A/N: Bringing this story to an end is proving to be more difficult than I thought, though that fact doesn't surprise me at all. I feel like it's a fine balance between addressing all the points that need to be addressed and not droning on for too long, and leaving some things to the reader's imagination. We finally have the first real talk between Kakashi and Kurotsuki in this chapter! Happy reading!
Chapter 54: Things Unsaid
Standing outside Kurotsuki's cell, Kakashi looked pleadingly at his advisor.
He shook his head firmly. "You're not going in there alone."
"She's in so many chains she can't lie down!" He exclaimed, exasperated. "She's not going to be a threat."
Shikaku sighed. "And I suppose you're an expert on psychological warfare when you didn't spend most of your life around Inoichi?" The other man didn't reply. "I'm not here to spy on your love life, Kakashi. I'm just here to prevent her from pulling anything crazy."
Sighing, he nodded to one of the ANBU on guard. The complexity of the door's mechanism meant it took longer to unlock, and he refrained from tapping his foot impatiently. As the door swung open, he strode into the room. Kurotsuki's scent enveloped him, and he stilled for a moment, gathering the bits of his mind that were getting away from him.
"Wake up," the Jounin behind him said, clearly but not unkindly, rousing the captive from her slumber. "I haven't told him what you told me," he informed her, "he wanted to hear it from you."
She nodded tiredly in understanding. Though she had been sleeping since Shikaku's last visit, she didn't look rested. Her body was exhausted, trying and failing to produce enough chakra to fight the chains' constant drain. There were dark shadows beneath her eyes, even the missing left one. The eyelid was held shut with two thin pieces of white tape instead of bandages, but the blood had been cleaned and the injury healed. Kurotsuki shifted from her slouch to a more upright position, lifting her head slowly. Kakashi was closing the distance between them with measured steps. He looks alright, at the very least. That's good. Relief washed over her, easing some of the lines on her face. She then looked at Shikaku, who had sat down in the corner. "Don't trust me alone with him anymore?" she asked.
"Not one bit," Shikaku replied.
"I won't be playing any mind games. I've already done what I needed to." The other man didn't reply, closing his eyes and pretending to take a nap instead. Kurotsuki craned her neck to look up at Kakashi, standing just in front of her.
"Why..." he began, but stopped. A dozen questions clamoured for attention in his mind, and he stalled, trying to figure out which one was the most important.
The corner of the woman's mouth quirked upward briefly. "That's a very broad question Kakashi. You're going to have to be a bit more specific." The snarky comment helped hide her joy at seeing him. Better keep things neutral until she figured out how angry he was with her.
The man sat down in front of her, crossing his legs, and resting his head in one hand. "I don't even know where to start," he muttered. He was about to find out all he wanted to know, he couldn't get his confused thoughts in line long enough to form a single question.
She was surprised that he didn't seem the least bit angry with her. It would have been entirely justified. Perhaps he would have the patience to hear the whole story. "We can start from where we left off, then," she suggested softly.
Kakashi nodded. A good place as any to start.
"Ask your questions along the way." She took a deep breath and began her long narrative. She began with her departure to the wolves' realm, spurned by Shikaku's warning and her waning control over Kagami. Then followed her discovery of the demon's freedom and true powers, upending every relationship she had ever had. Kurotsuki gave an edited version of her deal with Kagami, matching it to what she had told Shikaku previously. He appeared to be asleep in the corner, but he was no doubt listening intently. She continued, telling the Hokage about Tsuki becoming the demon's new host and lied again about leaving Sasuke behind at the location of the fight. The woman waited a moment for Kakashi's shock to ebb; he had in fact just missed her that rainy day, years ago. Next was her employment under Kabuto, to learn the surgical techniques she had used on him earlier that day. Kakashi listened in silence, his subtly changing expressions hidden by his dark mask. He only broke his silence when she told him of Kagami's visit after killing the orange-masked man, and her suspicions about his identity.
"That's impossible," he said firmly. "Obito died in the war. There was no way he survived that cave-in."
"I heard what She had to say, and made my best guess," she answered.
"You're going on a lying demon's word," he retorted hotly, pushing away the memory of seeing a sharingan eye beneath that swirling orange mask. Kakashi could understand that she had destroyed his eye in exchange for Konoha's safety and a bid at a normal life. He could not understand, however, how his big-hearted teammate had somehow become the leader of the Akatsuki. "You didn't even see it for yourself."
Her one-eyed gaze fiercely met his. "She was too proud to be lying about it. And the timing's too exact to be a coincidence. Your eye stopped working around then, didn't it?"
"Yes, but– How did you even find out about that?"
"Kabuto has surveillance people. I convinced them to take orders from me."
"You spied on me."
Her tired features twisted in apology and she looked away briefly. "I had to know. I'd been through Orochimaru's old work and he had notes on you. Theories on whether the transplanted sharingan maintained any connection with the original owner and things like that. He was obsessed with the sharingan." Her gaze drifted to his bandages. "I thought that if Kagami had really killed Obito, perhaps there was some effect on your eye. I started to suspect it wasn't working anymore when you kept visiting Sakura and Shizune at odd hours. I was almost certain of it when you had your hitai-ate off during a spar with Yamato failed to read his movements."
Kakashi nodded to acknowledge her sound reasoning, his ears listening halfway while his mind dwelled on other thoughts. "Obito would have come back if he survived."
"People change," she said shortly, turning away from him.
"Not that much, surely," he said, as much to counter her as to convince himself. A heavy silence hung between them as he mulled over his thoughts. Every bit of him wanted Obito to have died under the falling rocks. A hero's death, sacrificing himself to save his teammates. Who could have saved him? If he had been saved, why didn't he return to Konoha? What happened to make him join up with the Akatsuki? Kurotsuki had barely answered any of his questions and already there were so many more. He rubbed his hand over his face, untangling his thoughts. "Why did you need to know whether my eye was working?"
Kurotsuki hung her head. "It was my insurance," she whispered shamefully. "If I was to come back to Konoha, I needed something that would keep the council from killing me. It was a gamble, really. My whole life is," she muttered to herself. "I didn't know that your eye stopped working until Shikaku confirmed it earlier. But that makes it a lot more likely that Kagami did kill Obito, and his death is what broke the eye." She looked up for a brief moment, sure he caught the guilt on her face. "And I have some defense against the council now. If my theory is right, killing me means you'll lose that sharingan too."
"So you did think about that bit," Shikaku said from the corner, opening his eyes and regarding her approvingly. He had assumed that she had given Kakashi her eye out of guilt alone, but she had just proven that she thought further ahead than that. "A big gamble."
"So was coming back," she replied. "I know, it's all speculation and far from an ironclad defense, but it was the best I could come up with given the situation. I was banking on Kakashi being unwilling to put my theory to the test." The woman's eyes flickered over to him, sitting cross-legged, listening and pondering. "If I make my moves correctly, my gamble might just pay off." Something unspoken passed between her and Shikaku. Like two chess masters studying a match, they both saw a solution to the problem. Whether they saw the same solution had yet to be seen.
Kakashi interrupted them. "You didn't have to do that. I wouldn't have let council kill you."
She smiled sadly at him. "Even the Hokage can't–" she coughed, throat dry from speaking so much, "can't protect me day and night."
Abruptly, he rose and walked to the entrance. He tapped a rhythm on the door and barely a minute later, it opened. One of the ANBU guards handed him a paper cup of water, nodded, and shut the door again. Turning, Kakashi offered the water to her. "Here."
Kurotsuki reached out a manacled hand to accept and met his gaze. It was earnest, despite what she had done. The care and concern that she had seen before were still there, even though she had cut out his eye to use him as life insurance. The relentless devotion he had shown her was part of the reason she had fallen for him. Could he read her affection in her face? She'd never gotten around to telling him. The woman closed her eyes as she sipped the water. When he's had time to think, he'll realize his feelings were Kagami's doing, she reminded herself, He'll stop caring then. Kurotsuki carefully rearranged her features into neutrality as she finished her water.
"What happened after Kagami's visit?" he asked.
She began her long account of what she'd done under Kabuto's direction, her hatred of the work and herself evident in her voice. Occasionally she would pause, horrible memories flashing through her mind, each one vivid and exact. She had had her sharingan activated nearly constantly while working for Kabuto. Either to use it on his test subjects or so he could study it, as per their bargain. Partway through, she remembered, "Right, Shikaku didn't tell you. I can give you the locations of Kabuto's hideouts. And everything else."
"Everything else?" he asked.
Kurotsuki smiled triumphantly. "Everything I memorized. Experiments, techniques, results. And anything written that I could get my hands on. I read the data he'd spent years gathering. The conclusions of his most prized research. All of Orochimaru's old work too. Even the correspondence with other hideout locations. I got the idea from a spy's handbook I'd found," she explained. "I was always trying to find a way to come back. Thought I would bring you some information when I did."
"How much do you have memorized, exactly?" He was no stranger to the abilities of the sharingan.
"I could make you a library on human experimentation to achieve immortality. It's gruesome, but once you get past that," she pulled a face, "it's actually brilliant work. Kabuto and Orochimaru were both completely obsessed. Did you know he was a spy? Kabuto. The handbook was given to him by Root."
Shikaku's eyes snapped open again. "What?"
"That's what he told me. He worked for Root before he and Orochimaru defected. Ask Danzo, I'm sure he knows. That aside, whenever you decide to unchain me, I can start writing down what I memorized. But if the council decides they're going to kill me anyway, I'll run instead. Go into hiding again. I can find a way to send the info here."
"We'll take you up on that," the advisor accepted. Shikaku knew Kakashi would rather her live the village, but he was not about to pass up the wealth of intelligence she held in her mind.
Kurotsuki nodded. "Kabuto worked like a madman; he was definitely up to something." After a pause, she continued with her story. What seemed like eternity later, she recounted her escape from Kabuto's compound and her return to Konoha. "So now I'm back. I kept my promise," she finished.
Another silence hung in the air as Kakashi absorbed everything that had been said. "So what now?" he asked finally.
"If I'm pardoned? Start again," she said hopefully. The woman tilted her head back against the wall and closed her eye. "Settle down. See what life's like when I'm not a demon vessel or a criminal. I wonder if it's much different," she mused.
"Time to go," Shikaku said, rising from his seat in the corner. He recognized the same sign of fatigue as she had shown yesterday.
Reluctantly, Kakashi followed his advisor to the door. "Goodnight," he said quietly before stepping out of the room. Given the even rise and fall of her chest, he wasn't sure if she had heard. Outside, he turned on his heel and headed for the memorial stone. He had a lot of thinking to do.
The next morning, both men returned to her cell, rousing her from her sleep. She rubbed the grogginess from her eye and waited for one of them to break the silence.
Shikaku resumed his fake nap in the corner and the Hokage sat where he had previously, yawning. His entire night had been spent awake at the memorial stone, sorting through all the new information and deciding what he believed. Most of Kurotsuki's story he took to be true. The part about Sasuke bothered him a little, but Shikaku had pointed out that Inoichi could check the truth of her claim. Most importantly, he had realized in order for Kurotsuki's defense to hold, he had to accept Obito had survived the war and been killed by Kagami. He tried not to think about that part too much. It meant his teammate had become the opposite of the boy he once knew. As much as he loathed the thought, he had accepted it to protect her.
In the quiet of the night, he had also reflected on Kurotsuki. Despite the time that had passed, he still cared deeply for her. His overwhelming joy at seeing her alive said as much. Granted, the news of Kagami's power with emotions had cast a shadow of doubt on his feelings, but he knew he was far from handing her over to the council. Seeing the affection in her face yesterday, mirroring his own, had emboldened him. He would hide her presence from council a little longer. Just until he sorted out what remained between them. "Shikaku..." he began.
"Not until we talk to the council," the man said without opening his eyes.
Kakashi sighed to himself. Before arriving at the cell, he had suggested that they remove some of Kurotsuki's chains. They hadn't even tired her when she was a demon vessel, but without the enormous excess of chakra, the chains would soon start taking the chakra her body needed to function. Kurotsuki was deteriorating rapidly. It took louder sounds to wake her this morning and her lone eye was bloodshot in addition to the dark circles. Her breathing sounded more laboured than he remembered. Shikaku had certainly noted all this upon entering the room, but he was still taking no chances. "This is unnecessary," he grumbled.
"It's alright," she said tiredly. "I've got another day or so in me at least."
He grimaced. "I don't want it to come to that."
She gave a small shrug. Given her past, she understood Shikaku's caution. It would sit much better with the elders to know she hadn't been allowed to run amok since her return, and that Kakashi had been well protected. "How's the eye?" Kurotsuki asked.
His bandages were gone, having been given a clean bill of health by Sakura. His hitai-ate was back in its usual place as an eyepatch. "Good," he replied after a moment. "But everything seems a bit bluer with his one compared to Obito's."
"I suppose you're one the only person to have had sharingan from two different people," she mused. "But you didn't come here for small talk." She could see questions written all over his face. "I already told you how I've spent my time away. What else did you want to know?"
Kakashi shifted closer to her, their crossed legs almost touching. Her scent, which he had missed so much, was making his heart beat a little harder. "Why didn't you tell me you were alive? A message, a sign, anything. When I saw Kagami after the invasion, I thought you were dead for certain."
The hurt in his voice made her wince. "I had to catch you off guard long enough to take out your eye. There aren't many things that will catch you off guard." After a pause, she added quietly, "It wasn't easy. I burned a lot of messages addressed to you so I wouldn't send them. In the end, it worked."
He shifted his position, knowing what she said was true. If he had known she was alive and working for Kabuto, he wouldn't have been so foolhardy to unchain her with no guards in the cell. "Why did you wait so long then?" he asked next. "With the sharingan, you could've copied what you wanted to know in a day. Perfectly. And knowing you, it would have taken a year, maybe two, to master it without the sharingan. So why?"
Kurotsuki smiled sadly. "Because even though I hated the work I did for Kabuto, I hated the idea or hurting you more."
He inhaled sharply, a line from her parting letter coming to mind: There are things that I've left unsaid, but I won't say them here. They're things that should be said in person, not in a letter. His heart began to beat even faster in anticipation.
The affection he had seen yesterday had returned, a warmth that lit the ultramarine of her single eye. She took a deep breath. "I fell in love with you. How could I not? You cared. You were almost... reckless with your devotion. Even after the secret of Kagami came out, all you wanted was to take me to out for my birthday." She laughed at the absurdity of the juxtaposition, the reveal of a lifelong secret and a dinner date. Her laugh faded into a smile. "And it made me so happy." Kurotsuki shook her head at herself. "Of course, that was five years ago and I haven't seen you since. I'm not entirely sure I'd still call it love, but it... it's something close."
Kakashi seized her cool hands with is own, having finally recovered from her first sentence. "You never told me," he breathed.
"As silly as it sounds, there was never a good time," she replied weakly.
One of his hands rose to cup her cheek. "I suppose there wasn't, was there?" Dinner, had it happened, would have been a good time. He was leaning closer to her now, their faces inches apart, breath mingling. "I never told you either," he admitted, "I–"
The harsh metallic rattle of her chains cut him off. The moment was broken.
"Don't say it," she snapped. Her expression had changed to one of pained sorrow. "Don't say it," she repeated pleadingly. "Weren't you listening yesterday? Whatever you feel for me, it isn't real. It was Kagami."
He opened his mouth to argue, but she seemed to know his next thought.
"All of it. Fake. So you can let go of me now." The woman looked down briefly at their joined hands. His fingers were warm against the chill of her body, curled in a gentle caress. It was so conflicting, to feel so strongly about him, while knowing that she had to push him away. She had already decided not to rekindle any old friendships upon her return. Kagami had done enough damage in her life, and she wouldn't continue the forged relationships that the demon had made.
His hand tightened in rebellion. "I disagree. She couldn't manipulate everything I feel."
"Yes, She can. Please let me go," she whispered, looking away. Kurotsuki tried to pull her hand back, but between the chains and the wall, she had no room to manoeuvre. If he held on much longer, her resolve might just crumble. She tried to keep calm, but with her body so drained, her control was slipping. One tear, then another, rolled down her cheek.
"Kakashi." Shikaku's voice came warningly from the corner. He had been watching the scene unfold since the rattle of chains startled him. "Distress will only make her deteriorate faster. I think she could use some rest for now." His disinterested tone was at odds with the delicate and thoughtful handling of the situation.
"Yes," she blurted, quickly wiping the tears away.
The Hokage gave her cold hand a squeeze before releasing it. "I'll come see you tomorrow."
Once they were outside in the hall, Shikaku pulled a small rectangle of paper out of his vest and handed it to him. "This was on your desk this morning."
It was blank, save for two parallel red stripes. The stripes of a Root uniform. He groaned. Danzo had found out Kurotsuki was back. If Danzo knew, council knew. And they were probably livid that he hadn't gone to see them first thing in the morning.
"Before you go, tell me honestly. How much do you trust her?" the Jounin asked frankly.
"Completely," Kakashi answered immediately. Maybe it was her declaration of love or maybe it was intertwined past they shared. He had seen every side of her, and his gut told him she could be trusted. None of the damage she had done was without aim. Looking at it a certain way, she hadn't done any damage at all, since he now had a fully functional sharingan again. "She's on our side. You heard her, she was always planning on coming back. She spent years gathering information we couldn't hope to have otherwise."
"You've always trusted her more than she warrants," Shikaku cautioned.
"She's had a hard enough time orchestrating her return, and she's just an inch away from the normal life she's always wanted. She wouldn't throw it all away now."
He nodded slowly, coming to a decision. "Very well. You go and see council. Do me a favour and don't say anything about the information she's memorized. I'll be along shortly to deal with that." He looked at Kakashi expectantly until the silver-haired man relented and made his way out of the building.
"Kakashi-sama." Homura nodded in greeting. He looked pleased that Kakashi had finally shown up. Koharu and Danzo both looked like storm clouds, still upset about the delay.
"Where is she?" Danzo demanded immediately.
"I'm hardly going to tell you that." The silver-haired man slouched into a chair across the table from the elders.
"What she knows is a state secret. She's a danger to the village," Koharu said. "She needs to be silenced."
"Kurotsuki is under my protection," he retorted.
Danzo crossed his arms. "This is a matter of Konoha's safety, not your personal involvement with a criminal," he said acidly.
"Personal involvement or no, you can't kill her now." He lifted his hitai-ate and willed the tomoe of his sharingan to spin. "Not unless you want to face the same problem as four years ago."
The next two hours were spent explaining and arguing, Shikaku's arrival barely meriting a nod amidst all the heated exchanges. The words what if, acceptable risk, and collateral damage were bounced back and forth. Danzo maintained that Kurotsuki had to die. If her sharingan theory didn't hold true, Kakashi's new sharingan would be just fine. If it was true, they could afford to trade one eye for the safety of the village. The secret of his broken eye had held for four years, it could hold another four. Kakashi was at the opposite end of the spectrum. He took Kurotsuki's word to be true and would have no harm done to her. On top of that, he wanted to pardon her for her desertion, seeing as it had protected the villagers from an out-of-control demon. Koharu and Homura were somewhere in the middle. They suggested removing her tongue and binding her hands to keep her from speaking or writing out the state secret. Or keeping her in prison and waiting for Kagami to visit, when they could attempt to wrangle more information about the orange-masked man out of the demon. Shikaku said nothing at all, only listening to everything that was being said. As time ticked on, no one budged in their position and frustration began to mount. They had covered every point of every argument, and were now back to repeating what had already been said.
Shikaku finally spoke. "There's one more thing. She says she's memorized everything Kabuto and Orochimaru have been working on, and she's using it to bargain. Says she won't give us any of it unless we let her live."
Kakashi's eyebrows rose sharply, luckily hidden by his hitai-ate.
"Preposterous," Danzo huffed. "She can bluff until the day she dies and give us nothing in the end. Or she can give us everything and claim she has more just to stay alive. She can't prove anything she discloses is true anyway."
"Oh really." He withdrew a scroll from his vest, unrolled it, and slid it across the table.
Kakashi quickly read the short document, written in fluid, unfamiliar cursive.
Eternal Youth and Immortality Technique
Though immortalization of the body remains elusive, this technique effectively renders immortalization of the mind possible. Prior to the expiration of the current body, the mind is transferred to a separate host, suppressing the existing host soul. The new host body provides the mind with a rejuvenated container, while retaining full faculties and memories. This technique is subject to many restrictions, see sections Frequency of Use, Choice of Host, and Vulnerability during...
"Root has some of Konoha's best spies. You're their spymaster. You know whose handwriting that is, don't you?" Shikaku prompted.
"Orochimaru," the elder whispered, looking intrigued.
"You always wanted to know how he did it, didn't you, Danzo? She knows. Right down to the hand seal sequence." The Jounin leaned back in his chair and crossed his hands behind his head, eyes drifting lazily closed. "Orochimaru's crowning achievement. If she got that memorized, imagine how much more she knows."
Danzo's hooded eye glittered with curiosity as he leaned forward almost imperceptibly. "Tell her we can talk if she writes out the rest of this technique." His gnarled hand reached for the scroll, but Kakashi snatched it, pretending to read it.
"There's a better way." Shikaku shifted position and cracked an eye open, watching Danzo carefully. "We have Inoichi read her. Give him a day and he'll be able to tell us how much she's memorized. Another day and he can check everything she's told us about her time away. We can see exactly what Kagami told her. Divert most of the scribes to Intelligence Division; shouldn't take more than a month. And when we have everything, we kill her."
"What?!" Kakashi rounded on the black-haired man. He was slouched in his seat, head resting in his hand, looking across the table instead of acknowledging the outburst.
The members of the council looked at each other and a stillness fell on the room. "Absolutely not," they said in unison.
The advisor smiled. "You're afraid Inoichi will find your state secret." He shrugged. "Tell Inoichi around what time she would have learned it, and he just won't go that far back," he suggested.
"Impossible," Koharu declared.
"It's still too risky," Homura added in agreement. "If she thought about it at any point in the past five years, he'll find it."
Shikaku raised his eyebrows. "She wasn't kidding when she said it was sensitive information."
All three elders rounded on him, asking variations of the question, "What did she tell you?"
He waved their concern away. "Nothing. Wouldn't say a word, even when I pressed her."
Their relief was almost tangible. "Stop pressing her for the information," Danzo growled.
The black-haired man stood. "Well, that brings an end to this discussion then. You won't let Inoichi read her. We can't kill her without reading her. We'll lose all the information she knows, plus, it might break Kakashi's sharingan. So, she lives. We'll just have to trust her. Kakashi does already." He nodded to the Hokage. "I'll go let her out." He looked back across the table. "I'll tell her you lot were very understanding and supported her pardon, shall I? Might make her a little more willing to share what she knows."
The council all rose to their feet, beginning to protest. Kakashi stood as well, taller than any of them, slamming both hands onto the table and silencing their clamour. "I am the Hokage of Konoha. I have consulted you three in this matter. I have heard you, and I agree with Shikaku's assessment of the situation. Fuyuuno Kurotsuki will be pardoned and be reinstated as a shinobi of the Leaf. That. Is. Final."
"You are a fool," Danzo spat at him. "Your tender heart is letting her manipulate you exactly as she wants."
"Actually, the manipulating was Kagami," Shikaku muttered, "or weren't you listening?"
Kakashi fought down his snort of laughter. "I am following my instincts. This is where they lead me."
"I hope that in following your instincts, you are also prepared to put down a rebellion. If she says the right things to the right people, the whole village will turn against us." Danzo headed for the door. "And I thought Tsunade was rash," he said disdainfully, sweeping out of the room.
Kurotsuki woke to the sound of metal clinking. The weight of the chain around her neck fell away, taking with it some of the chakra draining she had endured for two days. She immediately felt rejuvenated, her body temperature rising slightly and some strength returning to her body. Warm fingers brushed silver strands of hair out of her face.
"Good afternoon," Kakashi's voice said softly.
She opened her eye, taking in the two ANBU that were carefully removing her chains and the Hokage crouched in front of her. "What's happening?"
"You've been pardoned. The paperwork is done and the Police Force has been notified. They'll leave you alone. Naruto's away at the moment, but when he comes back, I'll get your hitai-ate from him. You'll be reinstated as a Chunnin of Konoha." As the last chain was removed, he smiled, the corner of his visible eye crinkling. "Welcome back, Fuyuuno Kurotsuki."
A/N: The L word has been said! It took us 54 chapters to get here. 54. And it's not even mutual (sorta). Thoughts on how this worked out? Was it what you were expecting? If no, are you disappointed or pleasantly surprised? Do let me know! Fear not, there is more KakashixKurotsuki down the road. All on a completely different path than WIA 1.0 had planned! To be fair, it deviated a bit from WIA 2.0 too. Growing up has made it a lot easier to spot gaping plot holes, and also made it somewhat easier to weave the existing threads of the story into plausible explanations.
An interesting thing I've noticed, is that the Konoha council seems to hold a good deal of sway in important decisions, but the Hokage still gets final say. I remember Tsunade throwing Homura and Koharu out of her office at one point. Which seems to make the council somewhat pointless in my eyes... I guess I don't quite understand the purpose they're supposed to serve, so I went with an advisor-type role in this chapter. Powerful people that you're supposed to consult for things that are big decisions. I have to admit, the whole discussion with council is a bit wishy-washy, but it makes (tenuous) sense in my head. I hope it makes sense to the rest of you. The story continues in the next chapter. See you all then!
