Chapter 21: Graduation (1)
Uchiha Compound, Main Family
Just like the Hyuugas, the Uchihas themselves were divided into the Main family and the branch family. While most of the main family members chose the path of being a shinobi, the branch household members seldom chose such a dangerous path of living and dabbled their fingers in trade and commerce.
Inside the Head Family's courtyard, Fugaku Uchiha, the current head of the family, sat on his knees as he looked at the two youths in front of him. Their expression, similarly, seldom.
"You both... have made the clan proud." Taking a deep breath, Fugaku continued. "Shisui Uchiha, your parents, unfortunately, passed away in the last war. Without a doubt, any other member of our clan would hate the enemy nation as well as Konohagakure itself. But you...
I personally don't like you."
Shisui flinched at the comment while the other youth, Itachi Uchiha, smiled silently. Ajd somehow, Fugaku was irked by that expression, too.
"You are everything that we cannot be... at least, this statement is true about the older generation. You possess an envious quality and this is something I despise about you.
But my respect for you has never changed. And you, Itachi..."
Fugaku trailed his voice as it was Itachi's turn to get 'praised' while Shisui let out a stiff smile.
"You are talented... way talented than any other Uchiha including me, Shisui and even the S-Rank criminal, Obito. And I pride your talent, but you shouldn't."
Glaring at Itachi, Fugaku remarked lightly.
"Never let arrogance get to your head."
"Yes, father."
Itachi spoke calmly. He took after his mother, Mikoto Uchiha. So instead of having a gruff expression, he always had a gentle smile on his face, at least, when he wasn't on any missions.
"You both have been called to serve as Jounin-Senseis to the new graduates, do you know why?"
Fugaku continued while Itachi and Shisui frowned simultaneously. Their mission record has been perfect, just like the famous Kakashi Hatake. Never had they failed any task but they still couldn't understand why they were getting demoted from ANBU special-nin captains to Jounin Instructors.
In the paygrade, Jounin Instructors were way above the ANBU captains. After all, the fate of the future generation is dependent on the Jounin Instructors. But to Itachi and Shisui, they felt that this particular move was to hinder both of their growth somehow. But they still kept quiet as these were the direct orders from the Yondaime.
"When the seat for Yondaime was considered, alongside Minato Namikaze and Orochimaru, an Uchiha... I, was also considered."
Fugaku looked straight at the both of them as the flame on the candle flickered lightly.
"But my qualifications were only considered for a few moments before getting ignored. Do you know why?"
Without waiting for any corny remark from the mouth-opening Shisui, Fugaku continued.
"Because of our past. The council did not wish the 'Mad Warriors' of the Konohagakure occupy such an important position. While Minato's election was quite appropriate, the fact remains that we were even suppressed during such an important decision.
But Minato... he is a capable Hokage. He has proven his worth in all the sectors of the Village. And now, you two were chosen by him, alongside other Jounin Instructors as the next potential Hokage candidate."
The sudden revelation shook the hearts of the two youths as they looked at each other simultaneously.
***
"Is this really necessary?"
Eio sighed heavily as Asuka seriously looked at him before licking her lips as she slowly set Eio's hair nicely.
"Hehe, Mama, look at that right lock! Yeah, that one!"
A short, black-haired girl with violet eyes similar to Ryu and Eio let out a huge grin as she slowly recorded the scene by holding onto the camcorder with her little hands. Since it was morning, Himawari was still in her pyjamas.
"Good one, sunshine!"
Asuka grinned while Ryu looked completely relaxed, sipping on his morning tea. Since the graduation was held today, he was also given a leave to attend Eio's graduation.
"Why? Did you forget all the toys I bought for you?"
Eio sighed heavily while Himawari giggled cheerfully. Her front teeth still had to grow back and she looked absolutely adorable, making Eio unable to get angry at her.
"All set!"
Asuka finally nodded with a smile.
Many mothers... in fact, almost all the mothers were doing the same thing to their kids. Even though all the academy students had to lass through the graduation exam, they all kept their confidence in their children so that they wouldn't feel too nervous.
Soon, the family got ready and accompanied Eio to his graduation ground before Eio entered the student-only area while Ryu, Asuka and Himawari went towards the spectator's area, where they met up with the boisterous group of Kushina and Boruto and the calm and composed group of Mikoto and Sarada.
While Ryu wanted nothing more than simply stay away from these two women, who apparently, were onto Asuka's identity, he could only choke on his own saliva when Himawari immediately ran and hugged Sarada tightly while Asuka smiled and walked towards the two princesses herself.
"Oh..." Ryu groaned internally as he slowly followed his virtuous wife.
***
Meanwhile, inside the student's waiting area, Eio was stopped by a black-clothed, blonde boy. Seeing his energetic smile, Eio felt slightly lethargic. When he opened his eyes into this world, he didn't feel like living upto his potential because he was still in the state of denial.
Gradually, he accepted the fact that he wasn't Gohan anymore. He wasn't a saiyan and he didn't have major responsibilities like fighting a losing war for as long as he can. During that phase of his mentality, he only wished to do stuff that he missed out on his own childhood. But after a couple of years... he realised that no matter how much of kid he was, physically, he was still old enough to be their fathers.
But even then, Naruto, who had already tasted the joy of committing pranks with a partner would relentlessly annoy him by shouting his name again and again and again.
How was it his fault if Naruto created a stupid jutsu combined with Transformation Jutsu and started... showing how each of their future body's might look?
Why was he glared at when he simply commented on Sakura's future figure? Or how Shino would look if he happened to be a girl?
And why was Shino... chan, more curvaceous than Adult Sakura?!
Eio shook his head as he tried to ignore the blonde flurry of trouble, but his path remained barred until Eio looked at him and finally greeted him.
"Hey, Hinata, you look good." Eio silently walked over to the pale-skinned girl and smiled warmly. Unlike other boys and some envious girls of his class, he did notice the light-blue and purple remnants of bruises on her face. While he made sure that she wasn't bullied out of being concerned for her health, the marks never disappeared.
Sometimes, her wrist would be pretty bruised, too. Knowing that most maidens of this particular world quickly grow mentally after the extra-curricular guidance lessons by successful Kunoichis, Eio refrained from prying further and simply kept a healthy and friendly relationship with her.
On the other hand, the girls who had already noticed Hinata's peculiarities had decided to stay away from her. Meanwhile, the girls who weren't sensible enough simply envied Hinata's life as a Hyuuga and didn't indulge her in any type of conversations.
Due to his association with Hinata, most of the crazy girls had also diverted their attention from him and placed it on the top two students of the class.
Uchiha Sasuke, Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.
Being able to tie for the first position in the classroom on many occasions, Sasuke and Naruto quickly grew from best of the buddies to the strongest rivals. Their strengths and weaknesses could simply coalesce without any troubles.
"Are you nervous? Hinata?"
Looking at her small body covered in an oversized jacket, Eio did not feel a single bout of pity. If he could understand that Hinata was someone who was carrying some undue burdens on her shoulders than the least he could do, if not help her, is not to show pity to her strong body that still held until this point.
The only thing Eio wondered was that if her body was riddled with bruises just like her face?
"Ah! Yes... a little. I am sure that... you could easily pass the exam."
Her pale-white cheeks showing a healthy blush of happiness for being able to converse... to a friend, her pale-white eyes did momentarily peak at his violet eyes. Unable to find even a hint of pity, Hinata let out a relieved sigh. But to Eio's dismay, he could only see Hinata's low self-esteem.
Honestly, when he first met Hinata, she was slightly... active. At least, she was capable of letting out a wider smile. But as time passed on, the length of her smile grew shorter.
"You're going to do great, Hinata. You've always been amazing in the academy, too." Hinata's smile did grow slightly wider. Her gaze lowered while she nodded meekly.
Somehow, to his expectations, Eio and Hinata found themselves standing alone in the corner. While Naruto and Sasuke couldn't keep their glares off of each other, others simply decided to ignore the duo, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
"Eio... Hozai, huh? He has shown maturity far greater than his peers. Such a mentality would be required in my team."
A fine, black-haired woman whispered to the two youths calmly. While the other jounin instructors couldn't care much about the team they would be assigned, the three specialists belonged to the category that is used to observe their 'targets' before they continue with the mission.
Hidden, Shisui nodded lightly. Even Itachi and Shisui had to show respect to the only woman capable of achieving Genjutsu level almost comparable to the Uchihas. What was even more dangerous about the woman was that she did not possess any bloodline.
Her achievements were a result of pure hard work and experience.
"But maturity does not mean that he may even pass the graduation exam."
Itachi Uchiha spoke flatly. His eyes never left Naruto and Sasuke. Honestly, Itachi valued Naruto greatly as he was the only one who could form a rivalry with his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha.
Unknown to the two youths, Kurenai, in fact, did appreciate Eio for a whole other reason. If his mature behaviour could get an appreciative nod from herself than Eio's friendship with Hinata was something that she really wished to continue... even after their graduation.
No outsider could be more knowledgeable about Hinata's situation than her. While she felt extremely bad for the poor girl, she did keep her regular tabs on the former Hyuuga Heiress and soon found about her friendly relation with Eio, which made almost everyone treat the duo akin to an outcast, except for a few students with a wider perspective.
"Maturity cannot, but ability can." Shisui spoke after a moment. In his hands were the document related to Eio's performance. Taking the document from Shisui, Itachi finally frowned as he compared the results with the performance sheet of his won brother and Naruto.
"My apologies. I still have a lot to learn... at least, in this regard." Itachi finally spoke. When he compared the spiked up hexagonal performance bar of his brother and Naruto with Eio's average hexagonal performance, it didn't take him more than a few moments to understand that nobody could simply score just more than the passing point in each subject if they weren't hiding their abilities.
If Sasuke shot 10 out of 10 bullseyes, then Eio simply shot the required 4 bullseyes before stopping.
If Sasuke got 90 points after attempting 100 questions then Eio simply attempted 40 questions and took his 40 points calmly.
"Nah, no worries." Shisui smiled frankly and looked at Kurenai Yuuhi. "Kurenai-san, don't tell me that you are interested in Eio Hozai?"
"Why not?" Kurenai smiled back. "He is from humble origins and has already shown his broad mentality alongside his possible potential."
"Just like you?" Shisui picked the core point of Kurenai's interest towards Eio as she took a moment before nodding.
"Maybe..." was her only reply.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Broughtwaorld
Broughtwaorld so... what do you think?
My thoughts is that he still isn't too op. Just that his potential is otherworldly.
Yes, about the byakugan, do you remember how Kushina once mentioned Asuka as the Rabbit Princess?
Oh, and this senjutsu has its own history too.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone