Ayame- Iris- Fem Harry Potter

Shiriusu- Sirius – to-san/father

Ryu – Dragon – Draco- itoko/cousin

Miya – Beauty – Narcissa – oba/aunt

Asebi – Andromeda- oba/aunt

Takeo – Ted – oji/uncle

Maiko - Nymphadora– itoko/cousin

Chapter 28

Fate studied the story of this world, how it started with a tree that wasn't a tree. How it was stolen from and the Thief became a goddess to the people. He read the pattern as her sons were born and inherited her power, he watched as her madness settled in and she fell into the Darkness. Her own kin were forced to fight and defeat her sealing their mother away, he saw as she left a tendril of darkness upon the land.

Fate saw how one son tried to teach a way of peace to the land, and he saw as he failed. Man went to war with each other using this new power. Fate watched as here were hundreds of years of war, and he watched the tendril of darkness manipulate the descendants of the son who had stayed in this land.

He saw as two of these descendants, containing the spirits of the first pair of brothers, joined together and change this warring world by building a village. Fate watched as one turned on the other and he saw the battle that scarred the land. He saw as one escaped and watched as he became the Madness and how the tendril watched the Madness grow.

He saw years later the Madness find the boy and he watched as the Madness twisted the boy into the Sickness. He watched as the Sickness was twisted more and more to suit the Madness needs. Then the Madness died and tendril of the Darkness was left to influence the Sickness.

Then Fate saw that He had reached the most recent lynch pin moment, the birth of the child that was prophesised. Then the Sickness attacked using the Anger, he watched as a brightest thread upon the weave was cut short and joined by one who had held the Anger. He saw that the Anger was halved and trapped, sleeping for now. And he saw how His Chosen One, His sister's Childe was already spinning the weave around her thread, changing the pattern. This time Fate would not try and stop her, He would not try to reset the pattern, He would just watch as the pattern changed and see what developments the Childe made.

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Tsunade tried to get through the gates without causing too much of a commotion, she should have realised she was doomed to failure. After spending these last few months traveling with the Kuro Clan she knew one thing they didn't do was quiet or inconspicuous. Even Maiko who was an infiltration specialist was unforgettable when she wasn't undercover.

Miya had insisted that everyone don their best outfits before approaching the village, and honestly Tsunade couldn't find it in herself to disagree. The Kuro Clan were rich, were Lords and Ladies, even if they did not act like it most of the time, it would certainly help them get their foot through the gate, so to speak.

So, their little procession drew the attention of all who were waiting to sign through the gates, it was clear that she was escorting people with money but they didn't have the normal retainers and possessions that a Lord travelled with. It was only after they Kuro Clan had been noticed was it determined that she was escorting them and returning to Konoha. Deciding that since everyone was gawking anyway she'd cut the line, Tsunade approached the desk.

"Senju Tsunade, registration number 002302 and Kato Shizune, registration number 010800, escorting the Kuro Clan to Konoha. Kuro Clan's reason for visit is that they are deciding if they wish to settle within Konohagakure, here are their travelling papers. Yes, I am aware that you won't recognise the style of forms but I will be heading straight to the Hokage and informing him of the circumstances surrounding the Kuro Clan."

"Then it seems everything is in order Tsunade-hime, please continue on your way."

A voice popped up from behind Tsunade, "You're a princess to Tsunade-sama?"

"Not in the same way as you are a princess, Ayame-hime. You were born a real princess, I'm just thought of as a princess because I'm the last Senju in Konoha."

"Hai, and the Senju were a founding Family of Konoha."

"That's correct Ayame-hime, you are doing well in your studies."

"Thank you Tsunade-sama, I am honoured to have learnt from you."

As the group moved into the Village itself, the gate guard shock themselves and signalled for a ANBU agent to inform the Hokage of the latest arrivals.

After getting the Kuro Clan settled within one of the better Inns within Konoha, and leaving Shizune with them (Ryu was due a lesson in healing and medical techniques anyway), Tsunade headed to the Hokage tower. When the Desk-nin stopped Tsunade outside Sarutobi's office, Tsunade raised an eyebrow at the nin.

"Sensei will already have been informed of my arrival, you are only holding my progression up in order to make yourself fell important. You will sit down and continue playing with your nails while I let myself in to see my Sensei." The Desk-nin opened her mouth to argue but shut it again at the promise of pain within Tsunade's eyes.

Tsunade then knocked upon the door and after receiving confirmation entered the Hokage's office. Taking a moment to look around the room Tsunade was unsurprised at the lack of changes to the room, she noted the extra Photograph upon the wall of Minato-kun dressed in all his Yondaime glory. Sarutobi was seated behind his desk, almost hidden by paperwork, hat off, pipe in mouth.

"Tsunade, I do believe you told me you would never return to Konoha."

"I was convinced otherwise, Sensei." Tsunade moved to seat herself upon the sofa in the office, she refused to sit in the chair on the other side of the desk from Sarutobi, it always made her feel like she was being told off.

"It is good to have you home, you are staying?" His dark eyes watched and assessed his student, she truly did look more at peace with herself, she wasn't fully recovered, she never would be but she was better.

"I am unsure as of this moment. The Clan I escorted here wish to see whether Konoha is a place they could settle, I am currently working under commission for them. Shizune has been hired to teach Medical techniques to the children. I have been imparting the history of Konoha."

"They are a Shinobi Clan then? I already have a copy of their paperwork. It's been 14 years since I have had Uzushio residents within Konoha." He spread their paperwork across the desk in front of him, 8 members of a clan including the Clan's head, only one couple, 3 children, one the clan heir, and no real explanation of where they came from or why they're here.

"Yamamoto Reo, and Shiriusu-dono's late wife were both escapees from the Fall, the Kuro Clan themselves are from an island far away that does not have paperwork that we would recognise, so Reo-san wrote the paperwork in the style he knew would be accepted. I have spent months traveling with this Clan, and yes, they have their secrets, their Clan is older then recorded History here, but they are truthful in their intentions"

"And just what are these intentions?" Leaning forward, resting his elbows on his desk and pressing his hands together, Sarutobi touched his finger tips to his lips

"Finding any other Uzumaki's that escaped the Fall, and keeping the children out of the court politics they would have faced within the land they came from. Honestly sensei, the Kuro Clan are powerhouses in their own right. They easily have the funds to return to Uzushio and rebuild the entire city, and that is without touching the inheritance of Ayame-hime, they have the mentality of any Shinobi clan, and the children are incredibly well trained, you would consider them prodigies if they had been trained here. They don't need help from anyone, they are used to being the top of the top, they don't need Konoha, but Konoha needs them."

"You are sure? I have always trusted your judgement Tsunade but what you say does sound unbelievable. A Clan that powerful, leaving their own land where they are powerful, to come to a land where they are unknown, doesn't seem plausible." Sarutobi was concerned what enemies might be behind the Kuro's Clan.

"There are more reasons to the move, Sensei, then what I have listed but, they are not something that bares import to you as Konoha's Hokage. They are not a risk to the security of Konoha, some of the techniques I have seen them use for their own protection would be invaluable to us. Meet them Sensei, you'll understand."

"I will, Tsunade, but will you provide your help to me while you are here? There is much still to do to recover from the 9-tail's attack, the academy was completely destroyed and the Hospital needs re-vamping."

"As long as you don't try and give me the Hat old man."

Laughingly Sarutobi agreed, having Tsunade return was enough for him, for now. Maybe he'd be able to convince her soon, he had already retired once, he wanted to get away from this desk and the horrors of paperwork. They pair spent the next hour catching up on what the other had been doing and throwing about ideas for the Hospital and academy. Tsunade insisted that Sarutobi see how the Kuro Clan had trained their children and incorporate some of their ideas. He agreed that he would when he had a moment to spare. During the conversation, Tsunade managed to get permission for the Kuro Clan to use one of the training grounds while they visit Konoha and arrange a meeting for Shiriusu with the Hokage.

As she left an hour later she was feeling much better about her decision to return to Konoha, the memories were still there haunting her but they weren't drowning her in grief. Perhaps this could work, perhaps she could find Home here again.

Sarutobi indicated to an Anbu in his office to follow Tsunade, he would assign a team to watch over the clan and use their assessment to verify what Tsunade had said. Trust but Verify was a good way for a Shinobi to deal with information. He watched in his Viewing Crystal as Tsunade re-joined the Kuro Clan, how she was clearly welcomed and her company wanted. Smiling to himself and truly feeling hope for the future Sarutobi put down his Viewing Crystal and returned to the horror spread across his desk. Paperwork.

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Magic, knowing her Childe would be safe enough within the walls of the village that shines, left the smallest part of her consciousness within Ayame before heading to the Astral Plane to speak with Her brother.

Fate felt as His sister approached, He watched as she materialised into her preferred Astral Form and catalogued the differences that had occurred. It should not have been possible for an Entity such as them to have changed, but She had.

Where before She had been a young maiden robed in the colours of magic, the impossible colours that could not be truly named, She was now an older more Motherly figure wrapped in a Golden kimono. Her long golden hair was now wrapped in vines holding it back from Her face instead of flowing freely down her back. Her eyes, which once swirled with all the colours of the world, now glowed with the colours of nature. Even Her essence had changed, more Natural and less Whimsical, less Magical.

-You have changed Sister.

-I am happy Brother.

Magic watched Fate nod His head, He had not changed. His dark hair pulled back into a short tail, His pale almost grey face above the grey shifting robe that covered all of His form, His eyes, a swirling grey like a stormy sky. She realised right then that She had missed Him, it had been a long time since She Had seen Fate. They had had a disagreement centuries ago when Fate had take another of Her Childes, He had not seen the effect losing a Childe had on Her, He had only worried about the Tapestry.

-I am sorry Sister.

With a sob Magic threw Herself into Her brother's arms. Shocked Fate goggled at the crying mass of Entity wrapped around his midsection. Slowly, He wrapped his arms around Her in return and gave Her the comfort She clearly needed.

When Magic had calmed Fate looked at the changes once again.

-You have changed Sister and not just because you are happy, you feel more Nature than Magic.

-The Magic of this world is more Natural. It is strong. But there is a Darkness here.

-I have seen. Your Childe is already making differences, making the Light stronger.

Angry and defensive Magic was prepared to leave when Her brother continued.

-It will be interesting to see what other changes she will make.

Smiling at Fate in joy and relief Magic gave him one last hug before departing. He understood, finally.

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Reo-sensei had them all down the training ground as early as he could the next morning. They would not be doing any advanced training, no need to give away all their secrets, but he would not have his students slacking off because of this.

"Hime, how many clones do you currently have out?" Ever since Ayame had learnt the Kage Bunshin she had at least 3 clones out at any one time. As soon as Reo-sensei had explained all the benefits of a Kage Bunshin, including the memory transfer, Ayame had asked her father for any books they had on symbology. This had led to Shiriusu happily giving Ayame every book, every primer, every thesis, that the had within their library on Runes, Hieroglyphs, Pictoglyphs, and any other type of symbol magic they had. Shiriusu went overboard every time Ayame asked him for something, which wasn't often. The last time had been when Ayame had asked to visit a fun-fair; Shiriusu had hired the whole park out for the day to guarantee Ayame wouldn't have to wait in line. Her blade was another example, she had asked Shiriusu if she could start ken-jutsu and he had gone and gotten her the best blade money could buy.

"4 Sensei, two preforming the leaf exercise and two reading."

"Good, I want you and Ryu to run through your sword forms while I test Maiko."

Reo had just blocked a slash aimed for his throat and used the flat of his blade to hit Maiko in her open left side (if he had been an enemy he could've gutted her) when he felt the approach of two young chakra signatures.

Shisui and Itachi were heading towards the abandoned training ground they often used when they wished to escape their family for a while. They noticed the increased presence of Anbu but thought it was for them, as the village had been more suspicious of their clan since That night, back in October. It wasn't until they were close enough to hear the ringing of steel against steel that they knew their 'secret spot' was no longer abandoned. Realising that whoever was using the training ground would have noticed their approach they continued on to apologise for interrupting. They were not prepared for the sight that greeted them. Four shinobi they didn't know was not particularly surprising, as they did not know every shinobi within the village, but for two to be around their own age and obviously advanced and they hadn't even heard a whisper about them was very unusual. Realising he had been staring and that Itachi wasn't going to speak, quiet child that he was, Shisui hurried to apologise.

"We're sorry to interrupt your training, we did not realise the ground was occupied. My cousin and I normally come here to train and we thought the ground abandoned."

The older man, obviously the sensei, who was actually quite large and intimidating now that Shisui had a proper look at the man, nodded.

"We have only just been assigned the ground today. You are welcome to join us, if you are willing to work hard?"

Shisui was slightly offended, he had been a genin for 3 years now and was due for promotion soon, he always worked hard and Itachi was a prodigy it wouldn't be long before he was an official member of the shinobi force, the only thing holding him back was the lack of an academy. Noticing the look on the elder child face Reo chuckled and gestured them over.

"I can see you have a Hitai-ate so you must be a genin at the very least, would you be willing to spar, taijutsu only, with Maiko here?"

"I'm nearly a Chunin," Shisui muttered almost rebelliously. Reo still heard him and chuckled again.

"I've been training Maiko for 5 years now but she's only ever had myself to spar against, it would do a lot for her to have a new opponent." Feeling more reassured and less defensive, Shisui's interest was piqued at the thought of having only one sparing partner. How could there possibly be somewhere with out other shinobi to train against? Deciding that he defiantly had to stick around and solve this mystery, he quickly paired up with the Purple haired teenager. Reo created a shadow clone to watch over the spar before turning to the younger child.

Itachi had watched the whole exchange with humour in his eyes, his cousin was ridiculous, getting pouty because he wasn't a chunin yet, and he knew the moment Shisui had decided this group was a new mystery to solve because of the way he had become more attentive. Shisui had an incessant need to solve any mystery he came across and Itachi knew there was no leaving now. Resigning himself to the experience he faced the Sensei. The humour in the man's eyes showed that he had noticed Shisui's intentions and did not mind.

"I am Yamamoto Reo, these are my students Kuro Maiko," he pointed to the now blue haired teenage girl who was fighting his cousin, "Kuro Ryu and Kuro Ayame-hime. We arrived in Konoha yesterday and the Hokage graciously allowed us the use of this training ground so that the children's training was not interrupted. You are most welcome to join us, as I said before the only opponents they have had are each other and myself."

"Uchiha Itachi, my cousin Shisui," he nodded towards the spar occurring across the field. "We are grateful for the invitation Yamamoto-sama, and I gladly accept."

Reo smiled at the child, he knew from training the two next to him that his age did not mean he was to be treated as a child, "Call me Reo-sensei while you train with us, what level would you evaluate yourself as Itachi-san?"

"Ah, my clan call me a prodigy and Shisui believes I should be a genin already."

Noticing something in Itachi's tone of voice Reo insisted, "I asked how you evaluate yourself."

Hesitating and truly thinking about his skill set, Itachi stood, biting his lip for a few moments before he answered. "I am good for my age, but there is much room for improvement. There is always room for improvement."

"Hai, and why do you train? Why do you wish to join the Shinobi force?"

"To protect." Itachi did not say what or why but that was enough for Reo. As he finished his conversation with Itachi his shadow clone called a halt to the spar between Maiko and Shisui. Calling all the children together he asked whether the two Uchiha knew any earth jutsu. Admitting that they did not, Reo taught both Uchiha's and his own younger students the D-rank Doton technique; Shinju Zanshu no Jutsu. As Maiko had Earth type chakra she had learnt this years ago. But with none of the children having Earth type as their primary chakra affinity, it took some time for them to learn, allowing Reo to teach Maiko some genjutsu techniques that would improve her infiltration ability.

Shisui and Itachi returned to their clan compound an hour later having enjoyed training with the Kuro clan and pride in having learnt the jutsu that Reo-sensei had taught them. Without a word being said between them they agreed not to inform the rest of the clan just yet. They would investigate more by themselves first. Plus, they enjoyed having a secret, maybe even secret friends, that was not overlooked and criticised by the clan. Tomorrow they would be back at the training ground, and every other day they could manage.