67Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Retrograde Chapter 13
"Do you really think this is wise, Fumiyo? You've kept us secret for a reason."
Fumiyo glanced at the man beside her at the sound of his voice as they walked through the busy shopping district, drawing her from her thoughts of her latest session with Itachi. She eyed the troubled expression on her uncle Haruka's face as he warily eyed the shinobi and civilians milling about around them. Her attention shifted to look at them as well. Fear and confusion ran rampant on their faces as they pointed and stared at him, some whispering amongst themselves behind their hands.
It was no surprise he didn't agree with her sudden change in policy when it came to using the summoning masks. She had spent so long keeping their existence a secret from Kushina and the rest of the world, honoring Jin and Uka's wishes despite not agreeing with the decision, and only performing the summonings under the cover of night within the deepest part of the storage temple. Her grandfather had even made his displeasure about it known multiple times, but every time Fumiyo and her mother would provide a united front and silence him for another few years until he dared bring the topic up again.
Haruka had been one of the few who had never wavered in his agreement with the decision. After the fiasco he caused when her mother was chosen as Uzukage over him, he did nothing but devote himself to supporting and protecting the clan. He sympathized with Fumiyo's desire to not completely lose the clan, but he was practical. As far as Haruka was concerned, the summoning masks should have been destroyed and discarded just because of the possible risk they presented if an outsider happened upon them and learned the summoning jutsu with ill intentions.
Fumiyo folded her hands inside the sleeves of her kimono robes and glanced at her uncle as they continued past the takoyaki vendor. "It doesn't matter if we think it's wise or not, Uncle," she murmured, sending a smile at the civilian woman standing frozen stiff in front of them. They paused in front of her and Fumiyo let her smile widen, but it didn't seem to ease her any. "Are you okay, miss?"
The woman ignored her, unable to look away from Haruka.
Her uncle frowned at her and the woman stumbled backward, almost dropping her bag of groceries on the ground. "Are you well?" he repeated, reaching out toward her.
She took one look at his clawed hand and let out a shriek before fleeing from them.
Fumiyo glanced at Haruka beside her and silently wondered what the woman saw when she looked at them. He looked the same as ever with one of his signature scowls and a harsh look in his brown eye. She supposed the eyepatch covering the empty socket where her mother had snatched out his left eye was off-putting, but that woman was probably more scared of the horns poking out from his hair if she were honest. The ogre-like features her family members all possessed had been so normal to her that Fumiyo had never considered being scared. Naruto hadn't even batted an eye at her father when he first met him. Though in hindsight that may have been because he'd been so excited to meet another family member that the thought hadn't crossed his mind.
Haruka turned to look at Fumiyo. "Was I wrong?" he asked. "Has social etiquette changed that much?"
Fumiyo shook her head and wrapped an arm around his, sending him a reassuring smile. "No, Uncle. It hasn't," she told him as they resumed their walk through the shopping district. "She's afraid of you. They all are."
His frowned deepened as he let her guide them through the busy streets. He surveyed the faces around them as Fumiyo stopped to stand beside the used book stall, noting their curious and frightened expressions. "It merely reinforces why this shouldn't be done, Fumiyo-chan," he tersely said as he watched her browse through the books on display. Haruka glanced at the stall's vendor and the man visibly cowered under his gaze.
She ran her fingers over the spines of worn copies of Jiraiya's books on the shelf beside them before pulling away. "When you all died, do you remember telling me that I needed to take responsibility of the clan?" she began in a low voice, glancing up at her uncle. Fumiyo took hold of his arm again and they continued through the shopping district. "You all but demanded that I take Mother's place as clan head."
Haruka's dark eye narrowed thoughtfully and he nodded after a moment. "You struck me, and I never broached the subject again."
"I wasn't ready at the time," she told him truthfully, violet eyes downcast. Her thoughts immediately went to the massacre of their clan; Kushina's pale face when she told the girl the terrible news flashing before her eyes. "It was completely unimaginable to me. It was just me and Kushina – we were just two people and that wasn't a clan to me. Raising that girl was all I cared about. And leading the clan was never something I had given a thought to since I saw myself living in the Leaf until the day I died."
Fumiyo fell silent and steered them toward the small fabric stall set between the dumpling shop and a dry goods stall. "But things have changed. Kushina and Minato are gone, but their son still lives despite the lie I was told," she continued as she fingered the soft material of the dark orange fabric bolt closest to them. "I want Naruto to have everything that we deprived Kushina of. The things that are his by birthright that he was denied." Fumiyo indicated to the elderly woman manning the stall and they watched her cut a few yards of fabric from each bolt she pointed at. "And by doing that, I have to make a show of force to show that my abilities haven't dulled during my self-imposed exile."
As the woman worked, Fumiyo and Haruka stepped back to give her space. Fumiyo tightened her arm around her uncle's and she let her head drop to rest on his shoulder as she lowered her voice to a whisper. "And if that means wearing the title the Hidden Mist placed on us to show the rest of the shinobi world that their fear of our sealing abilities wasn't misguided or misplaced, I'll do it," she murmured, watching the woman slowly began wrapping her purchases. "Onmyōji. Exorcist. Whatever names they spat at us. I'm fully prepared to embrace it all as head of this clan even if no one else remembers except us. And that includes no longer hiding you all from the world."
The elderly woman sent Fumiyo a sly grin as she handed over her wrapped package. "Your friend's quite handsome," she whispered behind her hand with a girlish laugh.
Fumiyo let out a laugh of her own as she sealed the package away in an empty storage scroll before placing it in her pouch. "Isn't he?" she whispered back, sending Haruka a teasing grin that made him frown. She paid the woman before taking her uncle's arm again and resuming their walk.
"If that woman weren't so old and blind, she wouldn't have said that about me," he muttered in a low voice, glancing over his shoulder in her direction. He chuckled under his breath, the sound dark and unsettling. "She would have run off screaming if she knew better."
Fumiyo dipped her head in agreement as they rounded the corner toward the center of the village. A new set of voices gasped and screamed at her uncle's appearance. She kept her eyes forward with a neutral expression as she listened to the villagers' frightened whisperings as they passed. Some of the things they said was nothing she hadn't already heard in the past. Ogre Bride. Demon lady. Monster. A couple voices even called out yokai and ayakashi. For Fumiyo, none of it was a surprise to hear. She had heard similar things whispered behind her back many times, especially after some of the overly curious children in the village would sneak up to the mask storage temple as some sort of juvenile test of bravery to see if they could survive an encounter with the scary Ogre Bride or one of the oni who guarded it.
She didn't mind the whispering very much to be honest. They actually comforted her some, reminding Fumiyo of what it had been like to walk around the village when Kushina still lived. But one glance at her uncle's disgruntled expression made it clear that he didn't share her thoughts on the situation.
"This decision will cause upheaval from both the clan and from the Hidden Leaf," Haruka tersely muttered in a low voice as he tightened his hold on her arm. He steered them down a darkened alleyway set between two of the small shops lining the road. "What will you tell your mother when you next face her? I doubt she'll be very happy that you have gone ahead and made such a reckless action regarding the clan without consulting her. And what of Princess Tsunade? She's Hokage now. The girl will undoubtedly put the village above any sentimentality she has toward you."
Fumiyo sighed softly to herself as she watched a multitude of emotions and thoughts cross his face, each one lasting for no longer than a few seconds. Just watching him she could tell that her decision to reveal one of their clan's secret jutsu to the world was a hard pill for him to swallow. But he was trying. After all, he had spent the majority of his shinobi career as her mother's advisor, guiding her when it came to the decisions she had to make as Uzukage and head of their clan. And knowing her mother, it must have been especially frustrating for him when he couldn't talk her out of a decision once she had made up her mind.
As much as Uncle Haruka wanted to stop her, he knew it was impossible. She had already decided on this matter.
"It will be okay, Uncle," she murmured softly as she took hold of his hand in both of hers. "I've already discussed this all with Mother and Grandfather and they agreed that it's necessary for the clan to move forward, especially for Naruto. And if all has gone well, he and his bride have already met Jin and Uka." In secret away from prying eyes so they weren't disturbed, she silently added. Her hands tightened around his and she smiled reassuringly up at him. "As for Tsunade, that's why we took this leisurely stroll through the busiest part of the village. We're going to meet her now."
Haruka's dark eye narrowed and he frowned down at her. "This was your plan the whole time, wasn't it?" he murmured, glancing over her shoulder at the bustling street behind them. "To parade me around the village in plain view of everyone."
Her smile widened as she dipped her head once. "There is no better way to quickly spread information in a shinobi village, Uncle," she told him. "And this way it'll make it harder for Tsunade to suppress or deny your existence with these many witnesses."
"She could always claim genjutsu," he countered.
"Which is something I was never particularly skilled at so that would hardly be believable," she returned.
"And why did you choose me for this meeting?" he asked with a dubious finger pointed at himself, dark eye closely watching her expression. "Surely Mikoto or our father would have been more suitable choices."
The corners of Fumiyo's mouth curved upwards as she rested her hands on her hips. "That's simple: Mother looks too much like Great-Aunt Mito had when we were growing up and Tsuna has never met Grandfather," she told him. "And of the family members she's sure to remember that only left you, Uncle."
Haruka stared at her for a long moment without saying anything before shaking his head at her, exasperated. "I still do not agree with this, but I know I cannot change your mind," he muttered with a tired sigh as he ran a clawed hand through his dark red hair. He looped her arm around his again and led her out of the small alley and back onto the busy street.
Fumiyo rested her head on his shoulder as the whispering behind their backs began again in earnest but they paid them no mind as they slowly resumed their walk. It was silent between them for a few moments before her uncle spoke again.
"And with your penchant for acting recklessly with little care toward your own well-being, Fumiyo-chan, it makes me wonder if you have any intention of surviving the coming wars you speak of," he said, keeping his eyes forward as they continued walking.
A wry smile pulled at her mouth as she tightened her grip on his arm, thoughts immediately turning to that terrible, seemingly endless night in Uzushio all those years ago. "And as Great-Aunt Mito always said, I am my father's daughter, Uncle Haru."
The loud boisterous voices of the shopping district surrounding Shikamaru suddenly dimmed to a low drone as they started whispering. He glanced around at the shoppers and vendors around him and frowned. Everyone had gone subdued in a matter of seconds. Shikamaru had never witnessed anything like this before.
The closest thing he could think of was the way adults had reacted whenever they had laid eyes on Naruto when they were kids.
But back then they hadn't reacted like they'd just seen some kind of ghost or something.
Shikamaru quickly searched the crowded street and spotted the unique red hair of Lady Uzumaki as she casually strolled down the street arm in arm with a man he'd never seen before. The civilians gave her and her companion a wide berth as they walked, immediately stepping back and away from them with varying degrees of shock and fear on their pale faces. He glanced around and spotted a few of his fellow shinobi and even they seemed to give the two space.
"She really is an Ogre Bride!" a woman gasped and Shikamaru watched her tightly clutched her groceries to her chest before fleeing in the direction of Kikyō Castle.
Her words spurred Shikamaru into action and he scooped up his own bag and hastily slung it over his shoulder as he pushed through the crowd. He'd heard the phrase so many times over the past two weeks whenever someone would mention Lady Uzumaki. No one dared to say the words directly to her face and Shikamaru hadn't been able to get a straight answer out of anyone as to why they called her that. All he'd been able to gather was that it had something to do with her clan's old abandoned storage temple.
Besides that one little detail, Shikamaru had found nothing else about the Uzumaki woman out of the ordinary when he had looked into her. And he found that to be more suspicious than if he had discovered anything disturbing about her.
As far as Shikamaru had been able to gather Lady Fumiyo Uzumaki was a highly respected kunoichi, regarded as a fūinjutsu master that not even Master Jiraiya of the legendary Sannin could compete with. She was the student of the First Hokage's wife and Lady Tsunade's grandmother and the daughter of Uzushiogakure's last village leader before its destruction at the hands of Kirigakure. She had basically grown up side by side with all three Sannin and it had just been her and her niece – Naruto's mother – after Uzushio had fallen. The older shinobi Shikamaru had talked to had described her as a quiet woman who had mostly kept to herself that almost never failed to complete any of the missions assigned to her. From Ino's dad, he'd learned that she was a long-standing member of the Intelligence Department with a specialty in field intelligence gathering. And prior to her sudden disappearance, Lady Uzumaki had been close to the Fourth Hokage, some even saying that he had regarded her as family before his death.
Shikamaru was sure he could have read all those details in her ninja file if he requested to look at it. All of it was important, but he was more interested in the blank period after she had seemingly abandoned Naruto post-Kyūbi attack and before her sudden return to the village.
But between every person he had spoken to and all the rumors he had heard throughout the village, no one knew anything. All they could do was speculate about where Lady Uzumaki had been and what she had been doing since they thought she'd already died. And that meant she could have been anywhere in the Elemental Nations doing absolutely anything.
With her background and history and miraculous saving of Master Jiraiya, people had just accepted her sudden return. But Shikamaru had questioned it from the moment he had met her that day.
To hear that she had somehow survived an encounter with an Akatsuki member with just a few scratches and a dislocated shoulder while Master Jiraiya had lost an arm and was still hospitalized was shocking. He couldn't believe the odds of that happening. How could Lady Uzumaki get out with barely a scratch compared to one of the legendary Sannin? And for her to be there in Amegakure at just the right time and place to be able to get him out of there was another thing. Shikamaru didn't believe her claims of it just being luck. He just didn't. And for her to be Naruto's long-lost aunt? That just made it worse considering the current situation with the Aktsuki and the terrorist group's goals.
Shikamaru had a theory, but all his proof was nothing more than circumstantial and full of speculation. No actual hard evidence.
But maybe whatever was going on now would finally validate his suspicions about her.
He pushed through the crowded street until Lady Uzumaki and her companion were just a few meters ahead of him before slowly creeping closer.
"I still don't think this is wise, Fumiyo-chan," the man muttered.
Lady Uzumaki chuckled, the sound dry and humorless. "So you keep saying," she murmured back.
Shikamaru frowned at this. What were they talking about? Were they about to launch some sort of attack or something? His mind raced with all the possibilities for what they could be talking about, so much so that he followed them all the way around the corner onto a side street leading away from the shopping district and nearly ran into them. He stopped short of completely walking into Lady Uzumaki's companion and a chill ran up his spine.
He slowly raised his head and found himself pinned under the man's cold stare. Shock shot through Shikamaru. He understood now. Everyone was reacting the way they were because of him. Because of what he looked like.
"Are you well, boy?" he questioned.
Shikamaru's eyes darted to look at Lady Uzumaki before returning to the man again but she was unfazed. The man – or whatever he was – raised a brow at him still waiting for an answer and he quickly scrambled together his thoughts for some sort of coherent string of words.
"Sorry," he quickly apologized with a slight bow.
Lady Uzumaki smiled at him. "It's fine, Shikamaru," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. She turned to the man beside him. "Uncle, this is Shikamaru – one of Naruto's friends."
He nodded politely in his direction, expression unchanged. "Domo."
"And, Shikamaru, this is Haruka."
Shikamaru nodded hesitantly back. "Hi."
Haruka's eye narrowed as he stared him down. "Why were you following us, boy?" he coldly demanded. "I don't take kindly to being surveilled."
"Haru…" Lady Uzumaki quietly cautioned.
Shikamaru tried to think of an answer as he stared up at the man but only one word kept coming to mind. He forcefully shoved it away. Something told him that he needed to be careful about his response.
But it slipped out anyway.
"Yokai."
The man's entire demeanor changed with that one word. One second, he was calm – mildly suspicious but still calm – and the next he was completely unhinged with the look in his single brown eye wild as the tips of the ivory horns sticking out of his head ignited purple like a flame. A sharp tantō suddenly filled his hand as he let out a maniacal laugh.
"Ahehehe!" he cackled as he threw open his arms, carelessly swinging his blade around in wide arcs. "Yokai? Did you hear that, Fumiyo-chan? He called me a yokai!" He threw back his head and let out another maniacal laugh before suddenly sobering. Too fast for Shikamaru to react, he pressed the sharpened edge of his tantō against the chūnin's throat. He cocked his head to the side, never losing the wild look in his eye. "It's one thing to say that behind my back, but it's an entirely different matter to say it to my face," he whispered in a low menacing voice. "Are you brave enough to repeat it, boy? Or are you really a coward playing pretend?"
Before Shikamaru could react, Lady Uzumaki spoke.
"Haruka." Her voice was sharp and colder than he'd ever heard it. "Enough."
Haruka turned his attention on her, tipping his head to the other side as he stared at her with his one good eye. The expression on his face lacked emotion and the look in his eye was blank. "It's like looking at my sister but with Aunt Mito's voice," he murmured in a low voice before casually pulling the blade from Shikamaru's throat. "Scary."
Shikamaru immediately stepped back away from them with a gasp, grabbing at his throat. He glanced between the two and startled. They look similar, he realized for the first time.
Lady Uzumaki glowered at Haruka as she carefully watched him seal away his tantō into one of the many tattoos on his arm. "And this is why everyone calls you a mad dog." She turned her attention on Shikamaru, expression apologetic. "Forgive him. He's got a bit of a temper."
Shikamaru could only nod, unable to find his voice.
"We have to get going, but it was nice seeing you, Shikamaru," she murmured before forcefully taking the man's arm again. "And I really am sorry about him." They continued down the street, leaving Shikamaru behind with his mind swimming in confusion.
Tsunade relaxed back into the soft cushions of her chair in her private library. This was one of the few opportunities she'd had to ignore her duties as Hokage. When Sakura had come to her requesting to study here, Tsunade had been surprised. In recent months, her young disciple had spent very little time here. But she didn't mind the request. It was the perfect opportunity to get away from all the paperwork waiting back in her office.
Plus, it was a great place to hide from Shizune and sneak some sake.
But Tsunade did find Sakura's sudden interest in studying again strange. The girl was more than proficient in her medical ninjutsu. She had gone to sit in and observe a couple of her recent surgeries and she had to admit the girl had become quite good, her surgical skills near flawless.
Yet here she was back to practicing the basics again.
For the past few days, Sakura had been training with a fish, infusing her chakra and sending it through its body to make it move again. She had been mixing liquids and separating them again and grinding ingredients for simple soldier and food pills. She was even rereading through the old medical scrolls and textbooks Tsunade had given to her when she had first begun her training.
At this rate she half expected Sakura to ask her to go out to the training grounds with her.
A firm knock on the door drew Tsunade's attention and she turned to look. Fumiyo stood in the doorway with the marked scroll containing her daily interrogation report tucked under her arm and one hand propped up on her hip. Her sharp purple eyes quickly swept over her and Tsunade nearly did a double take. It was like she was staring into the past. Her cousin wore the same black kimono with the blue and white wave pattern at the hem she had worn whenever she left the village on a mission over her clothes. Tsunade could still remember the day her grandmother had given it to her as a present for earning the rank of jōnin.
"So, this is where you've been hiding," Fumiyo remarked with a teasing smile.
Tsunade snorted, not bothering to deny it as she took another sip of sake. "Have you seen all the paperwork on my desk?" she asked rhetorically. Shizune was going to chew her out later but she didn't care.
The other woman chuckled. "I can imagine." She stepped further into the library and Tsunade's cup nearly slipped from her fingers.
"Hello again, Princess Tsuande," greeted the man at Fumiyo's back.
She stared at him for a long moment, not sure if she was drunk or not. Maybe she was seeing things, but he looked exactly like someone she was absolutely sure was dead. But that was impossible. She glanced at Fumiyo, but she was unfazed.
"She's speechless, Uncle Haru," Fumiyo observed with a slight smile.
He crossed his arms with a huff. "I expected her to at least scream a little. Maybe even try to attack me."
Tsunade slammed back the rest of what was left in her cup and got to her feet. "Who are you?" she demanded, fingers curling into a tight fist. She needed to be ready to break some bones if he tried anything funny.
"I'm sure you can guess," was his response.
She could – that was the problem. But there was something wrong with him.
Tsunade looked the man over, taking in his appearance. He had chin length bright red hair and a slim face and a neatly trimmed beard and mustache that framed his thin mouth. She warily eyed the black eyepatch covering the left side of his face with the kanji for the word "seal" stitched in white. It made his already stern expression even more intimidating that it already was. And the dark black clothes he wore turned him into an imposing figure standing beside Fumiyo who just barely reached his shoulder.
Something about the man screamed danger and set her instincts on high alert.
"You're Haruka Uzumaki," she slowly said, eyes quickly roving over his tanned face. "Fumiyo's uncle."
Haruka nodded. "I am," he agreed with an amused tilt to his mouth.
A sound of disbelief escaped her, and she looked to Fumiyo beside him. "Explain. He's supposed to be dead," she exclaimed, pointing incredulously at Haruka. It was one thing for Fumiyo to return from the grave, but it was an entirely different matter when it came to someone like him. Her cousin hadn't been confirmed dead among countless others by a reputable source unlike him.
"He is dead, Tsuna," Fumiyo confirmed in a soft voice. She placed her report on the table beside the bottle of sake before taking her stiff hand in her own. "I was there when it happened. Remember?"
Tsunade did remember. She had been out of the village at the time, but the destruction of Uzushiogakure and the Uzumaki clan by Kirigakure's hands had been the only thing anyone had able to talk about everywhere she'd turned. One of her grandmother's final letters before her passing had detailed the few pieces of information Fumiyo had been willing and able to divulge after making the long trek back to Konoha in one piece all by herself. And that in itself had been a miracle according to her grandmother and she had to agree. Tsunade could barely imagine being able to find her way home after witnessing something as horrendous as the slaughter of all her family members. And to be the lone survivor? She didn't know how Fumiyo was able to pick herself back up so quickly afterwards.
"I am, indeed, Princess Tsunade," Haruka confirmed with a dip of his chin. "Very, very dead, in fact." He tipped his head to the side, making his hair sway with the motion and drawing her attention. A low gasp escaped her, brown eyes quickly darting in Fumiyo's direction before returning to him again.
She had never once laid eyes on him before, but her grandmother had told her and her little brother countless stories when they were little in order to scare them. Sometimes her stories had sounded unbelievably realistic and terrifying and other times it was like she was telling them the story of Momotaro. But the one thing she had always made clear was that no healthy living person could see him.
The only time somebody could was when they were on the brink of death.
"Shinigami," she breathed, unable to look away.
Haruka touched one of the horns on his head with a clawed hand. "Do I really look like the great Shinigami?" he wondered aloud. He shook his head. "I don't see the resemblance personally."
Fumiyo ignored him, instead focusing on Tsunade. She gently squeezed the other woman's hand until she drew her gaze away from him. Her smile was warm and familiar, reminding Tsunade of her grandmother as she tipped her head to the side a little. "Don't worry, Tsunade. He's no Shinigami," she murmured as she slowly pulled her to stand in front of him. "He's my uncle Haru – just a little more dead than the last time you saw him."
She stared up at him, barely able to comprehend her words. "I don't understand," she finally said.
"Before you try anything, I can assure you that this is no genjutsu. I am indeed standing before you now," Haruka said, staring down at her through his single dark brown eye. He took her hand from Fumiyo's and she's startled by how warm it was. It was nothing like she expected. "And no, I'm not a damned yokai."
"Haru," Fumiyo all but growled. He looked away but otherwise ignored her.
Tsunade looked him over and quickly decided that he was human despite the physical abnormalities that would have made her think otherwise. And despite knowing that he was definitely dead, the warmth of his hand and the faint thrum of a pulse she felt at his wrist pointed to signs of life. But that was impossible! Haruka was not alive.
"Then what are you?" she asked.
"Uncle Haru's…a spirit," Fumiyo softly explained, glancing up at him. "I summoned him from the Far Shore like you're able to summon Katsuyu from the Shikkotsu Forest. But he's more like the Shinigami than he's like us now though."
Tsunade frowned as she took in her words. So, he was brought here by her like some sort of summoning creature. But how was that even possible? Was he the product of some sort of kinjutsu like the one the Second Hokage had created? If that was the case, then that only brought about more questions.
"How is this even possible, Fumiyo?" she asked next as she closely watched her cousin's expression. "He died over twenty years ago in the Hidden Eddy. You know that better than anyone else."
Fumiyo's sharp purple eyes settled on her and a flash of pain quickly crossed her face before clearing. "I completed one of the clan's forbidden sealing techniques after watching everyone around me die that day," she bluntly said and Tsunade felt like she'd just had a bucket of ice water thrown over her head. She hadn't expected that.
Her gaze shifted up to look at Haruka again and felt her heart sink to her stomach. "How many more?" she whispered, her mouth suddenly dry. "How many more did you seal away, Fumiyo?"
A dark shadow came down over her violet eyes. "Dozens, including him," she answered, voice flat and devoid of emotion. "My mother, my brother, his wife, and my grandfather just to name a few."
She looked to Haruka and he merely nodded, expression hard. "It's true. Fumiyo-chan did indeed seal us away. She took the pieces of our fading chakra and sealed them into the masks we'd been wearing for the Rinne Festival as a tether to call us back."
A shiver ran down her spine at how detached they sounded. This was all new to her, but to them it happened years and years ago and was old news now. She couldn't imagine what it had been like for Fumiyo or any of her clansmen. Just thinking about it made her heart hurt.
"And Grandmother—did she know about this?"
Fumiyo nodded as she folded her hands in the long sleeves of her robe. "Mito-shishō was the only one I had ever told until Naruto. I never even told Kushina, but only because Jin and Uka asked me not to. It's been a secret I've kept to myself all these years."
"A decision I still wholeheartedly agree with," Haruka muttered under his breath.
She pointedly ignored him and carried on as if he hadn't spoken. "But now that it's only me and Naruto, I've decided to disclose the clan's continued existence to the world so he can have everything his mother didn't." A thin smile curved at her mouth. "So, don't be surprised if you see them running around the village in the future, Tsunade."
"Especially him."
Tsunade turned to look in the direction Haruka pointed and nearly swung at the person standing over her shoulder but held back at the last second. "Who are you?" she demanded. She quickly looked him over but didn't recognize the man. He had the same horns and claws as Haruka, but he seemed more…feral.
He has the same eyes as Fumiyo, she noticed.
"Papa!" she exclaimed, dropping her hands down to rest on her hips with a roll of her eyes and a sigh of exasperation. "Why do you still have that thing? I thought Mother told you to get rid of it."
Tsunade stared at the newcomer. It took a moment, but she remembered where she'd seen the man before. They had just been made chūnin—her, Fumiyo, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru—and had been sent out of the village as a four-man squad on an escort mission. The mission had gone smoothly with them getting the trade merchant safely to his destination, but they had gotten ambushed on the way back by a group of bandits. Tsunade couldn't remember much about the actual fight or how they'd gotten away, but one thing had always stuck with her.
It was the image of a man with long, wild black hair, his overall appearance more demon than human with glowing purple eyes, running at Fumiyo's back like a second shadow with a clawed hand curled around the hilt of his sword.
"But Jin-kun went through the trouble of having it made for me, Miyo-tan," he pouted as he swung the spiked iron club up to rest on his shoulder. "You know how your brother is—he rarely gives presents."
Fumiyo frowned at him. "It just makes you look like an ogre!"
Realization dawned on Tsunade and she looked between them with wide eyes. "He's your father," she softly gasped.
They stopped their bickering and Fumiyo's father grinned at her, showing off a mouthful of sharp fangs. "That's right! I'm Fumiyo's dear papa," he proudly said as he moved to stand beside his daughter. "It's nice to finally meet you, Princess Tsunade. Properly, I mean."
"You're Shirasu, Uzushio's Black Reaper."
He nodded, humor shining in his bright purple eyes. "Indeed I am."
Tsunade felt faint. She needed another drink, maybe even an entire bottle. This wasn't something she had expected to be told. Ever. It was so bizarre that she never would have thought to have it thrown in her lap like this.
Who would have thought she would meet a man who had died when she was a kid?
"What are you doing here, Shirasu?" Haruka asked, crossing his arms with a slanted glare directed at the other man. "No one asked you to join us."
Shirasu threw back his head and laughed. "Like I can't come see my daughter. You never change, Haru," he chuckled. "Easy to provoke and make snap. It's no wonder people called you Mikoto's mad dog on a leash." He sidestepped Haruka's chakra enhanced fist with another playful laugh, spinning out of his reach. A dark shadow came down over Fumiyo's purple eyes as she grabbed her uncle's wrist and twisted. She glowered at him for a solid ten seconds and to Tsunade's surprise, he conceded without a fight, immediately stepping back without a fuss.
Tsunade clapped her hands together, drawing their attention again. She crossed her arms as she looked between them, mind racing as she forced herself to fall back into the role of Hokage. "Who else knows besides us and Naruto?"
Haruka snorted. "Who doesn't know?" he retorted sarcastically. "Fumiyo-chan and I just came from a nice leisurely stroll through the busiest part of the village." Her heart sunk in her chest, but she couldn't fault them considering all the secrets she and Naruto had to suffer.
As if to punctuate his words, Sakura emerged from the back of the library. "Lady Tsunade, do you know of any ninjutsu good for long-term patient care?" she asked as she approached them, nose buried in a thick medical textbook depicting a set of herbs on its cover. "I can't seem to find anything…" She trailed off as she came to a stop beside Tsunade, finally noticing the others in the room with them.
Shirasu readily grinned and waved at Sakura. "Hiya, Sakura."
Her disciple politely bowed her head in greeting. "Hello, Lord Shirasu. It's nice to see you again."
He waved his hand dismissively. "I told you kids before—none of that lord stuff. Get enough of that back home on the Far Shore."
Tsunade sharply looked at Sakura. "You've met him before, Sakura?" she asked, startled.
"Naruto introduced him to us almost immediately after he met," she readily told her with a smile, clutching the textbook tight to her chest. "Lord Shirasu's almost always at Lady Fumiyo's house when I go visit Sasuke."
Tsunade looked between the four people standing in front of her. Unbelievable. She couldn't believe any of this. This wasn't how she'd thought her day was going to go today. It was just supposed to be a day off from all the bullshit, but now everything was turned upside down. Almost nothing was going the way she had expected it to when she'd gotten up that morning.
"I need a drink, damn it." She snatched up the sake off the table and took a swig straight from the bottle.
