A/N: Re-written as of April 10th 2024

Yeah so I'm alive…

I can only apologies for my absence, and hope that those of you still waiting on this continue to enjoy this fic now that it's been revived yet again.

So moving on! I am back. I'm giving up on trying to post to a schedule at least for a little while, as my schedule is so unpredictable right now it would be hard to guarantee I could get the chapters up on the day I say anyway. Once things calm down on that front (hopefully in a few months) I may come up with a new posting schedule then. For now I'll try and give you an idea of roughly what week(ish) to expect the next chapters in whenever I post one. Next chapter for Ex should be up October 7th-15th!

Any how, sorry for the long wait yet again,

Hope you all enjoy~


Chapter XIII: Signs


It was very hard to keep her mind from drifting back to whatever might be going on with Masato. She knew what was being asked, but she didn't know the tone of voice, or the expressions on their faces. That wasn't conveyed with just the words that he thought to her, after all. Well, he did his best to mimic the tone, but she was losing something, not actually being there. She could only hope that it was going well.

At the same time she couldn't let the distraction show. She had to be present enough to not raise any red flags.

Even so when he had conveyed that Inokai had guessed correctly, she stumbled. It was as if almost all her strength suddenly had left her in that moment, as she fell to her knees.

"Makiko?!" her new older brother called with a hint of panic in his voice, while he closed the distance between them practically in an instant. "Are you okay?" he asked her, as he seemed to be examining her knees and hands for any scrapes. On her part she was wondering where the speed he'd just shown had come from. Had Minato really been that fast as a child? It wasn't the kind of reaction speed she suspected he had as an adult, and of course he hadn't learned and improved the hiraishin yet… but it seemed he was already just as fast as Kakashi-sensei had been when she'd first been a genin.

And no one seemed surprised.

"She had a fever up until earlier today didn't she?" Inoichi spoke now from not all that far away. She was looking at her brother's concerned face though as she reached for him. It took a lot more effort to do it than it should. "She's still recovering so it's not so strange she'd run out of energy quickly."

She had to silently thank Inoichi for explaining her collapse away for her. It made things easier. Besides, he could probably be right.

For the barest of moments she saw Minato purse his lips, but then it was gone as he scooped her up. He placed one hand on her forehead, checking for a temperature, and then some tension seemed to leave his body. "Let's wash up and rest before dinner, okay Maki-chan?"

She nodded and then leaned into him as he straightened and started carrying her back into the house. As they went she heard a shōji door open, and she peeked over to see that Masato was coming out with Inokai.

"Makiko?" Masato's small voice called in question, his brow knitted in concern. "What happened?"

"I okay," she answered for the benefit of the others present, "tired." then she explained to him through their connection. "My body still seems to be recovering from earlier… I didn't really notice I was running out of energy and collapsed."

That seemed to be the case anyway. Though she was a little concerned with the timing. That was just a coincidence, wasn't it?

"Well, Kaho-san should be done with dinner soon, why don't you go with Makiko-chan and Minato-kun to wash up," Inokai was speaking to her brother with the same kindly smile that seemed by now a permanent fixture to him. "If Makiko-chan is feeling better afterwards you can play for a little while before bed."

"He keeps promising play time." She heard Masato's mental comment.

"Well we are supposed to be toddlers." She answered.

"Yeah, but he should know that it isn't going to happen. Both of us will probably be put to bed after supper."

Masato's face screwed up, and she knew he was putting on a show of thinking about Inokai's words, despite having just dismissed them to her. There wasn't really anything to think of course. "Okay," he finally said, before pulling away from the Yamanaka to come to their side. Minato shifted her weight to one arm, so that he could hold Masato's hand with his other one.

She hid her face in her oldest brother's jacket so that the adults wouldn't see the slight frown that formed on her lips.

"I don't know about that. I have a feeling they might try and interrogate me next." She countered.

She could practically feel Masato scoff, though she hoped he wasn't showing a sign outwardly. "Maybe if you hadn't collapsed. They're probably too worried that you aren't fully recovered and could become feverish again."

He had a point. Still she didn't want to dismiss the possibility that they would try anyway. They couldn't really afford to think that they'd killed any suspicion just like that. They needed to be certain.

She was drawn from this as she felt the shifts in Minato's frame and realized he'd let go of Masato's hand to grab a stool. Reluctantly she pulled her face out of his jacket, and allowed him to set her down so she could wash her hands.

Masato was soon up next to her, and Minato was smiling as he gently coached them on washing their hands and helped them with the soap (of course they didn't actually need the help, but it was better if it seemed they did).

Masato was smiling, and flicked water at Minato, who could have easily avoided it she knew, but pretended to be 'defeated' by Masato's splashing. Soon the too brothers were laughing, and she couldn't help but grin.

Family. She had a family. It wasn't a family of a kind that she'd gotten used to in her last life. Friends who were like family but shared no blood. Her husband, who may not have been the most affectionate publicly, but that she could always count on having her back. Her own kids that did share her blood.

No, this was a family that was hers from the start, even if it had only just recently come together, and it was missing any parents. It was still Family.

Our Family.


As Shikaku watched Minato with his sister he couldn't help but feel aggravated. These two twin siblings of Minato's were peculiar in so many ways. From their calmer dispositions compared to other toddlers he'd come across (though it wasn't that different from most nara kids), to the fact that they'd just suddenly appeared.

Minato was an orphan.

Well not really a proper orphan. While the rest of their peers might not know the information, it wasn't exactly hidden either that Minato's mother wasn't dead. She just wasn't in the village. It probably was a secret that she was a nuke-nin and had betrayed the village. However it wasn't hard for him to make that connection once he'd discovered that there was no gravestone for Minato's mother anywhere, no name carved on the monument for those killed in action either, and yet knowing that she was part of a clan.

Her family… her and her son had been the last of the Namikaze clan within Konoha, and perhaps the last all together, as far as all the information he could find said. While it was possible some Namikaze had left the village in the past, or never came along with the clan when the Namikaze's first joined Konoha, chances were slim. There were no records he could find of a Namikaze leaving or going MIA aside from Haruka herself, and history told him that clans back in those days stuck together like glue. Hell they still did, for the most part.

So then, how did two twins who were related to Minato show up?

He wasn't a fool. This was something he wasn't supposed to know or ask about. But he also knew several important things.

First, Minato was definitely committed to Konoha. He wasn't a spy. Shikaku was absolutely certain of that fact after years of knowing the other boy.

Second, Minato had had no idea about these twins until, most likely, they appeared before him during his last mission. Because there was no way he could have kept quiet about having a family if he'd known… or even if he could, the Village would not be reacting in this way to their appearance. And Minato, as good as he already was, wouldn't be able to hide prior knowledge from Inokai and his father for very long.

Thirdly, despite the short time he'd known them, Minato was already hopelessly attached. Minato who'd lived for years now without any family at all was grasping at this kind of family he had just discovered. And he wasn't going to let it go without a fight. Konoha would be losing a young shinobi with great potential in that case. The speed Minato had already was frankly frightening considering he was only ten.

Silently he made his way towards the dining table and took his seat, his eyes trailing over to the cushion that Minato would be seated at when he came along with the twin blonds. He was worried.

Fourth, he knew that Makiko and Masato weren't that old. He didn't know exactly since he hadn't really been told much of anything and had been left to hypothesize what was going on himself. However given that they could walk and speak well, yet were fairly small, two was his best guess. At most they were small three year olds. So they were two or three. Both were ages he'd never once come across any mention of being successful spies.

Yet he couldn't deny that the way Makiko had been acting was a little off. She'd been… distracted. A glimpse of her eyes just before she fell had told him she'd been focused on something that wasn't in front of her. And that was a concerning tidbit of knowledge no matter what the reason. Reasons ranged from the practically impossible one of her somehow actually being a spy to the far more realistic and believable that her mental state was somehow compromised. (whether permanently, temporarily, by birth, or by trauma, he would not even hazard a guess. He had too little information.)

Fifth, they were somehow genuinely related to Minato as well. Because those were Namikaze features. The sunshine blond hair, slightly darker skin tone, and the blue eyes. Sure those same features could come from somewhere else, but having all three features of the sunshine blond hair, those deep blue eyes and that skin tone was exceedingly rare. Even the similar features in the Yamanaka of blonde hair and blue eyes were entirely different shades, and they were fair skinned in comparison.

Besides, even as malnourished as they were, he could see such a strong resemblance to Minato in them that he was nearly one hundred percent certain they were not just related to him, but some fucking how his actual siblings.

Shikaku didn't want to be the reason why his friend lost the only family he had. On the other hand his father would know if he was lying or not telling everything he had seen while observing the Namikazes. And even though the fit she'd had earlier supported the idea that it was because of mental trauma that she'd looked like that, he couldn't so easily write off the very slim chance that she was some kind of threat.

Sixth, If Minato's new siblings were taken away from him and Minato ever thought it was because of something he had said? Well he could kiss their shogi matches goodbye at the very least. At the worst? He had no doubt that even though he was outwitting the Namikaze now, that Minato could take advantage of so much as a single second fault. One mistake in whatever strategy he came up with to avoid some sort of retaliation from him, and he'd be had.

Nara Shikaku was figuratively stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Troublesome.


"Thank you for the food," Minato offered up his thanks politely, hands pressed together, his eyes flicking between the two toddlers, one in his lap and the other to his left. He put on a smile. "Like that."

The two children leaned forward to look at each other, and then rocked back as they placed their hands together like he had done. "Thank yooo for the foood." Their voices called out near perfectly in sync. Minato almost thought it had to have been rehearsed. There was no way they could have rehearsed it though… not unless they already knew it before he'd found them.

"Good job," he praised them, tamping that train of thought down viciously. It was simply impossible, and that was that. This was just a twin thing.

Makiko giggled lightly and clapped her hands together from where she sat in his lap. He'd decided it would be easier to try and help her eat this way so he would have an easier time trying to help her with either of her hands.

Masato already had his chopsticks in hand, a look of concentration on his face as he brought the tip of them to his rice to work on getting his first mouthful. He watched the boy with one eye as he helped Makiko with her right hand when she finally decided to start with that one. Makiko was still struggling. But Masato was very quickly improving in the task of using chopsticks. Was that normal?

He didn't really think it was… but the twins hadn't been raised so far in a normal and healthy environment. They'd had to be… more mature than their age. At least it stood to reason, given that they'd been on the run with their mother for… he didn't know how long actually.

He doubted they'd be able to really tell them.

"Ni-san," Makiko called to him softly, her hand stilling, as she leaned back to look up at him, her lips twisted in a pout.

"Yes Maki-chan?" the older brother inquired, wondering what she was pouting about. So far while she had managed to drop rice on the table around her bowl it hadn't ended up in her lap or on the floor, and she'd gotten quite a bit in her mouth compared to earlier.

"Why Masa-ni do better than Makiko?"

He blinked. Then looked back over at Masato, who had yet to drop so much as a single grain of rice, though he was now regarding the fish intensely.

How was he supposed to answer that though?

"Well," he started hesitantly, because he had to say something. Maybe he could try and make her feel better about it? "Masato may be a little better with his hands, but Maki-chan is better at finding things." That was the only thing he could think of… she had seemed to find things easier than her brother had when playing in the garden with him, despite seeming to get distracted a few times. She blinked, but didn't seem upset anymore, so that was something. "All it takes is practice to get better at something though, and then you'll be able to do it too."

She blinked again, then looked at her hands, a little frown on her face. "Prah..k-tiss?"

Ah. Of course she wouldn't know the word. He should have realized. "It means doing something again and again so you can get better at it," Minato explained to her.

She did not verbally respond, but after doing her best to get two more bites of rice and chewing them thoughtfully she had finally nodded, so it seemed she understood.

He didn't like the way the two jōnin were watching her though. But he supposed it was better that they were doing it in a way that he could tell? If they were really worried she was a threat he was sure he wouldn't be able to read anything from them at all, most likely. They were fully trained jōnin and he was just a genin. So whatever concern they had it wasn't important enough to hide it from him.

Where did that leave him though?

He did his best not to sigh. Especially when Inokai evidently noticed his own unease and smiled at him reassuringly. Or it was supposed to be, he knew. He did not relax at all. After all, he knew why he and his siblings were here. The two jōnin were in charge of evaluating the risk level of the toddlers. It wasn't that hard for him to piece that together at all given the information he did have. As well as the simple fact that these two men were the head of their clans and very loyal shinobi to the Hokage. Why would people like that be involved with him and his siblings if it wasn't for an evaluation of them?

He didn't even have to consider the fact they had been insistent on asking the twins questions separately.

The fact that Sandaime-sama chose such prominent figures to take on this… task… well that was disconcerting.

What would he do if the village took his siblings away from him because they deemed them a threat? Or just because they decided being only a genin and ten years of age he couldn't take care of them properly? What if they placed them in the orphanage? Or with a foster family? Or even adopted them out to someone?

No, they wouldn't adopt them out. He could counter that. When his father died the Namikaze clan was declared inactive even though he and his mother were still around, and his father was only a Namikaze by marriage. Konoha required at least three living members for a clan to be considered active. But since he was still alive it was still a registered clan. With Makiko and Masato he could declare it active again, and adoptions between clans was nearly impossible, while non-clans simply couldn't adopt those from a clan.

So the twins would retain their Namikaze name at least. Provided he could get the twins legally recognized as Namikaze to begin with. Because even though he was legally an adult in most matters, being a genin… in matters of his clan things were different, because he was only a genin.

"Ni-san?" Makiko called to him again, and he felt her small hand placed on top of his shaking left hand. He hadn't even noticed the tension in it. "Are you alright?"

Maki-chan was sharp. Really she was. And he couldn't help but wish she wasn't quite so sharp. Because maybe then he wouldn't be worried about all this because the village could accept the two toddlers as what they were. Toddlers

Still he put on a smile. "I'm okay," he assured her. She kept looking up at him for a while, like she was unsure if she could believe him. Finally she nodded again and went back to the task of eating. Although she switched to her left hand to try with that again.

What if she tried to mimic him and her brother and try to be left handed when she was naturally right handed? Would that be bad for her?

He very nearly decided to try and switch her back to her right hand.

"Let her experiment," Inokai spoke softly, stopping him. He looked up at the man, trying very hard not to frown, holding his lighter blue gaze. For a moment he really wanted to protest. But then he reminded himself that Inokai would know much better than him about the development of a kid. He was a parent for one, and also an uncle to some quite young children to be sure. Maybe he wasn't an expert on kids like he heard his wife was, but he definitely would know better than Minato himself did.

He looked away, turning his attention back to his siblings as he absently fed himself. He tuned out the conversation around the table, though he knew he probably should try and involve himself. He just wasn't interested in playing nice with these people right now. With a word the two jōnin could tear apart the family he'd just gotten.

He couldn't really be blamed for feeling frustrated being here, right?

That wasn't true… It was terribly immature of him and he knew it. He needed to grow up. For his brother and sister's sake. There was no way he'd be able to take care of them properly if he let the negative emotions take hold of him like this.

Still the frustration didn't ease.

These men would give the information to the Hokage and let him decide. While it could be what they said that tore him apart from his siblings, it was on the Hokage's word.

And the Hokage had the well being of the village on his shoulders. He knew that, just as well as any shinobi. Maybe better than some. He wanted to be the Hokage someday, though it wasn't something he really shared with many.

Still he wanted the hat so he could try and change the village for the better. Kind of a naive reason as well… he'd grown to understand since his mother had left the village that while there were things going on that he had a hard time stomaching (probably even more than he knew) the Hokage really was doing it for the sake of the village.

The village that was a military organization at its core. That was the biggest problem. Minato imagined that every decision was made with careful consideration of that fact and what it would mean if their power weakened. The way the shinobi world was right now the Hokage couldn't really make decisions that would weaken the village. They were pretty well on the verge of war.

The way some had initially treated him after his mother left was understandable. He didn't hold it against Konoha at all. Even though at the time he nearly did. It had been frustrating, and it wasn't until he finally got into the academy that he came to terms with it.

However the way Kushina had been treated when she first arrived. How she was still treated. And the distrust in toddlers who they ought to know couldn't even possibly be a threat given their age. That was crossing a line he didn't like. Even if he still had to understand where it came from.

That was something he wanted to change about Konoha one day. But wanting something, and accomplishing it where two different things. Shinobi being what they were he knew that it would be impossible to change it completely. And certainly any change that could be made wouldn't happen quickly.

He was going to try anyway. Try and hope that those who came afterwards didn't just reverse everything he did manage to accomplish.


Minato was agitated. Very agitated. There was worry, frustration, and confusion. However there was also an underlying determination. Something that he had caught glimpses of in the past day, and he could feel strengthening through the meal.

He didn't know how he could tell that, but he could.

Inoichi seemed to have some confusion as well. And Shikaku seemed a bit annoyed but also accepting. Shikatsu and Inokai were… interested?

Seriously, how did he know this?

It took a lot of effort not to look around the room as he continued to eat the meal provided to him. It was still a very small meal, he thought. He remembered seeing more on the plate when Boruto and Himawari had been this young… but then he knew he'd been very full from the meal he had earlier. This was probably just the right amount of food for them right now.

Makiko was pretending to be annoyed at not being able to eat as well as him. It wasn't that strange that he could tell how she felt, compared to how the other people around were feeling though. Not with the revelation of the connection they had earlier on in the day.

But it was absolutely mind boggling that he could also tell a little of how the adults were feeling. Not even with his eyes, since he was trying not to look. It just felt like there was a whole lot of concern and wariness coming from the two jōnin. The wariness was what worried him most. Because it had to be aimed at him and Makiko. Had they failed?

When had he started picking up on this? It hadn't been like this after Inokai had said the word he'd been trying to make them guess at. Yet it had already been there before they sat down to the meal.

And how was he picking up on it at all? It was almost reminiscent of the sensory capacity he'd had in his bijū mode back in the fourth war. But he knew he was not a jinchūriki, so where the hell had this come from?

"Makiko," he called to his sister, "are you feeling this too?"

She dropped a clump of rice. As she retrieved it from the table to pop in her mouth she was silent. He started to wonder if he'd gotten through or not.

"If by this you mean a whole lot of unease, confusion, some frustration and a touch of wariness. Then yes."

It took all his self control not to grimace.

"But I couldn't tell who was feeling what until you brought it up."

That was a little weird… but if they were both feeling it then it couldn't be in their heads, right? Unless it was in one of their heads and the other one was just picking up on it somehow?

But something was really nagging at him. Something. Something from a while ago. Not from their past lives, but while they were in this world. From when they were truly babies and barely had any contact with the world beyond whatever 'seal' the Ōtsutsuki had placed to hold back their souls.

It's too early to know yet.

He recalled Haruka speaking those words. The first words he had heard.

"I remember that too," Makiko supplied, and he could feel her unease now. Which he immediately identified the source of.

"Makiko… do you think it could really be?"

He didn't really need to ask. He knew the answer. But he asked anyway.

"It has to be, doesn't it? It's either that or we retained something through worlds…"

Nothing else would really explain it. They weren't Junchuruki here, so this strange sort of sensing ability couldn't be related to the bijū mode in any way whatsoever. Them having retained the ability somehow from their old lives didn't make sense either, because they'd only been able to do it in bijū mode back then. So it really had to be something else.

Unless somehow a bijū mode exclusive ability had been imprinted onto their souls themselves. Which they had absolutely no evidence to prove it was real. For one thing, if something like that was possible, then why would it be this of all the things that could have come along with them?

And that man had wanted them for something. Had seemingly raped Haruka with the express purpose of obtaining whatever it was. There was also the connection they had to each other. Which seemed to link to the words the man had said.

If the other squeals we'll know

A kekkei genkai. Or something of that nature. Something that one could try and… breed for.

He felt sick thinking of it like that. But that was really the only way to think of it. That had to be what the man was doing. What they didn't know was what this bloodline trait was, or who it came from. Though it seemed a little more likely that it didn't come from him, as he might not be so interested in retrieving them if he had a means to keep trying to produce what he wanted, right?

Maybe. He knew nothing about this man, so really he couldn't make a proper guess on the matter. And assuming here would just be dangerous. Whoever this man was, it had been proven by this point that he wanted them back. That was all that he could say for certain on the matter.

But there was a very disturbing connection he was able to draw. This man had the traits of a kind of monster that had been the stuff of nightmares in his youth. Perhaps even worse… because Orichimaru experimented through more… scientific means rather than…

"I don't even want to think about that right now"

He couldn't help but agree. And yet it wasn't something they could just ignore. Because clearly the man who was their… father… was dangerous.

"Don't think of him as a father."

The mental words came in what sounded like an angry hiss. He couldn't help but look over at her to check to see if she was keeping the anger he could hear from her features.

She looked royally frustrated, but not angry. Hopefully it would just be filed away at being over her difficulty with the chopsticks.

"Why do you think that is anyway?"

He looked back to his own nearly finished meal and proceeded to polish off the fish as he wondered about that. He couldn't really think of much. The biggest difference between them had always been their gender though, and in the past they'd written off different things about them that they couldn't explain that way.

It felt wrong to do so now though. "I don't know. Kids all seem to develop at their own pace though, don't they? And we are now in the same world rather than counterparts of each-other, so is it really that strange that our bodies aren't developing at the same rate as each-other?"

Silence. But he got the feeling that she seemed to agree. Well at least she wasn't annoyed at his success with the chopsticks anymore.

"But trying to change things is going to be so much easier when we can be independent."

He almost looked back at her sharply, and unfortunately jerked.

"Something wrong Masato-kun?"

Shit.

"Hands. Say they hurt or something… Sorry."

Hands? They did actually ache come to think of it. They were still recovering from climbing up the stone Madara. "Hand," he murmured, putting on a frown. If only he could make it a teary one. "Kinda ouchy." He placed his chopsticks down on the table, making sure not to put them down where he was supposed to as that would be weird for a toddler to have proper table manners that way.

Minato reached over to place the chopsticks neatly in their place as he rubbed at the palm of his left hand with his right a bit and tried flexing the hand. It was sore, so he grimaced, hoping to make his early slip up really seem like it was because of his hand.

"You've just used it a little too much," Inokai was saying with his usual smile. "Your hand should be fine tomorrow… but if it isn't, make sure you tell someone, alright?"

"Kay," he answered softly, though he wasn't really sure if he would say or not. He could probably ignore it honestly speaking. He'd not even really noticed it.

"Masato, we can't exactly ignore what our bodies tell us."

He looked over at Makiko, who was trying to finish off her own food. "That's rich, coming from the girl who collapsed because she didn't notice her body was too tired."

She dropped a chunk of fish into her lap.

"You should take your time Maki-chan," Minato said tenderly, as he grabbed the fish and set it off to the side on her place setting. Makiko scrunched up her face, but continued eating.

"I'm not saying I didn't mess up that way myself… I'm saying we can't afford to continue to mess up like that. It's either going to make people suspicious of us, or just plain old be bad for our health. We are actual toddlers right now."

Actual toddlers.

Yeah. They were. If he ignored pain because it was below his pain tolerance built up over decades then he could easily be ignoring something that could cause his current, and comparatively utterly fragile body permanent harm.

He glanced back over at his sister who was now finally just about done with her food. Everyone else had finished a while ago, except for Minato who was just chewing his last bite now. That was likely because he'd been more focused on making sure they ate then feeding himself.

He absently shifted slightly, because sitting on his knees like this wasn't all that comfortable yet.

"Are you tired Masato-chan?" The serene feminine voice of Shikatsu's wife inquired. Did she have to call him chan though?

He looked at her and shook his head emphatically. "Nope!"

"No?" She seemed skeptical but she was still smiling. It was a true smile though, unlike the one that Inokai had been wearing. She was a pretty enough woman too, he supposed, with long dark brown hair that was dead straight, and chocolate brown eyes. "Do you need the bathroom?"

Bathroom? Ah… he probably actually should go to the bathroom he supposed. But he scrunched up his face as if he was thinking about it before slowly nodding. "Yeah…"

"I can take you if you'd like, Masato-kun?" Inoichi spoke up, from the other side of Shikaku, as he got to his feet. He offered a hand to him, and he regarded it for a moment before he got to his own feet and took the older boy's hand.

Inoichi gently led him out of the room towards the bathroom, but he couldn't help but look over his shoulder as they left.

Shikaku was helping his mother clear the table. But he wasn't the source of renewed tension he felt. That was clearly Minato as he stiffly rose to help in the task, leaving Makiko sitting next to the table.

"I told you so."


Word Count: 5655


To the Reviewers:

KaixDecayx and robertastarcris11:Well it's finally back after ages!

Riku Uzumaki: They aren't in the clear yet! But they certainly did accomplish a big win last chapter.

mrenteria99: There maybe be a taste of just that next chapter~

Thanks for the reviews