STORY RECAP TIME! (and then it's time for the final arc: Madara's Arc.)

The Adopting Naruto arc: ch 1-12.

Iruka finds a Naruto and decides to keep it, which pisses off Danzo who tries to have him killed (because he wants the Naruto for himself). His assassin of choice (Mei Terumi) would rather not, and provides the Leaf with irrefutable evidence that Danzo NEEDS to die. Naruto accidentally convinces Fugaku to grow a mustache, and thus grants him unlimited power.

Arashi and Kazama arc: ch 13-21

Naruto starts floating. Iruka takes the chunin exams. Minato's dead parents turn up and take in Naruto and Iruka.

The Academy Days arc: ch 22-29

Karin and Okami move to the Leaf. Naruto and his friends start the Academy. Iruka and Kazama argue. Iruka gets laid with aforementioned assassin. Naruto stops floating. Kazama takes a chill pill - it is minimally effective.

Kakashi arc: ch 30-35

We skip ahead to where cannon began (which is ironic since this story has more to it that half of cannon, damned side plots). Kakashi puts his new team through the bell test, which they pass with honours (but mostly they cheated). Sasuke has a little brother now, and she HATES him.

The Land of Waves Arc: ch 36-51

Sasuke dies her hair blue. Zabuza and Haku join Akatsuki. Naruto learns the shadow clone jutsu and how to fly.

Sasuke's filler: ch 52-53

Sasuke has a cat makeover emporium, apparently. Also, she, Madoka, Kakashi's kids and Kazama get kittens.

Chunin exams arc: ch 54-101

Sasuke makes friends with her baby brother. The main cast of genin takes the chunin exams. Sasuke nearly dies. Orochimaru tries to kill the Leaf Village and fails. Gaara gets the crazy knocked out of him. Neji gets some sense knocked into him. Okami reveals herself as the lost Uzumaki Queen. Oh, and Itachi's pregnant.

Mushroom filler: ch 102-104

Deputy Kinoko adopts a couple of orphans she found in the forest and gets addicted to desert cactus juice.

Finding Tsunade arc: ch 105-123

Naruto and Jiraiya go on a roadtrip to find Tsunade so she can save Sasuke, which she does. Zetsu finally reveals himself as the main villain by eating a small child in the middle of a busy street. Fugaku becomes Hokage and Jiraiya discovers he has a kid.

The Moon Filler: ch 124-129

Hiashi becomes king of the moon.

The whirlpool temples arc: ch 130-170

Haha, you aren't getting a summary of this. Iruka has a kid now, and Pantsu and Burifu are a thing - and that's ALL you need to know. The Order of Joe TOTALLY won't be important in the next arc. Not at ALL.

Hinata Angst filler: ch 171-173

Hinata gets it in her head that Sasuke is in love with Naruto and asserts her dominance, only to discover Sasuke likes Shino.

Killing zetsu arc: ch 174-219

A big portion of the main cast fights Zetsu and his masked ally at the Temple of Jashin. Iruka nearly gets fried by his own undead mother, and survives minus one arm. Zabuza, Pantsu, one of Kurama's Guards, some of the Jashinists, and Gaara's Dad die. Arashi has to take care of Burifu now, but he has Kazama to help him, so they should be okay. Madara turned up out of nowhere. Zetsu's masked ally was Danzo (he's dead for real now). Wind and Rain are (everyone say it together now) Obito and Rin. Rin is also a jinchuuriki. Madara decided it would be in his best interests to take a year to resurrect his plan (and maybe Kaguya, he's still not sold on that part), since his allies didn't do as he f###ing asked, those *insert the worst insults you know here* idiots. Fugaku made him sign a ceasefire treaty, much to the frustration of Tobirama, who probably wishes he was still dead so he doesn't have to put up with all this crap.

Shino and Torune's filler: 220-224

You just read it, you don't need a recap, do you? Either way, Isobu's Guards are on their way to meet Rin now. Yay.

Right, back to the story. Anything else that's relevant, we'll flashback to. Flashbacks are the best.

And now, the Final Arc...

Burifu sits on Arashi's lap and sobs until she runs out of air and has to stop to breathe. Arashi pats her back soothingly and holds her until she calms down. When the tears finally settle down, Burifu examines Grandfather Pantsu's pipe. "I'm gonna keep it forever," she says, sniffing.

"I'll put it on a string for you," says Arashi gently. "So you can wear it around your neck all the time."

"Okay," says Burifu, and gives Arashi the pipe. "Do it now."

"Say please," says Kazama, entering with a bag of shopping.

"Do it now, please," demands Burifu, wiping her nose on her sleeve.

Kazama frowns, then sighs. "That's a start, I suppose," she mutters.

"What's in the bags?" asks Arashi, lifting Burifu off his lap and setting her on the sofa beside him.

"Supplies," says Kazama, a determined expression on her face. "Burifu only seems to have what she is standing in, so I got some things for her."

Burifu remembers that she has other things back at the camp, but they are either too big or a little too small. Then she remembers Grandpa Pantsu and starts crying again.

"I'll take it from here," says Kazama, putting down her shopping and picking up Burifu. "You go put that pipe on a string...actually, there's a shop in town that has leather straps for that sort of thing. Take it to them and get it done properly."

Arashi nods and leaves.

"Come," says Kazama, turning and carrying Burifu upstarts. "I'm going to give you a nice hot bath. And after that, I think you could do with a hot chocolate."

Burifu is too busy sobbing to resist. Even her Grandpa Pantsu couldn't convince her to take a bath, and remembering that makes her cry harder. She did go for a swim occasionally, but she has never, as far as she can remember, had a proper bath.

Kazama fills the bathtub up with warm water while she undresses Burifu and hoses most of the dirt off the little girl with the shower. Too miserable to resist, Burifu allows Kazama to dump her in the bath and scrub her thoroughly until the water turns brown. Then Kazama takes Burifu out of the bath, sticks her under the shower again while she drains, cleans and refills the bath. Kazama repeats this twice, and on the second and third times, she also attempts to wash Burifu's hair, which nearly makes the water turn black. After the first three attempts at washing Burifu, Kazama pulls out another bar of soap, this one much bigger. Another two baths, three showers, half a bar of soap and four attempts at washing Burifu's hair out later and Burifu, now too uncomfortable to cry, is finally deemed clean enough.

Kazama sticks Burifu in the shower one last time for good measure while she fills up the bath again. This time, she puts bubbles and a bucket of toys in it. Burifu quickly follows the bucket of toys into the water. "Now you sit there while I clean up this mess," says Kazama. While Kazama scrubs the bathroom from floor to ceiling to get rid of the mess she made cleaning Burifu, Burifu half heartedly pushes a plastic duck around the tub. She is not in the mood to resist, so she does not.

Finally, Kazama finishes cleaning the bathroom and turns her attention back to cleaning Burifu. She heads downstairs and comes back up with the bag of shopping and a stool. Then she takes Burifu out of the bath, wraps her in a towel and sets her on the stool. Burifu vaguely wonders what is happening now. She misses her Grandpa Pantsu.

To Burifu's surprise, Kazama takes out a brush and comb and attempts to tidy up her hair. Burifu used to run her fingers through her hair, but once it got too knotty, she stopped. Kazama apparently thinks Burifu's hair is too knotty too, because she quickly stops trying to run the comb through it. Kazama fishes around in one of the drawers under the bathroom sink. "I didn't want to have to go this far," she says. "I'm sorry, Burifu, I will have to cut your hair."

No one has ever cut Burifu's hair, so she doesn't even know what it's like. She shrugs and sniffs.

Snip, snip, snip go the scissors. Matted chunks of Burifu's hair fall to the ground. Some of them still have bits of dirt or plant life stuck in them. Kazama only cuts off as much as she has to, and saves as much of Burifu's hair as she can. When Kazama is finished, Burifu's hair is shorter than Namiko's hair, but not as short as Naruto's. When she is satisfied with the cut, Kazama rinses off Burifu's hair and washes it under the shower one last time.

Finally, Kazama starts drying Burifu with a big, fluffy towel. When Burifu is dry and feeling strangely light, Kazama dresses her in clothes from the bag of shopping. A singlet and underpants, followed by a pink nightgown, fluffy slippers and a darker pink dressing gown. The bath is finally over.

Kimiko gets home from school to find Namiko reading a scroll on sealing theory and no one else anywhere to be found. "Where is everyone?" she asks, dumping her bag on a chair and taking out her lunch box.

"Grandpa is in town," says Namiko, looking up from her reading. "And Grandma is upstairs giving Burifu a bath. She says Burifu is going to be living here from now on."

"It's a good thing I have bunk beds, then," says Kimiko, washing out her empty lunchbox. "She can sleep in my room."

"Are you sure you want her to?" says Namiko, screwing up her nose. "Burifu is cool and fun, but she smells bad."

"That's probably why Grandma is giving her a bath," says Kimiko. "But where's everyone else? Didn't Naruto and Uncle Iruka come back with you?"

Namiko's face falls. "Oh, no," she shakes her head. "The temple got attacked, and Madoka and I had to come back to the Leaf to get help as fast as we could. We met the Order of Steve on the way, and all their fighters went to the Temple to help. Burifu brought me home and just kinda...stayed. And then the ghost of Gramps Pantsu turned up and told her to stay here."

"Why didn't you use your flashback jutsu?" asks Kimiko, drying her lunchbox and putting it in the cupboard.

"No unsupervised fuuinjutsu in the kitchen," sighs Namiko.

"Grandma's not here."

"Still…"

"Goody-two-shoes."

"Konohamaru is a bad influence on you."

"You throw things at my class."

"I haven't been told I'm not allowed to." Namiko sticks out her tongue at Kimiko.

Kimiko rolls her eyes and sits down at the table to do her homework. Lord Third taught her class again today, since Iruka sensei is still off doing ninjas things. Kimiko looks forward to the day she can do ninja things, so she applies herself to her studies.

A short while later, Arashi returns from wherever he went and explains to Kimiko and Namiko that Pantsu entrusted Burifu to him, and he's the temporary leader of the Order of Steve until Burifu is old enough. "Now," says Arashi, once he has finished explaining everything. "We just have to figure out where she will sleep."

"In my other bunk bed!" says Kimiko, grinning. "It's a good thing I have them, isn't it? Naruto's gonna be SO jealous."

Arashi agrees, and takes a bag of shopping into Kimiko's room. A couple of hours later, Kazama emerges from the bathroom looking rather frazzled. Her bun is starting to come undone, and she is soaked from head to toe. "Where are the supplies?" she asks Arashi, who is reading some old scrolls at the table to keep the girls company.

"I put them in Kimiko's room," says Arashi. "She volunteered her other bunk bed for Burifu to sleep in."

"Good," says Kazama. "Thank you, Kimiko, that makes things a lot easier. I am nearly done, but I'll be at least another hour. Go ahead and eat without us, but save something for when we are done." Kazama heads off to Kimiko's room and returns with the bag of shopping. Before heading upstairs, she says, "Burifu has changed colour. It's quite remarkable." Then she vanishes back upstairs.

Kimiko, Namiko and Arashi exchange surprised looks and go back to their studying. After a while, Arashi makes dinner and, after serving his, Kimiko's and Namiko's food, he sets the rest aside for Burifu and Kazama. After eating, the three of them play cards while they wait for Kazama to finish giving Burifu a bath. The more time passes, the more curious they get over how Burifu will turn out.

When their curiosity and anticipation are so thick they fill the room like a thick fog, Kazama finally descends the stairs with Burifu. Kimiko, Namiko and Arashi turn towards the doorway as they hear the pair coming downstairs. Kimiko leans forward as the dining room door opens. "Here she is," says Kazama, pushing Burifu through the doorway. "I'm going to take a shower." Kazama is wet and dirty and her hair has almost completely come out of the bun. She leaves Burifu standing miserably in the doorway and heads back upstairs.

Kimiko and Namiko stare at Burifu is shock. She really has changed colour. Her skin, which was sort of brownish from all the mud, is now pink and a little shiny from all the scrubbing. Her hair, which used to stick out all over the place because of all the tangles and stuff stuck in it, hangs around her face, short, limp and damp. Kazama even managed to put Burifu in normal clothes. Well, pyjamas, but normal ones.

Arashi, who is trying not to stare, heads over to Burifu, guides her to the table and feeds her. Burifu picks at her food and doesn't say anything. When Kazama returns, clean and dry, with a mass of wild grey hair tumbling around her shoulders, she makes Burifu a hot chocolate. While Burifu drinks it, Kazama eats her dinner, and what's left of Burifu's. Burifu obviously doesn't want it.

When Burifu is finished, Kazama declares it is bedtime for all three girls and herds them upstairs to brush their teeth while Arashi washes the dishes. Then she tucks them into bed, Namiko is Iruka's room, Kimiko in her new room in the top bunk and Burifu in the bottom bunk.

When all is quiet and Kimiko is nearly asleep, she hears sniffing from the bottom bunk. Quietly, she climbs down, gets into bed beside Burifu and hugs her. Burifu cries and clings to Kimiko.

"It'll get easier," says Kimiko. "My mother died recently, so I understand how you feel. I still feel like crying sometimes, when I really miss her. And it still hurts when I remember she's gone. But it gets easier to bear." Despite her resolve to comfort Burifu, Kimiko starts crying as she remembers her mother, and the two girls cling to each other and cry themselves to sleep.