The Wanderers
Chapter 45 – An Unexpected Reunion
A/N: I put summaries of previous sections at the start of every chapter, but I highly recommended reading any chapters that you may have missed. There are always small details and little character bits that make the story mould together in a more coherent way.
A/N2: Also, everything from now onwards is linear in relation to timeframe. No more jumping back and forth, or at least not planned at this time.
A/N3: 400 reviews...there are no words. Once again, I have to thank everyone who has read this story and particularly those who review it, since it helps me build my writing skills for future chapters and stories. Seriously, you guys are awesome.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, survivor's guilt would be far more prevalent.
***Previously-On*** - An abridged version of the Separation period (meaning really long summary)
Shikamaru -Having been dumped in the Land of Wind, Shikamaru was taken in by Suna on the verge of death. After recovering from his injuries, the Fourth Kazekage disappeared and he was put in jail, accused of the crime. Escaping with the help of the leader's three children, the four of them chased down the trail and found the Kazekage immortalised as a statue, held by a strange group. After recovering the Kazekage, they raced back to Suna after discovering that it was under attack. Sasori of the Red Sands led a single puppet master assault on his previous village. A particularly dangerous battle later and the village was saved but at the loss of the Kazekage, and Shikamaru was accepted as Gaara, the new Kazekage's, personal advisor.
Chouji - With his ability to use chakra vanished, Chouji resolved to assist the small village he had landed in. Having no knowledge of his friends' survival, he decided to stay and settle down with a local girl.
Shino - Fighting his own one man war within a dense forest in the Land of Fire, Shino knew he was fighting a losing battle. After gaining some valuable intelligence on the enemy force, he was tracked down and killed by a Quiraji commander, under the name of Iceheart.
Ino - Ino worked her way up to affording to travel to her old teacher's village, but to her horror she found that they had been killed inside their homes. Breaking into the burning building, Ino was able to rescue their daughter Airi, who she decided to adopt as her own, as she thought they would have wanted her to. After moving to a more peaceful land, Airi came down with a sickness and Ino flew to a nearby hospital, and was surprised to find Shizune there, though she had taken up drinking.
Neji - Having been spared death by the collapsing Hidden Sound, Neji found himself at the mercy of the remaining shinobi, but to his surprise they both surrendered and submitted to his will, thanking him for freeing them from Kabuto. Having no clue as to what happened to his companions, Neji resolved to adopt Naruto's idea of creating a new village, and after removing the Cursed Seals from everyone, established Otogakure in a new location. He came to a compromise with the Daimyo of the Rice Fields, and married his daughter in an arranged marriage. After some time he has had three children with her, and he loves them dearly. Using his experience, abilities and leadership skills, Neji has made Otogakure a village to be respected among the other four remaining Great Nations, and a force to be reckoned with for the inevitable incoming war.
Lee - Lee found himself captured by the enemy, and was tortured under the guise of turning him into a converted shinobi. However before he was broken, Lee escaped his prison and broke out another prisoner, Jito, who had been there for many years. Lee tracked down Asuma and Kurenai's village afterwards, but it was already too late. He followed the perpetrator and fought her, but was soundly defeated and he learned that Iceheart was actually Sakura, who had been converted by the Quiraji, the enemy who had destroyed Konoha. After training intensely after his recovery, Lee was able to break the helmet controlling Sakura and free her from Sensou's control.
Sasuke - Sasuke was dumped into a gladiator arena, and was saved by a strange girl who called herself Fiore. After helping her escape, he followed her back to her group, the Cascading Flow, where to his surprise he found his mother Mikoto alive and well. Deciding to stay with Cascading Flow, the group attacked the corrupt Daimyo of the Land of Earth, who was being manipulated by Kyoukou. Trying to save her son, Mikoto sacrificed herself and died, and Kyoukou fled the field. Sasuke decided to stay with Cascading Flow and help them however he could, knowing that his mother would have wanted him to continue her work.
Kiba - Fate had an odd twist for Kiba, who found himself near the top of a giant set of ice mountains that were the same Kakashi's old team had traversed. In another odd twist, Kiba and Akamaru found the frozen body of Nagisa, who had been frozen since the Third Shinobi War. He unthawed her, and they connected as distant cousins. They were captured by Yukigakure on their way down the mountain but quickly escaped, though they were forced to travel underground in a city that looked like it had been buried for centuries.
Kakashi - Under the impression that everyone he knew was dead, Kakashi wandered into Amegakure, and took up drinking, ending up spending the night with Konan. After discovering she was from Akatsuki, he came to an arrangement with Nagato and her, and after some convincing he agreed to assist them. However just as he was coming into his own, an unknown woman clouded in a dark robe slaughtered the entire village except him, displaying an apparent immortality to damage and an ability to kill with a single touch. Taking Konan's body to Nagato, the Rinnegan user sacrificed what little time he had left to revive her. Devastated that she was the last of Amegakure and everyone she knew was dead, Kakashi offered to take her to a safe place where they wouldn't be troubled by war anymore. She accepted reluctantly.
Shizune - Working as the head of the hospital, Shizune was troubled by all the war going on with Suna and the Quiraji. Sakura was also helping after her recovery, and to their surprise Kiba was brought in after being followed by an army of Quiraji. Evacuating the hospital patients and staff to Suna, Shizune held a one woman stand against the encroaching army, though her summons had a different idea. They saved her, and after some convincing her boss summon took her to his Palace, to peace.
Itachi – Observing the battle from above, Itachi watched as Kumogakure was attacked by a massive army of Quiraji soldiers, led by the same warrior who had separated them. After analysing his battle movements, Itachi came up with a strategy to defeat such an opponent, and singled him out in the army, assassinating him. However he was subsequently attacked by Sensou and had no defence against her attacks, having been captured for use in her experiments.
Naruto & Hinata–The two shinobi found themselves in a strange land, with no indication on where they were. Advancing their relationship to the next level, they also discovered an odd companion in Magnus, who helped them find a new way of fighting with physical and spiritual energy. After they went their separate ways, Naruto and Hinata began travelling on their own, however Hinata came down with a terrible illness, and Naruto brought her to a doctor in a castle town. With nothing he could do to help her, Naruto held off several attacks by an opposing army, and killed their general to try and save Hinata's life. Discovering that her illness was the strangely living Kyuubi, Naruto found that the Kyuubi had been trying to teach him a lesson in pain, but had a more humane side to it. He came to a tenuous peace with the Kyuubi, although they were still antagonistic to each other. The Kyuubi then showed him the war the Sage of the Six Paths waged against the Quiraji, and he and Hinata decided they needed to return to the shinobi continent. They were able to create a ship and with a bit of help from a pirate, they set off to find their home once again.
***End Absurdly Long Summary***
***Two and a Half Years after Separation***
The waters were nice and calm, considering the time of year. His boat rocked slightly back and forth with each slow wave, giving its occupant just enough motion to satisfy his interest in being on the water. At the edge of his boat, a fishing rod tugged from its line in the water, but the fisherman didn't pay it any heed as he continued to stare up to the forming clouds.
It was a good day, and the ex-shinobi Kakashi was enjoying the nice weather for a change.
Eventually he noticed his fishing rod was attempting to wrench itself out of his small boat. Reaching over to it, he gripped the rod and began to reel in his catch. The bucket sitting beside him was empty, despite having spent most of the day in the boat.
It wasn't due to a lack of skill, though.
Once he'd reeled in his catch, he examined the flailing fish in his hands. It wasn't particularly big, but he'd get a reasonable price for it nonetheless. It was coming close to time for him to go back to shore too, so unlike the others he didn't throw it back.
Filling the bucket nearly halfway with a low level water ninjutsu that he could do in his sleep, Kakashi eased the fish in and put his fishing rod down inside the boat.
He leaned over the side of the boat, placing a single finger into the ocean. Channelling a small amount of chakra, Kakashi hummed a nameless tune to himself as a low voltage electrical current ran through the ocean around him.
Slowly but surely, over a dozen fish similar to the one he had caught slowly rose to the surface of the water, knocked out by his electrical technique. The other fishermen would probably consider this cheating, but Kakashi understood what happened when you overfished an area, so he only took what he needed, leaving the other fish to recover and go about their lives.
Once he had eight fish swimming slowly within his bucket, Kakashi wiped his hands on his work shirt and pulled out the oars beside his fishing rod. It was the same routine he'd been doing for almost a year.
And Kakashi loved everything about it.
He continued to hum as his boat pulled into shore, tying it to a nearby post before throwing his fishing rod over his shoulder and picking up the bucket with his other hand. Nobody would touch his boat, he knew that for sure. It was a fisherman's life, and everyone respected each other too much to do something like that.
It was a short walk to his house from the shore, and Kakashi made a pass at the markets to sell the fish he wasn't taking home. The fishmonger was more than happy to take his stock, as he always did, giving him a fair price for his catch.
A large village at the edge of the ocean on its own particular island, Kakashi had grown to love the town and how simple it was. People travelled to their work and back without grumbling, while the children played in the streets when they weren't in school.
It was peaceful.
After walking through the dirt road through the village and greeting the villagers who called out to him, Kakashi came to the house he had been living in for the past two years. It was small and inconspicuous, which was perfect for the type of living Kakashi was currently performing. Occasionally when he looked at it from the outside it used to remind him of one of the houses back in Konoha, one that he used to sit on top of when looking over the rest of the village.
With two fish still in his bucket, Kakashi pushed open his door and closed it behind him.
"I'm home!" he called out, taking off his work boots and putting them to the side.
He got no response, but judging from the noise in the kitchen he wasn't surprised. With a wry grin, he made his way through the corridor and leaned on the doorway to his kitchen.
Standing with her hands working at the bench was a woman with short purple hair, quietly singing to herself as she made small origami swans with her quick hands. She could have used ninjutsu to make the swans, but that took the fun out of it.
She jumped as she felt a pinch near her leg, causing to grin as she felt Kakashi move beside her and place his bucket in the sink next to her.
"I didn't hear you come in," she said as she pushed her swans to the side.
Plugging the sink, Kakashi dumped the fish into the sink and wiped his hands on a nearby towel. "You were enjoying yourself. I didn't want to interrupt."
"Hn."
Kakashi rubbed at his shoulders sorely, he'd been sitting awkwardly in the boat the last few days and it had been playing havoc with his muscles. "I'm going to have a bath before we eat."
Konan nodded and stacked up her unused paper sheet to one side, "I'll join you. It's been one of those days."
"Trouble at the orphanage?" he asked with a raised eyebrow while they walked through their house to the bathroom.
Turning the hot water tap to quickly fill the water, Konan slowly removed her top and folded it to one side. "Nothing I can't handle. Some of the teachers disagreed about what to teach the kids about certain things, and I spent most of the day sorting that out."
"Sounds rough."
Konan sighed as she slid a leg into the hot water, "You have no idea."
oOoOoOo
After eating the two fish Kakashi had brought home, the two retired shinobi sat on the couch, with Konan resting her legs across his. He smiled as he watched her facial expressions change as she read the small book he had finally convinced her to read. It seemed to shift between horror and amazement, though Konan wasn't too expressive so Kakashi was guessing half the time.
Finishing the first chapter, Konan shut the book and placed it on her lap, staring at him through her amber eyes, not saying a word.
"So…what did you think?"
Sliding the book across her legs towards him, Konan could only shake her head. "I guess there is no accounting for taste…"
"Oh, now that is harsh," said Kakashi with a smile, taking the book and placing it on a nearby table.
They both turned their heads as they heard two raps on the door. Kakashi slowly peeled her legs off him and stood up, smiling at her before walking slowly to the door.
Figuring it to be another visit from the local law enforcement, asking for his opinion on a case, Kakashi opened the door without even checking to see who it might be.
Standing in the doorway in an old set of armour and white fur-covered pauldrons, was a man he hadn't seen in two decades, and had only truly known about for the past three years.
Forgetting all of his shinobi training momentarily, Kakashi could only stare in surprise as Jito looked him up and down with a satisfied look in his eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" asked the Senju survivor quietly.
Blinking several times as if to disperse the image, Kakashi had to accept that it was real. There was no other logical explanation.
"Jito…my god is that really you?"
The elder Senju grinned and placed a hand on Kakashi's shoulder, "My friend, it has been far too long. You look well."
Kakashi had no clue how to respond, he'd been working under the assumption that this man had been dead for years. "I…you do too. How…when…"
Normally a serious man, Jito chuckled at the Jounin's confusion. He stared at his face, "You seem to have been through some trouble since I last worked with you."
"That's the understatement of the century…" He looked back into the house, noticing that Konan was still sitting on the couch. "Please come in. Our house is yours."
Jito bowed and entered the house, taking off his shoes before walking into the living room with Kakashi behind him.
Konan quickly shoved the book she had started to read again underneath the couch pillow, looking up at their guest. She went to ask who he was, but upon seeing the leaf symbol on his forehead protector, she understood immediately. She got up quickly and bowed slightly as was proper for a host to act towards a houseguest, though she never took her eyes off him.
Coming up behind the Senju, Kakashi indicated to him with a hand, "Konan, this is Jito. He's a…very old friend of mine."
"Nice to meet you," she said cautiously. They had been out of touch from the shinobi world, and had had no contact with any shinobi at all, but judging from Kakashi's reaction she knew it was not something he had been expecting.
And unexpected things were rarely good things.
Jito smiled, he had noticed the eye contact between the two of them. "It is lovely to meet you, Konan."
Sensing that they probably wanted to speak alone, Konan moved towards the kitchen. "Would you like anything to drink? I can make you some tea, if you would like."
Jito groaned as he took a seat opposite the couch. He looked up to her with a smile, "Some tea would be good, thank you."
The Amegakure survivor nodded and disappeared into the kitchen as Kakashi sat down opposite his old companion, still unable to keep the surprise from his face.
"I guess you recovered your memories then," said Jito slowly.
Kakashi nodded, "About three years ago. I had some help, but I know what happened, for the most part."
Jito breathed out a sigh of relief, resting his hands on his seat. "That saves me some explaining then."
"I could have sworn you were dead though. Even despite you leaving when you did…there was no indications of you at all."
"I almost was," said Jito, wary of reliving his capture by the Quiraji. "But that doesn't explain why you are so surprised. And why you are here, at the absolute end of the world, acting like a civilian."
"I guess we both have long tales to tell." Kakashi went to ask, but stopped when he heard a soft sounding song coming from the kitchen, slowly flowing into the living room.
Jito perked up his ears as a smile came across his face. "That's a lovely voice."
Kakashi nodded in agreement, "I didn't know she could sing like that until we came here. She only does it when she's happy, so any time I can, I stop and listen."
His companion nodded back, not wanting to say another word, resolving to simply listen to the quiet song Konan sang to herself from the kitchen.
Oh the Easter snow
It is faded away
It was so rare and so beautiful
But it's melted back into the clay
Those days will be remembered
Beyond out in the north
Listening to the master's notes
As gently they do fall
Oh the music when shame is heeded play
But the thaw has melted the mantle white
And turned it back into the clay
Her voice slowly faded away as she started to hum the rest of the song to herself. Kakashi smiled proudly and turned back to his Senju companion. "So, I guess we have a lot to talk about."
Konan came back into the living room and handed them their tea.
Thanking her, Kakashi sipped his tea and indicated to Jito, "Why don't you start with why you are here?"
oOoOoOo
Jito kept his observations to himself as Kakashi finished his side of the tale. "And then we came here. We've been living here for the past two years."
"What have you been doing?" asked Jito, having never figured Kakashi to be the retiring type.
Putting her empty tea cup back on its saucer, Konan watched the exchange with quiet interest. From what she had observed of the Senju man, he was quite observant and intelligent, but he was hiding things from them as well.
"You still haven't told us why you are here," she said, once they had finished discussing Kakashi's 'day job'.
Jito slowly turned his gaze to the woman. There wasn't any offence intended in her statement, but her bluntness told him volumes about what he had to say.
"I've been searching for Kakashi for a long time. He fought our enemy before, and we need his help."
Konan went to response, but Kakashi cut her off almost frantically.
"What do you mean, we? Who else survived? Anyone around the age of sixteen to twenty?"
Jito frowned, "You really thought everyone was dead, didn't you? There are more alive than you think, Kakashi."
The Konoha Jounin leaned back on the couch in both shock and relief. He hadn't thought about it for a while, and since they were so far removed from the shinobi world he hadn't had any word about potential survivors. He'd finally come to terms with his guilt, and now everything was different.
"So, we come to the heart of the matter." Jito hadn't come all this way for nothing, but he certainly wasn't going to press the issue either. After hearing about Kakashi's days fishing on the vast ocean, and Konan working at the local orphanage, he almost didn't want to pull them away from it.
But in times of war, those things were luxuries.
"You've come to take me back to the war?"
Jito nodded, "We need as many allies as we can. I understand your situation, believe me. But you have to realise this is bigger than the two of you."
He could see the cogs working in Kakashi's head, but he wasn't holding out hope. His chance at a happy retirement had been quashed decades ago, and he was reluctant to destroy theirs.
Standing slowly from the couch beside her roommate, Konan turned to look down at Kakashi. "Can I speak to you in the kitchen, Kakashi?"
After two years, Kakashi could already tell what Konan was going to say, but there were some things that had to be talked out. He stood up and indicated to Jito, "Excuse me for a moment."
"By all means."
Once they got into the kitchen, Konan turned to him and stared with her usual serious gaze.
Anticipating her argument, Kakashi put up his hands, "You don't want to go."
"No, I don't. And I don't want you to go either."
Kakashi sighed as he leaned back onto the sink, "I'll admit, it's a lot to take in. But if there is a chance my companions are alive, I have to take it."
"It's been two years, Kakashi. I thought we were past this. We have good lives here, why would you want to ruin that?"
Kakashi reached out and took one of her hands, holding it tenderly. Their relationship was strange compared to some of the ones Kakashi had had during his time in the ANBU, but after knowing her for so long there wasn't anyone he trusted more than Konan.
"You know why, Konan."
There were a thousand different things he could say to her, but as she looked into his eyes, she already knew what he was going to do. She sighed and took a step forward, leaning her forehead onto his.
"I guess you wouldn't be here with me if you weren't that type of person."
She sniffed slightly, holding back her emotions. "You're a bastard, you know that?"
"Konan, I…"
"Give me a few minutes, Kakashi…I need to think about this."
Understanding the underlying tone, Kakashi gave her a quick kiss and patted her affectionately on the arm before going back to the living room. He sat back down opposite Jito and looked over the Senju shinobi.
"Aren't you tired of fighting, Jito?"
His companion chuckled, "You'd be amazed how many times I ask myself that same question. But everything I do, I hear my father's voice coming back into my head, and I remember why we fight."
He indicated to the kitchen with his tea cup, "Is she going to be okay? I sensed some tension there."
"It's been hard for her. Hard for both of us. She's the only survivor of Amegakure; I thought I was the only survivor of Konoha. You know what it's like to carry something like that."
Jito nodded, refilling his tea cup and taking another sip. "Survivor's guilt is a terrible thing. You can't really understand it unless you've been through it yourself."
Kakashi nodded, and for a few minutes they sat in silence. He still had a lot of questions for the Senju shinobi, but he knew where his heart was, and where his true priorities were. If that didn't happen, then his questions became irrelevant.
The two Konoha shinobi watched as Konan re-entered the room and sat back down beside Kakashi, sliding her fingers into one of his hands and holding it tightly. "If you need to go…then you should go. I know how much they mean to you."
Jito's heart broke when he heard that, he remembered hearing that exact line from his wife before he had set out to fight during the Second Shinobi War.
It had been the last thing she had said to him.
Kakashi, however, was not him.
Squeezing her hand tightly, Kakashi looked straight into her eyes. "I'm not going anywhere without you. I know how much you love that orphanage and those kids. If you want to stay, then we will stay."
Konan tensed up, and for a moment Kakashi could have sworn she was going to jump him, from the look in her eyes. Given their company, he was glad they didn't, but nothing he had said was false. If it was a choice between Konan or just a chance, he chose her every time.
She was someone he could protect, and actually be with. Something he'd been deprived of in the past.
"Excuse me, but did I hear you were once from Amegakure?"
Konan turned to Jito, secretly wishing to stab him for interrupting their moment. "What of it?"
The genjutsu master clasped his hands together and leaned forward, "Do you know what the person you destroyed it looked like?"
Konan's face twitched, and sensed her discomfort Kakashi leaned forward in return.
"She wore a black robe and had pale skin…"
"…and never opened her eyes?" finished Jito.
The two of them nodded, causing Jito to immediately formulate a nice idea in his head.
"Let me tell you a little about what I know about our enemy. They are led by four generals of immense strength. One of whom, is that woman."
Konan's eyes widened, but Jito wasn't finished.
He stared at Kakashi intently, "I also believe she is the one responsible for destroying Konoha."
Given the abilities she displayed, Kakashi certainly couldn't put it past that woman, but that final gaze she had given him before leaving was still haunting him.
She spared me, and she spared Nagato. It's likely he was spared because he was going to die anyway, but I had no such issues. It wasn't pity either. It was more like…I wasn't on her radar at all.
But in the same vein, Kakashi wished Jito hadn't mentioned that fact. Konan hadn't spoken about avenging her village for over a year now, but the look in her amber eyes told him that it was still fresh in her mind.
"How sure are you of this information?" she asked, not bothering to hide the urgency in her voice.
"Very. They are currently killing shinobi all over the world, and I'm here to get your help to stop them."
Konan turned back to Kakashi, and without saying anything they understood each other's position. He wanted to go to save his friends, but was apprehensive about putting her in danger, while she wanted to avenge Nagato and the others from Amegakure but also didn't want to leave him alone either. They'd both been through that pain, and it was difficult enough as it was.
However, despite all that, their answer to Jito was clear.
Jito stood at the edge of town, watching as the couple slowly walked towards him. Both Kakashi and Konan had small backpacks on their backs; they didn't have too many possessions to take with them.
"Are you sure?" asked Kakashi as they reached the entrance to the village.
Konan nodded, holding the strap to her backpack tightly. "I don't think I could face them. It's better if I just disappear, otherwise I don't think I'd be able to go."
With a quiet smile, Jito noticed that they were both wearing their forehead protectors, looking almost completely different from the previous day. Kakashi had his flak jacket on with his regular Konoha shinobi outfit, and Konan had a strange black cloak with red and white clouds on it, though she seemed to be walking strangely.
"Is something wrong, Konan?" he asked, unaware of any injuries she might be carrying.
The blue haired woman tugged at the middle of her robe with a frown, "It's nothing…I didn't realise I'd put on so much weight."
Beside her, Kakashi chuckled, "I think you look beautiful."
She glared at him and bit back the line she was going to say, figuring it wouldn't be too appropriate with their ally standing in front of them.
"You know, it's strange seeing you without your mask, Kakashi. You really are the spitting image of Sakumo."
The silver haired Jounin grinned, "That's why I wore it, so that I wouldn't be. Where are we going, Jito?"
"Well, we've got to get back to the main continent first. Then we are going to the Land of Earth."
"What's in the Land of Earth?" asked Kakashi, as the three of them began walking to the edge of the land that was connected to the shinobi continent by a small ocean mass.
It would take them a few hours running across the water, but since they were all of Jounin level it wouldn't take too much out of them.
"I've been searching for you for nearly three years, Kakashi. You weren't an easy man to find. In that time, my ally was looking for a force that could fight against the Quiraji. I'm not sure whether she was successful or not, but I met with some of her contacts and they seemed reliable."
After listening to Jito's story the previous day, it didn't take Kakashi long to work out who his old companion was talking about, though it was even more difficult to believe than some of the other things Jito had told him.
"Mikoto…so she's alive then?"
Jito nodded as they moved quickly over the water. Despite his inability to use ninjutsu, Jito still had extremely precise chakra control, allowing him to some basic like water walking.
After a few minutes, Kakashi's curiosity got the better of him and he asked the question he'd been wondering since Jito had made himself known to him.
"You mentioned someone helping you escape their torture centre. Did they tell you their name?"
"Hmm…I think his name was…damnit I know this. Give me a second, he was pretty distinctive, I remember what he looks like perfectly."
A few seconds after hearing the description, Kakashi immediately knew who it was. "That's Lee…so he's alive. I can't believe it…"
"Who is he?" asked Konan, moving quickly beside him across the water.
The silver haired Jounin chuckled; there really wasn't an easy way to describe someone like him. "He was a student of mine. It's a good thing he made it, he's a strong kid."
High above them the clouds began to merge together as the sky threatened to rain down on the three shinobi. They were still an hour from the mainland at their current pace, but they hoped they weren't going to get rained on.
oOoOoOo
They got drenched.
Once they reached the mainland they took shelter underneath a large cliff face, wringing out their clothes as they waited for the storm to pass.
"I haven't seen anything like that in a while," said Jito, squeezing the water out of his fur pauldrons.
Kakashi smiled, not saying anything. He'd seen plenty like that before, but it wasn't his place to bring it up.
The two of them were facing the wall while Konan was drying her robe and her hair. Kakashi could understand her making Jito turn around, but he saw her like that every day.
"It rained like that every day in Amegakure," said the blue haired kunoichi, wrapping her Akatsuki robe around her body before telling them it was okay to turn around.
Kakashi grinned when he saw her start to put her makeup back on, as it had been ruined by the rain. When they'd lived in Amegakure she had special makeup to compensate for the rain, but since moving she'd had nothing like that. Kakashi had once asked her why she always wore makeup, and her response had been surprisingly simple. She took pride in her appearance, and disguise was also a part of being a shinobi.
Kakashi just thought it made her look prettier, but he didn't want to make a mistake in saying she was any less than she was. He'd dealt with vengeful women in the past, and it rarely ended well.
"So, what do we do now?" she asked, ignoring the looks the two men were giving her with her still damp hair.
"Well, we need to find Mikoto," said Jito, shaking his head to gather his senses again. He felt bad for looking at her like that, considering he was easily twice her age.
Having a pretty reasonable understanding of her partner's skills, Konan turned to Kakashi with a raised eyebrow. "Can you find her?"
Kakashi sighed, that was something he hadn't mentioned to her from that battle. "I'm not sure." He turned to Jito, "Do you have anything of hers that might have her scent?"
Thinking about it for a few seconds, Jito reached into the small pouch that hung off of one of his pauldrons. He rummaged around in it before producing a small black and red flower and showing it to his two companions. "She gave this to me when I saved her from the Uchiha massacre. It might be faint, but it'll have her scent on it for sure."
Konan took the flower from his hand, admiring how pretty such a small flower was, while beside her Kakashi bit at his thumb and stared at the blood running down his finger.
I know you guys are probably still mad at me…but I'm trying to do the right thing now.
He stepped back and ran through the handseals before placing his blood-tipped on the cold ground beneath him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu."
Kakashi wasn't expecting anything to happen, but to his surprise a small cloud of smoke appeared underneath his hand, and a small pug stepped out of it, offering up his paw in the usual greeting.
"Yo, Kakashi. It's been a while."
The Konoha Jounin withdrew his hand with a surprised look on his face, after failing to get a response the last time he tried to summon the ninja dog he hadn't been expecting to see him again.
"Pakkun! I…wasn't expecting to see you again."
The pug cocked his head with a confused look, "Why not? You don't summon me in two years, and that's the first thing you say?"
He turned his head, and hid his surprise when he saw Jito standing off to the side. At first he thought he was looking at the Second Hokage, but considering Jito's age that didn't make much sense. He turned back to Kakashi, waiting patiently for him to explain himself.
"The last time we spoke, you said you were disappointed that I wasn't still trying to find the others. You made it clear that you didn't want to see me again."
His ninja dog companion scoffed and sat down on his backside. "You're an idiot, Kakashi. I was disappointed, and I still am. That doesn't mean I would abandon you. We don't abandon our comrades, remember?"
Kakashi stared at his hand for a second before looking back down at Pakkun, "But…I tried to summon you and got no response."
"Hmm, we had no trouble on our end." The dog scratched at his head, "Perhaps you didn't truly want to summon us, and that's why it didn't work."
His summoner thought about that for a moment, trying to remember how chaotic it was during the destruction of Amegakure. There had been many things going through his mind at the time, but guilt was always at the forefront. He'd never heard of that preventing a summon, but if that's truly what happened, there were still many things about ninjutsu that even someone like him didn't understand.
It could also have been that he knew he'd be bringing the canine towards certain death, and unconsciously didn't want that. Regardless, he'd never know now.
Walking into the pug's view, Konan bent down and showed him the flower, "We need you to find this woman."
Pakkun looked up at her and stared at her for a few seconds before nodding and turning to Kakashi with his usual dull expression, "Shouldn't be a problem. Though you'll have to wait until the rain stops."
"You can't track their scent in the rain?" asked Jito in surprise. The Inuzuka's had been able to track scents during thunderstorms, so a ninja dog should be at a similar level.
The pug scoffed and glared at the elder Senju, "Of course I can. I just don't want to get wet."
Jito stared at him for a moment before chuckling and looking over at Kakashi, "Like master, like summon, huh?"
Looking out at the rain beyond their shelter, and ignoring the smirk on Konan's face behind him, Kakashi just shook his head. "I don't know what you are talking about."
***Two Days Later***
Their canine companion indicated to a town just on the horizon, "Her scent ends at that town."
"Are you sure?" asked Konan with a frown.
Pakkun turned around and glared at the blue haired kunoichi, "Do I tell you how to make origami? She's in there."
"It isn't that, it's just…" She pointed to the town he had led them to.
It was on fire.
Both Jito and Kakashi squinted their eyes to get a better look, neither of them could sense Mikoto's chakra coming from the town, but the Uchiha matriarch was skillful at hiding her strength so they weren't making any judgements from that.
"Was there anything else you needed?" asked Pakkun dryly, turning to Kakashi with a grunt.
His summoner shook his head, "No, thank you for your help."
The pug stared at him for a second before glancing over at Konan and turning back to him, "Good luck."
With that, he disappeared into a small puff of smoke, leaving the three odd companions to their duty.
"What do you think?" asked Konan once the smoke had cleared.
Kakashi shrugged and turned to Jito, "It doesn't look like Mikoto's fire, but that doesn't mean much."
Their Senju companion had to agree, "When I last saw her, she was with a very…interesting woman by the name of Elika. If I know Mikoto, she's already worked out who we need and is working with them now."
"Meaning that…" Kakashi indicated to the burning town, "…is likely part of her plan."
The two of them turned to get Konan's opinion, but to their surprise she was already a third of the way to the burning town.
Kakashi just rolled his eyes and went to run after her, while Jito chuckled and caught up with him.
"She's an interesting woman, Kakashi."
The Konoha Jounin glared at his old friend, "Stop telling me that, Jito."
oOoOoOo
When they got to the town they weren't sure what to expect, but what they saw certainly wasn't in their minds.
The town looked like it could have held hundreds, but there were no civilians living within its borders. While the town burned, dozens of bodies wearing the Iwa forehead protector littered the ground, while dozens more fought with kunai and ninjutsu against a strange pair of attackers. The two of them seemed completely at ease despite being surrounded by more than twenty Iwa Chuunin and Jounin.
One of them wore a simple leather outfit that hugged her figure and she held a long wooden staff on one of her shoulders while she chatted with her fighting companion.
The Iwa shinobi appeared extremely weary from the fight, and on the verge of exhaustion while the two of them didn't even appear puffed.
Jito felt a shiver through his skin as he observed the woman's demeanour, at her almost inappropriate casual approach to fighting.
To Kakashi's amazement, and complete surprise, standing by the woman's side with a single bloody katana in his hand, was Sasuke.
The Uchiha shinobi looked older than Kakashi's remembered, and seemed to have a few scars of his own, but it was the look in his eyes that said a thousand different things to him.
He had his Sharingan active and the red eyes seemed to be scanning the battlefield from left to right as he ignored the woman's attempts to chat to him. However he didn't have the angry, hateful look that Kakashi remembered, the one that showed his confusion and frustration.
Instead, Sasuke's eyes were determined and focused.
From their outside position, Jito cloaked them in a powerful genjutsu so that they wouldn't be hit by friendly fire, and the three of them approached the battlefield.
"Should we help them?" asked Konan, collecting several sheets of paper in her hands.
Jito shook his head, "We need to find Mikoto. This battle isn't our concern."
"This battle is most definitely our concern," said Kakashi as they passed the border of the town. He pointed to the Uchiha man who had sheathed his sword and was rapidly going through a set of handseals, pushing out a large amount of chakra. "That one there is her son."
"Her son? I thought he died with Konoha." Jito stared as the Uchiha streamed a long line of lightning-charged chakra, cutting several Jounin in half in a single motion. "That…would make a lot of sense actually, now that I think about it."
The woman who was working with Sasuke easily patted away several kunai thrusts and slammed her staff into her attacker's faces, knocking them out with ease before turning her gaze to the remaining Iwa shinobi who were trying to circle around Sasuke.
The two of them rapidly dispatched their enemies while the three companions watched in surprise.
"I guess they don't need our help at all," said Konan with a hint of disappointment. She'd never been particularly bloodthirsty, but she was out of practise and wanted to see how her skills still worked.
The last Iwa shinobi fell to a breath of fire from Sasuke and the Uchiha sighed as he rubbed at his neck sorely.
"Well that was interesting," he said, rubbing his hands on his black shirt. "Remember me to hit Kira for his horrible intel."
The brown haired girl barked out a laugh as her staff slowly shrank to a small stick that she stuck through her hair. "That's why it's called a trap, Sasuke. He'd be an amazing spymaster if he'd been able to work this mess out."
"That's his job, Fiore. I know you like him, but you and your mother's faith in the man is strangely placed."
Fiore's amusement shone through her violet eyes, "Well, it doesn't matter now. Let's just go home. I need to have a bath."
"Yes, you do. Let's…" Sasuke's eyes unfocused as he turned his head slightly, as if trying to listen to a very quiet sound.
"What is it?" asked Fiore, ignoring the remark Sasuke had made. In their two year partnership she had come to trust the Uchiha's instincts, though she'd never tell him that. They were close, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to torture him.
Sasuke turned with his Sharingan and stared straight at the space that the three observers were standing in, concealed by Jito's genjustu. "There's something…"
Jito smiled slightly, "Amazing. He can actually sense our presence, though he doesn't quite see through the illusion just yet."
"Sasuke always had a lot of promise," said Kakashi proudly. He was fond of his former student, and saddened that he had thought that someone like Sasuke would have died.
Konan rolled her eyes at the boy's conversation and motioned to Jito, "Enough of these games. Just drop the illusion so we can find your friend."
Jito turned to Kakashi, who nodded in agreement. While he had worked with Kakashi as a subordinate in the past, now it was more like a partnership of equals, though Jito had vastly more experience than Kakashi did.
The Senju elder dropped the genjutsu, and the two fighters jumped in surprise and drew their weapons instantly upon seeing the three of them.
"Do you recognise them?" asked Fiore with her wooden weapon immediately in hand.
Sasuke shook his head as he pointed to the two men with his sword, "Those two look like they are from Konoha, but I don't recognise them. They are probably imposters."
His sword tracked to Konan's position, "And she's part of a very bad organisation. They must be enemies."
Konan scowled at his labelling of her, and was tempted to fight him just for the sake of it, but she hesitated when she saw that the look in his eyes wasn't hateful, he simply recognised her robe. Since he was an Uchiha, she figured he must be related to Itachi.
It had been difficult for her to move past, but she had forgiven the Uchiha for what he had done to Nagato, understanding why he had done it.
That didn't mean she wasn't going to beat him within an inch of his life when she saw him though.
Kakashi frowned at being called an imposter, until he realised that without his mask on Sasuke probably didn't recognise him. He chuckled and ran a hand through his silver hair.
"That hurts my feelings, Sasuke."
Upon hearing his voice, Sasuke lowered his sword and nearly gaped in surprise, "Kakashi?!"
His eyes ran over his old teacher's face, and then his face sank in disappointment.
"What is it? Who are these guys?" asked Fiore, throughly confused by the situation.
Sasuke just shook his head and reached over to push down her wooden staff, "It's…it's nothing. They are allies."
Kakashi stepped forward with a smile, while Konan and Jito followed behind him. "Thank you, Sasuke. It's good to see you again. You've grown up quite well."
The Uchiha smirked before his eyes looked into Kakashi's with a serious expression. "You've changed too. You lost your Sharingan."
Kakashi nodded, feeling at his scar with one of his hands, "A lot has happened since we last met."
"I'm sorry for your loss," said Sasuke.
His voice was neutral, but Kakashi didn't hide his surprise at what Sasuke said. It sounded sincere, not sarcastic or cold like it normally would.
This wasn't the Sasuke he knew. That Sasuke was long dead.
Jito stepped forward beside Kakashi, "We came here looking for your mother, Mikoto, is she around here?"
Immediately the two of their eyes darkened, and Fiore's head sank while Sasuke glared at Jito.
"My mother is dead, over two years ago."
At that, Jito's heart sank. "I'm…sorry to hear that. She…was a dear friend to me and…" his voice trailed off as he tried to think what that meant for their quest.
Sasuke turned to Kakashi, "Who is this guy?"
"His name is Senju Jito."
Sasuke's eyes betrayed his recognition of the name, but his companion's reaction was far more obvious.
Fiore's entire body seemed to freeze up as her violet eyes immediately snapped towards Jito and she glared at his face.
"Senju?" she muttered angrily.
Knowing what she was about to do, Sasuke turned to her and put his hands in front of her. "Now is not the time, Fiore. Take them back to Cascading Flow, and let your mother handle it."
Fiore continued to glare for a few seconds before relenting and turning to Sasuke, "Fine. I doubt you'll be able to hold her back though, Sasuke."
"I don't want to hear that coming from you." He turned back to the three companions, "We are returning back to our home. You are welcome to join us, to rest and recover from your journey."
It sounded formal and awkward coming from Sasuke, but there was the hint of amusement in his voice that they were more exhausted than he or his companion were because of their travel compared to their battle.
Kakashi nodded slightly and motioned for Sasuke to show them the way, while Jito pondered what he was going to do without Mikoto's assistance.
"You know some strange people, Kakashi," said Konan as the five of them started to walk out of the village that was slowly burning down to the ground.
Kakashi smiled in amusement before a question came to his mind. "Sasuke, we followed Mikoto's scent to your location. I thought you said she was dead."
The Uchiha shinobi tensed at the mention of his mother's demise, but pointed to his forehead regardless, "This is her forehead protector, since I lost mine. You were probably following that."
With his question answered, Kakashi followed the two of them out of the town, while Jito and Konan followed behind him. Sasuke said it was about half a day's journey to their home, and in that time Kakashi intended to find out what his student had been doing for the past two and a half years.
Fighting a full-scale rebellion was difficult work, particularly when your entire organisation was labelled as terrorists and is being hunted by a powerful shinobi village.
Despite that, Cascading Flow had a cheery environment as Sasuke and Fiore led the three companions through several of the checkpoints to the major staging point that they had been using for the past few months.
It was a complex comprised of several ruined buildings that had been structured for defence after their initial destruction, and from Kakashi's reckoning there were nearly a thousand people residing in the large area, all scattering in a makeshift military camp.
"What on earth are you part of, Sasuke?"
His Uchiha student turned to him and nodded to a group of civilians polishing their makeshift armour. "A full-scale rebellion against the government of the Land of Earth."
Kakashi's eyes widened at the sheer audacity of the statement, and when Sasuke offered nothing else to clarify he found himself examining his student with a whole new perspective. He reminded him of himself just after the end of the Third Shinobi War.
Having been hired once by Iwagakure during her work in the Akatsuki, Konan was unimpressed by the gathering of force here. "This lot wouldn't last a day in the field against Iwa," she muttered under her breath.
Sasuke's companion Fiore immediately turned around and stood nose to nose with the paper-using shinobi. "How about you keep that crap to yourself, pretty girl. We aren't fighting with nail polish and make-up. These are real soldiers, and they deserve a hell of a lot more respect than pitiful shinobi like you."
Taking a slight step forward so that they were practically touching forehead, Konan stared down the wood-user with her amber eyes. "I don't want to hear that from a green girl like you who barely looks like she could put on her panties straight. You wouldn't know what war was if it came up to you and bit your arm off."
Fiore began to shout back a retort, while their companions shuffled off to the side and watched with both horror and amusement.
"Was that meant to happen?" asked Jito quietly.
Sasuke frowned and watched as Fiore motioned to grab her wooden weapon from her hair, "Fiore is pretty temperamental but even this…"
His old teacher had to agree, though he understood Konan's position a lot better than he did Fiore's. She had lost far more than anyone should have, but even he was surprised by her interaction with the young warrior.
They almost went to try and break them up, but Konan was already sending dozens of paper shurikens at Fiore's head, while the Cascading Flow warrior easily batted them away with a short wooden staff and began stabbing at the last Akatsuki member.
"Should…should we stop them?"
Both Sasuke and Kakashi turned to Jito as if he were insane.
Kakashi indicated to the two fighting women with a hand, "You are welcome to try. Can I have your stuff when you die?"
He turned to Sasuke, "Shall we see your leader? I think we should introduce ourselves, since we are technically intruders here."
Sasuke agreed, and indicated to a large tent in the middle of the ruined buildings. "Any allies are welcome here." He stared at Jito for a moment, "Though I can't say you'll be particularly welcome."
"You are speaking about Elika, correct?" asked Jito; aware of whom Mikoto had been working with previously. "I can handle her."
Their guide scoffed and began walking towards the command tent, while their two female companions continued to try and destroy each other by any means necessary.
Not for the first time, Kakashi wondered whether he should have stayed in that fishing boat.
oOoOoOo
Kakashi had been expecting a chaotic mess of people running everywhere inside the command tent. He was pleasantly surprised to see that inside was just one tall woman leaning over a giant table in the middle of the tent, with several maps spread across its front and dozens of small indicators on top.
The woman was muttering to herself when Sasuke made himself known, to which she merely put up a hand and continued staring at the map for a few seconds.
Both Kakashi and Jito stood in front of the table awkwardly, while Sasuke simply crossed his arms and waited for her to finish her thought.
Eventually she looked up slowly, and betrayed no emotions as she looked over the three of them. She gave Kakashi barely a second glance, while Jito held her gaze for a moment before she rested her purple eyes on Sasuke's dark orbs.
"You are late," she stated frankly.
Sasuke shrugged and uncrossed his arms, "There were complications."
"There always are." She turned her gaze back to the two of them again before staring past them at the entrance, "I gather those sounds are my daughter?"
"Don't look at me, I'm not related to her," said Sasuke with a grin.
"Not yet," muttered Elika quietly. With a slightly louder voice she introduced herself to the person she hadn't met before. "I am Elika of Cascading Flow. If you are an ally, then good, we could use the help. If not, don't waste my time."
She turned to Jito and her expression darkened slightly, "You are several years too late, Jito."
The Senju elder bowed apologetically, "I heard. I'm sorry for your loss; I know she was your companion."
Elika scoffed and turned back to her map, "More than that. Regardless, she is gone, and we are the lesser because of it."
"If you don't mind, I'll go make sure your daughter doesn't kill our other guest." Sasuke gave the slightest nod before turning and leaving the tent quickly.
Neither Kakashi or Jito were sure what he was going to do to stop the two of them, but considering it was likely they were just blowing off steam, they weren't too concerned.
"You do that," said Elika to him before motioning for the two of them to come closer to the table. "So, why are you here Jito? Not for the same thing you were years ago I assume?"
"Partially, but I was really hoping to collaborate with Mikoto on that. Now that she is gone…"
Kakashi turned to Jito with a confused expression, "Why did we come here then? You didn't really explain it on the road."
Jito turned to Elika, who simply put up her hands and turned back to her map.
"By all means, talk as if I'm not here."
Not reading any apparent sarcasm in her tone, Jito nodded and turned back to Kakashi.
"Our enemy is the Quiraji, this you know. They are the ones responsible for destroying Konoha, Amegakure and many other places. We don't know why they are doing this, but we know that some of their best warriors can cancel out chakra and make shinobi worthless as fighters."
Kakashi nodded as he went along, this he already knew from what Jito had already told him.
"Mikoto took it upon herself to find people who could fight those types of people. She stumbled onto Cascading Flow…" Elika nodded at the mention. "…and she was helping them with their problems so that we could eventually have their assistance in an alliance."
That makes sense, thought Kakashi, glancing over at Elika with interest. He could sense the faintest trickle of chakra from her, but he couldn't immediately tell she had never moulded chakra in her life. He went to ask how such people could fight with shinobi, but reconsidered it when he saw the look in Elika's eyes. It was the same look the Fourth used to have, one of rigid determination tempered by experience.
And also one that knew death like a sibling.
"That's not an option at this stage," said Elika, looking up from her map. She indicated to a large area that had no markers on it in the middle of the table, "We are fighting a rebellion here, Jito, and I can't spare any men."
Looking over the map at where she was looking, Jito immediately understood what she meant. He breathed out slowly and turned to her with a grim expression, "You mean to take out Iwagakure, by yourselves?"
"I have no interest in disclosing battle plans to an outsider," she replied bluntly.
Kakashi wondered if that was the case why were they being shown the maps, but then he remembered how far into the camp they had come to get to the command tent. If these people were used to fighting shinobi, with the numbers they possessed it wouldn't be a good idea to try and fight his way out.
They all heard a loud crash outside, causing both Kakashi and Jito to jump, while Elika merely ignored it and pulled out a notepad from the side.
"I…think I should make sure Konan is okay," said Kakashi with an uncomfortable grin.
He looked at Jito as if to ask whether he had it or not, to which the Senju shinobi indicated for him to go. Kakashi left the tent and walked back out to the camp where Fiore and Konan were still fighting.
He was surprised that Konan was so eager to fight her for such a trivial reason, but when he saw the look on his partner's face as she flew through the sky on paper-wings and hurled paper shurikens at Fiore down at the ground he understood immediately.
Despite what he had said, Sasuke had made zero attempts to stop the fight. Instead, he had started a betting pool with some of the off-duty soldiers and had collected a large amount of money for his effort.
Rolling his eyes, Kakashi went to reach for money to make a bet of his own, but then remembered that he wasn't the one who had been carrying their money. He sighed again and looked back up in the sky, at the wide grin on Konan's face.
Well, at least she looks happy. Though not as happy as back at the village. I don't think we can go back to that. Not now.
oOoOoOo
After a few minutes of awkward silence, Jito eventually cracked and spoke up to Elika.
"I guess we have a lot to talk about…"
The Cascading Flow leader glared at him before sitting down at the table on the opposite side and discarded the notepad she had brought out.
"You are correct. If I had known who you were when we were first introduced, I would not have let you enter the premises. I'm still questioning Sasuke's judgement on bringing you here."
Jito sighed; it was worse than he had feared. "I know you have some resentment towards the clan…"
Letting out a scoff, Elika leaned back on her chair and leaned her boots on the table top.
"I don't care at all about the clan. The Senju die out with you, and good riddance. What I need to do, is make sure to stop my daughter from killing you, since I'm struggling with whether I want to do it myself."
"I'm not condoning what the clan did, it's just…"
"I told you, I don't care." Elika waved around the command tent with one of her arms, "This is a place without clans, without special status. Here, people make something out of themselves with their own skills, regardless of their blood and lineage."
Her eyes darkened as she looked over his white fur armour and forehead protector, "You remind me of him."
Jito nodded, he'd been told that many times throughout his long life. "My father was a strict man…but I do not agree with how you were treated."
"Yes well, you can take your pity and shove it. What I said earlier still applies; we can't help you fight your war when we are fighting our own. Regardless of whether you think the Quiraji are the real enemy or not, the people here have the right to overthrow their oppressors and that is what we are doing."
Which means all the plans that involved these people are obsolete. It'll take decades to do what they want, and our cause is lessened at each Iwa shinobi they slay.
Jito took a few moments to consider his options, as he had thought of many plans to attack the Quiraji war effort beyond Cascading Flow, but most of them involved Mikoto's help, since his genjutsu didn't work on the Quiraji soldiers at all.
He knew they were marshalling their forces, but there was a particular thing that had been bothering him since his escape two years ago, one that he had wanted to investigate but hadn't been able to get through the defence network.
Glancing over at Elika, he knew that with her help he could.
"I have a plan, but I need your help."
She glared at him, unwavering in her stern gaze which seemed out of place with her purple eyes, "Unless you tell me how Cascading Flow benefits, I honestly don't care."
Her antagonism towards him was understandable, but Jito was willing to be patient to achieve his goals. He'd been fighting this war for two decades, and hadn't had much to show for his efforts.
"What if I were to assist with your rebellion personally, once my task is done?"
Elika went to dismiss the idea out of hand, but then she remembered when Mikoto had told her of Jito's abilities when she'd told her that he was the son of the Second Hokage and a Senju. Someone like that had almost infinite possibilities in a war against shinobi. Jito would be able to walk up to the Tsuchikage and kill him without anyone even noticing his presence, so powerful was his genjutsu.
She took her boots off the table and leaned her arms on it instead, "Say I were to agree to that. What would you require?"
"A small team, no more than five people. I'd need two people from your organisation to fill out my group."
"What can five people accomplish? We aren't picking daises here, you know."
Jito nodded, he understood perfectly what they were doing. "For what I intend to do, the smaller the team the better. But we need someone who can specifically fight these people with our group, and that means one of you."
"And what is it that you intend to do?"
Jito stood up from his chair and pulled out a map of his own, placing it on an open section of the table. He indicated to it with a finger.
"We will break through the defences in the Land of Fire, find whatever is converting shinobi into Quiraji warriors, and destroy it."
Elika looked down at the map he had produced with interest. From what she knew about the shinobi's war, she knew that was an extremely risky plan, but the benefits to them would be great if they achieved them. And despite what she had said, a victory against the Quiraji was a victory for her as well, since it had been one of their leaders that had fuelled the fire in the Land of Earth with the old Daimyo.
She kept that to herself however as she looked back up at Jito, "That sounds like a very dangerous mission, but worthwhile nevertheless."
"So you'll help us then?"
Elika considered her position carefully. There had been a lull in the fighting in the past few days, which meant she would be able to spare a select few, but there weren't many that she thought would be able to come back from such a mission, or do the things Jito would need them to do.
"I will, but I have two conditions. The first person to join your group will be Mikoto's son. He is not only obligated to fulfil Mikoto's original mission, but I suspect he also has a personal stake in the mission since one of the Quiraji leaders was the one that killed her. The second person will be my daughter."
Jito's expression darkened when he heard that, "Are you sure? She seemed to have no problems voicing her issues with me."
"She'll go with you for several reasons. Fiore is the best fighter in Cascading Flow, bar none, and has fought one of your enemy's leaders before. She will also be there to make sure you keep your side of the bargain, and also to ensure that Sasuke returns. Despite being a shinobi, the Uchiha has made quite a name for himself as one of us."
Jito wasn't in a possible to bargain, "I understand. It'll be difficult to convince her though."
"Leave that to me. Was there anything else? I have things to finalise here."
Shaking his head, Jito rolled up his map and put it into one of his pockets.
"Fiore reminds me of her…" he said quietly, glancing to the entrance.
Elika's demeanour changed instantly, and she slowly walked around the table before standing in front of the Senju warrior and producing a dagger from her side, placing it at his neck. Jito knew that there was no point resisting, if she wanted to kill him she would do so in an instant.
Glaring straight into his eyes, Elika spoke through her teeth angrily, "You will not speak about her, particularly not around my daughter. Uncle or no, I will slit your throat and be done with the issue if I need to."
Sensing that nodding his head would end badly, Jito put up his hands instead, "I understand, I didn't mean any offence by it. She was a beautiful woman and very kind, that's all."
"Well, keep that to yourself. I don't want to hear about her, and neither would my daughter. You are being allowed to walk out of here because you are useful to us, Senju or no. The moment you stop becoming useful to us, you become our enemy, as your clan has always been. I may not care about the clan anymore since it's almost entirely dead, but don't think I won't enjoy ending it with my own hands."
She slowly removed the dagger to prove her point before sheathing it and opening up the nearby flap on the tent's entrance.
"Come. Let us see if my daughter has killed your companion yet or not."
Author's Note:
So yeah, these chapters will probably be a fortnight apart. I'm not sure on how much time I'll have to write, but I have a compulsion to write this story so believe me, it'll get done even if it kills me.
For anyone interested in a breakdown of the ages, here it is.
Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, Hinata, Kiba, Shikamaru, Ino, Chouji = 18 years old.
Lee, Neji, Tenten, Nagisa (technically she's 35) = 19 years old.
Fiore = 21 years old.
Itachi = 23 years old.
Kakashi = 32 years old.
Shizune = 33 years old.
Konan = 34 years old.
Jito = 58 years old.
I'm really trying not to portrait the Senju as bastards, but in this one instance in my story they really were. Don't forget that even the 'nice' clans still had dodgy practises and sketchy things going on. Like Konoha was before we knew about Danzo and Root.
A thousand props to anyone who recognises the song Konan sings. Granted, it's meant to be sung in bass, but I like it regardless. I reckon someone like Konan would have a talent like that, but had no way to use it since she was a shinobi. As a singer myself, I can tell you that you sing whenever you can, because of the personal happiness you get out of it.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.