A/N. Little bit of an interlude I felt was fun before we got back to the plot, and then it turned into character stuff. As usual.

Kuromaru P.O.V.

"I still think it's in an idiotic idea. A child? As a parent?!" Arata was many things, but a godparent?! Seriously!?

"You heard him. He has more life experience than us, technically." Tsume responded evenly, sipping at her tea on the couch.

"And you trust him on that? I still think the sleeper agent theory is much more likely. How else do you explain his connection to Root?"

"If there's any connection. He likely only knows about the situation, just like Shizuka's told us. I don't think he knows much more than the basics on it either." She put her tea cup back down on her saucer, which she balanced on her ever increasingly big bulge.

"And the basics already sound like straight up conspiracy theories. I mean, systematically plotting the downfall of the Uchiha clan? For years? Why?"

She shrugged. "I know even less than you do. All I know is that he's been right before, and the mask we took back did indeed match with an ANBU."

Right. The ANBU from the forest we had recovered was identified as a member of an assault squad, in the force for nearly two decades. According to the files Shikaku had access to, (which weren't many, and even then a lot of ANBU missions don't have paper records at all) there was a dip in the amount of missions taken in more recent years. Most filers would just attribute that to his aging body, taking less missions to curb the risk, but ANBU didn't quit. There's no mission slowdown in ANBU. You take the missions you're given, and that's that.

It was highly suspicious, and definitely enough cause for investigation.

"Alright, shit. Say you're right, and the brat's some sort of future interdimensional traveler who managed to somehow be born into a world that was made up in his." I don't even wanna process that. "Why oh why would you trust him with your child?!"

"Are you kidding me? Have you seen Arata?! Just in his natural environment?"

"What do you mean?"

She flipped her hand in that strange way she did when she craved something. It looked like a constipated puppet master. "He's functionally already a parent. I don't think I could have picked anyone better. To be honest, he might be a better fit than mom and dad ever could be."

"What are you talking about? Are you sure we're talking about the same brat? The broody weird kid that still can't do a Fang Over Fang?"

She smirked. "Hell yeah. How about this, Kuro. You shadow him for a day. See where he goes and what he does, and if you still have suspicions, I'll listen to them then." A strange noise came from her belly and she grimaced, placing an arm along the bottom in a cradle. "Be careful though. He's a chakra sensor."

"Please. I could sneak up on anybody. An overconfident child is really no big deal." This was going to be a cakewalk. "Challenge accepted. I sneak around and see what he does in the day and make my assessments. Be warned, you won't like the conclusions." I added warningly.

"Good. Now fetch me my raw onions." She waved her constipated hand roughly towards the kitchens.

"You and your weird fucking pregnancy cravings." I threw her one.

"Crunch. Crunch. Mmmmm. The skin is the best part." She glowed in satisfaction. This bitch.

I didn't find Arata in his regular morning training spot, where he said he would be last night. Scent tracking revealed he was in the middle of a ninja district on the other side of Konoha, for some reason in a government building. Suspicious.

"What do you mean there's no books on parenting in the library?!" Ah. Found him.

The guy at the desk looked bored. "This is a ninja library. Does child rearing have anything to do with popular sword styles of the north-east?"

"Yes! Yes it does!" Arata raised his hands in claws in frustration.

"You're not right in the head."

"YOU'RE not right in the head! I asked you for a book! And you are not giving me said book! Are you even aware of your own job description?!" His whole face was red, and his eyes dilated.

The guy blinked back at him. "Please maintain the proper noise levels, sir. This is a library."

"And you're not giving me the book I need in said library! You're an embarrassment to everything this place stands for!" He raged.

Needless to say, five minutes later, Arata was back out on the streets. Not of his own volition of course.

I made to follow in human form, under a henge, under a camouflage technique, under chakra suppression. And those were just the primary levels. Told her I could do this, easy.

Arata walked out on the street in frustration, having an argument with Shiromaru in his head, who draped himself around his shoulders. With no warning or indication, it turned vocal.

"The gall of that man to talk to me like that! I swear the youth of today are taking this society backwards! He had no manners, no respect! In my day we treated our fellow man like a proper person!"

Shiromaru's part stayed in his head though.

"Yes there should be! No, I don't care that that's the third library in Konoha we've tried! If I have to go to other cities to find one then I will!"

Uh huh.

Arata took a turn from heading towards the training grounds, heading to number 17 instead of 12.

Navigating through the jungle he arrived at a small camp with another genin team he hid from. He looked around shiftily. How interesting. And suspicious.

Taking out a wrapped container from his pack, he visibly hyped himself up and slapped a smile on his face.

Out of the bushes Arata revealed himself to the other genin present. "Hey Torune. Are you waiting for your sensei?"

The team looked up in alarm, but relaxed when they saw it was just Arata, two of them going back to working on some sort of contraption. "Yeah. We're working on fixing the lever here for the launcher." An Akimichi girl stood up to address him.

"Good, good. That's wonderful. I'm just here to give you something, just something really quick."

She frowned. "Oh, Arata. Is it food again? I told you I can take care of myself. I don't need your help."

"I know. It's just something extra, in case you get hungry. I know you get cravings right after exercise." He pushed the box into her hands.

She pushed it right back. "I'll be fine, Arata." She tried to give him a wary look, but it lacked any heat. It just made her look like a kitten.

"Are you sure? I know you're decreasing your daily caloric intake, but you've started heavy conditioning, and not that I don't think you can't balance your weights on your own, but a supplement every now and then really wouldn't hurt!" He argued.

"I said I'd be fine.." She murmured. Clearly, she was losing this battle.

Arata hid a victorious grin behind his arms extending to hand his package back. He realized he had won. In time, she would too.

"And see, that's where you substitute for the inverse of the trigonometric function here.." Arata explained to the girl of the group. I followed him and his team all the way back to the Uchiha's house under an invisibility technique, the only thing of note happening is some lame training accident. (The Sarutobi girl stubbed her toe on a tree root, while walking on her hands! I seriously question how she managed to pull it off and I watched it happen!) Then they got to studying for their supposed impossible medic examination or whatever.

Honestly, I don't see why they're so worried. It's just some lame test. Just read the stuff and pass. Also there's a looooot of paintings in here. Is that a panda eating a piece of toilet paper?

"AAAHH! How am I gonna figure out how to line up a 6 trigrams seal on top of Shari circles while performing a diagnostic jutsu at the same time?! It's completely incongruent with the Yin transfiguration model we spent the last three months drilling into our head!" The Uchiha freaked, his arms flailing. For the sake of my pride, I'm gonna pretend I totally understood what he just said.

"It's Uzumaki bullshit. What'd you expect?" Shiromaru said lazily, his eyes also strewn out over a sealing text.

"Of course.." The Uchiha whispered conspiratorially, as if his entire worldview was just forcibly corrected.

"Are you okay, Tetsuo? You don't freak out like that a lot." Arata asked, giving him a worried side glance.

"Yeah, my head just hurts. I think it might be a brain hemorrhage." He replied, holding his head with both hands.

"Oorrrr it's just a headache. Do you want me to get some aspirin?"

Tetsuo waved him off. "N—no, I'll be fine."

"Okay…" Arata looked like he didn't believe that for a second.

For some good thirty minutes it was effectively silent, Arata and the girl studying their textbooks, while Tetsuo and Shiromaru engrossed themselves in sealwork. Every so often, Tetsuo would clutch his head and quietly groan, which didn't escape the rest of the children in the house.

Tetsuo managed to break the silence when he couldn't contain an especially bad jolt, a moan of pain alerting the rest of the room.

"I'm okay! I just need some water! Yeah. Some water." Tetsuo walked over to his amusingly fitted kitchen counter (it was kid's size!) and drew up some water in a glass. He sipped it with both hands like a sippy cup.

"See? I'm totally fine!" Suddenly his posture went rigid and he started staring off into nothing.

"Tetsuo? Tetsuo!" Arata stood up, abandoning his study materials.

"It's happening, Arata! It's happening!" As if in response, Tetsuo's body started shaking and convulsing, the glass he was holding dropping and shattering into a million pieces.

Wait, what's happening? What's happening!?

Both of them rushed over to catch him as he fell, but that didn't stop the shaking. Arata was holding him in his arms away from the counter.

"Ayame, get the glass shards out of the way! It's not a good idea for me to be holding onto him!" He said, keeping Tetsuo's head from hitting the wall.

I felt useless just standing there like an idiot, not knowing what was happening, or what to do about it.

Ayame quickly did as ordered and the shards were broomed out of the vicinity. The shaking still wasn't stopping, even as Arata let go.

"His eyes are flashing red!" Arata exclaimed, alarmed. He was right. Tetsuo's eyes looked like they were transitioning into a Sharingan and back again rapidly, but no tomoe managed to form. He looked possessed.

"Are they supposed to do that?" Ayame asked.

"I'm not certain, but don't look him in the eyes, just in case."

"No! You're not me! Get out of my head! You're not me!" Tetsuo started screaming loud enough for me to have to protect my ears.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" He screeched. What is wrong with this kid?!

Arata, in contrast to the ever more stressful situation, seemed to just become calmer and calmer. "I don't think you can hear me, Tetsuo, but I'm gonna speak to you anyways. We're never going to leave you behind, okay? We're always going to be here for you."

"GET AWAYYYY!"

"Whenever you need us, we're here. Okay Tetsuo? Everything's gonna be okay."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

He just kept on screaming, and Arata just kept talking. More and more noise piled up on top of each other—

"You're gonna be just fine, alright? We're here."

—Until it suddenly stopped. The eyes stopped flashing, settling into a distant black. His body went still. He just kinda lay there, as if—

"Is he asleep?" Ayame asked.

"I think so. Can you pop out the futon for me, Ayame? I think it's about time we lay him to rest."

Ayame opened the closet and draped out the futon, clearing the space for me to tuck him in. Arata took off a page of notebook and began writing in it. "Wouldn't do to leave without a note of what happened."

"Yeah you're right! Wait, what did happen?" She asked. Yes, info dump me please.

Arata contemplated for a bit, as if caught on the words of what he wanted to write. "Well, the symptoms aligned more with a night terror than a seizure, but he was very clearly awake before it happened." He scribbled something. "That, and his chakra was all over the place even before all of that, when the headaches started. Seizures don't usually have that, right?"

"Right! They interrupt the chakra system during it!" Ayame contributed.

He nodded. "So that means either the illness he has relates to some kind of super rare disorder or defect, or it's external in some way." He finished writing and put the note next to the pillow where Tetsuo was peacefully sleeping, as if that entire shitstorm was just a bit of wind.

"What? Why?"

"The things he said during it. Usually night terrors are just that. Terrifying and haunting, but it felt more pointed than that. And his sharingan flashing…"

Ayame gasped. "Does that mean he's like—possessed?!" She flailed her arms out in a pale imitation of a ghost.

"What? No! Ayame! He's not possessed!"

A mischievous look crossed her face. "Whoooooooo! Look at me, I'm Tetsuo! I'm possessed!" She started running around making stupid faces at the paintings, walking like a crab for some reason.

"No! Stop! You're probably offending someone right now!"

She turned all the way around and crabbed at Arata, hands snapping at him. "Boo! Sharingan eyes! All fear the mighty Uchiha!"

"Shiromaru throw something at her, please." Shiromaru, who had kinda just been watching (as usual) the whole time stood up and headed for the cooking pots. "Will do."

"No! No, I'll be good!" She sat down in front of Arata in seiza in less than two seconds.

"Uh huh. So that aside, It's reassuring at least that it was over so soon. It's nice to know we can at least somewhat sense when this is coming at us through chakra. Makes us better prepared."

"Yeah, but what happens when we're on a mission and he does that?" Valid point. Taking a clearly unfit for duty shinobi behind enemy lines when he could be this big of a risk is irresponsible at best.

"Tsunade's supposed to be the best medic-nin in the world, right? I'm sure she could figure something out."

Ayame's gaze flitted to the ground. "What if she can't? What if she doesn't know what to do? What if—what if we don't pass, and she won't see him at all?"

"That just means we have more incentive to pass than ever before, right?"

"Right.." She muttered.

After a moment's deliberation, Arata stood up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey. We're gonna make it. No matter what. You don't have to worry about it."

"Maybe you will! But I'm so behind the two of you! I don't feel like I can catch up anymore." The girl had this fragile look about her, as if she was two nudges away from collapsing. What a change.

He grimaced. "Listen. I know all this complicated stuff can get hard, and then all the numbers start floating around in your head. God, don't even get me started on physics—"

"Oh no, that's easy. Physics is like.. One thing goes *kachow!* And then 'cause of that, another thing goes *baboom!* Which makes that *Kasheferrrr!*" What the hell is keshufur? What is this girl even talking about?

"Right. Don't write that for answers on your test. What I mean to say is that I know all this stuff is hard, but I believe in you. I believed you could do genjutsu when you thought you couldn't, right?"

"Yeah, but—" She tried.

"And then with the scroll you were given? And then you proved you could do all those things." She jerked as if she was gonna protest again. "Look. I'm not gonna stop supporting you through all this, no matter what. Like I told Tetsuo, I'm here for you. Always." Arata fixed his stare straight into hers.

"Always?"

"Forever and always." Her eyes became damp. Before she got to crying, Arata grabbed and hugged her.

I kinda feel awkward still standing here.

They hugged for quite a bit, but they did finally break up. "Now to get back to studying…"

Ayame held her nose in mock disgust. "Oh, poo."

"Oh, poo indeed."

I.. think I've seen enough. Once they opened the door to leave, (Tetsuo was still sleeping) I snuck through too, intending to just head straight back for the clan. Once Ayame left I crouched to leap when—

"I know you're here." Arata intoned...What.

I stopped from leaping away. That would only make me more suspicious. I don't feel like an investigation being launched into whatever this was today would be fun.

"I know you've been spying on us for a while now. You can come on out." Guess I'm caught huh. Might as well drop the jutsu th—

Suddenly a little black haired girl, barely older than Arata himself came out of an alley. There were no people out on the road. It was late, and the Uchiha district was made for daylight activities.

"What are you doing here, Shizune? Why have you been spying on us?"

The girl, Shizune, had a defiant look on her face. "You're wasting your time, you know."

Arata crossed his arms. "That's up to us to decide, don't you think?"

She glared. "That test is really hard. I almost didn't pass. You're not gonna make it in time with how fast you're going."

"Do I really have to reiterate my previous statement?" He asked, with raised eyebrow. "And you still haven't answered my questions. Why spy on us?"

"It doesn't matter what I do. You're not gonna get her to change her mind. Even if you somehow pass the test." She spit on the ground before Arata. Wow. What a rude little girl. "Scum."

"Cute. Is this your idea of intimidation? The stalker routine first, and then when that doesn't work, you try the tough bully act?" He shifted his weight to the other leg. "I've seen plenty of performances from little kids just like you in the past few years, but they usually had some backup when I beat them up. You're all alone. In a street where no one knows you. It's two versus one. Guess how that's gonna go."

Shizune balled up her fists in anger. "You're not gonna take Tsunade-shishou away from me!" She screamed, and shunshined away abruptly.

Wow. What was that?

"Wow. What was that?" Shiromaru echoed my thoughts perfectly.

Arata put up his hands in a 'what can you do' gesture. "Hell if I know. Let's just head back before Tsume or Shizuka start searching for us."

"Right." Sounds like a good plan to me.

"So?" Tsume asked, her feet sprawled out on the couch she was laying on, reading from a scroll.

Ugh. This pains me to say. Can't believe I spent a whole day eating my words. "Yeah, you were right. Couldn't imagine a better fit if I tried."

She smiled smugly. "Like I told ya. Arata would make the greatest parent. Plus, from what I figure of village politics, he'll be staying in and around the village for quite some time."

"Even with the world's best medic as his sensei?"

A voice came from the stairway, interrupting our conversation. "Especially then."

"Shiromaru? Ain't you supposed to be sleeping?" He stared blankly at us from the middle of the staircases.

"And aren't you supposed to be better at sneaking around like that?"

Wha? "You knew I was there?"

"The whole time. You don't exactly hide your intent well."

"HA!" Tsume lifted a leg to accentuate her point. "And you were so sure you could handle sneaking up on a few whelps eh?" Tsume grinned at me victoriously, as if she won something.

"Fuck you, Tsume." She flipped the bird at me and continued reading.

Shiromaru barked. "Hey. Next time, keep Arata out of it, yeah? We're supposed to be on the same team here. A little trust could go a long way."

That irked. "I do what I want. Arata was an unknown factor. It's basically my responsibility to vet him."

"Yeah, whatever. Creep." Shiromaru sauntered back up the stairs.

"You're pretty suspicious yourself too, Shiromaru. The way you sneak around people like that. Don't like when the script is flipped on you huh?"

"At least I trust my partner to make the right decisions." He left with a parting shot. A weak parting shot.

Fucking bitch. If he was under my pack I woulda bit that tongue off him a long time ago. Really don't know how everyone else puts up with the little shit, always creeping around in the background. Going behind your partner's back? Multiple times even.

I shook my head. Doesn't matter.

Tsume hadn't reacted to our little spat, totally absorbed in her scroll. It extended all the way to the floor, and she wasn't even halfway. "What are you even reading anyways?"

"Some text about proper parenting I got from the library. Why?"

I grinned. That's prime comedy. "You're not gonna believe this.."