I do not own Naruto, this story is for entertainment purposes only. I came to terms with that a long time ago... (Sniffs)

Notice: Post time skip appearances!

Son of Terumi

Chapter 4: Home again, home again

Front gates, Kiri, five days later

Perhaps in a way it was insulting to just stand there for nearly an hour, staring at the misty gate in almost palpable dread whilst internally debating whether or not to cross the threshold of his village given that he was a shinobi of their village. What was there to fear after all? He hadn't done anything that could be construed as wrong... at least not to the village as a whole. Foolish? Perhaps... more or less... it could've used a little more thought and perhaps patience in regards to engaging a former swordsman but... well he didn't have a valid excuse per se... "I'm so dead," he muttered.

"I'll be sure to attend your funeral," his partner responded with an amused lilt to her voice.

"You are so encouraging sometimes, you know that right?"

"We are partners," she agreed with a hidden, puckish smile underneath her mask that he knew was there, paranoia be damned!

"You know I always fancied being buried at the beach where we first met."

"I'll be sure to remind her that," she said once more with the lilt. "Shall we get this over with then?"

"... I'm going to need five more minutes..."

XVX

Kosaku's Ramen Stand, twenty-seven minutes later

Kiri, the village hidden within the mist, lived up to its name more literally than most other villages thanks to its island landscape. While natural for the most part, a great deal of effort and exceptionally careful planning by its shinobi residents had made use of the fog to cover most, if not all, of their village in a dense cloud that made personal experience a must for navigating its streets; an outsider would easily be lost by simply going down a street, missing a store or likely a critical location that would be of some strategic value for an enemy thanks to the thick fog and in turn leave themselves open for the prepared defenders of the village to act. It would only be a catastrophic battle indeed for the shinobi to dispel their carefully cultivated haze in order to avoid causing more harm than desired. With that in mind it wasn't unheard of for even experienced Kiri residents to fail with recognizing a friend or even a family member from a distance without something to help draw attention to them to begin with. While not one to draw recognition from familiarity in the act, being dragged through the streets by a nonchalant kunoichi by the leg, both hands outstretched and lamely clawing each finger into the earth beneath him like an individual plow, was sure to capture anyone's attention the moment he was glanced upon. While embarrassing, thus far no one had bothered to check as to either of their identities as they contented themselves with their own lives...

"Brother?"

Yet there was such a thing as the law of total probability. He knew that eventually someone was bound to found out, be it in the immensely clear atmosphere of the Mizukage Tower or some place before it. Regardless, his partner continued to march on with only a curious glance spent to the speaker while still dragging him behind her. A girl of twelve years hold, having short light purple hair slightly held back by a Kiri headband and red eyes sitting beneath the pair, wearing a dark violet bodysuit garbed with a light black leather shoulder pad encompassing her shoulder that was emblazoned by her village's symbol plus matching boots, minus the sigil of Kiri, frowned as she pursued the two from the dull glow emitting from stand's entrance with a package tied in a cloth in hand.

"Hey Ayane..." he lousily grumbled.

"Lady Sio, why are you dragging my brother through the streets?" Ayane respectfully inquired as she walked just short of reaching the ever clawing fingers of the captured shinobi.

"Would you like to answer that question or shall I?" the kunoichi asked offhandedly as he continued her march.

"She and I have a difference of opinion..." he grumbled. At her hum of agreement he tilted his head forth in a sigh.

"You did something reckless again, didn't you, brother?"

"... It may have been one of those situations that could've used a bit more thought..."

"I see..." she said. "Do I get your room when she's through with you?" she said with a straight, factual face that matched the tone of her serious but still inquisitive tone.

"I'd rather prefer it if you let his body grow cold first for dignity's sake," the masked kunoichi hummed.

"The love of friends and family is such a treasured, irreplaceable thing, isn't it?" he sarcastically grumbled.

Neither responded with anything greater than an a mask of indifference.

"Can I at least have a last meal before we get there?" he whines.

"Say, Lady Sio, would you be so kind as to train me this evening? I've been having trouble trying to master the art of water jutsus, embarrassing as that is..." Ayane admitted, her eyes slowly twisting to the side as the eponymous emotion darkened her cheeks.

"... You guys are evil," the dragged shinobi groaned in defeat, his masked head planting itself on the continuously shifting ground that now slide against his mask.

XVX

Hallway, Mizukage Tower, half an hour later

If there was one thing that was a must when working with a kage in general, especially a temperamental one, it paid to develop something of a sixth sense as towards their mood. Or at the utter least develop something akin to a spy network, be it just friends looking out for the wellbeing of fellow comrades or people genuinely on a payroll of some kind to forewarn an aid or trusted individual of any potential grievous harm that would come to oneself by being an unfortunate victim of happenstance.

"MERCY!"

If all else failed then developing extraordinary sense for danger was the last viable resort. That or being exceptionally lucky; while fickle, being late or stopping to pick up a misplaced ryo had saved people from their untimely fate despite even the most meticulously laid plans.

"YOU RUN OFF ON YOUR OWN AGAINST AN A-RANK ROGUE AND YOU EXPECT ME TO BE OKAY WITH THAT?! I KNOW I RAISED YOU TO BE SMARTER THAN THAT!"

"UNCLE! UNCLE!"

BAM! Immediately the doors to the Mizukage's office fly open, its cause evident by the toned leg sticking out in a kick for just a moment before disappearing. Not even a full second afterward did the Mizukage herself appear, a woman of wild auburn hair that went as far as her thighs in the back, two exceptionally large bangs framing her face and crisscrossing one another along the center of her collar, another covering her right eye and a top knot atop her head held together by a blue band. Her garments was that of a long sleeved blue dress bearing a large slit along her right leg and lined with a fishnet design long the top, partially revealing her bust whereas everything above was bare to the touch. Underneath as revealed by the slit was a standard black shinobi skirt, fishnet stockings and the more open half of a pair of knee-length shin guards that partially covered gray high heel shinobi sandals. Her face, while normally beautiful, has grossly marred by a righteous scowl, her green eyes like murderous pyres that threatened to burn all that had the misfortune to get caught in their sight, as she forcibly dragged a masked shinobi, the wielder of the Shibuki, out with her by the ear.

"YOU ARE GROUNDED TILL THE EXAMS, YOUNG MAN!"

"MOM! PLEASE!" Yank! "AAAH!"

Everyone with a keen sense of survival dove out of the way, hiding where they can and behind who they can as Mei Terumi dragged her son past them, everyone else and ultimately out of the tower in short order when no one dared to creep into her line of sight on purpose.

"So that guy's on my team, huh?" Blinking, he looked up and bit back a sigh as he reminded himself just who he ducked behind to avoid the enraged Mizukage. He was tall, that was for sure, a head taller than most teenagers his age and built like an ox under the same constraint. His choice of clothes were relatively plan than what most would wear: a dark green kimono top, black hakama pants, simple straw sandals adorning his otherwise bare feet. If anything the most sure fire way to tell he was a shinobi was that his head plate bearing headband was snuggly wrapped around his right arm as opposed to keeping his unruly, yet short, mess of black hair back. The sole quirk about him however that had everyone tilting their head at in confusion though was a kitten that was perched on his shoulder...

"Yes," the elder man at last sighed.

"He doesn't look tough..."

Another sigh escaped the aid. "He is as much of a legitimate member of the swordsmen as you and his teammate are."

As if sensing the source of a sudden chill that suddenly beset the of two them they swiveled their heads to the still open doorway, to the masked woman boring into them in turn. After a few moments she turned and walked down the opposite end of the hallway.

"... That would also be you're teammate."

"Is she always so frigid?" he asked lamely.

"She's been called an ice queen on more than one occasion," the aid murmured.

"Feh..." He turned and marched in the direction the Mizukage had left. "As long as they don't get in the way I could care less."

XVX

Kitchen, Mizukage Estate

Not even five minutes in had he already begun to softly bang his head on the kitchen island out of sheer boredom. Sure there was a private training field in the backyard yet he could only stand so much of resorting to it to alleviate his boredom by himself as a whole in terms of past, present and future. Yet there was a bright side to this, one he secretly took joy from; due to how long it took to get back there was essentially one day, two at most if today was to be counted, that he would be forced to languish here unless she was willing to set back her own plans for the village back by a few months by essentially grounding the team. Of course she could send another team in his own team's stead but this was, for all intents and purposes, Kiri's comeback in the world at large; the best of the best of the best available had to be presented or else suffer the slow agonizing process of having emissaries trying to curry both business and favor whereas the exams made a more convenient avenue to the village's restoration.

Still for today and the day after he was to basically languish in boredom and the misery begot from it.

Whap!

"Ow!"

"Oh quit sulking! And take that off already! Your mission is over with already!" his mother commanded in a huff as she took a stool across from him and pinioned him in a hard gaze. Eventually her gaze left him by right of her tilting forward slightly and closing them as she sighed. "I know full well you're a capable shinobi but you shouldn't take risks like that if you can help it! Before you know it I'm going to sprout gray hair if you keep this up!" She slumped a little by leaning forward and digging her elbows into the countertop, her hands soon clasping around her bowed head as she sighed again. "And most men aren't interested in women whose hair is gray! Let alone women close to thirty!" she pitifully groaned.

"Mom I'm more certain they're more afraid of upsetting you as the kage rather than thinking about marrying you," he deadpanned.

She only groaned further.

"Brother." He swiveled his head to find the package from earlier being presented to him by Ayane. "Better eat it before it grows cold." She handed him the cloth encased objected and took up the unoccupied side between the two of them. "Is something wrong, Lady Mizukage?"

Another sigh left the Mizukage. "I told you before, Ayane, you don't need to be so formal with me!" She looked up enough to offer her a tired but loving smile. "You're more than entitled to call me mom or mother you know."

The younger kunoichi tried to smile a polite smile, tried to, only to end up looking towards her brother's direction whilst he undid the wrappings to find a bowl of ramen in his grasp.

"Aw... they skimped on the noodles again!"

"You're the one who insists on ramen if given a chance," Ayane. "And it doesn't help they're the only stand in town that sells it."

"Because they muscled out Old Man Son," he grumped as he set the bowl on the island before beginning to remove his mask and bandages.

Another groan came from his mother while she rubbed her temples. "For the last time he retired," she sighed. "He's eighty years old and the last of his heirs died in the war. Not to mention of course that not exactly everyone lines up to be a ramen chef nowadays."

An indignant snort escaped the shinobi as he removed his mask, revealing his blue eyes and whiskered features to the world at large, and pointedly clapped the wooden mask on the island before turning his sulking attention to his ramen. From the lack of volume he was afforded a impromptu mirror of his face, in turn having him scrunch it in thought of trying to remember. A second later he snapped the fingers of his good hand and darted his gaze up to his, by reaction, curious mother.

"Mom, before you say anything I think you need to know something I learned during my last mission."

Though slightly irritated upon being reminded of it she raised a brow nevertheless. Even after he suddenly paused to compose what he wanted to say, she patiently waited...

"I encountered a team from Konoha, a genin group led by Kakashi Hatake." Her brow raised itself a little more as her son continued. "Their mission as I understood it was to guard a bridge builder as he connected the Land of Waves with the Land of Fire. Outside of Kakashi though I... recognized at least two of the genin: Sasuke Uchiha... and Naruto Uzumaki."

Slowly she blinked and with it her agitation turned to an air of puzzlement. "Naruto Uzumaki?" she reiterated.

"Yes..."

"Brother?" Both turned to Ayane and her confused glower. "I'm afraid I don't quite understand the issue at hand here."

"Before he became my son, your brother's last name was Uzumaki," she explained and fixated her stare on the blond. "Were you able to learn anything about this particular 'Naruto?'"

He only shook his head in return. "I only know about two things really," he admitted. "From what my summon learned he doesn't seem... knowledgeable to say the least; either he's some kind of imposter holding back to protect Konoha's last Uchiha or he is a genuine genin with my face and name that hadn't even been taught how to using the tree walking jutsu."

"You're kidding..."

He raised both hands up and shook his head in his own disbelief. "That was all Kakashi seemed to bother with teaching." He frowned. "In any case this..." He shook his head again. "The imposter's duplication is almost flawless in appearance alone. The only real difference in looks is my wooden arm." As if to demonstrate a point he began to grasp the open air with his puppet arm till he lowered it to dig through the bundle of cloth once more to retrieve a pair of chopsticks.

"Why would they bother creating a double for you, brother?"

He shrugged and broke apart the chopsticks while their mother spoke up. "That's a good question..." She got up and made to leave the kitchen. "I'll be home later. Don't deny yourselves dinner on my behalf if it comes to that."

"Okay, mom."

"Yes, Lady Mizukage."

She disappeared through the doorway only for minutes later to reappear with a catty grin. "Oh dear son of mine, you're 'wife' is here. Please do keep the racket down this time!"

Herk!

In less than a moment he was coughing out what was supposed to be a sip of his ramen... his impish mothers always somehow found those moments where he least expected it. Now the lukewarm broth threatened to singe his windpipe while he coughed it out as Sio walked into the kitchen, her own mask firmly attached to her side to reveal sea green eyes, golden lashes and a face even gods would envy.

"MOM!" he managed to scream incredulously much to Sio's thinly veiled amusement.

Slam! Yet it was too late on his part. Though the front door was undoubtedly close he could swear he heard her teasing giggle on the other side of it.

"Lady Sio," Ayane murmured as she stood up, turned to her and bowed. She nodded in return and the younger of the two retook her seat while Sio claimed the only unused seat on the island's side, to Naruto's right, for herself. "I see you're in good health," she murmured with the tiniest of jesting smiles.

"Oh hardy har har," Naruto griped as he sullenly returned to his ramen.

"Cheated again?"

"He was on a small tirade about the other ramen merchant earlier."

Sio hummed softly. "I'll side with your brother on that at least."

"Thank you!" Naruto managed to grump between melancholy chomps.

"Sometimes the two of you are incorrigible," Ayane sighed.

"There will never be an argument in the world to convince me into abandoning ramen," Naruto grumbled. He picked up the bowl and slurped down the last of the broth as his partner leaned forward to rest her elbows on the counter and steeple her fingers soon afterwards.

"I believe I met our newest team member on my way out of your mother's office."

"Oh?" he queried as he set the bowl down whilst Ayane tilted her own head in curiosity.

"I believe it's Ken Hayato, the recent acquisition for the Seven."

He turned to her with a raised brow. "The tall guy who mauled Rokuro that one time?"

"The very same."

"Ah."

"Who is Ken Hayato, Brother? Lady Sio?"

"Probably the tallest, muscle bound—"

There was an abrupt knocking on the front door, earning the interest of everyone in the kitchen.

"Twenty ryo saying that's him right now."

A tiny smile afflicted itself on her features. "You're on," she said softly, grinning wickedly to herself when he got up and was just about to leave the kitchen, "my 'husband.'"

His wooden hand slapped and clamped itself against the threshold as if to stop himself despite coming to an immediate halt. Turning only his head he gave her the evil eye to which she proudly shown her evil smile that lasted even after he finally disappeared into the foyer. It wasn't long before she heard him once more, dulled though it was from the distance.

"So you're our new teammate, eh?"

"Y-yes he is, honorable son—"

"Yep."

"Would either of care to come in then?"

"Ah! That is a most generous offer, honorable son, but—"

"Sure."

"Gah! Ken! Don't be so crass in the Mizukage's son's presence!" Not unlike Naruto with his mother a short while ago Ken had long since disappeared from the door and entered the kitchen for its convenience, leaving Naruto to deal with an agitated and mortified assistant to the Mizukage whereas all traces of mirth left Sio as she eyed him.

"So this is how the better half lives, huh?" He didn't fail in noticing the cold glare from his soon-to-be teammate nor the more curious, standoffish one from the genin across from her. Spying the open sides, one of which still adorned with an empty bowl, he grunted and settled for the most unoccupied side of the island and sat down on the stool present there. Turning to Ayane he level his own half lidded stare on her. "So who are you?"

Instead of answering she only hardened her own gaze and scowled in return despite his evident apathy towards it.

"No point in being rude, Ayane," Naruto sighed as he entered the kitchen once more and reclaimed his spot in short order. He looked to Ken, who stared back, and contemplated on what to say. The kitten on his shoulder, during which, hopped off and happily meandered to the semi-abandoned bowl, happily slurping up what remains the blond had missed.

"... Granted it's from Kosaku's but the cat had tastes," Naruto half chortled.

"Bleh... thieves have more decency than those guys."

Immediately Ayane groaned as she discerned the gleam in her brother's eyes, what air of frigidness she projected completely washed away in embarrassment as her brother opened his mouth with a smirk. "Good to know I'm not the only one who thinks that."

A huff escaped the other teen. "I'm no ramen freak," Ken stated. "But even I want a good bowl every now and then."

"Please Brother, just don't..." Ayane groaned once more as she covered her face in exasperation.

"Meow!"

"Oh fine," Naruto grumbled, his organic hand coming up and scratching the now purring kitten's back. He turned to Ken with mildly crushed spirits.

"Don't what?"

"My friend here has a habit of going on a tirade about Son Morino, another ramen merchant that had to close shop due to his advanced age," Sio interjected coolly.

"Huh... I thought he died."

"I maintain he was muscled out of business," Naruto grumped.

"Brother, please."

"I'm not! Cross my heart!" the blond said in a sigh. "So," he leveled a plain stare at Ken, "I guess introductions are in order." He jerked his wooden thumb at himself. "I'm Naruto Terumi, genin of Kiri and one of the Seven Swordsmen— wielder of the Shibuki." He pointed at Sio. "Sio No, my teammate. Another of the Seven and a fellow genin. She holds the swords of Kiba." She nodded at this as a finger was pointed at Ayane. "My little sister Ayane. Fresh from the academy but a badass kunoichi in the making nevertheless." Ayane huffed indignantly but blushed at the crass praise all the same. It wasn't long for everyone's attention, the kitten's included, to fall upon Ken who sighed shortly thereafter.

"Ken Hayate, genin and a member of the Seven Swordsmen." He paused and began to scratch the side of his head. "Frankly I'm not gonna use one of the pre-existing swords. As it stands right now my sword's being finished as we speak."

Sio raised a brow. "And when will it be done?" she asked calmly like before, albeit with a slight hint of a incredulous nature.

He turned to her with a scowl. "Tomorrow before day break if they don't screw around with it."

"Ah..." Naruto said. "Out of curiosity what kind of sword is it? Cleaver-like? Katana? Something more unusual like Kabutowari?"

The swordsman smirked a savage grin. "Nodachi," he answered plainly but darkly as well. A slight impressed whistle escaped aAruto as Sio's look gained a more disbelieving edge that the other teenager couldn't ignore. "Is there a problem?" he growled.

"It just seems to be an exceptionally odd choice of weaponry for a shinobi," she replied neutrally.

"Well to be fair," Naruto started with a wry grin as he chucked his thumb at the sword on his back, "my sword is as stealthy as a landslide and tends to blow everything up on contact. Tell me you can honestly say this is a 'normal' weapon for a shinobi," A smirk of his own attached itself to Ken's face as Sio looked away with an infuriated blush. She turned a withering glare at the blond who, while armed with a placating smile, cringed away till his face was awash with a realization.

"Oh crap," he muttered.

"What?"

With an embarrassed smile he reached into a compartment in his belt and produced a scroll. "I forgot to give mom the Kubikiribocho..."

Both the girls gave him a deadpan stare, leaving him to sweat buckets in embarrassment as the only other male in the room began to chuckle at the former's predicament. "In all fairness I was trying to survive her wrath..."

Stare...

He quickly turned to Ken with a forced smile plastered on his face. "So about that nodachi, care to swing by here tomorrow for a spar? Help us get an idea as to how you fight and how to fight alongside you?"

The laughter died down for his evil smirk to return. "Sure. I could use a real fight for once." He got up, prompting the kitten to look at him and hurtle towards him in a sprint so it could masterfully land on his shoulder once more in a single successful bound. "I'll leave you to you your 'lady friends' then."

"Meow!"

"Ah-ha, yes, you do that," Naruto half heartedly chuckled as Sio slowly got up and march to him, her glare never lifting. Ever so calmly she extended her hand to accept the scroll rather than take it and gently she clasped it upon receiving it. In abrupt swiftness however she bopped her teammate on the forehead with it before leaving the kitchen. "I'll be back later," she explained herself before disappearing entirely.

Sighing, the boy turned to his sister who slowly shook her head. "Sometimes you're just hopeless, Brother."

"Yeah, I know," he sighed in return. "So what do you want to do about dinner tonight?"

"Mosu's?"

"Sure."

XVX

War Room, Mizukage Tower, evening

"It's just too drastic for it to be out of guilt! Surely Sarutobi is up to something! Any shinobi worth his or her salt would have some reason to go through the trouble to make one of their own look like the container of the Nine Tailed Fox!"

"Be that as it may it makes almost no sense to do it! What has he to gain from making a double to begin with? It makes far more sense if we made a double for the Mizukage's son rather than the Leaf Village!"

"I hate to bring this up but what if it's some sort of plot to kidnap our biju holder?"

"Nonsense! Unless they got a good look at him then they would know he's not afraid to show that puppet arm of his!"

"We don't even have a picture of this so called "Imposter!" Let alone do we not have a spy in Konoha to confirm it! How do we know it's not some sort of case of mistaken identity or something like that?"

"Two shinobi, the Mizukage's own son and his teammate, are beyond certain this double is almost exactly identical to the Naruto we know."

"Okay maybe it's a twin he never knew about, how about that?"

"Oh now you're being ridiculous, you naysayer!"

"Well excuse me for offering a possibility! We are not in a state to pick fights or reopen old wounds over something as bizarre as this!"

Mei Terumi bit back a groan as she massaged her temples, her back to the gathered advisors and military personnel that continued to harass and scream at one another. Yet in all fairness she couldn't say she regretted it; she called them and they obediently came to hear out the oddity that was her son's doppelganger. In a bid to ignore them, however, she turned to the lone decoration in the middle of the entire room, a table hosting a reasonably detailed map of the world as they knew it that ran from table edge to table edge. She walked to it and gently traced her finger along Konoha's leaf signet in the Land of Fire and dragged it to the Land of Waves. She gently tapped a carefully manicured nail against the portrayed island and again she traveled back to Konoha to which she patiently tapped on. Though her finger remained she drifted her gaze to the once island home of the Uzumaki clan, overall a short distance away from the costal border compared to their own Land of Water in both regards. "Maybe...?" she murmured to herself.

"Lady Mizukage." Even though she was snapped out of her musings it took her a full moment to realize the once abhorrent yelling she had suffered earlier had dimmed down to an almost audible glaring match between advisors and military personnel. She turned to the one who had garnered her attention, a kunoichi whose left eye was forcibly closed, an ugly scar not unlike a lightning bolt attesting to her closed eye's reasoning ran a short distance both above, below and through the eyebrow, and awaited her report. "There is unfortunately too little information to go on, my lady. To make matters worse we essentially have no time to gather any more about this before we send out our teams for the exam. All that can be agreed upon, however, is one of two options."

"Either we proceed as planned and double the guards, monitor him as much as we can out of precaution to ensure no funny business occurs or we swap out your son with Chojuro if you wish to continue on with the premise of the Seven being revived." She bowed and back away, leaving the Mizukage to her thoughts...