Remnants of the West

by Revocate animos

A Diplomatic mission far to the west of the five great Shinobi Nations goes disastrously wrong, after it's caught in the middle on internal power struggle. Konoha must help integrate three surviving children who were rescued during the Diplomatic missions last stand. These children will alter the normal course of events, How is yet to be seen.

2. Ch2 - Hospital Gowns

A/N: Sorry its been awhile since I updated. As I said before i'm writing this out my mobile so it takes a while. I don't have a beta reader still and if there are any grammar or spelling mistakes please point them out. Or better yet if you want to become my beta reader please contact me. I hope you enjoy the chapter and if you have any suggestions please don't hesitate to comment.

(Edited 15/4/15)

In the beacon that was the Hokage tower, with the blinds closed as if he sorted sanctuary in the darkness, was the Hokage. Sitting on the couch, surrounded by the reports Homura Mitokado had sent him over the course of the diplomatic mission. It was all the information he had access to at that moment in time. Though it had been three days since the unexpected end of the mission to the Western nations, none of the survivors were in any state to talk about what had transpired. The ANBU agent, code name 'Kestrel', was currently in a medically induced coma in the heart of ANBU command. While the foreign civilians had been asleep for the past three days, only rising briefly to eat before slipping back into sleep. That wasn't including the first 24 hours where the children couldn't stop crying. He slouched forward, his face cupped in his hands. He guessed that the events they had witnessed had come crashing down after they knew there was no longer a threat to their lives and shock had worn off.

Over the course of his career he had lost many Shinobi. However, that didn't make it any easier. Many people had asked him what was the worst part of be being the Hokage. He had always jokingly replied that it was the paperwork. If only, he thought. The worse part was having to tell the families that their love ones were never coming home. That they were never going to see them smile, hear them laugh or be able to tell them they love them. When he truly thought about it though, it wasn't the fact that had to inform them of their lose. It was that he was forced to watch as another human being's life came crashing down around them.

Hiruzen glanced at the line of framed photos of the previous Hokage through the gaps between his fingers. Sighing he shifting his weight forward, standing up; almost dancing as he avoided the piles of paperwork that had accumulated around him. Reaching his desk he grabbed his pipe, tapping out the ash into an empty coffee mug. Opening a small box on his desk he pinched some of its contents before pushing it into his pipe. He did all this mechanically as his gaze never left the piles of paper. His gaze returned the photos as he produced a match to light his pipe. He took in a long draw, letting the smoke smother some of the rising emotions that briefly threatened to come to the surface.

He slipped the stem of his pipe out of his mouth and jabbed it at the least aged photo on his wall. A photo of a blond haired, blue eyed young man. "I'm too old for this, I had my fill of this year's ago." The hokage stuck his pipe back in his mouth with a huff, before taking another long draw.

He had scoured over the reports looking for any anomalies, any information that would make sense of this tragedy. Though he had gone through each report line by line, there had only been a single reference to any possible trouble in the western nations. The Hokage kept going over it in his head, even going so far as to say it out loud.

'... Yet again our talks have been cut short with their council. We do not know why and their explanations are broad. From what information we have been able to source. There seems to be a political power struggle happening within the country.' That passage was in the second to last report he had received, just over two weeks previous.

The entire situation was complicated. With the limited information and the fatalities suffered by the diplomatic team he knew some on his council would call for retaliation. That didn't take into consideration the death of one of his closest advisors and leading member of the Shinobi Council, Homura Mitokado. When that information broke there might even be a public outcry for war. He puffed on his pipe as he thought over the situation. War was folly, especially with a country so far away, separated by not one,but two large natural barriers. Their supply routes would be to heavily strained, making the idea implausible. He might be convinced to send a scout party to discover more information on what had happened though.

Another problem he faced was the reason behind how the tragedy had occurred in the first place. His heart went out to the Chunin that had been on duty. Though the blame was completely with the seal itself, a hairline crack had broken one of the symbols severely weakening the incoming distress signal, the two Chunin had taken it hard. Both were currently in counselling, with one of them asking for early retirement. Even though they weren't to blame the council would be after blood once the news broke.

The survivors from the west posed a completely different set of problems. Though he didn't believe it, there was a possibility that some may blame them for the deaths of the ninja they had lost. On the other hand he knew for sure that some of the those on the combined Councils would call for them to be pumped for information. Both attaining to the failed mission and their own village secrets.

'That's gonna be a barrel of laughs.' Hiruzen thought as he slumped into his desk chair. He thought about the survivors from the west. It wasn't the first time the village had taken in those fleeing from death and destruction. Only a couple of years back when the Village Hidden in the Mist had slipped into a civil war Konoha had opened its doors to those escaping the war. Of course they would have to offer something in return for the villages hospitality, he was sure even William Takahashi knew this fact. The fact that four of the five survivors were children acted in favor of them if they asked for asylum. The more his thoughts focused on those children, the more curious he got.

The children held the greater part of his curiosity. He thought back to when they had arrived and their initial release of emotions. For children they had recovered surprisingly quickly, but they had been shy and not very talkative. Though they had remain almost silent, there had been one that had approached him and did open up to him, even only a little. The child had, once he had calmed down, revealed to him a secret that he had been protecting. Where he thought there had been 3 Children they had infact been 4. The boy who had trusted him enough, if genuine trust and not just out of desperation, Hiruzen was unsure, to reveal to him his precious cargo. Strapped to his chest was a small bundle that slowly shifted in its sleep. Unstrapping the infant the boy had handed the child to the Hokage. The baby hadn't been more than 4 months old and it stared up at Hiruzen with large owlish eyes as it woke up. It had been lucky that the boy had handed the infant over as it had been that moment when the boys exhaustion had caught up with him. One of the medical staff had noticed the boys condition as well and caught him when the child nearly crumpled on to the floor. The Hokages own hands preoccupied with holding the infant.

Since the foreign civilians had been admitted to the hospital Hiruzen had been receiving constant up to date reports on their condition. These reports hadn't included much as the children had refused full medical care without Takahashi's consent and presents. This was difficult as Takahashi had been drifting in and out of consciousness since his arrival. The doctors had informed him however that Takahashi had become stable during the previous day and they were hopeful that he'd be up at some point in the next couple of days.

That was when his thoughts were disturbed by his intercom buzzing. Reaching forward he flicked it on.

"Yes Kasumi? " he asked in his usual warm tone. She had had a close relationship to her grandfather and his death had affected her, but Hiruzen had still to see an event that would stop her from coming to work. No matter how much he pleaded with her to take a break.

" Sarutobi-sama I received a message from the Hospital that William Takahashi, the gentleman that was admitted three days ago, is asking to see you."

Hiruzen got up stretching out the kinks that he'd accumulated, "I'll be going to visit him then. He must be pretty unsure of his surroundings right now." he chuckled.

Konoha Hospital was resplendent in the midday sun as the Hokage entered through its large double doors. He didn't particularly like hospitals, he subconsciously linked them to allot of bad events from his past. Not to any level where he wouldn't go anywhere near them, but all the same he didn't spend any more time in them than he absolutely had to.

He didn't need to wait around long before a Doctor ran up to him making placating gestures. "I hope you have not been waiting long Hokage-sama."

Hiruzen smiled, "I practically just stepped through the door Doctor…." He left the sentence hanging as he had never met the doctor before.

"Its Ichisada Hokage-sama, Hiraku Ichisada." The Doctor smiled back. "I'm the doctor looking after your guests. If you'd like to follow me Hokage-sama." Hiruka turned round and headed down the corridor that linked the civilian side of the hospital to the shinobi wing, closely followed by the Hokage.

They walked in relative silence as they passed down the corridors of Konoha, being greeted now and again by staff and patients. It wasn't long till they came across another corridor where two ANBU stood guard outside two conjoining rooms.

One of the ANBU stood aside as Hiraku, flanked by Hokage, approached. Hiraku paused outside one of the doors before turning to the Hokage. He gave Hiruzen a curious expression, "Sorry Hokage-sama, but before we go in I must ask if you received the report I filled a few days ago?"

This made the Hokage pause in thought as he went over in his mind every report concerning the five foreigners that had ended up on his desk over the last couple of days. "I believe I did. But you have sent quite a few in the last couple of days and I haven't been able to look through all of them in much detail."

Hiraku scratched the back of his head as he looked a little sheepish. "Well Hokage-sama, when we received the patient he was fatigued, that much you already knew. However there was an older affliction that came to my attention when I gave him a full check up. As you probably noticed when you met William, the man was blind." The Hokage nodded. "He was suffering from cataracts, its where the lens inside the eye clouds over. Luckily for him its a simple procedure to fix the lenses."

Hiruzen chuckled, "Well, he must be delighted at that. When will you be able to implement the procedure, with Takahashi's permission of course."

"Of course and he was delighted with the results." Hiraku said as he opened the door to the room. Sitting in the standard, barely comfortable chair that plagues all hospital rooms was William Takahashi nose deep in a scroll. Takashi's head shot up as the Hokage entered the room, a childish smile of excitement playing on lips.

It was the first time since his arrival that the Hokage had seen Takahashi. William Takahashi, without his imposing cloak was made to look fragile in the hospital robe he had been given to wear. He was gangly but there was evidence showing that at one time he had been fit and somewhat muscular. Unlike when Hiruzen had first met William his eye's were a bright and highly intelligent, assessing the newcomers as they entered his hospital room.

"Your Hospitality knows no bounds Hiruzen-sama." Takashi bowed his head slightly as he said this. "Your medicine, and the skill of your physicians is truly astounding. I'm firmly forever in your debt"

Hiruzen smiled warmly as he spread his arms in greeting. " Please do not concern yourself with that now. I am just glad to see that you have recovered so well Takahashi-san. I'm surprised you recognize me." His gaze looked over the scroll Takashi had been reading. "Anything interesting?"

"The staff here described you to me before you arrived." Takashi said, nodding towards Hiraku with a smile before he looked down at the scroll and then back at the Hokage. "The Doctor was kind enough to give me some reading material to retrain my eye's." He chuckled as he began to roll up the scroll. "However due to my security level," he waved the scroll, " He got me what seems to be a restaurant menu from one of the establishments I can see from my window."

The hokage laughed, "Well then we should start the process to get you a security level then. Otherwise we might inadvertently turn you into konoha's next big restaurants reviewer." He sat down on the bed before looking at the doctor. "Please wait for me out in the corridor Hiraku."

Hiraku nodded before smiling at William as he headed out the door, closing it behind him.

William placed the scroll he had been reading on a medical trolley that had been placed near the chair he was sitting on. A serious look crossed his face as he looked back at Hiruzen. "How are the children doing? They were in a much more serious state of fatigue than I even considering any sort of physical injuries they may have."

"The Children are fine as far as I know. Thats actually part of the reason I came to see you. They are not allowing our doctors to give them a proper check-up, I fear that they are still unsure of their surroundings. After our chat I'd like to take you to them."

William looked up at the ceiling in thought, thinking of all the children he had been in the fiainal group of survivors. "That will probably be due to Farid, he was always fearful of strangers. The his class have always been rather protective of him, particularly the girls." William smirked.

"The Baby on the other hand…"

William brought his hand up to halt the Hokage with a look of shock on his face. "There was an infant who survived? Was he amongst those that had fallen?"

The Hokage shook his head, "No. She was handed to me by one of the three children that were guarding you when you arrived."

There was a brief moment of silence as William took in the information, gazing out of the window. His mind went back to everything he'd heard back in his original village, trying to recount every mention of infants being born in recent months.

"Did the child have blond hair and dark green eye's?" William asked tentatively looking back at Hokage as he clasped his hands in an unworded prair.

Hiruzen Tried to think back to the last time he had seen the infant, trying to single the child out from the many young children he'd come into contact with over the previous days. "I do believe that the child did have those characteristics. May I ask why?"

William again broke out into a warm smile "That means another child belonging to main families survived the…. massacre." He fell silent again as he sat back in his chair, his jaw clenching a bit in anger. .

"Well the infant is doing fine, she's under watch in our maternity ward as we speak. The nurses tell me she is in perfect health." The news of the infant seemed to sooth William as he relaxed into the chair. "But as I said the Children are being less than compliant. Can you tell me the names of the children William-san?"

William stood up arching his back as he stretched, letting out some audible clicks. He groaned and smiled at Hiruzen. "I seemed to of aged considerably since my eyes gave up on me. Maybe it was the laziness I developed afterwards." He chuckled, joined by the Hokage. "As for the children. Take me to them and I'll introduce you and the doctor to them. That will hopefully reassure them and allow the doctor to check them over." William made his way over to the door before turning back to Hiruzen. "Do you have a doctor that specialises in treating animals?"

Hiruzen got up off the bed, straightening his robes. "Indeed. We have a few specialists that I can call on. But why? No animals came through the seal with you."

"Trust me, it is best we have one on hand."

Hiruzen nodded, "Then I'll ask for one to come here immediately." Hiruzen made a movement with his hand and a ANBU agent appeared at his shoulder. "Bear, go to Inuzuka Tsume. Ask her to send her best available veterinarian to accompany you back to the room next door." With that the ANBU agent shunshined out of the room. Hiruzen motioned for William to pause a moment as he went over to a cupboard and retrieved some hospital scrubs. "You'll be needing these William-san. A hospital gown it not the thing to to be walking around in."

William paused suddenly self conscious, turning so his rear was facing a wall. "Ah… Yes." He took the scrubs off Hiruzen before heading over to the bed and pulling out the privacy curtain.

"My shinobi will be back momentarily." Hiruzen said as he waited for William to get changed.

It wasn't long till William pulled back the curtain, now dressed in blue scrubs he'd been provided. He nodded to Hiruzen who had already opened the door to the room, "Let's proceed. I know Hiraku has been professionally worried for his charges, as I said he's been unable to check them for injuries."

Hiraku was waiting for them out in the corridor, enabling him to hear the Hokages statement. "I have. I would of tried again without your help Takahashi-sama, but the last time my team was unable to get through the door, let alone anywhere near them."

William grimaced embarrassingly, "I have to admit that might be my fault. I told them before our arrival to not to fully cooperate till my say so, as I didn't know where we were going."

"I see. I don't blame you for that. Your village had only known my representatives for a short period of time. I'm actually surprised that you didn't think we had a hand in the attack on your people, considering that it happened in conjunction with my representatives visit." Hiruzen said.

William looked pained for a moment as he shook his head, "If you were our enemy your men would have handed us over or slaughtered us. Instead they stood shoulder to shoulder with our shinobi, trying to buy us time to escape." He looked over at the Hokage with a grim smile, "I could not accuse the same people who died trying to save our women and children of having a hand in their murder."

To Hiruzen, William seemed to double in age as he talked, his energy from earlier being shed away leaving the raw emotion of the previous weeks events to come to the surface. William however quickly recovered from this, giving Hiruzen a smile. "Lets leave that talk till later. We need to see to these children first."

"Of course. Though I have to ask. Will you be able to recognise them?"

William scrunched up his face as he thought about what the Hokage had asked. "I believe I will. Though I haven't seen them, I do know them by their voices. Also from what you've been able to tell me of them I'm sure I know who one of them are, if not two of them."

Hiruzen nodded in understanding as they came to the room that contained the the 3 young children. "How do you want to play this Takahashi-san?"

William rested a hand on his chin as he chose how to proceed. "I would like to go in first and get them settled. Once I've done that I'll invite you and the others in." He placed his hands on his hips trying to figure out where to go from there. "Then I'll introduce them to you. Does that sound reasonable?"

Hiruzen and nodded.

"Alright then I'll proceed." William faced the door as the ANBU agent guarding it stood aside. He took a slow measured breath as he rested his hand on the doors handle. Slowly he turned the handle and walked into the room.

The room was considerably bigger than the room he had been recuperating in as it was designed for six patients. However only the three beds furthest away from the door looked to have been used and only one was in use at that exact moment. The three young children were perched on the bed next to one of the large windows that let the mid-day sun pour into the room. William smiled warmly as he looked upon them. They seemed so small in comparison to the room and the objects surrounding them.

Two of the children were facing away from the door looking out of the large window, which looked out over a settlement of a scale William hadn't seen in decades. The third was curled up at the head of the head staring at him, a bit startled at being gazed at by William for the first time in his life.

"Children." William stated softly not wanting to startle the other two to much as he walked over. The other two turned at the sound of williams voice. Though they had relinquished their cloaks they had yet to change into any of the cloths provide, which were left untouched on a bed near to the door.

William hadn't been sure who had arrived with him the previous week. In their last desperate stand before the seal activated he knew that there had been a dozen individuals still alive. Seeing that at least some of the children were alive and well, did something to take some of the weight off his heart.

One of the children had approached him while he had been lost in thought, the other two still unmoving. The boy who stood before him looked up at William brightly. He had short brown hair and was wearing a tunic of dark green fabric, tan shorts and leather sandals. "Are you ok Grandpa?" William looked down at the boy as he focused on his features. William bent down to one knee pulling the boy into a rough one armed hug, which was readily returned.

"Michael, It's good to see your face." William grinned breaking away from the hug.

Michael grinned, but his expression quickly changed to one of curiosity. His hands darted out and clasped his relations face, holding it steady. "Grandpa your eyes have changed."

William chuckled clasping his grandnephews face, "Thats because the people here gave me my sight back." This statement was received with childish gasps and another one of the children coming over to see if william was saying the truth.

The girl pushed passed Micheal, her face almost brushing against Williams as she looked his eyes over. "Thats Amazing Grand Master." She gasped.

William knew her as soon as she had looked at him. Her clan had a hereditary condition where the whites of their eyes were mostly jet black with fine ripples of white, making them look like high quality black marble. This genetic condition with her bright blue irises made her easy to recognise. She had dark brown hair that was cut in short in a style not unlike Michaels. Like the other two she was still in the cloths that she had arrived in, which consisted of grubby white shirt, khaki shorts and leather sandals. He put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "It sure is Gry."

Williams eyes traveled from the two children in front of him two the last child, who still viewed him from the head of bed. Standing back up he made his way over to the final child. The Boy straightened as William joined him sitting on the bed. The Grand Master knew who the last child was as the three children had rarely separated before the attack.

"How are you holding up Farid?" Williams tone of voice was quiet, compared to when he talked to Michael and Gry. Farid moved slowly from his position at the head of the bed, slowly coming to sit next to William. He looked even smaller than he actually was due to the obviously too large shirt he was wearing. Though Farid hadn't said a word, William took this as a good sign. He motioned to Michael and Gry to sit on the bed next to them. Once he had waited for them to simmer down a bit he decided to start relaying the facts about their current situation.

"Now I'm going to tell you some things. Some of these things you might not want to hear or even object to. But please just listen and once I'm finished you can bombard me with as many questions as you want." His gaze met with each of them individually. "Ok?"

The children nodded, going unnaturally quiet as they waited on William to speak.

"First and foremost. Our homes, our village and our families are gone." He felt the atmosphere in the room drop as he felt his charges try to comprehend what he had just said. Before they could dig too deep into their own emotions William continued, "You mustn't dwell on things that are out of our control. What has happened has happened. All we can do is keep moving forward." He gave the children his best encouraging smile and he felt the mood in the room lift a little.

"From this moment on, we are guests of the foreigners that visited our village. We are many weeks if not months away from the land we were born in." He paused for moment trying to think of a comparison they could grasp. "We're just like the founding members of our village, can you remember who they are?" he asked the group.

Michaels hand shot up, "There was the, last remaining members of the Order of Angeli. They had escaped being captured at the end of the War of Thorns by traveling into the White desert."

Gry waited for Michael to finish before continuing where he'd left off. "That's where they were joined by my tribe who had escaped persecution to the far north because of how we looked different." Gry and Michael looked expectantly at Farid to continue. He fidgeted a little before answering. "And that's where my clan found them and taught them how to survive in the desert and together they became no…. noo….." He looked up at William, unsure of the word he was trying to say.

William patted Farid on the shoulder, "No-mad-ic."

"They became No…mad…ic till they found the island in the desert." Farid finished grinning up at William, who smiled back.

"Very good you three. Nice to see that some of you kids were listening in my classes." He laughed. "You children are going to be like the reincarnated Heroes of our clans." Williams statement was met with nods and grins. "Luckily we have been delivered to our own 'Island in the desert'"

Seeing that he had got them into a good mood he decided that that was the best time to introduce them to some new faces. "This 'island' though is already inhabited by those who stood shoulder to shoulder with us when our homes were attacked." he saw it in their faces that he'd mentioned the wrong thing. Farid had already pulled his knees up to his chest, hugging them close. Michael had put a comforting hand on Farids shoulder, while Gry looked over worrying. William cursed to himself for his own stupidity. Quickly he tried to stop there minds lingering on the event of a couple of days previous. "Their leader would like to talk to us, if that's OK?"

The children fidgeted as they looked between themselves and Williams reassuring face. One by one they all agreed.

"Now before I get him, would you feel happy with allowing one of their doctor's check each of you over? It's OK if you want to take this slower, but the sooner we make sure you three are OK the quicker we can get out of the hospital." this decision took a lot shorter than the last. The idea that they could leave the hospital after they complied compelled them all to rapidly nod in unison. William chuckled, "Alright then." getting up and made his way over to the door.

Hiruzen stood idle in the corridor flanked by his anbu and Hiraku. He looked over to the Doctor getting his attention. "I know you said that you could barely get near the children let alone give them an examination. But have you observed anything of note?"

Hiraku pondered the Hokages question as he leafed through his clipboard. "The most apparent piece of information I've gleaned from my observation was that two of the children have unique eye's. Though I can't say without closer investigation if this is because of a kekkei genkai or just down to a none chakra related genetic mutation unique to their clans. "

The Hokage thought this fact over. He had already guessed that all the children were from shinobi related clans. But new kekkei genkai brought complications as well as advantages for the refugees. Which for the Hokage only meant even more paper work. He cried internally at the thought and slouched physically.

That was when the sound of running started to echo down the nearly empty corridor bringing everyone's attention to the end of the corridor. Rounding the corner came a woman carrying a medical fast response bag. She was dressed in the standard konoha shinobi uniform, had a mane of brown hair that framed a fierce face, which had an upside down red triangle tattoo on each cheek. As she approach she smiled and nodded her head to the hokage and then at Hiraku.

"Tsume? What are you doing here? I asked for you to provided a veterinarian?" the hokage said looking her over.

Tsume scratched the back of head, "Sadly I'm the best we have available due to the fact that two of my veterinarians are out of the village on missions and the the remaining are stuck back at the compound dealing with a virus going round some of our companions. So as I was free and a trained veterinary field medic I decided to come immediately."

The hokage nodded, he had forgotten about the virus going round Tsume's clans canine companions. "Of course, I'm sorry for spreading you out so thinly. Is Kuromaru on the mend, you mentioned at the last council meeting he was in quarantine?"

Tsume smiled, thanking the hokage in turn for his concern. "He's ok, just bored out of his mind. So Hokage-san, what is it that you need my services for?"

The hokage paused for a brief moment before answering, "In the last week we have recently received a group of refugees. They are currently in the room behind me. Up until now they haven't accepted medical help. You are here because they asked for a veterinarian."

Tsume's curiosity grew as she thought over the information. "Did they say why? What species of animal will I be treating?"

"I am unable to say, I wasn't given that information. But I'm as curious as you are, probably more so as they didn't appear to have any animals with them when they came in. " he chuckled.

That was when the door slowly opened and William slipped out into the corridor. Turning to meet the groups gaze he smiled. "They are willing to meet you Hokage-san." His attention then turned to Hiraku, "They are also willing for you to give them a check-up, but I would ask that they can see each other at all times, they are still little on edge."

Hiraku nodded, "That is easy to do."

William then turned to Tsume and gave her a curious look, "Are you the veterinarian?"

Tsume nodded. The hokage coughed, "Tsume-san may I introduce William Takahashi. William-san, may I introduce Tsume Inuzuka, head of the Inuzuka clan."

William bowed, "It's an honour to meet you Tsume-sama."

Tsume was taken aback at how formal William was. Though she was a clan head she was never one for formalities. Even so, she bowed back a bit stiffly. "And also you. "

"Now," William started, shooting back up. "When we go in I ask that you don't say anything till I introduce you. They are still shy and on edge. I also ask that you don't bring up the events that brought us here, unless absolutely necessary."

The other three nodded. William, happy with their agreement, turned to face the door. Before he opened it he asked, "If your bodyguards are to come in as well can they keep hidden so not to startle the kids?" Without having the be asked twice, the ANBU at the hokages shoulder seemed to faze out of existence.

Happy, William slowly opened the door. The children, in the brief time had been out of the room had changed into the hospitals patient pyjamas leaving the dirt covered, blood stained clothes in a pile near the door.

The old Grandmaster ushered the three konoha officials inside the room. The children had got back to sitting on the bed nearest the window, from which they looked upon the the strangers with endless curiosity. William smiled encouragingly at his charges as he stepped forward. "Now these are the the people I was talking about." He motioned to the group who had followed him into the room with him, "This is, Tsume-san head of the Inuzuka clan, Doctor Hiraku-san and lastly our host and leader of the village, Hiruzen."

The children bowed their heads and expressed their pleasure in meeting the three individuals. Michael also sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he glanced at Hiraku.

"Doctor, I'm sorry for the incident on our first night and my apologies to the damage to your wall." he pointed at where a stainless steel kidney dish was lodged in the drywall near the door.

"Please do not think on it. I startled you though... "he trailed off looking at the damaged wall." I would ask in future that you avoid trying to take either mine or one of my staffs head off with medical equipment." They all laughed at that, the tension and nervousness seeping away.

William motioned to the three children starting to introduce them, "Esteemed members of konoha village, may I introduce Michael of the House of Wessex, son of Luke the second, fourth Grandmaster of the order of Angeli and Village leader. He is also my Grandson by marriage." He motioned to Michael who grinned. He moved onto the next individual, "This is Gry Cadwaladr, daughter of Eirik, Clan head of the Cadwaladr Clan." Gry smiled bobbing her head in a brief bow. "Lastly let me introduce Farid Kimura Only son of Muezzah Kimura, Clan head of the Kimura clan" Farid inclined his head. However he froze as Tsume gaze caught his own in a fierce but curious stare.

Tsume eyes darted from the top of his head, back to his face and then to the rest of his figure. She sniffed the Air, which made Farid visibly nervous. Tsume motioned to the top of her own head and smiled encouragingly at Farid. The rest of the Konoha representatives stared at her in fascination at her odd behaviour. The four refugees however had a mix of trepidation and nervousness on their faces. Farid was frozen in place unsure of how to react even though there was only one thing the women was motioning about, though he had no idea how she knew. He looked over to William, looking for an objection. Slowly William nodded back to his student, though a part of him didn't want to.

Farid fidgeted a bit and looked away. The gathered group watched as his light brown hair on top of his head shifted and moved even though there wasn't a breeze in the room. The two shinobi and one doctor watched in fascination as two Feline ears emerged from the mess of hair on Farid head.

Hiruzen stroked his chin in wonderment at such an unique Kekkei Genkai. Even with his years of knowledge an example of this kind of mutation caused by chakra didn't come to mind. Even though there were examples of clans that had similar if not as extensive mutations. The head of one such Clan was sitting to his left. He looked to her to see if she had any more information. However she wasn't sitting on the bed anymore.

Tsume as soon as Farid had confirmed her improbable guess was on the child in a blink of an eye. She was trying to see the boys second set of ears from every angle, confirming to herself that it wasn't just an allusion.

The shy child was looking at the floor, ears twitching and a nervous blush on his cheeks as he visibly tried to shrink into into his seat, frozen in fear. The Hokage coughed loudly, breaking the clan head from her fixation on the child. "Please restrain yourself Tsume. Can't you see how uncomfortable your making the boy?"

Tsume's eyes darted from the Hokage to the boy she was currently looming over. Realising the mistake she'd made. She could now clearly see how uncomfortable she was making Farid, along with the killer intent that was currently being cast her way by one of the other children. Carefully she slowly crouched in front of the boy trying to catch his downturned face. Catching his embarrassed, scared gaze she remembered that she was dealing with young children the same age as her own youngest pup. She sniffed the air again confirming the boys scent and placed a hand on one of Farids knees. "I'm sorry if I startled you Kitten, I'm just surprised is all."

Farid went ridged at the Tsume's words and his lip trembled a bit as he gritted his teeth. Before Tsume knew it the boy had buried his head in her flack jacket, hugging her tightly.

Instinctively the clan head petted the boys hair, slowly stroking his ears, as the child sobbed quietly. Tsume looked up from Farid to William and the Hokage looking for some answers. She was met by sad faces that conveyed that now wasn't the time for details. She gestured to a sofa on the other side of the room, "May I get him settled?"

The Hokage looked to William and the old grandmaster nodded slowly, letting Tsume carefully carried the child away. Hiruzen gave William a questioning look before looking back at the boy. William however had lent forward to Michael and a quiet conversation occurred as Gry watch Farid with a worried look.

When William had finished his conversation he sat back with a sigh, cupping his face in his hands.

"What just happen? " Hiruzen asked softly, careful that the other children didn't hear. Luckily though had Michael and Gry doing a I.Q test produced by Hiraku,which was doing a good job at distracting them.

" As we fought our way through the village over the two days since the start of the attack. Our group picked up survivors and linked up with pockets of resistance as we went. We found Farid on the last day before your Shinobi teleported us out of there. From what Michael has been able to get out of the poor boy. Farid was made to watch as many of his clan including his mother were burned alive in front of him."

The Hokage frowned, "And that relapse was due to..." he trailed off. William smiled sadly, "Tsume-sama called him Kitten, it was his mother's pet name for him." They both went quiet and looked over at Tsume and the boy. "She didn't know, it was a sad coincidence." Farid had stopped crying but had curled up into a ball against her as she continued to stroke his head.

"I can have a colleague have a look at him as soon as you feel comfortable. He has experience with psychological trauma, he can teach him some coping methods as well as being an outlet for the boy. " Said after overhearing the conversation.

William shook his head saying, "Maybe at a later date but for now he just needs to get settled." The Hokage nodded in understanding. "How did she know?"

The Hokage looked back over at Tsume. "The Inuzuka are a clan of trackers with close ties to canines, both through there ninken and other physical traits of their own."

William look passed the Hokage with new found curiosity at the woman quietly humming to the small boy on her lap.

It took about an hour to give Gry and Michael a check up. Apart from some bruising and a couple of light scratches the two were relatively healthy. Farid had recovered quickly and had allowed Tsume to help the doctor give him a physical as well, using each others knowledge to fill in the gaps between animal and human physiology. All together it took just under two hours for the two medical professionals to do there job.

Once the medicals were seen to, the seven tried to the best of their abilities to answer each others questions. Once each group was satisfied the sun was setting and they could hear the meal trolley making its way down the corridor.

"I believe we'll be taking our leave. " Hiruzen said as he stood from where he'd been perching at the end of one of the beds like a wise old owl. I'm sure you four are hungry and we can always continue tomorrow." he motioned for Tsume and To make their goodbyes.

William however stood up catching their attention. "I nearly forgot to mention but Farid has dietary requirements."

Looked bit worried at that, "That maybe a problem, may I ask what his requirements are."

"He needs a high meat protein diet. Especially after he hasn't eaten for a few days. "

"Oh." the Doctors expression changed to one of embarrassment with a hint of worry. "Sadly the standard meal provided here is vegetarian and the kitchen staff have already clocked off for the evening." Dr. Hiraku Looked to the Hokage, unsure of how to proceed.

Hiruzen pondered the conundrum they faced. He then remembered the menus that William had been reading in his room. "Doctor, the menus you gave William to read. Where they Take-away menus by any chance?" Hiraku Nearly slapped himself for not realising the easiest solution to their problem. "I'll take that as a yes. Can you fetch them for them to look over, the village will cover the bill." he looked up at a clock on the wall and sighed. "I must take my leave, I still have a lot of work to do before I call it a day." He made his way to the door followed by Hiraku "I'll come see you tomorrow and see about arranging a long term residence for you lot." He smiled and exited the room with a wave. Hiraku followed heading off to retrieve the menus, the sound of him jogging down the corridor echoed back into the room.

Tsume was finding it hard to leave her new patient though, as a mixture of her bottomless curiosity about the boys Kekkei Genkai and her maternal instinct meant she had never left the boys side. He was curled next to her, his head resting in her lap as she absentmindedly stroked his head. As she did so a soft purring met her ears and her usual facade of fierce, don't Fuck with me attitude slipped away, leaving her smiling like an idiot.

The Hokage head came back into the room looking directly at the Inuzuka matriarch. "Erm, Tsume-san we have to leave now." Tsume nearly shot to her feet but luckily she remembered the child and slowly shook him awake. she said her goodbyes, but promised Farid that she'd be back when she saw his lip tremble a bit.

Hiruzen said goodbye again and Tsume joined him in the corridor. When the door closed he gave her a look. "What did you think of them?" Tsume looked at the Hokage for a moment and looked to the paneled ceiling. "They are the most curious bunch of refugees I've ever met."

A/N: I hope you enjoyed the chapter, any and all feed back is great if you have the time.