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Brilliant in the Sunlight

Summary: Tobirama's not sure who it was or how they did it, but when he figures it out, there'll be hell to pay!

WC: 821

Rating: G

Tobirama actually grimaced when he saw his armour. There was no help for it, though, he needed it for team training this morning. He indulged in a hefty sigh. When he found out who was responsible…

Hizuren, Koharu, and Homura were all already at the training ground when he arrived. He hoped they were working on their situational awareness, but it seemed equally likely that they were simply lying in wait for his arrival. There was a moment of (hopefully shocked) silence, then all three children burst into giggles. At least Koharu had the decency to try and hide her giggles behind her hand…

Tobirama was undecided whether he prefered to think his prankster knew about the council meeting right after team training this morning or not. As soon as the children disappeared towards their homes, he indulged in his second grimace of the day—he would not have time to go home and change. Even if he left the armour in his office, it had surely already infected the clothing underneath. He shored up his mental defences and decided that Hiraishin was definitely the best way to get to his office in the administration building. At least he would be able to bypass the general public, and his state would be a rumour only. With his reputation, such was likely to be dismissed by the public at large…

All eyes were fixed on him the instant he walked through the meeting room door. He kept his face carefully blank even as Hashirama turned red from laughter. He feet the distinctive spike of chakra that came from Madara activating his sharingan. The Nara clan head merely raised an eyebrow. The Hyuga head keeps his face as blank as Tobirama's own, but his chakra took on a tone of judgement and disapproval.

Tobirama took his seat and didn't bother waiting for his anija to calm down, or begin the meeting in his own time as was proper. He just wanted out of here as soon as possible. He glanced at the first item on the agenda.

“Nara-sama, would you please update us on the plans for the village mission ranking system…?”

Tobirama had hoped to escape to home immediately after the meeting so he could Hiraishin home to change, and possibly disappear into his lab for the rest of forever. His luck, however, was still against him, and lzuna was waiting right outside the meeting room door when they finally adjourned.

“Tobirama! Just who I wanted to see! Let's go for a spar!”

It wasn't their usual time to spar, and lzuna's voice held the edge of mockery that told Tobirama that a) he'd heard about Tobirama's predicament somewhere already, and b) he wanted to make sure as many people witnessed it as possible.

“Unfortunately, I have a previous engagement.”

“Nonsense! I stopped by your office to find you first! This meeting was the last thing on your agenda!”

Tobirama was going to fire his assistant for letting lzuna anywhere near his desk…

The spar with Izuna was good for two things: lzuna made an excellent target for today's frustrations, and his armour was actually <i>cleaner</i> by the end of it.

“Let's head to that new Akimichi barbeque place for lunch! I know you haven't had a chance to eat yet,” Izuna suggested.

The condition of Tobirama's armour was actually of benefit here because Izuna wouldn't throw his arm over Tobirama's shoulders to force the issue. Not that there would usually be anything to force. Which meant there was opportunity here.

Tobirama’s mouth tilted into a smirk, “I'll meet you there.”

He hiraishined home before Izuna could react.

Safety was not yet to be had—Mito and Tōka were having tea on the engawa when he arrived. Clearly, trying to keep any more mess out of his personal rooms was a mistake.

“Tobi-chan! You're looking swanky today!” Tōka teased before he could storm off into his rooms, mess be damned.

He chose not to say anything, just flipped her off as he stomped passed. Mito remained blessedly silent…

One advantage to living in the clan head's home was the addition of a private bathroom within his own suite of rooms. Tobirama slipped silently through the corridors, all mercifully empty, straight there and disposed of all his clothing into the tub.

It didn't matter how careful he was, all the shinobi skills in the world couldn't keep the glitter someone had covered his armour with from cascading all over the floor, the sink, the towels, his brush…

When he found out who had managed to cover his armour in bright blue glitter, there would be hell to pay. He smirked—a larger, more evil smirk than the one he'd given Izuna. This would be an excellent chance to test his self-replicating seals. His target would determine if they'd be filled with glitter… or paperwork.

@flashfictionfridayofficial

@flashfictionfridayofficial "Fool's Quest"

wc: 865

Summary: Naruto wants to use his newest homework assignment to finally learn about his family. He gets something else instead.

“Our last thing for the day, a bit of homework for the weekend,” Iruka-sensei called out near the end of class. The groans were epic, and Iruka managed to keep his smirk on the inside rather than let it show on his face.

He turned to write on the board “Family Techniques,” then turned to face the class again.

“This weekend, you will start some research on shinobi techniques. For those of you with other shinobi in your family, you will find out about their techniques. For those of you who will be the first shinobi in your family, you will need to research the techniques of a Konoha shinobi of your choice. You will have time next week to work on your reports. I’m handing out a sheet with the expectations and some suggested questions to start off your conversation.”

Iruka-sensei moved down the rows of the classroom handing out a page to each student. After he was finished, he dismissed the class for the weekend.

Naruto was… well, he wasn’t sure exactly what he felt. He didn’t have any family, which made him sad, but he also didn’t know if he had any family techniques. It also made him a little excited, because maybe he could find out about an awesome ninja that he was related to! He was also a little disheartened because he <i>hated</i> research. Reading was so hard and boring and slow. Maybe learning cool ninja stuff would make up for it… He wasn’t exactly sure where to start, either.

Naruto started trudging home, thinking about it. Ugh, maybe he’d have to start with the, he heaved a sigh, library. Or! He could ask the old man! That would be way better! And easier! And the Hokage had to know everything about everyone’s family, right?!

Naruto made an abrupt about face and sprinted back to the academy. He’d head straight to the old man’s office to ask! This was gonna be his best report ever!

Thanks to his previous dawdle, Naruto made it back to the building in no time at all. Now, though, he had to be careful. The adults who were here could be mean, it was better just to keep quiet until he made it to the old man’s office. He moved really close to the walls and walked slowly and quietly through rooms and down hallways. Some of the rooms, he waited until the people had passed through, so no one would see him. Others, like the mission room, he waited until they were busy, so no one would pay attention to him. He worried that Iruka-sensei had spotted him moving through the room, but he didn’t say anything or glare or anything else, so Naruto figured he was fine.

Just before he got to the old man’s office, he stopped and peaked around the corner. He wrinkled his nose and squinted–that guy was still at the desk in front of the door. Shouldn’t he have gone home by now…? Naruto peaked again. The office door was open just a little… just enough… Naruto bolted for the door! He made it through before that other guy made it around his desk!

“Hey, Old Man!” Naruto shouted as soon as he burst through the door. The old man jumped and sent papers all over. Naruto could see that they were writing, but not the small, neat writing, and full pages that meant it was just those stupid puzzles he did rather than anything important. Then waved away the desk guy while Naruto continued, “Iruka-sensei gave us homework and you gotta help me!”

The Hokage’s face changed from relaxed to impassive in an instant, but Naruto plowed right on though, “We gotta find out about our families, so you gotta tell me all about the Uzumaki!” He ended on a grin that was brighter than the sun.

“Unfortunately, Naruto, I don't know anything about your family,” the Hokage responded. Naruto’s heart plummeted. “You could try looking in the Academy library, though. There is usually information on shinobi families there.”

“Sure, sure, whatever, old man.” And Naruto turned and slumped out the door.

He hadn't travelled more than two steps away when he heard a deep, gravelly voice—probably another old guy.

“Why send him on a fool's quest? You know we removed every mention of the Uzumaki from unclassified sources.”

Naruto froze.

“Better that he believes there is nothing to learn as soon as possible and stops seeking. No good can come from that,” was the Hokage's response.

A small part of Naruto was relieved that the desk guy wasn't there, while the largest part of Naruto was consumed with disbelief, anger, sadness, confusion, and inevitability that the only adult in his young life that he had considered ‘family’ was just like every other adult around. He could never trust any of them. He would never have family, whatever that really meant.

It took long minutes and every bit of will he had for Naruto to pull himself together enough to paste on his brightest, happiest, most carefree grin so that he could make it home to his lonely apartment to grieve the end of a dream.