Anko POV
I slowly opened my eyes and noticed I was not home. I sat up instantly and looked around me.
The room had a large window, there were tatami mats on the floor and I was laying on a futon. Other than that the room did seem kind of empty with the exception of my clothes and gear that was in the corner of the room.
I closed my eyes as I tried to remember what had happened. My eyes widened as I recalled that Mizuko had been inspecting my seal. I slowly got out of bed, I looked down to see I was wearing a simple yukata.
It didn't take long for me to get dressed. I folded up the yukata I had been dressed with and quietly walked out of the room.
"Settle down, and finish your breakfast." I heard Mizuko as I carefully walked through the hallway.
"Hey, it's anko-san." one of the smaller boys grinned as he was shoving scrambled eggs into his mouth. He had straight red hair and his skin was almost a chocolate dark color, his eyes were hazel just like Mizuko's as well.
"Hisashi, don't talk while your eating." Mizuko sighed as she turned to me. "I see you're up. You passed out yesterday so I took you to one of our spare bedrooms. I haven't been able to finish all of the remodelings of the temple so sorry if it wasn't as nice." She says as she stands up.
"Here, I'll get you something to eat, go ahead and take a seat." She says as she hurries into the kitchen.
"Sit with me!" Nanami squeals as she pats the place beside her. I couldn't help but smile at her. She looked a lot like Mizuko except her skin tone was a bit darker and her eyes were a dark crimson color.
"Scoot over Fumiko so Anko-san can sit with us."Nanami nudged at her younger sister who nodded and did as she was told.
"The older kids are in class right now. So there's a bit more room at the table. Are you feeling better?" Mizuko asks as she walks in holding a plate of food.
I nod. "I am, I just blacked out yesterday." I say with a smile as I took the plate she was handing me.
"Good, I haven't had time to really look over the seal. May I ask how the seal was applied? It could help me in the long run." Mizuko asked and I stiffened slightly.
"I don't remember, that man messed with my head and I can't remember." I say as I looked at the food on the plate.
"I see, that's fine. I'll figure it out I guess. There's a lot of components to the seal so I am not sure how it is going to work out. But I'll see what I can do." She says and I look up at her and nod.
"Thanks, I'll owe you one, Mizuko-chan." I grin widely and her face flushes. I guess she ain't half bad.
Mizuko POV
After a few hours, Anko gave her thanks and left. I had decided it would be a good idea to stay home for the day.
I had all of my paperwork spread in front of me. I was in my 'office' where I would study seals and do a bit of financing.
Through the seal shop, I was making a large revenue. I was also finding it a bit hard to balance both the fruit stand and the shop. Maybe I could hire someone to watch the fruit stand throughout the day so that I could focus more on the kids and my seals.
I sighed loudly as I tried to figure out the math. I could pay someone to watch the stand for at least 11 ryo an hour. Seven hours a day and six days a week I could pay them 462 ryo a weekly. The stand makes me at least 2,000 ryo a week so that should be enough to hire at least one person.
And I could keep a close eye on the amount of products sold to make sure that the person wasn't stealing any money. Besides, the kids did help pick fruits after school so that part wasn't a problem.
I nodded firmly, I would hire some help for the stand. As for the seal store. I would just have to work harder in the production of them in order to raise my income on that.
I was making a minimum of 20,000 ryo through that weekly. And that was without the Jonin coming in to make large purchases. I counted up the amount of money I had, I could place it in the bank but I wasn't sure if I should.
'It's not like I don't trust the village' I think to myself as I glanced at the stacks of ryo on my desk. Maybe I could invest some of it and keep the rest sealed away.
I always had so much to do and so little time. "Mama! Nii-san and Nee-chan are home!" I heard Nanami yell and I sighed.
"Okay!" I yell back as I grabbed the money and sealed it away. I would have to worry about that later. I grabbed one of the books that I had been given to study.
That was another thing that had slightly changed. Even though I was not trained to fight nor had a military status I was expected to be a clan head.
Naruto was due to become a shinobi and I am fairly certain that the other kids would also follow in his footsteps. Hence I was going to join the clan council and I was expected to learn some clan etiquette.
It had taken a while but I had been able to obtain some books on how the whole clan thing worked. Even some of Mito's scrolls had some things laid out. Like marrying someone into the clan, what can and can't be shared with outsiders, or how to handle most clan positions for the Uzumaki.
Technically Naruto was slated in for the clan head position when he became chunin or turned sixteen. (Whichever came first) But for now, I held the position and had the say-so in the Uzumaki clan side of things.
As for the Senju that all fell under Tsunade's judgment and from what I had gathered that woman would probably never return to the village.
I walked out of my office and sealed it up so that the kids couldn't get inside.
"Hey, ma!" Naruto grinned as he carried Yukio on his back. "How was school?" I asked as I took a seat in the living room. Naruto smiled brightly as he began to tell me how his day went.
After about half an hour Ryuu, Karin, Kenta, and Naruto headed out to pick some fruits and to go training. Nanami and Tadashi tried to follow them out but I quickly told them no. They were going to be throwing around Kunai and sparing and the last thing I needed was for one of them to get hurt.
And with that the day seem to go by.
I woke up and groaned. My head was spinning and I felt heavy.
I slowly forced myself up and my muscles seemed to be protesting. "Wake up." I grumbled as I shook Kenta who was the closest to me.
"You have to go to class today." I added as I felt my stomach stir. I got up and stumbled out of bed trying to make sure I didn't step on anyone. My stomach stirred once more as I hurried to the bathroom. I barely made it to the toilet before I vomited.
I could feel the stomach acid leave a sour taste in my mouth. I pulled back and wiped my mouth. I slightly stumbled to the sink as I washed my hands and then face. "my face feels hot." I mumble as I look at myself in the mirror. I looked pale and the rim of my eyes looked red.
I stumbled out of the bathroom and went to check on the time. "5:00 a.m." I grumble out as I take a seat on one of the plush pillows in the living room.
"I should take my temperature."I mumble as I got up again and grabbed a thermometer and placed it in my mouth. I also dug through the pantry and grabbed a face mask to put on.
When the thermometer beeped I took it out and grimaced at the 102 temperature.
I placed the mask on and hurried to wash my hands and get started with the day.
I could feel myself move slowly as I went ahead and made some bento's and started making breakfast. My head felt woozy as I hurried to at least make something. I could stay at home and try to get better. With my insurance policy, I could go to the hospital and get some antibiotics.
"Mom are you okay?" I jumped as I head a voice. I turned to see ryuu at the doorway. "I-uh- I'm fine, just a bit sick. I might go to the doctors while you kids are at school." I try to say cheerfully but even my voice sounded hoarse.
I glanced over at the time and noticed it was already 7 in the morning. "Could you wake your siblings up for school?" I asked him and he nodded as he walked away.
I set the food out and then laid my head against my arms as I tried to relax.
"You sure she's okay?" I head a concerned voice as I was being shaken slightly. I opened my eyes slowly. It almost felt like my head was underwater as I tried to listen to what Naruto was saying.
"You sure she's okay?" Karin asked a bit concerned, I sat up slightly, I could feel myself rock slightly as I tried to sit up straight.
"Mom, are you okay? Ryuu said you didn't feel so well." Naruto frowned and I looked up at him. "I think I am fine." I slurred out as he placed his hand on my head.
Naruto looked at me and then turned to the other kids and said something I wasn't able to hear.
"I think I'll skip school today. I'm taking you to the doctors." He stated firmly and I cocked a brow. "Then who will stay with your siblings?" I asked and Karin stood up. "I will. Kenta and Ryuu will still go to school, But I can watch over the kids while Naruto takes you to the doctor." She says and I slowly nod as I felt a headache.
Karin made me some tea and I sipped some as Naruto helped his siblings get ready for the day. Kenta and Ryuu were busy pulling out the Futon from the bedroom and cleaning up so no one else would catch my fever.
I had put my head down against the cool table and was relaxing. Maybe I had a fever or just a stomach bug. I was mostly at the stand so I wouldn't be surprised if someone else got me sick. The last thing I wanted was to get everyone else sick.
"Come on." Naruto hummed as he helped me up. He was holding my purse and letting my hold on to his arm and lean on him for support.
I felt bad, my entire body ached and although I felt warm I was still cold.
"Kenta, Ryuu leave the futon's to air dry and then hurry up and go to school." Naruto says and the two boys nod. They were wet from head to toe from washing the futons.
Naruto led me out of the temple and I was already tired. There were a lot of stairs we had to go down and we passed a few of the compounds. I couldn't help but feel annoyed at how loud the village was all I wanted to do was lay down and let my muscles relax.
"We are almost there. Don't worry." Naruto smiled and I slowly nodded. It was comforting to know that I could rely on the kids when I was sick. It had been a long time since I had gotten sick. The last time it was pregnancy symptoms so they don't really count.
It didn't take long for us to arrive at the hospital. We waited for nearly an hour before a nurse was able to see us. She ran a few tests and told me I had the flu.
With that she gave me medicine, a shot, and instructions on not going to work, getting plenty of fluids and to be careful because it was contagious.
Naruto helped me out of the hospital. "Does it hurt being sick?" He asked and I glanced over at him.
"What do you mean?" I asked softly and he shrugged. "I've never been sick before so I want to know if it hurts." He stated and I hummed.
'The Kyubii must keep him healthy at all times. Even if he were to get sick it would only last a few hours at most.' I thought to myself before nodding.
"Yeah, It's not easy. We get sick because of germs. Small bacteria or viruses get into our bodies and make us sick."I say and he scrunched his nose slightly.
"How do they get in, wouldn't we see it?" He asked and I shook my head. "They're very small, so small you would need a microscope to see it. We can't see it with our eyes. Our bodies fight back and get rid of them eventually but medicine helps." I say as we walked home.
"Wow, How do you know though?" He asked as he looked up at me.
"Well, I was taught in-" I paused for a moment as I tried to think. 'How did I learn it in school... If I never went to school.' I thought to myself as I closed my eyes and tried to remember. All I could think about was looking down at a textbook and looking at a drawing of a cell. Were there other students there as well?
"I think I was taught. I don't remember who taught me. It's just been a really long time." I muttered as I continued to walk alongside him.
'Maybe it was a daydream. It has to be, because I never went to school.'I thought to myself.
The next few days I found myself staying in the guest bedroom and recovering from the flu. I used the time to draw seals and get them ready for pick up.
I also wrote a note for both Karin and Naruto to give to their teachers on why they had missed class.
I wore a face mask daily to make sure the younger kids didn't get sick either and both Nanami and Fumiko helped me with their younger siblings.
Before I knew it I was better and back on my feet.
I hadn't had a chance to really look at Anko's seal nor work inside of the seal store. Naruto and Karin had worked together to get all of the orders done under my watchful eye.
When I woke up I felt a lot better, I stretched and crawled out of the futon.
I made breakfast and let the older kids sleep in since it was the weekend. The smaller kids were up and running around. Kaida was on my back where she was held securely by a sling while Yukio and Hayami played by my feet. They would run around me and at times cling on to my Kimono. And on rare occasions even crawl underneath my Kimono.
"Morning." Hisashi yawned as he walked into the room and settled on one of the plushy pillows.
"Morning sweetheart." I say with a smile as he dozed off slightly and groaned.
"What we doin today ma?" he asked as he looked over at her.
"Well, today we are just going to work on your sealing and well I guess that's it." I say and he nods.
Everyone started to come in and sat around the table waiting for me to serve the food.
"Good morning sleepy heads." I smile as I set down the pot of food down on top of the mat on the table."Morning mom." They greeted back as they started to grab some food and eating.
"So today I want to try and start looking at Anko-san's seal. What do you guys think?" I ask as I glanced at them.
"Are you going to let us look over it too?" Fumiko asked excitedly as she looked up from her plate.
"I think it would be a good learning experience. It will be hands-on learning. We will go over the seal together." I say as I sit Kaida on my lap and start to spoonfeed her as well.
"Yay! We get to see the sealing."Fumiko cheered as she eagerly started to eat.
"Okay spread out. You can write your theories on your scrolls and if you have any questions you are welcomed to ask." I say as I made sure the kids gave me enough room to open the scroll.
"Yes, mom." They all nod as I set the scroll down as I opened it.
"Wow, I think this is the largest array we've seen." Karin grins as she squats down and looks over the scroll.
"Their Fuinjutsu array is horrible." Fumiko frowns as she looks down.
"Huh?" Karin grumbles as she stands up and looks at the entire array.
I nodded as I look over the array. "The modeling is horrible and too uniform. The person who did this is at most a level 4 apprentice. The set up is too confined so that makes it dangerous. Probably why it has such a low success rate." I say as I look over the seal.
"What would have you done for a seal like this?" Naruto asks as he wrinkles his nose. His sealing experience was too low for him to dissect the finer detail of the seal. But Fumiko and Karin could see the flaws.
"First off an even number base with more sides for the multiple space function." I say as I looked down at the seal.
"There aren't any inner structural rules or laws this seal is horrible!" Karin complains loudly as she crouches down and glares at the seal.
"I have to agree with that sentiment. The creator of this seal did a piss poor job but there are some genuinely interesting pieces so this." I say as Ryuu looks over at me.
"Can you run us through what this piece means?" He asks and I nod.
Everyone gathered together as I broke down that portion of the seal.
After that, it seemed that the seal was the topic everyone wanted to talk about.
"Yeah, yeah! The left matrix makes sense when you add the bottom middle matrix it's like they meld together to stabilize one another.!" Ryuu nods at the logic of it.
"But it's excessive in size! And as so it's ineffective! Shows the lack of planning and makes the possibility of crossing signals possible!" Karin sneered as she picked at her food.
"Eat your dinner." I sighed as I was cleaning Kaida's face.
"More please!" Hayami grinned as she pushed her plate towards me so she could get more rice.
I smile as I serve her more rice.
"Facts! I'm not a seal genius but even I can see that it's ineffective. A smaller matrix with more sides would've accommodated the same function in less than half the space." Kenta shrugged and Karin nodded.
"I know! The seal maker should cut off their hands for making such a failure of a seal!" Karin sneers angrily as she shoves rice in her mouth.
"Well, I want to say that... I agree! They're sealing just sucks. And the way it is written shows a large lack of creativity and lack of level 5 discipline. They can't even write laws within their sealing which would explain such novice mistakes." Fumiko stammered out.
"The maker of the seal is one of the 3 legendary sannin. But I guess Lord Jiraiya is much better than this person but it's no surprise he couldn't unravel this seal. It's not well made so it makes it complicated. We are also not to make an improved version of the seal but instead, we are to simply remove it." I sigh as I look over at Karin and Fumiko who had been jotting down all the mistakes in the seal.
Both girls scoffed and I couldn't help but sigh.
At least they were all excited about learning more about seals so getting them to study was a bit easier.
Kaida was strapped to my back on a sling, Hayami was quietly walking beside me and Yukio followed behind her.
Tadashi and Hisashi were at home along with Nanami and Fumiko.
I was carrying the scrolls full of fruits to my stand. I noticed the other merchants also setting up their stand for the day.
I smiled as I unsealed boxes of fruits and vegetables as I set them up for display.
I also made sure to put out my help wanted sign. It would be a lot easier to study and keep watch over the kids if I had a worker to keep up with the fruit/vegetable stand.
With that, I opened up and began making sales.
"Thank you. Come again." I smile politely at. A customer as I hand them the vegetables.
"Excuse me. I couldn't help but notice your help wanted sign."
I turn to see a young girl about 11-13 years old. I placed a hand on my hip and nodded.
"Yes, I have a job opening here at the stand. Someone you know interested?" I ask her and she nods.
"I'm interested. My name is Umi. I'm currently looking for an apprenticeship or job. I finished my civilian schooling and I can count money well." She bowed before standing up straight.
I couldn't help but cock a brow. "So you don't have class anymore? What about your parents. Would they mind you working here?" I ask and she shook her head.
"I'm an orphan, at twelve we get apprenticeships or jobs and move out of the orphanage. I've been living on my own for about a year now." She adds and I nod.
"Did you have an apprenticeship before this?" I ask her and she blushed and nodded.
"I worked at a tea shop as a maiko, in the higher district. But I tripped and spilled some tea on a VIP and to save face I was kicked out and my apprenticeship was revoked. I've been out of work for nearly a week." Her face was flushed as she spoke.
"Well, Umi. I pay 11 ryo per hour here. If you are interested." I shrug and nod.
Her eyes widened. "Eleven?!" She asked kind of shocked.
"Yes, only eleven. How much were you paid for being a maiko?" I asked her.
"3 ryo per hour, I also worked to get my maiko studies and training in singing, dancing and instrumental training. So hence the low pay wage" She responded.
I nodded as I thought about it for a moment. She looked like an honest kid.
Her hair was light brown, her eyes were green and there were freckles all on her face. She also wore a beautiful purple kimono with a green obi.
"How old are you?" I ask and she smiles slightly.
"I'm thirteen." She grins and I can't help but look at her in shock.
I could barely remember much of what happened when I was that age.
I could feel bitterness swell in the pit of my stomach. I had been her age when I had my first child.
I couldn't help but feel disgusted by that. I couldn't help but notice the baby fat still clinging onto Umi's cheeks and how young she looked.
To think that there had been men disgusting enough to have put hands on me at that age, while I had still looked so much like a child.
"Well, I guess your hired." I give her a smile as I took down the sign and she eagerly stepped behind the stand to be alongside me.
"I'll coach you through on how to run the stand for a few days before I start leaving you to work here alone." I smile at her.
The rest of the morning was spent teaching her how to weigh and sell the product and how to haggle with customers when they wanted to get something a bit cheaper or wanted to trade instead of simply just buying.
"Mizuko-San, I wanted to ask if you have a spare room in your house. I know I might be overstepping but my last apprenticeship provided housing and I haven't been able to acquire a home due to the lack of money." Umi stammered out as we were packing the food on the scrolls.
"So your homeless?" I ask cocking a brow and she flushed even more.
"Hmm, I need some help around my home. Cooking and cleaning, maybe babysitting every once in a while. If you are willing to help with that I can provide housing and most meals while you work with me." I say as I do a few hand seals and seal the fruits away.
"That's fine. I do not mind assisting in housework." She nods excitedly.
I nod as I place the scrolls in a bag as I turn to both Hayami and Yukio. "Let's go! Time to go home and eat." I say before glancing at Umi.
"Come on kid." I grin as I gestured for Umi to follow.
It doesn't take long before we are climbing the stairs to get to the Uzumaki temple.
"Now I have eleven children. The oldest are in the academy the other ones usually stay at home and cause havoc. Of course, the youngest come to work with me. I think it would be prudent to have more free time with them. Hence why I am hiring you." I say as she follows behind me. I could tell she was already winded by the climbing of the stairs.
"We are almost there. The top is right there at the Tora gates." I point out as we climbed the staircase.
Umi nods breathlessly as she climbs the stairs. As we passed beneath the massive Tora gates we walked by the massive fire pyres at the entrance of the temple.
The giant fire lanterns were made of pure stone and about 6 feet tall and several feet in width.
I gestured for her to follow as she took in the sight of the temple.
The temple had stairs to climb up on as well and two large red doors with gold decorations and red dragon handles.
"The temple doors are a bit too heavy to keep opening and closing so we use the back door most of the time. I have a shinobi only seal store here and I only open the doors when the seal shop is open. I also have a few rules you have to follow but other than that I will not ask for much." I say as I lead her to the side of the temple where there was a normal door.
"I'm home!" I called out as I checked to see where everyone was at as I bowed at the shrine at the entrance of the house before removing my shoes.
"Boo!" Tadashi grinned as he slammed open one of the many secret doors as he tried to scare us.
"Gyhaa!" Umi squealed in shock and Tadashi grinned brightly and laughed as he got out and gave me a hug. "Hi, mama." He smiles
"This is Tadashi." I say as I pat Tadashi's head and glance at Umi who shyly nods. "Mama!" Hisashi squealed excitedly as he rushed into the room with Fumiko following closely behind.
"Hey, sweetie." I grinned as he slammed against me and hugged me.
"This is Hisashi and that's Fumiko. I have no idea where Nanami's at." I say as I look around.
"Fu-chan, Tadashi, and Hisashi this is Umi. Umi-chan is going to be working for mama and living here as well. So say hello." I say and they all turned and bowed to her.
"Pleasure meeting you Umi" Fumiko squeaks out meekly while both Hisashi and Tadashi greet her loudly.
I sigh as I undo the sling and set Kaida down on the floor.
She grins widely as she quickly crawls away to follow behind her siblings who were rushing by to get to the toys.
"Let me find you a clean futon. I'll also let you pick out a room." I say as I hurry off to do so. "Make yourself at home," I say with a smile as I notice Nanami walk into the room from where the kitchen was at.
"Hi! I'm Nanami!" She smiles brightly as she sees Umi.
I made a large meal for dinner. Umi was helping me cook while the older kids were outside training in the training ground.
"When is dinner gonna be ready?" Nanami asked as she crossed her arms.
"Soon. Just give us a bit." I say with a chuckle.
"Mizuko-San I finished cutting the vegetables." Umi said as passed the bowl full of cut-up vegetables
"Thank you Umi. Nanami since you are so ready to eat go ahead and bring out the plates and set up the table." I say as I glance back at her.
She groaned but nodded.
"They're pretty rowdy." Umi stated and I couldn't help but giggle.
"They are, but I guess it's to be expected." I grinned as I poured in the Vegetables.
Here it is the new chapter! I hope you guys like Umi!
I'm not sure if I set it up like this but orphans move out of the orphanage at 12 in this universe.
They either become ninja, get an apprenticeship or work at that age. Some 'bad' kids are kicked out and since they dropped out of school they're left jobless until they get themselves together.