Litter of Misfits

by Minnionette

A naked, 3 year old Naruto wandering into her dog kennels in the middle of the night? That was a shock. Inuzuka Tsume latching onto this stray and claiming him as her own? Not a shock. After all, Naruto isn't the first naked, abandoned stray that Tsume kept, and Danzo would eat the Hokage's hat if Naruto is the last stray she ever brings home. Want Of A Nail AU (VERY dark themes.)

22. Alpha Years - Chapter Nineteen

Author's notes: I think I've finally figured out what makes Tsume such a great character to write, especially when you compare her to the other canon characters,

Danzo: /tragedy happens/ I KIDNAP ORPHANS AND BUILD MY OWN UNDERGROUND ARMY. WOE. MANIPULATION. TORTURE.

Sasuke: /tragedy happens/ MUST BECOME POWERFUL. MISERY. EMO.

Kakashi: /tragedy happens/ ALL WHOM I LOVE WIND UP DEAD. ANGST. MISERY. GUILT.

Tsume: /tragedy happens/ Coooool, a horse! :D

BTW, the Alpha Years clocks in at 170k words. The last two chapters are about 30k together. None of this includes the author's notes.

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It took one day for Mifune and his samurai army to unpack, restock, and depart Konoha, and one day after that for a lone stallion to come trotting up to the gigantic walls of Konoha. One unfortunate chuunin manning the gate nearly had his arm ripped off by said lone stallion when he tried to collect the dangling reigns. Another chuunin had a broken ribcage when the horse kicked him as the second chuunin tried defending the first chuunin.

"Who's a good Juubi?" Tsume was seated on Juubi's back and hugged his neck awkwardly, trying to get her right arm around the broad neck as she stroked the silky fur with her left hand. "Yes, you're a good Juubi!"

Aunt Natsumi watched from the entrance, her arms crossed in front of her. Sakumo had Kakashi balanced on his right hip and looked as uncertain as he smelled. Aunt Bashira, on the other hand, stroked Juubi's flanks with a look of wonder on her face. "Do you need another carrot?" Aunt Natsumi called. Kuromaru looked torn between staying beside Kakashi, and joining Tsume in the saddle, regardless of how he wouldn't be able to fit. Sakumo had already sternly nixed Tsume's brilliant idea of having Kakashi join her.

Tsume giggled with delight and wiggled around on the saddle until it felt like her pelvis wasn't going to split. Juubi looked like he needed another carrot – and a full bucket of oats, and maybe some alfalfa. Poor Juubi. He must've run so far to come back. "Sure!" She caught the carrot that Aunt Natsumi tossed, and then leaned forward, arm outstretched, to offer the carrot within the reach of his teeth. Juubi arched his head and nickered softly before he accepted the carrot. Then he went back to grazing on the long grass growing in the ditch beside the road. Juubi seemed to appreciate how Aunt Bashira stroked his withers.

"Well," Sakumo began, "I expect to hear word from Mifune-dono as soon as he sends back our messenger hawk, but I think we need to get a forehead protector for Juubi." He sighed. "Did he come back for you, or for the captain?" Danzo had disappeared the moment he entered Konoha – per Tsume's nose, he was camped outside the Hokage's office, and wasn't likely to move until the Hokage eventually returned from the Capital.

"He came," Aunt Bashira said, moving to Juubi's head, "for Tsume. My, you are a magnificent creature aren't you?" Her voice purred with delight as Juubi lifted his head to acknowledge Aunt Bashira. She lovingly rubbed Juubi's muzzle.

Tsume combed her left fingers through Juubi's shiny black mane, and tried to work the knots loose. Juubi shook his braided tail placidly. "I can share with Danzo if Juubi wants." Tsume had figured out some of Juubi's body language in the time she spent with him, and could read enough to know that Juubi was pleased and satisfied to be back with Tsume. She had also known, by his scent, that Juubi had kinda-maybe-sorta liked Danzo, even though Danzo most certainly-absolutely-really hated Juubi. Of all the creatures Tsume was familiar with, Juubi reminded her more of a cat than a dog – he was headstrong, proud, and likely only did what his rider wanted because it coincided with what he wanted.

"Medic," gasped the chuunin with the shattered ribcage. Natsumi reluctantly turned to him, her hands glowing green with her rarely-used healing techniques.

However, Juubi was still Juubi, no matter how Danzo thought that the horse was a cow. Tsume was raised on the Tale of the First Mother, and adored the idea of having her very own ten-tailed beast.

"And just where are you going to put him?" Sakumo asked.

Tsume thought a moment as she rocked upright in the saddle. Gosh, the world seemed really far away from Juubi's back. She felt oddly superior for being so much taller than Sakumo and Aunt Natsumi. "We can keep him in the kennels."

Aunt Natsumi snorted. "Yeah, that would go over well with the pack."

Well, Juubi hadn't disliked Grandmother's ninken. Tsume didn't see why it would be a bother. Aunt Bashira's original guardians were horses and would probably take good care of Juubi if Tsume was busy. It would work out perfectly.

"Oyubi is allergic to horses – her eyes get all watery, and then she sneezes everywhere. Hiji doesn't like horses, and Megumi still hasn't forgiven the Fire Daimyo's horse for nearly biting off her fingers, even if she doesn't have that hand anymore anyway. No, Tsume-chan, the pack isn't going to like this at all." Oh, that pack. "Just because you're now the alpha head doesn't mean you're free to make any and all decisions. You have to consider the repercussions of your choices, and how they will affect everyone in the clan."

Tsume stroked Juubi's shoulder. He was as much a part of her pack as Cousin Megumi's potted pet cactus – more so, in fact. Cousin Megumi's cactus had a tendency to bite Tsume whenever she tried petting it; at least Juubi generally kept his teeth to himself. At least for people he liked. "Could Danzo keep him for me?" she asked plaintively. Juubi nuzzled Aunt Bashira's white hair.

Sakumo choked, coughed, and then laughed despite himself. "I-I'm just trying to imagine the look on the captain's face when he walks into his house and finds a warhorse standing in the kitchen."

Tsume had no difficulty imagining the look on Danzo's face, and giggled. "I don't think Juubi would like Danzo's kitchen." Before she could ask another question, a genin from the bird post stepped through the gates. He carefully skirted the other chuunin that Aunt Natsumi was busy healing, and handed Sakumo a piece of paper. Kakashi peered at it curiously as Sakumo unfolded the paper.

"It says, 'the warhorse is yours, best of luck to Danzo.' Also, I don't think that Juubi would like Danzo's living room any more than he would the kitchen."

"Does Danzo have a yard or a garden?"

Sakumo stroked his chin in thought, as Aunt Natsumi told the chuunin to stop fussing, four broken ribs weren't that bad, especially when they hadn't pierced the man's lung. "Well, he does," Sakumo began reluctantly, "and I suspect that it really needs to be mowed, but it's awfully small, and Juubi has very long legs, and needs a place to run."

Tsume thought a moment, her legs swinging free, and then nodded her head as she reached a decision. "You're right. And so's Aunt Natsumi."

"Soooooo…" Sakumo rubbed his chin as he studied Aunt Bashira, whose eyes were heavy-lidded as she continued to inspect Juubi. "I'm sensing that you know there's something more to Juubi than the rest of us have figured."

Aunt Bashira's smile was as pointy as Aunt Natsumi's, as she flashed her teeth in a fearsome grin. "He's half horse, half summon. I've never seen the like before, and I am delighted."

Oh. Huh. Tsume knew that Aunt Bashira's favored spirit guardians and summon were horses, but she hadn't made the connection between that and Juubi until now. Perfect! She bet that Aunt Bashira would give her loads of information on the Proper Care and Feeding of Questionably Demonic Horses. "I know where we can keep Juubi!" She dug her heels into Juubi's side and clicked her tongue the way that she had seen some of the other samurai. Kuromaru barked and left his post beside Kakashi. He ran circles around Juubi as Tsume urged Juubi through the open gates and towards her sire's forest.

After all, Shikake has said that Tsume was as much Nara as she was Inuzuka, and Juubi looked more like a deer than he did a dog. "I bet that Juubi would love to frolic with the deer!"

And for some reason, that made Sakumo nearly double-over in laughter. Well, she liked the sound and smell of Sakumo's cheer much more than she did his grief and regret. Tsume felt, as she rode Danzo's demon-of-a-horse through Konoha, that things were going to be all right.

oOoOoOo

Danzo stood rigid and stared at a spot over Hiruzen's head as Hiruzen wordlessly studied Orochimaru's written report. Hiruzen's left index finger periodically tapped the desk's surface, which was cluttered with a somewhat battered tea set, other stacks of paperwork, and his Hokage's hat. The report wasn't that long, but the time the Hokage spent studying the report was abnormally lengthy. He wondered if Hiruzen had fallen asleep with his eyes open.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Hiruzen sighed and leaned back in his chair. He still wore his battle uniform, having gone straight to his office upon his arrival in Konoha, and had found Danzo literally camped outside the locked office with the report. Danzo had sponge-bathed in the public bathroom and ordered takeout in the week he waited for Hiruzen's return, and menaced any staff that attempted to remove him from the premises.

Hiruzen folded his fingers together into a steeple and studied Danzo for another long, silent moment. "It's a very damning report, Danzo," Hiruzen said. It seemed highly inappropriate that the day outside should be bright and sunny, that shrieks of laughter could be heard faintly from the Academy's training fields just below the Hokage's open window. The Fuuinjutsu privacy seals on the windowsill allowed sound to enter through the window, but not to escape from the room.

Danzo still burned with humiliated resentment from having to personally hand-deliver Orochimaru's very damning report to the Hokage. And since it had been chakra-sealed, Danzo didn't dare open it up and read the contents before handing it over. "I'm sure it is, just as I'm sure that Orochimaru wrote nothing but the truth." Knowing Orochimaru, Danzo just doubted it was the entirety of the truth.

"Interference in a Black Ops that you've only been read into peripherally, especially interference of this level and extent, is intolerable. The time, the effort, the long-reaching effect you have just so utterly and completely destroyed. A process that was years in planning, undone in mere moments. I really needn't tell you this – you've run enough Black Ops to understand the gravity of your interference."

Danzo gritted his teeth. "Yes, sir. Absolutely reprehensible."

"I've given you a lot of leeway over the years, my friend. Leeway that hasn't been extended to others. Your movements and leadership in ANBU is unprecedented given the loose and informal hierarchy, but I've always allowed it without worry – well, too much worry – despite our philosophical differences. You will use any and all means to achieve your ends and I worry about said means. However, I've always trusted that your ends are ultimately the same as my ends, that Konoha's survival and the Will of Fire guide our purposes." Hiruzen's eyes glinted as he shook his head in disapproval. "But to interfere with a Black Ops that isn't even run within the parameters of ANBU, to deliberately meddle outside your shinobi division and the structure of your command without the full scope of the operation – that is beyond the pale, even for you, Shimura Danzo."

Danzo remained unmoving from his rigid stance, gaze still trained upon the spot above Hiruzen's head. "I hold myself completely accountable, especially in overstepping my bounds." In the lower end of his vision, he saw Hiruzen slump tiredly and press a hand over his eyes.

"Certainly, this is something that must be dealt with, and with all the severity such a breach of protocol demands. The least I should do is strip you from ANBU and permanently break you down in rank to special-jounin, or better yet, chuunin, as a lesson that you cannot overstep your bounds, especially you of all people. You who train the new recruits and constantly enforce that the mission must come first, and to not question the orders from your superiors."

Danzo felt like his teeth were going to shatter in his jaw. "I deserve nothing less." It would be deeply humiliating, but he would survive, just as he survived worse. Just as Tsume had survived worse. ("He w-wasn't supposed to see!") Twelve years old, his mind whispered in repeated echoes. TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD.

"That's just the problem now, isn't it?" Hiruzen brushed the report off his desk and indicated the chair that was positioned on the other side. "Please, Danzo, sit. As much as I enjoy watching you squirm, I can't very well reprimand you if you're going to pass out on me."

"I'd prefer standing, sir." Danzo resented that Hiruzen was behaving like an old friend and comrade, instead of his commanding officer and leader of the Hidden Village. "And I'm not going to pass out." And he wasn't squirming. How could he, when he wasn't moving at all?

"Then I declare that as part of your punishment, you must sit." He pointed firmly at the chair. "Now."

Danzo moved slowly, but he obeyed. He continued to resolutely stare at a spot above Hiruzen's head instead of meeting his friend's eyes, even after he was seated.

"I find myself in a difficult position. I must trust the word of my student – an orphan whom I helped raise, an apprentice that I have trained for many years – whom I truly believed was competent to handle this. I must also trust my long-developed instincts that say the friend, whom I've trained and ran missions with and worked side by side for decades, has a very valid reason for pulling this unprecedented stunt. My student has had a chance to say – or write, rather – his piece, and now I extend the same to my friend."

Danzo did his best to ignore the chill that zipped up and down his spine. "You wouldn't offer this courtesy if I were anyone else." He remembered Jiraiya's statement on how Danzo was the only person in the entire village to receive such leeway from the Hokage. The memory of such twisted his gut with almost as much guilt as the memory of Tsume's blood.

"But that's just it, Danzo. If you were anyone else, I doubt there would've been interference in the first place. Besides, Jiraiya sent me a toad with a very short message that I should hear you out, so I know something is going on, and Kagami gave me that look of his when I entered the building – you know which look."

Danzo could guess at the look. No doubt Kagami had given Hiruzen the I'll pin Danzo down if you'll try talking some sense into him look. Uchiha Kagami had an entire language of looks in his arsenal, skillfully honed over a number of years as he operated in a position that was greatly disliked since its conception under the First Hokage. His face was usually so placid and benign – the better at which to surprise people into cooperating with his investigations – but he had developed the language in their youth out of self-defense because Natsumi had such excellent hearing.

Danzo had been on the receiving end of, I know you did something stupid again, but you're probably blowing it way out of proportion like you always do, Danzo, multiple times at the wagon train. The look had been enough; Danzo had been careful not to have any words alone with Kagami, lest the dark rage simmering beneath his breast explode into a firestorm.

The silence dragged on; Danzo resolutely refused to volunteer anything.

The Hokage sighed. "Oh for crying out loud… Now," Hiruzen leaned forward, his arms flat on the table, "did you knowingly and maliciously interfere with an active and currently successful Black Ops that was in no danger of being discovered by the enemy?"

"Yes."

"Do you agree that you knew Inuzuka Tsume and her life was in no more danger at the time you met her than at the start of her assigned mission?"

Danzo knotted his hands together and mulled over his answer. Due to the deliberate placement of the seal, he couldn't say that she was in any more danger of being raped when he yanked her out of the mission than when she was assigned. Hell, being yanked from the Black Ops sure didn't save her in the ravine. "When worded like that, yes."

Hiruzen made an impatient noise and spread his hands in question. "But clearly there was something you saw that jeopardized the mission, something that required the decision to immediately abort."

The thick wall Danzo had built to contain his emotions in the last month was beginning to crumble in the face of his friend's concern. The emotions were clawing at him, begging him to lose control. Hiruzen and Sakumo were always somehow managing to tear down the walls. Kagami, at least, respected Danzo enough to let Danzo wallow freely in his own misery. Damn Hiruzen. Always unable to mind your own business. Danzo pinched the bridge of his nose as his mind went to the heart of the matter. "Inuzuka Tsume is twelve years old."

"Well, yes. That was the point, believe it or not. Her youth was the reason for being assigned to this mission – young, innocent, hardly threatening, absolutely incapable of seduction like the last eight Konoha kunoichi we've sent, so she wouldn't garner the suspicion or attention that the others did. With such a remarkable nose, her youth wasn't going to be a factor in her success or not. She didn't require the use of chakra, or had a bloodline that could be detected. All she had was what we needed: a talented, sensitive nose, in a person who wouldn't be poking it close to where it killed the other kunoichi."

Danzo couldn't stop the bark of disbelieving laughter that tore from his lips. "This Black Ops was nothing more than a fucking farce." Restless now but still feeling brittle and rigid inside, Danzo fidgeted in his chair, clenching and unclenching his fists. "I don't even know where to begin if you were so willing to allow this to happen to a twelve year old! You, of all people!" Hiruzen was supposed to be the better man – he had always been more noble, more honorable than Danzo, always beyond his reach. What did it mean if Danzo, who had willingly brutalized an innocent child, was better than Hiruzen? It meant that almost forty years of understanding his best friend were wasted…

"Tsume was in the best place she could be to help Konoha, and by your own admission she wasn't in any undue danger. Something else bothers you." Danzo tore away his gaze when he saw Hiruzen's gentle concern. "Spit it out, then. I see you're only trying to find a nice way of breaking the news to me, but such a kindness is unbecoming on you." Danzo snatched his hand back as Hiruzen covered it with one of his own. He wanted to claw the lingering touch off his skin.

Danzo jumped to his feet and whirled around, knocking the chair over. "Did you deliberately send Tsume there, knowing that—?" He slammed a fist into the wall and forced himself to take a deep breath.

Losing his temper with the Hokage was unprecedented for him. Unless they had to share blankets, because everyone but Biwako eventually lost their tempers with Hiruzen's persistent blanket theft. Even Kagami, ever patient and ever nonchalant, had contemplated murder when they were thirteen years old. ("If we smother him with the blanket, we can always tell Tobirama-sensei that it was the natural progression of stealing too much material. We could totally get away with it, Danzo. And why are we always losing the rock paper scissors? Why can't he share bedrolls with his original teammates?")

Danzo's laugh was brief and bitter. "Of course you did. But how would you know to do otherwise, when her own clan was ignorant?" He turned and faced Hiruzen, who hadn't moved from his chair. "A month ago, for breakfast, you drank oolong tea with some cream and two cubes of sugar, and you ate a still-green banana with some sugar sprinkled on it. Ink-stained sugar, Tsume said, which meant that you had been signing papers before you even got around to putting the sugar on the banana in the first place. From a distance of eight hundred kilometers, as her chakra maxed her olfactory sensitivity to one hundred percent, Inuzuka Tsume told me exactly what you were eating and drinking while in the company of Uchiha Fugaku, Uchiha Chimon, and Kagami. She also told me what each Uchiha had for breakfast."

Hiruzen's mouth was agape in surprise as he leaned back in his chair. "Truly. A month ago?" He concentrated for a moment. "That's eerie, as she was correct with what I ate and drank. I spoke to those three because it was the morning that the Fire Daimyo called me to the Capital. I knew she was one of the best in the clan, but – eight hundred kilometers, are you sure of that?" A look of terror crossed his face. "By the Sage of Six Paths, just how strong is her sense of smell?"

Danzo flashed his teeth in a vicious smile. "Remarkable, indeed, but I can't tell you just how good she is, because I don't know. I estimate her sensitivity is at least two thousand times greater than a ninken's. She was able to detect and track our kidnapped jinchuuriki from five countries away – neither of us knew how or why Uzumaki Kushina wound up in the company of Kumo nin, and I crossed those countries with Tsume on tow, with no other intel but what her nose gave us, because no one else seemed close to rescuing her."

Danzo raked a hand through his hair. He wanted to choke Hiruzen. "I obtained the same level of Intel that Tsume got in that brothel in Earth just by planting her on a hill outside an ANBU relief station in Whirlpool, and making her sniff at one hundred percent olfaction! And that's the saddest part of all this, Hiruzen." He struggled to find suitable words that sounded as condemning as the situation was. "If anyone in the Inuzuka clan had taken even a moment to measure Tsume's true strength and abilities, the mission would've been better tailored to suit her."

"Poor mission parameters when there was no danger of discovery was not exactly the acceptable reason I was looking for, Danzo, but given her nose…" Hiruzen was pale. "I never imagined such a thing could be done. I can see why you removed her – she could successfully gather Intel with her nose from a safe distance, instead of in the midst of danger. Eight hundred kilometers… By all the gods, such a talent cannot be allowed to fall into the hands of our enemies, so you made an appropriate judgment call. And you're right – it was a grave error to send her, not knowing the extent of her olfaction."

Huh. Well, that was easy.

Danzo could end the conversation there. With a simple nod of the head, a murmur of assent, the matter would be safely concluded with Danzo's reputation safely intact, unless Jiraiya followed up with his own report – Danzo doubted such, however, since Jiraiya hadn't apparently supplied the Hokage specific information to ask Danzo. Orochimaru would never dare to discuss a closed Black Ops with Hiruzen, and that would be that.

Hiruzen would never know the level of corruption to which Danzo had fallen, the filth that stained his soul. The secrets could remain hidden in the shadows, never brought to light.

And the coin that bought Danzo's intact respect from his friend was a brutalized twelve year old girl who never deserved to be placed in a brothel. Danzo couldn't predict where Tsume's simple-albeit-unconventional thoughts would take her in the years to come, or how the lingering trauma would continue to shape her. He still didn't know how she could absorb the rape in the ravine, and yet only be concerned with Sakumo's witness.

How bad had life truly been in the brothel that Tsume was able to shrug off the ravine like it was nothing more than as if she twisted her ankle in a training exercise?

His reputation wasn't worth that price – not when Tsume had already paid an unnecessary wage. He owed her too much, and Danzo couldn't tolerate personal debts of any sort. "Hiruzen, she could have easily gathered all the Intel we needed on our enemy forces from Grass."

If Danzo remained silent, the Hokage would never truly know or appreciate the level of torture his kunoichi had to endure. It wasn't fair.

Hiruzen sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'm aware of that now. But as you said, not even her clan knew. I'd wager that they would never have considered such a thing possible. We've tried multiple Inuzuka trackers in the region before, and they didn't even catch a whiff of an army within a hundred kilometers, much less what their Hokage was eating or drinking from eight hundred kilometers away." He twitched, still trying to comprehend what it must be like to smell dinner cooking in the next room, except from across the other side of the world.

"Do you know what it cost Tsume to obtain that Intel, where you had assigned her?"

Hiruzen went very still, and his eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I'm aware of the danger she was in, being alone and without backup, but we had made arrangements for her to enjoy the dogs kept at Madame Haori's Palace of Pleasure. It placed her directly in the midst of the shinobi where she could obtain the information without asking questions." He sighed again. "It was the best I could do for her, although I'm sure that the kennel dogs were a poor substitute for Kuromaru."

Danzo felt a wry smile twist his mouth – somehow, Tsume still blundered where she was supposed to. "You'd be pleased to know that she did make friends with the dogs – even the strays from the alley. She told them not to track us when we left, and they obeyed."

"You're still not telling me something."

Danzo felt old and tired as he retreated further into the shadows. That was where he belonged – the Hokage belonged in the sunlight, where he always remained beyond Danzo's reach – far, far beyond.

Resentment once more butted against shame – why should Hiruzen's innocence be protected when Tsume's had been sold?

But was Hiruzen even innocent when he had directed Orochimaru in the first place to sell Tsume into prostitution in the first place? Orochimaru would've known that Tsume wasn't an ideal prostitute, but Danzo couldn't guess whether the siren seal was Orochimaru's idea or Hiruzen's. Danzo opened his mouth to speak, but remained silent because he still couldn't shape the appropriate words.

"Well." Hiruzen settled back in his chair and reached for the other stack of paperwork in clear dismissal. "If you're not going to say anything, I'm not going to pry it from you."

With a jolt of adrenaline, Danzo realized his hesitancy wasn't because he wanted to protect Hiruzen, or even obtain justice for Tsume.

He wanted Hiruzen to bleed. He wanted his friend to hurt like Danzo had, when his world had shattered at the sight of stark blood stains smearing his body. (TWELVE YEARS OLD TWELVE FUCKING YEARS OLD.) He wanted Hiruzen's soul to shrivel to ash the same way his had when he looked at that fragile, naked girl, bleeding and hurting as she curled up and cried beneath Sakumo's shirt at the bottom of a dark ravine. Danzo wanted the Will of Fire to burn in filth and decay. He wanted Hiruzen ravaged with the same guilt and shame that had clung to Danzo for the last thousand kilometers, that continued to claw his insides even now.

"You realize she cannot report or explain anything to anyone, and has nothing to show for what she did," Danzo said, amazed that his voice was steady despite the rage that crawled through his veins. "I did tell her that was the nature of the beast when it comes to Black Ops, but it's still not right."

Hiruzen sighed and cradled his chin against the palm of his hand. He looked old and tired. "You know there's nothing to be done about that, Danzo."

"But think about the cost of that to a twelve year old genin, Hiruzen. Just for even a moment. Think of us when we were at that age." What other dark, filthy things had Hiruzen done to Konoha's shinobi without Danzo realizing it?

"I'd rather not think of us at that age, because then I'd have to think about Tobirama and Natsumi." Hiruzen's expression was suspicious. "It's very unlike you to request glory or recognition for anyone who's just fulfilling their duty."

Danzo restlessly paced in the shadows. "She gave what was asked of her, without resentment, without fear, and without hate, even when that which was freely offered was brutally torn from her."

"Ah." The Hokage dropped his hand away. "I see now where this is going."

"No, you don't. Think for a moment, Hiruzen. A twelve year old genin's very first mission is an S Rank Black Ops – cut-your-throat classified, beyond her skills level. She spends four months in the field, and receives nothing in return – no recognition, no promotions or recommendations in her file, nothing worthwhile. These are the expectations we have for our experienced adult shinobi, expectations that they are aware of when they accept the mission – except they would get paid S rank, and she won't because that much money would garner too many questions. It's not the standard we have ever held for a baby-faced adolescent who hadn't even received her forehead protector yet."

"Do you doubt my ingenuity when it comes to paying someone under the table?" Hiruzen tapped his fingers against the surface of his desk. "I can see this matter has been bothering you for a great while. And it bothers me that it's bothering you, because this is very uncharacteristic of Shimura Danzo."

Danzo stopped, and then folded his arms before himself. "So you think you know me that well?" He wasn't arguing on behalf of Tsume; he was building a tower from which he'd shove off Hiruzen.

Hiruzen gave Danzo an exasperated look as he pulled his pipe out of a desk drawer and stuffed it with fresh tobacco. "We have been friends, companions, comrades-in-arms for nigh forty years, Danzo, before either of us even became ninjas. I feel closer to you and Kagami than my original teammates, because you've both remained trustworthy, steadfast bulwarks after I became the Hokage, instead of morphing into simpering sycophants. You two were even nice enough to share your bedrolls when we were young and cold. I think the only soul more intimate – or honest – with me would be my wife's. None of you three ever lacked the compunction to tell me when I'm wrong or to point out my flaws and failings, and you do so to build me up, instead of tearing me down. Well, Kagami and Biwako's efforts are kinder – you're just painfully blunt, and frankly a little insulting, too. So, yes, I do think I know you that well."

Danzo found himself slinking backwards into the shadows again. His petty bitterness and manipulation never before sounded so good, so noble. Hiruzen truly was a naïve idiot. "But you never truly know a person, do you, Hiruzen?" How the hell do you manage to get that image of me? And what else have you failed to see? "Because either you knew what was happening and approved, or was ignorant of such a flaw." His mind whirled to wonder what Orochimaru may have done behind Hiruzen's back. "I thought it likeliest that you were ignorant – but I find myself wondering, what if you actually did know? What then becomes of our Will of Fire, for that level of corruption to exist?"

Hiruzen slowly set his pipe down. "I beg your pardon?"

"I knew Tsume's sense of smell was extraordinary – but I didn't know until after I had pulled her out of the Ops. My reasons for pulling her were purely selfish and emotional." He hadn't been noble to rescue Tsume; he had done it to appease his own guilt, as unsuccessful as that had been.

"You might think it was unlike you to react in such a way, but I would find it unsurprising, Danzo." Hiruzen was tapping the desk again with his fingers. Each tap scraped against Danzo's temper. He felt like his nerves had been stripped raw and exposed to acid. "Not surprising indeed, because whether you own up to it or not, you've always been a passionate man. Still waters run deep – and turbulently so, in your case. But it merely proves my suspicions that Tsume was in some level of danger that you're reluctant to explain. The situation had to be horrendous if you lost control enough to become so emotionally entangled that you would knowingly abort a Black Ops you had no right to interfere with – and there's only a few assorted human atrocities that spring immediately to mind when you admitted she wasn't in any… undue danger." Hiruzen went very still, and then turned his eyes to the window. "I've always been aware that rape would be a possibility during this mission, given where she would be stationed."

A… possibility?

A fucking possibility?

That was the worst understatement that Danzo had ever heard in his entire life. Rage simmered and boiled, just as it had when Kagami told Danzo that he had been aware of Tsume's role in the Black Ops.

The tension in Danzo's shoulders felt like wings about to burst through his skin. He wanted to run, wanted to hide in the shadows, wanted to keep Hiruzen in the sun, even though that meant Hiruzen was always out of his reach. He wanted to protect and shelter his friend – Danzo's petty and ruthless ugliness only highlighted the brilliant goodness in Hiruzen.

He desperately wanted to drag Hiruzen down to his level, neck-deep in filth, and couldn't help but wonder if Hiruzen wasn't already there, carefully maintaining a façade of innocence in front of everyone. One didn't get to become the God of Shinobi with lily-white hands, after all. "I never ask anyone to do more than what I'm willing to give."

"Yes. And I've always respected you for that." Hiruzen remained patient and kind with him – Hiruzen was always the better man. Blind, foolish, hopeful, and yet still a better man.

Danzo suddenly realized how deeply he'd always resented such, how he had dug himself into such a hole of filth and that Hiruzen – a man who claimed to be his friend – had allowed Danzo to do so in the first place. What kind of friend supported that? "What is Konoha," Danzo began in a soft voice as the resentment and confusion clogged his throat, "if not a place where a trio of Academy girls can decorate your tower with a thousand sloppy paper cranes held in place with chewing gum?"

Hiruzen smiled. "A good place. I imagine that Ame would've strung the girls up by their ankles, though my guards were sorely tempted to, and hardly consolable. Do you have any idea how hard it is to remove gum once it's dried to the surface in the sun?"

Another shriek of laughter drifted through the window. "What is Konoha, if not a place where a ten year old girl can successfully sneak into the hospital to introduce the baby in her arms to his father?"

Hiruzen was silent, his eyes flickering and finger tapping.

Danzo straightened. "And what is Konoha if it willingly brutalizes its twelve year old genin?"

The tapping stilled. Hiruzen's eyes fluttered shut as a spasm of pain crossed his face. "I knew it."

"No, you fucking did not know it. You still don't!" Danzo ducked his head. Tension coiled his body like a trap ready to snap with the slightest pressure. He strode across the room, slammed his hands flat against Hiruzen's desk, and leaned forward. He pushed his face against Hiruzen's. "So just what the hell is Konoha if it willfully sells its adolescent genin to the fucking enemy as a child prostitute?"

Hiruzen recoiled in horror. "No." He then rose to his feet, trembling. Danzo was gratified to feel the slow churn of Hiruzen's killing intent, as if awakening from a deep winter slumber. He had built the tower with his words, and now he shoved Hiruzen over the edge.

"Yes! I ask you again, Hiruzen – do you know what it cost Tsume? Not her life, no, but we both know that there are fates worse than death. Poor mission parameters is how Tsume learned the hard way that Iwa nin fuck as harshly as they fight – and she relearned it night after night, for months, such a darling little whore for every brutal man!"

"No!" Hiruzen tore at his hair. "That was not what she was supposed to do there. She was supposed to be apprenticed to the kennel keeper!" Hiruzen whirled away from Danzo to face his window, overlooking the Academy's training grounds where the children played ninja in a safe, observed environment.

Ah, so Orochimaru had interfered. Danzo wondered what it would take to assassinate Hiruzen's apprentice.

Danzo continued relentlessly, his words like barbed weapons that he hurled at Hiruzen, the man who had made Orochimaru. Bleed, you son of a bitch. "She didn't even have to be in the same fucking country, Hiruzen! She didn't have to suffer through sheets drenched in blood! She didn't have to be brutalized for three solid months. They forced an abortion on her – a twelve year old Inuzuka girl who never should've gotten pregnant in the first place! She thought this was going to be the rest of her life, that this was what Konoha wanted of her, and all she could do was cling to the hope that her two year old nephew wouldn't forget her. It shouldn't have even mattered if she couldn't smell the difference between a dead skunk or a potted rose. She is twelve fucking years old, and Orochimaru had her own grandmother sell her to the brothel!"

Hiruzen's shoulders flinched as if he had been struck. His voice was a guttural whisper. "Stop it, Danzo."

"At least you knew that Inuzuka Tsume was the operative. Orochimaru didn't even give me that information when he assigned me to make contact with the spy and obtain her report. But I'm worse than Iwa, Hiruzen…" Danzo's voice broke as he choked on his words. He was ashamed of what he did, but the guilt would drive him insane if he couldn't fully admit his part. He didn't want that level of deception between him and Hiruzen, especially when Hiruzen was already so fucking delusional about Danzo's true nature. "For all their brutality, Iwa didn't send her in there alone, and the Iwa shinobi were strangers… I wasn't. I knew better. The sheets I stained cost a heavier price than theirs."

Hiruzen slowly turned from the window. His killing intent was fully awake now, and growing in pressure. He stood straight and tall in the sunshine that came through the window, and his gaze seared Danzo. "You…"

"I did." A heartbeat passed. Unable to continue tearing strips from Hiruzen, Danzo turned the barbs upon himself. He threw himself off the tower. "May all the Powers That Be have mercy on whatever remains of my soul, Hiruzen. I did. There are very few moments in life I regret as much as that, and no punishment you can ever devise will ever cleanse me of such sins."

Hiruzen's eyes narrowed dangerously. "I see." His gaze deliberately turned to Orochimaru's report, half-curled on his desk. After a heartbeat, he said, "And so you too speak in half-truths."

Danzo's hands curled into fists, and he straightened upward to his full height, which didn't quite match Hiruzen's. "I speak all truth."

Hiruzen tilted his chin down and glowered. His voice was a whisper. "Oh? You only give me bits and pieces of this truth. You are deliberately goading me, you asshole." Hiruzen stalked forward, his movements lithe and deadly, like a panther approaching its kill. His white scarf fluttered behind him. "You are always punishing yourself for your mistakes and weaknesses, hoping to be purged free of such blights." Hiruzen stopped when he was nose to nose with Danzo. "And when you cannot flog yourself as thoroughly as you feel you deserve, you hand the lash to me."

"Wait – what?"

Hiruzen crossed his office and yanked the door open. "Bring me Inuzuka Tsume immediately and without delay," he told the ANBU stationed out his door, and then he slammed the door shut before the ANBU could give confirmation. "You heard me," he told Danzo darkly as he walked back to his desk. He righted the chair that Danzo had knocked over before sitting in his own. He settled back with his elbows propped on the desk top, hands folded in front of his face. "I can see it in your eyes and in your body language. You're not going to tell me everything that will save your career and ambitions, but you will gladly heap the wood at the foot of the stake you're tied to and drag Orochimaru down with you at the same time. You may not even be cognizant of the fact, but I'm tired of being the person you arrange to toss that damn match onto the wood, time and time again."

"That's not—"

Hiruzen held up a hand. "Say no more. It would appear that the only one adult enough to tell me the full truth is a twelve year old girl. For crying out loud…"

A few moments later, ANBU – Raccoon – was at Hiruzen's window. Tsume dangled from Raccoon's grasp by the back of her shirt, her legs kicking uselessly and her bowl of ramen cradled in the crook of her left arm, her chopsticks clenched tightly between her gritted teeth. "Leggo! Wazza big idea?"

Raccoon deposited Tsume and ramen in front of the Hokage before dodging Tsume's attempt to kick him.

"That was quick," Hiruzen said, dismissing Raccoon. "I thank you for your speed." Raccoon slunk through the window without any further orders. Tsume looked from her ramen to the Hokage to Danzo and then back to her ramen. Hiruzen gave her a smile that was warm and inviting. "Please, Tsume-chan, have a seat. I apologize for catching you at lunch, but alas – that is how the timing worked out, I'm afraid."

Tsume spat the chopsticks onto the table. "It's okay. I was just having ramen with Kushina and Kokoro and Kakashi. I…" Tsume looked embarrassed to still be holding onto the bowl in front of the Hokage. She nudged it onto his desk. "I haven't had any since I left Konoha."

Hiruzen's smile clashed with his killing intent, but Tsume had never been deterred by killing intent before. "Please, don't hesitate to eat. Growing girls do need as much nutrition as possible to get taller. I just want you to tell me about your mission. It's a long story, I'm sure, and there's no point to wasting good ramen and letting it go cold."

"Oh." Tsume gave Danzo a strange look, who decided that the wall required assistance in staying upright.

"Have a seat, child. Eat. Talk."

"Well, okay." Tsume made herself comfortable, kneeling in the chair with her ramen on the Hokage's desk. Some of the broth slopped over the edge as she jostled the bowl one-handed, but Hiruzen simply shuffled the papers away and poured Tsume a cup of tea. She immediately brightened. "Thanks!" Hiruzen dabbed up the broth with some napkins.

"So, Danzo here was telling me about your Black Ops mission to Earth. As it is your mission, you also need to give me your report. So I'll just have you start at the very beginning, and tell me everything." Hiruzen's smile remained unchanged as he folded his arms on top of the desk and leaned forward, head cocked to the side.

Tsume turned wide eyes upon Danzo. "Everything?" Her voice cracked in its high-pitched squeak. Her cheeks turned red.

Danzo nodded his head. "Everything."

"Oh. I don't think I could remember everything-everything . Well, Hokage-sama, um, when you say at the beginning, do you mean when I saw Orochimaru, or when Grandmother first got me? And where's the end of my story supposed to be?" The nervous look she gave Danzo told him all – she didn't want to tell the Hokage of what Sakumo had seen in the ravine.

Danzo answered the question before Hiruzen could speak. "Start with your great-grandmother, and the unmarked grave she promised to bury you in." Danzo ignored the quick narrow-eyed glare Hiruzen shot him. Feeling like he was still signing his own death warrant, Danzo grabbed a spare chair from the corner of the room and set it beside Tsume. He straddled it from behind and crossed his arms over the back. He wanted a solid barrier between him and Hiruzen, and the desk didn't feel like it was enough. "Realize, Hokage-sama," Danzo told Hiruzen with a frown at the radiating smugness, "I'm only speaking up during Tsume's report to help jog her memory."

"Oh, thank you!" Tsume's smile lit up her face; the sloppily-drawn crimson triangles on her face wrinkled. She had been practicing with the paints that Aunt Natsumi gave her. "I was kinda worried for a moment that I'd forget to tell Hokage-sama something really, really important. Anyway." She shoveled a few bites of ramen down, chewed quickly, and then nearly choked upon swallowing. "Mmm. Yeah. Well, I was supposed to graduate from the Academy the next day when Grandmother came and told me that I had a mission." Tsume slurped another mouthful of noodles, quickly licked at some of the broth that spilled on the desk, and talked with her mouth full. "She said that, uh, I didn't have a choice, I was doing the mission. Because if I didn't go, then she'd bury me in an unmarked grave instead of, you know, carting me all the way back to Konoha. She said she was going to be rid of me, one way or another."

"That's not an encouraging thing to hear when presented with your first mission," Hiruzen told Tsume sympathetically.

Tsume was still for a moment as she stared down at her ramen, as if she was ramen-reading the same way some fortune-tellers read tea leaves. "No, sir," she agreed quietly. Danzo wondered if she was remembering the last confrontation she had with Shinzou – Nara Shikake had told Danzo everything the night before the wagon train left. Then Tsume aggressively slurped up some more noodles.

"So what happened?"

"Well, I had to accept the mission then, because I figured I'd survive it better than an unmarked grave. I wrote my friends some letters, and gave Kuromaru to Kakashi – except I took him back now that I'm home again, see – and then Grandmother dragged me off to the camp in Grass to see Orochimaru. We ran for a long time without much rest to get there. Anyway, Orochimaru told me that I didn't have to accept the mission if I didn't want to and he wanted me to know what I was getting into, but I said I wasn't scared, so he said okay, and told me that it was going to be brutal and lonely and I'll wish I would've died, and I said it was still okay, because it will be for Konoha. Or something like that." Tsume squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated a moment, trying to remember. "He said that, uh, there wouldn't be any backup and no one to help me, and he almost didn't want to send me on the mission. He said he wanted me to understand, and offered it, instead of commanding that I take the mission." She took another bite.

"And all of this still sounded better than a grave?" Hiruzen asked in polite disbelief as he lit his pipe.

Tsume swallowed and wrinkled her nose at the smoke. "Well, Orochimaru sounded better than Grandmother. Of course, I also didn't know what he meant when he said I was going to be sold into sex slavery. I mean, I did, because I knew about sex, but I didn't, because I've never had sex before, and no one ever mentioned it would hurt, or that I'd have to do it with so many men every day, or that it'd make me bleed like a stuck pig the first few times or any time the men got really, really rough."

"He told you about the slavery… Ah." Hiruzen's eyes flickered briefly to Danzo, pipe smoke dancing in a haze, and his fingers tightened perceptibly around the pipe.

"Yup. He said Grandmother was going to sell me to the brothel, and that I would be brutalized by Iwa shinobi. So I knew what I was going into, even if I didn't know it. I just… it's hard to describe what it's like to know but not really know. But I think, even if I really did know, I still would've said yes, if it's what I had to do. You know what I mean?"

"I think I do."

"I wasn't scared." Tsume's face was firm. "I told Orochimaru that, too. And he told me that I'd have to have sex with my contact when he finally come along to pass on my Intel, and that I absolutely couldn't get caught at all, and that I would be at the brothel for a long, long time. And that was okay, I thought, because it would be for Konoha, even though I knew I would really miss Kuromaru and Kakashi. Danzo once told me that you have to cheat, lie, steal, kill, and fuck whoever or whatever for Konoha. And if Orochimaru told me the same, then it had to be true, right?"

Tsume ran her fingers along the grain of Hiruzen's desk for a moment. "Orochimaru didn't lie to me. Grandmother did. So did lots of other people, but Orochimaru didn't – he was one of the few who was really honest, and he talked to me, instead of just telling me what to do. He explained, and not many people like to explain… he didn't treat me like a simpleton.

"Anyway, before I left, Orochimaru said there was a hole in me. A void, he called it, that I would be staring into. He said that I had to fill the void because I was going to be buried in filth, because if I didn't fill the void, the filth would fill it for me, and then I wouldn't like what I saw. He said… he said that he had seen the void, and the void was in him. I didn't know what that meant at the time."

Hiruzen closed his eyes as if in pain. "I'm afraid I do."

Unfortunately, so did Danzo. Tsume, through Orochimaru, had easily summed up why Danzo was always in the darkness. With a sinking heart, Danzo realized he had lost his battle the void so long ago.

"Well, I'm making sure I fill my void with puppies, because I figured I'd like what I see in the void, because there's nothing wrong with puppies staring back at you, right? At least, I'm trying to fill the void." Her eyes flickered to Danzo. "It seems like sometimes the void can't get filled no matter how many puppies you stick in it, though. So then, Grandmother took me—"

"The seal," Danzo prompted.

Tsume wiped her chin with her sleeve after finishing the last of the ramen. "Oh, that's right. Everything. So, before Grandmother took me away, Orochimaru bit my toe, and put a seal on me that would convert my chakra into desire. That way, an Iwa shinobi wouldn't notice I had chakra, because he'd just want to fuck me instead."

"Here," Danzo told Hiruzen, who was wincing over Tsume's language, "I would like to add that it's a very effective siren seal and it's not limited to Iwa nin. I would recommend talking to Jiraiya to get more information on it, since he eventually had to… fix it. My explanation of this modified siren seal would be poor and limited."

"But you know what the seal does," Hiruzen said as he accepted Tsume's empty bowl and set it aside to be returned later to Ichiraku's. She slurped some offered tea and he puffed his pipe.

"After I had a chance to study it extensively, but it required some… experimentation and some temporary modifications to flip the seal off. It wasn't easy."

Tsume's eyes flickered from Danzo to Hiruzen. Her face went pale, and then bright red. "Wait – is Danzo in trouble because of the seal?" She lunged across the desk to grab Hiruzen's sleeve, jerking the pipe out of his mouth. The cast around her right arm clunked heavily against the wood. "Danzo didn't do anything wrong! He's the only one who didn't hurt me!"

Hiruzen looked dismayed as he attempted to extract Tsume's death grip from his sleeve. "That's not—"

"No! It's not fair at all! Danzo was the only one who was nice and gentle and made me feel good, while the others didn't! I – I wanted to make him feel good, too!"

Hiruzen floundered for a moment before gently covering Tsume's mouth. "This is – Danzo is not in trouble here, child. After all, he removed you from the mission, which I fully support. All I want is to understand what happened. Mistakes were made, and I can't fix those mistakes if I don't know what they are." Danzo forced himself not to hide his face as it burned with shame. "Did you just lick me?" Hiruzen pulled his hand away from Tsume's mouth.

"Well, don't put your hand where my tongue can reach it!"

Danzo thumped Tsume. "Licking anyone – especially your Hokage – is highly inappropriate, given our conversation."

She glared at him. "You know it was my fault for what happened anyway."

Danzo growled. "Tsume, we've discussed this before – it's not your fault."

"My seal, my responsibility!" She pointed a clawed finger at him and snarled. "Mine!" Ooooh, somebody was getting uppity now that she was wearing her clan markings.

"Not the same thing. Orochimaru made the seal and put it on your body, not you. You were told—"

"I don't—"

Hiruzen stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly. Tsume winced and clapped her hands over her ears. Danzo fell silent with a growl in his ragged breathing. "Listen to me," Hiruzen said once their eyes turned upon him, "it is evident that this subject happens to be of great concern to Tsume. While I prefer reports to be given to me in a concise and punctual manner, I will excuse such today given the complexity of the situation and the inexperienced amongst us. And before we go any further…" Hiruzen fixed a stern glare upon Tsume. "The only two legged creature allowed to lick me is my wife. Don't do that again, young lady."

He waited until Tsume, flushing red, muttered her understanding of his statement.

"Now, Tsume, allow me to assuage your fears. You tell me what Danzo did that you perceive that he's in trouble for, Danzo can explain his reasoning for such actions, and I shall render a verdict. Would that make you feel better?"

Tsume frowned. "No. Because Danzo didn't do anything wrong – it was me!"

"And what did you do that you think is wrong? And remember, it's important to tell your Hokage everything."

Tsume squirmed in her seat, pulling her legs free and dangling in front of her, and then crossing them at the knees. Danzo could see her feet – they flexed constantly at the ankles. He wished she wouldn't slouch or sit so casually – it made her look younger than she was. "Well, I had sex with Danzo at the brothel, but he didn't hurt me at all." She raised her chin stubbornly. "I know how to make men feel good. I didn't like doing it, but I wanted to for Danzo, because Danzo was Konoha, like me, and I could smell that he didn't want to be there, that he really didn't want to do what he had to do. I tried to make it nice for him, and he made it nice for me, which no one else ever tried before. And then later, after we escaped and he was trying to figure out how to turn off the seal, he said the arousal kept getting in the way and needed to take care of his erection, but he couldn't on his own, so I gave him a hand, and then later, after that, when he was fixing the seal again, he gave me a hand and I didn't have to do a thing, and that was really nice. Uh, did I say something wrong?"

Hiruzen waved his pipe-holding hand, since his other hand covered his eyes half-way through her explanation. "No. Nothing's wrong." Hiruzen's voice was weak. "I'm strongly reconsidering the necessity of knowing everything. I'm just… I'm trying very hard right now not imagining either of you having sex. Especially Danzo." He muttered something about how this was supposed to be Kagami's job, not his.

Danzo barely suppressed the urge to roll his eyes, but couldn't hide the irritation in his voice. "How traumatizing this must be for you, Hokage-sama."

"Shut up. You're the reason I double-check chakra signatures on the other side of doors when I knock and am granted permission to enter." Hiruzen swallowed a few times and then sat upright, his hand dropping away from his face. "Was this all that happened… between you and Danzo?"

"Well, there was more. Danzo was really nice and trained me on my nose and how to be a better ninja, and we had long conversations on summons and stuff." Tsume's gaze flickered over to Danzo.

"But, sexually, that's the extent of what happened?"

Tsume vigorously nodded her head. "Between Danzo and me, yeah. But, see, I deliberately used it against another man, so I know that the seal has to be my responsibility. I chose to accept the mission, and the seal came with the mission." She looked so young and desperate as her left hand curled into a stubborn fist. "So, it has to be my responsibility. It's… it's just got to be." Her voice cracked with unshed tears. Danzo wondered how much of her demand for responsibility was linked back to the rape in the ravine – perhaps by assuming responsibility and control, by insisting that she had wanted it to happen for her plan to work (five blast tags, really?), the horror of the rape wasn't as haunting. She had so little control in this mission, buffered from one side to the other based on poor decisions made by the adults in her life, that she stubbornly clung to what she assumed she could control.

"I had imagined worse happened between you two, given the forceful involvement of the seal." Hiruzen silenced Tsume's protest with a raised hand, and then pointed at Danzo. "I'll be glad to receive a report later from Jiraiya, but for now, a basic summary of what the seal does will help me see the proper context of everyone's actions as the report is given. Danzo?"

Danzo closed his eye for a moment, wishing to be anywhere but here. Then he opened his eye, and trained his gaze on Tsume's wild hair; she had some leaves tangled in it. The metal studded balls seemed to be gone for now. "It was a triple-layered siren seal, according to Jiraiya; I originally thought it was a seal-within-a-seal. Very complex. As Tsume mentioned earlier, part of its purpose was to turn awareness of her chakra signature into desire – the harder any man attempted to ignore Tsume and the effects of arousal and desire, the greater the man's sensitivity to chakra, the stronger the seal reinforced the arousal. It's a very strong variation of the siren seal."

"So the only way to… quench… was to submit?"

"In short, yes. It's much more complicated than that with its multiple reinforcements and layers, but that was the main command of the seal. That, and to meet Tsume's desires, which in the brothel meant supplying the information she gathered with her nose, which meant that the men had to stay and get personal. Hokage-sama, the more you fight the desire, the worse it becomes."

Hiruzen studied Tsume with a combined awe and sadness. "And you had to deal with the effects of the seal every day."

She shrugged, looking uncertain. "Until Danzo figured out how to turn it off. Just temporary, he said, but that lasted long enough for Jiraiya-sensei to give me a mute switch."

"I see. And Orochimaru placed the seal."

"Yup."

"Before your great-grandmother then sold you to the brothel, into prostitution."

"Yup." Tsume waved both of her hands in the air, as if this solidified her argument. Danzo leaned away from her swinging arms to prevent getting clobbered with the cast. "So, you can see that it wasn't Danzo's fault, and therefore he shouldn't be punished."

"Mmm. Well, I did tell Danzo before you got here that he showed good judgment in removing you from the brothel."

Tsume brightened. "Good. So, anyway, after Grandmother sold me there, the ladies did a bunch of grooming and training with me for a week, because I had to make a really good debut at the auction." Tsume saw Hiruzen wince, but didn't see how Danzo's grip tightened white-knuckled on the back of the chair. "I got a really good price," she added hastily, as if this trivial information could readily assuage guilt. "The second highest on record."

Danzo cleared his throat. "I wouldn't recommend bragging about that."

Tsume glared. "It's not bragging if it's the truth. Grandmother sold me for a thousand ryou – I brought in over thirty thousand at auction. Even though I know it's the seal that made me desirable on the block, I know enough about numbers that I'm a pretty sweet deal."

"This is quite true," Hiruzen said with a weak voice, "but this mission is S rank, which means the clearance level a person is required to have before you can reveal the information is exceedingly high. Only a half dozen people outside Danzo or myself would have that clearance."

"I wasn't going to tell anyone anything." Tsume still looked a little crushed as she swung her feet, and quite guilty, too. Danzo didn't doubt that she somehow managed to tell her genin teammates all about her S-rank mission. He was both grateful and horrified. "I already look stupid and incompetent for getting mistaken as killed in battle and then being rescued from the enemy by Danzo – like I'd really be friendly with Iwa shinobi and let them try brainwashing me – so having an expensive virginity wouldn't really change that." She perked up again. "Besides, Sakumo-sensei killed the man who bought my virginity, so that's all right."

Hiruzen carefully closed his hand around Tsume's cast-encased wrist. "Far too much was demanded and stolen from you before your time, and you'll never get the reward you deserve. It's not fair."

"Life isn't fair," Tsume replied immediately. She looked at Danzo for a long moment, her eyes searching. Danzo kept her gaze and tried to ignore the churning guilt and shame. She boldly lifted her chin then, as if reaching a decision, and turned back to Hiruzen. "But that's what it means to be ninja," she told Hiruzen resolutely. "Danzo taught me, you know. That sometimes you have to make sacrifices for Konoha that no one will ever really know about, but that's okay – it's gotta be okay. I figured that it was better me than Kushina or Kokoro. And if it was to protect someone like Kakashi," she clenched her hand into a fist, "I would do it ten times over again. I'd take myself back to the brothel without anyone even asking me."

Hiruzen's answering smile was breathtaking in its gentleness. Danzo's chest ached. "You are truly a treasure, Inuzuka Tsume."

Tsume squirmed in her chair for a moment, unclenching her fist. "Thanks. Anyway, I got hammered a lot at the brothel, but I got the information. It was… there was a lot of blood, sir, but Madame Kai patched me up right as rain, and even taught me how to patch myself up so I can do some healing, but other than that and the fucking and the sniffing, I didn't do much of anything. And then Danzo came, I passed the information on to him while we had sex, and then he came back for me. I know he wasn't supposed to, because he had to get the information to Orochimaru, but I am so glad that he came back. Oh, and I have a present for Danzo!"

Both men were silent for a moment at Tsume's abrupt change of subject. Tsume wiggled around as she rooted through the many pockets in her fur-lined coat, before pulling up a small scroll. "I know this isn't the best place probably to do this, but I don't want to wait before it's too late." She held the scroll out to Danzo. "I trust you," she said firmly as she met his startled gaze, her eyes bright and lips curling in a bold smile that hinted of fang.

Danzo stared at the scroll, unmoving, until Hiruzen prodded him with the stem of his pipe. Danzo reluctantly reached out and closed his hand around the scroll, but he didn't lift it free from Tsume's grip.

Tsume released the scroll. "Aunt Natsumi was so glad that I'm alive – she said I've always been her favorite – and I told her that I wanted to sign a summon so I could give it as a present to the person who saved me, and Aunt Natsumi said I didn't have to sign a summon to do that because she wanted me to reverse-summon to find out what my guardian is, and she said I could give you the summon as a gift." Her eyes were bright and full of life, love, gratitude, and trust.

He couldn't remember the last time anyone looked at him with such wonder. Feeling numb and distant from himself, as if he were nothing more than a bystander to his own body, Danzo opened the scroll. It unwound, larger and larger, in his hands. Impossibly large compared to the little scroll she had given him.

It was a summoning contract a legendary creature – the baku.

"Aunt Natsumi said that you took away her nightmare – me being dead and gone. She said… She said the baku are guardians of children and they devour nightmares, and she always knew the Second's favorite apprentice had it in him all along, even if it was really, really deep down. Aunt Natsumi also said that you were scary enough to be your own nightmare, and I agree, but don't tell her I told you that part."

Danzo's mind was completely blank. He didn't know if this was good or bad. Tsume gave willingly, either completely ignorant of the actual cost or no matter how much it cost, because she was every bit as much a dog as her clan name implied. The dog always came groveling back on its stomach, tail wagging, begging for more, eager to the point of stupidity to prove its undying loyalty and love in the face of abuse. Tsume wasn't kidding when she said she was going to fill her void with puppies.

Danzo hurt Tsume, and she licked his hand while begging for forgiveness.

Hiruzen, as if sensing the turmoil shredding Danzo's mind and spirit, gently led Tsume and her empty ramen bowl from the room. "I think this is all the information I need from you right now. You are a very rare soul, Tsume, and I will speak to you later again, tonight. Suffice to say, no one is in trouble, least of all Danzo."

"Okay, Hokage-sama! I better go find Kakashi and Kushina so they don't worry. Kuromaru would know where I was at, so he wouldn't be worried, you know."

"Yes, child, you do that."

Hiruzen shut the door quietly to the voices ("Hey, don't touch my collar like that again, Mister Super-Secret ANBU Cousin Nara-jerk!" "Gah, what a bother…"), and then reseated himself in Tsume's chair instead of his own. Only a little distance and air separated him from Danzo – the desk was no longer a viable barrier. Danzo found himself clenching the summoning contract as he struggled to breathe.

"You are also a wonder, Danzo," Hiruzen said; his voice was as soft as a puppy's belly. "You really lucked out this time."

The steel-wrapped gentleness of Hiruzen's voice hurt more than anger could. Danzo trembled. "Hiruzen – what the hell did I do? Why does she do this?" He flung the contract away, his skin flushed and on fire. "I raped her, Hiruzen." He saw her lying naked in the red sheets, her face filled with wonder as she touched his lips. Then he saw her again, eyes wide with horror as she shredded her own flesh, ripping her thigh and the semen that smeared it. "There was, there was blood—" Danzo flung himself at Hiruzen's garbage pail just as his stomach finally rebelled. Hiruzen sighed and moved to the floor. He crouched behind Danzo and rubbed his back gently as Danzo vomited foul-tasting bile. Danzo remembered how Tsume had disappeared beneath him when they were on their hands and knees, sinking together into the plush mattress, of how small she had seemed beside Daisuke's corpse. "She was so fucking little."

"See, I don't ever get why you expect me to flog you. You always do a much better job punishing yourself than I ever could," Hiruzen said in a casual voice. "Your underlings in ANBU say you're sadistic, although I've always found you to be more masochistic. Always been a glutton for punishment, really."

And to think, Danzo hadn't realized he was masochistic until he bit himself nearly two weeks ago, after pinning Tsume to a rock while barely a hair away from raping her again. Huh. Maybe Hiruzen really did know him.

"I can see how your guilt has tormented you, the emotional turmoil you've struggling with in this Ops. I didn't know what Orochimaru did or why, my friend, but my ignorance is not an excuse. You are right – this entire Black Ops was a farce. A siren seal before being sold into direct prostitution? I assure you – that wasn't at all what Kagami and I had planned. Fortunately though, it would seem that Tsume will be okay."

"You don't fucking know that." Danzo remembered Tsume's blank gaze, the wheezing breaths after she had ripped out an attacking Kumo nin's spine, and her shriek when she woke up beneath Jiraiya before turning into a flurry of battering limbs and raking claws.

He remembered how she had given Sakumo the five blast tags she had tucked away in her cast, ready to sacrifice herself after deliberately maneuvering into a position where Daisuke would rape her. He remembered the look on Sakumo's face when he received the blast tags, as if just then realizing the depths of depravity that Tsume had willingly suffered in order to do what she figured was right. No one – especially a bright-eyed twelve-year old girl – should ever have such an expectation of themselves. In the depths of the shriveled remains of his soul, Danzo desperately hoped that Tsume would never become like him.

Hiruzen sighed and seated himself on the floor. "And neither do you. You know, I don't think I ever told you what the Second told me after I made my first kill. I was nine years old, and it was another boy, just barely older that me, and I had the choice to kill, or be killed. Tobirama said that life was always going to give us shit. No matter what you do, where you go, whatever happens, there will always be shit, whether it's through Mother Nature or human nature. Either way, it's up to us to decide what to do with it.

"We can wallow in the shit, let it fester our wounds and poison us with infection, or we can use it as manure, to fertilize and feed our experiences so we can grow like the trees in which we've built our Hidden Village. It seems to me that Tsume has decided that she isn't going to wallow and fester. So that leaves you, and what you're going to do with this shit."

Danzo resentfully pushed the garbage pail away as he swiped his mouth clean on the back of his sleeve. "You know me."

Hiruzen's long-suffering sigh could put a martyr to shame. "Yes. I'm afraid that I really do – I have spent the last forty years watching you wallow and fester."

Danzo pressed the palm of his hand against his empty eye socket. He wondered what would happen if he kept pressing and pressing, until his skull fractured and his brain leaked all over like a broken egg yolk. "You wouldn't have raped her. Nor would the First, or the Second."

"You don't truly know that – especially considering how sadistic Tobirama was. I've always suspected the only reason Tobirama invented the Edo Tensei in the first place was so he could bring back his enemies and kill them a second time. Hmmm. Now that I think about it, it's rather apropos you were his favorite."

Danzo had far too many scars and a number of terrifying memories to ever believe that he was the favorite of Senju Tobirama. To be fair to Tobirama, kind and gentle Hashirama had been the family anomaly, since the Senju clan was notoriously brutal and bloodthirsty – especially in going toe-to-toe with their rival clan, the Uchiha. Just look at the lauded Slug Princess, no matter how talented she was at healing people. Theirs was a brutal, cunning nature that was every bit as lethal as the Inuzuka clan.

No one should ever be Tobirama's favorite. It had been horrific.

"Besides," Hiruzen continued blithely, "you admitted that you were influenced by a seal that Orochimaru told you nothing about. I would've been just as easily influenced – more so, no doubt, because your self-control has always been much greater than mine."

Danzo despised kindness. It was a terrible weakness – he could feel his resolution being sucked away by Hiruzen's good nature. He wanted to throttle his friend. "I had time to think before it happened though. I knew where things were going. I should've stopped myself!"

"Yes, and you possibly would've utterly sunk the mission by acting so suspicious and familiar with a stranger." Hiruzen dropped his hand away from Danzo's back and hugged his knees to his chest. "I certainly agree that the situation is very messed up, and Tsume is equally messed up. However, the dynamics aren't as straightforward between you two as you would like, unfortunately. Tsume, as a kunoichi of this village, is aware of what is required of her. It doesn't make what happened any less horrible, nor does it excuse anyone's behavior, but you seem dismissive of how Tsume had months to come to accept and expect to sleep with her contact as ordered by Orochimaru. She braced herself for the inevitable – she's had time to prepare herself. She's ahead of the game, compared to you. And the law considers her and other genin to have legal adulthood, no matter the emotional and mental immaturity of their youth."

"But the law does take in consideration their physical and mental immaturity and still declares them minors. That's why guardians have to approve of high-ranking missions before they can even be offered, and we're both aware that Shinzou did not have her own granddaughter's best interests at heart." It was also why Internal Affairs existed – because there would always be those who would fail in their duties to the more vulnerable. The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions, and Kagami was always the first to try to reroute traffic on such a road. "So what are we going to do about Tsume?"

Hiruzen was silent for a long moment. "Children are often far more resilient than adults are, and in many ways, she's more a child than an adult. It's both a blessing and a curse that her traumatic brain injury will likely always keep her in that child-like mindset."

Danzo missed having his back rubbed. "The fact is, because this is an S rank Black Ops, Tsume will always be isolated. You can talk all you want about how she's growing from the experience, but she's left with no one to turn to with the truth, to seek guidance and emotional stability and all that shit. Of those who are fully aware, Jiraiya would be a fumbling buffoon for all his well-meaning tripe, and I really don't see her reaching out to you. That leaves me." And not Sakumo, because Danzo had been the one she demanded for in that ravine. Danzo didn't know if Tsume would ever reach out to Sakumo for that part of her life. Tsume had wanted to protect Sakumo's innocence, deeming it far more important than her own self-worth.

Danzo was, quite frankly, terrified of being responsible for the mental and emotional well-being of the girl he had raped in the first place.

After a moment of hesitation, Danzo shifted around until his back was leaning against Hiruzen's. It was odd and awkward to be seated against the Hokage like they were seven year old children instead of forty-five year old adults, but he could feel his emotions settling down, drawing back from the razor-sharp abyss that his mind had perched. "I know I have my issues, Hiruzen."

Hiruzen relaxed again Danzo's back. "Danzo, your issues have issues. You're so neurotic that you have your own exemption sub clause to pass the minimal required psychosocial stability for active ANBU."

…what? "Really?"

"Um… You didn't hear it from me."

Danzo shook his head. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted. "Be that as it may, I knew that Tsume was reaching out to me in her pain, when we were alone in Earth. I pushed her back instead — or at least I've tried. I didn't want her attaching herself to me in any shape, way or form – it's unhealthy, especially after what I did to her. I'm a brutal, cruel man with no compunction against hurting the innocent to succeed in a mission, and yet I somehow established a trust with her when she was ten years old." His eyes strayed to the summoning contract, crumpled where it lay. "I… I have no idea how that even happened. It's not right. It's just not right."

"She was like a stray that followed you home, my friend. Or perhaps you're the stray that looked grumpy and pitiful and lonely as you sat in a dirty mud puddle, so she decided to save you the effort of following her home, and kept you."

Danzo didn't need to see the look on Hiruzen's face to know that the man was amused. "That is not a fair assessment, no matter how loose a definition she has of puppies."

Hiruzen's reply was a chuckle. "Ah, Danzo. I feel like you won't be the last misfit she collects."

Danzo stared at the wall in front of him, glad for the support at his back even though the angle and hard wooden floors made his hip joints ache and hamstring throb. "Fine then. Except you forget that the stray she brought home is a rabid, wild mongrel that bit her offered hand. I broke that trust – even if her trust in me is still intact, I don't trust me. Yet still she reaches out to me, and I must push her back. She reaches because she is hurting by what happened, no matter how mature she tries to be. For better or for worse, Tsume has certain expectations left over from the brothel, and that's going to have severe consequences in the future."

"Hmm. No. You're right. I'll have to bring in counseling for her, but in the meantime, I don't see any harm in her reaching out to you."

"It's wrong because she's the leaves bathed in the sunlight, and I'm the roots washed in darkness." There was a void, and he had long filled that void with the things better left in darkness – envy, bitterness, cowardness, hatred, resentment. "Leaves wither and die when they turn from the sun. You don't know what I did to her in the dark." Or what other people had done to Tsume in the dark, especially in the dark of the ravine, although he knew that Hiruzen would soon learn.

He felt Hiruzen's back vibrate with laughter. "Your metaphors leave much to be desired, my friend."

"Shut up, Hiruzen. It's just as valid as the Second's metaphor on shit."

Hiruzen continued to laugh. "Trust me, the Second couldn't come up with very good metaphors either. That talent belonged to the First, although Hashirama rarely exercised such. Ah, Danzo, my dear friend, can't you see? In your darkness lies a sturdy, unbreakable shelter from the horrors Tsume had to endure, and that's what she's reaching for. Everyone needs a space, a shelter from the storm, where they feel safe. You give that to her, in a place where prying eyes and gossiping tongues can never reach. You never harmed her – hurt, yes, but not harmed, because you've done everything you can to admit your wrongdoing, explain why it was so to her, and to make reparation.

"That is more than what anyone else has ever done to her, and why you succeed where Shinzou failed. Shinzou never apologized for her wrongdoings; she never admitted that she had wronged Tsume – instead, Shinzou allowed a twelve year old girl to think that she was the one who caused her grandmother's resentment and bitterness. Such actions will forever haunt that young girl, I suspect. You, on the other hand, have done your best to repair your wrongdoings. All this time, you've talked about how others took from her, but you seem unaware of what you gave Tsume. Not only did you give her hope, not only did you give her suffering a reason, to strengthen her Will of Fire, you rescued her from that fate. She doesn't feel that the price she paid was all for nothing, or sees the price as useless and unnecessary. You made her feel wanted—"

"Not in the way you'd approve."

Hiruzen's voice stuttered. "Well, she did say you were the only one who didn't hurt her… the only one who made it feel… good." There was a lengthy pause. "I'm never going to get that image out of my head now, you sadistic bastard. I hope you're happy."

Danzo elbowed Hiruzen. "There are worse images to have in your head."

"There are just some things a person shouldn't have to share, though, and while you were always generous with the blanket when we had to bed down together during missions… Well, thank goodness it was the blanket and not your sheets, I suppose, given that the only real lover you ever had was Torifu…. You seem to have some unnatural closeness to your teammates. Anyway." Hiruzen cleared his throat. "Right now, my back is exposed and vulnerable, and your only response has been to prop it up with your own. Up until now, I never really spared a thought of how unusual this is. I would trust my back to be covered by any number of shinobi in Konoha, but I also know I'm strong enough to defend my back should they take advantage. There's never been any doubt with you, my friend – I would trust my back to you especially if I was too weak to defend myself – and I like to think you share that same level of trust with me."

Danzo looked at his hands. He was not defenseless – and neither was the God of Shinobi.

("I trust you.")

Between the child who freely gifted him a summoning contract, and the freely-exposed back he was pressed against, Danzo felt lost and small. He would just as readily let Tsume at his back as he had Hiruzen, and Kagami… and, yeah, he supposed he would also do so with that fool-of-a-subordinate of his. Sakumo was a good man – a better man than Danzo could ever hope to be. "You're a trustworthy and honorable man, Hiruzen. I'm…" Petty. Cruel. Bitter. Ambitious. "…me."

"Your heart is as intimate to me as my wife's. You are the brother of my soul. You are indeed every bit as cruel and temperamental as you think you are, but your honor… eh, it's a little lackluster, but you still have it. I'm not the only person who recognizes your bizarre brand of honor. Tsume sees it too, and however good you made her feel probably doesn't have much bearing… well, actually, it probably does. Because you didn't have to be kind, especially when we all know you're not a kind man, and yet you still were. In the midst of this war, to a child who had been sold into slavery by her trusted guardian, who had been belittled half her life because of the brain injury, you gave her kindness and dignity, for no other reason than because she needed it. You weren't getting anything out of it – in fact, it probably made you feel worse to be so gentle. Whether you like it or not, you are a trustworthy and honorable man. In your own odd way."

Danzo felt wrong with the conversation, like the words were right but the descriptions were all wrong. He didn't fit. It was like being described as a fungus – Hiruzen thought Danzo was a rare, delicious mushroom, when Danzo was really just jock's itch. "No decent person in their right mind would see my behaviors any more than the reprehensible evil that they are."

"Yeah, well, I think we can safely agree that Tsume hasn't been in her right mind since she was found in the Nara forest, yes?" Hiruzen's back disappeared for a moment as he leaned forward and grabbed his pipe from on top of the desk. He relit it and shoved it into his mouth, settling against Danzo once more. In fact, it felt like Hiruzen was making himself comfortable. "I'm not really getting any paperwork done like this. Why does my work ethics always suffer when you're near?"

"You are not blaming me for this one, Hiruzen!"

"I do think we can also safely agree that Tsume does need someone to reach out to, someone who can be that safe shelter for her heart. And since you're going to refuse, it will have to be someone else. So… which adult do we know whom Tsume trusts and loves and respects, and who would be a good mentor and guiding force in her life? She'll need that even more than therapy."

Danzo could see where this conversation was heading. "Uh. I've already told Sakumo about the Black Ops."

"Did you, now" Hiruzen's voice was flat, as if he had fully expected Sakumo to be told about an S-rank Black Ops that he had nothing to do with. "And how did he take it?"

Danzo stared at a spot on Hiruzen's wall, watching the shadows play across it as the wind ruffled tree branches outside. "That would be… the second half of my report." He sighed. "I took Tsume with me to train her tracking abilities and to try to better understand her capabilities, when we were moving the wagon train of wounded. She inherited Shinzou's ninken, and in an uncharacteristic flash of practical ingenuity, Tsume decided that she could ride one of the ninken like a samurai rides a horse. At the time, she was partially incapacitated because both arms were injured. You saw the cast."

"But safe," Hiruzen interjected. "Shinzou's ninken are the best."

"Yes. But we were found three days into our travel by a party of forty-two Iwa nin, led by Iwa's explosion expert, Daisuke. They were underground and heading for the wagon train. I sent Tsume off to alert Sakumo as reinforcement, and then went after the Iwa nin myself to buy some time."

Hiruzen coughed around his pipe. "I know you still feel guilty about the Second, but do you really think that dying like Tobirama would absolve that particular guilt?"

Danzo felt vindicated when he jabbed his elbow hard into Hiruzen's side, delighted with the grunt of pain. "Shut up. Only Daisuke matched the skills of any one of the twenty that took out Sensei; the other forty-one I could handle without dying." He leaned his head back, resting it gently against Hiruzen's. "I told Tsume to stay at the train once she reached it. Instead, the disobedient little imp bled all over her forehead protector as a message for help, and had one of the ninken carry it to Sakumo. And then she and the other three ninken followed after me."

Hiruzen coughed again. It sounded more like a choked laugh. "The disobedient imp and her three ninken. Her three ninken that have been fighting in battles for eight years, personally trained by one of Konoha's greatest kunoichi… One of the greatest kunoichi in the history of the Elemental Nations. Off to help you fight forty-two Iwa nin. I see."

"Her excuse mimed Sakumo's, that she couldn't just abandon her teammates."

("You came back for me.")

Hiruzen didn't bother disguising his laughter. "For someone who keeps to himself, who desperately attempts to refuse any and all overtures of friendship, you somehow manage to inspire the greatest loyalty in the most unexpected sources."

"Daisuke saw her, and separated her from the battle. She used that damn seal on him, and he fell for it."

Hiruzen's silence was no longer amused.

"Sakumo found them while Daisuke was… thoroughly distracted with Tsume and completely under the influence of the seal. He promptly killed Daisuke. Tsume didn't want Sakumo to see or touch her, and demanded for me." He remembered, once again, the way Tsume was curled up beneath Sakumo's shirt, coated with a mixture of her blood and the enemy's, trying to comfort her ninken on the other side of that imposing stone wall with a broken voice. That image superimposed itself over the image of him in that ratty little bathroom, staring at the blood smeared on his body. "I… Sakumo wasn't read into the Black Op and I only peripherally, but I told him about the mission anyway. He said he didn't know how to patch up her bleeding heart if he didn't know where the blood was coming from. And he's right. So I told him where the blood was coming from."

Hiruzen grunted. "Really, Danzo, after everything you've reported, you telling Sakumo all about this S Rank Black Ops is the least shocking of all. And it saves me the effort of doing so myself, because he's the only other adult we can trust to help Tsume recover. Well, besides Inuzuka Natsumi."

Danzo would commit seppuku before Natsumi found out that he had raped her twelve year old alpha, as that would be a far less painful, much more merciful way to die. He didn't have anything sharp on hand, but he bet that Hiruzen's pen would work in a pinch. Hiruzen would probably never get the blood out of the inkwell, but that was a small price to pay… "Yeah, if you don't mind burying what's left of me right after you tell her."

"Hmm. No, I'm sure she wouldn't leave any evidence for me to bury. But there still remains the punishment for interfering in the Black Op. Personally, I think you've whipped yourself enough and I'm quite grateful for your interference, but I know you don't feel like your guilt is satisfied. So, for your punishment, you have to come to dinner tomorrow with me and Biwako. I plan to invite Kagami and Fumiko."

Danzo wasn't sure how that was a punishment (aside from how he couldn't stand the weakness of his mother, personified in his half-sister), except that Hiruzen always believed it was better to kill with kindness than with cruelty.

"My wife has been moaning about a lack of female companionship ever since Ken stopped dating, something about there being far too much testosterone at her dining room table? Puberty is a real hassle at times, you know. Maybe Tsume, Sakumo, Kakashi, and you could join us for dinner. I bet we could get Asuma to share some of his toys with Kakashi. Tsume, Biwako, and Fumiko could have some quality woman time together, since her Aunt Natsumi is… not all there, if you know what I mean."

"Tsume would like that." Especially given that Fumiko liked to use her fists, preferring the intimacy of drawing blood with her hands, instead of the impersonality of bladed weapons. He bet that his half-sister and Tsume would get along like a house on fire.

"Good. I think we're having barbequed beef tonight. Bring dessert. Biwako seems to think that sweets will put me into an early grave, and has been depriving me for the last year." Hiruzen said nothing more, content to lean against his lifelong friend and smoke to the sounds of children playing outside his window.

Danzo buried his face in his hands and tried to knit together the shattered pieces of his psyche and soul.

---

Additional notes:

(Hot damn, Danzo is such a vicious, petty man.)

So, had Tsume been successfully apprenticed to the kennel keeper, can you imagine the look on Danzo's face when Orochimaru would've sent him up there to make contact with Tsume?

"For this mission, you will be responsible for delousing some bitches at a brothel..."

For my readers who are enjoying Aunt Natsumi, you all should totally check out Trail of Tears, if you haven't already. It features the Life And Times of Aunt Natsumi, with her Two Trusty Sidekicks, Uchiha Izuna and Senju Tobirama. (They get along famously well together when the only other person to get along with is Aunt Natsumi...)

Honestly, I hadn't expected Bashira to still be alive come the Alpha Years, but then I figured, she's a bit more sensible than other Inuzuka women, so why not. She's likely to grow old if she's not going around making enemies like Shinzou, or being a walking international incident waiting to happen like Natsumi.