The Shinobi Demon - Chapter 4 Serving Of Past And Pie

The sun was setting on a certain forest in an inhabited part of the world.

In the middle of said forest, a small cottage was being caressed by light shafts, all created by the shadows of many big green trees.

Inside the cottage, a family was gathered in their cramped kitchen.

…

Aguri was dead-staring at her husband and her son, with a bit of cold sweat running down her headband.

Nobumoto with an almost as serious expression, was just seconds away from having a conversation that was supposed to wait a few more years, to little Hayato.

She wasn’t going to question his decision in front of their son, as it would undermine his authority as the father. Not again anyway…

She could only hope everything to go well and calmly. Hayato was a genius, a truly smart kid, so her fear of him not being able to process everything correctly and appropriately, was not that big, but it was there.

Although Nobumoto had gave her the *agreeing* glance, just a few moments ago… ‘Is this really going to be ok…?’ – Is what she thought.

…

“Hayato… I think you are smart enough despite your age… to understand what I’m about to tell you, that is.” Nobumoto raised his eyebrow a bit as he continued. “The thing here is… Do you REALLY want me to tell you about our past?”

Hayato had not even finished blinking, when he was already shouting his answer.

“I REALLY want you to tell me all about that mysterious past of yours! And no lying just because I’ young or anything, ne?!”

[The boy got me there, hahaha] Thought Nobumoto, as he let out a small giggle.

“All right then, let’s begin.” Hayato and Aguri were listening attentively, as Nobumoto -who had returned to his seat- began satisfying the boy’s curiosity.

“I have two brothers, and 1 niece and 1 nephew. Regrettably, the lives of both my older brother Suetada and little nephew Nawaki, were taken by the war. My brother Nagatame fell victim to a strange disease no one knew the cure for, and that’s why I became a medical-nin! I contributed in finding the cure for it and now the mortality rate of the disease 0!” Nobumoto said with extreme pride, holding back a few tears.

“My niece Tsunade was actually my first and last student, before I was reassigned. She continued along the same path, and eventually came to be renowned as the best medical-nin in the history of Konohagakure, maybe even among the 5 Great Countries”

[If not for that damn war, she wouldn’t have-…] Nobumoto grumbled in his mind for a moment

“Woah otousan is great!! I wanna become the best medical-nin ever and save lots of people!!”

Hayato declared excitedly, as his parents -specially Nobumoto- were quite moved by his words and smiled broadly to the noble goal their little genius had set for his future.

They could only hope that such were not fleeting words spurted out in the moment.

“Now, about my parents…” Nobumoto continued.

“You better hold on to your seat tightly… My father none other than the legendary God of Shinobi, the Founder of Konohagakure and THE First Hokage: Senju Hashirama!”

“As for hahaue… she was just as amazing as chichiue; she was the First person in becoming the Kyuubi’s Jinchuriki: Uzumaki Mito! Although, that fact is not something you can just be telling anybody ok?!” Hayato nodded vigorously.

“You are lucky one Hayato, for having an ancestry full of firsts HUH!” Nobumoto scratched the back of his head and downed his head a bit, then he went on…

Hayato and Aguri looked at each other and chuckled as they made fun of Nobumoto’s poor joke.

After a few seconds of silence…

“Aguri… it’s your turn now isn’t it?” Nobumoto signaled his wife with his head, to continue. This time it was her parents they were going to mention.

Hayato had never heard any mention of his maternal grandparents…

“O-Of course, sorry. W-Well there isn’t much along the line of accomplishments for my family… I am an only child, so…”

“My mother Hyuga Hatsuko, was from the Main House of the Clan, but was made a Branch House member after his brother Hyuga Hideatsu became the Clan Head; she… died of old age a couple…”

Aguri made a considerable pause, because many things were going on inside her head.

She remembered what had happened to her mother. A truth too hard to tel her almost 4 years old son, genius or not. Nobumoto feigned complete ignorance of the matter, not showing any emotion as she lied. This was a necessary lie, at least for now.

Aguri was also chewing on the ideas of little Hayato’s desire to focus on a more *peaceful* branch of shinobi-jutsu. As long as he stayed on the healing and curing part of it….

Nobumoto brought her back to reality after gently putting his hand on her shoulder, breaking her out of her own mind.

“As for myself, I too was born a Main House member, but when hahaue was relocated, I shared her fate…” Aguri’s tone turned quite grim.

“I don’t know who my father was… The only thing hahaue ever said about him, is that he died when he betrayed Konohagakure and his family… That was actually one of the reasons why I hesitated to leave the village…”

“I didn’t want to become a traitor as well…”

“That, reminds me of something very important that you must know… Hayato, as you surely heard before… otousan and okaasan were shinobi of Konohagakure. We defected 7 months after the 3rd Great Shinobi War started…”

‘Shit! I wanted to leave that for later… Oh well, I guess it’s my fault so I don’t get to complain huh…’ Nobumoto was beginning to regret a little the whole *tell him the truth, he’s a genius so what’s the matter* thing…

Aguri continued explaining to Hayato.

“We had already seen and done terrible things during the 2nd war… the kind of things war is full of: death, suffering and corruption. We had enough of it, and just wanted to be happy and raise a family without fearing for our lives.”

“We ultimately left everything behind and ran as far as we could”.

“It may have been dishonorable in the eyes of others; but had one thing clear: we did more harm than good fighting the war.”

“You see Hayato… war is the disease that has been ailing our world for as long as there is record of sentient life. So what I’m trying to tell you is: don’t repeat the mistakes of otousan and okaasan; you have to become a better person.”

“Only then will you be able to call yourself the master of your own fate.” Aguri finished her monologue with a tender smile while patting Hayato’s head.

Hayato obviously didn’t understand perfectly, but he was a genius after all, and the main points were engraved on his young mind: the fact that war is a terrible thing, and that he needed to learn from his parents in order to become better.

He kind of ignored the grandparents’ part, since he actually only cared about the people he had known since birth, the ones that were always there for him.

“That’s what we’re here for right?! To help you grow and eventually be able to go out there, and take life by the reins!” Nobumoto interjected with a smile on his face, putting an end to the gloomy atmosphere that had formed inside the modest cottage.

“So, let’s get to work or we’ll never finish!” Nobumoto said while upping his spirits.

“Actually anata…. it’s already dark outside… so it’ll have to wait for tomorrow.” Aguri cut her husband’s attitude in half when pointing out of the window. It was already past 7 pm, all that talking really did take some time.

“HUUUHH??!!” Both father and son exclaimed while letting their arms down in a manner of disappointment. Their face sure reflected such an emotion.

“But okaasan, what about the…?!” Hayato was then immediately complemented by his father.

“Apple pie…”

With an amused expression, Aguri promptly answered the pair.

“Hehehe like father, like son. This is a special occasion since we’re celebrating the beginning of Hayato’s path of becoming a man we will be very proud of.”

“So only for today… you get pie without doing the work!”

“YEEEAAH!!! Thank you very much!” Hayato and Nobumoto jumped in excitement, they were allowed to taste Aguri’s masterpiece of a pie, accompanied by a cup of perfectly blended black tea; all without having to work for it!

…

“I love celebrations!”

{crum} {crum} {crum}

Hayato said while munching down his 3rd slice of homemade pie, at speed that would certainly put Konoha’s Yellow Flash to shame!

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“All right boys the advance payment has been confirmed! The other half we get it after the job is done! We will proceed as planned, so..”

“MOVE OUT!!”

The orders came from a man with spiky-short silver hair. Dressed in a black mono suit covered by shinobi armor similar to the one ANBU operatives use. The 2 wakizashi strapped to his back seemed to have been repaired and stained by blood multiple times.

This made the look of a battle-hardened individual.

A group of 8 rough-looking men, were just finished fitting their black cloth masks and grabbing their weapons.

The silver-haired man along with his posse, abandoned the 15-meter-high stone tower -that served as their base of operations- at the blink of an eye.

‘This is gonna be some damn easy money… he he’

Mumbled the bandit boss while moving towards their objective.

…