Chapter 10: Chapter 9: The Meeting Of Two.
"Argh!"
A blade as pitch black as the night pierced through a Kumogakure Jonin, making blood run from the blade to the floor.
The Kumo shinobi turned his head behind him with all of his body's remaining energy.
A pair of blood red eyes were revealed to his vision with a boy wearing a fox mask looking coldly at him.
"Th…e Red E…ye Rea..per…"
The Kumo shinobi fell to the floor with a Thud.
Fear was still remaining in the man's wide eyes, the last sight he saw being, red pupils from within a fox mask.
The boy took off his mask, showing a face that belonged to a child yet looked as mature as an adult's. He had eyes as deep as the Abyss, his face sharply resembled one of the greatest shinobi in all of history.
(AN : Cover pic just remove the smile and add some blood droplets)
The boy let out breath of relief and abate and took a deep breath.
The katana in his hands slowly started growing smaller in size, he put the katana in the scabbard on his back and put on his mask back on. The boy disappeared without a sound as the chirp of cicadas echoed in the night.
The moonlight shined on the dead body, as though treating the death as something "majestic".
***
It had been 4 months since Izuryu had developed the Rasengan. He celebrated his 7th birthday within that time.
Izuryu had been honing his skills the whole time. From trying to develop and learn more jutsu and increasing the prowess of his sharingan, Izuryu had tried many things.
He tried many things and succeeded.
His chakra reserves had increased a massive amount, almost double of what he had when he had just Anbu.
Yet compared to the chakra of his 'father' Madara and Hashirama, his chakra reserves were like comparing a glass of water to an ocean.
Izuryu's combat prowess was now at a Mid-High Level Jonin, while not the strongest, it was monstrous compared to a normal 7-year-old.
Izuryu opened the book of the novel he was reading and walked around the roads of Konoha, admiring the scenery of bustling citizens and shinobi alike, moving through the roads.
He walked to a Takoyaki stall and ordered a plate of 12 Takoyaki, giving the owner 300 yen for it.
He sat down on the stone bench at the side of the road and placed his book at the side and placed a Takoyaki piece in his mouth as he gazed at the sight in front of him.
"A peaceful and normal scene, isn't it?"
Izuryu heard a voice from behind him as a handsome, silver-haired man sat down next to Izuryu and bit into his Yakitori.
"Ah, it's you Sakumo-san."
Izuryu replied.
He placed another piece into his mouth and spoke after swallowing.
"A very peaceful scene indeed. Yet, behind this dam of happiness rages a bellowing river of death and destruction, slowly breaking through the dam. It creeps up slowly until it breaks the dam, breaking death, pain and suffering to all behind that dam."
Sakumo stayed silent for a moment and spoke too.
"War is indeed such a thing. A raging river that tears through the peace that a place has, bringing nothing but pain and suffering."
Yet he smiled after he spoke.
"But is not the duty of us shinobi to block that raging river? To build a dam so strong that no river would be able to break it, so sturdy that it would protect all that are behind the dam. Is it not because of that reason that us shinobi sacrifice our lives, our family and our happiness? Just to protect this scene of peace. What lies in front of the dark is light, and what we should want is to be enveloped in the light, not be stuck in the dark."
A smile crept up to Izuryu's face as he chuckled, putting another piece of Takoyaki in his mouth at the same time.
The two just watched the scene with a sense of serenity.
While not productive, it was a well-deserved break for Izuryu.
***
Izuryu was at the library amongst the shelves, looking through the bookcases within the library, with his bookbag at hand.
He was looking for a particular book that he read multiple times yet never grew old with him.
The book was titled "Mystical Rain", it was a fairly old book.
"Having my voice disappear with these negative thoughts, minding the wind's direction, bringing it to the clouds, having my words disappear with the clouds"
"*sigh* Still here…"
Izuryu sighed as he took out the book from its place in the shelf.
Reading through the familiar lines of the book, Izuryu felt a feeling of contentment in his heart.
Yet in the midst of his reading session, Izuryu was disturbed by a voice mocking him.
"Hah! What a coward! Reading books is something only a weakling does, real shinobi train themselves and get stronger, not hallucinate while looking at a piece of a dead tree!"
Izuryu looked upwards to see who it was.
A boy similar to his age was standing in front of Izuryu, his making making an expression of contempt and disdain while looking at Izuryu's figure holding a book.
The boy had slightly tanned yet fair skin tone, with his face having slight resemblance to the statue of the First Hokage.
Yet what surprised him was the Vajra symbol in the boy's white bandana.
'A Senju?' thought Izuryu with slight surprise.
Within the 7 years he had lived here, Izuryu had barely seen a single Senju, be it within the Anbu or in the village itself.
"Why do you think so?"
Izuryu asked with slight amusement and curiosity.
"Hmph! Us shinobi are warriors by nature! We fight in battles in order temper our body and will, to protect our village and bring peace our villages! Yet here you are, reading a book instead of training!"
'This kid has quite the resemblance to Hashirama, be it his face or his personality…'
Izuryu saw this and thought to himself.
The boy threw a Kunai at Izuryu's face with incredible speed, only to have it blocked by Izuryu's own kunai that was summoned without hand signs.
The boy's eyes widened in shock.
Izuryu just smiled.
"Something funny about that?"
The boy asked with slight irritation in his tone.
"How did you summon the kunai?"
Izuryu arched his eyebrows up as he said with a smirk.
"I learned that from a book. Do you want to learn it?"
"Yeah!"
The boy regretted his actions as a blush crept up to his face. His words were contradictory to his feelings, revealing what he really wanted.
Izuryu chuckled as he looked at the kid's embarrassed expression.
"Sit down." He spoke.
"Huh?"
The kid spoke with a confused expression.
"If you want to learn this skill, you have to have a clear mind and absolute focus."
Izuryu walked up to a table and sat down with his back turned to the boy.
The boy just looked at Izuryu with a ridiculous look on his face.
"What? You don't want to learn?"
Izuryu spoke with a tone of slight irritation.
With a reluctant look on his face, the boy sat on the table opposite Izuryu.
Izuryu opened a book on a particular jutsu and started reading.
The kid quickly got serious and sat down, listening carefully to Izuryu talk.
One talked while the other listened.
Noon passed while two kids spent time learning, arguing, bickering and laughing.
It was almost a perfect representation of childhood.
A time of happiness and freedom, with nothing to worry about.
***
The boy was sprawled on the floor as he spoke with emotion.
"To think such things were in books, I just thought that they were full of fancy but useless words."
Izuryu chuckled and replied.
"Indeed, while some books are 'Full of fancy but useless words', a lot of them are about the world. Books help the writer express his thoughts and feelings through the medium of words. Yet not only that, many books contain integral information about the world that would help you in your life."
"Hooo…."
The boy was amazed.
Izuryu looked outside to see a setting sun.
"I'll be going home now; you go back too or else your parents would worry about you."
The boy nodded. The two got up from their chair and the floor respectively as they walked away to their homes, each on opposite directions of the other.
One walked to the place where the civilians lived while the other to the Senju compounds.
Their shadows intersected, each having their backs to the other. Yet the shadows walked away from each other, as though they did not know each other, a mere passerby to each other's life.
What neither of them knew however was that the meeting of the two children would make for one of the greatest duos in all of shinobi history, one comparable to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha.
A meeting that would change the course of everything. From their own lives to the whole of the shinobi world.
***
As the child went inside the Senju compounds, everyone treated him warmly. He greeted everyone along the way as he walked towards a specific house.
He knocked on the door a few and the door opened on its own, as though there was someone invisible who opened it.
As though used to it, the boy walked in.
He familiarly walked around the corridor until he reached a specific room.
He knocked on the door a few times and opened the door.
Inside, a red-haired woman was sitting on a bed while looking out the window to a Senju courtyard where many children were playing.
She had a warm expression as she looked at the boy who had just come in.
"Ah it's you, Katomo…"
She smiled as she opened her arms. Katomo hugged her warmly as he sat on the chair next to her bed.
"You seem particularly happy today?" She asked.
"Yeah! I met a guy today and he was really cool! We talked and played the whole day!"
The woman raised her eyebrows as she beckoned for the boy to explain.
Katomo explained what happened a few hours before, from him mocking him to them walking their separate directions.
She listened to it with a warm smile on her face as the silhouette of a man wearing a white-green kimono with tanned-skin explaining his tactics with his Uchiha friend came to her mind.
'Hashirama…' she thought as her eyes showed a trace of sorrow, sadness and loneliness.
Izuryu, while eating his dinner, explained his day to Teuchi too, albeit in a more mature way.
The first meeting they had was very memorable, as for what would happen in the future, who knew?
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Wushu_Drunken_Hobo
Wushu_Drunken_Hobo This is going to be a completely new character, and as you guessed, i'm going to make them go through the Madara and Hashirama duo route. It will have it's share of completely new things that happen to them and the original timeline tho.
Have some idea about my story? Comment it and let me know.
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