Iwabee finished his dessert and looked across the table at Sakiya. He took in the situation in its entirety, his favourite dinner and dessert, was she going away again and trying to pacify him? Catching his gaze she gained a sly grin as she inquired, "you don't realize the date, do you?"

Iwabee quirked an eyebrow at her question, was he supposed to know? Then realization hit him, his face changing so his eyes were bulging from his eye sockets. She gave a small giggle and informed him, "yes, it's May 17th."

Iwabee face palmed, his shoulders slightly shaking as he gave a small embarrassed chuckle. How had he forgotten his own birthday? She smiled as she cleared the table and reminded him, "a lot's happened recently. I'm not too surprised."

Iwabee sighed loudly as he realized, "that's why Boruto, Denki, Metal and Shikadai wanted to hang out today, I guess… and actually—Wasabi wanted to hang out as well."

'What kind of people name a kid Wasabi? I mean I like spicy food, but that's weird even for me,' Sakiya thought to herself, but she kept those thoughts from slipping past her lips as she inquired, "I don't think you've mentioned this Wasabi before?"

"Nah. She's on Team 15, and a bit annoying—she doesn't have any dreams," Iwabee revealed.

"And that annoys you, hmm?"

Iwabee looked to her and asked, "If you don't dream, what is there to strive for?"

"One person's dream could be another person's fear," Sakiya offered. Iwabee thought for a moment before looking to her and asking, "how do you mean?"

"Well—take my situation as an example. The first noble house of soul society, the wealthiest, most powerful and respected family but because of that you're expected to have an immense amount of decorum, etiquette, and to conduct yourself in an aristocratic manner... Frankly, I couldn't care less which obi is best for informal tea versus informal tea. I don't care about easily buying anything I want, I'd rather earn everything I have in life rather than have it handed to me because of decisions my ancestors made who knows how long ago. Then there are the expectations of palpable femininity, not wearing hakama or leggings and choosing traditional attire. Conducting yourself as a traditional Japanese woman and abiding by not only Soul Society's laws but the laws of the clan as well which are immensely restrictive," She listed off.

She looked to Iwabee and added, "yet because of the wealth, social status and power associated with the name, many assume that being a Kuchiki would be a dream come true."

"I guess there would be drawbacks," Iwabee agreed. He looked to her as he remarked, "by the way, you're projecting."

"I know. I'm sorry," Sakiya apologized, she sat down and ran a hand through her hair.

At this Iwabee shook his head as he removed his hat from his head, his straight hair falling down to his shoulders as he clarified, "that isn't why I mentioned it. It isn't like you, Kiya. You've always been selfless as long as I've known you. There've been times when I knew you were hurting but you pushed it down and focused on me."

'Kiya', that was a nickname she didn't hear too often. He had begun calling her that as a toddler, having struggled with saying 'Sakiya' so sometimes he'd shorten it to 'Kiya' and other time he'd call her 'Saki', which she didn't like too much as it made her think of the drink sake. By using his pet name for her, he now had her full attention as he posed, "this time, would you let me be your ear to burn?"

Sakiya gave a small laugh as she looked to the young man in front of her. It had never been clearer to her than in that moment that he was no longer a little boy. He had grown into a young man. Sure he still lashed out when angry and he still had some trouble with impulse control—but his heart was usually in the right place even if his methods were a little unorthodox. Still despite the swell of pride she felt at the offer, she shook her head and declined.

"It's the parent's responsibility to make sure the child's needs are met. In the absence of the parents it falls to the eldest relative. Since I'm the oldest in this house—no matter how you looked at my age, it was my place to make sure your needs were met before my own," Sakiya explained.

"But I never went without anything. I always had clothes, food, and shelter," Iwabee began to object.

"Yes. And you had a safe place to turn to when you didn't feel safe," she added as she pointed to herself.

"Raising a child isn't just about meeting their physical needs, Iwabee. It's about making sure their emotional needs are met at least 30% of the time. You can't always meet every emotional need, you'll burn out and you need to take care of yourself as well or you'll be in no state to care for them. But if you can at least tend to 30% of their emotions, they'll turn out okay," Sakiya pointed out.

He nodded, a smile crossing his lips as he praised, "I think you did better than 30%. Yes, I did wonder about my family and you did your best to find out about them. I don't think I could've met anyone better to raise me by pure chance."

'And I never questioned that she cared about me—I never felt unwanted or resented. I don't know if I'd have it in my heart to do what she did, but if I did take in a child one day—I hope I could make them feel as much like blood family to me as Sakiya made me feel I was to her,' he admitted to himself.

Sakiya stood up from her seat suddenly and announced, "Enough about that—what should we do tonight, birthday boy? The whole day's about you, after all."

Iwabee chuckled as he left the kitchen and headed into his room. Sakiya sat at the table and waited, wondering what he had in mind. She didn't have to wonder long though as he emerged from his room with his cards for Extreme Shinobi Picture Scrolls and sat at the table with them. The idea was always a bit dull to her, but she was willing to go along since this was his one day out of the year that was about him.

She decided to show interest by asking, "It's a trading game, right?"

"Yeah, but that's not why I brought them out," Iwabee admitted as he searched through, and placed a card down on the table, a picture of a blond man with blue eyes and a gentle smile stared up from the rectangular card. His hair was longer than Naruto's, roughly to his jaw, and Sakiya instantly knew his face.

Iwabee looked to her, she glanced away and stated, "Minato Namikaze, Birthday January 25th, Aquarius. His registration number is 006510. He was the Fourth Hokage, student of Jiraiya, mentor of sixth Hokage Kakashi Hatake, and husband of the second nine tailed fox Jinchuriki Kushina Uzumaki. Father of seventh Hokage Naruto Uzumaki, grandfather of Boruto and Himawari Uzumaki. His use of the teleportation technique earned him the nickname 'Konoha's yellow flash'. Capable of Fire, Wind, Lightning, Yin and Yang release techniques."

She looked to him as she inquired, "I know I said it's your day, but why are you drilling me? You know I was alive when he was."

"Because I don't think you've old me all that you know about Konoha," Iwabee answered as he placed another card down.

Sakiya gave a defeated sigh as she lamented, "fine. You want to know a secret I've been keeping? Look up registration numbers 000915, 000127, 000148, and 000113. They all served as medical-nin and one of them has a very unqiue jutsu. When you see their files, you'll know the secret. Don't forget Iwabee, I was alive when Hashirama and Tobirama were fighting wars. As you pointed out, Konoha is as much my home as it is yours."

Iwabee blinked a little as she stood and went to the sink to quietly wash the dishes. He gathered up the cards. He bowed his head in remorse before he walked over to her and grabbed the dish towel. They cleaned up the mess left from their dinner in silence until he spoke, "I'm sorry. I feel like I crossed a line."

"It's not that. I wish you'd trust that some things I keep from you because it's best you don't know about them. I get that you're a Genin now, and you're passionate about Shinobi life—but Iwabee there's somethings we had to do in the past that are best left hidden—from everyone."

"Done in the name of your mission here," he concluded as he observed her. Taking in the slight nod of her head, he gave a nod of his own as he confirmed, "I understand. I'm sorry I pushed."

"Your instincts about people are generally good—I'm not upset. I'm quite proud in fact," she countered.