Chapter 169: Reveal

Tsunade and Naruto spoke for a long time, the two blondes sitting on one of the grassy hills and staring over the Compound walls, looking out into Konoha as they discussed any and everything, trying their hardest to come to terms with everything that happened.

I hoped that they could reach an amiable conclusion from that talk, but I made my way quickly over towards the construction company, wanting to get the repairs for Tsunade's house underway as quickly as I possibly could.

It was... an expensive request, since Tsunade wanted a fortified foundation, basement, wine cellar, ample living space, and for the entire space to be as open as possible; the repairs themselves would already cost a good bit of Ryo, but now that they had to dig beneath the house and shore up the land to create a basement, well...

I used the entire 1,000,000 Ryo she had given me, whilst also getting the remaining 500,000 Ryo as an IOU for later, which Tsunade would pay one way or another...

The house still retained a large bathroom connected to the master bedroom, as well as four additional rooms that all shared two bathrooms, giving her the ability to host people at her house and provide a place to rest, but the rest had been opened up for free space, so that she could...

Do whatever with it.

When I returned, they were still chatting on the hill, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Naruto grinning at her, the Senju smirking at the boy as she said something back, making him beam widely.

It was good seeing him have someone related by blood who could, at the very least, be considered a 'real' Aunt of some kind to him, providing that warmth that only blood relatives could...

Slipping back into the house, I found Kurenai and Karin playing inside the small padded room, Akari, Riku and Tomoe all crawling around as they were given toys and books to entertain themselves with.

Anko and Cameia were in the central yard, with the golden eyed Priestess sitting on a rock observing Anko as she trained, the violet haired Snake Charmer working up a sweat as she went through the various motions of kunai fighting.

Makoto was resting in the kitchen, sipping on some tea quietly whilst Shizune asked her questions, the two getting to know one another better; I heard some of Shizune's questions, and they were aimed at probing the older Uzumaki woman on just what our family was like, making me smirk.

It would seem that Shizune was accustomed to her Sensei being a do first, think second kind of person, so she was doing what she could to better understand just what kind of mess they were now in.

Joining them, I winked at Shizune to let her know that I heard her questions, making the younger Kunoichi blush slightly before she got her emotions under control, now directing everything towards me.

We only needed to wait a few minutes before Tsunade and Naruto entered the house, laughing together as the young trickster regaled his newfound relative with the time that he sold Kakashi out to me.

Hearing them enter, Kurenai and Karin scooped up the children and moved to the kitchen, with Anko and Cameia joining us moments later.

Tsunade grinned as she sat beside Shizune, her eyes twinkling slightly as she watched Karin move to Naruto's side, where she began to fawn over him in a reserved, bearable manner.

Taking Riku and Tomoe, I leaned back in my chair and gave my two daughters a kiss on their brow, smiling as my table was once again full.

"Hehe~! Oh yeah! Karin! I made something for you! I hope you like it!"

Naruto stood up and grinned ruffling through his orange jackets pockets for a few moments before placing a tag on the table, confusing everyone else.

"A... tag?"

Even Karin was confused, before her dark crimson eyes went wide, with her cheeks almost matching them as she blushed hard at Naruto's words.

"Ha! It's not just ANY kinda tag, Karin! This here is a disguise tag! Like a... harder to remove Henge! With this... you can go to the Academy too!"

The blonde haired brat was beaming at Karin, his innocent blue eyes meeting hers as he lifted the tag, showing it to her.

"Here, if you put it on your back... like so, and supply it with a little bit of chakra..."

He gently applied it to her upper back, slipping the paper under her collar and allowing it to stick to the bottom of her neck and down towards her shoulder blades, making her shudder slightly.

However, she didn't stop him, letting the boy work as he muttered quietly to himself, getting the tag to work.

We all watched in silence, with Makoto biting her lip as she stared at the scene with a conflicted look in her eyes, both happy that Karin could begin doing what she wanted to be doing but also worried about her getting hurt.

Tsunade gently pat the woman's hand, grinning at her as she whispered something into her ear, making the mother nod as she focused on her daughter.

Karin looked back at Naruto in confusion, before closing her eyes as he said "Now Karin, imagine your hair a different color. Same with your eye color. Don't change the length or anything, just the color... it shouldn't take a lot of chakra."

She nodded, and we all watched on as her vibrant red hair began to darken, going from a fiery red to a deep wine color, before it darkened even further, turning black.

When she opened her eyes, Karin gave us a hesitant look as she asked "D-Did it work..?"

Standing in front of us, Karin blinked as she heard nothing, before Naruto grinned as he pumped his fist, laughing loudly.

"HAHA~! I did it~! IT WORKED!!"

With dazzling sky blue eyes and deep black hair, Karin looked like a completely different girl, and I stared at her in wonder before straining my eyes, trying to see past the illusion.

I noticed that Kurenai and Anko were doing the same, while Tsunade was smirking as she rested her chin on her palm, staring at each of us.

"You won't be able to see 'Karin' like that... Hells, I don't know just how well a Hyuga would be able to see her. They could tell that she has some kind of seal on her, just... not one that altered her appearance! It's a brilliant little tag, but..."

Naruto scratched his whiskered cheek, awkwardly saying "Yeah... it took me almost a year just to get this down... But hey, I got it! You better believe it!"

His embarrassment went away as he grinned at Karin, who was staring at flat of a kunai that Cameia handed her, the girl stroking her hair and leaning closer as she blinked her eyes, unbelieving that she had 'changed'.

"So? Do you like it?! Like this, you can join Hinata and I at the Academy next year! With Aunty Kokoro and Aunty Kurenai already teaching you, you'll fit right in! Hehe~!"

He was so smug with himself that he missed the way she froze at his words, her now blue eyes narrowing at the mention of her rival Hinata.

"Yeah... Thanks, Naruto! Really..."

Her grin was a little scary as she embraced him, making the boy freeze as she hugged him tight, before she released him and approached her Mother, who was smiling softly at her.

Tsunade grinned as she looked between Naruto and Karin, before her grin faded slightly as she observed Makoto and Karin, Kurenai and Akari, and Riku, Tomoe and I, her brown eyes saddened.

Catching that, I made note of it but instead stood up, deciding to get dinner going now before we lost ourselves to this beautiful reveal.