Fun Fact: The eight people from the Study Group in the last scene (the iryo-focused group) are Sakura, Ino, Tobio, Ami, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru, and Sasuke.

Chapter Thirty-Six - Peduncle

[peduncle—noun : a flower stalk, supporting either a cluster or a solitary flower]

"It . . . worked?" I echoed. "Really? It works?"

"It works," Neji confirmed, turning his byakugan off. "It's still safe?"

"It's safe." I peeled the tag off, grinning. "Thank you so much for your help."

"Of course. And you're . . . sure you can't stay?"

"I'm sorry. I would like to, really, but I already have plans." I unsealed a box and stepped up to him, holding it out. "Here."

Neji stared at the box for a long moment before taking it. "What's this?"

"It's a thank you. For all your help."

"Oh. I don't need— I was happy to help."

"And I'm happy to give this to you." I poked the box. "C'mon. Open it."

He lifted off the lid and frowned into the box. "Senbon?"

"I was thinking about how the Hyuuga style is heavy on up-close combat. But with the byakugan, senbon would be a serious threat in your hands. If anyone could take that to its full potential, it would be you."

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Oh." The ghost of a smile flickered over his lips. "Thank you. I'll work hard with these."

"I wouldn't expect anything else." I gave him a smile and stepped back. "I'll see you next Sunday. Enjoy the break." With a nod, I shunshined away.

When I got to the Nara Compound, the shogi house was open and I could see Shikamaru inside. I skipped over to the door and leaned in. "I'm still early, right?"

Shikaku didn't look up from his spot across the board. "Dinner will be ready in about ten minutes. Good timing."

"Perfect." I sank down to the ground and slumped into Shikamaru's side, garnering a grunt from him. "I brought cookies for stargazing."

"Who says we were gonna stargaze?" Shikamaru asked, shooting me a look. When I raised an eyebrow, he sighed. "Fair point."

"How have you decided to spend your week?" Shikaku asked. "Shikamaru has already shared that he plans to spend it sleeping and feeding the deer. I'm assuming you . . . do not have similarly relaxing plans."

"You would be right. I have training planned, mostly. Though actually, Maru has a sleepover for the house on Saturday."

"Oh?" Shikamaru squinted at me. "Is that this Saturday?"

"Sure is. Hey, shift." I tapped his shoulder and moved to sit behind him, already tugging out his ponytail. Shikamaru gave a grumble of complaint, but he did straighten a little to give me better access. I grinned and got busy braiding.

"We were promised cookies," Shikaku murmured.

I sat up, tapping my arm and unsealing the box I'd prepared. I selected a couple for myself before passing the box to Shikaku from across Shikamaru. He took it and passed it to Yoshino. As he laid back down, he said, "We're training in the morning. You can join us."

"Training?" I frowned and looked down at Shikamaru. "I thought you were planning to just relax all week."

He grunted, still staring up at the stars instead of looking at me. "Outside of training," he corrected. "Kaasan insisted."

"Shikamaru is still in the early stages of learning clan techniques," Yoshino said, throwing her son a sharp look. "A few hours of practice this week won't hurt. We agreed that if he does two hours of kage-gata every morning, then I won't bug him to do anything else the rest of the break."

"Hmm." I laid down, munching on one of my cookies. "Seems fair enough."

Shikamaru grumbled. "You're just saying that because you don't understand that there are options other than training. You have no idea how to relax."

I scoffed. "I know how to relax. Don't be ridiculous."

"Uh-huh. You're the one whose plans for this entire week is just training."

I elbowed him. "Not true. Izumo's exam finishes Wednesday, so I'll be going to the party. That's relaxing."

"Wow. A party. Around jonin. That you'll probably just pester for training suggestions all night. And that's assuming he passes. Hand me a blanket."

I glanced at the pile of folded blankets to my left and grabbed one. I dragged it over to drop it on Shikamaru. "He's going to pass. He and Kurenai were talking about how the examiner tends to be hard to impress, but he's really been working hard."

Shikamaru snickered. "The examiner," he echoed. "I wonder who that is."

I squinted at him. "What?"

"Mirai-chan," Yoshino said, sounding amused. "What exactly do you think the Jonin Commander does?"

I frowned. Then I snapped up and stared at Shikaku. "You do the Jonin Exams."

"Well," he said in response, eyes closed, "I'm in charge of the jonin. And everything to do with the jonin."

"Which . . . includes the exams."

"Correct."

"Huh." I tapped my fingers on my knee. "That means you'll do my Jonin Exam when I get around to it, right?"

"Hmm." He opened one eye to look at me. "I look forward to it."

Your reverse muffler seal is looking sloppy.

I— It's not a reverse muffler seal. That would imply it forces someone to talk. Second, I'm still drafting, so of course it's a little messy.

A little?

There's no need to be rude.

"Daydreaming instead of training? I never thought I'd see it."

I looked up to find Yoshino standing in front of me, hands on her hips. I closed my notebook and tucked my pen behind my ear. "I'm doing some fuuinjutsu work. Besides, isn't kage-gata a clan jutsu?"

"You're clan," she said, nudging me with her foot so I'd move over. Yoshino sank down next to me with a sigh and leaned against the tree.

"I know that." I tugged on my necklace. "But I mean a bloodline thing. Like my chains."

"Oh. No, not at all. Don't get me wrong, it's definitely easier if you're a blood Nara. And if you don't have an instructor who themselves has mastered it, you're screwed. It took me years to manage any of it. Even with Shikaku teaching me." She frowned. "It does require precise chakra control, which was never my strong suit. Probably would make it hard or even impossible for you, if I'm being honest."

I straightened. "Wait, you can do kage-gata? Why haven't I— Can you show me?"

She chuckled. "Not anymore. I mean, you don't see me running missions anymore, do you?"

"I—" I frowned. Come to think of it, she was always home. All my friends' parents were out-of-Village at one point or another, but not Yoshino. "Why is that? You used to do missions but don't anymore?"

She didn't answer that, just nodding as she watched Shikaku direct Shikamaru through stretching his shadow. Then she hit her hand against her knee. "Come with me." She stood.

"With— Oh, okay." I sealed my notebook away and scrambled to my feet. "What for?"

"I'm going to answer your question, but to do that I need to show you something." She dragged me to her side and started walking.

"You're leaving?" Shikaku called.

"Just going inside," Yoshino assured him. "I want to show Mirai my hitai-ate."

Shikamaru's gaze dropped, and Shikaku frowned. "Okay. We'll finish up." He put up a hand to stop Shikamaru's surprised look. "I'll be in soon."

Yoshino gave a hum and guided me into the house. As she steered me back towards her and Shikaku's room, she murmured, "He worries."

I didn't answer that. I couldn't, because their room was like a museum. "Is that a broadsword?" I asked, pulling away to look at the weapons hung all over the wall opposite the door. "Do you use a broadsword?"

She laughed. "No, but the Iwa nin I fought did. I'm a bit of a collector. Shikaku is now, but he wasn't when he first married me. It's been a learning process for him."

I grinned, studying the collection of foreign kunai framed together. "I like it."

"Hmm. This is what I wanted to show you."

I turned and joined her in front of a bookcase. She tapped a frame. Inside it was a hitai-ate, cracked in two across the Konoha emblem. "Oh. What . . . happened?"

"I would wear it to tie my haori. It didn't work too well as armor when one of our missing-nin decided to stab a chakra blade through it. Broke my hitai-ate. Wrecked a few other things, too."

When I looked up at her, she smiled and ruffled my hair. "A chakra blade can really damage your coils," she said. "Takes a lot of delicate and experienced work to piece it back together. If you don't fix it in time, chances are you never will."

I thought back to the night before when Shikaku had carried her up to the roof. At that time, I'd just thought he was being sappy. But really, I could count on one hand how many times I'd seen her on the roof, and outside of last night, she'd always climbed up to the roof the old-fashioned way instead of wall-walking. Or even just using chakra to jump. "Oh."

"Yep. So between that and the damage to my organs, I retired. Most of the internal damaged was fixed, but my coils were beyond saving. All they were able to do was keep them from getting worse. As long as I avoid chakra use."

"Most of the damage?"

She picked up the framed hitai-ate to look it over. "Always wanted a daughter. But after that . . . ." She shrugged and set it back down. Giving me a smile, she said, "I have one after all. Even if she's a handful."

I swallowed, eyes stinging. "Glad to help," I whispered. I rubbed my arm and looked down. "Um, thanks. I don't exactly have a— It's nice."

She ruffled my hair again. "Glad to help," she said, echoing my own words back to me. Then she combed my hair with her fingers and smoothed her hand over the top of my head. "Having you around means I get to worry over two kids."

I shifted. I cleared my throat. "Speaking of, you didn't have to send him to check on me, but it, uh, it meant a lot."

"What?" She tapped my chin. "Look at me. Sent whom to do what?"

"Shikaku," I said. When she just raised an eyebrow, I frowned. "Shikaku. You had him check up on me after my fight with Mizuki."

Both her eyebrows rose higher, and she started to smile. "Mirai-chan, I didn't hear about the fight until several days after it happened."

I straightened. "Really?"

She laughed. "He doesn't like people knowing he cares." She glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. "Just let him have it. It makes him feel better if he gets to mother hen in secret."

I grinned. "Will do."

The door opened. "Shikamaru is asleep on the porch."

Yoshino smiled and held a hand out to him. "Of course he is. I've been telling her about how I like to collect things. She likes the broadsword."

"Shocking," he said flatly, taking her hand in his and stepping up to us. "Did you tell her about the scissors?"

"Scissors?" I asked. "What scissors?"

Yoshino picked up a pair of blue-handled scissors from the shelf above the hitai-ate. "In memory of Shikaku's first time speaking at the Academy. A second-year tried to stab him."

The question of why was right on the tip of my tongue, but it died there when I saw what else was on that shelf. "What is that?"

"Scissors. Or are you talking about this?" Then Shikaku plucked my pen from behind my ear. "This is a pen."

"I'm talking about that." I pointed at the picture. A young, not much older than me version of Shikaku. And Inoichi. And Choza. But that person couldn't have been their sensei, because— "Is this your genin team picture?"

"It is."

"But— That's Sakumo. That's— Oh my— That's why you call him that."

Shikaku waved my pen at me. "Call whom what?"

"Niisan. That's why you—" I huffed and snatched the pen from him. "That's why you call him Kakashi-kun."

"Hmm. Shogi?"

"Yeah, in a bit. I'm not done here yet." I took another few seconds to study the picture and then moved to examine the rest of the bookshelves. "I'm sorry, do you really keep poison on display?"

"Just the vial." Yoshino tapped my shoulder. "Let's go. I'm sure you want to try to win. It's been a little while."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, just—" I faltered halfway through turning to the door when something else caught my eye. "Is this one yours?"

Shikaku sighed loudly. "Should I just go wait in the shogi house, then?"

Yoshino waved at him. "That might be best." As he left, she picked up the necklace. "It is. Would you like to see?" She held it out to me, tapping a finger against one of the stones. "This was the first one."

I took it, studying the kanji. "Intelligent? That's—"

"The same one Maru started yours with? Yeah. Though if we're going to play the comparison game, I need to point out that he's taking way longer than Shikaku did to fill the rest of them out."

I turned the necklace in my hands to read some of the other stones—brave, stubborn, kind—and scoffed. "I really don't mind. We're only— He put stingy?"

She barked out a laugh, finally taking the necklace back from me and returning it to its spot. "He wanted to put efficient, but also wanted to get across that I have an attitude about it. Now, are you going to play shogi with him or not?"

Iruka opened the door, stared at me, closed the door, opened it again, and stared some more. "This is my apartment," he said.

"Good to know. Are you busy?"

"I— Academy is out for the week, Mirai-chan. What could you possibly need from me?" He frowned. "Is something wrong? Did something happen to the boys?"

"No, nothing like that. I just thought you might want to have lunch. I brought some stuff, so we can sit outside somewhere. If you'd like."

Iruka frowned at me for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Sure. Give me a moment." He stepped back inside and closed the door again.

I bounced on the balls of my feet as I waited, listening to the buzzing hum of his chakra. When the door opened again, I lit up. "Ready?"

"I have some work to go over," he warned, holding a scroll as he stepped out. He locked the door. "Where are we going?"

"There's a spot I like by the Naka River," I suggested.

"That will work." Falling into step with me, he murmured, "Is there something you wanted to talk to me about? Should I be worried?"

"I wouldn't think so. I just want to get lunch." I shoved my hands in my pockets and looked up at him. "I enjoyed having my lunches with you last week. And I want to help, if I can."

"Help?" He tapped the scroll. "I'm afraid I can't let you do any grading."

"That's fine because that's not what I was talking about. This way," I said, pointing and turning to change our direction. "I want to help you feel better. You don't exactly look like you've been sleeping."

He glanced at me sharply, brow furrowed. "Is this about Mizuki?" He sighed loudly. "I'm sorry that you were involved with that at all, and you most certainly don't need to be now."

"My involvement with him went as far as fighting him and that's it. Now, I'm just worried about my sensei. I'm allowed that, right? Oh! Here we are." I grabbed his arm and marched forward to the bank. "I made some spring rolls." I sat down and started unsealing the boxes of food I'd prepared. I looked up at him. "Sit down."

Iruka raised an eyebrow at me. But then he sat down, setting the scroll by his knee. "I wouldn't mind some spring rolls."

When I got to the Jonin Station, it was the loudest and busiest I'd ever seen it. I had to fight my way through the crowd to Kotetsu. "You went all out with this," I said, eying the bottles he was lining up on the table. "Am I going to get some of that sake?"

Kotetsu looked up and grinned. "Mirai-chan! Perfect. Blow these up for me," he said, shoving a bag at me.

I blinked and opened the bag to get a good look. "Balloons?"

"We just need a few more. Anko already did the rest."

I looked around until I spotted Anko. She was on one of the couches with Kurenai and Yuugao, the entire area littered with bright blue balloons. "Fancy." I set the bag on the table and picked out a balloon to start with. "Isn't he supposed to be here soon?" I took a deep breath and started blowing the balloon up.

"Yeah, he should be, as long as everything's on track. I'm just running a bit behind. Oh, thank kami." He pushed past me toward the stairs.

I tied the balloon off and reached for another one, watching as Choza descended the stairs with scrolls in hand. He greeted Kotetsu with a beaming smile and was pointed in my direction. Choza came over and stopped in front of the empty table to my right. "Evening, Mirai-chan."

"Choza-dono," I greeted, looking over the food he unsealed. "Kotetsu managed to get you to cater this?" I started blowing up another balloon.

He shrugged, beaming. "I'm more than happy to. Besides, he wasn't the one to ask. Izumo is friends with Kurenai, who knows Anko, who is with Genma-kun. He was the one to ask, and I'm always more than happy help him out."

I blinked, tying the balloon off. Genma-kun? Before I could address that, Kotetsu was beside me again. "Hey, forget the balloons. Raidou's going to take care of them." He snatched up the bag and thrust it at said jonin. "Your job is lookout. We're not ready yet and— Hey, Shiranui! The gift table is supposed to be—" He groaned. "Listen, keep an eye out for him. We need, umm, another half hour. So if he gets here before then, delay him." Then he rushed off to where Genma was next to a table piled with gifts.

"Oh," I said belatedly. "Sure." I unsealed my gift for Izumo and dropped it on the table as I passed it for the stairs. I set my timer seal. I made it outside, leaned against the wall, and waited. After a couple minutes, I unsealed my notebook and got to work on my seal. After a while, I felt Izumo's familiar chakra. I looked up, sealing my work away. "Izumo!"

He grinned. He looked tired, but he definitely had a spring in his step as he approached. "Mirai-chan! You're here for the party?"

"I'm here as a delaying tactic. I can't let you in until Kotetu's finished up."

"Ah." Izumo winced. "He's going overboard again, isn't he?"

"He does this a lot?"

"When we became chunin, the party he threw got us banned from the bar he held it at. But he does know how to throw a good party." He dragged a hand through his hair and glanced at the door. "How much longer do we have to wait?"

I glanced at my wrist. "About fifteen more minutes." I tucked my hands behind my back and leaned against the wall again. "So, how'd it go?"

He heaved a sigh and leaned next to me. "Well, I got the promotion, so I get to do a ton of paperwork."

"That's great! Not the paperwork. But the— You've got it." I gave him a shove and got a hair ruffle in return. "It would have been an awkward party if Kotetsu went to all that effort and then you didn't pass." I glanced back the way he'd come. "Is Shikaku coming?"

Izumo shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. I don't even know who all got invited. I try not to get involved with planning these things; it stresses me out. The whole . . . everything he does is a bit overwhelming."

The door opened. "Mirai, when he gets—" Kotetsu paused, leaning out of the building. "Oh, great! You're here! We're ready!"

I glanced at my wrist and then shut the timer off. "Ten minutes ahead of schedule."

"Technically twenty-five behind, but whatever." Kotetsu stepped out and held the door open. "Let's go!"

Izumo glanced at me and shrugged before heading inside. Kotetsu snagged my arm and pulled me along with him as he followed. "Thanks for helping," he murmured.

I shot him a smile. "Happy to."

When we reached the bottom of the stairs, I stared around the room as everyone cheered and crowded around to congratulate Izumo. In the twenty minutes I'd been outside, the entire area had been decorated with streamers, a large banner strung up across the back above the bar and food that had been set up, and all the balloons hanging from the ceiling. Between the food and the alcohol sat the table of gifts, the presents stacked neatly around a tall cake.

"Wow." It was actually pretty impressive, given how frantic he'd seemed earlier. I looked up to tell Kotetsu as much only to find that he was steering Izumo to stand under the banner.

Kotetsu cleared his throat loudly. "Attention, everyone! We are here to celebrate because my best friend, the coolest person in the world, the light of my life, hands down the funniest—"

"Kotetsu," Izumo said as he elbowed him, though he was grinning about it.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay! The point is, Kamizuki Izumo is now a tokubetsu jonin, and we're going to use that as an excuse to have a good time! So we've got some food, some drinks, and in thirty minutes or so we'll start in on the cake!" He glanced around at everyone, beaming. "What are you waiting for?"

That was all the encouragement everyone needed. They all moved for the tables, with a few of them having to be deterred by Kotetsu from started in on the cake early. I hung back, deciding to wait until there was no longer the risk of me being stepped on by an over-hungry shinobi.

"Not hungry?"

I looked up. "Yuugao! I'm just going to wait until," —I pointed at where Gai and Raidou were pushing against each other to get to the barbecue first— "all that's done."

"Smart choice."

I glanced up at her and then across the room, searching. "Is Hayate here?"

She sighed. "No. He's on a mission. It unexpectedly got extended, so . . . . Well, he's been gone for a while. I miss him." She shook her head and gave me a smile. "But he should be back soon, so it's fine." She tapped her ear. "Those are cute."

"Thanks." I reached up and felt the earrings. "Anko forced them on me. I like them."

"Hmm. I have some I don't wear anymore that you might like." She nodded to the table. "I'm going to go ahead and get some food. Don't wait too long."

I nodded. As she left, I searched the room and located Choza again. When I approached, he looked up from his plate and gave me a broad smile. "Mirai-chan! Are you not going to eat?"

"I will. I just wanted to speak with you. Shibi-dono and I would like to set up a time to meet with you and—"

"Sometimes, it's really hard to understand how Shikaku likes you so much."

I faltered. "I— Sorry?"

He chuckled. "He usually likes people who can relax."

"I can relax," I said immediately, frowning. "I—"

"It's fine, really. But for now, we're at a party," he said, looking around pointedly. "So if you want to talk about anything serious, which is what this sounds like, you'll need to talk to me some other time. For now . . . I brought some really good food."

I cleared my throat and straightened. "Alright. I . . . will speak with you another time, then. Thank you." I bowed my head and moved off to the table. As I was putting together a plate for myself, I felt a cold chakra coming up to my side. I looked up, grinning. "Hi, Niisan."

"Pup," he greeted, dropping a hand to my head. "We thought you might want to sit with us."

I finished filling my plate and turned to face him. "Who's we?"

"Me, Yuugao, Raidou, Anko, and . . . Genma," he said carefully. "If you're okay with that."

"I'm more than okay with that," I assured him, following him over to one of the couches. I gave a smile to the people there, turning it into a grin when Genma lit up upon seeing me. I sat down beside Kakashi, turning to sit against the arm of the couch so I could see all the others.

Genma pushed off of where he was leaned against Raidou. He stopped twirling his senbon and put it in his mouth instead. "Enjoying your week off from the Academy?"

"It's nice," I said, shrugging and picking up some melonpan to start with. "Naruto and Sasuke decided it was a good time to try to pull an all-nighter. Afterward, they ended up falling asleep during lunch yesterday and slept until six this morning. Naruto declared it a success, but Sasuke keeps insisting they need to try again until they can make it a full twenty-four hours."

"And you?" Genma pressed carefully. "How are you sleeping?"

I frowned. Then I shot an accusatory look at Kakashi. "Niisan."

"You had me worried," he defended.

"I had a lot of trouble sleeping, but it was one night," I argued.

"So you've slept well since?"

I swallowed, looking down to pick at my food.

"Mirai?"

"Don't make me lie to you," I muttered. I looked around for any way out of the conversation. Spotting my excuse across the room, I scrambled up, plate in hand. "I'm going to talk to Saisu."

"Mirai—"

I left before he could finish whatever he wanted to say, heading straight for Saisu. He was speaking with Kokage and Tekuno, and the former glanced down at me. "Mirai-chan. It's been a while."

"Kokage-sensei." I bowed my head to him. Then I focused in on Saisu. "Kamano-san. I have a kusarigama, and wanted to know if I could get training from you or observe you using yours. I have training with a kama and a manriki, and I've had some practice now with the kusarigama."

He stared at me for a moment, and I could practically see the gears turning. Then he shrugged. "I'll think about it."

I spent the next couple hours making my way around the room, working through two plates of food and a third of just cake. At one point, Izumo caught me to thank me for the blunt training weapons I'd gifted him, with a note that they were intended for his future genin. I'd gotten through a few more conversations and was leaving one with Kurenai, thinking about how late it was and that I might go home, when I saw him.

Genma was laid out on the couch on his back, both hands held up so that he could squint at them. A sake bottle was wedged between his knees, and his senbon was stabbed into the arm of the couch. I hesitated for just a second before stepping over to him. "That probably isn't the best place to leave this," I said, plucking the senbon free.

Genma's stare snapped to me, eyes a little red and glassy. They widened, and he grinned. "Pumpkin!" He sat up quickly, sending the sake bottle clattering to the floor. Huh. Empty. Well, that helped to explain it. "I missed you," he whined, reaching a hand towards me.

I flinched, heart rate spiking. "Genma, I can't—" I took a step back.

His expression crumpled. "I miss you," he mumbled. "I wanna hug you. It's not fair." He rubbed at his face, his cheeks flushed from the alcohol and his shoulders slumping. "Don't want you to be scared of me."

I caught my breath. "I'm—" I tucked the senbon away in my kunai pouch for safekeeping, taking the opportunity to steady myself. "Do I need to get someone for you? Should I find Anko?"

He made a noise of interest, lurching forward and catching himself before he fell off the couch. "Anko? Is she here?"

"Yeah, of course she's here. You came here with her."

"Oh." He started nodding, eyes staring through me more than at me. "That's good. I love her."

I straightened, starting to grin. "Yeah?"

He hummed, slumping against the arm of the couch and poorly stifling a yawn. "Super love her," he muttered. "Wanna marry her. You think she'd like that?" His eyes were started to close, and he dragged a hand down his face. "I should ask her." He made a move as if to get up.

"Wait, no!" When he froze, squinting at me, I took a second to think over what he'd just said. "Now is probably not the best time to talk to her about that, right? Maybe when . . . you're sober?"

"Huh." He tilted his head back to stare at the ceiling. "That's smart. You're smart, Pumpkin."

"Uh-huh. Listen, I'll get Raidou for you. Just—" I bit my lip, looking him over. He looked like he was about to fall asleep at any second. "Stay here. I'll get Raidou."

With that said, I left and started searching through the room. I found Raidou in the group crowded around Gai and Kakashi, who were competing in a very intense game of janken. I pulled on his sleeve, trying to pry his attention away.

After a couple seconds, Raidou seemed to finally register that I was there and he looked down. "Mirai-chan?"

"Oh, good, you're not drunk."

"I— No," he said, sounding bewildered. "I'm not. Is something wrong?"

"Genma is. Drunk, I mean. Pretty sure someone needs to take him home."

"Oh." Raidou straightened and glanced around until he saw where Genma was sprawled out on the couch. "Well, Anko is—"

"Yeah, I came to you and not her for a reason." I glanced back at Genma before refocusing. "I have a feeling that he'd probably prefer to be sober when he talks to Anko. He's saying a lot of things right now."

Raidou groaned. "Of course he is. Okay, I'll get him home. Thanks for getting me."

I knocked, waited, knocked again, and waited some more. I shifted from one foot to the other, gripping the bag I'd brought tightly. I let a whole minute pass before I lifted my hand to knock a third time. Before I could, the door opened. I smiled, though I faltered when I got a good look at him. "Morning, Genma-nii. You look miserable."

He squinted at me, clearly still half-asleep. "Mirai," he finally settled. "It's been a while," he said, his voice raspy and raw.

I frowned. "You . . . saw me last night."

"I did?" Genma closed his eyes as if he was trying to remember. "Huh. Um, are you . . . wanting to come inside?"

I nodded and, when he stepped away to let me in, I headed straight for the table. I set the bag there and dug out the thermos and pills I'd brought. "Here. Have these and then take a shower."

He stared at them. "What?"

"I talked to Kotetsu to find out what makes a hangover feel better. So tea and pain medicine should help. And after you've showered, you can have the food I brought. I made . . . shijimi miso soup? I've never made it or had it before, but the boys liked it this morning, so it should be okay."

"Oh." He gave me a smile that somehow managed to just make him look more tired. He picked up the thermos, took a sip, and swallowed the pills. "Thanks, Pumpkin." Thermos in hand, he disappeared into his bedroom.

I set out the soup, taking it out of the box it'd been in to keep it hot. I poured him a glass of water and then went about heating a kettle on his stove to make more tea. I'd just finished pouring myself a cup when Genma came back.

He sat down, setting aside the now-empty thermos, and picked up a spoon. "It looks good, Pumpkin," he murmured. "Thank you. But you didn't have to do this."

"Well, you were really drunk when I asked Raidou to take you home, so I figured your hangover would probably be bad."

"You asked Raidou to— Wait, why do you even know about . . . ." He trailed off squinting at me. I could almost see him struggling to remember last night.

"I know what a hangover is," I said flatly. "And you get very talkative when you're drunk." I sat down at the table with the kettle and my tea. I stared down into my cup as I tried to think of the best way to bring up what I wanted to talk about.

"Am I?" He sighed loudly. "I've been told that before." A pause. "What's wrong?"

I glanced up. "What?"

He frowned. "You only have that look when—" His eyes widened. "Did I say something? Mirai—"

"Do you really want to marry Anko?" I burst out, interrupting before he could spiral. "You started talking about it. It's why I talked Raidou into getting you instead of Anko."

His eyes were still wide, and his brows had furrowed. "I—" He licked his lips and swallowed loudly, glancing away. "Huh. Didn't think I'd be mentioning that to anyone. I really was drunk."

"Is that a yes?"

He shrugged, looking down at his bowl. "I don't like people knowing things about me, so it would be a very . . . public move, which isn't my favorite. But everyone already knows how I feel about her anyway."

I winced. "Right. Sorry."

Genma frowned. "I really don't blame you for—"

"I know. I— So are you going to ask Anko?"

His frown deepened, and he stared at me for a moment longer. He sighed and started eating the soup I'd brought. Finally, he said, "I don't know. I'll have to think about it."

"Okay."

We lapsed into silence. When he finished the glass of water I'd gotten him, I poured him a cup of tea and refilled my own. I shifted, focusing on my drink and trying not to press the issue. I tapped my fingers against my knee, measuring my breathing.

"Okay, Mirai," Genma said softly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

I glanced up at him, intending to redirect his concern, but I faltered at the earnest worry on his face. I cleared my throat. "You . . . know I'm not actually scared of you, right?"

He stilled. "What?" He curled his hands and dropped them from the table to his lap. "Did, did I . . . ." He groaned, dragging a hand down his face. "I know that," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay. I just— I'm not scared of you. And I really am trying, and I'm sorry that it's taking me so long to—"

"Mirai, I know," he interrupted, expression drawn. "And you can take all the time you need. I'm sorry if I— Whatever I said, I'm sorry. I'm just glad you're back and safe, and that's all that really matters."

I managed a smile. "Thank you."

"Can you . . . ." He hesitated. "What did I say? I don't want you to think—"

"You said you miss me. The rest of it really doesn't matter, 'cause I miss you too."

"So . . . explain it again." Sasuke leaned so far forward that he was practically between me and Naruto. "You're going in your head."

"A shared mindscape," Sai answered for me, repeating my earlier words. "Right?"

"Right," I confirmed. "I know the theory of it, and I've practiced as much as I can. But obviously, I've never been able to actually do it. And without further practice, I definitely wouldn't be able to drag someone into it if they don't want it. But the good news is that as long as Naruto keeps his mind open and doesn't fight it, it should work."

Hopefully.

Be encouraging.

I focused on Naruto. "You remember everything I said you need to do?"

He nodded. "Relax and meditate. And if I feel something pulling, I should follow it." He frowned. "But like . . . in my head," he clarified.

"Exactly. Are you ready?"

Naruto nodded. "Yep. Totally ready."

I watched him for a second before shifting closer. Close enough their our knees were almost touching. "Okay, good. Close your eyes and relax."

He took a deep breath and let it out slow, eyes closing. "Like this?" he mumbled.

"Just like that. Try not to talk. Just focus on relaxing and keeping your head open." I brought both my hands up to his head, palms against his temples with my thumbs pressing gently into his forehead. At Kurama's direction, I started circulating my chakra at the points of contact and closed my own eyes.

Remember, it's a shared mindscape between all four of us. On equal ground. So you'll have to be fast to—

I know. Stop stressing me out. I'm trying to concentrate.

Kurama made a displeased sound at being interrupted, but he returned to guiding me in narrowing down my attention to Naruto's mind, just like we'd been doing for weeks now. I kept a firm grasp on my own mindscape, holding on to the familiar feeling of my own chakra, while taking hold of Naruto's as well. Then I slowly, steadily, started pulling them towards a meeting point. The longer it took, the more my coils protested the unfamiliar strain and the louder the all-too-familiar whine of pain in them got. But Kurama reminded me that things would be worse if I went too fast, and he forced me to stay on track. I'd never done this before, and so we needed to be as careful as possible.

"Whoa! That's so cool, dattebayo!"

I snapped my eyes open to a white, borderless world. And just in time to see the giant fox—familiar, but the color was just too bright and too orange to be my Kurama—lumbering to his feet with teeth bared. I lurched forward and snapped out a chain. It snagged around Naruto, and I used it to pull him to me. I stepped forward so that I was between him and the Yang Kyuubi.

"This is a shared mental plane between the four us. It is not an invitation for a fight."

He bared his teeth at me, braced low to the ground for an attack. "Or what?" he growled. "You'll turn those chains on me?"

I shook my head, feeling Naruto gripping my vest tightly and keeping close to my back. "No. I'll use them on myself and Naruto to protect us if needed. And if that's not enough, I'll close the plane, and it will force all four of us to leave."

He stared me down, glanced past me, and then returned to glaring. Naruto pulled on my vest. "Um . . . . Rai?" he asked, voice trembling.

I looked back, frowning. "What is it?"

"Uh . . . ." He bit down on his lip and pointed up.

I followed his line of sight upward to find that he was staring up at Kurama, who was standing over us. I glanced briefly at Yang Kurama to make sure he wasn't going to take advantage of our attention turning away from him, and then I gently pried loose Naruto's hold on me. "Nato, this is Kurama."

"You do not get to call me that," Kurama informed him, stepping back and watching Naruto with what almost felt like disdain if not for the caution I could see peeking through. "We are not here for you and me, brat."

"He's right." I took his hand and gave it a squeeze as I guided him forward, turning his back to Kurama. "This is an equal playing field for all of us. This way, you and your Kurama can—"

"Don't call me that," Yang Kurama spat. "You can't drag me here and—"

"Let me finish," I interrupted, frowning. "The one rule here is that we are not allowed to harm each other. You don't hurt Naruto. And I won't lay a hand on you. But it's in Naruto and your best interest that you two learn how to get along and work together."

He bared his teeth, rising.

"She's right," Kurama interrupted him. "Though I don't blame you for not wanting to work with the Namikaze. He's . . . ."

I glanced up at Kurama with a frown. "Be nice."

"I—" Naruto cleared his throat and drew himself up to stand straight with his shoulders squared. "My name's Uzumaki."

Kurama just made a disinterested noise at that, but Yang Kurama rose up to his full height with a growl rumbling in his throat. "I will not be forced to work with this weak, ineffectual, bastard of a jailor." Hackles raised, he took one step towards us and then another. "If you think you can—"

"Kit," Kurama warned.

"Right." I closed my eyes and focused on the connection between my mind and Naruto's. I snapped it apart.

It was a bit more violent than my normal exit from my mindscape, and I gasped as I slammed back to full consciousness in my body. A loud crash made me snap my eyes open and jerk to my feet. Naruto was on his back with his eyes wide, the books from the coffee table in a heap by his head. He had a hand twisted in the front of his shirt. "I—" His voice shook a little, his eyes glassy, and he stopped to swallow. "I . . . I don't think he likes me."

He doesn't.

"It will take time," I soothed, my heart rate calming now that I knew he wasn't hurt. I crouched down next to him and curled my hand around his. "But we have to start somewhere. Kurama hated me too. For a while. You just have to be patient. Can you do that?"

He sat up and rubbed at his eyes. He nodded. "I can try."

"Good. And remember to never—this is important—never try to talk with him without me. Not until I say so." I ran my fingers through his hair, frowning at the way he was still shaking. "Will some ramen help you feel better?"

"I'll make it!" Sasuke said, jumping to his feet and rushing into the kitchen. A second later, Sai followed.

I smiled and pressed a kiss to Naruto's forehead. "Ramen is on its way. What else would help?"

"Um." He pushed himself up to his feet. "Hayate has me do kenjutsu kata to focus if I get nervous during practice."

I tilted my head, considering that. I stood. "Okay, let's do that, then." I tapped my arm and unsealed a tanto, holding it out to him. "Show me the kata."

Once Shisui arrived, I took extra care to double-check that the three boys were all asleep and that the security was air-tight. When I finally sat down with him and Shikamaru, Shisui gave me an amused look. "Paranoid?"

"Cautious," I corrected, setting out my scrolls and fuuinjutsu supplies. "So the good news is that you can go to Kiri."

Shisui straightened. "That's great! What's the, uh, bad news?"

"The bad news is that Mizuki—Iruka's assistant instructor—tried to kidnap Naruto and Sasuke and I don't know why. Konoha's investigating it, but they're not exactly telling me what they have or have not found." I picked up on the scrolls, the one with Mizuki's name written across the red band, and held it out to him. "I think he was planning to take them, and the Fuuin no Sho, to someone. I also think said person was Orochimaru, but I can't be completely sure."

Shisui frowned, taking the scroll. "When did this happen?"

"A couple weeks ago," Shikamaru spoke up.

"And if Orochimaru was the one he was trying to take them to, I doubt he actually was in on the plan," I added. "It's far more likely that Mizuki was hoping to use them as an in. Orochimaru wouldn't have been so sloppy in the planning."

Shisui nodded and let out a deep sigh, tucking the scroll away. "Alright, I'll look into it. Kiri?"

"Here." I held out another scroll. "And I need to put the seal on you. It's perfectly safe. I already added one for myself next to my Hitomi henge." Once he'd taken the scroll, I opened a jar of ink and picked up a brush. "While I add yours, you can tell me about what you've done."

"Right." He tugged off his shirt and turned his back to me. "First, how does it work?"

"Similarly to the henge seal." I started writing out the seal above his Kaito one. "It will drain a bit of your chakra while active, but it alters the appearance of your chakra enough that a dojutsu user or a chakra sensor wouldn't recognize it as you."

"Got it. Um, here." He shifted a bit and took out a scroll, setting it aside. "I met Karin."

I paused, glancing at the scroll. It had her name on it. "Really?" I breathed.

"Karin?" Shikamaru frowned. "Who's Karin?" he asked, picking the scroll up.

"An Uzumaki in Kusagakure," Shisui said by way of explanation. "Best as I can tell, she might not be exactly . . . resistant to leaving."

Shikamaru opened the scroll and started reading. After a minute, he made a noise of disgust. "Wow. Her life sucks." He glanced up. "So . . . the plan is what? Kidnap her?"

I shot him a look before refocusing on drawing out the seal. "Of course not. It would be . . . more of a situation of convincing her to leave. She's clan. I'd prefer to have her close."

"You can't bring her to Konoha."

"No, but she could join the Skulk. And once I figure out my new bunshin, I'd be able to leave Konoha for short periods of time—nighttime would be safest—through reverse summoning. It's risky, but it would be worth it. Once I finish learning hiraishin, it'll be much easier."

"Right." Shikamaru scoffed. "Because that'll be soon."

I huffed. "I'm trying, okay. It's a difficult jutsu. And the people I'm learning it from need three of them to do it." I paused to draw out the silhouette for the seal. "My point is, I can be there as Hitomi to help when we talk to Karin."

"You both being Uzumaki is a big part of your reasoning," Shikamaru pointed out. "How are you going to argue for that when you're this Hitomi person."

I frowned.

He's got a point.

Shut up.

"I'll figure that out. Hold still, Shisui. I'm almost done."

"And that's all for today. Good job."

Hanabi tightened her hold on my hands and used it as leverage to step up onto the bank. She released me and bowed her head. "Thank you."

I looked her over and then glanced at Natsu. "Since we're done, she should go ahead and change into some dry clothes. I don't want her getting sick."

Natsu nodded. "I already have some prepared inside. Hanabi-sama?"

Hanabi hesitated, glancing between her and me. She straightened. "Mirai-sensei, tomorrow is my first day at the Academy. Will . . . we still be meeting?"

"I'm not sure. I'll talk to your father and see what the plan is." I smiled. "You're going to do well. Have a good first day, okay?"

She nodded, squaring her shoulders. "I will." With that said, she turned to follow Natsu.

I collected up our training supplies, sealed them away, and headed for the main house. Ko greeted me at the entryway as I took off my shoes. "Mirai-sama," he said, bowing his head. "Hiashi-sama is waiting for you in the tea room."

"Thank you." I followed him down the hallway and stepped through the door when he opened it. "Hiashi-dono."

"Mirai-dono," he greeted. He nodded to Ko to dismiss him and then motioned for me to sit. He poured out a cup of tea for me.

I sat seiza at the table across from him. "Hanabi wants to know if we will continue to meet. And I was thinking that . . . Study Group has been incredibly helpful for me and the others in it. I would like to see if I could arrange a similar situation for her. I don't know that I could commit to being there to guide it every week, but I could help out on a relatively regular basis, I think. I don't know who all will be in her class, but I'm sure Konohamaru-kun would similarly benefit from a study group."

Hiashi hummed at that, settling back in his seiza and picking up his own tea. "That does sound appealing. The Hokage's grandson, correct?"

"Right. And I'm sure we'll be able to find at least a couple others from their year."

He tapped his cup. Then he nodded. "I approve. And I will open the dojo to this study group as I have done for yours."

"Thank you for your help, Mirai-chan," Iruka said, taking the collected year-start exams I'd gathered for him. "But you really didn't have to miss going with the boys."

"Oh, no, they're meeting up with Hayate for kenjutsu training. I'm not a part of that, so there was no need for me to go with them. Besides, I'm happy to help." I glanced around the classroom. "Do you need anything else from me?"

He smiled. "No, that's all. I'll see you tomorrow."

I gave him a wave as I headed for the door. "Thanks for class, Iruka-sensei."

When I made it outside, I was greeted with a cry of, "Mirai-nee!"

"Kono-kun!" I said in surprise, catching him as he launched himself at me. "How was your first day?"

"Awesome. And I was awesome. And I'm going to be the best—"

"Omago-sama, this is the person we have been waiting for?"

I looked up, one arm around Konohamaru, to find that the adult with him wasn't Yosu. Instead, it was a jonin in sunglasses with his hitai-ate tied like a bandana. I straightened. "Hi, I'm Uzumaki Mirai." I bowed my head. "Are you Kono-kun's guard? I've heard a lot about you."

"Hmm. All good things, I will assume." He nodded his head in return. "Ebisu. Similarly, I have heard things about you."

"Mirai-nee," Konohamaru whined. He pulled on my arm. "I messed up on the obstacle course, and I want you to help me."

"I told you that I'm perfectly capable of helping," Ebisu huffed, crossing his arms. "You don't need an Academy student's assistance."

I frowned at him. Then I turned a smile to Konohamaru, letting him pull me around the side of the building. "I'd be glad to help." When we got to the course, I stopped and motioned him forward. "Alright, go ahead and run it. I want to see how you do."

Konohamaru grinned and took off for it at a run. He made it up the triangle and slid awkwardly down the other side. It took him a bit to make it up the rope wall and back down to the ground. He dropped down and shuffled under the barbed wire, slow and clumsy as he did so. When he got to the monkey bars, he jumped up for them and couldn't reach. He glared at them for a moment, pouting, before moving on to the tightrope. He tried to take a step and his foot went right out from under him.

I shunshined forward and caught him as he fell. "Not bad."

He stared up at me. "Really?"

I shrugged, nodding. "I couldn't do the tightrope either when I first started the Academy. It all takes practice. Do you want me to run it so you can see? And then you can try again?"

"Yes! Hold on!" He fumbled for his pockets. "Ready!" He flipped open a small notebook and, pen in hand, waited for me to start.

"Will these work?"

"These are amazing," I said, looking through the books Shikaku had brought. "The iryo-ninjutsu ones are only applicable to some of the group, but that's still a decent number of us." I cleared my throat and raised my voice to draw the entire group's attention. "Alright, so as a reminder, each of us gets one of these medical texts. The idea is that you study the one you get and explain the basics to the rest of us. For those that want to learn more, especially those looking towards iryo-ninjutsu, they can request the text to study the subject further."

"Got it." Sakura held out a hand. "Which one is mine?"

"Well, hold on. Raise your hand if you're wanting to move forward to iryo-ninjutsu so that I give you the right book. Remember that iryo-chakra requires good chakra control, which automatically excludes some of us like myself, Naruto, and Lee." I sorted the iryo-ninjutsu books out and looked up. "Alright, show of hands."

Eight hands went up, and I passed out the appropriate books. The rest went to the remaining members of the group, and I kept one back for myself. "Don't forget, we're meeting at the Inuzuka next week."

With that dismissal, Sakura snatched up her book and drilled a look at the other seven iryo-focused people in the group. "My mom said I can have everyone over to start working one iryo-chakra theory. She's making cookies. You're all coming."

"Not Shikamaru," Shikaku cut in. "I have something to show him and Mirai. But the rest of you should have a good time."

Naruto pouted. "Sakura-chan, can I come too? Sai's on a mission. And if Mirai and Shikamaru both have to go with him and you take Teme, I won't have anyone to hang out with."

She considered that and nodded. "Sure. Let's go."

As she turned and led the group away, I looked up at Shikaku. "Where are we going?"

"Since your group is doing some medical focus, Yoshino and I decided to take you to the Nara Clan Laboratory. Our clan has a high number of members with a medical focus, and we even cultivate ingredients for and create some of the medicine and supplies that the Konoha Medical Corps use. We thought you would be interested."

"I'm interested. I'm very interested."

Shikaku nodded. "Good. Yoshino is going to meet us there." He put a hand on my shoulder and the other on Shikamaru's, turning us towards the woods.