A/N: Re-written April 6th 2024

I made it! Sort of. So here's the next Ex chapter… but no ID chapter will be coming out today. Sorry about that. I need to stop getting your hopes up for it. but it will be out on Thursday the 21st instead. I originally wanted not to update then because of it being so close to Christmas and all, but it just works better for me since I'll be back home by then.

Anyway, Hope you all enjoy~


Chapter IX: A Promise!


Being Hokage had taught him Konoha ran on clan dynamics. Progressively less so following the war, but the Clans could still throw their weight around when they had wanted things to go their way. They were less prevalent, but no less powerful. At least that was the impression he had had.

Most clan shinobi were easy to pick out from regular shinobi; especially clans like the Akemichi, Hyuuga and Inuzuka who had unique physical traits when compared to the everyday person. Then there were clans like the Nara and Uchiha who you could pick out simply because of the way they carried themselves. They had similar common traits as each other (dark hair and eyes), but you would never mistake one for the other. The air about them was just too different.

Other clans didn't stand out much on the street at all. The main family of the Yamanaka's were easy to spot, but he'd never been able to pin down common features prevalent to the rest of the clan. If it wasn't for the way they dressed, the Aburame would likely fall in this category as well. The few he'd met that weren't shinobi didn't stand out amidst a crowd.

There were also clans that once had been large and prosperous, names still well known, but their status in his Konoha rather obscure. Like the Senju and Sarutobi clans. They were both huge contributors to Konoha history, yet he could barely name a handful of each.

Then there were clans that he hadn't even realized existed until he had become Hokage. Some quite powerful, despite being small and obscure. Like the Shimura, who by the time he got into office were being heavily persecuted by the villagers. Illegally prosecuted. That had been a mess and a half to clean up, even though Kakashi had already been working on it his entire time in office.

However, seeing Konoha of what was at least twenty-five years prior to him making genin… well he didn't recognize it at all. It wasn't the layout of the village that was throwing him off either… Konoha's streets had changed significantly on him quite frequently in his life, and he knew much of the village had to be rebuilt after the Kyūbi attack the day he was born. Something that had not happened in this version of Konoha yet.

It was the realization that Konoha had even more clans than he'd found in the word-work in his time. On their way towards the Hokage tower (once he finally tore his eyes away from the Hokage monument) the man-boy started to pick out small walled off estates with roughly half a dozen homes in each— unknown clan symbols featured on wooden gates. A few looked half abandoned, but even these were well kept up— the only sign of 'decline' being boarded up windows on the smaller buildings. Some of these estates looked like they'd once been larger estates, but had gotten divided up for one reason or another through the years.

He knew Konoha grew in the beginning by clan alliances, but he'd never really pictured what that would look like, construction wise. Konoha of the now seemed… so much stiffer compared to what it became after the Kyuubi attack. Oh, the people had the same friendly smiles, but when you put actual physical lines up between different groups that naturally made everything feel more regimented.

What had it been like in the beginning? When all of the shinobi were from a clan?

What had happened to all of these small clans that they were nowhere to be visibly seen in his last life?

Why the hell did they have to keep taking cross streets to get from the hospital to the Hokage tower?

Why were they even walking the streets instead of taking to the rooftops?

Seriously, in his time in office, he swore no one had ever kept him waiting as much as they were keeping the old man waiting now.

Except Kakashi-sensei, of course.


Minato had been about to ask the twins why they were so totally enthralled with the Hokage monument when his sensei had started telling Masato about it. Makiko's eyes had torn away from the stone faces to the back of Jiraiya, and then returned to the rock as he spoke. Soon after however the rock seemed to lose her interest, as her head started turning from side to side.

Her eyes were wide as she'd taken in the village around them, her lips parted in what he thought was likely to be surprise, maybe a bit of awe. Seeing that it was already well into the afternoon, the streets were abundant with shinobi and civilians alike. Some were bustling to and fro, taking care of errands, and others were standing around in groups enjoying friendly conversations.

Quite a few of them looked at their escort with a frown, and every time she saw that, Makiko's shoulders tensed. But it didn't stop her from continuing to cast her gaze about, trying to take in everything. So he started pointing at things she might find interesting, like stalls that lined the streets, various shops, and some restaurants. He told her what they were, and her eyes widened further, her little head nodding at each new tidbit, and her small voice tossing out some questions here and there.

Masato was soon looking back at him as well, trying to see what he was talking about, and with a chuckle Jiraiya had changed his pace so he was walking beside him instead.

"That's a tea-house called Okuha-do," he told them, pointing to the teahouse ahead of them on the right. "This time of year they serve the best ohagi I've ever had."

"Oha-gi?" the little girl asked him, turning her big round eyes back to his face. "What that?"

"It's a type of sweet," he answered a little lamely, not really sure how he could explain it satisfactorily.

"What a sweet?" This question came from Masato, and the older Namikaze found himself at a loss for words. They didn't know what a sweet was… probably had no idea that food came in a vast variety of different types and flavours—that there was more to eating than necessity. They'd probably never even been in a settlement this big before either.

"Well… things that taste like what we've been feeding you. But better," he answered after some thought, the tea-shop now behind them. Makiko was straining her neck to look back at it as they continued on, clearly interested. "I'll take you there sometime."

"When? When!" The two's voices synced together with obvious excitement.

After that they kept asking, pouts upon their lips when he was unable to give them a 'when' that they understood, or that was soon enough for them. Trying to distract them by pointing out something else didn't work, the pair now entirely focused on the idea that there were edible things out there even better than what they'd been fed on the journey to Konoha.

When he looked at his sensei for help, Jiraiya just laughed at him, and then the pair started noisily announcing they were hungry.

Repeatedly.


This was so troublesome.

They were supposed to be off the rest of the day, and then tomorrow, since they'd only been back in the village since mid-morning. Instead he found himself woken after only three hours sleep, and told to go to the Hokage's office. Where he found one of his two teammates, and their father's.

Shikaku Nara was not at all pleased.

Even less so when he heard why he'd been woken up. His bloody father expected him and Inoichi to entertain a pair of toddlers. Why the hell did he need to be a part of this? Inoichi was alright with kids, especially with three cousins who were half his age or less. He was used to them. But Shikaku most certainly was not; he hated how his younger cousins cried to get what they wanted because they were simply too lazy to do it themselves. It was embarrassing that they relied on such an annoyingly childish form of manipulation.

Yes, coming from a Nara brat, crying was most certainly a tool for manipulation, rather than an actual show of emotion. Because a Nara that was shedding genuine tears didn't wail as they did it. Except infants, and perhaps some sobbing was involved when it came to toddlers.

It was just a fact. (or so Shikaku was convinced)

Sure, he understood what his father was saying about how it was important to see in what manner the two toddlers interacted with those the same age as Minato Namikaze, in an environment that made them feel more at ease than the journey here had. But why did his dad have to drag him into it? Why not one of Minato's teammates? Like Inoichi's cousin, Inoru? The boy was actually nearly a year older than them, but that wouldn't matter to a pair of toddlers. They both had already seen Inoru as well, so what reason did his father have that he felt he was better suited for this?

There wasn't one (as far as he could reason). So the reason was something else that had nothing to do with him being a better fit than Inoru. His father trusted him not to say anything he was instructed to keep to himself.

That had to be it.

And damn, that line of thought was troublesome. He was a genin, and typically they shouldn't have to worry about complicated politics, and higher-ups being subtly at odds.

But he liked Namikaze Minato. He was one of his few peers who dared to play shogi with him. The only one who'd managed to beat him. Although it was just once.

Still, he was by far his most challenging shogi opponent, aside from the adults in his clan (and some of them weren't really that challenging anymore either). And if the evaluation of his friend's newfound siblings somehow got the two taken away from him, Shikaku had no doubt Minato would turn moody for quite some time. Shogi would be out of the question.

Now that would be troublesome.


Was she in denial?

Probably.

Makiko put all her effort into trying to seem cheerful and childish. Asked her brother any child-worthy question she could think of. Viciously kept her mind occupied. Because the moment she stopped she'd have to face it.

Acknowledge it.

Accept it.

The eyes that followed the Uchiha did nothing to set her in a better mood. They just made her feel on edge. Adding to the things she needed a distraction from. So she compared the Konoha around her to the one she had known so well. Listened adamantly to Minato's words on various stalls and stores. Joined Masato in childish pleading

But now they were ascending the lazy spiral of stairs that would lead them into the Hokage tower. She'd fallen silent when the shadow of the structure engulfed them. Masato stopped whining about his hunger when they were half way up, though he had quite the pout on his face.

She however was wondering what would happen with the old Hokage (who wasn't quite that old now). Why did he want to see them now? She figured that if they were going to get locked up, it would have happened already. They wouldn't have been given the chance to see the village streets either. They'd have been snatched from the hospital and either be blindfolded or unconscious for transit to the holding location.

That didn't mean this summons couldn't end up badly for Masato and herself. The apprehension she was feeling right now was suffocating. All consuming.

Which kept her mind from fixating on it.

Instead she was going over the possibilities. Since they would have already been locked up or killed if that was what the Hokage had wanted, the man clearly had some reason to believe they were not a threat, or potentially useful. While she would prefer the first, she knew that was very unlikely given that war was probably not that far away. She really wished she knew on what terms Haruka had left the village. Was she injured and unable to return, resulting in her being declared missing in action? Had she been forcefully taken and Konoha had declared her dead after not being able to find her?

If it was either of those then why hadn't Haruka headed right for Konoha after making their escape?

That was a foolish question. Because that would be what the group would expect her to do of course. Maybe she'd been trying to head indirectly towards Konoha the entire time? Trying not to be obvious with the intention, until they were close enough that it wouldn't matter if their pursuit knew?

If that was the case… perhaps the Hokage hoped to learn more of the circumstances that had kept Haruka away. Though how much could he really expect to learn from toddlers? Typical toddlers wouldn't have memories from near the time of their birth. Or remember finer details, like the description of people who hadn't been around them since they were still babies.

So… what if Haruka had defected?

The very idea of that made her feel sick to her stomach. But she couldn't deny the possibility… the likelihood of it. What if she'd been tricked into defecting by the man who raped her? It was entirely possible, and sadly made a lot of sense when she thought about the forlorn expressions she sometimes spotted on the late Namikaze's face when she was supposed to be sleeping. It would give new meaning and depth to the self-loathing she knew the woman had felt. It made more sense for that than if her mother had been forcefully captured. Most of her hate would have been directed at her captors then, right?

But if Haruka Namikaze had indeed deserted Konoha, Masato and she could be in for a lot more trouble than she had expected.

The little girl worried her bottom lip, eyes refocusing on their surroundings.

Crap. That was the Hokage's office door right in front of her.


Hiruzen regarded the two genin who had been summoned at the request of Shikatsu. The respective heirs of the two jōnin's clans. They were both promising young shinobi, but he could see the shadow of fatigue beginning to grip them. Their team had been sent on quite a few missions lately, under the supervision of his nephew, who'd only been a jōnin a month longer than he'd had his genin team.

If he could spare the team an additional day of rest, he would. As it was, giving them all of tomorrow off on top of the remainder of today had taken some doing. They had been expected back from their mission yesterday afternoon. So a mission for tomorrow had already been lined up for them, and had to be delayed. It couldn't be reassigned, as there was no other genin team that was suitable for it that was available.

Really, even though they had made some adjustments to the mission burden on their young shinobi, they were going to burn a good number of them out with these more difficult missions the talented once needed to be sent on. He was going to have to re-address the issue again in the near future, before they landed themself in a crisis of some sort.

There were quite a few overburdened genin teams that he would rather not lose to overwork or other related reasons. The team of Shikaku, Inoichi and Chouza being one such team, who was closer to that fatigue point than most others.

Despite that, however, Shikaku seemed as sharp as ever. The Nara could very well end up a better strategist than his father, at the rate he was developing. He was typically lazy like many Nara were, and yet since becoming a genin he'd surprised them all on several occasions by taking the initiative when the same results could have been achieved without him doing so. Just not as quickly. Not as efficiently.

He never expended unnecessary energy. Never did anything he didn't think he needed to do. He could be stubborn and yet reasonable. Shikaku could be convinced it was something he should do when he'd initially decided otherwise. He also wasn't afraid to ask why his squad had been selected for particular missions when he couldn't discern a reason himself. At least, when they'd first become genin. He didn't always get answers, but he started out almost always asking the 'why'. The longer he'd been out in the field though, the less he asked.

Now the boy had no questions.

Honestly, he'd expected the young Nara to say something. To inquire as to why he was there instead of Minato's yamanaka teammate. A question had most certainly been in the young shinobi's eyes when he'd first explained that he and Inoichi were expected to watch over a pair of toddlers for the remainder of the day. Clearly the young genius had figured out there was an unspoken purpose to this, and of what sort of nature it possessed.

The Nara neither questioned nor protested his new instructions.

In contrast, Inoichi looked more than a little confused. However, he took cues from Shikaku, and remained silent, waiting patiently for the arrival of the Namikaze siblings.

When the door opened he had visual confirmation of what one of his anbu had told him. Makiko had indeed recovered from her fever and looked quite well (as well as an underweight toddler could). Minato was carrying her on his hip, rather than his back, which must have made it difficult for him to walk about considering he was a rather small boy for being ten. Masato was carried in a similar fashion by Jiriaya, and although it was strange to see his perverted student carrying a child, it did not look as comical as Minato and Makiko.

The fact that Makiko had recovered so quickly was both a relief and a headache however. It was good she was well, but the abruptness of it could make it that much more difficult to convince his advisers that there was no threat in the pair.

"Thank you, Fugaku-kun" he addressed the young Uchiha heir, who had opened the door to admit the group in, the other two Uchiha remaining outside. He lifted a scroll up from his desk, holding it out towards the young man. "Deliver this to your father for me."

"Of course, Hokage-sama," was the curt response, even as Fugaku strode across the room. Taking the scroll in hand he turned, stopping at the doorway to bow his head to him. "Excuse me." With that he shut the door, although before it was shut completely he heard the young man telling one of the Uchiha to remain stationed there in the case that their 'charges' leave before he got back.

With the Uchiha gone, Hiruzen put on his best, friendly smile as the wandering eyes of the twins finally landed on him after exploring the room. "Hello there Masato-kun, Makiko-chan," he greeted softly.

In response Masato gave him a wide smile, chirping out an enthusiastic "Hi!"

Makiko however turned her face into Minato's shoulder, a muffled "'lo," heard after her face was hidden.

"Who you?" the sunny little boy asked him without a hint of the shyness his sister was showing. The Sarutobi male chuckled heartily.

"I'm Sarutobi Hiruzen," introduced himself, and the boy tilted his head from side to side with a frown. "But most know me as the Hoka— "

"Hokage—Leader man!" The enthusiastic call interrupted him, the child gesturing with one tiny hand with a stubby little finger extended towards him. He wondered how the boy would know the Hokage was the leader of the village, but after seeing that Jiriaya was grinning broadly as well (in fact the man snorted), he had to assume for some reason or another his student had explained.

"That's right," he confirmed for the child's benefit, before he addressed the two father and son duo's. "Why don't you all introduce yourselves to our young friends?" It sounded like a question, but of course it was not.

"Nara Shikatsu," the jōnin commander spoke without pre-amble from to the right of his desk, arms still crossed over his chest. "And that boy there is my son," he added, nodding his head towards the boy who had positioned himself by the right hand wall.

Shikaku grimaced, before he straightened, and lifted one hand lazy, drawing the gaze of the boy (and it seemed Makiko was peeking over at him if the slight movement of her head was any indication). "Shikaku," the young genius provided his name and nothing more.

In contrast to the lackluster introduction of the two Nara's, both Yamanaka's put on bright smiles. Inokia stood to his left, and Inoichi had moved to stand beside his father (slightly in front) when the Namikaze's had entered with Jiraiya. "Hello, I'm Yamanaka Inokai," he introduced himself before he placed a hand on his son's shoulder, "And this is my son, Inoichi."

"It's nice to meet you, Masato-kun, Makiko-chan," the blonde added to his father's greeting cheerfully.

"Nice meet!" Masato chirped back, waving to the Yamanaka boy. Makiko made no verbal response, but she had finally raised her head again to show her little face.

"I see you don't have any shoes," Inokai spoke up again, pointing at Masato's feet that were only covered in bandages. Hiruzen had of course known this would be the case, no matter how much he personally disapproved of it. It was such a minor matter that he decided it was easier to allow the over cautious Danzo to have that 'preventative measure', so he had not stopped word being sent to the hospital to not supply the twins with shoes. It was in his opinion a rather silly countermeasure however, given the twins feet would likely not carry them very far or for very long, as they were still healing from their flight only a few days ago. Minato himself was far more of a risk factor in terms of the twins 'getting away', even though he had shot down that particular possibility.

"Shikaku, go and buy them some shoes," the Nara patriarch spoke up, "Five and a half, and Six." Trust a Nara to be able to measure out what size of shoe would be needed at a glance.

"Minato, Inoichi, why don't you go with them?" Hiruzen added. It would be a great opportunity to ask the twins a few questions while the trio of boys ran the errand. "If Makiko-chan will go to anyone else here that is," he added on when he saw the intense frown that knitted the older brother's face.

Shikaku let out a sigh, clearly not too happy about being sent on the errand. But he asked no question, instead shoving his hands in his pockets before he made his way to the door. One hand on the knob the boy tossed a "I'll wait outside," over his shoulder before the wooden object was pulled open and he disappeared beyond it.

Inoichi looked after his teammate, then at his father, before he followed after the dark haired genin.

Hriuzen met the gaze of the eldest Namikaze, who held it determinedly for a moment. Then the boy's eyes lowered slightly, his shoulders slackening in what almost seemed like defeat. He lowered his sister so she was standing on her own, and then he squatted so he was around her eye level. "Maki-chan, will you be okay if Ni-san leaves for a little bit?" he asked her softly.

The girl looked almost ready to cry, one of her hands grasping at his sleeve. "Ni-san come back?" The question was desperately insistent, her voice laced with unmistakable fear. It wasn't a fear of her brother leaving itself, but seemed more to be about a fear he would not come back. "Not like Ka-san…. Ni-san come back?"

The Hokage felt a stab of pity for the child's words, and sympathy for Minato whose eyes had gone as wide as dinner plates. His eyes turned glassy with the threat of tears, as he pulled the girl into a tight hug.

"Ni-san will definitely come back. I promise," the boy spoke with vehement conviction as he pulled back from the hug.

The boy was clearly smitten with his new siblings. Hiruzen really did hope things turned out favourably for the little family, after that scene.

The girl accepted her brother's words with a nod, "A promise. Remember!" and it was the most energetic she had sounded so far. Then she shrugged away from Minato's hands on her shoulders before she toddled over to Jiraiya and promptly attached herself to his pant leg.

Hiruzen chuckled at the flabbergasted expression on the genin's face, the boy standing there stunned until Inoichi poked his head back in the room with a query on whether or not the Namikaze would be joining them. Minato left the room looking over his shoulder at his sister up until the moment the door was closed.

"And here I thought she didn't like me!"


"You're going to fall."

The words came moments before his foot found air instead of the floor. With a yelp he pitched forward, head snapping frontward to see that he was about to take a tumble down the stairs. Flinging his hand out to the left he grabbed for the railing, missed, and then caught it on his next try. His right foot found the step two down, but his left heel caught on the edge of the step above, nearly catapulting him forward, but instead jerking his arm rather painfully. Grimacing at the pain and the embarrassing incident, he righted himself before he started to rub his shoulder with his right hand.

"Maybe warn me before I reach the steps next time?"

Shikaku snorted, proceeding down the stairs in front of him. "Why? Going to make a habit of looking behind you while you walk?"

Feeling his cheeks flush in embarrassment he muttered a "No," before he continued down the stairs behind the Nara—pointedly ignoring the muffled laughing of Inoichi behind him.

He didn't like this though—leaving his siblings alone in the Hokage's office. Was it really necessary? Getting them shoes was clearly an excuse to get the genin out of the room for a bit, but for what purpose? And why had Shikaku and Inoichi been there anyway? Had they been called for the purpose of keeping him distracted and away from the twins while they questioned them?

Or herded them off somewhere? He clenched his fists at his side, biting his lower lip. No. That wasn't it… right?

He didn't know.

He wanted to believe that the pair, whom he considered pretty close friends, wouldn't do that to him. But they were genin, the same as him. He wasn't so naïve as to think that because they were friends they would refuse to do a mission asked of them directly by the Hokage. So if that was the case what did he do?

Get the damn shoes and hurry back to the tower no matter how they tried to distract him.

"Seems to me like you are making a habit out of not watching where you're going," the Nara's dry voice cut into his thoughts.

He blinked several times, and with surprise found that they had already made it to the bottom of the stairs and walked down the main street an entire block. Shikaku was not in front of him, and realizing the words had come from his right his head snapped that way. Both boys were standing there with an amused expression, where a side street cut off.

"The store we want is this way, Minato-san," Inoichi explained, his voice hinting at barely restrained laughter. Was he really being that much of a fool?

Stupid question. He'd just about stumbled down the stairs and yet still proceeded not to pay attention to where he was going at all. "Right," he mumbled, and hurried after the clan kids as they continued on.

Now what was he thinking about?

Right. Not falling for attempts to keep him away from the Hokage's office. The best thing to do, he decided, was to go in and grab the first pairs of shoes in the right sizes, and then get out. Not give them time to do something like call a sale attendant, or that he should consider this and that about damn shoes—

"Wha—" he let out a startled noise as his arm was grabbed and he was tugged to the right.

"Minato, stop spacing out," Shikaka was saying, Minato's eyes refocusing to catch the other genin's eye rolling. "Relax. We aren't trying to keep you away so they can do something to your siblings."

He blinked, and then stared. Really? They weren't?

"Yes really."

Had he said that out loud?

"Yes you did."

"Damn," he muttered.

Shikaku snorted, his apparent annoyance laced with genuine amusement. It was a peculiar impression to be sure, but Minato knew what it meant. Shikaku was not really annoyed at all. He was just trying to look it to mask the amusement. "Right…. so… why did you pull me over here—"

As he spoke his eyes moved about the street to where he'd been pulled to, and he spotted a store with a colourful display of children's clothing.

"Oh."

They had already arrived at the store, apparently.

"Come on, troublesome airhead," the Nara muttered, releasing his arm so that he could shove his hands back in his pockets. Minato watched him wander lazily through the door before a light pat on his shoulder from Inoichi snapped him into action.

He moved at a brisk walk (it was all he could do not to run, or at least jog) into the store, sidestepping Shikaku who had stopped only a few feet inside to wait. His eyes scanned the store seeking out a shoe rack, and he made a b-line for it the moment he spotted it.

There was a small section for girls first, which while the style was mostly the standard style warn in Konoha, was filled with purple, light blue, and pink sandals, or ones with flowers, and some with little charms on them. Next to that was a smaller section for boys, which featured even more vibrant colours, and rather than flowers there are animals. After that is a single rack labeled as Unisex kids, which while it had the standard black and blue colours, also had muted greens and browns, and some less stylized, more 'common' pet animals, like cats and dogs.

All these sections seemed to have sizes five and six, and half sizes too. However it just… wasn't right. They seemed too large.

"Minato," this time it was Inoichi who called out to him, coming around from the other end of the gondola, a pair of tiny black sandals in either hand. "You want these."

He frowned, accepting the larger pair and examining it. "Uh… how do you know that?" He asked, feeling completely clueless as he carefully inspected the pair of black shoe-sandals.

"Six-tee," Inoichi responded.

What?

"On the sole. It has a six and a tee next to it. That means it's for toddlers."

Turning the right shoe over to look at the sole he spotted the small 6t in the center of the item. Now he felt like an idiot. Where else would a shoe size be? He turned the other pair over to look at it, and made out the 5.5t.

"And black is really the best colour to get since they don't have any shoes at all yet," Inoichi was saying. "It would be pretty impractical to get them coloured footwear, or ones with patterns that wouldn't go with everything. Then you'd be buying a dozen pairs of shoes only for them to grow out of them in months."

The entire time he had been speaking, Minato had been staring at the tiny shoes, only half hearing what was being said. But the last bit grabbed his attention, and his blue eyes moved back to the Yamanaka's. "Few months? Their feet grow that fast?"

Inioichi nodded, "They do. You might want to grab extra pairs of each, now, or in the next couple of days." He suggests. Minato frowns in further confusion. "Particularly active kids just plain old wear them out."

Wear them out.

Minato had thought he'd started to understand how much work was going to go into caring for the twins, but now he realized that he still didn't know the half of it. It was going to be expensive. How could he afford it on the pay of a genin?

"Hurry up and buy the damn shoes," Shikaku snapped, and he could hear the nara making his way back out of the store.

That was enough getting lost in his thoughts. Quickly the Namikaze transferred both pairs of shoes to one hand after double checking their sizes once more. Then he made his way to the register, setting the two pairs down on the counter before he went to pull out his gama wallet to pay. It wasn't there. Of course… he hadn't grabbed it when he'd stopped by his home earlier.

Shit.

"Wait, you didn't grab any money from the Hokage?"

Inoichi sounded positively aghast.

"Why would I use Sandaime-sama's money to pay for my siblings' shoes?" he asked with a confused frown. And then the cashier gave him a price he wasn't at all expecting. Minato almost groaned, before he dug into his sandals for the emergency money he kept on him just in case. Reluctantly he handed it over, knowing he'd only get a single coin back.

He might just have to sell the house after all, if raising kids was this expensive.

Either that or make chūnin in quick order.


With a toddler clinging to either pant leg Jiraiya was rather stuck. Whenever he shifted his weight one or both of them would tighten their grip… where had Masato's shyness come from?

Well, he supposed he couldn't exactly call the boy's actions shy. He was answering every question in a clear voice, though he sometimes had to think very hard about it as he did so. It was more like apprehension. And the more questions that were asked the more agitated both of the twins got.

Makiko answered everything as well but sometimes it was mumbled, or too muffled because she'd hidden her face again. They had to ask her to repeat herself a few times, which had more often than not ended up with Masato telling them all what she had said. He was very in tune with her, it seemed.

They were very well in tune with each other actually. Finishing each other's sentences and offering up a word that the other twin was having difficulty saying. And there was no discrepancy between the backgrounds woven by one's word to the other. Usually there would be some, seeing as no one remembered every event in the exact same way; One would say something and the other would contradict it in some small way and then the individuals would confer or argue about it. But the twins took cues from each other, and there were no contradictory words, or arguments. There were unspoken agreements, supporting points, and additional information.

And Jiraiya knew they were going to have to subject them to more questioning, individually, before the evaluation was over. He also came to the conclusion that the pair had managed to win over at least one new champion in the fifteen minutes that had gone by since the genin trio had left.

If not three.

Shikaku was hard to read on the matter, but he had caught a slightly deeper frown than normal a couple of times, and a slight twitch of his lips that might have turned into a smile if allowed. Hiruzen-sensei was even more challenging to get a read on, though it was more because he kept smiling kindly towards the twins and the jōnin could not tell if it was genuine, faked, or somewhere inbetween. But Inokai, for all he was a master T&I specialist, was currently an open book on the matter. At the beginning his face was a well-crafted friendly yet detached mask. But emotions flickered in his blue eyes as they had dug into the events that had led up to the twin's discovery by them, from their perspective.

It was the first time he was hearing their tale as well, having not had the time or desire to ask them about it while they were on the road. What if it had sent them into an emotional fit? That would have made traveling with the pair nearly impossible (he was basing this on the handful of temper-tantrums he had witnessed from Tsunade's brother way back when). The two's words were laced with emotion as they spoke about how the pursuit had begun that night, to how they'd been terrified when they saw there were people down by the river.

The more they spoke, the more Inoichi's cheerful mask broke, his lips shifting into different lines. Grim, surprised, pitying. Horror.

It was the words that had brought out this last one that had the most effect on the entire room. Masato had just finished telling the room about how their mother had insisted they run, and not look for her because they would not find her. Makiko had burst into tears after this, and the boy had stopped talking in favor of trying to calm her down. Instead of allowing herself to be soothed the girl had sobbed out that the bad ones had taken the woman's hand.

Either the girl had watched it happen or had seen the hand or the stub after the fact. None of it was something a toddler should have seen.

Masato had looked close to tears himself, but rather than crying, he'd just hugged his sister silently. Stoic Shikaku had grimaced, and the Hokage's eyes had narrowed. Inoichi looked about ready to scoop up the girl who was all but balling.

Oh he would do his job properly in regards to 'vetting' the two to make sure there was no risk to the village. But it was plain as day that his heart went out to the little toddlers.

Jiraiya couldn't blame him. Although his own determination to try and ensure things went well for the Namikaze siblings was more for his affection towards Minato, than a personal attachment to the twins. Not that he wasn't appalled they'd had to see something like that. Or that he didn't think they were adorable. Or that he wasn't completely touched that Makiko actually did like him (take that, Tsunade-hime!)

In fact he'd almost wanted to demand they stop the questioning. But Masato had started talking after a minute, and the way his voice quivered made it clear that if hadn't started talking he would have been crying. And rather than saying this was enough for now, Jiraiya had found himself asking the boy a question about what he was saying, and then another, before his sensei started asking some of his own when Makiko's sobbing had quieted.

Inoichi eventually began to ask a question here and there, and Makiko started offering single word additions to her brother's words. At some point after that Masato had gravitated to his other side, leaving Makiko to cling to his leg.

Makiko made no fuss over it.

Masato hadn't exactly been clinging, at first, but as the main story teller switched from himself to his sister, he had pulled closer to the man's leg. And that was how the toad sage had ended up rendered immobile by a pair of toddlers.

When asked if they knew who their father was. Masato had muttered a "Bad man," which was enforced by a "very very," from Makiko. Hiruzen had asked if they knew his name, and in response both toddlers had buried their faces into the fabric they clung to.

"That's enough, isn't it?" he found himself softly asking. Their hands were trembling. The old man nodded, lips set into a grim line for a moment before his smile was back. Before the Hokage could make a verbal response however there was a knock at the door, and Shikaku's young voice announced they had returned.

"Enter," Hiruzen beckoned, and the door was immediately pushed open to admit the three genin. Jiraiya would have turned to see the expression on Minato's face if it wasn't for the twins who still had their faces hidden. Even so he could feel the intense gaze of his little subordinate.

"Well then," he spoke up, needing to break the uncomfortable silence. "Your Ni-san is back." Masato peeked up at him, and then turned his head towards the door. Soft footsteps indicated that Minato was on the move, and soon he spotted him out of the corner of his eye. Makiko's head came up, her gaze landing on her brother, and a moment later she was gone, colliding with the Namikaze's legs.

Minato nearly dropped the bag he had in his left hand when Masato came at him moments later.

Ah, freedom.

"Alright, I'll be on my way then," he announced. He wanted to change. The brats had left damp spots on his pant legs. And he needed to check in with his other two genin, as well. "Make sure to get lunch into them soon, Mina—"

Two sets of wide, glassy eyes were staring up at him. What?

"Promise!"

Promise? What sort of promise did they want from him?

"Like Ni-san," Makiko demanded.

"No like Ka-san," Masato added.

"Come back. Promise!" the pair finished insistently.

All he could do was stare at them. Where had this come from? He understood why they would be like that with Minato, but him? They'd hardly had the time to get attached to Minato… and certainly not the time to actually get used to any of them.

Their little lips trembled.

"I promise!" he said in a rush. The twins's lips stilled, and then cracked into vibrant smiles, blue eyes twinkling.

"Remember, remember," they chirped at him, and then their eyes moved back to their brother, and the pair proceeded to demand he take them to the teahouse he'd pointed out earlier.

These kids were going to have everyone wrapped around their little fingers in no time.

Jiraiya was not ashamed to admit that he already was.


Word Count: 7129


To the Reviewers:

Azaira : Yes, that's all pretty much in line with the research I did before I decided on time-line things for the fic that were not definitively placed in canon. It's vague and sometimes contradictory, so before I even started writing the fic I worked out the exact when's of a bunch of important events, and tweaked some canon dates when absolutely necessary. Uzu has already been destroyed at this point in the fic, but that's all I'm going to say ;]

Islamy96 : ah the typos. I'm not surprised that I missed some on my last read through before posting. I'll be going through and correcting little mistakes like this a chapter at a time, starting next week. Thank you though.

Oblivion168 : ha ha, that would be the greatest. First they have to get over the shock of being older than all of their sensei's though.

Thanks for the reviews~