"Hey," a warm and gentle hand shook me awake.
I cracked my eyes open and found that I was still in the kitchen, sitting at the table and leaning on my arms. I sat up and saw Genma. He looked like he just come back from a mission, exhausted, and bloodied, but uninjured. "How did it go?" I asked, "The mission."
He shrugged, "The usual." His eyes flickered to the pile of notes, books, and scrolls I had been studying. "What's that."
"I've been…" I bit my lip, "I've been trying to wake up Kushina-nee. I think I have a theory but… I'm studying."
"Hm…" He scooped me up.
"Hey!" I whined, "Put me down."
"Shhh," he smirked, "The kids are sleeping."
I shook my head, "Go take a shower." I hopped out of his arms and stumbled slightly before grabbing onto the wall. I may be a kage-level shinobi, but my balance was terrible.
He nodded and walked off. I picked up my study material and walked to my room. I yawned, completely exhausted. Then I laid down and was asleep in minutes.
…
"WHAT THE FUCK!" shouted Genma at the kunai.
Sen and Menma looked up at him from the floor where they were playing 'ninja.'
"Language," I snorted, "Now what."
He threw the kunai where it was embedded in our wall. I glared at him for adding more holes to the mess. He shrugged and scrunched his eyes, making a seal of concentration. He was at this for a good five minutes. Then he opened his eyes and groaned. "I don't get it."
"I can see that," I pointed out, "Sense. Aren't you a sensor? Are you sure you got the seal right?"
He nodded, frustrated, "I've done it before."
"Well try to remember how if felt," I said, "If you want, I don't mind pretending to be dead."
"Dead?" Sen tilted her head, "But you're alive."
"She means when she fought oro…maru?" whispered Menma loudly, "Remember? Otou-san said he used the Hiraishin thingy…"
I smiled at them, "Who told you about that?"
The twins shook their heads in unison, "Secret… but…" they gave me puppy eyes, "Can you tell us? Did you really kill that oro person?"
"No," I said, "I didn't kill him. I maybe… temporarily render him dead. But Orochimaru can never die."
"Oh," said Menma, "That's cool."
"Is Otou-san doing the Hiraishin again?" asked Sen curiously, "Why can't he do it again? Can we learn too?"
"Yeah!" cheered Menma, "I wanna do the thingy."
I smiled, "Maybe when you are older, it takes good chakra control."
"Ack!" Genma reappeared on the other side and crashed into the wall, his hands protecting his face.
"Are you…" I stood up and walked over to him, crossing my arms, "You good?"
He grinned sheepishly and held up a swollen wrist, "It works?"
The twins started cheering as I grabbed his wrist and healed it with the glowing green chakra. "My turn!" shouted Sen. She scrunched her eyes and made the same seal of concentration.
"Come on," said Genma, "It takes years! You need to have good chakra control and attend the academy first-"
With a pop, Sen appeared midair and fell onto Genma who was still sitting on the floor. She giggled and looked down at her father who was staring at her, open-mouthed. "My turn!" shouted Menma.
"Wait no-" too late. Menma came crashing down on Sen and Genma.
The twins started giggling. And disappearing and reappearing around the house. "What…" Genma turned to me, "How…" He stood up, almost knocking over a small coffee table.
I laughed, "Even the kids can do it… what the heck?!?!?"
"We should see Tsunade," said Genma slowly.
"Agreed," I said, "You grab the twins and I'll go find Tsunade."
"How…?" he asked, "How many tags are there, throughout the village."
My eyes widened, "Go, go, go, grab some genin to help you. My seals, Minato-sensei, and Nidaimes… I'll say there's over a thousand in the most random places. There are definitely some in T&I and other dangerous places…" I teleported to my room, grabbed a few seals, and reappeared, "Two of these are Hiraishin seals. Maybe they'll pop over to you. The others are chakra suppressants. They won't do much harm and they'll at least stop them from running around."
…
Genma ran through the village, sensing and watching. It was so hard to find them. Once they were there and suddenly they weren't. He groaned in frustration as he saw Menma for a brief second. Then his son disappeared again. "Genma!" he heard a familiar voice call him and sensed the chakra, "What are you doing out on this YOUTHFUL day?"
Genma kept running as he answered, "The kids went missing," he explained, "Some how they managed to use Flying Raijin. Could you help me look for them?"
"Yosh!" cheered Guy, "I accept your challenge! Lee!"
The bushy-browed ninja appeared next to them, "Yes Guy-sensei?"
"The twins have disappeared," Guy declared, "It is our job to find them. Don't fail me Lee."
"Yosh!" said Lee, "I will not fail!"
"Right," muttered Genma, "Thanks." He handed them each a stack of chakra suppressant tags, "If you find them… maybe just stick this tag on them."
"Yosh!" shouted Guy, running off with the tags, " Let's find these YOUTHFUL kids!!!"
Genma kept running as the two taijutsu users ran off. He skidded to a stop on a roof. A familiar roof… then, he turned and dove off. There! A flash of blue and brown before Sen disappeared again. "Damn it," muttered Genma, his senbon clicking annoyedly. Genma landed in the middle of the market street and looked around.
"Yo," he heard Kakashi say, "Genma, what are you doing?" his students, Asuma and his students, and Kurenai and her students walked up behind Kakashi. Perfect.
"Right," said Genma, pulling out a stack of seals, "The twins went missing. If you see them, just stick this on them and try to get them to Hokage Tower."
"What… are these… Chakra Suppressing Seals?" Kakashi eyed him suspiciously.
Genma groaned, "Yeah. But the twins learned Flying Raijin! They are loose in the village right now!"
"Oh."
"Yeah, oh." He sighed and ran off, following Menma's signature for five seconds before it flickered and disappeared, reappearing in another direction. "Oh great Sages!"
…
Anko Mitarashi enjoyed her job. She was a good interrogator. She usually got information out of her victims - ehem - prisoner - ehem - interrogatee. I mean… sure she had to deal with the blood and the screaming but what kind of Jounin would she be if she couldn't take it?
And… she had to work with Yamanaka's who were reading her mind half the fucking time but… that was something she trained for, something she was used to. And then there was Ibiki. To most genin and chunin (and some Jounin), he was the scariest person in the world -maybe scarier than the Hokage or S-ranked missing-nin. Anko thought he was fun.
She loved her job. She loved every day. Today was no different until a kid fell from the fucking ceiling into a fucking interrogation cell in one of the most protected areas (other than ANBU HQ) and landed on her victim/prisoner/interrogatee.
"Menma?" she said incredulously as the kid scrambled to get off the now unconscious prisoner.
"Hi Anko-nee!" he chirped before yawning. "I'm so tired…"
She blinked as the kid walked up to her and promptly fell asleep by her feet. She blinked again… "Is this… mild chakra exhaustion…"
"Anko-sama!" one of the genin interns ran in, then quickly bowed and looked up, "Is that…"
"A kid," she growled, "I don't know how he got here but I am going to fucking kill Rin!"
The genin looked at her, Menma, then at the prisoner, "Should I clean up."
"Yes please," she gave him a saccharine smile and he shivered.
Anko picked up the kid and carried him out of the interrogation room. Ibiki was watching her. "Is that Menma?" he asked, his scarred eyebrow raised.
"Yep," said Anko, "Wanna go return him? I want some dango."
Ibiki glanced at the room where the interns had begun cleaning up her mess. "I suppose I don't have much to do. I will take him to the Nohara residence…" she smiled, "only if… you buy me some dango too."
"Deal."
…
"So explain to me again," Tsunade snapped, "Your kids… both of them… the twins… somehow managed Hiraishin and are now popping up around town at Sage knows where!"
"Uh… yes…" I said.
"Great," muttered Tsunade, "What's next, another war?"
I fiddled with my fingers behind my back, nervously, that was a bit too close to the truth. "Well I told Genma to bring them here. So… I was hoping you could take a look at them?"
"Aren't you a medic," she eyed me, "You are just as good as I am."
"I'm more inexperienced. And also… you are literally… ya' know… a Sannin."
She pinched the bridge of her nose, "I am getting a migraine."
"You could always just heal it," said a lazy voice, "These kids sound… troublesome."
"Shikaku," sighed Tsunade, "Come on in. Got any ideas?"
"Well, why don't you just…" Shikaku snapped his fingers, "ANBU?"
Two ANBU operatives appeared. "Right," said Tsunade, "Keep a look out for the Nohara twins."
"Yes Godaime-sama!" they nodded and shunshined away.
"Your kids…" said Tsunade, "Are worse than you."
…
Genma sensed Menma's chakra… faintly. Then he sensed Ibiki. Ibiki? The T&I guy? He frowned in confusion and followed the signature. "Ibiki!" He called and ran up to the scarred interrogator, "Is that…"
"Your kid?" Ibiki replied, "Yes, mind telling me why he was in T&I? He fell on our prisoner."
Genma grabbed Menma, "Thank you for getting him. I'm heading to Hokage Tower. I'll explain on the way."
"Fine," huffed Ibiki, "You better make it fast though. Anko owes me dango."
"Of course she does…"
…
"Grab them!" shouted Tsunade as one of the twins appeared.
Shikaku's shadow shot towards the shape and paralyzed it. Then I caught sight of Sen who flashed and disappeared. "Aoba??!!" asked Shikaku at the form still paralyzed in the room. His shadow retreats and Aoba sighs. "What are you doing?" Shikaku asked.
"Kid dropped out of nowhere in the middle of our sparring session. Almost got burnt to a crisp. I grabbed her but she started teleporting… wait this is classified stuff isn't it."
Tsunade sighed, "I trust you. You're a trustworthy and responsible Tokujo. Just don't tell anyone and get out of my office."
"Yes ma'am," and he leaves.
Tsunade sighed, "Your kids are a hassle."
"Troublesome," agrees Shikaku, "Having kids is such a drag."
There was a knock on the door and we turned. "Godaime-sama," says Genma. He held up a sleeping Menma, "Found one… well actually Anko found Menma. He fell into T&I. Ibiki's here."
"Great," Tsunade sighs again, "I really don't get paid enough."
"Got her!" the door slammed open and Naruto ran in, grinning like the idiot he is. Sasuke is carrying Sen.
"Great," muttered Tsunade, "Give me the kids." They were handed to her and she ran her chakra through them and frowned, "Rin, Genma," she muttered, "Come here."
"What's wrong," Genma asked, worried, "Is something wrong with the twins?"
"No," said Tsunade, "I just wanted to check something." She grabbed both our wrists and I could feel her run her chakra through, diagnosing. "Huh, interesting."
"What is it?" I asked, slowly.
"It's not really important," said Tsunade as she pointed at me, "But your chakra felt… otherworldly. Same with the kids."
Otherworldly? Was this a result of my soul merging with Rin's? "Does it have negative effects?" I asked, "And how can you tell?"
"Your chakra, and the kids. It feels kind of like my grandfathers… and a bit like Naruto's… they both have two different… well Naruto has three, but theirs was always kind of 'otherworldly.' I don't really know how to explain it but theirs felt green but yours and the twins feels a bit like… a dark blue? Maybe a purple. Yours is definitely more purple though. No side effects. Except, apparently the twins can teleport now." she added dryly.
"Oh," I said, "So nothing wrong?"
"Nope." She said, "And don't worry about the otherworldly stuff, it's not that uncommon, I'm just making assumptions. Just keep chakra suppression on them until they are old enough. Don't want another full village search" she said, "Or for them to end up outside the village. Now get out of my office unless you want to do paperwork!"
…
"Get some sleep," Genma said, coming up from behind me, "You need it."
"Almost done," I protested. I was so close to figuring it out. Tsunade's comment about 'otherwordly chakra' had given me some ideas. Now, I just needed to finalize it and test it.
"Now," said said Genma, "Go rest." He grabbed by scroll and shut it.
"Hey," I reached for it but he kept it out of my reach, "Give that back!"
"Shush," he muttered, "Go sleep. Do I really have to force you every single night?"
I rubbed my eyes, "I'm not even that tired."
"Because…" he said, "You're running on chakra. But you need rest too."
"Fine," I said, "But don't be a hypocrite. You're coming with me!"
"Later," he said, "I'll clean up."
"M'kay," I said as I walked up the stairs. I pass the twin's bedroom. They're sleeping soundly after a long day of using their chakra. I smiled fondly and walked into my room. Genma joined me a while later.
"Good night," he whispered.
"Love you," I whisper back.
"I love you too," he whispered.
Then I was asleep.
…
Unless injured good shinobi do not slowly transition from sleep into wakefulness. Either they are still and pretending to sleep, or they jolt up in alarm at potential enemies.
The alarms went off in the twin's room. I could sense it because I wrote it. I could sense the ninjas attempting to suppress their chakra, but… they couldn't hide from two of the best sensors and a bijuu. In one smooth motion, I rolled to my feet, scalpel in one hand and cane in the other. Genma did the same, snapping awake and standing up, senbon already clicking between his teeth.
Twins, I signaled as best I could, Security breach, Jounin-level.
He nodded and we ran swiftly to the twin's room. Genma flung the door open. A single hooded figure stood by Sen's bed, holding her in their arms. Another held Menma and jumped out the window. Genma followed him, racing out the window while I stood, face-to-face with another. They were wearing an ANBU mask and an ANBU cloak. Except… ANBU didn't kidnap random kids. Root did.
I hooked my cane under their ankle and smacked. Caught off guard, the Root agent stumbled and dropped Sen. I dove to catch her but the agent was faster. They caught her and aimed a kick at my head. I ducked and stabbed my scalpel at them, aiming for their stomache. The agent dodged at the last second but the scalpel cut through the fabric of their cloak and sliced across their side. They grunted… he grunted.
I fought and twirled until my back was to the window so that he couldn't escape. "Move," he said coldly and held a kunai up to Sen's throat.
"Seriously," I deadpanned, "Killing innocent children? She's no use to you dead. Cut the crap."
"We have the boy," he said, "Your husband is no use against the best of us."
"Right…" I said, "A Tokujo who was a member of the Hokage guard platoon is no use against Danzo's mindless puppets?"
He visibly stiffened, "The roots nourish the tree. We support Konoha from the ground up. Everything we do is for the interest of our village." Then he attacked with more aggression than before, aiming to kill rather than to slightly maim. Great.
I dodged everything he threw at me. He was surprisingly adept at fighting with a kid in his other hand, making me wonder if he had done this before. Probably. Then I heard a buzzing and could swear I saw my opponent smirk. A good few hundred Kidaichū landed on me, feeding on my chakra. I ignored it and swung my cane at my opponent. As I did, I channeled Isobu's chakra. He ducked and it slammed into the wall, leaving cracks. I squirmed and felt myself grow significantly weaker as the Kidaichū continued to drain my chakra.
I channeled Isobu's chakra again, giving myself a single-tailed cloak. The stupid bugs burned to death and I let the cloak disappear. Taking advantage of the distraction, the Aburame lept forward and stabbed me in the abdomen. Adrenaline ran through my body and, ignoring the pain, I swung my leg, connecting with his head. He flew sideways and hit the wall.
The one holding Sen performed hand signs with one hand. I recognized it. It was a fire jutsu. I ducked and it missed me by a mile. I turned and realized what he was aiming for. Behind me, a few extremely powerful exploding and fire tags were stuck to the wall. "Are you crazy!" I shouted as the two agents jumped out the window.
I winced and grabbed a random toy from the room. On the underside, a Hiraishin symbol was carved into it. I threw it out of the window and teleported just as the tags blew up. I felt the heat burn my back and I was flying. So were the other two who didn't get far enough despite being the ones to set off the tag. Amateurs.
The toy smacked the one holding Sen hard on the back of the head and he went unconscious. I grabbed her and held her tightly against my chest. Then I closed my eyes and braced for impact. I landed hard on the floor and winced painfully. There was a crack. Broken arm, I diagnosed. Sen looked unharmed though.
I stood up and groaned. The adrenaline had worn off and now the wound really hurt. I held Sen in my good arm. My other one was definitely broken. I could see the white of the bone sticking out. The Root agents stood up slowly and one sent more bugs at me. How many did he have?
Before I could do anything, a stream of fire shot out from behind me and burned the bugs to cinders. Aoba landed in front of me, along with Anko and Ibiki. The two agents were absolutely beat up by the time the three of them were done. I sighed in relief. Someone put their hand on my shoulder. I stiffened and ducked out of their grip, then swung my foot in a roundhouse.
I stopped, just before I kicked Ibiki in the face. He raised a single scarred eyebrow. I dropped my foot and let out a half laugh half cough. Anko took Sen and I mumbled a quick thanks. I looked up and saw the other three. They were still dressed in their pajamas. They must have come immediately after hearing the explosion. Or maybe they sensed Isobu. Then I looked down and winced. My pajamas were thoroughly soaked in blood. I pressed my good hand to the wound. The kunai was still there, as I hadn't removed it to prevent less blood loss.
"Come on," sighed Ibiki, "Let's go to Godaime-sama. Can you walk?"
I stumbled forward and let out a short curse as I fell into Ibiki. "I will take that as a no," said Ibiki.
"I found your cane," said Aoba, "It's a bit burnt…" he trailed off noticing that one hand was pressed on my wound and my other was broken.
"You can lean against me," said Anko, "What happened?"
"They attacked," I said, prodding at the bone in my arm. It was still painfully tender but at least I could move it again, "They were after the twins."
Anko nodded. Passing Sen to Ibiki, she said, "Take the kid to T&I or your place. Somewhere safe."
He nodded and shunshined away. "Wait… Genma… he went after Menma," I said, leaning against Anko for support.
"He's probably fine. The idiots ran towards the shinobi districts," explained Anko, "Towards the Akimichi clan compound. Ready?"
I nodded, "Get ready," and scrunched my eyes.
The was a quick whoosh and me, Anko, and Aoba appeared in Tsunade's office. She was already there, she and Shizune were dressed in their pajamas. They had probably been called but not yet briefed on the situation. I immediately let go of Anko and stumbled backward, sliding down the wall and into a seating position. "Nohara," said Tsunade sharply, "What happened." Anko started giving her report.
My left hand was enveloped in green healing chakra. I took a deep breath and pulled out the kunai. I let out a curse and placed my hand over the wound. Spots danced in my vision and I struggled to stay awake. "Nohara!" Tsunade was suddenly kneeling beside me, "Are you kidding me?"
"I'm fine," I mumbled as my vision blurred.
Tsunade shoved my hand away and started healing. The effects were instantaneous. The chakra soothed my wound and it stopped bleeding. I let out a sigh and closed my eyes. "Uh, no way," said Tsunade, "Wake up kid."
"I'm not a kid," I muttered but opened my eyes drowsily, "Can you pass me bandages… and maybe some stitches."
"You want to stitch yourself together," said Tsunade, "Without anesthesia. As a medic and your Hokage, I can't allow that."
"Fine," I sighed, "Just bandages to stop bleeding and infection. I'll go to the hospital later."
"Now."
I shook my head, "Afterwards. Please."
"Fine," sighed Tsunade, "Shizune, help her. Nohara, tell me why a group of unknown and undocumented Konoha ANBU tried to kidnap your kids."
"They're Danzo's," I explained, "He's been running an underground military operation since the time Sandaime took office. They're called Root. Agents are put under his cursed seal. They're trained from children to be ruthless, emotionless killing machines. My guess is they're trying to-ack!" I yelped as Shizune tightened the bandages under my bloodied pajamas. Red immediately soaked through. I took a shaky breath and continued, "My guess is they were trying to get one of the twins to train and join them. They must have heard about their Hiraishin ability and tried to take them."
"And you know this because…" Tsunade asked.
Before I could answer, the door swung open. Chouza walked in, along with Ibiki and Genma. "Both kids are in a safe place," declared Ibiki.
Genma walked in. He had a long jagged wound running from his cheek down to his neck but was otherwise uninjured, Shizune walked over to heal him but he pushed her aside and slammed his hands on the Hokage's desk. "Can you tell me why," his voice raised, "your ANBU tried to kidnap my kids?"
"Genma-san…" began Aoba, trying to calm him down.
"No!" he snapped, "I want to know why MY KIDS LIVES ARE IN DANGER BECAUSE OF ANBU. YOU ARE THE HOKAGE! THEY ARE YOUR SOLDIERS."
"Shiranui!" Ibiki placed a hand on his shoulder, "Calm down."
Genma ignored him and glared at the Hokage, "How did they even know about the kids," he turned to me and stiffened, noticing the amount of blood on me and the bandages underneath, "And why… how did they almost killed Rin?"
"Genma," I said tiredly, "I'm fine."
"No, you look half dead," he said, visibly shaking.
"Enough," sighed Tsunade, "We'll go over this tomorrow morning. The twins are safe and will stay there for the rest of the night. Genma, and Rin, go to the hospital and stay there. The rest of you are dismissed. Thank you for helping." They disappeared.
"Come on," sighed Genma.
I stood up. The sudden movement made me flinch. Pain shot through me and black spots covered my vision. "Rin!" I heard Genma say and Tsunade said something like, "Don't pass out!" but I was already unconscious.
Hi, thanks to anyone who's still reading...
i lowkey forgot this existed so... 😅
anyways I wrote most of this last yr so no hate (Ik the grammar and parts of it is kinda shit but... thought id post it anyways)
tysm!!!
also I'm going back to fix everything (including the plot cause 😭 what was I thinking)