"Hiroki! Hiroki! Get up! We're going to find that cold teacher!"
Early in the morning, someone banged loudly on Hiroki's door. Kushina's energetic voice nearly broke through the wood, filled with urgency and impatience.
Inside, Hiroki slowly opened his eyes.
[AM: 7:03]
The Windows desktop glowed faintly in the dim light. For a moment, Hiroki almost forgot where he was—almost believed he was still on Earth and hadn't traveled through time at all.
But the shouting outside quickly dragged him back to reality.
Time to get up.
He sighed, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
Glancing at the door, he called out, "I know, I know! Just give me a minute to get dressed!"
The knocking intensified for a few seconds, then finally stopped.
…
When Hiroki opened the door, Kushina was standing there, fist raised for another round of pounding. Seeing him at last, she lowered it and huffed.
"You're too slow, bean sprout! We're ninjas—we're supposed to be punctual!"
Hiroki blinked at her, suppressing a yawn. "So early? I thought you'd be with Mito-sama, learning sealing techniques."
That hit like a bucket of cold water. Kushina's fiery energy deflated instantly. Her shoulders slumped, and she kicked a small rock in frustration.
"Don't even mention it!" she groaned. "Mito-sama said my chakra control is still too rough—like trying to embroider with a sledgehammer! She told me I have to become a Chunin first and master precise chakra control before I can even start learning the advanced sealing arts of the Uzumaki clan. It's so annoying!"
Hiroki nodded thoughtfully. That actually made sense.
In the original timeline, sealing techniques were notoriously difficult—almost no one mastered them outside of the sealing corps. The Uzumaki clan's techniques were the most refined in the entire world, so it was only natural that perfect chakra control was a requirement.
"It's important to build a solid foundation first," he said calmly.
"…I know," Kushina muttered, still pouting. "But I just want to get stronger already…" Then, her eyes lit up as she remembered something. "Oh, right! Hiroki, what about that strengthening technique you said you were developing for me?"
"It should be ready next month."
"Next month? That's so far away!" she whined dramatically.
The two grabbed rice balls from a roadside stall and ate as they walked toward the 44th Training Ground.
At the entrance of the Forest of Death, the tall barbed-wire fence and ominous warning signs stood out sharply in the morning mist.
When they arrived, someone was already there.
Tsunade.
Beside her stood a boy their age—short brown hair, a bright smile that seemed to glow like sunlight.
At that moment, Tsunade was gently placing a necklace with a pale green crystal around his neck. Her touch was careful, her expression soft with affection and pride rarely seen on her face.
"Nawaki," she said, tapping him lightly on the head, "do your best! This necklace belonged to Grandpa. You're twelve now—no more crying, got it?"
The boy, Senju Nawaki, clenched his fists and grinned. "I won't cry! I'll wear it proudly—and I'll become a Hokage recognized by everyone!"
Kushina and Hiroki stopped walking, watching the scene unfold.
"Tsunade-sama…" Kushina greeted softly, a little nervous. She'd met Tsunade once before—at Grandma Mito's house.
Tsunade turned at the sound of her voice.
Her eyes flicked briefly to Hiroki, then lingered on Kushina. For a moment, something complicated passed across her face—but she quickly composed herself.
"You must be Uzumaki Kushina," Tsunade said, her tone steady. "Keep training. Work hard and become a good ninja."
Kushina straightened up and nodded quickly. "Yes, Tsunade-sama!"
Hiroki, meanwhile, felt a chill crawl up his spine as his eyes landed on the boy beside her.
Nawaki… this scene felt familiar.
Tsunade, the necklace… and Nawaki—twelve years old.
Wait. Twelve?
Didn't he die at twelve in the original timeline?
His expression stiffened slightly. Without saying a word, he mentally opened his "memory folder" and started searching.
In that subtle, almost heavy silence, another figure emerged quietly from the shade of the trees—slipping out so smoothly it was almost ghostlike.
Orochimaru.
"Tsunade," he rasped, "I didn't expect you to see him off in person." He rested a pale hand on Nawaki's shoulder. "Come on, Nawaki-kun."
"Yeah!" Nawaki's grin returned in full. "I'm going to be a ninja like you, Orochimaru-nii!"
Tsunade's eyes softened. "He's my only little brother. Take good care of him. He's the most talented of our generation."
Orochimaru gave a small nod.
"Now that everyone's here," he said after a pause, "let's begin. You're Team Two."
Nawaki and Kushina both lit up with excitement. Hiroki, however, stayed quiet.
Unlike other instructors, Orochimaru didn't bother with any sparring or bell-grabbing test. He simply turned on his heel and said, "Follow me."
Kushina chattered all the way. "I bet it's a really tough mission!"
Nawaki's enthusiasm matched hers. "I heard D-rank missions are things like finding cats or pulling weeds. C-rank means dealing with bandits, and B-rank involves enemy ninjas! A-rank missions can topple nations, and S-rank ones change the entire balance of power!" He clenched his fist. "What do you think? C-rank or B-rank?"
Hiroki didn't answer—he was still scrolling through mental data on Nawaki's death.
They finally arrived at the mission office in the village center.
"Our first team assignment," Orochimaru said, lips curling in a faint, unreadable smile, "is to build teamwork. So, we'll be helping the wife of the Fire Daimyo find her lost pet cat—Tiger."
The air went silent.
Kushina and Nawaki stared at each other, disbelief written all over their faces.
"Looking for a cat?!" they shouted in unison.
As their voices echoed through the hallway, Hiroki finally found what he was looking for:
Nawaki (ナワキ) — A character from the manga Naruto. A young ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village, grandson of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and younger brother of Tsunade. Kind-hearted and idealistic. Dreamed of becoming Hokage.
During the Second Shinobi World War, he accidentally triggered an explosive trap and was killed.
Birthday: August 9
Age: …12 years old!!!