I'm not a monster. This was Tsunade's day after all so she should enjoy it to the fullest. That's why I would have dropped it the day after just to start shit and just sit back and watch as the blame game happens between the likely candidates (mother, Nawaki, and Tsunade) in my father's definite witch hunt.

I only hope that Graunty Mito wouldn't be around to see it because a sad and disappointed Graunty Mito was an image in your mind that would cut you down to the bone, no, you're very soul!

"You're so full of it!" Ah, so she decided to correct herself. Fine, I'll just wait until its my time to strike when the opportunity allows itself. "Tanjiro-nii took me to Soji-ji Archipelago before in the past, and time works perfectly well no matter where you're reverse-summoned!"

"Not true! Mount Myobuku's just different!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"No, it isn't!"

Ah, the stereotypical bantering between vitriolic friends. Such a classic. Eventually they did stop their bickering with Jiraiya pushing the gift into Tsunade's arms with an irritated huff passing past his lips.

"Look I'm here now, aren't I? So, here's your gift. You'll like it, I promise." The guy conceded with a grin.

"…I guess you are here…and I guess that I can forgive…for now…" Tsunade groaned and heavily examined the gift with a suspicious look. "Better not have gotten me a stupid gift though."

"Oho, trust me! You'll be thanking me once you get the chance to try it on." I did not like the way this 13-year-old boy's smile turned more…perverse.

"I can already tell that I'm gonna regret opening this later, aren't I?" Tsunade pinched the bridge of her nose as her eyebrow twitched. Hope she doesn't get an aneurism, she's still far too young for that. But since she's already been focused in working in a hospital environment, it honestly might happen sooner than later.

But before Jiraiya could make a smart ass remark, his eyes immediately fell on me. Uh-oh.

"Now who's this? Hey, Tsunade is this little guy…?" The boy was quick to approach and kneel down in front of me, but he didn't get too close to get in my personal space since Tsunade raised her arms as a barrier to separate us.

"Kisuke, Tanjiro-nii and C-san's kid? Yes. Please don't get too close, I don't want him contracting severe cases of stupid and perversion." Hot damn, Tsunade was just tearing into Jiraiya. I mean, he might have deserved it but still.

"What kind of treatment is this? You don't have to treat me as though I'm carrying a disease!"

"I'm not saying anything about you carrying some disease." Tsunade sweetly smiled that it was almost sickeningly to look at. "After all, you are the disease, idiot."

Ouch. Even I visibly winced at the supreme burn that my cousin dished to Jiraiya, who merely shrugged it off (huh, what a champ, but since they were teammates, he probably must have built tough skin over the years) and knelt even lower to get a better view and look into my curious eyes.

"Hah, forget her! Hey, you might not remember me since it's been ages since we last met!" Kind of hard to forget my mother punting your little ass into the great horizon, but to each their own. "But allow me to introduce myself as the great and gallant Jiraiya-sama! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Kisuke-chan!" Okay, that kabuki pose was still lacking but his over the top introduction did get a giggle out of me.

Whether it was intentional or not, I didn't know, but I could at least say that the guy was genuine. Which made it easier to like him a little more despite his uncouth tendencies in his approach to handling women.

"Haha! See? Even little Kisuke recognizes how great I am!" He happily gloated to Tsunade who rolled her eyes.

"Yes because seeing you prance around like a fool is so amusing to him." She gently rubbed my head. "You're only lucky that he doesn't remember that time when you bounced him around too much that he vomited everywhere." Hold the heck on, so he's the one who was responsible.

To clarify again, I was a strange baby, so I didn't unnecessarily cry as you're average baby unless it was essential like diaper changing, sickness, or hunger. Which made it so easy to remember the times where I did cry, and since I couldn't remember any point of that specific event happening, it must have been when I was a really fresh newborn that couldn't see all that well.

I remembered my stomach getting upset and the horrid smell of my vomit covering me, then the vivid screams of a panicking child and a thundering sound of lightning. But I dismissed it at the time since I thought it impossible for lightning to be indoors. Until I pieced who the source of that lightning was…

"C-C'mon there's no need to bring up the past like that. Seriously don't. I don't want C-san to fry me like last time." Yup that sounds like something mother would do. It didn't surprise me that she got furious with the excited boy bouncing me in his arms after I literally unloaded my guts and loudly cried for the few times I did it.

So…with that clarified as to who put me through that, I continued laughing and pointed at the white haired boy. "Perv-sama!" I laughed even harder as both Jiraiya and Tsunade did a simultaneous spittake as I kept chanting the name and clapping my hands as if it were all a game. Jiraiya's jaw dropped while Tsunade was too busy trying (and failing) not to laugh and panic since she'd have to be the facing the music for technically speaking of that word around me.

Eventually things did calm down and Jiraiya was now stuck between grumbling about a brat (teehee, that's me!), and about how Mt. Myoboku was stranger and cooler than Soji-ji Archipelago. If I remember correctly, the Archipelago is the place with the Turtles who are in a contract with my father.

If you're wondering how I knew that beyond me just using an inference from Tsunade's earlier comment that's because I've met one of them. You all remember that turtle that winked at me? Well, that was Soroban, my father's first partner among the many others that swim about at their respective realm. He was pretty chill and unlike the grumpy white tiger Hageshi, Soroban was really patient and light-hearted. He even told shell puns.

My first impression of him and the whole turtle contract was underwhelming until I actually got to see what they could do and that made me reconsider my entire opinion about them. Did you know that they could flipping fly?

I swear to god-kami-buddha, they could!

Soroban demonstrated when father wanted to show off how turtles were just as amazing than tigers (when mother was away from home on a mission) to me. The mild-mannered turtle summon happily complied by shucking himself into his shell, jabbing his limbs out and spinning in place like a freaking helicopter.

If I had to put it in a way that's easier to imagine, I'd have to say that it reminded me of that one Ben 10 alien…uh…Terraspin! That's the name. Also, when I voiced a question about why he was small, the turtle simply laughed and spoke that others like him (summons I guess) possess a jutsu that allowed them to change their size at will for the convenience of their summoner or the other inhabitants of their home realm.

He began lecturing about a yang release but stopped since he thought it was going over my alleged one year old head. It really wasn't but father shared the same sentiment as his old friend and returned to happily showing him off to me.

Seriously, my parents can be such dorks sometimes, and I guess Jiraiya is one too. But something about the way he spoke of Soji-ji Archipelago seemed a bit bitter to me. His chakra also felt a little twitchy too. No, it didn't have anything to do with the place, but perhaps some connection to my father…? But for what?

"So…when I checked in with sensei after coming back a few days ago…" The boy coughed in his hand as he followed after Tsunade, who was carrying me towards the dinning room where everyone else was waiting for us. "I-I heard that Kiyohome-chan was officially done with whatever job she was assigned a long while back."

"Yep." Tsunade clicked her tongue in annoyance. "She didn't even have the nerve to drop by and tell me that's she's off duty, but I should have figured that would be the case with her of all people."

"Y-Yeah, but she must have her reasons, I mean…" Jiraiya swiftly spoke of…no defended the absent girl. "Ever since she got promoted to Tokubetsu Jonin, she's been working pretty hard and that must have come with a lot of new responsibilities especially since she's working under…that guy…" Again, he seemed bitter(?). What was up with him?

"Tch, please don't remind me…" Tsunade groaned as her face etched up in frustration. "Here I am busting my butt off to keep up with her and just when I received my present from Sensei and some word from him that I might get promoted to that rank of Tokubetsu in a year if I keep doing well with my studies in medicine."

"Whoa, really? Congrats!" Jiraiya grinned.

"Thanks, but it's mostly hollow at this point…" Tsunade grumbled.

"Huh? Why? Right now, I'm starting to feel like I'm being left in the dust the way you two are progressing so fast." Jiraiya frustratedly scratched at his head. You won't be saying that for long after you get closer to completing your training with the toads, Mr. Future Toad Sage. "Besides, I thought you would have been a little happy to have caught up with Kiyohime-chan."

"Yes, that is true, but…" Uh-oh was that a vein on her forehead? "I also received news that she might just be getting a promotion to Jonin by next year too…"

Oh…

"Oh…" Glad you're on the same wavelength as me, Perv-sama.

"Yep." Tsunade popped the "p" and continued walking forward without looking back. "Apparently, she's been recommended by countless others who've been assigned on a mission with her on the past, and unsurprisingly Tanjiro-nii." Aw, she's pouting and…Jiraiya was too for some odd reason. Seriously, does he have something against father?

"The Jonin who sort of recommended me for my promotion isn't even fully convinced to push for it until I'm done with my medical-nin training, and Tanjiro-nii says that I should earn my own merit than asking him to recommend me to Sensei…" Ah, I get it, so she's jealous…nah, too strong a word, perhaps envious would be better.

It might have stung for father to keep his hands off of Tsunade's career, but I could see the logic.

He wants her to grow and establish her efforts on her own without relying on his help. If he probably went and recommend her for the promotion, it would be seen as nepotism. Still might not have lessen the blow that he did recommend Kiyohime for the promotion to Jonin, and (most likely) the snake-like girl's previous promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin.

Kiyohime has never technically been brought up around Tsunade. At least when I'm around her, so seeing her act this…competitive with the other girl was pretty odd. I thought Jiraiya would be the insistent one to enter a rivalry with Orochimaru's female counterpart, but like many things in this world, not everything is as it seems.

"Hey at least you're even getting considered." Jiraiya huffed and folded his arms behind his back. "I've been in and out of the village in between my training that it's getting hard to take on any missions without hindering the thing I have going on with the guys on Myoboku." Ah yes, the fabled enemy to all young teenagers: proper time management.

A grin spread across Jiraiya's face. "But just you watch, I'll be flying by you guys in no time especially after I get down this awesome combination attack jutsu with Bunta!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Tsunade lazily waved him off and I mimicked her with a giggle that had the boisterous boy fuming. "Besides, you can ask either C-san or Tanjiro-nii for pointers in that regard. Heck even Sensei can spare some time if he isn't too busy today." In translation, I assumed that meant he's always busy. Which provides context for why I have yet to see the old Sarutobi visit me yet.

"I like living thank you very much." Jiraiya shivered. "I know I'll come out with more scars than ever if I ever went up and asked C-san for help."

"Well then how about Tanjiro-ni-?"

"No." Damn such a swift answer. "I want to be able to do this on my own." There was that twitchy thing going on with his chakra again. I really couldn't translate what the sensation meant. I tried comparing it to a similar sensation like Kiyohime's chakra after her interaction with mother. Which bore no fruit since I was basically left with two instances to where I couldn't telegraph the sensation to something.

"Hm…" Scrutinizing Jiraiya with a long glare, Tsunade's hardened features softened as her lips curled up into a wide smile. Huh was she getting something that I was missing? "Okay~."

"Huh? What's with that look."

"Nothing, nothing…"

"Doesn't seem like nothing." Jiraiya muttered.

"Don't worry about it." Tsunade waved him off again as we finally reached the sliding door leading to the dining room.

The door slid open, but not by Tsunade's hand. "Yeah, don't. Unless you just really love seeing your life flash before your eyes."

"C-san!" Hah, Jiraiya just squeaked like a little girl, or it could just be puberty, but I like the prospect of the former better. Also, hi mother.

"Mama…" I raised arms up and grabbed my hands out to the imposing lady, who gave birth to me.

"Ki-tan~!" It took me a while to get used to her mannerisms of looking scary as hell to being so coddling of me in the next. It was nice and must be a little jarring for the outsider. Tsunade's grown immune due to living in the same home that she didn't even look bothered that I was snatched out of her hands.

While Jiraiya looked a cross between searching for the nearest possible route of escape or gawping at the fierce lady who's been the main subject for kicking his ass in the past now cooing over her child.

"I hope this little brat hasn't been a bad influence on you because that would be a very bad thing to happen isn't that right, Jiraiya-kun?" Yup, even when giving a beautiful and serene smile that didn't match her image at all, she can still sound bloody threatening with her deepening voice.

"P-Pfft! As if, I'd say I would make a great influence on the little guy! I mean, he's already starting to grow on me." Posturing, Jiraiya puffed out his chest to hide the fear in his voice.

"Didn't you call him a brat earl-?"

"Like I said he's already starting to grow on me!" Jiraiya growled over Tsunade's growling.

Mother looked, well, she looked ready to leave it at that and then everything would be fine…

Yeah right as if I'd let things end so boringly. "Mama…"

"Yes, Ki-tan?"

"What's a…" I did that curious tilt of my head that spoke volumes of my supposed "innocence". "Perv?" Hahaha, that had the two 13 (well, Tsunade turns 14 today) coughing and sputtering with Tsunade already trying to make up an excuse and blaming Jiraiya.

But luckily for her, mother didn't give as much of fuck about it as father would in this situation.

"Him." Mother gleefully pointed at the stock still Jiraiya as if that would be explanation enough.

Going along with it, I nodded and giggled. "Oh…gotcha."

"You do!?" Jiraiya flinched back.

That got a laugh out of everyone save for the fuming sole male of Team Hiruzen. We did begin to move to join the rest in the dining room where Nawaki was excited to see Jiraiya, and Jiraiya was beginning to plot something to progress his "research" while suggesting for Nawaki to join him. Thankfully Tsunade came in clutch with a flick to the forehead to Nawaki (who was annoyed and oblivious to the whole "research" thing) and a fist to the face for Jiraiya, who surprisingly recovered quite quickly from the heavy blow.

Meh, he's probably been hit by her for much worse…

Now the only thing left to do was wait for father, who had yet to return from what he wanted to get before celebrating Tsunade's party. So, we waited while looking at the delicious spread laid out in front of us.

"What's taking that guy so long?" Jiraiya angrily huffed while tapping his finger against his bicep.

"He did say that it would take a while. Never clarified what exactly he was bringing…" Mother grumbled just as miffed about having to endure not eating the lovely meal prepared by her (25%) and Graunty Mito (75%).

"You think maybe, we can have just a little while we wait…?" Drooling, Nawaki's chopsticks slowly inched towards the closest platter but were halted by Tsunade's vice-like grip.

"We all have to wait…"

"C-C'mon sis just a little?"

"No."

"B-But I'd let you do it when my birthday comes."

"Are you or are you not training to be a ninja? Endure."

"B-But I'm starving. I didn't eat the whole day so I can fully savor everything right now!" Nawaki whined.

"Well, you're going to be really savoring each bite after we're done waiting. If I have to wait so, do you…" Tsunade scolded and incessantly jabbed her finger upon Nawaki's forehead. Looks like she's venting her irritation over her hunger on Nawaki now...

"Now now, Tanjiro did promise that he would be back in a flash, so lets be a little patient." Graunty Mito assured everyone, which logically meant that everyone kept their annoyance from visibly showing.

And speak of the lord and he shall answer! I just detected two chakra signatures popping up in the compound. It shocked me a little since they literally just appeared from out of where. The icy and windy chakra signature obviously belong to my father, and the other signature was unsettling and…windy which was new (haha, my sensing is getting better!).

So that could only mean.

"Hi, everyone. Sorry, we're late." Opening the door, father politely bowed his head while entering the room.

"Took you long enough…" Jiraiya grumbled and looked away before rubbing the newly acquired lump on his head that Tsunade gave him for the comment.

"So got what you needed?" Mother asked.

Father happily nodded. "Definitely." He stuck his head out the door to talk to the other gue-you know what, it's Kiyohime. Won't even play up the mystery, and I have to say that the sensation I felt from her chakra signature was not pleasant at all. More like a mix of anger, confusion, discomfort, and…that familiar twitchy sensation which picked up when father stuck his head out the door.

"Come on in, you'll feel better joining us than sulking in the hallway."

"…"

"Don't give me that look otherwise it'll stay stuck like that."

A loud, happiness draining heavy sigh followed right after.

At father's insistence the hidden girl finally deemed to show us her presence, and I had to say that without that dark shinobi gear she had on when I last saw her, it was a little easier to identify her figure as feminine. Still hard to sort of see since was wearing those sterile white lab robes with sterile white gloves and with her silky black hair done up in a rather elegant Chinese bun.

Getting a good look at her, I can understand why she was uncomfortable. She certainly wasn't dressed for a birthday party, and didn't seem to be all that enthused to be here. As if she wasn't even planning on coming in the first place.

"Good afternoon, everyone." Kiyohime bowed.

"Snakey!" I waved at her, and she stiffened.

"Hi, Snakey…" Mother flippantly waved with her cheshire smile.

"…" The pale future Sannin's eyebrow twitched as she simply glanced at mother before and nodded at me before focusing her attention on everyone else. Well until a certain someone grabbed her whole attention by bounding over to her.

"Kiyohime!" Jiraiya excitedly rushed towards her.

"…" The girl's expression remained as impassive as ever, but she tilted her head as she oddly looked at her rambunctious teammate. "Yes, Jiraiya-kun?"

"I…uh…" The poor guy seemed like he just realized that he's being watched by all of us. Hah, he's getting red!

"…" Kiyohime blinked.

"It's nice to see you again!" Good, he managed to scrounge up some of his guts to continue.

"Quite. I see that you've returned from Mount Myoboku recently. All is well?"

"Of course! I've been learning lots of stuff from Ma and Pa, and I'm even starting to make some progress with my combination attacks."

"I see that's good." And like that the conversation ended. Man, either she missed the social cue or she was really annoyed for being dragged here by father, which was a total possibility.

"So…uh, how are things going with you?" It looked like Jiraiya was doing his best not to deflate after getting snubbed.

"Fine. They were fine." Though her expression never changed, the icy look that she shot to father nearby sent a shiver down I, Nawaki, and Jiraiya's spines. Everyone else was fine because of course they were. Especially father, who's smile remained in place despite the snake-like pupils boring into him.

"Now now, Kiyo-chan, there's no need for that. It's a good thing to celebrate with loved ones during moments like these. Especially close comrades in the same cell." Father made his way over to sit beside mother and I.

"…That can't be disputed, senpai, but catching me off guard with the prospect of beginning a new project with you to suddenly dragging me here unawares isn't doing wonders for my current stance on that right now." Wait, so she wasn't willingly following father? Then how did the two of them just pop into the compound?

My sensing has gotten better but it wasn't to the level of following super fast chakra signatures. At least, I would sense some sort of rush of their chakra, but no. They just popped in out of nowhere. What did father employ to transport them here?

"I admit that it was a little childish of me to suddenly pull you away like that." Father apologetically smiled.

"Not a little…" Kiyohime narrowed her eyes.

"Okay, it was childish, but I assure you that I actually do have a project that's still barely in development. When I'm confident that it's ready, I promise we'll get to work on it together."

"…" Kiyohime simply stared at father. Her expression back to looking neutral.

And there must have been some unspoken conversation going on between them because father suddenly chuckled. "And yes, I do mean it. I promise."

"Fine." At this point I simply used my developing chakra sensing to get a better read of her and her signature no longer felt as angry anymore. It felt a bit bouncy, so joy?

I also sensed someone else being a little angry, and they were standing right next to her. Jiraiya? How come, I don't father did anything to piss him off.

Stopping my concentration, I opened my eyes then froze once I noticed the pair of snake-like eyes on me.

"…" Uh-oh was she aware that I was sensing her? Thankfully she didn't speak up about it and went over to sit at the table with us followed by Jiraiya, who was quick to sit next to her and Tsunade. Still the worry that she knew of my sensing was still in the back of my mind.

"Ahem!" My eldest cousin broke the silence while expectantly looking over at the new arrival. This whole time, she had yet to say or mention a thing to her.

"…?" Kiyohime looked at her in confusion.

"Kiyo-chan, I think you should greet the birthday girl. After all its common courtesy." Father said.

"…Good afternoon, Tsunade and congratulations on this day of your birth." Seriously this girl could at least put a little more energy into it. You might not have wanted to come, but don't be so droll about it.

"Gee, thanks. I feel so warm and fuzzy…" Tsunade rolled her eyes.

"Tsuna-chan…" The girl huffed at father's warning.

"And I when I say congratulations, I also mean congratulations on your eventual promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin." Making herself more presentable, the pale girl began removing her gloves and patting her robes clean.

"Wait how do you-?" Tsunade's eyes widened before they narrowed in suspicion. "Sensei told you, didn't he?"

"That should have been obvious, but sadly you require more time to piece it together. Typical."

"Grr…!"

"Mrow~!" Mother please don't add more fire to…whatever this was.

"C, no." Father deadpanned.

"But as I was saying, you're doing quite well with your apprenticeship in the Medical Corps. You've even garnered some praise from the Head of the Nara clan, which is no easy feat." Kiyohime said and to that father strongly nodded in agreement. Wow, for a clan that produces such lazy geniuses, their clan head must be some hardass.

"Though I'm not all that surprised that you've taken to medical ninjutsu so well." Kiyohime turned to look at Tsunade who was conflicted between preening at the acknowledgement from the pale girl, or simply scowling. "After all, your chakra control has always been one of the few things you actually excelled in."

"What did you just say?" Uh-oh.

Kiyohime tilted her head in question, unaware of the pin to the grenade that she just pulled. "That you're skills with chakra control are one of your few mentionable talents as a shino-."

"Kiyo-chan, NO!" Father, Jiraiya, and Nawaki immediately rushed over to hold Tsunade back from lunging and pulling off the head of the unfazed Kiyohime. The pale girl simply watched the proceedings while sipping a cup of jasmine tea that an exasperated Graunty Mito was pouring for her. You don't even need to ask what mother was doing if the loud laughter above me was any clue.

So, after receiving a heavy scolding, both girls apologized to each other as sincerely as they could. Tsunade's was less sincere because of the backhanded compliment, and it was HER freaking birthday while Kiyohime's was lacking in sincerity because she didn't seem to see any problem with speaking what she constitutes as a fact.

I had no clue if the snake-like girl meant it as an insult or not because she was that hard to read, but we all eventually moved on to get through the festivities. Our time eating at the table was lively sans Kiyohime, who would only speak when either father or Jiraiya brought her into the conversation. Mother tried but would always get ignored by the girl, not that the lady who gave birth to me was deterred by this.

After we filled our stomachs with fine cuisine, it was present time! First off was Nawaki, who scrounged up all of his allowance to get her a rather expensive looking red hair tie. Tsunade obviously appreciated it along with the finely crafted Wakizashi that my mother had gotten for her. She mentioned having commissioned an old Blacksmith of hers in the Land of Lightning to make with the best chakra conductive metals they had.

I still don't have a full grasp over the exact numbers a purchase like would make, but it must have costed her a fortune. Something that Tsunade must have realized since she gave mother the same bone-crushing hug that she just gave Nawaki.

Next off was…Jiraiya, and what he got my dear cousin was…

Words could not describe what I saw before my mother covered my eyes. He got her a g-strip bikini. Both the top and bottom were lacking in any cloth, so it left no imagination to the mind itself. I didn't even bother to look at the unconscious form of the perverted guy after mother uncovered my eyes. Tsunade did not pull her punches when expressing her "thoughts" on the gift while hiding them away so that mother and Graunty Mito who was covering Nawaki's pure eyes could release us from their protective grasps.

Finally came father and Graunty Mito's gifts and Tsunade was positively bouncing in place once she saw them and by extension mother begin to pull out three massive scrolls that were hidden away in the compound's library. Outside on the compound's training ground, laid open the scrolls with named signatures written in blood.

My father's big blue scroll only held his name. The black scroll held my mother's name along with another named that's beginning to fade away. The only thing I could make out was the letter "B" before my mother's signature.

Next, the white scroll that my father pulled out for Graunty held two names actually. One name wasn't surprising since father did just bring the scroll out for her, but the other name explained so much.

Hashirama Senju.

The final gift for Tsunade was a summoning contract of her choosing. Father had been pestered by the girl multiple times for him to teach her. Plus based on how she sent a dirty look at Kiyohime, who was impassively watching everything from afar, this desire mostly stemmed from him probably helping Kiyohime establish a contract before her.

And so, father kept his promise while actually asking Graunty Mito for permission if he was allowed to provide Tsunade the option to make a contract with the Slugs. This was a request that didn't need to be one since the sweet old lady was ecstatic to provide her beloved granddaughter the opportunity to inherit the contract that belongs to her and her now late husband.

So, Tsunade was given a choice between Turtles, Tigers, and Slugs.

And without hesitation she chose slugs.

Father bitterly laughed while mother actually pouted and muttered something about it being her loss and that she'll come around when I decided to make one in the distant future. Mother please don't make me potentially break your heart in the future with these high expectations…

Now ready to learn the procedure to make her first summon, Tsunade was thrown through a loop when father decided to a curve ball into her excitement.

"No." Kiyohime defiantly crossed her arms.

"Don't be like that Kiyo-chan, it'll be a great birthday present to give to Tsuna-chan. This way you won't feel bad about not having a present for her already."

"That wouldn't have been the case if I were brought here by force since I was already planning to get one at a later date."

"That still wouldn't be on her birthday if I gather your meaning." Father sharply reminded.

"…Some projects require most of one's full attention and there's no deadline that says I can't provide a gift just on her birthday." She didn't emote as much but even I could see that was a weak excuse.

"I see…" Father didn't seem to believe it either.

"Also I do believe that helping Tsunade establish a contract was your intended present for her. I fail to see how foisting that responsibility off to me is fulfilling your end of things."

"Technically, I would be teaching her the summoning contract through you since I technically taught you establish your own." Father explained with a bright smile that it almost hurt just looking at him. "And like I said before, it's wonderful to just be around friends and loved ones, so doing something like this is fine every once in a while, no?"

"…" The pale girl didn't seem convinced enough, but it looked like she was getting a bit swayed.

Welp, I'm still a little wary about her potentially(?) knowing about my chakra sensing, but if it will help father out then I'll gladly stick my neck out to help! So, running out from behind father, I toddled over to Kiyohime. I nearly froze as her snake-like eye bore into me. But I steeled myself not to be scared. In this world, I had to be…no I wanted to be a shinobi, and that meant that I would face way scarier stuff in my future, so I'll stand my ground!

…But from the slight raise of her brow, I'd say she was more questioning of my bold move than irritation, and mostly avert her attention to me to prevent herself from further being coerced by father to teach Tsunade.

Oho, you poor girl. Now it was time for me to work my baby magic!

"Please!" I threw my arms about as if I was struggling to convey through my words and decided to use uncoordinated hand gestures like I didn't know what to do with them. "Please…help Tsuna-nee! More fun together…when you are…with us!" I slowly spoke the words out. "Please, Snakey-nee!" Aha, I got a good reaction out of her.

Though to be fair the only change were here eyes widening before they narrowed in thought a split second later. But still, a tiny victory was still a victory nonetheless.

Picking me up under the pits of my arms, father lifted me up and put me face to face with Kiyohime. "See? Even Kisuke-chan thinks you're a great choice to teach Tsuna-chan! Right?" He asked me, but my answer more physically.

"Bap." Okay so it wasn't really an answer to the question, but I saw the stoic girl's nose untouched and just had to give it a nice "boop". Aha, I got another reaction! A slight, unnoticeable twitch.

"See?" Father took that as a "yes", but the dry look Kiyohime was sending him told her that she wasn't fully convinced yet. I felt that she was just on the precipice to give i-, I mean, willingly volunteer to help Tsunade. All we needed was one last push.

And that came in the form of a Wild Card.

"Hey, what's all the hold up?" The sounds of footsteps against the hard grounded training ground was followed by my world shifting from looking at Kiyohime to looking at both her and father while mother was in the periphery of my vision. Yup, she just yoinked me from father's arms like second nature. "Tsu-chan's getting impatient over there."

"It's nothing, C. We're just waiting for Kiyohime to get ready to teach her the summoning contract."

"Oho…" Mother smirked. "So little Snakey is stepping up in the world, huh? First a promotion and now sensei…"

Kiyohime blinked, looking both irritated at my mother's general presence and confused. "Promotion?"

"It's nothing." Father cut in. Welp, looks like all that Jonin promotion talk has yet to reach the girl, and father was hoping to make it into a surprise for her. I still don't know the details about how she and father know each other and how they're (relatively) getting along, but it made me hope that it was for the better. After all, him just bringing her here to be social with her teammates and other people was a start.

Too bad one of these people included mother, who kept eliciting a rather odd reaction from the girl whenever she was around. Especially in father's close vicinity.

"So, if Snakey's going to teach, then why isn't she? Oh, don't tell me is little snakey shy~?" Mother leaned forward to pinch the girl's cheeks, but quickly retracted as Kiyohime's hands almost sharply batted them away.

Father and I sighed in exasperation. This won't be good, or will it…?

Mother laughed. "Well, if little miss baby prodigy can't handle teaching a simple summoning contract, then I'll gladly take the reins." A mirthful laugh crept out mother's lips as she turned away to approach Tsunade with the news. "To think your favorite little kouhai would be so easily cowed by something like this, Tanjiro."

Huh…why was it getting chilly all of a sudden?

"Well, you just take a load off on your feet, Snakey, I'm sure that little brat is still knocked out. You can stuff yourself with what's left of our food in peace while I-."

"I'll do it."

"Oho~." Mother's smile grew as Kiyohime slowly trodded past us with this foreboading aura that nearly choked from how much ire and rage was laced in it.

"Huh, Kiyo-chan, you'll do it? I'm so glad, but what brought this o-?"

"Irrelevant. I've decided to do it, and so I will." Yikes, that glare that she was sending to mother had me freeze and hold my breath. It was THAT scary! "Nothing else needs saying, yes?"

Father noticing this could only tilt his head in question. "Well, okay…"

And so Kiyohime stalked oved to Tsunade to begin the contract for summoning the slugs of Shikkotsu Forest. Tsunade looked pissed…at first, then she probably must have been confused and terrified by the rather quiet and infuriated Kiyohime. The poor girl questioned what was up with her, but would get the same answer of "I will be teaching you, and you will execute this summoning with apt perfection."

And so began a rigorous bout of Tsunade sitting in for a strict lecture and explanation on summoning and the "correct" ways to go about it. Right now, the pale girl was more than likely trying to prove a point to mother, who walked over to a still surprised father, and kissed his cheek.

"You're welcome." It didn't surprise me that mother heard our tireless convincing for the girl's help. The woman once heard the sounds of Nawaki secretly unwrapping her saved pudding cup from across the compound grounds and it only took her three seconds to set herself upon the poor fool.

"C…why did you…how did you?"

"Motivation." Mother shrugged. "Sometimes it can come from a place you'd want to get it the most." She points at father before smiling that cheshire smile of hers. "And sometimes…" She pointed at herself. "It can come from the last place you'd want to receive said motivation."

"The most I can understand, but the least…?" Father frowned. "I don't think Kiyo-chan hates you. Annoyed, yeah, and that's usually the default attitude to have when you act the way you do."

"Love you too, Tanjiro."

"But I doubt she thinks that way of you." Father blinked as mother simply sighed.

"Tanjiro, you're not dense. Otherwise, this…" She gestured between the two of them. "Wouldn't have happened, which only emphasizes how I almost feel bad for little snakey." I really want to say that mother looked guilty, but her expression more out of exasperation than any pity.

"Why would you feel-?"

"Almost."

Father groaned. "Why would you almost feel bad for Kiyo-chan?"

"Who knows~."

Giggling, mother shrugged and grabbed the sleeve of father's shinobi fatigues with her free arm as she dragged him over to the party girl, who was getting overwhelmed by Kiyohime's studious "help". The party proceeded from there. Kiyohime went through the general information needed for the contract along with a few auxillary details that were added to assure the summoning's success on the first try.

I paid close attention to the hand seals they ran through after…yuck…biting their thumbs to draw blood. Yeah, even watching it in the anime made me feel queasy, and seeing it in real life was just as cringeworthy. I knew I would have to do the same when and after I get my own contract, but that was the part I was least looking forward to.

So Tsunade went about writing her name on the contract, then proceeded to do her best to actually summon the animal of her choosing.

Boar. Dog. Bird. Monkey. Ram.

Then poof a large cloud of smoke hit all of us, and emerging from it was the soothing maiden voiced slug that was Lady Katsuyu herself. And even I had to admit for a human sized slug (I'm guessing the whole yang nature aspect of chakra that Soroban was talking sort of explains why she's not colossally sized and mowing down the compound), she was cute looking. Though she could never match the cuteness that was my fluffy panda plush Po, but still.

It was heartwarming to see the big slug interact with Graunty Mito as if finally reuniting with an old friend and perhaps mourning the loss of another who unfortunately couldn't be there. I once again glanced at the name of Grunkle Hashirama's signed name besides Graunty Mito's on the Slug contract scroll. There was some somber silence before Mito gladly introduced Katsuyu to Tsunade and the rest of us (because she's just that awesome and sweet!).

So it was without no question that Lady Katsuyu accepted Tsunade to be her new contractor and partner along with the other summons of Shikkotsu Forest. She was the Boss summon of that corner of the realm, so any slugs would have to follow her example should a worthy contractor summon them.

After that things wound down, after Nawaki talked the poor Slug's ears (yeah, I know she doesn't have ears, it's just a meaning of speech) off about her experiences with both Grunkle Hashirama and Graunty Mito, she was relieved to return by Mito and Tsunade.

The rest of the day ended without a hitch. Jiraiya did eventually wake up but threw a bit of a fit when he found out that he missed most of the party, and that Kiyohime left before he woke up. Yeah, once things settled down the girl just dipped. I couldn't blame her after getting dragged here in the first place, but she did this weird thing where after saying her goodbyes to everyone save Jiraiya (who was still knocked the hell out) and mother, she stopped in front of me and attempted to reach out to my head before giving up to simply wave goodbye to which I returned back.

Still no reaction from her. Not even a smile, but the fact that she even attempted to give me a pat on the head spoke that there was some progress. Progress for what? I don't know. But it didn't feel like a bad things.

Soon Jiraiya left while taking most of the leftovers as reparation for missing the whole party much to Tsunade's chagrin and everyone else's amusement. It was getting late, and we all were getting ready for bed. Being the eldest, Graunty Mito was the first of us to retire. Now it was time to get bathed and head straight for bed.

…Yeah, right as if I'd let the day end this peaceful. Which is why I asked father the same question I asked mother, and boy were the results funny.

"Tsunade, would you care to explain?" Father stood imperiously in front of the shivering girl and her snickering brother. Mother was of course sitting nearby to watch the trainwreck happen while I happily sat in her lap.

"N-No, it wasn't my fault it was Jiraiya, and well, I-!" She wilted at the look my father gave. The one that parents had when they could easily through your bullshit.

"…"

And so she did the only thing she could possibly do. "Sorry…"

"Hah! You have to really watch what you say around, Kisuke, sis. Otherwise this happens!" Nawaki laughed and gloated much to Tsunade's chagrin.

But the poor fool only dug his own grave as he just reminded father of that one time where I may have said a word that I learned from one of my many outings to the park with a certain Inuzuka sibling pair.

"That reminds me, Nawaki." The boy gulped as father's full attention was on him. "Would you happen to know where Kisuke learned the word "bastard" as of recently?"

"…Well, uh, you see…" Nawaki paled as words literally failed to from out of his mouth before he raised his hands up and shakily smiled. "M-Mercy?"

The smile on father's face was terrifying…for the two of them because I get off Scott free for being an innocent and cute baby! HAHAHAHAHA!

"…!"

Oh shit, I should work better on hiding my amusement because both of their glares were heated!

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

After that days went by, and soon it was time to celebrate the hyperactive Nawaki's birthday where a couple of his friends showed up to enjoy in the merrymaking. Including Hanako, who brought Hiashi and Hizashi over to play with me, and of course Koga who brought over Tsume. Now this isn't the second time that I've seen these guys (especially Tsume).

You all might not know, but I've been taken along with my father to be around the other toddlers while he sits through a gathering of the Village's shinobi clans for their monthly meetings. You know the usual stuff, just general updates, exchanging of information, complaints, and the usual politics that goes on amongst them and their status in the village.

Oh, and me building on my resistance to the hateful glares shot my way from a certain clan. You know, the clan that had one of Kishimoto's favorite characters in his manga that became hax in power in proxy with Sasuke because they're all Uchiha. Yeah it took me a while to get over the fact that they weren't just sending their disdain towards, but also me for even being in the same room.

And the Uchiha clan head, who's name I vaguely remember to be Kizuna wasn't even hiding it. Which meant whenever he wasn't glaring at father, he would glare at me, and when father noticed, he would glare back at the Uchiha clan who would then return his glare to father. And its not like father was doing the same, he only purposely glared back whenever the Kizuna guy turned to me. Otherwise, he'd just simply smile as if everything was right as sunshine.

Still didn't stop the old Uchiha's son from glaring a storm at me. Yup, one five year old Fugaku Uchiha was always among the clan children who would attend and studiously listen to meetings with rapt attention that should not be had by a boy his age. So, trying to at least be friendly to the boy I tried saying hello to him, but all I got in return was a dirty look and…and…

MMMMGH! I thought it was just exaggerated in the story and the fanfics, but it really is a thing! It shouldn't be a thing!

H-He hn'd me…

And not just in that one interaction. He would just keep dismissively grunting that way whenever our eyes met and get that derisive look from him. It was just so…annoying. Huh, of all the things I've been through since I was born that little thing kind of got to me. No clue why, but it just did…

Hm…Probably nothing, I hope.

So yeah, the Uchiha didn't like father nor I, and considering the bloody and hate driven history of our former warring clans it wasn't hard to realize why. No matter the decades apart, animosity doesn't simply just fade away just takes on a different form while quietly being enacted. The whole issue with my father and Kizuna never escalated to a full blown out argument. The Uchiha head simply made his displeasure known through his eyes (the one thing that really made their clan hax) and that was it.

Sure, a disagreement was made here and there but it was civil.

Anyways, yeah, I met the other clan leaders' kids like for example the Aburame clan's future clan leader and father to one of Konoha's 11 future members, Shibi Aburame. Meeting the one year old baby was an…experience.

No, I'm not scared that he's already basically a living nest to insects. It was a strange feeling sensing the chakra of every last one of them shifting in the quiet baby, but it was another thing to touch him. It was like he was vibrating, and it was a little comforting.

But you know with the others being curious little tykes, they followed my example and at least one or two of them would huddle around the non-plussed insect carrying baby. Don't know what Tsume was doing though, instead of huddling up to Shibi, she would always crawl closer to me and sniff me.

Sort of like what she was doing now during Nawaki's party. I surmised its because we've always been pushed to do our older relatives' challenges. So, she might see me as a kindred friend, but the sniffing can get a little much sometimes.

Hiashi and Hizashi would just blankly stare while it happens too while enjoying the cakes. The traitors…

Eventually things died down and gifts were given to the excited boy. Gifts from Tsunade, mother, Graunty Mito, Hanako, and yes even Koga. Each one had the boy bouncing for joy, but none like the one that my father offered really had him going.

Because my cousin was offered the gift of learning any one jutsu from father.

"I want to learn the Water Dragon jutsu!"

"How's your training with Wood Release?"

"I've been doing fantastic! You should know that already!" Nawaki proudly puffed out his chest.

"Indeed, but what of the two other chakra natures that make up Wood Release? Have you begun to see if you can properly use them yet?"

"I…um, No, but that's only because I really want to get Wood release down pat first! I-I mean I could just begin my training with the Water Dragon Jutsu then-!"

"No." Okay, so any jutsu was a bit of a stretch. "Teaching you a B-rank technique with a chakra nature that you haven't trained with is dangerous. If you really want to start training with water release then I wouldn't mind teaching you the Water Bullet jutsu, but I could just teach you that technique whenever."

So by that context, the alternative jutsu would be free to be taught at any time, and the way father shrugged it off unintentionally made it sound as though it wasn't "special" enough to be considered an adequate gift for a birthday.

Nawaki's face scrunched up with that. Yeah, my cousin was at that age to where he wanted to learn something flashy. If it were me, I wouldn't complain because y'know, ninja magic.

"N-No that's okay, I'll just ask for something else." Nawaki rubbed his chin in deep thought.

"Er…then I want to learn the Hiraishin, Tanjiro-nii!" Wait, father knows the-! Well that would explain how he and Kiyohime just blipped into the house that one time. Plus, my grandfather was Tobirama…

You know what it actually makes sense.

"No." Even I knew that was a long shot, but sadly my cousin didn't see it that way.

"Urgh!" Nawaki groaned out in frustration. "But why not! You said I could learn one thing from you!"

"Because if I remember correctly you whined about how boring calligraphy was, and when Mito-obasan gave you the option to stop learning, you took it." Nawaki flinched at the reminder. Ouch, you just got caught, cuz. "And since then, I've yet to hear any mention of you improving beyond when you'd last studied with Tsunade." Which must have been a while ago because between my writing lessons I always see Tsunade joining us to practice her application of fuinjutsu under Graunty Mito's careful eye. So that explains why I never see Nawaki joining us…huh.

Well, the art of practicing calligraphy meant having a calm and steady hand, something that the excitable now 10 year old can't do especially if he has to sit in one place for hours on end.

"T-Then I promise to go back to doing calligraphy if you can teach me some of the basics right now! I promise!" Nawaki pleaded but father resolutely shook his head.

"Even if you didn't put off your calligraphy lessons, I still wouldn't teach you." Huh, so that's what a facefault looks like, thanks for showing me, Nawaki. "Like the Water Dragon Jutsu, the Hiraishin would be too much for you. Not just in the case of your chakra reserves but in crafting the seal itself and the other finer matrices that go into it. If I were to give you a rushed idea on what to do, you could accidentally teleport everything but the waist down to your intended destination."

Nawaki and I blanched at that.

Jesus Christ! That could actually happen? I thought the Flying Thunder God technique just lets you teleport if you just put your crafted marking on them! It was supposed to be an easy technique to learn…

Well, that's what I get for thinking an S-class jutsu would be anything but simple.

"Even so the technique also has some other kinks that could be an issue, which is why I use it sparingly." Father shrugged and mother understandingly nodded.

"Yeah, I can't see you popping up around the battlefield with the way you fight."

"So do you have another jutsu on your mind that I can plausibly teach you?" Father asked the contemplative boy.

"Um…Then can you teach me that technique of yours Tanjiro-nii?" Nawaki nervously asked.

"The Kamehameha?"

…What the hell? No. No I couldn't have heard that right…right?

"Yeah! That! The Kamehameha thing!" Nawaki excitedly nodded.

Oh god I did hear that! Now I'm both mortified and intrigued. I have to know more about this!

"No." Damn it!

"But why noooot!" The young brunet whined.

"Because like before you're lacking in the water chakra nature department and have no experience with wind chakra nature jutsu. And since we don't share the same Kekkai Genkai, the process of you learning it would take way too long for a single day to teach you." Ah, so it's composed of both wind and wat…hold on, father has a Kekkai Genkai too and it's not the same as Nawaki's?

What is it? And elaborate on what this Kamhameha (god, I can't believe that's a thing here) does!

"Now is there anything else that I can teach you?" No! Go back and elaborate! Please!

Mother patted my back. "You're starting to get a little restless, huh?" No, I'm not I just need the tru-!

I burped.

"There ya go, Ki-tan." Mother giggled and bounced me over her shoulder in her arms.

Huh, wow, I feel a little better, I guess…

Okay, I'm cool. I'm chill, I'm calm.

"…The Wood Clone Technique?" Nawaki asked with a little bit of hope.

"…No." Father paused. "You're just not ready for an advanced technique like that."

"…Hmph!" Nawaki pouted.

"But…perhaps I could…teach you the technique that was based off it." Father smiled.

"Really? Like what?" Nawaki frowned.

"The Shadow Clone Jutsu."

"Really!?" Nawaki gaped.

"Really." Father nodded.

"Are you really going to teach the brat that?" Unimpressed, mother whispered to father.

"Well, I'll have to see how far along he is with his chakra control and the general Clone technique, but I see nothing wrong with that." Father chuckled. "It'll help me with a lesson that I'll have to beat into his head before he graduates."

"Well if you say so." Mother shrugged.

"Besides, I thought you'd be more happy to talk about your favorite jutsu." Father's smile widened.

"It ain't my favorite." Mother's eyes narrowed.

"Really because you seemed very happy, I used it the night of our wed-!" Father's smile broke into a loud laugh as mother heatedly began hitting him in the shoulder.

"Shut it!" Mother's face was red.

And what did father meant that she enjoyed him using the Shadow Clone jutsu for her?

Oh. Oh! OH!

…Gross.

And just like that all joy returned to Nawaki who quickly went to shove the news in Koga's face while happily sharing it with Hanako and his other friends. But that excitement was temporary since father had actually offered to teach the rest of them if they're able to properly show signs of good chakra control and can execute the basic Clone Technique.

That lead to the group of children to be led to training ground to perform chakra control techniques under father and mother's watchful supervision. This also allowed me to ample opportunity to sense and observe the group of children who were both succeeding and struggling to do the Leaf Concentration exercise.

I tried attempting the same too whenever I was let out to play but I still struggled to really move my chakra around to stick it on my forehead. I was able to feel a flowing sensation, but directing chakra through the body was still an ordeal. Usually, I would believe it would work but that was me just tricking myself that it wasn't sweat but chakra. Anyways now I actually having a whole petri dish of shinobi in training to observe was providing ample knowledge to apply to myself.

I mostly used Hanako as a great example to follow as she passed the Leaf Concentration with ease before being the first of the group of children to move on to the Wall climbing segment of the chakra control exercises. Lagging behind her was Nawaki and Koga who were too busy competing to properly get their leaves stick onto their foreheads for a full thirty seconds.

I concentrated and began playing with a pile of nearby leaves to put what I saw to the test.

"Whatchu doin…?" The murmur of one of my fellow baby brethren broke me of my concentration.

"Leaves…!" I held one out as I sat on the ground and stuck one to my forehead. "Sticky leaves!" Ah, it fell off…after a full two seconds. Haha, progress! I hope…

"Leaves?" Hiashi repeated.

"Sticky?" Hizashi tilted his head.

"Sticky leaves!" Tsume excitedly nodded and went about sitting next to me. "Stick! Stick!"

I laughed as she took the leaf that fell off my head and stubbornly tried to stick it back on. Well I couldn't deny that I didn't enjoy the help. But still I concentrated through that.

No I didn't break concentration to laugh as the other infants copied me by dumping layers of leaves on their heads.

I didn't even break concentration once to point and giggle at Nawaki falling flat on his butt after putting in too much chakra to his feet that sent his breaking the Earth wall that mother made while learning to wall climb. I didn't even laugh as Koga who was laughing at Nawaki soon joined him and fell flat on his face.

No, I was zen as fuck!

…

Hah, I think I'm getting the hang of this! Five whole seconds!

No, wait that's just my sweat again…

Dammit. This whole forehead thing is just too hard for me right now.

Hm, I observed the struggling groups of kids stuck between wall climbing and the leaf concentration exercise. But mostly, I took note of Hanako (because she was halfway up the large earthen wall) and the way her chakra felt like it was rushing to plant her on the adjacent wall.

…Maybe…

Concentrating, I took a different approach and focused on struggling to flow the chakra from my center to the tip of my right index finger. Not my whole hand just the finger. It was tiring, but I felt the flow work its way up my developing chakra network until I felt the rush sort of reach it's destination.

Now it was time to test my results.

Picking up a leaf with my other hand, I used my index finger to poke it and hopefully get it to stick.

And…

…

It worked! For about six seconds, but it actually worked! Way longer than when I was doing it with my forehead! Too bad I sort of tired myself out with the process and my earlier attempts of leaf sticking. Shifting my attention back to the kids, after hours of going through the exercise most of them barring a small group of ten with Hanako, Nawaki, and Koga (who both barely managed to pass) amongst them didn't complete one or both of the techniques.

Dejection was their only mood but my father did cheer them up by saying that despite their lack of results today, their progress to developing was greater than when they have already started. And it was true since father technically gave them the building blocks to better their chakra control and better their chances as future shinobi should they keep practicing.

Though this didn't reflect well with everyone in the group since they were still just kids. Any form of failure would just hit them hard until their old enough to grit and keep moving.

Now as for the ones who did pass, father tested them on the Clone technique, which they should all know or at least studied since I remember that it was a requirement to pass.

I observed and put the handsigns for the jutsu to memory.

Ram. Snake. Tiger.

Then POOF!

A whole of five illusionary clones of Hanako appeared. All four looked as solid as their original while the fifth one seemed a little see through. Father passed her and congratulated the girl for her proper control of chakra.

Next was Koga and he made a total of two clones. One was an exact copy of his while the other looked more like a ghost. Seriously, everything from the waist down was invisible compared to the rest of the fading copy.

Father passed him and actually gave him some pointers before finally going through the rest of group and ending with Nawaki, who made a single clone that looked solid, and father happily passed him. Something wasn't right though.

It seemed fishy that my cousin didn't automatically try to summon more clones than Koga, heck, he's competed over far less than this. So that already was suspect enough. Plus that smile of his when father demonstrated the Shadow Clone Jutsu was already raising so many alarms in my head.

Tiger. That was the only hand sign that father made before a physical copy of himself popped up beside him.

And since it was his birthday, it Nawaki's turn to attempt the jutsu. Keyword on attempt. More than half of the small group that did the Clone Jutsu were asked to sit out lest they accidentally kill themselves by halving their already exhausted chakra reserves from the earlier exercises. Hanako included herself amongst those that backed out of using the technique right now.

She did have two little brothers that needed to be taken home without her collapsing midway. Koga being as hardheaded as my brother didn't back down despite me feeling his chakra wavering from escalating exhaustion.

The total opposite of Nawaki, who still had a lot of chakra left despite all that work. Which wasn't difficult to expect since like father and Tsunade, he's part Senju and Uzumaki. He'd still have chakra after all that, but since it was Nawaki, he would have wasted it in an attempt to blow over everything.

…Wait, oh no…

"So, all I have to do is the Tiger seal."

"Or the Horse seal!" Tsunade chimed in from the table in the dining room that had their doors opened to the outside. Of course, she would know it considering her freaking sensei also held the title of "Professor". Or she could have learned it from father, doesn't matter.

"Got it. So, the tiger seal…" The boy crossed both his middle and index fingers together.

"Remember, just make a clone." Father reminded.

"Right…" Nawaki grinned. "Make some clones."

Uh-oh! All of that saved up chakra of his, he's going to-!

"Nawaki, no. Just one clo-!"

Soon the training field was covered in so much smoke and various chitter-chatter that it was just not hard to be in a panic. The other infants besides me panicked before they and myself were swept up by our family members. The smoke did pass, but what revealed beneath it was the jarring sight of thirty Nawakis whooping and cheering.

"Oh, Senju-kun…" Hanako sighed in exasperation and disappointment while Koga spat to the side in annoyance. Their little siblings in their arms were either laughing (Tsume) or murmuring their displeasure on the verge of tears (Hiashi and Hizashi).

"That idiot…" I followed mother's line of sight all the way to my father wading through the excitable crowd of Nawakis. I sensed his chakra and…yeah, I'll just get to the point and say he was NOT happy! Soon he did stop amongst the crowd of Nawakis to pick one of them up, and the one he picked up was worse for wear. Likely the original because he was pale and haggardly breathing.

"…"

"I did it…" He tiredly jazzed his hands about as innocently as he could.

"…"

"I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"So much trouble." Father uttered quietly. That's when you know he's mad.

And that concluded Nawaki's thrilling Birthday. After getting laid into by father, mother, Tsunade, and yes even Graunty Mito, the boy was made to only create a set of two to three clones until he was well-practiced enough to make more. Not to mention that he was punished for days soon after.

But I could tell that he was happy with the newly acquired jutsu of his because I've been seeing multiple of him flitting about the compound. Father had made it a point to train him in the use of the shadow clones for some reason, but I had no clue in what though.

So, I decided to spend my time in helping cousin out for the future.

"BOOM!"

"Kyaaaaaa!"

I laughed at the frightened boy who was rushing out of the compound to go to the Academy. He was late, and that made it easier to surprise him in the mornings. You see, I make sure to create a fake and unproper explosive tag (paper) every morning and put it on the wooden flooring in the hallway or outside of any room that Nawaki's in. And the moment he steps onto it, I pop out and scream!

Now is this effective? Probably not, but its all I can do. Now Nawaki wasn't happy about this, but just played it up as me wanting to play with him. Sometimes he's down to play and other times he would apologize and say he's busy. Still have no clue if it's working, one time I accidentally scared a shadow clone instead of the original, so at this point everything's up in the air.

Well, everything went back to the usual grind after the two birthdays. I meditate, I practice directing the flow of my chakra through my body and slowly learning to do chakra control through my fingers, I run, fall, get back up and run again, I'm dragged to engage in the pointless challenges that Nawaki and Koga submit Tsume and I into playing, and I'm being watched over by mother's grumpy Tiger summon, Hageshi.

Life just fell into swing. My writing's gotten better, and I even made a bucket list for the time I'm here because y'know gotta look forward to something in this life before I'm bogged down by all the ninja bullshit that awaits when I grow up.

I contemplated making a list of notes of Naruto's plot to hide away somewhere to keep as future reference, but I decided against doing that now. I didn't want any of my family to accidentally stumble upon it. Not until I've found a good and secure hiding place for it when I'm older.

I really did not want to have an awkward conversation about this world being a fictional comic made in some other world for entertainment. No way in hell am I telling anyone here that I've been reincarnated. Not only would that be awkward as hell, but it wouldn't really change my current situation. Plus, the manga/anime knowledge will be use for potential reference for any future events.

Its that way because so many things are different. I don't remember Might Dai ever being a Chunin, nor do I remember being my parents as pre-established characters in the canon, or the fact that this world's Orochimaru is a flipping girl who's in a sort of rivalry with my cousin, Tsunade.

Treating the canon material as gospel could potentially fuck things up, so I'll just judge the best course myself. Its risky, but I won't fall into the comfort zone of canon being the only way around. Besides, I have other things to focus on.

Like how I can't remember my own death and the events surrounding it.

Ice cold chills.

Strange feelings of contentment.

The same feelings I get whenever I force myself to think about it. Once I tried really pushing myself to really grasp any inkling of a memory, but all I got in return was a cold sharp pain that dug deeper into my chest.

There was no contentment, but the pain was just so much that I instinctively just stopped. Like foolishly putting a finger near a lit stove and pulling back just as a lick of a flame grazed the skin.

Sigh. Yeah, I said sigh. I'm tired and frustrated.

Luckily I had something to sort of look forward to in the form of my other Godfather finally coming to visit us. Father was excited while everyone else was…suddenly busy that day. Tsunade had a surprise meeting with that same Shikako lady who's teaching her medical ninjutsu, Nawaki had a day planned with Hanako and begrudgingly Koga about him helping them with the Shadow Clone technique, and mother…

Well she was more upfront about not wanting to see the guy.

And so, me and father waited and passed the time playing one of my favorite games Rock-Paper-Scissors. Or how they say it here and in Japan in my old world, Janken. I knew father let me win a couple of times but the few times where he tries to defeat me and still lose was oh so enjoyable. Now I'm not anywhere near Master Kazuma's god-tier level of skill in terms of the game, but I considered myself a pro.

Mother and Nawaki were easier to get a read sometimes when playing, but Tsunade was a challenge. Usually it was 50/50 between us, but that's only if there's no stakes involved because when Tsunade actually bets on something…I win. No, I'm serious, she once betted over a cup of pudding that she had left over just for the fun of it and lost.

Three times in a row.

I was so perplexed and felt a massive amount of guilt at her dour expression that I betted the pudding cup again for a rematch. It was my intention to throw each match as best as I could.

Yet I still won.

Like seriously, how is your luck that bad when you're actually gambling!? I thought that aspect was only exaggerated in the anime! Darn it Gruncle Hashirama out of all the good that she inherited from you why did you have to curse her with this!?

…Moving on, we heard a knock at the door in the middle of our game.

"Ah, he's here. Come, Kisuke-chan, lets go let them in." I gave my hand to father, who was tall and had to lean down to take it and followed him.

Them? Hm, I did sense a rather striking chakra signature. It felt extremely windy yet paradoxically rigid. The other was simpler, like wooshy-woosh! Like the waves of a lake or ocean.

Making our way to genkan, father walked over to the front door, slid it open and happily greeted the pair. "Ah, Shishou, you've finally made it, and on time too!"

"When has my punctuality ever been needed to be called into question?" Oh that's a very deep voice. The kind of voice that permeated the word: Strict.

Ignoring that, father turned to the other one with the "wooshy-woosh" chakra signature. "And I see that you also brought little Nonou with you too!"

"…"

"Come in, come in! Kisuke's right here!" Finally opening the door, father introduced our two new…

…Eh?

My eyes first lingered to a small girl about my age. Her brown hair was cut short into a cute bob, and her green emerald eyes were…they were a little void of much anything like the rest of her delicate face. She wore a pink floral print yukata and socks with sandals. Her eyes blankly stayed on me while my own quickly turned to the man holding her hand with the only one, he apparently still has.

The x-shaped scar on his chin, the black shaggy hair, and the one good eye that's visibly analyzing me while the other was mysteriously hidden by the shifted hitai-ate on his forehead. His choice of attire consisted of a white yukata and a black haori.

He looked way younger than his canon counterpart, probably still in his thirties, but it was still him.

"Kisuke-chan, say hello to Uncle Danzo and little Nonou-chan!"

…Sometimes I have to learn not to fucking jinx myself!