Kasumi couldn't believe she had succeeded. She felt weightless. A huge burden had been lifted from her soul and every step she took as she left the Hokage's office was a jump into the air. Not even Nami could calm her down or hold her back, although she didn't currently have the capacity to do so anyway if she had wanted to. Nami's emotions were tears of joy rather than excited energy.

It was easy to say that the pair was getting weird looks from the others within the building as they made their way to the exit.

Neither of them cared.

Yusei had it worse though. He was worried about both of them. His partner was crying and the pup she was determined to protect was acting strange and drawing attention when she was usually one to play it safe. The ninken was running between Nami and Kasumi, making sure both of them were okay. Nami was falling behind trying to regain her composure and Kasumi was bounding ahead and jumping around. His main priority was trying to get the pair to remain together so he could keep a better eye on both of them. This mainly included grabbing a mouthful of their clothing and tugging on it gently before turning around and doing the same to the other.

Throughout all of this the small group was quiet. It was the one bit of self-control that they had over the situation. And it all changed as soon as they exited the building.

"Woohoo!"

As soon as Kasumi stepped through the door, she released all of her emotions and let go of all control. She screamed with joy and performed her largest jump of the day. This was a high that Kasumi hoped would never end. She wished this feeling would never end. She prayed this moment would last forever.

"Calm down little one,"

These words contradicted how Nami felt and acted. She wasn't doing anything to stop the girl but her smile was starting to outweigh her tears now.

"You might not be called an Inuzuka and we might not be related by blood but I want you to know that you are my daughter,"

The tears were back but this time both females were crying. It wasn't long before they were embracing each other in the middle of the street outside of the Hokage building.

"You know you'll have to deal with the Yamanakas at some point, right?"

"I've been waiting a long time to be able to tell them how I feel about the way that they have treated you. I'm looking forward to it actually,"

"Please…I don't want you getting in trouble because of me, or anyone else in the Inuzuka clan. You have all done so much by just letting me stay and get away from them. So, please,"

"Anything for you, little one. Now let's go home. We have quite a few things to celebrate tonight,"

Both Kasumi and Nami forced themselves to hold back the tears and instead walked home hand in hand with huge smiles on their faces.

Today was the start of Kasumi's life.


"Congratulations you brats,"

"Geez thanks bro. Hey, maybe you should slow it down?"

"Come on now, don't be such a glum. Are you suddenly going to start being responsible and mature now that you're in the big leagues, huh?"

When Kasumi and Nami arrived back at the Inuzuka compound it wasn't particularly hard for them to sneak into Nami's home undetected. Daiki, Tatsuya, TenTen, Katsu, Shin, Masato and the Shiotas were all gathered in the living room and making quite a racket. Two things surprised the pair when they saw the gathering. One, the Shiotas had come and Tatsuya seemed happy, meaning that they obviously weren't as opposed to his ninja career as they had been before. Maybe it was because they had the confidence now that he could actually succeed and it wasn't just some random phase but an actual dream. Two, Shin was acting weird. More accurately, he was acting drunk. It appeared that it had indeed been cruel to make him stay at home and prepare the barbeque and not let him meet the group at the Academy. His worry may have led him to having a drink or several to calm his fears.

This surprised everyone, who would have thought that a hardened shinobi would have a problem with nerves and resort to alcohol as a solution.

Not surprising, was the fact that Katsu and Masato were the first ones to notice the long-awaited appearance of Kasumi, Nami and Yusei. Masato didn't leave his vulnerable master's side but Katsu was more than happy to bound over and greet the trio. He was promptly lifted into the arms of Kasumi who was still filled with boundless energy and happiness. Her smile couldn't get any bigger.

"We're back,"

Nami was the one to officially announce their arrival but was predictably the one promptly ignored as everyone, except the Shiota's, rushed to the young girl's side instead.

"Kasumi!"

Everyone was talking at once. Kasumi was excitedly trying to tell them everything that had happened at the Hokage's office, Daiki, Tatsuya and TenTen were desperately asking about what had happened and if she was okay, Shin was unintelligible anyway and Nami was trying to talk with the Shiota's about the children's graduation and other pleasantries.

This chaos continued for several minutes but nobody seemed to cared. All that really mattered in that moment was that they were all together and that they were all smiling.


"Congratulations you guys! You have all overcome the first hurdle of your ninja careers and we couldn't be prouder!"

Despite the pandemonium of before, the entire group eventually was able to calm down enough to start the celebrations and it wasn't long before everyone was gathered around a large table outside, filled with the mouth-watering scent of the barbequed meat. It wasn't just the ninkens that were eager for Nami's short speech to be over and the signal given to dig into the well-deserved meal.

Initially there was no talking. Everyone was spending the first few minutes eating their fill of the barbeque that had been prepared. The Shin surprises mounted as everyone marvelled at how good of a cook he was, but the praise went straight over his tipsy head. Next came the main topic of conversation; the graduation.

"So, what was it like this year? Still the clone jutsu?"

A look of betrayal crossed each of the new genin's faces as the last question left Shin's mouth. This was promptly followed by a smack to the back of the head of the older Inuzuka brother by his mother.

"What was that for?! They passed didn't they, so it's not like it's a secret anymore,"

Now it was Nami who was receiving the brunt of the betrayed expressions and all she could do was let out a sigh and try to explain.

"Most years it is the clone jutsu or the transformation jutsu or one of the other basic ones but we're not allowed to say 'Hey, you only need this jutsu',"

"I still can't believe you,"

"You knew how scared we were,"

"Shame,"

Daiki, Tatsuya and TenTen each voiced their opinion on the matter but after everything that Kasumi had been through that day and after everything that Nami had done for her, she felt obligated to help out a little.

"It makes sense though,"

"What!"

"Just listen, Daiki. It makes sense that they don't tell us the one jutsu we need to graduate because the idea is that we know how to do all of them and we are expected to know all of them before becoming a genin. If you became a genin and didn't know all the basic jutsus you could get killed or something, at the very least you would be way behind everyone else and probably a burden on your team. It doesn't really matter now, does it? I mean, we all graduated. No harm, no foul,"

"Whatever,"

This caused TenTen and Tatsuya to gang up on their Inuzuka friend and their laughing only serve to agitate him even more. While this went on Kasumi continued discussing the genin graduation exam with the adults at the table, with the others occasionally chiming in with their own experiences if they differed from Kasumi's recount. This eventually led to Shin telling the story of his own exam and Nami sharing a few embarrassing stories about her eldest son and his nerves for his graduation. Even Suzuka and Hiroki seemed interested in these stories.

All in all, the night was going well. Nobody mentioned the elephant in the room but assumed that everything was okay. After all, nobody was in tears.

But nothing lasts forever and nothing is perfect.

Just as the conversation was moving towards the events of the next day and the excitement of team placement, the party was crashed.

When Tsume arrived at the gathering, everyone assumed that she had come to congratulate the kids but her expression was sombre and the mood soon followed suit.

"We have some expected but unwelcome guests at the entrance of the compound. Kasumi. Nami and I will be right behind you,"

It was only the Shiota couple that were uncertain about what exactly was going on but they could tell by the mood, which had caused the atmosphere to go quiet and tense, that the situation was serious and probably not a topic to bring up themselves. Katsu attempted to follow Kasumi as she stood up to leave with Tsume and Nami but Daiki held him back.

This was something that Kasumi had to do on her own, even if she would have Nami and Tsume as back-up she wouldn't have anyone holding her hand for support. She had made her decision and now she had to firmly stick to it.

Kasumi had just won her freedom and she was not about to give it up. She was going to prove to everyone how firm her resolve was and show all of those that helped her and believed in her that it was not in vain.

Kasumi took the lead of the group as the two Inuzuka women and their ninken followed the young girl to the front of the Inuzuka compound. Kasumi knew her way comfortably around the place that felt more like home than the Yamanaka compound and that was more accepting of her than her biological family had been. News of the Yamanaka girl coming into the Inuzuka clan had already spread around her new home and Kasumi was surprised to see so many of the Inuzukas standing outside their homes. While Kasumi knew that they would not interfere directly if there was a fight, she felt comforted that they still showed this much solidarity towards her introduction to the clan. The young girl had expected just as much opposition from the Inuzuka clan as the Yamanaka clan with regards to her unprecedented move but Kasumi felt no hostility from any of her new family members. She even got a few reassuring smiles from those that were not being as subtle about their sudden reason for loitering outside their homes.

As expected, when Kasumi reached the entrance to the compound, she was faced with an angry mob of Yamanakas with her father, mother and sister at the head.


Nami was observing the situation with her heart in her throat and a sudden urge to fight. Tsume had held a clan meeting a few days beforehand to let the other clan members know of what they were trying to do but, besides from a few concerns relating to backlash from the Yamanaka clan and other clans in the village, most were accepting of the idea of welcoming the young girl into their family. Family was important to the pack and, so long as there was no threat to the pack, they were willing to go with what their leader said. Nami could never understand why the Yamanakas would treat one of their own in the way that they had treated Kasumi. Nami was disgusted to know that there were people like that in the same village as her and that she had gone on missions and trusted those who could then turn around and do something like this to a child.

The only thing that was holding Nami back from ripping every Yamanaka in front of her to pieces was the former Yamanaka that stood before them. The second that there was any sign of danger directed at Kasumi, Nami would strike and she knew that she would have the backing of her clan head if it came to that. So long as she had reason. Although to her, if Kasumi started crying then that was all the reason that she would need to justify her protective instincts towards her new pup.

Both Nami and Tsume had a feral snarl on their face as Kasumi made her way to the entrance of the compound. Nami noticed how the girl didn't cross the threshold but still stood firmly in front of the group that had clearly come with ill-will towards their former clan member.

"What is the meaning of this?"

It surprised Nami that Inoichi was calm in this situation but it also infuriated her. How could that man be calm at the thought of losing his daughter? Even if he was a skilled shinobi, how could he hide his emotions like that? If he ever wanted her back, he would need to demonstrate how much he cared for her but clearly that was not the case. The only thing he was here to obtain was his pride.

"Why are you leaving?"

"Why would I stay?"

Kasumi's response came swiftly and calmly, leaving everyone in shock. Nami expected at least some emotion from the child but I guess this just proved how little she cared about the Yamanakas and how long she really had been thinking of leaving. Not only did this comeback question shock Nami but it shocked Inoichi as well. He even dropped his head in shame for a brief moment until Airi intervened with her usual antics, giving her husband a new boost of confidence in believing that Kasumi was the one in the wrong.

"How dare you! After everything we have done for you! We raised you! We kept you! We believed that you weren't some curse on our clan! Look at you now!"

"Yeah, how dare I want to be happy,"

Kasumi's snark remark should have indicated how unaffected she was by this whole scenario. She just wanted to get this over and done with so she could get back to having dinner and being happy with her real family. It may have angered her parents but she was past the point of caring. There was nothing that they could do to her now.

Something that the Yamanakas failed to see was that Kasumi had an answer to everything because she had played this situation over in her head a thousand times, going through every possible outcome to assure that one day she would truly be able to free herself form the clan that hated her for existing. There was nothing that they could say or do that would surprise her. For one, she had thought of every eventuality and second, she wouldn't put any dirty trick past them.

"You disgrace!"

Inoichi stepped in to stop Airi from lunging at Kasumi and Tsume had to do the same for Nami who was more than willing to rip the Yamanaka's head off if she came within arms-length of her pup. In Nami's opinion, these Yamanakas no longer had any right to see, interact with or consider Kasumi as one of their own. It wasn't her last name that mattered, it was who she considered family and who considered her family.

It was then Inoichi's turn to try again. While Airi just wanted to regain her pride, at least Inoichi wanted answers as well.

"Why?"

"You should already know the answer,"

"I want to hear you say it,"

"You want everyone to know what it was like to have you as a father and them as a mother and sister? Really?"

Inoichi seemed to hesitate at this. While he was the head of the clan, that didn't mean that he was infallible in the eyes of the rest of the clan. If they thought less of him then that could have consequences further down the track. At the same time, most of them were opposed to Kasumi anyway. They wouldn't believe anything she said and were probably only angry for the same reason that he and Airi were; pride and reputation. They were more concerned with what the rest of the village and the other clans would think of them if they allowed another clan to take one of their head's children, even if they themselves didn't care for the child.

"Why would we care about what you had to say?! Why would we believe you?! You are the one at fault! You can't just leave your clan!"

Airi was losing her patience, like many of the other Yamanakas that were gathered, and voiced what they were thinking. Ino was staying suspiciously quiet but they might have been just because she was enjoying watching everyone hate on her sister.

Nami was thankful that her son had met the dark-haired twin rather than the blonde one. She didn't know what she would have done if he had brought the monster home as a friend but she also believed that Daiki would have been able to tell that the girl was pure evil.

Nami continued to notice that none of this was affecting Kasumi. Not only did it prove her merit as a shinobi, being able to conceal her emotions, but also with how normal this must have been for her. It didn't bother her anymore because she was used to it.

"According to the Hokage, I can,"

Nami's attention was brought back to the brave, young girl that stood before her.

"And, you never wanted me in the first place so I don't see why this would bother you so much. If anything, you should be happy. Or are you upset that you no longer have anyone to torment and make their life hell?"

"You-!"

The next part passed in a blur for most of those involved as they were seeing nothing but red, both Yamanaka and Inuzuka. Nami watched everything that unfolded but the only thing she was concerned with was protecting Kasumi.

Inoichi went limp, whether it was from Kasumi's words or her piercing stare that dared her father to prove her wrong Nami couldn't be sure, in doing so he released Airi and the rest of the Yamanakas advanced like a tidal wave with the Yamanaka woman now at the head. Ino was predictably right by her mother's side as her most loyal supporter and her partner in crime.

At the same time, Tsume consciously removed her hold of Nami but that was only so that she could lead her own charge to meet the Yamanakas. While there was only the two Inuzuka women protecting Kasumi, there was a full pack of ninken surrounding the Yamanakas and preventing them from going near the girl. Kasumi had been right in assuming that none of the Inuzukas themselves would interfere, there was nothing that said that they couldn't send their ninken in support. The Yamanakas had less evidence if they tried to incriminate the Inuzukas from attacking. After all, the ninken are animals and they are just protecting their territory from violent intruders. It was also harder for non-Inuzukas to be able to remember and identify ninken if they didn't have regular contact with them, so they couldn't even blame the ninkens' partners for anything.


The whole time, Kasumi hadn't moved at all.

When Airi and Ino started going for her, she didn't even bother tensing up. Honestly, she didn't know if it was because she was used to it or because she had faith that Nami and Tsume would stop any fight from breaking out. It wasn't long before the two Inuzuka women were standing between her and the Yamanakas. Clearly they had decided that the Yamanakas' act of aggression indicated that the discussion was now over.

Kasumi's body hadn't moved and neither had her eyes. They were still fixed upon Inoichi who couldn't seem to avert his eyes either but unlike Kasumi's strong and unwavering stare his expression was borderline scared. At the very least he seemed ashamed, as he should be, but also a little shocked.

It made Kasumi think about how selfish her family was. While her mother and sister tormented her for their own entertainment, her father clearly didn't believe that there was a problem. Kasumi wasn't stupid either, she knew that a small part of her father truly did love her but that part was not as big as his desire to have a happy family with Airi and Ino.

Everything had come to a stand-still as Kasumi and Inoichi had their staring contest of wills, with Kasumi clearly the winner with her heart unchanged. The ninken surrounded the Yamanakas and Nami and Tsume were standing between the circle and Kasumi. The group of Yamanaks still had Airi and Ino at their head and neither of them would shut up. Most of what they said was unintelligible but whether that was because what they were saying made no sense or they had nothing left to say and were just making angry noises, Kasumi couldn't quite tell. Inoichi stood alone at the back of the group. He seemed broken. Kasumi wasn't cruel enough to be happy at this or oblivious enough to ignore the small part of her that was a little sad. Either way, she knew that this was for the best and, if she had it her way, would be that last time she saw any of these Yamanakas anyway.

"Enough!"

Tsume was able to get everyone's attention but still left the talking up to Kasumi. This was her fight and her hurdle to overcome.

Kasumi walked forward until she was then in front of the two Inuzuka women, even if she saw clear objection to this in Nami's eyes.

"I have told you my reasons for leaving. I can assure you that I have no intention to ever return. I know that all of you here have some kind of problem with this and if so, you can take it up with the Hokage. The Hokage and the Inuzuka clan have agreed to this arrangement. I am a genin of the Hidden Leaf Village and so now have the power to make this decision. I was never taught any of the clan jutsus so that shouldn't be a concern for any of you. If I end up working with any of you in the future, I hope that you don't hold this against me and that we can work together for the mission, but other than that none of you have any obligation to interact with me,"

After her speech, Kasumi bowed her head to the group of now silent and shocked Yamanakas. Once she lifted her head again, she looked directly into the eyes of Airi, Ino and Inoichi for a brief moment, in hopes of conveying her conviction to them, then turned around and walked back through the Inuzuka compound. Tsume and Nami followed close behind her, each with a hand on her shoulder, and the pack of ninken dispersed. Kasumi didn't care what the Yamanakas did next, so long as they didn't try to cause trouble for the Inuzukas.

The journey back to Nami's house was very similar to the journey they took to the entrance of the compound, instead this time there were more Inuzukas lingering at their doorways and all of them were smiling now as their ninken returned to them. Nami and Tsume shared the same smile as their clansmen. Although it had a feral tinge to it, Kasumi knew them well enough to know that it was genuine and sincere.

And that it was contagious.

Kasumi couldn't help but allow her own relieved and overjoyed smile to cross her own face once she felt the chains of the Yamanaka clan disappear for good. She also didn't allow it to disappear before she made it back to the celebrations. She needed to reassure everyone that everything was okay and break the news to Daiki and Shin that they now had a sister to deal with.


Hurray Kasumi! WooHoo!

Sorry everyone, I know this chapter has taken a while but things have been a bit hectic at the moment. Even with this quarantine it's surprising how little spare time I have but I am hoping to get updates out a lot faster than this in the future. I get encouraged so much by everyone's reviews that remind me that people do actually enjoy this story and it isn't just something for me. I promise to try my best and not let you down!