Chapter 20

Charlie woke up in a hospital bed.

For a moment, she was infinitely relieved. She had hoped against hope that Minato would be able to come to the forefront without sticking there permanently, and it seemed that it had worked. She definitely had her own body.

But that only lasted a moment, before the horror set in. Because she was no longer whole.

She had been able to feel it, vaguely, that moment when the steel met flesh. But her fear had made her give up her place before she could feel the pain of it.

Worn hazel eyes glanced downward, down towards the stump where her left arm should be. She felt the pain of it now, even if she was probably hopped up on painkillers. She felt it in her heart. She knew what it meant.

Minato knew what it meant. That's why he hadn't said anything yet. She could feel him hovering in the background, too afraid to say anything, too nervous to see what she'd say.

"It's over," Charlie said to herself. Over, over, over. Over, before it even began. Over, before she could help, before she could protect- it was all over. How could she do anything with one arm? She couldn't do ninjutsu like that. She couldn't fight like that. She couldn't even do chores like that.

Useless. Useless. Useless. Useless. Useless! Damn it ALL!

The medic might've sensed her heartrate increasing, because she came flooding in with a senior medic in tow. The woman checked her vital signs while carefully avoiding her eyes, while the man watched with a strange expression on his face.

Charlie realized belatedly that this was the same medic who'd given her the third degree when she'd first gotten here. She wondered if he recognized her.

Before she could ask him, he disappeared from the room, and the woman followed soon after.

Charlie leaned back, bandaged head cushioned by the semi-decent pillow. 'What the hell do I do now?' she wondered.

Kakashi stood stone-faced in the Hokage's office. He, along with the rest of his elite jounin peers, was being prepped on receiving his new genin students.

He didn't really feel like being here, if he was honest. His mind was still with one of his own genin, one that he'd chosen of (mostly) his own volition. Now, he was to take on more.

He didn't feel like taking on more. Would he let them down, too?

Naruto... God, he'd already felt so much heartbreak. And he didn't feel like meeting the other two- Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura- either. The Uchiha would obviously have a chip on his shoulder, and given the scene they were now watching from the Hokage's crystal ball, the Haruno girl didn't seem to have her priorities straight either.

He suppressed a sigh.

"Are there any questions?" Sarutobi asked abruptly, cutting the uncertain quiet in the room.

Kakashi knew it was him. He knew he wasn't giving off the most accepting vibes. Kurenai and Asuma kept shooting him concerned looks, too, which was even more irritating.

"Then you're all dismissed, good luck and congratulations," their Hokage said eventually.

Kakashi made to exit the room, before the older man said, "Except you, Kakashi-kun."

The silver-haired man turned on his heel, giving Sarutobi an expectant stare. His Hokage made a small groan as he stood from his seat, hand rubbing his lower back as he grimaced. Still, he straightened quickly enough and was by the younger man's side in seconds. "I was wondering if you'd join me in visiting Charlie-chan. The medic has told me she's awake now."

Kakashi's steel gray eye bore into the older man's. With his irritation rising like a tide, he snapped, "What do you want me to say to her? 'Sorry, you can't be a ninja anymore'?" His jaw flexed as he noticed the stern expression come over the other man's face. He coughed, looking away. "I apologize, Hokage-sama," he muttered.

Sarutobi gave a half-hearted smile. "I understand this is hard on you. But I will be the one to talk to Charlie-chan about her options. I was merely hoping that her sensei would be there to lend her support. If I know Charlie, I know she wouldn't want Naruto-kun seeing her like this just yet, after all." His steps were silent as he walked to the door and waited patiently.

Kakashi nodded, properly chided, and muttered an 'of course' under his breath as he followed Sarutobi out of his office and down the winding staircase.

Hesitation grew in him as the two shinobi passed the Academy and followed the wide road that would lead to the hospital. It was a nice day, all things considered; children were shouting happily, couples were chatting idly about what to pick up for dinner, two young genin passed by holding hands... and yet, to him, it may as well have been the dreariest day of the year.

Because he knew what being a ninja meant to the girl. Because he knew that it would be all but impossible for her to continue. Because it was a damned shame that a person with that much potential was taken out before she could begin to shine.

And because he had to be there when the Hokage told her her dreams were out of her reach.

The silver-haired jounin balled his fists in his pockets. He didn't want to be there when- but he had to. He owed it to her. As one of the people who was responsible for her, as the person who'd let her down, there was no other option.

They arrived at the hospital with nothing said between them. Kakashi wasn't sure what there was to say.

The medic at the front desk of the hospital straightened automatically as Sarutobi stepped through the doors and pulled his hat from his head. He gave the petite brunette a grandfatherly smile and said, "Shimizu Charlie's room number, please."

The woman answered him, and Kakashi gave her a small nod as the two passed by. This felt more like a death march every second.

Charlie's room was on the second floor, halfway down the hall. The door was closed, and only silence could be heard from the other side. Sarutobi seemed to take a larger than average breath as he slid it open and entered, calling her. "Charlie-chan?"

The girl looked about as he expected. Her red hair sprouted from around the thick bandages covering her head, and her eyes seemed dull as she turned to glance at them. Kakashi was struck suddenly by just how small she looked then- like a stiff wind could knock her over. Or like it already had.

"Hi," she said with a scratchy voice. Her gaze flitted to the pitcher of water on the bedside table, and Kakashi leaned against the wall as the Hokage himself poured her a glass. She took it with a small nod, drank it, coughed once, and said, "Here to tell me the good news?"

Her despondent expression said that she wasn't expecting good news at all.

Kakashi peeled himself from the wall and made himself a spot on her bedside, not looking at her as he said, "Well," he started eventually, "you're... all right." He kind of wanted to hit himself then for the off-color joke, but it was the only thing he could think of that would get that look off her face. If he had to be the bad guy, if he had to be the weird one, he was fine with that.

It was beyond difficult to come up with the right things to say to her.

The Hokage shot him a glare as the young girl sighed and raised her hand- her only hand- to her brow. "God, Kakashi-sensei, do you have to be so weird all the time?"

Sarutobi seemed to relax at the fact that she hadn't taken offense. In fact, she gave him a weary smile. "It's okay, y'know. It's not like I didn't expect this could happen. I just-" she broke off, looking away. '-didn't expect it to happen so soon.'

"How are you feeling?" the Hokage interjected gently. "Hurt anywhere?"

The girl pressed her lips together. "Just my pride. They've got me flying pretty high here on some painkillers. I don't even feel it."

"I'm glad." A genuine smile on the old man's face shone for just a moment before he got a serious look in his eye. "Charlie-chan. I know this is difficult for you, but I also know you're not one to accept pity, or sympathy. You are a ninja of this village, young as you may be."

The redhead nodded once, her blank eyes regaining some clarity. "I know you're going to ask me how it happened. I don't expect tearful hugs and crying and wallowing in my pain. So just-" she held her fist to her chest, "-just tell me what you need to know."

The Hokage nodded once. Kakashi couldn't say anything to that hard glint in her eye, the serious one. She'd never been a serious child- mature, maybe, and mellow, perhaps, but never truly serious. Not this way. This way, she looked like a soldier. "Tell me how this happened, Charlie-chan," the older man said.

"I was training on my own after I got my headband. Naruto had gone off on his own, because he didn't graduate and I'm assuming he just wanted to be left alone. I..." she frowned to herself, "I sensed something watching me, for a long time, but they didn't come until night fell." The hazel in her eyes had turned to solid, glinting amber. "The first one came, and almost took my head off. He was a thinner guy, but he threw around a gigantic naginata like it was nothing. I mean, the blade had to have been the length of my leg.

"Then the second guy came. He also had a gigantic sword, it was about as long as he was tall. Both of them were missing nin from Iwa. I tried to shunshin away, but once I got to the street it was empty, and they knocked me out with something. When I woke up, I was on the thinner guy's shoulder and we were in the woods. I took a kunai from his pouch and stabbed him with it. Once he let me go, I got pretty far away. H-He was-" she swallowed, eyes wide. "He was bleeding heavily, I think I got him in the kidney. I told the other guy, Tetsuo, that he should take him to the hospital, in the hopes that he'd just leave me be, but- he called him weak and de-decapitated him."

She looked down at her lap. "He didn't even have the time to scream," she mumbled under her breath. "After that, I think Tetsuo blamed me for him killing his friend. He started throwing that sword around like it was nothing- he handled it like a brute, now that I think of it. He pulled an earth jutsu out of his ass and I got knocked down to the ground. Before I could get back on my feet, he'd lobbed off my arm. After that, I... I blacked out. I don't remember anything that happened after that until Kakashi-sensei and the others found me."

Kakashi frowned, remembering the hole she'd left in the other guy's chest. How the entire battlefield looked utterly destroyed. How had that happened? And why- why did he remember seeing blue in her eyes, rather than brown? Was it a figment of his imagination? Or...

He stared at her assessingly. Or was this just another mystery she hadn't revealed to him yet?

Charlie continued, avoiding his gaze studiously. "The other guy was called Dai. I didn't get any last names, obviously, so I don't know how much help that would be. But what I know for sure is that they were hired."

Kakashi's back straightened at the news. Hired? What could someone possibly want with a little girl?

The Hokage had a grave expression on his face, and it pissed Kakashi off. Was he missing something? Why were the two of them sharing a glance, like they knew something he didn't?

"They called me an Uzumaki, if that helps," she finally finished, quirking her lips to the side.

Kakashi grimaced. Surviving Uzumakis were much more expensive than regular people in the slave trade- especially with hair as red as hers. 'But she's not an Uzumaki,' he thought, 'she's not even from this world. Nevermind that she couldn't have even been alive when that village was decimated. Who could've put a hit out on her?'

"I'm sure you understand the gravity of the situation, then, right, Charlie-chan?" the Hokage said gravely.

The girl inclined her head. "We always suspected something could happen, Hokage-sama. But now- given the circumstances, there's not much I can do about it." A rueful expression grew on her face as her hand- her only hand- went to the stump at her shoulder. "There's not much I can do about anything, now," she added in a quiet voice.

Sarutobi mirrored her expression, the pain in his eyes ever-so-clear. "Unfortunately, that was the next topic of discussion. Given the severity of your injuries, I cannot allow you to move beyond the rank of genin for the foreseeable future. Leaving the village would be much too dangerous for you, especially considering there seems to be a bounty on your head."

The redhead winced. "Yeah, figured that," she muttered. "Genin Corps for me, right?" Her laugh was hollow.

The Hokage laced his fingers in his lap. "There's nothing else we can do," he replied solemnly. After a tense moment, he stood straight, holding his hat over his chest as he said, "I'll stop by tomorrow to iron out the details, Charlie-chan. Until then, please rest as much as you can."

He gave Kakashi a short nod and Charlie a lingering look before he silently left the room, just like that.

Kakashi didn't quite know what to say as the girl raised her hand to cover her eyes, slumped over as though she had surpassed rock bottom. He definitely didn't know what to say when she started sobbing, either.

All he could do was stand there as his student's world fell apart.

Night fell.

Charlie lied alone, on her back in the hospital bed with the moonlight bright through her window. Naruto would've been with her, but she'd long told Kakashi to keep him away for a few days.

Not when he'd just started out. Not when he had his survival test to prepare for. Not when he had new alliances to forge.

Or at least, those were the excuses she told herself. Truthfully, she didn't want him to see her at her lowest. She wasn't ready for that.

'It's really quiet tonight,' she thought to herself, staring past the glass at the speckled indigo sky. Not a single sound pierced the silence. 'Minato?'

"Yes?"

'What should I do now?' Her shoulder ached. It was about time to call the medic again.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

'I... I can't fight anymore. Not the way I am. I can't even do jutsu without both hands.'

"Plenty of ninjas can do jutsu one-handed. Take the eyepatch man as an example, he only needed one to complete the earth jutsu."

'And in his other hand, he held a sword,' she reminded him sadly. 'Maybe I should just throw in the towel. Watch from the sidelines as everything I didn't want to happen, happens. That seems like what a rational person would do. To give up after escaping with one's miserable life.'

"You've never been the type to give up, Charlie." His voice was appropriately downcast.

She made a face. 'So sorry to disappoint you,' she sneered, 'but I am human, after all. What the hell am I supposed to do with this useless body of mine? I'm-' she laughed humorlessly. 'I'm not even half the person I once was. And... no matter how much I think about it, no matter how much I work my supposedly brilliant mind, there's no way I can move past this. Not in time for everything to take place.'

Charlie raised her hand above her head, the only one she had left. Useless now, she figured, just like the rest of her. At least she was right handed. 'Maybe I was meant to suffer. Maybe coming here was my punishment for being such a stuck-up brat in my last life.'

"I don't regret it," Minato said, so suddenly that she jumped. "I could've lingered in that space for all of eternity, and I still would've been comfortable with my decision. But... I could never regret coming here with you. I could never regret knowing you and that brilliant mind of yours. If this situation is your punishment, then it is my own salvation."

The redhead smiled through tears. 'Well, you've got a point there.' She could hardly imagine a life without him in it. Wasn't that strange? To be used to a brain as crowded as hers? 'I'm sorry I made you take over when I did,' she added abruptly. 'I was telling the truth when I said I'd blacked out.'

"I'm the veteran, not you," Minato chuckled blandly. "I could never expect you to fight after that."

'How'd you finish him off?'

"Why, my signature move of course. It seemed only fitting." He sounded rather proud of that, and just a tad lethal.

Charlie winced. 'I really hope nobody asks questions about that. I'm not supposed to know that move, stupid,' she chided him. Still, it brought a little smile to her face as she wiped at her cheeks.

"Maa, maa. I'm sure they've already taken care of the body, anyway."

Charlie closed her eyes, leaning back into the pillow and listening to the quiet. Her head lolled to the side a little, exhaustion heavy in her bones despite the fact that she'd been sleeping on and off for the whole day. Losing a limb tended to do that to a person, apparently. Maybe she would take a nap rather than grabbing the nurse to give her more drugs...

Then, without Minato even having to tell her, she knew she wasn't alone.

Hazel eyes snapped open, and she didn't move as she assessed the room. The window and door were closed, yet now, a man stood at the foot of her bed. He made no sound, simply staring at her with a deadpanned expression.

His one visible eye stared over her coldly, and she fought not to flinch as a spear of ice shot down her spine.

"Visiting hours are long over," she told him, proud of the evenness of her tone.

The man paid her no heed, instead grabbing the chart at the foot of her bed. "'Severe lacerations to the head and neck, minor bruises and cuts on the back, shoulder, and face, and... complete amputation of the left arm, just under the shoulder,'" he read unenthusiastically.

Charlie's gaze turned frigid. 'You... could it have been you? Could you have let those missing nin into the village?' "That's me," she said aloud. "The amputee." 'Is he here to kill me? What does he want?'

"I'll admit, this is a setback," Danzou Shimura stated calmly, placing the clipboard back in the cubby delicately.

She couldn't help the frown that marred her features. 'A setback?'

"I had hoped to recruit you with all of your parts. Unfortunately, you seem to be missing one," he continued conversationally. She stiffened as he rounded the corner of the bed, coming to stand over her bedside and staring blatantly at her injury.

"Recruit me?" she blurted out, staring at him as if he'd grown a second head.

The man waved a dismissive hand. "Genius such as yours is rare to come by, always has been. Fortunately for you, I've always been the observant type." He gave her a smile that she could've found reassuring, if she didn't know what kind of person he was. "I know you're new to this village, so allow me to introduce myself to you properly. I am Shimura Danzou, an elder of this village and a member of the Council."

Charlie bobbed her head. "Shimizu Charlie. Nice to meet you...?"

"I suppose it must be strange to meet me under such circumstances. I couldn't wait until morning, however, as this is very time-sensitive." He managed a smile. "I will be blunt. Given your injuries, there's very little the Hokage will be willing to do for you in regards to your ninja career. You're aware of this, yes?" She nodded. "But I believe in the success of a hardworking person, regardless of what holds them back. A person willing to fight and die for Konohagakure deserves the right to fight and die for Konohagakure.

So I will lay these options before you. Firstly, you may continue as you are, moving to the Genin Corps or perhaps quitting altogether- either way, your talent will be wasted. Or, I will petition the Council for your admittance into ANBU, with the understanding that I will take responsibility for your wellbeing and training, until the time comes where you are... capable enough to be sent on missions."

She stared uncomprehendingly at him before finally saying, "Why are you willing to do that?"

The man shrugged. "Wasted potential bothers me greatly. And, if I may be frank, I believe all of us have a duty to pull our weight." Then he leaned forward on his cane, so close she could see the glint in his eye. "Your place is not pulling weeds with the other children. You are wasted in the Genin Corps. People with brains like yours belong in the field."

"And what of my arm?" she challenged. "Brains mean nothing when I can't even perform ninjutsu."

"It is no concern of mine. I have whipped worse people into shape, with half the amount of determination as yours." He sent her another fake smile and began to walk towards the door. "I'm assuming from that fiery stare you're giving me that you accept my terms. I will inform the Council in the morning."

He turned, giving her one stern eye. "The Hokage will say no. The others will say yes. Prepare yourself accordingly."

And then, just like that, he was gone.

'What... just happened?'

"I don't know... but I have a bad feeling about this."