So I started with this chapter already half finished, because chapter 9 ended up too long. And sat on it a few weeks. And then I had a sudden burst of inspiration and wrote a ton. And then ran out of inspiration and sat on it a while. And then decided that what I had was good enough for a chapter, so why not post it? And here we are. Sorry for the terribly delay in updates. My attention has recently been stolen by another fandom entirely.

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Thicker Than Water

Primary and Secondary Versus Dominant and Inferior

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After Futan and Ukon hurried away, Meian continued sitting in the same spot, utterly bewildered by whatever it was that had just happened, and wondering where his blue-haired classmate had gone. He probably would have kept sitting if his secondary personality hadn't prompted his primary personality to keep eating; Meian needed the food, after all. He was lucky to have gotten away with an ear and an entire hand off of one of the corpses and only have a few people yelling at him in response.

When Meian finished eating, he dropped the paper towels on the mess his classmate had left behind, and looked out over the snow-covered fields, his white hand shielding the sun from his black face. He saw the distant person that the Shinken guards hadn't been able to spot; that person was why Meian had come over. So, he blithely walked through the snow to greet the figure.

The figure noticed Meian long before he reached him, of course – green hair and black skin didn't blend well with snow – but didn't say anything until Meian reached him. "Hello, Meian-kun."

"Um," Meian said. "Hi. Uncle Zetsu."

Zetsu smiled tightly, and crouched down in the snow to give Meian a hug. "How long has it been? I don't think I've seen you in over a year," he said, and sighed. "You're still doing well in school, I hope?"

"Uh. Yeah?"

"Good. You're turning eight in a few months, aren't you?"

Meian thought for a long, long time. He forgot the question. "Huh?"

"Don't you turn eight in March?"

"Yeah."

Zetsu almost chuckled. "After that, it's only a couple of years until you get your plant, isn't it?" he said. "Have you thought about what you want?"

Meian nodded without hesitation. When he lost track of what the teacher was saying in class, he liked to look out the window and ponder over the kind of plant he'd like to receive when he was ten, to be surgically bonded with his neurological system and live off of the water and chakra in his body. All Kamibana children received their plant at age ten. "I want, um, moonseed," he said. "It a plant."

"Is it?" Zetsu said, smiling. It was a good choice. Moonseed was a vine, which would hold well to Meian's torso, and it grew tiny fruit with poisonous seeds. Of course, the poison wouldn't hurt Meian at all, but he could use it against his enemies. "I hope you get it."

Now that the primary personalities had greeted each other, the secondaries got caught up. "I see you haven't killed yourself yet, Meian-kun," Zetsu said. "A hell of an accomplishment, I'm sure."

"As if I would allow myself to fall prey to any of the dull-witted endeavors I seem prone to," Meian replied. "Exceedingly slow I may be at many times – especially when I listen to my primary before my secondary – but overall stupid, I am not."

"Is that so? You have me wondering sometimes," Zetsu said with a smirk.

Meian snorted. "And I suppose you are so knowledgeable about myself and my behaviors, Uncle Zetsu, when you foolishly ran off in an attempt to buy your love's heart back?"

Zetsu gave Meian a sharp glare. "It was an amicable split and you know it, pest. Our primaries adored each other but her secondary hated mine, so we both thought it best for the children if we separated."

"And you abandoned our village because...?"

"Money. Someone has to make sure my girls get what they need, and their mother and stepfather can't afford to raise them. You know what it's like."

Meian nodded. "Goddamn Kusakage," he muttered, "The wretched woman doesn't do shit for our clan. It is high time that someone should just kill that bitch already."

"I tried," Zetsu said, "Though my primary still disapproves." He chuckled darkly. "The Kamibana scare her, you know."

"I know," Meian said, smiling wickedly. Of course, they'd never do anything to take advantage of this—primaries get final word in all decisions—but it was comforting for the darker half of the Kamibana clan, knowing that they made the Kusakage feel just they way they wanted, terrified.

"But you really are doing okay in school, aren't you?" Zetsu asked. "I refuse to be uncle to a drop-out."

"Yes, I am doing well enough to graduate on time," Meian said."What I lack in concentration skills for lessons I make up for in physical ability, and when my primary is unable to finish all my work, my secondary is somewhat able to guide me."

"Excellent. Keep on working at it," Zetsu said. "I know it must be hard for you—having such a dense primary, no offense—"

"None taken," Meian only half-lied.

"—but you've been doing well regardless."

"Thank you, Uncle."

Zetsu cleared his throat. "Meian-kun, before you go back, I'd like to ask a favor of you."

"Uh..." Meian couldn't think of what response that statement would need, so he simply nodded.

Zetsu reached into his cloak and pulled out three packages, two about the size of books and one only big enough to hold a few grapes. "Could you give these two to my daughters—your cousins, Yuumei and Naegi? They have some food in them and some spending money. I already gave most of the money I earned to Saikei, before the Kusanin caught up to me. Infuriating nuisances, none of them probably remember how many times I helped protect their village."

"Yeah," Meian said, taking the packages and repeating to himself, "Yuumei-chan and Naegi-chan."

"Thank you," Zetsu said. "And this," he lowered his voice a little, even though no one could hear him, "could you give it to Saikei?"

"Aunt Saikei," Meian echoed, accepting the smaller package. He looked up at Zetsu, confused. "Um, what are it? Is it?"

"These are seeds," Zetsu said softly, "for a Hedera rhombea—an ivy. I heard that Yuumei wanted them. She's turning ten in a few days."

Meian's eyes widened, and he cradled the seeds carefully in both hands as if they were as valuable as emeralds and as fragile as a dandelion seed head. "Oh," he said. He gave Zetsu a much sharper look. "I suppose you wish for me not to tell Yuumei-chan of this?"

Zetsu nodded. "I want to surprise her."

"Yeah. Um... okay." Meian nodded vaguely.

"Thank you, Meian." Zetsu crouched down to give his nephew another hug, and said, "Don't you dare tell anyone but Yuumei, Naegi, and Saikei that you met me."

"Yeah," Meian said. "Um... Bye, Uncle Zetsu."

Zetsu stood up. For a moment, he looked longingly towards the group surrounding the three ninja he'd had to kill, towards his family. Then he sank beneath the snow and became part of the dead grass beneath it, and Meian wandered back to the Kamibana clan, vaguely trying to remember exactly to whom he was supposed to give these three packages. He was lucky that his secondary remembered.

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That night, Ukon told Sakon what had happened during guard duty, and what Meian had said to him. Ukon was terrified, and Sakon didn't blame him. He was scared for his brother as well. Meian ate inferiors, he'd said so himself! What if he tried to hurt Ukon? Futago didn't sympathize with Sakon's concerns for his brother; he said there was absolutely no way Meian would eat Ukon, especially if he stayed with Sakon. The Kamibana clan didn't get its food by hunting live humans, and in any case, Meian was only a child—too young to have the strength or skill to kill someone, even an inferior.

Sakon and Ukon weren't convinced. And so, for the first time ever, Ukon missed school.

Halfway to school, Sakon stopped next to a building and behind a cart where no one would see him, took off his jacket, hat, and scarf, and let Ukon step out of his body. Sakon bundled Ukon up, and said, "I'll meet you right here when school's over, okay?"

"Okay," Ukon said. "I'll be here at three-thirty."

Sakon hesitated. "Is that when school ends?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." Sakon gave his brother a quick hug, and then ran off to school, twisting around to wave at Ukon as he went and then crossing his arms to try to keep warm.

Ukon watched his brother until he was out of sight, and then sniffed heavily, wiped his nose on Sakon's scarf, and wondered where he'd spend the rest of the day. It was too cold for him to stay outside, so he'd have to find a building to stay in. Preferably one that would give him a good view of the streets outside, so he'd know if a Kamibana were coming by and he could escape before it tried to eat him, and one where his father wouldn't come in and find out Ukon and Sakon weren't together.

Keeping his list in mind – warm, good view outside, safe from Daddy – Ukon trudged out into the cold streets to search.

He wandered for almost ten minutes in the cold, shoulders hunched up, arms crossed, hands stuck in his armpits to keep them warm. At last he saw a store with a familiar logo above the window: Wasanbon. This was the store where, a year ago, a girl in their class had given Ukon a taiyaki.

The same store where, a year and a half ago, Sakon and Ukon's mother had taken them, the day before she vanished.

Ukon stood for five, ten seconds staring at the logo, before he looked at the rest of the store. Large glass windows covered two walls; it would be easy for him to see outside. And he knew his father never went in there. He uncrossed his arms to grab the door handle with both cold hands, pulled it open, and slid inside.

The heat inside hit his skin like a hot iron on an ice cube. Ukon shivered in the warm air, flexing his stiff, cold fingers, and moved away from the windows. There was a big oven behind the counter giving off the waves of heat, and Ukon wanted to get close to it, hoping the warmth would start to sink into his skin rather than sear the surface.

He'd only been there a moment when a woman came up behind the counter, pulling off oven mitts. "Can I help you?" she asked suspiciously.

Ukon shook his head quickly. "N..." He had to shake his head and cough before he could rasp out, "No thanks. I don't got any money."

"Have any," the woman corrected automatically.

"Yeah." Ukon quickly backed away from the counter, found a table in the corner, and pulled himself into a seat facing the windows, so he could keep a watch out for any Kamibana.

The woman leaned over the counter to get a better look at Ukon. "Don't you have class?" she asked.

Ukon shook his head. "I'm not a student."

"Really?" She frowned. "What's your name?"

"U-um..." What if she recognized his name and knew he was an inferior? She could tell the Kamibana he was here without his brother to protect him. "Sakon."

"Sakon-kun," she repeated. "You look about my daughter's age. Why aren't you in school?"

"There's a scary guy in my class," Ukon said. "So I'm hiding."

The woman's frown turned sympathetic. "Oh. Poor thing, has that boy been picking on you?"

Ukon thought. Well, not really... "He says creepy things."

"I see," the woman said. "Have you tried talking to your teacher about him?"

"No."

"Maybe you should."

"But he won't help me," Ukon said. "I'm not a student."

The woman looked puzzled. "Huh."

Ukon wondered who this woman's daughter was. Then he remembered the girl from last year, the one who'd given him a taiyaki from this shop; maybe she'd gotten it from her mother? The same girl who said she'd been told that inferiors eat little girls...

"Hey!" Ukon said. "Is your daughter in Onshi-sensei's class?"

"Yes, she is," the woman said. "Do you know her?"

"Kinda," Ukon said.

"Chichiko's the first in our family to enter the ninja program," the woman said. She'd stopped looking puzzled and was now smiling proudly. "She's always been so athletic. She actually asked her father and me to let her enter the program. Onshi-san says she's already starting to learn how to channel chakra from the older students."

"Did you tell her that Shinken inferiors eat other girls?" Ukon asked. He slid out of his chair and shuffled up to the counter, and leaned against it for balance.

The woman appeared uncomfortable. "I... might have... Why don't you ask your mother about that?" she asked.

"She..." Ukon looked down, and wiped his nose on his sleeve to keep from answering immediately. "She's... gone."

"Oh!" The woman covered her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry. Was... she a ninja?"

Ukon nodded. "Yeah. I don't know when she's gonna come back."

"Oh, sweetie. She's not going to..." She trailed off. "When did it happen?"

"Before first grade," Ukon said. "She ran away. Daddy says she's a missing-nin now."

"A missing..." She gasped. "Then she's... You're Shinken Mizuiri's child?"

Ukon nodded.

"I'm so sorry!" she said. She was starting to blush. "My goodness, to think Chichiko told you what I said... I'm very sorry, Sakon-kun. I didn't mean what I said about your clan, not at all. It's just something my mother always told me when I was a child, to make sure I wouldn't wander around after dark... Of course I didn't mean anything bad about your clan, it's just something you tell children. You understand."

"Yeah," Ukon said. "Thanks." He didn't understand, not really, but at least he knew this lady didn't think he'd try to eat anyone.

"That's just the stereotype about inferiors, you know," she continued. "Since they're so odd-looking and... well, strange in the head. It's very easy to imagine that they'd be able to... well..." She straightened up and smiled at Ukon. "How would you like a taiyaki? On the house."

She had a nice smile. "Sure," Ukon said, "but can I have it inside?"

She gave him a blank look. "Uh... Sure thing, sweetie pie. What flavor do you like?"

"Chocolate," Ukon said.

In the end, Ukon got two taiyaki. He decided to come back here more often.

He never realized that the only reason this woman was still speaking to him was because she thought he was a Shinken dominant.

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A/N: More names? Yes indeed. Yuumei means "dark and light" or "semidarkness," Naegi means "sapling," Saikei is a form of bonsai, and the chichi in Chichiko means "milk."