CHAPTER FOUR
With a loud smash, a paper weight went sailing through the window of the Hokage's office. This was swiftly by a scream of: "BRING HER HERE RIGHT NOW" and two ANBU flying out of the Hokage tower and taking off over the roofs towards their headquarters. Kakashi watched them go before walking sedately through the large doors to the tower. It was just gone 10am and Kakashi was on time for his meeting. It was a rare day indeed that Kakashi found himself on time for a meeting but he was having trouble finding things to distract himself with. His sleep had been restless, filled with nightmares of the past and thoughts of what was going to happen now that Lilia had returned. Kakashi wasn't the sort of person to hold grudges, life was too short to hold on to old anger, especially for Shinobi. Over the years he had tried to let go of the anger he felt towards Lilia but her betrayal dug too deep. Before she had left the village he and Lilia had been close. They were closer than he had ever been to anyone else before or after her. She knew things about him no one else did and he had believed he knew her better than anyone else. For a time he even thought there might have been something more than friendship between them. That was shattered the night she betrayed her home. The night she betrayed him.
It happened two years after the massacre of the Uchiha clan. Kakashi had known that Lilia was struggling to fit in with village life. She had still been in the ANBU ranks but it was no secret that the higher ups viewed her with suspicion. She had often spoken to Kakashi of her frustration. Lilia completed every mission given to her flawlessly and she was still treated as an outsider. On top of her role in ANBU she had been left as the guardian for her youngest brother Sasuke. People whispered about her wherever she went and eyed her as though she too would turn against the village. In the end, Kakashi supposed, she proved the gossipers right. Lilia hadn't made as grand of an exit as her brother, she hadn't slaughtered a whole clan, in fact, she hadn't harmed a single person. Instead, she left in the middle of the night leaving only a note behind. A note that still sat in the top drawer of Kakashi's desk.
I'm sorry. He's my brother.
Neither Itachi nor Sasuke were Lilia's genetic brothers. She had been adopted by their parents before Itachi was born and had taken the clan name. Lilia didn't know who her biological father was and after her mother died, the Hyuuga clan threw her out. The Hyuuga's had made no secret of their dislike for either Lilia or her mother. Her mother was of the main household and was seen as a disgrace for having an affair outside of the clan. An affair with an Uchiha that resulted in a baby with the Uhciha's Kekkei Genkei. If her mother had been of the branch clan both mother and baby would have been on the streets long ago. Lilia had approached the Uchiha clan and Mikoto Uchiha had talked her husband into taking her in. When her husband had discovered Lilia had activated the Sharigan at only four years old, it didn't take much convincing. Lilia grew up treating Itachi and Sasuke as her true brothers. She loved them both fiercely and her decision to abandon Sasuke with no one in order to chase after a brother who had killed the people who took her in made no sense to Kakashi.
Six months after she had left the village Kakashi heard word she had joined the Akatsuki. A month after that Kakashi and his ANBU team had been out on a mission when they had encountered Lilia. Kakashi had challenged her over her decision to leave. She had brushed him off, behaved as though he had never mattered to her. His anger and hurt got the better of him and he attacked her. They had always been evenly matched when they sparred in the past but Kakashi was at the end of a long mission and was eventually over powered. The image of Lilia standing over him, was forever burned into his memory. She had shown no emotion as she dismissed him and walked away, leaving his body injured and his ego and heart bruised.
Kakashi knocked on the Hokage's office door, his thoughts still firmly in the past. This was getting to be ridiculous. Since he heard Lilia was returning to the village he had struggled to think about anything else. Not even his trusty books could hold his attention for long. At the impatient invitation, Kakashi entered the office and took in the faces of those already gathered. Tsunade had her back to him, staring out of the window and Shizune stood next to her, clutching their pet pig and looking nervously back and forth between the Hokage and the other man in the room. Mornio Ibiki. A face Kakashi knew too well. Ibiki was the official head of the ANBU black ops and unofficial head of 'information extraction'. Ibiki nodded to Kakashi as he moved further into the room and leaned against the wall farthest from the door. He pulled out his little orange novel and looked to all the world as though nothing was wrong. A few moments later, another knock came and Tsunade called out another terse instruction for the person to enter. Into the room filed Genma, Izumo, Kiba and an unknown Hyuuga, whom Kakashi assumed had been on the retrieval squad he had seen last night.
Genma nodded to Kakashi but made no move to join him against the wall. Instead, the team stood close together near the Hokage's desk. Although Kakashi continued to pretend to read his book, he noticed Izumo throwing glances in his direction. Suddenly, a puff of smoke appeared in the middle of the room, causing Kiba and Izumo to jump a little. The smoke cleared and revealed three ANBU and Lilia Uchiha. The ANBU stood to either side and one behind her, but Kakashi could clearly make out her side profile from his position against the wall. She was wearing the same outfit she had been last night, right down to the pack on her back and a now more creased, Akatsuki cloak. The entirety of her hands were covered in metal cuffs, cuffs Kakashi could only assume were inhibiting her chakra.
Kakashi knew he was staring but he couldn't bring himself to look away. She looked the same as she did so many years ago. Same long, brown hair. Same metallic, grey eyes. He could make out a faint bruising under her eye that indicated she was in need of a good sleep but otherwise looked unmarked by her time as a missing nin. The only difference that Kakashi could make out was the emotionless expression she wore. The Lilia he had known always wore her heart on her sleeve. It was a dangerous trait for a ninja but it was something she couldn't change, despite her numerous attempts. Kakashi recalled how every emotion and every thought would play across her face. How her whole face would change when she smiled and how she wasn't afraid to cry, something so alien to Kakashi. Looking at her now, there was no hint of that woman. This woman looked as though she had never experienced a genuine emotion in her life. Tsunade had turned to face the ANBU and their prisoner.
"For gods sake, remove those ridiculous cuffs," When the ANBU failed to comply Tsunade glowered at them. "That's an order. Now."
The ANBU standing to Lilia's left, the one closest to Kakashi, placed his hands upon the cuffs and they fell away. The only acknowledgment Lilia made that the cuffs had been removed was to subconsciously rub at her wrists.
"Lady Hokage, perhaps you had best put the cuffs back on." Ibiki said as he stepped forward to stand closer to Lilia. She glanced to him out of the corner of her eye. "Uchiha has not complied with our questioning and is still a danger to the village." Lilia rolled her eyes but said nothing.
"Your 'questioning' was unauthorised." Tsunade hissed from between clenched teeth.
"Lady Hokage, if I may?" The ANBU that had released the cuffs removed his mask when Tsunade, demonstrating great patience, waved for him to continue. Kakashi wasn't surprised to see that it was a Yamanaka. "I attempted to extract information from the prisoner-"
"She is NOT a prisoner!" Tsunade yelled, slamming her fist on her desk. The wood groaned and the Yamanaka flinched.
"Yes, of course. I meant to say from the Uchiha. When I attempted to collect the information she blocked me. I would consider this a sign that she means to harm the village. If she truly meant us no harm then she would divulge the information I wished to see."
"Yes, absolutely NO reason I wouldn't want you to go poking through my mind," Lilia deadpanned. The sound of her voice made Kakashi flinch. "I think I showed you a few reasons I would rather not have you freely examining my memories." To Kakashi's absolute amazement, the Yamanaka blushed. Tsunade raised an eyebrow and looked between Lilia and the Yamanaka.
"Care to elaborate?" The question was directed to the ANBU.
"I, um, well - yes, Lady Hokage. Initially she would recite the Shinobi rules in order to keep her mind distracted from what I was trying to see. I believe she recited all of our Shinobi rules, the Hidden Sands Shinobi rules in modern language and old tongue, the Hidden Mist's Shinobi rules in modern language and in old tongue and the Shinobi rules of the Hidden Stone Village."
"You have held Lilia for over 10 hours. You expect me to believe it took her ten hours to recite all those?" Tsunade questioned as she sat in her chair and pulled out a bottle of sake from one of the desk drawers.
"No, Lady Hokage. After Uchiha ran out of Shinobi rule to recite she began to show me some of her - ah - more amorous encounters. In rather graphic detail." Yamanaka blushed again. Tsunade paused in uncorking the bottle and looked to Lilia.
"I didn't run out of Shinobi rules - I could have translated them into different languages or different codes but, quite frankly, it was getting dull. Those memories were much more interesting. Don't you agree?" It was clear that Lilia was struggling not to smile. She looked to the Yamanaka who stared straight ahead, refusing to look her in the eye.
"Lilia, would you be willing to answer question I have about your time with the Akatsuki in a much more civilized way?" Tsunade asked, retrieving two cups and filling them with sake.
"Of course, Lady Hokage." Lilia inclined her head in a slight bow. Tsunade nodded, re-corked the sake bottle and waved dismissively at Ibiki and the ANBU.
"You - Ibiki and the masks - you are dismissed. I will speak to you another time about detaining people and questioning them without my authorisation." Tsunade motioned for Lilia to have a seat in the chair opposite her. Lilia complied, shrugging off her backpack and taking a seat as the ANBU bowed and disappeared in a puff of smoke. Ibiki caught Kakashi's eye and tapped his temple with his index finger before pointedly looking to Lilia. Kakashi nodded and the other man disappeared. Ibiki wanted Kakashi to keep an eye on Lilia but he didn't need to ask. The Uchiha was too close to the Hokage and Kakashi didn't trust her. Tsunade slid a cup of sake towards the younger woman, who accepted it and took a sip. "How's your cheek?"
"Sore." Lilia answered honestly. Tsunade nodded and the Hyuuga shifted slightly. Kakashi had been so focused on monitoring every slight movement Lilia made that he had entirely forgotten the other people in the room.
"I can heal it for you." It wasn't a question, more of a statement of fact. Lilia placed her empty cup on the desk and Tsunade immediately uncorked the bottle to refill the cup.
"No, it's ok. It will heal soon enough," Lilia waved a hand dismissively and Kakashi tensed at the movement. He was surprised by the familiarity between the two women. "Besides, it will act as a reminder that the person who did it should run when they see me." The Hyuuga shifted again, as though to lash out at the younger woman. Lilia turned her head slightly and smirked at him, affording Kakashi his first glimpse at the nasty purple bruise on her cheek bone.
"Hyuuga stand down." Tsuande sighed, sliding the now full cup back to Lilia. She turned back to face the Hokage and accepted the cup with a 'thank you'.
The two women began discussing the trip back to the village, occasionally asking questions of the four man cell. Kakashi only listened with vague interest, wondering why he was even here. As time ticked on it was becoming harder for Kakashi to control his temper with the object of his anger sat only a few meters away. Tsunade debriefed the team, explaining that her reasoning for sending all rookies and Genma was to provide the least threatening front to Lilia, in the hopes of emphasising the peaceful nature of the trip. Lilia shot a sideways glare to the Hyuuga as Tsunade said this. The conversation continued when suddenly Lilia leaned down and reached into her backpack. Kakashi was by her side in an instant. He gripped the arm that was reaching for the backpack in one hand and pressed the point of a kunai to her throat. As fast as he had moved, Lilia was faster. She spun, knocking the hand with the kunai away. Kakashi felt the familiar chakra surge of her Sharingan activating and dropped his eyes to her mouth. Lilia clenched her jaw as Kakashi brought the kunai back down towards her. She gripped his hand, preventing the blow.
"ENOUGH!" Tsunade hollered. Neither Kakashi nor Lilia released their grip. Kakashi kept his eyes on her mouth but regretted not pausing to lift his headband to reveal his own Sharingan before moving. Lilia's jaw relaxed and she sucked in a deep breath. She released the grip on his hand but angled herself so the kunai was no longer pointing at her. Kakashi let his arm drop and risked glancing up to Lilia's eyes. He found himself looking into grey eyes that seemed to stare straight through him. He breathed a silent sigh of relief that he hadn't been met with red eyes.
"Kakashi, what the hell are you doing?" Tsuande asked, reminding him that he still had a tight grip on Lilia's arm. He released it slowly, not breaking eye contact. Kakashi turned slightly to face the Hokage, his gaze dropping briefly to the arm he had been gripping. White marks showed where his fingers had been. Kakashi leant to the side, reaching one hand into Lilia's backpack. Withdrawing a kunai from the bag he held it out, the hoop over his little finger. Although the kunai was held towards Tsunade, Kakashi looked at Lilia. Lilia crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.
"A kunai? How dare I, a ninja, have such a weapon on my person!" Lilia glared at Kakashi and gestured towards her pack. "May I?" Lilia reached down into the pack, Kakashi remaining tensed the whole time. She withdrew slowly, clutching two rolls of paper in her hand. She gave Kakashi a withering look before turning away from him and facing Tsunade. She placed the scrolls on the Hokage's desk. "Release the scrolls and you will find all of my notes on the Akatsuki bases, numbers and details of the plans I am aware of. I will admit, they are not as comprehensive as I would have liked. I think they began to suspect me after the attack on the Kazekage and I was left out of key plans." Tsunade nodded and tented her fingers under her chin as she considered the Kunoichi before her. She gestured towards the chairs in front of her.
"Lilia, Kakashi, sit." Tsunade withdrew another cup from her desk drawer and inclined towards Kakashi. He held a hand up in rejection.
"I would prefer to stand, Lady Hokage." From the corner of his eye he saw Lilia roll her eyes before flopping back into her chair. She reached for her still full cup of sake and downed the whole thing. Tsunade had it filled again only a moment after the empty cup was placed back on the desk.
"Fine. You four," Genma and his team, who had all moved closer during Kakashi and Lilia's encounter, stood to attention as the Hokage addressed them. "You are dismissed. Get out of my office." She waved them away with the hand that clutched her sake. All four of the team bowed and swiftly exited the office, leaving only the Hokage, Shizune, Kakashi and Lilia. When they had left, Tsunade leant back in her chair and rubbed a hand across her face. "This is why I called you both into the office. I understand that you two have a history but I can't have you at each others throats." She eyed the two ninja, ensuring they were paying attention.
"Lady Hokage, I won't deny that there is no love lost between myself and Hatake but we are professionals and it would not interfere with our jobs. I believe Hatake's reason for his action was out of a desire to protect you from someone he views as an enemy and my response was born of years of people trying to kill me." Even though she was right, Kakashi could feel his temper rising at her audacity to speak for him.
"I'm glad to hear you say that. Now, speaking of your job," Tsunade paused and dug through a stack of papers on her desk. When she couldn't find whatever she was looking for, Shizune stepped forward and pulled a few sheets of paper from the top of another stack. "Ah, thank you Shizune. I have met with the elders who were, of course, against the idea of you coming back to the village. I did manage, however, to convince them to see my point of view." Tsunade handed a sheet of paper to Lilia. The Uchiha accepted it and scanned it quickly. She grimaced.
"Six months?"
"The first suggestion was a year so be grateful. For the first three months of your probation period you will not be sent on missions that take you outside of the village. You will also be expected to attend assessments to determine your strengths and the best position for you once your full probation period is up. I will also be assigning at least two ANBU to watch you at all times." Tsunade paused as Lilia downed the cup of sake. She smiled kindly at the younger woman. "As you can see, the elders also want you to submit to regular debrief meetings. I will be personally attending these meetings. I'm sorry for the actions of the ANBU. They were not authorised to interrogate you like that."
Lilia nodded. "I figured as much. What will I be doing for the final three months of my probation?"
Tsunade handed both Kakashi and Lilia another piece of paper. She didn't give them a chance to read this one. "You will be placed on Team 7 under Kakashi."
Both ninja gaped at the Hokage.
"You can't be serious?" Lilia shot a glance to Kakashi and then back to the Hokage.
"As I said, I understand that you two don't get along, however, the elders were insistent that Kakashi's team were one of the few that stood a good chance of taking you down should you attempt to betray the village." Tsunade sipped from her cup. "Besides, you already assured me that your personal feelings would not impact upon the job."
"Lady Tsunade, surely there is another team that could meet the requirements? What about team Gai?" Kakashi's voice was calm, as though engaging in a discussion about what to have for lunch. Inside, his thoughts were swirling. Tsunade frowned.
"This is not up for discussion. I expect the two of you to put aside your differences for the good of the village. Kakashi, I suggest you introduce Lilia to your team and begin including her in your practice sessions within the village." Tsunade did feel guilty about the situation she was putting both the ninja in but the elders were insistent and, for the time being, she had to pander to their requests. Neither Kakashi nor Lilia said a word. Tsunade sighed. "Kakashi, you may go. Lilia if you don't mind staying a little longer there is more I need to discuss with you."
Kakashi nodded and gave a slight bow to the Hokage. He left the office in a daze, the unread piece of paper clenched in his white-knuckled fist.
A/N: Thank you again for all your reviews :) Hope you are still enjoying the story!
- Quinn Thomas