Child of the Moon

Downtime

"You're back early," Tsunami said, looking over at her as she worked on some food.

"Yeah, Tsunami, right?" Tsukiko sat in one of the free chairs and looked over at the woman. "Where's your father?"

"He's working on something in his room, did you need me to fetch him?"

"No, it's fine," Tsukiko looked around. "Is your son in his room too?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"Just keeping track of everyone," Tsukiko answered. "Over the next however long I need to be sure no one tries to ambush any of you. Attacking the family is a typical method of intimidation."

She paused and looked over at the worried woman. "I didn't mean to upset you, it's just something to be aware of."

"Thank you," Tsunami sat down, folding her hands on the table in front of her. "I want to apologize again for Inari's behavior-"

"It's fine," Tsukiko said, smiling gently. "I understand something of what he's feeling."

At Tsunami's confused expression, Tsukiko took a deep breath.

"I'm assuming he lost someone precious to him," she said. "Someone he looked up to, idolized. Someone he saw as a hero?"

Tsunami's face became somber, as she stared at her hands. Tsukiko saw the image of a man flash by her eyes from Tsunami's mind. Stepfather.

"Yes..."

"I lost someone too," Tsukiko said, reaching over to touch Tsunami's hand reassuringly. "He was very important to me, and I miss him so much. But he wouldn't want me to be afraid of experiencing that pain again. There are other people that still rely on me."

"Like that Kakashi guy?"

Tsukiko internally choked as she outwardly chuckled. "Uh, he's a big boy, he can take care of himself. Naruto on the other hand..."

She smiled brightly. "He's my precious little brother. I'd do whatever it took to make sure he smiled more and that he wouldn't feel so lonely anymore."

Tsunami smiled. "I see."

The next hours were spent in quiet meditation, two clones keeping watch on the house and shadowing Tazuna and Inari when they wandered away from the house. When the others returned, Tsukiko listened with a quiet smile as Naruto ranted about "this stupid training" and listened as Kakashi gave her a mental update on their progress.

It seemed Sakura had excellent chakra control, which sparked an idea in Tsukiko's mind.

"Since Sakura seems to have the hang of it," Tsukiko said, setting down her bowl. "She can help me keep an eye on Tazuna and I can see about refining it a little more."

"Sounds like an idea," Kakashi answered, as Naruto and Sasuke choked on their food. The two boys made indignant noises.

"No fair, how come Sakura gets super-secret training from you, sis!?" Naruto demanded.

"You got lots of "super secret training" back in the village," Tsukiko answered. "It's not like I go around training random people, you know."