A/N: This chapter is a hot mess. But I hope the end of it wraps things up semi neatly.

There are some revelations that I originally planned for much later in the fic but... well, they'll be still a surprise to Shinju.

I'm a smidge out of touch with this fic. It honestly took me by surprise that I began to write this chapter. I'd planned on Genshin Impact. I planned for One PIece... I really did not plan for Naruto and I definitely blame stereden (for updating the Nawaki-as-Naruto fic that I then promply reread) and Messier_47 (since right after that I caught up with F.U.B.A.R.'s chapters that I had procrastinated on reading).

Chapter 9: Thousand words in one picture, three thousand in three

Living with Fusae was… interesting. It was different yet very mundane. There was a guestroom that Fusae settle Shinju to sleep at and the woman gave her a large t-shirt to use as sleepwear. In the morning, they woke up early to eat breakfast and leave for the Academy. On the way they stopped by Shinju's home for the girl to change clothes and pack an overnight bag. She also wrote a note for Mitsuru and stuck it onto the door of the fridge, for the woman to see once she returned from the mission.

While waiting for the day to start, Fusae gave Shinju short summaries the topics the class had learnt about the previous day. She promised to tutor Shinju properly once the day was over and they were back home. Homework Shinju wouldn't need to turn in this time – naturally – but the quiet expectation was that she'd need to do it for tomorrow. And before long, the students began to pile into the classroom.

Once the classes began, Shinju could relax. She could feel other students glancing at her occasionally and itching to ask questions but Fusae's efficiency and engaging teaching style kept them at bay. When the bell ring for a break, there was no holding back anymore though.

Momiji grabbed Shinju's hand immediately and dragged her to their group of friends. He was tense and Shinju understood it. She truly did. Just few days ago they lost many classmates without any warning. And now she missed a day of school. If Fusae didn't manage to quell their worries during the classes, then at the very least hearing about her searching the entire village for her would've alarmed the kids.

Lack of information was the worst catalyst for worry.

The children bundled together and made their way to the roof of the Academy. It was a popular spot to spend the break if one wasn't playing or training. Even teachers sometimes came up there. It was also restricted from the first two grades so they wouldn't accidentally fall from the roof. The older classes were trusted not to fool around and respect the peace the rooftop offered. And while people liked the roof for sitting and relaxing, usually the mornings' first break was still too chilly and with the open roof being susceptible to wind, there was not much of anyone yet.

"What happened, Shinju-chan?" Chouha asked once they all were seated, Shinju safely between the Akimichi girl and Aina.

"I'm not entirely sure… I was walking and there a period I don't remember. But I woke up in Nara forest and the deer weren't letting me leave. That's where Fusae-sensei and Nara-sama found me at."

"You were missing a whole day." Shippou pointed out.

"That's what I was told."

"Everyone was worried when Fusae-sensei asked after rollcall if we knew where you were." Momiji added. "And no one knew."

"And then she went around village looking for you." Aina continued. "I was about to visit Aoba-nii when sensei came to ask him about you. Gin-chan and I helped him then."

"And I was with Aina-chan and Aoba-niisan when the summon came to him to tell you were awake and fine." Ginzu nodded. "I didn't know Shinju-chan had summons."

"Shishou had the crow contract and he had me sign it before he died. Since Aoba-senpai also has the contract, he summoned Hitori-san to find me." Shinju explained.

"Where were you?" Mimi asked then and sniffed the air. "You smell different. That standard kunoichi shampoo and…" Another sniff. "…Deer?"

"I was in the Nara forest."

"WHAT?"

It… took a bit to have them all calm down. Especially Momiji and Chouha seemed to be seeing Shinju in new light. And Shinju did understand that the situation was weird and strange and unusual and downright implausible. She really did. But at the same time she had not been raised among the customs and rules of the Triple Alliance and thus she really could not grasp the situation properly.

She was an Uchiha. And once Mitsuru returned and they both finished grieving, Shinju hoped to learn more about the Kinoshita. Nara… well, there was only so much she could learn from Ikoma's scrolls no matter how much the shadow jutsus intrigued her.

When the day came to close, Shinju returned to the Nara compound with Fusae. This time she felt nervous and seen in a way she hadn't been in the morning. The compound was bustling – or as much as a clan famous of relaxed attitudes could bustle – in activity in a way it hadn't been in the morning. Shinju, perhaps a bit childishly, clung to Fusae's hand while her other hand clutched the backpack strap.

Shinju was not a shy person. Maybe a smidge introverted but definitely not shy. And logically she knew that not every single person they met or passed on the way from the gate to Fusae's home turn to stare at her… It still felt like she was in the centre of attention.

"It's alright, we're there soon." Fusae soothed Shinju. "We can get started on the lessons you missed right away once I put dinner to simmer."

"That sounds good." Distraction. It was good indeed.

Fusae watched Shinju complete her homework at the kitchen table and felt a twinge of… guilt again. The scene was so domestic. Last night had already been strange when they had returned with Shikaku to the clan head's house. The setting feeling like a fever dream, hammering to Fusae what never was but what could have been if only she'd been…

Been what? Better? That was a laughable notion. Shikaku had chosen love. He had barely met with Fusae outside clan mandated meetings per dictated in the contract. Shikaku had chosen his happiness over duty for once and consequences had been severe for them all. Ikoma had chosen duty over love but had not been able to commit before different aspect of duty had stolen him away. Despite everything Fusae was not to blame her own situation. She was self-aware to know the poor cards she'd been dealt with.

But watching Shinju – Ikoma's child and by age the eldest heir that never was – sitting in Fusae's kitchen was bitter-sweet. Another what if that was outside of Fusae's grasp.

"I need to start filing paperwork tomorrow for your post-mentoring skill assessment. I'd prefer if your mother was back in village for some of the things that need to be filled in." Fusae then began to speak, trying to distract herself.

"If I do really good, I won't need to jump grades, right?" Shinju asked with hope-filled voice. "I really don't want to leave my friends behind."

"No. With early graduations halted and manpower reshuffled, there are no new apprenticeships being offered." Apprenticeships were occasionally offered to children showing aptitude to a specialization already in Academy, but they were going out of fashion because it was preferred to graduate a whole class at once, put them in teams and then from failing teams pick the apprentices while the rest were shunted to genin corps. After all, post-graduation apprentices had less of the basics missing and thus mentors could jump right away to train the chosen specialization.

"Good." The girl nodded, going back to her worksheet. "I wouldn't want a new apprenticeship either."

Understandable stance given that Shinju had known Uchiha Hatori her whole life.

"And… Shinju-chan?"

"Yes?"

"If your mother leaves for extended missions in the future, you are welcome to stay with me again."

"…" Shinju looked at her silently before nodding. "Thank you, Fusae-sensei."

About a week Shinju stayed with Fusae. The mornings they left early for school, the daytime was spent at school and the afternoon they walked back to the compound with detour either to library, the market or the park. At Fusae's house Shinju did her homework and then Fusae began instructing her with the basics of shadow jutsus that the woman had learnt about from Ikoma.

"I cannot teach you much and some you need to figure out on your own but there is something very important you need to know." Fusae explained one night. "The more advanced shadow jutsus require… introspection to where the shadows come from and Nara have a natural spiritual affinity for that. But it is very dangerous and should never be done alone. One can end up lost to the… dark if someone is not there to pull you out."

"The scrolls said that manipulating shadow if a delicate process and learning it should be done slowly." Shinju mused, staring at the lone candle set on the table and the circular shadow it threw against the wooden surface.

"Exactly. All I know is theoretical. I literally cannot help you if you start experimenting. And getting supervising to you…"

"It would require someone being told who I am and even then, there might not be approval for me to learn." Shinju sighed.

"Yes."

"Basics are enough for me for now. I don't know if I'm ever going to use the signature jutsus… but I want to know at least something." Shadows were cool. They could be so useful and multifaceted if utilized right. But Shinju could be patient.

"So you understand why I interrupted you in the forest. Not only because Shikaku-sama was there but because you were messing with your shadow."

"Yeah…" A lot of that was the same stuff Shinju had read about in the scroll Ikoma had left behind. In hind-sight, it had been very stupid to try manipulating her shadow – no matter how little – given her lack of information. It could've ended badly… but at the same time Shinju didn't really understand how hindering the movement of her own shadow could end up badly. Was this another one of those things that she didn't understand because she had not been raised as Nara and the only one able to instruct her was also not a born Nara? It bore some thought.

Mitsuru walked through the gates of Konoha as expected of the duration of her mission. She had the information as dictated by the mission parameters and…

She had managed to accomplish a personal goal as well.

She reported to Hokage and filled out the paper report to be filed and processed by the paperwork ninja. Then she was free to go home.

The house was empty. There was dust on the surfaces. A note was stuck on the fridge door.

Okaa-san,

There was a mishap.
I'm staying with Fusae-sensei
until you come home.
Don't worry, I'm not hurt.

Shinju

Mitsuru let out a relieved breath. Shinju was alright. Mitsuru was very disappointed in herself that she had left in such haste and without arranging accommodations for Shinju. But it had been a combination of a sudden mission which she'd not been doing for a while and her own desire to get out of the village and meet with Hatori's old friend.

She had been surprised when that friend's summons had contacted her with the information that Hatori had written to that friend and pleaded them to assist Mitsuru in any manner needed. The woman had seized the chance with both hands. It was reckless but she knew what she wanted and how that person could help her.

Mitsuru pressed a hand against her stomach. Less than a week had been needed to create a miracle. She had not lain with anyone since Ikoma and would not do so in future either. Mitsuru supposed that was the Uchiha part in her intermingling with Kinoshita. Uchiha loved their family and chosen people fiercely with all their being. Kinoshita sought for the one and closed their eyes for anyone else even if the love ended up lukewarm. Ikoma had been Mitsuru's the one without whom she'd felt like drowning. Hatori and Shinju's presences had kept her afloat until she could continue on her own.

There still needed to be some monitoring regularly to ensure the baby's health and stability but that could be conducted through summons. If not for the irregularity of locations, Mitsuru could probably arrange visits under the guise of missions.

If not for the fact that Hatori's old friend was Konoha's most notorious missing-nin still alive, Mitsuru would not need to be so secretive.

If not for the fact that the new life growing herself was scraped together from the dormant genes of her own ancestry, she wouldn't need to lie.

With a sigh, Mitsuru took out the family book. It was basically a normal blank book into which a family tree was drawn on. Ever since the banishment of the Kinoshita family from the Nadeshiko village. And once again Mitsuru leant onto the trusted Kinoshita tradition of using pseudonym for the father of child when marriage had not happened. The knowledge of what each pseudonym meant, would then be passed down orally through the generations. Due losing her own mother at childbirth, Mitsuru lacked knowledge of most names. But what little she knew, she should pass on to Shinju soon. Ikoma had been Kurotsugumi after the summons he used to have. Hatori was Ouyamatsumi after his Mangekyou jutsu. And now… Mitsuru picked a brush and wrote down Suiryuu. The name which was also written down next to her own grandmother – Yudzuki. Because that had definitely been whom the friend had been most interested about.

Mitsuru did not know the intricacies that had gone to the science or the medical research required. She did not know if the child was a clone of herself but with the ancestral lineage heightened to make them separate after all. But as long as she could keep the child and raise them… give Shinju a little sibling to dote on, Mitsuru was happy.

Mother was back. Shinju heard of it one evening and on the next day, mother was there after school, prepared to take her home. Shinju ran into mother's arms and sunk to the embrace.

"I'm so sorry, Shin-chan." Mitsuru whispered to Shinju's hair. "I should've said something or at least left a note behind. I'm sorry I left you alone when we are both still mourning. I'm sorry I haven't been here for you."

There were tears dripping in Shinju's cheeks. She clutched onto the light blue jacket Mitsuru was wearing for her day off instead of usual chunin blues or Kinoshita purple.

"Okaa-san is back now." She told the woman. "Fusae-sensei took good care of me but okaa-san is back and I wasn't to go home."

"I'm glad she was there for you."

Shinju collapsed on her bed, exhausted. Once they'd come home, they'd begun cleaning. Mitsuru had done already part of it while Shinju had been at school but Shinju still needed to dust and mop her own room.

It was about time. In the wake of… the Massacre, the maintenance of the cleanliness of their space had fallen to wayside. It was nice to get fresh pine scent onto the flooring and open the windows for proper ventilation.

And after they were done, Shinju had sat down to do her homework while Mitsuru made dinner. Just like it had been at Fusae's house.

"…and according to Fusae-sensei my post-mentoring skill assessment needs to be done soon. She said I don't need to move classes up, especially because all early graduations have been put on halt."

"Alright. Tell me the results then so we can celebrate together. Don't feel pressured to show everything you've learnt. Some trump cards are good to have, even among allies."

"Does okaa-san have such cards?"

"Of course, I do! Now, eat well. You can do whatever you want the rest of night but this week I'll start teaching you about the Kinoshita.

"Yes!"

Like so had the conversation been. As if the past week and half had not happened. Shinju found it curious but also wanted to respect mother's boundaries until the woman was ready to approach the subject on her own.

With another sigh, Shinju rolled around in order to reach underneath the bed. The box Hatori left for her was still safely tucked there. From it, she picked one scroll and opened it. It was full of instructions for katon jutsus, including one named Hanabi Musume that Hatori noted to have come up himself and which could be used to signal allies by creating literal fireworks. Shinju closed the scroll and opened next one. This one had sword katas. Next. Storage seals. Each of them revealing stacks upon stacks of ink paintings. Places and events and people Hatori painted but never wanted anyone to see. Shinju had seen some of them in progress but some were a surprise.

Like the one with three young men sitting on the floor among reports and scrolls. Two dark heads and one pale. All of them immortalized in a moment of contentment and happiness, a degree of a smile on all of their faces. Though they were all young, Shinju could recognize them. Hatori was there in the middle, a brush poised over paper where he was working on some kind of a graph, maybe an attachment for a report? On the left was pale haired Hatake Sakumo, partially still in mission gear, speckles of road dust seen on the armour. Little head of similar hair seen behind the man's hip, tiny Kakashi crawling on the floor space between Sakumo and Hatori, trying to catch the brush held aloft. And on the right was Orochimaru. His hair was pulled up on loose bun and held up by actual hair pins. He was wearing a kimono and appeared to be in the middle of pointing out something from the scroll he had been reading.

Under that painting was another one. This one had only Hatori and Orochimaru. There were even more papers strewn about but the atmosphere was different. Tenser, darker… desperate. Shinju could tell from this one picture that Orochimaru been Hatori's partner in investigating Sakumo's last mission.

And then there was the last painting of that triptych. Hatori alone, slumped in the corner of his room. There were still papers on the floor but unlike the organized chaos of the previous two paintings, these papers had just been thrown about in anger and grief. They were crumpled and ripped, ink stained them and the floorboards. The top of the painting was heavily painted black and create oppressing atmosphere.

Shinju… wanted to frame these and put them on the wall but at the same time she wanted to hide them and make sure no one would see her grandfather's vulnerability. She carefully stacked them again and sealed them back to the scroll. She opened the next seal. It had only two paintings. One with Mitsuru, Ikoma and Shinju, happily sitting in a gazebo. And another one of Ikoma and Fusae, depicted in a shadowy forest, simply taking a walk. There was an accompanying message that the latter painting was intended to be a gift to Fusae.

"I think Fusae-sensei will really appreciate this." The girl hummed as she sealed the paintings again. She had no idea when Fusae's birthday was but maybe she could give it when the school year changed.

Shinju looked at the rest of the storage seals on the scroll. She was curious but… at the same time she was too tired for the emotional impact they'd have. She was certain there'd be some of Hatori's other students as well, moments that may or may not have happened. Wishes given a form.

The girl closed the scroll and moved on. Next was a scroll full of suiton jutsus, first of them being Water Dragon Bullet. The hand writing was not Hatori's though. It was tighter and smaller but perfectly legible. There were extra notes too, like which hand-seals were safe to shave off from the sequences. Very curious. Shinju tried to look for some sign of who had written the scroll but there were none.

And so Shinju continued onwards in checking the contents of the box. There were scrolls on sealing, those written by yet another handwriting. More round and fluid. And it also had a painting made upon the scroll, with a simple instruction: find the storage seal.

Find the storage seal? This was a scenery! There were no seals in there!

Except… Shinju brushed her hands across the scene depicted. If she had something to hide and this place was real… where would she put that thing? To the tree hollow? Wedge under the bridge beams? Bury into roots of a stump? Give it to a summons flying in the sky?

She found things from all those places. Gifts, books, notes… A diary of sorts, written by one Kinoshita Yudzuki.

"All these things… are left behind by my ancestors? Given to Hatori for safe keeping?" Shinju gaped after going through more storage scrolls. There were weaponry, armour, clothes, items depicted with ginkgo leaves… Some that bore almost Uchiha colours of black, dark blue and violet, some that had Kinoshita purple, gold and deep brown, some of other colours as well. Training clothes, kimono… all very well cared for and preserved in the seals. Some, especially things left by Hatori, fit Shinju as she was now but some were obviously meant for when she was older and already graduated.

Carefully, Shinju packed them all away and pushed the box back under her bed and climbed then a top of her bed once more. She let the tears fall once more. Her head hurt. Her heart hurt. It felt almost impossible to face the love and care stored into those scrolls. From people she'd never met. Who had been long gone before she was even born yet had prepared to care for her anyways. The trust Hatori showed when just giving this all to her. She should probably talk to mother at some point about the box. In the hazy new memories of that day, Mitsuru knew the existence of the box but it had not been touched upon given the grief the very next day.

But soon she'd talk about it… Shinju had no one else anymore.

A/N: Welcome to the bad decision club Mitsuru. I hope you stay safe.

I don't explicitly state it in this chapter but Shinju pretty much avoided Shikako and Shikamaru the rest of the stay at Nara compound. The first night she was too tired to fully function but afterwards...

Huh... I wonder who Suiryuu is... I truly do./s

Replies to reviews:

- Acetroyz:
Thank you very much!

- Amaterasu53:
Thank you! I'll try my best among the jungle that is hyperfixations and inspiration droughts.

- Love Stories00:
Thank you. We'll see. I have plans for canon timeline. But what happens between that and current moment is a bit more of a mystery.

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I have no idea when the next chapter will come out