"Empathy is really the opposite of spiritual meanness. It's the capacity to understand that every war is both won and lost. And that someone else's pain is as meaningful as your own." ~Barbara Kingsolver

.25

Hibiki did not make rash decisions. She didn't spew harmful words in the heat of the moment. Getting angry, letting that anger take control never ended well for anyone. Especially her. The teen liked to pride herself in her control, on the handle she had over her own emotions. Doing those sorts of things just wasn't something she could allow herself to do. It was a massive waste of time and energy.

She hated wasting time.

With that in mind, there comes a point when everyone has a moment of weakness and they reach their breaking point. Her's just happened to be eight months into her career as a jounin sensei. The reason for the sudden onslaught of harsh emotion and lose control was because someone was trying to meddle in her carefully woven webb. They were playing with things they did not understand and could not control.

There were moments when Hibiki really hated the elders of the Uchiha clan. Moments when she let that hate get the best of her, clouding her carefully constructed judgement. But she supposed now was as good as time as ever to teach them to mind their own damn business when it came to how she was teaching her students.

Her students who were no older than ten and had only been genin for eight months. She'd fought hard for her right to train them as she pleased and to take her time. By no means did she want some overzealous parent to stick their nose in her business and try to force her hand. That just wasn't going to happen.

Uchiha Kagami was going to find himself in a position he did not want to be in with her. He was going to find that while Shisui may have been his son, he had no say over how the boy was to be taught. Not anymore, not with what she had planned for him. The Sandaime had given her all the approval and permission she needed. Now it was just a matter of time.

She places a gentle hand on Shisui's shoulder as she pulls him close to her body. Eyes cool and level with the extremely irate elder before her. Deep within her being she could feel the bubbling rage building slowly ready to strike. Hibiki took a deep breath and tried to remind herself that slapping the man wouldn't end well for either of them.

"Kagami-sama you are interrupting my team's training session." She starts with a level tone eyes narrowed slightly, the man glowers at her.

"Your team! Ha! A laughable joke, the only reason you have a team is because we allowed it." His words are laced with venom and she sees him for the senile snake he is. Hibiki has no respect for those who let their arrogance consume them.

Instead of responding to him she bends down to the level of her student. "Get Kaori and Masato and go wait for me at Tactics. Ask for Inoichi when you arrive he'll give you something to work on until I get back." She whispers to him, Shisui gives an uncertain nod of his head. Following her orders even in the face of his scowling father. Hibiki was proud of him.

Kagami watches as his son turns his heel giving him a wary look and walks away. Hibiki stands dusting her hands on the hemline of her shorts glaring dagger at him. She takes another deep breath, and then counts to ten. Do not let him get the best of you. The reminder floods her system, and she takes a step forward.

"I think it's time you and I had a discussion." She tells him and then takes steps past him forcing the old man to follow. Hibiki would not be bullied, she would not leave herself open to verbal assault and hearsay. If Kagami wanted to continue to throw accusation at her then he could do so in the presence of a higher authority.

"Where are you going girl, we are not done here." She doesn't even spare him a glance over her shoulder just keeps her pace. There was nothing more she would say until she got to her destination.

This was ending now. She knew ultimately Kagami would never listen to her, but she was pretty sure he would listen to Fugaku. Hibiki wasn't above going to a higher authority. Even if it meant taking a trip to the Uchiha Police Headquarters.

Fugaku pinched the bridge of his nose, inhaling deeply. It was far too early for this. Why did she always go to such extremes to prove a point? He had dismissed the elder the disagreement which had brought them both here settled. At the end of the day they had no control over how she saw fit to teach her team, regardless of their Uchiha status or position in the clan. Those were the conditions agreed upon at the end of her trial, and the only way she would even agree to take them on. While he may not have liked it, he did in fact have to honor it.

Those were just the rules.

"Are you satisfied?" He finally asks his tone drawn out and tired, she merely raises a brow at him in return.

"Are you really asking me if I like going to such extreme lengths?" Her tone is incredulous as if she can't believe he has the nerve. Fugaku should have known better.

"Because I don't. I don't like having jump hoops at every turn. It's not what want to be doing, it's definitely not what I asked for. Honestly Fugaku I can't even believe you would suggest that." She raves, the last ounce of her control finally slips. Hibiki simply cannot take it any longer. He gaped at her, Fugaku hadn't expected expected that reaction.

With the exception of her attitude during the trial he's never seen her this livid. Hibiki didn't do unchecked emotion, it was one of those things that he'd always respected about her. She never let a situation or her own feelings get the best of her. Never let circumstances overwhelm her. Not like the kunoichi he knew.

He wasn't sure how to precede here. A riled up Hibiki was not something he had any experience in dealing with. This could escalate out of hand easily if he didn't handle the situation delicately. Fugaku had known for a long time and he could tell that right now she was a ticking time bomb, one false step on his part on any of their parts and she could explode. For some reason he couldn't shake the feeling that if the clan was responsible for the combustion then he wouldn't like the backlash. No one would.

He had the distinct feeling that their previous friendship aside that if he was responsible, than she would burn his kingdom down. Hibiki wasn't someone he ever wanted to make an enemy out of and right now it was beginning to look like what was happening. Fugaku needed to figure out how to fix this. He needed to figure it out fast. Time was running out.

"This is the only warning I'll give you Fugaku, if Kagami or anyone else tries to interrupt or force my hand again. You will not like what follows."

Before he could get a word in she flickered away, sealless and smokeless leaving him standing alone in his office wondering. Wondering what sort of storm was brewing in her eyes. He didn't want to find out. Fugaku ran a hand over his face, this had suddenly become exceedingly complicated.

…

The rage continued to blister under her skin, boiling in her blood until she just knew. Knew that returning to her students was going to take a lot longer than she originally suspected. She couldn't believe the audacity of Fugaku's statement.

Hibiki couldn't honestly believe how ridiculous the situation has become. It just made her so incredibly angry. Her anger is abruptly ended when a member of Anbu finds her and hands her a file. Anger is replaced by unease and worry. "Mission request from the Daimyo, Hokage demands it have your immediate attention." She nods slowly taking the file from him. The hawk masked man vanishes.

She felt bile building in her throat. This wasn't something she was going to like. This was going to wrench her entire plans. Hibiki took a breath, she was going to need to be alone. When she arrives back at T&I she sends her students home, thanks them for their obedience but sends them on there way. Their training was going to have to wait.

She had work to do. Hibiki headed into her office, sending charges into the privacy seals as she went.

There are so many times, so many instances when she looks at them. Truly looks at them that the only thing she can think is 'When I look at you, all I see is death' or 'I've seen you bleed out'. It's morbid, horrible, she wished she didn't think like that. Wished that when she looked at her loved ones faces she didn't see them dying. But the time or wishing and dreaming were long over.

In all her days, she has gotten exceeding better at suppressing those thoughts. Letting them wash over her like a passing wave and fading echoes. Yet there were still those days when no matter how hard she tries. No matter how she tries to misdirect her thoughts it's pointless. When she looks at them all she can see are colorless and lifeless expressions in the place of lively looks and flushed cheeks.

The file between her fingers doesn't seem to help her efforts either. Hibiki slides down the wall of her office. Bracing her back against the cold surface. Her breath hitches in her throat. She had hoped, had hoped it wouldn't have come to this. This was exactly what she had been trying to prevent from happening.

A mission request from the Daimyo. He had decided what he wanted them to do next. She couldn't say she was surprised. The Daimyo was an arrogant man, and if he decided he was done then they best make it work for him. No matter that it was his pride, his arrogance that was the reason for this damn war in the first place.

Hibiki took a deep breath. Her eyes carefully scanned over the words, considering the options. There wasn't a lot she could do with this. This wasn't like how she fixed the war in the first place. The Daimyo had grown tired of their behind closed doors talks and quiet non-incriminating acts. He wanted the next part, the good parts, to be public. That idiotic man wanted the world to know that Konoha was the best damn shinobi village on the map and they belonged to him. They marched to the beat of his drum.

He was a megalomaniac fool. A fool who would see them all dead if it meant he looked better. The Daimyo didn't give a damn about them. Didn't give a damn that these orders made it where all she could see was a graveyard.

What was she going to do? Hibiki needed to come up with a solution, and fast. Because if not she would nailing the lid on their coffins herself. She felt like she was going to be sick.

Hastily she pushed herself off of the ground. Now was not the time to wallow. She could wallow later, once she was sure her actions wouldn't be the cause of her friends demise. There was work to do. Plans to be made. Hibiki had shit to get done, she kicked her office door it closed with a loud bang. The only reason anyone would dare interrupt her while the door was closed was if either the building was on fire or the village under attack.

She placed the file under her arm walking over to a dry erase board. Empty but covered in areas of old smudges and markings. A testament to the fact that she'd done this before. Saved lives, arranged wars, carefully spinning a web, pulling the strings, building and destroying until the board was set. The game matched in her favor. This was what she was good at, this was a game she could play in her sleep. All she needed was some time.

Time, that which had almost run out and she now no longer had any more to spare. Her petty squabble with the Uchiha clan was going to have to wait. She had no attention to spare on them at the moment. Right now she needed to focus on making sure her family lived. Everything else was going to have to wait, whether or not they liked it. In that moment she didn't give a damn.

XOXOX

So… I know that this is a lot shorter than my usual chapters for Echo and I sincerely apologies. But I'll be honest it's intentional. For the sheer reasoning that I really didn't want to cram too much into this chapter as it marks the official segway into the Kanambi mission arc and the end of the Third war. The chapters to come are going to be either just as long as they have been or longer, if everything goes according to my plan a lot of big things are going to be happening in each chapter. Just a heads up.

Now that that is out of the way. Oh my gosh guys thank you so much for your feedback on the last chapter(s). It means the absolute world to me that you are all liking this story so much! Thanks bunches!

I hope that you like this chapter and that you continue letting me know your thoughts. Thank you so much for reading!

Now I want to address something that's been brought to my attention. Hibiki will NEVER be Hokage. She knows the facts, knows that no matter how much Third thinks she could do it that it would never work. There is just to much darkness in her world, in her work for that. So I don't want anyone to think that she thinks she could be Hokage, Hibiki knows that it is not a possibility. That it never could be one. I also know that.

Alright that is all I have to say in regards to this chapter and everything.

Once again thank you so much for reading! I hope that I continue you to deliver words worthy of your time.

Sincerely, La'Rae