For two days, Hitomi was totally forbidden from using chakra, even for things as easy as activating a seal. When her team took its first D-ranked missions, she thus had to limit herself to supervision and logistics. She would have loved to do more – fuck it, no chakra was needed to weed a garden or transporting a bag of groceries – but her teammates didn't indulge her, and the only time she had gotten angry and rebuffed Naruto, he had hit her right in the feels with The Stare. She regretted more than ever teaching him this technique that day.

As for Kakashi, he was observing this whole affair with something that looked like a mix of amusement and approbation. While he gifted the two boys with advice concerning their taijutsu, he dove deep in Hitomi's work on fūinjutsu and annotated her recent attempts to create a flash bomb seal – but ten, maybe twenty times more potent than the real thing. As long as she confined herself to theoretical material, he didn't see any trouble with helping her. If he hadn't done it, he knew she would have tried all by herself. At least this way he could keep an eye on her and make sure she didn't use chakra.

When he arrived on training ground number three the third morning, he found her alone, her feet in the river that ran through the clearing, obviously trying to learn a new technique. He was surprised to see her: he had come very early on purpose to greet Obito before starting his day. The fact that that day generally started by making his cute little students wait for hours was just an added homage to his departed friend – and to the sensei who had loved teaching as much as teasing his students. "Morning, Hitomi-chan. Water Release, hm? What are you trying to learn?"

The girl jumped and lost her focus, the water that had started to rise in front of her falling and splashing impressively around. When the disturbance was no more than a ripple in the river, she answered her sensei, her tone probably far too joyful for someone who had just failed at something. "The Ambush of Moving Water, sensei! I don't know yet why I can't do it properly, but I'll find the answer!"

The Copy Nin nodded in approval. This technique, while quite neglected by most shinobi in possession of a water affinity, was very useful in battle. Since it wasn't shown much interest, not a lot of opponents with a different affinity knew it even existed, and the ones who actually knew wasted this advantage away by still being surprised when they were trapped in its effects. The technique was a stepping stone towards learning the Water Prison, and in essence was a weaker, but also less chakra intensive, version of that infamous technique. It immobilised the opponent up to the knees in water made thicker by chakra. Yes, he could see Hitomi doing wonders with that. "Well, you won't succeed this way. Some jutsus need a living target to be mastered."

"Sensei!" she whined with a pout. "I told you I'd find the answer!"

"Why waste time and chakra by groping for success blindly?"

The girl didn't answer, frowning and pouting, but she turned away from him with an annoyed huff.

"Aw, come on, Hitomi-chan, don't be mad at your poor sensei. Will you forgive me if I'm your training dummy?" She turned to him again, cold and careful consideration gleaming in her red eyes, and he stepped in front of her with an eye-smile. He was careful to stay on the surface of the river, since his boots were open at the front. Kakashi didn't like his shoes much, but almost all the shinobi he knew – except Hitomi, damnit – wore them. He wanted to belong somehow.

Hitomi mastered the technique just in time for her brothers to see her using it perfectly as they arrived on the training ground. She let out a victorious exclamation and immediately let go of the water before running to Naruto's arms. The boy welcomed her with a laugh before handing her a bento box decorated with jasmine flowers.

"Really," Sasuke teased, "with a memory like yours, how can you forget such simple things?"

"Hm?" Kakashi stepped in. "How is her memory special?"

"Ah, Hitomi is a genius! She never forgets anything, never! She helped me so much with Academy stuff, sensei, believe it!"

"Really? Well, Hitomi-chan, such a skill isn't mentioned in your file."

Hitomi snorted dismissively. "Of course it isn't mentioned. I was very careful to hide it from the adults at the Academy. I didn't want to be required to go to the Encryption and Decoding department, thank you very much!"

Kakashi couldn't help but freeze when he heard the quiet certainty in his student's voice. The fact that a child entering the Academy at seven years old had been able to think clearly enough to understand how showing certain skills could lead her down a route she didn't want to follow baffled him. Hitomi lived with Nara and was a Nara herself though. Her clan was known for producing genius after genius, so much so that a lot of clans had tried for an arranged marriage between their heirs and members of the Shadow Clan to make this propension theirs as well – without success. The Nara were one of the very rare clans to refuse that kind of match.

"I see," he said after considering his options for a moment. Well, in that case, I'm gonna test your memory now to see how we can use it for our team strategies. Do you think your memories are reliable?"

"Depends. When a memory is linked to powerful feelings, it's hard for me to dissociate the former from the latter. When I revisit the memory, I feel the emotions I had while living it all over again. It's weaker, but still… Some of my memories are tainted, altered by my own feelings…"

"And despite that?"

"Despite that, my memory is flawless. I remember everything I ever experienced without any problem. All my readings as well. I can access those memories at will."

"Is that really so? Well, let's see. Recite page 247 of the Shinobi Rulebook, starting from the second paragraph."

"The shinobi's duty goes to their village first, then their clan, and to his family and friends next in a lesser measure. If one of your friends turns traitor to your village, your duty as shinobi is to collect proof of their treachery and bring them to your Kage, who'll decide their fate. You'll have to prepare your soul and your arm, if needs be, to…"

"Stop there."

Hitomi obeyed so promptly that her teeth clicked uncomfortably against each other. She had never told Sasuke and Naruto about that aspect of a shinobi's life. They had both read and learned about that rule, of course, but her blonde brother was too pure and too naïve to understand exactly what it meant. As for the last Uchiha… It sometimes seemed to Hitomi that he felt a weak, distorted link between what that principle and what had happened to his clan. So many suspect circumstances surrounded the night of the massacre… She was surprised she had never heard him ask questions about them.

"Did you read the clans' law books?" Kakashi asked, pulling her away from her thoughts.

"Only the ones from the Yūhi, Nara, Uchiha, Uzumaki, Hyūga, Aburame and Inuzuka clans. It's not easy to access them so for the others, I'm waiting for an opportunity."

"Very well. Uzumaki lawbook, chapter five, article six, paragraph two."

"Growing medicinal plants in a private garden on clan territory grants the owner the right to request a five percent exoneration from tax on their pay for missions B-ranked and higher, on the condition that one fifth of the harvest from those plants is given to the Uzumaki administration. To obtain this exoneration, one has to meet the clan's clerk, who has to give the applicant the correct paperwork to file and give back in the following seven days. An inspection of the garden shall be conducted in the following month and a decision shall be given to the applicant within sixty days after introducing the request."

"When did you read that lawbook?"

"Uh… It was when I was telling Naruto about his clan, so five years ago."

"I see. We'll test your memory further in real situations in the weeks to come. It can become a very good asset for our team."

Hitomi nodded enthusiastically. She had already had her fair share of tests from the Nara clan, but they had never been geared towards her career as a shinobi. She had been too young then, and everyone had thought she wouldn't be able to become a ninja because of her illness – who could have blamed them? Even being in presence of her clanmates had been a torture before Ensui had taken her in.

During the following hours, they worked on the first D-ranked mission Hitomi was allowed to participate in. They had to sort through the new books ordered by the Central Library, something any civilian could have done with a bit of practice, but that didn't stop Hitomi from being happy to work, to contribute to her team. The fact she was doing it surrounded by piles of books taller than herself was just a nice bonus. With the clones she and Naruto could produce at will, the mission was done in little more than an hour.

After they had written and given their reports to the Genin Liaison Bureau, Kakashi decided to take them to a restaurant. Naruto had pleaded for Ichiraku, but the teacher resisted and led them to one of the barbeque restaurants held by an Akimichi cook. They were soon settled around a table, strips of marinated meat happily sizzling on the grill. As she was putting her share on her plate, Hitomi heard a voice that made shivers of sheer joy run down her spine. "Kid, the next time you send me in the fucking Desert for six years, I promise on Hashirama's head that I'm taking you with me."

"Shishou!" Her loud exclamation attracted the attention of all the other patrons, but Hitomi couldn't care less. She pushed her chair back and, in a mere two steps, she found herself drowning in a hug that smelled of pine and cinnamon – her shishou was finally home. She held him as close as she could, her face pressed against his neck, her nose touching the place where his carotid artery pulsed quickly. She had missed him so much. So fucking much.

The girl knew shinobi weren't supposed to cry. She found this rule stupid, useless, hurtful even in some situations, but she had never publicly protested against it and had followed it with grace, sometimes even helping her friends to manage their own emotions. And yet, pressed against her shishou, she burst into loud, heavy, relieved tears. Despite her extended vocabulary, her intimate knowledge of three languages rich in nuances, she couldn't find words to express the feelings dominating her mind now.

"It's okay," he whispered against her hair. "I'm here. I missed you too, Hitomi."

A child once more, the Yūhi heir was grateful for her teammates and sensei, who let her have this moment uninterrupted. She could hear Sasuke explaining to Kakashi, in a low voice, the intense correspondence exchanged by master and student during the past six years. Naruto pitched in with an anecdote from the Academy, when she had answered Iruka's complicated question without even looking up or stopping writing. The two children and the adults kept away from her, letting her have the bubble of intimacy and comfort that separated her from the rest of the world.

"Everything is okay, Hitomi," he assured her with a brush of his hand against her wet cheek. "I'm okay. I'm just tired and famished. Would it bother you if I joined in?"

Just like that, it was settled: Ensui took Hitomi's chair next to the window and Sasuke pushed his aside so she could sit between them. The table was a bit crowded, but she couldn't have cared less, not with her master finally home. "Shishou, let me introduce you to my team. Naruto and Sasuke are my brothers, adopted by Mom these past few years, just like I told you. Hatake Kakashi is our sensei."

The two men exchanged a long look, the tension between them suddenly lifted. Of course, the façade they put on for the public were in opposite factions of the village: Kakashi was Hiruzen's man, linked to him by a succession of masters and students, while Ensui had never hidden his thoughts about the way the village was led by the old man. Despite that, they had no trouble finding common ground: children they intended on protecting, at the cost of their life if necessary.

Later, when it was time for Team Seven to go back to their training ground, Kakashi suggested Ensui joined in. Despite his exhaustion, the Nara accepted. He didn't have enough vocabulary to express it, but he had deeply missed his apprentice. The mere vision of her, older, wiser, alive, filled his chest with a warmth he had been yearning for during all those years away from her. The letters… They had helped, without a doubt. But nothing she could have put into words could even compare to the relief and tenderness he felt when he looked at her, listened to her.

He had never wondered about the place she had taken in his life, because it had seemed so natural, so easy and simple. Once he had left on his mission, separated from her, with no way of protecting her and the people she loved… The questions had come, one after the other. He had had enough nightmares where he had found her tiny, broken body, lying in a pool of blood, to know it had become his greatest fear.

Ensui had had a son, an eternity ago. A son he had raised alone as he still mourned the woman who had brought him to the world, a son he had carried in a sling all around the village, a son who had quickly been stolen away by Shimura Danzō's dark influence. Oh, how Ensui had hated this spider made man when his son hadn't come home. How he had hated Hiruzen for the weakness of his ageing soul. He couldn't bear, then, to even look at the land he had loved so much, the land that had taken the one thing he had loved even more.

His return to the village, almost eight years ago, was supposed to be temporary. He had intended on fleeing again, far away from all the memories walking in his shadow to meet him at night, but Shikaku had stopped him. Ensui had always respected his clan leader, the only one who had always known to hold the High Council away from his own business, so brilliant, so wise, and yet benevolent, compassionate even when Ensui had appeared in front of him a broken man. He had listened as his clan leader told him about a little girl, his niece, sick as he had been at the same age, a little girl who didn't want anything more than to become a ninja like her mother and her late father.

He had agreed to take her in, more as a favour to Shikaku than because of a drive to teach. He had to admit he had immediately felt a fair amount of curiosity as he had listened to the man describing the kid. He had sounded so proud of her, as much as he was of his own son, when he had told Ensui about her, her intelligence, her talent with shōgi. And then he had taken the girl away from the village and realised each praise he had heard from her uncle's mouth had been well-deserved. Yūhi Hitomi was an exceptional child but, more than that, she was his ideal student.

He who had never really expected to pass on his knowledge had quickly found in her the perfect recipient for it. He was sure she would surpass him one day in more than one field, and prayed to all the gods he knew that he'd be alive to witness it. He wanted to see her, grown up and triumphant, accepting from the Hokage – whoever it would be then – the title of Seal Mistress, just like she wanted.

Even if he didn't have a natural child to take over once he was too old and tired, Ensui had Hitomi. He had her sweetness, her liveliness, her laughter and that terribly accommodating smile when she was preparing a wicked stunt. He had the way her voice dragged slightly on vowels, her flexible greetings to the sun, her love of convoluted speech and the smell of ink in her hair when she fell asleep while working.

He had a daughter, and he was back home to protect her and help her grow up. This conclusion had been painful in the beginning – accepting a child like her felt too much like betraying his son's memory, maybe. He couldn't care less now, as she was hanging on his arm and told all his achievements, real or not, to the two boys she called her brothers. This vision seemed so precious to him that he would have wanted to possess his apprentice's eidetic memory to be able to live it again and again.

"So, here you are, finally," Kakashi drawled. "Hitomi speaks very highly of you."

"And she speaks highly of you as well. In any other circumstances, we would have probably found each other on opposite sides of a battlefield one day. But making you my enemy would break Hitomi's heart."

"And we wouldn't want that now, would we? It's funny, I thought this sensei thing would be the worst thing happening to me as I am today, but when I saw them working together… I had to reconsider. Those changes at the Academy are for the best."

"Oh, trust me, she had started working with those boys far before the experiment started. Hitomi told me about every progress she made building her beloved Fellowship."

"Her Fellowship?"

"Yeah, the name is a bit weird, but the concept itself… It's an alliance, or rather a friendship, between the members of your team as well as Kurenai's and Asuma's teams. Those children have been working together for… I don't even know how long. First or second year at the Academy, I'd say. They help each other, learn from each other, train together, seek support from the group when their life becomes complicated. I know the Hyūga girl, for example, spent a lot of weekends at Kurenai's."

"Ah, yeah, the Hyūga…"

"Indeed." Ensui snorted dismissively, his distaste for the clan's leader barely hidden. "Anyway, it's probably because of all that that your two boys are so well-adjusted and performed so well at the Academy, especially Naruto. Hitomi told me about all the research she had to do to get around his learning difficulties. Without her efforts, who knows what he would have become?"

"Sounds like Hitomi, yeah. When I tested them, I noticed the authority she had over them. It looked really natural; they obeyed her instructions without even thinking about it. They always do."

"It's a good team dynamic. And it almost worked that day, didn't it?"

"Almost, almost… It would have worked if I hadn't had so much more chakra than her that even standing in her shadow emptied her reserves in two seconds."

"Of course. She still struggles to understand the difference in power between herself and her opponents. In Suna, her first friend was the village's jinchūriki…"

Kakashi almost tripped. "What the fuck?"

"Yeah, I freaked out too. She just came back to our hotel with him in tow one night. He had hurt her by accident, and when I tried to intimidate the boy as payback, I thought she was going to claw my face off."

"Hermit's balls, what did I get myself into…"

"Troubles, that's what. But honestly? Those kids are worth every second of it. I never thought I'd want to teach before Shikaku-sama asked me to, and now look at me, I absolutely love it. Sometimes, it's hard, and you'll suffer since the kids will go through puberty on your watch, but trust me, that pride you'll feel each time they succeed at something, each time they make any progress… It's worth it."

"I'm not even good at teaching."

"Nor was I! But you're lucky to have had the Fourth himself as a sensei, and if someone was good at teaching, it was him. You'll do well, I'm sure of it. In case of doubts, you can still ask Kurenai for help. She knows her kids, knows how they work. She'll give you the best advice."

"And you? Will you stay around this time?"

"I don't intend on setting even a foot outside the village without Hitomi if I can prevent it. Those six years in Suna… It was for her, and I'm happy I did it, but I really missed the kid, and it wouldn't be careful of me to take any mission from Hiruzen."

If Kakashi tensed at the lack of respect Ensui showed to their Hokage, he didn't show it. "Well, in that case, I'll be able to ask you to help as well. And if something happens to the kids during training, I'll tell Kurenai it's your fault so she tears you a new one and not me."

Ensui burst out laughing, attracting the attention of the three Genin who, a few steps in front of them, were holding their own conversation. The kids exchanged slightly surprised looks, tried to obtain explanations, failed then went back to their own business. Adults were weird anyway.