It had been four years since Ashura had been in this new world.
It had been a slow start getting used to the thought of being a different person in the body of a baby. Even weirder being called by a name that wasn't the one Hess lived with for over 20 years.
However, after year three he just….
accepted it, because…
Well, he started to look at it as a second chance.
After he put the whole "doom and gloom" of why he was sent here, behind him, and really thought about it.
This would be the first time he had a mom and dad present in his life, that he could actually remember.
Sure Uncle Ben and Aunt May did an amazing job raising him, truly. But the fact of the matter is they weren't his real parents.
His real parents died when he was very little, and all he knew of them were stories that Aunt May and Uncle Ben told him, and some old photos.
Don't misunderstand however, May and Ben were Peter's family. The only ones left that. On top of that, they truly loved him unconditionally.
But he had never felt a true parents love before, and he could honestly say that there was a big difference.
When he was born, he had almost died. Due to the shock of realizing he was an infant inside of his mother.
He inhaled amniotic fluid and felt like he was drowning. If he had been calm he would have realized that babies in the womb do practice breaths to prepare the lungs, and if he hadn't panicked he would've been fine.
However, his memories of dealing with his more aquatic villains such as Hydro-Man, or The Lizard, decided to kick in and make the sensation worse than it actually was.
Much worse. In his panic he had gotten his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck and then he truly started to suffocate.
He thought he was going to die a second time, failing yet again to uphold the promises he made.
But then, he woke up.
And when he saw his mother holding him, due to the traumatic event he went through, and possibly the lack of oxygen flow as well, he mistook her for an Angel.
The way she looked at him made him feel a comfort so profound he couldn't put it into words.
And that feeling never went away. It was always there.
He could also see it in his fathers eyes, although it had a different feeling.
It was more of a feeling of extreme pride, and the promise of protection.
His father was great.
Although, he was more of a quiet man, more of a listener than a talker.
Which he says was a learned behavior after mistakes made in the past.
This was great for Ashura, because of the plethora of questions he had about this world that he found himself in.
So when he was old enough to talk and had learned the language to a decent extent. He wouldn't hesitate to ask his father and mother endless questions.
They always responded eagerly, happy that I was so intelligent.
Speaking of which, He started to speak at 8 months, which although not uncommon in The Land of Fire, the complexity and degree of his questions were.
*FLASHBACK*
Ashura was in his fathers Study beside his desk playing with building blocks.
While making a block replica of The Baxter Building, a report for the hokage fell to the ground in front of him.
Although He couldn't yet read the language, upon first glance he noticed it had some similarities to Japanese, just with a different alphabet.
His surprise manifested in a manner similar to the child he appeared to be. He picked it up and pointed at the Kanji that his father Kiyoshi had written.
After Kiyoshi had recovered from his initial surprise at the fact that I didn't immediately ruin the report of his A- rank mission he recently finished.
He smiled down at me and lifted me up from the floor, to then sit me upon his lap while taking the report.
He started to explain, using what Ashura determined to be a hybrid of Japanese to do so.
At this point he was able to understand the majority of what his parents said, although there were still some words that flew over his head.
"This is a report Hokage-sama needs from Otōsan to understand the details of my mission." Kiyoshi said to him, while allowing his child to examine it more closely.
The focused look on the baby's face was adorable as well as ridiculous for someone his age, however Kiyoshi wanted to encourage his son to be inquisitive.
In the future, if his son decided to be a ninja under the command of The Hokage it was important to question the mission and not blindly carry it out. A shinobi should act in a way that brings the most benefit to his village.
'Look underneath, the underneath' Kiyoshi thought.
"Wads a gage?" Ashura said, in his clumsy baby speech.
"Oh, it's what you call the leader of one of the five- '' Kiyoshi paused, as he looked at his eight month old in shock.
"H-Hana!!"
"….Yes?"
"Our baby just spoke!"
"Oh my kami!" Hana said, rushing to the room her boys were in in excitement.
As she entered the room she stumbled upon what was, really a comical sight.
Her husband was holding their child at arms length, while staring at him like he had grown an extra head.
"So….what did our little ray of sunshine say??" Hana said, bursting from the seams with excitement.
"Uhhhh…he asked me what a Kage was..."
"Aww that's amazing! We have ourselves a little shinobi here." Hana squealed, while taking Ashura from Kiyoshi's hands and giving him kisses.
"No honey, you don't understand. His exact words were,
"What's a Kage?"
"Yeah what about it…wait really?"
Usually only the Nara are cognizant enough to form full sentences at such an early age…
However, I've never heard of one as young as Ashura doing it….well maybe Shikaku, but he's a certified genius." Hana said while looking at her bundle of joy a little more critically.
They were quiet in thought for a few minutes thinking about what the implications of what this would mean for their child when..
"Oohs Sigaku? Ashura said, looking at his mother this time, and if you look closely you could see a little baby smirk on his face.
...Kiyoshi outright fainted from shock.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashura smiled thinking back to that day.
'Good times…" he thought.
He was currently in his fathers study looking through his books on information on the elemental nations, and anything he could find on chakra. Although his father didn't have many books but enough to get a gist of the general state of the elemental nations.
"I am so screwed...…" He said, while closing the last book. Apparently he was on an Earthlike planet that was similar to the Edo eras of Japan. He was in One of the Five Elemental nations, specifically The Land of Fire.
The village he was in was one of the Hidden Villages, called Konohagakure.
Sarutobi Hiruzen aka "The Professor (for the number of jutsu at his disposal) and God Shinobi (a title given to him for being the strongest out of the other Kage from the other four villages) was the current Hokage, and two more came before him.
Senju Tobirama (a shinobi known for his control over water, and his political reforms) His brother, one of the co-founders of Konoha, Senju Hashirama.
Hashirama was the original god of shinobi, and was said to be so strong that he fought and submitted all the bijuu (beats made of pure chakra) and distributed them amongst the other villages as peace offerings…"
Better yet, at the age of five children are sent to an academy to be trained to be ninja, and in 6-7 years graduate into 4 man cells consisting of, three Genin and one Jonin sensei.
'So basically like Shield and how they train the avengers except they train kids, not Norse gods, and rage monsters. They also train them to kill, and Ashura would not be doing any of that.
Every life had value. There's always another way.' he thought, with a serious look on his face that didn't belong to a four year old child.
"Ashura! Your father is home!" His mother Hana called up the stairs.
Ashura shook off his state of mind and smiled a genuine smile.
He loved his father, and after finding out that he was shinobi, and that any mission could be his last, that love grew more frantic and deep.
He didn't want to lose a father again, he couldn't….
Ashura tidied up his pile of books and rushed down the stairs of their two story house, taking the stairs two at a time with agility that was uncommon in a child.
He landed in the foyer and moved towards the kitchen where his mom was cooking dinner.
"Where is he Kaa-San…" Ashura said, looking around the kitchen, lifting bowls, and checking the cupboards.
Hey ninja can be anywhere! He learned that lesson the hard way when he thought it was a good idea to prank his father by jumping out from under his work desk.
That next day when he went to the bathroom his father had jumped out from the toilet. Let's just say Ashura didn't prank his father anymore….and he always checked twice before he went.
"He's in the courtyard. He said to get dressed in these training clothes and meet him outside when you're ready."
"You mean he's really going to teach me!!?" Ashura yelled, with genuine excitement, he had been begging his father to train him since he discovered how dangerous this world was. Madame Web said to get powerful as soon as possible.
At first he wasn't too worried because she said that she gave him 3 boons to make his time easier.
However he checked and he was as normal as they come.
He didn't have any of his old powers. No Super strength; agility, adhesion, not even his Spider Sense.
Although, he was pretty flexible, but maybe that was just because he was young and still "springy."
So since then he decided he needed every edge he could get. He need to learn how to use Chakra.
He put on the training clothes provided for him. Consisting of a black t-shirt, black Shinobi pants, and open toed sandals.
He gave his mom a quick hug and ran outside to see Kiyoshi standing by the tree in their courtyard.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Kiyoshi saw his son running out the courtyard excited he couldn't help but smile. His son was his pride and joy, and even if might come off as arrogant his son was a prodigy.
He could tell since his first words, however he thought that it would only be mental. No, his son held himself with a natural poise that was unheard of in a child.
Children in the elemental nations grew at a faster rate.
They had to. To be able to survive in a world as war torn as this, but also Chakra enhanced their bodies making them physically stronger.
It wasn't odd to see a 5 year old child beat a grown man in battle if that person didn't have a developed chakra pathway.
His son had asked him a year ago to train him, and he had told him no. Even for a Shinobi, that is just too young.
In fact he didn't plan on training him until he started at the academy, showing him some Jutsu and even some weapons training if he was ready.
However his last mission hit him hard. He had seen the aftermath of a village pillaged by a drove of bandits. Years ago it wouldn't have bothered him, people die everyday that is just the reality, as long as it wasn't his comrades or Allies of Konoha it didn't matter.
But when he saw young children dead in the street and what those vermin did to the young girls, something inside of Kiyoshi snapped and he exterminated the group with more force than was called for. Missing vitals on purpose and delaying fatal strikes to cause as much pain as possible.
When they were finished he even gave the children proper burials. He had made his team worry about him and had to report to the Hokage because of it.
After him scolding him on how not finishing as quickly and efficiently as possible could have put his team at risk. The old man also stated that it was normal to have feelings such as these and that this made us human.
In fact,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"FLASH BACK"
"I understand Hokage-sama." Kiyoshi said with his head down feeling ashamed.
"Raise your head Kiyoshi. You are one of my finest shinobi. This isn't like you, you're usually so calm and headstrong, similar to Shikaku. Tell me what's on your mind my boy?" Hiruzen said, looking at Kiyoshi while filling his pipe with tobacco.
"Well Hokage-sama…It's about my son."
"Yes…?"
"He's…different. So much smarter than me or my wife at his age, I mean the boy started talking full sentences at eight months."
At this Hiruzen perked up eyebrows.
"Really? Full sentences. At that age. Surely you must be exaggerating?"
"No sir. In fact, Ashura's first words were asking about who you were. He said "What's a Hokage?"
Hiruzen put down his pipe now completely interested in the conversation.
"Wow that's…wonderful"
" Yes. He learned how to read shortly after at three and ever since he learned about how vast and dangerous the world is he wanted me to train him. Which I have no problem doing but he's still too young.
However, after I saw what happened to those children…
"You thought of Ashura." Hiruzen provided
"Exactly."
Hiruzen sat back and pondered. Picking up his pipe and giving it a puff. This child of Kiyoshi reminds him of himself when he was younger.
After witnessing the strength of Hashirama and Tobirama-Sensei he had wanted nothing but to desperately grow stronger. He thought to himself.
"Believe it or not I was a lot like him at that age. So curious and inquisitive about the vast world around me.
If you want my opinion, I'd make sure that a gifted young man like that is as ready as possible for a world that will test him at every turn." Hiruzen said, blowing out rings of smoke from his pipe.
"I understand. Thank you for your guidance Hokage-sama. With your permission I will take my leave now."
"Anytime my boy." Hiruzen smiled happily at the thought of another child that held The Will of Fire.
Kiyoshi turned to leave but was stopped before he could Shunshin.
"Kiyoshi. Please do keep me posted on your boy. He seems like a very gifted young man. If there's ever anything you or your family needs help with don't hesitate to ask."
"Yes sir, thank you!" He then disappeared in a signless Shunshin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ashira ran to his father and gave him a big hug.
"Otou-San!!! I'm glad you're home."
"I'm glad as well my little devil." Kiyoshi said while rubbing his son's bright blonde hair. Pop
"Now do you know why I've called you out here?"
You're going to train me..correct?" Ashura answered with expectation visible on his face.
"We'll that's only half right. Kiyoshi smiled, entertained by the suspense he was putting his son through.
I've decided to train you, yes, but not I won't be the only one to do it, and you won't be alone."
Ashura was confused at what this meant. Was his mom also going to teach him? I mean she was once a ninja as well, and quite a talented one at that if her boasts were to be trusted. Well at this point he would gladly take what he could get.
Wait. Did he say not by himself? Does that also mean he's going to be training alongside someone else as well.
Doesn't he know I work alone? No side kicks.
He thought, while picturing a certain grumpy mutant with adamantium pokers…
"You are going to- "
*Woooosh*
Out of thin air a man with white hair arrived with a child who looked to be the same age as Ashura.
Although, he couldn't see the kid's face because he was wearing a mask that covered the lower half.
"Hey there Kiyoshi. Sorry we're late. Kakashi was trying to find a clean mask." At this the kid who Ashura assumed was Kakashi put his head down to hide the blush.
"Nonsense. In fact, you're early. I was just explaining to Ashura here our little arrangement.
Son. This is Sakumo Hatake and his son Kakashi. He is an old friend of mine, and is one of, if not the best shinobi in The Elemental Nations.
We are going to train both you and Kakashi, and when we are gone on missions you will have a sparring partner your age as well."
He looked and smiled at Kakashi and Kakashi immediately looked away as if Ashura wasn't worth his time.
'This little brat!!!'
A tick mark appeared on Ashura's forehead.
Chapter 5: Chakra and New Friend?