A bit of a shorter chapter this week as I'm not feeling well. I hope you like it!


"Go away," are the first words Tsunade says as we walk up to the table. Jiraiya's carefree smile stays on his face as he motions for me and Naruto to slide into the booth. I feel claustrophobic as soon as I settle in my seat. It's in the corner of the restaurant which is good. But my back is to the door and I'm trapped in the booth. The pig in Shizune's arms gives a pitiful oink as it looks at me. As if it understands what I'm feeling.

I reach out and pat the pig's head lightly. Shizune sends me a warm smile, surprising me. I expected her to be a lot more like her teacher. But she just seems to be completely calm. Even her chakra is calm. But I feel like she might be freaking out just as much as I am.

"What do you want and why are you traveling with a couple of runts?"

"Hey, what did you say baa-chan?" Naruto yells as he starts to climb out of his seat. Jiraiya pulls him down easily.

"What did you call me?" Tsunade's eye twitches as she looks at Naruto.

"Baa-chan! You're our cousin, right? You're part Uzumaki dattebayo!"

"Well, that explains a lot," Tsunade snorts.

"I'm not a runt, ya know," I mutter under my breath. I cross my arms over my chest as I lean back in the booth.

"Yeah, imouto finally gained weight!" Naruto nods. "She looks a lot healthier now." Tsunade raises an eyebrow as she looks at me. I look her back in her eyes. "Oh hey, you have a seal like imouto does, too!"

"A seal?" Tsunade asks, her voice sounds calm but I can practically feel the tension in the air.

"Like Mito baa-chan's," I say as Naruto looks at me. "I tried medical ninjutsu, I'm absolute shit at it." Tsunade snorts before she downs a shot.

"Well, at least that means you're not trying to stick me with a new student," Tsunade says as she looks at Jiraiya. "So whatever it is that you want, the answer is no."

"Is that what you told Orochimaru?" Jiraiya asks as he pours himself a shot of sake.

"No," Tsunade says. "I told him to get lost. I don't care about what he did to that old man or that damned village." Naruto moves to jump across the table again but I pull him down this time.

"She has every right to be mad, nii-san," I tell him quietly.

"But-" Naruto whispers. I just shake my head.

"The village needs you, Tsunade."

"It's done fine without me," she says fiercely.

"I don't know about that," a new voice pipes up. I look around Jiraiya to see Ichika standing at the table.

"A mountain lion?" Tsunade asks more to herself than to the rest of us at the table.

"Yeah! That's Ichika! She's imouto's summons ya know? She's really cool, she helped us prank pervy sage-"

"Naruto," Ichika says gently. My brother gives a sunny smile as he settles back into the booth. He and Ichika already get along together perfectly. I've caught myself questioning who should've signed the contract after all a few times over the last few days.

"Hime," Ichika says firmly. I sigh as I lean back into my seat.

"Yeah, yeah," I say. She huffs and I feel her lean against my leg under the table.

"Put down a seal and tell her," Ichika says firmly. I do as Ichika says, I pull a silencing seal from one of the storage seals on my haori and slap it on the center of the table.

Tsunade leans over to inspect the seal. She raises an eyebrow as she leans back in her seat. She looks at Jiraiya who shakes his head. I see a small frown on Shizune's face as she cuddles the pig in her arms closer to her chest. I look over at Jiraiya who nods at me and I take a deep breath. Naruto's reaction to all of this was explosive enough. I don't know if there will be a restaurant here when we're done.

"When I was five years old I realized that Jiji was being controlled," I feel Naruto's hand on my arm and I uncross my arms to hold onto his hand.

"Jiji?" Shizune asks.

"Sarutobi sensei," Jiraiya says as he downs another shot.

"What?" Tsunade deadpans.

"There was a control seal on Jiji. It wasn't something too powerful, but it was just enough to control him and not be detected."

"How the hell did you realize it? There's no way you could sense it at that age."

"Jiji told me not to say bullshit," I shrug. Tsunade cackles.

"Okay," she says after she calms down. "What's this got to do with anything? I assume the seal was broken?"

"Kakashi broke it," Jiraiya says. "But it's different from the seal we're dealing with now."

"What seal?" Tsunade asks just before she takes another shot of sake. I look at Jiraiya and he nods at the table. I pull out a copy of Tenzo's seal I made years ago now and place it on the table. I've been working on it off and on but I haven't found or read anything about cursed seals in Uzushiogakure.

"It's a combination of a silence and control seal, if the person tries to say anything about the organization it makes them snap their mouth shut," I say as I trace the separate parts of the seal.

"And the control portion?" Shizune asks as she looks down at it, her eyes sharp.

"It's not like a typical one," Naruto cuts in. "See this line here?" He points to one of the lines that's just slightly different from the others. "And this one?"

"They just got sloppy, right?" Shizune asks.

"No," Naruto shakes his head. "This line leads the chakra to a separate point. While a typical control seal would lead to the brain in general, controlling it completely, this one doesn't."

"It doesn't?" Tsunade asks. I look over to Jiraiya only to see him pour another glass of alcohol, a grim look on his face.

"This first one leads directly to the cerebellum," Naruto says. "The part of the brain that's associated with our subconscious."

"And this one leads to the basal ganglia," I say as Naruto drinks some water. Part of the Cerebrum it's main function deals with motor movements, but its other roles include emotions, behaviors, and executive functions."

"So not only are they controlling movements-" Shizune starts.

"But they're doing so in a way that they don't even know they're being controlled," Tsunade finishes. I nod. I hadn't realized the second part until Naruto and I were hunched over the seal last night working on it together.

"So who's using this?" Shizune asks as she looks between me and Naruto.

"Shimura Danzo," Naruto practically growls. Red flashes in his eyes and I quickly put my hand on his arm to try to calm him down.

"What?" Tsunade snaps.

"It's an organization called Root," I say as I move my hand to hold my brother's tightly. "Dad ended it when he was Hokage, but Danzo brought it back when Jiji took the hat again."

"If he even stopped it in the first place, he could'a been the one who released Kurama." Naruto says. His hands are shaking.

"Dad?" Shizune squeaks.

"How the hell would Shimura Danzo be able to release the nine-tails?" Tsunade asks.

"You should call Kurama by his name since you know it, ya know?" Naruto tilts his head before he answers her. "And Danzo would be able to do it cause' he has an arm full of sharingan."

"What the fuck?" Tsunade asks.

"I know," Jiraiya moans as he pours her a shot.

"He asked the same thing," Naruto says.

"People tend to ask that a lot," I murmur. Ichika snorts under the table.

"Because you bring chaos wherever you go," Ichika says.

"I'm not drunk enough for this," Tsunade says as she rests her head on her hand.

"I'm not either," I say. Tsunade glares at me.

"You're not allowed to drink until you're a jonin or twenty." Tsunade snaps as she closes her eyes.

"But-"

"I'm your guardian now, brat. Both of you are going to listen to me and both of you are going to start training when we get back to the damned village."

"You're going to come back?" Jiraiya asks, hope is clear in his voice.

"Obviously, my grandfather would kill me if he knew I didn't do something now that I know all of this."

"Does that mean imouto is coming back now?" Naruto asks as he looks between Jiraiya and Tsunade.

"Where have you been?" Tsunade opens her eyes. When she turns to look at me it feels like she can see through me, straight to my mindscape. It puts me on edge.

"Uzushiogakure," I say quietly. Tsunade's honey eyes widen and turn glassy. I feel panic well in my chest, Naruto's hand squeezing mine keeps the building panic attack at bay.

"You're a baby." She finally whispers.

"I didn't go until I made chunin-"

"From a field promotion where Danzo had your teammate killed!" Naruto practically yells. I flinch at the loud noise and Naruto immediately calms down. I had thought about not telling Naruto about anything related to Root. But it turned out that Root was growing more active within the village the closer it got to the chunin exams. Naruto already knew much more than I ever wanted him to know. I wanted him to be protected from this, at least for now.

"It was her first C-rank, her first mission outside of the village. She was finally starting to be happy again and take care of herself and then he-he." Naruto shakes his head as he lets go of my hand and wraps me in a hug. I feel burning behind my eyes as I bury my face in his shoulder. Tsunade sighs.

"We'll talk about this more later, we've got a room down the street."

"Kikuko will not return to Konoha yet," Ichika says from her spot under the table.

"I'm her guardian-"

"She is the princess of Uzushiogakure," Ichika interrupts as she moves to stand beside the table. She turns her eyes to Tsunade, her eyes hard. "She will remain in Uzushiogakure until at least her coming of age ceremony. She needs to learn how to use the masks."

Tsunade deflates.

"What did you do, kid?" She asks softly.

"I don't know for sure, all I know is that it saved the Uchiha." Naruto stiffens under me.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's clan stuff, Naruto," Tsunade says after she looks at me for a second too long. "I'll explain it to you later on, it's clear your path is the same as your mother's, Naruto. Kikuko's is the same as Kahana's."

"What path? Who's Kahana? What about Kiku-"

"Naruto-nii," I say gently. "It's already been a lot, I promise you'll be able to learn more, soon."

"But we haven't even gotten to talk about Root being involved in destroying Uzushiogakure-"

"What?" Tsunade yells. I flinch again. Jiraiya sighs as he waves over an employee. He removes the silencing seal from the center of the table and the barrier comes down instantly. "You can't just-" Tsunade whispers fiercely as she leans over the table.

"Kikuko is on the brink of a panic attack," Jiraiya says just as fiercely. "We will discuss this later once the kids are in bed, they've already exhausted themselves in training."

"She was the one to-"

"I know-"

"One to what?" Naruto asks. That was the one thing I hadn't told Naruto about yet. I feel myself start to shake and Naruto tightens his arms around me.

"He doesn't-" Tsunade looks between me and Jiraiya.

"Not yet," Jiraiya says grimly.

"Someone tell me what's going on, right now." Naruto sounds much older than he is. I hear Jiraiya's intake of breath before we're interrupted by a waiter coming up to the table. Is that what dad sounded like when he used his Hokage voice? It sounded so much like Jiji's Hokage voice.

"I apologize but we do not allow animals-"

"We're leaving," Tsunade cuts the man off as she throws some money on the table. She grabs the almost empty bottle of sake and slides out of the booth, Shizune follows her immediately. Jiraiya hops out of the booth, but Naruto stays firmly in his spot.

"Naruto-"

"What haven't you told me?" He asks. "What's so bad that's happened that you're afraid to tell me, imouto?" His voice cracks.

"N-not here," I whisper, pleading with him. He sighs, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead. It finally hits me that Naruto grew up, too. We both aren't the young kids we were when I left the village.

Yes, we're young. We're still kids. But both of us have experienced things already that have forced us to grow up too quickly. And there's a gnawing feeling in the back of my head that there's something Naruto's not telling me, too.

Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune and her pig, and Ichika walk towards the front of the restaurant, leaving us alone. I feel like I can literally see Naruto thinking in front of me. His mind moves just as fast as Shikamaru's. My brother's going to be a wonderful Hokage when he's older.

"Fine," Naruto says after a few more minutes of thinking. "But we're pranking the old folks as soon as we can."

"Glitter?" I ask, as I look up at him.

"Glitter," he says with a wicked grin.


"I'm going to make you regret that as soon as you get back to the village, you brats!" Tsunade yells as she sits down beside me at the kotatsu. I flinch at the noise and she sighs as she puts her arm over my shoulders. "We need to work on you and reacting to loud noises, too."

"I'm normally not so jumpy 'ttbane," I say as I wrap my arms around myself. I'm dreading this conversation. I don't know if I can have it, to be honest.

Last night Jiraiya and Tsunade shuffled me, Naruto, Shizune, and Tonton into the bedroom of the suite Tsunade was staying in. I could only hear mumbles throughout half the night, they put up a silencing seal. I think hearing the mumbling was worse than hearing what they were saying because I know a lot of it was about me.

"Alright," Tsunade says. "Let's get to clan business."

"Finally!" Naruto yells. "Pervy sage was keeping us distracted all day instead of answering any questions dattebayo!" I smile at my twin. Even though he's grown up so much in the time we've been apart, he's kept at least some of his old mannerisms.

"Where do I even start?" Tsunade asks.

"The beginning?" Naruto asks.

"If we start at the beginning we'll be here for weeks."

"What a drag," I mumble as I rest my head on my hand. Tsunade rolls her eyes.

"I wasn't expecting to have to deal with a mini Shikaku."

"Why not, baa-chan? Kiku-chan is gonna take over his job when he retires!"

"Oh really?" Tsunade asks, tilting her head.

"I never agreed to it," I say as I cut my eyes over at her. She smirks.

"We'll see." Naruto bursts into a fit of laughter and I shake my head at him. He already has everything planned out for when he takes the Hokage hat.

Shikamaru will be his advisor, Kiba will be head of the tracking division, Ino will be the head of T&I, Shino will be in charge of infiltration, and Sasuke will obviously be the head of the military police force. Choji will be in charge of the supply stores, Sakura in charge of cryptology, Tenten will oversee the armory, Hinata will be the head of the hospital, and Neji will be in charge of Anbu because he'll be the first to make it.

Iruka-sensei will be the chunin commander, I'll be the jonin commander, and Lee will be the genin commander. Apparently Lee has managed to grow in his confidence and become a teacher and idol to the genin corps as he's practically the second coming of his sensei's father.

"If you brats are okay with it, we can appoint a Nara as the interim clan head of the Uzumaki clan in Konoha," Tsunade says.

"Eh? Why can't one of you be the clan head now?" Naruto asks.

"I can't because I'm Hokage," Tsunade deadpans. "And Kiku-chan can't until she reaches the rank of jonin."

"So, why a Nara?" Naruto's cheeks are puffed out like they always do when he's deep in thought. I reach across the table and flick his cheek. He immediately tries to bite my finger and I shriek and pull my hand back.

"The Nara and Uzumaki clans have been close since Shinya married Kahana," Tsunade says as she hits me on the head. I wince at the blow and rub the top of my head where she hit me.

"She was the Uzukage, right?" Naruto asks.

"She was," Tsunade says.

"I guess that makes sense to have it be a Nara, but it needs to be a girl, right?" Naruto asks as he wiggles under the table some more.

"Maybe Aki?"

"Yosh!" Naruto punches the air.

"Who is Aki?" Tsunade asks.

"She runs the Nara clinic! She always took care of me and Kiku when the hospital wouldn't-"

"Wouldn't what?" Tsunade says. Killing intent leaks through the room and Naruto scratches his cheek awkwardly.

"Take care of us?" I squeak from beside her.

"I'll add that to the list of bullshit I have to fix when I get back," Tsunade sighs as she pulls out a scroll and some ink.

"You've actually got a list, baa-chan?" Naruto asks.

"Of course I do," Tsunade says. "There's too much bullshit to not have a list."

"That's true," Naruto nods sagely. I feel my lips twitch at the action.

"Any other reasons why Aki would be a good fit? She needs to have some sort of relation other than being a medical provider."

"She's Oda-sensei's not girlfriend girlfriend."

"Oh?" Tsunade asks, tapping the end of her pen against her lip. She looks just like Jiji when I would tell him some gossip during our fuinjutsu time.

"Yeah, baka Ensui nii-san keeps telling stupid jokes about it, too." I feel my cheeks heat up at the reminder of the last comment I heard Ensui make about my sensei and Aki. Tsunade's interested smile turns into a sadistic smirk.

"Oh, we're definitely putting her in the temporary clan head spot."

"Aki is going to murder us," Naruto and I say at the same time. Tsunade bursts out into laughter. I drop my head on the kotatsu in front of me.

This is such a drag.