A/N: I've been slowly editing the earlier chapters. Nothing major so far, but just typos and little retcons (like Aimi's relations within the Yamanaka). I have decided to start using Japanese honourifics sparingly and will be editing those as I go (mostly for -sama, -taicho, etc). Kotori's peer group for the most part drops the honourifics around each other so it wouldn't be constant and very few refer to Kotori as "-chan". It also felt more true for Kotori and Rika's relationship to be sisterly.

Thank you everyone for your continued support! On to something that I've had brewing for years and am excited and nervous to finally post.

Kotori casually leaned against a maple tree as she waited outside the academy.

She was supposed to pick up Rika and her friends from school while Ensui finished preparing for their camping trip. Most shinobi parents took their children camping as academy students. It was a practical way to teach survival skills, not to mention something fun to do. She felt nostalgic as she remembered sitting around a campfire with her friends, telling old legends and ghost stories as a kid.

She watched as kids spilled out of the school. Parents picked up the little ones while the bigger kids left in groups. She watched as Hinoki's son left snickering with his two friends, his voice carrying as the words 'paint' and 'statue' caught her ear. It seemed to have caught Iruka's attention as his narrowed eyes followed them.

"Tori-neechan!" Rika called out, rushing up to her. "You made it!"

Kotori hadn't been able to commit to the camping trip until the night before and had had to cancel on two previously. Even then, there was a chance that Ryoku may have to find her as their team was on call.

"I did! Are you all set? Are these your friends?"

Three girls trailed behind Rika, and Kotori assumed these must be her friends. She recognized Utatane Satoko. While Kotori had never been officially introduced to the girl and suspected Satoko wouldn't know her, she had worked with her father for years. There was Tachibana Yuzuki, Ken's niece and heiress to the Tachibana clan. And finally there was Hyuga Hanabi. Kotori could see the Hyuga guard standing off to the side, carefully scrutinizing her. She was a little surprised that Hiashi had allowed his youngest daughter to go with them. Ensui had said that he had relented at the news that two jonin would be accompanying the group and that they were camping 'in Shikaku's backyard'.

If Shikaku's backyard extended about five kilometres into the Nara Forest that was…

"Ensui and I will be with them the entire time." She thought that might smooth whatever had Hyuga Hanma ruffled if she personally assured them that Hanabi was in good hands. "We'll do some hiking, fishing, set up camp, have a campfire. It'll be fun."

"Well, Hiashi-sama can hardly argue with the personal protection of an esteemed ANBU captain such as yourself," Hanma slowly drawled. "Although, I'm surprised you have time to act as bodyguard."

Kotori knew when she was being sassed by the Hyuga. He clearly thought the task was beneath her. She put her hands on Rika's shoulders in front of her. She could feel Rika puff up with fury and knew an acerbic Nara remark was coming if she didn't defuse the situation. "I'm a family friend. I always have time for Rika."

"Nara-sama was clever," Hanma gave her a pitying look. "Ensuring your loyalty by having his brother take you in as a ward."

Kotori was annoyed at the implication that she was some sort of retainer to the Nara. This wasn't the warring states era. Although, the Hyuga certainly still had that mindset. The Nara were the closest thing she had to a family after her own was killed.

He's right. A little voice sneered in the back of her mind. A little girl from a broken clan would have been -

Married off as soon as she was legal and had her secret techniques stolen. I know my history too.

Muga had been captured, interrogated and executed by Inoichi in the weeks after they learned of his betrayal. But even with his death, it seemed like some echoes of his consciousness were still captured in her chakra bird network. Every so often, she could hear him whispering her deepest fears or insecurities in her ears. His voice had slowly become mingled with her own internal one. She wasn't sure if the echoes were truly him or just her own negative thinking. She hadn't yet gone to the Yamanaka, not trusting them not to abuse the opportunity to learn how her secret technique worked.

"Tell Hyuga-sama I'll drop her off tomorrow after breakfast," she sharply said.

With that, Hanma traded Hanabi's school bag for a mission pack and had a private conversation with Hanabi. Kotori waited off to the side with the other girls, trying to hype them up for the trip so that they wouldn't eavesdrop. Her chakra bird conveniently hidden in the tree above Hanma and Hanabi could take care of that.

"I'll behave for Sorano-taichou," Hanabi politely told her guard.

Despite the solemn expression on the young girl's face, Kotori could see that she was squirming with excitement. Kotori wondered if the poor girl ever had the chance to be a regular kid without the ever watchful eyes of her clan. Probably not.

Without her guard, she seemed sillier and more careful, speaking jubilantly with her friends. She and the other two girls skipped ahead as they walked to the Nara clan compound while Rika walked alongside Kotori, excitedly telling her about her latest adventures.

Ensui was waiting for them at the start of the foot trail into the Nara Forest. The Nara had lived on their land long before the founding of Konoha and their forest extended for several kilometres past the border. There was an almost mystical feeling as they went deeper into the woods. None could step foot into the forest without the Nara's permission. The seals that protected the forest were complicated and old. Not to mention the herd of deer that lived in the forest. Kotori could feel their dark eyes watching from the shadows. Ensui's favourite deer, a stag named Shiro, lazily followed them from a distance.

Before long, they found a clearing along the Naka River. They gave the girls duties as if they were on a real mission. Kotori supervised Rika and Hanabi's hunting trip while Ensui made sure Satoko and Yuzuki's traps didn't accidentally go off.

"Are those my old gloves?" Kotori asked Rika, recognizing the ones her uncle had gifted her when she made genin.

"Yeah! I found them in a box of your old stuff. And you know what else I found?"

Kotori paused, a little fearful at what Rika might have found among her old belongings.

"Your bow and arrow! I've been playing around with it and made trick arrows. They have seals and catch fire once in air. Pretty cool, right?" Rika happily told her. "I have it sealed in a scroll with me, just in case."

Kotori could hear the hopeful undertone in Rika's voice. Very few in the village were skilled with a bow and arrow and it was unlikely that Rika had had a proper teacher.

"Very cool," Kotori agreed. "Do you think you can use it to catch dinner?"

She had assumed the girls would go fishing, but catching a hare would give Rika more practical experience with the bow.

Hanabi used her byukugan to spy around the area. "Three o'clock. There's a hare in a bush about twelve and a half metres away."

Kotori corrected Rika's form and gave pointers as she aimed her old bow. Rika nodded as she silently drew the arrow, aiming it at the hare and releasing. Kotori released a breath as the arrow pierced the hare and the two girls leapt in celebration. She smiled, ruffling Rika's hair before leading them back to the campsite. It was good timing as the other group emerged carrying wood for the campfire and a basket of sansai and mushrooms they had picked.

"I know a really cool fire jutsu," she overheard Rika telling the other girls, "watch this!"

"Absolutely not!" Ensui interrupted.

"But Dad!"

"No. The flamethrower jutsu is overkill for a camp fire. You'll start a forest fire."

Kotori chuckled to herself as she remembered Sayuri using her clan's fireball jutsu to do the same thing at that age. Ensui had been equally unimpressed.

"Lame," Rika grumbled, instead flipping her hands through boar - hare - tiger to do a simple Fire Flicker jutsu.

The campfire lasted late into the evening as the group finished dinner. As the sky darkened, the girls started telling ghost stories, popular myths and legends that went back as far as the warring states era. Cautionary tales that were often told to aspiring shinobi and kunoichi. Kotori felt content in a way she hadn't in a long time as she leaned against a tree. It brought back memories of simpler times, happier times, when she and Aimi and Sayuri used to do these kinds of things.

Her eyes softened as she watched the girls around the campfire. They were wide-eyed as they stared at Ensui as he finished telling his story.

"If you listen carefully, you can hear him gnawing, inch by inch, deep underground. Until one day, he's finally chewed his way out of the surface."

"There's no severed heads buried in the Nara Forest," Rika calmly replied, taking the marshmallow off the end of her stick. "He would have died from starvation by now."

"It's an immortal head." Ensui sounded put out that the kids weren't falling for his story.

Shiro snorted from his position behind Ensui.

Kotori felt a tingle go down her spine. Her body on alert as if someone was out there. Her hand inched closer to her pouch, ready to pull out her kunai as her eyes scanned the dark campsite. She could hear the soft, deliberate crunch of a twig and knew Ensui could hear it too. He was relaxed which meant -

"Boo!" Shikaku dryly said, landing with a thud as he dropped out of a tree in front of them.

The girls screamed. Kotori could feel bruises from where Hanabi dug into her upper arm. Kotori's arm wrapped around the girl was probably the only thing that kept Shikaku from being slammed with the Gentle Fist.

Which, to be honest, he would have had coming to him.

Rika crossed her arms and glared up at her uncle and - in a lecture that would have made Yoshino proud - proceeded to tell him off for scaring them. Kotori and Ensui tried not to make eye contact or they would both devolve into giggles at the sight of the feared Nara clan leader looking sheepish at being scolded by a nine year old girl.

"Did Shikamaru get back yet?" Rika asked her uncle once she had settled down. Kotori was probably just as interested in the answer as Rika.

"No, Choji's team made it to the finals. He'll be helping Asuma train them for their upcoming match."

Which meant Kakashi and Sakura would be gone for another month at least. She felt a soft pang of disappointment.

Shikaku slipped away after the girls started pestering Kotori to tell them stories about her years as a genin. Kotori kept it mostly tame, recounting the time her friends had an escalating game of Truth or Dare throughout the village. She amused Hanabi with a story of how Kotetsu was dared to ask Hiashi personally to borrow a cup of flour at one am.

"Can we play - " Rika started to ask.

"No," Ensui immediately said.

"Next time," Kotori said with a wink. "It's getting late."

While all the adults acted like the games genin played were a bother, they secretly condoned it as often the dares were like childish missions.

"Who's getting first watch?" Kotori asked the girls.

"Me!" Rika immediately volunteered.

It wasn't long before she was passed out, leaning on Kotori's left shoulder while the other three were tucked into their bedrolls in the tent.

"That didn't take long," Kotori mused. The girls had a very long day between their regular schooling and now this.

"Nine year olds aren't the best night watches," Ensui chuckled, poking at the dying embers in front of them.

"We used to keep watch."

"No, I let you think you did. Twenty minutes into your shift and you were nodding off."

She smiled softly because she knew. Even when her former students were handling the night watch, she hadn't slept much either, lightly dozing while using her birds to keep an eye on the surroundings.

"Go to sleep," he said, tilting his head to look up at the starry night sky. "I've got first watch."

She didn't need to be told twice. Within seconds her head lulled forward as she nodded off.

xXx

Kotori stirred as the soft morning light reached her eyes. It had been a long time since she had slept that deeply or undisturbed. She realized that someone had unzipped her sleeping bag and laid it on top of her. Ensui, most likely.

"You should have woken me for second shift," she murmured.

"You were pretty out of it. Hinoki running you ragged again?"

"Something like that."

As far as the others in ANBU were concerned, Hinoki had put together a special task force to review village security. It gave Kotori the perfect cover story to go poking around. It also meant that she created more work for herself in uncovering every crack in the village's defences. And there were a lot of them. At least it gave her team something to do as Kotori was village-bound for the foreseeable future.

They made quick work of cleaning the campsite after breakfast, having the girls put out the fire and cover their tracks. It was as if no one had been there the night before. Kotori waved goodbyes as she split with them at the path leading to the Nara's home where the girls would hang out before their parents collected them. Kotori had the rare day off and had a million errands she needed to do to prepare for the week ahead of her.

"Oh, Kotori!" Kosuke greeted her from the main path. She was holding a basket full of freshly harvested medicinal herbs and wildflowers. "Are you heading out already?"

"Hello!" Kotori smiled at her. "Yes, Ensui and the girls are back at the house."

She resisted the urge to frown as she watched Kosuke cough into her sleeve. She also seemed slightly out of breath. Kosuke struggled with health problems after a childhood illness. Kotori didn't know the details, but knew Ensui worried over her a lot.

"Here, why don't I join you."

Kosuke gave her a knowing look which Kotori waved off. "It's just a little cold."

"Still. That basket looks heavy." She pointed out. "Besides, it'll be fun. We never get the chance to chat just the two of us."

They headed further into the forest and Kotori could feel the watchful eyes of the deer on them from the shadows. She tried to shake off the eerie feeling that something wasn't right. She had come back here plenty of times with Ensui or Kosuke. She was as safe in these woods as any non-Nara could be and Kosuke even safer as a civilian member of the clan.

"Oh, there's dogwood in bloom," Kosuke suddenly pointed out. "I've been testing a medicine unique to the Inuzuka clan."

The tree in question was growing sideways out of a steep sloop.

"Here, I'll get it," Kotori offered, already sliding down the terrain. She pulled one of the lower branches towards her and plucked dozens of the flowers, placing them into a scroll for Kosuke. Once she was finished, she looked up. Only to see Kosuke was no longer waiting for her at the top of the hill.

Kotori dashed up to see where Kosuke had wandered off to. Only, the older woman was nowhere in sight.

"Kosuke?" She called out, feeling more worried. She wasn't allowed her chakra birds on clan lands, but she created one anyway to search the area. She was sure Shikaku would forgive her this one time. "Kosuke!"

"Whatever are you yelling for?"

Kotori tried not to grimace as one of the Nara elders, Nyoko, approached. Nyoko was Shikaku and Ensui's paternal aunt, the younger sister of the late Nara Shikaro. As a daughter of the main branch, she had been given a place of honour as a Nara elder. She, along with the rest of the elders, had never taken to Kotori; they thought her more wild and independent that a woman ought to be. They were also old fashioned and thought she should have been betrothed to one of the Nara as soon as she turned sixteen. That she owed the Nara for taking her in at twelve. Nyoko had been the most vocal, stating that it was Kotori's duty as a woman to marry and produce healthy shinobi. Ensui had strongly disagreed, to all of it, so the elders had insisted she move out of the Nara compound.

The hairs on the back of Kotori's neck stood up. Nyoko had Kosuke's basket of herbs and flowers on arm.

"Where's Kosuke?" Kotori demanded.

Nyoko smiled benignly. "She's been at the Research Centre all morning."

Kotori went to take a step back, but realized she couldn't move. Shadow possession. Her eyes scanned the trees, casting shadows on the ground between her and Nyoko. A shadow crept up Kotori's neck before it forced her chin to tilt up, looking at Nyoko.

"I thought we should have a chat before I kill you."

"Spare me the lecture and just kill me." Kotori really wasn't interested in hearing whatever Nyoko had to say. However she knew she had to play into the older woman's ego, hopefully it would give her time to find a way out of here. She tried to fight against Shadow Possession. The Nara could only hold onto it for a limited amount of time, but here in their forest, surrounded by shadows, was where they were strongest.

"Oh no, I think you'll find it interesting."

Nyoko approached Kotori and whispered in her ear. "All this time chasing Root - and you never guessed my nephew's true allegiance?"

Nyoko smiled cruelly as the blood drained from Kotori's face. "That's the look. He really did make you believe he caredfor you, all those years, when he was just using you. Danzo didn't have to have you when you so willingly provided Ensui everything your chakra birds showed you. And you weren't the only foolish little girl. Uchiha trusted him with her family drama. Inane, most of it were her daddy issues, but there were some interesting things here or there."

Kotori felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of ice water over her head. An icy chill washed down her spine, seizing her insides with a cold dread. That wasn't possible.

"It was impressive, he was able to convince his brother to bury the incident. He convinced you too, my dear."

He didn't convince her to -

Kotori stopped struggling against Nyoko's shadow. The cold, numbing feeling finally wrapped its tendrils around her heart. He had. He had been with her that night and the days after as Kotori allowed him and Inoichi to witness Sayuri's final words. Kotori had leaned on him heavily for support, following his lead as she had so often done.

No, he wouldn't.

"Ensui could never justify killing you. You were too useful," Nyoko sneered. "But I think he'll understand that you've outlived any usefulness and are just a nuisance these days. So I'll do it myself."

Kotori could feel the shadow wrapping its self around her neck and choking her. She couldn't do a thing to stop it, spots forming in her vision as she tried to break free of the shadow possession. Despite years of training with Nara and trying to find a weakness in their secret technique, all she could do was vainly struggle against it.

"Like hell you will," Ensui growled from behind her. He was crouched down, hidden by the shadows of the trees, his hands in the rat seal. "Shadow Possession complete."

He took control of Nyoko's shadow, releasing Kotori from her grasp. Kotori fell to the ground, gasping for air as she backed away from Nyoko's reach.

"Ensui." Nyoko's face twisted into one of surprise.

Kotori watched as Nyoko silently struggled against Ensui's Shadow Possession jutsu. She had never seen two Nara's fighting before which such ferocity.

"Even you wouldn't kill a clansmen! Not over her."

"Are you sure about that?" Ensui darkly said.

"She's not - "

But Kotori never heard what she was not as Ensui's shadow wrapped around Nyoko's neck, cutting her off. Kotori closed her eyes. Shadow strangulation was a horrible way to die.

"Are you alright? Kotori?"

Kotori pushed him off of her.

"Is it true?" Kotori demanded, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. Ensui wouldn't - they trusted him! He had seen them safely through every mission. Every stupid teenaged fight. The loss of her family. He would have never allowed Sayuri to be killed. He couldn't have - "You're a member of - of - "

Ensui had an unreadable expression on his face. Kotori had always thought he was just hard to read, but now she knew why.

"Root," he answered for her.