Mirai Naruto was seated on the grass,

"What happened?" said Kakashi.

Mirai Naruto jerked out of his reverie. "I...um..." he lightly shook his head, trying to gather himself. "What?"

"Hyuuga Hiashi was murdered last night. His younger daughter is missing. You must know what's going on?" said Kakashi.

"Not a clue," said Naruto hoarsely.

Kakashi was rightfully skeptical. "It wouldn't be part of the reason you came to the past?"

"Not that I'm aware," Mirai Naruto continued to deflect. He forced a smile, but it weakened. Faded.

Kakashi sat beside him. Naruto knew the man could read him, but suspected he wasn't being very discreet anyway. His eyes returned to the ground, and he focused on an ant, deliberating its enterprise, as silly as that seemed. He just needed to keep himself distracted until he was left alone again.

Kakashi rested his hand on Naruto's shoulder, nearly breaking him. "What are you doing on training ground three?"

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto breathed. "You don't want to know."

"Don't touch me!" Hanabi cried. "Don't! Mothe-!"

She flinched when her captor's blood splattered across her chest. She instinctively jerked back, tugging on her wiry binds, and nearly slicing through her fingers. There was a scuffle going on, and before she could decipher the figure that was easily disposing of the foreigners, she found the tip of a sword poised inches from her nose. She swallowed, and lifted her gaze to the wielder.

Mirai Sasuke.

The sword flicked, and her binds came loose. Hanabi drew her hands out from behind her and stared at the cuts decorating them. She looked back up at Mirai Sasuke who was studying her, almost as though he was looking for something. He offered her his hand, to which she frowned. She ignored it and climbed up on her own.

The Kumo shinobi were sprawled about in growing onyx puddles that flashed scarlet at the right angle. The female among them was on her back, face wan, lips paling. Hanabi could spot where arteries had been sliced open with surgical precision. Even if they weren't dead yet, they would bleed out in seconds.

Her eyes shifted to the entrance of the cavern, where Mirai Hinata stood leaning on the archway, looking bored.

Hanabi deactivated her byakugan.

She had seen the two of them beyond the wall. They had hesitated to save her.

Mirai Sasuke pulled her out of the room, not releasing her arm for some reason. Mirai Hinata allowed them to pass her, before following at a leisurely pace.

"You don't have to usher me," Hanabi said, pulling her elbow free of Uchiha's hold. "I'm not blind." Arms stiff at her sides, she continued down the darkening corridor.

"Aa," said Mirai Sasuke belatedly. He seemed briefly disconcerted.

As the torches disappeared with their progression, and their surroundings became entirely black, Hanabi activated her byakugan again. She could see Mirai Hinata doing the same, taking Mirai Sasuke's hand to guide him. But it was something more than aid. Hanabi had seen the exchange earlier, how the two had kissed. Mirai Hinata and Mirai Sasuke were lovers.

It was another few hours before the trio emerged into Konoha's night. Hanabi realized she must have been missing for at least a day. She saw none of the relief she felt in her saviors' faces, just a graveness that piqued her growing curiosity.

The three of them crossed the village in that tense silence. At the Hyuuga compound, Mirai Hinata walked off, but Mirai Sasuke stopped Hanabi just within the gates.

"Go see your family. Let them know you're alright. And have someone send word to the Hokage."

He spoke to her with too much familiarity and authority. Hanabi opened her mouth to retort, but stopped herself. He had saved her after all. Gritting her teeth, she walked into the house.

Mirai Sasuke didn't even notice that midnight had passed when he walked into his wife's room and collapsed, fully-clothed, to the bed beside her.

He felt inclined to reach out to Naruto and Sakura again, but his prior efforts had yielded nothing, and he had barely slept in two days.

They were sprawled side by side, and it was pleasantly habitual, with no room for resentment or contemplation, just numbing exhaustion.

He appreciated that her unintelligible mumbles were more endearing than anguished that night. She curled herself against his back and wrapped her arms around his torso, spooning him. And in the comfort of that contact, Sasuke allowed his body to shut down.

Just before he could fully lose consciousness, a patch of light streamed in from the doorway, hitting his face and making him recoil.

"Kaasan? Tousan?"

Sasuke buried himself deeper under his sheets. Hinata murmured something that sounded rude.

Then they both sat up.

Standing against the doorframe, a preteen girl crossed her arms. "Where were you?" she asked.

Kasai.

Part 2

It was late when Genzai Hinata finally awoke. She drew up her knees and frowned down at them. "I want to go home," she said quietly.

"I'll walk you," Genzai Sasuke responded.

But they didn't walk, they ran, darting over rooftops, across the city, cool air blowing back their hair, in a glimpse of normalcy, except for her tears, that flew, and gleamed when streetlamps caught her face. She didn't tell him what happened, or what led to her being attacked. But there had been enough hints and signs to tell him that something terrible had transpired at the Hyuuga compound.

When they passed through the Hyuuga gates, Hinata froze in her front yard, staring at an adolescent girl who was on the veranda, gazing back at her with the same white eyes. A choked noise escaped Hinata's throat, before she ran to the younger girl, catching her in an almost violent embrace, as both crumpled to their knees, hugging, murmuring, Hinata sobbing into her shoulder as the younger girl stroked her back. It was the younger sibling.

Both were home.

Safe.

Genzai Sasuke watched as several elders wrenched them apart and began to pull them towards the door, and into the house, shooting Sasuke grim looks at they departed. Sasuke turned to leave, but found himself distracted by the sight of a luminescent red bird flying around, circling the house. He found himself appraising it.

Neji caught the scroll that dropped through the trees, before unrolling and examining it through the darkness. "Hanabi's safe. We can head back."

Behind his shoulder Kiba sighed, but the girls were a few yards ahead of them.

"Guys, over here!" Sakura called.

Neji lowered the scroll and walked toward the sound of Sakura's voice. He heard Kiba follow.

"It stinks," said Kiba, wrinkling his sensitive nostrils.

But the stench of it was nothing compared to the sight. Neji saw everything before they reached the clearing, which was littered with chunks of flesh and puddles of blood. Insects buzzed, grazed, and bred about the rot.

Neji saw the recumbent man with the cloud hitai-ate and brain matter seeping from his ears—and the one against a tree, who had practically been torn to pieces. Finally, he focused on his uncle's severed head, clutched in his girlfriend's arms.

She held it up to her face and stared at it, the inception of her ambitions blossoming in her eyes.

Ino spun, startled by the sound of his approach. With Hiashi's head held up, she looked as though she was presenting it to him.

Neji reached out and received it, coating his hands in the sticky, filthy blood he'd never get used to the way she would.

He tilted the head, examining it. His uncle's eyes were intact.

"Kasai."

It had to be her.

She had Hinata's large eyes, Sasuke's pointed nose, scratches on her cheeks, and messy hair that hung in her eyes. She looked like Kasai in every way but age.

Kasai uncrossed her arms and pushed herself off the doorframe. "What?" she said, perturbed by their gaping.

Hinata got up and closed the distance between them. She dropped to her knees and pulled Kasai into a crushing embrace.

Sasuke hesitated, wary, confused. He got to his feet and scrutinized the girl with his sharingan. Then his restraint gave way, his arms trembling. He joined them on the floor, pulling both girls into his arms.

"Kaasan! Otousan," Kasai protested, voice muffled in their clothes.

Sasuke pulled back, holding her at arm's length, trying to determine if she was an illusion. His eyes were narrowed, sharingan present. Kasai defiantly activated hers.

"What happened to you?" said Sasuke. It was Kasai, but she seemed to have aged several years.

"What are you talking about, tousan?" Kasai twisted out of his hold.

"Something changed," said Hinata, her eyes wet.

Sasuke was stunned. "Where were you?"

Kasai frowned, her temerity fading and eyes turning black again. "I was in my room. Where were you?" she demanded, grabbing his shirt.

Sasuke ignored her question. "How old are you?"

"I'm nine, tousan. Did you bump your head?" She peered at him with concern.

"I…" Sasuke trailed off, and fell uniquely speechless. Kasai poked him in her leisure, sending Hinata displeased looks in the meantime.

Something went wrong, Hinata mentioned telepathically.

She's older, said Sasuke, unnecessarily.

Kasai's presence meant two things.

Genzai Sasuke and Genzai Hinata were back on the right trajectory in regards to their relationship.

Kasai was going to be conceived four years prematurely.

Sasuke grimaced at this mutual realization. I'm going to castrate him.

Wouldn't that be counterproductive? said Hinata.

Well, I'm going to fix this, he said. I'll simply tell them when—

You can't tell them when. Hinata covered her face with her hand and shook her head. Do you know how embarrassed they would be?

Do you have a better plan?

Maybe we shouldn't push our luck. What if she disappears again?

"I can tell them," Kasai volunteered.

Sasuke and Hinata's faces snapped up. "What?" they said in unison.

"What you were talking about." Kasai smiled. "When."

Hinata reddened and Sasuke gave Kasai an odd look. "Do you even know what we're talking about?"

"No," Kasai admitted, already headed for the door.

"Where are you going? We need to discuss some things."

"No tousan, you're mean!" Kasai called in a routine way as she ran off, slamming the door shut behind her.

Sasuke followed, throwing the door open, and was met with an empty corridor and no trace of their daughter. He turned back to his wife. "I can't tell if I'm awake or not," he confessed.

"It never leaves," Kasai mentioned petulantly, kicking dirt. "The bird. It's annoying."

"It's not a real bird," Genzai Sasuke responded, still gazing upward from the Hyuuga compound yard. "It's an active jutsu." He paused. "Or a seal?"

Kasai huffed.

Sasuke shifted his attention to the girl beside him, eyebrows raising. "What happened to you?" His face turned dour with suspicion.

Kasai gave a scowl to match Sasuke's. "Why do people keep saying that?"

"Because you look older."

"I'm nine, I'm not old."

Genzai Sasuke almost grinned, canines flashing, but then his shoulder burned, and he relaxed his lips, because it wasn't him. He didn't smile like that. It was just another seal from a stupid fucking sannin. "Don't antagonize me," he spat, because wings were practically straining to burst from his back, and he still felt nervy and agitated, and keenly needed to detox from that last episode with a few more hours of rest.

On the contrary, Kasai jumped on his back, scratching and strangling as Sasuke writhed to throw her off. As she grabbed a chunk of his hair, snakes shot up from the earth. They coiled around her, restraining her tightly, as he pulled away. "You always antagonize," he noted gruffly, as he turned back to her.

Flames shot up from the earth so abruptly that he stumbled back. The fire was blue and hot, skin melting off the snakes, as they screeched and twitched and shriveled away. Kasai stood in the heart of the conflagration, though she remained unburned. In his periphery, Genzai Sasuke could see that they were developing an audience. Several elders had come back onto the veranda, as had Genzai Hinata and her sister. Mirai Sasuke was present as well.

The grass surrounding the flames was rapidly browning, then charring, in a growing, stinking patch. It widened and advanced as Genzai Sasuke carefully backed away. He had seen Kasai make no hand seals. He wasn't sure how she controlled it.

He flipped to the side as the fire abruptly shot towards him. As he did, he caught a glimpse of the sky. The red bird had faded a good deal, and was now translucent, almost blending with the inky night.

"Did you have a bad day?" he called apathetically. He was not sure if he was consoling or taunting. It might have been idle curiosity.

More snakes emerged from the ground. They were coming so easily, almost without him making the effort to summon them. They martyred themselves, shooting into the fire, at Kasai. She cartwheeled backwards, gracefully avoiding them, then watched them dissolve.

"Kasai."

Now the flames began to circle him, becoming a vortex that tugged at his hair and singed his clothes.

"I think my grandfather died," she admitted quietly.

The flames faded.

Another glance at the sky revealed that the bird was gone.

Genzai Sasuke looked back at Kasai just in time to see her fall to the ground, unconscious.

"Hn." That was interesting.

Hushed murmurs filtered over from the direction of the house. Mirai Sasuke walked over to collect his daughter from the grass. He didn't even look at Genzai Sasuke except to sneer. With that, he went back into the house.

Her husband lowered Kasai to her bed. "We're bad parents," he concluded.

"Why is she still fainting?" said Mirai Hinata, joining him beside the bed. "What happened?"

"She was using chakra. Ano, playing rough as usual." Too rough. And possibly not playing.

"And she exhausted her chakra that quickly?"

It wasn't normal.

Mirai Sasuke paused, hesitated, then rolled Kasai onto her front. He tugged down her collar. "A seal."

"What?" Hinata unzipped the back of Kasai's dress, exposing her back, and revealing an intricate tattoo decorating it. "What is this?"

"I think she's on a chakra allowance." He had done preliminary research on it. Back home—before all of this. "She can only access a portion of her power." It made him wonder what Kasai could be capable of now that she was nine-years-old.

Hinata blinked. "So the bird—?"

"That was her reserve. She drew from it until it disappeared."

"And the rest of her chakra is sealed," Hinata mused. "Why would anyone do that to her? It leaves her defenseless."

"The ward will break to save her life," said Sasuke.

"How do you know that?"

"I think I made it."

"…oh." It was a lot to take in. Her daughter was abruptly older, stronger, and possibly more violent than before. At five, it had been cute. But nine…nine was different.

She leaned on the wall, trying to collect herself, but in fact doing the opposite.

"You're hyperventilating," Sasuke mentioned flatly.

"I—um—I—I think-"

"Just concentrate on breathing."

He stood against the wall with her. He took her hand, guiding them both to the floor. And for a while, they sat there together, trying to lengthen her breaths as he pacified her with calming words.

"Do you think we've changed?" said Sasuke quietly. "Since yesterday?"

The inquiry only made her efforts to breathe considerably more difficult.

It took her a while to fully calm down. By then, Sasuke had somehow fallen asleep on her shoulder.

And maybe she had changed. Maybe they both had.

The Hyuuga daughters were wrapped around each other. It was childish, but it was the only way they knew how to mourn their father's death—in silence, but together.

"Did they hurt you?" Hinata whispered. Her head was against her pillow, and face in her sister's hair.

"No," Hanabi responded, hoarse and obstinate. She took their father's death harder than Hinata but she would not show it.

"How did you get away?" Hinata wanted to know.

"Your counterpart," said Hanabi, causing Hinata to blink. "And—the Uchiha's counterpart. They were together."

"Oh..." said Hinata thoughtfully.

"No, I mean, I saw them kissing," said Hanabi, causing her sister's eyes to widen. "They're—together."

And something in Hinata's mind clicked. The bedroom swayed around her.

"Oh—right."