AN: TW: There is a minor character death (old age) in this chapter, it is in the last section if you need to skip that!
Also, I totally cried while writing this chapter. Multiple times. At work.
"What a drag," Shikamaru murmurs, leaning back from the shogi board.
"What?" I ask, looking up from the board. There was no way I was winning this game, so what could he be upset about?
"Have you not seen the class rankings?" Clack. The piece in his hand hits the board.
"No, why would I? I'm always right below you and right above Naru."
"You're tied with Sakura this week."
"What the hell?" I look up to Shikamaru to see a smirk on his face.
"It looks like Iruka sensei is actually grading you fairly. Your turn."
"Ne, you think Naru will actually try now?" Clack.
"Not a chance." Clack.
"How long do you think he and Sasuke will last on the same team before they start dating?" Shikamaru snorts as I place another piece.
"Want to make it a bet?"
"I give it six months," I say as Shika steals one of my pieces.
"Sasuke's a stubborn little shit. I give it eight."
"Loser buys the winner lunch?" I ask as I steal one of Shika's pieces.
"If I lose I'll buy you lunch. If you lose, make me lunch."
"Mackerel and rice?"
"Obviously," he rolls his eyes. I smile, despite him stealing another piece. Shikamaru's consistency, while lazy to others, is calming to me. "Barbecue for you?"
"Obviously," I roll my eyes, placing a piece.
"Ne, are you two done playing yet?" Naruto asks, out of breath as he runs up to us.
"I'm not judging whatever challenge you and Sasuke are having, Naruto," Shikamaru grumbles.
"You two have been too busy playing to actually eat something dattebayo!"
"Shit," Shikamaru says under his breath. I laugh at his reaction, leaning back from the board. "Mom packed tonkatsu-"
"It was even better than last week's!" Naruto says, a bright smile on his face. "Now eat or I'll make you." I bite my lip to not laugh at Shikamaru's shudder. Naruto has forced Shikamaru to eat before. It wasn't pretty.
I think it's all the time he spends with Yoshino. That, and the fact he's mom's kid.
I take the bento box from Shikamaru and move from my side of the board to his to lean up against the tree beside him. I open the lunchbox to see a colorful salad on the top tray with some strawberries! And on the bottom tray there's rice and tonkatsu. I eagerly dive in, starting with the fruit. Shikamaru shakes his head at me before starting to eat the salad out of his own bento.
"Did you guys check the class list today?" Sasuke asks as he joins our small group.
"We're all at the bottom except for you, teme." Naruto scowls before looking over our shogi game.
"Kikuko moved up to be tied with Sakura," Sasuke says and I can't help but let out a small sigh. Naruto has recently shown signs of jealousy when it comes to me. It's small comments here or there, or ignoring me during our kenjutsu practices.
The last thing I want is for us to have space between us, but it's the only thing I have that's my own. All my friends are Naruto's friends. Most of our Anbu team focuses on Naruto, except for Tenzo.
"Eh?" Naruto yells. "How'd that happen?"
"It's the first week Iruka sensei is doing all the grading," Shikamaru says around a bite of rice. I roll my eyes at him before taking a bite of my tonkatsu.
"You should start trying in class, Naru-" I try to say.
"Me and Sasuke are going to be on the same team so I have to be at the bottom!" Naruto says, crossing his arms.
"Well, maybe this means that the three of us could be on a team if Kiku improves some more," Sasuke says before eating a cherry tomato.
"I don't know about that," Naruto shakes his head. I feel a pang in my chest. I had a feeling he might think something like that, but the fact that he said it out loud in front of our friends-
No, Naruto's friends.
He does spend more time with them. Shika is normally the only one I see outside of the academy-
"It wouldn't be good for you two to be on the same team," Shikamaru agrees. I feel a lump in my throat as I try not to cry. Was I really not as good as Naruto and Sasuke? Did they really not think I would be able to keep up with them? "You would have an easy to spot weakness." Well, that's great for my already shit self esteem. Thanks, Shika.
"Because it's obvious Naruto and Kikuko are twins," Sasuke says.
"Exactly, I'm not having anyone attack my little sister because of me dattebayo!" I feel the heaviness in my chest start to lighten at that. Is that why Naruto didn't want me on his team? "Ki-chan?" Naruto asks, making me look up at him.
"Hm?"
"Something's wrong," I hate the worried look on his face.
"I'm-
"When a girl says she's fine, she's lying," Choji says before holding out his bag of chips. "Ino told me." I give him a small smile before taking one.
"You always say that I'm only two minutes older than you," Naruto crosses his arms as he observes me.
"I'm just not feeling too good. Jitters about the test tomorrow 'ttbane."
"I don't see why you two do it every time it's offered." Sasuke says, picking at grass.
"It's good practice for when we actually take the test!" Naruto says, elbowing Sasuke.
"But you're taking the actual test," Choji says.
"And with Iruka sensei proctoring it, you could pass this time," Shikamaru adds.
"Mizuki sensei is also grading it, there's no way I'm passing," I say, packing up my half eaten bento. "Is it okay if I skip it this time, Naru?"
"No! We've done it together every time!"
"What a drag," I drop my head on Shikamaru's shoulder before closing my eyes. I have a bad feeling about this.
"Tadaima!" I call as soon as I shut the door behind me.
"Okaeri!" Tenzo's voice carries from further into our apartment. I smile widely as I slip off my sandals and run through to the kitchen. Tenzo's sitting at the kitchen table reading a scroll. "Where's your brother?" He asks, tilting his head as I drop my bag on one of the kitchen chairs.
"Iruka sensei is taking him out to Ichiraku," I say, going to the fridge. It's empty except for some condiments and milk. The last thing I want to do is go to the market right now. It's best to go right before the market stalls close for the better deals. I shut the fridge and move to go get some paper for a shopping list, but Tenzo's hand on my shoulder stops me.
"Let's go get some barbecue."
"I can't-"
"I can," he says, lifting me up like I weigh nothing.
"Tenzo-nii!" I squeal, holding onto his shoulders for dear life. He laughs as he shifts me to his back before hopping out of the window. Tenzo is running across the rooftops of Konoha towards The Yakiniku Q. I understand now why Team Asuma will go there so often. It's so good.
Soon we're in a booth (we always get a booth because it's the best), waiting for our food.
"Are you going to take the test tomorrow?" Tenzo asks, putting my straw in my cup. I roll my eyes at his habit, but can't help but feel a little warm inside. Tenzo still treats me like he always has. He's an always steady force in my life.
"Yeah, I guess," I say, taking a sip of my soda. This was the only place I ever get to drink it, so I'm quick to indulge.
"You don't seem too excited for it," he says while playing with the straw wrapper. "You normally never are, but you seem to be dreading it even more than usual."
"I'm tied with Sakura in the class rankings."
"So Iruka sensei is grading you fairly, then." I nod in agreement.
"He'd grade Naruto fairly too, but Naru is trying to fail so he can be on a team with Sasuke."
"Then why is he pushing to test this time around?" Tenzo's eyebrows furrow and I can't help but giggle at the sight.
"He says it's practice, but there's a chance we can pass this time, I don't see why he's pushing it 'ttbane!"
"You don't have to-"
"I can't be left behind anymore," the words and tears come out at the same time. I immediately slam my hand over my mouth and look down. Tenzo is the last person I should put this on. I move my hand to apologize-
"I understand, Kiku-chan-" The waitress setting our food on the table interrupts his thought. Once she leaves he starts grilling our food for both of us (still not trusting me to not set the place on fire again).
"You're the last person I should've put that on though, Tenzo-nii. You're always here for me 'ttbane!" I wipe away the tears before looking up at him. "I'm sorry, niisan."
"You're forgiven, imouto," he gives me a kind smile as he starts putting some of the vegetables on a plate for me. "I understand why you're upset." Of course he does. Despite his history being classified, Tenzo talked to me about it as I got older.
Being left behind by Orochimaru, then left behind by his team when they were in the village. Kakashi was the only one to seek out Tenzo, but he was still struggling with forming strong friendships.
"I know," I say, tearing apart my chopsticks.
"Maybe passing the test would be a good thing for you, Kikuko." Tenzo says after he puts meat onto my plate.
"But what if Naru-"
"Kikuko." I look up to see a determined look on Tenzo's face. "Siblings, especially twins are never put on the same team." My entire body feels like ice. I can't protect him-
"You can't protect him from everything, Kikuko," he continues, voicing my own thoughts. "And you shouldn't have to." I look down at my plate, moving the cute sausage octopus around, the fierce hunger I felt just a few minutes ago is gone. "Kiku-chan, everything you've done up to this point has been for your brother. Either to protect him, to give him a bigger support system, to make him happy." Tenzo sighs, reaching over and picking up the sausage octopus and holding it up to my mouth. I reach out and eat it, but continue to look down at the table.
"You deserve to find your own happiness." I push my plate over beside Tenzo's and step out of my side of the booth before sliding in beside Tenzo.
"So do you," I mumble into his arm.
"I'm working on it, imouto."
"Can we get Taiyaki after this?" I ask after my tears have dried up.
"Of course," I hear the smile in his voice and finally feel myself relax. I turn back to my food and try to put it back on the grill to heat it back up. "You can do anything that makes you happy so long as it doesn't set almost half of the village on fire."
"So it's okay if I set the entire village on fire?" I tilt my head to look up at him, a grim smile on his face.
"We've created a monster," Kakashi says in his usual bored tone as he slips into the booth across from us.
"I mean, it's to be expected given the circumstances," I shrug, before moving quickly to blow out the fire on the end of my chopstick. "We were raised by animals." Tenzo snorts as Kakashi just lowers his book to give me an unamused look.
"Oh come on, you have to admit it was a little funny, senpai."
"Maa, only if you grill some eggplant for me, Tenzo-kun~" I feel myself freeze.
Tenzo-KUN?!
"Honestly, senpai." Tenzo shakes his head, but there's a fond smile there.
No way.
No fucking way. I pull on Tenzo's sleeve to get him to lean his head down beside mine.
"Why didn't you two tell me you were dating 'ttbane?"
"I don't know what you're talking about," the blush on his face tells me he definitely does.
"How am I supposed to give the overprotective sibling speech if I don't know you're dating?"
"We're not-"
"So you're fuc-"
"No!" Tenzo squeaks.
"Ne, what was last nig-oof." Kakashi moves to rub his shin that was definitely kicked by Tenzo.
"You wouldn't put up with that if you weren't dating." I say, pointing my chopsticks at Tenzo's face.
"And how do you know that?" Kakashi asks, finally putting his book away as Tenzo places eggplant on a plate for him.
"It'd be too troublesome." I shrug, finally going back to eating my food. "And you're paying for lunch Kaka-niisan." Kakashi sighs at my glare before he starts eating his food. "I might approve if you take us out for Taiyaki, too."
"You already approve."
"How did I get into this mess?" Tenzo whispers to himself.
"Despite us being little shits, we love you and you love us."
I get two extra sausages for that.
And I get the biggest chocolate custard Taiyaki in the village from Kakashi an hour later.
"Kiku-hime," Hiroto smiles as I enter the weapons shop. I dropped Kakashi and Tenzo off at a karaoke place (one of Tenzo's favorite hobbies) after I'd gotten my Taiyaki. I look around inside the shop and his helper isn't here, and when I check the clock I see why.
"I'm sorry Hiroto-oji! I didn't realize what time it was." It was five minutes before closing, and after working retail in my last life I will never be that person.
"I always have time for you, hime," he gives an easy smile as he walks over and flips the sign on the door from open to closed. I quickly wrap my arms around him in a tight hug. He'd lost weight since the last time I visited him.
I need to visit more often.
"Are you still not feeling good?" My voice sounds small even to me. He sighs as he pats the top of my head.
"I'm an old man, Kiku-hime." I bite my lip, not knowing what to say. Why does this feel like the last time I'll see him? "Come," he says, pulling me with him to the back of the shop.
We went through the back room, the room I'd spent countless hours in over the last few years. Where I learned to properly care for my sword, the names of more fish than I never thought I could know (oji-chan said it was important to know them all), and where I'd finally felt like I had a home.
But then we went through a door I'd never been through and up a flight of stairs. We walk through another door before we enter a small apartment.
It's bare bones, a small kitchen in the hallway, the doors for what I assume to be the bathroom and toilet off to the side. At the end of the hallway is the main room, the only furniture in it being a kotatsu in the center of it and a small futon off to the side.
Hiroto makes me sit down at the kotatsu, turning the heater on high before he opens the closet. He comes back over to me with a bag, sitting it down on the ground beside me.
"Oji-chan?" I ask, my voice cracking. I really, really don't feel good.
"I have not been completely honest with you, hime." He finally says as he sits down on my other side. "You and your brother are not the only Uzumaki in this village."
"You are, aren't you?" He gives me a small smile and nods.
"I am. I did not have the means to be able to care for-"
"You love us, that's all that matters." I say, cutting him off. Tears are in his eyes as he pulls me into his side.
"Hime, I do not believe I will make it to see your graduation tomorrow." I feel my chest constrict, the back of my eyes burn as I look up at him. The man that had given me my sword, that had given me a glimpse into my home. Our home.
"It-" I take a deep breath to try to stop the sobs that threaten to break free. "It's okay Hiroto-ojichan."
"I've given you all that I have left of our clan in that bag, Kiku-hime. I know you will make use of it when the time comes. Do not feel like you must force yourself to go through it anytime soon." I nod along, just as I always do when he gives me advice. "My assistant will be taking over my shop. If there is anything you need, he will give it to you for free."
"But-"
"His idea, little one." His smile is soft, like it always is. "Now, turn." I do as he says, turning my back to him. I feel the half buns being taken down before he begins to weave braids into my hair. "Our clan has many traditions surrounding death, Kiku-chan." I close my eyes tightly.
"We have such strong life forces, we live for so long. By the time we get to this age, we are ready for the next adventure in the pure lands." I breathe in through my nose and out through my mouth as I feel him begin to work on another section of my hair. "While in Konoha death is a somber affair, in Uzushiogakure different clans would create different forms of art for those who felt their life force begin to diminish."
"What would our clan make?"
"Beautiful quilts." Is the immediate response. "Embroidered with different details of the person's life. The one I made for your mother has quite a few references to ramen." I let out a small laugh at that. "While I cannot teach you that skill, or of our traditional burial methods-"
"But you deserve-"
"I will die a citizen of Konoha, Kiku-hime," he tries to soothe. "Although I wouldn't mind for you to make a quilt. I've included some of my clothing in one of the scrolls if you would like to use them for it."
"I will." I will make him a quilt. It'll be the best one ever. Because it will be for Hiroto-ojichan. I feel his hands move to another section of my hair.
"I also managed to find some drawings and instructions on traditional Uzu hairstyles. I know you like Mito-baachan's but there are so many more."
"Is that what you're doing now?"
"Yes," he says. "Sometimes different styles have meaning. This is a celebratory style. Not everyone got to wear this."
"What's it for?"
"It's typically worn by the person who sits with those about to move on to the pure lands." I feel tears start to fall. "In times of peace, only the Uzukage and their family would have worn this style."
"'Cause there weren't as many deaths in Uzu."
"Exactly."
"What do I need to do, Hiroto-oji?"
"You do not need to do anything, hime," he moves to the final section of my hair. He's right. I don't technically have to do anything. But-
"I'm the last princess of Uzushiogakure." I say firmly as he begins to put pins in my hair.
"You are."
"You're my uncle. I'm not leaving you alone." I say as soon as his hands leave my hair. He gives me a tired smile before nodding. He stands from the kotatsu, turning the heater off. I take his offered hand as he leads me to the bathroom to look at my hair.
It's woven into four beautiful braids, two hanging down my back while the others are pinned to my head, woven together to look like crashing waves. The pins he used to keep them in place are beautiful dolphins. I quickly turn back to Hiroto and hug him tightly. "I love you." I say into his flowing shirt.
"I love you too, little hime."
Soon we're back in the main room, but now the only thing lighting it are a few candles on the kotatsu table. Hiroto-oji changed into traditional Uzumaki robes.
The robes he would be buried in.
I manage to keep the tears back, instead giving him water between his calming voice telling stories of the ocean. Over time, his eyes begin to droop. The last thing he hears in this life is me telling him how much he is loved.
A water clone delivers the news to Jiji.
He's in the apartment, pulling me into a tight hug as soon as I finish seeing the memories of the clone. I give one last kiss to Hiroto-ojichan's forehead before I left. He wouldn't have a funeral. Jiji was already working on following his arrangements.
The sun rises as I slip back into my own apartment. I ignore Genma and Shisui's worried chakra flares as I enter. I slip into the bathroom, locking the door. I pull back my jacket sleeve and carefully store the heavy bag in my most secure storage seal. The one on the inside of my wrist.
Everyone who saw it thought I just like doodling on myself. In reality, it holds all the important documents I own of my parents and Uzushiogakure.
I carefully remove my clothes and slip into the hot bath, being careful to not get my hair wet. I hold my back braids, eventually letting them sit against the outside of the tub. Uncle told me the style was typically worn for seven days, the length of the celebration in Uzu.
"Kiku-chan?" Tenzo's timid voice calls from the other side of the door. I blink hard, briefly registering that the water has gone ice cold. I carefully get up and dry myself off.
"Could you grab me a change of clothes, Tenzo-nii?" I eventually call back. I hear him sigh before I feel his chakra signature move away from the door. Less than a minute later he's back and I grab the clothes from the small crack in the doorway.
I carefully get dressed before sliding my jacket back on. I throw my other clothes in the hamper before taking a deep breath and exiting the bathroom.
"Kiku? You're normally up late on test days." Naruto says sleepily as soon as I exit the bathroom. He's sitting up in bed, his sleep hat barely hanging on as he wipes the sleep away from his eyes.
"I haven't been to sleep yet," I say honestly.
"Eh? But-"
"Hiroto-ojichan asked me to stay with him last night as he transitioned to the pure lands." I say gently. Recognition flashes in Naruto's eyes before I'm pulled into a tight hug by Tenzo.
"You don't have to go today, Kiku-"
"Hiroto-oji apologized for not coming to my graduation today. I'm going and I'm going to pass this time, 'ttbane!" I say fiercely. Naruto gives a timid smile, sure that we're both going to fail.
I'll do so well on that damn test that even the future traitor Mizuki can't fail me.
I am the last princess of Uzushiogakure.
I will not fail.