Disclaimer: Naruto is property of Masashi Kishimoto, not me. However, Kosu and Hiro are mine. Warning, possible themes of a dark, violent or suggestive nature and use of mature language as the story progresses… They're ninja after all.

Chapter 13

Nindo

A hot burning throb cut through the comforting embrace of darkness. It's quiet, painless cushion was yanked from Kosu as pulse after pulse radiated up her left arm and seemed to threaten to knock her brain right from her skull.

"… Kosu…"

Muffled sounds tried to push through ears that seemed stuffed with cotton. Her brow creased as the pounding within her skull grew. At least the new pain brought new clarity.

"… Kosu."

She groaned and craned her neck, the back of her head grazed against the dirt she lay on. A warm hand cupped her cheek and she blinked her eyes open. The night above her stretched as a dark series of swirls. A blur of white and red slowly blinked into clarity and Mito's worried face looked down at her.

"…What?"

Kosu made to sit up. Blinding hot pain shot down her left arm, as it reached her fingers the burn seemed to bounce back and shuttle up and down beneath her skin and a turbulent mess.

"Take it slow. I'm not sure how good a job my medical ninjutsu has done." Mito gently eased Kosu up, her warm hand gently supporting her back. Kosu looked down at her arm, cradled in her lap.

Five fingers – good start. She tried to flex them but even a single twitch of movement re-fired the turbulent ripples of agony beneath her skin. The cold grip of panic threatened to grip her neck in a strangling hold.

"What happened?" Her hoarse voice barely carried to Mito's. What went wrong?

"The fūinjutsu backfired and rebounded onto you."

"But the configuration… It works… It has too…" Kosu trailed off as she looked down and saw the kanji had been rubbed off, trails of black ink smeared down her arm.

"I'm sure it does." Mito agreed. "But some of the kanji smeared, so when you went to use it the seal failed, damaging your arm. I wiped the rest when I tried to heal you."

"Tried?"

"Your anatomy is unique Kosu. Your entire body is soaked in chakra that's leaked from your damaged network. It makes surface wounds easier to heal… but trying to channel my medical chakra deeper, through such a tempestuous environment… it's difficult." Mito sighed heavily and looked from Kosu's arm to her wide eyes. "I've repaired the most serious damage, but to go on I fear I'd risk hurting you further. I think it's best to let you recover naturally from here."

Kosu inhaled slowly and she carefully studied Mito's kind, wise eyes. No hint of a lie. The strangle hold of panic loosened from around her neck. The peaceful flow of clarity returned to her mind and she narrowed her gaze back to her arm.

The configuration works… That wasn't the problem.

The medium works. For all the faults in her anatomy the one thing it excelled at was being used as a fūinjutsu medium…

The kanji failed. Kosu traced her finger over the faded black smear. Not what it said, but how it said it.

"The ink doesn't work." She muttered. "Not on top of my skin anyway…" Kosu's brow creased with concentration and she let Mito take her arm to gently wrap it in bandages. "Can we make it so the ink can't smear… make it permanent?"

"… You're talking about a tattoo?" Mito finished bandaging her arm and looked down at Kosu thoughtfully. Even after such a reminder of how untested the type of fūinjutsu they were trying could be – the risks it carried - she was still determined to see it through.

"Whatever it's called – I need to make the kanji permanent."

"And what would you tattoo?"

"All of it… as much variation as I can fit on me – you've already said yourself I can use my whole body as the medium. I could configure a seal from the furthest parts of my body if I had to."

"And why would you do this?" Mito's question seemed to almost physically bump Kosu on the head. She tilted her head in confusion at her sensei and sensed there was a deeper level to the question she clearly missed.

"Surface ink is too unreliable… and the more varied the kanji the more configurations I can make." Kosu said.

"Why are you doing this?" Mito took Kosu's hands in her own. "For as smart as you are, I don't think you've quite realised yet just how great the potential for this technique is Kosu. And as with all powerful things, it's never the amount of power that concerns me – it's the intentions of the wielder."

Kosu brow arched in surprised understanding as Mito's words seemed to echo through her. She turned her head, eyes trailing over the giant Hokage monument of the two brothers that rested there. She knew the words Mito wanted her to say. But as Kosu looked back to Mito her mouth ran dry.

She couldn't lie. Not to Mito. Not about this.

The instinct jarred against everything Kosu had built herself to be. She'd sworn there wasn't anything she wouldn't do to protect Hiro, nothing she wouldn't become. And now when power that seemed even on the edge of Mito's imagination lay before her, Kosu was willing to pass it up…

"Hiro and I have found a home here… When it was just Hiro and me, we only had each other and that didn't matter because we were family. I never thought that bond could happen with other people… not until we came here." Kosu sighed. She couldn't lie to Mito. "Mito-sensei, I know this village means a lot to you, you've done so much to help build it. I know that every Konoha shinobi swears to lay down their life for the village. But I can't swear that…" Kosu lowered her gaze to the floor. "I do want to fight for and protect Konohagakure Mito-sensei. But if the worst things happen, and they normally do… I'd raze this village to the ground if it meant saving the people in it." Kosu clenched her fists beneath Mito's hands. "I don't care for the marketplace or the residential buildings or the school or any of it. As important as they are to those who are natives here… They just don't really matter."

For a moment only the soft breeze carried between the two of them and Kosu could feel herself being judged against the high standards set by Mito Uzumaki.

Mito smiled, a smile that grew with the surprised look on Kosu's young face. There she was. Mito reminded herself fondly. She'd known the moment she met Kosu that underneath all of the rough and blood lay the burning will of Konoha shinobi. The girl who went into battle with only a rusty kunai, the girl who endured her body cannibalising itself – all to protect those who were precious to her.

"You have a lot of work to do Kosu. This tattoo is going to be extremely complicated, and more importantly you're going to need to know it literally like the back of your hand." Mito said.

"You're not ending my training?" Kosu asked slowly.

"Quite the opposite." Mito smirked and sat back, casually pouring herself some tea. "I'm going to teach you everything I know."

X

Kosu rubbed her eyes and returned her tired gaze to the numerous scrolls and books laid before her. The lights in the library cast dully into the small corner she'd settled in. They seemed to almost itch away at her focus. She turned her gaze to the template in front of her – a detailed outline of her body and a blank canvas for her to paint the design onto. Why did she have to be so fucking small? If she was big like Daiki the lack of surface wouldn't even be an issue to consider.

But she wasn't. She was Kosu – Kosu the tiny little girl dressed up as a little boy.

Her ink stained fingers trailed over the latest design. Days of work and it still wasn't perfect. She found some comfort in the success that the variety of kanji included in the latest design was immense. Unfortunately, it wasn't practical. Numerous Uzumaki swirls – the focus point for any fūinjutsu configuration Mito had taught her – were placed along the design. They were the contact point for her to channel her fūinjutsu through – they're location on her body was critical.

With the latest failed design pushed to the side Kosu placed a fresh piece of paper before her on the desk. With her hand hovering over the ink brush, she paused. Between the stacks a muffled sniffle caught her attention. Kosu titled her head, straining her ears. Someone was crying.

The sound of the library door opening and closing carried through the room.

"… There you are." Kosu heard the newcomer say. Deep bass voice, heavy steps – large male.

"Sorry… I just… this is where we met… I'll get back to my post… I just need to…" Soprano, nasally, sniffing – crying woman.

"Don't be silly, there's no rush." The man rushed to reassure the woman deeper in the library. "I just heard… Are they really?"

"Yeah…" The woman inhaled shakily. "Everyone… both platoons… They're all."

Dead. Kosu finished for the woman. Seems Kononha's walls didn't keep all of the world out.

"Mai, I'm so sorry."

It was hardly like he was the one to kill the platoon. Kosu doubted the library would be as intact as it was if they were the murder of this woman's precious person.

So, what the hell were they apologising for?

"Thank you. This wasn't supposed to happen. They were meant to have the advantage… Hatake was meant to get there with the intel…"

"He failed a mission?"

"Deliberately." The woman hissed causing Kosu's eyes to widen slightly. "He sacrificed all of them for one man. He went against everything in the Shinobi handbook. It's all his fault. He's the reason she's dead. He's the reason they're all dead."

Kosu frowned, her eyes stared at the stacks as if she could see through them to the couple on the other side of the room. From her bag she pulled the Shinobi handbook they referred to. It was one of the first books Daiki had directed her towards and the only one she'd given very little attention to. It wasn't a book that was going to tell her what her goal was, or how to go about achieving it. Besides, Mito-sensei never even mentioned the bloody handbook.

Rule 002: A shinobi must not value themselves, but rather adhere to their village's ideals.

Rule 004: A shinobi must always put the mission first.

Rule 005: A shinobi must put the village before themselves.

Rule 009: A shinobi bust always carried out the mission assigned.

Rule 016: Turn your weaknesses into strengths.

Rule 020: A shinobi must follow their commander's instructions.

Rule 022: A shinobi must never show attachment.

Rule 023: A shinobi must endure.

Rule 025: A shinobi must never show their tears.

Kosu tossed the book to the floor. What a fucking mess of contradictions and disregard for exceptions. Of the few rules Kosu skimmed through there were only a handful she truly supported. The rest made for a code of conduct that was impossible to adhere to. She'd seen situations where these rules fell apart. For fuck's sake rule 005 and 022 directly contradicted each other regardless of the situation. How could you hold a village in such high regard and not be attached to it?

It jarred against everything Mito-sensei had taught her and Kosu knew exactly whose teaching she would be following.

Frustration itched beneath her skin as the two continued to harp their praises for the handbook and its renewed importance in the academy curriculum. 'To avoid tragedies like this again'. Kosu's nostrils flared with withheld ire and she quickly gathered her things.

Libraries were meant to be a place of education.

X

At the academy the following day it was clear to Kosu that she wasn't the only one to overhear snippets of the White Fang's mission. Kakashi seemed to have a wash of whispers trailing in his wake as he passed through the halls. Students of every class group muttered to each other as their gazes bore into his back.

Rule 008 should have added gossip to the list of shinobi vices to avoid.

How typical of bleating sheep to not realise that information and its use weren't to be underestimated, even if they were penned in behind tall walls.

Kakashi darted from the academy the moment class ended. He barely spared Kosu a glance as she dropped down onto the path next to him. He was finally alone with the one person who hadn't been staring at him behind his back all day.

"I don't think I can train with you today." Kakashi said. "Besides, you're still guarding your left arm." Kosu followed his glance to her forearm. Her dark shirt stood in stark contrast to her pale skin. Even with the bandages removed, Kakashi's observation had been frustratingly accurate. She'd have to work on hiding physical weaknesses… and study her tells. It could be a useful piece of deception.

"That wasn't actually my first question." Kosu said.

"No?" Kakashi hummed lowly. "Are you going to grill me for details on my dad's failure?" He asked snidely.

"No."

Not that she needed to anyway. News travelled faster around Konoha than it should to ears that it shouldn't.

"But I did notice that no one was really asking how you're doing."

Clearly not well.

From the corner of her eye she could see the invisible weight on his shoulders only seemed to grow with each step down the quiet path. He didn't look like a boy walking away from the whispers. He looked like a boy walking towards something dreadful.

"Your father came home Kakashi, that's what's important here." Fuck everything else.

"But what if he's not back?" Kakashi asked after a beat of silence and stopped abruptly in the middle of the path. Kosu turned to him, her head tilted in confusion.

But Sakumo was back. She knew he was in the village. The entire village knew he was in the village.

Kakashi sighed, his fingers flexed nervously at his side. If she hadn't been as familiar with his movements as she was, Kosu would have mistaken the action for him inching towards his weapons.

"Kosu have you… Has anyone ever come back to you, but not really come back?" His large dark grey eyes searched her, desperately hoping that Kosu had some insight on this.

Kosu's frown tightened. She could see, written plainly across his face, how desperate he was for an answer from her. But what he asked fell so far outside of her experience.

"Kakashi, when people have left me… they don't tend to come back at all."

Kakashi's eyes fell to the ground and he nodded sadly, his shoulders rounded even further. Kosu stood, all but frozen to the ground as he walked past her. It ate away at her to see him so clearly distressed and be so useless to help him.

X

The patch of grass, well-worn from their regularly tea sessions wasn't empty when Kosu arrived at the Uzumaki mask storage temple. A tall slender woman stood facing the decrepit building. With her back to Kosu a long river of bright red hair tumbled down to her waist, so vibrant compared to the dull ash colour of Kosu's messy mop.

Kosu's steps were as silent as she could make them and yet the red headed woman still noticed her approach. Clearly trained. The woman's gentle gaze followed her as she neared and an amused smirk pulled at the corner of her mouth. She cocked her hip the side, one hand resting on it casually.

"So you're the new punk Mito-sama has picked up?" She said. "I'm Kushina Uzamaki, ya know."

Kosu blinked, the sea of questions that had swarmed her mind at the sight of the stranger parted. She knew that name, Mito had mentioned that name.

"You're Mito's old student?"

"Who are you calling old!?" Kushina yelled. The hair on Kosu's neck stood on end and it wasn't because of Kushina's raised voice or clenched fists… Kosu's very energy seemed to prickle beneath her skin as something deep and powerful wrapped in something stronger and more powerful flared within Kushina. What was that?

"Previous… Previous student." She corrected and in the blink of an eye Kushina relaxed into a gentle kind faced woman.

"There we go." She casually strolled towards Kosu.

"Where is Mito-sensei?"

"She's back at her home. She asked me to come and collect you." Kushina said. She slung her arm around Kosu's slight shoulders and turned her around. Kosu's mouth opened in surprised and she stared at the arm around her shoulder. Her mouth ran dry. All along where Kushina's arm pressed against her Kosu could feel her own chakra stirring and prickling.

She glanced up at the chuckling woman who seemed completely oblivious to the feeling. Kosu swallowed thickly and allowed herself to be led her through the streets of Konoha towards the houses at the base of the Hokage monument. Her mind running a mile a minute, pondering about just what this feeling was.

"So what's Mito-sama like nowadays?" Kushina grinned. "Does she still set those annoying configurations that are written backwards or upside down."

Kosu nods mutely.

"Ha! I knew it!" Kushina exclaimed, shaking Kosu without realising. "Kami those drove me crazy, ya know. But don't worry kid, I promise there's some really cool fūinjutsu she can teach you." When Kosu failed to get as excited as Kushina the woman frowned and looked Kosu up and down.

She stopped and slapped Kosu between her shoulder blades, sending the girl stumbling forwards.

"Gah, you're too serious." Kushina frowned at Kosu, hands on her hips as she eyed her. "You can get excited about cool new fūinjutsu ya know." After a moment the red head sighed and motioned with her chin to the house behind Kosu. "Mito-sama's waiting for you in there."

Kosu turned to the modest traditional house behind her. Perfectly sculpted wood, no doubt called forth by the First Hokage himself, outlined the simple yet elegantly carved structure.

The prickling against her skin stopped. Kosu turned and Kushina had vanished from the street. She released a heavy sigh and turned back to the house. She removed her shoes and stepped up on the smooth veranda that wrapped the house.

What if it wasn't Kushina?

Kosu's hand hesitated over the handle of the sliding door. She had no evidence or reason to think that Kushina was anything unique. She was a member of the Uzumaki clan, but beyond that Kosu knew nothing about her. On the other hand, she knew her own body was fucked up. Kosu closed her eyes and turned her attention inwards to her chakra flooded body.

There.

Her eyes snapped open as the prickling returned. More faint and across the front of her body opposed to her shoulders and back, but definitely there. With her focus away from her energy the prickling disappeared but Kosu's mouth remained dry.

A cough sounded from within the house. Not the type of small throat clearing cough, but one full of bark and strain. She pulled open the door. Concern gripped her stomach in a tight fist. Ornately painted shoji divided up the homely space and the scent of tatami mats filled the air.

Kosu hurried through to the bedroom at the back of the house. She slid the door open and froze.

Mito-sensei

Frail and sallow skinned. Mito sat an echo of the powerful woman Kosu knew. Pillows supported her and her long hair tumbled down around her. She lowered the tissue from her mouth and looked tiredly up at Kosu, a soft smile reached her lips.

"There you are." Mito's voice was painfully hoarse.

Kosu's mouth opened and closed wordlessly. Her wide eyes took in the image, but her mind seemed to jar at accepting it as reality.

"You're letting a draft in." Mito said. Kosu blinked and quickly slid the door shut. She dropped to Mito's side and lay a second blanket over the soft cocoon already surrounding her.

"Who did this to you?" Kosu asked.

"Age." Mito chuckled weakly. Her smile faded as she saw the clear alarm on Kosu's face. "I'm dying Kosu."

No.

Kosu shook her head.

A bitter sweet smile claimed Mito's lips. That was perhaps the most child-like reaction Kosu's had. It was a shame it stemmed from such tragic reasons.

"There are other ways to die than traumatically in combat." Mito said. She could see the concept was sadly new to Kosu. "I've lived a very long, happy life. Not without struggle, but not without joy either. I've accepted that my time is coming to an end. It's okay, Kosu."

"… I don't want you to go…" Kosu whispered.

"I know." Mito smiled. "But we don't get to change this."

This was wrong. There had always been something Kosu could do, build a better shelter, find more food, fight… fight some more.

"There has to be something I can do."

Mito shook her head gently and made sure to capture Kosu's pain gaze with her own firm one.

"My time is almost done Kosu. What's important now, is what I leave behind. I believed for so long that Kushina would be my final student… and then I met you." She cupped Kosu's cheek. Her fingers were cold against Kosu's skin, but they still filled her with a surge of comfort that only Mito could give. "This remarkable child, with unbridled potential and most importantly a good heart."

"But I still need you."

"Ah, well… I meant what I said, I am going to teach you everything I know." Mito's jaw clenched with strain as she lifted a large stack of black leather-bound books from beside her. "These are my journals, since the Uzumaki clan was all but eradicated I felt it was my duty to document as much of our way of life as I could. I'd hoped I find someone worthy to pass them onto." Mito fixed Kosu with a meaningful stare.

"I'm not an Uzumaki." Surely Kushina was a better choice.

"You are in the ways it matters." Mito pushed the journals towards her and Kosu hesitantly placed them into her bag. "But that talk aside, I'm not dead quite yet and I believe you and I were on the threshold of a fūinjutsu discovery?" Mito held her palm open expectantly.

"It still needs work." Kosu said as she handed Mito the latest version of her whole-body tattoo design. Mito unrolled the scroll and began to critically appraise Kosu's work.

Kosu tried to swallow the thick lump that seemed to form in her throat. Now more than ever impressing Mito seemed so important. Their time together had a known expiry date and the idea chilled Kosu to her very core. So much so, she had to escape the room and excused herself to make tea.

Kosu drew out the time needed to make tea for as long as she could. She knew it was childish to not want to go back into the room. Whether she was there or not Mito was still dying. Wishing for her ignorance back was pointless and foolish and childish. But even knowing all that, she didn't want to go… and yet she did. She knew the moment she saw Mito in that room it would be a fresh wave of cold dousing pain that threatened to pull her under the surface. And yet the thought of not seeing Mito again in her final moments was so much worse.

With a shaky sigh Kosu relaxed her tight grip on the kitchen counter and returned to the room with the two cups of tea. To her surprise Mito had an ink brush in hand and was busy drawing another design draft.

"The contents of your design are excellent." Mito motioned to Kosu's design that Mito had laid beside her within easy viewing. "I can also see why you wanted to refine it. It would have made for an interesting fighting style."

Mito looked up from her work when Kosu hadn't really stepped into the room.

Mito sighed.

"Kosu, I don't have any kunai wounds, nor am I injured from some powerful jutsu. Whilst I am dying, I won't die within the next few moments, so you can stop looking at me like I'm a paper bomb."

Kosu's cheeks flushed with heat and despite her blunt phrasing Mito's words helped warm the chilled panic that had consumed her since she entered the house.

"Thank you." Mito took the tea. "Have a look at this. I think the difficultly was trying to marry your closed fist taijutsu style with fūinjutsu which is commonly open palm."

Kosu nodded in agreement and noted that in Mito's new design two Uzumaki swirls featured on with palm.

"Have you ever seen a member of the Hyuga clan in combat?" Mito asked.

"No."

"Well they have a unique taijutsu style called gentle fist, but they don't fight with their fists at all. In fact, they have open palms in order to deliver chakra attacks to their opponent." Mito explained. "They're unlikely to offer any help in your training, they're strict on who gets taught what even within their own clan… But as I said, you are remarkable Kosu, you can develop this. On your own if you have to. I know you can."

"An open palm taijutsu style." Kosu echoed. Her eyes trailed over the rest of the design, which for the most part remained unchanged. Though that made sense since it was her own memory that needed to recall exactly where everything was.

"This is incredible… This is it." Kosu looked up at Mito. "This is what I want tattooed onto me."

A moment of silence passed between them and the question Kosu needed to ask hesitated on the tip of her tongue. Just fucking ask it.

"Mito-sensei, would you tattoo me?" Kosu asked.

Mito smiled over the lip of her teacup.

"Of course." She agreed. "But a design like this will take time and concentration to complete." Kosu nodded - a neck to toe, intricate whole-body design with no room for error. "Let me gather my strength a little before we begin."

Of course. Kosu nodded.

X

Kosu stood in the middle of Hiriko's office despite the woman's insistence for her to take a seat whilst she waited for her to return. Nervous adrenaline threaded through her body and made it impossible for the young girl to settle.

Please… Hiro…

The door opened and Kosu's gaze snapped from the floor. Hiriko entered but Kosu quickly looked past the woman, searching for the small boy she hoped would follow her in.

…He didn't come.

"I'm sorry Kosuke." Hiriko said, her brow arched in pity. "I said exactly what you asked me to. But he doesn't want to see you…"

Kosu nodded.

"If you give him some more time…" Hiriko trailed off as Kosu walked past her wordlessly, fists clenched. And as Hiriko blinked, Kosu disappeared.

Kosu exhaled shakily as she stopped on her rooftop perch. Pained grey eyes stared down at the group of orphans in the courtyard below. Her heart ached as Hiro made his way out to join the other children.

A happy cheer erupted from all of them, Hiro included, and the group swarmed towards a man as he entered the courtyard. Kosu's head tilted to the side as she eyed the tall, long haired man in a jonin flak jacket. He welcomed the children with open arms. To Kosu's surprise he then looked up. Through the strands of black hair that fell in front of his face, his snake like gaze locked firmly onto her. A large smile formed on his lips and sent an uneasy chill down the length of her spine.

Kosu frowned down at the jonin before she turned and jumped across the roofs towards Mito's home.

Today was the day.

The day where Kosu would build the foundation to be able to keep every oath she swore to Hiro. The ability for her to live and die by her nindō. Whether he wanted to see her or not. Whether he loved her or not. She loved him.

Mito was sat in the main room of her home when Kosu arrived. The young girl eyed the tattooing needle and numerous pots of ink that were going to be used to paint such a large design. Mito looked up from the scrolls outlining the tattoo as Kosu sat down opposite her.

"Are you feeling up to this?" Kosu asked. Her gaze trailed the Mito up and down. She looked better, at least compared to a few days ago. Her skin had regained some colour but she was still an echo of the woman Kosu had first met.

Mito smiled.

"Are you?"

Kosu mirrored the determined look in Mito's eyes and pulled the loose shirt from her body. She offered her left arm to Mito and watched as she readied the needle with ink. Mito didn't need to ask for Kosu's commitment to the process anymore and she brought the needle tip to the young girl's palm without hesitation. The needle bit into Kosu's skin. A tight burn pricked across the surface of her hand and caused her teeth to clench. Her brow creased and she found a small bonsai tree on the windowsill to focus on.

Hours ticked by as Mito worked in concentrated silence. Kosu's jaw ached from being clenched for so long, but it was all she could do to not move. To not make a sound.

"Okay…" Mito placed the needle down. Kosu turned and blinked at her new left arm… From her fingertips to her elbow, fresh black ink shone back at her. The little skin that remained was bright pink in colour and stinging away.

"Let's test this."

Mito opened a small wooden box to the side of her and removed a very familiar looking kunai. Kosu's brow arched and she took the old rusty kunai that she had first sworn to protect Hiro by. Only it wasn't completely rusty anymore – only one side was. She turned the kunai over and blinked in surprise. The reverse side was freshly polished and gleamed without a hint of orange rust. And on the newly sharpened side lay an engraving.

Will of Fire and next to it, a carved image of a flame.

It was an image Kosu had been before. A replica flame of the sculpture that sat above the graves of the previous Hokages.

She'd sworn by this kunai once before. It only seemed right to swear by it again.

Kosu gripped the kunai in her left palm, her tender skin screamed against the cold metal, but she ignored it. For her nindō. The configuration came to her mind in an instant and the kunai disappeared from her palm – sealed.

Kosu's heart soared and, in a flash,, she unsealed the kunai and span the weapon around her finger.

"You remarkable girl." Mito exhaled.

Warmth swelled from Kosu's stomach and she hoped that Mito could see or sense everything she wanted to thank her for. There weren't enough words or time enough to tell the woman everything she needed to.

"Shall we continue?" Mito asked.

Kosu sealed the kunai and nodded. The very will of fire engraved on her gift burned in her eyes.

Mito set back to work.

X

Chapter 13 folks I hope you liked it, lots of Mito and Kosu in this one.

So as always my DMs are open if people want to chat about the fic, thank you to everyone who reached out after chapter 12. And thank yous to everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed and those who came back for more.

So RE: Reviews for chapter 12

There's been some confusion on Kosu's gender, mainly from the first few chapters where my use of gender-specific pronouns was a little inconsistent. I think I've managed to improve this in later chapter, please let me know and I'll go back and edit the earlier chapters when I have a chance. For the record, Kosu identifies as a girl, but is pretending to be a boy at the moment. Mito is the only other person who knows this.

Some people have asked about Kosu's age – I've intentionally been abstract with this as even Kosu doesn't know. The poor girl doesn't even have a birthday that she can remember. What we do know is that she's looks about the same age as Kakashi and Hiro is younger than her.

Lots of you are realising I'm setting up for all the heart breaking things that happen to Kakashi – so yeah… that's going to hurt to write haha.

And a huge thank you for all of the praise in your reviews – it honestly warms my heart.

Stay tuned for Chapter 14

XScouselondonerX