I DO NOT OWN NARUTO

Just some jinchuuriki family fluff and a little bit of firstborn syndrome :)

"Naruko~" a light-hearted voice sang, and the kunoichi in question turned around on her ramen bar stool to look at the head of cotton-candy-pink. "Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei sent me to fetch you for a... um, Team 7 meeting."

Naruko raised an eyebrow as she slowly slurped up a single noodle. She continued meeting her teammate's gaze — her now very nervous teammate.

It hadn't been very long since Naruko had returned to Konoha after her impromptu "vacation", but before Yugito and Killer Bee had left for Kumo, they had sat her down and talked with her about the prospect of there being certain questions. Naruko had given suggestions, and the two Kumo ninja had agreed and given her permission to tell who she trusted explicitly. However, Bee had made it extremely clear that if any one of them were to use this information wrongly, he would not hesitate to pierce them with all seven of his swords, for betraying her trust if nothing else. Naruko had to roll her eyes at her big brother's endearingly overprotective tendencies, especially when her mother nonchalantly agreed with him.

Speaking of brothers and and overprotectiveness; Naruko swore she saw Kakashi wherever she went since his unique hair did make it a little hard for him to blend in, after all. Her teammates really weren't that much better, and neither was Hinata. The only reprieve Naruko had in the past days were the times she escaped into Hizashi's room in the heavily-fortified Hyuuga Compound. Hizashi found her situation to be endlessly amusing, and took every opportunity he could to relentlessly tease the little blonde about it. They had continued their friendly relationship and sometimes Neji had the gall to drop in and see how long he could put up with their "childish antics".

Oh yes, and speaking of the Hyuuga — Naruko counted seeing the Hyuuga twins reunite as one of the best dramas she had ever seen in her entire thirteen years of living. Hiashi had been in the middle of training with his youngest daughter Hanabi when Hizashi, Hinata and Neji came back to the Hyuuga Compound. Naruko herself had been forcibly dragged along with them by Hinata and Hizashi, the latter promising that she wouldn't want to miss what was about to occur. And how right he was — Hizashi had stormed up to his twin and started yelling at him about being an illiterate twat truck since he had taken so long to tell Neji the truth, and if he hadn't been such a redundant Kami-damned elbow, the Hyuuga might've actually gotten things done around here, namely learning from that experience and deciding on a better failsafe than the Caged Bird Seal. Hiashi had simply stood there, jaw hanging and eyes wide open and simply taking in the verbal beat-down before his eyes narrowed and look of pure fury contorted his features. Obviously, he thought this was some sort of sick joke and said as much, instantly launching to attack Hizashi. But the funniest part was that Hizashi mirrored his movements, and the fact that they were identical twins didn't help much; basically it looked like Hiashi was striking at a mirror as they shouted at each other in the most comical fashion that had Hinata crouching down and wrapping her arms around her torso while she giggled uncontrollably, and Naruko had to lean on Neji just to stand upright. Neji himself had to turn away and covered his mouth with his hand to hide the grin that was steadily growing. Hanabi joined them with the most adorably confused look on her face, but she too found amusement in the scene that her usually-stoic father was creating. By the time the Hyuuga twins stopped attacking each other, a good two hours had gone by and the two men had sore throats and gone hoarse from yelling so much, but Hizashi had somehow managed to fully explain what had transpired ten years ago. Naruko couldn't help but grin when she remembered how Hiashi had nearly fallen to his knees to beg for forgiveness when Hizashi punched him in the gut — as "a little payback" and so Hiashi could remember how that night happened — with a grin before hugging him, "Hyuuga-man-style". Afterwards, Neji reported that Hizashi complained about the backlash from using his Byakugan to such an extent after sleeping for so many years, to which Naruko had promptly invited herself into the Hyuuga Compound to give the man a light slap to his aching head and a piece of her mind.

And while she was on the topic of over-exertion; Sasuke Uchiha. Naruko was getting a little — okay, maybe more than a little — worried about her teammate. After all the drama and emotions that her homecoming had brought about, Sasuke had slowly started to become more withdrawn and repeatedly turned down offers to spend time together, whether as a team or individually. So as both his friend and teammate, Naruko took it upon herself to trail him one day and found that her idiot teammate was training himself to the point of passing out from chakra exhaustion. Safe to say, Naruko was far from happy at this discovery, and even went as far to paralyze Sasuke until Sakura arrived so she could heal Sasuke's various injuries. Combined, the two girls were able to persuade — more like forced through the classic threat of blackmail — the Uchiha into promising he would never go that far again. But Naruko had a feeling that wouldn't be the end of it; while it was subtle enough, Naruko could tell there was something different about him. She had realized it when she was recounting the earlier parts of her "adventure" — she swore something dark and sinister had flashed in Sasuke's eyes. Naruko would never say it out loud, but it had scared her a little, that look of pure loathing and what could only be described as a thirst for violence, wiping away the kind and playful teammate who hid behind a stoic front, leaving behind the avenger he had started out as, with his eyes set on a single path. It had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared, but either way Naruko had seen it, and she wouldn't be able to forget it anytime soon. To tell the truth, it worried her; the thought that Sasuke could possibly be reverting back to how he had been before he knew the truth behind his family's massacre and how Itachi had been the scapegoat for Konoha's dirty schemes.

Shaking that thought away, Naruko thought about the other two on her Genin team; she had seen neither hair nor hide of them all day, and that in itself was suspicious. In fact, now that she thought about it, they had slowly gravitated away from her in the past twenty hours or so; while she had initially been grateful for the space, she was now rather apprehensive. Usually Naruko's day would be spent with Sakura — that girl was getting good at finding chakra signatures — and doing whatever the pinkette thought up of, or sparring with Hinata. And in the evenings she'd be walked home by Sasuke — she realized early on he wouldn't take no for an answer and ended up trailing her if she did protest, so she gave in.

And now, it looked like her suspicions were coming into fruition.

Internally grinning at Sakura's obvious anxiety, Naruko dropped a few notes onto the counter next to her empty ramen bowl and turned to fully face her teammate, an easy smile on her face. She walked over to Sakura and bowed slightly, offering her arm, "Shall we?"

An amused smile quirked Sakura's lip, and she took the offered arm. "Why, thank you kind sir," she replied in the same posh accent. There was a brief moment in which the two girls stared at each other, daring them to be the first to give in. It didn't last long as they burst into laughter at the same moment, and started to make their way towards Training Ground 7.

"So? What's all this about?" Naruko asked cheerfully as she sat down between Sasuke and her sensei. "Team 7 meeting or is this an intervention for one of us? If it's an intervention, I'd hope it's for Kaka-nii and his disgusting habit of reading Icha Icha in public."

"Actually," Sasuke said a little uncomfortably, "we kind of have a lot of questions for you... and I think— we all agree that the best way to answer that would be to hear your backstory. But only if you're comfortable with that," he added hurriedly.

Sakura smiled; it was kind of sweet to see the normally cold and composed Uchiha stumble over his words. "What we mean is," she said calmly, "you've been surprising us at every turn from the very beginning. And it would be nice if we knew all the facts, so we aren't caught off guard again. Also we would like to have our curiosity satisfied," she added sheepishly.

Naruko gave a small smile. "I understand." She took a deep breath. "Okay. Well, um, it's a very long story, but I think you're all sticking around regardless, huh?" she smiled wryly at her team, who nodded in confirmation. She took another deep breath. "When you meet someone... most of the time you don't know how they were raised. A lot of people... they weren't raised on love. They were raised on survival. That's why so many men and women are unable to love properly. You'll find a lot of people damaged inside because of their past."

The Uzumaki chewed her lip nervously, not sure where to start. Sasuke, upon seeing her fingers interlocking so tightly they turned white, reached out and gently untangled her fingers to allow blood to flow through them once more. Naruko blinked at him in surprise, but the Uchiha simply patted her hand before leaning back.

"I was a born on October 10th, the same day the Kyuubi no Kitsune unleashed havoc upon Konoha," Naruko started. "My mother and father were Kushina Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, otherwise known as the Red Hot Habanero and the Yellow Flash, respectively. Of course, most know my father as the Yondaime Hokage. My mother was a jinchuuriki, which means—"

"Human sacrifice," Sakura breathed, horror filling her beryl eyes. "It literally means the power of human sacrifice."

Naruko nodded once. "Yeah. She had a tailed beast sealed within her: the Kyuubi. But she wasn't the only one. There were, and still are, eight other people like her, each with a demon sealed inside them. That's why we're called jinchuuriki, the power of human sacrifice. An ace up a village's sleeve, so to speak."

"That's horrible," Sasuke murmured. "I bet they weren't very well liked by their villages, were they? I mean, they're holding demons."

Naruko shook her head. "In every village, jinchuuriki are shunned and cast aside. There are rare exceptions, and that's only when the jinchuuriki has strong ties to the Kage, more commonly as family, though there are still those who are rejected by both family and village," the blonde said softly as her mind strayed to her redheaded brother.

"Gaara," Sakura whispered in understanding. "His siblings weren't very comfortable with him in the beginning, even though they wanted to be. Because... because he's a jinchuuriki, like you."

Naruko nodded again. "A while ago, the jinchuuriki decided that they would form an alliance of sorts. They are the only people in the world who could ever hope to, and are able to, understand each other. I think at least four generations of jinchuuriki have secretly grown up alongside each other. But anyway, when my... biological mother was dying, someone came to her aid." A small, sad smile stole across Naruko's face.

"No, Kushina is not alive," she shook her head at Kakashi's barely-hopeful eye. "You've met that "someone", actually. Her name is Yugito Nii, now a kunoichi of Kumogakure... the same kunoichi who escorted me back to Konoha." Naruko couldn't help but smirk a little at the memories of their journey back. "She was my mother's best friend growing up, the jinchuuriki of the Nibi no Bakeneko... and, with my biological mother's wish, the one who raised me for the first ten years of my life."

"So when you said you lost your family," Sasuke said slowly, "you meant the jinchuuriki, right? You said you had to split up across the Five Great Nations because of a threat. What was it?"

"I'm getting there, but you're on the right track," Naruko acknowledged. "Up until I was ten-years-old, I grew up in the Jinchuuriki Base surrounded by jinchuuriki. Apparently, before I came along, they never really acted like family." She shrugged with a half-hearted laugh. "But growing up, all I ever knew was this close-knit group of people that I called brothers, sisters, mother and grandfather."

Naruko suddenly twitched, "Although, of course, there were a few... incidents... where said brothers were the worst siblings in the world and decided to scar me for life..."

"Naru-chan," Utakata called from his room. "Do you mind going into the bathroom and checking if my bubble-pipe is there? I seem to have misplaced it..."

"Hai, Uta-nii," a five-year-old Naruko said obediently as she set down her colouring book and went into the bathroom. "Bub-pie... bub-pie..." she murmured under her breath as she opened a cabinet door and started to rummage through it.

"Naruko Uzumaki..."

Naruko froze. Her ears twitched. She shivered. There was a tense silence.

"Get ready to RUMBLE!"

The quiet, sinister voice rose to a full-on roar as the bathtub curtain was ripped back, revealing a short figure with a horrifyingly realistic Jar Jar Binks mask obscuring their identity. And as if that wasn't already enough to make scar Naruko for life — which she was — he was also brandishing a large butcher knife stained with red, waving it around haphazardly.

Naruko screamed.

Grabbing a nearby shampoo bottle, she chucked it without even looking before turning around and high-tailing it out of the bathroom, still shrieking from the top of her lungs. She heard a soft curse and then thudding feet; one look behind her and she saw the Jar Jar Binks mask skidding around the corner and race closer.

"OKAA-CHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNN!" young Naruko wailed, already on the verge of tears. She was going to die, she was sure of it. This belief was only cemented when she tripped over a stray beanbag, allowing her attacker to catch up to her within seconds. Naruko whimpered as she was backed against a wall, trembling like a leaf in the harsh autumn wind. Reacting on pure instinct as he reached out to grab her, Naruko thrust her short right leg forward and up as fast and hard as she could. She felt it connect, a screamed curse that was half-drowned out by her own crying, and then she recoiled to curl up in the corner.

"What the hell are you trying to do, woman?!" her brother's familiar, albeit strained, voice faintly registered in her mind.

"Me? What the hell are you doing? No, more like: what did you do to Naru-chan?"

If she hadn't already been crying, Naruko would've wept in relief as she heard her mother's voice demand answers, her tone a mix between angry and frustrated. Naruko sneaked a peek through her fingers and saw her older brother Yagura lying on the ground a few feet in front of her, curled up on his side with his face screwed up in pain. Both his hands were holding something between his legs. Yugito was standing by him, eyebrow cocked with an irritated look on her face. Naruko's eyes fell on the accursed Jar Jar Binks mask lying on the ground beside Yagura's head — the mere sight of it was enough to have her bawling again.

Yugito's eyes softened when they fell on a trembling Naruko. She swiftly moved to lean down and pick up the sobbing girl, cradling her close and running her hands up and down her back as she cooed nonsense in an attempt to calm her down.

"Stop swearing, you big baby," Yugito rolled her eyes, nudging Yagura's side with her foot. "So she kicked you in the nuts. You had that coming for pulling that stupid prank. Besides, she's five. How hard could she have possibly kicked you?"

"Hard enough," Yagura winced, making no move to indicate he was planning on getting up.

More harried footsteps, and Utakata came sliding around the corner. "What hap—" He abruptly cut himself off and took stock of the situation before releasing a groan, lightly slamming his palm onto his forehead. "I forgot to tell the Mama-Cat..."

"Ya think?" Yagura shouted, before wincing at the harsh movement and curling in tighter on himself. Utakata's face twisted into something akin to amusement, sympathy and second-hand pain; his blunder and forgetfulness resulted in his poor brother experiencing a sensitive kind of pain that one simply did not wish to live through twice, if ever. Well, better him than Utakata.

Yugito rolled her eyes, "Well if you'll excuse me, I need to calm down this poor child that you two scared half to death. And I'm sure you'll understand when I say that neither of you will ever be at home alone with Naruko again after this."

"Yes ma'am," Yagura conceded in a sulky tone, while Utakata spoke in a defeated one.

Yugito nodded in approval before turning on her heel to comfort her poor baby girl. Maybe some ice cream and a Disney movie would do the trick... she doubted it. Oh well, she'd get her revenge later, once Roshi came home and could act like the doting grandfather he was. For now, her little girl needed some spoiling.

"Wait, grandfather?" Sakura's eyebrows rose in amusement. "Who was that?"

"Roshi, the jinchuuriki of the Yonbi no Saru," Naruko smiled fondly. "He's an Iwa shinobi. Same goes for my older brother, Han. He's the jinchuuriki of the Gobi no Irukauma." She narrowed her eyes warningly at Kakashi. "And don't say or try anything. I'm aware Iwakagure still has a bitter grudge against my father since the Third Great Shinobi War, but those two have always been and will continue to be my family. They would never hurt me."

Kakashi sighed and settled down, though he still wasn't very happy that his little sister had grown up with two Iwa shinobi. He spent the early years of his shinobi career fighting and killing them. It just seemed wrong that Naruko should be raised by them, but it wasn't like he could do anything about it. As long as they didn't hurt her, or sell her out...

"I had a brother from Kumo. His name was Blue B, and he was the jinchuuriki of the Hachibi no Kyogyū." Naruko drew her knees against her chest, lowering her face as sorrow darkened her usually-bright eyes. "I... even though I was only six when he died, I still remember him... and how much I loved him. He died when someone extracted Gyuki from him."

Sakura shifted over to wrap an arm around Naruko. "I'm sorry. I know it's late, and it won't really do much, but I am sorry."

Naruko nodded. "It's okay. Thank you, anyway."

"Wasn't Blue B the Sandaime Raikage's nephew? Cousin to the current Raikage?" Kakashi asked, his eyebrows drawing together. Naruko nodded, and Kakashi hummed thoughtfully.

"Who's Gyuki?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask.

"Gyuki is the Hachibi's name," Naruko smiled as affection crept into her voice. "This may surprise you, but all the Tailed Beasts have names. Like the Ichibi, Gaara's Bijuu, is called Shukaku—"

"We know," Sasuke said wryly, "you screamed his name and scolded the hell out of him during the invasion. The faces on every Konoha and Suna shinobi..." He trailed off with a wide smirk. "It was priceless. You scolded him into reverting the transformation."

Naruko chuckled sheepishly. "Yes, well..."

"And nearly gave me a damn heart attack," Kakashi added with obvious displeasure. "I swear, even with just you alone, you're going to give me gray hair."

Naruko made a point of eyeing her brother-figure's gravity-defying mop. "Well... I wouldn't know now, would I?"

"It's premature grayness!" Kakashi snapped.

"You've had it since you were born," Naruko deadpanned.

"That's because I knew I would end up having the misfortune of dealing with you, so my hair just decided to get it over with as quickly as possible!" Kakashi shot back.

A strange noise emitted from Sasuke's throat as he attempted to rein his laughter in; Sakura had no such restraints or obligations, and fell into fits of giggles at her sensei's utterly ridiculous and nonsensical exclamation.

Naruko rolled her eyes. "Whatever floats your boat, Kaka-nii." She cleared her throat. "As I was saying — there are nine Bijuu in total. The Nibi no Bakeneko is Matatabi, the Sanbi no Kyodaigame is Isobu, the Yonbi no Saru is Son Goku, the Gobi no Irukauma is Kokuo, the Rokubi no Namekuji is Saiken, the Nanabi no Kabutomushi is 'Lucky 7 Chomei' and, as we already established, the Hachibi no Kyogyū is Gyuki." Naruko placed a hand on her stomach where her own seal was, smiling a little wider. "And the Kyuubi no Kitsune, my tenant, is Kurama."

"And just who gave you permission throwing my name around like that?" Kurama grumbled from where he lay stretched out in a nap her mindscape, though he felt the fondness emanating from his jinchuuriki, and returned the affection just as much.

'Stop complaining, furball,' Naruko responded, the endearment taking away any bite the retort may have had. Looking back at her team, she continued with her story. "That's when the current jinchuuriki of Gyuki, Killer Bee, entered our family. He also hails from Kumo, and is the adopted younger brother of the Yondaime Raikage. That's how I know him, as you saw in the preliminary stage of the Chuunin Exams," she explained.

"When Mizukage-sama, his bodyguard, and Killer Bee appeared out of nowhere to stop Gaara from k-killing Rock, right?" Sakura asked. She stumbled a little over the word, still a little shaken up over the uncomfortably close brush Lee had had with both Death and the almost-certain end of his shinobi career.

Naruko winced slightly. "He wasn't going to kill Lee. Maybe impair him, but Gaara would never intentionally hurt or kill someone. The sealers in Suna are, quite frankly, hopeless. The terrible quality and workmanship creates an irritating situation for both Shukaku and Gaara, so there are times when his sand gets out of control. He's gotten better though. Ugh, you should've seen him when he first came to the Base," Naruko shuddered slightly.

"Hi, my name's Naruko. What's yours?" Naruko smiled, reaching out a hand to the new boy like her mother had told her to. The boy looked uncertainly at her, and didn't take her hand. "Well?" she prompted.

"What?" The boy's voice was so soft she had to strain to hear it, even with her enhanced hearing.

"You shake hands when you meet someone," she informed the boy. "And tell them your name. I just told you mine: Naruko. Now what's yours?"

"Gaara," the redhead answered, still in that soft, barely-there voice.

"Nice to meet you, Gaara," Naruko smiled wider and moved forward to take his hand.

"Wait, stop!" Gaara panicked, moving back as his hands flew up in front of his face. As he did so, a wave of sand suddenly rushed around them, splitting into tendrils and waving around almost manically. Some even formed claw-like shapes, rushing towards the blonde girl.

"Wow, that's so cool!" Naruko laughed in delight. She let out a soft grunt as one of the claws gripped her waist and lifted her high in the air, pinning her arms against her sides. "Okay Gaara, not funny anymore," she grunted as she twisted and struggled to get out of the vice-iron grip. "Gaara! You're hurting me!"

"I-I'm sorry." Gaara looked genuinely terrified as he backed away until he hit the wall. "I-I don't know how to stop it... I-I don't... I don't know what to do!"

Naruko bit down on her lip, hard, as she desperately recalling what Ritsu had told her. "Shukaku, can you hear me?" she called aloud. No one responded. She couldn't even feel the faint brush of the raccoon's conscience against hers. "Great, well, surely someone else has to know what to do," the six-year-old muttered, wincing as she felt her ribs strain under the — alarmingly enough — increasing pressure. 'Kurama, a little help here?'

"What do you mean, "a little help"— oh. OH. OH SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS!" The demon shot upright in the girl's mindscape as the scene in front of him finally registered. "When the hell did Shukaku's host change?"

'I don't know, I don't have a way of keeping track of Ritsu when she's not in the Base!' Naruko groaned, more exasperated with her tenant than worried about her current situation. 'But if you don't mind — help me! I'm going to get crushed into bone and blood!'

"Little girls like you shouldn't think of such gory things," Kurama sighed, "I think you've been hanging out with me too much."

'Just do something, furball!' Naruko all but screamed at her tenant. 'I might actually die at this rate!'

"Okay okay," Kurama started to pace. "I can't reach Shukaku because the stupid raccoon is somehow knocked out cold and you don't know his host that well and consequently cannot connect with his mind. Is anyone else home?"

'What do you think?' Naruko deadpanned. 'A new jinchuuriki comes and lifts me in the air with his sand and starts crushing me, and no one has come to investigate even when I shouted at him to stop it. Isn't age an indicator of wisdom? And aren't you're what, a thousand years old? Do the math, Kurama!'

"Well, where the hell is your mother? You shouldn't leave children alone by themselves."

'I'm not a child!' Naruko retorted, though she was in fact a child at only six years of age. Not that Kurama would point that out in this particular situation. 'Everyone's on missions and okaa-chan had to duck over to Kumo so as to not fuel suspicions or something like that. Or maybe it was to talk with the Raikage?'

"Well that's just f-ing great, isn't it?" Kurama retorted sarcastically.

'Okaa-chan's going to skin you for using that kind of language in front of me,' Naruko commented absently as her arms wriggled for a little leeway. Was it just her or did the sand loosen a little? Either way, thank Kami her ribs weren't screaming anymore, but it was still unbearably tight. Still tight enough that one more minute of increasing pressure and she would be left with a shattered ribcage, if she was lucky.

"Good idea, I'm going to contact Matatabi." Kurama was silent for a minute. "Bad idea," was the first thing out of his mouth when he spoke again.

'What? Why?' Naruko asked curiously.

"To put it in a nutshell, Yugito's in a full-on panic attack," Kurama deadpanned. "She's on her way back right now, and apparently she's going so fast it's like she's got hell on her tail. At this rate, she could rival the Yellow Flash himself."

'...what did you say to her?' the young blonde asked in bewilderment.

"Just that her six-year-old daughter is about to be crushed to death by the new Shukaku jinchuuriki," Kurama shrugged nonchalantly.

'KURAMA!'

"What? You need the help!"

'If I could facepalm right now, I would,' Naruko groaned, throwing her head back in exasperation.

"And I reiterate again: you need the help. Urgently, because you're in a precarious situation and I hope you know that!"

'Yes, well, giving okaa-chan an unnecessary heart attack isn't really helping anybody, now is it?' Naruko snapped back. She turned her attention away from her aggravating tenant, and to the redheaded boy who was cowering against the wall and staring at the claw wrapped around her in morbid fascination. "Okay, look Gaara," Naruko started, "my okaa-chan's coming. She's going to help you, I promise. But you need to not attack her, do you understand?"

The slightest dip of the chin. She took that as a victory.

"Good. But until then, I need you to put all your focus into not crushing me. You can hold me if it's too much for you to try letting me go, but all I need you to do is make sure you don't, uh, kill me and we'll both be fine." Naruko smiled brightly, and internally cheered when Gaara seemed to peel away from the wall a little. "Yes, that's right, there you go..." She was pleased when the sand loosened the slightest inch. 'Kurama, how far away is okaa-chan?'

"She'll be right—"

The door slammed open and Gaara jumped. Naruko let out a high-pitched yelp as the sand claw tightened even more. "No, don't tighten!" she groaned. "Gaara, focus!"

The redhead's eyes snapped up to hers, and it was all Naruko could do to stop squeezing them closed in pain. "Come on Gaara... you can do this. Focus. Don't crush me. Focus on spreading the sand grains apart, loosening them. Or whatever you're doing."

"Naruko!" Yugito Nii burst into the room, but Gaara and Naruko's eyes remained locked on each other. The older female took in the situation before slowly walking towards the small redhead, having gone through this with Ritsu before, when they had been children. "G-Gaara, right?" the Kumo kunoichi said softly, and attempted a smile as seafoam-green eyes flickered to meet hers. "I'm Yugito, the jinchuuriki of the Nibi." It was hard to keep a steady voice, and steady hands, when her maternal instincts were screaming at her to get her daughter out of that sand contraption, to do anything, to just get her out of there.

"You're Naruko's okaa-chan," Gaara said, so quietly that Yugito barely caught it. But she did, and her heart stuttered. No matter how many years she spent living with the girl, or how many times Naruko called her that, it never failed to warm her that the child she loved as her own daughter, loved her as her own mother, too.

Yugito swallowed. "That's right," she smiled a slightly strained smile.

"Naruko said you could help me, if I didn't attack you. Can you?"

The eyes were the embodiment of the word "plead", and Yugito felt her heart break a little at the sight. Here was a boy, the same age has her daughter and who owed nothing to the world, yet he bore such a heavy burden of the reputably-"insane" Bijuu.

"I can," Yugito said in a soft, low voice. "But you have to listen to me, alright?"

Gaara nodded. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

"I know you don't," Yugito agreed. "But your sand instinctively protects you from any and all harm, even if there aren't really any threats. You need to learn to control it. And that's what I'm here for... what we're here for."

"We?"

"There are others," Naruko piped up. "My brothers and sisters. Oh, and Roshi-jiji. You'll meet them later, but they're like you and me. And they've been teaching me how to bond with and use Kurama's chakra. He's my tenant, by the way."

"Tenant...?" Gaara's head tilted to the side questioningly.

"Oh-ho-ho, you my dear friend, have a lot to learn," Naruko laughed, shaking her head. "Don't worry, the journey's half the fun!"

"How are you so chipper when you're barely a hair's breadth away from being crushed?" Yugito shook her head with a heavy sigh. "I don't understand you sometimes."

"Aw," Naruko smiled, "Gaa-chan would never hurt me. Besides, you're here to protect me, aren't you? That's what mothers are for."

Yugito's eyes widened before they softened and a tender look entered them. "Yeah. That's what mothers are for," she repeated almost breathlessly.

Naruko shook her head. "It took quite a few months for him to be able to properly control the sand that protects him."

"Wait, if you were an only child up until you were six, did you ever have... firstborn syndrome?" Sakura asked, struggling to keep the amusement off her face at the mere scenario.

Naruko's eye twitched. "...I'm human."

"So... that's a yes," Sasuke smirked. His smirk only grew when Naruko let out a mix between an embarrassed whine and a groan, burying her face in her knees as her ears took on a prominent red flush.

Naruko skipped into the living room, ready to sing her mother's name. The sound abruptly died on her lips when she saw Yugito was already occupied with teaching Gaara how to read. Silently, the blonde backed out of the room... just like she had done for the past month, ever since Gaara came into the family. Naruko didn't understand why she was feeling this way — she loved having Gaara around at first, and sure she missed her nee-chan and spent more than one night crying herself to sleep, but she finally had someone her age to talk and play with.

But then things started changing. Her okaa-chan no longer hers to play with, talk with or simply spend time with. Her siblings had noticed things, she knew, because they made an effort to have at least one of them be with her whenever they could. But they weren't her okaa-chan.

Dimly, Naruko knew it was stupid. Why was she jealous? None of her brothers or her sister were. So why was she?

"Hey, Kit," Kurama's voice rumbled softly in the back of her mind. "Go out to the backyard, slip under the hedge, run straight ahead, and follow where the river bends."

Naruko frowned. 'I'm not supposed to go past the backyard.'

"Just do it, Kit, alright? There's something I want to show you, and no one else can see."

Naruko debated this. On one hand, the backyard had always been the limit of their home. Yugito had made it explicitly clear that she was never, under any circumstances, supposed to go past the surrounding hedges. But... would she even notice? Would anyone? Besides, Kurama wanted to show her something. And Kurama had been her only friend in these months, especially when the mission intakes started drastically increasing, to her siblings' annoyance. So Naruko cast one last look at the living room and slipped out the backdoor.

Running as fast as her little legs could carry her, Naruko followed the river until she came to a clearing, with nothing in sight for miles. It was simple, but very beautiful. And the most stunning feature of all was that the meadow was filled with sunflowers, large and smiling, just as bright and vibrant as her hair. (1) Naruko let out a gasp of delight as she surged forward to run among the field of flowers, laughter spilling from her lips as she twirled and ran and did walkovers all through the meadow.

'It's beautiful!' Naruko laughed before finally sobering down as she fell flat on her back, staring up at the sky that was a shade rivaling her own eyes. 'Thank you, Kurama.'

"No need to mention it, Kit," Kurama said, sounding very pleased with himself. "Now, I want you to practice something for me..."

When Naruko finally returned home, it was dusk. She slipped in quietly, hoping to have made it to her bedroom without anyone noticing. She managed to close her bathroom door just as a soft knock sounded on her door, and Gaara's quiet voice called, "Naruko, okaa-san says it's time for dinner."

"Okay!" she called back, trying not to sound too panicky. "I'll be there in a few minutes... just... finishing up in the bathroom."

Quiet footsteps meant that the redhead had left. Naruko leaned against the door in relief, but caught sight of herself in the mirror and grimaced at the image staring back at her. There was no way she wouldn't be questioned if she went to dinner looking like that. She cleaned herself and got into a spare change of clothes as fast as possible, not daring to shower should someone hear the running water and ask why she would shower so close to dinnertime.

She ran down the corridor, silently cursing the winding halls, and unconsciously used chakra to boost herself.

"Slow down!" Kurama yelped at the same time Naruko skidded around the corner and had to throw herself to the ground in order to avoid crashing into the food-laden table.

"Oh, son of a motherf-ing b-h!" she yelped just before she slammed into the bookcase. "I hate you so much, Kura," she muttered under her breath. "It's your fault I have absolutely zero chakra control... "so much chakra is a good thing" my ass..."

"Kit, are you even aware that you swore out loud?" Kurama asked nervously.

'Well that would be your fault, wouldn't it?' Naruko griped. 'You do, after all, swear almost all the time around me.'

Someone pointedly clearing their throat had Naruko freezing as she slowly tilted her head up, a sheepish smile already forming on her face. Standing in front of her, with his arms crossed and a disapproving raised eyebrow, was Roshi. 'Well... it's better than okaa-chan...' She peered behind her red-clad grandfather to see Mio's mouth had dropped, Gaara's eyes were so wide they might pop out of his eye sockets, Bee was struggling to hold back a wide smirk, Han was blinking at her in dumbfounded surprise, Utakata had dropped his head in his hands with obvious despair, and Yagura's cheeks were puffed out like a pufferfish as he tried to reign in his rising laughter.

Roshi cleared his throat again, catching her attention once more. "Naruko Uzumaki," he began sternly, "where, and from whom, did you hear that foul language?"

Naruko paused sheepishly. "I... uh... heard Kurama say it... when I accidentally... did something."

"And what was that "something"?"

"...classified?"

Roshi narrowed his eyes, but sighed. "You're lucky your mother wasn't here to catch that."

"And speaking of being here," Mio piped up, "where were you today, Naruko? You missed lunch."

Naruko blanched. "Lunch. Right." Inside she started swearing with various ice cream flavours. It had been around late morning when she left to do as Kurama said, and they had been having so much fun that they forgot about the time until the sky reminded them.

"Oh, Naruko, there you are. I was looking for you... what are you doing against the bookcase?" Yugito's voice was her saving grace. Naruko almost sagged on the floor, and was grateful when the woman leaned down to pick her up. "Come on, time for dinner."

And that was how Naruko's days started passing by — she would sneak out after breakfast to her secret meadow, return for lunch, sneak back out, and return once the sun set. With this secret all to herself, Naruko was a lot happier, and everyone could see it. But unfortunately, being shinobi, they could also see how exhausted she was becoming every night — she even declined a movie night and that had Yugito and Roshi checking her for a fever for the next two days — how fidgety and distracted she was during breakfast and lunch, and quiet she was at dinner as she struggled not to fall asleep. She appeared less and less around the Base as Kurama taught her all about the edible plants and berries, and ended up snacking on them throughout the day in reasonable quantities so she didn't have to go home for food. It wasn't like most of them were there during the afternoons, anyway. She ended up throwing up her dinner once after having forced herself to finish her plate in order to not rouse suspicion. So of course, that backfired on her...

Naruko continued to sneak out every day, and every time she came back, Yugito would be with Gaara, either teaching him the usual academics or how to work with Shukaku. She didn't mind it so much, now that she had Kurama teaching her everything she ever wanted or needed to know. He knew all about plants and animals, chakra, jutsu theory and he had lots of interesting stories about wars and he enjoyed romping around the field with her. He had no qualms about teaching her a few jutsu here and there, but only under his strict supervision. And they never told anyone. Naruko supposed it was one of the quirks you had to deal with when your family was a secret; it was easy for those who spent time with her the most — Yagura and Utakata — to tell something was up, but they weren't nearly around as much as they wanted to be after Kirigakure started to become restless under the continued reign of the Sandaime Mizukage.

And then, one day, she slipped up. The moon was shining high in the sky by the time Naruko had finally made it back to Base, and she was hoping against hope that everyone was asleep and she could slip in and into bed, so when everyone awoke tomorrow she could just laugh it off. No one would be any wiser—

The lights flickered on. "And just where have you been, young lady?"

Naruko internally groaned; but of course, fate was never that kind. She slowly turned to see her mother sitting on her bed, a mix between a scowl and a frown on her face. 'Well... this is going to get very ugly, very quickly,' she thought with a sinking heart.

"Tell me about it," Kurama grumbled. "I'm getting stared down by Matatabi as we speak."

'To be fair, this was your idea...'

"Hush, before you get us both into trouble. And then we won't be able to work on that."

Naruko quickly shut up and worked on answering her mother's question. "Um... I was... out?" She grimaced at her weak answer, practically hearing Kurama facepalming.

"Remind me to work on your atrocious deception skills the next time we go out."

Yugito's frown deepened. "Don't lie to me, Naruko."

"I technically didn't," Naruko felt the need to point out, "I was out of the house."

"And on reading body language and how to react accordingly. Kit, you little sweet menace, stop," Kurama sighed. "You're digging your own grave and it is painful to watch."

"That wasn't what I meant and you know it."

"Do I, though?" Naruko challenged. 'Oh yeah, I'm so screwed... well, I did predict this would get ugly pretty damn fast.'

Yugito's sharp gaze turned into a glare. "Don't play dumb with me, Naruko. Where. Were. You?"

"Well it was nice knowing you, Naruko Uzumaki. I wish you well for your next life."

"None of your business." Naruko's eyes widened at the same time Yugito's narrowed, and the younger blonde clapped a hand to her mouth. But it was too late; the damage was done. 'Oh, sugar honey iced tea.'

"My sentiments exactly," Kurama sighed again. "Good luck. And warn me before you run."

Naruko shook her head. "Can we not talk about this now?" Her eyes drifted to the clock on her wall. "It's 2:15 AM. I want to go to bed..."

"No," Yugito said firmly, "it's 2:15 AM and that's precisely why we need to talk. Where were you at such an hour? You didn't show up for dinner — which you should never do since you aren't part of a village and therefore have no other obligations — and you weren't anywhere to be found in the Base. Do you know how worried I was?"

"Probably as worried as you were when I first went out?" Naruko asked sarcastically.

"It truly was wonderful knowing you, young Uzumaki. However brief our time together may have been, know that you have secured yourself a place as my favourite jinchuuriki thus far. I wish you a long and fruitful life when you become reincarnated."

'Oh, stop the theatrics, Kura. She won't kill me. Tear me apart with her words of disappointment and crumble the walls I painstakingly built up around my heart, maybe... but she won't kill me.'

Yugito's eyes narrowed even further, if possible. "When you... first went out?" she repeated.

"Yeah, first went out," Naruko snapped. The happiness and tranquility she had from the meadow of sunflowers was fast dissipating, and now a flaring anger was rising in her. "But you wouldn't have noticed. After all, Gaara is more important, isn't he? You need to train him so he can control his sand and work with Shukaku. Besides, I have a whole family of siblings to spend time with so no harm done. Oh but that's right — none of them are even here half the time!"

Yugito blinked. "Gaara?" Her eyes softened as her anger gave way to a sort of sad understanding. "Oh, Naruko... is that what this is all about?"

"No. Yes. Maybe. I don't know!" Naruko finally shouted. "I just... nee-chan died and I never got to say goodbye or "I love you" or... or... or anything! And I just needed some consistency, alright? I needed a constant. And the only constant I ever had, and ever will have, is Kurama. So when he suggested we go out somewhere, away from here, I agreed. And I was happy. But you ruined it... you ruined everything. Again."

Dimly aware that she was sounding like a spoiled brat, Naruko shoved the "Jiminy Cricket" away from her subconscious and turned to walk into the bathroom. "Just leave me alone. I'll... I'll talk tomorrow."

She shut the door and leaned against it, sliding down to draw her knees up against her chest and wrap her arms around them, burying her face in her knees. 'What the heck was that?' she chided herself as she furiously swiped at the hot tears. 'It's not like it's okaa-san's fault I'm being a petty, jealous brat.' She paused, struck. 'Okaa... san. When did I start calling her that? When... when did okaa-chan become okaa-san?' (2)

"Frankly, you're acting like a hormonal and rebellious teenager," Kurama sighed. "I guess this is what humans call "firstborn syndrome"."

'Firstborn... syndrome?' Naruko repeated, confused.

"Basically when the firstborn feels like they are no longer as special or wanted. They feel hurt and begin to do something about it, like press for more attention, compete with their sibling or physically hurt them."

Naruko was alarmed. 'But I don't want to hurt Gaara!'

"I know," Kurama said simply, reassuringly, "that's why I got you out of this cave-house, and gave you a sanctuary in the meadow."

'Oh... thank you.'

"Don't worry about it." Kurama paused. "Your mother's gone, Kit. Guess she's waiting for tomorrow to talk with you."

'But... I don't want to talk with her.'

Kurama heaved a sigh. "You're acting childish. Oh wait, I forgot — you're a fetus." Ignoring her indignant spluttering, he said, "I think you and your mother need some space right now. You have a great relationship with each other and this is the first real fight you've had in a while. Personally, I think you just got used to your newfound independence and Yugito doesn't realize that, so she's acting the way she did before Gaara came and now you're feeling unbearably smothered. And, just like any other cornered animal would, you lashed out. Sound about right, Kit?"

Naruko's contemplative silence was enough confirmation.

"Alright," Kurama sighed again, "back to the meadow it is. We'll come back in the morning."

They didn't. They stayed in the meadow, sleeping under a weeping willow, and played around the whole day. Kurama let her be, knowing that sometimes you just had to let someone cool off before you reasoned with them. Naruko was still a child; she'd miss her mother and her siblings and want to go back soon enough. That's how all runaways end up, especially when they were young and it was over a little thing like a spat.

But obviously, he underestimated Naruko's stubborn streak as they stayed out there for another three days. Naruko had been working on a jutsu for most of it, and didn't care for time. Kurama discovered that she was the type of person who would do anything if she put her mind to it, and could get so absorbed in practicing that she would easily forget all about eating and sleeping if it weren't for him and the sky.

Idly, Kurama wondered if they should head back. But the pure joy in the girl's eyes, combined with the carefree laughter echoing around the meadow made him stay just a little bit longer... if only to keep his jinchuuriki as happy as she was now. He liked watching her laugh and play, and he liked to join her as they chased each other around the meadow until they both dropped from exhaustion, and then they would curl up together at night for warmth.

On the fourth day, Kurama noticed a familiar chakra signature rushing towards them, and he inwardly scoffed. It took them this long to find this meadow? He paused; well, to be fair, he had hidden it very well. "Kit," he barked out, "practice the jutsu I taught you, but keep it at the first stage only. And then watch."

Naruko waded through the tall sunflower stalks until she was in the middle of the meadow — she apparently felt more grounded that way — and wove her hands through the sequence of Dog, Horse, Tiger. "Fire Style: Demon Lantern!" (3) She limited her chakra to keep the jutsu at the first stage, watching as little fireballs rose up from the ground and started to float aimlessly around. She couldn't help smiling at the beautiful sight; they were like stars that had fallen to Earth, and were now floating around to light her way.

"And now... run!"

Naruko gave a startled yelp as Kurama bounded towards her, and she instantly set off sprinting, laughing loudly as she dodged the fox's attempts at grabbing her. "Hey, no fair!" she complained playfully to the widely-grinning fox. "You didn't give me any warning!"

"Like your enemies would warn you before giving chase!" Kurama countered with a bark of laughter as she slipped through his paws yet again.

And that was the scene a shinobi stumbled across — a young girl running through an field of tall sunflowers, with the rays of the setting sun outlining her small glowing figure that looked so tiny against the hearth-coloured sky as she laughed while being chased by an energetic fox that leapt around her in a wide berth, a grin on his furry face. Miniature fireballs floated around the field in a harmless fashion, bouncing off the duo when they got too close. For a long moment, he simply stood there, entranced, watching the radiant girl dance and frolic through the sunflowers as she thwarted her apparent-companion's continuous advances, so completely and blissfully unaware of the pandemonium she had unwittingly created back home.

Ethereal, he decided, would be what he would describe her if he had only one word to. He was content to watch her for a moment more; Naruko's bare feet splashed into the shallow stream, and she let out a startled shriek when the fox leapt to tackle her as she half-turned, causing her to fall back onto her rear and soak her clothes. But still, she kept laughing, even she futilely tried to stretch out of the fox's range when he leaned over to lick her whisker-like birthmark.

"Naruko!" he called at last, striding forward. He watched as the blonde stumbled, allowing the fox to swoop down on her with one bound and toss her up into the air and onto his back. Naruko landed on the fox's back, giggling uncontrollably. "Naruko, there you are!" he called yet again.

Both kitsune and human turned to see Yagura Karatachi wading through the tall sunflowers with a light frown on his face, worry in his bright fuchsia eyes. Naruko leaned down to whisper in Kurama's ear, "Darn, they found us." Kurama only snorted in amusement. Sitting back upright, she called with a sheepish wave, "Hey, Yagu-nii..."

Having finally reached her, Yagura hooked his hands under her armpits and lifted her off the fox, bringing her in for a tight hug. Naruko instinctively wrapped her legs around his torso and her arms around his neck. "Kami, Naruko, you had us all worried sick and scared out of our wits," he muttered. Yagura looked around, and then back at his sister, who was staying perfectly still in his arms, settled comfortably on his hip. "Were you here all this time?"

Naruko smiled a little sheepishly at him. "...yes?"

Yagura blinked as a cold nose nudged at his hand. "And... you befriended a fox?"

Said fox looked offended. Naruko giggled, reaching out to pet the animal. "This is Kurama."

Yagura blinked again. "You named your pet after your Bijuu?"

"Who are you calling a pet, Karatachi?" Kurama barked, causing Yagura to jump in shock. The kitsune smirked while Naruko almost fell over laughing.

"Kurama? As in, Kyuubi Kurama?" Yagura's voice rose another octave in near-hysteria, eyes full of disbelief switching between the smug-looking fox and his giggling sister.

"No, Kurama as in Mt. Kurama," the Kyuubi rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course Kyuubi Kurama! Wow that was so weird, referring to myself in third person. I'm never doing that again..."

"How...?" Yagura seemed to be at loss for words, which was actually a first for him.

Kurama sighed and sat back on his haunches. "I summoned myself out," he explained, his tail whipping lazily around in the air. "Think of it this way — when our jinchuuriki is young, say before puberty, most of our chakra is not used as much as it will be in the later years and is like an overflowing well. That's why it is beneficial to start training jinchuuriki young since it is easy for them to distinguish the Bijuu chakra from their own chakra system. However, once the jinchuuriki reaches puberty or thereabouts, the Bijuu chakra has integrated with their system and becomes a sort of secondary chakra system. That's when the jinchuuriki needs to summon out their Bijuu themselves, because the Bijuu won't have enough "spare chakra" to do it independently without killing their host. Unless, of course, host and Bijuu are completely bonded. In which case, do whatever you like."

Yagura blinked. "Cool. Think you could teach me to summon Isobu?"

Kurama nodded. "You know the Summoning Jutsu sequence? Good. It's the same thing, really — bite your thumb, do the hand signs, and press your blood to your seal. Use Isobu's chakra only. When you do it enough times or you have a deep enough bond, you'll end up only having to bite your thumb and swipe it across your seal without having to do the hand signs."

Yagura nodded and proceeded to try it out. The result was a chibi Sanbi appearing on top of his head. "Hey Isobu, how come you're so small and Kurama's the size of a large dog?" Yagura asked with a light pout.

"It's dependent on how much chakra you put in," Kurama told the boy.

"Say, can you change sizes?" Yagura asked curiously.

Kurama shrugged. "Never tried it. I probably could, though... I would have to experiment with it."

"Cool," Yagura repeated, and then turned to Naruko. "You do realize everyone's been almost driven insane with worry, don't you? What were you even doing out here all by yourself? And for four days! Where did you even sleep?"

Naruko blinked. "Four days? Really?" She sighed, and admitted, "I don't keep track of time here very well. It's like my own little paradise... the first time I came here, Kurama summoned himself out and he spent the day teaching me about whatever I wanted to know. He's knowledgeable on all sorts of botany and anatomy, and he even started teaching me jutsu theory. He allowed me to try one jutsu only, but he won't let me go past stage one."

"Really? Which one?"

In response, Naruko reached out with a finger and a nearby fireball strayed to hover upon her forefinger. She held it out to a surprised Yagura, "Fire Style: Demon Lanterns. But as I said, this kitsune won't let me go past stage one. So right now it's just a pretty lantern jutsu."

"Still impressive, for a seven-year-old," Yagura commented.

"As for where I slept..." Naruko turned to point at a towering weeping willow. "The grass under that willow was actually the best out of the meadow. I'm not sure why. But sometimes we like to sleep by the river," she pointed to the winding stream that skirted the meadow, "so we can look at the stars while we sleep."

Yagura paused. "Isn't this a little like your lullaby?" At Naruko's blank expression, he elaborated in a low voice, "Deep in the meadow, under the willow..."

Naruko blinked at him and then started to laugh. "I didn't even realize!" Kurama huffed a laugh from where he was standing beside them; apparently he hadn't realized, either.

Yagura shook his head and, despite himself, smiled at the unlikely duo. "Anyway, let's head back, alright? How did you even find this place?"

Naruko shrugged as she hopped up onto Kurama's back, leaning forward so she was lying down. "I followed Kurama's directions."

Yagura narrowed his eyes at the fox. "You put up a genjutsu, didn't you..." In response, Kurama whistled innocently, purposefully not looking at the Kiri nin. Said shinobi sighed and led the way back home. A few miles out, he looked over at his strangely-quiet sister and nearly jumped when he saw her limp form curled up on Kurama's back.

"Oh, calm yourself," the Bijuu scoffed quietly. "She's just tired from playing and practicing all day."

"Oh," was all Yagura said, calming down. "Out of curiosity, how long can you stay out here?"

Kurama scoffed. "Naruko is basically a fetus. I can stay out as long as I want."

Yagura stared at the fox out of the corner of his eyes dubiously. 'Isobu?'

"He's acting tough," the turtle deadpanned.

'Yeah, I thought so.'

"Naruko!" Mio rushed towards the approaching trio, but stopped short when Yagura placed a finger to his lips, inclining his head to the sleeping girl. The Nanabi's jinchuuriki almost cooed at the sight, but refrained.

"Where's Yugito?" Yagura asked as he silently slipped through the door and started to walk down the entrance hallway, followed by his sisters.

"Everyone's already back for the night," Mio informed him, "and Yugito's already made sure that Gaara's in his room. We were waiting on you."

Yagura nodded his thanks and entered the living room that was thick with tension. "Alright lads, I'mma have to ask you all to be quiet now, because while I did find our wayward fox, she's sleeping and I know for a fact she needs her rest."

Almost everyone jumped to their feet the moment Yagura announced she had been found, but obediently kept quiet as the crowded around the large fox that held a girl on his back. "Is that... Kurama?" Roshi almost spluttered in disbelief. The fox only sent him a flat look in return, so the redhead took that as a "yes".

"Where was she?" Utakata asked quietly.

Yagura sighed. "Past the hedge—"

"She's not allowed past the hedge," Yugito said sharply, even as she reached down to gently pick up the small girl and cradle her against her chest.

Yagura shrugged, watching as the worried mother-hen sat down on the couch with her daughter held protectively in her arms. "Didn't stop her from going, now did it? Anyways — past the hedge there's a river, follow it until it bends and there's a massive field of sunflowers. I found her there, playing with Kurama."

"Why was it so hard to find?" Han frowned, sitting down opposite Yugito.

Yagura sighed, "Because a certain kitsune," he said pointedly, staring at a purposefully-oblivious Kurama, "put up a genjutsu. And I think we all know how talented kitsune are in genjutsu."

"Yes, and it's a pity my jinchuuriki shows absolutely no interest in it," Kurama muttered to himself in disappointment.

"So what happened, exactly?" Mio asked curiously, seating herself beside Yugito and reaching out to gently stroke Naruko's hair.

"Firstborn syndrome," Kurama sighed as he trotted between the two couches and curled up on the ground, his head resting on his paws as his blood-red eyes watched Naruko closely.

Killer Bee blinked. "Really? Naruko?"

Kurama glared. "Even Naruko is vulnerable to jealousy. After all, she's only human, and a child at that. She's a naturally happy child, of course, as you all no doubt know... but in the end, no family is perfect. Yours is hardly an exception, what with everyone being gone half the time. But this is all Naruko has ever known, so wouldn't it make sense that her place in the family felt threatened by an unexpected addition?"

"She didn't feel threatened by me..."

"Of course not. You were just another older brother. You weren't a child that needed extra attention."

Killer Bee looked sheepish. "Right..."

"I was jealous of you plenty of times before you... fully integrated," Han offered. His admission was echoed with a "Same" from both Yagura and Utakata. Killer Bee looked surprised and even a little guilty, but his apology was quickly waved off as the three males assured him there were no ill feelings — the ones they did harbor initially were short-lived, anyway — and he was their brother now, and as such there was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

"But she knows that we love her," Utakata frowned slightly. "She should've said something. It's not like we discourage feelings, like in some villages or clans."

"It's Naruko," Han deadpanned. "She'll speak up for others, but never for herself if she thinks it's selfish."

"It's not so much the knowledge as it is the feeling," Kurama sighed. "I reiterate: Naruko is but a child. And as such, she thinks like a child. Knowing that she is loved by all of you does not invalidate her feelings of neglect. However, Naruko doesn't like the feeling of jealousy, that much she has confided in me. That's why I had her create some space between herself and the Base, to give her time to adjust to the changes and settle her feelings."

Roshi shook his head. "Man... this feels messed up."

"We're jinchuuriki," Yagura said dryly, "what part of our lives isn't messed up?"

"I thought we were doing okay raising her," Mio suddenly looked worried.

"You are," Kurama assured her. "She just needs reassurances at times. Every human being has insecurities. This is just Naruko's first, and unfortunately she only had a demon to talk to, so I took matters in my own hands... or paws, in this case." Kurama bit back a smirk and looked over at Yugito, who stayed silent, and then back down at a sleeping Naruko.

"Kurama," Naruko whined quietly, "shut up, I'm sleeping." She curled into the familiar warmth surrounding her, subconsciously registering that the warmth belonged to a human, and not a fox like she had become accustomed to over the past three nights.

Kurama rolled his eyes good-naturedly as Naruko easily slipped back into the throes of sleep. He looked up to meet the gazes of the jinchuuriki family, "Whether you or she realize it or not, you are the family Naruko needs. The same way you need her. And believe me... you're all raising her just fine."

"As I was saying," Naruko cleared her throat pointedly, a little embarrassed by the mere memory, "it took a few months for Gaara to be able to properly control the sand. But even so, his seal was so unstable it takes a bit of effort for him. That's why he doesn't sleep much, because the seal does nothing to keep Shukaku at bay if he's not conscious to do it. I was working on a better seal for him, though."

"You mentioned that," Sasuke agreed. "What did you mean by that?"

Naruko sat up a little straighter, an excited gleam in her eyes. "I'm an Uzumaki, and the Uzumaki Clan was especially gifted in the art of fūinjutsu. I think I was around eight when I started playing around with them. Of course, I didn't know they were seals back then..."

"Naruko, what is this?" Yugito asked from where she was crouched beside the coffee table, a slip of white paper in her hand. Dark black ink forming swirling patterns that melded into each other contrasted starkly against the white paper.

Naruko trotted over, book in hand as she rose on her tip-toes to look over her mother's shoulder. "Oh, that — I was just trying to copy one of those drawings you have in the study," she explained. "But then it just... became something more. I think it looks quite pretty, don't you? And it could have a meaning behind it, too."

"Naruko," the woman said slowly, onyx eyes skimming the patterns interwoven together with a delicate intricacy, the strokes sure and unwavering. "Those 'drawings' were seals — examples of fūinjutsu. This is... it looks like a variation of one of the incomplete seals. Did you find a finished copy? Or did you—"

Naruko tilted her head. "What do you mean? It's only a matter of patterns and which kanji to use when you're thinking of the seal's purpose. I mean if you look here," she pointed at the kanji that symbolized fire, "it shows that this seal is specific to the Fire element. And it's surrounded by a circular pattern that shows it can seal fire, either the literal thing or a jutsu, in it. You can do the same for Wind, Water and Earth. But Lightning..." Naruko hummed as she absent-mindedly sat down beside Yugito and pulled out another slip of paper from seemingly nowhere. "Now that's something I still need to figure out."

Yugito opened her mouth, about to ask how Naruko could understand this so quickly and even start working on a new seal without any template, as if this was instinct, but closed her mouth as realization struck her. For the young blonde, this was instinct. She was an Uzumaki, and it was a well-known fact that the Uzumaki Clan were masters of fūinjutsu, one of the hardest shinobi arts that no one could perfect without years of training and patience. It was one of the traits that had made that particular clan so powerful, and ultimately led to the village's demise.

Now the kunoichi could only watch in fascination — and no small amount of nostalgia — as her daughter's hand, steady as the flowing river, guided the brush across the paper's surface, strokes articulate and precise as they dipped and swirled and moved around almost expertly. Naruko's eyebrows were furrowed slightly in concentration, teeth caught on her lower lip. It was adorable, really, and Yugito might have pointed it out teasingly if she weren't so caught up in the flawless movements of the budding Fūinjutsu Master.

"There." Naruko held up the slip of paper, nodding in satisfaction. "Now to see if Bee-nii can store a Lightning jutsu in this..." Turning to her mother, she asked, "What do you think?"

Yugito merely raised her eyebrows. "Well I can't say I'm not impressed, but I can't say I actually understand what you did, either."

Surprise lit the still-childishly-round face. "Really?"

"Must be your heritage," Yugito shook her head with a smile. "The Uzumaki's reputation majorly centered around being Fūinjutsu Masters. In fact, your mother — Kushina — liked to tinker with fūinjutsu every now and then, ever since she was a little girl. Everything I know about seals came from her, and even then it's barely a quarter of her arsenal of knowledge." Yugito's elbow was on the table, cradling her chin in her palm. Naruko was listening in rapt attention, soaking in all she could about her mother and her clan. "It was fascinating... watching her make something out of nothing." The far-away look in her eyes disappeared as Yugito tapped her daughter's nose with a playful grin. "And I think I'm getting some déjà vu from you."

Naruko giggled. "Do you think I'll ever be as good as her someday?"

Yugito's heart almost melted at the earnest hope shining in her depthless blue eyes. "No," she shook her head firmly, "you'll be better..." She held her daughter's gaze, absolute certainty and unwavering pride shining in her her onyx eyes. "Better than us all."

"I thought I was learning how to draw with ink and paper," she shrugged with a light giggle. "But then okaa-san found it, and she told me what it really was. And when Gaara started showing the symptoms of a weak sealing jutsu, I had to convince him to show me his seal so I could confirm it really was unstable, and thank Kami I did because it was cracking. I was working on a better one, but then the separation happened."

"The one that made your family split across the Five Great Nations when you were ten," Sasuke murmured. "You told me in passing. But only very briefly."

"Well, you'll get the full version now," Naruko sighed, something akin to bitterness sliding into her voice. "By the time I was ten, my two sisters also died. Ritsu and Mio, jinchuuriki of the Ichibi and Nanabi, respectively. Ritsu was from Suna, too."

Sakura muffled a gasp. First her brother, and now two sisters? Were all jinchuuriki doomed to die before their time? Or was it in the line of shinobi duty?

"Mio was captured — I can't exactly remember by who, but I know it wasn't the Akatsuki — while on a mission, and either her captors knew she was a jinchuuriki or realized it, because according to Chomei, they attempted to extract him in a bid for power. Obviously, they failed since Chomei somehow wound up in Takigakure, and was sealed in Fuu."

"Fuu — the green-haired, amber-eyed version of you?" Sakura raised a skeptic eyebrow. Naruko chuckled at the description, but nodded. The pinkette stared at her blankly before falling flat on her back. "Well. This is all making sense now."

"Ritsu was killed on a mission, too," the blonde continued, a tad quieter than before. "Even her enhanced healing from being a jinchuuriki couldn't save her. The mission was a higher rank than they were told, but they went ahead because they felt they had a duty to the client." A small, sad smile stole across her face. "Kind of like what we did with Tazuna."

Realization dawned upon her team as they finally understood why Naruko had been so adamant at continuing to protect Tazuna, even after the true ranking of their "C-rank" mission and all the possible dangers that would lie — and had laid — ahead were brought to light. It wasn't because Naruko had wanted to get out of the village or because she wanted to prove herself, but because she knew that if her big sister had been in this position, she would've done the same thing again, regardless of the outcome. At a very early age, jinchuuriki learned first-hand the cruel selfishness of the world, but if what Team 7 had witnessed was anything to go by, that only made jinchuuriki some of the most selfless people on the planet.

"Around that time, an organization called the Akatsuki fixated themselves on the idea of world peace, which would be attained by harnessing the power of all nine of the Bijuu," Naruko said in a weary, but still strong, voice. "Of course, you can't get that unless you extract it from us — the jinchuuriki. But if you do, we die."

"Why?" Sakura blurted out. Naruko looked over at her, surprised to see something akin to hate mixed with desperation in her green orbs. "Why do you have to die if they take out the Bijuu?"

"Because of the same reason you can't kill them," Naruko answered softly. "They're essentially massive beings of chakra. Taking that much chakra out of a person, who has adapted to it since they were born or at least were very early in childhood, would kill them. In simpler terms, it's a form of chakra depletion that will immediately kill you."

Sakura swallowed hard, and was about to respond when Sasuke spoke up. "Then we'll just have to make sure they don't get you." His eyes, a shade darker than Yugito's, were steely. "As long as we're alive, you're not falling into their hands. You're not going to die, Naruko. I can promise you that — right here, right now. I won't allow it."

Naruko stared at him for a moment, surprised, but his gaze didn't waver in the slightest. Finally, she nodded slightly. "Thank you, Sasuke." She turned back to the rest of her team, eyes instantly narrowing at Kakashi's amused raised eyebrow. The Jonin put his hands up in mock surrender, but Naruko knew he was smirking beneath the mask.

"Well, continuing with my story," Naruko cleared her throat, "the adults decided the best course of action would be to split us up. Because if the Akatsuki found out about the Base, it would've been an instant game over. They would automatically have all nine of us. And even though a lot of my family were — and still are, as you no doubt know after seeing them in action — powerful shinobi with large the skill sets, the chances of us winning against them were low. But above all, it was Fuu, Gaara and my safety and future that they prioritized. So we permanently settled into our home villages: Gaara in Suna, Yugito and Killer Bee in Kumo, Yagura and Utakata in Kiri, Roshi and Han in Iwa, Fuu in Taki... and I came to Konoha. You know what happens next."

Sasuke nodded slowly, a distant expression crossing his face. A million thoughts swirled like a whirlpool in his mind. Things fell into place like puzzle pieces, and yet there were still more that didn't quite fit. Some that he needed to figure out on his own, things that he doubted Naruko had answers to, either. And still, there were parts that were formulating how to best protect his teammate, how best to keep her safe without making her feel restrained and controlled. That was the last thing he wanted her to feel.

"I'm sorry," Sakura whispered, sympathy shining in her eyes.

Naruko shrugged again, a sad smile curving her lip. "When you can tell your story and it doesn't make you cry, that's when you know you've healed."

Naruko smiled as she gently closed the rice paper door with a lingering look at the prone forms of her teammates. After the fairly emotional day, Sakura had suggested a sleepover at Naruko's. But seeing as it was hardly fit for one person to live in, let alone three, they had instantly moved it to the Uchiha Compound. It was, after all, rather spacious and there was no one to disturb.

And it was because of that fact that the three of them had stayed up until the wee hours of the morning talking, teasing and playing board games. The fact that the Uchiha had previously been relocated to the outskirts of the village meant that they could be as loud as they wished and no one would tell them off.

And loud they were; what two-thirds of Team 7 discovered was that Sasuke was not good at losing. He would vehemently accuse them of cheating at some unprecedented comeback, until Naruko and Sakura ended up ganging up on him to win every game. It was a fun night, and even the "Uchiha avenger" begrudgingly admitted he was having fun.

But roughly between 4:30 to 5:00 AM, Naruko found herself sitting on the porch and watching koi fish swim in the rock pond. Memories stirred up from speaking of her past had plagued her mind and made it almost impossible to stay asleep, even when swathed between her teammates. The blonde glanced at her right hand which was lying on her lap, and slowly formed it into the same shape as when she had said first parted ways with her family. (4) With a small smile, she lifted up her arm with the back of her hand facing outward.

"What are you doing?"

Naruko started, and turned around to see a somewhat-groggy Sasuke standing behind her. She smiled at him and patted the empty spot beside her. Sasuke reached back for something before padding over to sit next to her, dropping a heavy fleece blanket on her head. Naruko wrapped it snugly around her shoulders and thanked him quietly.

Sasuke shrugged indifferently. "So what were you doing?" he gestured to her hand.

"Oh." Naruko formed the symbol again. "It was something I did the day my family parted. It's a message of a sort."

"What's the message?" the Uchiha asked quietly, watching her face carefully for any signs of distress. After all, he didn't want to push her into saying anything she didn't want to. She already told them so much yesterday.

"I may not be able to see you, and there may be hundreds of miles between us, but I'll always be looking your way. I'll be watching over you forever. I promise."

Sasuke's eyes widened momentarily before softening, and he returned his gaze to the lightening sky. Silence reigned over them until the door rustled open, and a presence made herself known. Stifling a yawn, Sakura sat down on the other side of Naruko and snuggled against the girl's side. Wordlessly, Naruko lifted her arm and Sakura crawled under the thick blanket, shifting to lay her head on the smaller girl's lap while she curled into a ball to conserve warmth. Naruko glanced at her stoic teammate, and opened her other arm. Sakura let out a soft whine at the sudden rush of cold air that invaded her warm cocoon, so Naruko cast another pointed look at the Uchiha. After a moment's hesitation, Sasuke shuffled closer until the blanket was also snugly wrapped around him. Naruko tucked her head in the crook of his neck, seemingly content where she was. Sasuke hesitated another moment before wrapping an arm around the blonde and resting his own head on hers. He felt his right hand — the one loosely wrapped around Naruko's shoulders — be taken by Sakura's hands, and he gently squeezed back as a sign of affection. Naruko had taken his left hand in her tanned ones, absently rubbing it to warm it back up.

And together, Team 7 watched the sun rise over Konohagakure no Sato.

(1) Flowers are something special in Japan, and in the summer, there is no flower like the sunflower. While not originally native to Japan, sunflowers were introduced from North and South America and have since become an annual part of Japanese culture whenever the days start to grow longer

(2) Okaa-chan = closest translation is "Mommy"
Okaa-san = closest translation is "Mom" or "Mother"

(3) Fire Style: Demon Lantern is a jutsu first shown in Naruto the Movie: Blood Prison

(4) Fairy Tail sign