Recap from last chapter: Nezu wants Ashido and Kaminari to perform their best in the Sports Festival, because holy fuck he's getting suspicious. You and Kakashi will soon train Ashido, Kaminari, and with the addition of Shinsou because he's now a pawn in this 4D chess. And now, you managed to get your body back by applying a seal on Mina's body to perform the shadow clone technique.

~*~*~

"Welp! This is our final farewell,"

It wasn't long when you completed the same seal you applied to yourself —the synthetic chakra pathway system—to Kakashi. When the white-haired shinobi separated himself from Kaminari's body with the shadow clone technique, it was of unspoken decision to no longer trouble the two teenagers, and leave as soon as possible, along with your charges to find another place to temporarily stay in.

"Only for now, Kakashi. We'll be training them later tonight," You told your partner, as you stood beside him by the window near the fire exit, your students already waiting outside.

The sun was about to set, but you were in no hurry.

"Maah, at least let me pretend I'll never see them again," Kakashi sulked to you.

"C'mon, deep down, I know you sometimes enjoyed our company!" Ashido exclaimed, as the jounin effortlessly inched away from the pinkette's playful nudge.

"I'm not a masochist," Ashido dramatically deflated from Kakashi's deadpan.

"Can't you try to at least pretend you like us?!" Kaminari bristled at the Hatake's blatant remarks of his obvious dislike for them.

"What's there to pretend to like?" At this point, it was obvious that Kakashi was playing with them. Kakashi may not be a masochist, but he didn't deny being its counterpart. The silver-haired jounin has a sadistic streak when it comes to brats simply for entertainment. You would know; you're often a witness to his mischief.

"Calm down, children," You cut in (mainly addressing Kakashi), before the electric blond could escalate their bickering. "Sasuke, if you please,"

Obeying your call, Sasuke stood directly outside the window, nodding at you once he has a clear view of his targets.

As you instructed the noir earlier, he would have to make the two teens suppress any memories they have of your genin team to cut off loose ends; they don't need to know more than they have to. Their knowledge of you and Kakashi will suffice.

"Don't look away." Said Sasuke to Ashido and Kaminari, before lifting the hitai-ate covering his right eye, letting Obito's Mangekyou Sharingan spin to life. For a brief moment, Ashido's and Kaminari's eyes mimicked the swirling pattern, before their eyes returned back to their normal colors. Once Sasuke was done, that was the cue for Team 7 to flicker away to the rooftop, before the two UA students could recover from their daze and see them. It would only undo the genjutsu.

"Now, what did I tell you?" You asked the two, once they regained their senses. It was Mina who answered first.

"If we're in an emergency, we form our hands like this," Mina carefully folded her hands into the ram seal you taught her. "And say 'Kai', so that you guys would take care of it!" She responded enthusiastically.

While it may be true that you no longer want to associate yourselves to Ashido and Kaminari, you and Kakashi are still bounded to them, as your Yin chakra is still anchored to them. Ultimately, you and Kakashi are just shadow clones-- a fatal hit will not make you bleed; you will simply puff into a plume of smoke and return to Mina's body. Your temporary body is simply a chakra manifestation with a consciousness; you can't die in a way that matters. However, it's different in their case.

If Mina dies with your chakra still anchored to her, hypothetically, you would also die. That's why, under any circumstances, they will call for help if there's a threat towards their lives.

Then again, you could be wrong. If Mina were to die, maybe your consciousness would return back to your original body.

Although, that's not a risk you're willing to take, even if you're sure there's a chance it would succeed. Why? Because then Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura would be stranded here, with you unable to help.

"And?" You glanced at Kaminari.

"No telling your secrets, and that we hide these," The blond gestured to the small imprinted seals on his wrists. "Tattoos."

"Seals," You corrected. "Don't worry, I'll remove them once everything is back to normal."

It wouldn't be much of a challenge to hide the fuuinjutsu seals you've applied on their wrists, thighs, arms, nape, stomach and collarbone; they're only small in size. As long as they wear long sleeved clothes with collars, and pants, they'll be fine. If by chance they can't wear those kinds of clothes, they can always wrap the inked areas with bandages. Unfortunately, you can only turn the ink invisible if they're not in use, but since your chakra is actively stabilizing a clone, it would continue to be visible.

"You guys won't be doing anything illegal, right?" Kaminari asked, eyeing you both with suspicion.

"We'll try not to," Kakashi smiled, before quickly saluting a farewell. "See ya!"

In a blink, you two were no longer in their apartment.
...

"We'll split up and scout for any available cheap apartments," You announced to your unit. "It doesn't matter where, as long as it's affordable with... Kakashi's pocket money," Looking disappointingly at Kakashi, you were unimpressed when he only sheepishly smiled.

"Hey, we need it, don't we? It's convenient," He shrugged.

"You stole money from a civilian kid," It would be a lie if you said you needed currency to survive in this city; there's a reason why shinobi fared better than rich civilians when lost, or stranded in the wilderness.

"I swear I'll pay him back." Kakashi promised, waving his hand dismissively.

"No, you won't!" Naruto butted in, expression annoyed as he pointed accusingly at the jounin. "You didn't even pay me back when you made me pay for your ramen, dattebayo!"

Nights here aren't as silent as nights in Konoha, due to the bustling traffic below. Fortunately (and surprisingly), the busy streets were enough to overlap Naruto's loudness; so, you didn't bother to reprimand him to quiet down. Being on a rooftop nearby a highway further assured you that there were unlikely to be eavesdroppers.

"To be fair, you offered to pay for me because you were all expecting me to take off my mask to eat," Kakashi placated to which the blond thought over, recalling the memory.

"Um," Sakura interrupted, wanting to get back on topic. "Why not just use a genjutsu on the landlord to make them think we paid rent? At least, until we're able to earn some money to actually pay them," She suggested.

"Huh," Why didn't you think of that? "Good thinking."

With a smile, you poked the pinkette's forehead (wow, you missed them being this short again), as she only proudly grinned back at the praise.

"That gives us far more options," Kakashi agreed. "So kiddies, feel free to choose your dream apartment! Naruto, Sakura, with me; Sasuke with (Y/n)," His gaze lingered on Sasuke for a while longer, before your partner nodded at you, as you all wordlessly complied.

"Before that, change your clothes through a henge. We look too out of place, as apparently, only heroes wear peculiar outfits at this time," You declared, before performing the necessary hand signs to henge your jounin uniform into casual clothes. They repeated the hand seals, and with that, their chakra produced plumes of smoke (you tried not to flinch at the memory of seeing his familiar curls within the clearing fumes). With simultaneous 'poofs', the rest copied your example, settling into plain-colored shirts and pants (their shirts being just a darker shade of their original clothes).

"We meet back here at midnight."

~*~*~

Sasuke Uchiha followed you, as you jumped from rooftop to rooftop, relishing the experience, with him trailing not too far behind. He won't admit it, but he missed the fresh air that Konoha offered, as this city is filled with prevalent air pollution. The smell of smog was quite potent, and he can't help but cringe every time his sensitive nose picked up a direct scent from this world's vehicles.

"Since you made seals for those two to make your and Kakashi's chakra usable, can they perform jutsus?" He asked, his speed remaining constant. The darkness was not much of an obstacle, as the moonlight illuminated the rooftops, with the streetlights and speeding cars lighting below.

"If we teach them, then technically yes." You replied, not even looking back.

"Hn,"

"..."

"Once they release the shadow clone jutsu, would your memories transfer back to them?" The noir asked again, as you once again, automatically answered in a matter of fact tone.

"No, because we have separate consciousness."

"I see..." Sasuke was slowly running out of subjects to talk about; he has no idea how to transition conversations to a topic he wants to gradually introduce.

"Sasuke, you've been trying to initiate a conversation with me ever since we left. This is your fourth try. Is something the matter?" You stopped your pace, waiting for him to catch up to you, as you looked at him with curious eyes.

Of course, she caught up to my attempts, he mentally grumbled to himself, slightly embarrassed.

Eventually, he soundlessly landed in front of you, his uncovered eye not meeting yours, as he collected himself on how to finally start his wanted conversation.

"So far... You've only heard of my apologies, but," His onyx eye gleamed with appreciation when he finally mustered up the courage to meet your eyes. "I never did get to thank you, that even after everything, you never gave up on me,"

"You want to thank me for that?" You smiled good-naturedly at him. "I simply intend to keep my promise with Itachi,"

"Don't lie. Even if you didn't promise Itachi, you'd still do the same," The corner of his lip quirked up, when you didn't deny his claim.

"We're Uchiha," You said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "We love too much, and we don't let go of that love that easily," That, Sasuke can justify, as he experienced the same with his older brother. Admittedly, he went too far, as he loved too much, but--

"That easily?" Sasuke snorted incredulously, as he remembered the hell you and the rest of Team 7 went through just to get him back, which brings the topic: "You somehow even managed to convince Naruto that I'm some sort of his brother,"

"I didn't need to convince him," You told him, your smile growing when you noticed that he didn't call Naruto the usual 'dobe' or deadlast. "You two practically grew up with each other; so, he kinda came to that conclusion, himself. And if I'm not mistaken, Sakura thinks the same of you," Your fore and middle fingers twitched by your side when you resisted the urge to poke his forehead, as the last time you attempted to do so, he violently lashed out.

But in this short moment, you recognize him as the child you knew before the massacre.

For a peaceful while, you were both quiet as you let yourselves comprehend your exchange. The full moon was bright out, but was then encompassed by passing clouds, and the slight darkening of your surroundings seemed to have reminded Sasuke of something-- why he really wanted to talk to you in the first place, but was unable to due to the... confidentiality. However, now that you're a separate entity from the highschool girl, he can finally confront you.

"I..." The small smile disappeared from his face, as the atmosphere suddenly turned somber. "I'm sorry for... henging into Shisui that day," At the mention of that incident, your smile was no longer present on your lips. "I know you were trying to help, and I basically spat on your face for that." Sasuke knows; he saw the way you flinched when the henge clouds puffed into appearance.

"I won't lie; you were being an unbearable brat at that time," You huffed wryly.

"I know, I..." He paused. "Wait here,"

Before you could utter out an inquiry, he already used the Mangekyou Sharingan, letting himself be consumed by the familiar vortex of Kamui. You thought of reprimanding him for overusing his Mangekyou Sharingan today, as you'd like to remind him that he's not using his Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, and that his reckless usage of Obito's sharingan could cause blindness to his right eye. It's only because he's an Uchiha the reason why he doesn't get as much as repercussions as when Kakashi uses it.

Soon enough, Sasuke returned, holding a small storage scroll, which had you disregard your latter thoughts. The item has certainly piqued your curiosity.

"I gave this to Kakashi months ago," He started, before handing it out to you. "So that he could give it to you,"

"What's in it?" You needlessly questioned, as you immediately unsealed the scroll, which revealed a glass canister containing yellow preservation liquid with...

"I originally wanted Kakashi to give it to you, but a few days ago, he insisted that it should be me since... I was the one who retrieved it," Sasuke lamely expounded, as his gaze lingered on his 'gift', before eventually stealing a glance at your reaction.

It was obvious that you were appalled, your wide eyes continuing to stare at the canister's content disbelievingly, as Shisui's eye stared back.

"I managed to get it from Danzo, before I... his body self-destructed. I was planning to give it to you, since I thought, Shisui would want that," Your shocked expression then transitioned into one of tired resignation at Sasuke's explanation, before you sealed the canister back to the scroll, and handed it back to him. His Kamui easily consumed it, storing it back for safe-keeping.

"Thank you," Was all you said, finding it humorous that the last two Uchihas are bonding over revenge, as Danzo has wronged both of your precious people. You won't lie that you found it satisfying that it was an Uchiha that met the warhawk's end; this was a needed closure.

"... One last thing," Sasuke reached out a hand to you (it's still confusing that he has both arms), as it glowed a light blue. Recognizing it as an invitation to read his chakra, your hand glowed yellow, as you accepted his outstretched appendage. And like that, all his inner feelings was revealed to you-- he was willing to be vulnerable. With how guarded Sasuke usually is, you found the experience to be something worth marveling at.

He was anxious. Satisfied. Afraid. Devoted. Sorrowful. Determined. Grieving. Hopeful.

"I can never swear my loyalty to Konoha," He honestly said, trusting you that you won't relay this to the other members. What he said was easily the truth. "But I can swear it to you, and could then be extended to the village,"

Your first confrontation with Sasuke a few days ago became awkward afterwards, but at least it somewhat broke the ice between the two of you, after him avoiding you for months beforehand. However, tonight, you feel like you've found your place back in Sasuke's life; your relationship with him is still slowly recovering, but it's a start.

A new start.

"I forgive you, Sasuke." And then, his chakra stopped responding to yours, your palm missing the glowing warmth afterwards. However, he didn't let go of your hand.

He simply adjusted your fingers, just so your index and middle fingers remained pointing outwards, before guiding your hand to poke his forehead like his brother used to do.

~*~*~

Oop, sorry for the delayed update. Unfortunately, this will be a common occurrence because classes are starting asdfghjkl. Cant wait to die from the incoming workload. The nerve of the university to murder me in my own home. Homicide, i tell yall

Also eyy finally, a forehead poke for sasuke and sakura. More family fluff because im a sucker for found families. Forehead pokes are reserved only for the kiddies. Sasuke is far more open to mc compared to the rest, because she's the only one who actually knew him before the massacre. Kinda hard to pretend to be an edgy emo to someone when that someone already witnessed your embarrassing moments in life.

Just a reminder that there will be a few canon alterations of how some events went down in Naruto. For example, in my fic, Sasuke did not risk his life for Naruto from Haku's senbons. While the canon would continue as is, the interactions will be different, because yes, your character made an impact no matter how small. Also yes, you adopted both Sasuke and Naruto (somewhat), and Naruto is aware of how precious Sasuke is to you. That will be my explanation why Naruto went so far to return Sasuke-- all because of you. I tried to make sense of their supposed brotherly bond, with you being the bridge between them.

Also yes, Shisui's eye from Danzo was not destroyed-- the details of that fight will be, once again, in the prequel.

Tis officially the start of the Vigilante arc and I cant wait for yall to meet Hawks and officially meet Aizawa asdfghjlkl