After visiting the Uzumaki household, Pia and Aceso went home. 

"There you two are," Lee greeted, pulling them into a hug as soon as they walked through the door. "You both came in late and snuck out early." 

"We had to go speak to Lord Hokage," Aceso answered. "I will be in the village more."

"I'm happy to hear that," Lee smiled as he lit up. "In case, you have forgotten, you are working at the pharmacy today."

"I will be taking Ren to work with me today," Aceso informed. 

"I'll go with you to work as well," Dino said, they looked to see him standing at the door.

"I as well!" Metal exclaimed, popping into view. "What about you, Pia?"

"Well, I was wondering if you can help me with my training today, Daddy?" Pia requested. 

"Are you up for it?" Lee asked as he looked at her. "I have a rigorous plan in mind."

"Bring it on," Pia smiled. The boys went to work with mom, while Pia did training with dad. They were under a waterfall, Lee was setting up a rope from one rock to another. 

"What is this for?" Pia asked.

"We will be sparring," Lee answered. "You must be prepared to fight anywhere at any time, even at the most unconventional time."

"Are you sure it's safe?" Pia asked looking over the edge.

"I will be here to catch you, do not be afraid to fall," Lee stated.

"But you are my opponent," Pia reminded him. 

"That is true," Lee stated standing up. 

"I don't want you to catch me," Pia stated. "I won't learn if you keep coming to my aid, I must learn how to get back on my feet myself, no matter how hard it will be."

"Your youth is shining brightly today," Lee smiled even bigger. He jumped back; landing on the other side; he got into a fighting position. "Now come at me." Pia nodded; she started to charge towards Lee, running across the rope. They did rope balancing training, so she had no problem, walking or running across it. She jumped, spinning, and her leg slammed into Lee's arm, he grabbed her leg throwing her. Pia landed her feet on the rock, then pounced off, she ran across the rope, with fist ready, She swung her fist forward, Lee blocked it, he blocked the next fist, then went for the middle where she was open, Pia jumped back, she put her leg up, blocking his fist, Lee swept his foot under her other leg, knocking her off balance. Pia fell over and into the water below, she back up to the surface. "Another round!"

'This is a lot harder than I thought," Pia thought to herself as she made her way up. Once she got to the top, Lee started to charge toward her. He began to deliver a whirlwind; Pia did the same back, their legs met in the middle.

"Very good," Lee smiled as they slid across the rope away from each other. "You've canceled out my attack." 

"You are a tough opponent, Daddy," Pia huffed. 

"Tougher opponents may come along, you must be able to cancel out their attacks as well, and they will not have the same fighting style," Lee stated. "Since we train together so much, I will be one of your easier opponents compared to the strangers you meet along the way." Lee put his hand out. "Let's continue!" They continued to train all night, Lee was now carrying Pia home on his back. 

"Thanks for training with me today, Daddy," Pia breathed.

"You trained harder than normal," Lee stated. "How come? Why haven't you been training this hard before?"

"I think I'm closer to figuring out my path," Pia answered. "I was so focused on wanting to be like everyone I looked up to...I will be creating my own path from now on."

"So you will be doing all three?" Lee asked.

"As of right now, yes," Pia answered. 

"That means no more holding back in training," Lee ordered. "I want you to give everything you have at every training session."

"Even rock climbing with Metal before class?" Pia asked.

"Yes!" Lee chimed. He looked down to see a lotus flower in a bush. "Have I ever told you about the Lotus Flower?"

"They bloom twice," Pia answered.

"Correct," Lee answered taking the flower out of the bush. "Like the flower, you will bloom as well." He put the hair in her hair. "You will be even stronger, they are beautiful like you as well." Pia's eyes went wide.

"Thank you, Daddy," Pia smiled, she kissed his cheek, and Lee smiled even more than before. When they got home, they saw their family on the couch asleep, even Ren. Pia and Lee looked at each other and smiled. Pia got down from Lee's back after he took off her shoes, she squished herself in between Mom and Dino, seconds later, Dad had wrapped his arms around all of them. He kissed all their heads, Ren smiled even more in his sleep. 

The next morning even was working around each other, Lee had Ren in his arms, the baby was a bit fussy that morning as Aceso was handing the kids their school lunches as they walked out the door. 

"Have a wonderful day!" Aceso bid them farewell. "Climb in groups and respect your sensei!"

"Always do," Dino said as he left the door.

"Thanks, mom," Pia smiled at her.

"I will be much smarter after I get home," Metal assured, he kissed Aceso's cheek, he walked out the door, slamming it shut. Aceso smiled, she looked back to see Lee, he was holding Ren up in the air, the baby was a lot happier. She walked over, Lee put Ren in her arms. Ren grabbed onto Aceso's shirt trying to pull it down.

"I think he's hungry," Aceso laughed. "Come on, baby." She kissed the top of his head. 

"I shall provide support!" Lee declared as he followed her into the living room. 

***********

At school, during lunch, Dino sat with Mitsuki, Boruto, Shikadai, and Koga.

"So in the end, you still didn't find anything out about that eye of yours?" Shikadai asked. 

"No, nothing," Boruto denied with a mouth full. 

"But then why aren't you upset?" Dino asked. 

"I thought for sure you'd be angry that you wouldn't be able to show up your dad," Shikadai stated. 

"Aren't you disappointed that it's not the Byakugan?" Mitsuki asked. 

"To be completely honest, I don't care that it's the Byakugan or not," Boruto admitted.

"Explain," Koga ordered. "You were so worked up about it the other day."

"I've just got to prove that it's special ya'know," Boruto stated with a smile. He got to his feet. "To you guys, and to my dad too. I mean, I just won't say it. I'm gonna prove my words with my actions, ya'know!"

"Oh, well I guess that will make all this easier," Shikadai stated as he stood up.  

"How about we start after class today?" Dino suggested. 

"Alright! I'll show you guys!" Boruto declared. 

*****

Dino was now with those same boys, they stood at the top of the clock tower, Boruto stared down at the busy crowd before. 

"See anything?" Koga asked. 

"No, nothing yet," Boruto denied. 

"Maybe you're trying too hard," Shikadai suggested. 

"Shouldn't it come easier?" Dino asked.

"Listen, this eye of mine is the star of hope," Boruto said. "There's no way I'm going to let myself miss anything." They looked up to see a hawk flying by.

"All thought, we have been on the lookout all day," Mitsuki pointed out. "So haven't we spotted the ghost at least once by now?"

"What's all this ghost stuff you've been talking about?" Shikadai asked. 

"It's something I came up with," Boruto answered. "It's my name for that weird shadow. 

"Seriously," Dino frowned.

"You couldn't come up with a better name than that?" Shikadai teased. 

"What was that?" Boruto demanded, looking at them. 

"No, what was that!" Shikadai shouted pointing, Boruto immediately went to the attention of the direction. 

"Even if there's none today, there were 7 cases this week of this ghost incident," Dino pointed out. 

"Wow, Boruto, so brilliant and creative," Mitsuki complimented. Shikadai groaned, he then grabbed his chin.

"Until recently it was limited to academy grounds," Shikadai acknowledged. "But lately, there have been way more incidents and locations. 

"Is there some kind of contagious spreading or is there some other cause behind all this?" Koga asked. 

"I think our dads and Dino's mom have started to investigate this whole thing too," Shikadai stated.

"That's why we have to solve it before my dad does," Boruto declared. 

"Do you really think we can pull that off?" Dino asked. 

"Shikadai," Boruto said.

"Did you find something?" Shikadai asked.

"I got dry eye," Boruto answered turning around, he pointed at his eye. They spent all day at the clock tower, now the sun was going down and they made their way home.

"Aw, man," Boruto groaned. "I missed out on becoming a hero today."

"It was the first day, don't be so impatient," Shikadai stated. 

"We're on for tomorrow right?" Koga asked. 

"You know, you two seem to be enjoying this a lot," Dino stated. 

"Of course, that's cause things are never boring when you are with Boruto," Mitsuki answered. 

"How can you say that without any embarrassment on your face?" Shikadai asked. 

"Sensei, doesn't know what we are doing, does he?" Boruto asked. "Because my mom can be scary you know."

"I can't even imagine the punishment training, Dad will have in store for me," Dino lowered his head. 

"You gave him the note?" Shikadai asked as they looked at Mitsuki. "The one excusing our absence right?"

"I filled it out fully," Mitsuki smiled. 

"Alright! Awesome job!" Boruto complimented. "That means our cover should be all good!"

"Now, if you can excuse me," Mitsuki stated. 

"What something better than being around Boruto?" Dino asked.

"No, but I made a promise, and should not keep them waiting," Mitsuki answered, then jumped out of view. Mitsuki made his way over to Amaguriama, once he got there, he saw Pia waiting for him. Mitsuki sat next to her. "Ready?"

"Warning next time!" Pia jumped.

"Where's the fun in that?" Mitsuki asked. Pia let out a sigh, then the two got up to continue their investigation of Pia's ghost suspect. At home, Dino walked through the door to find Dad waiting for him angrily. 

"What is this?" Lee asked he held up a piece of paper in front of his face. 

'I, the claimant, will be absent due to a contagious malady...cough,' the note read.

'Mitsuki!' Dino twitched. 

"If you wish to become a formidable shinobi, you will not go around skipping school," Lee scolded. 

"But--" Dino began.

"Unless you are truly sick this is inexcusable," Lee shook his head. "You will be doing hard training with me for the rest of the night, starting with these." He pulled out leg weights, Dino threw his arms up his horror and turned a little. The next day, Dino sat with his dad at school, well Dad was on one hand while Dino sat across from Shino-sensei. 

"Ditching school along with your friends, just what could've been going through your head, Dino?" Shino asked. 

"There was something largely important that we needed to accomplish," Dino answered. 

"Still this and that are two separate things," Shino stated, crossing his arms. "All you should be doing is studying. You'll end up in after-school tutoring sessions, are you okay with that?"

"I guess not," Dino groaned folding his arms. They left the office, to find Boruto and Hinata waiting outside the room.

"I have no idea what is going through the head of the youth these days," Lee sighed; he glared at Dino. 

"It seems to me they aren't up to any good," Hinata stated as she glared at Boruto as they walked in. The door closed.

"When we get home we continue our training, this time ending arm weights," Lee stated. "I will see you after school."

"See you later, Papa," Dino stated. Lee left through the window, as Dino went around the corner, to find Mitsuki, Boruto, and Shikadai waiting for him. Minutes later Boruto's clone disappeared from inside the office. 

"Parents seem to be quite a pain," Mitsuki stated. 

"Yeah, kind of," Boruto agreed.

"I know Papa wants what's best, but I think the weights were a bit too heavy last night," Dino said rolling up his pants, his ankles had a faint bruise around them; Boruto started laughing. 

"But compared to my mom, yours is a dream," Shikadai said, he had his hand over his cheek. He removed his hand, there was a big red hand mark on his face. Boruto laughed even more.

"But how did they find the truth?" Koga asked. Boruto groaned as he looked at Mitsuki.

"We are never putting you in charge of notes again," Shikadai stated. Soon class started up, and Shino was back in front of the whiteboard, outside. 

"Well, it seems that everyone's in class today," Shino said. "Alright, I'm going to explain today's lesson."

"Isn't there some way for us to cut out of class?" Boruto asked in a whisper. "Cause at this rate we are going to end up letting the ghost get away."

"Yeah, but we can't fake any more absences," Dino whispered back. 

"Workplace experience," Iwabee read, they all looked at the board.

"People in many occupations provide support to our daily life here in the village," Shino explained. "For this lesson, you'll be learning hands-on of their jobs. You'll be working in teams of three and visiting a workplace. It's up to you to choose an occupation. Choose carefully....and the Lee siblings."

"Yes," they all responded. 

"You are not allowed to take the easy route and work at the pharmacy with your mom," Shino stated. All three of them groaned. 

"Oh, hey I know," Iwabee said putting his arm around Denki. "How about we go and visit a fireworks factory?"

"I don't know about that, it seems pretty dangerous," Denki said. 

"Come with me to a fire station so we can learn how a fire station works, Inojin!" Metal proposed.

"Huh? What? Why me?" Inojin asked. 

"I must be prepared for if I am not put on a team with my siblings," Metal answered. 

"A nail salon would be awesome, but it would be hard to pass up a meat factory," Cho-Cho said. 

"Tough choice, huh?" Sarada asked.

"Perhaps a tea shop for me," Pia stated. "Learn the art of the tea business in this village."

"Why don't we go to the police station instead?" Dino suggested.

"I don't care where we go," Koga stated. "As long as we learn about the workforce."

"Where should we go?" Namida asked. Sumire started to panic.

"I want to go somewhere fun," Wasabi suggested. 

"Shikadai, Dino, how about one of you both die your hair color the same as mine and then pretend to be me," Boruto suggested.

"And give up these red locks, not a chance," Dino whispered. 

"Are you kidding me?! No!" Shikadai denied. 

"Boruto! Shikadai! Dino!" Shino shouted they all jumped. "Remember your group can choose whatever job they want to observe." He walked in between them. "Do you understand?

"Oh yeah! I get it!" three of them said at the same time, looking at each other. 

"How about we go for the medicine deliverer?" Koga asked.

"Can't, Shino-sensei said we can't do what we already know, and we deliver medicine in the village for mom a lot," Dino said. 

"Herbologist?" Koga asked.

"Good idea!"Pia chimed. "Metal, we will see you later."

"I will tell you all about the fearsome work of the firefighters," Metal assured giving a thumbs up. Soon the whole class split up, Pia, Dino, and Koga were at the park with park ranger Zero at Senju park.

"Welcome!" Zero stated. "Being a herbologist is highly important in the village, certain plants can treat numerous illnesses and wounds. A herbalist may also crush up the plant so it will be ready for the medicine to be made in the hospital. Certain plants can also bring peace to the household, certain leaves make a great tea to help you sleep at night. Any questions?" 

"How does this tie hospital again?" Dino asked.

"The hospital will put in a request for a certain plant, us herbalist will ready it up," Zero explained. "We are about to enter the green room, it is about to get super hot." Zero opened the door, and they all walked in.

"How do you handle the heat?" Pia asked. 

"It gets easier as time goes on," Zero laughed. "Lucky for you, we won't be in here today, you will come with me to Senju park to check on a bush that's suspected to succumb to illness." They went all the way out to Senju park.

Over by the Fire Station, Metal was holding up the hose, he was trying to put out a fire.

"Hey," the firefighter said, holding up his hands. "It's okay, just calm down!"

" I am so nervous!" Metal exclaimed. Water sprayed out of the hose, Metal flew all around; he was having a difficult time controlling the hose. 

"Wow," Inojin breathed. "A big fail." Over at Senju park, Pia was helping Zero take some sap out of the bush to do further testing on it. Suddenly, a man on a bench started to go berzerk. He was destroying everything in sight and attacking everything.

"This must be the ghost," Dino breathed.

"The what?" Zero asked.

"Oh, nothing," Pia denied. "Dino has just been hallucinating." She turned around, putting him in a headlock.

"Pia!" Dino squeaked.

"Zero works very close with mom, if he gets whiff we are investigating the situation, then he'll report to mom, who will probably report to Lord Hokage or Dad, either way, it will get to Lord Hokage," Pia explained, she put Dino out of the headlock, she grabbed a child and jumped out of the way as the man aimed towards them. "Here."

"Thank you," the woman cried grabbing onto her child. The man ran towards Dino, the redhead boy did a few hand signs, rope wrapped around the man, making him fall over, a pair of mud hands appeared out of the ground, grabbing hold of the man from trying to get free. Moments later, numerous ninja appeared; they started to clear out the scene; they asked a ton of bystanders around.

"You three were amazing," Zero complimented. "Nothing compared to what I do."

"No, your job is just as important," Pia stated. "You do amazing things as an herbalist."

"Pia? Dino?" a voice asked, they turned to see their mom, Ren was strapped onto her chest. There were multiple medical ninjas with her. "What are the two of you doing here? You as well, Koga?"

"Mom?" the two asked, Koga's eyes went wide. 

"We are here on a workplace experience field trip," Dino answered.

"That's right," Aceso breathed. "Dad did mention that to me."

"D-Doctor Matsuba?" Zero gasped.

"Good to see you, Zero. Where's the man?" Aceso asked.

"Right over there," Koga said pointing at the hands. 

"Thank you," Aceso said, going over to the man. 

"How do you know Doctor Matsuba?" Koga asked.

"She was my mom's midwife," Zero answered. "Delivered me in the middle of the hospital, my mom didn't make it to the hospital bed....your mom was a year older than you three are now when she helped deliver me. Actually took me on as a student for a bit. " They watched Aceso help put the man on the stretcher, then carry him out. 

"Aceso," Sai said walking past the yellow caution tape. "Did you gather anything?" 

"It's just like with the others," Aceso answered. "Most of his chakra was drained, he's in critical condition now."

"If you find anything else, report it to me," Sai instructed; touching her shoulder.

"The rest of you, go check on the injured bystanders if you haven't done so already," Aceso ordered looking back.

"Already on it, Lady Aceso," one of the medicinal ninja said as Sai went around asking more questions.

"He was just sitting quietly on this bench, but then he screamed and went on a rampage," a man explained.

"Well, you three did a good job on the workforce experience," Zero complimented. "I will make sure to give your sensei a good report."

"Thank you, Mr. Zero," they all thanked him; he walked away.

"Did any of you see anything before he went berserk?" Pia asked.

"No, I was too focused on taking vials from bushes nearby," Koga answered. "Did you say your brother was affected? Was he drained too?"

"No, not really," Dino answered. "He had no clue was happened once he was out of it."

"By the way, Koga, your mud hands are very handy," Pia stated. "I am very happy you have come to the leaf village."

"I am happy to be here," Koga stated as they heard footsteps running up. The caution tape was getting taken down, they looked over to see Mitsuki, Shikadai, and Boruto. 

"Are the three of you all right?" Shikadai asked.

"We're fine," Dino answered. 

"Everything's over now," Pia added. Boruto groaned as Mitsuki giggled. "Dino and Koga were the ones to restrain the guy."

"Looks like we got here a little too late," Mitsuki giggled. 

"We must've just missed it all," Shikadai stated. 

"Damnit!" Boruto growled. " I swear we are going to catch you the next time you appear!"

That night Aceso was in the Hokage's office, she was staring down at Metal's photo, he was one of the many that were affected. 

"That makes what, eight incidents this week?" Naruto asked as Sai walked away from the board. 

"There hasn't seemed to be a common thread to be linking the incidents so far," Sai said. "At first, it was limited to the area around the academy. Now it's occurring at random times and places."

"Probably to throw us off their trail," Aceso stated as she picked up Metal's photo.

"Thanks to that, we have no concrete data on who and what might be behind these incidents," Sai said. 

"Only..." Shikamaru breathed as he walked over to Aceso. Sai nodded.

"I did find one clue during the investigation this afternoon," Sai brought up. "It seems somehow forbidden technology is involved?"

"Hold on, are you saying that?" Aceso asked looking back, Sai nodded. 

"The Hashirama cell," Sai confirmed. 

"The Hashirama cell isn't something anyone can just get their hands on," Shikamaru stated. "You were part of the anbu black ops, so you should know that well."

"Anbu, the special organization of this village," Sai said. "And within it, the even more top-secret foundation, I've heard it had a team conducting research on the Hashirama cell. 

"What you are saying may be true, but the foundation was disbanded after Danzo's death," Shikamaru brought up. 

"I didn't believe it at first, either, but--" Sai began, he took the evidence out from the inside of his jacket. "Then I saw this." There was a photo of a bench with a large bit mark and a small leaf on the underside. 

"But that is the result of using wood-style," Aceso stated as Shikamaru took hold of the photo. 

"Yes, not many can use wood style, search the land of fire and you'll only find a few," Sai stated. "Furthermore, the man from today's incident doesn't have that power, but there's one expectation."

"What you are talking about is the Hashirama cell," Naruto gathered. 

"The top-secret foundation used the Hashirama cell to research a device that can extract somebody's chakra," Sai explained more. 

"But still, what would it want to achieve by stealing someone's chakra?" Aceso asked. "If killing someone was their goal, this is a very roundabout way to do it."

"Murder isn't the purpose," Sai assured her. "Their gathering up chakra?" He looked to the side. 

"What?" Naruto asked. "Gathering chakra?  But why? What do they use it for?"

"I don't know that answer yet," Sai admitted. "The foundation was a very secretive organization. Although I know that the teams' research was military weaponry."

"Well, this whole situation just got really sketchy all of a sudden," Shikamaru stated. 

"Yeah, you are right," Naruto agreed. "So we have to do something immediately." 

"Especially before this thing starts to attack the more younger children," Aceso stated.

"Former members of the foundation could be hiding out almost anywhere, whatever you're planning on doing next, be extremely careful," Shikamaru advised. 

"I'll go through the foundation's data once more," Sai said as he began to leave. 

"I'll come give you a hand," Shikamaru said as he followed. 

"Oh man, guess I am going have to spend the whole night here yet again," Naruto groaned grabbing his shoulder. 

"Maybe you should go home and get a good night's sleep," Aceso suggested. "A good night's rest will help you think better."

"No," Naruto denied. " You should go home as well. I have a feeling if you stay here, you won't get any sleep, you've been staring at your son's photo."

"I am just concerned about why he didn't come to me about it," Aceso said as she crossed her arms. "He could have ended up in a much harsher condition, and Metal is such a good kid, I hate that I wasn't there more him when he needed me most."

"They are growing up so fast, aren't they?" Naruto asked

"Yeah," Aceso smiled. "I kind of miss the days when they were so little, all of them together were inseparable. But now all that Pia and Boruto seem to do is buttheads." 

"Don't you worry little sister, they can buttheads as long as they want, but they are always going to have each other's backs," Naruto laughed. "Hinata tells me that even though Pia is strong, Boruto still watches out for her."

"My kids do the same for yours," Aceso smiled. "Well, not so much Ren, but eventually." Naruto laughed, they bid each other night and Aceso went home. She got home to find the lights mainly out, she saw Metal at the kitchen table, fast asleep. He had his face on top of a book; pencils all over the table, she walked over and looked down to see he was working on homework. 

"Little Bug?" Aceso asked softly touching his shoulder, Metal's eyes slowly opened; he looked up at her, immediately breaking out into a smile.

"Mama!" Metal smiled bigger as he sat up. "I have been waiting for you, there was a problem me and papa couldn't figure out, so--"

"Never mind that," Aceso said sitting in the chair next to him. "Are you sure you are feeling alright? From when you got possessed?" 

"Back to my absolute best!" Metal assured. "I heard that this thing absorbs chakra."

"Did you feel any different after?" Aceso asked.

"I wasn't sure what I was doing, but I felt no ounces of a chakra drain," Metal answered. 

"If something like this happens again, please come to me," Aceso said as she cupped his face, she tilted his head forward. Everything looked and felt normal. 

"Yes, mama," Metal stated. "Can you help me?" He tapped his homework. 

"Oh, yes," Aceso said as she lifted his head back up. "Which problem is it?"

"What to know about my time with the fire station?" Metal asked.

"You told us all about it at dinner," Aceso pointed out. "Are you excited to go back tomorrow?"

"I will have more confidence tomorrow!" Metal assured as he pointed to the problem he was having trouble with.