The gates don't look as large as they did when I first left the village. From what I could see on this road, there were only a few people walking around. The setting sun casts a warm glow in fire country, and I can't help the smile that makes its way to my face. Memories of playing along the Naka river with Obito flash through my mind before I blink them away.

They're going to close the gates any minute and I'd rather not have to deal with annoyed guards.

As I get closer, I can see them talking to a figure with his back to me. One of the guards wears his hitai-ate as a bandana, his brown hair covering one of his eyes. His partner's spiky black hair falls wildly around his head, a bandage crosses his face over his nose. This must be Izumo and Kotetsu. Sensei told me that they were basically raised by Genma, which doesn't really surprise me. He was always a mother hen at the playground near the academy.

I cross through the village gates, startling the men at the desk. I rub the back of my head and give an awkward smile, although they can't see it. I'd completely forgotten to stop hiding my chakra signature. I've been so used to doing it while outside of the village for so long.

"Sorry about that," I say after a second. "It's been a long time since I was in the village." The other man talking with the gate duty guards turns around, and I struggle to hide my laughter. "A mother hen as always, Genma?" He raises an eyebrow before reaching out his hand for my ninja identification card. I roll my eyes before grabbing it from a pocket on my bag and hand it to him. Thankfully the Sandaime reminded me to send in a newer picture before I came back, or else it would have been the picture I'd taken just before I left the village.

"Well, no shit." Genma snorts after a second. He gives me a lazy smirk before tossing the card over to one of his kids to fill out the paperwork. I walk over and sign in for the first time. It's a weird feeling. "You've grown up, Yua." Genma says after a second. I can feel his eyes scanning my body.

"That tends to happen after seventeen years," I shrug before turning to face him, dropping the pen back on the table. The two chunin look back and forth between us with shocked looks on their faces. "And if you keep looking at me like that I'll make sure the only children you're able to have in the future are adopted." I hear snickers from the gate guards as Genma rolls his eyes. The one I assume to be Kotetsu, hands me back my card and I quickly slip it back in my bag.

"Welcome home, Yua-sama." He smiles up at me, but I shake my head and wave him off.

"Just Yua is fine."

"I'll walk you to the tower." Genma says, walking closer to me.

"I'm sure I can find it myself."

"I'm headed that way anyways." He gives a lazy shrug before throwing an arm over my shoulder. He starts leading me away, but I look over my shoulder and wave to the two chunin back at the gates.

"It was nice to meet you, Izumo and Kotetsu." They look at each other in shock, causing me to laugh under my breath.

"You just had to fuck with them, didn't you?" Genma smirks over at me.

"Of course, they're your kids. Where's your other one, you adopted a kid named Iruka too, right?"

"I didn't-"

"I already know you did."

"How?"

"Student of Konoha's spymaster." I smirk up at him as he pauses his steps.

"You're just going to throw that around casually? Like it's not a big deal?" He asks, the senbon in his mouth twirls.

"Yes, now where's your kid?" Genma sighs before he continues walking.

"He's probably moping at the academy. His favorite kid couldn't make a clone, so he failed."

"Who was it?" I ask as we turn a corner.

"Uzumaki Naruto." It's my turn to pause. Genma almost trips from how quickly I stopped.

"They're trying to grade an Uzumaki on one clone?"

"That's what it is for everyone," Genma says, not realizing what's wrong with that.

"Yeah, well an Uzumaki typically has triple the chakra of what everyone else has! How has no one realized this! I swear, I already had a long list of things for the old man but now this-"

"Woah," Genma rests a hand on the top of my head, breaking me from my rant. "What was all that teasing about my kids? Haven't even met the gaki and you're already ready to go to bat for him."

"Yeah, because nobody else in this damned village is." I finally see a genuine smile start to form on Genma's face as he moves his hand on my head back to my shoulder. He forces me to start walking towards the Hokage tower in silence. "You're so annoying," I huff after a minute.

"Love you too, Yua-chan."

"I'm already getting a headache." I groan, holding my forehead. Genma laughs under his breath as I feel us move from the normal dusty roads to hard wood. I look up and we're already in the tower. I feel my nerves creep up again with each step we take up to the Hokage's office. As we reach the final step, Genma removes his arm from my shoulder and opens the door to the office, the guards eye me warily as he does so. I let out a sigh as Genma motions for me to follow him. I already know it's going to be a long night.

"Yua-chan." The Sandaime stands immediately as I enter the room. I feel a wide smile cross my face and my nerves immediately ease at the sight of him. He walks around his desk, and before I realize it I'm pulled into a hug. I wrap my arms around the old man and force myself to hold back my tears.

"I've missed you, old man." I tease as we pull away. He gives me a chiding look but doesn't say anything about my teasing.

"I've missed you as well, Yua-chan." He walks back to sit behind his desk, and sighs as he sinks into his seat. On his desk is his crystal ball, something he rarely uses in front of others. I'm pretty sure he mainly just uses it for gossip opportunities. Or to peep in the onsens like Jiraiya.

"What's going on?" The question pops out before I can even think to stop myself.

"It seems that young Naruto-kun has stolen an important scroll."

"What the hell? Why would he-"

"Language," the Hokage stops my rant. "From what I can tell here, it seems that young Naruto was manipulated by one of his sensei."

"Who?" Genma asks, moving to step beside me.

"Mizuki. Although it seems that Iruka-sensei and Naruto-kun managed to handle the issue." A small smile makes its way to the Sandaime's face, but all I can do is shake my head.

"He's living with me, old man."

"Iruka-sensei?" I roll my eyes at him as Genma laughs beside me.

"Ha-ha. Very funny Jiji. But Naruto is going to live with me."

"You'll need to petition-"

"The council can shove their diplomatic bullshit up their asses. I've got his godfather's permission. Uzumaki Naruto will be staying with me." Out of the corner of my eye I can see Genma's senbon almost fall out of his mouth at my rant. I feel the uneasy chakra of the anbu in the room and can't help myself. "And if your anbu want to continue to keep their positions, they need to learn to actually mask their chakra for sage's sake." The Sandaime lowers his head, his Kage hat shadowing the front of his face.

"You've spent too much time with Tsunade-chan."

"It was only a year." I shrug as Genma looks at me with wide eyes.

"I repeat, you've spent too much time with Tsunade-chan." He sighs as he lifts his head again. But there's a smile on his face. "There will be terms for this."

"Obviously."

"You take a DNA test-"

"Been there, done that Jiji."

"Our technology has improved Yua-chan." He gives me a pointed look, and I know when not to press any further. Sensei had picked that up from the Sandaime himself. I learned very quickly not to push after that look.

"Why would I need to-"

"You need support just as much as Naruto-kun does." He cuts me off, folding his hands on top of his desk. "You've been away from the village for seventeen years. You need to readjust to life here." He sighs, leaning back in his chair, "And as much as I would love to be that support, it's taking everything in me to keep up with my official duties while also taking care of my grandson."

"What if they're not alive? And what if they are? I was placed in the orphanage for a reason, Jiji."

"Once we find out who they are, those questions can be answered, Yua." I feel my shoulders drop. This is the last thing I wanted. I've been okay without an official family for the last 26 years. I'm sure I can handle things on my own. I close my eyes, take a deep breath, and open my eyes again.

"Okay."

"You will also stay on clan lands, should you be a part of one."

"But the council's reasoning for not letting Mikoto and Fugaku adopt Naruto-"

"Yua-chan-"

"And I'm taking care of Sasuke, too. If he'll stay with me." That stops the Hokage in his tracks. His body freezes for a moment. I know he's going to say no, but I have to fight for this. "I'm the closest thing to family he has left, other than Kakashi."

"Neither of the boys will be staying with you immediately, Yua-chan."

"But-"

"Not until the council decides."

"You know those old bats hate me." I hear Genma's senbon clack against his teeth as he tries to hide his laughter. It's clear from his chakra that he's amused by this entire situation. Asshole.

"I wasn't talking about just my council, Yua-chan." He smirks at me after pausing for a moment. "I'm talking about a joint council between the elders and the clan council." There's a beat of silence and then a smile creeps its way across my face. My students are the kids of three clan heads. I'll be taking care of the students of another clan head should Kakashi agree to help, which given our history is a shaky hope. And I might be able to bribe ino-shika-cho if I'm lucky.

"I agree to those terms."

"Stop by the hospital tonight, they know you're on the way."

"You really planned this all out, didn't you?"

"I've had plenty of time to do so, Yua-chan. Should you find out you are a part of a clan, you are to report to that clan head tonight as well. They will take care of your living arrangements."

"And if I'm not in a clan?"

"You'll stay with the Sarutobi, of course." He winks at me before shuffling papers on his desk. "I also expect you to be here tomorrow morning for team assignments. We will meet your team's parents tomorrow afternoon."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Good, I'll see you soon, Yua-chan. Make sure she goes to the hospital for me, Genma."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Genma bows his head before we both turn to walk from the room. We're silent as we leave the room and walk down the stairs. We make it all the way to the hospital before Genma decides to say anything. He opens the door to the hospital while giving me a smug grin.

"So what was that about me being a mother hen?"


The wait time after doing the test is the worst. An anbu had grabbed Genma to report back to the Hokage tower a few minutes after the nurse left the room. The clock ticking in the small room was slowly driving me insane. Soon twenty minutes pass, then an hour. What the hell was taking so long? Had they forgotten about me? They said the test would only take fifteen minutes. An hour and thirty minutes later, two medic-nin enter the room. Of course it couldn't be simple. It's me.

"I'm sorry for your wait, Yua-san." The first medic-nin says as he sits down in the chair across from me. The other medic-nin stands by the door.

"Let me guess, something went wrong?" I can't stand the silence in the room. They need to just tell me something, anything at this point.

"No, it's just-"

"You're from a distinguished clan." The medic-nin standing by the wall interrupts her partner. "We did the test five times to confirm."

"Five times?"

"Yes."

"Well, shit." I sigh, leaning back on the table a little. "Just rip the bandaid off, yeah?"

"The Akimichi." I freeze at the name. When they said distinguished clan, I assumed it would be one of the civilian clans. But the Akimichi? What the hell? Why would I be placed in a civilian orphanage if I'm an Akimichi?

"Here is a sealed version of the results for Akimichi-sama. We've already sent the results to Hokage-sama as well." The man across from me hands me the scroll.

"Does it say who my parents are?" He hesitates, the woman from the door, however does not. Kami bless her.

"Your mother was a civilian, not from a clan."

"And my father?"

"The former clan-head." Well, that explains how I ended up in the orphanage, then. But that'd mean what, over ten years between me and Chōza? Wasn't he Genma's genin sensei? I can't even think of a response to that bombshell.

It looks like I'll be staying with the Sarutobi after all.

"We'll leave you to have some time alone. Feel free to leave whenever you're ready."

I'm out the window before he even finishes his sentence. Once I'm out of the building, I slip the scroll in my bag. I run along the rooftops towards the Akimichi district. It's not hard to find, I've pulled down my mask just to find it. I just follow the smell of good food. Despite it being late, the streets were still crowded. The district was the most popular place for eating out and getting fresh market goods in the village.

I pull my mask back up as I get to a spot that I recognize. I stay on the roofs until I see a familiar street vendor. Her red hair has turned gray, but her eyes are just as kind as they were years ago. I know I probably won't be allowed back on clan lands after this. The Akimichi were kind, but I don't know of any clan that would acknowledge the illegitimate child of a clan head.

"Oyasumi baa-chan." I say as I land in front of her stall. She doesn't even flinch.

"Yua-chan!" She says, handing the plate she was holding to the younger woman beside her. "When did you return to the village?" She comes from around the stall and pulls me into a tight hug. I quickly wrap my arms around her, finally feeling like I'm home.

"About two hours ago."

"Why didn't you come here sooner?" She chides, pulling out of the hug and walking back around. She immediately begins working on dumplings.

"I had a few things I had to take care of for Jiji." I say, taking a seat at one of the stools. "How have you been?"

"Same old, same old." She smiles up at me after she finishes pinching a dumpling. "And what about you? What's with the mask? You have such a pretty face, you shouldn't hide it, Yua-chan."

"Eh, I've been here and there." I shrug as she starts on another dumpling. "The mask is to help with all the smells."

"The smells?" She says, raising an eyebrow.

"There's just a lot of them!" I say quickly, shaking my hands back and forth in front of me. "I didn't mean your food smelled bad, baa-chan, the Akimichi district is the best smelling place I've been to in awhile. I'm just used to smaller towns, ya know?"

"You didn't have this problem when you were younger."

"I signed a summoning contract." I whisper to her as she leans over to place my plate in front of me. She pauses before leaning back and going back to her work.

"Only you, Yua-chan." She shakes her head as I pull down my mask. I give her a large smile before trying to focus on just the smells of her stall, but it's hard. There's so many different scents around me. I take a bite of my first dumpling, and it helps with everything. I don't know why other people hadn't thought of doing barbecue dumplings, but they are the best thing to ever be invented.

Soon the stall is bustling with people. As soon as I finish my last dumpling, I pull my mask back up. Thankful for the barrier between my nose and all the new scents near me. I stand up and place money on the counter, even though baa-chan tries to wave it off.

"I didn't pay when I was a kid, but I'm paying now, baa-chan." I say firmly before walking around the counter and pulling her into another hug. "It was really good to see you."

"You as well, Yua-chan." She smiles up at me. "I'll see you and your team soon!" She calls as I start to walk away. I turn around to see the knowing smile on her face, and all I can do is shake my head. Of course Jiji told her about me having a team.

A few minutes later and I'm at my destination. Walking up to the clan head's home was nerve-wracking to say the least. The home was out of the bustling center of the district. Instead, it was closer to the forest near Nara land. I can see a few lights still illuminating the home, a shadow bustling around what seems to be the kitchen. I take a deep breath as I head up the few stairs and knock on the door.

Here goes nothing.


The door is opened by a woman with short black hair, orange markings on the sides of her eyes, and a purple blouse. She looks confused for a moment, but then a look of recognition crosses her face.

"You must be Yua?" She asks tentatively.

"Yes, Akimichi-sama."

"Just call me Aya," she smiles, waving away my formality. She opens the door further to allow me to walk in. I quickly take off my sandals and set down my bag and large scroll. I grab the small scroll from my bag, and when I turn around there is a tall man with bright red hair and purple markings on his face. It's Chōza. My brother. I saw him a few times around the village when I was younger, mainly in the Akimichi district when I was on my way to get dumplings.

"Yua-san." He smiles down at me.

"Just Yua is okay, Akimichi-sama."

"Then just Chōza is okay, Yua." He smiles at me before motioning towards another room. "Aya just made some homemade ice cream, we can talk over dessert, yes?"

"That works for me." I follow him down the hall towards their kitchen. Aya already managed to slip back inside, where she was already looking in the fridge for the food.

"Have you already eaten, Yua?" She calls over her shoulder. "I can reheat some leftovers for you before we eat dessert."

"Ah, thank you Aya, but I actually just ate." She turns around with her hands on her hips and looks at me to make sure I'm not lying. She's not convinced.

"And where did you eat?" She places a hand on her hip, and I know that if I ever get to talk to her again, I'm never lying about the last time I ate.

"I ate at baa-chan's stand, it's been a long time since the last time I was there. My summons couldn't bring me her barbecue dumplings since it's technically not on the menu anymore."

"Akako made you barbecue dumplings?" Chōza asks as he takes a seat in one of the chairs surrounding the circular dining table in their kitchen.

"Yeah, she didn't even ask what I wanted, just started making them." I rub the back of my head as I sit down across from him.

"You must have been a regular, then." Aya says as she places a bowl of ice cream in front of me.

"Just about everyday." I shrug, pulling my mask down so I can eat. They both seem shocked by the action and I fight the urge to roll my eyes. Honestly, Kakashi. Why couldn't you just take off your mask every once and awhile? "Thank you for the food!" I say as I start digging in. Chōza shakes his head and follows my lead as Aya sits in the spot beside both of us.

After taking a few bites, I take a deep breath and slide the scroll across the table to the clan head. As he opens it up, I look back down to my dessert and focus on finishing it. It was the best ice cream I've ever had, and I'm not going to let it go to waste.

I hear the scroll slide across the table again. This time to Aya. I hear her intake of breath as she reads it, and I feel my head lower more on its own. Once I take my last bite of ice cream, I pull my mask back up over my face. I close my eyes for a moment before looking back up to Chōza. His face doesn't give away any emotions. I bite my lip, trying to think of the right thing to say, but I don't really think there is anything to say at this point. But then, I hear the front door open.

The shout of "I'm home!" rings through the house. "Shikaku oji-san, Yoshino oba-chan and Shikamaru are here too!" I move to get out of my chair to leave through the window, cowardly, I know. But a hand on my shoulder stops me.

"Running around on a full stomach, especially after all the sweet ice cream probably isn't for the best, imouto." Chōza says as the footsteps of the four new arrivals make their way closer to the kitchen. I completely freeze in place. Unable to stop a tear from escaping. Chōza smiles down at me and wipes it away before resting his hand back on my shoulder. "Besides, we need to get the spare room ready for you. I'm sure you're tired after your journey the past few days."

This day just keeps getting longer.

In the spirit of the Nara, what a fucking drag.