Fate

by PancakeFlying

The Kanbayashi were supposed to die, wiped out and never mourned because in the eyes of the world, they never existed. That is not what happens, nor what should have happened. An black alien creature came for them and burned everything they loved to the ground; Sachi, against all odds, survives when she wouldn't have. This will change everything. Full summary inside!

8. Chapter 8: First classes

CHAPTER 8: FIRST CLASSES

"How was school today?"

Sachi smiled at Ashi, saying "Fine, a little bit boring though."

"Give it time, darlin'." Ashi was sure that no class would prove engaging enough for Sachi to satisfy her. If the lessons she remembered were the same, then Sachi was already above the curriculum. "What about conditioning?"

At that her smile went down a little bit, shifting in her seat. "We run laps around the training ground for the last two hours, sometimes the teachers do this strange thing were they give us balls to hit each other."

Of course the concept of playing was strange to Sachi, whose idea of fun consisted of jumping the librarians for more books.

"You like it?" asked Haiiro.

"Some days. I mean, I don't like that they are trying to train our muscle memory for throwing weapons later on saying it's only a game, but it's better than risking early deaths by mishandling kunais. I guess."

Ashi chuckled, getting used to Sachi's observations. Nothing escaped her mind, and she saw right through the bullshit, well intended or not.

"Is it working though?" Sachi answered that by attempting to raise her arms, barely separating them from her ribs before she hissed in pain. "Serves you right if you don't stretch."

"I'll not make that mistake again, Haiiro." she said. "The Academy takes physical education pretty seriously."

The Academy provided the basic education for all subjects as well as a through exercise regime. Every day began and ended with half an hour of stretches, and then for every two hours of academics there was one hour of physical training; at least for the first two grades, from then, the time spent doing exercises increased.

Younger children were slowly taught how to use their bodies with games: dodgeball, hide-and-seek, tag… it was endurance training disguised as guileless games. The teachers were in charge of keeping their student's flexibility, as well as making sure that their muscles were in good condition without stunting their growth by putting too much strain on them.

Sachi was only in first grade, spars only from fourth grade onward. Obviously, it didn't mean that the students sat idle in their classrooms, and if by Ashi's guess, Sachi would begin to run obstacle courses soon enough. And then strength training, weaponry, ninja arts…

It made Ashi feel painfully old reminiscing her short Academy years, and a little bit excited, seeing Sachi through them; just like any mother would, watching her child grow.

If only Ashi was a mother.

"What are you doing?"

Ashi finished sharpening her weapons, carefully putting them in the pouch stapped to her tigh. "Preparing for a mission."

Haiiro huffed his disapproval. They had argued for days until Ashi decided to ignore him and take a mission. It had been more than half a year since she last went on one, which just so happened to be the one that she and Sachi crossed paths. She hoped not to repeat that, having enough with one stray Kanbayashi for a lifetime.

"... why?"

"Ashi's gotten itchy, pup." the clipped tone directed at his partner said "Can't sit still that one, not until she gets her lights knocked out to the Pure Lands."

Sachi was worried, Ashi tasting the pang of contained concern on her tongue. Bitter. "Something's the matter, darlin'?"

As well as Ashi was used to Sachi's comments, Sachi was used to hers. There were no lies between them, Sachi's chemistry giving her away, if not her chakra outbursts. She wasn't happy about it, since her bluffs didn't work on Ashi, but at least she had stopped getting angry about it.

"Why are you going on a mission?" and before Ashi reminded her about questioning her decisions, she added "Clan Heads don't go on missions."

"Just because I'm Clan Head doesn't mean that I'm not a ninja anymore." she got up, going to the end of the room to collect her armour.

"I mean, yes, but you don't need to go on missions, that's what the others are for!"

Setting the plates down for polishing, Ashi gave Sachi a look. "How can I set an example for our clan if I don't do my part?"

Neither Sachi or Haiiro were convinced by her words. "Ashi, that's not how it works."

"Ah, yes, I forgot you are a Clan Head too, Sachi. Why don't you explain it to me?"

"Technically I am a Clan Head, you know?" she muttered "I'm just saying that it doesn't make sense for a Clan Head to go out on missions. It's a logistical flaw! What would happen if you get injured or you… um… become compromised during your mission? What about the clan then?"

Sachi was getting upset by it, Ashi not quite understanding why. "Then Tsume, as my second, releves my duties until a new alpha emerges." she says simply, that's what happened when their parents died, Hisumi-baa-sama taking the lead until Ashi became the next alpha. "The Inuzuka are not—"

"Not an unilinear clan, yes, I know." she scowled. "Exogamous too, but it still isn't a good idea for you to go out."

Ashi quirked a brow, curious. "Why not? I'm that old to you or what?"

Sachi considered her answer carefully. "We aren't talking about age, but responsibility. What would happen if Tsume were to become Clan Head?"

"Oi, Tsume would make a good Clan Head." Sachi opened her mouth to argue. "Nu-uh, darlin'. Me going on missions is beneficial, more money to the clan."

"The Inuzuka might be a small clan but it's pretty well off. You have thriving business with the veterinary clinics, and the clan tax you substract from the other Inuzuka in service is more than enough to subside the clan. Plus, Inuzukas are paid more for their commissions because they are reimbursed for the training of their ninken. In most cases, they are better suited for specific missions, like reconnaissance or tracking, wich adds to the price."

Ashi let Sachi finish before saying. "Sachi, darlin', what've I told you about reading the clan's taxes, hmm? Our clan is well, but it doesn't mean that it will be forever. Saving up money for emergencies is always welcome, and I can't force our clanmates to pick up more work just because of the chance that we will need the funds." she finished rubbing the cloth over the metal plates, careful not to polish them too much as to not catch the light. "And who better than the ol' alpha bitch?"

Haiiro muttered something, Ashi ignoring his snarky comments ever since they left the ANBU HQ. She didn't need his opinion when it came to choosing missions, and she was sure he would follow her anywhere. His complaints were the only price she had to pay for it.

"This isn't about the money." Sachi stated, the same tone she used whenever she discovered figured out something. "Why do you want to go on a mission?"

She set the armour down, dragging her backpack to check for her medical supplies. "Because I'm a ninja before anything else, Sachi. I've been a ninja for almost forty years now, that's what I do best, and I intend to keep it that way."

Sachi didn't like it, her scent souring. She got frustrated easily, especially when Ashi didn't go along with her temper tantrums or didn't agree with her. The Inuzuka alpha made sure to teach her proper respect, and Sachi didn't blow off in a run as she would do when she grew too angry, instead, taking big breaths and keeping her chakra in check.

"What if I escape?"

Ashi didn't react, shrugging. "You can leave whenever you want, darlin'. Doesn't matter if I'm here or not, it's not like I'm gonna stop you."

She wasn't quite sure why she ended up taking Sachi in, but she knew that she wouldn't ever force her to stay. Sachi could have very well left by now, and not even the Inuzuka could stop her save for killing her.

Sachi hadn't, and so Ashi let her be.

"I'm not gonna stop you if you want to leave, but it's not your place to stop me if I wanna do it." she said, kindly but stern. "As long as you're here, I'm your Clan Head. Do you know what that means?" she stayed perfectly still, waiting. "It means that I can do whatever I want."

Sachi bared her teeth before promptly shutting her mouth and dropping her eyes.

"Doesn't mean she can't say it's bullshit." came Haiiro's remark, always quick to defend his pup. "Or Clan Head means no freedom of speech?"

"Keep that up and I'll consider it." she tugs at Haiiro's tail, just to mess with him. "Why are you so upset by this, darlin'?"

They might have been making progress with Sachi's emotions, volatile as they were, but they weren't quite at the point where Sachi disclosed what truly went through that mind of hers. "Nothing." she gritted, casting a glance over the backpack and the items she was putting in. "But if something happens I'm not taking responsibility."

"Ah, ah, ah! I don't like how that sounds." she grins, flicking her nose with her finger. "I'm leaving Tsume with you, so you can keep up your training with her. Also, I don't wanna hear you got in trouble, got it?"

"You'll know if you stay…"

"I will know, regardless where I'm at."

"I could bribe Tsume…"

"I'll know that too."

"How?"

"Wanna try?"

"Maybe—!" Ashi flicked her nose again "... no."

"That's my girl. Don't you have homework to do?"

"When do you leave?" she asked suddenly, her eyes attentive. "Will it be long? Is it far? Do you have enough weapons? What about food—?"

"Sachi. Stop." she did. "You know I can't tell you anything besides a rough estimate, but tracking is not an exact science."

Sachi wasn't satisfied by that answer, her chakra buzzing unhappily around her. Haiiro glared at her, accusing her of upsetting her, while Ashi sighed internally. Taking care of Sachi was demanding because of how her mind worked, and how she couldn't deal with her intense emotions.

Well, that's what she got for adopting her.

"A month."

"A month?!" she exclaims before she minds her tone. "That's too long!"

"You mean short. I've got missions that took me years to complete, so this one is almost like a treat." her ward's face contorts in indignation, failing at intimidating her. "Stop worrying, Sachi, it's not my first mission."

"But it could be your last." she whispered, distraught. She shook her head, flinching at the pain in her temporal lobes. "I mean— I didn't want to say it like that…"

"I know what you're saying." Ashi tells her, catching the regret in her words. "And I'm gonna say this once. Death is something ninjas deal with every day, not every mission, and thinking what if's won't do you any good. I don't want to hear that from you again, understood?"

"Yes."

"Go do your homework."

Sachi left, a bundle of conflicting emotions that electrified the air and dampened it with the bitter tast of fear. Ashi took a deep breath once her scent faded, catching Haiiro's unimpressed gaze.

"Those your puppy eyes?"

Haiiro scoffs. "More like too-tired-for-your-shit eyes."

"We aren't gonna argue about this."

"Not arguing, just saying." he gets up, his old bones popping loudly. "Damn, my joints… I just hope that this missions is worth our necks."

"Don't be like that, Haiiro. It could be fun."

"Because smelling whatever those nobles fart is always fun." he says flatly. "You're really looking forward to this."

"Why wouldn't I? It'll be nice to head out."

Ever since adopting Sachi, Ashi has found herself extremely busy. From taking care of the overdue paperwork to reconnecting with her clan… it has taken a toll on her. The anxious itch of being too still for too long had been unbearable for the last few days. Ashi hadn't acted upon the impulse to get away because she was responsible for Sachi, too new to be left unattended for long.

With Sachi now as a student, Ashi could breathe again. She wasn't at home all day, using her time to study and train, less for mischief. Ashi hadn't been on leave for that long excepting medical issues, and she found herself uncomfortable in her own skin, feeling useless and lazy. She needed the action, the adrenaline.

"Or maybe we can stay here, where we can eat hot every day, train the pups, take care of the patients, make sure Tsume or Sachi don't sentence the clan for execution…"

"Haiiro."

"Yeah, yeah, cut me some slack, will ya?" he goes to her, rubbing his body against her side. "Business first and all that crap."

Ashi ruffles his fur. This mission was a treat to herself, and she was fully intending to enjoy every last second of it.

Hours later, Ashi and Haiiro were ready. There was something transcendental about going into the night, following the path to a mission that could very well be the last one. Ashi looked back towards their home, the main house silent and solemn in the center of their territory.

She wondered, sometimes, about how this could be the last time she saw her childhood home, her family, her clan… it weighted heavy on her heart, but the sense of duty pulled her body forward.

Still, she lingered just a second more, Haiiro a grounding presence at her side while she sent a prayer to her gods to bring her back home, to not let her go astray, to not let her get lost.

And then, light flickered to life. The window opened and Sachi peaked out from the frame, scanning the backyard. Ashi waited as her eyes came upwards, towards the canopies, and squinted in their general direction.

She saw them.

The first instinct Ashi had was to yell at her to go back to sleep already because she had school tomorrow, the next one a feeling of hesitance at leaving her alone. Ashi had never had troubles leaving the village while on missions, craving to get away from everything and everyone for a while knowing that she could always come back.

This time, she almost didn't want to leave.

"A month!" Sachi said, Ashi flinching at how loud her voice was. "You promise!"

Haiiro chuckled silently.

Sachi waved at them, and Ashi waved back, her face covered by the wolf mask.

"A month—!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Tsume howled.

Ashi shook her head, turning around and setting for the rendezvous point; she had a mission to do.

She just hoped she had a clan to come back to.

.

The Academy's first grade covered the basics. Maths, Language and History were the main subjects, having more hours on average per week than Geography, Science or Ninja Arts, striking Sachi as odd, considering that the Academy's purpose was to train ninjas from the very start.

Of course, that was seen in conditioning. Sachi jumped through the hoops, holding on the little ridges of the wooden platforms to hoist herself up and climb the tower higher. The playground, or the training field depending on your view, was filled with laughter and high pitched voices.

"Be careful, Sachi-kun!"

She peeked around the edge, the teacher twenty feet below waving at her to go down. The obstacle course had several platforms scattered around a hollow tree that served as a tower, with safety nets in case the childrens slipped and dropped to their deaths too soon.

Sachi wondered, looking down at the students, playing and testing the precarious nets, if they knew they were being taught how to loss their fear. Ninjas used the rooftops or the trees more than they walked the streets, it was only logical that they would train their youngsters how to ignore the vertigo, or the possibility of breaking their necks, with games and exercises.

Oh, well.

Sachi jumps, feeling the rush of air around her as she goes down. The adrenaline surges through her veins, her stomach drops, and she can feel a string of 'oh, no, no, no, no, no' in her head. Twisting her body in the air she barely manages to right herself feet first before she landed on the net, bouncing off of it and hitting the ground with an ungraceful roll.

"Ugh…" she groaned, feeling the sting of the fabric rubbing against her skin.

"That was dangerous!"

Sachi got up, patting the dirt off her clothes. She needed to get better at turning in the air, putting her legs forward, to roll—

The bell rings, finishing the conditioning hour. The children leave the obstacle course, some of them helped by the teacher as they got stuck in the crevices between platforms, while the others stretched. Sachi was never going to skip stretching ever again, because the Academy didn't care if you had muscle fever or a missing limb, they would make you do the exercises nonetheless.

If you complained, you got double.

Getting in line, like obedient chicks, they made their way towards the Academy. There were other obstacle courses, varying in intensity and difficulty, and introducing different elements. Some had rocks or boulders, from flat to almost vertical surfaces; others, like the forest themed one, focused on the natural landscape of Leaf, with a good portion of the forest mimicking the intricate branch system that ninja used to get around the village. Deeper into the Academy's grounds you could find a small field filled with sand and limestone, others with tall grass, a swamp…

Sachi was impressed with the layout, having included several of the landscapes of other Elemental Countries, in hopes of familiarizing them enough to know how to fight if the need ever rose. She couldn't help but remark that they were missing snow and needle trees, though. The young Archive would have liked to see ninjas trying to climb the branches in the Needle Forest, or try to go around in the snow before freezing to death, or be eaten by the beasts.

(Or hunted by a demon.)

" —listening? Oi, Sachi-kun!" the teacher grabbed her by the shoulder, Sachi turning sharply and shoving her away. "Huh?"

She bit down on the fear, her pulse quickening more than the fall. "What is it, sensei?" she gritted.

Ever since Ashi had left, more than three weeks ago, she found herself restless. She couldn't relax, not when there were so many threats prowling around, and she in the middle of them. She wanted to blame Ashi, she really did, because she was supposed to be with her, protect her, make sure that no one found out about her…

But it wasn't true.

Sachi couldn't depend on Ashi's image, Clan Head or not, and only know does she realize just how overwhelmed she is in the Academy.

"I said it was dangerous for you to jump like that, why would you do that, aren't you afraid?"

"Isn't this what we are supposed to do? Make sure we get used to falling, so when we do, we know how to not break our bones too much?"

Her teacher regarded her oddly, that fake charm she used to keep the children at ease didn't work on her because she refused to be fooled by it. Sachi wanted the truth or nothing at all, but, as she has come to notice, truth was rarely found in shinobi crowd.

"What are you talking about, Sachi-kun? We are just playing, it's perfectly safe."

Her chakra flickered inside of her, reacting at her frustration. Everytime she tried calling the teachers on their bullshit she was brushed off, dismissed or directly ignored. They weren't taking her seriously, either because she was an Inuzuka, a bastard or too annoying; maybe all at once.

Listening to Ashi's advice, she took a deep breath, steeled herself "Playing involves an activity that has no other motive than enjoyment." she stated, watching Miku's eyes harden into a thinly veiled glare. "Whereas conditioning is a process of training a person or an animal to behave in a certain way or accept certain circumstances. Explained this, which description is more fitting?"

The woman kept her face blank, Sachi staring at her in challenge, daring her to lie to her face.

"You are very smart, Sachi-kun."

Her tone put an unsettled shiver down her spine. Sachi made a half assed salute to avoid being punished for insubordination, and returned to the line as fast as she could. Miku was trying to get underneath her skin, break her confidence, gaslight her into obedience.

Conditioning went beyond physical education, indoctrination an ugly beast lurking behind every class. Music or Art wasn't spared either, Sachi fully convinced that the childish rhythms they were supposed to repeat was an introduction to morse code; and art was a test to see who could forge or who had an eye for detail.

The Inuzuka had hounds with them, but they didn't hold a candle to the assistants that watched them. Miku had told the class that they were there to help them prepare for the upcoming final exams, and to make sure they were studying correctly without any questions or doubts.

"How are you doing, Sachi-kun? Do you need help with math?" a man told her, inching closer to see her worksheet. "... you've already done it. That's good, very… good, Sachi-kun."

Sachi bared her teeth at the empty praise. She didn't like those eyes of his, as if he had found something of value, nothing more than an asset to have, a brute diamond in need of polishing. That kind of attention irked her, targeted, her every move recorded.

"I have more problems, if you are bored…" he told her, already taking out a set of papers and taking her sheet away. "Let's see if you can do them, ask me if you need help, okay?"

He watched her expectantly, Sachi almost cussing him out with one of Tsume's favourite string of curses, but forced a 'yes, sir'. The assistant nodded, making his rounds around other students before going back to report to Miku.

They locked eyes, Sachi and Miku, and neither of them was pleased by it.

One thing that didn't change from coming to Leaf from the Heart was the animosity between teachers and Sachi. There were two possible theories, either the teachers were a general bunch of assholes or Sachi managed to get on their nerves regardless of their nationality.

When the Academy finished for the day, she packed her things briskly, avoiding the call of her teacher to stay a little longer to talk. Sachi wouldn't be caught alone with a ninja, much less in the Academy, where her screams wouldn't be heard.

But there was hope.

The ninja library was in her way back to the Inuzuka compound. A behemoth of a building, clad in smooth grey stone, with an entrance supported by black marble columns, and more importantly, pointy roofs.

"You again?" Sachi flashed the guards her dog tags, displaying her rank as student of the Academy that granted her access. "Man, every damn day…"

Sachi didn't care about their opinion, the familiar hush of peace as she walked deeper into the shelves smoothing her anxieties. The shelves were made of wood, but instead of being cut down into shape, they were growing right from the floor, curling around the pillars and the floor of black marble with ripples of white.

If you were to follow the roots, you would find a white poplar right in the middle of the library. The tree was enclosed in glass, avoiding any leaves to scatter around the hallways. It was beautiful, the center of the building a glass dome that let the sun filter through. The silver leaves of the tree caught the light and reflected it, illuminating the otherwise clad black library, making the floors shine and create a phantom mist that reminded her of recently settled snow.

Tobirama was the founder of the ninja library, after his brother had erected the village, deeming it necessary for a home to have a place of wisdom. Sachi could see it, standing out against the earthy tones and colored wood of Hashirama's work in the surrounding buildings, a dark and quiet structure which held a vast collection of information. Tobirama had been a scholar, and his influence showed in every corner of the library.

The Kanbayashi Library had been the same, with obsidian instead of marble and needle tree wood instead of ebony. Even the cold was similar, good for preserving the books, the village's thick roof of leaves keeping away the raging sun and cast a cool shadow, only shattered by the white poplar centerpiece. The last detail was something halfway a request and a gift, from Hashirama to Tobirama.

("Tobirama-sama went to his brother for help," Sumi whispered to her, amongst the shelves of the Library "asking for a tree that would represent the library. He had put a little bit of the Heart in Leaf, you see, but the needle trees wouldn't grow in such warm climates," they stopped at an arch, Sumi touching the roots with his hand, macking light flicker to life and curl around the obsidian "and the Mother Tree belongs to the Heart."

"What did Hashirama-sama do?" she asked, full of awe.

He winked at her. "Hashirama-sama loved his brother very much, and because he knew how important it was for him to have a piece of the Heart in his home, he decided to grow a white poplar." he took her hand gingerly, putting it against the wood and seeing her chakra pass through her diamonds to the Mother Tree. "But this tree was special. Do you know why?"

"Why?"

"The white poplar that Hashirama-sama created was a male with red catkins, completely silver, with white bark peppered with black diamonds." he turned her palm upwards, her Dark Release marks shining against her pale skin. "When Tobirama-sama saw this, he asked his brother why did he chose that tree, instead of a wise oak or fiery prairifire. He answered," Sumi used a deep voice, saying "'Because your soul is in this place. No oak could represent your wisdom and no prairifire could speak of your will.'"

Sumi smiled at her, tracing three lines on her face, two on her cheeks and one on her chin. "Someday, you will see that tree for yourself, that and Mito-sama's prairifire. And when you do, you'll tell me, what does it remind you of?")

Phantom feelings lingered around the tree, a sibling's love in the delicate leaves, a prodigious mind in the crisp air, hope for the future in the cracks around the stone, longing in the iridescent reflections of the glass...

Sachi looked at the white poplar, and all she could think was home.

.

Sachi was ambushed the moment she put a foot in the Inuzuka compound.

She had finished studying in the library, hunger driving her away more than the annoyed glances of the librarians. The sight of the Inuzuka lands made her drop her guard, the safety inherent in Ashi's territory putting a skip in her step. However, before she got to salute the guards, she felt an ominous presence behind her back.

That, and the swipe of a kunai.

Her first instinct was to get her head forward and away from the blade, turning around and aiming to grab the arm that yielded the weapon. She didn't manage, her attacker using their other arm to throw a punch that would knock her out. Sachi blocked the hit, kicking their wrist away before she used her leg, with the added momentum of the turn, to put distance between them.

It worked. Sachi immediately stepping away from them, the relief short lived as they charged forward, knee first and kunai second. The real danger was the other arm, curled into a fist and as Sachi dodged the weapon a second time, and used her own leg to redirect the knee, her hands to block the punch, grab the wrist and twist with all her might.

The attacker flew, going with the awkward angle and their own force, Sachi getting underneath to use her back to push them upwards, trying to flip them onto their backs and maybe—

Sachi saw her mistake in the form of a savage grin, using their free hand to stop their fall, and with a push, they fliped themselves in the air and used their leg to turn Sachi's head backwards with a heel kick.

The hit was enough to momentarily black out, the shift between reality and her mindspace jarring for a second before she tried getting back to her body.

But it was too late by then.

The sharp edge of the kunai touched her neck."Aaand, you dead."

She groaned. "You're very mean to me, Tsume."

The woman kicked her lightly in the ribs before helping her out. "Hope you remember how mean I was to you when you're on your first mission, pup. You alright?"

Her jaw was hurting, but since Tsume took training her seriously, everything started aching. "I'm good."

"Good. Stretch and fifty laps, go."

Sachi listened, discarding her haori by a stone bench and stretching thoroughly, head to toe, and then back again. Just because the Academy was done for today didn't mean that she was free to do as she pleased. Tsume let her have a few hours between the Academy and their training session while she did her rounds in the clinic, but the moment she was in the compound, Sachi was expected to train until nightfall.

She ran across the Inuzuka forest that they shared with the Nara, careful not to set off the traps that Tsume had placed to keep her focused, very easy to get distracted and let your mind wander while doing repetitive tasks. Sachi ducked without a second thought, avoiding the ninja wire that would most likely cut her skin like butter and then sidestepped the hidden wire in the underbrush that would set off the kunais hiding further ahead.

Nothing was easy with Tsume, but at least it was fun.

Sachi tripped on a root that she was sure wasn't there before, rolling on the ground until she felt the sharp sting of senbon at her back.

Sometimes.

She finished those fifty laps in less than two hours. The first time she had taken four, and the second time she had halved her time because that demon of a woman set off the senile dogs after her to prove that she could do better. She did, but the memory of being chased with demented dogs who most definetly wanted to tear her to shreds wasn't her favourite.

Tsume was already expecting her. "Tomorrow you'll do the laps in an hour and a half."

"Yes, ma'am."

They get into the ring, shaking their hands with two fingers, a ninja tradition for spars, before they put themselves into position. Sachi spread her legs, flexing them and turning her body slightly sideways, putting her arms close to her face and mindful of her fists.

Tsume begins first, Sachi letting the punch graze her temple by minutely shifting to the side. That was the second rule, 'don't waste your energy'. Sachi put her foot forward, gathering her strength to go for a hook to Tsume's shoulder, but she used the crook of her elbow to catch her arm and drag her with her.

It was useless to try and get her arm back, so Sachi quickly let herself fall to put a strain on Tsume's grip, before using that to get her leg on her hip and kick. Tsume let her go, destabilized, but she turned sharply, bringing her leg downwards right to her face.

Sachi got her hands above her head, planting her feet and pushing herself backwards. She got away, but Tsume flexed her knee, her body leaning forward and shooting in her direction with her arms outstretched.

They go down in a tangle of limbs, a hand on Sachi's shoulder and the other one on her hip to pin her body to the ground. Sachi, recovering from the unexpected move, goes over their previous fights to come up with her next hit.

She goes for a headbut.

Tsume's head jerks back, Sachi putting her knee between their two bodies to avoid the older woman's bodyweight crush her, and kicks her in the throat with her elbow. When she falters, Sachi tries getting her arms around her neck to get Tsume into a chokehold, failing miserably as the woman slithers her body too fast for Sachi to react and brings her legs to her head, choking her instead.

Sachi flails, the air escaping her lungs before letting herself go limp.

"Damn, you really went for the throat." she croaked, rubbing her neck.

"Y-you… too." she gasps. "How was it?"

They get up, Sachi feeling her body cramp as the heat increases. When she fought her chakra got all over the place, the little and fragile pathways along her muscles probably broken or barely put together. Because of it, strenuous physical activity made her body heat up rapidly, and if she wasn't careful, she would go down before Tsume landed any hit.

Rule number four, pick your battles but fight them till the end.

"You're too small to choke people," she told her seriously. "and when you're fightin' people with a disadvantage you use their strength as yours."

"Rule number three, right?"

"Yeah, whatever. The headbut was good tho, but you'll only get 'em once with that. Risk a concussion, also."

Tsume tapped her forehead, and Sachi wasn't looking forward to seeing the bruise or the headache that will follow. "Get into stance. See?" she touches her knees, carefully closing her legs. "You're imitating nee-chan's position, but you're a lot scrawnier. Try this."

The new stance is more closed, her feet parallel and together, one a little bit ahead while her shoulders turned forward. Tsume moved her arms, crossing them across her torso almost as if she was hugging herself, her right fist covering her lower face and neck while the left was right under her chest. She wobbled in that new position, losing the stable and grounded position that the previous stance offered.

"This closes the gap you have on your belly and crotch. Put your weight on the tip of your feet, rock a little bit, how's the feel?"

Sachi did, slowly getting used to it. She had more freedom to move her feet, shuffle them quicker than before, but at the same time she felt herself swaying too much because of the narrower ground her feet were on. "It's faster?"

"Hmm, but it isn't as strong. That's why…" she reaches into the holster strapped to her thigh, extracting two kunais. "Grab this."

Sachi stared at the knives blankly, grabbing them nonetheless. The metal was smoother than she expected, the handle well used and with ridges to help with traction. A lot heavier than she imagined too, obvious when you remembered that they were made of iron. She touched the tip, cutting herself instantly.

Tsume chuckles. "You're too big for toys, pup, it's time that you know how to use 'em."

"How do I… use them?"

"Depends on what you use 'em for." she shifts the blade in her hands, Tsume showing her how to grab them so the blade is pointing away from the center of her body. "For now you gotta learn how to fight with 'em, and then we'll see if you can throw 'em. Get ready."

"What? With the kunai?" Tsume gives her a look. "What about yours—?"

Sachi swallows the question as the woman lunges forward, Sachi tripping over her feet and almost falling backwards at the lack of backing by her own body. She recovers quickly enough, spreading her legs again but Tsume punches her in the stomach.

She fights against the nausea and the lack of breath, clenching her teeth as she puts distance, but Tsume is faster and doesn't let her get away by repeatedly kicking at her stomach.

Fuck.

It hurt. A lot. Too much. Her chakra fluttering around her muscles, pins digging into every inch she had before her soft belly yielded to Tsume's fists. She was yielding two kunais and Tsume none, but the latter was dominating the fight. Sachi struggled to get her head into the fight, the pain blindsiding her. The older Inuzuka didn't wait for her to learn, to explain or guide her through her training.

No.

Tsume continued kicking her, absolutely merciless as Sachi did her best to match her tempo. Not a chance, the woman too fast for her to imitate, to track her movements and predict them as she had with Ashi.

Ashi was heavier than Tsume, also stronger, but slower. Sachi felt her feet give out, the wicked spams around her lower torso excruciating to get trough. She knew that if she got down now, Tsume would keep hitting her, regardless of how much blood she drew, how many bruises she gave her or the bones she broke.

That was a ninja. Relentless, unforgiving, remorseless.

(" —harder! You are giving up! How could you? A disappointment to my teachings, to my efforts, to my blood…!" Mother raged, her voice rasping her ears as she struggled to learn, to understand. "It's not enough Sachi. You. Are. Never. Enough.")

Closing her legs, putting the feet together and angling the arms across her chest, Sachi lunges. Tsume is mid way through a hook when Sachi finally uses the kunais, her dominant hand swiping right to her throat, Tsume kicking her hand away and turning her shoulder sharply. Instead of Sachi falling, her equilibrium altered, she puts the contrary knee up, planting the other feet on the ground and rotating her body.

Tsume is kicked on her right flank, forcing her to slip on the sandy ground, but Sachi keeps rotating, making a full turn and focusing all her strength into her right arm. The kinetic energy of the turn and the clear trajectory of the kunai towards Tsume's chest promised a very nasty blow, if not a punctured lung. The woman stared at the little girl, beaten to a pulp, with eyes that glowed with malice.

Sachi was going to kill her.

At the last moment, Sachi gasps, losing her grip on the blade and dropping it. She trips, slips and girates awkwardly until she flops on the ground, the motion of the movement bringing her down hard.

Sachi flinches, Tsume squatting by her side. "What was that?"

"Um… I…"

"Well?" she demands, not happy. "Why did you fuck it up?"

"...I d-don't…didn't…"

Tsume hums low in her throat, a deep rumble that sounds like the thunder before the storm. "Sachi, look at me."

She does, her eyes meeting hers before she looked down again "Rule number one, kill or be killed. Do you wanna die?"

"...no."

"Then don't fucking let go of the kunai." she growls at her, making sure every syllabe get through her stubborn skull. "You were doing good, what happened?"

The girl sighs, not knowing what to say. "I… didn't want to… stab you."

"Didn't wanna or couldn't do it?"

"... couldn't."

"That's a fuckin' lie, pup. Everyone can kill, so, what it is?"

"I didn't want to stab you."

The woman puts a hand on Sachi's head, noticing how she jerked away from her touch before leaning into it. "Did you?"

"What?"

"Did you stab me?"

"No… but if I went with it then I would have stabbed you—"

"Didn't ask that. Listen. Did. You. Stab. Me?"

Sachi gapes, before saying. "N-no, but…!"

"Life doesn't work with what ifs, Sachi, you either do 'em or you don't." Tsume helps her get up, Sachi cringing at her body as her chakra grits her strained muscles. "You should have gone for that hit. Never hesitate, because your enemy won't. Get it?"

Sachi did. Still wasn't easy to assimilate.

"Fights don't end because you manage to scratch 'em with a kunai, same thing with spars and one punch." she teases, picking up the discarded blades. "Don't get ahead of yourself with that mind of yours, pup. Theory only works when you have the practice down."

Sachi listens, the pang of failure heavier than her abused stomach. Never enough, no matter how much she trained, how much she studied.

("She is wrong." Sachi hisses at the mirror. "She is wrong, and I am right. I am always right, and I always win." she refuses to cry, the blood dripping from her fingers to the floor. "I. Am. Enough.")

"I'll do better." she says, convincing herself. "I'll… I'll do better, give me time. I—"

"Woah there, pup. Turn the killer intent down a notch, will ya?" she approaches, although warily, putting the knives in her hands again. "That's what training's for, what the clan's for. You've got a lot years to learn, don't rush it or you're gonna learn it all wrong."

Sachi listens, or tries to as Tsume ruffles her head roughly "O-okay…Okay! Yeah, I— Tsume!"

"That's for thinking you could ever stab me. I've got a hundred years of experience on you, kiddo. Come on, let's do this again. No fucks up, 'kay?"

She lets go of her, Sachi stumbling. "I didn't know you were that old, Tsume."

"Ah, feeling cocky? Let's do this," she grins and Sachi immediately regrets her smartmouth "if you fail to get scratch me until round's over, you gotta do ten more laps."

"You're on."

In the end, Sachi did fifty bonus laps, and Tsume didn't get a single scratch on her.

.

Reconnaissance missions involved a lot of waiting. They consisted on gathering information, not only military sensitive in terms of their enemy, but every detail or strange occurrence that might be of importance. Wolf's team had been deployed to a village near the eastern border of Fire Country, neighbouring with Hot Springs. The intel they had were that there might be suspicious activity going on, and to either verify or disprove those claims before coming back to the village.

After the mark of a month had passed, Ashi's team was only now getting a breakthrough. The Inuzuka alpha had forgotten just how much patience she needed in those kinds of jobs, and how much focus was put in every second in hopes of finding anomalies or prove that they were in a harmless village and their source needed to be verified.

But, as ninja work went, it rarely was that easy.

It began when Haiiro, posing as a stray dog, scented a missing nin. Inuzuka ninken had a good memory for scents, and Leaf used this to its advantage to detect potentially dangerous individuals by letting them memorize their scent. That's why when shinobi came back after an encounter with those kind of people, they let ninken sniff their bodies in hopes of identifying them if they ever crossed paths. It worked especially well when they brought back corpses.

Wolf, as captain of her team, signaled. 'Raccoon. Outpost. Message. To. Hokage.' the soldier heeding her orders instantly and going back. The missing nin was an A-class from Lightning, and they needed to notify the village in case their team didn't return.

'Pursue?' Canary asked at her side.

She signaled negative, Haiiro letting go of his genjutsu and joining their party. 'Regroup. 0900 hours.'

They split up, a group of five a tad too many to be sneaking around, and not with a missing nin near. They had a base in an inn, posing as their cover while they scouted the village. Lizard was already there, Canary and Wolf joining her. She was still using the henge they manned between the five of them, a plain woman with an otherwise placid expression that quickly turned serious when she saw them.

"Trouble?"

"Missing nin. The Raia Gutter."

Lizard schooled her features, not surprised at the development. "Orders?"

"Hold position. Racoon's sent the message, we'll wait until they come back." Wolf explained, making sure Haiiro was unharmed. "It's not clear if the missing nin is involved in this mission."

"Wishful thinking, ma'am?"

"A probability, Canary." she slaps him up the head lightly, Canary and Wolf used to their banter. "Keep your mind open or you'll see things that aren't there. But, if you see 'em, tell the group. Acting solo will get you killed without explanation."

They nodded. Lizard was a new recruit, and Wolf didn't want too eager rookies on her team that could blow up the missions. Ninjas had bad luck as it was, not good to push it further.

"Yes, ma'am." she says, saluting. "Should I continue the recon?"

"What do you think, Lizard?"

The woman is startled for a moment before answering. "I have to follow your orders, ma'am."

"You need to think by yourself. With this new intel, how should you proceed, if I'm compromised?"

"...I… would go back to the outpost."

"And what would happen then?"

Wolf sees the flicker in the woman's henge before she calms herself. "I… don't follow, ma'am."

She keeps the sigh to herself. "If you flee, the enemy might give chase. You will be disclosing the location of an outpost and endangering Communications. You are a soldier, what do you do?"

"... fight?"

Canary chuckled. "Are you able to take down an A-class missing nin by yourself?" the woman cringes momentarily. A rookie alright.

"This is your first mission with me, but I expect you to think for yourself than just listen to what I say. When I tell you to do something, you do because I'm captain, but the moment you're alone shit happens. Then you need to think, and think well, because death isn't the worst that can happen to you."

Lizard nods. "Continue with the recon, don't engage if you cross paths. Our mission isn't to piss off missing nins."

She leaves the room, Canary shaking his head as he takes out his mask. "Rookies."

Ashi takes out her mask too, taking a deep breath; that side of the border had always been so damn humid. "I distincly remember you fucking up your first mission."

Inoichi shrugs his shoulders, combing a hand through his hair. "I wasn't the only one and you know it."

Haiiro lays down on the floor, giving the younger man a smirk. "You three were lucky we were there to save your sorry asses."

"And we made up for it." he grins, unashamed.

Inoichi, Shikaku and Chouza, predictably, ended up in the same ANBU team once they enlisted. Ashi, already captain by that point and with Eagle as her second, had been tasked to train those three in hopes of making honest ANBU soldiers out of them. The results were… mixed.

Their first mission had been a downright disaster, from ignoring orders, to fighting teammates, to blowing up the cover… it was a miracle they got back in one piece, but not on the lack of effort on those three idiots.

Ashi had nearly kicked them out of ANBU right then and there, but decided to give them one more chance. The second mission turned out to be a catastrophe, Ashi breaking her leg trying to kill their targets, but they managed to win the fight and Chouza carried her back home. Not that Tsume was happy.

"Seems like a long time ago."

"You aren't that old." Ashi accuses, feeling her joints groan. "They just send younger and younger rookies."

The Yamanaka scoffs, throwing her a ration bar. "Says the woman that was there before she turned fifteen."

Ashi takes the food, snapping half for Haiiro. "Nothing to brag 'bout, darlin'."

"Yeah, I know." he says, fishing for more food. "You really drilled Lizard, there."

She frowns. "What are you talking 'bout?"

"She's young, you can't expect her to know everything, just saying."

"I know what you're sayin'." and she didn't like it. Inoichi was good at pushing buttons just as good as he was at mindfucking people. "She's young, but that's no excuse to be a mindless minion."

He smiles ruefully. "Oh? Didn't know you were a fan of problematic statements."

"You know what I mean."

Inoichi did, wich is why he didn't say anything more. ANBU knew very well what a mindless soldier, only listening to orders and obeying rules, meant. They had them in the HQ, posing as normal people, but they knew better than to believe them. You would never catch one unmasked, and Haiiro had yet to find one in the village off duty, but that was a subject no soldier would ever bring up to the Hokage.

"By the way…"

"I know that tone. Spit it out."

"May I ask a deeply personal question, ma'am?"

"You only address me as ma'am when you're about to piss me off. And since when do you ask nicely when you can fuck my brain out?"

"Not a good image." he grimaces. "You don't need to answer, of course… but I've heard the darndest thing about you, and I want to make sure it's true."

Ashi looks at him, baring her teeth a tiny bit. He recognizes the warning, and he drops his eyes. "I know what you're hinting at."

"Is it true then?" he asks, a mix between excited and confused. "You really got yourself a brat? You did! Oh Sage, it's true!"

Haiiro puts a paw on her legs before Ashi decided to shut him up with a punch. "What 'about it?" he drawls. "Jealous?"

"Nah. Why? I didn't know you—" he shut up at Haiiro's growl, reconsidering. "Sorry. I'm just curious, that's all. Didn't expect it. What's she like?"

"I'm not going to talk about her on a mission."

"Oh, come on! Must be something else for you to keep her. How did your sister react when she found out? Man, I would have paid to see it—"

"They get along fine." or so Ashi liked to think. Tsume begrundly accepted Sachi's presence, and she had been clear that she was to care for the girl, liked it or not. But her sister knew better than anyone that Tsume knew how to deal with children as Ashi did, which was to say not at all.

"You don't sound convinced." Inoichi pressed, always a bastard. "Hey, can I meet her?

"Shut up." Haiiro intervenes. " Mind your own fuckin' pups"

"Yeah, as if." he laughs at himself. "Still, I would like to meet her, I'm sure it'll be fun."

Ashi doubted it. Sachi avoided the Yamanaka like the plague, and even though Ashi trusted Inoichi, she didn't want to make her uncomfortable. The risk of the Yamanaka accessing Sachi's mind and killing her twisted her gut, despite Inoichi never doing that before, Ashi wasn't about to test it.

"You're awfully chatty, today, Inoichi." Ashi muses.

"What? I—"

"Last shift."

Inoichi glares at her before accepting his fate; last shift of guarding duty meant less hours of sleep, let the bastard learn how to be quiet.

Raccoon came back a day later with a notice from the Hokage that said that they were to not engage with the missing nin, and that they would send a hunter squad to target him. Ashi's team focused on their mission, finding nothing else than an illegal export of goods between the two countries that was potentially notified by a rivalring merchant.

Good news, considering that Haiiro had scented the missing nin recently, and so they held their position until the hunter squad came to relieve them from duty.

Ashi was eager to go back home, see what those two little troublemakers had been up to, and to make sure Sachi was alright and didn't piss off another noble clan. Haiiro had noticed her anxiety, assuring her that they would be fine. Of course they would, Tsume was her second in command, and she was responsible for the clan in her absence. Sachi was clan, pack, so the thought of Tsume not looking after Sachi was ridiculous. She was still a little bit nervous, since Sachi was still getting used to living in a hidden village, but Tsume would handle it, she was sure of it.

Cue her surprise when she saw Tsume in the hunter squad.

.

Tsume had left in a hurry. A mission had come up that only her and Kuromaru could do, or so they said, and left a second later. Sachi hadn't had time to complain or be happy, her babysitters answering the call of duty without room for discussion.

Sachi had no right to be angry, nor was she. Ninjas pledged loyalty to the village, and they were expected to serve with their lives. That didn't sit well with her, the fact that ninjas could die at any moment and no one would be surprised, because, then again, that was what they did. Canon fodder, weapons, and a death toll number on the Hokage's reports; Sachi wondered why they went with it, was their life that worthless to dedicate to a single place? Was it a matter of power, of pride? Was manipulation involved, or their feelings of loyalty were genuine?

"What is in your mind, Sachi-kun?"

The Academy director was sipping his tea, Sachi's own cup untouched in front of her. She had been sent to his office because one motive or another, a reflex reaction by that point any time Sachi gritted her teachers' nerves.

Nara Shun was difficult to read. It hadn't been the first time Sachi ended up in his office to get a good talking to, but he had yet to reprimand her or even punish her. Sure, she did extra laps and often swept the classes after they ended per Miku's warnings, but they were nothing compared to the hard labour Chika-sama had subjected her to every time she messed up, willingly or not. No, Shun only made her sit and wait for the class to end, doing his paperwork, chatting or drinking tea.

"Just thinking." she said, for the sake of filling the silence. "You?"

His careful expressions shifted, letting a tiny bit of amusement slip "Drinking tea. What are you thinking about?"

"Is this a test?"

"It is a question."

The director continued his work, writing off reports or annotations. They weren't about her, Sachi recognizing the patterns of the usual words that Miku-sensei wrote about her, like 'presumptuous' or 'disruptive', 'brainy' if she was in a good mood. She appreciated it, feeling less like a display animal that needed to be documented. Shun made for conversation, although it was up to her if she wanted to engage or not. Odd, Sachi not sure if he was humoring her or he had other intentions.

"What's the goal of the Academy?" she asked after a moment. "To teach us how to think, or to teach us to think by ourselves?"

Shun adjusted his glasses, considering it. "No third option, Sachi-kun?"

She shrugged. "Is there a third option? Or are you trying to deflect my question?"

"Is that what are you thinking about?"

It went both ways, Shun could choose to talk about her topic or not at all. "I'm thinking about how the ninja system works. You serve this village, regardless of the circumstances, of the orders, of the outcome… Your life is but a tool, and I… wonder, if you are taught to believe in that oath, that it serves a purpose beyond whatever potential you may reach in life, of becoming part of a community instead of remaining as an individual without some kind of influence…?" she trails off, shaking her head. "Yeah, just thinking 'bout that."

Shun stops writing, regarding Sachi with his black eyes. She shifts uncomfortably under his gaze, suddenly feeling naked and she believes she might have said too much. Freedom of speech was a double edged sword, because Sachi might be able to talk about anything, but that didn't mean it was free of consequence.

"Those are quite heavy thoughts, Sachi-kun." he says, his tone clipped. "Do you often wonder about that?"

"Just because they're heavy means that I shouldn't think about it? Or it's because I'm me?"

He drops his eyes, resuming his task. "Philosophy is not in the first grade curriculum."

"It should be… or maybe not, what do you think, as director?"

The Academy was created by and for shinobi. They needed to create soldiers fit for ninja work, to replace those that died because of it, it wasn't plausible for the same institution that needed as many shinobi to give them a reason to quit. Sachi had been reviewing the other grades' curriculums and they lacked any subject that could allow for any thought deviance, philosophy among them.

The moment they entered the gates they were expected, just like regular shinobi, to carry out their duty. To perform well in their studies, go along with the training, graduate and become part of the ranks. Depending on your performance, or if you caught the eye of a recruiter, you were sent to a division or another; or maybe you weren't, and become comfortably average. Or didn't graduate, shunned by the village until you found a way to be useful.

The Academy constituted a journey of six years, considering you weren't held back or graduate early, and there wasn't a moment that you were encouraged to consider your options. You were given an order from the very start, one wich didn't leave room for another way, of another train of thought.

o to the Academy, become a ninja. That's why Sachi was highly suspicious of ninjas, not because of their work — there was demand for it, and someone had to do it— but how they became one. Were they aware of what entailed being a ninja? Or they were, but chose not to see it, because it was easier to continue with the legacy of their propaganda-filled history? Were ninjas groomed from the start to serve or they went in willingly? Sachi couldn't judge how people decided to live their lives, but she could disagree with blatant manipulation.

The Kanbayashi's purpose was to discover the truth, to live by it and, Sachi supposed, die by it.

"What do ninjas live for, die for?" Sachi thought out loud before catching herself.

She cringed, an excuse on her lips to leave quickly and hope Shun didn't report her for openly questioning the system, but the old man looked at her again, this time a strange emotion behind his lens, and asked "What do you know about the Will of Fire, Sachi-kun?"

"The Will of Fire is the ideology of Senju Hashirama, the written down version of his dream. The Will of Fire envisions one's settlement, not necessarily related to them, as part of their family, coming from the deeply rooted belief to protect one's clan derived from the skirmishes from the Warring States Era." A dark part of history, filled with death fueled by greed, shinobi the tools that served different masters for the same purpose. "A form of uniting the Hidden Village in the Leaves, it's purpose is to humanize their non-clan comrades as well as non-military. Its principles are—"

"Protection, devotion, duty. The Memories of the God of Shinobi. Negenama Gaku, correct?" Sachi nods. "I know you have read the theory, Sachi-kun, but do you understand its meaning?"

She frowned. "Senju Hashirama did what he had to do in order for this village to continue existing after his death. He imparted his wisdom with the world because they had just ended an era in wich nothing mattered more than one's family, their territory or their abilities." she argued. "He took the sentiment that all new settling clans and civilians could emphasize with, 'protect what's yours, love what's yours, do what you need to do'. But now its meaning has changed, because that view has been extrapolated to the entire country, necessary for ninjas to fight in the Great Wars. 'Protect the village, defend the country, do your job'."

Shun took that in slowly, sipping his tea while Sachi's own cooled. "But do you understand, how ninjas can do it?"

"Because they don't know any better?"

He chuckled dryly. "I think, Sachi-kun, that you understand its concept, its purpose and its consequences, but you fail to see the meaning." she bristled, references from all her studies at the tip of her tongue that would say that she is right, that she knows the truth— "You have asked me, a ninja, what do we live for, die for… implying that it has to do with what we teach you here in the Academy or the predisposition of choosing or continuing with this career set by our surroundings. All very rational and logical arguments, there is something that is missing." Sachi waits expectant as the older man knits his hands together and continues "Do you have something or someone you will live for, die for, Sachi-kun?"

Sachi opens her mouth but no words come out. She is speechless as she ponders that question. Had she something that gave her a motive to live, rather than the fear of death? Had she something that she would willingly face that very same fear? Once upon a time, when she was still in the Heart and living her days waiting for the day that she would make her dreams true alongside her friends, she would have answered instantly. Now, stripped bare of her motivations and of her identity, the devotion she held for the Archive had been shattered by the cruel reality of being left behind, sacrificed for the very same thing that once she would have said that gave her purpose.

The Archive had been Sachi's life, she would live and then she would die without fear of being forgotten, knowing that everything that she learned, that she did, had been for something; for a greater goal than she could have achieved by herself.

The red door in her mind loomed, still chained and ignored. She would have said that using one's life to preserve thousands was completely worth it, statistically speaking, but when she was the one at the center of the equation… Sachi disagreed with the logic she was so driven by. She had suffered, her life destroyed and betrayed by someone that she respected, that she had lived for, that she would have died for.

The Kanbayashi died for the Archive, and Sachi regretted not having died with them.

What did she have now?

"I do not expect you to answer me, Sachi-kun." Shun said, gently as an afterthought "You are still young. It is true that the Will of Fire is how we justify what we do and how we do it, because the Academy will not teach you how hard is to continue being a ninja after you graduate. I do not want to discourage you from thinking and questioning what you learn, and I do not think you will stop even if I do warn you, but if you do not have a strong belief, then you will fail at becoming a ninja."

He finishes his tea, setting his cup down with elegant movements. "But, if you allow me a little bit of influence, is a matter of finding what you want to fight for, live for or even die for. It is not easy, and it may change in time, but you will not find it in a tome from the Library. The Will of Fire served its purpose, but you need to find your version of it, because imitating the love of others will not guarantee having your own."

The office is alight with the early afternoon sun, particles of dust lingering in the air as Sachi catches the honest advice from the director. There's the pang of hurt from not having an answer at the back of her head, the frustration of not understanding in her heart, and the dread of not ever finding that meaning in her stomach. Sachi nods, remaining silent for the remaining minutes until the bell rings.

"Thank you…" she says at the door, casting a shy glance behind her. "for the tea."

"You are welcome to it, Sachi-kun. Also, congratulations."

The Academy over for the day, Sachi goes back to the compound. She would have dropped by the Library, see if she can charm the librarians to get into the deeper study rooms, but after the existential dread that Shun had planted in her, she prefers to distract herself. There was something to do in the clan, as always, maybe with Hisumi-baa-sama and her new grandson, or perhaps run errands between the veterinary clinics.

"Welcome back!" Obu says, cheery as always. "Not up for books today?"

"As if you have ever picked up a book." Chairo snarks at his side. "We're up for a spar later if you wanna."

"Sure. You have clinic duty?"

"Nah, we training pups today, reminded me of you."

"Training pups?"

"Yeah, you know, make sure they get their get their head on straight, know how to follow trails, not bite ankles… that sorta thing. Why, you interested in helpin'?"

"Yeah, why not?"

Obu flashes her a grin, Chairo's tail wagging. "Oh, pup, we've gotta just the thing for ya."

.

Wolf's team makes it back to the village in record time. If her subordinates notice her sense of urgency they don't comment about it or complain, not even when she pushes them on the last trek to reach the first outpost in the afternoon. They were usually located in the high branches, were the canopies were thicker and very high off the ground. Usually manned by Hyūgas or the stray Uchiha or sensor nin, they ensure that the teams that are supposed to come and go are accounted for.

"Squad registration."

Wolf flashed her ANBU tags, answering Mouse that had came to see them "Squad Alfa, Wolf-A1, Canary-A10, Racoon-B2, Lizard-D23 coming back."

"Any trouble?" he says, checking the others.

"Negative."

He nods, making a sign that's intercepted above, a whistle that passed as a bird song answering back and letting them push forward after a salute.

ANBU had special tree limbs to cross the forest, often thinner and obstructed by the sprouting baby branches. One needed to be familiar with traveling by tree walking, as well as the markings to know the correct way. The entire forest was trapped, because ninjas were a paranoid bunch, and no one had business finding the path to the village via luck.

They don't stop by the watchpoint, ANBU only required to notice the ANBU messengers outside of the village in case threats were coming in and avoid bringing danger home. They vault over the gates, dropping quickly as they use their chakra to avoid precipitating to their deaths.

Wolf's team slithers by the inconspicuous rocks near the interior of the gates, slipping into the tunnels under a genjutsu-casted entrance. They could have taken the overhead path, but the tunnels were quicker.

The ANBU tunnels spanned the underbelly of Leaf, where up above the sky was cast with leaves, the underground was filled with roots. They tunnels were supported by them, similarly to the ever first buildings in the village, they were knitted and braided together. Depending on what path you took, you could reach the refuges, created for the possibility of an attack that would force the people to flee; or, ending up in the HQ.

The ANBU headquarters were right under the border between the upper and lower level of the village. It was a circular room, or more of a cavern, with a high and accidented ceiling that offered enough perches for the shy, or the distrustful, held together by a dome made of roots.

Grown wooden tables and benches around the center, rounding the pillars of wood and stone with notices of bounties, updates on the Bingo Book, warnings and missions pinned to them. There were wisps of quiet conversations, the crowd exchanging advice or tips of what they saw in their missions that could help the others. Teams gathered at tables, people slipping into and out of the tunnels or even having some twisted version of fun by aiming at the wooden hinges of the ceiling, see who managed to get the targets hung for that very same purpose.

Wolf's team bounces off the perches, not engaging with the others until they debriefed. They crossed paths with another team, just heading out, and Wolf and the other captain, Monkey, exchange salutes.

The tunnels were rarely straight, a maze that even veteran ANBU hardly knew every corner of. As the rest of the village, the tunnels were also trapped, a deterrent for those that got too curious about the mysterious masks. Had Wolf not been in a hurry, she would have let Lizard take the lead, let her get a taste of what happened when you got the wrong turn; it was only tradition, after all, to scare the rookies.

As they get near the Commander's office, they pass the entrances to the training grounds. ANBU had specialized rooms for trying out techniques that weren't safe on the surface, reinforced with cement walls and something else that absorbed the chakra, in case the jutsu got out of control. As well for examining rooms, set to test the abilities of the soldiers and keep them sharp, the main hall that they held sparring contests in…

They stop at a metal door, similar to the other private rooms, but a black plaque sits in the middle, sporting the title of Commander. Wolf knocks, waiting for the Commander to let them through.

The Commander was in his office, an iron and cement fortress that had a hidden staircase to the Hokage's office, his oxen mask ominous against the white light of the room, the horns casting shadows around the brown markings.

"Squad Alfa, Wolf-A1, Canary-A10, Racoon-B2, Lizard-D23. Wolf-A1 reporting." she says as a greeting after the salute "Mission successfully completed. Missing nin detected, hunter squad deployed."

"Noted. You have a week to hand in your report." comes the answer, a smooth and weathered voice behind the Oxen mask. "Payment will be issued at the end of the day. Anything else?"

"No, sir."

"Noted. Good job, Squad Alfa. Wolf, stay. Rest dismissed."

Canary, Racoon and Lizard bow and leave, Ashi and Haiiro standing before the Commander still and respectfully as possible when they wanted nothing more than to bolt home. The Commander honored his mask by being a giant of a man, squared shoulders and a girth of pure muscle despite his nondescript age.

Ashi and Haiiro, as any Inuzuka, knew who the man before them was, but whatever identities they had were set aside once you were behind a mask. Clan rivalries or personal vendettas were forgotten in favour of duty, death the preferred method of insubordination in the ANBU world.

ANBU soldiers were supposed to be the most useful and specialized soldiers Leaf had at its disposal. Age, rank or name were disregarded, having to start from zero the moment you enlisted.

The masks had animal motifs, each type representing their speciality. Wolf meant tracking and hunting, Canary almost exclusively Yamanaka mental techniques —useful for an improvised interrogation on the field— Racoon were trappers, Lizard infiltrators…

The letter, very much like the missions, were the rank you held in terms of skill level. A were the best, whereas D were rookies, and inside those categories the numbers were to quantify how many of your mask kind's were.

By that, Ashi belonged to the hunting and tracking unit as Wolf, an A level kunoichi that was currently the first of her mask. The numbers changed when previous owners died or retired, proof of how much you spent in the ANBU ranks. Ashi had been Wolf-A1 since the war ended and proudly wore her tags.

"How was Lizard-D23's performance?"

"Genjutsu and chakra control are good, recommending more emotional conditioning. No comment about behaviour, critical thinking to be reviewed further."

"Noted. Canary and Racoon?"

"No comment."

"Noted. You have a week to hand in the report on their performance."

"Yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Wolf and Haiiro exit the office before bolting to the locker room. Located near the offices and debriefing rooms, they held the lives they had on the surface. Metal lockers opened with the key that came with their ANBU tags, Ashi takes out her mask and the change of clothes she had in there, slipping out of her armour and going into the adjacent showers. There she made hasty work of rubbing the sweat and scents of the mission. The pack knew that she was ANBU, impossible to hide from a clan that were trackers the moment they took their first breaths, but it was the polite thing to do as to not contaminate their territory with often unpleasant smells.

"Fuck me, this is cold." Haiiro complained, Ashi pouring a liberal amount of soap on him.

Drying off with practiced ease, Ashi changes into an issue uniform while discarding her dirty one into the laundry recollection system, since washing your ANBU uniform was the dumbest way to out yourself as a secret agent.

Haiiro shakes the water out of his fur, sneezing once. They took another set of tunnels, the one-way type to avoid crossing paths with incoming soldiers to preserve their identity. The laberynth took them near the Inuzuka Compound, having crossed the entire village without being encumbered by the usual crowd of late afternoon.

Resurfacing near the clinic, Ashi and Haiiro don't waste time into getting home. Usually, they would enjoy coming back, the tranquility of their clan soothing the adrenaline and the stress of a mission that could have gone wrong at any moment.

It hadn't been a long mission, a month and a half, but it was enough for the compound to shift scents. Ashi would take time to unwind, letting the change of smells tell her what had happened in her absence. She would get accustomed to the village life while guessing who got into a fight with whom, what visitors had been invited, if Tsume had opened the sake cellar…

This time, another smell was present. Fresh and irony, blood and snow, with just the hint of the sweetness inherent in fever, crossing the compound in what had to be a routine. Ashi felt herself relax, her teeth unclenching at the tension she had been carrying after Tsume told her that she left Sachi, alone, and unsupervised.

'What if I escape?' she has asked her, and when Ashi would never hold someone down, she didn't want her to leave. What if, when nobody was there to ground her, she choose to leave, set for another reckless run across the Continent to get to an empty home?

Sachi's scent was fresh, mixed with the familiar feeling of the clan.

"We're back!" Ashi yelled, opening the front door. They were fully expecting to hear Sachi running towards them, yelling at them about promises and how they broke theirs.

Nothing.

"Not here." Haiiro supplied, his nose telling him that their pup had not crossed the threshold that day.

"School?" but it was too late. "Library?"

Haiiro puts his nose to work and Ashi follows him, they get to the back of their property, where they find Obu looking towards the forest.

"Oh, Ashi-sama! Welcome back." he greets them, giving a firm nod to Haiiro. "Mission?" he curls his nose a little bit, noticing the neutral scent of the soap of ANBU.

"Just got back. Where's Chairo?"

"She's training the pups, actually." he grins, hazel eyes amused.

"Trails or targets?" Ashi asks, trying to follow Haiiro's cues about Sachi's location.

The Inuzuka trained their dogs into all manner of skills. The veterinary clinics provided good finances, but they also sold the dogs that couldn't become ninken. Farmers, merchants and even bodyguards preferred a loyal companion that maybe couldn't talk or perform jutsus, but could protect them and keep any threats at bay; even the cute, small ones.

They were preparing for the summer fair, so they needed the dogs in good shape. Obu was the one that trained the pups into tracking and finding targets separately by marking a trail with some sort of scent or letting them find a target by their smell alone while trying to distract them with red herrings.

"Both."

"Come again?"

His smile widens. "Found a way to use a mobile target that had a distinct scent." he explains, making a flourish with his hands, obviously proud. "We're working with chakra too, so we can filter the last ninken before we separate 'em. I might be a genius, Ashi-sama, could you believe it?"

"I never had a doubt, Obu." she says, looking towards the tree line. "What's this genius idea that lets you use both tracking and targeting and chakra?"

"You see, and I swear Chairo didn't have anything to do with this, I came up with this, me myself and I—"

"Obu."

"Sorry, ma'am. So, I was thinking how to run the pups for a bit, but it gets kinda boring and the dogs don't work well if you don't put some fun in it. What better than a target that can be unpredictable, you know? Movin', hidin', runnin'... all the tricky parts you don't get with a dead rabbit. And, listen to this, what if they had chakra too that the pups could pick up easily?"

"Obu," Haiiro intervened, his ears flinching. "where's Sachi?"

All three of them turned to the snap of a twig inside the forest, Obu letting out a high pitched whistle that made whatever was moving behind the trees to suddenly start running.

Ashi watched, mesmerized as Sachi emerges from the forest with what appears to be a crown made of twigs and branches. There's mud on her clothes and her face, deliberately dirtied and Ashi can smell grass on her too, likely from rolling in it. Beneath all that assault to her nose, there's that scent, sweet, and fresh and just a tiny pang metallic.

Sachi.

And then, the pups.

There's roughly thirty of them, all jumping from the tree line, over bushes and rocks to get to her, Sachi might have been yelling something, Ashi's ears drowned by the blood rushing in her eardrums.

She sees them too, her focused expression that spoke of 'I don't want to fuck this up' shifting to 'Oh, hi there' when she spots them. It's recognition, surprise and a tiny bit of happiness, her smile too white for the mud on her face.

Sachi slips, the momentary falter in her run enough to miss a step and she goes down. They see her try to recover her fall with a roll, just like they taught her. Only, she doesn't get to plant her feet when a wave of fur, claws and teeth crash over her.

The screeches come next.

" —me!" she yells. "They… eat me! They're gonna eat me!"

Ashi dives a hand through the pile of gnawing canines and grabs hold of Sachi's tunic, pulling her out with undignified curses. Haiiro barks once, and all the dogs stop immediately, flopping on their bellies and with their heads bowed.

"Quite the welcome, Sachi."

"I… welcome back, Ashi, Haiiro." she says, recovering her breath. "You're late."

"Not to save you. Care to tell me what you were up to?"

"Training pups, ma'am!" Chaiiro chips in, making her way from the woods. "She's good at running!"

"Thanks, I've got practice." she grits out, sticking close to Ashi's leg as the woman puts her down.

"How was it?" Obu asks his partner.

"Good! Like the way I said it was gonna be! Ma'am, you've got a nice pup there, perfect for training the others. Her chakra is easy to follow, and she's smart too." the last part is muttered with teeth. "Knows how to fight back."

Ashi looks down at Sachi, and wonders how is she going to get the mud out of her skin without rubbing it raw. "You agreed to help train the pups?"

"Yeah, Obu and Chaiiro said that they had an idea to try out." she takes a branch from her hair. "Didn't know I would be hunted."

"The clan appreciates your effort, pup." Obu winks at her. "Everyone's gotta do their part."

"You done?" Haiiro asks, greeting Sachi with a bump to the head.

"Yep, should be good. This year's a good one, Ashi-sama!" Chairo exclaims. "Lotta chakra pups."

"That's good to know. Send me the reports later, to begin for the fairs."

"Aye, aye, ma'am!"

Obu and Chairo round up the pups while the alphas and their ward go back to the main house. Ashi is glad to see her, alive and well, if a little dirty; and yet, there's an uncomfortable feeling in her chest, but she can't reason why.

"Did you… grow?"

"Huh?" Sachi turns, her eyes bright as ever. "You mean training?"

"Did you get taller, darlin'?"

"I don't know? Should I?"

Haiiro chuckles. "Ashi's gettin' used to village life again, pup, don't mind her. Why don't you tell us what you've been up to? Any lawsuits we should know about?"

"Not really, I've been busy." she says, going to the side of the house and switching on the hose. "What about you? Was the mission good?"

"That's not how we describe 'em." Ashi says, watching a few pounds of mud dissolve into a puddle. "We did it, and now we're back."

"That's it?" she asks, her hair soaking wet. "You didn't do anything interesting?"

"We don't get to say what we did, darlin'. If we're here means we completed the mission."

"Whatever that means." Haiiro ads. "Ninja don't tell stories."

That seems to resonate with Sachi, her features hardening as she squeezed most of the water away from her clothes and hair. "Makes sense, I guess. You do things that shouldn't be heard by the wrong people, right?"

"Might as well."

Ashi and Haiiro enter first, Sachi careful to dry herself as much as possible before going after them. "I'm taking a shower, have you eaten yet?"

The Inuzuka alpha is surprised by that, not realizing how hungry she was until then. "Ah, no. I'll make something while you freshen up."

"'kay!" comes the answer from the hallway.

Ashi and Haiiro go into the kitchen, the woman nearly going to make herself a black coffee from habit. Missions, even successfully completed ones, tended to stay with you a while after you got back. That's why there was a mandatory resting period between missions, not only to recover from physical strain, but to give your mind a break. Ashi, experienced as she was, had developed a routine.

Get home. Make coffee. Stay awake until you collapse.

It wasn't healthy, but as Clan Head, she had overdue paperwork that needed to be completed as soon as possible. That way, Ashi killed two birds with one stone, postpone the nightmares and run the clan. She had kept that ritual for years, because coming to an empty house that wasn't quite home after a mission took time before you got used to it again.

This time, it wasn't as if she hadn't left at all. The house was warm, lived in and taken care of. The kitchen was pristine, with the lingering scents of previous meals, and a sweetness that made Haiiro's belly rumble.

The old dog collapses behind the table, groaning as he does so. "Damn, I've missed this."

"We weren't gone that long."

"Tell that to my joints. Good thing the Hokage didn't sent us after that missin' nin."

"You're so cranky." she chides, going to fix a meal.

"I'm well past my retirement age, so fuck you." he says, no heat behind his words. "You aren't that young either."

No, she was not.

The mission was simple, not long at all, and yet she could feel the strain in her body. She didn't like it, and although she understood that she wasn't a young lass anymore, it hurt her pride more than anything else.

But, when Sachi came to the kitchen, and they enjoyed a nice meal together, she discovered she didn't care as much. She was home again, and that was all that mattered.

.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" Ashi asks, Sachi playing with Haiiro in her office while she prepares to tackle the paperwork. "You aren't skipping, are ya?"

"Summer break." she answers. "The Academy doesn't start until the end of summer, which is so weird, but they won't let me in."

"Ah… right. I forgot." she says, suddenly disoriented. There has been a long time since she bothered to follow up with the Academy "Damn! How did you do in your finals? You had finals, right?"

"Mmmh, yes." Sachi says, focused on counting Haiiro's teeth with a frown.

"And? How did you do? Did you pass?"

"Of course I passed." she huffs. "They were so easy… they made me do them twice."

"What for?" Haiiro asks, careful not to bite her.

"They said I cheated." she sneers. "Sent me to the director's office too. As if their exams were that hard."

"Well… I suppose you'll breeze past academics, with all that knowledge you have." Ashi amends. "But do 'em twice? That's not good. Do they give you a hard time, darlin'?"

Sachi shrugs. "If they do, they're doing a very bad job at it. Not like I can ask them, they get reaaaally weird if I ask them things." she wipes Haiiro's slobber in his fur, sticking it into pointy ends. "I passed though, with full marks too, so they can suck it."

Ashi ponders that maybe teaching Sachi cuss words wasn't the best idea, but that thought is drowned out by the fact that the teachers were singling her out. She was worried that they might have caught on that Sachi was too smart for a normal kid, or maybe they were messing with her because of her bastard status, or Inuzuka.

"Do you need me to go talk to them?" she asks, half a mind to track every teacher down and ask why would they force Sachi to take the exams twice.

"Hm? What for?" she tilts her head, unbothered.

"So they stop fuckin' with you, darlin'."

"They aren't fuckin' with me. They're just so surprised that I call them out on their antics. Did you know that what they're teaching is wrong?"

"Sachi, darlin', I know you don't like ninjas…"

"No, no, it's not wrong as in morals; that's an open debate still. I mean they're wrong in the facts. They kept saying that Leaf has done nothing wrong, as if the Battle of Hot Springs didn't happen, or the Kamizuru Clan massacre, even the raids of the Asura temples all throughout Lightning." she shakes her head. "They got very defensive when I pointed out that Leaf is serving Fire Country's interest."

Ashi sighs. The teachers weren't messing with Sachi, she was messing with them. "Darlin', you might wanna stop correcting 'em."

"Why? They're wrong. It's not as if I'm saying that the other countries are better."

"Yeah, we know that, but you sound like a foreigner sympathiser." Haiiro says, enjoying the pets.

"See? Foreign sympathiser, because saying that Leaf isn't perfect automatically makes you a dangerous individual that spreads propaganda benefitting another faction's point of view. Leaf is doing the same thing!"

"Yes, yes. We know that, darlin', not everything's pink. But you gotta understand that your class is still too young to understand what propaganda even means."

She rolls her eyes, exasperated. "That's because you're too lenient with your education. I don't understand why you need a break from school, either."

"Because kids have better things to do than studying all day long." Haiiro argues. "Scratch behind my head, oooh, there, there."

"Such as?"

"Playin'? Kids gotta be kids."

"Oh, I know what kind of play you're referring to, but still. Wouldn't it be more efficient to continue studying? That way kids could understand what you're telling them without crying."

"Oh yeah? What do you propose, oh great Archive."

"Fourteen hour classes, and no breaks or vacations." she says, completely serious.

"Fourteen hour classes what? A day?"

"Yes. Fourteen for studying, two for eating, and eight for sleeping. Perfectly balanced."

Ashi takes that in slowly. Fourteen hours for studying, it makes her head spin just picturing it. Sachi devoured knowledge like nobody's business, and after that statement, she understood why.

"For going insane, maybe." Haiiro snarks. "You people did it that way?" Sachi nods. "Damn, no wonder you're a little bit touched in the head."

"I have seals in my brain, Haiiro." she reminds him. "That is touched in the head."

"Literally, then." he agrees.

"Well, you passed, congratulations darlin'." Ashi says instead of questioning her further, any Kanbayashi related topic provoking an automatic headache. "Do you wanna celebrate it?"

"Why? There were only a few tests." she says. "Unless you want an excuse to drink?"

"That's Tsume." Ashi chuckles. "Okay, what about next time? We'll do something nice together, how 'bout it?"

"Okay." she smiles.

"Good."

Ashi searches underneath the desk for the papers and files, the drawer coming empty except for one scroll, grey with red edging.

"Sachi… what did you do?"

"Why do I am the ones to always do something? Couldn't have been Tsume?"

"Because Tsume sure knows from which end a scroll opens." Haiiro muses. "Had some fun while we were out?"

The thought of Sachi not doing anything suspicious without supervision had been full of false hope. "Sachi… you know you can't use seals. You promised."

"Technically, I promised not to do blood seals. And! I learned how to make seals. Again."

"Right."

"I found a book in the library that taught the beginning of seal theory. So… I made sure to read it in public and learned seals. Again."

Sometimes Ashi was shocked just how much of an idiot Sachi could be. "That's your plan? Fake learning seals to excuse you knowing how to do 'em?"

"Well, yes. Knowing seals without the study is weird, because you people think seals are hard, but I made sure to hunt the books that might have helped me to learn them. You have a very poor collection, by the way, and…" she points to the scroll. "I learned."

Haiiro decides that the conversation isn't worth it and takes a nap, while Ashi tries to come up with an explanation to make Sachi understand that learning seals didn't work that way. "You know what, whatever. Don't do that again."

"Why not? I learned!"

"You don't have a license."

"I don't need one. I read your constitution, you know? And the fūinjutsu license is only needed for commercial purposes, not private use."

Of course Sachi found a loophole, of course she did. "That's because people die when they try to use fūinjutsu by themselves."

"I don't, so it's okay. Come on, Ashi! It's only a retaining scroll, it's not big deal."

A retaining scroll was the peak of ninja tools, so expensive that would make you weep if you were to see the price tag. Ashi didn't want Sachi to get over her head and start using seals again, mostly for her own safety and her identity, but she had to admit that it made a compelling case.

"Okay, but you need to tell me if you do something like this again. We don't want people to know you can do this kind of things and try to buy them from you. "

"Okay!" she beams. "Let me show you how it works."

Sachi reached over, taking the scroll and opening it. Ashi had seen retaining scrolls before, but not so up close. There were circles surrounded by long strings of curling letters, Sachi called them slots.

"This scroll has individual slots, because I didn't know if you knew how to use one with more than one item per slot. Put your hand like this." she takes it, placing it onto the a slot that has the kanji for paperwork on it. "Channel a little bit of chakra and pull—"

Ashi does so, amused by Sachi's focus, and does so. The chakra bleeds into the scroll and she feels a pull as she forces her chakra to take out the item. Usually, a puff of smoke followed, but with Sachi's scroll, the paperwork appeared in a blink and the slightest rush of chakra.

"See? Easy!" she says, giddy in her seat. "Do you like it?"

"Yes, darlin', I like it." Sachi becomes happier and Ashi's heart contracts in her chest. "Why did you make it, though?"

"You carry a lot of stuff." Sachi answered. "I saw your backpack for your mission, it's heavy, right? And you can't take food, or extra weapons, or medical supplies… it's only logical to use a retaining scroll."

"So… you saw my pack and decided I needed a scroll?" she nods. "Quite the jump."

"It's useful." Sachi unrolls the scroll with ease, reaching the wooden core. "Put your hand here."

Ashi does, putting her hand on a circle that's bigger than the rest of the slots, and this time Ashi's chakra is taken from her with startling ease. She trusts Sachi, even though a prickle of unease trickles down her spine. The scroll starts to glow, in a manner that reminds her of Sachi's seals; the light shows up a new set of seals that were hidden before, connectors and matrixes that are lost to Ashi, before fading.

Sachi unseals a set of brushes and an inkwell before adding more seals. Ashi is stunned, because Sachi works gracefully, her movements neat and without hesitation. "Darlin'...?" Sachi ignores her, stopping and putting her hand on the paper. The ink then moves suddenly, without any prompting, and lights up before disappearing. "What did you just do?"

"Activate the defensive seals. A retaining scroll is a good thing to have only if you're the only one that can access it." she explains, rolling it again. "I tuned the scroll to your chakra, so when someone tries to use it, the scroll defends itself. You'll need to charge it though, I couldn't find obsidian anywhere."

"Obsidian…? You know what, okay. So, this scroll is only for me?"

"Yep, I can still make changes, because, you know, I'm the one who made it, but you will be the only one able to use it. Unless you wanna get zapped." she smiles mischievously at the last part. "You can't refuse the scroll."

"... wasn't planning on it, but don't push your luck. No seals without telling me, get it? Now get out, I've got work to do."

Sachi gathers her brushes and ink and leaves, stopping in the doorway before saying. "Happy late birthday, Ashi."

The Inuzuka alpha had forgotten about it, Inoichi mentioning it on their way back. "Thank you, darlin'."

Sachi closes the door, Haiiro huffing out a laugh from his sunlight spot. "She's got you wrapped 'round her pinky."

"Shut up, Haiiro. Sachi's a good girl." Ashi takes the scroll, feeling the weight of it and the barely there humm of energy trapped in it.

"Adopting her sure has its perks, hmm?"

"I didn't adopt her because of her seals."

"Nah, you did it because you liked her guts. I'm glad I don't have to be your mule from now on, with your fancy scroll. She even picked your colors, cute."

That she did.

"Do you think I should tell the Hokage?"

"Dunno, you should stay in the village, but you ain't doin' it." Ashi glares at him, stopping herself from throwing the scroll at him. "Could get her into trouble, even if she read the fuckin' constitution and all."

Ashi didn't want to withhold information from the Hokage, not when he was in charge of the village. They had agreed to let Sachi live in exchange for keeping her skills a secret, but Ashi knew it was a matter of time until the others saw what Sachi could really do. It wasn't about the Kanbayashi thing, but of what she was as a person; brilliant but callous, talented but troubled.

"It is a good scroll…" she says, the dilemma souring her mood a bit. "Did you see what she did? She made seals in seconds… had she been born here she would have already been recruited by the Guilds."

"What a shame that she wasn't, hmm? Because she's ours now." Haiiro says, final. "You took her in, Ashi, you're her alpha. You shouldn't need to tell the Hokage at what time Sachi took a shit because he wants to know she isn't tellin' ya how to start another war, not that he needs help with it." his tail flops on the floor, swatting a nonexistent fly. "Sachi's made you a gift, and it's only for you."

Ashi mulls over it, but it was useless. She had already made a decision when she saw the scroll. "Might as well use it, she did make it for my birthday, after all."

(That decision would save her life.)

...

Little transition chapter. I made up for it to introduce ANBU a little bit, as well as my hc of how the masks works and what not. Fleshing up the place.

The Academy is creepy af. Let's be honest, how couldn't it be? I mean, they're training children for murder, so of course the teachers must be fucked up. They need to be very carefuly about the children, since they need their minds to be broken but not too much. Sachi calls them out, but she only makes herself more of a target.

Featuring Inoichi's cameo, he won't be that much of a character this arc, but it's nice to throw some canon characters once in a while, since this is becoming a sea of OC's.

Also, SEALS! Slowly but surely Sachi's reclaiming her skills, wonder what that will cause.