A/N Welcome back!

Yay~ for another chapter and such...

I don't really have anything to clarify or comment on this time so I'll let you guys (and females) get with the reading.

I present Chapter 9 of Tender Sea: Revamped.

~Chapter 9 - THE NEW TEAM 7

"Welcome back." Itachi greeted, much to her surprise, as she dragged herself into the compound.

"Thanks." Miyu ruffled his hair with a smile.

"You look tired," He commented, "And Chichi-ue wants to see you."

"Ah…" Miyu nodded and made a beeline for the lounge. Fugaku was sitting comfortably, reading over some scrolls, possibly written by his subordinates.

"Sit." He motioned to the chair across from him and she settled down. "I heard something interesting yesterday," he began, "You have managed to manifest the Sharingan."

"So it seems." The blonde replied, schooling her expressions.

"Show me." It was a brisk order and she complied. She didn't miss how his breath caught or how his expression changed as it was revealed, "Three tomoes... how much do you know about your eyes?" Fugaku chose to ask after a moment of silence.

"The Sharingan is a kekkai genkai, a dojutsu which in known to appear in the Uchiha clan," Miyu detailed, "It allows the user to see chakra flow and also gives colour to it. That, allows us to differentiate between them and also see if a person is under the influence of a genjutsu. It also gives the user increased clarity of perception. Seeing and reading subtle actions, tracking fast movements, predicting future moves. It can help copy almost any technique I witness, as long as my body has the necessary requirements to preform them, and finally it also has specific hypnotic abilities." She checked off everything she knew.

"That's correct," Fugaku noted with an approving nod, "It seems you know more than I expect."

"I did some research." She replied, not completely untruthful.

"Hn." He sat there contemplatively. Her possession of the Sharingan changed many things. "If you ever need help training them I will be available." Fugaku intoned, "As part of the clan you are granted access to the clan's scrolls. Before there would have been nothing notable for you but we do have some scrolls on the Sharingan if you wish to pursue knowledge."

"Thank you." Miyu was slightly shocked at his hospitality.

"I'm confident you will be able to handle yourself." He continued, "After all you are an Uchiha."

The week flew by fast. Early mornings with Gai, attending the Academy with Iruka, afternoons with Minato and his team, training with Kushina, and then dinner at the compound before she went to bed, woke up, and repeated it again. No dreaming of past memories, only worrying about the impending doom. She merely trained and trained, trying to get her fragile body into a somewhat reliable state.

"Have a nice day Miyu-chan." An Uchiha named Kazuo stated with a small smile. Beside him was his mostly silent partner. She remembered them as the men who had flanked Ichirou, though it seemed Fugaku had appointed them to escort her instead.

"Hai, I'll see you later then Kazuo-san, you too Jun-san." The shorter haired Jun gave a slight nod before they walked back to the compound. It was a simple job but otherwise created the desired effect. Some other parents and students that had arrived noticed this and took it as a sign she had been properly inducted into the clan.

It is effective, Kurama commented, choosing to follow her to school today.

"Come one gaki, get in class." Her sensei arrived behind her and dragged the girl in with him. He didn't stop even when he entered their classroom. "We'll be sparring today!" He called out. As soon as they had heard her classmates filed out, apparently used to his behaviour. Needless to say, after several rounds a sparing and a brief amount of time spent on target practice, Miyu could happily say that while her skills had degraded, she was still better than a class of academy students.

"Hey Miyu, what are you doing?" the brunet she was with looked over her shoulder and focused his attention on the book she held.

"Reading." She replied distractedly.

"I know that…we are in the library after all." Iruka commented sarcastically, "I meant what you're reading." At the moment anything was more interesting than practising hand seals like the girl had suggested.

"…Sealing." Her response was hesitant.

"Sealing? Like how to make explosive tags and stuff?" Her friend remembered back to a particular class.

"Yes. Seals can be very useful and I want to master them." The blonde admitted.

"Really? What can you do with them?"

"What can't you do with them?" A passionate light lit up in her eyes as she put her book down.

Careful there. Kurama warned.

"You can store practically anything which makes it convenient, practical and deadly." Miyu began, "Dead or alive, tangible or not. Hidden weapons, weightless luggage, bottomless pockets, anything. Even Minato's signature jutsu relies heavily on the use of seals."

"Really?...They sounds super useful." Iruka pondered over the thought, "Do you think I could learn to make them?" He asked. After all, if seals were easy there would be more seal masters available.

"Sure, anyone could if they work hard enough," Miyu shrugged, "You just need to be patient and read a lot."

"I don't mind reading." The boy replied. She wondered if she should push him down this path. Seals were a finicky thing and not many knew how to use them. Maybe she would add another to the ranks. From what she had learnt during the first couple of days Iruka did try his hardest in class, it was just he stumbled once in a while and no one was there to correct him as he learnt something wrong, though she'd have to give it to him, when he did learn something wrong he'd learn it well. He was a bit slower on some topics and as Saito-sensei moved on he tried to as well, struggling on the next topic since the first went unfinished. She had found out that just a little input from her now and then helped him go miles. It was if the last piece of a puzzle slid into place in his mind and all of a sudden everything made sense. It was also a plus that he had nice handwriting.

"I'll go find you a beginners book to take home and read," Miyu offered, standing from her seat, "If you have any questions I'll be glad to help."

"That would be awesome." He said sincerely with an award winning grin, "Thanks."

2 Months later - Team Assignment Day

"Great job today!" Gai complimented though the small girl beside him was practically lying on the ground due to exhaustion.

"Hah…thanks…" Miyu panted, perfectly content to stay there until she caught her breath. She still didn't get how the spandex-wearing teen could train so much. Though it only took a moment for her own body to recover and jog back to the compound, parting ways with Gai somewhere in the short journey.

"Welcome back." Itachi greeted, already up as usual. He held Kurama in his arms and together they both made a cute picture, looking slightly rumpled from sleep.

Welcome back kit. The fox yawned a small greeting with his eyes still closed. Miyu patted both their heads fondly before leading them back inside.

"Come have some breakfast you three." Mikoto called from the kitchen. She had already set the table including a bowl on the floor for Kurama. Fugaku was absent, but Miyu had seen him this morning before he left for his rounds. So far she hadn't done anything to displease him, in fact she was something he would be able to take pride in. "To think you'd become Rookie of the Year!" The woman let out a blissful sigh, "I know he doesn't comment but I think Fugaku's delighted." The blonde though that 'delighted' might have been stretching it but…she wouldn't argue with whatever made the woman happy.

"Itadakimasu." The two children called before digging into their food. Itachi finished first. It was surprising that he could eat so fast while still retaining all his table manners. Once done he hurried to find a hair tie before coming back to the table. It was a strange routine that had developed where the young Uchiha would help tie up her hair. It began maybe a month or so back, where she had opted to chop off her overgrown locks instead of tying it up each day. She would have done it to, had Mikoto not stopped her.

Apparently it was, in the woman's words, 'such a waste…' so she had dutifully ordered, for lack of a better word, her son to help his 'onee-san'. Itachi hadn't mind, and he was strangely proficient at braiding it for her. These days she was beginning to think he found it slightly enjoyable. His fingers were quick and deft as they ran through her hair. There's was never any pain besides the slight tugs when he caught a knot.

"Thanks." She praised the boy once he had finished, ruffling his hair much to his discontent.

"It was nothing." He sidestepped out of her reach, and went to go help his mother.

Are you ready to go? Miyu looked down to see Kurama nudging one of her legs. In the foxes mouth was a hitai-ate, a leaf carved onto the steel which was sewn onto longer-than-average black material.

"As ready as I'll ever be." The girl bent down to pick up the headband, tying it securely around her neck.

She barely made it in on time, climbing through the window with the fox draped around her shoulders just as Saito-sensei walked in through the door. He gave her a strange look but otherwise disregarded her ruffled appearance. Iruka cheerfully waved her over to her usual seat next to him at the back of the class, startled by her new hair, just like everyone else. "Morning." She sighed flopping down. He bristled in excitement but didn't dare speak when their teacher glared at the two.

"Alright brats, it's nice to see you all have you headbands on." Saito said gruffly, "I'd like to personally welcome you to the ninja world, congratulations." He paused as the passing class cheered. "You might be happy now but keep in mind that we're in a war people, so welcome to the harsh reality of ninja life!" The cheering quietened down and was replaced with nervous glances, "From now we will be appointing you to teams of three, two students and a jounin sensei." He seemed to have caught Miyu's attention with the unusual grouping, "Usually it would be teams of four with three students but while we are in this war the number has been cut down to quickly make more efficient teams. A smaller size is exactly what we need at the moment. It'll make it easier to move around when on a mission. We will be pairing you brats according to your performance in the graduation exam. Remember whoever you're paired with should be around your skill level."

"This war must be quite bad," Miyu sighed softly.

Of course it is, but it'll be ending anytime now… The fox reassured as Saito began the team announcements.

"Team 1 will be Uchiha Ichirou…" Miyu instantly tuned out as the boy gloated about being on team number one.

It looks like they're avoiding teams which have two girls, smart choice. Oh? You're Team 7, like always… it'll be a fun team… What team? She thought having missed her name while looking out the window. I didn't hear it at all. You'll just have to wait and see, the fox sniffed haughtily, hopefully this will teach you to be more attentive.

"Baka-fox," She muttered. She probably could've asked Iruka but he looked busy, scribbling into a worn notebook. She had seen the insides before and frankly she was amazed. Everything he hadn't understood had been broken down and analysed completely, and while for academy notes it might not have been big, when done with jutsus, they could be simplified for pretty much anyone to learn. Saito had left after the announcements, so it was no good trying to find him either. She just hoped her sensei wouldn't be three hours late.

"Team 1?" A lazy voice called. Miyu almost did a double take seeing the lazy strategist walk in but calmed herself as she noticed who it really was, "I'm Nara Shikaku, you're jounin sensei, follow me." He had some bandages across the right of his face so she assumed he was absent from the frontlines due to injury. After an unknown jounin came for team two Shikaku's usual teammates also came to pick up a team. The fact the Inoichi was a man and Choza had bright red hair meant she didn't confuse them with their future children.

"Team 5." Said another unknown ninja, picking up her students. As she left there was some gloomy footsteps as the next ninja walked in.

"Team 6?" A familiar, red-haired woman appeared, dressed in the standard jounin uniform. She seemed slightly depressed and moody, Miyu couldn't help but wonder why.

"Kushina-neechan, what's wrong?" She decided to ask. The woman instantly turned on her with comical tears.

"That damn Sarutobi already decided on the team placements so now I have to train some bratty kids and I can't even have you!" Her team was a little annoyed that they had been referred to as bratty but wisely kept silent.

"There, there." Miyu comforted patting the woman's back. Iruka gave her a confused look but she would explain the mysterious lady later.

"Damn you Hyuga-teme!" Kushina shouted in despair. Miyu was fairly confused by her outcry, wondering what a Hyuga could've done to make the woman that emotional. Kurama chuckled in the back of her mind while outwardly lazing on the desk, obviously knowing the reason.

"Team 7." A deep voice called, interrupting Kushina's pity party. She quickly turned and growled ferally at him. A tall man with long, brown hair looked at her blankly with pale, pupiless eyes. "Meet me at training ground 7 in five minutes." He disappeared in a swirl of leaves while both students raced to get there in time, seeing as it was at least a fifteen minute walk away. Kushina herself walked dejectedly out of the classroom with her students following along.

"That was…hah…surprising…" Iruka panted as they reached the training grounds. Miyu was in a similar state but was happy to have made it in time. They had dashed straight from the classroom and probably set the record of three minutes and a couple of seconds.

"This is a pleasant surprise." The Hyuga male said with a ghost of a smile, "You both ran? And got here on time?" Each student nodded. "I'm beginning to expect great things from you two."

"Hai! Please take care of us, Sensei!" Both students saluted with silly grins and bowed.

"Well let's go through some quick introductions. I am Hyuga Hizashi your jounin sensei," Miyu blinked in recognition, so this was Neji's father then? "I'm currently absent from the battlefield due to the birth of my son." He gave Iruka a look to go next.

"Nice to meet you, my name's Umino Iruka!" He greeted mostly towards his new sensei rather than his friend who already knew, "I'm 9 years old and it's my dream to protect this village like my parents."

"Konichiwa , I am Namikaze Miyu and I turned 8 in October." It also happened to be the day she had slipped into the past. "And this is my partner Kurama." Hizashi looked at her thoughtfully. Also wondering how the fox managed to make it here on time.

"So this must be the Uchiha Namikaze Uzumaki child I heard about." Their sensei scrutinized her form as she spoke, "It's quite amazing to find all three differing bloods rolled into one. I'm glad Minato and Kushina have found some long lost relative though I wish you weren't an Uchiha." His tone was light and cheerful leading her to believe maybe the clan rivalry wasn't too bad after all.

We can only hope. Kurama yipped from beside her.

"It's been a long time since we've had a kunoichi as the rookie of the year. You might have inherited not just their blood, but talent as well." Hizashi continued, "And you Iruka-kun, it'll be interesting to see the boy who rose so quickly from the bottom in just a couple of months." The brunet blushed happily, thankful his grades had been pulled up. "Undoubtedly a hard worker." Iruka shot Miyu a thankful and proud look. It was all the time they spent studying or training together that had led to his 'level up'.

"Alright," Hizashi clapped his hands to get their attention, "Even though you've graduated you aren't exactly genins yet."

"What do you mean, Sensei?" Iruka questioned confused though Miyu had fully expected this.

"There's one more test academy graduates are required to complete if they want to stay ninjas. Otherwise it's back to academy if you still want to try again." Hizashi explained.

"What is it?!" Iruka asked excitedly, eager to prove his worth.

"Well originally I was going to try the bell test, but it seems Kushina has claimed that one this time," He seemed to be thinking up one on the spot, not noticing the little girl perk up as her former test was mentioned, "I don't feel like playing hide and seek with you two to test your tracking skills either…let's just spar then. If you can score one hit each you pass." He shot a calm and disarming smile towards them, but Miyu was on red alert.

"Iruka, we've got to be careful," She tugged on his sleeve to get attention, something their sensei didn't miss, "This will be difficult."

"Why?" He replied confused. Kurama thumped the boy on the leg with his tail.

"You can't be serious." His face remained confused and Miyu sighed, "If you would Kurama." The fox simply pulled out an item too large to have been in his fur, amazing Hizashi. He then tossed it to the boy, catching him unaware as it slapped into his face.

"Guide to dojutsu?" Iruka read aloud. The Hyuga was surprised yet again, had the girl been looking through dojutsu?

"Page 32." Miyu commanded. Instantly Iruka sat down, cross-legged as he flipped to the correct page and immersed himself in learning.

"I was told you two had a strange relationship, I guess it's true." Their sensei noted.

"Strange?" Miyu echoed.

"For a nine year old boy to obediently listen to a girl younger than him," Hizashi explained, "Usually they'd be in their rebellious stage, too overconfident and outgoing to simply sit and read." He pointed to the sitting boy and chuckled, "Maybe you could say he's been tamed." The fox snorted in agreement.

"Tamed? In the first place Iruka wasn't that wild… aside from a couple of pranks. But we've been studying a lot at the library so he created a sort of study mode." She explained, gesturing towards the now quiet boy, "And he trust I wouldn't give him a useless book." Hizashi hummed in thought. Despite her young appearance, she spoke and acted much older. "Regardless, Iruka will be a great ninja no matter what," She stated confidently. The boy in question would've blushed if he weren't so immersed in reading, "I just wanted to help."

"Hmm." Hizashi noted some suspicious chakra signatures nearby. He wasn't the only one seeing how Miyu had turned to look around, something he definitely noticed.

"Done!" Iruka chirped standing up. He handed the book back to the fox and pointed proudly at Hizashi, "You almost fooled me but now I know all about the Byakugan…or at least what was written in the book!" Hizashi raised a single brow in response watching as the boy suddenly stated and began looking around. "Uh, Miyu? Is there someone else here, somewhere around the trees over there?" Both the girl and her teacher were surprised at his accuracy.

The boy has talent in becoming a sensory ninja, the fox commented, maybe you can push him to go farther than his other self. That's the idea. She reminded the fox.

"Can you elaborate?" Hizashi asked curiously.

"Yeah, there are three chakra sources over there. Two are pretty small while the third is really big." Iruka pointed at their rough positions.

"You're getting really good with this chakra sensing thing you do." Miyu complimented with the Hyuga nodding in agreement.

"True, but for now let's ignore them and start our own test," Hizashi activated the Hyuga's signature jutsu, shown as the veins near his temple bulged. He gave them both a once over, staring at Miyu for a good while longer, before sliding into his stance, "I'll be mostly judging you on your taijutsu, whenever you're ready."

"Kurama, sit this one out for now." Miyu commanded. The fox nodded and padded a short distance away. "Iruka, try to aim for the back on his neck." Miyu said quietly enough for their teacher not to hear them. The boy nodded and slid into his own stance, an improvised and ever growing version of the basic academy style. "I'll create an opening and you can go for it." He nodded as she suddenly disappeared from sight, signalling the start of their assault.

"Hm?" Hizashi quickly raised his arm and blocked what looked like a dropkick. He felt the unusual heaviness of the attack and slid back a couple of centimetres. "Good strength," He turned slightly and brought an arm to block the incoming Iruka. Seeing he had lost his opportunity the boy jumped back and watched for another opening, "Smart move." Miyu quickly twisted herself around and launched a barrage of fast strikes. All aimed for his vitals he noticed. He felt Iruka sneaking up on him once again and blocked another jab, grabbing a thin wrist while he was at it, and sweeping Miyu's front leg off the ground before throwing her at her teammate. Kurama snort in amusement as the boy went down under her.

"Nng," Miyu rolled off Iruka with a grunted apology and set herself back on her feet. She was a bit put off he had thrown her so easily.

It's because you're tiny… She growled at the fox, who had knowingly hit a sensitive subject. I'm not a midget! I said you were tiny, not a midget, though… The fox yipped in laughter. She chose to ignore him this time around and once again launched herself at her new teacher. He was as prepared as she expected and easily began countering her strikes. Iruka carefully circled around, looking for an opening as he edged closer. They blocked and parried each other's strikes and Hizashi momentarily forgot about his other student. By the time he sensed him coming in he was late to react and got caught with a nasty blow to the shoulder which he retaliated with a punch in the offender's gut. He was caught by a harsh punch to his side from his other student and he was quick to react by kicking her back. He stepped out of their range and scowled slightly knowing that he was going to be getting a pair of new bruises. With their goal accomplished, both genins jumped back a safe distance to check their own injuries. Iruka with a hand over his stomach and a grimace on his face, and Miyu dusting off a foot print on the side of her shirt.

"Honestly I'm surprised." Hizashi told them, "I didn't expect a pair of freshly minted genin to actually land a blow. Good job, you pass." Both students instantly relaxed and hive fived each other wincing as they felt their own oncoming bruises.

I don't know about Iruka but I'm sure that bruise will be gone within the hour. Kurama added. Miyu hadn't heard him, too caught up in her most recent achievement.

"Yeah!" Both students cheered enthusiastically. He allowed them their moment, marvelling at the ease they each fell into their own team role. That sort of teamwork could only come from having trained together.

"It seemed you quickly came up with a plan," Hizashi analysed, "Which involved using Miyu as a distraction, and went headfirst into the battle. You both also seem to have a tight grasp on the basics and have a fairly good amount of strength, something that initially caught me off guard. In the end as long as you both showed adequate teamwork I would have passed you." They smiled brightly at him, obviously pleased with themselves. "As far as I can see, Miyu would be the leader in this case but it also seems like she takes the harsher roles like directly confronting me to give you a chance, Iruka. At the same time you seem to have unwavering trust in her and follow her orders to the best of your abilities." Hizashi rubbed the back of his neck unconsciously, "Was there a particular reason why you aimed for the back of my neck?" he asked the boy.

"I just did as Miyu asked," Iruka answered. Hizashi nodded and shrugged it off.

"Well it doesn't matter that much in the end. Anyway with my Byakugan I was able to examine your chakra levels during the fight. Iruka, you have more chakra than I expected, somewhere in the high genin to low chuunin mark. While Miyu, you seem to have an outrageously large amount for a freshly minted genin, maybe in the high chuunin levels. It seems like your fox has somehow developed chakra coils as well, which is strange, but not impossible. Maybe it can learn some handy skills." While he contemplated the thought a figure jumped down from the tree with two children over her shoulders.

"Haha! You lost!" Kushina shouted at Hizashi's slightly amused face.

"That I did, and now I have a pair of cute students." Though his voice was kept monotonous both students looked happy with the comments, though Iruka being a boy would deny this. "I can tell it won't be the same for you," He looked at the unconscious genins she carried. It new knowledge in the new Team 7 that Kushina and her two genins were probably the chakra signature hidden in the trees, though it was an unspoken fact that it wasn't nearly enough time for her to have adequately tested her students.

"Of course! No brat's are going to beat me any time soon." She replied confidently. Iruka blushed slightly looking up at the pretty lady.

"Um, was there a reason you were watching us?" he asked nervously.

"I needed to make sure my little Miyu was safe." She sent waves of her love at the blonde girl and glared at the Hyuga, "If only I could've been her sensei."

"Who is she?" The scarred boy asked his friend.

"That's Uzumaki Kushina, Minato's girlfriend." Miyu explained, while he finally nodded in understanding.

"So she'll like your aunt then?" he asked innocently.

"So it seems," Hizashi interrupted, "I need to inform Hokage-sama of the new team. You should probably do the same, Kushina." Hizashi told his comrade before turning to his students, "From tomorrow onwards Team 7 is to meet here at 6:00am sharp."

"Hai, Hizashi-sensei!" The students called back. He chuckled softly to himself, maybe a genin team wouldn't be too bad.

A/N Thank you for reading~

So Fugaku gets to be all up in any doubter's face with his Sharingan-wielding daughter... (That's an awkward sentence to right...)

Miyu in this story does not cut off her 'Long, Glorious, Golden Hair'. Instead it serves to prompt sibling relationships. (I figured Itachi would be pretty good with ...anything...a prodigy through and through ahahaha)

She's back on Team 7, for the sake of sentimentality and tradition...and she gets Hizashi as her sensei. Reason being...I don't quite know but it happened...

Anyway, I'll see you people next time :D