Chapter 29

Family Reunion

Naruto raises his head and stares off to the west, ignoring the dango he'd been sharing with Fuu. He may largely prefer ramen, but you don't live with Anko for months and not develop an appreciation for the stuff, and Fuu had a thing for sweets.

It takes a moment for him to realize Fuu's been drawn to what he's feeling too. A moment later, they're both drawn to the northeast. "Hmm… you feel it too, huh?"

Fuu nods and holds out her fist for Naruto. He bumps it, and they're instantly drawn into the mindscape.

"Well, this should make for an eventful exam season." Kurama chuckles.

Choumei buzzes and jitters in excitement. "So many siblings coming! Although I'm… wary of one of them."

Naruto peeks back to Kurama. "Well, if one's coming from the west, that's gonna have to be Shukaku, right? I can feel his wind and earth chakra, too, but there's something… off about it. It reminds me of the tree…"

Kurama grumbles and facepalms. "Damnit, he's been experimenting with senjutsu seals again. Last time, he was too crazy to remember us for a few decades."

Choumei hums. "It doesn't feel that bad this time, but his chakra is certainly… manic. Likely morally compromised."

Fuu whines. "Great, and probably has a jinchuuriki who's just as bad, then!"

Choumei giggles. "We can handle it. Shukaku likes me more than most of us. Naruto, you should watch out, he hates Kurama."

Naruto gulps nervously. "Wonderful. Ok, so how about the one coming from Kumo? There's two there, right? But I don't recognize any elements in their chakra signature."

Kurama perks up. "If that's the case, it can't be Gyuki, you share the earth element. So it must be Matatabi."

"The Nibi?" Naruto hums. "Ichi, Ni, Nana, and Kyuu all in one place for these exams." All four of them perk up as another sensation washes over them. "Um… just felt more earth coming from Iwa's direction. Kokuo's just fire and water, right? So it must be Son Goku."

"Indeed. Definitely one of the more agreeable siblings." Kurama chuckles. "Might want to tell the other old ape Roshi's coming."

"Can do. For now though, we should finish up here. I've gotta stop by the Hyuuga compound to ask Hiashi and Hinata a few things."

"Ooooh?" Fuu smirks. "More time with her, huh? You might wanna bring her something."

Naruto turns red and looks away. "R-Right, uh… good idea. Something for Hiashi to get on his good side while I'm at it. Hinata said there was a tea blend they sold here that he really likes."

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"Now, what did we learn?" Asuma stands over Sasuke with a cocky smirk.

Sasuke at the moment is hunched, panting, steaming, and coughing up a bit of smoke. "D-Don't… put too much of that new jutsu near my f-face."

"There's a reason nobody's done it before. You've gotta get really damn good at holding your breath to go with a move like that. Or have some sort of backup mechanism, but carrying an oxygen tank at the same time is a terrible idea."

Sasuke pauses, then crosses his arms as something starts sinking in.

Kurenai hums as she watches from atop a nearby awning over the compound's outer halls. "Oh, I know that look. Got a trick in mind to make this absolutely broken, don't you?"

"More than that. I think I can make something that'll make this jutsu busted and make my others even stronger, if I can do it right."

Asuma hums and scratches his chin. "I think I can see where you're going with that. You'll need to be really careful with it, though. Test the flow first without putting it in your head."

"Obviously. I'll need to talk to Naruto about it, though. And maybe an iryonin."

"For now though…" Kurenai jumps down from her perch and lands beside them. "I think you need a break after almost toasting yourself. Why don't you join us for lunch?"

Sasuke pauses and looks them both over. "... You really want me as a third wheel on one of your dates?"

Asuma shakes his head. "Not a date this time. We're just both proud of you, and wanna reward you for all the effort you've put into this. Besides, we had an offer for you."

Sasuke raises an eyebrow and peeks between them. They both notice him shoving his hands back in his pockets. He does that a lot less nowadays, and it's clearly become a sign of him being uncertain and caught up in his more negative thoughts. "What would that be?"

Kurenai sighs and slowly smiles as she pulls a ring from her kunai pouch and slips it on. "We were hoping you'd be one of the groomsmen for our wedding."

Sasuke's jaw drops. "What? You… wow." He huffs and slowly, for once, forms a genuine smile. "Congratulations. You two definitely deserve this. But…" His smile fades. "You'd really want me of all people as a groomsman? I'm sure you have a lot of people you'd prefer to choose over me."

Asuma shakes his head. "Right now, my choices are you, Kakashi, Gai, Chiriku, and Shikaku."

"You chose Shikaku over Chouza because you know he won't refuse, but you wanna annoy him with the importance of the role, didn't you?"

Asuma smirks. "I can't confirm or deny that logic. The offer still stands, Sasuke. You're more than welcome up there with us."

He falls silent as he mulls it over. This is… not something he ever considered in his life. When thinking of his future, all he ever saw was blood and chaos and struggling to go after one particular man's head. The traitorous bastard who turned his clan against his village and forced his brother's hand.

Now, he sees potential for… more. For once, it's not all blood and loneliness. Here stand two people who've shown him more genuine care and affection than anyone since his mother, and surely a lot more than his father had ever shown. They want him to be a part of one of the biggest events of their lives, regardless of his grim outlook and constant social failings. It's not something he ever could have seen coming, but it sparks a new fire in him. One he can't quite fathom for a few moments.

He'd forgotten how it felt, after all this time.

"I… I'll do it. I'd be happy to be there for you two."

Kurenai steps up and pulls him into a tight hug. "Thank you, Sasuke. We can't tell you how much this means to us."

Asuma nods and sighs in relief. "Now… we're not just celebrating that. We just wanted you to know how welcome you are with us first. We've got one other surprise for you." He grins. "Yugao and Hayate got home with Hideki last night, and we're meeting with them. I know the boy's looking forward to seeing you again."

Sasuke's eyes widen for a moment, but he grins and chugs a bottle of water. Once done, he crushes it and tosses it cleanly into a nearby can. "Let's clean up and get moving then. Don't wanna keep them waiting, do we?" He walks off to bathe, while the two shinobi look to one another with a grin. They're getting through to him. There's genuine hope, in his eyes, his voice, his future. Maybe hope for much more soon, if he's so receptive to being a young groomsman.

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Sakura huffs as she stands in the middle of a tattered field of dirt and stone, her knuckles bruised and scraped. She arches her back to loosen it up, and amidst it popping a few times, she barely manages to hear Chouji approaching. "That was pretty awesome. You can't move as much earth as me yet, but your control is insane."

She chuckles and takes the bottle he offers. Rather than water, it's a potent organic fruit juice blend. The Akamichi clan has taken nutrition during training quite seriously for generations, something few would expect of a clan that's largely so hefty. Regardless, Sakura finds this a welcome change to her usual water binging. "Mmm… Well, it's good progress for today. I figure casting more and more of these jutsu in succession and pushing my limits is a good way to increase my chakra capacity. Now that I don't have much, I'll push my limits gently with some idle chakra exercises for the rest of the day."

Chouji hums. "That's a pretty good method. You thinkin sticking things to yourself all day?"

She nods and finishes her bottle off. "Yep. Not just leaves, though. I need it to be something with stakes, something to push me."

Chouji scratches his head as he thinks it over, then grins as it hits him. "Ok, this one's a little mean, but maybe Naruto's rubbing off on me. You can keep your headband really loosely tied, so it'd fall off any time, but there's something written on your forehead under it!"

Sakura freezes, but slowly develops a feral grin. "Ok. Good advice, and I'm gonna do it, but you can't tell me that wasn't inspired by Ino's insults."

"... Um… Ok, maybe it was, but come on, I'm around her constantly anymore."

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The front doors of the Hyuuga compound are oddly simplistic, an old-fashioned sort of ornate, but the more he looked at them, the more Naruto realized there was more to it. Those doors surely hosted a wide variety of security seals, written beneath the paint, or even carved in and filled with paint until it looked smooth.

He's broken out of his musings as they open and the familiar, friendly face of the Hyuuga heiress greets him. "N-Naruto-kun, it's a pleasure to have you here! And you as well, Yoko."

Yoko bows and trots over for some petting, which Hinata gladly gives. Naruto chuckles and raises a bag he brought. "Well, to thank you and your father, I made sure to pick up a few things. An order of your favorite cinnamon buns, and the ginseng your dad was looking for."

"O-Oh!" Hinata stares in shock. "That's... incredibly thoughtful, Naruto-kun.: She peeks around for a moment, but sighs and smiles. "You sealed the buns to keep them hot, didn't you?"

"You know it!" He holds up a small seal. "I'm definitely doing this with prepared meals for missions. Imagine being out camping for a mission, open a seal, and there's a piping hot bowl from Ichiraku's in your lap, a hundred miles from Konoha!"

"Ah, I was wondering when you would pick up on that application." Naruto jumps and wheels around to face Hiashi, approaching from outside the gates. "It's quite useful, I've taken to doing so myself on the occasion I take up a mission. And when it comes to food on the go, I must admit, Ichiraku's is a good choice. Not the healthiest, but certainly a step above standard ration bars." He cringes. "Anything to avoid those abominations."

Hinata quickly bows. "Welcome home, tou-san."

Naruto chuckles as he calms down from the ambush. "Couldn't agree more. Ichiraku's may not be healthy, but it's just too delicious to avoid."

Hiashi hums. "Kushina would surely be proud to hear you say that. I wasn't surprised in the slightest when my daughter told me you'd taken her there."

Naruto's taken aback for a moment, his arms and forced cheeky grin dropping. "You… k-knew my mom?"

He hums and nods. "She and my late wife, Kyouko, were once good friends. Uzumaki Kushina was a fierce woman, a dangerous kunoichi with a temper that no shinobi in their right mind would stoke. Her potential was truly staggering. Admittedly, I see a lot of her in you."

Hinata can't help but slowly smile at this bonding moment.

"A bit too much in some cases. You certainly got her impulsiveness, temper, and manners." He smirks. "But nobody's perfect."

Naruto's jaw dropped. "... Ok, since you're Hinata's father, I'm gonna let that slide."

"Well, not as impulsive as I thought. Really though, you also got a lot of her best qualities, so you should surely be proud of that. If anything, she was always tenacious and creative."

Naruto slowly grins. "Now that certainly sounds like me. Well, you mind if I come in for a while? I have a few questions regarding remote seal triggers, and I know your clan's pretty good at it." His grin visibly twitches. He clearly doesn't like why they're so good at it. "I brought some of your favorite ginseng blend, if that helps."

Hinata peeks between the two of them, tense, but hopeful. When her father hums and smiles, she sighs in relief. "Of course you're welcome. I have a few pieces of advice to give, surely. Anything to assist in the rise of Konoha's next sealmaster. Not something you can ever have enough of, in my opinion. Your mother's clan certainly agreed with that."

"Oh, you wouldn't believe some of the stories Hokage-jiji's told me about them."

"I heard plenty from your mother, some of them were quite… colorful."

"The Spiral Springs Ink Spill Incident?"

"Ah, good, I would have done terribly retelling that one."

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"We got here so fast!" Hideki cheers and throws his arms up, almost slipping out of his booth at the restaurant Yugao and Hayate chose for this reunion. "Kaa-san even showed me how to unlock my chakra! I'm gonna be that fast one day!"

Kurenai giggles, and she's surprised to find Sasuke chuckling along with her. "Ya know brat, you just might get there, but don't expect catching up to Yugao to be easy. She's one of the fastest in our village, so you've got your work cut out for you there."

Yugao hums as she sips her soda. "Odd, I didn't think that was much of a public fact."

"Oh, well, I heard plenty from an inside source when I was younger." He shrugs. That leads the three adults at the table to pause, since they all know who that source is. "If he respected your speed, it's really gotta be something."

Eventually, she smirks and nods. "Well, he would certainly know."

"Sasuke…" His attention is drawn to Kurenai. "You were surprisingly comfortable saying that. I'm impressed… and proud."

He stares for a moment, but shakes it off and looks away. "Well, I've had some time to build a… fresh perspective. Maybe I'll explain it later. For now, we've gotta celebrate you getting here." He points his fork at Hideki. "So how's it feel to be the newest member of the Gekkō family?"

Hayate smirks, but has to suppress a cough before responding. "Be honest, Hideki. If there's anything wrong, we'll gladly work to fix it."

Hideki pauses and looks himself over, before peeking up to his new parents. Hayate first, then Yugao, and he can't stop the few tears that fall as his smile widens. "I-I couldn't be happier."

Sasuke hums and nods. "Good… cherish that."

Asuma and Kurenai share a look for a moment, knowing they don't have long to wait now. He's almost ready.

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Nor far from the restaurant, two jinchuuriki and an heiress wait at the northern gate, as they feel the approach of a third. In the distance, they can see four figures slowly approaching. Soon enough, a genin squad arrives consisting of one platinum blond white boy with shoulder-length hair and blue eyes- if his hair were darker, Naruto would wonder if he were related to the Yamanaka clan- a black girl with spiky red hair and burning amber eyes, and a black boy with stark-white hair and a lolipop hanging loosely between his lips. The jonin escorting them is surprisingly young, another blonde woman with piercing eyes, full lips, and a conservative outfit with a thickly-padded and tight powder-blue vest.

As they approach, Hinata bows. "Welcome, shinobi of Kumogakure."

The one boy's lollipop nearly falls from his lips. "O-Oh, um.. Thank you? It's.. odd that the first person to greet us would be a Hyuuga. Doesn't your whole clan hate our guts?" He hunches a bit and his eyes lose focus. "If could be a trick to demoralize us in the exams, or sweet talk state secrets out of us, and we'll be executed or exi-"

He's silenced as the redhead donkey punches him. "Ugh… excuse Omoi, he overthinks everything. Thank you, Hyuuga-san. I'm Karui, my equally obnoxious teammate is Atsui-"

"Hey!"

"And our sensei is Nii Yugito."

Yugito bows just enough to be considered courteous, but also quite stern and guarded. "Thank you for welcoming us. It's a bit odd to be welcome by three genin though, I must admit. Especially a Hyuuga, let alone the heiress." Her squad freezes at the thought, having not recognized her as the very girl their former administration had tried to kidnap. Yugito ignores this and bows deeper to Hinata in particular. "I'm deeply sorry for my village's actions against your clan. Our former administration was ruthless, daring, and far too dishonorable. Our newest Raikage, the son of the man whose choices led to such hardship, extends his sincerest apologies, and would like to open communications for reparation."

Hinata's eyes slowly widen as each word sinks in, too stunned to speak until Naruto gently nudges her. "O… O-Of course. Thank you, Yugito-san. My father will surely be delighted to hear this."

Omoi sighs in relief. "Well, that's going to make these exams a lot less stressful."

"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that." Fuu giggles and jabs Naruto with her elbow. "This guy's gonna be pranking all the visitors to hell and back."

"Only the annoying ones. And the ones who're full of themselves." He smirks. "And the ones who talk shit about Ichiraku's."

Karui slowly grins. "Oh, I've gotta see how that turns out."

"We were here for one major thing ourselves, actually." Naruto cuts in. "This is gonna be so awesome." He chuckles and raises his fist to Yugito, and Fuu presses one side of her knuckles to Naruto's, leaving room for Yugito to fit in against them both. She stares in shock for a moment, as do her students, but they all get it quite quickly. Yugito pounds it with a smile, while her students watch on in awe.

"It's been far too long, Matatabi. You appear to be doing well, all things considered." Kurama hums.

Matatabi towers behind Yugito, burning blue as her yellow eyes pierce her company, but there's a playfulness in that gaze. "Kurama, Choumei, it's wonderful to see you both. I'm sorry I didn't sense you before, but so long in Kumo, dealing with Bee's ramblings and rapping through Gyuki's mindspace convinced me to ignore and almost sever that connection a long while ago."

"Well, that would explain a lot." Choumei giggles. "So Gyuki's jinchuuriki is that unique of a character?"

Yugito groans. "Like you wouldn't believe. But I must say, this is a reunion I didn't expect to witness." She grins and crosses her arms. "I was wondering what happened to you, Kurama. My whole village's administration has had it on their minds since you escaped Kushina."

Naruto grumbles. "State secret my ass. Next time I see that old monkey, he's getting glitter tags on every blade of his office's ceiling fan."

Fuu snorts and doubles over in laughter. "He's gonna be finding it in his paperwork and robes for weeks!"

"Nah, he'll just burn it all. Seen him do it already."

Yugito hums. "Well, now I get the feeling I'm gonna like it here."

Naruto chuckles. "Oh, wait until the other two get here. Shukaku's gonna be a problem, but I've heard so many stories about Roshi and Son Goku."

Yugito's smile falls. "Ok, now this is looking like an international incident in the making."

Kurama hums. "Maybe, but it won't be boring. We'll see what we can do about Shukaku, though. Naruto, isn't the toad supposed to be returning soon?"

Naruto nods. "Not until the month between the second round and the tournament, though. His insight into senjutsu should give us the edge to work around Shukaku's problem and maybe make a seal that can drain the natural energy from him and get him stable."

Yugito grumbles. "You must mean Jiraiya. Of course we have to rely on that old pervert… but, I suppose there's nobody better when it comes to senjutsu. Last known sage in the world, really."

"Eh, give me five years or so."

Matatabi grins. "Oh, I like this one."

"Back off, the brat's mine. I've waited almost seventy years for a jinchuuriki that keeps things this interesting."

Naruto can't help but chuckle at that. "Glad to help. Oh, by the way, Matatabi, I gotta ask… do you, uh, have any kids?"

She tilts her head. "An odd question, but considering where we are, I suppose you must have met one of my little hellkittens already. Which one was it?"

"Tora. She and I are on good terms, but she gives most shinobi in this village hell."

"Well, she's lasted a long time. If I ever needed any proof of our mortal offspring having extended lifespans, that would be it."

Yoko hums from atop Kurama's head, which nobody had noticed she was on just yet, save for Kurama himself. "Good to know. Maybe you won't lose me too soon, Naruto-nii."

"Kurama!" Matatabi scoffs. "You have a daughter, and didn't consider introducing us?"

"To be frank, I didn't know she could get into this mindspace. Color me impressed. Also, I wanted to see if any of you noticed the little interloper. Regardless, yes, this is Yoko, my daughter as of resuscitating her with my chakra a few weeks ago."

"Oh, you really went the unconventional way with it, hm? Then again, shouldn't have expected you to go about it the normal way."

"Not only does the act not please me, but the fact you had mortal feline children of such a diminutive scale with that method is a bit disturbing."

"Oh, that was simple, the hard part was staying shrunken for so long after until they were born. Compacting my chakra that much for so long takes a lot of focus. When I realized I wanted kids, I practically had to meditate for those few months to keep my form and heat under control."

Fuu giggles a bit. "Well, Choumei''s got some family here too. The bugs of the Aburame clan!"

Choumei chitters in excitement. "It's so good to be back with them!"

Naruto sighs contently. "Well, if you ask me, we're all family. We jinchuuriki gotta stick together. Right?"

Yugito turns to him with a gentle smile. "I couldn't agree more. I'm sure Bee and Gyuki would as well."

Finally, their hands come apart, and in the waking world, that whole conversation took a few mere seconds. All three of Yugito's escorted students know all too well what just happened, and Karui is the first to comment on it. "Holy shit."

Hinata pouts, feeling a bit left-out, but shakes it off with a smile. "The six of you have a nice chat?"

Yoko cuts in, with one of her tails wrapped around Naruto's leg. "Seven, actually. And yes, quite good."

Naruto grins ear-to-ear. "This exam season is gonna be so awesome." He waves and turns. "Now, the others are all arriving about now too, so let's get to the tower for check-in on the exams. I had a few things I wanted to talk to him about anyway."

Samui chuckles. "Oh, so you've got easy access to your kage too? Well… being what you are, I suppose that's to be expected. In our case, it's just because we're tight with his brother. He's our real sensei, but Raikage-sama doesn't let him leave very often."

The walk through Konoha to the tower is mostly uneventful. Spirits are high, discussions about expectations for the exam are plentiful, and more than a few dirty looks by civilians are caught by the Kumo shinobi. They know they're not the most welcome here, but when they see most of the glares are aimed Naruto's way, that only angers them more. They knew other villages didn't treat their jinchuuriki well, but to see it themselves…

But no glare can compare to what they find upon reaching the front doors of the tower. Here, they find the Sunagakure team and their sensei, with one short young man front and center, sporting red hair and a brighter red tattoo of the kanji for love on his forehead. But it's quite difficult to notice the kanji when compared the wild, almost feral look in his eyes. Barely restrained rage kept in check merely by his duty as a shinobi of Sunagakure. Naruto can feel that rage slowly home in one him in particular, and he only has one response.

He closes his eyes, and when they open, they've turned red. "Hello, brother. I see you're in an unsurprisingly foul mood."

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A.N.: Ad the exam season begins... I wont lie to you. I've been gearing up for this for over a year, and I still don't know what all till happen. because I fully intend to make some of it a surprise even to me as we go! That's right. Some parts of the exam will be COMPLETELY RANDOM, and could have some truly devastating results! Oh, this is going to be almost too much fun...

Meanwhile, I just finished my Metroid Dread playthrough that I'm uploading over on youtube, check that out if you can! The finale should be this Saturday!