Chapter 34

Chess and Tea

Mangetsu perched in a sheltered spot on the roof while he waited for Kushina to leave. He didn't want to cut into Naruto's time with his mother, or meet with her while in the neighborhood. However she decided to react to him, there would be yelling, and yelling would destroy the impression that this house was still abandoned and uninhabited, at the very least.

He would meet with her someplace quiet and out of the way, like a training ground. And to do that, Naruto would either have to be asleep or under another ANBU's watch while he was away. Mangetsu tried to think of some ANBU that he knew well enough to trust that would be free for babysitting duty, but he was only familiar with a handful.

From what I remember…Crane has tail duty on that Kasshoku character. Spider is leading a team to acquire some demons for the final phase of the Trials. Yamato has a few shifts of keeping an eye on the Uchiha. Perhaps I can bribe Sparrow to stay longer when she stops by tomorrow…

The back door creaked open and Mangetsu took care to make sure that his light camouflage jutsu was still active. He stayed still as she left and didn't move until she was well out of sight. Then he ended his jutsu, slid off the roof, and walked back into the house, sealing the door behind him.

"Mom wasn't happy that you weren't here," Naruto said in greeting to him as he ambled into the living room. "She thinks that you're avoiding her."

"I just don't want to take up her precious time with you," Mangetsu replied. "I'll be looking for her later."

"Okay," Naruto shrugged.

The ANBU watched the boy for a minute. He was trying to act upbeat, but he was still unhappy that his mother had left him behind again. Mangetsu felt bad but until Naruto was sufficiently recovered it wasn't safe to let the boy leave the house.

"So, did you have a good time?" the ANBU asked, taking a seat on the couch with him.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded. "We swapped stories."

"What sort of stories?"

Naruto immediately launched into a summary of most of the embarrassing moments of Namikaze Minato's life from his first meeting with Kushina where she'd given him a black eye up to dragging Shikaku, Inoichi, and Chouza home from a bachelor party and getting vomited on twice in the process. Mangetsu was grateful for his mask because there was no way that he could've kept his dismay from his face. Naruto was downright gleeful by the time he was done and started listing his own adventures that he'd told his mother about.

Kushina hates me, he sulked as Naruto chattered away. Every moment of humiliation that wasn't sex-related and nothing at all flattering about me. Naruto has to believe that I'm some sort of klutzy clown.

…At least he enjoyed story time.

After Naruto was done sharing all the tales he'd told his mother, Mangetsu had a few thoughts. This chuunin, Mizuki, had probably already been dealt with, but he wished for a good ten minutes alone with the little creep to teach him a lesson. The other chuunin, Iruka, deserved his thanks for looking after Naruto much better than Mizuki had. He needed to determine what book it was that Kakashi was so attached to, and if it was the book that he was afraid it was, he needed to burn it. And he needed to find out more about the Kyuubi.

A lot more.

Perhaps I'll even arrange to talk to Kushina tonight…

"…Hey, Mangetsu, do you think I'm in trouble for how I beat Kiba?"

"No," the ANBU shook his head. "What you did was well within the rules. You didn't set out to kill or permanently harm Kiba and you didn't go overboard or harm him when he was defeated. I'm sure that Hokage-sama would've preferred if you won through some other means, but you're not in trouble. I'll be sure to report your side of things to Hokage-sama as soon as possible."

"Okay," Naruto mumbled, picking at one of the couch cushions. "Do…do you think that the Kyuubi's ghost was right? That there's a way to get rid of my human blood and the werewolf curse with it?"

"It might be possible," Mangetsu hesitantly answered.

"Cool!" Naruto grinned hopping up onto the couch. "Do you know anyone who could—"

"Hold on a minute," he sighed, catching Naruto's sleeve and pulling him back down. "I wasn't finished." Mangetsu paused a beat to be sure that the boy was listening before continuing. "To seal away or otherwise remove half of a hanyou's nature has very dire consequences."

"Like what?" the boy demanded with a pout.

"When I was younger I read some ancient sealing texts that detailed attempts to make hanyou either fully human or fully demon. Those that tried to be fully human were left sickly and weak, and those that strived to become fully demon became dangerously aggressive and destructive. Whatever the hanyou tried to become, they always were left mentally unstable if not fully insane.

"If you were to cancel out your human blood, you'd probably be left as a fox-like beast with limited rational thought. You would not know your friends from your enemies; you would attack them indiscriminately. It's likely that you would even turn on your own mother."

Naruto's face turned ashen.

"I don't mean to frighten you," Mangetsu apologized, "but it's important that you know the risks. Even if those old texts aren't entirely correct, would you want to risk it?"

"No," the boy mumbled. "So…there's no way to make me not be a werewolf?"

"There isn't; not for one who is born a werewolf." The wolf-masked ninja gently patted the boy's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

And he was sorry. Sorry that Naruto inherited the affliction from him. Sorry that there was no way to undo it. Sorry that his son had suffered so much because of it. Sorry for everything.

"Demon hunters…they don't know everything." Naruto looked up at him, wild-eyed and desperate. "How do you know there's no way to cure me?"

"It's true that ninjas who hunt demons rarely know everything about the creatures they hunt, but I'm sure of this," Mangetsu said. "I've tried to understand lycanthropy and find a cure for it for most of my life. All I've heard about cures are whispered rumors of remedies that would only work on the freshly bitten. There is nothing you can do, Naruto, but learn to live with it."

The poor boy looked devastated. Mangetsu felt bad for allowing the conversation drift into such grim territory. And he felt awful for crushing Naruto's hopes…but lying to him about his chances for normalcy would've been even worse.

"Are you sure you don't want to play a game of checkers?" the ANBU asked, eying the set up game board that sit waited on its makeshift box table, untouched.

Naruto mutely shook his head.

"How about chess?"

"I don't know how to play," Naruto muttered listlessly.

"I can teach you if you want," Mangetsu offered.

When Naruto didn't say 'no', he took it as a 'yes' and got up from the couch. He went over to his stack of boxes (resolving to either move them someplace else or unpack them, yet again) and dug out another game board and set of pieces. Laying the board on top of a different box he started setting up the different black and white pieces in their proper places.

"Since you aren't cleared for any physical training, we'll try and train your mind a little bit instead," Mangetsu said cheerily and pushed the box up to the couch. "Any preference on color?"

"I don't care," Naruto pouted.

"You're the white side, then," Mangetsu shrugged and turned the board so that the white pieces were within Naruto's reach. "Now there are several types of pieces, and each type has its own rules."

"That sounds hard," Naruto complained, seemingly determined to stay in a glum mood.

"Shogi is harder," the ANBU told him. "And once you can remember what each piece can do, it's not all that difficult. The challenge becomes outwitting your opponent instead of recalling how to move the pieces on the board, and depending on your opponent it can be quite the struggle."

"Is this really supposed to be training?" the boy wondered, poking at a white pawn with his fingertip.

"Of course it is," Mangetsu smiled behind his mask. "My old sensei taught this game to me when I was a little genin hoping to become a chuunin."

Naruto gave him a dubious look.

"Think of the different pieces as different kinds of ninja," the ANBU suggested and pointed to one of his black pawns. "The little pawn is like a genin—"

"Which one's the Hokage?" the boy interrupted.

"The queen," Mangetsu answered.

"The queen?" Naruto repeated with a confused scowl. "Isn't a queen a girl?"

"There has been a woman Hokage before," the ANBU chuckled. "But the supposed gender of the piece isn't what makes it like the Hokage; it's the power of the piece. It can move in any direction, and move as many squares as you desire in the direction that you pick, during a turn. No other piece has such flexibility and wide range of movement."

"Oh." Naruto scratched at the back of his head. "Is there a king?"

"Yes, there is a piece called a king," the masked man nodded. "It's very similar to the queen in that it is allowed to move in any direction, but it can only move one square per turn."

"That stinks," the boy frowned. "What sort of lame ninja is the king?"

"I don't think of the king as a ninja at all, but as the Fire Daimyo," Mangetsu replied. "The king is a weak piece, but it is also the most important piece in the game. In checkers you win when you've taken all of the other player's pieces, but in chess when you capture your opponent's king, you win. The daimyo is a civilian, but if he is taken out, the country could fall apart so he fits perfectly as the king. Do you understand?"

Naruto seemed to chew it over in his head for a minute before slowly nodding.

"Since the daimyo is lame but important, he gets to be a lame but important piece in the game."

"More or less," Mangetsu sighed. "Now are there any other pieces you really want to know about, or can I list them in my own order?"

The boy hesitated before picking up one of his white horse head pieces.

"This one…the horse-knight-thing…what sort of ninja would it be?"

"Knights move in interesting ways that can be used to slip through the other player's defenses." The ANBU tapped his knee thoughtfully for a second before completing his answer. "I'd have to say that the knights count as some kind of jounin-level ninja."

Naruto fidgeted with the piece before slowly putting it back in its spot.

"Okay."

"Alright, then," Mangetsu nodded. "Let's go over the last few pieces and then we can start playing."

Kushina perched on one of the little bridges set up in one of the quieter parts of the village and stared down into the water. She wanted to go back to that broken-down little house and take Naruto away with her so that she could walk through the village with him and take him out to eat at restaurants. But he wasn't healed yet and it just wasn't safe.

Hearing about Naruto's life in Konoha from Naruto instead of from Jiraiya had been hard. There hadn't been much mention of this Mizuki creep before, and hearing about how the chuunin had totally ignored Naruto and then turned around and tried to use him to commit a crime had made her blood boil. The other chuunin, Iruka, had sounded much better, even though Naruto had complained about how hard it had been to sneak away for the full moon with him around.

But the fresher information, like his adventures in the Trials, had been even worse to hear. She was very pleased to hear that he had advanced so far on his first try, and beaten a bigger Inuzuka boy. However, the way he'd won had worried her some.

And the Kyuubi had touched him.

When she'd undertaken the Trials in Konoha years ago, she'd been warned to not approach the monstrous fox's bones or touch them, but she'd thought that it was because of some old superstition. Now she knew that the evil spirit was real. It had touched her baby, and there was nothing she could do about it.

If only I had been here to warn him…

There were a lot of things that she would change if she could. She wouldn't compromise with her father; she would run away with Naruto and find Jiraiya to protect them. She would tell him all the stories about Minato before he got it fixed in his head that his father was a worthless beast to be despised. She would teach him all of her skills so that he could defend himself if necessary and be on his way to being a great ninja like his father. And she would make sure that Fugaku never dared touch a hair on his head.

Shaking her head roughly she pulled her mind out of fantasyland and shoved it back into reality. She was here to do a job. She had to kick Kasshoku out, prove to the Hokage that the Uzumaki were on the side of good, and take care of Naruto…and make an effort to do it all in that order.

Flipping her long red hair over her shoulder, she hopped off the bridge rail and started walking through the darkening village streets hoping that movement would get her plotting juices flowing.

I've given Kasshoku a warning, but he's the sort of jerk who won't take me seriously… First thing tomorrow I need to meet up with old friends and convince them that he's a slimy bastard who isn't to be trusted. When they bitch to the Hokage, he'll have more clout to kick Kasshoku out and demand that Uzushio sends someone else…or no one else, because I'm here.

As she wandered aimlessly, she thought of how to convince the various clan leaders that she knew of her point of view. Chouza wouldn't be too hard to convince. Inoichi would likely be another easy sell. Shikaku might want to debate it some until she made it too troublesome for him. If she could put together a few canine-framed arguments she'd have the Inuzuka with her. Convincing the Aburame would be tricky as they really liked logic and Kushina didn't think in logical sorts of terms. The Hyuuga would be another hard one. And the Uchiha…

Bleah, the Uchiha… Is Mikoto in charge now that Fugaku's rotting in prison? Or would it be Itachi?

Kushina strolled past a playground and came to a stop by a light pole. The last few children at play were being coaxed away by their parents to go home for dinner. One dark-haired woman lingered, watching the children and their parents leave with a rather mournful expression on her face.

The red-head hesitated for a moment before crossing the street and sidling up to the other woman.

"Hey Mikoto, what's up?"

"Oh!" the Uchiha woman flinched guiltily. "Oh, I-I was just taking a walk and thinking…"

And being miserable and missing one of your kids and angsting over Fugaku, Kushina silently added.

"I didn't know what he was going to do," Mikoto said suddenly. "And I-I didn't know that Naruto was your son. I'd like to think that I would've invited him over for lunch sometime if I'd known…and asked Sasuke to look out for him." She stared at the vacant swing set for a minute before looking back at Kushina with a question. "Why was he here by himself?"

"Lots of stupid drama with my family that I'd rather not re-hash," the Uzumaki grimaced. "Do you have any plans for dinner?"

"Well, no—"

"Good!" Kushina linked her arm with Mikoto's and started towing her off. "Let's go get some food!"

Her life had always been orderly. She had worked to be the best ninja that she could be and when a husband had been chosen for her she strived to be the best wife, and later mother, that she could be. Uchiha Mikoto's world had always been secure and certain.

But the week so far had unsettled every aspect of her life. It was like some vindictive god had picked up her world, turned it upside-down, and shaken it. Every time that she was sure that there was nothing else that could fly out of her control, something else would happen that made everything worse.

Sasuke had come home from the Forest of Death with a curse mark from Orochimaru's foul bite on his neck. Fugaku had disgraced the clan name by attacking a child werewolf under the Hokage's protection and gotten two men killed, and himself and another imprisoned. Sasuke was found out and cast out by the clan while Itachi spent more and more time trying to keep everything under control, and she felt powerless to help. Kushina, her old friend, returned and revealed that the child werewolf was her child.

And now her old friend was taking her out to dinner, functioning like nothing was wrong when Mikoto couldn't seem to do the same because she knew that everything was wrong.

They were at an outside table at a casual restaurant that was cheap enough for Kushina's wallet and classy enough for Mikoto's taste. It was getting to be autumn and the sky was stained with the fiery colors of sunset but the air was still more than warm enough to be comfortable outdoors without a coat. They'd ordered some tea and crackers to have while they waited for their meals to be prepared and brought out.

"…so I find this guy and chat with him and he's a total jerk," Kushina rambled. "Did you meet this Biyokuchi Kasshoku guy?"

"I…yes, I did," Mikoto nodded, recalling the brown-haired man who had visited her home while Sasuke was still in the thick of the Trials.

"What did you think of him?"

"He was polite, but not very helpful," the Uchiha woman said after a moment's thought. "I asked him about you and he said he didn't know anything."

"What a fibber!" Kushina snorted. "I'm quite infamous now in Uzushio so he definitely had plenty of nasty gossip that he didn't share with you."

"Fugaku had lunch with him that day," Mikoto continued, staring down into her cup of barely touched tea. "I didn't really pay attention to what they talked about, but Fugaku showed him Sasuke's team photo—that really surprised me. Normally he only ever talked about Sasuke with me in private so I was confused about why he'd be bragging about him to a foreigner…"

Kushina was silent and for a minute her friendly expression darkened into something angry. Normally when she was angry the red-head would get loud. An angry and quiet Kushina was both rare and very unnerving.

"So Kasshoku saves all his nasty gossip for Fugaku and keeps you out of the loop," the red-haired woman grumbled. "How nice."

"It seems that way now," Mikoto weakly agreed, feeling foolish for trusting her husband.

Fugaku was a hard man, but a good man. He had high standards that he applied to himself as well as everyone else. He'd never beaten her or belittled her, he always complimented her cooking, he'd given her two beautiful sons, he kept the clan and the Military Police running smoothly, and everything had seemed so perfect. She'd never dreamed that she would have to worry about him angering the Hokage by harming her friend's only child.

"What a jerk," Kushina pouted and crunched into a cracker. "I'm so going to kick this Kasshoku guy's ass, dattebane!"

Mikoto managed a little smile. Some things just never changed. And for a minute it brought her mind back to happier times.

"So…did you get to see Naruto?" Mikoto asked.

"Yes," Kushina smiled. "Twice so far, and already I can see that he's doing better."

"That's excellent!" the Uchiha replied as the crushing weight of guilt lightened. "I'm very glad to hear that."

"I just wish he'd heal faster," the red-head sighed, polishing off her tea. "I want to take him with me instead of leaving him there. Naruto is a master of the kicked puppy look. I can't decide if it's his big blue eyes or the whiskers on his cheeks that makes it so effective."

"Do you think that when Naruto is better that…that I could meet him?" Mikoto inquired nervously. "I won't be offended if you say no. After what my husband did I—"

"You're not Fugaku," Kushina snorted. "You're my friend. And I can't imagine you doing something bad enough to stop being my friend. So when Naruto is back to one hundred percent we'll see about having a nice lunch with him or something."

"Thank you," Mikoto nearly whispered and spent several minutes focusing on her neglected tea until she was sure that she wouldn't start crying.

"When is the food going to get here?" the red-haired woman groused. "I'm getting hungry."

"I'm sure that it'll be here soon," her black-haired friend sighed patiently. "…Kushina, after you left, I always wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot," the Uzumaki invited, propping her chin on the heel of her hand.

"Did you know…about Minato," Mikoto asked slowly, biting her lip, "before he…?"

"Yes," Kushina replied stiffly.

"And you…stayed?"

"Why should I have left?" she frowned. "I looked at his lycanthropy like a terminal illness. You don't leave someone that you love just because you find out that he has cancer. To me it was the same sort of thing."

"You weren't afraid?" Mikoto wondered. "Not even a little bit?"

"I trusted him," Kushina shrugged and leaned back in her chair. "Life is full of all sorts of risks and I didn't want to regret losing a moment with him."

Mikoto thought of her own cursed son and found that she couldn't really argue, so she nodded and changed the subject to something less charged.

"So what sort of things did Naruto do as a baby? Sasuke would always…"

Kurohi Yuuta was grateful to have such a competent son and grandson. His son Yuuma had the patience necessary to keep the clan functioning well, which considering the mixed-bag nature of the clan was no easy task. And his grandson Yuudai was brilliant, very powerful for his age, and increasingly integral to their plans.

Yuudai's idea to ally with Orochimaru was risky, but it's really paying off!

Their pack of werewolves was growing by the week and after the next full moon barely two days away they would have the bare minimum that they'd need. The collars used to control them were also fairly easily adapted to other species, allowing them to forcibly recruit members of other demon races that would be useful towards their cause. And the extra scrolls that had just come in as thanks for the pups that they'd sacrificed were very, very promising.

Currently he was reviewing on that dealt with the serpent's experiments in the field of necromancy. Creating run-of-the-mill zombies was a wasted effort, but if he could uncover some technique or process that resulted in something better, more dangerous… And then a flash of inspiration sparked in the old fox's brain.

If we could resurrect that…we'd barely need Orochimaru and his Oto-nin. It's located so close to the Leaf that we could destroy both Konoha and Oto in one blow! And after that, no demon-hunter force would be able to stand against us.

The old man flexed his claws and returned to his studies of the scroll with a feral smirk.

Those old bones will be our greatest weapon.