AN:

A thick mist engulfed the river bank seeping out over the water, Chimon slipped through it near silently, Kazumi dodged to the side of a small rock that went flying by, she sucked in a breath making hand signs before exhaling a deep red, yellow and orange flame shaped like a dragon at least three metres in width and height. The flame sparked and writhed as it blew the mist away heading toward Chimon who was standing on the water, he transformed into water before it could hit him causing a massive amount of steam to well up around him as he slipped back to the shore becoming solid again. Kazumi leapt back to the bank landing next to Chimon when Jun appeared next to them.

"Well, you kids have definitely come some way in two years, only nine and seven years old and you kids are making me look bad with how fast you improve" Jun looked too pleased with himself about having been apart of the reason for their progress.

"Of course we'd be better than you, you stopped working as a shinobi when Himeno got pregnant with Takumi so we've had all the time in the world to outpace you." Kazumi smiled as Jun feigned being struck by an arrow when she spoke.

"Come on Kazu he's getting too old to for this to be much of a comparison" Chimon ducked under the older man's arm as he swiped at Chi.

"Right well if you two are still so lively after that spar then I want you to race me to the mountain top then to the house" The two kids groaned before readying themselves.

"Go!"

The moment the words left his mouth Kazumi and Chimon were off at amazing speeds weaving and diving through the forest, they dodged a giant shadow as a piece of a boulder slammed down between them. Jun dashed by with sticks in his arms, when they caught up to him he threw the bundle toward them only for Kazu to bat them aside speeding up. When they reached the plateau Jun gave himself a push with wind chakra to shot off the mountain faster leaving the kids to fall behind him but not for long as they pumped their legs with more chakra throwing them his way, Jun slowed down as they approached the backyard landing softly on the grass before cooly strolling toward the porch were Kumi was sat reading, moments later Kazu and Chi came crashing out on the grass landing in a tumble rolling a few times before ending up in a sitting position.

Jun waved at the two while Kumi laughed.

"You cheated!" Both Kazumi and Chimon stated as they got up off the grass.

"I never said I was going to play fair also I never really went all out I just wanted to push you two a little more. Kazumi you're amazing with the Jutsu I've taught you and you use them well, Chimon your very wise for your age making your strategies are well thought out but there's one thing you two still haven't gotten yet that I'd rather you didn't but will come eventually and that's actual combat " Kumi nodded to Jun's points.

"Hey, Mum? I know it's kinda irrelevant to the current topic but what actually happened to our Dad's?" Kazumi asked as she sat down next to Kumi on the porch, o so smoothly changing the topic.

"Well Kazumi, since that was such a good topic change, I guess it's fair that I tell you two right now if you want to know, Kazumi your father Kojiro was killed by his sibling and Chimon your father Fuugetsu was killed by a powerful shinobi." Kumi looked to her Daughter and Son to see their reactions and awaited their questions.

"Why would Dads sibling kill him? Did they hate him so much?" Kazumi looked puzzled not quite understanding how someone could hate their sibling her having only known the close relationship with Chimon as an example.

"Well, that's kind of hard for me to answer, I never met your Aunty as your father distanced himself heavily from his family so I never understood the situation fully. I only found out about his Sister when I found something Kojiro left me a little before he died" Kumi looked to Kazu to gauge her reaction.

"Hm..." Kazumi didn't seem to really like the answer, leaving Chimon to ask next.

"So what happened to father then?" Chimon looked concerned for the answer he might get hoping it wasn't like his sisters' answer.

"Lets see here Chi, your father had gone to do his final mission as a shinobi before he wanted to retire to take care of you, your sister and me but sadly he was attacked by someone far stronger than he was and was killed I only found out about that a bit after your birth when the merchants he was with came back from their trip." Kumi watched to gauge her seven-year-olds reaction as well as looking to Kazumi as she'd gone a little more quiet than usual.

"Alright, thank you for telling us," Chimon said without much emotion, which was one of the few things she'd disliked that he'd gotten from his father he was apathetic at times when she wanted him to have emotion and it had only gotten worse over time.

"If you two are alright and are feeling as hungry as your stomachs make you sound then let's head inside for food, seeing as Jun left we can have whatever you two want, my treat." Kumi offered a hand to her children both taking it as she walked them inside and sat them down. They both piped up to what they wanted when she entered the kitchen.

"I want Yakisoba," Kazumi said basically instantly coming out of her funk.

"I would like Takoyaki" Chimon spoke with more emotion as well.

Well, I knew I would have to talk about it someday but I imagined it would take longer, hopefully, it doesn't bother them too much, especially Kazumi she seemed extra stumped.

A few days after Kazumi and Chimon found out about their fathers Kazumi was out by the river walking around in a Yukata her mother had gotten her for her ninth birthday, the Yukata was white with a purple trimming, it also had a few large flower patterns that were different shades of purple. Chimon had already headed home and Jun didn't come for training due to Himeno so Kazu decided to walk around the area they so often spent their time in over the years. She enjoyed walking through the brush a lot, having the time to just think about things while she walked around the river bank.

While walking along it she noticed a boy that looked to be about her age sitting quite a bit farther down the bank solemn-faced skimming stones across the water alone. Kazu tilted her head slightly as she watched the boy pick up stone after stone skimming them with great accuracy, he seemed lost in thought as she unconsciously walked towards the boy noticing his thin frame, brown hair that was cut quite evenly around his face, he was wearing a blue shirt, a open t-shirt on top of that with baggy shorts.

As Kazumi got closer to the boy she could almost feel the sadness emanating from him, when she was within hearing range his head perked up to see her walking on the bank stones clattering softly as she made her way to him. He seemed conflicted about whether to ask her something or to just up and leave but before he could decide she was a few feet from him and spoke.

"Are you alright you look really sad? Did you lose someone?" Kazumi kneeled down next to him with a soft smile ready to listen to what he had to say.

"I er.. Uh, yeah I did a family member died recently" the boy didn't expand further so Kazumi didn't question further.

"My name is Kazumi," she said as if to the world itself rather than an introduction to the boy.

"Hashirama"

After saying his name the two sat in silence for a while just watching the river, Hashirama occasionally skimming stones. Not much more before they'd have been there for an hour Kazumi remembered she needed to head home before her mother came looking for her and so she got said farewell to Hashirama and left. When she arrived home her mother was in the midst of getting ready to go looking for her and stopped once she saw her, her mother offered her the food she'd cooked for them and went out into the backyard to read a book. Chi was in the garden practising his water transformation more, he'd started walking around with a water bottle because he needed to be hydrated when did it otherwise he got super dehydrated and in a few instances threw up because of it since then their mother made him take a bottle with him everywhere.

The day buzzed by without much notice as the Shimizu family did their own things leaving one another to peace and quiet. Most days were like this for the family slow and routine filled such as the kids' routines, Kazumi and Chimon woke up got dressed had breakfast, cleaned themselves up(brushing teeth etc.) then headed to train in the yard unless they wanted to do Jutsu then they went to the river bank, after that they'd come home around that point Kumi would have lunch made for them, after they'd split off to do their own things or maybe have small competitions around the house. Kumi's routine was similar in a way, after she woke up and got dressed she'd make herself breakfast, clean up, go out and buy groceries, think about what to cook that day, feed Kazu and Chi then relax until dinner or until her kids needed her, sometimes her friends would come over or she might go visit them. Such as today where Shirou said she'd come over in the afternoon and stay for dinner.

When Shirou got to the house she had turned up in a more casual look than her work outfit that she normally wore, she had her raspberry-red hair tied into a low ponytail and her amber eyes ever catlike, she wore a navy blue tank top and pants with black sandals.

"Kumi! I'm here your house is a square and Kyou isn't here to ruin things" Shirou announced as she walked into the house before looking around and speaking again.

"Unless she is here? Then I'm leaving or challenging her to a spar and I'll win for this time she cheats every time we spar" Kumi shook her head as she walked down the hallway to the genkan.

"No sadly whilst it would be funny for me to watch you to go at it the last time I allowed you two to spar nearby Jun had to put the plateau back together" Kumi hugged Shirou and walked with her back into the living room where Kazu was at the table working on her reading and writing having recently picked up a love for poetry and literature.

Shirou sat down at the table as Kumi went into the kitchen and made tea for the two of them, though she brought out a third cup for Kazumi if she wanted some.

"So Kumi, I finally found that guy I was looking for, he was clanless Shinobi from Wind that uses these rather odd puppets to fight. When I was talking to him about the puppets he brought up art and went off about them being a immortalization of his work, it was kinda weird but other than that small tidbit I think we got along fine. He's definitely a keeper" Shirou said the last part adamantly nodding to herself.

"Was he the one you meet a few months ago? The one who was on the guard for some dignitary from Wind that came to meet with the Lord you were working under at the time?" Kumi sipped her tea reading what her daughter was writing as she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm going to try convi-"

Kazumi considered the boy she'd meet at the river a friend, she'd only seen him that first time and not since but nonetheless, he was a friend in her eyes. So, in turn, she kept an eye out for him over the days weeks and months that passed afterwards, she had hope that he was alive and nothing had happened to him but said hope wavered a little when she had heard from Kyou and Shirou on separate occasions that the Senju and Uchiha had a pretty huge grudge against one another and so their battlefields often were massive and had casualties of civilians. Kazumi wasn't a hundred per cent sure if Hashirama was civilian but he seemed to be so she hoped he and his family didn't get caught up in those huge fights. Well that was until one day she was walking along the river bank and saw a different boy sitting down and skimming stones across the river and she noticed Hashirama come up behind him and skim one across perfectly then said something that got the other boy to yell back at him sending Hashirama into a funk for a few seconds.

She arrived with a smile and a wave walking up to the boys and speaking.

"Hello again! And Hello to you as well I'm Kazumi nice to meet you." she extended her hand to the new boy who reciprocated the gesture mumbling 'Madara' back to her.

AN: Hello again, I know that basically, every person who writes fanfiction says this at least once but leaving reviews is awesome if you can do it, be it asking questions about things happening in the chapter, maybe your thoughts of the story so far or lastly criticism or things you'd like to see improved in the story. But yeah, this was just that one time a story PSA about reviews because they truly are helpful.