Author's note: Yes, little Shiho is indeed the Shiho seen in Shippuden who had a crush on Shikamaru. I figured she's a character we knew almost nothing about and therefore safe to add history to.

Alright, now some people have requested a family tree for Hermione. I'll try to clear up the confusion. Essentially, it began with Namikaze Sorami, who was from the elemental countries. She and her aunt, Amami were the only members of the Namikaze Clan to survive the wars between the various shinobi clans that led to the foundation of the shinobi villages. Amami married into the Suikazan Clan and Sorami went to another world and ended up in Japan, where she married a man with the surname Mori. Sorami and her husband had a daughter, Mori Megumi, who married the elder Dolohov son. Megumi and her husband had four children; Laodice, who married Jack Granger, Jiraiya, who ran off to the elemental countries to become a ninja when he was a child, Hermione, Jiraiya's twin sister, and Andromache, who married Kenta Matsuo. The younger Dolohov son (who was the father of Antonin Dolohov) murdered his elder brother and his niece, Hermione, and was eventually executed. Anyway, Jiraiya fathered Minato on Tsunade and then wandered off somewhere while Tsunade raised the boy alone until Jiraiya became Minato's Jonin-sensei. After Dan died, Jiraiya and Tsunade had three more children; Yamato, who presumably was murdered by Iwa nin, Tobi, who died when Hermione was nine, and Hermione. Tobi and Hermione were hidden away from Jiraiya and Tsunade's enemies by being given to Jack and Laodice Granger to raise as their own.

Chapter 7

"Who's the brat?" asked Jiraiya, ignoring Hermione's statement altogether.

"Apparently Sorami-obaasan had an aunt who survived," said Hermione, deciding to humor him. "Suikazan-san lived in Kirigakure no Sato until the purges. Shiho-chan here is her great great great granddaughter."

"And she's with you because…"

"She gave me guardianship of Shiho-chan."

"Suikazan-san hunted you down to give Shiho-chan to you, didn't she?" said Itachi.

"Probably," shrugged Hermione. "I've been using the all paths are one spell-uh, jutsu, for a good portion of the day for the past six days. There's a technique for sensing both chakra and magic in the scroll baasan gave me. Suikazan-san probably learned it when she was my age."

"You've been telling him clan secrets?" demanded Jiraiya.

"No, I haven't. I told him some basic stuff about the Wizarding, such as what we're capable of, but he has no idea about the specifics of any of our clan's spells. I'm not that stupid." Hermione shrugged, feeling the need to explain herself, justify her actions. "I just haven't bothered following the Statute of Secrecy since I got to this side of the mists. I haven't exactly been advertising what I am, but Itachi-san has seen me use both mokuton and magic, there was no real point in hiding. Anyway, we ran into another team from Konoha day before yesterday and I healed them. I couldn't leave them to suffer just because I thought hiding was more important than their lives. So far as they're concerned the potions and spells I used are clan techniques and Itachi-san backed me up. He's the only one who knows they're more than that."

"How many people know who you are?" asked Jiraiya.

"Um… Hatake-san, his ninken, and probably his wife as well… Itachi-san, obviously, and his cousin Uchiha Shisui-san. I know that uh… somebody named Genma-san has suspicions about me. I ran into him when I found Tenzou-san a couple days ago. They were on the same team and I kind of ate lunch with them… well at the same table as them. And then yesterday he was with the team sent by Konoha and he remembered me, I think. I was using an alias when I saw Tenzou-san."

"Who's Tenzou?"

At this, both Hermione and Itachi stiffened. Hermione pulled her pendant out from under her kimono. Jiraiya looked at the pendant for a moment before nodding. "He's a Konoha shinobi maybe four or five years older than I am. According to my pendant, Tenzou-san is as closely related to me as Minato-niisan. More closely related to me than little Naruto-kun or Tsunade-okaasan or anybody in the Senju graveyard."

"What did you say?" breathed Jiraiya.

"He felt like he was my full sibling," repeated Hermione.

"You're sure?" There was this absolutely gobsmacked look on Jiraiya's face and suddenly, Hermione realized that he and Tsunade had not faked Yamato's death and hidden him as Tenzou, that they had honestly believed the boy was dead.

"Yeah, I am." Hermione pulled out a handkerchief and unsealed the little box that held the kanzashi. She took the scrying mirror out and sealed the box away. Carefully, Hermione activated the mirror and focused in on Tenzou. There was a flash of a couple imaged before it settled on the dark haired teen. "This is Tenzou-san."

Jiraiya stared at the mirror, an intense look of longing and wonder on his face. Gently, he ran his fingers along the image before withdrawing his hand.

He stood, absently straightening his red and green clothing. "Well, what are you waiting for?"

"Huh?" said Hermione, a little stunned by his abrupt about face.

"I suppose I can spare a little bit of my valuable time to visit okaasan."

"Uh, right. Sure." Hermione quickly sealed up the mirror.

Itachi left the booth and stood, waiting patiently as Hermione and Shiho did the same. Jiraiya tossed some coins on the table and then led the trio out of the bar. They managed to make their way out of the city relatively quickly and away from the road, into a clearing in the forest that surrounding the city. It was then that Hermione stopped short. She gave Itachi an unsure look.

"Is something wrong?" asked Itachi.

"Uh, well, I only really hired you to escort me to find my uncle, and now that I've found him… is your mission over now?"

Jiraiya leaned against a tree, watching Itachi carefully, as if measuring him.

"When you paid, you paid for a month to two months of my services," pointed out Itachi. "Admittedly, the mission is technically complete, but I see no reason why I should not escort you and Shiho-chan to the path that leads to the other side of the mists at the very least. Even taking into account the mercenaries that mistook you for Tsunade-himesama and attempted to kill you, it is balanced out by your healing of Namiashi-san's team."

Hermione smiled, understanding that Itachi wanted to stay, wanted to see this through to the end. "Thanks. I'm already well on my way to being grounded for oh… the rest of my life at the very least anyway, so you're officially invited to come back to Japan with me. I'll make sure you get back to this side of the mists safely." Hermione shrugged. "And hey, you just might get that chance to defend me from my family after all."

Itachi grunted and shook his head in amusement while Jiraiya snorted.

"So, you've been using all paths are one to get around?" said Jiraiya.

"Yeah."

"Right. Kuchiyose no jutsu," he declared, cutting his palm and slamming it on the ground. Hermione blinked and stumbled back a step as an orange and blue toad the size of a minivan appeared. It had several banadages wrapped around it and a beaded necklace with the word loyalty on it. "Hermione-chan, Shiho-chan, this is Gama. Gama, you remember my daughter, Hermione-chan, and this is our cousin on the Namikaze side, Shiho-chan. Hermione-chan is old enough to sign the Toad Summoning Contract."

There was a ribbit followed by the toad putting down a scroll before Hermione. Jiraiya unrolled the scroll and motioned toward the space next to the name Namikaze Minato with a handprint under it. Hermione's eyes widened as she realized her brother had signed his name in blood.

"I'm left handed, should I use my left or my right hand?" she asked. There were half a dozen names visible, each with the clan name Namikaze. Though as the scroll was only partially unrolled, Hermione presumed there were more.

"Left," said Gama.

"Okay then. Uhm… kunai?" She accepted the kunai handed to her by Itachi and cut open her left pointer finger. She signed her name neatly before covering her hand with blood and leaving a handprint behind. She cleaned her hand and the kunai before handing the kunai back to Itachi. "So, now what?"

"There are handseals that go with it, but you've been learning to do magic without a wand, right?" said Jiraiya. At her nod, he continued. "What you need to do to summon a toad is cut your hand-either one-because the jutsu needs a drop or two of blood, gather your magic in the hand you're using, and release it into the ground with the words kuchiyose no jutsu. The more magic, the bigger the toad. When you get better at it, you can do it without the words and pick out which toad you summon by feel."

"Okay. That seems simple enough," agreed Hermione. "Should I do it now?"

"Go for it."

Hermione gathered magic in her palm-about as much as she'd use to put both herself and Itachi under the effects of the all paths are one spell and slammed her hand into the ground. "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"

Suddenly she rose ten feet in the air. "Eep!" she screeched, hanging on to some cloth that had appeared underneath her.

"Jiraiya, why have you summoned me?" demanded the thing she was sitting on.

"Uh, excuse me, ma'am," said Hermione. It sounded female, so she decided to address it as if it were a woman. "I'm the one who summoned you. Jiraiya-o… otousan just had me sign the summoning contract."

"Who are you?"

Itachi walked up a tree sideways in an amazing display of disregard for the laws of gravity and held out his hands to Hermione, gently picking her up. He walked back down and placed her before the rather pretty blue toad. She mumbled her thanks to Itachi before examining the toad. Hermione blinked, a little stunned by the necklaces and haori the toad wore and the eyelashes. Since when did toads have eyelashes?

"I'm Namikaze Hermione, although I use the name Hermione Granger most of the time," she said. "Jiraiya-otousan is my father."

"I'm Ruka, Gama's wife."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," said Hermione. "So, uh, what exactly does a toad summons do, anyway? Nobody really explained."

Shiho giggled at Hermione's words, the first sound she'd made since Hermione had met the girl. Hermione turned to look at the five year old, who announced, "Summons fight with you in battle, silly."

"I suppose it must seem rather silly that I don't know that Shiho-chan," admitted Hermione. "But I grew up as a civilian and I've never even heard of a summons before."

"Right, you two can get to know each other later. Right now, the four of us need to get going to the other side of the mists. Would one of you carry Hermione-chan and Shiho-chan? The Uchiha and I are going to tree hop."

"I will," said Gama.

"Thank you, Gama-san," said Hermione. "And I'm sorry if I interrupted anything, Ruka-san."

"It's fine. Summon me anytime. It's been nearly half a century since we last had a female summoner," said Ruka before she disappeared with a pop and a puff of smoke.

"So, how do we do this?" asked Hermione.

"Just hold on to the bandages and speak up if you feel like you're slipping," said her father.

Jiraiya gently lifted Hermione and placed her on Gama's back. A moment later he placed Shiho on the toad in front of Hermione. She shifted until she was sitting on Gama's back in the same manner as a woman riding a horse side saddle. She helped Shiho point her legs to Gama's right side as Hermione's were draped over Gama's left, then she put her hands on either side of Shiho and grabbed hold of the bandage wrapped around Gama's chest.

"Shiho-chan, you need to hold on as well," said Hermione. She waited until Shiho had a secure hold before saying, "We're as ready as we're every going to be."

Under her, Gama tensed, and then jumped. It was rather like riding the most terrifying roller coaster ever. Part of her was terrified she was going to fall off, but it was still better than riding a broom. After the first twenty minutes Hermione found herself enjoying the ride and laughing along with Shiho. Apparently the little girl loved riding a giant toad as it hopped up and then back down mountains.

Out of the corner of her eyes she caught the occasional glimpse of Jiraiya and Itachi, who were leaping through trees at speeds Hermione's could barely follow. How they could keep this pace up for hours at a time, Hermione didn't know. Chakra was the only answer she could think of. It simply wasn't possible for a normal human to do such punishing exercise. She couldn't help but be impressed.

Around noon they stopped and Hermione passed out the onigiri she'd made with breakfast. She'd made sixteen this time, which unfortunately wasn't enough for everybody. For lack of a better idea she unsealed some apples and bananas.

"So, why are you doing this?" asked Jiraiya.

"Baasan asked. And, well, she said that she'd give me the scrolls on necromancy if I succeeded in bringing you back," she explained. "I didn't expect her to give me the scrolls on healing and how to use wandless magic just for agreeing to try."

"I should have known she'd give you an Impossible Task," grumbled Jiraiya.

"What's necro… uh…" said Itachi.

"Necromancy. And you and Shiho-chan need to forget you've ever even heard the term," said Hermione. "It's forbidden to have anything to do with a necromancer; somebody who practices the art of necromancy, and actually practicing necromancy is a death sentence."

"A necromancer deals with ghosts and lays them to rest. Proper necromancers also are responsible for hunting down and killing people who misuse the art. It, along with healing, are our people's oldest art," said Jiraiya. "And Hermione-chan's right. If anybody finds out that she knows a necromancer and is trying to prove herself worthy of learning the art, our people will kill her. Slowly."

Hermione shrugged. "A couple people pervert necromancy and suddenly it's illegal."

"Why do you want to learn it if it can get you executed?" demanded Itachi.

"Voldemort-he was the leader of the pureblood extremists during the civil war-did something to himself using what baasan thinks is necromancy. He didn't die killing Lily and James Potter like everybody thinks he did. And almost nobody knows that he's back. I have to… I have to do something to stop him before he starts the war up again. It would destroy us." She looked Itachi in the eye, almost begging him to understand that she had been backed into a corner by Voldemort, that she was desperate.

Itachi nodded and Hermione felt herself sag in relief. He understood. Maybe not entirely, but he understood.

Hermione let out a yawn as she made breakfast. They were only ten minutes from the path that led to the other side of the mists, so Hermione had chosen to forgo a kimono or yukata. Instead she'd dressed in white leggings, black boots, and a drop waisted denim jumper dress with a pleated skirt with a pink t-shirt underneath. Her long hair had been washed and braided.

Next to her was her first attempt at transfiguring children's clothing. A yukata or kimono would have been too unusual for such an obviously European child, so Hermione had taken a couple torn socks and a shirt she'd never really liked and made a golden yellow circle skirt and a red t-shirt. Hermione wanted to check that they fit Shiho properly before she packed them away. She'd have Shiho change into the outfit shortly before they reached the little farming community up on the plateau.

Itachi stepped into the camp and blinked. Hermione had known that the boy was up-he and Jiraiya had slept out in the open while Hermione and Shiho had taken the tent-but it was the first time she'd seen him that morning.

"Is something wrong?" asked Hermione. She flipped the fish fillet absently.

"What are you wearing?"

"Huh? This? It's normal clothing back home… Well, sort of. I figured that since we'll be on the path that leads to my world in a little bit, there wasn't much point in wearing a kimono today."

"I've never seen clothing like that," he commented.

"Yeah. I suppose you wouldn't have. My people generally dress more formally, much like you all do in this world. But Muggle society, I guess you'd consider Muggles civilians, wear much different clothing. This is normal Muggle clothing for a girl my age. I like kimono better, but this is easier to move in."

"Oh."

"So, do you want to continue the runes lesson? We have a bit of time before breakfast's ready."

Itachi nodded. They spoke quietly, going over the most commonly used runes. Itachi had explained that even knowing what the runes meant could be important in crisis situations and Hermione had agreed. It made a certain amount of sense. While they spoke she rolled onigiri, this time making enough for everybody. Although she had to use a good portion of her rice to do so. They had just finished analyzing exploding tags-and all the variations thereof that Itachi remembered-when breakfast finished cooking.

Hermione excused herself and went to the tent. She opened the flap and gently shook Shiho awake. "Good morning Shiho-chan." When the girl's eyes were open and she'd finished yawning, Hermione explained, "Come on, we'll eat breakfast and then you'll get dressed for the day."

Once Shiho started to crawl out of the bedroll she'd shared with Hermione the night before, Hermione turned to Itachi. "Could you wake Jiraiya-otousan for me, please?"

Hermione wasn't sure she felt completely comfortable referring to Jiraiya as otousan, but the man was her father after all. Jiraiya, she'd decided, could be called otousan, and Tsunade could be okaasan, but the people who'd raised her would always be Mum and Dad.

Once everybody was around the fire, Hermione served miso soup, rice, and grilled fish to everybody. They were larger than normal portions, but Hermione had no intention of shortchanging herself or the others. Breakfast was a relatively silent affair and ended rather quickly.

When everybody was done and Itachi was cleaning the pots, Hermione picked up the skirt and shirt. "Shiho-chan, I need you to try this on for me."

"What is it?" asked the girl.

"Just a t-shirt and a skirt. We're going to Japan, which is another country. And in Japan, girls where clothing like this, instead of yukata or kimono most of the time."

They went into the tent and Shiho tried on the clothing. While Hermione took in the t-shirt a touch and lengthened the skirt a couple inches, Shiho changed into a yukata. Hermione tied the obi for the girl and then brushed out her long hair. They'd bathed together the night before and Hermione had left Shiho's hair loose so that it would air dry during the night. Hermione ended up tying Shiho's hair into a high tail with a ribbon and then braiding the tail. It was rather hot out and Shiho would probably feel more comfortable if her hair was up off the back of her neck.

When everything was packed away, the four of them headed off to the path. Jiraiya instantly spotted the seal Hermione had left so that she could find it again and shook his head, chuckling slightly.

"What do you intend to do once you finish school?" asked Jiraiya.

Hermione shrugged. "I'm thinking about trying for an arithmancy apprenticeship. I've been studying it recently and… I just love it."

"I'd have thought you'd want a runes apprenticeship."

"Oh no. I like runes well enough, but arithmancy is… well runes just can't compare."

"So who are your friends?"

"Harry Potter and Ron Weasley are my best friends and Neville Longbottom is a friend. And I suppose I get along well enough with two of my roommates; Eloise Midgeon and Sally-Anne Perks and Daphne Greengrass-she's one of the Slytherin girls." She glanced at Itachi shyly. "And I'd like to think that Itachi-san is my friend as well."

"I am," he agreed.

Hermione smiled at him.

They spent most of the morning and a good portion of the afternoon traveling in silence. There was something about traveling with Jiraiya that made Hermione suddenly shy. It was one thing to speak so frankly with Itachi when it was just the two of them, another thing entirely when they had an audience. In a fit of annoyance, Hermione had started a game of I Spy with Itachi after lunch and brown beaten Jiraiya into participating. Eventually, even Shiho had started guessing.

Around three or four in the afternoon they actually reached the waterfall that marked where the path began. There Hermione paused, getting something to drink.

"How fast can we get down to the town?" asked Hermione.

"If Itachi and I carried you two, it wouldn't take much more than half an hour or so," said Jiraiya.

"Right. You two, turn around. Shiho-chan needs to change."

Once Itachi and Jiraiya had turned around, Hermione unsealed the shirt and skirt and helped Shiho change. The girl was a bit hesitant about having bare legs, but otherwise fine. Hermione ended up having the girl take her tabi and zori off and replacing them with simple sandals woven from dried reeds using her mokuton. They were sturdy enough for a young girl and wouldn't fall off easily.

"Shiho-chan, come here," Itachi said softly. He knelt and let the girl climb onto his back.

Obviously it would be easier for Itachi to carry Shiho than Hermione. He was only twelve. Even with chakra, Shiho would likely be rather heavy for him. Once Hermione climbed onto Jiraiya's back, the duo set out, leaping into the trees. It was actually better than riding on Gama because she had a more secure hold and Jiraiya didn't leap as high or as far.

The forest went by in a blur and they landed near the edge of the little town. Jiraiya asked her for directions to the clinic and the zoomed off again. Hermione would have enjoyed it, but this was far too serious an occasion for such frivolity.

At the entrance to the clinic, Hermione slipped off Jiraiya's back and gently took Shiho's hand once Itachi let her go. "Follow me."

She led them into the clinic. At the entrance, she saw the nurse. "Nakamura-san, this is my uncle, Jiraiya-ojisan, and my cousin Shiho-chan. They're here to see baasan."

"You can head back," said the nurse. She seemed to be staring at Itachi and Jiraiya like they had two heads, but was otherwise unperturbed. "Your mother and aunt were here this morning and they're supposed to return tomorrow morning."

"Thank you, ma'am."

They walked down the hall until they reached a closed door. Hermione knocked, waited until a voice called for her to enter and then opened the door.

Megumi looked at Hermione first, before she turned to stare at Jiraiya, ignoring both Itachi and Shiho entirely. Eventually she turned back to Hermione.

"It seems you've succeeded where I'd failed so many times before," Megumi said to Hermione. "Thank you. Hermione-chan, perhaps you should go see Lao-chan and Jack-kun. They've been rather worried about you. I'll make sure that Andy-chan knows you've completed your Task and gives you the scrolls."

"Baasan-"

"Hermione-chan, do what okaasan says," ordered Jiraiya, though he looked displeased by the way Megumi had dismissed her. "You can come back in the morning to visit. You're staying with Andy-chan and her husband, right? Tell her I'll be there for dinner."

"Yes sir."

The trio left the clinic quietly. At the curb, Itachi asked, "How far is it?"

"Five blocks." At least Itachi recognized she didn't want to talk at the moment. Harry and Ron wouldn't have noticed her mood.

Itachi swung Shiho into his arms and balanced the child on one hip. Shiho was probably exhausted by now and it only made sense for him to carry her. He seemed a little shell shocked by the buildings and the various cars and busses. But he resolutely refused to act like some country bumpkin, something that Hermione could appreciate.

She opened the gate to the small yard and led Itachi up to the house. "Andy-basan? I'm back," she called out, opening the door.

As Hermione was untying her boots, Andy walked into the hallway. "How did it go?"

"He's talking to baasan right now," she explained. "He said he'd be back in time for dinner. Uhm… Andy-basan, this is my friend, Uchiha Itachi-san, he's the shinobi I hired in Konohagakure no Sato to guard me. And this is Namikaze Shiho-chan. Guys, this is my aunt, Kenta Andromache."

"Namikaze? Is she…"

"Her great great great grandmother was a Namikaze before she married into the Suikazan Clan." She glanced at Itachi. "Could you watch Shiho-chan for a moment? I need to talk to my mother and Andy-bachan."

"Of course," said Itachi.

"Here," Hermione reached into her backpack and unsealed a doll and a ball. "The back yard is much bigger. Why don't you take her back there and play something?"

Itachi nodded, taking the offered toys. She blinked and he'd disappeared back out the door. She wasn't sure that she liked shinobi moving that fast unless they were taking her with them. It was a bit disconcerting to watch. Then again, his speed probably helped him stay alive in a very dangerous line of work.

A moment later Andy swept her into the kitchen where her mother sat, nursing a cup of tea. The woman was silent, staring into the distance pensively.

"Mum, I'm back," Hermione said softly.

"Never do that again," Laodice ordered softly. "If you're going to run off for days at a time to complete an Impossible Task or some other quest, tell me. Don't just leave me a note. It's not acceptable."

"Yes Mum. I'm sorry. I just… I thought you'd stop me if I told you beforehand."

"I am not some Muggle raised woman. I know how important an Impossible Task is," scolded Laodice. "How did it go?"

"I did it. Jiraiya-otousan is speaking with baasan right now," said Hermione, telling her mother, with one word, that she knew everything. "Um… I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" said her mother

"I had a bit of a run in with my great great great aunt, on the Namikaze side yesterday. She was in the middle of acute liver failure and being chased by hunter-nin." Hermione spoke quickly, half afraid that if she slowed down, she'd never tell them. "She had her great great great granddaughter Shiho-chan with her. She asked me to foster Shiho-chan. I-she was dying. She wanted her only surviving descendant to go to family who knew about magic and could teach her. I couldn't say no. I tried to tell her I was twelve but she kept insisting that by agreeing to baasan's Task I'd declared myself a woman and she was right and Shiho-chan is family and I couldn't just abandon the girl."

"Stop," ordered Laodice, before she babbled even more. "You agreed to foster this little girl who is how old?"

"Five." Hermione held out her scarred palm. The scar had healed into a rune, rather than a straight line, but Hermione had expected that. It was a symbol that a magically binding oath was in place. "I was hoping that either one of you, or maybe Jiraiya-otousan or Tenzou-san could take her in."

"Who is Tenzou?" asked Andy.

"He's my brother. My full brother according to the seals I've been using. But there's some sort of confusion about who he really is. He's maybe fifteen or sixteen or seventeen, I think. And a shinobi of Konoha."

"Does Jiraiya-nii know?" asked Andy.

"Yeah. I told him and showed him Tenzou-san in the scrying mirror."

Andy and Laodice exchanged a glance before Laodice said, "Your Dad and I will take Shiho-chan in. I'll get Jiraiya-niisan to go forge some papers for her."

"You'll need to say she's a cousin from the Namikaze side of the family that you got custody of," pointed out Andy. "Your neighbors know you don't have a five year old and who knows how the British Wizarding community will take her sudden appearance."

Laodice nodded her agreement. "Now, what was your agreement with Suikazan-san?"

"I make sure she receives training in how to use her magic once she reaches eleven, and I give her an Impossible Task for the privilege of learning the Old Ways once she's old enough. Oh, and she agreed to let Shiho-chan be raised as a civilian instead of a kunoichi, but I have to make sure she marries a shinobi." Hermione took out the appropriate scrolls. "Here, this is all Shiho-chan's stuff. Her dowry, clothing, the Suikazan clan spells and jutsu, and Suikazan-san's tessen. I'm supposed to make sure that Shiho-chan learns tessenjutsu as well."

"That's all reasonable," said Laodice. "Hm. If the Wizarding ask, we'll tell them the truth; Shiho-chan was given to Hermione to foster because my siblings and I are squibs and Hermione is the only witch in the family other than okaasan."

"Maybe you should write a letter to Hermione's school to make sure this won't be a problem. Be proactive so that they have no excuse to penalize her for not telling them about Shiho-chan or Hermione-chan taking the Impossible Task," suggested Andy. "Say that Hermione-chan did the Task to gain the right to learn the family spells and that she had to take the Task at such a young age because her grandmother was in the hospital and would die well before Hermione-chan is of age."

"Um, Professor McGonagall is both my Head of House and the Deputy Headmistress," volunteered Hermione. "She'd probably be the best person to write."

"I'll get started on a letter," said Laodice.

"Hermione-chan," said Andy. "Why don't you take Itachi-kun and Shiho-chan to the market and pick up some groceries. We need some extra food if everybody is going to be fed tonight. You'll have to share a futon with Shiho-chan-"

"That's alright. I had to share a sleeping bag with her last night as well."

"Alright. And tell your friend that I'll set up futons for him and Jiraiya in the living room this evening."

"Sure."

Andy wrote out a quick list and gave that, along with some yen to Hermione before sending the girl on her way. Hermione slipped the list and the yen in the pocket of her dress and went into the backyard, where Itachi was playing some sort of football like game with the girl. Hermione was grateful Itachi had agreed to watch the little girl. It would have been wrong to let Shiho listen to her own future being debated.

Hermione gave them a shy smile, "Well, Andy-basan has asked for us to go to the market for her. I hope you don't mind."

"It's fine," said Itachi.

"So…" said Hermione, leading them out of the yard and out onto the street. "It turns out that Mum-that means kaasan in English-is more upset that I ran off to complete an Impossible Task without telling her and left a note than that I went to complete the task."

"Are you in trouble?" asked Shiho.

"I'm not sure," shrugged Hermione. "But it's not that big a deal. I was expecting to get into trouble anyway. That reminds me, Shiho-chan, you're going to be living with me and my parents."

"Oh." Shiho fell silent and Hermione couldn't help but wonder if her somewhat blunt statement had caused the little girl to withdraw back into her shell.

"So, I'm not really sure what level of technology the elemental countries are at," said Hermione. Might as well get Shiho and Itachi somewhat acclimated. "But advanced technology is much more common here. If you don't recognize something, ask me-discreetly-and I'll try to answer your questions."

"What are those lights at the street corners for?" asked Itachi.

Hermione spent much of the trip to and from the market explaining things like traffic lights and automobiles. Apparently while they had some technology, it was simply so expensive to make and maintain-powered by lightening jutsu instead of electricity-that only the various daimyos, shinobi villages, some of the nobles, and rarely a samurai or two could afford it. In Konoha, they used security cameras for obvious reasons and teams could requisition radios if the situation called for it. There was even a D-Rank-the apparently infamous Tora Mission-where the Genin teams were given a set of radios so that they could familiarize themselves with the technology.

It was going well until they began their walk back from the market and Shiho motioned to a TV playing some sort of movie about Yakuza-judging by the number of guns and the tattoos-that Hermione found herself afraid of relating knowledge. "It's nothing," she said quickly. "It's-we should get back to the house. Andy-basan needs this food to make us dinner."

Hermione gave the groceries to Andy and introduced Shiho to Laodice. Her mother swept Shiho out of the room, talking the entire time.

"Andy-basan, Itachi-san and are going to head out to the forest. He's going to help me practice wandless magic."

"Have fun you two," said Andy, not even bothering to leave the kitchen. "Just be back in about two hours."

Itachi was silent during their two block walk to the edge of town. The Kenta home was on the outskirts of town, near the clinic. She knew that Itachi was watching her, but refused to speak, to answer the questions she was sure he had until they were someplace private. She led him to a small clearing she'd found a week and a half earlier.

Not giving herself time to think about what she was doing, Hermione unhooked the suspender like straps of her dress. She allowed the apron like front of the dress to fall to her waist. Thankfully the dress was just tight enough around the hips that it didn't fall down. Itachi froze, giving her this lost, wide eyed look. Before he could turn around or say something, Hermione pulled up her t-shirt so that her stomach was visible.

"What caused that?" He demanded, his fingers trailing along the old white scar tissue just under her bra on the left side. Itachi looked at her back long enough to see the far larger scar from the exit wound. "I've never seen scarring like that before."

"You wouldn't have," said Hermione, pushing her t-shirt back down and then doing her dress back up. "It's a bullet wound."

She sat down on the ground, wrapping her arms around her legs. "What Shiho-chan asked about… it's called gun. It's a type of firearm. Like a miniature cannon. Its ammunition is called a bullet."

"What happened?" Itachi asked gently.

"I should have died. Any Muggle-what my people call those who have no magic-would have died. But my magic saved me. It healed my internal injuries enough that I was still alive when they got me to a hospital. But it's kind of hard to heal yourself when your brain was shredded by a bullet," she said bitterly. "According to Mum, it was probably a kindness that Tobi died instantly. She said, she said that Tobi would probably have had brain damage or worse if the bullet had hit her a couple inches in any direction.

"It was my fault, you know."

"Hermione-san-"

"It was my fault," she insisted. "We were only supposed to go to the park, but I wanted a cookie, so we went to this coffee shop a block away. Tobi… Tobi used to love their lemonade. Tobi had just been accepted to Hogwarts-the school of magic I attend-and we were trying to do as much together as we could because she was going to be gone ten months out of the year."

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to."

"It's alright. I've told you everything else, why not this as well?" She rested her head on her knees. "There were these men. They kept fidgeting and looking back, it's obvious they were drugged to the gills, but I was nine. I didn't know. We were on line and one of the men bumped into me. And I saw… I saw his gun and I was so scared. And then one of the tables exploded and it startled the men and then they had their guns out and they started shooting. I remember being hit by a bullet and I remember laying on the ground, watching my sister's blood and brains drip out of her skull and I remember listening to people scream and the gun go off again and again and again.

"A couple other people survived, but I was the only one not to have debilitating injuries. Those men had come there intending to rob the place and instead, because of my fear and my magic, fourteen people are dead and five will never be the same again."

"It's not your fault," Itachi said softly. "You said it yourself, you were too young to even begin to learn to control your magic. It's not possible for you to know that they wouldn't have done the same if not for your actions."

"Itachi-san-"

"I was seven when I became a Genin. My Jonin-sensei decided to wait four months instead of the normal one to two months to take our first C-Rank mission because of my age," he said. "We were assigned to hunt down a rabid wolf that had been terrorizing a small village on the coast. My team found the wolf after a day of tracking it through the woods. We eventually killed the wolf, but not before Aiko-chan, our teammate, was bitten. Hizashi-sensei slit her throat once she lost coherency. There is no treatment for rabies and he said it was kinder to put her out of her misery than to allow her to die of the disease. A month later Hizashi-sensei committed seppuku. My last surviving teammate, Yasahiro-kun chose to commit suicide by mission a week before we would have been assigned to new teams. I am the only surviving member of my first Genin team. And there have been times when I've wondered what would have happened had I been a little faster, a little stronger."

"I used to be so adventurous, you know. There was nothing I wouldn't try once or twice. I was always getting into trouble or doing something I shouldn't. Tobi and I never should have been in the coffee shop to begin with. And after… for a long time I was obsessed with doing what I was told, with being the best. I finished my secondary education six years early."

"Secondary?"

"Most countries on this side of the mists have compulsory education from when a child is four or five until they're seventeen or eighteen. Primary school is for students roughly four to ten or eleven years old and secondary for twelve to eighteen. The teachers kept moving me up a year every couple of weeks until I ended up sitting for my A-Levels, the exams universities use when they're deciding whether or not to take a student. It's the last set of exams for a student in secondary. My grades were better than the national average."

"When I was first assigned to Shikaku-sensei's team, he had to recruit my teammates, Kotetsu-kun and Izumo-kun to keep me from training too hard or for too long."

"At least they cared enough to try. Ron tries to use me to do his homework for him and Harry has enough problems of his own. He doesn't need mine as well." She paused, considering whether or not it was wise, before asking, "I understand if you don't want to explain, but what does suicide by mission mean, exactly?"

"Some choose to take more and more difficult missions until they are killed by an enemy, others choose to allow the enemy to fell them. Yasahiro-kun chose the latter." A moment later he asked, "Why do you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Refer to people without honorifics."

Itachi wanted to change the subject, it seemed. Hermione decided to allow him to do so. This had to be as painful a subject for him as Tobi was for her.

"Oh that. In the English language, names are placed in front of the name, rather than after. And it's inappropriate to add an honorific to a friend's name unless it's part of a pet name…"