3 p.m., 20 September 54, Konoha Cemetery

Funerals. Every day was a new funeral. Every hour too, it seemed. Funerals for shinobi that had died while defending Konoha. Funerals for civilians whose bodies had only recently been recovered. Funeral pyres burned day and night all over Konoha as recovered bodies were found and returned home.

Fresh soil was churned over and over again, six feet deep and three feet wide. Large caskets, small, it didn't matter. Amidst the ecstasy of winning the war, the air was tainted with bitterness and grief. The cost had been far too high. With a blank face, veiled by his wide hat, Hiruzen tilted his head toward yet another coffin as it was lowered into the ground beneath their feet. A small coffin, perhaps four feet long, landed in the dirt with a soft sound. The ropes were silent, normally creaking and straining underneath their load.

The body in the coffin had been another genin, this time. Katya wiped her sleeve across her eyes, clutching Minato's hand in hers. She didn't care for Itsuki, but she knew him. Though he may have been an Academy bully, he was still only ten when the dirt hit the outside metal of his final resting place. Fingers ran through her hair soothingly on her left where Kushina stood.

Just another funeral, just another loss of force. White chrysanthemums cropped up on Itsuki's grave after it was completely covered in earth. The Hokage gravely nodded at the Namikaze family before turning to Itsuki's parents.

Taking Katya's other hand, Kushina nodded to Minato and led them to the Uchiha compound. The last funeral of the day belonged to Uchiha Ryotaro, the late patriarch of the Uchiha clan. A wind chime rang in the distance as a breeze floated through. Small bits of paper floated into the air from the entrance before landing back on the cobblestones. It was quiet for a clan formerly of two hundred, now reduced by a third.

Bells chimed distantly the closer they came to the Uchiha training grounds. The assembled mass stood in complete silence but for the wailing of an infant in the third row. A priest stood in front of the crowd as everyone bowed their heads with their own silent prayers to the gods.

"May the light guide your way homeward to your ancestors' eternal resting place," the priest cried out.

With a loud cry, five men light the pyre. The purple flames rushed up in a great plume twenty feet into the air before settling onto the wood. His body disintegrated in moments from the intense heat—a white aura surrounded the funeral pyre before diminishing into dark red as the fire fed on the remaining wood.

The rows in front of them walked up, bowed at the waist, and left their own offerings before dispersing. Minato nodded to Fugaku before bowing in front of the pyre. After placing his hand on Kushina's shoulder and ruffling Katya's hair, he walked off to talk with his newfound ally.

Kushina placed a small stone, carved in the deep runes of Uzushio, with the other offerings. She looked down at Katya with a meaningful look and rolled her eyes before putting her hand into the girl's skirt pocket. A small glass bottle was placed back into Katya's hand that she quickly uncorked.

"Like seawater to stone, may the shinigami keep you, guide you, and return you to the wheel of life," she whispered, nodding at Katya to repeat. Katya slowly poured the small vial of seawater onto the stone. They backed up, with one last bow before walking to Mikoto and Itachi. His eyes were far too tired for a four-year-old with dark shadows smudged onto his cheeks. He was too still, an afterimage of the livelier boy she had chased across Konoha months before.

"The Uzumaki clan is deeply sorry for your loss, and we extend our condolences," Kushina said formally, putting her arms around Mikoto's shoulders. Dropping her voice to a whisper she added, "Truly, I know you didn't care for him. But I'm sorry this has dropped on your head all the same, dattebane."

"Thank you for your condolences," Mikoto replied, tilting her head.

"Katya…" Kushina muttered under her breath, pinching the girl's arm lightly.

A blush spread on Katya's cheeks before she held up a small bouquet of natural white chrysanthemums.

"The Senju Clan is deeply sorry for your loss—" Her eyes went wide as she looked back questioningly at Kushina.

"Condolences," Kushina whispered, her serene mask crumbling with the slight uptick of her lip.

"Ah yes. My apologies. The Senju Clan is deeply sorry for the loss the Uchiha Clan has incurred, and we extend our deepest and most sincere condolences. Please accept this humble offering as—" Katya said as though reciting a script.

Kushina smacked a hand to her face. "Continued faith—" she muttered.

Mikoto had difficulty keeping her face straight as the genin stumbled over the rest of the formal phrasing.

"Please accept this humble offering as a gesture of our goodwill and continued faith in our clans' alliance," Katya finished.

"You are most gracious, Senju-hime," Mikoto said, inclining her head and accepting the chrysanthemums and small envelope. Following his mother's lead, Itachi bowed slightly.

Itachi quirked his eyebrow and looked up.

Answering his unspoken question, Katya piped up, "They're storage seals. But nested in each other to keep them organized. There's about five thousand of them in that envelope, you just have to expand the original seal. Well, that and shuriken—a lot of shuriken. Tou-chan said it was customary in the olden days between allies to gift weaponry."

"It was to strengthen alliances, Itachi-chan," Mikoto said softly. "And a show of trust that the weapons would not be turned against their ally."

"I understand," Itachi said, his eyebrows knit together.

"Please excuse us," Kushina said politely, her diplomatic mask firmly in place. She looked over at Minato briefly before nodding toward him. Taking Katya's hand, they started to walk home.

"Can I say bye to Shisui, please?" Katya asked, keeping her voice low.

Kushina turned her gaze to the boy at the very back of the procession. His shoulder was rumpled underneath his father's large hand. His face was white, and the edges of his eyes were wrinkled in pain.

"I think that may just upset his father more, sweetheart," Kushina said, dropping into her knee in front of Katya and taking both hands. "I need you to try and avoid Ito-san. For your friend's sake, okay?"

"But I want to help him? Ma, look at him. He's scared. We can't just lea—"

"It would do more harm than good, I'm afraid. Because of who we are. Because of the clan crests on our backs. Because of Kakashi and your tou-chan. Unfortunately, it has made the situation all the worse. And I know you want to help him, but right now, you can't. What we can do is pray for him, and wait for him to come to you. Give him shelter and love when he comes into our home. That is the best thing."

Katya furrowed her brow but nodded. She stole one last glance at Shisui as Kushina pulled on her arm. Meeting her eyes, he gave an imperceptible shake of his head. The wrinkles on his shoulder deepened, causing the corners of his mouth to tighten.

A clansman walked up to Ito and held his arms out to embrace him. Shisui quickly ducked behind his father and out of his reach the moment he was released. After he shook his head at Katya again, she finally looked away.

Minato walked over to Fugaku and shook his hand. Crossing his arms over his chest, Fugaku looked over to the forest where no one would see their mouths moving.

"Hokage-sama is stepping down," Minato said quietly.

"I see. How is your apprentice?"

"Well enough, I suppose. Though, Orochimaru wanted to try an experimental protocol on Obito's arm."

"I heard." Fugaku sighed, running a rough hand over his face. "What a mess. I have no legitimate reason to decline his offer, nor does Obito's grandmother. Frankly, I am inclined to see what machinations Orochimaru has. The boy will need two arms to continue his career. I worry for him."

"I do too. What has your clan decided?"

Fugaku gripped his bicep tighter before responding, "Father wanted the eye either returned or destroyed with no exception." Gesturing to the burning pyre, he continued. "As you can see, I am now the leader of my clan. The boy can keep the eye if Obito agrees upon waking. I have no intention of disregarding my cousin's dying wish."

Minato's shoulders relaxed slightly with one less weight to bear. "My condolences on your loss," he said placing his hand on Fugaku's shoulder. "And of course, my sympathies for the stress of your new position."

"Thank you," Fugaku replied brusquely, placing his own hand on Minato's shoulder before walking away.

24 September 54, Konoha General Hospital

Orochimaru watched as the young chuunin slept. The perfect experiment, almost, to see if his new invention would work. If it did, it would open new possibilities for Konoha. He could only hope that the surgeon assigned to this case was up for the challenge. The boy was still in a medicated coma and would be until the physicians were certain that the brain damage had repaired itself.

Katya's foot tapped absently on the tiles from the other side of the room while she bit the tip of her thumb. The small taps echoed across the room interspersed with the digital beeping of the medical equipment. There was a small crowd of commanding officers and various village leaders. They all stood with perfect military bearing, silently anticipating what they hoped would be the future of medicine.

"These are the ones that we grew, oji-san?" Katya asked, interrupting the silence and peering over Obito's bed at the tray. A blush spread on her cheeks under the attention of the other shinobi in the room.

"Yes. As I said, the arm that we will attach was made from Hashirama and Katya Senju's DNA. Their natural ability to heal and the adaptability of their chakra have made this a perfect trial. Using stem cells injected with Obito-kun's own DNA and combined with that of the mokuton users', we grew this arm to replace his own. Kato-sensei will be performing this procedure alongside Yakushi-sensei as her superior. We have high hopes for this."

The Hokage nodded slowly, pulling the pipe from his mouth and blowing the smoke out of the open window. The immense chakra signatures made Katya itch. She recognized her father's friend, Shikaku Nara, in the corner. Danzo Shimura leaned against his cane on the other side of the window.

Katya huffed silently. 'Probably for a quick exit before tou-chan kicks his butt,' she thought.

A giant stood in the back of the room, his arms crossed over his chest. His hitai-ate had small horns and a strange kanji. Out of everyone in the room, his was the largest chakra signature. The sheer weight of it had her inching her way toward Fugaku behind her.

"As I've said, and signed, I consent to this procedure as Obito's patriarch. Our clan hopes that with this experiment many lives and careers will be saved."

Yakushi-sensei nodded once more before Obito was wheeled out of the room. Hours passed in the cold waiting room. Katya could barely feel her nose and pressed it against Minato's shoulder as they sat. He pulled a worn novel from his pocket and began to read to her in hushed tones.

"Ya know, tou-chan, I really like this book too," Katya sighed while fighting sleep.

"That's good because the author is right there," he whispered, pointing to the large man from earlier.

"Really?"

"Jiraiya-sensei, this is my daughter, Katya Senju. I don't believe you've seen her in some years. Kit-Kat, this is my sensei, Jiraiya."

"Ah, is that right? Little Kit-Kat? I remember when you were in diapers!" Jiraiya boomed from across the aisle.

She blushed slightly before looking at the book again. "I really like this story, Jiraiya-sama."

"No need for formalities. I was your mom's teammate. Call me Jiraiya-oji. I heard you call Orochimaru oji-san."

With a slight nod, she tapped her foot lightly on the tile before looking away from him. Questions swirled in her mind one after the other. 'Why haven't you been around?' 'Where were you?' 'Have you seen Tsunade?'

"With all due respect, Jiraiya-sa-oji," she corrected. "I don't know my birth mother. My mom is and always has been Kushina Uzumaki. She's my mom. Not Tsunade Senju. I hope you understand, I mean no disrespect, I just don't know her. My mom is the one who changed my diapers. She braids my hair. She taught me how to use chakra and seals. My mom is a terrible cook but the best storyteller. She's the one who taught me the Senju and Uzumaki family histories. Not Tsunade."

"Well brat, you can't change who your parents are, even if you want to," he argued.

"I'm not changing who my parents are, sir. I am stating facts. My mom crocheted me a chest full of afghans and scarves made with love and tried to teach me how to do it. My mom loves me enough to tell me when I'm wrong, when I'm being mean, or petty, or stubborn. She loves me enough to stay when I'm not perfect, which is often. She loves me enough to make me run laps in weighted vests to build my chakra reserves. She loves me enough to let me have the last slice of my dad's chocolate cake. That's my mom. Tsunade could never replace her. And I don't want her to. My mom is the best mom in the world.

And my dad? My dad is Minato Namikaze. Though Dan Kato, may the gods rest his soul, is my father. My dad, well, he's the best dad in the world. The gods have blessed me with loving parents."

"Thank you for telling me your truth. Not too often in my line of work do I hear it," Jiraiya said gravely, nodding his head at her. He looked towards the window as his eyes misted over. 'Come home, Tsunade-hime,' he thought. 'You've missed so much. Come home soon.'

There was a surreptitious cough from down the hall as an exhausted surgeon entered the waiting room.

"The surgery was a success," he croaked. "We will know in the next two days if the grafts will hold. Obito will be weaned off his medication at that time. It is our hope that he will come out of his medicated coma quickly with two functional arms." The surgeon allowed himself a small smile before nodding and heading back down the hallway.

Katya beamed from ear to ear at Orochimaru as he leaned against the hallway wall. His lip curled in response, and he gave a slight nod toward her before exiting the building.

"It was a success," Katya whispered, clutching Minato's forearm and kissing his cheek. She jumped out of her chair and headed towards the exit before yelling back. "Obito-nii is going to be fine! I need to tell Shisui!"

Jiraiya waited until the hospital doors closed again before sitting next to Minato.

"Your message said it was urgent. You needed to see me in an official capacity?"

Minato scrubbed a rough hand over his face before responding, "Yes. But not here. Meet me back at my house. We'll talk in my office. There's much to discuss."

Jiraiya nodded and walked out of the building.

AN: Thank you so much for reading! We're about to head into darker waters. ;) If you have time, please leave a comment.

Beta'ed by: Cherryberry12