The "mortal that crumbles into dust" can be anything.

A robot.

An animal.

A long lost father.

A long lost mother.

But for those timelines when she falls in love.

The song does not stop until the very end.

And so let the world of lies spin its course.

And let the illusions dance in glory.

To ends that we speak and favors shall be done.

For the girl with eyes of stone we may conquer.

{[+]}

It was a nice summer night.

The crickets engaged, immersed in their rhapsody of soft chirping and the weather was so warm that all the windows were open despite the dark maroon sky. Iruka entered the Ichiraku abode upstairs with an "I'm home!" merely smiling when he received no answer.

He freed the door that safeguarded Naruto's room, and lo and behold, they were asleep again. He watched them breath softly as they snuggled up against each other. It was cute, though he was going to have to talk to them about the significance of sleeping in the same futon, which they had been doing every night since Hinata moved in.

Iruka still couldn't get over how hectically Hiashi had handed Hinata over to them, and how happy Hinata had been, with her near constant blushing and embarrassed heartfelt confessions.

"I'm so glad…" she hadmurmured into Naruto's chest, before she sniffled against him for a long time.

Iruka couldn't help but wonder at their intimacy, but they were only ten. Also, it was probably just Naruto's way of relieving his guilt regarding Hinata's life before she moved in. At least, if Naruto's soft declarations of "you're not alone anymore" were any indication.

God, it brought a smile to his face whenever he thought about it.

As he entered the kitchen, Iruka could only scratch his head as he faced a certain woman. Kurenai Yuhi, a jounin that had been a key contributor during the Mizuki event. She was also the best friend of what Naruto dubbed "the crazy of the bitches" Anko Mitarashi, who Iruka wanted no business with but tolerated nonetheless.

Hopefully, he would finally be getting the answers he wanted in the coming conversation.

"So what do you want?" Iruka asked with a mild, polite tone. "Tea? Coffee?"

"Iced Tea," she quipped, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "No sugar. Just here for business."

With a tap, Iruka laid the teacup in front of her, who drank it gratefully before setting it back on the table. In this heat, cool drinks were a luxury that even ninja were sometimes short off, so Iruka hoped it would score a point his favor. Shortly afterwards, they exchanged small talk mostly regarding the store that they lived in.

It took a while for Kurenai to get to the point.

"Sarutobi is promoting you to the head of Konoha's academy."

Iruka's gaze grew sharper at this as he made eye contact with her.

"Why?" he eventually queried. "He's promoting me because I disrupted that entire operation?"

"No, of course not. He's promoting you because you managed to save Naruto's life. "

Iruka sipped a few quarts of tea as he thought about her reply.

"I assumed the ANBU already had Naruto's survivability covered."

"We did until Naruto's own genjutsu disrupted our genjutsu. After that, things were an absolute mess," she replied. "While you and the Hyuuga heiress was never in danger, Naruto was placed in jeopardy after Mizuki decided to kill him halfway throughout the entire occurrence."

Iruka poured Kurenai another cup of iced tea.

"And the personnel didn't anticipate that?"

"No we didn't," Kurenai admitted. "Also, we didn't expect Naruto to snap in such a manner after Hinata's blood clone died. His emotions being real were instrumental to luring Mizuki out, if not Mizuki would have blended back into our infrastructure again. Considering that he sabotaged five years of ninja education, you're the one who's going to have to pick up the pieces."

"Ah. What about the ninja that participated in Mizuki's scheme? Is there any new information?"

Kurenai shifted a bit to make herself more comfortable.

"None. All the ninja that were involved killed themselves before we could get any information from them. The Hyuuga, as always, refuse to cooperate."

"Why?"

"I suppose you know the answer to that better than I do."

For a few heartbeats, they locked gazes.

"Do we have just cause to execute them?"

"No. We have no evidence and we can't prove anything. Hinata could have died and the Hyuuga would have gotten away with killing her after using Mizuki as a scrape goat. The fact that Hiashi is very susceptible to their whims does not help much."

Iruka could only nod grimly.

"Be careful," Kurenai warned. "You and Naruto have become the main targets of the Hyuuga."

"Is there anything more you can reveal to me about the operations?"

"No. But I assure you we will try our best to minimize the repercussions that come out of this."

The conversation trailed into more small talk, before Kurenai eventually bowed; having finished the task she had been given and turned to leave.

"Thanks for the tea. It was enlightening talking to you."

"Wait!"

Kurenai paused and turned back.

"You were the leader of the operation, weren't you?" Iruka ventured knowingly.

"Yes, though I rather you didn't find out about it."

"Well, don't feel bad about how it went. We're all safe, and that's the only thing that matters."

A brief silence was replaced by a small sheepish chuckle. Kurenai bowed once again.

"I guess I had been apologizing all this time…"

{[+]}

"I call upon the clan debt from Hyuuga onto Uzumaki and declare my price in your daughter's service until she is of age to inherit the clan throne."

Mayo Hyuuga shook with rage as he gripped the wine glass. That infernal woman, Jinne Uzumaki, had dared make such a demand, yet they had been forced to give in to her under overwhelming political force. The Hokage's approval, Hiashi's own acknowledgement of the terms, and the other clan heads had all but guaranteed Hinata's temporary adoption into the Uzumaki clan, voiding all progress that they had made.

In blind fury, he took the glass and smashed it against the maid's head, showering the already bleeding branch member with more shrapnel.

He turned back to the table, gripping the wooden table with superhuman force as his thoughts returned to that red-haired mongrel. She had been the one who had emancipated Hinata's life and disentangled the seals meant to off that worthless bitch of an heir. Her presence and words had turned the Hokage's suspicions towards them and forced them to stow away.

Her resolve was coming back to revive a clan that would all but strive to oppose their every practice and hinder them every step of the way.

All because of Naruto Uzumaki.

Tch! He would wait. He would wait and then he would kill that useless blonde bastard.

He would bide time for the pleasure of crushing him under the soles of his foot.

And so the Hyuuga began to plot again.

{[+]}

No, Mizuki did not understand at that time.

{[+]}

To those at the rendezvous,

Good news.

We have found our prince, the son of our highness Uzumaki Kushina.

As of now, he is being safeguarded in Konoha, but have no fear.

The Hokage has allowed us sanctuary in his village, so long as we keep our existence secret.

He has also promised resources in exchange for our services.

No doubt you may be hesitant in accepting their aid.

But remember, this is only one more step towards rebuilding our great nation.

Nevertheless, I hope to meet you at the spot beneath the great snake.

Yours truly,

Jinne Uzumaki.

{[+]}

A/N: Aaaaaand…foreshadowing done! A few explanations, but all will be revealed in the due time. Mizuki's event will have extremely long lasting consequences, unfortunately.

RamenKnight, roboguy45, BombRaider, hiNAru Aburame, The Forgotten Bijuu, IMSabbel and that Anonymous for the reviews!

I hope I stop receiving hate mail in my inbox now. D:

Uh…R&R? Hopefully?