Tsunade took her seat at the front, carrying herself like a little queen, and started sizing up the class with those sharp eyes. Any kid who met her gaze quickly looked away. But when her gaze landed on Shiraishi Gisei, he was totally spaced out.
Man, she really is flat-chested. How did she get so stacked later? That's just not normal—one of those mysteries Naruto will never solve. But, hey, she's only six this year, right? Kind of makes sense for her to have nothing going on up top. So actually, am I the weird one here?
By the time he came back to reality, Tsunade was already sitting next to him, hand out like she always introduces herself this way.
"Senju Tsunade. Pleased to meet you."
"Shiraishi Gisei. Pleased to meet you too."
After that quick handshake, Gisei drifted off again. This time, he wasn't thinking anything dirty—just seriously weighing what to do about his future.
Should he cozy up to the Sannin? They'd all end up as Konoha's power players someday. If he wanted to get anywhere in the system, it would sure help to have them on his side. But that came with problems. The Sannin were the Hokage's disciples; being friends meant he'd end up in the Hokage's camp too, and sooner or later, he'd have to pay for it.
Nothing's free in this world. Gisei understood that perfectly.
Sure, Konoha was peaceful right now, but he knew it wouldn't last. There were wars coming—the Second, the Third—and when the time came, he'd be expected to fight for the Hokage and his so-called Will of Fire. But man, he didn't have any faith he'd survive that. Honestly, he didn't even want to try.
With his knowledge, getting strong wasn't the problem. It's what comes after—spending years running across dead-end battlefields, all for the Will of Fire? Give him a break. Even top generals die eventually.
He wasn't the self-sacrificing type. The Will of Fire wasn't holy to him. In fact, it was like a worn-out shoe. If the Infinite Tsukuyomi was the ultimate genjutsu, the Will of Fire was one level above that—just a nicer lie.
He imagined a typical conversation in Konoha:
"Hey buddy, wanna get a drink after work?"
"…There's something you should know. I drank too much and accidentally killed your parents last night."
"What? You bastard! I'll never forgive you! For the Land of Fire, for the Will of Fire, I must crush you!"
"But I have the Will of Fire too. I just drank a bit much, that's all…"
"You too?"
"I've always dreamed of becoming Hokage. I just got drunk last night…"
"Well, if you apologize, maybe I'll forgive you."
"I'm sorry. I'll never touch a drop again. Please forgive me."
"Really, never?"
"Swear it."
"Alright. Under the light of the Will of Fire, I forgive you."
He knew this sounded like a joke, but Naruto's world was even crazier. Pain destroyed Konoha—Naruto talked him to death. Then Pain brought everyone back to life and Naruto was instantly a hero. If Pain hadn't known the Rinne Tensei, who knows what would've happened? Naruto was even ready to forgive Pain, which would have ended with Pain locked up forever in a cell. And with Obito, Naruto went even further—he actually saved the guy in the end. How did that make sense?
And then there was Uchiha Itachi—king of genjutsu, but hypnotized by the Will of Fire. Guy killed his father, his mother, the whole clan. That was another level of 'special.'
Thinking of that, Gisei's mouth twitched and he found himself side-eyeing Tsunade. He was just an ordinary guy, maybe with a chance to be more someday, but he'd never be a saint like those legends.
Better play it safe, Gisei figured. Time to draw some lines.
"Uh… Tsunade, I don't think you should sit here."
He realized immediately he had fucked up. Tsunade's face started to twitch, her fists cracked, and before he could blink, Gisei grabbed his stuff and bailed. Confirmed—this was a woman you did not want to mess with.
He found a new seat, feeling pleased with himself, like he'd finally dodged the Will of Fire and was almost home free.
Not for long.
Just as he thought he'd earned a peaceful minute, the classroom door opened and in came Orochimaru in white, looking way too cute for someone with that reputation. Still, not quite as good-looking as Gisei himself, he thought.
Before he could get too into admiring himself, Orochimaru sat right down next to him and stuck out his hand, already acting curious.
"First time meeting, I'm Orochimaru. You're from the Butterfly User Clan, right? I'm really interested in your clan's secret technique. Please take care of me from now on."
Hitting him up for clan secrets already? Gisei didn't even react—he just started packing up again, ready to find a new seat, but the teacher walked in right at that moment.
It was a middle-aged guy with a harsh face, not exactly the friendly type. Gisei, interrupted mid-escape, gave in and shook Orochimaru's hand. "Shiraishi Gisei. Let's skip the 'take care' part."
Because last thing he wanted was to end up on one of Orochimaru's lab tables.
He was starting to think he and the Sannin were just doomed to keep running into each other. No matter what he tried, they stuck to him like glue.
"A boy?" Orochimaru actually looked surprised—pretty cute, honestly.
So you sat here because you thought I was a girl? Naive!
Gisei just glared and slumped over the desk, feeling like all hope was gone. First he escaped the Will of Fire, now he'd fallen into Orochimaru's sights. Some luck.
The homeroom teacher knocked on the blackboard a couple times, then introduced himself: "I'm Ikeda Kawano. Starting today, I'll be your homeroom teacher. Welcome, all of you. Now, let's start roll call…"
During roll, Gisei perked up to hear a name he recognized: Hiruko.
After that, the teacher handed out textbooks. Gisei flipped through them—just the basics, chakra science, history, a few humanities things.
Next came the endless paperwork, and the busy day finally crawled by.
When it was over, Gisei left school rubbing his eyes, barely awake after napping through most of the day.
Back home, all he wanted was peace, but Shiraishi Eisawa was already in the courtyard, drinking tea and reeking of booze. He waved Gisei over.
"How was school?"
"Boring as hell."
"You chose it, so don't complain. You know, I always liked the Anbu training more, but you seem to hate Anbu. Any reason?"
Why? Easy—Danzo.
Gisei rolled his eyes and decided not to lie: "Danzo's no good. He's up to no good, believe me."
Eisawa poured him tea and was quiet a while. "Met Danzo today. Fought him."
You fought Danzo, and you're alive? Gisei spit out his tea.
"Are you crazy? I don't even know what title Danzo has now, but he's definitely high up. You—you who lost your ninja status—decided to pick a fight with him?"
Eisawa just grinned: "Konoha's made up of ninja clans, and we're one of them. Even the Hokage can't order clans around—he's just a spokesperson for our interests."
"Danzo's not even the Hokage, so why can't I fight him?"
Wow. This guy didn't even respect the Hokage—why would he care about Danzo?
But still. There's just two of us left. If you keep this up, will I even live to see adulthood? With your drinking, do you even know what you're saying?
Gisei stared at Eisawa like he was an idiot until the man got pissed off and smacked him on the head. "You know nothing about the clan."
After pausing, Eisawa sighed. "Guess it's time you learned some things, or you'll never take the clan seriously."
He started explaining: Back in the Warring States period, there were hundreds of ninja clans in the Land of Fire, but the Senju and Uchiha were the big dogs. Their leaders, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, were like gods. Eisawa's eyes sparkled just talking about them.
He went on about how he'd once seen them fight—said it was like the world was ending.
Gisei was only half-listening. He knew the plot. There were two Konoha genin in the future that'd be even crazier than the two legends. Naruto with his Talk no Jutsu, turning enemies into friends and rivals into lovers. Sasuke's cheat had less 'funding,' so he gave up and lived happily ever after.
"But they both died," Eisawa continued. "No more Uchiha Madara, no more Senju Hashirama. So, who was the strongest clan then?"
He pointed at himself. "We were. At our peak, Butterfly User Clan had more than a fifth of all Jonin in Konoha. Counting those who left or were allied with us, even if Uchiha and Senju joined forces, they wouldn't beat us."
Gisei squinted, trying to remember anyone else from their clan. Maybe there really were that many—once.
But that was the past. Now, there were two left. Stop bragging—it just made them look pathetic.
"It's a pity. Your grandpa could've been Hokage after Hashirama died, but…"
"Wait," Gisei held up a hand. "You're saying Grandpa ran against the Second for Hokage?"
That was wild. No wonder the clan died out so quickly—that was the root of it.
"In strength and status, your grandpa was just as good as the Second. Why wouldn't he run?"
Yeah right, Gisei thought. The Second, Tobirama Senju, was nobody to mess with—he was ruthless and sharp as hell. Compare that to Hashirama and Tobirama, 'one light, one dark'—Sarutobi and Danzo weren't even in their league. Even then, they still managed to wipe out the entire Uchiha.
Why did all these powerful people always end up walking themselves to ruin? Senju Tobirama was just a stronger, scarier Danzo.