Since My Little Brother Was Gone, Nawaki Would Be My New Brother!

"..."

Mito Uzumaki's face twitched again and again.

She was utterly speechless at her granddaughter.

Either learn none of them, or learn them all?

As if it were that easy!

Don't tell me she'll lose interest after a few days.

Mito eyed Tsunade suspiciously.

Tsunade, however, looked as though it were perfectly reasonable.

Mito sighed.

"Bite off more than you can chew, and you'll master nothing. Every Sealing Jutsu takes years of study and practice. If you try to learn them all at once, you won't become proficient in any of them."

Tsunade nodded firmly.

"Don't worry, Grandma. I understand!"

"I never said I'd learn them all at once."

"I mean I'll take them one at a time, slowly. I'll start with the Yin Seal."

"Huh? Really?"

Mito Uzumaki was delighted. She apparently hadn't expected her granddaughter to truly have a change of heart.

Tsunade grinned and pulled Mito to her feet.

"Don't worry, Grandma. I've really thought it through this time!"

"I'll make the Uzumaki and Senju clans proud!"

Mito was deeply pleased.

She reached out and stroked Tsunade's blond hair.

"All right. Since you've made up your mind, Grandma will teach you properly."

They sat down beside the couch again.

Mito grew serious and began to explain.

"The Yin Seal stores your excess Chakra bit by bit. Over time, it forms a mark."

As she spoke, she pointed to her forehead.

There was a pale purple diamond-shaped mark.

"See? This is what a fully formed Yin Seal looks like."

"You can draw on the stored Chakra when you need it. It can also sustain your body and slow aging."

Tsunade's eyes lit up as she stared at the mark.

Mito changed tack, lowering her voice.

"There is one thing, though. Until the Yin Seal's mark is fully formed, your strength won't increase at all."

"That process takes about... a year?"

Mito offered the warning quietly, stealing a glance at Tsunade's reaction.

After all, that was exactly why Tsunade had refused to train in the Yin Seal before.

She had flatly refused to practice it.

Her two teammates, Orochimaru and Jiraiya, were getting stronger every day.

Especially that boy Jiraiya.

Mito had heard he'd recently learned Senjutsu on Mount Myoboku, and his strength was growing rapidly.

In the past, the moment Tsunade heard her strength would stand still, she would fly into a temper.

She'd say things like, "I'll be dead last by the end of the year," and "I refuse to be the weakest."

Then she would make up any excuse she could to slip away.

Mito was already prepared for Tsunade to change her mind again.

But this time, Tsunade's reaction caught her completely off guard.

"A year? That fast?"

Tsunade's eyes shone. She nearly jumped off the couch.

She remembered Sakura spending a full three years training in the Yin Seal before she finally formed the mark.

And Tsunade could do it in just one year?

Is it because of my constitution?

Senju plus Uzumaki meant two advantages in one body, with Chakra reserves rivaling a Tailed Beast's.

Naturally, that would make training far easier.

That must be it!

Tsunade was overjoyed. This was a wonderful surprise.

She immediately thumped her chest and promised,

"Don't worry, Grandma. I won't go anywhere this year. I'll focus entirely on Sealing Jutsu!"

"I'll learn every Sealing Jutsu our Uzumaki clan has to pass down!"

Seeing the fire in her granddaughter's eyes, Mito felt her last trace of worry fade.

"In that case, I'll spend the coming year teaching you Sealing Jutsu properly."

She took an old scroll from her sleeve and spread it out before them.

"The foundation of the Yin Seal is precise Chakra control."

"You need to guide the excess Chakra that would normally dissipate to your forehead, strand by strand."

"And build a stable 'storage pool' there..."

Mito explained everything in detail, and Tsunade listened even more intently.

She was no longer the Tsunade who couldn't sit still.

She had truly settled down to learn.

As she listened, she tried to move the Chakra within her body according to Mito's instructions.

Time passed little by little.

Outside the window, the blazing midday sun softened into a languid afternoon glow, then slowly took on the gold and red of dusk.

The only sounds in the room were Mito's gentle explanations and Tsunade's occasional questions.

The sun was almost down when the front door flew open with a bang.

"Grandma! Sis! I'm home!"

An excited, energetic young voice rang out from the entryway.

Tsunade immediately turned to look.

~

A boy of seven or eight came charging in like a little cannonball.

"Nawaki..."

Tsunade went momentarily dazed.

Memories surged through her like a tide.

This was Tsunade's younger brother from the original story: Nawaki, who had died at twelve.

This year, he was eight.

Tsunade's chest suddenly tightened.

An inexplicable ache spread through her heart.

She pressed a hand to her chest without thinking.

Even through her body, she could feel her heartbeat quickening.

Are the original Tsunade's feelings affecting me?

The feeling was unmistakable, yet hard to put into words.

She had felt something similar the first time she saw Mito.

But Mito had died after transferring the Nine-Tails within her to Kushina Uzumaki.

That could be considered a natural death after a long life.

Nawaki, though...

He had died far too young.

He had died on the battlefield of the Second Great Ninja War.

An Explosive Tag had blown him apart, leaving no body behind.

Tsunade gripped her chest and took a deep breath.

Don't worry, Tsunade. Since I, Gangzi, inherited your body and memories, your little brother is my little brother.

My own little brother... is gone too!

I'm going to protect Nawaki in this life, no matter what!

As that thought took shape, the strange tightness in her chest really did ease.

Her mind felt clear.

Nawaki had already come bouncing over to them.

He grinned, showing a row of small white teeth.

"Sis, Grandma, what are you doing?"

He leaned in curiously, glanced at the open scroll, and immediately drew back.

"Sealing Jutsu again... Looks really hard."

Mito smiled and poked his forehead. "You start making a racket the moment you get home."

Nawaki chuckled, pulled a rolled-up sheet of paper from his schoolbag, and waved it proudly.

"Look! I got full marks on my assessment again! Hahaha!"

He threw back his head and laughed, hands on his hips, looking for all the world like he thought he was the greatest.

"I'm one step closer to becoming Hokage!"

Tsunade couldn't help laughing at how pleased he looked with himself.

She reached out and ruffled Nawaki's messy hair.

"Not bad, kid. You're better than I was at your age."

That only fired Nawaki up more.

"Of course! I'm the man who's going to become Hokage!"

Then he leaned close to Tsunade and lowered his voice mysteriously.

"Sis, I heard you scared off those bullies at the training ground behind the mountain today. Is it true?"

Tsunade raised an eyebrow. "News travels fast to you."

Nawaki puffed out his little chest. "It has to! As the future Hokage, I need a top-notch intelligence network!"

Beside them, Mito shook her head with an amused smile.

"You may not have learned much else, but you've certainly gotten better at bragging."

Nawaki stuck out his tongue, then turned and flung himself into Mito's arms. "Grandma, I'm hungry!"

Mito patted his back fondly. "All right, all right. Grandma will make dinner."

She stood, glanced at the darkening sky outside, and said to Tsunade,

"We'll stop here for today."

"You've memorized how to guide the Yin Seal. Now you need to practice every day and let it build up little by little."

"Set aside two hours each day to study other Sealing Jutsu."

Tsunade nodded seriously.

"I understand, Grandma."

Mito smiled in satisfaction and headed for the kitchen.

Nawaki stayed beside Tsunade, blinking his big eyes.

"Sis, are you really going to learn Sealing Jutsu this time? Didn't you say you'd never learn it, no matter what?"

Tsunade shot him a look.

"That was then. This is now. Your sister had a sudden revelation. Got a problem with that?"

Nawaki scratched his head.

"No... It's just that you seem like a different person."

Tsunade's heart skipped a beat, but she gave nothing away. She reached out and flicked his forehead.

"Enough chatter. Have you finished your homework?"

Nawaki's face fell at once. "Sis, can we not talk about that..."

"No."

"You're so cruel."

"Thanks for the compliment."

The siblings bickered back and forth.

Everything seemed unchanged.

And yet something seemed to have quietly shifted.

Looking at Nawaki's still-childish face, Tsunade felt an ever-stronger urge to protect him.

Her gaze grew serious.

The Second Great Ninja War was still two years away.

She still had time.

She had to learn the Yin Seal.

The Eight Gates needed practice.

Her Medical Ninjutsu needed honing.

And her Taijutsu needed even more training!

Her Senju and Uzumaki constitution was a gift.

But talent alone would not master the Eight Gates.

She needed a strong body to support it.

She needed to train without giving up!

Mito Uzumaki had said Tsunade's strength would barely grow over the next year.

She had meant the amount of Chakra in her body.

Any surplus Chakra would go toward forming the Yin Seal.

But physical strength was another matter!

"I've decided!"

"For the next year, aside from my daily Sealing Jutsu practice..."

"I'll spend every other moment training my body!"

Tsunade clenched her fists and fired herself up.

The two lumps on her chest bounced along with the motion.

Tsunade glanced down and frowned.

"First, I need a tight-fitting outfit for combat."

"Otherwise, these two things will keep getting in my way!"