Name : Uchiha Kasanki aka Viper aka Mammon
Age : 27 before The Curse (16 years older than Itachi)
Rank : Jounin, ANBU T&I
Appearance
- Hair (real) : black, straight, mid-back with shoulder-length front
- Hair (illusion) : purple
- Eyes : black
- Clothes : black dress, black hood, black pants
Combat
- Specialty : Genjutsu, Tracking, Intelligence
- Kekkei Genkai : Mangekyou Sharingan
Background Story
Kasanki was considered average kunoichi of Konoha with combat specialization in Genjutsu due to her Uchiha heritage. She awakens her Sharingan at the age of 11 during a C-rank mission, mastered the eyes at 14, and accidentally obtained the Mangekyou at 17 nearing the end of the Third Great Shinobi War. Of course, she kept her evolved eyes a secret because she had no delusion about her clan's greed for power and influence and feared what they would do to obtain the power of Mangekyou.
As one of the Uchiha the Hokage knew loyal to the village before the Clan, Kasanki was asked to take on Uchiha Itachi after the Uchiha prodigy graduated. Itachi was a sweet and polite boy if a quiet one and Kasanki quickly loved him like her own brother. The boy absorbed her teachings like a sponge. His affinity for illusion was unparalleled even for an Uchiha. The two years she had him as apprentice was the best in her life.
Of course, there's no such thing as endless happiness. Her end started with talks of arranged marriage and duty to the clan. The Sandaime gave her a long-term mission to gather information, sharing his knowledge known only to selected people trusted by the Senju about a world outside the Great Barrier erected by the Sage of Six Path. She accepted, and her decision sealed her fate.
Kasanki was 25 when she was chosen as one of the Il Prescelti Sette, her name as the world knew it for the three years was Viper. She was 27 when the Arcobaleno Curse fell on them. She continued sending reports through her ravens but she never once stepped back into what she now called the Hidden Continent.
Story
It was another fruitless meeting discussing what they found out about The Curse and any progress towards breaking it. None of them wanted to stay an infant for the rest of their lives.
Currently, Verde was expounding on his experiments, failures all of them, and Mammon was listening intently to his theories although most of the others couldn't bother to try understanding all the scientific jargons.
Basically, the green-haired baby was repeating his theories from their second meeting which was them being batteries to supply Flame into the Pacifiers. The damn items sucked in Flame at a steady rate, huge amount of Flame which was why that damn Checkerface needed people with the strongest Flame. As to why they were now babies, Verde theorized it was to reduce the Flame output needed to support their bodies so they could feed the Pacifier for longer stretch of time. So even if they weren't the Sky Arcobaleno, their lifespan would still be shorter than normal humans.
Viper privately scoffed. Considering her occupation, having shorter lifespan but still an adult would have been preferable than this. Shinobi life expectation was fairly short anyway. For an average ninja, reaching the thirty year mark was a blessing and fifty a damn-near miracle.
Reborn and Verde started to bicker after the scientist finished delivering his findings, which was nothing. It wasn't long for Colonello and Skull to join the increasingly violent debate.
Viper was just rising to leave – there's nothing but property damage after this and she refused to waste her time on something so banal – when she felt a gathering of chakra signifying her ravens' transportation technique. The problem was that it needed a human user and there's only one Raven Summoner here.
Well, not only one, Viper thought as an achingly familiar face appeared in the middle of the circular table.
There were several simultaneous clicks and bullets went flying at the intruder.
"No!" Viper shouted and Mist Flame flared to life around the teen. The dozen or so bullets stopped midair.
Reborn and Lal stopped shooting just because of the unusually emotional state of the Mist Arcobaleno but didn't put away their weapons. Six pairs of eyes looked between their Mist and the unknown teen, all of them curious about the person their Mist protected without hesitation.
A pair of black orbs identical to hers in color stared at her in shock. Viper returned the look with her own, hidden eyes pinned on the slashed Konoha headband on his forehead.
"Shishou?" The whisper was disbelieving and Viper couldn't blame him. It's not every day you saw your 31 year old former mentor as a baby. He would have known if it was an illusion too since an Uchiha was sensitive to Genjutsu use even without their Sharingan active.
"Long time no see, my beloved apprentice. Whatever are you doing here?" Viper had to use all her experience as an interrogator to keep her voice nonchalantly bored like her current appearance was a perfectly normal occurrence.
Itachi's face shifted into a perfect blank mask in the next blink. Viper didn't like it. Her boy shouldn't have that look when facing her. And his ease with it!
"The Sandaime told me where you are."
An uninformative answer. Viper's glad her teaching still stuck after all this years.
"Mu~ How interesting. What about that?" Viper waved a hand vaguely at the headband which declared him a missing-nin.
A sliver of apprehension crossed the tired young face and Viper hated whoever pushed him into this kind of exhaustion. She knew then she would support the boy no matter what he did to cause the village to brand him a traitor.
"Wait," Viper interrupted whatever Itachi was going to say, "We will move this to another place. You can continue to wreak destruction in this place but don't send me the bill." She aimed the last words to the other Arcobaleno.
Before anyone could protested or asked questions, Viper wrapped Itachi in her Mist Flame and transported them out of the building, clear across the country and into the living room in one of her safe houses which she bought with extortion money.
"Alright, you can explain everything now, Itachi-kun."
It was a week later Itachi left to go back to the Hidden Continent. Viper had a new hatred for meddling old coot and ancestor who just refused to die, and she was a particularly vicious Mist for months afterward. Fon and Reborn even dropped by to check up on her because of the underworld rumors but Viper didn't have the right temper to deal with anyone that wasn't her employer or her target so she abused her Mist transportation every time one or both dropped by.
It was Fon that finally cornered her right after she finished a mission. The martial artist was waiting outside the building the targets she just killed resided. Viper was going to hunt down and torture whoever spilled her mission details to the martial artist.
Viper considered transporting for a moment before deciding against it. Fon looked determined enough to cling to her if she even prepared her Flame and she didn't want any accident.
"You have to pay 100 Euros if you want to talk with me."
It was an exorbitant amount just to talk with her, usually she only charged 20 Euros for something like this, but she really hoped Fon wouldn't fork over the money. Of course, who was she kidding? Fon could be more stubborn than Reborn when he actually wanted to, and it's not like the Arcobaleno would ever hurt for money.
Viper grudgingly accepted the money.
"So how about dinner, Viper? There's a Chinese restaurant two blocks from here."
The invitation came so far out of left field Viper was rendered speechless for a few seconds. She quickly gathered her composure.
"That will be another 500 Euros," she demanded.
Fon gave her the money with a serene smile. Viper resigned herself to the coming interrogation. It didn't mean she would cooperate easily though.
"I didn't know you have an apprentice, Viper."
"That means I did my job right."
"Why didn't you introduce him to us? We are all really curious."
"You will have to pay with your life for me to impart any more information on him."
"That is unusually protective of you."
"If you haven't notice, I'm protective of my past."
"Yes, you never did tell us about your home, didn't you?"
"Don't bother to ask. The price for that is well beyond anything you have, including your life."
"Don't you trust us, Viper?"
"No."
There's a significant pause at her blunt answer. "Do you really think that of me?"
"Of course." Her answer seemed to sadden the Chinese baby. Viper twitched at the downtrodden expression that broke through Fon's usual aura of peaceful calmness but she refused to retract her statement when it's the truth.
"What can I do to change that?"
"Get out of the mafia." An impossible request, she knew, but that's exactly why it's the perfect condition.
"I'll need a few years to break off my connection with the Triad," Fon answered with little hesitation.
Viper's eyes were wide under the shadow of her hood. How could he say something like that so casually?! No one escaped the darkness of the mafia, not without paying a heavy price!
Why would he do something like that just to earn her trust?
She should retract the deal, tell him it's a lie so he would leave her alone, that nothing could change her mind about him and the others. She didn't want his death on her conscience.
Instead of the sneering rejection in her mind, her mouth formed completely different words. "It's your business if you want to try."
Fon had smiled then and manoeuvred the conversation into lighter topics. Viper knew the moment had passed and she could only wait for the result.
Decades down the road, as Viper faced Fon in the Representative Battle to decide their fate, she had to squash down the disappointment rising in her chest. She doubted the martial artist even remembered their not-so-little deal when they never met again outside the Arcobaleno meetings which had tapered off over the years.
What a fool she was.
"I hate you! I will win this proxy war and go back to my original form!"
Viper hated him, but not because of his preaching. She hated him because he made her trusted his words.
In hindsight, establishing a mental rule around the doubt of victory was a foolish mistake. She had learnt to fight with her Mist Flame but even after all these years, she still automatically reached for her chakra in tight situations. Something she refused to use in front of any Mafioso and later after she was cursed, unable to use anyway. There's no telling what the Mafia would do with the destructive and reality-bending power of chakra.
At least I'll be dead in my adult body. My seal will have enough chakra to destroy everything, were the thought running through her mind as her technique exacted its price.
Viper was resigned to die from her technique. For her, it might be for the best anyway. She had to destroy her body one way or another, and the seal placed on her ANBU tattoo was the best choice to do the job. However, it required an amount of chakra from the bearer, chakra she couldn't provided in her baby form because her reserve had shrunk along with her body.
Of course, Fon just had to disappoint her yet again by spending all his present time. The martial artist seemed to raise the ability to an art form.
Anger and frustration coursed through her and it was Hibari who bore the brunt of her attack. The illusion of ice he was encased with was her replication of Primo's Zero Point Breakthrough. Even with Chiavarone breaking her concentration, the Decimo's Cloud must've felt like hell surrounded by ice so cold it's burning.
Viper couldn't bring herself to feel guilty.
She didn't even think about it anymore with the news of the Vindice entering the Battle, their surprise attack on her team, and the truth of the Arcobaleno's fate. Basically, their options were to die, or die. It was a bitter pill to swallow. In the deepest recess of her mind, Viper had hoped to find a way, not to break the Curse, but to at least made it so her Curse worked like the Sky Arcobaleno's. After all, what use was a longer life if she couldn't live it to the fullest, with her chakra practically nonexistent as it was.
Breaking the Curse never even entered her mind. Because she could feel it since the first time she accepted the Pacifier, the unfamiliar, powerful, and wild energy, something like chakra but not, that swirled restlessly inside the Pacifier, only held back by a thick layer of Mist Flame, fully her own after all these years.
She had known then that she was this place's equivalent to a Jinchuriki and she could never let the Pacifier fail because she didn't how it would affect the Hidden Continent.
That's why, "You can't destroy the system, Reborn."
"You'll let the system continue knowing the sacrifices it demanded?"
"Of course, I never have a problem with the Arcobaleno system."
There was uproar around the circular table, mostly from Colonello and Verde.
Reborn's voice cut through the noise. "You tried to break the Curse as hard, if not harder, than us."
"I tried to get my adult body back," Viper returned sharply.
"Returning to your adult body without breaking the Curse would have cut down on your life, you would have shared the same fate as the Sky Arcobaleno," Verde pointed out.
"I've known since the start accepting the Pacifier would have shortened my life. I deemed that price acceptable."
"What price?" Fon was frowning.
"Keeping the world from exploding." At best. At worse, keeping the world from destruction via the equivalent of the Tailed Beasts.
"I never pegged you as a saint," Verde retorted bitingly.
"I'm not, but I'm a soldier of my village, protecting the village is my duty."
"What?! You were a soldier, kora?" Colonello yelped, gaping at the hooded Mist.
Viper glared from underneath her hood. "My condition doesn't mean I lose any loyalty to my village, you blond idiot. Mu~ you are such a downgrade from the blonds in my village."
Colonello sputtered like the idiot she accused him to be. Really, after Iemitsu, Reborn's Chiavarone brat, and him, she had come to question the intelligence of blonds outside Konoha.
"What do you mean keeping the world from exploding, Viper?"
Ah, Reborn, the voice of reason as always, at least when he wasn't the one instigating chaos.
Viper weighed the question and how much she should tell them, definitely nothing relating to the Hidden Continent. And then she explained what she knew of the Pacifiers, what it held within, and what she thought would happen if they failed. There were some arguments, accusations thrown around of why she didn't tell them anything which she ignored because she didn't owe them anything. If they were stupid enough to accept jobs from a suspicious stranger just for the excitement it gave them, it's their problem, not hers.
Reborn and Fon was strangely silent. Viper didn't know what their decision would be and they were two of the strongest Arcobaleno and the ones she was most wary to fight if it came down it.
Viper was glad it didn't come to that.
Sawada Tsunayoshi was an idealistic fool with eyes the colour of sunset sky burning with determination and stubbornness.
Viper had always crumbled against idealistic fool with promise of the impossible and stubbornness a mile wide.
I'm working on a technique, Uchiha-san, but I need more time to complete it. I need you to trust me and provide me with that time, and I will ensure we get back to Konoha.
No one ever guessed that the legendary Hiraishin was born in the middle of a war-torn battlefield with two desperate people trying to stay alive after an ambush behind enemy line. Viper, back then under the name Uchiha Kasanki, used her Mangekyou Sharingan in front of a witness for the first time and gave the future Yondaime what time he needed to perfect his signature technique. Three months later, The Yellow Flash single-handedly won the war for Konoha.
It was impossible, she had thought back then but Namikaze's determination had stirred her own and she had believed.
Viper never offered anyone else her trust the same way she trusted the Yondaime but looking into the eyes of this teenager, she was tempted to offer him the same chance.
Time, that's what Sawada asked of them. Watching the slaughter of the mafia's best and brightest, Viper made her decision just as her current Boss was cut down.
"Present, please."
Viper silently thanked Namikaze for teaching her the Hiraishin. Chakra flowed into her eyes, Mangekyou Sharingan spinning into existence. Her hair turned black as the illusion covering it broke with her concentration, she needed it elsewhere. She etched the Hiraishin seal with her mind's eye and concentrated on it. She only had one chance because she wasn't Namikaze who could easily spammed seals with an absent brush of finger, she couldn't fight and seal at the same time.
She pulled herself to the kunai she gave the Boss before the battle and shifted herself from reality in an imitation of Izanagi, the description for which she read on the stone slab in the secret room of Naka Shrine.
Jaeger's hand went through her harmlessly.
Viper moved away, shifted back into existence, and planted her hand to his chest. Jaeger warped away, but not before a Hiraishin seal bloomed where she touched him. Good.
A single pull at the new seal placed her behind him. The kunai in her hand flashed upward. Jaeger warped a distance away as his chains flew at her from the sides.
Viper growled. Mist Flame constructed a dozen kunai pinning the chain links to the ground.
"You are more troublesome than expected, Mist Arcobaleno," Bermuda commented as he landed on Jaeger's shoulder.
Her hidden Sharingan caught the flow of energy from Bermuda to Jaeger and the minute details of Jaeger's breaths stabilizing. Only an idiot would be unable to connect the dots.
"You are cheating," Viper hissed, "You've been giving him your Flame!"
Bermuda and Jaeger jerked in surprise and that reaction alone was proving the truth of her accusation. Her fellow Arcobaleno ran a commentary to that bit of information and Checkerface's idiot assistant popped out of the bushes but she was on a time limit.
Another pull and she was once again behind Jaeger. Bermuda floated away as Jaeger turned and blocked her attack. Viper gritted her teeth. So he was clever enough not to enter a high-speed battle with her. He was saving his warp and waiting out her present time. The others would fall prey to his warp then.
Finished this herself or let the brats handled it?
She knew Reborn wanted Sawada to grow into his full potential in this battle. And Viper… she wanted to see it too.
The least she could do was to give them an edge against him so they could buy Sawada the time he needed.
Red eyes spun beneath her hood, focused on the animated corpse before her.
"Amaterasu!" she barked.
It was just in time. Her watch beeped and her body shrunk just as Jaeger's whole right arm went up in black flame. The scream following it was loud and Viper used his distraction to join to her fellow Arcobaleno.
"You've been holding back on us, kora!"
"How did you make yourself intangible? You didn't use Mist for that, the teleportation, or the black flame. I'm also curious about that flame, it's not like the Vindice's Flame of Night."
"Senpai! You are bleeding!"
Viper jerked and raised a hand to her eyes at Skull's exclamation. Her fingers came away covered in blood.
Oh. It had started.
The others quieted, staring at her with a mixture between shock and panic.
"Viper." Reborn stepped in front of him, eyes uncharacteristically worried, a hand covered with Sun Flame rising towards her face.
"You don't have to. I know this is going to happen eventually," Viper said quietly.
Reborn didn't heed her words. Warmth seeped into her eyes and Viper waited patiently. As expected, it didn't work. She could still feel the strain in her eyes.
She gripped Reborn's wrist lightly and stepped back. "That's enough, Reborn."
"You are going blind," Reborn's voice was flat.
The news caused Yuni to start crying, Colonello and Skull to start shouting, demanding answer from both Reborn and her, and Verde to start muttering about gibberish scientific jargons.
"Sawada is coming," Viper remarked over their hysterics.
"We will talk later, Viper," Reborn promised a bit darkly. The hitman was scowling at the hand he had used to try healing her.
"That will be 500 euros for my time."
Reborn huffed and turned his attention to Sawada's fight against Jaeger, who was still on fire and had brought down Xanxus and Chiavarone, and then Bermuda when Jaeger could no longer used his warp.
"Um, h-hello, Mammon-san."
Viper looked up from the pile of money she had been counting to look at the boy fidgeting nervously by the door of the Varia's hotel suite.
"Mu~ what are you doing here, young Decimo? Boss is still in the hospital because he torn his stitches."
"Oh! I'm not here for Xa-Xanxus-san. I…I… uh, thank you! Um, that is, for the fight a-against J-Jaeger. Um, and, and, a-are you okay?!"
Viper tilted her head slightly. Looking at it from a different angle, Sawada looked a little like a skittish kitten. The Uchiha always had an affinity to cats and Viper wasn't an exception even with her Raven Contract.
"You can pay me 100 euros if you are so grateful." That's one hell of a discount, Viper thought ruefully.
"E-eh?! But I d-don't have that much money!"
"Mu~ then you can buy me strawberry milks," Viper packed away her money and floated over to the fluffy brown head, "There's a café in the shopping district with acceptable milkshake."
Sawada obediently followed her directions to the café and fifteen minutes later, they were seated at a small table by the window. Viper happily sipped at her strawberry milkshake.
It wasn't long until Sawada opened another conversation, asking her about what Reborn told him about her eyes' condition.
Hn, he sucked at the subtlety of information gathering, Viper noted dryly.
However, what he lacked in subtlety, he made up for in honest concern. It was…refreshing. No one in the mafia would have worn their heart on their sleeves like Sawada was doing. They would have covered any weak emotions like fear and worry with stronger ones, usually anger.
Viper was only a little irritated to notice she wanted to tell him what's wrong with her eyes. Sawada was really dangerously charismatic, just like a blond she knew some decades ago.
"I'll tell you if you promise to keep it to yourself. Don't tell anyone, not even Reborn or your Guardians."
Sawada's eyes flickered orange as he said, "Alright."
So Viper entrusted him with her secrets. She didn't tell him anything about the Hidden Continent, but she did tell him about Konoha and her clan in a vague way, her bloodline limit, her eyes' abilities, and her eyes' deterioration. She explained her reasons for keeping them a secret, her loyalty to her village and distrust of the mafia. And when Sawada asked her why she trusted him then, if she never even trusted the rest of the Arcobaleno or the Varia with her secret, Viper told him about a man with hair the colour of the sun and eyes the colour of the clear sky, how he reminded her of that man she trusted with her most important secret.
"Do you love him, Mammon-san?"
Viper smiled. "Everyone in the village loved The Fourth, even his enemies respected him. But, no, I don't love him in the way you mean, young Decimo. You can say…he was my Sky."
"Oh. Um, are you going to return to your village then?"
"Yes, later when my body is older. My village is isolated, they didn't know anything about the mafia or Arcobaleno despite its militaristic background. I'm just going to check on what happened in the last few decades."
"Will you come back here?"
Viper peered up at the boy's pensive expression. "Mu~ why are you asking?"
"I-I just thought… Well, Reborn tried to hide it b-but I he's really w-worried about you," Sawada mumbled quickly then he looked around fearfully to make sure his tutor wasn't in the area.
Viper scoffed lightly and drank her milkshake to hide the fond smile curling her lips.
"A-and Fon-san too, I ac-accidentally heard them talking about your eyes a few days ago. I've never heard him r-raise his voice l-like that."
Viper's mood plummeted at the mention of the Storm Arcobaleno.
"I want another glass," she said abruptly, gulping down her drink to the last dregs.
Fond of the boy or not, Viper still bled him dry by ordering ten glasses of strawberry milkshake and a plate of strawberry shortcake. By the end, Sawada was crying over his almost empty wallet as Viper floated out of the café with a happy air.
Viper checked her reflection in the mirror.
She'd had another growth spurt in her sleep. Two years since the Curse was broken and she was finally around nine years of age. Her chakra was simmering in her stomach, still a small reserve despite the exercises she did to increase her reserve but waiting to be used.
Mu~ it's time to take a short sabbatical from the mafia.
With quick efficiency, Viper dressed herself and applied her usual illusion. She ghosted through the Varia Mansion to the Boss' room and had to dodge a flying wine glass the moment she opened the doors. A rough groan came from inside.
"What is it, trash?!"
"Mu~ I want to request a six month leave, Boss. Fran can be my replacement while I'm gone."
The blanket-covered bundle in the middle of the bed froze and red eyes framed by black hair peeked squinted at her. "What?"
"I want to request…"
"Is this another Arcobaleno shit?"
"No, I'm just going back home for awhile."
There was a stretch of silence and Viper waited patiently. Xanxus's voice was gruff when he finally said, "Fine. Leave."
"Thank you, Boss," Viper bowed and left the room.
Hn, that's easier than she expected, and less violent too. Her Boss must be in a good mood or something. Now she just needed to tell Yuni.
It was harder to tell Yuni she would be gone and incommunicado for the next few months. Well, it's the girl's reaction that made it harder. Viper was currently getting glared at by the girl's bodyguard, Gamma, for making her cry.
Viper sighed and resigned herself to a little delay. She promised to stay in the Giglio Nero Mansion for a week if the girl would please stop crying. Of course, staying longer meant the others heard about her plan and invaded the Giglio Nero Mansion.
It was the last day of her stay and Yuni had decided to throw her a small farewell party. Viper wanted to refuse – she would only be gone for six months, not years! – but the word died in her mouth at the hopeful glint in the little Sky's bright blue eyes.
When had she become so disgustingly weak? Viper muttered under her breath as she stormed down the hall to her room.
And then she just had to be accosted by an irritating martial artist. The now nine year old Chinese was standing by her door, clearly waiting for her.
Viper pursed her lips. After a quick consideration, she layered a Genjutsu over the area so it seemed like she turned around from her room while in reality she continued on her path under sensory-altering Genjutsu. She wasn't in the mood to talk to him. Everyone, except Yuni, had been most persistent in inquiring about her eyes and where she was going for six months. Their nosiness grated on her nerves.
The Varia Mist smiled satisfied when the red-clad child went after her Genjutsu, striding past her position without a glance.
Walking into her room to find Reborn sitting on her bed wasn't her idea of fun, even if the scratches and tears on his usually pristine suit and skin were gratifying. The hitman was looking disgruntled at her, and a bit dazed. Her traps were in shambles, steel wires and senbon scattered on the floor and scorch marks stained the walls of her room.
Viper scanned her room exasperatedly. Why couldn't these people know the meaning of privacy?!
"That will be 1000 euros for exhausting all my traps."
Reborn twitched. "I should be the one asking for reparation," he muttered sulkily.
"You're trespassing. That will be another 1000 euros."
"You must be kidding," Reborn said faintly.
"And you are poisoned, it's my custom one. Symptoms are dulled perception, weaker control over emotions, mood swings, and lastly hallucination. The antidote will be 1000 euros."
Reborn's eyes widened and they flashed to the scattered senbon at his feet, some of them covered with blood at the tip. "What kind of hallucination?" his voice was panicked as fearful black eyes snapped back to her, "Viper, please."
And then he whimpered. Her stomach dropped.
"Shit." Viper dashed to the hitman's side, hand already pulling out a small tube of the antidote from her sleeve. She injected the content into Reborn's exposed neck and pulled him close.
"How long have you been here?" Viper asked quietly.
Reborn shivered in her arms. "Three hours." There's a pause then, "That's a nasty poison."
"You should've come find me. The hallucination started after the two hour mark."
"I didn't know they're hallucinations," Reborn said tiredly.
The implication of his words sunk in and an unpleasant feeling churned in her gut. Her poison caused the person affected to replay their worst memory in a loop, either they are memory of fear, grief, anger, or others. The type hallucinations varied, they could be in the form of sounds, sights, smells, or feelings. For Reborn to not know they're hallucinations, he must've experienced it enough times to think it's normal.
Shit, she wasn't a therapist. If anything, she was the one who haunted people's nightmares.
"You're not going to become suicidal, are you?"
"Of course not," Reborn scoffed.
"Good. You still owe me 3000 euros, I'll come to collect it after I'm back."
"You're such a miser," Reborn grunted. He eased himself away from the Mist and lounged against the head of the bed facing her, his usual arrogant smirk already in place. "Now, how about telling me where you're going?"
"No."
"You told Dame-Tsuna," Reborn accused.
"Mu~ people like him are the best kind of secret keeper. They kept the secrets entrusted to them to their graves even if using those secrets could have saved them."
Unseen beneath her hood, Viper's eyes darkened with regret as her mind flashed to the time she returned to Konoha from a mission in Iwa only to be greeted by the news of the Yondaime's death. There'd been whispers after the Kyuubi Attack, about the Uchiha releasing and controlling the Kyuubi to attack the village. For everyone else, it was mere suppositions but to her, she considered it a high probability. Because if even she, an average A-class Intelligence shinobi, could awaken the Mangekyou, who's to say no one had advanced it further into the Eternal Mangekyou after Madara? And if it had been an Uchiha, she would have been of more used within the village during Uzumaki-san's labour but she hadn't because only the Yondaime knew about her eyes. He placed her secret above suitable use of village resource and he died for it.
"I didn't think you like Dame-Tsuna that much. I didn't even know you've ever talked directly with him."
"Mu~ whatever you say, Reborn. I'm tired."
Viper scaled the wall by the bed until she reached a stretch of steel wire pinned to the opposite wall and laid down on the thin string, regulating chakra on her back so she stuck to it and folding her arms over her stomach. A clone made of Mist appeared on the bed, lying curled up on the part not occupied by Reborn. The hitman stared at the Mist's sleeping place with disbelief.
If he thought about it, this was the first time he broke into Viper's room – hence his surprise over her traps – let alone saw her sleeping.
Reborn tried to gain the Mist's attention to no avail, she was already far into dreamland and nothing Reborn did – unless he tried to attack – would have woke her. Reborn huffed, slumped back against the headboard, and closed his eyes. He might as well use the bed since the Mist construct only used little of the available space.
It was three hours later Viper woke up, shifting from sleeping to waking in the time it took her to blink. She glanced down when Reborn's chakra registered in her sense. Her lips formed an amused smirk.
Mu~ I wonder how much everyone will pay for a photo of this?
Reborn had slid down from his original sitting position so he was now completely lying on her bed, on his side and smothering himself in her pillow. Not to mention he was currently a nine year old child with baby fat on his cheeks. It made a really cute sight.
Very vulnerable of him though, Viper sighed dejectedly. Guess she won't be getting a lot of money from this.
Viper jumped down from her high perch. "Wake up, Reborn. You have to pay 100 euros for using my bed."
Black eyes peered at her. "You didn't use it. And this is Yuni's."
"It's mine for as long as I stay here. Pay up later with the rest of your new debt. Now get out. We have to prepare for the party." Viper grimaced. She really, really hated parties.
Reborn didn't seem appreciative of getting thrown out but he did walk out on his own. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Fon waiting outside the door. The martial artist was returning his look with a frown. Reborn stepped outside and the door closed and locked with a soft click behind him.
"Reborn, what are you doing in Viper's room?"
Was that a hint of aggressiveness he heard? Reborn wondered.
"I was talking to her," he answered in a 'duh' voice.
"For three hours?" The frown deepened.
"Well, we took a nap for a few hours."
Now, that was definitely murder in the usually placid man-child's face. The ever-present smile was even gone!
How interesting. Fon and Viper, huh?
Reborn gave Fon a smug smirk. "Well, I still have to prepare for her farewell party so I'll be going now, Fon. Ciao."
When Reborn looked back from the end of the hall, Fon was still standing in front of Viper's door, staring at it with a pensive frown. The child in three-piece suit chuckled after he rounded the corner.
The party was pure chaos.
It had started out as a normal dinner with banquet food and simple decoration around the dining room. Halfway through, the light conversations evolved into a Spanish Inquisition for her. But her being a former interrogator easily deflected their transparent attempt to dig information and successfully turned their curiosity onto each other. From there, arguments went flying all over the room and it didn't take long for a fight to break out – expected – between Fon and Reborn – totally unexpected. The unusual occurrence had halted every argument in the room then assumptions and bets ran rampant.
Viper had bet on Reborn winning. She wouldn't bet on the Chinese if his opponent was a chronically ill child.
Reborn, hearing her bet, taunted his opponent. He'd always wanted to fight against Fon but the martial artist was usually too peaceful to turn his techniques on colleagues. This jealousy was his chance to get a serious fight from the strongest martial artist.
By the night's end, the fight had destroyed a whole wing of the mansion and spilled onto the ground. Yuni was crying and apologizing to Viper for the party's failure and Viper was assuring her she didn't mind the entertainment. Gamma was glaring at her for her choice of words and her colleagues' antics.
With the distractions provided by Reborn and Fon, it was easy to slip out of the mansion unnoticed after saying her goodbye to Yuni and congratulating her on the splendid party.
Viper sat at the edge of a cliff overlooking Konoha, black orbs wide with disbelief behind a set of binoculars. She had decided to gather some information first from the outlying towns before going into Konoha via a Hiraishin seal hidden within a merchant caravan bound for Konoha. What she fond were rumours so outrageous she almost didn't believe them.
The Fourth Shinobi Great War fought almost two decades ago. That was predicted with how the shinobi world worked.
Shinobi from Five Great Villages and samurai from Land of Iron banded together to beat an insane Uchiha bent on world domination via peace crusade. She had moved town to the border of Lightning only to verify that.
Army of dead shinobi from all over the land were resurrected and had to fight their successors, friends, or families. She had spiked her chakra to check for Genjutsu because that sounded suspiciously like a Zombie Apocalypse.
A long-forgotten ancestor planted the seed that led to said insane Uchiha's peace crusade just to revive herself and create peace via world-wide illusion. What. The. Fuck.
The Shinobi Alliance was maintained after the war and no other war had occurred since The Fourth Great War. Best fucking news.
Viper had spent a month just verifying the rumours which were only lightly embellished, hopping from one end of Fire Country to the other and to Earth and Lightning. Now looking at the Hokage Mountain, she fully believed all those fantastic rumours.
Seven faces. There were seven faces carved on the mountain. Tsunade-hime, Hatake-kun, and a splitting image of the Yondaime only with short hair.
Uzumaki Naruto. She wondered what the boy was like now. Was he cool as cucumber with a dash of sheepishness like Namikaze? Or maybe like Uzumaki-san, all fiery passion and bluntness?
He was all Uzumaki-san in the inside, Viper observed. The blond man of twenty-something was grinning brightly at his friends who looked at him with fond exasperation.
Laughing blue eyes caught hers from across the road and she was thrown back into the memory of identical pair of eyes. Viper blinked.
"Hello, what's your name?" Oh, those familiar eyes were suddenly so close. How long did she lose herself?
"Baria Kasanki, Hokage-sama," she answered with a deep bow and shy glances.
"You look like someone I know. Who are your parents?"
"You look like someone I knew too! My mother's Sen and father's Kazuki! The one who look like me, is it one of your friends?" Viper chirped like the nine year old civilian she pretended to be.
Uzumaki's mouth quirked up in a smile and his eyes grew distant. "Yes, he is an Uchiha."
Gasp! Viper's hand flew to her mouth. "You meant like the bad one in the stories?"
Viper had read the children's book sold in the bookstore and found just like the previous wars, there was a sanitized version of The Fourth Great Shinobi War. The Uchiha was considered the antagonist in most of the story. She didn't think most children would like to be compared to them.
Uzumaki was looking at with a confused frown. "What stories?"
"Oh, the Rise of The Alliance, Child of Prophecy, Legend of Six Paths," Viper listed innocently. With each new title, the twitch of Uzumaki's eye grew worse and Viper was inwardly amused.
A hand ruffles her hair and with a 'Wait here', Uzumaki disappeared in a swirl of leaves.
When he returned five minutes later, he bought her a Popsicle and led her to a park. And then he regaled her about his friend and rival, Uchiha Sasuke. Viper recognized the name, Itachi's brother, and it took a lot of restraint not to demand information about her dear ex-apprentice who was most likely dead by his own plan. She prodded him carefully about Itachi's little brother and then asked about other Uchiha because just one good seed didn't make the whole Clan good. That's how she finally heard about Itachi, his sacrifices, and his chosen path. Uzumaki also told her stories about the war, how Itachi was resurrected too and his gift allowed him to continue protecting Konoha.
Later that night when Viper slipped into the mission records room, she read about the last war in more details, piecing together information from various reports, about Uchiha Obito and his reason for continuing Madara's crusade, Yakushi Kabuto and his undead army, the Yondaime and Itachi helping the Shinobi Alliance, regeneration of the Juubi, and Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Where was she when all this happened, when Konoha needed every one of her ninja? Could she even still call herself a kunoichi of Konoha?
Viper took her fill of her home village for the next month. She brought flowers – sweet peas and zinnias – everyday to the new KIA Memorial for those fallen in the Fourth Great Shinobi War where Itachi's name was engraved. She visited her house in the Uchiha compound, ghosting through the empty halls and sitting in her dusty room. She sat on the Hokage Mountain among the Yondaime's spiky hair watching the sunset. She walked through the merchant district, buying meat buns from an Akimichi stall, ramen from Ichiraku, and dango from Itachi's favourite shop. She enjoyed the hot spring every few days and listened to kunoichi gossips.
At the end of the month, a raven summon flew into the Hokage Office with a letter, scroll, and small vial of chakra-laced blood. Sealed within the scroll was the last report on the world outside the Great Barrier, like the rest of her previous reports could only be opened by the chakra and blood of the Sandaime or Uchiha Kasanki, now Viper. The letter was filled with congratulation for the new Hokage and a notice of retirement.
"Why are you here?"
Here was Vongola HQ in Sicily, somewhere 2 hour drive from Palermo, a place so far outside the Triad's territory the Chinese assassin shouldn't have any business stepping in.
The braided-haired, red-clad Chinese currently in his sixteen or seventeen year old body turned around at the flat question, a gentle smile stretching his lips and hands tucked in his sleeves in front of his chest. His dark eyes scanned the group who had just arrived by the doors and brighten when they landed on the hooded figure of Varia's Mist. Said Mist was staring at him with an unseen frown.
"Viper! I heard the Varia is invited to the party tonight so I came here to meet you."
"Ushishishi, our Mammy has an admirer."
Viper's frown deepened when her team started to bicker, Bel and Lussuria teasing and cooing, respectively, about her 'admirer' and Squalo shouting at the top of his lungs for both of them to shut the fuck up!
"They are a really colourful bunch."
"What do you want, Fon?" Viper asked bitingly.
The Storm Arcobaleno hesitated for fraction of a second and when he continued, he was staring at his colleague with hopeful eyes. "Do you remember my promise some time ago? Around the time your apprentice crashed the Arcobaleno meeting?"
Viper was deceptively relaxed. Of course she remembered, although she considered it a deal more than a promise. She wouldn't forget that misplaced fondness and trust anytime soon, waiting and getting disappointed with every year that passed because she wanted someone she could talk and rant freely to. She was blinded by her want for companionship because her Clan might have been satisfied with isolating themselves but she had become used to Namikaze and Kushina-san and both had the ability to drag antisocial person out of their shell. That realization was hard to swallow but she wasn't the type to ignore her mistakes. She was never the type to forget about a mistake either, she analyzed them, and made sure it wasn't repeated.
However, acknowledging her mistakes didn't mean she announced it for others to hear as well. That was showing weakness and plainly unacceptable.
"Mu~ My apprentice…? Ah, you mean that deal about my past? Did you really take that seriously?"
Fon's shoulders drooped, his smile slipped, and his eyes lowered dejectedly. "Ah, I see. I'm sorry for bothering you, Viper. I'll be going now then."
The martial artist trudged out of the entrance hall of the mansion with the expression of a kicked puppy under the surprised eyes of the Varia. After he disappeared around the corner, Lussuria turned to their resident Mist with a disapproving look.
"Mammon-chan, that's really callous of you. Oh~ he is such a fine specimen too. Did you see that body during the Representative Battle?" The crazy homo squealed.
"Ushishishi, the Prince thinks Mammy is too good for him anyway."
"Mu~ He is just nosy, more so than Reborn which is quite a feat. It's not like he would have been able to fulfill his end of the deal anyway, I made it impossible for a reason."
It was later, during the party, Viper heard from the circulating gossip what Fon must have wanted to tell her. It was hard not to notice that particular gossip when it was the hottest gossip around and almost every Boss milled around the Chinese martial artist. Apparently, the Storm Arcobaleno was no longer associated with the Triads as of yesterday.
Viper had seen every one of the other Arcobaleno, nosy people that they were, approached the Storm at least once within an hour of the party. Two hours into the party, Reborn approached her corner.
"Know anything about it?" Reborn offered a glass at her.
"It's a stupid deal."
"Ho, that sounds interesting. What kind of deal resulted in him leaving the Triad?"
"That information will be 200 euros."
Reborn pulled out the money with a smirk and Viper accepted it with a sour look.
"He wanted to know about my past. I told him to get out of the mafia."
Reborn's raised eyebrows communicated just how surprising he found that information. The effort and risks needed to cut ties with a Family as influential and ruthless as the Triad were nothing to scoff at, and definitely nothing worth as little as someone's past, no matter how secretive they were. Fon doing that without the his former Family gunning for his head was nothing short of miracle.
It also means he's that serious about the secretive Mist, Reborn thought with a sidelong glance at the hooded female.
"So he now knows your past. Why is he looking like a dejected puppy abandoned by its master?"
"I haven't tell him anything. That's why I said it's a stupid deal. He's not supposed to follow through, that idiot," the heavy scowl marring Viper's pale face went unseen by her companion.
"You are going to fulfill your end, still."
Viper huffed. "Of course."
Reborn smiled. Viper might be called a miser for her love of money, which he always thought was something she did partly to irritate people, but she never shirked from fulfilling her end of whatever deal she cooked up in that greedy head of hers. Every interaction with her was an exchange, either in money, favor, or information.
Reborn scanned the ballroom when he felt eyes on him.
Ah, their topic of conversation is glaring at him, Reborn chuckled. He met the other's dark gaze and shifted closer to Viper.
"Mu~ how interesting. Someone's projecting a strong killing intent," Viper commented curiously.
Fascinating is more like it, considering who produced that killing intent, Reborn thought amused as he distracted Viper with snarky commentary of the fashion worn by most of the women in the room.
It was well past midnight, an hour after the part ended, when Viper finally seeked out the martial artist in his given guestroom.
Fon opened the door wondering who wanted to talk him at this time of night and what's so important it couldn't wait for morning. Seeing the hooded figure of the Varia Mist at his doors was so unexpected he ended up blushing at his state of undress and what he was sure a sleep rumpled appearance.
"V-Viper! Ah, what are you doing here at this time? Shouldn't you be sleeping?"
"I'm here for our deal."
The Chinese blinked then his eyes widened. "But you said...?"
"I didn't know you were stupid enough to do it but a deal's a deal. I'll answer ten of your questions truthfully. Now let me in."
Fon automatically moved aside when Viper swept into his room like she owned it. The female appropriated an armchair for herself.
"Now, your questions," Viper demanded impatiently.
Fon closed his eyes in contemplation. There were many things he wanted to know about the Mist but if he only had ten questions then, "What's your real name?"
Viper lips pursed, "Uchiha Kasanki."
"Your apprentice?"
"Uchiha Itachi."
"He is your family? Wait, don't answer that. What's your relation to him?"
"We are some cousin something removed."
"That's such a distant relation, I expected something like cousin given how much you care for him. Why did you choose him as your apprentice? He must be really young when you taught him, he looked just fifteen when I saw him."
"My village leader asked me to take him in because of politics."
"And you agreed?" Fon asked sharply, "No, don't answer that. What kind of politics justified a child to be trained in creating illusions?"
Viper's black eyes narrowed at the judgement in his tone. "That's an S-rank secret. Ask another one."
"Then why did you agree to accept him as an apprentice?"
"It was necessary and I have the skill to take him out of trouble if anyone tried to harm him for our family's...inherited ability."
"Inherited ability?"
"Next question."
"Alright. What do you meant 'take him out of trouble'? They're unusual word choice."
Well, she had shown the Hiraishin in her fight against Jaeger. "I can do teleportation with the right preparation, like I did against Jaeger. I could reach his side in an instant anywhere he was. Five more questions, Fon."
"Where's your village?"
"Ask another one."
"Hmm, do you have another apprentice?"
"No."
"What's your position in your village? It must be somewhat important for you to be asked personally by your leader."
Viper frowned. How did she explain that to someone who doesn't know anything about the working of a shinobi village?
"I worked in the military part of the village, mainly the Intelligence division. The ranks and titles are different to the ones you know but if you want to know, I was a Jounin."
"I'm not familiar with the term," Fon admitted, "Why didn't you go back after our Curse was broken?"
"Who said I didn't go back? Don't you remember that farewell party held by Yuni at the Giglio Nero mansion?"
Fon's expression shifted into something, was that hope? How weird.
"Then why did you return?"
Viper shrugged and replied flatly, "Everyone I knew is dead."
The martial artist flinched and mumbled an apology.
"Mu~ I already expected it. Last question, Fon."
"Ah, this is not really about the past although it's something you said some time ago."
Viper raised both eyebrows and motioned for him to continue.
"Do you really hate me?"
Viper blinked once. And again. Then, "What?"
"During the Representative Battle, you said you hate me for my preaching. Did you mean it?" The martial artist actually looked miserable and with the still rumpled appearance from his disturbed sleep, it's more adorable than should be allowed for someone of his age.
Viper froze in her seat, actually thinking about the answer. She had hated him for this deal he turned out to be completing after all. Did she have any other reason to hate him?
The answer was, "No."
She didn't hate him. If anything, she was rather flattered he went so far just to know something about her. It also opened her eyes to something she had been too blinded by the need to protect herself to see.
"Great! Then how about I treat you to some mapo tofu tomorrow? I heard there's a good Chinese restaurant in the city."
"Fine but you will pay for everything, including the transport. And you better plan something better if you want to call it a date."
The smile he gave her was bright and ecstatically delighted and Viper's lips twitched in an answering smile, smaller but definitely fond.