A/N - Apologies for the extra long wait for this chapter. I was worrying about some pacing/structure issues so decided to write Chapter 6 and Chapter 7 and then edit them together, so although there's been a long silence, I'll be posting Chapter 7 within the next week. It needs a little more editing than this one and I'm probably going to send a couple of scenes back to my beta for a second read-through, but hopefully I'll be posting it in the next few days.

"Iruka-kun has the book?" Yua said. She laughed. "The world is so neat sometimes, isn't it?"

"What the fuck is going on here?" Tenzou demanded.

The whole situation had spiralled out of his understanding. Go Yua was somehow at the root of this, even though she was a civilian. Miho had betrayed them, but she was standing in the doorway with her hands clamped over her mouth as though she was as shocked as Tenzou. The only thing that made sense was the name Hiwatari Asuka. Tenzou knew that name – Asuka was a genius seals master who had lived in Konoha until six years ago.

"Oh, come on," Yua said. She was leaning back comfortably in the chair, unconcerned that three ANBU were on edge and focused on her. "It isn't so hard to figure out. There's no great mystery, no plot twist. I suppose you're missing some of the crucial details, but if you figure out the first piece I'll help you fill in the blanks." She tilted her gaze to Kawaguchi. "You can't be completely clueless. Miho tells me you're good at this sort of thing."

"Answer one question," Kawaguchi said. "Are you the one who brought Miho back?"

"I'll give you a clue." Yua stopped suppressing her chakra. She was shinobi. More than that, Tenzou recognised the signature – it felt the same as Miho's newly acquired chakra signature.

"You made the seals," Kawaguchi said, gaze flicking between the two women.

"Wait a minute," Tenzou said. He looked over at Jun, who was standing next to his wife. They were both very tense, expressions drawn and fearful. "You told us your daughters were both chakra-dead. Did you lie to us?"

"No," Kawaguchi said. His voice had taken on the distracted tone that Tenzou knew meant his brain was whirring at speeds he'd first seen in Kakashi and knew he'd never manage if he tried for the rest of his life. "Go Yua is dead."

Fuyu cried out and rose from the armchair. "No, you're wrong. She's not dead, she was taken."

Yua cut a smile at Kawaguchi. "Of course she isn't dead," she said soothingly. "How like ANBU to jump straight to the worst case scenario. You two." She turned to Jun and Fuyu. "You're cluttering up the room. Go wait upstairs."

Tenzou almost told them to stay, but stopped himself. He didn't know what was happening, and while there was any possibility of danger, he couldn't let them be caught in the middle of it. He caught Jun's eye and nodded, and Jun ushered his wife hurriedly from the room.

As the tramp of their footsteps carried up the stairs, Kawaguchi said, "Why don't you drop the henge?"

And something clicked in Tenzou's mind. Aina had said that her family had changed after Asuka had left town. Seal masters were good at high level henges.

"You're Hiwatari Asuka," he said.

Asuka looked delighted at the revelation. "Bingo! But I'd prefer to keep the henge. It's quite nice being a pretty young thing again."

"You kidnapped Jun's daughter so she'd help you with the seals," Kawaguchi said. "And you took her place so that you could stay in town without anyone realising."

Miho stepped forwards and finally let her hands drop from their grip over her mouth.

"You killed me."

Asuka sighed impatiently. "Yes, yes, we've already had this conversation. Don't start that again."

There was something off about how easily Miho dropped the subject, but Tenzou couldn't focus on it. Sitting in front of him was the person who'd drawn the knife over Miho's throat and she was smiling.

Kawaguchi moved first, knife drawn, a quick movement that brought him into striking range before Miho grabbed his arms and dragged him back. Asuka watched the thwarted attack with something like amusement, and Tenzou seized her moment of distraction to cast a jutsu. Branches snapped out of the rocking chair and whipped around her, pinning her in place.

"Ow, Miho, what the fuck?" Kawaguchi snapped. She'd twisted his arms behind his back and was holding him still with little apparent effort, despite Kawaguchi's struggles. "Let go!"

Miho was staring down at him with the same perplexed expression she'd worn when she'd told Asuka who had the book.

"I can't," she said slowly, as though puzzling out the solution to a problem. "If I let you go, you'll try and hurt her again, and I can't let you do that."

"Such an obedient pet," Asuka said. "Don't blame Miho, she can't help it. It's written in the seals."

Tenzou looked between them. Kawaguchi had stopped struggling and Asuka wasn't attempting to break free of her bonds If Miho was being controlled by the enemy, each side currently had a captive.

"How?" Kawaguchi asked, voice tight with pain. "How are you controlling her?"

Asuka shrugged. "She does what I tell her. It's not that difficult to grasp."

"But you didn't say anything!"

"If you're told to protect your target on a mission, do you stop bothering after the first attempt on his life? I gave her some very specific instructions before I told her to forget everything. And it's interesting, isn't it, that she still obeys even though she's forgotten the commands." The last sentence was murmured, Asuka's sharp eyes fixed on Miho like she was a specimen in a lab. It made Tenzou's skin crawl.

Still, the solution was obvious. They didn't know what Asuka had already instructed Miho to do, but Tenzou could stop her from issuing any more commands. He raised his hands, ready to use another wood jutsu to gag her.

"If Tenzou tries anything, kill Kawaguchi," Asuka said.

Tenzou froze.

"I wouldn't," Miho said, eyes wide and horrified.

"Of course you would. Let me prove it."

"No," Tenzou said loudly, but he couldn't move, could only stand and watch.

"Break one of his bones," Asuka instructed. "I don't care which one. Dealer's choice."

Miho wrenched up one of Kawaguchi's arms, pulling him back against her chest. He tried to use the moment to free himself, but couldn't break her grip. She held him by the wrist, an elbow digging into his chest to keep him pinned against her, and then grasped his little finger in her other hand and bent it back. The crack was audible.

"Fuck," Kawaguchi gasped.

"I'm sorry," Miho said. Her voice trembled. She stared at Kawaguchi's finger, which was sticking back at an impossible angle.

"You see?" Asuka asked, and it took Tenzou a moment to tear his gaze away from his teammates and back to her. She was smiling at him, perfectly composed. "Now let me go or I'll have her snap his neck."

There was no choice. Tenzou made the signs and the branches retreated back into the smooth wood of the rocking chair. Asuka wriggled into a more comfortable position.

"Much better," she purred. "Now that you all understand the situation, let's get down to business. I have a proposition for you. You see, we actually have a common aim."

"Yeah, I love being maimed," Kawaguchi muttered. "How did you know?"

"You've probably heard my name before," Asuka said. "I was the best seals master Konoha had until I left the village and started travelling. About two years ago I was in Water Country and heard the stories about the Go family, that a man had resurrected his wife and the seals he'd used to do it were written down in a book. Could anything be more fascinating? I tracked down the book and stole it, but discovered I couldn't read it. I spent a lot of time doing what research I could and attempting to track down Go Kin's son."

"But Jun wouldn't help you," Tenzou said.

"No," Asuka said shortly. "His father never taught him the code, but I knew he could be helpful. He had a knowledge of the specialist Mist seals that I didn't. I tried asking nicely at first, but eventually he left me with no choice but to resort to more drastic measures. Yua is currently hidden away in the wilderness, and I'll return her once I've successfully completed the experiment."

Tenzou glanced at Miho. Wasn't she a successful experiment? He couldn't imagine what more Asuka could want.

"Bullshit," Kawaguchi said. "Keeping someone alive out there is too much trouble, especially when you needed fresh corpses to practice your seals. She was your first kill, and then you hid the body so you could keep using Jun."

"An interesting theory," Asuka said mildly. "But, really, Yua's fate is beside the point."

"What happened to you?" Miho blurted out. "I had friends who respected you. People were sad when you left Konoha."

"It's been six years. People change. But this is also beside the point."

"What do you want?" Tenzou asked.

"I want Miho to be a functioning being in her own right," Asuka said. "Don't get me wrong, it's lovely having a pet ANBU captain, but my aim isn't to create zombie slaves. I want to give her a functioning chakra system so that she can mould and restore her own chakra, and I want to free her from my influence."

There was a silence.

"You want to cure me?" Miho asked. "Then why bother killing me in the first place? This is my life you're fucking about with!"

"It won't cure you," Asuka said flatly, all traces of amusement gone now. "You won't be alive. You'll be better than alive. Wounds won't hurt you, you won't age or get sick, you'll be strong and fast and hardly anything will have the power to kill you. It's an honour that you get to be the prototype."

"Prototype," Kawaguchi repeated, voice strained, but Tenzou spoke over him.

"You're asking us to help you?"

"I need that book back or I can't start modifying the seals. All my notes are written inside it. I spent a while experimenting with Miho before you came back, but now I'm ready to reclaim what's mine and get on with my work. I'm taking her and Jun to Konoha with me, but I could use a couple of ANBU to help me out."

"You want us to work for you," Tenzou said numbly.

"Only until I complete the experiment and give Miho back her free will. After that I won't need any of you anymore. Think about it," she urged. "I have no plans to cause trouble for Konoha. All I want there is to steal back the book. And if you stay close to me, you can keep an eye on me and make sure I stick to my word."

Tenzou stared at her, conscious that Miho was still holding Kawaguchi and could kill him before Tenzou had taken a step. He was under no illusions that Asuka would let them go if he refused.

"No," Miho said. "It doesn't matter what she does to me, I'm already dead. Tenzou, you'd be a traitor. Do you understand what that means?"

"And because I know you ANBU are prone to violence," Asuka added, "know that the seals link Miho to me completely. If I die, so does she. For real this time."

It could be a bluff, but they both knew it wasn't one Tenzou was willing to risk. His mouth felt dry. Asuka was asking them to commit treason, but if he refused, his team would be destroyed.

"Tenzou," Kawaguchi said quietly, "I'll follow whatever choice you make."

"You can't," Miho insisted. "This goes against everything ANBU stands for!"

For some reason, Tenzou thought of Kakashi, of quiet talks they'd had, and of the story of Team Minato that had slipped out through the cracks.

"Make a choice," Asuka said. "Help Miho or abandon her to me."

Tenzou reached up and took off his mask.

"What do you want us to do?"

Kakashi stood on the walkway around the outside of Iruka's apartment building and leaned against the railing, his back to the street. He'd slipped out while Iruka had been talking to Naruto, certainly not unnoticed but not called back either. Maybe it was cowardly, leaving Iruka to explain, but Kakashi wasn't good at comforting crying children at the best of times, never mind now.

Secretly, he was grateful for the distraction. It gave him more time to think. He'd been planning on discussing the whole situation with Iruka as soon as they were alone, but even when he'd told Iruka they needed to talk, he hadn't known what he wanted to say.

The problem was his eye. Iruka hadn't realised, that was clear enough, but ever since Kakashi had remembered that command – let them cut it out – it had been rattling around the edges of his mind. As much as he wanted to ignore it, he couldn't pretend that he didn't know. The words were a constant echo, overlaid with the memory of the pull and slice of the surgery, which came back to him when he least expected it. As he thought of it now, he became conscious of the eyepatch, and had to curl his fingers around the metal railings to stop himself from touching it.

What should he do? He wanted to tell Iruka, to let the fact lie out in the open so that he could see it from another less awful angle, but at the same time he balked at the thought. He could imagine the look on Iruka's face. There was no way to phrase it without the words coming out as an accusation. If he was honest with himself, part of him wanted the confrontation, the blame-laying – he would gain some spiteful satisfaction in seeing Iruka crushed with guilt. Knowing that that part of him existed was enough to clamp his jaw shut, and he wasn't sure if he repressed it to protect Iruka or to protect himself from fully grasping what a vile human being he must be.

Down on the street, there was a shout followed by loud laughter. Kakashi didn't turn to look. He was sure Sandaime wouldn't hesitate in informing his friends and colleagues that he was still alive, now that the decision had been made, but he couldn't know how quickly the news would spread. If he turned to look down, or if one of Iruka's neighbours left their home right now, would they know for sure he wasn't a ghost?

Iruka's front door opened softly, and Iruka stepped over the threshold. He hesitated in the doorway for a moment, and the sight of him made Kakashi feel absurdly guilty. All he wanted was to scoop Iruka into his arms and plant kisses on his face until they both felt better, but he couldn't.

Iruka shut the door behind him and came over to stand beside Kakashi, leaving a distance between them like an open wound.

"How's Naruto?"

"Upset," Iruka said quietly. "Angry. I deserve it. What kind of person am I, to just forget about him? And the way I treated him after you." He swallowed. "Before I brought you back was horrible. I didn't even see it."

"Grief can change the way you see the whole world. He'll forgive you."

Iruka leaned his arms on the railings, staring down at the street.

"I know he will."

There was silence.

"I'm sorry."

Kakashi turned around more fully, but Iruka wasn't looking at him.

"What for?"

"For not healing you properly."

And all of a sudden it struck Kakashi how ridiculous that was.

"You brought me back from the dead and you're apologising?"

Iruka dug his nails into his arms and Kakashi couldn't reach out and gently ease them away.

"I didn't know enough about those seals. I didn't do the right research, I made mistakes, I didn't even understand what I was doing. And because of that you lost your eye and you're not properly alive and you're not happy."

A light gust of wind blew a stray strand of Iruka's hair into his face, where it stuck to his damp eyelashes. Moments ago, Kakashi had been trying to crush the urge to hurt Iruka. Now, he couldn't even understand the concept.

"When I died," Kakashi said quietly, "it was the worst thing that had ever happened to me. More than anything, in that moment, I wanted to survive. I can't begin to explain to you that fear of dying. It became everything I was. And then I opened my eyes and you were there."

Iruka finally looked up at him, blinking hard.

"It's not easy being like this. I won't lie and tell you I'm all right with it. But I would rather be here like this with you than have died for nothing and left you behind."

Iruka reached out very slowly and brushed the pad of his finger lightly against a fold in Kakashi's t-shirt. Kakashi stood very still.

"I never thought I could love anyone this much," Iruka whispered. A stray thread caressed his fingernail.

"Me neither."

Naruto stood in the centre of the lounge and crossed his arms furiously.

"You're kicking me out?"

Iruka tried not to wince. Behind him, Kakashi was skulking in the doorway, trying not to get involved.

"I don't want to send you home, but Kakashi's still sick and I need to look after him."

"I could help!"

"Naruto, I'm sorry."

"You couldn't even look after yourself when you thought he was dead. You didn't eat or sleep or talk to me – you just worked on those stupid seals and then disappeared in the middle of the night!"

"Those seals saved Kakashi," Iruka snapped, suddenly defensive.

Naruto paused his tirade and turned his damp, furious gaze on Kakashi.

"This is all your fault. You made Iruka-sensei sad and you weren't even dead."

"Naruto," Kakashi started.

"Shut up! I don't want to listen to you. I was really sad as well when I thought you were dead, but neither of you care how I feel." He was sobbing angrily now. "I don't want to stay here anyway. You're probably just going to work on those seals again and not tell me what they do."

Iruka didn't deny it, and Kakashi didn't say anything either. Naruto looked between them and then stormed out of the room. There were bangs as he violently gathered his things in his room.

After a moment, Kakashi followed him. Iruka heard his quiet voice and then Naruto's broken sobbing. He sat down on the couch and stared at the floor, waiting. The murmured conversation continued in Naruto's room for a few more minutes, mostly one-sided, and then the door opened and Iruka looked up. Naruto hurried past the doorway without looking in and then came the sound of him stamping into his shoes and the front door slamming. His footsteps pounded away.

Kakashi slipped back around the doorframe.

"He's angry because he loves you. Give it time."

Iruka took a breath and rubbed a hand over his face. "It's fine. If I could tell him the truth, he'd understand why I need to prioritise you right now. When this is all over, I'll fix things. It'll all be fine."

He looked up at a movement from the window, and then a knuckle rapped on the glass. Bear was perched on the wall outside. Iruka got up and opened the window.

"Special delivery," Bear sang as she thrust the book and a file into Iruka's hands. "All your notes are in there."

"Thanks."

Bear leaned her arms on the windowsill. "Sandaime-sama's made the official announcement that Kakashi-san is still alive. We haven't mentioned that he's staying with you, but I imagine that won't stop your friends from figuring it out. Be prepared for visitors as soon as they realise he's not in the hospital."

More interruptions, Iruka thought with a spike of displeasure. When would they end?

"If you need an ANBU for anything, signal from outside your front door. There'll be someone watching."

The tone of voice was neutral, leaving Iruka to interpret whether Bear intended her statement as a comfort or a threat.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said.

Bear moved back out of the window. "See you later, sensei." She let herself fall back and then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

"I think she likes you," Kakashi said.

Iruka snorted, but his focus was now on the book and file in his hands. He strode over to the coffee table and placed them down, rifling through the file first to ensure all his notes were there. His hand stilled.

"What's wrong?"

Some of the notes were splashed with Iruka's blood. The paper was stained brown and crinkled. Kakashi tried to peer over his shoulder, and Iruka shoved the papers back in the file.

"It's nothing. Don't look."

Kakashi turned away, but his shoulders tensed.

"Don't do that." His voice was suddenly cold and tight.

"Don't do what?"

"Give me orders."

He was still looking away, and Iruka realised what he'd said.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, Kakashi. I wasn't paying attention." Kakashi still didn't turn, and Iruka realised that he couldn't. "You can look."

Kakashi turned back. He was still wearing his mask and Iruka wished he'd take it off.

"It's OK." It wasn't OK. Iruka knew that tone of voice. "But you need to pay attention to what you're saying. I know you don't mean to, but you work in a school. You're used to giving orders and they come too naturally. That's dangerous now."

"Dangerous? I understand why you find it upsetting, but it's not like I'd ever tell you to do something you really didn't want."

Kakashi looked over towards the kitchen and was silent for a moment. Iruka restrained himself from grabbing the mask and tugging it down.

"You wouldn't intentionally," Kakashi said. "But I don't think the seals are programmed to understand sarcasm or irony or figures of speech."

It took a moment for Iruka to digest that. Break a leg. Shoot the messenger. Cut it out. Something itched at the back of his mind, but then Kakashi spoke again and his train of thought disintegrated.

"Pay attention to how you phrase things and we should be fine."

"I will," Iruka said. "I promise. And you know I'll never do it on purpose, right?"

"I know."

Kakashi sat down on the sofa, at the far end from where Iruka was sitting on the floor.

"I think there are rules to it."

"Rules?"

"Yesterday you told me not to touch you," Kakashi said. Iruka remembered the moment, when Kakashi had touched him in his sleep and the seals had started draining his chakra. "I think it's still affecting me."

"How can you tell?"

Kakashi tapped a finger against his jaw as he thought. "When you tell me to do things, it's not like my body moves against my will. Your orders become what I want to do, so strongly that I can't possibly fight it. But I've noticed that with some things, it only lasts for a moment, like when you told me to take off the eyepatch, and then it's like the spell is broken and I'm free again."

"But you still feel like that about touching me?"

Kakashi nodded. "I think it's to do with whether the order is an ongoing or complete action. Saying 'don't touch me' doesn't have a time limit, so it'll keep affecting me until you say otherwise. But if you tell me to sit down, I can complete the action, so once I'm sitting I'm then free to stand up again if I want to."

Iruka considered that and gnawed at the inside of his cheek. It seemed even more dangerous now that he knew commands could stay active, hidden under the surface, to be forgotten about, or go unnoticed until a certain situation arose.

"Shit," he said softly. "Do you want me to take it off you? The no touching rule."

"No, not yet. That one's probably for the best until you have enough chakra. Which reminds me. You said that the seals sucked out your chakra to fill my system and power my body, right?"

"Right. But you have more natural chakra than me so even if it had fully drained me, it wouldn't have been enough to make you feel normal."

"Does that mean that once I've taken enough chakra from you to stop me being depleted, I'll be able to use your chakra like it's mine?"

Iruka hesitated. "I don't know. If you do, your system won't be able to restore itself. I'd have to constantly give you more of my chakra."

This time, Iruka didn't need to see beneath the mask to know that Kakashi looked extremely displeased.

"Right," he muttered. "That's what I thought."

It must be awful, Iruka considered guiltily. To have no usable chakra, no bodily functions – not even true free will.

"I'll fix it," he said. "I'll fix everything. I just need to study for a while and then I'll mend the seals and everything will be all right again."

Kakashi looked at him. "I hope so."

"I'll start now."

Iruka stood up and collected a pen and a notebook, then curled his legs under him on the floor again.

"First I want to make a list of all the symptoms so I know what I need to fix."

He started scribbling bullet points, speaking aloud so that Kakashi could chime in to correct or add to anything. No need to eat or sleep. Organs not functioning. Chakra system not functioning independently. Must obey commands. No sensitivity to pain or temperature. Increased strength.

"Why am I stronger?" Kakashi asked. "It's not like my muscles have changed. If anything, shouldn't I be weaker because there's no longer any oxygen flowing to them in my bloodstream?"

"They don't need oxygen anymore," Iruka said. "My best guess is that you no longer have any biological limitations. The human body tries to stop you from overusing your muscles through pain and exhaustion, but you don't feel either of those so you can use your strength to its full capacity. And as a high level shinobi you're pretty strong to begin with. Though I wouldn't recommend getting carried away – if you put too much stress on your muscles, they'll still get damaged."

"I imagine my body won't heal by itself either," Kakashi said.

"Probably not. Let's not test it."

"One more thing," Kakashi added. "I can't sense anyone's chakra except yours. But I can feel yours over longer distances than usual, and even when it's severely depleted."

"Interesting," Iruka muttered. "It kind of makes sense. You use chakra to sense chakra, which is why you can't sense most people, but the seals are attuned to my signature. That one might go away when your system's full. It could just be the seals trying to make you take the rest that you're currently lacking."

"I hope it doesn't go away." Iruka looked at him, and Kakashi passed a hand sheepishly through his hair. "I like knowing where you are."

Iruka smiled and repressed the urge to kiss him. Instead, he stared down at the list he'd made. It was longer than he'd have liked, and there was no guarantee it was complete, but it was a starting point. If he knew what he was looking for, he was better placed to find it than he'd been when he was working blind.

"It's getting late," Kakashi said. "Shouldn't you eat something?"

"But I haven't done anything yet! I'll eat when I've done some real work."

He started pulling his notes back out of the file, trying to keep the bloodstained ones hidden beneath others. Kakashi stood up.

"You're chakra depleted, you have to eat or you'll pass out. I'll cook you something."

"You don't have to."

Kakashi ignored him and went through into the kitchen half of the room and started opening cupboards.

"I'm sure you used to complain that your seals teacher didn't always bother to sleep and eat. Guess you picked up that bad habit after all."

Iruka looked up. "What are you talking about? I didn't even know you when I was Asuka-sensei's student."

"Sure you did." Kakashi glanced back and tapped his arm where his sleeve was covering his ANBU tattoo.

"Oh!" Iruka had been familiar with most of the active ANBU during his younger teenage years, and never for the right reasons. One in particular had taken an interest in him after an incident that still filled Iruka with equal parts pride and embarrassment. "You were Hound?"

"Pretty sure I can't confirm or deny that."

"You're the one I caught in my ANBU trap?"

Kakashi seemed to finally realise he was wearing his mask and tugged it down. He was trying to look put out, but a smile was creeping through.

"Let's not get carried away – if Hound hadn't been chakra drained and injured, you'd never have got one over on him. He was way too cool to be caught out by a thirteen-year-old brat who tried to catch ANBU for fun."

Iruka sat back against the couch, dazed. "It was you. That ANBU who used to follow me around everywhere after Sandaime-sama sent me to study with Asuka-sensei." He put the pen down. "We've known each other for ten years?"

"What can I say, it was love at first trip-wire."

Kakashi closed the fridge and put a hand on his hip.

"Returning to the present for a moment, your kitchen is empty, Iruka. God knows what Naruto was surviving off."

Iruka surfaced from memories of Hound that he was now going to have to furiously re-evaluate, and glanced at the clock. "It's too late to go shopping now. Don't worry about it, I'll just snack."

"I have a better idea." Kakashi grinned at him. "Bet you a thousand yen that if you flutter your eyelashes, Bear will treat you to takeout."

Tenzou gently held Kawaguchi's hand and wound the bandage around his fingers, splinting the broken one by binding it to the ring finger. They were back in the room at the inn, and Miho sat on the opposite bed, hunched over as if trying to make herself as small as possible.

"How's that?" Tenzou asked. "Is it too tight?"

Kawaguchi took his hand back and examined it. "No, that's fine." He looked at Miho. "Did you realise you had some kind of super strength now?"

Miho had been quiet since they'd got back to the inn, but now she raised her head. "What are you talking about? I've always been stronger than you."

"No, look." Kawaguchi picked up his discarded arm guard and held it out so she and Tenzou could see.

The metal was dented where Miho had grabbed Kawaguchi's arm. Tenzou had seen dented armour before – from weapons or chakra-powered high speed attacks. Never from somebody squeezing it too hard.

"My wrists are already bruising," Kawaguchi added. "It felt like I was caught in a vice."

"I'm sorry," Miho said in a small voice. "I didn't know."

"I guess it balances out the fact that you can't use chakra," Kawaguchi mused. "At least now we know to look out for your taijutsu." Miho wrapped her arms tighter around herself. "Hey, I'm just being practical. Stop looking like you kicked a puppy. It's freaking me out."

"I shouldn't even be in here with you," Miho said. "I'm compromised. More than compromised, I'm the enemy."

"No, you're a victim," Tenzou corrected firmly. "Actually, you did very well. It'll only take six weeks tops for Kawaguchi to heal and there's not much room for complications – if you'd broken an arm or a leg we'd be in big trouble."

"But it's his hand," Miho said with all the horror shinobi reserved for hand injuries.

"Then I guess that's the silver lining of working for the enemy," Kawaguchi drawled. "I probably won't need to fight for a while. Oh, come on, Miho, stop it. It doesn't even hurt that much anymore."

Tenzou had also administered a painkiller jutsu, although he wasn't sure how strong it really was. If Kawaguchi was in a lot of pain, though, he was hiding it well.

Kawaguchi crossed to the other bed and sat down next to Miho. She tried to lean away but Kawaguchi put his good arm around her shoulders and pulled her close against his side.

"Stop worrying about us. Let us take care of you for once, Captain."

"I'm not worth this," Miho said. "Don't you understand what you're doing? There aren't any extenuating circumstances for betraying the village. You'll be locked away for the rest of your lives. Depending on how bad this gets, maybe even executed."

"Only if someone finds out," Tenzou said softly.

Miho stared at him. "You've lost your mind! How could anyone not find out? We're heading back to Konoha tomorrow morning – in three days, we'll be surrounded by people who know we're not supposed to be there. Even if you don't get caught, ANBU will figure it out. Best case scenario, you live the rest of your lives as missing nin."

"I know all of that," Tenzou said. And he did. It was all he'd thought about since Asuka had told them to prepare for the journey and get some sleep. "And I don't intend to let us do anything that will compromise Konoha or anyone's life. If she orders us to kill Iruka-sensei and take the book, I won't do it, and I won't let you do it if she tries to make you. The way I see it, if we stick close to her we have a better chance of protecting not only you, but anyone else who gets involved."

Miho relaxed a little. "I suppose that makes sense, but you can't let her have the book. If you kill or arrest her before then, you won't be punished."

Tenzou and Kawaguchi exchanged a glance.

"We have to give it to her," Kawaguchi said. "To save you. And don't say you're not worth it. You know how I see the village? It's not the political framework or the clans or the bureaucracy – it's the people who live there. So to me it makes no sense to sacrifice an individual for this mythical idea of Konoha, because Konoha is its individuals. Sacrificing you isn't going to save lives. All it'll do is ensure Konoha keeps a fucking book in its possession. You're worth so much more than power and political sway – you do know that, right?"

"But the two of you will still pay for it!"

"We can make our own decisions," Tenzou said. "We have our priorities, and stopping Asuka is one of them – and we will stop her from whatever she has planned – but saving you is more important."

Miho collapsed into Kawaguchi's side and closed her eyes. "What did I do to deserve a team like this?"

"You made us this way," Tenzou said. He smiled. "Good job, Captain."

Later, when Miho had returned to her room, Tenzou looked up from where he was packing his clothes and asked, "How certain are you that Go Yua is dead?"

"Almost completely," Kawaguchi said. "It doesn't make any sense to keep her alive, it's too much hassle. And it isn't like Asuka needs a living hostage anyway. Killing Yua just proves how serious she is about her threats – if Jun found out, well, he has another daughter and a wife. Asuka has nothing to lose by killing Yua, and a lot to gain for not having to care for a prisoner."

"Do you think Aina-san is in danger because she spoke to us?"

"Probably no more than she already was. Asuka said she'd been waiting for us – she wanted us focused on the Go family. She was playing a game with us to give Miho time to find out about the book."

Tenzou leaned against the wardrobe and frowned. "What I don't understand is if Asuka had ordered Miho to find out where the book was, why didn't Miho ever ask us about it?"

Kawaguchi was lying on his bed, idly watching Tenzou, his good hand pillowed beneath his head. "She couldn't ask about something she wasn't supposed to know about. Asuka must have figured we'd mention it and told her to ask questions when the subject came up. That way it's much more natural."

"I have a theory," Tenzou said slowly.

"Yeah? About what?"

"I think maybe Miho's the one who stole the book and left it for us." Kawaguchi propped himself up on an elbow, interested. "Jun-san had too much to risk, but Miho had nothing to lose. And she'd have come into contact with it when Asuka brought her back. But if Asuka set up some base commands she had to obey, she probably forbid Miho from coming back into town or trying to contact us."

"So she'd have to leave it somewhere else she knew it would be found," Kawaguchi said. "Yeah, that sounds plausible. It's the kind of thing Miho would do."

Tenzou abandoned the packing and perched on the edge of Kawaguchi's bed.

"What really bothers me is that Miho's right," he said. "She's a threat to us now, and we have to remember that. Asuka could have set up any sort of trigger. If we say or do the wrong thing, Miho might attack us."

"I don't think Miho will complain if we don't discuss everything in front of her. We shouldn't anyway – Asuka will definitely make her give status reports on our conversations."

Tenzou sighed. "So what are we going to do?"

"Play it by ear." Tenzou gave him an incredulous look and Kawaguchi chuckled and bumped him with his knee. "Careful or your face will stick that way. There's nothing else we can do, Tenzou. She's got her own plans and she's smart. Plus, she's twice our age, even though she doesn't look it right now – she's got a hell of a lot more experience under her belt. Don't drop your guard because she's a chuunin. Hell, she could be tokujo level by now. Everything I know about her is six years out of date, and it was all second hand info in the first place."

"So we wait until she has a knife at our throat, then come up with a plan," Tenzou said dryly.

"No, we wait until just before."

"And when will that be?"

He'd meant the question to be sarcastic but Kawaguchi answered him seriously.

"After we get the book and before she cures Miho. Before that point, we need to have some leverage because that's when we stop being useful and become a threat."

Tenzou didn't need to ask what Asuka would do then.

"There's one more problem with the timeframe," he said. "By now the Hokage will have got the message I sent and know what's happened to Miho, but we won't be around when his reply gets here. If he orders us to return or even to keep up constant communications, he's going to realise very quickly that something's happened."

"How long can it take to steal a book from a chuunin? That reminds me, Asuka spoke like she knew him. She called him Iruka-kun."

Tenzou felt again the niggling suspicion he'd heard Asuka's name mentioned recently outside the case.

"They're both seals masters, so maybe…" It came back to him, a throwaway comment from before Miho's funeral. "Oh! Asuka was Iruka's teacher. I remember now, Sandaime-sama mentioned her when we gave Iruka the book."

Kawaguchi hummed and tapped a finger against his jaw.

"Maybe that could work in our favour."

"How?"

"I'm not sure yet. Best not to try and overthink it."

Tenzou raised an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you the one who always has some genius plan?"

"You'd be horrified if you knew how often I wing it and hope for the best."

"Thanks, that really inspires me with confidence." Tenzou sighed and stood up. "Come on, you need to pack too. We're leaving early in the morning."

Kawaguchi made a face but pushed himself into a sitting position.

"And I thought the journey to Konoha was boring before. Three days of playing I Spy with a sociopath is going to get old really quickly."

Tenzou smiled grimly and checked the chest of drawers for anything he'd forgotten.

"Planning to weaken Asuka's defences with mind-numbing travel games?"

"Don't underestimate the power of passive-aggressive word games. I could probably break a man's spirit after all these years I've spent practising on you."

Three days. That's how long it would take them to reach Konoha. Once they were inside the village walls, everything would really begin. They'd have to find a way to tip back the balance of power, and every move they made would have to be improvised. It should have made Tenzou nervous, but there was too much riding on this to consider failure.

"We'll take her down in Konoha," he said. "If there's a way to save Miho and get out alive, we'll find it there."

Kawaguchi nodded and grinned.

"See you in three days, Konoha."