“Iruka, good to see you, come in!” Even before he had fully entered the bar, Izumo was at his side and ushered him to the back where his friends where sitting. It had been a long time since he’d been out with his friends and he had been very glad about the last-minute invitation. Already, Kotetsu’d had quite a few drinks already, it was easy to see because he always got these little red splotches on his skin when he drank alcohol. Tomi, apparently, found them cute and couldn’t stop looking at his boyfriend. Izumo had lost his headband and Anko had that look she always had when she planned on getting wasted. The only one still more or less sober was Raidou but he wouldn’t be for very long, probably, Genma was already trying to offer him sake and the jounin was a hopeless lightweight.
“Thanks for the invite. It really wasn’t necessary to send a snake though, Anko.” The jounin woman shrugged and chugged another cup of sake.
“It was the easiest. You want some?”
One or two drinks wouldn’t kill Iruka… he had school in the morning and Minato would probably wake up in the next few hours and refuse to fall asleep for the rest of the night but Kakashi was in Kumo and Iruka was stressed out. He needed something fun in his life. So he had accepted the invitation. Akira would come to get him, if Minato woke up. “Yeah, why not?” He said down and got a slap on his back from Genma.
“It’s been ages, Iruka. You look old! Is that what a baby does to you?” Iruka sighed and nodded. He did not want to talk about babies right now.
“The reason we need you…,” Izumo interrupted Raidou who closed his mouth again. “We’ve been discussing. Genma says the Senju clan is the oldest Konoha clan, Anko is with the Uchihas, ‘Tetsu thinks that the Sarutobi are older but I think it’s the Hatakes. You’re a Hatake and you taught history. Tell us.”
“Uh…” Iruka scratched his head and had another cup of sake. Whatever he’d been expecting of this bar night… it wasn’t a discussion about history. “It’s true that Hashirama and Madara bought the lands of Konoha from the Hatakes, so if you mean like the oldest clan in the region where Konoha is today, it would probably be the Hatakes.”
“See! I told you!” Izumo had jumped up and pointed at Anko excitedly. “I was right!”
“Yeah but if you mean Konoha clan like a clan that lives in Konoha, it would include all founding clans. And the Senjus have a very long family tradition.”
“So do the Uchihas,” Anko added.
“And the Sarutobis.” Kotetsu crossed his arms. Iruka grinned. It was fun to see his friends in such a good mood.
“Considering that Senjus and Uchihas fought each other in many battles even before the Great Shinobi War, I would say that they’re older than the Sarutobis. There is record of them being involved in one of the later wars but the first ones only mention the Senjus and the Uchihas,” Raidou said and leaned back. It was quite obvious that he wasn’t enjoying this conversation as much as the others. Genma offered him another cup of sake. This time, he accepted it.
“Oh wow, that’s interesting,” Tomi joined the conversation, “You know what I found when I researched the archives of the Senjus? Hashirama’s grandfather’s last name was Umino.”
“Really?,” Genma sat up, “Is your clan an old one too, Iruka? You never talk about it.”
“Well, I’m a Hatake now,” Iruka shrugged and emptied the sake cup Anko filled him again and again.
“Yeah, but you’re a born Umino and your father and your mother lived in Konoha too, so it kinda is a Konoha clan. Do you know anything about their history?”
Iruka chuckled. He started to feel the sake. It’s been so long since he’d had sake with his friends… it was nice. “They have a very well-kept record of their history.”
Tomi nodded. “They write the chronicles of the Land of Water and Kirigakure, so I’m sure they have a chronicle for their clan as well. Unfortunately, I was never allowed in your archives.”
“Is it secret?,” Anko’s eyes had that gleam… Iruka knew there was no getting out of it now anyway.
“Not exactly, not their history, anyway. There is a lot of secret knowledge in their library though. That’s why they don’t let anyone into their archives who isn’t an Umino.” Tomi nodded vehemently. “But yes, they are very old, they go back to Hagoromo himself. You know that he travelled the world to bring Ninshuu to the people… one of his disciples was a young man called Genshirou who was very interested in the Ninshuu. So when Hagoromo retreated to look after his sons, Geshirou looked for a calm, secluded place to continue his studies. With his wife and children, he moved to the Western Isle and raised them in Hagoromo’s spirit. He also wrote a diary, and documented his studies his whole life. That’s where the ninja world has most of our information about Hagoromo from. The few fishermen that came to the Isle started calling them ‘Umino’, the people from the sea, and the name stuck.” Iruka shrugged.
“The Umino clan is that old?” Kotetsu raised his eyebrows. “I don’t believe it! How come noone’s ever heard of them?”
“They nearly died out at one point. They usually had male descendants anyway; that was a problem. And then, there was an epidemic who killed most of them. So when the weather calmed enough to sail away, the remaining Uminos decided to leave the Isle for good. Most of them stayed in Kirigakure but some of them also travelled to the mainland and joined other clans. No one really knows but it’s entirely possible that one of them joined the Senju clan.”
“That means you’re related to the Shodai?” Izumo shook his head. “That’s so weird.”
“I don’t think you can call it ‘related’,” Iruka grinned, “But now that you say it… he does have very distinctive Umino features. You know, like tan skin, brown hair, brown eyes…”
“You’re right!” Anko jumped on the bench and crouched to get a better look at Iruka. “You look a lot like him!” Raidou just shook his head.
“But the Umino clan lives on the Western Isle, you told me about it!” Izumo cried.
Iruka nodded. “Two Umino brothers, Doushin and Eiden, travelled the world together a few generations later. They collected knowledge and decided to go back to the Isle to continue the library their ancestors had left there. This time, they built a proper harbour and established contact with Kirigakure. The people there knew about the legend of the Umino and, as the brothers continued their clan’s traditions, they were asked to keep the chronicles of Kirigakure. So that’s how that happened.” Iruka had another cup of sake. He should probably stop drinking now… “Doushin had married during their travels and now founded a family, Eiden not so much. I guess the younger brother felt very lonely on the Isle because one day he vanished with one of the trading ships and didn’t come back until around a year later, with a baby.”
“What? Did he steal that kid?” Kotetsu shook his head.
“No, you dumbass! He had an affair with a woman and she left him after the birth!,” Izumo corrected his friend. “Iruka, tell us!”
“No one knows for sure, Eiden never mentioned this year in his diaries. But judging from the love with which he writes about his son, I actually think that he had the baby himself.”
“Oh, like… with that crazy bloodlimit of yours?” Anko made a face. “God, you Uminos are so weird.”
Iruka scratched his head and grinned. If he was honest, he actually liked the bloodlimit more than he would’ve thought. It had given him and Kakashi a wonderful son.
“Doushin and Eiden… the official family tree starts with them, so the Umino clan has two main branches. A few other Umino descendants also found their way back to the clan, they are treated like side branches.”
“So which branch are you from? The weird one, right?” Anko shook the last drops from the nth sake bottle and called for another.
“No, actually not.” Iruka grinned. “Umino Doushin became clan head. He had a daughter, Kaiso and a son later on, Kujira who is my grandfather. Kujira became clan head but it was mostly his sister telling him what he had to do, she was very capable. Then my father was born as a younger identical twin. His brother caught an illness very early on in his life and it left him weak. My father, though, was very talented, so my uncle chased him away in fear that he might be killed to make my father clan head. So father fled to Konoha where he met mother and… now I told you my entire family history.” Iruka couldn’t help but giggle. Was he drunk? Well, he certainly was on his way there.
“Really interesting. Wouldn’t have thought you came from such a violent background.” Kotetsu downed another cup of sake.
“You really don’t listen, do you?” Izumo shook his head. “They are chroniclers and scientists. It was the time of the Bloody Mist. Things were awry in Kirigakure. Kami, I’m glad to not belong to a clan.”
“I think, clans are changing too,” Genma added and wiped some drool from Raidou’s chin who had passed out on the sofa. “Anyway, we now know that the Umino clan is really old. But is it older than the Senju and the Uchiha?”
“Hm… Legend says that Senjus and Uchihas have direct lineage to Hagoromo’s sons,” Izumo answered thoughtfully.
“Yeah but they didn’t found them. It was at least two generations later, I read that in the archives,” Tomi added. The boy had cuddled up to Kotetsu whose light blush indicated that he was torn between being embarrassed and enjoying the proximity.
“Which would mean that the Umino clan is older.” Genma nodded. Iruka scratched his scar. He didn’t want to brag with the age of his clan. Did he brag with it? No, it wasn’t a thing he was proud of, he wasn’t even a proper member of the clan, well he was… did his friends maybe think that he was bragging?
“Yeah, but they’re not actually a Konoha clan. I still think, the Hatakes are the oldest,” Izumo stated. “I mean they lived here when the Senjus and Uchihas arrived and to cultivate such a huge amount of land takes generations.”
“Yeah, okay, I get that…” Genma sighed.
“This conversation is BORING!” Anko jumped on the table. “I’m drunk and I want to have some fun. Now, as kunai throwing isn’t allowed in here… Who’s up for a round of truth or dare?”
This, Iruka thought, was a good moment to excuse himself to check on Minato.