Chapter 19: The Way in Which Genma Almost Lost Everything: The aftermath of the Chunin Exams left many devastated. Genma lost his home. The kids' friendship with the Sand Siblings was fractured. And they had come an inch from losing their Hokage. But just as tragedy had struck, miracles had rained down on them as well. None of the kids had been killed. Orochimaru had not won. The Hidden Leaf had survived. And even with everything that had been lost, all of this proved to be enough to keep Genma and his kids still hoping.

..~..~..

Hayate came to him in the middle of the night in a bloody haze. His whole body was covered in the crimson liquid. And he carried a body much larger than his own, one that belonged to a person Genma had come to know because of the kids.

"Genma! Please, help me!"

Hayate's words were whispered harshly so as to not wake the rest of his apartment's inhabitants. And Genma knew that if they weren't careful, one of the kids would wake up to find Baki a bloodied mess in his living room.

The senbon enthusiast snapped into action without any kind of difficulty. Ignoring the fact that he would be getting blood on the pajama set given to him a year ago by Ino, the man took on half of Baki's weight and helped Hayate lay him down on his floor. And without waiting for any kind of explanation, he began to work on healing as many wounds as he could on his chest, all the while Hayate dealt with the injuries on his legs.

For what felt like an eternity, all Genma heard was Baki's labored breathing, Hayate's shaky grunts, and his own deep breaths. Sometimes the tense symphony was broken by a whimper of pain from the injured man, but he mostly kept quiet as he focused on breathing.

The wounds the man had suffered were some that Genma had seen on the field before. They were the kinds of cuts one suffered when attacked by a proficient sword wielder. And it didn't take a genius to know that if Hayate had been the one to bring the man here, with the male being one of the best swordsmen to ever come from Konoha, then it was very likely that it had been Hayate himself to cause these serious injuries.

The fact that the young man was on the edge of a panic attack certainly did not help Genma think about any kind of innocence in this deal.

But Genma didn't ask a single thing until Baki was stable and bandaged up with only a few minor cuts left to heal on their own. Instead he worked on the man, pumping as much chakra into the man as he dared to help him heal.

As part of the Hokage's protection squad, he'd been various different types of medical jutsu to be able to aid fallen comrades in battle. And just like with his knowledge in poisons, Genma usually kept quiet about his knowledge in this kind jutsu. He didn't really keep it secret, but he didn't boast about it either. Although, after years of having to deal with emergencies brought about by brash, childish impulses, Genma knew that his medical knowledge was a secret that was more known than hidden.

Once he had finished wrapping the last of the bandages around Baki's arms, Genma allowed himself a small breath of relief as he leaned back on his haunches. And when he looked over at the clock on his wall, it was to find that he and Hayate had worked on the man for a good three hours.

"Is... Will he be okay?"

Hayate's voice was soft and timid, reminding Genma of a time long past when this man was barely a hurting teenager. When they had met, Hayate had just been Iwashi's quiet friend that didn't really say much. And usually, when he had spoken up in the past, it was with an unsure voice that threatened to quiver.

Right now, Genma did not see the strong ANBU operative he knew Hayate was. Right now, all Genma could see was a frightened boy.

"Yeah." The older male nodded as he answered, then pushed himself up to stand, "He'll be okay. But he'll need a lot of rest."

Hayate scrambled to get up as well, eyes wide as they never left Genma's body. And the man had to stop himself from smiling fondly, for it had been a long time since one of the older kids had looked so much like the younger ones.

Taking one last look at Baki, Genma decided that he needed to understand just what in the world had happened. Hayate was not the kind to get into petty fights. So he wouldn't have done anything to Baki unless he had truly had a reason.

"Care to tell me what happened to end up with Baki so hurt?"

Hayate stood uncomfortably and coughed once before he answered, "You know about the rumors circling around about an invasion in the Leaf? Well I happened to hear him planning a joined attack with the Sound. So I attacked him as soon as I could to stop him from passing a message to his students."

Genma felt all of the air taken away from him at hearing this. Then he looked down at Baki in disbelief, for he found it too unbelievable to think that this man was involved in an invasion of Konoha. In any way.

"What?!" He just about shouted, "Then he's not supposed to be here! You were supposed to have taken him to T&I-"

"Let me finish, will you?" Hayate shouted back, "He's not a traitor! He's the reason why we know that we're going to get attacked!"

"He's..." Genma breathed out, body suddenly losing all of the tension within it. "He's a double agent?"

"I found out much too late..." The younger male breathed out, then began to move to throw himself on the couch Genma had been using to sleep. "I attacked before he could tell me what happened. And once I'd finally stopped to listen, it was already too late."

Once more his voice began to quiver, but this time, his eyes watered as well. And Genma couldn't help but shake his head softly at the younger man.

"Get some rest, kid." He ordered softly as he walked over to him, then began to push him down onto the couch by his shoulders. "You're more coherent once you've slept."

The younger male coughed twice as he just allowed Genma to set him down. And once he closed his eyes, the man grabbed the blanket he had thrown onto the floor during the initial rush of confusion and threw it over him.

~/~

"The hell are you doing sleeping up here?"

Genma received a very kind wake up call, courtesy of an extremely cheery Zabuza.

The shorter male groaned at the rough shove to his shoulder but refused to open his eyes. He was tired and just wanted to get a bit more sleep before he had to wake up and deal with reality.

Hayate had almost killed Baki. Baki, of the Hidden Sand, had been attacked by Hayate for being a spy that worked for their enemies. Their enemies were, apparently, the Hidden Sound. And, as if this wasn't confusing enough, Baki was actually a double agent trying to help Konoha.

"Get off your ass, Shiranui." Zabuza grunted in that cheery voice only he was capable of, then Genma felt himself being shoved once more.

"Let me sleep..." He didn't care if he sounded like Naruto, he needed his sleep before he faced the world. And even if he got enough sleep, he'd need some of that really good coffee Ibiki kept him stocked up on.

There was a moment of silence in which Zabuza left him alone. But then Genma found himself being grabbed and thrown over a sturdy shoulder, then carried off and away from the counter he had decided to use as a makeshift bed.

"Need my sleep..."

"I am aware of that, dumbass. Shut up."

Even though there was still a bite to the man's voice, Zabuza didn't sound as annoyed as when he'd first spoken up. And, quite frankly, Genma was so tired that he didn't really care about what might be up with him. So he just allowed the larger man to carry him to wherever it was he wanted to go as long as it allowed him to get some much needed rest.

Faintly, he felt himself being laid down on a soft and comfortable surface. Then something being pulled over him before he heard footsteps going away from him. But Genma was so tired that he didn't think too much about where he might be. Instead he cuddled into the soft surface beneath him, releasing a happy sigh as he allowed sleep to come over him once more.

~/~

When Genma woke up, it was to find himself in his bed. Which really confused him for a moment before he remembered the odd and extremely unbelievable conversation he'd had with Zabuza after having fallen asleep on the counter.

That couldn't have happened... Right? It wasn't as if Zabuza would actually care enough about him to give up his bed... Right?

But he woke up on his bed. The same bed Zabuza had been using because of how large he was.

"Weird night..." Genma murmured to himself as he blinked away any traces of tiredness that tried to pull him back into sleep, then sniffed at the air.

He could smell things being cooked. That barely ever happened unless one of the kids had gotten into some kind of trouble and were going to ask Genma for help or asylum from their parents.

Without stopping to clean himself up or even changed out of his clothes- he may have forgotten about all of the blood that now decorated the white and blue garments-, the senbon enthusiast made his way towards his kitchen.

Baki had been moved from the floor where he had been left over to the table and sat with Haku beside him. The young ninja was asking him questions as he looked intently at the man's face, most probably looking for signs of possible concussion. And at this Genma winced slightly, feeling kind of bad for not having checked that out himself before he'd collapsed.

Hayate was still sleeping on the couch and looked the same as when Genma had left him. It seemed that he hadn't moved even an inch as he had slept.

Zabuza stood in the kitchen with Sasuke and Naruto bustling around him. Apparently, all three of them were preparing the breakfast that smelled so delicious. But when Genma walked into the common area, all of the ninja in his apartment; aside from the still sleeping Hayate; stopped what they were doing and turned to look at him.

The silence that suddenly fell over his apartment was so much that he was sure that if they allowed a senbon to drop, they would hear it clink against his floor. But before he could try and make a comment on this to break the tense atmosphere, Sasuke and Naruto were running out of the kitchen and towards him. Their eyes were wide and alarmed and made Genma scold himself for not having changed out of his bloodied clothes.

"Farmer man! What happened to you? Did you get hurt? Is that why Baki Sensei is hurt too?!" Naruto's questions were loud and rapid, the boy barely allowed himself a second to breathe before he was asking something new.

Sasuke, on the other hand, busied himself by grabbing Genma's arm and looking it over for injuries. Then, once he was pleased with the results, he repeated the motion with the other arm. And he continued in that fashion until he went for the legs by trying to pull down Genma's pants, and that's when the man put a stop to both of their unique ways of showing their worry.

"I'm fine, you two." Genma offered them both a small smile as he slapped Sasuke's hands away, then motioned to the bloodied clothes, "Unfortunately, this is all Baki's."

From inside the kitchen, Genma knew Zabuza was listening in on them. Just like he knew Baki and Haku were both paying complete attention to him.

"So..." Sasuke muttered with his eyes narrowed, then pointed at Hayate, "The reason he's here is because he has something to do with this, right?"

Naruto blinked at Sasuke in curiosity, then questioned, "What do you think happened, Sasuke?"

"Baki got into some kind of fight." Sasuke began to answer before Genma could interrupt, then continued with such sureness in his voice that the man couldn't really find it within himself to stop it.

What was he supposed to tell them? That Hayate had been the one to harm Baki? And that the reason why the man wasn't dead now was simply because he was a double agent?

No... He couldn't let them know any of this... He needed to make sense of everything that was happening before he had the kids learn about it.

"And Hayate saved him. And because it was so late at night and he was worried of getting in trouble with his superiors, Hayate decided to bring Baki to Genma to get fixed up rather than the hospital."

"Wow..." Naruto gasped as he turned to the only injured man in the room, "Is that true, Baki Sensei?"

There was a flash of doubt and fear in Baki's eyes for a second before the man composed his face and nodded solemnly. "Last night was not one of my proudest moments."

"Alright, enough mystery solving, brats." Zabuza cleared his throat from inside the kitchen as he motioned towards the various pots and pans laid out on the counter.

A counter which should have had some kind of trace of blood, seeing how Genma had used it as his bed immediately after having finished up with Baki. The thought of taking a bath had never even crossed his mind after the stressful emergency services. But now that Genma looked at it, there was nothing that could even hint as to the mess of blood that should have been there.

And when the man looked down at the floor where they had worked on Baki, Genma found that it was in the same state as the counter.

"Finish your old man's breakfast."

Zabuza's dark eyes met Genma's own for a few seconds after he'd commanded Sasuke and Naruto to help him finish breakfast. And from those few seconds, Genma knew everything he needed to know about his odd wake up.

Zabuza had carried him to his bed in the middle of the night after having seen the state they had all been left in. Baki, in his injured state, had to have been unconscious for quite the while, so he'd set Haku to check over him and make sure there were no mental repercussions. And knowing that if the kids woke up to the bloody scene that the apartment had been left they would end up terrified, he'd most probably cleaned all of the blood up.

If anyone in his past had ever told him he'd be grateful about having an ex-Swordsman of the Mist living with him, Genma would have laughed in their face and asked how much alcohol they had consumed. But right now all he truly felt for the man was appreciation.

Baki's attack was explained as a drunken mishap that came from miscommunication and flared tempers. The man's assailants had fled Konoha after leaving him wounded. And the only reason they weren't being hunted down was because neither Hayate or Baki had been able to get a good look at them.

The only people that knew the truth of the attack were the three that had shared a bloody and tense moment in Genma's apartment on the night of the attack, the Hokage, and Zabuza. No one else knew the truth about the attack, or the truth about Baki's alliances.

Genma himself still didn't know just why it was that Baki was a double agent if the Sand was still their ally. But he wasn't a fool. Even though the Sand insisted that they were allies, the only true explanation for one of their greatest Jounin working with Konoha to help them fend off an invasion was because his own home was planning the attack.

Suna had joined the Hidden Sound in a vendetta against the Hidden Leaf.

What not even the Hokage himself was able to explain was just why a village as small as the Hidden Sound wished to attack a village as large as Konoha.

When the day of the Chunin Exams finally came, Genma was allowed a day off. Just like the rest of Konoha.

"Farmer man is rooting for me! There's no way he'll want someone that's not his son to win!" Naruto boasted as Genma and the rest of his friends walked beside him.

For a moment, all Genma could remember was the first day of classes for Neji and Tenten all those years ago. Back when the kids had been so young and adorable and always got into trouble. They were so bright eyed and ready to take on the world...

"So that means that he's rooting for me too, huh, Naruto?" Sasuke smirked at his best friend, causing the blonde to stop for a moment, then smile broadly.

"I knew you considered me your brother, teme!"

Sasuke bristled at the shout and rolled his eyes with a heavy scoff, all the while Sakura shook her head at her teammates' overly dramatic reactions.

As this happened, Genma could see Kiba, Kotetsu, and Hinata all trying their best to psyche Shino up for his match to his right. And to his left were both Team 10 and Team Guy, doing the same thing with Neji and Shikamaru.

Quite frankly... Not much had changed since they had been kids. The only difference between now and that first day of school from so long ago was that there were more kids accompanying Genma this time around.

"Brats..."

Along with more adults, too.

Genma smiled over in Zabuza's direction, "Oh, come on, Grumpy. You know you love them."

The man from the Mist merely rolled his eyes and shifted his grip on his large sword. Ibiki had shown up at Genma's doorstep with the sword in one hand and a very serious scowl on his face. And the man had accompanied them most of the way towards the site for the Exams, most probably trying to keep an eye on one of the most dangerous men in the world for as long as possible.

A feat which had been made rather difficult because of Ino's insistence of dragging the large man into a cheery conversation with her two teammates.

Genma still couldn't believe that a man as serious as Ibiki actually allowed himself to get bullied around by Inoichi's daughter... But, then again, Ibiki had most probably known Ino for even longer than Genma had. Maybe her bullying him around was just the way their relationship worked.

"Okay, my minions." Genma clapped his hands as they neared the large doorway that led into the main seating area of where the Exams would be held, "This is where we leave you. Haku, stick with the kids and don't lose sight of them. Kiddos, if you lose Haku, it's not me you'll have to answer to; it'll be the Hokage."

The genin that would not be taking part of the Exams groaned and scoffed at the unnecessary reminder but didn't interrupt. So Genma nodded, then turned to the kids that would be fighting.

"And don't you kids forget to be awesome. Show Konoha just how great a teacher I am."

Naruto immediately cheered as he grabbed Sasuke's hand to force him to follow behind him. And for a second before he went after the blonde, Genma swore he was able to see a light blush on the Uchiha's cheeks.

They'd be fine. These two were great in their own rights. They'd pass these Exams without any trouble.

"See you losers later." Kankuro offered a halfhearted wave to them as he walked behind Naruto and Sasuke, all the while Temari didn't offered them a cocky wink. Gaara merely nodded before going after both his siblings.

Shino experienced one final pep-talk from his team and Kotetsu before he quietly walked off, leaving only Neji behind.

The Hyuga looked after the genin that were ahead of him for a moment before he turned back to Genma. And Genma looked back him somewhat curiously, wondering just why he was waiting so long to go ahead.

As they looked at each other, the rest of the ninja that had accompanied them began to go back to their own way, excited to get on with the way. So when it was only him and Neji left, Genma took a step towards the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Everything alright, bud?"

Neji's face was mostly blank, but seemed to brighten when Genma spoke up. "Yes, Genma-nii-san."

The title was one Neji barely used. Whenever they were around others, he stuck to the much more expected 'Genma-san'. But in the few moments that they were allowed to be alone, Neji always managed to make Genma's heart warm and remember the bright eyed young boy whose hand he had held through some of the toughest moments of his childhood.

"You'll be awesome."

Everyone knew who would be fighting who in these last matches. Neji was to confront Naruto. And Genma had no idea how he felt about this match or if he could even root for either of the kids.

Both were like his own sons... How was he supposed to choose between either of them?

"You really think so?"

Moving his hand from Neji's shoulder over to his head so it rested on top of the bandana he proudly wore, Genma smiled warmly down at the Hyuga. "I know so. You'll make everyone proud, Neji. Win or lose. Because you will be amazing out there."

And that was when he was afforded one of the few bright smiles most didn't know a boy as serious as Neji was capable of.

"My money's on Neji."

"Yeah, there's no way a brat like that monster could ever beat a clan prodigy."

"This is just an unfair match."

Kiba grew angered at the whispers he heard coming from the stupid civilians around him, but soon felt a soft hand placed on his shoulder to try and calm him down. "Just i-ignore them, Kiba-kun."

His female teammate smiled softly to try and calm him and Kiba felt his anger slowly begin to cool.

His relationship with Hinata was still fractured. Just like his relationship with Shino. He still couldn't believe his teammates had decided on such a cowardly plan of action when they might have been able to help. But after working with Kurenai to specifically help him control his temper, the Inuzuka could say he could understand why it was that they had done it.

Self preservation was important. And not everyone could be a hero.

"This fight's unfair." He offered as he crossed his arms over his chest, only to have Akamaru bark from on top of his head in agreement. "Neji's been dealt some pretty shit cards recently, huh?"

First the Hyuga had been forced to face his cousin. And now one of his friends.

"I-I am sure they will both b-be fine."

Breathing in deeply to brace himself, Kiba focused on the arena before him. Neji and Naruto were already squaring off against each other. And Hayate stood a way's away from them, prepared to call these matches as well.

"I just hope you're right, Hinata."

It hurt Tenten to see Naruto get his ass kicked so horribly. But, just like Hinata, the blonde had not known when he'd been beaten.

Yes, Naruto was a good fighter. And he had quite the upper hand with the forbidden jutsu he loved so much. But Neji was still leagues above him in skill. And that ended up trumping sheer power.

Luckily, though, the next match wasn't one that would cause her too much inner turmoil over who to root for. Kankuro and Shino were supposed to fight, and Tenten knew it was going to be a match for the ages.

It wasn't, though. Kankuro, in a move that would forever leave her dumbfounded, actually gave up.

It had been really weird too. Before he'd raised his hand to admit defeat, the boy from Suna had looked up at someone in the stands, as if looking for some kind of signal.

After that had come Shikamaru versus Sakura. Once again, Tenten found herself torn between who to root for. Shikamaru was a good friend, just like Sakura.

In the end, though, Tenten had wound up cheering for Sakura. Most people thought that Shikamaru would win simply because of his Nara heritage. But Tenten knew that if Sakura dug in deep, she would be able to beat the lazy boy.

The match had been much less explosive than the one between the pink haired girl and Ino. But it still had its fair amount of explosions and fire style jutsu. It lasted much longer than many would have thought it would have, for it seemed that Sakura had taken a page out of Hinata and Naruto's play book of never giving up. A page that Shikamaru decided to skip over.

Just like Kankuro, the lazy Nara caused a huge uproar when he decided to give up as well. And Tenten felt like bashing him over the head for having been such an idiot and letting the chance of becoming Chunin slip through his fingers because his master plan had not been as perfect as he'd hoped it would have been.

When Dosu and Temari began their fight, Tenten noticed something weird in the crowds.

She'd noticed it before, but it was even more noticeable now. Members of the audience were slowly shuffling away. And they were careful of not being caught, seeing how very little left at the same time. But the trickle effect still left the audience with quite a few blank chairs in an event that had yet to hit its highest and most interesting moment.

"Hey, guys, I'm gonna go visit Farmer man real quick."

Tenten came to them to tell them of something odd she had observed within the crowds. Something that they had all already noticed.

"It seemed our informant's information was correct." The Hokage hummed as he smoked the pipe in his mouth, then looked at the young girl. "Thank you for coming to us, Tenten."

She smiled back at him and bowed respectfully, then walked up to the edge of the viewing area to look down at the match going on. "You guys have the best seat." She murmured softly, then cocked her head to the side, "It seems Temari's losing this one."

Genma knew that there wasn't much love lost between Tenten and Temari after their match in the preliminary round. And, really, he could not blame the girl for being somewhat happy to see Temari getting her ass kicked. Even though he knew that this wasn't the kind of attitude she should be adopting.

"Think I can stay here for the rest of the time?" Tenten turned with a hopeful glint in her eyes and a broad smile, "Promise I'll behave!"

Even with the threat of an invasion looming over them, Genma knew that they could not let anybody begin to panic unless they were completely sure the attack would go down. And they would only be completely certain when Baki signaled them.

Genma knew that he didn't want any of his kids anywhere near fighting if any broke out. Especially if it happened to be instigated by someone that wanted to hurt the Hokage. But Tenten didn't know that she may just be in trouble and he wasn't the kind to deny his kids a luxury like this once they'd weaseled their way into the exclusive seats.

"Of course, Tenten." The Hokage smiled coolly, then motioned for her to continue looking forward. "I win nothing by taking this view from you."

Sasuke was nervous.

He had never been the kind to allow himself to actually worry over fighting because he was so great at it... But... He couldn't stop himself.

Naruto had lost his match. But he'd put on a great show while losing.

Sakura had beaten a Nara. If she had beaten anybody else, Sasuke would feel less pressure on his shoulders. But it had been Shikamaru. A genius.

If not for the fact that Sakura had been able to defeat a Nara, Sasuke would not have been so worried. But she had. Which meant that if he wanted to prove that he was just as good as his teammates, he would have to beat Gaara. A boy that he knew was incredibly strong.

When Dosu was called the winner of his match, Sasuke forced himself to breathe in deeply and prepare for his match. He could take Gaara on. Just like he could take anyone on.

He was just as smart as Sakura, but he was stronger. There was no doubt as to who would win.

"You'll be awesome, Sasuke!" He heard Sakura cheer, which made his heart fill with confidence.

"Let's meet each other in the finals, yeah?" He smirked as he looked over his shoulders at her, only to find her freeze for a second, then nod animatedly.

"We'll put on a great show for Ebisu Sensei!"

The man deserved to see both of his unrequited students in action. And Sasuke wanted to see for himself just how far he and Sakura would be able to go to win.

He liked that idea... Him and Sakura in the finals...

When the arena suddenly became quiet, Genma knew that the invasion had begun.

Baki, even for how trusted he was by his own village, had not known exactly when the attack would start. Nor did he know how to stop it. So there had been no way for Konoha to avoid it without risking the perception of their strength as a village from the other villages.

This invasion may have just been avoided if not for the political consequences that would have come from postponing the Chunin Exams.

"Tenten!" He called to the girl as soon as he knew that something was about to happen, but wasn't allowed to finish.

The air was suddenly knocked out of his lungs by a harsh force that sent him flying back and away from the Hokage. And before he could even get up to try and figure out what had happened, the man found a large barrier stopping him from going anywhere near the man.

He couldn't hear what was happening inside. Even though he was able to see what happened. And what he saw made his blood run cold.

Orochimaru.

Tenten had no idea what was going on. One minute she was enthusiastically watching Sasuke give Temari's sister an ass kicking. Then the next, she found herself standing behind the Hokage as the Kazekage lost his robes to reveal the face of a snake-like humanoid.

"How are you, my old teacher?"

"Lord Hokage?" Tenten's voice shook just slightly as something that she could only describe as a cube formed around them, effectively trapping her and the Hokage with the Kazekage that was starting to think wasn't the actual leader of the Sand.

"Orochimaru... To what do I owe this great displeasure?"

The long haired man had then let out a hollow laugh that chilled Tenten to her very bones. After this, he had begun to saunter about, all the while monologuing like a true villain straight from the stories Genma loved reading to them as kids.

Everything that came after was a blur Tenten wasn't sure she could even properly recall. She was pushed back and far away from the Hokage, instructed to stay as close to the walls around her as possible to make sure she didn't get injured. And then two people were pulled from coffins and they began to fight with the Hokage and-

"Oh, fuck!" The girl wasn't usually one for swearing. But she couldn't stop herself from doing so as the ground beneath her began to sprout trees.

From standing in the back, Tenten found herself having to jump from one branch to another to keep herself from getting crushed. And all she could actually do was just that, run. She couldn't help the Hokage fight off the men that were attacking hi-

Tenten almost fell from the shock that coursed through her when she noticed who it was that was attacking the Hokage. They were Hokage, too. The First and Second Hokage, to be more specific.

"You have grown weak while I've grown strong, old man!"

The snake cackled from the sidelines as the Hokage all fought together and Tenten couldn't help but sneer in his direction. Only a coward allowed others to fight for him.

But Tenten was being ignored because she was seen as completely weak. Heck, she highly doubted that the unbelievably powerful men fighting her Hokage had even taken note of her. But she was able to use this to her advantage and she jumped as close as she dared to them without being seen to try and see if she could find any weak spots her Hokage could exploit.

What she found left her thanking all the gods that might exist for having had her, Kiba, and Naruto steal the Scroll of Seals so long ago.

Genma was not able to watch over Tenten, the Hokage, and Zabuza as he would have wished to do. He wasn't going to be productive if he stayed there. And every second he stayed there was a second in which civilians were caught in danger from the Sand and Sound nin that were attacking.

Against his deepest wishes, Genma left the three to fight Orochimaru as he went off to try and incapacitate as many enemies as possible.

Along the way, he was able to find most of his kids and wake them up from their jutsu induced sleep.

Kiba immediately jumped away to help his fellow Konoha shinobi fight off invaders. Hinata stuck to him like glue, refusing to leave her teammate to face powerful enemies alone. Lee jumped into the fray without much doubt as well, quickly joining his friends to keep them from getting overwhelmed.

Ino, Haku, and Chouji all decided to first find as many shinobi as they could instead of begin to fight. They helped Genma wake them up, even though they all ended up having to fend off attackers when the enemy became overzealous.

As Genma managed to drive his senbon into the neck of a woman that got much too close to Ino for his liking, the girl cheered. And when the shinobi she had been working on woke up, Genma understood why she was so happy.

"I was so worried about you, daddy!"

Even though there was still a major invasion to fight off, Genma was happy to see that Inoichi was still safe. And after Inoichi was found, it wasn't too hard to find either of his old teammates. And luckily for all of them, Shikaku immediately began to delegate tasks to all of the shinobi that had been awoken, leaving the genin to continue searching for more reinforcements while Genma and Chouza watched their backs.

Even with his injuries, Naruto insisted on following after the Sand Siblings. Partly, he was worried about Gaara's injuries and how weird he looked. But it was mostly because he wanted them to explain to him why their fellow shinobi were invading Konoha.

The series of events that followed after were some that he would never be able to truly believe. Even though he knew that he had a nine tailed monster contained within him, Naruto found it hard to believe that there were others that were used as containers like him. And when he heard about the borderline horrible life Gaara had been forced to live through... Well, Naruto was just happy that Gaara had been able to keep most of his sanity.

Sanity which seemed to leave him when the beast within him began to appear.

Punching that very sanity back into his head had not been easy. But Naruto was grateful that the pervy old man had decided to ignore Genma's growls and had continued to teach him. He highly doubted he would have been able to knock sense back into Gaara without the help of Gamabunta.

"Lord Hokage! They have seals on the backs of their necks! And I know the jutsu to break them out of that snake's control!"

"Tenten, get away from-"

"Look, sir!" Tenten shoved her small notebook into the old man's face, refusing to back down now that he managed to create separation between him and the Hokage from times' past.

This was the small notebook she used to keep track of the forbidden jutsu Kiba had taken pictures of. Even though his plans had been to just take a few, he'd wound up taking pictures of the entirety of the jutsu collected within. One of which happened to be the same jutsu that Orochimaru was using now.

"There is no way... Orochimaru must have changed something." The Hokage sounded much more tired than Tenten had ever heard, letting her know how truly dangerous the situation was.

"He didn't." She insisted, then pointed at the Hokage that were currently trapped beneath tons of rubble. "I looked them over myself, sir. And the seals on their necks are the same as the one here!"

For a second, the Hokage did nothing but glare down at her. But then the jutsu that had trapped both reanimated men gave in and they jumped back up, cutting his thinking time short.

Suddenly a hand appeared behind her and grabbed her notebook, making Tenten immediately try and stop it from taking it. But another hand wrapped around her wrist, stopping her from reaching for her prized notebook.

"And you're sure that this is the correct jutsu?"

Tenten blinked in stupefaction at suddenly finding Zabuza of all people standing behind her, but soon nodded.

She had known that he would be working to keep the Hokage protected, like Genma. But after him not appearing when everything went down, she had just chalked it up to him having been away from the Hokage when the barrier had been set up.

"Well... It's not like we've got anything else to try, old man." The shark nin grunted as his eyes quickly scanned over Tenten's notes, then threw the notebook back at her. "I'll keep them all occupied. Just do whatever you've got to do as quickly as possible."

And before either the Hokage or Tenten could even try to stop him, the man disappeared. Then he reappeared behind Orochimaru, making him and the two men under his control turn all of their attention to the insane Mist nin.

~/~

Tenten had no idea if her plan would work. But this was the only thing any of them even believed might work to stop reanimated corpses.

One. Two. Three... Now!

Without allowing herself to question if she was correct in thinking that she even knew what jutsu had been used to control the revived Hokage, Tenten lunged.

Zabuza and her Hokage had managed to corner them in a way that left their necks completely exposed. And now that she was able to see the seals she would have to break, Tenten moved as quickly as she could. Chakra built up in the tips of her fingers as she forced herself to run faster than she ever had before. Then, once she was close enough, the girl jump and jabbed her hands into the necks of both Hokage.

She felt the mark on their necks as they began to burn up and disappear. But even with the hope that the jutsu had worked, the girl took no chances and jumped away from them, just in case she had been wrong and now found herself in the sights of two of the deadliest ninja to ever live.

All was still for a few seconds as Tenten just panted and watched.

Then the Second Hokage cleared his throat and nodded once in the direction of her Hokage. "You can release us now, Hiruzen. We are free."

"That's impossible!" Orochimaru shouted from his spot on the other side of the battlefield, eyes narrowed, "Nobody knows of this jutsu! Much less of the way to break your own seals!"

The white haired man stayed still in the grasp of the two clones that held him in place, but still smirked. "It seems that someone aside from you and I does know about this forbidden jutsu."

If not for the fact that she was still in mortal danger, Tenten would have cheered at having been able to help solve quite the problem.

Zabuza waited for the Hokage's signal to dispel his clones. But when he did, instead of lunging at either him or her Hokage, both reanimated turned back to glare at Orochimaru.

"I don't take kindly to those that steal from me, snake..."

~/~

Orochimaru, after seeing how badly he had been beaten, had tried one final trick to kill the Hokage. Calling on the largest snake Tenten had ever seen in her life, he deflected all attention from him. And as Tenten ran from the monster that was specifically targeting her, the stronger shinobi tried their best to protect her.

They did exactly what the traitor had wanted them to do.

Safely tucked into the arms of the First Hokage, Tenten found herself watching Orochimaru slink towards her Hokage in slow motion with a sword in his hand. And she was about to scream out to the man to watch out, only to find herself being taken away from the scene as the giant snake tried to crush her and the First Hokage beneath its tail.

Tears sprung up to her eyes as the reality of the situation dawned on her. Even with how much she had tried, the Hokage had been killed.

Although, her assumptions were soon cut off when she heart Zabuza suddenly growl out, "I should have stayed in the Mist!"

She had not been able to see how it had happened. But somehow, Zabuza had managed to stop Orochimaru's attack from reaching its intended target by throwing himself onto the sword.

Upon seeing that his final attempt to kill the Hokage had ended in a complete failure, Orochimaru had then decided to cut his losses and escaped. He'd left his giant summons to distract both reanimated Hokage and effectively cut them off from chasing after him.

The Hokage had managed to survive the attempt on his life, even with how fatal and nearly successful it had been. But from the way Zabuza was paling and his grumblings were becoming much less audible, Tenten began to believe that, maybe, they had just traded one life for another.

Once all the fighting had stopped and Konoha had been allowed a breather, Genma refused to think about all of the casualties. He had seen many of his fellow ninja fall in battle as they tried to keep their home safe. And later on, he'd be able to mourn their deaths. But right now, he could not allow himself the moment of sadness he knew he would need.

Before he allowed himself to truly internalize everything that had happened, he would have to make sure that all of his kids were safe.

One by one he was able to find the kids that had weaseled their way into his heart. And upon being called to him, each genin ran up to him and refused to leave his side.

By the time he had reached the Hokage, all of his kids were with him, along with all of the not-teenagers, Haku, and the three Suna kids.

The aged man looked even older than Genma thought might be possible as he sat on his chair, all the while three different medical ninja worked on a body on the floor. Behind him stood two men Genma had never thought he'd ever see.

"Uh... Are those really the First and Second Hokage?" Neji questioned dumbfoundedly, for once too tired to be respectful and keep track of his manners.

"That we are." The man with the long black hair offered a radiant smile as he turned to look at the children, then offered them a small wave. "Hi."

Quite frankly, Genma was much too tired to even try and question why these two men were living and breathing again. All he wanted to do was find Tenten to make sure she was still alive, then return to his home.

When the girl jumped up, Genma found out that she had been leaning over the very body the medical staff had been working on. And she quickly ran up to him to hug him tightly, face burrowing into his chest.

"Tenten? What's wrong?" He questioned as he wrapped his own arms around the girl, immediately worried.

He could see that the Hokage was alive, even though he seemed worse for wear. And Tenten was in his arms and mostly unscathed, except for a few cuts and bruises on her arms and rips in her legs. The only person he did not see was Zabuza.

"Zabuza... He..." Tenten tried, only to devolve into sobs, arms tightening around Genma's body.

Immediately the man's eyes went to the body on the floor. And his heart plummeted.

"He stopped an attack that was meant for me." The Hokage offered solemnly, keeping his gaze down on the floor even as he spoke. "The sword used to attack was laced with a poison beyond our understanding. We have no hope of saving him."

Pulling the kids away from Zabuza had been nearly impossible. But with the help of the older kids, Genma was able to lead them away from the Mist Nin as he was prepared to be transported to the hospital. And as quickly as he could, the man herded them over to his apartment to be able to make them food to fill their stomachs and distract them from all of the pain they had just witnessed and experienced.

His apartment, though, was no more. Just like a dozen other buildings near the area where it had once stood.

All of his personal belongings... All of the pictures he had collected of the children over the years... All of the small mementos he had managed to keep from his family... They were all gone.

Genma was hit so hard by this sudden realization that he didn't even find tears forming in his eyes. He was so saddened by the sudden realization of no longer owning anything that he didn't even feel like crying.

"Farmer man..." He heard Naruto whisper from his side, then felt the boy grab his hand, "What are we going to do?"

At the gesture of comfort that was the kid grabbing his hand, Genma suddenly remembered that he had not been the only one to lost his home. Naruto and Sasuke had too. Just like the rest of the kids had lost a second home.

Looking down at him with a sad smile, Genma raised his left hand to ruffle his blonde hair. "We're going to rebuild, of course."

The words felt hollow as they fell from his lips. But at the hope that he could see shining in all of the faces that surrounded him, both young and grown, he knew that the words had been the correct ones.

..~..~..

I'm thinking that three more chapters will be published, then I'll take a small hiatus from writing anything Genma related. I've got a few stories to finish up before embarking on another multi-chaptered monstrosity.

I hope you all liked it! Please review and tell me what y'all think!