Died at 12!?

"Hiroki! Hiroki! Get up! We're going to find that cold-faced teacher!"

Early in the morning, someone pounded hard on Hiroki's door. Kushina's lively voice nearly pierced the wooden panels, with a touch of impatience in her urging.

Inside the room, Hiroki slowly opened his eyes.

[AM: 7:03]

The familiar Windows screen first thing in the morning almost made Hiroki forget about yesterday, as if he were still on Earth and hadn't been transported to another world.

But the shouting outside the door brought him back to reality.

Time to get up.

That was what Hiroki thought.

He glanced toward the door. The knocking was still going on—knock, knock, knock—so he could only call out, "I know, I know! Let me get dressed."

Only then did the increasingly urgent knocking outside finally stop.

When Hiroki opened the door, Kushina had her fist raised, ready to launch another "attack." Seeing him finally appear, she lowered her hand with an annoyed pout.

"You're so slow, bean sprout! We're ninja now. Ninja have to be punctual!"

Hiroki looked at her and asked casually, "This early? I thought you'd go to Lady Mito's first to study Fuinjutsu."

The words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing Kushina's burning enthusiasm. The excitement on her face collapsed, and she puffed out her cheeks, dejectedly kicking a stone at her feet.

"Don't remind me!" she complained. "Grandma Mito said my chakra control is still too rough, like I'm trying to embroider with a sledgehammer. She said I have to become a Chunin and master precise chakra control before I can start learning the truly advanced Fuinjutsu of the Uzumaki Clan. It's so infuriating!"

Hiroki thought that sounded reasonable.

After all, in the original story, Fuinjutsu was difficult to learn, and few people outside the Sealing Squad knew it.

And the Uzumaki Clan's Fuinjutsu seemed to be the most outstanding in all of Naruto, so it made sense that it required even more precise chakra control.

"Building a solid foundation is important, too," he said, trying to comfort her.

"...Mm, I want to get stronger soon, too..." Kushina was a little unhappy, but quickly remembered what Hiroki had told her earlier. "Oh, right! Hiroki, how's that jutsu you said you'd develop for me to get stronger?"

"Next month. I should be able to finish it by then."

"Next month... That's still so far away~!"

At a roadside stall, they each bought a rice ball. Eating as they walked, they headed toward Training Ground Forty-Four.

At the entrance to the Forest of Death, the tall wire fence and warning signs looked especially imposing in the morning mist.

But when they arrived, they found that someone had beaten them there.

Tsunade!?

Beside her stood a boy about their age, with neat, short brown hair and a bright, sunny smile.

At that moment, Tsunade was carefully putting a necklace with a blue crystal pendant around the boy's neck. Her movements were gentle, and her eyes held a rare warmth and encouragement.

"Nawaki," Tsunade said, flicking him on the forehead. "You have to work hard! This is Grandpa's necklace! You're already twelve, so you can't go crying anymore!"

The boy—Senju Nawaki—clenched his fists excitedly and nodded hard. In a loud voice, he declared, "I won't cry! I'll wear it and become a Hokage everyone can believe in!"

The conversation made Kushina and Hiroki stop in their tracks as they approached.

"Lady Tsunade..." Kushina greeted her quietly, with some awe. She knew Tsunade.

She had met Tsunade at Grandma Mito's.

Tsunade turned around and noticed them.

Her gaze lingered briefly on Hiroki, then settled on Kushina. Her expression grew complicated, but soon returned to normal.

No matter how she felt, she wouldn't get angry at a child who didn't know any better.

"You must be Uzumaki Kushina. Do your best and work hard to become a good ninja," Tsunade said with a nod, encouraging her in a tone that gave away little emotion.

Kushina sensed the distance in Tsunade's manner and nodded somewhat stiffly. "Yes, Lady Tsunade!"

As for Hiroki, the moment he saw Nawaki, he suddenly realized something.

Nawaki... This scene seemed familiar.

Tsunade, Nawaki, the necklace...

And... twelve years old?

Wait, twelve?

Wasn't that the age he died in the original story?

Hiroki couldn't quite remember, so he opened his Memory Folder and started searching.

In the midst of the slightly awkward atmosphere, a figure appeared without a sound, as if gliding out from the shadows of the trees. No one had noticed him arrive.

It was Orochimaru.

"Tsunade, I didn't expect you to come see him off in person." Orochimaru's voice was hoarse, but he patted Nawaki on the shoulder. "Do your best, Nawaki-kun!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Nawaki was still grinning excitedly. "I'm going to become a ninja like Big Brother Orochimaru, too!"

"He's my only little brother! You'd better take good care of him!" Tsunade patted Nawaki on the shoulder as well. "He's the most talented of our new generation!"

Tsunade looked completely confident.

"Mm." Orochimaru nodded.

"Now that everyone's here, and I've already tested you, let's not waste time. We'll begin the mission," Orochimaru said, glancing over the three of them. "You're Team 7."

Both Nawaki and Kushina looked excited and eager. Hiroki, however, remained calm.

But Orochimaru didn't conduct the traditional team infighting or bell test that other Jonin instructors used. He simply turned and walked toward the village.

"Follow me."

"What kind of amazing mission are we going to get!?" Kushina chattered the whole way.

"It's definitely going to be a super amazing mission!" Nawaki was outgoing, too, and quickly shared what he knew with the other two.

"I know! D-Rank Missions usually involve finding cats or pulling weeds, and C-Rank Missions might involve bandits or robbers! B-Rank Missions involve ninja, and A-Rank Missions might even overthrow a small country! S-Rank Missions affect relations between major nations!" Nawaki looked eager. "Do you think we'll start with C-Rank, or B-Rank?"

Hiroki didn't join the discussion. He was still searching for the time of Nawaki's death.

They made their way to the mission assignment office in the center of the village.

"Our team's first mission," Orochimaru said, the corners of his mouth curving into an inscrutable, almost imperceptible smile, "is to build teamwork. So, we're going to find the lost pet cat of the wife of the Land of Fire's daimyo—'Tora.'"

The air seemed to freeze.

The excitement on Kushina and Nawaki's faces vanished. They looked at each other and, almost in unison, shouted in disbelief:

"Find a cat—?!"

And just as the two of them shouted together...

Hiroki finally found it in his memory:

Some encyclopedia:

Nawaki (ナワキ), a character in the Japanese manga Naruto and its derivative works, was a new-generation ninja of the Hidden Leaf Village in the Land of Fire. He was the grandson of Senju Hashirama, the First, and Tsunade's younger brother. Kindhearted and idealistic, he dreamed of becoming Hokage.

During the Second Shinobi World War, he wandered into an Explosive Tag trap and was blown up.

Birthday: August 9 (Leo)

Age at death: ...

12 years old!!!