Previously: Suzu escapes capture, defeats a chimera, and finds herself in unexpected company.
Note: This is the last in a series of updates. The chapters posted today are 37 (The Gates) through 42 (The Hideout, part 3).
I fell into a startled silence. I hadn't been a child in the eyes of the village in some time. I couldn't remember the last time any adult in power had spoken to me in such a way… it was surprising to hear that sort of coddling from men of such a bygone time. One would think they'd be harsher than today's folk, not kinder.
"Is it safe to let you free?" I wondered quite belatedly as I rotated and began erasing Hashirama's seal. Tobirama stood and set a cautious foot outside the binding circle.
"We have no intent to hurt you and our summoner has not yet mastered the technique," he commented in reply. "Even if he appears he cannot force us to harm you. Furthermore, this jutsu does not resurrect the dead with more than a fraction of their original power. I believe you would be skilled enough to escape from us if you so wished."
I supposed that at this time, well over a decade before the two Kage were first summoned in the original series, Orochimaru would still be struggling to get the technique work, let alone to improve on it. And if that was true running was indeed an option. It had already been proven that I could hide from Tobirama's chakra sense with total erasure, so if I needed to get away for whatever reason it would only be a matter of breaking line of sight and finding a good enough hiding place to evade them.
"Excellent," Hashirama boomed when he got free. Then he made a beeline over to me and squatted to meet my eye level; he wasn't nearly as towering as Jiraiya, but he was still well over a foot taller than me. Then he reached out and took my chin between his fingers. He turned my head this way and that while he examined me with the familiar touch of a medic; it was so alike to being handled by Uncle Souhei that I fell reflexively into obedient stillness.
"Hmm," Hashirama said, and then suddenly—and without hand seals—his hand lit up with green chakra as he held it over my brow. Then he put both palms on my upper arms and I felt a hot, pleasant tingle sweep across my skin. Suddenly my back wasn't so afire with pain.
"You are a pretty young thing, aren't you?" Hashirama smiled at me as he brushed the bangs away from my now-healed forehead. He said it with such warm sincerity that I—at this point quite inured to any form of commentary about my physical appearance, positive or negative—found myself blushing. Hashirama let out a booming laugh and ruffled my hair as Tobirama approached and knelt down on one knee beside his brother. Then he abruptly sobered again.
"I think you have seen war, little kunoichi," Hashirama said softly. "Am I wrong?"
I stared at the two for a moment in silence. In the morning I had been a chuunin gate guard; by midday I had become a fake ANBU; now I was speaking to the undead former rulers of my village. What a surreal day.
"No, sir," I answered quietly, matching his tone.
"Then we have failed you." Hashirama let out a long exhale. "We failed to make the village adequate enough to protect you. I'm sorry."
I looked at Tobirama. He eyed me consideringly but he didn't speak.
"That's all right, Shodaime-sama," I said after a moment. "Even if I didn't choose the fight, I did choose to stay." I turned my head towards Tobirama. "And for what it's worth, I would have died without the training and the companions I found at the Academy. It wasn't like that for everyone, but… it was enough to save me."
"No, we haven't done things like that since before the Third War," I answered as I stood from my crouch. Neither I nor the Nidaime had yet caught any trace of Ko-han and Jiraiya—or even Ya-han's party—so our only recourse currently was to follow the chimera's bloody trail back to the hall of pillars.
"The Third War?" Tobirama turned to offer me an incredulous look. "When the First War had not yet finished?"
"Several decades have passed since then. If it helps your tense of time, I believe Tsunade-sama will be turning forty this year," I offered. Hashirama's face lit up.
"Tsuna? She's alive in this age?" he asked excitedly. I couldn't help but smile a little shyly at him.
"Yes, sir. She's here today, in fact, though not in my squad."
"Tsuna…. She is in ANBU as well?" Tobirama's gaze turned faintly troubled.
"No, she's on loan from the General Forces. Um… so far as I know, her upbringing wasn't like my generation's," I hesitated to say. Even in this relatively contained context it wouldn't be good to imply that I knew too much about her personal life. "She was already of age by the time the Second War started and she didn't participate in the Third." And good for it, to be honest; comparing the two, the Third was arguably the uglier, if only for how low on resources we were when we went into it. Things became much more desperate much more quickly. The shinobi world wars really had gotten worse and worse in succession, hadn't they?
"I see." Tobirama fell silent again.
When we arrived at the hall of pillars we had to crawl through a hole in the debris to reach the other side; it seemed the ceiling had collapsed on the far end due to the destruction of its supports. It was lucky that the foul green mist had dissipated. None of us had the equipment to deal with that.
"As expected… they're not here." I swept my gaze over the wide room until it snagged on a crumpled wad of papers lying abandoned next to a rubble pile. "What's that?"
We went over to investigate and found more seal arrays, this time seemingly torn from the ceiling and thrown down for analysis. Two of them were smeared with green blood—chimera blood. I found myself scowling.
"Of course. Blood activated jutsu transcriptions." I traced a finger over the inky squiggles. "Lightning Release… this one must have been the one that took out the radios, and this…" I squinted. "Raiton: Senkouhatsuon."
"I invented that jutsu," Tobirama noted with interest as he bent forward to examine it. "To temporarily disable sensors by overloading them with a short burst of chakra. It seems the master of this base has been studying my techniques."
Well, Orochimaru had said at one point that Tobirama was the man he admired most. I wondered how the Nidaime would feel about that if he knew.
"It worked very well," I mumbled and winced with remembrance.
"That creature was awfully intelligent, was it not?" Hashirama asked after a moment. "To be able to use seals as if it were a shinobi itself."
Indeed. That did not bode well on account of human-animal hybrid experiments. I wondered what poor soul had gone into making that one.
"What?" Tobirama, inventor of Edo Tensei and arguably something of a mad scientist himself, looked visibly disturbed when I spoke.
"I was on my way to becoming such a test subject myself before I escaped," I remarked.
"Who is this villain?" Hashirama wanted to know. "Someone we know?"
"No, I don't think so… His name is Orochimaru. We're here today to arrest him. It is a large operation."
But our best bet, reuniting with Squad 1 in the hall, had petered out. Troubled, I spent a moment squatted by the stones in silence. Then I checked my bag to see if I had any soldier pills, which resulted in the discovery of a small plastic container of four. Nothing for it, then—I would use tracking jutsu.
Recalling the morning I spent chasing remnants of Uncle Souhei across Konoha's rooftops, I gathered my chakra and then pulsed it outwards. Just performing the technique once depleted my reserves by an upsetting amount—and with how tightly the group must have been shielding there was no guarantee I would even find anything to begin with—but we were already searching blindly in the dark anyway. Something had to give.
The replying echo sounded back very faintly. Pleasant and comforting upon a base of a major third, its motif was a pattern of two ascending intervals… it had the sound of something deep and dark and energetic.
"Oh," I said softly as the familiar melody, washed-out and incomplete, twanged in my ears. "Akihiko."
He was such a prodigy that it was easy to forget that he, too, had different suitabilities for different techniques. He had always struggled with ninjutsu… Yoshiya and I had always beat him out during control drills. Perhaps it was no surprise that his signature suppression was less complete than the others'. Given enough time he'd probably overcome it but right now it seemed I was still his superior in matters of tracking and concealment.
The Senju brothers fell into a triangle formation when I began to walk. This produced the unbelievable experience of being flanked by two literal shinobi legends, almost as if I were walking at the head of some sort of Hokage-exclusive entourage; I once again had to marvel at what a fantastical day I was having. Hashirama chucked at me when I turned to peer at them over my shoulder for what was probably the fifth or sixth time. Tobirama tsked disapprovingly.
"Focus, sapling," he scolded. "We are in enemy territory. You cannot afford to be distracted."
"I'm sorry, sir." My spine snapped straight and my head swerved back to forward orientation. I heard a soft sigh before he moved up to walk beside me, inverting the triangle and leaving Hashirama to bring up the rear. I bit my lip and tried to stare at him from the corner of my eye instead. Tobirama sighed again.
"What is it?"
"I apologize, Lord Second."
He gave me a flat look. "I didn't ask for an apology."
"Yes, sir." I winced. He was even more no-nonsense than Susumu had been. "Um… it's just that I wanted to look at you. I'm very honored to meet you, Nidaime-sama. That's all."
"I am honored to make your acquaintance as well," Tobirama replied with unexpected courtesy. He smiled a little at my surprised look. Hashirama began to laugh again.
"Though he looks unsociable Tobirama loves the young ones of the village," the Shodaime confided via stage whisper. "Were we in better circumstances he would surely agree to accompany you in training and play alike."
Tobirama shot his brother a dirty look, which made me giggle a bit. With banter like that they would have fit right in at the House. In a way it was nice to see such a brotherly relationship persisting even in death; I wondered if my foster siblings and I, if we ever found ourselves in the grasp of Edo Tensei, would be the same.
Then I blinked and found myself swivelling around at the same time Tobirama turned his head. "You hear it as well?" he queried upon seeing my face.
"Yes, sir. Due northwest?" I asked and he nodded his agreement. "...Certainly I sense a group, but they're not my companions. They would be shielding their presences if they were. Nor do I recognize any of the signatures I'm hearing now…"
"Your sensory abilities have a range equal to Tobirama's," Hashirama complimented. "And you are still able to distinguish such details at this distance? You are indeed a talented shinobi."
"Hardly, sir," I mumbled as I strained to pick out any distinguishing features from the mass of chakra noise. Auditory sense was always hampered across long distances; adding in large groups to the mix only worsened one's ability to discern. Tobirama tilted his head at me before crouching and placing a finger on the ground. I eyed him enviously. Perhaps I ought to look into tactile sensory training.
"Hmm… they appear to be somewhat spread out. There are eleven in total, with seven standing still and four roaming the area," Tobirama reported after several moments of listening. As expected of the Second Hokage: even while being so far removed he could track movement with precision. Yes, I decided, I would definitely look into tactile sensory training.
"Wait," I realized abruptly, interrupting my own thoughts. "Couldn't those be prisoners?" The actual Leaf citizens we had been told to find—were they there?
"Ah, these four must be patrols," Tobirama deduced. I was booking it down the hall before he had finished speaking.
"Where are you going?" Hashirama asked curiously. Being over a head taller than me both of them, the brothers caught up to me in a few long strides.
"The missing Leaf citizens, they're our secondary mission objective," I answered as I fumbled with the seal in my pocket before managing to produce the extra mask Jiraiya had supplied me with. Hopefully I wouldn't break this one; I didn't have any spares after this. Besides, this one's pattern was much cuter—it looked like an owl instead of an ape.
"This Orochimaru has been abducting Leaf citizens?" Tobirama's gaze darkened rapidly.
"Yes, for his various human experiments. Shinobi from both the General and Special Forces have gone missing. We were ordered to assist any we found along the way."
If I made my way to a mission objective there was a high likelihood I might encounter either one of the infiltrating squads. At this point it didn't matter if it was Team Ko or Team Ya; so long as I found my way back to the group it would be an improvement over the current situation.
"Come, Tobirama. We must help her," Hashirama proclaimed lowly.
"You needn't tell me, Brother. It seems that this Orochimaru has much to answer for."
The patrolling guards stood no chance. I barely had a chance myself—by the time I'd kicked one over and slapped a paralysis seal across his forehead my two Hokage companions had clobbered the others and deposited them in an empty cell. Hashirama even came over and picked up my casualty for me. He winked playfully as he slung the poor schmuck's body over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
I double-checked my new mask was in place before I rounded the corner to release the prisoners. Hashirama and Tobirama hung back, no doubt well aware of how much confusion they would cause.
The first cell I encountered held an unconscious man in a jounin vest, but the one in the cell across from his sprang right up. "You…!" she uttered as she pointed. She didn't have a mask but her armor was just like my own—she was an ANBU. "You're not from Root."
"I'm not," I agreed as I took out the key we'd swiped from the guards. The ANBU woman was almost trembling as she watched me unlock the cell door. Then she was at my side so fast it was nearly a shunshin.
"Are you well?" I queried as she clasped her hands together tightly. She looked at the prone jounin across the way and nodded grimly.
"I'm just fine," she replied softly. "But I've been drugged—we all have. I don't have access to my chakra… I don't think I can help you on your mission."
I smiled at her from behind my mask. That was a thing I'd noticed in my short time as a pretend ANBU—they were instant allies as soon as they saw one of their own, no questions asked. They were cold to outsiders but their colleagues seemed to inspire automatic helpfulness and respect regardless of whether they knew one another or not. ANBU was that sort of organization, I supposed.
"You can," I assured her quietly. "You seem lucid. First help me release the rest of the captives. Then I'll tell you the escape route." I handed her the extra key ring.
The rest of the captives were in various states of unwellness. Two were more or less in control of themselves, being able to walk mostly unmuddled, but the others were in varying degrees of excruciating pain—or in one case just outright hallucinating. No one was worse off than the jounin, though, who was so far gone that he didn't wake even when the ANBU woman slapped him clean across the face.
"Before you go," I began softly after I had informed her of the way back to the entrance, "do you know where Orochimaru is right now?"
"I don't," she shook her head as she pulled the jounin's limp arm over her shoulder. "But Takaki might." She looked back at a disheveled-looking chuunin with bloodshot eyes and overgrown hair. He looked as if he'd been here for a long while.
"At this time of day he's probably in the large lab," Takaki croaked weakly. He was leaning heavily on one of the more upright prisoners. "I don't know where that is… close to the river entrance, probably…"
I furrowed my brow. The river entrance had been Team Ya's entry point. Was it possible they had already encountered Orochimaru?
"Thank you," I told him. "Be careful on your way. There's a genjutsu ward and a summon," I added, addressing the ANBU woman. "But once you cross it my squad should know you're escaping. When you're out look for one of the chase teams. They should be able to call for someone to pick you up."
"Got it." The ANBU woman nodded sharply. Then she leaned forward. "Thank you. You've saved our lives," she told me quietly. I smiled again.
"The village didn't forget about you," I replied softly. "All right—I have to find the others. You should go now."
The group was a shambling thing as it left, pulling half itself along on a limping gait. I watched them go before repocketing the keys. Maybe I'd find a chance to use them again later.
"It seems the others weren't here," I sighed when Hashirama and Tobirama emerged from their hiding places.
"What will you do now?" Tobirama questioned while Hashirama eyed the now-empty doorway unhappily. He must have wanted to help, I thought. The stories always spoke about his grand fights and unstoppable jutsu, but more than anything he seemed to have the heart of a medic. He'd rather save lives than take them… that seemed fitting of Hashirama Senju.
"One of the prisoners had intel on Orochimaru's possible whereabouts," I said, "so I think at this point there's nothing to do but go looking for him. If we find him the others will surely be along… if they're not there already." I paused. "I don't suppose you know where the large lab is?"
"No. We were contained in those seals from the moment we were first summoned," Tobirama answered. "This is the first we have seen of this… research facility." His nose wrinkled.
He seemed to be preoccupied by the prisoners, but in that moment I found that all I could do was imagine him and his brother sitting in that dark room, trapped. Prodded at, examined, not free even in death, for days and weeks on end. Perhaps even months…
"What? Did you hear something?" Tobirama inquired when I fell silent. Now that I had a mask back on I suppose he couldn't see what sort of face I was making anymore.
"Were you okay?" I asked softly. He blinked at me.
"...There was no particular discomfort. I feel neither hunger nor pain," he replied after a short pause. I suspected he had meant to be reassuring but that statement only prompted a sense of faint horror. I stared at him, stricken.
"What a kindhearted child," Hashirama interjected then. He reached over and ruffled my hair again. "Be at ease, little kunoichi. Hokage are made of much sterner stuff than that."
"I… I suppose that must be true," I mumbled a beat later, embarrassed. "Please pardon my rudeness, Lord Hokages. It was not my intent to look down on you."
To my utter bewilderment the brothers glanced at each other before bursting into laughter. Well, Hashirama burst into laughter; Tobirama just chuckled.
"Such a gentle girl!" Hashirama exclaimed as he clapped my back. "If only my daughter had been as sincere as you!"
"Indeed." Tobirama snorted. "She would have just stomped on your foot and stormed away."
I blinked at that, taken aback. Perhaps Tsunade had gotten her temper from her mother…
Tsunade…
"Tsunade-sama's chakra?" I questioned.
"Tsuna?" Tobirama asked at the same time.
An explosion rang out in the distance.
A/N: It has been a couple of months so I though I would catch the FF version up with AO3's.
If you wish to read chapters as they come out, please follow the story on Archive of Our Own. This story is available as Part 1 of the Hearts Stand Still series. My penname on AO3 is Eiruwei.