Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"WHAT!?" Naruto pushed himself out of his chair to stare at the board. "SO I COULD BE A PRINCE?!"

"BAKA!" Sakura was quick to glare, though she was too far away to punch. "Uzushio would have a Kage! All the Hidden Villages do."

"Naruto, sit down." Iruka narrowed his eyes as Naruto flopped back into his chair. "And not quite, Sakura. You are correct that Uzushio had a Kage, but the position of Kage isn't an official role that is traditionally part of a Hidden Village. It is something the leader of a village declares after they consider their village strong enough to take the role. If nobody attacks them then the village is worthy of having one, but several Hidden Villages have been destroyed for claiming the role without the power to back it up. The strength of the Kage must echo the strength of the village, not the other way around."

"Sorry, sensei." Sakura slumped.

"They can't have been very strong..." Sasuke clenched his hands and forced the words out. It was obvious that he didn't necessarily like what he was saying, but said it anyway. "If they all got wiped out they must have been weak."

Naruto never really got why Sasuke did that. He always did a lot of stupid stuff he didn’t want to do but always did anyway. Why would you do it if you didn’t want to? Unless it was like… super important stuff. Like the stuff the Old Man showed him! Balancing a checkbook was boring, but he needed to do it to know how much he could spend on ramen!

It didn’t seem like Sasuke had anything like that though? He was just always prickly all the time. Like his hair was a warning! That was something animals did, right? They had spikes and stuff to warn other people, so maybe Sasuke was just like that? Meh, whatever. He always acted better than everyone else anyway, and that made him an asshole! Even the Old Man had agreed!

Just… y’know, without actually saying it. One of his super awesome ninja guards said Naruto had to look underneath what he said sometimes to get what he really wanted to say. Which felt kinda stupid? But if the Hokage was doing it, maybe he should try to figure it out.

Iruka sighed. "Sasuke... The collaboration that destroyed Uzushio was and is unprecedented. No other time has so many villages come together to destroy one village. Secondly, no village, and especially no village with a Kage, is weak. Konoha, for instance, likely has the weakest average ninja of all the five Kage-led villages. But our weakest are stronger than any other village's weakest. Our Will of Fire means that by helping everyone we become stronger as a whole and therefore make the village stronger than what it seems. Like a great chain."

"In contrast, Kirigakure focuses on strength through training. They have very few truly unique jutsu, but a significant variety of generic jutsu that anyone can learn. Practice and growth are individual, but something everyone is supposed to be capable of. That is part of the reason they initiated the Bloodline Purges." Iruka huffed. "The other half of that links back to Uzushio. Uzushio had the highest rate of new bloodlines or potential bloodlines in the world. Their training focused on individual strength, like Kiri, but through unique applications of what they knew. It was thought that every bloodline in the Land of Water connected back to Uzu in some way. We have records that every Uzu chakra user, not necessarily ninja, was expected to have a personal scroll of techniques where they wrote down everything they tried, how it worked, and whether or not it did what they expected it to."

"So they all just... tried new things? All the time?" Sakura blinked. "That doesn't sound very stable."

"That was part of the reason Konoha and Uzu had such a close relationship. To the extent that many considered them as a group when making decisions- while Uzu ninja ran the risk of being inherently countered and useless or falling behind if their experiments didn't work out, the success stories were the stuff of legends." Iruka blinked and shook his head. "But that isn't what we're here to talk about."

"But what about a prince?" Naruto wasn't gonna let this go, no sir. Family was cool and the Old Man always said he had one, even if his mom and dad were dead, but nobody ever talked about them. Nobody would talk about the Uzumaki either. Maybe this was why?

"Haaah." Iruka took in a breath and shook his head. "No, Naruto, Uzu didn't have any form of 'prince'. There... was a position called a princess, but we don't actually know the requirements of that." Iruka shrugged. "It was a well kept secret known only to the upper level Uzumaki and if Konoha knows it then it's above my clearance level. AND ALL OF YOURS!"

All the kids settled into their seats at Iruka's glare.

"Now... let's get back to what we were talking about. Questions at the end!" Naruto put down his hand mullishly. "Now... the destruction of Uzushiogakure started the Second Shinobi World War..."

The school day proceeded completely normally. Unless you asked Suzume, who led the Kunoichi training.

It wasn’t exactly unusual to have an extra student or two in her classes. Sometimes they were even invited, but official school policy was that if they could get in and nobody said anything they were welcome to stay. Infiltration training is good for everyone, and frankly the stuff she teaches is… usually good for everyone.

Flower arranging should really be moved to the more in depth infiltration courses. To be taken by everyone who is actually going to need them. Rather than forced on every single Kunoichi just because they happened to be a woman. At no point had any general Kunoichi, or specialist outside of a heavy infiltration role, that Suzume had talked to used flower arranging.

Or… well. There was once. But that was a very long time ago and basically one of about ten different plans they’d used in an attempt to get a warning to the guy they were guarding.

Complete roll of the dice that was the one that worked.

Anyway.

The extra student. A blonde, pretty impressive looking in all honesty. The sort that got pulled out of class for additional training. Both officially, because being beautiful was something the school looked out for, and unofficially, because being beautiful was something a lot of people looked out for and grabbing them young was encouraged among those types.

Suzume knew the statistics on that. In and out of Konoha. It was a proud day when she learned the statistics inside leaned more toward dead wannabe kidnappers than taken kids. The kids probably don’t like it, but it’s a better first kill than a lot of people so they can shut up about it.

Hm.

That was… the technique Iruka was ranting about, right? Hm. Was it actually a modified Henge? Apparently it worked enough like it, but  Henge got… bad to keep up for too long. Especially one so far from what the person actually looked like. Plus it had problems interacting with things. Especially that would be outside of the normal reach of the person.

Now… the first thing was easily explained. Not common, but it wasn’t anything Suzume hadn’t dealt with before. More common in Shinobi work, honestly, since Chakra helped with it. The second… well. Maybe the fox had something to do with it. It wasn’t unknown that a Jinchuriki got a bit extra out of carrying their beast. The One-Tail was well established to give control over sand even without using its power. And all those legends about kitsune had to come from something, right?

Ah, whatever.

Suzume blinked and sighed. Saying that way too much lately. Damnit. Whatever. New jutsu weren’t her thing. Better to just… figure out who to actually tell about this so it could get properly checked. Maybe Iruka knew? He knows everyone, somehow. Including the Hokage.

It was uncanny.

He’d definitely know some medic or another that could give a good look. In the meantime… what was it today?

Oh, right.

“Today we’re going to go over noble behavior, how to emulate it, and how to identify people emulating it too well. Remember- no noble entirely keeps to noble behavior. There’s always one person they’re looking to snub, and an infiltrator will be trying too hard not to give anyone offense.” Infiltration is very tricky like that. “Now, we’ll start with the behavior of nobles in the Land of Fire and then move outward. This will be going on all year and there will be a test at the end.”

“Ah…” The blonde shrunk into herself as Suzume turned her attention to her. Hm. Nobody else said anything. Not even Haruno, the most observant one, or Yamanaka, the loudest one. With a dad in T&I. That’s some skill, especially for someone so young and looking like that. “Will we be going over historical noble behavior?”

“No.” The blonde slumped at that. This kid was Uzumaki, right? Damn good if so. Really had to get someone to test for actual infiltration skill instead of just saboteur skill. “But if you want to study historical behavior I can point you toward the books that will show you that. They’re not restricted so you won’t need to bother with your student ID. Now,” a clap brought everyone’s attention back to her, “the primary noble hub for the Land of Fire is…”

And so the academy day ended without any incident at all. Not even Kiba Inuzuka setting fire to his desk.

Again.

And then blaming Akamaru.

The dog. Without opposable thumbs.

Again.

Truly a miracle that resulted in most of the teachers drinking more than normal in an effort to settle their nerves. They were of the collective opinion that a quiet day just made the next day twice as worse.

Smart people.

“Uzumaki, Uzumaki, Uzumaki…” Suzume was pretty nice! And class was actually sorta interesting? Looking at all the clothes and all the rules and stuff was supposed to be boring, but she made it a lot of fun. Mostly by talking about all the ways someone could do things just wrong and be super mean. Like a prank! A special prank, because only certain people would ever know it happened. Which made it an even bigger prank.

Plus, she’d told Naruto where to find the Uzumaki records! Or… the Uzumaki records about their super special nobles and stuff. Nothing actually about her family, just old documents or whatever about how they did stuff. It was still really cool, but not as cool as a super awesome jutsu or anything.

This wasn’t a part of the library… well. No part of the library was a part he usually went to. For this, though, he’d brave it. It would be worth it to figure out more about his actual family. His clan. He had a clan! Sure Uzu was… all destroyed and stuff, but he had to have cousins or something somewhere!

A princess should be the sort of person that went out and helped them all, right? Or maybe he should make a new village? But leaving Konoha felt pretty wrong. Maybe he could make it with Konoha? Like how Uzu and Konoha were big allies and stuff!

That sounded pretty cool. He just had to figure out the whole princess thing first.

The books thunked onto the table as Naruto set them down. They were heavy things, large and pretty old. Didn’t look like anyone had brought them out in a while either. Almost no book around them was even half as large, so that just meant Uzu did more stuff!

That thought kept Naruto going as he flipped open the front page and expertly ignored the dust that popped out.

“Let’s see…” One finger trailed down the table of contents. It didn’t actually look like a lot of stuff? “Why is this- ohhh…”

He’d just reached the ‘celebrations’ part of the table. His finger kept trailing down and down and then he flipped the page and kept trailing down some more. There were… a lot of celebrations. A good part of the book was just categorizing them and giving a brief overview of what they were for and how to do them. Everything else was basically an afterthought in comparison.

“There!” One in particular stopped his finger. “Princess celebration!”

It wasn’t actually named that, but that was the gist of the name anyway. That was the one Naruto had to set up, right?

“I’m gonna be a princess!”

“SHHH!”

“GAH!” Naruto stumbled onto the floor as the library ninja leaned out of the bookcase to shush him. How did they do that?

Chapter Text

So the book had a lotta stuff, but nothing about how to actually make someone the princess. But it said stuff that made it sound like other stuff would. So Naruto asked.

Over the course of several days, seven different ninja librarians, four stabbings, three doors that needed weird keys (who used medallions as keys? Who needed three medallions in different metals?), and a blood test, Naruto got the stuff he was looking for. A bunch of dusty old scrolls marked with the Uzumaki spiral. They were ninja scrolls, and it was super cool, even if he couldn't really understand them. There'd been a lot of pictures of stuff, and he could recognize the hand signs, but a lot of it sounded really complicated. Apparently there were more scrolls? But the library ninja needed to talk to some people about complicated stuff first. Still, it was a good start!

These were family things. He'd never had anything like that before. It was almost scary to open them. What if he ripped them?

He didn't even know who owned them before. Iruka had said stuff about Uzumaki scrolls, and these were probably that? They said a lot more stuff than the book in the library at least. One of them even had a bunch of stuff about being a princess! It was even super simple!

It still used a lot of big words, but Naruto could use the dictionary for them! It sounded really complicated, but he wasn't gonna give up! That was his ninja way! Learning all this stuff would take forever, but if he wanted to be a princess then he had to do it.

The first stuff was really easy at least. All about the stuff this lady did to start being the princess. It was a lotta complicated stuff, but there were pictures! And seals. Super complicated seals. The sorta seals Iruka said nobody should touch without someone looking it over.

“This is a seal for princesses though…” Naruto leaned back on his couch, staring at the large seal inked into the scroll in front of him. A princess seal should only be looked over by princesses. Or family trying to help someone be a princess. “I don't got any family…”

He slumped forward. The reminder wasn't new, but it still hurt. Especially with a bunch of family scrolls newly hidden as best he could do.

It shouldn't be bad, at least. Just to use it? All the stuff around the seal said it was all safe and improved and stuff. So there wasn't any problem.

“So… how do you activate a seal again?” Just push Chakra into it, right? Naruto leaned forward and gently tapped the seal. Nothing happened. “Maybe it needs to be put on something?”

He leaned forward and rested his head on his hand. Annoying. Ink was soooo expensive. Especially the good stuff that didn't flake or anything. Old Man always said you had to put your best look forward, and it sounded right? So Naruto tried.

It was just so expensive! Not as expensive as it was, because he'd complained to the Old Man and suddenly there was a lot more stuff around, but still. Expensive.

Where's that-

“Huh?” Naruto blinked as he looked down. His hand was glowing. That… wasn't supposed to happen, right? “Yaaaawn!”

It was probably nothing.

Sleepy.

Hmmm…

Hm?

Hmm!

“WHERE AM I?” The voice echoed down the walls, constantly repeated until he couldn't hear it anymore.

It was a sewer. Not as nasty as the Konoha sewer he used to dodge Inuzuka, but still nasty. The sort of nasty he didn't want to spend any more time in than absolutely necessary.

“Out should be this way, right?” The sewers weren't that hard to make your way through, as long as you knew where you started. Naruto didn't, but as long as he came across some form of direction it'd be fine.

“Hello there.” So he hadn't found any directions, but he had found some pretty big bars. With a big gate in them. Behind the bars was a very big, very sharp, smile. “I think we have some things to talk about.”

“Huh.” Was this related to being a princess? Because this didn't feel like a princess thing. Or it was all wrong for a princess thing. Didn't they get kidnapped and put behind bars? Not that Naruto was going to let that happen.

If he was gonna be a princess he'd be like Sayuki! Probably. He'd never actually managed to read Icha Icha but a bunch of the ladies talked about it and they all liked Sayuki. She was a badass princess that did the kidnapping. Even if it was kidnapping herself.

“It's very simple.” Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. Every time someone said that they were either gonna say something not at all simple or were trying to trick him. The weird way the voice sounded made it ever harder to tell. “I want to get out of here, but I'm too big to get out of the bars. There's a lock on the gate, too, and one that can't be picked.”

A quick look at the gate showed whoever it was correct. That was definitely one of those super complicated seals.

“But! I know how to unlock it normally.” The darkness parted as the biggest fox head Naruto had ever seen pushed its way into the light. “I give you all the stuff I'm supposed to early. And then the gate will open and I can leave. I can even throw in a few extra things too. Just so we're even. How does that sound?”

Naruto... well he isn't that stupid. Really! Sure Shikamaru blew him outta the water, but there's more to it than just knowing which Hokage did what and all that other stupid stuff. When you went around buying your own food you had to know if the other guy was dealing fair or not. The Old Man had really taught him how to figure all that out, once he started getting his stipend.

Sure, this wasn't... anything like that, but it wasn't all that far off. The giant fox wanted something that Naruto could give and he... she... they (did the giant fox even have a gender?) was trying to get Naruto to do it. Easy.

The fact that there was a giant fox felt important, but Naruto couldn't really remember anything about a giant fox anywhere. Maybe the Kyuubi? Everyone said it was a demon fox, but usually they were just complaining. The academy would have mentioned if it was actually a fox, right? Right.

"It's simple. We can shake on it." Naruto eyed the massive gate. "Just press a hand to the bars where my paw is. It'll count. The point is in the performance of it, not doing the actual thing."

"So whaddya want me to do?" The fox hadn't been very clear on that. "Just... agree?"

"Yes. The terms of me being here are very simple. I provide Chakra and provide more when called on, while also not being able to leave." The fox... smiled as much as a fox could. "But there is an end point. I suggest we skip everything and get right to the end. I provide you all the Chakra you would naturally get and then some more. In addition the Chakra will be more potent..." the fox paused at Naruto's look, "stronger. It will be stronger. So you'll end up where you would anyway, much faster than you would otherwise, and I get to leave faster. Sounds good, right?"

"I guess..." It sounded really cool, but it still felt like something was off. Shoving a bunch of stuff into something too small broke it, right? "But if you were put away like this, why would I want you out? They might’ve had a good reason!"

“Well, maybe they did.” Naruto blinked. People didn’t usually say he had a point. It was a bit of a new feeling, actually. Huh. “Maybe they didn’t. You don’t know. But they trapped me in here without any way to go outside or see anyone. Doesn’t that strike you as unfair? It’s a very boring place to be trapped. All I can see is this sewer and these bars.”

“That does sound like it sucks…” Anyone would go crazy if they couldn’t do anything. “Wait… you can’t even eat?” No ramen! That was just… the absolute worst thing! “This isn’t gonna, like, hurt me or anything, right? Cause it’s terrible and stuff, but I don’t want to get hurt…”

"Of course not. The seal was built to filter a little at a time. This way it doesn't have to filter as much, because my Chakra won't fight you, and it'll give you the Chakra as fast as is safe." The fox waved a paw. "That's why it'll be stronger- it'll be your Chakra. Just... originally belonging to me."

"And that won't cause any trouble or nothing?" It still felt a little too good, but maybe the fox was just really tired of being here. It was super depressing.

"Not by itself, no. It might change some things, because I am very strong and powerful, but it won't hurt. You'll barely even feel it!" The fox smiled again. "You'll wake up and it'll be all over with. That I can guarantee. I can't say what the changes will be though. I don't think it's ever happened before. I wouldn’t lie to you about this."

"Well... it sounds alright." Being stronger sounded great! It'd let him beat Sasuke! That guy was always looking down on everyone and it’d be soo satisfying to finally punch his lights out! Pranking him just didn’t have the same appeal. Sure he could do it, but picking on him just for being better like that felt wrong. Naruto would show him up in sparring, not making up a new competition just ‘cause he’d totally win. It'd make him a better Hokage later! The Old Man always said you had to be able to meet someone where they were instead of backing up to do your own thing. "You got a deal!"

Hand met the bars in front of the paw. Red Chakra spilled out of the gate. Swirled and poured. A red river of power that didn't hurt, but was definitely overwhelming.

See, there was something that not even the Kyuubi, for that was what the fox was, was aware of. The Fourth Hokage had split it in two. One half Yin and one half Yang. The Yin, being calmer, was sealed into Naruto, and the Yang, being angrier, was given to the Shinigami. To a massive fox made of Chakra it didn't matter so much, but to humans it mattered quite a bit.

Yin is considered feminine, after all. So young Naruto, not quite yet into puberty for all it'd come soon, was being filled with energy belonging to the sex he was not. It was also beyond the Kyuubi's knowledge, though to be fair it was beyond everyone else too, that their own energy carried with it an impression of themself. An impression that didn’t really have a gender, as humans understood it, but did contain the essence of something that was, itself, considered associated with a gender.

Being energy meant it wasn’t actually gendered, it really didn’t work like that, but Chakra worked on its own rules. Which meant that the significant overabundance of Yin would cause very interesting effects. Especially when it combined with the extras the Kyuubi threw in. They are a spiteful little asshole, after all, and while they couldn’t harm Naruto, because the seal would prevent it, they could make things very tricky for him later on. A big Chakra beast could look like whatever they wanted, and the Kyuubi had been fond of foxes, so it really wasn’t harming Naruto at all to put a bit of that into him.

That this would combine with something the Kyuubi didn’t know anything about at all, namely that an impression of themself was contained in their energy, was, completely understandably, unexpected. The end result of this completely unique mixing of factors was… well. Obviously unexpected.

So when Naruto woke up the next day, it was to the Hokage standing within the apartment, looking very determined and a little afraid.

"Old man!" Naruto blinked. That didn't sound like him. A quick look down- "I'm a girl! This isn't my sexy jutsu!"

A pressure at her back caused the former boy to flop to the side, freeing the rather large fox tail. It lashed through the air a moment before settling on the sheets.

"That's new too... huh. I guess that fox was right. Wait!" Naruto completely ignored the military dictator of the village she lived in to focus inward. "Yatta! That fox kept the promise! I've got so much Chakra, Old Man! It feels weird though."

"Well," Hiruzen Sarutobi, God of Shinobi, was, for once in his life, flummoxed, "it’s good to see you're still yourself, Naruto."

"Of course I am, Old Man." She hopped off the bed with a smile. "I feel super good too! My skin doesn't even feel wrong now, isn't it cool? But I guess Naruto isn't right... did my parents have a name for a girl?"

"Knowing them... your father would have something very pretty, but extremely long." Hiruzen hummed. "Your mother would have shrugged and called you Naruko. Now, let's head over to the hospital. I think it would be good if you got a checkup."

Chapter Text

“Well, the good news is that you seem… physically healthy…” the nurse mumbled, looking over Naruko’s charts and tutting under her breath. “No abnormal chakra flows, no signs of disease or conditions… even the chronic malnutrition is gone… which explains why you shot up three inches overnight.”

“Is that why my jacket doesn’t fit anymore?” Naruko wondered idly, picking at her threadbare jacket that definitely had seen better days. “Also, I think I need new pants, Old Man. Wearing these is super uncomfortable with this tail.”

She paused, then rubbed her ears. The new ones on top of her head instead of the human pair. “Bleh. My goggles feel weird on my ears now. This sucks.”

“We’ll… see about getting you some new clothes, Naruko,” Hiruzen very carefully did not emote at all, trying to keep a stoic face on as Naruko sneezed and somehow popped out a second tail- this one an equal shade of orange as the original, and just as long and fluffy. He sighed, turning to the nurse, whose nametag described as Saori… something or other. He couldn’t be assed to remember her family name. “What’s the bad news, then?”

“Well… she’s got more chakra than our machines could possibly measure… and she seems to be… made of chakra?” Saori answered, wincing a little and trying to not flinch at the sight of two fluffy orange tails just waving there. “Partially, at least. If this was a normal case of sudden chakra capacity multiplication, she’d be looking at… six to ten weeks of on and off fevers, dizzy spells, burst blood vessels, and possible cascading organ failure, with a high chance of negative chakra control for the next several years. But from what I can tell…”

Hiruzen just pulled a face, already knowing that Naruko had probably threaded the tightest possible needle and beaten such astronomical odds that it made him want to go buy a lottery ticket to see if that kind of luck could rub off on him. “Continue.”

“... Her chakra control probably just got better by leaps and bounds,” Saori finished. “... Being that she is… made partially of it now.”

“... Right. Of course,” Hiruzen took a long drag off of his pipe, then made an even more disappointed face at the fact that it definitely wasn’t lit at the moment. Even the Hokage wasn’t allowed to smoke in a hospital. “Is that all?”

“... Well… the X-ray says she’s got nine tails, but there’s no telling when they’ll all show up,” Saori started… only for Naruko to sneeze again and pop out a third tail in a flare of chakra so bright that it made the lights flicker. “... Or they could just come out every time she sneezes. She’s going to need custom pants or get used to cutting slits in skirts.”

“.... Mmm,” Hiruzen grimaced.

Sigh.

Just what he needed. 

And all of this on top of the fact that there was no telling how the populace would respond to Naruko now. The memory of the Kyuubi’s attack was still fresh despite being a decade old by now, and people already shunned Naruko and treated her as a social pariah without her being a physical reminder of what they’d lost.

Now that she had fox features- bright orange ones, no less- there was sure to be no end to the amount of people asking him to, quote, kill the accursed hellspawn, endquote. 

Ugh.

“Cool, thanks Old Man! I’m gonna go get new pants now! Bye!”

Wait what-?

Hiruzen, somewhat befuddled, watched as Naruko pranced past him and down the halls of the hospital with a wallet held high.

Wait.

That was his wallet! How- when- where-!?

He patted himself down, face falling slack in shock when he realized that he’d been pickpocketed by an eleven year old Academy student. Despite the fact that, of all things, he should have been able to sense her every movement.

He hadn’t even noticed her brushing past him- had he really been that lost in thought!?

“Naruko wait-!” all of those thoughts found themselves dispelled as Hiruzen chased after his erstwhile charge, both him and several ANBU tearing after the ferociously giggling hellchild as she did her damndest to evade all of them.

“FREEDOOOOOOM!”

…

…

Two hours, a chase around the entire village, and six ANBU relieved of their wallets and belts later, Uzumaki Naruko kicked open the door to her classroom right after lunch hour with brand new pants, a swanky new jacket, seven wallets in her bookbag, goggles down around her neck, and a brand new hairstyle that was… pretty much just her usual Sexy Jutsu twintails, but now they were real and also were out of the way of her new ears. 

Her new ears which were super cool, and totally let her hear super good, and her nose which could sniff things super good now too. Plus also her tails, which she got another one of at some point…

Anyway.

“WHAT’S UP LOSERS, PRINCESS NARUKO IS HERE!” she shouted, throwing her hands up as if she was basking in their praise. 

“YOU’RE LATE!”

And then an eraser beaned her right in the forehead, knocking her firmly back onto her tails with a muffled pomf.

“AND WHAT’S WITH THE STUPID HENGE!?” Iruka continued shouting, storming over and grabbing Naruko’s human ear to drag her through the door. “ISN’T IT ENOUGH THAT YOU’VE MISSED HALF THE DAY!?”

“Oi! It’s not a stupid Henge, it’s real!” Naruko yelped, struggling fruitlessly against Iruka’s death pinch of ultra mega doom and scrambling to actually move before he tore her ear off. “Ow ow ow ow ow! Why does that still hurt!?”

“Just dispel it before I get really mad!” Iruka groused, all but tossing her into her usual seat before snapping out a Ram hand sign and shouting, “Kai!”

… Which did absolutely nothing to ruffle Naruko’s appearance in the slightest.

Well, it made her poof…

And grow another tail. Five, now.

Iruka blinked. 

Naruko stared back.

Everyone continued to stare at them both.

“... Kai!” Iruka tried again.

POOF!

A sixth tail this time.

“Kai!”

Seven.

“Kai!”

Eight.

“Kai!”

A full nine, plus a few floaty fireball things with cool ghost swirls.

“...” Iruka’s eyebrow twitched. He stared. Naruko stared back guilelessly, then poked one of the fireball thingies hovering around her shoulder and watched it drift back and forth like a balloon. “... Naruto?”

“Naruko now, sensei,” Naruko pointed out.

“... Naruko?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have tails?”

“Iiiiiii….” Naruko shrugged. “Had a weird dream where I made a deal with a giant fox thing in a sewer?”

Iruka just stared at her like she was insane. He pulled a face… then shook his head and decided this was beyond his paygrade. “Just pay attention in class? Please? For once?”

“No promises, sensei!”

“Ugh.”

And like that, the tone for the rest of the afternoon was set, with Naruko doing her best to get comfortable in a chair that definitely wasn’t built for a girl with nine tails, getting bored, and then deciding to just sit on the desk instead while playing with her newfound fluff.

Iruka did his best to teach, but with how the vein on his forehead twitched every time he turned around, everyone was pretty sure he’d have to go take a day off before his blood pressure killed him.

Hinata, silent as she often was, seemed to have developed a sudden case of sun blindness, and had a hard time reading the board. Or her worksheets. Or just about anything. She was, however, perfectly content to stare at Naruko like she hung the sun in the sky.

The poor genin hopeful sitting directly behind Naruko, meanwhile, got a direct lesson in why one should never say no when the normally chronically shy and wallflower-ish Hyuga heiress asks to switch seats with them.

He got thrown across the aisle, and Hinata summarily buried her face into Naruko’s tails the moment she got within arm’s reach. Not that Naruko seemed to mind in the slightest. She was mostly concerned with her many tails. Not that they seemed to work like tails with how floaty and boneless they seemed to be.

The door opened a little later to a mask covered face leaning in. “Iruka?”

Iruka took a deep breath. “This is about…”

The mask turned to observe Naruko, sitting on top of the desk with eight of her tails around her. The ninth was claimed by Hinata. “Yes.”

“Right.” Iruka took another deep breath. This time, he was going to ask for more vacation days. “Everyone! I'm going to step out for a minute. Don't do anything that would make me have to run back in here.”

“Hey!” Kiba popped a bit out of his seat and pointed at Iruka. “Why’re you staring at me?”

“I can see the lighter Akamaru is playing with.” He was even doing a pretty good job of using it for an animal without any thumbs.

“Akamaru!” That brief bit of excitement lasted long enough for Iruka to slip out and the door to close. And lock.

If there was an actual fire they should be able to get out the windows. This was only the third story after all.

“Na ru t-” Sakura's mouth clicked shut and she cleared her throat. “Na ru ko! What did you do? Explain!” She waved her hands at… everything.

“Like I told Iruka- I made a deal with a fox in a sewer!” Naruko smiled and flicked her tails. Barely there fire raved down them, an eerie blue burn that didn't seem to actually do anything. Hinata didn't flinch back at least.

Shikamaru sighed. “Explain better.”

“I did! That's what happened.” Naruko huffed as she crossed her arms and slumped. “I was doing the stuff I needed to become a princess and I made a deal with a big fox in a sewer. So now I've got a bunch more Chakra! And look like this!”

She wiggled happily. Most of the class looked jealous. Hinata was just giggling. And, distantly, wondering if she could get away with teaching Naruko some of her more personal jutsu alterations. A bust that big was… outside the strength of the standard jutsu to control it.

It'd been a big problem with using the Jyuken. It still was a big problem in using some of the Jyuken moves that she actually would like. Such as a Kaiten. Turns out spinning rapidly could be problematic… and painful. Without the right support.

“Hmpf. A loser will always be a loser.” Sasuke drummed his fingers on the desk. “We should be getting stronger, not… making deals with summons or whatever.”

“I am too stronger!” Naruko waved a hand and bits of fire came back. They hung in the air, an eerie pale blue that wasn't cold so much as it removed warmth. “I can do a bunch of stuff now!” 

Another wave and the windows were gone. The only light in the room were the floating bits of fire. Just enough to see that they were stuck underground, surrounded by blank concrete walls. Even the door was gone.

“Oh.” Hinata blinked and rubbed her eyes while everyone else tried not to be nervous. “Naruko, can you stop that? My eyes hurt…”

Privately, most of the class considered that the most impressive thing that'd happened today. Hinata actually being able to speak to her crush? A genuine miracle.

“Oops! Sorry, Hinata.” Everything blinked back to how it was before. “See? My Chakra is super strong and I can do a lotta stuff ‘cause I'm made of it a bit.”

“Hmpf.” Sasuke just hunched into himself, lifting his desk to put away his broken pencil and grab another.

“A summons did that?” Sakura narrowed her eyes, looking into nothing like she always did when she was remembering something. “I… have seen that some of them have special training techniques, but nothing mentioned anything like that.”

“Shows what you know, Billboard Brow.” Ino flipped her hair back and smiled in that smug way that always made Sakura want to shut her the hell up. She'd be so much prettier if she stopped talking and used her mouth on more important things. Like Sakura's mouth. That was how it worked in Icha Icha anyway. “Those are special techniques, and most people don't use them at all anymore. It changes you a bunch, and means you have to listen to the summons. Which is bad, ‘cause you have to listen to the village first.”

“They are also not given out often. Why?” Shino resettled his glasses. “Because it takes significant power from the summons. Their power is not meant to stay in this realm long.”

“Yeah.” Shikamaru leaned back in his chair. “It's troublesome. Summon techniques don't work like ours or something like that. So changing someone to use them means changing something big about you without making it so you can't be here. Such a drag.”

Choji elbowed him. “You're just saying that because the deer won't let you dodge out on training to inherit their techniques.”

Shikamaru shrugged. “Maybe they'll be more okay with it now. Since Naruko's done it.”

“Yeah, but look what happened to Naruko.” Ino pointed at said person. Now a foxgirl. A very pretty foxgirl with a stupid amount of Chakra and instinctive techniques that looked really cool. “I mean… I'd do it, but you guys would lose a bunch, right?”

“Eh, gender is troublesome.”

“As long as I get more power.”

“It is only logical to take the best options of survival.”

“I'm with Shika, it doesn't really matter.”

“It wouldn't change that much, right Akamaru?”

“Rrrr.”

“Alright, no special dog techniques for you.”

BANG!

“ALRIGHT!” Iruka rounded past the door and visibly deflated. “Nothing's on fire?”

“Uh.” The foxfire winked out as Naruko rubbed her neck.

“Huh. Guess miracles do happen.” Iruka took a breath. “Everyone up. We're doing supervised sparring today. Naruko, you're up first.”

“Yatta!”

“I fight her.”

“If nobody else wants to…” Iruka paused for a second. “Then you've got it, Sasuke.”

Chapter Text

“Tch… just because you’re an animal now, doesn’t mean you’ll beat me,” Sasuke started, doing his standard thing of looking down on anyone and everyone like the total jerkass bad boy he was. Why so many girls ate it up, Naruko had no idea. Honestly, didn’t he know that you made more friends by being actually friendly? That’s why all the onee-sans in the red light district gave her headpats and free snacks all the time!

They also said that angsty bad boys were the catnip of girls, and that mature women appreciated someone who could appreciate them right back, man or woman.

But that wasn’t really important.

What was important was that Naruko was trying her best to take her place in the sparring ring, but Hinata was… kinda making that hard, honestly. That girl had an iron grip on her tail, and as much as Naruko was definitely a lot stronger now… getting Hinata off of her tails was an exercise in delicately coaxing her off.

“C’mon, it’s just for a little bit, you don’t have to-” Naruko huffed, tugging lightly and grumbling a little as she tried to unclasp Hinata’s arms.

“Mm!” Hinata protested, deciding to be childish and petulant for once in the face of getting to cuddle with her crush for longer. 

“Please? For me?” Naruko asked, doing her best to do a cutesy pout even though she’d… never really had the opportunity to do that before, outside of her Sexy Jutsu.

She held it for a moment, looking Hinata deep in her eyes and-

“Guh-!”

…

“... Um-” Naruko stared at Hinata’s now collapsed form, blood trailing from the Hyuga girl’s nose. “... S-should we do something about that? Medic? Anyone?”

Iruka sighed, pinching his brow tiredly. “Someone take Hinata to the infirmary. Naruko, just… get in position.”

It took a minute for the class to figure out who would be sacrificed and miss this entire thing, but it eventually came down to that one student who had a name so generic nobody ever remembered him. Poor kid. Naruko would feel bad if his… her? Their? The other student’s appearance stuck in her mind for more than five seconds at a time. Something up there really hated that kid. Seriously.

Anyway, while… that student dragged Hinata off to the nurse’s office again, Naruko took her spot. Normally gaining so much height and a very different center of gravity, not to mention her rather impressive ‘assets’ (it seemed they’d taken after her Sexy Jutsu), would cause significant issue. Luckily Naruko barely had a style at all, and certainly wasn’t all that good at it. The hide and seek match she’d had with the Old Man and his ANBU had also helped.

So it was with a confident swagger that she settled herself across from Sasuke. One thing to his credit- he always took sparring seriously. Sure he’d complain and look down on everyone, but he never pulled himself back. Even when he maybe should. Though by this point all the teachers knew not to place him up against anyone that wasn’t capable of taking it.

They’d originally attempted to teach him restraint, but he seemed endlessly confused by the entire concept. Which… well. It wasn’t exactly an unusual problem for an Uchiha.

Pyromaniac crazies they all were.

“Ready to lose?” Sasuke huffed and settled into his stance as Iruka raised his arm. “I’m going to prove that it doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll always be last place.”

“First to five wins. No maiming.” Iruka swept his arm down. “Start!”

“Yeah!” Naruko was the first to move, as always. Her punch was obvious, a heavily telegraphed slug that most of the class could dodge without trouble.

“Wha-” It slid across Sasuke’s cheek as he frantically dodged to the side. If it’d hit straight he’d have a broken jaw, and even like this it was throbbing painfully. The rest of Naruko’s bulk slammed into him and sent him stumbling straight down onto the floor.

“Whoah!” Naruko spun around, hopping on one foot as she attempted not to overbalance and fall over. She did actually manage it, but her new clothes obviously hadn’t been selected with that in mind.

A lot of the class looked like they were suddenly dealing with significant revelations.

“Rrgh!” Sasuke burst forward and hit Naruko while she was distracted. Then again. And again.

“Stop that!” The blonde swept her arm out and smashed away Sasuke’s. Who backed away as fast as he could, eyes wide. “Get back here!”

Her second rush was dodged completely, but far closer than it should have been. 

“HA!” The punch took her square in the jaw. A clean, powerful hit by any measure.

“Rah!” Her head only barely moved as she swung her elbow back. 

It hit Sasuke right in the middle of his chest and he flew back with a wheeze. He bounced as he hit the floor, but scrambled up as fast as he could. Practically flung himself away and onto his feet to dodge whatever followup was undoubtedly coming.

“Huh?” There wasn’t a followup. Naruko was blinking at her arm. She hadn’t been that strong before. Didn’t even feel that strong right now, or when doing other stuff. None of her pencils were broken or anything either. Maybe it had to do with what that nurse said?

“Pay attention to me!” Naruko’s head snapped up just in time for Sasuke to hit her in the face.

“Stop!” Iruka was there immediately, his hands between the two. “Sasuke got five points first, he wins.”

“Rrrgh!” Sasuke stomped away with a heavy scowl.

“Huh?” Naruko blinked, rubbing her nose. “I can keep going!”

“You always can, Naruko, but you know the rules. It’s no good to rely on being tough when your enemies aren’t going to be just punching you. A kunai is a kunai to everyone, and it doesn’t care how tough you are.” Iruka shook his head with a sigh. “Next up! Sakura against… Shikamaru.”

The named two complained even as they got ready. Naruko watched Sasuke brush off Ino as he grumbled and pouted away from everyone. What was that about?

Oh well. Whatever. Naruko didn’t really care. She had to go make sure Hinata was okay, after all!

Sasuke, meanwhile, stormed off with a dark cloud over his head, glaring and grumbling and doing his best to try and project an air of utterly annoyed discontentment instead of just grumbling under his breath like a particularly petulant brat.

Tch.

What a pathetic showing, from both him and Uzumaki. He hadn’t fought his best at all, thrown off as he was by the girl’s new appearance. Honestly, he still did his best, but the way she moved now was entirely different from how she moved not a day prior. It made fighting her difficult, plus the fact that she just didn’t respond the same way either.

Naruko… Sasuke wasn’t too proud to admit that, after feeling it firsthand, the girl was stronger than he was now. Physically at least. Stronger and faster than before, and definitely more durable. It was annoying, and it lended far too much credence to the idea that she actually had made a deal with some kind of fox summon in a sewer… in a dream… in exchange for power.

Sasuke was almost tempted to do the same, but definitely not with some weird sewer fox, and definitely not in exchange for his manhood- he wasn’t entirely sure of the mechanics given that they were supposed to learn about that next unit, but he knew damn well being a guy was really important to restoring a clan so… best not lose it. Probably. Anyway. Foxes were smelly and gross, and he’d have preferred a far more dignified creature than some lousy orange dog thing that couldn’t even be trained into a ninken.

Like a cat.

Cats were great, as stupid as some of them could be at times.

Tch.

Losing (but not really) to Uzumaki had really put some strange ideas in his head if he was even remotely willing to try the same stupid thing that she did.

Honestly. He could do better.

All he had to do was train harder, do better, maybe even ransack the compound’s archives now that no one else was there to stop him. It wasn’t like it’d be hard. Most of the seals wore away after the…

Sasuke grimaced, looking to the side and bitterly swallowing a flash of dark emotion as he remembered that night.

…

The seals on the archives wore away not long after that night… and since Sasuke had the key… he basically had free reign of whatever jutsu scrolls and old knowledge might have been in there. If only they weren’t so disorganized that he really only managed to look at the most trafficked sections usually. Tsk. 

Damn him for not organizing it better, but it wasn’t like it’d ever been organized before. All those old records were really just there to have them, not to actually read.

So.

Next time, he wouldn’t win on a technicality.

Next time, he wouldn’t have to realize just how strong Naruko Uzumaki was.

Next time, he’d have something far more powerful, far better for dealing with someone like her.

Maybe some kind of softer martial art than what he’d pieced together from the standard Academy kata and his own scrolls? Force redirection was apparently the way to go when dealing with stronger opponents, but he didn’t want to just throw the girl into the dirt by using her own strength against her, dammit! 

No.

He wanted to beat her into the damned ground.

If he was going to kill Itachi, and he was, he needed to be better! Everything else wasn’t important. What use was remaking his clan if Itachi was still around? What use were friends or comrades if Itachi could just come back?

It was so annoying those… little girls couldn’t realize that! Nobody realized that! They always said that he was safe, or he didn’t need to train as much. They didn’t get it. Itachi had to die or Sasuke would never be able to have a clan. Not anymore. Even if he never tried to find Itachi himself and just had kids, like some people said he should, then Itachi would still come back.

Itachi had to die.

“Rgh!” He shook his head and forced his hands to unclench. Spots of blood dripped to the ground as he marched through the empty Uchiha district. All the clan’s techniques and scrolls were stored in one location, carefully guarded. It was probably the greatest, most incomplete collection of knowledge around. The Sharingan only memorized things the user saw. So if someone used less hand signs, or only a few Taijutsu moves, then that was the only thing they got.

Figuring out things from the records was a lot about understanding what scribble his clan members managed to write in- because apparently having the Sharingan did not mean having understandable writing- and then trying to figure out what was missing. Maybe there were a few extra hand signs. Maybe the Chakra had to flow just the right way. Or even be shifted into an element differently than he was used to. The Katon he knew was low ranked, after all, and just from looking at the scrolls it was obvious how complicated things could get.

Still, if it gave him an advantage he’d make certain to be able to use it. Stuffing advanced Chakra Theory into his head was slow, but essential. Itachi had the Sharingan. He wouldn’t forget any jutsu. So if Sasuke wanted to surprise him, because if Itachi wasn’t surprised he wouldn’t be hurt, then he had to make something new.

Sasuke breathed in the scent of dust and old scrolls. Time to figure out something to beat Naruko. No matter how dangerous or what it might take. It was another in the long, long series of steps he was taking to deal with Itachi. If Naruko decided to be a roadblock, then he’d just crash through her. Like he had every other roadblock.

It was the only way he was going to avenge his clan and then… then… maybe a family. Maybe.

Chapter Text

The Uchiha were old. They were old enough that a few of their traditions had been abandoned or put off forever, the changing times rendering them useless. Or... overlooked in favor of safer, more consistent methods. Even if those methods didn’t quite have the benefits of the modern versions.

Sasuke wasn't looking for safe, and consistent didn't matter when there was no one else. The academy was useful, barely, but it wouldn't get him to a level he could face Itachi. He wasn't the genius his brother was. Father always harped on about how fast Itachi had graduated, had become chunin, jounin, ANBU. Fast enough that Sasuke was already far behind the curve.

Now with Naruko coming in after making some deal of another with a summons… it just showed how far Sasuke had to go. Especially since there were talking about increasing the minimum age to graduate. Which the Hokage seemed to like! Didn’t he know that Sasuke didn’t have that much time? Itachi could come back at any moment! Nobody else could stop him!

CRACK!

Tree bark splintered under his fist as he took a deep breath. The sounds of nature replaced by his own heavy breaths in his anger. A moment later he hefted his pack and moved forward again. He only had so long to do this and even if the academy was a waste it was a necessary one.

At least if they added more years they’d get into more stuff. There were a lot of talks about what exactly to add, but nothing really concrete was settled just yet. Maybe he should tell his advocate to try and get elemental manipulation into the curriculum. It was essential to being a ninja and the fact that it wasn’t taught was a crime. No Uchiha became a genin without the basics of Fire Style and whatever they were naturally inclined to.

A quick swap forced a bug away and Sasuke took a deep breath. His legs were burning and sweat dripped down his neck. The special area that the Uchiha had used long ago wasn’t easy to get to even when they’d kept the route mostly clear. Now it was overgrown and abandoned. Finding it in the first place took far too long.

It was sort of an accident, really. The Uchiha records were an absolute mess, and Sasuke was this close to just making organizing them a damn D-rank. He had the money for it. But it was his family's stuff, and he wasn't about to let anyone else touch it.

They'd never forgive him.

So he organized it himself. Which was where he found the old scroll. Possibly the oldest scroll. The scroll that talked about the Uchiha's relationship with the cat summons. Not that he was actually interested in summons, really.

They were powerful, sure, but at the end of the day you had to be strong yourself. Relying on summons just made you weaker. Itachi had never used them, and every famous ninja Sasuke could name was always strong in addition to having summons.

But this wasn't about that. Naruko had shown that there was more to get out of them than just a worthless companion. She obviously didn’t summon, but still got very powerful, very quickly. The sort of powerful that Sasuke needed. Summon backed training methods worked, and Sasuke needed it. More specifically, it was about their most dangerous, most effective method. The sort of method the Uchiha only used in an emergency.

Not, as far as Sasuke could tell, because it did anything terrible. It just... made you not human. Not even inhuman, just not human. The cat summons weren’t of this world, and were also cats. They didn’t have the same concerns or way of looking at things. Not so far out that it turned someone into a summons, or a yokai, but far enough that they weren’t easily predicted.

Which would be a benefit, here. Against Itachi. Still, that didn’t seem to be the… primary concern of whoever had written the scroll.

Sasuke was beginning to think his ancestors were maybe a little too concerned about the wrong things.

"Who rants about fur for seven pages?" Sasuke huffed and resettled his pack. Doing this method required being in the right spot, at the right time, with the right stuff. Luckily he didn't need anything special, since he was an Uchiha. The permission to use the method was apparently bloodline limited.

Somehow.

His shoes gripped the rock as he pushed onward. He had to be in the right spot to catch the rising sun. Missing it meant not only a lot of wasted time, but waiting until next year before the time would be right again.

Cats stalked him. Big ones, small ones, and everything in between. Which he hadn't really thought was a thing? All you heard about was big cats and small cats, but apparently there were medium cats too. They looked cute. 

"Here it is." The spot was unnaturally clear. The fading sunlight shined down on a flat rock surrounded by a nearly perfectly circular patch of grass. Everything around that circle was the normal forest you expected of this part of the Land of Fire, but inside it was... calm.

Sasuke could feel himself droop as he marched into the clearing. It wasn't quite a Genjutsu, he'd had practice dispelling those, but it wasn't not a Genjutsu either.

"Yaaaawn." His teeth clicked together as he shook his head. It was late, and he hadn't slept... recently, but he could go on a lot longer than this, usually. "Must be the space."

He huffed and swung his pack off.  The items were easy to put out. A comfy bed, comfy clothes, and catnip. Which were apparently much harder to find when this was still being done, way back when.

Once they were all set down all Sasuke had to do was sleep. Which... was probably going to be the hardest bit of all of this, honestly. Plus there was a whole big 'you'll be judged' thing, but sleeping was probably going to be harder.

"Better get to it." Even still, Sasuke felt himself linger for a little. Eventually another yawn shook him and he, reluctantly, settled down.

"It has been a long time." Massive eyes peered out of the darkness. "For an Uchiha to come now... something weighs on you. The dead pulling you back as the living choke your lungs."

Sasuke couldn't speak. Couldn't move. Couldn't feel his body.

"You could use this, I feel." Sharp teeth splayed wide in a smile. "Not quite in the way you're looking for, but since when did cats ever hold to the demands of man, hmm? You'll have trouble, but you'll make a fine cat in time, I suppose. So consider your wish granted."

The smile began to fade away. "After a fashion."

…

…

…

"Nyaaa!" Sasuke pulled herself off her bed with a looong stretch. "Nya?"

A quick look downward elicited a smug smile. The ritual had worked. Now she had the strength of the cat summons on her side. It would take time to get used to it, her tits were so heavy and her ass could only do so much to balance, but that would happen just from doing stuff.

Not exactly what she wanted, but it was a risk. One she’d understood. Naruko had gone through it, after all. Maybe it was just… a thing. With summons. Maybe not. It wasn’t like they were all that well understood.

Meh. It wasn’t worth worrying about it. She was still really tired. A nap like that wasn’t something she’d had in… so long. Waaay too long. She should get back to Konoha as soon as possible. Incorporate her changed center of balance and tail and claws and all of it into her fighting. Already she could hear so much more that she used to.

She twisted her body atop the bed and laid back. "Nya'll get to it after a nap. Mrrr..." 

It would be a terrible thing to waste this sun. Idly she licked a hand and wiped at her fur. Not much fur. Maybe that’d change later, but right now it was just mostly just on her hands and feet, with some swirls coming up her arms and onto her chest. It actually made her clothes a little uncomfy, but not so uncomfy it’d be worth it to pull them off. She was in the perfect position and ruining that would be a waste.

Yeah, just a little bit more time.

“Mrrr…”

It was several hours later… or… well. About noon on the next day before Sasuke stretched herself out and bothered to put everything back up. A good nap was just what she needed. Those nightmares had been so annoying. Understandable, of course, but so annoying.

Itachi needed to die. Period. End of story. Preferably by her own paw, but just in general was good too. Her clan was dead and nothing good would come of leaving their murderer alive. Though being so obsessed about them seemed really silly now. All she had were ghosts and a bunch of people who never actually said much about them.

She’d asked. A lot. Trying to get anything and everything about the clan that she could. And every time it was just… they sighed and changed the subject. Without anyone to help she’d need to rebuild her clan on her own. With whatever traditions she managed to make.

Therapy, for one. Therapy for everyone.

“Nyaaa.” Sasuke yawned as she trekked out of the area. The sunlight was so pretty now! Everything was so pretty now! Her eyes were definitely sharper than they had been. That’d be useful once she got her Sharingan, later. For right now it was just nice to look- “Yipe! OOF!”

Sasuke blinked as she laid on the ground. Her boobs had cushioned her. They still hurt. A lot. She hadn’t expected that, even if she really should have. Ugh, this was going to be a big problem until she fixed her taijutsu. It’d take forever.

Eh, not like she didn’t have time, now. The extended period in the academy would be useful. A hasty hunter went hungry. Best to focus not on catching up to Itachi, but doing things her own way. Trying to mimic a different hunter just left your tail swishing against the trees. Instead, use your own advantages and build on them bit by bit until you could take your prey out. There was more than one route to being that strong.

“Hmm… maybe I should talk to Naruko?” She was still a dumbass, but she was the strongest in the class now. Not the most skilled, but Hinata wasn’t about to actually do all that much. She really was too nice. Naruko, at least, would be a good sparring partner while she settled herself into her new changes. Plus she could go longer than anyone else.

Her stamina was exceptionally impressive. A hasty hunter was a dead one, but that didn’t mean lazing around. Itachi was impressive. Easily could have become the Hokage, in another life. Getting to the level would be a long road and shortcuts would just hurt. Not sleeping enough harmed her execution, screwed with her reflexes. The same went for not eating and so many other things she’d been doing.

Understandable, but still not good.

“So weird, nyaow.” Slit eyes blinked at a paw. It was covered in black fur, the same color as her hair, and maybe a little bigger than it should be. Claws popped out as she flexed in a way she probably couldn’t have before. Was this the biggest change or was it the one in her head? It all felt so distant now. Far away. Was that becoming this or did the cat summon head do it? “Myeh. Doesn’t matter nyaow.”

That verbal tic would probably get really annoying though. Hopefully that could be managed with some vocal training.

Chapter Text

Hiruzen looked at the charts.

Back at the girl currently curled up in the windowsill like a cat.

Back down at the chart.

Back at the girl.

He sighed, wishing beyond hope itself that he could take a deep drag off of his pipe right about now, but unfortunately it was still forbidden for even the Hokage to smoke in a hospital. 

He could really use it right about now, though, because Sasuke Uchiha, now proclaiming herself to be Satsuki on grounds that ‘Sasuke is a dumb name and Satsuki sounds like a proper cat name’, had done exactly what Naruko had done, and turned herself not into a fox, but a cat.

…

At least she wasn’t partially made of chakra, but being partially made of Summon Animal wasn’t much better, in his eyes.

He didn’t want to be part monkey, he already got enough jokes about it from Konohamaru. Why two kids thought that being part animal in exchange for power was acceptable was completely beyond Hiruzen’s ability to comprehend, but at least being turned into a girl and a cat hadn’t interfered much with Satsuki’s ability to finish the latter half of her stated goal.

The stated goal that she shouted all the damn time for the world to hear… well, muttered angrily for the ANBU keeping watch over her (because, really, who left an eleven year old highly important orphan child unattended?) to hear.

Another sigh.

“This better not be the start of a pattern,” Hiruzen grumbled, idly making sure his wallet was extra secure in his pocket this time. Satsuki wasn’t Naruko, and she never seemed to show the same penchant for sleight of hand that Naruko did even before she became a fox, so it was probably fine… plus, Satsuki, unlike Naruko, actually seemed to know what respect for one’s elders was.

… whether or not that held true now was up for debate, but at least he hadn’t walked in on her doing things that all cats did… unlike that one nurse, who had been recorded as complaining that she’d walked in on Satsuki grooming herself, one leg in the air and…

Well.

Anyone who kept cats knew the pose.

It at least showed some of the extent of what this particular transformation would do to her. The level of flexibility wasn’t something that was easy to obtain and many never obtained it. Even with early instruction it wasn’t uncommon for ninja to neglect their flexibility exercises. The other benefits were, similarly, easy to understand. Quite unlike Naruko’s, this was something the village had some experience in.

Every clan had some form of relationship with a summons. Some of them barely used it, now, but they all had at least a scroll, if not some form of deeper connection- such as with the deer and the Nara. Which led to individuals enacting the sort of situation that had occurred here. Sometimes because the summons liked them, sometimes for personal power, sometimes for… other reasons.

It hadn’t happened since the war, and even during that it was rare. Hiruzen had known a few of the ones who had done it and it always resulted in something like this. Getting so much from a summons, however they did it, resulted in a very different perspective on things. A perspective that, depending on the summon in question, wasn’t always a good thing. Especially in a situation such as combat.

At least this time it seemed to have mellowed out Satsuki. She had slept through the night without any nightmares, at least, which was distressingly rare for her. Hopefully it’d hold, and hindsight said it likely would. It wasn’t the preferred ending to her demons, but it was at least an ending. Perhaps she would find the Will of Fire and truly begin to settle into Konoha.

Or she would wander off and never be heard from again. It was both a cat thing and an Uchiha thing. As both, Satsuki was much more at risk for it.

Perhaps a more observant guard would be necessary. Just for a little bit.

“Nyakage, sir.” Satsuki smiled up at the man. It was… hm. The first time Hiruzen had seen her smile. Ever. She had probably smiled before, but small Uchiha were rarely allowed outside of the district. The son of the clan head even less so, unless it was to show him off. Never to the Hokage, of course.

Perhaps that should have been a warning of things to come. He had seen Itachi as a baby, after all.

“Satsuki.” Hiruzen took a deep breath. “You understand this was reckless, correct? Naruko is… not someone you should be comparing yourself against.”

“Nya guess so.” Satsuki shrugged. “Still, done is done, and Nya’ve got a good idea of how to go forward.”

“And what is that?” It would be interesting. Her previous efforts were… well. They were the best she could have done, refusing all attempts at help and alone as an orphan as she was. Not efficient or useful, but generally on the right path without being likely to actually cause long term harm.

“Get a new taijutsu style. Kenjutsu.” She flexed her paws at that, her claws coming out and glinting unnaturally in the light. Seriously. Bone shouldn’t glint. Hm… was… was she using Chakra to make her claws glint? It was a waste to do nothing but… look cooler… Hiruzen suppressed a sigh. “Elemental training. Nya’ve got a lot to work on.”

“And what do you plan to do with all of that?” Hiruzen hummed. Should he… hm. Probably best. She’d learn about it soon regardless. “The academy has been extended. You missed the session due to your excursion, but it will now end at sixteen. You will have the chance to graduate early, once we figure out what you should know by the end, as a compromise to the fact that you are currently in what would have been your final year of schooling.”

“Nya?” Satsuki blinked, one of her ears flicking as she stared at Hiruzen. “Gotta talk to my advocate then. I need to kill Itachi, of course. And set up my clan. Syooo much to do.”

“Set up your clan?” That was new. Promising as well. The Uchiha weren’t necessary, but they were a powerful force. Even now a few believe that sperm should have been taken regularly as soon as possible. A ‘preservation measure’ as they called it, as the last Uchiha was going to be a ninja.

Those measures had been denied for many, many reasons.

“Nya! I dunno what all my clan had for traditions. Nyobody ever told me much, and nyobody wants to talk about them.” Satsuki sighed. Then pulled at her shirt. Perhaps it’d be best to direct her to the stores that worked with alternate body types. There were plenty, considering the Aburame and Inuzuka often required such. “So I’m gonna have to make it all up myself!”

“Certainly a worthy thing to look toward.” There should be some scrolls detailing those among the old intelligence reports. Best to take a look and ensure the better ones were sent along. It would be a good way to push Satsuki to integrate more into the village. “I believe I might have access to a few things for that. I’ll send them along if I find them.”

“That’d be great!” Satsuki sighed. “Nyaow I really have to get new clothes… and a bunch of other stuff.”

“I can recommend a few places, if you’re interested.” Never before would Satsuki have taken the offer. The Uchiha tended to be like that. One of the reasons for how things turned out as they did. A small reason, but it pays to understand the entire picture instead of wallowing in personal failings.

“That’d be great, nya.” Satsuki smiled. “Oh! And a smith. I need a sword.”

“A sword?” Hm. Interesting. Most didn’t bother with other weapons. They considered their natural ones enough. Often they were, with the natural ability to channel Chakra better than anything outside of specialty fuinjutsu altered weapons.

“Yep!” Satsuki flicked her paws. “Getting blood on my paws would take forever to clean out.”

“I suppose that is an issue you’ll have to deal with now.” Not the worst of new problems, but still one all the same. That, too, is good to keep track of. Just because something was a minor problem didn’t mean it wasn’t a problem. Minor things made the bigger things feel worse, after all. “I know some places for that, as well. Though you’ll likely find many acceptable weapons within the Uchiha stores.”

“Nya. It’s so annoying to go back there. Nothing is organyaized.” Satsuki sighed. “Best check it anyway, nya.”

“Proper organization is one of the most important things. Perhaps that can be one of the first things you look at incorporating into your clan traditions.” Hiruzen made a show of looking around before leaning forward. “Don’t tell anyone I told you this, but I hear every other clan head complain about the same thing. No matter how few scrolls they have, they’re never organized right.”

“Nyat a bad idea.” Satsuki hopped off the bed and shook herself. “Shall we nyo?”

“Of course.” Hirzuen turned. He would have to come back later to get some of the more interesting information. The sort that was generally believed to just be between doctor and patient. The exact differences between the last check and now would be highly interesting, especially in regards to Chakra. Also relevant, but in a distant way, was why both Naruko and Satsuki had come out so… womanly. Neither was old enough for that naturally to come, and Satsuki didn’t have the ‘guideline’ of the Sexy Jutsu to work with. Once is coincidence, twice is a pattern, and now it’s just a matter of preparing for the third time. Including extra patrols around where they lived and moved. Just in case anyone stupid got ideas. Best to head off that sort of thing quickly. Plus it’d kill some pedophiles. That sort of thing always put a pep into his step. “Just follow me. They’re in another part of the village, so I’m afraid it’s a bit of a walk.”

“Nyat a problem.” Satsuki followed as Hiruzen started walking.

It was an enjoyable time, honestly. Hiruzen… didn’t get out as much as he should. Dealing only with ninja skewed how he thought of things, sometimes. It was good to meet people who weren’t bound to listen to him. The fact that Satsuki was… well. Still prickly but in a way that was just… cat. Instead of a defense mechanism because of the betrayal of someone she so trusted exacerbated by the loss of her entire support system.

There had been many reports on the mental health of the last Uchiha. The only reason more hadn’t been done was… well, twofold. Firstly- she was a civilian. A civilian could be as mentally unwell as they liked and not even the Hokage could order them into therapy. Provided they didn’t do anything illegal which could be construed as stemming from their mental state. That could result in mandated therapy, but wasn’t especially relevant here.

The second reason was that, despite being a ninja in training, which could obviate the first point, Satsuki was a clan head. Hiruzen could have ordered her to go to therapy as a requisite for attending the academy, but that would have been ordering a clan head around in a matter not directly related to ninja duties. Which was… not exactly something he couldn’t do, but was best to be kept for more dire matters. A child’s mental health was important, but not so much so the leader of the village could get involved.

There were a lot of things like that. For all that he was the military dictator, there was a lot of push and pull in matters not directly relating to the ninja that left him with… far less options than he would like. No civilian needed to listen to his orders, and being so important left him with little time and far too much weight. Attempting to make Naruko’s life better, or ensure Satsuki got the help she desperately needed, was best with a lighter touch. Because going too hard could harm them just as easily as not doing enough.

It was this that convinced him that Naruko may well never wear the hat. She would be good for it, because she loved the village, but at the end of the day… she wanted to do good. And so many of his options were the furthest thing from it. As Danzo exemplified.

“Haahh…” It was times like this he felt far too old to wear the hat. Other times it was because he got reminded the entire thing was made out of metal and was, literally, exceptionally heavy. It wasn’t even good armor.

Apparently the original was a gift from the Uchiha to the newly installed first Hokage. Which… made a lot of sense.

“You should get some more rest, nya.” Satsuki looked up from the skirts she was perusing at the sigh. “Being tired just makes you bad at stuff.”

“Yes. It’s a lesson everyone needs to learn eventually. Unfortunately I find myself with far too much work and not nearly enough time.” It used to be better, but problem and crisis ensured he’d had to take on more of the work he’d originally left to others. Perhaps it would be good to do some reorganization while the academy was getting changed. It was a good time to do it considering they were already checking one part of their operations.

A good refresh every so often was the best way to ensure smooth running. Usually it was done by the incoming Hokage, but…

“Hmpf.” Minato had left a number of ideas behind. It… might be best to bring them up. After checking them over for anything too off the wall. He was new to the job, after all, and everybody new to the job had an inflated idea of what the Hokage could actually accomplish. “Perhaps some things will be reorganized in addition to the academy.”

“Sounds like a nyatastic idea.” Huh. Satsuki could purr. “This is so pretty!”

“It is also, perhaps, a bit too short to wear on its own.” Especially with her… size. Ugh, just thinking about that made him want to use one of the seven self-immolation jutsu he knew. Why there were seven was still something he was trying to figure out. “There is a store that sells underthings for ninja that wish to use their bodies as… distraction in combat. I’ll give you the address later.”

“Thanks, nya!”

Chapter Text

“Nya!” Satsuki flounced into the room with about as much care as she usually had for class. Just more… bouncy. No actual changes were going to happen to the curriculum just yet, so there wasn’t actually much reason to pay too much attention. Or… well. It might be a good idea to pay a little more attention.

Just paying attention to the physical and jutsu lessons, as little as those were, wasn’t a good plan in the long run. Terrain was essential to a proper hunt, and what was politics other than just another type of terrain? Even if they couldn’t actually fight Itachi, they could still tell her where he was. What he was doing. Things that might be essential in eventually killing him.

Not every battle was a drag out fight to the death. The ideal fight was an ambush that ended in a single blow.

“Sasuke?” Sakura looked like she was… heavily reconsidering some things. From that glance at Naruko that she thought she hid it was probably something a little more a her thing than actually related to Sasuke.

“Satsuki! Sasuke sounds so… boring. And not like a cat. And I’m totally a cat, nyaow!” Satsuki pawed the air.

“Yeah, a copycat! You just did what I did but worse!” Naruko shouted, jumping up dramatically and pointing at Satsuki with an accusing finger. “And you’re just a dinky one tailed cat instead of a badass nine tailed fox!”

“Y-yeah!” Hinata, somehow, found it in herself to fangirl… while entirely wrapped up in Naruko’s tails like a blanket.

“And cats are better than smelly foxes,” Satsuki shot back, pride twinged just a little at the insinuation that she was somehow worse than some dinky little fox who was too dumb to accept that cats were the best, obviously. Just look at how sleek her fur was, how bright her eyes were, how sharp her claws were, how soft and squishy her beans were!

Obviously, it was the dumb fox girl that was too stupid to realize that now she was once again the top… cat… of their class, and all other classes in the ninja academy!

“Yeah!” Sakura was the first to recover from… whatever she and Ino were doing. Though… huh. Was she bleeding a little? There was a bit below her nose. She didn’t smack her head onto a desk or anything, right? She better not have. Satsuki would hate to have missed it. “Cats are way better than foxes!”

“Not uh!” Naruko thrust her chest out and crossed her arms. “Foxes are all fluffy and can do super special tricks and stuff!”

“Like what, peeing on a tree?” Satsuki sniped, sniffing haughtily. 

“No, like this!” Naruko snarled, throwing her hands out in what could only be described as some kind of modified Tiger seal, filling the room with a blast of fire that somehow transmuted everything into the forest just outside of Konoha. “Ha! You can’t do that now can you!?”

“Genjutsu of this caliber are nothing compared to an Uchiha’s genjutsu!” Satsuki growled, putting her hands together… before realizing she didn’t… actually… perhaps… know how to use any genjutsu.

Because she’d been busy trying to learn ninjutsu.

Shit.

In hindsight, that was a terrible idea.

“Can’t do it can ya~?” Naruko leered, keeping one hand firmly over Hinata’s face despite the fact that the Hyuga could see through walls in some kind of vague attempt to keep her little fangirl from going blind. Again. “Nyehehe~! I’m better than you now, Satsuki~! Cats ain’t nothin’ compared to the majesty of foxes!”

“Grrr… why you-!”

Grrk!

Unfortunately, before Satsuki could launch herself at Naruko and scratch her eyes out, someone caught her in midair by the scruff of her neck, causing her to go all but completely limp in an instant… at the same time, an eraser flew out from behind Naruko and beaned her right between the eyes, causing the illusion to dispel in an instant.

“That’s enough, both of you! Sit down and pay attention or you’re both going on punishment duty!” Iruka shouted, all but throwing Satsuki into the nearest open seat and glaring equally at the crazy fox and the new crazy cat infesting his normally calm and peaceful classroom. “This is a school, not an arena! Wait until it’s time to spar!”

“Mouuu… I totally woulda won, though!” Naruko pouted, tails swishing petulantly while Satsuki righted herself and hissed just a little, while her tail….s?

… Wait.

Satsuki looked back.

She blinked.

Two tails???

Since when??? Did- did Iruka’s presence just cause tails to grow? Naruko popped out a bunch of them when Iruka tried to dispel her not-actually-a-Henge the other day, and then…

Satsuki blinked a few more times, then shrugged and decided it wasn’t worth giving a shit about. Instead, she curled up in a way that probably would have broken a normal person’s spine, draped herself all over her seat and desk, and did the bare minimum of paying attention that a cat was supposed to. In this case, blinking sleepily while Iruka berated Naruko for thinking it was okay to start lobbing fireballs in a wooden building.

Idiot.

“Ah… Satsuki?” One eye cracked open to look at Sakura, who had won the seat next to her by virtue of being the only mobile girl interested. Some of the other girls in the class, all of whom were so uninteresting Satuki didn’t recall their names, had recovered faster, but oddly none of them had wanted the seat next to Satsuki. Weird. “Did you… really do the same thing Naruko did? I mean- you look perfect! Cats are totally-”

“Stnyap.” Her mouth clicked shut. Really, her previous disinterest should have gotten this through, but she also hadn’t actually talked so… a little bit her own fault. But these girls kept interrupting her sleep and that just wasn’t going to fly. “I did, because I need to kill someone. He needs to die, and if I have to be the one to do it I will be. This was the best way to go forward that I saw, especially with the changes to the nyacademy soon.”

“You’re…” Sakura blinked, then her eyes narrowed. Her gaze was only distant for a second before it snapped back to Satsuki. “Ita- mpf!”

“Nyes.” It wasn’t exactly hard to guess, but she did get it pretty quick. That brain had to be good for something at least, even if it wasn’t anything actually useful. “Until he is dead, then I cnyan’t settle. Because he might be back, and because my family wants revenge.” That statement came from deep in her bones. She said it before, sure, but now she knew it. Even if, oddly, it felt like… some of the most important of her family didn’t care. Who… ah. Didn’t matter. “So I don’t have time for a stupid little girl. Too busy memorizing and not learning.”

A shove pushed Sakura back into her seat. Satsuki didn’t bother to watch what she did next. That entire thing had moved her out of her spot and getting back into it would take forever. Ugh. The things she did for a good rest.

Sakura, meanwhile, settled back down with a slight pout on her face. Sure, she was super happy to get the seat next to Sas- Satsuki, but… being so casually dismissed like that? Kinda hurt. Even being ignored was less painful than having her crush basically call her stupid and useless. And what did she mean, too busy memorizing instead of learning? Memorizing was how people learned! Everyone knew that! Still… maybe she’d come on a little strong?

There had to be a way for Satsuki to actually acknowledge her, right? But how?

And… what could she even do for that? She was a civilian kid with no real clan, and even if her parents were shinobi, they were basically lifelong members of the Genin Corps, and they never had any real chance to promote beyond that… hell, these days they were more civilian merchants than they were shinobi. So.

She had nothing but old Genin level jutsu scrolls that her parents didn’t want her looking at because they still didn’t think she could be a ninja, access to the student library that was still heavily restricted to only her specific year’s material… and nothing else.

At all.

Which meant that she wasn’t exactly going to get stronger any time soon, and with her diet and slimming exercises, she was kinda physically weak too…

Sakura frowned a little, feeling her stomach growl just a little. Ugh. Her new diet was pretty awful for her energy levels, and even if she still ate enough that she could sorta handle physical classes… well. She’d always been better at the theoretical side of things. 

Her mind whirled a little, jumping between lines of thought as she tried to mull over every facet of Satsuki’s… sorta conversation with her.

She wanted to kill her older brother for the Uchiha Massacre almost four years ago, she definitely wanted to get stronger as fast as possible if her new cat features were any indication, she didn’t care for Sakura or any of her fangirls…

So.

What did she know, and what could she infer?

Well, she could immediately off-bat infer that Satsuki valued strength over anything else. She seemed far more willing to respect Naruko now than she ever had before- even if it was dressed up as some kind of species based rivalry? Before, Satsuki would have just shot a few insults and then ignored anything Naruko did. Now, they were sniping at each other and willing to fight in class.

Sakura wasn’t strong.

She didn’t know how to be strong.

She did, however, know a few things.

One: Everyone always said diets were stupid and the fad of civilian girls who didn’t have to do any real work. 

Two: Sakura wasn’t as stupid as everyone assumed she was, just because she was emotional and tried to look pretty.

Three: Getting physically stronger meant burning calories, which meant eating more as a result.

Four: Sakura was, unfortunately, really, really, really bad at calisthenics. Good enough to pass her classes… bad enough that she’d have to do a lot of re-training just to get up to how she was in first year before she’d ever even heard the name Sasuke Uchiha.

Boundless little font of energy, her past self was.

So.

That meant… diet plans, but with a focus on proteins and strength building. Training at home, finally putting her lockpicking lessons to use on the locked cabinet full of Genin scrolls, and maybe managing to sneak into the Academy after hours to get a look at some of the higher level material. Plus… doing whatever she could to actually… be a good ninja?

Sakura blinked, re-focusing on the board for the first time in what had to be well over a half hour.

Was it really that simple?

Was the entire plan to capture Satsuki’s attention just being a strong ninja?

It couldn’t be that easy, right?

But… well.

Sakura hummed, idly scribbling away in one of her spare notebooks without actually caring as to what Iruka-sensei was saying- she’d already read ahead for this unit anyway, so she could probably do the stuff on the board in her sleep. What was important now was getting her ducks in a row and focusing on a new plan instead of spending money on shampoo and perfume and new hairstyles.

…

Okay, well, she wouldn’t be cutting back entirely. Some of it was for Satsuki, a lot of it was just because she liked being pretty. Ahem.

So.

Training plan: Using what she’d already learned from the Academy curriculum to get her cardio back up first, then go into muscle training to make sure she could start winning spars against people other than the other Sasuke fangirls… most of whom whose names she’d forgotten already. Extra kata drilling, plus some extras from whatever she could find in her parents’ scrolls.

Learn new jutsu, do as much training as she could manage to build up her chakra capacity… figure out what nonstandard ninjutsu she could learn? The Academy Three were nice, but everyone knew them if they had any shinobi training at all, and that wouldn’t impress Satsuki.

Oh, she’d also need to sneak into the Academy later…

…

Hmm… okay, first things first: Get through the day, eat extra at lunch, get extra groceries at dinner, and train herself up so her stomach could handle larger amounts of food again.

After that…

Well. She’d figure it out. It wasn’t like the student library had a particularly high amount of security. It was, after all, filled with useless things like “mandatory reading for language lessons” and “history textbooks that totally weren’t biased at all” and “literal tons worth of spare worksheets, workbooks, and assorted paperwork”.

If there was anything useful in there at all, it’d be… well. Jutsu that probably weren’t that impressive, but they’d definitely be nonstandard for most Genin to learn. Maybe even a few elemental jutsu? Probably just utility ninjutsu. Hadn’t she heard something about walking on walls?

…

…

…

Just over twelve hours, two and a half meals, a quick extracurricular workout, a bath, and a surprisingly clean slip-out through her window later, Sakura carefully hopped the walls to the Academy, slipping inside after picking the surprisingly easy lock on the door, and padding her way through the halls on her way to the library.

She was silent. She was the night. She was the darkness and shadow. She was wearing all dark blues and grays and browns to break up her outline like her sneaking textbooks had told her to.

She-

…

Why was Naruko here too?

“Oh hey Sakura-chan! If you’re here for Mizuki-sensei’s super sneaky early graduation thing, you’re too late! I got the scroll first!” Naruko grinned, holding up a scroll the size of her torso like it was nothing. “I didn’t even have to hit the Old Man with my sexy jutsu for it, can ya believe it!?”

…

Oh fuck.

Chapter Text

“We can just complete it together, then.” What was Naruko talking about? Mizuki said something? It made sense there was an early graduation route, and if anyone could actually manage it it’d be Naruko. She definitely was at least genin level now.

“Huh?” Naruko blinked and tilted her head and damnit why was she so cute?

"Y- yeah!” Seriously. Sakura had never… okay. Not never. Ino was pretty nice to look at too, but Naruko was just on another level! Even above Sasuke. Was this what Nozomi felt in Lily: Amongst the Hidden Waterfalls? When she first encountered her rival Junko? 

That thought was quickly terminated, otherwise she’d remember the other things Nozomi and Junko had done later in the book. Grabbing that one off the same shelf as Icha Icha was… not her best plan. Not the worst, but maybe, when people said you shouldn’t read something until you’re older, they actually had a good reason for it. Not related to them thinking the kanji was too complicated.

It was, but that was what a dictionary was for. And copious amounts of research.

A cucumber could be used like that, with a little bit of Chakra. She still really wished she’d never been morbidly curious enough to search through various books on… well. Stuff. That she shouldn’t have had.

Maybe her parents should actually look at the books she asked them to buy her more.

“Sakura?” Oh shit, right!

“Naruko!” Sakura shook her head. “Come on, let's get to a safe place. Did Mizuki-sensei tell you where to take it?”

“Yeah!” Naruko quickly hopped forward to take the lead. Which… well. Yes, she was wearing everything she should. It was just very tight on her. Probably on account of having so many tails, even if they looked like they connected kinda weird?

It was something to focus on other than her butt, at least.

Later, a much redder Sakura landed in the clearing next to Naruko. Covered in sweat and panting.

“Ughhh…” The grass wasn’t that hard.

“Ne, ne, Sakura!” A hand pushed at her unresisting shoulder. “We still gotta learn a jutsu!”

“Ughhh…” Sakura flipped herself over and gratefully accepted Naruko’s hand. It was surprisingly soft? Even with her own dieting and attempting to ensure she was pretty, some things were unavoidable. The infiltration classes that totally weren’t infiltration classes even made sure to emphasize avoiding direct hand to hand contact if possible. Tougher skin and callouses were just something that being a shinobi brought, and outside of being all in on infiltration it was just something you had to deal with. “Are we going to be able to learn anything? It has to be really complex stuff.”

Well.

Duh.

That was probably the exact fucking point of this entire thing. Lucky only Naruko was around. If she’d said something so stupid in front of anyone else she’d just die on the spot.

“Nevermind.” Just… just move past it, Sakura. Naruko is probably too busy-

“Shadow Clones, huh? Sweet!” Yeah. That. “Only a few handsigns too.”

“Let me see that.” Naruko shifted to the side to let Sakura look down at the scroll. As expected, Shadow Clones was literally the first thing on it. That was just so… Naruko. The notes next to it were written in several different hands, but most of them were in one cramped doctor type writing. Maybe that was the person who made it? “Huh, this might actually be perfect for you.”

They were, according to the notes, stupidly expensive. Literally kill her dead on the spot expensive. Which Naruko didn’t care about because she had a stupid amount of Chakra. It looked like the maker of this was trying to make a clone technique that didn’t actually care about Chakra control. There was a… loop… or something in it. The more Chakra in, the more clones. It was high level stuff, the sort Sakura had only barely scratched. Loops like that were in the realm of C-rank elemental jutsu at the lowest, and in ways that were way simpler.

Especially because the loop… tied it to the host Chakra somehow? The Yin, specifically. To allow… “Memory sharing?”

What the fuck. How did that even… What The Fuck! Whoever made this must have been some sort of special genius. Or completely mad. Or both.

Probably both.

“You… keep doing this one. I’m going to find something else.” If she could. There had to be something in here that wasn’t- was that the fucking Hiraishin. Huh. That was… extremely complicated. Nope. Next thing. “Too much Chakra, suicide jutsu, suicide jutsu, blood jutsu, too much Chakra, suicide jutsu… why are there so many of those?”

It was actually really concerning. A few of them looked like they were supposed to be something else? But whoever made it screwed up somewhere and it basically just dumped a bunch of Chakra into an effect that wasn’t properly separated from the user. So it just killed them instead of doing whatever it actually should. If nothing else, it made for good learning material.

How someone else screwed it up was an excellent showing of what happened if you screwed it up.

Not that creating jutsu was anything Sakura had ever previously been interested in, but… well. Maybe Satsuki would like that. Outside of doing the exact same thing she and Naruko did, which she couldn’t on account of not having a summoning contract, she had to figure out something to get Satsuki to look at her. If physical ability was out, starting way too late and without that boost that working with the summons gave, then smarts would work. Which was her better area anyway.

“Oh, a summon scroll.” Neat. Now, where was something else? There had to be some unfinished jutsu or something in here. Hopefully not too complicated, but enough. Or even just a normal jutsu she could use. The Shadow Clones solved a problem Naruko always had and were just stupidly useful beyond that. With such a rare chance Sakura wasn’t about to get anything less.

What did she need? Physical training help would be nice, but wasn’t essential. Shortcuts could only hurt right now. Her Chakra reserves weren’t great, so maybe something to help with those? Or just hyper efficient jutsu that wouldn’t tax her too much. Hm… she… really doesn’t have much any style at all, huh?

Naruko is just… unfair. An absolute load of Chakra and an inability to stay down meant she was definitely going to be on the front lines. Likely making new ones. Satsuki… probably elemental jutsu? The Uchiha had been known for them, when they weren’t being known for the Sharingan. Which was about as focused on jutsu as the Byakugan was focused on taijutsu. Which left… what?

Well… maybe something physical? Sure Naruko was just… a massive stamina monster, but her actual taijutsu scores were… not great. There were also seals. Or genjutsu. The Hiraishin seemed to be based on seals, even if it was so complex it’d take her the entire rest of the academy to maybe understand it.

At a basic level.

“Maybe something for later.” Just move past that… hm. The scroll didn’t offer up much in the way of genjutsu. The ones it did offer weren’t… really all that great? Horrifying, sure, but basically useless in a fight. Torture techniques, plain and simple. The sort nobody used anymore because they didn’t work and they made it harder to actually capture people. Plus retaliation and… well.

The academy had made absolutely sure to beat not doing that sort of thing into their heads. Along with plenty of other stuff shinobi Did Not Do. Several kids dropped out, or were kicked out, after those bits.

Good riddance. There was one that was just… if it hadn’t been for their teachers being shinobi Sakura had the feeling it wouldn’t have ended at being a bit too brutal in spars.

“Uggggh…” No time to get distracted.

“What’s the matter, Sakura?” Naruko's beautiful eyes were suddenly staring right into her soul.

“Eep!” Where did Naruko come from? Her heart, damnit! “Don’t scare me like that!” Just… just get over it. This is a mission, and being a dick to an ally on a mission is a good way to have no allies on a mission. “I’m trying to figure out what to learn.”

“Couldn’t you just use this scroll?” Sakura blinked at the scroll Naruko had unsealed.

Wait.

Wait a fucking second.

“Fuck.” Sakura blinked. “You didn’t hear that.” Her hand practically ripped the scroll out of Naruko’s grip. “Who is this for?”

“Okay…?” Naruko just blinked as Sakura turned back to the scroll. 

Her suddenly shattered worldview was not Sakura’s problem right now. Right now the important thing was getting something out of this scroll. The… summon scroll for the vultures? Huh, yeah. Vultures. Why was this one put away? It doesn’t say why near the storage seal. Maybe it’d be further in?

Ah, whatever. Keep that to the side for a moment. Summoning anyone might actually screw her up pretty badly. It takes a lot of Chakra, apparently. Likely more than she has without using a soldier pill or something. Is there anything else? Maybe an extra to the contract.

Hm… maybe altering some of the torture genjutsu could work? At their base they weren’t terrible, just… really fragile and obvious. Way too easy to break. But with a little effort maybe they could be made better? Ugh, it’d take too much time to do it.

“Naruko. We didn’t need to be able to use it in a fight, right? Just learn something?” Naruko’s nod sapped some of the tension from Sakura’s shoulders. Good. Learn a couple of these and maybe some of the weirder low level jutsu. Nothing actually useful… probably?

There were a bunch of super low level elemental jutsu here. They warned a lot about using special energy… nature Chakra? Ah. If the balance was off it did… bad stuff. Depended on the element that was being used. Not a problem if it wasn’t a fight. Especially not with her near perfect Chakra control.

Wouldn’t be good to actually hit someone with, but it’d be a good starting point. If she could actually get it to work without bad stuff happening.

Hm.

Still nothing on the Vultures. Weird. Maybe they were just assholes? Or just not deemed useful enough to keep a summoner around constantly. Sealed here just because keeping a summon scroll just… around was a good way for it to be stolen. By literally anyone. Even civilians could generally tell they were expensive just from looks, and a surprising amount of non-Chakra using thieves tended to be very successful.

Best to check the terms and conditions first. “Naruko, how long until Mizuki-sensei gets here?”

“He didn’t say exactly when. I had to get the scroll and sneak over here, but I dunno when he’ll be around.” Naruko scratched her head. “I guess it’s supposed to be a bunker down test?”

“That’d make sense.” Bunker down was one of those things that nobody ever wanted to use but was so essential everybody knew how to do it anyway. Putting it onto an early graduation test was smart. Just because you were good enough for it didn’t mean you were good enough to do too much at the next level. A good bunker down would make sure that you could survive if you got in over your head. Theoretically. “I’ll go over this, then. Keep an eye out?”

“Of course!” Naruko thrust a hand forward, thumb up. The sun was low enough that it was dusk and her tails splayed out behind her. They glowed, faintly, as did her hair and whisker marks. Her clothes were nice, not too hugging but properly fitted. Just enough that her curves pushed out against them.

Sakura swallowed as her mouth suddenly dried out. It was… what to even say? She didn’t… have the words for whatever this was. Naruko looked so pretty and just…

“Ne, Sakura! We can go on a date after this, right?” Naruko’s hand dropped, pressing against her hip as she smiled at her companion. “Celebrate being genin together!”

“Sure.” Sakura swallowed again and forced herself to turn to the scroll. What was that? It just… She needed more books. On… emotions and stuff. The bookshop owner was used to her. All she had to do was ask about… that. Just had to word it right so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea. “Right. Let’s just… you keep an eye out and wait for Mizuki. I’ll look over this.”

It took a few moments before she could actually start. Her heart was thumping too loud to focus, and her hands were way too sweaty to unroll the scroll.

Chapter Text

The vulture contract was extremely simple. If you knew how to read contract-ese. Basically- the vultures weren't battle summons. At all.

They scouted. They scouted extremely well, if the promises on the contract were right, but that was basically all. Certain vultures could agree to being used in a fight, and if a fight started while they were out they would help, but they weren't to be summoned to fight. Which was a bit of a let down, but not much of one.

It was the fine print that brought the more interesting stuff. The vultures had a number of other things they offered. Reading bones, whatever that was, watching over areas, and… corpse removal. They actually encouraged that last one. A lot.

It wasn't a requirement, but if Sakura wanted anything special they'd be required. Which… wasn't too big a problem? Shinobi dealt with corpses all the time. As a genin she wouldn't find them too often, but having a summons that needed it meant some leeway on missions. A little perk given to summoners deep in the mission regulations.

The big problem is that the vultures didn't seem to offer anything power wise. It wouldn't be a problem to a chunin. Even a genin wouldn't actually care much. An established ninja had techniques to master and improve, comrades to ask for help, more access to the library, and personal time to train. Connecting to the vultures meant they had scouting options without taking the time to learn it themselves. 

Sakura wasn't any of those. Sure, passing here would make her a genin, but that didn't improve any of the things she needed to improve. A summon that only scouted was a poor choice this early in her career.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?” Sakura very carefully didn't react as Naruko just… appeared again. How did she do that? She had nine massive tails and seemed to think yelling was a normal speaking voice. It should be impossible for her to sneak, and yet…

Whatever. Focus on what's in front. “Just… wondering if I should sign this.” She sighed and leaned back. The elemental jutsu weren't too hard to learn. Left her with far too little Chakra for comfort, and they felt weird, but it worked out. Luckily she picked water for the last. Fire was the most… enthusiastic, but water felt so much easier. “They're scouts, but I don't need scouts right now. I need something to get stronger.”

“Well… why don't you ask them?” Naruko blinked at Sakura's look. “What? It's a whole contract, right? Maybe they have something else that isn't in there or something. It can't hurt to try to negotiate a little.”

“It could though.” Summon clans were apparently pretty prideful. Asking to amend the contract… nothing she'd read had ever said anything about that. “I can't even summon them to talk without signing. So it doesn't matter if I want to or not. Unless one of them randomly shows up because I've been messing with the scroll-”

“Did someone ask for a little narrative convenience?" The vulture- “FUCK!”

“Naruko!” Sakura desperately held onto her… classmate's (teammate?) leg. If that was a vulture summon, and they talked so it was probable, then letting someone associated with her eat them was a bad idea. Probably. They were vultures. “Stop! Down! Des- yipe!”

A yank pulled Naruko back. Right onto Sakura. Who was very much not prepared for the butt to the face.

“Ah! Sakura!” Naruko hopped off as soon as she realized. Sakura wasn't sure whether to be thankful or snap at her to sit back down. “I'm so sorry! That bird just flapped up and I felt like I had to bite it!”

“Them.” The vulture shook their head. “Ahem. Understandable. We vultures know well the dangers of granting a bit too much of ourselves to a summoner.”

“So you could do what me and Satsuki did?” Naruko only kept her attention on the vulture for a moment before snapping to Sakura. “Ne, Sakura! You could get that! Just like me and Satsuki. You were worried about them not being helpful right? Oh! You're bleeding! I didn't crush your nose with my butt, did I?”

“I wish.” The words hung there for a moment. “I'm fine! I mean- I'm fine.” Sakura pulled herself off the floor. “So! What's your name, Mr. Vulture?”

“I am Atomu.” How… direct. A name that can be read using the kanji for ‘corpse’ and ‘duty’ being used by a carrion bird. “We could do as you wish, but that is not included in our summons. It is a dangerous thing and we have been low of corpses recently. Adding in a new member of the flock is fraught.”

“Adding a new member?” Nothing had said anything about that. Not that Sakura found much on the entire thing in the first place. “So this,” she waved at Naruko, “is being adopted into a summon clan?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes it’s because the summon thought it would be a good reward. Or funny. Or because they wished.” Atomu shifted their wings. “We vultures have always taken castoffs. Of course that applies to more than just the dead.”

“So… you could do it.” That… wasn’t ideal, but it wasn’t a bad idea either. Everything had said how dangerous it was, how much it could change you, but if it got her closer to Satsuki… or Naruko. Maybe. As a dist- mm. As a second. “What would it take?”

“For that we would need to talk to Hagetakamaru. It is only them that could answer that.” Atomu shifted, head tilting and jumping around in that way all birds do. Eyes focused on Sakura. “You… could. Your nature is… odd, but not against us.”

“Against you?” That sounds… really important. “My nature?”

“All things have many natures. Chakra nature is one you know, but there are more beside that. Blood nature. Natural nature.” What? “Many things. It is in our nature to know, because we feast on the dead. All natures are exposed in death.”

That sounded promising but also very annoying. “So… can I meet Hagetakamaru?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Atomu answered, fluttering their wings and fluffing their feathers. “You’ve yet to sign the contract. There can be no meeting without first agreeing to the most basic terms.”

The vulture paused, then tilted their head slightly. “Take care never to weigh an excess of one hundred and fifty kilograms, though. Even for broad winged birds such as us, that much weight is… uncomfortable to bear for all save our largest, and you do not have enough chakra to summon more than the smallest of our cargo capable flyers.”

“... Oh. Right,” Sakura mumbled, completely fine with that weight restriction. Even without the diet, she’d never get more than, what, ninety? And that’s if she shot up like a weed and became nothing but pure muscle… which she wasn’t really planning on doing. 

Still… if she wanted to get stronger using the Vultures, then she couldn’t just sit here talking to Atomu forever- she still had to pass Mizuki-sensei’s secret exam. Which, upon second thought, was kinda a little fishy, but Sakura did kinda want to get out into the Genin workforce as soon as possible so she could have access to the actual Shinobi Jutsu Library that only graduated Konoha nin had access to.

Fuck it.

With prick of a kunai and a lot more blood than she thought she’d spill today, Sakura signed the contract with her name and thumb print, just as all the others had done.

Just… with better handwriting. Because all those other users had such illegible handwriting they looked less like characters and more like random scribbles.

“Excellent! Now that you’ve signed…” Atomu fluttered their wings again, then vanished in a puff of smoke.

Sakura blinked. “... what?”

“Huh. I thought those things were supposed to stick around longer,” Naruko mumbled, idly cracking open a cup of ramen that she’d… somehow made… in the last minute or two.

Sakura wasn’t going to question that. “I guess maybe that means I just have to try and summon one? Or maybe I have to pass a test? Or-”

POOF!

“-Wah!”

Well.

That was hardly the most undignified landing that Sakura had ever made. That unfortunate prize went out to the time that she’d accidentally managed to slip on a loose coin and almost caused a three cart pileup in one of the market streets. So many lychees… 

Ahem.

“So this is the one who was playing around with our scroll,” a deep, mostly androgynous voice spoke up, filling the air with the rumble of bass and power and the sound of feathers ruffling.

Sakura blinked, turning around and sitting up to see…

Vultures.

Hundreds of thousands of vultures. Birds of every possible size, every possible description, but somehow Sakura instinctively knew they were all Vultures.

Buzzards, Condors, Vultures… even a few things that looked like they should have been hawks or eagles, and some birds that looked positively ancient- not just in age, but in body form. Something about them just screamed history and missing lineages. Also, for some gods forsaken reason, there was a flock of oversized crows perched nearby. Weird.

The largest Vulture of the group, though, was a giant, flame headed creature that almost seemed to have a beard, and whose wingspan seemed to blot out the sun itself. Around its neck it wore a necklace of what looked like gemstone beads, gleaming blood red in the overhead sun. The largest of those gems almost looked like a slit pupiled eye. Upon the dragon-like bird’s head was a simple hat, much like those of nobility or royalty, with a draped tag over the right side of its face reading Oyabun in looping, elegant script. Sakura, briefly, thought that the tag must be concealing a missing eye. 

“Rise, child, and present yourself before Hagetakamaru, Lord of Vultures and King of the Outcast, the Unwanted, the Misfit, and the Criminal.” the hundred meter tall bird loomed, its voice distorted and rumbling with bass as it spoke. She still had no idea what gender the Vulture was, but she did as commanded anyway- scrambling to her feet and bowing without any real idea as to what to say next.

“S-Sakura Haruno, Konoha Ninja Academy fifth year!” Sakura stuttered out, keeping her head down low so as to not piss off the bird that could treat her like she treated a particularly dry pill. “It’s an honor to meet you, Lord Hagetakamaru!”

“Oh ho, a polite little scraplet… different from our last contractor all those decades ago…” Hagetakamaru laughed, the sound reverberating through the air and all the way into the earth and Sakura’s ribs. She shuddered a little, daring not to raise her head. “Stand up, girl. Bear your head with pride. Speak from the heart when you answer… What can an Academy student do, hmm? What is it that you offer that makes it worth our while… beyond being barely enough meat and bone to feed a single chick for a sun cycle?”

“I-I…” Sakura gulped, straightening up now and doing her best to not pass out from the sight of so many Vultures all focused on her. “My chakra control is the best in my year. My academic scores are the best in the entire Academy this graduation cycle-”

None of that was particularly impressive, but… Sakura could do something new now. Even if trying to do the most impressive trick she’d learned would put her on her ass for the next twelve hours. So… maybe tone it down. Three elements, then. Fire, Wind, and Lightning. Not her best elements, but that probably spoke to her chakra control, right? She formed the three orbs in front of her, shaking in her boots from the effort of actually making the marble sized balls. “I’ve learned Pure Elemental manipulation recently, and can already create simple orbs of all five basic Elements-”

“HA! Someone actually taught you that useless exercise!?” Hagetakamaru interjected, flapping their wings and cackling in a way that was distinctly shrieky and earshattering. “Idiot girl! You learned just about the most horrible possible way to manipulate elemental chakra! Don’t tell me you actually thought you could create a new jutsu from first principles as a child of your caliber! Look at you! You’re trembling where you stand! You claim you have good chakra control when you’re clearly just compensating for having almost no chakra at all!”

And on and on it went, a chorus of shrieking, laughing, cackling birds picking apart all of Sakura’s little bits and bobs, everything she thought she could be proud of, everything she thought was herself. Her hair, her hair color, her face, her dress, her body, her brain, her chakra control, her chakra capacity…

A thousand pecks delivered by words alone. It was eerily reminiscent of the bullying she’d faced years ago, but only this time…

This time she wasn’t just a crying little girl on a playground, whimpering about her forehead being too big because a bunch of children thought it was funny.

This time it was a bunch of bird brained assholes.

This time she was determined to be strong.

This time she was in possession of one last hail mary in the form of a line she’d only just remembered reading from the Forbidden Scroll earlier.

A Kekkei Tota is a metastable form of three element manipulation. It is widely considered to be impossible to make a new one, but Pure Element Manipulation seems to be the method to create one from first principles. With even the smallest chakra pool, it is theoretically possible to create something equaling or outstripping the Tsuchikage’s legendary Jinton if one has enough chakra control.

A vein pulsed in her forehead.

The voice of her inner self raged, beating at the walls of her mind and telling her to let all that anger out, to beat the shit out of the closest bird and damn the consequences.

Sakura tempered herself, though, and forced her rising anger to go from hot to cold. 

A clarity of focus snapped into her mind.

The little orbs she’d made earlier, each one no bigger than her thumbnail, slammed into each other in a shaky, awkward, horribly balanced mix of chakra that threatened to explode within mere moments.

But Sakura was done caring about that.

Her mind raced.

Her pulse thundered.

She glared up at Hagetakamaru’s dumb fucking face, and she made her stand.

“HEY! JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE BIGGER THAN ME DOESN’T MEAN I’LL LET YOU INSULT ME LIKE I CAN’T FIGHT BACK!” she shouted, stomping her foot and grabbing the glowing marble of burning, flaring chakra in her fist as she forced the damned thing to be stable.

Barely.

“Oh? And what are you about to do about it, little carcass-to-be?” Hagetakamaru asked, leering down at her in an expression that looked horrifically wrong with a bird’s beak.

The words snapped into Sakura’s mind as if called there by some unseen force, the dregs of her chakra pouring into the marble in her hand as she flung it up and straight at Hagetakamaru’s dumb stupid ugly rust colored face. 

“HITON! KAGAYAKU BI-DAMA!”

“Hi-what!?”

And then the world was light and heat and fire.

Chapter Text

“Uuuughhh… I can never go to the beach again…” Sakura groaned, poofing out of nowhere and collapsing into the nice soft grass in the cool, quiet moonlight with a wheeze and a tremble that spoke of dead awful chakra exhaustion. “Narukoooo… did Mizuki-sensei show up yet… did we pass…?”

“A-ah… well…” Naruko’s voice was a little too hesitant for comfort, and that tone wasn’t just oh no, we didn’t pass or, oh no I did something dumb, it was oh no, something is really wrong.

…

Sakura didn’t like how she could already tell that much difference in the girl’s specific emotive tones, but she was a little too exhausted to do more than vaguely look up and see…

Naruko… standing there… with a very, very, very beat up looking Mizuki-sensei tied up at her feet… and both Iruka-sensei and the Hokage standing there with her.

She winced, somehow managing to slump to the ground despite already laying upon said ground. “... please tell me we’re not going to jail…”

“You will be.” Sakura's heart seized for a moment as Iruka said… something. “Eventually.” Then the Hokage did that… old man thing where he totally didn't look like he enjoyed the momentary panic he'd caused. Even though he did. “This was… my failure, I suppose. You are meant to trust your teachers, and they are meant to guide you. Duplicity and lies have no place in it, and so you are taught to listen to your teachers. Being tricked by Mizuki was… not the worst that could happen, under such a system.”

Iruka swallowed and looked a little green as he visibly thought that over.

“You will not be graduated. The extension of the academy was not simply an attempt to ensure more genin, but to make them more well rounded. Grant you all skills that weren't useful years ago, but which are now much more essential.” The Hokage smiled. “That said- I believe both of you have quite the potential. You will face no trouble for using what you've learned from the scroll, and I will see to it that you are provided appropriate materials to eventually master those techniques. It is the least I can do, for such a failure.”

“What did you learn?” Sakura would have yelped at Iruka-sensei's tone if she weren't so bone tired. “I know Naruko learned the Shadow Clone jutsu, but all she said about you was something about birds.”

“I made a contract with the vultures. They're going to adopt me as soon as I have the Chakra and strength for it.” There had been very few, and quickly silenced, naysayers after Sakura had gotten… a little peeved. “And I learned Pure Elemental manipulation.”

“I'd hoped this wouldn't be a thing. Now I have to reinstate those measures again.” From the Hokage's sigh Sakura probably wasn't supposed to hear that. “Ignoring the potential… interesting tourist boom, congratulations, Sakura. A summoning contract can be a powerful thing, and becoming akin to a summon like Satsuki is a swift way of increasing your own abilities. Provided you understand and accept the downsides.”

Sakura nodded. Once the vultures… collected themselves, they were quick to start negotiations. If maybe a little… too eager to end them. Which was taken advantage of, naturally. It wasn't her… well. It was her fault they were a little scared, but that's just business sometimes.

As her parents always said- the rules of business are made up and being polite is no reason not to take advantage of everything. Nearly half of Konoha's missions were some form of corporate warfare, after all. In peace time, anyway.

“Good.” The Hokage nodded. “Now… Pure Elemental manipulation. Dangerous, and often considered useless. Funny how people overlook something like that. My predecessor became Hokage off the back of Pure Water manipulation. It is a powerful, if dangerous, tool. That I must ask you to have someone present for. Too much can go wrong and your death would be assured if you worked without someone watching over you.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.” Maybe don't mention Hiton yet. “Is there anything else? Because I'm going to pass out.”

“Understandable.” The Hokage hummed as he looked around the area. “I believe that's everything. You will be spoken to more on this subject later, but it should be a formality. Naruko was quite insistent on your joining being coincidence.”

“Sakura shouldn't get in trouble just because I did something stupid!” Naruko's tails flicked behind her. “I should've figured out Mizuki was a liar.”

“It is as I said- you bear no blame, Naruko. Your teachers should be trusted. It is my fault that one that would abuse that was in such a position.” The Holage sighed. “But enough. I am certain Sakura needs a check-up, and you, Naruko, need a bit more than that.”

“Aww, but I feel fine?” Naruko tilted her head and scratched her chin. “All the cuts closed up and stuff.”

“Mizuki was a noted user of poisons. That was why he was set in the academy- to watch for such things among the students.” The Hokage let out a long sigh. “It is an unfortunate fact that it is necessary. But it does mean you need a thorough look, regardless of your resistance. Mizuki knew he would be meeting you, after all, and there are a few poisons I know of that might be capable of harming even you.”

Naruko drooped and crossed her arms. “Fine…” 

Which was about the point where Sakura stopped blinking out of almost being unconscious and actually just passed out.

As he looked at Naruko squirming under the attention of the doctor and Sakura resting on a bed, Hiruzen Sarutobi reflected on the things he knew. He knew, from long experience, that what the summons clans offered was often less dangerous than they all made it seem. He also knew that children, and teenagers, tended to follow the leader. Out of spite if nothing else. He also knew that every clan in Konoha either had a summoning contract or was in contact with some summon clan.

That is to say- nearly every one of Naruko and Sakura's class had the potential to follow what… well, what Sakura was planning to do. And they would most likely do it. Because the benefits are obvious, especially to career shinobi. They could use Henge, if they really needed to. They wouldn't, not in village, but they could.

It was honestly a shame that summoning was so inextricably linked to shinobi. There are many of them, and many have nothing to do with fighting. A cook or painter would find a summon to help them if they looked. But they can't. Because it would be suspicious. It would invite shinobi into their affairs. And so the summons tooled themselves to what shinobi needed, just so they could get the Chakra and other benefits being connected to this world gave them.

It would also mean there would be other people around that had been taken in by a summon. Satsuki would undeniably not be the only catgirl, outside of Yugito Nii of Kumo. Who honestly barely qualified and was kept away from civilians anyway. It meant that, when the class started to take advantage of the offered power, it would be a curiosity, but not impressive.

As opposed to what would actually happen. All those disaffected individuals who had an interest in those particular traits would move toward Konoha. For various reasons. Some acceptable, some not. But parsing which was which was… difficult.

In other words- the next several years might bring a tourist and immigrants boom. Which was… honestly a little needed after the disastrous Kyuubi attack. It may even allow him to put off hosting the Chunin Exams for a while. Perhaps let Grass take a turn.

But that was predicated on those coming being wanted. Which… well. Was a problem in any large group, really. The sticking point was their ability to fit in, given that what they dreamed of walked in the same village. It galvanized them, usually. Which was harmless, but often caused tension that was hard to dissipate.

Which created disaffected individuals. Which created opportunities for the other nations. Konoha had done well when it came to summons. Better than most of the other major villages. They didn't have the capacity to put out so many summon merged shinobi. Not without doubling up or the like.

So… what did a shinobi do if they couldn't have something? Remove it from the equation. If that also hampered Konoha's new genin experiment, while they were working on their own, all the better.

Or maybe this was all baseless speculation and a few summon merged shinobi wouldn't cause all that.

That was a problem with getting old. Hence why he hadn't wanted to keep the hat.

“I suppose I should speak with the summons.” Enma would assist. Perhaps, if he reached out first, then the summons would be willing to give out more than they previously had. There were a number of unused scrolls. Or clans that had the capability but never wanted to invite a shinobi. Offering that sort of thing was a bit like playing with an experimental explosive tag, but it was best to get ahead of things if possible. The next few years were going to be as quiet as he could manage. The best sort of time to try new things. “How is Sakura doing?”

But enough of that. Sakura didn't have the best reserves, but being reverse summoned and using a bit of Pure Element Manipulation shouldn't have put her down this hard. It wasn’t that Chakra intensive, especially in small amounts with proper Chakra control. Theoretically it could be maintained at all times with the right amount of Chakra and proper food and rest. Though that required not only an extreme level of Chakra control but also a deep connection to the element in question.

“We’ve conducted the examination, but we can’t tell what she did.” Hiruzen raised an eyebrow as the nurse spoke. Utilizing elemental Chakra left remnants. It was a curiosity, mostly. They weren’t there long, and for even less time if the person continued to actively use Chakra, but in Sakura’s case it should still be obvious. “We detected a five base natures, with fire, wind, and lightning coming through the strongest. Oddly- her nature seems to be water.” Which would increase the strain of using those three. “Then… something else. Something we haven’t seen before.”

“Interesting.” Perhaps Sakura had not been entirely honest… no. She was undoubtedly honest about what she learned from the scroll. Though if she figured out something beyond that… impressive. Extremely so. Another chat with her would likely be a good idea. Run some of the old tests for understanding of Chakra. “Ensure she is given the option for test… hm. What was it again? Ah! Run the five elemental course with doubles- no. Triples.”

“Five elemental course?” Had it really been that long that a Konoha nurse would not know about that? A shame. Perhaps he should look into the hospital as well. That had always been Tsunade’s… well. Maybe he’d been paying less attention to it than he should.

“An old test to determine exact Chakra natures. More in depth than the paper, but significantly slower without providing much in the way of usable knowledge.” Some jutsu focused ninja still did it, but even that was mainly curiosity rather than attempting to get anything usable. “Doubles and triples refers to testing in multiple combinations. Both in using multiple elements simultaneously and in using them combined. The equipment should still be somewhere.”

“I’ll… ask a senior nurse to set it up.” The nurse bowed as she left the room. Thought not fast enough for Hiruzen to miss her last words. “Triple…? That should be impossible, right? They had slides about the results in training-”

He didn’t fight the smile on his face. Impossible? Ha! Nothing was truly impossible. Not with determination and a lack of regard for the ‘traditional’ way of doing things. He had dealt with a long line of impossibilities in his life and even personally did a few of them. It was always the most amusing thing to see the expressions on people when you did the ‘impossible’.

“Ne, Old Man!” Hiruzen’s smile stayed as he turned to Naruko. “How long is Sakura gonna be asleep for?”

“A few hours more, most likely.” Chakra exhaustion was a bitch like that.

“She’ll be hungry when she wakes up, right? I heard Iruka say something about that to Ino once…” Yes, Naruko wouldn’t know about that from personal experience, would she? It might even be literally impossible now. Chakra regeneration was based more on the amount of Chakra than a specific flow, and with Naruko’s reserves… she may well generate Chakra faster than she can expend safely. “Can I bring her some Ichiraku?”

“Of course. I imagine she’ll enjoy the treat.” She needed the extra calories as well. He really needed to look over the academy. Any attempts at ‘dieting’ without meeting a nutritionist should have been stamped out immediately. It just made for poor health later. “I’ll be here when you get back, Naruko. Please bring me a bowl as well.” Naruko almost zoomed out of the room. “Ah!” Before Hiruzen called her back. “Here. For my portion.”

The money he handed over would cover significantly more than that, and Naruko knew it. Not that it stopped her from accepting it. It was nice that she accepted help, even if it was preferred to be disguised. Too many get it into their head that they don’t need it and suffer needlessly.

“Hm.” Hopefully less now, with Satsuki taken by the cats. “This may end better than I expect.”

The Will of Fire is sometimes quite confusing, but it always burns to aid Konoha.

Chapter Text

“I- Inu- Tori- Saru- Hitsuji! Kuchiyose no Jutsu!”

Poof.

“I did it! I finally did it!” Sakura cheered, throwing her hands up and almost screaming out the joy and accomplishment of almost a whole year of effort, blood, sweat, tears, and so much carbo-loading. So much protein, so much unlearning.

All to summon a single, normal sized bearded vulture standing not much taller than Sakura’s own hip.

It felt good, catching up to a starting line she hadn’t even known existed a year ago.

It also felt good knowing that she’d finally, finally proven herself to be strong enough for the Vultures to formally adopt her. It might not be as easy as the Cats’ simple approval, or whatever it was that Naruko did…

But…

“I’m ready,” Sakura said calmly, as soon as she’d stopped making a fool of herself in front of the crimson dyed bird. She never had figured out which birds were what gender, and frankly they didn’t seem to have much of a human conception of such things anyway. Probably because they were too busy wondering when they’d find their next carcass.

“You… have definitely met the goal we gave you,” the vulture, Chihone, made some low croaking noises, tapping their feet a few times before ruffling their feathers and eyeing Sakura consideringly. “You are strong enough. And you have met all of our tests and passed them. However…”

Chihone flapped twice, summoning something in a puff of smoke. A huge wooden box, sealed with a single tag, marked with the emblem of a vulture in flight. “A final test, if you would. To mark your acceptance among our ranks, and to prove that you are vulture in heart. Not just the scheming opportunistic corpse feeders that the wider world thinks we are, but a proud member of our lineage, with wide feathers that blot out the sun itself!”

A single kick from a taloned foot ripped the top off of the box, revealing…

A skinned, fresh carcass. 

It was large, too, whatever it was- the box itself was big enough to be a coffin, though the bloodstained fabric that concealed much of the corpse meant that she couldn’t identify much other than the bony ridges of the spine, along with glistening meat of the back and shoulders.

“Partake of this communion, and become as vulture,” Chihone continued, spreading their wings wide as they perched upon the lip of the coffin, and Sakura could only feel her stomach turn at the scent of such death. Blood and death, the sickly sweet scent of rot yet to happen, and the sourness and stench of putrefying bile.

Unbidden, she could feel herself start to drool.

This was it, wasn’t it?

The culmination of her training, the thing she’d been working towards this whole time. Was it worth it? To throw away all of the morals and laws she’d learned about cannibalism just for power and the approval of some birds that she’d already scared into compliance a year ago?

She thought back to the effort she’d put in, the long hours, the night time training, the running, the screaming, the secret practice of what little bits of her Hiton jutsu she could do without draining all her chakra at once…

Did she still want to be as strong or stronger than Satsuki, who still seemed to grow by leaps and bounds now that she was fully used to her catlike body?

Did she still want to keep up with Naruko, who now moved with the vulpine grace of a true fox instead of a clumsy oaf?

Did she still want to become strong by any means necessary?

She swallowed thickly, tying her hair back.

There was really only one way to find out if this was all worth it or not.

She’d already made her choice anyway.

Calloused hands, made strong by a year of hard training, reached into the coffin.

Glistening teeth revealed themselves from pulled back lips.

The first bite tasted like nothing but raw meat and blood, sickening in its own way.

The second bite tasted like vindication.

The third bite tasted like strength.

The fourth bite tasted like victory.

And every bite after was the sweet, sweet sensation of filling her belly the way that vultures always had.

…

…

…

“... I change my mind, this wasn’t worth it at all,” Sakura groaned, fluttering her new wings weakly and feeling entirely scammed by her newfound animal traits. Oh sure, she wasn’t particularly animal-like any more than she’d already trained herself into, but the only thing she’d gotten out of the deal was fluffier hair, and wings that couldn’t fucking fly.

Noooo, she was still fucking prepubescent according to those stupid flying corpse munchers, which meant that her flight feathers hadn’t grown in, which meant that her wings were still puny, which meant that she was pretty much stuck with ugly gross coat of fuzz that didn’t match her hair at all.

Also, apparently she wouldn’t be getting a tail either? But tail feathers weren’t really her concern anyway. 

Ugh.

Just about the only real change that was even remotely cool was the fact that she’d gotten a cool set of stripes around her eyes, almost like raccoon marks, but with extra lines coming off that looked super fierce. Also her eyes glowed now sometimes?

It was hard to say for sure what caused it, but it happened.

“Aww, don’t say that, Sakura-chan! You’re so cute now!” Naruko giggled, flouncing over to Sakura and immediately starting to play with her tiny little fuzzy baby chicken wings. “They’re so tiny and fluffy! Satsuki, you gotta try this!”

“I’m not touching anything you get your dirty fox smell all over,” Satsuki groused, sitting in the windowsill like she owned it and glaring at Naruko like an imperious queen.

For all that Naruko and Satsuki were sorta friends now, they definitely hadn’t changed their rivalry. What was it with foxes and cats? Ugh. So dumb.

“Besides. Being a helpless baby bird isn’t cute. It makes me hungry,” Satsuki continued, unsheathing her claws in a way that totally would have been way cooler if they were like… sixteen instead of twelve. As it was, though…

Eh, no, still cute.

“Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh….” Sakura just kept groaning, then decided to stop feeling sorry for herself and instead looked over at where Hinata was, once again, basically wrapped up in Naruko’s tails.

Like a baby, except she was just shy of Naruko’s height.

“... Doesn’t that get old?” Sakura asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No,” Hinata answered curtly, with a level of confidence and poise that she hadn’t even remotely had a year ago. Somehow, spending most of her time halfway napping in Naruko’s tails had been really good for Hinata’s confidence…

And her chest, much to Sakura’s endless jealousy. She wasn’t sure how that worked, but it was probably something to do with the fucking fountain of chakra that Naruko seemed to just passively leak into her surroundings. 

No wonder Hinata kept going half blind for a solid month and a half until she learned to see through that much chakra.

“She’s like a lil bunny!” Naruko grinned, eyes shut and teeth on display in a particularly vulpine way. She swept Hinata around, bringing the Hyuga heiress around into a hug. “Soft n’ cute n’ cuddly!”

Hinata, despite her new bravado that came with dealing with other people, crumpled like wet tissue in the face of Naruko complimenting her.

She stuttered out some kind of incomprehensible nonsense about summon contracts, then curled up with a squeak of embarrassment, her face blushing a luminescent red as a result.

“Rabbits?” Sakura blinked, staring at Hinata as she parsed the literal only word out of that she got aside from summon contracts. “The Hyuga have rabbit summons? Since when? You’d think that’d be on public record…”

“S-summoning isn’t very popular is all…” Hinata mumbled, still curled up in Naruko’s arms like she weighed nothing. “Everyone else in the clan just practices Jyuken… not even learning any real jutsu other than the Academy three…”

“Oh! Hinata should totally be a rabbit then!” Naruko perked up, softly ensconcing Hinata back into her tails like she was an actual rabbit. “She’d be even cuter then!”

Sakura blinked. “Don’t make her decisions for her, she has to make that choice on her own!”

“I’ll do it now!” Hinata immediately snapped back to attention, wiggling in Naruko’s tails until she, for the first time in memory, pulled herself out of Naruko’s tails and sprinted for the door…

Right past Iruka-sensei, who’d just walked in.

“Sorry Iruka-sensei, I just remembered I had something really important to do! I’ll be back later maybe! Sakura-san take notes for me!”

And then she was gone.

Iruka sighed, pinching his brow and settling tiredly at the podium. “She’s going to do the animal thing too now, isn’t she?”

Sakura nodded slowly as confirmation.

Naruko nodded as well.

As did Satsuki.

As did everyone else in the room.

Iruka sighed harder, slamming back his mug of coffee and rubbing his temples. “Gods save me from impulsive children…”

…

…

Meanwhile, Hinata was, for the first time ever, so lost in the ideal of being snuggled up against Naruko as a foxgirl that she’d completely breezed past her father, who wanted to know why she was back from school so early, her sister, who wanted to know why she was acting weird, Neji-niisan, who was brooding in the corner, and the clan elders, who were playing shogi and drinking.

Instead, she ran straight for the archives, pushed right past the guards there, and immediately began digging through the completely disorganized piles of scrolls in a slightly manic attempt to find the Rabbit summoning scroll.

Luckily it wasn't hard to find. Summon scrolls had a weight to them. Literally. They were bigger, more detailed, and heavier than any scroll anyone would use to actually write anything down. The Rabbit scroll wasn't anywhere near as large as some Hinata had heard about, but still noticeably bigger than any other scroll in the archives.

“Hinata!” By the time her father actually reached the entrance she was already swiping a bloody thumbprint into the paper. Her name followed after, as he marched up, thanks to the pen she'd been unconsciously clutching this entire time. “What are you doing?”

“Finally connecting with us it seems.” The muted click of wood on wood had all the effect of an explosive tag. Everyone quieted as Hinata turned to the speaker. A small obviously aged here. One who looked like she had Seen Some Shit.

Not a polite way to put it, but there weren't any other words for it.

Father rallied quickly. “Tsukito, I-”

Tsukito's cane clicked onto the floor again, to the same result. “You playing with your own traditions is acceptable. Perhaps they need a change. You playing with our traditions is not. The Hyuuga clan head and heir are to be connected to the Rabbits. If there are two, then two should sign the scroll. Yet here only one has. By her own will, not yours.”

“Sister?” Hanabi strode into the room looking as noble as she could manage. “What is going on?”

“Ah, there's the second. Step forward, child.” A quick look at Father met a nod, so Hanabi stepped forward. Despite the hare not being even half her height, she still looked so small. “I am Tsukito. Guardian of the Rabbit summon contract. As a potential heir to the head of Hyuuga, it was your father's responsibility to introduce us. Instead it seems your sister did it. No matter, we can begin now.”

“Begin what?” Hanabi seemed calm, but Hinata knew her sister. She was, in her own words, freaking the fuck out.

Where she learned those words Hinata had no idea. Nor does she understand why Hanabi liked them so much. They're so… imprecise. Irritation or insult without any actual bite. The basic, most lowest, form of communicating ideas.

“The Hyuuga have long been connected to the Rabbits. From that long connection has come many techniques that we share. The lunges of the Jyuuken were created with inspiration from our own hops, after all.” Tsukito cleared her throat. “But where are my manners? There are not one, but two. Stand up, child. Next to your sister. You signed first, and completed the tradition, so I shall grant you a boon. Beyond the training that is normally given.”

“Ah!” Hinata hopped out of her crouch and quickly took a spot next to Hanabi. “I want to be a bunny girl!” Wait. That came out wrong. “I mean- I want to get stronger like Naruko! A-and Satsuki and Sakura.”

“Oh?” Tsukito rubbed her chin. “Tell me more. Has that method come back into play? It hasn’t been used in many years to my recollection. To hear of three in such a short span… ah. Change is coming, as it always does. Best prepare for it, then.” She gave Hinata an assessing look. “To hunker down and wait it out… or join in…”

Chapter Text

“I’m a rabbit!”

“You’re a rabbit!”

“She’s a rabbit!?”

“... Sudden urge to kill rising,” Satsuki mumbled, staring at Hinata as her tail flicked behind her, slit pupiled Sharingan eyes tracking every movement that the newly bunnified Hyuga made like a large predator tracking a prey item.

Given that Satsuki was a cat and Hinata was a rabbit…

…

Well, suffice to say, Sakura, Naruko, and Satsuki all found it weirdly hard to keep their eyes off of Hinata today. Especially since she was just so…

Cute.

Lop eared.

Fluffy tailed.

Pink nosed.

Toe beaned.

Weird eyed- wait.

…

Naruko looked deep into Hinata’s eyes in a way that totally wasn’t the usual soulfully totally not romantic gaze that she usually used on the Hyuga. “... Your eyes changed too! Also, I dunno why but looking at you makes me drool a little and I’m preeeeeetty sure it’s not the way that the onee-chans over in the Red Light district usually mean drooling.”

Hinata blinked. She trembled a little, blushing brightly at the implication of what Naruko just said. “I-I um… t-the Rabbits say it’s a-an old… old dojutsu from a long, long time ago called the Tenseigan… I-I don’t know why I h-have it, but Tsukito s-said that it’s because I’m very compatible with rabbits… a-and um… my chakra matches? B-but I don’t have enough to use it right now… s-so it just looks funny.”

“Ahhh… it’s like Sakura n’ big jutsu!” Naruko nodded, drawing forth a somewhat offended noise from Sakura.

“Hey! It’s not my fault I have a normal amount of chakra and you freaks of nature have like a million times more than me!” Sakura pouted, grumbling about overpowered stupid cats and foxes and how she had great chakra control and probably the single strongest jutsu any of them had access to at the moment. Even if it was just a tiny, single use marble that basically instantly put her on her ass if she tried to use it more than once in a fight. “Jerk.”

“Hn. Then get stronger. There’s no point in having a jutsu you can only use once before you pass out,” Satsuki snorted, slinking over and perching directly on the desk behind Naruko, staring at the back of Hinata’s head with a silent, lethal glare. Just like a cat locking onto its prey.

Ino, who was sitting behind Naruko today, received a faceful of Satsuki butt and tail in her under-shorts and bike skirt, and promptly had to turn away to resist a sudden nosebleed. It was a bit of a constant issue, since Satsuki seemed to be allergic to sitting in an actual seat. At least it served as a good test to see who was still interested. Not that Sakura believed Ino had any chance at all.

She hadn’t really seemed to change how she was working. Against the Hiton it was obvious who was more accomplished! Plus Sakura would have a lot of other stuff too, once she… actually grew into it.

“It kinda is a problem.” Naruko laughed as her tails shifted to block Satsuki’s sight. “But we got lots of time to work on it now, don’t we? Old Man said our classes are gonna be weirder, since we got taught a lotta stuff they’re pushing back and all that.”

“That is correct, Naruko.” Iruka’s hand slapped onto the desk and got everyone’s attention. “Now that everyone is here I can go into what is going to change over the next few years. As you’ve heard- graduation is being moved back to sixteen, so you’ll all spend a few more years here. It’s still new, so we’re working out how the curriculum is changing and adding in the new classrooms and teachers we’ll need. Which means you are all going to benefit, and be able to weigh in on, the experimentation. Currently there are a few things we’re going to go into that are going to be new, and quite a few things that you already know about but we’re going deeper into.”

“First,” Iruka cleared his throat, “we’re going to be testing all of you for your elemental affinity. In addition to incorporating a large variety of low level jutsu into the curriculum. Once the facilities are properly made and tested we will also be making the physical portions of the curriculum broader- including running from an enemy as well as moving through various types of locations. Both with and without jutsu. We will also be covering the surrounding lands, and other villages, more in depth.”

“As part of this, from this point forward, you will be considered officially part of the shinobi of the Leaf.” Iruka stared at every single person in the room individually. It was… heavy. “You will be learning wall and water walking, more advanced hand to hand techniques, and advanced chakra control exercises. Skill which any shinobi, and only, shinobi will have. Chakra skills are highly regulated within village, and abusing any of these will not only see you removed from the class but likely in jail for some time. Utilization of chakra during a crime is considered an aggravating factor and one that says you didn’t do it unintentionally.”

The silence lingered.

“So… does this mean we get a headband?” Naruko blinked as everyone stared at her. “What?”

Iruka sighed, though he was smiling. “No. You won’t get a headband until graduating. But you may, with good behavior and grades, be trusted to handle some of the D-rank missions within the village. For which you will be paid.”

He waited out the general excitement. “There are a lot of other things that may or may not actually become part of the curriculum. Expect to have a wide variety of one off classes until everything is figured out. Since it’s become… vastly more relevant than it usually is, the first potentially temporary class will be about summons. Both working with them, working alongside those who have them, and the consequences of signing a summon contract or,” Iruka was not subtle in staring at Sakura, Satsuki, and Hinata, “more.”

“Dad said there was a lot more to it when I asked.” Ino was… carefully staring at Sakura while attempting to avoid Satsuki’s ass. She wasn’t very successful, but she didn’t need to head to the nurse so it was better than she’d done for… most of the last year. “But he wouldn’t say what that was.”

“It’s a very complicated topic.” Iruka sighed. “We’re getting an expert to come in later, but the quick answer, because everyone knows you’re all going to need something to stop more… hasty decisions,” he didn’t look at Hinata, but everyone knew he wanted to, “is that every summon clan treats summoning them or joining their clan differently. To the extent where there isn’t really a settled term for what Satsuki, Hinata, and Sakura have gone through. Some summon clans never do it, and will consider asking a grave insult. Some do it without asking for anything else. Some do it under certain circumstances. What happens after is different too.” 

“Some consider it akin to adopting, some consider it more like giving a hand to someone, and some just give it out without considering doing anything more. Doing it without considering the clan may result in significant changes without anyone around to help smooth them out.” Iruka’s face twisted as he frowned. “It is, fundamentally, changing what and who you are. And that is never without consequence. Several other jutsu we may talk about do that sort of thing as well, though they’re rare. It’s something you should never go into without careful consideration and talking to the summons first.”

Iruka continued to talk. A lot. And Ino really should be listening. The man was not only their teacher, but he was genuinely knowledgeable about a lot of stuff. Some way above his rank.

She’d asked her dad about him. He told her not to pry. Which was basically admitting but not actually admitting that Iruka was probably a lot more important than just a Chunin. But none of that was actually important right now.

What was important was Sakura. Not just because Sakura’s little wings were adorable, or how the feathers in her hair made the entire thing even prettier than it usually was, or even how all her training had rounded her out in a way that was pleasant to look at. Or even-

Wait.

Where was she going with this again? Ino ripped her eyes off Sakura and shook her head. Right, focus on- Satsuki’s ass.

Wait!

THUMP!

“Ino?” Iruka paused his lecture, genuine concern lacing his voice. “Are you okay?”

“Fiiine.” Deep breath. Deeeep breath. Why did Satsuki insist on wearing that? It looked amazing on her, but Ino swears there was a cart accident one time after she roof hopped over one of the busier Konoha streets.

She’d told her father. No arrests were made, but there were some pointed questions.

Anyway.

Sakura was actually getting Satsuki’s attention. Naruko and Hinata were too, now. Hinata was probably just from being a bunny, since she seemed more like an accessory to Naruko nowadays. Not actually someone Satsuki looked at so much as just… around by default because Naruko was. Hopefully that’d change at some point. Hinata deserved better than to be an accessory. Plus the Hyuuga were just… complete dicks and it didn’t look good for her future if she didn’t shape up into being a lot stronger.

The things you learned about the village when you were the heiress of a noble clan. In addition to Dad being the Torture and Interrogation head. Plenty of stuff wasn’t classified, and was useful to know, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t messed up. Exposure to that happened early, in the Yamanaka. 

It had to. Because it was going to be seen one way or another. Better to acknowledge it now, distantly and where help could come through, then later. In the mind of an enemy. Where the shock could allow very bad things to happen.

Dominating a mind was easier with their techniques. It wasn’t guaranteed. And there were plenty of Yamanaka horror stories about trying to punch too far over your own weight there. If they were lucky the opponent just forced them out. If they weren’t…

Ino gulped.

Focus on Sakura. The vulture girl was bent forward in her desk, almost entirely over it. Partly due to her wings not really playing well with a backed chair, and partly because that was just how she did notes. Curled over her paper, half out of her seat. In just the right spot for a well placed palm to pin her against it and-

“Nnnnn!” NOT LIKE THAT! Why did Sakura tell her about those books? WHY DID SHE IGNORE SAKURA’S WARNINGS? “Uuughhh…”

ANYWAY! SUMMONING CONTRACTS!

Yeah. Summoning contracts. The Yamanaka held the boar contract. Why was… actually, why did they have that contract? Were they actually therapists or something? Felt weird for the clan that did mind stuff to have the boars. Not… huh. What animal was associated with the mind?

Eh, whatever it was, it definitely wasn’t the boars.

…

Then why did just about everyone in the clan have a name with Ino in it…? Inoshishi meant Boar, so…

Was the mind thing a later part of the clan? Which came first, the mind stuff or the boar stuff? Considering that the scrolls for the Shitenshin jutsu were only… what, dated to maybe a century ago, and the one time she’d looked at the family tapestry meant that there was literally a girl named Ino over six hundred years ago who she shared a name with (and… like… twelve other Inos in clan history)...

… Huh.

… Well now she was just wondering why the mind thing happened.

Shikamaru, beside her, suddenly shifted and slid over a note with all the subtlety of a slacker who’d spent years finding ways to not get caught sleeping in class by teachers.

Ino blinked, looking first at her lazy asshole childhood friend, then at the slip of paper she’d gotten.

She blinked.

“... Ino-Shika-Cho, three related summon clans in Fire Country, moved to the Summon Plane eight hundred years ago. Yamanaka, Nara, Akimichi clans… mind, body, soul… huh.” she whispered to herself, staring at Shikamaru once more. “... How do you know this?”

Another note, this one reading “Mom likes history.”

Ah.

Yeah.

Shikamaru’s mom was… enthusiastic… about getting Shikamaru to actually use his brain instead of napping all day. 

That made sense.

… Well that explained why her clan seemed to love boars so much… and also why her cousin Inoue ran one of Konoha’s largest pig farms.

And also why cousin Inohara always had wild boar in his butcher shop. And why cousin Inokuma was arrested for things that Ino really didn’t want to think about.

Ahem.

…

…

“You’re thinking about ignoring Iruka-sensei’s warnings about not being hasty and doing something stupid aren’t you?” Shikamaru asked, raising an eyebrow slowly.

Ino scoffed. “Of course not! It’s like you don’t know me at all!”

Shikamaru sighed, then elbowed Choji and distracted him from his not-at-all sneaky snacking. “Oi. Ino’s doing the thing.”

“Oh, already? I guess I’ll tell dad I’m ready now…”

“Ugh. This better not turn us into girls…” Shikamaru sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Tampons are damn expensive for no good reason.”

Ino made a sour face. “Oi… I’m not that predictable am I?”

“Mendokusei.”

“Oh you little-!”

Chapter Text

“Ino, Shikamaru, and Choji have collectively decided to take a week off for clan business, Kiba spends more time talking to Akamaru than paying attention now, and Shino is…” Iruka trailed off, sipping from his coffee mug tiredly. 

“Shino,” Suzume deadpanned, equally tired and also looking a lot more stressed than she usually did. Probably because each of them now had to deal with their own little classes of hellions for four more years. 

At least Suzume had the luxury of being the primary teacher for normal kids, clan kids from lower stations, civilian children, even a few immigrant kids who’d been enrolled by their parents more for the money than any other reason. 

Iruka, meanwhile, had seven clan heirs in his class, Sakura Haruno, and Naruko fucking Uzumaki. Along with another twelve kids that had been mostly cowed into not standing out anymore in the face of four of them becoming part animal. 

Honestly, of all the people Iruka never expected to join in on that tomfoolery, he really would have thought Sakura would be just another normal kid. Smart, yes, because she’d kept up with the rest of the class. Which included seven clan heirs. Sure it was mostly through actual schoolwork instead of practical application, but she wasn’t the lowest ranked in sparring either. Being born to shinobi parents helped, sure, but not that much.

Regardless, the class was going to be… something. Basically all of the curriculum they were testing out would probably have to ignore everything about this class. Which was a shame, but it was just too out of the ordinary now. If it was just the clan heirs, and Naruko, it would have been valuable data on the high end. Something to use to figure out advanced classes and the like.

Now? Now it was a once in a lifetime occurrence that would be useless for anything further. It’d probably look good on his resume if he ever wanted to move up, but otherwise… ugh.

“I just don’t know what I’m going to do.” Iruka groaned and he laid against the table. “How do I even set up my classes? Half of them are going to need way different training to the rest of them. Keeping everyone means half the class is being held up or half the class is being left behind.”

“It’s not like they’ll all know most of what you’re teaching. The history and such.” Suzume waved a hand. “We already expect them to know the jutsu and Chakra control exercises. Some level of taijutsu is also expected.”

“Yes, but usually it’s not too much. Just enough skill that they’re going to win against someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing, but not enough it’s unwinnable.” Was it a little underhanded? Yes. Was it still a good thing? Also yes. Civilian kids needed the push, unfortunately. Being a shinobi meant living or dying based on how hard you trained and what you learned. Clan kids got taught that very quickly, but civilians… didn’t. A push was needed. Either they shaped up, knuckled under, or left, and figuring out which of the three it was determined placements later. A chance at an actual squad, the genin corps, or a slight bit more monitoring than normal for a little bit. “With all this… they don’t have a chance at all. How am I going to motivate them?”

“We could reshuffle the class after this year. Move the civilian kids, minus Sakura, to their own class.” Suzume hummed. “Call it advanced placement. Keep an eye on the ones that take it as a challenge and maybe we can see how hard we can push classes for exceptional students. Maybe something even better than usual for the clan kids. May as well try and push them out the door ready to take the chunin exams.”

“They’ll need experience we can’t give them here, but getting them to the right level…” It could work. It’s more than the academy is expected to do, but when it comes to those kids… well. Expected is something they seem to have a vague disgust of. “I’ll have to talk to the Hokage about it. Maybe he has some ideas.”

“Talk to me about what?”

“GAH!” Iruka moved. Kunai flicked out instantly even as he turned to the presence that was suddenly in the room.

“Ah.” The Hokage just plucked them out of the air. Held them by their tip between his fingers. “Perhaps I should have said something, but you seemed so deep in thought. I wouldn’t want to break it.”

“Hokage-sama!” Ohhh, fuck. He’d just thrown kunai at the Hokage.

“Yes, it’s me.” The old man chuckled. “Now, what was it you were wondering about?”

“I…” Just… just roll with it, Iruka. “I’m worried about the civilian students in my class being overpowered by the clan kids. Especially with all of the…” He waved a hand.

“Ah, yes. That is certainly an issue.” The Hokage hummed and bit on the end of his pipe. “I have been speaking to some summon clans and that may solve some of the issue. The rest… perhaps it would be a good idea to do as Suzume said. Place the clan students into accelerated courses and separate some of the civilian kids into advanced placement as well. If they have the fire to try to keep up even under those circumstances I can spare some of the more village bound shinobi for more varied and more personal instruction. More shinobi from a civilian background was one of the purposes of this change, after all.”

“More summons?” What? Why would introducing more summons fix this? Ugh. The Hokage must have some crazy plan. Hopefully it doesn’t mess up the class too much.

“Yes. I’ve been contacting some of the less appreciated clans, but it is slow going. Perhaps some might come forward more if I have options already available.” A low hum accompanied the Hokage eyeing Iruka. “Make note of which students show some attempt to get ahead. Or even just keep pace. Perhaps something will come of it. If nothing else it is something to provide as a treat.”

“I’m… not sure any of them would be interested in that.” The civilian portion of the class didn’t wilt, necessarily, but with Sasuke becoming Satsuki a large portion of the girls became much less interested. The boys… one or two might have the drive, but not the whole hearted pursuit. There might be one or two names, but more likely it’d be none. “I’ll keep an eye out, but right now there’s maybe two students that might have something.”

“That would already be more than we usually get out of a class.” The Hokage sighed. “We have twenty students in a class, it is time to start acting like it. Our ranks should be much healthier than they currently are. With an extra four years… I am expecting a much better pass rate.”

“Of course, Hokage-sama.” Then the old man was gone. Like he’d never actually been here in the first place. “Well… that’s more work.”

“More work for us.” Suzume was glaring. That was never a good sign. “Half your class is basically guaranteed to graduate into the ranks. The rest of us have to deal with trying to motivate a bunch of children into taking school seriously enough that they actually have a chance to get noticed. Or at least accept being in the genin corps for a while.”

“Ah.” That would be harder. The genin corps were… well. They were. Not glamorous or anything, but it was a steady mostly self-directed job that’d keep food on the table and a small place to live. Just without much opportunity for advancement. Unlike getting a bit of chakra instruction and then heading to apprentice to a blacksmith or a similar job. Much less varied, but also much more interesting and with better advancement opportunities. “I should… talk with the Hokage about looking into the genin corp procedures, shouldn’t I?”

“I dunno, should you?” The glare said- absolutely, yes.

“I’ll just… go see if he’s left the tower yet.” Iruka did exactly as he should have and immediately left the immediate area of an agitated kunoichi. Which really just applied to shinobi in general. They carried far too many knives at all times to risk being around when they didn’t want you to be.

Where were the genin corps records again? Having a few genin to point to as examples would be useful. Maybe even make points about the curriculum as part of it. Rock Lee only barely graduated by virtue of a jonin vouching for him. Tenten scraped by on her taijutsu and throwing scores. Both of which were now doing extremely well under a jonin.

Sure they were both selected to be on a team, but their almost failure to graduate painted a picture. If they barely got through, despite their obvious abilities when given proper instruction, then what about everyone else? Those in the genin corps, for example. It was big enough that there had to be at least a few gems.

Maybe it’d even distract the Hokage from trying to invite more summons to adopt in Iruka’s class. Nine was already far too many to handle. Adding any more would cause so many problems. At least the clan kids could get instruction from their families. Sakura’s contract with the vultures was an actual contract, so she could get instruction directly from them. Naruko had the Hokage and Satsuki… Satsuki was a cat. She’d figure it out on her own.

Hm. How were the clan heads taking their kids suddenly deciding to do something so dangerous with so little preparation?

…

SLAM!

“Of all the boneheaded, reckless things Ino could have done, she took the Boar contract!?” Inoichi groused, slamming his mug of beer against the counter with a heavy, tired sigh. “I should have known this was coming a year ago but I didn’t think she’d just go for it! Do you know how hard it is to talk to Okkotonushi-sama with less than a week’s worth of preparation!? It’s like visiting your grandmother without at least some takeout!”

“Skill issue,” Choza snorted, patting his friend on the back with a smug grin. “Shikaku and I have been prepping this with Mosura-sama and Shishigami-sama for six months!”

“And you didn’t tell me!?” Inoichi looked utterly aghast, staring at his two long time best friends with an expression of utter betrayal. “How am I going to convince Okkotonushi-sama to adopt Ino like this!?”

“Doesn’t he like Ino?” Shikaku raised an eyebrow, rolling his eyes a little at Inoichi’s theatrics. “As much as someone can like a child they’ve never met directly.”

“No no, they’ve met. Once. When Ino was born,” Inoichi waved off Shikaku, then sighed. “And he does. All the little boarlings that keep an eye on Ino say that he thinks she’s a great fit for adoption… given that she is stubborn, quick to violence, loves root vegetables, and is more than willing to bite her enemies to death.”

“So… what’s the problem, then?” Choza asked, not really getting why Inoichi was so stressed when there didn’t seem to be any real obstacles.

Inoichi grimaced. “It’s just. Very awkward. Coming before Okkotonushi-sama without a proper offering. And I can’t just bring him store bought truffles, it has to be a whole thing. I can at least get some of the edible giant mushrooms from the Forest of Death by the end of the week, but Okkotonushi-sama’s favorite truffles come from this one specific little place near Stair Country.”

“Ah. Like the kind that we stock in bulk?” Choza raised an eyebrow slowly.

“... Can I borrow a half ton?”

Choza snorted. “I’ll get you the full ton if you trade us some of those giant sunflowers Mosura-sama likes.”

“Deal.”

“Honestly, the hardest part of my preparations was just helping Shikamaru come up with a new name in the event of a sudden and irreversible gender change,” Shikaku huffed, sipping calmly at a small cup of sake. “He settled on Shikamaki. Choza, what about you?”

“Cho,” Choza deadpanned. “Just… Cho. He decided that within thirty seconds of me mentioning it to him.”

“... Well, no one ever accused Choji of being indecisive,” Shikaku muttered.

“Except Ino… might just start calling her Inojin if she turns into a he,” Inoichi shrugged. “It’s what Hanako and I decided on twelve years ago, at least.”

Shikaku nodded consideringly, rubbing his short beard and huffing. “Mendokusei… at this rate all nine of this year’s former graduating class are going to end up summon adjacent.”

“Considering I heard Tsume talking about having to send Kuromaru out to Okamizuka soon, and considering Shibi’s been spotted looking at bras in the mall district…” Inoichi trailed off, counting on his fingers. “So… the Uchiha already, the Hyuga, our three kids, Inuzuka, Aburame… that’s everyone, pretty much.”

“Plus the Haruno kid with the Vultures, and… y’know,” Choza cleared his throat just a bit awkwardly, motioning vaguely with one hand with the hand sign for nine. “... Wait, weren’t there twenty one kids in that class?”

“Twelve of them are going into the Genin Corps track,” Shikaku deadpanned. “Not a big surprise, just about two thirds of any class size gets shuffled into the Genin Corps.”

“Still weird that some of my old school friends are career Genin…” Inoichi mumbled to himself, taking a sip of his beer and reminiscing about old times. “... I wonder how Nagi’s been doing… didn’t he say he was having a kid…?”

“Whatever the case is… change is coming, and in four years…” Shikaku shrugged. “We’ll just have to see what happens. Hopefully Shikamaru doesn’t become as overbearing as his mother when he gets his antlers, though… I already have enough trouble with Yoshino as it is, I don’t need my kid acting just like her.”

“Shoulda thought twice about marrying my cousin then,” Inoichi laughed. “I told you she was a handful, but nooo, you just said I love a woman who can keep up with me. Now look at you!”

“Yes, well, my mistake was thinking that keeping up with me meant being able to out-think me at Go, not draining me into a husk once every two weeks,” Shikaku sighed. “Mendokusei…”

“Sucks to suck, Shikaku.”

“Dick.”

Chapter Text

Hiruzen could conclusively say that this was the single oddest meeting that had ever occurred within the office of the Hokage. Which was honestly quite the impressive feat considering that this particular office had been in use almost since the first foundations were laid down for the village. It had hosted representatives from many other villages, some destroyed, the head of a wandering circus and his second, both yokai, princesses, kings, daimyo, and, in one instance, an exceptionally erudite fish. None of which compared to what Enma had brought today.

“I understand you all wish to speak directly to me about my proposals.” The good thing about this occurring in his office is he can smoke. Normally he’d refrain, it dulled the senses, but in this instance he felt it could be forgiven. It wasn’t every day several of the most notable summon clans sent official envoys. Some hadn’t been seen since he was a child and those might have just been stories rather than an actual sighting. “I apologize if they caused any offense.”

“No offense was taken.” Keiju, a large eagle, dipped his head. “It is simply… unusual.

“Most unusual.” Itsuse wobbled as… she(?) talked. The Umi-bozu was perhaps the most unexpected of them. They… actually, hm. They likely could adopt as the other clans did. That would explain the Hozuki. “It has been a long time since we have been able to invite freely, and longer since we were asked.”

“Quite so.” Rairyuu, an actual dragon, nodded. “I remember the last time we were invited was when the village you call Kirigakure was just starting. Even then it was their wish for something to bridge the gap to Konoha, not something such as this.”

“Which brings the question- why ask?” Mokurai, a bat that was just a bit too large for comfort, looked down on everyone. Not intentionally, but more because he decided to perch upside down on the ceiling. Luckily he didn’t speak much- neck strain was not fun to deal with at Hirzuen’s age, no matter how limber he kept himself. “It is easy to understand why shinobi would ask us to come, less so when you present those who have never held a weapon.”

“The blacksmith has undoubtedly held a weapon.” Rairyuu looked particularly smug.

“We know, Rairyuu.” Keiju sighed. “Why do you keep being sent on diplomatic efforts?”

“I have the best penmanship.” He looked even more smug at that.

“Regardless of them technically having held a weapon- they are not shinobi. They are not fighters.” Long strings of water flowed out and crossed just in front of Itsuse. “Why call upon us to search for potential among them?”

“Because we are at peace.” Hiruzen sighed as he settled back into his chair. “Because Konoha needs to be prepared for peace. The world is changing, I’ve watched it. Not soon, not now, but one day I will be dead. So will Onoki. Kirigakure’s instability will present opportunities that minor villages will take advantage of. Suna’s economy is failing. Kumo continues to isolate themselves, digging deeper into their mountain and hiding their shinobi away. Corporations look to their own members and missing nin, and many are big enough to not need shinobi anymore.”

“You believe your era is ending.” Rairyuu tilted, eyes much more alive than they’d been just a moment ago. “You know shinobi won’t allow that.”

“Some will try. Even now I know of assassinations that others are attempting. Trying to deplete Fire of its innovators.” It was the most dangerous job that nobody realized was dangerous. Innovation made some things obsolete. Unnecessary. And if that happened to be people… they tended not to like that. “Our own research is rapidly advancing. It requires materials from places all over, brought by merchants buoyed by the peace we have established. Whatever comes next I cannot say, but it will not be anything like my time.”

“You wish to invite us to share our talents and skills and benefit first.” Mokurai let out a screech and wiggled in place. “Clever! We summons know things you do not, and if we pass along some of that to a blacksmith, who makes a big discovery, then you get it first.”

“Naturally.” Playing coy wouldn’t help here. Not in a negotiation like this. “Shinobi will never be gone, but the era of the wars is over.” Hopefully. “Spreading the things that only belonged to shinobi will only help the village.” 

Both in progress, and in ensuring that shinobi were more welcomed. It made it much harder for infiltrators if every second house had someone who could hear better than average, even if they weren’t shinobi. It would result in Konoha being unrecognizable, but it would be unrecognizable to everywhere else. If nobody knew what to expect, then nobody knew how to properly infiltrate.

Solving multiple problems at once was Hiruzen’s favorite way to solve problems. He didn’t have the energy to do anything else anymore, honestly.

“There will always be wars.” Itsuse wobbled back and forth. “But I agree- the next will not be so grand as your previous. The Umi-bozu will look. I make no guarantees about finding.”

“Time drags everyone along, whether they want it or not.” Rairyuu hummed. “I make no promises, but in this case… the dragons might take a chance. Be grateful you have Enma’s ear, because we would have heard nothing otherwise.”

“He is my greatest companion and oldest friend.” Much more trustworthy than many others that might have claim to the position as well. “It is heartening to see that he has so much trust among the summon clans.”

“The monkeys have long been worth listening to.” Keiju shifted. “It is a long way to get back home. I shall bring your suggestion to the boss. I have a feeling he will agree.”

“Simply being heard is all I can ask.” Hiruzen gave a nod to the three summons. Then they poofed away. “Well… that went better than expected. Now, where are those brochure mock-ups?”

The best thing to do when provided an unexpected situation? Turn it into an advantage. Already the word of Naruko and Satsuki has reached outside of Konoha. Rumors seemed to be progressing faster than usual, reaching the ears of several individuals of means who were noted to be… interested in such things. It didn’t even require much intervention from Konoha’s network.

The influx will start soon. A few feelers should already have been sent out by those with the means and inclination. The biggest fish currently seemed to be the head of a customized clothing company. Somewhat shinobi adjacent, but staying just far enough to not actually be considered actually connected to them. Quite clever, honestly.

Passing off the ‘glory’ of hosting the Chunin Exams meant that space could be used for something else instead. If the dragons, bats, Umi-bozu, and eagles agreed, others would come as well. A festival to welcome them would go far, and serve as an excuse to exhibit potential adoptees to the summons. Or however they would consider those they brought in.

“Note to self- get an idea of how they would treat someone given their Chakra.” The current summons within Konoha would treat them acceptably due to long association. Those from outside… may be looking more for servants than allies. Not something Konoha would stand for. “Hm, I also need to check with the merchants.”

A festival required a lot more product than usual. At least this would mollify those upset that the Chunin Exams were passed over to Grass. If the merchants started getting annoyed things might get a lot more irritating. Konoha could afford it, but it was best to keep good relations good, where possible. Though thinking of Grass… who to send?

There were a few that were ready for it, and Grass wasn’t hostile, exactly. Konoha had to show strength. Without graduating genin for several more years a number of villages would be keeping a very close eye on this exam. If Onoki thought he could get away with more he would, and a good showing in the exams would stop that line of thinking. Hm. There were a few ringers he’d been keeping back.

Individuals who were much more useful being officially genin, regardless of their actual abilities. The Chunin Exams meant exposing them, but in this case it would be an acceptable compromise. It wouldn’t do to keep them in that role forever, regardless. Best send out a note to see who all would be interested. 

Then… Kakashi wasn’t doing anything, was he? He could take a team alongside Gai’s team. If there were enough… Ebisu. Konohamaru’s education wasn’t getting anywhere anyway. Better to put him on something more important to the village. Kurenai could keep an eye on his grandson for a little while. Maybe a different perspective would help him pay attention to learning instead of running off to bother Naruko.

Actually… it may be a good idea to introduce him to Enma. Konohamaru would be overjoyed to learn about the contract, and Enma… perhaps he would be interested in having a Sarutobi officially part of the monkeys. Perhaps not. Apparently there was an event in their past that made them… wary of granting their Chakra like the other summons did.

Something about a Sun?

Regardless, a closer tie to the Monkey summons would do Konohamaru good. After that… what else to consider? Who would be appropriate to place in the right positions to get everything done? The academy needed updating, and Iruka was doing what he could but he was only one person. Better take a look at the everywhere, honestly. An audit has been long coming, and regrettably something that Hiruzen may have been putting off for his successor.

That was how it was done, but with Tsunade still in the wind, and the bottle, and Jiraiya unfit for the hat… things had been left too long. Someone so old was never meant to wear the hat. Hopefully one of the upcoming students would be capable of taking up the mantle in their mid twenties. If he couldn’t keep the hat that long… a capable administrator would be needed. Not someone to bully the other villages or truly embody the office, but to clear out things and keep everything going until someone who had vision could take the spot. Konoha was strong enough that its Hokage didn’t need to be the strongest anymore.

Anyway, enough dallying. The audit. Who to use? The academy had always been his own project, so he will take that with Iruka’s assistance. Hm. Anko would be good to check T&I. A conflict of interest, yes, but she had never been much concerned with covering things up or deferring to authority. Inoichi undoubtedly kept it well in hand regardless. Ebisu… Ebisu would be ideal for checking the more mercantile matters. Assign that to him after he got back from Kusa.

What else… the hospital. Hm. Send a letter to Tsunade. If not her then… talk to Choza. One of the Akamichi could handle checking it over. Food and medicine often go hand in hand, and many of them hold some form of recognition as doctors. ANBU… that was a tricky one. With Danzo scampering about with that army he thinks the hat doesn’t care about. Ibiki, perhaps. Or bite the bullet and send a Hyuuga to do it.

Thinking of them… the Konoha police has been concerningly stagnant ever since the Uchiha were killed. Set Gai on it. His genin slash chunin could use the experience in debugging anyway. It would light a fire no matter what, and he has a way of understanding people. He’ll pick out who is good to keep, who to cut, and ensure the organization gets back- no. Gets halfway back to what it was before the Uchiha died.

Getting all the way back was impossible, unless Satsuki decided to have kids much faster than expected. None could ever match the Uchiha in sheer obsession. It was rare there was a cold case in Konoha. A conversation with the heads of the red light district would likely be in order as well.  Shibi could suggest someone.

“I must be missing something.” Hirzuen sighed. That was the way of it. It was impossible to truly get everything in line the first time. That still was no reason not to start on what he had thought of. “This will be treacherous, but Konoha will weather it. My successor should not find problems I failed to deal with.”

If that successor happened to be blonde? Maybe that was just karma. Her father never managed to quite use the role he was promised, so it was only natural it fell to the child. Unfortunate, but natural.

Such was the nature of the world.

Chapter Text

“HA! IN YOUR FACE BILLBOARD-BROW!”

“You copied me!?” Sakura shrieked, glaring at her eternal rival and former best friend, who now sported a set of rather fluffy and springy looking boar ears, along with tusk-like tattoos on her face, and also a few sets of colored stripes on her back… and a tail that was, surprisingly, not swirled around like most pigs had. Taking a whole week off just to turn herself into an actual pig. Of course Ino would do that.

She pointedly ignored how Shikamaru and Choji were now also girls, and were attempting to not draw attention to that fact despite dressing just a slight bit more feminine than before.

“I’m better than you,” Ino shot back, grinning smugly and cackling just a bit while she showed off her new body… which was just slightly taller and more muscular than before. She… also seemed to be clenching her thighs together a little more than she ever had before, but Sakura had no idea what was going on there. “I know I’m stronger and faster than you now, Billboard Brow! Satsuki’s cute butt is mine!”

“I don’t think I can get pregnant yet…” Satsuki mumbled from off to the side, though not loud enough for anyone but Naruko, Hinata, and Kiba to hear.

“Bullshit you’re stronger! You’re nothing but a prey animal to me!” Sakura shrieked- honest to god shrieked like the vulture she was. Not that she was super intimidating about it, considering how small her wings were at the moment. “Vultures eat boars, idiot Ino-pig!”

“Carrion muncher!”

“Dirt sniffer!”

“Rot guzzler!”

“Shit slurper!”

“Flatty!”

“Fatty!”

“WHY YOU LITTLE-!”

“... A-are they trying to kill each other or kissing…?” Hinata asked, watching Ino launch herself at Sakura, causing the both of them to tumble down in an incredibly aggressive wrestling match that was either flirting or fighting, and seemed to be both considering how their legs were tangled together and how hard they were blushing.

“I think it’s both,” Naruko nodded wisely, idly holding Hinata in her arms and petting her much like one would pet a rabbit. Except Hinata was much larger than a rabbit, and was also sorta humping Naruko’s thigh out of some instinct she didn’t really understand yet. 

“I’LL GUT YOU AND TURN YOU INTO CHASHU PORK!”

“NOT IF I RIP THOSE WINGS OFF AND MAKE KARAAGE FIRST, BITCH!”

“RAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!”

“Woo! Rip it off!” Kiba cheered, pumping his fist like the idiot he was as Sakura and Ino’s violent floor wrestling came to a head… and then the both of them started aggressively making out right there. In front of everyone.

Without any shame.

“Mendokusei,” Shikamaru- or, as her nameplate on her desk now read, Shikamaki- palmed her face tiredly and shook her head, grumbling about troublesome blondes and idiot rosettes and how they should have just done that years ago instead of manifesting their prepubescent tension in the form of a stupid rivalry.

“Aww, that’s cute,” Cho smiled, snacking on chips as usual. Despite her gender change, though, she… didn’t really look much like a butterfly. She had some antennae now, sure, but other than that she seemed almost exactly as chubby as before. Just... cuter, now. And with sharper teeth. And instead of her usual chip packets of “anything edible”, she was very specifically eating honey and peach flavored chips. “I think it’s nice that Ino finally came around to her feelings.”

“Did they have to do it in class though?” Shikamaki sighed, grumbling and idly scratching at the base of her new antlers. Which, technically, she wasn’t supposed to have. Then again, being turned into a girl wasn’t supposed to have kept her dick either so she was just going to assume that the Deer clan was just playing some kind of permanent prank on her. Joke’s on them, she didn’t give half a shit about what was in her pants.

Be a pain in the ass wearing hats now, though…

“Alright, settle down! Ino, Shikamaki, Cho, good to see you finally back from your… clan business,” Iruka called out, interrupting everyone’s conversations… and Sakura and Ino’s aggressive makeout session. “Sakura, Ino, back in your seats.”

“Yes sensei…” both of them agreed, blushing heavily and scampering back up the stairs. Ino, with zero subtlety, pretended that there wasn’t a slight bulge in front of her skirt. Sakura, equally with zero subtlety, pretended that her hand wasn’t directly covering it.

“Pubescent children…” Iruka mumbled quietly, grumbling and groaning about how stressful his life was now. “Alright everyone. You may have noticed by now that half the class is gone. That’s because you nine are considered the most promising upcoming shinobi for the next four years. The other members of your class will be… on a different track focusing more on pure academics. No, Sakura, you cannot double enroll for extra book learning.”

“Aww…” Sakura put her hand down with just the slightest of pouts.

“That said- Kiba, Shino, if you need to call out this week…” Iruka trailed off, looking at the last two male members of his class with a raised eyebrow.

“There is no need,” Shino shook his- her- head, her new voice coming out clear and smooth and with the slightest hint of an insectoid buzz in the back of her throat. “Why? Because I took the opportunity to become more attuned to the Aburame clan Summons over the weekend. I have not changed my name, merely the kanji. Why? Because one of my ancestral aunts was named Shino.”

“... Wait so I’m the only guy left in this class!?” Kiba stared at Shino… then down at Shino’s chest when the newly girlified bug girl unzipped her jacket for the first time literally ever to show off the chitinous plates now adorning her body. “... Damn, bro, you got jacked! Also, when the hell did your waist get that small!?”

“I have always been approximately this muscular. Why? Because unlike you, I take my training seriously. My new body only emphasizes my musculature, despite retaining most of its androgyny.” Shino answered flatly, then poked Kiba’s forehead. “Please stop staring at my breasts. Why? Because they are not particularly impressive, and Naruko has the current largest breasts in our class, with Hinata as a close second.”

“Yeah, but Naruko gets all growly if I stare at Hinata!” Kiba protested.

“She’s mine!” Naruko growled, exactly as Kiba predicted, while curling up around Hinata as if shielding her from everyone else. “My prey!”

“P-prey…!?” Hinata squeaked, blushing like a tomato. “P-prey… N-Naruko-chan’s… p-prey… Ehehheheheheheheeeeee….”

“My left kidney for a class that can pay attention,” Iruka sighed, watching the byplay of nine startlingly overpowered twelve and thirteen year olds trying to deal with the onset of puberty all at once. “Naruko, stop treating Hinata like your personal chew toy! She’s her own person, not a pet! Ino, Sakura, stop playing handsy under the table! I know you had sex ed half a year ago, don’t make me remind you what the punishment is for doing that in class! Kiba, stop staring at Shino’s chest! Shino, put your jacket back on!”

He paused, turning to the last few members of his hell class. “Cho, if you leave crumbs anywhere-”

“I’ve got napkins, sensei!”

“Good. Satsuki, that better not be a can of tuna-”

“I’m hungry,” Satsuki grumbled, glaring at Iruka with all the anger and violence her cat body could promise.

“... Eat it outside.”

“Hn.”

“Shikamaki… don’t put holes in your desk while you’re napping.”

“Aye aye, sensei… Zzzzzzz…”

Well.

That was just about everything.

Hopefully, Kiba would remain the one normal person in his class. Please please please let Kiba be normal.

Please please please please please please-

…

“Oi, brat! Get up! Moro-sama finally agreed to adopt you! You better not miss the ceremony, or I’m taking the cost of that half ton of bacon and pork scraps out on your hide!”

“Uuuuuggghh… I’m comin’ I’m comin’! Jeez, let a guy sleep, why don’tcha!?”

“Keep taking that attitude with me and I’m making sure Moro-sama turns you into a bitch!”

“Wh- HEY! I can’t be a girl! I don’t know how to pee sitting down!”

“The same way you pee while shitting, now get out of bed and put your good clothes on, lazy bum!”

Just a normal morning in the Inuzuka clan household. Accompanied by a whole bunch of barking, whining, woofing, and assorted dog noises, smells, and other such related things.

What wasn’t normal was the procession of Inuzuka going into the forest while holding aloft a big-ass tray of what looked like raw meat and chanting in some old dead tribal language, but the Inuzuka were the Inuzuka.

Strange ones they were, ever since they came down from the frozen north.

“Please don’t turn me into a girl please don’t turn me into a girl please don’t turn me into a girl-”

Why the clan heir was sitting on a palanquin and audibly mumbling about not being turned into a girl while he crossed his fingers was a slightly bigger mystery… but not one anyone cared to investigate.

“Please don’t turn me into a girl please don’t turn me into a girl please don’t turn me into a girl-”

…

…

“HA! I KEPT IT!”

“KEEP YOUR DAMN PANTS ON, BRAT! NO ONE WANTS TO SEE YOUR STUPID RED ROCKET!”

“IT’S EVEN BIGGER NOW!”

“BRAT IT’S TWO IN THE GODDAMN MORNING! GO TO BED OR I’M NEUTERING AND SPAYING YOU!”

“NO NOT THE KNIFE-!”

…

…

…

“And like that, all of my class has turned into assorted kemonomimi girls,” Iruka deadpanned, delivering his report with the single most tired expression possible as he stood there in the Hokage’s office. “Kiba elected not to change her name, on the grounds that it just means fang and is, therefore, gender neutral. I’m as surprised as you are that she knows what gender neutral means.”

He paused, then rubbed his forehead. “Aside from that… the class rankings almost don’t matter anymore, seeing as everyone is now far more motivated to actually train now that they have an abundance of animal energy… but taijutsu sparring has largely devolved into trying to find everyone a martial arts style that fits their new body plans. Ninjutsu training is… going decently well, although Naruko’s continued lack of chakra control means that she’s having a hard time… at least she’s making progress with tree walking, albeit… slowly. I assume by the time she manages to confidently tree walk, she’ll make up her jutsu progress in no time. Same with water walking.”

“Mm…” Hiruzen nodded sagely, folding his fingers in front of himself as he listened to Iruka’s report. “I can only imagine they’ll be just about Chunin level by the time they graduate, if not stronger… all they’ll be missing is proper experience, and a Jounin instructor will fill in that role neatly…”

He paused, taking a drag on his pipe. “Iruka.”

“Yes, Hokage-sama?”

“What are the odds of at least three of them becoming strong enough to make a new generation of Sannin?” Hiruzen asked, puffing away on his pipe as he stared into the middle distance.

“If Naruko and Satsuki don’t manage it, I don’t think anyone else will,” Iruka answered honestly, scratching his cheek. “As for who’ll be their third… Hinata or Sakura, I imagine? If both… then we might be looking at replacing Sannin with Yonnin.”

“What an unlucky number,” Hiruzen sighed, blowing out a cloud of smoke. “If nothing else, I hope we can have a Kyunin group instead. They seem rather close already, as it were…”

“If they make it to graduation without descending into a pile of estrus-riddled sex hormones, I’ll eat my nonexistent favorite hat,” Iruka deadpanned flatly, flipping through his papers with a roll of his eyes. “Ino and Sakura have already started, and I’m pretty sure Naruko’s staked her claim on Hinata entirely. Time will tell if they’ll last, though…”

“I do hope they got it into their heads that early pregnancies aren’t particularly favorable at this stage in their careers,” Hiruzen muttered, furrowing his brow slightly. “You might have to do a refresher on that sexual education unit, Iruka.”

“Already in the curriculum, Hokage-sama.”

“Good. Well… hopefully these next four years go smoothly… as smoothly as they can, with how ridiculous those nine have already become.”

“Here’s hoping…”

Chapter Text

“It's time to test you all on your taijutsu skills. Remember,” Iruka swept his gaze over all nine of them, “you do not need to win, and you do not need to showcase a fully formed style. You are all expected to know the absolute basics of taijutsu and be able to utilize them in active combat. A style will come in the following years- after puberty is done with you.”

That was the real secret behind the academy style. You couldn't really prepare eleven year olds for physical fighting, not really. Puberty would come in soon enough to screw up their balance and heavily change their bodies. To the extent that, usually, the academy style simply no longer worked. It was made for pre-pubescent children after all.

Pushing off actual taijutsu instruction to a Jounin teacher always felt short sighted. Not only would they have to deal with three individuals who might have vastly different body types, but most Jounin knew only their style. Which might not be useful to any of them. Not helped by the fact that it was far too easy to practice taijutsu wrong and not know.

If you screwed up ninjutsu you could feel it. Or the explosion would tell you. A bad seal also exploded. Genjutsu needed someone to use them on, but that was a matter of them saying what they saw. If you got it right they saw what you wanted, if you got it wrong they didn't. Throwing senbon, shuriken, and kunai just needed a distinct target.

If you screwed up a taijutsu form? Even if the form was stiff or odd- a lot of actual forms were like that. The body had to get used to moving that way, so it wasn't an indicator of doing it improperly. Not to mention that a wrong form could feel perfectly natural. It needed someone who could watch who also knew the proper forms. So leaving it up to a Jounin teacher who may not know those was just… not great.

At least that was getting fixed now.

“Ino! Sakura! This is a spar, understand?” the two girls straightened. Sakura looked… slightly more pissed than she had been for the past month or so. Her wings looked patchy and uncomfortable, feathers dropping out as new ones pushed in. Which went for her hair as well- the bits where she'd grown feathers rougher than the rest. Ino, on the other hand, had run into puberty in the most annoying way possible. A steady growth, bit by bit, that brought her broader shoulders and a far more solid body. At the expense of having to get new clothes every month and her taijutsu being off for the foreseeable future. “Demonstrate your understanding of the basic taijutsu principles.”

The two settled across from each other in the ring. A gesture sent them at each other. 

Sakura hit first. She always tried to hit first, which was odd for a vulture. A good lesson that being adopted into a summon clan didn't make someone a summon. It was a simple straight punch.

Ino just bulled through it. Everyone in the class knew roughly how everyone else fought by this point, which was something to fix later, and Ino knew Sakura never really fully committed to anything. The fist that hit her only kept straight for a moment before relaxing as the bullish kept going. Knuckles hit the sand like a bomb.

They certainly didn't hit Sakura. She'd already twisted away from the hit and smashed a foot into Ino's face. Not that the blonde seemed to notice. The subsequent palm strike to the boob was noticed.

“Hng!” Ino let herself step back and raised her arms. Sakura flicked and danced around. Never staying in one spot and making the straightforward rushes Ino used much less useful. Not that it mattered much when Ino endured everything Sakura could throw. Constant hits not as bad as they should have been because they were always relaxed and ready to slither away from a parry or dodge.

One foot lifted up to slam onto the sand. The entire ground shifted and Sakura missed a step with a squawk. Ino turned into a punch, but Sakura's arms were already there to block it. Not that it mattered much. Even with all she'd been doing, Sakura wasn't yet built for what Ino could dish out. The hit sent her flying away, bouncing across the sand of the ring.

She was quick to recover, moving back into her freewheeling. More cautious, ready to hop away from a bad step. More blows hit Ino, almost none blocked. The Vultures didn't have a taijutsu style. They had bits and pieces on many, many styles that Sakura picked through to use. Every time a spar came around she had some new thing to use.

It felt like the Uchiha, sometimes. If she kept up like this Iruka might have to commit a cardinal sin and introduce her to Gai. Nobody else in the village would be able to properly train her. As it was, Ino was obviously out of ideas. She swung, but never managed anything close to that first hit. But she demonstrated knowing what she should, and undoubtedly she'd do better if ninjutsu were allowed.

Sakura would too, but against a grab bag of random jutsu the more focused side would generally win. Not that Iruka had any doubt Sakura was practicing something special, but he hadn't been informed of it. If she wanted to keep it to herself then she could. It wasn't a good idea, but Sakura was the least likely to actually explode herself. So best leave it alone instead of push.

Being connected to Satsuki and Naruko gave her a lot more leeway than she probably knew. A normal kid, even born from shinobi, would have gotten a big talking to already. Jutsu were dangerous. That was partly why the academy only trained on the Bunshin, Kawarimi, and Henge. It took something special to make those explode. Or cause some sort of mess inside the Chakra coils.

“Enough!” Anyway, time to move to the next. Having less than half of the students meant he could let things go longer than usual, but it wasn't a good idea to extend too long. “Naruko, Satsuki! You're next.”

Naruko flounced forward. She hadn't changed all that much, and likely wouldn't gain much more than a bit of height from puberty. Well… not much physically. Apparently being actually encouraged to try new clothes and sneak into places had triggered something, because she was the biggest fashion brat in the class. It made the fact that she still always wore orange a little more bearable at least, even if it combined with her lack of any modesty to make some very risqué outfits.

Anko must never know. Those two meeting… Iruka shivered. Some things were too scary to imagine. At least Naruko was the only one to worry about there. None of the rest of the class would cause anywhere near the number of issues. Lucky, because one of them might need to be pulled in to teach Satsuki.

Said girl wandered over to her spot across from Naruko with the air of someone doing it because she wanted to, not because she was ordered. She had also stayed the same and hadn't even gotten invested in anything else either. Same general fashion sense, same general frame. An ocean of stability for all she tended toward being on top of her desk instead of in it. Frankly she was probably better off- whatever the cats had knocked loose in her head meant she actually interacted with the rest of the class in a way that wasn't vaguely dismissive. Probably getting more sleep too.

The sticking point was her claws. And her claw. Where she got the sword she wouldn't say, but she'd been using the Cat claw based jutsu with it and turning into a dervish every time they practiced weapons. Hayate was going to need to train her sooner or later.

“Ready?” They both nodded. “Begin!”

They both rushed. Both struck, smashing into each other and grappling for a moment. Satsuki broke it, twisting out of the move and slashing at Naruko's face. The other woman just opened her jaws and bit down.

“Nya!” A yank had Satsuki stumble forward into Naruko's fist. The catgirl bounced away as Naruko panted. “My paw!”

She landed on her feet and moved immediately after. Her old style didn't fit her, but the Uchiha had worked with the cats a long time. She was still shaky on it, but Iruka did what he could to ensure she was properly doing the moves. Claw swipes and swift movements followed by backing away. A style that turned a fight into a long series of swift ambushes.

Unfortunately that style was meeting with whatever Naruko had figured out. It was never more evident that she wasn't the product of a summon than in a spar. Her tails moved and lengthened, shifted in ways nobody else could manage. Her body, to, shifted and moved not quite how something purely physical could. It made her even more unpredictable than she was naturally, which was already plenty chaotic.

She'd taken the grounding the academy style had given her and decided that a style was boring. Her entire taijutsu repertoire was cobbled together on her own from fighting and messing around. It made her a nightmare to fight, and Iruka frankly doubted he could take her down if it came to it. 

She twisted and dove and slapped and punched and kicked. Never from the same angle and never stopped for anything. Any scratches Satsuki managed healed quickly, if they did any damage at all. About the only thing that the cuts actually managed was steadily stripping Naruko down.

“Enough!” Which meant it was time to stop the fight. Those two would keep going until Naruko was literally naked if they were left alone. Iruka planned to suggest personal spars between the two once puberty hit. Hopefully that would keep their… whatever it was behind closed doors, instead of in the middle of a spar.

He really wanted to forget the way Satsuki looked after Naruko has used her tails to bind the other girl in the air.

“Next up will be… Hinata and Kiba.” At least from now on the spars would need much less attention. He would ensure those four never fought each other in class, if they weren't the only ones that could actually keep up with each other. The entire class was impressive, but Satsuki had a fire that somehow had lit something in Ino and Sakura. 

Naruko was Naruko.

“Ready to get beat?” Kiba dealt with being a girl by absolutely refusing to care. She did everything the same way, wore the same clothes, and only marginally curbed her own habits. According to her, being stared at yourself really puts things into perspective. Not that she put it that way, but the sentiment was there.

“No.” Hinata was being dressed by Naruko. She still wore ever increasingly large jackets, but otherwise what she was wearing tended to follow after the blonde. At least it'd somehow given her a bit more self-confidence, though that may have been the Bunnies. The Hyuuga were as opaque as ever, but there were rumors there were some big arguments happening.

“Ready?” They both nodded. “Fight!”

“Rah!” Kiba rushed forward as Hinata slid into the Jyuuken opening stance. Wild strikes met easy deflections. Claws slashed only for palms to turn them aside.

Kiba pressed her attack. Claws striking faster, more precise. The edges of Hinata's sleeves began to rip-

“Naruko gave me this!” A stomp sent a low pulse of Chakra across the ground. Just enough to make Kiba's feet tingle. A shove had her step back, prickly feet not landing flat like they should. Quick strikes dances along Kiba's front, some hitting the arms meant to block them but most hitting home.

It was over in a second, Kiba falling to the sand with too many Tenketsu blocked to continue her onslaught.

“Stop!” Iruka sighed. “Kiba, you need to get better at defense. Your beginning wild strikes leave you open, and it doesn't matter how you exploit that first impression if they can put you down before you get to that point. Hinata, excellent speed, but you need to work on fighting before your clothes get torn up. If you don't have the will to hurt your enemy at the start then they can take you down before you can bring it up.”

“Yes, Sensei.” “Right, Sensei.”

“That said, you both pass.” Iruka checked the chart. “Next, Shikamaki and Cho.”

Shino got the bye, but that wasn't going to be a problem. The Aburame didn't much use taijutsu anyway, and she was perfectly capable of proper self assessment. If she needed help she'd ask.

“Mendokusei.” Shikamaki dragged herself into the area. Puberty hadn't quite started for her or Cho yet. It'd change soon, but for now they were basically identical to how they were at the start of the year. It made for a boring match, but that was how it was sometimes.

Shikamaki played keep away and had a nasty headbutt, while Cho just kept advancing. A match that predictably ended as soon as Shikamaki figured she'd passed and took a fall. They'd both need to step it up later, but it was acceptable now. Apparently they both needed to grow up a bit to really get started on what their summons would teach them.

“All of you have passed, so I'll see you next year. It will be tougher and more experimental. We're looking to really challenge you as soon as you start.” Iruka tapped his clipboard for a moment. Then smiled. “But for now, enjoy your break! The festival is coming up soon, and I know nobody wants to miss it.”

The cheers were mostly predictable. It still felt good.

Chapter Text

Ebisu was used to being overlooked. It didn't usually happen with Genin, but he had been given the most impressive of the Genin in the lot. So it was understandable. A complete failure of proper security, of course, but that was Kusa's mistake to make. Assigning minders to shadow the Inuzuka, the Aburame, and the Hyuuga made sense. The Jounin? Nobody special.

That was why Ebisu was currently knee deep in records he shouldn't have while everyone else was watching the Chunin exams. It wasn't hard to get in, for all that the only other person who could have done it like he did was Kakashi. A simple Raiton jutsu, used mostly as an example of the element for students, to overload the electronic security combined with a Genjutsu that barely qualified for the guards.

It was exceptionally easy to spot… if you were looking. Something he'd picked up to help with teaching his students to identify Genjutsu. It simply removed the ability to identify a color. Made it basically invisible, the mind would just look past it entirely. Under normal circumstances it was obvious- the sudden lack of several things that were immediately identifiable. But if you, for instance, removed orange in a space where that color wasn't found… well. Suddenly someone entirely covered in a reversible bright orange suit was effectively invisible.

All the usual problems with being invisible still applied of course. Don't make a sound, keep track of dust, and all that. Just the basics, and nobody would ever say Ebisu couldn't perform the basics perfectly. It wasn't a grand role, not like Kakashi or Gai, but it was his and nobody else's. He was comfortable with that.

What was less comfortable was Kusa's recent forays into attempting to become a true Kage led village. They were focusing on problem three when dealing with the first two would be more effective. It spoke to a village that didn't have its interests properly in a line. Whoever was up top had the want, but not the hands or the information.

The first issue for Kusa was that nobody wanted them to be important. Keeping them small meant all the big villages could push them around. Get to certain prisoners if they wanted. Assassinations, or extractions, from the Blood Prison weren't commonplace, but they did happen. A stronger Kusa would choke that.

The second issue was that Kusa didn't have the pool of talent. They had poisons, but not only was Suna better, it had the puppet corps to fall back on. Kusa didn't have an equivalent, and poisons became less and less useful as you got stronger. Every Jounin in Konoha had some way to burn it out or deal with it. It was one of the Akimichi’s less known contributions to the village, and other villages undoubtedly had something similar. Kusa needed something else, and they weren't making it.

They were focusing on this. Number three. A lack of kekkei genkai. Which was really just problem number two, but moreso. A blood limit wasn't just a force multiplier, but also a face. Everybody knows at least one Konoha clan, and probably likes them. It's part of the reason Konoha is so liked despite being nearly the same as every other village. Kusa doesn't have a face, and so they're trying to steal it from the dead. And the living.

Plans to invite random disaffected clan members. Plans to assassinate and steal semen. Plans to welcome refugees. Breeding schedules. Artificial insemination plans and endless research on fetal Chakra development. It wasn't spun up yet, and likely would take a long while to show anything, but it was a slightly kinder variant of Orochimaru’s research.

In that the mothers were theoretically expected to survive. Even if the child was supposed to be given priority. Except… in one case.

Karin Uzumaki. Not old enough yet to have a safe pregnancy, but marked for it. Her healing capabilities were effective, but Kusa wanted more. They’d already nearly killed the mother. Accidentally, if the rage behind the penmanship said anything, but it was still done. It also wasn't acceptable.

Konoha remembered. The spiral wasn't forgotten. Naruko had even been doing all the proper things she needed to reactivate the Uzumaki’s clan status. Impressive work, honestly. He'd processed the files personally, as an unbiased Jounin, and frankly speaking there were multi-decade serving councilors that were worse at filling out necessary forms. Regardless, that only made this more tricky.

It couldn't be allowed to continue, of course. Frankly speaking Konoha would normally not do anything overt. Simply sabotage their ability to gather individuals with a kekkei genkai. But now the Uzumaki were in the mix. Already in Kusa.

They had time. A good amount of it. Best to bring this back to the Hokage and tell the current Uzumaki clan head. They would have the final say. Acting without them wasn't necessary at this point.

A quick jutsu animated a pot of ink. Or… not really a jutsu, honestly. More an extension of water walking. More complex, but minimal Chakra required. Invisible to all but the most tuned sensors. And those would give so many false positives they were only useful in very specific, controlled, areas. Which this did not count as.

A quick bit of work copied the reports and Ebisu was soon out of the building and reversing his clothes into a more normal color. It was only proper to show up to cheer on his team, temporary as they were. Hm. Also because Kusa would undoubtedly approach the Hyuuga. Their clan issues were exceptionally well known, even if what Hinata had done triggered something within the clan it didn’t actually solve anything. Yet, hopefully.

The entire practice was shameful, in Ebisu’s opinion. Born out of far too much paranoia. It said something that the Uchiha never tried a similar stunt, despite their eyes being able to be taken in exactly the same way. Not that anyone generally came to him for his opinions. They wanted facts.

Hopefully this particular set of facts didn’t cause Naruko to assault his eardrums too badly. She really needed to work on that.

“THEY’RE WHAT?”

“This is exactly what you need to work on.” Ebisu and the Hokage looked at each other and Ebisu promptly pretended he hadn’t said the exact same thing at the same time.

“Ahem.” The Hokage settled himself. “Naruko. If you want to wear the hat, or rebuild Uzushio or even just revive your clan, you need to understand how to be calm in the face of such things. As Hokage I get more bad news than anyone in the village. It is my job to not only be a reassuring presence, but also to provide the right response. I may feel anger, but that does not mean I get to express it.” He smiled. “Publicly.”

“Right, right. Lotta the scrolls said stuff about that.” Naruko huffed, her tails lashing behind her in quick even strokes. “Gotta be an example to follow and all that.”

“Exactly. Your village, or your clan, will look to you first to understand how to act. Especially you, since you wish to start something new.” The Hokage puffed on his pipe and turned back to Ebisu. “Konoha has many leaders. The Uzumaki? One. Uzushio? One. Now, Ebisu, did you find a record on who they were attempting to get?”

“Nothing substantial. It seems to be more of a standing order than a deliberate hunt. Though… their mission records do note significantly more activity near and around Kiri.” Where kekkei genkai users would be eager to leave and not too concerned with how trustworthy the hand might be. “I do know they attempted to speak to each of my assigned team, Mashiro most strongly.” The Hyuuga had been rather annoyed by it, in all honesty.

“They’re gathering information, then.” The Hokage’s gaze moved to Naruko. “Tell me how I know that.”

“Uh.” Naruko froze, tails standing fully out, as she was put on the spot. “Cause… they’re doing a lot of research? They dunno how to do it yet, so they don’t want to bring anyone in? Cause then they could try to leave or something before it all happened. That’s why… Karin? Yeah, Karin. That’s why Karin isn’t being tied down yet. They’ll probably grab a bunch of people around when she’s… ready.”

That last word was growled, but that was an understandable reaction. An excellent example of reasoning. Ebisu would be proud to have a student be able to assimilate and understand information that quickly. Which is a thought. The academy is trying to round out the more general jutsu repertoire of its students. It probably wouldn’t be with the clan heirs, but with Konohamaru soon to enter it wouldn’t be a bad idea to try his hand at something in the classroom instead of tutoring.

The Hokage smiled. “Excellent. I could also tell because all their plans are theoretical. There are no records of them committing to any of the actions- only lists of what they could do and the right ways to achieve it. The lists are also scattered. Many of the clans on there are small or otherwise not viable to approach. A more serious effort would have already removed them.”

“Huh. Guess you have to pay attention to everything.” Naruko clicked her tongue. “I owe Cherri money.”

“Cherri with an ‘i’?” Ebisu was thankful he could hide his blink of surprise behind his glasses. Not just anyone could make a bet, especially a friendly one, with the single most in demand stripper in Konoha. Especially when she was the primary contact point for Jiraiya sending information back.

“Naruko has been… welcomed by the district. By The Lady herself.” Oh. Well. It seemed Naruko’s dreams were more in reach than she realized, if The Lady supported her.  “Now we must determine what to do. What do you think, Naruko?”

“Ah…” Naruko slumped a little, a hand on her chin. Good, she was thinking. Stopping and thinking first was a great trait in a leader, even if it didn’t mean you did anything different. “We can’t just grab her, and we can’t just tell her what’s gonna happen, right? So we gotta figure out a way to get her out without Kusa being able to say anything. We got a treaty or something?”

“We do indeed. I’ll get that out later, we can go over it together.” The Hokage looked happy at that thought. The extended academy time and the lack of needing to host the Chunin Exams had been good for his workload. That Naruko was also taking steps to revive the Uzumaki clan in Konoha also meant he had more excuse to see her. “Now, how would you prevent Kusa from doing everything else? Focusing only on one person isn’t what I need to do as Hokage, after all. I deal with the village, and Kusa obtaining what it wants is not only against what Konoha wants, it could be a problem for Konoha in the future.”

“I guess we could just get there first? We gotta have more stuff to offer, right?” Naruko frowned. “But I guess we can’t get more info, right? Just this list of a buncha people, but it isn’t useful ‘cause they’re aiming for everyone.”

“True. I can definitely identify some of the more likely candidates on this list, and I will send out people to give a look around and see if Kusa is trying anything.” The Hokage was worrying his pipe, smoking forgotten in the face of teaching. “But they could easily simply encounter someone neither of us know about.”

“I guess we could try to break the stuff they’re gonna use?” Naruko blinked slowly as she looked through the reports again. “They got a lotta parts and have to get a lotta people for it. So if we make that take longer they might just give up? ‘Cause it’s taking too much money and time and stuff.”

“We could, but that would be much easier for them to notice. Some delays are expected, and I will be working to extend some of them.” The Hokage finally took a big hit of his pipe. “The most important thing is to keep an eye on this. Maybe they will eventually try it, but they could also not try it. And if they don't, attempting to stop them could easily backfire and harm their relationship with Konoha. This information will go to Jiraiya, who will undoubtedly speak it to someone who will shortly have someone within Kusa keep an eye on things. Kusa will also be sent an invitation to the festival that will happen soon, specifically mentioning Karin, as the Uzumaki of having something of a resurgence. They’ll have no choice but to send her, and then we can simply ensure she requests a transfer or one of several things happens to bind her to Konoha instead of Kusa. They’ll be mad, but they can’t do anything and we have the perfect excuse to point to as a way of making them think we are just being sentimental, instead of having successfully spied on them.”

“Wow.” Naruko blinked.

Ebisu did too. The Hokage truly did know his way around things. A simple solution, to be sure, but it often took a great leader or an acceptable leader to actually do them. A good leader may simply get too involved in attempting too many things and ignore the obvious. Or overly convolute plans attempting to go over every contingency.

“Ebisu.” He snapped out of his thoughts to nod at the Hokage. “You are dismissed. Please give your temporary team instruction on things they need to know now that they are Chunin. Then you are free for an extended amount of time. Enjoy the festival. I can think of at least three summons who may attend that might be interested in you, provided you wish to show off a little.”

“Thank you, Hokage-sama.” Summons? Him? Hm. It was… interesting. Very rarely had anyone looked at him and thought him impressive. A summons doing that? Showing off… might be fun. He always had the opportunity to negotiate or refuse, after all.

Regardless of what happened, the festival would likely be very interesting. Word was almost everywhere was sending at least someone. Summons were prized, after all, and enticing one back would ensure a very favorable return.

Chapter Text

“Oh, and this is the red light district! The onee-chans over here basically raised me!” Naruko babbled as she led a frazzled and thoroughly exhausted Karin through the streets of Konoha, tugging her along as if her cousin had about as much stamina as she did. Which, evidently, she didn’t… but she put up a good effort anyway. If she could only stop tripping over her own two feet…

“Look, that one’s Madame Higanbana’s brothel! They taught me how to sniff out poison in stuff! And there’s Madame Wasurenagusa’s place! They taught me all about memorizing stuff quick! Not sure how Wasurenagusa-baa-sama remembers so much, but she’s cool! Oh, and there’s Madame Renge’s place! Iiiiiiiiiii’m like…. Preeeeeetty sure one of those really loud Jounin that runs around a bunch is her… neeephew? Maybe? I dunno, he’s got a bowl cut and hangs out with Renge-baa-sama pretty much every weekend and I’m pretty sure he’s called her oba-sama a few times? She has cool scrolls that I’m not allowed to touch. Oh, and there’s Madame Asagao! The girls there helped out with my groceries a few years ago… so nice… oh, and Madame Sakura’s place!” Naruko paused, scratching her chin. “Not related to Sakura-chan, actually. Super weird, cuz they both have pink hair? I dunno, Sakura-chan said she has no idea who Sakura-baa-sama is, but they look reeeeeally similar, so I’m guessing she’s like… an auntie or something? Oh, that’s where Cherri-nee-chan lives! That’s Cherri with an i, by the way. She’s super smart, and knows a lot of stuff that she probably shouldn’t.”

“Uh huh…” Karin sort of woozily nodded along, halfway leaning on Naruko as she pointed out just about every single brothel and gambling den and other “immoral” business along the roads, including some massage parlors, nyotaimori places, soaplands, catfight rings, so on and so forth. Apparently, when they said it took a village to raise a child, they weren’t lying. Naruko had been raised by the entire red light district, it seemed.

Even the shady drug dealer on the street corner who was absolutely a shinobi criminal of some sort seemed to have a good opinion of her… cousin.

In that they knew each other by name, and the drug dealer guy “Yamada-oji-san” gave her a few bills for snacks along their trip.

And then she was pretty sure he’d immediately dragged someone into an alley to mug them for cash the moment they left earshot.

What a strange place Konoha was.

So big and bold and bright… it almost made the propaganda feel real.

Karin wasn’t really sure how she felt about that, but at least she wasn’t alone anymore. She had a cousin, her mom was being treated in the hospital for her near terminal and chronic chakra depletion (and infected bite wounds, and weakened immune system from constant skin trauma), and apparently they were going to be looking out for more lost Uzumaki to bring home to Konoha.

To have a family again…

A clan. Something more than the half remembered stories of her mother’s youth- her grandmother’s stories of a land that seemed so eternally far away…

Karin had to wonder, in the back of her mind, while Naruko dragged her around on a tour around seemingly the entire village…

Would she ever see those far and distant shores of Uzushio? Quell the call eternally singing in her blood?

She hoped she would one day. Maybe with Naruko’s help.

“Come on!” Naruko looked back with a smile. The sharp teeth felt comforting instead of threatening. Her Chakra sparkled and flickered- not quite human but not Summon either. It felt… like a sun. Distant yet present and so very warm. “I gotta show you some of my friends!”

The next whirlwind was equally as overwhelming as the first, but for a different reason. Konoha, it seemed, had gone all out on their festival. Whatever administrator that had prepared everything was excellent, because everything went far more smoothly than it felt like it really should have. The Chunin Exams back in Kusa had dealt with a bunch of delays and issues, none of which were evident here despite it being so much bigger. Everywhere there was something going on, and keeping track of it all in the middle of so many things was… not going to happen.

Especially with Naruko pulling her along. Her Chakra was overwhelming everything else. Karin had never felt blind before, not like this. But in the middle of the truly absurd amount of Chakra her cousin had nothing else could even attempt to show up. It didn't help that whatever her Chakra was- it wasn't human. Not entirely, and in a very different way to the Summon touched.

It would have been frightening if it weren't Naruko. No matter the edge of her Chakra, no matter how dangerous and heavy it felt, it was hers. Distant yet present. Not human but too human despite that. The Uzumaki's new sun.

“And here's where they're doing all the blacksmith stuff!” Karin blinked as Naruko spun around. The clang of metal and washes of heat surrounded them. More blacksmiths than Karin had ever seen working on something or another. Overhead a dragon floated, closely examining something a smith had brought up. “So if you need any new kunai or wanna use a sword or something it's a really good time to get one. All these guys are gonna have scrap runs ‘cause of working out here and it'll get a good discount!”

“Right.” Karin didn't have much money and probably wouldn't get much until Konoha bullied Kusa into releasing her. Apparently her mom showing up like she was triggered… something or another. Some treaty or agreement. So they both would stay in Konoha until Kusa realized it wasn't going to win the argument. “I… don't think I'm going to need any. I'm not good at them anyway.”

“Not good? That's fine! I'm not so great at them either. Satsuki can just kinda,” Naruko waved a hand, “and hit everything. There's also a Genin that can do that even better. She's been complaining about it a lot.” Naruko blinked. “Oh, right. Uhh… the point is that it doesn't matter! You should have some ‘cause even if they won't hit your opponent is gonna have to pay attention to them anyway.”

“That makes sense.” It didn't actually matter, because Karin didn't really fight, but it was nice. Fixing that might be good? But it also wasn't actually a priority. It felt better to focus on sensing and healing anyway. “What else is going on?”

“Well, lots of stuff. But we're here to meet,” Naruko spun on one foot, hand still holding Karin's, “a different friend of mine. Tetsu does all of my kunai and stuff and he's- OW!”

“Naruko!” The Suna shinobi who'd been holding the sword was quickly dogpiled as Karin pushed herself closer to her cousin. It didn't look like an intentional cut, but that was a lot of blood. Did it hit her neck? An arm was quickly shoved into Naruko's mouth. “Bite me!”

Naruko didn't take time to wonder about it, thankfully. Maybe it meant shock, that was a lot of blood, but as long as she bit it wouldn't matter. Mom had brought back people a lot worse than this and maybe Karin wasn't quite ready for that yet but a simple- Huh? 

Her Chakra wasn't draining. It wasn't moving at all and Naruko had definitely bit down so why wasn't it working? Her Chakra wasn't that low and it'd never mattered how low it was before so-

“NNNGHH!” Naruko's Chakra pushed. It burned its way into her coils and pulsed in them. Heat burned into her system and it shouldn't work like that but it felt so good and wonderful like her cousin was inside her with all that sunny weird Chakra and it was pooling in her chest and her hips and her butt and her everything and it felt like it was gonna explode- “AHHHHHH!”

The feeling of Naruko's teeth dropping her arm was distant. Her body was so tingly and wonderful and relaxed. Little aftershocks pulsed through her, her limbs twitching as she tried to keep the dumb smile off her face. The remnants of Naruko's Chakra sat in coils, burning like the sun. Those bits of her own Chakra felt different now. Not a sun, because she wasn't anywhere close to Naruko, but maybe a distant star. Not as bright, not as close, but still there.

It took everything not to giggle. But why shouldn't she? Everything was pretty great right now. Out of Kusa, with family, at a festival. It was the perfect time for giggles!

“Well, Naruko. I suppose you have another Uzumaki trait. I don't recall this one being something your mother had, but sometimes these things are like that.” Who was the guy with the biiig hat and the big robes? The giggles made it hard to tell but he felt important. A bit strict, a bit mean, but also a bit nice, and a bit hopeful. “Can you tell me what happened?”

“I was takin’ Karin to see Tetsu and I bumped into a guy and his sword cut me. An then Karin said I should bite her and I dunno why but it makes me feel kinda like what Iruka lectured about when she said that so I just did it and then I felt my Chakra move and I dunno why cause it's never done that by itself before or maybe not quite cause it always moves around but not with purpose like that and then suddenly Karin had a tail and ears like me!”

Even with the giggles, Karin stared at her cousin. How did she say all of that in one breath?

“Then it sounds like you can let go of our friend here.” Karin rubbed further into Naruko as her ear twitched. Hm. Her ears shouldn't twitch, right? It felt kinda funny! “We need to get Karin here to the hospital. Chakra overload is no joke and it needs to come out safely. In addition to making sure what happened won't have any further side effects.”

“Is that why she's so giggly?” Karin kept clinging to Naruko and the other girl stood. Princess carry! But Naruko was the princess so was every carry she did a princess carry? That's kinda funny! “She sounds like some of the girls in the books Sakura talks about sometimes.”

“Chakra overload can result in symptoms like this, yes.” Karin could hear the smile in the voice but how does a voice have a smile it's pretty funny! “Run along now, straight to the hospital. I'll be right behind you, I just need to clear things up here.”

“Alright, Old Man.” Karin giggled again as she felt Naruko's muscles begin to move. They were super funny cause they felt weird! Squishy and soft and nice instead of all hard and stuff. “Come on, Karin. Let's get you looked over.”

Karin giggled again.

Hiruzen smiled as Naruko carried her cousin away. “Now, I understand that you're the highest ranked of the Suna shinobi here, correct?” He was, but it was always interesting to see if, and how, someone might lie.

“I am. I really was just testing the sword.” The shinobi held his hands up slowly. “It was weighted a bit differently than I expected, so when that girl bumped into me…”

“I see. An understandable mistake.” A normal sword would not have harmed Naruko enough to draw that much blood. Not on an accidental swing. “You should gather all your compatriots together. They've been getting into enough accidents that I believe some words of caution would help. And… perhaps you'd like a bit of instruction on that weapon? If you're so unfamiliar that you accidentally harmed someone you must be very new to using a sword.”

The calluses on his palms and his stance said differently. This was a man who used and relied on a weapon. Perhaps not a sword, but something. Enough that he should be aware of how to handle something so potentially dangerous. Especially in a crowd.

“Ah, I accept, Hokage-sama.” He bowed. “I apologize for the actions of my fellow Suna shinobi. I'll give them a talk as soon as I can find them.”

“As it so happens, I've already had them gathered together.” Oh, there was the panic. Well hidden, but there. “Let's go see everyone together.”

“O-of course, Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen smiled much less nicely as he turned toward where the Suna shinobi were being held. They couldn't imprison and interrogate any of them, but there were other ways to gather information. A check of their hotel rooms was standard, and unlikely to bring up anything. Watching them interact like this may be much more useful. Especially to note anyone who might be vulnerable to being pressed.

A quick hand gesture sent one of the ANBU moving. Better to give notice to the red lights district. Even shinobi fell victim to speaking out of turn in bed. Normally it wasn't necessary to keep too much an eye out in Konoha, but in this case it was warranted. Suna was trying something and it didn't speak well to their intentions.

Chapter Text

Onoki hated Konoha. Not the fun sort of hate either- the type of hate where he just kept doing thing after thing trying to screw them over. Deidara never really got it. War happened, a bunch of their guys got killed, a bunch of our guys got killed, move on and try to pretend nobody is building up to the next war. Sure it was a lot of guys the Yellow Flash killed, but… it was still war, y’know? Why get so angry about it?

Better to get mad about things that mattered to you, personally. Like how Sasori was completely wrong about art. Or how Onoki was a fence sitting dick. Or how Itachi was a cheating asshole. Things that gave something to work toward. Better channel anger into fixing something or getting better than to stew in bitter old silly grudges.

If Deidara had stewed in bitter old stilly grudges he wouldn’t be here, in Konoha. At the center of the biggest art demonstration he had ever heard about. The biggest Sasori had ever heard about. And, like him or not, the guy followed art and had been around for a lot longer. If he hadn’t heard of something bigger, then there wasn’t anything bigger. It was also just a lot of fun. 

Not all of it was his art, sure, but enough of it was. Let Sasori mess around with the blacksmiths and the painter and the woodworkers. He would find his home among the people who used powder and played with chemicals. Who performed, played, and did things which couldn’t be captured forever.

Well… mostly. Movies were a different thing, and every performer definitely had a set routine, but they still worked with what they had. No two performances would ever really be the same. Sometimes they were amazing, sometimes they were bad, and that was the beauty of a performance. A little slice of something that belonged only to the few people who’d seen it.

The entire area was set up away from everywhere else. A flat space of dirt that’d probably been a training ground just a little bit ago. Fire Yokai danced around the area, more in one place than he’d ever seen. Onibi, Hitodama, Kosenjobi, Minobi… all flickering in and out seemingly at random. Amidst them the people who actually worked with stuff did their things, unbothered by the fires. Probably some agreement with whatever brought them here to stop them from trying to burn or take life from anyone or anything.

“Hey.” A Konoha Chunin who looked way too burned to actually be from Konoha raised his head. Maybe he’d recognize Deidara, maybe not. He hadn’t been active too long, honestly, and Chunin didn’t always keep up on the newest Bingo Book. Even if he did recognize him, he probably wouldn’t do anything. Konoha didn’t have much love for Iwa either, and Deidara was an Iwa problem. “What place should I check out first, yeah? I like stuff that doesn’t last. Art is an explosion, yeah.”

“You’ve come to the right place then!” The Chunin practically lit up at the question. “I dunno where the Hokage found them all, but we’ve got some really crazy setups around. There’s a guy over at the rightmost part of the grounds that uses lightning jutsu to glass sand into unique sculptures, straight up the middle at the back is where we’ve contained all the powder explosives, next to that is where we’ve got the explosive tag challenge, and over on the left are some traditional fire artisans. Everything between is a bunch of stalls selling the stuff we’re using, so if you’ve got an idea feel free to try.”

“For a fee, yeah?” Deidara huffed and smiled at the Chunin’s chuckle. “What’s the explosive tag challenge?”

“Sorta a freeform thing? I don’t really know seals all that well so I don’t really get it, honestly.” The Chunin hummed. “So they have a bunch of… sorta blank explosive tags? Like… just the base thing already inked that will make it explode, but without any of the stuff to take in Chakra and stuff. The idea is to like… ink on the stuff that’ll actually make it a tag in your own way. Some guy earlier came in and made the entire thing explode in rainbow. I didn’t even know tags could do that.”

“Hm.” That sounded pretty fun, but not something Deidara actually was good at. Tags were cool, but his Kekkai Genkai didn’t really… make it worth it to bother. Seals felt too close to something Sasori was so interested in. Though if it could do stuff like that, maybe it’d give him some ideas. Wasn’t like he couldn’t put that on clay. “I’m not super good with seals either.”

“They’ve got a booth with some examples set up. All the really precise hard stuff is already done, so it’s just a matter of being close enough that the tag can accept Chakra.” The Chunin waved Deidara onward. “Take a chance, why don’t ya?”

“Yeah.” Sounded fun. Though the way all these Yokai turned toward him was a little creepy, honestly. Wasn’t this whole thing about getting closer to the summons? Maybe they liked art too! Be a unique audience for sure. “Wonder how Sasori is doing.”

Sasori had seen… a lot. Done a lot too. By the end of his time in Suna he was doing everything needed to make his puppets. All the metalwork, all the carving, all the mechanics, all of it. There wasn’t a greater puppet maker in the world. For… shinobi puppets. Battle puppets. 

But that wasn’t the only sort of puppet. Maybe the ideas wouldn’t ever be actually relevant to him, but seeing puppetry be advanced toward a different purpose was… nice. He’d smile if he actually could. Oh, there were problems with the puppets of course. One of them had a bad knot in the wood the carver hadn’t seen or ignored. The other had been carved wrong on one side and made a bit too thin to compensate. Neither of which meant they weren’t interesting.

There was so much more expression on them than anything he’d made. Being able to emote in battle was worthless, but in showing a story- priceless. Whoever made them had deft hands to be able to carve the sections that allowed the puppets to make faces at the crowd. Impressive.

Still, not useful to hum. A curiosity, much like most of everything here. Konoha had gone all out. Walking through the crowds was like wading through water, just tough enough to notice yet not actually enough to stall. Stand after stand stood along the roads, both impromptu and deliberately constructed. Selling all manner of things. To all manner of individuals.

No village would allow themselves to miss the opportunity to walk into Konoha so the shinobi were expected. The samurai… much less so. The monks even less. The summons? The last time there had been this many summons in one place had likely been during the last war. It was… impressive.

Sarutobi seemed to want to make something lasting. What shape it would be in Sasori couldn't tell, but it was something. If anyone could succeed it would be that one. The God of Shinobi was called such for very good reasons. Everyone tended to focus on the fourth Hokage, because he was impressive, but it would be a tough argument to establish any leader alive or dead as equal to Hiruzen Sarutobi.

A flash of flame drew Sasori's attention. A girl, Akimichi probably, cooking in grand style. Bursts of fire and steady hands turned the act of cooking into a performance all its own. Deidara would love it, and the summon birds perched above her seemed to be the same. 

Sasori moved on. A quick stop and some haggling netted some Konoha wood for nearly half the price it would have been sold elsewhere. A bit further on and he started reaching the much more experimental areas. The meat of the entire festival, apparently. Come out and show your best, your innovations, and maybe get the attention of a patron even a shinobi would listen to. A cute tag line, but effective and, crucially, not wrong. Anyone with a summon clan behind them was one to be careful of.

Summons didn't forget, and they rarely forgave.

This area was far more wild, blacksmiths rubbing shoulders with calligraphers. Very little on display was something Sasori could recognize. It was… exciting. Much of it wasn't useful, but it was art. The sort of thing only those new to the game could really make, devoid of true understanding of why the rules were there. If they even knew all the rules in the first place.

“What do you have here?” It was perhaps a little depressing the first thing that stood out was a weapon. A shinobi first and an artist second, when the opposite would be better. It wasn't like he had much of a choice now though. Besides- making corpses into puppets probably wouldn't be as acceptable in more ‘normal’ circles anyway. How droll.

“Ah, senbon!” The poor kid behind the counter probably didn't even have his own shop. May have just made this as his first step out of apprenticeship. It was, in Sasori's experience, when people were the most inventive. “But not like… normal senbon. I got the idea from my brother and his boyfriend- they're set up a bit further down where all the poison is. They were always complaining about dipping their senbon or their swords and I couldn't get the sheath to work right but I could-”

“Stop.” The boy's mouth clicked shut. “The first impression is the most important. Don't lead with ‘senbon’. You can call them senbon after, but figure out something else to call them.” Definitely new. Unfortunately, Sasori had never managed to make a shop of his own, but he wanted to. So he learned some of the tricks- Kakuzu was most helpful there. “Now. What is this?”

“Syringe senbon.” Not perfect, but it could be workshoped. “Instead of being just needles I made them like syringes, with a little space inside of it. You can pull off the cap at the back with a little Chakra and put anything you want in there. It needs to hit a little better, but it means you won't waste anything before it hits. With some good Chakra control you can gather all of them back pretty easily too!”

“Interesting.” Overdesigned, really, but they could be made better. Not amazing for most Konoha shinobi, but for puppet users… it was worth a shot. “I'll take three bundles.”

The boy smiled and excitedly packed up the bundles before giving the price. Sasori frowned. Even if they were overdesigned that was far too low. It was offensive for an artisan to value themselves so poorly. Especially one who could make these.

“No. I won't be paying that.” Sasori grabbed a bit more than what the boy had asked for. “This is what this is worth. Attempt to lessen the amount of the senbon that’s hollow next time. Look to trick kunai. They have had hollow snap away points for some time now. Don't be afraid to make them larger or include some secondary method of more easily filling them- it means another sale and people will pay for the convenience.”

The boy stuttered as Sasori walked away with his purchase. Deidara was, irritatingly, right to want to come here. The only issue was that he couldn't show off his own art. Either puppets or poison. Not in Konoha. They may be willing to ignore an Iwa missing nin, but a Suna one was a different matter. Unfortunate.

A large cheer rocketed down the throng of people. A quick check showed a woman shaking the paw of a summon. Some sort of cat, though it was a bit awkward to see from so far back. Hm. This was perhaps the fifth he'd seen?

Yes, about that many. Just within his hearing range. That his range was significantly above a civilian’s was irrelevant. Most villages were lucky to get five summon contracts in a year. Often those were ones held by families or already in the village. Konoha had outdone itself here. The only question was- for what purpose?

It can't be military. That woman had likely never held a weapon in her life. It can't even strictly be for materials- she was equally no blacksmith. So it had to be for something else. Some purpose beyond the shinobi world. Which was… interesting and concerning in equal measure.

The leader would have to be informed of his impressions. Deidara's too. Konoha was moving toward something new. The last time that happened resulted in the village system itself. This time? Likely something just as unexpected.

Chapter Text

“This is unacceptable.” The folder slapped down onto the table, pages spilling out. Name after name, each colored, revealed themselves. Only two stood out- both in a vibrant red that Hirzuen, even as long serving as he was, had never seen on that sheet. “Deidara of Iwa and Sasori of the Red Sands. Both in Konoha. Because of your mad stunt!”

“I consider it quite the rational stunt.” Hiruzen smiled as he pulled from his pipe again. The crystal ball in front of him displayed the revelry that was now ramping up even higher. The first day had done well, the second promised to be better. Konoha looked wonderful like this. “The only issues have been from civilians, and easily managed.”

“It has endangered Konoha's people. There are so many missing nin and rival nation shinobi here that we may be hosting the largest gathering of shinobi currently on the planet. What happens when they fight?” Danzo looked angry and disappointed. The exactly same way he looked when he was asked to file their mission reports, way back when.

He always was shit at partying. “They won't. Every shinobi knows not to mess around in places the summons like, and right now they very much like Konoha. Even the less experienced shinobi will have been informed by someone, or be so weak they know not to try anything.”

“That is another thing. Summons cannot be relied on. They do not belong to Konoha- they have their own homes.” Danzo straightened with a frown. “Already some ninja from other nations, even missing, have found contracts. Deidara was being courted by the Onibi.”

“They do. I am not expecting them solely to help Konoha. I am expecting them to remember this in the future.” Hiruzen took a deep drag and set his pipe to the side. “Konoha cannot afford to think this situation will last forever. Already the Daimyo are moving away from mercenary villages. Trade disruptions and political minefields brought by shinobi missions they didn't assign are causing problems with their bottom lines. There were four wars started, fought, and ended by ninja. That everyone else had to suffer through. One way or another something new will come, and Konoha must find a spot within it.”

It likely wouldn't turn within the lifetime of even the newest academy student. But it would turn. Konoha was always ahead of the curve, and this would be no different. Let the village become the known spot for summons to come to rest and search. Let it be known for innovation and new things. Let it be known for the skill of its workers.

Let it be known for something other than being the ‘nice shinobi village’. Anything else would do. Or… most anything else. A repeat of ‘Bloody Mist’ would not be good. He'd have to check into how their support of the rebels was doing soon. Zabuza had been attempting to move, but the entire region got locked up by the daimyo for some reason or another.

Possibly to burn more out of the village that was more liability than asset. As it was, nothing was going to change there for a few years. Officially.

“Konoha has a spot. We are the strongest.” Danzo huffed as he turned and walked away. “We don't need to kowtow to imagined futures or silly sensibilities.”

“Don't need to and shouldn't are two separate things.” Hiruzen sighed as Danzo left the room. Too focused on military strength, as always. “What news do we have, Millipede?”

Millipede, the ANBU with perhaps the most unfortunate mask, dropped from the ceiling. “Things are going better than expected. Multiple people have impressed the summons, and most have been amenable to moving into Konoha if they didn’t already live here. There were some… questions as to whether to extend the same opportunity to Deidara of Iwa and it was deemed contact was not a good idea at this time.”

“Regardless of what happens, do not contact him. Even if I believed we could entice him to stay, Iwa would consider it a motive for war.” Onoki would consider a lot that way. It made all the villages hesitant to mess with Iwa, but also meant a lack of any close allies. “Have you done the survey?”

“We were waiting to provide the results until further into the festival. We are currently tracking several other inventors through the Land of Fire that won’t be here until toward the end. Attempts to stop them have been dealt with.” Checking who sent agents after what will be useful in the future, but that is for later. “Initial reports show some potential useful inventions, limited primarily to civilian convenience.”

“As expected.” Build for money or for convenience. It is rare a person builds something purely to take the next step in something unknown. For a civilian to do so? Difficult. They simply don’t have the funding or the time, often enough. “What about Karin Uzumaki?”

“Her situation seems to be similar to Naruko’s. Messages have already been sent informing Kusa of the event and politely informing them that, due to it occurring in Konoha, we are taking responsibility for her care.” Hirzuen couldn’t help but smile. Ah, such a pleasure to have excellent subordinates. Taking advantage of random chance is a valuable skill to have. Maybe Millipede could use a bit more of an important role, later on. “She does not have anywhere near the number of tails Naruko has, however, even if their bodily construction seems to be the same.”

“Naruko gained hers from the Kyuubi themself. It isn’t surprising Karin ended up being a… subordinate of sorts. Especially with Naruko being her clan leader.” Chakra could be funny like that sometimes. What you thought influenced the end expression of it. “Continue to monitor it. Have we checked into the remnants of the Uzushio clans we know of?”

“Efforts are ongoing. What agents we could divert to accomplish contact have found… mixed responses.” Millipede coughed. “Some violent. Many blame Konoha for not trying anything before, and will not come to the village even when offered reparations.”

“Not unexpected.” The handling of the diaspora from Uzushio was not Konoha’s proudest moment. Their destruction had started a war, and handling a large number of refugees in the middle of moving to full war footing was deemed too risky. They should have tried it anyway. Even a temporary village outside of the walls would have sufficed. “What about the survey of Uzushio?”

“Nearly complete. They… leveled the place.” Millipede let out a careful breath, an unusual amount of expression for them. It made sense, at least. They were from one of the Uzuhio clans. “Ripped the roads up, even. Building it back up would take years, most likely. The same as building it in the first place.”

“Hm.” Not great, but that could be a boon as well. Building had come a long way since Uzushio was first made, after all. Plus it’d been left to ruin for quite a long while now. Most of the buildings would have likely needed to be torn down from rot anyway. “I’ll speak with Naruko. Kiri isn’t in any position to object right now, and they would have been the single biggest obstacle. Add an amendment to note rebuilding Uzushio when contacting the clans. They may be interested in throwing some money behind it.”

Millipede paused for a moment. Which was… unusual. Hiruzen raised an eyebrow. “We… may not require as much as expected…”

“Mm?” There were certainly methods of construction that required less material, but that was generally for more temporary construction. Which… could work, if the idea was to get Uzushio back as fast as possible. They had time, however, so waiting would be good. Still, Millipede was smart enough to know that themself. So… “How do you mean?”

“Jutsu can be used for construction, provided they’re modified a little. We already do so for temporary housing during wars. If Konoha offered jutsu based construction we could give a discount, and we wouldn’t require moving so many people and machines onto Uzushio in order to start building.” Millipede took a breath. “If we survey what materials can be gathered on the island, or around it, we could send a few shinobi that can use Doton reliably to start preparations.”

“The issue would be modifying the jutsu we use for those fortifications.” Still… Hiruzen hummed. It wasn’t too unusual for ninja to be sent out to do things other than fight. Or even things that had some sort of expectation of fighting. Watering crops was one thing any user of Suiton needs to understand how to do. A constant C-rank that some ninja used as nearly their only source of income. Extending that to building would be with some difficulty, but a manageable amount. “Get a list of who could do it, and what modifications might be necessary. Consult with some of the architects and Doton users together. Take… training ground twenty-nine. It’s flat dirt, so it will serve for testing.”

“At once, Hokage-sama.” Millipede left so swiftly someone else would think they teleported. 

Hiruzen was not anybody else. “Mm. It seems I made the right choice.” It had been a while since Millipede had been that excited about something. Now, what else to do?

Probably check in with Naruko. She is probably at Karin’s bedside, which means she absolutely is nowhere near there. Likely out getting food or something. The only question was what sort of situation she found herself in as a direct result. Hopefully it wasn’t running into one of the two S-rank missing nin that were in Konoha, but honestly speaking it was very high up in probability.

Maybe, Hirzuen thought as he took a puff of his pipe, this time it wouldn’t be the worst case scenario.

“That was so cool!” Naruko’s tails flicked behind her as she watched the guy (?) make another sculpture. A bunch of the balls of fire were around too, flitting around her tails and hovering above the bench where the guy was making his stuff. They felt pretty good to have around, honestly. “Can you make anything?”

“Of course, yeah!” The blond smiled and leaned back in his seat as a clay bird started hopping around the tabletop. “Some stuff works better than others, but there isn’t anything I can’t make. Took a lot of time to make sure my art was perfect, yeah.”

“Sweet.” Naruko hummed as she watched the bird hop around. It took… maybe a bit more control than she’d have liked to not jump on it and try to eat it. “Do you do seals and stuff too? I… kinda need some help and I dunno anybody really good with them.”

“Nah, seals were never my thing.” The blond waved a hand. “Too restricted, yeah?”

“Yeah. There’s so many rules about how you can do all the stuff and it all runs into each other in my head.” They seemed really fun, and her clan was known for them, but they were super specific. You have to use this stroke there and not this other nearly identical one because otherwise the entire thing would blow up. Lots of complicated rules and stuff that were taking forever to learn. “Sakura helps me make flash cards and stuff, but it’s just…”

“Yeah, I get it. Once you get used to it you’ll just know and it’ll get a lot easier, yeah? Just like me working with my clay.” He pointed at the bird. “Gotta make sure it isn’t too heavy and its wings are just right or it can’t fly or anything. Why do you wanna learn seals anyway? Kids like you are all big on jutsu and all that. Doesn’t Konoha have a clone explosion thing?”

“Well, it’s for my clan, y’know? I don’t have much for ‘em, so anything I can try is something I’m gonna. Even if I’m not good at it.” Naurko blinked. “Wait, clone explosion?”

“Yeah! Bunshin Daibakuha, I think? I dunno.” He shrugged. “I heard about it once from some old guy complaining, but I dunno if it’s a Konoha thing or one Konoha shinobi that used it thing. It was a great inspiration for my own clone technique, yeah!”

“I gotta ask the old man about that!” That’d be so cool. And she can make a super amount of clones so it’d be even better! She idly waved the clay bird away from- the ramen! “Thanks for the help!” The ramen cups were swept up and Naruko was halfway out of the door a moment later. “I gotta get this food back to my cousin!”

“Later, yeah!” The blond huffed. “Nice kid. Now what do you all want?”

The Onibi that’d been hanging around this entire time pulsed.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll meet your boss.”

…

…

“Hokage-sama! Naruko just asked Iruka Umino to teach her Bunshin Daibakuha!”

“Oh shit.”

Chapter Text

“Graduation day! Graduation day! We’re all here to say! Graduation day! Let’s go let’s go let’s go! Konoha nine! We’ve been here extra long, so now it’s graduation time!”

What could Sakura say about the last four years of her Academy experience…

Well.

Ami, that purple haired bitch, had talked a whole big game about graduating before sixteen a few years ago, but after a while Sakura had seen her weeding a garden in the hot sun looking absolutely miserable, which meant that Ami was still stuck in the lower ranks of the Genin Corps even after four years or so.

So that was fun.

What else…

There were a lot of jutsu being taught, as well as an increase in security and check-ins making sure everyone stayed loyal to Konoha. After all- any shinobi with actual promise was worth investing just enough to keep them loyal without feeling like they were under constant surveillance.

Sakura had learned some rope escape techniques- both jutsu based and non-jutsu based- a few poisons, some infiltration techniques, developed a fondness for gigantic, oversized axes because for some reason hitting Vulture puberty made her crazy strong… oh, and also, while she was thinking of weird class units, Naruko had tested out of the unit where they had to blend in with and trade information from the local red light district because, who knew, Naruko basically lived there for a good chunk of her life.

Crazy how the fox girl could walk into the highest class brothel in Konoha and greet the Madame by yelling “Hey Auntie, what’s up!?” and get welcomed in with open arms.

… 

Naruko had also learned Bunshin Daibakuha at some point, and no one was actually sure when, how, or where she’d found the scroll for it. Despite the Hokage’s best efforts… sometimes the ANBU chasing Naruko after a pranking spree wound up not with a struggling teenager in their arms, but rather a fucking dubiously alive paint bomb. Or fireworks. Or smoke grenades. Or confetti bombs. Or just fire if she was feeling vindictive that day. Funny how it was only ever the one specific ANBU that got set on fire… What did Naruko call them? Dog?

Sakura, meanwhile, had finally grown in her flight feathers sometime when she was fourteen… right in time for puberty to really kick into high gear and not only put hair and weird smells and extra sweat in odd places, but also jacked their hormones up to the point where it was basically impossible to sit through class without running out of the room halfway through the day to go do…

Stuff.

It was bad enough that they all got hit with animal breeding season instincts, but what made everything worse was the fact that those instincts mixed with how humans were ready to breed at any time of the year, no matter what, especially when put through physical stress and in the presence of adrenaline.

Gee.

Now Sakura had to wonder just what ninja training entailed. Was it, gasp, lots and lots of physical stress due to constant exercise and sparring? Was it, gasp, lots and lots of adrenaline due to the training meant to make them immune to freezing on the battlefield?

So yeah.

Their class hadn’t really broken up into distinct groups like most of the other classes so much as it had turned into a writhing orgy of tails and fluff and Naruko being extremely possessive over Hinata’s butt.

Which was to say, Naruko had claimed breeding rights with Hinata by force, Hinata seemed way too into the idea of a growling predatory fox using her rabbit pussy as a cocksleeve to argue… except when she wanted to use her rabbit dick to fuck fox pussy, and everyone else was really just too horny to care half the time.

Nobody was quite sure where Hinata had gotten that and nobody wanted to ask. Naruko enjoyed it at least, so meh.

Fortunate indeed that, after the initial furball of fang and claw and Sakura having to threaten to drop at least one idiot off the roof, they’d all calmed down a little and created what could tentatively be called a polycule. Even if none of them really went on dates most of the time? Academy work was busy. Also, even with those D-ranks they had everyone do around the village, it wasn’t like there was a lot to do that they didn’t already do as group hangouts.

Shopping, going to food stands, going to the library, going swimming, cooking, sleepovers, nail painting, gossipping about their sibling classes (full of people that, despite being genuinely skilled enough to guarantee a chunin promotion within five years of graduation, were nevertheless… very boring and forgettable), seeing how high they could stack erasers on Satsuki’s butt while she napped…

…

What was Sakura thinking about right now again?

Oh right.

The fucking cheerleader routine Naruko was doing in the middle of class with a bunch of her clones. Where did she even get that outfit? It looked like something she’d see in civilian sports or something. Some shit that the Daimyo liked to sponsor even though it was really boring to watch. Baseball or something? Whatever.

Damn that skirt made her butt look good, though, and that tiny top made it look like she’d bounce right out if she jumped too hard.

She’d even color coded all of her clones to match all of their class members, how sweet.

“Gooooooooo KONOHA NINE! YEEEAAAAAHHH!”

And then they all exploded into multicolored smoke and confetti.

Indoors.

In front of everyone.

Right as Iruka walked in.

… Oi vey.

“DAMMIT NARUKO! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU!? NO SMOKE BOMBS INDOORS!”

“THAT’S THE BEST PLACE TO THROW A SMOKE BOMB! IT LINGERS BETTER THAN WHEN IT’S OUTSIDE!”

“NOT THE FUCKING POINT, BRAT! NOW GET BACK IN YOUR SEAT, IT’S TIME FOR YOUR GRADUATION EXAM!”

Ah. Right.

The graduation exam.

The graduation exam that Sakura had been trying and kinda failing to impress onto everyone was super important and that they should definitely study it and make sure that they didn’t fail right at the last moment.

The graduation exam that she still had no idea what it would entail even after she’d sent Naruko to try and pry the details out of any of the Academy teachers- by force if necessary.

That graduation exam.

Sakura, sitting at her desk and thankfully remaining unmolested by smoke residue, wondered what that exam would be- feeling just a touch of mounting stress and anxiety in the face of something so monumental, so important, so overwhelmingly pivotal to her future that it had been kept as possibly the tightest guarded secret in Konoha history.

What was it? A written exam? An oral presentation? Did they have to fight an instructor for real this time?

…

…

“All of you will line up, perform an adequate Henge, Kawarimi, Bunshin, Shunshin, and both wall and water walking, then perform an extra jutsu that you learned that wasn’t part of the Academy curriculum- yes, Naruko, Kage Bunshin counts for your Bunshin test.”

“YES!”

…

…

Well that was an anticlimax.

Then again, it wasn’t like they could afford to let any of them fail now. Four years of extra investment, plus all the work they did? Plus their status as the nine most powerful rookies in the Academy, plus everyone else’s status as Clan heirs or, in the case of Naruko and Satsuki, Clan heads?

The exam had to be easy enough for all of them to pass.

Good thing none of them had been slacking off for the last four years… though Sakura couldn’t help but think that maybe staying in the Academy for so long might have stymied them a little?

She’d heard that most ninja grew explosively when put under a Jounin sensei… would they get stronger now than they would have if they’d graduated four years ago, or would they hit a plateau sooner now that they were starting to hit their late teens?

She didn’t know.

She also didn’t want to be separated from her flockmates. They were hers, dammit. The regular three Genin squad could go suck her nonexistent vulture cock, she wasn’t letting any of her flock go out alone- not without her there to make sure they all made it back okay.

Sakura was pretty sure that everyone else felt the same way. Mostly. It was kinda hard to tell what Shikamaki thought sometimes, and cats weren’t exactly known for strong social bonds so maybe Satsuki wanted some peace and quiet?

Then again, cats also got really clingy when they liked someone…

Hmmm…

Well. No use thinking about that now.

First thing’s first…

She had a graduation exam to ace!

…

…

…

“Well, it’s pretty obvious by now that you all passed,” Iruka hummed, idly flipping through his clipboard and looking at the group of shiny new headbands affixed to… well, they were supposed to be on the forehead, but only a few of them were actually wearing it like that. Shikamaki had it on her arm, Ino had it as a belt, Cho had hers on in the form of a thigh band for some reason… Hinata’s was around her neck, Sakura’s was actually being used like a normal hairband, Naruko and Satsuki wrapped theirs around their tails… and only Kiba and Shino wore them the normal way. 

He paused, clearing his throat once he’d done his glance over his class. “It’s been a wonderful four years as your instructor. I am so, so proud of all of you, and I’m honored that I got to watch your growth for the entirety of your Academy years. I’ll be honest… all of you have managed to surprise and frighten me in ways that I never could have expected, and proved that you all are worthy of supporting Konoha’s Will of Fire as the next generation.”

Iruka smiled softly, shaking his head. “... Just… try to keep the property damage to a minimum inside the village now that you have your headbands? We don’t need another Hiton incident. Or that nightmare bomb of an experiment you tried, Naruko.”

“It’s called Teruton and I’m gonna figure out how it works eventually!” Naruko declared, grinning shamelessly. “I just need to uh… figure out how to stop it from… exploding instantly…”

“Uh huh,” Iruka snorted, rolling his eyes good naturedly before setting his clipboard down, taking one last look at the burned, scarred, dinged, dented, and thoroughly lived in classroom that his class of literal animals and hellions had sat through for the last ten or so years of their lives. His smile became softer, fonder, reminiscing of old times and good times, of chaos and explosions, of training sessions turned into barely legal amounts of torn clothing…

…

A class full of horny teenage girls with animal features really should not have been taught by a lonely single male instructor, but for some reason Iruka was the only one declared “suitable” for the task.

He’d seen how some of the other teachers looked at his girls when they thought he wasn’t watching. Male and female.

He may or may not have slipped laxatives into their food for that. Should have practiced their poison detection more regularly, idiots. Especially right before T&I wanted a talk. Not that they knew about that.

Ahem.

Iruka shook his head, then clapped his hands twice. “Congratulations to you all, and thank you for your time here, and thank you from all of Konoha for your service going forward. You all have the rest of the day free. Come back tomorrow for your team assignments- and… try not to terrorize them too much?”

“Ha! Fat chance!” Kiba crowed, much to the agreement of everyone else.

Iruka sighed, the smile never dropping from his face. “Ah well, I had to ask. Well then… class… dismissed!”

And with a puff of smoke and movement, Iruka vanished dramatically from the classroom, eyes watering just a little from how proud he was of his little shits of a class.

Whatever came next…

They’d be at the forefront of it for sure.

And he couldn’t wait to see just how much chaos they’d bring in their wake.

Chapter Text

“My first impression of you all,” Kakashi let out a sigh, “I hate you.”

Teams weren’t random. But… they were a lot more slap-dash than most people would have you think. There was no real conversation about ‘psychological profiles’ or ‘approaches to combat’ or any of that. A team got slapped together because it maybe at least vaguely resembled something that previously worked. Ino-Shika-Cho? Previously worked. Top kunoichi and top shinobi with the dead last? Previously worked.

This class wasn’t any real different, honestly. There was some talk from Iruka about changing things up a little, but ultimately it wouldn’t be in this class even if it got approved. Too many clan heirs and all of that. Plus their whole polycule thing. So admin fell back on what worked, and the Hokage basically rubber stamped it because messing with something that was working wasn’t going to happen. Especially not in the middle of getting Uzushio back into the public consciousness.

Turns out resurrecting a village from the dead was really difficult. Especially when it wasn’t cleared with the daimyo first. Not that there was much of a daimyo over Uzu. The place was far enough from the mainland that it could be reached from basically the entire coastline, depending on how much time you had. Bad for security, as history showed, but useful for dodging any one person trying to tie them up through purse strings or similar. Though without that healthy trade that’d kept them so well supported… the whole ‘island’ thing wasn’t helping so much.

At least Naruko was helping as much as she could. Which, considering the number of clones she could make, was a lot. Enough that her nominal position as village head was getting a lot more weight than anyone expected. Especially with her being able to trace her lineage back through Kushina.

Everybody in Konoha knew when the Hokage decided to tell her that name. Everybody.

None of which mattered right now. Because Satsuki was bent over a desk and licking her paws as Sakura tried to break her concentration through rigorous sex. Naruko was keying both of them up by playing with everything Sakura’s tongue wasn’t on. Which meant there were three of her- one at Satsuki’s boobs, one at Sakura’s, and one at Sakura’s vagina. Which was… not something Kakashi wanted to see.

“That’s your own fault.” Satsuki did that weird… long stretch thing cats did. Why did she have to be a cat? Couldn’t she have been a dog? Dogs are great! Kakashi can handle dogs. Handling a vulture, a (demon) fox, and a cat? Not so much. “We’ve been waiting for hours. HMPF!”

Sakura evidently decided Satsuki being able to intelligibly speak meant she wasn’t doing it quite right. The desk rocked as Satsuki’s ass rose higher in the air. Her pink-haired teammate chowing down on that pussy like it was the greatest… well. Actually no. Like it was the biggest fast food burger she could find after two days eating bark and bugs in the wilderness.

Not that Kakashi knew that from experience. Of course not! No ANBU mission had ever involved anything like that.

Ever.

“Meet me on the roof.” Best to get out before Satsuki cums. Hopefully they’d abandon-

“NYAAAA!”

…

Orrrr that. That worked too. As long as they got up to the roof fast-

Huh. Right. The academy taught more stuff now. Hence why they were at all old enough to be interested in having sex in the first place. Gotta remember that. All three of his students using shunshin to get up to the roof should not have been a surprise.

Maybe treat them closer to ANBU trainees? Some of them got grabbed from people with heart but very little action too. Just like these three. Best to wait until after introductions. All three of their files are locked up really tight. More than expected.

Which means the Hokage is definitely watching and probably laughing too.

“You all got here quickly, good.” Kakashi did his (literally) patented eye smile. “How about we start with getting to know each other? Name, skills, dreams for the future- that sort of thing.”

“Shouldn’t you do that first, then?” Sakura smiled like she hadn’t just eaten out Satsuki. Very well, apparently, since the catgirl’s legs were still shaking a little. Not that anyone else would be able to tell that, but identifying slight, high speed movement was something of a talent of Kakashi’s. It wasn’t one he was currently very happy about. “We already know each other really well!”

“Shouldn’t you nyave our files?” Satsuki blinked and tilted her head to the side. “That should give nya a good idea of our skill, nya?”

“You won’t always have the files of people you work with. Not all of them can be entirely trusted either- many ninja hide skills or the Hokage has them recorded in roundabout ways.” In order to prevent an infiltrator with access to the files from getting everything. Or because some skills were still considered shameful. Kakashi’s own seduction skills were hidden in that way. “Maybe I’ll teach you some of the phrases later.”

“Oh! Old Man told me about a bunch of stuff he isn’t letting me put in official files. I guess that makes sense.” Naruko smiled as if she’d just figured out a great mystery. This was the girl who was officially in charge of the rebuilding of Uzushio? Well… building a village doesn’t actually require guile… probably. “But you still hafta introduce yourself! I wouldn’t know where to even start.”

“Just being yourself is enough, from what everyone’s told me.” It’d been… a thing. The sort of thing that caused a lot of headaches and generally played merry hell with the usual power balances of things. It was exactly the reason why Naruko wasn’t allowed to do D-ranks. Not only could she just do them basically instantly with clones, but she always met someone with some level of influence and charmed them. If she wasn’t so important she’d likely already be tapped for infiltration and seduction. “I’m Kakashi Hatake. I like… you’re a bit young for that. I dislike… well, let’s not get into it. My dreams for the future are… personal.”

Personal in the sense that they’re horribly depressing. Expecting to die in a meaningless proxy war isn’t something the teenagers should be confronted with just yet. Or ever, considering this group. Technically he was head of the Hatake, and therefore also counted as being in their same situation, but the clan… It wasn’t worth thinking about.

“That’s just Icha Icha.” Sakura rolled her eyes. “The… second edition of Paradise that included the whole beach scene… oh. Extended edition. Rare. I think it was cut for a good reason, but I’ve heard it’s really popular with ninja. Apparently casual jutsu use and two women being relaxed and happy are big turn ons.”

“What.” How did she- Icha Icha was supposed to have an age restriction on buying it. Mostly to encourage horny teenagers to work on their stealth and infiltration skills, but still. That was for the normal editions. This one was a special edition only printed for a very short period of time after Jiraiya tried to pay off some of Tsunade’s gambling debt.

It didn’t work, apparently.

“How about we start with you.” That seemed like the best idea. Sakura Haruno was more of a mystery than literally anyone else here. At least he’d spent some time guarding or watching Naruko before. Sakura just sorta showed up out of nowhere and somehow attached herself to multiple clan heirs. “Names, likes, dislikes, dreams for the future.”

“Sakura Haruno!” Sakura puffed her chest out. “I like books, Ino, Naruko, Satsuki, carrion, flying, when Ino uses Shintenshin and has fun with Satsuki, and making jutsu!” What was that middle one? “I dislike arrogant assholes, refractory periods, oversensitivity, decomposition, limited run anything, and my small Chakra reserves.” Wait, what was tha- “My dreams for the future are to make my own clan, join Uzushio once Naruko gets it set up, throw the sun at someone, and maybe have some kids someday.”

Okay, but seriously. Could we just go back a little bit and go over some of those answers?

“My nyame is Satsuki Uchiha!” Okay, not doing that. Right. Fine. “Nya like nyaps, sunlight, Sakura, Nyaruko, washing nya fur, and plotting to kill Itachi!” Well… at least that was expected? “Nya dislike Itachi, nya clan grounds, asshole ghosts who keep nya awake, refractory periods, the endless nyaing, and taking care of nya claws. Nya dreams for the future are to finyally get the Hokage to buy the Uchiha clan grounds, kill Itachi, and settle in as a housecat slash fuckpet somewhere.”

One of those is not like the others. At least it isn’t bad? A lot of people in Konoha would prefer Satsuki to stop being a ninja as soon as possible. The Uchiha were important, and rebuilding that clan is going to take a while. Probably. Depending on how much a cat Satsuki is.

“My name is Naruko Uzumaki! Soon to be head of Uzushio! Kinda as a protectorate to Konoha and kinda as a Konoha extension? We’re looking into old treaties and stuff.” Naruko leans back with a wide smile, rubbing the back of her head. “I like all the aunties and uncles in the red light district, Hinata, Sakura, Shino, all of my classmates, all the Uzushio people, jutsu, explosions, Deidara, Karin, my other cousin who won't tell me their name, and ramen! I dislike how long it takes for ramen to cook, the idiots who are mean to the aunties, trying to go to sleep, genjutsu, and traitors. In the future I'm gonna make Uzushio into a super awesome village and help Konoha be a super awesome village. I'm also gonna have kids with Hinata and Shino and maybe Sakura if she wants and maybe I'll also try to find the kitsune if they're still around? I dunno and nobody can really find anything about them. Oh! I also want to visit my cousin sometime. Once I figure out where they're sending letters from.”

Okay.

So.

That was a lot.

“Cousin?” She should have a lot of cousins, but the number who'd hide themselves even in a letter is… not great. Uzu is livable enough now that basically anyone interested moved back into the area, so someone who is saying they're a cousin but not saying who they are is suspicious. Anyone could claim that, and Naruko doing something silly because a ‘cousin’ asked wouldn't be out of character…

“Yeah! They sent me a letter about a year ago?” Naruko rubbed the back of her head as she stared into the sky. “Yeah, about that. I showed it to the Old Man and he's trying to figure out who they are, cause they probably need help! We dunno yet though, so I just keep sending letters.”

“They're nyalways so weird about the building corps.” Satsuki yawned. “Why do they keep asking about it?”

“It's not like it's something anyone else has.” Sakura shrugged. She was probably also right. Apparently a good third of infiltration attempts were focused on getting an idea of what the Konoha builders did. “I think anyone would be curious about that sort of crazy.”

“It's not crazy! It just makes sense, y'know? We break stuff all the time, so we gotta build it back up.” Naruko scratched her nose with a smile. “Plus, the Old Man is saying it's been really good for Konoha! Lots of other people are really annoyed though…”

“Of course. Konoha can undercut the established builders and has greater reach than any of them.” It would be a bigger problem if any of those builders were actually big, but it was mostly a strictly regional thing. If there was a big building company in the area at all. Anyway, if the Hokage knows about Naruko's cousin it's probably fine. So… “Now, just because you were assigned to me doesn't mean I'm going to take you on as your Jounin teacher. There's going to be a second test, and if you fail you're going to be sent to someone not as skilled. Be ready at… six in the morning tomorrow. Training ground three. I recommend not eating breakfast.”

Right, duties fulfilled. Time to go do something else. Maybe tell Obito about this entire cluster. Would he have been chosen by a summon? Probably. Would it have saved him?

Maybe. Not much use thinking about it now. Better to just keep him informed.

Chapter Text

“Nyaa!” Satsuki squirmed a little as she tried to find just the right spot.

“Satsuki.” Sakura slumped back on the couch with a sigh and a pout. “I want to go over my Hiton before we need to meet Kakashi tomorrow.”

Too bad, so sad. It was her fault Satuski still couldn't use her legs right. So this was the punishment. It wasn't even like her thighs were the best. Naruko was right there and hers were great to sleep on.

“I guess you're staying for dinner.” Naruko huffed as she bustled into the kitchen. How the cooks of the group ended up being Cho, Naruko, and Shino nobody quite understood. Not that there was anything to complain about. “You're lucky I can get money from D-ranks. Again.”

“It's your own fault for taking every D-rank in the village for several days in a row.” Sakura rolled her eyes. Her hand slipped into Satsuki's hair, the claws that her nails had changed into lightly scratching her catgirlfriend's head. “All the Genin and academy students have to make money too, you know. You're lucky it was just a couple months ban and a restriction on how many you can take at one time.”

“Nya know, nya can just buy everything.” Satsuki slightly opened her eyes to give Naruko a glance. And give Naruko's tits a longer look. She hadn't succeeded in making anyone lactate yet, but if the medical stuff she'd read was right Naruko should be close. “Nya have nyo much money.”

Naruko shifted at the reminder of Satsuki's status. “If I can't keep you guys all fed then I can't keep Uzushio fed. It's just practice.”

“I'm gonna earn my own way. That was what you told me and that's what I'm going to do.” Sakura's fingers paused. Satsuki let out a little sound of discontent. “You could use that for the district?”

“I'm up for anything if it'll stop you licking my tits at night.” Naruko twisted a little to glare at Satuski. “You've been doing it for months!”

“The Uchiha district is filled with assholes.” Dead assholes, which is worse. The priestess from the Land of Demons keeps getting delayed and nobody else has managed a good exorcism. So annoying…

Like… yes. She changed. A lot. Literally overnight. And maybe she isn't as focused on revenge as she should be. Big whoop. It's her life to live.

Becoming Yokai, not even strictly summon touched but Yokai, was good for her. She was a paranoid wreck obsessed with the dead and murder. Someone who'd do anything and follow anyone if it gave her some slight advantage. It wasn't healthy, and would likely end in an early grave.

From Itachi or one of the many people she pissed off… that was the big question. Not one she wanted to answer either. Being a Nekomata was much better. The altered thinking did a lot to give clarity at least. Even if the constant nyaing was extremely annoying.

It was really hard to be appropriately unapproachable when you had a verbal tic like that. Her entire edgy personality stripped away in one night! Plus all the other more minor stuff. She actually wanted a family now. Not just… doing something expected of her. Wanted to get pregnant and have kittens and build up a healthier Uchiha clan.

Satsuki squirmed a little as she tried not to stuff a hand down her pants. Normally she'd just go for it, especially here, but it was dinner time and delaying that into another threesome wouldn't be good. Not only would Natuko get pouty, but pussy is a taste that needs to be taken into account with the meal. Or something. Naruko complained about it at least.

What was she thinking about again? Nya, whatever.

“I'm just surprised Hinata isn't here.” Oh, Sakura’s talking! “She isn't hiding in the bedroom again, is she?”

“Nah, she's got a clan thing.” Naruko absently waved her spatula. “Some big stuff’s going on and she sometimes has to do some stuff about it. She'll be back way late tonight if it's like usual.”

“Probably more stnyaff about who gets to be clan head.” Super annoying, but that's what the Hyuuga get. Sure the Uchiha were probably planning a coup, according to her dad's papers and the elder's letters, but at least it was a family thing. Not marking over half the clan with a slave seal because of the possibility someone might steal a Sharingan. “We're not skipping breakfast, nya?”

“Definitely not.” Sakura huffed. “Using Chakra and running around is calorie intensive and not all of us are Naruko.”

“Hey!” Naruko threw a frown at Sakura. Which was quickly returned. “Just cause I have so much energy doesn't mean I don't need to eat.”

“You have so much Chakra it's self-perpetuating. The only things that do that are basically ancient Chakra weapons and the Tailed Beasts.” Sakura huffed and crossed her arms. No, her scritches! Satsuki whined. “Excuse me if I'm a little annoyed at that. Even if my diet was stupid knowing you don't and will never need to is irritating.”

“Yeah, yeah. It's not all great.” Naruko rolled her eyes. Her spatula tapped against the counter as she spun around to lean against it. “I gotta make absolutely sure I know what I look like or I start drifting and stuff.”

“Nya were great with big titties.” It was a sad day when Naruko realized it. Everyone else, bar Satsuki, had just hit puberty and were growing up quickly. Which made Naruko unconsciously grow as well, especially in things that were very visible but easily missed. Height? Easy to catch. A couple centimeters of boob a day? Bit harder to catch. “Can you nya those again?”

“Haah.” The foxgirl swept around, easily ignoring how her girlfriend's eyes latched onto her ass. “Fine. For tonight. I like the weight anyway…”

“Hinata's gonna be happy.” Wings flapped a little as Sakura shrugged. “She really likes it when she's not the biggest around.”

“I still don't nyow why.” She should love it! Everyone loves her titties! They're soft enough to be the perfect pillows and not so big they just get super hard to manage. Even the back pain is easy to deal with thanks to a few jutsu from the Uchiha stores. Stolen from the Senju, apparently, but it wasn't like they were around to complain. If they were she'd really have to ask the actual name- Chakra Bra jutsu was a little… on the nose.

“She doesn't like anyone but us noticing her.” Yeah, those cannons would draw attention. “Just about done. Wash up, will ya?”

“Fine, fine.” Satsuki stretched in the perfect way to let her boobs brush Sakura's nose as she got up. Then she hopped into the bathroom before her pink haired lover rebooted.

“Satsuki!” Another day in Naruko's place.

She really should check to see if she owned it now. Her guy should be on it, but sometimes people got ideas about how she should spend her own money. Which was silly- it'd take active sabotage to try and bankrupt her. With every single Uchiha asset being hers, except a pocky factory in Moon, she was swimming in it. A slightly run down apartment complex that hadn't been updated since before the Kyuubi attack shouldn't even rate a mention.

Also had to check over the renovations to the Uchiha district. It was annoying to do, because of all the lingering feelings and ghosts, but important. Being lazy was one thing, but letting her minions be lazy was something else entirely.

…

Employees. They were employees. Not minions.

So sayeth the lawyer.

Regardless- had to check on that. The laws surrounding the district, and its administration, were complex. Both from Uchiha demands and because the first and second Hokages were assholes. The current tried to be better about it, but he was also the one who’d had nearly the entire clan executed. Probably. Itachi coded everything religiously, which had taken Sakura and Ino a few months working together nearly every moment to decode, and even when decoded it was all metaphor and short sentences. Shino said it was probably because of constant anxiety, paranoia, and panic attacks.

Considering personal experience… probably right.

Anyway, it seemed the Third was trying very hard not to let things end poorly. It just hadn’t ended well. A full purge still didn’t make sense, though, so… work in progress.

Still going to kill Itachi though. Even if there was a good reason he still stood over their dead parents and tortured Satsuki. Plus all the dead babies and children. Unless he had a more bloodthirsty accomplice it was his fault, and he probably wouldn’t admit to anything if Satsuki ever had the chance to ask. So better to just plan on killing him. Much less effort.

Too much pondering and investigation would ruin her fur, and that was unacceptable.

What was she thinking about again?

“Satsuki.” The door banged open as Sakura marched in. She paused and raised an eyebrow. “You okay?”

“Nya!” Satsuki gave a thumbs up and stalked toward the door. “Just got distnyacted.”

“I know you love to make grand plans in your head, but you really have got to stop doing that whenever you’re alone for more than five seconds.” A roll of the eyes and Sakura had switched position with the catgirl. “Other people need to use this stuff too, you know?”

“Nya nyaow, Nya nyaow!” Satsuki giggled and flounced out of the room. The familiar semi-cracked wall poorly covered by aging wallpaper greeted her as she moved back to the combined living room, dining room, open kitchen. Oh, right! The renovation.

Turning the Uchiha district into less of a depressing hole. It had been fine, before, but time had not been kind to it. Not only had damage accumulated just from sitting, but most of the houses had never had a deep clean since… Itachi. The immediate area was cleaned, a bit, but actually cleaning everything hadn't happened. She'd been too… not in the right spot to even think about getting it done.

So. Time to renovate. And if it's going to be renovated, may as well change it up into something she wants. Not that she'll get everything, but it's good to plan it out. The Uchiha district before had been… calm and austere. Very noble, with a lot of stiff people and grim faces.

Probably at least partly because of what they'd started planning? But also just because that was the Uchiha way. Itachi was lauded for more than just his abilities as a shinobi, after all. Satsuki had been a bit too prone to being emotional, apparently. Another reason she was the spare, instead of treated like Hanabi as a legitimate claimant to the title.

Anyway, that isn't about to be the new standard. If she has her way the new standard will be clothing optional and a lot of fun. A bunch of focus on the arts, too. Which the Hokage is generously donating money too. Turn the Uchiha from uptight jutsu thieves into mildly crazy artsy types.

Once there are more of them. Which needs to wait. Itachi should be dealt with before that, and the renovations and all do need to be finished. Plus getting old enough it won't actually be a problem to have kids. Like… yes, she technically could have them now, but it'd be a terrible idea for her health and career. After that, though… Sakura needs to put some kittens in her.

Satsuki shuddered as she sat down on the couch. That thought always got her going. Just… having kids. Bringing new life into this world because Sakura loved her enough to want to do that…

Umpf!

“Stop imagining Sakura getting you pregnant.” 

“Nya!” Satuski's paws clapped against her suddenly stinging forehead. “Stnyap flicking me like that, Naruko!”

“When you stop making yourself horny just before dinner. If you want that you can tell me beforehand. I didn't make nyotaimori stuff today.” Naruko sniffed as she slid a bowl in front of Satsuki. “Here. Pasta. Soup tomorrow morning.”

“Kakashi said we shouldn't eat breakfast.” Sakura's wings flapped a few times as she walked out of the bathroom.

“Kakashi can shut the fuck up.” Naruko frowned, her Chakra spiking up around her in an angry red. “Nobody in my place doesn't eat!”

“Nya.” That red Chakra wasn't right. It was never right. But where everybody else got twitchy and restless when it came out… Satsuki had the weirdest feeling that it was meant to be near her. Which was probably related to her and Naruko being the only actual Yokai in the group. Everyone else just had summons, and Naruko had never said she hadn't gotten her change from one… but it was obvious. If only just to Satsuki, who maybe should have read a bit more about the cats the Uchiha were connected to before doing something drastic.

“Oh, right!” The Chakra flickered out. “Sorry.”

“Nya knyow I don't care.” An ear flicked as Satsuki dug in.

“I just need to get used to it.” The couch didn't even shift as Sakura sat down. “We are on a team, right? I'm going to need to be able to deal with it. Somehow.”

“I dunno if there is a way.” Naruko shrugged and laid down a bowl in front of her teammate. “But if there is, you'll find it.”

“Damn right.” Sakura smiled before she took a bite of the pasta.

It's good stuff. Like always.

Satsuki doesn't stop her purrs.

She lost her first family. And it sucked. It still sucked. Then she'd done something stupid and lost her humanity. And that also sorta sucked. But it meant she had this.

That was a better deal than she'd gotten in a long time, in her opinion.

Chapter Text

“HITON! TAIYOKEN!”

“Taiyo- what!?”

Training Ground Three had, perhaps, seen better days. Certainly, it wasn’t a common sight to see the entire training ground engulfed in solar flames, nor was it common to see an entire army of blonde fox girls following up the solar blast by…

Also exploding.

Right in Kakashi’s face.

Oh, and then Satsuki had the gall to jump in afterwards with a shout of “Katon! Hosenka Tsumabeni!” and send a whole swarm of fireballs at him.

And every single fireball had a shuriken in it.

And every single shuriken was wrapped in a, of all things, fireproof, time delayed, impact trigger explosive tag.

Who even used those anymore!?

Who even made those!?

From Naruko’s cheering and the high five she gave Satsuki… Kakashi could only assume that the Uzumaki of the trio had a hobby of recreating old tags that didn’t get much use anymore.

It didn’t excuse his budding hatred of her smoke, paint, glitter, confetti, and flashbang exploding clones, though, no matter how impressive it was that she was that good at mass producing sealing tags.

Those clones were a menace.

These three were a menace.

More than coordinated enough to deserve a pass- their teamwork at this point wasn’t quite perfect, but it was a damn sight better than even most of their graduating class save for the other two Clan teams that came out, and Kakashi had good money on them only having hiccups because they were used to six other people backing them up.

Anyway.

Where was he again?

“BUNSHIN DAIBAKUHA!”

Oh right.

Getting blown up by a hyperactive foxgirl who had more chakra than sense, more clones than stealth, and more explosions than anyone really should have had.

…

Uh oh.

BOOM!

“I think you killed him,” Sakura mumbled, landing beside Naruko and Satsuki as smoke drifted from the latest in the long series of craters that now dotted the formerly pristine training ground. “I think he’s actually dead.”

“Cyan’t be,” Satsuki snorted, licking the back of her hand with a roll of her eyes. “Nya wouldn’t give us a loser for a sensei.”

“We’re like, the strongest in our age group,” Naruko pointed out, idly flicking her fingers and fussing with what looked like a few elemental orbs- she’d cribbed the technique from Sakura a few years ago, but still hadn’t managed to fuse three elements together yet. Two, maybe, but that was just a way to make a wet breeze or something without an actual kekkei genkai. “Ne ne, Satsuki-chan, how’s your Gekiton going by the way?”

“Still practically useless,” Satsuki grumbled a little, pouting ever so slightly with disappointment. “Nyaaa…. So annyaing.”

“Chakra control, you two,” Sakura sighed, bopping her two idiots on the head and looking around. “C’mon, we gotta go find Kakashi-sensei before he fails us. We’ve totally got him on the ropes. If we concentrate fire a little better, he’ll definitely have to give us those bells!”

“But there’s only two,” Naruko mumbled, frowning as she tried to wrap her head around that. “He can’t really fail one of us, can he? We spent eight years in the Academy! I’m not going back! I can’t! Iruka-sensei told me he won’t take me back!”

“Kakashi-sensei can’t fail us,” Sakura pointed out dryly, sniffing the air a little and frowning. “You guys smell him?”

“Nyope,” Satsuki shook her head. “Too much dust. Can’t smell nyathing.”

“Same,” Naruko sighed. “Maybe I went overboard on the explosions?”

“All of us go overboard on explosions, that’s why we’re a demo team,” Sakura answered, flaring her wings and squinting through the dust… “There!”

So… you know what Kakashi didn’t know? Apparently Shunshin is possible while flying! It was good when he didn’t know that, the ignorance was comforting. His own Shunshin took him away from the massive birdgirl attempting to maul him and into a mostly unburned part of the training grounds. Note to self- teach the three a few jutsu that saw through smoke. If they’re going to use this much fire then they need to make sure they’re not harming their own ability to react to opponents.

Especially if they’ve already marked themselves as a demo team. Why would the Hokage give a demo team to Kakashi? He didn’t do mass destruction! His biggest technique was an assassination technique!

Sure it was only ever really used to make a statement, because literally everyone knew it was his, but still. Ugh. Who does demo that owes him a favor? Or just… literally anyone that owes him a favor. A vacation dealing with these brats was going to be necessary after every mission. 

Maybe Anko? She does a lot of poison, interrogation, and infiltration stuff. Naruko was supposed to learn more about infiltration, per the Hokage. Mostly to be able to stop it, but being able to sneak a jinchuriki level threat into anywhere was the sort of thing everyone liked to have. Normally it’s impossible, but Naruko has demonstrated a lot of control over her physical appearance. A couple Chakra damping jutsu and she could probably re-enact what her dad did to Stone.

…

Onoki was kinda an asshole.

Oh, jutsu’s done.

“Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!” Hopefully the steam explosion didn’t kill them.

Kakashi quickly exited the entire training ground as the steam attempted to race him. The shouts of the Genin didn’t sound too hurt, so they were probably fine. It was a good learning experience! Be careful about using fire when someone else could take advantage of it. Steam explosions were how Konoha dealt with a lot of Mist shinobi during the last war. It was… well. It was a really good thing he hadn’t gotten his Sharingan then. Memorizing that forever would’ve been bad.

Hm. What time was it? Better set off the clock. A quick jutsu he’d gotten from Ebisu aaaand-

RIIIIING!

There we go.

It isn’t cheating if it’s for a shinobi test. Mostly because ‘cheating’ is just the default state of things, and if you didn’t know that then someone taught you very poorly. Honestly, the most surprising thing is that the clock is still intact. It wasn’t like any of them were being careful not to hit it.

Looked a little charred though. Meh, it wasn’t like he actually needed a clock. Especially a loud alarm clock. That was just asking to get destroyed in the morning.

“Hey! It isn’t even noon yet!” Sakura barged out of the smoke first, quickly alighting the perfect distance away from Kakashi to be safe. Or… the perfect theoretical distance. Going to have to talk to her about that. The books are all good at what they do, but they only take into account averages. Jounin should never be considered average.

“Mah, looks like I didn’t tune the clock right this morning.” Kakashi chuckled. “See, I noticed a grey hair-”

“Bullshit! You’re totally trying to trick us into stopping early!” Naruko shouted, barreling out of the smoke a moment later and holding aloft a horrifyingly unstable looking mass of elemental chakra that she really, really, really shouldn’t have been holding. “Sakura, Satsuki! It’s not noon yet! Get his ass! Teruton! I don’t have a name for this one yet no jutsu!”

… Well her father had definitely come up with worse jutsu names.

…

Oh god that was bright.

Shit!

And with a bare hair’s breadth to spare, Kakashi leapt out of the way of a rush of wind and water and lightning that was just barely not a laser, and in fact probably had more in common with the Ranton style than anything else.

It was unstable as hell, though, and summarily exploded in Naruko’s face within two seconds, causing the entire thing to detonate in a wave, which in turn, thankfully, smothered the rest of the fire that the steam explosion a few moments ago hadn’t managed to put out.

Good, all's well that ends well. There's going to be enough cleanup already without letting the fires get out of control.

“So, are you going to try anything new and highly unstable?” Satsuki just looked up, blinked slowly, and then curled up again. Typical. “Right. Test’s over. You all pass! Congratulations and meet me tomorrow. Let’s get out of here before anyone asks us to help clean this up.”

Then he was gone.

…

“Hey! You never told us where to meet you!” Naruko huffed and turned her attention to Satsuki. “And why did you just go to sleep after the alarm went off? We weren’t done.”

“Kakashi was giving the tnyest. Of course he could say when it was done.” Satsuki clambered to her feet and stretched. “Nyaow let's get out of here before someone complains.”

“Yeah, I really don’t think I want to know what they’re going to ask me to do to fix this.” Sakura looked over the completely ruined field. “Maybe you should learn some of those growth jutsu the cultivation corps are trying to make. They’re crazy inefficient right now, but it’s not like that matters to you.”

“Yeah…” Naruko hummed, then brightened. “Oh, I could use it for Uzushio! I really want to make a… what did that guy call it? Deidara’s friend. I was complaining about how Uzu didn’t have the space to really be self-sufficient and that was part of why it got destroyed and he said it was an interesting challenge and now we have some weird growing places that don’t need soil? Or much soil. It’s super cool! If I can use Chakra to help that then we can just grow all the crops we need!”

“Did you actually talk to him or did he steal one of the letters you sent?” Sakura sighed. “You know that Deidara is an S-rank criminal, right?”

“You keep telling me that, but she’s been really cool. I don’t really think she’s a criminal or anything.” Naruko hummed. “Or… not the bad sort of criminal. Like Uncle! He makes sure everyone is following the rules and stuff. Really hates that one councillor… Danzo? The weird guy who always has the bandages.”

A gentle tug had Naruko following her teammates as they, quickly, left the area.

“So… Ichiraku?” The sigh from both of them was immediate. “Hey!”

“Yeah, fine. Ichiraku sounds good.” Sakura turned a little to look at Naruko. “As long as we don’t have it again for dinner. We can actually buy other things now.”

“Yeah, but they aren’t as good as Ichiraku.” Naruko sniffed at the implication. Nothing could come close.

“Why don’t nya just get a job there already? Like nya’ve been telling you.” One of Satsuki’s tails curled around to brush Sakura’s leg. “How nya long nyow?”

“Years at least. Ever since we got cleared to do D-ranks in village. Working at a ramen stand isn’t really covered, but it’d be close enough. Teuchi wouldn’t even have to pay you himself.” Sakura turned onto Ichiraku’s street, the smell of ramen already permeating the air. “It’s not even like you have to worry about fur or anything. You don’t shed at all. I’m still not even sure what you have, because it definitely isn’t normal fur. Every brush I make with your fur disintegrates really fast.”

“You should just use some of your own shed feathers anyway. Unless you’re trying to make seals for me, I guess.” Naruko grinned. “Lucky I can just use the ends of my tails perfectly!”

“And yet you still aren’t amazing.” Sakura chuckled at Naruko's immediate pout. “Seals aren’t your thing, Naruko. We’ve already proved it many times over.”

“I’ll figure it out! Just wait.” Naruko sighed. “Eventually.”

“Nya really need a teacher or something.” Satsuki generously plopped down into the middle of the three open seats at the bar. Generous in that it prevented them from trying to figure out an actual seating order. Not usually a problem between the three of them, but it sometimes got very contentious when more of them came around. “Practicing old seals can only get nya so far.”

“I know, I know. There just aren’t many people who can actually teach seals around. Plus they’d go to Sakura first, probably.” Naruko pointed a thumb at the pink haired birdgirl. “She gets it.”

“It’s just logic.” Sakura shrugged. “Same as Genjutsu, really. At least at the lower levels. It gets a lot more complicated as you go up.”

“That’s an understatement.” Naruko sighed. “Whatever. Ramen time!”

Chapter Text

“Hey, Old Man!” The secretary didn’t even try to stop Naruko as she burst into the Hokage’s office. Mostly because if they tried not only would they fail, but it’d result in Naruko using one of the other entrances. Of which there are way too many. “Do you know- Kakashi-sensei!”

“Yo!” Kakashi gave a little wave from next to the Hokage’s desk. “Is everyone- good. You’re all here.”

“You could have just told us you’d be here you know.” Sakura sighed. “Aren’t we supposed to train or something?”

“Usually, yes. I’d put you through the AN-,” Kakashi didn’t skip a beat as the Old Man gave him a look, “a modified ANBU training check. Figure out where you’re strong, where you’re weak, and which of those needed to actually be improved. But you’ve already been taught to at least Chunin level in the basics of everything that everyone is expected to know. So we’re going to do a C-rank.”

“According to Iruka, you’ve all done very well in your studies. So I have no compunctions that you’ll be capable and comport yourselves properly during this mission.” The Hokage chuckled. “What you need now is experience.”

“Yep.” Kakashi flicked open his book. “So we’re going to need a nice, simple C-rank to get you used to actually travelling and working with clients.”

“Yatta! So what’re we doing? Rescuing a different princess? I hope we can rescue a princess.” Naruko rubbed the back of her neck and looked upward. “I kinda want to meet another one. I dunno if I’m doing it all right…”

“You’re fine.” Sakura rolled her eyes. “You’re a shinobi princess anyway- learning from a normal princess wouldn’t help. They don’t usually do much anyway.”

“Maa, I know some princesses who do a lot.” Kakashi just… did that thing where he smiled with one eye. Somehow.

Satsuki wanted to learn that. It’d mean having to do less things to express emotions. Actually smiling took so much effort.

“You are not rescuing a princess. I’m not aware of one in need of a rescue at the moment, but I’ll keep you in mind if one of those protection contracts gets activated.” The Hokage took a puff of his pipe. “Instead you’ll be escorting a civilian and providing protection while her father finishes his work. Tsunami?”

“Ah- yes!” and in came… an incredibly normal looking civilian woman. There wasn’t anything particularly noteworthy or special about the woman save for a faint aroma of the sea that she carried with her- and a vague scent of fish and flowers that all three members of Team Seven could catch. Not a gross fishy smell, but the smell of someone who did a fair amount of fishing. She was… pretty, in the way that said she was a mother. Dark blue hair with long bangs off to the side, a kind smile lined with signs of stress and irregular nutrition, and also a vaguely… not quite shabby appearance, but it was clear that her clothes- as well kept as they were- had seen better days and were ever so slightly threadbare. There were a few patches, though they were faint and surprisingly well hidden. “Thank you for escorting me, all of you! My name is Tsunami!”

She bowed at the waist, far more than most Konoha natives would.

“The contract you’ll be taking stipulates that you are to escort Tsunami back to Wave Country, and then remain there for a maximum of two weeks to ensure her safety from outside threats,” The Hokage continued, looking at the three of them with utmost seriousness. “Tsunami-san here has expressed that there have been hired thugs attempting to harass her family and interrupt her father’s work. I expect you all to handle the matter accordingly.”

“They won’t know what hit ‘em!” Naruko grinned, swiping her nose with her thumb and baring her fangs just a bit. “Right, Sakura, Satsuki?”

“No one will touch you as long as we’re at your side,” Sakura promised with what she hoped was a reassuring smile. “With our skills, no one will even be able to think of sneaking up on us!”

“Mostly Nyaruko,” Satsuki hummed. “She can sense nyagative emotions across the whole village if she wants.”

“It’s really annoying…” Naruko shook her head, “but I’ll make sure you’re safe!”

“Thank you.” Tsunami somehow bowed even lower.

“Now, enough of that. You’re the client. No reason to bow to us.” Kakashi stepped forward. “Getting to Wave takes about a week, going at civilian pace, so make sure to pack with that expectation. We’ll leave in… is two hours alright, Tsunami?”

“Yes, that will be fine.” Tsunami straightened up. “I already have my things prepared.”

“Two hours, then. At the south gate.” Kakashi flipped a page in his book. “Be there and be ready.”

“Right!” Naruko quickly grabbed Satsuki and Sakura. “Come on, let’s go grab our stuff!”

“There’s no reason to-” A yank had all three of them quickly disappear from the room. “NARUKO!”

“Come on, Sakura, we’re going out on a mission!” The Shunshin deposited them all in Naruko’s apartment. Where they’d all stored their mission bags, already prepared in their sixth year of school and checked over by Iruka. Though that was only for a night or two, not a week. “We gotta make sure we’re ready!”

“We have two, nyaours.” Satsuki just rolled her eyes as Naruko lost none of her excitement. “Come nyan. Let’s just get this nyover with.”

“May as well…” Sakura sighed. “We have enough stuff here, right? I really don’t want to have to head back home to grab more pants.”

“You basically live here now.” Naruko shrugged. “Your parents already tried to give me the shovel talk.”

“What?” Sakura blinked in the middle of opening her pack. “When did they do that? Why would they do that? They definitely can’t touch you.”

“It’s a parent thing, isn’t it? That's what some of the books you read say.” Naruko waved a hand. “Doesn’t matter. I thought it was really cool you have people willing to do that for you! All I’ve got is the Old Man and Teuchi and Ayame and I guess all the rest of you, but you’re all the people I’m in a relationship with so it doesn’t really work out…”

“Nya.” Satsuki sniffed. “They nyaver did that to me.”

“They saw me petting you one time and got me a collar for my birthday. Apparently you need a special one if it’s for another person? So… I don’t think my parents expect you to try anything. Probably.” Sakura shuddered. “I really don’t want to know what they think I’m into. Or why they know that.”

Satsuki made a noise that somehow combined annoyance, want, and happiness into one.

“Yeah, a collar for a person needs to be made of stuff that won’t hurt your skin or have padding. Otherwise it’s dangerous, but not in a good way.” Naruko blinked and turned to Sakura. “Why don’t you know this? One of those books you read should’ve had this sorta stuff.”

“Well they didn’t explain it.” Sakura slumped. “They’re not reference guides or anything. Except the ones that are supposed to be reference guides, but they haven’t put anything out for collar collars yet. Just temporary stuff as part of restraints. And I sorta skipped that book anyway.”

“Why?” Satsuki’s gaze was rooted onto Sakura.

“Shinobi don’t usually like it, and they’re expensive. We’d need some strong stuff just to avoid breaking out of it accidentally and that doesn’t come cheap. It wasn’t worth the hassle. Hm…” Sakura carefully shifted around the inside of her pack. “I’m going to need to take some stuff out. Unless one of you two have room? I need a couple more changes of clothes, but I packed extra care stuff. Not that you need it much…”

Satsuki flicked her tails and smiled. Her’s weren’t just pure Chakra like Naruko’s, but they were unnaturally resistant to getting dirty. Which had become more and more prominent as she’d gotten more powerful and better Chakra control. Eventually it might end up with her fur being pure Chakra like Naruko’s. Maybe.

It was an objective that was being very difficult. Not helped by Naruko not really knowing why her tails, and ears and other bits, were like that. Not even being Yokai explained it. Or maybe kitsune were just different from nekomata like that. Karin was the same way, after all. It was all extremely annoying.

“I’ve got some room.” Naruko quickly started to shift things around. “Why aren’t we just using storage seals?”

“Because they’re conspicuous, aren’t great to use on things you’re going to want to unseal a lot, and making them is a nightmare.” Sakura sighed. “We’ve been over this before.”

“Yeah, but it’s still annoying. Stupid Chakra degradation…” Naruko continued to grumble as she settled everything into her pack and swept it up. “You’d think someone would’ve figured out how to make them less bad.”

“They probably have. Just not for mass production.” Sakura shrugged as she hefted her own pack. “Maybe that's one of those things that only seal masters are supposed to have. Like how blacksmiths tend to have little things they all do that nobody else does.”

“Nya gimmick, you mean.” Satsuki hefted her pack without protest.

“Kinda.” Sakura waved her hand as she turned to the clock on the wall. “So… we’ve still got nearly two hours. What do we do?”

“Nya…” Satsuki’s bag thumped onto the floor as she stared at Sakura. “So… nya said you got a collar…”

“Huh, you know, I forgot we had two hours for this.” Naruko hummed. “It feels a little wrong? Shouldn’t ninja be all ready to just go at any point or something?”

“Usually, but this isn’t time sensitive or anything. Or at least Tsunami didn’t say anything to anyone that made us think it’s time sensitive. So we have a little bit of time to check over stuff and make sure we haven’t messed up and taken too little or too much. Which is usually pret- MMMPH!” The light prick of claws pressed against the birdgirl’s breasts- “SATSUKI!”

“Dnyo’t ignore me.” A scratchy tongue licked up Sakura’s neck. “Nya was promised a collar.”

“I didn’t… nnngh!” Sakura shuddered as Satsuki’s paws slid lower. “Satsuki…”

“Where’d you leave it?” Naruko rubbed her neck with a sigh. “We both know she isn’t going to let it go until she gets it or we fuck the thought out of her head and I really don’t want to have to carry her.”

“Mmmmhh… closet.” Sakura slumped backward as her knees got too weak to properly hold her. Satsuki was really good with her hands. Better than any of them, really. Which felt weird? She was the least interested in them before and now… “Nfp!”

“Is it in a box or something?” Naruko immediately shook her head. “Nevermind, I’ll find it.”

Sakura didn’t answer, and possibly didn’t hear the initial question, on account of being gently pulled toward the bed. Satsuki’s hands never stopped roving around, even as she bore her lover’s entire limp weight. Which sounded more impressive than it was, with her being a bird and all. 

It was a little ironic that the only two girls who were big on dieting now were in weight classes far outside of what a healthy diet would provide. To a normal human. Sakura flirted right at the edge of ‘critically underweight’ and Ino tended toward ‘overweight’, when considering their ages and professions. Ino complained about it endlessly, even if she never actually did much about it.

“We nya have much time, so I’ll be a little quick.” The bed bounced as both of them finally fell onto it. “Snyach a shame too.”

“We need… mmmgh… to invite… haaa…” Sakura felt all tension go out of her limbs as Satsuki started working in earnest. “Naruko…”

“We hnyaven’t been with her as much as we should.” Satsuki purred. “Maybe with Hinata? Nya celebrate our first mission.”

“Sounds good.” Sakura shuddered. They’d all gotten very good at making the most of very little time. “OOOHHH!”

Very, very good.

Chapter Text

“Hold on… something’s not right,” Naruko stopped the entire group barely a few hour’s travel into the forest, holding out her hand and sniffing the air with a heavy frown on her face. “I can sense negativity ahead of us.”

“Ambush?” Sakura raised an eyebrow, looking at Naruko with just a hint of suspicion. Not that she didn’t trust Naruko’s senses, but mostly because it was just weird to get attacked by enemy ninja so close to Konoha’s walls.

Granted, they were about two and a half hours in, and they’d been carrying Tsunami and her luggage in a cart for faster travel, so maybe they weren’t so close after all.

“Looks like it…” Naruko paused, tapping her chin… and then pointed directly at the weirdly out of season puddle on the road ahead of them. “Satsuki-chan! Do the thing!”

“Which thing, nyaa~?” Satsuki looked at Naruko now, but this time more like she thought Naruko was being dumb.

“Y’know! The big fiery thing!”

“Nyaa, that thing~” Satsuki purred, blurring through handsigns before rearing back and shouting, “KATON! GOKYAKU NO JUTSU!”

“Wait no-” Kakashi tried to intervene just a second too late, and had to watch as Satsuki sent a massive fireball down the path.

The forested path.

The forested path that was full of dry underbrush because it had been a dry summer so far.

The forested path that hadn’t felt rain in almost a month.

…

Uh oh.

Everything was very swiftly on fire. Which included the two idiots that thought a puddle was a good hiding spot. Despite the previously mentioned almost month of no rain. Of course they were from Kiri. Kiri nin always defaulted to water stuff.

They also weren't all that smart, on average. Maybe that'd change soon, since the newest Mizukage had taken the hat and promptly been significantly less crazy, but for right now…

An overpowered Suiton hosed down the area and also the Kiri nin. Hopefully they could protect themselves from the steam. Or maybe not. It would mean less problems in the future. Maybe.

The relationship between Kiri and Konoha was a little touchy right now. Despite Konoha's aid to the Kiri rebels. Just shinobi things, really. Everyone always accepted aid with a handshake and a knife, just in case.

“Maa, you need to pay more attention to your surroundings. You noticed the puddle, but then chose the worst possible way to deal with it.” Now where… ah. They weren't dead. Might wish they were, but not actually dead. Even had enough energy to move around. “Now hold still and guard the client.”

Best to handle them before those three tried again. A living enemy was a useful source of information. Wasn't like he couldn't just kill them after.

The fight was pathetic. Any of the group could've taken them two on one without any issues. Maybe more murder, but still no issues.

“The Demon Brothers. Former Kiri missing nin, now actual Kiri nin again.” Kakashi dropped them roughly against the ground, completely tied together. “Now why are Kiri nin around trying to cause trouble? Especially so close to Konoha.”

“Hey, didn't we help you guys out?” Naruko scratched her head. “I think I remember the Old Man saying something about it.”

“We did, but that's a secret.” Technically. Everybody who wants to know, knows, and it isn't hard to figure out. Just not nice to go talking about it to everyone, out of courtesy if nothing else. Nobody likes being reminded of their lowest point. “It does make your presence here even more questionable.”

“Oh! Oh! Can I do the interrogation?” Sakura smiled in the exact way that reminded everyone she was now part carrion bird. Something about how her lips moved. It was a rather odd feeling, honestly. “Ino's been teaching me a little!”

“Leave that to the professionals. And people whose village we aren't technically allied with.” The Demon Brothers were doing a bad job of hiding how much they didn't want Sakura to interrogate them. “Though I guess Kiri sending you two in means we're not even technically allied…”

“We're just here for the girl!” Which one was he again? Their Bingo Book entries weren't actually important enough to remember their faces, especially once they returned the Kiri.

“Gozu!” Ah, perfect! That makes that one Meizu. Feels a little odd for them to have those names and be middling Kiri nin. Was it a coincidence they partnered up, or did they literally try to invoke that particular legend? Sometimes that can be very effective, if you do it right.

“We can't afford to have Konoha mad at us. More than we can afford to turn our backs on the mission. We aren't missing nin anymore.” Gozu grunted as he tried to make himself a little more comfortable. “If Konoha is on the protection job this is way more complicated than we can deal with.”

“So you're after Tsunami then?” Why her? The bridge builder is still in Wave, so if anyone really wanted to stop it it'd be best to go after him. Or maybe they don't want to stop it. “Who exactly hired you?”

“Gato. He wants to threaten her to get the bridge builder to sell the bridge to him.” Gozu stopped attempting to move and just slumped. “He'd a big shipping magnate, I think? But not literally big. Smallest guy I've ever seen I think… didn't even know someone could be that small as an adult.”

“Ah, perfect. Now, Tsunami,” oh she looked terrified, better fix that, “that makes this mission outside of what you're paying for, but I see no reason to stop it now. You'll likely be billed more later, but there are repayment plans in place for situations like this.”

“Ah, I'm so sorry!” Tsunami bowed low. Again. Did she just naturally have a need on her spine or something? “I had no idea Gato had hired ninja. I would have mentioned that had I known, you have to believe me.”

“Shinobi being hired tends to be unknown to clients until they're being attacked.” It was a real problem, honestly. Sometimes it was easy to guess enemy ninja would be involved, but often it was just sort of a thing that happened. Hence the very in depth repayment plans. “So long as my students still want to go…”

“Of course!” Naruko stepped up first, a smile on her face. “Nobody is gonna hurt you while we're around. Especially not some weirdo like Gato!”

“We've never met him.” Sakura rolled her eyes. “He's probably not the sort of person Konoha wants having power a week away from the village anyway. Even if we don't deal with him, someone will. So let's just do it ourselves.”

“Nya.” Satsuki blinked slowly. The bell on her collar jingled as she examined Tsunami. “Gato is nyally messing with Wave, isn't he? Nyot something I'll let go.”

“Well that's new.” Sakura narrowed her eyes at her catgirlfriend. “When did you decide to start taking a moral stance?”

“I'm gonna steal nyaverythjng.” Were her eyes sparkling? “Nyaverything!”

“Now, now,” Kakashi let his hand fall onto Satsuki's shoulder, the bell letting out a little ring at the contact, “we can't just decide to deal with Gato by ourselves.” Well, he could, but the Genin couldn't. Perk of being an elite Jounin. “I'll leave a note for the Hokage on these two and he can send a hawk.”

“We’re just gonna leave them here?” Naruko blinked. “I guess this is pretty close to the village, but still…”

“A patrol won’t take too long as long as we leave them on the path.” Sakura shrugged. “They aren’t about to keel over and die before then, and we can just hang them in a tree to stop predators from trying anything.”

“I guess…” A hum escaped the kitsune. “Hey, Wave is pretty close to Uzu. Or they share a border, kinda. All ocean, so nobody really cares, but I think they were people Uzu traded with a bunch before. Guess this is why they couldn’t respond to any of my requests…”

“Wouldn’t Gato have attempted to respond?” That felt like the sort of thing a crazy business magnate would have attempted. He’d be killed for it, of course, but generally they have the odd assumption that business is business no matter who is doing it. A business partner would, obviously, not attempt to assassinate someone giving them a good deal- only rivals try that. It’s weird.

“Ah, Gato only recently attempted to seize more power.” Tsunami bowed again. “I apologize for being unclear. He monopolized our sea trade several years before, but did not attempt to seize more control until Kiri opened up its borders within the last year.”

“That makes sense. Without Kiri to help boats or trade then it wouldn’t have been a very useful spot, especially since the fighting in Kiri would have spilled out into piracy.” That would have happened anyway, honestly. Every Kiri nin wants to be a pirate at some point, just like every Konoha nin wants to be a lumberjack and do battle with the foul beasts deep within the Konoha forests. It’s a very dangerous, but necessary and rewarding job. Those are the real heroes of Konoha. Anyway, where was this going? Oh, right. “But with Uzushio coming back and Kiri opening up to outside trade then it would be worth the increased attention.”

“I apologize, but I can’t say.” Tsunami didn’t bow lower only because going any lower would make her get her clothes dirty, and she really didn’t have many changes. “My father, Tazuna, was the one who was concerned with such. I never had the head for numbers.”

“Thats fine, it doesn’t really matter.” Kakashi flipped open his book. “Now, back into formation. Make sure you’re ready to protect Tsunami, Naruko. Sensing negativity doesn’t matter if someone doesn’t actually have any, or they’re so crazy wanting to kill someone isn’t something they think is bad.”

“There are people like that?” Naruko blinked and narrowed her eyes. “Well… I guess it’s a little like Karin can get sometimes? Hm… I need to think about this…”

“Please do nyat bring home a yandere.” Satsuki spoke with the air of someone who already knew it was pointless to say this, but was saying it anyway. Which… said interesting things about their private lives.

It really, really sucks that, as a Jounin teacher, Kakashi sorta needs to care about that. If only to prevent them being abused or turned against the village or abused and turned against the village. Not likely to happen with this group, but still theoretically possible. Especially if Naruko had a habit of bringing home random people. 

She got that from her mother. Kakashi can still remember the time Kushina ‘kidnapped’ Mikoto because she looked sad and was holding dango. Not to mention the dozen other Konoha natives. And the dozen non-Konoha natives. While they were in a war.

Kushina was a law unto her own, and everybody knew not to try to stop her. It usually ended in explosions, fire, or explosions and fire. Which seemed like something that had passed down.

Damnit.

Hopefully Minato’s naming sense didn’t also pass down. Some things were just too cruel to inflict on children.

“No promises! But what are the chances of finding someone like that in Wave?” Naruko’s tail gently passed by, but did not touch, Tsunami. Enough to cause a distinct tingling feeling. “Eh, Tsunami? There isn’t anybody like that in Wave, right?”

“Ah, no. I’m… sorry?” Tsunami lowered herself into a very confused half bow.

“They’re probably too old anyway.” Sakura shrugged. “Let’s just get moving. Maybe if we’re fast enough anybody else won’t have their ambush properly set up and we can just blow right past.”

“Maybe.” Absolutely not, but let her keep that hope. Nothing teaches quite as well as being proven unconditionally wrong.

And if they don’t get the lesson the next one might stick. Or the next one. Or it’ll kill them.

Either option works, honestly.

Chapter Text

“Ah! Big sword! Duck!”

Somewhat belatedly, Naruko pointed out the incredibly obvious giant sword spinning their way when it was already halfway across the distance between them and its starting point.

“How did you not sense that earlier!?”

“The guy didn’t feel any malice until he threw that big sword! He was just super bored until he saw us!” Naruko protested, using one of her clones to catch the unwieldy hunk of metal anyway… and then another five because it popped the first one with sheer force and momentum. “Honestly, who hides in the woods and throws a giant sword at people!? That’s so dumb! Giant swords aren’t for throwing, they’re for hitting people real hard til they die!”

“Please give me my sword back so we can fight to the death like ninja,” the very large, eyebrow-less man groaned, hopping down from his tree and trudging over with an utterly peeved expression on his face. “Ugh. Konoha nin. Of all the people it had to be, it’s the one group of goody two shoes sparkly tree huggers that the Mizukage thinks we should be grateful to.”

“You know, you’re more than welcome to just cease hostilities and we can figure out all of this diplomatically, mister Zabuza of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist,” Kakashi pointed out dryly, keeping up his guard around Tsunami while the now named Zabuza marched up to the clone holding his sword, popped it with a single punch, and took his sword back before walking to the other end of the clearing, slamming his sword horizontally into a tree trunk, and hopping onto the blade as if he was trying to be dramatic about his thoroughly ruined entrance. “Ah, so that’s why you threw your sword.”

The eyebrowless man somehow raised an eyebrow. “Would you not?”

“Ah… well…” Kakashi hummed.

“Nya totally would!” Satsuki eyed the sword with undisguised… something. It wasn’t lust, because Naruko knew what her lusty look was and that isn’t it, but what it actually was… wasn’t coming. “Nya should get a big sword…”

“Maybe not something that big?” Sakura hummed. Even as her hand kept flicking. The barest wisps of her Hiton flickered up each time, ready to throw. “For you, anyway. I dunno why, but I’d like an axe. A really big axe.”

“Easier to use an axe to drop on someone, especially while flying.” Kakashi’s book was, for once, nowhere to be seen. “Now, Zabuza, do you really intend to fight? Because I’d rather not have to explain to the Hokage why Konoha re-broke the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist.”

“You think you're going to win?” Zabuza huffed. “Kakashi of the Sharingan. Knower of a thousand jutsu…”

“Mah, it's only about four hundred, and they're mostly just variations of each other. People really like to hype themselves up by having a ‘special jutsu’ which is really just a base jutsu they changed a handsign or two on.” Kakashi sighed. “It's like the art of making something special is lost.”

“Good to see you realize you aren't as impressive as everyone thinks you are. That Sharingan doesn't matter if you can't see anything,” mist flowed down, quickly obscuring the entire area, “and you'll be too busy protecting those little Genin to stop me. I wonder… what should I hit first? There are-”

Naruko grit her teeth as killing intent suffused the mist. It was giving her a massive headache. Not that it was impressive, just that it was so everywhere her negativity sense was going haywire. Ugh, maybe pushing out some red Chakra would help?

“Sakura.” Oh, should probably listen to Kakashi. “Clear out the mist.”

“Right!” Sakura's hand stretched upward. “Hiton: Hono Hoshi- Fikusutosutā!”

The great ball of fire hung in the air above her fingers. It looked unnatural, the fire eerily flat except for small bits flickering out every so often. The heat easily burned away the mist, removing it faster than Zabuza could replace it.

“What the fuck is Hiton?” Several of Zabuza were revealed, most still moving toward the group. Only one hung back. The one who'd spoken.

“This! Shannaro!” Sakura leaned forward and pitched the Hiton ball right at the farthest Zabuza. It raced past several of the others, each of whom near instantly boiled away at the sheer heat coming off the ball.

The actual Zabuza quickly got right the fuck out. Leaving the Hiton to slam onto the river and flash boil a not small amount of it.

“What the fuck!?” The massive sword swung around and blocked Satsuki's claws with a resounding screech. “What the fuck!”

“Nya!” Satsuki flicked her ears as she flowed around Zabuza's hasty kick. The swipe of the sword forced her back long enough for him to retreat onto the river. “Come bnyack here!”

“Gonna use your damn blood to repair this, brat!” Zabuza narrowed his eyes at Kakashi. “Leaving your Genin to fight? I thought you Konoha tree huggers were ‘better’ than that?”

“Well, I wouldn't want to disappoint you, is all.” Kakashi shrugged. “Besides, I already know your Bingo Book entry and you know mine. It just wouldn't be satisfying, right?”

“It's not about satisfying!”  Zabuza swung his sword onto his back. “But if you're not gonna get in the water, I'll just make it come to you!”

“Raiton!” Zabuza, to his credit, was quick to spin around. A Chakra covered fist would have deflected a Raiton attack from a Genin enough to not get too hurt- Kiri nin all knew exactly how to deal with lightning. The problem was that Naruko wasn't attempting to jump him.

Her wild smile was accompanied by her tails resting in the water. Each and every one of them sparkled with electricity. “Hōryū Raika!” All of which was released in a large burst.

The river was inland- freshwater. Even Chakra couldn't make lightning jump meaningfully through saltwater, and that was something Kakashi would have to make sure Naruko knew later. Trying that on the seawater in Wave wouldn't work. A good lesson in paying attention to the surroundings. If… less immediately obvious than the previous fire.

“Gaaaah!” Zabuza found out that Naruko could, in fact, electrify an entire section of a river. Hard enough to bypass the usual Chakra buffer water walking gave. Which meant he swiftly splashed into the water and was carried off by the current before Naruko stopped.

“Hm.” Not great. “In the future, Naruko, make sure we can get to the body. That much electricity definitely didn't kill Zabuza, and Kiri nin don't drown. Though he may just back off- recovering from that will take a long while and it's obvious from this engagement he isn't capable of dealing with us all.”

“That was a lot of lightning though…” Sakura blinked at the water. Then licked her lips, her stomach grumbling.

“Yes, but I could survive it and Kiri nin know specifically how to deal with Raiton as a fact. Besides- unless you've personally laid hands on the body yourself, and probably cut off the head, whoever it is isn't dead.” Kakashi flipped out his book. “It's not paranoia if people will actually fake their deaths in increasingly elaborate ways in an attempt to ambush you later. Remind me to tell you about the corpse cake…”

“How boring. Nya thought a Kiri Jounyan would be stronger.” Satsuki rolled her eyes. “Let's get nyout of here.”

“Right. Tsunami, let's go.” Tsunami quickly hurried back into the middle of their formation, speaking thanks all the while.

It was nicer than dealing with an arrogant noble, but still annoying. They didn't need to be thanked for everything. Sure dealing with an A-rank Jounin deserved thanks, because that was definitely out of the job description, but that would come in the form of money. Favors too, probably. Like free travel for Konoha Ninja across the bridge.

Anyway, it didn't take long to get on the boat to Wave. They could have just jumped, or flown in Sakura's case, across the small gap still left in the bridge, but it was probably better not to be too obvious. At least while waiting for the Hokage to respond. Shouldn't be too long now. Actually… hm. It was already taking a bit longer than expected.

The request wasn't for extra help or anything either. A bird with instructions would do just fine. Unless the Hokage was trying something special? He has been focusing a lot more on non-military stuff. It's been very funny to watch the rumors making their way through all the nobles and villages. Nobody knows quite what to make of Konoha starting a construction business. Let alone all the other stuff.

Not that Kakashi has dealt with that much. Some jutsu here and there. A bit of help altering techniques. Nothing serious. Enough to know that there have been a lot more issues than expected, but not exactly what those are.

Though they all might get a crash course soon, if the state of Wave said anything. The people were obviously starving, the houses had obviously been left without repair, and far too many people flinched at the sight of newcomers. There were also almost no women on the street. Which… didn't say good things.

If Gato wanted to be a dictator, he was really bad at it. It's not like there aren't enough examples. Every Kage is a dictator. It really shouldn't be hard to piece together a ‘do not do’ list.

Naruko was obviously trying not to have an outburst. Satsuki and Sakura were attempting to help. Though from the way they were all looking around… they might be making a grievance list. Good of Iruka to teach them that. Usually it got left to Chunin, who couldn't usually have outbursts like Genin, but who could provide Konoha with a reason not to accept further missions. It'd be bad for Konoha's reputation to be working for warlords and sadists after all.

“Mah, Tsunami.” Their guide had started moving at a pace just below running as soon as they entered the village. “What has the Daimyo been doing? If you know.”

Right, most civilians didn't actually keep up with that sort of thing.

“In the Land of Moon from the rumors. As long as enough money hits his account he doesn't care.” Tsunami huffed. “It worked until it didn't, from what Father's said.”

“He should.” Naruko's growl was low, but echoed unnaturally. Enough that, even if they definitely couldn't hear it, most of the street cleared away in short order. Even Tsunami sped up.

“Now, now, Naruko. You can be angry off the coast later. Right now we need to make sure our client isn't accosted by anyone.” Kakashi narrowed his eyes. “Sakura.”

“On it.” The vulture girl flapped into the air and very suddenly a thug poorly hidden in an alleyway wasn't available to jump out at Tsunami.

Going to have to check whether or not he's dead later. The first kill is often the hardest… sometimes. With summon touched it's fifty fifty. Clan kids often have no trouble, but none of these three technically qualify. Kakashi only barely qualified himself, mostly on technicality. He was a Chunin when… when.

“We're here.” The house was outside of the village, on the beach. Better maintained than everything else. Though it was obvious nobody was home now, it bore the signs of long habitation. “They're probably both out working on the bridge, but they'll be back for dinner. I hope they've been eating right while I've been gone… Originally Dad was going to come, but nobody else can work as foreman for the project so he had to stay.”

“Mah, I understand. Don't worry about it.” Kakashi hummed. With Zabuza dealing with heavy electrical burns there's no reason to rush to defend the bridge. Especially since Gato apparently wants it done. “Naruko, make sure nobody left any traps.” They probably hadn't, but it was good to get her in the habit of checking.

“Yatta!” Suddenly there were four Naruko's hopping into the building. It only took a minute or two before- “All clear!”

Tsunami rushed in first. “I'll get you all something to drink.”

“Mah, I won't say no.” Not ideal, but fine. It let him meet with Sakura without the civilian around. “You took care of the thug?”

“Yep!” Kakashi leaned over- He carefully checked again. That was… definitely blood around her mouth. And she was carrying a bloody arm. And- “Here you go, Satsuki.”

“Why are you giving her a heart?” So. Please let this just be a Sakura thing.

“She likes to practice.” Sakura smiled like she'd hadn't just said her lover likes to eat hearts.

Damnit.

Chapter Text

“Before we do any last minute training to prepare for Zabuza’s inevitable return and Gato’s likely attempt to force a paramilitary takeover of this village and its surrounding territories,” Kakashi began, holding up a finger and pacing back and forth in front of his little hellion teenagers like an actual teacher for once. “We need to have a talk about your casual cannibalism.”

So it turned out that Naruko was no stranger to eating human remains either, and in fact it turned out that all nine of their group had some kind of ability to eat human meat. When, where, why, and how they all found that out was entirely beyond Kakashi’s ability to process right now (because, really, why the fuck would he want to know that?) so instead he was just going to have to give them a crash course on making sure they didn’t get jailed or executed for desecrating corpses.

”What, it’s good meat!” Sakura grumbled, crossing her arms and huffing with a ruffle of feathers. Naruko and Satsuki nodded along, each one of them mildly bloodstained from the mess they’d made earlier.

Kakashi… really had not wanted to see all three of his students playing three way tug of war with a flayed arm. With their teeth no less.

Ugh.

”It is, and any protein in a famine, but there are rules, regulations, and guidelines that shinobi need to follow so the lot of us don’t all get branded as cannibal sociopaths,” Kakashi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Which, some of us are, and a fair amount of Konoha ninja are anyway because of the war before you three were born, but… regardless. Lesson one: Don’t bring cannibalism into any place with civilians you either don’t want to or can’t get rid of to clear the witnesses. They tend to not understand that during times of duress, meat is meat. Lesson two: Temper your instincts. Summon touched and animal clan shinobi have it the worst, I am well aware, but tamp down on it. We have a wealth of other options besides human flesh for you to eat, and none of you are legally classified as oni so don’t even pretend like it’s a biological imperative.”

”I’m legally a Yokai!” Naruko pointed out, raising her hand. 

“Yes, and not all Yokai need to eat humans,” Kakashi deadpanned right back. “When’s the last time you heard of a karakasa obake eating a person?”

”… When’s the last time you heard of a karakasa obake?” Naruko shot back, pouting a little.

”Usually they’re just called Ame nin,” Kakashi snorted blithely, then sighed. “Look, point is… just… keep it to a minimum? If you’re searching for extra food and don’t have rations, it’s fine to scavenge off the dead, but at that point you’re so far up shit creek that you don’t have any other options.”

”And waste good meat? Nyat my thing,” Satsuki frowned, clawing at the air lightly with a few streaks of lightning trailing behind. “Nyasides, it just tastes like pork when nya cook it right.”

”And the bones are way more nutrient dense than most animals are!” Sakura grinned, then frowned a little. “Not… sure how that works, I thought human brains took up all the nutrients… but brains are kinda gross? I don’t like the texture…”

”Active chakra use in both non-shinobi forces and shinobi means a concentration of nutrients throughout the entire body, it’s an entire science that I am entirely unqualified to lecture about,” Kakashi answered with all the air of an incredibly tired dog. 

“… Hey, how do nya know about the instincts?” Satsuki asked next, looking at Kakashi suspiciously.

Kakashi snorted. “Hatake. Wolves.”

”Ew, dogs,” was Satsuki’s only response.

“Play nice,” Naruko huffed, swatting at Satsuki’s shoulders. “You like Kiba just fine.”

”Nya tolerate Kiba because her dick is nyace,” Satsuki corrected. “She’s still a smelly weirdo, nya.”

“I don't actually have the wolf contract, but that isn't relevant right now.” Kakashi sighed. “Just… just keep the cannibalism out of sight of any civilian at all. And try to avoid it. I'm certain you've had much better than still dripping unwashed mook.”

Not that Kakashi had better standards, but that was because he was a mess of a person. Hopefully these three would be much better. And never noticed he didn't eat anything but ration bars if he wasn't literally presented food. They might want to try to change that and it'd be really annoying.

Gai had already tried. Now he just showed up uninvited to make curry once a week.

“Fiiineee…” Sakura shifted, her wings flapping. “I'm not going to say no to meat just laying around, but I'll try and make nice for the civilians.”

“You mean I will.” Naruko actually glared at Sakura. “I still don't know how you burned ramen, but it Will Not happen again.” 

“That was one time! I already got better…” Sakura huffed and stood. “I'm gonna wash off. Satsuki, come on!”

“Nya?” The catgirl was swiftly yanked along. “Can cnyan do that myself! Nya!”

“You'll just lick yourself and you always miss spots. Come on!” And then the two were gone into the surf near the house.

“Well.” A quick glance at the sky showed they had a few hours til dinner still. “I guess I should show you something.”

“You guess?” Naruko blinked. “Aren't you supposed to be our teacher?”

“More minder… make sure you all don't eat corpses in front of civilians.” Seriously. They really needed to be socialized with people outside their polycule. “You'll all be taking the Chunin exams as soon as they come to Konoha in a few months, and you will all pass.”

Konoha couldn’t afford to look weak in the middle of everything. Helping Uzu, helping Kiri, expanding their business, and holding back graduation? A good win is absolutely necessary. Make sure nobody gets the idea that Konoha is slipping. Maybe it won't be as necessary in the future, but right now? The only thing more supporting would be ending a war in a day or something, and Minato isn't around to do that anymore.

“So what're you gonna teach me?” Naruko's eyes glittered. “A super awesome jutsu? How to escort a princess? How to smile using only one eye?”

“You escort a princess by picking them up and running, usually.” If a princess needed a mercenary escort then it was usually in the middle of a coup. Which meant any silly propriety attempts went right out the window. “But no. We're going to work on Suiton. Because you are absolutely not allowed to start a wildfire.”

“Oh! Could you teach me that jutsu Zabuza used?” Fox tails fluttered side to side as Naruko hummed. “I could do so many pranks with that!”

“It's usually used as part of the silent killing technique, but sure. I know it well enough to teach.” How useful Naruko would find it is her own problem. “It's actually really simple. So you use it by doing…”

It really was simple. Naruko just had a tendency to go beyond. First it was lowering the number of handsigns. Then it was affecting how the mist spread. Then doing other things with the mist. Changing it however she could, and in ways Kakashi didn't think could happen. Which might be because of her unique circumstances.

It kept them until dinner at least. Sakura and Satsuki hadn't needed to be called for it and weren't covered in blood. That they smelled of sex was… expected, honestly. Being kinky was better than being known as cannibals at least. At least the civilians probably couldn't smell it?

The problem with using Chakra and having enhanced senses literally all your life was not being able to understand what the normal person could figure out. It did make stealth training more effective at least. Attempting to hide from someone on his own level meant being a lot better than trying to just hide from an average ninja.

Anyway.

“So you're the ones sent to guard us?” Tazuna, the weathered old drunk that was Tsunami's father and the bridge builder, gave a quick glance over the four newcomers to the dinner table. “Didn't expect a zoo.”

“Please don't insult our guests.” Tsunami's hands shook as she placed down the plates. “They have already stopped two attempts to kidnap me. Gato has hired ninja!”

“Well.” Tazuna took a long drink. “Shit.”

“Well, you got us, and we’re way better than anyone Gato can get, believe it!” Naruko gave the guy a thumbs up.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Sakura hummed. “With the way the Hokage has been moving recently… you might get more help than just us. Maybe. Don’t expect it though.”

“Sometnyames you need to help yourself.” Satsuki purred at the plate of freshly caught fish put in front of her. “Nyat every time you’ll get help, so nya need to be ready to do stuff nyaself.”

“Please stop doing that.” Tazuna stared at Satsuki. “Nobody needs that headache.”

“Nya’m trying.” Satsuki huffed. “The Nyakomata head thinks it's funny.”

“There isn’t a Nekomata head. You’re just lazy about your speech therapy.” Sakura sighed. “I’ve been dealing with it for years. I think I could understand her doing nothing but meowing now…”

“Nya! Dnyo’t call out nya lies!” Satsuki crossed her arms and slumped a little.

“So what do we need to do, Tazuna?” Kakashi gently pat his mask. The plate in front of him was entirely clean. “I have sent a message back to Konoha, but it might be a while until that’s responded to. In the meantime our mission is simply to protect you.”

“The bridge and the supplies.” Tazuna uncorked another bottle. “Plus my daughter. Especially my daughter. And my grandson. Him too. The bridge will take another couple weeks to be done, so almost all the supplies are already there. If Gato really wants to take it over I’m not too worried about sabotage to any of it, but getting the supplies we have in storage over will be a good idea. Means you don’t have to watch over two places. My grandson is working with me, learning how to build, and Tsunami usually sticks around here.”

“We can manage that just fine.” Kakashi snapped his fingers. “Naruko, tomorrow you’ll go with Tazuna to move his supplies. Sakura, you help. Satsuki, you keep an eye on the bridge and Inari. I’ll be with Tsunami.” 

Getting a better idea of how Wave is doing would be invaluable. This much lag time… it meant the Hokage definitely wasn’t sending just a hawk. Who, or what, would be a big question, but it’d probably have something to do with Wave as a whole. Being a scout wasn’t exactly Kakashi’s usual role, but he could do everything. Might be best to shake off a bit of rust on that front anyway, considering how Konoha is shifting.

NInja builders. Ninja medical teams. What’d the Hokage come up with next?

“Ah, thank you, Kakashi-sama.” Tsunami bowed, again far too low. “For considering my safety and the safety of my family so highly.”

“Mah, you’re paying us.” Has he ever had a client this dedicated to thanking him for literally everything? It’s actually a little annoying, honestly.

“Yeah, don’t worry about it.” Naruko sat up with a smile. “Even if the Old Man doesn’t do anything, I will! Uzu is gonna need a good place to serve as a shipping port anyway. And Wave is pretty close to Konoha too, so it’ll be really useful!”

“Where is the kid?” Sakura looked around the table which was very much absent a kid.

“Inari is learning a bit from everyone, not just me.” Tazuna sniffed, a big smile on his face. “I left him talking to some of the guys about how to mix and pour concrete. Figured it’d be good for him to know everything he can and all that.”

“That's a good trait to have. You never know what will become important someday.” Learning how to create a shrubbery wasn’t useless! And they all said he was wasting time! Shows them! “Take that as a lesson, kids.”

“Nothing is ever truly useless, and even the most broken has value.” Sakura smiled. “The vultures know that well.”

“True.” An excellent sentiment, and worth backing up. She probably means it about cannibalism though. Damnit.

Chapter Text

“Huh, I thought there'd be more stuff.” The warehouse Tazuna had led them to was mostly empty. Not that there wasn't a lot still in it, but compared to how big the place was it didn't seem like enough to actually finish a big bridge.

“Most of the bridge is done already. I already started on it before Gato tried his takeover- only reason it's taken this long is the freeze the Land of Water put on everything. Most of my supplies were sitting around and waiting for years.” Tazuna scoffed and took another drink. “It's just the last bit left and then we're done.”

“Why build a bridge?” Sakura didn't flinch as a bunch of Naruko's popped into existence, already yelling at each other and trying to divide the load. “Wouldn't it have made more sense to make boats? Those are harder to steal and harder to destroy. For non-ninja anyway.”

“The waters are too shallow. Best you can do in that is a small fishing boat, and I've built the bridge to accommodate them.” Tazuna drank a bit more heavily at the many blonde kitsune scampering around and casually picking up supplies that'd take several men to move normally. “Contruction has come a long way by now. Every builder knows ninja might scamper on the roof or fight over stuff, so we build it to last. No fancy tricks, sure, but it'd take more than what Gato is willing to pay to break the bridge. Least that's what I thought anyway.” Tazuna paused for a moment and leaned on the doorframe. “Listen… I dunno what else Gato is gonna pull, but if it gets too hot- could you bring Tsunami and Inari with you? If Gato's hiring ninja then this has gotten a lot bigger than I thought it would, and I know it isn't what you all got paid for. I'm a laborer too- I know going a bit beyond the contract, but I also know dropping it when it stops being ‘a bit’.”

“Hey! It doesn't matter who that jackal Gato hires, we'll beat them all- believe it!” Naruko, or one of her clones at least, stopped in front of the two. Her tails fanned out as she gave Tazuna a thumbs up. “We're really strong, so don't ever worry about it. Focus on what you're gonna do after the bridge is done, okay? Cause that's when the hard part starts.”

“We won't abandon a mission. Especially not after encountering Zabuza.” He was scary for… nothing. Naruko was scarier, when she was pulling on that Chakra of hers. After feeling that there's not much actually scary in the world. At least through semi-Genjutsu effects like Killing Intent. Actual Genjutsu and real situations are a different thing. “If Gato is as stingy as you say he is then he definitely isn't going to hire anyone more dangerous. I'd bet they're in the same situation we are, honestly. Maybe worse. I doubt Gato said anything about Tsunami hiring ninja.”

“Doubt he knew.” Tazuna huffed. “Come on, brats. Let's get to the bridge. I need to introduce you to my grandson anyway.”

“I'll keep watch, you focus on not dropping anything.” Sakura flapped into the air before Naruko could respond. Though the blonde was loud enough that her yip of annoyance was easy to hear regardless.

In the air, Wave… still looked really bad. It was the roofs, really. Almost nobody actually paid attention to them, even ninja tended to only focus on the roof they were on, but they were super important. A bad roof meant whoever owned the place was probably in a bad spot. There wasn't a single roof on Wave that was fine. Some were worse than others, and all of them had hasty patches, but none of them were in good condition.

Flying gave weird perspectives like that. It was nice. The Vultures were all about weird perspectives. Everything that got tossed away, left to rot, came to them- eventually. Turning that into something worthwhile was so deep into their bones that the idea of just… getting something new was mildly offensive. Like Sakura couldn't make something she already had, or was pre-owned, work.

It'd definitely cause issues. Not just the cannibalism, but in other stuff too. Not getting new kunai, or other ninja gear, could be risky. And corpses weren't the only things the Vultures wanted. Konoha had left them when they were inconvenient, so they were content to look outside of Konoha. Wave didn't have anyone that was interesting to them, but one day… one day it'd be Sakura's turn to bring someone home.

It was… a weird feeling.

“Oh?” A flap of her wings set her circling over a group of thugs. Swaggering through the streets and alleyways in an attempt to get to where Naruko and Tazuna were. Nobody actually dangerous, but if they messed up some of the material… not great. Plus, well… Tsunami was nice, but she couldn't afford to give a lot to eat. So. “Shannaro!”

A clap of her wings sent her crashing down. Her boots met the shoulders of the first thug and slammed him to the floor with a loud crack. Wings flared as she straightened up and stared down the rest of them. Who all promptly ran for it.

“Huh, guess there are some smart thugs around here.” A shift pulled a choked groan from the man she was standing on. “Now what to do with you?”

He was probably going to die no matter what she did, but what to do before that was the question. If anything. Hm. Interrogate him, maybe? But a thug shouldn't know anything and that might take too long. Ugh, just leave him.

Kakashi was right anyway. These guys taste like shit. Where is Kakashi anyway?

“Hm?” Kakashi's eyes flicked over the edge of his book to check the area. Hm. Nothing. 

“Ah, Kakashi?” Tsunami paused in the middle of her… ‘shopping trip’.

Really it was just an excuse to get out, probably. Talk with the people, see how they're doing. Discuss how the bridge is doing. Give what little bits of hope she could.

No point in building the bridge if nobody was capable of actually using that freedom. Gato at least knew that beating the spirit out of a place was the best way to take over. If you don't actually need much from it, anyway. It's still generally a bad idea that takes too long to really use. Mostly a thing in the prisons, and even there it doesn't actually work.

So…actually Gato thought he knew what he was doing, but was actually just bad at it. Which sounded right. But dealing with him could wait. If he served as a linchpin to too many goons it'd be bad for Wave if he died too suddenly. Better mark out the thugs first and be ready to take them out around the same time. Prevent any of them from taking advantage now that they weren't being paid to keep in line.

Naturally, the first part of that was figuring out where they were. Normally it wouldn't be a problem to just find them, but there were civilians to guard. So… best to do the opposite thing. Figure out everywhere they weren't.

Overly complicated? Yes. But it meant Tsunami wasn't about to run into any issues and that was more important.

“Yes?” Anyway, back to what's actually happening. “I thought I felt something, but it was just my kunai pouch being a little stiff. It takes a while to break in new ones.”

“Ah… that isn't what I wanted to ask about.” She resumed walking, head bowed. “Do you think… this will work? Father said I should just send you, and stay in Konoha. If he thinks…”

“He's just thinking of your future. It's a parents responsibility to worry about their kids.” At least that's what it seemed to be. “Gato isn't anything we can't deal with. So don't worry about it.”

That was the truth, honestly. A wannabe dictator poorly attempting to take over a small area wasn't exactly unusual. Nobody heard about them because ninja generally took offense. Either because someone paid them or the wannabe did something that caused an issue. Kiri wouldn't have touched this mission at all if they weren't desperate, and probably planned to off Gato themselves later anyway.

Too bad Konoha came around first.

“Ah, okay.” Tsunami raised her head to look down the street. Filled with people thin from starvation. “I just hope… something comes soon. If only Kaiza were still here…”

“Kaiza?” That sounded important. The dead may be gone, but the right ‘ghost’ could be extremely effective.

“My husband. He… fought back against Gato and…” Tsunami swallowed and hunched into herself.

“Mah, no need to get into it.” Probably best to not do that then. Unless there was an opportunity to put a sneaky Genjutsu on Gato himself, but if that was an option it'd be easier just to kill him. “Just focus on what your father is doing, and remember we're here to help.”

“Right.” Tsunami shook her head and kept walking. “I wonder how Inari is doing?”

…

“Are you just gonna lay there all day?” Satsuki's ears twitched as she peered over her arms. Inari was standing in front of her, the kid attempting to look as disapproving as he could despite being like… ten or whatever.

“Nya.” Satsuki just buried her face back into her arms. The concrete railing of the bridge warmed up just right, but sucked to lay on. For bare skin, anyway. Her fur was just perfect!

“Aren't you supposed to be protecting me or something?" A hand grabbed her paw-

“Hisss!” Nobody got to do that! It took a lot not to just claw his face off, but he was a client. Also a kid. Even if he should know better. “Do nyat do that! Nya can keep an eye on you from here. Nyot my job to deal with construction.”

“Gah!” Inari replaced being shocked by the catgirl teleporting, or at least that's what it looked like to a civilian, by being annoyed. “Fine! I'll just tell Grandpa and get a better ninja to protect me.”

“Nya.” Satsuki slowly lowered herself down onto the concrete again, eyes narrowed at Inari. If that kid tried it again he was definitely getting a clawing. Besides, he didn't need to know about the thugs Satsuki had already dealt with. The other builders said it was unusual to get so many, so Gato must be feeling a bit stressed after his plan A got fried.

Good. He was an ass and she wanted to steal his everything. Itachi was going to be a very hard target, and while he'd also be a very different one it never hurt to have a little practice. Tracking a target down and murdering them while avoiding traps and any allies they might have wasn't exactly something that came up a lot. Best take advantage of it when possible.

“Inari!” Hm? Oh, Tazuna was here. “Everything going good?”

“Just fine, Grandpa!” Inari smiled, then blinked at the train of blondes carrying way more construction supplies than they should be able to following behind Tazuna. “What?”

“This little lady is a lot stronger than I expected. Means we can keep going without having to worry about setting up something to get all this stuff over.” Tazuna pointed at a man that'd stepped up next to Inari. “That's my quartermaster. Just listen to him on where to put all this stuff, alright?”

“Alright!” The Naruko's gave a little salute and then moved forward. The quartermaster was quick to get his bearings and point them toward the piles they already had.

The soft thump of boots on concrete had Satsuki's ears twitch again. “Sakunya.”

“Satsuki.” The vulturegirl settled down next to her girlfriend. “Any problems we need to know about?”

“Nya. Gato senyading thugs over. More than nyusual.” Satsuki smiled as she crawled a little forward and plopped her head in Sakura's lap. “Nya must be feeling pushed.”

“Good.” A hand threaded itself into Satuski's hair and began to scratch. Yes! “Hopefully whoever the Hokage sent gets here soon. Dealing with Zabuza would be annoying, and I really don't want to fuck over Kiri. They feel like the type to hold a grudge.”

“Leave that to Nyaruko.” Satsuki wiggled a little, purrs escaping as Sakura continued to scratch her head. “She the one that nyalways deals with civilinyans.”

“She does have a talent for it.” Sakura sighed. “I really hope we get to do something. Waiting is so boring.”

“Nya have time to train away from the nyillage.” Oh, Sakura perked right up at that little bit.

“So we do…” That chuckle would probably scared anybody else, but Satsuki just curled further into Sakura's lap. Her girlfriend really was the greatest. Even if Naruko had a better lap.

Chapter Text

“NYOM!”

“GAH!”

So it turned out that maybe Naruko had gone off to go take a nap in the woods while her clones worked.

Or, rather, the real Naruko had gotten distracted by the scent of some kind of rabbit lurking about, gotten lured away when the scent lead her into the woods, and then after trying to figure out where said scent had gone after a while, got bored and settled in for a nap whilst watching the butterflies nearby do their thing in the flowers.

She had… absolutely no idea how long she’d been asleep, given that she had gone down during… just around late morning, and the sun was still up, but not particularly visible from where Naruko was…

Uh…

Currently digging her teeth into someone’s arm.

And pumping her chakra into them on instinct.

Uh oh.

Poof!

“Why did you bite me!?” the girl whom Naruto had bitten shrieked a little, stumbling back and falling on her butt as her center of gravity suddenly found itself completely disrupted by the appearance of a bright, almost bluish, white fluffy fox tail and an equally colored set of fox ears. “Who does that!?”

“Bleh… serves you right for pokin’ a sleepin’ fox!” Naruko pouted, huffing a little and licking the back of her hand almost cattily. Because Satsuki’s habits had kinda rubbed off a little. “Besides, Sakura n’ Satsuki like it!”

She paused, then squinted at said girl oddly. She was… really pretty. Innocent looking. Soft. Bright eyed. She had a basket full of flowers and was wearing a pink kimono. Which wasn’t all that well fitted, but considering what happened it likely wasn’t actually her fault. So, in all ways, she looked like a completely normal civilian person.

Except for the giant patch of frost radiating out behind her that definitely hadn’t been there before.

Didn’t Iruka teach them about some kind of ice kekkei genkai during one of their lessons a year ago? Sakura had ranted about it a little. Probably. She always ranted about element based Kekkei Genkai.

“Excuse me if I don’t expect someone to bite first thing when they’re woken up!” The lady shifted, her kimono nearly falling open as the motion pressed her new parts against something very much not intended to contain them. “Why do I have breasts?”

“Huh? You… didn’t have them before?” That was… definitely a girl’s kimono. The cut was different and the pattern was softened in the way tailors only do to clothes intended for women. “You’re definitely bigger than you were, but thats… hm. Definitely tailored to have room for boobs on the smaller side.”

“You can figure that out just by looking?” The lady was unsteady on her feet, tail swinging around as she tried to find her balance again. Same as Karin was, really, except Karin didn’t get much of a boost from…

Oh. “Huh, your family isn’t from Uzu or anything, right?” Naruko narrowed her eyes. On second thought, that kimono was way too nice for her to have been around here from the start. How long has Gato been choking shipping? Because she definitely isn’t a laborer and also definitely isn’t a working girl. So how did she get to Wave? “Or… do you have family around here? You’re welcome in Uzu now either way, but it might take a little bit if we have to move an entire family.”

“I don’t believe so?” The woman shook her head and finally managed to stand straight without issue. A few quick movements had her kimono actually covering her chest properly, if showing an amount of cleavage most would think indecent. Which always felt like a bullshit excuse to complain to Naruko, but apparently she isn’t supposed to trust herself about that.

Being completely comfortable being nude is not normal, apparently. Even for shinobi.

Weird.

“Wait.” The woman blinked. “What do you mean ‘welcome in Uzu’?”

“Well, I bit you, and I put in some Chakra so you’re all,” Naruko gestured, “that now. And I wasn’t raised to ignore the stuff I’ve done. So… uh… you’ve been adopted? Congrats, you’re a kitsune.”

“What?” The woman blinked. Then limply raised a hand only to put it back down. “What.”

“Yeaaah, apparently I can kinda make new kitsune? And I really didn’t mean to, but you really shouldn’t try and shake strangers awake and it’s a little your fault.” Wait, that wasn’t important now. Just cause an argument even if she’s right. “So… I kinda decided I’d only do it to family, and since I did it to you, you’re family now.”

“I… I… what?” The woman shook her head. “I’m afraid I already have someone precious to me, and I can’t leave his side. Ah… call me Haku?”