Chapter 5: While the Hokage's away, Root will play

Trigger warning: snakes ahead.

In our eagerness, Genma and I had forgotten a detail: the Yondaime and his Guard Platoon were leaving Konoha for a week. They were going to attend the Chuunin Exams' tournament in Suna.

"Your cousin and his friend made it to the final. I'll tell you all about it when we get back," Genma promised.

In the absence of the Hokage, work was much quieter. Our days were shorter too. However it didn't mean we didn't have work to do.

The Jounin Commander was the one in charge of the daily routine, to his great displeasure. Working for him reminded me of the few months during which I had been his assistant. I felt a little nostalgic. It had been a good time: for the first time in my career, I had done something I liked without too much pressure. Yoshino had trained me well and Shikaku wasn't the kind of boss to criticize and bully. Even when everyone had been stressed after the Kyuubi's attack, I hadn't felt anxious, just overworked. I was fond of Shikaku.

Haruka? Not so much. Shikaku's laziness and nonchalance always rubbed her up the wrong way. The Nara was perfectly aware of it, but he wasn't going to change for anyone. If she couldn't deal with it, it was her problem, not his.

I ended up doing most of the liaison work, leaving the first assistant to focus on the paperwork in a quiet office. It suited us both perfectly. I might not have been fond of my time as a genin gofer, but I appreciated not being stuck to my desk all day.

Shikaku was a man of habits, too lazy to change what worked for him. I wasn't expecting any surprise. Yet, in the morning of our third day, I walked in his office and froze before I could give him the usual morning briefing.

"What the hell—" I breathed.

The Jounin Commander was sleeping on his desk, and he was reeking of alcohol. Now I knew why his assistant was cowering in the hallway. He woke up and blinked at me tiredly.

"Alright. What did you do to Yoshino-san?" I sighed.

"What makes you think I did anything?" He grumbled.

I dropped a pile of papers on his desk a little more loudly than necessary, getting a glare in return. "Because you look pathetic. The kind of pathetic that tells me you spent too much time wondering what mistake you made instead of the kind of terrifying that tells me you're angry."

He straightened slowly, resting his head on his hand as he stared at me thoughtfully. "Minato owes me so much for stealing you," he sighed before standing up and stretching. "The answer is in your observation."

He didn't know what mistake he made. Great. He didn't look eager to talk about it either. I knew better than to press: I might take more liberties than most assistants, but I was also smart enough to know the limits. I nodded, briefed him on his schedule and stepped out of the office without dilly-dallying. Right now, he needed peace more than anything.

His assistant was Torikai Akane, a red-haired like her name implied, from a family offshoot of the Akimichi. She was twisting her fingers in distress. "It's getting worse," she whispered to me before I could ask.

"Is it?"

"Mostly because his patience is stretched thin, I think. It has been like this since Shikamaru's birth."

I frowned, trying to remember the months after the Nara's heir birth. It had been a mess with what happened two weeks later, on the 10th of October. If there had been any trouble in the Nara household, it had been overridden by the bigger mess that was Konoha at large during those days. Maybe that was the problem: something that hadn't been dealt with at the time and that had gone worse and worse as time passed.

I shook my head and shrugged. I couldn't do much about it. "I'm going to bring him something to clean, eat and calm his hungover," I offered, familiar with the routine. Fortunately, Minato wasn't the kind to get hungover often (unless his sensei was in town), but he had had his share of sleepless nights at the office.

"Oh, thank you! I have this pile of reports to organize. A team came home from an urgent mission last night."

I patted her wrist gently. Akane was six years older than me, but also she came from the Genin Corps and I remembered her from before she passed the Intern Chuunin Exams. She had been one of the eldest, who did their best to help the new genin. She gave good advice (particularly on who to avoid), and I had always liked her: I had recommended her to be my successor after all. Now she was engaged to an Akimichi, which meant she would become a clan member. She could have let it go to her head, but she had integrated the Genin Corps' first rule just like I did: we stuck together, always.

This surprise wasn't the only bump in the road that week.

The following afternoon, I was alone at my desk when two Uchiha came up. I couldn't remember the name of the oldest, but the youngest was unforgettable: Itachi. It was troubling to see him so young and different from what he could become. Right now, he was just a very polite and quiet child — a talented one, true, but still just a child.

"Kamizuki-san. We come from the mission desk, where we were told that we were banned from anything higher level than D-rank on the Hokage's orders. What is the meaning of this? Itachi is ready for much more. His previous C-ranks went without a hitch!"

I stared at him, aghast. "Uchiha-san. Your eight years old student killed his first man two weeks ago. In which world isn't that considered a 'hitch'?"

"He handled his opponent without difficulties, and we went through the appropriate protocol following this milestone," he replied frostily.

Milestone. Killing a man was a fucking milestone. Good divinities above, why did I have to be reborn in this crazy world?

"Protocol doesn't take the young age of your charge in consideration, Uchiha-san," I replied as calmly as I could despite my wish to strangle him. "Hokage-sama wishes to provide him with a longer—"

"It's unnecessary! This coddling is detrimental to his growth and will slow down his—"

"He's eight!" I shouted back, exasperated (tentative to keep my temper in check: failed; that tended to happen when children were concerned). "Eight and already a genin! Eight and he already killed a man! Don't give me that bullshit about slowing him down when he's already far ahead of his age group, age group that will spend a year longer in the Academy anyway because — let me remind you of that detail, Uchiha-san — we are not at war anymore!" I stood up when he looked like he wanted to argue again. "The Hokage's decisions are not debatable, Uchiha-san!"

"You're blinded by jealousy, career chunin," he seethed.

"I see more clearly than you do, jounin," I retorted. "The individual by your side is a child. He might be an exceptional one with the edge of a good blade, but even the best blade breaks when you mistreat it too early as you forge it. Give him time to rest. That is final."

The jounin left in a huff. As Itachi followed him more slowly, I whistled to get his attention while I opened a drawer. He turned and caught the candy (one of those I had for Naruto on his good days) I threw at him. He stared at me curiously, waiting for an explanation.

"Sorry for talking about you like you weren't there, Itachi-kun," I said with a sheepish smile.

He bowed his head and left without a word.

I shook my head and sighed. I bet he was used to it. Poor boy. I firmly believed that the friendship between Minato and Mikoto helped a lot to ease things with the Uchiha clan, but Fugaku was still too hard on his son.

oOo

Two days before the Yondaime's return, I had the afternoon off and spent it with Rin as promised.

The hot springs were new to me in this life. In the previous one, apart from a short trip to Japan, I had only traveled in Europe.

Here, I had discovered many traditions I wasn't used to. I had accepted most of them easily but only one had excited me. Hot springs were the best thing ever. Jacuzzis were just a step above but, considering there weren't any in this world, they were disqualified of the competition.

Rin laughed at me when I stepped into the onsen with a very pleased sigh.

"Hush, you," I said with a smile. "I love onsen. Don't judge."

"I don't," she promised between a few chuckles. "It's just nice to see you appreciate it so much."

"If I could afford it, I'd test all the most famous onsen of Hi no Kuni," I declared as I sat on a submerged stone bench. The hot water rose above my shoulders, at the perfect height.

"It's a nice idea for an honeymoon," Rin pointed out as she sat by my side.

"If I marry someone rich enough to afford it, I'll be sure to mention it."

"Genma isn't rich, but he has good wages."

I glanced at her with a lopsided grin. "The same as Raidou, in fact. Are you familiar with his wages, Rin-san?"

"No!"

I winced at her outrage, a little embarrassed but also a little amused by her vehemence. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make it sound like you're a gold-digger." I patted her hand underwater and gave her an apologetic smile. "Considering you're one of the best medics of Konoha, I doubt you need any financial support anyway. I just wanted to give you an opportunity to talk about him if you wanted to, but I guess I'm out of practice with that sort of casual girl talk."

Rin chuckled softly and bowed her head to hide her red cheeks behind her hair. "Oh. I… I'm the same really."

"We don't even have to talk about the guys anyway," I noted. It just came naturally since they were something we had in common and basically how we met. "But if it helps... Genma and I are just friends, nothing more. I wouldn't mind a serious relationship with him, but I'm not sure he's interested in that kind of things."

She nodded in understanding. "He's rather… fickle."

"That's a nice way to put it." I looked up at the grey cloud above us. "Not like Raidou."

"I— Yes. It will be two years now."

I glanced at her, wide-eyed. "Two years… that he's interested in you?!"

She nodded slowly and curled up a little. "He first asked me out two years ago, but I… I wasn't in a good place… I was still… grieving my teammate and great friend…"

"Oh," I breathed in understanding. Damn you Obito, I tried to save your ass.

I had actually no idea if he was dead or walking around with a creepy body. The frustrating part of changing things in the shadows was that I wasn't in a good place to observe the consequences. I had conjectures, at best. I believed that nothing had changed at Kannabi bridge because Minato hadn't taken my warning seriously, and when everything I had predicted became true, he learned from his mistake and saved Rin thanks to the second scroll (if that was true, the poor man probably blamed himself terribly for Obito's presumed death). Outside of asking him directly, I couldn't be sure.

"He was really sympathetic and he left me alone," Rin continued. "He dated someone else for a year, but they broke up three months ago and… well…" She looked at me hesitantly before babbling: "I'm feeling better now. I was thinking about moving on, and Genma implied that Raidou was still interested and he's really nice…"

"He is," I agreed. "He's a good man. Quiet but honorable and attentive." He was a little disconcerting when you didn't know him because he seemed taciturn, but he was the kind of men I could imagine giving his girlfriend constant attention in the form of small gifts and actions instead of words.

She nodded eagerly. "So, I let him knew I was interested, but I probably looked too unsure because he decided to mh… court me."

"Oooh, that's cute." Like I said, a very honorable and attentive man.

"Yes," she agreed but there was a hint of frustration as she pulled on her hair, "but I'm worried he'll think it's going too slow and gets bored of me."

I tutted in disagreement. "He's very patient. I don't think it'll be a problem as long as you're still receptive to his courting."

"But, I mean, he's more experienced than me and older. Won't he have some… expectations?"

I made a rude noise, then thought about it, sniffed and shook my head. "He chose to court you. You didn't ask for it. He knows what he committed to. And, like you pointed out, he's older, not a teenager anymore, so give him a little more credit, he'll wait for you to be ready. If he doesn't, he doesn't deserve you anyway. Don't let it bother you. Focus on your own feelings. Let him deal with his own. If he wants things to change, he'll have to talk to you about it and that's it."

She stared at me.

I fidgeted a little, feeling self-conscious. "What?"

"You… You're very mature, Maiko-san. Kakashi and Minato-sensei told me so, but I hadn't realized how much."

I blushed a little and cleared my throat.

In my Academy days, I was better at hiding (if I hadn't been I would have graduated early and been sent on the battlefields, and I valued my mental health much more than supposed glory, thank you very much). As time passed, I slipped more and more. I wasn't surprised that Minato had noticed, otherwise he wouldn't have offered a sensitive position to a sixteen years old nobody, but I hadn't realized that I had appeared on Kakashi's radar too.

"Anyway," I mumbled.

Rin giggled but gracefully offered another subject of discussion: her work. Medicine had always interested me so I was more than happy to talk about her research and listen to her explanations. Chakra changed many things in this world. Some of the things I knew about biology were obsolete and it made me glad I hadn't tried a career in medicine. I would have messed up.

We left the bath when it became too much (despite my love for it, there was such a thing as too much bathing in those hot mineral waters), but we didn't go far: this place was a spa who also offered massages. Rin had offered to try it, and I had agreed to splurge a little. My birthday was coming soon, this was my present to myself.

Wearing a yukata provided by the bathhouse, we were waiting on wooden benches for the client before us to leave. We somehow ended up discussing Konoha's politics on maternity and birth rate. I was to blame of course, I was a feminist at heart from my past life and this world had a lot of flaws on the subject.

"Oh, I know that the elders always want more clan babies. The Council regularly points out that the birth rates didn't pick up to the pre-war level, but all that they do against the problem is harassing women, pressuring those who are still single to marry or pressuring those who only have one child to pop more babies. They don't stop to consider why these women aren't making more babies of their own volition. They work on the assumption that they're just bad women who refuse to do their supposed 'duty' to their families and village."

I was in full rant. I rarely could afford to speak my mind, although I had a lot to say on many subjects. As an assistant I was supposed to stay quiet, but Rin was a friend and we were on the same wavelength.

She didn't seem to mind my spirited speech. "Why do you think they don't?"

"Well, maybe someone should ask them. There can be as many reasons as there are women after all, but I can imagine a few: the fact that women are expected to drop their job as soon as they have children, the absence of appropriate childcare for those who which to continue to work, the absence of support—"

I was interrupted by the spa's door banging open and a woman leaving briskly. I blinked at her back for a few seconds before realizing that was Nara Yoshino. She seemed agitated. I looked up to the masseur who stepped out next. She looked uneasy.

"She heard you and she suddenly grew upset," the woman admitted to me in a whisper.

Startled by the idea that I was responsible for Yoshino's mood, I glanced at Rin. "I'll be right back," I promised before I ran after Yoshino. I called her name, hoping I could catch her before she left the premises. "Yoshino-san, please, wait!" I insisted.

She froze not far from the door.

"Yoshino-san. What's wrong?" I asked gently, brushing her wrist.

"Nothing," she replied, "I'm just… a little tired, Maiko-chan, that's all."

"No," I said, surprising myself as much as her, "there is something more, I can tell."

I hadn't seen her in ages, but she looked tired indeed. She had put on weight and her eyes were ringed. This didn't look like temporary fatigue but something more complex. I hadn't forgotten Shikaku's frustration and their relationship troubles either. It seemed there truly was something peculiar going on.

"Look. This isn't the right place but maybe we could talk," I offered gently. "I'm free tomorrow morning. I could come for tea. What do you think?"

She looked ready to protest, to refuse my offer of help and hide behind her temper.

"Yoshino-san, please, I owe you so much." I did. First when I was in the Genin Corps, she had encouraged me. Then, when I was chuunin, she had given me my chance as her replacement, which had led me to my current dream job. "Let me be there for you. I won't force you to speak of anything you don't want to, let's just get some tea together, to catch up."

"Tea," she repeated. "Alright, I'd like that."

I smiled, relieved. "Good. I'll come to you tomorrow morning, at ten. Take care of yourself, Yoshino-san."

She nodded and left quietly. It was unlike her.

I went back to Rin and my massage, after which we went to have tempura. She chose the restaurant and admitted that she was compensating for years of never eating there because Kakashi didn't like anything fried. I teased her good-naturedly about the sacrifices she made for her teammates.

It was a really good evening. We learned a lot about each other. She became my closest friend, just like that. It was a sad proof of my absence of social life, but I supposed that was fine since she was the same. We were made for each other!

oOo

Despite a good evening, I hadn't forgotten Yoshino, or the fact that I had to visit my mother for my birthday before going to work this afternoon.

I had an hour left before going to the Nara Compound when there was a knock at my door. I opened it to find an ANBU waiting. He looked young, short and lean, with long brown hair.

"Kamizuki-san, you're summoned by the Council."

I frowned, bewildered. "Did something happen?"

"It's classified."

Oh, great, the famous excuse, so old and overused that it became a running joke in shinobi ranks. You didn't want to talk about something? Just said 'classified'.

I sighed. This better not made me late. Yoshino would be even more upset if I missed our rendez-vous. "Alright. Give me a second." I turned around to fetch my thigh holster in my bedroom. As I did so, I grabbed an elastic band to pull my hair in a low ponytail. I didn't have time for anything fancier. Finally, looking for my scarf because it was still chilly outside, I glanced back in my living room to see the ANBU had stepped into my apartment (without removing his shoes, the lout) and…

"What are you doing?"

He looked up calmly. "Admiring your traps. They're good." For your level, was implied.

Suspicion slowly crept up in me. "Thank you, mh… sorry, what's your codename?"

"Zou."

I finished adjusting the holster around my thigh without looking away from him. "Zou is taller than you."

His attack was fast. So fast that if I hadn't expected it, there was nothing that I could have done. As it is, his kunai hit the door as I closed it with a bang. I heard a tag go off. Not an explosive tag, but a kind of powder or gas. Was he trying to knock me out? That wasn't really reassuring. I locked the door and pushed a dresser behind it, conscious that not much could stop an elite ninja from reaching his target.

As I did so, I was reminded vividly of what I was hiding in that dresser. What I was hiding all around my apartment in fact. They were memo, little notes with hidden meaning that wouldn't make much sense to anyone of this world, but that reminded me of important plot points. I had scattered them around in my books and files. At the time, I thought I was indulging my paranoia to ease my anxiety. It sure wasn't very practical with the number of times I had to find one note in particular and didn't remember where it was! Right now, I could have kissed past-me for my brilliance. Even if that guy — whoever he was and worked for — found one note, he wouldn't find them all and good luck to him to make sense of it!

In a very unexpected turn of event, the dresser started growing arms. I squeaked and ran to the other side of the room as I finally realized who I was dealing with. The Mokuton guy! The one who had worked for Root before switching loyalty! The one who had had so many names that I couldn't recall one in particular (in my notes, he was named Groot… don't judge, Groot is awesome).

I didn't have many options. Going out by the window wasn't one of it: it was trapped. That detail was probably the only thing that stopped Root from barging in this way, but they could have others waiting just outside if I made the mistake to disarm the trap.

Mokuton was so out of my league that I didn't even consider fighting.

But I could do a beacon! I had perfectly average reserves, but I had a very decent control: not enough to become a medic-nin but certainly enough for an universal call for help. Yes, I could do that. I clapped my hands together, closed my eyes and...

A branch spurted out of the floor and tried to ensnare me. I leapt out of the way, unconsciously coming closer to the window. That's when it burst and hands grabbed me, trying to drag me outside. I screamed, as much in fear as in pain because of the glass cutting me. I struggled against the hold, but snakes came down to ensnare me, tying me up tightly, their cold touch creeping me out. I screamed again in fear. Snakes! There were snakes everywhere! My bedroom was filled with branches slowly turning into snakes.

And they were talking! Whispering. Hissing. They were asking all sort of questions. If I didn't answer them, they were going to eat me bit by bit. Their fangs shined under the light and were ready to pierce right through me.

My chest hurt. Upper right shoulder. Left side. They were going to finish what they started. Now.

o

After getting promoted to chuunin, at thirteen years old, I had been sent to the Messengers Corps. It was courier work, like I was familiar with, except for one detail: all the trips were out of Konoha, to the different outposts in Fire Country. Supplies, schedules, orders… we dealt with anything that wasn't urgent enough to be sent by carrier birds or sensitive enough to necessitate a team of field shinobi.

I had rarely left Konoha before that. For a year, I became extremely familiar with the Land of Fire, its outposts, its towns, its landscapes… After a few weeks of apprehension, I liked it. I had always been more fond of nature than cities, and I hadn't realized I missed this environment until I had it back.

Being newly promoted, I had been teamed with an experienced chuunin: Yamashiro Aoba. He had been infuriatingly condescending at first, when he learnt I came from the Genin Corps. After two missions together, he had stopped talking down to me. The change had been so brutal in our third mission together that I had given him a surprised glance. He had pushed his glasses higher on his nose and admitted: "I noted that your field promotion was deserved." It was as much of an apology as I would ever get. After that, our relationship was much more cordial. Yet, our collaboration in the Messengers Corps had a brutal end.

We had been sent to an outpost on Ame's border. We weren't at war with the closest nations (Suna and Iwa) anymore. It was just a supply run and a standard inspection of the hidden traps and stashes. It turned to hell when Orochimaru appeared at the tree house where we had been resting for the night.

It was early morning. The emergency stash had been resupplied. We were getting ready to leave. Fifteen minutes and our paths wouldn't have crossed.

Luck wasn't on our side.

I was sitting on a branch, putting on my shoes. Our third teammate, Togeito Tessen, was hiding our traces inside the tree house. Aoba was waiting for us at the bottom of the tree, adjusting his backpack.

The sannin appeared without warning a few steps away from Aoba. He looked a little messed up, his uniform torn and his pale skin scraped with blood, as if he had just left a difficult fight (and a difficult fight for a sannin was a death warrant for us).

"Orochimaru-sama!" Aoba cried out. "We weren't expecting you. Do you need help?"

I had met Orochimaru only once before. It was one time too many. He was scary, even before defecting and becoming an overt psychopath. The Genin Corps had horror stories about him. We all agreed that he was somehow linked to the disappearances of children, no matter the absence of proof. It was just one of those things that seemed obvious to small fry and that was considered baseless slander by the higher-ups. As a rule, we agreed to never ever stay alone with him. The only time I had to give him a message, I had spent hours waiting for him to be in the company of someone I could trust — Jiraiya. I didn't make a lot of money that day (Kuma had taken a look at my task scroll and understood perfectly), but at least I didn't end up in a lab.

Seeing him again gave me goose bumps. Contrary to Aoba, who admired any elite shinobi, I knew exactly what he was capable of; what kind of monster hid behind all his skills and genius. To see him with a Konoha headband was more disturbing to me than reassuring. He was only hiding behind this pretence and right here, far from Konoha, it didn't mean much.

I chose to stay as far as I could. As I did so, a noise made me turn around to glance inside the tree house. An hawk had just landed on a pole dedicated to this purpose. I could see a message in its container with a red ribbon for emergency and a weird kunai tied to it, a three-pronged kunai, the Yondaime's signature weapon.

As Tessen went to check the message, I made a guess. An impulsive one, so far-fetched that it wouldn't have come to the mind of anyone without my foreknowledge.

My memories had never been cleared about when Orochimaru became a traitor.

In that moment, I knew.

I dropped from the tree, directly falling on Aoba who hadn't seen it coming and went to the ground under my weight. Snakes burst out of Orochimaru's sleeves. The attack meant for Aoba pierced my shoulder. Fangs bit me all over the chest. The pain was blinding. I heard myself scream and felt the contact with the ground, but I was unable to roll away to avoid another attack.

Even tired, Orochimaru was fast. Fortunately for me, Aoba wasn't too bad himself. Despite the shock of being attacked by a Sannin and the way I had thrown him to the side, he had the reflex to grab my ankle and pull me away from the line of fire. Orochimaru's second attack avoided any vital points once again. It went through my side, and I only was able to scream anew, my vision filled with fangs and reptilian eyes.

Was it a few seconds or more that followed? I couldn't say, whether because of a lapse of memory or because I passed out. The next thing I remembered was a flash of yellow.

I learned later that the message was a warning about Orochimaru going rogue and an order to summon the Hokage via his kunai if he was seen. Tessen, having heard us, had immediately done so.

For that, I took back what I said: luck was definitely on our side. Really, it was the story of my life (this one anyway): I probably gathered enough good karma to compensate my initial bad luck… or something.

I didn't see the fight. From what I heard, there wasn't much to see: as soon as Minato had appeared, Orochimaru had managed to flee by forcing his opponent to protect Aoba and I from a giant snake.

I vaguely remembered three faces peering down at me. The Hokage's bodyguards had followed him.

"Oh, hell."

Yeah, I was probably a sight to see with two holes in me and puncture wounds everywhere else.

I had difficulty breathing. The world was cold and painful… and slowly going darker.

"She needs med-evac, now."

I couldn't tell you how it felt to be transported by the Flying Thunder Formation Technique. I don't remember it.

There was only pain.

o

The snakes! They were grabbing me! Holding me down! No! I had to get away! Get away from their hissing!

"Maiko! Maiko! It's over. It's over! You're safe!"

No! They were still hissing! Oh kami, let me get away!

"Can't you knock her out?!"

"No, it's the worst thing to do to victims of a genjutsu attack. They can't distinguish illusions from reality or sleep from—"

"Let her go. She's panicking because you're holding her."

They weren't making any sense, this constant whistling was exhausting, but they let me go. For now.

I curled up as much as I could, protecting my chest and giving them as less surface to bite as I could. I couldn't help but whimper slightly. I just wanted it to be over. Death was less painful than this. Death was more merciful than this.

"Alright, she calmed down. Now how do we snap her out of this, Rin-san?"

"I could send a pulse of chakra to disrupt her chakra flow, but with that level of genjutsu it can be identified as an attack by the organism and set back the recovery. It would be better with someone familiar, with a chakra she could recognize, that she doesn't risk to identify as a threat. Anyone come to mind?"

"Her cousin seems like the best bet, but he was at the Chuunin Exams."

"Last report said they were a few hours away. We could send an hawk. Warn Hokage-sama of what happened and he could transport the cousin here right away."

"Do it. And in the meantime, ANBU Commander, you better find some answers. The Hokage will want to know who planned these simultaneous attacks. He's not the only one."

"Indeed, Shikaku-san."

oOo Bonus - Genma's PoV oOo

"What do you mean it's her birthday?" Genma sputtered. "You couldn't have said that earlier?!"

Izumo glanced at the tokubetsu warily. "I'm sorry, I didn't know you cared."

"She's a friend," Genma replied with a twirl of his senbon. "It's considerate to do something for a friend's birthday."

"I'm sure she won't mind if you're a little late. I'll give her my gift tomorrow after all."

Genma huffed. "Maybe, but I still need an idea." He looked at the cloudy sky and twirled his senbon once more. "Damn it, I'm bad at gifts." He blinked when he noticed an hawk flying in their direction. When it reached them, it turned around the Yondaime as it lost altitude.

The group of Konoha shinobi stopped as one and watched quietly as their Hokage accepted the message. The spike of Killing Intent was as short as it was deadly. The genin and chunin went down on bent knee, shaking like leaves. The jounin and ANBU froze, shivering. Gone was the amiable Hokage who had joked around with his young subordinates. His eyes were as sharp as a blade and his face as cold as stone.

Something bad had happened.

"Kamizuki-kun," the Yondaime called.

"Y-yes?" Izumo stuttered, quivering.

The Hokage appeared by his side. "Your cousin has been attacked. You're needed at the hospital right away. I'm transporting you. Guard Platoon, follow. ANBU, stay and maintain security for the rest of the group. Shibi-san, you're in charge. Don't delay."

A chorus of agreements answered him. Izumo couldn't speak, he glanced at Genma, wide-eyed with fear. His cousin, attacked?!

Genma didn't show any emotion, but his lip was bleeding.

At first, I wrote that Genma had broken his senbon in half but that's a little excessive for his poor teeth, isn't it?

For what I asked in the previous chapter: thanks for giving me your opinion! My muse has decided: there will be some Kakashi added to the mix. I won't spoil you the details. ;p