Present

Okami

I had the last round with Kakashi-sensei, and while it took a while, he eventually got me pinned. He let me up, and then he told us, "See you tomorrow. We'll go on a mission." With that, he disappeared.

"Let's go get dinner together," Tsuki proposed.

"Sounds good," I agreed, "Where were you thinking?"

Tsuki said, "We could go back to that BBQ place?"

Shikadai and I agreed, so we walked through the village together, and I noticed civilians moving out of the way for us, some disturbingly so. I listened, focused on my heightened hearing, and for the first time, I could hear the whispers that I had been Danzo's puppet, committing nearly all the atrocities that had been attributed to Danzo under the man's orders. The worst part was, they weren't wrong. I had committed countless sins for the man, and if it was coming out just what all Danzo had ordered the Root to do, and it made sense for the rumors to attribute the Root's sins to me, as I had reappeared just as Danzo had disappeared. It was likely common knowledge that Danzo was the reason I had been gone, and it wouldn't be much of a leap to figure out I was responsible for at least some of it, and that would lead them to blame me for all of it.

"Okami?" Shikadai asked, and I realized I was frowning.

"I'm fine," I assured him, forcing myself to smile, "Come on, let's get food." I got us to move faster through the village, not wanting to now understand the fear in the civilians' eyes as they saw me pass, moving their children protectively towards them. It's not like it would matter. They were civilians, and I'd been ANBU. If ordered to, I could kill their child, and they'd never see me coming.

Flashback

In ANBU not under Tenzo

Okami

"Seeing as you can't work with any other Root teams," Danzo seethed, "You'll be doing your Root missions alone, while I look for some other team that you'll fit in with. Here's your mission. Get out of my sight."

I took the scroll, bowed, and vanished. My small room was the only place I could really look through the scroll securely outside of Danzo's office, so I opened it up carefully, then winced. Killing a child was never easy work. I sighed, readied my ninja tools, then went towards the child's last known location. They were traveling, which was almost good news. The bad news being that their family had hired some Sunagakure shinobi for their own protection. I had to get in and out without them so much as sensing my presence.

The child was seven, old enough to be walking around on their own. If I could draw them away from the rest, offer them some poison, I could possibly get away without anyone knowing there had even been an issue.

The travelers stopped for lunch, so I henged myself to look like a small cat. Then I appeared in the bushes before the child, convincing them easily enough to chase after me. My nose directed me towards where some less than healthy berries were. Before the child could see me, I transformed into an old woman, hoping that I could get the kid to trust me. I put a bit of poison on the berries, knowing that the child would have to ingest more than I could guarantee if I wanted them to die.

The child said, "Oh, hello. Did you see a little kitten?"

"No, I haven't. Are you hungry? These are good berries," I offered, sticking a not-poisoned one into my mouth, knowing it was less than would be necessary to even make me sick.

"I am hungry," the child admitted, as he had run off before eating his lunch, and he took the berry, trusting my appearance, "thank you."

I promised, "No trouble, my dear."

The poison would take moments to kick in, but I had time. The kid couldn't get back to safety before I ensured death.

"These are really good," the kid told me, taking another, "What are they called?"

My mind went blank, as nightshade was one of the more common poisons, and even a child as young as this one could know that I was killing him, run back, and be given something to remove the poison from their system.

"I just call them purple berries," I said desperately, then smiled at the kid like I knew what I was talking about.

The kid said, "That's nice Mrs. Durles." He then promptly collapsed. I ensured he was dead by checking his pulse, then disappeared, knowing my mission was complete.

Present

Shikadai

Three groups got up from their tables and left when they saw Okami. I knew he wasn't being lauded as a hero, but it seemed so strange that the one that had freed the village of a man that had been manipulating everything to his will was being treated like a monster. The worst of it was that Okami had noticed, and he did not look happy.

We ordered food, and Okami kept up pretenses. He tried to hide how he was really feeling, but I could read him, even after all the time we'd spent apart. It was hard to deal with the village being afraid of you. Some ninja couldn't handle it at all.

We finished our dinner, and Tsuki left, as her parents were expecting her, but I walked with Okami towards the Uchiha compound.

I asked, hoping to distract him, "Will you and your father move in with your grandparents now?"

"I don't know," Okami told me, "That's kind of up to my father. I don't care that much where we live as long as we're safe. The wards at either house would be strong enough." He was still distracted, clearly noticing all the civilians that were trying their best to avoid him.

"Listen," I said, carefully trying to craft my statement, "it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you. You will never scare me. I trust you, no matter what."

Okami seemed shocked. He said, "But I… I couldn't protect you."

"But you tried, and I know you'll always try. That was beyond your control. I don't blame you for my getting kidnapped. Not everything bad that happens to me is your fault. Even Kakashi-sensei didn't see past that genjutsu in time. You're not the only one responsible for anyone's safety, Okami. Not ever your own. You're doing the best you can, and no one should expect more from you because you're already an amazing shinobi. You've been through the impossible, but you're still you. You're still a good person," I told him.

"You don't…" Okami started, seeming nervous, "You don't know everything I've had to do."

I argued, "but it was all in the name of keeping your pack safe. I don't care how far Danzo made you go. That was on Danzo, not on you. You're not responsible for what that madman made you do."

Okami looked like he wanted to argue, but I'd find a counter to every argument. He wasn't a criminal. He didn't deserve what punishments he'd already faced at the hands of his clan and likely at the hands of Danzo.

"If the village doesn't understand that, that's not your fault either. They're taking guesses from what little information they've been given, and if they knew the whole story, they'd know, like I do, that you were just being a good shinobi because you are a good shinobi," I finished.

Okami surprised me by pulling me into a hug, and my arms wouldn't go all the way around him in return because of the scroll on his back, but I still did my best to hug him back. When we broke apart, Okami was smiling legitimately, and we talked about other things on the way back to his house. I made sure he got inside before I left, walking back towards my house, wishing that telling him how I really felt wouldn't just put another impossible weight on his shoulders.

Flashback

ANBU under Tenzo

Shikadai

I had my eyes closed, so I could focus. I didn't have the sharingan, so there was no guarantee that I could remember anything perfectly. I tried to think back to when Okami and I had first met. It had to have been when we started at the academy, but I wasn't certain.

Inojin complained, "Lazy Nara, always napping."

I ignored him, focused. Okami had sat in the back of the class, for a variety of reasons. He always liked to have his back to a wall, so no one could sneak up on him. That would mean we couldn't have really been introduced until lunch time. I knew I'd specifically sat with him then, curious about why the other Uchiha were leaving him alone, but I couldn't remember what we'd talked about. I had just been impressed by how well Okami spoke. He had sounded older, which I could now give reason to. You grew up quickly when everyone around you hated you, apparently.

"Leave him alone, Inojin," Chocho warned, "Remember last time."

Inojin still kicked me in the side.

I gritted my teeth, decided it was worth teaching him a lesson, and got Inojin pinned like it was nothing. He had nothing on Okami, at least the Okami I had trained with, so of course he was easy for me to pin beneath me.

"Just because you miss your boyfriend doesn't mean you can take it out on me," Inojin gritted out.

I countered, "You attacked me."

"Maa," came the familiar voice of sensei, "Shikadai, let him up."

I did as I was ordered reluctantly, half wishing I had held a kunai to Inojin's throat, but I was supposed to be better than that. Inojin just knew how to get on my nerves. I felt like someone was watching, but when I turned to look, there was no one. I looked to sensei, and he had also tried to find the source of the same sensation. At least I knew I wasn't crazy.

"Alright, team, we have an escort mission today," Kakashi-sensei informed us, "We were given this mission specifically, so I need you all to run home and grab enough clothes and supplies for two days of travel."

I was about to leave, when Kakashi-sensei put a hand on my shoulder.

I informed him, knowing what he was going to ask about, "He kicked me first."

"I used to fight all the time with one of my teammates," sensei told me, "but I learned that we actually have a lot in common."

"It wouldn't matter how similar Inojin and I are. He keeps attacking me for caring that I lost a teammate," I retorted.

Kakashi-sensei sighed, but he let me go. I got back before the other two, and it was clear they had walked both ways, rather than running as I had. Sensei led the way out of the village, and it was a three-hour journey to the village the caravan we were guarding was starting from. Recent reports of bandits were making more and more people hire shInojinbi for protection in traveling. It was likely ninja would soon be hired to take out all the bandits, but that remained to be seen.

We were only a little late, likely as much as Kakashi-sensei thought we could get away with without our pay being docked. The caravan gathered itself, and Kakashi-sensei posted us at various positions around it to ensure it wasn't attacked or, if it was, we'd at least know the attack was coming.

The first day passed, and nothing eventful happened. We settled in for the night, still stationed around the caravan. The caravan was large enough that they likely should have hired more than one group of ninjas, but I knew that times were tough, and ninja were expensive. We were likely all they could afford. It was just after one in the morning when I had the sensation of being watched again. I focused on my sense of chakra, but there was no chakra presence that seemed out of the ordinary, just a lone wolf meandering through the woods towards us. It wouldn't attack us, so it posed no threat.

Chocho's chakra suddenly flared, like she was performing a jutsu. I moved immediately towards her, and as I moved closer, I sensed more and more individuals on her side that weren't supposed to be there. The bandits were attacking. Sensei was beside me as I moved towards her. His killing intent was already starting to flare, but he had to reign it in so that Inojin and Chocho could still fight.

There were twenty bandits, which put us at five to one. Those odds would have been fine, but I wasn't certain Inojin or Chocho could handle that many. That meant I had to keep at least half an eye on them. I moved around the edge of the group, grabbing a man's shadow and using it to make him fight his comrades. I had killed six of them before the man was brought down. I grabbed out a kunai then, only to hear Inojin scream. A quick look showed that the bandits had managed to grab him by his hair, and Inojin had to hold onto their arm to prevent the pain of his hair being ripped out from the root. I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. As ninja, you had to prove you could keep long hair.

Sensei threw a kunai that killed the man holding Inojin, even as I stopped someone else from stabbing Chocho in the back. She nodded her thanks, and I was quick to assess the battle again. There were four left, and a couple of thrown shuriken brought that down to three. Inojin managed to stab another one, while Chocho set sensei up to kill the other two with ease.

I started through their belongings, wanting to ensure no one else had hired these bandits to go after this caravan, and sensei did the same. I found money on the ones I searched, but there was no evidence I could find of a note or anything.

I sensed the wolf again, who was likely attracted by the smell of fresh meat. We gathered the bodies, and sensei did a jutsu to push them into the ground. The wolf still moved closer, even though most ran off when this kind of jutsu were performed. It was small, and as it moved out of the shadows of the trees, it sniffed the air, but it moved closer to us still.

Inojin moved to throw a kunai at it, but sensei held up a hand.

"T-to prove myself, I was given a message," the wolf said slowly, sounding nervous, "He is alive." There was a sound like thunder, and the wolf was gone in a flash of light, his message delivered. I wanted to collapse.

"Should have let me kill it," Inojin scoffed.

I wanted to strangle him.

Kakashi-sensei said, "It did us no harm, and it delivered an important message."

"Yeah," Inojin replied, "but now Shikadai is just going to get worse."