"Oh, there you guys are." Amai said with a smile as she looked up from where she was sitting with her sewing. "I was worried you were going to be late. Even though it's pretty hard to hold a meeting of the Jounin Counsel without the Hokage. Did you manage to find what you were looking for, Aiko-Chan?"

"Yeah, I found something that will work until I can make it to Sora-ku." Aiko said. "I also found this." She added while holding up an old shuriken, "I'd forgotten that I had put it down there." She smiled up at her cousin, "Remember, Sasuke-niichan? You gave this to me on that day."

"You have a better memory than I do." Sasuke admitted.

"Well I interacted with our relatives a lot less than you did." She remarked as she put the shuriken somewhere safe. "The few interactions that I had with you and Itachi-niichan back then tend to stick out in my mind."

"Okaasan!" Tamana called as she ran up with Dango, "We aren't late, are we?"

"You got here just in time." Amai said.

Dango sighed with relief, "We kept getting stopped by people who had known Otousan..." He explained.

"I think they saw Oniichan and thought he was a ghost." Tamana added with an awkward smile. "Or an edotensei."

"I can't really say I blame them for that." Shikamaru admitted as he joined the group, "And I only ever saw a picture of him."

"It's just because people don't pay enough attention to details." Amai remarked with amusement as she stood up, "I could tell the difference any day, and the fact that Itachi-kun is no longer here has nothing to do with that."

"Let's go on inside." Shikamaru said. "The others should be here shortly."

Amai nodded and sighed with relief. "Time to remove the genjutsu that I placed on my hairpin." She said to herself as she formed a sign. "After today, I should never have a reason to hide it again."

"That reminds me," Naruto said, "I'll need to give you guys a tour of the village once we're done with the meeting. There are a lot of facilities that didn't exist back when you lived here before, Aiko-chan. Not to mention that Amai and the twins are more or less new here."

"It's not as if any of us haven't been here since the war, Naru—Er, Nanadaime." Aiko said, "I just... never told anyone my surname, and the twins have always used transformations up until now to avoid sticking out."

"We should've done that today..." Dango muttered, and Amai snorted in amusement.

"You were going to the graveyard. Unless you made yourselves look at least my age, you would've stuck out no matter what, considering whose graves you were visiting." She told her son as she took her seat. Dango nodded as he and Tamana sat in the extra seats beside Amai, and Aiko sat down next to them.

一族

"So, what's the reason for this meeting?" Mitokado Homura asked when everyone had been assembled.

"First, I want to introduce Uchiha Dango and Uchiha Tamana." Naruto said, "They're moving into the village with Amai-san, and will be joining our ranks as genin just as soon as I find a team for them."

"Dango is the next head of the Uchiha Clan." Amai told them as both twins stood up and bowed politely to the Council, "However, even though it would not be unusual for him to begin those responsibilities now, considering the circumstances, I would like for him to gain some experience both in the world and as a shinobi first."

"That makes sense." Ino agreed, "There's a lot that he can only learn through experience. Shikamaru and I were both about the twins' age when we became the heads of our clans, but we'd both been shinobi for four years, not to mention that we were Chuunin who'd been on the frontline during the war. That kind of experience isn't something that just comes with age."

Naruto nodded and then moved on, "Second, I want to introduce an old friend, who's finally returning to the village after a long time."

At this, Aiko stood up. "It's a pleasure to meet all of you. I'm Uchiha Aiko."

At this, everyone's eyes widened.

"Uchiha... Aiko...?" Homura's colleague Utatane Koharu managed, "Are you the same Uchiha Aiko that was born to Uchiha Megumi and Uchiha Nichi about two years after the war?"

"Yes." Aiko said with a nod.

"I can't believe this..." Homura managed, "We all thought... or... I guess we assumed, that..."

"Please allow me to explain." Aiko interrupted. "Roughly one year before the tragedy, my father Nichi was murdered in the forest near the compound. To this day, I am unsure if the culprit was a member of Root, or a Shirozetsu disguised as a member of Root. Regardless, the incident was enough to make my mother believe it was better to leave Konoha. Or perhaps, more accurately, it gave her an excuse to take me and leave. My parents were naturally aware of the tensions within the clan at that time. Although they were opposed to what the clan was planning, there wasn't much that they could do about it. When my father died, my mother took that as an opportunity to retire as a ninja, leave the clan, and take me to live in a more rural part of the Land of Fire, under the premise that since I did not have the Sharingan, I could not be bound to the clan."

"But wasn't your mother Uchiha herself?" Ino asked in confusion.

"No." Aiko said with a shake of her head, "Okaasan was originally from the Shimura Clan. How she came to marry my father and enter into the Uchiha Clan is a bit long and... complicated. However, given Shimura Danzou's ostensive hatred for the Uchiha, returning to the Shimura wasn't even a remote option. He particularly had it in for me. My mother knew that, and it was for that reason that she chose to leave the village. The only people outside of the clan who knew of this matter were the Third Hokage and a handful of ANBU, including Lord Sixth. Officially, my mother renounced the Uchiha name and we were subsequently removed from the clan's records as if we had never existed. We left Konoha and not even Lord Third knew where we had chosen to live. The fewer people who knew our location, the slimmer the chances of Danzou finding us. As it stands, in all this time, the only three people who knew of both my true identity and my location were Lord Sixth, who had found out during a certain mission with the old Team 7, my cousin Itachi, who managed to find us after he infiltrated the Akatsuki, and Sasuke-niichan, who I told after the war was over. Itachi-niichan took it upon himself to train me and to aid my mother in kindling my Will of Fire."

"So you never awakened the Sharingan?" Chouji asked, and Aiko laughed awkwardly.

"Actually, I awakened it on the night of my father's death, but the only people who knew that for certain were my mother, Itachi-niichan, and our friend, Uchiha Izumi." She explained, "The three of them conspired to keep it a secret so that my mother could safely take me away from the conflict."

"Come to think of it, by now, you have the Mangekyou Sharingan, don't you?" Rock Lee said. "That's why a pink Susanoo was seen in the mountains earlier today, right?"

"That's correct." Aiko said with a nod, "My Mangekyou Sharingan was awakened when my mother died shortly before the war. At any rate, the agreement between my mother and Lord Third was that when I became an adult, I could return to the village as Uchiha Aiko."

"Then why wait so long to do so?" Hyuuga Hanabi asked.

"Various reasons." Aiko told her, "The first was that Konoha was too unstable immediately after the war. In addition to the loss of many shinobi, the village was a disaster as a result of the Divine Tree's roots. On top of that, there was a political instability that remained a faction for many years. Even after two years had passed, some of the former members of Root were still causing problems despite Danzou's death. And then there was the whole 'exploding humans' thing. The upheaval lasted for quite a while. In fact, things were still considered politically unstable when I was asked to train the twins. I think around the time I finally felt they had settled down enough was about the time that I became pregnant with my daughter, Nozomi. After that, my husband and I decided that we would wait until she was old enough to enter the Academy."

"Your husband?" Inuzuka Kiba asked, "Where is he?"

Aiko's gaze fell. "He..."

"It was my fault!" Tamana suddenly burst out, her tears spilling over. "I'm sorry, Aunt Aiko! I should've sensed him! You trained me better than that! How could I have failed to notice him when even Nozomi-chan sensed his presence?!" She suddenly winced in pain, screwing her eyes shut as she tried to massage them with her hand.

"Tamana." Sasuke said, his voice carrying a note of alarm as he knelt in front of his niece. She open her eyes a moment later and blinked a little to clear her vision as Sasuke took in the sight of her new Sharingan and sighed. "It finally awakened..." He placed his hand on her shoulder. "Use the eyedrops that Sakura gave to you. The pain will subside soon." Tamana nodded and pulled out her eyedrops.

"Tamana-chan, sweetie, it wasn't your fault." Aiko assured her gently, "Nozomi may not have sensed Jigen either. She may have just happened to look in the right direction at the right time. He masked his chakra before approaching the house."

"Jigen?" Hanabi said in confusion.

"The Uchiha were attacked earlier today by Jigen, the leader of Kara." Shikamaru explained. "That was the reason that Aiko used her Susanoo up in the mountains."

"I'm sorry..." Tamana sniffed, reaching up to wipe away her tears, "This is hardly the time or the place for me to be crying about Uncle Koujirou's death."

Amai sighed in exasperation and put her hand on Tamana's shoulder. "Tamana, we've talked before about bottling up your emotions. You can't always just wait for 'the right time' to process things, sweetie." She hugged her daughter close to her, "I swear, you are most definitely your father's daughter."

Tamana's breath hitched as she clung to her mother. "Okaasan..."

"Ah... Why don't we take a fifteen-minute recess to let the Uchiha get their bearings?" Shikamaru suggested awkwardly.

"Yeah, I think that is a good idea." Kakashi agreed.

"Way to be insensitive, Kiba!" Ino chided as the rest of the council filed out of the room.

"How was I supposed to know?!" Kiba asked.

"It didn't need to be said." Aburame Shino told him, "If you want to know why..."

一族

Meanwhile, at the house, little Nozomi muttered softly and finally opened her eyes. Naruto looked over at her from where he'd been reading a book.

"Hey there. How are you feeling?"

"Who are you?" Nozomi asked, seeming a little disoriented. "Where's... where's Mama?!" She suddenly sat up in alarm, trying to figure out where she was.

"Aiko-chan is fine." Naruto assured her, "But she had to go to an important meeting, so she asked me to look after you."

"Oh..." Nozomi said, her gaze drifting to her lap. Sarada frowned from where she'd been chatting with Boruto and Kawaki on the other couch and walked over to the younger girl, crouching down to her level.

"Hi there, Nozomi-chan." She said softly, "We've never met before, but I'm your cousin, Uchiha Sarada."

"Sarada... neechan?" Nozomi asked uncertainly, and Sarada nodded to her with a soft smile.

"That's right."

Suddenly, much to Sarada's surprise, the younger girl flung herself into her cousin's arms, clinging to her tightly as she sniffled. Her gaze softened and she wrapped her arms around Nozomi, rubbing her back gently. "It's okay..." She said gently.

"Papa..." Nozomi whimpered, "Why did he do it? If it had been me, I might have..."

Naruto frowned and walked over to the two girls, kneeling down to Nozomi's level, "Because you're his daughter. A real parent will do anything they have to to protect their child." He looked down quietly, "When I was born, my parents both died to protect me."

Sarada nodded, "I ended up accompanying Lord Seventh on a mission a while back, and when the enemy tried to attack me, Papa shielded me with his own back."

"It's just what parents do." Hinata said as she walked over from the kitchen, "My father was also willing to die for my sake when I was small. As parents, our children are precious to us, and we do whatever we have to for their sake."

"Your Touchan wasn't a shinobi, Nozomi, but he was just as brave as one." Naruto told her.

"Yeah..." The young Uchiha said quietly.

"Would you like something to eat, Nozomi-chan?" Hinata asked, but Nozomi shook her head quietly.

"You really should eat something." Sarada encouraged, "The Sharingan drained almost all of your energy when you awakened it earlier."

Nozomi looked up at her, her brow furrowed slightly in confusion. "Sharingan? That's that thing where Mama and Tamana-neechan's eyes turn red, right?"

"Uh-huh." Sarada said with a nod, "It's a special ability of the Uchiha Clan. But even I get tired from using it, so I bet it really wiped you out. You should eat to get your strength back."

"Okay..." Nozomi relented.

"Nozomi-chan, what do you like to eat?" Hinata asked gently.

"...Amai-basan's sweets..." Nozomi answered slowly, "Mama is... not a very good cook. Although she does make good dango."

Sarada and Naruto laughed nervously at that.

Hinata looked thoughtful, "Amai-san specializes in making traditional sweets, doesn't she?"

"Yeah!" Nozomi said with a nod, "She runs... or, I guess she ran... a traditional cafe in Yamasato! She says that's how she and Itachi-jisan met, back when she lived in the Land of Medicine!"

Sarada laughed, "It's funny that Itachi-jisan liked sweets. Papa hates them. He prefers tomatoes. Blech!"

Nozomi giggled, "Yeah. But Obasan told me that Itachi-jisan and Sasuke-jisan both liked onigiri, just with different fillings."

"Oh..." Sarada said with interest, "Nozomi-chan, I think you might know more about my uncle than I do."

"Obasan likes to talk about him a lot." Nozomi replied, "She says that remembering makes her happy." Suddenly her face fell, "Will it make me happy too, someday? Right now, thinking about Papa... makes me want to cry..."

All that we love and hold so dear

Could disappear one day without warning

Oh, we fear if we get to close to it

We'll lose it all in a heartbeat

Hinata stroked the child's hair, "It will. Someday." She assured her, "I once lost somebody very dear to me, and I felt the same way back then that you do now. It took a long time, but... now I'm able to look back on those memories and smile." Nozomi looked up at her and Hinata smiled gently, "What you're feeling is perfectly normal, Nozomi-chan. Amai-san was also very sad when she lost Itachi-san. Even then, she talked about him a lot, but there were also times when she cried without stopping because she missed him so much. Someday, you'll be able to look back on those memories and smile, but there's no need to rush. Just take your time."

Nozomi sniffled, but nodded in response. Sarada smiled gently and tried to redirect the younger girl's attention.

"Well then, since you like traditional sweets, I'll take you to a cafe where we can have some along with some tea." She offered.

"I'll go too!" Himawari exclaimed as she rushed over, causing Nozomi to look at her in slight confusion.

"This is my daughter, Himawari." Naruto explained, "She'll be in the same class as you when you enter the Academy."

"Then, it'll be a girls' outing!" Sarada declared, "Since you're still tired Nozomi-chan, I'll carry you."

"Yeah." Nozomi nodded and watched as the older girl turned and knelt so that she could climb on her back. Her eyes widened slightly as she spied the image embroidered on Sarada's dress and she reached forward to touch it. "This is..."

Sarada smiled at her over her shoulder, "The Crest of the Uchiha Clan. I bet soon, you'll be wearing it too."

"Yeah!" Nozomi said happily as she climbed onto Sarada's back, "Mama says that to be a clan means to be one, big family! I'm glad I get to call you my family from now on, Sarada-neechan!"

Sarada smiled happily, "Me too."

You know the closer you get to something

The tougher it is to see it

And I'll never take it for granted

Let's go

一族

"So, Aiko-san, what are you planning to do now that you're returning to Konoha?" Sai asked when the meeting resumed.

"Will you be joining the Police Force?" A man named Fuuma Kotaro asked. "I seem to recall that both of your parents were prominent members."

At that, Aiko snorted, "Most of the clan was on the Police Force when I was small-actually, the clan was the police force-but I don't want to be pigeonholed like my parents were. To be perfectly honest, being on the Police Force was a complete waste of their abilities. My mother was a Special Jounin whose talent for behavioral analysis was second-to-none. During the Third War, she worked closely with Nara Shikaku to analyze enemy strategies and formulate counter strategies. Her opinion was so trusted and her insight so valued that Yondaime made her his advisor when he became the Hokage. Unfortunately, when the Kyuubi incident occurred on the night of Lord Seventh's birth, Shimura Danzō set my mother up by fueling a rumor that she had leaked information about where his birth was taking place, just as he set the clan up by fueling the rumor that we were responsible for the attack. People believed that lie because the clan didn't actively partake in the battle, never knowing that it was Danzō himself who held us back. Well, not that I think it would've mattered. The exponential growth in my cousin Obito's abilities following his disappearance in the war means that it was unlikely that anyone in the clan could've overpowered his visual prowess in order to get things under control. As a result of the rumors against her, Sandaime had no choice but to dismiss her when he resumed leadership of the village. As for my father... he was a specialist in gathering information, and after awakening his Sharingan during the war, there was hardly anybody that he couldn't impersonate and no place that he couldn't infiltrate, but there was absolutely no room for him to use those abilities after he was forced to become a member of the Police Force when the war ended. The best Fugaku-ojisan could do was to have him search a suspect's memories using genjutsu, which was his specialty." She clenched her fists at the memories, "I will not share in my parents' fate. There's nothing wrong with a member of the Uchiha joining the Police Force in the future if they should want to, but I expect that from now on, we'll be given the same freedom in the matter as every other shinobi of Konoha."

"Of course." Naruto assured her.

"Ever since Danzō's actions came to light, Naruto, Kakashi, and I have been dedicated to avoiding and rectifying the mistakes of the past." Tsunade added.

Aiko nodded in acknowledgment, "That being said, Lord Seventh and I have already discussed this matter. I will be joining the Scientific Research Division in order to learn everything I can about the Sharingan. There is so much that even the Sage of Six Paths didn't understand about it. The... ahem... theories presented by Lord Second are way off. The reality is that we know very little—next to nothing, really—and I believe that this particular subject is one that can only be properly researched by somebody who actually possesses the Sharingan. The education in psychology that I received from my mother should prove useful as well, since the one thing we do know is that the Sharingan and the heart are closely connected."

"That's certainly true." Amai said with a nod. "Itachi-kun's Sharingan tended to be constantly active when I first met him. He claimed that it was because of his poor eyesight, but the reality was that his eyes reflected the turmoil in his heart. As skilled as he was at concealing his emotions, his eyes revealed the truth. Fortunately, for some reason or another, most of the Akatsuki never realized that." She chuckled softly, "He was very surprised when I called him on it."

"And what about you, Amai?" Kakashi asked. "What do you intend to do, now that you'll be living in Konoha?"

"I've been thinking about that." Amai replied as she looked down at her clasped hands thoughtfully, "My first inclination was to open a cafe. To be honest, that's what I've done for nearly my entire life and it's all I've ever known. However, I've come to realize that I've never actually explored other options because there weren't that many available, and I've realized that I actually don't want to spend my entire life running a tea house. I've given it a great deal of thought and actually... I've decided that I would like to work in the Children's Mental Health Clinic that Sakura-chan established when the twins were small." The look in her eyes turned bittersweet, "Both Itachi-kun and I suffered greatly because of the things we witnessed as children. We were both only thirteen when I lost my family and he was forced to..." She closed her eyes and shook her head before continuing, "Regardless of how skilled we were, we were still only children, and we were forced to survive in the darkness of the world on our own, as were Sasuke-kun and Lord Seventh. In the case of my husband and I... neither of us had anybody that we could trust and rely on for support... at least not until we met each other. Itachi-kun was my light, the one who saved me from the darkness, literally and figuratively. I couldn't do anything to save him from his illness, but... Now that I'm here, in the village that he loved, I want to be a light for others. My husband was truly a kind and gentle person who spared the lives of others whenever he was able. I can't think of a greater way to honor his memory than to help children who are suffering as we did and... I'm not sure any occupation could bring me greater joy than to give those children what he gave to me... Hope." She looked over at Sakura and smiled, "I admit that you'll have to teach me from the ground up, since I don't really know anything about this particular field, but... I hope you will have me."

Sakura smiled, "Of course! I'd be happy to have you at the clinic! Now that I think about it, you may be able to help the kids in the orphanage too. Kabuto is supposed to be bringing me a report on their progress in a few days. I'll ask him what he thinks."

"Yeah." Amai said with a nod.

"So Aiko is joining the Research Division as a special jounin and Amai-san will be working at the Kids Clinic then." Shikamaru surmised.

"As for the twins, I'll need to be able to observe their skills or at least have Kakashi-Sensei or somebody from the Academy assess them." Naruto added, "It's an important part of forming any genin team."

Aiko snorted in amusement, "While I don't doubt you, good luck with that endeavor. These two are every inch Itachi-niichan's kids and Lord Third never had much luck in finding teammates for him. Izumo Tenma was a good enough fit, even if his relationship with Itachi-niichan was on the awkward side, but the other member of his first team straight up quit shortly after Tenma-san's death, and half of her reason for that was Itachi-niichan's talent. As for his second team, well, I honestly do not want to know how Danzou managed to get a member of Root assigned to it."

Naruto and the others all sweat-dropped.

Whew. Got a little more done on this. I really hope that I don't need to go and change things around after the current arc of Boruto ends. ^^;