AN:Re-written as of Jun 14th 2024

Well… life has a way of preventing me from updating. Not much I can say about it. Though I should know better than to think I could update in the holiday season at least… something always happens during the holidays.

Anyway, I'm back to this. I fully intend to finish this story, including the fics that would be sequel to this. As for ID, I do intend to get a few more chapters out for that, but until I finish filling in the gaps that I lost with a hard drive death on Extraneos I'm holding off on it.

Hope you all enjoy this chapter~


Chapter XV: Clans


Jiraiya let out a low whistle when he finally came to the third body. This one had been a bit separated from the other two, but it certainly looked like it could be Haruka's handy-work. Either the first, or the last one that she had killed. More likely the first given the direction the battle seemed to have headed in from what he could decipher.

Unfortunately, just like the first two, this body hadn't escaped scavengers. Still at least it was mostly there.

He put the body in a scroll like he had the others, and then turned his gaze to the surroundings. Taking in details. Broken branches, disturbed earth, a little soot, and other signs of the battle that would have taken place here that weather had yet to claim.

And then he saw it.

For a moment even he felt as if he could be sick, because the sight brought back the haunted description given by the two toddlers who shouldn't have seen it at all. It wasn't at all the most gruesome thing he had seen… it was quite mild in that department for him really. But the looks on the faces of Masato and Makiko… the horror. That really got to him now.

He had found Haruka's hand… well the remains of it. A scavenger had gnawed away most of the flesh, leaving cracked and fragmented bones that he identified as her thumb and forefinger.

He was struck with the notion then that Haruka's bingo book entry had been wrong in classing her as A ranked. This woman, who had been wasting away and was at death's door, had managed to fight off three shinobi and let her toddlers get away from them at a toddlers speed, when they had actually caught up to them already. Or close to it, unless whoever had been gnawing on that hand had moved it quite far.

Even if these men hadn't been the greatest of shinobi, it would take an immense amount of skill, willpower, and intelligence to manage what she did in the condition they could assume Haruka had been in. The feat was made even more impressive by the sheer amount of blood he'd seen staining the tree trunks on his path from the other two bodies to here. Chances where not all of it was from her opponents… if any. Her injuries had been quite extensive.

She'd also expended quite a bit of chakra. There were scorch marks and burned trees from Katon jutsu that she had likely flung at her adversaries. At least, he assumed it was her, though there was no way to be certain. One or more of the trackers could have used Katon jutsu as well. However Haruka was known to have the fire affinity, where as these three individuals were unknowns.

Truly Namikaze Haruka had been a superb Kunoichi, who could probably be listed as an S rank shinobi had more people witnessed her skills when she was well. Why hadn't that occurred though? Had she improved so much since she'd defected? Or was there another reason for it? He couldn't really recall hearing about any particularly impressive feats she'd accomplished… but he had heard other Kunoichi speak of her. It was a little curious now that he thought about it.

And then of course there was the fact that the Namikaze clan had been a merchant clan through most of it's history. How was it that she came from such a clan? One that was just starting out it's shinobi career with most of them getting killed early on while they were doing it?

Well it was certainly impressive.

But then again he'd known her aunt, who wasn't that much older than Haruka if he recalled. He'd known much more of what she was capable of than Haruka herself, having actually been on a few missions with her. As such he'd been utterly shocked when he'd heard the woman had been killed on what should have been a routine mission. She'd been a very talented shinobi despite her nearly civilian upbringing.

As the other Namikaze shinobi went though, he couldn't say he'd come across Haruka's sister much, but he'd heard a Kunoichi mention once that she wished she could measure up to the Namikaze Kunoichi, so she must have had considerable skill as well. Similar to how he'd sometimes heard talk of Haruka.

And that was without mentioning Haruka's father, who had accomplished some quite amazing things as he heard it. He'd never met the man, but he'd seen a few bingo book entries of him from other nations that he'd found on enemy nin. An S rank was not assigned to a shinobi in a bingo book lightly.

One Shinobi out of a civilian family turning out to be extremely talented in the trade might be a little uncommon, but it was also reasonable to expect it could happen from time to time, especially in a family that had had a few shinobi to teach the talented one and ease the way.

However, four or five of them? One could try and say it was as simple as Haruka's father and Aunt both being talented and succeeding thanks to the few shinobi already in the family who weren't that good. That it progressed from there to Haruka and her sister, and then to Minato himself. But then add into the equation how naturally talented Minato was. And how well Makiko and Masato had used their Chakra at the tender age of three?

If you thought that Haruka's talent was mainly hard work and an upbringing suited to the shinobi life… the natural talent of Minato and his siblings' caliber did not crop up in a single generation. Even if you were to take into account their grandfather… Two generations was not much better. The most powerful clans had the talent they did from many generations in the shinobi life.

The simple explanation really didn't cut it when you really looked at the big picture. Jiraiya honestly was thinking there was more to the talent the three remaining Namikaze were exhibiting.

Minato had achieved the highest scores the academy had ever seen as a matter of fact. Many had put it off to being because his entrance had been delayed, while he'd been prepared to enter the academy since he was much younger; a result of the civilian part of the village progressively trying to enforce later and later academy entrance. There was also a longer academy time all together. But Minato had easily completed the currently two year academy program in only one.

He was certainly not the only one in his class who had done that. So had the Uzumaki girl, as well as his own teams Inoru, and a handful of other clan kids. However Minato's scores had dwarfed any of theirs. In fact they had even dwarfed many clan kids who had gone through the academy program at roughly comparable ages for the same duration. They had literally blown all past records completely out of the water.

Minato, who was supposedly descended from merchants, had outclassed Hyuuga and Uchiha academy scores.

And this didn't take into account what his little siblings had done in order to keep away from their pursuers. The use of Chakra to climb so high at such a young age… ignoring their own pain so as to do so? That wasn't typical toddler talent. Even among the prodigious clans who started their kids that young.

Clearly there was more to the Namikaze genes then he'd previously thought, because in a shinobi world where being from a clan gave you all kinds of legs up on others, Jiraiya was not naïve enough to think Minato had managed this on just practice, perseverance, and luck of the draw alone.

And he most certainly was not naïve enough to think that it was just desperation that allowed a pair of toddlers to use chakra to climb up the Madara figure in the valley of the end.

Yogen no ko, was it?

Sure he'd been keeping half an eye out ever since he'd received that prophecy, but a part of him had always been doubtful. A student of his being so important to future of the entire world? It was a hard thing to believe. What one person could affect world wide change?

Of course there was also the pressure of how that change would go… peace or destruction. How was he to be sure he was guiding this supposed Yogen no Ko correctly? If the world came to destruction wouldn't it ultimately be because he failed?

But if perhaps it was Minato…Or one of his little siblings… though he wasn't teaching either of them now.

Maybe, just maybe it was Minato. The Namikaze didn't seem to be on a track that would lead him to destruction. He had a big heart… so if he could keep that from becoming jaded….

Tall order with War looming on the horizon.

And he hadn't actually written a book yet. Nor was he traveling while doing so.

So maybe not.


The Uchiha needed a reality check.

"I leave the Hokage's request in your capable hands, Fugaku," Kenzan Uchiha, head of the clan, had waved off his son when he attempted to hand the scroll entrusted to him over to the man.

"With all due respect father, it appears to be a matter of clan level asset protection," he'd tried to get the man to at least have a look.

Naturally that had not gotten him anywhere, and it was nearly wasted effort that he had tried. Still, he had to keep doing so.

"And? If it is not an Uchiha matter than surely the clan heir is more than enough to handle it. I haven't the time for 'babysitting' brats from other clans that man dares to think could be as important to Konoha as the Uchiha." Kenzan had looked at his son with narrow eyes, red with the sharingan. Intimidation had always been his ploy, so Fugaku wasn't surprised. But the man clearly was blind… one clan didn't make a village.

Fugaku held back a sigh, and once more held out the scroll to his father, who glared at him openly now. "I need your stamp of approval to take command over this matter."

Of course that had been the best he could do after that, because although he was set on continuing to try and get the man to see more clearly, there was only so far it was… reasonable to try and push the matter.

The older Uchiha held his gaze for a moment, before roughly taking the scroll, opening it and quickly indicating that it would be Fugaku who handled it all. He didn't even read the contents there, handing it back to his son the moment he was finished.

All the same he bowed his head to the patriarch as he reclaimed the scroll. "I'll be sure to handle the matter accordingly." Then he turned to leave.

"Fugaku. Remember our reputation is more important than requests from the… Hokage."

Fugaku nearly sighed again. Even his own father disliked the man, though he wasn't sure why. That just seemed to be the way of the older Uchiha. Too proud. To be certain they deserved more power in Konoha… politics on many instances. However what they seemed to want went well and above that. If they wanted such complete power over the village then why were they a part of it at all? Old fools.

He had left his fathers office feeling annoyed, dissatisfied and worried. But that was not something he showed to his men, or anyone else, as he'd gone about the rest of his duties that day, and ensured their newest charges would be well watched until he could make the necessary arrangements.

It was a lot of paperwork truth be told.

The clan heir rubbed at the bridge of his nose. If only the only problem the Uchiha had was its elder members. Though they had respect for the Hokage at the very least, even the younger Uchiha were too… entitled. Sure they were the Uchiha. One of the two clans that had made founding Konoha possible at all. But when you looked at it, how much power did the Senju have in the village compared to them? They'd been gradually sliding further and further into the wood work, declining in numbers as they did. Well… declining wasn't precisely true… they'd melted into other clans really, abandoning their names, and styling themselves simply Konohan, rather than Senju.

Still, the Uchiha were still here and strong, and in charge of the security of the village within its borders.

They had their due. For now at least. Who was to say it would stay this way? Tensions grew and dwindled, but never fully abated. If things were to continue the way they had been then it was only a matter of time before someone within the Uchiha clan gave the rest of Konoha a reason to be concerned about them. Once tensions reached that point on both sides, there wouldn't be an easy way to go back.

Yes, the Uchiha needed a reality check. Both old and young.

"And here I was hoping we'd have a more interesting assignment than brat-watch today," one of his subordinates muttered as he entered the room, all eyes fixed now on the paperwork he held.

Fugaku snapped his gaze to him. "Feel free to take the day off then. I'm sure your parents will understand why you chose to put that perfect record of yours to rest, Toriumi."

Said Toriumi, an Uchiha with cropped black hair paled and shook his head. "Sorry Fugaku-sama… Whatever the assignment I'm prepared to serve."

Fugaku nodded in satisfaction at that, before he looked to the other man, and the one woman in the room. Three of his direct subordinates. He commanded others in the Police force, but it was merely instructing them where to patrol, as well as assigning them to guard those 'assets' his father had been forcing onto him ever since he'd been appointed vice commander of the police force last year. "Anyone else have a complaint they would like to voice?"

"No sir." Both replied.

Good. On to business then. "Kokonoe, select reliable recruits to replace Kurumi, Kajitsu and Hento on their respective assignments. Inform them they have a new assignment starting tomorrow and today they will bring their replacements up to speed." he pulled some of the files from under his arm and handed them to the short woman. "Once you have completed that join Toriumi and Otake on assignment for the day." He looked over to Toriumi with a bit of a smile now, "A continuation of yesterday's brat-watch."

Toriumi grimaced but nodded in understanding of his assignment. He and the brunette Otake took their leave.

The black haired woman nodded as she slid the files under her own arm, "Understood." then she too took her leave.

He didn't waste time himself, leaving the Police headquarters. He had someone to collect and bring to the Hokage within the hour.

Now then. Where was he to look?

That was simple. The clan head wasn't in the village at the moment, which meant his quarry was the man's son. Who just recently married that woman he'd been courting for the last year or so if his memory served him. Which it always did. Chances were he'd be at home with his new wife seeing as he wasn't on a mission. If he wasn't home then the woman could point him in the right direction.

So it was off to the Hatake compound… if you could even call it that.


"You've barely been home Sakumo… surely you can spare a little more time for your wife?" A platinum blonde woman stood by the table, having just set down breakfast. "What's so important you can't even enjoy breakfast with me? I made your favourite, you know."

The white haired Sakumo shifted slightly, looking away from his wife as he tried to come up with a way to explain that she would accept. In the end he sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "I just want to run over and check on Minato… He returned early from his patrol mission I hear." It wasn't just that… he'd heard something about him being seen with young little blond toddlers. Sakumo was both confused and concerned for the Namikaze. "It won't take long Minori-chan." He held up a hand and bowed his head a little apologetically.

Minori pulled out his chair in response. "If something serious had happened to Minato you'd have heard about it by now Sakumo. Whatever's got you worried can wait until after you eat." Her voice was authoritative. "Now, sit down. You're not letting my cooking go to waste, you hear me?"

His wife did have a point. "Alright, if you insist dear." Sakumo gave in, taking his seat to enjoy her well made traditional breakfast.

"I most certainly do," the woman replied before she slid into her own seat to partake in the meal as well. "What ever has you worried about Minato now anyway? He's a Genin, and quite a capable one at that. The boy can manage his own affairs now."

Sakumo looked to his wife with narrowed eyes. "You know it's not just because the Hatake were given control of the Namikaze estate before Minato became a shinobi that I concern myself about him."

Minori rolled her green eyes in response. "Of course I do Sakumo. He's like a little brother to me too. But he's grown up quite a bit and working for himself now." She paused for a moment to have some tea before she continued "Hasn't it occurred to you that if you check on him for every little thing he'll start to feel smothered? Annoyed that you still treat him like a child?"

Minori had a point again. He sighed and leaned back in his chair a bit. "I know… but genin or not, he is still only ten. And he's got no family… Is it wrong to want to offer him a place that cares about him over his usefulness as a shinobi?"

Minori's face gentled into a smile. "Of course not. But you should try and give him some space too. Maybe go ask that sensei of his instead of hunting the boy down when he's just gotten back."

He shook his head at that idea, "Jiraiya is part of the problem you know… I keep finding myself worried he's hauled the boy off to partake in his unsavory pastimes." Certainly Jiraiya was a very talented shinobi who he respected and got along well with. Didn't mean he could look past the man's perverted disposition. What if it really did 'rub off' on his genin?

Minori snorted at the very idea. "As if. It's Minato we're talking about dear. Didn't you hear? He got Jiraiya caught a few months ago… I doubt Jiraiya's going to want him tagging along with him now."

Well… he had heard about that. Something about Minato deciding to stop the man from peeping. At least, that was what he'd been told. How did he know if that was the truth or not though? It wasn't like he'd witnessed the matter. Although… Minato was a rather respectful sort who did have a history of getting upset on behalf of others when he was a smaller lad. He'd… mellowed out in the academy though, and normally just seemed to keep his eyes peeled for a situation where someone really did need help.

Peeping with his sensei… didn't really mesh with that either way. So, it probably was true.

There was a knock at their door, and he moved to stand.

"You stay right there Sakumo. You need a good meal in you," his wife admonished him as she got to her feet herself. "I'll go see who it is."

He laughed lightly, "Alright, I'll eat." Not that he hadn't been. Honestly he was already half way through the lovely breakfast. It was nice to take the time to enjoy his food like this sometimes.

As he went back to eating, Minori's footsteps moved over to the door, and he heard it open. "Oh! Uchiha-san, what brings you here so early?"

Uchiha?

Perhaps he couldn't afford to eat at his leisure. Minori would be cross with him if he didn't finish the meal she'd cooked for him however, so he finished it off with shinobi speed.

"Minori-san," a familiar male voice greeted his ears. Fugaku. Just what was the vice commander of the police force doing at his doorstep then? "I require your husband to accompany me to the Hokage for a clan matter this morning."

Clan matter? Well when his father was out of the village such things did naturally fall to him as his heir… but for a member of the police force to come to summon him was strange. Stranger still since there were so few Hatake. Twelve members, including spouses who'd married in. Only four members were Shinobi, another two in the academy now. They were a small, declining clan the Shinobi they did have were talented to be sure.

Still he got the impression this wasn't about the Hatake at all. If one of them had gotten in trouble the officer would have made it clear they'd be off to the police headquarters instead… and it wouldn't be Fugaku that came to get him. They would be more open about the reason as well, as it likely would have caused a scene… there'd be no point in keeping it from his wife.

Sakumo got to his feet and headed quickly to the door. There was no way he could find out what was going on without answering this summons after all.

"Sorry Minori, looks like I haven't the time to linger this morning. Breakfast was wonderful, thank you," the white haired man spoke to his wife gently as he came up behind her, lightly touching the small of her back and giving her a brief smile. She looked only slightly upset, but with an understanding smile on her face.

"That's a little unfortunate… but you have your duties. Just try and make time to share at least one meal with me today, will you?" The blonde looked at him hopefully.

"I promise I'll try," he answered her and then bent down to give her a kiss on the brow. He could only try after all. There was never any telling when he'd be required and for how long. He didn't like making promises to her that he couldn't keep in the end.

Sakumo turned his full attention to Fugaku then. "Fugaku-san."

Fugaku gave the slightest incline of his head. Polite of him, most Uchiha wouldn't offer that sort of acknowledgement to most shinobi of other clans. "Sakumo-san."

That was all that was said between them. Silently he left the house, his wife watching him walk beside the Uchiha as they made their way towards the Hokage tower. Well… they only walked until they were out of sight of his home, at which point Fugaku took to the roofs and he was quick to follow suit. You didn't keep the Hokage waiting after all.


"So we are in agreement that there is no threat posed to our village by the twin Namikaze," Hiruzen spoke calmly to his assembled council and the two clan Patriarchs who had given their report. Well their third report now, this one being the one for council ears.

"Agreed," Homura and Koharu voiced one after the other. Which left Danzo. The man looked too thoughtful for the Hokage's liking.

"I agree that the two twins discovered on patrol are no threat to our village," Danzo voiced. He narrowed his eyes at the man, knowing exactly what was left unsaid with those words. That he thought they shouldn't acknowledge them as Namikaze. "However they show aptitude we shouldn't squander. They should be placed where they can learn to be an asset to Konoha."

In other words Danzo wanted them. He'd thought the man might… either because he realized Hiruzen had stopped some truths from reaching his ears, or because he was genuinely interested in what he could make the pair into. Perhaps both.

"The Namikaze is a clan at risk, we can't place two thirds of it wherever it pleases us." Homura spoke up. He was once again glad that someone else said what he was thinking. It always made it easier when they decided on things that were in line with his own plans.

"The Namikaze is an in-active clan," was the Shimura's smooth response to that. In-active, and so not to be concerned with, he meant.

"That may be so," Koharu voiced, "However the affairs were handed over to the Hatake. It would be going against our own constitutions to expel them from their birthright without receiving the approval of the Hatake first."

It was Danzo's turn to narrow his eyes, though his look was at Shikatsu and Inokai. It wasn't hard for Hiruzen to guess that it was displeasure at their continued presence. If they weren't there then he was sure that Danzo would suggest that they simply sweep that under the rug… what the Hatake didn't know and all. And certainly they could do that, even with the fact that several people could tell the Hatake the truth. They could simply deny it, and what could the Hatake do with no paperwork to prove it?

Which was exactly why he'd not dismissed Shikatsu or Inokai. To prevent Danzo from being able to voice that 'option' with an opening that might sway Koharu. He was sure Homura would be on his side in the matter, and he had other safe guards to ensure things didn't go the way Danzo clearly wanted, but he'd rather not have to go to such lengths if he didn't need to. Better to resolve this matter as quickly as possible.

"That was a stopgap for Namikaze Minato, until he became a shinobi," Danzo finally voiced. "The boy is now a genin and in charge of his own estate." So his game now was to try and strong arm Minato into agreeing to it. Sure, they could do this as well, but it wasn't strictly legal either.

"In charge of his own finances, yes," Hiruzen spoke. "However, need I remind you that he doesn't meet all the requirements to take the mantle of Clan Head under Konoha laws." In order to protect clans who's next head was young and naive from being strong armed into deals that only harmed them, Tobirama had set in place a law that one could not be head of their clan without being recognized as at least a Chunin class shinobi of age sixteen, or a Jōnin at any age. Minato was neither of these clearly. "As such the Hatake remain in control over such Namikaze clan matters that require executive authority."

He could practically see the gears spinning in Danzo's head. Hiruzen assumed his next move would be to suggest he go retrieve Sakumo so that he could talk the man to his side of the court.

"Well then, Why don't we summon Sakumo and discuss it with him," Koharu was the one to pipe up instead.

"A marvelous idea," the Hokage answered with a smile. "Inokai, would you mind doing so?" Of course he'd already arranged for Sakumo to come see him, so he was likely in the building or on his way. They didn't need to know that however.

Inokai nodded his head and went to leave the office before Koharu spoke again. "You might as well brief him on the matter before sending him in as well. Unless you disagree, Hiruzen?"

"Not at all. It will save us a little time. Don't you agree, Homaru, Danzo?" Homura nodded immediately to his words. Danzo expectedly took a few moments before he gave his own non-verbal agreement. Hiruzen nodded to Inokai who'd paused at the door. "See it done, Inokai."

"Understood Sandaime-sama," the Yamanaka replied curtly before he left the room.


How long had he been in here? How much longer would that wall be there? When would he finally wake up again?

Masato wished he had the answer to any of these questions. It felt like he'd been sitting here on the dark water for ages by now. How long it had actually been he had no idea. Time didn't ever seem to hold much meaning in the mindscape.

All he did know was that far in the distance and above him that light had been winking in and out. The same one that had almost pulled Naruko out of Makiko and this reality twice now. Whatever the light was he knew it was trying to throw them out as he'd been warned would happen. But unlike his other encounters with it, he didn't feel any pull on himself. There was a sense of unease whenever the light reappeared, but aside from that he felt nothing. Still he watched it, wary that it might come closer.

Maybe it had always been there though… waiting for a chance to try and pull them out. He wasn't going. Masato was determined to keep his word. Besides he couldn't leave Makiko behind here when he'd forced her to stay now could he? Even if that meant that Masato… the real Masato, was being robbed of his life.

It was only Makiko who they'd seen dead here. Masato could very well have lived to this point. Or older. Still he likely never met his older brother and knew it was him. If he had then there would be some sort of mention about it, wouldn't there?

Maybe not.

They were told they'd be sent to a time before this reality split from the strand that led to theirs. Which meant that Makiko and Masato were born… but perhaps they'd died as infants. They could have already crossed over that branching point by now.

Or maybe the timelines were in the process of splitting.

Thinking back on the differences he did know about between his life as Naruto, and his sisters as Naruko, their history seemed to be very similar. However there was the fact that Pain ended up being Nagato's younger sister in Naruko's reality. It hadn't changed anything that he knew of… Nanako ended up leading Nagato's life.

However he didn't know if Nanako had even been born in his own reality. Nagato never mentioned having a sister.

Was it possible that little splits like this occurred, but whatever force was trying to expel them now attempted to lead it back to what it considered the 'true' course? Makiko's life hadn't been that different from his in the early years… it wasn't until they were much older that larger differences became apparent. Wasn't it a little strange for that to be the case if there wasn't something trying to keep it so? Because as similar as they were to each other, they were also certainly different. They'd made slightly different choices for much of their youth, and ended up at the fourth shinobi war anyway.

They'd come into being Hokage in practically an identical manner. Had both had the same sort of mishap on their inauguration day. Both had two children, a son, followed by a daughter.

But it had been as those children aged, becoming far more distinctly different individuals from their other world 'counter parts' that the changes had truly begun to snow-bal. Because they weren't really counterparts, unlike he and Naruko, perhaps.

Masato eyed the blinking light with a scowl.

If this was the case it could make this whole changing a key point in history thing much more complicated. If being only slightly different, but filled with the same cast as this time in their own histories would not change much… and then not knowing what had ultimately been enough to make the split… they had no idea how much further beyond that they would need to go. It may not even be possible for them to accomplish it in their… generation… they may need altogether new cast members…

If the splitting took… years… that only further complicated it.

But then, they were also outsiders… to this world. Truly different cast members, to hold to that line of thinking. So maybe that in of itself was why they had been sent, and they didn't actually have to do much so long as they were here? No... being passive wasn't the answer… of course they had to do something… but being here at all could be some small change they could expand upon.

Almost as if in response to his theory the light flared brightly to life, pain erupting in him as that cursed pull struck him.


Minato huffed again in annoyance, leaning back in the chair he'd claimed. He was sitting in an empty room in the Hokage tower. He was supposed to have an early day so he thought he'd be seeing the Hokage as soon as he got here, but it had already been an hour. When they'd arrived Shikatsu had shown him to this room and told him to wait. He'd left behind some reading materials for him… but it was stuff he was already familiar with. He'd read some of it of course, but it had only taken twenty minutes before he couldn't concentrate on it any longer.

Sure it was still early in the morning to be sure. They'd arrived at the tower at O'five hundred sharp. What was really irking him is that they'd left Masato and Makiko at the Nara compound in the care of Kaho-san. If he'd known he'd be away from them for this long he would have insisted they take them along, even if they were both still sleeping.

How much longer was he going to have to wait?

He glanced down to the material Shikatsu had left again. Laws related to clan management in Konoha. This was frustrating too… if they intended for him to have his brother and sister registered and the clan's status changed today couldn't they have just sent him off to fetch Hashuro or Sakumo so they could do the paperwork?

He was half tempted to leave to do that. But he'd been clearly instructed to wait… and if he wasn't here when the Hokage was ready to see him, how would that look? What if it somehow made the situation worse? They could assume his absence to be any number of things, from choosing to flee with his siblings, to simply him being disrespectful.

His eyes moved to the second pile of material. He had barely glanced over this one. It dealt with clans possessing skill in high demand, or kekkei genkai. A merchant clan wouldn't fall under either of those.

But then why had Shikatsu left it?

Straightening quickly Minato reached to the table in front of him and grabbed the first scroll to pull it open. Only to nearly drop it when the door to the room suddenly opened. His eyes flicked quickly over to it, Inokai being the one who had opened the door. However, the first to enter was one of the Uchiha from yesterday… Fugaku, the clan heir.

The second was Sakumo.

"Minato," the Hatake greeted him, but he seemed to be in a bit of a hurry. "Inokai has explained the situation concerning your siblings," his voice and face was serious as he came over to sit across from him. "The Hokage and council would like me to decide if they should be registered in the clan or not. What do you want?"

The blond let out a tense breath he'd been holding since the door had opened. He let himself relax marginally. Sakumo, unlike everyone else since they'd arrived in Konoha, had asked him what he wanted. And if it was now just a question of whether to register them or not, then that meant at least one hurdle had been overcome.

However it also meant that someone thought they shouldn't be recognized as Namikaze, for whatever reason. An implication he very much did not like.

"Masato and Makiko are my brother and sister. It's their birthright," he said as evenly as he could. "And we're the only family the three of us have." This he said a little softer, but he held Sakumo's gaze determinedly.

In response Sakumo smiled, "It's decided then." His eyes turned to Fugaku then. "Fugaku-san, did you happen to bring the paperwork along with you?"

The Uchiha in response stepped up to the table and set down three forums. "A registration form for each, and a request form to change Clan status." Then he set down a blank scroll in front of Minato. He assumed it was for him to write down the personal details of his brother and sister. He pulled one form towards him to see what he needed, and then got to his feet to get the ink and pens they would need from a cabinet by the window opposite the door.

Sakumo took the third forum and accepted a pen. Curiously however he moved to the second table… was there something in the forum about his clan that he didn't know? "Get those personal details sorted out for me kid," Sakumo spoke a little absently.

The young Namikaze stared at the white haired man for a moment longer, before sighing and retaking his earlier seat. He'd ask about the details later, on the off chance that Sakumo would share. It was his own damned clan after all.

So he turned his full attention to jotting down the details Sakumo would need. Age, Gender, height, weight, hair colour, eye colour, birthmarks, Masato's scar. The most challenging part was their birthday. It wanted an exact time, but he had absolutely no way of knowing that. All he knew was the month.

The best he could do was literally take his mothers words. Twins tended to be born pretty closely together… and the encounter with his mother had been around twenty-one hundred on the fifteenth. A month from then placed their birthdays around twenty one hundred on the fifteenth of October. So he put that in, with a couple of minutes of delay for Makiko.

After that there was… a psyche evaluation. Which clearly wasn't something he could fill out. Nor Sakumo.

He slid the form and the scroll over to the other side of the table along with his pen.

Unsurprisingly Inokai slid into the seat across from him, filling in the psyche section on the two forums

Minato tried not to show his irritation with this as he sat back into his chair and turned his attention back to the scroll he'd taken to read. He did his best to ignore it when Sakumo got up and moved over to fill out the forums for Makiko and Masato. Sakumo didn't ask him any questions, so he assumed that he'd provided all the information the man needed.

It didn't take him very long to fill out the forums, and he was soon on his feet and heading to the door.

"Wait here a little longer, Minato," Inokai was speaking. "After the council leaves, the Hokage would like to speak with you."

The boy had to grit his teeth against the want to declare he'd rather wait back with his brother and sister. "Understood," he intoned flatly instead.

The door to the room snapped closed.

Forcing his eyes to remain on the scroll he continued reading. Now where was he…

Regulations for Clans with rarely occurring Kekkai genkai

He stared at the title of the blue scroll for a moment, before glancing at the other two scrolls. Another blue one, and a red one. The second blue one read: Regulations for establishing or updating Clans for newl acquired Kekkai Genkai

A second on Kekkai Genkai. He looked to the third. Regulations on the protection of asset minor clans and kekkai genkai.

Again Kekkai Genkai was mentioned.

Was it possible that the Namikaze had acquired a Kekkai Genkai somewhere down the line? Was that the reason they'd shifted from being a merchant clan to a Shinobi one?

Or had they had one before that change? A rarely occurring one… but one the village valued?

Come to think of it, his mother hadn't had much to say about past accomplishments of the clan… she talked a lot about the Namikaze from after the shift to Shinobi had been made. She didn't really tell him much about them from before that. There was only one instance he could remember her talking about pertaining to a merchant member of the clan… and that merchant member had been around back before Shinobi villages had been established.

The man who'd made ties with a shinobi clan. Supposedly to protect his trade route… at least that's what his mother had said when he'd asked her why he'd been so determined to do so. It was a tale about how he'd come to secure it by bringing them goods, and in the tale they'd been attacked. He'd thought when he was young that the shinobi clan in question had saved them in good faith… now he wondered. The merchants had had to fend for themselves for an hour before someone arrived to help them, according to the tale.

How could they have done so without jutsu?

Just what was the Namikaze clan really?


Word count: 6950


To The Reviewers:

I apologize again for dropping out of existence yet again. Rest assured I do intend to finish this eventually, whether I can manage to update regularly or not!

KaixDecayx : Well I hope you're still with this story even now! Love your reviews.
Yes, history does have a way of repeating itself doesn't it ;)

Morinoka159 : Well It's been awhile, hope you find this and get to read what happens next if your still interested in it. A belated thanks to your compliment =)

Guest : I can see why them being toddlers for so long could make it harder to stick with it. I've actually been combining and trimming content I'd had planned for that reason, but there's just some stuff that are important for latter on that happens why they are still little beans. Hopefully I've managed to find a good balance. Not too many more chapters left of Toddlerdom!