"How's the boy doing?"

Mikoto sat back in the chair and smiled at the Hokage. "Naruto is doing well. He's gaining weight which is bringing about better physical and mental conditions." She frowned for a moment. "He still has nightmares of being chased and a strange one about a man with many eyeballs. That one he doesn't remember when he's fully awake but the ones about being chased he remembers."

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed. "It was probably a mistake taking him out of the orphanage…but on the other hand, the boy wasn't doing well there either. And I couldn't find someone to watch over him."

Mikoto raised a delicate eyebrow "Obviously you didn't ask the right person."

"I thought about you then I thought about what Fugaku would say."

Mikoto sniffed. "I would have worked around Fugaku. You should have come to me from the very beginning. Kushina was my dearest friend."

"I'm sorry. Please forgive this foolish old man."

"Occasionally 'foolish old man'."

The pair smiled at each other.

"So, other than the nightmares, how is he doing?"

"Well, we're down to only two baths a day."

It was the Hokage's turn to raise an eyebrow.

Mikoto laughed. "Sasuke and Naruto are almost completely opposite and see things differently and since they don't know how to express their frustration with each other in words, it ends up with fists flying, wrestling, sometimes biting and inevitably a mud puddle. I didn't realize how many mud puddles there are in the Uchiha compound!"

"The most baths given in one day?"

"The most was six. The average was four but now, just two. Yesterday there was only one."

"High hopes."

"Yes." Mikoto laughed again. "But as much as they fight each other, neither of them will tolerate another child trying to start a fight with the other."

"They join together against opponents?"

"Oh, yes." Mikoto shook her head in loving motherly disappointment and frustration that the two boys would fight but happiness that they would fight for each other. "And much to the detriment to the other child."

"No complaints from other mothers?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Not when it's their children who start the fight. My sons just finish it."

"Have there been any problems with the kyuubi?"

"Not that we can tell. I'm not exactly certain if it communicates with Naruto or not. Sometimes he does say things that are a little too…knowledgeable…for his age. But he doesn't talk about a person that I don't know about. It could be that that the kyuubi has taught Naruto not to talk about it. I just don't know."

The Hokage nodded thoughtfully. "How is his training going?"

"Well, he's certainly behind Sasuke but he's determined. He's learning kunai and shurikan, of course but we're also teaching him how to control his chakra. He's learning how to walk up trees and walking across the ponds in the compound."

"Ponds have calm water." The Hokage pointed out.

Mikoto's look was also pointed. "What's wrong with a child first learning on calm water? Once he's mastered standing for five minutes there, then he'll be taken to the river. Why frustrate him about something he's not skilled at yet?"

"True. What are they doing today?"

"Itachi is teaching them how to release themselves and each other from a genjutsu."

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Itachi cast the genjutsu on Naruto, making sure it was something that wouldn't frighten the younger boy or possibly cause the kyuubi to react. Not that anything they've done so far had caused the tailed beast to react but why take chances…

Naruto sat on the ground. His blue eyes staring in the distance as he occasionally giggled.

Sasuke glared. "Idiot!"

Itachi poked him in the forehead. "I cast something nice. Don't be rude."

"He can't hear me."

Poke. "Don't be rude. Now, break him free of the genjutsu."

Sasuke took a deep breath and made sure his feet were firmly planted. His hands flickered. "KAI!"

Itachi frowned thoughtfully. There was something...strange… He shook his head, he had to have been seeing the reaction from Sasuke's release. He smiled at his brother. "Good."

Sasuke beamed.

Naruto blinked. Then blinked again. The blond boy shook his head so hard, his ears flapped. "Ah, 'Suke, that was kinda a nice dream."

"It wasn't a dream, idiot. And don't call me 'Suke!"

"'Suuuukkeeee!"

Sasuke snarled and pounced on Naruto and the two boys began to roll around in the dirt. Itachi watched for a moment, then shouted, "HEY!"

The two boys stopped and looked at their older brother. Itachi's eyes were red and his hands flickered. He gave a faint smile as the two boys froze and their eyes glazed over. That should keep them out of trouble for a while…as long as I dispel it before Mother gets back. Itachi leapt into a tree and pulled out a book that Kakashi-san had recommended to him.

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Sasuke and Naruto held onto Mikoto's hands as they walked through the streets of Konoha. Itachi and Shisui walked behind them. "Where are we going, Mother?"

Mikoto smiled down at him. Sasuke stubbornly insisted on calling her "mother" and Naruto, just as stubbornly (and to irritate Sasuke) called her "mama." "We're going to the Tower because the Hokage has some announcements that it's important for everyone to hear."

"Are we going to be able to talk to jiji after, Mama?"

"Perhaps. It all depends on how busy he is."

Mikoto and the boys stood in front of the platform. She along with others cheered when the Hokage walked to the center. He was also joined by the Elders and by Danzo. She looked down at Naruto when he made a strange moaning noise.

Her eyes widened at the frightened look on his face, but before she could ask what was wrong, the Hokage raised his hand for silence. He opened his mouth to speak…

"Mama! That's the man with the eyeballs on his arm!" Shocked, Mikoto looked in the direction Naruto was pointing.

He was pointing at Danzo.

"An' some of the eyes are all red and swirly too!"

Danzo sneered. "Stupid boy doesn't know what he's talking about."

Mikoto grasped tighter onto Naruto and Sasuke's hands. She could feel the killing intent from behind her and Itachi's voice rang out.

"Danzo and the Elders gave me a mission to spy on my clan and the other clans of Konoha to discover their weak points and how to destroy them."

Mikoto could see other Uchiha in the crowd and their eyes had gone red with the Sharingan…just as her own eyes had. She could clearly see Danzo and the Elders and could read the guilt on their faces.

"PROTECT THE HOKAGE!" came Shisui's roar. He'd seen what she had seen. Danzo reached into his cloak, pulled out a kunai and slashed at the Hokage. But he was too late. Three ANBU appeared in front of the Hokage, their masks expressionless but Mikoto could see red eyes behind the one that blocked Danzo's kunai. The other two ANBU grabbed the Hokage and disappeared.

The Elders hands began to flicker as Danzo pulled off his cloak. For the first time in years his arm was un-bandaged. And people could see what was on it.

Eyes. Nearly a dozen.

The civilians screamed, turned and ran.

Strange shinobi with blank faces and eyes appeared in front of the three elders.

"Aunt Mikoto, get the boys out of here!"

Shisui charged past her, Itachi right on his heels. On the right Asuma guarded Kurenai as the woman's hands rapidly flickered to neutralize whatever jutsus Homura and Koharu were trying to do. From the left she could see Kakashi and Gai, their faces grim with intent, charged towards the three people who had been entrusted with the safety of Konoha along with the Hokage that they obviously betrayed.

The senior jonin were followed by other shinobi. Uchiha, their eyes red. Hyuuga, veins bulging around their eyes. Aburame with their bugs flowing ahead of them. Akimichi growing larger by the second. Inuzuka with their dogs snarling with them. Nara with their shadows reaching out. Yamanaka, some with their bodies collapsing to the ground, guarded by friends.

Other jonin and chuunin joined the clans in their attack. Trusting in their seniors, their friends, their teammates.

Mikoto grabbed the boys and moved to the side of nearby building. Both Sasuke and Naruto clung to her legs but they didn't look away. "This is how shinobi of the Leaf behave, my sons. They protect the village and each other from all enemies from without and within."

"I didn't mean to start anything, Mama."

"You didn't start anything, darling. You just brought the darkness into the light."

"Is that good, Mother?"

"It's very good. I'm proud of you."

They watched as Itachi cut off Danzo's right arm. He turned and the blade cut smoothly through Danzo's neck. The strange shinobi fell to the ground. Dead. The Konoha shinobi stopped their attacks and stood awkwardly around, more than a bit stunned with what had just happened.

The surviving elders were captured. Koharu had been stopped before she'd been able to swallow a poison pill. Nara shadows had pried her jaw open, grabbed hold of her tongue and pulled out the pill. Homura had been prevented from cutting his own throat by a Yamanaka.

Kakashi as the senior Jonin began giving orders. "Bind them then take the traitors to T & I. Ibiki will want spend some time with them." Several jonin and chuunin nodded and followed his orders. "Someone take Danzo's body to T & I also, it needs to be autopsied."

"The arm?" asked Shisui.

The voice of the Hokage came from behind. "Take it along. We need to see if we can determine who's eyes he had stolen. Knowing that information will help. Then the arm will be publically burned."

Relieved nods came from the shinobi that were left.

The Hokage looked at the bodies of the strange shinobi and sighed. "Take these poor people to the hospital. We need to determine how Danzo tied them to him. See if we can find who they were and let their families know. Poor souls."

He turned and looked at Mikoto and smiled at the two boys who stood beside her. "Naruto-kun, I think you saved a lot of people today. I'm very proud of you."

Naruto beamed at him. The terror of the last few minutes receding for a little bit.

"Mikoto, take them home. I'm going to send Inoichi to you later."

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"They don't usually share a bed…"

Inoichi patted her gently on the shoulder. "Don't worry about, Mikoto. After today's events, I'd actually be a bit worried if they didn't."

"Will you get the information that you need if he's asleep?"

The blond man smiled at her. "Actually it's easier when children are asleep. Not only do I not have to deal with the wriggles and 'whys,' but the children don't have to worry if they're saying the wrong thing and thinking they're going to get in trouble for doing so."

Mikoto sighed. "I'll be in the kitchen. Cleaning and fretting."

Inoichi laughed softly. "I'll come find you when I'm done."

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Mikoto turned as she heard Inoichi's footsteps. Her eyes widened at the look on his face. "What happened?"

Inoichi ran a hand down his face. "Well…"

It had started out normally enough, Inoichi scanned through Sasuke's mind making sure that he wasn't traumatized by the day's events nor deeply troubled by his father's death beyond normal grief. And discovered the boy was doing fine.

He then switched to Naruto. It, too, started out innocuously enough. He found the recent memories and made sure that they wouldn't cause Naruto too much in the way of nightmares but then he started looking for past memories and…

…he found himself in a vast cavern in front of a cage with a seal. And behind the cage was the kyuubi. One eye barely opened. The red gleamed from between the eyelids. "A Yamanaka. Almost as annoying as an Uchiha."

Inoichi was shocked. He hadn't realized the tailed beast could tell the difference.

"I am rather old, child. But I do remember."

"Sorry."

"Hmmm. I take it you are examining the boy to make sure I don't influence him too much?"

"I do check on him but you aren't the reason why I'm checking on him today."

"Ah." There was amusement in that simple reaction. "You should tell those stupid villagers of yours that if they had kept up their abuse of the boy, in a very few months I would have been able to convince him to pull the seal of my prison."

Inoichi felt his blood run cold.

The kyuubi continued. "But that Uchiha woman took him in. And took away my chance for freedom…for the moment."

"I'd apologize for that but I wouldn't mean it."

Laughter from the kyuubi rang through the cavern. "I wouldn't mean it either. What happened to that Danzo person?"

"You know of him? He's dead. Executed by Uchiha Itachi."

"Hmmm. The boy was trying to hide and stumbled on his secret. The fool used a genjutsu on the boy. I could have broken it at any time but it was probably best that the boy didn't remember. Perhaps you should look into that."

"Naruto has had nightmares about a man with eyeballs. Now that we know that it was Danzo, I was hoping to find that memory."

"Hmm." The tailed beast's eye closed and Inoichi found himself just where he needed to be.

He watched as Naruto burst into a room where Danzo stood, bared to the waist, his arm exposed. The older man snarled and grabbed a katana intent on killing the child but when he heard a voice calling the boy's name, he dropped the katana and quickly performed a genjutsu. Inoichi could tell that what Danzo used wasn't the best and that explained why Naruto had nightmares.

Inoichi quickly and skillfully closed off the memory from Naruto. Setting it aside to a time when Naruto would be more mature to handle the knowledge and not be frightened by it.

Mikoto had turned pale at the recitation of what had happened inside Naruto's mind. "I'm glad I took him in when I did. I wish I had done it sooner. Regardless of how Fugaku would have felt about it or the Hokage's orders."

Inoichi nodded. "But, the kyuubi won't do anything now. He really doesn't have anything to manipulate Naruto with."

"Do you think they communicate with each other?"

Inoichi waggled a hand back and forth. "Perhaps. It's possible that Naruto visits the kyuubi in his dreams but I don't think that Naruto really has much, at his age, to share with the kyuubi. It's not much of a playmate after all."

Mikoto laughed. "True."

"Naruto will be fine, Mikoto. Just keep doing what you're doing."

"I will. Goodnight, Inoichi."

"Good night, Mikoto."

She walked through the house making sure everything was closed up for the night. She checked on Itachi who was sort of sound asleep in his room. She kissed his brow and he smiled. She then looked in on her two youngest. They were tangled up together, sun and shadow. She straightened the covers over the boys and kissed them both.

"My sons. My precious little boys. I will do my best to never let anything harm you."