The Reader's Point of View
"I'm curious what mom meant when she said she wouldn't give dad the moon," Haru said with clear interest.
"Maybe she meant food?" suggested Soru. "What do you think, Yuki?"
"Hmmm," Yuki pondered, not noticing the three pairs of eyes now focused on him. "Hmmmm…"
"…"
"…"
"…"
"Ahem," his father interrupted, awakening him from his thoughts, as even he became curious about what his son was thinking.
Blushing, Yuki snapped out of his thoughts and asked:
"Wh-what is it?"
"What do you think mom won't give that lazy guy sitting at the table?" Soru helped his friend. Meanwhile, the father collapsed onto the table again under the pressure of another jab.
"My own kids are insulting me, and they've only just learned how to hold a kunai…" he thought. "…but wait, who taught them that?"
"Who taught you this??" he asked with a threatening tone.
"…"
"Uncle Hirati, Satsuki, Tanaka," Haru quickly revealed the elders.
"…," Yuki slapped his forehead, "Now he won't let us go outside to see them, think before you speak!"
"…," Takeshi was in shock, "Traitors!"
Unknown Location
In a large room, three elders could be seen drinking tea and talking.
"How's the Senju clan?" asked the first gray-haired elder.
"They're not making any moves, same with the Uchiha and Uzumaki. They're clearly planning something."
"But what?"
"Hmmm," the third elder pondered, and suddenly— "Aaaachoo!" He sneezed so loudly and forcefully that the table nearly flipped over. Then he spoke up, "Apparently, that lazy one is saying something bad about me."
"Well, I'll show him!"
Soru's Point of View
"Hurry up and go tell them that I'll have a word with them," said their father.
"Uncle Tanaka said if you say that, we should tell you to 'learn how to cook first, not poisons,'" this broke Takeshi, and he collapsed onto the table, muttering:
"Lazy… can't cook… good-for-nothing man…"
"Well, alright, Dad, we're off," they waved and ran out of the house.
The House of the Three Elders
"There it is, the house of the three elders," Soru said.
"The house of many stories," Haru added.
"…," Yuki tactfully stayed silent as he noticed a shadow behind them.
"Who did you call old?" a voice came from behind. "Was it me, you little brat, Soru!?"
"No, no, I meant those old farts inside who are brewing terrible tea," Soru corrected himself.
"Apologies for my long tongue!" Haru turned and bowed, "Oh, great elder."
"Don't lie, if they stood up, they'd crumble into dust," Soru disagreed. Meanwhile, Tanaka's face was full of visible ticks.
"No one asked you to speak," Yuki said, rubbing his temples.
At that moment, he turned around just in time to see a fist flying towards his head.
"Take a fist of love from your grandpa." But Soru wasn't spared either and received another bump on the back of his head.
"Why are you standing? Come in," a voice called from inside.
Yuki, Haru, and Soru, now with two bumps on his head, entered and were greeted by the pleasant aroma of tea. In the room, there was a table in the center, cushions around it for sitting, and two elders sipping tea while playing shogi. When the younger generation sat down, one of the elders asked:
"Would you like some tea?" Soru grimaced and refused, but Haru and Yuki accepted. After a moment of silence, Haru spoke up:
"Grandpa Hirati, could you teach me how to play shogi?" Haru asked hopefully. Hirati scratched his gray head and said:
"I will, but only if someone else learns with you." Haru's eyes lit up and looked at Yuki.
Yuki, casting a disapproving glance at Haru, reluctantly nodded.
"Well, let's begin. Tanaka, will you help?"
Tanaka wasn't surprised and, under the astonished eyes of the children, pulled out a scroll and unsealed it. From the smoke, another table and a second shogi set appeared. Soru's eyes almost popped out of his head, and he asked:
"Will you teach me?"
"Hmmm," came the response.
"Please?" Soru asked again.
"No," Tanaka replied firmly.
"…," in despair, Soru looked at the others, but they just shrugged.
"Well, maybe later, if you read these books." From Tanaka's hand, several books flew out.
Picking up the first one, Soru read aloud:
"'Fuinjutsu for Dummies.'" He wanted to protest that he wasn't a dummy, but Tanaka cut him off:
"Quiet." Soru, now visibly depressed, began reading.
Unknown Location
"So, where's the pain and suffering you promised?" asked the first voice.
"Before the suffering, they must first taste the fruit of happiness, so later they can fully devour the fruit of misery," the God of Death replied wisely.
"And who moved into whom?" asked another voice, embarrassed.
"Alright, let me explain," the God of Death answered, tired. "First, Soru, the hot-headed one who doesn't shy away from swearing, that's…" The God of Death, expecting a response, froze in shock. He realized that, despite being immortal, they were dumb as rocks.
"Well?" a voice asked.
Sighing in exhaustion, he said, "Vitaliy…"
"Oh, I knew that," came a voice from the back.
"And then, the wise and positive Yarik is…" again waiting for an answer, he almost facepalmed.
"Haru."
"And the eternally silent, emotion-controlling Gustav is…" he was interrupted.
"Yuki!!!"
The God of Death almost had a heart attack from the overdose of cringe. After a brief pause, he answered:
"Yes," and then the entire space erupted in applause for the "hero." The God of Death, utterly in shock, remained silent.
The House of the Three Elders (Old Farts)
You could see two boys playing shogi, watched over by three elders of the Masabori Kuu Mono clan, sipping tea and occasionally correcting them. On the side, a boy was buried in books, but somehow, he managed to navigate through them. Next to him was a stack of books he had already read.
"Hmmm, don't you want to walk the mothers out?" asked Satsuki out of boredom.
"No," came a reply from behind the books, and then Tanaka appeared and hit him on the head.
"Go to the gates quickly." Realizing he might not get any more interesting books, Soru jumped up, holding a book, and ran outside.
"Don't forget to return it!" came a shout from inside, and from the yard, Soru's voice echoed in reply:
"OKAAAAY!!!" Haru and Yuki stood up, bowed, and in unison said:
"Thank you for the lesson!!!"
"Keep an eye on him and the book," Tanaka, who had already sat down at the table and sealed the other shogi set, ordered. "And if there's even one speck of dust on it, I'll show you what elder training is like," he added with a threatening tone but a smile that the other two elders noticed. Hirati then said:
"Come whenever you want," starting a new shogi game, he smiled. Haru replied:
"We'll take you up on that offer."
"And now, go walk your mothers out, quickly!!!" Satsuki said, returning to the game.
The kids quickly ran outside, and the conversation continued inside.
"So, you want to teach him fuinjutsu?" Hirati asked with interest.
"Hmmm," Tanaka paused for a moment before answering, "Don't you see? He enjoys fuinjutsu, and his character matches."
"Maybe it's just short-sightedness?" Satsuki joked as he made a move.
"You'd better stay silent. I know you like them too," Tanaka replied.
"That's true, I like Haru," said Hirati. "But character won't help him master techniques if he doesn't have the skills or affinity with the elements."
"Hmmm," Tanaka simply kept silent. "I wonder what they'll grow into."
"Have you noticed that sometimes their faces would contort as if from pain?" Hirati observed. "Are you aware of it?"
"No," Satsuki answered briefly.
At that moment, Tanaka frowned and said something that greatly disturbed the other elders.
"I've seen this before," he said firmly. "It was a long time ago after I ran away from home."
Nostalgia briefly flashed in his friends' eyes, but they quickly returned to reality.
"Well?" Hirati impatiently asked for him to continue.
"####" After these words, Hirati's and even Satsuki's eyes, who was usually excellent at controlling his emotions, opened wide.
Tanaka's eyes lowered as he was engulfed by a shiver.
"Three years later, he was torn to pieces," their wide eyes now furrowed upon receiving this information.
In their gaze, a flicker of fear showed an understanding of the situation. Honest Tanaka fell to his knees and began to weep, as if asking for forgiveness, but Hirati reassured him:
"We'll discuss this later, Tanaka. If this is true, then who did it?" Hirati wondered aloud.
"No one survived back then, not even the priest…" Tanaka, one of the most powerful shinobi in the world, a master of fuinjutsu who had faced and defeated the strongest, now spoke with fear.
P. S.
But I won't tell you what information Tanaka revealed or what memories it triggered, because what kind of author would I be if I didn't leave some suspense?
Next chapter will be tomorrow at xx o clock.
Give some stone if you like this story.