"I'm home—Oh, right…" Minato's happy mood went down the drain as face drooped. "They're off on a mission without me."

He ruffled up his blond hair and huffed. Throwing himself on the couch and landing on his stomach, he shoved his head in a square shaped pillow and groaned.

It was so lonely without those two's usual chattering and laughs. And this was going to continue for, at most, two months?

By the time they're back, he'd be dead from severe depression.

He whipped his head up Imagining himself with hollow cheeks, panda eyes, white hair and skin, and sticks as limbs made goose-bumps all over Minato's skin.

Mouth opening and closing with eyes wide with terror, the man mentally screamed.

"Kushina… Naruto…"

"And that's what's making me like this!" Minato had been hanging onto Sakumo's back pathetically and seemed to take no notice of the little boy nearby and his eye twitching. "Save me, Sempai! I don't want to be a zombie!"

"What… even if you confront me about it…" A light bulb seemed to flicker in the silver haired man's head as he stared down at his son. "How about staying over at our place? You can stay as long as you want to until they come back."

"Wait, Father, that's—"

"Really? You're awesome! The best sempai in the world!"

Sakumo chuckled. Having Minato at their apartment would light the place up a bit, especially their meals. "Your family not being here sure changes you, huh? I thought you decided on being tough the moment you step out of your house."

"Yeah, but…"

Kakashi huffed, flopping down on the ground and plucking out some grass leaves. Who was this guy? Naruto's father? Did she come to Konoha with her family?

He groaned at the thought of the blond man staying at his home.

"Naruto…?" Kushina's voice shook, turning her head to Jiraiya. "Oi, this isn't funny. What kind of sick prank is this—"

"That seal is real," he said, face unrevealing. "Naruto is here because of a jutsu Kabuto, the future Orochimaru's apprentice, used on a dead Whirlpool kunoichi. He, using that technique, made her cast a seal that reduces the victim to a much younger age."

Naruto spoke this time. "I panicked, and used my dad's technique to teleport away. But the Hiraishin seal mixed with that kunoichi's seal, which is how I ended up in this time."

"That's not… That can't be!" Kushina's deep blue eyes had moistened, tears ready to fall. "I mean... does Minato know about this? Who else knows?"

"Us three," Naruto answered, "and the Hokage. Tou-chan doesn't know about me time traveling."
"So we—Minato and I—are really your parents?" Naruto grinned.

"Yeah!"

Her eyes widened when Kushina kneeled down and hugged her tightly. Jiraiya watched the scene silently, eyes softening as the woman's tears streamed endlessly down her cheeks. She whispered her daughter's name repeatedly, hiccupping and sniffling. "Did we—Did we put that on you?"

Naruto smiled a small smile, both eyes and nose stinging. She reached up her mother's back to clutch her clothes, vision becoming blurry with tears. Soundlessly, she listened as Kushina tried to form coherent words, apologizing for the jinchuuriki seal Naruto had. Naruto only hung tighter onto her mother, pain increasing as the woman went on with her apology.

"It's not Tou-chan or your fault, it's another man's. You both couldn't have done anything about it because it was too sudden." Speaking seemed to dissolve her will to refrain from crying, and she let out sobs. Her cry seemed to contain all the emotions she felt from meeting everyone again, the Sandaime, Jiraiya, her father and mother.

The utter joy she felt in seeing the old man alive, seated in his desk, and occasionally with the pipe in his mouth when he's on a break. The urge to cry at the pure nostalgia she felt from seeing Jiraiya, the pervert she grew to love like a father, peaking through a hole in the wooden wall fence at the women's bathhouse. The tightness she felt in her throat and wanting to cling onto them when she saw her parents at the door, welcoming her home.

Everything flowed out violently in her tears as Naruto dug her face into her mother's shoulder.

Jiraiya sighed, watching the mother and daughter sleep with a smile. He and Naruto had decided on telling Kushina about the seal tomorrow, seeing as the woman was most likely exhausted. Those two hadn't stopped crying, and when they finally did, they were too tired to take watch, so they decided on using chakra sensing seals and spread them around the camp.

He yawned; he had been awake until a few hours past midnight since the seal only works for roughly five to six hours.

Checking for chakra signatures around one last time, he stood up and stretched, walking to the seal on his bag. He picked it up, drew his chakra into it, and watched as the complicated characters climbed up from the tip of his finger to around his wrist. It should spark chakra when someone enters within the range of the other seals, waking him up from his sleep.

Letting out a sigh of relief when he finally lied down inside his sleeping bag, he gratefully thanked whoever created the art of seals, and succumbed to exhaustion.

Kakashi glared at his cooked salmon, and stabbed it with his chopsticks, imagining it was the blond man seated in front of him. His father was chuckling at Minato's story, and the little boy couldn't figure out what was so funny.

Kakashi continued picking at his food.

Sakumo notices this and frowns. "Don't do that." The boy stops, and he raises a brow. The man had never seen Kakashi play with his meal before. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Kakashi said curtly before gulping down his miso soup.

Minato smiled, "Thanks for being Naruto's friend, Kakashi-kun."
He blinked, looked down at his rice and nodded. So he really was Naruto's father.

"Are you going to do the Graduation Exams?" Minato asked pleasantly, and he was answered with, again, another nod. He grinned; the little boy was cute. "I see. What do you want your team sensei to be like?"

Kakashi thought on his question. "Smart, strong, calm."

Minato hummed thoughtfully, before staring at Sakumo, who sat next to the boy. "His description fits you."
"And you," Sakumo said, smiling, "mostly during missions though; the calm part."

"Hey! I'm calm when I want to be."

"It makes me wonder if you and Kushina swapped personalities." Sakumo chuckled, "I remember the days when she used to be brash and loud. Now she's all grown up."

"She's still brash."

Kakashi looked between the two, brows furrowed in confusion. "Are you and Father good friends?" He asked Minato, who simply grinned.

"He's my sempai from the academy, and my girlfriend, Kushina, she's…"

"She's one of your mother's best friends," Sakumo ended for him when the blond trailed off, smiling at the boy's wide eyes. "Don't you remember them, Kakashi? Minato and the red-haired lady?" Kakashi frowned, shaking his head before taking a bite of his cooked fish. He was about to eat another, but paused. "I remember. She used to draw with me," although he never quite understood what she drew―She wasn't very good at drawing.

Sakumo nodded, "She's Kushina. She hung around our house quite often to see your mother and play with you."

"I was only around a few times with your father, since most of the time we'd be on missions, so I guess you wouldn't remember me." Minato smiled before he thought for a moment. "You and Kushina got on rather well; I remember we all went to the swings at the playground with Mikoto. Do you remember her? She has black hair and eyes."

Kakashi nodded, recalling that he had played with her and Kushina-san when he was younger. He loved swinging then, but now he didn't see how he found it entertaining. He ate a piece of eggplant from his soup. "She used to hum a lot of songs with Mother." Kakashi ignored how his chest seemed to constrict with each tick of the clock, and stuffed more food down his throat. Using his chopsticks, he ate all the rice left in his bowl, leaving none left, before setting both down. "Gochisousama. May I leave the table?"
At Sakumo's nod, Kakashi picked up his dishes and brought them to the kitchen. When he got out, he went straight to his room.

Minato smiled sadly as he watched the boy's back, and faced Sakumo when the bedroom's door closed. "He really changed, huh?"
"Sorry about that," Sakumo sighed, "I really wish he would open up more."

The Namikaze shook his head, "It's been tough on him. Sorry about suddenly mentioning her when it's still—"

"No, it's alright." Sakumo took the last bite of his fish and rice. "It's about time we moved on. Not forget, but be able to talk about her happily. She would have wanted that."

Minato smiled, before picking up his plate and bowls. "It's about time we finished dinner, don't you think, Sempai?" He grinned, "Kakashi still has his sweet tooth doesn't he?"

Sakumo chuckled, stacking his dishes as well. "Yes, he does."

"Great! Strawberry shortcakes for dessert!"

They had changed into civilian clothes and entered a small village to find a place to rest. The three bought groceries and stayed at an inn, and Kushina made more rice balls for their trip. Once they were settled, the three sat down facing each other on their futons.

"Alright, it's about time we discussed why you're on this mission, Kushina." Jiraiya sighed, "Initially it was because the Hokage planned on letting you help each other tame the Nine Tails, to put it frankly. But now we have another reason why we need you right now."

Naruto caught Kushina's attention by rolling up her shirt, revealing her two seals. "On the second seal, there's a lock that stops me from destroying it. I need your chakra to get rid of it, since mine is already affected by the caster of the jutsu."

Kushina nodded, crawling over. "Where is it?"

Naruto pointed at it, and the woman immediately put the tip of her finger on the swirl mark. She drew her chakra to it, and felt the mark heat up to the point it almost burnt.

When Kushina brought her hand down, Naruto grinned; the swirl had disappeared.

Jiraiya chuckled as he got out a blank scroll, "Finally. Okay, it will take a few moments, so be patient, Naruto." He placed his right palm on her stomach and narrowed his eyes in concentration.

The seal slowly contracted, squeezing itself into an inky black circle before it was sucked onto Jiraiya's hand. He immediately slammed it onto the scroll while Kushina and Naruto watched in fascination as the seal spread back into its former self.

The blonde's eyes were full of awe; it had been a long time since she last did or saw someone do this.

"There, it's done," Jiraiya said with a sigh. Naruto blinked.

She took a moment to take in his words, "That was over and done with so easily that it's weird."

"Huh?" The man scoffed. "It was easy for you since you didn't have to do anything, but for me it took a little effort."

"You're getting a little rusty," she retorted, "It was a piece of cake when I move a seal."

Jiraiya scowled, "If you haven't realized, this is an ancient, complicated seal, not an ordinary one."

"Yeah, yeah…"

Kushina sighed at their antics, "Well, at least the problem's solved." She frowned, "If the seal was still on you what would have happened?"

Naruto blinked at her question, "Oh, I would have died within a year." Oblivious to her mother's horrified face, she flopped back onto her fluffy futon with a content sigh. "With that gone, I can think of plans on how to save the world in peace!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, and Kushina recovered from her thoughts of what if she hadn't been able to unlock the seal or if Jiraiya had failed. Naruto yawned loudly, eyes opening and closing droopily, "For some reason… I'm starting to feel really sleepy…"
The girl was knocked out within five seconds, and Jiraiya blinked, "She must have been a lot more stressed about it than I thought."

"She can hide a lot of how she feels, after all. Her masks are very strong." Kushina smiled regretfully, "Almost makes one wonder how she learnt to make them that way."

"Like she said before, it's not your fault or Minato's. Besides, we'll be able to stop that from happening again with her here." Jiraiya stood up, and walked until he stood next to her. He put his hand on top of her head comfortingly, "Don't think too much on it."

"Yeah, thanks, Jiraiya-sama." Kushina finally grinned.

"You're welcome."

"For a pervert, you're an awesome guy at making people feel better."

"Of course," Jiraiya bit his thumb, grinning mischievously. "I'm a super pervert after all!"

"You're unbelievable—Wait, why're you summoning a kuchiyose for?"

"Hm? Oh, just to send this away," He waved the closed scroll containing the seal, before tossing it to Fukasaku. "It's been a while, Fukasaku-sama!"

"Tell me, Jiraiya-chan, are you using the way you address me to make up for your actions?" The toad asked, catching the scroll that was the same size as him with ease. Jiraiya rubbed the back of his head with a goofy grin. "And yes, it's been a while. Oh, hello there, Kushina-chan. How are you?"
"Could be better, Fukasaku-sama," she replied sheepishly, before smirking, "You haven't changed a bit!"
"I guess I haven't," he chuckled, before leaping to the sleeping girl. He stared, before blinking, as if having come out from his daze. "This child… is she yours, Kushina-chan? She looks an awful lot like you and Minato-chan."
"Oh, it's a little complicated, but yes, she is! Don't tell Minato, though. He doesn't know the situation, and..." Kushina stopped herself from rambling with a light blush of embarassment. "Um, Naruto's her name."
Fukasaku furrowed his brows, "Naruto…chan?" Kushina cocked her head to the side, a worried but confused expression on her face.

"Is there something wrong?"

"No, there isn't, but…" have I met her before?

Jiraiya watched Fukasaku's reaction to the blonde girl carefully. The smile on his face was gone, now being replaced with seriousness as he slowly brought his hand down back to his side.

"Hey, hey, Kakashi, where's Naruto?" Mika asked, obviously bored as she crouched and leaned against said boy's desk. Shizuka got her book and tapped the girl's head with it, and Mika got the message. She huffed, and sat on Naruto's desk, chomping on her bread.

Kakashi, who was resting his cheek on his palm, looked at her in annoyance before going back to his book. "How would I know?" All he knew was that she was off on a mission. Just the mention of her name had him irritated.

"Gah! You're no fun."
Shizuka smacked the orange haired girl on the back of her head, rolling her eyes, before she glanced at the book in Kakashi's hand. "Ah, Legend of a Gutsy Ninja? Did Naruto show you that one?" She had a small smile on her face, "She was the one who showed me it. I found that book interesting."

Mika blinked, before wrinkling her nose. "You talk a lot only when the conversation is related to books!"

"What are you whining about this time, Mika?" Genma walked up to them, raising a brow.

"Genma!" Mika threw herself on him, wailing. "Shizuka loves books over Mika, isn't she too cruel?"

"I thought you've realized that a long time ago already."

"Genma!" She cried pitifully.

Kakashi scowled, and even with the mask they can tell by hearing it in his tone. "You're too loud." The orange haired civilian was much too similar to a certain blonde. "Go away."

A nerve threatened to pop as Mika glared, "And you're too much of a brat!" She flicked him on the forehead. Hard.

"You—!" Mika smirked, keeping him from attacking her by holding him down with her hand. Her two friends watched in amusement as Kakashi waved his hands violently at her in vain.

"Oi, Mika, that's enough." Said girl pouted at Genma, before she abruptly let go and stepped back just in time for Kakashi to fall onto his desk.

"But honestly," she started, scowling, "It's so boring without Naruto. I'm getting sick of the pranks Kippei thinks up."

Shizuka rolled her eyes, "Then why listen to him at all?"
"Eh… Because if I don't I'll be bored."

Kakashi frowned at her, before shaking his head. "What a waste of time?" Mika glared, before smirking.

"Oh really? I guess you haven't heard." He stared at her, and she continued. "Pranks are the best way to build up on your stealth."
"Isn't that just an excuse?"
Mika's brow twitched, and she averted her gaze. "N-No. I'm telling the truth! I mean, being able to prank a bunch of chuunins is an amazing achievement, isn't it? You can use the stuff you learnt from setting them up on high ranked missions!" Kakashi's ears seem to twitch at the last three words, and Mika knew she hit her mark. Devil horns seem to grow on her head, and she smirked evilly. "Think about it. You can slip right under the enemy's noses if you master the arts of stealth! To reach that point, you need to be awesome at doing pranks!"

Shizuka and Genma sighed simultaneously. Mika had recruited another ally.

It's a little sad that Naruto isn't around to see this, but oh well. The orange haired girl, clad in black, smirked as she turns to Kakashi, and then to Kippei. They nod, and she nods back. Time to put the plan in action!

She was eternally grateful to Naruto; the little blonde had taught her and Kippei (he had taken quite a while to get it down) how to walk (crawl) on walls. The ceiling in the academy building was high, and no one would suspect people to be hanging from it. The three were using one hand to keep them crouching upside down.

Mika's expression cried hysteria as she got one paint-filled balloon out, the two boys following suit.

The kids shifted in their positions and adjusted their grip on their weapons.

Mika looked down at the bunch of chuunin, obviously having a meeting. They were talking about the schedules. She rolled her eyes at one of them as they said that it would be a good idea to shorten snack breaks.

She grinned, and nodded to her partners.

They sucked in a breath, aimed, and…

…fired.

They kept going, taking out more balloons, fully enjoying the yelps and shouts of their teachers. The adults were too shocked to move for a moment, and the three took advantage of that.

Now the floor and the teachers were a fabulous mix of pink, blue, yellow, and red. Mika grinned.

Now for the final touch.

"Now, Kakashi, Kippei!"

The two boys complied, and the three watched in awe and satisfaction as a whole cloud of glitter sparkled its way down onto the utterly horrified group of chuunin.

"You brats are so dead!" One of them screeched when he finally came to his senses.

"Run, run, run!" Mika laughed, oblivious to Kakashi's terrified expression.

Why on earth did he agree to this?

"Oh, hold on!" The civilian girl abruptly stopped, whipping out a camera from her bag. "Needa take a picture!"

"It should be here," Jiraiya said as they reached close to Amegakure's borders.

Naruto and Kushina shared a glance, before the latter asked, "What should?"

"The place we decided on," He replied, "Oh, here he is."

The mother and daughter did a double take when they heard a deep voice behind them.

"This is the map of the village, Jiraiya-sama." The man said. He wore a black coat, and the shadows covered his face completely. His equally black-gloved hand appeared from underneath his coat, holding out a paper.

Jiraiya nodded, "Thank you."

The man bowed his head, before disappearing. Naruto closed her gaping mouth, blinking. "That's—He's your spy?"

"Yes, what did you think?"

"But… he looks like a freaking ghost."

Kushina smacked the back of her head. "Don't be rude. He might still be around!"

"Hey, even you're not denying it!"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes, "Come on, we should hurry."

Naruto tiptoed to see the map. "Oh hey, it has updates on what's going on!"

"What? Let me see," Kushina nodded, "That's very useful."

"It looks like the ambush hasn't started yet." The girl furrowed her brows and clenched her fists.

Jiraiya ruffled her hair, "Don't worry too much. We'll save them."
Naruto sighed, and took a deep breath. He was right. Worrying about it wouldn't get her anywhere. She followed them into the village after they written down their aliases, noticing the stares. She shivered, being reminded of unpleasant childhood memories. "Hanzo must be confident if he lets in three possible threats inside the village," she noted, eyeing the guards. They had only turned more rigid at their appearance, but hadn't moved from their spot.

"We're in civilian clothes, and look nothing more than a wandering family. They're probably just dismissing us as people looking for a home," Kushina explained. The three of them wore waterproof coats, wearing their hoods. They sealed their weapons inside small scrolls and hid them inside the hidden pockets of Naruto's jacket.

As expected, one shinobi finally walked up to them, glaring. "Open your bags, and take off your coats."
They did as told, and the man patted Naruto and Jiraiya's body. He left Kushina alone, seeing as she wasn't wearing anything bulky or loose. Naruto inwardly grinned when he finally stopped; her jacket was thick and puffy, so of course he wouldn't feel the scrolls. While the group wore their coats back on, the guard raised a brow.

"Why are you wearing such hot clothing? It isn't very cold."

Kushina answered for him, smiling pleasantly. "She has a slight fever."

He blinked, before stepped back. "My apologies. You may go. Leave as soon as you're done here." Nodding in thanks, the team rushed to an inn.

They pulled down their hoods once under shelter. The receptionist was an old woman, who smiled at the sight of the blonde little girl. "Good evening. A room for three?" At their nods, she stood up and took a key, a wooden block with the room number attached.

"Here you go."

"Thank you," Jiraiya said, and Naruto grinned up at her as she followed her mother to their room.

Naruto immediately took out a duvet out from the large, built-in cupboard and threw herself on it. "Naruto, make your bed first!" Kushina scolded lightly, hiding a smile.

"But I'm tired!"

Jiraiya stayed quiet for a moment, staring at the blonde with sharp eyes. As I thought, the seal took a big toll on her. He frowned, or maybe her exhaustion could just be because she hadn't gone on a trip outside for a long while. Naruto was in her five years old body, after all.

"No buts! Come on, I'll help you," the mother sighed, getting out the sheets and mattress.

While they sorted out the futons, Jiraiya studied his map of the village. He furrowed his brows, thinking. The organization's goal is world peace, so surely they wouldn't immediately start attacking them when they entered the area. Furthermore, they had a child, so that should lower the Akatsuki's guard.

The Akatsuki headquarters was far from where they were staying, Jiraiya noted with a frown. He then looked for the stations Hanzo or shinobi might be in and the frown morphed into a scowl. There was one, in the way to their path to reach the Akatsuki base. So we'll have to get around that? He sighed, running a hand through his white hair, feeling exasperated. They'll take roughly an hour just to get to the organization since they had to walk the speed of an average civilian in order to not arouse suspicion. "Just great," he hissed under his breath.

Naruto perked, "What was that, Ero-sennin?"

"I'll tell you later." Jiraiya said, sighing in resignation at the nickname. He'll have to explain to them later, because the mother and daughter were in a particularly good mood. He didn't want to spoil it.

Reading the notes at the side, he smirked. That spy was good.

Hanzo ruled the civilians using fear, sending ninja around the streets to guard. The Akatsuki are their hope, as news spread quickly that they were founded for the sake of peace. The people hope the Akatsuki will break Hanzo's way of governing and take power.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, being the founders, are the most high up in the Akatsuki. Yahiko is the official leader, but it seems that Nagato is the leader in the shadows.

Information on Hanzo is tightly kept away from the public. I had trouble, but I suspect he has some ties with Danzo-dono. I haven't found solid evidence, but a man who had been dressed as a Root Anbu had been secretly meeting Hanzo. Their next meeting will be in three days from when you will receive this paper.

Jiraiya frowned, three days? That would mean the ambush would definitely not happen in three days. Well, that's perfect for us. If their talk with the Akatsuki goes well, they could plan something against Hanzo's ambush.

He jumped when a small body dropped onto his back.

"What'cha thinking so hard for, Ero-sennin?" Naruto peered over his shoulder, noticing the crinkled paper. "Oh, the map?"

"Where's Kushina?" Jiraiya asked, looking around the room.

Naruto replied while she read the paper, "She went down to ask for another sheet—we're missing one."
"I see," Jiraiya sighed, and waved her away. "Shoo. I'll talk about this when she gets back. It's good news."
"Aw, come on! You can tell me now and I'll tell her for you! Come oooooon. Now? No? How about now?"

Naruto fluttered her eyes open, dazed by the warmth of the water around her. "Where am I?" Her voice echoed in the sewage-like room, before remembering.

Odd, she thought with a frown; why, even if it was only for a moment, couldn't she recall that this was her mindscape?

She turned around to face the giant fox behind the bars. She tipped her head in as a small greeting.

"Long time no see, Furball."

The demon stayed silent for a while, confusing her. He finally sat up, making himself look much larger than when he was on his stomach. "It would be a good idea to take that seal on your forehead off as soon as possible," he said, and strangely, there was no malice or a hint of a sneer in his voice.

Bemused, she furrowed her brows, "Why?" She had almost forgotten about it.

"You really haven't noticed?"

She grew impatient. "Noticed what?"

"That thing is slowly blurring up the memories you hold dear. You haven't realized this only because you thought it was because of the one that Sage removed!"

"What are you talking about?" Naruto rubbed her temples tiredly, "Ugh, I'm starting to get a headache."
"The Sandaime doesn't know enough about that memory seal. The faster you take it off, the safer your memories will be."

Naruto glared, "The old geezer knows what he's doing!"

"You humans are much too gullible," he sneered. "That thing only works for a while. A month at most. It would have been longer if you didn't have that seal the Whirlpool kunoichi casted on you."

She widened her eyes. "What happens after that?"

"It accelerates the speed of losing your memories by, well, you could say freezing your spiritual chakra—"

"That's what that thing was doing?!"

"—too much. That side effect grew stronger because of the… think of a name to call that damn Uzushio kunoichi seal!"

"Oh…" Naruto blinked, before knitting her brows together in thought. "Age Sucker?"

"To think that that's the best you can come up with…"

"Hey, the first name I thought of was Tits Remover, but I figured you would hate that so I chose Age Sucker instead!"

He scoffed, "Very well. The side effect grew stronger because of the Age Sucker, since it weakens your chakra."

"Wait, if that forehead seal is freezing my chakra, how can I still think?"
"It doesn't actually freeze it so it won't move anymore, you idiot, I meant that it slows your spiritual chakra down drastically, but not to the point you won't be able to think or remember anything!"

"Oh…"
"And the reason you probably didn't notice this was because you didn't pay attention in class and already knew what you had to remember. Besides, your memory span is that of a goldfish's."

"Goldfish? What the heck are you talking about?" Apparently, the insult was lost on her.

What an idiot, he thought with a scowl. "You should hurry! Your mental form would start to get closer to the age you are now reduced to outside."

"Well, that won't be good―"

"Of course not, idiot, because it would remind me everytime you come here that I'm stuck inside a pathetic, weak-looking brat."

"Alright, alright! All I have to do is take this darn thing off, right?"

"Yes, but I doubt—"

"Well why didn't you just say so?" Oblivious to his downright fuming look, she noticed that she was starting to wake up. "Oh, well, gotta go now, Furball!"
Kurama growled irritably, before taking a deep breath. "I doubt that that perverted sage or your mother would be able to do anything about it."

Naruto's jaw hung loose, almost snapping off before Kushina slammed it back up. The three were walking in the forest, veiling their chakra to pass off as ordinary civilians. Most likely there would be chakra sensors since they were very close by a station. "Whaddya mean you can't take it off?"
"I can't." He sighed, "That seal's ancient, as the Hokage might have told you, and it's forbidden. I can't have learned it, and neither could Kushina."

"Bu—But! Jijii wouldn't have used it unless it's absolutely—"

"Necessary, I know." Jiraiya raked a hand through his hair, now loose without the metal plate he usually had. "And it was. But he didn't know the side effects like Kyuubi did, and thought it would hold for much longer. There were no other seals that could hold as much as sixteen years of memories, and even if there were they wouldn't have lasted even as long as two weeks."

"No way…" Naruto casted her eyes down in disappointment and kicked a pebble.

"But this is serious," Jiraiya pondered, a worried frown on his face.

For a while, neither of the three spoke. Kushina didn't like the tense atmosphere, and decided to lighten their mood up a bit. "We're lucky that there's no rain, huh?" She said with a smile, "We can just say we're on a walk if we happen to cross paths with ninjas."
Naruto grinned, appreciating her light talk. "Yeah, they can't say no to that."

And then it was quiet again, the three of them having nothing to say. It stayed that way until they were a small distance away from the station. They eyed the small cement building warily, and only after they were meters away did they start grinning in triumph. The watchers must have thought that no one would be out here on a weekday.

"Don't lower your guard," Jiraiya warned them. "The Akatsuki might see us as a threat. We'll have to uncover our chakra so they'll know we're heading to them, and hopefully they will understand that we come in peace."

What are we—aliens? Naruto thought dryly, but nodded. She never planned on lowering her guard, not for a moment.

By the time they reached the tall, tower, slightly obscured in the dark clouds. If anything, the Akatsuki base looked haunted.

Naruto gulped at the thought of ghosts, praying to her fabulously and amazingly awesome gods that the inside would be different from the out. After all, you can't judge a book by its cover, right? Well, she hoped she was right.

She noticed that Kushina and Jiraiya had walked on without her, now ready to open the tall, metal door.

"H-Hey! Wait for me!"

Kakashi now felt a tiny bit of respect (just a tiny, tiny bit) towards Naruto. Doing a prank every week was tough, but that girl would be sure to have three done without breaking a sweat.

Now, he, Mika, and the idiot Kippei (though his plans are great, the older boy loved grating on his nerves) were running away from their chuunin teachers after another failed prank.

The adults were absolutely surprised to see the perfect little four year old student participating in something like this. It caught them off guard every time, but the effect was starting to wear off.

So the three children were being chased all around the school.

They reached the staircase, having trouble deciding whether to go up or down. The enemy was closing in, they can hear the fast footsteps from the corridors.

Up? Down?

They snapped their heads to the upper staircase, hearing shouts.

The three immediately decided on going down, skipping a few steps—

―only to bump into one pink-haired, orange clothed, very angry chuunin.

Well, at least there prank had been partly successful.

If we finish this right, Tobi will never be a part of the Akatsuki. Naruto clenched her fists at the sight of the young man, and those three will be saved from their suffering. Her azure eyes stared back at his Rinnegan with determination. Nagato will still hope for true peace. She inhales slowly, so please…

"What business do you have here?" He asked, his unwavering, unique eyes watching them. Konan stood not too far behind him, and Yahiko was calmly walking up to them. The three's eyes flickered toward Jiraiya when he came out of the shadows, revealing himself. Nagato had glanced at Kushina's red hair that was similar to his own, before he gazed back down at the blonde, fearless girl in front of him.

…let this end well!

I've probably really disappointed a lot of people by ending it there. Sorry about that! I wanted to focus this chapter more on Kakashi and his dad, a little bit of Kakashi's mom, Kushina, Naruto, and Jiraiya... and the pent up emotions Naruto had.

You wouldn't believe how many times I rewrote this chapter. Deleting scenes, adding new ones, deleting those ones, putting back up the previously deleted scenes. GAH. My mind's all scrambled up now.

I've decided updating once every week―1000 words a day multiplied by six, and the last day will be the proofreading bit and editing, then posting.

Well, I'll work hard in writing 1000 words a day.

Thanks for the reviews, faves, and follows! Almost a hundred followers now O.O And there was a lot of reviews for the last chapter, too O.O Anyways, thank you very much for the support!

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My reply to you wonderful reviewers! Order is from most recent to oldest reviews since the last update!

Shikuroaka: Thank you! Well, you'll have to wait and see :) Minato might be a little overprotective... But he would restrain himself for his little girl so no, he won't forbid her to date after her fifty seventh birthday xD Again, thank you! Your review also gave me something to laugh at; the image of a wailing granpa Minato clinging onto fifty seven year old Naruto's leg as she tries to hit him with a pink purse.

Shay Wolfe: Obito and Rin won't appear yet, since they graduated the academy when they were 9 years old. Kakashi and Naruto will graduate when they're five, but don't worry, I don't intend to seperate them from their age group. You'll have to wait and see! :D Thank you for reviewing!

Tsume Yuki: Holy crap―Thank you so much for reading this! And thank you for your praises (I doubt this fic is better than yours! Your ideas and the way you write is awesome!) Gah. I feel like I'm talking to a celebrity xD Thank you (again) for reviewing!

Forever Flower Girl: Have you tried reading Second Chances by Tsume Yuki? xD You'll be surprised. And I totally agree with your Kushina rant. You're absolutely right. But I guess people tend to over look her and focus more on Minato since he was... well, I guess future Yondaime in travel fics, and people think of him first over her. Ahh, auto-correct; the destroyer of mankind and their dignity.

Guest: That's what I meant... but now that I ran it through my head a couple times I think I worded it wrong. Guess I should replace 'old' with 'early'. Thanks for pointing that out!

MadImagination: I'm very glad you think so! I was a little worried that I had overdone it (as I said a million times before...)

Prescripto13: Thanks for your fantastical reviews! Hmm, I wonder~ xD

pizzafan123: You're welcome! Thanks for reviewing!

XLucy0117X: Thank you! I'm happy that you're glad about that (one of my biggest worries: keeping characters in... well, character).

sora tsuiki: Thank you for being so understanding (TvT) Don't worry, I'll (hopefully) be updating weekly from now on! Sorry, you'll have to wait for the next chapter to see the Akatsuki... Thank you for telling me what you liked about the chapter―it gives us authors some relief telling us that we're doing something right (or that might just be me being a worrywart)!

Soutrick: Thanks! Sorry 'bout that. I felt that that was the best place to stop (I want to keep my roughly 5500 to 6000 words limit ^^").

EIPsyCongroo: This chapter was more focused on Naruto, Kushina, and Jiraiya, sorry ^^" But there'll be more Nagato, Konan and Yahiko scenes in the next chapter, of course! Thank you for your review!

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Please leave a review! Thanks for reading :)