Author's Note: On timeline, judging by Kakashi Gaiden and other evidence, Minato did not become Hokage until after Obito died.

Secondly, on the matter of needlework such as sewing, knitting, and crocheting, it is possible to do any of those, watch TV and carry on a conversation at the same time. I should know, I've done so on many occasions. Furthermore, one can read while knitting or crocheting at the same time.

Thirdly, I am going on vacation next week and won't be back until the last week of August. So I don't know when I'll be able to update next, but expect a new chapter at some point in September.

Fouthly, the youngest person to ever give birth really was five years old. At least she was the youngest recorded person. It's a really messed up story and they never found out who the father was. That said, I can find the link if anybody wants it.

Fifthly, I know, this chapter is more filler than anything else. However it is at least partially necesarry filler.

Chapter 6

"According to Rin-can, once the fight was over, Hermione-san did a better job than most medic-nin would have been capable of when she healed Kakashi-kun's eye… What was left of his eye."

"What are you not saying?" asked Sarutobi.

"Her branch of the clan recently went through a civil war," said Minato. He'd spent the better part of the past hour briefing the Hokage on what had happened. "Though the side loyal to the clan leadership won, many on the loosing side are still considered members of the clan in good standing. The situation is politically unstable which is made only worse by the fact that they are the sole group with knowledge of chakra control and use in the United Kingdom-that's the country Hermione-san comes from. They have no Hidden Village, though the clan's population of those who posses the kekkei genkai is larger than Konoha's number of active duty shinobi, even at the best of times."

"What?"

"The clan contains somewhere between six and eight thousand members with active kekkei genkais in the United Kindomalone. About seven hundred of them are either children or still in school. About the same number are actually in the military or police force, though all those over the age of eleven are taught to use their kekkei genkai and basic self defense. There are several dozen countries in the area surrounding the United Kingdom, with similar population sizes."

"What?!" he said.

"I know. This information comes form the cat summons, two of whom have taken over the task of guarding Hermione-san and Deianira-san. The toads confirmed this information when I asked."

"How could we not have noticed?" demanded Sarutobi.

"That's just it, we did notice. Hermione-san's clan is called the Wizarding. All Wizarding share a common ancestor, the Amazon Queen, Otrera."

"Then she was real?"

"Yes." Minato let out a sigh. "I cannot act against her, nor can I allow others to do so. The cats are still loyal to the Wizarding and seem to have taken a liking to Hermione-san and Deianira-san. They have declared that since she is a non-combatant and a friend of Kakashi-kun's, any such action will be seen as a declaration of war. Gamabunta-sama is good friends with Aminta-sama, the cat queen. The cats and the toads have been allies since before Otrera's birth. Gamabunta-sama made it clear that while we are allowed to act against any Wizarding who attack us, we are to abide by the cats' rules concerning Hermione-san. If any toad summoner, present or future harms or allows Hermione-san and Deianira-san to come to harm, the toad summoning contract is forfeit and they will, and I quote, 'do nothing to stop Aminta from razing Konoha to the ground and leaving your desecrated, half eaten corpses upon Hermione-san's doorstep as a gift.'"

Sarutobi blinked at Minato. "Is she the cat's summoner?"

"No. They have not had a summoner in nearly a millennia according to both the cats and the toads. But the cats seem very fond of the Hermione-san. They may intend to allow her to sign the contract."

"How would you suggest handling the situation?" asked Sarutobi.

It was a test, Minato knew. Sarutobi was getting ready to retire, and the only two viable candidates to replace him were Orochimaru and himself.

"The toads have been allied with Konoha since its founding. To loose such an ally would be a major hit, particularly given the war. However, they have been allied to the cats for much longer, seemingly without any conflict of interest until now. From testimony given both by Kakashi-kun and Hermione-san, her master was a friend of Sakumo-san's, at great personal risk. The shinobi are hated by most Wizarding. Hermione-san seems different in that she is willing to call Kakashi-kun friend as Frederick-san called Sakumo-san friend. Frderick-san and Sakumo-san's friendship was not to the detriment of Konoha. However, neither was it to a noticeable advantage. Of course, Sakumo-san was a ninja, he may have kept any aid from Frederick-san a secret.

"Hermione-san's abilities are unknown at the moment, however it is clear that she is a civilian and a non-combatant. That said, there are still many skills she may possess which could be to Konoha's advantage. Not to mention that when in a life threatening situation, the Hatakes, and by extension Konoha were the first people she thought of as capable of helping her. Yes, it cost Kakashi-kun his eye, but by all accounts, he does not blame Hermione-san for this.

"This is a rare opportunity. Otrera is the only known one of her kind which survived long enough to produce viable offspring. From these offspring came a large, powerful clan and a kekkei genkai. Given the possibilities, I would suggest treating both girls with the same respect and care as one would treat a visiting dignitary. It may not pay off immediately, but we would be setting the groundwork for the future. If this kekkei genkai turns out to be something useful in some way, which it no doubt will, in a decade or two we may be able to convince Deianira-san to marry one of our shinobi and start a branch of the Wizarding here, in Konoha. Or perhaps Hermione-san and Deianira-san may have or come to acquire skills and knowledge they would be willing to use for us. As it is, Hermione-san may know some medical techniques we might find useful. They may be the only Wizarding willing to consider an alliance of any sort with shinobi and we should not waste what little goodwill they have toward our kind."

Minato shrugged. "And if Hermione-san or Deianira-san act against us, the toads have given their word that they will remain loyal to Jiraiya-sensei and I should we be forced to deal with them."

Sarutobi was silent for several long moments. "I agree. Until the Grangers are healed enough to return home, your team is assigned to escort them through Konoha and keep a watch on them. If either girl does not wish to return to their country, we will deal with it then. Please keep them with one member of the team at all times." Sarutobi started to write. "This is a B-Rank mission and you and your team will be paid accordingly. I will also provide a small allowance to pay for the girls' food and any other supplies they may need. I suggest using this time to help Kakashi-kun learn to compensate for his injuries. Do you have room in your apartment for both girls?"

"Well, Kushina-chan and I have an extra room we generally give to Jiraiya-sansei when he's in Konoha."

"Good. Should we have need of your skills, we can assign Kushina-chan to take over leadership of the mission while you are gone. Fill her in on the situation. For the moment, the Grangers' status as the descendants of Otrera from another world is an S-Class secret. Please make sure everybody involved knows that Hermione-san was merely the civilian apprentice of one of Sakumo-kun's friends who came to Kakashi-kun when in grave need of protection and help. If you are left no other choice, you may explain that she and her sister have inherited her clan's kekkei genkai."

Hermione let out a sigh. The room was incredibly boring. There was a closet, now containing her and Deianira's clothing. There were two futons, but Deianira's was folded up in the closet.

Firmly ensconced on her own futon, Hermione sorely needed something to do with her hands. Though she had never admitted it to Harry or Ron, without something to do with her hands, she was generally just too twitchy to think deeply. She'd found over the years that the repetitive motion of needlework or even something so simple as chewing on a sugar quill had fulfilled her urge to move while allowing her mind to concentrate on whatever problems she faced.

Every time she tried to settle in to think about what needed to be done, her body rebelled. It had been less than two hours since she'd been taken to this apartment. This was ridiculous. Obviously something needed to be done. Hermione let out a second sigh.

She pushed the blanket off and carefully stood. She wasn't supposed to walk far, but surely nobody would mind if she settled herself in the living room instead. And if they did mind, it was too bad for them.

That Minato fellow, Kakashi's teacher and boss seemed like a nice enough man. Of course, Hermione was well aware that he'd been keeping a close eye on both her and her sister. Anything less would have been an insult in her opinion. These were professional soldiers, after all.

Hermione picked up her crutch. Once balanced correctly, she began to limp out of the room and into the hallway. Her stomach growled and Hermione changed her mind on where to head. Maybe she should cook or bake something. They both involved nice repetitive motions which would allow her to think properly.

Cooking might insult the lady of the house. Minato had said that his wife was out for the day and that she would return in time for dinner. At least that was how Ismene had translated that. Baking it was. Surely she could find what she needed to whip up some cookies. Long lasting cookies-just in case Minato's wife had desert planned as well.

The boy, Obito, was playing with Deianira while Crookshanks translated when Hermione passed through the living room. She shied away from all thoughts of Crookshanks. She would deal with the fallout, emotional and otherwise from this little revelation later. She had more important things to think about, like Ron and Rose and just why she had let Kakashi talk her into traveling through time.

Once in the kitchen, she took stock of what supplies there were and then got to work. Having decided to use only items which were in abundance, Hermione was a bit startled to realize she could make a wide variety of cookies if she so chose. It took a little longer to find cookie sheets and the appropriate settings upon the oven. Once the oven was preheating, she sat down on a chair before the kitchen table and began to put together ginger biscuits.

Obito blinked, sniffing the air. "Is something cooking?"

Crookshanks gave him a very catlike look of disdain and said, "Hermione is baking, ginger biscuits by the smell of it."

"What?!" said Obito wondering just how he had not noticed Hermione walking past him.

"I thought you heard her," said Crookshanks. "She wasn't trying to be quiet."

"Come on," said Obito as he stood. "Let's go see what she made."

After Crookshanks translated, he announced, "Danny says that Hermione is a really good cook, almost as good as the best cook ever, their mother and that ginger biscuits are her absolute favorite type of cookie."

"Oh," said Obito, his mind racing.

He doubted that Hermione would try to poison them, but this was a bit worrying. Why would she get up and bake when she was supposed to be resting?

Kushina listened quietly as Minato explained the events of the past two days, mind racing as she thought of questions to ask. He had caught up to her immediately after she'd left the Hokage Tower. For the past several weeks, she'd been on the front lines, doing what she could to sabotage the Iwa nins and had only returned to Konoha that morning.

Finally, Kushina asked, "So where's the team now?"

"Rin-chan is working at the hospital-she should be getting off soon. Kakashi-kun is in his apartment resting. I left Obito-kun with Deianira-san, Hermione-san, and the cats at our apartment. Rin-chan is going to check on Kakashi-kun on her way home and eat dinner with him and Obito-kun before heading over to our apartment to check on Hermione-san."

"Some things bother me about this. She's eight, surely she hasn't started menstruating yet," pointed out Kushina.

"According to the medic-nins I've spoken to, it's rare, but on occasion girls as young as eight start… you know. They also mentioned that the youngest known girl to give birth was only five."

"Wouldn't her parents have noticed she wasn't pregnant anymore?"

"Apparently they didn't know she was pregnant to begin with. I spoke to Hermione-san this morning about that. Apparently she hid her pregnancy with some basic genjutsus which while powerful enough to fool those without training…"

"Were not powerful enough to fool those who knew how to spot them," continued Kushina, finishing the sentence for him. "So, you mentioned this kekkei genkai, what does it do?"

"From what I've seen and learned so far, it's a chakra based kekkei genkai which is either active or inactive from birth. It seems to give a person who possesses it huge chakra reserves. Deianira-san has the same level of chakra reserves as a high level Genin or low level Chunin and according to the cats, they will more than quadruple by the time she reaches eleven, the traditional age when Wizarding begin their training in the use of magic, what they call their kekkei genkai. Apparently having such large reserves gives them trouble with chakra control.

"I'm unsure as to how magic differs from normal chakra, as Kakashi-kun is the only one to see it in action and Hermione-san is suffering from chakra exhaustion, but I'm sure we'll find out soon. The girl apparently knows something about fuinjutsu, so either tonight or tomorrow I'm planning on talking to her about the subject."

"I suppose we should get back and relieve Obito-kun so that he can head over to Kakashi-kun's apartment," conceded Kushina.

Several moments later, the duo arrived at the small apartment building, one of many that catered almost exclusively to shinobi and their families. The sight that greeted them was somewhat surprising. From what Kushina remembered of Minato's briefing, Hermione was supposed to spend the day in bed, moving only to go to the bathroom. Although apparently she was permitted to join them at the table for dinner.

Obito, what could only be the Granger sisters, and two cats sat about a table, playing mahjong. The older girl was surrounded by cushions and sitting upright, supporting her back by leaning against the couch. Next to her sat the younger girl and the bushy haired tabby, apparently playing as a team, which made sense, considering the girl's young age. Across from Hermione was the calico and on the other side of Hermione sat Obito. There was a plate of unfamiliar cookies which seemed to be communal as all three humans had a whole or partially eaten cookie before them.

"I suppose there's a very good explanation for this," said Minato.

"Uh… well," said Obito. "Hermione-san was bored, so she made cookies. They're called ginger biscuits, which means ginger biscuits and they're really very good. Want one? And then we decided to play mahjong. She only walked to the kitchen and then into the living room. Other than that she was sitting or laying down."

"Uh huh. Couldn't she have done something other than bake to alleviate her boredom?" asked Minato, which was quickly translated by the calico cat. He went through basic introductions while Ismene and Hermione conversed.

Hermione spoke quickly, then looked down, nibbling on her lower lip. The calico cleared her throat. "According to Hermione, she couldn't think of anything else to do as she cannot read anything in your language and she didn't know what your wife was planning on doing for dinner and did not want to insult her by making dinner herself. Nor did she consider looking for your wife's sewing box and looking for something to repair, as it is considered incredibly rude to go through another woman's sewing box without permission amongst the Wizarding. The same apparently goes for other types of needlework such as embroidery, knitting, and crocheting. Although she would appreciate it greatly if you found some sort of needlework for her to do as she cannot make herself useful by cooking more than simple meals or cleaning due to her current injuries."

Kushina gaped at that. "She knows how to do all that?"

Ismene and Hermione spoke for several minutes before the cat said, "It seems. So Hermione said she knows how to make many traditional Greek, Italian, and English meals along with some Scottish meals, although she recommends avoiding the last two as her home country is not known for producing appetizing meals. She claims to be able to sew well enough to make and repair clothing and whatever else you need, though her leather work takes much longer. She can also embroider, knit and crochet, though her crochet work is generally reserved for making blankets and knitting for making clothing."

"Is knowing all that normal?" asked Kushina, more than somewhat flabbergasted.

"To a certain extent, all witches are expected to have some knowledge of each subject," said Crookshanks. "Although skill levels vary widely. As far as the Wizarding are concerned, it is generally believed that a proper witch should know how some form of weaving, how to sew well enough to repair clothing and how to cook. Doubtless, her master ensured she was properly trained in these subjects, which would explain why she knows more than the minimum. Most Muggle girls where Hermione is from only know the basics of cooking, cleaning and sewing."

"I-uh, I have some sewing she can do if she wants. Just some basic repair work," offered Kushina. "When Rin-chan says she's up to walking about, I can take her to the market to find something else to do."

Ismene quickly translated that before saying, "Hermione says thank you and would be more than willing to sew and embroider any clothing you want while she's here once the repair work is done."

"She doesn't need to do that," said Kushina.

"I think she wants to." Ismene gave a very cat-like shrug. "From what I understand, she doesn't know what to do with herself at the moment as she has no schoolwork to do, nothing to read, and cannot use magic for at least a week yet."

"Alright. I'm going to get started on dinner. Obito-kun, you should finish your game and then head over to Kakashi-kun's apartment."

Later that evening, Kushina gave Hermione a stack of navy blue shirts and trousers identical to what Minato had worn under the green vest with all those pockets every day since she'd met him. Along with the uniforms-for it seemed to Hermione that more than half of the ninja wore the navy clothing and green vests-she was given several spools of navy thread, a spool of red thread matching the decorative swirls, a thimble, and two needles.

Kushina brushed back a lock or red hair and for a moment Hermione was reminded of Ginny. It was all she could do not to flinch at the thought of her sister-in-law. At the thought of her first true female friend. Then Kushina began to speak, occasionally pausing to allow Ismene, who was translating a chance to catch up.

"'These are Minato-kun's uniforms-well the ones still worth saving at least. He tends to do through them rather quickly. If you could repair them, I would greatly appreciate it. Most of the time, I'm so busy I just don't have a chance to. I'll find a couple ready for the scrap heap while Rin-chan looks you over so that you can have some material for patches. If anything is beyond your abilities to repair, just tell me. Just repair one shirt and then give it to me. I want to see your skill level before you start working on that stack.'"

"Ok," said Hermione, incredibly grateful to have something to do. With that much work, she would certainly be able to think out the situation. She'd barely gotten a chance to truly think about how she felt about what had happened to Rose before the cookies were shaped and in the oven. "Thank you so much. I was going stir crazy with nothing to do."

A moment later there was a soft knock upon the door. Kushina opened the door, allowing the medic, whose name Hermione had learned was Rin inside. Kushina spoke quietly to Rin for a moment before leaving.

Kushina could only blink as she held up the shirt Hermione had repaired. Gently, she ran her fingers along the seams and patches, looking for any and all imperfections.

"Is something wrong?" asked Minato as he changed into a pair of pajama pants.

"No, nothing. Quite the opposite, actually. Hermione-san repaired this shirt between Rin-chan's examination and her bedtime," explained Kushina.

"And?"

"That girl's good enough to became a professional seamstress. And faster than many of the women I know. At sewing at least." Kushina handed Minato the shirt. "This was one of the shirts so damaged I was going to use it as scrap. I gave it to Hermione-san to repair as a test. I didn't actually expect her to be able to repair it, or to finish it tonight."

"What are you planning?"

"If she's good enough to repair that scrap, what else can she repair? Resources are in short supply and we really shouldn't waste any more than we absolutely have to."