Naruto: The heir of the Hoshino clan.

"This could have been better, I hope you like it~"

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Seiji opened his eyes expectantly. He knew what day it was today. It was his sixth birthday, an important date for any child about to experience the life of a shinobi.

On their sixth birthday, children with enough talent were allowed to enter the ninja academy. An extremely important event for ordinary civilian ninjas, as they could have the opportunity to learn jutsus for free.

For a child like Seiji, that wasn't the main attraction. Seiji possessed a large number of jutsus inherited from his father. Some of them were safeguarded by the Konoha government, but most were "kept" in his father's room. The only way to obtain them was through Kasuya's sealing techniques... or through Seiji's blood and chakra. Something only Seiji knew.

Seiji got out of bed, stretching, then focused his gaze on the other person in his bed: Naruko. The girl had quite arbitrarily decided that she would sleep with him, obviously only in Kurenai's absence. Seiji had to admit that the girl had quite... chaotic sleeping habits.

'Every now and then she wakes me up with a hit...'

Seiji had to admit that Naruko had quite a bit of strength for a four-year-old girl.

*Sigh.*

After lamenting, he began his usual routine.

"Wake up..."

Naruko sat up carefully. Over the days, the girl had grown accustomed to being woken up by Seiji.

"Come on, we need to take a bath."

Seiji entered the bathroom followed by the sleepy Naruko. Inside the bathroom, Seiji undressed Naruko and then did the same himself.

After starting to sleep in the same bed, Seiji had grown accustomed to bathing with Naruko. Seiji was quite fond of washing Naruko's hair; he found the sensation relaxing to the touch.

"Close your eyes. If soap gets in them, it might sting a bit."

Naruko obeyed patiently. She cherished any time they spent together.

After finishing the bath and dressing Naruko, they both went out to wait for breakfast. Seiji sat Naruko in the dining room and decided to wait for the food to be delivered, while also thinking about his plans for the day.

Seiji didn't plan to train on his birthday, a piece of advice given by his father. Kasuya said in his letters that birthdays were for enjoying and resting, so it was his tradition to simply relax on his birthdays.

'There's no important plan... other than going to buy the cake.'

Remembering the cake, a bit of anticipation grew in Seiji's heart, as he had never tried one before. At first, when Satsuki proposed the idea of a cake, he was a bit hesitant, but in the end, he decided to go along with it.

Seiji's only plan was to wait for the girls: Satsuki and Sakura.

'Sakura...'

Seiji remembered the unfortunate girl. Part of him felt a bit uncomfortable with how hastily he had invited a stranger to his house. But Sakura had earned an invitation by taking care of Kay's son. Besides, part of Seiji had to admit that he felt a bit of pity for the girl's situation.

Seiji could only hope that Sakura would get along with Naruko and Satsuki. Seiji didn't think there would be any problems. After all, Sakura had proven her reliability by being one of the few people Kay allowed to touch him.

Kay was a good judge of character, if you overlooked his animosity toward Naruko, of course.

'Kay... Where is Kay...? He didn't wake me up today, now that I think about it...'

Seiji grew a bit worried, as Kay always woke him up, even if Naruko was in the room.

"Right... today is my birthday..."

Seiji remembered a certain abnormality about Kay. On every birthday he could remember, Kay was always a bit sick. Seiji never understood why, and he couldn't think of a logical reason for such coincidences.

'In that case... maybe he's with his son...'

"I'll be back, Naruko."

"Okay."

After informing Naruko, Seiji walked to the room that was the temporary home of Kay's nameless son.

'I should think of a name. I can't keep calling him that forever.'

Seiji entered the room. Kay was asleep next to the box where the little kitten slept.

Seiji looked at them with a smile and left them alone. Then, he turned his gaze to the corner of the room, where there was a small altar with two photographs on it.

Seiji felt sadness invade his heart, but he quickly tried to think of something else. He approached the altar and looked at the photographs fondly.

They were a man and a woman: Kasuya and Sera, Seiji's parents.

Kasuya had a soft and kind smile, quite in contrast with his burly body. His jet-black hair and eyes were identical to Seiji's; however, his face was different. His square jaw gave him a very masculine appearance.

Sera was a very beautiful woman. She had long, dark hair and large black eyes. Her face was more similar to Seiji's, as she had a sharper gaze. But her most notable trait was her cold and indifferent expression.

Seiji often looked at the photographs and thought that his parents seemed to have different personalities based on their expressions.

Kasuya, with his kind smile, and Sera, with her indifferent expression.

'Maybe... mom got nervous in front of cameras.'

*Sigh.*

Seiji left, thinking of returning at night, as he always chatted with them on his birthdays... even if it was one-sided, he could feel that, somehow... they heard his words.

As he left, he decided to check if the food had arrived, since Kay, his personal alarm, was indisposed.

"Of course... haha."

And sure enough, Seiji found his food. He immediately took it. On his way to the dining room, he thought that he relied too much on his alarm, though personally, it didn't bother him much.

Seiji ate his breakfast, not forgetting to feed the lazy Naruko, who ate with a smile.

Afterward, they simply waited in the living room for their guests to arrive.

While they waited, Seiji was tightly hugged by Naruko. Naruko had the habit of sticking to him as much as possible. At first, Seiji was quite worried, as Naruko simply hugged him in silence, all the time without speaking.

Over time, he understood that she simply enjoyed the sensation, as strange as it seemed to Seiji. Besides, it wasn't that she didn't want to talk; Naruko answered when asked something. She simply seemed to enjoy his company and the silence.

Seiji wasn't aware that his subconscious was registering the action as something normal, and in the future, it would bring quite a few problems.

A couple of hours passed, and there was a knock at the door.

Seiji walked to greet his guests. Upon arriving, he saw Satsuki and Sakura.

*Thud.*

He was greeted by Satsuki's usual violent hug, which Seiji responded to by patting the girl's head.

"Happy birthday, Seiji."

"Thank you, Satsuki."

Seiji thanked her for the congratulations, while being looked at by Sakura in a rather strange way.

Seiji thought that maybe Sakura also wanted to give him a hug for his birthday. Seiji let go of the reluctant Satsuki and extended his arms toward Sakura.

"Oh... happy birthday."

Sakura gave him an awkward hug, and they quickly ended it.

After the awkward hug, Sakura seemed to remember something and handed Seiji a small box.

"Mom... made a cake... when she found out I was invited to a birthday... I hope it's not a bother."

Seiji looked surprised at the box with the cake. Smiling, he said:

"It's no bother at all. In fact, it saves us the trip to buy a cake. You can thank your mother for me."

Seiji smiled happily. As far as he was concerned, it was a pretty good birthday, since a homemade cake was more special, right?

Satsuki, seeing Sakura hand over the cake, quickly handed Seiji a bag.

"Here, there's plenty of special food for small cats. It's for Kay's son."

"Thank you, Satsuki. Later we can feed the little kitten."

Afterward, they entered his house and chatted for a while.

Naruko, upon realizing she hadn't been able to give Seiji a gift, became quite depressed.

"Don't worry. Later you can give me whatever gifts you want."

That easily, he consoled Naruko. The girl happily promised that when she became a kunoichi and earned money, she would buy him whatever gifts he wanted.

Seiji spent the rest of the afternoon doing activities with the girls.

They competed with chakra control exercises. Naruko had come to enjoy continuously challenging the leaves in their yard.

Surprisingly, Sakura was the winner, which took Seiji by surprise. It seemed the girl had quite a talent in that area.

Seiji played, for the first time in his life, games commonly deemed for children. Personally, the one Seiji enjoyed the most was hide and seek.

Seiji found it quite amusing how Naruko's hiding spots became increasingly random, which made him burst into laughter every time he found her.

Seiji thought for a moment that being a normal, carefree child was quite pleasant. It was comfortable not to worry about training and his father's legacy, but he wasn't going to abandon it for that. It was just... his birthday, and he decided to enjoy his day.

After finishing their children's games, they ended up hungry and decided to enjoy the cake. Seiji divided it into equal parts to avoid any conflict. Seiji had to admit that, although he had no experience with cakes, Sakura's mother's homemade cake was quite delicious.

After eating the cake, they went to visit Kay's son. They fed him the food Satsuki had brought. The girls enjoyed simply watching the little kitten, smiling with joy.

Seiji saw that Kay was still asleep, thinking that after a night's sleep, he would be better.

A while later, it began to get dark, so Seiji decided to take Satsuki and Sakura home.

Before leaving, he noticed that Naruko seemed sleepy and told her to take a bath and go to bed while he returned.

After taking both girls home and saying goodbye with a hug from each, Seiji walked through the dark village, thinking about his entire day.

"It was... the best birthday I've ever had..."

Seiji couldn't help but think about the future and the days ahead. Everything seemed like a good omen.

He had enough talent to make his parents proud. He might even try to learn from the Hokage in the future, as both of them had all five chakra natures.

He had friends, who could be the reliable companions his father always reminded him to seek.

"I'm quite fortunate."

Seiji entered his house, which had once been lonely, but now he had a family.

All that was left was to visit his parents' altar, and now Seiji had much more to tell compared to last year.

Seiji entered the room and frowned. A faint smell of blood filled his nostrils. Upon carefully checking the place... he saw it.

Kay lay in the same position... with blood coming from his mouth.

"KAY!"

Seiji ran in panic toward his friend, trying to check his condition.

"KAY...! KAY...! KAY...!"

Seiji tearfully repeated his friend's name, calling out to him, trying to wake him up.

But he knew as soon as he touched him. Kay was too cold... it was too late.

Seiji immediately understood... Kay, his closest friend and companion, the one who had been with him all his life, the last memory of his father, who always woke him up in the mornings... was dead.

An unbearable pain invaded his head, and Seiji felt his eyes burn. Seiji could feel an abnormal state in his chakra, but now he simply didn't care.

"AH...! AHH...! AHH...!"

A heart-wrenching scream came from him, and he felt his eyes burn intensely.

[Image]

Seiji felt a warm burning in his abdomen. Immediately after, he lost consciousness.

...

[Inside Seiji's mental landscape]

"Where am I...?"

Seiji murmured with tears streaming down his face. His face was a mess of snot and tears.

Seiji looked around in an emotionless state. The place was completely white, seeming to be outside reality itself.

"A genjutsu...?"

Seiji couldn't comprehend the situation. However, a moment later, he opened his eyes incredibly surprised.

"Hi... this is weird... haha... you're identical to your father..."

A beautiful woman spoke with sadness. She had a loving expression as she looked at Seiji.

Seiji knew who she was. She was the person he most wanted to meet and always looked at in the photograph on the altar at home.

The woman in front of him was Seiji's mother, Sera.

[Image]

"Mom..."

Seiji spoke with a broken voice. An immense sadness enveloped him, and he began to walk toward her.

Sera smiled lovingly and hugged him, while Seiji sobbed into her chest.

"Seiji... don't cry, love. Everything will be fine..."

Seiji continued sobbing, but Sera interrupted him with a question.

"Seiji... how did you get here? Also, where are you?.. Was it the cat that awakened the Sharingan?"

Seiji didn't understand his mother's words. Confused, he answered the only question he knew the answer to.

"I'm at home... in the room where I have your altar..."

A huge smile filled Sera's face, and she laughed happily. She brought her mouth close to Seiji's ear and whispered with happiness and immense affection.

"Seiji... mom has a favor to ask... I want Hiruzen Sarutobi and his entire clan dead in the most horrible way possible... Would you do that for your mom, my love?"

[End of Volume 1]

[Awakening]

[Image]

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If you're enjoying the reading, please leave me a comment. I would also appreciate some power stones.

Author:Originally, the entire 'Volume 1' was supposed to take place in a single chapter, but I just thought it would feel too forced. Throughout the few chapters I've published so far, I've subtly mentioned things that might have already led some to figure out the bloodlines of Seiji's father and mother… or at least I think so, haha.

Today, I'll only be publishing this chapter, which is why I made it a bit longer than usual. See you!