"Oh love and harmony,

How cruel is this world,

All the skeletons,

Iron remnants,

Hold in all the crimson tears,"

-Sensen no Realism, esturd

"I think I feel safe enough now to tell you that if the daimyo learns the truth because of Sasori's grand-relatives, I might not forgive you."

Moss floated on the water around us. "One of them could've been his parent," I pointed out.

"I'm not joking," Yahiko said, stepping up onto part of a stone bridge. "I'll never share food with you again—"

"I think Ebizo told us the truth the most," I said. "Other Suna-nin thought it'd create an incident, but Chiyo still tried to poison me. It only makes sense if she didn't think it would work."

It only makes sense if she used something weaker than what Sasori uses now, because then we wouldn't notice when she did it.

I looked down at my reflection on the water. "So, they can't tell," I continued. "How would it look if we said they tried to poison the leader of Amegakure? And even if no one believed us, it would be just as bad if we said that Sasori killed the Third Kazekage and no one noticed."

I thought he'd laugh, but he didn't. I looked at him and thought, but you knew that already.

He looked exhausted. He'd barely slept since Hyozan, if at all.

"You remember what I said to Sana, right?" I asked.

Yahiko huffed out a laugh and laced his hands behind his head. "Even if we weren't followed, it's just something about still being mildly poisoned, the heat I'll have nightmares about, and people thinking we had something to do with killing a Kage that set my nerves on fire."

"They'd tell Hyozan we didn't."

Would it make them look less bad if people thought Sasori had help, or worse, because they let us leave?

"That's not better," Yahiko said, closing his eyes.

Either we were added to a bingo book as missing-nin, or we were Ame-nin on a mission in Wind, and it could maybe spread to someone we didn't want to know.

"What they think we did or didn't do doesn't matter. We were supposed to be quiet, and we weren't," I said. "But Naga was louder in Hot Water, and you still found a way to use it."

"People believed Ame-nin were mercenaries before that," Yahiko denied.

I watched him step down onto the water, then back up on a rock. "Not to the point that Iwagakure made fun of us for making messes."

"I think that was more fishing for information disguised as a joke," Yahiko said, but he was smiling. "And I never should've had you and him go to Yugakure in the first place."

"We needed money. From anywhere or anyone," I dismissed. "It could've worked if Hidan didn't kill everyone before us."

Yahiko shook his head, "He still hasn't said why he did it."

"Point is, we really could have killed the Third Kazekage, and you'd still find a way to use it."

Yahiko laughed. "There are some situations you can't think or talk your way out of, but thanks. I think I needed that."

"That's why you have me and Naga," I said. I could see the rocky shore. "Naga's better at being honest, and sometimes that works more. Sometimes talking doesn't work at all, and people just need to die."

Yahiko shook his head again. "You're the best sister a guy could ask for, Oka. Have I told you that already?"

"Only three or four times."

"I'm feeling the strong urge to ruffle your hair right now."

I looked at him. "I know all the signs for every water jutsu you and Naga know."

"A little concerning, but I still like my chances—"

I raised a hand and made half-seals. Dragon. Tiger. Hare—

Yahiko walked a little faster, whistling to himself, but I saw how hard he wanted to laugh.

.

.

.

Mamoru-sensei stood on the rocks, water splashing up against the rocks in front of him. Namekuji was around his shoulders.

"Seems I didn't die, sensei," Yahiko said airily, picking his way up the rocks.

Mamoru-sensei looked at him, then at me, looking us over. "How was the desert?" he asked, and Yahiko laughed hard.

"I really, really hate you sometimes, sensei."

I maneuvered over sharper rocks. "It made me miss the rain."

"The only way you know how to learn is the hard way," Mamoru-sensei said.

"Are you talking to me or her, sensei?" Yahiko asked.

Mamoru-sensei didn't answer.

"The small one is dead," Namekuji told me, because he was mean, and I'd left him behind.

I hummed. "Guess you won't get a hug then."

"I don't want one."

I shrugged back. "Oh well."

He stared for another second, and then he jumped off Mamoru-sensei.

I didn't catch him, more stubborn, and he landed on my shoulder like pile of thrown bricks. I didn't mind it so much when I stumbled back and fell, scraping my hands on rocks, shoulder aching, and laughed until I ran out of breath.

"Where's Sasori?" Mamoru-sensei asked.

"Ah. About that, sensei," Yahiko began. "I don't think you'll be able to contact Sana anymore."

Mamoru-sensei stared at him, then pinched his nose. "What did you—"

"Oh and you might be hearing soon that the Third Kazekage is missing or dead, and it may or not have been Sasori," Yahiko added. "But we had nothing to do with it."

I hugged Namekuji as I sat up. "How did his grand-relatives know it was him, anyway?"

"Probably because the only way it could've happened was if he was paralyzed or passed out. How many people could make something that strong and know the area enough to escape undetected?"

Mamoru-sensei sighed deeply. "Do I want to know?"

.

.

.

We followed the shoreline until we found Naga. He was close to the hideout, kneeling on Hidan's back.

Hidan's wrists were bound with wire. I could see blood on them. The deep marks in his skin told me he'd struggled, and kept struggling, even after the wire didn't break.

Yahiko walked up to them. "Let me guess, he tried to kill you again?"

Hidan kicked his legs as he turned his head. "I'm not in the mood so piss off and die."

"Nah."

Naga smiled. "No, I was taking a break."

Yahiko held out his hand, and Naga grabbed it as he stood.

"Fuck you," Hidan said, but he sounded incredulous, like he couldn't believe Naga called whatever they were doing a break.

"How far away did you sense us?" Yahiko asked.

Naga looked away. "If I tell you, you'll only use it against me."

Yahiko looked thoughtful. "Oka threatened to use the sea against me earlier."

Naga turned away to laugh.

"It's only funny because you can't understand," Yahiko said flatly.

Namekuji leaned on my head to look down as I crouched next to Hidan. His eyes were closed.

"Where's your scythe?"

His eyebrows scrunched up. "Stop talking to me."

I looked past him, to where a scroll had been dropped or thrown in the sand. "You cursed at me more before I left," I said instead of mentioning it.

"Take your opinion and stick it up your ass," he said, lower-pitched, eyebrows scrunched more.

I hummed.

"You're still hungover?" Namekuji asked. "Another reason I'm glad I'm not human."

"Stuffed animal asshole," Hidan said back, face pressed to the sand.

"Smelly breath has better insults."

Hidan made a vague noise that might or might not have been something rude.

I looked up at Naga. "What's a hangover?"

"It's when you humans drink poison for fun," Namekuji said.

Yahiko blinked. "Wait, did you say Hidan got drunk, or am I starting to hallucinate?"

Naga looked sheepish. "I was there, too."

Yahiko stared at him.

"It was my fault. I said he was too embarrassed to do drink and... he proved me wrong," Naga admitted.

Yahiko blinked again, astonished. "Did you drink?"

Hidan looked asleep.

"A little," Naga said.

Yahiko made the release seal, still staring at him.

"What did he drink?" I asked.

"Shochu," Naga answered, then tried again with, "Alcohol," at my look.

Yahiko shook his head. "I can't believe you threw a party without me."

"I didn't, and it wasn't a party," Naga said back. "Itsuki found a crate of it and brought it with him."

"I'd ask what was so important it was worth getting Hidan drunk, but I think my brain is melting. I'm going to go pass out, and we can talk about Sunagakure tomorrow," Yahiko said, already turning away.

"How long did you hold what happened in Yugakure over me again?" Naga asked.

"Tell you what, if Sasori doesn't show by the end of fall, not only will I never mention it again, but I'll clean up after Namekuji until Oka's birthday," Yahiko said, looking back over his shoulder. "But if he does, it'll still be only one of us who's failed a mission."

Naga stepped closer to him. "Without me we never would've come close to rebuilding the economy."

Yahiko stretched his arms as he started walking again. "Yeah, yeah, but that wasn't the mission, was it?"

I watched Naga's shoulders shake as he tried not to laugh.

月光

Naga sat at edge of the shore as I walked down to him, watching the moon. His pants looked wet, even though the tide barely slid up to his feet.

"Were you catching fish?" I asked.

He didn't have his weapons pouch, but that didn't mean he didn't put them somewhere else.

He didn't answer and I looked at the moon's reflection on the water.

"I wasn't," Naga finally said, but he didn't elaborate, and I didn't ask if he'd been screaming.

I looked farther out. Sana told me that it was hard to find weapons. It must've been when Hyozan wasn't a village where bodies were left and buried all over or thrown in the sea with their pouches still on.

Naga twisted around and crossed his legs. He still wore sandals, even though they were soaked. "I was starting to think neither of you would wake up until sunrise."

I thought of Yahiko spread out on the floor of the main room on his back with an arm thrown over his face. He hadn't woken up even when Namekuji laid over part of his face and went to sleep smothering him.

I crouched in front of Naga and traced a thin white scar up the side of his neck. It stopped just under his chin.

He didn't stop me and I stared at him, nonverbally asking, who did that to you?

"A samurai from Iron," he answered, pulling my hand down. "We sparred, and she used her chakra in a way that surprised me. That's all."

A chakra burn. It explained why it scarred at all. Even if he'd healed the cut instantly, it probably still would've left a scar.

"The samurai's name is Hangaku," he told me. "She works under Miyashita, and he called himself a Baron. I still don't think I know what it means."

"Itsuki is the one you sent to Iron, isn't he?"

Naga looked at his lap, hair draped around his face and falling down his back. "I want to wait for Yahiko to wake up before I explain everything that happened."

He sounded happy.

I picked up a handful of wet sand and watched it slide out of my hand like sludge.

He wouldn't be if we didn't have Iron, or at least a little of it.

"Oka," he said.

I wondered how I felt.

Naga took my hand, sweeping sand out of my palm like a little kid who'd made a mess, and I wondered if there'd ever be a point when I stopped letting him treat me like one.

"You don't have to be happy," he said.

I only hummed. Was this peace? Was this what it meant to be at peace?

"I wasn't happy after I negotiated with Baron Miyashita. I was relieved," he admitted. "Remember all those letters I wrote? We didn't have that much regular paper, and I wasted a lot of it because I was terrified of what'd happen if I didn't get it right. What other options did we have?"

Did making allies mean we'd found peace? Were the nights where I could sit and look at the stars peaceful, or because of peace?

"Sometimes it feels like we're always being backed into a corner, and have to fight for every little thing we have," Naga said. He pulled my hand to his chest and his heartbeat drummed beneath my fingers. "If I was honest, I'd admit that meeting Baron Miyashita made me angry. We still have to fight to be able to eat, or to rebuild what the great nations destroyed, while they move on like nothing happened."

Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.

"We're living in their peace, not ours," Naga said bitterly, and my eyes widened. It felt like he'd grabbed tight to my heart and squeezed. "It even makes me angry if I think too hard about why we needed Ren. If he didn't help us, who would?"

Was that his heart beating fast, or mine?

Naga squeezed my hand. "I can't imagine how angry you are, Oka, if I feel like this. Don't feel like you need to be happy about anything. You're not the only one who's not."

Was I angry? I wasn't sure.

what would it change, if I was?

"You don't even have to be happy about Sasori."

who could pay for it, if I was?

"What's the point?" I asked him.

Naga laughed at me. "Why does there have to be a point?"

I didn't move and he leaned closer. He swiped water off my cheek.

what?

I poked at my cheek and stared at my wet fingers.

why was I crying?

"You're annoyed," Naga said patiently. "You don't have a target for your anger, and you always have. It's frustrating."

"Why can't I stop?"

Naga only smiled. His hand was on the back of my hand, and then my face was buried in his shoulder.

"Baby sister," he said like an admonishment.

"Your hair is in the way," I said back, muffled by all the loose strands.

Naga paused. "It's getting long, isn't it?"

"It's wet," I said, and saw his smile.

踊る

Yahiko looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. "I miss everything when I stay and somehow still miss everything when I leave."

"Sana told you explicitly that I shouldn't contact her again?" Mamoru-sensei asked, sitting against the back wall.

"Only after she said we ruined everything she built. I think that part is more important."

Mamoru-sensei stared at him. "I've known Sana for longer than you were alive," he finally said.

Yahiko rubbed his chin. "That makes it more impressive that it only took a day to ruin that."

Naga sat against the wall behind Yahiko, content to watch them.

"More like a week," I mentioned, on the opposite side of the room.

"Not counting when I was passed out," Yahiko said without looking.

Matsu muttered to himself as Namekuji slid up his back, hunched like he might be bitten if he moved.

I leaned an arm on my knee. "I talked to her and didn't drive her away. It only happened after you woke up."

"I suddenly think everyone here would be interested in the part where you laughed at Sasori."

Naga made a noise, but Mamoru-sensei looked unsurprised.

"Almost as much as they'd want to know what you hallucinated while you were overheating and poisoned," I said back.

"What did he hallucinate?" Mamoru-sensei asked, interested again.

Naga glanced at me too.

Yahiko met my gaze.

"I don't think you want to play this game, Yahiko. You'll lose."

He opened his mouth, then closed it. "I won't forgive you?"

"You used that."

He looked thoughtful. He slowly shifted down to his hands and knees and lowered his head. "Please forgive me, cruel little sister. Everything that happened with Sana was my fault."

Naga covered his mouth, but couldn't hide his grin before I saw it.

Mamoru-sensei whistled. "Look at that. I thought he was shameless."

"Was it that bad?" Naga asked.

"More embarrassing," I answered. "Would it stay a secret if I told you?"

"He wouldn't tell anyone," Mamoru-sensei answered for him. "I would."

"I apologize for ever blaming you for my faults, cruel little sister," Yahiko said, monotone.

Naga laughed so hard he couldn't speak.

Yahiko shook his head. "I complete a mission before Nagato, and this is what I get."

"It's not done," Naga protested. "You can keep saying it is, but it's not."

Yahiko sat up. "Denial isn't a good look on you, best friend of mine."

I glanced at Matsu as they argued. "He only does stuff you don't like because you react to it," I finally said. "He did it to Mamoru-sensei and—" I stopped.

And Konan and Osamu, too.

"I don't mind," Matsu said mildly.

Namekuji looked over his head at us, and his fingers twitched violently.

"Next time you ask me to do anything, I want one of those underground ferrets," Namekuji said. ignoring Matsu completely.

"I don't think I could catch just one," I said.

"It doesn't have to be alive," he dismissed.

"You could do it yourself."

"That's a nice suggestion."

I smiled.

"Can slugs get rabies?" Yahiko asked, tapping his chin.

"I don't think Namekuji can. But they wouldn't have run if they were infected. They'd become more aggressive," Naga answered.

"So slugs can, but summons can't," Yahiko concluded.

"I don't mind," Matsu said again, forcing his head up. "I can't stop how I'm reacting, but I think—" he faltered, swallowing hard. "I think I want to get used to this."

I looked at him and hummed.

"I still don't believe what you said about Matsu buying us time with the daimyo," Yahiko mentioned.

"Hey," Matsu said, but sounded more shocked than offended.

"I don't either, and I was there," Namekuji said.

Matsu paused and shook his head. "I'm best at lying," he said, smile faint. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"I don't know," Yahiko said, scrutinizing him. "The terror in your voice when the hideout was attacked sounded pretty real to me."

Matsu considered, and then reconsidered his response. "What happened with the daimyo... it surprised me too."

"You should come around more," Naga said.

Matsu studied him, then decided he was serious, "You're still too nice. I don't think I'll ever understand it."

"I'm not being nice. I don't think you know what you did for us. We owe you."

Matsu's eyes widened.

Yahiko laid back on the floor and spread his arms and legs out. "Don't you think it's getting a little crowded in here?"

"Even with Joji and Enyo, there's more than enough space to hold thirty to forty more people," Mamoru-sensei said without ever looking his way.

"I thought shinobi were supposed to see underneath the underneath," Yahiko said back, hands behind his head.

"Jiraya tell you that?"

"He might've," Yahiko sniffed.

"It's nothing concrete, but I was thinking about putting our tower at the center of the village," Naga said. "I feel like we've outgrown this place, too."

Yahiko closed his eyes. "I knew you were my best friend for a reason."

A/N: 月光 - Moonlight, 踊る - Dance