Chiyuki seems to think he's always got control of the situation, but it was his poor judgement that led them to this mess, wasn't it?
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I do not own Naruto.
sanguine
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It takes Minato summoning the two of them to a secret meeting for Shikaku and Fugaku to realize they might be over in their heads.
"Someone's been messing with the mission records and the actual stats. We're losing a lot more shinobi than they let on - ANBU level shinobi." The blonde tells them with a grave face, the three men huddled deep within the edge of the Nara woods.
"ROOT?" The Uchiha asks, a frown on his face.
"Some are, some aren't." The youngest of the three shrugs. "There's also the fact that some of our animal carriers are getting intercepted too easily, almost as if the enemy knows exactly when and where we're going to release them."
"And the Hokage?" Minato has a helpless look on his face, and Shikaku is reminded suddenly that the young man is barely in his twenties.
"The incidents were never really investigated. Someone from the upper ranks simply labelled them as 'calculated losses'."
A somber silence falls upon them, the Nara's mind jumping from one possibility to another.
"There's one more thing." The blonde says almost hesitantly, accepting the incredulous look from the older men with a sarcastic smile. "I've yet to confirm it, but there are also rumours that someone from Konoha has been trading letters with Hanzo."
"Hanzo the Salamander?" The police chief asks with a deep frown, crossing his arms. "Why would the rats maintain a relationship with the leader of Ame?"
"Ame's been catching the attention of other villages as they grow stronger without getting too involved in the current war." The Nara clan head mutters, a dark look on his face. "There's a new rebel group that's said to be led by three young but outstanding individuals, but as of now they claim they don't pose a threat to the current leader."
"Manipulating political relationships in other nations? Really? Just how far deep have the rats gone?" Fugaku demands, angry beyond reason.
"I don't know how deep they've gone, but I have a feeling they want to go even deeper." Minato pipes up, looking much older than he actually is. "Which is why I think it'll be best to take Chiyuki out of the investigation now before things go south."
Shikaku had known it was an extremely dangerous and delicate investigation, but he'd thought he could protect the Sarutobi princess as long as she was inside the village. Since she'd gotten Fugaku on their side, it also meant he had another person to rely on and trust her with.
Now, though, with all this new info weighing on his brain, he's not so sure anymore.
"I agree." The Uchiha patriarch says after a while, nodding at Minato. "If the rat is powerful enough to mess with the politics of another ninja village, he's cunning enough to notice her movements and attempt to take her out of the picture before she becomes a bigger problem."
"I'm honestly surprised nothing's happened to her yet." The youngest mutters, dragging a hand down his face. "I heard she got herself in a mess at the slums?"
The jounin commander snorts, despite himself. The other two look at him as if he's grown a second head, but Shikaku can't say he's surprised by anything Chiyuki does anymore.
"She did. Don't know how she left the place unscathed, honestly." The Nara clan head mumbles, an odd grin on his face. "What a troublesome little rascal."
"The Uchiha have chosen to fully support that 'little rascal'." Fugaku immediately bristles, a challenge on his tone. Shikaku raises both eyebrows, but doesn't take the bait.
"I know, and I appreciate it. The more trust-worthy allies she has, the better. It doesn't mean she's not a trouble magnet."
It's Minato's turn to bark out a laugh, shaking his head.
"She's a trouble magnet alright. Has been one since I met her." He says, a ghost of a smile on his face despite these trying times, and for a little while all three men have a fond look in their eyes, thinking of fiery chocolate eyes and a bleeding heart.
"Alright, then. Chiyuki's officially out of the investigation." The Nara says, and turns suspicious when the police chief smirks at him.
"Good luck telling her that."
Shikaku groans as Minato laughs at his misery, and despite it all, the three men are filled with determination and hope, fueled by a will of fire and iron.
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Shit hits the fan not too long after that, and the jounin commander wonders just when exactly things went so wrong.
On Chiyuki's tenth birthday, Choza decides to throw a big party for her. Normally he'd be against any sort of huge gathering in the middle of the war, but Shikaku understands morale is down and thinks there's no harm in celebrating the good things in life.
He doesn't think too much of the older Sarutobi siblings or Hatake Kakashi being out of the village, and settles down to finish some paperwork before going to sleep.
The clock barely strikes midnight before he feels a chill down his spine; a heavy, ominous feeling that nearly makes him nauseous. The seals on his own wrist tingle, and he doesn't think twice before teleporting as fast as he possibly can to the location where Chiyuki activated his seals.
It was supposed to have been a precaution.
She wasn't actually supposed to activate it.
There should've been no need for that.
The Nara clan head arrives at the scene and sees red. The trembling child is in his arms before he takes notice of what he's doing, but he'll worry about his actions later.
Shikaku leaves the Sarutobi princess with Yoshino and the deer, and he knows she'll be safe. He gathers his best shinobi and tells Fugaku to prepare for battle.
His little rascal almost got murdered, and he'll make sure there'll be hell to pay.
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It was a difficult, drawn-out battle, but in the end they emerged victorious.
The jounin commander is no stranger to bloodshed, although it has been a while since he's been in a battlefield. He does have, however, a lot of pent up frustration and rage, and he decides to take it all out on Danzo and his brainwashed soldiers.
Some of them are so far gone that he doesn't even feel bad about it.
The Uchiha patriarch is the one to finish the old man off. It's the least the village owes him, after seeing a few sharingan eyes transplanted into his arms - and how utterly sick is that?
"She told me there was something odd about him." Shikaku mutters low enough so only Fugaku is able to hear him. The slightly older man glances at the jounin before continuing to burn the stolen sharingans.
"Did she know?"
The Nara shrugs, looking at the destruction and death all around them with detached eyes.
"It's hard to say."
Neither men say anything else after that.
Shikaku washes the blood off his hands as best as he can and pats down his clothes before he returns to his home. His favorite girls are there, waiting for him, and all he wants to do is take a long nap curled up around the two.
He keeps Chiyuki in his house for a month after that. She goes out very few times, but doesn't seem to mind. The three of them easily fall into a routine, and sometimes Shikaku almost gets fooled into thinking they're just a normal family.
Yoshino tells him about the traumatized child and the way she'd cried clinging to the deer that night. He calls Inoichi to try to help but knows it's a difficult, long process. Still, the Nara couple is there to get her out of bed when depression tells her not to, to hold her when anxiety gets the best of her, to stay with her until she falls asleep without any nightmares plaguing her sleep.
The Sarutobi princess tells him she doesn't have a home anymore and he nearly tells her this could be her new home - but he can't, and he's never cursed clan politics more.
Shikaku can't keep her in his house forever, but he tries his damned best to keep her there for as long as possible. He tries to give her space and a sense of security because ultimately, this is all she needs. Chiyuki is strong enough to overcome this without being sheltered by his misplaced sense of guilt, but just for a little while, he'll pretend like she isn't.
Even kings need a while to sort out their minds sometimes.
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Constructive criticism is more than welcome, but if you're gonna be an asshole about it, don't even bother.