This chapter will have a throwback to Chapter 10.5, the Graduation Ceremony.

Also, to answer a question from the last chapter: Yes, Morty (and Boomer) are new characters. I just decided to write a side story with Morty playing a somewhat central role. I might bring him and Boomer up in future chapters.

Enjoy...

CHAPTER 26

Noon, the next day

The village woke up later than normal. The sun was already at the top of the sky when the first villager yawned out of their home.

It was strange. But it was also the best sleep they had ever had. Dreamless and peaceful.

There was some strange static at the entrance of the village, startling the few people who passed the area to go and hunt. Though nothing was out of place. The sun was shining and a heavy powder of snow blanketed the landscape, making the earth glow dimly, with the light of the sun only illuminating the country, not warming it.

Life gradually went back to normal.

Genji was a heavy sleeper, refusing to be shaken awake by anything less than a bomb blast outside his door, but his internal clock woke him up unfailingly every single morning since he fled Whirlpool. He grumbled sourly and palmed his face as he slumped against the doorframe of his house; he didn't wake up this groggy. He never woke up this groggy. Normally, his eyes would spring awake and his mind would assess his immediate environment, but now his body struggled to shake off the sleep.

He glanced over his shoulder and his wife turned over in her bed, holding their child as she slept. It was a sight that would have given him joy any other day, seeing his family enjoying their sleep, but that wasn't the case today; unlike him, his wife woke up at the drop of a hat. If a pin fell at the entrance of the village, she would leap upright in gasping panic. As quietly as he moved to leave the bed, slowly and carefully pulling his massive frame away and off the bed, she would still wake up, bright-eyed and alarmed, as if she never slept and was waiting for something bad to happen. Genji loved seeing her when she slept because she was at peace.

The man exhaled and shook his head. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

He rubbed his eyes and peered outside, noticing, for the first time, that his guests were having a small meeting outside, at the end of the road where his shop was located.

His niece, Ichika, had her back to him and was speaking hushed words to Yusuke. One hand rested on the butt of her katana and her stance was rigid, occasionally turning her head left and right. Her short, orange hair was neatly combed and her circular spectacles were adjusted on her face. Her clothes were clean, except for her sandals and the bottom of her kimono, which was dirtied with snow and mud. She looked like she had been awake for hours.

Yusuke on the other hand was slouched on a wooden bench and wearily rubbing his eyes. The twins sat on the same bench to Yusuke's right, one yawned into her hand and the other stretched her arms over their head.

Genji saw Ichika's ears twitch and she looked over her shoulder at him. Her purple eyes were narrow and her lips were twisted into a scowl, before her expression briefly brightened and she sent her uncle a small wave, returning to her comrades.

That moment when Genji saw his niece's displeasure confirmed to him that something indeed happened the other night.

He approached them, stalking up the road with heavy, deliberate steps. Each house he passed didn't have much activity, with them waking up as well and others leaving the village for one task or the other. Snow from the other night hadn't yet been swept off the street. Yusuke jutted his chin toward Genji as the Uzumaki neared them, saying something under his breath before Ichika stepped aside and stood beside Yusuke.

"Morning, uncle." The girl smiled. Or she tried to; a mysterious annoyance glinted in her eyes. Not directed at her uncle, Genji realised, but at herself. The girl self-consciously crossed her arms.

"Morning," he responded. He inhaled a deep breath and breathed out from his mouth. He went straight to the point. "What happened?"

"We just had some visitors the other night. No reason to be alarmed," Yusuke said, gesturing to Ichika. "She took care of it." Here, Genji saw the girl's frown deepen and she turned her face away, scowling petulantly. Yusuke and the twins didn't notice, as the man continued, "Have you made your decision?"

"Yes."

"And?"

The man's lips turned down a little. "How would I know that you people wouldn't bankrupt us on purpose?"

The twins looked offended. They chimed in at the same time, "There's no profit in running down an already poor village. If your business fails, we also lose." Whisper Group would lose credibility in their ability to spot talent and they would lose money. Both of those things—credibility and money—were important to Naruto. "We're going to go above and beyond to make sure your business doesn't fail." One of the twins, Genji didn't know which, began to list out potential benefits, "Money."

The other twin flicked their pointer finger upwards. "Check."

"New equipment."

"Check."

"People to help manage your money."

"Check."

"Jobs for the villagers."

"Check."

"Protection. Food and other supplies for your family and the village. Access to our supply network."

"Check. Check. And check."

"We just want you to keep being a blacksmith. Teach your craft to your apprentices. Let us," Yusuke motioned to himself, the twins, and even Ichika, "do the rest. You have nothing to fear, Genji."

"Then let's shake on it," Genji said with a slight smirk, holding out his hand, but not to Yusuke or the twins. Ichika's eyebrows shot up when her uncle faced her with an outstretched hand, waiting for her response.

She looked at the offered hand, a meaty paw that was hardened by callouses and striped with burn scars. She glanced at Yusuke and the man wore a pleasantly surprised smile, shrugging at her and then nodding.

"Uncle," Ichika shook her uncle's hand. His hand enclosed her entire hand up to her wrist, "you've got yourself a deal."

Genji smiled. Actually smiled. The upward curl of his lips almost showed through the dense thicket of hair that was his beard. His shoulders slumped a little and his beady purple eyes crinkled with relief. He shook the girl's hand with subdued vigour, trying his best not to dislocate her shoulder. "I'm glad."

The twins cheered.

Yusuke clapped his hands, now more awake than ever, and stood up. "Expect the first investment by this night."

"2 million ryu plus the new tools and metals, right?" Genji confirmed.

Yusuke nodded. "The two accountants and the auditor we promised will be here later this afternoon." He clasped his hands eagerly and smiled. "They've done this before in Kumo. Many times." Directly managing Whisper Group's investments, all of them clarified in their minds, "They're former samurai from Snow and they have some families close to the Iron Capital, so they have an idea about local politics and all that. They also know their way around a sword, if you know what I mean. Don't worry about them. Let them do their jobs and you do yours."

The Whisper Group samurai trio that was coming from Kumo had great references within their organisation, as their pairing was the deciding factor in the organisation dominating Kumo's industries. They had managed and supervised countless large businesses Naruto bought in Kumo, including an tree farm that grew oranges, plums, and cherries, a beverage company that supplied natural fruit juice to the Kumo Academy and also sold energy drinks to supermarkets across Lightning Country, a drug company that supplied over-the-counter medication to Kumo's hospital and other clinics across the country, and an up-and-coming newspaper company that was competing with Kumo's oldest newspaper organisations. The samurai trio had been able to push those businesses out of loss within three years into breaking even, leaning towards profit.

Saying that they knew what they were doing was a gross understatement.

"How will you get the new equipment into the village?" Genji asked, releasing Ichika's hand and facing Yusuke.

It was a valid question since 10 million ryu worth of new blacksmithing equipment to replace nearly everything Genji already had, as well as raw metals to be turned into metalworks would need to be carried in no less than ten caravans. Border security would need to be cleared from the Iron Daimyo to allow in that massive shipment of items into the country, and that could take weeks. Sealing them into a storage seal and smuggling them across the border was also risky since the amount of load inside one or more seals would attract the attention of detection seals and sensors. It was possible to draw storage seals that had suppressors etched into the seals to reduce the amount of chakra keeping the large items sealed, but that was close to level eight mastery, something Whisper Group didn't have.

Yet.

"Well…it's a bit complicated." The man scratched his head. "We can't use the Kaska valley anymore, since that route's compromised." Genji raised his eyebrows at that but he didn't ask for Yusuke to elaborate, and the other man didn't offer to, continuing, "Coming through Fire Country will take too long and using Iron Country's seaport will take even longer…" He flippantly waved away Genji's concern. "Don't worry about it. Just know that the supplies will be here after dark."

Genji's eyes darkened. His jaw was tense. "I'm not used to letting someone else handle my business…"

Yusuke pursed his lips. For once, he didn't know what to say.

Ichika, to their surprise, leaned in and said reluctantly, "If you don't mind, uncle, I can hang around the village until you're more at ease."

The man's glower moved from Yusuke to his niece, staring past her reflective glasses to her wide, purple eyes. A corner of her lips flicked up and the man wilted at the sincerity of her expression, poised to accept rejection but hopeful nonetheless. He said to her, "You're always welcome to stay, Ichika." He half-smiled back at her, reaching out and tousling her hair. "Matter of fact, I'd appreciate it if you stuck around."

The girl beamed under his large paw, even as his hand messed up her neat hair. The twins quietly let out an aww at the adorable sight.

Yusuke was hesitant to interrupt their moment. "Would…you like us to send someone to help install the new forge?" he turned and scrutinised the Genji's workshop, placing his hands on his hips. "We might need to expand your workshop too. To accommodate for the increased production, more students, and whatnot. Better to do these kinds of adjustments now when things are fresh than postpone them, y'know."

Genji's workshop was three times the size of an average home in the village, which wasn't that big for a smithy but it was just about sizeable enough to not be a fire hazard and ventilated with windows and a chimney so as not to be a smoke hazard. The anvil, hammers, tongs, and vice were inside, a short walk from the coal forge, and a rack holding the blacksmithing aprons and gloves was at the entrance. That and a barrel of grimy brown water for dunking hot metals. A quick look at the area around the workshop showed that it could safely be expanded without intruding on neighbouring homes.

"I know how to install a forge." Genji stepped to his workshop and looked at it, standing there for a long moment. Then he shook his head. "This workshop has been here for over a hundred years." He placed a rough hand on the aged wooden door of his smithy, feeling the uneven, chipped wood that was so prone to give splinters. He looked up at the stone walls that had flecks of ice from the previous night, with some of the ice running along the glassless windows. His purple stare lifted to the wooden shingles on the roof and the brick and stone chimney that jutted up. The workshop was just enough to fit Genji and his two sons. The building was a relic of the past. "This is all that's left of the Takayama legacy." He faced the Whisper Group delegation with a sad smile. "I can't knock it down."

"Then we won't," one of the twins said.

"We can build a bigger one behind it," the other twin added. "Just an extension of the original."

"It'll fit in the budget," the first twin said.

"Your accountants know what to do."

Yusuke nodded in agreement. "Yes. I can see it now." He held up his hands and framed the ramshackle workshop. "This one can be for the main production. The new one's for training the apprentices and practical lessons. In one to two years, the apprentices of the new workshop would start producing metalworks for sale."

For less than a second, Genji's eyes swam. Ichika saw the relief and gratefulness in his murky eyes. He truly didn't want his adopted family's legacy to be torn down, even if it was for the greater good. Credit to the delegation, they easily accommodated her uncle's worries. Then Genji blinked and his face became stoic. He nodded with a grunt. "Sounds good." He stood aside as his sons came up to the workshop, yawning widely and shuffling their feet. He patted their backs as they walked inside, greeting them with a low, "good morning," as they passed.

"So…" The twins grinned and rubbed their hands. "What's for lunch? We're starving."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Two kilometres north

Higashiyama Fishing Hole

Sam didn't like it when his siblings got quiet around each other. It meant that someone was angry and the other person was too stubborn to apologise.

This case was a little different.

Razor was sitting on a stump, her legs pulled to her body and looking out into the frozen lake with a vacant stare. A light powder of snow covered her badly cut hair and shoulders, not melting off as her bloodline hadn't yet reactivated. She bore a vicious black eye, a cut lip, and dried tracks of blood trickled from her nose. The bruises on her cheeks and chin made her look horrific, though the girl didn't acknowledge her wounds.

She was worryingly silent.

Meanwhile, Sandy was blissfully asleep, propped upright by the stump but slouching badly, so much so that the crown of his head nearly touched his lap. His hood was pulled back to show scratches on his face, sustained from being dragged on his face for one mile on top of the hard, stony ground. It also didn't look like it, but Sandy had tried not to sleep. He really had.

Sam distinctly remembered One dragging Sandy to the Kaska Valley, which was three kilometres south of their position, so he had many questions about how Sandy reached the fishing hole before even they did. For now, that didn't matter.

His other brother, Ninety-Nine, was in the middle of the frozen lake, seated on a wooden stool near a rough, square-shaped hole. He was fishing. He was leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, holding the fairly used fishing rod with both hands while the fishing line sank inside the hole in the frozen lake.

His back was to them. Ignoring them.

Razor stared at him. She gnawed on her thumbnail.

They had been like this for the past six hours. No one wanted to say anything, but no one wanted to leave. Not yet.

They weren't used to leaving an issue unresolved. They weren't used to letting ill-will between siblings' fester for longer than a day. Things needed to be said to amend any problems they had so they could move on and love each other again. That was how they did things in CORE.

Even as Naruto came to the fishing hole many hours ago, his siblings followed him of their own free will, subconsciously wanting the resentment among them to end that day. He wasn't holding Razor hostage anymore. The previous animosity for Naruto was long gone, replaced by an unknown mixture of grief and regret. Their first instinct was to resolve their problems before departing, though this problem was too much to bear.

Their situation now was too complicated.

Sam had kept such a big secret from them, their family, for the past three years. Not only that, but he lied to their faces whenever the CORE siblings asked themselves…

Why did big brother run away?

He might not have known the entire answer but he had an idea why.

Sam had an idea why their brother ran away from home, and he said nothing.

Sam collapsed onto his knees and sobbed. "I said I'm sorry!" he cried to his brother. His face was flushed a dark shade of red and his normally neat hair was now in disarray from stress. Naruto didn't so much as flinch at his brother's pleas. He was hurt by this revelation. He still wasn't in any mood to talk. Sam dragged himself to Razor, gripping her arms and shaking her gently, weeping freely. Tears clogged his throat and he clutched his chest, gasping and crying. "Sister, please, I'm sorry…"

Razor's compound eye slithered down to look at him, then at the hand holding her arm.

Her lips pulled back into a murderous snarl and Sam pulled his hand away, as if her arm had caught fire, shifting back as the girl gutturally growled at him. Her teeth were gnashed and her compound eyes flickered with electricity.

"Don't touch me," she spat foully.

Sam whimpered, wringing his hands and sobbing incoherently. He didn't have it in him to feel betrayed by her words; he deserved it.

Flashback: The other night

Let's talk, Naruto signed with three gestures, pointing at them—him and Razor—and at Sam, then mimicking mouths moving with his fingers.

Sam bobbed his head and slowly straightened up, leaving his sword on the ground and holding his hands out to show he was unarmed. That gesture itself meant little to Naruto since Sam could materialise blades from anywhere within a half mile of him without hand seals and send them into his byakugan blind spot, but Naruto appreciated the gesture nonetheless. You wouldn't know by just looking at him, especially when he wore his samurai uniform, but Sam was one of Danzo's most skilled operatives.

Still, Naruto firmly kept a kunai pressed into Razor's neck, just to warn Sam not to do anything stupid, and with his other hand he reached around and grabbed Razor's left hand, crossing his index and middle fingers against hers.

"The fuck are you doing?" Razor teased, speaking with narrowed eyes and grit teeth.

A shadow clone burst into existence on Naruto's right side.

Sam smiled shakily. "You know how to do Cooperation Ninjutsu. Very cool." It was a technique more suited to largescale jutsu, like fireballs and landslides, where chakra was taxed evenly, but Naruto only used it to form one shadow clone and collected most of the chakra requirements for the jutsu, instead of his weakened sister.

The clone bowed with a cheeky flourish and gingerly switched places with the original, keeping the blade firmly against Razor's neck while placing his other hand on her forehead to keep her from bringing her chin down against the blade.

The girl gnashed her teeth and swore under her breath, helpless. "You're going to be sorry, lover boy." She heaved, straining to wriggle her fingers, but too weak to do so. The combined effect of losing contact with ions and having her chakra points blocked prevented her from feeling her fingers and toes, much less being able to move at all. She growled murderously. "When I get my hands on you…"

The original Naruto rolled his eyes. He took two steps forward and stood where both Razor and Sam could see him sign. He clapped his hands and Razor's lips shut, pressed together tightly and glaring up at him.

Naruto pointed to Sam, a hopeful smile tickling the corners of his lips. "Did you tell them?"

Sam's brow furrowed. "Tell them what?"

Naruto's eyes squinted. "The thing that happened that night. During our graduation."

Perspiration broke out on Sam's brow. "A lot of stuff happened that night, brother—"

Naruto snapped his fingers, silencing the samurai. "Danzo," the brazen mention of their master's name made both Sam and Razor flinch, "sent you to kill me. You, Cassie, and Six, remember?"

Razor stilled with confusion, looking between Naruto and Sam. Her need for understanding outweighed vengeance.

Sam stammered. His mouth opened and closed, not saying anything and waving his hands, pleading for Naruto to lower his tone. As if the mute boy was yelling something incriminating.

Naruto snapped his fingers again. "You told them, right?" he whirled around for Razor to see him, addressing her, "Did he tell you guys that Danzo sent him and two others to kill me during the graduation ceremony?"

Razor's face twisted with sincere confusion, tilting her head to the side. Her compound eyes moved from Naruto to Sam, who was sweating profusely. "What's he talking about, Sam?"

"W-Well…" Sam started, chuckling humourlessly and scratching the back of his head, "you see…" The geniality of his wording stopped when Naruto levelled him with a tense, stoic stare. The hopeful expression on Naruto's face was gone. "I don't know about the others, but Master…asked me to…test you—"

Naruto's plain face pulled back into a hateful snarl. "Tell the truth."

"He…He…" Sam licked his lips. Suddenly, his throat was very dry. He needed a drink of water. He couldn't breathe. "Master…told me to kill you. In exchange for not killing anybody else during our graduation."

His answer seemed to drag the air out of Naruto's body. The boy sagged, holding his stomach.

It made sense why Sam was chosen, among the other two that were selected to murder Naruto during their graduation; when Naruto was weakened physically and mentally, and his chakra was completely depleted, he wouldn't be able to see or dodge any blade coming at him from his blind spot. His sister, Cassie, had been able to successfully stab Naruto with one of Sam's swords because of this deadly lapse in concentration.

Six was unfortunately the first of Naruto's assassins to die; Naruto had struck his core, exploding it, and Six's hive rebelled, eating him from the inside out, then subsequently cannibalising themselves to the last insect, whom at itself to death.

Ironically, Sam had been the one to kill Cassie when he accidentally stabbed her after she stabbed Naruto.

Naruto killed seventy-five of his siblings.

Sam only killed one.

The samurai blubbered hurried, "You were his favourite. I-I-I thought that master wanted to test you—"

Naruto bared his teeth and stomped to his brother, jabbing an unforgiving finger into Sam's chest hard enough for the samurai to stumble back half a step. "You're full of shit."

"Brother—"

"You can pretend to be innocent but don't pretend to be blind. Don't pretend to be stupid." Naruto's disgust was palpable. His activated byakugan burned madly. "Danzo hates me. He wanted me to be weakened, then you, Cassie, and Six gang up on me and kill me. That's what happened." Sam didn't have any words to say to his irate brother. He couldn't say anything. His shoulders slouched and his hands flopped uselessly. He couldn't meet Naruto's blazing eyes. "You went with his plan just so you didn't get any of our siblings' blood on your hands. Just mine."

"Master…wants you dead…?" Razor breathed out in a frail tone. She was fully slumped against the clone, not minding the kunai on her throat and regarding Naruto with shaky disbelief. "That doesn't make sense. Master loves us—"

Naruto wound around, mad beyond recognition. "He loves you." He pointed a harsh finger at his sister, and she flinched at the gesture, surprised at his display of discomposure, with his narrowed eyes, beastly grit teeth and the beastly curl of his lips. He pointed at Sam as well. "He loves you." He jammed his fingers on his chest, indicating himself. "Danzo never loved me."

Sam made to speak but Naruto unravelled the bandages on his hands, showing them the black spots on his palms and wrists.

"Do you see this?" he showed them his hands. "This is from chakra control training NEITHER OF YOU HAD TO GO THROUGH!"

The normally composed boy exploded on his siblings, allowing the current of emotions that surged out of his spirit to take control. The revelation that Sam stood idly by while the rest of their family closed their eyes to Naruto's plight, never clueing in on Danzo putting Naruto on a hitlist during their graduation. Razor flinched again, cringing away from the fire in Naruto's byakugan, and Sam took a cautious backstep, but they couldn't deny what they were seeing.

They—Razor, Sam, and their other siblings—underwent relatively normal chakra control training and they were healed quickly if anything went wrong. Selective blindness made them not see the hell Naruto went through in the name of shinobi training.

They all just assumed that Naruto was Danzo's favourite operative.

Yes, Naruto was efficient on missions. He was Danzo's best operative. He got the job done. That reinforced their belief that their master saw more potential in Naruto than the others.

They purposely looked the other way while Naruto was made to burst the chakra points of his hands and feet, opening and closing the tenketsu without allowing them to heal in between attempts. That left Naruto with scarred hands. On the plus side, Naruto's chakra control was the best among their siblings.

It was easier to think that Naruto, their big brother, was Danzo's favourite. Far easier than thinking that the harsh and inhumane training was meant to destroy Naruto's will to live. They saw what they wanted to see, not what was truly happening.

Naruto pulled down the bandages around his neck and tapped his throat.

"Look at this?" he showed them the scar from when Kakashi kicked his throat. "You were all there when he DENIED me healing!" Naruto unloaded on them, jabbing a finger into the side of his head and then furiously signing. "Day after day. He would never let me rest in between missions. He would push me through another training. Another errand. More Atonement for crimes in never committed." Naruto shook his head forlornly, feeling the wrath trickle from his body. "I loved him too. Once. I thought he did all of that for my own good. I…didn't say anything. I couldn't…. I only realised how much he hated me when he sent you guys to kill me." He glared at Sam. "Do you still think I'm Danzo's favourite?"

Sam didn't say anything. He couldn't.

Razor didn't notice when the clone lowered the kunai on her throat, letting her lean on him.

Naruto pressed his hands to his face and stood still, breathing in from his nose and slowly exhaling from his mouth. None of them noticed when One came back. Alone. She stood away, fairly out of sight, wearing a thoughtful frown.

Even she didn't have anything to say.

Their brother had been suffering. They saw him suffering too. And yet they did nothing.

Naruto turned to Sam. His pale eyes were droopy with tiredness. Exasperation. He signed hesitantly, "Why didn't you say anything, brother?"

Sam's lips opened but only a dry wheeze came out. He tried again, gaping helplessly, until he managed to squeeze out, "Brother…I couldn't…. I was scared. E-Everyone would hate me."

Naruto's hands fell and his shoulders sank. He regarded Sam with a disdainful frown, with his lips pressed tightly together.

"Rather everyone hates him than you, right?" Razor cut in suddenly. Naruto looked at her and a heavy sigh came from his nose at the fierce glower the speedster was giving Sam, still helpless, but that seemed to be a good thing in this case. If Razor had her wits about her and was at full strength, little could keep her from plucking Sam's ribs out of his torso.

"It's not like that," Sam said helplessly. He faced One and pleaded, saying again, "It's not like that."

Naruto casually bobbed his head. He first rewrapped the bandages around his throat, then tightened the ones on his hands, tucking the end of the bandage close to his wrist. He clenched his fists twice, then swung at Sam with a wide haymaker, knocking the samurai onto the ground. Even One was taken aback by Naruto's sudden attack, backtracking once but then hurrying to them and kneeling beside Sam. Naruto hovered over his brother, who stared up at him in horrific surprise, holding his bruised cheek and barely sitting up on the ground.

Naruto's face was even. Expressionless. He shook his hand and rubbed his sore knuckles, flexing his hands as he turned. He walked away unceremoniously. His shadow clone left Razor by herself, letting her sit upright on her own, while it gathered all of Naruto's lightning rods, leaving the siblings alone afterwards.

One, satisfied that Sam hadn't lost a tooth and was only smarting from the blow, left the boy and hurried to meet her other brother.

A handful of minutes passed.

Sam was still on the ground, holding his cheek and gaping in the direction Naruto had gone. Razor carefully picked herself up from the ground, patting the snow and dirt from her bottom. She cast a harsh look at Sam, then walked off in the direction Naruto had gone.

Flashback End

Razor stepped off the stump she had been sitting on and took a small step onto the frozen lake. Her bare foot threatened to slip but she pressed forward, one careful step at a time until she got to Naruto. She stood over her brother, looking from him to the jagged hole in the lake. He glanced up at her briefly before he shuffled a bit to the side, allowing Razor to share the small wooden stool.

Razor pursed her lips, split between being glad that for once Naruto wasn't ignoring her and thoughtful about the last twelve hours. "…Have you caught anything yet?"

He jerked his head to his left and she leaned around him to see two flat, fifteen-inch fish close to Naruto's foot. Their scales were a gradient of deep red to pale brown from their belly to their back. They were on the smaller side.

"Are you going to eat them?"

Naruto shrugged. Razor had only eaten some rations and an energy drink for breakfast, splitting it with Sandy before the boy slumped back to sleep. She wasn't starving, but she could eat.

Razor gnawed on her bottom lip.

Naruto eyed her from the corner of his eyes. He raised an eyebrow, wordlessly asking, "What?"

"Do…" she cleared her throat. Naruto returned his eyes to the fishing hole. "Do…you hate us?"

Naruto scoffed incredulously, leaning to her a little and bumping his shoulder against hers. He shook his head. No.

"I won't blame you if you do." She half-smiled, lacing her hands together and setting them between her knees. She glanced at him reluctantly. "We really thought you were master's favourite. All of us did."

The boy shrugged.

"Do you know why master hates you?"

Naruto shook his head slowly.

"Do you have any idea?"

He shook his head.

Sam approached them quietly, applying chakra to his feet to keep him from sliding on the ice. He squatted down on Naruto's other side, wrapping his arms around his legs. He briefly flicked his eyes down at the fish, then up to his big brother.

Naruto looked down at him. His lips were tight and the bridge of his nose was wrinkled. He shook his head mutely and faced away.

He couldn't stay mad at Sam. He couldn't stay mad at any of his siblings. It wasn't in Naruto's nature.

The three CORE siblings looked around when they heard a rough shambling behind them, seeing Sandy sliding on the ice, eyes half-lidded and seemingly more asleep than awake, reaching them and summarily slumping on Naruto's back, putting all of his weight on Naruto. His neck was on Naruto's right shoulder and his arms circled Naruto's stomach, half-kneeling and half-squatting behind his brother. The perpetual yin chakra ebbing from Sandy draped over them but none of them fell asleep since they were immune to the effects.

Sandy's Mangekyo looked down over Naruto's shoulder. He then shut them. A soft snore rumbled from the boy's mouth seconds later. Sam cracked a shy smile and Razor rolled her eyes, smirking.

Naruto couldn't help it. He laughed.

Authors note

What do you think of the story so far? Let me know your thoughts in a review!

Foy.