DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Naruto speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Kushina observed her chibi Genin who were getting along well for once, whispering and obviously plotting together, and remembered what Minato-baka said. He had spoken with the kiddies' other part-time Genin senseis and had to agree that he was/they were right.

"Kashi-kun sees Naru-chan as if she's a benevolent alien from another world, while no matter what, Naru-chan runs everything past Kashi-kun. She sees him as her leader…"

"Awww. Oooo: her ALPHA," Kushina teased.

"Gross - Kushina! That's my little sister! And Kakashi's a brat."

"Ah! So you admit it! Kakashi IS a brat!"

Minato grimaced, looking around and behind him comically. "Don't tell Sakumo-senpai I said that! Please!"

"I'm gon-na te-ell," she sang before forcing him to chase her through the village, ensuring that she didn't.

"What a baka," she whispered to herself fondly.

"We can't just leave," Naruto finally exclaimed, unable to hold it in any longer. She turned to give Kakashi a dirty look since he sighed so hard.

"Naruto-chan, this is what we call 'Internal Affairs,'" Kushina began to explain for the second time. "Konoha has no place in this, and interference can lead to political repercussions the likes of which you don't know. You don't even wanna know!"

Kakashi decided to speak up. He didn't like the idea of failing a mission or running from one that was to save someone, especially when he thought of what his father had been telling him lately. "We have been hired to guard the princess."

"And we will, but probably not from here," Kushina said, personally agreeing with both of them. She was a kunoichi of Konoha, though, and every decent Jonin knew that interfering in the crap the Daimyo's family involved themselves with was a good way to lose one's career at best or lose one's head at near-worst. And she wouldn't risk her chibi subordinates.

There had to be another way…

"I could take the place of the maid Ami-hime likes so much," Naru put out there.

"That's reckless, Baka," Kakashi said, sniffing and putting his masked nose in the air importantly - enough to make Naru want to punch it.

Smug jerk, she thought. She knew that idea was reckless. Sort of. …Okay, so she'd thought it was a completely reasonable plan.

"I need to speak with the Daimyo alone, but only after I hear back from Lord Hokage."

Both of the kids nodded. Naruto sat down on her bunk, wondering how SASUKE - that bastard - got the hawk contract when it had been HER MOTHER'S! The first time the little blonde saw her mother summon a hawk, she wanted to scream in outrage. Her mother and Sasuke's mothers were friends, though - so maybe the bastard found Kushina's summoning contract at his old place? Had her mother hidden it there? Had Kushina left it for Mikoto-san?

So many questions. None of the answers were particularly good. And then there was Ami-hime…

"Asura-chan, I'm in trouble!"

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Wh - why am I telling you of all people?" Ami scoffed. "You're small and weak!"

Naruto pouted then scowled at the older girl. "You tell me, or I'll tell on you! I'll tell my nee-chans that you punched me in the stomach, and that's how I fell down! –And that you were too scared to be brave and tell the truth! …That's why you wanted me alone," the blonde said, a sly expression emerging on her little face. "And oh, my: the things you've done to me down here!"

Ami reeled back. "That's – that's a lie! I haven't done anything to you – anything else!"

"They don't know that! And I bet I've got a big bruise on my tummy from where you punched me." Naruto knew for a fact that Kurama had already healed any damage that COULD have been caused by Ami's punch - and couldn't believe she used the word "tummy."

"Fine! You're a brat, you know that?" Naruto eagerly nodded at her and Ami couldn't help but smile a little before pulling her down the hallway. "My uncle says that my OTHER uncle is going to kill my daddy! Daddy's a jerk, but I don't want him to die!"

"Who are the Daimyo's brothers?" Naruto asked, needing additional information.

"I was only aware of the Daimyo's younger twin," Kushina said, trying to remember if she'd heard anything else about the old man even back in Uzushio. "His name's Kenji and dipshit is named after him," she said, meaning the daimyo's dipshit son who had been hitting on her. "Oops: sorry. Anyway, he's also got a sister but I don't know what her name is. She probably got married off…"

"Yuck," Naruto grumbled under her breath. "What?" she then asked, looking up at Kakashi who was unfairly tall and unreadable again.

"Father might know."

"Good idea, Kashi-brat," Kushina cheered before summoning another hawk. She caught Naruto pouting at it and ruffled her hair. "Too bad hawks eat toads, kiddo!"

"Yeah, yeah," the now blue-haired girl mumbled. "They are pretty cool, though."

Kushina nodded with a foxy grin on her face that made Naru smile. Although she was missing teeth now, she knew that one day she'd have Kushina's big bright smile, too.

Kushina jotted down a few sentences and sent the hawk on its way. "Did you know I can summon one that I can fly on? Aaaaaaaand fly other people on? Right on its wings!" Kushina began swooping around the room as if she were a bird like a big kid.

Kakashi scoffed, finding Kushina silly - and sitting on top of a giant flying bird that could potentially eat him to be terrifying. Not that he'd say that. Tree branches were high up enough for him, thank you very much. And he'd be doing the bird-eating.

It made him want to go out and hunt.

"You're thinking too hard," Naruto told him, feeling creeped out by Kakashi more than usual.

"Easy for you to say."

Kushina sighed, wanting to finish up this mission successfully. "Stop flirting with your little girlfriend, Kakashi-kun," she said, enjoying the way the chibis sunshinned to opposite sides of the room every time she'd say something like that.

"Ewwww!"

The only thing better was the few times that the chibis ran smack into each other: their evolving sunshins colliding. Oh, she'd had lots of fun with that! They were really too much fun: she loved kids.

Even Kakashi-brat.

Someone knocked on the heavy oak door to her room, so Kakashi and Naruto hid. Kushina opened it, already regretting being forced to do so. "Kenji-san! How can I help you?"

Kenji pulled out the bottle of wine he was holding. "I thought you might want some company," he said charmingly, a twinkle in his eyes that Kushina wanted to punch.

Kashi, AKA Kakashi in nearly-masked drag, popped his head out of the door and looked between the adult and his teenage pseudo-sensei, his eyebrows the only thing showing his disgust. "Onee-chan? Is this person a… pervert?" A red-faced Kenji quickly left and the Konoha team celebrated with popcorn that Kushina had in a seal before she forced them to practice their calligraphy.

Ami glanced at the little girl who had been following her around. Even with her scarred cheeks, she was cute and not TOO annoying. Asura-chan liked to play games and was really good at them. She'd even given her some tips that she'd never thought about before. And Asura was only five! "The Gambler's Fallacy:" that was the most important thing she'd "learned" from her - although the card tricks were pretty cool, too - and the Fallacy was so obvious once she really thought about it.

And although - unlike Asura's bratty middle sister - she was terrible at show-and-tell, she was great with story-time. Both were important because they taught children how to speak in front of others, her uncle and matrons always said.

"Once upon a time, there was an old hag who hid her age. She used a spell to remain beautiful but it cost her all of her luck! No matter what she did and no matter how powerful and smart she became, she lost ALL the time…"

That was a funny story, but a good one! She liked that Asura-chan didn't care about looks - although maybe that was because of her scars. Her uncle always said that scars defined you, whether the scars were inside or outside. He also told her that he never wanted her to scar, although she knew that deep inside, her scars were there - or that's the way it felt.

Even little Asura-chan said - with a smile, which was weird - that everyone had scars.

Why couldn't she be like other girls and only have one mommy and one daddy? One that would actually pay attention to her? Why couldn't Uncle Daisuke take her away from this life? Why couldn't she go to the Ninja Academy? She wanted to learn so badly, and her great uncle was a wonderful - but secret - ninja! Ami wanted to protect the throne just like he did!

"Shhh! Promise you won't tell anyone about me, Ami-hime!"

"I promise Daisuke-ojii!"

She was going to get out of this palace and train with the best!

"Where did your sister get that kunai?" Ami whispered to her new little friend/co-conspirator.

"Oh, well… He -hehe -she got in trouble for that, you know? Kashi-chan wasn't supposed to have it!" Naru said, almost blowing their cover. And she'd been doing so well before that!

"But where did she get it? It looked new," Ami demanded.

"I don't know where she found it," Naru said, knowing that Kakashi had weapons lining his person even now. His show-and-tell on the kunai had been hilariously boring.

Speaking of boring, Kakashi looked bored in his kimono and the obi-like thing that was covering half his face, finally having given up, resigned to his fate of pretending to be a girl. Poor Kakashi. She snickered out (too) loud, gaining his attention, and looked away. Naruto cleared her throat. "Anyway, I saw Kashi-chan just sitting there, polishing the kunai she'd found one day. Can you believe that? …You can ask her about it if you want."

"No," Ami said thoughtfully. "I don't trust her."

Naruto nodded. "Ah, well she is a bit of a bastard."

Ami began giggling. "Girls aren't bastards! Well, I suppose maybe they could be," she whispered, still snickering. "But that's definitely not something you should call your SISTER, Asura-chan!"

"Oh," Naru said with a pout. But Kakashi was a bit of a bastard! – Not literally, of course. WELL, he was literally a bastard - or had been - if one considered "bastard" to be a figurative term. How troublesome. "...Sorry."

"That's okay," Ami said with a smile. Once today's lecturer (private tutoring was a bummer but was a little better with a "friend" present) and Asura's sister left, the two sat down to practice the tea ceremony. Asura was terrible at it and Ami wondered if her eldest sister was teaching her ANYTHING. "You need a lot of work if you're going to attract a husband one day," she whispered to her.

"Honestly," Naruto muttered to herself. "Marriage this and that… Makes me want to puke." Ami began giggling but did it in such a "demure" way behind her hand, Naru wanted to stab someone. Why were women taught to behave like this?

"Asura-chan," Kushina said, calling her to her. "I'm afraid your lessons will have to wait. I have news."

"It's a different kind of strength these women have, Naru-chan," Kushina began explaining as they walked back to their quarters. "I'm… Well, I've never been that kind of girl, ya know. Like you, I was raised to be a kunoichi from as far back as I can remember or maybe even from birth! And with my circumstances," not that I'm going to explain the Kyuubi anytime soon, "I'll be a kunoichi 'til my dying day. Civilians, though…"

"You're not dying on my watch," Naruto said with determination as she walked beside her mother. She was surprised when the teenager began cooing and stroking her hair lovingly. She nearly purred at the touch which was completely embarrassing.

"You're SO CUTE," Kushina squealed. "Now let's go see your not-cute sister."

Naruto smiled crookedly despite her embarrassment. Poor Kakashi, indeed.

Kushina sealed the room and began. "Alright you two, I heard back from Lord Hokage AND had an opportunity to speak to Daimyo-sama without that Kenji-butthole around." Seeing that she had her chibis' full attention - although Kakashi-kun looked as bored as ever (she blamed both him and her droopy-eyed sensei for that) - she sat down and put up her feet. She hated dressing up like this, BUT it was a part of the job. "Naru-chan, how long can you hold a henge?"

"I don't know. Days I guess; overnight, too. Maybe more."

Kushina nodded; that was impressive, especially for a chibi. "How about a shadow clone?"

"Overnight for sure," Naru said, wondering how much longer she could hold out than that right now if they didn't get popped. "Maybe two days? My clones can always make another clone, though."

Kushina closed her eyes. The Hokage's idea seemed a little brash, but she WOULD remain on site for it. She just… Well,
1. She hated it here.
2. She and the kids needed more clothes that she could supposedly get from the Daimyo. They also might need more hair dye.
3. The plan (that she knew was "advised" but not a specified part of the original mission) would require her to let go of her tiny Genin more which might endanger them. –They were so NEW to the forces: it didn't feel right.
4. And if they did come across danger - although their job was supposedly gathering intelligence only - Sakumo-sensei, Jiraiya-perv, and Minato-baka would kill her.

Blegh!

"Here," Kushina said, handing each of them a scroll. The kids read through their letters excitedly and then pushed chakra into the attached seals. Both looked excited about what had been sent, but Kakashi quickly hid his wolf plushie Kushina was sure she saw. Naruto had no such embarrassment over the toad plushie Minato sent since Jiraiya was out of the village.

"Maa, this means we're staying, right?"

"Right you are, brat." Kushina gave a somber smile as Naru let out a whoop and Kakashi just sat there. She threw some puppy PJs his father had sent and grinned more as he tried to hide them as well.

"I like your pajamas," Naruto said earnestly, pouting over the ridiculous pink nightgown her father/half-brother sent her.

"Thanks," Kakashi said tersely.

"Alright you two, get ready for bed. I'll explain what we're going to do once you're tucked in." Naru ran for the bathroom first but gave her a quick and fierce hug, which pleased Kushina to no end. The natural redhead noticed that Kakashi looked like he might be pouting - big, sad hound eyes - and sat down next to him, putting her arm around him. "You okay?"

"Of course. I'm a shinobi," Kakashi said snottily.

"You're also a little boy," Kushina said, ignoring the way he scoffed. "If you want to talk, just say so. I'm here for you."

"You're talented," Kakashi said in just over a whisper once Kushina was out of the room the next morning.

Naruto's eyes went wide; she was pretty sure that in her whole life, Kakashi-sensei had never said anything like that before. Sure, he'd been impressed with her Rasenshuriken, but he had helped hone that technique. She couldn't have done it without him. She wouldn't have even thought of it if he hadn't told her that the Rasengan wasn't finished.

"The Hatake in front of you is jealous."

That made Naru feel bad. She finished chewing her banana and pointed the remainder of it at him. "You're smarter than me." Kakashi gave her a quick nod of agreement and Naru scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest after stuffing the rest of the banana in her mouth and nearly swallowing it whole. "And you're talented, too. I've just got more chakra," she said sourly. Kakashi looked happier and Naruto wanted to roll her eyes. She hid behind her blue hair instead.

She kind of liked having blue hair!

"Are you ready?" Kakashi asked. Things were going to begin getting more serious. He was going to hate being forced to go to girly classes beginning today, though.

"Yeah. Let's do this." She helped him adjust his obi-thing around his face so he didn't look like quite so much of an idiot and they took off to find Ami-hime.

During their first break in horrible classes, Naruto brought it up. "I'm going to be a shinobi," she whispered to her target/new friend.

"Kunoichi, Asura-chan! Girl ninjas are called kunoichis. –And I'm gonna be one, too."

Naru smiled, glad that Ami was admitting it. Now, why would a princess want to be one? "My nee-chan wants to be one, too," she said, pointing toward Kakashi. "Kashi-chan's really strong."

"I can hear you," Kakashi said obnoxiously.

"Yeah," Ami said, observing the middle sister more. "She seems kinda sneaky. And her hair looks like a boy's."

"Maa, what can I tell ya?" Naru absently asked. "She's butch."

Even with his face half-covered by a flowery obi, Kakashi gave her a look that promised future pain.

Ami surprised him, though, by looking around and approaching him for the first time. He'd been feeling very left out of everything important in this mission, and his heart began to beat a little faster.

"Where did you get that knife, -er kunai?" Ami whispered.

Kakashi smirked. "I collect 'em." Ami-hime's eyes widened in excitement. "And I know how to throw 'em, too."

"Will you teach me?" Kakashi made her beg, but eventually, he agreed to do it. That night, the three children snuck outside of the Palace and into the woods.

They figured they'd probably be doing this kind of thing for a while - for as long as it took.

Naru and Kakashi sloppily sent kunai flying at a knot on a tree, missing purposely until a visitor arrived. Naruto had gone quiet and had to refrain from shaking in her sandals: the guy had snuck up on her, appearing incredibly quickly.

"There's my cute little… Well! What do we have here?" a man with light brown hair asked pleasantly. "These friends of yours, Ami-hime?" he asked quietly. Dangerously.

Naru smiled at the man - Jonin level: somehow familiar earth and lightning release chakra - and for once was glad that Kakashi's face was covered. His posture was stiff, but he did good, keeping his chakra coiled up tight. Ami greeted the man like her "uncle," but there was no way they were related. When Naruto realized where she thought the guy was from, she tried to act nonchalant but felt sick.

Naru remembered two Edo-Tensei from the Fourth Shinobi War with a similar chakra signature - one of whom she'd met when he was alive and had tried to kill - or as similar as she could classify it. Iwa explosive corp? You've got to be kidding me!

"Hi! I'm Asura-chan, and this is my big sister, Kashi-chan," she said in a hesitant voice, bowing. "Please take care of us."

The man smirked but glared at his "niece."