52

Chapter 52: Fifty-Two

Chapter Text

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO:

Compared to their journey to Kiri, as they returned to Konoha it was as if they were an entirely new team. Sansa remembered being short-tempered with Eri and a timid Chiyoko while Kabuto had stayed silent and distant. Now, they couldn't be more different.

Oh, she still had no interest in making nice with Eri. The woman was a Yamanaka– for all that she appeared harmless, bubbly and slightly naïve, Sansa hadn't forgotten she was from a clan trained practically since birth in the workings of the human mind and that she had been chosen to attend the Kiri Chūnin Exams. Yamanaka Eri, Sansa was certain, was more than she appeared and she had no interest in playing any games with such an opponent. Not if she didn't have to.

Kabuto... Kabuto was different. Kabuto had his secrets, Sansa knew, but unlike Eri he did not report back to the Hokage and that made all the difference. Not to mention, his knowledge of the handsigns that Root used had shifted something inside her, something possessive, something edged with burning-red-abyss-black that purred mine.

Root, after all, was hers.

Beyond the taint of Kotoamatsukami, though, and beyond the pact they had made that they would keep each other's secrets, there was a bond between her and Kabuto– and Chiyoko too. It was a bond forged by bloodshed and teamwork, by their survival against all the odds, when their village had sent them to Kiri to die and yet they had waded through oceans of blood and corpses and emerged out the other side alive.

The trust between them, they who had fought side-by-side, who had held each other's lives in their hands, had started out as non-existent before beginning to emerge as something tentative, fragile; trailing gossamer threads that bound them together. Now– now it was Valyrian steel, forged strong and rare and deadly-sharp, dripping blood; it was no kind, gentle trust, for it had not been forged in a kind, gentle environment. It was forged in adversity, in trauma and blood and death, where they had seen each other at their worst, and yet they stood together.

When they made camp each night, after Kabuto checked over Chiyoko's injury, the three of them would lay out their sleeping rolls together, Chiyoko in the middle as the most vulnerable of them, and Sansa felt like she did when curling up with Naruto, Kakashi and Tenzo in their apartment. Like she was with her pack. Like she was safe.

It was difficult for Sansa to believe barely a fortnight had passed since she had left Konoha. It felt like a lifetime. On a deep, fundamental level, she felt changed. It wasn't just the new bonds that she had formed, the new name that she had earned, or the new corpses she had left behind her. It was the journey she had made, the discovery of who she was.

Yes, she was a shinobi. She could admit that now. This world had made her one, whether she wished to be or not. But she didn't have to define herself by Konoha's definition of 'shinobi', because she wasn't a shinobi of Konoha and she never would be. She was Uzumaki Fuyuko of Uzushiogakure and she was a shinobi of Uzushio– a protector of her people, not a mercenary for hire, a killer for the right price, and just as inevitable as the tides, she swore that one day Uzushio would rise once more.

~

It took five days for them to reach Konoha. They had to travel at a slower pace for Chiyoko; even though she was being carried, the movement still wasn't good for her and they needed to stop frequently for Kabuto to check on her injuries and heal any new damage. As soon as they reached Konoha, Jiraiya disappeared with Chiyoko to the hospital while Sansa, Eri and Kabuto were left to check in with the two chūnin on gate duty.

"Hey, you're Raidou's kid," one of the chūnin said, before any of them could even say anything. Sansa blinked, remembering after a beat that Raidou was Tora's name– she had spent four years calling him Tora, the name change was going to take getting used to.

But– Raidou's kid?

"He talked about you all the time," the other chūnin said and Sansa didn't quite know how to respond to that, so she just smiled politely.

"He was always one of my favourites," she said, which was the truth– of the ANBU guards, next to Inu, Tora had always been the best, the one willing to break the rules to comfort Naruto when he cried and Sansa couldn't get him to calm. Did she resent him for the Academy debacle? She tried not to. She knew he was just obeying his Hokage's orders, as any soldier would. But it didn't help the sting of betrayal she felt.

"I'm Hagane Kotetsu, this is Kamizuki Izumo," the first chūnin introduced them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Sansa said, with a neat bow and a pretty smile. "I'm Uzumaki Fuyuko."

"So, your first mission out of the village?" Kotetsu asked, with a sympathetic look on his face. "Don't worry, I'm sure your teammate will be fine."

Sansa blinked. Was it not common knowledge, that the Hokage had sent her to compete in the Chūnin Exams held in Kiri?

Oh, that was a mistake on his behalf– he should have controlled how the information spread. Instead, he'd left it in her hands.

"It wasn't a mission, Hagane-san," she said, a look of polite surprise on her face, "we just got back from Kiri– you know, for the Chūnin Exams."

"The what!?" Kotetsu and Izumo practically exclaimed in tandem. Sansa blinked up at them, innocent and wide-eyed, reaching up with one hand to tuck her hair behind her ear, incidentally drawing attention to the Uzushio spiral on her forehead as she did so– and not missing how Kotetsu and Izumo's eyes went straight to it.

"Kiri is very different to Konoha," she said, keeping her words simple and child-like, still with wide-eyed innocence.

"I... bet it is," Izumo said slowly.

"I don't think I'd ever like to go back there," she added with a shiver, looking past the two gate guards with a haunted expression.

Eri quickly cut in there, finally deciding to do damage control. "Ah, I think we better check in," she said, with forced cheer, "we need to go speak with the Hokage."

"Yeah," Kotetsu said, with a nod and a frown. "Let me get the paperwork for you."

Eri filled in the forms quickly before chivvying them along, leading the way through the streets. Kabuto dropped back slightly and Sansa slowed her pace to match him. "You're a troublemaker," he murmured and Sansa smiled, sharp and pretty.

"He shouldn't have sent me to Kiri if he didn't want to face the consequences," she murmured back.

"Oh, he made a mistake, alright," Kabuto agreed. "He expected you to die or he expected Chiyoko and I to die and for your ire to turn on Kiri, that you would see them as the enemy, instead of Konoha. Simplistic, yes, but he believes he's dealing with a child. And you, my dear, are far from a child."

"Oh?" Sansa said lightly and Kabuto smiled down at her.

"I wonder," he said, "if the Mizukage was more correct then he realised. Onryō-hime, he called you. Uzushio's Wrathful Ghost Princess."

Sansa felt her smile widen. It wasn't true, of course; she wasn't a vengeful princess of Uzushio reborn. But Kabuto was the first to truly realise she was more than the child she appeared, to see past the skin to the mind underneath. She should be unnerved, she thought. It should worry her, that someone with such uncertain loyalties had guessed such a hidden truth about her. But there was a sort of... relief that came with being seen and Sansa couldn't find it within herself to regret it. Not yet.

The Sandaime was waiting for them in his office. Jiraiya met them there, having already dropped Chiyoko off at the hospital while they were talking to the gate guards. Sansa had removed the chūnin vest from her seal before entering the office and she didn't miss how the Hokage's eyes went straight to it.

"I see congratulations are in order," he said, and there was a warm smile on his grandfatherly face yet she could feel how his chakra was a tight, frustrated, barely leashed ball in his chest.

Had he truly wanted her dead so badly? Or was it Kabuto and Chiyoko's survival that frustrated him so?

"I haven't heard a full report of the exams yet," the Sandaime continued, "but I have heard from Jiraiya about your exemplary actions, Kabuto-kun, when young Chiyoko-chan was injured. He impressed upon me your quick thinking and talent and it gives me great pleasure to grant you your new status as a chūnin of Konoha."

It was almost amusing, Sansa thought, how both the Hokage and Kabuto smiled at each other, while both their chakra twisted in frustration, revealing their true feelings about Kabuto's promotion.

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kabuto murmured with a bow.

"I'm sure you both want to go check on your teammate," the Hokage said warmly. "If you get the opportunity, you should inform young Chiyoko-chan that she, too, has shown the skill and capabilities required for a promotion to chūnin. I will officially present her with her promotion when she is out of hospital. You should be proud, all of you, in how you have represented Konoha."

Kabuto bowed and Sansa inclined her head to the Hokage before leaving the office, Eri and Jiraiya both remaining behind, presumably to debrief the Hokage. Sansa was impatient to see Naruto, but first she and Kabuto made their way to the hospital.

Chiyoko was still in surgery so they sat together in the waiting room, Kabuto with a stack of forms that would ensure he was stationed permanently in the hospital, barring in times of war, while Sansa pretended to meditate, while in truth she searched Konoha for any trace of Kakashi's chakra.

He was still gone.

She did find Naruto, though, and she felt a warmth in her belly at the thought of seeing her brother soon.

Tears welled in her eyes suddenly and she felt her breath hitch. She was going to see Naruto again. She had done it. She had survived the Chūnin Exams and she had left Kiri not only alive, but with a plan to help one of Kurama's siblings escape. A shudder ran through her and Sansa forced herself to breathe deeply, fighting the tears that wanted to spill at the sheer relief and joy she felt.

Kabuto's hand on her back startled her, but after a moment she realised he was offering her comfort, in his own stilted way, and she leaned into it, reaching with her chakra for his. Ninshū, Mito had called this connection of chakra. Kabuto startled slightly but he didn't fight as she intertwined her ocean tides with slippery-cool-sly; she could feel his frustration, the traces of exhaustion, even a faint tinge of fondness directed to her, as well as a growing interest. She wondered if he could feel how she felt. Mito had said that it didn't come as naturally to people without Uzumaki ancestry.

She sat there with Kabuto, their chakra intertwined, waiting for Chiyoko. They didn't separate until a nurse came out to tell them that Chiyoko was ready for visitors. "You are an interesting person, Fuyuko-chan," Kabuto murmured as they stood. Sansa just smiled.

Chiyoko looked thin and pale against the white sheets of the hospital bed, but she managed to smile at them as they approached. "How do you feel?" Sansa demanded as Kabuto lifted Chiyoko's chart from the end of the bed and began flipping through it.

"Numb. Sort of high." Chiyoko admitted and Sansa laughed, reaching to grasp one of Chiyoko's hands in her own.

"They don't appear to have undone any of my hard work," Kabuto said, with an approving nod. "You should be back on your feet in a matter of weeks."

Chiyoko smiled up at him. "They were really impressed with your work," she said teasingly and Kabuto grimaced.

"I know," he said, "I got a promotion out of it."

"How positively dreadful," she said, mock-solemnly.

"You got one too," Kabuto informed her archly and Chiyoko pulled a face.

"Is that supposed to be some sort of consolation prize?" she asked, having the presence of mind to drop her voice. "Congratulations, we sent you to die but you didn't, so have this promotion and don't be pissed at us?"

"Careful," Kabuto said, an amused look on his face and Chiyoko rolled her eyes but nodded, turning to Sansa.

"I'm okay," she said firmly, "go find your brother– I know you're dying to."

Sansa couldn't deny it, so she leaned up to brush her lips against Chiyoko's cheek, squeezing her hand one last time and brushing her other hand against Kabuto's, before leaving her new team behind as she headed for the bright-bold-storm of chakra that was Naruto.

~

"It was a disaster," Jiraiya's voice was muffled by the fact his head was in his hands. He was in the Hokage's office, surrounded by the shinobi summoned for the debrief on the Kiri Chūnin Exams– the Hokage, of course, as well as the Elders Koharu and Homura, Shikaku as Jōnin Commander, Inoichi, as head of T&I, and the head of ANBU.

"It was an absolute fucking disaster," Jiriaya continued, not even caring about trying to appear professional. "Fuyuko killed two proctors during the first stage of the exams, thanks to a flashback– that one's on Danzo, the gift that just keeps on fucking giving. Then she and her team, who might I add were slated as damn career genin, slaughtered their way through the second stage. In three days they killed eighteen genin from Kiri and Iwa. Eighteen. And they came out of it without so much as a scratch.

"Then, in the final stage, Fuyuko managed to get her hands on a lost Uzushio weapon– one traditionally used by their Uzukage– and used it in a death match to destroy the stadium and half-drown the visiting nobles of the Water Daimyō's court and watching shinobi. And if that isn't enough, she and the Mizukage had some sort of Jinchūriki stand-off when we were leaving, where she looked like she was half a second from trying to rip out his throat and she called him 'little brother'! She called the Mizukage 'little brother'!

"Oh, and apparently Kiri's still in the midst of their civil war. Fuyuko says their people are starving, there are rebels in the mountains, killing squads are still going out hunting any surviving bloodline clans and the whole purpose of hosting the Chūnin Exams was to fund their civil war, which she learned while spying. Because infiltration is apparently something Danzo taught her," Jiraiya finished tiredly.

"Troublesome," muttered Shikaku.

"That's a big fucking understatement," Jiraiya grumbled.

"The news about Kiri is concerning," Hiruzen cut in. "Jiraiya, I want you to reach out to any contacts you have in the area. Try to get us an in with those rebels."

"If they exist," Homura pointed out sharply. "We are basing this off the word of a child."

"You didn't see what I saw," Jiraiya said, shaking his head. "The Mizukage called her Onryō-hime and so will everyone who was there that day. She didn't look like a child– she looked like the ghost of Uzushio, come to punish us all for our sins."

"Save the fantasies for your books, Jiraiya," Koharu said as everyone in the room shifted uneasily.

"What I want to know," Shikaku interrupted before Jiraiya could retort, a dark look on the normally outwardly-jovial man's face, "is where she got the tessen. It was supposed to have been lost when Uzushio fell. Kushina used to say it was reclaimed by the ocean."

"Fuyuko said it was given to her by the gods," Jiraiya told them with a grimace. "She said she found it in the shrine she prays at. That the spirits of her ancestors told her what it was."

"Nothing is ever simple with her," Hiruzen said, frustrated.

"Yeah, well, it's a matter of trust," Jiraiya said bluntly, "and the fact that she doesn't." There was something a little wistful in his eyes, then. "There were some moments, though," he murmured, "when I saw something close. It's something special, to be trusted by someone like her." He sighed. "Not that she'll ever see trust me again, now that I'm leaving."

"I don't know," Shikaku said thoughtfully. "For a child her age, she has a remarkable grasp of duty and sacrifice. I believe she would have understood your absence in their childhood, had there been more... compromise."

"Compromise?" Jiraiya repeated.

"Anything less than a total absence could be considered a compromise. Even letters, delivered via Hokage-sama to be read to them. Gifts on their birthdays. Small gestures." Shikaku waved a hand. "Compromise."

Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "I could send the toads with letters," he mused. "Do you really think that would help?"

"It wouldn't hurt," Hiruzen decided. "We need her to form close bonds with Konoha's shinobi. Yamanaka Eri reported that she seems to have latched on to Yakushi Kabuto and Hirai Chiyoko. We'll need to encourage that attachment. The more connections she has within Konoha, the more reason she'll have to fight for us."

"She shouldn't need a reason to fight for her village," Homura snapped. "She has a duty!"

"And if Konoha hadn't mistreated her like it has, she'd probably be more willing to fulfil that duty," Inoichi pointed out coldly, narrowing his pale eyes in Homura's direction. There was a simmering tension between the Yamanaka head and the two Elders; Inoichi had been campaigning to have them interrogated about their possible involvement in Danzo's illegal activities and while so far Hiruzen had interfered Inoichi refused to back down and with the backing of the Nara and Akimichi clans, the pressure on the Hokage was mounting.

"Enough," Hiruzen interrupted before Homura could retort. "The Kiri Exams have overall been a success. They were a show of Konoha's strength, we have learned valuable new information about Kiri's internal situation and Fuyuko has formed new bonds within the village. This is a satisfactory outcome."

~

Kakashi hated missions like these.

He'd never liked the Land of Earth. The rocky mountain range separating it from the other countries isolated it from the rest of the Elemental Nations and its insular nature made infiltration difficult. But a high-ranking noble had reached out to Konoha, complaining that the onmyōji* employed by the Earth Daimyō had cursed his infant son. Whether this was true or if the noble just wanted the onmyōji dead for his own reasons, Konoha didn't particularly care– they just wanted the rather extravagant pay offered to them by the noble who couldn't reach out to the Iwa shinobi bound by duty to serve the Earth Daimyō first.

Missions like these involved months of work; they had to set up covers to gain entry into Earth's capital city, they had to avoid being detected as foreign shinobi by any Iwa shinobi in the capital, as well as any of the samurai who served the Daimyō and then there were the oniwaban**– despite being under the direct command of the shōgun first and foremost as they inspected and reported to him on the state of affairs in the countries, the shōgun's undercover agents would report to the Daimyō if they uncovered a foreign shinobi in his city.

It was a delicate balance of trusting no one while appearing as trustworthy enough to eventually find a way to gain access to the Daimyō's Palace, where the onmyōji of the court lived.

Then there was the fact their target was an onmyōji. Kakashi didn't doubt there were charlatans out there, possibly including their target, but he also knew better then to dismiss the possibility of the onmyōji being the real deal– especially if the noble was telling the truth about his son being cursed. Dealing with a practitioner of onmyōdō meant dealing with warding protecting the man's quarters and a potential skill at divination that would increase the difficulty of setting up an assassination.

It was also possible that it was the fact the mission would keep him away from Fuyuko and Naruto for months, possibly up to half a year, that had him so disgruntled and doing such a poor job hiding it, but he couldn't help the crawling unease he felt. Konoha should feel like a safe place to leave them, a place that he could entrust with their wellbeing. It would be edging towards treason to even think otherwise of his village.

And yet...

He didn't trust Konoha.

There was a part of him, the part of him in which loyalty to his village was carved deep, engraved into the very marrow of his bones, that violently resisted this thought. That wanted to claw it from his head, to toss it away as if it had never existed. To kneel before the Hokage, to bow his head in repentance and beg forgiveness for such a betrayal.

Because it was a betrayal. It was a betrayal to Minato, to Kushina, to Obito, to Rin, who all had died for Konoha. It was a betrayal to his father, who had died to restore honour to the Hatake name in Konoha. It was a betrayal to the Hokage, who Kakashi had sworn to serve and obey, with all that he was and all that he had.

It was a betrayal, and yet, when he thought of twin heads of jewel-bright red and sunshine-bright yellow, when he thought of wide, trusting eyes of deep-ocean-tides and bright-summer-skies, suddenly the betrayal didn't weigh so heavily on his shoulders, didn't squeeze iron fingers around his throat.

Because Konoha had betrayed him first.

How could he trust the village, how could he trust the Hokage, when they had already betrayed him, betrayed his pack? How could he surrender the safety of the twins into Konoha's care, when he knew there was no true care there to be found?

Fuyuko; so small, so thin, coming back to the apartment from Jiraiya's trainign with blank eyes and bruises and bandages– it made him angry, so furiously, wretchedly angry, because this wasn't Root, this wasn't wartime, why were they treating her like a soldier, not a child?

It took every bit of skill Kakashi had not to falter in the mission, to not endanger his teammates through his own distraction. Only Tenzo understood what was wrong with him; he knew the rest of Team Ro must be confused, must be wondering what had unsettled their usually unshakable, mission-oriented captain, but he couldn't find it within himself to try to explain. Didn't think he could manage it without speaking dangerous words, words far too close to treason to risk escaping his lips.

It was easier to just slip on the persona of Inu, to layer it with the cover-story of an entertainer, travelling with a dance troupe, and bury Kakashi down deep, deep, deep.

Sukea, the Noh Mai dancer, was walking through an evening crowd after a performance, when he heard two shinobi talking.

"–killed in the second stage of the Exams," one was saying and it immediately caught his attention, the part of him that was Kakashi rearing up to take control even as he kept his footsteps the same light, swaying movements of the dancer that Sukea was.

"The entire team?" The second shinobi repeated, before spitting. "Doesn't surprise me," he spat, "what were we expecting when the exams were in fucking Kiri?"

Kakashi– Kakashi forced himself to keep walking, to not react, to keep his chakra small and contained even as the barely restrained urge for violence howled within him. He needed to hear the rest of this conversation. He needed to understand. He had to be hearing it wrong. He had to be. The Hokage wouldn't. He wouldn't– and if he tried, Jiraiya wouldn't have let him, he couldn't have. He wouldn't have let Minato and Kushina's daughter go to Kiri, not Fuyuko.

"You'd think it was Kiri," the first shinobi said, "but I heard they weren't the ones who killed our team– one of theirs didn't even win the Exams, despite the home-ground advantage. You'll never believe who did win."

"Who?" the second shinobi asked impatiently.

"It was an Uzumaki," the first shinobi said with a hateful relish. "A real Uzumaki."

Kakashi let himself bump into someone, stopping to apologise, complimenting the woman on the cut of her kimono and parting with a bright smile and shared light-hearted laughter before the smile fell once he was out of sight, a dark rage building inside him.

Tenzo was the first of his team he ran into, back at the caravans where the dance troupe they had joined was set up– the Hokage had a lucrative arrangement with this troupe, rotating shinobi in and out in order to get eyes into different cities across the Elemental Nations; with the extravagant costumes and make-up, they were indistinguishable from the real dancers, blending in and infiltrating even the most cautious towns and cities.

"Sukea-kun?" Tenzo asked, looking concerned. Kakashi must not have been controlling his expression or chakra as well as he'd thought. "Is something the matter?"

"There's been a change of plans," Kakashi said, and his voice came out strange, too flat. "I'm afraid my niece has fallen ill, I need to return home to her."

Tenzo's eyes widened in alarm, understanding flickering in his eyes.

Kakashi didn't care if they weren't prepared enough. He'd carry out the assassination alone if he had to, but he was taking out the target tonight and then he was going to find Fuyuko. And by the gods, she had better be alive, or he was going to tear the Hokage and Jiraiya apart before he took Naruto and ran.

~

*Onmyōji = practitioner of onmyōdo (mixture of natural science, divination and occultism); a sort of priest

**The Oniwaban were a group of government-employed undercover agents established by the 8th Tokugawa shōgun of Japan. They were under the direct command of the shōgun and in charge of undercover intelligence operations, reporting any news about the city of Edo to the shōgun or remaining incognito to inspect and report on the states of affairs in the countryside. Most historical plays and novels depict them as spies or ninjas