Hiruko sat holding an unconscious, battered Duy, who was at death's door.
Sighing slightly, Hiruko simply extended a finger toward Sakumo, who understood his master's intent, unsheathing his sword and pricking Hiruko's finger.
As a singular drop of blood fell on Duy's finger, a yellow pulse extended outwards, his previously battered body healing over.
Hiruko, feeling a tug of his energy, looking over to Sakumo, said lazily, "Take the both of us to Konoha Housing District 12 and send a clone to—" Hiruko said his consciousness was slipping.
"Master, that's not going to work," Sakumo said, simply pointing to a quiet area of the arena where Yuri and Tsunade stood quietly watching, their mouths agape.
Hiruko, looking over and seeing their two figures, thought internally,
'Fuck me, I was trying too hard to be a hero; I completely forgot about their presence.' Hiruko thought as he passed out, cursing his idiocy.
—
An unknown amount of time later, Hiruko woke up in a familiar room he hadn't seen in a while.
Rubbing his sore head lightly, Hiruko opened his hazy eyes and began taking in his surroundings.
'My old room?' Hiruko thought as he remembered the scenery he was in.
Pushing himself up, his legs slightly wobbly and his face pale, Hiruko pushed open the door of his bedroom as he entered the living room.
As he entered the room, he was met with four figures sitting at his small table playing cards.
Sakumo seemed to be winning, which Hiruko assumed was due to the numerous bills near him and the distraught expression on the faces of the other three.
"What are you guys doing?" Hiruko posed confused.
Sakumo, looking over immediately, dropped the cards in his hand and moved to kneel.
"You don't have to—" Hiruko tried saying, but before he could finish, Sakumo was already kneeling.
"Hello, Master. You have been unconscious for only three hours. Lady Mito was told that we are having a sleepover here to further our connection as those of the same age, and Ms. Yuri is chaperoning."
Sakumo said, gesturing to the other three,
Back when Hiruko, Mito, and Sakumo were walking to the estate, Hiruko had made a joke in passing earlier that if he ever passes out again, he'll need Sakumo to reiterate events.
'Who knew he actually took it seriously?' Hiruko thought
Tsunade, on the other hand, standing up, charged at Hiruko, jumping on his back and grabbing his arm, making a move to bite him.
Sakumo seeing this made a move to draw his sword and protect Hiruko, but Hiruko giving him a small gesture made him stop.
Tsunade biting Hiruko drew blood immediately; when she did, a yellow pulse extended outward from her body, and Hiruko felt a slight tug on his energy.
A small paper cut Tsunade had from a few days ago closed over.
"As I thought, you have Mommy's ability, don't you?" Tsunade said, hopping off Hiruko's back, punching him hard in the arm, and giving him a questioning look.
Hiruko, hearing this, lightly shook his head.
He knew he would need to explain to Tsunade his power eventually, but doing it today was annoying.
"Yuri, do you want to explain it to her?" Hiruko said, turning to the youthful red-haired woman that had sat across from Sakumo.
He was tired and would rather have Yuri explain it to Tsunade and hopefully keep her calm.
Yuri, however, confusedly pointed to herself. "Me? Why would I? I don't know how you did what you did or if it relates to my healing ability." Yuri said bluntly,
"Mito nor Arata never told you?" Hiruko was surprised he assumed everyone but
Tsunade, who he and Arata agreed to tell at a later date, did not know.
"Nope. I just found out about this ability today, and when I asked Sakumo to explain it, he refused," Yuri said, glaring slightly at Sakumo, who still stayed bowed respectfully.
"As I've said over 100 times, Mrs. Yuri, I was not given explicit permission to tell you," Sakumo said, slightly irritated.
For the last three hours, Yuri had asked him several times, even forcing him to play this game with the bet that if she won, he would tell her, which she never did.
"I'm also curious how you healed me too Hiruko, sir, I was ready to be in the hospital for months, but thanks to you, my youth is in amazing condition."
Everyone looked over to see Duy with his characteristic white smile and thumb extended.
"Ugh, this is such a pain." Hiruko mumbled quietly.
Tsunade, hearing his complaints, got slightly angry, grabbing Hiruko's arm, she bit him again; this time, however, not wanting to draw blood and waste Hiruko's energy, she only made sure to leave a mark but not draw blood.
"Ow, what was that for?" Hiruko said, rubbing his arm.
"You deserved it." Tsunade said, simply holding eye contact with Hiruko, her arms crossed, and dangerous sparks flared between the two.
After a moment, however, Hiruko, understanding he was in the wrong, sighed,
"I'm sorry; I should have told you about my power, both you and Yuri." Hiruko said,
looking at both Tsunade and Yuri.
Though he would consider his relationship with Yuri to be very complicated, he wasn't as close with her as he was with Arata, Mito, or Tsunade; he still considered her a family member who deserved to know certain things.
Yuri, seeing Hiruko's consideration, didn't show overt emotions. She knew this wasn't the time; she simply smiled.
Even small things like this meant a lot to a family-loving woman like her.
Hiruko, feeling the atmosphere was right, began explaining his ability.
"No, my ability is in no way related to Yuri's; even Mom has no idea what it is or where it comes from. All we know is at the cost of energy I can heal others with anything from blood to saliva." Hiruko said simply and
began scanning the room for reactions.
Yuri was surprised she had never heard of an ability so much like hers but way more potent.
Though she didn't know about Hiruko's ability, she did hear about a man from the Warring States era being healed from a decade-long injury by Madara Uchiha.
And it wasn't that hard to connect the dots between Hiruko, who went missing for over a day, and a man being healed from near death.
Suddenly Yuri's thoughts shifted to her cousin, who had been kidnapped as a child and used as a health bank for the land of Grass.
Looking at Hiruko, one thought echoed through her mind.
'I'll protect you, Hiruko.' Yuri thought resolutely, planning to have a conversation with Hiruko later; he needed to know that this world wouldn't hesitate to exploit him for an ability like that.
Tsunade, on the other hand, was fuming internally as she pulled her hair crazily.
'You're telling me this idiot can basically heal everything with blood. What's even the point of becoming a medic anymore!' Tsunade complained angrily.
"Tsuna, don't worry; if you truly wish to be the best, you'll have to surpass even those with unique bloodline abilities like me and Hiruko." Yuri said, slightly amused.
Tsunade, who was beginning to calm down, was set off by a comment made by Duy in his usual idiotic smile.
"Hm, so basically, Hiruko, sir, is already a genius in the realm of healing. Awesome," Duy said, giving his characteristic thumbs up.
Tsunade, hearing this, looked at Duy, her eyes wild.
"I'll kill you!" She said she charged at Duy, but before she could even touch him, she felt a pressure descend on her, forcing her to the ground.
"Oh come on, using your stupid Kekei Genkai is cheating, and you know it."
Tsunade grumbled through closed teeth.
Hiruko, on the other hand, simply smiled, giving a curt response:
"You can decide what's cheating and what's not when you can touch the hem of my shirt." Hiruko said, brimming with arrogance,
'Is this what it's like to bully a younger sibling?' Hiruko thought, relishing this experience.
"By the way, Duy, Visit this house every weekend. I'll begin helping and training with you by forcing your body to adapt to my gravity. Kind of like weights," Hiruko said.
Duy, though not completely understanding what Hiruko was saying, heard the aspect of training and was ecstatic nonetheless.
"This is youth!" Duy yelled excitedly.
"I may also drop by your place sometimes. Where do you live? Oh, also, what's your schedule when it comes to things like missions?"
Hiruko asked if he was going to help out Duy; he should probably know some basic info.
"I am homeless! And I have training with my team Mondays, though this is usually by myself since they don't like training, and we take missions Tuesdays through Thursdays."
Duy said, his uncharacteristically upbeat for such a sad statement.
"Homeless? I thought you lived in an orphanage." Sakumo asked, slightly surprised.
"The orphanage kicks you out when you become a ninja since you're technically an adult," Hiruko said simply.
"Then—" Tsunade began before stopping; she didn't want to be insensitive.
Though Hiruko picked up on this and simply answered the question he knew she wanted to ask.
"I'm different. My parents died in war but left me their home, so instead of being put in an orphanage, they just gave me a monthly stipend, but that would've also ended when I became a ninja, but thanks to Mom, I avoided having to go on crazy missions to avoid being homeless." Hiruko said his voice held a hint of appreciation for his situation and mother.
Tsunade, hearing this, simply nodded quietly and glanced at Duy.
'I'm so lucky to have what I do, but my outlook hasn't been as positive as this kid's even though his situation is worse.' She thought reflecting on her attitude.
"So where have you been living?" Sakumo posed
"On a bench it makes for a good bed and an equally good training area." Duy said happily
He's always tried to think about the upside of things and not the negatives.
The only time he's really entered that headspace is when he talked about his lack of genius to Hiruko.
Hiruko, seeing this, simply sighed.
'I feel like I'm collecting Pokémon.'
"You can live here. Duy, this place was brought under my name so you can live here free of charge." Hiruko said simply, he refused to give Yuri the opportunity to invite Duy to live with them.
Sakumo was enough.
"For real, Hiruko, sir?" Duy said his eyes were getting watery as he hopped on Hiruko, rubbing his face into his chest affectionately.
"Get off me," Hiruko said, attempting to push
Duy off, but the boy was weirdly strong, like, really weirdly.
"How can I repay you, Hiruko!!!" Duy cried.
"Don't worry about it." Hiruko said lazily he wanted this interaction to be over.
Sakumo, however, had a star twinkle in his eye as he stood up, taking Duy by the collar.
"Master, we will be in your room. I and Duy need to have a talk about his…future." Sakumo said cryptically,
'Why do I have a really bad feeling about this, almost like my future just got a bit more busy?' Hiruko thought, confused and worried.
"Now that they're gone, we need to have a talk." Yuri, who had been quiet the whole time, began.
———————————————————
S: Look I know this story is on the slower side and I'm sorry I haven't gotten to the actions and missions and summons yet I just want to make sure I'm making a story that isn't rushed and builds up my characters abilities and personality in a manner that makes sense though I know I am being a bit slow so I do apologize and will try and make the story more interesting hopefully
P.s.: Also thank you so much for the support 🫶