Reborn as an Uchiha [Naruto fan-fic]

Chapter 5

2 Years later

"Combat training"

"Combat training?"

"Real life combat training"

Renji stared at his father in confusion.

The man had definitely been more active these days. Well that was to be expected he recently just got a new prosthetic leg.

This supposed cutting edge technology was actually created from the body parts of ninja puppets and required minimal amounts of chakra to function.

'An interesting concept'

These were the thoughts in Renji's mind when he first got a look at the prosthetic limb. It was made of carefully carved dark wood and employed the use of a simple sliding mechanism at the knee joints.

The leg was lightweight and it had various seals inscribed on it's surface. Each seal served a function Renji wasn't quite sure of, hopefully he'll never have to find out.

All in all the prosthetic leg was a pretty decent piece of equipment and Renji couldn't even imagine how much it'll have cost.

"I'm taking you on a mission with me"

Tengen's voice snapped Renji out of reverie. (Tengen is Renji's father)

"Is that what you meant by combat training?"

"Yes it is"

"Cool let me-- wait, you're already taking missions?!"

"How perceptive of you"

Tengen blurted out sarcastically.

"Is that even allowed"

"Why wouldn't it?"

Renji couldn't understand. This man had been crippled for more than 5 years of his life, rarely ever venturing out of the house.
All of a sudden he gets an artificial leg and now wants to go on dangerous shinobi missions.

Was he overly confident or was he just suicidal? Renji couldn't tell which one.

The boy studied the man's relaxed face before asking a question

"Are you sure you can take me along, I mean ... I haven't even even entered the academy yet"

Tengen let out a sigh before speaking

"You and I both know that the academy is a waste of your time"

The man was right but Renji wasn't going to admit it.

"How so"

"You can make a shadow clone, that's more than enough for you to graduate"

"I'm still going though"

Renji was firm on this. He needed to build relations with the konoha twelve if he wanted his life to be easier. Either that or he just wanted to meet the main characters of the series. But one thing was for sure, he was going to the Ninja academy.

"Kids normally aren't supposed to like school you know"

"I'm not a normal kid"

Tengen let out a chuckle before speaking again

"Alright pack your stuff, we're leaving"

"Now?!!"

"Did I stutter?"

And that is why Renji is now outside of konoha, disguised as a merchant's son and travelling side by side with said merchant. Their destination, unknown.

Tengen refused to give Renji the details of the mission, all he knew was that they had to get to a certain village -of which he still didn't know the name- and sell their wares.

Tengen wore a dark blue kimono with a white haori on top. He looked frail and sickly but walked with his back straight, the burden of the load in which he carried on his back wasn't even able to affect his posture, talk less of slowing him down.

As opposed to jumping on trees they travelled at a leisurely pace. The mission was long term and was supposed to last at least a month so Tengen insisted they take it slow.

Renji wasn't particularly unhappy with this arrangement. He could continue his training, get combat experience and possibly learn a high level jutsu or two from Tengen. What was there not to like?

Considering the fact that the massacre is only three years away this was exactly what he needed.

And so it was, on the first day they stopped at an inn.

On the second they took a dip in the hot springs.

On the third both father and son gorged themselves on the local cuisine of a nearby town.

On the fourth--

"This isn't right!"

"Why did you yell like that, I almost dropped my food"

Tengen spoke in between mouth fulls of grilled fish.

"Aren't we supposed to be on a mission"

"We are on a mission"

"Then why they hell are we camping under the stars"

Tengen looked at Renji with an expression that suggested he didn't understand.

"Shouldn't we be scouting for threats or ... trying to get there as fast as possible?"

Renji stated in a desperate attempt to get his point across.

"Life isn't so short that you need to rush everything"

Tengen spoke in a low deep voice, in his eyes was a barely noticeable hint of nostalgia and regret.

'The hell is that all about'

"Okay okay. Would you at least teach me a jutsu or something"

Renji asked.

"Of course"

Tengen replied. He ruffled through a small bag while he spoke

"You should know I love elemental jutsu, they're just so--"

"Handy?"

"Destructive"

'What the hell'

Tengen brought out a blank piece of white paper and waved it at Renji.

"Allow your chakra to flow through this piece of paper and it'll determine what element you have an affinity for"

"I see"

"I know you have an affinity for the fire nature but if  you truly are a genius then you'd have more than one"

Renji remained silent. Was it just him or did Tengen's voice sound a bit ... Taunting

Shaking this thought out of his head Renji ran his chakra through the paper. As a result, the material got split into equal parts.

One part burnt to a crisp, another got soggy, the third one wrinkled, the fourth one crumbled and the fifth one was absolutely shredded.

"I'll be damned"

This time it was Tengen's turn to remain silent.