#naruto-headcanons

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Himawari had the sneaking suspicion there was something about the plant she was supposed to know, but she swatted the notion away with only brief hesitation. It was just so beautiful. She found herself walking towards it, the little ceramic pots she was supposed to be putting away left forgotten by the doorway. She stepped over hoses and ducked under misters until she was barely a foot away from the lonely little thing. It certainly was a strange looking plant; a hooded petal sheltering the others from any harm. Himawari had never seen such a shape before.

Her little fingers reached out to touch the petals – she could only imagine how soft they must be – when suddenly a larger hand wrapped around her wrist and wrenched her away. She let out a strangled cry as the world tilted and it was only sheer luck she didn’t fall. Her head whipped around to see Ino-oba-chan staring at her in anger.

“Did you touch it?” She asked, her voice hard and unlike anything Himawari had ever heard from her before.

“Wha-“ 

“Did you touch it?” Ino asked again. Her eyes were frantically looking the girl over and it was only then that Himawari realized the woman wasn’t angry; she was scared.  

“Ino-oba-chan? What-I-”

“Just answer the question, Himawari.”

The girl shook her head. “No. I didn’t touch it.”

All the anger and fear seemed to leave the Yamanaka as her body sagged. Himawari was still very confused. Why was her aunt so worried? She just wanted to touch the flower. Surely, that couldn’t have done anything. Ino-oba-chan let her play with the plants all the time.

“Ino-oba-chan, I don’t-I don’t understand. I just wanted to feel the petals,” she gazed longingly at the blue blooms and wondered if maybe now that she explained her honorary aunt would let her.

Instead, Ino sighed and rubbed at her eyes. “Himawari that plant is very dangerous. You can’t just touch it like that.”

“Dangerous?” How could a flower be dangerous?

Ino nodded. “Yes. It’s very poisonous. Even touching the petals could be potentially harmful.”

Poisonous? That little thing? Himawari had learned about poisons in class, but she had imagined them to be more, well, liquid-y. And bad looking. This flower was pretty.

As if catching what she was thinking, Ino pointed to the plant and said, “This is aconite; sometimes called monkshood, wolfsbane, and numerous other unkind things. It’s one of deadliest plants in the world, and certainly one of the deadliest I have in the shop.”

“But why do you have such a bad plant here?”

Her aunt gave her a very pointed look. “This is a shinobi village, Himawari. I know you are not that naïve.”

And, indeed, Himawari was not, but this was the back room, far away from where any potential customer could see it. She looked around at the other plants and a thought struck her. Were all of these flowers…?

“Ino-oba-chan?” she asked, her eyes still cautiously flickering to gaze at all the numerous plants surrounding them. “Are-are all these plants poisonous?”

Her aunt didn’t answer right away. She just gazed down at Himawari with a look the little girl couldn’t quite discern. It seemed to be a mix between cautious, fearful, resigned, and, if Himawari wasn’t mistaken, even a little bit excited.

“Ino-oba-chan?”

“Why do you want to know, Himawari-chan?”

The girl’s eyes widened. “W-well, they’re not up front with all the other flowers and you almost never let Inojin or me back here, so I thought maybe that could be why.” She gazed up imploringly. “Is it?”

Ino paused again, but her expression relaxed into something a bit more resigned than anything else. After about a minute of thinking she said, “I guess Forehead wins. You did get your mother’s brains. To answer your question though, you’re right.” She pointed to another plant a bit further down. “See that one? That’s oleander. It can be very deadly if ingested. And the one next to it? That’s dumb cane. The leaves can lead to oral irritation if chewed. Too much and your mouth will swell, cutting of the airways. You’d die a very painful death of asphyxiation.”    

Himawari wasn’t sure what was more interesting: the plants or the way Ino-oba-chan seemed to revel in the descriptions. It was like she was getting lost in what they could do, the very possibilities they presented, and Himawari couldn’t help but get lost with her. They were so very beautiful: from the aconite to the oleander to the dumb cane. Such tiny, innocuous little things – and there were so many more to discover in just this room alone. How many weren’t here? How many more could she find outside? The possibilities were endless and Himawari wanted to learn more. She needed to learn more.  

“Oba-chan? Can I have aconite seeds for my next paycheck? You don’t even have to give me any money.”

Ino looked startled. “W-what? Himawari, it’s a very dangerous plant. I can’t just let you grow it at home.”

“Why not? I’ll take really good care of it and I’ll always wear gloves and I won’t let anyone get hurt. I’ll even put it in a special room like you did.”

“Hima-chan, that’s not the point. This plant is dangerous. There’s a reason I don’t let you or Inojin in here and it’s not because I don’t think you won’t take care of the plants. Each one of these requires very specific methods of care, both for your safety and for the plant itself. Besides which, I don’t think your parents would be very happy with me sending you home with something lethal.”

“I bring home kunai all the time.”

“That’s not quite what I meant and you know it.”

“But oba-chan, I really really want it! You can teach me how to take care of it and how to stay safe. I’ll listen, I promise.”

“Himawari, teaching you how to take care of them would be more like teaching you about poison.”

“Exactly!”

Her aunt gazed down at her in surprise. Okay, so maybe she shouldn’t have sounded so enthusiastic, but she really wanted to learn. If poisons could come from such pretty things then she wanted to know all about them: how they worked, what they did, how to get them out of the flowers. Was it possible to combine two kinds of poison to make them stronger, or would one maybe negate the other?  

“Himawari, I’m going to ask this only once and I expect a clear answer, okay?” Himawari nodded vigorously. “Why do you want to learn?”

Why did she want to learn? Hadn’t she made that clear? Apparently not. “They’re so small. You can’t see them. All you see are pretty flowers – pretty, fragile flowers. Who’s gonna suspect that? I just wanna know what they can do.”

As she spoke, Ino appeared to be assessing her. Taking each word she spoke and analyzing it for something else. Her eyes flickered, assessing her for any lie she may be spitting. No wonder she was the Head of Konoha Torture and Interrogation with a gaze like that. Finally, she nodded as if reaching a decision.

“I’ll teach you on one condition.” Himawari looked up excitedly. At this point, she’d do anything. “You have to ask your parents. If they say no, then you have to wait until you’re a genin, if you’re even still interested by then. Deal?”

“Deal!” She already had a plan forming on how to get her parents to agree, though there were numerous flaws she would have to correct before she asked. Maybe she could get Boruto to help her.

“Alright. Well, it’s about time you left anyway. I suggest you think a little more on this if you’re really serious. I’ll give you a week for an answer.” 

“I won’t need a week, oba-chan! You’ll have my answer way before then.”

Ino laughed. “We’ll see, Hima-chan. We’ll see.”

But Himawari wasn’t listening. She had already exchanged her apron for her coat, and was out the door without so much as a good-bye to Inojin. The blond boy just stood there in the entranceway staring after her. Himawari was never in a rush to leave.

“Mom! You’re starting to scare Himawari away, too!”

His mother laughed.

Himawari didn’t hear it, too focused on getting home and convincing her parents to let her bring a potentially lethal plant into the house. They had let her keep her cat, how much different could a flower be? Though, she did admit they couldn’t really refuse the cat. She had been a gift from one of the first lords Himawari ever met. He had been a very smart man; able to pick out the exact kitten her parents had said ‘no’ to not a week prior. The flower shouldn’t be much different. It wouldn’t even require as much attention as Eikichi did. So really, they shouldn’t complain.

“You want to what?” Her father asked as soon as the question was out of her mouth.

Her parents were seated opposite her on the couch of their admittedly large living room. Naruto, who at the start had been relaxing, his arm wrapped around Hinata’s shoulders, now sat on the edge of the sofa, hands on his knees, staring at his daughter in disbelief. For her part, Hinata remained mostly composed, though her hands twisted awkwardly on her lap.

Maybe she should have worded it better. Or waited for Boruto. He would have backed her up.

Himawari took a deep breath. “I want to study poisons.”

“Why?”

“They’re so cool, daddy! You should have seen the flower Ino-oba-chan had in the shop. It was all purple and pretty and perfect, and she said it was really dangerous. I just…I need to study it! Just think about what I could do.”

“Oh, we’re thinking…”

“Himawari, you’re not even a genin yet,” her mother interjected, sending her father an indiscernible look. “Why don’t you wait a little while? You already have so many plants you need to take care of.”

“But mama, I really really want to learn.” 

“I understand that, honey, but these are dangerous plants. What if someone accidentally touched them without meaning too? Or what if Eikichi tried to eat one? This isn’t the same as bringing home a new set of kunai.”

“I know that, but-but what if I put all them in a different spot?”

“And where is this spot?” Her mother asked with a raised eyebrow. She folded her arms and looked at her daughter knowingly.

For her part, Himawari realized she was caught. She had no idea where she could put her poisonous plants and her mother knew it. She did some frantic thinking. Where could she put them that would be safe, but still accessible? Himawari thought and thought and thought, becoming increasingly aware that both her parents were now looking at her in expectation. If she couldn’t come up with something soon, that would be the end of it. She couldn’t let that happen.

“W-well, what about the mansion?” She said, naming the first semi-abandoned place she could think of. “No one really lives there except for us and that’s only when we have special visitors. I could put them in one of the rooms there.”

“And what if one of the lords found them?” Her mother asked.

“I’ll put them in my room. None of the people should have any reason to go in there. They won’t find them.”

“I’m not so sure I like the idea of you surrounding yourself with poisons,” Naruto said.

“I’ll build up an immunity?”  

Both her parents sighed and exchanged silent looks. Himawari crossed her fingers in hope. She knew they were being worn down; she just needed push a little bit further. 

“Ino-oba-chan said she’d teach me how to take care of them and be safe. She wouldn’t let me get hurt. I’ll pay extra extra attention to everything she says, I promise. And-and,” she grasped around for something else. An idea struck. “I’ll go with Boru-nii to his medic lessons. That way I can learn how to deal with poisons. I’ll be extra safe, I promise. Just please let me do this.”

She topped it off by clenching her eyes shut and folding her hands in the universal gesture for begging. After a few seconds without a response, she pried one eye open to look at her parents. She could see their auras flare in indecision, but they were quickly suppressed. Her parents knew her well enough to know what she would try.  

Himawari lowered her hands and sent a pleading look to her father. “Please daddy. Just let me start with one plant. If something goes wrong, I’ll stop.”

“This is assuming you’re alive after something goes wrong,” Naruto muttered. He let out a sigh and turned to look at his wife. After a second, she nodded, if reluctantly, and he turned back towards his daughter. He leveled her with a very stern expression. “One. You get one chance, Hima. If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything, you’re done. Am I understood, ‘ttebayo?”

Himawari stopped listening after he said she had a chance. She jumped up from the chair and bounded over to her parents. Embracing them in a very tight hug, she said, “Thank you, daddy! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Thank you, mama! I won’t let you down, I promise. Thank you, thank you!” She then let go of them and went to put on her coat. “I have to tell Ino-oba-chan. Thank you!”

And she was out the door, her parents smiling bemusedly in her wake. They figured her fixation wouldn’t last too long. Everything would go back to normal soon.

They were wrong.

From that moment onwards, Himawari dedicated herself to poisons. She stayed true to her promise and listened to every word Ino said. From safety, to care, to extraction, Himawari learned it all. Within a month, her collection of plants had grown from one to four, and she could name each one and their uses off the top of her head. Aconite remained her favorite, but the others each held a special place in her heart.

She also followed Boruto to his medic classes every day. Most of the stuff went over her head, but she found she was frighteningly good at chemistry. Anatomy proved a harder endeavor. To Himawari, most of the organs looked exactly the same. The only reason she even managed to remember pressure points was because Hiashi-ojii-sama made them memorize the tenketsu years ago. Without that background, Himawari doubted she would have been able to remember any of it. Boruto was much better at it than she was.

But Himawari forged on. She went to classes during the day, worked at the flower shop and followed her brother to the hospital. Before she knew it, three months had passed and today was the day she took the next step. She hadn’t told anyone what she was doing, not even daddy and mama. The only person in the know was Kankuro-oji-san and that was because he was helping her. Even Ino-oba-san was kept in the dark.

She was technically free for the first time in ages that day. Class had ended early for some sort of conference, and Himawari told her parents she was going to spend the day with Chouchou and Sarada. She wasn’t, of course, but both girls said they would cover for her. So after making a bit of a show of meeting up with them for her brother’s sake, Himawari separated from the two and headed for training ground 31.

It was a perfectly normal training ground, surrounded by trees and foliage useful for keeping the users hidden from prying eyes. A few training posts were situated off to the side and small pond lay not far from them. Needless to say, it was exactly what Himawari needed.  

In the center of the field was a man dressed in black. He sat on the ground, a flask in his hand and small fire blazing before him. Above the fire hung a pot. Judging by the pot’s movement, whatever it contained was boiling. Himawari made her way over to the man and sat next to him.

“You’re on time. That’s good, jaan,” he said, sizing her up. He raised an eyebrow. “Have you grown again?”

Himawari puffed out her cheeks. “That’s what happens when you don’t see someone in a year.”

The man waved her comment away. “Yeah, yeah, no need to be so snippy, jaan. Man, you’re almost as bad as your father.”

“So? What’s wrong with that?”

He snorted in amusement. “You want a list, jaan?”

“Kankuro-oji-san!”

This time he actually laughed. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You are the girl who managed to convince us all to wear flower crowns during the last Kage Summit.” He glared at her. “Don’t do that again, jaan.”

“But you looked so pretty!” She exclaimed. Her eyes glimmered with mirth at the memory of all five Kage and their bodyguards waltzing about Konoha with daisy crowns on their heads. “And I have a whole bunch of new flowers I can make them out of now too.”

“Oh-hoho, don’t even try it, sprout. Making poisonous flower crowns won’t endear you to anyone.”

“But they might applaud my effort and creativity.”

“Oh sure, after we all finish hunting you down, jaan.”

“But I’m too cute to hunt! Look at me, I’m sweet as candy.” She smiled really wide and put her index fingers to her cheeks. It created an overly ridiculous impression that made both of them laugh.

“Oh sprout, you’re so sweet, you’re rotting,” Kankuro said. “Speaking of rotting, are you ready to start tearing away at your insides, bit by bit in the hopes of not dying from your own stupidity?”

“Well, when you put it like that…”

“Eh, sugar coating it won’t do jack. Now are we gonna do this or did I waste valuable time setting this up?”

Himawari glared at the man. “No, I wanna do it.”

“Good,” Kankuro nodded. “Take this,” he said, holding out the flask. “And this.” He ladled out some of the soupy mixture into the container. Then he grinned. “Drink up.”

Himawari didn’t hesitate. She put the flask to her lips and downed the liquid in one gulp. It was disgusting. The heat helped, but it did nothing for the overwhelming bitterness that made her lips purse and her eyes squeeze shut. A shudder ran through her body. She momentarily lost control and the world became alive with colors. Kankuro’s violet swirled and mixed with varying colors of the surrounding wildlife. She regained control a second later, but it was still enough to give her a massive headache.

“You okay there, jaan?” Kankuro asked, waving his hand in front of her face.

The little girl swatted the hand away and nodded her head. Even that small gesture made her dizzy.

She could hear Kankuro chuckle. “Welcome to the world of immunity, sprout. We’ve only just gotten started.”

For the next hour after Himawari regained control of herself, Kankuro taught the girl how to create her own toxic mixtures. Thanks to Ino, she already knew how to extract poisons from the plants, but Kankuro made sure she knew how much to dose herself with in the beginning to build up her immunity. He was also kind enough to help her through the worst of the pains when the poison started taking effect. It was nice, if a little strange. Kankuro, for all his many skills, was absolutely rubbish at comforting children.

He sent her home with the remaining mixture, telling her to dose herself again in few days. As he was only there for the week, it was up to her to continue on her own. He advised her to talk to Ino about it, but she was hesitant to do so. Telling Ino-oba-chan meant telling her parents and Himawari wasn’t sure she really wanted them to know just yet. She didn’t think they’d be happy. While Kankuro understood, he did tell her to let someone know. It didn’t have to be an adult, just someone she could trust in case something happened.

In the end, she chose her brother.

For a second, Boruto just looked at her as if she had suddenly grown an extra head. He then picked up his textbook, opened it up to the bookmarked page, and continued studying. She thought he might have muttered something under his breath, but it was too low for her to hear. Either way, it was the end of the conversation.

She continued dosing herself for the next few months without incident, her natural Uzumaki healing and Boruto’s growing expertise in said area helping immensely. Unfortunately, nothing lasts forever and her parents eventually found out during the Academy’s routine fitness exam. Boy were they angry. She’d never seen such looks on her parents’ faces before. Ino-oba-chan wasn’t particularly pleased either, giving her a four-hour lecture on the perils of mithridatism. Himawari happily threw Kankuro under the bus for that one.

But considering how far along she was, those involved all (begrudgingly) agreed to allow her to continue so long as she did it in the presence of an adult. Himawari didn’t mind. As long as she could still build up her immunity, she didn’t care about the stipulations, and once they got used to the idea, her parents even started helping her. They would slip the doses into her food, her clothes, her soaps. Naruto and Hinata were still shinobi and they understood that if they wanted their daughter to actually live to see the next sunrise it was imperative they help her. They didn’t like it, but they weren’t going to stop her unless she did something really stupid.

In fact, the only time she could remember them seriously disapproving was when she tried to build up Eikichi’s immunity. She hadn’t taken into consideration the difference in body mass and it resulted in some not so favorable results.

“Daddy, look! I poisoned Eikichi. See, she’s foaming!”

“Boruto! Pop quiz! Heal the cat!”  

It resulted in another long lecture, this one from Sakura-ba-chan about the importance of knowing your target. What works for one person might not work on another, and a non-lethal dose doesn’t mean squat when you’re comparing adults to children. It was a lesson Himawari was keen on remembering.

As time passed and Himawari grew more confident, she took to carrying her poisons everywhere she went. It wasn’t obvious, of course, but those who knew what to look for began walking just the slightest bit away from her. She weaved the pretty monkshood flowers through her braids, and doctored up two castor oil seeds into a pair of earrings. She was even attempting to make a form of poisonous perfume, but the project was slow going.  

Either way you looked at, Himawari was quickly growing into Konoha’s own poison expert and all before she even graduated from the Academy. It put people a little on edge, though the girl in question didn’t seem to notice, or, if she did, didn’t care. All she cared about was learning more; more poisons, more flowers, more experiments. She wanted to learn it all.

Poison, she found, was the most beautiful thing in the world.

~*~*~*~*~

Uzumaki Himawari was twelve-years-old the first time she felt fear.

She had been scared before. When she was little, she had been afraid of the monsters under the bed and the shadows on her walls. She had been terrified for her brother when he was hurt as a child and every time after. But this, this deep rooted, all-encompassing fear for her own life was different. It was a heart stopping, panic inducing, and gut wrenching difference.  

It started with an explosion.

Actually, no, backtrack. It really started a few months prior when she first got her hitai-ate. It was easily one of the best days of her life, and it only got better when she discovered who was on her team. Inuzuka Naku and Aburame Shiro were two of her very best friends outside of her brother’s friends, and to be put on a team with them was the very best thing ever. She took that back when she discovered Sarutobi Mirai was going to be their sensei, and declared that was actually the best thing ever.

Having grown up with all three of them, their test was more of a joke than anything else, and they passed without really having to try. It was easy to settle into a routine of training and missions when they were already so comfortable with each other. Naku could never really decide whether he was part dog or part cat, but for the most part, he and his partner Chamaru leaned more towards the dog side of the family. Always running around, always in the middle of the crowd, Naku was very much an Inuzuka. Shiro was more laid-back. He tended to go along with the group so long as they weren’t in danger of killing him. That and Himawari was very persuasive.

Under Mirai’s tutelage, the group grew into a very cohesive unit, not unlike their parents before them. While Himawari had not inherited the Byakugan, it quickly became apparent that she did inherit something else. Her grandmother’s special chakra lived on and with it came the ability to manifest the Uzumaki Clan’s chakra chains. Words could not describe how excited the girl became the first time they formed. It didn’t even matter to her that they left her dangling from a cliff.

As time passed and the three genin started training more in their own specialties, Himawari found to her pleasure that she had a particular proclivity towards genjutsu. The little girl’s imagination was never-ending and so she was able to come up with some truly creative and terrifying illusions. Mirai eventually handed her over to her mother to learn more, a decision Himawari’s teammates came to regret. Naku, in particular, rued the day she started learning genjutsu.

“Yo, Hima-hime, why do you spend so much time learning illusions anyway? They’re not even real,” the boy badgered a few months in.

“Not real?” She raised an eyebrow, confused.

“Yeah. I mean they’re illusions. What are they really gonna do besides cause a distraction?”

“Naku…” Shiro started, edging away from their female teammate.

“What?”

The Aburame didn’t have enough time to warn the boy as Naku felt a tingling sensation encompass him. It wasn’t a bad feeling, just…odd. But odd, when used in in conjunction with Himawari just spelled Bad News. He knew she did something, something he wouldn’t like and Shiro’s expression clinched it. It was difficult to get the Aburame to show much in the way of expressions – he was as stoic as the rest of his clan – so the fact that the boy had to actually turn away in order to keep his composure was not reassuring.

“What did you do?” He turned to his female teammate and didn’t like the expression on her face. Her lips trembled with repressed laughter and her eyes were glistening with mirth.

“N-nothing,” she squeaked. Shiro snorted.

Naku didn’t believe her for a second. Since he couldn’t see anything different he made the assumption it was something about him and not his surroundings.

He lifted his hands to feel his body and stopped short. His hands – his beautiful, perfect, wonderfully manicured hands – were old and gnarled. The claws he was so proud of were chipped and yellowed. It was almost like they had aged fifty years in the span of a second.

Horror filled him. She wouldn’t… 

Naku made a mad dash for the nearby pond, jumping over a stunned Chamaru and kneeling down to see his reflection. He paused for a moment, terrified at what he might see, before steeling himself. He had to know. Ignoring the snorts from behind him, Naku turned his gaze to the pool. He howled. Then he screeched.

“My face! My beautiful face!” Old hands reached up to cup the face of a sixty-year-old man. The worst part was that he knew it was a genjutsu, but for some reason he just couldn’t break out of it. Biting his lip did nothing and disrupting his chakra only made him feel dizzy.

“Himawari!” He yelled, spinning around to pin the girl with an angry gaze. “Take it off!”  

“Why? It’s only an illusion,” she teased, gasping for breath. It was just too much; she couldn’t stop laughing.   

“It’s not funny, Himawari,” he growled.

“I think it is,” she said, grinning. “Look at you; you’re too angry to move.”

“Angry? Oh, I’ll show you angry.” He tried to make a move towards her, but something was wrong. He felt too slow. It was like he had actually aged in the span of a few seconds.

“Your brain thinks you’re old, so your muscles think so too.” She was no longer laughing, just smiling; perfectly guileless and as innocent as a two-year-old with a marker in their hand. It was an expression he knew too well, one he associated with convoluted plans to con politicians out of their wealth and missions to the cookie jar. His hackles rose.

It was too late. Himawari appeared behind him and he was too slow now to get out of her way. She grabbed at his shoulders, and he immediately found himself paralyzed from the neck down. The tingling went away and he was young once more.

Shiro stood shaking his head and Himawari held up a senbon with a wide smile. She dangled the weapon in front of his face and continued to grin, though now it was decidedly smug.  

“Guess who finally managed to buy their own pack of senbon? How’s that for ‘not real,’ kitten?” She cooed.

Naku could only growl, still under the effects of the toxin. He really wanted to take a swing at her. Chamaru whined from beside Shiro, burying his nose in his paws as if embarrassed to know him. “Tch, lucky shot,” he muttered. But he didn’t make any mention of the art again and steered clear of the girl whenever she practiced. She was a little terrifying.

They continued in this vein for the next few months, taking harder and harder missions, eventually graduating from consecutive D-ranks to the odd C-rank. This worked out well up until the fourth one. It was a supposed to be a normal mission. It had started out very very normal. The team went undercover in a town near the edge of Hi no Kuni. Their client, a rather portly man with wealth to rival the daimyo, wanted information on his business rival. Playing the role of servants, Team 4 managed to easily integrate themselves into the household within a few weeks. It wasn’t hard and servants talked. Getting information out of them was easy; it was finding out a way to get info from their target that proved somewhat more difficult.

The target was paranoid, and rightfully so. As rich as their client and head of one of the more prosperous businesses in the country, Nobuyaga Hiiro was a prime target for assassination and he knew it. Everyday, more and more guards seemed to appear out of the woodwork. It made getting close to him rather difficult. Luckily for Team 4, Chairman Nobuyaga – paranoid though he was – also had a weak spot for pretty young girls.

At first, Mirai had been wary. Sexual espionage missions were never C-ranks, nor were they given to genin teams, but her fears were soon allayed when she discovered there was nothing sexual about it. Nobuyaga just really liked to talk to young beautiful women. Small talk was the man’s stress reliever and it helped when his conversant was female. Under normal circumstances, the jounin would have immediately assumed the role, but there was a small part of her that warred with the idea.

It wasn’t often that genin got the opportunity to go undercover and converse with their target one-on-one. Even more rare was the opportunity to do so under these circumstances where the fear of being…taken advantage of was relatively low. So Mirai was in a quandary. On the one hand, she could take up the position, get the information and report back. On the other hand, she could send in Himawari to get some valuable experience in a (relatively) controlled environment. Ultimately, the other hand won.

After a few nights of finagling and hinting, Himawari sat alone before the target in her nicest serving uniform. A small part of her wanted to vomit, but a larger, more dominant part, was tittering in nervous excitement. Her hand shook a bit as she poured his tea, and she had to take a few deep breaths before she could even look at the man.

“Do I make you nervous, Hina-san?” The man’s baritone voice cut through the silence. 

Himawari – hair henged brown and whisker marks covered by makeup – shook her head vigorously. She was lucky she had spent so long responding to the fake name or else she might have given herself away. It was imperative she didn’t insult the man. He had to like her. “I-I apologize Nobuyaga-sama. I do not wish to offend.”

“No offense taken, Hina-san. I merely wish for you to be comfortable,” he said, blowing on the tea and taking a sip. “Perfection. You are very good.”

“Nobuyaga-sama is too kind,” the genin said. She could feel her face heating up at the compliment and struggled to stop her shaking hands.

“I only speak the truth. This tea is excellent. Is it too much to ask who instructed you?”

“My mother, sir.”

“Ah yes. She has done a fine job.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“You are very reserved, Hina-san. Please, talk. I admit the sound of a woman talking is very pleasing to me.”

“W-well,” Himawari stumbled, trying not to let on how creepy she found this man. There was just something…off. His aura was a nice neutral yellow, calm and flat in its countenance. It was perfectly normal for a man of his position, and, while a bit thin, there was nothing there to suggest anything strange. Despite that, there was just something about him that niggled at the back of her mind. It was irritating, but at the same time oddly enticing. There was a thrill about the danger she couldn’t help but enjoy. It was enough to keep her from running out of the room. Well, that and the mission. She needed to get him talking about something other than tea. “I do not wish to assume familiarity with one as esteemed as yourself.”

“It is no issue. Please, tell me what is on your mind at this moment.”

“My brother, sir,” she said, grasping for the first thing to enter her mind. Boruto was an easy enough topic to discuss.

“Oh? Do you have many brothers?”

“Three, sir. And an older sister,” Himawari replied. Mirai, Naku, and Shiro were posing as her siblings for the mission, but considering the type of information she needed, Boruto was the easiest and best person to discuss.  

“I see. May I ask which brother you were thinking about?” 

“Boru, sir. He’s a lot older than the rest of us and works far away.”

“You miss him,” Nobuyaga stated, sending her an indistinguishable look.

Himawari ducked her head. “Very much.” And she did. She had never been away from home for so long before and she missed her brother’s inane antics more than she thought she would. “He’s training to be a doctor,” she continued, perking up with real pride and adding a bashful grin. “He’s going to be an amazing doctor some day, even if he does hate studying.” She giggled into her hand – the same giggle that got her a kitten all those years ago – and inwardly sighed with relief as Nobuyaga did the same. This was getting fun. Who knew talking to courtiers would be so helpful?

“Well, if you believe it then I have no doubt he will succeed.”

“He will, I know it,” she chirped. “But he always complains that the equipment they get is out of date. It makes him really angry.”

“Out of date?” Bingo.

Himawari cheered a bit in her head and forced a small frown. “Yes. The company they buy their supplies from isn’t very good. I think it’s Irototsuni or something like that. He complains about them a lot.”

She kept her head down, but watched the man’s expression through the fringe of her bangs. He seemed to alternate between being somewhat smug and amused. Smug she could get, what with him stealing all of their client’s business, but the amusement was unexpected. She checked his aura again. Nope, still the same. Had she said something funny? It could only work in her favor if she did. Her nerves from earlier were being replaced by anticipation. A jolt ran down her spine as she continued to watch the emotions flit across the man’s face. It was as if she was standing on a cliff and one wrong move could make her fall. It was exhilarating, the danger she was in. Both Nobuyaga and their client were major medical supply corporations. If he didn’t fall for this, Himawari would have to do some quick thinking to get him talking.

“Ahh, I see. I believe you are referring of the Irotsuni Corporation. Yes, they have been having some problems,” the man said with an odd note in his voice.

“Problems?”

“Yes, it is unfortunate, but Irotsuni-san has made some bad dealings lately,” the man sighed, though he didn’t look particularly sympathetic. He reached across the small table and patted her hand. It was sweaty and large and he held on for a much longer amount of time than Himawari was comfortable with. “But that’s besides the point. I’m sure a fine young lady such as yourself has no interest in hearing the perils of business.”

“O-oh, no, no!” She shook her head quickly and pulled her hand free to wave her it back and forth. How to save the conversation, how to save the conversation? “I-I think it’s very interesting, Nobuyaga-sama. You are a very knowledgeable man.” She forced on an embarrassed smile. “I’m honored you are so willing to speak of it with one such as me.” 

“Oh?” Nobuyaga raised an eyebrow. For a moment, Himawari was afraid she had tipped him off, but with his grin her fears were assuaged. “You have an interest in business?”

Himawari nodded. “Yes sir, but I do not know much. You are a very successful man and I admit I am curious at to how your company works compared to Irotsuni-san. Perhaps I can let my brother know,” she finished off with a small, innocent grin.  

“Well, if you’re truly interested,” Nobuyaga mused. He nodded to himself and began to go into a more in depth description of his company’s methods as compared to Irotsuni’s.

He just talked and talked and talked. All Himawari had to do was smile, nod, and comment here and there. Apparently, Nobuyaga had out-sourced much of his development team and partnered with some group in Oto no Kuni. She remembered some of the other servants discussing the partnership, but when Himawari tried asking about it, the man brushed it off and directed the conversation in another direction to the point where she couldn’t find a way to bring it up again without looking suspicious. Considering her long-standing grievance with Oto, it left Himawari with a feeling of inadequacy. Still, by the time the tea was done and the treats eaten, she was reasonably sure she had gotten enough information. Hopefully, their client would be satisfied.  

“I must say, Hina-san, I have very much enjoyed our conversation,” Nobuyaga said. He placed his empty teacup on the table and sighed in contentment.  “You are a very intelligent young lady.”

“Thank you, Nobuyaga-sama. I too have enjoyed our conversation.”

“I should very much like to speak with you again one of these days. Perhaps I will discuss it with the Head of Staff.”

“Y-you are too kind, sir. I am honored that you should wish to talk with me again,” Himawari said, trying to keep the convoluted mix of dread and excitement at such a meeting hidden.

“Excellent,” the chairman said, smiling down at her. “Now, I feel it is getting late and we both have much to do in the morning. Until next time, Hina-chan.”

  “Thank you, Nobuyaga-sama. I wish you a good night.” The girl quickly bowed her head and calmly walked from the room. She could feel the man’s piercing gaze as she opened the office door and stepped out into the safety of the hallway. Even when she heard the door close she still had the feeling he was watching her.   

She made her way back to the servants quarters as fast as she could without looking suspicious. To her immense relief, Mirai-sensei appeared beside her about halfway there and the two kunoichi walked in silence back to their quarters. Families generally had their own rooms within this area of the estate so the team was safe to talk and make plans without too much worry. A slight genjutsu on the cameras and voila! Instant privacy.

Naku and Shiro met the two immediately upon their return, both still looking somewhat disgruntled at not having been allowed to look in on the session. Well, Naku looked annoyed. Shiro’s arms were crossed and his eyebrow was raised, both of which were more than enough to convey his discomfort over the situation.

Mirai took one look at them both and sighed. “Oh, get over it, you two. She’s fine.”

“She doesn’t look fine,” Naku grumbled, his eyes sweeping over Himawari’s pensive form.

“He didn’t try anything, scruffy. Hima-hime handled him like a pro.”

“But-”

“Naku, I’m fine,” Himawari insisted, even though she was still trying to get off the high the interrogation had given her. “Really. He was just a bit creepy.”

“A bit creepy coming from you says a lot,” Naku retorted.

“Is that supposed to imply something?”

“Yes.”

“Your hair is turning grey.”

“You take that back!” 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Mirai said, drawing the two genin out of their budding argument. “Naku, stop trying to get a reaction. Himawari, cool it with the taunts. I get you’re both nervous, but right now is not the time.”

“Sorry, sensei.”

Mirai nodded. “Better.” She turned to look at her last genin. “Shiro, how many of the staff have you managed to bug?”

Shiro adjusted his shades and said, “Sixteen people, sensei. This is because I did not wish to stretch my colony too far should a fight be unavoidable.”  

“Good. Have they reported back anything suspicious?”

“No, sensei.”

“Even better,” Mirai said, grinning. “Alright munchkins, gather round. We need to pool information.”

“Can’t we do it tomorrow? I need my beauty sleep,” Naku whined. His eyes were starting to droop and Chamaru’s warm weight on his lap wasn’t helping him stay awake.

“Nah-ah, not this time, pup.”

“Damn it.” 

“Yeah, yeah, we’re all tired. Don’t worry it won’t take long.” The group meandered over towards their beds and sat in a circle. Mirai unsealed a scroll from her pouch and prepared to write down all the information they had uncovered. “Alright, so what do we know so far?”

“We know that Nobuyaga has been stealing most of our client’s business at a rate that should not be possible,” Shiro began. “Nobuyaga has been able to increase his profit at a rate of 260 percent in the last six months.” 

“The servants have also seen a lot of strange men around the complex,” Naku added. “They come in groups of four, stay a few days, and then leave. Each group comes around every two weeks or so and they only interact with Nobuyaga and his assistant.”

“Bokuwara-san is the new assistant,” Himawari said. “He was hired about seven months ago after the previous assistant died.”

“Dude’s sketchy as hell,” Naku stated.

Mirai sent him a bemused look. “I don’t remember that bit.”

“Have you seen the guy? He has that evil puppet master/deranged ‘loyal-only-to-thy-master’ servant look down pat.”  

“Now that you mention it…” Himawari mused. “He does. But Nobuyaga is really sketchy too. His aura was too…flat.”

“Flat?” Mirai asked, looking puzzled. “Is that...bad?”

“Well, no, but it’s just...” the girl struggled to answer. “Okay, so you know how everyone has little quirks? Like how Naku cares more about his nails than his kunai – don’t deny it – or how Shiro can’t keep his bugs to himself. Well, things like that are usually reflected in their auras. It’s just a slight quirk, the way it moves or flickers around the body. Nobuyaga’s was a bit thin, but I would still expect some kind of movement. There was nothing. It was like his aura was too tired to move so it didn’t even try.”

The jounin looked apprehensive with this new information. “Is it possible for this to be his quirk?”

“I guess. It’s not like I’ve ever met the guy before.”

“But you’ve never seen anything like this in anyone else?”

“Maybe?” Himawari tried to think if she had ever seen anything so bland. “It looked kinda similar to people who are low on chakra, but I mean it’s not like I have a lot of experience with people outside the village.”

“I see. What about the servants? Are they in any way similar?”

“I haven’t really looked. Too many auras at once kinda gives me a headache, but I could check,” She shrugged her shoulders and quirked a slight smile. “Do you think I should try and get close to Bokuwara?”

“No, not yet at least. We don’t even know if it’s of any concern and I don’t want to risk it. Nobuyaga is a known subject, Bokuwara is not.”  

“And Bokuwara is an evil servant.”

Mirai sighed and rolled her eyes. “Naku, we’re on a mission, not scouting out actors for a B-grade horror film.”

“But it makes sense – ow!”

“Shiro…”

“Yes, sensei?”

“Just – never mind.” Mirai shook her head. “So let’s combine this with what we learned tonight. Himawari,” the genin looked expectantly at her teacher, “you did good, especially for your first undercover interrogation. There are just a few things you need to be aware of for the future. First, calm down.” She sent the girl a knowing look. Himawari smiled sheepishly and tapped her forefingers together in a nervous gesture. “It works now because of your youth and your looks, but as you get older, people will expect you to have more of a calm demeanor. Also, I noticed how you mentioned your brother by name. ‘Boru’ isn’t particularly common and your family is not unknown. It wouldn’t take much digging to make a connection, and with this mystery group we don’t know what we can expect.”

“Wait, so I might have just blown our cover?”

“I doubt it, but you have to be careful in the future. You and your brother are very well known if only because of your parents. Giving out names, even partial names, can be dangerous. There was also the issue of your knowledge. You don’t want anything to seem too convenient. The fact that your brother used our client’s products could be seen as suspicious. I don’t think Nobuyaga caught it, but his partners might.” Mirai noticed the girl’s face gradually getting paler and moved to assuage her. “Don’t think you did everything wrong, Hima. You did quite well. I’m really proud of you. Besides that, the fact that you got him to talk so much about his dealings was impressive. Not everyone will be as forthcoming, but I won’t knock what worked.”

“Experience?”

“Experience,” Mirai nodded. “And we did get a lot of information from the guy. When the staff said he was a chatterbox, they really meant it.”

“With his inability to keep information hidden, it is a wonder his opponent needed shinobi to discover his secrets,” Shiro said.

“Exactly. Which means this unknown group might be doing more behind the scenes that Nobuyaga doesn’t know about.”

“Where are they from?”

“Oto no Kuni.”

“Well, that’s never good. Oto’s always up to something bad.” 

“It isn’t good to presume, Naku.”

“But is it presumptive or merely a logical conclusion based on previous events?” Shiro inquired. “What would Oto achieve from partnering with a medical supply company in Hi no Kuni?”

“And is it Oto no Kuni or Otogakure?” Himawari supplied. “Because those could mean two different things.”    

Mirai gave a nod, proud they reached the right conclusions. “We need more information.”

“Do you think I could go back, sensei?”

The jounin gave her student a surprised look. “You actually want to go back?”

Himawari shrugged, an odd glint in her eyes. “I-I think it could help. He already asked for me.”

“But do you want to go back?” 

“I-” she paused to think about it. Did she really want to go back with that man? Even if Mirai couldn’t act as backup? The man was off, in a way she most definitely wasn’t comfortable with, but there was something about being in that room, needling information out of him that awoke something in her. It was like when Ino-oba-chan let her take care of the monkshood for the first time without supervision: terrifying and thrilling all at the same time. She needed it. She needed that adrenaline. “I want to go back. I can get more out of him, I know I can.”

“If you’re sure, I don’t have a problem with it. You’ve already built up a rapport with him and I can’t deny the value in it. Just remember, I might not be able to be in the room with you every time. Do you think you can handle it?”

Himawari nodded, determined. “Yes, sensei.”

“Then I’ll talk to the Head of Staff tomorrow.”    

Tomorrow came and went, and Himawari was instructed to meet with Nobuyaga the next night. She went with quite a bit of apprehension, but managed to make it through the evening without any mishaps. Nobuyaga was happy to see her again and they chatted the night away, though the girl was unable to get much new information out of him. The only thing she was able to glean was that Bokuwara, the new assistant, had been the one to suggest partnering with Oto no Kuni. He made no mention of Otogakure.

The meetings continued for another week or so and still no new information. Mirai was starting to wonder if they should call the mission complete and return to their client with the information they had, but something held her back. There was something else, something they just weren’t finding, and it was putting her on edge. Truth be told, she was starting to regret sending Himawari in if only because it made her so noticeable.

It was now the fifth meeting Himawari had been to and Mirai’s senses were going haywire. She would have said she was just being paranoid if not for a few key things. First, she was a jounin. She had been on enough missions and in enough life or death situations to know to listen to her gut. Then there was the fact that Chamaru and Naku had been jumping at every little thing that came their way, and Shiro said his bugs were getting restless. If anything, she knew not to disregard an Inuzuka or Aburame’s senses, no matter their age or experience. It’s what made them such good trackers. And finally, Himawari mentioned that their target’s strange aura was starting to expand, to the point where she couldn’t even attempt to look at anyone else’s because all she would see was his. That was not normal, not even by shinobi standards.

“Sensei?”

Mirai gazed down at her student and noticed the apprehensive look on his face. He was holding his partner tightly in his arms and looking every which way as if to find an escape.

“Yes, Naku?”

“I think…I think something’s wrong.”

That put her on alert. “What is it?”

“I don’t know, but doesn’t it seem a little quiet to you?”

She had noticed the manor seemed abnormally silent, but chalked it up to the time of night. In hindsight, this was rather stupid, but now that she was paying attention it was obvious something wasn’t right. Mirai turned to her other student and said, “Shiro, is Hima still with the target?”

The Aburame boy paused for a moment to communicate with his kikaichu and shook his head. “No, sensei. She is on her way back.”

“Through the main hallway?”

Another pause. “Yes.” 

“Good,” she said. She didn’t know why, but something in her gut made her move towards the door. “Let’s meet her halfway.”

“Sensei?”

“No questions. You two ready to leave?”

“Yes, sensei. We are prepared for an emergency exit.”

“That’s what I like to hear.”

It was a good thing Mirai listened to her gut because not a minute after the trio met up with Himawari all hell broke loose. There was an explosion somewhere in the corridor they had just come from that forced the group to the floor. Screams filled the air and fire engulfed the area. The team was forced to crawl along the floor until they reached the next hall.

“You three alright?” Mirai asked, looking her students over with a critical eye.

“Yes, sensei,” they chorused back. A bark came back from Chamaru. She couldn’t tell if any of them were injured through all the soot, but she didn’t see any blood.

“Good. I’m declaring our mission over. We need to find the best escape route and get back to the client. I don’t care what get’s in our way, we need to leave.”

“But what about the other people here?” Himawari asked, eyes wide at the thought of abandoning them to the onslaught.

“Leave them. I doubt the staff is the target. They should be fine. Right now, our priority is getting out so we can complete our mission. Is that clear?”

“But-”

“Is that clear?”

The trio nodded, though they didn’t look particularly enthusiastic. Mirai could understand their concern, but they needed to complete the mission. Sticking around would only endanger them.  

“Shiro, send a few bugs ahead. See if they can find an exit. Naku, Chamaru, how’re your noses?”

“Not good. There’s too much smoke.”

“Damn.” She bit her lip in thought. “What about your ears?”

“Better than our noses.”

“It’ll have to do. Keep alert and let us know if you hear anything incoming.”

“What about me?”

Mirai smirked down at the girl. “You ever try to read someone’s aura in the middle of an attack?”

For a moment, Himawari stared at her teacher in shock. Was Mirai-sensei suggesting what she thought she was suggesting? Right now? In the middle of all this mess? Her teacher could not be serious. She tried to find the joke in her sensei’s words, but found nothing. The woman was serious. Well, if that was the case…Himawari’s surprise gave way to excitement at the prospect of practicing her abilities on real enemies rather than the friends she was used to. It was a definite step up even if the timing could have been a little better. Perhaps the added pressure would help.

The group followed Shiro through a maze of deserted passageways. Since they didn’t know the target of the attack, they needed to maintain as low a profile as possible, meaning they couldn’t just blow up a wall and escape. It made the whole situation at lot harder than it would have otherwise been.

“And we were so close too,” Naku murmured under his breath.

“So close to what?” Himawari whispered back. Her eyes were flitting every which way in search of an enemy, and the smoke was starting to affect her vision and breathing.

“What, you still think this is a C-rank?” Naku turned to grin at her.

Himawari thought for a second before the reality sunk in. No, this was definitely not a C-rank anymore. “Crap. Daddy’s not going to be happy.”

“We were almost a normal team,” the Inuzuka laughed. Himawari couldn’t help but join him. The thought that anyone with their families’ histories could have a normal shinobi career was laughable.

“I do not believe this is a time for jokes…or speaking.” And there was Shiro with his ability to bring reality crashing back down.

“You know, Shiro, this might be your last chance to laugh. Don’t you want to get one last dig at me before we’re destroyed in a fiery explosion?”

“Tempting.”

“See? And this is why-”

“Naku!”

Himawari felt it before anything else. The force of the blast was enough to blow out the windows and create a gaping hole in the opposing wall. Naku, who had been in direct range of the attack, just barely managed to avoid being burned alive. He and Chamaru jumped back and fell onto Himawari, the three landing in a heap on the floor. Shiro was flung forward and only remained conscious through the timely action of his kikaichu.

Before any of the three genin could comprehend what was going on, Mirai was letting loose a powerful suiton jutsu, dousing the flames and engaging their attackers at the same time. She moved through the throng at a terrifying speed, chakra knives whirling and slicing away at the enemy in a bloody dance of death. Unfortunately, there were more assailants than Mirai could counter at once.

It was an all out free-for-all. Walls were destroyed, craters formed in wood floors, and any luxury item was damaged beyond repair. The enemy, Otogakure shinobi by the looks of them, weren’t particularly powerful, but they did have numbers. While Mirai was able to eliminate the bulk of them during the initial encounter, at least a few of the smarter ones broke off from the group and raced towards the disoriented genin. The three children and one dog found themselves separated within a matter of minutes, their opponents not giving them any time to regroup.

Himawari ducked under an incoming kick. She rolled across the floor and threw a kunai at her assailant, but it did nothing. The man deflected the weapon with his own and continued towards her. Himawari found herself immediately on the defensive, blocking a swarm of kicks and punches that refused to give her any room for retaliation. She tried to hit him with a jyuuken strike, but without the Byakugan she overshot her palm. Her opponent took advantage of the mistake to grab her wrist and send her flying through the air. She ended up crashing through a crumbling wall and landed with a groan on the floor.

There was barely enough time from when she landed to when the other shinobi was upon her, but it was enough.

“Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu.”

She saw the moment the genjutsu took hold. There was a pause, brief but noticeable, that allowed her to quickly get out of the man’s direct line of sight. Unfortunately, this man was not a genin or a bandit like she was used to. Unlike her teammates, the Oto shinobi was able to brush off the technique with ease.

The man chuckled. “Is that all you Konoha-nin can do?”

Himawari froze. How did he-?

“You really should be more careful when you talk, Hima-hime.”

He knew her name. He knew her name.

“Wha-” But he didn’t give her any time to finish the question. A volley of senbon flew in her direction and she only just managed to avoid being hit. She had never been so grateful to her mother’s taijutsu training as she was now. Power be damned, flexibility was key.

The genin ducked and weaved, reaching for her own senbon in a desperate attempt at landing a blow on the man. Each one fell flat. Was this the difference between a genin and a chuunin? Or a genin and a jounin? Either way, Himawari was in over her head. She frantically tried to come up with something that would help her out of this mess, or at least give her a little breathing room. She could already tell her chains would be useless; she hadn’t practiced with them nearly enough. Her skills in ninjutsu were just abysmal. Poisons and genjutsu were where she excelled, but her repertoire wasn’t nearly as vast as she needed right now. She was still unable to make aerosol toxins and she had very few genjutsu above C-rank. With the ease her opponent threw off her first one, she didn’t know how well that would work either. Maybe if she had a wider area to move in? Her eyes flitted around to find an exit, but could only see the hole she entered through. If she moved fast enough she could make it. She gathered chakra to her legs and pushed.

Himawari darted through the hole in the wall and back out into the hallway. Most of the lower ranking shinobi were dead, but she could see Naku and Shiro battling it out with their own opponents. Mirai-sensei was nowhere to be seen.

“Katon: Karyū Endan!” Holy shit, he was releasing that in here?

The genin narrowly avoided being incinerated by leaping out of an opening she thought might have at one point been a window. She landed in the courtyard, though it was probably more apt to call it a battlefield. Hundreds of people crowded the once beautiful area. Guards and residents were quickly falling to enemy shinobi.

Something flickered at the edge of her vision. She spun around to look, but found no one there. Her eyes darted this way and that hoping to find the source. Nothing appeared. But she had no time to dwell on the oddity as a voice yelled out, “Katon: Gōenka!”  

A multitude of fireballs rained down from where Himawari had just escaped. She let out a yell as one of them landed too close, singeing her skin and distracting her from the incoming shinobi. A kick to the abdomen sent her flying. She managed to right herself by flipping in the air and landed a fair distance from the man.

“Are you really the daughter of Uzumaki Naruto?” The man chuckled. “You’re not putting up much of a fight.”

Himawari grit her teeth, but bit back a retort. She fingered one of her kunai.  

“Oh well, I suppose I shouldn’t expect much from a Konoha-nin, no matter who their father is.”

“How-” she swallowed down her nerves. “How do you know who I am?”

“Hmm?” The Oto-nin looked confused for a second. He then let out a horrible, grating chortle and smiled at her. “Oh that’s right. Silly me.”

He made a kage bunshin. Himawari took a step back as both men’s skin seemed to…ripple. Bones moved underneath the flesh. The original’s hair receded, while the clone’s extended. Their faces began to form new features: higher cheekbones, rounder eyes, a square jaw on one and a wider face with sagging skin on the other. Who-?

Himawari’s eyes went wide.

“Bokuwara-san…Nobuyaga-san…”

“Hmm, not quite,” the man on the right said. She had never talked to him personally, but he had appeared occasionally after her meetings with Nobuyaga. But if one was a clone, then whom had she been speaking to this whole time. The clone popped out of existence. “You know, it’s surprising. I would have thought your sensei would have been able to sense me. It’s amazing the fodder they’ll promote to jounin these days.”

“Mirai-sensei is not fodder!” How dare he! Mirai was one of the best jounin in the village. She even impressed Sasuke-oji-san and gods knew how rare that was.  

“Well, I suppose ‘fodder’ is a little mean.” The man pretended to contemplate it. “She was rather impressive against my men. And I guess I can’t really expect her to sense me. After all, I did cheat a little.” He showed her his arms where a multitude of seals could be seen.

“You-you sealed your chakra?” It certainly explained the aura, but that was ridiculously dangerous! Shinobi had died from sealing their chakra for too long.  

“Close, but no cigar. I merely shielded my chakra presence. Crude, but effective.”  

“Who are you?” Himawari edged back even further. To feel the need to shield their chakra…there shouldn’t have been a need, not around civilians.

The realization hit her with all the strength of a freight train. “You knew who we were.”

“Give the princess a prize,” he mocked. A terrible grin stretched across his now normal face and he stepped towards her. “You know, I’m enjoying this much more than I did with your brother. Granted, I suppose I shouldn’t be too harsh on the boy; he wasn’t exactly a shinobi back then,” he taunted. Himawari’s eyes went wide at the implications. This man was – “As for who I am…well, I don’t really think you need to know.”

Anger coursed through her. This was the man who hurt her brother. She had never forgotten the promise she made all those years ago. Everything she had ever done was to get back at the people who hurt him.

The man got closer and she found she had nowhere to run. If she could just keep him talking…“Why are you here? What does Oto gain by forming a medical supply company in another country?”

Rather than tease her as he had been doing, the man sagged as if disappointed by the question. “I take back the prize. Obviously you don’t get it. Oh well, if the rumors of your father are true I shouldn’t be surprised. Too bad, so sad.” He looked above her for a moment, but he was close enough now that it was just what Himawari needed.

The girl struck out with her elbow, landing a surprise blow to the man’s stomach. Not giving him a chance to recover, she spun up and landed two kicks to his chest before activating the genjutsu.

Kōyōmu

Himawari used her opponent’s distraction to disappear into the sudden mist and reappear behind him. She quickly reached out with a kunai to strike the man in the back. He managed to react fast enough so as not to be stabbed, but he couldn’t avoid being cut.

“Well, what do you know,” he sneered. “The little princess can fight. It almost makes me regret having to end this so quickly.”

A kunai came barreling towards her at a speed too fast for her to avoid. She froze.

Am I…am I going to die? She thought, as the weapon got closer. All she could do was stand there and wait for the pain. A second passed, then two, then three. She didn’t even realize her eyes were closed until a full five seconds had passed and there was still no pain.

What-?

A wall of insects was the first thing she saw. In that moment, she could have kissed Shiro.

“You should not have attacked my friend.” The quietest member of their team appeared beside her and she really did almost kiss him. “If you try to kill my friends, I will try to kill you.”

The man looked amused. He didn’t seem the least bit perturbed that he failed in killing her. “How sweet. The princess has a bodyguard.”

“The princess has friends,” another voice chimed in. “Gatsūga!”

A whirling sound pierced through the screams still filling the courtyard as a giant drill barreled down on the enemy shinobi. Shiro’s bugs retreated back to show Naku and Chamaru leaping back from a large hole in the ground. The Oto-nin was nowhere to be seen.

“Did-did you get him?” Himawari asked, glancing around for the man.

Slow clapping sounded above them and the three genin spun around to look at the opposite roof. “I must say, well done. If you hadn’t yelled out beforehand I might have even been hurt.” He smiled at them like an adult would a naïve child. “Unfortunately, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut this short. Bosses to talk to, information to pass on, you know how it is. But you’ve entertained me; so let me leave you with a little parting gift. I do so hope you get out of it alive.”

“Hey! What’s that supposed to mean, you-” But the man was already gone, disappearing into the night as if he were never there.

Naku whirled around to look at his teammates. “What do you think he meant – shit!” The whole manor shook with explosions and, if people weren’t panicking before, they were now. The Oto-nin were now hacking away at anyone who attempted to escape the inferno. It was an all out massacre.

“We’ve gotta get out of here!” Naku yelled, trying to make himself heard over the din.

Himawari looked around in a panic. “Where’s Mirai-sensei?”

“Here,” the jounin said, appearing behind the three. “Head south and don’t stop for anything. I’ll bring up the rear.”

“But the people-“

“No time!”  

Another explosion rocked the courtyard. The team immediately leapt into action, heading south and staying as close to each other as possible. They ran and jumped and leapt and vaulted themselves passed everything in their way. The screams of the dying followed them even as they pulled further and further away.

That was when the last explosion struck.

Up until then, Himawari had been working off pure adrenaline. Her prior fear fueled her, forcing her to think and move and dodge and attack. Now, further away and out of immediate danger, the genin found herself looking back.

And she was horrified.

From the team’s vantage amongst the trees, the people in the courtyard looked like tiny ants scurrying around in chaos. She couldn’t stop herself if she tried; all her control just snapped and before she knew it, little flashes of color invaded her vision. She had worked so hard with Santa-sensei to able to dim the colors, to turn them into mere sheens on peripheral of her vison, but all those lessons abandoned her. The colors churned lashed with fear and bloodlust, shinobi and civilian blending together in a mishmash of swirling light. In that moment, Himawari could only be glad she hadn’t inherited her father’s ability to feel others’ emotions. She probably wouldn’t have been able to handle it. The colors were terrifying enough.

Then, one-by-one, the colors flickered and died.

Himawari had never seen anything like it. The bright beacons of light she associated with the fleeing staff just disappeared. Darkness – hollowed voids of color – clouded her vision as the butchering shinobi tore the civilians apart. It took her a moment for her brain to catch up with what she was seeing. When it did, everything switched off.

She was watching people die.

She was watching people kill.

Himawari felt fear like she had never felt before. The monsters under the bed were nothing compared to this. She was terrified out of her mind.

“Himawari!”

The girl didn’t even hear her teammate. The colors kept flickering – bright, then dark, then gone. She was falling, her body flying towards the ground. A coarse hand grabbed her’s, but she was already too far-gone to notice. Her vision went black.

Himawari awoke to the sound of her teammates arguing.

“Cut it out you oversized beehive!”

“Must you be so insulting when others are trying to aid you?”

“Your bugs are nomming at my flesh!”

“They are attempting to reduced the risk of infection.”

“I need a shower. I feel so unclean.”

“Perhaps if you would stop whining you’d feel better.”

“I have shit-eating bugs prancing over my beautiful, perfect skin!”

“They are not flies. They do not eat fecal matter.”

“Oh yeah, because rotting flesh is so much better.”

“If you are so against it, I can just let your arm become infected.”

Naku grumbled something under his breath, but Himawari didn’t catch what he said. Whatever it was, Shiro slapped him upside the head for it. Must have been pretty good then. She pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked around.

They were in a campsite. She was situated in her sleeping bag, close enough to the fire pit so as to stay warm but not risk alighting herself. Across from her, Naku and Shiro sat on a log, the Aburame boy attempting to heal his teammate’s sluggishly bleeding wound. She didn’t remember him having it earlier, but it didn’t look too deep – at least, not from where she sat. She looked around again.

“Where’s Mirai-sensei?”

Both of her teammates shot up from their argument and beamed at her. Well, okay, Naku beamed, Shiro just smiled and released his hold on the Inuzuka’s arm.

“Hey, you’re awake!” Naku proclaimed. Chamaru barked from his spot beside his partner and moved to lick her. She petted his head graciously. “About time you got up. We were afraid we’d have to drag you back to Konoha.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Mirai-sensei said it was just the adrenaline.”

“Killjoy,” Naku muttered. “Mirai-sensei’s setting up traps. It’s too late now to continue and the mission’s a bust anyway.”

“What?” Himawari was confused. How could the mission be a bust? They still had to report back to their client.

“Mirai-sensei sent a clone ahead. Irotsuni-san is dead. The mission is a failure.”

“W-what? How is that possible? What happened?” She asked, trying to wrap her head around the situation.  

Naku and Shiro exchanged a look. “We don’t know. Even sensei doesn’t know what to make of it.”

“He knew we were there,” she mumbled. The girl drew her knees up and hugged them to try and gain semblance of comfort. “He knew we were coming. He knew my name. He said-”

“Who? That creepy guy?”

“Yeah. He was…he was Nobuyaga-san and Bokuwara-san. A kage bunshin. He said I put up a better fight than my brother.”

“I find it difficult to believe Boruto-san fought this man and never mentioned it.”

Himawari looked away, not surprised that they had already figured out the connection between the two men. “My brother was attacked by Oto shinobi when he was seven.” She didn’t have to look to know they were surprised. “Remember that time I kept staying over at your houses? Boru-nii was in the hospital. I didn’t really understand until a few years ago, but I remember daddy saying something about Oto,” she sighed. “I promised Boru-nii I’d find the people who hurt him. I just didn’t expect it to be like this.”

“Maybe he was just trying to get under your skin.”

She scoffed. “It worked.”

“So make it not work,” Naku said. “Look, Hima, we just had some nasty shit thrown at us. We’re kinda gonna need steel guts for this one. If you really promised your brother you’d find those bastards, then now’s not the time for wallowing.”

Himawari stared at him. “Your pep talks leave a lot to be desired.”

“But did it work?”

“Not really.”

Naku frowned. “Damn. Well are you feeling better at least? Not in the head, obviously, but you did collapse.”

“That was kind of an ‘in the head’ thing too.”

“What do you mean?” Shiro asked, adjusting his goggles so that the campfire reflected in the black plastic.

“You know how Santa-sensei has been working with me to control my whole seeing colors thing?” The boys nodded. “Okay, well sometimes I lose control. Like when my emotions get too out of control or I get tired and I can’t push the colors away. It wasn’t a big deal really, I just…”

“Just…?”

Himawari heaved a sigh. “I’ve never seen someone die before. The colors just…vanished. It was a shock.”

“I can imagine. It is a physical reminder than a life has been taken.”

“That’s some messed up shit.”

“Yeah, well,” she shrugged. “At least I’m not like daddy or Boru-nii. They can actually feel people dying.”

“That has to be terrifying.”

“And Boru-nii wants to be a medic. I couldn’t do it.”

“You’re damn right you couldn’t,” Naku spoke up and grinned at the way they both looked at him in disbelief at his insensitivity. “Hima, you know I love you in a totally platonic-friendly-sisterly way, but I’m sorry; when it comes to healing, I wouldn’t trust you with a paper cut.”

There was a beat of silence, and then Himawari let out a peal of laughter. Her mouth opened real wide and she had to close her eyes she was laughing so hard. Falling back on the blanket, she continued to shake with mirth. Naku and Chamaru barked right along side her, and even Shiro chuckled. It was a much-needed moment of levity.

“Better?” Naku asked after their laughter had subsided.

Himawari smiled. “Actually, yeah.”

“Good. ‘Cause you all sad and mopey really isn’t right. It’s almost worse than when you’re happy, and I know the dangerous shit you do when you’re happy.”

“I turn you into an old man?”

“Okay, that’s not funny. We don’t joke about things like that. I will remain young and beautiful even if I have to pry that genjutsu from Godaime-sama’s sober claws.”

“Wow, you are dedicated.”

“Damn straight,” he smiled. “But seriously, you suck at healing and I’d rather have Shiro’s shit bugs patch me up than let you near me with anything other than a bandage.”

“My bugs do not eat feces and you know it,” Shiro stated, his eyebrow drawn together in displeasure.

“Oh right, they just eat corpses,” Naku remarked.

Shiro didn’t speak right away, but his lip twitched and Himawari knew enough to back away. Within seconds, a steady stream of kikaichu flew out from Shiro’s jacket and headed straight for Naku. The Inuzuka was already up and running, bugs hot on his tail.

“Damn you, Shiro! Chamaru, help!” The little brown puppy ran after his partner, but it was obvious from his movements that he was enjoying himself much more than Naku was.

Himawari turned to her other teammate and said, “You dad won’t like that you’re setting your bugs on allies.”

Shiro shrugged. “Are you telling?” Himawari smiled. “Then I have nothing to fear.”

The girl only smiled wider.

“Please don’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?” She asked, still smiling.

“Like you want to wrap me up in your chains, carry me away, and hide me in some dank underground lair that only you know the coordinates to.”

“Shiro, it’s not nice to sabotage my plans.”

“My apologies.”

“Accepted.”

They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes, only broken every once in a while by the sound of Naku’s cries. Eventually, Himawari turned to her teammate and said, “Shiro? Do you think we’ll have missions like this often?”

“Missions that go wrong or missions where we must face the possibility of death?”

“Both.”

“Most probably. The missions office is not infallible and people fake ranks all the time so as pay less. As shinobi, death is simply a natural part of our lifestyle. Just because we are much more peaceful now than in previous years, doesn’t mean crime and vagrancy has stopped. It is inevitable that we will face more death. What is important is that we do not lose ourselves to it. I will always be Shiro. You will always be Himawari. If you can remember that, then nothing else matters.”

Himawari stared at her friend for a second. “You’ve really thought this through haven’t you?”

“Many times.”

“Heh,” she grinned. “Well, then I guess I should stop wallowing, huh? Gotta admit, I’m not a big fan. My aura’s all depressed.”

“That’s not good.”

“Absolutely not. I’m gonna need a lot of dorayaki when we get home. I can’t think straight when I’m sad.” It was true. She really couldn’t. Himawari liked being happy. She was at her best when she wasn’t thinking about enemies and death and all things morbid. It made her aura so much pinker. She couldn’t allow this to ruin her life. Sitting up straighter, her eyes hardening in determination, Himawari said, “Alright, that’s it. When we get home, we’re all going out for sweets. And then we’re gonna train until our arms fall off.”

“That’s not quite-”

“We’re going to train until our arms fall off,” she repeated, a manic gleam to her.

Shiro to did the smart thing and nodded. “Right.”

“Good. Now, I’m off to bed. Night Shiro. Thanks for cheering me up.”

A beat. “You’re welcome, Himawari. Goodnight.”

The girl smiled and listened to the sound of bugs returning to their host and Naku’s heavy footsteps. The other boy was grumbling under his breath about sweat and grass stains, but she paid him no real mind. It was humorous in its normalcy. She let her eyes close shut.

For a moment, she saw flickering lights and dying colors underneath her eyelids, but she shook them off with pure strength of will. She couldn’t help them. She could do nothing for them. The dark, lusting colors of the attackers struggled to take their place, and somewhere in the back of her mind, the niggling idea that these were the colors of shinobi tried to take root. Himawari ripped the thought away.

If those were the colors of shinobi, then she refused to be like them. They were angry colors, hateful colors, colors of death and destruction. She would not be like them. She would be happy. She would smile. If death came looking for her, she would laugh in its face. That was the kind of kunoichi she would be.

Her mother picked her up the next day. Her eyes, which Himawari loved so much, were red-rimmed and her arms shook even as she held the little girl tightly to her chest.

"What's wrong, mama?" She asked, cupping her mother's puffy face in her hands.

Hinata choked a bit and smiled. A heavy feeling filled the little girl as she looked at her mother. The pretty blue color she normally saw when she looked at her mama was pale and sickly. "Nothing, baby. I just missed you so much."

Himawari looked critically at her mother's face. The bad color didn't fill her with much confidence, but if mama said she was fine, Himawari would believe her. After all, mama never lied. "I missed you too, mama. Is Boru-nii home yet?"

She immediately regretted asking. The remaining blue dulled, turning an ugly grey, and mama tightened her grip. Hinata took a deep breath and shakily shook her head. "Not yet, sweetheart. Boru-nii got hurt yesterday and he can't come home right now."

"Oh," Himawari looked down at her lap. Her little fingers reached out to play with her mother's hair. "When can he come home?"

There was a pause and then, "Soon, baby. He'll come home soon."

"How soon?"

"As soon as Tsunade-sama says he can."

"He's with Obaa-chan?"

"Yes, sweetie. He's with Obaa-chan and daddy right now."

"And Obaa-chan is making him better?"

Her mother hiccupped a little, but nodded. "Yeah, Obaa-chan is making him better."

"Can we go see him? I miss Boru-nii."

"I-" Hinata started. She looked up from her daughter to gaze imploringly at Shino. The Aburame Head could only stare silently back. This situation was as foreign to him as it was to her. "Maybe later, honey. But right now we can't."

"But I wanna see him now," she whined, still holding onto her mother's hair.

"I know, but Boru-nii needs to sleep. You don't want to wake him up, right?"

"No," she gazed back down. "But I can see him later?"

"Yes, we can go see him later."

"Okay." She wanted to see him now, but she didn't want to upset her mother any more. The grey had already darkened too much; she didn't want it to get any worse.

"Now say 'thank you' to Shino-oji-chan."

Himawari swung her head around and smiled at her uncle. "Thank you, Shino-oji-chan. I had lots and lots of fun!"

"You're very welcome, Himawari-chan. Why? Because we enjoy having you in our home."

The little girl giggled. She found Shino-oji-chan's speech very funny.

"Thank you, Shino-kun," Hinata said.

"I was no trouble, Hinata-chan," Shino reassured, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Himawari-chan is always welcome in our home."

Hinata smiled, slight though it was. "I know. Thank you."

"You're welcome," Shino nodded. "Give our regards to Hokage-sama."

"You know he doesn't like it when his friends call him that," Hinata teased halfheartedly.

"He worked hard for it. It would be remiss of me to call him otherwise."

Hinata chuffed, and a much needed light entered her eyes. "I'll let you take that up with him."

"I will. Perhaps it might help him remember me."

She couldn't help the slight laugh that escaped. "To be fair, you were hiding most of your face back then."

"That is not an excuse."

Himawari reached up to tug on her mother's blouse. "Mama, what are you talking about? Why wouldn't daddy remember Shino-oji-chan?"

"No reason, honey. It's just a very old joke."

"Joke?"

"Shino-kun…"

Himawari looked confusedly between her mother and uncle. She didn't like being left out of jokes, but before she could demand an answer her mother shifted her higher up on her hip and said, "We shouldn't keep Shino-oji-chan from his day, though. Say good-bye, Hima."

"Bye-bye, Shino-ji!"

The Aburame returned her little wave. "Good-bye, Himawari-chan. Have a good day."

"You too!"

Hinata gave her old teammate a quick hug, which Shino returned, albeit stiffly.

"I'll keep you informed."

"That's all I ask. Should you require anything…"

"I can come to you."

They exchanged small smiles and then Hinata was out the door, five-year-old Himawari chattering nonsensically about her night at the Aburame Hive and how Shiro left bugs in the bed. They went on a few errands, mostly for food, and stopped by Tenten's shop to restock on senbon. The two kunoichi exchanged a very strange conversation, which Himawari couldn't follow, and ended with Hinata sniffling into Tenten's shoulder. The grey twisted uneasily and, if she hadn't been suspicious before, Himawari was now. She no longer believed her mama was okay.

This was further enforced by her mother's continuously strange behavior. All day, Hinata's mind seemed to be elsewhere. She played with Himawari halfheartedly, but would have spontaneous bouts of affection where she would hold the little girl tightly to her chest for minutes at a time. She almost chopped off a finger trying to cook dinner and it was only due to years of rigorous training and muscle memory that kept her from having to take a trip to the hospital. By time bedtime rolled around, Himawari was convinced her brother had died, and she was on the verge of tears.

"Hima?" Her mother questioned as she entered the room. The little girl sat with her legs tucked under the covers sniffling back tears. "Oh sweetie, what's wrong?"

"He's dead!" The little girl sobbed.

"What?" She picked the little girl up and placed her on her lap, wrapping her arms around her. A warmth enveloped Himawari and she tried to snuggle into it. "Who's dead, baby?"

"Bor-Boru-nii!"

"Oh Himawari," Hinata sighed, smoothing the back locks of dark hair. "Boruto isn't dead, I promise."

"Then-then why you so sad? You're all black!" She moaned.

Hinata sighed. "I'm sad because Boru-nii got very hurt. When you or your brother is in pain, it causes daddy and me pain because we love you both so much. I'm so sorry I made you think…" she swallowed harshly and took a deep breath. "I'm just a little worried."

"But, but Boru-nii is okay?" Himawari sniffled and wiped at her eyes. Her mother reached up and brushed the remaining tears away. She smiled at her little girl.

"He's still a little hurt, but he'll be just fine. And daddy's with him right now so I know he's safe."

"Daddy's prote'ting him?"

"Daddy's protecting him," she smiled, but it then began to slowly fade as if she were thinking of something that didn't make sense. "What do you mean I'm all black?"

Himawari sniffled. "You're all black. You were grey before. But-but that's not normal too," she moaned.

"It's not?"

"No," she wiped at her eyes. "Mama's blue. Like the pretty flower Ino-oba-chan uses when my head hurts."

"Sage?"

"Yeah! But you're not blue now. I don't like it."

"Am I always blue?" Her mother asked with an odd tone.

Himawari nodded her head. "Yeah. People are lots of colors. But-but now you’re all black! I don’t like it; it’s ugly! Can you make it go away?"

Hinata sat speechless for a moment as she floundered for something reassuring to say. "I-I don’t think so, honey, but I can try. Is it okay if mama asks you a question?” Himawari nodded. “Do you…see colors around everybody?"

"Yeah! Don’t you?" Hinata shook her head. This was mind-blowing for the little girl. Did her mama really not see the colors? Were there other people that couldn't see the colors? How did that even work? The colors were everywhere; they surrounded everyone, swirling and churning and moving and hugging.

"No, but I think it's very special," her mother tapped her nose and smiled, though there was something off about it.

"You really think it's sp-special?" She asked, because if other people couldn't see the colors then maybe there was something wrong with her. But if mama said it made her special…

"Very. Is it okay if I tell daddy?"

"Yeah! And-and daddy can tell Boru-nii. Do you think Boru-nii sees the colors, too?

"I don't know. Maybe we can ask him when he wakes up."

"And that will be soon, right?"

"I-I hope so."

"Me too. Don't worry mama, daddy's with Boru-nii. Daddy's gonna prote't him. So, no more black, right mama?"

"Right," she kissed Himawari's forehead. "No more black. But now I think it's time for bed. Do you want mama to stay here tonight?"

"Yes p'ease," the five-year-old mumbled, already dozing off.

"Alright." She picked the girl up off her lap and laid her down under the blankets. Then, she wrapped her arms around her daughter and pulled her close. "Good night, Hima-hime. Mama loves you."

At first, Hinata thought the little girl had already fallen asleep, but then a faint voice whispered in her ear, "Love you, too, mama," and Himawari was out like a light, her little hands clutching her mother's nightshirt. Her mother clutched back.

The next morning, Himawari awoke to orange. For a few seconds she was confused, but then, as she adjusted more to the light, she sat up in surprise. Where she had expected to see her mother, her father lay curled up with her instead. Her daddy's face was pale and splotchy, and he was still in his work clothes. His cloak was wrapped tightly around her. Normally, Himawari would have jumped up and hugged her father awake, but he looked so tired the little girl didn't have the heart to. Instead, she tried to carefully wiggle herself out of her father's grip without waking him. It proved harder than she thought.

The more she squirmed, the tighter her daddy's grip got, until she was pressed firmly to her father's chest. She couldn't say she didn't like it – daddy gave the best hugs – but she was hungry and wanted breakfast. Maybe if she nudged him just a little bit…?

Too much nudging. Naruto stirred and both eyes cracked open to look at her. Bleary and confused from sleep, the Hokage had to look around the room for a minute to see where he was before he returned his gaze to his sheepish daughter.

"Morning daddy," she said, slightly ashamed at herself for waking her father when he looked so tired. But Naruto just smiled at his little girl and smoothed her hair back. He didn't seem mad at being woken up so Himawari smiled brighter.

"Morning, Hima-hime," Naruto smiled. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmhm!" She nodded her head vigorously. "I had a good dream."

"Really? I'm glad."

"Did daddy sleep well, too?"

"I did. I got to cuddle with my favorite little girl, 'ttebayo." He squeezed Himawari tightly and the child giggled.

"Daddy!" She laughed. "Is mama makin' breakfast?"

Her daddy immediately froze and his grip slackened. His orange turned ugly. "Ah, no, princess. Mama's with Boruto right now."

"Is Boru-nii home?"

"Not yet, Hima-chan. Tsunade-baa-chan hasn't let him go yet."

"Oh," she said, her lip starting to pout. "Can we go visit him?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not right now, Hima. We have to let Boru rest."

"But you and mama visited him."

"I know, but he can't talk to you right now and I know if he knew you were there he would want to talk to you, right?"

Himawari considered this. "I guess."

"So, we have to wait for him to wake up, okay?"

"Okay."

"That's my girl. Now how bout we try and make breakfast. I don't know if it will be as good as mama's, but we can give it our best shot."

"Yeah!"

The two got up from the bed and ended up eating instant ramen after they burned the rice. Himawari expected her mother to come home at some point, but she didn't, so she spent the whole day with her father. She would be lying if she said it wasn't fun, but like with her mother the day before something was always off. Daddy sighed a lot, and hugged her more than usual. He carefully avoided her brother's room. But it was still a good day and Himawari found herself wishing she could have days like this more often.

She got her wish just not in the way she wanted. Mama and daddy were home a lot the next two days, but never at the same time. One of them was always with her brother. Sometimes, she even spent whole days with Kiba-oji-chan or Shino-oji-chan, and she even stayed with Iruka-jiji once. It got worse when her grandfather and aunt returned early from a diplomatic mission. She actually had to spend the night over at the Hyuuga compound a few times.

For a week, this routine of trading parents and babysitters continued until she was absolutely sick of it. Not once was she allowed to see her brother and every time she asked she was always given some vague answer than didn't help her in the slightest. She wasn't stupid; she knew something was up, if not by the way everyone spoke then by how they acted.

Kiba-oji-chan was already ridiculously protective, but then he made the Haimaru triplets and Akamaru follow her around like a pack of vicious guards. They followed her everywhere, even the bathroom! Even Naku noticed and he was usually too busy preening to pay attention to anything not related to himself. Her friend's Inuzuka instincts finally kicked in after he picked up on the protective mood. He began following her around too, riding on Akamaru's back in a manner not unlike his father.

Then, not even a day ago, she found a small cluster of bugs in the fur around her coat. It didn't take a genius to know where they came from. She hadn't paid attention until then to the inordinate number of insects buzzing about, but looking back, the fact that it was winter should have clued her in to the oddity. And if the bugs hadn't, then the increase in masked men certainly should have. They weren't an unusual sight, at least not to Himawari, but normally she only saw a few: Neko, Kuma, and Shiroari, mostly. Recently, those three were joined by at least five more and that was just who she could see.

These were just some of the more obvious changes of the last week. There were some that were much less overt. Little facial ticks here and there, a pat on the head that lasted just a bit longer than usual, people popping in to say hello or stopping by with groceries when they normally wouldn't have. Worse was when her minders would go very still. Their colors would twitch and lash out and it was usually then that they tried to usher her inside. It was frustrating to be so caught up in the middle of everything and not have any idea as to what that everything was.

It was so frustrating, in fact, that Himawari was a hairs-breath away from yelling her displeasure from atop the Hokage Monument. She probably would have already had she been allowed anywhere without an escort. But her patience paid off at the beginning of the second week when her mama picked her up from the Hyuuga compound and said the words Himawari had been longing to hear since this whole mess started.

"Do you want to go visit your brother today?"

Himawari nodded her head vigorously. A whole week without seeing her big brother with only vague answers to her questions made her very impatient. Her mother smiled and lifted the girl into her arms. She lead her daughter through the throng of villagers going about their day, making a pit-stop to talk to a few people and carried on towards the hospital.

The five-year-old couldn't say she particularly liked the hospital. She hated the cold, sterile hallways and the smell of antiseptic. People who went in there were always dark. Were it not for her parents, she probably wouldn't have ever entered the building voluntarily. Something about it was just spooky. But Himawari was brave and if she had to enter the hospital to see her brother she wasn't going to run away.

Her mother carried her through the twisting white halls with practiced ease. Doctors, nurses, and other shinobi nodded their heads to them as they passed, but Himawari was too excited to respond in kind. The mother and daughter duo traveled up and up, moving about so many floors and corridors that Himawari was convinced they were lost. Either that or Boruto was hidden in the most obscure part of the hospital.

Finally, finally, they reached a rather deserted area; the only people to be seen were two masked shinobi standing at ease on either side of a pair of doors. They stood at attention as the two neared.

"Uzumaki-sama," the one in the tiger mask said.

"Tora-san," Hinata smiled and nodded, showing the two a small seal on her wrist.

The other man placed his hand over the seal and Himawari felt a strong tingling sensation wash over her. Satisfied, the dog masked one said, "Hokage-sama, Uchiha-sensei, and Nara-sama are inside. Everything is all clear."

"Thank you Tora-san, Inu-san."

"Ma'am," the two nodded to her and then Hinata was carrying her daughter through the doors and into another hallway.

It didn't look any different than the rest of the hospital, though the absolute silence was unnerving. Himawari subconsciously tightened her grip around her mother's neck. Hinata squeezed back, but continued down the hallway with a single-minded determination. As they walked further, Himawari found herself having to revise her idea that the area was deserted. Occasionally she would see a shadow move out of the corner of her eye or would feel a slight breeze as if something was passing them very quickly. Other times she would see a dizzying rainbow of colors. It was an experience she wasn't unaccustomed to, but she normally only associated it with large crowds and busy rooms.

The flashes got stronger the further down the hall they traveled, and by time they reached another door Himawari's eyes ached. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle, but it certainly created a headache. She attempted to bury her head in her mother's shoulder and it worked for the most part. The headache subsided and Himawari loosened her grip. They traveled like this for another few minutes before she started hearing voices. She couldn't discern the words at first, but as they got closer she recognized the sound of her father.

"…doesn't remember anything…normal?"

"…effects of the attack…we'll monitor his progress over…shouldn't cause any permanent damage…"

"Has Ino…gotten...bastards?"

"…not talking…Ino's found…seal on the tongue…Oto…"

Someone sighed and Himawari thought it might be her father, but before the conversation could continue her mother rounded the corner into a more open waiting area. More of the masked shinobi guarded the main doors, but Himawari paid them no mind. The only thing she cared about were the other three occupants. They immediately looked up and broke apart from their huddle.

"Daddy!" Her mother let her down and Himawari raced over to her father, bounding into his arms and allowing him to lift her up into a warm hug.

"Himawari," her daddy murmured into her ear, his stubble ticking her and making her laugh.

"I missed you, daddy," she chirped.

"I missed you, too. Were you good for mama?"

"Yep!" She smiled, turning to look at the other two adults. "Hi Shika-oji-chan! Hi Sakura-ba-chan!"

The Nara smiled at her and Sakura waved. "Hi Hima-hime. Are you excited to see your brother?"

"Uh-huh," Himawari nodded, moving her head so vigorously her hair-tie almost flew off. "I missed Boru-nii."

"Oh, he missed you too," Sakura said. "But before you go in, I need you to follow some rules for me. Can you do that?"

"Yeah!" Himawari was very good at following rules.

"Good," her honorary aunt smiled. "Now, Boruto-kun is sleeping right now so you're going to have to be very quiet."

"Like Shino-oji-chan?"

She didn't really understand why everyone laughed; Shino-oji-chan was the quietest person she knew. Eventually, Sakura said, "Yes, just like Shino-oji-chan. You're also going to have to be very gentle, alright? Boruto-kun got hurt and he's still a little sore, so no jumping."

"Okay," she nodded and then became thoughtful. She looked up at her aunt and asked, "Can I give him a hug?"

"Yes, you can give him a hug, but not too tight."

"I can do that," she pumped her little fist and smiled brightly. So what if she couldn't hug him as tight as she wanted. It just meant she could save it for later and give him an extra big hug.

"I have no doubt you can," Sakura bent over to pat her head and then looked up at her parents. "I'll come back to check in in an hour. We should have most of the test results back by then."

"Thanks Sakura-chan," her father said, smiling tiredly. For the first time, Himawari noticed just how exhausted everyone looked. Purple bags sagged underneath their eyes and Shikamaru's hands were shaking. Sakura's hair was limp and greasy, and her clothes were rumpled. Their colors were ugly and sluggish. It was obvious they hadn't slept.

Himawari had just opened her mouth to ask why they hadn't gone to bed when Sakura leaned over to give her father a kiss on the cheek. "No need to thank me, Hokage-sama. Just bask in my glory."

This time her daddy chuckled. "Is that all I have to do?"

"Yes," she grinned and gave Himawari a kiss on the cheek too, before embracing Hinata in a warm hug. She leaned in to whisper something to the other woman, but it was too soft for Himawari to hear. Whatever it was, it made her mama smile.

"I'll be back later," she reiterated and walked out of the area and back down the hallway.

Shikamaru sighed. "I'll go talk to Ino, see if there's anything else."

Naruto nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "Tell her I need the next report by tonight."

"Tch, send me to the pit why don't you," Shikamaru grumbled. "Fine, but if she kills me, I'm coming back to haunt you."

"Heh, if she kills you, you deserve it."

"Troublesome blondes," the Nara mumbled, but Himawari could tell he was amused. His mouth twitched upward in the way Shikadai's always did when he saw something funny.

"And yet you still talk to us."

"Eh, it's too troublesome to ignore you," Shikamaru shrugged and looked at his watch. "Well, I'm off." He nodded to the family. "Hokage-sama, Hinata-sama."

"Shikamaru-kun," her mother smiled. Naruto nodded back and it wasn't long until the family was alone with the ANBU.

The air in the room suddenly got very heavy and Himawari could feel her parents tensing. It made the little girl nervous.

"Daddy?"

Naruto flashed her a smile, but something about it threw her off. "Ready to go say hi, Hima-chan?"

"Y-yeah," she said, her previous enthusiasm fading. In it's place an irrational fear welled up. How hurt was her brother? Why was everyone so secretive?

Her mother's voice cut off her thoughts before they could go any further. "Remember what Sakura-oba-chan said? You have to be very quiet."

Himawari mimicked zipping her lips. It made her parents smile.

"Alright, let's go." She was suddenly moving as her daddy carried her over towards the door guarded by ANBU. The two guards saluted their leader and his family, opening the door to allow them in.

The room itself wasn't any different from any other hospital room Himawari had been in, though it was noticeably larger. There were also quite a few flowers and drawings set up. Himawari guessed they were all from her brother's friends and classmates. A few blankets and pillows lay haphazardly across the couch, and bright sunlight streamed in through the window. It would have made for a very cheery atmosphere if not for the horribly still blond boy lying on the hospital bed.

Himawari couldn't contain a gasp. This could not be her brother. Boruto was never still. Even when he was sleeping he would kick and move around, always somehow rolling himself into a tight ball. This boy was still as a post, surrounded by beeping machines and covered in more bandages than blankets. His joyous yellow was gone and in its place a murky, lifeless cloud flickered around him.

Her father's grip slackened a bit as he moved to set her down, but Himawari clung to him. Daddy was safe; she needed safe.

"It's okay, Hima. You can go over and say hi. Boruto's just sleeping." Her father's gentle words gave her no comfort and she shook her head. Her daddy sighed. "You know, Hima-hime. I bet your brother's been really bored just seeing mama and me all week. Why don't you give him a little hug? I'm sure he'd love it, 'ttebayo."

Himawari looked up in alarm. "But-but I don't wanna hurt him."

"Oh honey, you won't hurt him. You just have to be gentle," her mother said.

The little girl looked hesitantly over to the still body of her brother. Her daddy made to put her down again and this time she didn't resist. Mama said a gentle hug wouldn't hurt him, but he looked as if even the slightest move could break him. She felt her father place his hand on the back of her head as the family walked further into the room. Each step made Himawari dizzy. She felt heavy and icky the closer she got, and her father's hand trembled against her head.

Before she knew it, she was standing next to the bed. Her daddy reached down and carefully lifted her up onto the crisp white sheets, away from all the wires and tubes. It made for a very surreal experience. Usually, Boruto was the one waiting for her to wake up.

She looked up again at her mother. "You're sure I won't hurt him?"

Her mama smiled. "I'm sure."

Himawari wasn't as confident, but she didn't want her parents to see how scared she was. She reached over, careful to avoid the wires, and wound her little arms around her brother's neck. He didn't appear to be in pain, so Himawari went a step further and pressed the side of her face to his chest. She could just make out his steady heartbeat through the bandages.

"Daddy?" She asked after a few seconds of relishing the sound. "Why is Boru-nii so hurt?"

Her parents tensed and she could see them look at each other with uncertainty. It was as if they were having a whole conversation without speaking. Tension grew in the room and Himawari could almost feel their reluctance. Finally, her father turned to her and said, "We don't know why yet, Hima-chan, but some very bad people came to the village a little while ago and hurt him."

Himawari gasped and her hands flew to her mouth. "But-but why would they want to hurt Boru-nii? He's the bestest big brother in the world!"

"We know, honey," her mother soothed, picking the child up and placing her on her lap. "But sometimes bad people do bad things to others for no reason."

"But why?" Himawari moaned.

"That's a hard question, Hima-hime. Sometimes, we don't know why," her father said, though he looked very sad as if he was thinking about something else. "But don't you worry. We're going to find out who wanted to hurt Boru and make sure they don't do any more bad things."

Himawari sniffled. "Promise?"

"I promise," Naruto's lips twitched upwards in a small smile.

The little girl nodded – daddy never broke a promise – and wiped at her eyes. She turned to rest her gaze on her big brother. She didn't like it, this stillness. Boruto wasn't supposed to be so still. He was supposed to be jumping off the walls, stuffing his face with food, or pulling a prank. Slowly, a cold anger filled the girl. Who were these people to cause her brother so much hurt? Who were they to make her parents so sad? Himawari didn't like it. She didn't like it one bit.

So she made a promise, a silent one only to herself. Even if she had to scour the world she would find the people who hurt her brother. She would make sure they never hurt another person – that they never so much as touched them. She would protect her brother. She would protect her parents. The girl didn't know how yet, but she would make sure every one of her precious people was safe.

Himawari sealed the promise with a kiss to her brother's forehead. She would protect them all.

~*~*~*~*~

Uzumaki Himawari was six-years-old the first time she made a man sweat.

Lord Ueda was a relatively new ambassador of the Fire Daimyo. Loud, puttering and ostentatious, he had been sent to watch the Chuunin Exams in the lord's stead, and Himawari found herself being uncharacteristically annoyed. At first, he was just like everyone else. He showered her with compliments and she took them all in with the sweet smile she was known for. This would prompt another round of gushing of which Himawari was all too happy to accept.

She was used to praise. In the year since her father became Hokage, Himawari had had to face many changes. She was quickly elevated from being the daughter of Uzumaki Naruto to being the daughter of the Hokage, and so was expected to behave as such. It wasn't very hard and she learned quickly how to behave at political parties and social gatherings. She smiled at every lord she met and danced with just as many princes.

The lords loved her. "She's so cute," they all proclaimed. "So sweet and innocent," they all said. "Himawari-hime is just a little ball of sunshine." And the little girl loved it.

Ambassador Ueda was no different. He praised her, she smiled, and the cycle continued. But then he continued to praise her, and praise her, and praise her until Himawari was ready to pull her hair out. She'd show him cute and adorable and sweet when she stained his favorite robes with ink.

She should have known he was bad news; people with auras as twisting as his were always bad news.

Her brother was not helping. Boruto had taken to calling her 'sweet' Himawari, 'wonderful' Himawari, and 'Konoha's little sunshine' whenever she was so much as in the same room as him. Even Sarada – perfect, proper, 'always-on-her-side' Sarada – was doing it. It was enough to make her want to set her cat on them. She didn't, of course, mama wouldn't have liked it, but it didn't stop her from dreaming.

She managed to hold out until two days before the finals. Pre-Academy was only four days a week, rather than the Academy's six, and so using classes to hide out away from the ambassador was relatively easy at first. Then came Friday. Normally, Himawari loved Fridays. She and mama would take time to go visit Neji-oji-san and then pick up a nice bag of warm cinnamon buns. She liked this routine, and Ueda had to go and mess it up.

He just couldn't be left alone. Mama had been a very gracious host these past few days, acting as a guide for the lord and an interpreter for all things shinobi. It, in no way, implied she was to be with him all the time. Ueda didn't get this.

Himawari could see him as he puttered behind them, her hand gripping mama's tighter than was strictly necessary. She hated this. He had no right to follow them to Neji-oji-san's home. Her mother didn't give any outward sign of being displeased, but Himawari noticed the creasing around her eyes and the similarly tight grip. Her mama wasn't happy either.

But there was little the two could do about it. Ueda was the ambassador to the daimyo, and an influential lord in his own right. He had to be kept happy. Though, how visiting a cemetery was considered happy was a mystery to Himawari. People from the capital were weird.

"Ah, Uzumaki-dono," he wheezed, he and his entourage scurrying to keep up.

Her mama twitched, but still turned to look at the group with her ever-patient smile. Himawari didn't know how; she was ready to put his robes in a shredder.

"Yes, Ueda-dono? Did you need something?"

"Ah, ah, I was just wondering how much longer we must walk? It is terribly hot out."

It wasn't hot out at all. In fact, it was considerably chilly by Konoha standards. Not enough that Himawari needed a coat, but enough that she wished she at least had a light sweater. Perhaps if he took off one of his many robes he'd feel better.

"I'm sorry, Ueda-dono. It's not much further," Hinata said, still smiling.

"I do hope not," he huffed. The ambassador flapped his hands back and forth to fan himself. "I believe I am starting to sweat."

Hinata twitched again, but continued on her way. Civilians and shinobi smiled at them as they moved through the morning crowd. Ueda didn't look happy to be amongst the villagers. He used his attendants to form a barrier between himself and the people. The little girl resisted the urge to scowl, instead hiding it behind a bright smile that she shot towards everyone she passed. Perhaps if she smiled bright enough, it would make up for the ambassador's rudeness. Ueda was not going to ruin her's or anyone else's day.

Unfortunately, the ambassador seemed determined to do otherwise. It was apparent upon arrival that he was much more used to capital cemeteries. Himawari didn't know what the difference could possibly be, but the derisive sneer on his face as he stared at the rows and rows of honored shinobi showed there must have been one. Even his attendants looked condescending.

"Uzumaki-dono, how much longer do you propose we must stay here?"

Her mama's hand tightened around Himawari's shoulder. Both Uzumaki were sitting before Neji's grave, fresh flowers placed lovingly in the pot. They couldn't have been there for more than five minutes.

"Ueda-dono," her mama stated, an edge in her voice Himawari usually associated with punishment. "This is our time to honor the shinobi who have given their lives for the village. My cousin is one such shinobi and I wish to give him his proper tribute."

"Ah, yes, yes, of course," the man waved her words away. "It's just it is so terribly hot and I wish to retire indoors."

The Hyuuga woman whispered what might have been "give me patience" under her breath, before turning to smile at her daughter. Himawari watched her blue begin to twitch.

"Ueda-dono has a point Himawari-chan. We can come back later."

"But, mama-"

"Himawari."

"Ah, yes mama." The little girl whispered one final prayer to her fallen cousin and stood.

"Let's go get some cinnamon rolls, Hima-chan."

"I was actually hoping for lunch, Uzumaki-dono," the ambassador chimed in. "Why, I have had a real craving for crab lately. If it's not too much trouble…"

Himawari could see her mother's blue darken and swirl in anger, so how she managed to answer so calmly was a mystery to the girl. "I don't see how that could be a p-problem."

Oh, that was stutter. Mama only stuttered when she was really upset.

"Mama?" Himawari tugged on her mother's sleeve as the group moved out of the gates ahead of them.

Hinata's hand ghosted over her head. "It's alright, Hima-chan. We'll just have to get some cinnamon buns later."

But later didn't come as the two were forced to escort the ambassador everywhere he wanted to go. If this was what her mother had had to go through all week, Himawari thought she deserved a medal – a big, shiny medal that let everyone know just how patient she was. Why, she'd even get daddy and Boru-nii to help her make it.

For Himawari, it was the last straw. If this man wanted to boss them around, he was going to have to deal with the consequences. Civilian lords would always lose against the Hokage's family and the girl was all too happy to show him why. She just needed a plan.

She planned and planned and plotted, all the way up to the Chuunin Exams. None of her numerous schemes seemed to be enough. Robes could be replaced, ink washed out, and everything she thought of would lead to punishment. There was only one person getting punished here and it wasn't going to be her. So by time the finals rolled around, Himawari had run out of ideas. Well, no. She still had ideas, but all of them seemed so useless. None were enough.

It was a thoroughly unamused Himawari that sat down to watch the finals. She didn't know why, she didn't know how, but for some reason Ueda found it prudent to join her family up in the kage box. The kage box. Lords and ambassadors had their own spot, so he really had no reason to be there. But there was nothing Himawari could do about it except pout childishly at her shoes. The only good thing was that the lord had felt it alright to leave his entourage behind. At least she wouldn't have to deal with their fawning.

There was some relief in being able to drown out her melancholy with the fights. The genin looked so cool. A young Nara had one of the Suna genin on his toes, and she could tell by how animated her father and the Kazekage were that they were betting on the winner. Himawari was willing to place money on the Nara, but she was biased.

"Whoa!" Her brother leaped up from his seat with his fist in the air, as the Konoha genin finished off his opponent with a sharp chop to the neck.

Gaara scowled, but handed over a few ryo to the grinning Hokage. Himawari giggled behind her hands. Gaara-oji-sama and daddy were so funny sometimes.

"Next fight: Sarutobi Mirai of Konoha vs. Bakuhane Oma of Taki!"

"Yay! Go Mirai-nee-chan!" The girl yelled. She bounced up in her chair and waved her hands around. Mirai was the best kunoichi she knew after her mother.

The fight started quickly and didn't slow. Mirai was very talented with weapons and futon jutsu, but her opponent was just as skilled in katon techniques. It was a close match and Himawari loved it.

Ueda, however, did not appear to love it nearly as much. It wasn't apparent at first, but Himawari was nothing if not observant. In the few seconds she could afford to take her eyes off the match, she noticed how his hands twitched and jaw locked. Was he feeling sick? No, that didn't seem right, though he was certainly pale enough.

Schlikt!

The sound of Mirai's chakra knives grazing the arena walls echoed throughout the stadium. Himawari winced, but continued to smile in excitement as the already impressive fight escalated. She turned her head to take in her family's enthusiasm and then looked over to Ueda.

He looked awful. What little color had been in his face before was now gone and if he gripped his chair any tighter it was going to break. His aura, normally a coiling green, was starting to dull into a sickly mustard. What was wrong with him?

Shiiiing!

Oh, so it was possible to get paler. That was good to know.

Clang!

Wait a minute…

Crash!

Oh…oh this was too good to be true.

Himawari watched as the ambassador's eyes dilated. His hands shook with the force of his grip and if he stood any straighter he'd lock himself in place. Deep ragged breaths fell from his mouth.

The little girl's eyes flitted back to the fight and then again to Ueda. Her smile narrowed into something more closely resembling a predator happening upon easy prey. It was fate. It had to be. There was no other way all her plans could have failed only for this to fall perfectly into her lap.

She schooled her features.

"You know, Mirai-nee came up with that move all by herself," she whispered to the man. "She spent hours shredding trees just to perfect it."

"She-she did?"

Himawari nodded, pretending not to notice the way his eyes widened. "Yep. She hasn't even completed it yet. She wants to add wind chakra to it someday."

"And…what would that do, exactly? The wind stuff?"

She tilted her head. "Hmm? Oh, it would make it even easier to cut things."

"…Cut things?"

"Mmhm," she smiled and began to tick her fingers. "Cut, shred, tear; you name it she could do it. "

"I see." The man dabbed his forehead with a kerchief. "And have you seen…that before."

"The wind chakra?" Himawari looked innocently up at him. She nodded. "Yep. Daddy uses it all the time. Wind is his favorite element."

"R-really?" He cast a terrified glance towards the Hokage before pulling back, almost as if he were afraid staring would put him on the wrong end of an attack. Luckily, Naruto was too enthralled by the fight to notice.

Skrrreeek!

"Oh wow! Her opponent can use a nodachi?" She shook in her seat with excitement. It was only partially for effect. "She's good. To seal something like that in her arm...wow!"

"You like seals?"

"Hmm? Yeah! Daddy and Tenten-oba-chan are really good with them. Do you know them, too?"

"I've seen many within the temples at the capital," he said and Himawari was hard pressed to hide a grin.

Instead, she laughed – bright and warm and guileless. "Those aren't seals, silly. Well, they are, but they're not seals seals. It's not fuuinjutsu."

Ueda twitched. "There's a difference?"

"Oh yeah!" She shrugged as if what she was saying was obvious. "Fuuinjutsu can trigger explosions, set off traps, hold things…"

"Hold things?"

"You know – armour, kunai, bodies, demons. Anything really."

"…Oh. I see." He pulled at his collar and swallowed hard.

"Yep, and – wow!" She leapt up and pointed to the field. "Did you see that Ueda-sama? She added lightning to her sword!"

"Lightning?" Himawari was surprised – she didn't know a man's voice could reach that pitch.

"Yeah, Sasuke-oji-san can do that too. He's better than her obviously, but that's really good for a genin. I wonder if mama can do it," she paused and bit her lip as if to think. "Nah, mama doesn't like swords very much. She's not really a weapons person. She does like lightning, though."

"Uzumaki-dono uses lightning?" He looked as if he couldn't quite wrap his mind around it. Himawari kind of got this. Mama wasn't normally what people thought of when they pictured shinobi. Best to relieve him of this misconception.

She nodded. "Mama's one of the best in the village. Well, after Sasuke-oji-san and Karui-oba-san."

"That's…impressive."

"Mama's really strong. Even daddy gets beat by her sometimes." This was true; Himawari had seen it, though how full out they were going she didn't know.

"The Hokage loses…to Uzumaki-dono?"

"All the time." Okay, so it was really more like half the time, but he didn't need to know that.

"A-ah."

"Yeah. Mama's awesome like that. Someday, I'm gonna be just as amazing as her."

"You want to be a shinobi? Such a sweet little girl like you?"

"Of course!" She tried to sound more insulted than amused, but it came off as something somewhere in between. "I want to be as strong as mama and daddy, and my teachers say I have really good aim. Who knows, maybe next Chuunin Exams you'll be up here watching me in the ring. Wouldn't that be great?"

"Yes…great. I, umm, look forward to it." He certainly didn't look all that enthused. If anything, he looked decidedly green.

Perhaps she'd gone a little far. A small bubbling of guilt rose up inside her. She didn't want to make him sick, just a little scared. Like when her brother would jump out of the closet and yell 'boo!'

"B-but don't worry," she smiled real wide. "I wouldn't hit you; just my opponent."

This did nothing to help. Her smile faltered as the man began to sweat. Dang, how could she fix this? She swiveled her head around to see if anyone was paying attention to her, but they all seemed too absorbed in the match. Well, if she couldn't get any help from them, she'd just have to improvise.

Himawari steeled herself. Even if she didn't like him, it was still partially her fault he was so shaken. So, she did what she always did when someone was sad or upset.

She hugged him.

Reaching across the chair to wrap her arms around his middle, she squeezed his stiff frame tightly. Daddy always said her hugs made everything better. She then raised her head to shoot him a beaming smile, the biggest she could manage. If he didn't feel better after this, she'd be surprised. Everyone loved her smiles.

A droplet of water hit her face. She opened her eyes to see what could have caused it only to be shocked. Ueda, who had only been lightly perspiring before, was now drenched in his own sweat. The drops fell from his face in rapid succession and even his clothes were starting to become somewhat damp. His aura constricted around him as if to form a protective shell against her. It was half concerning, half insulting.

She hesitantly detached herself from the man. Was it just her or was he sweating even more? She turned to her mother to ask for help when the proctor interrupted.

"Winner: Sarutobi Mirai!"

The stadium erupted into cheers. Himawari clapped too, but it was halfhearted and she stopped when Ueda abruptly rose to his feet. He moved on shaky legs over to her father and stood in a manner that would suggest he was ready to bolt. Naruto sat, perplexed at being interrupted during such a fantastic win. He nodded for the ambassador to speak.

"Hokage-sama, I thank you for your kind generosity, but I fear I must leave," he said, his voice high and words rushed.

"Leave?"

"Yes. I will report back to the daimyo how prosperous Konoha is and how much loyal support we should put behind her."

"Wait, you're going back to the capital now?" Naruto questioned, flummoxed.

"I'm afraid I cannot stay," he said, though he didn't look the least bit upset about it.

"Are you alright, Ueda-dono?" Hinata asked. It wasn't hard to notice the large sweat pools under his armpits or his flushed face.

"Quite alright, Uzumaki-sama." The woman's eyes widened at the change in suffix, but Ueda didn't stop. "Thank you for your hospitality. All the gods must shower you with never-ending prosperity. I will inform my lord how gracious and wonderful you have been." He bowed to the two. "Hokage-sama, Uzumaki-sama."

And he was off, sprinting towards the exit as if they were going to attack him. He only stumbled when passing Himawari, but otherwise made a smooth, if hasty, retreat.

"Wha…" Naruto started.

"Daddy?" Himawari asked. "Why did he run away?"

Her father slowly shook his head. "I don't know, princess."

"He was really twitchy," her brother said.

"Twitchy?"

"Yeah. He was weird."

Both children completely missed the alarmed looks the adults sent one another. Two ANBU were discretely signaled to follow the ambassador, while the other shinobi in the box put themselves on alert for anything abnormal. Had they been looking a little closer to home, they would have noticed Boruto lean over to his sister and whisper, "Don't think I didn't notice you talking to that idiot all through the match."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't."

She sighed. "What do you want?"

"I need to borrow your cat."

"What?" She hissed. "You are not using Eikichi for one of your pranks."

"Then I guess mom and dad will just have to-"

"Fine, fine," she interjected. "But only if I get to help."

"Deal."

"What are you two whispering about?"

The two swiveled their heads to look innocently at their mother. "Nothing."

Hinata raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything. For a long moment she just looked at the two. The siblings tried hard not to look away. Mama would know something was up if they did.

"If I find out you two have done anything…"

"We'll be good." They smiled toothily at her.

"You both are far too much like your father," Hinata sighed, but Himawari could tell she was amused. "You might want to turn your attentions back to the match. Grandpa might quiz you later."

The two immediately returned their focus to the exams. Hiashi really would quiz them if he got the chance. The next match started between two Suna genin, and, while fairly entertaining, it wasn't nearly the only thing on Himawari's mind. No, she had other, more interesting things to think about – such as the retreating ambassador. She smiled at the memory of his terror. Ueda was gone and he would never get to boss her mama around or insult Neji-oji-san ever again, and it was all thanks to her.

A screeching sound echoed from the arena.

Her family looked on in excited interest.

Himawari only smiled bright and warm and guileless as two shinobi tried to gut each other.

~*~*~*~*~

Uzumaki Himawari was eight-years-old the first time she discovered people actually expected things from her.

It happened on a perfectly innocuous day. She was of the age now where her parents let her meander through the streets on her own and Himawari relished in the freedom. She could stop at the pastry shop and pick up her own cinnamon buns, could get her own ramen and her own clothes. It was no longer a matter of following her parents around. She could go where she wanted when she wanted and her first stop that day was the Yamanaka flower shop.

It was Inojin who greeted her when she entered. It was almost always Inojin. His mother was usually either off at work or somewhere in the back where no one was allowed to go, but she wasn't here today and the younger Yamanaka was the only one in the shop. This was normal. What wasn't normal was Inojin's mood. He was angry, his normally calm aura now whirling and crackly. Himawari was surprised. The boy was generally a very passive individual, if a bit paranoid and prone to insensitivity. To see him angry enough to lash out was more rare than seeing her father refuse ramen. It just didn't happen.

So it made sense for Himawari to hesitate upon entering the shop and see Inojin muttering angrily under his breath. The ten-year-old was attempting to move a too-large pot of soil from one end of the store to another, but it didn't seem to be going so well. If anything, it probably would have been best if he just left the pot where it was and calmed down.

Judging by his very visceral muttering that wasn't going to happen any time soon.

"Inojin?"

"What?" The boy snapped, whirling around and pinning her with a glare.

Himawari froze. She stopped halfway between the door and the counter and held her breath. It was very uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Inojin said, sagging.

The Uzumaki girl hesitantly moved further into the shop. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine. I'm fine. Fine."

"Really? I mean you're kinda…off."

"Gods, what is it with everyone? I said I'm fine, I'm fine!"

"Okay, okay! You're fine. I get it." She looked around awkwardly for a second. "Do you want help with that pot?"

"No, I can do it."

"You sure?" She asked as she watched his arms shake under the weight. Whoever thought it smart to fill it with soil first needed to be smacked.

"Yes," he said through gritted teeth.

"Okay, but you're sorta-"

"I got it!"

"Well you don't have to be so mean about it!" She crossed her arms and glared at him. Gods, she was just trying to help.

"You don't have to be so nosy!"

"Nosy?" She growled. "I am not nosy."

Inojin scoffed. "Oh right. What do you have to be nosy about when everyone just tells you everything."

Wait, what? Himawari looked at him in stunned disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nevermind," Inojin shook his head and, forgetting about the pot, tossed his work gloves on the counter. "Forget it."

"No, I wanna know," she insisted.

"See? See that right there? That's called being nosy," he said, pointing his finger in her face.

She swatted the offending appendage away. "No, that's you saying something stupid in order to get a reaction. You said something and didn't ela-elob-elabortate…say more!"

"Well I didn't need to say more. You just want to know 'cause you're nosy!"

"Would you stop saying that?" She stomped her foot childishly and placed her hands on her hips. "I am not nosy! You're just being mean and I don't like it."

"Well, tough. Not everything is gonna go your way, Himawari," he said, picking up a tray of mums.

"Hey, I was just trying to be nice. What crawled up your butt and died?"

"Nothing!" He slammed the tray down and let out an exasperated sigh. "Gods. Just because you don't have anything to worry about doesn't mean the rest of us don't."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me," he picked up the tray again and began to walk away, but Himawari's hand on his arm stopped him. "Let go of my arm. I have to finish this before mom gets home."

"Nuh uh. You don't get to talk to me like that and then walk away. I just wanted to buy some flowers. Instead, I get you acting worse than my brother in a mood."

"Look," he said, staring at her intently. "I'm not having a good day-"

"Clearly."

"-so maybe, you could, I don't know, butt out," he finished as if she never interrupted.

Himawari glowered and ripped the tray out of his hands. She slammed it down on the counter, making the whole thing shake and some of the flowers topple over. She ignored them in favor of the boy. "You're a real jerk, you know that? Luckily for you, I'm nice and I know you and I won't tell your mom. All you have to do is tell me why you suddenly went from one of my brother's nicest friends to an asshole."

"And I already told you it's none of your business." He paused for a second. "Did you just call me an asshole?"

The girl shrugged. "Chouchou told me that's what you're supposed to call a boy when he's being an idiot." She shook her head. They were getting off track. "That's not the point. The point is you can't just act like a meanie and then tell me it's not my business."

Inojin held up his index finger. "Okay, first of all, that is not the definition of an asshole. Second, it is none of your business."

"It is when you yell at me for no good reason."

"Look, I'm sorry, okay. Can you please just drop it?"

Himawari sighed, but her anger was slowly dissipating. She could practically see the stress Inojin was under. His aura was calmer, but it was still dark and not nearly as nice as normal. Then again, she had only just recently moved from trying to control her ability to actually interpreting it. Santa-sensei probably would have been able to discern more. "You said sorry before and then you yelled."

Inojin rolled his eyes. "I won't yell."

The little girl looked him over critically. Inojin was generally a terrible liar, sometimes to his own detriment, but his aura was less chaotic so she was inclined to believe him.

"Do you need anything or can I get back to work?"

She really wanted to press him for more details, but he was so out of sorts, she really didn't have the heart. Maybe she'd hint something to Boruto or Chouchou; they could usually get something out of him.

Himawari scrunched her nose. "Four sunflowers."

"Of course," Inojin sighed and rolled his eyes. Okay, so she was a bit predictable. She'd give him that.

He wrapped the flowers up in paper and handed them over. "142 ryo."

She reached into her wallet – a small thing in the shape of a sunflower – and pulled out the desired amount. Placing the money on the counter, she looked the boy in the eye and yelled, "I'm telling Boru-nii!" She stuck out her tongue, whirled around, and bolted for the door.

"Tattletale!"

She was out the door and running before he could follow, a giddy smile stretching across her face. Behind her she heard the yell of, "Inojin! Why aren't these pots put away?" Okay, so there was a small part of her that felt guilty for getting him in trouble, but considering his attitude she wasn't too heart-broken. Inojin could deal with his terrifying mother.

She giggled. She wouldn't really tell her brother, at least not the whole thing. Inojin was one of Boruto's best friends and just because he was being mean didn't mean she wanted her brother angry with him. No, she'd just say he seemed upset. That should be enough. And, if by chance, her brother was feeling generous, he might even tell her what was wrong. She was curious, damn it! Inojin was never that rude. He was too paranoid about it getting back to his mother. Honestly, she kind of understood that. Ino-oba-chan was scary, but that was beside the point. So he could sometimes be a bit insensitive - big deal! - Inojin was usually really nice; she couldn't see where this anger was coming from. And she wasn't nosy – she wasn't – just a bit curious. That and, well, his comment gnawed at her.

Who did he think he was telling her she didn't have anything to worry about? Himawari inwardly scoffed at the very idea. She was the Hokage's daughter. There was a reason the ANBU followed her everywhere she went. If there was anyone without a care it was Inojin. It wasn't like his mother would actually hurt him.

"Stupid Inojin," she grumbled, kicking a loose stone as she walked. The stone skipped ahead and she kicked it again, over and over as she made her way out of the business district.

Every so often people would shout their hellos and greetings as she passed, but for the most part the little girl moved unimpeded towards the cemetery. The rock continued it's steady rhythm – scuff, plop, rattle, scuff – with every kick. It was calming and relaxing and infinitely better than thinking about Inojin. Stupid Inojin.

It wasn't until she was out of the marketplace that her sandal dug just a little further than necessary, causing the rock to back flip and land in the space between her foot and the insole of her shoe.

"Oww!" She yelled, picking up her foot and pealing off the pink sandal. Himawari hopped awkwardly over to a bench to put the flowers down, trying to shake out the rock.

"Stupid shoes," she mumbled. "Stupid rock. Stupid Inojin."

"Himawari!" The call came from further up the road and Himawari turned to see a flash of rose and canary yellow jogging towards her. She blinked and winced at her folly. She had been getting better at tuning out the colors, but sometimes when she got distracted they were harder to ignore. Guess that meant more lessons with Santa-sensei. The girl groaned inwardly at the though.

She placed the shoe back on and waved to her two approaching friends.

"Sara-nee, Chou-chan!" She got up from the bench, rock forgotten, and went to meet the two somewhere in the middle.

"Off to the cemetery, Hima-chan?" Sarada asked, motioning to the flowers clutched in the little girl's hands.

Himawari nodded. "Yep. One for Neji-oji-san, one for Kushina-obaa-san, one for Minato-ojii-san, and one for Hinode-obaa-sama." She pointed to each individual flower and smiled. "I got the last ones in the shop."

"Sweetie, you gotta just work there," Chouchou said as the three girls began walking. "Ino-ba-chan could pay you in flowers."

"You think she would?"

"If you asked? Sure. You'd probably be better help than Inojin."

The boy's name made Himawari scowl.

"Uh-oh," Chouchou said, nudging Sarada and smirking. She twirled an empty dango stick around her fingers. "I know that look. What did pasty do?"

"He was being a jerk."

Chouchou rolled her eyes. She waved her hand and said, "Well, duh. We got that. Details, sweetie, details."

"What Chouchou means," Sarada interjected. "Is what did he do and do we need to beat him up?"

Himawari giggled. "Maybe just a quick kick," her laughter turned sheepish. "But I don't think I helped."

"You?"

"He called me nosy!" She huffed. "And, I admit, maybe I was a bit pushy, but I was just concerned. His aura's never been so crackly. It was horrible."

"Oh, Himawari," Sarada sighed. "I thought you had that under control."

The little girl looked down and scuffed her feet against the dirt. "I'm learning," she mumbled.

"You've been learning for how long now?"

"…Three years." The two older girls gave her a look. "Okay, but that was just to try and shut it off. Santa-sensei's finally letting me move on to more. I wanted to practice."

"And you picked Inojin?" Of all the people to practice on, Inojin was the last one Sarada would have chosen.

"Not exactly," Himawari twisted her forefingers together. "Strong emotions are harder to drown out. The colors are just so hard to ignore sometimes, and I got distracted, which makes it even worse, and-and it was so dark and snappy and I got concerned and I couldn't help it. I just wanted him to smile."

"So you were trying to be nice and he acted like an asshole?"

"Chouchou!"

"What?"

"You don't say things like that."

"Like what? Asshole?"

"Yes!"

The Akimichi girl rolled her eyes and pulled out a box of pocky. "Please honey, you gotta tell it like it is."

"Do your parents know you talk like this?"

"Nope."

"Figures," Sarada pinched the bridge of her nose and pushed her glasses up. Sunlight glinted off the frames. "Okay, so what else did he say?"

"That other people had a lot to worry about and I didn't have anything," the little girl huffed and folded her arms. "But that makes no sense! I have a lot of things to worry about that he doesn't so I don't get why he's being so nasty."

"He's a boy and he's being an idiot?" The bespectacled girl suggested.

"That's a reason?"

"You live with Boruto. What do you think?"

Fair point.

"But that's Boru-nii. Inojin's never like that."

"Well," Chouchou tapped her lip with a pocky stick. "I might know what's got him so hot and bothered." She bit into the treat, savoring both the flavor and the way Sarada's face steamed. Himawari didn't get it.

"Chouchou…"

Another pocky appeared. "He was grumbling all yesterday. It drove Shikadai up the wall. I think he's trying to do the Shintenshin no Jutsu. If what I saw was right, he's not doing too hot."

"Wait," Sarada lifted her face from her hands. "Isn't that a C-rank?"

"Yep," Chouchou smirked. "Don't look so surprised, honey. Didn't your dad send you that fire jutsu to learn when you were like, seven?"

The Uchiha girl couldn't refute that. If she had had to learn the Gōkakyū no Jutsu all those years ago, Inojin learning the Shintenshin now didn't seem so weird.

"And daddy's making me practice the Baika no Jutsu," she sighed. "It sucks so bad! Do you know what I could be doing in that time? Do you?"

Sarada looked pointedly as the last piece of pocky entered her friend's mouth. "Gee, I wonder."

"Jealousy doesn't become you."

The raven-haired girl didn't deign to respond. She was more concerned with Himawari who appeared even more confused than before. Sarada snorted, but leaned in to explain. "Okay, so if what Chouchou says is correct, Inojin's angry because he's not progressing as well as he wants with a family technique and he's taking his frustration out on others."

"But why is it such a big deal? It's not like he's a genin yet."

"Yeah, but family jutsu are different. It's like a right of passage. I remember mama was really proud of me when I learned the Gōkakyū no Jutsu."

"Don't the Hyuuga have any techniques you have to learn?" Chouchou asked.

"Kind of, but I don't have the Byakugan, so I guess it's a little different for me."

That made sense. Sarada nodded and said, "But for Inojin, since he's the heir, he's most likely feeling a lot of pressure to do well. Not succeeding is probably really upsetting."

"But why did he tell me I had nothing to worry about?"

Chouchou shrugged. "Maybe it's 'cause of that Hyuuga thing."

"But it still makes no sense," Sarada grumbled. "I mean your dad is the Hokage. If anyone has too many expectations on them it's you."

"And Boruto."

The Uchiha conceded to that too. "And Boruto, but I wouldn't hold my breath."

Himawari was still trying to wrap her head around this new information. "Wait, you mean people actually expect me to be like my dad?"

"You didn't know that?"

"No."

"Sweetie, what did you think people expected from you?"

Himawari did an awkward shake-head-shrug type thing. "I didn't really think they though anything. I mean, I want to be awesome, but that's just me."

"Okay, first rule of thumb: all people are going to expect a lot from you simply because of your name. It's a fact. Second, you're doing a pretty good job of living up to them."

"Girl power!"

"But, wait – what?"

"You can see spiritual chakra, and it's not through rigorous training either. It's natural. Do you realize how rare that is? No, not even rare, it’s almost unheard of." She looked at Himawari with raised eyebrows. "Your chakra control is perfect. That's a ridiculous boon. And don't think I haven't noticed your aim. For someone like Inojin, who's struggling at something right now, it probably seems unfair."

"So he's taking his frustration out on me just because I'm good at something?" That made no sense to her.

Sarada pursed her lips and shrugged. "Boys are stupid."

"Preach."

By this point the three girls had come to the cemetery gates. The high wooden walls created an almost sad barrier between the outside world and the one within. Despite the sunny day, there was just something about the fact that it was a cemetery that made everything seem gloomy. Himawari, who visited the grounds so often she had lost track, was not bothered. Her friends, however, were not so immune. Chouchou especially was not a fan.

"Well, I'm off to meet Anko-sensei for some dango," she said.

Sarada look at her incredulously. "Didn't you just get dango with me?"

"Your point?"

If the other girl had one she didn't voice it. Instead, she turned to Himawari and said, "Just ignore Inojin. Eventually, he'll calm down and come running up to you yelling apologies and begging forgiveness. And don't dwell too much on what the villagers think. Most of them are stupid anyway."

"Exactly," Chouchou agreed. She then got a sly look in her eye. "Just remember, no matter what anyone thinks, you're a badass bitch from hell and they can't do anything about it."

"Chouchou!" Sarada stared, aghast. "You need a filter!"

"Oh please, filters are for people too scared to speak the truth."

"Oh my gods," she facepalmed, and then winced as it pushed her glasses into her face. "On that note, I'm going home. Himawari, don't repeat anything she says."

The girl spun around and continued down the path, shaking her head as if wondering why she even bothered. Chouchou waited until she was out of hearing range before saying, "Notice how she didn't say I was wrong?" And indeed Sarada had not. Chouchou giggled. "Well, have fun, sweets. I'll save you a dango."

"Really?"

Chouchou paused. "Well, I'll try at least."

That was considerably more realistic.

Himawari nodded and smiled. She gave the girl a hug good-bye and the two parted. By now, the young Uzumaki could have walked the distance to her cousin's grave blindfolded she had visited so many times. It was in a very nice area, well tended to by both the Hyuuga and Uzumaki families. Reaching the grave, she found a comfortable spot to sit and replaced the old flower with the new one.

"Hi Neji-oji-san. It's me, Himawari. I brought you a new flower. I hope you like it," she patted the headstone. "Mama couldn't come today. She's on a mission outside the village, but she said to tell you 'hi' and that she misses you." Himawari paused to think and then said, "Daddy's been really busy lately. I don't think he's been so busy since he first became Hokage and it's making him a bit grumpy. But, between you and me, I think he misses mama. He hates sending her out on long missions even if they are easy," she laughed.

"Boru-nii finally learned the Kawarimi no Jutsu. He's so excited; he's been poofing all over the house. It's driving daddy nuts, but I can tell he's really proud. Daddy's not very good at hiding it. Maybe I can get him to come with me next time so he can show you. I bet he'd like that."

Himawari stopped talking for a minute, just taking time to enjoy the sensation of the breeze on her face. She liked to think it was her cousin talking back to her. In the distance, she heard a few birds chirping and flying from tree to tree.

"I learned something new today," she murmured, her happiness slightly diminished. "Sarada-nee and Chou-chan told me that a lot of the villagers expect me to be great like daddy. I don't mind it very much, really!" She insisted as though afraid to give the wrong impression. "I just don't want to disappoint anyone."

She hugged her legs to her chest. "And I don't really want to be like daddy. I mean, I do! – but, I want to be Himawari, too. And, well," she hesitated. "I don't know if I can do it. I hope I can, but I don't want to disappoint anyone, especially not mama or daddy. That would be awful! What if…what if I can't be that strong no matter how hard I train? People would be so unhappy and I hate that. They don't smile when they're sad. I like when people smile; it's so much better than frowning. And what if they expect me to be Hokage! I don't want to be Hokage. I've seen the paperwork and yuck! Besides, Sarada-nee is gonna be Hokage and she's gonna be great. Maybe I can be a jounin sensei like mama. Her genin team is really nice. I just don't want to have to deal with all the clan stuff she has to. That's not fun at all."

Himawari let out a groan and flopped back on the grass. "What am I going to do, Neji-oji-san? Mama said you were a really powerful jounin. I want to be one too, but I also want to be more than that. Not that that's not great," she insisted, afraid she might have accidentally insulted him, "but well, I want more. Like how daddy's Hokage or how Sakura-oba-chan is head of the Medic Corps," she stated.

Before she could stop herself, she added, "I just don't want them to look at me and only see the Hokage's daughter. I'm proud of it, but I want them to see Himawari, too. Does that make sense?"

The birds chirped. "I thought so." She gazed up at the sky listlessly. It was very relaxing, and she could see why Shikadai liked it so much. It helped her think. She watched as the birds took flight, counting each one that passed: three large, two small. One of the larger ones broke off and she lost track of where it went, but the other four continued to fly. She couldn't look away. There was a rustling beside her. She forced herself to look, surprised to find the lone bird resting on a patch of earth not far away. It looked at her, beady black eyes surveying her as if trying to make sense of something. Himawari gazed back.

"Neji-oji-san…?"

The bird took off, but it was enough for Himawari to be convinced. She smiled, bright and shining as the bird rejoined the others and disappeared. Her earlier anxiety faded into determination. What had she been thinking, wallowing like that? It wasn't like her. She wanted to be happy – always happy. It was so much nicer than being sad.

She raised her fist to the air. "Right! That's enough self-pitying. If the villagers want to gossip about me, fine. Let them! I'll become so amazing it'll blow all their expectations out of the water. Then all they'll be able to talk about is how awesome I am."

 It was his innate control and chakra capacity that quickly let him live up to people’s expectations of a powerhouse. While he wasn’t the Rookie of the Year, he consistently remained in the upper tier of his class. Unlike his father in his youth, Boruto actually waited until after school to pull pranks. Gods only knew what his mother would do if he skipped. But while most of the kids in his class had an idea of what type of shinobi they wanted to become – ANBU, Hokage, teacher, etc. – all Boruto knew was that he wanted to be able to kick some ass and take some names. It wasn’t his fault everyone equated that with wanting to become Hokage.

 By the time he was placed on a genin team, he was quite honestly sick of it. He did not want to be Hokage, he never wanted to be Hokage, and if his dad ever offered him the title he would take the hat and throw it right back. Unfortunately, even his genin team didn’t seem to get this.

 “Alright, my name is Sarutobi Konohamaru and I’m going to be your jounin sensei until you either get promoted or die. So here’s how this is gonna go. You tell me your name, likes, dislikes and dreams for the future, and I won’t send you back to the Academy, kore.”

 “You would actually send us back to the Academy because we won’t tell you what we like?” Uchiha Sarada questioned, incredulous. She was quite obviously not impressed by their teacher. Boruto couldn’t really disagree, but then he had grown up with Konohamaru.

 “I would send you back for not following your superior’s orders, but thanks for volunteering to go first, four-eyes,” the jounin said, smirking. His arms were crossed across his chest and he looked endlessly amused at the angered flush spreading across the girl’s face.

 “Fine,” she huffed. “My name is Uchiha Sarada, not four-eyes. I like reading, studying ninjutsu, and sakuramochi. I dislike idiotic boys, people who make fun of my glasses,” she glared at Konohamaru, “and when my papa is away for too long. Someday, I want to be as powerful as my parents and be the first Uchiha to become Hokage.”

 “An Uchiha Hokage, huh?” Their sensei smirked. “Well, we’ll see. The impossible has happened before.” Sarada glared, but Konohamaru had already moved on to the next child. “Alright, Lee-clone you’re up.”

 “Yosh! I am Rock Tai,” the bowl-headed boy announced, his arms pumping up in the air in excitement. “I enjoy practicing taijutsu and spending time with my friends. I do not like those people who do not work hard or look down on those who do. In the future I hope to become a splendid shinobi and pass on my knowledge and youth to the next generation.”

 Konohamaru nodded, looking as if he was torn between exasperation and amusement, but both Boruto and Sarada had to force themselves not to groan. They had heard it all before. Something about that green leotard had to turn people nuts, because if Tai wasn’t going on about spreading the power of youth to the next generation, he was spouting off some drivel of becoming the next Green Beast. Honestly, Boruto was all for the opinion that that particular title should have ended with Gai. It was only pure luck that Tai knew how to use an indoor voice.

 “Okay, so we have an Uchiha Hokage and a Green Beast. You’re up squirt,” the older man said, nodding to his blond student.

 The boy crossed his arms and glared as his uncle, but it didn’t so much as faze the man. If anything, it just made the jounin happier. Well, let’s see him smile about this. “You know if you’re gonna call me that, I’ll tell mom you taught me the Har-”

 His mouth was covered faster that he thought possible. “Whoa, okay there kiddo, no need to bring your mother into this, kore. Some things are just between us guys, right? Right?”

 He pulled the jounin’s hand away. “Don’t call me squirt and we won’t have to, ’ttebasa.”

 “Tch, you’re a right brat, kore,” the man grumbled. “Fine, for now I won’t call you squirt. Just get on with it.”

 The blond sent his teacher a glare, not believing him for a second. Konohamaru had been calling him that since before he could remember and he doubted he would stop now. But Boruto was hungry and he wanted lunch so he would go along with it. “Alright, I’m Uzumaki Boruto and I like training with my parents and pulling pranks. I don’t like when my dad is too busy to spend time at home and when people respect me just because of him. I want to become a famous kickass shinobi and show everybody just how awesome I am! I’ll be even better than my dad, ‘ttebasa!”

 “Well, if you’re my only challenge for becoming Hokage then it should be easy,” Sarada teased.

 “What was that, four-eyes?” Boruto growled, getting up in her face.

 “You heard me, banana brain,” she retorted. “If you’re my only competition, then I’ll be Hokage before you know it.”

 “Oi! What makes you think I even want-”

 “Okay you two, knock it off,” Konohamaru said, getting up and placing a hand in front of their faces.

 “But-”

 “First rule: you’re teammates, start acting like it. Second rule: don’t let words get to you; it will only screw you over. If you both want to be Hokage, you’re gonna have to work for it. Got it, kore?”

 “But I-”

 “Got it?” The older man stressed, eyeing the blond.

 Boruto could only slouch in defeat. “Got it.”

 “Good. Meet at Training Ground 7 tomorrow at nine and we’ll see if you’re actually fit to be shinobi.” He waved to the trio before disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

 Tai, looking very uncomfortable, quickly wished his teammates a good day before scurrying off to run laps around the village. Sarada hesitated just slightly, jerking a bit as if she wanted to say something to him before shaking her head and marching off in a huff. In seconds Boruto was alone on the Academy roof.

 He looked around, somewhat downcast at how the meeting had gone and whispered, “I don’t want to be Hokage.”

 Like always, nobody heard him.

 For the next few months after passing their sensei’s test, Team 12 alternated between training and missions. Were he on any other team, Boruto wouldn’t have felt proud about winning just as much as he lost during spars, but even he admitted that Sarada and Tai were good. They made a good team, and evidentially Konohamaru-sensei agreed. Not even four months after graduation, the man requested their first C-rank mission.

 It had been easy – just a simple delivery to a town on the border of Hi no Kuni. The only thing that even made it a C-rank was the proximity from the village. They even finished sooner than expected. So how had things gone so wrong?

 Sarada was bleeding. She was bleeding, bleeding, bleeding. There was so much red and Boruto couldn’t move and she was too small to hold all that blood. Something cracked under his shoe though he couldn’t find the energy to pay it any mind. Konohamaru-sensei was shouting, but the words were a mere garble of sound overshadowed by the intense buzzing in his ears. Why wasn’t she moving? Why wasn’t he moving?

 The world tilted.

 There was red on his hands. How had that gotten there? A kunai was in his hand and it was red. Funny, he thought it was grey. Huh. The twelve-year-old jerkily moved his head around the field. Tai was on the ground. He was red too. Boruto thought he might hate the color red. It really was a very ugly color.

 “Boruto!”

 More buzzing.

 “Boruto!” Someone was shaking him. “Come on, squirt. Come on, snap out of it!”

 “Kono-Konohamaru-sensei?” The boy muttered, his tone distant.

 “Yeah, yeah, it’s Konohamaru-sensei,” the man breathed out, relieved. “Okay, Boruto I need you snap out of it. You need to go help Tai, alright?”

 “Help Tai?” Why did Tai need help?

 “Yes, I need you to help Tai. He’s hurt and I can only make so many clones.” Oh, so that was why he was seeing double. Or triple. Or whatever number equated to five.

 Three of the clones were fighting off the last missing-nin, while the fourth was over by Sarada attempting to get rid of all the red. Or was the fourth with him? He couldn’t tell and it didn’t really matter either way. He needed to help Tai. Tai was hurt.

 “Tai’s hurt,” he mumbled again, his eyes roving over to look at his downed teammate and then again to the bloodied kunai. It hit him harder than Tsunade. “K-Konohamaru-sensei, what did I do?” He started to tremble. His mouth went dry and he felt close to vomiting. Did he –? He didn’t…he couldn’t...

 There was another body on the ground. He didn’t know who it was, but he knew the man was dead. You couldn’t be that red and still without being dead. “K-Konohamaru-sensei!” The bile was rising in his throat and he was beginning to panic. He could feel himself starting to hyperventilate. His kunai fell to the ground and landed in a puddle with a thick plop.

 “Boruto, get a hold of yourself! You’re a shinobi – act like it,” the man said, gripping his student’s shoulders tightly. He shook the boy a bit harder than he meant to, but it was worth it to see Boruto squash down his panic. A second later, when the boy seemed more in control, Konohamaru said, “I promise we can talk later, but Tai needs help.” A yell came from behind as the enemy killed two of the clones. “Shit,” the jounin cursed. “We don’t have time for this. Go!”

 With that, Konohamaru was up and running back into the fray leaving Boruto to follow his orders. He had to squash down the urge to stare at the nameless man on the ground in exchange for running pell-mell over to his teammate. He didn’t even want to think about the Konohamaru clone trying to keep Sarada alive.

 Think about Tai. Worry about Tai. Don’t think about Sarada. She’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay and walk home together as if nothing happened, he repeated over and over in his head. Just take it one step at a time. Focus on Tai.

 But focusing on his male teammate proved to be much harder than he expected. Not that he wasn’t trying, but he really didn’t know where to start. It was all just so much. Tai’s body was riddled with senbon, making him resemble a human pincushion, and Boruto could see a kunai buried deeply in his right shoulder. Blood seeped from the wounds to mix with what was already pouring out of a broken nose. His already wounded arm was bent and twisted in an impossible angle, and Boruto really had to work so as not to look away. Where was Tsunade-baa-chan when you needed her?

 Why didn’t I pay more attention to first aid in the Academy? He thought with frustration. The sounds of his sensei fighting were lost on the genin as he attempted to use his coat to stem some of the bleeding. Was he supposed to pull the senbon out or would that cause more damage? Fuck, he really should have paid more attention when his mother and aunts talked about medicine. Tai was going to fucking die and he couldn’t do a damn thing about it!

 Blood began to seep from the unconscious boy’s mouth, and it was all Boruto could do not to laps into a panic attack. Oh fuck! Oh shit! Oh fucking shit! Why couldn’t he do something? More blood fell from Tai’s mouth as the blond franticly tried to position him in a way that wouldn’t cause him to drown in his own blood. Goddamnit, they needed a medic! Boruto silently swore that if they all made it out of this alive, he was going to ask for some more first aid training.

 It was supposed to be a C-rank! Hell, the mission was technically over. They were only a few hours from home. Was this how his father felt on his first real mission out of the village? He doubted it. The idea of his dad messing up this badly was ludicrous. He would have known what to do, or at least he would have managed to prevent his teammates from dying. If Boruto couldn’t even do that, what good was he?

 More blood dribbled out of Tai’s mouth and the blond was beginning to suspect that there were more internal injuries he couldn’t see. He hesitated for a moment, his mind rapidly trying to come up with a solution. There was only one thing he could think of that might work, but even then it wasn’t a guarantee. Could he risk it? It would take a lot of chakra – chakra he might need.

 Think Boruto! Think! He took a deep breath to calm himself. What would mom and dad do? It wasn’t a real question. He knew what they would do. When it came to the people they cared about, his parents were ridiculously predictable. Their execution might be unorthodox, but their response never was – they would do whatever it took to help a friend. If Boruto couldn’t do the same he had no right to call himself their son. Even if it didn’t work, he would know that he tried.

 Focusing on his chakra, Boruto attempted to drown out everything around him. He could feel the energy flowing through him, sluggish in his fatigue, but still strong. Once he felt he had enough, he pushed it all towards his head and waited. It hurt at first, an immense stinging sensation not dissimilar to that of a hundred bee stings pulsed through his eyes. The pain alone almost making him stop right then and there, but he would not allow himself to give up. The Byakugan might be the only chance he had. At least, he suspected he could use the Byakugan. He was about 93 percent positive.

 Fortunately, 93 seemed to be the magic number. The clarity he experienced earlier when the shinobi first attacked returned, only this time it was with intensity unlike anything he had ever experienced. The world around him seemed so much clearer. He could see everything: a bird flying high up in the sky, his sensei fighting farther down the road, the clone trying to help Sarada – everything. It was all so much he found it hard to focus on the one thing he needed to.

 Tai was getting worse, his breathing becoming shallow and irregular. At this rate, the green clad boy wasn’t going to last long enough to get medical attention. His body was beginning to shut down. Boruto had a quick moment of panic when he saw the chakra system was being blocked by senbon, forming clots that looked ready to burst. His hesitation about pulling out the needles quickly dissipated with the knowledge that leaving them would cause far more damage.

 Deft fingers pulled the needles out and it was with some relief that Boruto looked at his teammate’s considerably eased chakra system. That was one less thing to worry about, though the boy was still losing a lot of blood. There were too many tiny holes to try and cover all of them. Nothing he could do helped and so he forced himself to focus just on the kunai wound. It was only shear luck that the weapon missed the axillary artery. Unfortunately, this didn’t stop the kunai from causing some serious damage and Boruto didn’t know whether to pull it out or not. Judging from the amount of blood already pouring from Tai’s body, Boruto decided against it. Instead, he quickly removed his jacket and bound it around the object to hold it steady. Hopefully he wasn’t making everything worse. That arm was already broken and turning Tai onto his side probably hadn’t helped.

 Of course, this brought up the problem of said broken arm. While his eyes did let him see the break, he could only vaguely recalled how to splint a broken bone. It didn’t help the fact that he didn’t have any of the necessary supplies on him. All he had were a few bandages and a ready-to-use antidote for common poisons. There were no thick sticks to be had to make a splint or ice to reduce the swelling.

 Come on, Boruto! Think! He yelled to himself, searching frantically for something to use. His eyes highlighted upon Tai’s nunchaku sitting innocuously some feet away. If he could sever the rope connecting the two, they might just work.

 Boruto quickly moved for the weapons, picking them up and thanking the gods that Tai hadn’t moved on to using kusari. It was much easier to break ropes than chains. He speedily broke the bond connecting the two metal rods and placed them on either side of the broken arm. Hoping this would help, the blond bound the arm and rods together in a crude, makeshift splint. With the arm somewhat immobilized, Boruto took this opportunity to look at his other teammate.

 Sarada appeared to be less dead, even if she did look strange without her glasses. Konohamaru-sensei must have been able to stem the bleeding, though it was only now that he realized the clone was gone. He could see with his Byakugan that she was breathing a bit easier. Her chakra network was still a bit off kilter, especially around her eyes, but it didn’t seem to be doing anything harmful. At least, not from what he could tell from all those lessons his grandfather made him and his sister sit through. While neither child showed any real hint of possessing the clan’s doujutsu, Hiashi hadn’t felt that was a good enough excuse not to educate his grandchildren on the chakra network. Boruto was certainly thankful for it now.

 But without knowing more, the blond had unfortunately done all he could for the two downed twelve-year-olds. He didn’t like it, this feeling of knowing he could help if only he had the ability. Boruto deactivated his Byakugan and clenched his fingers. His chakra control was the best in his class, better even than Sarada’s. Considering his chakra capacity, it was probably one of the most impressive skills he had. He hadn’t even had to work that hard at it! People with Hyuuga blood were generally good at chakra control simply through genetics. With this in mind he should have worked harder at practicing skills that required such precision. His mother had even offered to teach him some basic medical techniques because of it. Why the hell had he blown her off? So what if he could kill the guy that hurt them. If he couldn’t prevent them from dying at the end of the day then what did it matter if the enemy was dead or not?

 “If you guys die, I’ll never forgive you. Leaving me alone with only Konohamaru-sensei is too cruel, ‘ttebasa,” he muttered. Maybe they could hear him; it would be nice if they listened to him for once.

 But to the blond’s dismay neither genin responded. All he could do was watch them, occasionally activating his doujutsu in order reassure himself they were still alive, and wait for his sensei to come back. Perhaps fifteen minutes later, the sound of rapidly approaching footsteps broke the tense silence. Boruto quickly floundered for a weapon, his hand grasping around until it latched onto the still bloody kunai he dropped earlier. He positioned himself between his two teammates and prepared for an attack. Fortunately, no such attack came.

 “Konohamaru-sensei!” He yelled in relief. It had to be the best thing he’d seen all day. “What happened to the other guy?”

 “Dead,” the jounin replied, looking the blond over with a critical eye. He must have been satisfied with what he saw because the next moment he was walking towards Tai and lifting him up. “We have to get these two back to Konoha. Are you alright to carry Sarada?”

 “Y-yeah,” Boruto nodded his head.

 “Good. Pick her up gently, but be quick. I don’t know how much time we’ve got, kore.”

 The little blond could only nod as he raced over to his childhood playmate and picked her up. She was a lot heavier than he remembered. It struck him as a bit odd that Konohamaru would ask him to carry her, but surmised that doing so meant his teacher needed to conserve enough chakra in the event of future attack.

 “Got her,” he said, racing back to the man.

 Konohamaru nodded. “Keep your senses open for anything suspicious.”

 With that the two were off, racing down the path that lead towards Konoha. Boruto almost fell behind a few times, but he pushed himself forward. Now was not the time to be tired or weak.

 It was with considerable relief that the group came upon Konoha’s gates nearly an hour later. Not stopping to check in, both teacher and student rushed towards the hospital. Bursting through the doors at a considerable speed, they immediately had the attention of the hospital personnel. Boruto quickly lost track of what was going on as Tai and Sarada were whisked away for emergency treatment and he was taken to another room to be looked over.

 “Uzumaki-sama, I need you to look at me for a moment. I’m just going to do a quick diagnostic to see if there are any further injuries,” the medic said, his hand encased in green chakra.

 Boruto could only nod, the adrenaline he had been running on rapidly decreasing now that the action was over. He could feel himself sag as the day’s events caught up with him. Never before had he felt so exhausted. It was alright, though. They were in Konoha, Sarada and Tai were getting help, and no one had died.

 A flash of red filled his mind’s eye followed by a startled face. Boruto gave a start. He knew that face. It was the chuunin that attacked them. Why was he red again? It all came flooding back: Sarada fell and he was moving; there was a strangled cry as Boruto’s kunai buried itself in the shinobi’s skull. He remembered the blood that flew across his face as the man fell, and watching as the dark viscous liquid pooled oh so rapidly around the body. Boruto didn’t even realize he was falling until he felt the medic’s arms wrap around him.

 “Uzumaki-sama! Uzumaki-sama!” Someone was shaking him.

 “Boruto!”

 “Hokage-sama! Sir, you can’t be in here just yet.”

 “The hell I can’t!” Larger hands were holding him, but the boy could hardly focus with everything going on. “Boruto? Boruto, look at me.”

 “D-Dad?” He shakily raised his head to look into his father’s eyes.

 The older blond nodded, obviously relieved, but the relief was overshadowed by a confusing mixture of worry and anger. Boruto could understand the worry, but the anger was unexpected. Was he angry at him? Did…did Sarada die? Tai? No. No, that couldn’t be right. He just left them. They were right there. They were alive. They were alive!

 He screamed.

 “Sarada! Tai!” They were dead, they were dead. He failed; he killed them. “Sarada!” The name was garbled by a wet cough as he continued screaming.

 He didn’t even realize his dad’s arms had wrapped around him in a tight embrace as he continued to yell his teammates’ names. The events of the past day finally caught up with the twelve-year-old and no amount of preparation could have helped him handle it all. Within three hours, he almost lost two friends, made his first kill, and had his first brush with death. He thought he had been prepared for this. He wasn’t.

 “They’re dead, they’re dead. I killed them, dad,” he yelled.

 “No. You didn’t kill anyone, Boruto,” his father said, pulling him closer and sitting down on the hospital bed. The child didn’t even notice the medic leave them both alone. “Sarada and Tai are going to be okay. Sakura-oba-chan and Tsunade-obaa-chan won’t let anything happen to them. I promise, and I never break my promises, right?”

 Boruto, shaking and grasping at his father’s shirt, shook his head ‘no’. As far as he knew, his dad had never broken a promise, but the boy wasn’t stupid. His father could no more control death than he could the weather. Beside that, his dad was wrong about one thing.

 “But I killed him, dad. I killed him,” he choked out. The man’s blood flashed before his eyes and the still bloody kunai felt heavy in his pouch.

 “Who did you kill, Boru?” Naruto asked softly.

 “That man,” he whispered.

 “What man?”

 “The chuunin. He was gonna kill Sarada, but I moved and he fell and he started bleeding and-and it was my kunai. I killed him!”

 Too caught up in his own emotions, Boruto failed to notice his father tense up at the knowledge of his son’s first kill. All he felt was his dad lift him up to place him on his lap and press his cheek to the boy’s head. Naruto’s unbandaged arm calmly stroked his son’s hair as he fought to find the right words to say.

 “You saved Sarada’s life, Boru. If you hadn’t killed that man, all three of you might have died. Call me selfish, but I would much rather have you here with me than have that man alive.”

“But you don’t kill. You would have been able to get out without killing him,” Boruto insisted, remembering all of the stories about his dad’s ability to befriend anyone, even enemies.

 Naruto gave a weary sigh. “Oh Boru. I don’t know where you heard that, but it’s not true. All shinobi kill at some point in their career. It’s inevitable. I had hoped you wouldn’t have to face this so soon, but we can’t change that now. All that matters is that you’re okay. You and Sarada and Tai are home safe.”

 “But-” he broke off as a clump formed in his throat. The little blond could feel tears building up in his eyes and he tried desperately to hold them in. Shinobi didn’t cry. It was in the rules.

 “Boruto.” The boy didn’t look up. He didn’t want to acknowledge his dad’s prodding.

 Naruto sighed and ran his thumb across his son’s cheek. He smiled sadly as his hand brushed away a few rebellious tears. “It’s okay to cry, Boru.”

 The little boy shook his head vigorously, sniffing and wiping at his eyes to hide the evidence. “No it’s not. Shinobi don’t show tears.”

 “Shinobi Rule 25: A shinobi must never show their fears,” the Hokage murmured. “Bullshit.”

 Boruto swiveled his head upwards and stared at his father in shock. Naruto never cursed, not in front of his kids at least. The genin could probably count on one hand the number of times he had heard his dad curse.

 “W-what?”

 “You heard me. It’s bullshit. All shinobi cry. Even Sai has cried and he’s the most emotionally stunted guy I’ve ever met.”

 “B-but, everyone says shinobi can’t cry. Even Shino-sensei said shinobi shouldn’t cry. It’s a weakness.”

 “Ah, but did Shino-sensei say not to cry or not to cry before an enemy?”

 “Umm,” Boruto looked down in thought. “Not-not to cry in front of an enemy, I think.”

 “And there’s the different. Even then, there are a few circumstances where crying before your opponent is okay,” his father stated. “But crying in front of your family, your friends – it is not a weakness.”

 “It’s not?”

 “No” Naruto said, gently. “You’re not weak for crying. Tears don’t make you weak. I cried in front of the entire Shinobi Alliance and not once was I called weak for it. This is your first kill, Boru. I’d be surprised if you didn’t cry. Gods know I did.”

 “You?” Boruto lifted reddened eyes to stare at his dad.

 “Mmhm,” he nodded. “I wasn’t much older than you, only fourteen. Ero-sennin and I were ambushed by bandits. They were easy to dispatch, but it was still the first time I purposefully killed anyone. When what I did finally set in, I cried for three hours.”

 “Three hours?” His eyes widened.

 “Yep,” Naruto nodded. “By then Ero-sennin was getting sick of it so he wacked me upside the head, told me I was still alive, and that if I wanted to stay alive I had better get off my ass and continue training.”

 “Did it help?”

 “Not really. I had nightmares for months. Still do sometimes. But you have to remember that by killing that man you saved your friends. They’re alive because of you.”

 “But they were still hurt! They could have died and I…I was completely useless! Tai was bleeding and Sarada was dying. I saw it and I couldn’t do anything,” Boruto said, balling his hands into fists and gazing angrily at his lap. “What was the point of killing him if I couldn’t stop them from getting hurt in the first place?” He choked as the question finally left his mouth and the waves of tears he tried so hard to keep in were let out.

 The genin sat there in his dad’s lap crying for what felt like ages, but couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes. All the while, Naruto just sat on the hospital bed, holding his son close and rocking him back and forth like when Boruto was a child. He didn’t try to shush him or calm him down with meaningless platitudes. Boruto needed to let it out. Better here and now than later when the feeling had time to fester. It wasn’t long though before the choking sobs turned into wet sniffles and his son’s grip on his shirt loosened.

 “Better?” Naruto asked, not unkindly.

 Boruto gave another sniffle, but nodded against his father’s chest.

 “Good. Now, Boruto I want you to look at me,” he said, gently lifting his son’s face up until they were gazing eye to eye. “I’m going to tell you something I learned a long time ago. There was a point in my life where I wanted to become powerful enough to protect everyone. But there was a problem. I got so caught up in becoming stronger on my own that I forgot that my friends wanted to protect me too. By trying to protect them all by myself, I was insulting their strength. We are Konoha shinobi. We protect each other, but we also have to trust in our comrades. No matter how strong you are you can’t always stop your friends from getting hurt.” Neji’s face flashed before him and he briefly closed his eyes. “All you can do is trust in them to survive.”

 Boruto didn’t really like this. He didn’t want his friends to die. Most of them had grown up together – Sarada and he practically shared a crib. The idea of them actually dying was too foreign to even prepare to contemplate.

 “So I can’t do anything?”

 “Hmm, no. There’s a lot you can do. Train and get stronger so the next time you’ll be able to protect them. The better you are, the less likely to get hurt you become.” A wry look passed his face. “Though, the more powerful you become, the more dangers you face. Give and take, ya know. Just make sure you have a medic on your team. Like Sakura-oba-chan! I can’t tell you the number of times she’s saved me, dattebayo.”

 Have a medic on the team. The thought reverberated through the twelve-year-old’s mind. Hadn’t he wished for a medic when trying to save Tai? If they had had a medic on hand his teammates probably wouldn’t be fighting for their lives right now. But they couldn’t add a medic to the team now, not unless one of his teammates decided to take up the profession, and, honestly, Boruto couldn’t see Tai or Sarada doing very well in it. Well, okay, maybe Sarada, but she always seemed much more focused on attacking than anything else. She was more of a ninjutsu/genjutsu type. Iryojutsu had never been one of her interests as far as he knew.

 Tai…no. Just no. He was determined to become the foremost practitioner of taijutsu, and medicine required a different type of devotion. It would probably be more than Tai would be able, or willing, to commit. Besides that, the boy’s chakra was a little volatile. Boruto’s was too, but he had the control to back it up. Tai did not.

 So that left Boruto. Surprisingly, he wasn’t completely against the idea. He couldn’t say he ever really thought about it before. Doctors were always something abstract. They were other people, people his parents took him to when he was sick or hurt. And when he thought of combat medics all he could think of were Sakura-oba-chan and Tsunade-obaa-chan. Even then, the term ‘medic’ had just been another word to describe them, like how his dad happened to be Hokage. But the more he thought about it the more he found himself liking the idea. He had the control and capacity necessary for iryojutsu, so why not use it.

 If he became a medic, he could protect his friends. They would always know he had their backs and he would never again feel as powerless as he had today. He could fix a broken arm, heal a stab wound, save someone’s life. His friends would never have to fear for their lives again.

 Of course, there was the Medic Code of Combat to consider. Tsunade-baa-chan bemoaned the idiots who tried to disregard it enough for him to pick up on a few of the rules. Boruto had no problem with the First Clause, the one about never stopping medical treatment until the patient was dead or healed. Even if his patient died, the blond couldn’t say he would actually stop. The Second Clause, however, might prove a more troublesome endeavor. From what he could remember from one of Tsunade’s many rants, it had something to do with no medic-nin ever being a front line shinobi. That didn’t really sit well with him. Boruto may not have wanted to become Hokage, but he still wanted to be a kickass shinobi and surpass his dad. Fighting on the front lines was kind-of a requirement.

 The Third Clause stated that medic-nins had to be the last ones on their squad to die. Like the Second, Boruto was a bit hesitant about this. If he was gonna die, he wanted to go out protecting his friends in some sort of blaze of glory, not because there was no one else around to die first, and he certainly wasn’t going to let his comrades fight while he stood in the background. Was it possible to fight on the front and still be a medic? Sakura-oba-chan and Tsunade-baa-chan did. There had to be a loophole somewhere that let them disregard the second and third rules, so if he was going to do this then he had to make sure he became as great as them. No, he would be even better. If he became a medic, he would never lose a patient and still kick everyone’s ass.

 He couldn’t remember if there were any more rules, but decided it didn’t matter if there were because he had already made up his mind. He was going to be the best medic the world had ever seen. He would protect his comrades and never feel so powerless ever again.

 “Boruto?” His dad’s voice cut through the silence he had accidentally created and brought him back to reality. “Are you alright?”

 “Dad, I-” he cut himself off. How could he tell his dad he wanted to be a medic? Every time someone said he was going to grow up to be just like his father, Naruto’s face would light up. There was even a picture at home of Boruto as a baby in a shirt that said ‘Future Hokage.’

 “What is it? Did I say something wrong?” A slightly worried look crossed the older blond’s face.

 “No! No, I just…I was just thinking,” he trailed off.

 “Oh? Wanna share?”

 “I…” he tried to start, but it was just so hard. Would his dad be disappointed? Angry? The boy shook his head at the thought. No, his dad probably wouldn’t get angry. He was too nice for that. Though, he might be disappointed, which, to Boruto, was even worse. If there was anything he feared the most, it was letting his dad down.

 “Hey,” Naruto murmured gently. “Tell me.”

 Well, if he really wanted to know…

 “Iwannabeamedic!” Boruto said, the words meshing together in an indeterminable mess.

 “What?”

 The boy took a deep breath and said a bit more calmly, “I want to be a medic.”

 “You…want to be a medic?”

 Boruto nodded, determinately not looking at his father.

 “Can I ask what brought this on?”

 “If…if I can’t stop people from getting hurt, then I can help them when the are hurt. I won’t…I won’t be powerless. I won’t have to see anyone die,” he said with rising conviction. He looked at his dad resolutely. “I know you wanted me to become Hokage, but…but I don’t want to. I’m sorry, Dad.”

 “Sorry?” Naruto looked both stunned and confused for a second before his face settled into a sad sort of understanding. “Boruto, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

 “Wha-”

 “Son, I’ve known for a long time you didn’t want to become Hokage,” Naruto explained, smiling. “I’m not upset that you want to be something different. Being Hokage was my dream. It was how I was able to protect my precious people. But you’re not me, and I could never expect you to be. If being a medic is what you think is right for you, then you have my support.”

 “But everyone expects me to be Hokage someday!” Boruto stated, flabbergasted at his dad’s response.

 “Screw them, ‘ttebayo!” The child stared in wonderment. Did his dad really just-? Yes he did! “Boru, people will say anything. My father was Hokage, as am I, so they expect you to follow. But I wasn’t my dad and you aren’t me. Make your own goals and follow through; don’t stop until you’ve accomplished them. That’s all anyone can ever ask of you.”

 “So, you’re not mad or upset?”

 “No. I’m not mad or upset. In fact, I’m very very proud of you.”

 “You are?”

 “Yes. After all, saving lives is a lot cooler than smashing down walls, dattebayo,” he said, grinning and leaning down as if to share an important secret. “Though, I can still teach you how to do that if you want.”

 “Yeah!” Boruto couldn’t stop grinning. His dad was proud of him!

 “Alright. I won’t lie to you, though. Being a medic-nin is a lot of hard work. It’s a lot of studying and practice. You’ll probably have to read more books than you ever have in your life, and don’t think I don’t remember how mama had to force you to study in the Academy. With that said, do you still want to do it? There’s no turning back once you’ve started.”

 The child looked at his dad’s suddenly serious face and thought. He really did hate to study and he had never been particularly predisposed to book learning, but he couldn’t let that stop him. If it were easy, everyone would do it. Instead, he thought of how much he could help, how many people he could save, and his resolve hardened. He didn’t even realize his Byakugan had activated as he clenched his fists and grinned.

 “I’m sure. I’ll become the greatest medical ninja in history! I’ll become so powerful, I’ll be able to protect everyone, dattebasa!”

 Naruto looked at his son for a moment, wonder and pride warring inside him. When did he grow up? Byakugan blazing and face determined, Boruto looked like a real shinobi. Naruto had no doubts he would succeed. The Hokage’s face split into a big smile and he pulled his incredible little boy even closer. “We’ll talk to Sakura-chan and Tsunade-baa-chan first thing tomorrow. I hope you’re prepared.”

 “Don’t worry, dad. I’ll make you proud,” he said, snuggling into the embrace.