Hinata made her way to her room in the compound. She was careful with how she held the tray in her hands.

"Hinata-sama, you shouldn't be taking that anywhere. Please, allow me!" a branch member said.

Hinata was very shy, but valiantly shook her head. "It's o-okay. I-it's not too h-heavy"

The branch member stared at her in confusion. "Are you sure? I can easily take it wherever you need it."

The Hyuuga heiress shook her head again. It was enough to ward off the member, who shrugged and told Hinata that if she ever changed her mind, all she had to do was call.

Hinata increased her strut to her room. She didn't want other people asking to assist her, she wasn't sure she had the strength to deny anyone that kept passing her way.

She finally made it. Although she had difficulty opening the door and holding the tray of food, she was able to achieve the task, and was greeted by the sight of Naruko holding Narumi close.

The little Namikaze brightened at her arrival. "Hi, is that ice cream?"

Hinata smiled at Narumi's adorable visage. The little girl had some power of cuteness to her, and Hinata felt like she was falling for it.

"Y-yes, Narumi-chan. I got your favourite."

"Vanilla?"

"Yeah."

"Yay! Thank you, Hinata-nee-chan!"

Hinata graciously handed the cup of ice cream to Narumi.

Naruko was smiling gratefully at her. "Thanks, Hinata-chan."

Hinata blushed and looked down slightly. "N-no problem, Naruko-chan."

Naruko eyed the tray Hinata set aside. "I'm surprised that you didn't have any servants handle that tray for you."

Naruko had experienced a lot growing up. She had met many royalty members who turned out to be snobby and full of themselves. Usually they mistreated their servants and punished them harshly for minuscule mistakes. It made the blonde hate the very notion of being royalty. It made her think that anyone who had high status turned out to be a horrible individual. But Hinata, in her opinion, was different. She didn't badmouth anyone, nor treat anyone terribly. Sure, she was a little too shy in instances, but Naruko was glad to have her as a friend.

"I-I don't want the servants worrying about this. T-they do so much already."

"I see…"

Hinata noticed that Naruko's usual excitement was absent. She remembered earlier when she saw Naruko crying in the park. It honestly made her worry, but she didn't know if she could breach the subject. She didn't want to offend her only close friend. So, with nothing to talk about, she awkwardly kept her head down.

Noticing her discomfort, Naruko knew exactly what was on Hinata's mind.

"Hey," she said softly, gaining Hinata's interest. "I promise I'll tell you what's up later. Can we just enjoy ourselves now? It's been a while since we hanged out and I missed you."

Hinata nodded slowly, processing her words. "I-I missed you, too."

Naruko beamed at her. "Then can I stay here for a while?" It was more to collect herself away from her parents, but she did genuinely want to bond with the young Hyuuga.

Hinata tried to mimic her grin, but came up a little short. "I'd like that."

"Me too! Me too!" Narumi yelled, putting her hand up.

Naruko laughed at Narumi's enthusiasm, while Hinata merely giggled.

The young Kitsune continued to stand a few metres away from the duo. She had been instructed by Kurama to cover her ears while her and a very upset Naruto had a discussion.

Currently, Kurama was being glared at heatedly by the blond knucklehead.

"I can't believe you just married me off like that!" Naruto whispered fiercely.

Kurama shrugged like it was nothing. "It was a mistake. Didn't I say as much?"

"You think I'm dumb enough to believe that you treated marriage like some stupid, flimsy thing? Even I can tell you're not that careless."

"So, you're saying I'm not telling you the truth?"

Naruto's eyes narrowed at her. "I'm sure you're hiding the truth."

Kurama looked offended. "Are you questioning me, kid?"

"You bet I am. And you better come clean before I get out of here!"

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Did you or did you not marry me to that girl on purpose?"

Kurama glared at him for some time, but soon enough, a grin split her face. "Excellent. Well done."

Naruto staggered. "W-what?"

"Hahaha! You should have seen the look on your face! Absolutely hilarious!"

Naruto snarled. "What the hell is so funny?! I'm not laughing!"

Kurama waved her hands up in the air, partially in submission. "Relax! Let me explain. What I was doing was administering a test."

"What? Summoning that girl was a test?"

"No. I knew you could do that. I'm talking about testing to see if you could tell I wasn't being explicitly truthful."

"… Don't get it."

"I wanted to see how far I can go telling you things that didn't make much sense until you caught on."

"You mean, you lied to me?"

"Don't be offended by it. It was necessary. I needed to gauge how perceptive you were. It wasn't done for the sole purpose of hurting you. I'm your sensei now, after all."

Naruto took his time processing what she said and then, "So what did you lie to me about, anyway?"

"You're not mad?"

"I guess I can see why you would test me. So, no, I'm not mad yet."

She deadpanned. "Yet?"

"I need to know the entire situation…then I'll see."

Kurama gave him a long look. She resigned herself and shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Just know from now on, you should be aware that I can be training you anytime, anywhere on anything."

Naruto nodded. "Are you going to tell me what you lied to me about now?"

"Lie is such a strong word, kid."

"You still did it."

"Yep!" she chirped. "And I guess you could say I lied about not knowing anything about the marriage contract."

"… I figured. You're maybe crazy, but I don't think you'd be crazy enough to marry you own blood to some stranger."

"Actually, you're not a stranger. I've known you since you were a baby. So marrying you off seriously wouldn't be half-assed."

"So this isn't a serious marriage?"

"Not to me or you."

"… But to her?" he pointed at the patiently waiting kistune.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, she can't know yet."

Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell are you doing this?"

"Truthfully, it's because you're not strong enough to use the legitimate Fox Contract."

"What do you mean?"

"The Fox Contract is…unusual at best. It doesn't just accept anyone. You need to be at a specific level as a ninja to be able to use it. It's got a status assessment, and it's pretty deadly to those who do not meet the criteria. Of course, it was designed by me, so obviously only the best of the best could use it."

"If I couldn't use it then why didn't you say so!"

"I'm random that way, so what?"

"What the hell is the matter with you?! Why can't you just be straight forward!"

"Because the world isn't straight forward. It's deceitful, manipulative and nasty. You better get used to the way I operate soon, or you won't survive as a shinobi."

"We could have avoided this whole stupid marriage thing altogether."

"Then finding someone powerful enough to train with you would have been impossible currently."

"Why couldn't you just be my sparring partner and made things simple?"

"Were you even listening before? I said I was far too important to be doing that. What I meant by that was you're too weak for me to train on my own. My skills are advanced, too advanced. And honestly speaking, it would actually frustrate me starting with you from the very beginning. So, the idea is that you would have someone weaker and that would be able to start you off. As soon as you grew enough in skill, I'll take over with the advanced techniques."

"Really? How hard could your stuff be?"

"If I came to Konoha, sane and stable, with the intent to destroy it, I would have." She said it so seriously that Naruto knew she meant it.

But still…

"Don't underestimate my village! There's no way you could have done that."

Kurama wiggled her finger in the air. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Do you even know how powerful a Bijuu is? Imagine one that has spent centuries developing powerful jutsu with basically unlimited chakra reserves. Trust me kid, what I'm telling you isn't something for an ego trip; it's just simple facts. You're definitely underestimating me."

She sounded peeved off, and Naruto didn't want her changing her mind about training him, especially after what he just heard.

"Fine, sorry, but I still think it's too forward to think that Konoha wouldn't stand a chance against you."

"Maybe it is. Let's leave it at that."

"Right. But I still don't get it. Don't you have any other contracts I could have used to summon something?"

"Of course I do, but would never give it to you."

"Why the hell not?"

"That contract mainly uses your chakra as an outlet to summon something. Your chakra and what exactly is summoned is mutually inclusive. If you have weak chakra control, then obviously you'd summon something equally feeble. And even the frailest Bijuu or Kistune you summon may still be too powerful for you, and would subsequently reject you. That's a horrible way to start, but that system would be absolute. With the marriage contract however, there is no limit to what you can someone. It does not rely on your chakra control, but my chakra output. So the more of my chakra you dish out, the more powerful your summoned will be. The best part about a marriage contract is that even if you're too weak for whatever you summon, I have the final say of whether you can be with that summon or not. So this will give you a powerful ally who won't care about your abilities."

He had never actually thought of it that way. He just ran to conclusions that Kurama tricked him to being a lifelong partner to someone he never knew.

"Seriously, I worry about you sometimes, kid."

She took out the contract and showed it to him.

"Why are you showing me something I can't read, again?"

Kurama pointed to the top. The words mysteriously scrambled until the title was readable.

"Temporary Marriage Certificate?" Naruto read aloud.

"Yep," Kurama said, burning the scroll again. "See? Relax, you'll only be with her until I deem it worthy to cancel the contract."

"Why didn't you change it to readable text before?"

"It's takes a lot of power to do so."

Naruto didn't bother pry further, feeling like Kurama's explanation would make him feel like an idiot.

"You could have told me the whole thing from the beginning," the blond deadpanned.

Kurama blinked at him. "Then what fun would that be?"

"You know what? Never mind. I just can't figure you out," Naruto concluded.

"Better start learning, quick," Kurama responded with a cheeky grin.

Naruto rolled his eyes, then turned his attention to the girl. "What you're doing to her is completely wrong."

"She'll understand once I tell her my reasons."

"And when are you going to do that?"

Kurama gave him a cryptic smile, then signalled for the Kistune to open her ears.

She did so immediately – her fox ears, earlier folded, shot up above her head.

"Yes, Kurama-sama?" she asked politely.

"It's time for introductions. I have yet to know your name."

The girl's eyes widened and she hastily bowed. "Forgive me. It was a complete oversight and I'm truly sorry."

"it's alright. So who are you?"

"My name is Ruu. I come from the Kurama Clan of the North."

Kurama raised an eyebrow. "Kurama Clan of the North? Since when was my clan divided?"

Ruu's ears dropped a little. "The current heads had a falling out and split the clan to the four far regions about four years ago."

Kurama grit her teeth. "It was only resent? Oh when I get out of here, I'm going to teach those ungrateful brats a lesson."

Ruu did not comment.

Kurama huffed. "Spoil your kids and they turn out so sour. Geez."

"Should I know what's going on?" Naruto asked carefully.

Kurama shook her head. "It's okay. It's not something you should get involved in. Ruu, from this day forward you shall be Naruto's training partner. Oh, Naruto is the kid next to me. He's a bit out there but he's alright."

Naruto had no idea what to say about that, but he did glower in her direction.

"Uhm… I fail to understand, Kurama-sama. Training in what? Do you mean…?"

She blushed and Kurama picked up on it.

"No. not that, in sparring," Kurama clarified.

"Oh, well as his wife, I will do my outmost to assist him."

"That's good and all that you feel like filling your role as his betrothed, but I advise that you don't focus on any intimate endeavours other than getting him stronger. I mean it."

Ruu gave her a confused look.

"Trust me. I'll explain later why I'm telling you this."

Although still confused, Ruu nodded in acceptance. "You are still the leader of our clan. So, I do not find it fit to question you."

"Good." Kurama had to admit, Ruu was a little bit on the dense side.

Naruto was struggling to hold down his excitement. He was finally going to train with someone worthy. Ruu, although not the same level as Kurama, still seemed a lot powerful.

Kurama turned to him. "Ready to get started?"

"I was born ready! What should we do first?" Naruto asked hurriedly.

Kurama smirked at him. "Glad you're pumped. So let's get this going!"

She waved her hand in the air. In the next moment, a bright light engulfed them all.

Naruto had to shield his eyes. He knew that Kurama was creating some sort of training ground to get him up to speed. This was going to be so awesome. Finally, he could catch up to Naruko without the help from his father. Of course his mother was an exception for him. She proved herself, although not fully, but enough.

The light dissipated and Naruto struggled to adjust to the change in brightness. But when he did, he rapidly tried to focus on his surroundings.

It was go time…

"Huh?'

"Naruto-kun? Are you okay?"

Naruto's eyes were wide as he stared in front of him.

"A-Ayame-nee-chan?"

Ayame stood behind the counter at Ichiraku's. She frowned slightly at him. "Uh, yeah, that's me. Is something wrong, Naruto-kun? You seemed pretty out of it."

Naruto looked around. Everything about Ichiraku's was laid out to the simplest of details, from the décor to the customers. It looked too real.

Ayame touched Naruto's forehead in worry. "You don't seem to have a fever…"

Naruto was still in mental hysterics. How was he in Ichiraku's?! When he was called into the mindscape, he was home, sleeping soundly. So how was this happening?! Maybe it was just an illusion, but…

Suddenly, Ayame froze in place. When Naruto looked around, he noticed the same thing happened to all the inhabitants.

He was beyond confused.

"Kurama!" he called out, hoping that yelling her name could make some sense to this mess.

"Here."

Naruto looked behind him and noticed Kurama and Ruu seated on a table.

Ruu looked up and down in marvel. "Such intricate detail…amazing."

At least Naruto could be content that this wasn't real. "What's going on here? I thought we were going to start my training."

Kurama smiled sweetly. "But, my dear Naruto-kun, we are."

"At ichiraku's? What, we gonna have a ramen eating contest or something?!"

"Haha. Your sarcasm is palpable, but that's not what's going to happen. Besides, I hate ramen because of you."

"Me?!" he yelled, indignant.

Kurama glared at him. "Yeah, you! Seeing you eat that shit every day made me sick to my stomach!"

Naruto wanted to respond but she cut him off.

"Anyway, this environment is perfect for your first exercise."

"So you want me to spar with Ruu here?"

Kurama stared blankly at him. "Who said anything about sparring?"

Naruto was starting to get frustrated. "Then what's the exercise?"

"Your impatience is showing. Guess that's one more thing we need to work on."

Naruto grinded his teeth intolerantly, but waited for Kurama to continue.

After some torturous seconds, she did. "We're not doing anything physical yet. Remember what I said in the beginning? We need to work on your way of thinking. You're just too impulsive."

That confused him even more. "And how are we supposed to do that here?"

The smile Kurama gave him was anything but simple and sweet.

"Listen carefully, Naruto. A ninja is a survivor. They use whatever they can in order to achieve their goals. It can be underhanded, emotive or downright disgraceful. But as long as the end goal is reached, they do whatever it takes."

"I know that already," Naruto said.

"No you don't. You only think you do. You understand the bare minimum of using anything to your disposal, but that isn't the point I'm trying to make. Ninjas a clever, sometimes too clever, if they see there's an easier way to do something, they abuse that opportunity to the fullest. Ninjas are also good at reading people, from facial shifting to body language. That what's going to happen here."

"What?"

"You see that ramen girl in front of you?"

Naruto glanced at Ayame, who was still frozen in place. "Yeah?"

"You goal, to move on to the next stage of training, is to get Ayame to ask you out on a date."

It took some time for Naruto to process what Kurama had said. His eyes widened and he rounded on her. "What?!"

"You heard me. Your objective is to get Ayame to ask you out on a date."

"What the hell? How is that training, you crazy fox?!"

Ruu peered at him. "Do not disrespect Kurama-sama, Naruto-koi."

Hearing Ruu use such a personal honorific with ease made him shiver, but he bravely shrugged it off.

Kurama only stared at him, bored. "If you don't want to participate then you can forget about beating your sister."

"What?"

"I'm serious," Kurama said. "If you're not going to take me seriously as a sensei then forget about advanced techniques, even Ruu will not be allowed to help you."

Naruto gave her a very sour look, seemingly sulking at her stipulations. "But… this is so stupid."

"Then we're done her-"

"No, no! I'll do it!" He sputtered animatedly.

Kurama nodded once. "That's what I like to hear."

"So I just have to get her to ask me out, right?" Naruto reiterated, already forming a plan in his head.

He had forgotten the Kurama could read it up.

"I guess I should administer rules for this," Kurama said.

Naruto was already starting to get worried.

Kurama dawned a thinking pose. "Let's see. During the exercise, under no circumstances are you allowed to let Ayame in on the real reason of asking her out. You cannot make her ask you out as a favour to you for any reason. You may not write out or give gestured hints to Ayame of your reasons or your intentions. You may not physically use anything in Ichiraku's to assist you. You may not get anyone during the exercise to help you. And you may not ask leading questions that will have Ayame involuntarily ask you out. Got it?"

"How am I sure that this mission hasn't been rigged for me to fail?"

"The Ayame you see before you is modelled, in detail, after the original. I've studied her for years and incorporated her mannerism and behavioural patterns into the image. So, she will speak, act and react just like the normal Ayame would. No more excuses."

She crushed all his plans in one take. Naruto really hated her sometimes.

"Love you too, kid."

"What if I fail?" he asked.

"Then we'll do it over and over again until you pass. Good luck."

Kurama clicked her fingers and everything around Naruto was lively again.

"Maybe you didn't sleep well?" Ayame continued on.

Naruto eyed her in trepidation. He looked behind him and noticed that Kurama and Ruu had completely vanished from sight. He could not believe that it had led up to this. She wasn't the real Ayame, put sure acted like the real one, making it even more difficult to commit himself fully.

He wished that Kurama could have specified that he was required to ask Ayame out. He never lacked in confidence, and he never cared about embarrassment if he could get the job done. But no, Kurama required the complete opposite from him. He needed to get Ayame to ask him out without hinting on it, meaning Ayame needed to ask him out because she genuinely wanted to.

That, for him specifically, was borderline impossible. How could he begin to get Ayame interested in him? It was weird, too. She was more like a big sister to him, so getting her romantically inclined felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"Naruto-kun, I think you need to go home and rest," Ayame said, frown visible on her face.

Naruto quickly gathered himself, embarrassed that he was caught staring. "No worries, Ayame-nee-chan! Hey, can you tell me something?"

Ayame still had a worried look plastered on her face. "What is it?"

"Uh…how do you feel about me?" He hoped he didn't just ask a leading question. When he noticed nothing happening around him and Ayame thinking about his enquiry, he guessed that he didn't fail so far.

"Hmm… Well, I consider you someone really close to me, like a little brother. Why the sudden question?"

"It's nothing, Nee-chan! Just curious." He played it off with a chuckle, but it did little to ward off Ayame's concerns.

"I really think you should go rest."

"No, I'm cool! Really!"

"… If you say so. Excuse me while deal with the other customers."

Naruto wondered what else he could voice. It was just so difficult to think of the right thing to say to her. Even as he watched her get busy tending to other customers, he was still at a loss for words.

"What do I do? I'm not used to the whole round about thing. I'm always direct about everything I execute… Damn you, Kurama."

He decided to go for it. Do what he's always done before. It's gotten him this far in life, hasn't it?

"Hey, Ayame-nee-chan, do you love me?!" he yelled.

Ayame was startled by the shout. She almost dropped a few plates, but steadied herself in time. She turned to the blond, looking borderline troubled. "Uh… Of course I do, Naruto-kun."

"Great! Then you know what to do! I promise I'll say yes and I'll even set up the perfect spot."

"…What are you talking about?"

"Come on!" Naruto wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Everything around him instantaneously froze.

"Fail!" Kurama shouted from the table she suddenly sat on.

Naruto fearfully looked behind him, surprised by her shout. "Geez! Warn me next time, will ya?!"

Kurama nonchalantly stared at him. "Shouldn't you be focused more on the fact that you failed miserably?"

"How?" he asked.

"You gave Ayame gestures for her to make her own inference. That was against the rules."

"But I thought gestures only involved hand movement. I didn't move my hands," he defended.

"No, it's body movement with the purpose of implication. Your eyebrows are part of your body. Fail."

Naruto got angry. "But this is ridiculous! How will getting Ayame to ask me out improve my chances as a ninja…and where's Ruu?"

"She didn't like the whole notion of you asking someone out in front of her. So I sent her home."

"Home, as in?"

"The place she was summoned from. You can summon her back anytime you're in the mindscape. I explained to her the reason why I was doing this, so she isn't too upset at you. Anyway, you're a terrible conversationalist."

"Not like it will help me in the long-run anyway," he muttered.

"Well too bad for you, you can't move on to the next step until you get her to ask you out. You're free to ask me to initiate the environment for the test anytime from now. But I won't be teaching you anything without you giving me results."

"Why Ayame-nee-chan?"

"Because she's close to you, making it even harder for you to think of strategies to woo her."

Naruto grumbled under his breath, trying to dissuade his retort.

They returned to the original mindscape.

"You're free to go. Come by anytime you wanna try again."

"Can I get help outside the mindscape about this?"

"Remember the rules. That's all I'm going to say."

With that, Kurama pushed Naruto outside of the mindscape.

She tisked when he was gone. "This is definitely going to take some time."

Kushina was packing up the last remnants of her luggage. It wasn't particularly too much, as her time away from the Namikaze Estate was intended to be temporary. She needed to collect herself, not abandon her family.

Naruko had come home about an hour ago with Narumi. The blonde was still understandably upset with them, but Kushina felt like she should mend strained bonds before she left. The last thing she wanted was for her own daughters to turn their backs on her.

Minato wasn't at home. He was in a meeting in preparation for the up and coming Chunin Exams. So Kushina saw this as an opportune time to have a face-to-face talk with her child.

She was nervous as she approached the girls' room, but she willed it on. If Naruko started acting like Naruto now, then the mother had no idea how she would feel about it.

She knocked carefully and waited patiently until Naruko told her to come in.

She walked in, not even bothering to pretend that everything was okay. "Hi, Musume, can I talk to you?"

Naruko had a back towards her mother, playing with Narumi.

Narumi turned to her mother, smile on her face and an energetic wave. "Hi, Kaa-chan!"

Kushina smiled. "Hi, Musume. Naruko-chan, can we talk in my room, please?"

It took some time, but Naruko wordlessly stood up and walked out of her room.

"Can I come?" Narumi asked innocently.

"Not now, Narumi-chan. Just wait here a bit, okay?"

"Kay, Kaa-chan!"

"That's a good girl. I'll be right back."

She closed the door and noted that Naruko was waiting for her. Her arms were folded and her eyes were still fresh with anger.

Kushina mentally sighed. She led them to her room and had Naruko sit on her bed.

She joined her and started. "I'm not going to make excuses. You have every reason to be angry. I'm really sorry for everything you've been through because of me and your father."

Naruko stared at her, hurt and anger clearly visible. "How could you do that to him, my own brother, your own son?"

Kushina struggled maintain eye-contact. The shame was never going to leave her, was it? Her mouth formed a thin line and she struggled with the lump in her throat. However reluctant she was on the subject of Naruto, her daughter's expectant stare held no ground for her to hide. She decided to just come out and say what was on her mind. "It… it was terrible mistake, sweetie – one that I wish I could take back every day. There's nothing I can say to justify it. I was stupid…we all were that night."

"The night you left him," she spat, her accusatory tone grating.

Kushina took in a shaky breath. "Yeah…"

Naruko shook her head. "I love you and Tou-san, Kaa-chan, but I can't help but you resent you right now. I love Nii-san so much that hurts me when he doesn't return it, and you took him away from me and Narumi-chan."

"I know. I've got nothing to say that could get you to forgive me. I'm honestly trying to do right by him."

"You know I could never hold a grudge against you, Kaa-chan. But right now, I just can't look at you without getting angry."

Kushina smiled. "You and me both."

Naruko had a few tears in her eyes, trying valiantly to hold them back. "Until Nii-san can catch up to me in skill, I won't accept any more training from you or Tou-san."

That made Kushina flinch, and her worry became all too visible. "Musume… I know that you want to be fair to your brother, but please, not this way. There are terrible people out there who wouldn't hesitate to hurt you because of your…chakra. I don't ever want something like that to happen to any of my children."

Naruko peered at her. "It's too late for that, Kaa-chan. Naruto has been hurt by this horrible place for years! You can't say that to me, not now. I will train, but not by you. I'm sorry, Kaa-chan, but I feel like there's too much injustice. I'm not going to change my mind until Nii-san is at my level."

Kushina felt like it would be impossible to sway Naruko's thinking. The girl looked pretty resolute about it. She guessed that Naruko was at a certain level where even chunin would have a hard time fighting her. But, she was still her mother, and the safety of her kids was still a priority. She decided to settle for monitoring them more closely.

"I see. I'll support your decision then."

Naruko's eyes widened. She honestly never expected that from her mother.

Kushina brought her forehead and touched her daughter's. "I love you."

Naruko leaned in, closing her eyes. "I love you, too, Kaa-chan."

Kushina stood up, followed by Naruko.

"I'm leaving for a few days. Your father will take care of you while I'm away."

Although surprised, Naruko tried to play it cool. "Why?"

"There's a lot of things I need to…fix. I'm sorry if I don't tell you more, sweetie. But I promise I'll be back soon."

"Are you on a mission?"

Kushina smiled at her. "You could say that. And it's something I feel like I have to do."

Naruko nodded slowly. "I don't understand, but okay. Be safe, Kaa-chan."

"I would never risk leaving you behind. I think I lost the right to act leisurely a long time ago."

She grabbed her suitcase.

"I'll walk you out then," Naruko said.

Kushina could admit that Naruko was an absolute angel. She was definitely a part of her life that she thanked Kami every day for.

"Thanks, sweetie. I'll just say a quick goodbye to Narumi-chan."

Naruko escorted Kushina to the entrance of the Namikaze Estate, and it looked like Minato was just arriving home.

"Kushina?" he said.

Kushina walked up to him. "Hi, Minato."

Minato shifted his gaze to her bag and back again. "So, it's time, huh?"

"Yes…"

Naruko only looked on in vague curiosity. She realised that she would need to tell Minato that she wasn't going to be training with him either.

Minato didn't look happy about it all, but felt like he couldn't do anything about. "I'll miss you."

She grinned weakly. "I won't be gone forever."

Minato nodded, barely looking her in the eye. It hurt to realise that things led up to this. But he couldn't blame her. She was the most involved with the kids, anyway. He was mostly invested in Hokage duty. He a had never hated that position more than now. His lack of involvement was causing his family to divide even further apart, and it felt like a knife twisting in his heart.

He sighed; it sounded tired. "Where will you go?"

"Remember our first home?"

"The one just outside Konoha? But we haven't used it in years…it's probably in ruin."

"I checked it out earlier. It's not that bad. It will need a little fixing up, though."

"… Do you need any help?" he offered, hopeful.

She shook her head. "I need this, Minato. Please understand."

"I do." He took out a scroll and handed it to her. "Here. It's Naruto's adoption papers."

Kushina was shocked. It took a pause for her to take the letter. "Thank you."

"I've already read through it. Naruto was adopted by a woman named Yui Kusei. After a few months, she cancelled the adoption altogether. I take it you're going to see her?"

Kushina barely heard him. Her mind went to what Naruto had told her of the woman that he trusted and was betrayed by. Her eyes turned colder. "Yes, I am."

Minato sighed again, already knowing that she wasn't going to accept his company. "Did she do something bad to our son?"

Kushina was jolted out of her stupor by the question. "I will tell you everything soon. Not now."

Minato nodded in understanding. It was definitely something bad.

He really took a good look at her then. She seemed so different from the semi-carefree woman he knew just a few months ago. She seemed more tired, stressed and emotionally exhausted.

He probably looked the same way to her.

"I guess this is goodbye," he said awkwardly.

"No, it's just bye for now," Kushina responded.

That forced a weary chuckle from the Hokage.

Kushina leaned in and kissed Minato's cheek. "I love you, Minato. I wish things could have been different."

"Sounds like you're breaking up with me," he smirked.

She mirrored it. "Till death do us part, remember? I never back down from a commitment."

His smile withered. "I know…"

She gave him a sad look. "Bye, Minato."

"Bye, Kushina. I'll do my best for the kids."

"I know you will."

With one more wave at Minato and Naruko, Kushina walked away from the Namikaze Estate. Her face was all serious, promising great pain in the future.

Minato sighed again. What a day. He guessed news of finding out who was responsible for withholding Naruto's gifts and presents would have to be put on hold. Minato felt like Kushina wouldn't be able to hold it together with so many things to deal with.

"Tou-san, I need to talk to you," Naruko said, staring seriously at her father.

Minato knew his day was far from over.

In a secluded dark room, five figures sat in a circle surrounded by other bodies. The five figures each held cards close to their chests. It looked like a very high stakes game. People eyed each other in suspicion.

One person stood above them all, and directed everyone's attention to the left.

"It is your move."

Before anything could happen, a door suddenly flipped open, filling the room with bright light. Everyone inside groaned in discomfort, but grew silent when they saw an irate woman by the door.

"Tsunade-sama, where are you?!" she yelled angrily.

Everyone blinked at her, then shifted their gaze to one location. The person they pinpointed turned out to be the aforementioned woman, wearing a big hat to try and cover herself.

"By God, Shizune. Couldn't you have waited in our room just a few minutes longer?"

"Not when you lock me in and take all our money!" she screamed, fuming.

No one in the room felt like getting on Shizune's bad side.

Tsunade sighed. "You wouldn't have let me go if I didn't."

A security guard came up to the raven-head. "Hey, this is a high stakes game. Leave, before I do something I'll regret."

Shizune blared at him, forcing the man to shrink into himself.

"Uh…let yourself in. I've got no problem with that."

Shizune returned her irate gaze to her mentor. She stalked into the room before hauling Tsunade on her feet and dragging her out of the room.

"Shizune! Shizune, let go of me this instant!"

Shizune made sure to drop Tsunade by a bar table, loudly joining her.

Tsunade straightened herself. "You really have to work on your manners."

Shizune continued to glare at her, even more so when Tsunade ordered sake.

"How much did we lose?" she all bit gritted out.

Tsunade huffed. "You really have little faith in me, don't you?"

"How much?!"

"… 10."

"Thousand?!" Shizune shrieked.

"Well…yes."

"But It couldn't have been less than five minutes!"

"Tch. If you didn't interfere, I could have gotten it back." Tsunade took a healthy sip of her freshly served sake.

Shizune's brow twitched. "When are you going to stop doing this to us?!"

Before Tsunade could respond, another bowl of sake was served at her table.

She never asked for more, so she looked up at the culprit, and couldn't help but scowl.

"Room for one more?" Jiraiya asked, stupid grin plastered firmly on his face.

It's been more than a year since I posted here. I know, I'm sorry. I was just pretty busy, and honestly speaking, I had no real motivation to come back to fanfiction with so much going on in my life. But I recently came around, was surprised with the amount of reviews and favourites, and I just had to update it. Thank you for taking the time to get invested in my story and thanks so much for the positive reviews. You guys make it worthwhile for me to keep writing these fics. Once again, I'm sorry it took so long, but I'm glad I at least gave you something for now. It's more me getting back into writing. Have to admit, though, I am a bit rusty.

Until next time, goodbye and thanks for reading!