A/N: Hey, guys! Uh... I'm gonna have to change my update schedule to once every TWO, I REPEAT TWO weeks for this story. Thank you to all the people who left a review for me last week. I really appreciate it. Guest? The one who keeps asking me to update soon? I hear you. I really do. But I'm already a busy person. I have a life, and I'm doing my best to publish as is. Thank you for your dedication and support, it really does make me happy, but guys? Please don't ask me to put out chapters faster than I already am. Anyway, again, thanks for the support, follows, favorites, and reviews! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! See you next time!

I unrolled the scroll I was using for my monster seal. Jiraiya and I were back at Kushina and Minato's apartment. Jiraiya sat on the couch, watching me with interest as I unrolled the scroll. I stepped back from it when it was displayed, in all its glory before him.

His eyebrows climbed towards his hairline as he whistled, "Wow, kid. It's not been that long since I last saw this thing, has it? It looks like you've fixed a majority of the old mistakes, and are setting up for... is that a-a double chamber?"

I nodded, "Yeah. I was thinking of ways to make it easier for a Jinchuriki to host a tailed beast, and I thought, well, what if they could control the exact amount of chakra that came out? And then I realized that it would be too hard to do that if the beast was still completely whole, so I wondered if splitting it would make any difference. I did the math, and turns out, the seal will be stronger, last longer, and be easier on both parties this way. It took me three hours to do, though..."

Jiraiya sat back and scoffed in amazement, "Kid, how are you doing this?"

I looked up at him and blinked in confusion for a moment. Then I mentally told him, 'Well, I'm actually an adult who is from a different universe, so I had a better grasp on concepts like these to begin with. Then you add in the fact that I had a couple months of complete boredom as a baby, and you have the end result.' But decided against saying that out loud, as it would definitely get me a visit to T and I. Instead, I shook my head and smiled at him, "Somehow."

He chuckled at that, "Well, the only things that I can see are, over there, in the part that you have marked in pencil? You need to rethink the math behind that. Think about the lettering, and the way it will fit in with the rest for a second. You'll see it."

I frowned and looked at where he was pointing. I stared at it for a second, then ran and grabbed a piece of paper to recalculate the math that led me to the conclusion that that line needed to be there. I realized my mistake about three minutes after I had finished the equation, and immediately face-palmed.

"Of course. It needs to be a X type line, not a Y," I shook my head and fixed it.

Jiraiya chuckled and then helped me figure out the rest of the errors in what I had in the pencil. We spent about five hours doing that, which was when I looked at a clock and realized that it was very, very late at night. At that point, I bid Jiraiya goodnight and went to bed.

The next morning, I got up to find Jiraiya gone, a sticky note scribbled hastily from him plastered on the fridge at an awkward angle.

'Had a mission. -Jiraiya.'

I rolled my eyes, scrapped it and grabbed my bags to head to the Academy. I got inside and waved at Itachi and Shisui. Shisui waved back wildly. Itachi waved, but in a much more reserved manner. I grinned and bounded up the stairs to them and slid into my seat next to Itachi.

"Yo," I greeted them as Shisui reached over to fist bump me. I met his fist with my own and grinned at him.

Itachi asked, "How did the lesson go?"

I smiled, "It was good. Sealing is a lot of fun. It helps that Jiraiya's a really good teacher."

Itachi nodded as the bell rang for class to start. The day was quite normal, nothing out of the ordinary, until that evening when I was with Itachi, teaching him and Shisui to play solitaire. I also intended to get up early the next morning (Ok, well, not quite early, per se, as it was Saturday, and there wouldn't be school, but still early enough), to make pancakes and waffles. And to see if anyone had maple syrup. And that was completely off topic. but anyway, it was as I was playing Solitaire with Itachi and Shisui that a rapid banging came from the door. I started and looked up to see Mikoto hurriedly opening the door.

"The war has ended."

~Mikoto!~

She stock still as the information processed. The war had ended. The war that had claimed so many of her kinsmen's lives, which had forced so many funerals, which had taken up so much space on the Memorial Stone, that war, had ended. It felt completely unreal. Fugaku would no longer be called out at random intervals to go possibly die, she didn't have to worry about Itachi possibly graduating and becoming a war-time Genin on the battlefield (At least until the next war broke out), she would get to spend time with her loved ones and friends. The war was over.

The man closed the door and walked off, at which a few, small tears escaped Mikoto's eyes. She smiled, swallowed, and walked over to hug the three children in her living room.

She whispered quietly, "The war is over..."

She felt Hitomi pat her back and Itachi fidget uncomfortably, at which she let go and hummed her way to the kitchen to cook something to celebrate. She knew the fighting would still go on for another two to three weeks, but the war itself was over. She shook herself out of her celebratory reverie and began one of the tastiest dishes she knew how to make. If only Kushina and Minato were back in town... However, they weren't, and Fugaku had been called away, last minute to a mission, so she was left alone with the kids. No matter. She could still invite Shisui's parents over for dinner, assuming they hadn't also been called out. Jiro and Fujiko, if she remembered their names correctly, which she was fairly certain she did.

She stuck her head around the corner, "Shisui, would you mind popping the question to your parents if they would come over for dinner?"

Shisui nodded readily, "Gladly, Mikoto-san!"

He took off out the door and Mikoto saw Hitomi smile brightly at her as Mikoto turned to go back into the kitchen. She heard Hitomi tell Itachi that she was going to help out with supper, and small footsteps pattered towards the kitchen.

Hitomi smiled at Mikoto, "How can I help?"

Mikoto smiled back, "By chopping those onions and peeling the garlic, as starters."

Hitomi saluted valiantly, "Yes, ma'am," And got to work.

The two worked alongside each other for quite some time until Mikoto determined, "All right, Tomi-chan. I can handle the rest on my own."

Hitomi fake-pouted, "Aww, you sure? I was having a lot of fun helping you, though..."

Mikoto shook her head and chuckled, "Get out of here, you little rascal."

Hitomi giggled and ran out of the kitchen. A few minutes later, she heard a knock at the door.

~Hitomi!~

I grinned and hopped up to go answer the door. Three people stood outside, one was a creature commonly known as a wild Shisui, and people I assumed to be his parental units. I opened the door for them.

"Mikoto-san's almost done in the kitchen, I think. You're Shisui's mom and dad, right?" I queried.

Jiro nodded and gave me a small smile, "Yes. You must be Uzumaki Hitomi. Shisui has told us quite a bit about you."

I winked merrily and proposed as I moved out of the way for the two adults to enter, "All good things, I hope."

Fujiko smirked, "Mostly, mostly."

"Ahh, come on, Shisui! I expected more from you! I thought you were my friend! And you allowed your parents to have a negative impression of me? Shame, my friend, shame. You have dishonored your cow," I hung dramatically onto Shisui and wailed.

He clung to me, "Oh, my dearest friend, you know that I did not mean for my parents to acquire a bitter perspective of you! I am regretful that it has ever come to this!"

Itachi shook his head at our antics, at which I stuck out my tongue, "Oh, shut up you. You know you wish you were as good of friends as Shisui and I. You just refuse to profess it! Stupid Uchiha frozen emotions."

Itachi raised an eyebrow and questioned, "I thought you were fixing that."

I let go of Shisui in favor of grabbing Itachi's shoulders and giving him a shake every few words, "Ah, and there's the thing. I'm in the process of remediating your issues. I have not completed my task quite yet. No, we are yet quite a lengthy way from that."

He rolled his eyes at me.

"Ah, ah, ah, don't roll your eyes at me! Bad 'Tachi, bad," I scolded.

Itachi's face took on a serious level of concern, "Why is it that I detect that I am currently being treated as a dog?"

"Because you are," I nodded sagely, "You just need to accept it." I patted his head, but stopped mid-air on my second head-pat to think, "Ah, or would you be a ferret, or even a weasel? Well, that is your name, so... Hmm... But I've never heard of a pet Weasel... Difficult. Oh, well. Anyway, however you choose to slice, dice, or chop it, the matter still remains the same; you, Itachi Uchiha, must absorb the fact that you are a pet."

Itachi groaned and shook his head in a baffled and utterly defeated manner.

I laughed at his expression before trying to skip into the living room. Shisui, however, had a completely different agenda. He tackled me from behind, and Itachi took the opportunity to dog-pile on top of us.

"Oof," Escaped me as the air was forced out of my lungs. I complained, "Guys, you're heavy."

Shisui rolled his eyes, "No, we're not. You're just not using chakra."

I nodded, "True. But still. Shisui, what have you been eating lately? Potatoes, night and day? Oh, wait, your parents are here. I can ask them!"

Shisui grinned malevolently, "Not when you're buried 'neath Tachi and I and they're in the other room."

I raised my eyebrow, "Wanna bet?"

He gave me a feral grin, "Oh, it's on."

And the three of us got into a wrestling match. Long story short, it ended when Mikoto called out dinner. No winner was decided, unfortunately. And I ended up forgetting to ask about Shisui's eating habits.

The food was delicious, and afterwards, the three of us went back into the hallways to go do something I was sure neither of them had ever done- Play Imaginary.

Now, you probably are not familiar with this game (Although you may not know it, yet). It was just what my best friends and I used to call it when we were children. That, or Pretend. Either way, it's the same game, played by small children with large imaginations worldwide. In otherwords, it's the game where you pretend to be something you're not, in a place which you are not, in a time which you are not. The last one isn't exclusive, I have personally played Imaginary set in the present once or twice, perhaps thrice when I was a child, but that is not the point. The point is that Itachi and Shisui had never played 'Pretend,' or, 'Imaginary.' Or, as known by the name most adults call it, "Role-playing."

"So, have you guys ever played Pretend before?" I asked.

Shisui looked at me like I was from another planet (Hahaha, which I technically was), and replied, "No...? What's that?"

"Where you pretend you're someone or something you're not," I replied.

Itachi had a small frown on his face as he struggled for the right words, "Hn... That seems... a bit... useless."

I shrugged, "Not necessarily. My little and brother used to train for combat that way. We'd spar while playing Imaginary, and it was always a ton more fun that regular training. Wanna give it a shot, Tachi?"

He considered it for a moment, "Demonstrate, please."

I nodded and took a theatrical pose. I declared, "I am a soldier in a foreign country. This foreign country has strange weapons that fire when you pull a handle, and have to be aimed like kunai to hit a target. I am on a battlefield. This rug will be my weapon." I gestured down to the rug, then got on my knees and pretended to fire it, "We need more ammunition! Shisui, my brother in arms, can you hand me that... thing, whatever that is on the table?"

Shisui cackled and complied, "Here you go, my sister! May your aim be true!"

I nodded, taking the... thing. I'm not really sure what it was, but I replied in all seriousness, "Thank you!"

Shisui backed up and I pretended to fire the weapon, complete with a, "Bang!"

The little act got Shisui on board, and it wasn't long before Itachi decided that it was a lot of fun, too. So, the three of us played Imaginary. Until it was time for Shisui to leave, and for us to go to bed.