Prologue
Ayame was on her way home from shopping one day, with an overly excited Keiko humming alongside her, while Dairuko was away on a mission. As they reached the door, Keiko ran inside with Ayame calling after her to calm down, when she saw Dairuko carrying Keiko with a smile on both their faces.
"Dairuko, you're back." Ayame said, then put down her bag of groceries and gave Dairuko a hug.
"Yeah, there's a reason for that." Dairuko said, putting Keiko down.
"Okay, I'm listening." Ayame said, then turned to the doorway to see a woman with brown hair tied in ponytail, wearing nothing but black underwear, who gave her a smile and waved at Ayame, while the latter just blinked then asked, "Dairuko, why am I looking at a half-naked woman in our house?"
"Yes, I can explain that, but I suggest you sit down, 'cause you gonna need some background on this." Dairuko said.
Flashback
During the climax of the Third Great Shinobi War, a large battle had just ended and a young Team 0 were sent in to look for any survivors. Team 0 had split up to cover more ground faster, each of them already well aware that not every survivor would be a friend, and they were prepared for anyone to attack.
'Does anyone ever truly win a war?' Dairuko thought to himself as he searched the battle plains. He then noticed a young girl with brown, shoulder length hair on her knees. 'Either another village has their own Team 0, or they're mobilising children - none of those sound good.' Dairuko thought as he approached. "Hey, you okay?" he asked the girl, who suddenly jumped on his shoulders with his head between her knees, then she threw him into the ground head-first.
While Dairuko was down, the girl grabbed a kunai from a nearby body and attempted to stab him, but as she did, Dairuko was no longer there. Instead, the body of an already dead shinobi had taken his place. Dairuko stood up, a distance away from the girl and, before he could recover fully from being thrown onto his head, the girl appeared in front of him, ready to kick him. Dairuko managed to block the kick and grab her leg. He spun her around in order to gain momentum to throw her, but the girl twisted her body in such a way that her one free leg kicked Dairuko on the side of the head, forcing him to release her.
The girl watched as Dairuko charged towards her, and she quickly placed her hands on the ground then launched herself towards him. Dairuko tried to block the incoming kick but the force the girl had was too much to block and Dairuko was sent tumbling back.
"No more screwing around." Dairuko said as he stood up and looked at the girl. The two charged towards each other and Dairuko noticed that she was teleporting closer to him, not running.
The girl tried for a roundhouse kick, but was blocked by Dairuko's punch - the clash sent out a shockwave which knocked the two of them back. Dairuko recovered first and charged towards the girl, attempting an uppercut, but the girl teleported just out of reach before countering with a kick to his stomach. Dairuko grabbed her leg before she could pull away, then pulled her by the leg into a solid punch that knocked her across the ground. She stood up and looked at Dairuko, who was breathing heavily, and could see Dairuko had never been in a fight with someone who can take more than one direct punch from him - he relied more on his strength than skill, resulting in him hitting harder but tiring him out faster by putting more strain on his body.
Dairuko came at her again, attempting several punches which she easily dodged, but his last straight punch knocked her onto her back, however, she quickly recovered before Dairuko could take advantage of it and ran away.
"Don't you run from me!" Dairuko called out as he chased her into the treeline.
The chase ended in an open area of the forest and Dairuko slowly walked towards the girl.
"I hate it when people run." He said, as began trying to punch her again which she was dodging until he managed to knock her off balance.
Once she had fallen on her back Dairuko jumped on top of her, straddling her before she could get up, then slamming the back of her head into the ground. Dairuko tried to punch her but she kept moving her head in order to dodge the punches until she caught one of his punches then managed to get her legs into a position whereby she began to choke Dairuko. Dairuko knew he had to escape the hold before the girl choked him out, so he mustered some strength to lift her off the ground but she hit him three times on the head with her elbow bringing them back to the ground, where she tightened the hold. Dairuko began to fade so he made one last attempt to break free by grabbing her shirt, only, he didn't grab her shirt and when he looked he saw he had a handful of breast, the girl's face was red as was his but Dairuko did not waste this opening to escape as he lifted her off the ground.
"I'm so sorry." Dairuko said just before slamming her into the ground. Dairuko got some distance to catch his breath, while the girl just looked at her chest then looked up at Dairuko with an angry look on her face. "It was an accident, I swear!" Dairuko insisted, waving his hands, but the girl did not care as she unleashed a furious combination of punches ending with an axe kick that brought Dairuko to his knees, followed by a back-flip kick, knocking Dairuko back.
The girl walked towards a groggy Dairuko and punched him so hard he flew through several trees. After that, the girl exhaled deeply then started to walk away when she saw a shadow of a tree above her and when she looked she saw a tree hurling towards her. The girl teleported out of harm's way only to see Dairuko was trying to punch her again, but she grabbed his arm then tossed him over her shoulder. Dairuko was back on his feet almost instantly, trying to hit her again, but she teleported away from the punch and continued dodging his punches until she saw an opening and sucker punched Dairuko in the jaw - knocking out two of his teeth. This didn't stop Dairuko though, as he connected with a powerful body blow that launched her into the air where she fell against a tree.
Dairuko tried to kick her in the face but she teleported away before he could hit her, then the girl watched as Dairuko began to draw in heavy, laboured breaths. The two took their respective fighting stances, with Dairuko charging forward and, as he reached her, she teleported out of sight. Dairuko saw her from the corner of his eye lining up her kick and, as Dairuko turned, she let loose a kick so powerful that she kicked through a tree, breaking it, and still hitting Dairuko in the temple knocking him out.
End of Flashback
"And when I woke up, Shizuka here was in chains." Dairuko ended the story.
"So how were you captured, Shizuka?" Ayame asked.
"Shizuka can't talk, Ayame."
"And now the name 'Shizuka' makes sense."
"Now you know how we met, and for my next trick, I shall explain why she's here."
"I'm listening."
"After some negotiating with the Mizukage, Team Dairuko-"
"That won't become a thing."
"Team Dairuko," Dairuko emphasised. "and Jiraiya were able to leave the village. In exchange I owe the Mizukage a favour."
"I don't like the sound of that, especially since I hear she's woman." Ayame crossed her arms.
"Don't worry, Mizukage is cool. She'll probably never call in that favour."
"Aha… continue."
"Yes, I thought I'd surprise you by coming home early, but along the way I found Shizuka all battle damaged and stuff, so I rushed her back here where I treated her wounds… I have to say; you take forever in the shop."
"Shut up… why didn't you take her to the hospital or your mother?" Ayame asked, and Shizuka looked at Dairuko and made signs with her hands.
"Well... yeah, she is dead, but I found my biological parents some three years ago." Shizuka shrugged. "Senju Tsunade is my mother… and the Hokage." Shizuka looked shocked then looked at Dairuko closely and made more signs. "What d'you mean 'you see the resemblance'?"
"Dairuko, you do look more like your mother." Ayame said, and Shizuka nodded.
"Oh yeah, gang up on me why don't you." Shizuka made more signs. "Jiraiya is my father." After a pause Shizuka burst out laughing.
"I thought she couldn't talk."
"She can't, laughing isn't talking."
"Sign language... that's how you two communicate?"
"Yeah it is, took some time but I got the hang of it… somewhat. She still has to write it out sometimes though."
"Back to my question, why not the hospital?"
"Yes, well, you see, Shizuka kinda doesn't exist anymore. Her clan was part of the Cloud Village, but during the war they were all killed. Shizuka here is the last one, and when we parted ways she went into hiding. Which brings about the question, how'd you get hurt so badly?" Dairuko asked, and after a long chain of signing, Dairuko told Ayame. "Short, uncomplicated version is she got into a fight with a criminal who blew himself up before Shizuka could take him in for the reward money."
"Oh... then its good you survived." Ayame said and stood up. "Why don't you stay for dinner, Shizuka?"
"Yeah, you should totally stay. Ayame makes some mean ramen."
"I don't only make ramen, you idiot!" Ayame exclaimed.
"I-I know, babe, it's just I'm advertising your…" Dairuko trailed off.
"My what? Best dish? Worst dish?" Ayame glared at Dairuko, demanding an answer with her eyes.
"Your occupation, I swear that's what I was gonna say." Dairuko said while curled into a ball, waving his hands.
"Hmph." Ayame scoffed. "So...would you like to stay, Shizuka?" Ayame asked politely, and Shizuka slowly nodded her head out of fear. "Oh good, I finally have a reason for that fourth dining room chair."
"I said we should've just stuck with three, but nooo, has to be an even number." Dairuko whispered to Shizuka.
"What was that, Dairuko?"
"I love you." Dairuko let out a sigh of relief once Ayame started cooking. "I'm glad you decided to stay, Shizuka, Ayame's a great cook and you could use a home cooked meal, don't even deny it." Shizuka looked down. "Well, I'd better finish stitching your shirt, your pants is done though." Shizuka followed Dairuko to the room where he was sewing her clothes, where he'd thrown her pants, a jounin jacket and a pair of shoes. "Take a walk around the village for a bit, see some sights and stuff." Shizuka got dressed while Dairuko worked. When she was done, he put a half mask on her. "So no one will recognise you." Dairuko smiled and kindly pushed Shizuka out the door before closing it.
"I didn't know you can sew." Ayame said.
"Really? Who do you think kept this jacket from falling apart?"
"I assumed it was Natsuki or Itachi."
"Bah, they can't sew as good as I can, and that's a fact."
"Okay, okay… so how'd you learn to sew?"
"That story I will take to my grave." Dairuko said, and went back to sewing while Ayame stayed in the kitchen with Keiko, who was quite eager to help out where she could.
Meanwhile Shizuka walked through Konoha. She had never been in the village before today, and had only heard of it through the stories Dairuko used to tell her. Along the way, she saw Kakashi walking towards her. She had heard about Kakashi before, since he was the Copy Ninja. Shizuka tried not to stare, but she had long looked up to the man and then he looked at her, stopping dead in his tracks as did she, the two of them looked at each other until Kakashi spoke.
"Nice mask." Kakashi said, and continued walking, leaving Shizuka in awe and internally squealing. She returned to Dairuko's place after her encounter with Kakashi.
"Just in time for dinner, Shizuka." Dairuko said as she sat down next to him, while Ayame sat with Keiko.
After dinner, Dairuko got Keiko ready for bed while Shizuka changed into her normal clothes - dark grey pants, black shirt with sleeves that sat just passed her elbow and finger-less gloves. She stopped by Keiko's room and listened to Dairuko tell her the story of the Sunflower Samurai.
"It's Keiko's favourite story." Ayame said as Shizuka walked into the lounge. "Keiko loves the story of the Sunflower Samuai, but only when her father tells it." Shizuka understood how that would work, because when Dairuko wasn't summarising a story, he had a very unique something about the way he told it.
"The baby is asleep and I am burning for some lovin'." Dairuko said, then remembered Shizuka was still there. "I mean… what are you guys talking about?"
"I was telling Shizuka how much Keiko loves that story."
"Oh, yeah, it's the best thing in the world to her." Shizuka bowed as a way to say goodbye before walking toward the door.
"Shizuka, do you really have to leave so soon?" Ayame asked and Shizuka nodded her head.
"I'll walk you out the village." Dairuko said, then the two walked outside. After a few steps, Dairuko stopped Shizuka. "You're hiding something, Shizuka." Dairuko said and Shizuka signed her response. "Don't lie to me. You wouldn't come out of hiding if you could handle it on your own." Shizuka paused then responded. "Shizuka, I'm your friend. You can ask me anything." Shizuka responded after a moment. "It's always dangerous. It's part of being a shinobi." Shizuka signed a long chain in response. "Fine then, don't talk." Dairuko said heatedly, and signed his own chain which ended in him flipping Shizuka off. "And fuck you." With that, Dairuko walked off while Shizuka stood for a second before teleporting out of the village and ran into the forest - Dairuko walked into his house and started packing some supplies.
"Dairuko, what's going on?" Ayame asked, as she watched Dairuko pack.
"I'm meeting Shizuka in my cabin outside the village, she has some important information to tell me." Dairuko explained.
"So... you're leaving again?"
"Yeah, but only for a week, maybe a week and a half at most."
"Oh."
"Listen, Ayame, at 9:00 am tomorrow, go to the training grounds. My team will be there taking a break from sparring while waiting for me to show up. Give this letter to them, they'll know what it means."
"Okay, you can count on me." Ayame said and took the letter.
"I love you." Dairuko said and gave Ayame a quick kiss before leaving.
"I love you too… "Ayame trailed off.
Dairuko walked into his cabin where Shizuka handed him a note. He read it in silence.
"Shizuka, if this thing happens, we could be looking at another shinobi war… with Konoha being the instigator." Dairuko said.