A/N It has been a while :P

I don't really know what I'm doing with this anymore. Just writing when the urge strikes I suppose. But that leaves for irregular and slow updates and I'll apologise for that for any people following this fic.

~Chapter 8 – AT WALKING PACE

"Gahk-!" Iruka flailed, hands flying to his face despite the face the sand had already made it to his eyes, and then as he dropped his guard he was similarly dropped to the ground in one smooth motion. "That's dirty Anko!"

"Hmph," The older girl huffed at his whining, not at all apologetic, "Ninja don't fight fair, loser." Despite her name calling her words didn't carry their usual bite, and a hand was lowered to help him up.

"Still…" He tried blinking out the remaining irritants in his now watery eyes, looking all the more pitiful.

"Well, Anko has a point," Miyu approached from the side, holding out a water bottle for him to use, "But I don't think your wrong to want to fight fairly… just don't get yourself killed over it." Quietly he thanked her, some of the tension rolling off his shoulders as he rinsed the grit from his eyes. These days Miyu had come to appreciate their company, both alone and together. Anko's thorny care, Iruka's naïve kindness, and the stubborn bickering that followed so closely behind the two.

"So, you brats have your graduation coming up?" Anko questioned, idly rolling the kinks out of her wrist.

"Yeah, at the end of the month." Despite their complaints Anko was still calling them 'brats', even though they were only a couple years apart. The both of them, Iruka especially, had quickly realized that trying to change it was a wasted effort. "We'll pass it easy, right Miyu-chan?"

"En." Studying together, training together, the two would easily top their other peers at this rate if they hadn't already. That being said, the curriculum in her time had been far too lax, softened by the absence of war.

"Do you have any other plans for the rest of the day, Miyu?" Anko asked, about as tentatively as her personality would allow, "I was wondering if you'd like to go Dangoya?" Despite it being newly established, she already had a substantial love for the snack store.

"Ah, sorry Anko, I promised Fugaku-san I'd return early today." The purple haired girl nodded in resignation. She understood that once Miyu had settled into her new home there would be less time for them to meet, since the Sharingan required rigorous training lest it fall into enemy hands. After starting the Academy she was amazed the girl had any free time at all and was willing to share some of that time, that Namikaze didn't snatch away, with her. So yes, Anko being the mature girl she was, understood. That didn't mean though, that she wouldn't grab the loser when the other girl left, so she at least had some company at her favoured store.

"Am I even necessary?" Contrary to popular belief, it wasn't Fugaku that dictated her clan training, though he did pop in every once in a while to check. Instead it was the newly returned Uchiha Shisui, who had no idea what he was supposed to do as a teacher especially when his supposed student was far beyond the expected level.

"Of course Shisui-san." Miyu replied with a grin, the three tomoe of a matured Sharingan swirling in each of her young eyes. She excelled, regardless if it was wiser to keep her abilities hidden, mainly because she wasn't going to waste time acting like she couldn't, especially in front of another Sharingan user. "So what's next? Sparring?" Eagerly she began to stretch out her limbs, with an enthusiasm she seemed to have plucked out of nowhere.

"Nah not today," Sparing with her was a lose-lose situation, because he not only feel guilty about beating her into the ground, but also due to the stink-eye his favourite little cousin would give him for the following days.

"Ehh…" Her partner, if he was here, would have called her out for whining, but currently the fox had more important matters to tend to. "Today is definitely the day though." rather than be put out that she couldn't best him in spars, she was happy that there was still more for her to learn.

"Can't have you too busted up before you go see Kushina." She would have his head.

"Ah." The girl frowned ever so slightly as the woman came to mind. Recently Kushina had been weirding her out, with her strange knowing smiles and attempts to instigate more girl talk after their lessons. Miyu found the first instance to be bad enough and had hoped her meagre answers would be enough to placate the woman. If anything, it had made her worse.

"I hear she's found herself a protégé," He commented with a smile, "Told me that you might be related to her and not Namikaze with how quickly you've been picking up fuijutsu."

"I really doubt the intricacies of seals is inherited through blood," She tells him wryly, "I'm just one of the few who's bothered to put the effort in." Shisui nods. He can concede to that because the rumour of Ushio-nin carrying fuinjutsu in their blood was only that, a rumour.

"Well then, how would you feel about sparing some of that effort to learn kenjutsu?" Strictly he was supposed to be teaching her how to wield the Sharingan, and only that, but seeing the way her face lit up at the mention of swords he couldn't bring himself to care about the time he had just promised away.

Miyu and Iruka manage to graduate at the top of their class, and as teams are selected through likeness, and not some haphazard attempt to balance the best student with the worse, they find themselves teammates. There's no third member, and Miyu vaguely remembers her Iruka telling her about a faceless teammate who had left him in the dust, gone on to become a jounin, and then died in an unassuming way somewhere in the line of duty. She looks around the class and wonders exactly who it was she taken the spot by Iruka's side, or rather who they had both replaced as the top team coming out of the Academy.

When their sensei arrives he is one of the first few, and it ends her idle thoughts. The man is a Hyuga with long brown hair and a headband over his forehead that indicates he is probably from the branch family. He's awfully familiar to her, but before she can debate further on his identity, he introduces himself as Hyuga Hizashi. Not Hiashi who had been the clan head and Hinata's father, but Hizashi the ill-fated twin who had sacrificed himself to protect his clan and snuff out the final flames of the third war. He was to be, would soon be, Neji's father, and she would be damned if she let him die like that again.

"Usually there would be another test before you would be allowed to call yourself genin, but I've been assured by several others that such a thing is unnecessary," He announced, straight-laced and straight-faced, "That being said, I'll be treating this first week as a trial. If at any point I deem either of you unfit or unprepared for duty, Team 1 will be immediately disbanded. Do we have an understanding?"

"Hai Sensei!" They raised their hands in matching salutes, and though sloppy, it worked in earning some of his approval.

"Good. Now can you tell me a bit about yourselves? Strengths and weaknesses would be helpful." Iruka sent her a glance and was the first between them too speak up.

"Umino Iruka. Both my parents are registered jounin and taught me some sensor skills. Other than that, my taijutsu is decent though I don't know many ninjutsu or any genjutsu."

"Uchiha Miyu," She began, searching his expression for any disdain towards her clan, "I specialise in ninjutsu and I'm currently being taught some fuinjutsu by Uzumaki Kushina. My weakness is taijutsu and as for genjutsu… well if it weren't for my eyes I wouldn't be able to perform any of it."

"I'll be able to help with taijutsu and ninjutsu easily enough, but if either of you are looking for advice in one of your more specialised fields I suggest you look towards some more outside sources. For now though," He raised his hand, bringing his fingers into a beckoning motion, "I'd like to spar against my student hopefuls."

His partner had never been the brains over brawns type, and had an odd tendency to befriend any enemy she punched at hard enough or simply for long enough. That being said, she had been close friends with a Nara and once assuming the Hokage office, had taken the time to review the annals of history. It was with that knowledge, and whatever else they had pieced together in their combined lifetimes, that they decided what needed to change, as if to pry away the lynchpins of Madara's plans. Whilst the war dragged on there was little they could do in places like Iwa or Kumo, so instead they set their sights elsewhere, to a more remote and less invested nation.

"You're back." The voice was dry and completely unamused, though a tinge more curious than hostile. His animosity having been slowly worn down but the presence of a being that did no harm to him, and only stood by to watch.

"Are you going to attack me this time too?" The fox yawned, showing off his impressive rows of teeth before settling his snout back over his paws.

"No," Despite his young outer appearance, the tone of his voice and the way he held himself marked him as an older veteran, "I have questions."

"Then ask them," Kurama replied easily, "Though I cannot promise you will like the answers I have to give."

"I want to know who you are, and what your intentions are, both for me and for my village," From a pocket underneath his green sash he pulled out a scroll that the fox knew held nothing but words, "It says that you want to help my Kirigakure, but what is written here is only our downfall. How is this not a thinly veiled threat? And by what logic would you have me listen to you?"

"I am a demon in the guise of a beast, and I assume you understand what I mean by that," Their existence was known throughout the elemental nations as all powerful beings that could raise villages on a mere whim, "It is in my partner's interest that Kirigakure is to prosper, lest it dwindle and weaken enough to fall into the manipulations of a madman."

"My village will not fall," The young Mizukage showed little expression on his face but his white-knuckled fists were telling enough, "We do not need the outside help of an enemy."

"Pride is, as usual, a common sin of man," The fox sighed but had no intention of moving, finding little threat in his current situation, "Do as you wish then, but I will witness this resolve of yours whether you wish it or not."

"As a spy?" The suspicion was well founded.

"No, as an observer, though I suppose my mere words cannot be trusted," He flicked his tail in disinterest, "Regardless you have the pleasure of me as your guard for this interim. At this point in time we might have the largest interest in keeping you alive, which is a bit sad don't you think Mizukage-sama." The fox drawled out his words in a mocking tone but the village leader had had years to practice keeping his composure.

"And how long is this going to last?" For how long would he have to deal with the whims of a tailed beast. Quietly he considered the pros and cons of attempting to get the fox to submit. Kiri could definitely use another jinchuriki after the last one abandoned it.

"Until this war reaches its conclusion," Kurama replied, "Show me, show us, the might of you and your village."

"I heard that you have a fox as a ninken," Instead of discussing the subtleties of cardinal directions on seal placements, Kushina had brought up something her curious nature would no longer let lie, "Though I have yet to see hide or hair of it yet." Which was odd due to how close her sources said the two were.

"Yang is out scouting what is to be his future territory," She replied vaguely, "He is not as tame as most have assumed, and enjoys the freedom of the forest."

"So you don't fight together?"

"We can, given that were together in a battle. I'll introduce you when he returns." Miyu added with a contemplative look.

"You can't call him back?" The woman queried.

"I can, it's just it will take some time for him to return," Her eyes were activated, catching the minute fluctuations of chakra in the written seal before her, "He'll probably get distracted, maybe he won't want to come back yet, or maybe he'll just feel like making me wait." With a final stroke the energy seemed to settle until it was barely discernible from the inky, black lines.

"Honestly, the Sharingan is a bit of a cheat." Kushina huffed, checking over the now stable seal.

"The Byakugan's probably worse." And that skill had likely gone on to form the Cage Bird Seal the clan was so intimate with. "Ne, will you tell me about the Uzumaki Clan?" The blonde found herself asking whilst on a similar topic.

"What is it you want to know?" Kushina seemed pleasantly surprised and utterly at ease, more than willing to indulge the recluse's interests.

"Anything." Everything.

"Well, the Uzumaki Clan was the most predominant clan of Uzushiogakure. The hidden village nestled in the Land of Whirlpools. Our blood ties us back to the Senju of Konoha, which lead to such close ties between both nations in the first place, but we never picked up any trace of their Mokuton affinity or any other sort of Kekkei Genkai." She fiddled with the ends of her vibrant red hair, one of the traits that had been passed along, "What we lack in blood though, we made up for with knowledge. Fuinjutsu just happened to be the forte of our majority, and was easily incorporated into our everything. I came to Konoha when I was pretty young, and do you know how surprised I was that the Academy had nothing on seals?" Her expression fell a bit, becoming something slightly more sombre, "I've been meaning to go back to see if I could find anything left in the ruins but…" Besides what would have obviously been raided already, she didn't think she would ever be ready to see the ruins of her old home.

"Maybe you should take Minato with you?" He could be both emotional and physical support.

"And have him drool all over any scrolls we do find? Please." She'd consider it.

Miyu chose to wander the streets after her lesson had ended, declining dinner invitations in favour of a solitary walk. Dusk was settling in, the soft glow of windows helping to illuminate the streets as Konoha readied for the night. She could feel the uneasiness as she passed, civilians unable to hold their flinches when she caught their gazes.

"Do you mind cutting that out?" A pair of knees stopped in front of her bench, blocking the view she had been taking in for the last hour or so, "I got a civilian complaint."

"Ah, my bad." She looked up at his blank stare, slowly letting the chakra bleed from her eyes. The forced clarity dropped and the colours seemed to dull from their oversaturated state. The tension in her small shoulders dropped but a hum of pain buzzed persistently behind her temple, likely from information overload.

"What was the point of it?" Was it some sort of Uchiha training method? Could it possibly be of use to him and his own transplanted eye?

"Nothing really, Hatake-san." It amused her the way his brow furrowed in distaste at the way she said his name. His frown deepened, not exactly approving of her vague answer either. "You know how the Sharingan works," She added, "You don't get to forget things it captures, and I thought the village right now, is something I wouldn't want to forget."

"I see." Silently he took a seat besides her, mulling over his own thoughts. Brooding quietly, she could barely see a glimpse of the man he could become.

"How is your eye adjusting?" Miyu wasn't sure if it was meant to be a secret, but at least as an Uchiha there wasn't anything too strange about her knowing.

"Well enough." Physically it had healed well, with no rejection to his lack of Uchiha blood. The downside of courses, was his inability to deactivate it. It was only recently he had become used to the chakra drain, though he had done his best to minimize it by blocking his sight.

"Good." Miyu fiddled with her fingers, soft with the beginning of callouses forming on the tips, how did socialising work again? This Kakashi was a stranger to her, one she didn't know and had no idea how to get to know.

"Do you hate me?" His question was sudden, his gaze now more puzzled than anything else.

"Wha- No not at all?! What gave you that idea?" He raised her brow as if to ask her 'Really?'

"You avoid me every chance you get," The boy began, "And still call me Hatake-san."

"Out of respect-"

"I've heard you call the Hokage, Gramps, to his face," He didn't allow for her interruption, "And when you think I'm not looking you make this weird expression."

"I didn't know you cared so much," Even young Kakashi was a brilliant ninja, and she had been a bit too careless in her wallowing, "I assure you it's not because I hate you."

"Why then?" Why indeed…

"It was love at first sight." She blurts out, lies and truth mingling until they are no longer able to be differentiated. He sits there speechless, grey eyes widening slowly, and she takes the chance to leave, walking very fast in any direction away from him. Miyu doesn't even realise she's been holding her breath until she finds herself gulping for air somewhere in a quiet residential district.

"That's your type then?"

"Gyah!" She hadn't noticed her tail in her haste to get away, and maybe wouldn't have noticed even if she had been paying attention. "What the hell? Don't scare me like that Shisui!"

"Kushina will be psyched to know." A warm hand landed on her head, and she allowed it to remain.

"It's not like that," He hummed disbelievingly, and she could only hope he would keep his gossiping to himself, "What're you doing out here anyway."

"You missed dinner," Shisui answered in explanation, "Mikoto was getting worried so I told her I'd go and find you."

"Consider me found," She felt bad for causing concern and allowed herself to be escorted back, "And how has your day been, Shisui-san?"

"Great. Even better now that I've found my Sunshine again." She rolls her eyes at his flattery but doesn't stop the smile that comes as he starts to chatter.

There's a row of cacti sitting along the sunniest windowsill. They are small, prickly and passed their season for blooming, but they steal her attention more than the colourful array of flowers by the front of shop ever could.

"I was lucky enough to get some seeds in from Suna before the war broke out," The florist tells her, looking more like a simple civilian than the head of T.I. most know him as, "You'll have to take my word for it, but the one on the end there has some of the most vibrant blooms I've ever seen."

"Red ones right?" Though really it was a variety of shades, mimicking a flicker of flame. She remembered this particular cactus, remembered scouring over books with Ino to find the loudest and proudest type, and remembered it sitting honoured on the desk of the fifth Kazekage.

"How did you know?" He asked, genuinely surprised. Mentally she slapped herself, her tongue growing loose without Kurama here to ground her.

"Lucky guess," She picked up the plant carefully, frowning at the boring pot, "Do you have anything in orange?"

"I think I do somewhere in the back." He smiles at how gingerly she handles the plant, carefully bringing it over to him as if she expects it to jump out of hands and crash onto the floor. It only takes him a moment to repot the plant, but in that time, it feels as if he has spent an age turning over thoughts in his mind. Despite the profiling the Sandaime order being long pushed aside, he still wonders about the child Orochimaru brought back from Amegakure.

"How much will that be?" Inoichi rattles off the total and takes the handful of ryo she passes him.

"It only needs to be watered once a week." He tells her as she's about to leave. It seemed Shisui had been waiting for her outside, the accomplished jounin raising a hand in greeting as he caught his sight. His expression is brighter and happier than it has been for a long time, and Inoichi is relieved to see it. There's something more though, lingering in the soft gaze he has for his new clan member, but this time Inoichi pushes it aside and tries not to analyse it too deeply. Really, its none of his business.

A/N Thanks for reading