Obito and Rin look at each other and grin. Then they smile down at Shiroikiba. Shiroikiba frowns up at his parents. "Why are you getting so excited about ramen?" he asks. "It's just ramen."
"Not this ramen," says Obito. "It's been a long time since we were here unmasked." Obito lifts the curtain and nudges Shiroikiba inside. "Hey, Ichiraku san!"
Teuchi Ichiraku turns from his pot of ramen and sees Obito, with Rin just behind him. His face lights up. "Well look who finally came unmasked! And you brought your son. Hello little guy."
"Um...hi," says Shiroikiba, uncertainly.
Ayame emerges from the store room and rushes around the counter to hug Obito and Rin, and pinch their son's cheeks.
"You can all have a bowl for free to celebrate the occasion!" says Teuchi. "What will you have today?"
They order their ramen and chat with Teuchi and Ayame. When the ramen is eaten and Shiroikiba is assured his parents are not crazy, they bid farewell to Teuchi and promise to return another day.
As they are leaving, Rin grabs Obito's arm and says, "Look! That's Isobu's Guards with Sasuke and some boy."
Obito grins. "Maybe he's Sasuke's boyfriend. Let's follow them."
Rin, Obito and Shiroikiba follow Sasuke, her boyfriend and Isobu's Guards through the village and into the centre of town. When they finally catch up to the group, Sasuke is trading insults with Madara.
"Housewife, you say?" Madara is saying. "Well that would be insulting, but I've been feeling like one lately."
"Oh really? Is that because Iruka sensei is making you his b***h?" Sasuke retorts.
"Oi! He is doing nothing of the sort!"
"He's making you look after the kids his undead parents orphaned," points out Sasuke. "And he's making you help teach his class. Give it time and he'll make you teach his class while he goes off to do who knows what. Face it, you're his b***h."
Rin starts laughing.
Obito raises an eyebrow. Not at the insults though. "What are you wearing, Madara? You look like the head of a biker gang whose wife is out of town leaving him at home alone with the baby."
Madara turns his disappointed gaze upon Obito, sending chills down Obito's spine. "Really? How quaint."
"Well look at that," snaps Sasuke, who is red in the face with embarrassment. "Here's Rin now. Guards, Rin. Rin, Guards. Shino, you can put me down anytime you like."
Rin squashes her laughter and says, "It's nice to meet you all. Let's go somewhere where we can talk privately."
"Yes, ma'am!" the Guards all salute and follow Rin. Obito shrugs, hoists Shiroikiba onto his back and trots after them.
"...anytime now, Shino," repeats Sasuke in a whisper.
"I think I had better take you home," says Shino, not putting Sasuke down. "Because your parents will be worried about you."
Jyuugo walks through the Hidden Leaf all by himself. It is his first time going anywhere by himself without worrying he will rampage. The Konoha Police are everywhere, and every one of them knows how to stop him. The place his is going is safe too, since there will be people there who can stop him if he rampages. Jyuugo feels a little excited. He is going to visit Kimiko - a first for him. When they lived in the Hidden Sound, Kimiko was the one who came to visit him.
"Excuse me," a boy nearby is saying. "Which way is Naruto Uzumaki's house?"
The police man the boy asked points down the street in the direction Jyuugo is headed. "It's down the street that way, then you turn right at the second cross-road and it'll be the big house with the orange front door."
The boy stares at the policeman. "Oh, I see."
The dog standing beside the boy barks and wags her tail.
"Do you think you can find that, Lucy?" the boy asks, tightening his grip on the dog's harness. It's more of a puppy, really. It is a labrador german shepherd cross, with floppy ears and an adorable face.
Lucy the dog wags her tail, and pulls the boy in the direction the policeman pointed. Then Lucy stops, turns to look at the policeman, sits down and scratches behind her ear.
The boy trips over his dog and drops the basket he is carrying. "Ow."
The basket rolls over to Jyuugo, who stopped to watch the boy and his dog. Jyuugo bends down and picks up the basket. "I will show you where to go," he says. "I am going to the Uzumaki house."
The boy stands up and smiles, looking past Jyuugo. "Thank you," the boy says.
Jyuugo realizes something. "Are you blind? What are you doing wandering around by yourself with a half-trained guide dog?"
"Oh," says the boy. "I told Uncle Madara I wanted to start learning to do things by myself now that I have Guide dog. He gave me that basket and told me to return it to Naruto's House. I don't know where that is, so I keep having to ask directions."
The policeman sighs. "Dammit, Madara. Jyuugo, make sure he arrives safely."
"Yes sir," says Jyuugo and hands the boy his basket. "What's your name?"
"Tachibana Uzumaki."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Jyuugo," says Jyuugo. Together, the two boys and the dog head to the Uzumaki house. When they arrive, Jyuugo knocks on the door.
"Why did you do that?" asks Tachibana.
"It's what you do when you arrive at someone's house," says Jyuugo, wondering if the younger boy was raised in the forest - like he himself was for a while. "It's rude to just walk right in, so we knock on the door to let the people inside know we are here."
"Oh, I see," says Tachibana. "But what if it's your own house?"
"You don't need to knock on your own door," says Jyuugo. "Just other people's."
At that moment, the door opens revealing Kazama. "Good afternoon, Kazama," says Jyuugo. "Is Kimiko here?"
Kazama grins. "Yes she is," she says. "I am sure she will be glad to see you. Who's this?" she turns her smile on Tachibana.
"This is Tachibana," says Jyuugo. "He's returning a basket or something."
Tachibana holds up the basket. "Uncle Madara says Minato is out of the village, but I brought his basket back anyway."
"Oh! You are one of those children," says Kazama, taking the basket, and patting Tachibana's head. "Come inside, both of you." The invitation is not really a request. It's an order, and soon both boys are in the kitchen with glasses of milk and a muffin each while Kazama is off locating Kimiko.
Tachibana eats his muffin like he's never eaten one before and drinks his milk in one long gulp. "What was that soft thing?" asks Tachibana.
"A muffin," says Jyuugo, taking a bite of his. "You were raised in a forest or something, weren't you?"
"Yes," confirms Tachibana.
Kazama returns with Kimiko and the other foster child who lives in that house. What was her name? Burifu? Jyuugo thinks it was that. Funny name for a little girl. Both girls are dripping wet and wrapped in towels. They must've been in the pool.
"Jyuugo!" Kimiko throws her arms around him and Jyuugo gives her a squeeze.
"Hiya, Tachibana!" says Burifu, slapping the blind boy's back. "Oooh, you brought Lucy! Hi Lucy!" Burifu pats Lucy.
"That's a lovely dog," says Kazama. "So her name is Lucy?"
"I got her yesterday," says Tachibana proudly. "Her full name is The True Demon Dog Lord Who Strikes Terror into the Hearts of all Who See Her, With Her Fangs of Destruction, all Shall Perish to Her Might for She is the Queen of all and is Heralded as the Harbinger of Doom: The Last of the Mighty Wild Dog Overlords. I call her Lucy for short."
Kazama somehow manages to laugh without making a sound. Tachibana has no idea that the two girls are staring at him like he's grown a second head, or that Jyuugo raised an eyebrow, let alone that Kazama is silently laughing her bum off.
"Whatever," says Burifu, giving herself a little shake. "We're swimming in our pool. Wanna join us?"
"Yes," answers Jyuugo immediately. "I left my board shorts here last time by accident, so I don't need to worry about that."
"I don't know how to swim," says Tachibana.
"I'll get you a pair of Naruto's old shorts," says Kazama, pulling herself together. "They should fit you since you are so skinny." She does so, and the two boys change into their swimming shorts.
Lucy bounds into the pool, dragging Tachibana behind her. "Slow down, Lucy!" says Tachibana.
"Why don't you go faster, Tachi?" says Kimiko, pushing Tachibana from behind so he gets to the pool sooner.
"We'll teach you how to swim, so don't worry!" says Burifu laughing.
In the end, they spend the rest of the afternoon in the pool, playing and teaching Tachibana and Kimiko to swim. Lucy, of course, figures out how to swim right away. Jyuugo has fun, but he does get over-excited and nearly rampages at one point. However, before Jyuugo's transformation has even properly begun, he feels a chain made of chakra wrap around his body, calming him and stopping the rampage. Jyuugo turns to see the chain slide back into Burifu's body.
The girl holds a finger to her lips and says, "Shh, the other two didn't notice, so let's not worry them."
Jyuugo grins at Burifu, who just stares back with a vacant expression on her face, then blushes and swims over to help Kimiko with her back stroke.
Jyuugu spends the next half hour trying to figure out what happened, only to be interrupted when Madara turns up looking for Tachibana, and is promptly coerced into staying for dinner, along with Tachibana and his baby sister. Jyuugo stays too, after sending a message to his mother.