NARUTO: Tobuden: Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE: Enishida Tobu

"What do you mean?" A voice came from across the table that sat next to an open window. It was a small table, not large at all. At one end was the ninja known as Kamizuki Izumo. On the other end was a bearded, middle-aged man, crow's feet reaching from the ends of his eyes, wrinkles between his eyebrows. If one was to look at him, they would either say he was a very old man, or he was always worrying or scowling. The truth was closer to the latter.

"I'm currently on a mission from Tsunade... She's commanded me to come and confirm about the newly instated Genin, Tobu." Izumo said with a uneasy face, for halfway through his statement, the man's mood changed drastically. He went from a puzzled expression to the scowl he became known for. "In other words, you came to get me to make the statement that'll keep him from becoming a ninja, yeah? You think due to his unique physiology and the conditions to why he was orphaned give you the right to hold him back!" The man yelled, slamming his fist down on the table. The cups of tea that rested on the table jumped. He quickly stood from his seat, making his way toward the door, excusing Izumo from his house.

"It's-- it's not that, Shuiro-sama!" Izumo frantically stood, wiping the hot tea from his pants. "It's that--"

"It's that unlike the Kyuubi, you can't use him as a weapon. He's a complete abomination to the council, unlike the Kyuubi, because they can whore out his immense power." Shuiromaru muttered, opening the door, Izumo stepped through the doorway reluctantly. "You're making too much of this, Shuiro-sama. The boy--"

"Wants to be a ninja, so he shall be a ninja. Good day, Izumo-san." Shuiro finished, closing the door behind Izumo. Izumo sighed, scratching the side of his face. "Well... That went well." He stated sarcastically, looking to the sky.

SERIES START:
NARUTO: TOBUDEN

"OSSU! I DID IT! I DID IIIT!" The boy cried at the top of his lungs, throwing his fist in the air. In his grip was a large metal plate, engraved in the plate was the symbol of Konohagakure no Sato. The room was filled with chatter and buzz as the children received their hitai-ate in the ceremony following the exams. Placing the plate to his forehead, he slipped the cloth back, clutching it before tying it in a nice knot on the back of his head. Blinking, he looked around the room, the children conversed with each other, but none with him. Scowling, the cruel realization that he had no friends to speak of angered him.

"Look at who lucked out." A voice came from behind Tobu, a young, chestnut shaded hair and bright green eyes stared down at him from the desk above. He sat with one foot planted on the desk and one leg dangling over the edge. Tobu's nose jumped and his eyebrow twitched before turning to face the boy glaring down at him. "You don't deserve that hitai-ate, inching by the way you did."

"Tch," Tobu sucked his teeth before raising his hand to the boy's face, extending his middle finger with a smirk, "Fuck you, asshole. Since I'm a ninja now, maybe I'll invent a Jutsu that'll make you not be a dick all the time." The boy's head jerked upward, gritting his teeth, his nose wrinkling, his cheeks turning a rosey red.

"You're just a borderline failure!" The boy furiously cried.

"This says different." Tobu stated with a smirk, thumbing at the plate on his forehead. "Borderline--" He paused, thinking what the opposite of failure was, yet, nothing came to mind, "--Borderline not-failure!" Tobu laughed.

"Dumbass..."

"Tobu-kun! Kan-san!" A girl called from the bottom of the classroom, waving up at the two. Kan was tying his newly acquired hitai-ate to his arm as the girl ascended through the crowd and up toward the two boys.

"Ah! Hana-chan!" Tobu greeted with a small wave, his face quickly became bright red, beads of sweat gathering on his face.

"You passed!" She giggled.

"Ha! Expect any less from THE Enishida Tobu?!"

"No one expects anything from you." Kan said, standing on the desk before turning away. "You're too stupid to notice, but no one likes you. It doesn't matter much, anyway, with need for ninja, the standards have been lowered. If you're lucky, you'll make it past a serious mission or two." Tobu sneered, becoming seriously angered by Kan's words. Kan turned his head slightly, looking down at Tobu with a glare. "Either way, you're going to end up dead within the next year."

Hana looked back and forth between the two boys, nervously fidgeting. Just as Tobu was going to speak, Hana stepped forth. "I--I like Tobu-kun!" She stated strongly, her voice wavering, she wasn't the strong type, not the least. She was rather the feminine girl who hated bugs and liked plushie dolls.

Tobu looked over at Hana with a frown, he took it as pity the fact that she stood up for him. Iruka stood from behind the teacher's desk. "All right! Class dismissed!" He called with a smile, "Congratulations to you all! Remember to return tomorrow for your squad assignments!" Shikamaru stood from his seat, muttering something about troublesome children before following the wave of children out the class and through the front doors. In the chaos that was the children exiting the building and meeting with their parents, the three conversing kids split.

Hana scanned the crowd for Tobu, but with no luck, could not find him. When she caught a glimpse of him hopping the fence, she went to chase after him, but a hand grasped her shoulder. Iruka looked down at Hana, her parents present, congratulating and stating how proud they were of her. An embrace by her parents, she looked at the fence, wondering where Tobu was headed.

Tobu walked through the small archway that led to his clan's home. The symbol, a large comma-shaped period with a long spiraling tail wrapping around it multiple times was all that was painted on the archway. The small clan district itself was made up of three small shacks in a circle. "Oniisan's home! Niisan! Oniichan!" Three small triplets laughed, they immediately stopped playing with the ball in the middle of the clan's base and rushed toward Tobu. They surrounded Tobu, hugging and clinging at his legs happily before looking up at him. "Oh! Wow! Look!" The girls pointed up at Tobu's forehead. He looked down at them with a smile, shifting it up and down with his hand.

"So they actually decided to give you one, eh?" Shuiro spoke, looking down at his newspaper, sitting outside of his house with a parisol over him. Flipping the page, he looked up at Tobu who stood at the center of the circular dead-end.

"Hehehe." Tobu chuckled, his dark hues met with Shuiro's. The young boy pushed the little girls along, off to the side of the road before he began rolling up his sleeve.

"I guess you expect to beat me, now that you're a ninja and all." Shuiro closed his newspaper, folding it before placing it on the small table located to his left.

"OSSU--!" Tobu called out, gripping his own forearm, his fist balled up so tight that his knuckles lost it's color.

He raced forth--

Shuiro stood from his lounge chair quickly, causing it to tip the the side--

By the time Tobu threw his fist, it was already being countered with a slap to the side of his forearm with the parasol and Shuiro was already out of his reach with a mere hop-skip to the side.

Tobu regained his footing, charging at Shuiro once more--

He pounced--

His fist cocked--

His blood pumping--

Adrenaline rushing--

They neared each other--

FWAP!

With one strong strike from the closed parasol, Tobu was driven into the ground with ease from Shuiro. He threw the parasol over his shoulder, looking to the triplets with lazy expression. "Hurry and get your brother the first-aid kit." He said, his words slightly slurred.

"Hai, Chichi!" The three spoke in unison, giggling at the spectacle that was Tobu having his ass handed to him, for lack of a more accurate statement.

"You won't really be a ninja unless you start thinking like a ninja, Tobu-san." Shuiro sighed, scratching at the top of his head, taking a quick glance down at Tobu. The boy growled, holding his chest, standing to a crouch. He sucked his teeth, looking up at Shuiro from the corner of his eye.

"At least I broke that stupid umbrella..." Tobu muttered. Shuiro looked at the seemingly fine parasol, holding it out in front of him, only to have it snap in half due to the damage inflicted. The weight of the steel tip of the parasol caused it to snap.

"Great. I hope you know that you're going to be saving up to buy me a new one." Shuiro mumbled, dropping the parasol on the ground beside Tobu. Grabbing his newspaper off the sidetable, heading inside of his small home with a smile. The girls came racing out of the left shack with the first aid kit.

"That was silly of you to think you could take on Chichi, Oniisan!" One of the girls whined, "Sit still, we have to look at your bruise!" The girls fussed, fumbling with his shirt, hold him down and at the same time treat the small cuts that were left behind while Tobu tried to rustle past them.

"Shut up, you shouldn't be calling that guy your father." He muttered as he slipped from the three girls grip. "It's stupid, you know he's not really your dad." Tobu stated out of frustration as he headed toward his small shack.

"Does that mean you don't like it when we call you our brother, oniisan...?" One of the triplets asked timidly, causing Tobu to stop in the doorway to his home, looking over his shoulder with a frown.

"...No." Tobu admitted, noticing how he was blindly taking out his rage on the three girls by damaging the image of the closest thing they had to a family.

On a rooftop, not too far, a man with binoculars to his eyes. His focus was the young Tobu. "Third target aquired. Skill level; low. Termination 100% guaranteed." The man mumbled into his microphone, standing from the ceramic tiles. Plucking a kunai from his flak vest pocket, he slung his arm outward, sending the kunai sailing toward Tobu's general direction. With a 'thunk' sound, the kunai was lodged in the doorframe, missing Tobu's neck by mere inches. A note dangled from the end of the Kunai. Panicking, Tobu jumped back, thinking the note to be explosive. He looked around for a person among the rooftops, but the guy was already gone. Novice mistake, the note wasn't lit on fire, and it lacked the proper writings and seals to be considered explosive.

One of the triplets began toward the kunai, Tobu extended his hand, comically waving her away. "Nonono! Yumi! Don't touch it!" He called out, yet the girl didn't listen, plucking the note from the end of the kunai.

"Enishida Tobu, meet me at the far end of Konoha, at the training barracks. Welcome to Team Three." The girl relayed, looking up at Tobu with a puzzled expression. Tobu chuckled, scratching at the back of his neck, playing off his initial fear as a joke.

"Ehehe. I knew it was a note..." He stated, clearing his throat, "Wait," He arched a brow, "Who is it from?" Tobu asked, blinking twice, a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

She looked down at the bottom of the note, reading the signature, "It says, 'with love; your Sensei'."

Tobu looked at the girl with amazement. His life as a ninja was beginning.

WHO IS THIS MYSTERIOUS MAN WHO CLAIMS TO BE TEAM THREE'S SENSEI?
WHAT LIES IN STORE FOR TOBU AND HIS FUTURE TEAMMATES?
NEXT CHAPTER: TEAM THREE