Fun Fact: I have a Spotify playlist for this fic. It's not complete (probably never will be, since I'm always adding to my playlists), but it's a decent size at this point. And if people are interested, I'll share a link.

Chapter Nineteen - Acrimonious

[acrimonious—adjective : caustic, stinging, or bitter in nature, speech, behavior, etc.]

I'd spent the last two hours deflecting and redirecting questions and was about to make the winning move in our game when the door opened. Hiruzen looked up and surprise flickered across his face. "Danzo. Did we have an appointment for today?"

At that name, my gut churned and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Kurama growled in the back of my head. I turned and got my first look of the man that I already hated. He was leaning on a cane and bandages were wrapped around the upper left half of his face. I stared at them, all too aware that underneath he was hiding Kagami's eye.

"It's been a while since we've spoken," he rasped. "Ah, you must be Uzumaki. I've heard about you."

"I'm sure," I said, carefully keeping my voice even. "And you are?" I asked, forcing disinterest into my voice as I turned back to the game. I slid a piece forward and to the side. Hiruzen then leaned forward to make his own move.

"Shimura Danzo," the man said by way of introduction. He stopped by the desk and cast his gaze across our game. "Rumor is that you've refused early graduation." He leaned his cane against the desk. "If you wouldn't mind, I think I could ease any fears you might have with an offer of my own."

"Danzo," Hiruzen said tiredly. "Mirai-chan has made her opinions on the subject very clear."

"I'm not offering a promotion to genin."

"I don't want anything from you," I said firmly.

"Ah. Perhaps your brother will, then?"

I surged to my feet and anger boiled up inside me. "Don't you go near Naruto," I growled, Kurama's chakra pressing up to the surface. "Don't you dare." I curled my fingers harshly into the desk to keep myself from sinking them into Danzo's throat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Hiruzen watching, but he made no move to intervene. Danzo simply raised an eyebrow. "Fascinating," he murmured. "You really are more Kyuubi than child."

Kill him. Rip his fucking lungs out.

I forced a breath and dragged Kurama's chakra away from my skin. The desk had gouge marks when I freed my hands. The wood creaked dangerously as I did so. I couldn't kill him. As much as I wanted to, I couldn't. Not without ruining . . . everything.

I turned myself away and moved one last piece. "Tsumi." With that said and done, I whipped around and marched from the room, slamming the office door behind me and scowling.

"Why so panicked?"

I stopped short before I ran into him and looked up. "Tonbo," I breathed. Then I cleared my throat and tried to force my heartbeat to calm. "What— I'm not."

His mouth twisted into something wry. "Of course. How clumsy of me to associate that spiking, thin chakra with panic."

"Do you have an appointment with Hiruzen? He's— Danzo is in there right now. He's busy."

"Ah." And then his expression shifted into something more understanding, more neutral. "You best be on your way, then."

"Right." I curled her hands into fists until my nails bit into my palms. Then I escaped past him.

My heart was still pounding by the time I reached the Hyuuga Compound and was waved in by the guards, but at least my breathing was better and I was able to keep my anger in check.

They were waiting for me.

Hiashi bowed his head as I approached and the two Hyuuga next to him did the same. "Uzumaki-san, this is my daughter, Hanabi, and her bodyguard, Natsu."

I bowed at the waist. "It's a pleasure to meet both of you. I look forward to working together."

"I will be present at all times," Natsu said firmly.

"I understand." I straightened. "And I would appreciate your feedback as we move forward as well." My gaze flicked to Hiashi. "Are we starting?"

"After the meal," he assured me. "We'll be eating in the garden today." He stepped down from the porch and led the way down the garden path.

Natsu paused to let me move first, a hand on Hanabi's shoulder to keep her still. Hanabi herself was studying me in complete and total silence. I nodded to them and followed after Hiashi. He led us farther into the garden than I'd gone before and then knelt at the low table on the stone brick dais. I knelt on my own pillow before the table.

Ko was already there and immediately was pouring tea for each of us. I nodded my thanks to him as he set a plate of food before me and provided me with chopsticks. Out of the corner of my eye, Hanabi and Natsu were still patiently waiting for . . . something. I did the same.

The moment Hiashi took his first bite of food, the two finally moved to eat as if they'd been given permission. I moved as well.

"Have you prepared?" Hiashi finally asked.

I nodded. "I have. Of course, where exactly we go moving forward and the speed at which we do so depends on where we are now. How familiar are you with conditioning, Hanabi-chan?"

"Con . . . ditioning?" Hanabi asked curiously.

"Mental or physical," I said. "Either."

"Like all Hyuuga, she has encountered some," Hiashi said. "However, her experience has been very limited due to her age."

"I understand. We'll start light, then."

Hanabi nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Uzumaki-sensei. Where do you want to start?"

"We'll start with some meditation to begin the framework for your mental conditioning."

The lesson came to a close and I almost swayed straight off my feet when I stood up. I snapped my hand out against the wall and leaned into it, blinking to clear my vision.

"-sensei? Uzumaki-sensei?"

I refocused in on Hanabi and smiled. "Oh, sorry. I think I'm just a little tired. I bowed to her and then to Natsu. "It was a pleasure. I'll see you next Sunday."

"I'll walk you out!" Hanabi blurted, scrambling to her feet. She slid aside the door and looked back at me.

I smiled and glanced briefly at Natsu, who was watching impassively. "Thank you, Hanabi-chan." I followed her out to the gates and waited as the guards opened them.

"Oh." Hanabi blinked. "Um, hello."

"Hey." Shikamaru stood from his spot on the ground with a groan. "I had no idea when you were gonna be done, but my mom was bugging me about doing the dishes so." He shrugged.

"So you're using me to sneak off from chores, huh?" I rolled my eyes and then tossed a smile to Hanabi. "I'll see you next week."

"Oh, okay." She glanced at Shikamaru. "Bye."

I stepped through the gate and hooked one hand around Shikamaru's elbow and bringing the other up to mask a yawn. "You up for a spar?"

He eyed me. "I could push myself to it, but . . . not so sure about you, Soph."

I lifted my chin. "I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. How many clones you got working right now?"

"Just three."

"Uh-huh. And when did you get to sleep last night?"

"What is this, an interrogation?"

"If it has to be, then yeah. You do realize your body is still only seven, right?"

"Eight."

"Not yet."

"Almost."

"Alright, your body is almost eight. That still doesn't mean it can function at full throttle in the same way an adult body can. So, with that in mind, we're going back to your place, you're dispelling those clones, and you're gonna nap."

"I don't want to nap."

"At least you're acting your age with that line. Let's go." He grabbed ahold of the hand I had on him and started dragging me in the direction of the apartment building. With a sigh, I twisted so I was holding him and then I executed several shunshin.

"There," I said, letting him drop to the ground at the base of the stairs. "Happy?"

"Happy is," —he grunted with effort as he got to his feet— "such a funny word. Hard to define and explain and really—"

"Okay, I get your point." I shoved my hands in my pockets and ran my thumb over one of my storage scrolls. "I'm not taking a nap."

He made an angry sound and shoved me forward, ahead of him up the stairs. "Just go. Naruto and Sasuke?"

"They went over to Choji's. Something about a new brownie recipe he wanted them to test out." I dug out my key and unlocked the apartment.

"Ooh, brownies sound good."

"I don't have any of those, but I do have some leftover cookies." I waved him towards the kitchen and then dispelled my clones with a snap of my fingers. I moved about gathering up the papers they'd been working on. "I was thinking of working more on meisaigakure."

"The invisibility jutsu?" he asked, wrinkling his nose and collapsing on the couch.

"Yeah. I think it could be helpful. You know." I glared at him meaningfully. But before I could continue, the door clicked.

I paused and Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Expecting someone?"

"No. There's a few options, though." I sealed away the notes my clones had been working on.

The door opened. "Pup? I thought you'd be out training?"

I opened the box of cookies and collected a couple. "I was planning on it, but Maru dragged me back here." I shoved a cookie at him.

"She looked ready to pass out," Shikamaru said, instantly defensive. "Besides, you and I both know I can't force you to do anything."

"Absolutely you can. I'm terrified of you," I deadpanned.

He rolled his eyes and held out his hands. "Cookie."

"Yes, sir." I moved across the room and handed it to him. When I turned back around, I nearly ran into Kakashi. "Were you here for— Whoa. What's wrong?"

His hand gripped my chin firmly and his hitai-ate was up as he studied my face. His expression just tightened when I flinched at the sight of his sharingan. "You've looked really tired for a while," he murmured. "Are you sleeping?"

"Am I— Of course I'm sleeping," I protested, pulling away from him. "I'm fine, Niisan."

"She could be better," Shikamaru pitched in.

I glowered back at him. "Shut up."

He just looked at me innocently as he bit into his cookie. Kakashi sighed. "Pup, you really need to take better care of yourself. Do I need to check up on you more regularly?"

"No."

He eyed me doubtfully and I knew he was going to increase the frequency of his visits anyway. And while I knew his concern could be suffocating, I couldn't complain about seeing him more. So I just sighed and offered him a resigned smile. "Did you need something, Niisan?" A frown pulled at me. "You aren't saying goodbye for another mission, are you? You're supposed to be on medical leave for—"

"I don't have a mission," he assured me. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small, compact book. "Sasuke asked for this yesterday and it took me a bit to find it." He handed it over to me.

The soft leather cover was embossed with the words Theories of Raiton. "Oh. Thanks. I'll put it on his bed for him." I rubbed my thumb across the worn title. "This is old."

"It's, uh, it's a Hatake heirloom. I already told him, but if you could remind him to be careful with it . . . ."

"I will." I disappeared into the boys' room and set the book on Sasuke's pillow. Then I stepped back out. "Are you staying? I was probably going to work on meisaigakure, if you want to hang around." I ignored the annoyed scoff Shikamaru gave. "The boys will be back for dinner, too."

Kakashi's expression softened. "Well, how can I say no to an offer like that?"

"Mirai?" Izumo asked curiously, tracking the dirt all over my outfit. "You, uh, you okay?"

"Huh?" I looked down at myself. "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. I was just training with Gai."

"With Gai? Kami, why?"

"Um, the Hokage arranged it. Anyway, Genma said you're a suiton user."

"I—" He blinked, taken aback by the shift in conversation. "Yes."

"Great." I dug in my pockets and came up with the right storage scroll. I unrolled it to the right seal and then unsealed a box. "Here." I shoved it at him. "Haruno Sakura is the only person in our Study Group that's water-natured. I was wondering if you could drop by Saturday and give her some pointers to get her started since she doesn't have another person to work with."

"Haruno— What?" Izumo cautiously opened the box and squinted. "Mirai-chan, are you trying to bribe me with Akimichi food?"

"Maybe," I said carefully. "Is it working?"

"I'm . . . not a teacher."

"I know."

He hesitated. "Um . . . just once?"

I shrugged. "Yeah. Just to help her get started."

"Right. Uh, okay. What time Saturday?"

"We start just after four since we head out right after the Academy. This weekend we're training at the dock at the lake since we'll be doing a lot of nature work."

"I'll be there," he said, closing the box.

I beamed up at him. "Thanks, Izumo! You're the best!"

"Whoa, careful there." He reached out and pressed a finger against my lips. "Genma or Kakashi hear you, and they'll think I'm trying to usurp them. And I like being alive."

"They wouldn't kill you if you became my favorite," I said, rolling my eyes. "They wouldn't want to make me sad. Besides, it's not like it would ever happen."

"Ouch!" He clapped his hand over his heart. "Way to hurt a man, Mirai-chan."

"You'll survive." I tucked the scroll back away in my pocket. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to make sure the boys actually ate dinner."

"Alright. I'm gonna go eat all of this in one sitting," he announced, hefting the box and then disappearing back into his apartment.

I moved past his door to mine and unlocked it. Before I even opened the door, I could feel the chilly atmosphere around the boys' chakra and I knew something was wrong. I pushed my way in. Naruto was curled up on the couch with a textbook and he didn't look up as I stepped inside. Sasuke was nowhere to be seen, but I could feel his chakra off to the left in their bedroom.

"Nato? What's going on?"

He just hunched farther into himself and muttered something I couldn't understand. So I toed off my shoes and moved across the room to him. "Hey, Nato." I laced my fingers in his hair and sat down next to him. "C'mon."

"Sasuke's being mean," he muttered. "And now he won't let me in the room."

I glanced at the door to said room. "What did he say?"

"That I don't love you."

I pulled back. "That— What?" I asked incredulously.

"He said that if I really loved you, I'd get stronger to protect you. Then he called me stupid and locked me out."

I was . . . definitely missing a lot of pieces to this puzzle. "I know you love me," I murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "And you're not stupid." I gently closed the textbook he'd been studying. "Is that why you're reading this, Nato?"

He turned and pressed into my side. "Yeah. I gotta protect you."

"Thank you. And I talked to Sasuke about this, you know. How it's important to get strong for the right reasons, and the best reason is to protect people. But . . . none of that has to do with whether or not you love me."

"Then, then why'd he say it?" he asked, finally looking up at me with red-rimmed eyes.

"Oh, Nato," I sighed sadly. I thumbed away the stray tears that were still clinging to his face. "Sasuke's still hurt and angry about what happened to his family. He will be for a long time. And sometimes, when someone is hurt or angry, they say things they don't mean and get mad about things they shouldn't really get mad about. And when that person is someone you love . . . you have to try to understand and be kind to them anyway." I straightened a little and ran my fingers through his hair. "It doesn't mean that Sasuke is right or that it's okay that he said that, but it means that we know why he said that and we help him get better."

His brow furrowed. "When is he gonna get better?"

"I don't know. And we don't choose that; our job is just to help him."

Naruto sniffled and rubbed at his eyes. "Okay. Um . . . how, how do I help?"

"Well, right now I think we should give him some space. So . . . do you want to build a fort and we can sleep out here tonight?"

He lit up. "Yeah!" He scrambled up from the couch, sending his textbook tumbling to the ground. Naruto stumbled. "Uh . . . ." He looked down at his clothes.

I laughed. "I'm going to take a shower and change. Then, while I make some dessert, you can take a shower too. Then you can wear some of my pajamas."

"Got it! I'll get fort stuff!" He started dragging the cushions off the couch.

I rushed through a shower, not even pausing to enjoy the way the hot water soothed the agony Gai had put my muscles through. I changed into sweats and a tee and stepped out. I almost ran into Naruto, who was eagerly waiting his turn with another set of my pajamas clutched to his chest. He shoved in past me and the door slammed.

I was just putting the cookies in the oven when Naruto tumbled into the living room. "Done!" he announced, water dripping out of his hair and soaking the shoulders of his shirt. "Okay, so, I got all the pillows and blankets from your room too. But I couldn't get the ones from my room, so it won't be as big as last time."

"That's okay. Got the tape?"

He grinned and picked up three large rolls. "Yep!"

Naruto had long since dozed off, head pillowed against my side. I was on my back and staring up at our blanket ceiling, just about do the same, when I heard a door creak. I forced my eyes open and listened. Sasuke was quiet, but I could hear him open the fridge and pour himself something—milk, probably. He shuffled across the floor.

Then he whispered, "Mirai? Are, are you awake?"

"Yes," I said, softly enough that I hoped I wouldn't wake Naruto.

I could hear him shifting again. "Um . . . are you angry with me?"

"Well, you made Naruto cry, so yes. I'm a little angry."

"Oh." A sniffle. "I'm sorry."

"I know. And you should say that to him, not me."

He didn't say anything for a long time. Something tapped loudly. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah. Careful."

The flap lifted and Sasuke crawled in on his hands and knees. He sat down on the opposite side of me as Naruto and rubbed his eyes. I held out my hand to him and he took it.

"Hey, Sasuke," I whispered. "I love you, okay?"

He sniffled again. "Okay."

Gai had left a half-hour ago and we still hadn't moved from the training ground. Shikamaru whined and rolled onto his stomach. "I hate you."

"Oh, we're back to that?" I rolled my eyes. "At least you're talking again."

"My lungs just now relearned how to breathe," he muttered. "You could have at least supported me when I told him that I was just here to watch."

"But there's no fun in that."

"I'm not going to be able to walk tomorrow."

"Too bad." My coin burned against my collarbone. "Alright, time to go pay our respects." I climbed to my feet.

Shikamaru moaned pitifully. "I don't wanna."

"C'mon." I grabbed his arm and dragged him up. Groaning, he stood. "Shunshin?"

"Kami, please no. I don't wanna—"

Several shunshin brought us to a stop in front of the Uchiha Compound.

"—lose my lunch. Ugh." He clutched at his stomach. "I hate you," he said again. "Let's get this over with." He kept ahold of my arm, leaning on me a little more than was really necessary as we made our way through the deserted compound. When we got inside, I went about sealing the entrance and Shikamaru counted and then pulled up the right tatami mat. He headed down first. When I went after him, I closed the trap door above me.

"Took you long enough."

I straightened and turned with a grin. "Hey, we headed straight here. It's not my fault it was a little too hard to get Maru to stand up."

"And it's not my fault that Gai made me do ten thousand more lunges than I've ever done before," Shikamaru muttered, slumping against the wall. "The number I've done before being zero because I'm not insane."

"Right, let's go ahead and get this part over with." Shisui crouched down in front of him and his sharingan spun. "Ready? And done."

Shikamaru blinked and then rubbed his eyes. He worked his jaw for a long moment. And then. "I can't believe you didn't bring Itachi in on this." He wrinkled his nose. "Oh, hey, I can actually say that now. But yeah, I can't believe that. Also, if you, or Kaito if that's what I should call you, is going to work completely alone, that'll make you a target. You need either a group to back you up or at least the appearance of a group to scare others off. Plus, you'll want some constant base of operations. I mean, going from place to place if fine up until the moment where you get hurt and need time to recover or you need to lay low for a while.

"Mirai, if you really want to secure yourself as the head of the Uzumaki Clan, you need to be more active about it and a bit more approachable. Which mostly means stop acting like a brat to Inoichi. But act a bit more like a brat to the Hokage and you can probably get more things from him to get you an advantage. Eventually, you could even use it to get the Yondaime's old manor and all of your parents' belongings, though that would make your heritage completely public so you'd probably want to wait until you've got a better support system. I have a few ideas for that, but they'd be much later on. But I do have an idea for how to get in Inoichi's good graces. And for what you should aim for from Sarutobi, mostly involving jutsu.

"Also, I've got some idea for categorical monitoring of all present jinchuuriki, including behavior, location, skillset, and societal networking. Plus, some ideas for tracking Orochimaru, as long as you're confident about the people you said are his associates. And I can get you into the Nara Archives."

I pulled backed. "I— Wow."

"Holy shit," Shisui breathed. "Sorry, Taichou, but there's no way we're keeping him out of this now. I think we need him."

"Of course you do." Shikamaru scoffed. "I'm a Nara. We're kinda invaluable. Besides, this is strategy. That's where my clan excels. And now that the genjutsu is off, I can actually write out some tests for some theories. Though I'll have to make sure that it can be done is a way where the information can't be taken by someone else."

I considered that. "I can teach you English. It's what I write my things in since the only ones that know it are me and Shisui. It's not too hard to learn."

"It's a little hard," Shisui said, sliding easily into the other language.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed and he nodded. "Okay, we can do that. But we can do some work while we're here. I say max two hours? Got anything for me to write on?"

"Um, yeah." I dug through my storage scrolls and sat down. I came up with the right one and unsealed some paper and pens. Shikamaru shuffled forward and snatched up some supplies.

Shisui sank down to the floor to my left and slightly behind me. "What are you starting with?" he asked curiously. I felt a tug on my hair and then my ponytail loosened and fell apart.

"Looking at getting you an organization. Drawing up some ideas. What do you think about the name Skulk? Too on the nose?"

"I think it's good," Shisui said. "Plus, any suspicion can be diverted if we build it up with an element of Inari-centrism. You have any bobby pins?"

"Huh?" Shikamaru looked up in confusion.

"Not you."

"Uh, no, I don't," I murmured. "What are you doing back there?"

"I'll let you know when I figure it out. Though with one hairband, I'll probably just go with a braid."

Shikamaru stared at us for a long moment then sighed and refocused. "Mirai, how close do you think you are to finishing that memory splicer seal?"

"Memory splicer seal?" Shisui asked curiously.

"Right. I'm finally creating the actual seal itself. Just finished research yesterday. So I'd say . . . give me a month? But I don't know where to go from there. Normally, you test seals to iron out any issues, but . . . well."

"If you created the seal, could it be applied and used by someone else?"

I considered that. "As long as they know how to do seal-transference from a non-organic to organic surface. But that can be taught."

"Got it. Once you're confident that it can be tested, Shisui can take it and while you're running a bounty mission you can test it out."

Shisui's work on my hair paused. Then the braid rested heavy against my neck. "I suppose I could. But I'd need a full list of things you'd want me to note for making it better. Plus, I don't know what this seal is anyway."

"Memory splicer. Basically, it will seal away a section of memory, but only from when the first half is placed. I'll be creating a backwards buffer for it. Once the seal is activated, the seal itself will be directly on the brain and so can't be seen. Unless, you know, they're cut open. But I'll also be creating a release seal that can access it and unlock the primary seal."

"Huh. Brilliant."

"Once the seal is reliable," Shikamaru said, hunched over papers again, "then we can use it to get a base of operations built that even the builders don't know the location of."

"Smart. Can see why you and Taichou get along."

"Yeah, he's only terrible some of the time," I said, leaning up against Shisui's side. "Hey. Have there ever been any well known Uchiha that were lightning-natured?"

"No," he said immediately. "If they were, they lied because the clan held any member who wasn't katon-natured in low regard. Obito was lightning-natured, and that didn't help considering the clan already hated him."

"Huh. Obito? Really? Niisan said Obito was fire-natured and Rin was water-natured." I twisted to look up at him. "We were having a conversation about lightning-nature, so I would think it would have come up."

"Obito found out before he graduated. Lied to everyone about it after that."

"That's the joy of clans," Shikamaru put in, still not looking up. "Pride's always an issue."

"Even in the Nara Clan?" I asked curiously.

"Of course." His gaze flicked to me briefly. "But we're better than most."

I snorted. "Right." Then I refocused on Shisui. "Sasuke found out he was lightning-natured. In front of the entire Study Group. Kakashi's talked to him and he's accepted it, but he's still really upset about it."

Shisui sucked in a breath. "Kami. That's bad enough for an Uchiha, but for him. That'll take a long time to get over."

"Shit. That's what I was afraid of." I groaned and thudded my head forward against his shoulder. "I just want you to know that I hate certain aspects of your clan."

"You and me both."

"So . . . we're sleeping in the living room again today?" I asked curiously, staring at the fort that was a messy attempt at remaking the one we'd built a couple of days before.

Sasuke poked his head out. "Yep! But no girls allowed!"

"Oh, really?" I raised an eyebrow. "I'll just head off to bed, then. Have you boys taken showers yet?"

"Nope!" Naruto called from deep inside the fortress of blankets. "We're pirates, and pirates don't shower."

"Wow, okay. Gross. Also, I'll let it slide today, but just so you know, all pirates onboard the ship are taking showers tomorrow," I assured them, slipping away to the bathroom. The water was almost painfully hot since I was the only one using it and I took a bit longer than I probably should have. When I reemerged, the boys' shadows were cast largely on the walls of their fort by whatever lightning they'd snuck inside. I grinned. "Night, boys!"

"Goodnight, Mirai!"

"Aarrgh!"

Laughing, I pushed my way into my room and activated my seals. Then I paused at the familiar warmth just barely teasing my senses. "What are you doing here? We just saw each other."

Shisui shrugged, leaning back on my bed and swinging his legs playfully. "Eh, wanted to give you this, but then your Nara spiraled into something about Orochimaru's connection to human trafficking and the statistical probability of the Hokage committing you to an asylum if you mentioned your reincarnation to him." He held out a small box.

"Ah. Right. Shikamaru's surprisingly passionate when he's . . . actually focused on something and not napping." I stepped forward and took the box. "What's this?" I asked, hopping up on the bed next to him.

"Birthday gift, since I don't want to risk coming back in next week. If I'm too frequent—"

"There's a better chance of you getting caught. I know." I eyed the present. "So . . . can I open it now, or do I have to wait until my actual birthday?"

"You can open it now."

"Sweet!" I undid the ribbon and then lifted the lid. Inside was . . . a fabric bag? Red, embroidered with yellow and white thread and with a white drawstring. Shisui must have seen my confusion because he reached out and stopped me when I moved to open it.

"It's an omamori. I got this one from an Inari shrine. There's inscribed wood inside, this one to provide good luck. You have to keep it closed so that luck doesn't escape."

"Oh." I lifted it out. I could feel the wood inside, though the cloth was too thick for me to make out the inscription. I smiled. "Aw, you want me to have good luck."

"Of course."

"You know, in my old life we had lots of good luck charms." I grinned. "My aunt was really superstitious, so I actually learned a lot about them. I think my favorite was a rabbit's foot."

Shisui made an odd sound. "What? As, as a charm?"

I blinked and looked up at him. "Yeah." I squinted at his horrified look. "What?"

"So you just carried around a dead animal part for luck?"

"Huh. Well, when you put it like that it's . . . a little creepy?" I shrugged and looked down to study my omamori. "But my aunt got me one when I was six and I carried it with me for a long time. Besides, it's . . . prepared, you know. Clean, drained, made so that the hair doesn't all just fall out. There's usually like a chain or something through the bone so it can clip on to things. Like keychains! Aaaand I can tell by your expression that you don't understand."

"No, no, it's—" He shrugged, lips twitching into a smile. "You just haven't ever talked about anything from Before like this. Especially not without getting depressed about it." He reached over and tugged on my braid. "I like it. I mean, carrying around a bunch of rabbit feet is weird, but not . . . too weird, right?"

I grinned. "No. It's not too weird."

"How's everyone doing?" I asked, not looking up from the five floating leaves I was rotating above my palm.

"Umm, I think I need some aloe vera," Hinata said, flushing a red a deep as her fingertips.

"I've got some!" Ino shrieked, fumbling for her backpack. "Here!" She thrust the bottle at the Hyuuga."

"Great." I finally let the leaves drop and turned. "How's it going over here, Sakura?"

"Fine," she said flatly. "You would be a far better instructor, though."

"Ouch." Izumo wrinkled his nose. "Yep, she's definitely spent a lot of time around you, that's for sure. Are all of your friends as mean as you, Mirai-chan?"

"I'm not mean; I'm honest. Let me see what you've got, Sakura-chan."

"Right, well, I'm supposed to be soaking this." She held up a leaf. "So far I've only succeeded when I've thrown it angrily into the lake."

I pursed my lips and glanced at Izumo. He held up his hands. "Hey, I'm trying okay! Water is actually really hard to generate, comparatively. There's a reason why most suiton users who use nature jutsu regularly try to stick near bodies of water or even carry some on themselves all the time." He glanced at Sakura. "Those are options. In the future, though. You've still got to figure this out."

Sakura huffed. "Fine."

I turned to the next group only to find that Choji, Shino, and Shikamaru were sharing food from the shelter of their leaning earthen walls. I cleared my throat. "So . . . it's going well?"

"Adequately," Shino said. "We crumbled a minimum of seven leaves apiece before moving on."

"I see. Then I'll just check on—"

"C'mon! I can't get it!"

I flinched. "There he is." I turned. "Sasuke-kun, what's going on? Can't—" I stopped short in front of the pile of wilted, brittle leaves. "Looks like you've been doing just fine?"

"Yeah, yeah. That was fine. It's this." He turned the book in his hands and pointed to the page.

"You're . . . trying to do a jutsu?" I sighed. "Sasuke, as a group we're going to move onto just base chakra nature manipulation before moving on to jutsu. Even Yosu-sensei only has me—"

"But I know a fire jutsu! This should be easy."

"No, it shouldn't. Your katon jutsu wasn't easy, and just because raiton is more natural to your system doesn't mean it's easy for you either."

"But you know a fuuton jutsu!"

"And that took me months, Sasuke. It's not easy and it's not supposed to be." I sighed and reached out, taking the book. Then I turned back several pages until I was on a chapter about the theory of raiton manipulation. I handed it back to him. "Your raiton jutsu in the future will be much better if you master this first."

He stared blankly down at the book and then sank to the ground with a sigh. "It'd be easier if I was katon-natured."

I sighed and crouched down in front of him. "I know," I murmured. "But you're not and you can't change that."

"Go away, Mirai."

I pulled back. For a moment, I wanted to say something but then I thought better. Instead, I returned to my fuuton group. "So, how are my two fellow wind-users doing?"

"Naruto split five stacked leaves," Tenten said dully, staring down at her leaf that had a jagged rip ending a quarter inch in. "Now he's trying to figure out how to float them like you do."

I glanced at where Naruto and his two clones were completely focused on the leaves in their hands. I opened my mouth, about to get his attention, when the hair on the back of my neck stood on end and something uncomfortably warm and sour pressed against my chakra senses. I turned on the spot.

Danzo stood at the top of the hill, both hands folded across the top of his cane as he stared down at our group. Ice chilled over in my veins and Kurama rumbled in the back of my head.

Kill him.

I wish.

A shunshin landed me in front of him. "What are you doing here?" I said tightly.

"Uzumaki. I just came to observe."

"Okay. You observed. Now leave."

He considered me for a long moment, unmoved. "I have no reason to. I think I would quite enjoy watching how you train your followers."

"They aren't my followers, they're my friends. And this is Uchiha Clan property, so you of all people have no right to be here."

"Oh?" He leaned forward in interest, both hands braced on his cane. "Me of all people? That's such an interesting choice of words."

I pressed my heels down in an attempt to ground myself, to remind myself that I would lose if I attacked. I grit my teeth. "Leave."

Danzo sighed, almost as if I had disappointed him. "Unfortunately for your demand, my dear, you are not in charge of any Uchiha affairs. Unless, of course, Fugaku bequeathed control to you in his final words. Did he say anything like that while you stood idly by and watched him die?"

I had to bite back my rage and instead bit out, "How dare you." My face burned and itched and Kurama's chakra was far louder than I knew it should be. "Do you enjoy using people's lives and deaths as nothing more than tools?"

"No more than you do. After all, moving the sole remaining Uchiha—and thereby someone with the council powers of a clan head—into your home to keep him under your control is a bold move to consolidate power. I'm impressed."

"That isn't the situation."

"Don't deceive yourself, Uzumaki. You're so reluctant to work with me, but you're far more like me than you seem to realize."

"I am not like you," I growled. The itching had grown painful. My vision was sharp, too sharp, and bleeding with red.

Danzo's visible eye widened. "Fascinating."

"Danzo-sama." The sudden proximity of Izumo's chakra took me by surprise. He put a hand on my shoulder and drew me back so he was a loose barrier between me and Danzo. "Is there something I can help you with?" There was a noticeable quaver to his voice.

"I'm afraid not, Kamizuki. I'm just here to observe the Study Group I've heard so much about."

"He won't leave," I snarled. "But he shouldn't be here."

"Danzo-sama, perhaps you could—"

"I have no intentions of leaving," he said simply. "After all, I just want to see how the next generation of shinobi is coming along. I'm sure Hiruzen would appreciate my assessment."

I looked back to find the others gathered a few feet away. "Sasuke-kun, tell him to leave. He'll listen to you."

Sasuke eyed me, eyes wide, as he crept forward. "Why?"

"Because you're an Uchiha."

"Oh." He eyed Danzo. "I . . . I want you to leave?" He paused and then nodded, straightening. "Mirai wants you gone, so go away."

I looked smugly towards Danzo, but he was smiling. "Consolidation," he murmured. Then he bowed his head and turned, shunshining away.

Izumo turned quickly and gripped my shoulders, intently studying my face. "Do you have someone you could go to for medical treatment?"

"Medical . . . treatment?" I reached up to my face and was met with hot blood. "Oh, uh." I rubbed my face, only to hiss when I was met with raw skin. "It'll heal."

"I'd really prefer if you want to someone."

"Um, Kakashi-niisan can get me to Tenzo-san. He can help."

"Good." He pulled back, releasing me. "Go ahead. I'll stay here and help a bit longer so you don't worry about it, okay?"

"Alright." I stared down at my bloody hands, wrinkling my nose. Then I left.

I kept shunshin up the entire way to Kakashi's apartment, not wanting to stop and let people stare at my bloody appearance. I knocked on his door, wincing when my touch left blood behind. After a couple seconds, Tenzo opened the door with one hand, holding a towel and dripping mug in the other. When he saw me, the mug slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. "Uzumaki?" he asked incredulously.

"Uh, hi, Tenzo-san," I murmured. "I told Izumo it would heal on its own, but he insisted I go to someone for treatment."

"Kami, I— Inside." He shoved the shattered piece of the mug aside with his foot and then waved me in. "Sit down. What did you do? Kami, I thought Senpai was joking when he said you're like him."

I peered around the small apartment. "Where is he?"

Tenzo sighed and dug through the cabinets before coming up with some supplies. "Well, I've been staying here to try to keep him from stressing his injured ankle. But I wasn't able to stop him from going training with Gai-san. When Gai-san realized Senpai's ankle was injured, his solution was for them to do all their training today on their hands."

"Ah. That sounds like him." I perched myself on a chair at the table, carefully keeping my hands up where they wouldn't stain anything.

Tenzo wet a clean cloth with warm water and then began gently cleaning the blood off of my face. My raw skin didn't sting as much as it had before, and I knew I was probably almost done healing anyway.

"What happened?" he asked curiously. "It's, uh, it's an odd wound."

"Uh, well. I think that if I let the Kyuubi's chakra up the way I did when I'm angry, it seems like my skin peels? Or something like that. I'm not completely sure."

Tenzo paused. Then his voice cracked weakly as he responded. "Oh." He cleared his throat. "It looks like it's already healing, but I'll just go ahead and finish it. Okay?"

"Alright. Thank you."

He lifted his hand to my face and his chakra lifted to the surface.

Senju, Kurama suddenly growled loudly in the back of my head.

I flinched back from Tenzo's touch and he paused, chakra sinking away. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, sorry. Um . . . . Sorry. Your mokuton just makes us nervous."

"My—" He swallowed. "Us?" When I didn't answer that, he shook his head. "You know about my mokuton?"

"We can smell it on you." I hesitated. "Sorry, is that weird? That seems weird?"

"It's a bit weird," he conceded. "Hold still." Hot chakra pushed against my skin, soothing the itching there.

The door slammed open. "Here we are, my rival!" a loud voice announced. Gai appeared in the doorway, carrying Kakashi like a bride in his arms.

"That's great," Kakashi said flatly. "Can you put me down now?"

Gai did so, though Kakashi continued to lean on him heavily to avoid putting a lot of weight on his ankle. He paused. "Pup? What are you doing here?" He inhaled. "Kami, is that blood? What happened?"

"I'm fine," I promised. "I would have healed fine on my own, but Izumo was worried."

"She was already mostly healed by the time she got here," Tenzo contributed. He picked the cloth back up and started cleaning the blood from my hands.

"But what happened?" Kakashi asked against, pushing off Gai and limping forward. He framed my face with his hands and studied me like he would find the answer to his question there.

"Turns out Kyuubi chakra can do interesting things to my skin when I get really angry. Speaking of, could you tell Danzo to stay the fuck away from me?"

Tenzo's hands flinched around mine before pulling away, and the color drained completely from Kakashi's face. "Was—" His voice cracked painfully. "What—" He forced a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry," I whispered. "I didn't say that to make you worried."

"I know," he said, ruffling my hair. "Thank you, though. I'm, I'm glad you told me."

"If Shimura-san wants to take you," Gai rumbled, "then I assure you I will stand with Kakashi against him."

Kakashi sighed and leaned his head down against mine, closing his eyes. "Thank you, Gai."

"I'll be fine," I promised. "Besides, for once I've actually got Hiruzen on my side."

"You shouldn't underestimate him," Tenzo murmured. "He doesn't really play by the Hokage's rules."

"Trust me, I know."

Kakashi drew back as I pushed myself to my feet. "I should go. Nato, Sasuke-kun, and I are supposed to be eating at the Nara Compound tonight. I need to make sure they actually shower. And take one myself."

Kakashi hesitated. Gai stepped forward and put a hand on my shoulder. "I will walk her to her home and then to the Compound if that would ease your mind, my friend."

Kakashi's shoulders sagged. "I'd appreciate that."

Gai grinned down at me. "Come, young one! Let's be off!" He held out his hand.

I put my hand in his, only to squeak in surprise when he tossed me up and caught me on his back. "Off we go!" He charged out the door. "Which way, my youthful friend?"

Gripping his shoulders tightly, I gave him the address. Then I hesitated. "Gai-sensei? Would it be okay if someone else joined our training?"

"Like your Nara friend?"

"Well, kinda. But not for just one session. It would be on a more . . . permanent basis. I have a friend a year ahead of me. But he has stunted chakra coils, so he can't do gen- or ninjutsu. So he's focusing exclusively on mastering taijutsu. I figured you would be ideal for him to learn from."

Gai stopped walking.

"Gai-sensei?" I asked nervously. "You, you don't have to."

He set me down. When he turned to me, his eyes were brimming with tears. "I would be honored. What is the name of this youthful student?"

I sighed in relief. "He'll be excited. His name is Rock Lee."

The steady knocking at my door woke me up. Yawning and detecting only the boys' chakra, I reached blearily for the wall. I touched the release seal there. "Come in!"

The door eased open.

"Rai?"

"Neechan?"

I sat bolt upright, staring at the two of them. "Wh-what?" I asked hoarsely.

The two stared at me, seemingly unaware of what had just happened. I cleared my throat. "I, um— Nightmares, boys?" I asked, smoothing out the nerves in my voice.

Sasuke looked ashamedly to the side, but Naruto nodded. I shifted so I was more centered in my bed and then folded back the covers. Naruto's expression broke into a grin. He ran and jumped onto the bed, crawling over me to settle down on the other side. Sasuke moved and stood awkwardly, idly by. I motioned to him. "C'mon."

He crawled up into bed beside me. I pulled the blankets up over us all and settled down, wrapping an arm around both of them. "Do you want to tell me?"

Naruto started. "The Village was on fire, which was okay because I was Hokage and I put it out! But then I couldn't, um, couldn't find you. And I looked and I looked and I looked and I looked and I looked and I—" He sniffled. "You weren't there anymore."

"I'm sorry," I murmured, pressing a kiss to his forehead. "I promise I'm here. Sasuke-kun?"

He was silent for a long, long moment. Then he murmured, "Itachi killed you. Then he killed everyone in our class. And then everyone in the Village."

I closed my eyes, leaning my head against his. I didn't say anything.

"He didn't kill me," Sasuke whispered, voice cracking. "He just left me alone."

"Mirai, Naruto, if I could just have a word."

I caught Naruto's arm to stop him and then nodded to Sasuke. "We'll meet you out front." Then we turned to face Iruka. "Hai, Iruka-sensei?"

He smiled gently, glancing to the side and nodding to Mizuki as the other man left. Then he cleared his throat. "I know your birthday is tomorrow, but from what I understand of Mirai's schedule, there's no way my plans would fit in. I was thinking, however, that I could take you two to a tea house to celebrate."

Naruto's eyes widened and he grinned. I frowned. "Why?"

"I feel like I need to do more as your teacher," Iruka said easily. "So I'd like to take you two to a tea house. Then afterward, I'll get you whatever you want for your birthday." When he saw Naruto's excitement, he amended, "Whatever you want within reason."

"Alright," I said. "Then what I want is for Sasuke to come with us. He's family now, and we're not leaving him behind."

Iruka blinked and considered that. "Of course."

"Good. Then it sounds like a great idea. Nato?"

He grinned. "Hell yeah!"

Iruka's expression got a little pinched at the language, but he didn't comment on it. Instead, he got to his feet. "Sasuke-kun is waiting outside?"

"Hai."

"Let's go!" Naruto grabbed my hand and dragged me ahead. Sasuke looked up when we got outside and Naruto grinned. "Iruka-sensei is taking us all to tea!" he said excitedly. He grabbed Sasuke with his other hand and dragged us both from the Academy yard. Then he paused. Naruto looked back. "Uh, which way?"

Iruka just smiled fondly, if a little tiredly, and moved to lead the way. Other than occasionally pointing us in the right direction, he listened quietly as Naruto rambled. When we reached the tea house, Iruka ushered us inside and to a booth. We all ordered and then Iruka carefully directed the conversation in a new direction when Naruto stopped to take a breath.

"What would you like me to get you, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto wrinkled his nose, sitting back and considering that. "Huh. Uh, I think," he said slowly, "that I don't know. Can I think?"

Iruka smiled. "Of course." His gaze turned to me. "And for you?"

"I already got it," I said, glancing pointedly at Sasuke. When he frowned curiously, I gave him a smile.

"You can have something else," Iruka said softly. "What do you want, Mirai-chan?"

Involuntarily, my hand lifted to the coin hidden beneath my shirt and I focused on the empty feeling in my chest that had been eating away at me ever since the Massacre. What did I want? I wanted to be whole again. When was the last time I'd ever felt that way? I smiled. "I'd like more fuuinjutsu supplies and study materials. I'm running low on ink and scrolls, not to mention notebooks for my sketches. And I haven't had any new information to study ever since my lessons with Anko-sensei ended."

He seemed to consider that for a moment, gaze flicking away. The server returned with our tea and he straightened, murmuring his thanks. Then he settled on looking at me. "I'll see what I can do."

"Oh! I've got it!" Naruto said excitedly, shooting to his feet and almost upsetting his cup of tea. I smiled as I watched him, lifting my own tea to my lips. Naruto grinned and slammed his hands down on the table. "I wanna leave the Village!"

I sputtered, choking on my tea. Sasuke squeaked in confusion. As I coughed, trying and failing to fix the way I had inhaled my drink, Iruka patted my back. "Leave?" he asked Naruto, something carefully measured in his voice.

"Yeah! Like a trip! Hinata-chan was talking about how sometimes when her dad has to do somethin' outside, he'll take her with him. And Kiba said he went to the Valley with his mom!"

"I . . . don't know if I can manage that, Naruto-kun."

Naruto's expression fell and the look on Iruka's face softened. He leaned forward. "But I'll look into it," he promised.

And at that moment, I grew to like Iruka a lot more than I ever had before.

Naruto and Sasuke were at the edge of the trees, listening with wide eyes as Yoshino told them all about the Nara deer, while she fed one straight out of her hand. Shikaku was standing with them, managing to look both amused and half-asleep at the same time. Choji and Shino were engrossed in discussion, hunched over a book full of illustrations and information regarding butterflies. Kiba, having said something about embracing Nara hospitality, was taking a nap. Or attempting to, at least. He would occasionally groan and complain loudly about how Lee was making the task difficult. Lee himself was giving a very loud and active retelling of his first training session with Gai, with Hinata, Tenten, Ino, Sakura, and Neji as his enraptured—but somewhat reluctantly trapped—audience.

"I didn't get you a gift."

I dragged my gaze away from where I was watching everyone else through the doors of the shogi room. A glance at the board told me that, despite how much time I'd given him, Shikamaru still hadn't made his move. I looked up at him. "Oh?"

"No. I already gave you mine." He finally moved a general.

"You . . . did?" I asked, mildly confused. I certainly didn't remember that.

He met my gaze evenly. "Of course I did." He leaned a bit to the side so that he could point at the omamori hanging from my kunai pouch. "That came from me." He said it carefully, slowly. I straightened. "Got it?" he asked.

"Yes," I murmured. "Thank you."

"Hmm. Course. Take your turn."

"Wha— Hey, you just took like five minutes for yours. Don't rush me." I focused in on the board again. Of course, that was all completely derailed when I felt a familiar cool chakra against my senses. I grinned and scrambled to my feet, ignoring Shikamaru's frustrated groan. "Niisan!"

Kakashi was standing nervously at the edge of the Nara Compound. The line of his shoulders softened when I appeared in front of him in a shunshin. "Hey, Pup. Genma just got called out, but I brought this from him." He lifted two gifts.

"Oh." Something twinged inside me at Genma's absence, but I smiled. "Okay, that means that everyone's here. Kiba will be excited because that means Choji can finally bring out the desserts his dad sent over."

"Akimichi dessert at your party?" he asked, letting me take his hand and lead him to where everyone else was loosely gathered. "Getting fancy, are we?"

I managed a smile. "Yoshino-san took it upon herself to arrange everything after . . . after Shikamaru mentioned to her that Shisui arranged our party last year."

His hand tightened around mine and I didn't miss the grateful look he immediately cast in Yoshino's direction as the woman herded in the boys to join everyone else. Yoshino then smiled and clapped her hands. "Happy birthday, Mirai-chan and Naruto-kun! Who would like to start the gift-giving?"

"I would," Sakura said, throwing a look around the circle as if daring anyone else to try to go first instead of her. Then she nodded, satisfied, and handed one wrapped box to me and the second to Naruto.

I went through opening all the gifts in a haze—three cases of lip balm for my fuuton training, nunchucks, seal-controlled ankle and wrist weights, a box of Akimichi shinobi bars, a more extensive and professional medical kit—but it felt . . . off. The omamori at my hip was heavier than it should be. When I finished opening my gift from Genma—a black shinobi vest that was reinforced with woven metal, the size scaled down to fit me—I was considering it with a distant fondness and wondering how I would get along of larger versions of it as I grew. My thought process was put on hold when a heavy hand rested on my head.

I looked up to find that Kakashi had a hand on Naruto too to get his attention. He eye-smiled. "I spoke with your instructor and the Hokage and I've gotten permission to take you on a short trip out of the Village to do some sightseeing. Well, not just me. There will be others so that I'm not the only one there watching out for you guys, but you get the idea."

Naruto squealed. "Really? Awesome!"

I hesitated and glanced at Sasuke. Shikamaru spoke up before I could even voice my concerns. "Sasu-chan can stay with us while you're gone." He glanced at his parents. "After all, a couple days of sleeping over with a friend wouldn't upset that balance, right?"

Yoshino beamed proudly at him. "Of course Sasuke-kun can stay with us!"

Naruto grinned and shot to his feet, spinning around happily. He was interrupted when Shikamaru's gift—an envelope—nailed him in the forehead. "Huh?" Naruto peered down at it curiously and ripped it carefully open. His eyes grew wide. "Ramen vouchers!" he squeaked out. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Maru," Yoshino said, voice startling reproachful compared to how proud she had sounded moments before. "Didn't you get something for Mirai-chan as well?"

"He already gave it to me," I said, reaching down and smoothing my fingers across the omamori. I smiled. "I like it a lot."

Yoshino blinked, making a little 'o' with her mouth. Then her expression softened. "I'm glad you do," she murmured.

Shikamaru shot me an almost impassive look. One I was slowly learning was a look of mild satisfaction, one he wore when a plan of his worked perfectly. I was beginning to like that look.

The boys' chakra was already humming with sleep by the time I finally stumbled out of the shower and into my pajamas. I closed my door in a haze and was just about to activate my security seals when a tapping got my attention. I straightened, suddenly far more away, and turned towards the window. There was . . . nothing. No shadow, no more tapping, no anything.

Hesitantly, curiously, I moved towards the window and pulled back the curtain. Across the street, a crow took off from a roof and flew away. I stared at what had been left behind, my chest feeling tight and my eyes stinging.

Hanging on the outside of the window pane from a study black chain swung a brown rabbit foot.