INTERLUDE I - SETTLING IN

Uzumaki residence

This past week has revealed a lot of things, most of them outright disastrous, and Kotori doesn't know how to process it all. She's currently trying using one of the methods that's worked for her so far- training.

Well… it started off as training.

Right now she's in their backyard's small training area, where a few targets for shuriken and kunai practice and training dummies for taijutsu practice are strewn about. Her current target, however, is a tree that she's violently brushing with a soft condor feather. She swings as if she's holding a sword and cleaving through it despite not doing anything to it.

The targets around her all have feathers stuck to them but most of them hit the sides and none of them have landed dead centre.

She just can't focus right now. Her mind keeps flashing to what happened in the Hidden Dream Village.

She thinks about the power he displayed. She thinks about the large phoenix that blocked the horizon, about the massive feathers he summoned that put even the ostrich to shame, about his ability to fly. So that's what the Hōyoku clan is capable of. Compared to that, she looks like she isn't doing anything.

She thinks about how he spoke about her parents. How non-caring he was, how he's the reason she was all alone for all those years!

She thinks about Mōkin so much, she doesn't even notice she's not hitting the tree with the feathers, but with her fists. She punches the tree's tough exterior to the point that her knuckles are bleeding but she doesn't feel a thing; her mind's too preoccupied to even care.

It's only when a gentle pair of hands grab her fist and stop her that she snaps out of her trance.

Hinata wraps her arms around Kotori from behind and rests her head on the girl's shoulder.

"It's alright, Kotori." Hinata says softly. "It's alright."

Kotori allows her body to go limp and leans back into Hinata's embrace. He grabs Hinata's arms as if they're her lifeline and she allows herself to let her guard down. She leans back on her mom's chest and takes a minute to quietly sob.

Hinata simply stays silent the entire time and allows Kotori to get the weight off.

After taking a moment to let everything off her chest, they stay like that for a while longer until Kotori finally regains her full senses and realizes her hands have been hurting the entire time.

"Ow." She winces and starts rubbing her wounds.

Hinata stops her. "Don't, you'll only make it worse. Wait just a minute." She stands up and goes into the house.

Some moments later, she walks back out with a first aid kit. She rubs the wounds with a special ointment of her own making. It takes effect nearly instantly; Kotori can already feel it working and easing her burning sensation. Once the ointment settles on the skin, Hinata wraps her hands in bandages.

"There, good as new."

"Thanks." Kotori sniffs and wipes her nose with her sleeve.

"You know you can talk to us, right? You tried keeping your feelings back even in the Hidden Cloud," Hinata reminds her of the heart-to-heart they had in the Cloud's hospital, "you don't need to put so much stress on yourself. We're here for you."

"There's nothing to talk about." Kotori looks down.

"If there's something to cry about, there's definitely something to talk about." Hinata brushes Kotori's hair in comfort. "Yaizu told us what happened, told us about Mōkin. I can't even begin to imagine what that must've been like and what you're going through right now. But you can lean on us, or on Shoto and Yokumaru. You haven't trained with them in a week."

Kotori wraps her arms around her knees. "I kinda said something insensitive to Yokumaru. I think he hates me now."

Hinata chuckles. "I don't think Yokumaru can hate. Most of all not you. If you've said something then shouldn't you try to make it up to him? Is this related to what's got you so stressed?"

"Kinda, yeah." Kotori nods.

"Then you should at least clean the air with them, no? I know your bonds are stronger than this."

"She's right." Naruto's voice comes from the house.

Kotori looks up to see him coming closer. In a certain way, she dreaded him finding out. He was the one person she didn't want to worry, the one person she didn't want to doubt her. Yet she allowed herself to break.

Naruto walks up to her and kneels down to place a hand on her head. "I'm sorry. I thought giving you space to think things through would be best, but I kinda ended up making it worse, huh?"

Kotori looks up to him with a stunned expression before quickly burying her head in her knees. 'Did… he know? Guess I'm not as good at hiding it as I thought I was…'

Naruto sits by her side and takes a moment to gather his thoughts before finally speaking up. "Y'know, I used to wonder a lot, too, so I know that look on your face all too well."

Kotori turns her head and looks up to him. "Wonder about what?"

"What kind of people my parents were, why they're no longer around. What my life would be like if they were here." He looks at her with a somber smile. "Kept me up more nights than I'll admit."

"So how did you move on?"

"Honestly? I didn't." Naruto shrugs. "But I did find people to fill that void, and eventually I was even able to meet mom and dad, found out who they were and what they were like. Then I think I was able to appreciate everyone around me even more; made me realize I wasn't missing as much as I thought. Iruka-sensei and Shizune acting as my parents at my wedding is one of my fondest memories, and I know mom and dad would like them." He flashes his bright grin.

Kotori can't help but feel a pang of guilt for thinking the way she did and doubting them after everything they'd done for her, everything they taught her and all the love they've given her.

Naruto pats her on the head and pulls her to his side. "Whenever you wanna talk, I'm here. As a dad or a fellow orphan, I'll listen."

Kotori leans into his hugs and wraps one arm around him and one arm around Hinata. "Thank you.. Mom, dad." She squeezes them both as tightly as she can before jumping up to her feet and wiping her eyes. "I need to go find Yoku and Shoto."

"They're training at Shoto's today. You can probably catch them." Naruto smiles.

Kotori grins and runs off to find them.

Naruto and Hinata both look off into the direction Kotori ran to, even long after she disappears from sight.

"She's taking on a lot and trying to cope on her own." Hinata finally says after a few moments of silence.

"Yeah." Naruto nods. "She's still going through a lot, even now. Especially now."

"Then we have to be extra careful to be here for her."

"We will." Naruto wraps an arm around her waist and rests his head on her shoulder.

Hinata leans to the side and rests her head on top of his own, taking in the moment.

Hokage's Office

Yaizu sits in front of the desks and stares at a Hidden Leaf forehead protector with an intensity that could kill. The room awaits him to speak with baited breath, the room being only Tsunade, Shizune, and Tonton.

Yaizu reaches for the forehead protector as Tsunade leans forward in her seat in anticipation. He pushes it back to her.

"I can't accept it." He sighs and leans back in his chair.

Tsunade does the same. "Well that's a shame. We could really use you among our ranks."

Yaizu chuckles. "If you need a fossil like me, you must be in big trouble." He settles down and shakes his head. "That fight with Mōkin took everything I had left. I'm old and out of shape. I think I'll stick to just training the new Uzumaki."

"I understand. Still, I had to make the offer. It's not every day people from our generation enter our lives, rather than leave them."

"Aye, I'll drink to that."

Tsunade's hand almost instinctively reaches for her special drawer. "Well, if you insi-"

Shizune clears her throat and glares at her mentor. "Lady Tsunade." She says in a scolding voice.

"Fiiine." Tsunade rolls her eyes.

Yaizu bursts into laughter. "Little one's got you under control, huh?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Tsunade rests her chin in her palm, elbow on her armrest.

Shizune blushes and looks away, embarrassed from being put in the spotlight like that. "I-it's nothing like that."

"So, the Thunder Lion's days are over, huh? Going to pass your knowledge to the next batch."

"That, and taking care of my family. When I heard about Kushina's death, I gave up and turned back. If I hadn't, I might've found out about Naruto and been here or 'im. So, the least I could do is be here for Kotori and Hiroto, make sure they get all the love they can."

Shizune smiles. "I'm sure they already feel it."

"I sure hope so. I can't wait to see what kind of shinobi they'll become!"

Uzumaki clan district

"NARUTO!"

Walking down the streets of the clan district, he snaps his head in the direction of his overly loud and overly infuriated cousin although according to her, her fury is at just the right level.

Karin power walks right into Naruto's personal space, aggressively pointing a finger at him as he holds his hands up in a defensive position.

"Uh, hi? Can I help you with something?" He asks with caution.

"You know exactly what, mister." She somehow finds a way to get even more up in his business. "It's about that inane 'You're going to take over the Uzumaki clan' idea you have in that empty head of yours. You've been avoiding me for weeks and-" She's interrupted by Naruto placing a hand on her shoulder.

He gives her his usual warm and calming smile. "Karin, before you say anything else..." And with that, Naruto disappears in a puff of smoke.

Karin stares blankly at the space previously occupied by what seems to have been a [Shadow Clone]. Her blood comes to a boiling point and she can't hold the trembling of her whole body. She throws her bag to the floor with as much force as she can muster, not paying any attention to the people on the street staring at her.

"That's how you want to play it, cousin? Fine!"

She brings her hands together and sends out her chakra over a wide area to sense the position of every single person.

[Mind's Eye of the Kagura]

There are 12 Narutos in her range and she's going to go through all of them.

Teshin clan's Hidden Leaf dōjō

As Kotori nears the entrance of the dōjō, she can already hear the grunting of trainees and hitting of hardwood floor coming from inside. As always, they're hard at work.

She slides the front panels open and takes a peek inside. About a dozen or so people are training, some of them probably ninja, but neither Yokumaru nor Shoto are among them.

"Oh, hello, Kotori." Asami Teshin grabs her attention from the other side of the room, from where she observes the trainees.

"Hi, Auntie Asami." Kotori waves before fully stepping in and carefully closing the door behind her. "How are you?"

"I'm very well, thank you for asking." Asami smiles. "I assume you're looking for Shoto and Yokumaru?"

Kotori nods slowly. "I am."

"They're out back, training their ninjutsu." Asami motions to the doorway that leads further in, not a door that leads directly out but it does lead to the way out, a path Kotori is familiar with. "It's good to see you around here again, it's been a while."

Kotori rubs the back of her neck in embarrassment. "Ah, yeah, just… been dealing with family stuff."

"So I heard!" Asami says in excitement.

Kotori freezes. 'She has? Did they tell her?'

"Naruto's long lost uncle appeared, didn't he? I'm so happy to hear they've found each other!" Asami smiles.

"Oh, that…" She sighs in relief. "Yeah, it's been something. A lot of stuff to get used to."

"We should have dinner some day! All of the Team Nine families!"

"That'd be nice." Kotori smiles.

"Oh, but I shouldn't keep you waiting. Go find the boys." Asami ushers her to go.

"It was nice seeing you." Kotori waves as she heads of the door.

"You, too, dear."

Kotori quickly makes her way to the back of the building, passing by older styles corridors not too dissimilar to what the houses the Hyūga clan have or some of the older Lead clans. Each door that leads to other rooms is finely decorated with paintings of great beasts, from fictional dragons to real dire tigers, being displayed in their full majesty.

When she reaches one of the doors leading outside, distinguished by the translucent paper panels that allow in sunlight, she takes a moment to pause and take a deep breath. Even from here, she can hear the sounds of earth moving and cracking, or glass or something glass-like breaking. Clearly they're working hard.

Kotori steps outside and does indeed see her teammates training their ninjutsu. Yokumaru is placing defensive wall after defensive wall and cheering on Shoto who's breaking them with hardened stone punches although each consecutive strike does less damage and takes more force to break through. It's not certain if that's a sign of Shoto getting tired or Yokumaru strengthening the walls.

From their peripheral, they both see Kotori step down from the wooden boards and onto the earthen yard and slowly approach. Shoto steps back and crosses his arms while Yokumaru steps forward instead.

"You came." Yokumaru shyly looks down.

"Mm." Kotori nods. "I… have something I should've said a while ago."

"Yeah, me, too, actually."

They both bow deeply at the other.

"I'M SORRY."
"I'M SORRY."

They apologize in unison.

Kotori looks up in confusion. "Huh? What're you apologizing for?!"

"Well, it's just… I got too emotional. You were going through things and I just… made it about me and losing dad. Why're you apologizing?"

"Because!" Kotori's confusion returns back to being flustered and embarrassed. She drags her foot on the ground, drawing circles with it. "I said a whole buncha stuff as if I'm the only one who's gone through pain and stuff. I made your loss seem smaller compared to mine and so… I'm sorry."

"Is… is that why you haven't been around?" Yokumaru furrows his brow.

"Yeah, why did you think?"

"I figured you were angry with me. I didn't know how to apologize so I… stayed away for a week."

"You dummy!" Kotoi walks over and gently bonks him on the head. "I was the one being moody."

A smile finds its way on Yokumaru. "I'm glad. I didn't like not seeing you for a week."

Kotori grins and pulls him into a tight hug. "I missed you, too, Yoku."

Shoto walks over to them. "Well that was resolved disappointingly fast."

"Do you want us to argue?" Kotori pouts.

"Sometimes you just have to talk about it." Yokumaru says.

"Like you're one to talk." Shoto scoffs. "Remember when you ran off because your mom started dating again?"

Yokumaru's cheeks flush with embarrassment. "That was… a long time ago."

"Shoto, I owe you an-"

Shoto interrupts her by quickly jumping forward and striking with a fist, stopping just before he strikes her. "If you want to apologize, then show me you've been doing something other than sulk for a whole week."

Kotori grins. "You got it." She immediately jumps up and kicks Shoto's arm away, kicking several more times mid-air to get him to back off.

It works. Shoto slides back and takes a fighting stance as Kotori herself kneads her chakra with the 'Bird' sign.

[Feather Kunai Barrage]

Dozens of feathers materialize around her and fly at Shoto. He dodges and weaves between them until he's forced to take on a more direct approach.

[Earth Style: Earth Spear]

His hands darken as the ninjutsu hardens his body to allow him to directly punch away at the feathers flying at him. When he finally strikes the final one down, he looks for Kotori to find her… nowhere. However, a shadow on the ground that shouldn't be there reveals where she is. Shoto looks up to see Kotori falling right at him.

"Here I go!" She calls out and conjures two large condor feathers in her hands. She grabs them by the quills and winds her arms back.

[Feather Blade]

"That's… That Mōkin guy's jutsu?" Shoto focuses even more of his chakra into his arms to heighten the effect of his [Earth Spear]. As Kotori swings her feathers down, Shoto raises his arms in defence only to… feel nothing. The feathers gently brush against his forearms as if they were… well, feathers.

Kotori lands on the ground with a flourish while Shoto looks on with confusion. He double checks his arms to make sure it's not some kind of delayed damage or something but no, the feathers were just soft.

"What was that suppose-"

Kotori interrupts him by kicking him in the stomach.

Shoto clenches his belly in pain and heaves. "You sucker-punching…"

"You didn't say to stop." Kotori defends herself.

"Yeah, sure, make it my fault." He rubs his stomach to ease the pain.

Yokumaru approaches them, having stepped back in anticipation of their spar which seems has ended abruptly. "Your feathers… You tried to use them as a sword?"

Kotori nods and looks down at her feather not-blades. "You guys saw what that guy can do… He could conjure feathers as big as us and control birds as big as dad when he and Kurama fight. He could even fly." She looks to Shoto with a pained smile to try and hide the bad feelings even just thinking about Mōkin are bringing her. "I told you I could fly."

"Yeah, you did." Shoto smiles back, seeing her attempts to keep a brave face.

"I have to defeat him." She clutches her feathers. "I need to."

"And we will." Yokumaru places a hand over her fist. "Together."

"No more pouting for a week this time." Shoto states.

Kotori puffs out her cheeks. "You're gonna keep bringing this up, aren't you?"

"Until I see a reason not to." He smirks. "Come on, let's train."

"Yeah!"

Uzumaki Clan Head's Office

Naruto's schedule lately has been somewhat mixed. He's had to do plenty of missions with Team Nine which means not always having time to catch up on important clan business, although it was easy to do with D-rank missions since a [Shadow Clone] could easily do the job.

Right now he's catching up on what he missed while dealing with the whole Hidden Dream Village debacle. He and Elder Awaji are pouring through documents and reports of mainly two things. One is evidence and rumours of more members of the Uzumaki clan or really anyone from the former Hidden Whirlpool Village, and the other one locating lost artefacts and relics of the village that could do well to come back home.

"There sure is a lot." Naruto scratches his head.

"Indeed there is." Awaji takes off his reading glasses and leans back to rest his old eyes. "Our village was rich in many ways and many wanted those riches. From the smallest bauble to our grandest jutsu."

"A lot of 'em are dead ends, though. Most of this stuff just… up and vanished in the middle of the Third Great Ninja War!"

"I'm afraid such are the risks of war. There are many who use the commotion to steal valuables. Many of ours just happened to be lost in the mix."

"Can we even find them like this?" Naruto sets aside the scroll he was reading and opens up a book on his other side. "Like, there's some things here that look like they might be? But I don't think they are. Are we gonna have to look into these ones, too, to make sure they're not the items we're looking for?"

"If we wish to be thorough, yes." Awaji nods.

"Great." Naruto sighs.

At this point, his mind drifts to how this whole process lacks any sort of excitement. Pouring through books was never something he excelled at, but in this case there's no alternative of punching through it. His wish for excitement, however, would be somewhat answered.

Karin kicks the door and stomps in. "I swear this better be you or I'll…"

"Oh, hey, Karin!" Naruto looks up to her with a bright and innocent smile. "It only took ya six Clones to get to me. Nice work."

"Oh, don't you patronize me!"

Awaji adjusts his glasses back to his nose. "Is something the matter, Karin?"

"You know exactly what the matter is, old man."

"Ah, the matter of you becoming the next clan head. Of course." Awaji recalls. "I do remember you being quite cross about that."

"Of course I am! You can't just decide for me!"

"Karin." Naruto says in an oddly calm voice as he stands up and walks around his desk. "Why are you even so against it?"

"Because! I don't wanna lead shit."

"But you kinda are, aren't you? You've been helping me so much I have no idea how I'd even do any of this without you. And when I'm away on missions with Team Nine, you're the one picking up my slack."

"That- that's different. I'm just helping you, I'm not doing it full time."

Naruto shrugs. "Still, you do an amazing job and the clan likes you. You keep everyone focused and I know you'll be able to keep them moving forward. Besides, gramps is here to help to."

"For as long as I manage to keep standing, that is." Awaji laughs.

"It's- Ugh." Karin shakes her head to try and get her thoughts in order. "Look, the last person who put me in charge of anything was Orochimaru. I have experience in putting maniacs and psychopaths in their place, that's it."

"These past years have shown you much more capable than just that." Awaji says.

"Look…" Naruto walks and places a hand on her shoulder. "All this is far in the future, anyway. Granny Tsunade's still youn- … she's not that old so she won't be retiring any time soon. When she does and if she picks me as the Sixth, it'll be years from now. If you still feel the same, then that's it. Someone else'll take over. But right now you're the one I trust the most to do this. You might think you're not fit for it but I see you for who you are's pretty damn awesome."

Karin looks away from his far too calming gaze, trying to use her hair to hide her flushed cheeks. "As if saying something so corny's gonna work."

Naruto grins and pulls her into a hug. "You just gotta see the person I see. She's pretty cool."

Karin smiles and for only a brief moment returns the hug before pushing him away with a smile. "Alright, before I catch any more of your sappiness."

"Will you think about it?" Naruto asks one final time.

Karin sighs and shakes her head. "Yeah, sure, I'll think about it."

"Then shall we get back to work in that case?" Awaji pulls back the scrolls he was working on in front him. "There're still many lost."

"What're you looking for?" Karin asks.

"The same as before- several of the Uzumaki who I lost track of years ago. The best case scenario was that they simply went deeper into hiding. The worst case scenario- that someone found them."

"But with everything that's happened…" Naruto walks back behind his desk, "They were probably recruited. The guys we fought back at the Hidden Whirlpool were Uzumaki and they're the ones behind everything that's been happening."

"Find them and we find the Great Beasts, yeah. We've had zero luck in 3 years, though." Karin says.

"Doesn't mean we should stop. We've been a step behind this whole time and we can't let that go on."

"Alright, give me a scroll." Karin goes to her own desk besides Naruto's. "Maybe we'll find something new this time."

Uzumaki Household

In the evening, Kotori comes back home utterly exhausted and filthy but happy nonetheless, after a day of training with her teammates. It's managed to lift a heavy weight off her shoulders- constantly thinking of Mōkin and her birth parents hasn't exactly been productive or good for her state of mind. If she's going to get answers, she needs to get serious about her training.

Well, tomorrow.

Right now she doesn't have the strength to do much of anything so it's going to be bath, dinner, and sleep. Maybe in that order or maybe not.

When she opens the front door, the aroma of a freshly cooked meal immediately hits her and she almost forgets about how tired she is.

"I'm home!" She calls out as she takes off her shoes, placing them by the entryway.

She notes the shoes that have been thrown in a disorderly fashion, most likely Naruto's, and fixes them. She also notes a somewhat larger pair besides his and Hinata's.

"Welcome home." Hinata calls out from the kitchen.

Kotori runs up to peek inside to see Hinata behind the stove and Naruto setting up the table.

"Hey." Naruto grins. "How'd it go?"

"Good! We… talked."

Hinata giggles. "And a bit more from the looks of it." She looks over Kotori\s muddy clothes. "Go take a bath. You can tell us how it went over dinner."

"Will do." Kotori salutes and spins around to make her way to the bathroom.

As she does, she hears heavy footsteps coming from the second to the first floor.

"Hiroto's nice and asleep now. Let's see if he stays that way." Yaizu calls out as he makes his way down, taking the turn in the stairs, and waves to Kotori. "Hey, kid."

"Oh, Uncle Yaizu! I was… hoping to talk to you." Kotori hesitates for a moment, having braced herself to ask tomorrow and not this very evening. "You… fought Mōkin. You got a close look of his abilities, right?"

Yaizu raises a brow. "Yeah, I did."

Naruto and Hinata halt what they were doing, both curious and worried about their daughter and whatever she wants to ask.

"Do you… think you could help me do what he did? Master my jutsu."

Naruto gives her a sympathetic look. "Kotori…"

Yaizu looks into the kitchen to see if there's any disapproval from the parents and seeing none, turns back to Kotori. "Aye, I probably could. I don't know exactly what your jutsu's capable of but if you already got a good grasp, we can probably emulate it. What spurred this one?"

"It's just…" Kotori closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before opening them and looking up to Yaizu. "Mōkin knew me. He knew who I was, where I came from. If.. If I'm going to get answers, it's going to be from him. I need to get strong to fight him. I need to get to his level."

"Right." Yaizu nods. "I see."

Naruto walks up to her and kneels by her side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "This isn't gonna be easy, you know."

"I know." Kotori states. "But this isn't something I can run away from. I have to face it head on."

Hinata steps outside, as well, brushing her hands off a towel. "Whatever you decide, we're here for you."

"Yeah." Naruto nods. "We'll be right by your side when you find out about your past." He pulls Kotori into a hug.

She leans into it and hugs back, as Hinata wraps her arms around both. Yaizu smiles at the family's support for each other.

"I'm scared." Kotori says in a quiet voice.

"That's fine." Naruto rubs her back. "We'll get past that together, too."

Happy Holidays, folks! And a Happy New Years. :D I sure hope it's better than the last two!