Chapter 27

"Please, there's no need for hostility. I'd like to make a proposition."

"A proposition?" Sute repeated in a hiss barely audible over the owl's screech, glaring at the masked man as he held her wrist. "What kind of proposition?"

"An invitation, if you will," Amagiri replied smoothly. "I'm certain you find Kiri just as stifling as we found Konoha, and my master would be very pleased in having you join us. He's already expressed interest in meeting you, we feel you would get along with him splendidly." Already she could feel a sense of foreboding creep up her spine, her eyes narrowing.

"And who, exactly, is your master?" she questioned lowly, and she swore she could feel him smile behind that mask.

"The Legendary Sannin Orochimaru, of course."

oOoOo

Shisui, at the ripe age of eleven, had admittedly been in better situations. Sitting tied up in an enemy's base, his body littered with injuries, surrounded by hostiles and blindfolded on top of all that?

Definitely a low point.

As he listened to his captors talk he tried to remain calm, ignoring the pain in his ribs as he focused on analyzing the situation. Amagiri had been suspected for some time to be connected to Orochimaru, and the conversation he overheard only confirmed it.

They're planning to take me to Orochimaru as an experiment, he noted, trying to push down the rising panic and anxiety at the thought. Orochimaru was one of the most nefarious traitors to ever leave Konoha, second only to Madara, and that was only because Madara had been one of the founders. Orochimaru experimented on babies, for crying out loud! And it looked like he'd be next.

As Amagiri left and the woman prepared to heal him, Shisui resolved to do everything in his power to get out of this mess. He had no idea if or when help would come, so it'd probably be up to him to escape. It would be tricky and difficult, but Shisui felt somewhat confident he could succeed as long as he endured the pain long enough to wait for an opening.

That was the plan. A horrible, shitty plan that would likely be more doomed to failure than success, but it was better than nothing.

Then the blindfold was torn away, and his mind went blank as he found himself staring into bright green eyes that seemed to glow in the candlelight.

"Yo," Ringo Sute greeted flatly.

Strike that. He might actually die here.

Shisui grew three shades paler as he stared at the grown-up version of a face he'd seen only in genjutsu and photos, recalling the stories he'd heard about her from the survivors he'd met in Konoha—and that was the best word to describe the people who encountered Ringo Sute in battle: survivors. Even after four years since her last major appearance, her reputation in Konoha had not dwindled. If anything, it grew even deadlier.

Dozens of Leaf ninja still suffered the consequences of their encounter with the girl. Several had to have limbs amputated either due to the excessive damage she caused or because the field medics couldn't prepare an antidote for her poisons before it could spread. Yashiro, one of the only Uchiha to have met her, had a permanent desk job at KMPD after suffering severe nerve damage and permanent paralysis in his left arm thanks to a slash from a poisoned kunai.

Worse than her poisons though, she was a medic. Many people claimed the only reason they'd survived the war was because she went out of her way to heal them, whether she'd been the one to hurt them or not. That seemingly benevolent action often did nothing but prolong their agony, leaving people to die over several long hours on the battlefield as opposed to a swift and relatively merciful death.

Still more people suffered intense psychological damage after being captured and tortured by her, being healed repeatedly so she or her allies could begin again. He hadn't heard as much about her torture skills as everything else, since usually people didn't return after being captured, but enough had survived to make everyone want to avoid getting captured by Kiri now.

Maybe Sute wasn't as powerful or vicious as the Swordsmen, or have a high body count or some monumental achievement like the Yellow Flash, but she had done enough smaller-scale damage to earn a reputation as one of the most savage prodigies to ever haunt the Elemental Nations. Perhaps her infamy came from the fact she had been a kid back then, barely older than Shisui was now.

And he was now completely at her mercy.

"Hello, Uchiha-chan!" she greeted cheerily. "Your name is Shisui, right?"

Shisui just stared, too stunned and terrified to speak. She's a medical ninja. She can remove my eyes. That single chilling thought pushed him into action, chakra pumping to his eyes. If I can just use my Sharingan, the Kotoamatsukami—!

Sute surged forward almost too quick to follow, slapping a piece of paper on his forehead. He jolted in shock as it stuck and he felt the power around his eyes fade, the chakra wavering and refusing to respond while his vision returned to normal. "W-what the hell?" he whispered, growing increasingly panicked as he twisted his head to try to shake the paper loose.

"Just a little disruption to your chakra coils," Sute hummed, waving at him dismissively even as he grew another four shades paler. "Don't worry, it's not permanent."

"How?" he gasped out before he could think.

"Fuinjutsu, of course!" she chirped brightly. "Turns out screwing with people's chakra systems is really easy when you're just disrupting it instead of completely sealing it. I mean, technically you can still use ninjutsu right now if you focus hard enough, but your coils should be just screwed up enough to keep those pretty little eyes pitch black and safe for me." She smiled at him even as he stared in growing horror, his stomach sinking more.

"You—you know fuinjutsu?" he whispered hesitantly, and she beamed, suddenly leaning right in his face with a sharp grin and manic glint in her eye. He yelped and tried to lean away only to fall flat on his back, leaving him feeling all too vulnerable as she practically crawled on top of him, her hair dripping around her face and tickling his shoulders.

"Fuinjutsu is amazing," she breathed, her eyes legitimately sparkling in the candle light. "You can do almost anything with it, even revive the dead! Even mistakes can turn out to be useful in the end and inspire other seals and uses! It's like a puzzle, you just need to know the right components and figure out how to fit them together in different ways, and then the possibilities are endless."

Oh shit, Shisui thought, only able to stare at her in even more horror. That sort of passion didn't come from an amateur, and given her prodigious reputation he wouldn't expect her to be anything short of a master. No wonder she hadn't been seen outside Kiri since the war, they'd want to keep their own fuinjutsu practitioners as heavily under wraps as possible. Not many fuinjutsu masters remained anymore, and the few who did were all terrifying in their own right.

And now she was going to work with Orochimaru.

As he dwelled over the potential terror of that combination in ever-mounting horror Sute pulled away, giving him much-needed personal space as her smile shrunk to more normal human proportions. "Ah, I could go on for hours about how amazing and versatile it is. But alas, that's not why we're here." She offered a lazy shrug even as Shisui's blood chilled, and the young chuunin swallowed as he sat up, forcing on his sternest face possible.

"Is this the part where you start torturing me?" he asked warily, dreading the answer. Maybe if he stalled for time—maybe he could just kick her in the throat, roll around and get the tag off his face—

"You did hear what he said about healing you, right?" Sute cut into his thoughts with the casualness of a knife slicing through butter. Shisui froze, boggling her in disbelief with his jaw hanging open. Crap, he'd totally forgotten. Orochimaru wanted him in one piece, which still wasn't exactly good.

As he struggled to come up with something to say she leaned forward to touch his face, hand alight with healing chakra. He flinched and tried to pull away on instinct, but ultimately he just fell onto his back again and could only squirm as her fingers brushed against his bruised eye. His heart hammered as he felt foreign chakra seep through into his muscles, making his breath hitch with pure terror as she began rambling.

"You know, I've never actually healed a doujutsu before. Kiri isn't that keen on bloodline limits these days, and if we had any doujutsu users before, well, they're gone now. Your eye feels kinda weird compared to normal ones," she mused thoughtfully. "It's hard to describe, but it's definitely different. I can see why Orochimaru is so fascinated by it."

Shisui flinched at the name, swallowing heavily. He was starting to feel nauseous, and it took a good deal of self control to actually speak. "Do you know what he's done?" he croaked. "He has no morals! He experimented on infants!" That part made her seem to pause, the influx of healing chakra stilling briefly before resuming its steady spread.

"I'm aware," she said, tone more crisp. "More than you realize. He's a lot like my old dad."

"Old dad?" Shisui repeated, jumping on the opportunity to potentially gather information and also distract himself from the feeling of chakra in his face right next to his eye. Sute hummed lightly, her concentration not breaking.

"Before I ended up in Kiri. Good dad, but bad person. Honestly, not surprising I turned out this way. It's probably good Ameyuri found me and dragged me back to Kiri over one of the other villages, since my moral compass is screwed to hell and back."

As she chuckled softly to herself Shisui just stared up at her with his one good eye, not really sure what to make of her words. On the one hand, this information was all new, and the implications from Sute being a war orphan from outside Kiri would be very valuable information. Sute's skillset spoke of a genetic advantage as opposed to a random civilian-born child, so she probably had some sort of clan heritage. (Hadn't Auntie Mikoto's old friend Kushina been kind of obsessed with her?)

On the other hand though, Shisui didn't know if he would actually live long enough to report said information. As it stood, the feeling of her chakra coursing through his system—focused around his injured eye—sort of overrode any other thoughts. He had to regulate his breathing as he watched her smile, her eyes distant yet full of a wistful sort of fondness. "You know, I never had a mother," she said softly. "Not until I had Ameyuri."

The tingle of chakra finally faded as she pulled her hand away, and Shisui suddenly realized he could see, his eyelids no longer too swollen to open. He blinked dumbly a couple times, letting his eye adjust to the dim lighting while he just stared at her. Something hard and lumpy formed in his throat, and he swallowed harshly to shove it down as she began to prod at his abdomen instead.

"Y-you," he started shakily. "Why—?" He cut himself off with a hiss as she poked a particularly sensitive spot. Her hands took on a minty green glow as she pressed her palm against the area, her gaze focused intently on it as she spoke.

"Because my old mom died when I was a baby, I guess?" she mused, and if it wasn't for his sheer anxiety he might have glared at her for blatantly ignoring the real meaning of his question. "I dunno. Blame my grandma for that one, she was a nasty piece of work. Actually, fun fact: first time I met grandma? Also the first time I saw human intestines."

"What the fuck," he blurted in equal parts shock and pain, wincing as he felt a sharp spike of pain in his rib cage.

"My old dad was a very screwed up man, but apparently he loved my mother very much," Sute replied with a shrug. "Had to, considering he never dragged her to the basement. Not sure how long he kept grandma down there, but she was still alive when I met her. Old hag deserved it though. Now shut up, I need to focus so I don't screw up and weld one of your lungs shut on accident."

"Wait, what?" Shisui yelped, trying to jerk away from her. "How does that even work!?"

"Not entirely sure yet," she hummed. "Only happened to me once or twice, way more common when just learning how to heal broken bones. You'd think it wouldn't affect bronchi since those are more cartilage, but somehow it can if your focus slips. People really underestimate how dangerous medical ninjutsu can be if you're not precise with your chakra. Which is why you should really be quiet right now."

Shisui whimpered but obediently fell silent as her hands glowed once more, pressing against his ribs.

As the silence stretched he heard a quiet thump upstairs though, soon joined by yelling. Shisui felt a surge of hope at the noise, craning his head back and squinting as if he could see through the ceiling with enough effort. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

"Focusing," Sute replied in a quiet sing-song tone, and Shisui clamped his mouth shut. But even so his eyes darted to the ceiling once more, a small shred of hope curling in his chest.

When they first saw the trail of gashes in the trees lining the river, the naturally suspicious part of Kakashi suspected it to be a trick. Why wouldn't it be? They had no reason to suspect Sute to actually help them. But they had no better leads, and time was running short.

So after a few seconds of indecision, he gave the order to move. They gambled on her intent and chose to pursue the trail she left, running along either side of the river even as the trail led them further than expected. As they ran further and further but saw no other signs of their quarry he felt his stomach sink, thinking maybe it had been a false trail and they'd gone the other way.

But just as they neared the one kilometer mark and he'd been about to order them to turn around, Bisuke's ears had perked up, Pakkun and Urushi following suit moments later. "We got the scent!" Pakkun barked. "One kilometer ahead!"

Relief crashed into Kakashi at the confirmation, mingled with surprise. So she hadn't completely abandoned the alliance then? It could still be a trap of course, an attempt to lower their guard and lead them to an ambush, but the sheer distance between the first marker and their actual scent made him doubt that. No, the evidence pointed to her probably leaving the trail without Amagiri noticing.

Now a few minutes later, that seemed to be confirmed as they stood outside a small wooden hut with no sign of an ambush.

The trio watched it from a safe distance hidden in the trees, Kakashi's eyes narrowing. The powerful aromas of Amagiri and Sute left no doubt the two were inside at that moment, and this close he could also pick up the day-old traces of Shisui's scent as well. The boy's scent had the distinct iron tang of blood clinging to it, but he couldn't detect the pungent odor of death so for now he could only assume he was alive.

Kakashi eyed the building silently for a long moment before raising a hand in a signal. The others nodded and Genma slunk towards the door while Tenzo silently ran up a tall tree overlooking the hut, perching on a branch. Sliding his sword out of its sheath, he paused and took a breath to center himself before leaping down.

Amagiri had been in the midst of sealing a box into a scroll when Tenzo burst through the roof, swinging his blade down where the man stood. The missing-nin dodged the strike with a loud curse, quickly flickering through the hand seals for one of his signature hot water jutsu. He cupped his hand around his mouth and spewed a stream of water, steam rising off it even as it surged towards the boy.

Tenzo dodged artfully while Genma took advantage of the chaos to open the door and slip inside, flinging several senbon at Amagiri's back. The man sensed their incoming trajectory though and twisted his head over his shoulder to check their path before dodging out the way, dropping into a roll. When he sprung back to his feet he slashed out with a kunai at Tenzo as the boy lunged at him, Tenzo pulling back to avoid it and the tip barely grazing one of his arm bracers.

Amagiri tossed the kunai towards Genma before flashing through seals for another burst of boiling water, twisting his head to shoot it in a wide arc. The two Leaf ninja had to duck and roll under it, the walls behind them splintering and crashing under the powerful pressure of the stream. Once it finished they were on their feet and charging again, forcing the man back.

As the battle unfolded Kakashi hovered by the door, waiting for his teammates to distract the man before charging inside. He ignored the instinct to jump in and assist in the battle and instead made a beeline towards the trapdoor where Shisui and Sute's scents both emanated. He flung it open without fanfare, and he could see flickering candles in a large circle on the floor.

Kakashi nearly barreled down the steps at the visual confirmation, and just as he reached the last step he saw Sute hunched over the bound form of Shisui. The boy seemed to be almost gasping for air behind her as she pulled her hands away, not turning even as Kakashi held a kunai to her neck.

"Step away from the boy," he said lowly. Below her Shisui practically bolted upright, his eyes blown wide with equal parts terror and panic. Some sort of tag dangled on his forehead, but Kakashi didn't have much time to look at it.

"K-Kakashi!?" he sputtered. His nerves seemed shot, clearly struggling to string together a coherent sentence. "Wait—w-watch—behind—clone!"

The last word made an electric jolt run up Kakashi's spine, instinctively yanking the kunai against Sute's neck even as he spun around. As the blade sliced through her neck he felt her "body" collapse into a giant splash of water, drenching his arm and dousing a few of the candles, but he paid it little mind. The real Sute stood at the foot of the stairs, her knapsack slung over her shoulder and one hand gripping the hilt of her bokken.

"Hello, Kakashi," she greeted, calm and placid as ever. Her green eyes held a hint of mischief to them, the candlelight making them spark with a glowing sort of intensity. A small smirk curled across her lips, the shadows giving her face an ominous edge and sending a reflexive chill down his spine. "And goodbye."

Kakashi tensed at the ominous words, swiftly placing himself firmly in front of Shisui and bracing himself for her attack... only for her to leap backwards up the steps and then slam the trapdoor behind her.

For a second he just sat there, stunned. Did she just... did she just run away? The abrupt retreat caught Kakashi off guard, his tense stance faltering for just a second. Another crash sounded above them then, telltale signs of the battle raging outside the small basement, and the trance was broken.

Kakashi's muscles coiled as the instinct to follow her called for him to move, but he quickly quashed them and turned his attention to Shisui, the boy still staring wide-eyed at where Sute had been. The paper tag still dangled on his face attached to his forehead, and Kakashi strode over and tore it off, not wanting to chance it exploding. The paper disintegrated almost immediately upon removal, catching him by surprise.

Its removal seemed to jar the boy out of his own stunned stupor, because Shisui jolted and gave a large gasp. "She's even more terrifying than the bingo books said!" he whined. His voice was so childish Kakashi almost snorted, but he could see genuine fear and unease in his eyes.

"Did she hurt you?" he asked, pulling out a kunai to cut through the ropes binding him. The sooner he could get a confirmation on Shisui's status, the sooner he could rejoin the others to assist in fighting Amagiri.

The boy paused, hesitating to answer. "I don't... think so?" he said uncertainly, and Kakashi gave him a sharp look.

"You don't think so?" he repeated with no amount of gentleness. Shisui bit his lip, rubbing his now-free wrists anxiously.

"Well, Amagiri told her to heal me so she fixed my eye, but then she moved on to my chest and said something about accidentally fusing my lungs if her concentration was broken...?"

...Kakashi had no idea how to respond to that, so he decided to keep silent and pull the now-cut ropes off his legs. "Do you have any other injuries?" he asked, and the boy had to think, wiggling his limbs experimentally as they were freed.

"Most of it's fine now, I think. I mean, I'm still breathing normally...?" His voice rose slightly with anxiety, before he quickly shook his head. "Other than that, my ankle's busted, but—forget about me! They're working with Orochimaru!"

His words made an icy pit sink in Kakashi's stomach, confirming their worst suspicions about Amagiri. They'd suspected it this whole time—who else could hide a shinobi of Amagiri's talent, one whom even Danzou couldn't claim as his own given the man also attacked Root bases—but still, the confirmation left him feeling almost nauseous.

He pushed the thought aside, turning his attention to the trap door. "Both of them?" he asked as he started approaching it, steps perfectly silent.

"Yeah. Amagiri specifically mentioned wanting me to get there in good shape, and she said a whole specimen is better than parts." Well, that definitely sounded pretty damning, Kakashi wouldn't deny it. No wonder the kid was so freaked out. He cautiously pushed open the trapdoor and peered around the room, finding it empty, and paused when he noticed a large hole in one wall.

Well, at least the battle moved outside. He quickly returned to Shisui's side, scooping him up as he yelped in protest. "What are you doing? Leave me and go help!"

"You said your ankle's bad, but you can still use chakra, right?" Kakashi countered as he started towards the stairs. The boy fell silent at the reminder, face momentarily blank. For such a lauded child prodigy, he had missed a rather obvious detail. Kakashi decided to just write it off as stress this time, and focused on moving upstairs.

The battle may have moved outside the cottage, but that didn't make it safe. He darted for the door, keeping close to the walls to avoid being seen through the large hole, and once he got outside he rushed to the cover of the trees. He circled towards the battle cautiously, giving the area a wide berth and keeping low to avoid being seen.

As the fight came into view he saw Amagiri first, currently whirling to face Genma. Kakashi paused and quickly pressed against a tree as the man spewed a steaming stream of water in their general direction in an attempt to hit the tokujo, who replaced himself with a log. A tree near their hiding place shattered under the pressure of the boiling water, sending a prickle of danger down his spine.

His Sharingan traced Amagiri's movements as Kakashi peered around the trunk, catching the heavy slump to his shoulders as he heaved a large breath afterward. It was clear from a glance that their surprise attack had pushed him to his limits. Without his trademark blue mask Kakashi could clearly see the signs of exhaustion on the missing-nin's features, face twisted into something vicious and almost desperate as he rolled out of the way of a volley of senbon from Genma.

Only when Amagiri turned to deflect a slash from Tenzo from behind did Kakashi resume moving, setting course for a group of boulders surrounded by thick bushes. He dropped to a crouch behind them and set Shisui down, glancing in the gap between the stones to watch the battle. "Is this good?" he asked quietly, and Shisui nodded, eyes already bleeding into the familiar red of the Sharingan as he peered through the gap.

"Yeah. This is perfect."

"Good, then I'll trust you to provide support. I'm going after Sute." The comment made Shisui pause, shooting him a brief side-glance before quickly turning back to the battle. The boy seemed hesitant, but he gave a terse nod.

"I'll tell the others after we take down Amagiri. Be careful." Kakashi nodded and stepped back to retreat into the woods, secretly grateful the boy didn't try to protest or push for an explanation. Leaving his comrades to fight Amagiri alone left a bad taste in his mouth, but he could see the visible signs of exhaustion in the man's frame. Usually Amagiri was the one to take people by surprise, and now that the tables had been turned it appeared he couldn't hold his own nearly as well.

For now, he needed to trust that his comrades could handle him, that Shisui's presence would provide the last push needed to overpower Amagiri once and for all, and focus on finding Sute.

Just wait a little longer, Kushina. I'll bring her to Konoha.

Well, it happened. We hit 1,000 reviews. I'm still in slight awe. I was at 949 when I posted the last chapter, so that means I got over fifty reviews on one chapter. This story is seriously so much fun to write, and I'm so excited to see how much people enjoy it! The lucky one to leave Review #1,000 was dmalf, who has already supplied a name for a future semi-OC. (What do I mean by "semi"? You'll see.)

Sorry for the slight delay in posting this chapter, I wasn't happy with the first draft and wanted to have the next chapter finished. Some people have asked how Sute got such a deadly reputation despite being a support-type role in the war—well, now you know. Also get a glimpse into a bit more of Sute's first life. One of these days, I'm going to include a full-blown flashback to her first life explaining everything about her dad and upbringing. Until then, you can speculate on what Grandma did.

Thank you everyone for reading and leaving reviews! Next chapter will wrap up this arc! See you in a couple weeks!