Chapter 22: And So Came the Winds of Change: Tobirama did his best to help Hidan and he was able to find a way to free him from his curse. Life continued; missions were completed, days were lived, and schemes were hatched. But if there was one thing Genma could say after his meeting with Itachi... It was that these kids were around to stay... If he was lucky, it would be like that forever.

..~..~..

Hidan did not integrate easily into Konoha life.

First of all, he was under constant surveillance. Not only from Tobirama and Genma, who played the paper of his main caretakers and always one could be found with the teen. But also from the Hyuga Clan, who distrusted of a man they had heard to have killed thousands in his short life. And ANBU had an around the clock rotation always following Hidan. It didn't matter who was with him at the moment. There could be no lapse in security when it came to someone as dangerous as the Jashinist.

Then there was the fact that he couldn't get along with anybody. The only person he was able to talk to without having his curse eat up at him was Genma. And no matter how much he tried to remain silent whenever around others, his big mouth always got the best of him.

The only reason Tobirama believed the curse story was because he had seen the seal with his own eyes. If it hadn't been for that, he would have joined every other skeptical villager and questioned the validity of Hidan's 'true' nature.

"I don't want to be a dick..." The teenager sulked in the corner of Genma's room with his knees pulled up into his chest, arms wrapped around them. "Why can't I just stay in here for the rest of my life? That way I won't bother anyone."

With a soft smile making its way onto his face, Genma walked over to Hidan and crouched in front of him. Then he placed his right hand over the kid's own, making him look up at him.

"You didn't mean any of the words you said. I know that. Lord Hiashi knows that. He won't kick you out because you called him a slut. Trust me."

Hiashi had been skeptical at first about Hidan's curse. Just like everyone else, he found it hard to believe that anyone would curse someone to make them constantly swear. He had believed that Hidan was just taking advantage of Genma's kindness and the man wasn't seeing it.

But one night, after yet another of Hidan's explosions at one of the clan members, Genma had insisted the Hyuga Clan Head follow him. And quietly they'd entered Genma's room, where Hidan had been curled up into a ball in the corner. He had been crying and cursing his horrible luck.

"There's no amount of devotion to a role that would make someone cry like that."

After that night, Hiashi had been a lot more understanding and much less receptive to Hidan's insults. He remained passive and permissive most of the time. Even though he still didn't allow either Hanabi or Hinata to meet the teenager, but that was something Genma and the rest of the kids respected.

"But I'm nothing but a nuisance." Hidan hissed, glaring half-heartedly at Genma. "He's got every right in the world to get rid of me."

"He may." Genma shrugged, "But he won't. Hidan, you're here so we can help you. And as a sign of good faith after all of the information you gave us on the organization you were working with. No one is going to leave you out to hang."

The teenager didn't seem too sure of Genma's words. But he also seemed to decide that this conversation wasn't one worth having, because he quickly changed the topic.

"Tobirama says that he thinks he's getting real close to cracking the curse..." The teen huffed, "Which I hope is right 'cause I can't stand many more of these phantom pains that keep appearing."

To be able to understand the true depth of the curse, Tobirama had decided to run quite a few experiments on Hidan. Some had been harmless and were just to see how far his crass nature could go. But some were rather painful, for they tried to find which degrees of niceness were denied and punished. Sadly enough, all degrees of kindness caused Hidan pain. Even the nicest thought hurt him. Nice actions were the worst- he'd been suffering quite a bit over the years.

"If there's anyone that can figure this out, Hidan, it's the Second Hokage." Genma smiled at the teenager in a way he hoped would reassure him, "You've just got to trust him."

With a soft frown, Hidan nodded. Genma could see that, deep in his eyes, there was distrust and disillusionment. But at least he was willing to try and help them help him. And that was much more than Genma would have expected.

They remained in a slightly tense silence for a few minutes after Genma last spoke. Silence which was broken by a fast knock on Genma's door.

Both males looked up to see who it was that was knocking on the man's door at this hour- which, in retrospect, wasn't actually too late, even though it felt as if they'd been awake for hours. Which Genma immediately guessed must have been one of his kids because they opened the door without needing to wait for him to call them inside.

"Yo! Farmer man! Ma and the Kage need you real quick! Somethin' 'bout catching someone from some kind of Suki..." Kiba walked in with a tired groan that reminded the man a lot of Shikamaru and his own exaggerated groans and yawns.

"Suki?" The man repeated, confused for a second before he connected the odd word with a name he'd heard being thrown a lot nowadays. "Ah... I get it..." He murmured to himself, then turned to look down at Hidan.

He didn't want to leave the teenager alone. Tobirama wasn't around, so he shouldn't be left to run around on his own. But if the Hokage had actually sent Kiba to get him and hadn't waited for anybody much better prepared for messaging, it must mean that the situation truly was dire.

"Kiba, stay with Hidan."

The Inuzuka frowned and made to argue with him. But Genma sent him one scathing glare and the kid shut his mouth, crossed his arms, and grumbled about Farmer man abusing of the love he had for him.

Genma suppressed the smile that wanted to worm its way onto his lips.

"I'll be back as soon as possible. Until then, Kiba, behave. Hidan, try your best to behave."

The teenager looked at him with wide, pleading eyes, silently begging him not to leave. And Genma looked back at him apologetically, shrugged softly, then made his way outside of the room he and Hidan shared and began to make his way towards the Hokage's office.

"Well if you weren't such a bastard!"

"I'm not the bastard! You're the fucking prick that won't let me go out and get water!"

"Farmer man doesn't let you leave the room after eight! I know that!"

"He lets me if it's to go and get a fucking glass of water!"

Hinata had grown accustomed to hearing Hidan's shouting. Even though she had never met the male that Farmer man had brought back from his mission in Suna, the young Hyuga felt as if she knew him rather well.

She hoped she didn't really know him. Because she found it hard to believe someone could be so inherently mean.

Her father had asked her and Hanabi to stay away from the teenager. He had explained to them that he was a dangerous man that could try and kill them at a moment's notice. And he would be successful if they didn't have anyone around to protect them.

Hinata was terrified of Hidan.

But... She still snuck her way towards Farmer man's room in the middle of the night to try and catch a glimpse of him. Hanabi sometimes accompanied her too. But tonight she had decided to sleep because she wanted to impress Iruka Sensei in the morning with amazing footwork and she needed to be awake and well slept for that.

Hearing Kiba arguing with Hidan made the young Hyuga cringe. But she allowed herself to peer inside of Farmer man's room through the door she had slowly and quietly opened.

Hidan looked really angry. His eyes were like smoldering embers because of how angered they looked. And, even though his back was turned to her, Hinata could tell that Kiba too was extremely angered.

"I don't have to take this shit!"

Kiba came storming at the door as soon as he said this. Hinata immediately squeaked and faltered as she tried to scurry away from the door to not be found.

Gracelessly, she jumped into the adjoining hallway to her right, one which led towards her one room, and hid behind the corner. Kiba passed her by without even noticing her, much too busy fuming in his anger to smell the very familiar scent that was near him.

Hinata's hammering heart hurt inside of her chest. She was so terrified of being found out doing something she wasn't supposed to do that she actually thought that her heart would pound its way out of her chest and onto the floor.

Luckily for her, after minutes of deep breathing and reminding herself that her father was in a meeting with the Clan Elders, so she was in no threat of being found by him, her heart slowed into a fast, yet not harsh, pace.

It was when she was finally able to relax that she heard the sobbing.

In another universe, Hinata was sure that she had not grown up with her friends. She was pretty sure that, if other lives were real, then she would be painfully shy and would never dare even speak up. Because even with the friends she had now, it was hard to force herself to put her thoughts into words. It must be a thousand times more difficult without the friends that had given her the strength she had needed to force her to use her voice.

So, in another universe, Hinata was sure she would never have dared find out just why she had heard sobbing.

But because this was her life and she had grown up with her friends, Hinata decided to indulge her curious side.

They wanted to send a group to capture Itachi.

Itachi Uchiha was now a notorious criminal that worked for the organization that Hidan had worked for.

Itachi had been the one to give Hidan up.

Itachi was still alive.

Genma was sure that he shouldn't be too happy over hearing about the Uchiha when he knew that he was a dangerous criminal that had hurt many and would hurt many more if he wasn't stopped. This was a teenager that had; apparently; caused the death of many high standing figures in other villages and had caused turmoil and friction because of this.

Tobirama hypothesized that the goals of this unknown group- which they only knew was named Akatsuki and had been composed of ten capable and dangerous S-Ranked shinobi- was most probably to cause civil unrest in the beginning stages. Most probably, this kind of unrest will lead to some nasty master plan, as was the trend when it came to meticulously crafted plans like these. There would be a nasty end-game. But just what that was supposed to be, none of the people called to the Hokage's office had known.

Even though he would never admit to it out loud, Genma was happy to hear that Itachi was still alive. Because if Itachi was still alive, then he would be able to talk to him and ask him why he had done what he had done. If he was still alive, then Genma might be able to make him see just how much he had affected his younger brother, how much he'd hurt them all. And if he knew Itachi, which he did, the kid would feel something. He knew it.

His friends were right… His heart really was too big…

With a soft sigh, Genma softly pushed the door into the room he called his own within the Hyuga compound. And he stepped in after he had toed off his sandals, more than prepared to have one final conversation with Hidan to reassure him that had done nothing wrong, then fall into his bed and go to sleep.

The sight before him made him freeze up in the doorway, though.

"No, really, i-it's beautiful."

Hinata didn't stutter too much. Normally, when she stuttered now, it was because she was overexcited or not completely comfortable with a person.

This stutter came from pure happiness. Genma knew it.

"Are you sure? I mean… yours is so much nicer…"

Hidan was not a person Genma would have thought he would ever find making a bouquet of flowers. But there he was, sat down on the floor in front of their beds with Hinata beside him, flowers in bunches between both of them.

"It's because I've been making them f-for a very long time." Hinata smiled kindly as she patted the older male's hand, then turned back to her work and picked up a flower crown.

That particular skill had been learned from Ino.

"Your crown." She smiled, offering it to Hidan.

Genma couldn't believe what he was seeing. He could not understand just what it was that he was seeing. All he knew with complete certainty was that the scene he was witnessing was so adorable it could compete against some of his fondest memories with the kids.

Even though Hidan was being nice, Genma didn't expect him to put the flower crown on. He may be a nice enough kid, but he didn't seem like the kind that would allow someone to put a flower crown on-

Blinking in complete stupefaction, Genma found himself watching as Hidan bowed his head towards Hinata, murmuring to her to put the crown on his head. And then he watched as Hinata's smile grew so bright it could have lit up a whole room, only for her to put the crown she had made on the teenager's head.

"Are you sure you want the one I made?"

"Mm-hmm." Hinata nodded eagerly, quickly bowing her own head for Hidan to mimic her.

The flower crown Hidan lifted up was crude and had more than a few crushed flowers. And he raised it shakily, as if he really didn't want the younger girl to wear it. But as soon as he had placed it on her head, Hinata pulled it down a bit more so it was stable, then lifted her head up with that wonderfully beautiful smile that would make even the stoniest of hearts melt.

"I love it!"

"A-Are you sure? I could try and make a different one… here, maybe I can make a better one."

Without noticing Genma's presence, both kids began to work on a brand new flower crown on Hidan's insistence.

As they worked, Genma stepped out as quietly as he had come in. And he closed the door behind him, a stupid little smile on his face.

Hidan had found someone else that was able to beat out his curse.

(After an hour or two had passed, he had drank a cup of tea with Lord Hiashi and had helped read a much too awake Hanabi to sleep, Genma returned to his room. As quiet as a cat stalking its prey, he entered the room, hoping that the two that had previously been inside were still within.

Hinata and Hidan had fallen asleep against the foot of Genma's bed. The flower crown on Hinata's head had been replaced with a much nicer looking one, but in her hands, Genma could see the first one Hidan had made. And Hidan wore three flowers crowns upon his head, along with a necklace and the bouquets in his hands.

Genma had not been able to suppress the urge to take a picture of them. So now he was the sole owner of one of the few moments that he was the only person to have been able to witness. And he kept that picture close to his heart, for it reminded him that there was good within Hidan, just like within all of his kids.)

When he had heard about Haku and Naruto accompanying the one man Shiranui despised with all of his heart, Zabuza's punishment had been swift. They'd learned their lesson. They had said they had learned it from before; that they had apologized to Genma after some of the man's other friends had talked to them about it… But he had not cared.

Taking a page from that blundering oaf, Might Guy, Zabuza had forced the two idiots to run fifty laps around Konoha on their hands. But that hadn't been enough of a punishment. Even as weak as he was, he'd managed to create two water clones that had followed them both during the whole punishment to frighten them whenever they began to slow down.

The woman that had healed him, one of the Legendary Sannin, had then almost kicked his ass for exhausting his virtually nonexistent chakra reserves. But it had been worth it to make sure both those brats understood that if there was one person they were not allowed to disrespect, it was Shiranui.

Zabuza did not trust easily. Nor did he make friends. The only person he'd ever allowed into his heart ever since he'd renounced his Village had been Haku. After that, he'd only tolerated supposed allies to keep Haku happy. Even Baki had been more of an acquaintance than a friend until recently.

He wasn't an emotional man. Nor was he a praying man. But when he took that sword for the Hokage, he found himself praying that someone would find enough compassion inside of themselves to help him. Even with how despicable and violent he had been throughout his life, he had not wanted it to end yet. Not without seeing Haku grow into the competent and powerful shinobi he knew the boy could be. He wanted to see that boy become a man. He needed to see it. He needed to know that his momentary lapses in judgment throughout their time together had wound up being worth it.

While stuck inside of that damned coma, he'd been able to contemplate a lot. He had thought about his violent childhood, murderous teenage years, and subsequent extremely weird adult years. Dare he say it? Living with Shiranui had been almost domestic. And even though he would never admit it out loud, that had been a welcomed change.

Haku running around with those brats, smiling brightly and unabashedly, would always bring warmth to his stony heart.

Trapped inside of his mind, Zabuza had found that his only true regret in life had been dying. Because there were still so many things he wanted to see with his own eyes.

Luckily enough, those kids had broken Genma's heart and gone to get Jiraiya. Tsunade had saved his life; he didn't take that away from them. But that didn't meant he would applaud them for daring to go through such a stupid plan that wound up hurting Shiranui more than anything.

His recovery from the wound had been rather easy. But he guessed that was simply because Tsunade and her helper both worked as efficiently as possible to repair all of the damage done to him as a sort of payback for how he had protected her old teacher. After they'd finished with her, he'd been tossed to the Hyuga, just like Shiranui and his brats.

Having a new brat under the Hyuga's roof was somewhat weird for Zabuza (he'd heard about Shiranui's knack for strays, but he'd never been there to see someone aside from himself and Haku being forced under his wing). Especially because the kid looked familiar.

He wasn't sure just why that foul mouthed bastard looked familiar, but he didn't try and figure it out either. If he knew the kid, it was most probably from his violent past. And those memories were best if they stayed forgotten; he didn't want to start worrying over Haku or the rest of the brat's safety whenever the silver haired teenager was around… Well, he didn't want to worry any more than he already did.

Shiranui's heart was too damn big…

Zabuza sighed softly as he came to this conclusion, then glanced over at Haku. Across the dining room table, the boy was talking amicably with Hinata while Naruto and Sasuke 'secretly' elbowed each other beneath the table.

If they thought they were being discreet, Hatake needed to teach them some actual stealth.

With a growl and a glare in their direction, Zabuza effectively stopped that nonsense.

After a couple of minutes of eating in an easy enough silence, Shiranui finally made his appearance. Behind him was his newest shadow, eyes turned down to the floor to not have to look at anyone at the table.

There was something off about the kid. But Shiranui liked him. So Zabuza would tolerate him… as long as he didn't put Haku's life in danger.

"Lord Hiashi." Genma bowed respectfully, then walked over to the vacant spot beside the Head of the Hyuga Clan.

Hidan quickly moved after him and took up the chair beside him.

"I think that it would be a good idea if Hidan and Hinata were allowed to socialize."

Zabuza had heard about the kid's supposed curse; that he was only nice and his 'true self' whenever he was around people that cared. And if there was someone with them that 'didn't care' then he'd be a jerk.

Zabuza didn't buy the bullshit. But Shiranui- the damned soft heart- did. And so did the Konoha bleeding heart, the Second Hokage. So maybe there was some truth behind it.

That didn't mean Zabuza would believe it. It just meant he might be wrong.

The Head Hyuga's eyebrows rose up immediately, apparently scandalized at the very idea of his oldest daughter spending time with the degenerate.

Zabuza could understand this.

"Please, you've got to trust me. I've seen them both together…" Genma murmured softly, keeping his voice quiet so he wouldn't be overheard by his mongrels.

Zabuza looked over at them to see if they were even marginally paying attention and trying to eavesdrop on the adults. He merely found them playing with their food and giggling like idiots.

… And this was supposed to be Konoha's future defense…

Tuning back into the conversation, even though he kept his eyes on his food, Zabuza then heard Genma say, "Just look at this… I took this picture after they spent some time together- don't glare at me like that, I trust Hidan. Besides, look at that… No cruel man, no matter how good an actor, would ever allow Hinata to put flower crowns on him."

Flower crowns?

Zabuza wanted to see that picture.

"I do not want the Hyuga Clan Heiress to be exposed to such-"

"Come on, Lord Hiashi. When have I ever been wrong about trusting someone?" Genma cut in.

Quickly enough, Zabuza felt eyes burning holes into his head. And immediately he knew that both men had begun to look at him, as if he were the perfect example about Shiranui's great history in trust.

He was annoyed at being looked at like some kind of specimen… But he'd damned himself into being the person to look at whenever Shiranui's instincts were put into doubt. He'd almost lost his life trying to save their Hokage. Unfortunately, he could be trusted by the Leaf.

After a couple of seconds of being stared at, Zabuza heard, "Alright… I will allow it… But only if you are around to make sure nothing goes wrong."

"Of course Lord Hiashi." Zabuza could just imagine the insufferable smile that must have been on Shiranui's face at that point. "Thank you."

This man was a fool.

Why had he allowed himself to accept the deal to enter Konoha with him?

Tuning back into the conversations of the children in the table, he found Haku laughing softly as Hinata giggled. So he looked over to find them both with their eyes closed, clearly enjoying their time together.

Right… That's why he took the deal…

Genma had been right to ask Hiashi to allow Hidan to spend time with Hinata. Now that they spent time together and Hidan knew that there was someone else that cared for him, Genma could see a great friendship growing between the two unlikely people.

Hidan was kind and took to Hinata as if he was a dehydrated man and she was water. And Hinata latched onto him like the older sister she had been trained to be after years of helping raise countless rogues.

"The seal is getting weaker."

Genma was surprised to find the Second Hokage inside of his room. But, at the same time, he wasn't.

All ninja had (unfortunately) a predisposition for theatrics and shocking entrances. Tobirama Senju, although he insisted as to being a completely serious and mission driven man, was not exempt from this predisposition.

"What do you mean?" Genma asked, only for the Second Hokage to turn around and look at him.

"Hidan's seal; it's getting weaker." His face was serious, his red eyes narrowed in on him. "I'm not quite sure just how it works… But I believe it is because of Hinata."

Then senbon enthusiast quirked an eyebrow at what the man had said and crossed his arms over his chest, "Wanna sit down and explain to me just what in the world you're going on about?"

Normally, he would have been much less snippy with the likes of the Second Hokage. But he was tired, stressed out, and so not in the mood for the other's theatrics.

Itachi was out there somewhere, alone and in an unbelievable amount of danger. And all because of something that he had not wanted to do.

If Genma had given him different advice… If he'd told the kid that orders could and should have been ignored if they were too despicable to go through with… Would Itachi still be here with them? Would he have been able to see his brother grow up by his side, rather than far away and resentful?

There would always be questions that ate at him because of their lack of an answer. Unfortunately, until he spoke with Itachi, he would not be able to answer this question.

(Another question that ate at him was just what in the world was he ordered to do for the Uchiha Clan to be murdered in a single night? But he was terrified of finding out the answer to that one. So he refused to think on it for too long unless he wanted to lose whatever semblance of hope he had in his life.)

Tobirama looked at him through narrowed eyes for a second. He seemed to be contemplating something about him. But just what that something was, Genma didn't even try to ponder about.

Eventually the man nodded and they made their way towards the balcony that rested outside of Genma's rooms, where there was a small tea table along with a couple of cushions.

Sometimes Genma would drink tea with Hiashi in his room. At other times, they would instead come here so Hiashi could be treated to the solitude that came from having a quiet house on one side of his senses and a peaceful forest on the other. Even though some might have felt insulted over having been accommodated in rooms at the very back of the Hyuga Compound, where all that could be seen was the thick forestry Konoha was renowned for, Genma was grateful for it. It was much easier to calm down when he was looking at peaceful green rather than people bustling around in their lives.

Once they were seated comfortably, Genma quirked an eyebrow over at Tobirama. And the Hokage merely closed his eyes and crossed his arms before he began to explain himself.

"A seal's strength is usually able to be found in the intensity of its coloring and the steadiness of its lines. The bolder the color, the more potent it is- usually." The Second Hokage now opened his eyes to look at Genma with a steady gaze, "Hidan's own seal, if you remember correctly, was colored rather brightly when you first brought him to me."

Genma nodded softly, the memory of the seal on the base of the kid's neck still fresh in his mind. He had never seen anything like it before in his life- it was only natural for him to remember it so vividly.

"Even as bright as the colors were, its lines were somewhat faded. I merely attributed that to its age- sometimes lines aren't the most important part of a seal. Especially in one like this, seeing how the colors were so solid." Tobirama continued speaking, the frown on his lips deepening as he brought his right hand up to clutch at his chin. "The fading was not taken into account because I assumed that the seal's strength came from the colors. But I was wrong."

Hearing Tobirama admit to being wrong must have been something completely unbelievable to those that knew him. Truth be told, Genma found himself kind of taken aback by the admission. This was the Second Hokage- a man known for his intelligence and prowess in the field. It wasn't all that farfetched to think that he never wanted to be wrong.

"Has there been anything new that happened to him? Anything that you have not told me about?"

Genma sucked at the senbon between his teeth, bit it twice, and finally remembered.

"Hinata and Hanabi have met him. Around them, he can be himself."

When Hinata had found out that Genma knew about her friendship with Hidan, she had freaked out and tried to take a page out of the rest of her friend's books and had tried to run away and escape into the Forest of Death. Luckily he had been able to catch up with her before she had done lost herself in the giant maze that was that evil place. And he had been able to explain to her that he wasn't angry. If anything, he had been happy that Hinata had managed to form a friendship with Hidan. It gave the teen even more hope.

Hanabi was not supposed to have been part of that friendship. Hiashi had given permission for his eldest daughter to befriend Hidan, but that was simply because Genma was to be with them at all times.

The one time he had been forced to leave on a last minute mission in which he was supposed to act as backup in the capture of Itachi… Well, that also happened to be the one time Hanabi snuck out of her room and went to find out where her older sister sometimes spent her nights.

Hiashi had been livid. Hanabi and Hinata, though, had been unrepentant. And they now considered Hidan to be a great friend- even though they were not able to be around him when there were other people other than Genma as well.

"Uh… Yeah…" The senbon enthusiast admitted, wincing slightly, "I meant to tell you, but time got away from me and I never got around to telling you…"

Tobirama quirked one stark white eyebrow but remained silent.

Genma answered with a soft smile playing on his lips, "Hinata and Hanabi both met Hidan. Around them, he can be himself; he doesn't curse or anything whenever it's just them around. So I asked Lord Hiashi's permission for them to form a friendship with them."

He was twisting reality just a tiny bit, he was aware. But he couldn't be blamed. It sounded so much nicer than 'Hinata snuck into my room one night and made flower crowns with Hidan. I got permission from her father for them to hang out together, but not for Hanabi… Then one night snuck into my room too'.

Silence hung over them for a couple of heavy seconds. Then Tobirama cleared his throat and nodded tersely, "That might explain it. I'll have to run one more test to see if my hypothesis is correct, but…" Now he looked up at Genma with eyes narrowed in determination, "Do you know of anyone else that might be able to care for Hidan?"

Genma blinked in stupefaction for a moment.

Then he sighed.

Most of the people Genma knew had already met Hidan. And most believed that his story was a load of bull shit. The only reason they actually put up with Hidan was out of respect for him.

Who were the nicest people he knew?

Ibiki didn't believe Hidan's story, even though he had not met the kid… Inoichi and Ino had already met Hidan and wanted to be nowhere near him… Izumo didn't want to meet the kid out of fear of what he might hear… Hana was always busy at the clinic… And Hashirama was… Nothing. He had no argument against trying Hashirama.

Surprised at his own train of thought, Genma looked at the Second Hokage with wide eyes. "Your brother."

Tobirama immediately began to glare.

Genma winced, prepared to receive a tongue lashing from Tobirama for ever even having thought that his brother would want to participate in such silly nonsense as this.

But then the white haired man sighed and nodded stiffly.

"My brother would be foolish enough to care for someone like this. Let us set up a meeting."

Quite frankly, if it hadn't been for Ebisu and Genma, Kakashi knew his team would have been one of the biggest laughing stocks of The Chunin Exams.

Why the Hokage had thought it would be a good idea to assign him of all people a team was beyond him… Maybe the man was insane… that sounded like a plausible explanation.

The three kids he was tasked with teaching were strong and competent in their own rights. He, on the other hand, was a floundering idiot that had no idea how to keep a plant alive, much less three little, flesh-and-blood, danger magnets.

"Joint training?" Asuma asked, not trying to suppress the shock he felt upon being invited by the Copy-Nin to host both of their team's training. "Are you feeling alright Kakashi?"

Of course he felt fine!

… Not really… But he was fine physically. It was the emotional bit that was giving him some trouble.

"I think it'd be good for our teams to run this course together. My team has coordination of attacks, but your team has coordination of just about everything else. They could learn something from one another."

Asuma looked down at him as if he didn't fully buy into his story. But he soon shrugged and agreed.

Sasuke and Naruto were too strong. With each passing day, they became ever closer to becoming too strong to believe they had to listen to anybody else.

If someone like Sakura had the ability those two had, Kakashi wouldn't have to worry. She was smart enough to understand that strength wasn't the only thing someone needed in this world to survive. She knew that intelligence trumped out pure brute strength on any given day. But Naruto and Sasuke… Well… They were idiots, to put it simply.

He had been an idiot too. He sometimes still was. So he believed he knew what it took to be an idiot. And those two, in his book, were idiots.

Besides, keeping the kids busy when they weren't on missions was good. That way they would be too tired to bother Genma whenever they went back home.

(Kakashi would never admit it, but he was worried about his friend. He'd always been worried- the guy had always had a bad habit of ignoring his own health to make sure that everyone else was fine.

So, seeing how he was currently dealing with helping out a kid whose story nobody believed, while still going out on missions, and trying to help wherever he could on the plans to capture Itachi Uchiha… Well… The guy was running himself ragged. Again.

So, yeah, if he could help the idiot Shiranui out by draining two of his kids' energy before they went back to him, then he would do everything in his power to tire them out.)

Tenten had always known that Hashirama was a weirdo. Just like she had also known that Farmer man had too big a heart, Hinata was so sweet she could rot teeth, and Kiba was so annoying he didn't go one day without getting his head pummeled in by someone tired of his shit.

Because she had known Hashirama was a weirdo, she should not have been surprised by the sight she was met with when she returned to her apartment. But for the love of all things holy in this world, she never would have expected to find the hyperactive Hokage inside of her house, drinking tea with her mother while her father sharpened up some weapons and made off handed comments from his work station on the other side of the apartment.

"Uh… What's going on here?"

"Tenten, you're back!" Hashirama suddenly stood up with a broad smile clear on his lips, much too peppy for Tenten's liking.

Her mission had not been a failure. And, admittedly, she had missed hanging out with her friends. But the courier mission had left her with a bad taste in her mouth after things had gone south and they had been forced to take some actions they had not really been prepared to make.

Nothing bad had happened. They had completed their mission and nobody had gotten hurt… But the reality of what it really meant to be a ninja was still one she had not managed to digest completely.

There wasn't any blood on her hands.

Not anymore.

The memory of the enemy nin's scream as she drove a kunai through his throat was raw in her mind. And it made her frown in disgust at both herself and her enemy.

She glared down at the floor to not have to look at Hashirama's much too happy eyes.

She wanted to avoid everything that was happy right now. It didn't feel right… How in the world could she allow herself to be happy after she had murdered a guy?

"We did it for the mission."

"We did it for the Village."

Tenten frowned heavily as tears began to sting at her eyes. She would never allow them to fall. But they still stung in an annoying fashion.

Being a ninja wasn't as cool as she had once thought it would be.

"Tenten."

Hashirama's warm and heavy hand was suddenly on her shoulder, pulling her from her thoughts and making her look up at the man. His face held a soft look of concern she'd never seen on him before- was Hashirama Senju truly capable of more feelings other than just complete elation and happiness?

"Your father was just telling me about the time you, Ino, and Shino broke into Genma's weapons cabinet and assaulted Kakashi and Raidou. Were you truly such a rambunctious child?"

There was a sort of heaviness in his voice she'd never heard before… It was as if there was some kind of smarter thought to him that was weighing him down…

Tenten pursed her lips as she looked into the large man's eyes, trying to figure out just what he was up to.

This was normal Hashirama behavior, right? Being much too happy and insistent in wanting to find out about her life and that of her friends… But there was something more to what he was doing… Kind of like Farmer man whenever he knew there was something off with them but didn't want them to know… Like when he dealt with Sasuke after the massacre…

Maybe Hashirama Senju was more than just a much too happy dolt with extraordinary powers.

Smiling softly, Tenten pushed the thought of blood red coating her hands and ear piercing screams resonating in her head.

"Yeah. I've always been awesome."

He was off on another mission to capture Itachi.

Like all the others, he had fully expected this one to fail.

Never in a million years would he have thought he'd find himself face to face with the very person that had filled his conscience with regret and shame for the past five years.

"Genma-San?"

He couldn't speak. All he could do was stare at the teenager that had grown up far away from his supervision.

All of the not-teenagers had grown up into fine young men and Hana had always been an exemplary individual… He had known this for a while.

But, for some reason, he had never- seriously, not once had he thought about this- connected the growth of those few with Itachi's own. In his mind, Itachi had never grown up. He could only see him as the frightened thirteen year old that had asked him if he would take care of his younger brother if anything happened to his clan.

Tsume and Shikaku were far away from them. They had been tricked into fighting Kisame, Itachi's partner within the Akatsuki. But Genma had persevered, hoping to find the Uchiha youth before he managed to run off.

They had cut off the partners on their way back to wherever it was that the Akatsuki was based in now after a mission of theirs.

Quite frankly, it was a miracle they had been able to find the two. The other few times they had done this, they had merely found faint traces of their scents for Tsume and Kuromaru to track. The closest they had ever gotten to finding the two before today had been when they had found the corpses of a group of mercenaries they had decimated near the junction between the Land of Fire and Land of Wind.

Now Genma had no idea how alive Shikaku and Tsume were. But he did know that Itachi was right in front of him.

He had been dreaming of this day for so long he couldn't believe it was reality.

"Itachi-"

"I do not want to fight you. But I will if you force my hand."

The other male's tone was harsh and cruel. To anyone else, it might have sounded as if Itachi actually felt like he could back them up. But Genma knew him; so he knew better than to actually trust these words.

"Cut the act." He sighed, crossing his arms over his chest as he jutted his hip out slightly. "I know you, kid. And you don't mean those words."

"You don't know-"

"I said to cut the act." He hissed out suddenly, eyes narrowing.

Itachi's mouth froze up and promptly closed, all the while he took one step back.

Genma loved this kid. He really did. So he wanted to try everything in his power to make him see reason so he could come back to the Village and live the life he had always deserved. He was willing to try everything to bring him back.

"You're not the tough guy you're trying to prove to me." Genma kept his eyes focused directly on Itachi's blood red own. The sharingan was activated, he was aware. But Itachi would never use that against him. He was sure. "But you don't have to prove anything to me." His voice softened and he took one step forward, moving slowly so as not to startle the kid.

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

Itachi didn't move though, frozen in his place. He allowed Genma to move closer, but there was a creeping suspicion in the back of Genma's mind that it wasn't that he allowed it. Instead, he couldn't do anything against his moving up.

"Remember that night you asked me about orders- how you were supposed to decide whether following them was right or not?"

The kid had changed over the years. Genma could still not get over that. He was taller now- so tall, even, that he was sure he was taller than him. His hair was longer as well. His face had changed, losing any faint traces of childish innocence to be replaced by hardened resignation. There were only faint traces of the Itachi he had once known… But they were still there. And he refused to not focus on them.

"You were trying to tell me something what that, weren't you? You were trying to send me a message about what had happened."

Itachi tried to sneer viciously at him. But the look seemed to be more pained than actually angered. And that managed to send a crack straight through Genma's heart.

"You do not know what you are talking about." Itachi hissed at him, his eyes suddenly narrowing with so much anger that Genma suddenly lost his footing.

Could… Could he have been wrong about Itachi? Could, after all of this years, he have been wrong to actually believe in the boy that had slaughtered his whole clan?

No. He couldn't be wrong. Itachi had left Sasuke alive. He had done so out of sympathy. He would never be heartless enough to leave his little brother alive to let him suffer. No matter how much he might try and say otherwise, Genma knew his heart.

"You are wrong. And I am sorry you are still chasing a fool's dream. But know this Genma Shiranui: I committed that massacre because I wanted to."

Itachi's eyes… There was something off with them…

Genma felt like an idiot the moment he noticed why he felt there was something odd.

"Why don't you say that looking me in the eyes?" He challenged, immediately earning a sneer from the Uchiha. "Is it because you're lying?"

Itachi was looking him in the face. But he was looking him in the eyes. The teen thought that by staring at his nose Genma would think that he was being looked at in the eyes. But he was a smart guy. He knew a try at deception when it was used against him.

Aiding in raising dozens of kids had helped him learn quite a few tricks. And Sasuke himself had used this tactic a few times… It seemed that Genma finally knew just where he had adopted the habit from.

"Itachi," Genma called out, only for the Uchiha to take another step back. "Let me help you. I know you're a good kid-"

"What you know doesn't matter." He barked out suddenly and harshly, "All that matters is what I've done. I massacred my whole clan. Then I became a missing-nin. I am now one of Konoha's greatest enemies. Can you not believe that?"

"No. I can't."

"Then I am sorry you are such a fool."

And suddenly, all Genma knew was darkness.

~/~

When he came to, it was to hear the sounds of arguing.

"How could you have let this happen? You allowed him to go after Itachi? By himself?!"

"Don't use that tone on me, Momochi! We were separated. We had a mission. And we were able to accomplish half of it!"

"That doesn't matter because; in case you haven't noticed; Genma is stuck in a hospital room on life support!"

Genma had never heard Zabuza so passionate. And, now that he heard it, he had to admit… It was kind of terrifying.

The fog in his brain was too thick to allow him to truly make sense of what he had managed to hear. All he could truly do was just think about how weird it was that Zabuza had once been his enemy, but now he was one pretty neat ally to have around. He'd taken a hit with a poisoned sword for their Hokage- not his. That meant a lot in Genma's book.

"Missions go south. It's the nature of the beast; you should know this well."

Huh… Shikaku and Tsume… He was sure that there was a reason for them to be arguing with Zabuza… But he wasn't completely sure why.

"The injuries Shiranui sustained were bad, yes… But none of them were terribly life threatening…" Shibi sounded curious, but monotonously so… It was a tone only an Aburame could accomplish, really.

The sudden silence that fell over the arguing adults was thick. So much so that even Genma, in his dazed state, could feel it. "He was found with a kunai inches from his spine. I do not care about life threatening injuries nor do I care about whose fault this may have been. All I want is Itachi Uchiha to answer for his crimes."

Hiashi… Genma had never heard him sounding like this… It was like a restrained storm that was only inches from unleashing its full wrath.

After a couple of seconds, the senbon enthusiast's brain finally caught up with what was being discussed around him. The parents of the children he took care of and Zabuza were all inside of whatever room he was in, and they seemed to be divided.

Tsume, Shikaku, Shibi, and Inoichi all found the state Itachi had left him to be odd. They also believed that the apprehension of Kisame Hoshigaki, the Akatsuki member Tsume and Shikaku had fought, was a pretty good recompense for the injury dealt to him.

Hiashi and Zabuza were livid. Never in his life would he have thought he'd ever say either of those men were truly worried for him. But they were. And they wanted Itachi's head on a pike for what he had done to him. Hashirama, oddly enough, agreed that the Uchiha had gone too far and needed to answer for everything he had done to hurt Konoha.

He didn't find out Choza, Ibiki, and Tobirama were in the room until he forced his eyes to open and took stock of everyone around him.

As soon as they noticed he was awake, all of the adults around him silenced and stared at him.

Genma blinked back at all of them, feeling as if he were nothing more than a child caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Everyone around him had varying looks of worry, anger, and slight relief. But if there was one constant that caught him off guard, it was the concern every single person around him exhibited on their face.

"Uh…" His mind blanked out on him for a couple of seconds before he was able to come up with anything to say. Then, finally, "I'm guessing I'm never going to hear the end of this?"

His words seemed to open a floodgate. Tsume, Zabuza, and Hashirama all began to growl and sneer at him over how stupid he had been. Hiashi and Tobirama merely glared at him, making him feel as if he were a genin that had failed in the dumbest way possible while trying to complete his first mission.

Luckily, Choza and Inoichi smiled softly at him, as if trying to comfort him without using any words. And Shikaku and Ibiki just stood there, allowing the more hotheaded of their colleagues to get all of their words out before they tried to interject.

The scolding he received went somewhere along the lines of "How can you teach our kids to be competent shinobi if you always put yourself in the dumbest situations? Just in what world did facing off against Itachi Uchiha alone ever sound like a good idea? If you think you'll ever be allowed to leave this Village alone, you better be prepared to get your ass kicked by us!"

Hashirama added a small bit of "Is this how he usually deals with tense situations? If he does, I don't think he should be allowed to be a ninja anymore- for our sakes."

Then the other adults that had remained quiet grew tired of having to wait for their turn, so a full brown argument broke out around him yet again.

Tobirama was the only one to remain truly quiet, for even Ibiki snarled out a few insults and threats when Tsume got too big for her britches.

Quite frankly, Genma thought that the argument would continue for a good hour. But after a few minutes, the door into his hospital room slamming open silenced everyone inside.

"Everyone that is not the patient or Tobirama Senju has to leave! Now!"

This was a voice Genma did not recognize. But it was feminine and filled with wrath and promises of much retribution if it was not listened to.

It seemed that all of the adults noticed just how childish they were acting because they did not put up a fight to leave. They all said their huffed goodbyes, except for Inoichi and Choza because they waved reassuringly at Genma, and left the room.

Soon enough, it was only him, Tobirama, and a busty blonde Genma recognized as the newest Hokage. Tobirama's grand niece… Hashirama's granddaughter.

"Those are the Clan Heads…" The woman sighed with a shake of her head, "No wonder their kids are insane."

"Did you bring him?"

Finally Tobirama spoke. And it made the woman nod tensely. "Yeah… But I still don't get why you wanted me to bring him here."

"Because Genma needs some good news."

The woman rolled her eyes, but opened the door into his room and stepped to the side.

Genma quirked a confused eyebrow over at Tobirama, but the older man merely kept his gaze on the door. So Genma decided to look on as well, seeing how Tobirama wasn't going to tell him anything.

Hidan stepped in shyly, his hands clasped together in front of him as his eyes shifted from one spot to another in the room without landing on one specifically. He looked scared and trepidatious. But when his eyes finally landed on Genma, they widened and a bright smile appeared on his lips.

"Thank Jashin you're alright." He whispered as he ran towards him, which made Genma immediately try to move up to embrace him.

The sharp shout left his lips without his permission. And Hidan immediately ceased, eyes going wide once again.

The blonde turned a sharp glare on him, "No sharp movements. You're lucky you're able to move at all."

Genma wanted to ask her just what in the world she was talking about. But, at the moment, he was just happy to see one of his kids.

"Hey, Hidan. How're you?"

"I'm good. Great, actually." Hidan offered him a broad smile, then asked, "Notice anything different?"

It took Genma more seconds than he would have liked. But eventually he noticed what Hidan was trying to tell him.

"Tobirama and Tsunade are in the room." He breathed out, eyes going wide. Hidan's smile somehow became even broader. "Did you break the curse?" He asked Tobirama, who softly shook his head.

"You did; amazingly enough."

"What?"

"My idiot brother was the missing piece of the puzzle." Tobirama sighed, then motioned for Hidan to walk towards him.

The teenager did so without trying to fight. Once he was in front of Tobirama, the Second Hokage turned him around and pulled down the collar of his shirt to expose his neck, where his seal had once been.

All Genma was able to see now was smooth, pale skin.

Hidan was freed from his seal.

"How?"

Hidan smiled at him and explained how the curse had been lifted when he met Hashirama one-on-one, rather than with other people around. The seal was already weak because of Hanabi and Hinata, and Hashirama was merely the final piece of the puzzle required to free him finally.

Ever since he'd been freed, Hidan had been able to give any and all information he had on the Akatsuki to Konoha without his curse getting in the way. Every single member he knew about, their plans, their strategy to accomplish what they wanted… Nothing he knew about the organization was kept secret any longer. Konoha now knew everything he knew. And they would not allow the Akatsuki to even get close to achieving the power they sought after.

Genma did not know just what Hidan meant with that… But he didn't question. He knew that he wasn't one of the big guns that needed to constantly be aware of everything that was going on. Right now, he was just a ninja stuck in the hospital because he had kind of been an idiot. And all he really wanted at the moment was to see his kids. All of his kids.

So he asked Tsunade if he was allowed to have them visit. And she frowned down at him, a sour look on her face before she breathed out and shook her head.

"I wish I had been told this would be part of my job as Hokage… Having to deal with family members is hard enough. But dealing with those kids plus their families plus those annoying chunin that keep sneaking away from their duties to visit? This is hell. My old teacher thrust me into hell without a single warning about it."

Genma smiled softly, feeling kind of bad about what he heard. But, at the same time, he wasn't surprised.

He still didn't understand why these kids were so attached to him. He understood much less why the not-adults were so keen on hanging around him. And even less so the actual parents. But if there was one thing he did understand, it was that, even though he didn't get them, they were important in his life. And it seemed that none of them was intent on leaving him just yet.

Unfortunately.

(Fortunately. So very fortunately.)

"So it has finally been decided?"

"It has."

Sakura felt heavy. Uncomfortable. Not right.

Sasuke wasn't himself. He hadn't been himself ever since Shikaku Nara and Tsume Inuzuka had returned with Farmer man on the brink of death.

Quite frankly, she couldn't blame him. Farmer man was important to all of them. But he'd only actually adopted two of them. And those two saw him as more than just a father figure. Seeing him injured like this… And all because of Sasuke's own brother... Well, Sakura had no idea just how she would react if she were put in her best friend's situation. She couldn't judge how he had gotten. All she could do was everything in her power to help him in his time of need.

"Itachi will not get away. Not with what he did." Naruto promised Sasuke, a promise Sakura knew was filled with every bit of determination he had within his body.

"We'll get him." Ino nodded, her own blue eyes filled with the same brand of determination Sakura found in Naruto. Heck, all of them were filled to the brim with it.

From Shino to Lee to Sasuke, all of them were aware of what had happened and what needed to be done.

"Clearly, the adults cannot capture him or put him in his place." Neji hissed, the backwards bandanna on his head a clear sign of how important Genma was in his life. "We may not be strong enough now, but don't you worry, Sasuke, this is not a fact that will remain static. We will all get stronger. And when the time is right, your brother will taste the vengeance he brought upon himself."

If Sakura was being honest with herself, it was kind of scary. The Chunin Exams had been terrifying… but this was on a whole other level of terrifying.

Her friends… They were all pissed. Not only at Itachi, but at the adults too. How could they have allowed Farmer man to be injured? How could they have allowed him to go into battle against Konoha's strongest missing nin? How could they have been so careless?

"When the time comes, we'll tear him apart limb from limb." Kiba snarled, his eyes filled with a fire that was more animalistic than human.

Sakura felt herself suddenly fear for Itachi's life.

The man deserved to pay. But this was just scary.

"The Konoha 12 aren't anything to mess with now." Tenten smirked at all of them, thrusting her fist into the middle of the circle they had formed. "I can't wait to see how unstoppable we'll become."

They all put their hands in, following her. Sakura was the last to do so, she admitted it. But she was worried… Not only for Itachi, but for their own futures.

Was power gained for vengeance truly power they should wield?

"Kiba, Tenten, and I have some cool jutsu we could show you." Naruto cleared his throat to capture their attention once more, "And I think they'll be just the failsafe we'll need if anything goes wrong."

"Nothing will go wrong, Naruto." Shikamaru speaking up caught Sakura completely off guard… She had no idea the Nara was capable of such anger. "We will make Itachi pay when the time is right. That I will promise you. That I promise all of you."

"Then it is decided." Shino spoke up for the first time since their meeting had begun, "The plans of our parents do not matter to us. As long as they believe we are not capable of taking care of ourselves, we will tell them nothing. Itachi Uchiha will be brought to his knees by us."

She was surrounded by madmen.

Turning to Hinata and Chouji, though, Sakura noticed she was not completely alone. They both looked just as worried as her… Although Chouji also seemed as if he was prepared to aid in any battle they ever entered.

Was this really the best course of action for them to take?

Sakura was not allowed to ponder the question any further. Hidan walked up to them with a small smile on his lips and informed them that Farmer man was available to receive them. And without a single second wasted, they all ran into the room and threw themselves on his bed, ignoring Tsunade's warnings about his health and possible injuries if they weren't more careful.

Sakura had seen Genma on hospital beds too many times. And every single time she saw him like this, she felt a sense of impending doom wash over her.

What if this had been Naruto or Sasuke while they had been out in the field? What if either of his teammates had gotten injured out there on a mission and all she had been able to do was stand around and fear for their lives?

No, that wouldn't do.

She did not share her friends need for revenge. But she could not let them run off without anybody that could help them if they were injured. She would not be able to live with herself if something that she could have stopped happened to them.

Ebisu wasn't a great medic. But he knew enough about medicine to be able to teach her the basics. And then he knew great medical ninja that could continue teaching her if she really wanted to pursue this kind of career.

She knew this because they had spoken about options before with Kakashi Sensei.

Naruto and Sasuke were powerhouses. Sakura was smart and driven. She would never be able to catch up with the raw power those two had… But that did not mean she had to slow them down. And what better way to aid two powerhouses than to be the healer that patched them up whenever brute strength wasn't enough to beat whatever challenge came their way?

Chouji didn't necessarily like the path his friends were choosing. But he could certainly see why they would choose it. And, quite frankly, he kind of wanted to go down it too.

"Are you kids okay?"

Izumo… He really wanted to tell the man he considered to be a brother what was going on. He wished he could confide in him the plans his friends had come up with; just like when they had been younger and Izumo, Kotetsu, and Iwashi had all been willing participants in most of their crazed schemes.

But he couldn't tell him about this. He loved Izumo and trusted him with his life, but he knew that the man would tell them to stop as soon as he found out what they had thought of. And he couldn't risk it.

Genma's kids all had to keep their secret.

For Genma.

"Of course." He smiled softly, then offered him some of his chips. "It's just pretty crowded in there."

Sasuke and Naruto were on Genma's bed. Nobody had fought them for the right. The rest of his friends were inside as well… All of them except for him, Hinata, and Sakura.

"We'll wait for the excitement to die down a bit before going back inside." Sakura flashed him a convincing smile, but Izumo didn't seem completely convinced.

"Alright… If you kids say so…" He walked into the room to greet Genma, leaving all three of them alone once more.

Silence hung over them for a few seconds.

Chouji didn't even feel well enough to eat any of his food. He merely kept his right hand inside of the bag while his left held onto it. His throat was tight; he didn't think he could eat anything even if he tried.

"We're not going to be able to stop them."

"Not at all."

Chouji breathed out as soon as Sakura answered him.

Their friends were prepared to walk through fire and brimstone for Farmer man. And he couldn't judge them for it, for he felt the same way too. He just wasn't sure if they were being particularly wise in creating a promise to bring down Itachi Uchiha- the very teen that could make even their parents worry.

Kiba and Shino took Itachi's attack on Genma-nii-san personally. Hinata felt the same way. The rest of her friends did as well. They all had a right to feel this way, after all. How could they not when he had been a constant in their lives since their childhood years?

When they cried, Genma-nii-san was there to dry their tears. When they were in need of comfort, there he was, offering them a home. When they were terrified, he was there with kind promises of everything will be alright. And when they needed to get their heads of their asses- like Zabuza-san said-, he would eventually help them by showing tough love.

What Itachi had done had been horrifying.

But what their friends were planning... It much more terrifying.

Their parents had tried to keep this information from them. They had discusses everything that dealt with Itachi Uchiha and Genma Shiranui behind closed doors, trying to keep them from listening in. But they had not taken into account how truly determined her friends could be. They had not made sure that the room they had used had not been bugged. And so, while Shino listened in with his bugs, Akamaru remained huddled inside of a hole dug up for him before the adults had used the room by Shikamaru.

She could understand why her friends were against what their parents planned... But, really... All she wanted was for Genma-nii-san to be safe and healthy. As long as he was alright, she didn't care about what happened to Itachi.

After Chouji and Sakura had spoken, silence hung heavy over them once more.

They would not be stopped. If there was one thing they knew about their friends, it was that they were unstoppable when they put their minds to accomplishing a goal.

Hinata breathed in heavily to prepare herself for what she was about to say.

Then she muttered, "We have to keep them safe."

And so, a promise within a promise was formed.

Itachi would be brought to his knees by the Konoha 12. This was not something they would be able to try and stop. But the Medic 3 would make sure no one paid too high a price.

~..~..~

Alright. This was one heck of a story. And one long chapter, too. I hope you all enjoyed it!

No, preemptive strike time!

1) Yes, the Itachi bit is short. I didn't want that to be the main focus of the chapter. He'll have more time to shine and disappoint Genma in the sequel.

2) Yes, there will eventually be a sequel. I have no idea when, but it will eventually be made and published. It might take me some time, though, seeing how much time this story took.

3) Yes, there will also be a series of one-shots for the characters about their relationship with Genma. Don't ask when it will come out, because it's same as the sequel.

4) No, I do not think this is a perfect story. Nor do I think I gave every character their time to shine. But, hot damn, have y'all noticed how many important characters there are in this story? Just with Genma's genin kids you have twelve characters. That's not counting their parents, the not-adults, Haku and Zabuza, the Sand Kids, and the other adults that make appearances in this story that matter!

I don't like characters being forgotten in canon. I know it's kind of hypocritical for me to say this, considering how some of these characters were lost in the making of the story. Can you really blame me, though? Juggling so many different characters, personalities, circumstances, actions... Geez Louise, I get a headache every time I think of everything I've tried to balance out.

Not everyone is satisfied with what they read. I can accept that. But I've never claimed any of my stories to be perfect, nor have I said I don't think they could be better. What I am saying, though, is that this was a really difficult thing to write and I tried my best. With such a huge cast of characters, it's virtually impossible to make everyone shine to the same degree. And, if they do, it takes months worth of dedication and planning- hell, maybe even years! I don't plan much and usually fly by like a crazy person... So, no, do not expect that from me, please.

5) Yes, those 'forgotten characters'- such as Chouji, Shikamaru, Lee, etc- will get a time to shine. If not in the sequel, then in the individual stories I'm thinking of writing for them.

6) No, I do not regret writing this. There are flaws, but, as said before, nothing is perfect and I am content with what I have made.

7) Yes, Naruto was talking about the forbidden jutsu they swiped from the Scroll of Seals when he said he's got cool stuff to show his friends.

8) Yes, the sequel will deal with Shippuden age, will tie up the forbidden jutsu bit, will also finish Itachi's arc, will feature redemption on some of the Akatsuki's part- because I love them too much to let them die- and will hopefully finish up everything I wasn't able to finish in this story.

Please remember to leave your reviews and tell me what you thought of this chapter!