Returning Home

Senju Tsunade’s POV

( It’s only been a week? )

I motion for the elders to hurry up, but eye Akina-san critically as she leans against the wall. She responds with a sunny smile that looks exactly like my grandfather’s - honestly , the resemblance is a little unnerving.

( She’s not a shinobi, this-this-the speed -how- )

I grit my teeth as questions try to form, but…

( Shimura Danzo was trained by Uncle Tobirama . How the Hell did she get close enough to kill him within a week ?! )

As I stare down at Danzo’s body - at the eyes attached to his body - I feel sick.

Jiraiya’s quiet fury next to me is the only source of comfort as Akina leans back against the door.

“There’s also the problem of the children .”

“ What!? ” I snarl, her face is carefully neutral - ( -Uncle Tobi’s face is carefully neutral until he sees me hiding on top of the cabinets, then he melts slightly and lets out an exasperated sigh- ) - and I almost bite off my tongue. “ I- I’m sorry, Akina-san-”

“ No , Lady Hokage, you must be angry about this.” Akina-san voice has the same frigid quality that her younger brother’s used to get when he was being the ‘ White Demon ’ or being shackled as the Hokage. “ Their parents gave them up willingly. ”

( ...huh? )

“WHAT?!”

“And they tried to kidnap Uzumaki Naruto - Rengoku was rescuing him.”

“WHAT!? ” The windows shatter as I cease trying to reign in my temper, “ GET THE COUNCIL BACK IN HERE, NOW!”

When Itachi and Sasuke get woken up, after two long, long days of yelling, arguing, and shouting later, they (rather rightfully) are not eager to come traipsing in front of the full council, even with Team Ro around them.

Akina yawns loudly next to me, and Itachi has to physically catch Sasuke to hold him back as he shrieks her name and tries to fling himself at her.

“ Yes , Sasuke,” Akina-san says warmly, smiling softly at the two of them as Jiraiya, Kakashi, Shizune, and I face-palm and Itachi lets out possibly the most nervous chuckle any of us have heard from him. “I’m back.”

“ -she’s only been gone a week, please I can’t hold you- ” Genya pulls himself into view as I look up, “ She runs missions even longer back home, please Genya, you know this ! ”

Rengoku is begging his nephew, arms wrapped around his shoulders as he drops his full weight back on his heels so hard and so far , it looks like he’s trying to sit mid-air.

“Genya, my son, please stop torturing your uncle.” Akina-san chuckles softly at them, Naruto and Sakura peer around the edge of the door, “ Hello, resident enablers .”

“ Hi! ” Naruto chirps cheerfully at her, Sakura smacks him upside the head, and then they both grab Genya and yank him away from the meeting room.

“We’re the last ones to meet you, aren’t we?” Shikaku asks dryly,

“Apparently, my family will be the last, in all actuality.” Akina-san answers, tone equally dry, and I face-palm, “ Hey , my humor isn’t that bad~”

She pokes my shoulder lightly.

“ You’re almost as bad as grandpa! ” I groan at her, she laughs warmly at me, the corners of her eyes crinkling, and her hair still slightly unkempt-

“ Oh. ” There are several sharp inhales,

“ Oh, shit. ” Both Utatane Koharu and Mitokade Homura swear quietly, but Akina claps me on the shoulder, smiling as bright as the sun.

“Well, I’d hope so ! According to your blood test, I am his twin.” She squeezes my shoulder lightly, “It’s my job as reigning Auntie to torture you a little ! Can’t have your head getting too big for your hat!”

“ This is because of what I did to Uncle Tobi, isn’t it? ” I groan, putting my face in my hands, “ I swear I didn’t know that he was going to need that paperwork later! I was four ! Who leaves paper lying around when there’s a toddler, anyway?! ”

Akina-san laughs at me again, as warm and bright and conniving as Grandpa.

After the council officially forgives both Uchiha for their actions, disbands ROOT, and formally begins investigating (Shikaku's rage is palpable when Akina begins to bring out the corpses of other kekei genkai users from wherever she found Danzo) I wave for Kakashi and the rest of Team Ro to escort Itachi and Sasuke back home, and Akina-san places a hand on my shoulder.

“I know I’m important to this meeting, Lady Hokage,” She begins,

“You’ve been here for two days already , Akina-san,” I dismiss easily, predicting where she’s going with it, and she deflates with a deep, exhausted sigh, “Go home, see your son, sleep . There’s plenty of work for the rest of us to do in the meanwhile.”

She gives me another blinding smile, but…

( Has she said how old she is? )

Jiraiya claps her on the back, and her shoulders shake slightly. She laughs a little as she walks away, easily slinging a terrible pun into her goodbye. She flings an arm around Sasuke and Itachi.

( Surely, she told me how old she was at some point, right? )

My eyes narrow as one of her ankles rolls as she steps through the door. I share a look with Shikaku. He nods - he saw it too.

( Why does she have fine lines around her eyes already? They almost look like crows feet coming in…and that ankle roll - what was that? A recent injury? An old one? )

“ Tsuna ,” Jiraya murmurs, “ There will be time for that later . ”

“ She- ”

“ Later . ” He says firmly, “ After she’s slept a little, and after we’ve kept our word. ”

( We haven’t done that much for her, after all. )

“ Hmph! We’d better move this along swiftly then!” I growl loudly, glaring at Utatane and Mitokade as they flinch, “I have a lot to speak about with my Aunt .”

Kamado Akina’s POV

( Just make it home. Just to the house. Then you can curl up and die and everything will be fine - )

“Mom?” Genya murmurs to me softly, “You’re growling a little…”

“Sorry, son, it’s been a rough week,” I murmur, bowing over to nuzzle him, and letting out a punched-out-sounding groan as one of my broken ribs tries to pierce my lung again. “Fu-u-u-uck,that was a bad idea…”

“ That’s it, that’s it, fuck it! ” Kakashi snarls under his breath, then warm arms wrap around me, “ Kill me if it’s too forward, but you reak of blood and that was too much . ”

He picks me up - princess-style - and I flop my head down on his shoulder with a sigh .

“ If you can carry me to the house, I’ll make you cookies when I wake up. ” I deadpan in answer, he grunts slightly as he adjusts to my weight. Then the air shifts slightly, taking on the smell of ozone and dust, but he doesn’t put me down and instead begins walking. “ Damn , that’s a first.”

“What is?” Kakashi sounds a little breathless, but I’m not walking, so I don’t need to open my eyes.

“You’re not giving up.” I deadpan, and he turns his face slightly as if looking at me out of the corner of his eye. “I’m not exactly light , Kakashi-san. Most people try to lift me as a joke , and drop me on my ass immediately .”

“You’re in pain .” Kakashi points out - as if that’s everything - and I snort quietly, wincing as my ribs burn.

“ Yeah , and ?” I ask dryly, placing a hand over the pained area, someone places their hand over mine, and suddenly the air around our hands cools - ( Oh, God, please, more, that feels wonderful -) - and the entire group stops walking. “Kakashi, if they can’t lift me, we don’t have a choice. It’s walk or stay there and die - and I’m not about to let my kids die .”

“ Did you ever even tell them you were wounded? ” Rengoku realizes, his voice filled with horror , and I let out another derisive snort. “ Akina ! ”

“They are kids , Kyojuro.” I deadpan, Genya grabs onto my sleeve, and I place a hand over it, “I’m not going to make them lose sleep at night if I can help it, okay? Besides, I heal quickly-”

“What if the bones heal wrong ?” Sakura asks quietly, but her voice carries in the silence,

“They already have, honey.” I admit, several people inhale sharply, “It’s not like people treat their prisoners of war kindly , and ankles are fragile .”

The house has been thoroughly cleaned and while some of the more delicate and complicated repairs - ( What the fuck are ‘electrical wires’ and why are they inside the walls ? Isn’t that a fire hazard!? ) - are still being done, I get pushed into the master bedroom for my nap.

I drag Kyojuro and Itachi with me because I know they’re still sick, and Genya comes willingly, dragging Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and a strange boy I only just noticed wandering behind us all.

“ Hello ,” I greet him as I cover us all with various blankets, “ I don’t believe I know your name, yet? ”

“ I’m called Sai. ” He tells me, I tuck him in and kiss his forehead and he blinks confusedly at me, “ What was that for? ”

( New child? )

“ It’s a goodnight kiss, ” I tell him,

“ It’s not night? ” He states, pointing at the window, baffled, I smile at him warmly, my scar tugging softly at my mouth.

“ No, it’s not, but we’re settling to sleep as if it is. So we call it a goodnight kiss, even when it’s not night. ” I lean closer to whisper in his ear, my ribs do not like this action, but I’ve always ignored pain when entertaining children, “ It also helps settle the younger kids down faster. If you even meet a boy named Tanjiro, don’t tell him that. ”

Sai gives me a tiny lip-twitch, and my ribs scream in agony as I lean back to give the others their goodnight kisses.

“ Who gives you your goodnight kiss? ” Sai asks as I settle under my blanket, and I pause quietly, staring at the ceiling as my brain buffers. “ Akina-san? ”

“ I… ” I continue to stare at the ceiling, struggling,

( Where did I get the idea of goodnight kisses from? )

“ I don’t think I get a goodnight kiss anymore. ” I muse, staring at the blank ceiling, blinking as I recall the kind smile and twinkling black eyes-

“ Well, that’s stupid. ” Sai deadpans, then sits up, leans over a dozing Naruto, and plops a clumsy kiss on my forehead. “ Like that? ”

“ Aw~ That’s so sweet! ” Rengoku coos, I pinch him, and he yelps, “ Alright, alright, I’m taking a nap! I’m asleep! I’m asleep! ”

“ It does not sound like it. ” Kakashi and I deadpan in sync, I look over by the door, and Kakashi gives me his weird eye-smile, “ I was bringing warm milk, but it doesn’t look like anybody needs it. Goodnight, Akina-san. ”

“ Goodnight, Kakashi-san. ” I pull Sai’s blanket back over him and adjust Rengoku’s blanket over him as Kakashi closes the door, and then I’m left in the dark .

( God, I hate the dark. )

I sigh quietly through my nose, staring up at the ceiling as the sounds of deep breathing echo through the room. It’s warm and soft, and utterly stifling.

( “-pathetic really,” Voices echo easily, and I still, staying close to the wall, “It’s one human - a child at that! How hard could it be to kill a child ?!”

“If you would like, Lord Kibustuji,” A somewhat familiar voice intones, “I could hunt her down instead.”

Oh God, oh God - that’s Kokushibo! The Kokushibo!

“Pah! My partner, sent after a child !? Think of the message that will send to the rabble , Kokushibo.” Kibustuji sighs heavily, “Perhaps I should send the new guy - Doma, he named himself, correct? I believe he said he ate only women…”

“...Lord Kibustuji, she is a child .” There is something close to… disgust in Kokushibo’s voice, and as I lay curled up in the rafters, shivering, swords cracked and useless…

A demon as high-ranking as Kokushibo would never save me, not in a million years - but…

The ghostly memory of a smile pulls at my heartstrings.

“A child who has killed hundreds of us in a matter of weeks , Kokushibo!” Kibustuji snarls lowly, rage and hate and wrath , and the small hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I may not be pushed into sending you after her yet. ” )

CREAK

My eyes snap open, and Obito places a finger against the lower half of his mask. I narrow my eyes at him-

CREAK

Someone’s clothes swish softly in the hall. I look to the door silently and find Kakashi crouched next to it, staring at Obito with an eye the size of a dinner plate. I look up at Obito and nod.

He grasps my face and gently sinks me through the bed using ‘ Kamui ’ - ( -don’t puke, don’t puke, don’t puke, this is your friend, you can’t puke on your friend, don’t fucking puke - ) - and I roll quietly out from under the bed with ease as Obito steps out from inside the wall. I easily slink up to Kakashi.

“ Anyone else still alive out there? ” I whisper to him quietly,

“ I think everyone is. ” Kakashi’s voice is just as quiet, even as he eyes Obito with a touch more suspicion than strictly necessary. “ They used anesthetic darts, though. ”

“ Ooh. Fun. ” I cringe as Obito snickers, “ It was one time . ”

“ You were so drunk, though. ” He snickers, “ This is going to be so much fun . ”

“ You’re an ass. ”

“ Yeah, I’m your ass. ” He pulls back his sleeve, showing a worn-down, sunbleached, threadbare friendship bracelet. I smile before I can help myself. “ C’mon, let’s go protect your kids. ”

“ I’m not allowed to adopt all of them. ”

“ Since when does that stop anyone in your family? ” Obito’s glee is palpable - and my smile widens. “ Y’know, now I’m a little worried … ”

“ I’ll save that surprise until later , otouto. ”