After climbing a few sets of stairs and passing through a few hallways, we arrived at the door of the Hokage's office.
Gaining permission to enter the room, Jiraiya opened the door. Hiruzen was sitting behind a desk remarkably similar to the one Suto uses. The main difference was that the bench in front of the desk was missing.
The third Hokage looked up from his paperwork and visibly perked up before showing slight concern. "It is good to see you all back. Jiraiya, what happened to your face? Did Tsunade finally warm up to you?"
This made Jiraiya take a few small steps away from Tsunade while waving his hands in denial.
"No. No. No. No. Nothing like that, far from it. It has nothing to do with Tsunade this time; I just tripped while distracted a few times."
Hiruzen nodded his head as if understanding something of great importance. "I see. Well, I am glad it is nothing serious. These must be our new guests! It is good to see you all in good health. Welcome to Konohagakure."
"Thank you for including us in Kushina's invitation, Hiruzen-sama," Ashita said with a bow, pushing Kushina and me to mimic her action. We knew better than to goof off, so we played along.
"It was hardly any trouble, Ashita. It would be troubling for Kushina to be separated from her family at such a young age. You have no trouble remaining in retirement, I assume?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama."
As he finished addressing our mother, he turned back to his squad. "How was their escort mission?"
Orochimaru took the liberty of reporting an overview of the mission while handing over a scroll. He kept it brief without adding too many details.
"There were no incidents in the land of fire. The night before they arrived, they were attacked by a squad of 6 shinobi suspected to be from Kirigakure due to their skill in kenjutsu. Their escort and Ashita easily neutralized them. However, two of the members of their escort decided that it would be a good idea to blood Kane as he was the one who sensed the attack. He has proved to be mentally stable since then, but it should be noted."
Hiruzen's expression fell as he heard about Kane. He agreed that it was important to have ninjas be blooded since killing is their job. The boy before him looked too young for that, genius or not.
"Kane-kun, if you need anything, just let us know. You have the village's full support."
I gave Hiruzen a large smile. The man known as the professor seems to be working already. I am the perfect age for him to sink his fangs into.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama."
He returned my smile with a twinkle in his eye. "No need to be so formal with me, Kane, just call me Hiruzen. The same with you as well, Kushina. Feel free to approach me if there is anything you need."
Our response was cut off before it could start. The door to his office was slammed open as someone stormed into the room. Everyone turned suddenly to see who had the gall to enter his office like that.
A well-built man with messy black hair and a scar shaped like an X on his chin was storming towards the Hokage's desk.
Hiruzen let out a sigh. "Thank you for reporting; you are all dismissed. What is it now, Danzo?"
As the three of us began leaving the room, I took the opportunity to make a subtle jab a the future mummy. I asked Ashita a question while ensuring everyone could hear my voice.
"Why does he act the same way as Uncle Nobou when Aunty Yuna walks in the room? Are they married like they are?"
Everyone seemed to freeze at my question, and the atmosphere grew as taunt as a bowstring.
At least it did until Jiraiya broke it.
"We haven't got the wedding invitations yet, but Danzo always looks much more relaxed coming from his office. I wonder what they do in there…" This shattered the tense atmosphere as team Hiruzen burst out laughing.
Hiruzen shouted at his squad from behind the closing door. "You damn brat! I'll have you know I'm a man of culture!"
Ashita's face nearly matched the colour of her hair. Whether it was from anger or embarrassment was yet to be seen.
When the door fully closed, she grabbed a hold of my ear, and I got my answer. She was not happy.
"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. That's my ear. Mom, that's my ear!" despite the discomfort from my ear, I was weeping internally.
'I didn't even get to see Danzo's reaction.'
I knew my comment would earn me a mean tongue-lashing, but I couldn't resist the opportunity.
Thankfully, before she could start tearing me a new one, my saviour, Tsunade, appeared.
"Come with me. I'll take you to the Senju Compound. It's where you will be staying while you are here." She moved to pick me up again but was stopped by my mother.
"I may not be able to lecture you for now but don't think you are off the hook. No more getting picked up until I say so."
Both Tsunade and I made similar faces to that declaration. I expected her to protest, but she walked over to Kushina and picked her up instead.
Kushina was stunned. She looked like someone had just used her head to crack an egg before her brain computed what had happened.
Realizing she was being carried, she tried to wriggle her way out, protesting that she wasn't a child. However, her efforts were in vain; she made no progress in her escape.
-
My sister was carried all the way inside the Senju compound. Halfway there, she finally gave up struggling and resigned herself to her fate. She was only set down once everyone was in the living area together.
She bolted away once she was set down and ensured I was between her and Tsunade.
The living space was large and had a few low couches with tables scattered between them. Nawaki sat with his grandmother, and Tsunade joined them on her other side. We sat on a couch facing them.
Before any conversations could start, Mito sent Nawaki to show us around the compound so the adults could talk. He protested, saying he was an adult too, but he got nowhere.
The show just glosses over the compound, saying it exists. However, in reality, it is massive. We learned from the tour that it has two training grounds, several kitchens, a half-stocked jutsu library, weapon storage, over 100 bedrooms and a few large communal bathrooms. Yet the entire place was empty and unused aside from the three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a kitchen, storage room, and jutsu library.
Not even the training grounds have been used in so long they were overgrown and needed to be cleaned up before anyone can actually train in them.
It went to show how large the clan used to be. It was quite sad to see how low it fell.
At the end of the tour, we were shown our rooms, and I dumped our stuff inside our rooms to deal with later. Afterwards, we returned to the main living area where the adults were.
"What do you think of the compound?" Asked Mito when we entered the room.
"It's so cool! Your house is huge!" My sister had been enthusiastic about the new living arrangements throughout the tour.
"It feels empty." On the other hand, I was more brutal in evaluating the place.
Mito smiled sadly at my answer. "That it is. It's very empty now."
Tsunade stood up and clapped her hands as if in opposition to the melancholic atmosphere taking hold of the room. "Come on, everyone. We are all going out to eat."
That statement instantly revived the depressing atmosphere.
"Yeah! Let's have some barbeque!" shouted Nawaki.
"Let's go to Ichiraku!" I suggested the small ramen shop instead.
"Alright, alright. Calm down, you two. Hands up if you want barbeque." Mito killed our enthusiasm real quick with a vote.
Unfortunately, only Nawaki raised his hand.
"Well, that settles it then."
I stuck my tongue out at Tsunade's brother, which made her laugh and her brother's eye twitch.
'This won't be too bad,' I thought to myself. 'A few years of training and Mito to help me with seals should help me prepare for the future wars.'
A/N:
Should Nawaki still die?
Yes
No