Author's Note: I live! I'm sorry for the incredibly long break; life has been a little crazy. But I have returned! And with me I bring another chapter!

PS: At the request of a reader, all chapters on AO3 now have a summary of the chapter at the end.

Fun Fact: I've been slowly switching all my Samsaric information over from physical notes and one word document into Scrivener. So far, I have something like 300 separate pages of information for the story.

Chapter Twenty-Three - Antithesis

[antithesis—noun 1: opposition, contrast 2: the direct opposite 3: the placing of a sentence or one of its parts against another to which it is opposed to form a balanced contrast of ideas 4: the second sentence or part thus set in opposition 5: see under Hegelian Dialect]

"Why are we still doing theory?"

I looked up from the book to find that Sakura was standing over us. I raised an eyebrow. "Sorry?"

"Elemental theory. We've done it forever now. When are we going to do jutsu?"

I glanced across the rest of the group to find that they were paying attention now too. With a sigh, I reached out and closed Kakashi's book, handing it back to Sasuke. "When we're ready."

"We are ready." She frowned. "Are you just waiting for Sai to catch up? I'm pretty sure he was ahead of most of us in the first place."

I had to keep myself from clenching my teeth, glancing towards Sai. "That's not it. It has nothing to do with Sai," I lied.

"Then why?"

"We're not ready yet."

"Um . . . Mirai-chan?"

I looked towards Hinata. "Yes?"

"Um." She flushed and glanced to the side. But when Shino nodded to her, she dragged her gaze back to me. "Um, S-sakura-chan is right. If, if we don't do it now, are . . . are we ever gonna be ready?"

I tried to keep myself from looking at Sai again. So instead, I looked to Shikamaru. He shrugged. "She has a point."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Okay, fine. Let's put it to a vote. Who thinks they're ready to try elemental jutsu?"

Hands shot into the air. I glanced across everyone, making sure to level a glare at Shikamaru when I realized his hand was up too. There was only one hand not raised. I frowned at where Kiba was sulking on the ground, arms crossed. "Kiba? What do you want?"

His glare snapped to me. "I want to go home. I didn't even wanna be here."

"Is that why your sister dragged you here today?" Shikamaru asked flatly.

Kiba huffed.

I groaned. "Alright, you know what, okay. We'll meet at the lake next week and start with some jutsu. But for now, let's go ahead and break early today." I got to my feet and started gathering and sealing away my things. "We have a family dinner with Kakashi, so we should go get ready."

Kiba scoffed, standing up. "Why do you call it that? You're not even family."

"Hey!" Naruto cut in. "We are too! Rai's my sister!"

"I was talking about Kakashi, dobe," Kiba said, twisting Sasuke's name for Naruto, which got a scowl from the Uchiha.

"He's family too!"

"Oh, c'mon, you don't even have a mark!" Kiba said, jabbing a finger at Naruto.

I stepped forward, putting an arm in front of Naruto to shield him from Kiba. I frowned. "What do you mean mark?"

"A mark," he said, as if it was obvious. "He's a Hatake. Kaachan said they're like us and they give marks to family. And I don't see one on you, so you're not family."

"Of course he is." I frowned. "I think we need to take some deep breaths, Kiba. What's up with you today?"

He just scowled. "I don't want to be here."

"Kiba—"

"No! You can't just tell me what to do just 'cause you think you're smarter than everyone."

"I—"

"I quit! I quit this stupid group with your stupid rules and your stupid words, okay? I quit!" He whipped around and stalked away.

"Um . . . Rai, is Kiba okay?" Naruto asked cautiously.

I frowned. "I'm . . . not sure. I'll try to talk to Tsume."

"Good luck," Shikamaru cut in. "She's been on a mission for like a month now."

"Oh." My frown deepened. "That . . . probably has something to do with it." With a groan, I reached up and tightened my braid. "Okay, I'll see everyone Monday. Sasuke, Nato, are you ready to go?"

"Yep!" Naruto bounced on his feet, already back to being chipper. "I'll race you, Teme!" Then he took off ahead of us.

As Sasuke ran after him, I glanced towards Shikamaru. "You know that you have to help me prep for next week now, right?"

He pulled a face. "Hey, I was just answering honestly. It's not fair to punish me for that."

"Hmm." I shrugged. "You're right, it's not fair." Then I gave him a sharp smile. "You're still helping, though." Then with a curt wave, I activated a shunshin.

I made it home before the boys and listened to their chakra in the distance as I climbed the stairs. As I unsealed my key, I stopped and squinted at our neighbor. "Izumo? Are you . . . okay?"

"Huh?" He paused in his failed attempts to unlock his door and stared at me for a moment. Then he broke out into a grin. "Mirai-chan! Hi!"

I eyed his sling. "Are you okay?" I asked again.

He laughed and waved his free arm, which only served to draw my attention to his bandaged hand and splinted fingers. But despite his clear injuries, he responded with, "Of course!" Then he looked past me, looking obviously for something. "The boys?"

I listened for just a second and then shrugged. "They're almost here." I moved forward and went about prying his keys from his bandaged hand. "You know, some good food will help you heal up faster."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked, grinning. "Do you have more Akimichi food for me?"

I unlocked his door and pushed it open for him. "Not exactly. I'm making dinner. It'll be ready in an hour, if you want to come join us."

"Well, how could I say no to that? I can't wait." He held out his hand and waited for me to drop his keys into his palm. "Thanks, Mirai-chan." Then he nodded past me. "Looks like you have company. See you in a bit!" With that said, he vanished into his apartment.

I moved forward and unlocked my own door. "It took you boys long enough."

Sasuke made it first, stumbling into me and clinging to my arm while he gasped for air. "I, I, I won!"

"No fair!" Naruto reached us, only to stumble and fall inside the second I opened the door. "You, you, you—" He stopped, fighting for a breath. Then he pointed at Sasuke. "Only 'cause I stopped for the frog!"

"It wasn't a frog!"

"It coulda been!"

"It was a rock!"

"Yeah, but it coulda been a frog!" Naruto argued, sitting up.

When Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, I took the opportunity to push him inside. "Alright, you two. I'm taking a shower first, but you have to decide who goes next."

They eyed me. Then they glanced at each other. And then both of them took off running for the bathroom, scrambling over each other as they did so.

I frowned. "Hey! I said I was first!"

I hadn't heard him enter at all, but I felt his chakra before he said anything. Without looking up from the sushi I was rolling, I said, "Hi, Niisan."

"Hi, Pup. Food looks good." He put a hand on my shoulder, and I felt a masked kiss on top of my head.

"Kashi-nii!" Naruto yelled. "Guess what! Guess what! I beat Teme in our race today!"

"Hey! You did not!"

"I totally did!"

"Nuh-uh! I won! Neechan, tell him I won. And Dobe lost!"

I finally turned away from the counter to find that Naruto had Sasuke in a headlock, Sasuke had a solid hold on Naruto's left knee, and Kakashi was watching them both in bemusement. "Nato, if you want to be able to tell people you won, then you'll just have to be faster next time."

Naruto pouted. But then a split second later he lit up and scrambled off of Sasuke. "Oh, oh, oh! We're gonna do super cool nature jutsu next week!"

Kakashi glanced at me. "They're ready?"

I shrugged reluctantly. "As they're ever going to be. I'll bring someone in to supervise, just to be safe." I straightened. "Oh, one sec." I stepped over to the door and opened it.

Izumo paused, hand raised to knock. He squinted at me.

I shrugged. "I could hear you coming. Besides, you don't need to be knocking with those knuckles. Come on in. Food's ready."

As he stepped inside, Kakashi threw him a look. I gave him a smile. "I figured Izumo could use a little comfort food after he fucked up his arm."

"Hey. Language." Kakashi shook his head. "How'd you manage that?"

Izumo shrugged, offering up a grin. "Patrol today got a little out of hand. There were some Taki shinobi sneaking around outside the Village."

Kakashi frowned. "I heard about that. They still out there?"

"Three of them are." Izumo moved forward and claimed a spot at the table. "One of them's sitting in our morgue. Which I'm not too upset about, given what she did to me." He brightened as I put a plate in front of him. "Thanks, Mirai-chan. Looks great!"

I smiled and then glanced over my shoulder. "Nato, Sasuke. Time to eat. Go ahead and take a seat, Niisan. I'll get you a plate."

"You don't have to—"

"Sit down."

He raised an eyebrow. "Is that an order, Pup?" When I narrowed my stare at him, he gave a light huff and sat down. "Alright, alright. I'm sitting."

Izumo snickered. "Mirai-chan, has anyone ever warned you about letting power go to your head?"

I shrugged. "If they did, I wasn't listening. Now, what do you want to drink?"

I had actually started nodding off in Kakashi's arms when Naruto's question grabbed my attention.

"Kashi-nii, do you not like us?"

Kakashi's arms tightened dangerously around me. "What?" he rasped, voice shaky. "Why, why would you ask that?"

"I— 'Cause Kiba said—"

"Don't listen to what Kiba said," I interrupted immediately, words just a little slurred with sleep. "Of course Niisan likes us."

"But, but if he likes us, then why aren't we family."

I finally opened my eyes to look at him, sitting up. Kakashi shifted his hold on me, reluctantly letting me pull a bit away. "We are family," I said firmly. "Just like Sasuke's family."

"Yeah, but you're an Uchiha," Sasuke said, joining the conversation from where he was buried deep in his nest of pillows and blankets on the floor. "Shisui made you one."

"Okay, hold on," Kakashi cut in, careful and quiet. "Naruto, of course we're family. And of course I like you." His next few words hitched just a little bit with hesitance. "I love you. You know that." He paused for a second, moving a hand to pull me against his chest again. "What, what did Kiba say?"

Naruto frowned, glancing at Sasuke and then me and then Sasuke again. He squared his shoulders. "He said you're not family 'cause we don't have marks. Like his clan. Are, are you supposed to give us triangles? Is that what he means?"

Kakashi didn't say anything. For a minute, I thought he just wasn't going to answer at all. But then he sighed and lifted me up from his lap, shifting me to the side. When I turned to look at him, he had his hitai-ate in one hand and was using the other to nervously paw through his hair. Finally, he cleared his throat. "Not exactly. There are some, some similarities between the old traditions from my clan, back when there . . . actually was a clan, and the Inuzuka. But no, the triangles are just for born and bred Inuzuka. Sounds like he was talking about pledge marks."

"Pledge marks?" I asked curiously. Then I pulled back, fully aware that I was cutting in on his answer to Naruto's question. "Sorry."

"No, it's—" Kakashi shook his head. "The idea is pretty common. It's just not all clans actually use marks. Like when you were made an honory Uchiha, all you needed was the legal recognition. But some clans, like the Inuzuka and . . . Hatake give people marks. Inuzuka pledge marks look a bit different from a natural Inuzuka's marks."

"And . . . a Hatake mark?" I ventured.

"Looks the same. Doesn't matter if someone's blood or not. If they're pack, they're—" His voice cracked and he stopped, pressing his lips together. He took a deep breath. "Pack," he finished.

It was quiet for a long moment. I'd never seen Kakashi look so desperate to say something in my life, but he didn't make a move to share anything further. And then it was Sasuke who broke the silence.

"What's it look like?"

Kakashi heaved a sigh. Then he worked on rolling his right sleeve up as far as it would go. There on his shoulder sat a tattoo of a crosshatched square. "I have to use makeup and henge over it for missions," he murmured. "So no one really sees it anymore."

I reached out, only to hesitate at the last second and pull back. "Can I?" I murmured.

He nodded.

I touched my fingers against the tattoo, only to immediately snap my hand back in surprise. I stared up at him with wide eyes. "There's chakra in there."

"Just a pinch. Nothing that anyone can sense without touch. Even you. It's part of the tradition where the person initiating you mixes a bit of their chakra in the ink." He reached up and just barely flicked his fingers over the tattoo. "My dad gave me it when I was three, so I don't really remember ever not having it."

I pressed my hand against it again, this time firmly. Then I smiled. "His chakra feels nice. Safe."

Something wavered in Kakashi's gaze and he glanced away from me. He didn't say anything, but he did give a small nod.

"So . . . do we get it?" Naruto asked, almost sounding scared of the answer. "'Cause we're family?"

"I'd like that," Kakashi murmured. "But only if you want it."

"What about you?" I asked, cutting in before Naruto could celebrate.

"I've always wanted you to have it," Kakashi said, sounding confident for the first time in the conversation. He glanced towards me. "I just didn't think that you'd want it."

"Of course we do." I held out my hand, pinky out. "We're family."

He huffed out a laugh and curled his pinky around mine, leaning forward to press a kiss to my forehead. "I'll have to talk to the Hokage. He'd have to approve it."

I pulled back with a frown. "Wait, why?"

"You're still a kid, Mirai. Legally, the Hokage is still technically your guardian."

"Oh."

"Don't worry. I'll talk to him when I get back from my mission, okay?" He grinned under his mask when that statement got him a cheer from Naruto. "Which speaking of, I should get going." He got to his feet, tying his hitai-ate back on.

I scrambled up, throwing my arms around him just a split second before Naruto slammed into him with a hug as well. "Be safe."

"I'm sorry, Mirai-chan, I can't allow that."

I paused half-way through picking up one of his pieces. "Why not?" I asked sharply.

"As you and your brother are jinchuuriki, approving such blatant clan favoritism would dangerously upset the balance of power across the Clan Heads." He reached out and moved a knight.

"Niisan is the only one left in his clan. Just like Sasuke. Neither exactly has a stranglehold on power in the first place."

"I've already let you test the limits by allowing the young Uchiha to stay in your home." He sat back and withdrew his pipe. As he began packing it, he said, "I cannot let you push it any farther."

I narrowed my stare at him, frowning. And then I shoved myself to my feet. "Fine. You can finish the game on your own today."

"Mirai-chan—"

"Naruto and I just want a family," I said, pausing at the door. "Why do you want so badly to keep us alone?"

"So . . . were you ever planning on telling me why you're so grumpy today?" When I didn't answer, Shikamaru squinted at me. "Aw, c'mon. You're not gonna make me guess, are you?"

I ignored him in favor of making the winning move. "Tsumi."

He frowned down at the board. "Hey. That's not fair. Your whole angsty thing was distracting me. Best two out of three."

"Right. Fine." I started setting the pieces back up. "Hiruzen won't let Kakashi give Naruto and I marks because he's apparently afraid it would cause a power unbalance."

"Marks? Wait, is this 'cause of what Kiba said?"

I shrugged and then waved a hand for him to go first. "Naruto got really hung up on it, but then Kakashi told us about the marking tradition in his clan. He wants to give us marks. Doesn't matter, though, because apparently Hiruzen thinks it would be too dangerous. Politically speaking."

"Well, that's a ridiculous." He moved a pawn. "What about Sasuke?"

"Apparently I'm already pushing it with him living with us."

Shikamaru glanced past me and sighed. "Speaking of . . . . I thought that this spot was supposed to make it harder for them to bother us during lunch."

I looked over my shoulder to find that Sasuke and Naruto were running for our tree. As they got closer, I could heard that they were shouting my name. I sighed. "Alright, so we can mark Naka Park off as a successful hiding spot. You didn't tell them, did you?"

"No," he responded immediately. He paused. "I . . . might have mentioned it to Choji."

"Maru!" I groaned. "Just for that, you get to clean it up." I got to my feet, careful not to jostle the way the shogi board was balanced at the fork of two branches. Then I jumped down. Before I could even say anything, Naruto practically started screaming.

"Rai! Kiba was talking to our classmates and he left and Izumo got hurt and Kiba wouldn't listen to us and—"

"Whoa, okay, calm down," I said, putting out a hand to calm him as they stumbled to a stop. "Sasuke, what's going on?"

"Kiba went to find the fight!"

"What fight?" I asked. "Take a deep breath. Tell me what fight."

Despite my instructions, Sasuke didn't take a moment. Instead, he barreled right on through. "The, the, the one that Izumo-san talked about! Kiba's gonna try to find something, but, but Izumo-san said they're still there!"

"Find— Wait, Kiba went out of the Village? To find where the fight happened?" The immediate thought of Kiba encountering the same people that had injured Izumo, and the multiple possibilities of what they might be able to do worse to an Academy student over a chunin, flashed through my head. "Shit. Naruto, I want you to go talk to Hiruzen and tell him, okay? Sasuke, you need to go to the Inuzuka Compound. Tsume is out of the Village, but you should be able to find Hana somewhere. I'm going after Kiba."

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Naruto said, lunging forward to grab my arm as I started turning away.

"Absolutely not. It's too dangerous, Nato."

"I know. But Kiba's my friend!"

I frowned and opened my mouth to say no again, but he cut me off before I could.

"I'll just follow! Kiba's in trouble, and I want to help!"

I frowned. "No. Naruto, it's—"

"I'll go the Hokage," Shikamaru cut in. He jumped down and stumbled a bit on his landing. "Besides, I think my Touchan's meeting with him."

"That's—" I glanced at Shikamaru and then back to Naruto's earnest, determined expression. Every second I waited, Kiba was getting farther and farther away. "Fine!"

I pointed at Sasuke. "Go find Hana. Maru, make sure Hiruzen knows that this is serious." When they didn't move immediately, I scowled. "Go!"

As they took off, I reached out and gripped Naruto's shoulder. I closed my eyes.

"Rai, what are you—"

"Shh." I listened, trying to find if I could hear Kiba's chakra.

Nothing.

"Shit," I muttered, opening my eyes. I turned to face Naruto completely, holding both of his shoulders. "Alright, this is important, Nato. Do you remember anything about where Kiba is going?"

His eyes widened. "I— No. I, I don't— Um, they said it was kinda west, I think?"

"Okay. We'll start there." I bit through my thumb. "Your only job is to stay with Kiba. Do you understand? You get to him and you hide with him. That's it."

He watched with wide eyes as I dashed through hand seals. "Okay."

A large lizard appeared when I activated the jutsu. I nodded to him. "Naruto, this is Susumu. Susumu, my friend Kiba is in trouble. I need you to stay with Naruto and Kiba when we get to him and keep him safe. Okay?"

The large water monitor merely hissed in response, but I took it as an affirmative. With that said, I reached out, putting one hand on Naruto and another on Susumu. I activated a shunshin. Several more had us moving through the Village gates. I offered the guards a nod but nothing more. The moment we were out the gates, I turned left, dragging Naruto with me. After another shunshin, I stopped. "Hold on."

"What—"

"Shh." I closed my eyes, trying to find Kiba's chakra. "I'm listening."

"Oh." Naruto fell silent.

And then I felt it. It burned quietly just on the edge of my senses, but that explosive feeling was all too familiar. "This way." I turned. Three more shunshin landed us close enough that Kiba's chakra was burning up against my skin.

But his chakra wasn't alone.

"Shit. Naruto, remember what I said about hiding with Kiba?" I asked, making sure to keep my voice quiet.

"Um, yeah?"

"We're gonna get Kiba out, and you're going to hide with him, okay? Are you ready?"

He stared at me with wide eyes. "Yeah. Ready."

Ready?

Only if you promise that there'll be blood.

I can manage that. "Nato, I'm going to go first. I want you to wait two minutes before following, okay? Then your job is to get to Kiba so he's not hiding alone. That's it."

Naruto nodded.

"Okay, good. Start counting." With that said, I jumped up into the branches. I did my best to stay quiet as I leapt from tree to tree, getting closer and closer. Finally, I stopped and stared down at the scene in front of me.

Kiba was crying, clutching something to his chest as he shook violently with fear. There was a shinobi in front of him, laughing as she spoke, with two more closing his escape behind him. I dug in my scroll pouch and unsealed my tanto. I summoned three clones and they split off from me.

I moved to withdraw a handful of shuriken, but then the kunoichi in front of Kiba raised her katana and I knew I was out of time. I leapt forward, tanto out. Okay, Ku.

Kurama's chakra surged through my body, hissing under my skin as I slammed into the kunoichi. She'd twisted at the last second, and so my tanto met nothing but air. I felt her katana bite into my shoulder as we tumbled to the ground. Someone was screaming—Kiba, the somewhat calm part of my mind supplied—and I could barely hear it over the blood thundering in my ears. I clawed for a grip on my enemy with my left hand. When I found purchase in her hair, I scrambled to bring my tanto up to her throat, but her katana knocked me off-course and I ended up stabbing her through the shoulder instead. Not wanting to waste the opportunity, I decided to fall back on a weapon that'd never failed me before.

When I twisted the tanto in her chest, she gasped in pain, lifting her chin and exposing her neck. I bent and sank my teeth into her throat. Kurama's chakra burned hot and bright in my jaw as I tore. Absolute agony sang through my spine and my headache exploded with the memory of a knife through my back.

And something else my clone had seen.

I yanked back from my opponent, already trying to get back to my feet. "Two minutes!" I shrieked. "I said two minutes!" I dashed through hand seals, watching as Naruto forcefully dragged Kiba back and the kunoichi that had just dispelled my clone turned to them. I brought my hands to my mouth. "Fuuton: Daitoppa!" I poured more chakra into the technique than I normally did, hoping to at the very least knock her far enough back that Naruto and Kiba could get to safety with Susumu.

My wind was met with a roar of "Katon: Ryuka!" The world in front of me came alight with fire.

Move!

I lunged to the side, hitting the ground in a hard roll and feeling fire scorch across my left shoe. When I followed my roll all the way to my feet, I was face-to-face with the third shinobi as she slashed down at me. I leaned back just in time, but her kunai caught across my kunai pouch and tore it open. My kunai scattered, and fear clenched in my heart at the loss of my weapons. I threw myself backwards just as my two remaining clones tackled her. She made quick work of them—and the stinging memory of her kunai passing through my body managed to hurt more than the real wound bleeding out in my shoulder—but it gave me the time I needed to wrench my tanto from the first kunoichi's body.

I got my weapon up just in time to block her kunai. I saw her companion rushing up behind her, and I wanted nothing more than to dredge up another wind jutsu to give me separation between them. Instead, I pulled Kurama's chakra to my hands, shaping it through my tenketsu as I swung at the closest shinobi. My blade fell just short, but she gave a yelp of surprise anyway as her clothes tore.

She and her teammate lunged for me. I brought up my tanto, ducking out of the way of one blade. I sank my tanto deep into the woman in front of me, twisting it with all of my chakra-enhanced strength. Her jaw slackened and her hands dropped, moving to clutch at her wound. I ripped the tanto sideways as I withdrew it, turning to raise it against the other kunoichi, who—

Who was running away?

Well that wouldn't do. I scrambled to the ground for the dropped kunai, cutting my hands as I went. Then I surged back to my feet and aimed through my red-clouded vision. My first kunai struck her in the thigh and the second in the back. It was the third one that found her head.

"Uzumaki!" someone shouted.

I looked up. When had everything gotten so hazy? Though it was good to know, at least, that Sasuke and Shikamaru had made it. And that explained why she'd been running.

"We need to get her to the hospital," Shikaku said firmly as he reached me. "Hana! Get the boys. I've got her."

Got me? It was just a little cut on my arm. I didn't— My gaze dropped with exhaustion, and that was when I saw the kunai in my chest. Well, that wasn't supposed to be there. I didn't feel right either, with my head cloudy and my throat unusually dry. I opened my mouth to tell him that, but all I managed was a choked sound.

"Don't try to speak. Focus on breathing," Shikaku ordered. He bent down, and the world swayed. It took me a moment to realize he'd picked me up. "Hokage-sama."

Whatever he said after that was lost to me.

As I awoke, the first thing I heard was a voice saying, "Don't try to move."

I froze, catching my breath. That action sent pain searing through my lungs.

"Take a moment."

I opened my eyes, staring at the white ceiling up above me. My foot was itching. Was it supposed to itch? I looked to my left, towards the quiet chakra that was warm against my skin.

Shikaku wasn't looking at me, instead focused on the board between him and Shikamaru. As he moved a piece, he said, "You've healed quickly. The doctor's estimate that you'll be able to walk out of here on your own in just a few hours."

I blinked. Then I looked down at myself. I lifted my right hand, only for it to cause an aching twinge in my shoulder. I worked through that, pressing my hand lightly against my chest. I could feel thick bandages under the papery gown. With a sigh, I let my head drop back. "Thanks for bringing me here," I rasped.

"Yoshino would have had my hide if I hadn't," he said flatly. But when he did finally glance at me, he was wearing a faint smile. "You did a good job out there. It was impressive."

"Where's Naruto? And Kiba? Are they okay?"

"They're fine. Not a scratch on them, thanks to you. And that summon of yours."

I let out a sigh of relief. It made my chest burn. "Glad to hear it."

He moved one final piece. "Tsumi." As Shikamaru groaned, Shikaku got to his feet. "I'll go get the doctor. Shikamaru, why don't you get her some water while I'm gone?" And with that, he ducked from the room.

Shikamaru sighed and got up from his seat. "What's the point of all your training if you can't even avoid being stabbed in the chest?" he asked, smirking. He poured out some water in a paper cup and moved to stand next to the bed.

"Ha ha," I said dryly. "Next time, I'll alert the Hokage, and you can do the fighting." I fumbled with the remote for a second before managing to adjust the bed so I was sitting up. I reached for the cup with trembling hands. Another long, burning breath helped me steady them, and I took the cup. "Thank you." I flicked my gaze past him to the rolling table, where several things were piled. "That's my stuff?" I took a long sip of water.

"Yep." Shikamaru wheeled it over. "My dad snatched up your tanto as he carried you out of there. Everything else is just what you had on you."

I nodded and set down the cup. I dug through it all for a moment, moving aside storage scrolls and clothes until I found what I was looking for. My shoulder and chest both protested as I lifted my hands over my head to pull on my coin. Some of the tension in my gut relaxed once it was settled back beneath my collarbone. I started digging through it all again.

"What? No, no, no."

Shikamaru frowned, rising on tip-toes to look at my things. "What's wrong?"

"It's not here. No, no, no. Maru, it's not— It's not here!"

"What's not there?"

"It's not— My rabbit foot! Maru, it's, it's— When she— It must have dropped with all my kunai. I, I have to get it." I moved to get up, only to be sent dropping back down to the bed when searing pain burned through my chest at the action. I gasped desperately for a breath that didn't want to be caught.

"Don't be an idiot, Soph. I'll take my dad to help me find it. We'll get all your kunai, too."

"What? No, you can't tell him, Maru," I hissed.

"Relax," he snapped. "I'm not stupid. If he asks, you'll just have to tell him about that fun old story about lucky rabbit feet that Kagami used to tell Shisui and he passed on to you. Got it?"

"I—" It took a second for what he was saying to sink in. I snapped my mouth shut and nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

He huffed. "This should at least mean I don't have to help plan for this weekend, right?"

I breathed out a laugh. "Yeah, alright."

"Good." With a nod, he turned and left the room.

I finally let my eyes close, reaching for my coin. But before I could code out a message to Shisui, the door opened again. I snapped my gaze to the entrance, dropping my coin back under my gown. I managed a grin. "Hey, Genma-nii."

"Hey, Pumpkin," he said softly, closing the door. "The doctor didn't want to overwhelm you with too many people, but I figured I could check up on you before Shikaku gets back, right?"

"Right."

He came to a stop next to my bed, looking me over with a frown. Then his shoulders sagged. "Kami, Mirai, you need to stop doing this."

"Doing what? Saving my friends from enemy shinobi?" I asked bluntly.

He managed a slight laugh at that. "Yeah, kinda. I just don't like seeing you hurt." He reached out and smoothed my hair out of my face, resting his hand on my head. "But just so you know, I'm so proud of you. Kiba might not even be here now if it wasn't for you. And fuck, Mirai, those were three jonin. At this rate, you're going to being able to beat me any day now." He grinned.

I laughed, only to wince and hiss. I brought a hand to my chest. "Ow, ow, ow."

"Sorry. Sorry, that's my bad."

Before I could say anything, the door opened again. "Alright, Uzumaki-san. Let's see how you're doing," the doctor said, not even looking up from his clipboard as he came inside. He moved to stand on the opposite side of my bed than Genma. Without looking at me, he said, "How are you feeling?"

"Um . . . ." I glanced at Genma and then the doctor. "Not dead?" I offered.

Genma snorted, snapping a hand up to cover his mouth and muffle his ensuing laughter. The doctor finally looked at me. "Glad to hear it," he said drolly. "Pain? Trouble with movement?"

"Well, breathing hates me. And I tried to sit up only to find out that there are apparently severe consequences for that now." I raised an eyebrow. "Anything else?"

"I'm just going to check your injuries. That's all." He set the clipboard down on the bed and then reached out his hands. A green glow started around them. He brought his hands down, hovering over my chest, and I felt chakra pressing against mine. The ache twinged. He leaned forward, reaching across to my right shoulder. His chakra pushed against mine again. Seemingly satisfied, he nodded and pulled back. He moved around to the end of the bed and flipped up the blanket, exposing my bandaged foot.

I blinked, watching as he examined it with chakra. "Wait, what happened to my foot?"

The doctor finished what he was doing, looking up at me with an unimpressed expression. "You burned it. Not too severely, I don't believe. But it was hard to tell with how much you'd already healed by the time you made it here." He picked up clipboard against. "Good, good. I'll give you five more hours. At that point, I'll do another check and prep you on how to take care of your injuries for the time being. Then you should be done here."

"Oh, uh—" The doctor left before I could ask anything. So instead, I glanced at Genma. "How long have I been here?"

He shook his head. "Not long. Just a couple hours."

I reached up with my left hand—and at least that didn't cause any pain—and touched my chest. "What happened here?"

"You got stabbed," he said bluntly.

I shot him a look. "Really? I hadn't noticed. You know what I mean."

"Ah." He fell silent, looking uncomfortable. For a moment, I thought he wouldn't answer. Then he shook his head. "You had a collapsed lung. For a bit, we thought you might end up drowning in your own blood. I—" He cut himself off, looking upset and frustrated.

"Think I'm super badass?" When he frowned, I shrugged and immediately winced. "Sorry, I was just trying to guess the rest of your sentence."

That managed to drag a tired laugh from him. "Sure. Got it in one." He leaned down and kissed my forehead. "Try to get some more rest, okay? Your body needs it."

I was halfway through the food Genma had gotten to me—the only truly edible dish from the hospital kitchens—when the door opened to admit Shikaku and Shikamaru. Genma looked up, eyebrow raised. "I was starting to wonder where you'd disappeared to."

"Shikamaru wanted to go collect the rest of her things."

"Here," Shikamaru said, moving forward. "Got you a new kunai pouch and everything." He dropped the pouch on the bed and I could hear the clink of my kunai. "And, uh, sorry." He held out his hand, closed and palm down.

"Sorry?" I asked reaching out.

He dropped something into my palm. When I squinted at it, I saw that it was my rabbit foot. Matted with dirt and snapped apart. "Oh," I gasped, my chest getting tight. "I— Thanks for finding it," I rasped. Was it always this hard to breathe? I blinked furiously, fighting back the tears I could feel burning my eyes.

"Oh, man," Shikamaru sighed. "You need a hug, don't you?"

"No, I— I'm fine," I said, clearing my throat. I closed my fist tightly around the broken rabbit foot. I glanced at him, shaking my head.

"Mendokuse," he groaned. "Alright, c'mere." He rose on his toes as tall as he could go and leaned forward with his arms open. I accepted the contact gratefully, wrapping my arms around him as tightly as I could without causing pain in my chest.

After a few seconds, I found myself able to properly breathe again. I squeezed my eyes shut. "Thanks, Maru." I pulled back.

"Uh-huh." He eyed my food. "How exactly do you expect to get better if you're eating that?'

I wrinkled my nose. "No idea."

He reached out and poked the dry chicken breast. "Yeesh. I'll go see if Choji's dad'll make you something. How long are you here for?"

"Four more hours, at least."

"Gotcha."

"You don't have to do that, you know. This is fine," I said, picking up a fork and using it to poke at the food.

"No, no," Shikaku suddenly interrupted. "Let him."

Shikamaru shot his father an odd look. When I glanced at Shikaku, he was regarding his son with something almost resembling puzzlement. Shikamaru huffed. "Alright, I'll be back." He escaped from the room.

"Mirai," Shikaku said, immediately turning his attention to me. "Would you like a game?"

"Shogi?" I asked, straightening in excitement. I leaned to the side, setting my new kunai pouch and my broken rabbit foot on the rolling table with my other things. Then I shifted a bit so that Shikaku could put the board on the bed. "I'll beat you this time."

He raised an eyebrow. "You can try."

"Careful, careful, careful," Genma said, immediately grabbing my arm the moment I wobbled.

"I'm fine," I said in exasperation. "I promise. The doctor said I'm already almost back up to snuff." I finished securing my new kunai pouch. "C'mon, I want to go check on Sasuke and Naruto."

"Okay. Here we go." And with that said, he swung me up onto his shoulders. "You don't need to be walking that much right now."

I groaned and draped myself dramatically across the top of his head. "Fine," I whined. "Let's go."

"Watch your head," he said, carrying me out of the hospital. "How are you feeling? Can you breathe okay?"

"Genma."

"Alright, alright. I won't ask you anymore. I'm still worrying though, you know."

I sighed, straightening as we got outside and folding my arms across the top of his head. "Yeah," I murmured. "I know. I'm sorry."

"No, don't—" Genma made a displeased sound. "Let's just get you home. Hayate is with the boys, so I'm sure he'll be relieved to have you back to take over."

"I wouldn't say that," I mused. "Hayate loves being with them. Just like Yuugao. Though I guess it would be fair to say that they can be a bit . . . much."

"If you think they're a bit much, then you clearly haven't been paying attention to yourself."

"Hey! Rude!" I exclaimed, laughing. My chest only hurt a little bit at that. "I'm not that bad."

"No, no you're not." He squeezed my right ankle. "Do you need me to try to get you the week off from the Academy? I mean, I'd like to no matter what, but I know you'd go anyway if you really wanted to."

"No. I'm going."

"Right. Of course you are."

I pressed my lips together tightly and didn't say anything. Genma carried me up the stairs and set me down in front of my apartment. I dug out my key and unlocked the door, pushing it open. Then I stopped short. "Hiruzen."

Hiruzen smiled at me from his spot at the kitchen table where he was puffing away on his pipe. "Mirai-chan. I thought I could have a word."

I frowned, glancing towards the couch where Hayate was sitting, watching Naruto and Sasuke as they poured over their homework while Susumu sat vigilantly beside them. I dropped my key into my kunai pouch. "Fine." I looked up at Genma. "I'll get some rest. Don't worry."

He nodded. "Make sure that you do. I'll check on you tomorrow." With a glance at the Hokage, Genma left.

I closed and locked the door. "Alright," I said, moving to sit at the table. "What do you want?"

"I'd just like to debrief. That's all. Walk me through what happened."

That was simple. I could do that. "Sasuke and Naruto came to me during lunch to tell me that some of the other classmates had talked Kiba into going outside the Village to the location of a fight. I knew from Izumo that three of the enemy shinobi from the fight were still out there, which meant that Kiba was in serious danger. So I set Shikamaru and Sasuke to tell you and Hana, while I got a headstart. Naruto insisted on coming with me. I summoned Susumu and we went after Kiba. When we got there, I told Naruto to hide with Kiba while I attacked. And I think it's clear what happened after that."

"Hmm," Hiruzen murmured, tapping his fingers on his pipe. "I see."

"You see," I echoed blankly. "What is it?"

"No, no, just listening. You understand, of course, that this is the first time in Konoha's history where one of our Academy Students has killed three jonin."

"I figured. Do you need anything else? Or can I check on the boys now?"

Hiruzen pushed himself to his feet. "Very well. You've given me much to think about today, Mirai-chan."

I eyed him as he went to the door and opened. "Yeah, sure." The moment he was gone, I got up. "Nato? You're okay, right?"

"Huh? Yep! I didn't get hurt."

"He's fine," Hayate assured me. He paused to allow himself a raspy cough. Then he gave me a smile. "I would ask how you're doing, but given that Genma actually willingly left I'm assuming you're okay."

"Only a little banged up now," I assured him. I knelt down next to the boys. Naruto threw himself at me, wrapping me in a hug. I grunted. "Careful. Still a little hurt, Nato." I looked to Susumu. "Thank you for watching over them for me. You can go, now."

Susumu gave me another hiss and then vanished.

"Hey, Rai? Can you teach me how to use your tanto?"

I looked down at him. "What?"

"Your tanto," Naruto said, still pressed up against my side. "I saw you with it. I want to learn so I can fight too next time."

"Next—" I pressed my lips together. "I'm not skilled enough with kenjutsu to teach you, Nato."

"I am."

I snapped my gaze to Hayate. "What?"

"He could join us for our lessons," Hayate offered. "I have a spare tanto he could use."

Before I could say anything, Naruto surged to his feet and threw himself at Hayate. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I laughed and glanced towards Sasuke. When I saw that he was still staring down at his textbook blankly, I faltered. "Sasuke?" I murmured. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing," he mumbled.

I glanced worriedly to Hayate, who only offered up a shrug. I pushed myself to my feet. "Have they eaten?"

"And showered. We even managed to get teeth brushed."

I smiled. "Thanks, Hayate."

He pushed himself to his feet. "Alright. I'll go ahead and dig up that tanto for Naruto. Sleep well."

I offered him a little wave as he left. Then I turned. "Naruto? Why don't you go ahead and get settled?" I held out a hand to him.

He took my hand and let me use it to pull him into a hug. When I kissed him on the forehead, he mumbled. "'kay. Night." And then he stumbled off to his bedroom.

I sat back down. "Sasuke—" I cut myself off with a whine off pain when Sasuke slammed into me. "Wh—" I paused, listening to his sobs. "Hey," I murmured. "Are you upset about me?"

Sasuke nodded, face pressed into my aching shoulder. "I thought— I don't want you to leave."

"Oh, Ke-kun," I breathed. "I promise you that no matter what happens, I'll always come back. Okay?"

"Promise?"

"I promise."

The kunoichi changed into Mikoto just before I ripped her throat out. I awoke to find that I was biting into my own arm. I struggled up from my bed, swaying as the entire world tilted, and stumbled from my room and into the bathroom. I turned on the faucet and thrust my arm under the cold spray. After a minute, I pulled my arm back and leaned down, drinking some water from the faucet and swishing it around. I spat it out and did it again, trying to get the last of the blood from my mouth.

I turned the water off and brought my arm up for inspection. I was still bleeding, but at least it was slowed, now. I knew I'd been good as new in a few hours; It was more superficial than anything. Sighing, I gripped the counter and stared in the mirror.

There's no way I'm going back to sleep.

Then work.

I huffed. Well, what else did he think I was going to do? It only took me a few minutes to change, pack my things, and summon Ikebana to keep an eye on the boys. And then I left through my window. I had just reached the graveyard when my coin burned.

Are you okay?

Just like I had done so many times earlier that day, I responded: I'm okay. Then I followed it with a steady flow of my chakra. Finally, I let it go and settled down against the headstone. I retrieved my notebook and started working on my newest problem. I'd been working on it for several minutes, going over theories and potential complications with Kurama as I did so, when I felt a familiar chakra.

I looked up. "Izumo? What are you doing here?"

He shrugged, only to wince a second later. "Eh, Genma asked me to keep an eye on you. Said he'd do it himself but he was afraid of smothering you." He gesture with his good hand. "Mind if I join you?"

"Uh, no. Go ahead."

Izumo sat down beside me, between Shisui's grave and the next, grimacing all the while. I looked him over in concern. "How are you feeling?"

"Decent. Though I have discovered today that I don't even heal a twentieth as fast as an eight year old, so I'm dealing with that."

I snickered. "Well, I'm not your typical eight year old."

"No, I guess not." He nodded to my notebook. "Whatcha working on?"

"Uh, I told Naruto to wait two minutes before coming for Kiba. It felt like he didn't wait long enough, but I can't be sure. I know adrenaline can really mess up time perception. So I'm trying to fix that."

"With . . . a fancy clock?" he asked, tilting his head at my notes.

"A timer seal," I corrected. "And it's an active display instead of a static one. The concept is pretty simple, but I'm not sure about the execution."

"Ah. I'm sure you'll figure it out." And then he went and asked the one question I wanted to avoid. "So, why're you awake?"

I hunched my shoulders. "I don't want to talk about that."

Izumo didn't say anything for a moment. Then he shifted, clearing his throat loudly. "Okay. Then how about you tell me about that foot? Genma mentioned something about it to me. Is it something that can be replaced?"

"Not exactly," I murmured. "Um, it was a rabbit foot. From a story Kagami used to tell. It's supposed to be a symbol of good luck." I finally managed to look up at him. "Shisui gave it to me. So no, not really." Then I cleared my throat. "But, uh, I still have other stuff from him. So it's okay. I mean, he left me everything. And he got me my bingo book, too. Though I haven't been able to update it." I frowned. "Turns out, there's absolutely nothing I can do to convince them to hand over bingo book pages to an Academy Student."

"Huh." Izumo looked contemplative for a moment. Then he shrugged. "I'll see what I can do about it."

"What? Really?"

"Yep." He grunted as he stood up. "But only if you let me take you home. It's one in the morning, Mirai-chan. You need sleep." He offered me his bandaged hand.

I gnawed on my lip, weighing my fear of going back to sleep against having an updated bingo book. But in the end the decision was easy. I took his hand and got to my feet. Sealing my notebook away, I said. "Okay. Sounds like a deal."

Iruka was in the middle of telling us how to do a field amputation when the door slammed open. "Uzumaki! And the other Uzumaki!"

Iruka jerked around to stare in surprise. "Tsume-sama!" he exclaimed. "Wh— We're in the middle of class!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm well aware." Tsume jabbed a finger towards me and then towards Naruto. "You and you. With me. We're going to the Hokage."

I blinked, taken aback. I glanced at Shikamaru, but all he offered up was an unhelpful shrug. I let out a long breath. "Um, okay." I got to my feet, gathering up my things. When Naruto saw what I was doing, he scrambled to do the same. I got to my feet and glanced uncertainly towards Iruka.

He sighed. "Alright, go ahead."

I finished sealing away my things and tucked the scroll into my kunai pouch as I moved to the door. I frowned up at Tsume. "Is something wrong?"

"Wrong? Wrong? Hardly! C'mon, you two." She clamped one hand down on my shoulder and the other on Naruto's. Then she turned, steering us down the hallway.

As she dragged us outside, Naruto hesitantly asked, "Uh, Tsume-sama, are we in trouble?"

"Trouble? Anything but! You saved my son. And now we're seeing the Hokage." She finally released us, pushing us ahead of her on the stairs.

"Okay," I said slowly. "Why are we seeing the Hokage?" I glanced back at her to find her giving us a wide, dangerous grin. I cleared my throat. "Or I guess I can wait to find out."

"There's a smart girl." She opened the door, letting us back into the Tower. As we approached the Hokage's Office, she nodded to the chunin outside the door. "He available?"

The chunin blinked. "Uh, he's not in a meeting right now," she offered.

"Good enough." With that said, Tsume slammed open the door to the office. "Hokage-sama!"

The Hokage looked up from the scroll he was reading. Casting a glance across us all, he said, "Ah, Tsume. What brings you here?"

"Declaring my intent to pledge two new members to my pack!" she announced proudly. "All I need is the small formality of your blessing."

"Ah." Hiruzen set down the scroll. "I'm afraid that's more than a small formality, Tsume-san. It's quite a big deal, and unfortunately one I cannot grant."

There was a beat of silence. "What?" Tsume asked sharply. "Why not?"

I sighed, cutting in before Hiruzen could answer. "Because he's afraid of what allying the jinchuuriki to a single clan could do, especially beyond what I've already done with the Uchiha. It's the same reason he said Kakashi can't give us marks."

"That's ridiculous. Sarutobi, surely you're not—"

"Enough," Hiruzen said firmly. "It's my decision to make and I'm not giving my approval. I'm sorry, but this is the way it must be."

Tsume huffed, staring him down. Finally, she curled her lips back in a snarl. "So be it." She turned, grabbing us again and dragging us from the room.

As she was taking us down the hallways, Naruto asked, "Are we going back to class now?"

"No."

When me made it outside and she still hadn't elaborated, I ventured, "Are we allowed to know where you're taking us?"

"You're coming back to the Compound. Hokage-sama might be able say you can't be pledged, but he can't stop us from treating you like you have, dammit."

As she finally released us, leading us away from the Academy, I cautiously asked, "Pledged?"

"It doesn't matter much now," Tsume said, shaking her head. "At least not until you're legally adults. Or legally recognized."

"Ah." We passed a few more blocks before what she'd said fully settled in. "Legally . . . recognized? How is that different from being legally adults?"

"Well, I don't mean the both of you for that. I mean you."

"Me?" I asked, bewildered. "Why just me?"

"Here we are!" she said, rolling right over my question as she marched up to her front door. She threw it open. "Hana! Kiba! We have guests!"

"Lunch just finished!" Hana yelled back. "Kiba! No! Wash your hands first!"

Tsume moved past us and farther into the house. I tapped Naruto's shoulder and followed after her. When we got to the dining room, Hana was setting out plate. She beamed at us. "Mirai-chan! Naruto-kun! Thank you for coming! Kaasan, when is the pledge?"

"There won't be one," Tsume said, her mood immediately going sour again. She sat down and reached for a turkey leg. "The Hokage said no, so we're out of luck until they're adults or Mirai is recognized."

Hana frowned. "What? You can't be serious."

I hesitated to cut in, but my curiosity won out. "You keep saying recognized. What does that mean?"

Tsume stared at me, biting into her turkey leg. Then she began putting potatoes and vegetables on her plate. "As clan head. I mean, socially, you have most of us seeing you that way, but doesn't really mean a damn thing if it's not official. Go ahead. Eat some food."

I picked up Naruto's plate, moving to fill it up. "What would be the difference if it was official? Being recognized, I mean."

Tsume shrugged. "You'd be on the Council, for one. And you'd be an adult legally. Probably count as Naruto's guardian too. You manage that, and we could go through with your pledge."

"Right." I frowned. "Okay. So what would I have to do to be recognized?"

Tsume grinned. Her teeth were sharp. "You're interested?"

I offered a smile in return, squaring my shoulders. "Absolutely."

"I needs the approval of at least three-fourths of the Council—which with its current makeup means twelve votes—to be legally recognize as Uzumaki Clan Head." I tapped the paper in front of us. "Some of these would be easier than others. And some are pointless to even try to get. The Senju vote is going to be an abstain no matter what. And there's no way I'd get the civilian rep to approve me."

"Well," Shikamaru said slowly, studying our options. "Some of these are a guarantee. The Inuzuka will obviously vote yes. Other likely yeses are the Hatake, Aburame, and Hyuuga votes. You'd probably land the Sarutobi vote too."

I frowned. "Hiruzen? No way."

He looked up at me, clearly unimpressed. "The Hokage can't serve on the council, Soph."

It took me a moment to understand what I meant. "So that's Yosu," I breathed.

"Exactly. I'd say we can put him in with the yeses." He plucked the pen from my hand and put check marks next to the probable yeses. Then he put x-marks next to Senju and Civilian Representative. "That gives us five. Seven more." He frowned. "No, six yeses. Sasuke's the last Uchiha. He's the clan head by default. If they're holding a vote, they'd have to let him weigh in." He marked that and then sat back, looking at the page. "Okay, so that's half of them. Choza would probably be easy to convince. That would be seven. I'll put the Yamanaka vote down as a maybe. That would all depend on whether or not you can avoid antagonizing him long enough to talk him into it."

"Right," I murmured. "I'll work on that, then. What about your father? He's two votes," I said, reaching out and tapping Jonin Commander.

"Depends. He'd probably say yes, but he's like you. He'll want something in return."

"I can manage that." I snatched the pen back and started making notes next to the votes. "If I can convince Inoichi and your father, that'd bring me to . . . ten. Two short."

"What votes are left?" He squinted. "Yikes."

"The advisors," I said flatly. "Himura, Utatane, and Danzo. And then Danzo again as Shimura clan head. There's no way I'm convincing any of them to recognize me."

There was a long, long beat of silence. Then we both sighed.

"Start with what we already have," Shikamaru said. "Maybe once you have enough people backing you, it'll give you some pull?"

"Maybe." I looked over the list. "I'll start with Tsume."

Try it again.

No, it's not working. I've done something wrong. I groaned. I'd been staring at the seal for so long that my vision had started to swim. I think I'm rushing this. I'm going to fast with this seal.

Then slow down.

I wanted to snark at him for that. Instead, I just gave a tired sigh.

Stretch your coils.

Ku, we don't need to do this.

Stretch your coils, he ordered sharply.

I sighed. I pulled my legs up, folding them beneath myself, and rested my hands on my thighs. I let out a long breath and closed my eyes. I pulled on my chakra, pooling it at the base of my stomach.

Clockwise. Good. Now downwards.

I followed his instructions step by step, felling the hot tension in my forehead slowly unraveling away bit by bit. Finally, I released my chakra and opened my eyes.

Better?

I paused. Yeah. Better.

Good. Now fix the seal.