Author's notes: The best-laid plans often go awry because of mice, men, and my case - COVID. I'm pretty sure I don't have it, but I was exposed, so now I'm on quarantine while waiting for my test results to come back. Trying to work from home. With three small children... I'll work on posting the first chapter of the Beta Years after I finish posting this.

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o-o-o-o

o-o-o-o-o

The Konoha Academy graduation took place every six months – mid-winter and early-summer. Summer was the time in which entire teams graduated at once, different persons and characters balancing each other out in what the Hokage and his chosen advisors – different academy instructors – hoped would be a successful partnership. Mid-winter was when partial genin teams, whose members had either died or successfully became chuunin, were reconfigured and padded with carefully chosen candidates who managed to graduate early.

Teams created in the mid-winter had to be more closely scrutinized, partly due to mixing a green genin into a more experienced team, but mostly because of the introduction of an unknown into usually volatile team dynamics that had already been disrupted by the displacement of one or two original team members.

And in the case of this batch, many genin whose teams had already been torn asunder by the Kyuubi, added resentment of the introduction of inexperienced greenies who knew nothing of warfare, of the stench of death and destruction. In the restructuring of teams, Hiruzen had tried to keep such genin teamed together, but there were still a few partial teams that had no hope of becoming chuunin without a third teammate for the chuunin exams.

"It's a poor bunch that's up for evaluation," Nara Shikaku grumble as he pillowed his head in his arms and glared at the stack of paperwork that Hiruzen had yet to split up. When it came to rearranging and reassigning mid-winter teams, Hiruzen had to take consideration and advice of his advisors, the Head Jounin, and the different jounin sensei who would lose or gain team members. His advisors were the esteemed Elders – i.e., the original Team Tobirama — and the remaining living members of Squad Tobirama. Hiruzen estimated by this time next year, Kagami would be joining Tobirama and Torifu. Which would be a shame, because Kagami and Torifu had always been the gentlest souls.

It was rather horrifying to realize that Danzo, Homura, and Koharu had far more in common with each other philosophy-wise than they did with Hiruzen. I'm going to be vastly outnumbered if I can't find someone like Shikaku or Sakumo to take Kagami's place.

Koharu, sipping her tea and looking out the window at the Academy grounds, was the only other person currently present. Homura was delayed for family reasons, and unlikely to come when he was too busy with the birth of his first grandson. Hiruzen could appreciate the delay, as he was also awaiting the birth of his first grandchild, which was due to happen any week now. His poor daughter looked ready to pop like a balloon…

Danzo and Kagami were due to show, but Kagami was always running late, and Danzo was supposed to accompany him this time.

"We work," Hiruzen said to Shikaku, "with what we have, and we make the best of everything. Even the clumsiest, most rusted blade can be cleaned and sharpened into something lethal."

Koharu snorted in amusement. "Summer of '15, Tobirama explaining why even the dead-last has its place in life." Koharu thought in terms of group, rather than singular, which made her invaluable when it came to evaluating teams and the Village, but she wasn't particularly good at looking at individuals.

Hiruzen felt a little self-conscious as he rubbed his nose. "The Second taught us many things, although the truth is Natsumi was the one who originally came up with that."

Koharu snorted once more, this time with a mingling of exasperation and irritation. Koharu had always preferred that life be separated and sorted into neat little boxes, and had little appreciation for things and people who wouldn't accommodate her. Natsumi had never fit into the boxes, although Tobirama had tried often enough for the two to work together, perhaps hoping that because they were both female they could somehow get along. It had been a futile hope, as their personalities clashed from the very beginning. It was amusing the first few years, as long as you didn't get dragged into the fight to choose sides.

Shikaku tilted his head to press his face away from the light. "This bunch is going to need a lot of help."

Hiruzen knew what he was working with for the winter graduation – the dregs of the genin, the ones that clung to being ninja because they had failed to become chuunin, to become better ninja, and the only thing that held them together was the bitter rags of their pride and fierce love for Konoha. Hiruzen personally felt that tools were always better when properly shaped by the correct hands. The God of Shinobi was also the Professor, and Hiruzen had always secretly wanted to be an Academy teacher more than he wanted to be the Hokage. Every student learned in their own way – if a shinobi hadn't learned, it was because they hadn't been taught in a manner best suited to their abilities.

A place for everyone, and everyone in their place.

Hiruzen thought of something that Sakumo had once told him years ago, when he had been on the verge of losing his mind and no one – least of all Hiruzen – had seen or recognized the signs. ("We all look for that place we belong. Some of us are much more obvious about it, like Tsume. Others hide such a longing so deeply that they don't even realize what they've spent a lifetime searching for.")

As Hiruzen rested his hand on the stack of paperwork, he wondered how many of these misfit genin were looking for a place they belonged, still trying to be wanted by someone. A team was often the best and the worst thing that happened to such people – it either became that place of belonging, the one thing they needed most in life, or it became their ruin as they watched their team break apart, either through death or success, and that place of belonging left them behind.

Summer matching was always easier, lighthearted, free of such guilty baggage and doubts. In summer, Hiruzen could look at the team matching with hope and all the fresh newness in life.

In winter, he looked at the failures – some of them were broken, others still hopeful, and every one vulnerable.

He was aware of Koharu moving from the window and seating herself at the left corner of his desk. "You always have a faraway, regretful look on your face every winter that we do this," she said as she set her empty teacup on the table.

"Winter has that effect on me," Hiruzen admitted. He smiled for her benefit, because he was always the one who looked on the bright side of things, who always tried to see the good in everyone. Sometimes he hated how he had to be the positive personality, just because he was surrounded by so many negative personalities. Even Shikaku was given to grumbling more and laughing less.

I need to surround myself with more sunny personalities. Good thing that Jiraiya was returning to the village this week, and even better that he wasn't returning in the wake of some recent scandal. And if he was lucky, maybe Hiruzen could talk Jiraiya into sharing the most recent chapters of his current work-in-progress. He had also read the first five chapters, and he just dying to know if Tekka would be escaping the dungeon he was currently trapped in while suffering from the poisoning from the mysterious Madame Gaiduko. Jiraiya wasn't above killing off his main protagonists, and Hiruzen had grown rather fond of Tekka, who had started out as a minor character in Icha Icha Frenzy.

Hiruzen's latest train of through was disrupted when his office door swung open. Kagami walked through without support, looking only slightly breathless and a little pale. Danzo was equally sedate with his pace, the cane clicking with every swing of his right leg.

After the two had seated themselves – Danzo to the right corner, opposite of Koharu, which so often mirrored their differences in life – and Kagami in the center, directly across from Hiruzen, forever mediating between the newest generation and the old guard.

Hiruzen sadly reflected, as he listened with chakra-enhanced hearing to the distant burbling of water in Kagami's lungs, and the gurgle of fluids in Kagami's heart, that this was the last time he would ever see this formation. And because Kagami smiled as much as Hiruzen did, because Kagami manufactured a comforting presence that lured people into trusting and believing in him, Hiruzen plastered his own genuine smile in place and pushed the stack of paperwork towards the center. "We have a difficult afternoon ahead of us, but I feel confident that we will do right with everyone in the end."

Kagami returned the smile, placid and serene, content in life and with his approaching death.

They distributed the stacks, first of the advanced Academy students who had chosen to take the early exams and succeeded in passing, and second of the languishing genin still in need of replacement teammates. Academy students didn't know if they passed or not in the winter; they were told they failed if there wasn't a suitable placement for them. ("A little bit of bitter disappointment builds character," Danzo had explained the first time they suggested telling the unpaired Academy students that they just failed the testing despite passing with flying colors, and Hiruzen had been outvoted by the remainder of his council.)

Shikaku straightened up and flipped through the Academy records. "This group is promising…" Then he stopped, eyeing the pages. He set them down and folded his hands. "Tsume isn't aware that Hana and Kabuto chose to take the early exam, is she." His voice was flat – it was a statement, rather than a question, but Hiruzen chose to answer.

"I encouraged them to while she was gone. I think they'd be of more use in this batch than in the summer batch." He had great plans for those two. Particularly Kabuto, because Hiruzen felt the more they surrounded Kabuto with people who loved Konoha, the more the scars of Orochimaru's influence would fade. He also had a clear idea of who he wanted to pair Kabuto and Hana up with. There were a still a few genin who had lost their teammates in the Kyuubi's attack and they seemed to stall in life and career. Hiruzen hoped that by dragging such teammates into Tsume's chaotic circle of influence, where fear towards an innocent human being wouldn't be tolerated, it would help the genin heal.

Now, if only he could spin this in such a way that his council would just work with him…

oOoOoOo

Leaving and traveling away from Kumo was uneventful. Tsume kept imagining that someone was going to come running up from behind to inform Killer B that the Raikage had changed his mind and had decided to keep Tsume after all – since Konoha had failed at making sure that Tsume stayed out of trouble, they may as well keep her and her sons, right?

But every passing kilometer took Tsume, Killer B, and his team further away with no scent of pursuit coming after them. On the second night, when they rested in a hollow that Omoi had created out of the snow with a carefully-controlled futun jutsu (it was impressive – who knew that ice holes were comfortably warm?), Tsume allowed herself to relax. Samui and Karui both made sure that Tsume was bundled tight in layers and layers of warm woolies, which made Tsume smell like a musty yak and look like a roly-poly snowman with abominable hair. In such tight, restrictive layers, it would've been hard to make an escape from the team. She also didn't have to waste the effort in circulating her chakra to stay warm, so she had to admit that there was a purpose for all the layers. It left her with more to slowly work on knitting her bones together.

Even though she missed the quiet presence of Darui, Tsume had to admire the workings of Team Killer B. Everyone knew their place and role, each fulfilling tasks that had been decided and agreed upon long before she entered the scene. It was nostalgic, reminding her of Sakumo, Kokoro, and Kushina back when they had been a fully-functioning team. Of course, Team Killer B also didn't also have five large ninken and one toddler tagalong who decided to run away to the circus with a hot-tempered A-rank stallion named Juubi along for the ride. The tone of Killer B and Tsume's relationship changed – here he was the quintessential sensei, attentive to his students, and he treated her as professionally and as friendly as he had before they had reached Kumo. Tsume wasn't disappointed – she was rather relieved to have the boundaries of temporary-allies back into place now that she was returning home.

Ah, home. Home that smelled of trees, that was warm and generous and open, far away from the cold wastrel of the far reaches of Lightning. Tsume missed Konoha the longer she stayed away. The only other time she had ever missed Konoha this much was when she was in the brothel. All the other times she was with precious persons who made everywhere seem like a little piece of home. Now, she didn't even have a scroll of a fellow Konoha nin's body to keep her company.

It was time to go home.

oOoOoOo

"Aren't you bored with that yet?" Yamato asked as Kakashi once again flipped through the carefully bound chapters that Jiraiya had given Kakashi before they left.

Kakashi gasped in mock-horror and held the papers to his chest, as if sheltering them from Yamato's scorn. "Never!" he declared with a vigorous shake of his head. "They have to be reread to appreciate the depths of Jiraiya's masterpiece!" As Yamato's face set in skepticism, Kakashi leaned forward with a maniacal gleam in his uncovered eye. His breath stirred the hairs on Yamato's forehead as he spoke. "It's like fuuinjutsu – there are layers of intricate, subtle details that enrich your experience." He caressed the papers gently. "It's like being with a woman. You can do the down and dirty and be done in a flash the first time. But the second time? Ah, the second time is where you get to explore, to notice all the details, how the woman reacts positively or not to your touch…" Kakashi settled back on his heels as his mask wrinkled with what was probably a goofy smile.

Yamato frowned as he considered Kakashi's words. Then he realized that Kakashi was trying to distract him once again. Well, if Kakashi wanted Yamato to focus on something different from his poor appetite and recent weight loss, very well. There were plenty of other things Yamato could focus on that would make Kakashi equally uncomfortable. Yamato had learned much about being an annoying younger brother from many women who were used to being the annoying younger sister. "I thought these books were supposed to be eighteen-and-over. You're not eighteen yet."

Kakashi coughed pointedly into his fist. "I'm mature for my age. And I'll be eighteen when it's officially published."

Yamato briefly remembered the week before Kakashi left for Fang Country for his last one-man mission, where Gai managed to successfully talk Kakashi into seeing who could eat the most dango, and Kakashi ate so much that he vomited all over the service counter. "And since when do you know what it's like to be with a woman?"

Instead of the embarrassed backpedaling Yamato expected (he didn't know why, Kakashi tended to be rather unashamed and unabashed, every bit as Inuzuka as his mother and foster-mother), Kakashi eyed Yamato as if seeing him for the first time. Then he nudged Yamato and winked. "Ahhhh. Are you getting curious about the opposite sex yet? I was wondering when that was going to happen, or if I was going to need to dig up someone else to discuss playing the same team with you."

Curses – the table had been flipped on him! Yamato did his best not to squirm, especially when he acutely felt the presence of Hotaru, just on the opposite end of the tree hut. "Does Mom know that you read Jiraiya's work?"

Kakashi sidled forward – which was impressive enough, given the fact that they were both seated on the floor – and slung a heavy arm around Yamato's shoulders. It almost felt like a noose. "Dearest brother, Mom was sharing The Adventures of the Gutsy Shinobi with me even before you were born. She is an avid fan, after all. And don't get me started on the not-so-family-friendly retelling of the Whirklpool Sirens that Mom decided to share with me two years ago. Besides, would I do anything that Mom would disapprove of?"

That last didn't even deserve the dignity of a response, especially when Yamato could hear Hotaru snickering. "But is she aware that you're reading porn?"

Kakashi gasped again in mock-horror, once more clutching the papers to his chest. "This isn't as base as porn! It's erotica. It's an entirely different class from porn all together. For one thing," his tone switched to lecturing, "it has plot. Furthermore Jiraiya-sama had a rich cast of colorful characters who come alive with your imagination. Here, I've got the first chapter somewhere. I'll show you what I mean…" Kakashi momentarily stopped when Hotaru pointedly cleared her throat.

"I'm not going to quibble over the age difference of seventeen and eighteen, Kakashi-san, but I will quibble over the difference of fourteen and eighteen."

Yamato was never so happy to be so young.

oOoOoOo

It took four days of steady travel with cooperative weather, even after being taught how to travel on top of the snow, before Killer B, team, and guest reached the village of Obihiro. There was a gigantic tree that stood in the middle of a wintering pasture, bare of any leaves.

"This wasn't here the last time we came through." Killer B eyed the tree, as if contemplating the many ways in which it could be readily chopped down and turned into a much-more olfactory-friendly fuel source.

Kakashi peered over the edge of one thick limb, far above their heads. "I wouldn't recommend getting rid of it. The locals have decided that this is a personification of their local fertility god. They keep leaving food offerings at its base."

Yamato shimmied up to Kakashi's side. "If I never see a wedge of yak cheese, it'll be too soon."

Kakashi turned slightly to Yamato without removing his gaze from the Kumo nins. "I like yak cheese."

"Funny how you wouldn't eat my share. Not even Pakkun liked it."

Kakashi gave Yamato's shoulder a pat that was clearly condescending. "Good source of calcium. It's perfect for growing boys like you."

"You are growing, too. You should even try growing sideways for once, you beanpole." Yamato waved. "Hi, mom. Glad to see you've arrived in almost the same condition as you left." His face filled with the concern that had flooded his scent the moment he saw Tsume. "You are okay, aren't you?"

"I did try to stay out of trouble." Tsume turned to Killer B. "Thanks for everything. Really." He cocked his head to the side; Tsume saw a shadowed reflection of herself in his eyes, stuffed in lightly-colored furs with her hair sticking out everywhere from beneath the rabbit fur cap that Nii had given her as a parting gift and thank-you for the suggestion that finally got Nii successfully laid. ("So you don't lose your ears to frostbite.") "I know that circumstances weren't the greatest, and they probably won't improve because, you know…" She shrugged. "Konoha and Kumo, but I won't ever hate Kumo."

Hotaru joined Yamato and Kakashi on their limb, her hands tucked into her pockets and the kikaichu quiet.

Killer B considered Tsume a moment longer, and then struck a pose. It was easy to imagine the sparkles that surrounded Killer B as he raised one arm into the air, curling it to highlight the bulge of his bicep and outline of veins across the back of his hand. "Konoha ninja / you're my brother's delegate / never forget us!"

Karui covered her mouth as her face burned red with embarrassment, Samui covered her eyes with a sigh, and Omoi clapped both hands over his ears.

"Back to the haiku?" Tsume asked with a grin.

"Since you're leaving us / I can return to normal / good luck with your sons."

"Thanks. Safe travel to you and your team, and if we meet again… I hope it will be under good circumstances."

"Never forget," Killer B said, as he ruffled Karui's hair with affection. They left immediately after that, running on top of the snow to make good time before the sunset and the temperatures plummeted. Kakashi, Yamato and Hotaru joined Tsume on the ground.

"We should get started, too," Hotaru said. "I don't want to stay here now that the Kumo nin know where we're camping. Are you up for a run?"

Tsume checked her chakra stored and mentally catalogued her current physical status. "Yeah, I can keep going for another few hours, as long as I'm not pushed hard."

"Good. Because when we're to the point of safety, you and I are going to be writing a very long list of details that the Hokage is going to want."

oOoOoOo

Konoha, thanks to indoor plumbing, closed sewer systems, and wood-fueled fires, didn't smell as bad as some of the places that Tsume had visited in the very recent past. Filled with all the familiar scents of home and comfort, Tsume was undeniably grateful to make it back in (mostly) one piece – okay, one gigantic walking throb due to being in multiple little pieces, but they would heal. She let the different scents play across her mind as she sat in the straight-backed chair. It was better than feeling like that one time when the Hokage demanded an explanation from Team Sakumo as to why they figured that releasing a honey badger and hive of angry hornets on the enemy encampment was such a good idea when they were supposed to rescue the hostages. Especially when the hostages demanded to be returned to their abductors.

The Hokage set aside the neatly bullet-pointed intelligence report that she and Hotaru had created with numbers, locations, strengths and weaknesses, and dismissed everyone by Tsume. Hotaru raised her hands in a no gesture when Tsume tried to return Minato's forehead protector.

"Keep it," Hotaru said, sidestepping and foiling Tsume's attempt to stuff it in one of Hotaru's pockets. "Give it to Naruto when he's of age. It will mean more coming from you than from me."

After her sons and Hotaru had filed out of the room, Tsume fought down the desire to dive out the window and run back to her other children. "Er."

The Hokage folded his hands and regarded Tsume patiently. "So. You jumped off a cliff. A very, very, tall cliff."

Tsume tried not to squirm and look guilty. "In my defense, Hokage-sama, I couldn't see the bottom because of the cloudbank. And she reminded me of Anko, and they were my teammates at the moment, and you just can't abandon your teammates."

The Hokage leaned back, amusement shining in his eyes. "It appears to have earned you good will from Kumo. I can't think of too many other reasons how you would wind up as their preferred permanent diplomatic delegation from Konoha, especially when you're not exactly the diplomatic sort."

Tsume tried scratching her cast. Her skin felt dry and itchy, so now she needed to figure out how to squirt lotion up the cast and rub it around.

The Hokage sighed and pressed a hand against his forehead. He considered her through his parted fingers. "Now what did you do?"

Tsume furtively looked around. "You positive that no one's listening in on us?"

"I'm sure your nose could tell you better than I could."

"Right. Okay, so uh…" She managed to pry the Kumo forehead protector free from within the uttermost edge of her cast where she had the most room, and set it on the desk. She still felt its presence, solid and real, against her skin, even though the forehead protector rested between her and the Hokage. "So, uh, apparently I also got made an unofficial Kumo nin. This doesn't make me a traitor, does it?" Tsume couldn't say that she was used to seeing the Hokage flummoxed (unless that Hokage had been the Fourth) but it was better than the long-suffered expression he often wore when confronted with her latest shenanigans. "I swear that my allegiance and loyalty to Konohagakure remains unchanged!"

"How did you…."The Hokage twitched and desperately looked like he wanted to smoke. "Maybe this is an explanation best started from the beginning."

Tsume hunched in her chair. "Well, according to Kumo tradition, you're responsible for the person whose life you save. And since I saved the life of Killer B's apprentice, I guess the Raikage figured that it would be emotionally easier for the girl if he made me an unofficial Kumo nin, especially since her father was killed because he was part of the team Danzo and Minato and I rescued Kushina from during the Second War, and I might've torn his spine free." She scratched her head; her scalp was itchy, and she felt acutely aware of how she no longer had any kikaichu hiding in her hair. "So, if we're well-met outside our respected villages, I think I'm just kinda supposed to take Karui under my wing and be like a long-distance mentor or something. And maybe I should write letters to her? I dunno. I already revamped their sex ed."

"You revamped their what?" The Hokage looked upward, as if silently pleading with the gods for patience. "This is not starting from the very beginning!"

"This doesn't make me a traitor to Konoha, does it? I don't feel like a traitor!" Tsume wondered if there was a distinct emotion that went with being a traitor. Guilt? (She was feeling plenty of that.) Relief? Fear? Did Orochimaru feel anything in particular? If she became a missing nin and was forced on the lam, she could take advantage of her situation to hunt down and ask Orochimaru. It might even get her into good graces with the Hokage again, if she somehow managed to drag Orochimaru back to Konoha and traded him for the reinstatement of her status as a kunoichi in good standing. It was just underhanded enough that even Orochimaru would appreciate the irony.

"Do you have any intention to reveal secrets to our enemies?"

She adamantly shook her head. "No, sir!"

The Hokage considered Tsume for a moment, and then dug around a desk drawer before pulling his pipe and tobacco out. She wrinkled her nose in distaste before he even started packing the pipe. "Of all the ninja in this village whose loyalty I would question, the Inuzuka are the least of my worries, especially their clan head."

The pinched sensation between her shoulder blades eased away slightly, like a heavy weight was lifted from her back. "That's good. That's… thank you, sir. I think feel better now."

"This could be to our advantage. Kumo is very difficult to obtain Intel on because of their distance, and they are not an enemy to be underestimated, even if we are currently at a very fragile peace. The fact that you have two unexpected ins could reap us even richer Intel than your single visit. If you're supposed to be writing these letters and can play up your ignorance and simplicity, it would be fairly easy to get innocuous details that we could find useful. Let's start your report from the beginning though, so I know what we're working with."

Tsume was happy to oblige, although her report – as they so often were because of her brain injury – was meandering, long, backpedaled several times so she could mention something she forgot earlier, and sometimes contained observational tangents that only loosely had anything to do with her mission. The Hokage was used to Tsume's reports, and used them as an opportunity to relax in his chair, smoke, and drink tea without interruptions.

"It almost sounded like a trap," Tsume said after she finally managed to adequately explain how she became an unofficial Kumo nin.

"No doubt he intended to make use of your simplicity." The Hokage was one of the few who didn't make Tsume feel bad about her difficulty with complex situations and ideas. "Let the Raikage believe that he has placed you in a difficult position. Write the letters – I'll review them, and if they pass muster, you can send them. If not, you get the joy of rewriting them."

Tsume never had a pen pal before. She wondered if it would be any fun. "I guess I can do that."

"Now, what's this about revamping their sex ed?"

She couldn't keep the outrage out of her voice. "Omoi thought that chlamydia is a flower, and Karui didn't know what the clitoris is!" The Hokage sunk down in his seat, looking like he regretted the question as Tsume explained how she felt obligated to ensure that these teenagers ("mixed teams living under the same roof and they weren't even aware of condom use, that's a teenaged pregnancy disaster waiting to happen!" she declared, ignoring the fact that she had gotten pregnant when she was barely sixteen years old, although it had been a very deliberate move on her part, with all the necessary paternity paperwork already filled out and awaiting a signature) were fully aware of their choices and how they could get into, or out of, said choices.

The Hokage hastily redirected Tsume back to reporting on everything else that wasn't her impromptu sex ed that the Raikage decided to co-opt.

After Tsume finished the rest of her report by pointing out that there was probably more information in the report that she and Hotaru had made, the Hokage reluctantly called an end to their meeting. From the smell of it, there were several impatient messengers who weren't important enough to interrupt their meeting waiting just outside the door, and she wanted to go home to her family.

"On that note, I wish to be the first to congratulate you – Kabuto and Hana both graduated the Academy early."

"Oh, good for them! Which teams did they get assigned to?"

The Hokage looked sly as he snuck another puff. "I understand that Oyubi invited them to her place for dinner tonight. You and your team made good time back, but you still need to be seen by our medics, so I think it will be a pleasant surprise for everyone all around if you just find out tonight."

Tsume stared at the Hokage for a moment, and then made a point of sniffing the air. "Ah, it appears that Hana is on the same team as Shimura Takumi and Uchiha Itachi. That's… that's a quiet team." Tsume almost felt sorry for Hana, but figured that this would be a good way of getting Itachi to look over her accounts without dragging all the ledgers over to the Uchiha grounds. "I didn't know their team had an opening."

The Hokage sighed. "You do realize that there's a reason no one ever throws you a surprise birthday party, right? The third team member had to drop out due to near-fatal injuries that she sustained in what should've been a routine mission."

"I don't really recognize the two with Kabuto."

"Umino Iruka and Ura Mizuki. One is an orphan without a clan, and the second is from a civilian family. Their teammate as promoted to Chuunin at the last exam, and their original sensei was killed in a recent mission. I've pulled Namiashi Raido from guard duty to be their sensei." He hesitated for a moment, and then set his pipe down. "Both Iruka and Mizuki lost family in the Kyuubi attack. I know that a new team member who's the older brother to the jinchuuriki might be difficult for everyone at first, but I also think this will be a good opportunity for healing, and for acceptance."

Tsume vaguely recalled Raido; he had been part of Minato's elite guard when Minato became Hokage. She always figured that any guard of sorts (elite or otherwise) was superfluous for a Hokage, but no one had ever asked her opinion on such. Then she remembered how she had seen people casually engaging with Killer B and Nii in Kumo. The fear was minimal, the acceptance was warm, and people felt comfortable and safe despite being aware of the power and presence of both jinchuuriki.

She desperately wanted that for Naruto. She vividly remembered how much she wanted to be wanted when she was a child, back when Grandmother was alive, and how better her world became when Sakumo and Kakashi entered it. She wanted Naruto to feel wanted –not just by clan, but by Village. "They're Konoha, so that's good enough for me. We'll work through the ups and downs as they come, me and Naruto and everyone else."

The Hokage flashed his teeth in a grateful smile. "It may not be easy, but I know my faith in you will not be in vain."