Authors Note: Go to my Deviantart account for my journal updates, I put up more information about and will answer questions there. On another note, this is the last chapter of part two if The Other Daughter. Enjoy or not.
Also, part Three shall be submitted over Christmas break if I don't get more time. I'm busy with school and other projects, so this is an announcement of a Hiatus of the uploading sorts here on …
The next part shall be called 'What Daughters Know' and conclude the story of Kiritsu and the gang. There will be plot twists and unexpected surprises.
Chapter 15: Granny Gets Told!
Kiritsu looked up in surprise when a messenger tapped on the study door. *
"Come in." She called, eyes going back to the page of her book. It was getting good, and she was looking foreword to the next chapter.
"Kiritsu-sama," He said. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but Chiyo-Baasama wishes to speak with you."
'That ancient elder rarely leaves her house, let alone wishes to see someone.' She raised an eyebrow. "Take me to her then."
Following the messenger, she was absentmindedly playing with her bangs, wondering if she should do something with her hair-
"Finally you show up." The Elder's voice drifted to her.
She shrugged as the errant messenger ran away. "Sorry, but me and Gaara've been having trouble getting good messengers…"
The older woman seemed distracted, moving behind her desk and pulling something out of her desk.
"Its been a long time since I've been alone with you… This meeting should have happened years ago." She said, sighing. "But the Yondaime Kazekage requested you not know the events of your coming to the Sand Village."
"Okay…" She'd never admit it, but there was a jolt in her stomach.
Moving her hands, the woman held up a forehead protector with the Otogakure eight note on it, and it seemed familiar to her somehow.
"The person that left you behind, now assumed to be your mother, left this behind." The elderly woman said. "According to Tomoe Matsuri anyway…"
Feeling weak, she took the offered seat.
"When the sound-nin gave me a strange respect… I had my thoughts…" She muttered, wanting to just let off some steam. 'The nerve of them…' "Anything else?"
"Traces of Sasori and Orochimaru, which means your mother might've had connections with Akatsuki, or her headband traveled around a lot."
"Was there any other chakras found in the cloth?" She asked.
The elder went over multiple possibilities, making Kiritsu feel gradually more ill as she continued.
Still feeling ill by late lunch, Kiritsu played with her food while the others at the table gave her varying concerned looks, but knew better than to ask. Even when Kankuro or Gaara -the ones that Kiritsu spoke to most often- asked her about what bothered her, they'd get shut out for a few hours and still not discover the problem.
With a sigh, she did her best to pay attention during the council meeting.
"There have been sightings of Sound ninja by our borders…" Gaara said. "I have decided to send one of our Special-Jonin out on a mission to check on the situation over a week and report back to me…"
"Only one? Kazekage-sama, isn't it wiser to send a squad?" One elder piped up, others making approving or disapproving motions.
"This mission is made for stealth, and since this Jonin is attempting to get into ANBU, being successful at this kind of mission would be a decent mark on their application…" He had determination and a 'don't argue with me' tone in his voice, and no one disagreed.
"Who is this Jonin?"
He sighed. "Those going into ANBU have secret identities… I have discussed this mission with them before, and they accepted it."
Kiritsu nodded to herself, and Kankuro gave her a look. "Miira, you alright?"
She took a deep breath. "I'm better now…. You'd be flying over Suna if I wasn't."
He smirked at her joke, Temari snorting.
"Meeting adjourned…" Gaara sealed his scrolls and books. "Kiritsu, will you join us for dinner since you barely touched your lunch?"
"Sure."
They were left alone.
"Kiritsu-chan… even though this mission will bring you close to Sasuke, you can only observe him from afar unless he approaches you first…" He said calmly, and she smiled.
"Thanks for the early present Panda-chan." She joked, hugging him. "I needed to get away from my other duties before I became your personal lap dog anyway…"
"I'm sure ANBU won't be too different from your other duties…" He said, looking at the one golden-brown eye that looked normal.
"Oh, stop trying to disenchant me into that Lazy-Ass's opinionated level…" She let him go and walked to her room, prepared to pack before dinner.
Wearing her modified Chuunin vest and arm bracelets over her long undershirt's sleeves, traveling pack firmly strapped to her back, she had the Byakugan activated in her right eye. She's intercepted one of Kabuto's letters to her, and the direction it came from helped her figure out where she was going.
She came across a cave structure on the border between the Iwagakure and Sunagakure that seemed to have been renovated into a prison. Briefly, she considered going over the structure and enter from above, when she saw two prisoners sparring.
A giant of a teen with fiery orange hair and a much slighter boy with white hair was all she could see.
White-hair laughed as he slashed at the other with a sword. "Try harder Juugo! You can't beat me like this."
Kiritsu snorted, noting the almost playful way the white-haired one fought as the larger dodged and ducked, and the somewhat disinterested look on the other's -Juugo?- face. It reminded her of Niisan and Panda-chan sparring.
"Suigetsu, I told you that I didn't want to spar…" He preformed a flip to avoid him, not attacking.
"You agreed to spar while Orochimaru and Kabuto were touring Sasuke-kun around the prison…" He said, angrier the longer he didn't land a blow. "Karin'll try and rape him I-"
Unexpected to the white-haired boy -Suigetsu?- and Kiritsu, Juugo landed a hard (crunching) punch in Suigetsu's side, not reacting when Suigetsu groaned in pain.
"I told you I didn't want to fight…" He picked up Suigetsu and carefully carried him towards the entrance.
'Better idea than going through the ceiling.' She thought, performing a henge and jumping in front of them, wearing the Oto-Nin uniform and sporting short, black hair, and tan skin. Her eyes were her normal gold, just in both optics.
"I have a curse seal and am just poking around for answers…" She said calmly, adopting a childlike tone and holding up her hands.
Juugo looked sad. "When were you marked?"
"I believe now to be born like this…" She said, preparing herself to make a hand sign or pull out a weapon. "Just let me…"
He held out a hand, using just one shoulder to support the (almost) forgotten body of Suigetsu. "I was used to make the cures mark."
'No way…' She thought, and she shrugged. "I can wake him up with healing if you get me inside…"
"Deal."
Walking the halls, she remembered the conversation she'd had with Juugo before she left him and Suigetsu, who she found was rather irritating.
"Arigato Juugo-san…" She said, at the doorway. "Now I can go look for answers…"
His expression was unreadable. "This isn't my room… and I'd like you to not go looking for me… for your own safely…"
She shrugged and pointed to her naval, where the curse mark was. "We're family… b-because of this… Let me worry about my own safety…"
Lost in the memory, she didn't realize that she was walking in the same direction as a group of people, until…
"Hey, watch it brat." A young woman with pink-red hair and eyes to match under thick glasses glared at her.
"S-sorry…" SHe said, bowing and backing up.
She made a displeased noise. "Sorry Orochimaru-sama, Kabuto-sama… Sasuke-kun…"
Though worried that Orochimaru or Kabuto would recognize the henge, she looked over to Sasuke.
"Its no problem Karin, she was probably rushing to dinner…" Sasuke said, revealing a slight smirk in Kiritsu's direction. "Speaking of which… would you sit with me Karin? I enjoy our conversations…"
"Kukuku… of course…"
Kiritsu scooted into the shadows, pretending to trip over her feet as she 'ran off', tailing them to dinner. Durring the meal, every glance towards the table Sasuke, Orochimaru, Kabuto, and Karin were at made her smirk.
'Finally Sasuke hit puberty…' She joked to herself.
The meal over, she tailed him walking her back to her room before going to his own, kissing her in a way that made her glad she'd had his first kiss before he got hungry for more…
Walking on the ceiling, she waited for him to shut the door before dropping to the floor and loosing her henge.
"So Uke…" She said to his back. "I like your girlfriend…"
He didn't even react. "I could tell it was you back there… and thanks."
"….."
"How did you get in by the way?"
"Oh… I was let in though the back door because of this." She pulled the hem of the bottom of her shirt away to reveal her curse mark-like birthmark.
"Okay…" He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "So what are you doing here?"
"Research…. And checking on you." She smirked.
"Hn…"
"I've been told by one of the elders of my village that my family had some involvement with Orochimaru…"
"So you're snooping and checking up on me." He snorted. "I can take you to the records room later…"
"Bring your girlfriend so you don't get in the dog house…" She shrugged.
"Fine." He ruffled her hair, walking out if the room and locking the door behind him.
"…. Sasuke… Orochimaru'll get mad if we break curfew…" Karin's whisper floated down the hall.
"He doesn't care…" Sasuke snorted, pulling her along behind him. "Besides, this is more important than what he thinks…"
"Remind me why this friend is so important?"
He sighed. "This is that strange girl I told you about…"
"…" Her eyes widened. "Oh…"
"So don't freak out or do anything annoying in front of her, I really doubt that she has any ulterior motives and its embarrassing when you get defensive about us…"
She nodded mutely, and they arrived at the door.
Slipping inside, she looked foreword to see a very small person standing on the ceiling in front of her.
"You're Karin? Its nice to meet you… I'm Kiritsu." She held out a hand, grinning, her strange facial marking standing out now that her mask was removed.
"… So your clan's abilities were used to make the curse seal?" Karin asked later, looking through some of the records in the prison's catacombs with Sasuke's help.
"According to my sources…" Kiritsu looked through another scroll, pausing to see a certain line of text. "… 'a premature girl with purple-black skin and strange black markings on her skin other than the ones she was given(-the curse mark-) was born on July 23, the year after the attack of the Kyuubi in Konoha. Though her mother was a Otogakure medic- Hey, I'm really almost fourteen…'
"So that means you might've…" Before the older girl finished her thought, Sasuke grabbed the pair and pulled them away from the rooms.
When she came to her senses, Kiritsu realized they were back in Sasuke's room. "Wha-"
Sasuke turned to her, face unreadable. "Kabuto was down there. You'd better leave now or risk fighting me on your way out."
She nodded, grabbing her bag. "Be careful Uke-kun, everybody hates you back home!"
Quickly, she ran out the door and down towards the exit as fast as she could.
Karin gave Sasuke a smirk. "Uke huh? Oh Sasuke-kun, does this mean I get to have some fun?"
"No." He said, and she shrugged.
"Until then… I guess I'll just keep calling you Uke-kun-"
He grabbed the tops of her arms and shoved her back against the wall, kissing her soundly, making her smirk.
"Well, this fun enough?" He ground out.
"Nope…"
Kankuro gave Kiritsu a bewildered look while Gaara remained blank-faced.
"Let me get this straight…Sasuke has a girlfriend… and you're really only a little over a year younger than Gaara and the others?" Kankuro said, a little amazed.
"Apparently." Kiritsu smiled and held up the scroll. "See for yourself…"
While the two read the papers, she began to nod off on the counter, leaning heavily against it. Without warning, she leaned too far to one side and began to fall towards the floor, sand catching her before she fell.
"…..!" Her eyes shot open even wider when Gaara appeared from the sand, carrying her bridal style.
He shook his head. "You're exhausted… tell us about your mission in the morning…"
"B-but… I need to tell you about the mission… and fill out a mission report… and go to the registry office to apply again…."
"In the morning…" He said calmly. "That's an order."
She crossed her arms over her chest with an irritated look. "Hm."
Silently, he took her to her room and put her in bed, closing the door quietly to see Kankuro waiting. Leaning against the wall, the older boy looked like he was just standing there, but Gaara knew it wasn't the case.
"You know how obvious it is, don't you?" He said, looking sideways at his brother with a smirk.
He sighed. "She's young and strong… she can find her own way without me…"
"That's bullshit and you know it. She's been apart of our family unofficially for years, and no one except your fan girls would mind if you actually tried-"
"She deserves better."
"You're the Kazekage and her closest friend-"
"I'm a monster Kankuro."
He shook his head. "When are you going to stop thinking that way?"
"….." He looked at his brother with an empty expression. "I will always be a monster Kankuro… no matter what I do or say…"
"That's your opinion…" He shrugged. "Bro.. I'm not sure how to convince you that its okay to care about someone romantically. Naruto has a girlfriend-"
"That's different. Naruto hasn't done anything to Hinata or the people of his village to deserve the title I wear…"
He made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. "I guess all I have left to say to you about this tonight is this:…"
Gaara raised the part of his forehead where his eyebrows would've been.
"She may not see it or think of it this way, but the bond you two have is different than any other one she has… And you deserve it no matter what you think…"He rubbed the back of his head and walked down the hall, going into his room and shutting the door with a dull thud.
Gaara stood in the silent hallway for a few moments before turning to sand and going to his office. He had some forms to look over and fill out.
A few months later, Kiritsu raced through the forest towards another base, wincing as her right shoulder burned, the porcelain mask a raccoon with bandaged eyes.
'It was worth it… now Panda-chan can send me wherever and won't be asked twice…' She thought to herself, frowning. 'Nearly Fourteen and an ANBU… they should be intimidated even thought I'm only B-Ranked in the Bingo books… whoever calls me the Kazekage's Doll should burn…'
With a start, she recognized a group of four or five ninjas running through the woods nearby and masked her chakra to the level of a normal squirrel, hiding in the trees as they walked below. Smothering a snarl with her hand, she spotted Kabuto and some other Oto-nin, neither Sasuke or Karin or any of them someone she knew…
"You two go that way, and your two remaining go this way." Kabuto pointed in the directions instructed. "I'll be covering this area."
"Yes Kabuto-sama…" The said, grins tinged with evil as they left him alone.
'Fuuuu-' She thought, knowing that she couldn't avoid him completely. 'Plus… I need to tell him that I've found out plenty without him…'
"Long time no see Kiritsu… or should I say… 'The Kazekage's Doll'. Really… is that a euphemism for-"
She hurled a kunai at his back and got to another tree, hiding best she could in the foliage.
"My friendship with Gaara-kun is none of your business." She said, lightly blushing with irritation. "You've got some nerve coming out here and spying…"
He shrugged, and she felt something pin her to the tree she was leaning against, swearing. "A shadow clone?"
With a smirk, he put her hands over her head, turning her mask to the side so he could see her face. "I'd think that as an ANBU, you'd have better skills than that…"
Grinning, she brought her knee up… to meet air and growl. "What are you doing in the area anyway?"
"Do you really think I'm going to tell you?" He smirked. "Its just a consolation to see you, if you've been wondering…"
"I haven't. I've been busy and found some records about myself… When were you going to tell me about my birthday?"
He shrugged. "I wanted to give you a surprise gift…"
"Oh?" She struggled, unable to bring chakra to her hands when he disabled her wrists. "Just get on with the theatrics and tell me godamnit…"
A slow smile spread across his lips. "Your mother was killed on an ordered hit… you probably would've still had a mother if she hadn't ran off with you and got herself killed… If her killer had been faster, you'd be an Oto-nin instead of a Suna-nin as well…"
"Who ordered the hit?" She demanded, kicking at him again, putting chakra into her calves and thighs to increase the attack's power.
"Your father." He said calmly.
Before she could demand who her father was and then try to end the white-haired medic, two familiar chakra flairs burned brightly nearby.
"Its so easy to take down those Sound punks with the Giant Rasengan, dattebayo!" Naruto's laugh, slightly deeper, filled her ears, and Kabuto lat go of her, punching her in the gut.
"See ya around Kiritsu…" He whispered, disappearing in a cloud of smoke.
Choking, she dropped to her knees on the tree branch, landing on her side and making pained noises.
Her eyes watered. "God damnit… I'm fucking selfish…"
Someone landed beside her, and a second later, another did.
"Hey, isn't that Kiri-chan?" Naruto kneeled and touched the side of her face. "You okay?"
Jiraiya sighed when Naruto picked up the groaning girl. "What just happened here?"
"Don't know.. But we should get her back to Suna dattebayo."
The pair went to the border and dropped her off at an ANBU checkpoint Jiraiya knew from the old days, telling the ninja there where they found her.
A few hours later, Kiritsu did errands for Gaara in the Kazekage building all day, healing up from her injuries, making a promise to herself.
'I'll discover everything about my family with the help of Gaara and my friends… but it won't be priority. I need to be focused on my ANBU duties, not my personal agenda… Gaara needs me here.'
This chapter went through the most edits out of all of them combined, which is why it took so long. Kiritsu has gone through some changes, go to my DA page and look for when I post the new look for her. Currently, her hair is down to the middle of her back, and her normal eye is gold. Her height is now four-foot-nine. She wears the standard Suna Jonin uniform with her own adjustments, which include a mask that goes up and under her forehead protector, and two armbands on each arm. That is, unless she's in her ANBU uniform, which just means that she has a mask attached to her shirt and her ANBU mask.