DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything from the Naruto universe. This is my Mito, though.

Thinking (+ flashbacks, "Mito speaking to Kurama in her mindscape," etc.)

Emphasis

Bijuu, etc. speaking

Bijuu, etc. thinking

Earlier -

"Kiba," Shino scolded sternly, just wanting to get this part of the test over. Even among members of his clan, Shino had an especially great and all-encompassing love for insects or thought he had until he ventured through this horrible forest.

Shino REALLY needed to question his clan's elders regarding what they did to encourage the (appalling) rapid, (insane) impressive growth of the plants and insects in Training Ground 44. –Maybe he could talk Torune into becoming the heir of the clan if he was ever expected to encourage this monstrous same nightmarish mammoth growth in the future.

He had no idea of how his elders managed Training Ground 44. Before the test, he and Torune had asked to be allowed into it so that they could gather intelligence for their teams. His father had refused, calling it unfair and somewhat illogical. Now he understood why - even though they were ninjas.

Shino hoped to never venture into Training Ground 44 again.

"We have our two scrolls. We should make our way to the Tower," Shino continued when he caught up to their team's only impetuous member.

"C'mon, Shino," Kiba all but yelled in a forest full of enemies, "getting that scroll was way too easy!"

Indeed it was, Shino thought. The Kumo nins who gave it up had begged not to be hurt and didn't even put up a fight against being restrained in a location they could conceivably be killed in this madness of a forest. What bothered him most about their encounter with those Kumo nins, however, was the way that they looked so hungrily at Hinata. Speaking of…

"Kiba-kun," Hinata had hissed when Kiba bounded away. She caught up with the Inuzuka quickly and grabbed his hoodie. "I a-agree with Shino-kun on this!"

"Ahhhhh, think about it, Hinata," Kiba implored with a whine. "If we pick up more scrolls now it means less competition later for the third task!" Kiba's eyes were full of mischief and wonder, making Shino wonder if he was clinically insane in addition to being a real pain.

As soon as Kiba saw Hinata waver - she was definitely thinking it over - he took off in search of his next conquest. His nose would lead him to a weak team, he was sure of it! He was also headed directly to the Tower if what his Ma tipsily told him was true about directions from the river, so how much could Shino really complain? They had to be close to the Tower by now. Akamaru, oddly enough, was the one to stop him.

"Akamaru?" His pup jumped inside of his coat and was SHIVERING! The only times he'd seen Akamaru back down from anything was when his Ma was on a rampage, when he had to get his shots, or that one time that Mito-sensei was really pissed and her red and blonde hair was flying out in over a meter-long circle around her head and she was too mad to talk. "What is it, boy?" he whispered.

He ducked behind a thick, (probably) non-man-eating bush and saw a team of older Genins who all wore umbrellas on their backs. Prime meat, he thought. There was no way they could fight well with those enormous umbrellas on their backs. I bet they use them as weapons; I wonder how that works!

That's when his nose picked up the scent of another team they'd encountered in the first test: friends of Naruto's, he'd thought from what Naru had told him back at the Academy. Naruto sure didn't seem pleased to see them during the test but Naru was a hothead showoff, Kiba thought with a feral grin. He stopped, deciding to wait and see what happened.

There was something wrong in the air but...

Maybe the two foreign teams would fight and then Team 8 could pick up the pieces, getting TWO more scrolls. Yatta!

The two teams were speaking to each other but the sounds of the forest made it difficult for his team to hear what was being said. His teammates had joined him and Kiba smelled Shino's sudden anxiety. From all the time they spent together, Kiba would bet that Shino's insects picked up something that wasn't cool. Shino, let it be known, was a very cool customer so for him to be so wary, Kiba knew whatever was bothering him had to be serious.

Akamaru began shaking more and as he tucked an arm around him to make him feel better, Hinata grasped his other wrist. When Kiba looked down, he realized that Shino had grabbed her other wrist. His gaze darted to his teammates' faces - or what he could see of them, meaning that he looked to Hinata for any cues he could get to what they were sensing.

Although her dojutsu wasn't activated, it was obvious to Kiba that Hinata was lip reading as her mouth moved along with whatever she saw - and her eyebrows were climbing higher and higher into her hair. Shino must have been doing it, too, because Kiba noticed a tenseness before Shino's eyebrows furrowed. He now looked and even smelled… angry?

"Ah," Hinata gasped, flushing and covering her mouth.

What the hell? Kiba wondered. He really needed to learn how to lip-read! The two teams in front of them began fighting, and Kiba saw that the guys had immediately gone for the girl on the Suna team. She didn't even defend herself: she had immediately run in worry to the redhead - Gaara, Kiba thought Naru said his name was - when he bent down and clutched his head.

There was something about Gaara that reminded Kiba of his sensei and Naruto. Maybe they were all Uzumakis? –With the red hair it made sense, he guessed. They didn't smell like family or alike at all, though, so that idea was kinda random.

Killing Intent hit him hard only a moment later and blood flew everywhere! Getting hit in the face with the malodorous stuff broke Kiba out of his terror but for only a second because blood was flying again and again!

"Gaara," the girl who'd been being attacked yelled, wrapping her arms around her red-headed teammate.

Kiba pushed chakra into Hinata the way his sensei had shown him just as Shino did. Kiba could see that Shino's insects had returned to him and he found that he couldn't blame them! The foreign team finally left after one kid picked up whatever mechanical parts were in the scroll on his back. Suna Puppet Brigade, he recalled from some of those awful flashcards Mito-sensei was always giving them to memorize.

Gross: puppets.

Grosser: someone else's blood!

Kiba wiped it off his face, and onto his sleeve. "We need to get out of here," he decided, guiding Hinata around the area that was soaked with blood. It was impeding his senses.

Shino agreed, sending his allies forward to ensure they stayed well behind that strange, sand-wielding Suna team.

It was only after they were safely checked in at the Tower that Kiba got to ask his teammates what had them so riled up before all that bloodshed went down. Hinata began poking her fingers together the way she used to.

"They wan– th- they th-threatened that Suna k-kunoichi," she squeaked. "He said s-some awful th-things!"

Kiba gave her a dark look, searching for answers. "Like that?" Like a rape threat? Kiba didn't want to say those words! Shino nodded and then Hinata slightly did, too, although her gaze was on the ground.

As Shino polished his sunglasses over and over again, Kiba looked into Shino's bright hazel eyes over Hinata's head. The two boys nodded at each other, silently promising to get stronger so that they could always protect Hinata-hime from anything like that!

And everyone else, too!

.

As soon as they'd been escorted to their room in the center of Konoha's Forest of Death, Temari summoned a weasel to ensure that they were really alone. This particular summon was an expert in finding and chasing off spies - and even sniffing out listening devices or cameras. "Gaara, what happened?!"

"What happened?" Kankuro repeated angrily. "Are you kidding? I'm just sorry I couldn't do what Gaara did to those sick fucks!"

Temari looked at him sympathetically but then moved to begin looking through her scrolls to find some pain reliever to give to Gaara.

Kankuro sat down beside him. "You got another headache, little bro? You can lie down and we'll bring you some chow. The cafeteria looked pretty good."

"I think someone should stay with him," Temari said out loud, crossing the room to grab a glass to fill with water. "Here, Gaara; take this. It'll help."

"Thank you," Gaara replied shakily. He took the pain reliever and hoped that it would start working soon. And that Shukaku will shut up! Ever since that strange man approached him, the tanuki had been on a tear, screaming that he needed to kill everyone around him. And he wouldn't be reasoned with - especially since he got to Konoha.

He'd approached Naruto, wanting to say hello, and then his brother had gotten ahead of himself. Shukaku, the one-tailed tanuki demon he'd been sealed with, had gone from angry and crazy to insane and beside himself for some reason when Kankuro picked on that little kid - and did the same again later with that strange-hared Jonin. The tanuki's screeching at that point had been so loud that he couldn't hear anything else. "You two should go ahead and get some food. I'll be fine." His siblings looked at each other for a long moment and Gaara said what he should've said after it happened. "I'm sorry for what I did in the forest. It must have brought up… bad memories."

Long ago, he'd had some tragic "accidents" when not in control of his sand, (in other words, being tortured by my father.)

"No way," Kankuro yelled, wincing and apologizing when Gaara winced and grabbed his aching head again. "You were protecting our sister," he said in a lower voice.

"I love you both but I don't need protection," Temari insisted. Both her younger brothers were such bakas that she loved dearly - but she was really worried about Gaara and had been for a bit. From what he said, his headaches had been getting worse for weeks - and he obviously wasn't sleeping.

"That guy was asking for it," Kankuro hissed. "We're not in trouble!" Temari rolled her eyes, making him feel like a child. "Seriously. Killing is allowed in the Chunin Exams."

"Can we… not talk about it?" Gaara asked before gazing at his siblings apologetically. "Unless you're mad at me."

"No way," they both cried. Kankuro continued because of course he did.

"As I said, when those guys said what they did," his eyes darted toward Temari. He sneered, shaking his head as he began to take off his war paint. "I wanted to kill them. I think I might've killed that short one before you squished him! I hope."

"Congratulations," Temari said dryly. "'Squished:' honestly, Kankuro."

"Aw, c'mon, Temari! What kinda asshole says he's gonna do something like that to a girl?"

"It's the world we live in," Temari mumbled - not at him but just because it had been so embarrassing more than anything - plus it was so unfair and gross. And no one's ever threatened me with something like that before… I've only ever been warned about those things. "I want you two to start attacking me. So that I'm definitely strong enough to take down any group of perverts all on my own!" Both boys smiled at her but didn't agree to do it. Bakas. "You two need to clean up; we all do. Kankuro; get in the shower while I get us some snacks."

Temari ignored with practiced ease how both boys mumbled about her being "bossy."

Kankuro did as told and when Temari left him alone, Gaara began to pace around the room. "What is wrong with you?" he asked the tanuki seriously in a harsh whisper.

He had other questions that were just as pressing.
- What did you do to me? He put his hand on his seal, remembering that incredibly strong shinobi who had done something to it.
- And what are you really planning, Father?

.

Asuma watched as Mito and Kakashi giggled stupidly behind what was probably (and in the latter's case, was definitely) smut. Mito, thankfully, usually put a book cover over her more well-known trashy titles while Kakashi was well-known for enjoying his filthy little romance novels at the expense of others' propriety whenever he could.

Kakashi, he'd realized over the past year, was a really good guy - despite that.

Gai was flitting between the two of them like a happy puppy - and Asuma had always known what a great person he was. Probably always.

Thinking back, Asuma easily realized what his early problem had been with the Copy Nin so long ago and it came down to one thing: jealousy. It was so ridiculous that he ever carried such a thing into adulthood, honestly. He'd like to think that he wasn't that kind of guy.

Back in the day, Asuma had wanted to graduate from the Academy during his first year there, too. As the Hokage's son (and his older siblings' youngest brother,) Asuma had been training for "fun" since before he could even remember. His father was The Professor and his older siblings were nothing to sneeze at, either, so Asuma went into the Academy knowing everything taught there. He'd definitely been more sociable than his classmate, Kakashi, but Asuma should have cut him some slack back then. Kakashi was always shy and awkward (not to mention, difficult to read because of his mask) - and had been incredibly talented but overwhelmed or at least highly uncomfortable in social situations.

As one of the strongest ninjas in the village, Hatake Sakumo, a widower, was constantly out on missions, leaving Kakashi alone or with a babysitter, he supposed. As the Hokage's fourth kid and member of a good-sized clan, Asuma's house and compound were hubs of activity while Kakashi grew up in the polar opposite of that background. It was understandable why the kid - and later, the man - was so quiet or seemingly-aloof/distant with people.

When Asuma came back to Konoha from the capitol, it took a while for him to sort out that Kakashi wasn't really a dick or conceited. Kakashi was confident but that was because he was a genius that worked hard.

When he was young, Asuma had initially steamed about being held back and forced to graduate later until his old man explained that he wanted to, as the Sandaime Hokage put it, "let's see how Kakashi-kun turns out." Unfortunately, Sakumo was set up on that mission and ended up killing himself after the village turned on him soon after, so Kakashi - reasonably - didn't turn out so well for a very long time.

Asuma was not allowed what was then considered "early graduation." A lot of other clan kids were held back, too.

He smiled bitterly to himself, remembering those extra years HE spent at the Academy fairly fondly although he'd been bored as hell. Asuma knew that between him and Kakashi, he was the lucky one - by far. Not only had he eventually been put on a team with Kurenai but Asuma had a little sister that idolized him at home back then. And two older sisters that were in the field with Hideki - but always eventually came home until the Nine-tails attack.

Kushina-oba was with them whenever she could be and where Kushina went, fun and mayhem did, too.

When together and in the village, Kushina and "Minato-oji" as he was encouraged to (but didn't) call Hokage-sama back then, holed up in an attached tiny apartment to their house, inside the Sarutobi Compound, although they had separate living quarters elsewhere. Asuma figured that Mito came into the Sarutobis' lives and stayed there because of some kind of "gotta keep the jinchuuriki close" Kage attitude. But then, of course, they all fell for the little girl. The small family was like a sea of color in a clan full of otherwise dark-haired, olive-skinned, or pale people when they were around. It was great having the Uzumaki-Namikazes around.

Well, not that her father was able to be around much...

He'd say it still was great to have Mito around, but Mito had painted his toenails an outrageous, neon orange-pink color while he'd been napping.

Back to Kakashi - it made him wonder…

Hideki put down a scroll that looked to Asuma like it listed all of the Jonin shinobis in the village. All of the kunoichis were separated at the bottom of the page. "What's this?" His sister-in-law, Riki shook her head as if to say "don't ask!"

Hideki ran his finger across his upper lip. "I've been thinking. …You sure Mito-chan doesn't like girls?"

Asuma frowned. "As in, is Mito a lesbian? No, she's into guys. –If we ever let her get a boyfriend maybe she'll realize it's better to be in a relationship with a woman." He offered a smile and bowed to Riki, thinking that was a nice compliment but she only facepalmed and went to check on the brats, murmuring complaints about him, he guessed.

Asuma raised arched a brow and wondered where Hideki was going with this: he'd just crossed off the kunoichi section of the scroll. He snorted: the list was alphabetical and Hideki began drawing a thicker and thicker "X" over all the Yamanakas. He then did the same thing to a few of their own clansmen after Xing out the Uchihas, too.

"It would be too weird for her with us," Hideki explained. They both knew about the fox's attitude when it came to the Uchihas.

Asuma shrugged, finally getting where this was going.

"Speaking of weird, I think Gai's the only person who could keep up with her."

"Nope," Asuma said, although he could see where his older brother got that idea. "Mito told me the other day that she learned that Gai's 'still' in a long-term relationship." Hideki blanked before staggering comically and had to lie down on the couch. Asuma reacted the same way when Mito informed him of that youthful little nugget of intel. He still couldn't believe that Gai had a long-time partner. He was definitely hiding that relationship well. "It's a guarded secret. Whoever Gai's with might be a civilian."

"That only narrows it down to thousands of half-insane girls - or other guys, I guess." Hideki meant that in the best way, of course.

Asuma bobbed his head. "Millions. A lot of shinobis have spouses at the capitol."

"That's true. And weird," Hideki summed up about Gai. "So let's go through the possibilities."

"And why are we doing this?"

"Because one: it gives us a frame of reference to which to become accustomed. Two: it's preparation for the Eventual Inevitable. Three, we're able to push forward acceptable candidates: acceptable to US. –And then we can go from there!"

Asuma popped some nicotine gum into his mouth since Konohamaru was running around somewhere (plus Riki would otherwise start yelling at him) and eventually agreed. Seeing a particular one-named shinobi toward the top of the list before those with surnames began, Asuma sighed. "She and Tenzo are friends."

Hideki gave his brother a look of disbelief. He knew Tenzo and Mito were friends, of course, but he also knew Tenzo from ANBU missions. Hideki loudly sighed, knowing that Asuma had probably only known the shinobi for a couple of years at most. "She like-likes him, too, I think - but Mito-chan's too much! Tenzo's powerful but mmmm - maybe deferential and 'sweet,' I guess some would call him. She'd destroy him," he said with a shrug.

Hideki went back to his list and began madly crossing out names, including all the old guys. He crossed out Ensui Nara and Asuma heartily - and vocally - agreed.

"Ensui's hot for her. Might as well cross out the rest of the Naras because they'll defer to him. –I heard he's a vengeful fucker!"

"I'm not sure of that although I've heard the same thing. Too bad, too; Mito's smart."

Asuma nodded. "Yeah. But Mi-chan's not lazy like the Naras are."

Hideki reluctantly agreed as he crossed off more names. "Hatake's smart. And strong. He's a training freak like her. People are terrified of both of them. Stamina-wise…"

"Gross," Asuma said uncomfortably, not wanting to go there although his brother probably meant "stamina" as a training or fighting thing. All this was too weird as it was, let alone talking about THAT. –As in the other kind of stamina. Yeek!

"Who else? How 'bout Shiranui?" Hideki began crossing out a few more names of shinobis that already had partners. The list was finally becoming manageable!

"Mito says there's no spark there. She likes him, though."

"Sparks can be created!"

"I guess so." It had taken a long while and a years-long separation to make the heart grow fonder or whatever for him and Kurenai to finally get together, after all. Asuma twisted his lips and narrowed his eyes. "You want to set up our sister."

"I want our baby sister to be happy. I'm her primary guard, Asuma; I watch her. Mito's stays so insanely busy because… I think she's lonely. For a partner or whatever."

"Well, that's disturbing. Okay, I guess we can change tactics and get serious about this. She definitely won't be expecting it!" Asuma stroked his beard, considering his friends more in his head than simply looking at names on paper: there were too many of them. "How 'bout Aoba?"

Hideki shrugged. "I think he bats for the home team."

"Huh. Well if you're not sure, keep him in mind, How 'bout Ebisu?"

"What are you, BLIND?" Hideki asked. Glaring at his brother in disbelief, he then rolled his eyes. "Ebisu can't stop staring at her ass even though Mito's broken at least two of his bones!"

Asuma's eyes popped out of his head. He hadn't realized that's why Ebisu had been in a cast TWICE since Mito returned to Konoha! "Why do you let him teach Kono-chan?!"

"Meh. He's a good teacher."

"Yeah, I guess so." That's what Asuma had heard about Ebisu anyway. They used to be teammates! Earlier in their careers, (and in the Academy,) Ebisu had certainly been very studious and meticulous. "How about uhhh…"

His vision slanted and Mito was making something next to Anko-chan in the Hokage's residence.

"Ha! I would suck so hard if I ever had the opportunity!"

"Oh, god - that's so gross. Somebody kill me."

"Your wish is my command, Asuma," Mito chirped sarcastically.

Minato's bright chakra signature, fortunately, appeared out of nowhere, and Asuma realized that he'd ended up falling asleep - and had just woken up. He refocused and noticed that Hatake hadn't moved away from Mito (like most men did in Minato's presence) which was good.

I guess.

He was NOT allowing himself to think about what he'd heard her say in his nightmare - what had actually happened at breakfast before the exams began when Mito embarrassed herself so.

Regarding Kakashi, though, Mito didn't like people being in fear of her terrifying father, especially in terms of how they looked at her.

"Just wanted to give you a heads up," Minato grinned proudly, "Konoha teams 11 and 8 have reached the Tower."

"Thank goodness," Kurenai and Mito said at the same time, Kurenai clutching her heart and smiling softly. Mito then jumped up, whooped, and began dancing a horrible disco-jig of sorts. Asuma realized it was going to be nearly impossible to find that dork a willing boyfriend. He'd have to tell Hideki that she'd ruined and would probably continue ruining their new plans.

"WAIT, who was first?" Mito asked her father eagerly. "And are any other teams here?!"

"Team 11 beat your team here by 9 minutes, Mito-chan."

Minato snorted as his suddenly fuming daughter began pulling out money that Kurenai happily accepted.

"A Suna team was the first to arrive, however." The Hokage gave the Konoha Jonin-senseis a look that said they all may need to work their Genins harder. Kurenai handed a few bills back to Mito as he went back to work. He threw a sign at his daughter as he shut the door behind him and went back to deal with the Exams.

"Kunoichis rule!" Mito cheered. She and Kurenai high-fived while Gai cried again, worried about his team.

Asuma saw the way Kakashi was softly smiling at his sister (for what felt like the thousandth time) and wondered if maybe it wouldn't be so hard to get them together. Hmm.

.

Samui sat with another Kumo Jonin, Lee, whom she really didn't care for. She was even more disgusted when, earlier, she saw Lee's team so easily be beaten (even allowing themselves to be restrained when they didn't seem all that hurt) in Konoha's Forest of Death. The Forest of Death was a more crowded man-made forest: a man-eating plant and insect-heavy version of the Turtle Island she knew. Turtle Island had many more gigantic animals, though.

She watched one of the monitors when (after a while,) her traveling partner's team finally got themselves untied. They quickly took out an Ame team, followed by a Suna team. "That's cool," she mumbled to herself. Maybe they finally got their acts together?

"Why thank you, Samui-chan," Lee snarked. Samui only glanced at him before going back to observing the monitors.

She couldn't believe how serious Konoha was about separating foreign teams from the others. This would have been a great opportunity for Konoha to get intel from them and the other countries participating - just like she'd been assigned to do as much as possible.

That handsome Hokage wasn't making it easy.

"Represent Kumo well, Samui, Lee," Raikage-sama ordered. "Remember that you are primarily in Konoha to obtain intelligence. –Any and everything."

Samui softly snorted to herself, remembering her leader pulling back and even wrinkling his nose in distaste at the Jonin sitting next to her when Lee nodded and winked at Raikage-sama. "So uncool."

Raikage-sama obviously thought it was uncool, too.

She gasped when the Hokage suddenly appeared inside the room.

"Forgive my sudden appearance," the Hokage said. Samui noted that he didn't look sorry at all. "I just wanted to inform you that Team Samui has reached the Tower. That is all." Off he flashed.

"What a relief," Samui grinned. I wonder how well they're doing. From what she saw on the monitors, her Genins had handled themselves well with everything EXCEPT the awful forest. Karui, especially, had been horrified by the incredibly large insects. And Omoi had looked like he would pass out every time she really saw his face as her team made their way through the second task!

She'd like to go see them but knew that the Genins were being sequestered alone on a lower floor. She'd already tried to leave her appointed quarters. Seals were up that prevented her from leaving. Samui wouldn't see her Genins until the second part of the exam was over.

"Your team only has a few more hours left to get through this, Lee-san."

"They'll be fine. And if they don't make it, they don't make it!"

Samui pulled a face as she observed the laid-back, older Jonin. What's his deal?

.

Closer to the present time -

Mikoto could do this. She had no choice but to do this. –To prepare herself for this!

She knew how those people must have gotten into the Uchiha compound and how they must have gotten into and out of Konoha but she couldn't tell Minato. –No, she had burned that bridge when she and her husband had decided to handle the Elders' (and so many others') desires to plot against her friend and one-time Genin teammate, the Hokage.

The Uchihas had burned their bridges and now she was paying for that. My sons. –My innocent, helpless grandson!

"Oh, Kushina. I wish you were here." Kushina always came up with the most outrageous or absurd things to get them out of trouble.

Whether it was watching her husband die at her son's hand or when Itachi then attacked his beloved little brother, Mikoto had obtained the cursed Mangekyo. Having learned this - did Itachi see my eyes and tell them?! Did they force Itachi to tell them?! - the Akatsuki and that damned Orochimaru - had threatened to kill her family if she didn't use her new, wretched eyes.

"My comrades and I will be in the village and will KNOW if you speak to anyone about this. Consider your sons' lives; your grandchild's life forfeit if you speak of this or fail us, Uchiha Mikoto," the blue-haired woman demanded.

That woman meant business. She had proof and…

No one was supposed to KNOW that she really had a grandchild! Shisui had taken responsibility as the father of Izumi's baby! Maybe they really didn't know! Maybe they only called me that because Shisui and Itachi were so close. Maybe I blew it when I tried to attack them! "Oh, Itachi-kun: my poor baby! -I'm so sorry 'Tachi. What am I going to do?"

And this happens right after getting my chakra back. No other Uchihas - other than Sasuke and a few younger members of the clan who secretly obtained the Sharingan that horrible day and were never put under investigation - had yet to have their chakras fully unsealed.

Minato had been merciful. He implored her to protect her beloved family when he took that seal off. He'd believed her - and believed in her! He shouldn't have.

My clan is truly cursed.

She gazed into the mirror, trying to remember where each line on her face came from. It wasn't that long ago that Mikoto was proud of each and every one of them.

She was still supposedly considered a beautiful woman. She didn't feel beautiful anymore, inside or out.

Her dark eyes spun to red, the three tomoes swirling before the Mangekyo bloomed to life. "It's actually - pretty," she breathed hysterically to herself. My new Sharingan looks like a fluffy four-leafed clover. Tilting her head, Mikoto wondered if she could genjutsu herself in this mirror right now so that she'd forget everything that happened. –Or maybe her accursed eyes would take her back in time.

What would you say, Shina-chan? Fu? – Help me, Fugaku, if you're watching over us. And please watch over Sasuke!"