Today was my graduation.
The day I got to see what team I was put on.
The tests were nothing of note, a standard written test, followed by a taijutsu match against our teacher, we were then asked to perform any additional jutsu we knew.
I showed off some medical jutsu, which was impressive according to one of the teachers.
So, we got a couple of days off afterward, I guess they used this time to decide the teams.
I dunno.
Anyway, today was graduation, Kakashi was going to team Minato, and I was hopefully going on a Jonin team, though I applied to the hospital as well.
I'd see how it goes.
I got Tokuma to give up on an apprenticeship, though it was accidental.
Who knew Tokama would be so against my youthful green jumpsuit?
I just said Tokama and I should wear matching jumpsuits if we were on a team together.
And he revoked his apprenticeship offer.
Tokuma how unyouthful!
...
I was sitting in the classroom brand new headband on my forehead, watching my classmates leaving one by one.
Until it was only me and Kakashi.
Fuck.
…
Minato did not look like how I remembered him.
He wore a standard Jonin flak jacket with blue pants and a blue shirt, the white cape thing with flames at the bottom nowhere to be seen.
Oh yea, he wasn't the Hokage yet.
Nor was he the yellow flash.
…
We were seated in the shade under a tree.
Minato gave a charismatic grin.
"Alright team 7 why don't we introduce our self's"
Said grin meant nothing and he was met with silence.
He gave a shy smile and continued.
"My names Minato Namikaze, my likes are my girlfriend and training, my dislikes are making my girlfriend angry, and my dream for the future is to become the Hokage."
…
More silence.
"Ok, Shiro-kun how about you?"
…
"My names Shiro Hyuga, my likes are Youthful training and my green jumpsuit, I dislike unyouthfulness and people who are not on time, my dream for the future is to become a figure that will be recorded in the history books."
"Kakashi-kun"
…
"Kakashi?"
"My names Kakashi Hatake, my likes are training, my dislikes are idiots and youthfulness, and my dream for the future is to be an excellent ninja."
…
"Ok meet me at training ground seven tomorrow at 6."
And Minato escaped the awkwardness with a Shunshin.
…
"So, wanna have a spar?"
I got a blank stare in reply.
"To better understand each other's strengths and weaknesses."
Kakashi didn't answer, he just walked away.
Denied.
...
I was at training ground seven.
I was here 30 minutes early, as was Kakashi, that was something I liked about him.
If you're not early, your late.
Something I learned in my past life that followed me into this one.
…
"Hello, I hope you didn't wait long."
…
"Ok, today we're going to spar so we can get a feel for each others ability"
"Yes, Minato-sensei."
Kakashi grunted in reply.
What a charmer.
…
"Ok, so it is you too against me, start NOW!"
Minato disappeared into the trees.
Did he want us to chase him?
That's not going to happen… I don't want to chase someone through the forest.
…
Nope, never mind.
Kakashi seems to want this to be a chase.
…
Kakashi took off after him.
I just followed Kakashi at a comfortable distance.
I figured he'd step on any traps in our way.
I was activating my Byakugan every 30 seconds, while Kakashi through methods only known to him followed Minato's trail.
Eventually, I spotted him.
Back in the clearing, we started in.
Sigh…
"Kakashi! Minato is where we started!"
I got a nod in reply.
At least I got a response.
We made our way back to the clearing.
A sunny grin met us as we approached.
"Excellent job! Now lets Spar!"
Minato made the seal of confrontation, then attacked before we could even enter the clearing.
Kakashi jumped in first slashing at him with a short blade.
I activated my Byakugan and Chikaku no kyōka and then Shunshined behind him trying to hit him with a Gentle Fist strike.
Both of our attacks were rebuffed.
Minato met Kakashi's blade with a kunai and smacked my wrist away.
Suprised I jumped back.
Minato then grabbed Kakashi's wrist and tossed him at me, I reacted accordingly.
I grabbed Kakashi, spun, and tossed him at Minato.
Minato dogged and Kakashi tumbled passed him.
…
Minato raised an eyebrow at me.
I raised one back at him.
Kakashi tried to attack Minato while we were looking at each other.
Sigh…
Our spar went on for another 30 minutes.
It ended with an unconscious Kakashi when Minato used his head to block one of my One For All Punches.
Sigh…
I was knelt next to Kakashi and using the Mystical Palm on his head, I planed on healing him just enough to avoid a concussion, the rest could be done by a proper med-nin.
Minato was standing next to us looking rather unruffled
"That was well done Shiro-kun, I'd place your taijutsu at High Chunin and your chakra reserves at Jonin level, you just need more experience against different opponents."
"Thank you Sensei."
"Your Medical Ninjutsu is impressive as well."
I nodded, too busy fighting off Kakashi's chakra to reply.
"Your teamwork on the other hand needs improvement, Konoha values teamwork because…"
…
Kakashi eventually woke.
He got a similar speech.
Though his Taijutsu was rated much lower than mine, as was his chakra reserves.
Haha, suck it Kakashi.
I tried not to look smug
But Kakashi's glare said that I failed.
"Ok team there's not a lot I need to teach you, so were going to get straight into missions with some sparing in between."
...
We were standing in front of the Hokage ready to get our first mission.
This was my first time seeing him in person.
Though he didn't look too old he still showed signs of age.
Minato started us off with his usual charismatic grin.
"Team 7 reporting for duty."
"Team 7, I have a very important mission for you."
Kakashi perked up
"Your mission is to head to the Matsuzaki residence and vanquish the weeds that have taken up residence in miss Emiko's garden."
Any enthusiasm Kakashi had must have died a quick death, as his shoulders dropped.
…
"Would you like some water dears?"
Emiko Matsuzaki was a kind elderly woman who was barely making it around without her cane.
Her kindness didn't make this job any less annoying though.
"No thanks miss Matsuzaki"
Kakashi just shook his head.
"Yes please, all this hard work is making me thirsty!"
Minato of coarse had done nothing but sit with his back to the fence and had no reason to be thirsty.
*Thunk*
The kunai Kakashi threw at Minato showed how he felt about that.
I figured Minato had enough fun at Kakashi's expense so I went through the hand signs and summoned 3 shadow clones to pick-up the pace.
The work was done in no time.
The look of disappointment on Minato's face warmed my heart.
"Want to run through some more D-ranks today?"
Kakashi gave me a look filled with disdain.
"No"
"You sure? The faster we get these done the sooner we can start on some real missions."
Kakashi changed his tune pretty fast.
"Let's get this over with."
We ran through 3 more missions that day with very liberal use of the Shadow Clone Jutsu.
...
A week had gone by and we had averaged 5 missions a day, needless to say, it was time for some c-ranks.
"Normally it takes teams a month and a half to get through 20 D-ranks. So, congratulations on completing 34 in such a short time."
The Hokage took a puff from his pipe.
"Sadly, I must ask you to stop, were running out of missions to send new graduates on."
I stood head bowed.
"Sorry, Hokage-sama."
The Hokage blew some smoke out of his nose making me think of an annoyed dragon.
"It seems that you won't learn anything doing D-rank missions, so I'm sending you on a C-ranked one instead. Hopefully, you can develop some teamwork while you escort a merchant to the land of hot water, you're dismissed."
Minato stepped forward and received a scroll.
We all filed out and met at the base of the tower.
"Alright we leave in two days, does anyone need help packing?
I shook my head.
"No sensei."
And Kakashi shook his head as well.
"Alright, meet me at the west gate at 6, ill see you then"
And Minato was off leaving behind a swirl of leaves.
"Want to shop together Kakashi?"
"No."
Well, at least he responded, usually he doesn't.
Progress?
...
I spent my two free days in Youthful training with Gai.
After some training we took a break and went shopping for some stuff I would need, I made sure to stock-up on jumpsuits as I had been running low for a while.
I took the time to buy Gai some shuriken and kunai, I didn't know if he would use then but at least he had some if he ever had the urge.
After another round of training, we went to Gai's house to visit Duy.
Duy was exhausted as he had reached a new level with the gates and was recovering in his home.
I came over and repaired his body to the best of my ability, and we had a nice chat about escort missions and what I should watch out for.
All in all, I had a Youthful break before my mission.
...
I was at the west gate standing by Kakashi and trying to make conversation, I was asking Kakashi if had started nature transformation yet and what elements he had an affinity for.
Kakashi wasn't interested, he walked a distance from me and sat down.
All right then.
…
Minato arrived with the client breaking up the awkward atmosphere that bothered me but probably didn't phase Kakashi.
The merchant arrived on a horse-drawn cart that was covered in canvas and presumably filled with his goods.
The merchant was fat, not an acceptable fat, he was so fat that his eyes were pushed closed by the fat around his face.
He was the first fat person I had seen since my rebirth, I had to remind myself not to stare.
"Boys this is Futotta yarō we will be escorting him to the land of hot springs, specifically Yugakure."
"Nice to meet you Futotta-sama"
Kakashi gave a shallow bow.
Fatty got impatient and told us to get going
"Alright let's set off!"
"Yes, Futotta-sama."
…
Minato was making conversation with fatty, subtly fishing for information on what business fatty had in the land of hot water.
…
Turns out he was just here to offload his goods from Konoha, and to get potatoes from hot springs.
And some of their famed spring water if the prices were right
Predictably the fatty was going there for food and drink…
…
It took us four days to get to the land of hot springs.
Minato and fatty had become fast friends and now are chatting like they had grown up together.
Minato had taught us a simple E-ranked camping jutsu so we could start fires if we needed to in the future.
…
The land of hot springs still had its reluctant shinobi force at this time, so now and then as we made our way through their territory and into the village, I could see them jumping through the trees and patrolling the roads.
Though they made me nervous Yugakure Shinobi had a reputation for pacifism so I wasn't overly worried, though I wondered if I'd meet Hidan. Still, I figured it was unlikely.
…
We saw fatty off at the gate and made our way into the village after getting visitor passes.
I was happy to ditch the fatty, as I was worried that a bandit scare would give the fatty a heart attack and we would fail the mission.
Though I could treat him I doubted the client getting hurt was good for my ninja resume.
With that load off my shoulders I was following Minato with a bounce in my step.
We stopped at a two-story building with a sign on it that had the kanji for hot springs on it.
"Alright, I'm going to get us a room at this Inn, Kakashi your free to explore just be back before sunset."
"Yes, Sensei."
"Shiro your with me."
And with that, I and Minato were off to the inn.
It was the second day of our stay in Yugakure, Kakashi had been allowed to wander free again, I, on the other hand, had to stay with Minato.
Apparently the Hyuga complained about the possibility of my Byakugan being stolen when Minato wasn't looking so until I'm officially Chunin rank I'm not allowed to be unaccompanied unless absolutely necessary.
Whether they did this to annoy me or they were genuinely worried about me losing my eyes was a temporary mystery.
...
Minato and I were sitting in the hot springs together.
Was this Minato's idea of bonding?
"Minato-Sensei?"
"Yes, Shiro-Kun?"
"I heard your good at Fuinjutsu."
"That I am Shiro-kun?"
Minato raised an eyebrow at me.
"Could you put a Gravity Seal on me?"
"I could… do you understand how they work?"
I did somewhat but the information was sparse in both the Hyuga library and the public library.
"Yes, the seal has 50 levels, doubling your body weight every level you advance."
I knew the seal had nothing to do with gravity, the author just didn't have a better name for it.
That's as far as my knowledge on the seal went.
"Raising the level before your ready can crush your bones, organs, and rip your muscles if not instantly kill you."
Ouch.
I sat in silent thought wondering if my healing factor could handle that.
"I'll do it for you, if your sure you want it."
Regardless of the slight possibility of death I still wanted it.
"Yes please, Minato-sensei I still want it."
"Ok, we can do it when we get back to Konoha, its not safe to do it outside of the village."
...
It was our third day in the village and we were ready to set off.
I had my fill of the hot springs and was ready to leave and get back to training, though hopefully with a new Gravity Seal.
We left the village without any trouble, Kakashi seemed to be in a better mood than when we got to the village, Minato might have also felt better though I didn't know, he always seemed happy and cheerful so I couldn't tell.
We walked in comfortable silence, I activated my Byakugan every 5 minutes using this opportunity for training, the land of hot springs was heavily patrolled so we wouldn't be running into rogue-nin or bandits at least until we get into the land of fire.
…
Our trip through the land of fire was peaceful as well, without that tub of lard slowing us down it only took us a day to travel back to Konoha.
We arrived at the gate, the guards barely glanced at our papers and sent us in.
Minato kindly reminded us to fill out our mission reports and have them filed tomorrow, and then we'd have 2 days off.
Kakashi ran off as soon as he was able, leaving Minato and I standing at the gate staring at his back as he ran off.
Minato let out a sigh and rubbed the back of his head.
I feel you Sensei…
"Minato, when can we get that Seal done?"
Minato Hummed for a second while scratching his chin.
"We'll do it in two days, ill come get you when I'm ready."
He sent me what I guess was a goodbye nod and vanished in a Shunshin, leaving me standing at the gate…
I blew one last breath out of my nose and decided that today's lunch was going to be takeout.
Yakitori maybe?
Perhaps Gai and Duy would like some Yakitori.
...
I spent the rest of my break training my Byakugan in my room, I didn't feel like interacting with people for a while after spending time with Gai and Duy after two weeks of interacting with Kakashi on a daily basis.
As Minato had said he would, he came and got me on the last day of our break and brought me to his apartment.
I figured there would need to be some sort of room for sealing as I vaguely remembered Kakashi taking Sasuke to one to seal his curse mark.
But I guess I was wrong.
…
Kushina was extremely cheerful.
Before I could take my sandals off, I was picked up and brought to the couch where I was hugged and called cute, Kushina then complimented my hair saying that she was envious of its shine and softness.
I was then placed on the floor Infront of her and Kushina started braiding my hair.
This happened too fast for me to process and I was left feeling confused about how I should react.
I decided that this was fine and that I should get used to it as this would probably happen more in the future.
Yep totally fine.
…
I heard Kushina ask about my shampoo, I told her I had no idea, as I didn't and I wanted this to end as soon as possible.
"Kushina-sama?"
"Yes, Shiro-kun?"
"Umm I'm here to get a seal done, could you let me go?"
She blew a loud breath out of her mouth.
"Pfff, fine just let me finish this braid, and call me Kushina Shiro-kun."
I made eye contact with Minato who winked at me.
"Umm yes, then call me Shiro as well Kushina."
"Ohh your so cute!"
I was indeed cute, I agree.
…
I was made to sit down and have dinner with the couple, I had hoped to escape after the seal was done but Minato must have predicted this as he had suggested that we should have lunch before the sealing starts so as to not have empty stomachs later.
I looked at him from across the table.
He looked innocent but I didn't buy it, revenge would be had.
"..." We stared at each other for a moment.
Though I did enjoy having a proper table and not a chabudai.
…
The dinner was nice now that I was not being manhandled and had my own space, though of course, we had ramen.
Kushina dominated the conversation asking me about my life and training what I wanted to do and learn.
I answered to the best of my ability, giving a brief summary of my home situation, that I wanted to be a Medic-nin and that my affinity was lightning and that I hoped to learn nature transformation.
She looked a bit upset when I talked about my home life, though she didn't say anything so I left it at that.
I was about to give up on the gravity Seal and come back another day when Minato said we should get the sealing underway before the day ends.
I looked out the window at the setting sun.
Yes, let's get this over with.
...
The seal was vaguely sword-shaped with a spiral enclosed by a circle where the pommel would be, there was a blank spot in the center of the 'pommel' where a number would show up representing what level the Gravity Seal was at.
I stood in Minato's bathroom looking at the mirror eyeing my new 'tattoo', I had the seal put on my upper right arm just below the shoulder.
It looked better than I imagined it would.
With my jumpsuit's sleeves, no one would see it.
Perfect
…
I was again being manhandled by Kushina on the couch listening to Minato explain the operation of the gravity seal.
He explained that to increase the seals level I just had to pump chakra into it until I feel the change in weight.
To release the seal I have to form the rat seal or say 'Fuin: Release' and the weight will be returned to normal.
Explanation done I extracted my self from Kushina's grasp and made my way home.
I feel like I might have taken Kakashi's place, right now I seem to be the favored student…
Canon was already trashed when I was born so what's a little more matter?
...
I was up early in the third training ground getting ready to activate the first level of the seal before our team training.
I was about 45 pounds so when I activated the seal It should double it.
I took my time to limber up and stretch, I didn't want to pull any muscles after all.
I pushed chakra into the seal little by little taking care not to accidentally jump up a couple of levels at a time…
I hit the first level thanked my past self for sitting down if I hadn't, I would have for sure eaten some dirt.
The weight wasn't heavy per-say just surprising.
…
I was running around the training ground getting used to the new weight. I had 10 minutes until team training so I formed the rat seal and released the seal.
I then took a quick dip in the river and ran off to training ground seven.
I met a grumpy Kakashi who was also 30 minutes early.
"Why are you wet?"
I ignored his question.
"Good morning as well Kakashi"
…
I sat in the sun enjoying its warmth.
I was mentally revising my training schedule to include training with the gravity seal.
I'd have to learn how to fight and jump when my weight was increased.
I'd also have to do the same with kunai throwing as well.
Sigh…
More stuff to do…
…
Minato arrived in a swirl of leaves, I was still seated in the middle of the clearing, enjoying the sun.
Kakashi was throwing shuriken at a target some distance away.
"Ok boy's today we'll do some light sparring and then set up our schedule."
He meant light sparing for him, not for Kakashi or me.
…
It was decided that we would do 2-4 C-ranks a month, we would either do 4 short ones over a month or 2 long ones over a month, so 2-4 missions per month…
Mainly because I wanted to get time at the hospital.
Kakashi was not happy, he snarled at me.
"You are holding us back, we should be able to do more missions than that!"
I decided to egg him on a bit.
"Kakashi! If you fan your flames of Youth nothing can hold you back!"
I finished with my nice guy pose, a double thumbs up with a large grin on my face.
Kakashi tried to attack me but Minato intervened and dragged him away in his Shunshin.
…
I was still in the clearing reflecting.
I felt a bit regretful that I egged him on but I couldn't have known that would set him off like that…
I sighed and cracked my knuckles.
Time to practice with the Gravity Seal…
...
The team met up again the day after.
Though this time I was under the full effect of the gravity seal.
...
I had put a request to work under one of the medical-nin at the hospital.
We would see how that goes when we get back as we had another mission to go on today.
…
Kakashi was still mad at me and hadn't acknowledged my presence.
I wasn't sure if I should apologize or not.
So, we sat in silence until Minato arrived.
Not that it was different than any other day.
Minato arrived and ignored the awkward atmosphere.
"So, are we doing long missions this month or short missions?"
Kakashi was silent as was I.
…
Minato decided for us.
"Short it is then."
…
Kakashi and Minato went to get the mission scroll.
I split up with them and went to leave some take-out in Gai's fridge, Duy was out on a mission so I figured I'd put some of that D-rank mission money to use.
We met up at the Hokage tower, today's mission was a background investigation.
Some rich guy wanted to know if his wife was cheating on him.
A fun mission if I do say so myself.
I figured that most of the work would rely on me using my Byakugan to catch the wife in the act.
Though hopefully, that wasn't the case.
I figured it would be a good opportunity to train my Byakugan regardless of what happens.