Bondage

Ohabari serves tea to her young guest and waits patiently for the questions she already knows will come. Izuna-kun is not particularly discreet; it is one of her charms, announcing herself well in advance so that others have the time needed to prepare for whatever her latest grand scheme upending the status quo might be. Well, usually she is not discreet; on those occasions when she keeps her own council however she is reliably surprising.

Taking her battlefield opponent as her concubine was one such uncomfortable surprise, although Ohabari has her suspicions regarding Hikaku-kun's involvement there. Suspicions she has not mentioned to her brother; there is no helping Hikaku-kun's antipathy for his uncle, and punishing him for this particular subversion would just make him even less cooperative. Let the young man enjoy his complicity in Izuna-kun's grand scheme and that covert smugness will grease future interactions with the Outguard Head.

It's also none of her business, frankly; field discipline is an Outguard matter, and she is Homeguard Head.

Naeba-san the shuriken-smith sips her tea, taking her time over thinking how to phrase her request. Ohabari sympathises; her only niece, while genuinely delightful, does have a bad habit of talking people into things they would not usually agree to. It's not deliberate, so far as Ohabari can tell –if it were deliberate she could castigate Izuna-kun for it– but her niece is surprisingly oblivious to her own charm when it's not something she's deliberately putting on.

Izuna-kun is simply extremely well-informed and utterly confident. The result is very hard to naysay.

"Ohabari-sama," Naeba-san says eventually, "my brother tells me that Izuna-bi intends to have a tessen made for her concubine, in addition to having already granted him a sleeve-knife."

This is a discussion –no, it was an argument, she will recognise that– that she has already had with Izuna-kun and thought about repeatedly since then, so she can reply to this roundabout inquiry with confidence:

"It is in the Clan Laws that every clansman who is of age has the right to a sleeve-knife, and repeated again that any clansman or clan vassal responsible for the care and protection of clan children has the right to a sleeve-knife, regardless of age, because a clansman old enough to be entrusted with the care of a younger child is mature enough to be armed. It is true that the clan does not stringently enforce these particular laws, but they exist. Given that Tobirama-san was responsible for a child at the time of his assassination attempt and also unarmed, that Izuna-kun has taken steps to rectify this is not surprising."

"A sleeve-knife is a sleeve-knife," Naeba-san murmurs, "but a tessen is not a sleeve-knife."

"'A concubine may be armed according to their role'," Ohabari says primly, reciting the law that Izuna had quoted at her. "It's a newer law; not part of Biei-Fuji's original pronouncement. A later Lineage Head managed to get the Outguard Head of the time agree that a concubine could carry the weapons befitting a noble or samurai bride, and that any harm done to the clan by that concubine with those weapons would fall upon the Lineage Head in question." It had been an Inari; that particular concubine had not been entirely unwilling to be made off with, but they had been unwilling to abandon their lord of their own free will.

Getting physically subdued and abducted by the woman who then forcibly married him had dealt with those complications very neatly, and the samurai's former lord had been very willing to release him from his obligations once the Inari Head and the Outguard Head of the time had both written to explain the situation.

"Tessen and possibly a naginata then," Naeba-san muses, setting down her empty teacup. "She does not fear the harm he could do with them?"

"The Outguard Head has pronounced Tobirama-san contained," Ohabari says precisely, "and I have greater faith in my niece's fuuinjutsu than in her spouse's honour and goodwill." Izuna-kun did explain that fuuinjutsu to her, in detail, when she demanded it upon being informed of her niece's intent to allow the man to babysit that first time. She is also satisfied that the Drowning Breath is contained; however, having discreetly observed her new nephew-in-law from a distance over the past months, she is also increasingly sure that he is ever more deeply ensnared in a prison of his own making. Children are easy to love and her niece has a certain charm despite also being utterly frustrating at times; the Drowning Breath however is completely and helplessly smitten with both his new bride and his new charge.

Naeba-san settles at the reminder of the unseen shackles that bind Izuna-kun's spouse, no less immovable for their discretion. "A tessen should not prove a problem then," she murmurs. "My thanks to Ohabari-sama."

"You are most welcome, Naeba-san. I have heard good things about your work from my husband; now that you have finished your apprenticeship, will you be taking on a student of your own?"

"In year or so, perhaps," Naeba-san demurs, "once I have settled and Nikkō-ba starts to complain about not having anybody about the forge to do the chores."

Ohabari chuckles. "Perhaps it would be wise to start looking now, so as to have someone lined up."

"Perhaps. Good morning, Ohabari-sama."

Ohabari watches her guest politely take her leave, then pours herself another cup of tea and contemplates her niece.

She personally does not have the sharingan, but the Amaterasu mind-ordering exercises do not require sharingan; having such simply makes those lessons progress more swiftly. However while it is generally possible to backtrack from Izuna-kun's latest flight of fancy to the ground she drew it from, it is usually not possible to divine how or why she picked that particular route when so many others spring to mind more naturally.

Well, more naturally to Ohabari, although she knows her brother also struggles with his daughter's leaps of logic at times.

It is strange, that the split in the family caused by her oldest brother's execution of their uncle Mitama was both deepened and strangely resolved by his more recent execution of their only other living sibling. Deepened, because the loss of Niniji has clearly broken Madara-kun in one way and Izuna-kun in another, and the loss of both parents and premature baby sister all at once has both hardened Hikaku and terribly grieved little Hidaka-kun, who is now quiet and sad where he was once full of smiles and laughter.

Resolved, because barely five days after Naka-Lightfoot's death her brother came to her door in the sodden gloom of a rainy autumn evening, calling her by the childish nickname that had not crossed his lips since he became Outguard Head at twenty-two, too suddenly and too early.

"Yaiba-chan?" He'd asked, hesitating in the genkan of the Amaterasu Residence, which she had moved back into in order to care for Hikaku, Hidaka and Saburō now that her brother and sister-in-law were dead. Ohabari hadn't particularly wanted to let him in, but that he was calling her that and also had come like this, in the dark and the rain so that nobody would know he was here, did mean something.

It had been a long, long time since her older brother had snuck out to talk to her privately, but she had still fallen back into that long-ago pattern when he showed up, wearing his coat over a house kimono and that note in his voice that said he knew he'd made a mistake.

So she'd let him in and hustled him into the living room, hurried quietly to the kitchen to fetch a kettle full of water, cups and tea leaves then walked silently back, taking care to close the fusuma behind her. The boys had all been asleep, but it wouldn't do to accidentally wake them.

"What is it, Asa-nii?" She had demanded, shoving the kettle at him. Her brother had heated the water and passed the kettle back to her, then stared at his hands as the tea brewed.

"I forgot, Yaiba-chan," he had said in a small voice after she had poured the brewed tea. "I forgot the warnings of our ancestors, that Izuna would remember all the things I least wished her to, and interpret them in ways that I cannot see the reasoning behind. Nini –it was so stupid Yaiba-chan, he knows the Outguard are forbidden from presiding over Homeguard matters but he did it anyway, and when I censured him for it he said that needed doing, and getting the work done was more important than the laws! Because nobody had stepped up since Hitomi-san died! He was unrepentant and it was public and– and all I could think of was Indra's words on the division of power."

"'In a strong household and a strong clan, the power is divided,'" Ohabari had quoted softly, because her brother seemed to have run out of words, "'divided between husband and wife, between the one who protects the household and the one who manages the household, the one who engages threats on the outside and the one who engages threats on the inside, for a mind divided cannot stand firm, so two minds must be engaged together. Any who seek to unify that power undermine the clan for their own gain.' You don't believe that, Asa-nii."

"I don't now," her brother had said bitterly, "but I did then. And now Madara cannot sleep soundly without his sister in his arms and Izuna defends her every decision in terms of law and benefit to the clan."

Ohabari had felt, but not said, that she considered such an outcome to be precisely what her brother deserved; he had of course noticed and glared at her over his tea, but it had lacked heat.

"I cannot order you to do anything, Yaiba-chan," her brother had continued after a long pause, "because you are not Outguard and this is not the remit of a Lineage Head, but I am asking, as your brother, whether you will make your position official within the clan. So that this will never happen again."

Ohabari had realised then, truly realised in the depths of her soul, that she bore equal fault in their brother's death. Yes, her foolish brother had partly brought it on himself with his disregard for the laws he knew their older brother cleaved to so tightly, and said older brother had just admitted to her that his choice of punishment for those foolish words had been disproportionate, but she was the one who had refused to step up as Homeguard Head after her sister-in-law died, even though she had every right to do so as a non-warrior member of the Amaterasu Lineage with the required training.

She had been afraid that asserting her rights would lead her brother to do to her what he had done to Mitama-ji when their uncle had tried to convince Tajima that, now that Ohabari was of age, she should be Homeguard Head rather than Hitomi-san.

She should have remembered that a Homeguard Head can only be deposed for proven misdeeds. No, their uncle should have remembered that; and that there are no exceptions to that law. What she should have remembered was that, when a Head dies without a clearly-determined successor, the next in line for the position has to announce themselves to the clan. Because only an Outguard Head can appoint another Outguard Head, and only a Homeguard Head can appoint another Homeguard Head, but if the position becomes suddenly vacant then an Amaterasu with the training is duty-bound to step up, because nobody can order it. Nobody is above the Homeguard Head, just as nobody is above the Outguard Head; only one appointed by the Emperor may command them, and the Chrysanthemum Throne has sat vacant for a long, long time.

And nobody can object to an Outguard or Homeguard Head's self-appointment, unless they too are eligible for that position. Which her oldest brother had not been since he became a warrior at fourteen.

"Tomorrow, Asa-nii," she had told him quietly, and pretended not to see the way his shoulders sagged in relief.

She had announced herself Homeguard Head the next morning, as promised, and the general relief and increased ease it brought to the wider clan was another dagger to her heart. Her brother however has failed to find the right words to reassure his two warrior children; Madara-kun still sleepwalks and Izuna-kun is ever more inventive and thorough in covering her back with reasoning she believes will appeal to her father.

The reasoning does reliably appeal to her brother, Ohabari knows; her niece is unerringly accurate in targeting his more ruthlessly scheming nature. That is why it hurts him so much: his favourite child –because Izuna-kun is her brother's favourite, as only daughters so often are to their fathers– makes it clear every day that she has no faith in his boundless love for her.

But then again, why would she have faith in such a thing when she witnessed her father execute his own younger brother? How could Izuna-kun possibly believe that clemency or more than a scant minute to explain herself would ever be offered her, when she loves her own brother so deeply and completely that she will willingly and spontaneously make excuses for him whenever he stumbles?


"You turned him away?"

Haruto's sister-in-law glares at him, fierce and proud and bitter. "Of course I did; I do not want money from the man who orphaned my nieces."

Haruto knows that Naka-Two could use some compensation to help her better provide for Takomi-chan, Naka-Three and Sayomi-chan, but saying that would make her throw him out too and then family dinners would be awkward for weeks and months to come. "It is your choice," he agrees cautiously, "but please recognise that Izuna-bi is not going to change her mind on this." Tobirama-san is here to stay.

"I do not expect her to," Naka-Two says, sighing, "and truthfully I would respect her less were she to waiver in her commitment at this point. But I am not required to approve, and I do not have to welcome him into my home or my workshop, any more than I have to welcome Ushiro-oba-san."

Haruto winces theatrically at the reminder of that particular ongoing family feud; Ushiro-san really should have known better than to speak disparagingly of where her favourite niece had given her heart, and as a result is unwelcome in Naka-Two's house until such a time as she apologises.

Ushiro-san is yet to apologise, despite Naka-Two having married Haruto's little brother almost a decade ago. Haruto has given up on hoping the old lady will swallow her pride any time soon, despite the failure to apologise also meaning that his sister-in-law isn't allowing her formerly-favourite auntie to spend any time with her children. This is just how it goes sometimes among so many fiery and unforgiving-tempered kinsmen; this is hardly the only ongoing family feud within the clan, and at least this one is between two individuals who are not allowing anybody else to try and join in.

The way the entire adult portion of the Raiden Lineage manages to radiate that they wouldn't mourn for a moment if Tajima-sama turned up dead in a ditch tomorrow is rather more alarming, honestly. Not that he blames them, after what happened to Naka-Lightfoot; it's just they could try not to do it when Madara-sama's there.

Still, Naka-Two could use some additional funds to support her late brother's sworn-sibling's nieces. He'll mention it to his wife; maybe she will be able to think of another avenue for getting his sister-in-law the money that can rightly be demanded of Izuna-bi for the care of those little girls. The clan may be wealthier right now and thus able to offer a little more to its orphans, but his brother's earnings don't go very far when there's six small bodies to clothe rather than just three.


"Kei! Kei! Keeeei!" The slap of bare feet on stone steps heralds her baby brother's arrival at her door, giving Kei the time to finish this section of fuuinjutsu, wash her brush and set the rest of the project aside for later.

"Kei you have mail!"

The door slams open but Kei is already on her feet and advancing; the only person who'd be using an official Fire Country messenger to send her letters at this time of year is Tobirama.

Tobirama, whom she's not heard from directly in far too long; the rumours coming out of Western Fire right now however are getting increasingly outlandish with every passing day and the recent letters from other Senju kin have not been helpful.

Her kohai is dead. Her kohai is a traitor. Her kohai is married to a daughter nobody even knew Uchiha Tajima had. Her kohai is married to Uchiha Izuna.

Which, Kei's heard the rumours about Uchiha Izuna; if Tobirama likes men like that then all power to him, honestly. But by the time of the arrival of those letters things had already been… weird.

Uchiha Izuna supposedly has a new concubine that he is head-over-heels for, and for whom he is buying all manner of lovely silk kimono. Lovely silk hanging sleeve kimono. And that's the least of the rumours; they get more outlandish from there.

Uchiha Izuna has a harem of concubines. Uchiha Izuna kidnapped Senju Tobirama because his baby sister had a crush. Uchiha Izuna kidnapped Senju Tobirama because one of his concubines had a crush.

There'd be total silence from their Senju kin for months, then the letters had all started coming in at once and confusion had reigned supreme for about a fortnight, at the end of which the wider Uzumaki had managed to pin down several points as probably factual:

Firstly, Uchiha Izuna is a woman and kidnapped Tobirama specifically to marry him.

Secondly, Tobirama is reportedly not particularly opposed to this.

Thirdly, the Senju are trying to make a peace treaty with the Uchiha now, because it turns out the Uchiha are high kuge and noble enemies who are more practical than prideful are terribly unhealthy for the ongoing wellbeing for your entire extended family, 'clan of a thousand skills' or not. Kei knows this particular detail is giving poor Takimoto-sama conniption fits; she's very grateful not to be Clan Head.

Fourthly, Tobirama is wearing those hanging-sleeve kimono Izuna was seen buying.

Certain of Kei's cousins and close friends are very hung-up on this last point.

"Where is my mail?" Kei demands, glaring up at her little brother on her doorstep.

"The messenger's down by the pier, won't give the letter to anybody else–"

Kei darts past En and down the steep steps leading directly up past her house to the top of the steep cliff-side Uzushio is built into, heading down to the dockside and the ferry pier where the twice-daily boat brings official trade goods and mission requests from the mainland, along with the occasional visitor.

Bare feet on stone behind her say her brother has given chase; Kei skips down the stairs three at a time, grabs the rail at the bottom to redirect her momentum around the corner rather than tumble straight ahead over the dockside and into the water, speeds up to a near-run between the crab cages and lobster pots and aims herself at the crowd by the ferry pier, which parts as they notice her arrival.

By the ferry mooring is a man with unexceptional Fire Country colouring, wearing the distinctive messenger happi coat with thick white-edged red stripes at the cuffs and down the middle of the back, personal identification marks printed on his shoulders and no doubt the official sigil of his profession in the middle of the red strip on his back.

"I am Uzumaki Kei, teacher of Senju Tobirama," she says the instant she's got enough breath back. That is how her kohai has always addressed his letters, which will hopefully hold true here.

The messenger examines her for a second, then nods and produces a small scroll. "To Uzumaki Kei, teacher of Senju Tobirama, from Uchiha Tobirama, entrusted to me by Uchiha Hikaku." Evidently she matches the description provided; despite Uzushio being fairly near to Lightning, not many Uzumaki have skin as dark as hers or braids as long.

Kei accepts the missive; she has no idea who 'Uchiha Hikaku' might be, but this letter is from Tobirama. No sooner has she grasped it than her dreadful little brother tries to snatch it out of her hand; she punches him in the gut.

"My letter!" She kicks him in the shin for good measure, gleefully pleased by how it sends him hopping backwards.

"Ow! Nee-chan –so mean– I just wanted to know how he's doing!"

"And if he's inviting you to come join Izuna's harem," Tetsumi says slyly, coming up behind Kei to go up on tiptoe and try to peer over her shoulder. Kei elbows her, but less hard because at least her friend isn't being grabby.

"This is my letter and once I have read it you can send two people to come be nosy about it," She announces to the crowd, then makes her escape as the scuffles start over who exactly will be getting that privilege. En unfortunately sticks right on her tail, though he doesn't try to steal her letter again.

"Do you really think he's okay?"

"He's being allowed to write," Kei points out, flicking thin scarlet braids out of her face only for the wind to blow them right back into her mouth again, "which is something. It might be slightly coded, but we've discussed codes before so if he needs help we'll know."

Her brother scratches the back of his neck as the wind ruffles his short dreadlocks. "Keimi-san's still over there, isn't she?"

"Keimi-san the glassmaker? Yes, I think so." There'd been a bit of a scuffle over who would be going when Sunami-sama wrote that letter to her twin, but Keimi had been the one going –despite technically not being the best float-glass specialist on the island– because it was Keimi that Sunami-sama had asked for. Wanting family involvement was natural, Takimoto-sama had said firmly, and while there'd been some grumbling that he'd only put his foot down so as to not antagonise his aunts, there was nobody who disagreed that the seven daughters of the previous Clan Head were terrifyingly formidable en masse.

It's safer to go up the steps quickly than it is to go down them; Kei had only managed not to fall on her face while descending by virtue of the fuuinjutsu embedded in them to enhance grip. Arriving back at her own front door, she turns to glare at her lummox fisherman baby brother, who pouts pleadingly. He does not have enough of their Lightning Country mother's stunning looks to appear winsome; he mostly just looks manipulative.

"I'll cook something?" He offers, scuffing his feet in the stone.

"I will not be bribed with my own food," Kei says severely, gleefully echoing their mother's regular refrain to whichever family member had messed up this time.

En grins at her, unrepentant. "I'll go fetch a fresh fish for you then! Last night's catch was good." He runs off; up the hill, because the fishing port is under the island, all the better to shelter the boats from seasonal storms, and the nearest entrance is a few streets up. Kei lets herself back into her house, falls into her chair and takes a moment to look at the scroll in her hands properly.

It's a standard scroll case, but it has been sealed with a piece of paper printed with the Uchiha crest that has a faint flicker of chakra in it, Kei eyeballs it, fortifies herself with the knowledge that she is this letter's intended recipient and then briskly rips it in half to open the case.

The lingering chakra shape of the fading seal makes it clear that if she hadn't been this letter's recipient she would not have succeeded in opening the case, her fingers would be burnt and… glowing green hair? That's a good one. She'll have to find a way to replicate that, it's a fantastic security measure and far more identifying that burnt fingers, which can be excused away as all kinds of things. Nobody can explain away luminous hair.

The roll of high-quality hemp paper that slides out feels like her kohai; Kei sniffs, wiping away the sudden tears that well up. He's fine; oh that's such a relief. Unrolling the letter, skipping over the opening formalities and reading the first half-line however makes her laugh so hard she has to put the letter down; this is just like the time he was struggling with the foundations of space-time fuuinjutsu and somehow managed to summon all the fish out of her neighbours' larders onto his desk and then instantly explode them.

She'd found him flat on his ass on the floor by the overturned chair, sooty, dazed and fish-smelling as the eight cats that had piled through the open window feasted on the exploded piscine innards coating the desk, papers, walls and ceiling, and the first thing out of his mouth had been exactly what he has written as the first line of this letter.

Kei-sensei, I can explain…


"I'm home!" Ikoma calls as he steps into the genkan.

"Welcome home!" Calls a chorus of voices in reply, little feet thudding on the boards in the seconds before the shōji is shoved open and he is mobbed by three of his children. Tekari, Jōnen and Midori are all eager to tell him all about their respective days, so that takes a little firm management –it does not matter that Midori is a girl, she is older than you Jōnen, where are you getting these ideas they're not at all appropriate– but by the time they are all sitting down around the iori for dinner everything has settled and he has managed to have a few words with all of the children he has not seen since breakfast, from Tatashina down to Kinu.

His new youngest children aren't named yet, but they will be in a few days and then he will be a proud father of nine. A proud and determinedly frugal father; Kitamata is contributing to the household at the moment, but some fine young lady will doubtless catch his eye in a year or so, once he is a wire-smith in his own right and no longer a senior apprentice, and then he will be primarily sustaining his own household rather than contributing to his father's. Which is as it should be; he wouldn't want his oldest son to stunt himself out of misplaced duty.

Tateshina is making good progress in her weaving apprenticeship and the clan's recent investment in silk has opened up new opportunities that she is happily taking advantage of as much as she can, Naka is just starting to help with background patchworking –and is rightfully very proud of her small contributions to Tobirama's coat– Midori is yet to choose a profession but seems perfectly content managing the vegetable garden, the quail and babysitting for the wider clan twice a week –maybe he will take her with him next time he visits a farmer friend, to make it clear that growing things is an honoured profession– Jōnen is progressing in his lessons but would much rather spend more time in the forge instead, Tekari has had a grand adventure finding where under the engawa an elusive quail had laid her eggs and Kinu babbled eagerly while bashing him with her kokeshi doll.

A very good day indeed all around. After dinner comes bedtime, always more challenging to enforce in the summer than in the winter, but finally it is just himself, Minami-san, his mother-in-law and his two oldest children sitting around the iori, Kitamata carving a wooden bird for Kinu to play with as Tatashina returns to her weaving.

"Mother-in-law," Ikoma says, accepting a cup of tea from his wife with a smile, "I have a small question."

"Ask away," Fushimi-san invites, one of the twins cradled against her chest.

"It will soon be Obon," Ikoma begins, mindful that this is a tricky thing to be asking, though he does want to be able to say 'yes' to Izuna-sama next time he sees her, "and I know my honoured mother-in-law celebrates it, to honour her husband's parents."

"Get to the point, dear."

"Izuna-sama asked if we would be willing to help Tobirama-kun celebrate Obon."

"Yes, most certainly," Fushimi-san says firmly. "He is very welcome to join us; surely you did not think I would refuse, son-in-law, after all the boy has done for my Minami?"

"I did not think you would, but they are still not my ancestors that are honoured on Obon, Mother-in-law." He does have manners, even though he regularly chooses not to use them. This is a proper time for airing them, and so he is.

"Such a polite young rascal my eldest married," Fushimi-san says archly. "And your asking has nothing to do with wanting to make sure the former Senju Head stays in his grave where he belongs?"

"The thought never crossed my mind," Ikoma lies instantly. He'd known vaguely that a lot of people outside cities don't cremate their dead, but finding out that the Senju just put their dead in shrouds or basket coffins and bury them in the dirt had been a very disturbing revelation. He suspects rather more people will be celebrating Obon this year, just to make sure all those dead enemies stay firmly dead. Senju Butsuma and his assassins in particular.

"I'm sure it didn't," his mother-in-law says smugly. "Pour me some more tea, son-in-law."


Tajima has never needed to give much thought to Senju Tobirama; from the moment he first stepped onto the field the boy has been diligently obedient to his father's orders, to the point of being a reliable control case of what Butsuma's current orders are. Some Senju in the field are slipshod, others are creative in avoiding Uchiha Squads if they can manage it, but Tobirama has always been precisely and entirely obedient in completing whatever objective Butsuma has set his warriors at any given time.

That had been what made the massacre of his in-laws in Frost Country so concerning; had it simply been bad luck and a chance encounter, or was it an indication of new orders? The massacre in Tea a month later had almost been a relief; definitely new orders, not a coincidence. Tajima had been in the midst of writing letters to Trading Branch kin, bribing the Cats to deliver them and trying to strategise around how to defend most of a hundred mostly-civilian kin all at least a week's run away –for people not Madara or Izuna, that is– from a sensor who can pick out Uchiha from half a country away without compromising the clan's battlefield strength, when Izuna had dragged Tobirama from the battlefield and made the point moot.

He's somewhat annoyed he didn't think of that solution himself, honestly. Then again, his daughter had been very discreet in keeping her recent fuuinjutsu experiments from him, in part assisted by his abruptly increased workload.

He appreciates that she has made the matter of strategising against the Senju clan vastly simpler with very little effort needing to be expended by anybody other than herself. Until rather recently however he had felt very strongly that his daughter had sold herself vastly short in the pursuit of a short-term goal.

Marriage is a long-term investment, so should never be entered into with only short-term goals.

Then, after the assassination attempt, Tobirama had stopped being his father's dutiful obedient puppet and turned into someone else entirely, someone Tajima –embarrassingly belatedly– realises his daughter must have been aware of existing all along. Someone who is actually interesting.

His daughter however is still doing her very best to keep her concubine well out of his reach, so he is frustratingly unable to pursue this line of inquiry and discover who his new son-in-law truly is.

There have been a few near-encounters and two actual encounters –all sadly brief– but they have been informative for all that: formerly-Senju Tobirama is as contrary as any Cat; he seems to have decided that the best way to spite his late father over the assassination attempt is to throw himself completely into being a model trophy spouse for Izuna; he does genuinely like small children, which is interesting as Tajima is unsure how Izuna was able to work that out before kidnapping him, considering it was a major factor in her strategy for getting her concubine to commit himself; and he is unexpectedly good at subversion for somebody who has spent their entire life up until now slavishly obeying his father.

It makes Tajima itch to uncover more evidence of the man's actions off the battlefield, because the picture that is emerging suggests that Tobirama's utter obedience to his father's orders only covered those times when he was representing the Senju elsewhere, either in battle or when running missions. Half the picture is missing and the underlying motives for that obedience are still unclear; it is not out of lack of imagination or education, as is the case with a great many other Senju.

Sadly he cannot interview other Senju about Tobirama's domestic habits –yet anyway; he's sure that if he can politely corner Senju Hashirama at some point during the treaty proceedings the idiot will gladly talk his ear off about them– and his daughter has made it clear he is not invited to visit her at home, so Tajima has to settle with talking to third parties about what they have observed of Tobirama.

His former Mentor taking it upon himself to teach Tobirama how to do more than lose miserably at Go is a much-appreciated opportunity, although he's fairly sure Asane isn't doing it for his benefit.

"I'm retired now, Tajima-sama; I don't answer to you anymore."

Case in point. "You never answered to me, Asane." He was Tajima's Squad Mentor; he had reported to Tajima, yes, but he'd not had to justify his choices to him.

"No more than Naka No-Fear does now," Asane agrees, smiling fondly.

Tajima feels his own lips twitch at the mention of his current Squad Mentor, who is seven years younger than him and makes no secret of the fact she completely detests working with him, yet also demonstrates utmost professionalism in the field. "I know you trained her, Mentor."

"Of course I did; with Masashi retiring you needed somebody who can keep up."

"And you picked her." Naka No-Fear, previously Naka-Hotpot, had joined the Outguard at fourteen, retired at twenty to marry, then when her husband Hokkai had invalided out nine years later had put on her armour again and retrained, taking on the battlefield role as her husband settled into the domestic one. After six months in training and a further six months attached to Izuna's Squad –nominally for training under Mentor Takao– she had been assigned to Tajima's Squad at Asane's recommendation.

She had been renamed two weeks into that new assignment; Tajima is strongly disinclined to replace her at this point.

"I did! She'd been good for your squad's morale."

It is true that the casualty rate for the younger squad members has decreased rather significantly since Naka No-Fear joined; teamwork is even stable enough for him to have been able to take on a younger teenager last autumn, for all that he was horribly sworn at in private over that decision.

Yakumo was in the field with them for six months of battlefields, and is still alive. Tajima is never going to admit quite how impressive that is; he'd just get sworn at again.

"She has," is all he says.

"If you want to make up with your son-in-law you should get him copies of archive documents to study; Tobirama-kun's a vibrantly brilliant young man who's had limited opportunities for a proper education," Asane says slyly. "Not really permitted to invest in subjects unless they had proven short-term use, either: we're discussing economics at the moment, he's a quick study and good at following the implications as they ripple out. Has shown an interest in historical trends as well."

"Izuna-kun will do that for him."

"Izuna-bi is having lessons with you or Ohabari-san four days a week, caring for a baby on the other three days and trying to build her own relationship with her spouse; she doesn't have time to spend hours copying documents, and she knows you won't let her take any original documents home to show off either. The closest she could come would be showing them to him in a genjutsu, which really isn't the same."

"You want me to do this."

"The boy wants to pull his weight, Tajima-sama. It'll put that brilliant mind of his to productive use; if you don't catch him now he'll get into the habit of idleness and mischief and you'll never know another day's peace."

A credible threat; he'd nurture mischief in the children too, and systemic issues like that are incredibly hard to root out after they have set in. "Very well then; if he wishes to entertain himself with historic crop data and court records it will at least keep him distracted during the upcoming treaty negotiations."

"Oh, so the valuation's completed now, is it?"

"The legislative part is, yes." The valuation specialists will be staying on a little longer and Tajima intends to arrange that promised introduction for Tobirama; he's rather looking forward to how his son-in-law reacts to the Earth Country penal tattoos, missing fingers and yakuza ink the three men sport respectively; Sora-ku has always had the most colourful vassals, even after the Uzumaki ensured nothing would grow in the ground there ever again. "Full treaty negotiations will begin on the autumn equinox."

Which reminds him, now they're not fighting the Senju thrice-weekly Izuna has the time to go and examine that effect properly, with an eye to breaking it safely. Not having to store water in raised cisterns and nurture crops in pots and tubes will make it possible for more people to live there full-time.

"To think we'd live to see the day," Asane muses.

Tajima still doesn't believe they will actually reach a point of signing a proper treaty, but this is a good exercise nonetheless and he will enter into it seriously and conscientiously. As his daughter has repeatedly pointed out, it is always a good idea to have the moral high-ground.


'Ohabari' is the sword of Susano-o, hence 'yaiba' ie blade; and the 'ma' character in Tajima's name can also be read 'asa'.