The Violent Tide

The next morning he wakes up to a hand on his shoulder and before he even consciously registers it he has a kunai to Shuurei's throat. Blinking blearily a few times, he wakes up enough to realize who it is he's pinned and instantly releases her.

"Sorry." he yawned, rubbing at the crusties in the corners of his eyes. Then he notices the direction the light is coming from. "Why'd you let me sleep in so late? Usually we'd have been on the road for hours by now."

Standing up from her crouch, she stretched languidly, joints popping. "After that fight from yesterday we needed the rest. You are still recovering from your injuries, and the backlash from a soldier pill is worse than a hangover." Moving across camp, she went and knelt down by the kid, hands pulsing a steady green as she checked him over. "He should be up by now. I say we give him an hour and then I'll try to wake him up. Got to make sure nothing's wrong."

Obito nodded his assent and then joined Shuurei as she started her morning exercises as he'd been doing for the past two weeks. It pulled at his scars some, but it felt nice to stretch in the morning and it was noticeably improving his flexibility. He was pretty distracted this morning though.

The kid. Her family, possibly. If he'd learned anything about Shuurei the past few months- shockingly little, for such a candid person, she's a master at being mysterious and vague- he knew she was a bleeding heart. There's no way she'd leave a kid on his own or drop him off at an orphanage, relative or not. "Hey Shuurei-san, what if the kid doesn't have any parents? What are we going to do then?"

She hesitated mid-stretch, and then straightened up to look at him. "I have a solution, if it comes to that. It's about time I show you where I go when I disappear every few days."

Now that she mentioned it… "That's right, I've been wondering about that. You disappear every few days no matter where we are and always stay for only a handful of days before you come back, but since we're moving around all the time you can't just be going to the same place every time or it'd take longer to get there and back." It'd been bugging the hell out of him for months now. None of the theories he came up with made even a lick of sense.

She smiled in that deliberately infuriating way she does when she's being mysterious. "Like I said, I'll show you. But only if it becomes necessary. Now, what are the properties of All-Heal?"

He sighed, but dutifully recited the answer. "All-Heal, also known as Prunella Vulgarus, good for bruises, sprains, cuts, cold sores, and sore throats. Apply directly to the afflicted area, best used fresh. Slow-acting, often used in teas. Purple spiky flowers resembling clover, blooms May through October."

"Good. Echinacea?"

"Echinacea Augustifolia, known to treat colds, ear infections, insect bites, sinus problems, sore throats and… yeast infections. Boosts the immune system. Best used as a tincture or taken orally. Large purple flowers with spiky orange-brown center. Do not use if patient is allergic to ragweed."

"…Acceptable. Now, what about the Hibiscus?"

"Umm…" He yelped when a lack of concentration caused him to overstretch. With a wince he pulled out of it and opted to sit criss-cross instead. "I… don't know."

She tisked, moving from scissor kicks to planking. "Sloppy, Obito-kun, sloppy."

To their surprise, someone else answered. "Hibiscus Sabdariffa of the Malvaceae family is used in diet and weight loss pills, herbal teas, and longevity tonics." spoke a childish tenor. They spun around to see the ash-haired boy, awake and staring at them with wide, unfocused black eyes. "Effective treatment for hypertension, highly nutritional. Can be made into red dye and wine red tea. Frequent consumption can lower blood pressure. It is a flowering plant with large, trumpet-shaped flowers that can be white, pink, red, purple, or yellow. It is usually grown for ornamentation in tropical environments." Breaking out of his stupor, he blinked and then winced in pain, one hand going to his temple, his expression confused. "How did I know that…?"

Shuurei was thunderstruck, gaping at the kid. "Kabuto…?" she breathed, before her face transformed into a reassuring smile. "Hey kid, so you're up. That was pretty impressive."

He started at the sound of her voice, sliding backwards and curling up into a ball, obviously scared. "Who are you? Where am I? What happened?" he squeaked, then clutched at his head again. "Ow, my head…."

Crouching down low, Shuurei crept forward slowly, hands held out in front of her. "Hey kid," she said softly, "Are you okay? Can I take a look? I'm a medic, I can help with that headache if you let me."

His eyes flickered to hers and latched on. He studied her for a long moment and then the tension slowly bled out of him, and he nodded his head slightly. Still smiling, her hands flickered green and the remaining hard lines of his face softened with relief. "You got hit in the head pretty hard, kid. Broke your arm too, so be careful with that for the next week or so."

"Th-thank you." he stammered, eyes darting nervously between the two of them.

"So kid, what's your name?" Obito asked, and was a bit insulted when he seemed to cringe and leaned into Shuurei, who was startled and a bit uncomfortable at the contact. She's not good with physical affection. The kid didn't seem to know what to make of him, frowning slightly. The scars would be pretty intimidating to a little kid like him, especially on a stranger.

"Um… I…" he seemed confused. "I don't… know?" he choked, voice quavering. When his wide eyes started to get a little misty, Obito was surprised when he froze and Shuurei seemed to thaw, the corners of her mouth twitching up a little. If he didn't know Shuurei, he'd almost say she looked motherly.

"Hey, hey. It's okay." she crooned, patting his back rhythmically. The kid seemed to like her, if the way he kept gravitating closer was any indication. "Tell me what's wrong."

"I-I…" he sputtered, the beginnings of a sob building in the huffiness of his voice, "I don't know but… but there's nothing there! I can't remember anything! I don’t know who my parents are or where I came from or what my name is!" And then the tears started falling, though thankfully without the usual wailing most kids do when they cry. He tried to stop, rubbing furiously at his eyes, but all it did was make the skin beneath them red and puffy. Then Shuurei pulled him into a hug and he buried his face in her chest, only to stiffen and pull back a second later, fumbling with something at the collar of his shirt.

"Wait, that's-!" her eyes widened when she saw what he'd been hiding under his shirt, a simple ruby pendant with the Uzushio swirl on a fine silver chain. "Oh my god, you're-!" She choked on the words, tearing up herself as she watched him examine the pendant curiously.

The kid calmed down awfully quick once he saw the pendant. "I don't remember anything, but you feel… nice. Kind of… familiar, like wind and salty water and spices." He looked back up at her with dawning hope. "Do I know you? Do you know where I came from?"

She took a deep breath, as if to steady herself. "Well, you look just like a clan from my village. The ash-colored hair, the black eyes, the shape of your face, you have to be a Tsumeito. But that necklace…" her voice shook, her breath rattling oddly in her chest. "That necklace belonged to a friend of mine, but… she died a few years ago. I saw her die when… when my village was destroyed. I-I didn't know she had a kid. We'd been fighting for a while when…" she steadied herself, squaring up her shoulders just as he seemed to shrink in on himself, looking lost.

"Wh-what about my father? Do you know-?" he broke off when she shook her head.

"Me and my friend over there," she answered, jerking her head towards Obito, "found you on a battlefield near where shinobi were fighting. You were hurt, so we fought them off and got you out of there as fast as we could. You'd hit your head pretty hard, that's probably why you don't remember anything and… no, I don't know who your father is. Aazu-chan, your mother and I, we had a falling out a few years before…" she faltered, a hint of that haunted look in her eyes, like there was when she sang in memory of Uzushio. "Before Uzushio fell."

That was the thing about Shuurei. She could keep a remarkably level head in most situations, always cutting straight through to the heart of the matter and refusing to put up with other people's bullshit, but when the topic changed to Uzushio she'd be lost in a sea of sentimentality and regret. And she'd stay there unless someone pulled her back, unless he pulled her back. "Shuurei-san, what are we going to do about him?" he asked bluntly. She didn't tolerate bandying about with words.

"Right," she took a second to compose herself, "right. Well there's no chance of finding your father, kid. Not only is that battlefield now far behind us, but there were no civilian casualties in that area, no major civilian trade routes, and the only village for miles was a pile of ash and cinders. If I were to place a bet, I'd say you’re a survivor from that town since the damage was recent and Shizuka-san, my summons, reported no other survivors when she clocked it during recon."

Obito summarized the grim truth in a single statement. "You're all alone now, kid." he said bluntly, harshly, because he remembers getting this news himself, and as incredibly young as he'd been at the time he hadn't understood, hadn't appreciated when people would tiptoe around the issue, confusing him. It hurt, but it was like ripping off a Band-Aid, better to rip it off all at once than draw it out and give them hope, which would make it hurt so much worse in the end.

The kid paled and looked down at the fists he was clenching in his lap. Not so much sadness as fear on his face. "Please, please don't send me to the orphanage! Please don't leave me alone!" he begged, staring up at Shuurei in an inexplicable wild panic.

"Never." Shuurei spat, almost growling. Her eyes had flashed strangely at the word orphanage and he recognized that far-away look in her eyes she had when thinking of the future. Damn, so the kid's a major player and orphanages are bad news for him. That made this a hell of a lot more complicated. Not that he would've allowed it anyway, he'd seen the orphanages in Konoha, and while they did their best and some of them managed to do right by the children, there were a lot of people who abused the system and made life very difficult for an orphan.

That, and there was no way he could say no to those eyes.

"So, what are we going to do then? It shouldn't be a problem to keep him fed, but we're wading through active war zones here, even if the conflicts are dying out. It isn't safe."

She smirked. "I did say I had a back-up plan." She pulled out the scroll she'd been huffing and puffing over lately, that she'd just last night completed. There were two of them, what he vaguely recognized from three months of training as some sort of summoning scroll. "I need you two to sign your name in blood on the bottom there, if you would." She pointed, handing them both a kunai.

Obito hesitated for only a second before he easily complied. Their time together has been short, but she'd given him more reason to trust her than anyone ever has before. The kid deliberated for much longer, though. It was strange, but even though his emotional reactions were very much those of a little kid, there was an intelligence in those black eyes of his. He didn't need to think back on the kid's text-book perfect answer to Shuurei's medical question to see that. Genius, probably. They both watched him study the scroll intently with a frustrated look on his face for a full five minutes before he signed.

"So, what did you just make us sign?" Obito asked, eager to find out where it is she's been disappearing to.

She crossed her arms, tapping a finger on her arm. "A very complicated seal. A summoning seal, but made for individuals and modified for humans, summoning a person to you without constantly draining chakra to keep them there. It was the whole no chakra thing that really gave me trouble. Okay, let's go then!" Putting her hands together in a familiar seal, she made a Shadow Clone, probably one of her special ones. Then she bit her thumb to make it bleed and flashed through some hand signs- different, he noticed, Sharingan whirling, from the ones she used to summon her birds- and slammed her hand on the ground. The smoke cleared, to reveal…

A rabbit.

"What the- Shuurei-san, you have two contracts? How did you manage that? It's so rare!" He'd never heard of rabbit summons before, either. Maybe they were in a support capacity…?

"Partial contract." she corrected absently, inclining her head slightly at the rabbit who did the same to her. "With very specific terms. Rabbits don't contract out to anyone, ever. Not unless there's an outstanding reason. They refuse to fight, though they have the capacity for it."

"The usual, Shuurei-san?" The rabbit interrupted, looking them over speculatively. He was a black rabbit, male, with white ears and a white four-pointed star on his forehead, a string of white beads on his neck strangely reminiscent of Shizuka's.

"Yes, if you could please Reverse Summon me, Shinkoku-san? It seems you will have more company today. If you could inform Yukanna-sama, I would be grateful."

Shinkoku scowled but nodded reluctantly. "Understood." he replied, vanishing in yet another puff of smoke. Obito coughed, the smoke tickling the back of his throat.

"Wait, so all this time you've been going to the Summons Realm?" he asked incredulously. "No wonder the travel time never changed! But why would you visit your summons every few days? Is it a part of the conditions for your contract? But then, why would that help us?"

"Oh, you'll see." she trilled, obviously enjoying his confusion.

A second later she disappeared in even more kami-forsaken smoke. This was killing his lungs. Frustrated, he turned to the clone she left behind who was smirking at him in that same infuriating way. "What the hell?" he growled. "Where did she-"

POOF

"-go." he finished weakly, sinking to his knees from the sudden dizziness. Next to him there was labored breathing, and then a quiet gasp. Roughly he pushed the disorientation away and raised his head, blinking through the dizziness, and gave a gasp of his own.

Before them, Shuurei gave a theatrical bow, a broad grin on her face like the cat that’s got the cream, and gestured to their surroundings with a flourish. "Welcome to the Warren!"

The Warren was a building made of white stone with cathedral-style architecture, but without the pews or symbols of worship. The ceilings were high, domes and arches with delicate filigree, intricate patterns, and incredibly life-like statues of rabbits in flattering poses attached to the walls where gargoyles normally stood. One wall held a massive stained glass window depicting an image of one of every summons animal he's ever heard of and more all standing together peacefully, staring at a human shaped figure with his back to the viewer, arms outstretched towards the animals. No detail could be made out because the figure was merely a haloed outline, as if the creatures themselves were giving off light.

On a throne beneath the window was a giant rabbit sitting on a simple throne, twice the size of a tall man. She was cream-colored with a white belly and dark, intelligent eyes, a crown made of golden, stylized leaves at the base of her ears and a burgundy cloak draped over her shoulders. Yukanna-sama, he guessed.

"Ah, Shuurei-san, it's nice to see you. Such a shame I was too busy to greet you your last few visits. And who are your guests? More additions to your herd?" Her voice was regal, commanding, but with an undertone of soft kindness. She seemed amused, one ear quirked languidly, with a soft smile that somehow didn't seem that strange on a rabbit.

"This one is, your majesty." she answered, putting one hand on the kid's shoulder. He twitched, eyes darting all over the place but always finding their way back to Queen Yukanna. "His name is… Kabuto. Kabuto Tsumeito. That is, if he doesn't mind…?"

"N-no." he stammered, grabbing at her hand and holding it in a white-knuckled grip.

"And this one," she nodded at Obito, "is my companion. The one I told you about, Obito."

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, Obito-san. Shuurei-san has told me a lot about you. I trust you are in good health?"

"A-ah!" Startled, he instinctively dropped into the polite mannerisms his had clan drilled into him, bowing deeply. "As well as can be expected, Yukanna-sama!"

Shuurei chuckled, surprised. "Heh, who knew the brat had it in him? But yeah, he's adapting remarkably well to the treatment. It's astonishing really. It takes a strong network to integrate two foreign chakras so quickly and easily, no matter that they're both regenerative by nature. Then again, Uchiha do have unusually wide chakra veins-" she rambled on eagerly to an intensely curious Yukanna before she was suddenly cut of by a thunderous yell and the sound of an approaching stampede.

"ONEEEEE-CHAAAAAN!"

Suddenly there was a herd of incredibly fast red-haired children running towards them. The leader of the pack, a purple-eyed girl, leaped at her, bowling Shuurei over in a graceless tackle as the other children proceeded to do the same, piling on her in one massive, chaotic heap. Obito winced when he saw her head smack into the ground and bounce and helped a horrified and slightly dazed Kabuto from where he was sprawled on the floor, the accidental victim of a wayward elbow.

"What the hell-?!" he exclaimed as he watched the writhing mass of children with cherry-red hair that looked an awful lot like Shuurei. Even more children poured in, much more sedately than the first wave. Two of them shared the same red locks as Shuurei, but the rest had other- just as bizarre- coloring, two with robin's-egg blue, one with metallic gold, another with a deep purple and contrasting golden eyes, and even one with yellow hair just as bright as Minato-sensei's, though the resemblance ended there since her eyes were dark green.

'I will never make fun of Kakashi's hair ever again.' Obito thought weakly, making to edge away from the pandemonium only to bump into Kabuto, who was shivering behind his back and looking at the scene like it was his own personal nightmare come to life. He didn't seem wary of him anymore, not when he could be used as a meat-shield against the true terror.

Then there was a pulse of chakra- large enough that he could feel it even amongst the tidal waves these children were giving off- and Obito tensed, kunai in hand, as four figures Body Flickered into the room. Three of them were teenagers, one a guy with carrot-colored hair and brown eyes, looking exhausted and covered in unidentifiable smears of every color, another a girl with a calm atmosphere and periwinkle hair adorned by an origami rose, and the last a man with a similarly stoic disposition with dark red hair akin to a few of the children currently dog-piling Shuurei and strange, ripple-like lilac eyes with no whites that were rather unnerving. Hiding behind them much as Kabuto was hiding behind him was another child that looked to be about ten, the odd one out of everyone in the room for the simple fact that he was the most normal-looking kid of the bunch, though those large black eyes were kind of creepy in and of themselves. His hair was a mousy brown with what looked to be- were those leaves in his hair?

"Ge'off! Get off me you brats! So help me kami, I'll- ouch!" Shuurei yelped, trying to extricate herself from the pile. "Obito, help me!" she pleaded.

He shook his head solemnly, trying to remember what kind of flowers she liked. "You're on your own, Shuurei-san." Tilting his head thoughtfully, he asked, "would you prefer roses or lilies on your coffin?"

The orange-haired teenager glanced at him thoughtfully, a sly grin reminiscent of his own playing at his lips. The girl with the origami rose looked at the children and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

The weird-eyed teenager took in the bedlam in a glance and in a quiet, placid tone that carried nonetheless simply said, "Children." and immediately they froze, taking one look at the guy before pulling themselves off of a now bruised and bloody Shuurei with the downcast look of children about to be punished. Which they probably were, if the look origami girl gave them was any indication.

Shuurei staggered to her feet, already healing the injuries she'd sustained, and shot him a grateful look before spearing Obito with a betrayed glare. "Thank you, Nagato-kun. I can always count on you to help, unlike some people."

He held up his hands to ward off her anger. "Hey, I don't have a death wish, thank you very much."

Nagato turned to observe him intently, and Obito watched him mark every weapon on his person with an experienced eye before catching his with a calculating expression that sent shivers down his spine. The whole lot of them gave off a dangerous vibe, the way the most competent war veterans do. Even the goofy carrot top had an aura of power, even if he was slightly more approachable. "Is this him? The one who was to be Tobi?"

Obito shivered at the reminder, remembering the fate he would've had if Shuurei hadn't interfered. "His name is Obito, Uchiha Obito. He will never be Tobi now, just as you shall never be Pein." she replied, defending him. He inclined his head in acknowledgement of her point.

Nagato's spell broken, the children began to babble, shouting over one another to talk to Shuurei and tugging at her pant legs affectionately. Obito watched in fascinated amusement as they began to climb on her like a jungle gym. "Kami, this was so much easier when you didn't know how to walk!" Obito quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at that. His squad had had to take on their fair share of babysitting missions just like any other genin team, and in his opinion the younger they were the more troublesome. Prying a few children off her arms, she brought them together into a familiar seal and suddenly there were twenty of her, each of which picked up a kid or two and Flash-Stepped from the room, leaving only the (semi) adults, Kabuto, and the boy hiding behind the teenage trio. Kabuto, to Obito's amusement, was hiding behind Shuurei now in much the same manor, but giving Nagato looks of doe-eyed awe that spoke of hero-worship.

Shuurei sighed heavily in exhaustion. "I swear to kami that is the most useful jutsu to ever exist, ever. No one will ever be able to persuade me otherwise." She adopted a more serious air. "So, shall we take this to a more comfortable venue, so that we don't disturb Yukanna-sama any more? I do apologize for that, milady. They know full well they're not allowed into your chambers."

The queen, who'd been watched the entire time, was shaking with laughter. "It is no problem. I adore children, and heaven knows I haven't seen anything so entertaining in a decade."

She responded with a sour look. "Glad to be of service." Ushering them all out into the hallway, Shuurei lead them through long corridors and twisting passage ways until they reach one of many (a great deal many) rooms whose walls were covered in bookcases and sat down at the table there, the teenage trio on one side, and Shuurei, Kabuto, and him on the other. The creepy kid made a beeline for the bookcases, ghosting a finger over the spines. Kabuto looked like he wanted to join him, but was too nervous and uncertain (and maybe still a bit shell-shocked) to do so.

"Shuurei-san, what the hell is going on? Were those- are those children all Uzumaki? How are they still alive? Why are they here?" He had an inkling of an idea, and if it is what he thinks it is, then Shuurei is well and truly a genius.

Origami girl's lips thinned into a disapproving line, "language," she scolded, and Obito ducked his head sheepishly before shaking it and returning to staring stubbornly at Shuurei. He wanted answers, damn it!

"First, let's introduce everyone. Obito, this is Nagato, Yahiko," she gestured to the orange haired teen, "and Konan." origami girl gave a polite nod. "Everyone, as you may have guessed, this is Obito Uchiha. As you know, we have been travelling together for a while now and in light of circumstances, I thought it time to bring him here. This little one," she ruffled Kabuto's hair, "is Kabuto Tsumeito, the reason we're here. We ran across him yesterday by accident." There was an utterly disbelieving look on her face, one the trio mirrored when they saw the truth in her expression.

Oh no you don't, don't go careening off into other subjects and avoid telling him what he needed to know. "Shuurei," he hissed, locking his eye onto hers. "What. The. Hell?" Konan's eye twitched, but she said nothing, though Yahiko glared at him.

She sighed and looked over at the creepy-eyed kid. "Tenzo-kun, could you go to the kitchen and get some tea for us?" The kid smiled at her and nodded, rushing out of the room. She rested her chin on her entwined hands. "Well, as you know I'm a prophet, if very limited in what I see, so I've known my entire life that Uzushio would be destroyed. I knew I had no hope of saving it, especially with the condition I was born with, an extremely slow aging process that's an incredibly rare- but not totally unheard of- characteristic of the Uzumaki clan which caused me to age half as fast as a normal child and stop completely when I reach physical maturity. Thus crippled, I pledged to save what I could of Uzushio's knowledge, copying it's entire library and storing it in sealing scrolls so that when Uzushio burned the knowledge would not be lost. I also dedicated myself to the art of sealing, as with my condition the other arts were beyond my reach at the time, and was recognized as a genius, which is no small praise coming from the Uzumaki. I wanted to save everyone I could when Uzushio fell but I had no idea how I was to go about it, but then one day I was tinkering with the common storage seals in an effort to make scrolls that could store living humans and keep them alive in stasis so that shinobi injured on the battlefield would survive until they reached a healer, when I realized I could use it to save people when Uzushio fell."

"Wait," Obito interrupted, floored, "you can seal people away in a scroll? Seriously? So those kids…"

She scowled. "Don't interrupt! As I was saying, I knew I could use them to save lives when the village fell, but then the question was, where would they go afterwards? I knew that after the village fell, the Uzumaki would be hunted down. Both by the other villages for the threat our sealing prowess poses, and by creepers like Orochimaru and Danzo who'd want to use our unique traits and tremendous chakra for experiments, or to be used as tools and trained into mindless soldiers. At first I thought about taking them to the Land of Iron, an adamantly neutral country cut off from the shinobi nations and incredibly defensive of their borders, but then I realized that even if I could sneak in to drop them off, if I could sneak in, then no doubt it'd be child's play to someone like Orochimaru. Samurai aren't weak, but they don't have our stealth. I was stumped, as I couldn't very well leave them in scrolls until the war was over because they only hold for so long and have an adverse affect on people if they're sealed for too long, but then one day I was thinking over what I knew of the future and recalled Naruto's stay with the Toads while he learned Sage Mode. It proved that, given permission on both sides, humans could stay for extended periods of time in the Summons Realm. It was the perfect solution, completely cut off from the human world, and all I had to do was find a species willing to agree to it. I Reverse Summoned myself to this realm and scoured the land for a peaceable summons- who would, therefore, be unlikely to engage in any sort of conflict and risk the children- and came across the rabbits, sworn pacifists with a love of knowledge and children that have denied human summoners since Tobiraima, and powerful enough to protect them if anyone ever did come after them."

Obito stared at her, awed. "You're a genius." he whispered. "How has no one ever thought of this before? Seriously, this is the perfect solution!"

She ducked her head, rubbing at the back of her neck with one hand. "It's not that impressive, I just got the idea from my future knowledge. Not many people even know you can go to the Summons Realm, and only Jiraiya- and maybe one or two others- know about Sage Mode and that you can stay there for extended periods of time. Even then, I bet he never even considered staying here for more than a week or beyond training purposes."

"Don't put yourself down, it was an incredibly intelligent decision." Konan interjected, smiling warmly at her.

"Oh yeah, so where did you guys come in?" As if a blanket had been thrown over the table, the atmosphere darkened and grew much more serious. "Uh, is that a sensitive topic?"

Nagato shook his head, breaking out of his momentary revere. "No, it is not so terrible a tale as it could have been, were Shuurei-san not there to save the ending. We were born in Ame near the end of the second war and grew up during the beginning of the third, though for our country, the Land of Rain, there was very little reprieve between the two. We were a small nation bordering three of the larger ones at war, and as such our country was overwhelmed by the forces of the more powerful nations and made into a battlefield that devastated our land and people, impoverishing us. All three of us were orphaned young and out of necessity we banded together to survive, when one day we came across the Legendary Sannin. Wishing for the strength to defend ourselves and the opportunity to learn to become strong to change our country, we begged them to teach us and one of them, Jiraiya the Toad Sage, agreed. For three years he gave us the skills necessary to become shinobi and then some, honing us until we were a formidable force before leaving to return to Konoha. Once he'd left we started gathering others like us who hated what our country had become and what our selfish leader had done to it, forming a rebel group called Akatsuki."

"Huh?" Obito turned his head to look at Shuurei, bewildered. "But isn't that that evil organization you were telling me about, Shuurei-san?"

Yahiko was the one who answered. "Not originally. Not our Akatsuki. We wanted nothing more than peace in our land, but our intentions were corrupted, our hearts manipulated. You see, Akatsuki was making waves, making a difference. Hanzo was on the ropes, so he called on an agreement he had with Danzo," he spat the name like a curse, "and arranged to have Konan-chan kidnapped. We were surrounded by his forces and he could've killed us in an instant, but he wanted to make a statement, reaffirm his hold on his men, so he told Nagato to choose between me and Konan." he shuddered, closing his eyes with a muted horror evident on his face. Konan threaded her fingers through his and gave them a squeeze, eyes distant, leaning her head against his shoulder to offer comfort.

Nagato, face tight and strained from the effort of reliving the memory, picked up where he left off. "It was the worst moment of my life. The three of us are closer than blooded siblings, and I could not make such a choice. Wracked with indecision, Yahiko decided to make it for me. He… he threw himself forward on my kunai and…" for the first time, Nagato showed actual emotion, his face twisting up in more pain than Obito had ever seen before, with only Shuurei's haunted eyes even coming close. "I thought he had died. I thought," he snaked an arm around Yahiko's waist, sliding his chair closer, "I thought my brother had died, and for an instant…" he trailed off, overcome, taking a second to gather himself before he continued. "You cannot imagine the rage I felt, the horror. My brother, dead at my own hands. Sacrificing himself for our lives, his blood on my hands…."

Sensing that Nagato was lost in his phantoms of the past, Konan patted his shoulder briefly to reassure him before taking up the narrative, looking to Shuurei with eyes that glowed with affection and respect, gratitude. "But then suddenly, Shuurei was there. She leaped onto the battlefield from where she had hidden somewhere nearby and started to heal Yahiko as he was fading. Hanzo ordered his men to strike, but with a single hand sign she made hundreds of clones and took them out all at once, keeping Yahiko alive even as we retreated. She saved him, saved us, and then brought us here where we would be safe, telling us that as long as we stayed in the human realm we would be hunted because of Nagato's eyes."

"We owe her everything." Nagato rasped emotionally, fervently. "Our lives, our futures, my sanity. She saved us from a fate worse than death and gave us a home where we could live in peace, entrusted us with her family. She could've simply killed me right then and there and been rid of us, could've killed us and set my eyes on fire or taken them for herself with no opposition from Hanzo at all. Instead she put her faith in us, gave us a chance she never had to, and faced more than a hundred shinobi at jounin level getting us to safety. She took an arrow to the back and nearly died, pumping all the chakra she had into saving Yahiko." Eyes radiating devotion caught his and Killing Intent leaked, thick and heavy, into the air, a weight on his lungs that made it difficult to breathe. "We would do anything for her. Anything. And if you betray the trust she has placed in you, if you do anything to threaten our home or the children, we will do to you what we did to Hanzo. I will kill you personally, do you understand me?"

Obito stared him down, keeping steady with difficulty. "I owe her just as much." he answered, reminding the man of his own history and what he was supposed to have lost. He knew the pain Nagato must've felt in that moment, thinking he'd killed his friend, though a much shallower version than his. With time and distance, exposed as he has been to the real world outside the classroom, he's recognized that he doesn't love Rin, not really. What he'd felt was what one would feel for a friend, or even a sister, that he'd confused for romantic love in the surge of adolescent hormones.

Now Kakashi, on the other hand… well, he'd probably be best letting that one go. It's probably still just the hormones.

(He hopes, he prays, because he doesn't know what he'd do if it were otherwise.)

Like Nagato, he owes Shuurei more than he could ever repay, and the two of them stare each other down, getting each other's measure. There's a moment where both of them see past the façade they so carefully portrayed to the kindred souls underneath, their inherent kindness, their desire to protect others at all costs, their dream of making the world a better place. A different mask, perhaps, a different way of going about it, but the same desire, underneath. The same drive. The same debt.

Obito must have passed Nagato's test, because then the tension- and the KI- is dissipating from the air as they clasped hands over the table, siblings momentarily displaced. They grin at each other, Obito broadly, Nagato barely, because the masks that they wear have become a large part of who they are, but still they smile together in a moment of solidarity.

And in the ensuing silence, there's a sniffle.

Kabuto, forgotten in the intense discussion, started to cry, shaking in terror from the effects of the Killing Intent. Startled, Shuurei wrapped an arm around him and pulled him into her lap, both she and Konan glaring fiercely at Nagato whose eyes widened slightly as he looked down at the hysterical five-year-old. Dropping Obito's hand and extracting himself from his siblings, he crossed to the other side of the table and crouched down to eye level with Kabuto. "I am so sorry, young one. I did not intend to scare you or harm you in any way. I lost control of my emotions. Can you forgive me?"

He didn't speak to Kabuto as one would a child, but treated him as if he were an adult, voice steady and even with only a hint of regret and apology. The ashen-haired child stared into Nagato's eyes as if hypnotized, an expression of wonder on his face, before nodding dazedly, a light blush on his cheeks.

And then the door swung open causing everyone to reach for weapons, still wound up from the discussion, but it was only Tenzo coming back with the tea, stilling briefly as he read the atmosphere before continuing forward with the tray carefully balanced in one hand as the other propped the door open. Konan smiled in thanks and poured everyone a cup, taking a few sips at hers before setting it down and looking at Shuurei. "So, what's the story with this little one? Where did you find him?"

"Ah," she answered, stirring in a spoonful of sugar, "we just happened across him on our travels. We were at the border between Konoha and Hot Springs, which is occupied by Kumo at the moment. I sent Shizuka ahead as a scout and she caught sight of him, broken arm, cracked rib, nasty concussion, unconscious with more than two dozen shinobi fighting nearby. I healed him the best I can, but he doesn't remember anything about his life before the blow to his head and I know for a fact that his mother's dead." Kabuto flinched slightly and Shuurei frowned an apology, resting her chin on his head and nuzzling his hair for a moment. It was strange how she only ever seemed comfortable touching people when they were in need of comfort, probably that her desire to alleviate their distress overwhelmed her aversion to touch. "He has a pendant she used to wear that I recognized as belonging to an old friend of mine- her prized possession, in her family for ages with her chakra inside- and he's obviously a Tsumeito, so of course I can't leave him to some orphanage. But at the same time I can't just drag him everywhere, and we might run into another battle some time and I can't risk him getting hurt so…"

"No!" Kabuto yelled suddenly, panicked. "No! Please don't leave me here with those monsters!" he hissed, staring at the door as if afraid the other children would burst in at any moment.

"They're usually not as bad as they were today, Kabuto. I'm sorry you got hurt in their… enthusiasm. I was a day late checking in, you see, and they were worried about me so they overreacted a little."

He refused to be placated, begging desperately. "Shuurei-san, please don't make me stay here! I want to stay with you, please, please, please, please, please! I'll do anything!"

Shuurei's resolve faltered when faced with Kabuto's desperate puppy-dog eyes, but she held firm. "I'm sorry Kabuto, but where we're going it's too dangerous. Obito-kun can protect himself, but you might get hurt and I couldn't take it if you did. You're the only thing I have left of my best friend."

"They're really sweet children most of the time, Kabuto-kun." Konan interjected, helping out when Shuurei shot her a pleading look.

"No! They're loud and violent and none of them are like me." he stressed, adamantly denying their attempts at persuasion. "Please! If I'm not strong enough then make me strong, teach me how to fight! I'm smart, I've got words in my head like from earlier, I know things! You could teach me to heal like you can, I know I can do it and I'll be the best student you ever had, way better than that dufus over there." he said, jerking a thumb at Obito who yelled 'hey!'. "Then if I get hurt I can heal myself and you wouldn't have to worry!" Desperately, Kabuto scanned the faces at the table, looking for support and finding none. "Hey you, Tenzo-kun, help me out!"

Tenzo spun around from where he was examining a shelf, startled. Seeing Kabuto staring at him, pleading for help, and a little nervous from suddenly having all eyes in the room on him, he thought hard for a long minute and seemed just on the verge of rejecting him when something occurred to him. "U-um, well, Shuurei-san, how did you bring the two them here without putting them in a scroll?" Tenzo was aware that using the Live Sealing Scroll- her invention- sometimes caused problems when the people sealed inside already had seals on them, so she refused to use them when that was the case unless it was a dire emergency, and there was a seal clearly visible on Obito's shoulder.

Shuurei blinked, not having expected such an intelligent answer. "Ah, well, I finally worked the kinks out of the people summoning seal I've been working on. Basically, it summons the person whose blood is on it to wherever the summoner is."

"Could you reverse that somehow, or maybe leave one of those with his blood over here and another seal that alerts people when you put chakra into it, so that they can summon him here when there's a battle?" Tenzo reasoned logically, causing the room to gape at him.

Shuurei opened her mouth to say something, then paused to consider it, biting her lip and tilting her head to the side. "That… could actually work. It'd be pretty easy, actually. I already have the hard part worked out with the People Summoning Seal, all I'd have to do is tweak it a little…" she trailed off, eyes glazing over as she considered the logistics of it, hands itching for the ink and scrolls in her satchel.

"So I can stay with you?" he asked, tugging at her sleeve beseechingly.

Shuurei hummed, weighing her options. "I… suppose. But only if you come back with me when I visit your cousins! I teach them the history of Uzushio while I'm here, and you can't miss out on that."

"Yes! Thank you! I'll be the best student ever, shishou!"

"Shishou…?" She stared at him blankly before a slow grin broke out on her face. "Shishou. I think I like that. Obito, from now on I'm your shishou too!"

He blinked, caught off guard. "What…?"

Kabuto pouted adorably, arms crossed over his chest. "No! I'll make a way better student than him, shishou!"

Obito gaped at him indignantly. "No you wouldn't, you're just a kid! I'm way smarter than you!" he protested childishly. What an arrogant little brat!

Kabuto sneered at him. "Says the guy who doesn't know the properties of the hibiscus."

Why that little…! "I just started learning! I only memorized the first chapter, give me a break, you twerp!"

He gasped, face twisting up in frustrated childish anger. "I am not a twerp!

"Yes you are!" Obito replied smugly, triumphant at finally getting a reaction.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Uh-huh!"

"Nuh-uh!" He blinked. "Wait…."

"Ha!" Kabuto exclaimed, pointing a victorious finger at Obito. "I am smarter than you, because you just got outsmarted by a five year old! So there!"

"That doesn't mean-"

Eye twitching, vein in her forehead throbbing, she yelled, "That's enough you two!" and smacked Obito on the back of the head.

He yelped and whined, "Why did you only hit me?!"

"Because I expect this from a five year old, but you should really know better. Seriously, Obito." She smiled, but it was a fond smile. "Come on you two, why don't I take you on a tour of the place? There's really a lot to see, this place is huge. It has to be with how big some of these rabbits get. They have tunnels that go all over the Summons Realm, though they sealed off most of them to prevent invasions. I had to go around child-proofing them once the tykes all learned how to walk…" She paused suddenly, mid step, and her expression shifted from cheerful reminiscence to grim and serious. She reached into her satchel, pulled out a bright pink scroll, and started gathering chakra. "Incoming."

The two of them blinked at her. "Wha-?" They froze at a low rumbling slowly gaining volume, feeling a dawning horror as they remembered the last time they heard that noise.

But Shuurei was more prepared this time. With a quick flare of chakra she unsealed the contents of the scroll and when the first children shot into view she threw the contents into the masses with careful precision, as if she were wielding kunai instead of candy. From how the children went down, she might as well have been. Then she used the chakra she'd gathered and made two dozen clones that fell into ranks with practiced militaristic precision, forming three lines to block the hallway, each taking on a low, crouched posture like one would when preparing to confront an overwhelming force. Obito thought she was going overboard, but the instant the remaining redheads met the frontline they disappeared in a puff of smoke. Their momentary resistance did stagger a few who weren't expecting it to disappear, but mostly it served to slow the charge such that when they encountered the secondary lines they struggled for much longer before dispelling. Only the third line stopped them completely, and by that time the remainders were thoroughly exhausted and as such didn't immediately leap on Shuurei when they reached them.

"Onee-chan, it isn't fair when you use Shadow Clones to stop us!" cried the leader of the charge, the only one who didn't seem winded from the effort of forcing herself through three ranks of Shadow Clones. She, like the others, had vibrant red hair, but hers was shot through with very small streaks of blonde only noticeable when the sun shone on it creating something of a halo effect when the light hit it just right. She also had large lavender eyes, each with three thin white lines radiating equidistant from the iris.

"Just like it isn't fair to go around popping my clones when they're spending time with the other children. I know you brought them back here just to make trouble, like you did this morning. That isn't very nice Kasumi-chan, especially as I had friends with me that you scared very badly." Shuurei scolded, her tone gentle but firm. "If you act this way, you might lose out on the chance to make some very good friends, and then where would you be?"

Kasumi ducked her head and tensed up her shoulders, abashed, one hand reaching up to rub at the back of her neck before she raised her head and looked up at Obito with a contrite expression. "I'm sorry," she said and then turned to look at Kabuto, "I didn't mean to scare yo-ou…" her breath caught when she saw Kabuto and she sputtered, as if having trouble forming a coherent thought. Instantly her eyes widened and her face turned as red as her hair.

Kabuto didn't seem to notice. "That's okay." he accepted, approving of the way she apologized when she did something bad. He looked up at Shuurei with an impatient expression, wondering why they weren't moving yet and eyeing the others warily when he noticed a few of them starting to recover.

"Uh, no! No, I can't just apologize, you got hurt after all! Let me make it up to you!" she threw out desperately, obviously grasping at straws to find a reason to make him stay. "Oh, I know! Why don't I show you this new technique I learned? None of the other kids can get it but I'm sure you'll be able to pick it up…" He perked up a bit at the mention of a technique, not noticing the amused and outright disbelieving looks being traded behind his back.

"Maybe you can show him later, Kasumi-chan. For now," she raised her voice to project to the rest of the children who were all recovered for the most part, "why don't we show our guests the garden? You have been taking care of it, right?"

At this the children all started chattering enthusiastically all at once.

"Onee-chan, onee-chan, the tomatoes, they're-!"

"…and I don't know why but my lettuce is just-"

"…but my apples are so big! They're already turning red and-"

"… planted some carrots for the bunnies, 'cause bunnies like carrots right? And I gave some to Shinkoku-san and he-"

Shuurei laughed softly, her face lit up, a soft smile playing at her lips. "'Children, children! One at a time. Come on, let's go look at the garden before we go, you can show me yourselves." She ducked her head into the room they just left. "Tenzo-kun, you want to come? I want to see how well you're coming along with your abilities."

"Hai, Shuurei-san!"

"His abilities?" Obito asked curiously as they made their way through the long, airy passageways. Hundreds of rabbits passed them by, all walking on two legs, most carrying stacks of books and wearing the odd article of human clothing here or there. Many of them greeted Shuurei as they walked past or ruffled the hair of one of the children affectionately.

Instead of answering, Shuurei looked at Tenzo questioningly, who nodded his assent at her while slipping his hand into hers. "I told you about how I grafted Hashiraima's DNA onto yours after I stole it from one of Orochimaru's labs, right?" He nodded. "Well, the lab I raided was one he'd abandoned because he'd deemed the Mokuton experiment unsuccessful, but he was wrong. Out of the sixty children he experimented on, one survived, little Tenzo-kun here."

"So wait, you mean Tenzo can use Mokuton?!" Only the First Hokage was ever known to be able to use the Wood Element, it hadn't even shown up once in any of his descendants. He'd turned all of Fire Country from grasslands into forests in the course of a week. It was an S-ranked ability!

"Yes he can, and you can too." she answered casually, seemingly unaware that Obito had stopped dead in the middle of the hallway, gaping at her.

"WHAT?!?" he bellowed, jogging a few steps to catch up.

"Well, I used the same procedure he used on you. It's the reason I was there in the first place. Once your chakra system settles, you'll be able to use Mokuton." Stopping in front of a door, she threw it open wide to let in blinding sunlight as the children pushed past her and outside.

Woah. Unreal! Everything was giant, like he'd been shrunk to the size of a bug! Surrounding them was grass taller than the spires of the Warren and as wide as a building, with absolutely massive flowers peeking over the tops. Giant tulips and dandelion puffs, bluebells and clover flowers bigger than a full-grown tree!

"Oh, Tenzo-kun, have you been watching over my herb garden like I asked? It needs a bit more care than I can give it only stopping by every once in a while like I have been." she asked, following the children into an enclosed area of relatively normal-sized plants growing in small plots.

"Hai! They've been doing very well. I think the basil is ready to be picked and the angelica is already flowering." Tenzo replied as Shuurei sank to her knees, carefully looking over plants in the largest plot, plucking an errant weed here or there.

"You're right, but I think I'll give the basil another week or so."

"Is that… calendula? And… arnica?" Kabuto asked, kneeing next to her and studying the plants with a calculating eye. "You grow your own herbs?

"Yeah, the herbs I grow here are easily twice as effective as anything you can find back in the human realm, though I'd appreciate if you keep that to yourself. Would you two like to have your own gardens too? It'd certainly help with keeping our supplies stocked up. I've been stockpiling herbs myself, in case of an… emergency." Her mouth thinned at that, eyes narrowing. So she's preparing for something specific, some emergency she's seen in the future.

"I'd love one!" Kabuto enthused, obviously excited, especially when she handed him a bunch of seed packets with the pictures of the plants they'd grow into that she'd pulled out of her satchel of wonders. He started rifling through them, muttering under his breath.

"Hey, how does Kabuto know so much about herbs, anyway?" Obito pouted, a bit miffed that the kid kept showing him up. "He's like, five for kami's sake!"

"Someone must've been training him." She stood up, grabbing at a watering can and bending down to feel up the soil at the base of the herbs before watering them. "It isn't that surprising really, the Tsumeito were a clan that were naturally suited to becoming medic-nin. They had incredible chakra control and amazing regenerative abilities equal to the Uzumaki, except that instead of having massive reserves to help speed along the process it was more that they had small reserves that regenerated quickly, so even if they exhausted all their chakra they'd be good in like, half a day, where a normal person would be laid up for a week and an Uzumaki would be perfectly fine in two days."

"Really?" Kabuto looked up at her with wide eyes, a smear of dirt on his nose from where he'd been happily and expertly nosing about the plants, doing various things that Shuurei appraised with a watchful eye, nodding approvingly.

"Yep. If your father was a Tsumeito too, then he'd have been training you since you were very young."

"Huh, a clan kid. No wonder he's such a know-it-all." Obito muttered under his breath. Kabuto to threw him a dirty look.

Using a trowel to uproot a particularly stubborn weed, she commented, "You know you're a clan kid too, right? Grab that bag of fertilizer for me."

Straining his back, he straightened with a wince, a huge bag of fertilizer on his shoulder. "You kidding me? They thought I was weak so I was basically a second class citizen to them. They wouldn't waste any resources on someone so useless."

She frowned at him sadly and then her gaze sharpened, studying him carefully. "You shouldn't be having trouble carrying that, your physical condition has deteriorated way too much while you were recovering." Sighing, she dug a hand in her hair and pulled lightly, heedless of the fine trails of dirt she left behind. "We have so much to work on. Not only do we have to work on your chakra control from scratch, we have to build up your muscle strength and recondition the entire right side of your body to match the left, teach you to use Mokuton and your Sharingan, and drill the basics into you because obviously they didn't do a very good job at the Academy. Every time I turn around there's something else we need to do."

Wow, and didn't that sound familiar. He hung his head. That's what the Uchiha tutors told him when he was just a little too slow to learn the clan taijutsu, when they deemed him a 'waste of resources' and told him to stop showing up, not to bother because he'd never hack it as a ninja anyway. That's what his Academy instructor told him when he realized Obito didn't already know how to read at six years old and the rumors started making their rounds that he was the hopeless dead-last who'd never amount to much of anything. Even Minato-sensei told him something similar, though he didn't give up like all his other teachers and helped him out outside of team practices. Not even he could do all that much, because he had responsibilities himself and he couldn't afford to be spending hours every day reteaching him things the Academy instructors didn't bother.

"Well, don't worry about it too much. We have all the time in the world and I bet after we get you up to snuff, you'll be unstoppable. I'll make you into one of the strongest shinobi in the world. I am your shishou after all." He was glad she wasn't looking at him, so she didn't see him wiping at his eyes.

"Onee-chan, look at this one!" A grinning four-year old with a missing front tooth came running up, all excited, holding up a huge tomato bigger than both of her cupped hands put together.

"Oh-ho! This is one heck of a tomato, isn't it sweetheart? Maybe you can get Konan to make some spaghetti tonight."

"You think so? Yay!"

Obito frowned, trying to think if he'd ever heard the word before. "Spaghetti? What's that? I've never heard of it before."

He instantly regretted asking the question when it brought him to her attention. She cocked her head to the side and considered him, studying him curiously. For a second he was afraid she'd be scared off by the scars and scream, but oh no, she did something worse.

She started asking questions.

"Mister, are you a shinobi?" she asked, her eyes two full moons.

Shinobi was the magic word. Suddenly he was surrounded by chattering four-year-olds, all bombarding him with questions.

"Can you teach me a super cool jutsu?"

"Do you have any cool stories? Have you gone on any dangerous missions?"

"Where did you get the scars, was it a jutsu? Was it a big bad guy?"

"What kind of places have you seen? What's Konoha like?"

One of them tugged at his sleeve, trying to pull him away. "Can you help me with my taijutsu?"

"No! show me how to throw kunai!" whined a blue-eyed girl, grabbing at his other hand.

And then they were swarming all over him, yanking on his clothes so hard the seams started tearing. Shuurei stood just outside the danger zone, watching in satisfied amusement. "Shishou, help meeeeeee!"

She shook her head, pulling Kabuto to her side. "I don't think so, Obito. After all, I don't have a death wish." Bringing her hands together in a familiar seal, she teased, "Don't worry, I'll summon you back… in an hour or so. Maybe. Release!" With a small surge of chakra she released her Summons Clone, disappearing in a puff of smoke laughing at Obito's squawk of protest. A second later, Kabuto disappeared as well, leaving behind a sulky Kasumi who took out her frustration on the closest available target, leading the charge on Obito.

Two hours later, Obito returned to the human realm with his clothes in tatters and a healthy fear of Shuurei's wrath and the curiosity of red-headed four-year-olds.