The problem with bringing Tsunade back to Konoha was that she didn’t want to come back. And since Jun didn’t see himself kidnapping a Sannin, it means he had to convince her somehow to return to the village. It wouldn’t be easy, so the young man started thinking about a strategy. What were Tsunade’s weaknesses? What would make her return to Konoha?

Jun knew she was deeply traumatized. She had lost those close to her in the war and had seen so much violence that she had developed a phobia of blood. She had isolated herself from the other Sannins to drown her sorrows in alcohol. Moreover, she had a gambling addiction.

Jun knew he could be manipulative. But he was also direct, which wasn’t ideal. He had never been very good at manipulating people gently, seducing them and changing their minds subtly. It was Shikaku who had unknowingly given him the beginning of an answer.

The Nara had briefed Jun on what he could expect from Tsunade. It was nothing he didn’t already know from his memories from his past life. However, there was one thing Jun learned he was unaware of. The Senjus weren’t all dead. Tsunade wasn’t the only Senju descendant alive. They were still people in the village whose lineage could be traced back to the famous clan. And Jun knew some of them.

Genma Shiranui was a descendant of the Senju. His grandmother was related to the Senju. Shikaku’s wife was also a descendant of the clan. There were also people like Kanna, Ebisu, Ibiki, and even Tenten.

The Senju may have disappeared as a clan, but some descendants remained. Jun believed it could use that to convince Tsunade. The Uchiha clan leader had asked Yamato to come with him for the mission because he could use him to convince the Sannin. Perhaps seeing someone who can use the Mokuton could influence Tsunade.

***

Jun was freaking out a bit before the dinner with Team Yamato. He didn’t want to do something that could damage Kazuma’s relationship with his teammates. The boy had always been so sociable and easily made friends. But his family was getting involved now.

“I can always cancel if you want.” Jun proposed, glancing at his little brother.

He was preparing the meal, a rice dish with thinly sliced steak.

“No way! They’ll think I’m hiding something for not wanting them to meet my family.”

“Are you hiding something from them? Given their reaction earlier, you had never told them about your family…” Jun pointed out.

“Well yes… Naruto and Hotaru are both orphans. I would have felt bad bragging about having a large family.” Kazuma explained.

The boy had always been more considerate than his siblings. Neither Jun nor Izumi had hesitated to brag about their caring mother or their adorable siblings to their respective teammates back then.

There was a knock on the door, signaling the arrival of the first of their guests. Kazuma rushed to open it. From the kitchen, Jun leaned back slightly to see what was going on.

“Naruto! Come in; you’re the first one to arrive.” Kazuma exclaimed happily.

“Hey… I was told it would be impolite to come empty-handed, so I brought a gift.” The jinchuriki said.

He was holding a small potted Japanese Boxwood. Jun smiled, hearing the boy’s words. He wiped his hands on his white and red Uchiha-style apron with drawings of cats on it. It was a gift from Izumi. The clan leader took it off before going to greet the guest. Naruto was wearing all blue. The resemblance with Minato was striking. Iruka must have lectured him on the rules of politeness because the boy tilted his head awkwardly when he saw Jun.

“Thank you for having me over.”

Jun resisted the urge to laugh. It was funny to see him behaving so well.

“Welcome to our house. How are you doing?”

The conversation was light; they mostly talked about the genins’ latest missions. The rest of the guests eventually arrived. Izumi was next; she came back from the hospital. Hotaru brought some mochi with her for desserts. Neji also came back from his training, followed by Sasuke. He and Naruto looked at each other but did nothing to antagonize the other. Karin also came and directly collapsed on a cushion with a grunt. Gai’s training was still as intense as ever.

“Karin, this is Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto, this is Karin Uzumaki. She is the last pure descendant of the Uzumaki clan.” Jun introduced with a smirk.

Naruto stared at Karin, then suddenly widened his eyes and pointed an accusing finger at her.

“I recognize you. You were at the Academy at the same time as me! You went home every night with that no-good Sasuke. Why didn’t you come to see me?”

There was a raw edge of emotion in his voice as if his indignant gasps were trying to hide real pain.

“The no-good Sasuke can hear you, you idiot,” Sasuke replied in a low voice.

“There were ANBUs watching you at all times. I didn’t want to get in trouble. Some people still see me as an outsider. I didn’t want to be questioned over my motivations for approaching you.”

“Naruto had ANBUs following him?” Sasuke asked, puzzled.

Jun cleared his throat, thinking of a credible story to tell them.

“The Uzumakis are important to Konoha. Naruto was the last descendant born in the village. He was probably under guard for his protection. Since Karin came from another village, her approaching Naruto out of the blue could have been seen as suspicious. People could think she was a spy and interrogate her.”

Naruto had a complicated expression.

“Where are you from?” The boy asked Karin.

“I lived in Kusa. I left with Jun-sensei when I was seven and have been his student ever since. But my family is from Uzushio, the same as yours, I guess.”

“Yes, the Hokage told me…”

Karin observed Naruto for a moment, weighing her desire to talk about her Uzumaki heritage and comparing it with the boy’s feverish gaze and the anxious longing in his voice.

“I’ll tell you more about it later.” She finally said.

Karin’s dream was to rebuild the Uzumaki clan. And for that to happen, she needed to start somewhere. She had carefully guarded in her heart all the secrets her mother had told her about the Uzushio. Opening to someone else wouldn’t be easy. But the way Naruto’s face had lit up when he heard her words seemed to reassure her a bit. He would know to appreciate and value her knowledge.

The conversation continued on lighter topics. Yamato arrived a few minutes late. Jun wondered if the man was trying to imitate his idol Kakashi. Well, he would have been an hour or two late if he was copying Kakashi’s habits.

They sat down to eat. It was always lively at the Uchiha’s, and a happy hubbub of conversation quickly filled the room. Neji and Karin were bickering, tossing sarcastic remarks at each other. From time to time, Kazuma and Sasuke added oil to the fire. Naruto recounted their missions with obvious exaggerations, dragging Sasuke into a ridiculous competition of who did the coolest mission. Kazuma amusedly took on the role of the referee. Izumi had begun chatting with Hotaru, first about her Suiton affinity and then about everyday life.

Jun tried to participate in their conversations but mostly kept his attention on Yamato. It was obvious the man didn’t go out much. He was stiff and tense and had a hard time talking about himself. However, the more time passed, the more the ex-ANBU member relaxed. Jun then discreetly tried to get him to talk about his hobbies, friends and family.

Yamato mentioned he had a sister who lived outside the village. Jun had no idea he had a sibling. He wasn’t sure if she was his biological sister, an adopted one, or if they had met in Orochimaru’s lab.

The Uchiha clan leader didn’t bring up his Mokuton. But he was thinking of the rebirth of the Senju clan with Yamato and Tsunade as the pillars. Jun pushed his thoughts about the Senju away and asked Yamato a question.

“A joint genin team training? Yamato repeated with interest.

“It’s a cooperation with Gai. He has more experience than me, and it’s a good way to gauge the learning speed of our students. In addition, it allows us to watch the students in turn when one of us has other obligations.” Jun explained.

It was mostly Jun who had other obligations, but Gai was sometimes sent on missions without his team. Judging by Yamato’s expression, he was interested.

“I’m sure Gai would agree to have your team join. He’ll probably get so excited that he’ll try to get Kakashi into our little group.” Jun added, seeing Yamato’s pensive expression.

Yamato smiled, but Sasuke, who was listening in, looked devastated. He had heard of Gai’s training and wasn’t particularly looking forward to experiencing them. However, he shouldn’t worry. Jun already knew Gai had invited Kakashi several times already, and the copy ninja had simply changed the topic.

“It would be a pleasure to join you. How are the training sessions generally?” Yamato asked.

Jun gave him some examples of how they started by teaching the kids how to walk on trees, the daily Taijutsu training, and the individual lessons to refine their specialties.

That evening, he chatted a lot with Yamato and realized he could be friends with the jonin. And the latter could probably use a friend or two.