War on the horizon…

Shirohi sat on a bed as Tsunade treated his injuries, today was the final day of treatment but over the past week the two have grown fairly close, close enough for Shirohi to talk about his life the past 2 years. Not that he would open up to someone so easily but Tsunade just had a calming charm that made it easy for Shirohi to open up.

"So how do you think you did in placement?" Tsunade questions as she finished resetting a non-union fractured bone, Shirohi let out a sigh "I honestly don't know, if I'm comparing myself to the other kids I think I did pretty well in Taijutsu but I fell short in my accuracy when throwing kunai…"

Tsunade gave him a light nudge with a smile. "You're so humble for a kid… if you want you can come by my house for dinner," Shirohi seemed hesitant. "I don't want to intrude…"

Tsunade held back the urge to drop her fist on his head "I invited you, you won't be intruding."

"O-okay…"

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Hizuren was sitting in his office going through the various notes for placement, he didn't understand why he had to verify every little thing aside from it being his job. He rubbed his temples trying to relieve his headache…

As he worked his way down the roster, he found a familiar name…

[Shirohi Tensuki

Placement: Class A

Shows potential in Taijutsu, Lacking in Kunai Throwing(1)

Notes: Relentless, Calm & Collected in the face of attacks]

Marking the paper verified, Hizuren sat back in his chair, looking out the window he began to think of the future. The Second Shinobi War had just started to slow but another war was on the horizon, the skirmishes on the borders have been becoming more frequent… letting out a sigh, Hizuren returned to his paperwork.

=========================================

Shirohi stood outside the Senju Compound gates, he had to ask a few people to find his way here but eventually he found his destination. Now all he had to do was wait while one of the compound guards went to inform Tsunade, he was surprised to find out that she was the 'Senju Princess' the current matriarch of the Senju Clan.

To be honest he was slightly nervous, this was far out of his comfort zone. It had been years since he sat down at a table and ate with someone he knew, in the orphanage Shirohi opted to eat at a table alone away from all the noise.

Shirohi was pulled from his thoughts as the large gates slid open to reveal Tsunade, however his eyes were drawn to the girl holding onto the hem of Tsunade's kimono. Her onyx eyes looking him up and down with curiosity, she recognized this boy as the one who was unlucky enough to get matched up with the proctor.

"Shizune, this is Shirohi Tensuki… I've been treating his injuries over the past week, I believe I told you about them?'' Shizune nodded slightly surprised but understood that however he got them was his business to tell, sections of his medical report were actually included into her medic-nin training due to the severity of his hidden injuries.

"Hello…" Shirohi's voice reached Shizune pulling her away from her thoughts, her eyes landing on the boy performing a small bow. "*Pfft* H-Hello" she couldn't hold back her laughter earning an awkward look from Shirohi to which she immediately apologized "Sorry, we usually don't do that here…" she lowered her head as red shade of embarrassment crept up her face, Tsunade watched the two with a smile memories of her and Dan resurfacing… the pain of loss was still there but seeing these two acting similar to how she and Dan used to brought some comfort to her pained heart.

The trio made their way towards the Senju manor, making small talk along the way. Tsunade had informed Shizune to avoid topics involving Shirohi's parents, Shirohi and Shizune walked ahead of Tsunade chatting away while Tsunade followed, enjoying the sight in front of her. It was good to see Shizune opening up especially since Dan passed…

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The days passed, every last day of the week was spent over at the Senju Compound having dinner with Tsunade and Shizune. Shirohi had noticed that it was fairly quiet in the Senju Compound, he had heard that the Senju clan was one of the largest and strongest clans in Konoha but from just the looks of it, the clan seemed to be declining and fast. He overheard Tsunade talking about the influx of missions recently, and she didn't seem too happy about it. He couldn't hear the whole conversation but she seemed mad at someone…

Occasionally at his time in the Senju manor he would see a young women with striking red hair running through the halls but he hadn't had a chance to actually meet her, from what Shirohi had heard one of Tsunade's old squad members was supposed to come by today for dinner.

Hurriedly packing a bag with clothes the orphanage supplied him, he ran towards the Senju Compound; the Matron actually gave him permission to stay at Tsunade's for the weekend after Shizune brought a note with the Senju Seal.

He was slightly nervous, at the orphanage he would have had to share a room but he got lucky and didn't have a bunk mate and he's always been alone… shaking that thought from his head he increased his speed, Shizune was probably waiting for him he couldn't possibly make her stand out by the gate for too long right?

(A/N: 1. Give me a new term for this plz…)