chap. 20 - Believe me, that's the way it was

A week after returning to the village, I was called to Godaime's office, where when I arrived, I found myself with Hiashi Hyuga and Tsume Inuzuka. The situation is strange enough on its own, and it gets worse when I am informed that a team has been formed and that I am part of it.

"Godaime-sama, and when and where can I meet my team?" I ask showing the utmost respect to grandma in front of other clans.

"Stop the show kid, everyone knows you hate these things and so do I." she laughs, along with Hiashi and Tsume.

"Whew," I expel the air from my lungs. "So Grandma, who are they?" now I am really intrigued.

"The captain will be Hayama, and his two other companions will be Hanabi Hyuga and Hana Inuzuka."

I honestly don't understand what all the formality is about.

"Ookay. So why all the formality?" this is getting boring.

This time it was Hiashi who explained. "When Hana and Hanabi knew they would be on their team, they were happy, then they realized that they would be rivals in love. They caused a huge mess and refuse to leave the team."

He is somewhere between amused and desperate.

"Then why don't you take me off the team and put someone on it who can complete it in the best way?" I'm scratching my cheek, kind of unresponsive.

"And who would you recommend?" grandma is very interested in this one.

"Well, since both of you are very good at tracking, at close combat, why not find someone long distance?" I'm holding my hand to my chin, thinking hard about who that might be.

"There are a lot of very good civilian kids in the village." I start to think of some, "There's Hiku, who besides being good with swords, has great chakra control, and water and lightning elemental affinity, which would help the girls' team a lot in defending, tracking and counterattacking."

"But I can see others who would make up this team well. Hayama is a very good Jõnin and they will be fine," I finish now looking at Grandma.

"So you are trying to get the body out of the two's fight that is over you?" a fierce Tsume looks at me. "Why?" she crosses her arms and looks at me judging me.

"To be quite honest, I think both girls are beautiful. Any man in the world would be lucky enough to be with either of the two girls." I am sweating a little and Isobu doesn't help me as he laughs unrestrainedly at my misfortune.

"But the moment for me is not propitious, I want to train and become stronger than Grandpa Hashirama, only then will I be sure I can protect my family from anyone." I now look directly at Tsume.

"And my young age along with the fact that I can't give either girl the necessary time they deserve, and still cause a conflict that could hurt one of the two. I'd rather not be there and not cause that problem."

"Not to mention that on a mission, if I can't save one of the girls, I probably won't be okay, which could cause me to make a mistake and cost the other girl her life. I don't want to be involved in such a problem on a mission," I finish by looking directly into her eyes.

Grandma is holding her thumb up, but hiding it from them. Tsume is still measuring me.

"He analyzed the situation very well, came up with a valid suggestion, and even thought about the problems that would entail in possible missions. I think he'll pass," says a relaxed Tsume.

"I have no objection to Tsume's analysis, so for me, he'll pass too," Hiashi replies.

"Well, since there are no objections and with the recommendation of many Jõnins, Nox Uzumaki Senju, from now on, you are a Jõnin of Konoha. "I'm proud of you," and kisses my forehead.

"So it was all a test? The girls didn't fight?" I ask relieved, but little did I know.

"Yes, it was a test, and no, the girls really did fight." Tsume laughs as he sees me go from relieved to worried. "But you don't have to worry, they became friends after the fight. They are more mature than you think boy."

I am now a Jõnin, and with that, more trouble.

Only Grandma and Shizune know that I have the same chakra as Grandma, if not more. That's not counting the seals.

Speaking of seals, I created a seal called the Tree of Life. Its purpose is to take natural energy and transform it into life energy. But since it is a time consuming process, and since I have Isobu to verify that it really works, the first two I tested it on were Guy and Lee.

Of course, knowing the figures well, I left a trigger in case they forgot to activate the seal.

Time passes again ---------

It has been 6 months since I became a Jõnin.

Every couple of months I looked for Guy and Lee to see how the seals were doing and it was better than I expected. The little bit of life energy generated by the seal, helped to heal the injuries in the duo's muscles, which let them train more, which made them even stronger.

There are still two years until Naruto returns, so I'm going to do what I need to do, train more.

I already have good control of natural energy, excuse the pun but, I convert it into Sabio chakra almost naturally now.

My control over mokuton and the Flying Thunder God are at peak, so those are solved problems.

So it's time to have more focused training, hunting nukenins and honing my combat experience.

That's why we are here. In the office with Grandma.

"Grandma, I want to ask for 2 years of training," I went straight to the point.

"And why should I give you up? One of the strongest shinobi in the village?" she stares at me.

"For the simple fact that I lack combat experience, as well as for me to improve my techniques and when necessary to be useful to you even more.

"Then I will give you a rank S mission, information gathering. You have two years to accomplish this mission." she hands me a parchment. It is a blank scroll, meaning she is forging an excuse.

"I am going on my Godaime mission. See you soon Grandma." I use my modified flicker and appear at the Senju compound.

I pack my things and leave on my way.

*Notes

*I will use the name flicker for when I do the short distance teleport.

*I will use blink for long distance teleportation, which would use a marker.

*That way we can differentiate one from the other and know exactly which one I am using and when.