Chapter Sixteen — One Child, Two Halves

"Tousan, what's going on? You've barely talked all morning," Kyoko said, stopping and crossing her arms. "Are you okay?"

Kagami stopped a couple steps ahead of her and turned. "Of course I'm okay. Just a little tired from my last mission. That's all, sweetheart." He smiled and reached out his hand to her. "C'mon. You don't want to be late."

Kyoko frowned. "You're lying to me. Why are you lying?"

He didn't answer right away. Then he sighed and stepped closer, kneeling down. "Kyoko-chan, do you trust me?"

"I—" She pulled back. "Of course."

"Good. Then let's get you to the Academy. I'll pick you up afterward, okay?"

"Nothing's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong."

She took a deep breath and held out her hand. "Okay."

Kagami beamed and took her hand, standing and leading the way. When they reached the Academy and he released her, she looked up at him with a smile, "I love you, Tousan. I'm sorry for whatever's bothering you."

Kagami cleared his throat, staring at the Academy and not her. "Go on in, Kyoko-chan," he murmured. "I'll be here when you're done."

Kyoko frowned, but she did as he said. As she reached her classroom, she found that her sensei was waiting outside the door for her. He pointed to the classroom across the hall instead. "Go in there and wait."

She paused. "Sensei, why—"

"Go in there and wait," he said again.

She snapped her mouth shut and nodded. Kyoko slid open the door and stepped in. She closed the door slowly behind her, frowning at the room. There was a desk at the front and a single table at the back of the room, leaving a large amount of empty space between the two.

Oh.

Kyoko moved to sit at the table, shoulders squared and chin lifted. She took a deep breath and waited.

A few minutes later, the door opened. The man that looked inside gave her an appraising look but not a smile. "Uchiha Kyoko?" When she nodded, he stepped in and closed the door. As he moved to the desk, he said, "I'm Taro-sensei. I'll be conducting your graduation exam."

She'd been sitting outside the Hokage's Office for almost an hour, holding the hitai-ate tightly in her hands. Tight enough that the metal was almost biting into her palms, despite its dull edge. She couldn't hear anything from the room, which meant that the soundproofing seals were up and she definitely wasn't meant to know what all was going on inside. After the initial ten minutes, she'd relocated from the bench to the floor, lotus-style, and had since sat in silence. Waiting. Just waiting.

The door opened. Kyoko snapped to her feet. Taro stepped aside to make room. "Come inside."

Kyoko nodded and dropped her hands to her sides, clutching the headband in her right hand. She stepped inside, glancing across the people in the room—Taro, the Hokage, Kagami, Tsunade. She focused on Hiruzen and came to a stop in the middle of the room, bowing. "Sandaime-sama."

"Kyoko-chan," he greeted. "I'm sorry for making you wait so long. I'm sure today has been a little overwhelming for you."

She ran her thumb over the Konoha emblem on her hitai-ate. "Not especially. Unexpected, but not overwhelming."

He smiled. "That's good to know, at least. We've been busy discussing your scores. You did graduate. Let me make that clear. And I see that Taro-sensei made sure you got your hitai-ate."

"He did. Thank you."

"As I understand, you were not shown your results, correct?" Without waiting for an answer, he motioned her forward and tapped the papers on his desk. "Take a look."

She stepped up and looked across the scores. They were higher than her last time around. Much higher. In fact . . . .

"They're good?" she asked, despite knowing already just how good they were.

"They're perfect," Hiruzen said, smiling. "We've never had a perfect score before. The closest was Minato-kun, and he was just two points off."

She looked up and then glanced back at Kagami. That proved to be a mistake because she'd never seen her father look so distraught before. When he noticed she was looking at him, he quickly rearranged his face into a smile. But it was too late. Kyoko snapped back around. "Obito's sensei?"

"Minato-kun's an impressive brat," Tsunade put in. "You're on track to be more so."

Kyoko turned to her. "Are you here because you're going to apprentice me?"

Tsunade huffed. "Well, you were stubborn enough about it. And I figured you'll be an easier student than anyone else Sensei could stick me with."

"You need to be back here in the morning at seven so we can complete your file," Hiruzen said. "And then you'll have your first day training under Tsunade. But for now, I think you should have the rest of the day to yourself and your family. To celebrate."

Kyoko didn't look back at her father, and she managed a smile. "Thank you."

"I would apologize for being late, but this was quite last minute."

Kagami looked up and then shot to his feet. "Mikoto-hime. Fugaku-sama." He pulled out a chair for his cousin. "I am sorry for that, but this entire day has been somewhat last minute. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and tell you what happened while also celebrating."

"Celebrating?" she asked, glancing across the twins there. She focused in on Kyoko. "Where's your hitai-ate?"

Kyoko straightened. "How did you know?"

Fugaku raised an eyebrow. "You graduated?"

Shisui grinned, leaning onto the table. "Her headband looks super cool. She looks like a real shinobi."

"I am a real shinobi now," Kyoko said, turning a smile to him. She reached over and looped her fingers around his wrist, tugging until he sat back down. Then she gripped his hand in hers. She looked to Fugaku. "I did," she confirmed.

Fugaku nodded. "Impressive. What were your scores?"

Kyoko released Shisui and turned so she could get the paper from her kunai pouch. She unfolded it, smoothing out the creases, and handed it over. Then she took Shisui's hand again.

Fugaku took it and remained impassive as he read it. When he finished, he set the paper on the table in front of Mikoto. "A perfect score has never happened before. Namikaze got close, but even he didn't manage it. You've done the clan, and me, proud."

Kyoko straightened and squeezed Shisui's hand. Her shoulders felt lighter at that. Fugaku didn't give out praise easily. "Thank you, Fugaku-sama."

"Kyoko-chan," Mikoto said, not looking up from the paper and bouncing Itachi softly in her arms. "Good job."

"Who is your sensei?" Fugaku asked.

Kyoko nodded, clearing her throat. "Senju Tsunade has agreed to take me on as an apprentice. I'm hoping to focus on both iryo-ninjutsu and combat."

At that, Mikoto did look up. "Be careful," she warned. "Don't spread yourself too thin."

Kyoko smiled and tightened her grip on Shisui's hand. Just to make sure he was still there. "I won't."