So sorry about the little fake-out in update! I posted the new chapter without noticing that one thing I had written didn't make sense with the rest of the story, so I took it down, rewrote, and reposted.
Please enjoy~
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"My Lord." he greeted with a bow, waiting for permission to speak any further.
Lord Danzou's private library was a brightly lit area that was meant to only be used whenever the leader of ROOT needed to catch up on important things to read. He would take some of his debriefs here- whenever he considered them both interesting and alarming enough to warrant immediate attention and he had already set out the day to spend within this space.
There was the shifting of paper moved around and then Lord Danzou hummed in thought. Yōji remained motionless, his arms clasped behind his back and his shoulders ramrod straight.
"Your analysis is a far departure from that made by those that failed to first acquire the container of the Seven Tails." when he spoke up, it was with a voice that betrayed absolutely no emotions. "What makes you think that the Inuzuka is worth more to us alive than dead?"
He had already read everything Yōji had thought most pertinent on such a matter- he had made sure to include it within the report he had handed in. There was no need for him to ask him to voice such thoughts aloud. Yōji still did so, knowing that Lord Danzou wouldn't ask such a question unless he wanted the matter to be further elaborated.
"The Inuzuka may be seen as just another obstacle to acquiring the Seven Tails' container, but that would only be if we did not employ a more creative approach to our way of thinking. The fact of the matter is that Inuzuka value loyalty above all else and the container is now a part of his pack. If we were to find a way to convince him that we are worthy of his trust, it would not take long for her to follow suit."
With a small frown pulling down the corners of his lips, Lord Danzou took one final moment to look over the report. Finally, though, he looked up, his one brown eye looking directly at him with no clear emotions running through it.
As cold and determined as ever, Lord Danzou was a man that deserved full control of ROOT.
"How would you go about this hypothetical mission to gain the Inuzuka's trust?"
"By first gaining the trust of someone he considers pack."
There was a slight shift back as Lord Danzou allowed the tiniest bit of disbelief to color his face. "And how would you go about such an endeavor? Those mongrels he has surrounded himself by are not the kind that would allow anyone that is not already pack to get anywhere near him. And Kiba Inuzuka himself would be difficult to fool- apparently he is a prodigy of sorts within his clan."
With a soft nod, he agreed. "It would not be an easy matter. From what little information we have on them, it seems that this pack doesn't allow anyone near them. Even when it pertains to the friendships they have formed within the Academy, they keep everyone that is not part of their little group at arms-length."
"And it would be a good idea to drive a wedge between the Nine Tails and Seven Tails' containers."
"I would disagree, my Lord."
"Oh?" the subtlest upward shift of Lord Danzou's left eyebrow accompanied the simple sound.
With a respectful nod, he elaborated, "If we are able to get Kiba Inuzuka to trust us, then by extension, we would get closer to the child that hosts the Seven Tails. If she, in turn, is friends with our own Village born jinchūriki, then we may have an easier time keeping control over him. It will be easy to complete whatever it is you believe most prudent with the containers once we have that trust." then, as an afterthought, he added, "With this group, it may prove prudent to utilize a softer touch."
"You have a plan in mind."
Of course he did. The information ROOT had on the pack and their connections was not as much as he would have liked, but enough to get a good read on them. With further observation, he was sure that what he had already thought of would be enough to get exactly what would be the best for Konoha's overall safety.
"Please give me permission to follow the pack and observe- I know what was stated by the two failures about the need to dispose of the Inuzuka, but there is no need to be reckless. When you have a group built upon such a strong foundation of loyalty like the Inuzuka, it would only be foolish to not take full advantage of the simple ways it can be taken advantage of."
Lord Danzou's sharp eyes scrutinized him for only a handful of seconds before he offered one quick nod. "Observation, then. You are to hand in weekly reports of your findings."
Yōji offered a stiff bow and turned on his heel. Even though the dismissal wasn't stated, it didn't have to be. He now had a mission and no further reason to take up any of Lord Danzou's precious time.
Chakra monsters were beings that most of Konoha didn't know about.
Kiba still found the existence of a kind of creature that was made up of only chakra to be something farfetched; but, well, if Sakura believed wholeheartedly in them and Fū really had one of them living inside of her... maybe he could come to admit that the world could be a pretty strange place.
Tiger and Wolf had made them swear to never speak of the chakra monsters around anyone that wasn't Pack. Wolf had even mentioned that he would have asked them to not talk about them ever again, but knowing the Pack, they would seek out answers too dangerous for them to truly grasp and get in trouble with powers supposedly beyond their comprehension if he actively tried to tell them to not do something.
Supposedly, because they were much too curious, Tiger and Wolf had explained to them what they had deemed 'most necessary' for them to know about those beasts to understand that they were nothing to be trifled with. They weren't to ask more about the beasts; only Fū would be allowed to research this topic to be able to control the power within her. And that was something that would need to be discussed further with the Hokage, apparently.
They weren't going to help her communicate with the beast or strengthen their teamwork. The way that chakra beasts were seen in the world was that they were burdens for their containers to carry and weapons of mass destruction in the wrong hands.
It was all incredibly foreign to Kiba.
How could someone have a partner essentially built into their body and just... ignore them?
If he and Akamaru had been capable of so much power and abilities... well, he'd like to think that they'd be doing a lot more than just existing and ignoring one another.
They were supposed to just... turn their backs on what they had learned about the latest member to join their pack and go on with their lives as if nothing had happened. Unless they saw her ever losing control over herself to the chakra beast, they were to act as if it didn't exist. Nothing was supposed to change.
And that was just stupid.
Beasts that were supposedly uncontrollable and violent? Maybe others. But Fū's beast had helped them out. And Kiba wasn't about to write off an important part of a pack member's life as volatile and reprehensible just because someone told him that's what was true. He could make that judgement on his own when the time came.
The mystery that were chakra monsters was one they would have to start solving slowly and quietly- until they were somewhere that ANBU didn't overhear them, they would have to act like good little kids that followed rules.
Until then, he was sure he could keep the members of his pack. Especially now considering that Kuzu had laid out a clear training plan for all of them and was going to begin focusing further on teamwork, rather than just individual skills. They were still supposed to learn about fuinjutsu on their own, but the weekends were going to continue to be used to be hunted down by genin from the village- just like before.
They were supposed to continue living as if nothing had changed.
Once nighttime hit, Tiger and Wolf escorted them out of Kuzu's apartment and gave them one final reminder of doing as they were told.
Kiba was smart enough to know to keep the instinctive growl he wanted to let out stamped down. He could wait if it meant they'd be able to throw suspicion off of them. It was one of those things he had slowly but surely started to learn to do.
Chouji didn't think this would be a good idea. Not because they might get in trouble- he could definitely understand why they needed to investigate more about chakra beasts and the need for secrecy that entailed. No, he didn't think it would be a good idea because be asking too much of Shikamaru.
It was unfair to constantly be keeping someone that was supposed to be his best friend in the dark about some of the most important parts of his life. His friendship with both Ino and Shikamaru had been changing for a while, just like that of him with Sakura and Kiba... and Akamaru and Fū too. His parents had told him that it was normal for people to change and, because of that, it was also normal for relationships to change. But... he still wasn't sure how he felt about these changes in his life.
"Chouji, what's up? Why aren't you going up to Deer Boy and asking to let him let us into his library?"
He took a moment to bite the inside of his bottom lip, chewing ever so slightly as he thought about the best way to answer Kiba... and eventually sighed. Closing his eyes, he said, "Because that's not right, Kiba."
Sakura and Fū audibly gasped, making Chouji flinch and want to immediately take back what he had said out loud. Even though he couldn't see Akamaru, he was sure he looked just as surprised as the girls had sounded.
There was a pause of silence between them.
And, then, "What do you mean?"
It took a moment for him to register the fact that Kiba's voice didn't sound angry or irritated. Instead, it sounded absolutely bewildered, as if he was truly confused about what had just been said.
Chancing a moment to look at Kiba, Chouji opened one eye, keeping the other screwed shut... and eventually opened the other to make sure that what he had thought he was saying was true.
Kiba wasn't foaming at the mouth. He wasn't glaring at him. He wasn't even frowning.
Kiba's head was cocked to the side, his eyes widened ever so slightly, with a look of perplexity that could not be confused coloring his whole face.
At first, Chouji was surprised at the lack of true anger in the reaction... but soon remembered that Kiba wasn't the same person he had been when they first met. He was changing; growing; as a person... and it seemed that this was one of those things that Kiba now didn't immediately react violently to.
In a way, Chouji felt disappointed within himself for having expected only the worst from one of his best friends.
"Uh," he cleared his throat after he noticed that Kiba's question had hung unanswered for a sizeable amount of time. Then he shrugged his shoulders and grasped at the right words to say to explain himself as best he could. "Isn't it... I don't know... wrong? I mean, wrong to continue dragging Shikamaru into things we promised we'd never tell him about... and not tell him anything?"
Kiba's eyes narrowed ever so slightly, but he didn't answer immediately. Instead, he took some time to think up of an answer. Akamaru huffed from the top of his head, pawing at his forehead, and Kiba snorted back at him with a dismissive wave.
Eventually, he spoke up again.
That must have been the longest amount of time Chouji had witnessed in which Kiba had not answered a question directed at him. For someone that always seemed to have an answer... it was striking. "Would you like to tell Shikamaru about the Old Man?"
The question sounded stunted from Kiba and it was formulated slowly. It made Chouji smile softly.
"Not really, no." he admitted, suddenly feeling incredibly comfortable with being honest. "I like keeping Kuzu to ourselves. I think there's a selfish part of me that would want to keep him hidden from the rest of the world if we could."
Kiba brought his arms up to his chest, crossing them. His head remained cocked to the side. "But?" he prodded and Chouji wasn't at all surprised to be alerted to the fact that Kiba knew he had more to say.
"If we're going to keep using his resources and intelligence... it's unfair to keep him in the dark. We'd be taking advantage of him." quickly, he added, "I don't know if you agree, but it just doesn't feel right."
There was a moment of silence in which Kiba lowered his eyes to glare down on the ground. Then, he muttered, "No, it kind of makes sense. We're not treating him like an equal, just like the free-pass into the Nara library." now he raised his head and turned to look in the direction of the girls that had supposedly been working on homework on the floor of the living room. "What do you two think?"
Both girls exchanged wide-eyed looks before Sakura cleared her throat and closed her eyes. "The more people that know a secret, the less of a secret it is. Shika's smart and all, but can he be trusted?"
Chouji understood where she was coming from. But, at this point, he truly believed that either they started being more honest with Shikamaru or they stopped abusing of his kindness. It wasn't right to keep using him like this. And they all knew it.
Fū piped up, "If it's true Sakura found texts on the beasts there, then we should go into that library to get information." rolling onto her back, she threw her arms out to either side of her and puffed her cheeks before breathing out heavily. "But Chouji's got a point. I like Shika, just like the rest of our friends. But if I were being used by my friends for something, I'd feel real bad if they didn't let me in on what they're working on."
When Chouji looked back at Kiba, it was to find him glaring down with no true fire in his eyes... he was thinking.
"What about you, Akamaru?" Sakura called, which received a quick series of barks from Akamaru. From the way his face was not overly aggressive, Chouji liked to believe he was backing Chouji up.
Once he had finished, Kiba smiled loosely. "Shikamaru isn't honorary pack, mongrel."
Chouji was stunned at the fact that Akamaru had said something like that.
But... wasn't it true?
Shikamaru and Ino had been his friends long before Kiba and Sakura- and they still were. Even though they didn't hang out at all times, they still did. They were still the kind of people Chouji could hang out with and would run to if he needed help. And, most importantly, the rest of his pack got along with them. They were all friends!
"Well, we've got a choice to make." Kiba eventually breathed out heavily, closing his eyes as he moved his hands down to grab at his hips. "Either we tell Shika about the Old Man or we don't learn anything about the chakra beasts."
Chouji had not woken up with the intention of attempting to convince his pack to tell Shikamaru- and possibly Ino- about the greatest secret they had kept. But when Kiba had told him he would need to work his magic to get Shikamaru to let them into the Nara library yet again, Chouji had felt that maybe it was about time he said something about they were being unfair to Shikamaru.
Apparently, within the library, it was incredibly easy for Kiba and Akamaru to sniff out anyone that wasn't one of their own- therefore they could make sure that no ANBU was around to observe them learning about things they had been told to stay away from. There was just the added bonus that they could speak privately there about other issues, not just the chakra beasts.
"Maybe we should ask the Old Man for advice?" Sakura offered, definitely helping to ease some of the tension that had fallen in the room. "He's got an answer for everything."
Now Kiba sighed dramatically, "The difficulty will be getting to ask him about that without having any ANBU bother us... I really hate those guys."
Sakura's face fell and Chouji wanted to reassure her that her idea was a good one, even though it might take some time to actually execute. But then he was knocked for a loop when she gasped suddenly, eyes going wide as her whole face brightened up.
"I may have an answer for that!" Throwing herself off the ground, Sakura ran towards her backpack and just about nearly knocked it off of the chair it had been resting on. She rummaged through it for some time- which allowed Chouji to glance over at Kiba, find him silently asking him if he knew what was up, and to eventually shrug his shoulders because he was just as confused as the Inuzuka- before squealing and pulling out what appeared to be a regular, run-of-the-mill scroll.
She brandished it to them as if just by having them look at it, they would know what she was thinking.
It was Akamaru that broke the silence with a clearly worried bark. But it was Fū that voiced what they were all thinking, "Are you okay, Sakura? That's just a scroll."
Sakura's excitement fell for just a moment, groaning as she lowered the scroll. But, soon, she grabbed onto it with one hand and pointed at it with the other, "It's not what it is, guys, it's what it can mean."
"Explain yourself, Pinkie, 'cause ain't no one getting what you're saying."
Even though he was blunt about it, Chouji was grateful that Kiba didn't beat around the bush.
Sakura glowered at them for just a second before enunciating, "Fu-in-jut-su. Is that clear enough?"
It was not.
She had to explain herself further than that- and during the whole time, she was glaring all of them for not catching on to what was in her brain.
When he next met with Lord Danzou, it was within ROOT's official debriefing room. It was a dimly lit space that was left absolutely barren. Lord Danzou stood at the center with his report in his hands, looking down at it with a clearly displeased frown on his lips.
"My Lord." he bowed in greeting, only to have the man continue looking down at the report.
Clearly, Lord Danzou was focused on something. He waited patiently, in silence, for his lord to speak up and tell him whatever it was that he deemed necessary they speak of.
"When you first came to me with the plan of manipulating Kiba Inuzuka, had you been made aware of the presence of Kakuzu within the Village?"
He had not. Which is precisely why he had made it more than clear that the person the children referred to as Kuzu and Old Man was actually the defector from Takigakure known as Kakuzu. Not only had the fact that ROOT had not known that Kakuzu was the Old Man the pack referred to so often been a slap to the face, not having known of his presence in the Village was an oversight that could not be forgiven.
He was an assassin that sometimes reached out on intelligence gathering missions outside of the village. He was not often in the village because, as an Aburame, he was incredibly easy to point out. It was better he not be seen by any in the village that may begin to wonder which member of the clan he was. Outside, he was just another Aburame on a mission- nothing odd about that.
His compatriots working within the village were slipping. It was laughable.
Lord Danzou would certainly have quite some changes to make to rectify how badly ROOT had proven to be performing recently. If they had allowed the presence of a powerhouse like Kakuzu to slip past them... it wasn't a pretty thought.
There would need to be a thinning of the ranks if this is what the active agents had been doing with their time.
"No, my Lord." he answered simply, which earned a sharp hiss of discontent as his immediate response.
"A shame."
There was no need for Lord Danzou to clarify what he meant; they both understood and there was no need to speak any further on the matter.
Lord Danzou had an iron grip over anything he controlled- it was the kind of iron grip that should have been ruling over Konohagakure. How the man now called the Hokage had allowed a mercenary like Kakuzu anywhere near the village... he was weak and was slowly but surely taking their village down the path of ruin.
"Would you care to enlighten me on what strategy you are coming up with for the plan that keeps Kiba Inuzuka alive?"
"If you are thinking of the possibility of utilizing Kakuzu's presence in the village and their lives in our favor, my Lord, I have to warn I see no viable way to do such a thing." Lord Danzou finally glanced up from the report, piercing him with his cold, uncaring stare. His stance became just a tad bit more rigid, "Kakuzu is notorious for being someone that no one knows anything about. He is so secretive and paranoid that in my time of observing the pack, the only thing I managed to acquire about him was his presence within the Village and that he is clearly an important trainer to the pack."
He had written up the report that informed Lord Danzou of Kakuzu's existence as soon as he had spotted the man and been able to connect him with known menaces within the Bingo Book. But Lord Danzou had waited until now for a proper debriefing. Yōji was not sure if this had been because the man had planned it as so or had not read the report and been caught off guard by the revelation.
Still, Lord Danzou had not asked for his assessment of Kakuzu- if he wanted more on him, he would ask.
"It would not be a simple case of infiltration and espionage and any agent older than the age the pack currently is would not work- it seems Kiba has an inherent distrust of adults that only Kakuzu was able to break through at some point. I believe the most successful way to acquire the boy's attention would be utilizing a young agent- either his age or younger. He does not seem as distrustful of those younger than him, after all."
Chouji Akimichi and Sakura Haruno were both of even temper and followers. The key to succeeding in this plan would be to get the okay from Kiba. Now, how they would be able to make someone that was notorious for making enemies anywhere he went- that would the challenge.
"Agents so young have not necessarily finished their induction into ROOT."
With a respectful nod, he still plowed on, "Some have. It is a small pool, I know, but there must be an agent that can accomplish this mission."
"And if there are none?" Lord Danzou challenged, eyebrow rising in a look of warning.
Yōji was not in business of being a coward or sniveling. He had made it this far in ROOT because of these traits- he was not about to change his ways because Lord Danzou would not like what he was about to hear.
"Then we may as well disband this organization, my Lord, from the sheer amount of incompetence and under preparation we have demonstrated."
The pack had left her to seal the message they had wanted Kuzu to read. Apparently, none of them had gotten far enough along in their education of fuinjutsu to be able to seal. Very likely, she would have to take time out of one day to teach them. The good news was that if pressed, they could all unseal anything. It was the sealing part that gave them trouble.
On the weekend they met up with Kuzu to run yet another evasion mission from some unimpressive genin, she gave the man a scroll with the express statement that this was a report on the progress they had all made on sealing techniques. He had nodded and not said a single thing before leaving them to return to his apartment. None of the ANBU operative around them had tried to stop him from accepting the scroll.
Sakura had just about buzzed from excitement the rest of the day. Her ribs and chest hurt from how fast her heart had been beating during the hand off, but she must have seemed okay enough if no one had commented on her acting oddly.
They received no word from the Old Man during the week. Even though this disappointed her, she could understand that it was very likely he wasn't free to roam around the village as he once had. All of the ANBU constantly surrounding him were clearly a testament to that. And it seemed that Kuzu thought it smarter to play by the rules than to incite any true issues.
Still, by the time they had finished up the following weekend with training that they were allowed to go through without having any tracking or evasion assignments given to them, Kuzu offered a thick scroll to her as she went about her cooldown stretches.
"Kuzu?" she questioned, staring at it through wide eyes.
The Old Man looked down at her without any true emotions on his mostly obscured face. "Genjutsu techniques. Learn five by the next time we meet. Or else it will be only earth-style drills for all of you."
Somewhere to her right, her packmates groaned loudly at the possibility, but Sakura made a point of ignoring them. She accepted both the scroll and the challenge with a smile, happy to be able to hide her excitement at the prospect at getting to unseal something from Kuzu behind all of those other positive emotions.
Eventually, they wound up within Ibiki's apartment once more and she was surrounded by her friends looking over her shoulders as she unrolled the scroll Kuzu had left her.
True to his word, it seemed that most of it was just genjutsu techniques. They ranged from simple illusions all the way to complete deceptions that made people think they were in a different setting. It was all written what they had all gotten to learn as Kuzu's handwriting, a stiff and broad script that was as tense as the man himself.
Nestled in between all of the techniques, though, Sakura was immediately able to see a set of characters that didn't make any sense in reference to the image that was right beside it.
"So... still no answer from the Old Man?" Kiba groaned but Sakura shrugged.
"There might be something." she ran her fingers over the parchment from around the fourth genjutsu all the way down to what was supposed to be the ninth technique. "'One of these is not like the others'. The Old Man seems to enjoy being cryptic." out of all of the genjutsu names, followed by descriptions, this was the only one that stuck out. The title wasn't really what one would usually use for jutsu and there was no description. That being said, there were at least two more she had seen that did not have a description either.
"How much you want to bet he sealed the answer just like we sealed the question?" she turned around to look over at her friends, only to find them frowning as they stood behind her.
Eventually, it was the only other girl in the room that sighed and shrugged, "That does sound like my granduncle." she eventually acknowledged.
Sakura breathed in and went about following the hand signs she had learned for concentrating on unsealing things. Then she pressed her palm against the script that she had read aloud- and gasped when she was able to pull something out with a puff of smoke.
"Why am I not surprised?" Kiba muttered cynically, but Sakura ignored him in lieu of grabbing ahold of the piece of paper that Kuzu had hidden away from any possible prying eyes. "What does it say?"
For a moment, she contemplated attempting to mimic Kuzu's voice as she read what he wrote. But she soon decided against it and just read out loud in her regular voice, albeit a bit slow to make sure that everything she said was heard adequately.
"It seems that the Hokage is contemplating making me a full agent of Konoha- it appears that I am slowly becoming more and more of an open secret to those he has deemed trustworthy. Knowing that, make your decision."
Even though she had begun to read with a lot of energy, Sakura's words lost some of their strength by the time she had finished reading. The way she even read the final sentence Kuzu had written had been with a tone of uncertainty edging in- and from the way Kiba scoffed, Chouji sighed, and Akamaru whined behind her, she could tell that all of her packmates were just as disappointed by what was, essentially, a non-answer.
"That cryptic asshole."
Akamaru barked in a tone that sounded as if he was agreeing with Kiba's words, only for Chouji to sigh again. "I really think we shouldn't have accepted anything other than that. He's always been very focused on us... well..."
Even though he drifted off, as if he couldn't find the right words, Sakura fully understood what he had been thinking.
The Old Man had always seemed to want them to make decisions by themselves. Sure, he would pressure them to learn about certain matters and practice the same kinds of things, but he also focused on them as individuals. Now that she could think of it, the only time Kuzu had ever forced something on her, it had been the haircut- a haircut he had known she wanted. Because even when he had asked her to take on genjutsu as her main focus as a shinobi skill, it had been without the overbearing voice of someone handing out an order. It had been her decision, at the end of the day. He had thought she would be good for genjutsu but he hadn't demanded it of her.
... Okay, he had been kind of heavy handed with all of the proof he had presented her about why it would be for the best for her to take on the long-range/genjutsu role for the squad. But he hadn't made it feel like she had no chance to say no!
"I guess he values independence or something." Kiba eventually murmured and Sakura heard the tell-tale signs of footsteps as his voice began to sound just a bit farther away. "It's not like he forced Fū to tell us about her headmate, after all."
"Yup. That was all me!" Fū agreed without allowing a single space for silence to reign, then sat herself beside Sakura with a heavy 'Oof'. Sakura turned to look at her friend, only to find her looking down at the papers on the ground through somewhat narrowed eyes. "So... what should we do?"
There was the sound of a door opening and Sakura heard Kiba calling from somewhere deeper within the apartment, "Guess we can just take a full vote. Yes or no answers only."
Chouji moved so he was seated on the side of the papers, to Sakura's left, so he could look down at the scroll and paper.
"We can't learn about chakra beasts without going into the Nara library because that's the only place we know of that has some kind of text on them." the Akimichi began while Akamaru jumped down from his head so he could take a look at the top of the scroll- the first genjutsu was one that was followed by a hastily made drawing of a black blob surrounding what appeared to be a person. "But we can't get into the Nara library without asking Shikamaru for permission."
"And you and I agree that we shouldn't ask for Shika's help unless we're willing to tell him more about what we're doing and who Kuzu is." Fū followed up with the reminder of the main reason they were unsure of how to proceed.
Sakura still believed that they shouldn't tell Shikamaru the truth about their Old Man. Yes, some of that came from the selfish need to protect the secret that had united them all from the very beginning. But it was also due to the fact that they didn't know what Shikamaru might do with that kind of information. The Nara was lazy, but he was a genius. She didn't know him all that well. She didn't know how far he was willing to go to keep something a secret. And she wasn't sure if he might be the kind of person that would use a secret like this in his favor.
It would have been a bit easier to just tell Ino about it- Ino she trusted. Her fellow kunoichi was kind of an airhead, but she had proven to be almost as loyal as Kiba. She had her flaws, sure, but Sakura could understand her. Shikamaru... was too much of a wildcard.
"But it wouldn't just stop at Kuzu, would it?" she finally spoke up with the one option that had been eating at her since this debate had begun. All three of the friends that were on the ground with her turned confused eyes onto her. Quickly, she explained, "There's a lot we'd have to tell Shikamaru if we told him about Kuzu. It wouldn't just stop at him. We'd have to explain who Fumiko actually is, where she came from, how we got her..." with a sigh, she finished with a shrug, "We'd have to tell him just about everything. Because once he knows about one thing, he'd want to make everything else make sense."
And that wasn't an idea she was crazy about. Kuzu was important to them, yes, but Fumiko Morino's true identity wasn't something they should take lightly. And after that, they would have to explain why they were so focused on chakra beasts specifically, which meant having to talk about something they had been expressly told to not meddle with.
It was one thing for all of them to know all of this information- it had eventually become inevitable. But Shikamaru, like Ino, Naruto, Shino, and whoever else Fū wanted to befriend, wouldn't have to learn about these things unless one of them told them about it. The pack was prepared to deal with these situations because they had Kuzu in their corner- guiding them in the right direction and training them to get stronger. The others didn't have that.
"We could just stop it at Kuzu, though." Chouji's words confused Sakura. Until she caught up to the reason why he was now glaring down at the ground, no longer looking her in the eye.
"Chouji..." she started, frowning softly. "Are you thinking about lying to Shikamaru?"
"Not lying!" he shot back immediately, head snapping up so he could look at her through widened eyes. "Just... omitting certain things that he doesn't really have to know much about."
For a moment, Sakura allowed herself to wonder if Chouji would have ever brought up this conversation if the Old Man had never told them about the importance of deciding who was or wasn't worthy of secrets. If the Old Man had never told them about the need to analyze the secrets that were kept to make sure that they were worth the trouble they took to keep hidden, would Chouji have ever even thought about telling Shikamaru about their greatest secret?
And then, she allowed herself to notice just how much their friendship with Kiba had changed the both of them. She was sure that the Chouji of a handful of years ago would have considered omitting facts akin to flat-out lying.
"Well then," Kiba's bare feet padded softly against the floor as he made his way back and Sakura glanced up to find the Inuzuka heading back towards them with a notebook in one hand and a pencil in the other. "It seems we'll be putting our story creating skills to good use once again."
She was sure Kiba hadn't left to get those specific supplies initially. But she immediately understood what he was proposing and gave one stiff nod.
It seemed that this was the best type of middle-ground they would be able to reach. Shikamaru would be told about Kuzu, but only specific things about him. And they would doctor the facts just like they had doctored the information Kuzu had given them for past school assignments.
Another week had passed in which the pack had stuck to a mundane routine. They had not done anything that was out of the ordinary and had mostly kept to themselves. They had gone to the Academy, stuck to themselves, and then reunited in Morino's apartment before eventually splitting up to go back to their respective homes. On the weekend, they had trained with Kakuzu for some time and then returned to their base of operations.
The only true oddity to the routine had been how Kiba hadn't struck up an argument when Wolf had made a barbed comment about Kakuzu being an untrustworthy criminal.
The pack were planning something.
He needed to know what that was.
They were back to Lord Danzou's private library. The harsh lines that had been present in his stance and face in their past meeting were nowhere to be seen. The leader of ROOT sat poised and in control at the end of a long table filled with all sorts of documents. The only constant in every single one of them was the name, drawing, or picture of Kakuzu of Takigakure.
"I believe there is merit in your observations on the pack- especially about Sakura Haruno's usefulness for interrogation. Chouji Akimichi's budding skills in medical ninjutsu are not stellar, but are still noteworthy. Kiba Inuzuka is above average when compared to the rest of his clan, but he is still dangerous." Lord Danzou finished reading the report with a stiff nod. "It is for the best to keep these three alive. From their class, they have proven to be the most competent. Even if their penchant for free-thinking is undesirable."
Yōji nodded once, slow and low, and remained silent. Lord Danzou had not yet instructed him to speak.
"I believe that I will make a modification to the plan you have offered, Yōji."
Internally, Yōji was surprised to hear such a thing. He made no physical sign of his surprise.
Lord Danzou set down the report and pointed at one of the dozens of documents in front of him. This one was the Bingo Book's page on Kakuzu of Takigakure- The Boogeyman of the Village.
"A two-pronged assault is what is required. The relationship between Kakuzu and these children is one that we must take advantage of. Therefore, while the operative you pick befriends the Seven Tails' container, another will work on getting into Kakuzu's good graces."
He was not able to stop his eyebrows from rising on his face at the sheer absurdity of the proposition.
"But, my Lord," his reply was curt, "Kakuzu is notorious for keeping to himself. In the time he has been in the Village, the only people he has interacted with have been Village officials and the pack. He doesn't allow anyone into his good graces."
Clearly, the missing-nin possessed the capability of letting someone into his 'good graces'- the pack had managed it. But that was it. No one else. And like any shinobi worth their salt, he was wary of any and everyone that wasn't one of those children.
Lord Danzou wasn't a man that smiled often.
Because of this, Yōji was thoroughly stumped when he found his Lord allow the faintest upward curve of the corner of his lips.
"As you yourself said, Yōji, one catches more flies with honey than with vinegar. You worry about working the pack. I will focus on Kakuzu."
Yōji nodded and bowed, knowing this for the dismissal it was. He turned around and began to walk away, intent on going down to the levels were ROOT kept its trainees to attempt to find an operative that might work for the job he would be assigning them.
As he went, he did his best to ignore the anxiety that began to gnaw at his chest.
Lord Danzou believed to know what he was doing at all times. But Yōji couldn't help but think that, maybe just this once, he didn't fully comprehend the situation at hand.
From the records they had on Kakuzu, he only ever did things for money. His connection to the pack must have ran deeper than them just paying him to teach them because of his presence in Konoha. They still did not understand that connection. And without understanding it fully, they may just run headfirst into a mistake that may cost the whole operation.
Ibiki was already in their home when she returned with the rest of her friends on Monday afternoon.
To call such a thing abnormal would be an understatement.
"It's just you. Good." standing before the main entrance with his arms crossed over his chest, towering over all of them, Fū could immediately tell that there was something bothering her caretaker. His face was stern, harsh, and his voice cold. "Are there any none-pack members coming over?"
Fū shook her head, "We've got a group assignment to work on."
She wasn't going to tell him that the group assignment was to continue working on the version of reality they would give Shikamaru when they asked him for permission into the Nara Library. Ibiki was an adult and, even though she felt safe around him, she was sure he wouldn't be thrilled to hear about their plans concerning Kakuzu and Shikamaru.
"That can wait." now his eyes flashed over to Kiba, who was at the end of their little group, and motioned with his head to close the door. "We have something serious to talk about."
From the fact that he was here now and not at T&I, Fū could tell that this was also probably something that couldn't wait. So she quickly began to make her way towards the living room so she could sit down. Her friends shuffled after her, following her lead without a single word needing to be exchanged.
Ibiki's whole demeanor was cold and demanding, but it didn't seem disappointed... so she didn't immediately think that he was here to scold them over something they had done. Because... well... unless he had managed to catch wind of their plans to tell Shikamaru about Kuzu, they hadn't done anything recently to warrant any kind of scolding. They had been behaving pretty well recently.
But maybe Ibiki had caught word of their plans... maybe he was here to remind them that Kakuzu wasn't someone they should be talking to just anyone about. Maybe he was here to threaten them to keep quiet.
Glancing to her right, she found Sakura sitting right beside her with her head bowed and her hands clutched tightly together. Akamaru was seated on her lap, glaring defiantly up at Ibiki.
Chouji was to Sakura's side and was wringing his hands together anxiously.
Kiba's own demeanor... was not one of worry.
While her two other friends were clearly thinking about the same thing she was- because for what other reason would Ibiki be acting like this?-, Kiba was pretty... relaxed.
His face was harsh, yes, like it usually got whenever an adult was around. But he didn't seem defensive or prepared to fight back. There was even a hint of interest she could swear she could see in his eyes.
Ibiki walked so he was standing directly in front of them, arms tightly crossed over his chest. The frown on his face seemed troubled.
"I'm just going to give you the facts as I have them. Today, at precisely nine in the morning, a prisoner was transferred from my unit over to the prison to begin to serve out his sentence. Thirty minutes later, he had attacked and heavily injured two fellow inmates- one died on the scene while the other died as medics attempted to save him."
Her chest tightened suddenly.
It was almost as if the temperature in the room dropped.
Death was... not really something she needed to think often about. She avoided it, too, as long as she had the choice. Death wasn't fun or inviting in any way.
But... why was Ibiki telling them this? He had never talked to them about anything that had to do with his job before. And that's all this was, right? Just something that had happened during his work day?
She didn't have to mull over this discrepancy for long. Ibiki shined light on the truth with the next words he said.
"The two inmates he attacked were the two rogue ninja that attacked you and Kiba, Fū."
It was an odd feeling.
She was somehow both terrified and relieved at the same time.
Relieved because those two that had attacked them were gone now and would never be able to hurt them again.
Terrified, though... because why had someone wanted them dead? Could it have something to do with them? Could this mean that someone out there had wanted them gone so they couldn't ruin their plans?
Sakura had said it was a very real possibility that they had not been working alone. What if this was the proof of that?
"Who did it?" Kiba's voice was almost as cold as Ibiki's own. But she could hear the slightest tremble in his voice. She knew then that he was thinking the same as her.
Ibiki looked back at him in silence.
The quiet stretched out before them.
Akamaru's growl broke it- loud and impassioned.
With a sigh, Ibiki eventually relented, "Does the name Hidan mean anything to you?"
Hidan, Hidan... "Not at all." she answered, accompanied by the rest of her friends shaking their heads.
"Then that is all you need to know." Ibiki pressed his lips into a thin line before finishing with, "You are not to talk about this with anyone. All you need to know is that those two that attacked you are dead. That is it."
He strode away from them and out of the apartment without waiting to hear anything else from them.
The five of them sat at the couch with silence looming over them like a thick blanket.
When he heard about the murder of the two ROOT agents that had failed to capture the Seven Tails' container, Yōji's first question had been who had done it.
It had not taken long for him to get the information- Lord Danzou had specifically asked for the agents that acquired such information to bring it to him immediately.
It seemed that he was now, officially, complete in charge of anything that pertained to the pack and the capture and containment of the container of the Seven Tails. By extension, he may even have to begin dealing with the container of the Nine Tails.
His now permanent presence in the Village would draw some unneeded attention if he did not play his cards right. But, for now, that could wait. What was most important at the moment was figuring out why Hidan of Yugakure had murdered two of their agents.
Hidan, who had been captured with the information Konoha had been given by Kakuzu. Kakuzu, who had supposedly been his partner while they had worked together in the criminal organization that called itself the Akatsuki. The Akatsuki, which were supposedly behind a notable amount of attacks on shinobi from different villages that had been working outside of their respective villages.
This wasn't a coincidence. It couldn't have been.
Kakuzu was much smarter than he was sure the Hokage had given him credit for. The only question now was 'How would he get himself out of this mess?' now that it was so obvious that he had aided in the capture of Hidan to get him close to those that had attacked two of the children he seemed to care for.
But... no... that didn't make any sense.
It was too sloppy for Kakuzu to have planned- too obvious.
With a frown on his lips, Yōji decided it was about time he decided between the handful of operatives he had begun to think may have been able to complete the mission he was to assign. Very clearly, there were more forces at work here than just ROOT. And if they weren't careful, they may just allow the Seven Tails to slip from their grasp.
That would be unacceptable.
..~..~..
I'm not quite sure how I feel about this chapter yet. And I'm not sure if that's because it isn't as good as I want it to be or if it's because I've built up a lot of rust since the last time I published a chapter. Oh well.
Hope y'all liked it! Let me know what you thought!
