Disclaimer: cf. copyright below, but I do not own Naruto (otherwise, many catastrophes would have happened), only my OCs and the plot. I obviously am not making any money from this, and currently broke af.

A/N: FINALLY. This was edited and reformed by yours truly, do appreciate reading. I shall see you at the end of this chapter.

Answers to reviews:

Calcu22: You know, I fucking love your reviews. I'm glad you think the scene was intense, cuz' being the one writing it, I find it dull. It's nice to know it actually isn't. Thank you!

OTrizy: Thank you, thank you, thank you.

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Wisdom

A Naruto fan fiction story

Wisdom © Nanabooks

Naruto © Masashi Kishimoto

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CHAPTER IV

A wild Hokage appears


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Nanako was the first one to walk in on the bloody scene.

Chieko heard her scream and call for help, in a distant part of her mind.

She surely was quite the sight to behold, with her wild hair likely coated in blood, the splatters on her face, the silent tears running down her cheeks and the utterly empty look in her eyes. She hadn't moved.

Her mother's dead eyes were still looking up at her accusingly. The woman's delicate hands laid lifeless and cold in the pool of blood surrounding her; which had soaked the beautiful kimono she'd worn before killing herself.

Chieko stayed unmoving.

She stared until someone forcibly took her away from the red – redred – scene.

Days passed by. They turned into weeks, probably, she had no idea of time in her trauma-induced catatonic brain; but Chieko didn't bulge out of her apathetic state.

Her mother's funeral was a small one. There were only Sayuri-obaa-sama, Nanako, Chieko, and the priest who did the ceremony. After that, her mother's corpse – cold and full of hatred and bloody – was incinerated. Chieko watched blankly as the burning, starving tongues of fire swallowed the first person she'd seen in this life.

(Her fascination for fire resurfaced at that point.)

She'd taken a life, albeit indirectly. She'd killed.

(She'd killed, and she didn't even know her victim's name. She didn't know her mother's name.)

Chieko found out she didn't care.

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Sayuri

"Sayuri-okaa-sama!"

Sayuri heard Hikari enter her quarters before she saw her. It wasn't surprising, as she'd enrolled as a kunoichi in her youth; and Hikari was about as discreet as a bull in a china shop.

The girl barged into the room, her cheeks flushed from running through the brothel corridors. The doors she'd unceremoniously opened banged against the wall, and Sayuri felt her eye twitch, annoyance resurfacing once more at the sight of Hikari walking in like she owned the place.

"What is it?" Sayuri asked, not even bothering to greet the idiot at her door.

"Sayuri-okaa-sama, your guest has arrived!"

Oh? He was quite early. She hadn't expected him for another week.

"Hm? What are you waiting for, then? Welcome them."

There was an indignant huff and Sayuri finally looked up from the pile of paperwork she'd been working on before Hikari's rude interruption, and raised an eyebrow at the girl.

"What is it?" she asked at Hikari's ridiculous pout.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" the girl yelled at her, and Sayuri felt herself turn cold and uncaring.

"I wasn't aware you ran the place, Hikari," Sayuri objected, her cold and poised voice cutting through the thick amount of killing intent present in the room.

Hikari took instinctively a few steps back and held her arms defensively. "But… I am the tayū of this brothel!"

This time, Sayuri didn't conceal the wave of murderous intent rolling off her.

"Tayū?" she scoffed in disbelief.

"Don't make me laugh, girl. You're not becoming a tayū anytime soon. You're not worthy of the title. You are nothing but a petty, greedy, and cocky girl with nothing special," Sayuri stated coldly. "Show your matron some respect, and be grateful I don't throw you out."

This idiotic girl thought the world was hers. Sayuri had to show her she was nothing but a nuisance. She was, after all, the main cause of Akane's decaying health and recent death. She refocused her attention on her work once more, not sparring Hikari a second glance.

"I expect you to greet our guests with the respect they deserve. Leave."

Hikari stumbled at her tone full of despise, still in shock and trembling from Sayuri's enunciation of truths, and hastily left the quarters. Good riddance.

Sayuri didn't care what happened to Hikari. She'd cared for the girl; she'd taken her in, given her a proper education, treated her like her own kin, and she'd only gold envious stares and endless greed from it. Hikari, on this day, was nothing more than an annoying insect Sayuri would gladly squash under her shoe.

The ones who betrayed her became trash in her eyes. She'd no need to care about a traitor's business, as it was likely he or she would betray her again.

(It was lesson she had learned the hard way.)

As she walked down the corridors of her brothel, Sayuri reminisced. She let her memories flow in her head; and she remembered Akane, and how miserable she'd thought the young girl to be.

She still didn't know, to this day, why exactly Akane had travelled all the way to Fire in her search for work. Kumo, in the Land of Lightning, was very far away, after all.

Sayuri had taken an immediate liking to the quiet, kind and talented girl. She'd taken her in almost immediately, and taught her the strings of her line of work – prostitution. She'd raised the teen into a proper courtesan, and had been overjoyed when the girl had shown herself worthy of becoming a tayū.

She'd come to see Akane as her second daughter – and Sayuri was certain her biological daughter would have approved.

(She needed to ask her guest how her daughter was doing, by the way. She saw too little of her own family these days.)

Anyway, their lives had been perfect, with very little issues. Until, of course, Akane – being the trouble-magnet she was – fell pregnant. Their perfect little balance was fragilized, then.

Sayuri had known, right from the moment Akane had told her she intended to keep the child, that there was nothing would convince her otherwise. Akane was simply too stubborn; and besides, there'd been nothing they could have done to stop the pregnancy, at least not without seriously endangering Akane's life.

Sayuri hadn't yelled at Akane for being so naïve. She knew that giving birth, in their line of work, would make Akane's life a living hell. She'd had her worries, but had never spoken her mind aloud.

(She should have.)

Akane gave birth to a girl on a foggy and damp day of autumn, at dawn. She'd insisted that Sayuri had to be the one naming her; and Sayuri had fought the urge to simply drop the brat and be done with it.

She was no good with children – it was part of the reason she'd sent her own daughter into her clan, she seriously lacked maternal instinct. To her, babies were just unformed little humans with no brain whatsoever.

Yet, as she'd held the infant in her arms – awkwardly and tensely, because she had no idea of what she was doing – Sayuri had found herself thinking otherwise. There was an intelligent, almost wise spark in this child's amber eyes; a glimmer anyone would have found unnatural, but Sayuri had liked it.

She'd named her Chieko. Fitting.

Chieko, as Sayuri had guessed from the start, was an abnormally intelligent child. It scared Akane away, but fascinated Sayuri. She was much like the Hatake heir; the one they called a genius. The girl was quite curious and adventurous too, much like Sayuri and her brother had been in their youth, and she never passed a chance to learn a new skill, be it musical, artistic, or necessary.

Sayuri had grown fond of her. She had after all, raised her, whereas Akane had preferred to stay away from her once very-much-desired child. She cared for Chieko like a grandmother would; and loved her like her own flesh and blood.

(She would have to ask Mayuri if she didn't mind having a niece. Her face would be priceless.)

It was Sayuri's fondness of Chieko that had led her to make a request to one of her oldest and dearest friend.

Several months ago – before everything had gone downhill – Sayuri had walked in on the most peculiar and astonishing situation she'd seen in a long time. Chieko was using chakra. Not only trying, but succeeding at moulding it; something no normal child her age should have been able to pull off. Most three-year-olds couldn't even feel their chakra, for God's sake; and yet Chieko innocently sat there, reaching and toying with hers.

Chieko's chakra control was exceptional; and it had pushed Sayuri to call in a favour.

She knew that the brothel wouldn't hold Chieko very long. The girl was unbelievably smart and adventurous, she yearned to explore the world and witness it with her own eyes. There was no way she could work in something as boring as whorehouse – her mind would never rest.

(Sayuri knew of Chieko's views on prostitution. She couldn't hide such a fierce dislike for it without Sayuri noticing – she had made jōnin for a reason, after all. She didn't entirely approve and caution it in any way, but she didn't want Chieko to end up trapped either.)

Chieko would always question the wonders of the world, and Sayuri was unwilling to do anything to keep the girl from reaching her goals.

Akane's suicide, two weeks ago, had only pressed the matter. Chieko was nothing but an empty shell since she'd witness her mother kill herself. She was barely eating, and staring blankly in front of her was her only activity. She didn't talk, or move. Whereas she'd been snarky, carefree, and cheerful; the girl was now apathetic and hollow, reflecting the void which had taken over her.

Sending her away was not an option anymore; it was a necessity.

Sayuri closed her eyes and smiled as she finally reached the room where her so-called guest was waiting for her. She took a deep breath, and locked away her thoughts. The door slid open quietly.

"Ah, Sayuri." Her guest greeted her.

Very few people were allowed to call her by her birth name – mostly her old friends, from her childhood and the comrades whom she'd fought with side by side during the war. They were the only ones that knew she was a retired kunoichi, out of business but alive and kicking. Those people were the only ones worthy of the privilege.

She couldn't help but to fully smile at her guest. Seeing her dearest friend – despite their own issues – after so many years was bound to make her a little emotional.

"Sarutobi, long time no see."

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Chieko

She was bored again.

"Chieko-chan?" Nanako called from behind the door. "Sayuri-okaa-sama asked me to get you ready. Can I come in?"

Chieko didn't answer, and simply waited for Nanako to open the door. The blonde would enter anyway, whether she agreed or not. She was aware she did not talk much these days, but she didn't feel like talking; and she knew better than to force herself to do things she did not appreciate doing.

The Woman, as Chieko now called her – since she didn't know her name (and yes, her inner Sherlock Holmes was well, thank you very much for asking) – had died weeks ago. She'd realized that, even if she'd frankly idolized the woman, Chieko cared very little about their relationship.

The only thing bothering her was the fact – even if Chieko would never acknowledge it to anyone besides herself – that the Woman's death had… Traumatized her.

She was not sane. She wasn't clinically insane either, but her psyche was a wreck. It had been right from the start. Her past-self hadn't been the most balanced woman out there, if anything, Chieko would say she had been barking mad, with her depression and imminent sociopathic behaviour. Her reincarnation had only emphasized the unbalanced and messy thing that was her mind, changing her beliefs entirely.

Her past-self hadn't been someone one could scare, shock or impress easily. She'd mostly been a sarcastic and rather blasé woman; one that would laugh at anything and anyone given the right context. But Sage, as badass as she'd claimed to be, had not witnessed the horrifying, paralyzing and terrifying reality of death.

(Besides her own, that is.)

All her past life, Chieko – Sage – had been told morals, values, and concepts such as Death, but she had been given nothing to illustrate those same ideas. And now, after seeing the woman she'd considered her mother kill herself, Chieko thought that death was rather real, and not some obscure, abstract and grotesque idea of what humans thought the 'end' was like.

Chieko wasn't afraid of death. The problem didn't lay there. She'd experienced it before, and would probably crossed path with it again in this life; and she didn't see the point in being constantly afraid of something she couldn't predict. But actually witnessing death?

It was another matter entirely. And confusing.

On one hand, death, in its general aspect, didn't scare her in any way. It was only a finality, and in her case, it had been a new image of death, however, the very illustration of its reality, shook her to the core. It made her insides squirm in uneasiness, and she wanted nothing more than to run away and hide to at least try to survive. The fact that it was The Woman's face, her throat slashed open, drenched in blood, with her green eyes staring into Chieko's only emphasized Chieko's uneasiness – and, dared she say it? – trauma.

Chieko knew that her mental state wasn't an excuse for her decaying health, though. She wasn't talking? Fine, it didn't have any sort of consequence on her health – although maybe for the moral support part, but hey, she was too independent and not sociable enough for that. Not eating and barely taking care of herself?

She scowled internally at her own foolishness. It wouldn't do her good to starve herself. Of course, her current state was – sorta – justified, but Chieko was scolding herself for being weak.

(She was a fully-grown woman, thank you very much! A very prideful and annoyed woman at the moment too, so she'd bloody better move the fuck on and get back to fucking business-)

Chieko shut a mental door and Sage's ranting diminished to a feeble whisper. She didn't know if she should worry about having a split personality – especially considering it was the incarnation of her past-self; but she'd figured that if Sakura Haruno had survived with a little voice in her head, then so could Chieko.

She didn't plan to stay in this pathetic semi-conscious state of hers for long, obviously, but she needed time to sort things out.

(And by things, she mostly meant her head.)

Chieko had learnt to compartmentalize her thoughts and emotions, a while ago. The time had come to fully use the technique, or she would go insane.

It was well-known – even in this world, particularly in this one – that traumatizing events tended to make a mess of psyches. Some of them disappeared right after the individual went into shock, others lasted lifetimes. Those slowly drove one insane if not faced and taken care of immediately. Chieko didn't plan on being stuck with a possibly harmful trauma for the rest of her life.

In the giant matrix that was her mind, Chieko carefully watched The Woman's suicide over and over again. Compartmentalization consisted in three steps: one, classify each and every piece of information one could get the hands on – things one heard, saw, or touch – by relevance, whether the intel was useful or not. It was one giant storage scroll loaded with information. Two, the individual identified the event that could possibly lead to a trauma later, and isolated it in the depths of he's mind. Three, once the traumatizing event was isolated, one needed to identify the details of it – the little things that'd caused one to go into shock, which made the memory so terrifying – and lock them away, in a trauma-proof corner of her mind.

Granted, Chieko wouldn't forget the event had happened – the details would be simply blurry. Like the way the blood had gushed out of her mother's throat, for example.

Her past-self had used this skill many times before, if only to put her hyperthymestic syndrome on sleep mode. Compartmentalization had been her best friend, as every single thing she saw was immediately carved into her mind, unforgettable.

Reincarnation had probably suppressed her rare syndrome, but Chieko wasn't sure. Her memory had always been quite above the norm, even before she'd been diagnosed as hyperthymestic. Hopefully, her attempt at compartmentalizing her memories wouldn't fail.

(And if it did, well, she would deal with it.)

She didn't want to end up twisted and mad. She'd seen what madness could do to the sanest of people, what it led to, and she didn't want to have to kill herself if she went crazy one day. She was okay with a little of Anko-eccentricity in her life, but a full bloodthirsty-Hidan rampage was not her cup of tea.

(She wanted to live, more than ever.)

"Chieko-chan, we'll wear the green kimono with the white obi today," Nanako informed her, and Chieko realized the teen had been nosing her way through her wardrobe for a while now, if the pile of clothes on either side of her were any indication. "It compliments your hair."

It was more like it clashed with it, but Chieko wouldn't object – talking was annoying these days. She nodded, and Nanako immediately rushed towards her and settle into dressing her up. She briefly wondered what kind of guest requested her presence – because Nanako wouldn't be dolling her up if Sayuri-obaa-sama casually wanted to see her.

She shrugged the thought off. Probably an expensive client or something. Or an old friend of Sayuri-obaa-sama, but that was unlikely.

Chieko promptly returned to the present as Nanako pressed her to put the deep green kimono on, and she tied the white obi around her tiny – and bony – waist. Once that was done, she picked a hairbrush, and started – well, tried – brushing Chieko's long hair.

"Good lord, Chieko-chan, how to you manage to mess up your hair so bad?" the blonde wondered aloud, sounding amazed and frustrated at the same time.

Chieko shrugged at her – she didn't have the answer to that. The Woman's black hair had always been tidy and strangely lady like; which had led Chieko to the conclusion that she'd probably inherited her wild locks of fiery red hair from her unknown father.

(Whom she suspected to be an Uzumaki, because redheads were scarce in this world, and the Uzumaki clan was notorious for its fierce redheads (which would explain why they were rare, with their annihilation and all.). In fact, her personal theory was that redheads that were not Uzumakis had somehow Uzumaki genes in their blood, considering that most of the redheads in the story were from that clan (the beauty of genetics). And it would certainly explain her abnormal vitality and disturbingly high chakra reserves.)

From where she was sitting, Chieko studied her reflection in the mirror, and Nanako's fine silhouette brushing her hair – again, she was trying. Her looks were… special, to say the least, and if she had to compare, she would probably say she looked similar to Karui – in skin tone and hair colour, at least, even if hers was redder. She looked a little like Tsunade, maybe. Her hair was definitely as wild as Shisui's.

She had red, unruly hair, a soft, chocolate brown skin, and abnormally huge, almond-shaped amber eyes. That was it, she wasn't going to spend hours fantasizing about her looks.

She supposed she'd mostly gotten her unknown father's genes – and not having him around to compare was frustrating to say the least – given that the only thing she had with The Woman was her skin tone – only, Chieko's was a little lighter, going for a dark caramel hue rather than the full dark chocolate one.

We had absolutely nothing in common. What a depressing thought. She'd at least liked The Woman a bit, even if she hadn't been the most dedicated mother; and even though Chieko cared very little for her death, their lack of any real relationship was a sad thought.

(Though, she dearly hoped she would have at least half of The Woman's amazing looks in the future, because damn she'd been the most beautiful woman Chieko had ever seen.)

"Here, all done." Nanako nodded happily, finally putting the brush down – Chieko's scalp was starting to burn. "Shall we go see Sayuri-okaa-sama now?"

Chieko simply nodded.

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Their walk through the brothel's corridors was silent, with only the sound of their steps echoing in the alleyways. Chieko was a little behind Nanako, who was leading their way to one of the reception rooms; dutifully following the blonde.

The teen was probably desperate to make her talk – if the twitches of her hands from time to time and her nervous glances to Chieko were any indication – or simply react to anything; but well, Chieko wasn't in a mood of interest for her surroundings.

At least, until she saw him.

The man – or woman, although judging by the general silhouette, Chieko was certain it was a man – had broad shoulders, all muscle and flesh, and was easily nine feet tall. There was an aura around him that screamed 'danger', and Chieko found herself fascinated.

He was standing guard right in front of the door Chieko was expected in.

The thing disturbing her wasn't the man's general appearance, or the fact that he was keeping watch, obviously; no, it was the mask he was wearing. A clay-mask, to be precise, with red and purple lines making out the shape of a lizard. And there was his general attire, of course – a ninja gear consisting in multiple white armour plates and black shirt and pants.

(Which led to Chieko's extreme amusement, and she snickered, because something as cute as a gecko shouldn't be this intimidating.)

The million ryō question was: what the fuck was an ANBU doing there?

"I'm here with Chieko-chan, just like Sayuri-okaa-sama asked," Nanako signalled to the ANBU.

He nodded, and took a step aside to let them through. Nanako kneeled in a seiza, prompting Chieko to do the same; slowly and careful not to make any sounds.

(They both knew Sayuri-obaa-sama would beat the hell out of them if they weren't discreet enough, especially if she was engaged in a conversation with her guest. Sayuri-obaa-sama was scary just like that.)

"Sayuri-okaa-sama," Nanako called in, bowing respectfully to her matron and her guest – who's face Chieko had yet to see. "I brought Chieko-chan, as requested."

"Good. You may come in."

The blonde slid the paper door as silently as possible, and motioned for Chieko to enter first. She walked up to Sayuri-obaa-sama while making sure her posture and walk were flawless – her head held down but her gaze proudly staring ahead; and took place next to her grandmother figure, bowing respectfully to their guest as she did so.

Now came the hard part: her voice, which she had not used since she'd fallen into her catatonic state. There was no one to blame but herself, Chieko knew, but it still annoyed her to no end.

"Pleased… to meet you, sir." She rasped, her voice cracking mid-sentence – all because she hadn't talk in a while. Her throat was already starting to hurt.

There was a silence, and then a deep voice answered her. "Likewise, Chieko-chan."

Sayuri-obaa-sama hummed in approval, and Chieko looked up, taking it as permission to straighten up. Her amber eyes found themselves staring at their guest's face.

She should have known; and she couldn't believe she hadn't thought about the situation further, especially with the ANBU hanging around. It had been a huge giveaway of Sayuri-obaa-sama's guest's identity. The Black Ops division was, after all, a kage's personal guard.

Sayuri-obaa-sama had invited the freaking Hokage. And he'd come.

Chieko couldn't help but stare at Hiruzen Sarutobi; who was casually sitting there, in his Hokage robes.

Chilling, with a smoking pipe in his hands.

She was very aware of how she appeared, at this very moment, with her eyes wide like saucers and her mouth hanging slightly; but she couldn't bring herself to care, because there was the motherfucking Hokage in front of her.

(She had the right to be shocked, okay? She hadn't expected to meet a canon character this soon. Hadn't expected to ever meet one, to be honest.)

Hokage who was silently mocking her right now, if the amused smirk and mirth dancing in his dark eyes were any indication.

"Do you know why you here, Chieko-chan?" he asked lazily, as if wondering himself what he was doing there.

He eyed her critically, and Chieko stopped her awe-stricken behaviour. She was now fully aware the man was testing her; and the Sage part of her brain, who'd been quiet until then, pushed Chieko to react.

(Something that sounded suspiciously like 'Come on, jeez, stop looking like a freaking dead fish already!' was screamed in her ears. Ouch.)

Chieko met the Hokage's eye with a poised and controlled expression, her head held high, her back as straight as she could bring it to be; and her eyes shone with defiance.

Today was not the day she would be intimidated; however awe-inspiring the man in front of her could be.

"No, Hokage-sama," she answered calmly, ignoring the fact her voice cracked mid-sentence; and her tone held respect and insolence at the same time.

(She firmly ignored the darkening of her cheeks as the man's smirk widened – and that he looked like the cat that ate the canary.)

She respected his position and his persona, obviously. She knew of his status and of the importance of said status. She couldn't help being a bit rebellious, though – the wrongness of the shinobi world was still there, lingering in her mind.

The Hokage and Sayuri-obaa-sama exchanged looks, apparently fighting over something – with a sigh, her grandmother figure reluctantly conceded to explain the situation.

"I wanted you to meet Sarutobi."

Chieko tilted her head slighty in confusion. Why would Sayuri-obaa-sama bother to invite a man as busy as the Hokage was just for her to meet him? It didn't make sense.

"We need to talk," the elder woman added, and Chieko suddenly didn't want an answer to her inner turmoil and confusion.

… She had the feeling she wasn't going to like the following discussion.

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Bonus: Sayuri's and Hiruzen's Sarutobi reunion (unnecessary to read but kind of relevant to the plot)

"Sarutobi, long time no see."

The man was sitting a few feet away from Sayuri, sitting into a lazy slouch rather than the appropriate and respectful seiza such a meeting required, but Sayuri forgive him that, like she always did. She fully entered the room, closing the door behind her, and walked up to her old friend, who was smirking at her.

"You wanted to see me about some matter?" He asked, taking a deep puff of the pipe he was holding.

"An unusual feat, isn't it?" Sayuri smirked in return, and Sarutobi threw her an annoyed, if fond, look.

As strange as it may seem, Sayuri didn't correspond that often with him; so, he naturally wondered what kind of emergency would require his immediate attention for Sayuri to finally send him a letter. Letters simply weren't her style – she preferred bringing the matter up herself, and not via 'mischievous pieces of paper that tend to suspiciously disappear', if he was to quote his friend. Ah, paperwork. The enemy of the great.

"Quite." He answered, because if she would shilly-shally about the matter at hand, then so would he. The thought made him smile: they acted like in the old days.

Sayuri sighed and snapped, after ten minutes of silence and eye-assessment of each other. "Yes, I wanted to see you about something. Rather important, actually." She rolled her eyes at the triumphant gleam in Sarutobi's eyes, knowing perfectly well that he considered himself winner of their little game. "Why else would I bother the most important and occupied man in Fire?"

"To annoy me," Sarutobi answered truthfully. "You did it before."

Sayuri dismissed the matter with a lazy wave, smirking slightly. "That was ages ago."

"Yes, but it doesn't mean that I forgot about it. I'm old, not senile."

"I never said you were," Sayuri remarked lightly, and interrupted Sarutobi before he had the opportunity to retort. "Anyway. One of my girls killed herself earlier this year."

One of Hiruzen's eyebrows shot up at that. That was an unusual, if not worrisome, news to hear. The courtesans in Sayuri's care never left, let alone kill themselves – they didn't have a reason to; Sayuri was too much of a gem for that to happen. It was a strange event, but not strange enough to the point for Sayuri to need his help. Whatever the reason was, it was fated to be interesting, and Sayuri had now his entire attention.

"And?" he prompted, after a moment of thought.

"… She did it in front of her three-year-old daughter." Sayuri admitted, and all of sudden she appeared very tired, and Hiruzen could see the grief taking its toll on her body and mind.

The reason that'd pushed one of Sayuri's girls to commit suicide was clear now: the child.

Three. The number struck him, and his spine straightened unconsciously; the pipe half-way to his mouth frozen in his stilled hands.

Three. Like Naruto. He wondered how he would react if the boy he cared so much about faced a trauma this early in his life, and figured, watching Sayuri's exhausted and almost distressed state, that he no doubt wouldn't cope and deal with the matter as well as she did.

Sarutobi's attitude changed completely after her words sunk in, and Sayuri breathed in relief. He'd understood immediately, and she was grateful the gods had blessed her friend with a sharp mind; she hadn't the strength to tell him the extended version of Akane's death.

"I see," Sarutobi said, sympathy thick in his voice.

"I have reasons to believe her father belongs to Konoha," Sayuri announced distractedly, her poised self back in town. "She looks too much like him for me not to recognize him behind her features."

Interest sparked in Sarutobi's eyes, and Sayuri allowed herself a bit of fooling around. "But that is a matter for another time, I'm afraid. My main concern is her."

Sarutobi threw her the evil eye, knowing perfectly she was baiting him and enjoying it, but went along with the conversation subject she'd brought up. "What about her, Sayuri?"

Sayuri told him almost everything about Chieko. How abnormally bright and intelligent she was, going as far as to put her on the same level as Namikaze Minato, brain-wise; how quick she grasped the most complicated concepts without even batting an eye, and how her talents would go to waste if she was to stay with her, as much as it saddened Sayuri. She also told him about Chieko's ever decaying health, both mental and physical, since she'd witnessed her mother's psychotic relapse and suicide.

(Akane had been always been subject to psychotic events when her mental health was down; and she'd been mentally ill ever since her daughter's birth – Sayuri knew this perfectly well, and she'd tried to help the mother cope and deal with the harsh treatment she'd been subjected to – without success. Akane's fatal relapse was partly her fault.)

And finally, Sayuri told Sarutobi about her plans for Chieko's future.

"You want me to take her back to Konoha?" he asked, surprised, and flattered that Sayuri trusted him enough to take care of her granddaughter in all but blood; especially after their shared history. "and put her into the care of one of my most trusted shinobi?"

"Yes," Sayuri nodded, not phased one bit by her friend obvious disbelief. "It is the safest and most guaranteed to be successful option for Chieko at the moment."

Hiruzen agreed with her on that point. Sending the girl to a ninja village was safer and wiser than letting her trapped in a town of narrow-minded civilians. As much as he respected them, they were prideful and prejudiced dickheads. "I'll see wat I can do," he answered truthfully, because he honestly had no idea who would be the better fit to take care of the girl.

(–Chieko, he had to remember her name or otherwise Sayuri would skin him alive for being an indifferent prick; and if there was one area Sayuri was skilled in, it was knives-handling.)

Sayuri smiled, perfectly aware of her friend's thoughts, and chirped clearly: "Actually, I have sorted a few suited candidates for the task."

Sarutobi cursed the damn woman for knowing him too well under his breath, "Shoot."

"Asuma." Sayuri announced first.

"A–Asuma!?" Hiruzen gasp and coughed violently due to his lungs protesting violently after his umpteenth puff of Tabaco and fresh air mixing together. "… Asuma?" he asked again after sobering up, a brow cocked up in surprise.

Sayuri shrugged. "Why not? He can't be worse than Shūhei," she remarked, before asking: "How is my daughter doing, by the way? I think she'd mad at me for not visiting before little Konohamaru's birth."

"That is very true…" Hiruzen replied, before smirking, "Mayu and Shūhei are both fine, and currently enjoying post-delivery bliss." Sayuri chuckled. "Are you sure about my second son being an option, though?" he added carefully.

"Why not? Don't you have faith in him?"

"Well, while I consider Asuma an adult, I don't think he's mature enough to put a three-year-old in his care," Hiruzen trailed carefully, and chuckled derisively, "He's still a bit of a brat himself and I don't think he would appreciate me ordering him to quit his training with the monks to raise a little girl. He is still stuck in his 'rebellious teenager' period, I'm afraid."

"Ah yes," Sayuri realized suddenly. "I'd completely forgotten about his rebellious peak."

"What about young Shikaku?" she asked next, because she held her various students in high regards, even if her memory of them dated from their - very - early days.

Sarutobi laughed and shook his head. "The boy is my jōnin commander, you know. And he's got a boy the same age as Chieko, too; and barely manages his situation with his clan head duties added to the mix."

Sayuri frowned, while Sarutobi added, "I can always put her into an orphanage, Sayuri."

Her frown turned into a vicious scowl, her eyes narrowing and her gaze hardening at the very idea. "I'm not a fool, Sarutobi. I will not send Chieko into a wrecked orphanage where your dearest friend picks up his minions."

Taking in her features rather than her speech, Hiruzen sighed. His instinct and Sayuri's demeanour let him know that they would argue about the matter the whole afternoon; and Hiruzen sighed in defeat, sensing a headache showing his ugly and undesired head.

So much for taking vacations.


Edited 03/04/17

A/N: Here we go, chapter four unfolded and re-written. Please forgive me for not doing the Hokage/Chieko meeting like it was before (truth is, I was too lazy to do it, and Chieko has too much conflicts going on in her mind regarding the Third Hokage for me to write it acceptably.). I just passed an exam period too, so hopefully I'll have more time to work on Wisdom.

Concerning the bonus likely to appear when I'm too lazy to add more scenes to a chapter, they are, mostly, experiments. I've stated before that this fic was an experiment, so I stay true to my word. This chapter's bonus was an attempt at mixing two individual's thoughts and reaction through a discussion. Is it good? The bonus is also heavy on the information regarding Sayuri: we now know she's friend with the Hokage since childhood, has a daughter Mayu(ri) who's married to Sarutobi's eldest (who I named Shūhei, because), and that she hates Danzō's guts (who doesn't?).

Konohamaru's parents, as I checked, were only mentioned for their deaths during their ANBU career (I suspect a Danzō plot somewhere but sadly I'll never know) when Konohamaru was four/five-ish and had no names, so here's my own twist to their story. I love messing with canon families, really. It the essence of OC-inserts.

(About Chieko's father, he's like Mayuri: an OC messing clan genealogy up.)

Please review and thus let me know your opinions about the story!

Kisses and Nanabooks out.