Chapter 11.

"Is this one fine?" - I asked Mito and Sumiko with a tired sigh frozen on the tip of my tongue and my stars of hope slowly being destroyed by them.

Sharp gazes scanned my whole figure, wrapped in one of the few dozens of kimono that I had already been forced to try.

"This one seems to be acceptable." Sumiko finally nodded in approval.

"It is a shame that we don't have enough time to get you a tailored one..." - Mito sighed as I was buying the accepted kimono. I froze. So we could've just made one!? If I got the material, I could've just sewed it myself!

But that train of thought soon was put to an abrupt stop, as I imagined our shopping for the 'right pattern/material/colour/texture' fabric... Hell no.

I came back from that mission yesterday and had to start preparing for Hashi-nii-san's Granddaughter's big day. The mission was a success, but it was a little repulsing to be the one controlled and not the other way around. Since the moment I became one of the royalty, I wasn't actually that much restrained as I was a sensible child. I got used to giving out orders to maids, servants and others, so, this was a new experience for me...

Today I wanted to buy something fine to wear at the party and was unfortunate enough to meet this combination of female power on my way there. It started with a simple question about how was I doing and soon, I was heavily educated by both of them on the subject 'Appropriate clothes and behaviour for a specific event'.

"Thank you for helping me. I will meet you tomorrow!"

"Wait." - Mito grabbed my shoulders with monstrous strength, cutting short my humble attempt to escape. - "We still have to find fitting accessories."

I rolled my eyes and stared at the bright, blue sky with complete submission reflecting in my two-coloured pupils.

***

"Welcome!" - The servants by the entrance to the compound were greeting the guests. As we were shown the way, everyone was given cards with today's schedule and I finally learnt the name of today's star - Senju Tsunade. Hashirama wouldn' tell me no matter what, while others chose not to interfere and didn't help as well.

While we were led inside of the main hall, I looked around. It had been a while since I last set my foot in here and the interior of the house remained almost unchanged.

Most of the invited people were from clans such as Uchiha, Sarutobi, Nara, Hyuga etc., but there were a few civilians that stuck together, feeling a bit pressured by the imposing air around shinobi's alternative of the nobles.

'Why come, then?' - I wondered, but soon I spotted a group of children in the corner chatting among themselves. - 'I see. Tsunade-hime invited her friends and parents had to come along.'

"Hello, Orochimaru-kun!" - I spotted a familiar face by the wall, some distance from the others, with a book in his hands.

He nodded calmly and continued to read. Yeah, yeah. Sure, keep acting composed, I know that you were surprised by my sudden appearance next to you. I notice that he was training his sensor-ability and decided to creep up to him. Hiding my presence wasn't hard and the result was worth it.

"What are you reading?"- I leaned against the wall next to him. Now that I look at him, I'm just a few inches taller than him, because of my unaging body. His slick, silky, charcoal-black hair was held in a high ponytail and a light-beige kimono was girdled by a pale-purple belt. Right now he is super cute and I'm afraid of his beauty in the future.

His aura flickered with surprise when I decided to stay here. - "Advanced Biology and Anatomy." - he replied.

I took a pick inside. Wow... - "Do you want to become a med-nin?" - thought that he would be studying in the Academy since he felt to be stronger than a regular student; however, the material in his hands is certainly from higher grades of the Medical Institute.

"No." - His aura instantly turned unaccepting and defensive. That is odd...

"Ok. So, are you just interested in this then?" - I started to slowly cast relaxing, Nature energy around me. When I ate the True Chakra Fruit and did a few tests, I was able to learn that shinobi would feel more comfortable around a person who is more accepted by the Nature Chakra. Which helped me to finally uncover the mystery 'why would Hashirama have no difficulty in socializing even if it was someone who hated him previously.'

Orochimaru gradually eased up and nodded.

"I'm the same! I study all sorts of things!"

'Most of them are so useless in my life that I almost regret spending my time on them.' - A thought crossed my mind. Yeah... learning how to pro-game or military was such a waste of my time in Govardhani's world. Our troops of magicians are a perfect replacement for almost any weapon out there. In addition to it, they would have a lot fewer side effects after the attack.

He looked at me with a bit of distrust, sized me up and a light snicker was let out. He probably remembered my reconstruction a few days ago.

We chatted a little and as the chat progressed, I tried to fish out the reason he was uneasy about his interest in medical stuff. However, every time I would touch on this subject, he would shut away, that is why I gave up. I'll find out after the party.

"Oh! She finally came!" - One of the kids shouted and everyone paid attention to the spot he pointed out.

Hashirama and Mito, dressed in traditional clothes, were following behind a pair of red-haired man and a blond woman. The guy is most likely their child. At the very front, a teenaged, blond girl was gracefully walking to the centre of the room.

The next pair was Tobirama with his wife - Senju Fiji. How did they end up together is still a mystery, but I heard that this particular former Uchiha, was in love with my albino Nii-san even before the war between clans was over. Next to them stood a white-haired boy, probably the same age as Tsunade-hime and Orochimaru-kun. He had strange red markings under his eyes and messy hairstyle. Well, I know for sure that it wasn't his fault. Tobirama-nii has the same problem- their Chakra Channels in the hair is too strong and this makes it impossible to deal with them.

Everyone started coming over to the hosts, greeting them, wishing 'Happy Birthday' in very obscure ways, exchanging pleasantries and going away. No way I will be a part of this. I'll wait till this part is over.

Tobirama's kid noticed Orochimaru and smiled brightly and almost started waving his hand, but froze when he noticed me. His gaze slowly turned from shocked to mischievous and I noticed how Tobirama's eyes began to twitch, while aura was overflowing with defeat. Which piqued my interest. I looked over to his wife. Fiji-san only sighed lightly and continued to smile, nevertheless, I could feel that her aura was slowly feeling with murderous intentions. But they weren't directed at her family, so I was standing by the wall with a very puzzled mind.

***

"They didn't let you go for a while, Hashirama-nii." - I smiled at the exhausted, but proud grandparent. Tsunade inspected me with interest, while Mito's gaze sent shivers down my spine.

"You did well at remembering the hairstyle, Malika-chan." - she finally smiled as she finished an expected, yet dreaded inspection. The Creator knows, how scared I was to mess up with my outfit today.

The two terrifying women were dragging me everywhere for almost an entire day and threatened (no, they asked politely, but it was perceived as a very vague warning) me to remember everything they put on me and my hair. That is when I truly thanked God for giving me a photographic memory.

"I tried my best!" - I turned to Tsunade. We were almost the same height and honestly, she was promising to be gorgeous. She had bright eyes and her aura was really comforting... with the occasional punches of sudden and unreasonable emotions, but still warming.

"Happy Birthday, Tsunade-hime! Here," - I took a pair of beautiful bracelets out of my bag, that was connected to my Space, and gave it to her, - "There was a table to put presents, but it was full, that is why I wanted to give this in person."

She was dejected as she was accepting them, so I harried to explain. -"They are training weights. Right now they weight nothing, but when you'll wear them, inject your chakra to regulate the heaviness. Moreover, since they are pretty, you can wear them all the time." - Now she was happy.

"Thank you for this present." - she put them on her wrists and smiled eerily... Who does she want to kill? - "I'll use it with pleasure!" - She continued as her eyes darted over to the white-messy-haired boy. Oops.

"Tobirama, what's your offspring name?"

He raised an eyebrow with confusion written all over his eyes.

"Don't expect me to know it! Seriously! None of you tells me the names of your family members!"

"Can't you just uncover them yourself?" - Izuna and Madara approached us with a snicker on their faces.

"It's no fun." - I shrugged my shoulders.

"His name is Jiraya."

"He is my ridiculous cousin with strange hobbies..."

"Because someone lets him associate with one particular student for too long." - Fiji-san complained to me while looking at her husband.

"I told you, it was too late when I learnt about this side of Hiruzen..."

We continued to exchange news and jokes when Tsunade decided to go and join Orochimaru and Jiraya. They seemed to be close, so I assumed that they were friends. Well, at least I know about the way Orochimaru could've gotten in contact with the First Hokage.