AN: Third new chapter.
"Well, mystery solved." It seemed Jade was going to have to watch what she said from now on.
Sinking into the Shadow Realm and spreading her senses out had helped her uncover what exactly was going on. It had just taken time to…piece things together. The general weirdness of the Shadow Realm playing a role, giving off "static" while she was working.
She had told the Shadowkhan to go and "keep an eye on the kids" and "keep them out of trouble". That order had been vague enough for it to spread from Naruto and his playmates to most of the kids he went to class with.
Hinata Hyuga among them.
The second thing she had figured out was just how much of an effect Kushina had.
She should've figured the Shadowkhan didn't just take from her, that Kushina could impact them just as much as she could. The same had happened to her the first time she had gotten Tarakudo's mark on her leg, how the Shadowkhan had reacted to her wants and needs with hardly a word. With how Kushina had taken to motherhood, had spread that motherly nature out to what seemed to be every kid in the village half the time, the result should've been obvious.
Of course, the Shadowkhan would respond to that, stop any threats to children.
This time, things had gone well enough, no major issues stemming from her orders. But that could change if she wasn't careful.
At the moment, she was still in the Shadow Realm, half floating and half walking through the darkness around her. The Shadowkhan were both there and not there, present but absent. It was the general weirdness of how they worked, how they existed in the Shadow Realm as little more than Shadow Magic.
"How am I going to explain this?" She didn't exactly know how. Especially with Kushina out the village. "Do I have to?" Lying would be great right now, omission the best. As much as she trusted Minato, she didn't exactly want that information getting out.
Enough of the higher-ups still didn't trust her, thought she didn't notice their spies watching her, watching Kushina, watching Naruto.
She did. She followed their spies and followed them, kept an eye on them no matter the time of day.
While Minato wouldn't overreact, he would need to explain what happened to at least some of those same higher-ups. With how the Hidden Cloud was calling for compensation because of their little broken treaty, the Hidden Leaf needed to come up with something to avert a bloodbath. If she told him the truth, those same higher-ups would jump at the chance to blame Kushina, that she couldn't exclusively "serve" her anymore.
They would demand to see the contract between the two "as a precaution".
Some of them would even demand to be let in on it "for the good of the Hidden Leaf".
Unbidden, a blue hand came up to the red mask she wore, the demonic visage not of her own design.
"Can't have that…" Letting anyone but Kushina in on the contract would be too problematic, too irksome. Even if Kushina agreed that something needed to be done (which she was unlikely to do) she wouldn't let them get away with that kind of demand.
Even Minato hadn't gotten to see it yet, would maybe never.
He had also never asked to see it.
Thinking about him reminded her that she needed to talk to him about what happened, figure out what she was going to tell him and what she wasn't.
"No use putting it off." At that thought, Jade fell out of the Shadow Realm.
She reappeared on the outskirts of the village, a place familiar to her. It was even the same spot as all the other times she had come here.
"AND this place is still creepy." She must've been brought here thanks to thinking so heavily on her and Kushina's contract, hard to suppress the (at this point) very unfamiliar urge to shiver as red eyes took in the dilapidated temple ahead of her.
Despite how unnerved simply being at this place made her, she didn't immediately leave.
She couldn't.
A part of her wanted to step into the temple for only the second time, to check up on things she knew didn't need to be checked up on. The temptation to change things, to break what was inside would be too heavy.
Another part of her wanted to send the entire building to the Shadow Realm for all eternity. It would be out of the reach of everyone but her then, would drift for ages through that strange world.
A third, much bigger, part of her just couldn't leave. It was as if she was rooted to this spot, unable to decide on what to do and not even knowing if she could move once she did choose a path. Like always, she could only stand at the base of the steps
This wasn't the first time she had found herself appearing here and it wouldn't be the last.
Her eyes couldn't help but drift up to the swirl above her head. It's vibrant color had faded with age, time had worn away at it and the rest of the building, but it still rested above the doorway.
As long as she was here, as long as she was tied to Kushina Uzumaki, she would be tied to this place too.
Without a word, she vanished into the shadows.
She appeared in the much more familiar home of Minato and Kushina, took off the mask she had been wearing ever since she left Minato's office for the Shadow Realm. Habit made her hang it up like always just like habit made her check in around the house using Shadow Magic.
According to Shadow Time, Naruto should be at school and Minato should be in his office.
That wasn't the case.
"What?" She took silent steps down the hall, to where her brief search had told her she would find the two.
The two were on the couch, Naruto sprawled out along the couch and nestled into his father's side, the familiar book he was reading having tumbled to the ground from the arm hanging off the cushion when he had fallen asleep. His father must've been asleep until just now, blue meeting red.
He didn't speak, didn't comment on how she had silently rushed into the room. He looked relieved, hardly showing it on his face but she knew enough of his tells. He may had also been more than a little upset with her. She could take a decent guess at what it was.
He didn't say anything about it.
He simply nudged Naruto, the blonde opening just as bright blue eyes, blearily taking in the room.
They widened when they found her, drowsiness taking over by sudden excitement.
"JADE-CHAN!" He leaped from the couch to her arms without touching the floor, Jade only not falling to the ground because she was used to catching the excitable missile known as Naruto. She still took a step or two back, managed to wrap her arms around him. "YOU'RE BACK!"
"S-Sure I am kid." Jade patted him on the back, smiled down at the blue eyes looking up at her. "What? Did you think I was going to be gone forever?"
From the way Naruto only tightened his hold on her, the ten-year-old had thought exactly that. The thought made a small mess of emotions run through Jade even as she dropped down, hugged the blonde much tighter as he did the same.
She met Minato's eyes.
He merely shook his head, nodded to Naruto's back.
She got the message: Whatever was going on, the two of them would talk about it later. Right now, Naruto needed to know she was here for him.
AN: Some things happened in this chapter. Like a bit more got explained on how Jade ended up in a contract with Kushina.
