Leaving Konoha
Before the night came around, I told Tenten to come with me to my usual Training Ground in the Compound. Once there, I gave her something I had gotten from Hiruzen as part of my legal heritance: a book on Fuinjutsu by the Uzumaki.
It was just an entry into the complicated world of Uzumaki Sealing Arts, but it was a good beginning for Tenten, who had a good talent in the Fuinjutsu department. I also told her to keep training her chakra control regularly and, if possible, to spend her entire Chakra reserves daily before training her body and then meditate. The reason to do all of that was quite simple.
During my ten days studying the Seal, I discovered that meditation and physical training aid in increasing the Chakra reserves of the body. Being emptied of it as you perform those activities makes it easier for your body to learn how to hold more of it. What I had done was apply the logic behind a person who is very hungry being able to eat more food than usual. The same applied to Chakra when one was running low on it -the body and spirit generated more. The repetition of this overtime allowed for the amount of chakra we usually held to increase naturally, although at a slow and barely noticeable pace.
After she thanked me, I parted towards the west gate with Guremaru walking beside me.
*
Not a minute too early nor a minute too late, I arrived to find my teammates already there. Anko was checking a few talismans and her Kunai supply while Yamato was awkwardly supervising her. I coudn't help but want to chuckle at how unnatural the picture looked, but I held it in.
"Hello. Is everything accounted for, or may we depart right now?"
"Let me finish re-checking my supplies and we'll get going, kiddo"
I looked at Anko with curiosity, wondering how she could behave so normally after having been Orochimaru's apprentice and test subjest in her childhood. Still, some questions should never be asked -besides the fact that I shouldn't have known that at all.
Once she gave us the ok with her stuff, Yamato began traveling ahead of us. He was the designated leader for the mission, as the highest ranking Shinobi between us.
*
The entire night had gone by quite peacefully, with the random animal crossing by our path. We decided to push as far as possible to reach Takumi Village sooner. That would be the place where we would stay for the first few days of scouting.
Midday had arrived and we had to stop for a while to eat something. I decided to give Guremaru a bit of space to have fun, always under my supervision, of course. It didn't take him long to bring back two rabbits, which were more than enough for the four of us. We ate quietly until Anko broke the ice.
"So... why put youself through this, kiddo?"
I looked at Yamato, curious about his reaction to the question. Besides his stoic face, I could tell he did have a bit of curiosity for my answer -probably to see if I was an enemy, an ally or a neutral piece.
"I'm going to be honest, there are only three people I would trust a Bijuu to in Konoha. The old man, Naruto and Shikamaru. Perhaps Tenten, but she doesn't like relying on external powers..."
They looked at me weirdly, but it took me a while that I had been quite without saying the follow up of my statement. Coughing to clear the awkwardness of the situation, I continued speaking.
"You know why I'm here, right? I'm the one who knows how to seal the Bijuu. And let me ask you something, of those people I mentioned and myself, who do you think could stay the safest in Konoha without being bothered by... unwanted people?"
A look of understanding appeared in Yamato's face, mixed with a little bit of shock. I wasn't really surprised at Anko being oblivious to Danzo's role in Konoha's issues. Once the shock of my statement was gone, Yamato spoke for the first time in the last fifteen or so hours.
"It is indeed true... your lineage, character and skills make you the only one eligible for the task"
"Wait, why do I seem to be the only one who doesn't understand what is going on?"
This time it was my turn to look at Anko in surprise. I had supposed they both already knew about my true "role" in this mission, besides sealing the Bijuu. The thought of becoming a Jinchuriki was exciting and frightening at the same time. All I could do was hope for the people to see me as the "Gentle Inuzuka" once again, even after I became what they saw as a monster.
"I thought you knew... I am to become the Jinchuriki of whatever Bijuu is on the loose"
*
Anko didn't speak for the rest of the trip until we reached Takumi Village. It was only after we had already booked our lodgings for the week that she pulled herself together and blessed us with a few words -even if they weren't the most pleasant to hear.
"So now we make a children take a responsability so big knowingly?"
"Oh believe me, I'm happy with the decision. Whatever the response is from the rest, I prefer it to be me rather than someone else who isn't ready for it. Besides, Naruto was forced to do so without the knowledge of it"
"About that kid... is he fitting to be a Jinchuriki?"
"Naruto is probably the one person most fit to be one. I can't think of any other Shinobi who can go twelve years being hated because of something he didn't do without feeling an ounce of remorse or hatred himself."
"It's getting late. We should all sleep already so we can begin scouting at first hour tomorrow"
Heeding our leader's words, we departed to our own private quarters. Guremaru went in with me, since he still liked sleeping in the same bed as I did. Only I knew that in a few years he wouldn't even fit even in the room.
"Good night bud"
"Good night, Ryota!"
Still thinking of how the pople at Konoha would react, I had a hard time sleeping. It wasn't until I felt Guremaru shit in the bed that I realized how stupid the thought was. What did it matter? My mother wouldn't hate me, nor would Naruto or Tenten. Shikamaru and Choji were a nono either, since they were Naruto's friends when everyone else hated him. What was I even worrying about?
'I better get to sleep'
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I've read your comments! Maki is 28 in Shippuden so she is 25 in the current timeline. And Shizune is 28 currently too. Just so you stop saying those two names. Now that I got that out of the way!
I will be writing a POV of Tenten's training and thoughts and overall character development. I don't know when, but it will be at some point during this mission and it will be written as an Omake, probably titled "Omake - Tenten's Arduous Day" or something like that.
Hope you are enjoying things so far!