Chapter 10

Narumi isn't really sure how this happened. She'd been walking past one of the many Clan compounds in her home village, minding her own business when the Hyuga Clan Head had basically begged her to babysit his daughter and nephew for a few hours because they'd been called to a council meeting and the majority of the servants were currently out, or otherwise occupied.

And despite only being nine, Narumi knows it's best to keep on the Clans' good sides, so she'd awkwardly agreed to Leopard's brother's request.

It was all going well at first. Both Hyuga children are well-behaved and the boy is quite playful. (His cousin, however, is very shy. Narumi has the feeling she'll grow out of it one day.)

But then Deer had approached him with another toddler (she's pretty sure the boy's name is Shikamaru). Deer wasn't on duty, which means he was in his regular shinobi uniform, and he'd looked apologetic. "I'm sorry, Kitsune, but I cannot find anyone willing to keep an eye on him during the meeting."

So Narumi had agreed to watch his boy, too, who'd simply flopped against Narumi's back to watching the clouds with a heavy sigh. Ah, Naras never disappoints.

Narumi's vigilant, and her senses reach pretty far, so the field she'd elected to watch the kids in isn't hard for her to keep track of, which is why she isn't surprised when another of Konoha's elite approach her with an angry, red-faced, blonde-haired, blue-eyed girl in his arms and an awkward smile on his face. Narumi doesn't even bother waiting on an explanation. "I suppose one more won't be a problem. What is her name?"

"So," the man tells her, and then thanks her before he Shunshins away.

That four quickly turns into five, and then six, and then eight.

Well, she thinks the only reason Obito's cousins show up is out of curiosity because Itachi carries his younger brother over with a smile and offers to help watch the children.

All in all, Narumi mainly keeps track of them by scent, because it turns out that Itachi is quite the intellectual. Already a genin at seven, he's almost on par with Kakashi as far as being a prodigy. Narumi can only hope that the boy doesn't lose everything as Kakashi had.

"No, the blonde one is Ino, and the one with her hair in little buns is Tenten." She ruffles Neji's hair. "But you catch on very quickly, little Hyuga." Somehow, Leopard's son had taken a liking to Narumi and settled in his lap when he'd tired of chasing the other boys. Narumi's fairly sure he knows each of their names, now, with Itachi's help, and they sit side-by-side watching the children play."

How old are you, Kitsune?" Itachi asks, glancing at her from the corner of his eye.

Narumi hums. She's fairly comfortable, despite the three-year-old in her lap and the two-year-old leaning against her back, half-asleep. "I'm fine." So is sitting a few feet away, weaving flowers together in roughly-made crowns. She's already put one on both his and Itachi's heads and another on Shikamaru's. When she'd attempted to place one on Itachi's little brother's head, though, the boy had scowled and hidden behind his brother. Naruto's pretty sure he's going to be a stubborn one when he grows up.

YOU"RE Starting TO SOUND OLD, KID. DO TRY TO REMEMBER YOU, AREA CHILD, YOURSELF.

Narumi fights the urge to roll her eyes, but she can see Kurama's point, even if she doesn't want to admit it. And the truth is, while it's rather unfortunate, Narumi can't really afford to be a real kid. Not anymore. "Ne, Itachi, can you promise me something?"

The boy smiles at her, looking far too young in this instant. "Yes, Kitsune?"

"Never grow up."

He frowns, cocking his head. "What does that mean? Everyone grows up."

I suppose he's still a genin. I can't exactly expect him to understand, yet.

YOU NEVER EVEN WENT TO ACADEMY.

I never had the chance! Kakashi-the other Kakashi-needed to teach me all of those things before he left, so… I had to grow up pretty fast.

THAT DOESN'T MEAN YOU AREN'T YOUNG, CHILD.

"I suppose it means that, no matter what happens, try to stay true to your heart. Okay?" She hopes her smile is conveyed through her words since Itachi can't see her face. She cuddles Neji a little closer, making the boy laugh.

Itachi hums, frown falling away, and then gives him a nod. "Okay." And then he takes Narumi by surprise and yanks his little brother into his arms, placing the flower crown from his own head onto the younger boy's. "See, Sasuke, I think you should wear this one. I'm sure Ino-chan won't mind making me another one."

Nearby, Ino's face lights up. She'd looked so dejected when Sasuke had run away from her, but now her smile makes Narumi feel warm, like everything is right in the world, and she holds up a new crown.

"Ino-chan, that's your best one yet!" he tells her, earning another grin from her.

AND YOU CALL OBITO A SOFTY.

Naruto smiles beneath his porcelain mask.

Eventually, Hiashi comes to collect his daughter and Neji (and Narumi receives a smile from him when he realizes Neji's half-asleep in Narumi's lap). Soon after, Deer collects Shikamaru, and then Ino is picked up, leaving the little girl named Tenten, the boy with the red markings on his cheeks that he thinks is a part of the Inuzuka Clan, and another boy whose shirt collar covers his face. Itachi and Sasuke continue to keep him company, and Narumi can only revel in it. sometimes when Obi-ni isn't around, he gets so lonely.

When the two boys start to fight, Itachi gets up before Narumi, leaving Sasuke beside him, and the little Uchiha inches closer, peering into the mask's eyeholes. "Kitsune?" the boy says, making her smile.

"That's right, Sasuke." She pokes the boy's nose.

Sasuke pokes the mask's nose in retaliation but smiles when Narumi only laughs.

We could always tell one child, right Kurama?

The fox rumbles an incoherent answer, too busy feigning sleep to respond, so Narumi rolls her eyes, lifting the edge of her mask just a little bit. Itachi isn't fair, but he's back, and the backs of the two boys she separated, are all turned to her. And Narumi doesn't mind so much if Tenten is paying attention when she pulls his mask off and gives Sasuke a real smile, making the boy's face light up. She does what her mother used to do for her and places a light kiss on the boy's forehead before putting her mask in place, just in time for Itachi to turn around again.

Sasuke's blush is bright but adorable, and Narumi ruffles the boy's hair.

It's not the day she'd planned, but she thinks she's happy with the way it turned out. After all, these children are Konoha's future.

Rin Pov

In the three months since she returned from her training mission with Fourth Hokage-Sama's wife (it's so hard to think of him as sensei, now, as silly as it sounds), Rin has gotten freakishly good at hiding and avoiding her former teammate. Kakashi's busy, busier than ever, but when he is in the village, on a rare day off, she's forced to evade him, constantly. She's sure, at his skill level, he could catch her if he really wanted to, but Rin isn't exactly willing to take that chance, so she does her best to stay off of his radar.

It's just that she feels so guilty. The horror in his eyes when she intercepted his Chidori, the sound of his heartbreaking when he'd lowered her to the ground… Rin will never forget those moments. She will never forget waking up in the hospital and the dawning realization that she had really done that, had really forced her teammate-her friend-to put his hand through her chest.

It was Kushina-Sama who'd explained the following events, from the ANBU that saved her life to the altered seal of the tailed-beast inside her.

What neither of them has quite figured out is why Kitsune altered the seal to the point that she can hear the Sanbi talking to her.

But lately, her mind has been more focused on the subject of her friendship with Kakashi. She knows that she'd had few choices at the time, she's not dumb. But the fact of the matter is, why had she been too weak to do it herself? Why did she force Kakashi's hand, literally? Why did she make that choice, the one that would hurt him the most?

And why had it almost been a relief?

Rin shakes her head, forcing herself to focus on the task at hand. Kakashi's wandering the village freely today after his last mission landed him in the hospital with several broken ribs and a dislocated shoulder, elbow, and knee.

He can walk, now, thankfully, but Hokage-Sama had told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't be going on another mission until he was given a clean bill of health by Rin herself.

And because Rin's intelligent, she knows a subtle hint when she sees one. Her former sensei wants the two of them to talk, but Rin… she doesn't have the words to even begin to apologize, let alone attempt to ask for forgiveness. And she's certainly not letting Kakashi out of the village for at least another month. So, he can just accept that he's getting a vacation. Like most shinobi, Kakashi hates downtime, so Rin's really not surprised that he's been attempting to track her down for several days now.

(She can't help thinking that if Narumi were here, she would have already laid the guilt-trip on thick about Kakashi not being careful. Narumi had been an open book, and Kakashi's health was always of the utmost importance when Narumi was still a toddler. It isn't hard to imagine how protective he'd be now.)

She understands why he was a bit reckless on his last mission of course. Hokage-Sama hadn't given her all the details, but he had mentioned there were children involved, and Kakashi gets very protective when children are involved. No doubt because of what happened with Naruto. Especially considering it had happened around the fifth anniversary of Naruto's disappearance. Kakashi and her former sensei believe that Naruto's still alive, and Rin's suspicious that Kushina's starting to believe it too, but every time she tries to think about it, she just gets sad. It almost seems like they're relying too heavily on an unrealistic possibility. She wants to believe right alongside them like Obito had begun to before…

It would probably be in her best interest to change her train of thought before it undoubtedly makes her even more depressed and unsettled.

"Um, what are you doing?"

Rin moves her gaze away from the medical text in her lap to find the ANBU with the Kitsune mask gazing at her, head cocked.

Apparently, even in their world, sticking upside down on the chin of one of the Hokage faces is strange.

"I'm hiding?"

"Oh. Are you playing a game or something?"

She can't tell because of the vocal filter built into the mask, but she thinks she's fairly young. This is really the person who saved her? Rin supposes she can't exactly judge, since it was the wife of the current Hokage who told her the story, but she does seem rather small. "Not exactly. See, Kakashi's looking for me, and I'm avoiding him."

Kitsune hums, walking down the side of the Third Hokage's Statue until she's perched directly beside her. "If you don't mind my asking, how come you're hiding from Kakashi? Isn't He, your friend?

"He's been a better friend to me than I have to him. And to think, when we were all genin, he couldn't stand us. "I haven't spoken to him since that night in the forest when you saved my life. Thank you for that, by the way."

"Wait, you aren't actually mad at him for that, are you? You're the one who threw yourself in front of a Jutsu that you know he can't exactly stop."

God, Kakashi probably thinks I'm mad at him, too. "No, no, it isn't like that! It's just…" She takes a deep breath, tucking her book away. "I don't know… how I can even begin to apologize? I put him through something awful after he'd done his best to rescue me, and I…"

"I think it was foolish." Kitsune's voice is soft, gaze elsewhere. She can only see a small portion of the mask he wears. "It was really foolish and really cruel, but I don't think he sees it that way. You probably know Kakashi better than I do, so surely you know he doesn't hold a grudge against you. If anything, he'll continue to blame himself no matter who tells him otherwise, even you. He simply does." She sighs. "I can't imagine how you felt in that situation. The odds were stacked against you, so even if you hadn't decided to commit suicide, you probably would have been killed, and so would he. But your choice took the Kiri ANBU by surprise, enough so that we arrived in enough time to defeat them and save you. But what if we hadn't? You would be dead, and Kakashi would be blaming himself for one more death." Kitsune stands, looking back at her. She wonders if he's smiling.

"I don't exactly feel any better."

"I wasn't trying to make you feel better." She must be smiling. "I was just making a point. Hiding from him isn't going to make you feel any better, either. If I were you, I'd just talk to him."

(Later, after she faces him and clears the air, Kakashi asks her to give him a clean bill of health. Rin breaks his nose and declares that he's stuck in the village for another month, at least.)

Minato Pov

"Minato?"

The Fourth Hokage turns away from the kitchen window, offering his wife a flimsy smile. "How are you feeling?"

Kushina gives him a fond look. "Every day you ask me, and every day it's the same answer." She crosses the space between them, joining him by the window to lean into his side. "What's bothering you this evening?

"A million things, Kushina. My missing daughter. Kakashi. The never-ending stacks of paperwork piled on my desk in the office.

"I miss her."

Kushina hums. "We'll find her."

The tables have turned, haven't they?

But Minato is beginning to doubt. Five years. What if they can't find him? Kakashi is the best tracker Konoha has seen, and even he hasn't found a trace of their daughter.

And Kakashi won't even let them in, let them lift that burden, not even a little. He's young. He never deserved the burden of Narumi's loss, especially not on top of Sakumo's suicide.

"What makes you so sure?" Minato used to be certain, used to be 100 percent sure they would find their daughter. But it's been so long.

Kushina's hand finds his, pressing it against her chest, right above her heart. It beats strong and steady under their clasped fingers. "Miracles can happen, Minato. But you can't stop hoping.

"Where are you, Narumi? Are you safe?

We're waiting for you.