Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

War

When I am released from T&I two days later, because the shinobi decided that I am not about to be kidnapped again, the Konoha I last saw is nothing compared to the Konoha I see now. All of the rumble is gone, and in their place stands newly constructed buildings and houses made out of wood, but they are not yet painted. Despite this good news, as it seems no one has to live in tents anymore the atmosphere seems tense. No civilians are mingling in the streets. Instead they keep close to the buildings, keeping their encounters with one another short a brief; buying or selling something, or giving a brief "hello", before moving on. The middle of the streets seemed to be reserved for Shinobi as they run through them at random intervals. Sometimes they are carrying things, other times they stop from building to building, placing to what looks like to be seals on windows. This is really happening. I think as I jam my hands into my pockets, seeking warmth. Konoha is preparing for war.

The T&I member who had dropped me off had explained that things were going to be different and that I had to do my best to behave and not get in the way as this prep time was essential, but I did not really know what to expect. I turn around and face the entrance to the newly constructed academy, which is a lot smaller than the old one. The T&I member had me blind folded as he escorted me from the base, promising to take me to a location that I would be familiar with. Apparently no one except the high ups and T&I members are allowed to know where the base is.

I stare at the academy, wondering if class is still going on with all of the war preparation right now. I shrug; there is really only one way to find out. So in the shirt that is too big and not my own I wander into the academy, hoping I will be able to find my class. However, as soon as I enter the building I realize that finding my class is not going to be an issue. The academy is only one room. It is a big one, but one room none the less. At the sound of me opening the door about three dozen heads pop up, and I see students from all years, a few genin and one chunin sensei. But the lack of students is not missed.

"Manami!" A voice calls out, getting me to turn my head to the right to see Akio standing up from his seat and waving his hand over his head. "You're back! Come sit next to me". The sight of the familiar face subdues my curiosity for now as I gladly making my way towards the back of the room heading for Akio, nodding to the chunin as I do so. There is no one sitting next to Akio so it is easy to slide into the spot next to him. As soon as I sit down I ask him, "where is everyone? Not even half of our class is here."

Which is the same moment that Akio asked me, "So where were ya? All Iruka-sensei said was that ya ran into trouble and couldn't come to class for a couple of days."

For a moment we blink at each other before Akio steps up and answer my question first. "All of the civilian kids got pulled from the academy as soon as the Hokage announced that we are going to war. People graduate quicker when there's a war going on. All that's left is the clan kids and the kids that come from non-clan shinobi parents." And me. I add in my head until I realize that I am technically from a clan too. A shiver traveled down my spine. That just feels weird. "Did you know that the Hokage woke up?" Akio added with a grin.

I nod my head with a smile of my own since his grin is contagious. I open my mouth to answer his first question, but then close it. Can I tell Akio about everything? No one said I could not tell anyone, but I do not really want everyone knowing either. However, I also tell Akio everything. "I will tell you later", I said. "When there is less people around". He nods in acceptance before I ask another question. "Where is Iruka-sensei?"

Akio shrugs. "Don't know. But he'll be helping with the war efforts. Everyone is stretched pretty thin so there is only one sensei at a time, and they rotate. We might see him today. Or we'll see him tomorrow" Akio said, only pausing to point out the genin in the room. "There's not much the genin can do right now with all of the higher ups running around so the hokage has them being assigned D-ranked missions from the academy, so that when they aren't working they're supposed to help the chunin sensei. But so far the only thing we've done for the last couple of days is review evacuation plans", He said gesturing to the paper in front of him. "So there isn't much for them to do". At the end of his explanation Akio give me the once over. "What's with your shirt?"

I sigh, knowing that I look ridiculous. "I will tell you later".

We did not end up seeing Iruka-sensei by the time the academy was over for the day. The Chunin lets us older kids go by ourselves after promising that we would not get into any trouble. While the younger kids were being escorted home by the genin or family members that came to pick them up. Apparently there is a curfew now and all non-shinobi personnel have to be indoors by the time it gets dark. "Wanna go to my house? It was finished two days ago and we don't have any furniture yet but it's better than the tent" Akio asked.

I hesitate. I want to go find Naruto, and I do not even know where I am supposed to sleep tonight, but I did promise to tell Akio everything. I nod my head. "Okay lead the way."

It took us a little longer than it normally would to walk in the village because we had to avoid getting in the way of the constantly active shinobi. Which meant we had to walk slow because we were bunched in with the civilians. But when we do get there we have the house to ourselves. I guess with war on the horizon his parents are just as occupied as all ninja are right now. Akio pulls a key out of his pocket and unlocks an unpainted door. With exception to a low table in the center of the living room that the front door opens into, just like Akio said, there is no furniture. Akio takes off his shoes in and entrance way before making for the table. I follow his example and sit down across from him. The moment I do he asked "So where were ya?" Having finally lost his patience.

"I got kidnapped", I said not seeing the point of beating around the bush. But by the slacked jaw expression on Akio's face I guess I may have been a bit too blunt. I give him a moment to recover before I continue. "Danzo order that I be kidnapped so he could use me as bait at the five kage summit. He…" I pause in order to calm myself. "He knew what my last name is and he thought that he could use me to make the other kage cooperate with him because he wanted control over all of the shinobi forces for the up-coming war".

Akio gives me a confused face before asking, "Why would he think that?"

I take a big breath. "My last name is Uchiha". And then I pause to see if he knows the name. At the sound of it he flinches but does not interrupt. "Apparently", I go on. "Sasuke, a member of my clan attacked someone important to the raikage and Danzo was going to give me to the raikage to buy his support". We can hear a kid outside crying as I take another breath. For some reason this is harder to talk about with Akio than it was with Ibiki. "But before they made any deals, Sasuke and some other people attacked the summit. Danzo grabbed me and fled, and Sasuke chased after us". I look down paying extra attention to the shirt that I am wearing. "He tried to use me as a way to protect himself from Sasuke because Sasuke wanted to kill him. But Sasuke got me out of the way before he killed Danzo." I touch the shirt I am wearing and explain, "That is why I am wearing this shirt. Mine got ripped when Sasuke pulled me away from Danzo". Akio is leaning forward with his elbows on the table, not blinking. "After the fight I was afraid that Sasuke was going to kidnap me too. A part of me wanted to go with him because he is my family, and the other part of me just wanted to get back to Konoha. But before anything happened Naruto, Sakura, and their sensei came and they fought Sasuke", I said leaving out the part where Sakura said she would betray Konoha as that part still really confuses me. I go on to describe the fight and about the second person in the mask that was helping Sasuke and finally finished with the time that I spent in T&I.

For a moment all Akio does is blink at me. Which makes me squirm a little in discomfort. Then Akio asked, "You're an Uchiha?"

I feel my right eye twitch. That is all he got out of my story? But I nod my head and ask, "You know about the Uchiha?"

Akio shakes his head. "Nah. Not really. Only that about three years ago a genin named Sasuke Uchiha left the village and he has been ranked as a missing nin ever since. Nobody really wants to talk about the Uchiha for some reason".

I look up at the ceiling and taking a deep breath. "I guess that is why no one wanted to tell me what my last name was", I said in contemplation.

Akio shrugs as he straightens up and shakes his head, as if freeing himself from a bad dream. If only I could do the same. "Not much we can do about it now. Want some water or something? Dad should be back soon and then ya can have dinner with us if you want." He offered as he stood up and headed over to the kitchen.

Still seated I adjust myself so I am facing him. Watching as he fishes out two glasses. "No thank you. I should really go find out where my am supposed to be living", I said as the door swings up.

Akio looks to the door and his face brightens as a deep voice calls out, "No one's going anywhere. There's about ten to fifteen minutes before curfew". I turn myself again to see Akio's father taking off his shoes in the entryway. "So you'll bunk here tonight, and I'll help you find your way in the morning". He said with a tired smile.

Dinner consisted of rice and miso soup. Because of rationing meat is hard to come by and vegetables are even more scarce. But it is still better than what they ate in T&I, which is mostly just ration bars. Right after eating Akio's father goes to sleep and I help Akio clean up. "It's been like this for a while now. Dad comes home for dinner and then sleeps. Mom will come home right before we'll need to go to bed and Dad will go back to work. Then Dad will be back in the morning to see us off to the academy. But I guess he's helping you tomorrow." Akio said, his voice is low and he sounds a bit lonely.

I put my hand on his shoulder. "It's war".

The next morning I found myself jogging every other step to keep up with Akio's father as he leads the way through the village. His eyes are constantly darting around, looking for anything out of place, or something that needs to be fixed. "Soon", he started without looking at me. "The majority of the shinobi are going to leave to protect our village, our way of life, and our loved ones. Akio and you should always be careful and stick together. Your generation is too young to go to war", he said that part with much relief. "But you are tasked with protecting the will of fire and ensuring that it will be passed on". His words echo through me and I shiver. I belong here and I am a part of something. It feels good despite the terrible circumstances. I nod my head to show my acceptance when Akio's father said, "there's your brother", pointing to a familiar blonde genin with a back pack on standing near the front gate. That cannot be good.

"Naruto nii-san!" I called out, running to him before he can leave the village. Akio's father follows at a slower pace.

Naruto turns around and smiles "Manami" He calls back, and smiles down at me when I am standing in front of him. "Nice shirt", he said with a snicker.

I scowl at him. When Akio's mother came home she had ordered Akio to give me one of his shirts so at least I would have a better fitting shirt. But that means that I am once again stuck to looking like Akio. "Shut up", I said to him before asking, "Where are you going?"

"I'm going on a mission. Gotta help the village. Isn't your big brother cool?" He asked with a blinding smile and points his thumb at himself.

I ignore his cheesiness and instead said, "You have to go already". I look down at my shoes. Everyone is always leaving.

Naruto places both of his hands on my shoulders and forces me to look up at him He is still smiling, but it is softer and more grownup. "I'll be back. I promise".

We are silent for a moment before Akio's father awkwardly coughs next to us. I look away from my brother and look up at him. I forgot he was here. "Who are you?" Asked Naruto, coming off as rude even though he did not mean to.

Akio's father brushes off Naruto's bad manners before he said, "I'm Hiroaki Suzuki, jonin. My son is friends with your sister. She stayed with us last night when she couldn't find you before curfew last night." He explains.

"oh yeah", Naruto said scratching his head. "Her friend Akito."

"Akio", I mumble at him.

"Akio", Naruto corrects. There is a long drawled out moment where no one says anything. "So why are you here?" Naruto asked us, looking more at Akio's father than at me.

Man Naruto is slow. "So you can tell me where our apartments were rebuilt before you go off to war; leaving me homeless for the duration of it". I said in a deadpanned voice. But really I am smiling on the inside. I love Naruto. That thought leaves me frozen for a moment. I love Naruto. I never thought I would love someone again since my family died. But I do have a family here. That thought unfreezes me and a smile grows on my face as I watch Naruto scratch the back of his head as common sense kicks in.

"Oh yeah", he said. "Well they rebuilt everything exactly where it was before so you should be able to find it", he said, making me feel dumb for a moment. Of course everything is the same. The academy was in the same spot as it was before. I did not think this through. "But the locks are new, and I don't know where you can go to get your new key". Naruto stops scratching his head and reaches into his pants pocket. "So you can just take my key and stay at my place until you figure it out. That you way you can water my plants and stuff until I come back". He said as he pulls out his key.

I hold out my hand, palm facing up and follow the key with my eyes as he drops it into my hand. I close my fingers around the key, noticing how cold the metal feels in my palm as I ask, "You have plants?"

Naruto shrugs. "I think I do".

I smirk at him, but Akio's father does not seem to like Naruto's solution. "Excuse me", He said, drawing both Naruto's and my attention. "You're about to leave on a long mission, possibly for the entirety of the war and you haven't made any plans for you sister?" He asked accusingly.

Naruto flinches and looks at Akio's father wide eyed, and I take a step away from him and closer to Naruto. "Suzuki-san", I say after a moment. "It is okay. Naruto is not my brother by blood, and I have lived alone since I came to Konoha". I finished just as Akio's father holds up a hand to stop me from talking.

"Since he calls himself your older brother then he has claimed some responsibility of you. And war is not a time to leave your family with no plan. What if the village is attacked again? What if you don't make it back?" Akio's father said in a scolding voice. But his last question makes me react.

Naruto will not die in this war! He is Naruto. Naruto can do anything that is not too academic. I believe in him. "What do you mean not come back?" I asked, my voice getting higher. "Naruto always comes back. He-" But I do not finish because I am taken by surprise when Naruto suddenly bows at a ninety degree angle to Akio's father.

"I didn't think about that", Naruto said, still bowed. "I apologize but please look after Manami when I'm gone". His voice is serious and firm. I step away from both of them, with my mouth hanging open a bit. This is the most mature I have ever seen Naruto act. What happened when I was in T&I? Or has he always been like this when times are tough?

Akio's father nods solemnly, apparently mollified. "Eventually my wife and I will be called away from the village for the war, but until then Manami is welcomed in our home. And when we do leave I'm sure the family we have asked to look after Akio will not mind hosting Manami either". This time his voice is softer, with no trace of disapproval.

"Thank you!" Naruto exclaims before he straightens open out of his bow. It takes me a moment to remember to close my mouth before Naruto turns to me. "I have to go now, but hold on to that key for me, just in case I do have plants. I'll be back for it. I promise". Naruto said softly as he pulls me into one last hug before walking out of the gates of Konoha with a few other shinobi.

I stare down at the key in my hand. So it is actually happening. Konoha is at war.