Tampering with Time

by Palaserece

When Kyuubi was extracted from Uzumaki Naruto, it was the Nidaime Hokage that came up with an unconventional solution. An experimental reincarnation jutsu on Namikaze Minato and a one-way trip, with his Kurama, to the past. (Minato-centric)

15. A Fresh Start

Timeskip: 8 Years Old

---

Minato stirred with the dawn. Across the hall, he could sense Tsunade's presence in a deep sleep that would not be shaken without outside intervention. Shizune had not stirred either, so there was no sense in getting up yet. Not in any particular rush, Minato rolled over, hugged his pillow, and froze when he heard the soft murmur of another person's breathing barely an inch away.

Minato cracked open an eye and felt his stuttering heart restart. It was just Kakashi. His brother was sprawled across the other half of Minato's bed—the room in Tsunade's house—with dust and a smattering of grasses and pollen on his rumpled clothing.

He's asleep, concealing his chakra signature from us, breaking and entering all at the same time. Not sure if I should be impressed or disturbed.

Let's go with…eccentric.

Before leaving, Jiraiya had bought out the two homes next to Kakashi's property—much to the Copy-nin's annoyance—and dumped a significant portion of cash into Tenzo's hands. The ANBU had demolished the existing properties and set to work crafting an impressive domain worthy of the Shodai Hokage's granddaughter. And what Tenzo couldn't craft, Tsunade bought with funds Jiraiya sent her periodically.

At long last, the Senju compound existed again, albeit in a new location and downsized.

Since Tsunade was running the hospital and Kakashi was a full-time jounin—with occasional off-the-books missions—they did the only sensible thing: they shared custody. If Kakashi was on a mission, Minato stayed with Tsunade. When Kakashi returned, Minato would go back to staying with Kakashi. And with the close living arrangements, he could eat dinner wherever it suited him.

From time to time, Shizune rescued Minato and herself from Kakashi and Tsunade's verbal warfare and stupid arguments. If not with Shizune, Minato was with his friends in the Uchiha District.

Tenzo—if that was a legitimate name for the man—had become a frequent visitor to Tsunade's residence after Shizune and him bonded over their love of exotic teas. There were half a dozen "accidental" encounters between the pair before Tsunade had interceded and dragged the horrified ANBU to a bar. While technically Minato was not present to witness the ensuing events, Kakashi had been all too pleased to recite the tale of Tenzo matching Tsunade in a drinking contest. Apparently, the duo had commiserated over their drinks since Tenzo became a frequent visitor to the Senju table for meals.

Minato shifted and moved to get up, but hesitated when he noticed that Kakashi hadn't so much as twitched. That was…odd, to say the least.

"Kashi?" Minato murmured worriedly.

Kakashi slept on, curled on his side and dead to the world.

I don't think he was trying to hide from you, Minato. He isn't making any conscious effort to suppress his chakra. I think his chakra just isn't there.

"What?" Minato gasped aloud.

Scrambling across the bed, he hovered uncertainly next to Kakashi and became increasingly alarmed when he placed a cool hand on Kakashi's forehead. His brother did not stir, nor did he lash out aggressively as could be expected when startling a sleeping shinobi.

Rubbing his hands together, Minato's palm glowed a subtle green. Not a healing technique, but a diagnostic jutsu that Shizune coached him on after reminding him that every shinobi should be able to use it in conjunction with first-aid techniques to prevent further injuring wounded comrades.

While running the diagnostic, Minato focused his senses and felt almost at a loss to explain what was happening. Kurama was right, of course. Kakashi's chakra was not suppressed, but it felt like a guttering flame that was on the edge of being snuffed out completely.

The diagnostic jutsu confirmed more of the same. Kakashi's chakra coils were almost entirely spent and there was still a steady drain on his reserves: a constant, greedy consumption of chakra as it was produced, seemingly crippling Kakashi.

I told you the Sharingan was a curse.

So not the time, Kurama!

Minato bit his lip, but did not bother refuting it. How could he? The truth was the truth. Obito's gift was wreaking havoc on Kakashi's system like a leech that never consumed enough to satisfy itself. What to do about it, though…

The drain of a dojutsu in a foreign body was not a unique problem, but Minato had not been paying attention to how much of a problem it was. It was a damn hindrance and Minato could not believe he hadn't noticed sooner.

In four years, how many times have you seen him worse than this?

Minato thought on it.

Just the once, but he was black and blue from head to toe after that mission two years ago. Tsunade kept him in the hospital for almost a month, but I never considered the Sharingan's role in Kakashi ending up there.

Kakashi is a lazy bastard, but he's incredibly skilled. This implies that you have seen him exhausted, but largely uninjured. In this case, it looks like Kakashi's body gave out on him. Honestly, he needs help.

Right. Kakashi needed help.

"Oba-san!"

In half a second, Tsunade was barging through the doorway with her fist raised and glowing. It took another half a second for Tsunade to switch gears from battle-ready warrior princess to calm and collected medic. Without further delay, Tsunade was on Kakashi's other side, running her own diagnostic jutsu with a rather pinched expression.

Shizune stumbled into the room soon after, swearing, in a hastily tied robe with a kunai between her teeth. Behind her, Tenzo appeared in fiery red boxer shorts, dual-wielding a kunai and a tanto.

"Sempai?!" Tenzo exclaimed loudly.

"Chakra exhaustion, right?" Minato asked quietly.

"As much as you bitch and moan, my little one, I knew that you were listening during our lessons together. Just like I absolutely know that you're going to master a few healing techniques before you graduate."

Only Tsunade could make approval sound so snotty. And even if his heart sank at hearing the not-so-subtle proclamation, Minato knew better than to talk back. This was doubly important considering Tsunade's "sleep-in" time had been prematurely disrupted and heads tended to implode one way or another whenever that happened.

"Is Kakashi-san alright?" Shizune asked carefully.

"Tch, this idiot should have gone to the hospital."

Minato felt his heart falter in dismay.

"His body has been strained by the requirements of that implanted eye. On the surface, his chakra levels have diminished to a frightening degree, but it's clear that Hatake's body is still struggling to adapt to the foreign tissue."

It was one thing to suspect Kakashi was enduring such hardship. It was another matter entirely to have the world's number-one medic suggest that Minato's suspicions were only a small part of the real problem.

"Even if it's not compatible, it's still an eye, though…" Minato ventured uncertainly, not entirely sure how to phrase his question.

"That's true, but it's more complex than that," Shizune explained. "When you sense chakra, each clan should have a certain 'feel' to them, correct?"

"They do." Minato thought of each clan's chakra as a different sort of flavour that he was able to differentiate between the more time he spent around them.

"I never noticed." Tenzo spoke timidly, but with a keen sort of interest.

"I'm not surprised," Shizune said. "Minato's sensory talent is still developing, but it's entirely natural. Most sensory types are simply ninja that have honed a sensing skill over a number of years. Minato is a special case that is able to almost read chakra. He's good enough that he can read your emotional state pretty effectively. Believe me, he's quite skilled at that, too."

"Yes, well." Tsunade huffed slightly and turned from Kakashi to examine the other two adults shrewdly. "Shizune."

Said woman jerked upright.

"I'm feeling pretty hungry this morning."

"I'll get started right away!" Shizune fled, latching onto Tenzo's bicep.

There had been a brief window of time where Minato hoped that Tenzo might be just be the person to help Shizune grow a backbone and give her some much-needed independence. Alas, that ship had sailed. Now, instead of just one doormat, Tsunade cheerfully had a pair to meet her every need.

"And you!" Tsunade's voice lowered. The sound of splintering wood and shrieking emerged from the hallway. "If I ever catch you looking at another woman ever again, I'll rip off your balls and feed them to you! We clear?!"

"Crystal!" Tenzo obviously had a good sense of self-preservation.

"Minato!" Tsunade barked.

"Yes, Oba-san?" Minato yelped, with a healthy dose of awe and fear as he awaited judgment.

"Come closer."

Knowing better than to argue, Minato moved closer. One of Tsunade's hands rested on Kakashi's chest, but her other tapped the hitai-ate covering the Sharingan. Hoping he was reading the situation correctly, Minato placed two fingers over the hitai-ate before meeting Tsunade's gold eyes curiously.

"Don't you need to concentrate?"

"While funnelling chakra into another person's coils is difficult for most people, I'm hardly most people. But never mind that, I want you to isolate the eye and give it a feel."

"Alright."

Minato found himself reluctantly curious. He let his eyes fall shut and concentrated on the feel of the tissue—blocking out the rest of the distractions. Kakashi's chakra was weak, but it still circulated sluggishly throughout his body. Further in, Minato paused, realizing the eye did not quite feel like he expected it would.

Undeniably, Kakashi's chakra fed into the optical organ, but it seemed diluted and not exactly correct. Concentrating more, Minato tried to get a solid read on the eye itself, before realizing his efforts were just not quite enough. Begrudgingly, he added the diagnostic jutsu to his sensory web and felt a surge of triumph as he penetrated the dense chakra net and…

Oh. Of course, it was such a simple answer. Obito's chakra was still inside. After all these years, Obito's chakra was still inside.

"Uchiha," Minato breathed, rather chagrined that it took him so long to arrive at such an obvious conclusion.

"Foreign chakra, unless it's been purified and regulated by a medic that knows what they're doing, is much like the body being exposed to increments of poison continuously. Even small amounts put tremendous strain on the body and other organs."

Minato wracked his brain. "But many shinobi intentionally poison themselves to build up a resistance. Shouldn't Kakashi's body be adapting? It's been years."

"It is adapting." Tsunade smiled almost fondly down at Kakashi. "But I can tell that a significant drain on Kakashi's chakra reserves is tiring out his body on a physical level. Ordinarily, even when shinobi become low on chakra, they can still continue in a purely taijutsu spar if their conditioning is good. And Kakashi"—Tsunade patted his abdomen— "is in terrific shape. But unlike most shinobi, if his chakra depletes to a certain point, his physical stamina will be overwhelmed by backlash of exhaustion from that eye."

"Meaning the Sharingan is just as much a curse as it is a blessing," Minato said, troubled.

"I've considered different treatments, but I'm afraid medical ninjutsu can only do so much. Kakashi is using a foreign power that his body was never meant to manage."

"Will he be alright?" This time?

"He'll be fine." Tsunade's hands stopped glowing and she roughly tore back the comforter to throw it over Kakashi's unresisting body. "I expect he'll wake up sometime this afternoon. And I wish I knew how he made it all the way here before collapsing."

Minato winced.

"Nii-san is determined sometimes."

"A stubborn fool, more like it." Tsunade urged Minato up and toward the door. "Now let's go get some food."

Minato's stomach growled and he flushed lightly while Tsunade barked out a laugh.

"I think I could eat."

"Good. Let's go."

Shizune the miracle worker had whipped up a breakfast of sweet buns, eggs, and fresh fruit. A dressed, if slightly dishevelled, Tenzo was setting the table. Tsunade merely plunked herself onto a chair and grunted—a gesture that might be interpreted as thanks—as she accepted a mug of tea from Shizune and a plate of food from a nervous Tenzo.

After a few minutes of silence at the table, Minato could not take it anymore.

"Tenzo-san, what time are you meeting your team?"

"Ah, we usually meet at nine so I have over an hour to be there." Tenzo exchanged a fond smile with Shizune. "Your placement exams are coming up, right?"

"Tomorrow," Minato agreed easily. "Naruto is overconfident, Sasuke is annoyed, and Hinata is more worried about clan politics to bother with worrying about her placement."

"What's wrong now?" Tsunade perked up, attracted by gossip like most were.

"You remember what a big kerfuffle there was when Hizashi-san married Uchiha Maiko, Tsunade-sama?" Shizune interjected with a knowing look.

"How could I miss it? The panic over those two having children was annoying as hell. It's just as well that the brat they had was born without the Byakugan. The headache I would have had if they had tried to put an Uchiha in the branch family would have been a nightmare."

"I'm afraid I don't understand what this has to do with Hinata-san," Tenzo dared to interject. "Hizashi-san's daughter is just an infant, but he has been married for three years…"

"Oh." Minato grinned. "Mikoto and Hiashi came out to their clans and admitted they were in a relationship."

Minato felt a surge of satisfaction when Tenzo leaned over, choking on a grape.

"Hinata said that everyone was so shocked, one of her clan elders had to be hospitalized."

"I vaguely recall we admitted one of those old codgers last weekend." Tsunade rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "No wonder your little friend has been worried."

Conversation continued to flow, but eventually breakfast was concluded. After depositing his dish in the sink, Minato returned to Tsunade's side.

"I'll need to shower and get dressed, but do you want to spend some time together, Oba-san? You could train with me, or play cards, or whatever?"

Knowing what was coming, Minato devoted almost all his free time to training by himself or working with his friends. Even if they played together, he would find ways to incorporate some kind of training into their fun. But that became less and less necessary as growing stronger became paramount for all of them.

As fun as it was, this made spending time with Tsunade and Kakashi a rarity and especially necessary to continue nourishing his relationships with them.

"How about this—" Tsunade's eyes gleamed. "We play cards. If you win, I'll teach you a new jutsu. If I win, you have to do all the housework for a month. And after we train, we'll hit the new gambling den in town! That pervert sent me some more money!"

"Alright," Minato said. "You're on."

A night of gambling promised a night of losses, but it was a small price to pay if it made Tsunade happy.

After excusing himself, Minato checked in on Kakashi, pleased to see his brother's colouring was looking a little better. Still, having a more thorough understanding of what the Sharingan was doing to Kakashi's body was disquieting to say the least.

Kurama, I need to do something about this.

If Tsunade is aware of it and unable to act, what makes you think that anything you do will help?

I don't know, but not doing something is worse than giving up.

I'm not saying it's impossible, but I feel pretty confident that the Kakashi we encountered in the future was far more powerful than this one currently is. The Sharingan may be taxing for him, but he was capable of standing up to Obito. That alone is impressive.

I wonder if I could craft a seal to filter the chakra artificially.

I've heard of worse ideas. And you certainly possess the creative knack for devising such a seal. Still, I imagine it would take you years to develop and it would require significant testing to see if it might work.

As long as you don't screw with my chakra control again.

One time. And you were pretty impressed with me.

I was. Even though it took me months to fix what you did. I still can't believe you replicated that chakra like that.

It wasn't easy. Minato just knew Kurama was puffed up like a pleased strumpet. But when Naruto was using my Yang half's chakra, I could hardly let such an opportunity pass. I simply absorbed that chakra back into myself and—

Yes, yes, I know. You played with the chakra until you had recreated the equivalent of 25% of your Yang reserves. Honestly, I'm thankful it was only that much.

It was the most I could possibly do. And boy, did Kurama sound irritated by that. Chakra is only chakra. Literally, my soul was split into two pieces and my chakra with it. Without reintegrating with my other half, a fourth of my chakra is the limit of what I can manufacture and maintain of the Yang half. You should be thankful I bothered at all…

As you stated, you could hardly resist the opportunity. It is your chakra after all, Kurama.

You piss me off, sometimes.

Oh, I'm aware! I can't wait until I create a new jutsu and we have a friendly debate over naming rights!

As if I'd give you a choice. If you had your way, all your techniques would take an hour to recite!

Harsh! But possibly true…

"Hmm…pup?"

"Aniki!" Minato shot up, startled.

That asshole is hiding his chakra.

Kakashi's lone eye was blinking, but his brother tellingly did not make a move to get up. Instead, his head turned slightly and Minato could just see his nose quirking under the mask.

"I'm here!" He shot forward until he was hovering just a scant distance above Kakashi's face. "Just try to relax. You're a mess, Nii-san."

"Couldn't miss you going to the Academy," Kakashi rasped faintly.

"Don't be ridiculous," Minato chided him. He had been alive too long to fall for a pathetic puppy eye—even if Kakashi was legitimately not feeling well. "Tomorrow is not my first day. Tomorrow, the placement exams happen."

"Wouldn't miss it," Kakashi slurred lightly, his eye fluttering closed.

This man. Honestly. Minato dropped his forehead against Kakashi's for a moment.

"You're not our father, Kakashi. Stop worrying that you'll turn into him."

Minato pulled away and watched the even rise and fall of his brother's chest for a few moments.

A seal to fix that eye may be a farfetched dream, Minato, but I know you won't give up on something like that. Think on it later. For now, go enjoy some time with Tsunade. A day off training helps you remember what you're fighting for.

I better get going, then…Tsunade's training regime isn't for the faint of heart.

---

Fū paused her exercises for a moment to readjust the grip her calves and thighs had on the tree branch. After performing nearly five hundred upside down sit-ups, her sweat was becoming a bit too sticky for comfort. Allowing gravity to assert itself, her torso swung downward and she began performing the next rep—all the while reading her latest book.

"Torune, you need to watch that right leg! Otherwise, your guard is flawless."

"Thank you, Tenzo-sensei."

"Go ahead and do your cooldown exercises! Fū, you'll be up to work on your stuff shortly. We're just waiting on Hokage-sama and his apprentice."

Waggling her fingers in the direction of her sensei's voice, she continued reading. Humming while flipping the page, Fū grinned as the plot took a surprising turn.

After a few blissful moments—ignoring her straining thighs—Fū stumbled over a word when she overheard Foo grinding his teeth. That was…never a good sign and it often led back to his past experiences. Her teammates had disclosed few of the actual details about their time in the mysterious Root, but Fū knew that Torune and Foo were haunted to this day by what they'd been forced to endure within the shady organization. Fū rather likened it to slavery under an evil magician.

What was clear was that Foo and Torune were as socially repressed as she had been as the jinchuuriki of Taki. All of them had been given a second lease on life. Torune and Foo were given freedom and their families and Fū had become Shiranui Fū: a jinchuuriki to no one save her friends and the Hokage.

How she handled her new life situation was also wildly different from how her teammates managed. While Fū had chosen to immerse herself in the life Genma had provided her, her friends hadn't. Torune was skittish and clingy at times; it was almost as if the other boy was afraid the rug would be pulled out from underneath him at any given time. Foo went in the opposite direction; there was a verbal combativeness and a tendency to disregard social boundaries just to see if he could get away with it. In other moments, Foo was sweeter than sugar and so protective of Fū and Torune that he had gotten into fights on their behalf—and unfortunately won most of them. It made him exhausting to deal with, but Fū knew better than to judge. She had been judged enough for a lifetime, after all.

If slogging through a few hoops was what she had to do for her friends, it was a rather small price to pay.

"Yo, Tenzo, are you taking us to lunch today?"

Fū was forced to reread the last paragraph. She willed herself to ignore the fact that Foo had deliberately omitted the honorific. Again.

"I was planning on giving you the day off, Foo-kun," Tenzo-sensei replied warily.

"Yeah, well, your team needs to eat," Foo snapped back testily. "Fork over the funds! It's your turn!"

"Just because I'm your sensei, does not mean I'm going to feed you all the time." Tenzo-sensei demonstrated that he really was learning: he kept his tone even and almost friendly. "But since you are my favourite students, I'll treat you tomorrow. If you perform to my satisfaction."

Fū tensed and she heard Torune's allies buzz tellingly.

"Ugh, I wanted barbecue today, sensei! It's not fair!"

Oh, thank Kami. Whining meant a major mood swing had been averted.

"I'm sorry, Foo! But I have something to take care of today."

Okay, learning to eavesdrop while reading was definitely one of Fū's most amazing achievements. Without it, she would miss out on way more drama and opportunities to harass the people she loved most.

"Foo, he's got a date with Shizune-sempai! You of all of us should be able to tell Tenzo-sensei got some last night. He's wearing the same clothes as yesterday!"

"Gack! What?! Absolutely not!"

"Hey..." Foo sounded almost angry. "You're right! I thought his shirt smelled a bit ripe, but that mark on his neck is a dead giveaway! I can't believe I missed that! And what is that stain on your pants!"

"I did not have sex with that woman!"

"Yeah, whatever. Tell that to Shizune-sempai." Fū grinned into her book.

"Tenzo-sensei, reproductive processes are a biological function that you should not be ashamed of."

Fū tried not to giggle as Torune went into lecture mode, but failed utterly when her sensei made a sound like a dying chicken.

"However, I believe adequate aftercare is a fundamental aspect of personal hygiene. May I recommend that you make alterations to your sleep schedule to accommodate that requirement? My allies find your scent distasteful—as do I."

After another good chuckle, Fū went back to tuning out her friends. This lasted only a few minutes until one of them inevitably became bored.

"I don't see how you can possibly read that upside down, Fū." An exasperated sigh came from below.

Turning a single, orange eye, onto the redheaded Yamanaka below her, Fū winked.

"Lots of practice," she replied casually. "Gai-san's rival, Hatake-san, is able to read while training, walking, and talking to other people. I knew I wanted to be able to do that too. So, I practiced."

"As long as you don't pick up Kakashi's chronic tardiness, we'll have no problem."

"Hokage-sama!" The cry came from all her comrades.

Smoothly, Fū tucked her book into her pouch and flipped down to land between Foo and Torune.

The Sandaime was just like the warlord in the book she was reading, possessing the wisdom of a hundred battles and the old age to go with it! These qualities, coupled with a genial attitude that concealed a ruthless streak, made Fū appreciate just how powerful the old man really was.

Uchiha Itachi, one of her first friends, had grown to match the Sandaime's height at thirteen. Unfortunately, he had become far more serious with age, which was really, really frustrating. Itachi's reticence forced Fū into working harder to drag out those occasional half-smiles and even rarer laughter.

Uchiha Itachi was not some statue…he was just repressed like Fū had been. No one understood repression like she did, which made her just the person for cracking Itachi's shell.

"Not to worry, Hokage-sama!" Fū offered a casual salute that had the Sandaime's lips twitching slightly. "Tardiness isn't youthful!"

As expected, her teammates spluttered and Tenzo-sensei choked in shock. Pulling out the big guns was terribly useful and had the added bonus of being hilarious.

Unfortunately, the Hokage was not so easily moved by talk of youth. And darn it all, Itachi had been desensitized after years of training with Gai-san. Fū pouted silently. She would have to think of another way to break Itachi's impassiveness today.

"Don't say stuff like that!" Foo shouted. Lazily, she dodged the swipe from her comrade. "It's horrifying!"

Undeterred by such tactics, Fū grinned madly. "Sorry, Foo!"

"Your apologies are insincere, Fū. Nevertheless, the entertainment value of seeing Sensei and Foo so riled up quite makes up for it," Torune intoned with the barest hint of amusement in his normally stoic countenance. "I approve."

In spite of the betrayed looks Tenzo and Foo were shooting at Torune, Fū bumped hips with the taller boy and extended her opposite hand into a V-for-victory pose.

Unnoticed by everyone else, Fū saw Itachi's lips twitch slightly.

Hell yeah! Double victory!

A soft ahem drew their attention. Instantly, everyone sobered and focused on the Hokage.

"I understand that you have accessed your bijuu's chakra, Fū-san," the Sandaime said gravely.

"I did." Fū fiddled with her fingers nervously. "I didn't think it was a bad thing, Hokage-sama."

What was the point of being a jinchuuriki if you could not access that power? Without Choumei, her life would be very different. In fact, Fū shuddered to imagine what would have become of her in backwater Takigakure.

"If she had not, it is likely one of us may have perished, Hokage-sama." Foo spoke out of turn, a dangerous flash in his eyes.

"Hokage-sama is not here to reprimand Fū for her actions, which likely preserved the lives of her comrades." Itachi spoke with a staggering amount of authority as he stepped forward. "However, if we are to help Fū develop her power, we must be certain of all the facts. Without these facts, we may choose a course of action that may be unsafe for ourselves, or even for Fū. A jinchuuriki is not exempt from being damaged by interacting with their bijuu. Yamanaka-san, you have perceived an offense where none was intended."

The wind chose that moment to blow through the area. Fū felt her matching pigtails flutter slightly and her chest tightened for a minute as Itachi's intense gaze tore through her.

Sometimes, it was still a shock to be reminded that she had people that cared about her now. Happy endings were not just in her books.

"Thank you, Itachi-kun," Fū whispered softly, noting the taller boy inclining his head curtly. Instinctively, she slapped her friends' shoulders. "And even if you didn't have to, thanks for sticking up for me."

"Yeah," Foo groused. "Sorry, Hokage-sama."

The aging Kage lifted a pencil-thin brow, but seemed to accept the apology at face value since he nodded slightly.

"Let's work out the details now. Your first use of the Nanabi's chakra happened on your last mission, correct?"

"No." Fū fidgeted again. "Choumei used his chakra to get me out of Taki. Otherwise, I would never have stood a chance."

The Hokage went still and suddenly Fū was aware that Itachi's dark eyes were red with black commas and the Sandaime was staring her down like a hawk looking at a mouse.

"Choumei?" The Hokage said.

Maybe it was not intentional, but Fū took a step back, suddenly afraid.

Fū? You're in Konoha…why are you scared?

"It's…the Nanabi's name." Fū shot Itachi a pleading look, feeling insecure and terribly nervous. "We talk sometimes. He's…"

Fū stared at her dusty toes and fought the sudden urge to bolt. A sudden weight on her shoulder put a halt to those thoughts. Following the hand to its owner, she was surprised by the encouragement she read in the spinning depths of the Sharingan.

Fū?

"I'm okay, I'm okay!" she said aloud, even if it was more for her bijuu's benefit than her audience. Finally straightening resolutely, she looked her leader in the eye and took a breath. "Choumei is my friend…we talk sometimes."

"Wow, you talk with it? That's fascinating," Foo murmured next to her, sounding totally like the nerdy Yamanaka he was.

"I see." the Hokage's gaze had softened somewhat, but he folded his arms calmly. "Itachi?"

"The seal is perfectly intact and, from what I can discern, she is suffering no coercion."

The atmosphere immediately lightened and the pressure she felt from the Hokage dissipated.

"I was scared," Fū blurted out uncomfortably. "Choumei can tell when I'm afraid."

"I have no objection to developing a relationship with your bijuu so long as you are careful about doing so. It's rather common knowledge that the Raikage's brother maintains a partnership with his bijuu. If you were to cultivate such a relationship with the Nanabi, I would support that." The Hokage paused. "As long as you proceed carefully. This is as much a precaution for you as it is for everyone else."

"I understand, Hokage-sama."

"Then as long as your seal is functioning appropriately, I see no problem."

"So, is Fū-chan going to strut her stuff now?" Foo piped up, looking way too interested.

"Fū, I'll be ready if I need to step in. Just…go." Tenzo-sensei looked like the worried mother hen he was, though he put on a brave face.

"You got it, Sensei!" Fū chirped, slowly beginning to feel more secure. She paused once and flashed a smile to Itachi. "I was nervous. Thanks for helping back there!"

With that, she dashed into the field and anxiously shifted her weight back and forth.

"Okay."

Fū shook out her arms and legs and tried to force her body to relax.

"You can do it, Fū-chan!" Foo called from the sidelines.

"Foo, perhaps you should not distract our teammate during such a crucial exercise."

"Both of you, shut up!" Tenzo-sensei grouched.

Can we work together, Choumei?

I have no complaints. You are a good hatchling.

Fū flushed hotly, her tan cheeks already warm from the sun.

I would advise restricting how much chakra you practice with for the time being. My chakra, regardless of my own will, plays off your emotional state. Something as small as irritation will be augmented by a staggering amount and may cause you to lose control.

Thank you for looking out for me, Choumei. You're quite the pal.

You're welcome, hatchling. Don't fall now.

What do you mean, fall?

Fū rocked backward as the ground beneath her feet groaned, cracked, and finally exploded from the sheer pressure of the toxic red chakra emanating from her body. On a whim, she smashed her foot into the ground, gaping when a crater whose diameter matched her height appeared beneath her.

"Holy shit!" she whispered, just as Foo called, "That is fucking overpowered bullshit, Sensei!"

Yeah, I just might have to agree with that statement…

The pressure of the chakra suddenly spiked and Fū gasped. She planted her hands on her knees as it built.

"Shiranui Fū, are you alright?"

That one was the Hokage, but Fū did not answer. She couldn't.

"The chakra is becoming denser, I'll use my Mokuton to stop it."

"No. Fū is in control, but she is manifesting—"

Manifesting what?

She gasped then as the pressure intensified before being washed away by a glorious sensation of relief. Fū sighed and looked down at her shaken, disbelieving comrades, waving thankfully.

The Hokage looked pleased and Itachi looked almost proud. Lazily, she glanced to her left, grateful for the breeze providing some relief from the superheated chakra flowing through her veins.

"The development seems peculiar, but it's nevertheless impressive."

"You're flying, Fū! How does it feel? Holy crap, I can't believe she's flying! Do you see that, Torune?! Her insect is way cooler than yours!"

"Debateable, but I appreciate the positive sentiment directed toward insects."

"Flying?" Fū repeated stupidly. "I'm flying?!"

Fū looked down, found her stomach sinking, and suddenly she was freefalling. With a cry, she refocused and cocooned herself in Choumei's chakra. Trying to get a sense of the appendages as they fluttered purposelessly, she focused on making them beat. If each stroke was a punch... As if in mediation, Fū imagined Gai's voice ordering her to ignore everything except the task at hand.

It worked.

Fū's descent paused and she hovered in midair with only a light wave of Choumei's chakra flowing through her body.

"I did it," she remarked stupidly before shouting with wilder enthusiasm. "I did it!"

I knew you were plucky. Good job, hatchling.

Thank you, Choumei! I've always dreamt of flying into the clouds…maybe I can now!

She spent several minutes just practicing keeping aloft, but the movements were repetitive and soon became intuitive. It was a simple matter to maintain altitude, a little less easy to steer, but every turn came easier than the last. The group below continued to talk and exclaim, but Fū ignored them all as she twisted, went from low to high and back down again.

Fū flipped again and giggled.

"This is so fun!" She whooped! "I have wings like a big, giant—"

Don't say bird.

Wasn't gonna!

"Look at me! I'm a flying bug girl!"

There are worse names, I suppose.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fū spied the Sandaime speaking in hushed tones to a nodding Tenzo-sensei. Itachi was standing nearby, looking far too bored for her liking.

Without considering the nous of this particular situation, Fū descended and slid her arms through Itachi's armpits and lifted him up. The boy—because a thirteen-year-old could not really be considered a man—was easy enough to carry for someone with her strength. Though Fū really would have to tease him later for his sweet, frilly-smelling shampoo. Her victim hardly struggled; she would even go so far as to say that he expected her to do this.

"You didn't use a Kawarimi."

"I did not."

"How come?" she prodded again, even as she flew in sweeping circles and swooping dives.

"Under the Sandaime's tutelage, I have come to master many principles, but I've yet to uncover a method for flight. Such an opportunity in life is rare. I would be a fool to reject it."

It was as close to a declaration of excitement as she would get.

"Then we'll go flying again. Every Wednesday. It can be our thing!"

"It sounds like an interesting tradition."

"Knew you wouldn't be able to resist."

"I haven't said yes, yet."

"Yeah, you did. I can hear it in your voice."

"Is that so?"

She ignored the question as it was rhetorical anyway. Itachi seemed so mysterious, but he was just as young and unsure as she was. He just hid it better than most people.

"Remember this moment if you really become Hokage, Itachi," Fū declared as she turned them away from the bright afternoon sun. "Even if you're stronger than I am, I'll always take you into the clouds. Deal?"

Flying almost close enough to touch the white puffy clouds, Itachi laughed once; it was a bright, untainted thing that was both wonder and innocence intertwined together.

"You have a deal."

"Me next!" Foo shouted, hopping up and down from below like crazy. "Take me next, Fū!"

"Hell with that, she's gonna come get me!"

Instantly, Fū swivelled in midair and felt Itachi clutch her arms reflexively.

"Genma!" Fū squealed! "I'm coming to get you!"

It was a beautiful day.

---

Koharu watched from her office window with something akin to satisfaction as exam participants arrived and began taking their seats. A few students showed up far ahead of the scheduled test time; most arrived a good ten minutes early, and the least promising bunch arrived just in time to slide into their seats before the doors were shut.

It was an interesting crowd this year. There had been nearly a hundred applicants and of that number, ten had been removed from the program during the interview process. Some thought it harsh, but Koharu called it necessary. Weeding out students with unsuitable dispositions saved Konoha precious funds and potential betrayals down the road.

Hiruzen had been hesitant to implement the interview with a T&I official for prospective students, but Koharu steamrolled that answer with common sense—helpfully pointing out that psychological head cases had no business learning shinobi arts.

Call them what you will, future genin were a priceless village resource and not so easily replaced.

Until Koharu had revamped the Academy, the graduation exam passing rate had been a piddling nine children average per graduating class. An unacceptable number considering that it took years to produce quality shinobi.

Everything had changed when she took over the program. The first thing to go had been the staff: she fired them. All of them. Most were slothful chunin that had forgotten what it was like to perform anything above a C-rank mission. What would they know about being a jounin anyway?

After the staff, Koharu had to work on the Academy itself. A group of village tradesman were hired to gut, renovate, and expand the Academy building. A specialized group of ninjutsu users were commissioned to redesign the Academy and its grounds to fit her vision of a successful learning centre.

First, the craftsmen were advised to make smaller classrooms conducive to smaller class sizes. Koharu ordered the development of special rooms for more explosive topics, reinforcing them with seals to prevent permanent damage in the case of classroom incidents.

Out back, civilian contractors had lain the foundation for a swimming pool. It was sadly not uncommon for some students to be incapable of swimming. Koharu had eliminated that problem entirely by making it a requirement of physical conditioning. Beyond that, Koharu knew for a fact that older students in chakra control courses used the pool to hone that ability further; Shizune had reported that Tsunade's medical class at the hospital had made progress thanks to such exercises.

This last year, the tactical director had requested the use of the pool for underwater combat training scenarios. Koharu had approved, of course. While underwater combat was incredibly unlikely, she was a firm believer in being prepared for every scenario.

As for her chosen shinobi assistants, Koharu put them to work building multiple special training zones. The ranged weaponry zone was a significant change from what it used to be. Targets were set up high to low with a few mechanical moving pieces to simulate a live target. The tree platforms enabled students to get a feel for what they learned in math classes; how angles and aerodynamics affected different equipment. Senbon, kunai, and shuriken had to be thrown differently and with different applications of force from varying directions. Simple mechanics, maybe, but not something most genin realized prior to Koharu's updated Academy program.

The specialized terrain areas were used for physical conditioning, taijutsu training, and the tactics class. Koharu had arranged for doton users to create an entire training area made of stones and little else. Another area that was nothing but hills of sand. A grove of trees provided by the Mokuton user to simulate the home terrain they would be most comfortable in. And since space and technical problems became a real issue, Koharu had settled on a swamp terrain for the final training zone.

When Koharu read the initial reports on how classes were taught, she had been even more appalled than initially. But when she had read the student assessments, she discovered the real problem.

Children from civilian and shinobi backgrounds were thrown together and expected to flourish.

Honestly, Koharu had no idea what Hiruzen and these bumbling idiots had been thinking. Civilians tended to have a better academic grasp and knew next to nothing about the importance of physical conditioning and anything else from the shinobi world. This led to frustrated clan students who felt they were held back and civilians that never had proper guidance to begin with.

Needless to say, Koharu had scrapped that and drawn up plans for Academy placement exams and interviews. With the exams, they would be able to determine which students required help in math and which did not; which students had experience with weaponry and who were beginners; who was good in hand to hand combat; and who had no experience at all.

Knowledge was power. Certainly, that was not in dispute. But how that knowledge was introduced would determine the success of their children.

The first graduating class since Koharu took over debuted this year. The preliminary reports from jounin-sensei, and the two apprenticeships she arranged, were everything Koharu had hoped for. Not perfect, but far and above what she could have expected.

One failed team. One out of nine. Hiruzen had been shocked and Koharu had quietly pocketed a hefty bag of ryo notes from that particular victory.

Ultimately, her goal was to have zero failed teams. The program she had implemented was costly, but effective when it produced results that would repay Konoha's coffers ten times over.

After the placement exams, Koharu would be left to arrange the students into appropriate classes. Age was not a factor. What mattered was that each individual received instruction that would lead them to success, for the village's sake as well as their own.

Finding suitable instructors had been another challenge, simply because the requirements were demanding—but Koharu had been persistent. She created core classes and optional classes that students could only take if they met certain standards.

Basic math, reading, and writing were mandatory unless a student was able to test out of them. Universally, mathematics was the most difficult and Koharu only occasionally noted a student capable of testing out before receiving instruction. Reading and writing were treated almost as remedial programs, but proved worth their timeslots since children hailing from orphanages often benefited and would have otherwise failed due to illiteracy.

Basic first aid was a class, taught by Shizune, that everyone was required to pass at some point. Every single individual would learn the basics that did not require medical jutsu; wrapping injuries, treating burns, and field splints. If a certain student had an aptitude, Shizune would discuss enrolling them in the medic courses offered at the hospital.

Koharu had established basic weaponry care and proficiency classes—mostly for the benefit of children coming from civilian backgrounds. After students became good enough to be trusted to handle the weaponry, they would be placed with the rest of their peers until they developed decent accuracy with kunai and shuriken.

Students that demonstrated talent in ranged weaponry were invited to take part in Friday workshops, where jounin specializing in different weapons would make appearances periodically. This allowed the kids the opportunity to see how they fared with a variety of tools. Koharu already suspected quite a few from this year's children would be offered the Friday workshop—children from virtually all the clan heads in the village were bound to impress.

The class dealing with history and foreign affairs was possibly one of the more tedious, but also the most crucial. Koharu had been hard-pressed to find a teacher capable of drilling the information into resistant skulls in a way that would stick. Thankfully, a towering hulk of an Inuzuka stepped into the role and ruled the classroom by somehow making boring diplomatic missions sound like the latest edition of Jiraiya's trashy yet addictive novel. One could hardly argue with results, so Koharu forgave the occasional complaints of vulgar language after she saw the rise in test scores from that class.

Physical conditioning and taijutsu practice were overseen by two individuals. The first, a retired member of the Sarutobi Clan, drilled his little monkeys with shocking fervour for a man suffering from an infirmity in his leg. His counterpart, a deceptively mild-mannered Hyuuga branch kunoichi, took sadistic pleasure in running the students ragged. Koharu knew incoming students—particularly the Nara brand—would be in for a rude awakening with these two.

Dividing the curriculum for chakra control, ninjutsu, and genjutsu had been a tough sell, especially since Koharu steadfastly insisted that different teachers were necessary for each division. Koharu had won—as always—after arguing that chakra control was crucial to all other subjects, while genjutsu and ninjutsu were closer to specializations. Genjutsu was now being taught by Uchiha Mikoto and ninjutsu had been handed over to an impressive ninjutsu specialist that was a shoe-in for tokubetsu jounin.

Special courses were precisely that: special. Not everyone would see the inside of an encryptions classroom. Not everyone would make it through a calligraphy class to introductory fuinjutsu. And certainly, fewer still would make it into an introduction to poison theory. The classes for sabotage involved trap-making and information-gathering so that would likely be one of the few special courses that saw lots of use, but that was that.

"The tactics class is not for the faint of heart," Koharu said, testing the resolve of the chunin standing across from her. "It requires a certain level of creativity and the ability to run countless scenarios with your students on a live training field. My last instructor was a Nara that left because he had been promoted to black ops due to his ability to strategize and promote the concept of teamwork. Tell me, Umino-san, do you have what it takes to organize such a class?"

"I do." The conviction was there, but not quite as solid as she would have preferred.

Umino Iruka: an unusual case. A chunin that had had a brief but impressive association with ANBU. Some amount of sensory talent coupled with an absolutely devoted and loyal mindset. Decent ninjutsu. Decent taijutsu, but nothing over-the-top extraordinary. In fact, if not for his ANBU record…Koharu would never have considered him for the position.

In ANBU, Umino Iruka had demonstrated a keen mind capable of coming up with impressive strategies on the fly. His quick thinking had saved several missions that would otherwise have been doomed to failure. Nothing outwardly impressive about the man, except that he was Nara-sharp.

"Impress me, Umino-san," Koharu murmured. "Failure to do so will not end well for you."

The young man in front of her straightened and she felt her lips curl upward. His expression screamed that he would show her—show them all.

Good. Koharu always preferred it when someone actually had a backbone.

"I will." This time, the response was iron-hard.

"That's just what I was hoping to hear. Now, Umino-san, come." She beckoned him over to her window where they stood and together stared at the arriving students. "Tell me what you see."

---

Sakura's hands shook as she carefully read over her exam for errors. Her stomach was a bit queasy from hunger and her muscles quivered with the need to move and stretch, but she ignored it all for the paper between her fingers.

She risked a glance to the left. A bored-looking proctor was sitting on the desk twirling a pen and staring the room down. Just above the man's head was a clock showing 12:22.

Eight minutes left. Sakura could work with that.

Sakura attended to the final equation and sent a silent thanks to her parents. If they had not pressured her to focus on mathematics, she knew she would have been like the blond boy two seats over who was vocalizing his misfortunes for the rest of the room to hear.

Of course, Sakura knew her parents had groomed her to be savvy with numbers so that she would be able to manage a civilian business like they did. Her parents had been dismayed when Sakura insisted on attending the Shinobi Academy. She had refused to back down from her goal, however—not even when her parents dangled a shopping spree or a trip outside the village as bribes. Sakura wanted something exciting from life. Something different than what her parents had.

Of course, nothing was ever that easy.

Sakura heard it really had just been a matter of enrolling in the program a few years ago. Apparently, that went out the window when one of the Sandaime's top advisors took over the Academy.

Last week, when Sakura finally convinced her father to sign her up, she had been given a date and time for an interview. She had thought it was just a meeting with her future teacher.

Yeah, no. Instead, Sakura had been sent into a room with her parents and interviewed—interrogated like in some creepy television show. At the end of her "interview," the woman had smirked and ordered her to show up for placement exams.

Placement exams!

Sakura had returned home in a daze and wondered exactly what she had gotten herself into. But then her mother had given her that look and suggested it was perfectly reasonable to pull out and go to a respectable civilian school.

That had been just the motivation she needed. Sakura had excused herself to her room to study: she had an exam to beat.

The paper told her the test began at seven sharp so Sakura naturally arrived half an hour ahead of time and determinedly shook off her parents—even though she really, really wanted them with her—and walked into the large, looming building.

Stepping inside with her notice, Sakura was instantly directed to a classroom at the far end of the hall by a woman wielding a clipboard. It seemed odd that she had passed at least two other classrooms that seemed to be exam rooms—just how many people were taking this test anyway?

To her surprise, there were easily thirty individual desks in the room with at least half a dozen occupied right off the bat. Sakura had taken a seat at the front and hunkered down to wait.

She had not had to wait long. Kids of varying ages flooded into the room; most were probably in the six-to-eight range, but Sakura was amazed by their sheer number.

Sakura had noticed a few boys that picked on her from time to time and shrank further down in her seat. She prayed they didn't notice her. Miraculously—because, come on, a hair colour like hers stuck out like a sore thumb—they sat down without so much as looking her way.

Only about twenty of the desks ended up being used, but Sakura had not had time to think on that for long.

The first exam had been on geography. Sakura had felt alright about that one. The second one had focused on shinobi villages and relationships: Sakura was far less confident. A third exam had focused on reading and writing ability which helped Sakura regain some of her initial enthusiasm. The math exam had been easy enough, with only some of the last problems proving the least bit challenging.

Nevertheless, Sakura felt a sigh of relief escape her as the proctor finally ordered them to drop their pencils.

"Alright, brats, listen up! This concludes the written portion of your tests. You've got an hour for lunch and then it's time for practicals! Get out of here!"

In the blink of an eye, a blond kid was out of his seat, rocketing across the room and out the door. Half a second later, the remaining students followed suit.

Sakura waited until the majority of them had exited the classroom before stepping into the hallway. Almost instantly, she was accosted by two of the nasty boys that hassled her at the park.

"Hey, look, Enui! It's Forehead!"

Sakura involuntarily flinched at the moniker and stared down at her feet. What could she really say? Asking them to stop never got her anywhere and telling them it hurt her feelings just seemed to encourage them.

What should she do?

"Not like you could miss her with that ridiculous colour. What is up with that anyway, Forehead? Did you Kaa-san sleep with a stick of bubble gum or something?"

Sakura bit her lip and jerked backward.

"Why can't you just leave me alone! I've never done anything to you!"

"Pfft, you gonna cry, Forehead-girl?"

Sakura felt her lip tremble.

"Gonna cry?"

"Nah, I'm pretty sure that's about to be you idiots!"

Too fast for Sakura to really process what happened, her tormentors suddenly collapsed to their knees before falling forward on their faces. The bullies were watery-eyed and on the floor clutching their stomachs.

Behind them was a beautiful blonde girl with her hair done up in an elegant bun and wearing dark plum-coloured clothing. The blonde flashed her a cheery smile that took Sakura's breath away before kicking the weeping lump in front of her with a note of finality.

"Serves you two right, picking on a girl like that! Try it again and I'll kick your teeth in! Got it?"

"Thank you!" Sakura gushed. She hopped over the groaning boys and grinned broadly. "That was amazing! How did you do that?"

"What, that?" Her rescuer eyed the weeping pair on the ground before shrugging her shoulders. "They must have been weak. Taijutsu really isn't my thing, but I couldn't let them get away with treating you that way. They were jerks!"

It was Sakura's turn to frown. The other girl really didn't seem to understand how amazing she had been. Without intervention, Sakura knew she might have been able to run away, but she would never have managed to actually do something.

"They're always like that…You saved me. Thank you!" Sakura blurted out before she could stop herself. "Can you teach me to do that?"

"Ah, well. It was nothing! I'm just sort of awesome like that!" The blonde smiled so widely her cheeks dimpled. "I'm Yamanaka Ino. But you can just call me Ino! And you bet I'll teach you! I'll show you how to pound some sense into thick skulls! Come with me! We'll get some lunch!"

"I'm Sakura. Haruno Sakura." She bowed slightly. "And I would love to have lunch with you, Ino-chan!"

"Great!" The other girl—Ino—slung an arm around Sakura's shoulders. Sakura watched her new friend glower at the groaning pair that were still on the floor before kicking them viciously—yet again—with elegant heeled sandals.

"Let's get out of here before those two morons pick themselves off the floor!"

"Yeah!"

Yamanaka. That name rang a bell, but Sakura could not readily ascertain why. Maybe one of the less prominent clans? She really wasn't sure, but she knew that Ino was super cool and had rescued her from a couple of idiots, and that was worth a lot.

"Were the exams hard for you?"

Sakura blinked as the slightly taller girl ushered her out a door and into a sunny courtyard.

"Not sure I did very well with the shinobi test." Sakura flushed red as she admitted her failure. "But I think I did okay on the other stuff."

"Yeah, if you passed the interview, you shouldn't have anything to worry about," Ino replied knowledgably as they walked past an area with all sorts of targets. "And these tests are just going to determine your schedule and class placements."

"So, you and I might not end up together?" They had just met so that shouldn't have been such a big deal, but Sakura wanted to be around someone she felt comfortable with.

"Hey, don't worry!" Ino flashed her a broad smile that instantly settled Sakura's nerves. "We'll have some stuff together, but we might not have everything together. And that way, you'll never get bored of me!"

Sakura nodded glumly and noted that Ino seemed to be steering them toward a pair of trees where a group of kids lounged in the shade. A few faces turned toward them; some seemed to be giving Sakura a once-over.

She held her breath, waiting for them to make some comment, but no one said anything. No one seemed unhappy with her presence either.

Maybe this really was something of a fresh start.

"Hey, guys!"

A dark-haired girl wearing an elegant white kimono with a lilac obi stood up to meet them as they approached.

"Ino-chan, we've been waiting for you." A curious eye was turned on her and Sakura just knew her face was the same colour as her hair. "You made a new friend?"

"You bet!" Sakura's heart stuttered at the easy declaration. "This is Sakura-chan! Sakura, this here is Hyuuga Hinata."

"Nice to meet you, Hyuuga-san!" Absently, she wondered if her greeting was too casual and hoped it would suffice.

"Such formality is something my father might appreciate, but I'm not him," Hinata murmured and winked once, going far to reassure Sakura. "I'm Hinata to my friends. And if Ino says you're our friend, you are."

Wow. All of her doubts about attending the Academy were receding. Sakura had never had such good luck interacting with other children. It certainly obliterated her parents' preconceived ideas about the reception Sakura would receive outside of a civilian school.

"Thank you, Hinata-san!" Sakura smiled, brightening as she saw an answering grin curve onto the gorgeous girl's face.

"Shika, how can you possibly be sleeping already!" Ino shouted, startling Sakura.

She watched the blonde girl approach a boy that was dozing against one of the trees. Sakura's new friend muttered something less than appreciative before planting her sandal in the sleeping boy's gut.

"Wake up, idiot!"

Sakura opened her mouth to protest the harsh treatment, but the lazy boy barely seemed to notice Ino's outrage despite the physical abuse. Instead, he flopped over and grumbled something about "troublesome women."

"What did he just say?" Sakura asked, rather annoyed by the muttered sexism.

"Eh, Shikamaru is always saying crap like that," Ino grumbled as she retreated. "Really pisses me off."

"Is he always like that?" Sakura asked tentatively.

"Who, Nara?"

Sakura turned toward the voice, finding a boy wearing a heavy coat with fur around the collar. He flashed a toothy grin in her direction.

"That guy sleeps more than the dead. Honestly, if Ino and Minato didn't push him as much as they do, he would never succeed at anything. I'm Inuzuka Kiba, by the way."

"Oh, nice to meet you, Kiba-san," Sakura murmured, not entirely sure what to do with that information.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when the boy's jacket hood began to quiver. "Gah! Something is in your coat!"

A second later, a black, quivering nose appeared, followed by the most adorable, shaggy-coated puppy that Sakura had ever seen.

"A puppy!?" A puppy? Why would there be a dog in someone's coat?

"A ninken," Kiba corrected, rubbing the pup's head with an affectionate finger. "He'll be my partner as a shinobi. I can't wait until he's big enough to rip apart our enemies with his teeth alone!"

Sakura shot a dubious look at the puppy, but figured she was better off refraining from total honesty this early into making new friends.

"Take a seat, Sakura-san." Hinata dropped down onto the grass.

Sakura was careful to follow suit. "Thank you," she said, wishing she had actually packed a lunch today instead of choosing to skip. Not that anyone else was eating either… "Did you guys forget to bring a lunch too?"

"Nah." Ino sat down next to her after giving Shikamaru a final glower. "Chouji-kun should be here with lunch soon. And you're more than welcome to have some of it, Sakura. And don't give me any of that polite no-can-do speech. Chouji's family owns the Akimichi restaurants and his Kaa-san promised us an amazing lunch for placement exams. So, there will be more than enough."

"Wow, that's really nice of his family," Sakura said.

In fact, it was so generous that Sakura was not exactly sure what to do with it. Her family was well-off and often hosted private dinners for other families, but there was always some sort of motive behind their actions. Doing something just to be nice, something that required considerable time and effort was just…not done.

"Chouji's mom is awesome," Kiba agreed, only stirring Sakura's growing pot of confusion. "I can't wait till the next gathering at his place. Although, you're all in for a treat at the Inuzuka barbecue this weekend!"

He paused and frowned before poking Sakura, causing her to jump. "Since you're hanging out with us, why don't you come too, Sakura-san?"

"I'll have to ask my parents, but that sounds interesting." It sounded absolutely terrifying, not to mention intimidating. "I would love to be there."

"She'll be there." Ino overrode her insecurities like a battering ram. "I'll make sure of it."

"Cool," was all he responded with.

"And there comes Chouji-kun!" Ino pointed a finger toward a rotund boy ambling their way and carrying a rather large scroll. "Now, where are the others? They should have been here by now…Hinata, do you know where the boys are?"

Sakura turned expectantly toward the other girl, but before she could say anything, Shikamaru spoke.

"Naruto was the first one out of the classroom. Naturally, that idiot ambushed his brother with a barrage of water balloons as he exited. The last I saw, Sasuke chased after him and I haven't seen either of them since. And Neji and Shino were excused from classes today so they won't be here."

That was an awful lot of names and information for her to process.

"Ugh, it figures," Ino grumbled unhappily. "And Minato?"

"Dunno, he was in the same test room with Akamaru and I," Kiba responded easily. "But he isn't the type to ditch us. I'll bet he's trying to wrangle Sasuke and Naruto. We all know that aside from Hinata-chan, Minato is the only one capable of that."

Sakura could not have been more confused if she tried.

"Chouji! My man!" Kiba jumped up and looked to be salivating over the scroll in the portly boy's hands. "Please tell me you got some delicious ribs in there! Please! Please! PLEASE!"

"Are you suggesting my Kaa-san would ever short-change us for food?" There was a staggering amount of threat permeating the air and Sakura's assessment of him automatically, and radically, shifted.

"No!" Kiba backed away, waving his hands in the air frantically. "I just—" Kiba suddenly latched onto her of all people and dragged her forward. "This is Ino-chan's new friend, Sakura-san! This is her first time hanging with us and I just know she's going to love your mom's cooking!"

The boy—Chouji—did not quite seem to buy Kiba's story, but turned a broad smile in her direction just the same.

"It's nice to meet you, Sakura-chan!" He grinned smugly as he dropped the scroll he was carrying and knelt over it. With a faint poof of smoke, an enormous picnic blanket covered by more food than Sakura had ever seen in one place outside a festival table appeared. "I'm Chouji! My family enjoys cooking, so please enjoy."

"Yum!" Hinata, surprisingly, was the first to attach herself to a plate of cinnamon buns, smiling covetously. "Chouji-kun, be sure to pass on my appreciations to Shou-sama!"

"You bet I will!"

"Jackpot!" Kiba had abandoned her and was currently piling two plates full of ribs, barbecued chicken, and other meaty treats for himself and his dog.

"Wow…" Sakura dropped down on the edge of the blanket and looked around uncertainly.

"Is something wrong?" Chouji honed in on her discomfort and gave her a scrutinizing look.

"Err…well." She gestured helplessly to the rather intimidating spread of goods.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Chouji!" Ino had only gotten a few dumplings onto a plate before scowling. "She's clearly not sure what she likes! Make some recommendations! She's a new customer, practically!"

To Sakura's relief, something about Ino's speech must have translated well because Chouji looked less worried, less offended, and rather enthusiastic.

"Oh! I should have thought of that! Sorry, Sakura-san!" He radiated such kindness that it immediately set her at ease. "What kind of food do you like? Sour? Sweet? Savoury? Seafood, pork?"

Sakura asked for some savoury suggestions with a request for a dessert with fruit in it. Sakura was not ashamed to say that everything Chouji put on her plate tasted like heaven. Evidently everyone agreed because even Shikamaru was working through a plate of food.

"Hope you guys left some for me!"

Sakura looked up and—the world around her seemed to pause. Her eyes traced white shorts up to a kimono-styled red and white shirt and a necklace from which hung an elongated, sparkling green stone. The boy's face was the one that she recognized based on description: angular cheekbones with a scarlet marking on the chin and each cheek, and red eyes framed by silver bangs that created a picture of perfect symmetry. A hightail that easily reached his lower back completed the look, as did the almost gentle smile aimed her direction.

Sakura found herself fighting down a blush and failing spectacularly.

Senju Minato. This was the boy that featured constantly in discussions throughout Konoha. Sakura had never seen him herself, but she had heard the rumours and the whispers of the adults. Sakura had also been aware that Senju Minato would be attending the Academy soon, but she had not exactly expected to meet him. Or talk to him. Someone like her was way beneath the notice of someone who was Konoha royalty.

"It's nice to meet you, Sakura-san!" Senju Minato said kindly, and Sakura realized, with no small degree of horror, that someone must have introduced them. And she had totally missed that.

Holy crap, he talked to her.

"You too, Senju-sama!" She winced at how timid and pathetic she sounded.

"No need for that!" The boy actually winced himself. "I get it way too often from people as it is."

Sakura just nodded vigorously, practically swallowing her tongue.

There was a scuffling sound somewhere in the distance. Sakura squinted as a dust cloud kicked up and seemed to be speeding in their direction.

"Ah, hell." Kiba grunted. "Here they come. I was hoping those two idiots would miss out and leave more for us."

"Kiba-kun." Hinata jumped in with a disappointed glare. "We always have leftovers anyway. You shouldn't be so insensitive."

"Who is that?" Sakura asked faintly as the outlines of two figures appeared through the cloud of dust.

"Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto." Kiba shoved some food into his mouth as he spoke. "Honestly, they're a lot of fun. Sasuke is still a jerk sometimes, but he's gotten better. Naruto's a riot, though! Makes life way more interesting with his pranks! Love that guy!"

Sakura felt her stomach clench slightly. Both names she had heard before; the former with reverence, but the latter with the utmost derision. And maybe it was intended to be subtle, but Sakura was suddenly aware of an intense level of scrutiny from a few different directions. Shikamaru looked alert and was staring at her blatantly. Sakura glanced to her right where Hinata—the girl that epitomized kindness—had paused mid-bite to assess her with an expressionless, eerie look.

And the Senju heir…he was looking pensive, expectant, and…disappointed?

This was some sort of test right now. Something else…something important was happening. Sakura could not fail here or whatever friendships she was building were going to crumble away. Sakura had been enjoying herself up until this moment. She did not want it to end because of the whisperings of her parents.

I'm going to make my own choice. Coming here was my choice and making new friends is going to be my choice too.

"Sounds like some interesting guys," Sakura responded casually as she reached for a bun. "But they better not eat all of these dumplings because they are amazing!"

To her relief, the boys seemed to accept her answer easily, though Hinata continued to watch her with those eerie white eyes of hers. Yeah, the other girl definitely seemed to be wary of her, which kind of hurt Sakura's feelings a little.

The dust cloud got closer and a pair of boys both wearing navy blue and white appeared. But that was where the similarities ended. The taller boy was black-haired with the pale skin and dark eyes common to the famous Uchiha Clan, but his shirt was damp and clinging to him like a second skin. The boy he was chasing had a spiky blond ponytail that ended just above midback and three defining whisker marks on each tanned cheek. Uzumaki Naruto was sunny and grinning like a cat in direct contrast to the Uchiha's dark glower.

"I'm gonna beat you this time, bastard!"

Sakura watched, somewhat mind-boggled, as Sasuke suddenly shot forward so fast he almost blurred, easily coasting past the blond, who began to squawk angrily. The Uchiha stopped at the edge of their little picnic gathering and turned a superior smirk on his less fortunate opponent.

"Maybe next time, idiot." The words themselves were haughty, but sounded somewhat fond considering the blond rolled his eyes and stomped toward them in a huff.

"Yeah, yeah," the blond—no, Naruto—grumbled as he dropped down. "Dang, Chouji! This all looks awesome! Did your mom pack my favourite?"

"In the pot."

Sakura looked toward where Naruto had seized an enormous pot and lifted the lid to reveal…ramen? Sakura blinked and gasped aloud as she saw Naruto sticking his chopsticks directly into the noodles. He began eating them with rather shocking speed and finesse. Even more impressive and disgusting, the soup level began to steadily lower.

"Is he…really going to eat all that?" Sakura ventured faintly.

"You bet!" Kiba crowed. "I learned my lesson the hard way about getting between Naruto and his ramen!"

"Naruto-kun impressed my clan so much with his appetite that we gave him honorary clan status," Chouji added while alternating between devouring a roll and a chicken-kabob.

"Tch, this is nothing." The Uchiha boy interjected as he helped himself to veggie buns and some fresh cherry tomatoes. "You should see him when Kaa-san lets him go out to Ichiraku's once a month. It's like watching a garbage disposal demonstration."

Hinata immediately rose to the blond's defense. Sakura recognized protective behaviour when she saw it.

"That was unnecessary, Sasuke-kun! Naruto is…" Hinata's vigorous defense ended abruptly and Sakura followed the other girl's line of sight to the tipped over pot that was nearly empty.

"Naruto is an endless pit," Ino griped, but she was humming lightly as she served herself a portion of chicken and vegetables. "But his metabolism is pretty incredible so he can get away with it."

"How did your test go, Sakura-san?" Minato asked, steering the conversation into safer waters.

Sakura nearly choked.

"Sakura?" Naruto's face popped out of the ramen pot. "Who?"

"This flower over here!" Ino winked at her.

"You look familiar…" Naruto trailed off before rolling his shoulders. "Meh, can't remember. Nice to meet you, Bubble-gum!"

Sakura's hands clenched and she snarled viciously.

"What was that, bub?!" In a second flat, she was across the picnic blanket with her fist raised menacingly over a white-faced, horror-stricken Naruto. "What did you call me?!"

"Sakura-san? Did the test not go well?"

Minato's voice tranquilized Sakura's previous rage. Shooting a final glare at the quivering boy shrinking away from her, she shook her fist once more and felt satisfied when Naruto shook his head furiously in acknowledgment of her threat.

Urge to wallop someone somewhat satisfied, Sakura offered a benign smile to the group as she returned to her seat, sat down, and took a calming sip of water.

"Could have been worse. I wasn't really familiar with a lot of the history, but I suppose they'll teach us that anyway," Sakura remarked calmly. "Not sure what to expect this afternoon."

"Eh, you probably won't enjoy it, but it'll be interesting!" Ino patted her gently. "But don't worry, I'll help you catch up with the rest of us."

Those words proved fairly prophetic. The rest of their allotted time passed quick enough with Ino and Hinata providing most of the conversation. She was determinedly not disappointed when Minato ended up sitting with the boys and engaging with the cool and aloof Uchiha.

Everyone was so different and so nice that she was almost shocked when right after lunch, she was immediately ordered to drop and do push-ups. Which led to a series of sit-ups, crunches, and running that caused that delicious lunch to be thrown back up.

Hinata and Ino helped her clean up before she was immediately ushered into the pool to demonstrate her swimming prowess. That went a little better, but Sakura collapsed five minutes into the assessment for strength training.

Somehow, Sakura knew that becoming a shinobi was going to be a lot more work than she had thought.

Sakura grimaced when she saw Uzumaki Naruto roll into a ball with his hair extending into long, painful looking spikes, that surrounded his body like a porcupine. If this was any indication of her future, Sakura was not sure she was going to make it out of the academy alive.

A second later, a shadow of an instructor fell over her and ordered her back to her feet.

Yep. This was going to be a lot more work than Sakura had imagined.

Just then, Ino winked at her as she raced by and Sakura's trembling eased just a bit even if it became that much harder to breathe.

---

Minato sat on the living room floor of the Uchiha compound's main family house, with his bare feet tucked beneath him and a notebook—one he deliberately stashed at the Uchiha residence to fool his nosey older brother—flipped open in front of him. A wrinkle settled between his eyebrows as he frowned down at the page's notes.

Two years ago, the Sandaime had commissioned Ishida Naoka, the kunoichi that had poisoned Minato, to provide Naruto with some basic instruction in fuinjutsu. Naturally, this had raised the alarm bells in certain highly overprotective parental figures. Minato had to fight tooth and nail to be in the same room during Naruto's first lesson. He had succeeded, but only after Tsunade and Kakashi agreed to be present alongside the overkill presence of the Sandaime, Mikoto, and her sons.

Seeing Naruto take his first steps on a path that resembled his parents' would have been reward enough, but Minato knew bypassing the opportunity to learn from a woman who had been tutored by a seasoned Uzumaki seal-master was not something he could live with.

Jiraiya had been proficient with seals, but Minato himself had surpassed his former sensei's skills long ago. Kushina had learned much from Mito-sama before the old lady's death, but most of that focus had been on demonic seals for rather obvious reasons. Both of their fuinjutsu skills paled compared to what had been lost upon Uzushio's collapse.

Ishida Naoka may very well possess a reservoir of knowledge that had otherwise been lost. And despite the dubious circumstances of their initial encounter, he would be an idiot not to overlook that in favour of future possibilities.

When the day came for the first lesson, Minato's hopes had been high. After all, Kushina had quite a knack for fuinjutsu and Naruto certainly had the creativity necessary for greatness. Unfortunately, his hopes—and that of a Hokage that had very much wanted to see an Uzumaki seal-master again—were dashed.

Uzumaki Naruto was persistent, but his attention span for any sort of book learning proved less than feasible. This was not to say that Naruto had been incapable of learning, but his interest waned and he made a break for it just under an hour into his lesson.

Refusing to let such an opportunity go to waste, Minato had immediately settled at the table next to his former would-be-killer, pasted on a smile, and asked her to keep explaining the basics of Uzumaki swirl patterns.

Minato had heard the verbal outcry of dismay from Tsunade and felt the sudden burst of killing intent from Kakashi. Minato had not looked up when the Sandaime's hushed voice basically told the two to sit down and shut up. Minato had kept his focus on the lavender-eyed beauty, who raised an eyebrow before leering with a flash of pearly teeth.

That day, Minato had listened attentively as the woman outlined the basics of calligraphy requirements, lectured on potential hazards, and began listing symbols that formed a verbal codex of all basic sealing techniques.

None of the information had been new to him, but a few of her explanations proved enlightening and revealed that this was indeed someone who knew her craft inside and out. At the end of the impromptu lesson, Minato had thanked the woman and asked in a formal, polite tone if he might have the "honour" of attending Naruto's future lessons.

Again, that request had not gone over well, but the Sandaime had agreed and suggested that lessons in his office might be just the thing every other Wednesday afternoon.

In two years, Minato had covered a significant amount of material and had obviously impressed both Ishida-san and the Hokage with how quick he was picking things up. Thankfully, this genius prowess was offset thanks to the beginner's material, which actually contained some things Minato had never been exposed to. Small things that were useful, but unfamiliar enough that they kept him from looking as if he was learning nothing. A seal to absorb smoke coming off a campfire. A seal that altered a sealing scroll for temperature variation. Little things that all had the potential to be massively useful.

However, that potential had not been realized: not yet. Ishida-san should be moving to more advanced topics soon and Minato sorely hoped he would be provided with techniques that he had not known before.

"Are you well, Minato-kun?"

The voice managed to jolt him from his notes and he looked up. Blinking owlishly, Minato did a double-take at his friend, Hinata, clad in a basic black t-shirt and shorts.

"What happened to your clothes?" Minato blurted out, unable to quite reason out what he was seeing.

"I guess I'm not the only one surprised," Hinata said. The girl brushed at her shorts, obviously tense, before gracefully settling down beside him. "Tou-san told me he was tired of replacing my yukatas every time I played or trained with my friends. Also, there may have been some helpful hinting from a certain person."

Hinata's eyes flickered toward the doorway of the kitchen meaningfully.

Ah. Mikoto's handiwork extended to loosening the rigid formalwear the Hyuuga clung to.

"It's about time you had some proper play clothes," Minato said finally. "Hanging around Naruto is certainly hazardous to clothing! I think Tsunade would be more irritated about how often my clothing gets ripped if Jiraiya wasn't sending her spending money so often."

"What were you working on?" Hinata peered over his shoulder curiously.

"Oh. This?"

Minato glanced at the notes detailing some of his thoughts on the creation of a seal for Kakashi's eyes. None of it went beyond theory, so…it wouldn't require any level of secrecy.

Minato tapped a finger on the paper. "You know that Kakashi, my aniki, has a Sharingan, right?"

"I remember." Hinata's voice had dropped a full mark.

Now, providing an honest answer without fully disclosing the situation was most important. Minato did not want to alienate his friend, but he also understood the value in keeping some information to himself. And for all that his friends were understanding, dojutsu users tended to not appreciate non-clan members having that sort of power.

"What is less common knowledge, is that the eye is more chakra intensive for him than for an Uchiha."

Minato observed as understanding flickered across Hinata's face, accompanied by a drop of remorse that quickly vanished.

"I would like to create a seal that could reduce"–preferably eliminate— "the chakra required for the Sharingan's use. I'm not sure I'll be able to pull it off, though. The cells of a person's body are incredibly complicated and I'm not sure it's even possible."

Minato smiled humourlessly at the notebook in his hands before adding a notation.

"I'm still going to try, though. I want to help Kakashi."

"You know fuinjutsu?" Hinata asked quietly.

That was not exactly the response he expected.

"I'm learning more all the time," Minato replied, surprised. "I've mentioned that I was interested before, haven't I, Hinata-chan?"

"I think so, but the project you're describing sounds really hard."

"I also said I didn't think I will be able to do it. It might take me years, but I'm not about to give up."

Somehow, he sensed he was missing the point.

"Are you interested in seals, Hinata-chan?"

There was a long pause this time. Long enough for Minato to turn the page and start the form and pattern for a small resistance seal. Something simple and unobtrusive that would not matter if he was caught making it.

"My family uses seals," Hinata said finally, her voice small and feeble, so unlike herself. "I hate it. It's no better than slavery and I would give anything to rid my clan of that burden."

"I see."

The Caged Bird Seal had been around since the Founding Era. It had been distasteful back then, but it was nothing short of abhorrent now. It was a source of political contention that the Daimyo of the Land of Fire felt was a poor reflection on Konoha as a whole. And Hinata's statement, while more politically complex, was accurate. The Hyuuga claimed to be willing to die to protect their dojutsu, but if that were the truth, the entire clan would wear the seal.

No, the Caged Bird Seal was one of slavery. It had been one of his goals as Hokage to wipe it from existence. Looking at Hinata, Minato could see that dream might be possible again.

"Would you like me to teach you?"

Minato carefully watched Hinata's mouth tighten and a defiance overtake her expression. Good; she would need a backbone to have even the slightest hope of succeeding.

"I'm still learning myself, of course." Minato smiled mildly. "But, I've been working on this for a couple years now. I'm sure I could help you with some of the basics…if that is something you'd like to learn."

"Teach me, Minato-kun," Hinata—no, the Hyuuga Heiress—fiercely stated. "I've changed since I've met my friends. Maybe if I change a little more, I can change the fate of people besides myself."

So be it.

"Let's get to work, then."

Minato opened to a new page and began explaining to his eager student the fundamentals of sealing as he preferred them—penmanship, symbols, etcetera.

A shadow paused by the doorway, observing the pair intently before finally walking away.

---

Activity in the Inuzuka kitchens had picked up a lot over the last few years. They were surprisingly spacious facilities, dwarfed only by the Akimichi's. While clean enough to be considered tidy, Mikoto did not think she would ever get over the tufts of fur that clung to the woodwork, to the cupboards, and even her yukata.

Suck it up, she would. Mikoto was not the same woman she had been. After Fugaku died, Tsume had been the first to call a clan gathering—going so far as to hand deliver Mikoto's invitation. At the time, she had not been so thankful. But these women had changed her life and, in so doing, helped change Mikoto herself.

"This is the life!" Tsume crowed. "Only questionable thing is letting the boys hang around outside. They're lazy enough without enabling them."

The Inuzuka was shamelessly drinking liquor straight from the bottle while putting some leftovers into tins.

"Nothing to be done about it." Yoshino smashed her cutting board viciously, drawing looks from all corners. "That lazy bastard isn't about to change. After all these years, he can't even put his laundry in the hamper!"

"Wring his neck." Mara shrugged, rolling her eyes like she didn't really care either way. "Or I could sic Inoichi on him."

"Like that would work," Yoshino said bitterly. "They would just go out and get hammered."

"Only after picking up Chouza." Shou laughed.

A moment later, Tsunade staggered into the room and dropped a wrapped package on the counter. When Tsume raised a questioning eyebrow, Tsunade merely shrugged.

"Shizune sent dessert rolls." The Sannin scanned the room huffily. "Where are the drinks, Inuzuka?"

Another eyeroll. "Help yourself. Right cabinet."

"Thanks." Tsunade liberated a bottle and a pair of cups from the nearest cabinet with a sour look.

"Tsunade, you seem agitated," Mara stated while examining her nails with a light frown.

Mikoto was not exactly sure how the oddball relationship between the pair worked. After all these years, it still took her by surprise when Senju Tsunade listened to the somewhat vain, though highly intellectual, Mara.

"Academy," Tsunade spat. "Koharu's got him in almost all the advanced bullshit."

And you're unhappy, why? My poor Naru-chan barely made it out of the beginner's math class. At least he did well enough in reading and writing.

"You'll be stopping by my place, tomorrow," Mara said as if she were commenting on the weather rather than scheduling an appointment. "A little tea helps everyone."

"Yeah, yeah." Tsunade waved dismissively. "Your husbands are gambling. I'm going to go make some money!"

Mikoto's eye twitched slightly as the Sannin blazed out of the room with ryo notes almost visible in her eyes.

"After all these years, you haven't gotten her to mellow out a bit?" Mikoto grimaced.

"Tch, I'm hardly a miracle worker," Mara shot back. "Besides, she's doing well, just not in a way that is any of the business of any of you nosey ladies."

"Well said," Mitsuri commented. "Mikoto-san?"

"Yes?"

"Was Hizashi-san's wife not joining us tonight?"

Right, the only "official" Hyuuga-Uchiha pair would be arriving together and should be showing up at any moment. But since they lived together outside of their respective clan districts, Mikoto could hardly say.

"They'll be here, but I'm not sure when." Mikoto smiled faintly. "New babies have a way of causing delays."

"Something we all understand rather well," Shou crooned from over her pot by the stove. "I just love babies! I just want to squish them to pieces!"

"Me too." Yoshino sighed longingly.

"You want another baby, Yoshino?" Mikoto asked, not bothering to mask her surprise.

"Shikaku doesn't." Yoshino's face flushed and she sneered. "He says it would be too troublesome!"

"Can't be more troublesome than dating Hiashi," Mikoto muttered.

"That's actually true?"

Tsume whooped, moving around to sniff her intrusively. Mikoto tried to brush off her questing fingers, but an Inuzuka with a scent on the nose was not so easily deterred.

"Yeah…" the woman confirmed, nose wrinkling in surprise. "It's not a strong smell, but it's definitely in there. More than one Hyuuga too."

"Okaa-chan!" A white-robed girl slipped into the room and wrapped around Mikoto's legs like a starfish. "Otou-san is outside. And Nee-san is up on the roof again with the boys!"

"We should have realized how he finally reeled you in!" Yoshino smirked at her over Hanabi's head.

"Hanabi-chan, here." Gently lifting the girl onto an empty box, she gestured at the counter. "Shuck some peas for me, okay? You can eat some after we're done."

"Of course, Okaa-chan!" little Hanabi squeaked, pigtails bobbing behind her head.

"Okaa-chan?"

It was more than a little unnerving to have Mitsuri stare her down—and she couldn't even actually see the woman's eyes!

Mikoto refused to be embarrassed. Hanabi was a child that had no memory of her mother. In addition to that, Hiashi had taken to dumping Hanabi on her every time Hinata came around. Perhaps the impromptu visits should have been alarming in their frequency, but Mikoto enjoyed having both Hyuuga girls around. She could hardly imagine what their lives would have been without a maternal figure to soften Hiashi's influence.

Still, the moniker was a new one. Perhaps one she would have put a stop to, had Hiashi not been present the first time Hanabi addressed her thus. The stoic man had simply pressed a kiss to her cheek and declared that it was fitting.

Mikoto could not imagine Fugaku approving, but…Fugaku was not around anymore. And she had to believe he would not want her to be alone. A widow and a widower, what could be more fitting.

"It fits." She lifted her chin and smiled.

"It does." Yoshino's previous foul mood was nowhere in residence.

A few seconds later, an Aburame teen with short hair burst into the room.

"Torune?"

"Oba-san, have you seen my teammates?"

There was a slight pause.

"I suggest you begin your search in the den. Fū was there earlier with Itachi."

"Thank you."

Like a shadow, the boy disappeared back down the hallway.

"How are the boys doing?" Mikoto asked.

She remembered how about a month after Fugaku's passing, the death of Shimura Danzo led to the discovery of some sort of militarized branch of ANBU that involved the recruitment of child soldiers. That boy Torune had been rescued and returned to the Aburame family. The Yamanaka and even the Nara had children returned to their care. It had been a joyous reunion, but also a huge blow to the clans.

"Being on a team with Shiranui Fū has been a boon to Torune." Mitsuri's insects hummed. "Her outgoing nature has been a great help in his rehabilitation. With Foo there as well, he perceives that he is not alone in his struggle."

"I agree. Foo's moods are becoming increasingly stable." Mara threw in her two cents. "And through Fū, I believe the pair are slowly becoming closer with Itachi too."

"You may be correct," Mikoto admitted. "Itachi has spoken of them all on occasion. And Itachi himself has become more open in the last few years, though I would hardly call him an extrovert."

"Nah, he's still pretty much the same even after four years of exposure to Maito Gai! Your boy is resilient!"

There was another movement by the door and Ino appeared with an unfamiliar pink haired-girl and Hinata. The former looked terrified.

"Onee-san!" Hanabi squawked angrily, hurling a pea at her sister. Hinata promptly caught it and popped it in her mouth.

"Thanks, Hanabi-chan."

"I want to walk on walls too!"

"I'll show you how this week, but no fits, Hanabi-chan." Mikoto shook a finger in her not-daughter's face and smiled when the pout melted. "Good."

"Alright." Tsume threw a chop of meat at an eager ninken. "What are you squirts up to? And who is that?"

Mikoto was curious about the unfamiliar face too. After a few years, knowing everyone on sight was a given. This pink-haired girl stuck out like a sore thumb, especially in her bright pink kimono.

"Haruno Sakura," the girl stuttered fearfully. "Kiba-san said I could come, but I guess…"

"If he invited ya, yer fine," Tsume declared finally, but eyed the other kids with a suspicious eye.

"Naruto wants to prank the dads," Ino said.

Mikoto bit her lip, but kept from laughing.

"What can we do to help?" Yoshino asked with a laugh.

"We need tea!" Hinata smirked. "Lots and lots of tea."

"Come back in fifteen minutes," Mikoto offered. "We'll have it ready for you."

"Thanks!" the two girls shouted while the shyer Sakura merely mumbled her thanks uncomfortably.

"Is Nee-san going to get in trouble?" Hanabi whispered uncertainly.

"No, little one. Your Otou-san is going to be quite put out, but he'll survive."

Even if my fledgling relationship doesn't.

---

The sky was painted with a sea of colours as the sun began to set. Crickets chirped in the background above the steady and almost boisterous hum of conversation. Below, adults and young people were mingling. In their customary gathering atop the roof, a group of friends sat together, playing games and talking.

Minato grinned from his side of the shogi board, set over a worn quilt that Tsume had tossed at them for their picnic area. Opposite him, Shikamaru glowered grimly at the shogi pieces in front of him. Shikamaru had improved drastically over the years, but he still was not at Shikaku's level—or Minato's for that matter.

Minato shifted a bit, jostling Sasuke, who was using his thigh as a pillow.

"Sorry," Minato said. "My leg cramped a bit."

"Hmph."

As expected, Shikamaru finally moved one of his pieces into a position that would allow him to capture his queen on the next turn. Such a shame.

Grinning slightly, Minato casually leaned forward and moved his climbing silver into place—and waited.

It only took a moment for shock and outrage to cloud his friend's face, but the true triumph was the oddly sour twist of Shikamaru's lips.

"I could be wrong, but I think I win." Minato folded his hands under his chin and grinned broadly.

"As if you're ever wrong." Shikamaru rubbed his forehead tiredly. "I'm going to beat you one of these days, Minato."

"You will."

When that seemed to make Shikamaru scowl harder, Minato held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"I really do think you'll win someday! You're getting better and better. My progress is pretty stagnant."

It really felt like that at times. He needed to do something to make more progress in his lessons. Minato knew he was doing incredibly well for someone his age, but it felt like he was getting nowhere lately, aside from expected landmark improvements in speed and taijutsu. He needed to do something to get out of this slump, even if he was the only one who viewed it as such.

"For being so smart, you're kind of an idiot, Minato," Sasuke muttered.

"It's troublesome to agree with Sasuke about something like this, but you do push too hard," Shikamaru grumbled. "You're always making progress. Even when we're having fun, it's pretty obvious that we're all getting something out of it."

"I'm really feeling the love, guys."

"Quit being so troublesome," Shikamaru said before flopping onto his back and covering his eyes with the back of his arm.

Before coming back in time, Minato had never really considered what the next generation of Konoha shinobi would be like. Being among them now was a humbling experience. His friends were awesome. They were unique individuals, but reflected their familial traits. As the clans became closer, Minato could see monumental changes occurring as their bonds strengthened.

The Academy was already unrecognizable with Utatane's implementation of placement exams. Minato could only imagine that altering the framework of the Academy would create a more successful learning environment. It had been his goal to create a better Academy too, but time had run out back then. It was nice to see that the Sandaime had seen that change was necessary now.

"Did you try to fudge your test results, Shikamaru?" Minato asked curiously.

"Of course he did." Chouji dropped down cheerily with a tray of meats to feast on. No doubt he'd hijacked it before coming here.

"I said to stop being troublesome," Shikamaru complained without any actual heat. "And I did, but it didn't work out in my favour."

"You tried to do badly on the tests?" Sasuke sat up at that. "On purpose?"

Like a typical Nara, Shikamaru completely blew off the stink-eye that Sasuke was sending his way. Minato sensed an intervention would be prudent.

"How did they catch you?"

"My uncle was one of the proctors in my test room."

Ouch. That would certainly throw a wrench in Shikamaru's plans.

"So, placement tests?" Minato asked.

"Kicked ass, of course!" Ino cut in exuberantly.

The Yamanaka had her arms linked with Hinata and a hesitant-looking girl in a far too formal red kimono. The girl from the other day, Sakura: Tsunade's apprentice from the not-future. They were walking next to Naruto, who was sniping back and forth with Kiba about one thing or another. Further back, Shino was hovering next to an agitated Neji.

"So, we're talking placements?" Kiba butted into the conversation casually. The Inuzuka looked like his chin might have a bruise tomorrow, but was cheerful despite it. A quick glance toward Naruto confirmed the blond's knuckles looked a bit sore, though that evidence was sure to vanish. His newfound cockiness was bound to last at least a week.

"We were about to discuss it, but I don't recall inviting you, mutt!"

Minato just shook his head as Sasuke insulted the other boy. Honestly, the two got along better than most and it rather surprised him how snobbish he could be at times.

"You're at my house, asshole!" Kiba snarked.

"Enough!" Hinata rounded on them, and everyone collectively shivered at her ire.

After a moment, her tone dropped into its typical refined cadence. "Good. I would like to hear about all of your placements."

"Err…right," Kiba muttered nervously, edging back slightly to settle himself near Chouji and somewhat behind Sasuke. "I totally got advanced taijutsu!"

"Is that all?" Ino asked, smiling far too innocently. "I performed well enough in the written portion to get placed in an introductory encryption class. And I tested into a more advanced mathematics class!"

"I tested out of math so I guess that's something." Shikamaru yawned. "Makes for one less troublesome class to skip."

"What!" Ino wailed, while Minato reached over and whispered a harsh warning that there would be no skipping class on his watch. "You tested out of a core class? That's just…that isn't fair!"

"I tested out too."

Minato looked at that and found himself rather surprised by Sakura's statement. Well, well.

"That is quite the accomplishment, Sakura-san." Minato nodded thoughtfully, causing Sakura to flush. "That makes three of our group."

"You too, Minato-chan?!" Naruto looked horribly jealous.

"Me too!"

Minato couldn't help but laugh at Naruto's dejection. Suddenly inspired, he leaned toward Naruto.

"Hey, you and I are taking fuinjutsu class together, right? That's a special class."

"Ugh, don't remind me!" Naruto growled dramatically. "I still don't see why Jiji cares if I learn about seals. I get that it's useful and all, but I'll leave that boring crap to you! Sasuke and I are gonna take down our opponents, dattebayo!"

"Take that, Minato-baka! Dattebane!"

Minato's lips quirked.

"Idiot. As if they are going to put you two on the same team," Shikamaru whispered under his breath.

It was unfortunate, but Minato knew Shikamaru was likely correct. Jinchuuriki were village assets. Placing two of them together on a team—no matter how praiseworthy the teamwork—was not about to happen. It would be difficult not being placed with Naruto, but Minato knew he could still help him. An introduction to his bijuu would not be necessary for some time yet.

Thankfully, Naruto seemed oblivious to Shikamaru's little statement, delaying that particular conversation.

Shino wandered up out of nowhere like a lost wraith and seated himself next to Neji.

"I have heard you will be joining us in the medic class at the hospital, Minato-kun."

Overcome with frustration, Minato slumped forward glumly and sighed.

"Of course, I will," he said heavily. "While Oba-san has resigned herself to the fact that I refuse to dedicate myself to healing, she still wants me to master basic medicinal principles. I think this is another underhanded method of motivating me."

"No knowledge is useless."

"You're right." Minato knew it even if he sometimes felt like it was a waste of his energy. "I'll never become the medic that you're going to be, though."

"Combat medic," Shino agreed gravely. "My taijutsu exceeds the expectations of my clan, though I regretfully find myself unable to surpass Neji's prowess in the field."

"I'm a year older and the Hyuuga specialize in taijutsu." Neji's voice dragged and his eyes kept blinking in an almost jittery manner. "Many call me a genius for my skills, but as an Aburame, your talents are well above satisfactory. And I have noticed your improvement. Up until now, few aside from myself can keep up with you in spars."

"Are you alright, Neji?" Minato knew his voice betrayed his concern.

"I'm well, thank you." The Hyuuga straightened his spine and smiled wanly. "Nazari was up early and I got up with her to allow Maiko-san some rest. I noticed she has been exhausted lately, so it was no trouble to spend some extra time with my sister."

The Hyuuga-Uchiha baby had been a huge source of debate well before her birth. In the end, Hizashi had been triumphant when Nazari was born without a Byakugan and saved the burden of the Caged Bird Seal. Uchiha Maiko—while far from the formidable woman Mikoto was—had already threatened anyone that laid a finger on her child. Since then, the couple had moved into the village proper outside their respective clans' lands. It was considered scandalous, but since the clan heads refused to act on it, people were slowly becoming accustomed to the change.

"Guys!" Naruto materialized in their midst, scattering shogi pieces to the winds and startling the group.

"Gah!" A trio of fists from the femme fatale struck home. Naruto was instantly familiarized with the taste of shingles and roof moss.

"Ugh...what was that for, you guys?"

There was a snap of a picture being taken. Kiba stared into the lens of a camera with a hearty chuckle.

"Fucking priceless, man!"

"Sorry, Naruto-san!"

Sakura was staring at her fist in horror, but Ino quickly laughed and put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Meh, he's got a hard head. No worries, Sakura."

Minato stepped over a few limbs and helped drag a groaning Naruto to his feet, even taking a second to kindly brush some dust off his whiskered cheeks.

"There, mostly good!"

"Ugh…all I wanted to do was set up a prank for the adults."

The camera vanished and Kiba put his hands out and licked his lips. "Hell yeah! Let's get 'em! I've helped Naruto pull some pretty awesome things around the village, but we haven't gotten our folks since that underwear incident!"

"Prank?" Sasuke sat up abruptly, suddenly keen.

"Underwear incident?" Sakura asked, looking lost.

"Ooh, yeah!" Ino shot up with a sparkle. "That was the best! What did you have in mind, Naruto?"

"I'm not pranking my mom." Shikamaru put his foot down wisely. "That won't end well for me and I can tell you right now that Kiba would probably be skinned if he pulled one on his mom."

"Err…yeah, that is probably very true." Kiba shifted uneasily.

"If my father cannot perceive a threat, he deserves his fate," Shino remarked gravely.

"I'm fine with it, but whatever you're thinking, leave Maiko-san and my sister out of it." Neji's eyes flashed and Minato caught a glimpse of glowing chakra in Neji's palm before it dispersed harmlessly.

"You got it, Neji!" Naruto was back on his feet, boisterous as ever.

"So, what's the plan?" Hinata asked.

Naruto's eyes twinkled as he pulled out a bag and began a detailed explanation of what he needed.

"Us girls will set up the first part," Ino insisted, grabbing Hinata and Sakura and dragging them toward the edge of the roof. "You guys plan out how we're going to trick them."

Naruto pulled out his bag and immediately Kiba and Naruto began unscrewing caps.

"I'll plan it out. Subtlety really isn't in your skillset, Naruto."

"Yeah, that makes sense," Naruto agreed.

"Alright, what are you guys up to now?" a voice called from above.

Minato looked up and shot to his feet, not quite ready to believe what he was seeing.

"Fū!" Naruto shouted.

'Kurama, is that...?'

'It is. Only a jinchuuriki working with their bijuu can accessthose abilities. Fū has forged a partnership with Choumei. Chakra is one thing, but those wings would be impossible to use without an agreement or friendship between the pair.'

'Would the village know that?' It was a legitimate concern.

'I doubt it. They have heard tales about jinchuuriki transforming and using their powers. Konoha has had me with them since their founding, but they know precious little about the abilities of other jinchuuriki. I imagine the Hokage will merely see this as an extension of jinchuuriki training rather than consider Fū's relationship with her bijuu. That works to our advantage anyway.'

'I think we should talk to both of them together sometime. It might be worth it. I trust Fū. And you trust Choumei. And…I trust you most of all.'

'Maybe. I'll think about it.'

"Isn't it awesome?!" Fū chirped as she descended to the rooftop. The boys—including the ever-lazy Shikamaru—instantly surrounded the pig-tailed kunoichi. "I got to try it with my team the other day!"

Neji was studying her with his Byakugan while Shino was practically vibrating with insect activity. Naruto looked ready to explode with excitement, to the point that Shikamaru and Chouji both had a restraining arm on either side of him.

"Teach me that! Please, Fū! Please teach me that!" Naruto fell to his knees, his eyes burning with the zeal of a worshipper beseeching his goddess. "I'll give you ANYTHING! Just teach me to fly!"

"Eh?" Fū scratched her cheek and tapped her sandal with a chagrined look. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun. But I can only do this because of…well…"

Fū pressed her hand to her abdomen and smiled apologetically when Naruto looked absolutely crestfallen.

Minato stepped around Naruto and gave the older girl a light hug, which she returned.

"Congratulations," he whispered quietly, his words just for Fū. "I think we both know what an accomplishment this is for you."

"Thank you, Minato-kun!" Fū laughed brightly.

"Meh, wings or not, we're still gonna kick all of your asses!" Kiba boasted.

"That's right!" Naruto agreed.

"Oh yeah, guess we'll see! Catch me if you can…and if you prank me, I'm not hanging out with you for a month!"

"Ah, fine!" Naruto screeched, before lowering his voice. "Just…watch what you drink."

"Gotcha!" Fū said as she took off. "Gonna go hang with Itachi and my boys! Laters!"

Sasuke sidled up to his elbow, his stare jumping from Fū's wings to Minato's back. He was obviously trying to work something out.

"I'm not going to grow wings," Minato said, suppressing a grin when Sasuke's face coloured. "My bijuu doesn't have them so I can't really hope to manifest them."

"You don't really talk about it much," Sasuke commented. "About you being a jinchuuriki."

"Not sure what to say, really," Minato said faintly. "It's part of me, but it isn't something that just anyone can understand. You'll remember that the villagers still don't treat Naruto very well."

Sasuke growled at that.

"Can you imagine how they would be if they knew there were three monsters in their midst?"

"Don't call yourself that," Sasuke spat harshly. "Fū is Itachi's friend, and you and Naruto are…"

Sasuke trailed off, but Minato saw the flash of red in Sasuke's eyes as the Sharingan briefly appeared before vanishing again.

"We're important to you," Minato finished what Sasuke would not—could not—say. "You're important to us, too. But try not to let it bother you."

For an instant, Minato felt Sasuke's chakra bubble uncertainly before it settled.

"Losing my father was hard, Minato. I'm not as mad as I used to be, but I still hate Kumo. I hate them for what they did to me. To us. But I know that losing Kaa-san, Naruto, Itachi, or you…I couldn't deal with that."

Sometimes there were no easy answers. Minato was no therapist and for all of his experience, he did not always say the right things. No matter how much he tried, he was never as good as he should have been.

Instead, he grabbed his friend's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze. The gesture was returned after a breath and a dozen heartbeats.

"Be angry with Kumo, but don't let it win, okay?" Minato said. "Now let's go have some fun. Naruto always comes up with some pretty fun ideas."

A pause.

"He does…Even if he drives me crazy, no one makes me laugh like him."

"Yeah...Let's go."

Minato tugged Sasuke forward and the pair of them dropped down to whisper with each other and exchange looks.

"What now?" Kiba asked.

"Let's go see if the girls got what we needed."

Sure enough, it took a little time, but the girls were soon carrying trays of steaming baked goods while the boys handled the tea. The girls said they had been asked to bring out the dessert cakes.

As Shikamaru anticipated, the food was treated with suspicion by the majority of the adults. Certainly, Inoichi smiled and thanked his daughter profusely, but he eyed his seed cake as if it were a faulty exploding tag.

Itachi, sitting with Fū, was staring down his nose at all of them. When he finally reached him, Minato held his hands up innocently and was met by an Uchiha-style "Hn" for his troubles.

Fū put an end to the whispers after scarfing down two of the little cakes in quick succession before flopping onto the ground with her feet in Torune's lap, the rest of her sprawled across Foo.

In order to make things less suspicious, the kids began eating from the communal tray before flinging themselves to the ground near the table to converse—and to have a good seat for the show—and waited. Though Minato did spy Neji checking on his infant sibling while serving Maiko a cup of pure tea.

Wisely, Minato sauntered up to where Tsunade was and asked her how her game was proceeding. Naturally, she was losing horribly, but her temper subsided when Minato diverted her by climbing into the chair next to her.

Seeing that the world had not ended, the adults carefully began nibbling on the cakes. When that proved safe, they took longer and longer sips of tea before finally settling down.

A few minutes later, conversation halted abruptly. Shikaku was the only adult that had been spared—the Nara were notoriously lazy, but they were damn sharp.

"What is this?!" Hiashi was standing, fumbling around for a non-existent mirror before emptying the last dregs of black-coloured tea into the dirt.

"Err…" Chouza's massive tongue was sticking outside his mouth, entirely black.

"Minato?" Tsunade asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"I made sure they didn't get you," he assured her.

The danger melted into pride as she squished him against her bosom tightly.

"That's my boy!" Minato sighed in relief as he was squeezed enviably close—to certain male perverts—against Tsunade's body.

"Ino! How could you?!" Inoichi screeched, dabbing a napkin against his black-stained teeth.

"Humph, some information-gathering expert you are, Tou-san!" Ino fell back, laughing hysterically.

"Uzumaki Naruto!"

Minato grimaced as Hyuuga Hiashi towered over Naruto, who had tears streaming down his face he was laughing so hard. But as soon as he realized he had been confronted, Naruto was on his feet pointing menacingly at the enraged clan leader.

"That's for dating my Kaa-san! Hinata-chan and Hanabi-chan are awesome, but you just want to see my Kaa-san naked! I saw you in her room the other night, perv!"

With that little declaration, Naruto chucked a cup full of tea at the gobsmacked Hyuuga. Hiashi—as a jounin—blocked it, but the cup shattered on impact and sent tea and the ink inside all over his formal white kimono.

Naruto continued to unwisely gloat after the fact. "HA! Take that, asshat! Don't ever touch my Kaa-san's boobs again! The pranks will only escalate from here on out!"

"WHAT?!" Sasuke exploded violently. Thankfully, he was grabbed before he could launch himself at Hiashi. "I'll kill you...Itachi, let go!"

Minato's eyes widened as the adults with their ink-stained teeth quieted and stared at the open-mouthed, red-faced Hyuuga Hiashi...who looked ready to erupt at any given moment.

"Run, Naruto! RUN!" Minato shrieked unabashedly.

Apparently, the blond must have taken the hint because he suddenly realized that Hiashi was running at him. Thankfully, Naruto was quick on his feet and was soon racing up and over the Inuzuka compound with Hiashi hot on his heels.

All around them, Inuzuka ninken began baying from the excitement of a chase and even some of the trained ninken began racing up the walls in pursuit of the pair—to what end, no one knew.

"…Did that just happen?" Minato asked, not sure who he was addressing at this point.

"And I think it's time for us to go home," Tsunade declared, tossing him over her shoulder like a sack of rice. "Good timing on that prank. We can sneak out of here and I don't have to help clean up."

Minato pretended not to notice how Tsunade's chest was heaving with restrained laughter.

"Maybe you and I could pull that on Tenzo sometime," Minato whispered in her ear. "Wouldn't want him to forget the consequences of pulling a fast one on Nee-chan."

"Perhaps." Tsunade's voice was full of laughter. "For now, let's skedaddle. You know I hate dishes."

"Ah, I do know."

---

Sarutobi Hiruzen was smiling as he read a missive from Jiraiya. Apparently, he should expect a new volume of Icha Icha soon. What a treat.

Palming his pipe, the Hokage absently reached for the crystal ball in his drawer and plunked it on his desk. His gut told him that something interesting was afoot.

Before he had time to activate it, there was a shriek at his window and Uzumaki Naruto came tumbling inside, darting toward him at breakneck speed.

"Jiji! Help me!"

Hiruzen groaned. There went all his free time tonight. He just couldn't get a single night off, could he...

"Naruto, what have you done now?" Hiruzen asked, just as Hyuuga Hiashi, splattered in black—was that ink?—popped into view, flashing teeth that were definitely stained black.

"Help me," Naruto moaned piteously.

"I think I get the picture," Hiruzen declared finally before lifting his surrogate grandchild and disappearing in a poof of smoke.

Naturally, he left behind a Kage Bunshin to confront Hiashi, but some problems needed a deft hand.

"Do I want to ask why?"

"Asshole had it coming. He was touching my mom's boobs."

Nice.

Surreptitiously wiping away the blood trickling from his nose, Hiruzen reappeared at Naruto's favourite ramen stand and stepped beneath the tarp.

"Tell me all about it over ramen, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto lit up like the sun.

"RAMEN!"

---

AN

So! If you notice a difference in bijuu conversation, my beta reader and I are discussing a format change. So, don't be too alarmed!

To those who made requests: I'll do my best! The Academy timeskip is four chapters and that leaves a lot of room to work things in.

Lastly, I want you to know how very much you all mean to me. Feedback from you guys really makes all the effort I put into this story worth it. Thank you all for giving my story a chance!