Chapter 44

The pirate captain called his ship and his crew weren't happy to see us at first, but after seeing the dead bodies of the rogue ninja and his men and hearing from their captain that it only took 10 minutes to kill them, their character flipped.

We were welcomed with open arms and the feast was grand. The main reason I wanted to board their ship was because I always wanted to board a pirate ship after seeing One Piece.

And the atmosphere was just as I imagined. At first, the atmosphere was quite uncomfortable, but then they immediately got friendly.

We sang, ate and just enjoyed. Well, only me and the pirate crew. Yugito and the pirate captain both didn't like the atmosphere.

Yugito didn't want to associate herself with criminals, which was quite ironic coming from a ninja who just murdered people.

As for the pirate captain, he hated that his crew got close to a kumogakure ninja they hated. Since these pirates often operated close to the kumogakure border, they were often hunted by them.

I enjoyed for three days and they dropped us at the kumogakure border. Yugito was still grumpy about me enjoying those three days.

We were travelling back to kumogakure, jumping from one branch to another. I said to Yugito "Come on, don't act like a kid now."

"We should have killed them, but you didn't want to do it just because you had a good time." Yugito replied.

"They were doing what they could for a living. They didn't have to die." I said.

"That's just because you slept with almost every woman on the ship." she growled.

"Well, they wanted to be hospitable and offered to keep company. Being a gentleman, I couldn't refuse a request from a woman." I replied, trying to sound like a good person.

She then mumbled something. I asked what she was mumbling about and she just sped up.

I just shrugged it off and followed her to catch up. We reached the village in about three days and reported about the mission. Yugito omitted the fact that the ninjas tried to kill me and said that they died in the hands of the rogue kirigakure ninja that attacked us on the ship.

After we reported the mission details, we walked out of the Raikage office. I was also happy that I got invited on this mission, as I understood that I was slacking off on my training and the mission rank was also high.

I already had an A-rank mission before I became a chunin and that was a great feat that would help me rise to a chunin even if I perform decently in the chunin exams.

As we walked out of the office, Yugito turned back and asked "Are you preparing well for the chunin exams? Since we have genin from other villages coming here, it is a matter of the village's pride."

I replied "Yes, we still have two weeks for the chunin exams right? I will be prepared by then."

We kept walking and Yugito was surprisingly quiet that day. She then asked in a low voice just enough for me to hear "Are you experienced in doing that? It looks like those women on the ship liked how you did it and were going crazy."

I couldn't believe what my ears just heard. I checked if my ears were working fine, as Yugito never talked in that tone.

The Yugito I knew was a proud person who was proud of her strength and wasn't a person who cared about all this. The one year I spent with her, I only heard her talk about battle, mission, training, and sometimes about her family and friends.

That's it, nothing else. Noticing that I didn't say anything, she looked at me. I then returned back to reality and said "Well, like how you ninjas have a tradition after graduation, we nobles also have a tradition when we turn 13.

We are taught everything about sex by a woman from the red light district. That's why you will never find any noble who doesn't know about sex from the capital."

After she heard my reply, she immediately disappeared. I didn't know what happened to her and didn't want to know.

There is a rule in the Atano clan that the Mind Touch techniques shouldn't be used on a woman unless necessary.

At first, I didn't know why this rule existed and didn't follow it. Only later did I realize why they made that rule. A woman's brain and her thoughts aren't something a man can't understand.

So, I didn't read her thoughts and just returned home. I wanted to immediately go to my secret base and start training, I didn't.

It is because I wanted to rest, and another reason for me to return home, is due to an order Aki made to me.

I has to report back to my house immediately after each mission, to tell her that I am safe. I didn't know why, but everything she said, I followed.

I didn't know what the feeling was, but I think this is what people call the love of a mother. I even started calling her mother before I even realized it.

I returned home and Aki, or my mother, immediately came running and hugged me first. She then asked "You aren't hurt, are you?"

"No" I replied. I healed all my burn marks before we left the ship. I didn't want her to worry.

After I replied her, she let go of me and said "Good, then go rest. I will call you after I prepare dinner."

I nodded and left to my room. "Feels good" I said to myself with a smile.

On my way, I met my brother Hiroshi and after a small conversation, he left.

And just like that, I had another reason to grow stronger. The next 7 days, I spent training.

I wanted to learn new jutsu, but then realized that lightning jutsu I knew enough and I couldn't master the stronger ones on just two weeks.

So, I went to perfecting the water release and earth release I had at hand. Ever since I got the earth release from Orochimaru, I did practice quite a few to make my secret base.

So, I practiced the water release jutsu I got from the rogue ninja from the mission. Aa for my training, I went back to try the Bald God training and this time it wasn't as difficult as the first time I tried.

Although my muscle fibers were still torn, I could complete it everyday. After a week, I was taking a break to heal my muscle fibers.

Then a servant came to my room and said "Young master, your friends G and T are here to see you."

I replied "Ok, I will go to meet them." and walked to the door. When I arrived, G said "Yo, did you progress in your training?"

I said. "Yes. I heard that you both have also been training to increase your stamina."

T just turned away and G coughed. He then said "Enough jokes, Yugito asked is to get you to the forest."

"Is it another thrashing she calls training?" I asked and he just shrugged his shoulders.

T sa id "It might not be training, as our chunin exam is in Sunagakure. Training in the woods is useless."