AN: Hopefully the quality is good as usual! Your amazing reviews spurred me to keep writing, thank you to all who reviewed!

So I've been thinking. There are arcs in this story, but right now with my non-existant naming system of only roman numerals it'll get quite confusing. Should I adopt chapter titles and add the arc and number in front like this: xxx Arc I - xxx? or just stick with what I have?

Some people have pointed out Minato is 13 around this time, and I honestly forgot that. I can only say that he's probably older than that in this story according to my headcanon though still a teenager, and he's been forced to mature fast. Also in a kid's point of view I suppose it's acceptable that a 16-ish teenager seems older than his age. Sorry, I really forgot.

Did I mention I'm looking for a beta? It'll help the chapters come faster if I have someone to talk about it with. *hint hint* Interested peoples PM me please!

Insert Naruto disclaimer here.

Oh yeah, Sakumo kept his promises. All his promises.

Bonding schmonding, it's an excuse to drill us to death.

Granted, Sakumo was there for every second of the training, to encourage us and teach us and make sure we did the actions right and didn't pull something important, hampering our developing physiques. But still! I was expecting outings and picnics on the sun-bathed grass or whatever, not morning-to-night drills!

…

Alright. I was just bitter about being worked within an inch of my life. It's not actually that bad.

It turns out I wasn't that much behind Kakashi in the taijutsu area, because he's just started too. Which makes sense, because I was pretty sure I read somewhere that there's a limit to what martial arts can be practiced by kids still going through growth, since muscle groups are developing, and a wrong move can have serious repercussions down the road.

These limitations applied to teenagers, much less a child below five. And Sakumo knew this. He's not going to jeopardize his son's health just because the kid was over zealous about training and extremely persistent when he wants to be.

For two days, Sakumo drilled us in the basic forms of what I assume to be the Hatake clan's taijutsu form, or just Sakumo's own one, honed over the years of his active service. I didn't have any prior martial arts training, sans yoga, nor was I a dancer. I led a pretty—scratch that, out goes dignity through the window—an entirely sedentary lifestyle, if one doesn't count all the two-hour standing sessions that were my violin pratice, but those stopped halfway through college.

All that nothing meant I was starting on an even playing ground with other kids. Still, a child's brain is practically hard-wired for learning, so I picked up the movements pretty fast. Warm up was thirty laps around the compound, then Sakumo started us off with a series of back-breaking stretches, and finally onto basic punches and kicks, because who knew a lot of work actually went into hitting correctly? He gave me a few pointers and some demonstration, while Kakashi fell into a different, but still simple, routine on the side.

We did the basics for morning all the way to lunch. The middle of the day was when the sun's heat was harshest, so after lunch was indoor book-stuff and chakra lessons — more on that later. When evening washed over the village, Sakumo ushered us out to the yard again for an evening session of martial arts.

It definitely wasn't modern nuclear family bonding sessions, but for once in the period of time I've been here, Sakumo sat down with us at every meal and was simply present around the house. That's the most important bit, I think.

Kakashi's mood, while previously low, was now soaring sky-high.

Over the next few days Sakumo taught us other katas and forms, but stressed that basic training i.e. the punching and kicking and stretching, would be the cornerstone of any style, and that we should never, ever slack on those.

By the end of the first week, I was already feeling the work find its way to my core. I've never felt so fit in my life.

Kakashi and I must have ran a veritable track into the garden by now from all the laps we've been doing. Training was tiring, tiring work, and between morning and evenings of it and the rest of the day to catch my breath and steady my mental state (because this is basic training to become a killer, a murderer, something that could've gotten me capital punishment back home…! doesn't apply here, sorry), there wasn't time for much else.

My body's clock has always been skewed towards the night-hours. Bedtime for me used to totter between one in the morning to four, so hand me a passable reason to sleep till noon and I will do it, but for the first time in my life I was feeling sleepy around sunset.

Minato didn't let up, either. He dumped a pile of scrolls in me — he was heading on a mission, and he wanted a few of them read before he came back — and gave me a plan of kanji to learn to write. Since i hadn't allowed myself to graduate to complex characters, and all the exercise was giving my hand a quiver, calligraphy soon began edging towards a task to complete instead of a de-stressor.

The second week was when things started getting really interesting in the sparkly-magic-ninja way. Apparently Kakashi hadn't had time to properly start on chakra manipulation lessons, either, and that was what the second week of Sakumo's break was going to be about.

We had previously studied chakra theory in those afternoon breaks. Sakumo took the chance to do some homeschooling as well—basic maths, logical thinking, some complex gramma, etc.—and I must say it was immensely satisfying that I was able to fire off questions the way I did without awkwardness or raised eyebrows.

...actually the latter did happen, because I asked some pretty strange questions, and probably shattered Kakashi's worldview of 'Dad has all the answers'.

But back to chakra.

The theory bits are pretty simple. Chakra is a source of power, like heat or electricity, only in our bodies. It's as intrinsic to our physical make-up as skin, and wound so tightly around our organs that depleting its store is fatal.

Us kids caught on fast, and Kakashi was all for practical lessons, but I derailed that thought with piercing questions on how the chakra system interacted with human anatomy in detail. Basically I shot off on tangents, simultaneously impressing Sakumo with the breadth of my interest and satisfying my own goal of not getting another ninja-magic subject to add stress to my day.

Besides, for all the talk of chakra and its presence as a current of pure energy in our bodies, I hadn't been able to isolate it.

Of course, I didn't put much effort into my trials, sure, they were just curious before-bed explorations, and I came to the conclusion that it must be a little like blood: under the right conditions I'll be able to feel it, otherwise it's just sort of there, invisible, pulsing.

Then Second Week rolled around, and Sakumo had had enough of my procrastinating. He sat us on the grass, gave himself the porch, and began to speak.

"Chakra is the quintessential energy that a shinobi utilizes in his trade. We've gone through that." Sakumo said.

Ever since the adults have seen through my admittedly half-assed attempt at deception, they've been dropping big words like strategically placed bombings. I stand by my earlier observation that a child's mind is molded for learning, for my vocabulary increased by leaps and bounds. Impressively, Kakashi kept up seemingly with no effort.

"Today will not consist of physical training. Frowning is not good for you, Kakashi. Instead, we shall attempt to discover and use our chakra."

It's early morning and the summer heat had already baked off any dew, but the grass was still cool and comfortable. I pressed a hand into the meticulously kept lawn and wondered how I'm supposed to use something I couldn't feel.

Was Sakumo going to tap our heads and go 'Lo! You have awakened!' ? … not in the best state of mind in the morning.

Sakumo got up and walked away.

Apparently not.

"Alright," Sakumo was coming back to us from the tree hanging over the wall, several leaves in his hand, and Kakashi was sitting straighter than a board, whole body vibrating with energy. "This is a simple trick."

And he slapped a leaf to his head, and it stayed there, and to prove his point, he tipped his head down, even gave it a tug. The leaf didn't budge.

Grinning broadly, he handed us each a piece of dying plant matter.

"You try."

I stared at the green thing in my hand. Hearing and talking about chakra is all good, but really seeing physics being fucked over? Damn.

I took a deep breath, emptied my mind of most thoughts like we had gone through in the theory lessons, closed my eyes, and tried to find my chakra.

I did, I swear, I really did, but I felt nothing. You'd think an alien system might be easy to find, but nooo.

I opened my eyes. Kakashi's leaf was stuck fast to his forehead, and Sakumo was looking at me with a slight frown. When he saw I noticed him, however, the frown melted off to be replaced by a warm smile of concern.

"Need help?" He squatted next to me.

I let the leaf lie in my palm. "Can't find it," I said. "What does chakra feel like?"

"It should be just under your skin. You can't find your chakra?"

It's almost funny, the incredulous tone he used.

I stared at my hands, stilled my breath, concentrated, and felt a mild pulsing in my fingers. Is that the chakra, or is it just the blood? I remembered this sensation from before this life. "Does it pulse?" I asked. "How do you use it?"

He seemed stumped by that question. "Well, sort of…? Simply direct the sensation to your forehead. It's easier there."

'Direct'?

By now Kakashi had opened his eyes and was staring curiously over. His leaf did not fall.

I held the leaf to my forehead. Maybe if I concentrated the pulsing (I still think it's the blood) to… This feels stupid.

I let go, and the leaf begin a sweeping, waltzing descent into my lap.

I looked at Sakumo.

"Hmmm," he said, staring at the leaf.

And his eyes snapped up to my face, to the seal. I could almost see his brain forming some connection between it and my little chakra problem.

Suddenly he pushed on his knees, standing up. "We're going into the village," he declared, arms akimbo, "I was planning that for the next few days, but now is as good a time as any. Come! Let us venture forth!"

Kakashi's eyes flickered down and met mine. Both grey eyes can be seen, and now one eyebrow disappeared into his slanted fringe. I shrugged in reply.

Sakumo dumped us in a dango shop with a cheery grin and two plates of dango.

We sat at a window table, legs not reaching the ground and heads just above the table. Kakashi picked at his dango, staring around the shop, and I looked outside, watching the village with interest, listening to my new language flow around me.

Leaf was very colorful, now that I was able to look at it in broad daylight at street level.

There were purposeful people and idle people. There were kids in rainbow colors and teenagers in coordinated outfits and solitary adults populating different heights with blues and greens, and there were beige wicker baskets and dark sandals and glittering accessories. There was flowing hair and hair cropped short, greetings and calls and laughter, and always, those people in that jacket Mother wore, a band with a metal plate sewn in front around their foreheads like — whatsit called, those bands that student groups tie around their foreheads for events.

I couldn't see what was the carving on the plates.

Right across from us was a flower shop (the wall very helpfully says "?ま?か花". I need to brush up on this world's alphabet, damn. bet that was kindergarten level), and besides the pastel flowers and their holders, the florist that stepped out to wave at a leaving customer had flowing blond locks sunshine-pale, and when she blinked and saw me, her eyes were pale blue, like faded china. Her lilac smock was similarly pale, as was her skin. I tilted my head and stared some more, and she smiled at me. Giving a shy smile back, I turned my gaze up, to the rooftops.

Green tiled roofs, clay-yellow flat roofs, red plating, blue piping, all sorts of washing, plants, cats, people, Leaf was teeming with life both above and below.

"Hey," Kakashi prodded my arm with the blunt end of his dango stick.

I turned to him.

He jabbed the stick towards someone at our table.

"Hello," Minato said, pleasantly, in that same jacket and headband and now I see the symbol, a little curl with a beak and a tail, and it felt very familiar. Did Mother draw it before, or…?

"Good morning, sensei," I said, as Kakashi reached across to spear a pink dango from my plate. I half-heartedly swatted at his hand, not looking away from Minato, continuing, "Where's Sakumo-ue?"

"He's made an appointment for you and I'm their messenger," he replied, "so get up. Kakashi, don't steal your sister's dango."

"He can have it," I said, pushing the plate towards him, but as he reached eagerly for the last one, I popped it into my mouth, grinning. He narrowed his eyes at me, and I stuck my tongue out.

I am thoroughly enjoying this second childhood.

Minato rolled his eyes. "Come on, you two. You're going to meet the reverent Jiraiya-sensei and Orochimaru-sama. Chin up!"

"Maybe later," I said, shuffling out of the table. Kakashi simply tucked his chin behind the folds of his scarf.

("It's summer," I'd pointed out when we set off. "I like scarfs," he'd replied, winding the shuriken-patterned snake of wool around his neck and trotting out of the compound to the bemusement of both Sakumo and me.)

A sign on the wall outside the building reads, "Hidden Leaf Sealing Division" in black lettering.

Minato pushed open the glass doors. He waved to the receptionist, a ginger-haired bespectacled elderly man, then said, "Take a good look at this place, Haiko-chan. You'll be coming to this place often in your training."

Curious, I looked around. It's a cool facility, pun intended. The walls here a either painted a steely grey or made from grey steel, and some form of air conditioning was going strong, giving the whole place a slightly uncomfortable dryness and the inevitable chill.

"What's this place?" Kakashi asked, one visible eye swooping around the spacious but empty lobby area.

"The headquarters and training center of our Sealing Division. It's severely undermanned, as you can see." He fell into silence at that, and vaguely I remembered seeing very little sealing in Naruto, except one kind — you know, the kind that gave the series its titular character?

"Why?" Kakashi asked.

Minato considered the question. "I suppose you could say sealing is a dying art."

"Namikaze-san," the receptionist said suddenly, looking up from behind his glasses. I was struck by his light purple eyes. They glimmered behind the lenses. "The room is prepared. You may proceed."

"Thank you, Ryōhō-san." Minato bowed lightly, then headed down a branching corridor.

We hurried to catch up.

The first few rooms we passed had sheets of glass half way up the wall, stretching all the way to the high ceiling. They were — I suppose — doorknob-to-ceiling windows into the rooms. The door and its frame was still wood, though, which made for a peculiarly futuristic sight.

There were signs on the side doors, but they were in unfamiliar kanji.

Evidently Kakashi couldn't read them either. He first looked towards me, and when I shrugged, he tugged on Minato's sleeve.

"What do they say?" he asked, pointing.

"Oh, these?" Minato stopped to rap on a glass window. "They're what we call 'observation barriers'. These rooms are used for trial seals in the practical application stage, and the glass is chakra-reinforced so that you have a barrier between you and the potential explosion."

"You make it sound like its bound to happen." I raised an eyebrow. Sealing was supposed to be my future studies. What did I sign myself up for?

"C'mon, we have to keep moving. If all turns out well, I'll give you two the full tour after." Minato turned to keep walking.

With a shrug, Kakashi followed him.

Distracted by what was happening in the next room we passed, I didn't fully process what Minato said.

In the next room was a red-haired teenager, crouched in the center of the room, hair in a bun. She had a brush in one hand, an ink pot in the other, and a look of intense concentration on her face.

I went on my tip-toes to get a better look a what she's writing.

Noticing that I've dropped behind, Kakashi backtracked. Then he saw at what I was looking at, and had a very different reaction.

"Minato-san, isn't that—?"

"Ah," and Minato blushed, just about as red at the teenager's hair. "That's—ah, that's—"

"Spying on Kushina-chan again, my adorable student?" came a booming voice. Jiraiya emerged from the turn at the end of the corridor (another turn? how deep does this building go?), a grin on his face. "With children, no less! Are you finally starting to take after me, Minato-chan?"

Minato frantically waved his hand in a shushing motion.

"Shishō!" he hissed, "Keep it down, or she'll hear us!"

"We've been waiting," Sakumo appeared behind Jiraiya, arms akimbo. "Hello kids!"

"Yo, Haiko-chan. How've you been doing?" Jiraiya waved at me. "Let's get going. Minato, you can see Kushina-chan later."

Just as Jiraiya was about to turn around, inkpot sailed across the corridor, narrowly missing Kakashi and I in its arc of spewing ink. Sakumo took cover behind Jiraiya, who got a face-full of ink, and Minato gulped.

"Who was calling me '-chan'? Did they not hear me last time? I'll show 'em! You don't mess with me, you know!" The red-haired teenager from the observation room stepped out, voice bright and loud, closing the door behind her with one hand while a fiery-red eyebrow rose menacingly. The strands of hair escaping from its bun flared with a life of its own.

She had a streak of ink across her cheek.

"Must be Jiraiya-sama." She pointed her brush at Jiraiya, the bristles flopping and spraying droplets everywhere once more. "Yes?"

Jiraiya's mouth opened and closed like a dying fish, and Minato was slowly edging away from Kushina. Then she saw Kakashi and me.

"Oh," she said, large purple eyes blinking, previous emotion completely replaced with curiosity, "Hello! It's my first time meeting you, right? I'm Uzumaki Kushina, nice to meet you!"

Purple eyes—that's got to be a genetic trait. I looked over my shoulder. Didn't the man at the counter also have purple eyes?

Wait…

Uzumaki? Maelstrom?

Mother's painting came back to me with surprising clarity. A village by the sea, a black and white sunrise, a series of spiraling pillars. What does a family name have to do with a place? Unless...

"—'re Haiko-chan, right?" Kushina was saying, and I turned my attention back to the impromptu gathering with a start.

I had enough time to see Kakashi rubbing his face before my vision was obscured by a cascade of red strands.

"Er," I managed, before Kushina was ruffling my hair and patting my cheek with gloved hands smelling of ink.

"You're so cute!" she squealed, "and, oh, that seal is gorgeous. Are you going for a checkup? Can I watch?"

She looked at Jiraiya, who had mopped away the ink on his face at the expanse of his leaf-green sleeve. He jerked the hand over his shoulder, and said with a glance towards the room Kushina came out of, "Next time, Kushina. Focus on your work first."

She pouted for a second, a hand resting on my head, then sighed. "I suppose. I shouldn't keep you waiting, sealing is serious business, you know. If you hear an explosion later, don't worry! It's probably me." Smiling, she gave my face a small pinch. "See you around, kid!"

Orochimaru was waiting inside the room—this one large, white, empty, lit by a single overhead light—making ink at a small side table. He had pulled his hair into a bun.

As we walked in and the door closed behind us, he commented drily, "Took you long enough."

"Not like you have anything important going on," Jiraiya said and shrugged. "Everything's prepared?"

"Yes," came the reply, and Sakumo took Kakashi by the hand to sit, cross-legged on the ground, beside the table. Minato leaned against a wall, quietly watching the proceedings.

"Haiko-san, come sit over here." Orochimaru was indicating a spot in the center of the room.

With some hesitation, I followed his instructions.

"Face there." Orochimaru pointed to the end of the room, away from the side table. "Close your eyes. Don't open them until we tell you to."

Huh.

I frowned a little but I did as I was told, and the last thing I saw was Jiraiya blowing on his fingers and them lighting up with a flickering blue flame.

Funky chakra magic, must be.

Something cold tapped my forehead, and I felt a strange tickling focus around my left eye before it expanded across my eyes.

There was a second of tense silence, and then Jiraiya said in a miffed tone, "You sure it's a malfunction instead of you simply failing at explaining chakra theory?"

"I couldn't be sure," said Sakumo, closer than I remembered him to be. My head turned slightly towards his voice, but cool fingers tilted my head straight again.

"Looks fine to me," said Jiraiya.

"Repressers are functioning...levers are linked...bridges are intact..." Something cold touched the socket of my left eye, and I pushed down a shiver. Orochimaru's voice was low and murmuring, seemingly to himself. "Tenketsu are not harmed and working perfectly. Sakumo-kun, I don't see a problem upon a cursory check."

His hands probed around my eyes as I wondered what 'tenketsu' meant.

Orochimaru continued. "I see two options: one, we take off the seal, give her a blindfold, try the chakra exercise again, see if it works, then replace the seal, check if that works, and repeat the test until an error is found in the seal; two, we take off the seal and rework it, you take the girl back home, come back in a few days."

"You'll make time for Haiko-chan's seal?" Jiraiya sounded surprised. "That's very generous, Orochi. What are you getting out of this?"

The last part was tacked on with what I felt to be too much suspicion, but as Orochimaru replied with a testy hiss somewhere alarmingly close to my left ear, I wasn't able to read too much into it — I was too busy making myself not jump away. Whatever the adults were doing, it seemed too important for me to mess it up with sudden movements.

After a moment of silence, Jiraiya spoke.

"How about this: Haiko-chan, try feeling for your chakra."

"Now?" I asked, surprised, and turned my head a fraction towards his voice before I caught myself.

He chuckled. "Yep, now."

"Keep your eyes closed," Orochimaru added, and I felt something like bristles brush across my eyelids.

I took a deep breath. Not believing I would find anything, I set my senses searching for my 'chakra'.

…

See? Nothing.

I opened my mouth to say as much to the adults, and the something flipped in the vicinity of my stomach, and I was awash with a strange sensation. A strange, floaty, almost glittery feeling.

It was the same feeling as the orphanage fiasco. I described the feeling as 'inky' and 'empty' then, but what I really meant — what chakra felt like to someone like me, was a combination of all of the most cooling, refreshing feelings in my life, encompassing everything from tea to a summer breeze. It welled up inside me much like ink, and when I tried to look at it from behind my eyelids, it was indistinct in color, wispier than smoke.

"Oh," I said, and shut my gaping mouth, as the sensation flooded me from head to toe.

It was a very different feeling from blood, that's for damn sure.

The adults might have said something, but I was too engrossed to pay attention.

Remembering the instructions from the morning practice, I tried to gather chakra to my forehead, but it was like trying to fetch water with a wicker basket — futile.

"Okay," I said, reluctantly letting the last dribble of my newfound chakra drip through my mental fingertips, "what do I do with it?"

"Nothing," Jiraiya said, amusement clear in his tone, "that you found your chakra was good enough."

And this time, it was undeniably a brush that was held to my face. I felt no qualms about leaning away from it and placing a bit more bite into my words.

"What are you doing?" I said, facing the general direction where the brush had come from.

"Changing the level of repression," Orochimaru replied, and this time as the ticklish bristles brushed across my face I didn't move. "It does seem to be a tenketsu issue."

"You mean we covered a little too much?" Jiraiya asked, now a few steps away. "But it's already a toned down version."

"She's much younger. Perhaps the connections are still unsorted."

Jiraiya hummed, leaning closer. "To the core? From the eyes?"

"It's not impossible. We don't know very much about tenketsu, and there isn't a Hyūga around. Sakumo-kun, should we request for a branch member for her next check-up?"

Sakumo was a beat late to reply. "Well, I'd talk to the twins about it, and I don't think it'll be necessary if it's solved now…? But you two are the sealing experts."

Another pause, but the brush didn't stop moving.

Then Minato spoke up. "I heard you were going to leave on a trip soon, shishō, is that true? Will only Orochimaru-sama be looking after Haiko-chan then?"

"It wouldn't be too long, just a few months," was the dismissive reply, but I was certain the brush wavered. "You wouldn't even notice I'm gone."

"The bathhouses certainly might," Orochimaru's voice was dryer than a crinkled leaf and rasped like one, and the brush withdrew. Fingers tapped the bridge of my nose, and there was a short burst of tingles over my skin. "Done. Reach for you chakra again."

I did, and the well of rippling coolness was still there.

"Alright," a hand tapped my shoulder. "The session is over. You can open your eyes now."

Blinking, I took in the surroundings. The adults were standing around me in a loose circle, and Orochimaru had just left to store the brushes.

Jiraiya was the one that gave my shoulder a pat, and Sakumo had his arms crossed, staring at some undetermined spot a little to my left. Behind this, Minato had moved to sit beside Kakashi, who although seated, was ramrod straight and taking in every little detail.

"If there're any complications, I will be in my labs," Orochimaru said, walking back while examining an ink stain on his hand. "Did Jiraiya tell you what to watch out for, Sakumo-kun?"

"Yeah," Sakumo glanced at the man in question, then began to make a list by his fingers. "Avoid reflective surfaces for a month after a fresh seal, then watch out for bright lights and colors, be mindful of chakra use. Is that all?"

Orochimaru gave Jiraiya a sarcastically impressed look. "So you can be trusted to carry out errands."

To which Jiraiya bristled, hair and all, but Orochimaru talked over him. "Yes, that is all. Although, sensitivity to light may be varied — she is a child, and Senko was a grown woman. The biology is very different. Keep a close watch."

"Alright," said Sakumo, then gestured for me to follow him.

Minato stood up, and with a pat, so did Kakashi. As we neared, he stared intently at my seal.

"We'll be going then, Jiraiya, Orochimaru," Sakumo called over his shoulder, Minato ushering us out the door.

Glancing back, the two shinobi hadn't moved from their spots, but from my vantage point of below-knees, I suddenly realized that despite standing close together, they were faced away from each other, as though uncomfortable with each other's presence.

I frowned. trying to remember any details about them, but all I could dig up was the folklore version of them — which didn't help, because obviously, they were still friends, and on equal footing. I could remember nothing about them within the series except their notoriety and fame.

Dammit.

And just then, Kakashi tapped my elbow.

"Your seal looks different," he said, "just so you know." Then he went to annoy Minato into giving us that tour we were promised.

AN: I sort of regret using that many characters in the sealing scene — I hope that turned out ok.