Chapter 20: The Ways in Which They Were Able to Rebuild: It was not easy to rebuild. Nor was it easy to go on about their lives after tragedy had struck just about all of them. But Genma and his kids were able to move forward. Just like the rest of their village.

..~..~..

"I am not completely sure just how long the jutsu will last."

"So that means I get to control you guys until your bodies fade away or whatever?"

Genma had no idea just how it was possible for two men as legendary as the First and Second Hokage to stand before him like they were doing right now. And he certainly did not understand just how it was possible for Tenten to talk to them with such ease. But he couldn't say he was surprised to see that one of his kids had somehow managed to befriend dead people. In the long list of impossibilities that they had done, it certainly wasn't the oddest.

The white haired man sent a sharp glare in Tenten's direction before he looked back at his old student, "This means that until I have more data on the jutsu and sacrifices Orochimaru used, I will not know with complete certainty just what to expect when it comes to our bodies."

The Third Hokage nodded solemnly at his teacher's words, then looked down at the only genin within the office.

Tenten, as was expected of someone as confident as herself, stood with her back straight and her shoulders squared as she watched the males around her interact. She stood directly beside Genma, even though she was more interested in the dark haired ex-Hokage than the white haired one.

"The seal used by Orochimaru was broken, yes." The Second Hokage muttered after a few seconds of silence, turning his red eyes onto Tenten. "But in the midst of her destroying it, this young kunoichi somehow managed to replace it with one of her own creation. Which is a seal I am guessing even she does not know how she managed to create. Much less utilize."

At being addressed, the young girl smiled toothily, "No idea whatsoever, sir!"

The man frowned at her answer, but quickly turned to his old student. "Until we test the limits of our bodies, we will not be able to learn anything."

"Of that I am aware, Tobirama Sensei." The Third Hokage answered with a heavy sigh, then quickly shook his head. "Lord Hashirama, have you managed to come up with any kind of cure for Zabuza?"

Genma was able to see Tenten lean forward expectantly at hearing the man's name, and he couldn't help but feel somewhat bad for the girl. Just like the rest of his kids, she was worried for Zabuza's well being. And, really, he could not blame her for wanting to find out as much as she could about his condition. She had been there during the fighting and had seen the effects of him sacrificing his body to keep their Hokage safe.

"The poison is much too complex for me to truly understand." The man answered with an annoyed huff, "Whatever it's made of, it's nasty and would have killed someone weaker than him the second it entered its bloodstream. But that man is strong and seems unwilling to give up just yet. At the moment, we have managed to keep the poison from reaching his heart... But the second it does, there will be no stopping it..."

Tenten visibly deflated upon hearing this and Genma patted her shoulder to try and offer her some comfort. The First Hokage looked down at her sympathetically, even though the Second merely shook his head in annoyance.

"There is no one in Konoha that is able to look at him? I know my brother would be able to synthesize an antidote if given just a month, but-"

"We don't have a month. We have a week, at the most." Hashirama interrupted, then looked over at the current Hokage once more. "You wouldn't happen to have any medical gods lying around, would you?"

The unamused frown the Third Hokage sent the other man was enough of an answer for all of them. And that left a bitter taste in Genma's mouth, for he knew that there was one person that could have helped them... If only she had not been part of the Sannin.

Those three 'greats' were some of the greatest disappointments Konoha had ever produced.

"Until now," the Third Hokage began, completely changing the topic of the conversation, "There have not been any true accommodations for you two. The Hokage estate is currently being used as a secondary hospital for the truly worrisome cases, much like Zabuza. And there was such mass destruction among our village that there are no buildings to use as temporary quarters. Many of our shinobi are homeless."

Genma understood this reality much better than many others might. His home had been levelled by Orochimaru's invasion and he was currently living off the kindness of others. Much like Iwashi, Hayate, and Kotetsu and Izumo had been forced to do.

"Some of our Clans have managed to step up and open their doors to help us relieve the flood of homeless ninja. Just like many of the civilian populace has been kind enough to give aid wherever they can. If not from offering a home, then from building one."

Right now, Genma, Naruto, Haku, and Sasuke all found themselves taking refuge in the Hyuga Clan's compound. And along with them, so were the rest of the not-children that didn't have any civilian family to rely on. As orphans of the War, Iwashi and Hayate had no one to help them. And even though they hadn't lost their parents during the war, neither Kotetsu or Izumo had family members that were willing to help them.

"Genma," The older male called upon him, making the senbon enthusiast look at him with a quirked eyebrow. "I have been able to talk with Lord Hiashi and he has managed to convince the rest of his Clan to allow you, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of your charges to stay with within the Compound as guests until you have found more permanent accommodations."

It was good to hear that Hiashi had agreed to keeping them for a while longer. Because even though Genma knew the man didn't mind having them around, some of the elders were still rather hurt over everything the kids had done to them over the years.

"That's good to hear and all, sir... But I don't understand why you're telling me this while..." Genma drifted off as he looked over at Hashirama and Tobirama, then he glared. "No. No, no, and no. I am not-"

Both older males turned to look at him curiously, while Tenten looked up at him with an amused glint in her eyes. She had, apparently, already caught wind of what it was that Genma was protesting against.

"Genma, please. You are one of my most trusted shinobi-"

"I am not some kind of daycare instructor, Lord Hokage!"

Tenten snickered at this, then butted in, "Sorry to tell you this, Farmer man, but you've been one from the second you allowed Neji into your apartment."

Genma turned his glare onto her for a second, grew annoyed in the way she only seemed to get even more amused, then turned back to his boss. "I understand your reasoning, sir, but you cannot possibly expect me to-"

"That is exactly what I expect of you." The man interrupted, then offered a smile, "Just look at it this way, now you'll have two extra pair of hands to keep the children from running amok."

The Second Hokage was not amused. With anything.

Not only had he been pulled away from eternal rest by a traitor that had used him and his brother to fight his old student, but now he was forced to live with a man and children he did not know within the compound of the Hyuga Clan.

If not for the fact that Hiruzen had done this to keep a close eye on him and Hashirama, Tobirama would not be bothered. But the man had specifically thrust them towards this Genma character so that the male could watch over them as if they were dangerous to the rest of Konoha. And they were not dangerous.

The young kunoichi that had been locked in with people far stronger than her during the confrontation with Orochimaru, even with her inexperience with seals, had somehow managed to free them completely from the traitor's control.

When he had first created this forsaken technique, Tobirama had been disgusted with the total control he had over the dead. But with a few tweaks, he had managed to create a seal that would not completely suppress a person's own wishes.

How Orochimaru or Tenten had managed to get their hands on his notes was beyond him. But Tobirama was just grateful that, even though the traitor had managed to find the technique, he had been dumb enough to keep it as Tobirama had left it. For if he had changed it in any way, Tenten's plan would have only ended in complete disaster.

As a stray noodle flew over his head to land on Hashirama's chest, Tobirama could not help but cross his arms over his chest and allow his hate towards Orochimaru grow.

"Hey! You're cheating!" Tenten shouted from Hashirama's left, throwing her chair back as she stood up and slammed her hands against the dining table.

"Yeah! You're not supposed to be noodles! They're hard to hit back!" The man- much to Tobirama's utter embarrassment- followed after Tenten, mimicking her almost exactly.

Suppressing the long suffered sigh that he wanted to release, Tobirama closed his eyes and tensed his arms to stop himself from lashing out at his older brother.

Yes, it was good that Hashirama was able to relax and have fun, even with how dark and tense the mood around Konoha was currently. And, yes, it was also good to be able to see the once sullen faces of the children they had met the past day now smiling and cheering. But they were currently throwing food away as if mere toys or trash. And some of that food was getting a bit too close to him for comfort.

"I leave the room for one minute and you turn it upside down? What in the world, guys? How old are you?"

Fortunately for the well being of the genin around him, the senbon lover walked back into the dining room before Tobirama began to think of ways to restrain them.

For a second, all of the people that had taken part in the 'food wars' froze as they looked at Genma. But then Hashirama cleared his throat, "I was dead for a couple of years. Should I add those to my real age?"

Hearing this unbelievably stupid reply from Hashirama was Tobirama's breaking point. With a snarl, the man kicked his left leg out and slammed it into the back of Hashirama's right knee, causing him to scream out in pain and fall onto the ground. Then, when Tobirama's eyes snapped open, he sent a glare to all of the children surrounding him.

"Finish your meal."

All of the kids looked at him with wide, disbelieving eyes as Hashirama groaned in pain on the floor. But then Tobirama picked up his chopsticks and began to eat once more, ignoring the looks sent his way.

To his left, he knew that Tenten helped Hashirama get up. But the man, instead of trying to call his brother out on his harsh violence, merely smartened up and remained quiet.

The peaceful silence lasted for the rest of their dinner.

Whenever Genma went to visit Zabuza at the Hokage Compound, the man was reminded of how truly fickle life was.

Zabuza was a strong man that could fight off the best of them. He was an imposing behemoth that stood above a great deal of Konoha shinobi and his surly attitude didn't help make him seem any nicer.

But he looked so small on the giant bed prepared to keep him company during his stay in the Hokage's estate. The man was losing muscle mass and seemed outright dwarfed by the bed he had been lain on. Which was a feat in itself, seeing how truly large Zabuza was... Had been...

"Back from visiting Zabuza so soon?"

The question that came from Hiashi was innocent and purely curious. Logically speaking, he had reason to ask. First of all, he too was worried over the man's condition. But Genma's visits to the man had become shorter and shorter, leaving him to return to the Hyuga Compound much sooner that he would have when he first went to visit.

"Yeah... His condition is still the same, Lord Hiashi." Genma struggled to keep his voice from showing too much emotion, all the while he kept his eyes on the ground before him, rather than on the man that had walked up to him as he crossed through the Compound's gates. "Nothing has changed. And there's still a rather high risk of his death."

Using the words 'high risk' was not meant to ease how Hiashi took the news. Genma used them to keep himself from speaking out loud what he still hoped wouldn't become reality... Even though he knew it was going to be what happened.

Zabuza was going to die.

"That is troubling." Hiashi murmured softly as he raised his hand to grab his chin, then closed his eyes in thought.

Genma allowed the man to keep his silence and continued to look down at the floor. He tried his best to not seem too affected by the news, he was never meant to have forged any kind of relationship with the missing-nin from the Mist.

But Zabuza, just like Haku, just like the Sand kids, just like all of his kids... He'd found a way to make himself important.

Genma had not lost someone important to him ever since the Fourth Hokage had died... And he wasn't quite sure if he was ready to deal with this kind of loss ever again...

"Would you like to go and get some tea?"

In all honesty... All Genma wanted to do was hide in a bar and get something strong to drink.

But he couldn't fall into his old habits. He had kids to take care of. He was a role model now. And no matter how sad he wanted to be, Zabuza had still not died. And until he was totally gone, the kids would refuse to allow him to be sullen.

"Sure."

Now that they were all, essentially, living together, Kotetsu found himself accidentally wandering into private conversations all of the time. Often times, even though they were private, they were mostly innocent and inconsequential. But there was one time in which he knew he should have said something to stop Naruto from his crazed idea. But he wasn't allowed to because of one simple plea from Shino: "Don't."

Naruto, Shino, and Shikamaru had all been discussing about Zabuza's current state and how hopeless they were, even with the help of someone as intelligent as the First Hokage. Naruto was the one most affected by the man's injuries, but both Shino and Shikamaru, even though they didn't like the man, were still rather sympathetic towards his emotions.

Kotetsu had been meaning to walk around them as he didn't listen in on them to get to Iwashi and Izumo from Hanabi's room. The Hokage wanted all able bodied shinobi out on missions to try and save face with the other Hidden Villages, so it was up to him to find those two so they were all able to head out together.

But as he'd made his way through the outer edges of the Hyuuga garden, he had heard something that had immediately made him forget about his mission and jump towards the genin.

"I'm going with the Pervy Sage. We need to find that Tsunade lady."

Pervy Sage was Naruto's loving nickname for the Sannin, Jiraiya. And there was no question as to who Tsunade was. And seeing how this wasn't the first time Kotetsu had found Naruto speaking about these two, there was no doubt in the man's mind as to just what the blonde was talking about.

"Naruto, you're not going anywhere with that man."

Genma was a very understanding man that chose to roll with the punches life threw at him rather than try to fight. He barely ever fought someone unless it was absolutely necessary, and he chose to use sympathy and words rather than violence and threats when it came to conflicts with those he loved. Outside of the village, the man was a beast. But inside, he was as caring as a (excuse the overuse of the term) mother hen.

So for a man as kind and chill as him to grow impassioned and angry at someone, it meant that he had reason to hate them. And if he had a reason to hate them, then so did Kotetsu. If he hated the Sannin and didn't want him anywhere near Naruto, then Kotetsu wasn't about to keep him in the dark as to the blonde's insistence on training with him.

Just like Kotetsu, Genma knew about all of the little training sessions Naruto had with Jiraiya. But, in a true Genma fashion, the man acted as if he were oblivious just to keep Naruto happy. Kotetsu guessed that as long as Jiraiya stayed away from his home, then the man wouldn't try anything. And as long as he didn't try anything too risky with the boy, then Genma would allow him to continue teaching the boy.

But right now Kotetsu knew that Genma would throw a fit and try to murder Jiraiya.

"Ko? What are you doing here?"

"If you three didn't sense me, you need to get better at watching your surroundings." The man replied bluntly, glaring at the surprised blonde. "Kid, you're not going anywhere with Jiraiya."

"What?!" Naruto stood up with a shout, then began to shake his fist at Kotetsu, "You have no idea what you're talking about, Ko! Zabuza needs Tsunade because she's the only one in the world that can help him!"

"Kid, you don't know-"

"Don't."

Kotetsu shut up immediately when Shino said that. And he turned to look at his little Aburame brother with wide eyes, surprised that he was actually considering going behind Genma's back on something they all knew he felt strongly about.

"We need to find this woman. And Naruto is to go with Jiraiya to find her." Now Neji stepped forward to glare at him, voice deathly serious.

It was wrong for kids as young as them to sound like this. To fear over the death of someone they had obviously grown close to. But this was just a part of their lives. People were born. People lived. People died. It was just the way their world worked.

"Neji-"

Shino grabbing onto his arm stopped him immediately. Kotetsu turned to look into the Aburame's eyes, knowing him so well that he could go past the sunglasses without any kind of difficulty... And all he found was that little kid that had lost his big brother because of unfair decisions made by people that would never give a damn about any of them.

"Don't."

Kotetsu felt all kind of fight that he held within disappear when he was forced to face those eyes. His little brother wanted Naruto to go ahead and leave with Jiraiya. Even though Genma would be pissed, he, along with Neji, was willing to take the blame for having helped Naruto with his silly idea.

Well... Neji and Shino wouldn't be alone when they were blamed. Hell, he'd take on all the blame himself.

He'd do anything to keep Shino from looking at that like him every again.

Hashirama did not mind being stuck in the Hyuga Compound like his brother had at first. Being surrounded by children was a novelty, even though the children were constantly on rotation.

Some nights he was able to spend time with the kunoichi that had freed him and his brother from Orochimaru's and he spent that time training with her and helping her refine her long ranged attacks so she was better at protecting herself from nullifiers. She was fun to be around because she did not seem to care about his position or strength and just had fun with him while she learned.

Her hope and love for living kind of reminded the man of his granddaughter, Tsunade, a little bit.

Aside from that, Hashirama kept himself entertained by helping the rest of the genin improve in their individual abilities. And when none of the kids were around to keep him busy, the man would visit Hiruzen and Zabuza at the Hokage Estate. Partly it was to hear what new work the elderly man had to assign to him so he could help in the rebuilding of the village. But partly it was to visit the man that had gotten wounded saving someone that he'd had no true reason to save.

A ninja from the Mist had been willing to lay his life down for the Hokage of the Hidden Leaf... If Hashirama had heard someone tell him this while he had been alive the first time around, he would have asked what the punchline was. But he'd seen the man's sacrifice with his own life. And it irked him to no end that the poison was so complex that it would have taken him much too long to find a cure for it.

By the time he had found the antidote, Zabuza would have been dead.

And because they had no idea just how long he and Tobirama would be alive for, the Third Hokage had decided to give them jobs that weren't too pressing or life threatening. Just in case they vanished in the middle of the work so they wouldn't leave anything completely necessary only halfway done.

When he had first heard Jiraiya's plan to find Tsunade and heal Zabuza, he'd been hurt to hear that his own flesh and blood had left their village. But he understood the pain of a broken heart and did not hold it against her. He was actually pretty excited to see the woman his granddaughter had grown into. She must have been strong and intelligent to be one of the greatest of her generation.

Hiruzen had told him and Tobirama that it would be for the best if Genma did not hear about Jiraiya's little trip. He would not have cared at all if Jiraiya had gone on his own. But seeing how he was taking two of the man's kids, he was not going to be happy.

Hashirama had not expected Genma to react so violently.

But he had also learned his lesson: Whenever it came to Genma, he should never mention the man called Jiraiya.

... Even though he still didn't know just why the man hated the Sannin so much...

The kids were out on many more missions than before because of all the people Konoha had lost during the invasion. Actually, all of them were busy with missions because of the invasion.

Even Hiashi had been called out on a couple of missions, which was pretty much unheard of when it came to the head of a clan as serious and loyal to itself as the Hyuga.

Genma grew used to arriving to the Hyuga Compound and find that all of the kids were gone on out of the village missions to keep Konoha image strong, all the while the older kids worked all around the village to keep it safe. Sometimes this was inverted at the genin were inside of the village, completing easier duties, while the older and wiser shinobi were off. It was a kind of interchanging system to keep the ninja from burning out, even with the impressive amount of work they all did.

Even though they had been allowed a few days to rest after the invasion, the Third Hokage could not play favorites and give any of them more time to spend together than he was giving the rest of his people.

Even the First and Second Hokage were being put to work in the fields that they worked best in.

One night he returned to the Compound, tired and wishing for some food, Genma noticed was a bit off.

Raidou accompanied him and Iwashi back to their temporary home after their joint mission. They had been sent on a wild goose chase of a mission in which they were forced to deal with one of the most infuriating men Genma had ever met in his life.

The sorry jerk had the gall to insist that his son had gone missing, even after all the evidence pointed towards him having murdered the poor kid. And to keep them from finding out the truth, the sly bastard had sent them on all kinds of leads. His endgame for killing his kid was to end up with his wife's whole estate (the money, the jewels., the land, everything). But Genma, Raidou, and Iwashi did not take being used as glorified idiots lightly. Especially because this mission had been so needlessly stupid that if not for the money they made, Genma would have jabbed a senbon into that monster's throat the second he had understood the whole case.

Shinobi were not replacements for a town's police enforcements. But it seemed that, as a power move, the man had contracted ninja from Konoha. For those shinobi were the ones that cost the most and were the best around.

Genma hated bastards like him. They only cared about money and power. And they didn't give a single shit about the people they might hurt. He'd even killed his own son!

That case had wound up with a small confrontation between the jerk and his body guards. They had been easy enough to take care of, but the moment Genma had gotten his hands on the bastard to cuff him... All he had managed to see had been the guy's kid. A kid that had been no older than Hana, so sick he could barely leave his room, and... He'd looked a lot like Itachi.

For a second, Genma had contemplated murdering the repulsive man. And his fingers had twitched... It would have been so easy.

How could someone hurt a kid like that?

How could someone hurt Itachi?

How... How could Itachi hurt them? His family and friends? Hadn't they been good enough?

Tears sprung up into his eyes as he glared into the choking man's eyes. And his teeth clamped down so harshly on his senbon that he felt one of them give and crack beneath the pressure.

But all he could see was Itachi's sullen face as someone forced him into murdering his whole clan... Because there was no way a kid as good as that could have turned on his whole home without someone forcing his hand.

Itachi's face was suddenly replaced with the choking man's own as his sputters and groans became louder and his face much too red to be healthy. It was only when the he became a shade of purple, though, that Genma finally allowed his hands to leave his throat.

When he'd gotten up from the floor, he'd turned around and found himself in the man's overly lavish mansion. He had not been in Konoha when Itachi had killed his clan... That had happened a long time ago.

Iwashi and Raidou hadn't said a single thing as they'd allowed him to pass them by. They'd only busied themselves tying up the man's guards and then, once he had finished coughing and cursing Konoha's brutes, the murderer himself.

After that, all Genma had truly wanted was to return to his makeshift home in the Hyuga Compound and just spend a little bit of time with the kids that always seemed to know what to do even though they didn't truly understand what was happening.

The reason why he knew that things were different was because, as soon as he passed through the Compound's gates, he was met with Sasuke, Sakura, and Team 8 greeting him. Kiba and Haku, though, weren't anywhere to be found.

Just like they had done when they were kids, they had asked all about his mission and wanted to know all the details. Genma, though, had (for the first time in a very long time) not known what he should have said. What he could have said.

Luckily for him, they had all had the excuse of this being a completely classified mission that none but a select few could know about. Raidou had told this to the kids before Genma had even had to falter over a bad excuse. And then Iwashi had begun to tell them about a different mission he had gone on with Hayate just to be able to distract them. And all for Genma's sake.

He would have to find a way to thank them later on.

The kids avoided speaking about Naruto or Haku, which was odd, seeing how even Raidou had asked them about those two. And then, as if that hadn't been weird enough, Kotetsu and Izumo actively avoided him. And he knew for a fact that those two were inside of the village because it was their turn to help the Hokage out with paperwork.

~/~

Genma had not seen hide or hair of Naruto or Haku for the past three days. And it was completely justified that he worried, seeing how Naruto never allowed more than just a few hours to pass before he forced himself onto Genma once he'd heard the man had arrived.

But when he'd found out exactly why it was that these two were missing, he was more hurt by the fact that Naruto had felt a need to hide the truth from him than actually angered.

He'd still been pissed off, though. And it had taken both the First and Second Hokage to stop him from leaving the village with a kidnapped Kiba under his arm to be able to track down the conniving little shits.

He could accept Jiraiya teaching Naruto behind his back because of the simple fact that, yes, the man knew a few things that might help the son of the Fourth Hokage in the future. He could accept the man acting as if everything was fine with the boy even after he had abandoned him all those years ago.

But he could not accept this pretentious shithead coming to his home and taking his son away from him without even consulting him!

"Shiranui, you must calm down." The Second Hokage glared up at him even as the senbon enthusiast struggled to free himself from the tree roots that had wrapped around him after Tobirama had managed to box him into a corner in front of the Village Gates. "You cannot go-"

"He sure can!" Kiba shouted from beside the First Hokage, smiling broadly even as the Second Hokage turned his deadly glare onto him.

The First Hokage was standing a bit away from Genma after the man had shown his proficiency with shooting senbon from his mouth and managed to scratch his cheek. To say the First Hokage was scared of him after having hurt him would be a stretch. But from the way he seemed somewhat reluctant to hold onto Kiba, one could see he was just a tiny bit worried of Genma's wrath.

"Pup, hush." Hashirama scolded lightly, then frowned up at the tightly restrained younger man. "If I had known you'd react so violently to telling the truth, I would have kept quiet about Naruto and Haku going to find my granddaughter."

Genma sneered at him as he forced his body to try and escape from the roots that held him in place, only to find that they wouldn't budge. They weren't tightening up, but it was just enough pressure on him to stop him from any kind of escape attempt.

"That bastard needs to learn his place." The man hissed, only to receive an eye roll from the white haired male, all the while the dark haired brother kept a displeased frown on his lips. "He can't just take Naruto without telling me!"

"He can when the acting Hokage has given them permission to leave." The Second Hokage hissed, then crossed his arms over his chest. "Zabuza is going to die and the only person that has enough knowledge to save him is the one Naruto, Haku, and Jiraiya went to find. Do you not want Zabuza to live?"

The question hit Genma right where it hurt and made all anger leave his body. Only to be replaced with disappointment and pain.

He did want Zabuza to live... But...

"I can't let that man get away with this." He whispered, "Everything he has done for Naruto... It's just a ruse of some kind... He doesn't give a single shit about him."

His eyes stayed on the collection of roots that held him in place, avoiding any of looks those around him may be giving him.

"You can't be right about-"

"I'm right!" Genma growled as he interrupted the First Hokage, not giving a damn about the respect he had to show someone strong enough to be called a God of Shinobi. "You weren't here to see what he did." Then he spit in disgust, as if speaking if Jiraiya brought a foul taste to his mouth. Which it did. "Or what he didn't do, to be more precise."

The long haired man sighed all the while his younger brother remained quiet. And Genma just kept quiet, more than sure that if he said anything, he'd do something really stupid.

Then he heard Kiba mutter, "Listen guys... Farmer man's a good judge of character. If he hates this guy, there's a reason for it. And I say we let him hunt this guy down!"

"When I first met the Inuzuka Clan, I never thought they would end up with spawn like you." Tobirama told the boy in a disinterested sigh, then turned to look back at Genma. "What are you going to do once you and this genin have managed to track down those three? Would you really be willing to attack a man Naruto holds on such a high pedestal? Would you truly be willing to ruin the image that boy has of you simply because of petty revenge."

It wasn't petty revenge. Jiraiya had trampled all over Genma's tolerance and shattered any kind of restrictions the man had placed. He had not given a single damn about Naruto's feelings back when he had left the village; who the hell did he think he was to think he should still even be allowed in that kid's life?

He had to admit, although highly unwillingly, that the Second Hokage had a point. If he went through with his ill planned thoughts, he'd just make himself into the bad guy in Naruto's eyes. And he didn't want that.

Tsunade was the only one that could heal Zabuza in the time they had. Jiraiya had taken Naruto and Haku with him to find her. And the reason he had taken them was to use guilt to persuade the woman. If he had held other intentions, Genma did not care. This was the only one he needed to think he had held.

It pained Genma to promise to the Hokage that he wouldn't go off on his own with a kidnapped Inuzuka under his arms. But then Hashirama had smiled and allowed the roots to release his body, and that smile reminded Genma so much of Naruto's that he had stumbled for a second before he had regained his composure.

Kiba had groaned in annoyance at not being allowed to test out his summoning jutsu against Jiraiya, which had immediately caught Tobirama's attention. And after that, Genma and Hashirama wound up trailing behind the Inuzuka and the white haired man as they spoke about the summons and their oddities.

~/~

(Later on, Genma would hear a rumor about Tobirama entering the current Hokage's office to scold him about having allowed genin like the ones Tenten and Kiba were to steal the Scroll of Seals he had worked so actively to hide from the rest of the world.)

(He was not sure if the rumor had any substance to it, but Tobirama would then force Tenten and Kiba to spend time with him as he forced information about the jutsu into them.)

(The only reason he made them learn was because he could not- which was unfortunate to him- take the information of the jutsu away from them. For doing it just physically would change nothing. And he was forbidden from playing around with other's minds. Or making other, more capable shinobi, mess minds for him.)

"These two... They were idiots!"

"For once, I completely agree with you, Blondie. Have you ever seen Farmer man look so sad before?"

Hinata remained quiet as she listened to Kiba and Ino vent about Naruto and Haku's departure with the Sannin Jiraiya. Even though she felt like it had been for the best, seeing how this was the only way they might be able to find a way to heal Zabuza, she agreed that her friends had not made the best decisions.

Naruto was like Genma's son at this point. Just like Sasuke. For him to leave so suddenly without saying anything... It must have hurt Genma a lot.

As she listened to her friends speak, the young Hyuga shuffled her feet softly.

Genma had been under a lot of pressure recently. Just like the rest of them, really. But it seemed to be getting to him more than the other shinobi she knew. Even her father had asked her to keep a closer eye on him, just in case he needed some tea to calm down.

This was not a man with too many belongings. His apartment was decorated with barely anything of his own, for it had always displayed their artworks with full pride. And of the few things he owned, Hinata knew most had held personal value to him.

He'd lost everything with the invasion. Not only a place to sleep, but a home. One filled with all kinds of memories of their little family.

"I..." Hinata murmured softly, immediately catching Kiba's attention.

"What's up, Hinata?"

"I... I'm going to Genma-san's apartment."

Both of her friends were left perplexed once they heard this. But it seemed that Ino understood the determination within Hinata's eyes, for she soon smiled and nodded.

"If you're thinking what I'm thinking, then we'll be able to fix up this mess those two blockheads created!"

Hinata beamed upon hearing such confident words about her still unvoiced plan.

It was nice to hear that she would be helping out Farmer man.

When Naruto, Haku, and Jiraiya returned, they did so with a blonde woman that managed to save Zabuza.

Genma was beyond grateful to the woman for having cured the Mist nin. And to Naruto and Haku for having brought her. But he refused to even think of Jiraiya, much less think anything good about him.

He didn't tell either kid anything when they entered the Hyuga Compound. He didn't have to.

Naruto's whole body read 'GUILTY' as he slowly walked in behind Haku, reminding the man a lot of when he had been younger and would get caught doing something stupid. Haku was a bit more composed in his guilt, but his eyes still avoided Genma's own as he walked up to the man.

They both knew what they had done. And they knew it had hurt him.

For a second, Genma felt like he should scold them in some manner over having left with Jiraiya of all people. It had hurt him to know that they were with a man he could not stand. Even more so because they had refused to tell him anything.

But they both believed in him for some reason. And until now, Jiraiya had been good for the village. And he'd taught Naruto a few things. They were far from hating him like Genma hated him.

So instead of scolding them for leaving with the man, Genma decided to scold them on leaving and making others keep their expedition a secret. It was a nice middle ground between letting the kids know he was disappointed in them and hurt them for insulting the Sannin they (unfortunately) looked up to.

"You two better be ready to make up for leaving me without saying anything." The man muttered through his senbon, then smirked, "I really missed your chatter when I got home from the mission. Just didn't feel the same without you two around."

He wouldn't tell them about he had wanted to see Naruto and Sasuke the most after his horrible mission. Or about how he despised Jiraiya with every fiber of his being for being such a repulsive man. Or about how hurt he had been to find out that they were so scared of him they would rather face punishment after getting in trouble rather than talking to him about their plans.

These two liked Jiraiya.

The bastard would just have to be another thing he'd end up having to tolerate for his kids' sakes.

Not even a day after Naruto and Haku had returned, Genma was sent on a mission with Tsume and Shikaku. It was a top secret one he was pretty sure he wasn't completely qualified for. And they were out looking for a criminal organization's tracks.

Their mission was to just find the tracks that the Hokage had been informed as to having been left behind by a sloppy snag and run of a woman with a bounty on her head.

Why they were looking for people in black cloaks that had red clouds on them, Genma wasn't completely sure. But the mission was mostly fruitless and they all returned to Konoha with nothing other than bags under their eyes to show for their efforts.

As he'd walked back to the Hyuga Compound, Genma could not help but wonder which kid would be there waiting for him. If any were waiting.

His thoughts had become a bit too dark for his own liking ever since the invasion. But he tried his best to keep his resolve high, he still had his kids to take care of. Even though he had nothing to show for years spent taking care of them.

Nothing to show for the family he had once had either...

Nothing to show for his past.

"Hey, Shiranui, do you mind if we accompany you over to the Hyuga place?" Tsume questioned as she roughly grabbed him by his shoulder, effectively pulling Genma away from his thoughts. "Hiashi wants to meet with us."

"Why would I mind?" The man questioned, then shrugged, "It's a free village."

After that the group of three had walked towards the Hyuga Compound in silence. And when they reached the gates, Genma began to offer them a wave, for they would be going to the main branch's house and he'd be heading to the housing that held the rest of the Hyuga.

But as he'd taken a step inside, his eyes caught on something that made him forget his goodbye.

There, standing in the Hyuga's main road, were all of the kids. Not just the genin, but the older ones as well. Along with Haku, Zabuza, and their parents. And all of Genma's friends. Even Ibiki. And somehow, for some reason beyond him, by a stroke of luck that made tears spring up in the man's eyes, they held the banner Inoichi and the first few kids had made for him all those years ago for when he returned from a particularly long mission.

'Welcome home, Farmer man'

Signed by all of the kids in their own unique way.

But paper had been added, which meant that there was more space to be filled up with even more signatures. And from what he could see, everybody that stood waiting for him in that moment had signed.

Even the ever grumpy Zabuza and ever stoic Ibiki.

Then Neji, Hinata, and Ino stepped forward with a large book in their hands. They walked up to him and offered it to him, then Neji opened it for him. Genma was much too frozen to open it himself.

The first thing he saw was a torn, weathered, and abused picture of these three back when it had only been just them, finger painting together. Neji and Hinata sat together and Ino sat on the other side of the table. The blonde's hand was reaching out to pain the young girl. And a much younger Genma sat on the chair beside the Yamanaka, his hand on the girl's wrist to stop her from getting there.

Genma knew this picture. It had been in his apartment when it had been destroyed.

"... How?"

This was the only word he managed to say without bursting out into tears. If he had tried to ask any more, he was sure he would have ended up with tears streaming down his eyes.

"We know you've been stressed lately. And really hurt." Ino looked up at him with a soft smile, "So we wanted to do something that would make you remember all the good old times."

"We all worked as much as we could to help find anything that may have belonged to you within the rubble of your apartment building." Neji continued, then offered a small smile towards his cousin. "It was all Lady Hinata's idea."

The girl blushed at being singled out, but smiled up at Genma in that same way that had always managed to make his heart melt.

"I just wanted you to be happy."

Dumbly, Genma raised his hand to pass the page. And on the next one he found even more pictures he had thought he would never be able to see again, all a little worse for wear... But still distinguishable and beautiful.

He didn't have any words. Just tears that threatened to spill.

So instead of saying anything, the man just wrapped his arms around the three in front of him to show them how truly grateful he was.

..~..~..

Genma deserves more love as a mother hen. He really does. Just look how great of a mother hen he is: The Hokage trusted him to keep watch over Tobirama and Hashirama.

Please remember to review! Show me the love y'all have for Genma!