13 Bottomless Eyes

"Wait, so you wanna put a hold on the contract?" Zetuo asked, the suspicion quite clear in his tone. "Why the sudden change? Did I do something wrong?"

The two of them hadnt moved very far from the training grounds, having traversed just out of earshot so their conversation couldn't be overheard. While Hiruzen was aware that the kids already knew the entire premise that was going on, the old man still apparently wanted to keep as many things from them as possible. Whether or not it was for the benefit of the children, himself or the village, the black haired youth had yet to see. The Third Hokage's mentality was a bit harder to decipher then the other youths had been which caused Zetuo to be more on guard whenever it came to whatever the man had planned.

It truly did help that Hiruzen only saw Zetuo as being a bit smarter then the rest, albeit one with a photographic memory. The leader of the village had no idea that the years of living on the edge had made the child far smarter then he let on. This of course worked to his advantage as he could figure out things far easier even when given the smallest details.

"You didn't do anything wrong," Hiruzen replied, giving a small shake of his head. "I merely had a change of heart. I believe that your safety should come before anything else. Training yourself to become stronger should be the number one priority. In this way, I won't lose you as a valuable asset due to your.....condition."

((Ah, so it's because of the recipes and food I made for the chefs,")) Zetuo thought, all the pieces falling into place, figuring it all out shortly after Hiruzenhad finished explaining. (("They must've been a big hit. For such a short time to become popular, they must've not had many new cuisines here in the Leaf."))

It wasnt hard to figure out what had happened, at least in this particular instance. Zetuo's favorability had drastically increased due to how big of an impact his cooking had had, leading the Hokage to truly recognize the youths worth. With the true potential that his knowledge provided now known, the old man was now switching from a mutual relationship to one seeking trust and friendship.

In hopes of getting the boy on the Leaf's side, Hiruzen was allowing the boy to do as he pleased rather then restricting him to the said contract. He had no doubt that he'd still be under strict watch, but if he accepted it then he'd have far more freedoms then he would've originally possessed. It truly would be a fantastic offer and one that would be ideal in furthering Zetuo's goal of getting stronger. However, he had his own set of principles that he always followed when it came to decision making.

"Hard pass," Zetuo said without a second of hesitation. "We'll continue like we were before. Mutual benefits is the only way I'll go."

Hiruzen did a double take, his face changing into surprise for a brief second before reverting back into a calm and collected one. He never truly expected the given response as he had carefully worded it so the youth would be getting more then he gave, making it a ripe choice for the picking that any youngling would undoubtedly choose. Even as he looked back on his words, he couldn't see a single problem with what had been offered, leaving him thoroughly confused. As he ran through the possible scenarios of why the boy would decline such an offer, Zetuo readily gave him a response without being prompted to.

"Its probably due to the bad luck, it makes others go dumb for a bit. The brain goes foggy and makes the intelligent ones occasionally feel lost to varying degrees." Zetuo tilted his head as he looked at Hiruzen, the void like hues meeting the brown ones, bottomless black making the man feel small in comparison. "I've learned a long time ago that if something is too good to be true, that's probably because it is. Trying to make a deal like that where the only one benefitting is me....well that makes me believe you have something up your sleeve. Of course, you wouldn't be trying to trick me now would you Mister Hokage?"

The old man blanked for a second, his mind halting for a bit before once again continuing as normal, shifting his eyes away from the boys eyes. He wasnt sure why he hadnt thought of the current outcome, believing instead that pure benefits would win the boy over. He had completely forgotten just the kind of life the child had undergone before coming into this world, somehow having neglected thinking about how it would affect the youths line of thought. Of course someone with as much misfortune as him would turn down something so unfairly beneficial and would instead seek something more realistic and concrete.

He mentally slapped himself for such a slip up, something that shouldn't have happened given his role as the Village Leader. It was like even associating with the youth was making him dumber and illogical, causing him to make irrational leap in judgements. It was unfortunate, but due to his poor phrasing and thoughts, he had missed a golden opportunity and blew his chances into smithereens.

(A/N- In case you didn't get it, Hiruzens brain fart and misfortune was caused by Zetuo's bad luck....but I'm sure most of you got that already because you're all smart in my opinion.)

"Of course, you're very much correct," Hiruzen said, attempting to correct hinself. "I'll keep things as they are."

He wasnt sure why but he felt like he was being played even after 'knowing' that he was far more intelligent then the kid in front of him. It was as if Zetuo could see right through him with his pitch black eyes and decipher his true intentions within seconds, and it was this thought that made him offer up a quick excuse for leaving, setting up another meeting for tomorrow, and then departing. He no longer felt the need to hang around the infant, feeling that the boy would do fine on his own.

It wasnt that he was too trusting of the youth to follow the contract, but rather he had ordered the Anbu to dispose of him should he breach it or pose any sort of threat to the fellow villagers (like attempting to murder them for example). When he left, he left knowing that he didn't have to come back and face the abyss like eyes and the ominous, unpleasant aura that Zetuo naturally emitted.

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"What was that all about?" Kushina asked as Zetuo wandered back onto the field. It was obvious that she and Minato were both curious and the black haired youth couldn't really blame them. Wasn't every day that they got to see the Hokage chitchat with an otherworlder like it was completely natural and such a sight would arouse the sense of intrigue and suspicion. "Did he say anything important?"

Zetuo shook his head, choosing to remain silent on the subject. He had a strong feeling that he had made the man uncomfortable, something that usually happened when one gazed too long into his eyes. After staring too long, the bottled up bad luck seemed to stare back, causing others to naturally shrink away, seeking to create some distance from him. It appeared that it not only affected common folk but also immensely powerful village leaders. It was definitely something to keep in mind.

His rotten fortune was truly his worst enemy but it also helped him out from time to time as, truthfully, he wasnt too keen on talking to the Hokage. Zetuo wasnt sure why but he always felt like Hiruzen was simply treating him like a tool rather then a person. Granted, he wasn't from around these parts, but he still liked to be treated like a human being rather then a means to an end.

He detested people who tried to play mind games as well as those who tried to take advantage of others misfortune.

Hiruzen aside, Zetuo decided to change the subject completely, wanting instead to get back on the same track the three kids had been on before the old man had interrupted. "So, tell me more about chakra," Zetuo said as he stopped in front of them, a smile back on his face. "Surely there's more."

For a moment, it seemed like Kushina was gonna insist on knowing what Hiruzen had said, but was cut off when Minato began talking. The young blonde had clearly expected the redhead to speak up and had already prepared himself to interrupt as he launched into another explanation of chakra and its uses.

Apparently, every topic and separate piece of skill regarding chakra had only been the beginning as it was gathered together before being divided into three categories. Taijutsu, the art of hand to hand combat without any form of weapons, Ninjutsu, the crux and the main category for chakra usage in which the user used the internal energy to cast various techniques, and Genjutsu, the art of hallucination via the 5 human senses which was also cast via chakra. For a ninja, these three categories were crucial and at least two of them required some degree of chakra control, which Zetuo severely lacked.

"Proper Taijutsu is a bit different then what we were doing before as you're currently too weak to fight against us," Minato continued, bright blue eyes slightly apologetic. "For now, let's get back to training shall we? Our first goal is to try and raise your chakra levels via physical and mental training.

For the next four hours, until it got dark, Zetuo trained.....and trained.....and trained. Never once did he stop for a break as, even when he got too tired to fight, he would immediately switch to meditation, seeking to detect and grasp the minisucle wisps of energy circulating throughout his own body. His body was in pain and screamed at him to stop but he refused to listen, his mind clear of all but the goal of moving forward.

He couldn't afford to stop now that he was on the right track. He needed to push and push back hard.

//Heres the first chappy as promised. I felt that this one lacked quality but have no fear as I'll bring it back up in the next chapter.

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