Chapter 7

"She – is – a – genin!"

The woman's nostrils flared in anger and her black eyes flashed, though she didn't go so far as to reach her hands out of the sleeves of her sakura-patterned kimono.

"I was under the impression that you were a jonin-level nin." She continued icily, "But if you are so incompetent that you struggle to catch a mere genin, maybe you are a shinobi worthy only of the same rank. Added to the fact that you left behind a body! Have I not trained you enough?! You know better than to leave behind a body! Konoha's medical nin are incredibly perceptive when it comes to extracting information."

The fire-haired girl on one knee before her grimaced visibly at these verbal barbs, bowing her head. "Chiyome-sama please, I beg of you –"

"No!" the older woman cut her off sharply, "Do not beg, Rumika-san. It is unbecoming of a kunoichi."

Rumika dipped her head in apology. "Forgive me Chiyome-sama, we were unprepared and luck was not on our side. When Mifune fell it would have been difficult to retain her body. I chose to rescue Hikari, since the interrogation department will have a much harder time torturing something out of a corpse rather than a living person. As for the girl . . . her teammates were more skilled than I had planned. And . . ."

"And what?" Chiyome demanded when the girl hesitated.

"And the chakra was extraordinarily powerful."

Chiyome's eyes narrowed. "You mean the chakra that killed Mifune?"

Rumika nodded, lifting a hand to her burned cheek where the inflamed red skin still had not begun to heal. "I'm not certain . . . but I think it could be the Kyuubi's chakra."

Chiyome let loose a hissing sound. "Impossible!" she glanced down at Rumika then clicked her tongue thoughtfully, "But if it were true . . . no. We will need more information on this before we make a move. But first I must find and train a replacement for Mifune. She was from Iwa, yes? Pity she's dead, but Iwa is usually one of our most productive villages." She motioned for Rumika to rise. "You were of Iwa, weren't you?"

"Kiri, my Lady." Rumika corrected, pushing herself to her full height which was quite lofty, though still a few inches shy of Chiyome's traditional black wig.

"Ah yes," Chiyome nodded, remembering, "Well, it matters not. I want you to contact our Konoha relation; tell her to keep an eye on the Hokage's child. If it is as you say and she has the Kyuubi's chakra, than perhaps our operation may become slightly less complicated . . . provided I have nin who are capable of capturing a genin." She shot a rather reproachful look at Rumika.

"It won't happen again, Chiyome-sama." The girl muttered in promise. Chiyome nodded, sailing out the door of the room ahead of Rumika

"I should hope not."

….

Himawari swung her legs off the edge of her chair, careful not to kick her father's desk by accident.

"And then you blacked out?" Naruto asked, tapping his prosthetic index finger on the desk in thought.

Himawari nodded, having repeated the story of their mission to her father once again. Konohamaru stood at Naruto's left shoulder and Nara Shikamaru at his left, the latter watching her with an air of jaded curiosity, and she was reminded of the differences between him and his son. Shikadai was cocky and rather lazy despite his natural intelligence, and when he bothered himself to speak his voice was loud and usually his words were quite blunt.

The father preferred to watch things in unintelligible silence, and that was her only impression of Nara Shikamaru, though she'd been told that he was the smartest living shinobi in the ninja world.

His watching shifted to Naruto, who was busy chewing the inside of his cheek. The uncomfortable silence of the Hokage thinking was broken by a sharp rap on the office door and the prompt opening of said door.

"You called for me, Hokage-sama?" Moegi asked, taking in the scene with slight confusion. It was plain to see she had no idea what she'd been called in for. "Oh hey Konohamaru!" she brightened upon seeing her old teammate. This particular teammate coughed into his sleeve to hide the tinge of pink in his cheeks and murmured something that sounded like a sufficient greeting. This was not missed by Shikamaru, who smirked appropriately.

"Hm? Oh yeah." Naruto replied, as if he was only just now remembering that he'd asked for Moegi. "I had a few questions about Bolt."

Moegi, who had always been quick on the uptake, flicked her gaze from Naruto to Konohamaru to Himawari and her look of confusion was replaced by one of comprehension.

"He hasn't had problems with the Kyuubi's chakra, if that's what you mean. Why? Has something happened with Himawari?"

Training. That was what came after the day in the Hokage's office. Training to subdue the Nine-tails, to force it into submission, to control it.

Mostly, this consisted of meditating. Every day for three months, Naruto found time to sit with his daughter in the woods in silence while she concentrated on squashing the offending chakra. Himawari noticed that during these meditation sessions, her father almost always ended up with orange rings around his eyes, though she never felt the need to ask him about it.

Naturally, with Himawari receiving special training from the Hokage, Sarada hated her all the more. Because it was obviously the result of Himawari's ties to the head of the Leaf and the renowned Hyuuga clan, rather than the fact that she had a great evil living inside her that posed threat to the entire village.

Bolt was jealous at first, but after realizing that he could control the Kyuubi's chakra while the genius Himawari could not was a source of great egoism on his part. More, perhaps, than was healthy.

Himawari could not control the chakra in the true sense of the word, but by the time Naruto had taught her all there was to know, Kurama lay dormant inside her, never flaring, never showing itself. At times she could almost forget it was there.

And it would not trouble her again for two whole years.

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-oldsoul