Yuto walked down the long road with his grandfather as they returned to the village in silence. His grandfather didn't concern himself with Yuto's inner turmoil; this was a battle Yuto had to fight on his own. he knew his grandson was mentally stronger than others his age, despite his cowardness. he knew nothing he could say to Yuto would help. Yuto needed something to protect; that was the only solution to his problem.
A man who only fought for himself lacked the will to stand before the enemy, because all he would have driving him is his desire to live, and it would make him into a scared man clinging to his flesh for dear life.
They made it past the village gates, showing the mission scroll with the completion stamp. They had already confirmed the mission completion with the employer and just needed to submit the scroll to the mission completion center. Yuto looked up, seeing his grandfather placing the scroll in his pouch.
"Come with me to submit the mission scroll," his grandfather said.
Yuto gave a slight nod as he was still a bit complacent with the fact that he killed three men in cold blood. He knew there was no rewind button, so he wouldn't sulk forever, but he wasn't exactly in the mood to converse.
They arrived at the mission center. It was a lightly guarded building next to the Hokage Tower. It was more like a large gas station. They stepped into the building, entering the large quarters with a few shinobi behind counters. It looked similar to a bank from his previous world. His grandfather walked towards one of the chunin behind the counter, placing the scroll on the desk. The chunin grabbed it, glancing at Yuto and his grandfather before fully turning his attention towards the elder man in surprise."
"Tengi!" "I haven't seen you here in years."
"Don't tell me you're entering the field again," said the chunin at the desk in surprise.
"Far from it, I took my grandson on a mission to gain some experience," Yuto's grandfather said.
Yuto rolled his eyes at his grandfather's explanation, but he was surprised to hear his grandfather's name for the first time.
"I see, it was nice seeing you, Tengi San," said the chunin.
The older man gave a nod. "You as well."
His grandfather took the mission payment off the counter, handing it to Yuto. Yuto was a little surprised at this, but it made sense, since he was the one to kill the bandits.
"That's for you, you did well," his grandfather said as they walked out of the mission center.
"I won't be going home just yet. I need to repair my father's tanto," Yuto said.
"Hmm, why is that? The blade didn't get damaged in the battle," his grandfather asked curiously.
"I'm going to replace the metal with chakra conductive metal," Yuto said.
"I'll have you know, your allowance isn't enough to obtain such delicate metal," his grandfather said.
"I have plenty of money from my father," Yuto said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I see, I would recommend the Higarashi's weapon shop if you're looking for the highest quality," his grandfather said.
Yuto gave him a nod before hopping onto a rooftop. Later, as he walked down the street, his face shifted into shock seeing the silver-haired man casually walking down the streets in civilian clothes, his face buried in an orange book. The man wore a black face mask covering the bottom half of his face. Yuto was shocked knowing who that was. It was Kakashi Hatake, the copycat ninja. Yuto walked past him, his face turning disinterested, as he made his way towards the Higarashi weapon store.
After a while, he made it to the shop. He opened the door, the door making a ringing noise as he entered. His eyes scanned around the room, seeing the many weapons on the walls of the shop. He looked ahead, seeing the older man at the counter, giving him a small nod.
"What can I do for you today?" the man said with a kind smile.
Yuto took the blade of his back and placed it on the counter.
"I'm interested in replacing the metal on this blade," Yuto said.
"mm, chakra metal, I'm assuming"
Yuto nodded.
"Mmm, even for a short blade like this, it would be expensive," the man said.
"money isn't a problem"
"How much would I be looking at for the highest grade chakra metal?" Yuto asked.
"Considering the Length and width of the blade, it would come around 1,517,250 yen," the man said.
"I see, how can I make an account for the store?" Yuto asked.
"Ah, give me one second, I'll grab the papers," the man said.
Yuto nodded, placing a hand on his hip in a waiting position. He wasn't very pleased with the day's events and wanted nothing more than to wash up and climb into his queen-sized bed. He let out a sigh, but his attention shifted to the small tug on his shinobi combat shorts. There was a five-year-old ten-ten looking up at Yuto with curious eyes. The little girl then spoke.
"Are you a ninja?" she asked
"No, not yet. This year would be my last year of the academy."
"Do you want to be a shinobi as well?" Yuto asked.
Ten-ten nodded profusely.
"I'll see you on the battlefield then," Yuto said.
Ten-ten pointed at Yuto's blade on the counter with a curious look on her face.
"Oh, this, it's my father's blade," he said, picking it up off the counter.
"Here you can hold it," Yuto said, handing it to her.
Ten-ten grabbed the sheathed tanto, placing it in front of her.
"Be careful, ok," he said
. She nodded.
"Now go for a downward swing," he said, unsure if he might have been taking things too far, but he was interested in the future weapon's specialist. Ten-ten swung the blade down flawlessly.
"You're a natural," Yuto said, surprised.
Ten-ten perked at that but turned her head to see her father back.
He spoke.
"I see you've met my daughter," he said, a cheerful smile planted on his face.
"Yes, I was quite surprised to see her adapt to the blade so well," Yuto said.
"Ahh, yes, she has always been fascinated by the many kinds of weapons," the shop owner said.
"I see, I look forward to seeing her future as a shinobi," Yuto said with a genuine smile on his face.
He was aware that ten-ten wasn't that talented in the original story, but he wanted to see if he was capable of molding her into a better shinobi. He knew he would take on an apprentice in this world, but it would be further in the future after he'd already reached the jonin rank. He was originally content with staying a chunin and hiding within the walls of the village, but that was naive, because in the future would come the sand and sound invasion and pain's attack, so not even the village walls could save him from the dangers in the ninja world. He would need to get stronger. The shop owner then spoke.
"your spacing out on me. I've brought the necessary documentation for your account opening," the man said.
"Oh yes, forgive me," Yuto said, grabbing the ink brush, writing his signature in this world's language.
He signed the other paper confirming the payment.
"When will the blade be completed?" Yuto asked.
"It should be about two weeks, considering the shipping time of high-value metal is a bit longer," he said.
Yuto nodded before looking down, seeing ten-ten's eyes peering into him. He bent down, placing a hand on her short brown hair at the time.
"See you around, kid," he said, ruffling her hair.
He stood up, giving a casual wave over his shoulder to the shop owner and his daughter. When he left the shop and started making his way home, he bumped into the grey-haired man he'd seen before. Yuto forced back a grin before he spoke.
"Stay the hell out of my way, fucker" Yuto said arrogantly before spitting on the ground.
Kakashi was a little surprised by that, as nobody had ever dared to speak to him like that. Kakashi sighed, looking at the retreating form of Yuto.
"Kids these days," Kakashi thought.
Yuto was grinning like an idiot as he saw the expression on Kakashi's face from the reflection of a civilian's sunglasses, though it was hard to tell from his face mask.
Yuto made it back home as he opened the door. He closed the door behind him as he looked up to see his grandfather sitting in the living area with tea prepared. Yuto knew he would get a talking to, seeing his grandfather seated on his knees. He walked over and sat down across from his grandfather.
"Be prepared for extra training after the academy," he said.
"Why the sudden change?" Yuto asked.
"I wasn't pleased with your behavior on the mission, not to mention your loss to that Uchiha brat," he said with a small frown.
Yuto rolled his eyes at the last comment. He knew that Itachi was probably already at the jonin level of strength. It took decades for a ninja to reach jonin strength, and most of the time it took longer than that. He didn't have the Sharingan at six years old, copying years of experience in seconds.
"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Yuto said, crossing his arms with a pout.
His grandfather grunted before taking a sip of tea.
"You need to grow up, and you need to do it fast."
"You don't have the privilege of being a child anymore. I won't coddle you," he said.
Yuto scoffed, "You haven't been there my entire life until a few days ago," Yuto said.
"You have your father to blame for that," his grandfather said.
"What do you mean?" Yuto asked, his face lighting in curiosity.
"Your father was a fragile little thing similar to you. I'd done everything I could to toughen him up, but it only worsened our relationship," he said, sighing.
"Believe it or not, but I've been going light on you," he said.
Yuto was a little surprised by that, as the training after spars was grueling.
"Your mother worried I would be a bad influence for you, and your father agreed with her."
"I didn't get invitations to birthdays, family gatherings, because your father was too weak to tell your mother no," his grandfather said, clenching his fist under the table.
"I never knew that," Yuto said, feeling a little bit guilty.
"no matter"
"Listen, in a few months, you'll be a shinobi, you'll kill, lie, and steal. A shinobi doesn't question his orders; he completes them to the best of his abilities."
"Don't let a repeat of today happen again," his grandfather said.
Yuto sighed, "I understand, I won't disappoint you."
While Yuto was very comfortable being a coward, he wouldn't dare question his superior's orders. He was aware of how the leaf treated shinobi who broke the rules, I mean, look at the white-fang.
"Actually, I've been meaning to ask you something," Yuto said.
His grandfather didn't respond, settling for a questioning look.
"Is it true that you trained the white fang?" Yuto asked.
"His grandfather sighed, "Yes, it is true, another one of my failures. It's part of the reason I wanted to be a part of your life, "I simply can't bear to see my seedlings die before me," he said, a sorrowful look on his face.
"But how? That means you weren't even a decade older than him when you trained him," Yuto said in surprise
"Yes, I was promoted to jonin at a young age," his grandfather said proudly.
"Oh, I see," Yuto said.
Later...
Yuto was walking with Itachi down the streets, both with dango sticks in their hands. Yuto had to admit, Itachi was a pretty cool guy once you got to know him. In the show, he was painted as a preeminent shinobi, and crossing paths with him meant defeat was inevitable. He was actually very kind and compassionate, and had a deep love for the village and his family despite his choice to choose the village over the clan. While his confidence in his abilities could have been seen as arrogance, well, I mean... he had every right.
Yuto glanced at Itachi before speaking.
"Itachi?" Yuto said.
"Hum, what is it?" he asked.
"My intuition is telling me something. Is it true that you've decided to join the anbu?"
Itachi looked over at Yuto, who had a small smile on his face, not meeting Itachi's gaze.
"Don't look so surprised, I know everything, it's just how I am," Yuto said, a little full of himself.
"That intuition stuff is really freaky," Itachi said calmly.
Yuto was having fun using his prior knowledge of the ninja world to make Itachi think it was nothing he could hide from him. he wanted Itachi to think he could speak to him about important matters involving the village because he'd think Yuto already knew them. Yuto planned to share small bits of information with Itachi, but he had no plans of stopping the Uchiha massacre; he could honestly care less about the Uchiha clan, not that he had the strength to do so.
He wasn't done yet, though, as he spoke.
"Are you aware of what eternal life is, Itachi?" Yuto said with a shit eating grin planted on his face.
[Be sure to give me your power stones]