33

Chapter 33: fate that we are awaitingNotes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Shisui and Raijin manage to endear themselves to a kindly old couple that lives on the outskirts of the capital city's suburbs and makes a living by selling dumplings that Raijin swears must contain some sort of elixir because they have no business being that good. They are nice enough to let the boys stay at their house in exchange for their help with running the stall.

This is a task easily done when considering that both Raijin and Shisui have a natural flair for being entertaining without even trying. They joke around with the customers they're serving, turn an impressive blind eye to just how many of them secretly belong to rebel factions, and generally discover on the fly that the two of them would make an excellent improv comedy duo should they ever decide that the shinobi thing isn't working out anymore.

Raijin is half considering the logistics of this even as they leap across the rooftops under the cover of the night towards the Daimyo's residence. It'd be nice to have an easy and relaxing pastime once he has finished solving Konoha's biggest problems. He's sure he can bribe Shisui into it too.

'I will eat your liver if you become a glorified jester for a living,' Kurama announces, half-growling out the threat.

Raijin immediately responds with the impression of a pout. 'We'd make a killing though!' he argues. 'Don't you want to be rich, Kurama?'

Kurama does not. 'What a pathetically human sentiment.'

'Well, I wanna be rich, and I bet Shisui-kun does too,' Raijin snarks back, huffing. 'This is a business opportunity, you know.'

'What do you even know about business?' Kurama scoffs.

'Hey! I know stuff!' Raijin protests.

It's futile though. Kurama has stopped listening in favour of ranting about his evident deep-rooted hatred of professional comedy and, y'know, general happiness. With a sigh, Raijin tunes him out. He can listen to his friend's detailed critique about the devolution of comics over the generations when he isn't busy sneaking into the residence of a feudal lord.

The Daimyo's mansion is located at the heart of Storm's capital, right in the middle of its strongest nationalist territory. While a large chunk of Storms is overrun by its rebel factions, the capital has managed to hold out for the most part. There are still riots and public acts of violence every now and then, but the centre—where the Daimyo and most of his government officials reside—is still holding out and has yet to be successfully breached.

It's only a matter of time though. The walls are already closing in on the Daimyo which is why he began knocking on Konoha's doors for aid as soon as they came out of their own war. Personally, Raijin thinks he'd be better off going to Suna since they're closer and probably more familiar with the semi-arid terrain that Storms shares with Wind, but that's just his opinion. He's not too familiar with Storms' political history after all, though he does know the next Daimyo sort of manages to regain stability eventually.

Needless to say, the manor is under heavy security considering its owner's contentious position, but mostly so by civilian standards. There are a few shinobi guards stationed around of course, but none as skilled as they perhaps ought to be.

Unsurprising. Storms has no hidden village of its own and most freelance shinobi have also steered clear since the economy isn't exactly thriving thanks to the civil war. The few shinobi who are local to the country happen to be the ones who incited the rebellion in the first place. Everyone here is mutually out of options.

It makes for a quick break-in if nothing else, though it doesn't mean anything good at all.

"They're going to need a whole security upheaval," Shisui comments, clearly thinking along the same lines. "This is a disgrace."

"And this is their Daimyo," Raijin adds. "What are the other nobles and officers doing?"

Shisui makes a face. "We're supposed to clean up this mess?"

Raijin hums, dropping the deadweight of the guard he just knocked out with a simple nerve strike. "It's not like we're obligated to intervene," he says. "That's what you and I are here for—to judge whether this is an investment worth making."

"And is it?"

"What do you think?" he asks, glancing at the boy.

Shisui shoots him an expression of deep judgement as he silently pushes open the door leading to the Daimyo's personal quarters. Behind them, the row of guards they've knocked out remains unconscious. "I think that I'm nine and really underqualified to be passing political verdict."

Chuckling, Raijin shrugs. "I guess that's what they assigned me for, huh. The Daimyo's as good a place as any to start with forming an informed opinion. Shall we, Shisui-kun?"

The Uchiha nods, and together they step towards their sleeping client.

The Daimyo is a nervous man in his fifties who almost passes away as soon as his eyes open to find two strange shinobi standing over him.

He is also—quite obviously—not expecting them; though he is overjoyed to host them once they show him the leaf symbol on their hitai-ate to confirm that they are indeed Konoha shinobi.

The man sits them down for tea and isn't even upset when they awkwardly admit to decimating most of his security personnel. In fact, he appears to be downright cheered on by the fact, laughing jovially and heaping sweets on fancy little plates for them like a bizarre reward.

"I am happy that I will be in such capable hands!" he declares, laughing.

Shisui shrugs and takes it in stride because he'd never refuse free stuff and children are just resilient to weird shit like that.

Raijin…is less reassured.

It itches at him, the fact that the man who is supposed to be their client seems to have no idea about their mission. If he didn't ask for them to be here, who did?

Something about this whole ordeal is starting to reek of fishy business and he doesn't like it one bit.

Raijin manages to hold out until he and Shisui have made it back to their room in the couple's house before he starts digging through their belongings for the mission scroll.

His young partner watches him, frowning. "Is something wrong?" Shisui asks slowly.

"He didn't know we'd be here," Raijin grunts. "The Daimyo, I mean."

Shrugging, Shisui's eyes track him carefully. "Maybe they thought it'd be safer to not contact him to keep him safe?" he suggests. "If the rebels find out he's trying to contract with outside militia, they'll definitely be provoked into attacking."

"Maybe," Raijin allows, though he can't quite shake the feeling that there's more to it than that. "The Daimyo said he asked for our help a little over seven months ago."

"We'd just finished signing the peace treaties back then," Shisui muses aloud.

Raijin nods. "Exactly!" He unseals the mission scroll from his belongings. "We refused then because we didn't have enough resources to be aiding anyone but ourselves. Since then, the Daimyo has received no communication from us whatsoever."

"What's your point?" Shisui is frowning outright now.

Instead of answering, Raijin unrolls their mission assignment scroll and scans it over. Written on it are their mission objective, fake identities and other details like a map of the capital and blueprints of the Daimyo's residence. It's marked urgent, which is why he and Shisui departed as soon as possible.

And at the bottom right corner, where he'd assumed was the Hokage's stamp, it reads 'Councilman Shimura' in the place for mission authoriser.

"Holy shit," he breathes, looking up at Shisui with wide eyes. "We're on a fucking ROOT mission."

"Excuse me." Shisui is at his side in a flash, putting his famed speed to good use to snatch the scroll out of Raijin's hands so he can look it over himself. "Oh. Oh no. This isn't a good thing at all, is it?"

It's such an innocuous little detail. Who even looks at the fucking Hokage stamp to make sure it's genuine? All missions handed out by the Mission Assignment office are obviously legitimate. They'd been contacted by hawks for Sage's sake; of course, they'd assumed this was a mission from the Hokage asking them to leave as soon as possible to go look over the rocky political climate of another country asking for their village's help.

"I have a sharingan," Shisui whispers, looking at the offending piece of paper with thinly veiled contempt. "I have a literal sharingan. How did I not notice?"

"Why would you ever expect this?" Raijin poses rhetorically.

Because it wouldn't be Shisui's job to see something like this coming. It'd be Raijin's. Raijin who has a whole personal/cosmic agenda of making sure Danzou doesn't fuck up any more shit. He knows all the stunts this guy is willing to pull—how did he not see this coming?

Groaning, Raijin brings his hands to his face and bravely does not scream. "Literally fuck my life."

Shisui shifts uncertainly next to him. "What do we do now?" he asks awkwardly. "Can we ignore a direct mission from Shimura Danzou and just go home?"

"He has the authority to hand out missions as he sees fit. The Sandaime gave it to him and Minato hasn't been able to revoke it since he's still dealing with the war-hungry faction in the village," Raijin points out miserably. "Technically, this is all perfectly legal."

"So, if we go back without completing the mission, the only reason we'd be able to provide is, 'We didn't want to'," Shisui concludes grimly.

Raijin puts his hands down and exhales slowly. "It's that or making a serious allegation against a well-respected village elder with literally no evidence."

Raising his chin stubbornly, Shisui states, "He's a whole creep. Isn't that reason enough?"

"Afraid not, kiddo." Raijin smiles wryly and ruffles Shisui's hair. "He's also one of the Niidaime's students, a famous tactician, and a decorated veteran. I'm also pretty sure he was friends with your grandfather."

"I've heard that too. Apparently they were friends before Kagami-jii-chan died," Shisui says, making a face. "You're the Hokage's brother, though. Can't you do something?"

"That would just make the political nightmare even worse."

Shisui huffs and closes his eyes. His voice doesn't shake when he says, "I didn't ask for this."

Raijin reaches for the boy's chakra and curls his own around it anyways, radiating understanding and comfort as best as he can. "I know, Shisui."

Echoing the chakra impressions back, Shisui opens his eyes. Determination etches its way onto his face as it had back when they'd been on the battlefield. "Okay. No way out but through, right?" He nods to himself. "What next?"

"We complete our mission," Raijin sets his jaw, "and then, we go home."

It's a shot in the dark.

Fugaku knows, and yet he can't help but clutch onto the thought with both hands, chasing it to some sort of conclusion. It's the reason he almost busts down the door to the Inuzuka main family's home.

An aggravated Tsume throws the door open, snarling wordlessly in his face and snapping her teeth in warning. Fugaku cringes, immediately cowed. He maybe should have thought twice about testing the patience of a very pregnant Inuzuka clan head. Tsume's fuse has been even shorter than usual and that's even without having intruders in territory she views as hers when she's in full blown protective mode thanks to the vulnerability her pregnancy poses to her and her child.

He takes a clear step out of her space and throws his hands up, lowering his gaze in submission. It rankles on his pride more than he'd care to admit, but not only is he in the wrong here, he also needs to smooth things over as soon as possible so he can get the answers he came here for in the first place.

There is a weighted pause that hangs in the air for a moment. Fugaku lowers his head further, allowing the back of his neck to show. It is only then that Tsume calms down, heaving a deep breath and taking a step back.

"You better have a damn good reason for barging in here like this, Uchiha," she grunts, spinning on her heel and stalking back into the house, leaving the door open behind her in a wordless invitation.

The Inuzuka have hardly ever been ones for formality. Fugaku dislikes the overt familiarity and lack of guidlines, but this is culture to them, so he has never voiced his discomfort before. Dutifully, he enters and takes his sandals off, gently easing the door shut behind him.

"My apologies, Tsume-dono," he murmurs, employing the typically male suffix as has always been used for the Inuzuka clan head regardless of whether their current leader is a matriarch or patriarch.

"Whatever," Tsume mumbles, waving him over to the large dining table that lies between the living room and open kitchen. The table legs have been gnawed on, he notes dryly. "Drop the formality and cut to the chase. You know better than to pull this shit unless it's important, so let's hear it already."

His shoulders tense at the course language but he keeps his mouth shut about it. Fugaku has had enough of testing his luck with pregnant women for the month; he is capable of learning his lessons, thank you very much.

"That child you told me about; the one who's missing," he begins hesitantly.

Tsume's disgruntled stare sharpens to something borderline predatory. "Naomi?"

Fugaku nods. "Yes, her. I was wondering if it was at all possible that—" he pauses, steeling himself "—she was approached by ROOT before her disappearance?"

Rather uncharacteristically for how loud a personality she is, Tsume's face is entirely unreadable. In fact, she holds herself so impossibly still, Fugaku is tempted to activate his sharingan just to check if she's even breathing.

"Why do you ask?" she says finally, voice measured. Her gaze never falters from his face.

Fugaku purses his lips. "I'm not sure," he admits. "Not all of the orphans were approached. The records are sparse and testimonies murky, so I can't be certain, but I know quite a few of those children showed potential as shinobi or had lineages that would lend themselves to a natural aptitude." Quietly, he adds, "Inuzuka Naomi seemed to fit the bill."

"ROOT is a legitimate and respected institution," Tsume comments levelly. Her knuckles are white where she is gripping the back of a chair. "Shimura Danzou is an honourable elder." Pointedly, she adds, "And a powerful enemy."

Doesn't Fugaku know it. He scoffs a little and looks away. The problem with the Police Force becoming involved in crimes that involve clans—whether as perpetrators or victims—is that everything becomes political. None of the clans have exactly been forthcoming with information or assistance and his job has just been harder than it needs to be.

Even now, though it involves a missing child of her own pack, Tsume wants a vote of trust or leverage from him so she can speak somewhat freely without having to worry about him turning around and betraying her for his own gain.

Sighing, he admits, "One of my clan's children—Uchiha Shisui—recently unlocked the final form of his sharingan. Within days, he was approached by Shimura-dono. The meeting was interrupted by Namikaze Raijin who himself has received and refused a personal invitation from Shimura-dono before. Shisui-kun was going to reject the offer as well." His fingers curl. "Both of them have been deployed on a mission to the Land of Storms authorised by Shimura Danzou."

"A coincidence, I'm sure." Tsume's voice is dry enough that even cacti would wilt.

Fugaku smiles wryly. "I'm not so sure, Tsume-dono. I do not believe this was a mistake. It is as you said—Shimura Danzou is a powerful enemy to make. He is a man who is used to getting what he wants by whatever means necessary." Meeting her eyes meaningfully, Fugaku says, "Even if that involves taking it by force."

Exhaling slowly, Tsume's eyes close. "One of those unfeeling soldiers of his came by the compound, asking to see her. Apparently, they'd heard about how well she was doing at the Academy."

"She was being considered for early graduation, correct?"

"Yup." Tsume's eyes open, hard as flint. "I refused to let them in. They don't smell right to me; pisses off everyone here and drives the dogs crazy. Told them to fuck right off and leave her alone. Naomi was gone the next week."

Something in Fugaku aches. "Why didn't you say something?" he asks, though he thinks he can already hazard a guess.

Tsume shrugs. "Can't point fingers without any proof and paint a target on the pack's backs." She doesn't flinch away from his gaze when she adds, "Not after seeing what he has been trying to do to you. The Inuzuka don't have even half the clout you do. No founding clan standing or fancy exceptional career status for my lot. We couldn't even trace Naomi-chan's scent to anywhere useful. I couldn't say a fucking word."

For a moment, he doesn't even know what to say. It has been a while since anyone has been so candid with him, and never before has someone from another clan ever openly referred to Danzou's exclusionism as a targeted attack on the Uchiha before.

Part of him wants to be angry that the other clans might have seen this happening just as Tsume has, and yet, none of them have bothered to do or say anything. But then he thinks about what has just been laid out in front of him so frankly.

Tsume isn't wrong. The Uchiha have additional influence by virtue of being a founding clan, and even so, they have been unable to defend against their plummeting status. It'd be much easier to go after a less popular clan. Especially since the rest of them do have to rely on missions for income; missions that Danzou can so easily manipulate if he ever decides to…teach someone a particular lesson.

How one man has managed to make all the council clans bend under his thumb is…beyond Fugaku. It is something that merits more deliberation if nothing else.

For now, however, he ducks his head and rises to his feet. "Thank you for your cooperation, Tsume-dono. Once again, I apologise for disturbing your rest. I will take my leave now."

Tsume says nothing, following him to the genkan and watching dispassionately as he pulls his sandals back on. Finally, she asks, "Think you'll find her?"

Fugaku pauses and thinks about it. He doesn't know. But he straightens nonetheless and meets Tsume's gaze solemnly before promising,

"I will do my best."

Shisui decides that reconnaissance is kind of boring.

Or, well, maybe it isn't really, and his conclusion is limited to this particular experience since he doubts other infiltration specialists have the bizarre skillset that Namikaze Raijin does. The fox summons and crazy number of clones seem like a niche thing to have control over after all.

At this point, Shisui is pretty much just an accessory, contributing about as much as the textbook that Raijin is currently occupying himself with while they wait for his network to finish establishing itself before they start receiving information.

"Are you sure I can't go out and help somehow?" he tries again, though he knows it's a futile attempt even before Raijin is smiling apologetically at him.

"Sorry, Shisui-kun," the man says. At least he sounds like he means it, even if it's very little consolation to Shisui right now. "I'd rather we stick together for now."

Shisui huffs and crosses his arms, turning to stare out the window of their room. He liked the room they had in the capital at that couple's house. Raijin thought it'd be better to relocate to an inn in one of the cities closer to Fire, but there isn't much to look at out here. "I can take care of myself." He can do much more than that too.

"I know," Raijin acknowledges immediately. "I'm also pretty sure that Danzou expected us to figure out who this mission is from and choose to complete it anyways."

Shisui frowns. "So?" And then it clicks. "We're not alone."

Raijin smiles humourlessly. "No, I don't think we are." He shakes his head. "This is all supposed to lead to something; I just don't know what yet. So, until we know just what Danzou's plans are regarding us, I'd rather you and I just stay in here together."

They're probably being watched even now if that's the case. And no one knows how to go undetected better than a ROOT agent.

But they're already in the trap, for all that they seemingly haven't sprung it yet. Shisui wonders how long they'll be able to hold out like this. They'll have to leave eventually. Hiding is only prolonging the inevitable.

With a sinking feeling, Shisui thinks that it won't be long now.

Raijin has never been much of a sensor since he finds it difficult to keep his chakra moulded for sensing for that long, but he has always been good at being able to find ANBU and ROOT shinobi. Ironically enough, the extreme control they exercise over their emotions that supposedly makes them so good at their jobs is what tips him off because they always stand out as suspiciously still in all the other emotional torrent that Raijin's senses are always sifting through thanks to Kurama's presence making him a weird emotional conductor.

ROOT are even easier to sense if only because the voids they produce on his radar always set him on high alert for their presence—or rather conspicuous absence.

His clones manage to detect five of them surrounding his and Shisui's location. An admittedly generous number. Danzou seems to not want to take any risks regarding them. Raijin is almost flattered to be considered such a threat by the elder.

"How long do you think we can keep this up?" Shisui asks quietly. He hasn't left his perch by the windowsill since Raijin laid out his plan of establishing a temporary information network using his foxes and clones as he did before joining Konoha.

The boy looks worried, large eyes wary. Raijin wishes he could do something to help make him feel better, but he suspects it will be useless until they make it back home. Shisui seems to be the type who needs to do things and be useful to feel in control, and that is strictly the one thing Raijin is keeping him from.

Unfortunately, Shisui is going to have to put up with the restlessness for a while yet.

"I should have a sufficient report on the workings of this country in two days," Raijin answers honestly.

Shisui stares at him blankly. "We're going to stay like this for two days?"

Raijin shrugs, biting the inside of his cheek as he thinks, feeling guilty for essentially keeping his mission partner under house arrest. What if Shisui snaps and tries to stab him in his sleep? It's what Sasuke would have done, and it seems like the kind of thing that could be genetic.

It wouldn't kill Raijin, but it'd be pretty inconvenient. He hates getting stabbed.

"I have another idea," he admits, "though it's kind of risky."

Shisui perks up, eyes brightening as he leans forward. Man, he's such an adorable brat; Raijin kind of wants to give him a treat and keep him in his pocket.

"What were you thinking?"

Sighing, he debates telling Shisui at all because he knows even now what the boy will choose since he clearly hates the safe and smart plan of staying inside. Let it be known to all that Raijin tried to do the rational thing for once.

"We leave my network to finish scoping the place out and start heading home now instead."

Blinking, Shisui looks surprised. "The agents spying on us might think we're giving up and heading home," he points out. "Won't that prompt them into acting to keep us from deviating from their plan?" The boy's eyes widen. "But that's what you want them to do—that's why you said it's risky. You want to spring the trap."

Raijin shrugs and leans back against the wall that his futon is pushed against. "We were never going to be able to hold out forever. I think we're still better off waiting and playing along with them. It might catch them off guard when we deviate later if nothing else."

"Or we catch them off guard now," Shisui concludes. "You already know what I'm going to say, don't you?"

Raijin sighs and nods. "I had a feeling."

Shisui grins. "I'll pack my things."

Snorting, the blond shakes his head. "Get some sleep after if you can. We'll leave once night has fallen."

It becomes harder to keep track of whether they're being followed or not once they leave the city behind for the surrounding forestry. Less people mean less emotions to pick out the empty spots among. The only person Raijin can feel now is Shisui.

Still, he doubts they'd be left to their own devices considering this is Danzou's scheme. If he has ordered these shinobi to watch them, then that's what they'll do, come hell or high water.

Raijin isn't too worried about the threat they'd pose to him should they attack. In fact, if that's all Danzou has in store for them, he would count himself lucky. Even with his self-imposed limit, Raijin knows there are very few who could match him, and those shinobi would have to be at Kage-level themselves. Having Shisui around might prove a small challenge since they've never actually fought together, and Raijin has no idea what the nine-year-old is capable of aside from his rumoured speed, but it shouldn't be that much of a problem, right?

The fact that Danzou can't possibly have anticipated the true extent of Raijin's strength is an ace in the hole for sure. Still, he cannot help his unease…

Would Danzou be satisfied with just that for now? What does he truly desire from this—their deaths, their fear, their cooperation?

In the end, Raijin never had to face this man. His misdeeds came to light thanks to Sasuke in Raijin's future, but that too was a head-on battle. In a match of schemes of underhanded tactics, Raijin is less sure of what to expect.

For now, he can do little else but wait and see.

Notes:

This chapter is just everyone realising that Shimura Danzou is in fact singlehandedly the root of all their problems. Honestly, the guy may be evil, but it's actually funny how successfully he has made a nuisance of himself. If he wasn't an irredeemable megalomaniac with sociopathic tendencies who should just do everyone a solid and go die in a ditch somewhere far off, I'd call him an icon.

Maybe I'll write a comedy series around Danzou just being his problematic self in more harmless ways? I think there's real potential here, guys. Danzou, I'm gonna make you a star lmao.

In other news, I headcanon that Uzumaki Mito and Senju Hashirama harassed Kurama with terrible jokes and now he just hates comedy. No, I will not be explaining this any further.