Hello, again.
Now that Wave is done, Team 7 and the Uzumaki brothers have returned to Konoha. This will be similar to what I did with the omake of them arriving in Ponyville, mainly to do a little bit with all of them before going back to normal routine with perspective. This will also take place during the time before the Chunin Exams, so Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro will return.
Minor note: Jack's hummed tune is from Father Goose, starring Cary Grant and Leslie Caron.
Perspective: n/a
Don't own MLP or Naruto, by the way.
Back to Konoha
XXJackXX
"Home sweet home." Jack saidd as he walked towards where the tools were kept. "It ain't gonna take care of itself, though."
He started humming to himself as he got the tools and got to work. Even with his abilities, some of the work around the farm required a simpler approach in comparison. Although working with his actual hands made him feel like he was actually giving back to the trees and earth. So he stuck to using Mokuton when it came to trimming/pruning and plucking the apples.
After a couple of trees, though, he stopped as he heard a familiar voice ask, "Care for a hand?"
He smiled as he turned and saw Gaara and his siblings were there. "Sure, ya'll, but since this time isn't an actual mission, Ah hope ya'll be okay with about a barrel of cider for your personal use."
"Think it can be two?" Gaara asked. "Mother wants one barrel to herself."
Jack raised an eyebrow. "So what, the Ichibi's addicted or somethin'?"
Gaara nodded, getting Jack to whistle. "Well Ah'll be. Ah'll see what Ah can dish out, but teh be safe, Ah'll either have to make a few trees do double time at the moment, or get Sun and the Hokage to help with more room. Yer not the only ones who want some after all, so it'll help with maintaining the orders."
The three siblings understood what Jack was talking about. Jack still had a business to run, and the place wasn't quite as big as some might think. However, Temari did come up with an idea that might help. "How about this? The barrel for Gaara, and we just have a meal together in the meantime."
The three boys all agreed to that, finding it better all around. Not to mention it was free food in Kankuro's eyes.
"Well then." Jack said as he stood before them. "Ah'll set you up, then go find the Hokage at least teh help with the expansion. Been meaning teh do that for a while, anyways."
That worked for the Suna nins.
"By the way, what are ya'll doing here anyways?" Jack asked as they walked.
"The Chunin Exams." Temari told him. "It's coming up soon, and we just came a few days early to avoid the normal rush. Plus your apples are just delicious."
Jack chuckled. "That they are, Temari. That they are."
XXDashXX
"Ugh, this is so boring!" Dash whined.
There weren't many deliveries that day, so Dash ended up being stuck helping Iruka and Hiruzen in the office with missions and other paperwork. Of course, being who he is, it quickly got on his nerves and patience. He was one of the more active of the brothers, so he couldn't handle desk work for all that long.
Iruka and Hiruzen chuckled at the boy.
"Sorry Dash, but this type of work is necessary as well." Iruka said. "But things won't stay like this for too long."
"Right. The Exams." Dash smiled in thought, the frowned. "Too bad I can't join. It'd be far more fun than this, for sure."
"You're not the only one who wants to get away from this, Dash." Hiruzen muttered a bit loud, getting a look from Iruka and a laugh from Dash. He glared at the two, but only Iruka responded in a manner that he liked.
They were interrupted when the door opened to let in Jack. "Howdy."
"Hello, Jack. What brings you here?" Hiruzen asked.
"Gaara and his siblings showed up today, and they reminded meh of somethin' Ah've been meanin' to do fer a while." Jack explained. "Think somethin' could be done to allow meh to expand? If not, Ah'll just get Sun to help using seals."
Hiruzen was silent for a bit before he spoke. "I'll see if there is something that can be done, but in the meantime, it'll probably be best to speak to Sun either way. At the very least, seals give the possibility of making the place a pocket dimension of sorts."
"Yeh mean like make the land bigger than it actual is?" Jack asked, having a faint idea of what Hiruzen was saying.
"Indeed." the man said. "The effects of seals are virtually limitless in comparison to other styles out there. It wouldn't be beyond the limits of a Seal Master, and with Sun's unique abilities, I wouldn't put it past him either to figure out a way."
Dash then stood up. "I'll go get him then."
"Just tell him to meet meh at the house. Ah'll fill him in there." Jack said. "Although yeh can go and let the others know that we'll be having Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro over fer a meal today. Not sure about their sensei though."
"Okey-dokey." Dash answered before running off, rainbow colors trailing behind him.
Jack then tilted his hat, said "Thank ye kindly. Take care." then went back to the farm, leaving the two men to the paperwork that most, if not all, dread.
XXRareXX
"Have a good day!" Rare said to another satisfied customer. He then felt a pair of arms wrap around him. "How have you been, Ino?"
"Better, now that I'm with you." She said as she kissed him. "I also brought lunch."
Rare chuckled as he turned around. "You and the others are too good to us."
"Helps that we got some of the best catch in the village." She smirked, then playfully sighed. "Too bad no one caught Dash or Pinkie yet."
Rare laughed at that, continuing when they heard Hinata say, "Oh please, get a room you two. You're in the middle of a shop."
"You'd sing a different tune if it was with Jack." Rare responded good-naturedly. "By the way, where is he?"
Said boy suddenly burst through the door, panting. "Sorry, Hinata. Ah didn't notice the time."
"At least you're here now." She said as she kissed the farmer boy. "Now we can go on that picnic."
"Picnic?" Jack asked
"Hinata thought a double date picnic sounded nice, and I agree." Ino explained. She turned to Rare. "What about you?"
Neither Rare or Jack said anything until a clone of themselves appeared from their respective elements, then said together, "That answer your question?"
The girls wrapped their arms around their respective boyfriend, only to get picked up in a bridal carry and walked off.
The clones looked at each other, shrugged, and went back to their respective work. If the originals were with the girls, then they quite needed to sate them. Although there was also the fact that the two were pretty well the most stubborn of the six, they would have a bit of trouble keeping them from doing something such as creating clones to work for them in the first place.
XXShyXX
"Alright, you're good to go." Shy said to a young pup that was just in for a check up. "Nice job."
The pup bark as he put it down on the ground before Hana escorted it out.
It was the last of a semi-recent set that was born to the Inuzuka clan, and Shy was asked to help with it. Although, granted, that was usually how it went, thanks to how animals usually reacted around him. Either, it didn't quite matter to him. He was just happy to help anyway he could.
Didn't mean he wouldn't need a break sooner or later himself, and he could certainly use one right then. And apparently Hana thought so too.
"Take a break. You've been here for quite a while today." She told him, giving him a hug.
"I know, Hana." he said. "But those check ups weren't going to do themselves."
"And we are grateful for your help." She assured. "But we all deserve a break sooner or later. Now come on."
She led him outside the main door and sat him down on a bench that had a bento on it. "Now you eat and relax. Even a couple of the animals were suggesting it."
"Oh." Fluttershy hung his head a bit. "Sorry."
"Shy, that's not what I was going for." Hana said as she sat down with him. "You've been doing so much already, but even you and your brothers have limits."
"I know, but you do recall who we came from, right?" Shy asked, getting a nod.
"Yeah, Naruto." She said. "But you're not him. You're your own person, Fluttershy. And we love you just the way you are."
The boy smiled and hugged her before proceeding to eat the bento and take that much needed break. As she went back inside, he let his mind wander as he reflected on how things have went since Naruto's departure and their creation. Kind of hard to believe that it's actually been a few months since that day.
While not all of it has truly connected to him personally, he was still connected to a lot of it. But one thing in particular that he was a part of was the upcoming Chunin Exams. As the only one who could really tame the creatures within the Forest of Death, the Hokage had asked him recently to see if anything could be done in regards to its inhabitants. Thankfully for him it wasn't anything like moving all of them or straight up killing them, but it didn't mean it didn't cause at least a bit of a problem for him.
How exactly was he supposed to placate giant animals and bugs enough to differentiate between teams simply passing through and teams that actually 'invade?'
Unlike some of his brothers, Shy wasn't physical by nature. He preferred trying to make peace between warring factions, be they man or animal. But he also had some trouble trying to enforce a drastic change in lifestyle on others, so he had no real idea how to truly begin with the 'request.'
His thoughts were interrupted by a strange voice asking, "Everything alright, kid?"
Looking up, he saw a girl with mint green hair looking at him in curiosity.
"Oh, sorry." He said. "It's just something that came up. Nothing for you to be concerned about."
The girl raised an eyebrow. "We were standing here for five minutes, and only once I spoke did you actually notice."
Shy blushed in embarrassment.
She then introduced herself. "I'm Fu. You wouldn't happen to be Fluttershy of the Uzumaki brothers, would you?"
He nodded, then noticed Team 8 walking towards him. That changed once Shino noticed Fu and stopped moving. Shy smiled as he developed a feeling about what stopped Shino. "Ms. Fu, you wouldn't happen to have any connection to bugs, would you?"
Fu tensed, but was caught off guard when he continued as he pointed. "More than likely because of that, you have just got yourself an admirer in the Aburame Heir. Although that might be partly because of your own personal beauty."
She spun around, a blush on her face at Shy's words, which opened a path for Shy to sneak back into the building to continue working. And while he may still have trouble working out an idea to deal with the Forest of Death, he did have more motivation for doing so.
He wasn't about to let a potential match die before it could start.
XXPinkieXX
"Take care, you guys!" Pinkie chirped to Team 8 as they left the stand. He then skipped into the back as Ayame was about to call for him. "Clean dishes, coming right up!"
The girl laughed. "You always seem to know what going on, Pinkie. Thanks anyway."
"No problem." He then went to work on the dishes, a clone appearing out of literal nowhere to dry off and put them away once he was done with them. All the while, he and his clone hummed a tune Ayame recognized beginning as Blunt the Knives, Bend the Forks...
She smiled as she joined in, spending a few moments with her surrogate brother just loosing herself to work and the tune. However, it wasn't long before another customer came in. "Pinkie, think you-"
"Already finished here, so I got it." He said before she could finish, the clone nowhere to be found.
Of course, once he walked out to see to the customer's desire, he stopped and his jaw dropped. Staring back at him was a red-headed girl in glasses with a similar expression. And while he would admit she was pretty, that wasn't the thing that stunned him so completely.
"An...Uzumaki?" He asked to no one in particular. Still, the girl heard him, giving her the chance to compose and reply.
"Uh, yes, um, I'm Karin. Uzumaki Karin." she managed to get out, only to be caught up in a hug that was somehow both bone-crushing and not at the same time. The clone that went in to Ayame went unnoticed.
"I can't believe it! A real life Uzumaki! You simply must meet my brothers!" Pinkie cried before dragging the girl with enough speed to have her flying out behind him. Before she knew it, the sign for 'Sweet Apple Acres' focused into her view and Pinkie called out, "Yoohoo! Any one home?"
"Over here, Pinkie." They heard over behind the house, getting him to lead her over at a more sedate pace. This also gave her the chance to think about the boy leading her.
Karin couldn't believe what she was feeling. The boy had the craziest chakra she had ever come across. Bright like the sun, potent like a bijuu, and yet empty like a vacuum. Then there was also how he needed only one look to figure out she was an Uzumaki. She had no idea what to think at all.
It only got more confusing once they rounded the corner and she saw the others that were already there.
"So who's the new girl, Pinkie?" Sun asked as he, Sasuke, Sakura, Jack, and Dash were taking a quick lunch break.
"Uzumaki Karin, Naruto's cousin." Pinkie said, getting all of them to spit-take in surprise. "She's also a natural sensor."
Sun flared his chakra out and envelope Karin for a bit before receding as he sighed. "Only you, Pinkie. Only you."
"She's truly an Uzumaki?" Dash asked, getting a nod. "Well, dang."
"Howdy, Karin." Jack greeted, standing up and walking over. "Ah'm Apple Jack, but yeh can call me Jack. Care teh join us?"
"...Sure." Karin shrugged, not bothering to really think period. It was all rather surreal still, but she still felt a familial connection revealing itself between herself, Pinkie, Jack, Dash, and Sunset. She just decided to stop trying and stayed neared Pinkie in particular.
Who knows, maybe she could actually move to Konoha sooner or later and join the family for good.
XXTeam 7XX
"Alright, that's enough for today." Kakashi said. "Although I might need to talk to you later, so try and stay together."
The silver-haired man then disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving Sunset, Sakura, and Sasuke alone.
"Now what?" Sakura asked the two boys, only to get a response from Blossom. "You could let me out for a spin. I can think of a few people we could do without in the living world."
"No way!" She yelled.
Sun raised an eyebrow. "Blossom?"
Sakura nodded, then Sun said, "Then how about we just stick to heading to the farm and getting something to eat. More than likely, sensei left because of the Chunin Exams coming up, so should he come back, we'd be at a suitable spot to do at least some wind-down training. What do you guys think?"
"Sounds good to me." Sakura said, while Sasuke nodded. Neither had anything better to do, and they weren't about to turn away good food.
As they walked, they occasionally noticed teams from other villages around the place, confirming their suspicions on the exams. They could also see traces of a Pinkie created party showing up all over. He was certainly pulling all the stops for this one.
"This will certainly be quite the event, huh?" Sasuke idly asked.
"Pinkie always did prefer giving flair to the events that deserved it." Sun told him. "He is still willing to do things like simple birthdays, but he isn't about to bring everyone possible to attend what should be a personal family affair. He's not going to needlessly embarrass someone like that."
Sasuke just grunted, not caring either way.
When they finally arrived, they found Jack and Dash about to sit down for lunch as well behind the house. "Hey, guys. Mind if we join you?"
"Help yerself." Jack said, pointing to a stack of various foods that rarely had apples not in them on a nearby table.
Team 7 selected a few options each and sat down. But just as they started eating, they heard Pinkie call out, "Yoohoo! Any one home?"
"Over here, Pinkie." Sun called back. A minute or so later, Pinkie comes into view with a red-haired girl in glasses that he recognized was a shinobi from Kusa. "So who's the new girl, Pinkie?"
None of them expected Pinkie's answer to be "Uzumaki Karin, Naruto's cousin. She's also a natural sensor."
An Uzumaki?! Are you kid... "Sigh. Only you, Pinkie. Only you."
"She's truly an Uzumaki?" Dash asked, getting a nod. "Well, dang."
"Howdy, Karin." Jack greeted, standing up and walking over. "Ah'm Apple Jack, but yeh can call me Jack. Care teh join us?"
"...Sure." Karin shrugged, obviously blank from the shocks she must've gotten today.
However it did give one possibility that Sun and his brothers have been wanting for quite a while now: knowledge about the family. At least this will give access to some knowledge from the Uzumaki side.
Just not sure how much exactly they would get.
For the record, this isn't all just one day.
And at the very least, brought in a potential for Pinkie, many because out of the Uzumaki in canon, the only one so far that was a natural sensor instead of a straight powerhouse was Karin. Nagato had the Rinnegan, and Mito, Kushina, and Naruto had the Kyubi (among other things). What did Karin have to give her the power her kin had? However, Pinkie and Dash are still up in the air with their girlfriends, so Karin might not go to him.
Until then. Please let me know what you think.