Chapter 22

Ping.

The buzz of her phone interrupted her late-night reading, her gaze lifting from the textbook to the device on her bedside table. The screen lit up to show a text from a familiar name, one she hadn't seen in a while. She shrugged as she set aside the book to pick it up instead, not in any particular rush to review internal anatomy when she knew it so well.

'Do you mind a minor spoiler from Naruto?' it read, and she smiled, knowing exactly where this was going. She tapped the reply box to bring up the touchscreen keyboard and began typing.

'Dude, just show me your awesome cosplay.'

There was a brief pause, and about a minute later a photo came through. A dark skinned black man gazed at the camera with an almost bored look, a white wig styled to cover his left eye and wearing a sleeveless black top a white one-shoulder vest. Two more photos followed, highlighting two tattoos on each shoulder. That made her perk up in interest, tapping a reply.

'What are those tattoos?' she typed, but even as she pressed send the designs' meaning suddenly clicked in her head. 'Oh wait, are those lightning and water?'

'Got it in one! Forgot you read Japanese.'

'You said he's from Naruto? Don't see a headband anywhere tho'

'He doesn't wear one, but his uniform is pretty obvious. I'll let you wait to see which one it is when you get back into it.'

She smirked and tapped out a quick 'ok' and then went back to reading her textbook.

Sute opened her eyes with a quiet gasp, her hand scrabbling to clutch at her head as the world spun violently around her. She heard quick footsteps and then felt a hand press against her back, the motion somewhat awkward as if wavering between whether to comfort her or hold her steady. "Sute?" she heard Utakata say, and she groaned, waiting for the vertigo to fade. Slowly the world stopped revolving, the dim features of her private study emerging as her vision steadied.

She exhaled shakily, lowering her hands and bowing her head. "I'm okay," she mumbled. "Sort of."

"That is not very reassuring," Utakata muttered behind her, and she chuckled weakly as she sat up straight, brushing her hair from her face. A full day had passed since she'd fought the Cloud ninja and let him escape. The other Cloud ninja she'd ambushed earlier had been the only infiltrator to survive, currently locked away in the depths of T&I, but she found her attention drawn more to the teen she allowed to get away.

That tattoo had niggled at her mind, bringing back hazy memories of a photo. She knew it came from her last life, even had an inkling of where she'd seen it as her mind conjured images of an old friend, but she couldn't remember the details. Harusame had given her permission to use the seal as long as she had someone to supervise her in case it went wrong, so she'd naturally grabbed Utakata to finally sate her curiosity so she could move on.

It should have been fine. Should have.

"It's strong," she said quietly. "I knew that. I just forgot how strong though." Already the experience started to fade from her memory, just like all memories, but it still lingered fresh in her mind as if it had just happened. She'd held a cell phone for the first time in fourteen years, able to even feel the small chip in the phone case's corner as she slid it into her palm to type. The familiar ping of her ring tone, the smooth glass beneath her thumbs, the way each letter appeared smoothly and fluidly in the textbox and her phone vibrated ever so slightly with each press—it had been natural, totally normal in those brief moments in her college dorm.

A normal she would never again attain.

"Dammit, this is depressing," she muttered to herself, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Sute?" Utakata asked sharply, alarm flitting across his face. She waved a hand at him, shaking her head as she exhaled a shaky breath.

"Sorry, Uta, I'm fine. It's just... really clear. Kinda like jabbing at a fresh wound..." She shook her head again, her hand falling to her side limply as she sighed. "I should probably tweak it to make it less... intense." At this point Sute had resolved to do just that, and if she failed she would simply never use it again. Otherwise, using the seal would do nothing but send her spiraling into depression.

Despite her ability to easily detach herself emotionally from reality, Sute was not immune to falling into despair. She still had access to all the same core human emotions as every other naturally neurotypical person, she just had a very skewed upbringing that let her ignore her feelings more easily than others. But the seal's current strength made that very difficult to do. Yearning for a reality that she could never return to would eventually become soul-crushing if she didn't nip it in the bud now.

Sute had known that she would experience the memories directly, but she hadn't anticipated how it would actually feel upon seeing her old world.

For now she pushed the thought away, getting to her feet. "It worked, at least. I saw a photo of a guy that looked like that Cloud ninja when I was younger, but it wasn't him. Didn't get any useful information about him from it." Technically it wasn't a lie, since her friend had never told her about the guy he cosplayed as. But the fact he dressed as the character at all told her he would be important.

The guy in question had been a friend from high school, an avid fan of cosplay who found his passion hampered by his mixed African and Polynesian heritage. Anime rarely had characters on the darker end of the natural skin color spectrum, and he never cosplayed white people or even "token" black characters. The fact he'd chosen to dress as that specific Cloud ninja meant the character had played a fairly significant role, at least above a nameless extra, and had been one he respected.

It just... never really resurfaced in this life, so she kinda forgot until now.

Right now, no one knew she'd allowed him to escape. Sute had told the others she'd engaged him in combat briefly and he'd escaped using a substitution jutsu, though not before she'd retrieved the scroll he'd stolen. A white lie, an act of mercy spurred by the memory of a friend she would never seen again.

Sute hadn't been lying to him: she was a sentimental idiot.

Sighing, she turned to Utakata with a nod. "Thanks for watching me."

"No problem," he said with a wary nod of his own, and muttered under his breath, "At least it didn't explode this time." His remark spurred a laugh from Sute, sharp and full of amusement. The jinchuuriki instantly blanched and shrunk back as her eyes glimmered with malicious glee.

"Oh, really?" she sang, her mouth stretching into a mischievous smirk. "I have the rest of the day off, I have a few other seals to test..."

As expected, Utakata turned and fled without a word, leaving a cackling Sute to dash after him. She could probably stand to be a bit nicer to him, but what the hell, this was fun.

Screams echoed off the stone walls as he moved down the hall, the noise muffled by a door but the dull ring that accompanied the high-pitch note still all too clear. Years ago the accompanying grinding noises might have grated at Ao's hearing, making him grimace in mild sympathy for the victim, but now it barely phased him. He walked slowly, still dependent on crutches to move around, and each step brought him closer to the source of the scream. Not that it was his destination.

He turned a corner and spied a familiar figure waiting by a door, pushing off the wall to face him. "Ao-san," Yagura greeted monotonously, the boy dipping his head in acknowledgment. "You took longer than expected."

"I'm not exactly able to run right now," he retorted coolly, gesturing at the crutches. Yagura made no comment, simply nodded once and turned away.

"Come, the others are waiting to go over the report." He briskly strode down the hall past the door where the screams emanated from, Ao trailing after him in wary silence. The Mizukage's apprentice and favored successor admittedly unsettled him at times. The teen looked more like a child than a jounin-ranked shinobi, his small figure almost out of place in the depths of T&I. But in sharp contrast to his youthful features, his violet eyes held no light, his expression giving no hint of emotion.

Briefly his thoughts wandered to the other teenage prodigy he knew. Sute provided a sharp contrast to the quiet boy, always animated and lively with a dangerous glint in her eyes whenever she smiled. In comparison, Yagura felt more like a doll than a human being.

Coincidentally, Sute happened to be one of several subjects in the upcoming meeting. Yagura led the way to a door which he opened to reveal a small conference room, several high-ranked members of Kiri's administration and ANBU already seated around the table. At the head sat the Mizukage himself, looking regal and perfectly composed as always. Yagura held the door so Ao could limp inside before letting it close, the distant screams now little more than a low buzz, and then went to stand behind his mentor.

"Now that everyone is here, we shall begin the meeting," the Mizukage announced, skipping pleasantries. Ao slipped into the empty seat next to Heki, laying his crutches against the table and glancing at the papers his long-time partner had sitting in front of him. A mission report from the looks of it, the words "Kumo" and "scroll" quickly popping out at him during his brief glance.

Hanami Moriie, head of T&I, decided to start the meeting. "The interrogation is still ongoing, but we have a rough idea of their goal," he began, gesturing to a scroll sitting on the center of the table. Ao sat up a bit straighter, his exposed eye narrowing as he examined it. Across from him Fuguki huffed lowly, almost looking like he was sneering.

"Is that the scroll Ringo retrieved from the escapee?" the Swordsman questioned, and Moriie nodded once.

"This scroll was undoubtedly their goal. It's an old treaty from shortly after the Second Shinobi War with Umisaki, a port town in Hot Water—now deserted. It contains a list of commonly used trade routes at the time."

"What use would that be?" one of the other men—Yashiro, some tokujou-level admin if Ao remembered right—muttered under his breath. "If the town is deserted, it's not like there'd be any trade on those roads anymore." Ao frowned, mulling over it as he dredged his memories for the city's name.

"That might be the point," he mused lowly. "Umisaki was one of our major points for trade before a tsunami wrecked it. The trade routes should still connect to other major cities on the continent in a few different countries. It would make for easy reference for a relatively empty route to travel."

"Tch, so they're just looking for a pre-drawn travel map," Fuguki huffed. "What a petty reason to break into Kiri."

"It's only one possibility," Moriie observed blandly. "As I stated, the interrogation is still ongoing. He should crack soon, so we'll have more information then. It would have helped if Ringo had also captured the other one though, it would go much smoother with two prisoners than just one." His voice took on a slightly disapproving edge, making Ao's eyes narrow.

"You should be glad you have any living subjects to interrogate," Heki noted calmly next to him, having his back as always. "Usually we just kill people. You're lucky Ringo has a skillset that can be used for live capturing."

"Still, allowing someone to escape is a large mistake," Moriie grumbled, his lips curling back as he scowled. "Have ANBU's standards really fallen that low?" Several annoyed looks shot his way, the other present ANBU silently airing annoyance at being written off so easily.

"Technically, she won't be officially instated as ANBU until tomorrow," Ao countered, carefully keeping his own voice bland. "She only finished her training last week, she was only pulled for the patrol because it was an emergency. Besides that, she's spent most of her career working in the hospital since the war. Given her lack of field experience compared to others, I believe her performance is more than impressive."

"Doesn't that make her placement in ANBU more questionable, though?" Yashiro wondered aloud. "I am aware our ANBU need more combat-approved medics, but that also means we can't afford to waste one. If she's not ready, we should spend more time training her before sending her out. I don't think anyone here can argue she's one of our best medics, even with her age."

His words elicited a thoughtful hum from one of the others in the room, the sound making Ao narrow his eyes at the source. Raiga. Usually the Swordsman remained silent at these meetings, so to hear him make any sort of noise drew everyone's attention. "I agree," the green-haired man said. "I'm not close to Sute-san, but she is the adopted child of my departed mentor... It would be disrespectful to her memory if I remained silent while her daughter was sent to die in the field."

Had it not been such a formal setting Ao probably would have scoffed at the almost melodramatic wording. He had no particular opinion on Ameyuri's successor; something about Raiga's demeanor admittedly felt a bit too distant and off, a bit too detached even for a Mist ninja, but they worked together fine on the missions they ran. The man did his job and showed no signs of becoming a traitor, so Ao didn't really care too much about him, so much as his words, and opened his mouth to respond.

"Ao," the Mizukage intoned flatly, and Ao immediately clamped his mouth shut as he turned to his leader. The Third Mizukage may not have inherited the Hyoton, but he held himself with the same cold grace of his distant Yuki relatives. He wore an impassive expression devoid of any menace nor particular disapproval, but the aura he exuded still called for silence. "There is no need to defend Ringo Sute's placement in ANBU. Your report on her battle with Biwa Juzo alone has more than justified it."

A thrill of discomfort tingled down Ao's spine at the mention of the traitor, the still-healing scars in his leg and side tingling at the memory of the ill-fated mission. It had been by far the closest he'd come to dying, death only seconds away before Sute had appeared to distract the former Swordsman. He kept his face carefully stoic as he nodded in mute acceptance, and the Mizukage turned to face the room at large.

"We seem to have gotten off-topic," he noted. "Right now, this meeting is to discuss a serious issue: at least three Cloud ninja managed to enter the Land of Water—two trespassing into Kiri itself—and one escaped. We have already tightened our borders heavily over the years, they should not have been able to succeed. I want to know how they got this far, and I want to find out any information we can on the one who escaped. I do not think I need to impress upon you the severity of the situation."

Grim silence followed his cold declaration, a chill running down everyone's spines. Displeasing the Mizukage always had horrific results, and none wanted to test his ire or patience. "We have teams combing the country for the escapee as we speak," Yashiro said after a moment, his tone somewhat mild and almost cowed. "As for how they entered the Land of Water, we have yet to determine that."

"No outside ships have made port on any of the major islands this week," Fuguki interjected gruffly. "Most likely, they either took a boat towards one of the more secluded areas and water-walked the remainder of the distance, or hijacked a fishing boat and snuck back to shore disguised as the crew. I sent out Kisame and a few others to make rounds in the fishing villages and ask this morning."

"I'll be sure to bring it up when I go back to chat with our guest," Moriie added, flashing an almost savage-looking smirk. "He's pretty tight-lipped about his mission's goals, but he should be singing pretty soon."

"That reminds me, the guard from the document building only reported seeing two men after he woke up," Heki mused aloud, leaning back in his seat with his arms crossed. "And we only really saw two in the pursuit. There's a chance the third never actually entered Kiri and hid out somewhere nearby. The rumors about Cloud ninja skulking around had to come from somewhere."

From there the meeting shifted into a discussion about the quickest plan of action to find the getaway Cloud ninja, and ways to fortify Kiri's defenses to prevent a repeat. Ao remained silent for the most part, having no particular input to offer beyond basic advice for how to position Kiri's few sensors for maximum effect. Instead he found his thoughts wandering to the next few weeks and what the future would hold, specifically in regards to a certain troublesome new recruit to ANBU.

That kid better know what she's doing, he thought grimly, not for the first time since agreeing to train her. He genuinely wondered if she realized just how dangerous her decision to join ANBU really was, how much attention it would draw to her. The most he could do was hope his training would help her get over her block.

And from there, his thoughts flashed back to his meeting with Mei, just after he received confirmation Sute had been approved for ANBU training.

"You wanted to meet me?"

Terumii Mei looked rather regal as she reclined in her seat, hands cupped around a cup of tea. More than a few people glanced at them from other tables in the small tea shop, whether out of appreciation for her beauty or wariness for her deadly bloodlines, Ao did not know. It did not matter anyway, as long as no one could hear them.

It had been why he chose this particular shop, more popular with civilians than shinobi. It lacked privacy seals or other measures to avoid eavesdropping, but the small table they sat at in the back of the shop was distant enough from the rest to ensure some privacy. The clientele would not be able to hear them if they spoke lowly, and both knew to keep their heads turned slightly to avoid their lips being read.

"What do you know of Ringo Sute?" he questioned, skipping straight to the point. Mei arched an eyebrow at the query, delicately sipping at her tea.

"We talk now and then. She's a sweet girl. I just came from a meeting with her, in fact." She lowered her cup with a small exhale. "She said she was angling to enter ANBU."

The comment was casual on the surface, but the sharp glint in her eye as she glanced at Ao was anything but. Ao made a rumble of quiet affirmation, sipping his own tea for a moment as he dipped his head. "She is talented," he said once he lowered the cup. "I already know for a fact she will be scouted today for training. The Mizukage is very interested in her potential."

Mei hummed, setting down her cup. "I would assume that information is meant to be confidential," she commented, suspicion visible in her gaze. Why are you telling me? Shinobi did not convey such information without good reason, they dealt in secrets and hiding information for a living. They did not share something so critical in such a casual fashion without some sort of intent.

Ao ignored the silent question for the moment though, instead saying, "You said you just came from meeting her. Did she ask for your help in training at all?"

Another arched eyebrow at the question, clearly curious as she sensed a hidden intent in the abrupt topic change. "She did, but we had to cut it short when one of her friends showed up," she responded nonchalantly, and her lips curved into a small smile as she added, "Did you know she calls Hozuki Mangetsu 'not-Suigetsu'? He looked so exasperated."

"He called Hoshigaki 'Shark-nii-san' to his face and regularly greeted Juzo with 'oh, you're still alive,'" Ao responded flatly. "She knows almost no fear."

"Almost?" Mei repeated quietly, inclining her head slightly. "That is very specific."

Ao offered a lazy sort of shrug, his gaze roaming the cafe briefly as he leaned back. The other patrons had turned their attentions away by this point, more interested in their own conversations than the two shinobi in the back corner. Still, he kept his voice low, not a whisper but still quiet enough to avoid carrying. "What do you know of her battle with Biwa Juzo?"

Mei at the question, her eyes narrowing. "Not much," she responded carefully. "I read the official report of course, but she never discussed it with me if that's what you're asking. I would assume you know more than I do. After all—

"The Byakugan can penetrate the Hidden Mist jutsu, can it not?"

When Darui finally staggered to the shoreline in the late night, he had never looked or felt more haggard. Ugly red marks cut into his wrists from where they'd been bound by wire, his hair and clothing totally disheveled and his lower face caked in drying, crusted blood. Grunting tiredly, his eyes skimmed the waters before he spied a thin mist starting to set in, making him stiffen and narrow his eyes apprehensively.

Then, he spied the glitter of ice slowly stretching across the water from within the mist, and the tension seeped out of his body all at once, a quiet sigh slipping free.

He trudged towards the shore and stepped onto the icy path that had formed, the path melting behind him as he walked deeper into the mist. The silhouette of a person in a small boat took shape in the distance, barely visible in the dark of night, and as he drew closer he saw the figure gracefully rise. "Just you?" a soft voice called.

"The others got captured," he grunted in response. "The mission's a failure."

"A-san won't be pleased by this."

"I know. I'll make it clear the failure had nothing to do with you." He stepped off the path and nearly collapsed into the boat, causing it to rock gently. Ice pressed against his sore muscles as he slumped along the floor, closing his eyes to just soak in the refreshing chill. His companion remained silent, and he felt the boat sway slightly as she sat back down.

They drifted away in silence, the mist covering their departure from the Land of Water. Releasing a deep, body-shuddering sigh, Darui cracked open an eye to peer up at the starry sky, barely visible through the thin haze surrounding them. "Hey, you're from Kiri. Did you ever meet a girl about my age with greenish-brown hair and bright green eyes?"

His companion hummed. "I did. We were on the same platoon in the war." His eyes flicked towards her in faint surprise, not expecting a positive answer. He grunted as he shifted to sit up a little straighter, rubbing at his wrists as he faced her.

"Was she Mist-born?" he asked, and she paused, dark eyes narrowing.

"Is there a reason for the interest?" she questioned coolly. Darui bit back the urge to sigh in frustration, sensing it would be difficult to pry information from her about this topic. He didn't want to tell her the truth, about the snippet of a near-dead language he'd recognized but couldn't fully translate.

"She beat me," he said instead. "She managed to knock me out, and had every opportunity to either kill me or take me back to Kiri. But instead she took back the scroll and let me go." She'd left him with his hands bound and a poison in his system that would leave him at a severe disadvantage, but the fact she gave him an opportunity to run at all spoke volumes. Just what those volumes said, he didn't know. Not yet, anyway.

The woman remained silent for a moment, and then finally dipped her head. "You think she may want to defect?" she guessed.

"It's possible. Doesn't seem too loyal to Kiri at least." His remark elicited another thoughtful hum, her head turning to gaze out at the waters.

"She's not from Kiri," she finally said. "She was a child found on the battlefields by one of the Swordsmen. But I don't believe she's from Lightning, if that's what you suspect."

"Why not?" Darui pressed, frowning slightly, and her lips quirked into a faint smile.

"I can't say why. I owe her a debt. She's the one who warned me to leave Kiri, and this trip has only confirmed that my family has been nearly eradicated since the war's end. All that remains is my father's cousin, and she has to hide among civilians. No doubt I would have been targeted at some point had I stayed. The least I can do is keep her secret."

Darui frowned at the avoidance but let the subject drop, knowing he wouldn't get anything more out of her. That was fine though, it had to be. Yuki Shiromi may not be in full service to Kumo, but her willingness to share her bloodline with them made her valuable enough.

With that they fell quiet once more, only the waves lapping against the ice boat filling the silence.

I'm really sorry for the delay everyone! I wanted to get Chapter 61 of Echoes of Light ready before I published this, but between a hellish case of writer's block and the busiest semester of my school career, I just... kind of fell behind. I did not intend for either of my stories to go six MONTHS without an update, I am so sorry.

Today's chapter is longer than usual though, so hopefully that makes up for it? We got full confirmation of some important details at least. If it's not perfectly clear: yep, Ao absolutely knows about Sute having mokuton. It's canon that the Byakugan can penetrate the Hidden Mist jutsu, and there's no sane reason Ao wouldn't want to keep an eye on the guy who JUST tried to murder him. Also, anyone remember the Yuki woman from the war? She's still alive, and you can expect more appearance from her in the future. (For the record: yes, she's referring to Haku's mother, but is purposely omitting Haku's existence for obvious reasons.)

On a more important note though: at this point I cannot tell you when the next chapter will be released. I am now in my last semester of college, so I will be focusing all my efforts on that. Last semester I actually failed a class because I got burnt out by a different class and missed a big deadline, and this semester I only have two classes so I really can't afford that again. Especially since one is an independent study that involves me creating an entire story-driven game by myself (by my own choice, mind you), which will be the culmination of my entire college career.

Just. Yeah. Fan fiction will be a low priority this semester. I apologize now. ...That said, I'm REALLY getting into the My Hero Academia fandom, so if you have any fan fic recs from that fandom (or this one!), please share them. I need something to avoid burnout, and I am consuming fan fiction from MHA at probably unhealthy levels. Gen preferred over romance or extreme AUs (as in, fantasy or modern). I do love canon divergence though.

That's all for now. I am still alive, just very busy. I hope today's chapter was worth the wait!