A/N:- So, that wraps up the previous arc. Comment your thoughts on the battle with the Urashiki and the conclusion of the previous arc. Now for this arc, I will be utterly and truly honest with you; this arc is a semi-filler arc. First, I wrote a major portion of this when I was facing some mental and emotional issues. So, the quality might drop a little. To prevent that I wrote these so-called filler chapters.

This arc will focus on the growth of the people around him. There will be quite some action but I will separate that in side chapters. In more simple terms, this arc is a prologue for the future arcs and next upcoming major battle arc since it will pave a path for the majority of the future plot. ​​

P.S. If the above passage spoiled your anticipation then I am sorry but it has to be done.

Also, if you like my story and have some spare buck and want to support me then drop by on patre0n. I also have a discord server where you can see images relevant to the plot and could directly ask me about the plot development (no spoilers though).

---------------------

NEW ARC:- RESPONSIBILTIES

**************

A month passes in the blink of an eye.

Izuna returns to Konoha with Mei.

"It's going to be a new start for us!"

He smiles at Mei and holds her hand as they enter the Uchiha clan.

Mei has a slight baby bump as Izuna stares at it with affection.

"I can't wait to hold our kids in my arm!"

"Me too!"

Mei smiles at him.

Aw…

Mei rubs her belly.

"The baby just kicked now."

"He is too eager to come out!" Izuna chuckles and both of them walk in front of their house.

"We are home!"

"Welcome back!" Ayaka dashes out of the house and hugs Izuna and Mei.

"How are you, Ayaka?" Izuna ruffles her hair.

"Did you miss me?' He smiles at her.

"I missed you a lot!"

Ayaka nods her head.

Izuna and Mei enter the house.

"Welcome back!"

Aiko walks out of the kitchen.

"So, how was your honeymoon?" She teases them.

"I enjoyed it a lot!" Izuna nods his head.

Mei's face turns red from embarrassment.

"Looks like I will be a grandmother soon!" Aiko chuckles as she notices the baby bump.

Ahem…

"Where is Dad?" Izuna changes the topic.

"Your Dad is out on a mission! He won't be back until next week!"

"I see!"

"Ne! Ne! Onii-chan! Did you bring me some souvenirs?" Ayaka tugs on his sleeves.

"Of course!"

Izuna takes out a few gift boxes from a scroll.

"This is for you!" He passes a large box to Ayaka.

"Oh! What's this?" Ayaka hurriedly grabs the box and rapidly dismantles the gift wrapping.

"…"

'But I spent so much time wrapping it!' Izuna has a heartache.

Fufu…

Mei holds her laughter as she stares at Izuna's expression.

Ayaka hurriedly opens the box to reveal a large plushie of a bear.

Wow…

"It's soft!" Ayaka hugs the giant teddy bear.

"Thank you, Onii-chan! You are the best!"

"Of course! I am the best!" Izuna puffs his chest.

"Mother! This is for you!"

He passes another gift to his mother.

"Ara… there was no need for it!" Aiko accepts the gift with a smile.

Ayaka grabs the giant teddy bear and rolls it on the floor. While playing with her bear, she turns to Izuna.

"Onii-chan! I will graduate from the academy tomorrow. You have to come with me since dad isn't here!" She informs him.

"It's that time of the year already!" Izuna is surprised to hear this.

"Alright! I will visit the academy!" Izuna pats her head and turns to his mother.

"Mother! I will be moving out to my new house!"

Mm…

Aiko nods her head.

"I will help you with the packing!"

"No! There is no need! It's already over." Izuna chuckles and points towards the stairs.

Rumble… Rumble…

Five of Izuna's shadow clones descend with boxes in their hand.

"So convenient!" Mei is surprised to see them.

Poof… poof… poof…

The clones place the boxes on the floor and dispel themselves.

Swoosh…

Izuna takes out a storage scroll from his pocket and stores the boxes in it.

Both he and Mei walk out of the house.

"I will help too!" Ayaka follows them.

"Come back for the dinner!" Aiko shouts from the kitchen.

"Ok!"

---------------

Later next morning,

"I have some minor affairs to handle in Kiri. I will be back in the evening!"

Mei informs him.

"Alright!" Izuna nods his head and passes a gift box to her.

"Give it to dad!"

Mm…

Mei grabs the box and inserts some chakra in her wedding ring.

In the past month, Izuna has inscribed a few Fuinjutsu seals on the ring. Hiraishin is one of them. Now, she could teleport to any of Izuna's marking just by selecting the coordinates and infusing her chakra.

"See you later, Honey!"

Mei kisses Izuna and teleports away.

"Hmm… it's about time for the ceremony!"

Izuna walks towards his old house and picks up Ayaka.

"Ayaka, you will be a full-fledged shinobi now!"

He pats her head.

Mm…

Ayaka nods her head.

"I am also curious to know about my teammates and Sensei!"

"Then, let's keep going!"

Five minutes later,

Izuna and Ayaka reach the entrance of the Academy.

"Izuna! It has been a month since I last met you!"

Hiashi Hyuga approaches him with Hanabi in tow.

"Hiashi-san! It sure has been a while! You are also here for the ceremony!"

Mm…

Hiashi nods his head.

"If we were to follow our clan customs, then Hanabi should be training with the elders of the clan. But that incident ten years ago has opened our eyes. The Hyuga clan has changed drastically in these years.

So, I will let my daughter experience the life of the academy to make more friends and socialize with other young shinobis."

He dotingly pats Hanabi's head.

"It's all thanks to your help!"

"That was nothing! I just helped a little!" Izuna modestly shakes his head.

"Come… Come… Hanabi! Let's attend the graduation ceremony!" Ayaka pulls her away.

Meanwhile, Izuna and Hiashi stand with the rest of the parents.

Izuna notices a tall man with brown eyes, olive skin, short spiky hair, and a beard. He instantly recognizes the latter as the brother of Asuma Sarutobi since both of them are a spitting image of each other.

"Ajuka-san! You are here for Konohamaru!" Izuna greets him.

"Izuna!" Ajuka nods his head.

"Konohamaru is about to graduate today! As a father, I have to spare some time for him and fulfill my responsibility!" Ajuka stares at the student.

Izuna has known him since his days in Anbu since Ajuka was one of the few anbus who taught him during his training in Anbu. As such, he has a good relationship with the latter.

Ahem…

Tsunade walks towards the stage. She climbs up the stage and stares at the batch of fresh students. Most of the new students are around ten to eleven years old. Only the group of Ayaka, Hanabi, and Konohamaru's gang is the sole exception.

She shakes her head and addresses them.

-----------------

Later in the Hokage Office,

Izuna is sitting on the sofa as he stares at Tsunade, who is diligently scrolling through the papers.

"What?!" she asks him in annoyance.

"Well! I should be the one asking that. Why would you summon me?"

He stretches his arm and lies down on the sofa.

"I am quite a busy man, you know!"

Hmph…

"Busy my ass! I am the one who is busy here!" She snorts and points towards the large heap of paperwork.

"Eh! Is this some kind of memory loss disease? I already told you about the broken Shadow clone jutsu! Why won't you use it?" He curiously asks her.

Pfft…

Shizune bursts out in laughter.

"SHIZUNE!!" Tsunade glares at her.

Eek…

Shizune freaks out and holds her laughter.

"Hoh! Is there some story behind it?" Izuna perks his ears and turns to Shizune.

"There is!" Shizune nods her head and whispers to Izuna.

"Initially, your plan of using the Shadow clones worked. Tsunade-sama would leave all of her paperwork to her clones and relax in hot springs. But after a while, the work starts to pile up.

Even with the shadow clone, no work was done. So Tsunade-sama created another clone to assist her first clone. But even two clones weren't enough to finish the work.

So, one-day Tsunade-sama thought of spying on her clones. She made two shadow clones and slipped out of the office. She hid near the academy to monitor the clones and guess what…"

"SHIZUNE!!" Tsunade yells at Shizune.

"… she found both of her shadow clones soundly sleeping on the sofa and the chair. Haha…"

Haha…

Shizune and Izuna burst out in laughter.

Izuna wipes a tear from the corner of his eyes.

"As expected of Tsunade! Even her clones are as lazy as her!"

"SHIZUNE! Today, you won't return home until this pile of paper is stamped."

Bam…

Tsunade slams a gigantic pile of paperwork in front of Shizune.

She turns to Izuna, who is still laughing while clutching his stomach.

"As for you, Izuna! It's about time you fulfill your responsibility as a Jounin! I won't accept no for an answer."

Tsunade's tone turns harsh as she glares at Izuna.

"What?!"

Izuna's expression turns ugly.

"But Tsunade, I don't want to babysit genins! I am not suitable for such kind of task. You know me already! So, why would you do such a thing?"

He blankly stares at Tsunade.

"You can't shirk your responsibilities forever!"

She returns to her position as the demeanor of Hokage erupts from her blinding Izuna and Shizune.

"Izuna! You are an idol of countless shinobis of the village. So, it's right for you to set an example by training genins."

"But… but… Tsunade! What about my organization?" Izuna tries to argue with her.

"You don't have to worry about that! Minato will take care of everything!"

She ignores Izuna's pleading gaze and focuses her attention on the paperwork.