Archive of Our Own ^beta

There was someplace he needed to go. People needed him. Lives needed saving.

Fog surrounded him on all sides. He had run and run and run. He had been running for a very long time. Fighting for people for just as long. Chasing and hunting and making the world a safer place. 

One end of a bridge rose from the fog. He didn’t pause. He didn’t hesitate. He ran across it for the other side. It was a very long bridge. (Or he wasn’t moving at all.)

A figure stood in his path. A hand rose in a stopping motion. He obliged and knew, somehow, that this was the center of the bridge. The figure turned the outstretched hand from a stopping motion to a more beseeching gesture. 

There was a toll to pay to cross this bridge. The payment was themselves for the bridge traveled through places no living may tread.—But he descended from one of three brothers that had tricked this tollman once before. 

He had a different payment to offer: a cloak was pulled from his shoulders and offered to the figure.  (He had given it once before to a little boy, a son he could no longer recall the face of.)

Without the cloak, fog entrenched upon him. It smothered the man as he stumbled past the figure and into the depths of the bridge beyond. (His hands clenched against stone and wand now that he was no longer hidden from them.) A lifetime of memories danced about the silvery, misty fog. Memories slipped away. 

People needed him—He had to keep running—Lives were at stake

(Wasn’t it time to rest—Let the living manage their matters)

It was very hard to move through fog of memories and long-dead loved ones. Part of him wanted to turn from his path. The war had ended. His time had passed.

Didn’t he deserve rest?

He had paid the toll to continue on. (But he had paid it with the object that could have hidden him and kept him whole.)

He was the master of death and this was his prize, to continue past all of the afterlife: No one can be master of death so what did it mean that he was master of the three hollows? (Curses and blessings and the results of fools who believed they could trick death.)

Something reached the end of the bridge and stepped onto land. Stone and wand as gone as the cloak—perhaps used as payment for tolls as the bridge had no singular route. 

Wispy little frayed ends of memories clung on to shadow. Whispers of life sprouted in the shadows steps as it passed from the bridge to beyond.

Midori rubbed her face with a mumble of annoyance. Something had awoken her. Her eyes didn’t want to open. Sleep whispered at the edge of her mind and the heaviness of her limbs even as the swirls of chakra danced across her awareness. Not even weird bridge dreams could stop her from sleeping more. Weird bridge dreams were almost as common as weird flying on brooms and dragons and other strange not-real animal dreams. (Why does she dream of flying? She’d rather nap  of nothing in particular or curl up in the shadow of one of the many Hashirama trees.)

Mr. Kiyama was drunk-drunk. His chakra was all swooshy and swirly and dancing in weird fuzzy ways. He also must have paid Madam Sakai to spend time with him since she was—

She scrunch her nose up and tried to find out why she had woken up. The neighbors' being nasty adults weren’t reasons for waking up. All the other adults just beyond were either sleeping or drunk or high or fucking too. None of that was a reason to wake up. That was normal. Her mama and her lived in the red light district so she had learned to sleep through all the strange chakra spikes that happened when people did nasty adult things together. (She wasn’t entirely sure what some of the chakra spikes equated to in adult nasty acts but the emotional excitement and bliss and all that she felt seemed to fit the same general pattern so she just dumped it all in the same category and left it very thoroughly alone.)

So why was she awake before she had to be awake?

Her eyelids finally agreed with her brain and peeled open to allow slits of the visual world in. There wasn’t much to see. There was just her tiny closet that was hers since forever. It was small and comfy and dark and cozy-cozy. The tiny room reminded her of a little dark den with shadows and shade and let her make-believe she was a little raccoon. It had her futon that took up the floor when out, a stack of library books, and her clothing hanging over her head. (Nostalgia sang through her of another little closet she had once called home. This one was much better though.)

She could see all that in the fine shades of gray of a dark room. There was nothing out of place.

“She’s dumb.”

Midori turned her head. That had been her mama’s voice. There was terror in it. The swirling little whirl of pine and seagulls that was mama shivered with fear.

Another voice spoke, skeptical, “Dumb?”

Her eyes widened and her heart jumped to her throat. Instinct had her pull her chakra tight, though it was already close and tight in her chest as she preferred when sleeping. All she ended up doing was make it look like the shadows shift about her. She was wide awake now. The room felt brighter as any remnants of sleep fled.

The second voice belonged to someone with no chakra. Or at least someone with chakra she could not readily feel. 

“She’s,” her mama croaked out, “m-my d-daughter is an id-idiot, D-Danzo-sama. She cannot read yet. Or speak.–” Midori frowned, affronted at that as her gaze jumped back to the advanced books she had checked out of the library. “–She is ill-suited to your needs.”

Midori’s brow furrowed as she tried to understand. Her mama was insulting her, calling her dumb and stupid to this Danzo person for some reason. She considered that for a long moment.—All the times her mama would smile but her chakra would churn with happy-sad-terror-fear when Midori did something far from dumb sprang to mind. (Midori had started doing those things less obviously since mama was less than happy to see her doing them. Maybe that was a good thing.)

“Well.” Danzo spoke, “If she is not acceptable, you will still send her through the academy. With parental permission, a three-year-old would be allowed entry, even one…deficient. She will be of some use to Konoha. I placed too much effort in her creation for her otherwise….And you will do better next time.”

“Yes, Danzo-sama! She’ll do well as a genin corp girl. She might not be worth much for th-th-the b-breeding program but she will be useful!”

She tilted her head in wonder at what a breeding program was before another thought struck her and she squeezed her eyes shut to focus. Danzo’s chakra had to be there somewhere. 

Focus. Focus. Focus. 

Like a little shadow—looking for an itsy little thread—she could find anyone’s chakra if she listened and looked hard enough. 

There!

—just for a moment—She felt multiple swirling chakras as they all left her mama’s apartment. She didn’t know which was Danzo’s but most were pretty dull feeling with icky weirdness near their heads. They didn’t seem to feel anything at all actually. Might be because of the ickness. The group might all be sick. 

Then there was the annoyed one but he might be annoyed because of the tagalong chakras he got stuck on him too—His chakra was mostly wind but had a spark of campfire with caramel, which reminded her of the police officers she saw around, and oddly pine-scented that she mostly felt from the various humungous trees all around the village—and mama but it was more like the trees than mama. 

The group of strange and icky chakras were across the redlight district in a blink and then they were beyond her sensing.

Midori heaved a huge yawn and plopped her face back into her pillow. She should find out what breeding was and she should like to celebrate going to the academy. But first, sleep.

ooo

Mama offered a wobbly smile and a smacking kiss to her forehead all the while her chakra sang with worry. 

Midori smiled back and wished she could assure her poor mama that she understood. She had no interest in being part of a breeding program. She had looked it up. (Now she made certain to sense carefully before doing anything smart-smart. She always knew when Danzo—the only person that had the police force’s campfire caramel chakra and the Hashirama trees chakra and his primary chakra all at once—and the many, many shinobi with the ickness chakra in their heads were near. They never ever, ever saw her reading anything.)

She knew to be dumb in class too because Danzo had the Hokage’s ear: Class was going to be so boring since mama had said she didn’t really read or talk. Midori guessed she would just have to sleep through most of it.

The little three-year-old ran off, skipped past the trash and broken bottles, the hungover drunks and drug addicts already looking for a fix in the early morning, and dodged into one of the main streets towards the Hokage’s tower and the academy. Chakra swirls danced about her senses, letting her know where everyone was without her ever having to properly pay much attention with her physical eyes. Even the civilians either had chakra because they had gone to the academy at one point and tried to be a shinobi so had unlocked their chakra or had the physical and spiritual energies brimming under their skins and swirling about them enough to sense. 

It was rare to run across someone without much energy at all. There was usually something wrong with those people. Sickly, not long for the world: on the doorsteps of meeting with death as an old friend and walking to their next great adventure that would hopefully be long and fun and full of life next time.

Midori slowed at the thought as she passed some elderly sitting and playing a game with black and white stones. One of them felt like he might be due to meet with death soon. 

A thoughtful frown spread across her face. Sometimes she had this feeling that she was on her next great adventure—and it wasn’t going at all how she had expected it to go. 

She shook off the feeling as quickly as it came and continued to the academy. 

Midori got there just in time to hear the Sandaime Hokage’s speech. (And see all the parents with their kids which she hadn’t realized was a thing. Mama would have been self-conscious standing amongst all the clan shinobi anyhow.) The amount of chakra—and emotions—was overwhelming. She didn’t really notice any of the actual speech or the specific instructions from the various instructors shouting out over the crowd. 

Marketplaces were busy-busy chakra buzzing hives but the ones she went to with mama were in the redlight district and on the opposite side of all the clans. This was So Much Chakra.

“Hey–Hey–Hey–Hey!”

Midori blinked owlishly over to the speaker as she realized she was being spoken to. Vibrant blond and blue were in her face. A tsunami of brilliant swirling sea salt chakra churned with excitement, too big to fit in the boy just a little bigger than her. Seagulls sang and breezy air fluttered through the sea salt with the exuberance of emotion the boy felt. It all almost entirely hid the miasma of anger that curled and withered in its depths. 

She took a sharp step back and blinked a few times to adjust her view.

A wide grin on a pink face with odd indented marks like whiskers on cheeks almost framed big blue eyes. “Heya! You look like you’re like me! Jiji let me go to the academy! You’re going too, right!? I hope we’ll be in the same class. Right?”

“Oh.” Midori paused and then hesitated before she nodded silently. 

She wasn’t supposed to speak and she didn’t really know what to say. The boy was very loud with his chakra so vibrant, as vibrant as his hair and eyes and everything about him. It didn’t help that there were so many others around too.

It was a lot.

“Uzumaki!” shouted a shinobi, “Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama requested I guide you. This way please!”

The little boy lit up even more and shouted out excitedly, “Yatta! This is it! We’re going to be awesome! See you there!”

Uzumaki Naruto was sunshine at the beach. (She had never been to the beach as Midori. It felt right though so she must have been, once…a very long time ago.)

She didn’t have a guide. 

Little girls with whores for mothers didn’t deserve a guide.

Instead, Midori found a shinobi that took the paperwork Mama had carefully filled out and she had carefully folded—then stuffed into her pocket before running over here. It was a little wrinkled now. Nothing bad. 

It couldn’t be why the shinobi’s chakra went from bored to nasty-cold-disgusted within moments of unfolding it. She was directed to a classroom without a glance. It was full of kids from the redlight district like her. Kids with only mamas or grandmamas or nobody at all. Their sensei made it clear immediately they were in the class set for the genin corps. There would be no possibility of anything else.

That suited Midori fine. She was supposed to play dumb-dumb so she didn't get picked up for Danzo-sama’s breeding program. (She couldn’t help but wonder if doing the opposite would have been better—Uzumaki-kun shown like the sun as he laughed outside the window with his own classmates later that afternoon as if teasing her of could-have-beens and what-ifs.)

But that's ok.

And it was still ok when a sensei showed up with the ickness stuck to the back of his throat and made her class take a weird test she purposely failed two weeks in that no other class took. (Three of the boys were gone after that test. Takao-sensei claimed their mama’s pulled them out. Their mama’s chakras were sad-sad-sad and their apartments were empty . And the boys' chakras were gone .)

Midori was fine. She was perfectly fine. —And a teeny, tinny wee-bit scared.

Part of her wasn’t surprised when she woke up to ick-filled chakras in her apartment. She had done everything she was supposed to. Midori had been dumb-dumb. But she didn’t think people believed her all the time.

She tugged her charka as close as she could to hide-hide-hide. (They couldn’t take her too. She wasn’t a smart girl. She wasn’t a good breeding option. Midori was only a dumb-dumb.) 

It took her a moment to realize there was another chakra besides the icky ones. Like Mr. Kiyama’s chakra when drunk-drunk—but not. It was all swooshy and swirly and dancing in weird fuzzy ways but also very very slowly. Not-Drunk. (She’d look it up but not find answers for a long time. Eventually, though, she’d know. The man was drugged. And probably a little drunk to hide it the next day.)

“This time Danzo-sama desires an intelligent boy,” stated a muffled chakra swirl with ickiness in the back of his throat.

Midori frowned even as her mama muttered a weak “yes, sir”. She knew how babies happened. Danzo was the dumb-dumb if he thought mama could just decide to have a boy. Still, apparently, her mama’s agreement was enough because all the icky-chakras left.

She plopped her face back on her pillow and tried to sleep. Her brain wouldn’t let her even though she was used to ignoring the icky adult sounds of her mama entertaining drunk men in the main room. There was a fact her brain wanted to acknowledge, that she needed to consider, but she couldn’t while her mama was making little gasping sounds and skin was slapping against skin in the other room. 

It took a long stupid amount of time because mama didn’t do the normal routine of taking care of the drunk man once. Usually, drunk men only had enough money for a once. Or could only stay awake for a once. This man didn’t really feel entirely awake for any of it though he made plenty of the gasping sounds and his chakra felt the proper bliss at times and all (Midori squashed the weird feeling about it—About if the man had any say. About the squishy, squirmy, icky feeling mama was feeling while she did what she did.) It was almost dawn before mama finally curled in a corner of her futon to go to sleep. 

When mama and the Not-Drunk chakra slowed so she knew for sure that they were sleeping, Midori stumbled up and slid out of her cozy-cozy room. She didn’t really move for a while. She just stood there and stared across the dark little apartment at the sprawled-out form of the man Danzo had sent mama. 

His final words to her mama rang through her sleep-deprived mind: You will do better next time.  

That implied that Danzo thought mama was the one at fault for her being a dumb-dumb. So would he have her mama try to have an intelligent boy with the same man? Is this her papa?

Midori finally forced herself to walk across room and look. Not-Drunk had pineapple hair…but if she ignored the weird interest in looking like a pineapple, she guessed she and Not-Drunk might have the same sort of look. Midori had always known she took after her papa but had her mother’s eyes. That had always been true. Since long before the bridge, from before she had been a girl. (She paused at that thought and frowned and shook it away.) 

There was a simple fact she had to acknowledge as she glanced down over the slumbering man.—His features were pretty common. Dark brown-black hair. Palish skin. Oval-shaped face.

The earrings, scars, and pineapple hairstyle were interesting but not genetic. 

She frowned and glanced away from him, gaze settling on his discarded clothing and the clan symbol on his shirt sleeves. Chakra was genetic. His chakra was all lazy and nudging her toward napping under the moon. 

Midori twisted her night shirt about as she worried over her thoughts, frustrated as she realized she couldn’t prove anything. She had thought—but she couldn’t prove it, even to herself. (And she had only wanted to prove it to herself. She wanted to know she had a papa.)

If only she could feel her own chakra the way she felt everyone else’s. She couldn’t and that was that. (She could use it but it was hers and so it came without imagery or taste or smells. There was nothing to sense about it because it was her .)

A frustrated sound escaped her before she stomped back to her tiny closest and dropped into her futon. Not long after, the icky-chakra swirls came back and snuck Not-Drunk away while he slept.

ooo

Midori became very good at being a dumb-dumb. So good all the smart kids in class didn’t want anything to do with her (which was ok because she couldn’t help worrying that they would vanish anyhow). She couldn’t stand all the real dumb kids in class because they were tiring to be around after having to play dumb all day. That left the other kids but they didn’t like being around her because they thought she was dumb.

So Midori hung out alone. Which was fine . She would sneak books from the library and read them when she knew none of the teachers were paying any mind. Or she’d work on her senses (because there was nothing else to do).—The Hashirama tree she was staring at through the class window had a chakra system. This was something she had just learned due to boredom. She had been staring at all the chakra the tree had been pulling at all morning while she had been trying to take a nap as sensei droned on about the second ninja war. Then she had shifted her sensing to the tree itself instead of the chakra at its roots.

There was a lot of chakra in the trees around Konoha. She couldn’t help but wonder if that was normal or if it was due to the Shodaime. She wondered at how many might have a chakra system like this one.

Her deskmate growned in complaint, pulling her gaze from the tree. Their sensei was cleaning all his notes about the war off the blackboard. Her deskmate was one of the real dumb-dumbs and was flexing his hand from all the note taking he had been doing. 

She considered taking another nap.

“Now, before I delve into the specific battles within the wars, we need to learn about important clans,” her teacher announced, catching Midori’s attention. “You all remember the first two clans of Konoha?”

One of her dumb-dumb classmates flung her hand up and was called on to announce the obvious answer—Senju and Uchiha.

Sensei nodded, please. “Of course after them, we have the Aburame clan and the Akimichi clan. With the Akimichi clan, the Yamanaka and Nara clans followed close behind.” He drew two large clan symbols on the blackboard and then two smaller symbols below the Akimichi clan symbol. “All the clans of Konoha have important skill sets and fill important roles in the structure of the village and shinobi teams, particularly during wartime. If you listen to the older generation, you’ll hear superstitious whispers about each of these clans.—The Naras were deer shaman. Uchiha are blessed by Amaterasu. The Senju have a pack with the Kodamas.—Those stories, superstitious folktales, aren’t important and you shouldn’t listen to them….”

Midori only sort of paid any mind to the teacher’s words. Her attention was stuck on the symbol for the Nara clan. It was a very familiar symbol.

Not-Drunk was a Nara. 

The little girl actually focused on the lecture for once as sensei explained the basics about the Akimichi-Yamanaka-Nara pack and each of their publicly known skills. He interspersed his lecture with reminders to not pay any mind to superstitious nonsense, which would be more reasonable if the village hadn’t been attacked by a nine-tails fox four years ago. Though he probably had a point in his emphasis as the clans had some very strange abilities that must be seen as spirit blessings or curses by some.

She really liked that Nara’s took care of deer, even if they probably weren’t actual shamans. Her papa from before the bridge was connected to deer too—Not-Drunk was probably not her papa though. 

Midori’s lips curled into a half smile as she focused on mama’s chakra, and the teeny tiny chakra tucked away inside mama’s chakra. She was going to be a big sister. Her little brother was a little Nara baby even if she wasn’t. 

Her smile faded. A boy was what Danzo wanted. He took little boys away.

Mama kept saying they had to not get attached. No planning names, no planning spaces in her cozy-cozy closet for when he was big enough to sleep with her instead of Mama, and no bonding. Baby brother wasn’t theirs. He was Danzo’s and Danzo would claim him soon enough.

Midori had to find a way to protect her little brother. 

Of course, she had three years after he was born to worry about Danzo taking him. She had time to think of a plan. 

Maybe she could find a little boy that Danzo hadn’t wanted! If she found one, her brother could learn to be like that little boy and then he wouldn’t be taken away.

After school, Midori started her hunt for such a little boy. Madam Sakai was her first stop. She had twin boys about Midori’s age—a little younger. They were super annoying. Danzo couldn’t possibly want them.

Or at least she thought that until she reached Madam Sakai’s door and noticed the crying, and then finally noticed the lack of the twins’ chakra swirls as she knocked. They could be out. They had to be out and about. (She couldn’t sense their chakras anywhere and she could sense almost the entire village now since her sensing was all she could really train.)

Madam Sakai stumbled out in robes barely tied together, showing a whole lot of boobs and panties and nothing else. Eyeliner was smeared down her cheeks. Her face and her chakra were flush with drink.

“Oh,” she slurred and attempted to right her robes over her chest, “Midori-chan, you need something?” 

“Uhm. I–uh…your sons–”

The older woman’s expression crumbled. “Gone. He took them. Like he takes all the good things in our lives.” 

She leaned in and hissed at Midori as tears welled in bloodshot eyes, “Run away from his clutches while you can. He doesn’t have you right now, not if you let go of that mom of yours. But once he has you spreading your legs to fuck a clan boy or two he’s drugged, you’re complicit. It’ll be your head chopped off when people start screaming about bloodline theft. Not his… He’ll just swoop in and snatch the little brat you popped out before that no one noticed was yours…which would be you in this case if anyone notices that boy your mom’s carting around.”

Midori flinched and backed away from Madam Sakai, silently categorizing the feeling from her chakra as another type of drunk-drunk. She stuffed all her words into the back of her mind to not think about right now. (Though maybe later when she was tucked safely in her little cozy-cozy room where the shadows would hide her away, she could think about what all that was said and implied, and plan out ways to deal with it.)

Within days she had a map with markings to indicate children like her baby brother and her, and Madam Sakai and mama, and others. It didn’t take that long to realize, as she marked up the entire redlight district and some parts of the genin corps, that she had found Danzo’s breeding program. She was in Danzo’s breeding program, being led through it by the nose as a student to the genin corps until she was old enough to be ordered to spread her legs for a drugged-up clan boy like Madam Sakai had said.  

She didn’t want to be in the breeding program.

She didn’t see a way out of it either.

All she could do was play dumb-dumb and find a way to save her baby brother from whatever was worse than the breeding program.—Because what happened to the little boys must be worse. They never came back.

ooo

The wail of her baby brother pulled Midori from where she had tucked herself in her cozy-cozy room. Mama’s screams had dampened to pained moans which the thunder and hard thunk, thunk, thunk of rain washed out. An old woman and Madam Sakai and a few other ladies were helping mama and were all super busy still. One of them spotted Midori and waved her over. The lady had her teeny tiny, crying baby brother.

“Here, take him like this,” the lady said as she guided Midori in how to hold a newborn, “and here’s a bottle for if he starts screaming for it. Go back to your room now. Stay out of the way.”

Midori frowned and glanced past the lady who was already distracted by another about towels. There was a lot of blood. And Mama’s chakra didn’t feel so good. 

She watched her mama and Madam Sakai and the blood and..and..

Another woman snapped at her to move out of the way. She blinked tears back and tucked her baby brother against her chest as she turned from the horrible sight. The little girl ducked back into her room and curled up with her baby brother. She stared at his little wrinkled, chubby face, glanced at the bottle, and frowned over at the wall where all the ladies were helping Mama. 

They weren’t doing it right. Her chakra was still going all wrong. 

For all her thoughts about protecting her baby brother, she had never considered not having Mama. But Mama wasn’t looking good.

Orphanages were really not good. Her research proved it. None of the kids were safe there. If Danzo didn’t take them, the kids vanished for whole other reasons. 

If she didn’t have her mama there wasn’t any reason to avoid baby brother’s papa. Mama being gone meant Mama won’t get her head chopped off from bloodline stealing. 

Baby brother would probably love the deer.

Her lip wobbled but she pushed it all away. Everything was pushed firmly away as the ladies in the other room rushed about and Mama’s chakra slowly faded about the edges. She could tell what was coming. Death whispered about Mama just like the really old people and sickly with not much chakra remaining. Mama was about to head for her next great adventure.

There wasn’t time to think about it. 

Baby brother had to go to his papa. He’d be safe then.

Midori set her brother on her pillow and looked about her room for the last time. She had a bag she sometimes used for school. The little girl pulled it over, dumped it out, and refilled it with her research cause her brother’s papa might know how to save the other little boys too, then some clothing and blankets and then her baby brother before she zipped it mostly up so that he was safe from the cold rain but still could breathe. She then pulled on her coat and very carefully tried to pick up the bag but realized it wasn’t going to work. 

She unzipped it, took out her baby brother, unzipped it, and tied it up so it was snug on her back. Then Midori carefully wrestled about until she had her brother snuggled in her arms but also in her coat. Finally ready, the little girl slipped out of her cozy-cozy room, glanced one last time at her Mama, and really only saw the fading spiral of chakra since she was surrounded by panicking ladies that didn’t want to deal with a corpse in the redlight district. Then she headed out the door.

It was pouring out.

Her tiny little brother was really, really heavy.

His papa’s chakra was very far away. It was all the way across the village on the other side, where nice clan compounds resided, close to training fields and pockets of Hashirama thickets. The sky grew super dark and she got really wet as she did what she could to keep baby brother from getting just as wet. (She wasn’t sure she succeeded.)

Midori was exhausted by the time she got to the gate with a black circular symbol full of swirling marks denoting the Nara clan compound. She stepped up to the gate and, being sure to hold tight to her baby brother with one arm, hit the gate with her other hand just as their Mama’s chakra faded away. Tears welled up and she wailed. She hit it again for good measure. 

“What our gate ever do to you, little mouse?”

She swayed forward and bonked her forehead against it along with her fist. Her brother helpfully wailed in response too. Midori dully realized she had forgotten the bottle.

Arms scooped her up. “Troublesome,” muttered the lazy swirling chakra as she rolled about so she and her brother were tucked against his chest, “You’re soaked through kid. And…that’s a seriously young, uh, kid with you.”

The warm, and not nearly as wet, Nara carried her into the compound which suited her greatly. It was even better as she realized he was carrying her directly to her brother’s papa. On the way there he did some weird spiking thing with his chakra and another chakra responded before it ran off into the village but that was ok. Midori couldn’t find herself caring. He was warm and taking her where she needed to go.

“Hey, kick a foot.”

Midori blinked into the Nara’s chest, and frowned at the request but couldn’t think of a reason not to. Her foot connected with something solid. It revibrated with a loud knock. Baby brother’s papa’s chakra swirl moved closer. A moment later a door slid open. 

“What–What the hell? Ensui?” demanded a voice that definitely, 100%, belonged to her brother’s papa.

“Kid knocked on our gate. Seemed like she wanted something.” Warm Nara stated as he pushed his way into the house.

There were two other chakras in the immediate room. Midori hadn’t noticed. She didn’t feel entirely right—Not since Mama’s chakra had vanished. 

“I sent Daen for what Uchihas he can find nearby.” Warm Nara added as he continued into the house. “We need to warm them up. One…one looks really fucking young, Shikaku.”

“Right. I’ll grab blankets. Wait–two? There’s two?”

Another chakra was suddenly right there. It was flowery. “Fuck. A baby.” Large hands were grabbing her brother.

“No!” Midori snapped and shifted and baby brother made a sad-sad sound, and Warm Nara cursed and suddenly a bunch of hands were scrambling to hold onto her and her brother because she was tipping over in the wrong direction. The world was at a weird angle. “Oh.”

“I am going to take the baby and look the baby over, maybe feed or change and dry the baby. Then I’ll give the baby back to you. Alright?” Flower man said slowly, his hands somehow still holding onto her brother and supporting him in the mess of arms holding her up. He was staring down at her in restrained panic. His flower chakra was not nearly as restrained in his panic. (All the men were panicking.) His green eyes had no pupils.

Midori’s eyes weld with tears but she said, her voice cracking with emotions because part of her didn’t think her brother would actually be given back. “Ok.” She very carefully let go.

Flower man, who was a tall man with really long, pretty blond hair carefully untangled her brother from her coat and carried him away. Seeing that happen was it. The dam just broke. Midori choked back a sob for a whole moment and then she was crying big gut-wrenching, breathtaking sobs. One of the men holding onto her lifted her upright and awkwardly rubbed her back. 

Midori wasn’t really sure what all happened for a while. She was pretty sure someone pulled her coat off—it was definitely gone when she became aware again—and gave her a big pillow to sob into (or maybe she claimed the pillow on her own).

Campfire with caramel chakra swirls entered the house along with more Nara lazy chakras wanting to nap under moons or clouds or suns or blue-blue skies. There were quiet mutterings as all these people talked. Then another person, someone who had been in the house the entire time but she hadn’t noticed them because she wasn’t feeling right and not sensing the world like normal, entered with a huffed-up stomp to their chakra—and the ickiness of Danzo’s men.

Her eyes flew open as she sensed it. She was upright, head turned toward the lady stomping through the room in a huff instantly—not noticing the immediate attention she caught of all the shinobi present. The lady headed for the flower man with her baby brother.

Panic.

“Danzo-sama can’t have my brother yet!” Midori cried out in terror, “He’s not three. He’s not three. ”

“What?!” choked the big man with chakra that reminded her of autumn festivals she hadn’t noticed sitting by her pillow. 

Midori stumbled to her feet and stared at the only woman, attention solely on the lady, “Please don’t take him to Danzo-sama. Please don’t. I’ll go instead. ”

The woman finally stopped and stared down at her with a frown. “I don’t know what–”

“You have the icky chakra in the back of your throat like all Danzo-sama’s people have.” Midori snapped in frustration, too tired and still wearing damp clothing and just so done with the world to remember she was supposed to be a dumb-dumb, “Your one of his. So-So-don’t lie and-and-and then take my brother away.”

“Yoshino.” breathed out her baby brother’s papa. His chakra didn’t feel lazy anymore. He felt horrified and angry.

The woman flushed in outrage. “Oh come off it, Shikaku. You lot are going to listen to a tiny brat that showed up out of nowhere in the middle of a rain storm?”

“As this is an ongoing investigation,” stated one of the campfire swirls that always denoted a police officer, “I’m going to have to ask you to show us your tongue and back of your throat.”

Danzo’s person startled. “You wha–” 

“As you said, it is just a toddler talking nonsense but we do have to cover all our bases. She accused you. So prove her wrong.” said the police officer.

The woman stared, lips parted in clear surprise. Her expression flickered with something. Then she bolted. Or tried because one instant she was moving and then she was covered in shadows. 

“Fuck,” muttered someone. 

One of the Nara stood up, pressed a hand to brother’s papa’s shoulder, and flicked his hands through some hand symbols too fast for Midori to understand. More shadows moved from him to the lady. Then he opened his mouth and she copied him. 

The police officers, Flower man still holding her brother, and Autumn man stepped up to take a look. One of the police officer’s eyes turned red. 

Flower chakra man turned to baby brother’s papa, “Shikaku…there’s a fucking seal on her tongue.” His gaze turned to Midori. “Come here, sweetie.”

Midori rubbed tears from her face and shuffled over unsure. Flower man spoke quietly to the police. One of the officers folded paper and stuffed it into the lady's mouth and gave her a crayon. Then she was lifted up by the officer and supported on his hip. 

“Right,” Flower man stated to her, “Close your eyes, I want you to show me where the icky chakra is your sensing, ok? Drawn it on the paper. Tell us if the paper isn’t covering the spot.”

She frowned but closed her eyes and focused on the icky chakra carefully before she did so. It took a while as she slowly traced the details she could see of the icky chakra but this close she could sense a lot about it. It was contained in almost kanji-like markings so tiny they looked almost like a bunch of horizontal lines or it seemed that way. She had to draw it bigger than it really was with the crayon.

“Like that?” Midori asked as she finished with a hesitant glance at Flower man.

Flower man stared at the paper. His charka felt weirdly still. 

“Well,” the police officer holding her remarked, “you did technically tell her to draw it.”

“I did.” Flower man agreed as he pulled the paper out of the lady’s mouth. 

Midori frowned. “I did it wrong?”

The blond shook his head. “No, I had meant mark where you felt the charka…not recreate the seal by sensing the charka flow…because you apparently can do that.”

“Is…chakra seeing not normal?” she asked in a very tiny voice.

Flower man’s green gaze and both police officers’ red eyes with black totems focused on her.

“You’re fine, “ the police officer holding her stated firmly.

“Hmm, actually, while we’re here can you tell how the chakra is flowing in this?”

“Inoichi,” admonished her brother’s papa, “ she’s two .” 

Midori pouted. She was not that small. “ I’m four. Almost. And it’s moving like a clock’s arm.” She leaned over to poke at a crayon line. “Starting there and swirls through each line like a snake moving back and forth until it reaches the end and then it..uhm..it goes back but under the charka going forward.”

The man marked the paper with the crayon and a mutter of “excellent.”

“Well,” drawled the Nara holding Danzo’s person still, “I’m going to knock her out now.”

A heavy sigh escaped brother’s papa as he said, “for the best.” 

There was a general shuffling after that. Danzoa’s lady was tied up very tightly. Everyone ended up showing their tongues and back of their throats to the police officers. Midori was set down before a kotatsu with a cozy-cozy blanket by the officer where brother’s papa settled on one side, and Flower man beside him with her baby brother snoozing, warm and clean on a fuzzy deer blanket. Across from her settled the two police officers. Around the room settled the rest of the Nara men—including Warm Nara and the Nara that tied up Danzo’s lady, both of whom Midori really liked. 

Autumn chakra man set a plate of onigiri before her and a cup of hot tea as he claimed his seat at the remaining side of the kotatsu. “In all the excitement we haven’t gotten you any food. And, I’m Akimichi Chōza.”

Midori hesitantly reached out and claimed one of the onigiri. She couldn’t help the hum that escaped at the taste of really yummy salmon with a sweet tangy sauce in the middle of the sticky rice. 

Chōza-sama grinned.

“Ah,” chuckled Flower man, “we really haven’t introduced ourselves, huh.” he bowed his head and offered a warm smile probably meant to put her at ease. The food had already done that, though none of their chakras were anywhere as lighthearted feeling as they were presenting themselves as. “I’m Yamanaka Inoichi.”

She blinked up at him a couple of times, taking in his warmth before she hesitantly looked at her brother’s papa. 

Dark eyes regarded her thoughtfully. A faint frown matched the crease in his brow. He was slumped back to lean against an arm as he looked her and her brother over. The man was the only one who’s chakra fit his expression. Of course, Danzo’s person who was tied up now had meant something to him and this seemed to be his home she had invaded.

Midori glanced at the other Nara watching her too. She dropped her gaze to her lap.

“I’m Nara Shikaku,” her brother’s papa finally said with a sigh, “and you came here for a reason, didn’t you?”

She nodded.

“Well,” he said, “it couldn’t have been to ruin my marriage so?”

Midori looked back up at him with huge eyes, her mouth parted as she took in that thought. She had not thought about him being married. Or what bringing her brother to his papa might do to his papa’s life. Maybe her brother’s papa didn’t want a baby. 

Another woman’s baby would ruin a marriage.

“Hold up,” one of the police officers stated, “Before questions, we need to finish the introductions. I’m Uchiha Fugaku…” He pulled a pen out and grumbled, “here because I fucking work too much and happened to be around when I shouldn’t have been,” before he flicked the pen in his hand at his fellow officer, “This is Yakumi.” Fugaku flicked the pen at her. “And you are?”

“Umm…” she muttered, her gaze wandered over to Chōza-sama who smiled encouragingly back. “Midori. I’m Midori.”

Fugaku-sama nodded and noted that down, “Midori-chan. Why did you come to the Nara compound?”

Midori stared at the police officer for a long moment before she looked down at her baby brother. 

There was a pause before he asked, “Why did you need to bring your brother here?”

“To protect him from Danzo-sama,” she answered.

“Midori-chan,” Fugaku-sama said, his tone turned soft, “Why would Danzo want your brother?”

She stared back at the police officer helplessly for a long moment before she said quietly, “because…because he made mama have him.”

The sharp anger in everyone's charka had her shrink back. 

Inoichi-sama sucked in a sharp breath and his chakra went weirdly still again but even more still than last time, “Midori-chan, can you feel all our chakras right now?” All the chakras in the room went weirdly smooth at his question.

Her shoulders rose to her ears.

“We’re not angry at you. Anything you’re feeling in our chakras isn’t directed at you, sweetheart–”

“I know. Like when Mr. Kiyama is drunk-drunk or Madam Sakai is entertaining guests and doing disgusting adult stuff…or when mama was pregnant-sad.” She rushed out in agreement, “Just– you all got angry all at once. ”

Silence fell over the room.

“Right, well…” Fugaku-sama finally said as he shared a look with his fellow police officer before asking, “Can you explain that a little more Midori.”

She frowned and her shoulders dropped back from her ears as she rushed out, “Explain what? Your campfire caramel chakra swirls compared to Inoichi-sama’s flowery charka swirls and Chōza-sama’s autumn like chakra swirls that reminds me of the yummy Autumn festivals and all the Naras lazy-want-to-nap-under-the-moon-or-clouds-or-sun or-or whatever type of sky they must like best chakra swirls? Or–”

“The part about Danzo forcing a woman to have kids,” muttered one of the Nara, interrupting her tangent.

“Oh,” Midori said as she rolled to her feet, ”I have a map.”

“What.”

She spotted her bag, scrambled over to it, and pulled out her research notes and map before returning to the table. She dropped her notebooks on the table and then carefully move the plate of food as she rambled, “I thought maybe Danzo-sama didn’t always want the baby he made them have. So I went looking because maybe baby brother could be like that baby so Danzo-sama wouldn’t take him.” She unfolded the map, laid it haphazardly across the table, and leaned over the table to point at the redlight district covered in all her different markings. 

“Danzo-sama had thought about taking me when I turned three but Mama said I was a dumb-dumb that couldn’t read or write or nothing and I played the part when he ordered her to put me in school and school’s super boring when I have to act like I can’t read the board or the books so I nap lots…but I don’t get taken away like the boys that do really well at the weird tests Danzo-sama’s people make us take the other classes don’t.” 

She pointed at the blue square markings. “These are all the boys that were the real dumb-dumbs for doing really good on those tests and are gone now.” Midori looked up to Fugaku-sama as she explained in a rush afraid they won’t listen even though they had asked , “See their mamas’ chakras are sad-sad-sad and they have no papas and their chakras are gone . I can’t feel them anywhere in the village at all but the homeroom sensei insists that all of them were pulled from school by their mamas’. If that was true they’d still be in the village and their mamas’ wouldn’t be super sad and have empty apartments…these three lost their sons first and are pregnant again and the baby chakras feel like…uhm–this one is pine-scented which is like the Hashirama trees and some of the few Senju clan members around. This one’s baby is wet grass and juniper berries like the Inu-Inu…” She felt her cheeks pink as she couldn’t say the clan name but pushed forward and instead said, “the doggy clan. The last baby is another clan…I don’t know their name though. The Hokage’s clan?”

Midori then pointed to the next color. “These are the ladies I know who have baby boys with chakras that match clans or shinobi families that they never visit.” She continued to ramble as she pointed out the other colors of ladies that had once had boys but didn’t now from either her memory or from old ladies happy to gossip or from public files she had dared look at. “But lots of us don’t have public papers. Mama had baby brother at home 'cause we aren’t supposed to go to the hospital or nothing so we don’t make more work for Danzo-sama and his people.”

By the time she finished explaining most of her map, the chakras in the room felt horror-anger-horror. 

Yakumi-sama spoke up for the first time as he leaned over and tapped a couple of blocks she had started marking outside the redlight district. “What are these?”

“Genin corp girls. They have more paperwork. Public record shows lots have babies around sixteen and seventeen years old...you’re a dumb-dumb if you think girls want to have babies on their own like that,” she said quietly, “And lots of them don’t have their babies anymore even though records say they should have, like, a five-year-old son at home.”

Fugaku-sama closed his notebook with a snap and rubbed his face with a groan. “Kami-sama preserve me…Yakumi, get everyone here—once you check their fucking tongues. Quietly. Bring coffee.” The campfire and caramel chakra swirling man then gave her a look as his fellow police officer got up, looking a little pale. “Midori-chan, let's try this again. Why did you bring your brother to the Nara’s when your mother must have recently given birth to him and Danzo does not take kids before they’re three?”

 Midori could feel the tears well in her eyes once more as she instinctively looked out toward the redlight district for her Mama’s chakra but found nothing. She slowly sank back down to sit on her knees. “Umm…umm mama…mama..ma-ma-” She rubbed her face furiously and took a deep breath as she choked out, “Mama went had baby brother today a-and there was lots-lots-lots of blood and-and I can’t protect him on my own. The boys at the orphanage go away even sooner sometimes an-and I thought that his papa could protect him.”

“Oh fuck,” said one of the Naras.

Yakumi-sama chakra swirl paused by the door. Midori glanced over at him and saw the officer watching her in turn. Eyes wide and red.

“And you know his father is a Nara how?” Fugaku asked slowly, expression and chakra very blank and still.

She frowned through her tears in confusion at that. Midori rubbed the tears from her face and tried to calm her sniffles as she refocused from the day’s events and thought back. They didn’t know of course. She hadn’t explained. “Baby brother’s chakra is lazy feeling like a Nara’s along with mama’s pine and seagull chakra…but also-also I was home when Danzo-sama’s icky chakra people brought lazy-nap-under-the-moon chakra that was swooshy and snoozy and-and almost drunk-drunk…but-but not . And told mama that Danzo-sama wanted an intelligent boy this time and-and-and-” Midori shrugged even as her lips wobbled. “Mama did icky adult stuff with-” Her expression crumbled. “-with drunk but-but not drunk and it wasn’t right and-and he wasn’t-wasn’t–”

A hand settled on her head. She looked up through her tears clinging to her lashes. It belonged to Shikaku-sama. 

His offer of comfort made her sob out, “Imma sorry. Mama shouldn’t have–”

“Hey now,” Shukaku stated, tone soft even as his chakra was still-still-still, “it was not your fault at all Midori-chan.”

“A baby ruins marriages,” she whispered in the dead silent room.

He hummed and countered, “Drugging husbands do, too.”

Midori considered that before nodding and looking up at her brother’s papa to whisper, “He’d order that.”

“Yes,” his voice cracked as he agreed. He regarded her intently; his other hand reaching out and lightly wiping tears from her cheeks. After a long moment, he said more confidently, “I think he would. At least twice.”

A moment later hands clapping together pulled her gaze from Shikaku-sama’s. Chōza-sama smiled softly, sadly at her. “Come on dear, you need to eat up, and then it's long past bedtime.”

Confusion flickered to life. “I just came to give my brother–”

“Oh, we can’t separate you,” Shikaku-sama countered, “No, you’ll be staying too.”

Midori turned back to him in bewilderment. “I am? Umm…I have the academy tomorrow.”

“You most definitely don’t,” he countered, “Ask about going when you're ten.”

She frowned in confusion. “Ten?”

“Definitely ten.”

Inoichi-sama snorted in amusement. Most of the chakras bubbled in similar hesitant, aching humor. Horror and anger still simmering in their chakras. 

Midori frowned uncertainly at her brother’s papa.

“Now,” Chōza-sama stated, gently nudging her back before the table, “eat.”

While she had been ordered to eat, the men she had been sitting with took her map and research and vanished into the kitchen. Warm Nara claimed a seat at her side while the other Nara’s left the house with Yakumi-sama, all of them pulling coats on to ward off the heavy rain. Danzo’s unconscious lady was dragged out with them to be placed somewhere. Her baby brother made a little cooing sound but otherwise seemed content on his deer blanket. 

She carefully nibbled at the origiri, exhaustion seeping into her as most of the men and the excitement of the day went away. Slowly she tipped to the side until she was slumped against Warm Nara. He didn’t complain or push her off. Instead, he started doing something weird with his chakra that made her even sleepier.

“Stop doin’ that,” she slurred out as she lolled her head against his chest, “no wanna sleep.”

“I think little mouses want to sleep a great deal.”

“Nahuh,” she mumbled even as her eyelids slid shut. 

ooo

Shikaku stared out the kitchen window at the sheets of rain and the shadows that made up the forest of his clan’s land. He felt sick and betrayed. He wanted to murder a certain old man. 

The tear-streaked, red-rimmed eyed little girl in the adjourning room was very likely his daughter. A daughter he hadn’t known about, didn’t recall participating in the creation of, and who clearly didn’t know he was her father. She had come here because of her little brother, his son, the little tiny boy created because Danzo had deemed her a failure. 

Danzo was a fucking idiot (or sexist), or Midori’s mother was very convincing.  Midori was barely, maybe, four and yet had collected all this information in the name of protecting a little brother before he was even born. She would be the catalyst in removing a cancer within Konoha many hadn’t known even existed. 

He could use some alcohol right now.—Mr. Kiyama is drunk-drunk.—brought lazy-nap-under-the-moon chakra that was swooshy and snoozy and-and almost drunk-drunk…but-but not—Shikaku shook his head. Maybe he’d skip the alcohol for a while. It was very likely how Yoshino had drugged him. 

“Shikaku–”

“Don’t.” Shikaku snapped as he turned to his allies and friends and genin teammates. “I have a daughter and son appear out of nowhere that an honored elder of our village seemed to have gone to great lengths to have born for his own agenda.”

“And you aren’t the only man in this situation,” Fugaku stated quietly, holding up the map his daughter had built out, “We need to plan how to handle this and do so now. We can’t just leave this alone. He won’t ignore the fact that you suddenly have two more kids and lost a wife. That had to have taken years of planning and now the two kids he got out of it are out of his reach...he’s not going to like that.”

“Yoshino might not be lost entirely,” muttered Chōza.

Fugaku scoffed. “She was in the perfect position to drug him and is proven to be one of Danzo’s. Who else could have done this? twice ? You are seriously thinking that little girl isn’t a Nara? Isn’t Shikaku’s? I mean, sure it's possible but is it probable? No.” He glared from Chōza to Inoichi to Shikaku before he shook his head and stated, “Yoshino’s the most likely suspect and I’d remove her for her ties to Danzo even if she wasn’t the one drugging you…Of course, maybe you are more of a fool than I thought.”

The accusation lobbed across his kitchen cut into a moment of unease silence. It reminded Shikaku why he didn’t like the Uchiha. Not that Fugaku was entirely wrong in this case. He would be a fucking fool to keep Yoshino around with the seal on her tongue damning her allegiance. She was supposed to be the matriarch of the Nara clan, not some stooge for Danzo.  

“I’ll be able to confirm Yoshino’s involvement,” Inoichi stated as he folded his arms across his chest and leaned against a counter. His green gaze settled onto Shikaku intently, watching for signs of stress most likely. Shikaku ignored being analyzed and ignored the offer because it only mattered a little in the end. (He only vaguely wanted to know if his wife was the one to drug him so he could be used as a semen donor for Danzo’s fucked up breeding program.)

Inoichi continued to speak while Shikaku internalized his many issues over recent revelations, “Any of us could have been drugged and used like this. We all could have kids tucked away in his possession or have clansmen that do. An immediate strike to take him down is needed. One that keeps him alive so we can tear his brain apart for answers would be the best route…Midori-chan didn’t say what he did with the little boys.”

“They’re an army obviously,” Fugaku said as he flipped through the book of child scribbles, “Danzo was allowed his Root before Minato ordered it disbanded. I don’t think even Sandaime knew how many and who were in Root. These boys are just the extension of that organization.”

“Most likely,” Shikaku agreed with a sigh.

The sounds of his front door sliding open pulled Shikaku upright. He flinched slightly when his mother stepped into the kitchen, her expression telling him all he needed to know. One of his cousins had to have woken her up and told her what had happened. Her dark gaze took him in with a sharp twice-over before she took the last few steps, ignored the other heads of clans in the kitchen, and crushed him into a firm hug. 

As she pulled back she reached out and patted his cheek. “Anzo-chan is collecting medical gear and will be over soon. We’ll do bloodwork to make certain they’re yours—we’ll have to take a vial of your blood of course—and see if the older one has any of her immunizations and such, too. Their health and medical files will be handled.” Her gaze hardened as she looked over to the other men as she ordered,  “You boys take care of removing…this issue so I can focus on enjoying my three grandbabies.” 

Shikaku’s shoulders slumped. He nodded. The others offered quiet mutters “yes ma’am”. 

She nodded and vanished back into the adjourning room where Ensui was watching his two surprise children. It wasn’t long before his cousin joined them in the kitchen. The man looked as tired as Shikaku felt.

“The little mouse doesn’t appreciate our chakra lullaby. Still works, she just can tell you’re trying to put her to sleep.” Ensui remarked with only slightly forced amusement, “Good luck using that once she’s comfortable.”

Another sigh escaped. He’d deal with that later. Shikamaru loved the lullaby but also had no clue it existed. Midori’s sensory abilities, while fascinating, was going to be a right pain once she was settled in. He didn’t want to consider what all she had been able to sense over the years. The implications from her remarks about Madam Sakai’s entertaining guests and nasty adult activities and drunk-drunks left him with plenty to imagine.  

His front door slid open again. This time it wasn’t closed. Daen stepped into the kitchen, followed by multiple Uchiha. 

“We should move back to the other room,” Shikaku remarked, “Or the meeting hall.”

“Meeting hall,“ Chōza answered, “but first I need a couple of you to come with me. Time to wake up my clan, make sure none are Danzo’s, and bring them here.”

“Same,” agreed Inoichi.

One of the Uchiha frowned but nodded. His gaze turned to Fugaku as he stated, “Yakumi appraised us of the situation, sir. Mikoto-sama is securing the compound. No non-clan members are allowed entry. Naka-taicho is connecting with Senju-sama–”

“What?” Shikaku interrupted.

“It’s part of the original treaty,” Fugaku explained, “Any act of bloodline theft is treason and the Senju and Uchiha clans are to stand together against the perpetrator. If either member of our clans becomes aware of such a transgression, we must, as immediately as possible, inform the other clan. Rioma-san will join us once he ascertains the state of his clan.” Fugaku nodded to his clansman. “Split your team evenly between here, Yamanaka, and Akimichi. This will be our central point and everyone’s chakra needs to be dampened. If anyone notices clan movement, determine their ties to the traitor, then send them this way if they come up clean.”

Fugaku looked over to Inoichi, “It would be good to establish a process with your clan for that. We’re lucky this has come up early evening in the middle of this storm. Eventually, the jonin will start noticing something is happening at the very least.”

Inoichi nodded. “Let's clear my clan then.” The blond looked to Shikaku. 

Shikaku nodded and glanced over at Daen who acknowledge the silent order as he followed the Yamanaka clan head and the group of Uchiha out the door. Another glance at Ensui didn’t gain similar results when Chōza headed out though. His cousin scoffed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. A lazy greeting to the Akimichi clan head from the other room revealed that his cousins had handled securing the clan already, waking everyone up, and establishing jobs. Another cousin had been assigned to shadow Chōza. Ensui was apparently his shadow.

He looked over the remaining Uchiha and straightened. Time to take down Danzo. “Troublesome,” he muttered before he said louder, “ Come on then,” and headed back into the adjourning room. 

His mother sat at the table with the baby tucked in her arms. A few other Naras lazed around the room and someone had moved Shikamaru from his bed to under the kotetsu’s blanket to sleep at his little sister’s side. Other clan children had also been moved into his house. Someone had realized the seriousness of the situation while he had been distracted panicking over suddenly being a father thrice over.

“Central command’s moving to the meeting hall,” he stated, “keep the building secure.”

The various clansmen and women nodded. A few rose to follow him out.

“Before you go,” Anzo-chan said as she rolled up to her feet, “let me take some of your blood.”

Shikaku pulled his sleeve up while he nodded to Ensui, “Show Fugaku-san and the others the hall.”

His cousin didn’t ignore this order this time. 

ooo

There were lots and lots of chakra swirls surrounding her. Not all of them were Nara lazy chakras either. Some she knew from her research. Others were only vaguely familiar due to them being clan chakras of Inoichi-sama and Fugaku-sama and Chōza-sama clans. They weren’t very interesting. It was pretty easy to forget them due to what was happening beyond the little room she woke up in. 

Danzo’s icky charka people were fighting lazy-nap-under-clouds and Autumns and flowery and campfire caramels. There were even some pine-scented ones. It was hard to follow as chakra separated from the swirls and merged and clashed and-and-

Midori forced her eyes open. A pair of dark eyes stared back. 

“You’re why there are all these babies here,” complained the boy she was laying across from.

She frowned and tried to focus on the immediate area around her. Lots of the little boys and girls she had found, the one with clan chakras that Danzo-sama must have ordered woman to have were in the house. Midori pushed the blanket off her—and the boy beside her—and climbed up into a sitting position. Some of the pregnant ladies were around too. 

The boy grumbled under his breath about ruining the cocoon of heat and the perfect sleeping position but rolled up into a sitting position too. “Troublesome.”

“Shikamaru, Midori, you two hungry?”

Midori turned to look at the speaker but jerked her head back towards all the chakra flares. Physically, she was staring at a wall. Her senses were going haywire with all the spikes and flares and explosions of chakra though. 

A hand settled on her shoulder and guided her up to her feet. “Come along dear, let's go to the kitchen now.”

She stumbled distractedly in the direction she was being guided in, her head helplessly tilted towards the direction all the fighting was happening. It was much, much more chaotic than the training she had sensed.

“Maybe we should try dimming her senses?”

“I don’t know…if she’s been sensing like this for forever it might be a horrible thing to do, wouldn’t it?”

“Ah, a type of sensory deprivation? Maybe but she probably needs to get used to it?”

“True…but now doesn’t seem like the best time to start.”

“Midori.”

She pulled her gaze from the fight for a second but jerked it back when someone did something particularly spectacular. It felt like sparks, lightning, and a thousand chirps. White chakra burned across her sight and consumed her vision for a moment. Others were joining the fight.

Her hands were guided together, something was placed in them and they were then guided to her mouth.

“Eat it, sweetie.”

It was more origiri but filled with pork. It was pretty tasty. She didn’t really realize she was eating it though. Her focus was entirely on the fighting.

The little girl was halfway through munching on her food before she realized she was staring at a frowning Shikamaru. She paused mid-bite. His frown deepened. 

Shikamaru sighed, reached out and pulled the origiri from her hands, and replaced it with a cup of water. “Drink.”

She blinked at him, feeling a little dazed as water and fire and lightning clashed and the tugging of shadows wrapped around another chakra and twisted and that chakra vanished with a strangled gasp–

Water splattered across the table as the cup slipped from her fingers. Shikamaru held the cup and her fingers closed around it with a deep frown across his face.

“I’m sorry,” she muttered. Midori squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on the now “I just-just-I just–” It was really hard. The training grounds had never been so noisy. She flinched as more chakras just went poof into nothing again and again just like Mama’s. (Except hers had faded slowly and these had gone poof. They hadn’t had time to say goodbyes and–and–and Mama hadn’t said goodbye either.)

She sway back and stumbled away from the noise of chakra and battle and death and pushed a door open and stumbled onto a deck that faced a forest. Rain was still coming down in a curtain of cool pitter-patter. 

The little boy called after her, worry in his voice, “Hey–”

“Shikamaru, is something wrong?“ called some lady from further in the house.

“Midori is—”

A masked shinobi with icky Danzo person’s chakra rose from the wooden planks and wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into the wood. 

“MIDORI!”

She glimpsed Shikamaru’s horrified face and blurs and chakras of multiple adults rushing toward her. Then the world blured and all there was chakra and constricting sense of earth all about her. Only the warmth of the shinobi’s arms around her kept her from panicking more than the lack of air did in general. 

She could sense panic and fear and outrage from everyone back from where she had come from.

The shinobi pulled her out of the earth and into an underground place with roots of trees dangling from the low ceiling and multiple masked shinobi waited. They all had the icky chakra at the back of their throats. A tsunami chakra like the sun was there too. She was tossed into a little metal cage with Uzumaki Naruto. 

Teary blue eyes met hers. They shared a silent exchange of understood terror and the older blond crawled over to her and wrapped around her like a koala bear. Midori was mildly bewildered by the decision of that but chose to cuddle him back. (It felt nice to cuddle, especially now.)

Feeling very familiar chakra with mostly wind but a spark of campfire and some Hashirama tree chakra growing closer, Midori cuddled the Uzumaki more and she couldn’t help sense for Shikaku-sama and Inoichi-sama and Chōza-sama and Fugaku-sama who were fighting and her baby brother’s tiny chakra that was safe-safe thankfully and they had said she could stay with her brother and she didn’t actually want to go with Danzo . A shuddered gasp escaped her as she struggled not to cry.

Danzo’s chakra churned, annoyed. Midori buried her face against the blond boy’s shirt and tried not to cry.

“You got only the girl?”

“Hai Danzo-sama,” the shinobi that took her stated, “the other children were not accessible.” 

Danzo made a huffing sound and muttered, “I suppose she will do for the jinchuriki when she’s older at least.” His chakra grew closer though she couldn’t hear anything move. “What a waste…take the jinchuriki out. I have a seal to put on him and then we are leaving for base Toko.”

“Hai!”

ooo

“Shikaku!”

He snapped a root operative’s neck before he looked over to Anzo-chan with a frown. His cousin landed on the rooftop with a short gasp as if she had sprinted all the way here. An Uchiha and Senju paused nearby and Ensui settled at his back along with a Yamanaka. They had yet to see Danzo. It was not a good thing they had yet to pull Danzo out, especially when the Shimura clan had claimed neutrality and allowed the police force to search their compound once explanations had been made. 

The Hokage was outraged over how they were handling this but participated in trying to flush Danzo out. Various clans and jonin worked at their side as more and more Root stepped in their way. It had been utterly frustrating. 

“A root operative took Midori!”

His gut dropped and he couldn’t stop his hiss of “What?” as he stared in horror at Anzo. 

“He just grabbed her and yanked her down into the wood flooring before we could do anything,” she explained. 

“Who pulled who through wood?” interrupted the Sandaime as he landed nearby with a troop of ANBU. 

Anzo glanced to Shikaku for silent direction. He wanted to snarl a fuck off to the older man that had allowed this utter bullshit to occur under his watch by his supposed best friend but instead forced himself to nod.

His cousin offered a polite head bow before she gave a quick explanation of Midori’s abduction, excluding details of Midori’s potential relations to Shikaku and the Nara clan or involvement with the entire situation they were in. As far as the Hokage needed to know, Midori was just a little girl under Nara protection during the conflict his bestest buddy decided to abduct. 

The Sarutobi frowned, clearly displeased by the facts revealed. His sharp gaze flicked over to Shikaku with questions and demands but an ANBU with a dog mask  and gray, gravity-defying hair body flickered before them.

“Uzumaki is missing!” stated the Hatake. 

Sandaime finally acted, shouting out orders as the realization that Danzo was a fucking traitor finally reached his brain. Hatake summoned his dogs, Inuzuka, Hyuuga, and Aburame were called, and a mass hunt was established. 

Shikaku found Inoichi and Chōza. Fugaku and the Senju acting head, Rioma, joined them. News of Midori’s abduction was quietly spread amongst their own clans since they all knew about her and the Sandaime had seemingly forgotten about her in the wake of the jinchuriki being taken. (Which fine but Shikaku would not forget the old man’s ease at forgetting a little girl in her entirety.) 

Each clansman broke up into groups and claimed a tracking team to shadow. Shikaku locked onto the Hatake brat. The Hokage had the same idea. Hatake had the greatest reason to hunt down Danzo. His shear force of will could carry him to finding the bastard first.

ooo

Hashirama trees burled past her head as the shinobi carrying her on his shoulder jumped from branch to branch. The seal thingy Danzo had to put on the blond boy had taken a while to finish. Konoha’s walls weren’t that far away. (They were far enough she couldn’t feel the village anymore. Its familiar chakras felt long gone.)

Midori was not crying. (She really, really wanted to.)

The blond was sobbing. There were snot and giant teardrops and everything going everywhere.

“Shut him up.” snapped Danzo. It wasn’t the first time Danzo had demanded that.

A smack resounded as the shinobi holding the Uzumaki slapped the boy hard. It hadn’t worked yet. Midori didn’t understand why they kept doing it. 

Danzo stopped on a large tree branch and yanked the blond from the shinobi’s shoulder by his hair. The boy wailed. “You will be quiet or you will be silenced,” snapped Danzo before he glanced at his men, “Clean the boy up. We need to leave as little trace as possible. They will have realized the jinchuriki has been taken by now.”

Midori was set on a branch. She glanced down and very quickly curled up against the tree’s trunk at the sight of the high fall. Her toes curled up against the bark as she wrapped her arms around her legs and tucked her face against her knees. She watched the shinobi roughly clean the boy’s face even though the boy continued to ignore the demands to stop sobbing. 

A chakra swirl speared into her senses. It was followed by multiple chakra swirls. And then lots of chakra swirls appeared but they were spearing in slightly wrong directions. The ones heading her way had familiar chakras of lazy-nap-under-the-moon and autumn-festivals and flowery and campfire with caramels and-and-

“Enough,” Danzo ordered, “Tie him up and we’ll head out.”

The charka swirls wouldn’t catch up if they left now. She needed to delay Danzo. Midori’s lips wobbled and for a long second she didn’t move. 

She didn’t want to go with Danzo. 

Danzo shouldn’t be allowed to take Uzumaki either. 

Midori pinched herself and opened her mouth and thought hard about her Mama’s chakra just fading away and not saying goodbye and her not seeing her baby brother ever again and-and-and-

A sob ripped out of her. Part of her wanted to choke it down but she forced herself to scream her sorrow instead.—She could feel various chakras speed up and narrow their direction toward her. Some going the wrong way were suddenly veering towards them.—She hiccuped and wailed again–

Pain flashed across her cheek. Midori blinked dazed as the world didn’t look right for a moment. Tears welled up and spilled over as her face throbbed. That hurt.

“Chakra–Danzo-sama, someone’s coming!” cried out one of the shinobi.

Danzo scowled, turned, and led the way through the trees. Someone grabbed Midori and carried her under an arm as they followed. Uzumaki was carried under the other arm.

The trees became blurred once more as the shinobi rushed through the trees at speed. She could feel the chakras chasing after not following as clearly as before. Tears welled up as she understood that the trail was hard to follow. Midori opened her mouth and screamed. The arm holding her gave a sharp squeeze and cut her scream short but not so short it didn’t help orient the charkas. 

Everyone behind was still too far back and had no way to catch them. There had to be something that stopped Danzo and the shinobi.

Midori blinked through her tears and looked at the shinobi carrying her and Uzumaki. The boy was sort of tied up. Her screams and the sudden feel of chakra had interrupted properly tying the blond up but he was gagged. He wouldn’t be of any help. There was a tipless tanto secured horizontally across the small of the shinobi’s back. Its handle was pointed toward Midori.

She stared at it for a long few moments, heart pounding in her ears. When she finally made herself grab it, she did so midair and she swung it against the shinobi’s arm holding Uzumaki.

The man shouted in more shock than pain as he let the boy go. The tsunami chakra swirl screamed in terror along with the muffled scream from the boy’s mouth as Naruto fell into the branches below. 

She was thrown into a tree hard as the shinobi shouted, “You little bitch!”

Multiple chakras rushing toward them spiked with fear and worry-worry-worry. Her head spun a little from the impact against the tree.  

Danzo and the rest had continued moving as this occurred. They startled and slowed to sharp stops then turned sharply around and jumped back. During that time the shinobi slammed her against the tree again in his outrage.  

“Where is the jinchuriki?!” Danzo demanded as he landed on the branch just above them.

The shinobi holding her roughly against the tree flinched. His chakra churned before it went still-still. He straightened, let her go, and turned to Danzo. He bowed as he stated loudly, “I dropped him sir! She took me by surprise, sir.”

She sank to her knees with a tremble of pain.

The old man frowned, nodded to a different shinobi, and ordered, “Get the  jinchuriki–”

“Danzo!”

Midori looked up. It was the Hokage. His chakra felt and he looked pissed.  

Naruto was dropped at her side. Leaves and sticks were in his hair. His blue eyes were huge. His gag was gone. 

“Jiji!” screamed the little boy. 

She frowned. The Hokage and Danzo started talking about leaves in sunshine and roots in shadows and dark and light and yadda yadda yadda shinobi needed to do dark things to keep the village how it was and Konoha at the top and yadda yadda adult talk for being stupid adults. Lots and lots of chakras, including Shikaku-sama and the others, were trying to sneak-sneak over to her and Uzumaki. Danzo-sama’s icky shinobi didn’t seem to notice so their sneak-sneak must be sort of working.

But—Midori glanced from the boy and his tsunami chakra and the teeny tiny icky chakra that was the weird seal thingy on him that connected to the weird angry chakra hiding in the tsunami and then glanced over at Danzo.

She interrupted the weird adult talking about villages that had to be the top village and sacrifices that had to be made and asked, “What's the seal thingy you put on him do?”

The Hokage went pale and demanded, “What?”

The chakras all about the area spiked with fear. Multiple of them moved in a rush toward her.

Danzo-sama’s lips curled and his hands flicked up into two quick hand symbols and he shouted, “release.”

Angry-angry-angry chakra burst from Uzumaki. It burned. She was too close. She couldn’t sense any other chakra. Midori scrambled back as tails of it whips out. The boy howled in pain and angry and his skin peeled . Her hands flew up to protect her face. Charka tails slapped her arms and the tree. Bark sliced against her. It burned and cut into her and hurt .

Then there wasn’t a branch under her. 

The world was blurring.

The ground was coming fast.

Small branches whipped at her face and arms.

She was screaming.

Arms wrapped around her. 

She blinked up at a dog mask. They landed on a branch and her savior turned. She caught sight of multiple shinobi rushing her way. There was relief on multiple faces and in multiple chakras. 

Then angry-angry-angry chakra dropped on their branch. Red chakra danced about like tails. A dark face with round white eyes and a creepy white mouth opened. A little ball started collecting at the mouth. It was pointed at them.

Dog mask tucked her against his chest and ran . Everything blurred. She could feel the little chakra ball chase them. 

Then the world exploded.

ooo

Once there were three brothers , whispered a voice in a language she once knew very well. She felt like she was back in a decrepit townhouse with a genin team she once had during a really difficult mission that had led to her walking to her death.

They tricked Death, or so they believed , whispered the bushy-haired girl of the genin team. A book of child fables sat on the girl’s lap as she read of the three brothers. It was a silly story, or at least Midori remembered thinking so until she had found herself possessing the three objects Death had supposedly been tricked into giving the three brothers. 

The oldest brother received a wand of great power but lost it through trickery , whispered her long-lost friend. She had gained the wand through trickery too. The Kage had done a great deal to make certain the terrible monster at the end of her mission didn’t gain the wand’s loyalty. She still didn’t really understand how he had been so skilled, or lucky, to have it land in her hands though.  

The middle brother received a stone that let him bring his dead loved ones to the living world but in great pain the longer they stayed where they didn’t belong , the girl whispered, he couldn’t bare to let them return to where they belonged but couldn’t live with them in so much pain either so he killed himself to be with them instead.  

That stone had been a strange thing. It had been given to her so she could walk to the end and she had purposely lost it along the way. 

The youngest brother received a cloak that hid him from Death until he was ready to go to death himself , whispered the girl. This cloak had been given from parent to child since that first brother and on to her. And she had had children hadn’t she?—except there was her dream of a bridge she had to pass over and a figure who demanded a toll of a cloak.

All fables teach a lesson , whispered the bushy-haired girl, every fairytale might be based on some truth. 

Midori frowned.

Bow to death, hissed a monster.—She had not. Midori had gone as a friend and then she had gone beyond, gone on to her next adventure because people had still needed her and maybe she had been a little confused and a little lost when she found herself walking to death.

She frowned and wrinkled her nose as a little ache shuddered through her. Prinpricks of pain trickled across her senses. Midori forced her eyes open to find she couldn’t see anything, physically at least. She could feel something heavy and warm wrapped around her. She was almost blinded by the steady, though almost sleep-sleep slow swirl of white chakra pressed against her. 

Dog Mask must be wrapped about her. They must be buried under a lot to keep the light out. 

It was hard to concentrate but she could easily feel the angry-angry-angry chakra swirling about beyond and all the Hashirama tree chakra. She had to struggle through the desire to sleep and not think and all the angry and tree chakra to sense anything else. Eventually, she did though. 

There were terror-panic-pain-determination chakras out there that felt like tiny little chakras compared to the angry-angry-angry chakra. Danzo and a few of his icky shinobi chakras were out there. Hokage-sama was there too. 

She felt Shikaku-sama before her senses went fuzzy from something the angry-angry-angry chakra did. Midori made a whining sound. There were flower and autumn and pine and campfire chakras out there. And others. But she couldn’t focus enough to say if she knew them specifically.

Some chakras were fading as Mama’s had. A couple vanished altogether from whatever the angry-angry-angry chakra had done to make things fuzzy. She couldn’t say if they were gone-gone or if she just couldn’t focus enough to feel them anymore.

Midori sniffled. 

Things were going bad out there, that she could tell. It was because Danzo had pulled the angry-angry chakra from Naruto. If only Naruto could be calmed down and not be so angry anymore.

She thunked her head against Dog Mask’s arm.

Fairytales and fables—Unicorns and phoenixes and dragons existed in the before.

Three brothers tricked Death, but Death really tricked them. Death existed. (She gave up a cloak on a bridge to a figure that could have been Death as she walked away from one life to another.) 

Uchiha were said to be the chosen of Amaterasu. Nara were supposedly shaman of the woods with the deer as their animal companions. Old ladies hissed that Hatake are the descendants of yuki onna. It was whispered that Hashirama-sama made a pact with the forest spirits. 

Maybe the forest spirits could calm Naruto down? They would probably want him to stop destroying the forest Hashirama-sama had grown for them anyway. And Hashirama-sama could calm the Bijuu because of the mokuton which he had gained the ability of through said pact.

Midori closed her eyes and really looked at the Hashirama tree chakra. This time she reached out and sort of tried to knock. She was on the ground, surrounded by trees, even if they were all fallen over, so it wasn’t like she was reaching out very far. (It felt weird trying to do more than see the chakra. But she had to try something.)

Something knocked back. 

She blinked her eyes open and went cross-eyed at the tiny little mushroom glowing thing that stood by her nose and had knocked a little fist against her forehead. It tilted its little mushroom cap head at her.

Her eyes went round. It felt like the Hashirama trees.—Maybe she should stop thinking of the chakra as Hashirama tree chakra.

“Little Kodama,” she croaked out, “can you calm Naruto?”

The little spirit shook its head and tapped its hand on her forehead once more. This time she could feel its chakra pulse softly with each little knock. It felt like an invitation. The Kodama lost its mushroom-like shape, leaving it just a little fuzzy chakra swirl of glowing light and it danced about before her face before it danced away.

Midori tried to follow it with her senses but it floated so far away much too quickly. She lost sight of it amongst the other nature chakra and the angry-angry-angry chakra and everything else. She sniffled back her tears.

She had tried: She had failed.

She really, really wanted her mama.

Tears slid down her face. Soft little hiccups escaped her as she quietly cried. The Dog Mask’s chakra slowly stirred. His warm arms shifted very, very slightly. A muffled groan escaped somewhere over her head. The shinobi offered a very quiet curse word a moment later. 

“Ma,” croaked Dog Mask once he assessed the dark, “chibi-chan, no crying allowed. I’ll get us outta here…You feel all your arms and legs and all?”

“Ahuh,” she choked out between her sniffles, “Naruto still angry-angry chakra out there.”

He hummed a moment before he muttered, “I’m going to shift us just a little so I can put my hands together and then we’re going to travel through the ground, ok?”

She nodded against his arm, rubbing some of her tears against him. The shinobi slowly shifted them about until he could make hand signs. His chakra swirled and twisted and gained a feeling of earth. Then they were shifting through the ground. 

They popped up and it was bright-bright. An explosion of sounds roared about them. Great crashing and explosions and creaking ripped through the air. Chakras clashed and flashed and swirled with jutsu and emotions. She burrowed her face against his neck with a whine at it all.

Dog Mask moved .

Midori blinked up as she felt lazy chakra right in front of them and found herself meeting the startled, sharp gaze of Warm Nara. His chakra turned relieved. He was covered in dirt and sweat and blood. A couple of leaves stuck out of his ponytail. 

“Heard this is yours,” Dog Mask announced before plopping her down at the roots of the tree beside Warm Nara before he vanished into the battle. 

Warm Nara’s hand reached out and tugged a twig from her hair as he knelt before her. His hands slid carefully over her arms as he said, “Does any of this really hurt, little mouse?” He looked back and called out, “Medic?” before he focused back on her and continued to carefully check her over.

“Owe,” she offered when he pressed against one of the chakra burns on her arms.

His lips pursed as he took a harder look at the burns on her arms.

A tiny chakra pulsed by her foot. Midori blinked down at it as another and another and another tiny chakra pulse joined it. There wasn’t anything physically there but her chakra sensing could feel a whole flock—school—business of kodama in the tree she was curled at the roots of. 

“Ensui! Some help here!”

Warm Nara jerked his head about and cursed. Midori looked back at him and preemptively sank into a crouch. His jaw clenched but he patted her head and whispered, “Stay safe,” before he rushed back out into the battle.

Midori tracked his chakra to an Autumn chakra that was fighting some of the few Danzo icky chakras left. Everyone else seemed to be struggling against Naruto angry-angry-angry chakra and Danzo and, strangely, the Hokage-sama. 

A kodama with a pretty flower sprouting from its head like a hat materialized with a soft glow on her knee. Midori stared at it in wonder for a long second.

She whispered hopefully, “Can you all calm Naruto?”

The little kodama shook its head and held out a little hand. Midori slowly poked a finger into the hand and the hand wrapped around it. A weird sort of feeling spread as the kodama chakra pulsed and tried to manipulate Midori’s chakra. Instinctive trust in the little creature kept her from fighting it though. 

As its chakra connected to and claimed some semi-balance of control of her chakra, the little kodama turned into a little speck of chakra light and floated into the tree. Midori could feel its desire for her to follow. She hesitated a second before she reached out and pressed her hand to the tree. Her hand sank into it as the kodama did something to her chakra. 

Midori fell into the tree. She scrambled up to her feet—though she didn’t really have feet anymore—and followed all the little kodamas as the flock of tiny chakras danced through the forest. She was led far away from the battle. It didn’t take all that long before the chakras were almost entirely gone from her senses. Only the angry-angry-angry chakra remained raging in the distance. 

She was brought to a deep wood where the forest chakra felt old. When she was guided out of the trees there were worn ropes tied to giant tree trunks and the Senju clan marker on decrypt signs. 

The little girl shuffled uncertainly through the area, gaze wide as she took in the old place and feeling very certain she shouldn’t be here. Only Senju were supposed to be here. 

At the center of the place was the biggest, oldest tree she had ever seen. It thrummed with chakra. 

Little kodama popped up as chakra lights and little mushrooms and little sprouts and flower-headed figures. All of them faced the old tree and bowed. Midori clenched a hand to her ruined shirt and followed their silent direction, dipping into a deep bow before it.

Its chakra shifted. Midori’s breath caught as the old kodama reached out to her chakra and nudged her in greeting, sort of like the knock on the head by the tiny kodama’s but much, much heavier. 

“Oh,” she snapped her head up and stared at the large swirling chakra before her, eyes wide as she realized, “You can help calm Naruto!” The little kodama had brought her here to this old kodama because he could help.

Amusement and curious interest flickered through the old kodama’s chakra. Midori stared in wonder at the silvery chakra glowing before her. It reminded her of a jutsu from before. One that chased away soul eaters. 

“Prongs?” Midori whispered, hesitantly. The kodama, its chakra connected to hers, seemed to sense something about the name or the vague memories the name surfaced because it shifted and took form.

Her lips trembled as she stared up into the face of a very large silvery forest spirit, alters raised high and proud in the sky, vines and flowers tweened around them a reminder that this wasn’t really Prongs but it was a strange thing to see all the same. It brought half-remembered things and people to mind, not just Prongs. A blonde girl whispering of lost things finding their way home struck her particularly hard. 

Tears welled up. She had helped her baby brother home. Helping the shinobi find them in the forest meant that Naruto had a chance at going home too.

But what about her? Mama was gone. She had no home anymore.

The spirit in deer form leaned down and nuzzled her brow.

Understanding pressed forward as the spirit shared a few truths with her and answered the question she hadn’t realized she had asked him. 

“Ah,” she breathed out as she processed the knowledge passed to her. A wobbly smile twitched across her dirty face as she realized what one of the truths meant. She took a steadying breath and pushed that aside for now. There was more to do before she could focus on herself. 

Midori reached out and grasped the deer’s fur before she smiled tiredly and said, “Let’s calm Kurama-sama, Musumi-sama!”

ooo

A fucking tree exploded to his right as a tiny chakra ball flew through the landscape. Shikaku dropped to the ground and glanced at the Uchiha he found himself near. Sharingan eyes were wide and wild with repressed emotions on the blank face of the jonin. Curly hair danced in the air about the teen’s head. He waved for the man to follow and Shikaku sprinted away from the likely detonation zone of the chakra ball.

He really fucking hated Sharingans. 

Evolution should not have given Sharingans evolved forms of themselves. Evolutions should not have allowed for versioning of those evolved fucking forms. Sharingans should not have led to specific fucking jutsu usable only by specific versions of the super-evolved forms of the eyes either.

It was fucked up.

That it was so fucking easy to transplant a Sharingan eye that it could be done as a battlefield procedure was even worse.—He officially hated Hatake’s successful fucking transplant. 

Of course, Danzo’s transplanted Sharginan which allowed him to manipulate the Hokage into believing everyone else was traitors was probably older than Hatake’s transplant. At this point, Shikaku didn’t give a shit. 

All he wanted was to rewind the day, say fuck no to Fugaku, tuck his newfound kids to bed, and make up some bullshit excuse about deciding to adopt when asked about it. If he had said it enough times people would have probably believed him. At this point, he was pretty sure Danzo would have actually let it slide over what actually ended up happening.

Kami, he really fucking hoped Midori was ok in all this.

Trees and rocks and earth exploded with a roar to his right. Corrosive red bijuu chakra danced across the land as Minato’s poor kid charged out of control toward a group of terrified shinobi. Two charka tails danced about—and thank fuck it was only two tails worth of chakra released by Danzo’s seal. It was two more than Naruto could clearly control but only two compared to the nine it could have been.

His Uchiha companion yanked Shikaku down behind a tree. A large metal star flew through the space he had been in. 

Shikaku cursed and focused. More Root ANBU had arrived. More kept showing up. 

Others rushed to meet the Root shinobi, leaving Shikaku the option to sit it out for a moment. He glanced around, used his frankly mediocre sensing, compared to his daughter’s abilities, and tried to make sense of the battlefield mess the forest had become.

Root shinobi and the original tracking team were around. Then there were the regular shinobi that came to investigate who had to decide to listen to the Sharingan-genjutsued Hokage shouting that they were traitors or them shouting that Danzo had Sharingan-genjutsued the Hokage. And there was Naruto attacking anything that moved. 

It was not easy to make sense of the mess around him. And he could only sense a little of what was happening.

“Nara-sama!”

He snapped his gaze to his Uchiha companion.

“I think I can free the Hokage.” the Uchiha shouted over all the explosions and clashes occurring. “I need to be close enough for eye contact though.”

Shikaku frowned and groused, “More Sharingan bullshit?”

The teen offered a half grin, “Well…”

“Details…” He paused and looked the jonin over. There was something about the teen that nagged at the back of his mind. He was the jonin commander, newly minted so the Uchiha couldn’t really expect him to actually know him off-hand yet but Shikaku must have read his profile recently.

“Uchiha Shisui, sir.” his subordinate answered before explaining, “I think Danzo has my grandfather’s Sharingan…that means he probably used Kotoamatsukami on the Hokage. I can use the same technique with each eye but it takes–takes a shit long recovery. I’ve two shots to use it. Then we’ll need another solution.”

“So,” Shikaku said slowly, mind racing through the concept even as he tried to sense where the Hokage and Danzo were in the mess of chakras he could feel, “You want to genjutsu the Hokage all over again?”

“I want to cancel out the genjutsu already in place by using the same genjutsu,” Shisui stated, leaning in, “Danzo clearly convinced Hokage-sama that we’re traitors. If the normal genjutsu rules of attempting to apply a genjutsu that affects the same senses naturally canceling the existing genjutsu out don’t apply due to Sharingan bullshit then I’ll just have to genjutsu him into believing we are not actually traitors and its even true…soo.”

Shikaku’s eyebrow twitched. Fucking Uchiha. 

“I just need to get close enough and you to hold the Hokage still for an instant.” Shisui explained, “I’m fast-”

“Fast–” Shikaku’s gaze sharpened back on his Uchiha comrade and he stated, “Shisui of the Body Flicker.”

“Hai.”

Shikaku hummed in thought for another moment. He noticed a few useful chakra signatures he could catch the attention of. “Troublesome…fine. Collect those–” He pointed out the shinobi they would need. The teen body flickered away as he knelt and planned as quickly as he could. 

If they got the Hokage back, they had a chance to free Naruto. Then maybe they could take down Danzo before he decided escape was the better route.

The Uchiha body flickered back along with Hatake, and another Uchiha. Chōza and Daen flickered to his side a moment later. They were followed by an Inuzuka with a waist-high brown wolf-like dog and another Akimichi. 

“We have a plan to free the Hokage from the genjutsu. Shisui has a possible solution but needs close visual contact.” Shikaku flick two fingers at Chōza and his clansman, and the Inuzuka. “Clear the way and keep everyone else the fuck away.” He flicked his hand over at the two Uchiha and Hatake. “Get Shisui his visual.” He turned to Daen. “We’re going to have to restrain the Hokage for a moment.”

“I just need an instant,” Shisui said, “Restraint shouldn’t be needed but better have it just in case.”

“Right,” muttered his fellow Nara. His cousin looked a little pale at the thought of restraining the Hokage but better than trying to restrain the jinchuriki or the Sharingan bearing Danzo. 

Shikaku flicked his hands out in the general direction he last sensed the Hokage. “This way.”

“Mah,” Hatake said, pointing slightly left from Shikaku’s direction, “he’s moved. Shall I?”

Shikaku nodded at the dog-masked teen.

Hatake took point in the arrow formation and led the group in a sprint through the trees. It was just slow enough that the entire group could keep the formation. The ANBU captain guided them around various battles and dodged past the berserk Naruto. 

The Hokage and Danzo came into view. Fugaku and Rioma were on the ground looking damn bad. Various Root shinobi stood guard or pushed back other Uchiha and Senju shinobi. 

“Konoha was founded by your ancestors and you would both betray it!” scowled the Sandaime to the two clan heads, “Hashirama would be ashamed to call you kin! To consider this a possible outcome after everything!”

Chōza and the other Akimichi flung themselves ahead of Hatake. Both rapidly increased in height and width before they threw themselves into the human bullet tank technique, bulldozing through the various Root shinobi in the immediate way. 

Arrow formation shattered at contact and the rest of the team split. Shikaku rushed right, keeping to the shadows and the still-upright trees. His concentration was split on sensing for chakra around him and keeping his repressed as he headed for the best position to quickly lock shadows with the Hokage. 

He could sense the Inuzuka and his nin-dog join the fight, distracting the Root operatives from the primary trio rushing toward the Hokage. Shisui and Hatake moved quickly, even with all the enemies in the way. He needed to be in position quicker.

Shikaku discarded stealth and ran. He dropped to his knee the moment he was in range and flicked his fingers into the rat symbol. The shadows under him shivered and twisted as his shadow and the trees about him came under his control—became his shadow. Seconds and his shadow stretched across the battlescape and connected.

Sandaime’s expression hardened. “Nara–”

Danzo flickered between the Hokage and Shisui. Hatake substituted in place of the Uchiha. A fucking tree branch exploded from the ground. The ANBU captain barely avoided being skewered through the gut.

“Mokoten!” cried the Hokage, “Danzo–”

The Root commander stabbed out at Shisui—an after-image—Shisui flickered above Danzo with a flaming tanto in hand—A transparent samurai-like giant figure encased Danzo.

“Shisui!” snapped Hatake.

The teen body flickered about the battlefield. After images danced before everyone’s eyes. Danzo screamed in rage. One image appeared before the Hokage.

Killing intent in the air dropped considerably. Too much for just the Hokage no longer wanting to kill them all. 

Looking far too old suddenly, their leader whispered out in horror, “Danzo…what have you done.”

“Danzo-sama the jinchuriki!”

There was no more corrosive bijuu chakra in the air. 

Danzo dropped his strange technique and rushed toward the shout with his remaining Root shinobi body flickering into positions to protect him.

Shikaku released his hold on the Hokage. The old man immediately rushed after. Everyone that could get up to follow did. They all heard the excited shout.

“I did it!” 

The shout was from Danzo.

“Hiruzen, I did it! See! I breed a mokuton user for Konoha!”

Shikaku stuttered to a halt in shock. Midori knelt beside an unconscious Naruto who was tied up by vines. Multiple tiny little…creatures that could only be—that had to be—

Kami.

And the much large one that was glowing and looked like a deer had to be—had to be—

Midori looked up from Naruto in confusion. She was dirty and bloody and had clear tear streaks on her face. His little girl look utterly exhausted as she stood up and sway a little. A couple of flowers sprouted at her feet.

“Musumi-sama says you should leave Kurama-sama to be a grumpy grump in Naruto’s tummy. He doesn’t need to come out and ruin all the trees and plants Hashirama-chan–” She frown and shook her head. “ Sama. ” She glanced at the glowing deer spirit and shook her head again. “Nahah he deserves the respect from us, Musumi-sama. He founded our village. ” She paused and after a moment tilted her head at the deer spirit before she countered something she heard, “Well the village is older than me.”

Danzo scoffed and moved. Shikaku moved right after him but wasn’t close enough or fast enough to stop the man from grabbing his daughter.

Musumi-sama took exception though. 

Shikaku got there in time to pull Midori into his arms, tuck her face to his chest, and press his hands over her ears so she might not hear quite how easily the forest spirit’s alters slid through Danzo’s chest and cracked his bones. He couldn’t do anything about the man’s chakra she must sense but he wrapped her up in his own to try to dull that sense too. 

He had no issue watching the deer-shaped kodama gore the elder. Danzo attempted to use the mokuton—a foolish thing to do against a forest spirit. He tried to use the Sharingan but it looked a little clouded and no longer in perfect working order. It didn’t seem to do what the incoherent man had wanted. 

All the shinobi, Root operatives included, stood very still as the forest spirit tore the man to pieces and the trees literally swallowed his body parts until there was no evidence Danzo had ever been present. Shikaku twitched when a tiny kodama shimmered into existence onto the top of his daughter’s head to stare up at him. He very reluctantly loosened his hold on Midori when the deer-shaped spirit turned back toward them. 

Midori turned about in his arms and bowed politely to the deer, “Thank you Musumi-sama!”

Shikaku carefully bowed with and over her.

Musumi-sama stepped over to them leaned over and nuzzled Midori’s head. (He did not have a heart attack at the creatures actions.) The deer spirit snorted before it turned, shimmered, and dissolved into a glowing light that faded away. All the little kodama waved and jumped about as they ran after the older forest spirit, each becoming a little spirit light and fading away on its own too. 

Midori lazily flicked a hand up and waved a few fingers in goodbye. 

There was a breath of silence and unbroken hesitation as everyone processed what they had just witnessed. Shikaku broke it by shifting from his bow down into a squat to take stock of Midori’s condition. 

She sway back into him and rested her hand on his head as she whined, “Imma really tired.”

“Definitely past nap time,” Shikaku agreed as he tugged at her clothes to take quick glances over areas where she had blood splatter. So far there were only minor cuts and not-so-minor chakra burns. 

“Ah…” Shikaku stiffened at the Hokage’s voice. “Midori, I presume?”

Midori squeaked. Then she was burrowed into his lap. 

A soft chuckle escaped the Hokage. “Now there’s no need to be shy, dear. I knew your however many great grandfather after all–”

“Her grandfather?” Shikaku snarked, “You can’t be–”

“She clearly has the mokuton. Danzo all but admitted that he had worked behind the scenes to have her born from Hashirama’s line,” Sandaime stated. Shikaku became aware of all his clansmen who had taken up places near him as their village leader announced to the world without any true fucking proof. “She’s Senju.”

“NO!” Midori snapped. Her arms around his neck tightened even as a whole lot of fucking flowers popped up around them. She peeked up to glare tearfully at the rather startled-looking Sandaime. “Musumi-sama–Musumi-sama showed me my chakra! He showed me! He did! He did!”

“Midori,” Shikaku said as softly as he could while he tried to ignore the rather strong stranglehold she had on him and the intense number of flowers growing around them, “You do have two parents sweetie.”

Tears welled up from her green eyes and she plonked her forehead against his as she choked out, “I”m lazy-nap-under-the-moon too. Not just baby brother. There’s pine scents too but I’m–I’m–I’m–”

Shikaku closed his eyes from tears falling onto his face. Hummed out kindly to his extremely tired daughter. “I know. You’re mine.–” Multiple people made startled noises. “–We took your blood to confirm it Midori but I know.”

She collapsed with a little whine, sliding into his lap fully. He wrapped her up and wished he could start the chakra lullaby but he needed her checked over by a medic before he dared let her fall properly asleep. 

“Shikaku,” Sarutobi Hiruzen hesitantly said, “Even if she is, with her abilities–”

“This falls under clan matters, Hokage,” interrupted a very worn out Senju clan head, “and while we’ll have to talk, I’m not taking a child from her father.”

The Hokage frowned but nodded. “Very well.” He glanced around and paused on the still tied up Naruto. “Ah, Midori-chan…Naruto–”

Her voice was muffled against Shikaku’s chest but clear enough to the immediate shinobi around him. “–still got Danzo’s seal on him. Can’t free him till icky seal is gone.”

“I see,” the Professor said with a nod, “We’ve all work to do then. Please don’t take her far for now but do what you need to care for her, Shikaku-san. Everyone to the medics if you need it, secure the village otherwise. Root operatives, you will submit yourselves to Inoichi-san and IT or we will have issues and we don’t want that, do we?”

Shikaku roll up to his feet and moved his daughter away from the center of the clearing and the tied-up jinchuriki. His present clansmen followed. A few Akimichi and Yamanaka and two Senju joined them. Everyone else went to work on cleaning up and securing the area. 

It was not long before a medic came on Hokage orders. Shikaku clenched his teeth together at the idea of submitting his daughter to the medic’s care. his eyes narrowed as he considered what all the medic would report back to the Sandaime but he said nothing against it. She needed to see a medic and he had no grounds to decline this one. (Being pissed at the Hokage wasn’t an acceptable reason.)

“Nara-sama, if you allow me a few minutes of Midori-chan’s time I can look her over and determine if we should move her to the hospital or heal anything minor here,” the shinobi offered with a polite bow and offer of his hand to the overly tired little girl.

Midori glared up at him and did not budge from Shikaku’s lap.

The medic frowned, “Uh. We’ll just go a few feet away Midori-chan.”

“Shinobi stole me earlier today,” She countered bluntly. 

“Ah…right.” The man looked a little flustered before he offered, “How about you sit right in front of Nara-sama then? It's just easier to check you over if you aren’t laying on another person, jutsu-wise.”

Midori huffed but did so. What followed was mostly an acceptable review of her health. The four-year-old answered questions promptly but with short, precise, snippy answers of an overly tired child. She didn’t reveal her sensory abilities thankfully, though it was entirely possible any number of shinobi would reveal it to the Hokage. She also didn’t properly explain how the hell she found the kodamas or communicated with them. Multiple questions centered on the spirits, implying the Hokage’s interest lay in that direction over her actual health.

Shikaku expected the Hokage would demand a meeting with Midori soon. He would likely attempt to do it before the bloodwork was finalized and paperwork submitted to make Shikaku officially Midori’s father. Doing so would give him grounds to meet Midori without another adult present. He wondered if the old man would dare go that far. 

Before today there would not have been a question of if but the Sandaime Hokage was not on stable footing after one of his most trusted advisors turned traitor through blatant bloodline theft and genjutsued him to believe whole groups of shinobi, including clan heads, were traitors.

The political fallout of everything that had happened would be massive and he couldn’t fully imagine the extent but he could imagine the number of bastards that would be swopping in to try to claim his and his daughter’s time. Shikamaru would be affected too. Eventually, the youngest would be dragged into it, once he wasn’t a newborn and people knew he existed. 

Shikaku felt ready for a nap himself. 

“Well,” the medic announced after he finished wrapping various chakra burns on Midori, “she should be checked over daily until told otherwise. These burns are not great looking but aren’t so terrible I’d be concerned about infection or complications. Some of them will likely leave scaring, though. Everything else is minor and proper rest is the main help for them.”

“Finally,” sighed Midori as she turned and climbed back onto Shikaku’s lap and collapsed, “ sleep .”

A chuckle escaped the medic as he grinned at the display, “Exactly.” He then bowed politely and vanished back into the hustle of people dealing with the battlefield cleanup. 

Shikaku shifted his daughter into a more comfortable position while his cousins all shifted closer to him. Ensui settled at his side and stretched out as if to take a nap himself. A couple did get up and vanish into the wood, likely to report back to the rest of the clan now that they weren’t being watched so closely by certain people. 

They all could see Sarutobi Hiruzen deep in analyzing the seal Danzo had layered onto Naruto. The remaining two advisors, though they had not been assessed as accessories in Danzo’s plots yet, stood at the Hokage’s side. If it wasn’t for the fact that the three were the only ones with any depth of seal knowledge in the village, Shikaku would be raising valid concerns right now. Instead, he stayed silent but found himself meeting more than a few disgruntled gazes with other clan heads who clearly had similar thoughts. 

He sighed. He needed to not think about politics for at least a few minutes. Shikaku looked down at his daughter and paused. Her vibrant green eyes were open and looking at him. Her eyelids were heavy but her gaze was steady.

“Heavy thoughts keeping you awake Midori?” Shikaku asked softly. 

The other Naras about him stirred at his question, shifting to indicate that they were listening in. The Two Senju sitting slightly apart were far less subtle about their interest as they turned to look over at her. Neither Akimichi nor Yamanaka acted like they were awake but he was sure they were listening in too, especially the mind walkers—budding psychologists all of them. 

She hummed, turned her face to nuzzle her nose against his sweat-soaked tunic and muttered, “Lots of pain in chakras. Pain and worry and sad-sad and fear and anger. Some chakras are stuck I think. Stuck and scared and fuzzy cause they’re not sure others will find them? But others are about to find them cause others are headed in the right direction…Then–” Her green gaze turn teary and her tired voice cracked. “–T-then there’s the chakras fading like Mama’s faded. Mama’s chakra faded away as I took baby brother–” The two Senju sat up straight at that news. Damn, he hadn’t thought about the Senju not knowing about the baby. The Uchiha must have kept to the minimum details required about the bloodline theft. “–across town and her chakra poofed away just as I was knocking on the gate papa…I didn’t say goodbye.”

Oh…oh shit.

“I didn’t–” Her voice creaked toward a clear sob before she burrowed her face against his chest. He silently held her as she quietly cried over it all again. 

Ensui heavied a sigh at his side and muttered a soft, very helpful, “fuck.”

Shikaku sighed and did the only damn thing he could. He rubbed circles across the little girl’s back and let her sob it out against his disgusting shirt while he pulsed his chakra in the traditional pattern of the lullaby. He wasn’t surprised when he felt his cousins join in playing the lullaby. They each carefully worked themselves into the chakra pulsing pattern.  Eventually, she calmed to sniffles. 

“Midori-chan,” one of the Senju spoke up, tone carefully neutral though he didn’t entirely think he was imagining the other Senju’s twitch at the use of chan. She might be four but she was probably the closest the lot had to a proper clan head since Tsunade ran away. It would grate on the more traditional to treat her so informally. 

His daughter turned with a questioning, tired hum.

The Senju hesitated, shifted into a kneeling position, and glanced at his lighter-haired companion before he said, “If you tell us where your mother was when she gave birth, we could collect her body to give her the proper rights…she is likely Senju. It's only proper we collected her and did so.”

“Oh.” Midori blinked, suddenly wide-eyed at the Senju before she glanced over to Shikaku. “Uh..” She turned back to the Senju and rambled out, “Mama…Mama is probably where she died since the police were super busy with Danzo. Usually, when someone dies we’re to tell the police and they have the body taken away. That’s what Mr. Kiyama said…”

Daen rolled to his feet and pulled out a small map of Konoha. It was covered in marking for dango. He shrugged at Shikaku before he offered it to Midori. “I’ll go with Senju-san. I can pick up some of your things while we’re there too, eh? So?”

Everyone leaned in to see where Midori pointed on the little map. 

Midori pointed at an apartment building in the redlight district. It was the literal opposite side of the village from the Nara compound. Shikaku shared a look with Ensui, definitely thinking the same horrifying thought about her walking all that way in the rain with a newborn. 

“The apartment’s the third on the third floor,” she chirped, eyes suddenly alight with awareness as the topic pushed her exhaustion to the back of her mind, “the door won’t be locked. It never got fixed after this one time with a drunk stupid-stupid the police took care of–ufh–” 

Shikaku did not squeeze her too hard at that news but he may have squashed her into a sudden hug. No one looked particularly judging at his reaction. 

“…uh…my stuff I left is all in my cozy-cozy little room that’s really the closet but I claimed it as my room so I didn’t have to see the icky adult stuff and Mama agreed that she didn’t want me seeing the icky adult stuff either…I-uh-don’t know what I need from it though since I’m not going to the academy anymore until I’m ten?” She glanced questioning at him at that last bit.

 Shikaku nodded seriously at her. “Definitely.”

One of the Senju cracked a weak grin. They both looked a little ill at ease though.

“Well,” Daen said with a smile that was more of a grimace, “We’ll go take a look. If she is not there we’ll check with the closest police station.”

Midori nodded. “Thank you.”

The Senju that had offered rose and left with Daen. The one that hadn’t said anything stayed behind which Shikaku supposed made sense even if the clan consisted of maybe twenty members and didn’t really have enough to leave one to guard Midori all the time.

“Midori,” Shikaku asked as she settled back into a comfortable curl in his lap.

She hummed sleepily. 

He frowned but finished his question knowing that his daughter would not actually fall asleep easily so near a battlefield with her sensory abilities. “Did your mother ever talk about a name for your brother?”

She shook her head and explained quietly, “Mama only ever reminded me that we shouldn’t get attached. He was going to go away in three years so we had to be careful not to care too much about him…Mama named me after my eye color for the same reason. She didn’t even pick out kanji.” She fell silent for a moment and then whispered though they all heard her as she pressed against him, “I don’t have any kanji to write my name, papa.”

Shikaku hummed, and not just because he felt a little choked up at her calling him papa, and whispered back, “Then I’ll have to give you some.”

“I’d like that. Lots.” She paused before she added, “And I don’t know how baby names are chosen but his chakra is lazy-nap-under-the-moon like most Naras.”

“No pine scent of a Senju?”

“Well,” she muttered, “He’s got a little of that too. It might grow or he might change from wanting to nap under the moon to napping under stars or under cloud or under the sun too. Everyone seems to want to nap under something a little different for some reason. His chakra is itty bitty right now, papa, and his chakra feels the most like you.”

Shikaku hummed and leaned back against the tree. “Well, I’ll think of a name. Now try to sleep a little. We’re going to be here until the Hokage says otherwise.”

ooo

The compound felt deserted until they reached the meeting hall. Apparently, everyone moved from his house to the more central hall after Midori’s abduction. Sensible since the hall had also held multiple shinobi focused on organizing the efforts against Root until everything had gone to shit. 

They should have had the children all hidden there in the first place.

Shikaku squashed his thoughts of what-ifs for when he wasn’t carrying his daughter home after a long-ass fucked-up day. He would have plenty of time to analyze it all later in a more productive meeting involving other Nara with more information on what all actually happened.

Attempting to analyze it now with the knowledge he had would be a waste of time, no matter how much he wanted to mull it all over and cross analyze how he could have done it all better. 

Futile. Unproductive.—Dangerous thoughts. 

He did not need to think himself into depression or anxiety that trapped him in a state of inaction. 

A tiny hand tugged at his sleeve, pulled his attention down and his thoughts from spiraling in directions sleep deprivation and chakra exhaustion always nudged to the surface. 

Shikamaru frowned up at him. Shrewd dark eyes swept over him from his eldest son’s face. His son huffed out what vaguely sounded like a “troublesome” and proceeded to pull Shikaku through the hall to the pile of pillows and blankets where all the children were sleeping. 

Not all of them were Nara. Some were children collected by request of the police. Fugaku would probably be by for them soon.

His eldest pushed him down into a spot empty of a sleeping child. 

Shikaku amusedly knelt and settled Midori in the spot only to find Shikamaru push him entirely over. He dramatically growned as his eldest rolled him over and claimed him as a pillow. He made another halfhearted sound of complaint but didn’t really try to extract himself as Midori climbed up from the pillow he had plopped her on and snuggled on the side not claimed by Shikamaru. 

His son reached out and tugged her hair slightly as he mumbled, “No being kidnapped again Midori-chan.”

Midori nodded sleepily and mumbled, “k, onii-san.”

Shikaku shifted up on his forearms at that but his two kids were definitely conked out on him. He glanced over at the closest adult which ended up being a number of smirking Naras including his mother holding his youngest. 

She stated plainly, “The bloodwork was processed. I went over it with Shikamaru once we knew Midori was safe. He’s perfectly aware of being an older brother.”

“Ah. Good.” He flopped back before he held out a hand vaguely. She leaned over and laid his youngest on his chest between Shikamaru and Midori. A camera was pulled out from somewhere. He didn’t really mind, though having another taken sometime when he and Midori didn’t look half dead and covered in blood and dirt would be nice too.

Shikaku woke up some hours later to a mushroom kodama sitting on his chest just above his youngest’s head. His youngest was awake and cooing, seemingly at the kodama who was shaking its mushroom-like head at his son’s face. 

Midori grumbled and shifted. She reached out and poked the kodama in the stomach. Multiple pained sounds escaped people clearly watching the kodama around the room.

“Stop bothering him,” mumbled Midori, “Nahah, he was sleeping. I was sleeping. Sleep good. Papa a good pillow.”

The kodama vanished at that and she plopped her face back into his shoulder with clear plans to go back to sleep. 

His youngest whined. Shikaku had the distinct impression the little kodama had been entertaining the newborn so he didn’t scream. Shikamaru groaned in clear complaint as the high pitch whine became a rather loud hiccup-like sound. 

Shikaku could not actually move either arm. His two older children were using them as pillows.—His mother materialized a moment later with a very clear amused smirk at his predicament. 

“Inoichi and Chōza are here,” she stated as she scoped up the baby, “The Hokage did stop by but Uchiha-sama and Senju-sama happened to come by at the same time and distracted him.”

“Ah,” Shikaku considered that for a moment as another Nara materialized with a bottle to hand to his mother before he stated, “I should probably wake up in a few hours.”

“Most likely.”

A relieved sigh escaped Shikamaru. Midori was clearly already sound asleep once more. Shikaku decided to enjoy it a little longer.

ooo

Shikaku watched his guest stare in wonder at his youngest. 

Senju Tsunade carefully traced a chubby cheek as she remarked, “He’s got great-uncle’s eyes—Uzumaki eyes, technically.” She looked up from the two-month-old. “The red eyes, that’s where they’re from. Grandfather and uncle’s grandmother had been an Uzumaki with red eyes.”

“Ah,” Shikaku responded before he helplessly said because this was awkward as all hell, “I decided to name him Fuua..his eyes were just the normal baby blue at the time.”

“Nara Fuua,” said Tsunada with a nod, “or Shikafuua if things go terribly…I assume it’s with the version with kanji for maple trees? But why the connection to the sky at all?”

Shikaku shrugged. “Something Midori said about napping under the sky at the time.”

Tsunade stared blankly for a long moment before a faint smile appeared. “Of course she did.” She looked back at his son with tears in her eyes as she said with a little too much unsaid in her voice, “They are more Nara than Senju no matter what Danzo did.”

“So…the bloodwork and all the documentation and everything confirms–”

“They’re his.” She stated firmly, gaze locked on Fuua’s admittedly adorable face. “ They’re Nawaki’s. That bastard faked my brother’s death, brainwashed him, and eventually forced him to fuck some poor genin corp girl with Senju and Uzumaki blood hidden away. Then Danzo had him actually killed in some senseless mission. Danzo had it all documented. It’s all there. Including his frustration when the baby ended up being a girl and unable to use the mokuton.” 

The Senju princess shook her head and tucked her great nephew against her with a sigh. “He hadn’t planned on Nawaki dying. That hadn’t been deliberate…but… it's what it is.”

“So their mother then–”

“Eri,” she interrupted, “Her name was Eri. Senju Eri, really. Her mother didn’t send her to the academy and there are no birth records of her. There aren’t any records of her at all actually… besides her death certificate and what Danzo has in his files. She’s not the only woman in the village Danzo made invisible.” 

Tsunade gave him a sharp look before she added, “Midori would have been the same. There aren’t any files of her in the academy. Her entire class files are missing.”

“What?” Shikaku hissed out. The last two months had been a lot but he hadn’t thought twice about the paperwork at the academy. He hadn’t even bothered informing anyone that Midori had been pulled out for now.

“I know, right?” she said grimly, “I asked to see the entire class’s paperwork after the lack of information on Eri. I know there weren’t any medical files on Midori before she came to you so the only other place to check was the academy…They couldn’t find shit. I met the homeroom teacher. He was having a full-blown panic attack by the time I left. All he could find was their test results and things he manages directly.”

The two fell silent. Shikaku forcefully pushed the possibilities of what Danzo may have done to his daughter in another lifetime aside. Danzo was very dead and gone. His body food for the trees. Midori was safe and in a room across the way waiting patiently to come in. He could feel her chakra along with Shikamaru’s. 

“I have to ask your intentions, Tsunade-sama,” Shikaku finally said, “I’ve spent half my time these last two months telling people off for trying to take Midori away from me and the other half confirming to Midori that she is a Nara.”

“She is a Nara,” Tsunade agreed before she grimaced at him and set Fuua on the matted floor to squirm about, “but,” she said to his dread, “she is also Senju and not just any old Senju, Shikaku.” 

The granddaughter of the Shodaime stared down at the squirming babe for a moment before she said, “I thought I made-believed all the kodama I saw as a toddler.” She looked up at Shikaku with a mullish expression. “They would appear all over the Senju compound. Tiny little figures with mushroom cap heads or flower heads or figures that almost looked like walking sprouts…then grandfather died and they came less often…then great uncle died and they stopped coming altogether…I convinced myself that I just started growing up and stopped believing in silly clan stories and make-believe. I ignored the tales and warnings and traditions embedded in everything Senju did—I followed them still, of course. Thoughtlessly completed the little tasks and rituals to please spirits I believed didn’t really exist…”

She fell silent for a moment and looked away, taking this pause to sip at the tea Shikaku had provided. He vaguely wished he had offered sake but he still hadn’t gotten the nerve to buy any yet. Shikaku hadn’t sat Midori down and properly talked through what she lived through in the redlight district nor had he properly processed the facts surrounding Yoshino. (He needed to. And he would . He just wasn’t ready yet—for either conversation or internal acknowledgment. Inoichi was starting to watch him too closely. He couldn’t hold off much longer.)

“The old Kodama, the one she calls Musumi-sama…tradition has evolved over time surrounding him and the grove with his tree but in this day and age the ultimate tradition is that the Senju that he speaks to is Clan head.”

Shikaku couldn’t help the slight wounded noise he makes. 

Tsunade nodded in agreement at him as she grinned faintly. “Midori is the Senju clan head, Shikaku. I can stand in her place while she is four but I cannot take her place forever. She will be Senju Midori one day.” The blond shifted about and leaned on the kotetsu as she tilted the teacup at him. “So I have an offer to make to you Nara. First, I’m making this because I bet you have been seeing a shit ton of kodama around here, right? And maybe you Nara have your own set of traditions to handle the suckers or maybe you don’t but I can’t imagine you declining possible help here. And, eventually, Musumi-sama will show up to see Midori. He apparently just does that according to our records.”

“Wonderful,” muttered Shikaku.

“I know, right?” Tsunade huffed, “So Midori can live here. I’m all for her being with family as long as she also spends time with the Senju clan learning who’s who and all the clan head duties, which frankly she can learn a bit about following you around too really.”

Shikaku nodded reluctantly. Most of his duties as clan head were duties all clan heads dealt with. It would be simple enough to have all three of his children shadowing him at times. His poor children were going to hate him but at least none of them could avoid it he supposed. 

The medic continued to bulldoze through her plan, “As for the Senju traditions and rituals and all that…besides, maybe four or five of them…possibly a few more, all of you can learn them.”

He blinked, hesitated, and then asked, “All of us?”

She grinned and explained, “Your three kids and you. Midori has to learn them and should practice them diligently. Fuua needs to know them and attempt to practice them in case he somehow ends up the Senju clan head instead of a Nara that happens to be heir for both the Nara and Senju clans until his two siblings have kids. You should know them so you can help Midori when there isn’t a Senju around but also because some may be useful for when a kodama comes over and Midori isn’t present to handle it. Shikamaru may find knowing them useful for similar reasons.”

Shikaku sighed and couldn’t help but lament, “Poor Fuua.”

A snort of humor escaped. “Kid’s definitely going to go through one of those outraged-at-life stages when he’s old enough to understand his quirk of birth.”

He shifted in his seat and sighed once more before he glanced out the open doors to the forest and the fall-colored leaves that danced about in the wind. Things were starting to settle down since they uprooted Danzo and his bloodline theft. This issue with the Senju and their undeniable claim to Midori and Fuua was all that was left for him to handle as the Nara clan head and as a father.

His children were the only Naras involved in the entire issue but there had been multiple Yamanakas and a couple of Akimichi born to the horror of Inoichi and Chōza. None were Inoichi’s or Chōza’s specifically to Shikaku’s silent regret. It would have been sort of nice if his friends had shared the startling experience of sudden fatherhood. Though likely for the best, particularly for the long-term survival of Inoichi’s marriage. 

The Hatake teen was an awkward clan head with being a brother to brainwashed Root siblings, father, and uncle to multiple toddlers and babies—but at least the Hatake clan was now thriving? (The number of times one of Sandaime’s questionably-not-involved advisors argued that when the poor ex-ANBU captain came frazzled to a meeting had long shifted from vaguely funny to painful.) 

The poor teen was being given all the support the other clans could offer because it really wasn’t that funny after the first time bloodwork came back proving Hatake Kakashi was too closely related to a baby to ignore it. It was going to take years before the brainwashed siblings could be trusted with any of the toddlers or babies either. That the teen’s go-to help were fellow ANBU meant the Hatake clan was going to be…interesting for a generation or two if the clans didn’t attempt to help. 

A shocking number of Uzumaki had been found within the breeding program—or at least Uzumaki by blood and chakra since none seemed to have any idea what an Uzumaki or seal was. They, along with a disturbing number of Senju-blooded children, were claimed by the Senju clan which tripled the size of the founding clan to the relief of everyone but Rioma who had to figure out how to house and care for what was mostly children under five years old and poorly educated woman who had been abused and treated as nothing more than tools for breeding babies. (And was likely now a concern for Tsunade and Midori and so his concern too.)

“Troublesome.”

“Yeah, this is bullshit.” Tsunade agreed, “but look on the bright side.”

Shikaku looked back at her with a put-upon expression, very certain there wasn’t much of a bright side.

She smirked. “I’ve convinced sensei that he has to suck it up and clean up this bullshit mess he created himself before he retires again. And that his options for a successor have to be either–” She flicked a finger out. “–Orochimaru if we can capture him and successfully remove the seals Danzo used on him, twisting him up in all sorts of ways–” She flicked another finger out. “–You if we can convince you that you do actually have time to take care of three kids, a clan of lazy fucks, and a village by yourself–” Tsunade smirked at his scoff and flicked out another finger. “–or Uchiha Shisui who, while a little young, is proven to be pretty damn strong and has been hailed as one of the primary heroes in this fucked up mess. Bonus points for fixing a few mistakes involving one of the founding clans being pissed off at the village too.”

His eyebrows shot up. That—putting aside the evolutionary bullshit that was the Sharingan and the hellscape of most Uchiha’s capacity for social interaction—could actually solve the vast majority of the crap that needed solving at the moment. Extra bonus points for Shisui liking him for some reason. He just needed to keep Shisui liking him which wasn’t going to be an entirely difficult thing as long as he avoided all thoughts about the boy’s particular brand of super Sharingan genjutsu bullshit abilities he very much liked to remove from the fabric of existence. 

He smirked as he noted, “So will he be announcing Shisui as his successor tomorrow, pending a long transition?”

“Yup.” She answered with an exaggerated popping sound at the p as she polished her nails on her shirt and leaned back. “You’re welcome. Now, do I get to meet my niece and sudo-nephew? Then we can plan how we’re going to do this sort of shared-custody-but-not shit?”

Shikaku hummed and rose, stuffing his hands in his pocket as he looked down at her with a crooked smile. “I suppose so.”

ooo

She carefully traced the lines on the fancy bamboo paper with her finger. It was made to hang in her new room. Decorated with little trees and deer. And the most important part: her name. 

美緑 

Kanji for beauty and greenery. Chosen by her papa for the name her mama had given her because of her green eyes. There were many kanji he could have chosen. Some probably would think him lazy for choosing these since Midori is most commonly tied to nature and green but didn’t have to be. But she liked that he had considered her mama naming her for her eye color even if it had been because mama had feared her being taken away from her too soon. 

She smiled at it as she moved her hand to trace a little ink deer. 

The paper didn’t have Nara on it. She was a Nara.

But.

Chakra of pine scent and precision filled with anticipation and interest and fear swirled in the room with her papa. She glanced at her big brother lazily play-sleeping as he sensed their guest too, having determinedly learned to sense some since learning how much she sensed all the time. 

Midori turned back to the paper and traced one of the little trees on it. 

One day she might have to shed the name Nara and bear the name Senju for her grandpapa who Danzo kidnapped too. (That ‘maybe’ was more like a ‘definitely’ but all the adults liked speaking in maybes to her while their chakras spoke differently. She let them. Maybe she could stay a Nara if she didn’t force the issue.)

Papa’s chakra headed toward them. She didn’t move. People preferred she didn’t react to their presence until after they made themselves known beyond their chakra. It was silly and papa didn’t usually care but he had asked her to wait for him to physically come to collect them. So she waited.

The door slid open even though he didn’t need to do that. He could have just pulsed his chakra or something instead.

“Midori,” Papa said, “Shikamaru, I’ve someone who’d like to meet you both.”

Shikamaru dramatically yawned as if he hadn’t been awake this entire time. (She’s been learning that Naras were super-silly dramatic about their naps. No wonder their chakra’s spoke of napping.—She’s been learning how to do it too. It was fun to see how people reacted.)

She rose with her big brother and quietly followed him out. The pine scented precision chakra belonged to a blonde woman with warm eyes. She was playing with Fuua. Midori liked her and her chakra even if she felt a little sad. 

“Tsunade-sama,” her papa said, “these are my older children, Shikamaru and Midori. Children, this is Senju Tsunade.”

Midori offered a polite bow.

Tsunade smiled at them both before she focused on Midori. She waved Midori closer. “Well,” the blonde woman said after a moment, “I see where you got your name. You take a lot after your father though…Midori…well, there’s no real simple way to put this. I’m your Great Aunt. Your grandfather was my little brother. I thought he had died when Danzo stole him instead. I’m glad a little of him lives on. I’d like to be part of your lives, yours and both your brothers’ if you’ll have me.”

“Oh,” breathed Midori, her eyes grew wide and she couldn’t help but glance over at her papa. Papa simply smiled back at her. She looked back at Tsunade-sama. “Um…I’d like that, I think…auntie?”

The blonde lady smiled. “Well, good,” she leaned forward, “Now…would you like to meet my pet pig?”

ooo