So when I said that this chapter was going to be a fight, I was wrong. As I was writing it, I came to the conclusion that it would make no sense for Shin to fight. As has been stated multiple times by Kakashi in the anime and demonstrated in the mission to bring Sasuke back after he defected. The mission always takes priority. So the fight didn't happen. Anyway, this chapter devolved into a kind of filler/slice-of-life chapter and the next will hopefully be a training arc. I'll see where my mind takes me.

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It was Orochimaru, he started laughing once he saw me.

 

"Hehehe, I knew something was off. Do you think I don't know about the kekkei genkai of the Hoshizora clan? The chance of there being another lost line of the clan that just so happened to have a member with the kekkei genkai is very slim. I didn't want to take the risk so I had someone check and there was no knowledge of you there. So I figured I would lure you out and see if you would take the bait. And you fell for it. I have to say, Shin, you almost had me. Your acting is phenomenal, and your transformation jutsu of yours is very impressive. Your plan would have worked but unfortunately, you tried to use my jutsu against me. Who do you think invented that type of transformation? Too bad, that one is an older model. It has many flaws that I noticed right away. It's unfortunate that I have to move, it's a very tedious task. But I think it will be worth it when I get to have your body all to myself."

 

"First of all, that's disgusting. Second, that was the longest 30 seconds of my life. I'm going to leave, I have a mission to finish. It was horrible staying with you, thank you for your hospitality." I said and disappeared. I covered my entire body in star chakra. It has become a lot more versatile in this life. All of my techniques are more versatile in this life due to chakra, the only downside is that I have to work harder to create and master techniques due to the absence of a grimoire.

 

I could have stayed and fought him, but it's extremely hard to kill that snake. I heard about his unique fighting style and obsession with immortality and I'm more inclined to believe he has figured out ways to prevent his death. Anyway, the mission takes priority anyway.

 

It took me only a couple of hours to make it back to the village. I appeared in the Hokage's office and spoke.

 

"Hokage-sama I have completed my mission."

 

"Hmm, well done Shin. Tell me what happened."

 

I then recounted the events of my stay.

 

"I acted as a person who ran away from the land of water after my family was killed. I was approached by a couple of ninjas who took me straight to Orochimaru after I used my kekkei genkai. I acted as a helpless individual with nothing to lose and he offered to make me stronger to get revenge on the village. He then left to validate my story and I used that chance to collect any documents I could find and initiated a riot to escape. It turns out he knew of my plan and real identity and confronted me as I exited his base. I wasn't certain that I could kill him, so I escaped as the mission took priority."

 

"Well done, submit the documents to my assistant outside and she'll handle it. She will handle your pay as well." He said.

 

"Thank you, sir." I left and appeared next to the assistant outside.

 

"Hey, my name is Seishin Hashizora. I just completed a mission and the Hokage told me to submit the documents here."

 

"Ah, Mr. Hashizora. Yes, the Hokage told me about that. Here is your pay as well."

 

"Thanks." I took the scroll and body flickered outside. I went to the Yamanaka flower shop to buy some flowers.

 

I entered and saw a little blonde girl tending to some flowers.

 

"Welcome!" She said.

 

"Thanks, I looking to buy some flowers," I said.

 

"Wait a second, let me call my mom," She said and ran off.

 

I waited at the counter for a bit and the mom came outside with the girl.

 

"Oh, Shin. How has it been? How are you?" She asked.

 

"Good, I came to buy flowers for my mom's birthday."

 

"Oh, it's her birthday? Tell her happy birthday for me OK? Anyway, do you have anything in mind?" She asked.

 

"Thanks, I'll tell her, and no not really, I don't know much about flowers so I'll take your recommendation. I just want to match it with her hair and eye colour" I said

 

"In that case, I recommend roses and tulips," She said.

 

"Great," I said.

 

"It'll be ready in a few minutes," She said.

 

After a few minutes, the bouquet was finished and I made my way home.

 

"I'm home!" I said as I entered the house.

 

"In here!" I heard my mom say, I go to the living room and see that she is reading a book. "Welcome home," She said.

 

"Hey mom, how have you been?" I said while hiding the flowers behind my back.

 

"Hello sweetie, I'm fine. How was your mission?" She asked.

 

"Oh you know, same old, same old. Easy. Anyway, I got you something" I said and showed her the flowers.

 

"Aw, they're beautiful. What's the occasion?" She asked.

 

"Well, I just so happened to know that someone's birthday is coming up so I was kinda hoping to take you out to dinner to celebrate," I said. We haven't really done anything special for her birthday since... ever.

 

"Aw, you remembered, that's so sweet of you honey. But I can't." She said.

 

"What! Why?" I asked.

 

She started sweating and averting eye contact, I leaned in and looked at her face suspiciously. "Well, you see. I kinda have a date."

 

"WHAT! With who? Since when? And why is this the first time I've heard about this?" I asked.

 

"Well..." She became nervous and tried to change the topic. "Did you fight with anyone on your mission? I heard-"

 

"Don't change the subject mom, who is it?" I said, as I practically dug a hole in her face with my glare.

 

"Sigh, it's with your sensei, he wa-"

 

"What? That son of a bitch! Let me go give him a piece of my mind."

 

As I was walking away, I felt a chill going down my spine. As I turned around, I saw a monster with golden eyes. As I got ready to fight, I saw a massive hand approach me quickly. I thought I was a goner until the hand grabbed my ear and twisted it hard.

 

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" I screamed. I tried to escape but the grip on my ear just tightened.

 

"You will do no such thing, mister. You have no right to dictate you I can and can't date. Is that understood?"

 

"But-" I tried to retort but she twisted my ear even harder.

 

"Ow! Ow! Ow! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" I yelled until she finally let go.

 

"What's the big deal anyway? It's just a date" She said.

 

"Just a date!? Just a date!? You've never spared a glance to any man that has approached you for the past decade and the first one is my sensei!?!? And a date on top of that? That's like saying you hate spicy food and then going to a hotpot. Come on, the village is big and there are a lot of bachelors to pick from, why's it gotta be my sensei?"

"Well, I dunno. Right place at the right time I guess. I've been wanting to get back into the game for a while now. Sigh... I'm lonely Seishin. I loved your father with all my heart, and I still do. But... It's been 12 years since he died, and I... at some point I've just got to move on. You've helped me significantly with that. Taking care of you, I realized I needed to be strong, to not let his memory die and to protect you. The result of our love.

Then, when I saw Naruto. My heart just broke for him. I didn't want him to live without any parents. You know, we both lost someone. I lost the love of my life and you lost your father, so I felt like if anyone could raise him right and understand his pain, it would be us. But now, with you being on active duty and Naruto being out all day at the academy and hanging out with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio I just had a lot of time to myself. And that loneliness came creeping back in. Aiki came and pulled me out of that pit. We started talking and I just felt a certain kinship with him. We have a lot in common, he's funny, he's handsome, he's nice, and the most important thing is. He can look me in the eyes while speaking with me. I don't feel like he's scared of me, or he reveres me or anything of the sort. He sees me as another normal human being, an equal. After a couple of days of speaking with each other and 'running into' each other at work, he asked me out and I accepted."

"I- I don't know what to say, why didn't you speak with me? I'm your son, if yo-"

"Yes, I know, and that's one of the many things I love about you. But I need to have my own life too. You are my son, I can't share everything with you. Besides you are growing up and soon you'll move out and Naruto will eventually leave. What will I have then? Should I just be the widow living by herself? When I imagine what life would be like ten years from now, I don't see anything to look forward to. I thought by this point I would be holding a third child in my arms, taking care of them with the love of my life and going out with friends, but... now I just sit at home remembering the good old days when my friends, family and husband were alive. You're all I have now Shin, but you'll leave me too, and I just don- *sob*" She started sobbing.

I just hugged her until she calmed down, I didn't know what to do. I can't believe I never noticed the signs before. I remember when she broke down in the bathroom after she adopted Naruto. I thought she was reminded of Dad when saw me and Naruto, but I didn't think she was holding on to so much for this long.

Not long after, we fell asleep together on the bed. She wouldn't let go of me after that so I just laid down with her. The next day I woke up with her still sleeping on the bed, so I got up to make her breakfast and served it to her in bed. If that son of a bitch is going to go out with my mom then I'll make today the best day of her life so that her date will pale in comparison. I understand everything she said, and they were all valid statements but it doesn't mean I'll like it and it doesn't mean I'll make it easy for him.

Anyways, while mom was eating I created a couple of clones. One went to set up multiple activities throughout the day, one went to order a new dress, shoes and accessories for her and another got a bath ready for her to relax. While I was playing music for her to enjoy as she ate. The day went amazingly and it looked like she was having a good time. We went to watch a movie and went to a fancy restaurant, and she got drunk and forced me to get a matching tattoo with her. You know, normal stuff.

It was our clan logo, she had one on her back at the base of her neck.

Apparently, it's a right of passage for the children of the clan to get the tattoo once the head of the clan feels that the child has grown up and is capable enough to take care of themselves. It was once a big ceremony held every year. Like a competition where all children who haven't gotten the tattoo yet can compete to show their skills and capability to the clan head. If they are up to the clan head standards then they would get the logo. The main objective of the tattoo was to motivate the children to work harder because they would continue to be treated as children if they did not get the tattoo. Those that stood out were quietly recruited to work directly under the clan head and a more complex design was added to the top of the original tattoo using fuinjutsu. Mainly to hide the tattoo when they are out on missions and to make it easier for the higher-ups in the clan to confirm their identities.

But now, with just the two of us left in the clan, it became a simple formality.

Anyway, the day of her date rolled around.

"Shin, have you seen my purse? SHIN!"

"What, what? Why are you yelling?"

"My purse!"

"It's in your hands," I said

"Oh, hehe. Thanks. Anyway, dinner is ready. Just make sure to take it out of the oven. Make sure Naruto takes a bath for once and have him do the laundry."

"Sure, thing Mom. Just go on your date."

"Okay, how do I look?"

"Like a million Ryo, now go before you're late."

"Okay, okay."

As she was walking out the door I said, "Have fun!" and closed the door. I immediately looked through the window and saw my 'teacher' in a suit waiting for her at the gate. I wanted to greet him, but Mom wouldn't let me.

"NARUTO! Get down here, we're going out!"

I saw him walk down the stairs looking confused. "Where?"

"We're gonna keep an eye on mom. Make sure the date doesn't go too far."

"What? I thought you were fine with this?"

"Oh, I am. But I have to make sure sensei doesn't do anything inappropriate to mom, you know?"

"Hey, you know I hate it when you copy my saying"

"You coming or not? You get to test out all your spying tricks" I said, trying to convince him.

I could see he was reluctant, "Okay, fine. There's a couple of stuff I've been meaning to try out."

"Atta boy, let's go."

The first stop was a small fine dining restaurant called Tamawarai. You have to book a reservation to get inside and they were fully booked so we had to find a different way inside. There were no windows so getting inside was the only way to keep an eye on them.

"Okay, Naruto, here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna go in the back and pretend to be a waiter, you are going to transform yourself into a plate and I'll serve you to my mom. You'll listen to their conversations and once they're done I'll come and pick you up okay?"

"What! You're crazy, you think I can last that long. It's not exactly comfortable to be a plate for an hour."

"Okay? Then have a clone do it." I said.

"Sigh, fine."

I entered through the back, grabbed a waiter and put him under a genjutsu. I then transformed into him and pretended to be a waiter. I discreetly observed the kitchen and once I noticed which chef was cooking my mom's food I put plate Naruto on top of the pile of other plates and left the kitchen. I walked around looking like I belonged and came back into the kitchen to see if the order was done. I saw it was and I took the plates and put them in front of my mom and sensei.

"Here you are, the cold soba for the lady and the hot soba for the gentleman. Enjoy." I said with a smile.

"Thank you, it looks lovely," My mom said. "Thanks," My sensei said

"No problem, please let me know if you need anything else." I then walked away and just tried to blend in until they finished their dinner. Every time I passed by them I would hear them talking about the past, or some missions or just any interesting stories they had.

I nearly broke my cover when I heard my mom talk about the time I tried to fly and she had to catch me. It is one of my greatest blunders, I was hasty in trying out my old powers and they didn't work exactly how I thought.

Anyway, after the date was over I retrieved Naruto and left the restaurant and waited for them outside. They walked to their next location which was a theatre performance. We followed them and kept a distance, staying in alleyways and street corners until they took a sudden turn towards our direction Naruto panicked but I just smacked him in the back of the head pulled him close to me and quickly pulled up a cloth that changed to match whatever is behind it when injected with a bit of chakra.

We waited patiently until they passed, but I swear I felt a chill run down my spine when my mom passed by me. Did she notice me?

As she passed by I pulled down the cloth and breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was scary, I thought we were gonna get caught there," Naruto said.

"Yeah... let's go home now. We're stretching our luck thin if we keep stalking them." 

"Ah, but it was just getting good," Naruto said.

"Yeah, but I have a feeling if we keep going we'll be in for hell when mom comes back."

"Do you think she knows?"

"Maybe," I said.

As the day came to an end, I waited next to the door for them to come back.

When I heard the gate open I went and looked outside the window and saw him walking her to the front door. Just as they were about to kiss I opened the door and said.

"Hey, what do we have here? Do you have any idea what time it is? I've been worried sick wondering when you'll come home and here you are enjoying yourself without any care in the world. Tsk tsk." I said, jokingly.

I then looked towards my sensei and said, "And you mister, do your parents know you're out so late into the night? What would they think when they fi-"

"Okay, that's enough out of you." My mom cut me off, she turned towards my sensei and said. "I had a really great time, thank you."

"You're welcome, I had a great time as well. I hope we can do this again sometime." He said.

"Me too." My mom said.

Before my mom could close the door fully, I said "And make sure you bring her home earlier next time." I smirked, but then I noticed the expression on my mom's face and said, "Anyways, good night," and ran away.

"Get back here, you think I don't know about you following me on my date and now this? You have nowhere to run Seishin Hoshizora, wait until I get my hands on you."

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Hopefully, I didn't bore you with this chapter, I will make sure I bring this fanfic back on track in the next chapter.