Chapter 4

The silence in the room was broken by an angry scream. Nodo leaped toward the Ashi imposter, knife at the ready. The imposter blocked it easily, which only made Nodo angrier.

"Nodo! Stop!"

Nodo faintly recalled Minato's voice but he was too far gone to stop now. He slashed and stabbed, but the impostor was much too fast for him to land a hit. The worst part was that she wouldn't fight back, just watched him with her brown eyes that looked exactly like…

Suddenly, several pairs of arms were around him and holding him back.

"Bitch!" He yelled. "How dare you use her face! How dare you try to look like her!"

It was so fast that he never saw it coming, but the sudden sound of an open faced palm connecting with skin echoed through the hall.

"Nodo!"

Her voice. Her voice sounded just like Ashi's.

"I understand that you don't think it's me Nodo, but it is." The woman who looked like Ashi carefully took his face in her hands, turning his eyes to look into hers. "Nodo it's me, Ashi."

Nodo shook his head. "No…"

An annoyed look flashed over the woman's face. "Nodo, I'm telling you the truth." She took off the glove she was wearing to show him the black paw print tattooed on her palm. "Remember when I got these? You were right beside me the whole time, and when they were done, you carried me home so that I wouldn't have to walk on them. On the way back you told me that even though you were next in line for the Inuzuka clan leadership, you thought that I would be the one who would be the great leader. Remember?"

Nodo stood stunned. He never told anyone about that.

Shrugging off the hands and arms that held him back, Nodo looked at the young woman in wonder.

"Ashi? It's you? Really you?"

The woman, Ashi, smiled and nodded.

Now Nodo had never been one to cry, or weep, or give into any strong emotion except anger, but as he looked down at Ashi, he felt the tears he had held back for so many years flow out.

Ashi opened her arms and Nodo stepped into them. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. He bent his head into her shoulder and cried for the first time in years.

Ashi felt tears prick her eyes and flow down her face as well. Breathing a shuddering sigh, she held onto her older brother. She'd been waiting so long to come back to her family. It was by far the happiest moment in her life. She was aware of Daichi's father, Shino, rush over to his son, and the council members crowding around them is disbelief.

Ashi patted Nodo's back and stepped back a bit for some space. Chuckling, she reached up and wiped the tears off of Nodo's face with her hand. Smiling, Nodo cupped her hand with his and just held it to his cheek.

"Missed you," he whispered.

"I missed you too bro," Ashi whispered back.

A hand fell on her shoulder and Ashi turned to look into another set of familiar eyes.

"Dad."

"Ashi, I thought…we thought…" Kiba started.

Ashi cut him off by jumping into his arms. "I know dad, I know."

Kiba hugged Ashi almost as tight as Nodo did, and after a few moments, Ashi felt Nodo come in behind her and put his arms around both her and their father.

Finally, she was home.

Kazuki watched as Ashi was reunited with her family. He knew how much it had meant to her to come back home to them, and seeing her happy made him happy. He looked over at Daichi and his father as they hugged and shared silent messages.

Kazuki grinned. "Like father, like son," he thought.

A flash of yellow caught his eye and he focused on the young son of the Hokage, Minato. Kuzaki remembered him, but had never talked to him. He knew that Ashi had had a thing for him when they were younger and he wondered if she still had a thing for him after all these years.

It definitely looked like Minato had a thing for Ashi. The guy hadn't stopped staring at her since she took off her mask, but then again, seeing someone come back from the dead had to be a shock.

Kazuki sidled up next to Huboro-san and nudged him with his broad shoulder. When Huboro-san turned to look at him, Kazuki jerked his head slightly to the side in Minato's direction.

Huboro glanced at Minato and smiled. "Seems like the golden prince has a little thing for our Ashi."

Kazuki snorted. "Little? He hasn't stopped staring at her since she took off her mask. It's like he's a man who's gone thirty years without sex, then was given a free pass to the best brothel in town."

Huboro stifled a laugh. "Colorful Kazuki, as usual."

"I aim to please."

"Why do you care anyway? Ashi has freedom to go along with anyone she chooses, and that includes the Hokage's son."

Kazuki frowned. He knew that Ashi was free to date and go out with whomever she pleased, but after eight years of living together, training together, doing everything together, it was needless to say that he was protective of her.

Huboro watched as Kazuki's eyes turned back to look at Ashi with her father and brother. Kazuki didn't know this, but whenever his eyes rested on the young brunette, they softened almost immediately.

Smiling, Huboro shook his head with pity for the dark haired man standing beside him. "You have no idea what you're in for."

After things had settled down, the Hokage called the council to order. Ashi parted with her father and brother as they went back to sit down while she remained standing in the middle of the room with her team.

As she wiped her eyes free of tears, she caught Kazuki's eyes and smiled. He smiled back at her and motioned her over to stand beside him.

When she reached his side, he reached up with his hand and brushed his thumb across her cheek. Kazuki smiled and said, "Missed a few."

Smiling her thanks, Ashi sniffed one last time and blinked to clear her gaze. She faced the Hokage with the rest of her team.

The Hokage addressed them. "I must say welcome back to all four of you. It makes me happy to see you truly alive and well, but we must get down to business. You have told me that you have proof of what Genka was up to."

Huboro nodded. "Yes we do my lord." Huboro turned and held out a hand for Ashi to step forward. She did so and looked up at the Hokage.

"My lord Hokage, my team and I have been infiltrating various intelligence buildings and gathered intelligence on Genka Itsuo for the past eight years. We have never gained anything truly incriminating until we took down Genka's primary intelligence base. We retrieved correspondence between Genka and several rogue ninja groups in his employment, death warrants signed by Genka and documents dating back several years. We have brought all this to you in the hopes of gaining your help and offering ours."

The Hokage folded his hands in front of him as he leaned forward.

"You said you acquired all of these things, but where are they?"

With a flutter, Daichi produced an ordinary looking suitcase from the folds of his cloak. Daichi walked forward and placed the case on the Hokge's desk, then stepped back to his original position.

"We believe that Genka is after a very rare jutsu scroll, one that was believed to only exist in myth."

"And what would Genka want with that?"

"We've found references in ancient scrolls that Genka had acquired about a legendary bijuu and an old enchantment that will allow anyone to control this powerful beast."

A wizened old man stood up and spoke. "What bijuu do you speak of? All of the tailed beasts are accounted for and sealed in a Jinchuuriki. The most powerful is not ten feet from you."

Ashi nodded in understanding. "Yes, we realize this, but the bijuu we are talking about has only been spoken about in stories. We're talking about the legendary 10 Tailed Dragon, Father of the Bijuu."

A council member snorted in amusement. "You expect us to believe that Itsuo is after a fairy tale? If that's the case, then why worry. Let Itsuo go on his little search. What do we have to fear from legends?"

Ashi sighed. "My lord Hokage, there is folder in the briefcase my team has provided. Inside the folder are pictures and documents that refer to a mine somewhere in Lightning Country. We believe that in is in this mine that contains the 10 Tailed Beast."

"You believe?"

"Yes, we believe. Although, we do not know the exact location. All we know is that it is somewhere in Lightning country. That was why we decided to storm a high security facility that belonged to Itsuo. We did not find the location of the mine, but we did discover the location of a scroll containing the ancient incantation that will release the 10 Tailed Beast and give Itsuo the power to control it. If we are to stop Itsuo, then we have to get to that scroll before he does."

The Hokage had quickly scanned the papers and scrolls inside of the case while Ashi talked. Closing it and handing if off to his son, the Hokage addressed the council. "With the knowledge of this disturbing information, I must check with Kurama on this."

The room went silent as the Hokage closed his eyes and went into a deep trance. About ten minutes later, the Hokage opened his eyes and sighed. "It seems like Ashi and her team are telling the truth. The 10 Tailed Beast was sealed underground eons ago. It's real." He addressed Ashi. "I would think that you would like to continue with your work in stopping Itsuo."

Ashi nodded. "With all due respect lord Hokage, my team and I have a personal vendetta against Itsuo and we would like to be in charge to finding him and bringing him to justice. He stole away eight years of our lives, and we think it is only right that we are the ones that see this to the very end. If you will not allow this, then we will be gone from the village and try to gain the assistance of other ninja villages instead. We only came here because this was once our home, and we owed you loyalty first."

Nodding, the Hokage leaned back in his chair. He studied the group before him. "I seems to me," he started, "that you are skilled and worthy to take this on, and I see few other choices. So, I will hereby give you permission and access to any records or information you might need. My one condition is that once you find Itsuo, you are to apprehend him and bring him back to Konoha to stand trial, alive. Understood?"

Ashi nodded. She had already discussed this with the others. They knew that if they were to bring Genka down, they would need help and the price of that would be to give up the chance of killing Genka themselves.

"Agreed."

The Hokage smiled. "Then it seems we have a deal. This meeting is adjourned."

As Ashi started to turn back to her team, the Hokage called out to her. "Ashi."

"Yes lord Hokage?"

"Welcome back."

Ashi smiled and bowed. "Thank you lord Hokage. It's good to be back."

People started to mill out of the room, but not before they in turn welcomed the lost team back home. Ashi accepted congratulations, answered questions and shook many hands well before the last person was out the door.

One of the last people in the room was Minato Uzumaki. Ashi caught his eye with hers and smiled at him. He smiled back and waved at her. Ashi felt a little flutter in her chest at the sight of him. After so many years, she saw that Minato had grown into a very handsome man. Although not as tall and muscled as Kazuki was, she could still tell that Minato had some definition to him. His eyes were still the same dark blue that she remembered and his smile…well, if her knees were any sort of indicator, it looked liked his smile still had the same effect on her too.

But before she could make her way over to him, a heavy arm fell across her shoulders and pulled her into a hard chest. Kazuki grinned down at her.

"Hey, Huboro wants to talk with us before we all separate."

"Oh, alright." Glancing back at Minato, Ashi and Kazuki walked over to where Huboro was standing with Daichi.

"Alright," Huboro said as they gathered around him, "Everything's gone well so far and I'm sure that all of you are anxious to go and see your families as soon as possible. Tomorrow we're going to go visit Genka's old offices and see what we can find. Since the investigation team didn't find anything, I don't expect us to either, but they didn't have Ashi's nose."

Ashi smiled and Kazuki clapped her on the shoulder as Huboro continued. "If we don't find anything, then I have a couple of contacts that might know where Genka went. While I'm doing that, the three of you are to find somewhere to train and get to work. Just because we're back home doesn't mean that you guys can slack off. Understood?"

"Yes Huboro-san," they said together.

"Good. I'll see you tomorrow bright and early then. Have a good night."

They disbanded and when Ashi turned to look for Minato, he was nowhere to be found. She frowned in disappointment, but when she caught sight of her father and brother waiting just outside the entrance of the meeting hall, her disappointment flew away.

She hadn't come back for Minato after all. She'd come back for her family, and that was all that mattered right now.

Ashi walked out of the building with her father and brother, Daichi and his father had already left, as had Huboro, and she said good-bye to Kazuki as he walked away in the opposite direction.

Akamaru and Ranna were waiting outside for Kiba and Nodo. When they saw Ashi, both pounced on her and howled with joy at having her back. Ashi laughed and hugged both of them tightly, telling them how much she missed them.

She hoped that Kazuki's reunion with his family went as well as her own. His mother and father were owners of a small tea shop who wanted bigger things for their son, which was why they enrolled him at the academy and as far as she knew, he had been an only child when he 'died'.

As Ashi and her family walked down the streets of Konoha, Kiba and Nodo asked Ashi questions about her life for the past eight years. She answered as best she could, leaving out any details that just might upset them.

"By the way," Nodo said when they were a few feet away from the entrance of the complex, "where's Yozora? He didn't…"

"Oh no, Yozora is alive and well. We just didn't want to risk scaring anyone by bringing him."

"Scare anyone?"

Ashi nodded. She was about to answer in length the reasoning behind not bringing her canine partner when the front door of the house burst open.

Ashi stood completely still as her mother stepped out the door. Mimi was just as Ashi remembered her with a few extra laugh lines and a touch of grey in her dark hair. Her mother looked at her with disbelief and a little fear, fear that what she was seeing wasn't real.

"I was making dinner when I smelled…It can't be…You're…"

Ashi stepped closer to Mimi, slowly.

"Mom," Ashi said softly, "it's really me, Ashi. Your nose wasn't playing tricks on you, it's me."

A sob escaped her mother as her eyes started to tear up. "Ashi, I-" Mimi swallowed thickly as tears ran down her cheeks. "Ashi…pup…you…really you…"

"Yes mom."

Openly crying now, Mimi stepped forward. Ashi met her and soon enough, they were in each other's arms, crying and laughing.

"Ashi, my Ashi! Oh gods you're alive!"

Ashi felt her own tears run down her face for the second time that day as her mother held her. She's fought for this for eight years and it felt so good to be back home.

Ashi sat in the kitchen with her family as Mimi made dinner and all of them asked her questions. So Ashi talked. She spoke about her blacksmithing apprenticeship, the many missions that she and the others went on, training, her teammates, everything she could think of.

Her family looked impressed when she told them of the weapons she had learned to craft, and the techniques she mastered and created, although she didn't tell them everything. It helped to keep a few cards up your sleeve after all. They did look doubly impressed when she told them how she taught Yozora to speak.

"Speaking of which," Mimi said, "Where is Yozora? Didn't he come with you?"

"Yes, he did, but I told him to stay in the forest until nightfall."

"Why?"

"Well, you know how big Akamaru is?"

Three heads nodded.

"Well, Yozora is bigger. Much bigger, and we was afraid that if we brought him with us in plain view, we wouldn't have gotten into the village as peacefully as we did."

Nodo cast a disbelieving look at his sister. She brought up her hands defensively, smiling. "Hey, if you don't believe me, just wait until nightfall. He'll be here."

They talked some more before sitting down to dinner and eating. Afterward, Ashi went outside just as the sun was setting, followed by her parents and brother. They stood around until the yard light came on, illuminating the kennels and medical building.

There were a few dogs barking in the background, but they suddenly grew silent. Seconds later, the shadows in between the trees shifted. Ashi smiled as a huge, hulking shadow stepped out of the forest.

"Oh my…"

"Holy…

"What…"

Ashi chuckled at her family's reaction. That was mostly people's reaction when they met Yozora for the first time, that or they'd run the other way screaming."

"You left me waiting so long I thought you had forgotten about me," Yozora rumbled.

"Never. How was your day?"

Yozora sat before Ashi, his large head tilted down to look at her. "Boring. I napped for several hours, had dinner, then bathed in the river before coming here."

"Aw, did you wash up especially to meet the family?"

Yozora swished his tail and grumbled out a short, "No."

Ashi laughed and reached up to scratch Yozora's chest. He growled in pleasure.

Laughing again, Ashi turned to her gap-mouthed family as they watched the exchange. "You remember Yozora, and Yozora you remember the family?"

Yozora bowed his head, his golden eyes shining in the darkness. "It's very nice to see all of you again. I know that I'm…a bit different from what you remember."

Kiba was the first to snap out of the dumbstruck state that had hit his wife and son. He cleared his throat and said, "Yes, I-ah, it's nice to see you too Yozora. Good to know that Ashi had you looking after her."

Yozora barked out a laugh. "Yes, I'm sure you are."

Mimi came up next. "I must say that I did not expect you to get this big Yozora."

Grunting in agreement, Yozora said, "Neither did Ashi, but she did some research a few years ago and found out that every generation or so, a wolf pup is born with the genetic coding of the first wolves that I am descended from. Guess I'm lucky that way."

Nodo and his parents got over their initial shocks and conversed with Yozora and Ashi for a while longer before going to bed. Mimi told Ashi that her old room was available to her if she wanted, but Ashi said that she would sleep with Yozora for the night. Mimi smiled, kissed her on the forehead goodnight and went to bed with Kiba.

Before going, Nodo hugged Ashi one last time. "Glad that you're home sis. You have no idea how much we missed you."

Ashi smiled and squeezed her arms around Nodo's middle. "I missed all of you too."

Pulling back, Nodo grinned and punched her lightly on the chin. "Night."

"Night," Ashi said as she watched her brother go inside.

Yozora lay down in the soft grass and Ashi lay down next to him. She snuggled up into his side and relaxed as she listened to his strong heart beat. She must not have realized how tired she was from the day's events because a few minutes after laying down, she fell fast asleep.

Ashi woke up the next day bright and early. First thing that she did was to tell Yozora before he left that they were training that day and that she would call him when they started. Yozora just grunted and disappeared into the trees.

Next, she had breakfast with her family. She asked Nodo if he could take her to Genka's former offices. He agreed and the two of them left the house with Ranna at their heels. They met Daichi, Kazuki and Huboro in the front of a red building.

"This is it?"

Nodo nodded. "Yup. Genka was stationed here for 10 years before he left. The investigation team didn't find anything, but maybe you'll have more luck. I have some paper work I have to fill out from my last mission. I'll see you later at the training grounds, ok?"

He waved goodbye to them as he walked down the street and disappeared around the corner.

"The training ground?" Kazuki said as they entered the building.

Ashi shrugged. "Yeah, he wanted to come and spar a bit. So I invited him." She eyed him comically. "Got a problem Kaz?"

Kazuki smiled and shook his head. "Nope, no problem, so put away the claws killer."

Ashi growled and took a playful swipe at him. Kazuki dodged easily and sidestepped around her, but not before Ashi grabbed a handful of his shirt and tugged. Kazuki grinned and 'stumbled' into her, squishing her against the wall.

"Oh, so sorry Ash!" He said feigning an apologetic tone. "I just lost my footing there for a second."

Ashi squealed as she tried to push Kazuki off her. "Kaz! Get off you big goon!"

They played around for a few more minutes before they heard the sound of a throat being cleared. Huboro was gazing at them, looking unimpressed by their actions. Kazuki and Ashi just grinned sheepishly.

Huboro sighed and told Kazuki and Ashi to go start with the second floor and move up while he and Daichi took the first and moved down. Kazuki and Ashi split from the others and headed up the stairs at the end of the hall.

Huboro sighed again as he watched them go, and then started the search with Daichi.

Ashi started to sniff the air as soon as they stepped onto the second floor. Kazuki walked down the hall, checking the empty rooms, rummaging through and around any leftover furniture.

Ashi continued to sniff down the other end of the hall. She stepped into what looked like someone's old office. There was a desk, a few filing cabinets that she guessed were empty, and a small window.

Stepping through the doorway, Ashi sniffed the air experimentally. Her eyes widened as she caught a scent familiar to her, but what…

"Kazuki!"

A second later, Kazuki was right behind her, his eyes shifting around the room before he looked down at her. "What is it? Did you find something?"

Ashi nodded. "Yeah, at least I think I did. Remember that old woman Kiren?"

Kazuki's face turned dark and he nodded. Kazuki had more of a grudge against Kiren than any of them since his leg was lost because of her.

"I can smell her in this room. It's the same sick-sweet smell of her perfume."

"Then she was working for Genka just like we thought. Does the scent lead anywhere?"

Ashi sniffed around the room a bit more. The scent just stayed in the room though and she couldn't follow it beyond a few steps beyond the door. Scowling in defeat, Ashi left the room, searched the rest of the second floor and moved up with Kazuki.

They had just wrapped up with the last floor when one of Daichi's bugs landed on Ashi's hand.

"Hey," she called to Kazuki. She lifted her hand to show him the small insect. "Looks like Daichi and Huboro-san are done downstairs. Did you find anything?"

Kazuki shook his head and brushed himself off.

"Me either. Let's get downstairs, maybe Huboro-san or Daichi found something. Let's go."

They went down to the first floor and found Daichi and Huboro standing just inside the front entrance, waiting for them.

"Did you find anything?" Ashi asked Huboro.

He shook his head. Ashi glanced at Daichi, but he shook his head too.

"I recognized a scent of an old friend of ours in an office on the second floor."

"Who's scent was it?"

"Kiren's."

Huboro absorbed the information. "So now we can confirm that she definitely worked for Genka. Was there a trail?"

Ashi shook her head.

"Alright, you three continue on with training. Good work. I'll go and do some more digging and I have to contact a few people. Hopefully I can get some info about where he's gone. Dismissed."

As soon as Huboro left, Ashi, Kazuki and Daichi left for training. Ashi led them in the direction of training ground 13, the grounds where Nodo usually trained.

No one was around when they arrived, so they decided to warm up before starting. Training ground 13 was a large clearing surrounded by trees. There were patches of warn earth spotting the green, but the grass was thick and springy.

Ashi walked into the center of the field and opened her mouth to give a long, low howl. An answering howl travelled back to her on the wind a moment later. Smiling, Ashi started stretching and waited for Yozora to arrive.

A rustle in the trees caught Ashi's attention. She resumed stretching, not giving away the fact that she had heard anything. Glancing at Kazuki and Daichi, Ashi said, "So what exercise do you guys want to go through today?"

Kazuki groaned as he stretched out his back. "Well, we could do 'search and destroy'. That's always been my favorite." He grinned. Ashi smiled back, knowing that Kazuki and Daichi had heard the unknown person in the trees just as she had.

Looking at Daichi, Ashi knew that he had already deployed his bugs to check out the enemy and was waiting for him to signal whether the person was hostile or not.

Daichi tilted his head to the side, as if in thought. Seeing this, Ashi knew that the intruder was not hostile. Probably just checking us out, Ashi thought. She sighed and stood up straight.

"I think it would be better if we went over 'shock and awe tactics' first."

Kazuki pouted comically, making Ashi grin. "We can always do 'hunting season' later," she conceded.

"I love 'hunting season' even more than 'search and destroy'." Happy once again, Kazuki rolled his shoulders in anticipation. "So how do you want to do this?"

"On the count of three?" Ashi said.

Kazuki and Daichi nodded. Ashi clapped her hands together. "Alright! One!"

They sprang off without Ashi finishing the count. Moving quickly, Ashi positioned herself in front of the unknown person, Daichi went behind them, while Kazuki attacked from above. Ashi heard the person grunt as Kazuki tackled them, both of them coming down from the tree that the spy was crouching in. Kazuki had his large arms banded around the person, making sure that they wouldn't be able to get away easily.

Ashi had a kunai in her hand the second that Kazuki and the spy had connected. As she approached, she recognized the person struggling in Kazuki's arms.

"What are you doing here?"

Yumi Uchiha glared at her. "Nodo invited Minato and I here to train. I didn't think that I would be attacked like this."

Ashi motioned for Kazuki to let her go. "Maybe next time you should just walk up to us instead of trying to spy on us from a tree. Not well, I might add."

Flushing with anger and embarrassment, Yumi shoved away from Kazuki as soon as he loosened his hold on her. Chuckling, he backed up, hands held up in surrender.

Yumi turned on Ashi. "How did you know I was in the tree?"

"I heard you," Ashi said simply.

Yumi snorted. "That's impossible. I'm virtually undetectable in the field and I have the best stealth techniques in the village. Ever."

"Ashi is better."

Ashi smiled at Daichi. He never said much, but she knew that he would always have her back.

Yumi brushed some non-existent dirt of her vest. "Well, I seriously doubt that."

Ashi shrugged. "I'm not here to prove anything to you Yumi. I just want to do some training with my team and my brother. By the way Nodo, you're breathing so loudly that they can probably hear you in Suna."

A bark of a laugh sounded behind her. A moment later, Nodo walked into view with Minato behind him.

"I can't believe you heard me. That's really impressive sis. Did you develop supersonic hearing while you were gone or what?"

Ashi smiled and shook her head. "No, but Huboro-san made us spend a year blindfolded so that our other senses could reach their maximum potential."

Nodo whistled under his breath. "Damn."

"Hey, we can swap horror stories later," Kazuki broke in. "I want to play 'hunting season'."

"What's 'hunting season'?" Minato asked.

Ashi sighed. "You'll see, but we're waiting for Yozora to get here to start. By the way Nodo, where's Ranna?"

"Ah, she's back at the compound. We had a tough mission a while ago and she's been on the mend since, so Mom wanted to check up with her. She's gonna be just fine though."

When the group made their way back to the clearing, they found Yozora waiting for them, laying in the grass.

Ashi ignored the predictable gasps of surprise that came from Yumi and Minato and walked right up Yozora.

"You're late."

Yozora sniffed. "I'm never late. I arrived at the time that I meant to. You were just early."

"You're so full of crap," Kazuki said as he walked up, Daichi chuckling behind him.

Ignoring him, Yozora turned his golden gaze to Minato and Yumi. He studied them before saying point blank, "Who's the bitch?."

Yumi's went white with anger while Kazuki, Ashi and Nodo laughed in surprise. Daichi also smiled openly, and Minato hid his smile behind his hand.

"How dare you call me that!"

Yozora pulled off a very convincing eyebrow lift. "What did I call you?"

Ashi cleared her throat, her lips still curled in a smile. "I'm sorry Yumi, but Yozora usually refers to human females as he would a female of his own species. He seems to forget to change his speech patterns around others quite easily."

Yozora glanced at her. "Oh yeah, please forgive me. I will be more careful with my words in the future."

Before Yumi could say anything else, Minato cut in. "It's amazing that you've grown as much as you have Yozora, and that you're speech is so…natural. Did Ashi teach you?"

Yozora nodded his large head. "Yup. Ashi taught me everything I know." Looking down at her with love in his golden eyes, Yozora nuzzled Ashi's shoulder. "We've looked out for each other for a long time."

Ashi rubbed Yozora's shoulder soothingly. Changing the subject, Ashi said, "So who's gonna play 'hunting season'?"

Kazuki, Daichi and Yozora said they were.

"What's 'hunting season'?" Nodo asked.

Kazuki explained. "It's this training exercise that we came up with some time ago that allowed us to hone our tracking skills, chalkra control and other various forms of jutsu. One of us runs off somewhere and the others try to find them using whatever means we have. No weapons allowed. We draw straws to see who gets to be the prey, and we call the prey 'the rabbit'."

"Why do you call them 'the rabbit'?" Minato asked.

Kazuki grinned. "That's the best part actually." Walking to wear his teams packs were, he picked up his and opened it. Pulling a bundle from inside, he tossed it to Minato. "Whoever looses the draw has to wear that."

Minato pulled the folds of the bundles back with Nodo and Yumi watching. When he revealed what the bundle was, he looked up at Kazuki.

"You're kidding."

Kazuki shook his head. "Nope."

Nodo reached over and pulled up a scrap of white cloth. Stretching it out, he revealed it to be a pair of little white shorts with a cotton ball attached to the back of them. Minato pulled out another scrap of fabric that turned out to be a small top, no doubt for Ashi, a pair of furry bunny ears and a pair of shoes and gloves made to look like rabbit feet.

"So, do you guys want to play or what?"

Nodo looked at Minato. They grinned at each other and nodded. Yumi also agreed to participate, but sounded reluctant.

Kazuki rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Alright. Then let the games begin!"