XXXIV.
There was a crack of energy that emanated from a single spot and swept outwards.
It traveled long distances, and as it went, set off different chain reactions of events.
One such chain began with an awakening.
An eye slid open, slow and sinuous.
The creature cast her gaze about, checking her surroundings as she gathered her wits. She had been asleep a long time and needed to know where she was and why she was there. By sight alone, she could tell she was in an ape nest. She was nestled beneath some construction of dead tree, hidden from sight by a subtle jutsu woven over her body. Extending her senses further, she tensed at the lack of a signature that should have been there to wake her.
Ah, she thought, it has come to this.
A twinge of disappointment came with the realization.
Though what she sought first was not there, there was someone else there. An old ape was in the nest with her. Old, but not feeble, beginning to come down from peak condition. And its energy was horribly tainted, reminiscent of those she answered to but darker. Warily, she tamped down further on her own energy, to make sure there was no way she would be discovered too soon. He seemed unaware of her presence, and that was good.
There was only one reason why she would wake like this, without the mistress.
Her kind was known for cunning, for stealth, and deadliness.
But there was more to them than that.
Uncoiling, she tensed every muscle in her body in preparation. From where she was under the construct of dead tree, she had the old ape within range. She struck out, clamping down on the closest thing to her. Foot, ankle? Ape parts were hard to remember. Regardless, the second her bite penetrated skin, the ape was dead, he just did not know it yet. She saw him prepare to attack her, tear her off, and quickly self-terminated her connection to this plane.
.
She found herself back in The Nest, amongst the rest of her kin.
"Is it done?" the king asked of her, looming above them all.
They had felt the echoes too, it seemed. They knew what had happened.
"Hai," she declared, raising her head.
Others lifted their heads with hers, hisses of triumph filling the nest.
Above all, they were fierce protectors of their young and always exact in their vengeance.
XXXV.
Fire seared every corner of her brain, and raced down her throat. It sent the woman to her knees.
The children who had been helping her in the kitchen wailed and crowded around her. It was terrible, the burning in her body coupled with their voices. But she bore it, refused to let herself become upset with them. She would never forgive herself if she lashed out at one of them, even if she was in pain.
That never stopped you before.
She drove her clenched fists into her temples.
Suddenly, the pain faded to a dull pulse, and as she looked up, most of the children were gone. Only Urushi-kun was left, his small hands shoving a glass of water and a headache remedy haphazardly into her hands. He hovered at her shoulder, looking for the entire world like he was dying to speak but forcing himself to not do so. It was only after she swallowed the remedy dry and slowly chased it with small sips of water that he seemed to relax.
"You okay, Mother Nonou?"
And surprisingly, yes, she was okay. Better than, in fact. It was strange, it almost felt like something was missing, except it didn't feel like something to be missed.
It took only a moment more to realize what it was that was missing.
Pasting a reassuring smile on her face, she stood and patted Urushi-kun on the head, promising him she was alright. He eyed her somewhat mistrustfully, but shook his head exasperatedly before wandering off. Nonou watched him go, genuine fondness curling into the edges of her smile before it eventually slipped off altogether.
Almost as fast as shunshin, she rushed to find a mirror. When she had it, she opened her mouth wide and yanked her tongue out as far as it would go. To her awe, there were no black lines on it. Just to be sure, she channeled chakra through it. To be even surer, even though it came out awkward because her mouth was still open, she said deliberately to her reflection, "I hate Shimura Danzo. I hate Ne."
There was no flare of punishing pain. And her tongue stayed beautifully, wonderfully pink and unmarked.
It was gone.
A sob broke loose, and the hands that she had used to pull out her tongue for inspection were pressed to her mouth to contain her noises. She allowed herself sometime to adjust to what this meant. To the fact that her fetters were gone. At last she could live the life she chose without others being sacrificed for it.
At the thought of sacrifice, she immediately forced her sobs down.
Quickly scrubbing her face with the backs of her hands and rearranging her glasses, she stood and took a deep breath.
Her seal was gone, but that meant that all of the other operatives were no longer sealed as well. Not all would react to being released like she had. Some at least were autonomous enough that they may be able to go to ground without any trouble.
But the children- Her Kabuto-chan, and all of the others they had taken, they would be so lost. She needed to find them, all of them, and get them somewhere safe. Mentally, she catalogued all of the ones she knew of and where they were supposed to be. Most were still in the village, having been kept down in the compound for training because Danzo was still trying to reproduce the success he had stumbled upon with Operative Hakka.
Nonou's chest constricted at the thought of the girl. There was no way to reach her right now, with her out of the village on a mission. Even then, she knew deep down the girl would never willingly accept her aid. Though Danzo thought her his perfectly loyal creature, she was far more than that. Maybe it was that she had seen a kindred soul in that girl, but her heart was easy to read. What might have been a kind and gentle child had been molded into a killer with a heart full of hate. Hate that Nonou had seen directed at herself in unguarded moments.
No, Hakka would never trust her. She would have to hope that free of Danzo's control, the girl would be able to take care of herself. Or at least, the woman hoped, remembering the girl walking with Namikaze's team and looking for once far from the broken thing she had been made into, someone else would be able to take care of her. For now, all Nonou could focus on was saving the children she could.
XXXVI.
Heavy was the burden of a leader.
Jokingly, he would say that it was the mountains of paperwork that made it so. Saying that wouldn't be without some truth.
But the greatest burden of a leader, if they so chose it, was the responsibility leadership came with. He chose to bear it, and it was both his greatest joy and torture to hold himself so responsible for the lives of his people. To rejoice in their successes and grieve for their losses.
As he looked at the many reports scattered across his desk, he knew it was a day to grieve.
The report sent ahead from the Kusa front was the first to reach him. Though the battle was deemed a win with the defeat of the enemy, the tally of Konoha ninja dead made his heart sink. There had been no way to anticipate Iwa sending one of their jinchuuriki to weaken their forces at the beginning so that they could be easily picked off at the end. No way to have even sent them more reinforcements than had.
His gaze slid to the next report, one from his student's student.
Minato's report had followed the one from the front, recounting what had happened there and continuing into what had happened once he had returned to his students. It was no less disheartening. It had been brisk, but even without extraneous detail, he knew how to read between the lines there. It had been success on behalf of the newly promoted Jounin Hatake. But the mission was not without complications. Or casualties. Yet another promising youth dying out on the battlefield. And there would be no chance to reclaim her body and properly honor her anytime soon. She had no clan and had been lost across enemy lines. Like many of their lost ninja, they would only be able to negotiate gathering their dead once the war came to a close. By then, there may be nothing left.
On top of the death, the Uchiha boy had apparently had an eye taken. It would make things difficult for a while. The Uchiha and the Hyuuga would be up in arms about dojutsu theft once more. That was not a council meeting he was looking forward to.
A deeper, more personal grief over took him, as he was reminded of last piece of bad news that had crossed his desk that day. An assassination.
When he was young, he was used to losing friends on the battlefield. Mourning them, avenging them if he could. He was older now, rarely going out of the village, and what friends he still had were the same. As bizarre as it had seemed, all of them had made it to old age, and may have yet died of natural causes.
Danzo had scoffed at that, the one time they'd joked about it over drinks.
And now, well.
It certainly wasn't natural causes that Danzo had died of.
An investigation would need to be conducted. A person of Danzo's political importance as advisor to the Hokage - to him - being killed within the walls of Konoha was serious. There hadn't been an assassination attempt of this level in years. Let alone a successful one in over a decade. And there were already... suspicions about who was responsible.
He needed Jiraiya. He was the only one he could trust with this. A summons would need to go out immediately-
A knock at the door interrupted his planning.
"Enter."
"Hokage-sama," the secretary said as she opened the door, "There is a woman here to see you. She claims she has information concerning Shimura-sama."
Eyes narrowing, he set his mouth in a firm line.
"Send her in."
AN: "We interrupt your previously programmed grief and angst to bring you some well-deserved murder and mystery."
So, hey everyone. Obviously, story's not over yet. Still some ways to go. Thank you so much though, for all of your reviews from the last chapter. The kindness you showed me was so amazing. I have a great support system amongst friends and family, and I am glad to consider all of you in the fanfiction community a part of it as well.
I would like to bring attention to a piece of fanart of Hakka made by the wonderful Gerbilfriend. It's been posted on my profile, so check it out! I love it to pieces, it's my first fanart ever and I feel like a kid that has been given the newest bestest toy in the galaxy and I want to share it with everyone.
(Also, Danzo doesn't deserve a death POV.)