It was just another normal evening for Kikyo and Hotaru. Sasuke went on a hunting trip with Itachi-san and Naruto was grounded for playing a prank on the Third Hokage so it was just the two Tadashi girls that day.

At first they decided to train… but Mama got mad because first: they broke about five bokken. And second: they tracked dirt into the house… that's always a bad idea.

So, instead of nearly being killed the girls decided to test their agility and evasion tactics against one another… A. K. A., they were playing tag.

"You're it! Ha!" Kikyo proclaimed triumphantly and took off before the green haired girl could tag back.

"Kikyo! Hey! That wasn't fair!" Hotaru shouted after her, chasing. Kikyo would glance back every now and again, glad she was able to keep a steady speed and keep up with the other girl or rather in this case keep away. She glanced back again, but noticed that Hotaru had slowed her pace and began looking around at the trees. "Hey Kikyo, where are we?" she asked.

The kunoichi-to-be just smirked. "That trick doesn't work on me, Hotaru!" Like she could be fooled so easily.

"No, I'm serious! Where are we?" She stopped running altogether and looked around, perplexed.

Kikyo stopped too, but kept her distance. She looked around before frowning herself. "I don't know. I guess we wandered a little too far."

If my internal compass is right we should be near the wall, possibly not too far from the Uchiha compound, but that's just a guess-stimation.

"We should head back," Hotaru told her, feeling anxious.

"Aw, don't be such a crybaby," she scoffed, tired of Hotaru being a wet blanket. "Let's explore!" Kikyo gave her a small grin and started off deeper into the forest.

"Kikyo! I really think we should head back!" Hotaru sounded nervous.

"Oh don't be such a worry-wart!" She waved the other girl off.

"You always say that!"

"But you're still always a kill-joy."

"Kikyo~!"

"Hotaru~!" she mocked right back at the cry baby.

Hotaru froze suddenly. "Kikyo. I think we should go now." she stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

The brunette just rolled her eyes. If Hotaru was going to be like this then she could just go back home and Kikyo would continue on her own. "You can if you want to, but I'm not."

"Kikyo, seriously," Hotaru hissed, grabbing her arm. Kikyo's eyebrow twitched, but she let it slide considering Hotaru really did look scared. "There are people here. People I don't recognize."

Was that all? "There are probably a bunch of people you don't recognize in the village, Hotaru. Stop freaking over nothing."

"Kikyo, I have a bad feeling."

"You always have a bad feeling." She was going to go on, but the anxiety in the other girl's face caused her to sigh. "If you really don't want to run into them, we can just go another way." Stupid lame scaredy cat cousins and their stupid scaredy catness. But the more they walked, the more curious Kikyo got of whomever was making Hotaru so jumpy. Just a quick look at who they were and the girls would be on their way. Kikyo diverged from the little route Hotaru was making for them and headed in the direction she didn't want to go. Hotaru made a very exasperated face before following the adventurous brunette who was finally close enough to see the people for herself. There were two of them. They were big and looked strong, but soon Kikyo's attention went to their foreheads. The symbol the men were wearing was not the swirly leaf symbol, but four small swiggles instead.

Kikyo furrowed her brow. That symbol, it had to be the one for the Village Hidden in the Mist. But why were they here of all places? Foreign shinobi on Konoha soil, and so close to the compounds too. They were so dead if they didn't have a good reason.

"What are you doing?" she hissed as Kikyo approached the men.

"Ninja from other villages aren't supposed to be here," the brunette announced. "I'm gonna ask why they are."

"Kikyo, I don't think that's a good idea. We should go back and get Daddy or Ryu-oji or—"

"Hey you!" she shouted at the men with a sneer on her face.

"Or not," Hotaru muttered.

Both of the ninja turned to them at Kikyo's shout. Their eyes went from the brunette to the green haired girl behind her. They both then darted their eyes back between Hotaru and a piece of paper in their hands several times. Something made Kikyo's stomach drop, but she kept her composure. Papa said that appearance was everything when it came to intimidating those bigger than you. "What do you think you're doing here?" Kikyo demanded, hands on her hips. "You're in Konoha territory, foreign ninja aren't supposed to be here."

One of the men smirked. "I'll tell you what we're doing here. Or better yet, show you." And he was there, faster than her eyes could follow and his foot made contact with the square of her chest and the girl felt herself fly and her back slammed against a tree hard enough that the breath was knocked out of her. She let out a gasp as she watched as the other jerk scooped Hotaru under his arm his arm like she was a ball or something and smirked.

Then Hotaru did something that Kikyo never expected her to. She took a page from Kikyo's book and pulled her bokken out, both girls carried them at all times now that they were older, swinging it with all her might in between the grown man's legs. She was so proud. The brunette would have laughed if only she could just catch her damn breath!

The jerk face howled in pain and dropped her cousin on the ground. "Shit!" the other exclaimed and turned back to get Hotaru only for the bokken to break over his skull.

Shit.

"Ow! Damn it!" Hotaru used the opportunity to try and run in Kikyo's direction but the asshole had recovered enough to grab the girl by the ponytail.

"Kyaah!" Hotaru screamed in pain and it felt like a switch had been turned on. Kikyo snarled and lunged, swinging her bokken and making contact with the shinobi's eye. Good, she friggin hoped it blinded him! She didn't care if the sword was wooded or even if it was made of plastic, she would cut his arm off for doing that! She didn't have to though because the blow to the eye was enough for him to let go of the other girl.

The crotch shot guy recovered and boy was he pissed. "You damned little brats!" he snarled. Kikyo took a swing at him, but he caught her bokken and jerked it away before breaking it over his leg.

Well… fuck.

Kikyo pulled Hotaru back, as far as she could from the men. They had nearly knocked Kikyo into next week yet all they did to Hotaru was pick her up and to Kikyo that made their motives oh so clear. These douchebags were after Hotaru.

"Hotaru, go get help," Kikyo ordered.

"Not so fast." The pissed crotch shot guy grabbed her by the neck and lifted her up to eye level. Kikyo clawed and bit at his palm but he wouldn't loosen his grip. "The Jinchuriki is going with us." Kikyo didn't have time to wonder what the hell a Jinchuriki even was because his other hand came around so fast it was a blur, making contact with the girl's temple and he let go with his other, allowing her to fly down to the ground and land hard on her side and roll.

It hurt.

A lot.

Kikyo bit the inside of her cheek and ignored the feel of warm liquid coming down the side of her head.

"KIKYO!" Hotaru screeched and the other picked her up even through all her kicking, punching and screaming.

"These damned fucking brats!" the other exclaimed as his used his strength to forcibly hold down Hotaru's arms to tie them in the pack.

"Stop it! That hurts!" Angry tears leaked from her eyes.

"If you weren't such a fussy little demon we wouldn't have to." Crotch shot guy scolded.

That was when Kikyo stood again. Her vision was brimmed in red and she spat the blood from her mouth. "Let. Her. Go." Her fists tightened.

"No! Kikyo run!" Hotaru's voice was scared and pleading which just made Kikyo angrier at those bastards for scaring her stupid cousin like that. "Go get Daddy! Or Ryu-oji! Please just run!"

Crotch shot guy chuckled. "Ringo, hold the Jinchuriki." He pulled out brass knuckles and slipped them on his hands. There was that word again. What did it mean?

"Don't you think we should take her with us as well?" The other guy asked as he held Hotaru.

"Nah, the Jinchuriki was our only target. What would they say if we just bring some snot nosed brat with us? It's quicker to just kill the extra."

"No, stop it!" Hotaru started to cry.

Kikyo cracked her knuckles. "You're not going anywhere with my stupid cousin."

"And you're going to stop us?" Crotch shot guy had an evil look in his eye.

"Even if I don't the others will because you know why?" The man was fast, almost as fast as Kitsune when she sparred. Kikyo ducked under and came in close. Always use your size to your advantage. Her knee came up in between his legs again and as his head bent a little in pain hers came up and made contact with his chin. She then swung her foot around and leg checked his knee just like how Itachi-san showed her to do. The man flipped backwards to gain some distance, holding his sore area and his red jaw clenched. "Because you don't mess with the Tadashi clan unless you want to end up dead." Kikyo shifted her weight into a back stance, great for getting in close and hopping around a larger opponent. He lunged again, but before Kikyo could reach him his foot reached her and swung into her arm and she could have sworn she heard a snapping sound in her upper arm. "Gah!" His brass knuckles came across her face and slammed hard into her jaw, causing a tooth to come out.

"Hurry up and end it already. Someone might be looking for the brats by now."

"Tch, you're no fun." He pulled a kunai and slashed over Kikyo's front. The girl watched as her own blood flew in all directions and her legs finally gave away. Kikyo felt herself fall to the ground and hit the grass.

"There, was that so hard?"

"But it was boring." The other sighed.

"Kikyo? Kikyo? Kikyo Kikyo Kikyo Kikyo!" Hotaru repeated over and over through hiccups and snotty tears. She wanted nothing more than to respond. She wanted to get back up, tell her stupid cousin to stop being such a cry baby and act like a Tadashi and to kick these jerks' asses! But she couldn't. She told her arms and legs to move, she told them to get back up and keep fighting, but on God it hurt. Everything hurt so much. Kikyo blinked back the painful tears, Papa told her that to cry when hurt was a sign of weakness and that real ninja don't. So she pulled them back the best she could, but it got much harder when all she could do was watch as the two men disappeared with Hotaru behind the trees. The girl choked it back even harder when she couldn't even see them anymore. Kikyo tried again to move, but it just kept getting harder and harder. She could feel the entire front of her clothes warm and wet and her eyelids getting heavier. She never meant to close them, it just happened. And when it did Kikyo couldn't remember anything of what happened next.

…

The next thing Kikyo knew she was lying in a warm bed and light was coming from the window. She took a deep breath but it hurt and she looked around the room. No one would have to tell her she was in a hospital, she could tell just by the chemical smells and the doodle carvings in the walls (recovering ninja get bored easy). After a struggle that was more painful than she'd like to admit, the girl was finally able to sit up. Her entire chest hurt and she could feel stitching and bandages all over her front, her right arm was in a cast and no doubt was broken, and there was bandaging going over and around her head, even covering up her left eye because one of the blows she took was so close to it.

"Kikyo, you're awake?" a voice asked suddenly and the girl's head snapped up to see her father there in the doorway.

"Papa." It all came crashing back down. "P-Papa, H-Hotaru! S-she… I…" The girl balled her hands into fists and choked herself back again.

She felt a strong hand on her head. "I know Kikyo. Hotaru's back home now, safe and sound. You were able to stall them long enough to draw attention. Hotaru was safely retrieved not even an hour later."

"Sh-she's safe?" The girl kept stumbling over her words in an attempt to calm herself back down.

"Kikyo," her father stated in a harsh, scolding tone. "What you did was irresponsible and not only put Hotaru in danger, but you were nearly killed in the process. Do not ever act so recklessly again, do you hear me?"

The brunette sniffed a few times and wiped her face on her sheets. "Yes Papa."

"When encountering suspicion the shinobi acts with haste and caution. Hesitation or carelessness leads to death."

"I know."

"No you don't!" His voice rose and she winced. "You nearly died today and your cousin was abducted! You do not know!"

"Yes Papa." Kikyo bit her jaw to keep it from trembling.

"You're extremely lucky your uncle and I came when we did!"

"Yes Papa."

"Those were full grown jonin shinobi! Do you even realize?! Realize how fortunate you are to even be alive?!"

"Yes Papa."

"I don't—"

"Papa?"

"What?!" He was making one of his scary face that he made whenever he was angry.

"I want to carry a sword. A real sword." She looked up at him. "I want to get stronger so this doesn't happen again. Next time something like this happens I want to be able to fight."

He paused. "I'll think about it. We'll see how it goes once you're out of the hospital and how you behave afterwards."

"Yes sir."

"And if I were you I would wipe my face and get ahold of myself." She turned her head back up to him and felt something that had been brimming in her eye fall. She quickly wiped her face on her sheets again, hoping against hope he didn't see it. "Crying won't keep anyone safe Kikyo, it just hinders your vision and makes you susceptible to attack." He placed his hand on her head one more time before turning on his heel and almost slamming the door behind him.

…

"Mama I'm fine! Stop touching me!" Kikyo tried to push her mother away with her non-broken arm as the woman tried to adjust the bandages on her head.

"Kikyo, let me help you! Some of your stitches are showing!" The older brunette was halfway between anger and near tears.

"If they need adjusting then I can do it!" She pushed once more.

"Tadashi Kikyo!" her mother's voice was sharp. "You are seven years old and hurt and I am your mother! Let me take care of you!" Kikyo flinched, great, not one, but both her parents were mad at her now.

"Fine," she mumbled.

"Kikyo, you're my baby and I love you, but that stubbornness of yours is going to get you into a load of trouble one day." Izumi petted down her hair and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"We're here~!" Oji exclaimed too happily as he suddenly swung the hospital door open with his foot. His arms were full of stuffed animals, flowers, candy, and balloons. The rest of his family gave him a bland look from out in the hallway and the other two stared at him from the hospital bed.

"We hewe!" Suzume exclaimed, mimicking her father from the top of his shoulders.

"Hush you two!" Inoue shushed. "We're in a hospital!"

"Hehehe!" Kenshin cackled as he held his mother's hand.

"They mean well," Hotaru said with a smile, but it slid right off her face when she saw her cousin. "Hi." Dammit Hotaru! How dare she look so damn guilty!? It wasn't even her fault!

"Haha! Kiko wook wike a mummy!" Suzume went into a fit of giggles as her father placed all the stuff on the bed before letting his toddler down.

"I wanna wook wike a mummy too!" Kenshin tugged his mother's sleeve.

"No."

"Bakuryuu." Izumi lifted an eyebrow at him.

"What?" Her eyes darted to all the stuff then back to him with an almost scolding expression. "What?! My niece is in the hospital and I can't get her a few get well gifts?!" He held his arms up in defense.

"No, I expected a few presents… just not a stuffed animal army."

"I hewped pick dem owt!" Kenshin proclaimed, very proud.

"I bet you did, Sweety." Izumi smiled and picked him up to set in her lap.

Inoue searched the room. "Where's Ryunashi? I would expect him to be here right now."

Mama got a very dark look. "I wouldn't, not if he expects to continue on with his existence." Kikyo wasn't sure why, but Mama was mad at Papa.

"Uh oh~, what could he possibly have done?" Inoue almost back up from the expression.

"Come on, let's get some coffee from down the hall." She stood and placed the toddler next to Kikyo as the two women exited the room, already whispering before the door shut behind them.

"Oh no Ryunashi, what have you done?" Oji cringed as he remembered Mama's look.

"I dunno." Kikyo shrugged. Her mother had come in not long after her father had left and was coddling her so much it was driving her crazy!

"Anyway!" Oji clapped his hands together enthusiastically. "Let's move on to something else! We got candy and toys so let's play!"

"I made a cawd!" Kenshin waved his hand back and forth before showing a piece of paper with colored scribbles on it. "See! Hewes Suzu' an me an Howu-nee an hanji!" Seriously, scribbles.

"Suzume made you a card too." Hotaru pointed to her dark haired sister whom was holding a folded paper. "Come on, tell her what it says."

The toddler blinked up at her cousin then down at her card then back again. "Haha, you wost," the two year old said in the most blunt tone. Everyone in the room froze for a second, feeling the temperature drop.

Kikyo's eyebrow twitched, broke arm or not she was about to throw the two year old out the window.

"Oh look at that!" Oji checked his bare wrist nervously. "It's time for a potty break!" He scooped the to-be-doomed child up and carried her outside the room.

"Wait Daddy! I hav'ta potty too!" Kenshin slid off the bed and toddled after his father and sister.

"You're sister's gonna get it." Kikyo's eyebrow continued to twitch.

"She's two Kikyo."

"I don't care." She tried to cross her arms but ended up pouting because of her casted arm.

"Are you okay?" Hotaru fiddled with her fingers and avoided eye contact.

"Yeah, I've had worse." Kikyo examined herself, surely there was a time when her condition sucked worse… she just couldn't think of any at the moment. "What about you? How'd you get away? Did they hurt you?"

"They didn't get far. Daddy saved me." Hotaru sat on the side of the bed and hugged one of the teddy bears and pet its head.

"Oji?" Kikyo found it hard to believe that her goofy uncle could take out those guys.

"Daddy's stronger than he looks Kikyo." Hotaru gave her a look that said that she better not insult her daddy right now.

"Whatever," She rolled her eyes. "I'm just glad those asses didn't get away with it."

"Yeah," she said half-heartedly as she helped herself to some of the candy Oji brought for Kikyo.

Kikyo thought back to when it happened and just remembered something. "Hotaru?" The green haired girl looked up with her cheeks filled with chocolate like she was a chipmunk or something. "What's a Jinchuriki?" They had called Hotaru that twice that Kikyo knew of. It sounded like an insult or something. She almost felt bad for asking because Hotaru flinched and looked away, swallowing all the chocolate at once. "Never mind, it doesn't matter." Kikyo took a page from her cousin's book and grabbed some sweets.

Hotaru sighed. "I guess you should know. You'll probably just ask Ryu-oji or Izumi-oba or Kitsune-san anyway."

Well, she wasn't wrong.

"Jinchuriki means the power of human sacrifice in an old language."

"That's very helpful, thanks," she snarked.

"I wasn't done yet." Hotaru huffed. "It's a special term used to describe a special kind of person."

"We all knew you were special, Hotaru."

"Kikyo! Stop interrupting!" She made an annoyed face like she usually did when Kikyo was being particularly bothersome. "A Jinchuriki is a person that has a demon sealed inside them." She sighed again and wouldn't meet Kikyo's eyes anymore. "There are nine demons and so nine Jinchuriki. The demons are also called biju – you've heard of one: the Kyubi no Kitsune."

"Wait, you're—"

"No, Kikyo. That Jinchuriki was a newborn, I would have been about four months old. The demon sealed inside me is the Sanbi no Kyodaigame."

"So… you have a turtle in you?"

"…yes. Basically."

"And they wanted the turtle?" Hotaru nodded. "Why?"

"Because biju are powerful. They're beings made entirely of chakra. You've heard about the Kyubi, all biju are just as strong."

Kikyo pondered on this. Hotaru had some kind of big, powerful turtle monster – trust Hotaru to have the least scary kind of monster – trapped in that tiny little body of hers? Kind of makes sense out of her appetite though. Still, it was hard to imagine Hotaru had the kind of power the Kyubi did—wait, that's so unfair!

"You jerk!" Kikyo threw one of the stuffed animals at her cousin and hit the other seven year old in the face. "Do you even realize how much harder I'm going to have to train now?! Just to make sure I can match that?!"

There was a pause where Hotaru just looked like a confused puppy. "…Wait, what?"

"The power of the Kyubi?! Seriously, like this week couldn't get any worse!" Kikyo exclaimed as she threw her arms up in the air. "And now I can't even fricking train because of this fricking cast!" She waved her broken arm like it was the worst thing in the entire world.

"Bu-but I can't actually use—you're not gonna call me a demon?" Hotaru looked totally perplexed.

Kikyo looked back at her cousin with her own confusedblook. "Why the hell would I do that? Seriously Hotaru, of the two of us I'm the more demonic one." And damn proud of it too.

"B-but I… b-but you… b-but…"

"Now toss me the fricking chocolate! I need comfort food." It was probably the last she was gonna get for a while because she needed to start a training regimen when she got out of here.

"B-but… o-okay…"

…

Kikyo watched as Kitsune worked with Hotaru on her kenjutsu with a small scowl on her face. She wanted to practice too, but since she left the hospital that morning people have been telling her just to stay rested and recover, but it was so unfair! So what if she had a concussion and a broken arm! She still wanted to train and show her father that she was strong and mature enough for a real sword! It didn't help that people were treating her too nicely like a wounded animal, but seriously, she was fine. If anything she was restless.

She watched as Kitsune easily beat Hotaru and instructed the child on the correct method to go about what she had done wrong before smiling and gently nudging the green haired Tadashi over to where the water and Kikyo were.

"How are you feeling?" Kitsune squatted down to her sister to check her again. Ever since she returned from her mission and found out what happened she's been hovering over her like she was going to drop dead at any moment (Not entirely impossible for a Tadashi, but not the point).

"Bored." She gave her sister a bland look.

"Those bastards are lucky Ojisan found them first." The young teen's face grew dark. "But I guess what really matters is that you're safe."

"Yeah I am, now stop acting like my nurse." She swatted at her. "All of this damn coddling is going to kill me. You really want to kill me Nee-san?"

"I am not acting like a nurse, I'm acting like your big sister." Kitsune gave her a scolding look. "And I will act like a nurse if I want. The main priority of a medic is to ensure the safety of their patients."

"Oh guess what Kikyo!" Hotaru beamed. At least that was better, Hotaru must have felt guilty or something because she had been acting weird lately. "Kitsune-san just asked if I want to learn to be a medic! That way I can help take care of you too!" Her grin went from ear to ear.

Kikyo looked up to her sister. "So, you are trying to kill me. I should have known." She shook her head.

"Hey that's not nice Kikyo." Hotaru puffed out her cheeks. "I've been doing really well with my chakra control and Kitsune-san asked if I wanted to see if I could use it to help people. How could I say no?"

"Like this, no."

"Kikyo," Kitsune gave a warning tone. But Kikyo wonder what she could actually do to her, she was already busted up all to hell. The older brunette turned back to the green haired girl and gave her a kind smile. "I think that's enough for now Hotaru, dinner will be ready soon and I think we've worked up quite the appetite don't you think?"

"Yeah!" She threw her arms up in the air in celebration. The rest of the evening went without much of a fuss… until that night at bedtime.

There shouts going back and forth in Ryunashi and Izumi's room. Kikyo peeked around the corner, but Kitsune covered her ears so she couldn't get much from it other than Mama was angry that Papa scolded Kikyo without her or something like that. Mama kept saying 'She's seven!' But Kikyo couldn't understand what her age had to do with anything other than her having to grow up and take responsibility like she was supposed to. There was finally a push sending Papa outside the room, a slam, and the clicking of a lock.

Ryunashi's eyebrow twitched. "I can pick the lock you know!"

"You do that and you won't like what's on the other side!" Mama shouted from back within the room. Papa grumbled curse words all the way to the couch in the main living room when he moved some pillows and dropped down.

"Nee-san, why is Papa on the couch?" Kikyo looked up to her sister who was glaring at her father.

"Because Papa can be a jerk sometimes."

"But why did Mama send him to the couch?"

"Because she's mad at him. And frankly, I don't blame her." Kitsune was leaned down and whispering to her sister.

"But why the couch?"

"It what happens to husbands when they mess up and anger their wives."

"So…" She blinked up at her. "We'll do that to our husbands one day?"

"Yes… More likely you than me, but yes."

"Yeah, Itachi-san is really hard to stay mad at."

Kitsune's face showed a little color. "Stop talking about us like that!" she whisper yelled. "That's not how it is and you know it!"

"Girls." Ryunashi didn't raise his voice, but it still felt booming. "Bed."

"Yes Papa!"

"Yes Otousan."

The next day Kikyo kept pondering over ways to show them that she was ready to be more of an adult, that she was ready for her own sword. Finally, that night at dinner she had decided on what her next step would be and she took it.

"Um… Otousan?" she asked hesitantly. Ryunashi raised his head but turned to Kitsune as if she were the one speaking.

"It wasn't me." The teen held up her hands and pointed to Kikyo.

"Kikyo, why did you call me that?"

"Because," She cleared her voice. "I think it's time I grew up and began addressing you as such."

"Kikyo, you don't have to do that." Ma-Okasan waved her hands and shot an angry glare at her husband.

"No, it's okay. Otousan told me that I needed to grow up so that I could carry a real sword. I think this is the first step to that, Okasan." The woman looked upset by the notion and stormed off from the table. There was an awkward silence for a while. "D-did I do something wrong?"

"No Kikyo, what you did was perfectly fine. Your mother is just blowing it out of proportion." Ryunashi stood up and followed.

"Well," Kitsune clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "Looks like Otousan will spend another night on the couch."

"Or the rest of the week." Oji added and Inoue-oba elbowed him.

"Ryu-oji in twouble~" Suzume said.

"Daddy?" Hotaru looked up to her father. "Should I change what I call you?"

The white haired man made a panicked face and squeezed the eight year old. "No! Not ever! I love being Daddy!"

"O-okay!" Hotaru patted his back in hopes of getting him to let go.

Meanwhile at the other end of the estate.

"This is all your fault Ryunashi!" Izumi threw several shuriken at her husband as he entered the room after her.

"I don't see what's so wrong with it." His brow furrowed. He wasn't much older than Kikyo then he changed to the more formal way of addressing his parents.

"Fine then," she scoffed. "You can sleep on the couch again until you figure it out." The brunette crossed her arms.

"But I didn't do anything! Yes, maybe I was too harsh on her about the Kiri incident, but I was only trying to make her understand that there are consequences for actions."

"You told our seven year old never to cry!"

"Yes! And I paid for that by waking up with a stiff back this morning. But this, there's nothing wrong with this! We're still her parents, she's just addressing us in a more adult fashion!"

"I get the feeling you're going to be on that couch for a while." She gave him a dark look.

"But this transition is perfectly normal! Kitsune did it too, we all did!"

"A, Kitsune was eleven when she did it. And B, She. Is. Seven. You have just made my baby stop calling me Mama!" She threw her arms away from Ryunashi as though she was completely done with him. "Now couch!"

"But…" The hardened shinobi and head of the Tadashi clan received a look so dark that he turned on his heel. "Where's the damned throw blanket?" he muttered mostly to himself.

"You don't deserve the throw blanket." Izumi huffed and slammed the door behind him.