Chapter 29:

Can't believe it's been over four years since this story started, closer to five. I never thought I would be able to get this far. Important, I have decided to instead of using sky and ice as oc's they are going to be legit characters from cannon. So I no longer own them. At least in this story, and to those who give a shit it was my birthday Oct 7. I'm officially 20! Man I feel old.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!

SHOUT OUT TO KAMUI SENKETSU!

On to the story

Melia Uchiha lies in a bed, Itachi by her side, Sasuke on the ceiling ready incase Itachi does anything. Little does the vindictive jackass realize he's wasting chakra doing that because at some point he'll have to come down. Although he knows Itachi knows he's there and can kill him in a heartbeat and Sasuke can't stop him, he can try, but Itachi would still win.

Deidara comes in carrying a pitcher and some water. He cups Melia's cheek and she smiles, her slightly fitful sleep becoming more peaceful.

"How long till she wakes up un?"

"I believe with the amount of chakra pills she took…not for a while. It's only been a few hours, give it a day or two."

~Melia~

I remember how when I was a little girl I would ask otou-chan to spend time with me. I recall how once I actually asked him to teach me a jutsu shortly before I entered the academy. I remember his answer.

I see the look on Itachi-nii's face when I showed him I could preform a katon jutsu. How he always took time to teach me and help me.

I see myself as a little girl, Hiri just called me a freak. He always loved picking on me for not being as vocal as the other children my age. I hated being called a freak. Itai, Shi and Suke all understood my silent speak. They knew me better then anyone. But as time went on I started speaking more and more so I wouldn't be as different. Others wouldn't understand my speak, but that was fine because I didn't want anyone close to me except my brothers anyways. Only they would understand what I thought. They always were.

'Do I really need to care at this point? I interact with so few people… Do I really need to change? If I changed would they accept me?'

I gasp, what I see changes suddenly from me being on the ground to several feet in the air, unable to move as rope binds my hands tightly, cutting into my arms. I'm high above a waterfall, I feel the cold steal of a blade against my throat. Strangely enough I don't feel the rush of panic I usually do when I'm bound, not even when I realize that I can't use my chakra.

"Call him." A distorted masculine voice tells me. "Call him now." I feel the steal move away from my throat only to be replaced with a hand as I shake my head no. The face is blurred so I can't tell who's holding me as I feel myself dangling in the air. I feel myself fall, unable to manipulate my chakra to brace myself and unable to move to throw a kunai and ninja wire in an attempt to use the cliff to save myself. I plummet into the water below.

My eyes open, I feel a hand in mine.

"Nii-chan?" I question as I start waking up

"Imoto." I'm surprised, Deidara's hand is in mine yet Sasuke is the one who spoke. 'This isn't good.'

I look at Sasuke and I guess he can't understand my expression as Itachi, 'ITACHI!'

"You gave me a heart attack Melia. What were you thinking taking all those chakra pills? You're at the cabin. You've been out for two days." 'Two days huh? I've got to get him out of here. Question is, will Sasuke go with me? And how do I explain?'

I nod and start to sit up, throwing my legs over the side of the bed. My legs feel like Jell-O and lead at the same time; so heavy they're hard to move yet I can barely feel them. I can feel pins and needles all over, it's like I'm being stabbed. I feel so hot too. 'Note to self, never take so many fucking chakra pills again.' My throat feels so dry, Dei-kun, bless his crazy ass, has already brought in ice-cold water. I give him a look of thanks, gratefully taking it and having a drink, finally taking a breath I start to stand Sasuke and Itachi both offer me their hands. Sasuke is glaring at Itachi out of the corner of his eye. I take both of their hands and use them to steady myself. Once I feel steady I start heading for the hall and my shoes.

"Imoto. You need to rest more."

"Imoto are you trying to kill us both? You just woke up after almost over dosing on chakra pills."

Sasuke…
'What are you thinking? You need to rest more.' I watch as she starts walking for the door Itachi and I are a step behind her.
"Imoto. You need to rest more."
"Imoto are you trying to give us both grey hairs? You just woke up after almost overdosing on chakra pills." Itachi actually sounds worried, 'But it is Melia. It's hard to not worry. It's hard to not love her.'

Melia leans heavily against the doorframe as she looks at us, I can read her look.

Gomen. I have to do this. I won't let something like this stop me.

Suddenly I'm reminded of the little girl who refused to stay put after nearly being abducted, who wouldn't let their fears keep them from exploring. I see Melia stumble as she tries to get up and I move to help her.

Melia was so scared after that, but she still walked outside even though she was shaking in fear after it, still gave us the slip every chance she got. I sweat drop at the memory of her losing us by going out the bathroom window… twice…. I can see the fire burning in her. It's still burning bright, small but bright. I see the surprise on her face out of the corner of my eye as I place her arm around mine and wrap my arm around her waist. Melia couldn't stop shaking after that event, she was terrified of going out but she always faced her fears, she gave me the slip back then. Now she's about to try facing something alone again, I can't let my fear of Itachi keep me from going with her. From helping her face whatever is in store for her now.

"Nani?" I ask and I know she understands what I'm asking. What do you need me to do? She just looks at me in shock. A half curious, half worried glance in the direction of the village then a pleading look to me telling me exactly what she needs. 'I need someone to find out what's going on in the village. I need to know the movements of all major people in the village.' I nod and set her down in the living room.

"Leave it to me. Itachi! Grab your gear, we're going out." I see Melia's wide eyes. "Hn? I thought you'd like it if we went together. Besides, he can help me cover it faster." I can feel my cheeks turn light pink but as I see her light up with a smile I know I'm doing the right thing. I poke her forehead and she turns bright pink.

"Deidara, right?" I get a nod. "Make sure she rests up. Take good care of her or so help me I'll kick your ass and show you what a Uchiha welcome is." I activate my sharingan to show the weight of my threat. "Don't let anything happen to her while we're gone." I see him merely nod, and I grab my shoes.

"Let's go Itachi." I walk out the door Itachi following close behind.

"So, who are the major players that our little Melia is worried about?"

"Possibly the council. The third Hokage knew about Melia's existence. I believed it wise to have at least him aware of her lest Anbu find her and believe her a threat."

"Hn. So in other words, he kept you in the loop on how she was and he looked out for her?"

"That is correct."

"I was looking out for her."

"Not after that one fight. The fight you had that left her crying and alone for a couple months when you knew she was too shy to go into the village alone."

"We fought. I felt like an ass for it, I apologized and she forgave me."

"Hn. Foolish little brother. Don't believe for a moment that our sisters forgiveness protects you from me punching you at just once for making her cry regardless of if all if forgiven. It's our rule that if one makes her cry they get punished. Should I ever make her cry I would expect you to do no less."

"Don't worry. If you make her cry I'll beat the crap out of you."

"Good. Now back to the people she's worried about. I'll take care of the council. I need you to check with your friends on what they can learn about the situation with their families. Children are more loose lipped then adults. And being curious are more likely to listen in to conversations, holding information that we need."

"You didn't fully answer my question. There's something you and Melia are hiding from me." I glance over to the bushes and sigh knowing who has been following us since we left.

"You may as well come out and help us gather information for Melia." Several ninja cats come out, 'Granny cat must have ordered them to follow us so we wouldn't start fighting. At least they may be willing to help us gather information." "You guys can move about the village more freely. No one would suspect a cat as being able to understand them. No one would look twice at a cat lying on a windowsill. Will you help us? For Melia?"

"Who are the targets?" One cat asks.

"Melia is worried about the elders. They control a lot behind the scene. The elders have their hands everywhere. They manipulate everything." The cats nod and leave but I'm still not following. My eyebrow quirks in confusion "Why would she be worried about them?"

"Think for a moment Sasuke. What do you know about Melia?"

"She's shy. No one knows about her. She apparently likes to use that to her advantage to go see you."

"Her abilities Sasuke."

~Itachi~

I see him pale as realization hits.

"She can read others thoughts with her Sharingan." I nod. "Her ability to read others minds would be beneficial to them. They would use her as a weapon or worse. She is the last female Uchiha." He turns even paler at the idea of the CRA. "Should they discover her existence they would seek to control her. Turn her into a weapon or use her to recreate the clan."

"That was the reason you never liked her going out into the village alone. Let alone her being around others by herself even while at home. Why when you learned of her abilities you begged her to not tell anyone of her prowess? They would use her…."

"She would be forced to either kill. Or they may kill her in fear of what she may discover in their thoughts. Or they may force her to have children."

"But she's only eleven!" He turns green. He rushes over to the bushes and empties the contents of his stomach.

"Twelve, Sasuke. Did you really forget her birthday that was two weeks ago? We celebrated it after she checked with you on if you were going to drop by the cabin to see her. She said you told her you were busy training and would be unable to stop by to check on her. I have the feeling you never wished her a happy birthday either. She told me how she spent the past few birthdays alone." My sharingan spins disapprovingly.

"I'll take care of the council. Find out what you can from your fellow genin." I use a transformation and start moving around, the conversation constantly running through my mind.

~Deidara~

I watch Melia as she gets up and starts moving towards her room. I watch as instead of sitting on the bed she goes under it instead.

'Oh well, Itachi said she used to sleep under his bed all the time when she was a kid, maybe she just likes it? Nothing she can do under there anyways. Man why is she so quiet? She hasn't said anything since she woke up. She hasn't eaten anything, maybe I should make her some food?'

"Hey Kisame, mind coming in here for a minute? I need you to watch Itachi's sister while I make some food. She's under the bed, let me know if she comes out." I walk out just as Kisame comes into view and head into the kitchen to make something easy for her to eat.

'She just woke up after passing out from too many chakra pills so something light. But she hasn't eaten in a couple days so it has to be filling…' I look through the cabinets and discover some ramen cups, tea bags, tomatoes 'Figures', rice and noodles. I also take note of the beef in the fridge.

"Ramen is easy to make and I know I won't screw that up at least. It's like soup so it's light and it is pretty filling. If I just chop up a couple cherry tomatoes…." I start boiling water for the noodles and pull out a cutting board and a small bowl. I cut about five cherry tomatoes in half and throw them in the bowl. The kettle starts to whistle so I turn off the heat and pull out one of the packages, pouring the water in and setting the timer for three minutes.

~Elsewhere~

A girl finishes setting up the traps. Two large machines loaded with kunai aimed at her, wires are all that keep her from being killed. She throws two kunai severing the wire, she jumps up and throws a few kunai, redirecting the kunai coming at her. She's been able to do this for about a year but she can't tell anyone about this, she knows it's not seen as a good thing which is why she hides it. The cat that's with her just goes to sleep wondering how long till the other two idiots realize she used the passageway under her bed.

~Deidara~

I enter the room again and see Kisame waiting in the chair staring intently at the bed.

"Melia, food is ready. You should come out and eat." ~No response~ "Melia, did you fall asleep under there?" I lie on the floor and peek under the bed to discover she isn't there.

"Kisame are you sure she never came out?"

"I've been sitting here the entire time. Of course I'm sure."

"She's not under there. Itachi is going to kill me."

"Impossible. No way she got past me and the kitchen is off to the side of the door. She wouldn't have been able to get past you either."

"She's not under there. I'll check up here you check down stairs, if we split up maybe we can find her before her brothers return."

I go through the entire house, I check every room, every closet and nothing. I glance at the clock and given how much time has passed I wonder "What will Itachi do to me when he finds out?"

"When Itachi finds out what Deidara?" A familiar voice asks I swallow hard. Suddenly a familiar little girl walks past me and lifts her arms up to Itachi. 'Where the fuck was she hiding?' I notice Itachi is holding her on his hip like a small child, her head resting against his shoulder. I hear her stomach growl and know she's hungry.

"Melia didn't you eat?" Melia shakes her head. "Didn't Deidara or Kisame make you something?" She gives him a look he seems to understand and he smirks before sighing. "Deidara you don't have to worry just because you couldn't get my stubborn little sister to eat."

"She does this on occasion where unless Itachi or I are with her she'll be stubborn and refuse to eat. Nothing anyone does will get her to eat. If she wants us to eat with her nothing will work except us eating with her." The younger Uchiha brother speaks up. "Man Melia you didn't have to wait. You know we like it when you eat."

~Itachi~

When I hear Deidara talk about what I'll do to him I can't help but wonder what happened. When I see Melia walking towards us yawning I note she's perfectly okay. She raises her arms and I know she wants up and I can't help but wonder why she isn't talking. 'Maybe it's because she's still so tired from the effects of the pills.' I decide to wait a couple days and see if she doesn't start talking then, if not I'll ask what's wrong. I hear her stomach growl in hunger and I ask

"Melia didn't you eat?" She shakes her head no and I know Sasuke is frowning behind me. "Didn't Deidara or Kisame make you something?" She gives me a look meaning I wanted to eat with you so I didn't eat. I smirk at how easy it is for me to translate that look, having seen it many times in my Anbu days, behind me I know Sasuke is smirking too. I look to Deidara, sighing. "Deidara you don't have to worry just because you couldn't get my stubborn little sister to eat."

"She does this on occasion." Sasuke starts and I recall all the times when I was on a mission I would rush back to find Melia hasn't eaten in a day or two because she was too stubborn; Or because of a bad dream terrified her enough to worry and then she wouldn't want to do anything but pace back and forth until she saw I was alright.

"Sasuke is right imoto. It's not healthy to go this long without eating."

"We'll Itachi and I are home now so you are going to eat. We can talk about what we found later. First you are eating something." She shoots him a look over my shoulder, I believe I can correctly translate that particular look to If it's important I need to hear it now. Sasuke shakes his head, "Nothing is more important then you eating. You can't do anything without energy and you need to eat to get energy. You are eating. Hn." That hn means end of discussion or that's final.

I sit Melia down while Sasuke starts on some rice and tomatoes. Dicing up a few tomatoes as the rice cooks, when the timer goes off I watch as he starts making onigiri with indentations in the backs where he presses the tomatoes.

"Here you go. Some slightly sweetened onigiri with tomatoes. It should be light enough that you can handle it and it will give you a little energy."

Melia nods and pulls his arm to give him a peck on the cheek in thanks. He blushes and she starts eating.

"Now onto business." Sasuke starts and I'm slightly stunned at his maturity. "I found out from Hinata that there was a council meeting today. Apparently from what she heard the elders are talking about the fight between Gaara and Naruto. I wasn't able to find out about if anyone saw you without getting her to think about something she shouldn't have."

"It appears only the Anbu from the barrier saw you. You were lucky that most people were too preoccupied to take note of a young girl running around in my old Anbu gear." I feel a vein popping near my eye. "Although I am glad you thought of using the gear and that it helped protect you, I can not say that I approve of you being involved in that battle. It seems though that the Anbu haven't mentioned you and I paid a visit to them earlier to make sure their memory of you was erased."

I see Melia nod in thanks. "So what did the council have to talk about?"

"They were surprised over what appeared in that fight. Seeing the nine tails appear, even in a transformation, shocked and worried many that it reformed. The more competent ninja on the council, such as the Nara, assured everyone that it was just a transformation though." I could tell from the look in my siblings eyes they knew, such as the Nara meant the Nara and most naturally rallied around him.

"According to the Nara, his son gave him a recounting of what happened since he saw it first hand. I don't know if you were aware but one Nara Shikamaru had followed you when you chased after the red-haired genin from Suna. The Nara informed his father of the events he witnessed and the transformation breaking. His father recounted most of the details and assured everyone the nine tails hasn't reformed." I know Melia understands my hidden meaning. ~Shikamaru covered for you. Naruto is safe at the moment.~ Technically it is the truth, I just didn't say that the nine tails is actually sealed into Naruto. The tension leaves her and she relaxes, looking at Sasuke asking for more onigiri, to which Sasuke nods and starts cooking the rice. I motion for Sasuke to sit down and place Melia in his lap, she rests her head in his shoulder and I take a moment to look her over, she's still tired but she has more strength than before. I watch amused as she curls into him and as he nuzzles the top of her head, holding her protectively, a small smile gracing his lips as he plants a kiss on her head.

"I did hear however, that the council had collective heart attacks when the shodai and nidai showed up in the council room. It was interesting from the bits and pieces that I could gather. Apparently the Shodaime had plenty to say about the council and how it was run." 'It was amusing to say the least when I was able to sneak in using the gear Sarutobi left for me to be able to attend the meeting. I actually could have started laughing from the insanity of it.'

~Council room. Earlier…~

"SHODAIME-SAMA! NIDAIME-SAMA!" Several people scream all at once.

"Hello. We heard there was a council meeting today and were curious as to how the village is doing since our deaths."

"S-sensei…" 'Oh how it amuses me the most to see this bastard speechless…' I watch in pure amusement as Danzo of all people looks on at the first and second Hokage shell shocked. "H-how is this possible… You are… you were…"

"Apparently Tobi-chan here created a jutsu that brings the dead back to life." The first Hokage sighs "I am unsure of how long this Jutsu will last. However I am hoping you'll indulge us this once Danzo-chan." Here I am mentally laughing my ass off, to hear Danzo-sama be called 'chan'… it's too hilarious. A select few shoulders shaking slightly and I see I'm not the only one amused by the absurdity of it.

"So how has the village been fairing? Nii-sama and I have been researching village politics in between helping with repairs. I see that the Senju seat is still available."

"Indeed Nidaime-sama." The Councilman Nara informs him "As your grand-niece Tsunade still lives and is the heir to the Senju we have reserved that seat for her. However you are both welcome to vote as one and sit in on the council meeting." He gestures towards the empty seat and two Anbu bring in another seat. They both nod and thank him.

"I was glad to see few buildings were damaged. It seems Konoha is able to defend itself against a sudden attack."

"I was surprised at how little damage the village took when I discovered the seals around the village haven't been active. Anyone care to explain?" The Nidaime, as to be suspected, was stern and slightly disapproving. The villages seals were a gift from Mito Uzumaki, more commonly known as Mito Senju, in order to protect the village. No matter how strong Shinobi are, it's just foolish to not have the seals activated all the time. Although I know about the seal that senses chakra entering the barrier is still active but what else could there be?

"Nidaime-sama, after Mito-sama passed we were able to keep the barrier seals detecting chakra entering the village active. What other seals could there be?"

"The seals my wife placed on most of the streets and buildings. She placed seals on many buildings to create barriers for civilians to go to in a time of crises, and the seal protecting Hokage tower and the ninja academy are no longer active and have been damaged from time. Mito-chan placed many seals around the village streets that would repel enemy attacks and stun those that meant the village harm." From the tone in his voice, stun likely meant electrocute… badly… I had heard many stories from the Sandaime that Mito-sama had a proclivity for zapping people with her stun tags and was a bit of an electro-maniac. Many stories were filled with poor souls who dared to order her around-in one case her husband "Didn't matter who it was, she just wasn't the type to be bossed around"-, or those who simply tried to hurt innocent children or meant harm to the village- "Poor fool was most likely able to smell his burning flesh for months after" -only to get electrocuted eight ways to Sunday for their troubles.

"We were unaware of such seals existing. The village currently only has one Fuinjutsu expert and he is also our spy master who is away from the village constantly making sure that the village is safe."

"The village has no funinjutsu experts? What about the academy? Surely the academy teaches at least the basics of funinjutsu? Those with a talent at it surely study it more in depth?" I can tell the Shodaime is confused and slightly aggravated. I relax a little and wait for the inevitable fall out when he learns the civilians changed the curriculum so their kids could pass during the last war. 'Come to think of it, they changed a lot according to what the Sandaime told me of his days in the academy.'

"Shodaime-sama, the council felt that sealing was un-necessary for our children to learn as we couldn't see how it would help keep our children alive in the world of shinobi."

'Idiot.' I think as I listen to the pink haired woman talk, 'Melia would have seen the use of Funinjutsu back when she was six. Heck Sasuke saw the use although he didn't have an interest in it.'

"We felt that the courses in sealing were un-necessary and tedious, taking up too much time away from learning their weapons and jutsu skills."

"Then pray-tell why is the academy so centered around only Konoha history? Why are there only being three jutsu taught? Why are the tai-jutsu forms slightly watered down? And who in the council decided that sealing was un-necessary?" The Nidaime steps back, smirk on his face as the Shodaime waits impatiently for an answer from the woman. I see the Nara sigh out of the corner of my eye.

"We-well, the civilian council believed that it was unfair for our children to have to struggle so much in the academy. Our children don't have the reserves of clan children and thus many of the exercises were too difficult. And we couldn't see the benefit of our children learning about a place that isn't their home. Why would we want our children to learn about Iwagakure when they could learn more about Konoha?"

"Ignorance." The temperature drops several degrees. "I set up the academy curriculum so it would be difficult so children would survive their first mission out of the village as many people who were trained in the shinobi arts back then, and I suspect now as well, roamed around killing people. It's important to know the history and politics of other nations so one can keep an open mind and know the primary nature affinity jutsu of other nations. Those in the leaf in my day had a primary affinity of fire, those in Kirigakure had the primary affinity for water. So it's important to know to not battle a Kirigakure shinobi over water when it's their main affinity." His voice starts rising and I can feel his chakra as it moves with his emotions, with it- the temprature.

"It is important to know the politics of other nations for diplomatic missions so one doesn't offend dignitaries and possibly dig the village into a situation where we have to pay out a Kage or go to war because someone didn't know that the Kazekage has a policy against women being used as breeding stock and doesn't tolerate men raping women. Or that the Raikage values family and strength; if you are strong and have offended him he will be more likely to forgive you and forget it if you are strong and prove you have the guts to protect what you hold dear to you.

It is important to know funinjutsu because at one point when the clans were at war sealing allowed many to sleep for a couple hours in the field with a simple barrier. That sealing can allow one to conceal weapons more easily. By doing so allows for a ninja to be able to surprise an opponent once they are low on chakra with weapons.

What about the tai-jutsu? Where students learned the basics of weapons handling their first year so they wouldn't poke an eye out. So they could grasp the concept of how to maintain their weapons sooner so they would not have to constantly replace weapons once they got rusted?"

By now I feel sweat rolling down my neck as he continues. By the end the woman is in a shaking heap and a couple Anbu escort her out. Nidaime-sama excuses the rest of the civilian council and they get down to work.

~End flashback~

AN: I know this chap isn't done but I wanted to give you guys something in honor of Naruto's Birthday. I'll try to post the entire chapter by the weekend.