17 Chapter 17

After our little training session, everyone went back home. The three jonin sensei thanked me for taking the time out to "help my peers." What they really mean is thanks for allowing them a day to relax and reminisce.

I made my way back to the Senju Library and started practicing some elemental ninjutsu besides water and earth. To unlock those other affinities, I would need to spend a great deal of time practicing with them as I have done with my two primary affinities.

So of the three remaining affinities, I decided to focus on lightning and wind first. I was experimenting with things, and I had a sort of hypothesis.

If I can use wood style, could I use other kekkei genkai, or even kekkei tota?

The obvious answer would be no. Such a thing is something you would need to be born with right?

Perhaps, but there may be a small chance.

The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki being the prime example of such a thing. His grandfather who was the First Tsuchikage didn't possess dust release, the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, did possess dust release but held no relation to Onoki. He taught Onoki how to use it. Implying Onoki had 'what it took' to use dust release, not something that was passed on through genetic traits.

Wood style is similar in a sense. One must have an affinity for water and earth, applying one element to each hand and mixing them together, but it also requires an affinity for yin and yang.

Almost every shinobi in this world can use yin and/or yang release, but the amount of people in the known history of ninshu who have an affinity for both of them can be counted on both hands.

Then there's yin/yang release. Which is something completely separate.

Back to my initial point though, elemental affinities can be acquired through a deep enough mastery, which is how Hiruzen mastered all five. Contrary to popular belief within the village, he wasn't born with all five. He was called The Professor due to his proficiency in each chakra nature, and his willingness to learn every jutsu he could.

My shoulders slumped. I knew for a fact I was onto nothing, if Hashirama could have learned other bloodline techniques, chances are he would have, which is pretty much my answer to if I can or not. Even knowing this, the concept of how kekkei genkai and kekkei tota work was something incredibly interesting to me.

My natures currently are water, earth, yin, and yang. Even if I doubt that my original hypothesis is correct regarding the other kekkei genkai/tota, it doesn't hurt to learn the other elemental natures and test it out. At the end of the day, learning the most powerful jutsu to defeat Madara and change this world for the better is my goal.

Which leads me to why I decided to train the others.

I made it very clear before they left that this was a one time thing, and I plan on getting what I am owed from each of them.

What do I want from them?

Jutsu of course.

While I don't truly have a need for genjutsu from Kurenai, I could appreciate some of the fire jutsu Asuma throws around, but anything Asuma can give me simply wouldn't compare to what Genma can.

One of the Hokage guards who protected and learned from the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, The Yellow Flash.

I want him to teach me the Flying Thunder God technique. I know for a fact he knows it, along with the other members of the guard.

Learning the technique itself isn't so hard, it's applying it. I'm sure there are some notes somewhere that Tobirama left behind when he developed the technique, but Tobirama's application of Flying Thunder God was good, but not complete. Minato took what Tobirama already created and made it his.

From what I recall, the space time jutsu takes a tremendous amount of chakra to use, and incredible perception and/or instincts to use reliably. Such a jutsu can be useful to me, even if I know for a fact I lack Minato's natural talent for perception.

In fact, the jutsu would be very good for Satsuki, Hinata, and especially Naruko. They all have high chakra reserves, and Naruko has reserves that surpass even Hiruzen in depth and density, and that's without Kurama.

Uzumaki genes for the win!

—

The Next Day

"I HATE YOU…I HATE YOU SO MUCH!" An anguished squeaky voice screamed.

"Cmon, Lei. He's a cutie!" Naruko giggled, much to my annoyance.

"He's not cute. He's a goddamn demon!" I groaned.

"Agreed." Satsuki sneered at the toddler who was throwing stuff at us from behind our cover.

"Why don't we just take him out?" I asked, instantly looking at Kakashi who was also hiding behind the flipped over table with us, casually reading the second installment of icha icha. His eyes met mine as he raised an eyebrow.

"You want to "take out" a toddler?"

"I just mean knock him out or something." I corrected, earning a sigh from the jonin man.

"I don't think Teuchi would be too happy about that." Naruko glared at me.

"Well, then why don't you call him back so he can take care of this devil of a nephew!"

"Don't let Teuchi hear you calling his nephew names, he might revoke your ramen privileges." Satsuki warned, which instantly got me to shut up.

We all twitched when we saw a chair fly over our heads.

"...So what do we do about him? He clearly has access to some type of chakra, did his chakra coils develop early?" I asked with a curious glance at the two year old who was picking up another chair to launch at us. Angry tears streaming down his face.

"It's not unheard of, but it is very rare for a civilian child to have this much chakra as a child." Kakashi chimed in. "The best way to deal with him would be to calm him down."

"Well, he hates Lei, no offense." Naruko gave me an apologetic smile which I waved off. The moment we walked through the door, the kid kicked me in the stomach. It didn't hurt, but the message was clear. "So which one of us is going to calm him down?"

"Count me out, I'm here to watch over you three." Kakashi answered instantly. His eyes trailed over our cover and he narrowly dodged a stuffed animal.

"So which one of us." Naruko's eyes locked onto Satsuki. Satsuki grimaced.

"Rock, paper, scissors?"

Naruko gave a hesitant nod.

""Rock, Paper, Scissors, Shoot!""

Relief flooded Naruko's face as she jumped for joy, nearly getting her head taken off by a couch cushion.

Satsuki's grimace deepened, her eyes glazing over to Kakashi. "We're never taking another babysitting mission again." She said with finality, earning a nonchalant shrug from Kakashi.

Satsuki left the cover, her hands up in surrender. That obviously didn't mean much to the kid since he launched another toy at Satsuki who gracefully dodged it.

"Calm down, Itsuki." Satsuki said in a quiet voice. The kid paused momentarily, his eyes still angrily glaring at her. "I know you're upset, your parents are gone, but they'll be back." Her face darkened. "...Not everyone can be that lucky. So cheer up, and be thankful that you can hold them again soon."

The kid's eyes were still teary, and I honestly don't know if he understood everything she was saying, but the message seemed to get across as he dropped a pen he was about to throw.

"Mama, Papa, come back?" The toddler sniffled.

"They will." Satsuki nodded, a warm smile forming on her face. "Soon." She held her arms out wide for Itsuki, and he hesitantly approached her before hugging her tight.

We slowly left our cover, Itsuki's eyes narrowing at me the moment he saw me, but Satsuki's embrace killed most of his anger.

"Who knew you were so good with kids?" Naruko giggled, walking over to the toddler and patting him on the head.

Satsuki gave her an annoyed look, but her warm smile returned when Itsuki pushed himself deeper into her. I had to agree with Naruko. Satsuki would make an amazing mother.

"We should probably clean up the place." I frowned. The others looked around the house and grimaced. The place was a mess, but the furniture was still intact, with the exception of a single chair that lost a leg.

"Good luck." Kakashi whistled, walking over to the couch and taking a seat on the only cushion that hadn't been tossed.

…I don't think I like kids much.

—

"Good job!" Teuchi laughed out loud. His daughter, Ayame, trailing behind him. His sister and her husband were already consoling their teary eyed son. "I honestly didn't think you all had it in you!"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." I frowned.

"It was…something." Naruko rubbed the back of her head nervously.

"Well you three did good work, which is why I made these." Teuchi reached into his pocket and pulled out three coupons.

'Five Free Bowls of Any Preferred Ramen, Expiration Date - None'

This…This was worth it!

"Thank you, Lord Teuchi!" I bowed, quickly followed by both Naruko and Satsuki who both were just as happy as I was.

"AHAHA! I knew you three would like it! Now head on over to the Hokage's place. He should have your pay."

"""Right!""" We all deepened our bows further.

We walked over to Kakashi who was leaning against the wall outside.

"Ready?" He asked, not even looking up from his book.

"Hell yeah we are!" I looked over to the two girls. "We're using these coupons tonight!"

"Of course!" Naruko cheered, throwing both hands into the air.

"Do you even need to ask?" Satsuki smirked with dreamy eyes. I could already see the pork miso bowls sitting in front of us.

"Let's go." Kakashi ignored us and body flickered towards the mansion, with us following closely behind.

—

"That's all of it." Iruka smiled as he handed us each our pay for the D rank mission. My frown returned. I could maybe buy six bowls of ramen with this, and the mission took all day.

"D rank missions suck." Naruko groaned. "We want a better mission!"

"Well, Naruko, you're not ready for a C rank yet." Iruka lighty bonked Naruko on the head.

"Of course we are! We're not some ordinary genin, we're super genin! We deserve something cooler!" Naruko argued back as she rubbed her head.

"Agreed."

We all turned to Hiruzen who entered the room.

"Gramps." I greeted, earning a warm smile and nod from the old man.

"The three of you have skills that would be wasted on simply continuing D rank missions, which is why I picked out something a bit harder for all of you."

Naruko and Satsuki both noticeably perked up, but my internal reaction was the opposite.

It was too early. We just graduated recently, Waves wasn't supposed to happen for another two months or so.

"YES! What mission is it Grandpa Hokage!?" Naruko questioned energetically, her long, waist length blonde hair bouncing with her as she jumped up and down.

"You'll see in a-"

"I got you now old man!" A childish voice sounded from the side of the room. The familiar boy dropped his camouflage and rushed the Hokage with a toy kunai.

Hiruzen didn't even move, a small flex of his chakra caused the boy to trip over nothing.

"OW!" The boy whined, rubbing his knee, his eyes teary. All of us watched him, dumbfounded.

Ah, and I just thought about Konohamaru the other day, low and behold, here he is.

"So you were saying?" Satsuki asked, disregarding Konohamaru's existence and gazing at Hiruzen.

"Yes, I'll be giving you all a C-rank mission, but In a moment." The old man chuckled, walking over to his grandson. He weaved a few hand seals, and a green glow emitted from his hands.

Mystic Palm? I shouldn't even be surprised. If it's a jutsu that exists, he probably knows it, or knows how to do it.

"I didn't heal you all the way, you need to know that your actions have consequences. Understand?" Hiruzen lightly scolded the boy who nodded slowly, his eyes looking away.

"I don't need your help." He said quietly, his eyes drifted over to me. "I would have gotten you anyways, but that guy tripped me!"

I blinked. Then blinked again. Both of my teammates were snickering to themselves. Why did he blame me? I was halfway across the room.

"You tripped because your grandfather is so strong, his mere presence interrupted your steps. I had nothing to do with it." I corrected him with a deadpan.

"That's a load of baloney! You're helping him! How dare you go against me, the next Hokage!" Konohamaru declared with crossed arms and an affronted look.

"Next Hokage? Bud that's me. Maybe the one after me if you're strong enough." I hummed contemplatively. He wasn't all that strong in Boruto, but being Hokage my whole life isn't really my thing. Naruko's competing with me for the hat right now, so maybe I'll give her the hat later?

Food for thought.

"You're a hundred years too early to try and compete for that spot, kid." Naruko chimed in with a cocky grin. "I'm gonna be the next Hokage, believe it. Maybe I'll have you as my shoe cleaner or something."

Konohamaru blinked slowly. "Hey, you just insulted me!"

No shit.

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"Don't you know? I'm the honorable grandson of the third Hokage." He said, this time a bit quieter.

"I don't care if he's your grandmother! I'm Naruko Uzumaki, the future strongest kunoichi to ever live and the next Hokage of Konoha, believe it!"

Konohamaru's eyes widened as he stared at Naruko who looked awfully proud of herself.

"I like that attitude, Naruko, but I'm gonna be the next Hokage." I grinned at her, which she returned.

"In your dreams, I'm definitely gonna be the next Hokage, and when I am, I'll be able to order you around as I please!" She giggled to herself. I raised an eyebrow as her eyes grew a bit dreamy and some pink painted her cheeks.

Hiruzen stared at her, the implication of her words hitting him like a truck. A blast of blood flew from his nose as he struggled to keep himself standing.

Did he just get a nose bleed from us doing naughty things? Isn't he like 60+?

Konohamaru stared in disbelief, he regained his composure and ran to Naruko before bowing. "Please train me!"

Naruko snapped out of her, presumably, perverted thoughts and glanced at Konohamaru. "Eh, why?"

"You dealt a critical blow to the old man without even touching him! Please teach me how you grew so strong!"

Hiruzen, who was regaining his barings rubbed the blood from his nose with a handkerchief.

"Eh, I'm too busy to train kids. I'm tryna be the strongest and you'll just get in my way." Naruko turned him down.

Well that wouldn't do. I actually kinda liked the kid so far, and I really liked him in the show, so the thought of him not growing as strong as he was isn't something I want to be my reality.

I grew closer to Naruko, stopping at her ear. Her face flushed, but I ignored it for now. "Don't you know training people can allow one to grow stronger, this kid is offering himself up. As the third's grandson, he's bound to grow strong and make a name for himself. Can you imagine all the things he'd be able to do? And all of that success would be transferred to you as his sensei." I smiled as I pulled away.

Naruko's persona radiated excitement.

"Ahem." She relaxed herself. "After careful consideration, I have decided to take you under my wing. However! I demand excellence!"

That's gotta be the most intelligent sentence I've ever heard come out of Naruko's mouth. Not to say she's dumb, but she certainly isn't very bright.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Maam makes me sound old, call me sensei, no! Call me boss!"

"Yes boss!"

"I like that." She nodded to herself happily.

"So C rank mission." Satsuki said again, looking at the old man.

"Yes." Hiruzen finished wiping away the blood and gestured to Iruka who left the room. "I have one. Initially I planned on gathering some more experienced genin, but I believe you three are more than capable enough.

"I've brought him, Lord Hokage." Iruka walked in. I facepalmed when I saw the drunken man Tazuna walk in right behind Iruka.

"This is Tazuna, a bridge builder and the man you will all escort on this C-rank mission." Hiruzen announced with a more serious tone.

"Huh, I thought you said it would be a few weeks at least till I got an escort detail. Not like I'm gonna complain." Tazuna shrugged, throwing back the rest of his sake. He drunkenly walked over to us. His eyes narrowed before he looked over his shoulder. "These are kids. I thought you said I'd be getting shinobi!"

"I assure you, Tazuna, these are very capable shinobi." Hiruzen smiled.

"Eh, I don't know about that." He grew closer to us, I could feel his hot breath which smelled like hot shit and sake and resisted the urge to punt his ass away. "I want different ones."

"You paid for a C-rank mission, and I have provided shinobi who are very capable of such a mission. Sure, young as they may be, they are shinobi." Hiruzen said, this time with a bit more warning in his tone.

Tazuna wisely knew not to overstep and instead continued to inspect us. "If you are willing to put so much faith in them, I won't doubt you, Hokage." He groaned, thankfully taking a step back.

"Team 7. You are to escort Tazuna here to the Land of Waves where he resides and protect him and his workers while they build a bridge. This mission may take anywhere from a month to three months. You'll all be leaving in three days." Hiruzen announced with finality.