AN: Re-written June 15th 2024 - Addition to one scene + NEW SCENE ADDED

At risk of sounding repetitive, I'm sorry I stopped updating again. But I'm once more returned, and hopefully in a place where I can really finish this off despite whats going on in the world. For those who remember, back on chapter 18 I'd said there was only four more left, but I've since decided a few of those chapters felt too rushed, so rather than ending next chapter, chapter 21, I'm fleshing things out a little more, and adding some additional content, which has resulted in an extra chapter. So Thursday next week you all can expect the second last chapter.

So here we go with the long awaited next chapter!

Hope you enjoy~


Chapter XX: Friends?


Two days after Ibushi stopped by for lunch with his son, they had supper with the Kato's. It wasn't until he got a good look at Kim, who was pregnant, that he realized just who these people were. Kim was most likely Shizune's mother. Dan was the lover that Tsunade had lost… but it didn't look like the two were involved now. He didn't have the first's necklace yet. He could see some of Shizune in both of them, though it wasn't much. Some of her looks mostly. That wasn't surprising though given that she didn't really know her mother or her uncle, being quite young when her uncle had died. It wasn't even that obvious how she looked like them at first either, as she clearly got her colouring from her father. Kimi had grey coloured hair, and her brother Dan had white hair. Both had blue eyes. Her father had black hair and eyes just like Shizune.

Masato found the dinner with the Kato's a little boring to be honest though. After Kim told his sister that the baby was coming in a few months, there wasn't much else to discover. Sure he was curious about the jutsu that Dan was apparently famous for, but there was no way to see it. He certainly couldn't ask about it either.

The end of their dinner saw the Nin Kamon completed, and that was really all there was to it.

Sure the Kato's were all good with kids, at least as far as he could judge with how they interacted with him and Maki. But honestly it was tiring to act like a kid all the time. It wouldn't be much longer before the act they had to play got very old. Not that they could stop playing it any time soon.

At the same time they also couldn't expect that they wouldn't attract any attention when they really began trying to change things. In fact he was pretty sure they were already labeled as potentially being little prodigies. Which meant the adults would be watching them more closely for further signs to prove that fact. With wanting to prepare in advance for Kannabi bridge, coupled with 'signs' they'd already shown of being 'prodigies' they had no choice but to go that route.

Yet they couldn't go too far with it either. It was dangerous to be a prodigal toddlers in Konoha with Danzo around. Even without that particular risk though, if they excelled too quickly it would bring up unwanted questions at best, and accusations of being spies at worst. They had to strike a balance.

Easier said than done, probably. They could only guess at where the tipping point would be, given how many watchers they'd already acquired. These weren't people they'd known intimately in their own timelines, but their parents in most cases. It was only Jiraiya and the Hokage they had personal insights on… and they couldn't be certain these versions of them would be the same as the ones they'd known.

The only thing they could be certain of was that training was most certainly on the other side of that tipping point, for the time being. Which was a bit of a problem at least. There was only so much time they had to condition their little bodies to at least be able to keep close on the heels of one genius Hatake.

At least they had the advantage of being a little older than him.

I wish we'd forced more information about his childhood out of Kakashi-Sensei. He couldn't help but think his frustration at his sister. If they'd known when he started training they could have used it as a guide for themselves. They did know the age he'd graduated, compared to his peers, as well as his promotion ages, so they had a rough idea. But they also didn't know what it really took to graduate early in this time frame of Konoha's history.

They both knew far more about the progress of Itachi the prodigy, compared to Kakashi. They'd committed the details of his graduation and promotions to memory, needing to know what had made the misguided man who he was. A man who had wanted nothing more than to save his brother but gone about it so very wrong.

Itachi the prodigy had been under copious amounts of pressure. High expectations all around were placed on the boy from a young age. For really, when he'd murdered his clan, he'd still been that. A boy. No matter the genius he possessed, he didn't have as much life experience as older shinobi to base his decisions off of. And what experience he did have came too early in his life for him to handle so much of it in a… healthier way. Things that in this time were not so uncommon for young shinobi, he knew… but in his time as Hokage they better understood how these situations affected young minds negatively. They'd progressed leaps and bounds in that regard beyond the understanding that allowed for child prodigies like Itachi and Kakashi to become genin so early in life.

Kakashi had even fought in a war. Something that in his time would have been avoided.

And yet Itachi was probably the bigger prodigy when you compared him to Kakashi. Sure, Kakashi had only spent a single year as a genin, and had graduated from the academy two years earlier than Itachi had. However Itachi had still managed to graduate from the academy at the age of seven, after a war had ended, when the village was trying to raise graduation ages to give their promising youth a higher chance of survival. Rather than lower the age of graduation in order to swell their ranks for an upcoming or ongoing war.

Not the greatest guide to go off of. Makiko thought an agreement to him. But it's what we've got. Comparing it to what little we know of Kakashi-sensei's childhood, it'll have to do.

And that was true. They had to make do with the knowledge they had. It was much too late to try and gain more information naturally. So there was really no point lamenting what they didn't know. It was a waste of energy.

But not so much a waste of time. All they could really do now was think and plan for the future. As well as spend time with Minato when they could, and do their best to keep up their child act.

At least we have those pre-training games Yuhi-san showed us. Makiko added. That was true, to a point. They were all games meant to help foster desirable skills in young future shinobi before real training was advisable. But they couldn't be expected to remember how they went. Of course they did remember. Makiko more so than him as she'd actively played them with her children whenever she'd had the chance… he somehow hadn't been able to make that much time. Or rather wanted to do something un shinobi related.

Do you think Minori-san knows them? He inquired of his sister thoughtfully. It would be helpful if she did. Most likely the others in the Nin-Kamon would, but they had no read on if Minori had been civilian or shinobi raised, though they were fairly certain she'd never been a shinobi herself.

I don't know, but I've an idea how we could find out. Was her simple response. In fact we might want to try it on Dai first… he hasn't had any of the orphanage kids play them from what I've seen so maybe he doesn't know them.

A good point he agreed, glancing up from the sand he and his sister had been digging in to look at Dai who had just dashed from their side for a second to the aid of a girl who looked to have tumbled from a swing.

Dai usually took them to the park to play with the orphanage kids when he had them, the older kids helping in the task of keeping an eye on the younger ones so he could focus as much as needed on them. Or as much he thought he needed to. He was really very good with the kids, and it was nice to see them all having so much fun.

Playing with them also served as a good refresher of sorts on how to properly act the part of a child. Though it was in its own way mentally draining, between kids who easily cried, ones who were overly stubborn, and the budding know it alls every group of children seemed to have at least one of.

That's another good thing about this whole 'maybe the twins are prodigies' business. He almost idly communicated to his sister, watching for a moment as Dai soothed the crying girl who'd fallen, before he brought her over to play in the sand with them. "Hi!" He greeted her with childish enthusiasm. "Know howta make sand cathles?"

How so? Makiko asked as the new girl sniffled, blinked, and then rubbed at her eyes as she got over her little hurt.

She was a dark purple haired girl with black, round eyes. A little too round he felt, given that she'd just been crying. "Mhmm, have a bucket?" She inquired, before rather authoritatively announcing "It's sand Castles, not Cathles. Since you didn't even know that, you better follow my lead if you want to make one."

She sure recovered quickly didn't she. He couldn't help but think a little sarcastically at his sister.

He heard Makiko's mental snigger at the change in attitude from the girl. "Okay!" she chirped to the older girl "I have the bucket!" and she held out her bucket that she'd just struggled to dump the sand out of to the older girl. Some kids bounce back fast, nothing wrong with that. Anyway, what were you meaning?

Right. He had been asked a question after all. So while The new girl went about explaining how to properly sand castle, he gave his answer. Since they think we could be prodigies then we have some slack to play with in our child act, don't ya think? They won't immediately think something is up if we aren't as into playing as other kids our age, or something like that.

While Maki appeared to be listening intently to the instructions of the purple haired girl, she gave a curt reply of your probably right.

But that being said, they didn't want to push the boundaries too fast or too quickly.

"Um, what's your name?" he finally asked the girl who was bossing them around.

She blinked, stopping what she was doing to regard him for a moment. An unexpectedly bright smile light up her face. "Rythm!" For whatever reason she seemed very happy to share her name with them. "What about you two?"

"Masato," he replied easily before he retrieved his plastic shovel to start filling the bucket Rythm had put between them. It was a weird name, Rythm. He didn't know anyone with names like that except…

The Lee clan. Makiko finished his thought even as she gave her name to the older girl "I'm Makiko, its nice to meet you Ryt…. Ryfm" She made a show of stumbling over trying to say the girl's name, which made perfect sense. It wasn't that easy of sound for toddlers one would think.

Rythm seemed a bit upset at the stumble however. "It's Rythm. Rythm Lee," she said in way of correction, though her voice got quieter when she said her last name.

She is a Lee…. so what's she doing with the orphanage? He really wanted to ask, but he didn't know if she'd be able to answer… she was probably around…. seven if he had to guess. She might not understand why she was herself.

I think she understands. Maki pointed out to him. "Sorry Ry-thm," she said the name very slowly this time as if trying very hard to get it right. "Can I call you Ri-Ri?"

Wait…. what was she doing.

Rythm seemed just as confused as she looked at his sister with a frown. "Ri… ri?"

"Yeah! Ri-thm Ri. Ri-ri!" The once woman explained, though it wasn't much of an explanation. Still he got it. Ri istead of Lee. It was the kind of logic that a child would use… which was fine since that was what they were.

His sister seemed to be trying to make friends with the older girl. After a moment of thought he figured he knew why. If she wasn't with her clan when he knew they were definitely around now, then it could very well be because they didn't want her. She was old enough to intuit that, though maybe not the exact reason why.

A kid that wasn't wanted. He was all too familiar with that.

He pointed to himself with a big grin. "Masa!"

Makiko followed his lead and announced "Maki!" with quite a bit of excitement before she pointed to the older girl. "Ri-Ri?"

Rythm looked between them wide eyed, before she let out a laugh and smiled brightly herself, eyes closing for a moment. With her eyes closed she looked quite a lot like someone they used to know, hair colour and eyebrows notwithstanding.

"Okay, Masa, Maki," she replied quietly, before ushering them back to their sandcastle building. Though he didn't miss the very soft thanks she uttered on her breath. Still he was more focused on who she'd looked like for that moment.

What are the chances that we just made friends with Lee's mom?


Before he knew it, the month had changed to October. His little siblings had been in Konoha for two weeks, soon to be three. It was a little bit of a shocking realization, as he'd quite expected time to pass rather slowly while he was doing the D-rank missions. At least after the Nin-kamon had been finalized, and he'd had that breakthrough with Kawazo. Perhaps he'd been counting his blessings too soon.

Kawazo had improved with how he interacted with his teammates, yes…. but it wasn't by that much either. He made some effort to interact with them better… when they had already finished the mission. In turn Kotome had mostly stopped blowing up at him during the mission, saving her complaints for afterwards, seeming to have realized the change in the boy. Tsume however either hadn't figured it out, or didn't care. With or without Kotome backing her up, she would make a move on the boy if he said something against her during their missions.

Kawazo was trying to save it until after now though, after they'd had another chat. But Tsume still sometimes lashed out at just a look from the boy. It would take time… he and the girls couldn't possibly just start getting along overnight. He'd known that of course, but it was a little discouraging with how slowly the dynamic seemed to be changing. He'd asked Shinku about his thoughts on the matter again… but the man had simply told him to be patient, and at this point it was better to let them try and figure out how to interact with each other in a more constructive way. The goal was for Kawazo to have a sense of self after all, so he had to come to the realization that what he was doing wasn't quite clicking, and try new things himself. If he wasn't asked for more advice, Minato should keep the advice he gave to a minimum.

It was hard. Not just because making sure no one got badly injured was tiring, but because a few times Kawazo had been tearful during one of their talks after the girls had headed back to the academy. It was quite different from the few times he'd seen Kushina tearful in frustration. She had a strong sense of self compared to Kawazo… in fact you couldn't compare them. The lost tears that Kawazo shed were harder to see than those of frustration that Kushina had shed those few times he'd seen her before or after an altercation with one of their classmates… or their genin older siblings.

Granted it hadn't been easy to watch that either. Something had just told him at the time that he shouldn't undermine her strength. That helping her against them wasn't what he should be doing…. that and he'd been fascinated by her strength and wanted to see more. Nor did he have the courage to actually talk to her…

But even though Kawazo's struggles with his teammates were vastly different to Kushina's to their old classmates, he'd learned a lot from it he felt he could now apply to his relationship with Kushina moving forward. Or rather… to trying to start one. A friendship of course! They could be friends. He had the courage now to actually talk to her… maybe.

After all, sometimes someone just needed a person to talk to. He'd told that to Kawazo. And it really did help the boy. It had helped him plenty when he'd been struggling after his mother had abandoned him too. So why wouldn't the same be helpful to Kushina… if she wanted that. It would be nice if he could be that person for her… if she wanted… He could do that… maybe.

"Oi, wuss!"


As soon as she'd returned to the village she'd gone on a hunt for the Namikaze. She was curious about how Maki-chan was doing after all. And Masato-kun was cute too. How could she not be concerned about the twins when they had such a wussy big brother, right?

Okay, it hadn't been the moment she'd gotten back. She'd had to go for the report and debrief after the mission naturally. After that she'd had to grab a shower. Then she started scouring the village for The wuss Namikaze and his little siblings.

Well, rather than scouring she'd tried asking people she vaguely recalled he had been friends with during their time in the academy. She would have asked his teammates, but she couldn't find either of them. Instead she'd found the Nara and his team. The Nara hadn't really been helpful, just asking 'why should I tell you'. The yamanaka however had told her what part of town the Namikaze estate was in. Estate…. she'd not known he was from a clan.

She should have. She had a vague memory of there being a Namikaze in Uzushio before she left. They'd been a merchant… but her parents had shown quite a bit of respect for them… maybe? She couldn't really be sure. It hadn't really been an interesting conversation, so she'd excused herself to wander the village for the hundredth time that week.

She'd left to go find this estate… she should have listened to whatever else Inoichi had to say though. Or whatever he had the time for before his teammates insisted they get going. It seemed they were leaving for a mission when she found them.

So when she found the house that had the Namikaze name on it, only to discover no one was home, she cursed herself. Her one source of information so far would be long gone on their mission. With a huff she'd wracked her brain on who she could try and ask next. Eventually she landed on the Hatake… she'd seen one or two of them come meet Minato after he got out at the academy, hadn't she? She wasn't quite sure, but it was all she had to go off of for now.

So she went looking for the Hatake complex, which took at least an hour. Minato was going to get it, for making her put in so much effort to find him. And she was going to beat out of him what that smile Minori-san had had on her face had been all about. She didn't like the expression on the woman's face when she'd told her where she could find Minato.

It was off to the academy then, where she spotted the wuss finally, with three of the students in tow. It took everything in her to stop from shouting at him until he'd brought the students to what she guessed was their drop off spot. As soon as he started to turn around though she decided she'd waited quite long enough and called out to him. "Oi, wuss!"

She saw him give a bit of a jolt, eyes widening before they even landed on her. Kushina couldn't help but roll her eyes at that. "K- Uzumaki-san!" His voice showed how surprised he was to see her. She supposed it was weird for her to seek a boy out though, so she couldn't really blame him for being surprised. However he then smiled at her in a friendly manner… which was just odd. He had always been…. unsure? At least in any interactions with her. "Welcome back."

Kushina's eyes expanded into near saucers. No one ever welcomed her back so genuinely, not since she'd come to Konoha. No one but Mito-ba. "Thanks…" she replied, still feeling a bit bewildered. It took the edge off the frustration she'd been feeling towards him… a little. It wasn't long until she was glaring at him again though. "I've been looking all over for you ttebane," she huffed out, crossing her arms.

Minato looked even more confused, but he was still smiling as he closed the distance between them. "Really?" he asked, and there still wasn't a sign of him stuttering. That was weird. "Oh, were you wondering how Maki-chan was doing?"

Wait… had Minato always been that sharp?

Actually… she thought maybe he had been. She hadn't paid a ton of attention to him in their classes honestly, but he did seem to catch on to things sooner than a lot of the other students. And he had graduated in a single year too, now that she thought about it. So he was smart. Too bad being such a wuss took away from that. Or… it should. It had. Maybe it would come out a bit more soon. "Well she has a sissy big brother, so I was worried ttebane."

His brighter blue eyes turned away from her for a moment, and he gave what sounded like a nervous laugh. "Being a big brother is harder than I initially thought," he admitted, again without sign of a stutter. "But no matter how hard it is I'll do my best, now that I have a family again." These words were determined, strong. Nothing like a wuss at all. Kushina was a bit at a loss.

Now that he had a family again.

Well… logically he must not have had one if the Hatake were picking him up at the academy from time to time and stuff like that. She'd never considered it before though. That he was in a way as alone as she was in this village…. because he'd had friends in their class. Among the other genin. She didn't really have much of that herself… and all she had for any sort of family here in Konoha had been Mito-ba who she barely got to see.

Okay… that was a lie. Her distant Senju relatives that she'd been living with had been good to her. It just… wasn't the same as being with her parents had been, even knowing she could never go back to those days.

It'd be the same for him though. Probably.

With this revelation, it was a little hard not to see Minato in a different light. A slightly different light anyway. He was still a wuss!

"You better do your best. Maki-chan and Masato-kun deserve a good big brother, not a wuss ttebane." She couldn't help but to prod at him… partly because she didn't like how he'd just changed her opinion of him… partly because he just wasn't acting how she was used to and it was weird.

"You're right," he simply agreed with her, before his eyes widened. "Sh- uh, I've gotta go Uzumaki-san. It's about time for me to meet them for lunch!"

Meet them for lunch?

"Hang on… who have you left them with anyway? You can't have been foolish enough to leave them on their own while your doing whatever you were doing? Remedial courses or something?"

Again Minato laughed a little nervously. "We have a Nin-Kamon. They'll be with Dai-san on the way to a restaurant right about now," he explained a little hurriedly, even as he bowed his head apologetically. "Sorry, I really have to go Uzumaki-san." And he turned to do just that.

She grabbed his shoulder with a huff, annoyed. "Uzumaki, Uzumaki… jeez, I have my own name, ttebane!" It wasn't that she didn't like being an Uzumaki… it was more that she couldn't help but feel a little upset hearing it… she was one of two Uzumaki here in Konoha… and maybe beyond that. Any reminder of Uzushio being gone was painful, and if she was going to continue to talk to the Namikaze wuss then she'd rather not have to keep dealing with that. She hadn't gotten all the information she wanted out of him after all. "And I'm not done with you yet… I'll walk with you ttebane.."

For a moment it seemed like Minato's eyes had bugged out, and his cheeks might have coloured in a bit. "Oh, uh… okay…. K- Uzu… uh… K-kushina-san.?"

She almost wanted to laugh. There was the stuttering wuss she was used to. Right down to him saying her name sounding like a question. Though she could have done without the san. Oh well. It wasn't like they were friends, so the san made sense. "Right, let's go then W-" she stopped herself… maybe she shouldn't always call him wuss. It was a little mean. And despite him being a wuss he hadn't chickened out of using her name when she'd asked… which she had to appreciate if only a little. "Minato-kun."

In response the boy looked completely frozen in place. Maybe she had been too familiar with him… but she wasn't going to give him a san. He was a wuss. And if she expected him to call her by name then how could she call him by his last name, right?

There was an almost choking like sound, before Minato's head snapped ahead of them. "R-r-right. Uh, Its this way." and then rather stiffly he started walking down the street. She giggled to herself and followed after. Minato's reactions were kind of funny on top of his wussiness being a little bit cute.

Maybe it wouldn't hurt to get to know him a little better.


Where was Minato? It wasn't like him to be late when they were meeting him for lunch. She didn't think he was one to be late for anything normally. So why was it that they were sitting at the barbecue place with no sign of him at all?

She wanted to huff in annoyance. They couldn't eat until he got here, and she could smell the food from other tables. Needless to say she felt absolutely famished by this point. He needed to hurry up and get here…

Hopefully nothing had happened to him…

What could possibly happen to him in the village? Masato challenged her worried thoughts and she wanted to shoot him a glare. He was right though. Nothing untoward was likely to happen to him in Konoha… right?

When did you turn into such a worry wart?

This time she did shoot him a glare, as Dai was thankfully not looking at either of them.

"Something wrong Maki?"

You forgot Ri-ri was here, idiot.

Woops. "Masa bumped me!" She said in way of trying to cover up her slip up, looking across the table to the older girl who was sat next to Dai. Dai had asked the proprietor if it was alright if he took her along with them for lunch since she seemed to have made friends with the twins, and to her surprise the woman had readily agreed, saying Rythm needed more friends.

Seemed like she didn't have a lot of friends among the other orphanage kids on top of not being wanted by her clan. She really felt for the older girl. It seemed her childhood so far had been pretty lonely. It wouldn't be anymore though, if she could help it. Who knows, maybe Rythm really was Lee's mother and making her childhood better could in turn help this world's Lee when he was born.

If he's born. Masato just had to remind her.

"Now Masa, you have to treat your sister better," Ri-ri was saying from across the table in a lecturing tone. She was quite mature for being seven years old. "It's not nice to just bump her if she doesn't like it." She gave her brother a very stern look. Her admonishment brought Dai's attention back to the three children.

"Rythm is right, it's not very youthful to treat your sister poorly!" He began in his typical overly energetic manner.

"Sorry!" Masato piped up, doing his best to sound truly apologetic, she thought. Probably because he didn't want to hear a youthful lecture for something he didn't even do.

That was mean. He thought to her a little petulantly, and she wanted to laugh.

Its your fault for being a downer. She answered, but then mentally grimaced as Dai went into his lecture anyway. Okay…. I'm sorry. I guess I was a downer first.

Damn straight. He agreed, though didn't push the matter further, instead striking up a conversation with Ri-Ri, who was more than happy to oblige him since it meant she could distract herself from the youthful lecture going on next to her.

"Barbecue? Really wuss?"

Over the din of the other customers, and the lecture going on, Maki was just able to hear these words. Was that who she thought it was? Trying to find out she decided to shift in her seat so she could look out over towards the door better.

"Makiko-chan, be careful," Dai stopped his lecture to warn her. "You could fall. Let's sit down properly."

Dai was not at all bad at minding children. He was quite good at it. And he had a point. So reluctantly she sat properly in the booth seat.

"It wasn't my choice," She heard what was definitely Minato's voice now. "Makiko and Masato like to try new foods, and when Dai suggested barbecue they just wouldn't hear any other suggestions."

"What if they leaned into the grill and burnt themselves ttebane?" she heard the female voice respond just before she spotted her first glimpse of red. So it was Kushina after all!

"They listen pretty well so I'm sure it'll be fine," was her brother's reassurance. Then they made it to their booth, and he looked away from Kushina. She noticed his cheeks were a little flushed. That was cute.

Looks like he really was smitten with her for a while.

I never doubted it for a second.

Though it was true what they saw here didn't mean anything for their own parents. She still chose to believe that it was evidence that Minato had had a crush on Kushina since his genin or even academy days at least. It was certainly true here.

"Ni-san!" she and Masato greeted happily. Then she gestured across the table at Rythm. "We made a friend! Ri-Ri!"

Minato blinked, a little surprised, and gave one of his genuine happy smiles. "That's great!" And he likely thought exactly what he was saying.

Rythm didn't seem to want to be called Ri-Ri by their brother though, as she instantly introduced herself. "Rythm. It's nice to meet you Minato-san."

Minato didn't miss a beat, "It's nice to meet you Rythm-san."

Looking at Kushina told her she was surprised about something, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what that might be.

Is this going to change whether they get together do you think? Came a worried thought from Masato. She hadn't worried about this herself, but now that he mentioned it… Kushina had fallen in love with Minato because he had saved her and then said her hair was pretty. Now she'd gone and called Kushina's hair pretty before that… and they were interacting more closely than she thought they probably had in her world. So it could change things.

Though that strange force would probably try and get them together anyway. Maybe. Right?

I hope so. They were happy. They deserved to be happier for longer.

They really did. And she wanted to see that happen for them, even if they weren't the same Minato and Kushina who would be her parents.

"Nice to meet ya Rythm-chan," Kushina chose to speak up herself now, a big friendly grin on her face. "I'm Kushina Uzumaki ttebane. Just Kushina is fine."

Rythym gave a shy smile in response. "It's nice to meet you too Kushina-san. Are you joining us for lunch?"

Kushina looked thoughtful for a moment, before turning to Minato. "Treat me?"

Minato's cheeks coloured a bit more, but rather than protesting he pulled out his gama wallet to peek inside and probably do some quick math. "I can, yeah," he answered after a moment, and it seemed like he was almost hopeful.

"You're very welcome to join us Kushina-san!" Dai piped up at last.

"Great, I'll sit with Maki then," The red-head announced, before her full attention was on her. "Want to sit in my lap, Maki?"

Did she? Hell yes. "Yeah!"

"It's decided then," was declared before the girl's dark blues fixed on Masato, "Let me in Masato?"

Why do you get all the luck her brother thought at her petulantly even as he got scooted carefully off the booth seat so he could let Kushina get in. As soon as she did get in though she grabbed Masato with little warning and set him down next to her. He blinked a little surprised, but then grinned.

Minato looked a mix of amused and bewildered, but he took a seat next to Masato. Then they finally received their meat and soon the scent of it grilling wafted through the air.

This was going to be a very good meal.

If only it was Ramen.


After he left the twins with the Kato so he could head back to the academy, Minato had figured that would be the last he saw of Kushina for the day at least. Longer if it wasn't for the fact she seemed quite interested in how the twins were doing and made it very clear she was going to check on them to make sure their wuss of an older brother hadn't screwed up his brotherly duties. On the one hand he was happy he'd get to be seeing more of her, but it was also a little nerve wracking for various reasons. One being of course that it was just hard to keep his cool around her. It was unfair how strong of a person she was while still being unbearably adorable without even knowing it!

Still he figured that having spent lunch with them she'd be satisfied for the day. She'd just returned from the border patrol, so surely she'd want to rest for the remainder of her day. He'd be happy to see her again today of course, but he was also tired after that last mission. It shouldn't have been anything much, but something quite unexpected happened. Somehow Tsume had managed to turn the whole thing into a competition, and Kawazo had agreed. That in and of itself wouldn't have been so bad if it hadn't been for the fact that Kawazo turned out to be fiercely competitive. More so than Tsume by half at least. Things escalated quickly to a point that was very nearly beyond his ability to control.

Who would have thought walking dogs could be so damn dangerous!

With a bit of a groan he rotated his left shoulder. He'd hit the ground pretty hard not once, but twice saving one of his charges or a dog from a rather nasty fall. He was absolutely going to feel this tomorrow. Maybe he should visit the med-nin at the hospital…

He could do it tomorrow if it was bothering him, he decided. He was almost there, and he'd like to get the twins home and settled with a picture book or something so he could try and get his reports done. It was likely to take longer since he'd have to use his right hand. Better than aggravating his shoulder more my using his left.

"Really wuss? Academy students can't be that hard to manage."

He almost yelped as the words were spoken by his ear. In fact he jumped just a bit, while his left hand went to his Kunai pouch before his brain registered just who it was who'd come up behind him.

Oh man, how embarrassing. He must have looked so lame to her today…

"K-kushina-san… what are you doing here?" He found himself asking a little dumbly as he looked over his shoulder at her. She had her hands behind her back and her head tilted ever so slightly to one side. Really, she was too cute sometimes.

"I was just leaving the Kato's place and saw you walking around in a daze looking like you'd been through the wringer ttebane." She replies simply, shrugging for additional effect. This was a little surprising though. He hadn't expected she'd stay at the Kato's for so long after following him there with the twins. Maybe he should have considered that possibility though. She did seem to really like the twins, and they already seemed to adore her. (He was not jealous, really)

"Oh," left his lips a little lamely, and he looked away. His head hung slightly and his shoulders slumped. Today was kind of… not good all things considered. Oh sure it had started off fine, getting to see Kushina unexpectedly. He'd missed catching sight of her. But then she'd asked him to treat her which was fine, but that meant he only had money left for the absolute necessities until his next paycheck. Meaning he couldn't shop for Makiko and Masato's birthday until a couple days before.

Then of course there was Kawazo and Tsume each trying to walk six dogs… Well, Tsume technically had seven because of Kuromaru. Worse though it seemed like they had the most … prolific toileters. It was like an explosive tag field of dog do… and every time Tsume or Kawazo went to pick up after their dogs like they were supposed to, they lost control of at least one of their dogs.

"Uh, Minato?"

so of course they got into a trapped training grounds and he'd had to try and herd them all back out again while avoiding actual exploding tags and still making sure none of them got seriously hurt. It was just his luck that Kawazo triggered a pitfall, and then while laughing at him Tsume had triggered another one!

"OI, Wuss!"

Pain shot through his shoulder as a hand came down on it to shake him. He grimaced, but his eyes refocused, finding himself looking right at Kushina. She was right there! "Wha?!"

She huffed, and took a half step back. "You were muttering. Jeez. Sounds like you've got a group of little hellions on your hands ttebane."

Oh no. No he hadn't. Shit.

Feeling equal parts horrified and mortified, it took everything he had to attempt to laugh off her comment. "S-sorry about that. They are a handful but… uh… they aren't bad kids…. Really…"

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "You don't sound so sure about that."

He didn't feel so sure about it. But it was true that it wasn't really Kawazo's fault that he'd been raised the way he was, which was why the girls didn't get along with him, and that ultimately led to things getting explosive sometimes.

"Apparently literally too ttebane.." The girl added to his thoughts. Meaning he'd been mumbling again.

"… I need a break," he muttered as he lifted a hand up over his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Sounds like it. So you should meet me at the park tomorrow ttebane," The words were spoken so nonchalantly that he didn't think much of them really, and gave a sort of gut response.

"Okay."

Kushina nodded, seemingly pleased. "Around eleven. Dai-san and Rythm will be there so you can leave the twins with them while we go shopping."

"Yeah," he answered, still on autopilot. And then her words actually sunk in. "Wai-"

"See you tomorrow Minato-kun!" And with that she had jumped onto a roof and down into the next street over, leaving him standing there wide eyed, confused, and with a hand outstretched after her.

What just happened? Shopping? With Kushina?

He had no money…. but it was with Kushina. What should he do? Why did she want to go shopping with him anyway? Was it really okay that he spent some of his time with her tomorrow instead of with the twins?

What was he supposed to do?

… Oh well. Tomorrow was an off day from the academy anyway. He was going to get home, get these reports done and then rest. He'd puzzle over this tomorrow morning.

If he could keep his head on straight anyway.


Today had been a relatively good day, as days in the life of adults in the body of toddlers went. Well, mostly. They'd made a new friend, and gotten to see Kushina again. Watching their brother so clearly pining after her already was amusing and heartwarming both.

But the arrival of Kushina reminded him that Sakumo and Jiraiya hadn't returned to the village yet. He couldn't help but feel a little worried about that, after all they couldn't count on history keeping the same, actually needing them to be alive. Someone else could fill in the roles they were supposed to. Even the fact that Minato hadn't signed the toad contract yet didn't mean much of anything for Jiraiya's survival. What they knew their brother needed a summons for didn't mean it had to be the toads.

They had a little more in the way of being sure Sakumo wouldn't die yet as so far they hadn't noticed any signs of pregnancy in Minori-san. And once Sakumo's father had showed up from whatever mission he had been on, they learned beyond a doubt that Minori had married into the Hatake family. She wasn't a Hatake herself.

Still there were other Hatake…. one of their kids could end up being a Kakashi replacement.

There were a lot of things that could make them worry honestly. Sometimes it was hard to keep his thoughts productive, instead of worrying about a plethora of what ifs. Even trying to ask 'if it wasn't this person would that still happen' didn't help much in trying to put these concerns to rest. Because nine times out of ten the answer was 'it's still possible'.

The fact of the matter was that their new birthday wasn't that far away and still, Sakumo and Jiraiya hadn't returned. It wasn't that strange he knew. Missions could last a long while by necessity some times. Sometimes it would take weeks just to get to the mission location. And these were Jōnin they were talking about. They'd be sent on difficult missions that Chunin couldn't be trusted with. While it was common enough that they were short and completed quickly, it also was common that they lasted weeks. It would only be once it passed that month mark by a week or more that it would be in the realm of unusual. Those were typically information based missions… and Jiyraiya in his world had quite the intel network… so it wouldn't be that strange for him.

So really they had no way to know what would be strange for him in terms of mission length. Aside from having a bit of an idea of how long Minato was supposed to be staying in the village doing whatever missions with academy students that he was doing. Not that he'd ever said that was what he was doing, they'd just connected the dots. He spent the Academy's off day with them every week, was gone during the time the academy would be in session, was writing reports for d-ranks that seemed to have others on them, as the team captain of those missions.

It would be strange if he was taking other genin on these missions and was the leader of them… quite a few genin would kick up a fuss over that. It also didn't match up with the amount of money he seemed to be bringing home from what they could tell. They'd expected a lot more sheepish requests to Minori-san that she pay for some necessity for them until he could pay her back. That had happened once since Sakumo had bought toiletries for them and brought back groceries…. but only once. That meant that Minato was somehow making enough money to at least keep up with the usual expenses of two toddlers and himself.

Though he'd never come back as beat up and worn down as he had been today. It looked like he'd walked through a trap field.

Maybe he did. You remember that dog walking mission we took in our first few weeks as genin?

He almost laughed aloud at that. Oh he remembered. Insisting on the biggest dog, and then just not being able to guide it, it had dragged him right through a trap field. Part of me kind of misses those days. They were simpler. He thought back to his sister.

They were. She agreed. Much simpler. Something they'd never be able to go back to.

No, but we'll get a taste of them again.

That was true, they would. Assuming they survived…

We… should.

We will.

They held each other's gaze for several long minutes.

There was the sound of something clattering to the floor, and a bit of a wet splash. Followed by soft, cut off curses.

Worried, Masato looked behind them to the low table Minato had been filling out reports on, while he and Makiko had been put to rest on their futon that the older boy had carried down for them.

His cheeks and fingers were splattered by black ink. The black substance was also dripping from the edge of the table, where Minato had clearly knocked over his inkwell initially. And then it had fallen to the floor, leaving a dark stain on the tatami.

Hey… is it just me… or has Nii-san been a bit scatterbrained since earlier? He asks his sister.

He has… do you think it's because of Kushina?

He wasn't so sure on that point. It could be because of stress as well. Or lack of sleep. Or any combination of the three. He might even be falling ill…

He'll be fine right? We are talking about the yellow flash…

He's probably just tired.

Another groan, as Minato stubbed his toe on the table when he stood in a rush. Then his cheeks flush red, when he looks over and notices both of them watching him. He forces a smile. "Sorry, Did I startle you? Everything's fine."

And then he realizes he's ran out of ink because of that mishap, and he still has more reports to fill. What follows is a few minutes of muttered… strategizing on how he can go pick up ink, but not leave them alone. A matter that is put to rest when he glances out the window and apparently spots Sakumo's father, who he promptly asks to come sit with them while he runs to the nearest shop.

Hashuro watches him with quiet amusement, and chuckles as soon as Minato is out of earshot, before looking at the two of them. "Your Nii-san reminds me of Sakumo before he got closer to Minori."

He blinks, and then has to stop herself from grinning. Because if Hashuro-san thinks so, then probably this was because of Kushina. And. This is also a great opportunity to find out about Sakumo and his wife Minori and how they got together. At least in a child appropriate story. If Hashuro was willing to share more.

"Really?"


Minato sighed heavily. His cheeks still felt hot from the embarrassment he'd felt when he had to explain to Hashuro why he suddenly needed to run and buy ink and he needed someone to stay with the twins for just a bit. Though the man had simply nodded and agreed, he could see in his eyes that he was holding back laughter.

He'd thought for once he'd managed to keep his head on straight around Kushina… but then she'd thrown that all to pieces by simply telling him he would go shopping with her. And it was… embarrassing that that was all it took to rock him. When early today he'd been thinking maybe he could try and become… a confidant for her. He'd really gotten way ahead of himself…

His shoes return to the street as he jumps down from a roof, the shop he's after just a little further along. His shoulders slump and he shoves his hands in his pocket, sinking into himself. He doesn't really want to be seen right now really. To be perceived.

Because he'd thought he'd been getting a hang of being a brother. Thought he was well on his path to a promotion… thought he was making progress towards learning more about his own clan. And crazily thought he might even be able to add trying to make any sort of connection with Kushina. And clearly he was an idiot on that last count. Nor had he progressed that far on getting those clan answers he wanted… Chunin was a first step, but just because he was dealing with these academy students for leadership experience, that didn't mean he'd actually pass the exam did it? And he was struggling with one group of personalities who were clashing… because of misunderstandings, when you really boiled it down.

The boy grit his teeth, took in a breath, and tried to expel this line of thinking.

Still slumped, he opens the door to the stationary shop he'd reached, and steps inside. Almost wincing at the jingle of the bell on the door when he does so. But it doesn't seem that anyone in the shop looks towards the door, save for the brief glance of the shop owner, currently reading a book behind his register. So he quickly makes his way to one wall, stepping around one of the shelves in the middle of the shop, so he can quickly grab the ink he needs.

And then he stops.

He couldn't see them before, of course, because they were too short to be seen over the shelves. A Brunette girl, her hair now loose around her shoulders, and a pair of slightly bent, taped up glasses with cracked lenses sitting just a little askew on her nose. Staring in near abject horror at an even shorter boy with short cropped black hair.

Minato almost let out a sound of surprise to mirror the surprise on the boys face. Kawazo. And Kotome.

Because that was, surprisingly, who the girl was. He'd nearly not recognized her because of the glasses… glasses he didn't know she needed.

Instead he steps back, since it seems neither has noticed him yet, and listens. Since just maybe this unexpected encounter might change something between the two younger kids. So while listening carefully, he makes his way around the shelves to quietly pick out some sticks of ink, instead of the already liquid stuff he'd been about to grab.

"Yeah I've got glasses, you can stop staring now Shimura," He finally hears the girl hiss, her voice acid… but there is a hint of tears or frustration there, with how her voice hitches on some of the words.

"I apologize, Uchiha-san. I was just surprised to see you here," The boy responds in a bewildered voice. "I do not care you have glasses," he then says, much to Minato's continued surprise. "Requiring glasses may be some level of a disadvantage to shinobi, but that is not indicative of future failure or success."

Minato almost chokes. Because the boy is right, of course… but he's saying that to an Uchiha. A clan that prided itself on it's eyes. Its eye-sight, and its doujutsu.

Now the odd way Kotome took offense when he looked her in the eye initially, and how she still continued to be touchy about not being judged for her eyes, made a lot more sense. Though he'd never once heard of an Uchiha needing glasses… he could certainly understand how may just effect a child negatively when their family went around touting themselves as superior because of their eyes, while their own eyes may be viewed as defective.

And that was probably very close to the case with Kotome, if not down right correct, given the state of her glasses.

"Wha… you," Kotome almost sputters. "You know you're talking to an Uchiha right? If I don't have good eyes what do I have?"

"Well, you have top marks in our class in all subjects," Kawazo points out, and he almost wants to cry out in triumph, because this simple answer is a huge sign that Kawazo was making progress. "That makes you closer to being a shinobi than many of our class-mates," he goes on. "You can work on the rest even after you become a Genin. I'm sure if you want to you, can be a good Shinobi even if you need glasses." The boy states quite matter of factly. And then adds. "But you might want to invest in more functional glasses. They are one of the tools you will need moving forward."

The genin tenses now, worried this will get a rise out of Kotome in a bad way. But instead, he thinks he hears a sniffle.

"Any time I've managed to save up enough for a new pair, my brothers break them," she answers surprisingly candidly to the boy. Then she sighs. "Well… whatever. But…" A note of hesitance. "Thanks for saying needing glasses doesn't mean I can't be a good shinobi. That means a lot, I guess." She clearly tries to downplay how the words, spoken so matter of factly made her feel better.

"You are welcome… but I only spoke the truth," Kawazo answered. "Perhaps you could speak to Sensei about leaving your glasses at school, when you acquire a new pair? The Academy does not take kindly to people sabotaging items on their premises."

The girl lets out a surprised laugh at this. "Maybe… that's not a bad idea. Thanks… I didn't think running into you would be… refreshing… but thanks, Shimura."

Minato smiles to himself, and quietly makes his way to the register to pay and leave, before the two younger children notice him. As he steps out, his smile shifts to a grin, while he hears Kotome making an almost awkward suggestion to Kawazo on what brush works well with the ink he had just picked out.

Calligraphy. Who knew that would somehow be what drew Kawazo just a bit closer to one of his temporary teammates.

After witnessing that, the heavy weight that had been pulling him down before he entered the store was all but forgotten.


Word count: 9292


To the Reviewers:

Riku Uzumaki : I'm so glad someone else sees the hilarious potential in the Nee-san status XD
Though its awhile off I'm excited to really get to write that and all the embarrassment Ibuki could be in for. Though you can be sure he's not going to take all of it laying down!

Kerberos314 : Having someone notice that work has gone into the research is more than enough appreciation for me! And yes, I really did take two probably overdone story ideas for this... but if you're to afraid to do something because its already been done before, you're not likely to get anywhere! I thought I could bring something unique to the table, and I'm really glade I seem to have succeeded on some level at doing so!

Guest : Thank you for your kind words! Of course I'd be thrilled if more people did read it, but I'm already super flattered that as many people have read and enjoyed it as there is now. Especially with how spotty my update history has been on it. Thank you for reading and taking the time to express your appreciation of my story!