The years in Anbu just seemed to fly by. In the blink of an eye two years had gone by and it was the day of Naori and Itachi's birthday.
It was like any other morning after a very hard and long mission. Itachi and naori would be in their rooms and Sasuke who was now four would run into each of their rooms. Jump on their beds and wake them up. Of course Itachi and Naori would always wake up before him to avoid accidentally attacking him as a survival reflex and because they didn't want to ruin Sasuke's joy at being able to sneak up on them.
"Nee-chan wake up!" Sasuke said jumping on Naori.
"I hear quacking. Is there a little duck running around here?" Naori said.
"Nee-chan." Sasuke said pulling Naori's arm. Naori took advantage and grabbed Sasuke tickling him making the little boy laugh.
"Morning otouto." Naori said ruffling his hair. "Did you wake Itachi up yet?"
"Not yet." Sasuke said.
"Well go get him. We don't want him to miss breakfast." Naori said putting Sasuke back on his feet and the boy ran off.
Naori got up groaning a bit at how sore she felt from the previous days mission. The entire team had run the entire way there and back. She had been tempted to sleep at headquarters but she really needed a hot bath not a shower.
They had been given the following two days off but lately any days off had been cut short by an urgent mission that needed to be taken care of or Jiraiya needing an interrogator.
Either way Naori got dressed and brushed her hair getting ready for the day.
The entire family sat around the table for breakfast.
"Are you doing anything today Itachi?" Fugaku asked.
"I was going to train." Itachi said.
"You have an incredible work ethic." He said proudly. "Happy birthday Itachi. Stop by the station later for lunch we can even stop by the dango shop."
"Yes father." Itachi said glancing out of the corner of his eye to his sister who kept her face blank not giving anything away.
Mikoto didn't say anything just kept her focus on Sasuke.
Once they were both done Naori cleaned up after herself and decided to head out for the day.
"I'm going to get in some training." Itachi said.
"Shisui's still out on his mission?" Naori asked as they walked through the compound.
"Hn." Itachi said with a nod. "I'm sure father didn't mean anything by it."
"You don't have to do that." Naori said with a smile. "I know how he is. I'm used to it."
"Well I remembered." Itachi said handing his sister a small box with a red bow.
"Great minds think alike." Naori said taking out a scroll with a red bow.
"Storage scroll?" Itachi said.
"I'm not good at giftwrapping and I didn't want Sasuke to spoil the surprise." Naori said as they got to their training field.
Naori opened her gift to reveal a thin silver chain bracelet when clasped together formed a shuriken.
"It's beautiful. Thank you." Naori said before Itachi unsealed his gift. Inside was a new custom made tanto with the Uchiha crest engraved. "That's your work gift. There's more."
Itachi picked up a hard cover leather bound journal.
"A journal?" Itachi said.
"Remember when we were kids and we would talk about what we would be if we weren't ninja?" Naori said.
"You said you wanted to own a tea shop and bakery because cooking was like science." Itachi said.
"And you said you wanted to be a writer." Naori said. "Just because those can't be our real jobs doesn't mean they can't be our hobby."
"Thank you." He said before Naori got up.
"I have a few things to do. I'll see you later." She said.
"Will you be home tonight?" Itachi asked.
"Not sure." She said. "I might sneak in once everyone's asleep or I might just crash in the team locker room. Not like they've noticed so far."
"Sasuke does." Itachi said.
"And I always make it up to him." Naori said. "Try to have some fun today. Maybe go see if Izumi is free. Have tea without insulting her this time?"
"And what should I tell Shisui if he comes back and can't find you?" Itachi said.
"The same thing you tell him every time. I'll see him later." Naori said as she walked away.
"Naori." Itachi called to her making her turn around. "Happy Birthday."
"Happy Birthday." She said before using a shunshin to get to the orphanage.
She went in and before she knew it she was tackled into a hug by an energetic five year old.
"Naori Nee-chan!" Tenten said.
"Tenten." Naori said kneeling down to properly return the girl's hug. "Did you get taller or did I get shorter?"
Tenten laughed.
"Nee-chan you say that every time." She said. "It's been so long! Where have you been?"
"Sorry Tenten. I've been really busy but I have today off so I'm all yours." Naori said.
"Really?" The girl said with wide eyes.
"Really I'm just going to let them know you'll be with me." Naori said.
"Okay!" Tenten said running off.
Naori would have taken Naruto with them as well but he had been moved out of the compound and everyone had been told to keep their distance. She still kept an eye out on the kid. Interfered when some of the villagers tried to attack him but with how little time she had she was sure he was still dealing with a lot.
After the head of the orphanage enthusiastically agreed to letting Naori take Tenten for a few hours Naori took the little girl to do some light shopping. Her clothes were looking a bit snug and if she was honest Naori felt a bit guilty about not visiting in such a long time. She also took Tenten to get a haircut, just a little trim and put her hair up into two buns so she could play without it falling into her face.
Naori let Tenten play in the park for a while until the girl was hungry.
"I want ice cream, no mochi, no cake!" Tenten said as they walked through the market place ignoring the looks some people gave Naori. Dislike of the Uchiha had not gone away in the last few years.
"How about we have a real meal and then we go pick up some sweets you can take back with you and share?" Naori offered.
"Really?" Tenten said before hugging Naori again.
"How does Ramen sound to you?" Naori said.
"Ramen?" Tenten asked confused but Naori just smiled picking up the girl and shunshining them to Ichiraku's.
Naori greeted Teuchi and his daughter before ordering two bowls. While Tenten was not as enthusiastic as Naruto about ramen she did enjoy it. Halfway through their meal a very familiar blonde boy ran and jumped into his seat.
"Hey old man! Can I get a large miso pork?" Naruto said.
"Again? You know the menu has more than one item." Teuchi said not the slightest bit offended.
"But it's my favorite." Naruto said.
"Alright them one miso pork coming right up." Teuchi said.
Naori smiled thinking back to seeing the boy's parents in the very spot he was sitting in. Tenten chatted away about all the kids at the orphanage and everything She had missed since her last visit. Once they were done Naori paid not just for their meal but for the five bowls Naruto was yet to devour.
It was a nice day over all. Once Tenten had picked out enough sweets for all the kids Naori took her back home before heading to Kosuke's house. Of course on the way she decided to pick up something for dessert.
She was walking past Yakiniku Q when she heard a familiar laugh. It was Shisui with his team. They were laughing but the one thing that caught Naori's attention was the arm he had around a girl that was sitting next to. Or that the girl was feeding him beef and when he spat it out because it was too hot she wiped his mouth. That was when Naori shunshinned away to a roof and froze for a second.
"Shisui has a girlfriend?" She whispered to himself. "Huh."
With that she headed to Kosuke's house where everyone was always happy to see her.
"Taidama." Naori said when she walked in.
"Naori!" Anka said rushing to hug her. "Oh Happy Birthday sweetie. You're getting so big."
"Thanks." Naori said returning the hug.
"Hey kiddo. It's been a while." Kosuke said giving her a side hug as he ruffled her hair.
"Yeah our schedules don't match up as much as they used to." Naori said.
"Well at least we got you for your birthday." Kosuke said. "Which by the way happy birthday."
"Thanks." Naori said.
"And thank you for cooking the last two weeks." Anka said. "The pork dumplings you made were amazing."
"I was just glad they came out right." Naori said walking in.
Naori sat down at the table while her sensei and his wife filled her in on everything that had happened.
Anka excused herself to clean up leaving just Kosuke and Naori to talk.
"How are things?" Kosuke asked.
"The usual. I think I've been home maybe a week out of the last two months." Naori said.
"Not surprising, I would 've thought you'd be at home celebrating with your family." Kosuke said.
"Oh I'm basically invisible in that house." Naori said not the least bit bothered.
"You're exaggerating." Kosuke said.
"This morning father congratulated Itachi for his birthday and invited him to lunch to celebrate." Naori said.
"And you?" he asked.
"He forgot." Naori said.
"You're twins." Kosuke said in disbelief.
"Exactly." Naori said.
"And your Mother?" he asked.
"She's… she's focused on Sasuke." Naori said. "It's not surprising. I'm the odd one out."
"You know that's not true." He said.
"It is. The head of the clan has three kids. The heir, the spare and the mare. Itachi's the heir. Sasuke is the spare in case anything happens to Itachi and I'm the mare, the one they marry off to continue the line as the back up to the back up." Naori said.
"Are you thinking about moving out again?" he asked.
"No, I'm not really home much anyway. Plus this way I don't have to pay rent." Naori said.
"True." Kosuke said. "How's the boyfriend."
"Not my boyfriend." Naori said thinking back to what she had seen.
"Fiancé then." Kosuke said.
"Shisui's fine. Haven't really seen much of him either." Naori said.
"Something going on there?" he asked noticing the change of tone in Naori's voice.
"Nothing. He's still my best friend." Naori said. "I think."
"Uhuh." Kosuke said considering asking but decided not to get involved.
"Kosuke, Naori get in here. It's time for cake." Anka said.
"How did she have time to get a cake? I didn't even let you know I was coming." Naori said.
"You should know by now. Anka works in intelligence. She knows everything." He said in an exaggerated ominous tone which made Naori snort. To Naori's surprise Genma was inside with Anka.
"Hey stranger." Naori said.
"Happy Birthday." He said patting Naori on the shoulder.
"Did you actually remember or are you avoiding the hospital again?" Naori said.
"Both." He said with a smirk. "Also you should be getting summoned…"
And at that moment Naori felt the vibration from her tattoo.
"Now." Naori said. "Sorry."
"At least blow out the candles before you go." Anka said holding a camera.
"Right." Naori said posing for a quick photo in front of the cake picking off a strawberry from the top of the cake before shunshining back to work.
Naori still had the strawberry in her mouth when she walked into Team Ro's locker room. To her surprise the only person there was her captain.
"Taicho?" Naori said pulling the strawberry out of her mouth.
"Did I interrupt something?" He said.
"Birthday cake." Naori said answered without elaborating before getting to the point. "We have a mission?"
"It's just the two of us for this one." Kakashi said. "Gear up."
Naori didn't say anything just quickly went to get ready. Kakashi turned his back as she started getting ready.
"What do you know about the Land of Snow?" he asked.
"Besides the fact that it lives up to its name and it snow's constantly. They're the Land of Fire's second largest iron supplier after the Land of Iron. And they don't have a Daimyo or ninja. They're a monarchy ruled by a king." Naori said.
"It's also in the middle of the civil war. There was an assassination attempt on the king, the assassins actually made it into the castle." Kakashi said.
"Meaning it was an inside job." Naori said.
"Yes. That failed but there will be another attempt on the king. We're being sent in to protect the king while we also investigate who's behind it." Kakashi said.
"How are we getting there?" Naori asked.
"We're sneaking onto a ship and train." Kakashi said.
"Extra layers." Naori said unsealing the heavier, warmer cloak they were going to need. She grabbed her mask and clipped it onto her belt. "Ready."
Kakashi looked her up and down making she was really ready.
"Let's move, we have a train to catch." Kakashi said slipping on his mask. Naori slipped hers on and followed him out. They used one of Anbu's hidden underground paths out of the village to leave undetected.
The journey to the closest port was uneventful they didn't even have to stop once. One of the reasons Kakashi didn't mind having Naori tag along. She could keep up.
They arrived and the looked up which ships were going to the land of Snow. There was a small passenger ship.
"We just have to wait until they start loading the cargo…" Kakashi said.
"We could do that but I think I have a better idea." Naori said. "The cargo hold might be a bit too cramped and uncomfortable."
"We can't just buy a ticket." Kakashi said.
"We don't have to. How about a two bed, one bathroom suite that no one remembers they have?" Naori said flashing her Sharingan.
"Can you do that?" He asked.
"Wouldn't be the first time." Naori said spotting the man holding the passenger manifest. One quick genjutsu on him and a few people and they were led straight into their room.
"You won't be bothered. Wolf-san" The ship steward said with a bow.
"Thank you." Naori said before he was dismissed.
"I've never seen anyone use genjutsu like that." Kakashi said.
"Itachi's better at it." Naori said sitting down on one of the beds.
"Sorry about your birthday." He said.
"It's alright. There's always next year." She said sitting down and taking off her mask.
"Hm." Kakashi said taking of his hound mask and taking the other bed. "I'll take first watch. Get some sleep."
"Hm." Naori said falling back and falling asleep.
Hours Later…
Naori was on watch while Kakashi was asleep. She had been awake for a few hours reading a book she kept on hand for times like this when she heard Kakashi talking in his sleep. By the way he was moving and his pinched eyebrows she could tell he was not having a pleasant dream.
Everyone on the team had bad dreams more than one on missions so they all new better than to try and get near each other to wake each other up. Instead naori flashed her chakra a few times and Kakashi woke up immediately.
He sat up and was on guard looking around the room.
"Nightmare." Naori said not looking up from her book.
Kakashi didn't say anything just took a minute to catch his breath and relax. Once he was a bit settled Naori finally said something.
"It's one of the downsides of the Sharingan." Naori said.
"What?" Kakashi asked confused.
"The photographic memory you get when you use it. Anything you see or read while it's activated you'll be able to recall every single detail for the rest of your life. Even during battle those memories don't go away." Naori said.
"Hm." He said deep in thought. "Do you… is there a way to make them stop?"
"If I ever figure it out I'll let you know." Naori said.
"I'll take watch. I'm not going to be getting mush sleep anyway." Naori looked at him for a moment debating whether she should say something but opted not to. Instead she closed her eyes and got some sleep.
There days were spent like that. Only speaking when absolutely necessary. Kakashi rarely talked unless it was about the mission. The rest of the team were a bit chattier but right now it was just them.
Day three was when neither of them could take the silence and one of them finally said something. Surprisingly it was Kakashi.
"Do you… still visit him?" He asked.
Naori didn't need to ask him who he was.
"No. They moved him out of the orphanage. Hokage-sama asked that we all keep our distance since he's older and can actually talk now." Naori said. "I do occasionally bump into him at his favorite ramen stand. Takes after his mother in that sense."
"So I've heard." Kakashi said. "He's your sister's age?"
"I don't have a sister." Naori said. "But he is Sasuke's age."
"Sorry I just thought… I saw you in the village with a girl…" he said.
"Tenten." Naori said. "Her older sister is… was my genin teammate and her parents died in the Kyuubi attack. I check in on her when I can."
"How?" He asked.
"How what?" Naori asked.
"How can you be near them and …" He started not knowing how to ask it without seeming harsh.
"How can I be near them when they remind me of everyone I've lost?" Naori asked. "It's… not exactly easy. At least it wasn't in the beginning. Tenten's sister Midori died pushing me out of the way of an attack that was meant for me and with her dying breath she asked me to tell her sister she loved her and to look after our other teammate. Obviously I failed on the second part and with Tenten it wasn't until Sasuke was born that I understood how much you can love a younger sibling and I know that if the roles were reversed Midori would do the same for Sasuke and Itachi."
"And Naruto?" he asked.
"When most of the village sees Naruto they only see the Kyuubi for me I see that spark Minato-sensei used to get in his eyes when he talked about the village or when he talked about his students. I see Auntie Kushina's smile, and sunny disposition." She said. "And yeah there are times it hurts because I miss them but seeing them always makes me smile because I also remember the good times. All the bad in the world can't erase the good."
"Hm." Kakashi said. "What happened to Haru wasn't your fault."
"And what happened to Rin wasn't yours but that still doesn't change how we feel." Naori said.
"Yeah." He said in agreement.
"I know I'm probably stating the obvious but I'm really looking forward to getting out of this room." Naori said.
"Naori-chan?" Kakashi said mockingly acting offended. "Do you not enjoy my amazing company?"
"Are you…" Naori said not believing what she was hearing. "Did you just make a joke?"
"Maybe?" Kakashi said.
"So you are a real person." Naori said with a smirk.
"Were there ever any doubts about that?" Kakashi said.
"Yes, many doubts. People have taken bets." She said.
"They have?" Kakashi asked and Naori nodded. "How many?"
"Not many, just the team, the hokage's guards, A few other captains, and their teams, possibly the Hokage." Naori said.
"The Hokage?" Kakashi asked.
"Possibly." Naori said.
"Hm." He said.
That was the last day of that mission that they were truly at ease because from there that mission went completely wrong.
It started with the train they were taking to the castle being stopped and raided by the opposing side. Then the tracks were destroyed so they had to walked the rest of the way in a blizzard.
"I can't see anything." Naori said.
"We need to find somewhere to wait it out." Kakashi said.
"We're on a mountain right?" Naori said.
"We can look for a cave." He said. "or better yet…"
Kakashi quickly formed some handsigns before pressing his hand onto the cliffside wall. And opening formed and the two went into the makeshift cave.
"I hate snow." Naori said quickly taking out a scroll and unsealing firewood and starting a fire to warm up.
By morning the blizzard was over and they ran the rest of the way without stopping just to make sure they didn't get caught in the snow again.
They arrived at the castle and made their way in. They were taken straight to the king who was sitting on his thrown. He was a kind man, good to everyone around him and he adored his daughter.
The way he doted on her made Naori think to her own father who was the complete opposite of the king. In fact Naori realized her father had never doted on her that way. And her mother was more focused on being the perfect housewife and taking care of Sasuke. She wanted to change everything about Naori and didn't remember the last time they talked without it turning into a lecture or Mikoto trying to change something about Naori.
They had been at the castle for a few weeks still without any leads.
Naori was watching the king read his daughter a story.
'Everything okay?' He signed to her.
'All clear. Pack is on the perimeter.' She signed back.
Once the princess was asleep they escorted the king to his room where he dismissed them for the night. Well he tried to before he was called into an emergency meeting with his council of advisors. It was all going well until they heard screams and walked into the meeting room to find the entire council dead and the king's brother running a sword through the king.
Naori and Kakashi quickly took out henchmen that had killed the advisors before quickly moving to stand between the king and his brother.
"I'm the daimyo now." He said. "If you come after me consider it an act of war."
With that one of his guards appeared threw down a smoke bomb and disappeared. Naori and Kakashi heard a howl in the distance.
"That's the pack." Naori said before one of the pups appeared in front of Naori. "Tsuki?"
"The castle is being attacked. The castle guards have all been taken out. We can't hold them back." The pup said.
"Please." The king choked out. "Yukie. Please save my d—daughter."
With that the king died.
"He's dead." Naori said checking his pulse. "What do we do?"
"Mission's over. The king is dead and if we go after the brother it could be seen as a declaration of war." Kakashi said.
"If we leave the princess he's going to kill her. She's the only thing standing between him and the throne." Naori said.
"Then we get her out." Kakashi said. "You go get her, I'll clear an exit for us."
"Tsuki go alert the pack to scatter into the forest to regroup." Naori said.
"Hai!" Tsuki said before running off before Kakashi and Naori split up.
Naori got to the princess' room right on time. She quickly blocked the assassins sword with her own waking up the princess.
"Ah! Father!" She screamed. Naori quickly took out the assassin before sheathing her sword.
"Princess, I'm sorry but you need to come with me. The castle is under attack." Naori quickly wrapped a cloak around the little girl before picking her up. "Whatever happens next I need you to do exactly what I say and stay quiet."
"Father?" She sniffled.
"I'm sorry but your father is not with us anymore." Naori said.
"No!" She cried and Naori hugged her rubbing her back as she waited for Kakashi's signal.
"This way." Pakkun said. Naori quickly followed him to one of the servant's entrances. The bodies were starting to pile up. Kakashi had acquired a horse and cart.
"Stay down, it's not safe." He said pulling a tarp over the princess as they ran off. They heard bloodhounds used for hunting circling the castle. "They're going to sniff her out."
"I'll handle it." Naori said picking up one of the princess' blankets she had grabbed. "Meet at the cave?"
"Go." He said.
With that Naori jumped off the cart and blew into the whistle only the wolves would hear. In less than a minute the pack was around her.
"We have a new mission. We need to get the princess away but they're using bloodhounds to try and sniff her out." Naori said taking a knife out and starting to tear the blanket into pieces. "So we're going to create a false trail to lead them in the wrong direction."
"Good thinking pup." Ranmaru said.
"Do not confront any of the enemy. We don't want to start a war." She said "Set a trail and then go home. I'll set up a few traps to slow them down from there we can handle the rest."
"You heard her." Sango said as each wolf took a scrap of cloth.
"Tsuki stay with Naori-chan make sure she isn't followed and alert her in case we call out." Mai said.
"Thank you." Naori said to them all before they split up. She set up the traps and placed a few of the goons that got to close under a genjutsu so they would lead other in the wrong direction.
It was almost dawn by the time she got to the cave.
Kakashi immediately drew his sword when she ran into the cave.
"It's me." Naori said taking off her hood and gently putting down Tsuki whom she had carried once the puppy had gotten tired.
"Were you followed?" He asked.
"I covered my tracks and led them in the wrong direction." Naori said sitting down as Tsuki climbed into her lap, curling up in Naori's arms. "How is she?"
"She cried herself to sleep." Kakashi said. "We have to get her out of the country. Away from her uncle's reach."
"Not an ally of the Land of Snow. They'd turn her in just to stay on her uncle's good side." Naori said.
"We can't take her to Konoha." Kakashi said.
"What does that leave?" Naori asked.
"The Land of Hot Water. It's on our way back to Konoha, plenty of way to leave if she needs to later on." He said. "She can start over. New name, new life."
"Do you really think she can? We're trained for it, she's not." Naori said.
"She'll figure it out." Kakashi said. "Our job is to get her there. Focus on that."
"Sneaking onto a cargo train is still an option." She said. "It's the only viable way in or out."
"She's going to need a disguise." Kakashi said.
"That's easy." Naori said.
Sure enough after a few days of travel on train then by boat again they put the former princess onto a ship to destination unknown with a kind elderly couple before they went their separate ways.
"No one can know she's alive." Kakashi said.
"You know this can be considered treason if anyone finds out." Naori said and the two stared at each other. "Just making sure we're agreeing."
"I'll report in and fill out the paperwork when we get back." He said.
"We've been gone over a month. It feels longer." Naori said.
"It was a long month." Kakashi said before they headed back.
It was the middle of the night when they got back. Kakashi reported back to the Hokage while Naori… Naori crashed in the team locker room bunks.
That was where Itachi found her the following morning. Naori didn't seem to be waking up any time soon so Itachi left her there while he went out on his own mission with the rest of his team only leaving her a note telling her he was happy she was back.
Genma on the other hand was not as nice.
He walked into the locker room and saw Naori heavily asleep face down.
"You should let her sleep. It was a rough mission." Kakashi said.
"I know. But she'll sleep better on a real bed." Genma said dumping a gass of water on naori's face. Naori immediately poked his side with a jolt of electricity making Genma drop to the ground.
"If you don't have a good reason for waking me up the next one will make it so you'll be peeing in a bag for the rest of your life." Naori said glaring at him with her Sharingan activated.
"Came to get you. Dad's heard you got back from your mission and he's worried." Genma said sarcastically as he tried to sit up. It was an inside joke between the two that Kosuke and Anka were more like paren
"What time is it?" Naori said standing up and tapping his foot to get rid of the paralysis.
"Six thirty." He said.
"In the morning?" Naori said annoyed.
"Come on, I'll buy you breakfast." Genma said leading her out.
"But I want sleep." Naori whined.
"You can sleep after." Genma said leading her out, grateful that she had managed to change out of her uniform before falling asleep.
He took Naori to a local tea house frequented by many Anbu and other shinobi in the off hours. They were open really late and really early to accommodate for their profession's unusual hours.
Naori sat at the table practically half asleep while slowly chewing a piece of an omelette.
"You look tired." He said.
"Snow." Naori said as way of explanation.
"Guessing you haven't been home yet?" Genma said.
"I'm actively avoiding it." Naori said. "Though I doubt they've even noticed."
"I wouldn't be too sure about that. At least from Itachi and your boyfriend" Genma said.
"Not my boyfriend and I think he's been a bit busy too." Naori said.
"Look I just want to give you a heads up things are tense right now." He said not needing to elaborate.
"Things are always tense." Naori said.
"Not like this." He said. "There was a meeting and judging by the look on your father's face it didn't go his way and the police have been lashing out."
"That's not good." Naori said.
"There's one more thing. There's been talk about promoting your brother to Anbu Captain." Genma said.
"Was this Lord hokage's idea?" Naori asked.
"No it came from one of the elders." He said knowing Naori would know which elder came up with that idea. She wouldn't be surprised if he would also select who went on Itachi's team. "Does he know about…"
"No, at least not from me." Naori said. "I thought he was safer not knowing. Keeping the attention off of him."
"I don't think you can get any attention away from you two." He said. "Nothing's been decided but just be careful. Something about that guy just rubs me the wrong way."
"You and me both." Naori said just as Shisui and the mysterious girl from a month ago walked in. "I need to get going, catch some sleep before I figure out how to deal with everything."
"I'll stop by later for lunch." He said. "Maybe we can squeeze in a spar before you go deal with it all."
"Naori!" Shisui called out but Naori ignored him.
"Sounds fun." Naori said taking one last sip of her tea before shunshining away.
"Wait!" Shisui said trying to shunshin to catch her but she was too fast.
"Look like you missed her." Genma said.
"She didn't hear me?" Shisui said confused.
"Uh…" Genma said noticing the girl waiting for Shisui and smirked. "I don't that was it."
"Then why…" he started.
"Figure it out." Genma said before following Naori's lead and using a shunshin to leave.
Naori walked into Kosuke's house and waved hello to both he and Anka before falling onto the bed in the guest room (aka her room).
She didn't know how long she had been asleep when Genma opened the door and poked Naori's foot with a senbon.
"Ah!" Naori said jumping awake and onto the floor.
"Lunch is ready." He said in his pretend innocent voice. Naori pointed two fingers at him and released a small bolt of lightning towards him which he avoided just in time but it did lightly scorch the walls.
"What did I say about shooting lightning in the house or poking Naori with senbon?" Anka yelled out.
"Sorry." Naori and Genma said at the same time before they both got up and headed to kitchen.
"Oh look at you, You're so skinny. I swear you've been eating nothing but soldier pills again." Anka said hugging Naori.
"Real food." Naori said smiling as she saw the food on the table.
"Rough mission?" Kosuke asked with a smirk.
"Snow." Naori said as way of explaining.
"Uh… hate missions like that." Kosuke said shivering just thinking about it. "Have you been home yet?"
"Where do you think I am?" Naori said.
"I meant that house with the people you're related to." Kosuke said.
"No. Got in late and crashed in the Locker room. Then this one dragged me out of bed for breakfast." Naori said.
"Speaking of, you ditched your boyfriend at the tea house? Are you two fighting or something?" Genma said.
"No idea what you're talking about." Naori said picking up a piece of beef.
"Sure you don't." Genma said. "Just like I'm sure it had nothing to do with that gi…"
That was all he managed to get out before Naori slapped a hand on his knee and let the lightning course through his leg giving him a more intense feeling than when his foot fell asleep.
"Ah!" Genma yelped out. Before he stabbed a senbon in Naori's shoulder making her arm feel about the same as his leg. Naori dropped er chopsticks and the meat she was about to eat making her bite her tongue as well.
"Mh." Naori whimpered sticking out her tongue.
"Children we've talked about this." Kosuke said amused. "No killing each other at the table."
"He started it." Naori said at the same time Genma said.
"She started it." He said.
"And I'm ending it." Anka said yanking the senbon out of Naori's shoulder and jabbing two finger's into Genma's calf getting his muscles to stop contracting.
"I'm sure your parents have missed you." Kosuke said picking up where they left off.
"I doubt they even noticed I've been gone." Naori said. "I seriously starting to consider moving out."
"You're not moving out." Kosuke said knowing that no matter how bad things got at home she would never abandon her brothers.
"Besides you're hardly ever there as is." Genma said.
"He is right and I'm not complaining. We love having you here." Anka said.
"Why thank you but I don't know, lately it's like I'm invisible. I literally sit in front of my father at the dinner table he doesn't say one word to me. He asks about our day and when it's my turn he just cuts me off and changes the subject." Naori said. "I know I'm not his favorite but at least he used to pretend to listen and give me an occasional 'Hn'"
"The curse of the middle child." Genma said.
"No there's being the middle child and then there's just being a jerk." Anka said. "Sorry honey."
"It's alright." Naori said resigned to her fate of being ignored. "Less pressure on me."
"So you up for that spar?" Genma said.
"You're not tired of her shocking you yet?" Kosuke said.
"I've had worse." He said.
Later that day…
It was late in the afternoon when Naori decided it was time to face reality. So she made her way back to the compound. Oddly enough as soon as she stepped foot inside she could feel the tension. The guards were… on guard which rarely happened.
She walked into the house and didn't see her mother in the kitchen.
"Anyone home?" Naori called out.
"Nee-chan!" Sasuke said popping out and running to Naori.
"Sasuke? Is that really you?" Naori said picking him up. "You're so tall and heavy. At this rate you'll be the one carrying me."
"Finally woke up?" Itachi said.
"Woke up a few times." Naori said. "Where is everyone?"
"Mother had a meeting with the elders." He said.
"Ah." Naori said before putting down Sasuke who wanted to go get something he wanted to show Naori.
Once Sasuke was out of sight.
"What's going on?" Naori whispered.
"You noticed." He said.
"It's hard not to." She said. "The guards at the gate look ready to attack anything that moves and the market's even worse. Practically empty."
"The last clan meeting got heated." Itachi said.
"What do you mean by heated?" Naori said.
"There is a lot of unrest among members of the clan many of whom want something to be done." Itachi said.
"That's nothing new." Naori said.
"It's not just one or two it's an entire faction of the clan. Mainly the police force, the elders, business owners…" he said.
"You mean basically everyone in the clan." She said.
"Not everyone. Things haven't been this bad since the war." Itachi said. "But if things continue the way they are now…"
"We'll be back at war." Naori said knowing what he was getting at.
"There's something else…" he started but Sasuke walked in. Naori signaled Itachi using one of the cues from Anbu.
"Sasuke why don't you show Naori your new shuriken set." Itachi said.
"I forgot." Sasuke said quickly running off. Quickly the twins each used the shadow clone jutsu and sent them elsewhere so they could talk without Sasuke over hearing them.
Once the clones were far away enough.
"Father's been asking questions." Itachi said. "About our missions, how our team is run."
"He's asking specifically our team or the organization as a whole?" Naori said.
"Everything." Itachi said.
"He's using you as a spy." Naori said.
"That was always the plan he just didn't have a reason until now." Itachi said.
"I'm guessing he raised his concerns about not trusting me with the elders?" Naori said.
"It may have come up." Itachi said. "They fear that your close relationship with your sensei and shinobi outside of the clan may have compromised your loyalties."
"Shit." Naori said and then she saw the look on Itachi's face. "There's more isn't there?"
"They've asked someone to keep an eye on you to see if they may be able to see reason." Itachi said.
"They have someone spying on me?" Naori said in disbelief. "Who'd they ask?"
Itachi shifted uncomfortably.
"You." Naori said figuring it out.
"Since we're both Anbu and on the same team I was the best choice." He said.
"Not for long." She said and Itachi arched an eyebrow. "There's a rumor that you're going to be promoted to Anbu Captain."
"Where did you hear that?" Itachi said.
"It's better if you don't know." She said. "And I don't think you should take it."
"The promotion? That's not exactly my choice." He said.
"There's a few things you don't know." She said. "I only know because of Shisui and Kosuke but you need to look out for Danzo he's…"
"One of the village elders, He runs a faction of Anbu known as Root they deal with the missions that are too dark and morally questionable even by Anbu standards." Itachi said. "We may have spoken once."
"Then you know…" Naori said.
"He likes to collect people and has an interest in our clan. Specifically us and Shisui." Itachi said.
"How long has that been going on for?" Naori said.
"A while." Itachi answered.
"Itachi." Naori said frustrated.
"We haven't had much time to talk." He said. "I haven't told them anything. Well nothing they didn't already know."
"Like the fact that the compound is under 24 hour surveillance." Naori said.
"Yes. I don't know how much longer that will be enough for them." Itachi said.
"Have you tried talking to father?" Naori said.
"I'm not sure there's anything that can be said to remedy this situation." Itachi said.
"Maybe it's not about what is said but who is saying it." Naori said as an idea came to her. "We're two sides of the same coin."
"Father trusts you but not me and as long as he keeps seeing you as the trustworthy one you'll be kept in the know." Naori said.
"Where does that leave you?" Itachi asked.
"Working the other side. We're going to put the double in double agent." She said before they released their clones and the real Itachi and Naori got hit with the memories of their conversation.
The twins exchanged looks and a nod before turning their attention back to their younger brother.
The Following Morning…
Naori sat down for an awkward breakfast with the entire family. Her parents were oblivious to the fact that she had been gone for a whole month. Though for once Naori understood why they might be distracted. Trying to pacify an entire clan of angry stuck up Sharingan users was not easy.
She enjoyed the quiet of being ignored and overlooked before heading out for her day. Naori thought about talking to Shisui to let him know Danzo had set his sights on Itachi but decided to leave that to her brother. It absolutely had nothing to do with the fact that she briefly saw him with that girl he had been spending a lot of time with their arms around each other on the training grounds. It also had nothing to do with the fact that she was fighting the not so mild urge to punch said girl. Or at least shoot a few bolts of lightning at her. Nothing that would injure her. At least not permanently.
So she decided to ignore her strange feelings about her best friend's apparent girlfriend and focused on the task at hand.
She knocked on the door and was immediately allowed in.
"Sorry to disturb you Hokage-sama." Naori said with a bow.
"There's nothing to be sorry about Naori." The elderly man said with a kind smile.
"I have a request, well more like a favor. A few years ago you offered to help me with my fuinjutsu studies and I wanted to know if that offer is still on the table." Naori said.
"My offer will always be open to you. Konoha could always use another seal master." He said.
"I wouldn't call myself a seal master. I was going over this seal I found in a scroll but I was a bit stuck. Maybe a new set of eyes could tell me what I'm doing wrong." Naori said offering him a scroll before she set it down on his desk.
"Let's see." He said taking the scroll. The Hokage unrolled it and his eyes skimmed through the seal immediately seeing that the seal was actually a coded message disguised as a seal. It had been years since he had seen someone use a seal in that way. Further proof of the young prodigies intelligence and gifts. His eyes widened as he realized what she was telling him. "Naori have you mentioned your renewed interest in fuinjutsu to anyone else?"
"I discussed it briefly in passing with my brother Itachi." Naori said immediately understanding what he was really asking.
"Hm." He said rolling the scroll back up. "I'd need some time to look through some of my notes but how about you come to my residence tomorrow afternoon so we can discuss your work over some tea?"
"Of course. Thank you Hokage-sama." Naori said with a bow. With that she took her leave.
But of course the last person Naori wanted to see in that moment happened to be waiting outside the Hokage's office.
"Naori! Where have you been? I looked for you everywhere yesterday." Shisui said.
"Shisui…" Naori said noticing the girl standing behind eying her up and down with a frown. "I have a thing."
With that Naori shunshined or at least she tried but Shisui grabbed her hand.
"You know if I had known you were going to use a shunshin to avoid me like this I wouldn't have taught you how to do it." Shisui said giving Naori a concerned look.
"Sorry, I've just been really busy. Missions… training… Sasuke… I really do have to go." Naori said.
"Oh well we should get lunch or dinner…" He started.
"Shisui-kun!" The girl said with a forced smile and a fake overly sweet voice. "Hokage-sama's waiting for you."
"Oh right." Shisui said as the girl hugged his other arm trying to pull him away while she glared at Naori. "I'll find you later."
"Sure." Naori said clenching her fist tight, digging her fingernails into the palm of her hand as she forced a smile before he was dragged away. She was so distracted she didn't even notice the sparks of lightning she was releasing around her hand. "Shisui-kun.. Uh!" She mumbled as she walked out of the building.
Naori made her way to the orphanage where Tenten immediately tackled her into a hug.
"Nee-chan! You're here!" Tenten said. "Where have you been? You've been gone forever!"
"Sorry Tenten, I had a long mission." Naori said with a smile. "What's new around here?"
"Naori-san." One of the caretakers said.
"Kagome-san how are you?" Naori asked.
"I am well." She said with a smile. "Yui-san wished to speak with you."
"Oh, is she in her office?" Naori asked.
"Yes." Kagome said.
"Alright, Hey Tenten why don't you go get cleaned up while I go speak with Yui-san?" Naori said bending down to speak with Tenten.
"Okay." Tenten said before running off.
Naori made her way to the office and knocked on Yui-san's door.
"Come in." She called out and immediately stood up when she saw Naori. "Naori-chan."
"Yui-san I was told you wanted to speak to me?" Naori asked.
"Ah yes please sit." She said as Naori walked in. "I wanted to speak with you about Tenten."
"Is everything okay?" Naori asked.
"Yes, Tenten is doing well. She's such a bright and lovely child." Yui said. "In fact she along with many of the other orphans recently took the Shinobi Academy's entrance exam."
"She did? Tenten never mentioned wanting to be a kunoichi." Naori said surprised at the news.
"Naori-san you may not have realized this but Tenten looks up to you. She idolizes you." Yui said. "You should hear the way she speaks of you to the other children. She wants to be just like you."
"That's… wow." Naori said not knowing what to say to that. "You said she took the academy's entrance exam? How did she do?"
"She passed." Yui said.
"That's amazing she'll be starting this year?" Naori said.
"A few months but there is one slight problem." Yui said. "She performed better than the other orphans but her writing and math skills were a bit lower than the other children for obvious reasons. It has been recommended she attend the civilian school preschool for a few months to improve those skills but there is the matter of tuition which we can't…"
"I'll take care of it." Naori said immediately. "Tuition for the preschool for Tenten and the other children that passed the exam. I know the academy tuition is waved for orphans so this is the least I can do to help."
"T-that's so generous of you." Yui said. "Thank you so much."
"There's no need. I remember during my time at the academy how unfair it was that children of clans and shinobi had an unfair advantage of being taught at home as well as at school. This is just my way of correcting that." Naori said. "If it's alright with you I'm going to take Tenten with me for a few hours, get some supplies for school?"
"Of course." Yui said with a smile.
Naori took Tenten with her to a few stores to grab the books and other supplies she and the other children might pay. There were a few vendors that gave Naori the stink eye but she didn't react she just smiled and treated everyone kindly like she always did.
Once they were done Naori bought them both some ice cream and they sat down at the park bench.
"I spoke with Yui-san." Naori said. "She said you'll be going to the ninja academy this year. You never mentioned wanting to be a kunoichi?"
"Oh." Tenten said blushing and looking down. "I just… I wanted to go."
"Hey I'm not mad." Naori said putting an arm around the girl. "I was just surprised. What made you decide to go?"
"I want to be strong like you nee-chan." Tenten said. "You're like one of the legendary kunoichi in my storybook. Your strong and pretty like Tsunade-sama, You're wise and know a lot about seals like Mito-sama and there's someone in that book that has your name too."
"Uchiha Naori." Naori said remembering her namesake. "I was named after her. And I agree with you that they all amazing in their own right but I don't aspire to be like them."
"You don't?" Tenten asked.
"No, I don't dream about being a legend or famous. My dream is to be like your older sister." Naori said.
"My sister?" Tenten said confused.
"Your sister was the kindest most selfless person I've ever met. Her name will never be in any history book but to me she's more than worthy of it." Naori said. "Midori was not strong in the traditional sense for a shinobi but her values were and she valued the people she cared about above everything else. As shinobi we're told that the mission comes before everything else and there are times we have to make hard decisions but what's even harder is making those decisions while staying true to those values. There will always be another mission, there will always be another danger or way to protect the village but a true friend that values their teammates and precious people above themselves that's rare and something worth aspiring to be. I'm not going to stop you if you want to go to the academy and be a ninja but I want you to do it for the right reasons not because you think it's what I want or because you want to be like me."
"I don't know why I want to be a ninja. I know I want to help people but I also want to be like Tsunade-sama and you Naori-nee chan." Tenten said.
"There's nothing wrong with admiring someone but how about instead of wanting to be them you be like them in your own way. I'm you'll be your own kind of amazing." Naori said.
"You think so?" Tenten said.
"I know so." Naori said. "Now finish up your ice cream before it melts."
After dropping off Tenten and the supplies she had bought for her and the other kids Naori went to the training field where she used to train with Kosuke. She found a nice shady spot before taking out one of the scrolls she hadn't opened in years.
Minato's personal notes on the Hiraishin.
It felt strange for her to be reading them, to see his writing. She could almost hear his voice in her head as she read them. According to the notes the first step was mastering the artificial space and time used for storage seals which she had learned years ago. Step one done.
The following step would be to completely infuse chakra into an object so they wouldn't be torn to shreds as it was pulled from one dimension to another and back.
It was a similar technique to the lightning paralysis jutsu she created but this one involved not disrupting the nervous system or hurting the target. It was a delicate technique. So she practiced with a delicate target dummy. A balloon.
Of course it was easier said than done.
It took hours and more popped ballons than Naori would have liked. If she never head a balloon pop again for the rest of her life it would still be too soon.
Naori held her last balloon in her hand. She was starting to get the hang of it. At least this balloon had lasted longer than the others.
One day to master the key step, it must've been a record.
"There you are!" Shisui said making Naori lose her concentration. And her hand spark popping the balloon.
"Shisui." Naori said glaring at him in frustration.
"Shisui-kun what are we doing here. She was taking a nap." The annoying girl from before said.
"I'm pretty sure Naori was training. Successfully." Shisui said. "Look at all the balloons she popped."
"I wasn't trying to pop them." Naori said trying to hide her annoyance. She noticed the girl was eyeing Minato's notes and quickly sealed them away. "I was trying something but it didn't work. What are you doing all the way over here?"
"You were in such a rush this morning and I haven't see you in a while I haven't gotten a chance to introduce you to Kikyo-chan." Shisui said. "Kikyo-chan this is my Na… best friend Naori."
"Hi, It's so nice to meet you!" Kikyo said through a forced smile and forcing herself to sound overly cheerful. "Shisui-kun talks about you all the time."
"Wish I could say the same." Naori said taking her offered hand only to accidentally shock Kikyo.
"Ah!" She cried out.
"Oh sorry about that." Naori said glancing down at her hand. "I was practicing chakra control and shape manipulation but lightning is a bit more natural to me. Hence the static."
"It's fine." Kikyo said trying to wave it off even though her hand obviously hurt.
"Kikyo was recently assigned to my team and I'm trying to help her get ready for the chunin exams." Shisui said. "Naori tied for first place during her exams."
"Technically it wasn't a tie. I did forfeit." Naori said.
"Oh was your opponent too much for you?" Kikyo said.
"No Itachi and Naori didn't feel like fighting and Naori didn't want the attention." Shisui said.
"There wasn't really a point." Naori said smiling at Shisui.
"Well Shisui-kun is a great teacher." Kikyo said hugging Shisui's arm.
"I know." Naori said as her hand started sparking again and Shisui looked at her concerned.
"At least he buys me lunch and dinner after training." Kikyo said.
"He's the best that way." Naori said and the sparking started running up her arm slowly. "Well I am out of balloons so I guess that means it's time to call it a day."
"That's great." Shisui said. "I was wondering if you could give Kikyo a few pointers. Her genjutsu skills need some work."
"I'm actually a bit low on chakra besides you taught me. You shouldn't doubt your teaching skills Shisui-sensei." Naori said making Shisui blush and smile.
"She's right Shisui-kun you are the best of the best. There's no one better to teach me." Kikyo said leaning against him as she bat her eyelashes at him.
"Looks like you have your hands full." Naori said putting away the scroll. "Good luck."
With that Naori shunshined back to the compound. Itachi suggested she show up to dinner to make it seem like his influence on her was working.
Her stomach was churning at the thought of having to pretend to be happy she was home with her family when all she really wanted to be across the village laughing and actually speaking during dinner not being interrogated or ignored or just being given the look of disappointment.
She was sure she was not going to be able to take even a bite of food with how nauseous she felt.
"You're here." Itachi said walking into her room.
"I told you I would be." She said.
"Did you…" he started.
"No word yet but I'll know more tomorrow." She said noticing the frown and worry in her brother's eyes. "Hey. You don't have to worry. We'll figure this out."
"You make it sound so easy." Itachi said.
"It's not, but when have our lives ever been." Naori said. "Come on, if I have to endure this torture so do you."
Itachi sighed but followed after his sister. Naori walked into the dining room and ruffled Sasuke's hair as she walked past him to take his seat.
Naori took her seat in between Itachi and Sasuke while Mikoto sat across from her and Fugaku on her other side.
"Good of you to join us." Fugaku said sharply. "We haven't seen you the past few weeks."
"Huh didn't think you'd notice." Naori said answered politely.
"I never know whether to make dinner for five or four anymore." Mikoto said with a smile with a passive aggressive tone.
"Guess that explains why there's only four pieces of chicken." Naori said.
"You can have mine." Itachi said putting it on Naori's Plate. Naori sliced it in half and put the bigger half on Itachi's plate.
"How considerate of you brother but it's a big piece we can share." Naori answered.
"Your hair is unruly, maybe it's time for a haircut." Mikoto said.
"My hair is identical to yours mother." Naori said. Two could play at that game. "It looked so nice on you I thought I'd give it a try."
"Oh." Mikoto said and the table was silent.
"You missed the last few clan meetings. Your absence was noticed." Fugaku said.
"My missions have been getting longer and longer." Naori said.
"Hn." Fugaku said. "Your responsibilities to your clan take priority."
"I've been told." Naori said sarcastically.
"I have a meeting with the elders at the end of the week. I would like you to accompany me." Mikoto said.
"I will try to be there but I cannot promise anything. Our mission schedule isn't very predictable." Naori said.
"You'll be there." Fugaku ordered.
"I'll try. I don't get to decide my missions." Naori said giving him a pointed look. "Besides I serve the clan best by performing my duties to the best of my abilities and bringing honor to our clan. That is what matters most to you is it not father?"
Naori and Fugaku stared at each other. He was trying to get Naori to back down and Naori was not going to budge.
"You should follow your brother's example. He fulfills his duty to the clan and the village dutifully. He does as he is told. Kosuke may put up with your insolence but you will not do that here." Fugaku said.
"Having an opinion isn't insolence. Kosuke sensei taught me that. A shinobi must see underneath the underneath and I can't do that is I don't have all the facts. And yes I probably do take after my sensei more than I should but who's fault is that?" Naori said.
"Naori." Mikoto snapped.
"I haven't had dinner here in weeks because I've been gone for over a month on a mission. Not that either of you noticed or even bothered to ask where I was." Naori said and both Mikoto and Fugaku stared at her in shock as they realized they really hadn't noticed. "Oh and in case you forgot we're twins. We have the same birthday. Now if you'll excuse me I know when I'm not wanted."
With that Naori threw down her napkin and chopsticks and went to her room. It was a while later that Itachi walked in.
"I would say you're a very good actress but I'm not entirely sure that was an act." Itachi said.
"I had a few years of neglect to feed off of. Did they buy it?" Naori said.
"There's not a single person who wouldn't have believed it." Itachi said. "Was this really necessary?"
"We both have a role to play so we don't raise suspicion and this is the best way to do it." Naori said. "It'll be okay Itachi. Once all of this is settled we can fix our family. That'll be the easy part."
"I envy your optimism." He said.
"I have enough for the both of us." She said smiling.
The Following Morning…
Naori to continue the ruse of being the untrustworthy rebellious twin, left the house before anyone woke up, starting her day extra early. She had breakfast at the tea house while she went over Minato's notes again. From there she went to do her usual training with Itachi.
Shisui was busy tutoring his student so it was just the twins before they got ready for their team training and four hours surveillance shift staring at their compound for any 'suspiscious activity'. If only their teammates knew…
By the time her shift was over it was time for her meeting with the Hokage.
As she walked through the village Naori saw Shisui with Kikyo. He had his arm around her shoulders and hers was around him as she pressed herself close to Shisui. That made naori take a minor detour to try and calm herself down and make her hands stop sparking.
From there she made sure to make sure she wasn't followed before knocking on the door and being invited in.
"Ah Naori-chan right on time." The hokage said. "I hope you don't mind if we take tea in my study."
"Of course." Naori said following the man down a hall and into his study where the tea was already set up. The hokage immediately activated the privacy seal before taking his seat.
"I reviewed the 'seal' you gave me." He said. "It's been a long time since I've seen someone leave a message disguised as a seal."
"Auntie Kushina used to tell me stories of her home in Uzushio. How it was common practice to hide messages in seals." Naori said.
"Well If I read this message correctly, this is a very serious matter." He said. "These accusations…"
"Hokage-sama I wish it was just an accusation but it's not. There's always been unrest in the clan but never like this. On my way here I had to stop a few members of the police force from harassing a vendor who's only crime was setting up his cart in the wrong place." Naori said. "And it's not just that even within the compound you can feel the tension."
"Have you spoken to your father about this matter?" He asked.
"My father doesn't speak to me about such matters but I know you have." Naori said.
"Then how do you know about this?" he asked.
"My brother Itachi. He has attended almost all the clan meetings and father is starting to pressure him for information. Classified information." Naori said.
"And has Itachi said anything?" He asked.
"Nothing father didn't already know but that's not going to work for much longer." Naori said.
"And you?" The hokage asked.
"My father and fellow clansmen feel that my close relationship with Kosuke-sensei and Anka-san as well as my friendships outside of the clan have compromised my loyalty." Naori said. "They don't trust me and they've actually asked Itachi to spy on me and to try to convince me back to their side. Which is why I'm here instead of him."
"They don't trust you so our meetings wouldn't be seen as out of character while Itachi continues in your clan's good graces so he can give you information to pass on to me." The hokage said piecing it together. "That was good planning on your part."
"I had a good teacher." Naori said.
"Indeed you did. Have you discussed this with Kosuke?" the man asked.
"No, I thought it was better if as few people as possible knew." Naori said.
"We need to keep it that way. For now keep monitoring the situation." The hokage said. "I have prepared a seal with some information Itachi can leak to your father and clan to maintain his position. As for you we shall continue our sealing lessons either here or the office. Every two weeks. Same time same day. If possible I may even give you a few real lessons on fuinjutsu. You have a real talent for it. Even if you choose not to specialize in it you should continue your studies."
"Thank you hokage-sama." Naori said.
"I should be the one thanking you Naori. And I am sorry that you and your brother have been put in this position of having to choose your clan your family or the village." He said.
"My brother and I have seen the horrors of war first hand. We've given so much to protect our home. We want Sasuke to not have to grow up as fast as we did and we don't want another war. I've had to bury more people I've cared about than I ever hoped I would and it never gets easier." Naori said.
"No it does not." The man said sadly before Naori bowed and took her leave.
She started walking thinking about going home only to realize that was probably not the best place to be at the moment. That and she didn't feel like sitting through another dinner with her parents. Even if she had been right her father had a lot of pride and would never admit to being wrong and her mother would be overly attentive to try in an attempt to make amends and coerce Naori into going to that meeting with the clan elders which would be even more painful than dinner was.
So she walked around the village trying to take her mind off of things because if she showed up at Kosuke's house as she was now he would know something was wrong.
But just like any other worst possible moment she ran into the last person she wanted to see.
It was Shisui with Kikyo. Naori figured she could use a spar and having someone who really annoyed her as her opponent wouldn't hurt.
"Shisui…" Naori called out just as Kikyo and Shisui started kissing. Naori's blood ran cold and it felt like someone had sucker punched her. With that Naori shunshined away not wanting to see more.
She was angry, the sparks running up her arms made a few of the streetlights she passed by break. She was more or less calm by the time she got to Kosuke's house. Though now that she was thinking about it she was feeling unreasonably upset and couldn't figure out why.
"Hey kiddo." Kosuke said as he walked into the house. "Anka got called out on a last minute mission so its just the two of us for dinner. Unless you're having dinner with your family."
"Oh no." Naori said feeling her stomach clench at the thought of itWe started off . "I'm planning on not doing that again any time soon."
"That bad?" Kosuke said.
"We started off with the usual passive aggressiveness before we jumped right into them guilt tripping me, accusing me of ditching my responsibilities and then I snapped told my father off and stormed out." Naori said.
"Oh shit." Kosuke said.
"Yeah." Naori said. "So what are we having for dinner?"
"How about we eat out? It's been a while since we've done that." Kosuke said.
"The usual place?" Naori asked.
"Of course." He said. "Just give me a minute."
Once Kosuke had taken off his gear and his headband, going for his relaxed off duty look they headed out.
"So you want to tell me what exactly made you snap? I've seen you take a lot." Kosuke said.
"Sleep deprivation, Stress and I guess the constant nagging that wouldn't let me even get a bite in and it just happened. I may have still been a bit mad about him forgetting my birthday." Naori said.
"Considering they remembered your twin brother's birthday but not yours you have a right to be." Kosuke said patting her head as they walked through the market to the Akimichi district.
"Naori!" Someone called out and in less than a second Naori was gone.
"What the…" Kosuke said as the girl disappeared and suddenly Shisui was in front of him.
"Na- where did she go? I thought I saw her?" Shisui said.
"Uh…." Kosuke said not knowing what just happened but decided to give his student a break and covered for her. "She probably got called out for a mission or summoned by her wolves."
"Again? She just keeps disappearing when she sees me. Is she avoiding me?" Shisui asked. "She's been acting really weird and I can't even ask tachi because he away on missions and…"
"Kid." Kosuke said shutting him up. "She's really busy. That's the job. She'll find you when she can."
"Can you just tell her I've been looking for her?" Shisui said.
"Sure." Kosuke said before a very disappointed Shisui walked away.
"Shisui-kun!" A girl shrieked running after him.
"Huh?" Kosuke said before walking to the restaurant for dinner. Just like he predicted Naori was already sitting down in their usual booth
"You want to tell me what that was about?" he asked his student.
"It was nothing." Naori said quickly.
"That was not nothing." Kosuke said. "You're avoiding your boyfriend."
"He's not my boyfriend!" Naori snapped as her Sharingan activated and the glass of water in her hand shattered before sparks of lightning appeared around her hand.
Kosuke stared at her in shock having never seen Naori ever react like that. Add to that her activating her Sharingan and the sparks of lightning forming around her hand. The entire restaurant had gone quiet.
He quickly pulled out a privacy seal and placed it on the table activating it.
"Naori. Breathe." Kosuke said. She stared at him for a minute before closing her eyes and doing as he said.
"Sorry. I didn't… that shouldn't have happened." Naori said.
"Yeah." Kosuke said looking at her bleeding hand that was still sparking. "How long has that been happening?"
Naori looked at her hand and saw the sparks. She quickly opened and closed her as she tried to shake it off only for it to start stinging as she realized she cut her hand,
"A few days." Naori said before Kosuke took her hand and started cleaning it up with a first aid kit she had no idea he even had on him.
"Hm." Kosuke said as his focused on her hand but was obviously starting to get concerned. "You know maybe you should take some time off. You've barely had any time off since you started."
"I'm fine." Naori said. "Besides I'd go crazy with all the free time."
"I'm actually leaving tomorrow. I'm meeting with Sensei to help him track down a lead." Kosuke said. "Should be away for a week or two. Maybe more. You know how these things go."
"Where is he this time?" Naori asked.
"You know him, some resort, casino or spa somewhere." He said. "Either way it's a free working vacation. You should come along."
"Are you asking me or telling me?" Naori said.
"What do you think?" Kosuke said with a smirk. "I'll handle the old man."
"Well it would be nice to get his feedback on a few things I've been working on." Naori said. "Besides the worst thing that could happen on this trip is that he takes us to another brothel."
"Yeah don't mention that to Anka." Kosuke said. "She thinks I'm corrupting you."
"Father implied the same thing." Naori said as Kosuke finished bandaging up her hand.
"Guess that means I should expect a passive aggressive lecture from him sometime soon." Kosuke said.
"At least you don't live with him." Naori said.
"Neither do you at this point." He said.
"True." Naori said starting to feel like some distance and time away might be exactly what she needed.