Author's notes: Ah, the classic Girl Meets Horse, Girl Falls in Love With Horse. (Also, Danzo Meets Horse; Danzo Falls into Hate With Horse.)
It has been a long time since this author has ridden a horse. I never thought I would wind up researching horses and their equipment. Percheron horses are actually a French battle horse. So, if you're wondering what Juubi looks like, there you go. Also, this is the last time Minato makes an appearance in the Alpha Years.
o-o-o
o-o-o-o
o-o-o-o-o
Kokoro refused to talk to Tsume or about Tsume, Kushina later reported the next day as she and Tsume lined up outside the supplies wagon. As (somewhat) functioning genin, they were in charge of stocking their own supplies as the wounded train prepped for its journey back to Konoha. It was a very long line because everyone was getting replenished in anticipation of Orochimaru's marching orders. The camp was well on its way of packing up, and the sounds of construction filled the air as tents were dismantled, and wagons and sealing scrolls were filled.
Tsume scratched San on her shoulder blades, just beneath the leather strap. Ichi and San were quickly becoming her favorites of Grandmother's ninken, because they were gentle, enduring, and friendly. On the other end of the spectrum was the steadfast Shi, who reluctantly obeyed and followed her three ninken companions more than she did Tsume. Tsume hadn't yet pegged Ni into a category, but was willing to be as patient with him as he was with her. "Did she say why?"
Kushina shook her head. "I didn't ask. But I get the feeling it's because Kokoro thinks she's going to lose everyone now that you're back, that she's going to be left behind since she's paralyzed."
Tsume could sympathize with that. She had felt left behind and useless when Danzo criticized her stamina and made Minato carry her for two days. "Does she have to stop being a kunoichi?" Tsume asked. She knew of lots of people who had lost body parts or functions, but were still really awesome ninja staying in the field of action – like Danzo with his one eye, or her older cousin Megumi, who had lost her dominant arm when fighting Kumo nin two years ago.
"Sakumo said that Kokoro could probably join the T&I or cryptology with her brothers."
"But that would mean we can't be a team anymore."
Kushina fluffed her red hair. It shone with highlights of gold beneath the warm autumn sun. Tsume wanted to run her fingers through the silky strands, but didn't dare move her arms much after Shikake's lecture while he redid 30% of her stitches. And then he lectured the ninken on keeping their new mistress safe. "It's hard to get out in the field when you don't have a functioning pair of legs." Not a cloud disturbed the sky or a breeze stirred through the camp. It felt like it was going to be a hot and dry day – strangely unseasonable for the year. Tsume kept expecting snow and cold, although such would be unfavorable for their traveling wagon train.
Tsume studied the backs of her ninken. An Inuzuka cousin, Fuuko, had tracked Tsume down late last night. Fuuko, a beta, openly acknowledged Tsume as clan alpha head, and presented Tsume a gift – two sets of leather and silver harnesses and tack for the ninken. Fuuko showed Sakumo and Kushina how to put the harnesses on San so they could carry Tsume's supplies, and they demonstrated their lesson on Ichi. San and Ichi were both currently rigged in the harnesses and looking resigned with their fates as impromptu pack mules.
An idea was forming in Tsume's mind as she compared the height and strength of the four ninken. Both of her arms throbbed in dull and stinging agony, even despite the anti-inflammatories that Shikake had given her at breakfast and the numbing unguent he had smeared all over her lacerations again. The pain made it difficult to think, and she didn't want to look like an idiot, especially in front of Kushina or the surrounding shinobi and kunoichi. "But what if she could get out in the field?" Tsume asked.
"How? She's gotta be able to move with her legs to dodge attacks. Kokoro-chan can't carry herself around on her arms, and she needs her hands free anyway to attack."
Tsume studied Ni's back; Ni was the smallest of the ninken (but not by much), and could be very menacing with the right incentive and command – or if she didn't like the person, no command needed. Grandmother's ninken still had a good ten years of life and service remaining that made them viable in the field; after that, they would slowly be phased out of field service and would become mentors for younger Inuzuka and their ninken puppies. "The Suna nin use chakra strings to guide and control puppets. What if Kokoro could use chakra strings to guide and control a wheelchair?"
Kushina frowned in thought as she stood on her tiptoes to see past the line of front of them. She rocked back on her heels. "Still got a while to go." Then she added, "I don't know how that would work. If we have to travel through the woods, the wheelchair would get hung up on branches and stuff. I think Kokoro-chan has the potential for chakra control like that, but does she have the stamina to do it all the time? I could, but I don't think she could."
Tsume compared the height and strength of all four ninken, and considered Kokoro's physical abilities. Her idea could pan out successfully, but she wouldn't be able to present the idea directly to Kokoro, because Kokoro would probably react with refusal, especially if she felt that Tsume was offering out of pity. Besides, the ninken weren't trained with what she was plotting, and it wasn't a good idea to throw someone who wasn't an Inuzuka into the mix just yet.
Tsume silently mulled over the idea as the line slowly inched forward. When the sun reached its zenith in the sky, they finally reached the end of the line.
"Uzumaki Kushina, genin on Konoha's Team Five, led by Hatake Sakumo-sensei." The supply master barely glanced at Kushina's forehead protector before handing her a small bundle of weapons. Kushina looked expectedly at Tsume as she stepped forward. The supply master wordlessly eyed her arms, and then the ninken.
"Inuzuka Tsume, genin of Konoha's Team Five, led by Hatake Sakumo-sensei." Tsume gestured to Kushina. "I'm her teammate."
"Really?" The supply master's forehead protector indicated that he was from Hoshigakure. "I know Hatake's team since they've run my supplies, and this is the first I've ever met or heard of you." The supply master waved Kushina's loud protests away. "Regardless, I also know Inuzuka Shinzou's ninken, and I ain't dumb enough to doubt the word of an Inuzuka when those are hanging with her. Here." He extended another small bundle forward.
Tsume gestured San close. "She'll carry my bundle."
The supply master shook his head. "If you can't use the weapons yourself, then I will issue them to someone who can." He eyed her arms again.
Ignoring the stiffness, the pain, and the odd stinging pinch from the stitches, Tsume reached with her left arm. She pinched the sealing scroll with two dozen blast tags in the crook of her elbow. "I got like this because I didn't have weapons," she grumbled. "I'm not getting shorted like that again." If she had kept her kunai, she could've stabbed the Kumo nin in the base of his skull instead of ripping his spine out with her bare hand.
Tsume waited until she, Kushina, and the ninken were out of sight of the supply master. Tsume dropped the heavy bundle of kunai and sealing scroll on the ground and groaned in pain. "Take it," she told San, trying to will away the increased throbbing agony. The throb ignored Tsume's will.
Kushina's lips pressed together in worry. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?" she asked with concern as San grabbed the bundle with her teeth. "Maybe you should ride in one of the wagons, instead of being part of the active guard with me and Sakumo-sensei."
Tsume studied Ichi; he was the tallest and strongest of the ninken – she thought she could remember Grandmother saying once that Ichi's stamina was also the best, which was why he was number one. "No," she told Kushina firmly. She still chafed with the memory of being carried by Mooncalf, too weak and too barefooted to carry her own weight. "I'm not a worthless meat shield."
Kushina's face fell. "I never thought that, Tsume-chan. I just don't want you bumping your arms or getting hurt more. If you can't even carry your weapons, then how are you going to fight?"
"Because there's more to being armed than just having a sharp blade," Tsume replied, just before ordering Ichi to hold still. "If my arms are broken, I'll kick my enemy to death. If my legs are broken, I'll rip out the throat of my enemy with my bare teeth." All those days of riding Danzo and Minato had to be good for something – Jiraiya had said that every opportunity should be used for training, and Danzo had implied that anything could be a weapon. She swung a leg over his back. She hopped a few times on her other leg as she grappled with the harness with her right hand. When she managed to secure her cast within a loop, she mounted completely. Ichi widened his stance and braced himself while Tsume centered herself on his back.
Kushina whistled. "You're going to ride your ninken like the samurai ride their horses? That might work, but how are you going to hold on without your arms?"
Tsume squeezed her knees tighter together, and twisted her right hand until the loop was secure around the cast. She then released the pressure from her knees, and nudged Ichi forward. She nearly slid off his back before she remembered to tighten her knees again. And that pulled her arm painfully. Oh, this wasn't going to work so well after all. She needed a way to keep her butt secure… Oh. "You know how we tree-climb by channeling the chakra to our feet to stick us to the wood?" she asked Kushina as a smile spread across her face.
Kushina grinned back at Tsume's smile. "You're scheming again, aren't you? What kind of trouble are we going to get into this time?"
"How much trouble can I get into if I'm going to be sitting the entire time?" Tsume asked. Then she banged her heels against Ichi's side like he was a horse or Mooncalf. "Charge!" Ichi's first few leaping bounds were slow before he adjusted to Tsume's weight accordingly, and gained momentum. Paws scrambling against the hardpacked soil and ears laid back, he was silent as he charged through the camp. Tsume bounced forward and braced herself with her left arm, ignoring the throb of pain. She giggled as the wind swept her wild hair out of her face.
Ichi was swift and graceful on his feet, effortlessly dodging the moving crowds of people. His angles were sharp and smooth, and nearly unseated Tsume even with the chakra she used. She heard the other ninken following, and Kushina's shout of surprise and pounding footsteps. Ichi was fairly easy to guide once Tsume managed to communicate that he was supposed to go with strategic tugs with his scruff.
She ignored the yells of other shinobi as they scattered out of the way, most of them aware of how the ninken were not mere canines to be trifled with. And then someone deliberately stepped in to their path with too little warning, his glare dark enough to blot out the overhead sun. Tsume yanked back on Ichi's scruff. "Whoa! Whoa! Stop!"
They collided with Danzo.
Ni and Shi were instantly attacking Danzo, bared fangs snapping at his throat and belly. Ichi backpedaled from Danzo, his claws leaving deep tracks in the ground as he reversed momentum to remove Tsume from immediate danger. San imposed herself between Ichi and Danzo, her body turned wide to present a larger target as her ears went flat and the fur stood on end at her shoulders. Danzo moved too quickly for Tsume to see – one moment he had a bloody wrist caught in Ni's maw while he flipped Shi away from his throat, the next he became a nearby wooden tent stake that shattered into wooden splinters between Ni's teeth.
It bought Danzo only a second of time in distracting two experienced ninken.
It was the only second Tsume needed to yell her ninken into submission. The three ninken closed ranks around her and Ichi, their hair standing on end in warning to Danzo. Danzo, outside the reach of the ninken, stood tall and strong as he rubbed his chin and silently considered Tsume with a look that made Tsume's hair also rise on end, but for an entirely different reason.
Kushina finally reached Tsume, weighed down by her bundle, and the bundle that San dropped to attack Danzo. She stopped beside Danzo and doubled over for a moment, gasping for breath. Then Kushina straightened upward and yelled. "What were you thinking? You can't just barge through camp like that – you might run into someone, believe it!" Then her voice squeaked into a fearful silence when she realized that Danzo stood in front of them.
Tsume rubbed her nose with her left hand, feeling brand new pain flare with every movement in both arms. "Too late," she mumbled. She had wrenched her right arm when Ichi collided with Danzo, even though she didn't lose her seat, and now it hurt more than her left arm. At least her stitches were still intact.
"How," began Danzo, his voice as flat as his eyes, even though his scent was delighted, "did you manage to remain seated on your ninken even though both of your arms are incapacitated?"
Tsume hunched down, feeling awkward and small as the surrounding strangers and Kushina stared at her. She felt even smaller as she was surrounded by the four ninken, and really hoped that her recent growth spurt would continue. "I made myself stick with chakra," she finally admitted.
Danzo squeezed his eye shut in exasperation and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Stick? You're channeling chakra to your…"
"Butt. Yeah. So, I figured that if I could use chakra to stick to a tree or a building with my feet, then I could stick to Ichi in kinda the same way. It's easier channeling the chakra to my butt than my feet, actually. Feels weirder, though" Tsume rubbed her nose, secretly pleased that this could work, and also somewhat embarrassed to be discussing her backside with Danzo, in front of a curious crowd.
Danzo glanced sideways at Kushina, who had clapped a hand over her mouth and trying not to laugh. He then inspected his wrist, which was circled with raised bloody welts. Tsume stared, half in awe and half wary that Danzo managed to escape two attacking ninken with a single minor injury. Ni was trying to spit out wooden splinters, sliding his tongue against his teeth.
"Why do you have two bundles of weapons?" Danzo asked Kushina.
"Er. One's for me and the other for Tsume."
"I didn't want to be unarmed! I'm tired of not having any weapons."
He snorted in derision. "You can hardly be unarmed with your grandmother's ninken." He looked pointedly at his wrist again. "They would've had me too, if I wasn't experienced with sparring with Oyubi-san. They appear to be listening to you now."
They listened to her…. sometimes, but she wasn't going to explain that distinction to Danzo, and she still couldn't tell what the ninken were saying. She ought to teach the ninken to talk with human speech; that way, other people would be able to understand them. Like Kokoro. Every ninken could communicate. Communication consisted of a variety of body language, different vocalization, and a deliberate shift in scents. It was like a code though, and Tsume hadn't yet Grandmother's code; the ninken were still testing her bounds as alpha. "We're getting along," Tsume said carefully.
Danzo studied her like she was a bizarre bug again. It was the same sort of expression he used when they first met, and back at the aspen copse the morning he learned she could detect the scent of the Hokage from over eight hundred kilometers away. It thrilled Tsume as much as it made her wary.
"But," Danzo began, his voice almost amused, "the question would be why you obtained a bundle of weapons if you're supposed to be traveling in a wagon with the other wounded?"
Tsume crossed her arms, trying to appear that she wasn't in any pain and was only slightly hindered. She swung her legs free but still maintained her seat. "Just because I'm wounded doesn't mean I'm useless." Besides, Sakumo told her this morning that she could accompany Kushina on foot, and serve as a lookout, as long as she stayed out of the fray.
"Both of your arms are currently incapacitated."
Tsume frowned. She didn't know what games Danzo was playing – he wanted something from her, and she kinda didn't want to give him anything with the way he had talked and acted to her ever since they met up with Kushina and the others. She didn't think it was fair that he only sought her out when he wanted something; she was tired of being used. But at least he didn't seem so mad at her after Orochimaru benched him. Either that, or he decided to get even instead of staying mad, because she'd bet one of Grandmother's ninken (probably Ni, since she liked Ni the least) that Danzo was going to do something that Orochimaru wouldn't like. "Someone," she said, lifting her nose in the air, "once told me that even if both my arms stopped working, I could still kill a man with my feet."
A smile spread across Danzo's face. Kushina recoiled from Danzo as her face went white, clutching the bundles of weapons close to her chest. "Indeed," he whispered, his voice sounding almost like a purr. "And you don't need working arms for your nose to be of assistance." He crooked a finger at her. "With me, all six of you. I want you to meet the samurai commanders."
Kushina waited until Tsume and the four ninken were between her and Danzo before following after. Her pores were drenched with fear. "I don't like it when he smiles," she whispered to Tsume. "It's not a very nice smile, like Sakumo-sensei's."
Tsume shrugged, and leaned back with her mouth shielded from Danzo so he wouldn't overhear. "That's because he probably doesn't know how to smile and has to practice in front of a mirror."
Kushina giggled at that, but it was a nervous giggle – fear still drowned out all other emotions. "I thought for sure that he'd blow his top at you for running through the camp."
"Yeah, me too."
They reluctantly followed Danzo as he limped into a tent that no one had yet started to dismantle. The entrance was guarded by two samurai armed with long lances. Tsume stared boldly, wondering how a person could fight with such a big, clumsy weapon. The samurai stepped away as Danzo braced the tent flap open with his arm and gestured the two girls and four ninken through. Tsume blinked her eyes at the darkness that a single candle barely penetrated, unable to see after spending most of the day outside in the bright sunlight. Danzo followed behind and let the flap drop close behind him.
Kushina quickly squeezed in between the ninken so that she was close to Tsume, careful to ensure that Ni and San was situated her and Danzo.
"This," Danzo declared, stepping to the front where Tsume could see two dark lumps that constituted as persons (middle-aged male samurai per her nose, not that Tsume had seen any the female samurai that Sakumo had told her of, as he proudly explained that samurai blood ran through the veins of his clan), "is Inuzuka Shinzou's great-granddaughter, Tsume, alpha head of the clan upon Shinzou's death. And this is Uzumaki Mito's heir, Uzumaki Kushina."
Tsume channeled chakra into her eyes to help them adjust more quickly. The two middle-aged lumps were in full armor. The first was clean shaven with grey-streaked dark hair, and he knelt on a mat with some maps spread before him on the ground. The second, kneeling just behind the first, was slightly younger with his light brown hair unmarked by any gray, and a curling mustache that was surprisingly red.
The first samurai smiled in greeting and nodded his head. Tsume quickly copied Kushina's deep bow from the waist, and then sneezed when Ichi's fur tickled her nose.
"This," Danzo continued, turning to the girls, "is Mifune-dono, general of the Samurai Armies from the Land of Iron. His men will be assisting the wagon train to Konoha." It seemed strange that Danzo would look hard at Kushina as he said that. Tsume couldn't help but feel that the samurai knew something about Kushina that she didn't – something about why it was so important to get Kushina back when Kumo had abducted her.
Tsume couldn't smell anything suspicious at the moment, but she knew when something stunk.
"My condolences for the loss of your great-grandmother," Mifune said, inclining his head to Tsume once more. "I have known of her since my youth, and she was a very strong, very admirable woman. Well do I recall her and her sister – the legendary Hell Hounds. My grandfather was pleased when the Inuzuka clan joined Konohagakure, since it meant they would no longer terrorize the Land of Iron. This was also a great disappointment for young samurai, like myself, who never got to face any Inuzuka women wearing traditional battle garb."
Tsume shifted in her seat, feeling uncomfortable to hear someone say something kind and complementary about Grandmother when she had taken perverse delight with Grandmother's limp body getting tossed onto the funeral pyres last night. "Thank you," she said finally, not meaning it, after Kushina pointedly nudged her in the ribs.
Mifune turned to Kushina. "And it is my honor to meet Mito-san's heir. She was also a very strong, admirable woman of many rare talents." Mifune grinned. "It is a small wonder that their heirs would be friends – no doubt it was meant to be." He looked up to Danzo. "But you didn't tell me that Inuzuka-san was a young child with injuries when we discussed scouts."
"Why should I? Youth or age isn't a factor with shinobi. She's the only Inuzuka accompanying the wounded train, because she's the only Inuzuka wounded enough that we can force to go to the Konoha hospital. She's too useful to be kept stationary. Her safety won't be a factor when she's guarded by four battle-hardened ninken, especially in riding them like your men ride horses. Not only will she be able to track, but she can also swiftly carry messages and reports back to the train."
Mifune studied Tsume for a moment. She wondered if she should've raided Grandmother's supplies for her face paints so she could finally wear her clan markings appropriately. She straightened and tried to look regal and, uh, clan-head-like (kinda how she saw the Hyuuga sometimes). Then she decided not to, because she didn't like the idea of looking constipated.
"Shimura-san has informed me that your olfaction is very strong for one of your age."
Tsume nodded, remembering with a cringe the lecture that Danzo had given her and the others last week at the cave, of the importance of not disclosing the true strength of her olfaction.
"Shimura-san has proposed that you be allowed to join him as a forward scout, to ensure that our path is free of danger, or to warn us of possible attacks or ambushes."
Oh. Tsume eyed Danzo, who kept his expression unreadable. On one hand, she would be a lot more useful sniffing out for possible ambushes, traps, and attacks – she really did have an awesome nose, after all, no matter how useless Grandmother might've (but most probably) thought of Tsume before dying – and she'd be able to show Sakumo how riding her ninken would be an awesome solution for Kokoro without saying a word.
On the other hand, she'd be left alone with Danzo.
She wasn't scared of Danzo – it just seemed weird that he would propose such a thing, after what he said and did (or rather didn't do, the butthead) ever since they met up with Minato and Kushina. "Sure. But do you think it would be okay with Sakumo-sensei?"
Danzo shrugged. "He didn't raise any protests when I told him of the possibility an hour ago."
Possibility didn't exactly equal permission, did it? Tsume thought for a second longer, and then shrugged. Shinobi Rule #35 (snuffed out jasmine-scented candles): Unspoken commands are equally important to spoken commands. "So what am I going to need for tracking? A water canteen? Some snacks?"
oOoOoOo
Getting a wagon train together with a combined number of wounded ninja, samurai, wagons, draft horses for pulling the wagons and war horses for fighting, supplies, medics, and other support staff was a logistical nightmare that made Tsume's head swim whenever Kushina or Sakumo attempted to explain the situation.
Danzo, naturally, was in the thick of planning and directing. Having been one of the commanders with the war and responsible for the cleanup in Wind, he was experienced with herding confused and directionally-challenged groups in the right direction, and thrived on ordering other people around. He seemed everywhere at once – one minute talking to the different guards about rotating shifts, the next speaking to suppliers about medicines, bandages, and food, and then in a blink of an eye wading into the fore to physically separate squabbling nin of opposite Villages getting into fisticuffs. Sakumo always followed Danzo's limping footsteps, making mental notes of what duties and positions were being assigned to whom (and to lend a hand when it came to breaking up fights). As the appointed head of the shinobi guard (most of which was made up of only mildly-injured shinobi and uninjured genin), Sakumo was responsible for coordinating and rotating shifts of shinobi and samurai.
Kushina was kept busy distributing required supplies to each wagon – necessary medical supplies, fluids, snacks, and weapons – carefully following the detailed list provided by the med nin with nut-brown skin. Tsume eventually learned (and remembered) that the med nin's name was Tenkasu Kyou.
Tsume did her best to stay out of the way. She couldn't help Kushina or the others with stocking or distributing supplies because that required the use of her arms, Kokoro-chan still wasn't talking to her, and transferring wounded people into wagons so they would all be packed and ready to go first thing early next morning was a very loud, only slightly organized chaos. It didn't help that she couldn't remember most of the instructions that were initially given to her, since the surrounding racket was distracting and interfered with her ability to concentrate on her remembering skills.
She eventually just settled for sitting beneath the covered wagon Kokoro was parked in. She was surrounded by her four ninken, out of the way, but still able to marvel at the chaos and how people seemed to know where they belonged. She wished that she had that level of confidence and that much attention span.
Tsume smelled Orochimaru – and only him, as he strangely lacked scents from casual contact with other people and the environment – just before he slithered under the wagon beside her. The ninken didn't glance, snarl, growl, or raise their hackles at his presence. She figured that was a good sign.
"I wondered why Tsume-chan hasn't been to see me," Orochimaru began as he rested sideways on the ground. He supported his upper body with one arm propping him upward. Tsume glanced sideways at him, and thought she could feel the after sensation of teeth nipping her toe; let a guy sink his teeth into your toe once, and he suddenly got a lot more casual. "Imagine my surprise that Danzo-kun actually removed you from the brothel. That's very unlike him to consider the wellbeing of another person, and I had told you to stay there for years."
Tsume decided that ignorance was the best defense. "I don't remember that. I just remember being told that I was supposed to get the information of enemy forces, and then pass it on to the next person."
Orochimaru's eyes glimmered gold in the shade. "Indeed. Well, at least you were successful in that regard. I suppose it was all for the best that you have returned, since you inherit the clan head with the death of your sister and great-grandmother." There was a sibilant inflection in his words. "How very fortunate for you."
Tsume didn't want to think of being a clan head and ordering the adult Inuzuka women around, and the training that Hidarime had received but she didn't, and how the effects of her traumatic brain injury was going to influence her decisions and people's reactions. One step at a time, she told herself before dismissing her worries from her mind. She still had time to learn, and her sire had promised assistance with anything she needed. She bet that Shikake knew about running a clan – and Aunt Natsumi and Aunt Bashira and Oyubi wouldn't let her flounder. "I thought you left with the main forces."
"I did. This is just a kage bunshin." Oh, well, that probably explained why he smelled rather sterile. Except… didn't kage bunshin feel like real people with their chakra? This chakra was weird. "How are you feeling?" One of his hands brushed against hers, and he sounded like he genuinely cared. Tsume looked at him again, and blinked when an image of Grandmother superimposed over his face, eyes blank and scent disappointed and resigned.
She felt the prickling of her hair stirring on the back of her neck, and didn't know what the sensation meant or why she was feeling it. "Are you mad at me?" she blurted. He didn't smell mad, but she had been expecting it, given how things went down between him and Danzo.
Orochimaru studied her, blinking languidly like… like a cat, sitting upon a rock in the sun, quietly watching a near-by fluttering bird and waiting for the right moment to pounce. The smile that spread across his face was like a seeping blot of ink. "No, I'm not mad at you. After all, I cannot expect a twelve year old simpleton to be the mastermind behind the manipulation of certain events that better her fortunes."
Tsume scratched Shi behind his ears. "I'm… sorry? I didn't mean to. That, um, sounds way too complicated for me." She smelled jealously, thick and pungent, permeating the air. Orochimaru's scent remained sterile, though. She studied her ninken once again, who remained relaxed and sleepy.
Orochimaru rolled onto his back, his long hair pooling around his head on the ground. He was silent for a moment as he stared up at the wagon slots overhead. Feeling unusually bold, Tsume pinched a lock of his hair between the fingers of her left hand – yup, his hair was as sleek and smooth as Kushina's. She was instantly envious. "Who tinkered with your seal?" Orochimaru asked without looking at her.
Tsume concentrated on touching his hair. The strands were fine and thin, entirely unlike the stiff, wiry texture of her own hair. She bet Orochimaru never looked like a rabid hedgehog on his bad hair days. Then she wondered if he even had bad hair days, the lucky bastard. "Dunno. I passed out from chakra exhaustion after yanking the spine out of a Kumo nin, and when I woke up, they said it was all fixed."
"Ah. Jiraiya tinkered with it, then. Tell me – did he touch you?"
Tsume felt cold revulsion settle in the pit of her stomach – she remembering Jiraiya's naked chest hovering over her when she awoke in the cave. She watched wordlessly as Orochimaru's hair slid through her fingers like water as he sat upright and leaned close. His breath stirred against her cheek – he didn't smell like he had eaten or drank anything for weeks. "He did, didn't he?" Orochimaru's voice was soft and teasing. "I'm sure that his hands slid all over your body as the seal seized his senses. He probably couldn't get enough of you, stroking and petting you like the delicious little whore that you are. Tell me – did you enjoy seducing Danzo-kun? Did you love the way he took you on the same mattress you've shared with so many other men?"
Her hand trembled as she decided to draw her fingers through Shi's thick fur. None of the ninken were bothered by Orochimaru's close presence. He was the only man whom they didn't express any warning towards touching their new alpha mistress. And the odor of jealousy… it was coming from beyond Orochimaru. Beyond where, though?
Orochimaru circled around her, the warmth of his body radiating against hers. "Did it excite Danzo to bury himself hilt-deep in sloppy seconds?"
"I don't know." Something wasn't right. Something was dreadfully wrong.
"And did you ride him while Jiraiya watched, or did they take you both at once before they tampered with your seal?"
Tsume took a deep breath, and concentrated a moment on what her nose whispered, instead of what her heart screamed. The realization only made her heart scream even more. She pulled her hand away from Shi, and faced Orochimaru. "I'd tell you to ask them yourself, but you're nothing but a fake. Kai!" Orochimaru's face rippled for a moment, and then shattered as the genjutsu collapsed on itself. Tsume stared at the space where the illusion had been, and then pulled her knees up to her chest.
Aunt Bashira told her, perhaps a year after her brain injury happened, that the Inuzuka clan's olfaction was most famously used for tracking, but it was as easily useful for breaking illusions. ("Genjutsu is successful because humans are visual creatures who rely heavily on the reality that our eyes give us. The Hyuuga and the Uchiha clans rarely fall for illusions, and that's because they can see the chakra constructing the genjutsu. The Aburame clan's insects see the world through inhuman eyes, and entire colonies pass such information to the Aburame. We use our noses, so we don't need to see through genjutsu, no matter how they might play around with the rest of our mind. No illusion in the world can recreate all the different scents of reality. And if you've got a really good nose, Tsume-chan, you can even catch the scent of the genjutsu's caster.")
Tsume was all too aware of her limitations as a kunoichi. Her poor short-term memory meant that learning and memorizing jutsu were always going to be a monumental task; her genjutsu was lousy, her ninjutsu was horrid, and her taijutsu was sloppy – okay, deadly, she reconsidered as she remembered what ripping out a man's spine sounded like. Her chakra control varied from really good to really lousy, depending on her eagerness and how well she remembered not to overextend her limits.
Despite all of that, she had the best nose. It never lied to her, even if it took several moments for Tsume to realize that Orochimaru's lack of environmental scents was due to the genjutsu caster not knowing how everyone – humans, animals, inanimate objects alike – soaked up surrounding particles with their hair, skin, breath, and clothes, or how human emotions had odors. At least she could smell the odors of human emotions. Even a shadow clone would've been saturated with the environmental scents.
And Aunt Bashira was right – chakra, especially when used in a genjutsu, did have the same scent as the person using it.
The odor of jealousy still pervaded her environment.
Tsume was suddenly so painfully grateful that Danzo was getting her away from the wagon train during the daytime for tracking, because she didn't want to know what Kokoro-chan meant to do when she aimed that genjutsu on Tsume. Tsume hoped that the genjutsu just plucked surface worries from her mind, because she didn't know how else Kokoro would've obtained such information of Tsume's S-class mission or her seal.
Her current place under the wagon originally seemed a good place to spend the night. Sakumo knew where she was; Danzo didn't care, as long as she stayed out from underfoot, and the underside of the covered wagon had literally been just that. But this area clearly put her too close to Kokoro, and she didn't want to be on the receiving end of another cruel genjutsu.
Maybe if she stayed away from Kokoro, maybe that would make things better. "Not that it worked for Grandmother," she told Ichi as she stuck her supplies back into the packs secured to San's harness. "I just don't know what to do." She couldn't tell Sakumo, because she didn't want to force Sakumo to have to choose between which kunoichi he should side with, and Kokoro needed Sakumo's support a little more than Tsume did.
She followed her nose to the small tent that Team Jiraiya shared, even though it was currently empty. After all, Tsume knew that she had more friends and support that Kokoro did. Minato wouldn't care if he had to share his bedroll with her again. If he asked, she would tell him the truth… she felt like she was drowning, and needed him to toss her a lifeline.
oOoOoOo
The new day was promising to dawn bright and clear, and the wagon camp was ready to start forward just as soon as the draft horses were hitched. Danzo's horse was gigantic, and his shiny coat, so dark a grey it was almost black, gleamed even in the dim light. The horse's neck was thick and short, his legs tapering into a light feathering of longer hair. Tsume reached a hand out to pet the white forelock, and dodged the hoof that lashed out at her only because Ichi leapt out of the way. She kept her seat with judiciously-applied chakra.
"Good boy," Tsume told Ichi with an approving scratch behind the ears.
Danzo glared over the horse's back from the other side. "This is not a pet, Tsume," he said between gritted teeth. "This is a war horse, bred and trained for battle. He will kick your head in, and that would only cause another traumatic brain injury – or worsen the one you already have. Stay out of reach."
Tsume hardly listened as she watched with excited admiration. Ichi was large, as far as ninken went, but that was a horse, magnificent even amongst the samurai battle horses – a pure Percheron, someone had nervously described the horse to Danzo as the man dumped the riding gear at Danzo's feet, and then retreated in a haze of fear. She had only ever before seen horses up-close when ridden by the Fire Daimyo and his entourage whenever he visited the Hokage, but those horses seemed gangly and plain in her admittedly spotty memory. This horse's mane – long, grey-black, and sleek just like his coat – was braided neatly and held in place with leather straps. Ichi, she told herself, was also sleek and beautiful, even if his tail wasn't separated in ten individual braids weighted down with miniature spiked maces. (Tsume made a mental note to try hiding sharp objects in her hair, just in case an enemy ever tried to grab her there. She lost enough brushes and ties in her wild mane to know that this could be an amazingly successful defensive measure.)
Danzo swore under his breath and jammed his shoulder into the horse's side. Then he smacked the horse's nose as he attempted to bite Danzo. "Stop sucking air, you worthless cow!" Danzo pulled the cinch strap tighter after the horse maliciously farted.
"What's his name?" Tsume asked.
"Damned if I know. His owner fell in battle and Mifune-dono said that I'm probably the only one with the balls to mount him."
Tsume had been there last night when Mifune spoke with Danzo. ("Jiraiya-san himself advised me not to let you do any excess running or leaping to prevent further damage to your hamstring. Or you could get yourself to one of the healers. No? Then take the horse or be benched in a wagon. It's your choice, Shimura-san.") Danzo hadn't been pleased with being forced to take a horse, and was even more displeased now that he was meeting the horse for the first time.
Tsume had fallen head over heels love at first sight; Danzo and the stallion just fell into mutually-shared hate.
Tsume would give just about anything to ride the horse, but she supposed the inability to feel fear wasn't the same as having balls. She bet she'd stay mounted better than Danzo, though. She had been practicing lots with Ichi. "Can we call him Juubi?"
Danzo grunted as the horse clubbed him in the face with a toss of his head as Danzo attempted to put on the bridal and reigns. "Oh hell no, we are not naming him after any mythological ten-tailed demon." Danzo swiped blood away from his newly split lip, and then braced himself. "That's just an invitation for trouble."
She thought that Juubi was a fine name for such a regal animal. "Does he even have a name?"
"Yeah – disobedient cow." Tsume decided that Juubi was a much more superior name than Disobedient Cow. Danzo's naming skills were clearly as bad as his cooking skills. "Now, hold still." Danzo mounted the horse. As he settled in the saddle, the horse's ears went dangerously flat, and Tsume detected the warning shift – it was very much like her ninken.
"Hold on," she suggested to Danzo with a sing-song voice.
He eyed her as he gathered the reigns in his hands. "What are – shit!" The horse reared up and twisted with an ear-splitting scream, slamming Danzo into a nearby fence post. Danzo threw up an arm to shield his head and back from Juubi's lashing tail – the studded maces tore bloody strips from it.
Tsume remembered the genjutsu that her clan used on unruly puppies (and occasionally wild wolves, dogs, and angry men – or so Oyubi once hinted), and attempted to cast it on Juubi. It missed the horse, but Danzo swayed sideways in the saddle, blinked, and shook his head almost drunkenly. "Whaaaaat….?"
And then Sakumo was snatching Juubi's harness, his voice soft and cajoling, in direct contrast to his strained biceps as he pulled tight to bring Juubi's head under control. "Down, boy, down. That's a good boy." The stallion screamed in rage again as he reared up. Sakumo dangled in the air, legs kicking free, for a wild moment.
Danzo broke the genjutsu and glared at Tsume so hard that Ichi growled in warning. Danzo turned to Sakumo. "Give me the reins."
"Would you like to consider a different horse?" Sakumo asked rapidly, his voice a near-whisper as the stallion dropped forward. He secured his feet firmly on the ground with chakra. "I think this one intends to kill you."
Danzo growled as his eye flickered towards Tsume. "Not if my teammate succeeds first. Give me the damn reigns. If he does manage to kill me, do me a favor and aim this creature at our enemies." The horse bucked forward, ripping a piece of Sakumo's arm off with his teeth and almost unseating Danzo at the same time.
Tsume quickly roamed through her pockets until she found the half-wilted carrot from breakfast that she had tucked away for a later snack. "Why not feed Juubi treats?" she asked, holding the carrot aloft. It limply flopped sideways in her hand – maybe she stuffed it in her pocket at dinner time last night? She really needed to reconsider her laundry and snack routines, but waved the carrot nonetheless. "Bribery always works with the dogs." Cousin Shinchuu always said that the way through a man and a dog's heart was through their stomachs. Tsume couldn't see why the same wouldn't also be true for enraged war horses.
"A carrot isn't going to resolve this! And stop calling him Juubi – fuck!" Danzo swore several more times as the horse slammed sideways into another pole, crushing his left leg between solid wood and a ton of solid horse mass. Sakumo dug in his heels as the ground beneath his chakra-latch shattered. He yanked hard to bring the horse's head under control, hands slick from the blood streaming from his arm.
"Oh, but he's just romping. He's got a playful side just like a dog!"
"Fuckingsonofabitch!" Danzo pushed himself and Juubi away from the post with one arm. The wood splintered from the chakra-enhanced force he applied with his hand.
Tsume watched for several moments longer as two S-class Konoha nin got their butts kicked by a horse she would label as an alpha, and then decided it was probably best to retreat further backwards. She didn't want to be underfoot, after all. She felt smug knowing that Ichi was responsive and obedient to her, and she had three other ninken to act as attackers, so there, Danzo!
She found Kushina hanging out with Kokoro, both seated on the dropped tail of their covered wagon, their legs dangling free. "Where's Sakumo-sensei?" Kushina asked. Kushina swung her legs; Kokoro's legs looked like swollen noodles.
"He and Danzo are romping with Danzo's new horse," Tsume said. She studied Kushina and Kokoro for a moment. Kokoro bent forward and spread her arms wide to maintain her balance. Her movement also took up all the remaining free space on the wagon gate in an aggressive display of territorialism. Kushina glanced at Kokoro and then gave Tsume an apologetic shrug. Tsume shrugged back, not willing to force Kushina to decide between her and Kokoro.
"Minato was looking for you," Kushina said suddenly as Tsume turned aside Ichi's head.
"Mooncalf? What does he want?"
"Well, he saw me earlier to say goodbye." Color stained Kushina's cheeks red, but she smelled happy – not embarrassed. "He said… He said he liked my red hair." She stroked said red hair absently as a silly smile crossed her face.
"Kushina-chan does have nice hair," Tsume said, and decided that maybe Mooncalf wasn't half-bad if he liked Kushina's hair. Not that Tsume didn't already like Minato, but this was just an added bonus. (She was a little put out with the fact that Minato had managed to steal Tsume's blanket in the middle of the night, never mind the fact that he had his own. He looked like an egg roll when Tsume awoke, feeling chilled. She stole his pillow out of retaliation and snuggled up with Hotaru instead.) She nudged Ichi forward and followed her nose. Minato's scent was cool and somewhat distant – still channeling nature chakra, or whatever it was called, she guessed – but she didn't have any difficulty tracking him down. He and his genin teammates were waiting by one of the camp parameters, marked by the small red pole that jutted out of the ground. Minato and Hotaru stood straight, and Osamu crouched with his weight evenly distributed on his heels. They all turned and looked at her at once; they looked like a well-oiled machine, absolutely trusting one part to function and support the others.
"Hey, Kushina-chan said that you wanted to see me."
Minato studied her silently for a moment, and then grinned. "Got used to riding someone after a few days on my back?" His bright blue eyes sparkled with mirth, and Tsume knew he was only trying to make her smile.
Remembering what the genjutsu-Orochimaru had said, Tsume decided it was best not to tell Minato that she had gotten used to riding someone in the last four months, so why bother changing now? But Mooncalf and the others were like Kushina – innocent. Tsume wanted to protect that. Her answering smile was strained. "I guess. But they don't smell as nicely as you do, so I'll have to buy your brand of shampoo when we get back to Konoha."
Minato's smile dropped away. He shuffled his feet, looking shy and awkward as he scratched the back of his neck. "Yeah, about that. I wanted to tell you… Look, Tsume, I just want you to know that the last week we've been together, with all that's happened, I'm really glad you're on our side. You know, Konohagakure's." She wasn't used to seeing Minato appear so unsure of himself. "I thought you always played it up being tough in the Academy, with all your fighting and loud arguments. But, now, I know you weren't playing, and I don't know if I could ever measure up to just how strong you really are. So it has been an honor to fight at your side, and I look forward to being your teammate in the future. Thank you." He extended a fist out to Tsume. "Fist bump?" he asked with an uncertain expression.
Tsume eyed him. "It's okay to be a Mooncalf with ridiculous dandelion hair. You don't have to be tough, like me." He had chased away the void when it was ready to consume her, and he did it with weapons fashioned from kindness and understanding. He was generous and congenial, especially when she desperately floundered in deep waters. You know, the world would be a lot better off if there were more of you, Mooncalf.
Minato's face scrunched up, but his fist remained extended. "Ridiculous d-dandelion hair?"
"Sure, why not?" She fist-bumped very carefully with her left hand. "Does this mean we're friends?"
"We weren't before?"
She punched him in the shoulder, forgetting to be careful, and then winced at the echo of pain in her arm. "Silly Mooncalf," she said, pretending like that didn't hurt. "I don't willingly share my bed with people who aren't my friends."
His expression changed for just a blink – his eyes narrowed with a dark glint as his mouth shaped the word, willingly – and then it morphed back, open and friendly. Tsume was almost unsure that his face had even changed, if not for the matching spike of anger in his scent. "I wish you the best of luck back to Konoha, and would ask that you look out for Kushina – don't want her to get kidnapped again – but I know that you Inuzuka women tend to be overprotective and possessive." He gave her a sheepish grin. "I guess that's one of the reasons why I want to be friends with you."
Tsume didn't know what to say to that, not if he was on to what happened to her, so she punched him in the shoulder, this time in warning, and ruffled his hair. It was still fluffy and soft. "I can look out for both of us, no problem."
He studied her for a moment. "And who's going to look out for you?"
"My ninken. I can trust 'em more than most people, even if they were Grandmother's. And Sakumo-sensei, and Danzo – I know they won't let anything bad happen to me, if they can help it."
Minato solemnly nodded his head, as if confirming something to himself. "Good. Everyone needs someone to look out for them, and you've got the best. And may the Sage of Six Paths help you for putting up with Danzo – that alone takes a miracle."