I found Shizune and Tsunade standing there in front of my door. I invited them in. Tsunade looked around "it"s a nice apartment". I smiled and nodded "Thank you". I gestured them to sit. served them a tea. and I asked "now, come to point directly. what is the purpose of your visit Tsunade san".she looked at me "I didn"t come here as Hokage but as a Senju clan member. I came here to convince you to return to village." I replied to her "didn"t you already know the answer". She nodded "I know but I can"t give up on my family. you two are the only people left what I can call my family."
I smiled "no matter how much you try to convince, it"s going to be useless. you know that right. "and then Miura came out of her room rubbing her eyes "good morning Papa".
then she saw them. I looked towards Tsunade while patting Miura "My daughter Miura Senju". I introduced them "Miu chan, this is Tsunade Senju and she is Shizune". she greeted "h.e.l.lo Shizune san, Tsunade Obaasan". Tsunade kneeled to her height "h.e.l.lo Miura chan".
she stood up replied with a smile "well, I"m going but will come again. I will never give up on you. I"ll come again and again till I convince you." I replied "you are persistent aren"t you?" she smiled "this is something I learned from Naruto".
next week, she came again to spend some time with both of us. I asked "why did you came again?" she replied "C"mon, I told you right. I"ll visit you two again and again right. besides I"m just here to spend some time with my grand daughter."
Several weeks later. I said "please don"t come and waste your time. no matter what I don"t change my decision." She asked me "why do you still insist on not return to village. the third hokage who you hate isn"t anymore." I fell silent. "alright, you don"t need to tell me. but listen carefully. when we were in battle with Orochimaru, you blamed Third hokage that if only he would have changed his decision back then, there would be a cure of your wife"s illness."
"staying here, you are sure living peacefully. don"t you think this decision may also effect some one or the village in the future?. tell me the truth and give me one good reason why you still refuse to return."
"I"m just worried about my daughter. I don"t want her to live a shin.o.bi life. I want to protect her innocence. you may say, it"s not much of a problem. but what about people. my biggest worry is that if I return to the village. I had to become shin.o.bi again to serve the village. no matter how much strong I become, once I"m in the village, hokage has the right to order me. even I don"t become shin.o.bi, due to my strength people would have high expectations of her and I worry she would choose way of shin.o.bi and crumble because of it."
she laughed "I thought there would be some profound reason. but I guess you really worry about her too much for nothing." she patted my shoulder "listen Diran, even after you return to the village you don"t need to become shin.o.bi you can just become an instructor to teach students. that way you can be near to your daughter all time and don"t need to worry about missions."
"and speaking of Miura"s future. we cannot stand in the way of her wishes. you have to support her what she wants to become. but if you still insist that you don"t want her to be a Shin.o.bi, then let her become medical nin then. and also while you may be free here, you are living in a city who even your neighbours don"t care about you. I can see Miura is very happy whenever we visit. not just because we are relatives it"s also probably because she almost don"t have any one to talk to other than her father."
"But, she goes to academy daily. she would have lots of friends" then I became silent. "you probably figured it out now.you send her to a business academy. you should know that place is where friendships are formed least." then I remembered she vaguely answers about her school life and always shift to different topic. and she"s always energetic whenever she come out of school. I thought it"s normal but now when I think about it. Tsunade seems pretty much right.
"you probably don"t realise it yet. she"s already 7 years old. she need friends and lots of acquaintances. ever thought what will happen to her if something happens to you. she needs people to protect her from harm physically or emotionally at least when that happens. think carefully about everything"
then she returned to Konoha. I thought about a lot that day. then during dinner I asked "Miu chan, be honest with me. do you really like the school?" she looked down "papa, I don"t like it at all. I feel like I"m somehow different from them" then she looked into my eyes "why do I feel like that papa, as if I belong to a different world? only after school over after you picked up me, somehow I feel very happy. why is that papa?".
I didn"t replied anything and became silent. later after she slept. I sat on sofa in living room, began to think many things and slowly slept there.
next day morning,
"Papa wake up". I slowly opened my eyes "good morning Miu chan" she asked "you slept here?". I stretched myself. "yeah, I thought about something all night and slept here without knowing". "Papa, it"s almost time. I"ve already ate my breakfast. fresh up fast. we have to go".
"you don"t need to go school today." she suddenly became excited "really?, are we going somewhere?". I sat down "Say, Miu chan, how do you feel about moving to Konoha permanently?". her eyes widened "really?, we are leaving this place?". I got taken back "Miu chan, you don"t like this place?". she replied "I like it here but in konoha, I can see Hana san, Ayame Oba san and Tsunade baachan every day. but what about school?".
"you don"t need to worry about that. you can join a school over there. it"s completely different from the academy you are currently going though".
later, I notified the academy about her dropping out and also informed Daimyo about shifting to Konoha. he patted my shoulder "just don"t forget you have a place here if you ever have to leave Konoha again."
we packed up everything and by evening we reached Konoha"s gate. the two guards Izumo and Kotetsu stopped our carriage. "who are you. show your identification papers. I showed mine to him. Kotestu looked over it and stunned. Izumo then came near him "what happened" and he saw and his eyes widened "Diran senju". he looked at me smiled and bowed "Welcome back Senju sama".I waved my hand and we went into village.
after we reached the clan compound. we stopped and I got down. last time I came, I didn"t observed it but now I observed there"s a small change regarding vehicles. all types of vehicles are now allowed even in Shin.o.bi district.we went into the clan compound. I smiled "it seems barrier is still working even after all this years." I turned towards Miura "Miu chan, this is our Senju clan compound.its been 9 years so it may look a bit dusty now. we"ll clean up later."
we reached our residence. "this is our home". she looked around "wah, papa this looks so big like Daimyo jiji"s home". we went upstairs. it"s full of dust. "it"s really late to clean this up. OK Miu chan, let"s leave our luggage here go and sleep in some inn". she pinched her nose "yeah, there"s so much dust here".
Meanwhile Tsunade got a message from the guards that I returned to the village. "let"s go and meet them in the morning".
Next day morning
we didn"t go to clan compound but first we went to Ichiraku for breakfast. while we"re walking towards it"s direction, many people are whispering "Papa, why does people always whisper whenever they see you especially girls?." "well, you"ll know it when you get bigger". she puffed her cheeks "you always say that whenever I ask it".
soon, we reached it and entered. it"s lively. we saw Naruto sitting beside Iruka eating ramen. and Ayame is talking with them. I smiled "h.e.l.lo Ayame" she looked towards us. she spoke loudly "Nii san?". she hurriedly came towards us. "Ayame Obasan".Ayame hugged her "Miura chan!!".
I commented "it"s been nine years, it really became lot bigger" she laughed. all people who were eating including naruto looking toward us. many people are curious about my ident.i.ty.
then I found Naruto and Iruka looking towards us. I went near them and greeted "it"s been a while Naruto san, Iruka san." Naruto got confused "do I know you?" then he looked at Miura and thought "she sure looked familiar. I"ve seen her somewhere."
"oh, I forgot you aren"t familiar with this form." I transformed into the disguise he was familiar with and changed back "now, you remember right?".he shouted "Ah!!! you are that man Diran. I remember this little devil Miura now." she smiled "h.e.l.lo, Naruto Niisan".
then Teuchi came out "what"s this commotion" and saw me and stunned for a second "Senju sama?" "it"s been a while Teuchi san". then Naruto started to speak "Senju? are you related to Tsunade baachan?". I nodded "you can say she"s my aunt in some sense". I put forward my hand "Iruka san, we"ve met once long ago". he took my hand shake it "h.e.l.lo Senju sama, how can I forget that. you saved my life from Orochimaru".
Naruto then again continued with his loud speech "wait a minute you are Diran senju.wow, for the past few weeks, all people are talking about you everywhere." and he started to talk continuosly this and that then three people entered. one person while entering "Naruto, I can hear you even at the gate. what are you shouting for....." he looked towards me.
I was shocked more than surprised to see the middle of three. "Sensei?"."Diran?" it"s Yahiko, Konan and Nagato sensei. I"m not surprised seeing Yahiko with them. but got shocked seeing Nagato has only one eye.