I try to get comfortable on a bench outside of the Hokage's office. I think I've been here more in the few days I've been back in the village than I ever was as a kid.

I lay down and prop my leg up as I read my book. A second advanced copy of Icha Icha Tactics. Unlike Kakashi, I put a genjutsu seal inside the cover that disguises the book as one on Fuinjutsu.

"Kiku-chan, you dog," Shisui whispers from his spot in the shadows.

"That's Kaka-niisan," I whisper as I flip a page. I tilt my head and the book in my hands at a particularly interesting passage. "How is that even possible?"

Shisui chokes.

"That's what I said! How could that even fit?" I hear a thump and grin as I turn back to my book. He pointedly doesn't read over my shoulder anymore.

"I don't want to know," Shikaku says as soon as he opens the door to the Hokage's office. I snort as I close my book. I slip it back into my weapons pouch. "Come on, little fawn. Time to get to work." My entire body warms at the nickname.

I take Shikaku's offered hand and he pulls me up off of the bench. His arm wraps around my shoulder as he leads me into the office and I lean into his warmth. Shikamaru has already been sent back out of the village on a mission.

"You two have grown up," Shikaku says quietly.

"Unfortunately," I mumble as I try to hide in his arm like I did when I was younger. He kisses the top of my head.

"Such is the life of a shinobi."

"Should've chosen another career path," I sigh.

"I don't know, you made me a lot of money this week. You should keep going."

"Where's my tax?" I ask, looking up at him finally. A rare smile is on his face as he brushes a piece of hair out of my eyes.

"I'll pay your tax once you're finished with work for the day tomorrow," he says as he squeezes my shoulders once. And then he pulls away.

"Why tomorrow?"

"I've been informed that there's already plans for you tonight that I would regret interrupting," he says as he turns back towards the door. "Be good!" He calls over his shoulder as he leaves the room.

"What plans?" I ask the empty spot, but no one answers. I hear shuffling and turn to see a genin team walking out of the office as Tsunade rubs her forehead.

"That bad, huh?" I ask as I walk up to her desk and sit on one of the corners. Shizune covers her face with the files in her hands, but I can see her shoulders shaking.

"Don't get me started, brat."

"Don't have to tell me twice!" I say as I start straightening the papers that litter her desk. "I just had to come up with a punishment for a prank that wasn't a prank!"

"Kami help us all," Tsunade says under her breath as she pulls a large file from the bottom of one of the stacks. "An Uzumaki is actually being responsible."

"I'm very responsible!"

Shizune snickers behind her files. I pick up the stapler and throw it at her.

"It runs in the family, huh?" Shizune asks as she catches it. I glare at her as I search for something else to throw, but a file is thrown in front of my face.

The second largest file that was on the table.

"What's this?"

"Those are all the seals we need by next week."

"What the actual fuck?" I hear an Anbu choke and I grin. I wave over at his shadow before I turn back to the file.

"There's this, too," she says, handing me the largest file from the desk.

"Tsunade-baachaaaaaaaaaaan!"

"Those are what we need to be at the bare minimum set by the Yondaime. Take however long you need."

"What a drag," I say as I start flipping through the larger file. "Is there even a space for me to work on this?"

"In the basement, I've heard plenty of stories about you being down in that room so I'm sure you know where to go."

"Supplies?"

"Just got a shipment of inks, pens, and plenty of sealing paper and tags. They left them in boxes so you can organize the room how you see fit," Tsunade says as she grabs another file and a stamp.

"What are you waiting for? Go get to work!" She snaps when I don't leave immediately.

"I need a nap," I sigh.

"If I catch you sleeping I'm sending your boyfriend to Suna for a month!" I dodge the book aimed for my head and shunshin out of the room.

I ignore Shisui's laughter all the way to the fuinjutsu room.

"What the fuck?" I whisper as soon as I open the doors to the fuinjutsu room. It looks almost nothing like it did when I was a kid. The walls are still the same pale yellow color they've always been. The platform that the Sandaime would set up our fuinjutsu stations on is the same as well.

But his scrolls are no longer on the walls. Our stations are no longer set up. The scrolls and books that used to line the bookshelves on one side of the room are no longer there. The tags that used to hang from strings on the ceiling are gone, too.

The empty bookshelves are blocked with boxes stacked up in front of them. I walk over to them and open one of the flaps. The box is filled to the brim with storage scrolls.

"Oh fuck me." I hear snickers in the shadows and shake my head. Anbu are the literal worst.

I drop the files from earlier on one of the few accessible bookshelves before I look around the boxes, taking inventory.

There's plenty of ink, paper, and pens. Enough for an entire sealing division.

And it's just me.

"This is going to be such a drag."

I pause when I look around one of the stacks of boxes. A large, purple cushion. One that I would always jump on when I was little before Jiji had a chance to sit down. I pick up the cushion and fluff it up before I turn around.

I walk to the other side of the room and slip off my sandals. I step up on the platform carefully. I walk across it, towards the wall and drop the cushion on the ground.

I can't jump on it like I did when I was younger. Instead, I sit down slowly. I keep my back straight as I look at the blank wall in front of me. I take a few deep breaths before I turn my left arm over and place a hand over the swirl on my wrist.

I think of the specific scroll before it comes to the surface. It opens easily once I press a tiny bit of my chakra into the seal on the end. I roll the scroll out on the floor in front of me before placing my hand on the central array.

There's a flare of chakra.

And then a fuinjutsu table appears and the scroll disappears. I nod to myself before I push myself up from my seated position. I go back to the boxes and look around until I find another cushion.

The zabuton I used to use during my fuinjutsu lessons. I pick it up and bring it back to the platform. I put it down to the right of the purple cushion, in the same spot it sat in when I was younger.

And then I pull out another scroll from my seal and repeat the process I did earlier.

Although this time, the table is a bit smaller, something more suitable for someone younger. Someone just learning fuinjutsu.

There's a knock at the doors behind me and I turn around, standing up from my kneeled position on the platform.

"Come in," I call out awkwardly. I'm still not used to being surrounded by people all the time. The summons rarely asked if they could come in, they'd just barge into wherever they wanted to go.

When the door opens, I smile.

"Well, well. Look what the monkey dragged in," I cross my arms over my chest as Konohamaru steps into the room. He still wears his blue scarf, although now it doesn't seem to swallow him. He wears muted colors and simple shinobi wear.

The biggest difference though, is that instead of the goggles he used to wear, he now wears a hitai-ate.

"Woah," Konohamaru says as he steps into the room. I raise an eyebrow. From the look in his eyes, this is going to be really funny. Or I'm going to want to kill him.

"Since when do you look like a girl?" My eye twitches. And then I have him pulled into a headlock, his hands clawing at my arms as I give him a noogie.

"Kiku-nee!"

"I'm sorry, I can't hear anything other than an apology!" I say as he starts laughing.

"Kiku-nee please-" I poke his side and he shrieks.

"I'm sorry!" He yells and I loosen my grip to pull him into a hug. He huffs into my flak jacket, trying to catch his breath.

"I missed you too, camarón."

"I'm not a shrimp!" He yells and I grin. This is going to be so much fun.

"What are you doing down here?" I ask when he catches his breath. I pull away but rest my hands on his shoulders. "Don't you have a new genin team to be training with?"

"I got put on a team with Udon and Moegi!" He says, a blinding smile appearing. But a second later he starts pouting. "But we got stuck with Ebisu as our sensei!" I never really cared for Ebisu, he was one of the jonin that would always look down on us.

But he was a damn good teacher for Konohamaru.

"Just give it some time, yeah? I'm sure things will get better."

Konohamaru looks at me like he doesn't believe me. I don't blame him. I did the same thing with adults when I was his age.

"I'm here cause' I missed you!" He says as he rocks back and forth on his feet. I let my hands drop back to my sides. "And because the old man said you'd train me if anything happened to him!"

"I did promise Jiji that I would teach you everything he taught me," I say and Konohamaru punches the air with his excitement. "But I need to get this room cleaned and set-up before I can start teaching you."

"But Kiku-nee~" he whines and I ruffle his hair.

"Easy, Maru-kun. See the table to the side?" I motion towards the table I just set up.

"Yeah," he says.

"Work through some of these worksheets," I say as I pull a scroll out of my flak jacket. I pull out a second scroll with pens and a couple inkwells in it as well. "Take your shoes off when you step onto the platform, alright?"

"Yeah, yeah," he says, sounding annoyed. But I see his lips twitching upwards when he takes his shoes off and drops them by my own. I wait for him to get settled before I start moving boxes around.

I start with the inks and pens first. I keep most of them in the scrolls, organizing them by type and color in the cabinet under one of the bookshelves. On the shelves I put the few ink wells that I pulled from a couple of the scrolls. There's everything from common ink to chakra ink, and even some ink designed for body seals.

Those are hidden in a seal under one of the more common inkwells. They're too expensive and a pain in the ass to make.

Another knock pulls me from my work. I look up from the first box of blank tags.

"Come in," I say as I hear Konohamaru cursing under his breath.

"Watch your language, Konohamaru. We'll work on your sensory abilities soon. When making seals you can't lose your focus from small things."

"Yeah, yeah," Konohamaru says under his breath and I sigh as I look back at the doors.

Utatane Koharu steps into the fuinjutsu room.

"Utatane-sama."

"Uzumaki-hime, Konohamaru-kun."

"Hi granny Koharu," Konohamaru waves from his seat before he turns back around to his work. Koharu's eyebrows raise.

"He's working on some calligraphy worksheets. I want to get everything in order before I start teaching him seals."

"That sounds like a good plan," she says as she steps further into the room. "And you may just call me Koharu, we will be working together often enough."

"We will?" I ask, stepping back from the boxes.

"Once you join the clan council. It's only a matter of time before you are nominated for the jonin exams," she says. "You'll have all the jonin in the village wrapped around your pinkie once they have access to your seals."

"Ah, I forgot about that," I say as I rub my neck. "I'm just so used to having my seals now."

"Mito-sama was the same," Koharu says as she pulls a scroll from her sleeve. "I don't wish to take much of your time, I just wanted to bring you this."

I reach out and take the scroll from her. It's a sage green color with red ends.

"What is it?"

Instead of answering me, she taps her foot and a privacy barrier goes up around us. I look back at Konohamaru and he hasn't turned away from his practice. I can see Shisui's shadow move slightly before I turn back to Koharu.

"That scroll has the barrier sealing arrays for the village."

"For the village? As in, our entire security system in one unprotected scroll?"

Her lip twitches.

"Yes."

"What dumbass-" I shake my head, not finishing the thought. Danzo. That's who.

"Men," she shrugs her shoulders. And Homura. Great.

But she's bringing this to me, alone. With a privacy barrier.

This is even better.

"Fucking men," I sigh, looking down at the seal. "What should I do with this?" She doesn't say anything, so I look away from the seal and back up at her. Her eyes are hard.

"Make it obsolete and tell no one but the Hokage." I blink at her. Is this a trick? Is she trying to set me up?

"It's far past time for women to be in charge of village security," she says and for once, I really look at her. This isn't setting me up. This is a direct mission from a council member and the Hokage for the safety of the village.

I bow slightly. I don't get paid enough for this.

"Understood."

"You may collect your payment when you report your completed mission to Hokage-sama. You will also receive credit for an S-rank mission."

"Yes ma'am," I say and she smiles before moving her foot slightly.

"Congratulations again, hime," she tilts her head slightly before she turns and leaves the room.

I slip the scroll into the seal on my wrist. I nod slightly at Shisui before I turn back to the box of blank tags.

There's so many things to do.

I look back at Konohamaru as he hums to himself at his fuinjutsu table.

But I can stay here for a little bit longer.

"Hey kid," a voice says. I turn from my plans to see Genma walking into the room.

"Hey old man," I look up at him. He tries to give me an annoyed look, but it cracks easily into a smile.

"You almost done for the day?"

"I don't think I'll ever be done," I roll up the scroll with my plans before storing it in my seal with the scroll from Koharu. Genma raises an eyebrow. I think of all the times he couldn't tell me something he wanted to tell me growing up.

And then I smile.

"It's above your paygrade."

"Ha!" He throws his head back before he reaches out a hand. I take it and let him pull me to my feet. He pulls me forwards, wrapping me in a hug. I never thought of myself as a hugger.

But I think I can get used to it if it's like what I've had this week. I've never had so many hugs so regularly from all of my precious people.

It's nice. And warm. And easy to fall-

"Don't you dare fall asleep on my, Uzumaki Kikuko."

"But Genma-nii~"

"No, your pout isn't going to work."

"You're so mean," I huff as he pulls away. He rolls his eyes before he nods down at my sandals.

"Put on your shoes, we've got plans."

"Are these the plans that took me away from free taiyaki tonight?"

"You act like you didn't already get free taiyaki today."

"I haven't!" I did in fact get free taiyaki from Reiji for breakfast, but Genma doesn't know that.

"You went with Reiji this morning," Genma deadpans as I put on my sandals. My head snaps up to look at him and he smirks around his senbon. "Honestly kid, I taught you to lie better than that."

I pout up at him.

"Come on, we'll get you something better than free taiyaki."

"There's nothing better than free taiyaki, Genma-nii!"

"Oh sage, there is something better than free taiyaki!" I can't contain my quiet squeal as soon as we step into Tenzo and Kakashi's house. A few years ago, Tenzo mentioned in a letter that they were working on the old Hatake estate. They wanted a larger space so everyone isn't always crowding our apartment now.

I didn't know they finished it.

But now their living room is filled with people.

"Did you bring me to a rager?" I whisper yell to Genma over the loud music blaring from the speakers.

"It's tradition to welcome someone home from such a long mission like this," he shrugs non committedly.

"In other words, the world is shit and we need an excuse to drink."

"Got it in one, look at you. Our little Kiku-chan is all grown up!" Genma teases, pinching one of my cheeks.

"Does Tsunade know?"

"Kami no, and please don't tell her," Ensui's voice pops up.

"Ensui! You're home!" He laughs, catching me when I throw myself at him.

"I'm home, little fawn. I hear you've already been causing trouble," he says as he runs a hand over my hair.

"No, I've been a perfectly behaved shinobi 'ttbane!"

"She even played nice with the council," Shisui pops out of nowhere. I shriek and hit his arm.

"Don't scare me like-"

"Even though she was reading porn in the tower this morning," he cuts me off with a bright smile before he shunshins away.

"Uchiha Shisui!" I yell, feeling my hair flying behind me.

"What were you reading Kiku-chan?" Kakashi asks from his spot on a nearby couch.

"You'll never believe it, Kaka-niisan!"

"Kikuko," Ensui groans. "Please don't continue this conversation while I'm right here."

"You brought this on yourself the first time you made that joke at dinner about Oda-sensei and Aki-neechan!"

"I didn't say any-"

"Oh? You didn't say anything mister in more ways than one?" I throw my hands up in the air on either side of me and he stares at me blankly. And then a second later a lazy smirk finally appears.

"Ah, I did say that," he nods.

"Don't sound so proud of yourself!"

"It was a good one!"

"Kiku-chan!" Kakashi calls again, pouting at me from under his mask.

"A second advance reader's copy of the new Icha Icha book."

"I'm out!" Ensui says before he makes a beeline for a table filled with red plastic cups.

"You're lying," Kakashi says, turning around to sit on his knees as he practically hangs over the back of the couch to talk to me.

"I'm not," I roll back and forth on my feet with my hands clasped behind my back.

"You're not lying," he whispers, his visible eye going wide.

"Kiku-chan you've already broken him," Tenzo sighs as he walks over to us.

"It's not my fault he's so easy," I shrug and Tenzo chokes on his drink. "To tease," I add on when I realize how bad that sounded.

Genma snickers.

"That made it worse, didn't it?"

"Come on, karaoke time," Tenzo grabs my arm and pulls me away towards the thing that got my attention as soon as we stepped inside.

"But Tenzo!" Kakashi squeaks, struggling to try to stand up from the couch.

"My rival! I'll assist you in your youthful endeavor!" Gai's voice carries across the room as he runs to help Kakashi. The two squabble until I can't look back at them anymore.

"That was so much fun!" I whisper to Tenzo who just bumps his shoulder against mine.

"But this is more fun," he says as he pulls me in front of the screen with flashing lights.

"How the fuck did you get something this big in here?" The karaoke machine is huge with disco lights on either side.

"That's what she said," a woman's voice says. When I turn to look at her, I freeze. She wears a trenchcoat over mesh armor and a corduroy skirt. She's not wearing a shirt.

"Really Anko?" Tenzo asks as he starts pressing different buttons on the machine. Anko tilts her head slightly, an almost predatory smile on her face.

"How can you wear that?" Is the first question that flies out of my mouth. "And can you teach me?" Follows it before I can stop myself.

"No!" Tenzo yells, turning around with his hands on his hips.

"But just imagine Shikamaru's face!"

"No!"

I pout and cross my arms over my chest.

"You need to grow some more in the chest department before I can teach you this," Anko says as Tenzo goes back to fiddling with the karaoke machine.

"Ah, I use seals on my bindings?" I say quietly, my face feeling hot. Anko raises an eyebrow.

"No, no, no! No having that conversation anywhere near me!" Tenzo's ears are bright red and I cover my mouth to hide my laughter.

"Like Tsunade? Does it run in the family?" Anko asks. I tilt my head, thinking.

"Would you look at that! The machine is ready!" Tenzo turns around with a flourish, handing a microphone to Anko and me at the same time. He holds a third in his hand as he hits a button.

"Now we're going to sing and get drunk and not talk about that any more, got it?"

"Got it, Tenzo-nii," I nod. His entire body sags with relief. "Only if we can sing that one version of-"

He's already nodding his head yes. A cover from a jukebox musical he'd sent me the album for last year.

"I've missed you," I say as he wraps his arm around my shoulders.

"I've missed you too, Kiku-chan," he says as the music starts.

I needed this tonight so much more than I needed the taiyaki.