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 14
Anchors in the Storm
Inoichi rested his stubble lined jaw on his fist as his analytical blue eyes trailed over the three shinobi profiles laid on the counter before him. The flower shop had been pleasantly quiet, though that meant he had no excuse for not looking over the three genin profiles.
He spread the A4 sheets before him. They were skilled genin, and well suited as a team – but they were as easy to read and predict as the words written about them. Very, very… typical.
Inoichi paused in his musing, his well-trained shinobi sense for the unusual itched for his attention. He looked up and smirked at the sight through the shopfront window. Beyond the rows of display flowers, on the other side of market street stood a familiar, very not typical child.
He trailed his gaze up and down the small child as they lingered outside of the bookstore. Large baggy clothes hung from their small frame, but the mass of bandages that wrapped almost every visible part of their body were new. For fashion or function, deerstalker? If they were functional… just what had they been doing?
Inoichi abandoned the genin profiles on the counter, his attention fully captured by the curious child. Whilst their body faced into the stack of books the Deerstalker's grey eyed gaze clearly watched something further down the street. Inoichi tracked their gaze and his smile widened.
That is no deer you're stalking.
X
A random book idled in her bandaged hands, all but forgotten. Kosu's sharp gaze narrowed on the smiling Kushina as she picked out the best yuzus from the grocer. She seemed normal – excitable, but normal. But the tingling prickle of chakra beneath Kosu's skin had returned and only seemed to grow in intensity the closer Kosu stalked to the red head.
Her focus narrowed and the bustle of the teaming market faded away. Just what was that sensation?
In a snap of a moment her focus shattered. Minato seemed to instantaneously appear by Kushina's side. A bright smile lit up her face and she turned to happily hug him. They were a couple?
Kosu's eyes widened as Minato's blue eyes turned to look directly at her.
Before Kosu could move, Kushina followed Minato's gaze and smirked.
"Kosu!" Kushina looped her arm through Minato's and led him over. As much as she was tempted to duck into the crowds and disappear from the exuberant red head, Kosu's curiosity won out. The prickling became almost resonant as Kushina neared her.
"Minato, this is the kid I was telling you about, ya know." Kushina said. "Not big on smiling or getting excited over epic new jutsu… You're just trying to play it so cool aren't you?" Kushina teased her fondly.
Kushina placed her hand on Kosu's head, ruffling her hair. The moment her hand made contact the unfocused crackle beneath Kosu's skin gained clarity. In a pulse that stunned Kosu rigid for a moment select kanji across her skin all but sang at her. Her mouth ran dry as the beautiful symphony played out before her mind. The configuration they painted was huge and magnificent. What was this?
Wide eyes looked up to Kushina who was happily rambling away introductions between Kosu and Minato. Kushina didn't feel a thing.
Kosu's brow furrowed, desperate to try to piece together the kanji in some sort of sense. It's ginormous… And somehow both familiar and new.
"So anyway, shouldn't you be at class?" Kushina raised an eyebrow at her.
"… Exactly." She shrugged Kushina's hand from her mussed hair. The overwhelming resonance faded, only a faint hum echoed in its wake. Kosu glanced to Minato. By the look in his eyes, the puzzled questions behind them, he'd noticed something. But he didn't feel it anymore than Kushina did. "Lunch break is almost over. Goodbye, Kushina-san, Minato-san."
Kosu welcomed the distance she put between her and them. Away from Minato's analytical gaze, away from Kushina's rambling, and an opportunity to work out what the fuck that was. The immense configuration stayed fixed in her mind but it was almost too big to ponder. As she focussed one section the others blurred. She needed to read it as a whole if she was going to see it for what it was.
Kosu slipped into Mito's house and paused at the soft sound of light snoring from the bedroom. As quickly as could, she lifted a tall blank tome from the shelf. It was easily as tall as her and she rolled out to twice that length. Armed with an inked brush she swiped across the paper. As she scribed kanji after kanji the configuration grew before her. Her mind churned subconsciously to riddle the purpose of the seal - an instinct honed by Mito's teachings.
Kosu exhaled and sat back, her brush clinking against the ink well. Before her lay the most beautifully complex fūinjutsu she'd ever seen. It wasn't hers though. Her hand may have scrawled the seal before her, but the penmanship wasn't right. It was similar, like a sister of the very tattoos that covered her body, but it didn't feel the same.
It did feel like Mito's though. It wasn't anything specific that she could pinpoint, but having read so many of Mito's configurations, she just knew when it was her sensei's work.
But what was it?
Kosu stood up to get a better perspective on the fūinjutsu. Her eyes trailed across intricate design and her furrowed brow slowly arched in understanding.
Confinement… Imprisonment… of something… huge.
The door to the bedroom slid open slowly and a frail Mito shuffled into the main room. Kosu turned to meet the warm, eye crinkling smile of her sensei.
"What's inside Kushina?" Kosu asked. Mito's smile dropped. Her eyes widened and quickly darted to the scroll on the floor behind Kosu. Kosu stepped to the side to let Mito view the fūinjutsu better.
"How… Where did you get this?" Mito asked. Mito stumbled in her haste to get closer to the fūinjutsu. Kosu was at her side in an instant, offering her arm to her sensei. Mito's wrinkled hand grasped Kosu's arm for support. Kosu could feel the shocked tremble that shuddered through Mito's frame.
Mito's mind seemed to jar. How could the exact seal that secured Kurama within Kushina be staring at her on from the floor of her home?
It wasn't possible. Mito and Kushina were the only ones who knew the specifics of the fūinjutsu used…
The ink is still wet. Mito's brow furrowed and her gaze finally turned to Kosu, black specs of ink tainted the girl's small hands. She wrote it.
"I… I reacted to it." Kosu frowned. "Since I met Kushina my chakra has… crackled when I'm near her… Like there's something there and since the tattoos, when I met her again. I felt it. I felt the fūinjutsu within her." Kosu looked from the seal to Mito. "I know the fūinjutsu was written by you and it's holding some huge within Kushina."
Mito looked down at Kosu, shock evident in her wide eyes.
"You really are remarkable." Mito gasped, her hand cupping Kosu's cheek. "Focus on me." Mito guided Kosu's hand to her stomach. Kosu frowned in confusion but did as she was asked. She closed her eyes and sank her focus into the turbulent chakra beneath her skin.
There!
Faint, barely a whisper that ghosted across Kosu's skin. But as it drifted through her, specific kanji sang back and amplified the configuration she was sensing.
"It looks like Kushina-san's, but…" Kosu trailed off as the old fūinjutsu within Mito diverted from the configuration she's sensed from Kushina.
"It was unlocked." Mito finished for her. Kosu's eyes snapped open to look up at her sensei.
"What was in you, is now in Kushina-san." Kosu realised. Mito inclined her head.
Mito slowly moved from Kosu to the tome spread out across the floor. Her hands casually morphed a series of hand-signs and she pressed her palm to the paper. From beneath her hand the paper dissolved until nothing remained of the fūinjutsu.
"Kosu, you've uncovered one of the greatest secrets Kononha has. There are few who know what Kushina is, and even fewer who know how she is what she is." Mito said. She eased herself onto the seating cushion by the low dark wood table.
A puzzled frown pulled at Kosu's mouth. And just what was Kushina? The question burned at the tip of her tongue, but she bit it back and silently joined Mito at the table.
Mito's intense gaze studied Kosu as she sat down and the older woman couldn't help but make the comparison between her two students. Kushina would have been bombarding her with question after question demanding to know everything about the new fūinjutsu. And yet Kosu held her tongue and mulled over her next words. She wasn't silent out of indifference; Mito could clearly see the tempest of questions and curiosity that danced within her eyes.
The tense silence between them grew. Kosu faltered first and realised that she may only get one answer to one question. Her gaze looked to the window, to Konoha – to Hiro's home.
"Mito-sensei, cages can be unlocked, broken, and escaped from. I don't know what's in Kushina-san, but I do know it's immense. Is the village prepared if it gets loose?" Kosu asked.
A fond smile claimed Mito's face. Top secret, advanced fūinjutsu lay temptingly before her, and Kosu had looked to ensure Konoha's safety first. The will of fire all but flickered at the edges of Kosu's gaze.
"Yes, the council have considered a worst-case scenario." Mito said. "But the fūinjutsu is extremely secure."
"I saw." Kosu smirked and drew a chuckle from Mito.
"Kosu, what you've discovered and what I'm about to tell you is classified. But I'm dying and you're fūinjutsu is developing faster than either of us thought possible. I hope there's never a day when Kushina requires your help, but I refuse to leave her alone… To leave either of you alone and in the dark." Mito said. "There was once a time where great beasts of immense chakra roamed the earth – nine tailed beasts. And like anything with great power, it's how it's welded that makes all the difference. Shinobi sought to control the power and use it for their own means. Some strove for war and domination, and other strove for peace and harmony. My husband was the latter." Mito said fondly. "So, I sealed the nine-tailed fox, Kurama, within me using the fūinjutsu you detected and became it's jinchuriki. With Kurama sealed I could protect it, and act as a deterrent against other villages attacking Konoha."
"The First Hokage could have used this to conquer villages." Kosu said, wide eyed.
"He could have conquered the world." Mito corrected. "His wood release was uniquely suited to restraining and controlling the tailed beasts. But he used his incredible power for peace and distributed the tailed beasts amongst the shinobi villages. Everyone had a deterrent against everyone else and there was peace for a time. But here we are, on the verge of another war."
"Everyone has a deterrent, but no one is willing to risk using them. They've stopped being a deterrent because everyone's at the same level. They can attack us, and we can attack them knowing neither will risk unleashing something we may never gain control of again. They're double edged swords." Kosu said.
"Sadly yes." Mito nodded. "This wasn't the legacy Hashirama or I intended." Mito took Kosu's hand in her own. "I fear you're going to face the consequences of the actions of my generation."
"I think we've already started to feel them." Kosu said, her gaze downcast to the cool hands that gripped her own. From the recess of her mind the clang of kunai rang out, the screams of her mining town chilled her to the core, and she could all but feel the fresh corpses pressing around her.
Mito pressed her lips to Kosu's forehead and pulled her from the haunted memories. With a ragged inhale Kosu relaxed her tightened grip on Mito's hands and looked up to her sensei. To her shock, a thin, glistening layer of water shone in Mito's eyes.
"I'm sorry Kosu." Mito whispered.
"I don't blame you Mito-sensei." Kosu said.
It hardly seemed to matter what Mito and Hashirama had done. The world was locked in a cycle of war and all that they could do was scramble to stay at the top of the wheel and not get crushed beneath it. Mito and Hashirama had tried to stop it, slow the wheel from turning, and for a short time they'd managed it. They'd fought for peace, to protect their home – Kosu couldn't resent them for that.
She admired them for it.
X
Bugs hummed from the bushes that lined the path to the Hatake house. Days had passed since Kosu had trained with Kakashi and he'd finally slipped her a message during class to meet him as usual. She'd spent hours alone, working to adapt her taijutsu to the new open palm style that would suit her fūinjutsu. It was time to test it against a real opponent and who better than Kakashi?
She spotted Kakashi sat on the modest veranda that lined the front of his home. His ninja pouch was strapped to his leg and the bag of extra tools sat to his side. He barely spared her a glance as she walked down garden path to him.
Her greeting was replaced with a frown as Kosu spied the book in his hand. The Shinobi Handbook. Her teeth clenched as she saw the rule his index finger rested rest to.
Rule 009: A Shinobi must always carry out the mission assigned.
"Why are you reading that?" Kosu asked.
"It's the Shinobi Handbook, every shinobi should read it." Kakashi replied as if obvious. He stood from the veranda and returned the book to his pouch.
"Everyone should read it, or everyone's whispering about it?" She challenged. "That book isn't worth the paper it's printed on, Kakashi."
His gaze snapped dangerously to her's.
"Of course it is! It gives shinobi guidance, a code to act by. It's vital." He snapped.
Kosu's eyes widened, her brow furrowed in disbelief. Had he even read the same bullshit she had?
"Guidance? Kakashi, it gives no clear direction. You obey one rule and break seven others. Half of them aren't even practical anyway." Kosu said as she stepped forwards and gestured to the pouch the book was in. "Screw the handbook and screw what everyone else is saying."
"You can't abandon the rules." Kakashi said. He widened his stance and squared his shoulders.
"You can when they're fucking stupid. You have to." Kosu found herself mirroring his firmed stance. Grey eyes met each other in an angry glare as frustration bubbled from both of them.
"And what has abandoning the rules done for you?" Kakashi glowered. "You act all experienced and knowledgeable and treat the rest of us like we're below you. When you're the one who came crawling to Konoha, desperate and starving." Kakashi edged closer towards her, his words laced in anger and as sharp as any kunai. "Our rules have kept us strong and we took you in."
Kosu's nostrils flared, the muscles in her body tightened with anger and the chakra that swamped her body seemed to almost bubble.
"Kosu, you said that everyone who's left you has never come back, do you think maybe there's a common theme? That you're the problem. That you're wrong. Hell, even your own brother wants nothing to do with you!?"
Red flashed before her eyes as her frustration boiled over into white hot anger.
She struck with an open palm to Kakashi's sternum. The brutal thud of her hit against his skin, the choked gasp for air as his eyes bulged, and the harsh crack of wood as he slammed into the wall of his home followed in the blink of an eye.
Kakashi glared at her. His hand swiftly pulled a kunai from his pouch as he quickly righted his stance. Intent to harm radiated from the pair and Kosu mirrored his actions. Even through the bandages on her hand, the cold weight of her kunai was a welcome familiarity.
The door slid open and a hand firmly grasped Kakashi's shoulder.
"Stop." The fatigue in Sakumo's voice reflected his haggard appearance. Kosu's gaze trailed the length of the silver haired man who barely seemed recognisable. His gaunt face magnified the frown that pulled at his chapped lips. Large dark circles sat underneath bloodshot eyes and worried lines seemed permanent etched on his brow.
Kosu looked back to Kakashi, his glare hadn't lifted from her for a moment.
Fuck the rules.
"Fuck you." She returned his glare, wishing for him to spontaneously combust. Her teeth ground together as she turned, sheathed her kunai, and stalked from the Hatake house.
Idiot.
How could he stand there and defend that idiotic book? Mito had said that everyone viewed the world differently, but how could anyone read those words and think they made any sort of sense?
Kakashi was wrong about the book. He was wrong about Hiro leaving forever.
He had to be.
Hiro hadn't left… He'd just turned away for him for a bit. He was still there. She could still seem him, see him being happy.
Kakashi had just said the words to hurt her. To her shock that thought brought a fresh wave of sharp pain.
Her chest tightened, like a hand had her heart in a vice like grip. She turned and pressed her palms to the whitewashed stone wall to her side. With her hands braced her quickened breath came more easily and she focussed on slowing her panicked heartbeat.
She opened her eyes and stepped away from the wall. Kosu had stopped a few meters from the entrance of the cemetery. Row after row of white gravestones laid out before her and in front of them all stood the flame sculpture. The will of fire.
A clear ethos to live by. To protect and grow the flame for those who needed its warmth and light. A flame for those now and those in the generations to come.
Kakashi was wrong. Fuck him and his rules.
Soft footfalls against the dirt of the path approached her. Kosu looked from the sculpture to the Hokage as he stopped a few meters from her. Her breath stilled as she read the expression on his face. She could almost see the words as they faltered on the tip of his tongue. His eyes revealed that he knew whatever he had to say was going to hurt her. He wanted so desperately to not say it.
"… Mito-sensei." Kosu breathed. The Hokage inclined his head, a grim frown on his face.
"It's her time." Hiruzen said.
Kosu shot from her place on the path and took a straight line to Mito's home. Over roofs and wooden poles that carried electrical wires, she paid no attention to the civilians below. Her gaze only had clarity for the traditional wooden house Mito was dying in.
She darted through the wooden door, not stopping to remove her shoes on the veranda. In the living space, sat around the table, she noted the three members of the council. The grim faces of Danzo Shimura, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane turned to her as she entered and said nothing as she made straight for the bedroom.
The door to the bedroom slid shut behind her and Kosu paused. Mito lay on the futon, a wraith of herself with barely the strength to turn her head towards Kosu.
Kushina sat at Mito's bedside, firmly grasping the older woman's hand. Minato stood behind her, lending Kushina his strength as he gently combed his fingers through her hair. The pair looked up at her, overwhelming sadness painted clearly across their faces. Kosu met Kushina's bloodshot gaze and she released the sheer weight of what Kushina was losing.
Her teacher. Her friend. Her clan…
What right did Kosu have to be there? She should be in the living space with the others.
"… Kosu." Mito's rasp caught her before she could contemplate leaving any further.
Without hesitation Kosu sat at Mito's bedside. Her small hands grasped Mito's. Her hand felt so shockingly cold she could feel it through the bandages that wrapped her palms. All the life and heat bled from Mito and continued to seep from her. And yet…
She looked so peaceful.
How could she feel so at ease when a storm all but tore at Kosu from the inside out?
"You're here, both of you." Mito could hardly speak a sense without running out of breath. "Everything I have is yours. And since it's my last chance to say it. Stop hiding. From name calling." Mito squeezed Kushina's hand. "From fear." Kosu's heart thudded as Mito squeezed her hand. "You are strong. Don't give them power over you. Be who you are."
Kosu's throat tightened, making it every difficult to swallow the thick lump that seemed to form there. Her vision blurred and as she blinked a silent tear dropped into the back of her hand. It quickly disappeared into the fabric of the bandage.
Kosu turned her gaze to Mito's face as her eyes slipped closed. Was that… Kosu placed two fingers to Mito's radial pulse. Weak, slow and barely there. But still there. Slow raspy breaths rattled from between Mito's chapped lips.
Kosu sat, frozen and transfixed. The urge to do something, anything consumed her and battled with the reality that there was nothing she could do. She could only watch and wait. To see which breath would be her last, which beat of her pulse would be the final one.
Kosu lost track of time. She only realised it was night when Minato brought some lit candles into the darkened room. Kushina had left and come back a few times in that time. The sounds of her crying and composing herself carried through the thin paper walls of the house. Kosu didn't move, or more simply she didn't think she could move.
It was late into the night when the pulse faded from her fingers. Kosu's chest felt like it was collapsing in on itself. Mito was gon-
A faint rattle breath.
How!?
Kosu's wide haunted eyes looked at Mito. Her fingers pressed harder against her wrist – still pulseless. Minutes passed and another raspy breath echoed through the room. Mito wasn't pulseless, her blood pressure was just too low for Kosu to feel it anymore.
Kosu's jaw tightened at the realisation and she tightened her grip on Mito's hand. Please, just find your peace.
Hours passed and only raspy breaths broke the minutes of deathly silence. As the quiet minutes ticked by the cold coil of tension built within Kosu only to rebound painfully when Mito took another gasping breath. Over and over again, coil and rebound.
"Kosu." Kushina whispered as she returned to Mito's bedside. Her soft voice seemed more like a shout in the quiet bedroom. "You should take a break, clear your head, ya know." She gently suggested.
Kosu dared to looked away from Mito to the window and eyed the soft orange glow of early morning. In an instant her gaze was back on Mito. The coil within Kosu was turned agonisingly tight.
"Her last breath was 42 minutes ago." Kosu said. Kushina blinked at Kosu for a moment. With a shaky hand the red head gently placed her palm over Mito's chest. A brief flicker of green chakra surrounded Kushina's hand before she broke into a heart wrenching sob and collapsed against Mito's side.
Mito was dead.
Snap. Rebound.
A bone chilling cold consumed Kosu and stole her breath right from her chest. For all the time her gaze had been glued to Mito, she couldn't look at her anymore. She needed out. The room was too close, too stifling.
Kosu rushed to her feet, stiff muscles protested and forced her to catch her balance. She needed out. Kosu darted from the room and into the living space. Minato looked up at her in surprise, and realisation dawned across his features. Concerned blue eyes looked over Kosu to the distraught Kushina.
He had a tray in his hands.
A tray with cups of tea.
Kosu choked at the sight, her heart stuttering. Out. She left the house and gave little care to the door as it slammed shut behind her. She cut a straight line through the village, over roofs and streets and didn't stop until she knocked on Hiriko's office.
"Kosu." Hiriko blinked in surprise at the gauntness of the young child.
"Ask him to see me." Kosu ordered.
"O-of course." Hiriko hurried from her desk. But the same concern that hastened her from her seat had her slow by Kosu's side. "Kosu, maybe you sho-"
"Now." Kosu snapped. Hiriko's concern only seemed to double but she scurried from the room, praying that Hiro would finally agree to seeing Kosu.
The office door closed behind Hiriko and Kosu swayed lightly on her feet. A wash of light-headedness washed over her before roughly dumping her focus back into the moment. Dehydration. Fatigue. Panic. The months she'd spent in Konoha weren't enough for her to not recognise those feelings.
The door opened behind Kosu. One set of footfalls, heavy and shuffling.
Not Hiro.
Her eyes burned and without even looking at Hiriko she darted passed the older woman.
"Kosu!" Hiriko called after her, but she's already disappeared.
Her apartment door slammed shut behind her. She instinctively made for the most defensible corner of the room. Clear sights of the doors and window she barricaded and trapped, with easy cover once she turned the kitchen table on its side. She drew a kunai and her grip tightened in frustration.
It wasn't going away.
Her body shook and the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The unrelenting iciness rattled through her and no matter how much she built up the defences it wasn't going away. She drank water, but it remained. She tried to relax, but she couldn't.
Hiro still had his back turned to her.
Mito had still left her.
Fuck Kakashi.
Kosu scrubbed her hands over her face and smeared the silent tears across her pale skin.
A knock sounded at the front door, too heavy to be Hiro's hand. Kosu frowned and tightened her grip on the kunai. Piss off. The hand clicked and sparked the trap's trigger.
Shit. Civilians.
Like an icy bucket of water had been thrown over her head Kosu snapped from the feral instinct and panic that had been driving her. She remembered all the types of people who'd want to open her door.
In a flash she was at the door, her unwrapped hand having slammed onto and sealed the trap before it could detonate.
"Who is it?" She asked and quietly disarmed the other series of traps that lined the door and its frame. Her mouth ran dry as she considered someone like Hiriko on the other side. An innocent civilian, the likes of which she'd sworn to Mito she'd protect. You're acting like a fucking idiot. She cursed herself.
"It's Minato." Kosu stilled and looked at the door in surprise. "I just wanted to check how you were doing."
He just wanted to…?
"I'm fine. Go away." Kosu sighed and re-wrapped her hand. She frowned at the moist bandages, damp from the cold sweat of her palms.
To her dismay the door clicked open. It hit into the furniture barricade but was easily forced open by the tall blonde man. Minato's eyes swept over the darkened, barricaded and trapped apartment and finally settled on Kosu.
"Right, you're fine." He said. Kosu's jaw flexed in frustration and she glared up at the blonde.
Go away.
"Hungry?" Minato raised an eyebrow and lifted a takeout bag with Ichiraku Ramen printed in the side of the bag. Saliva flooded her mouth and before 'no' could leave her mouth her stomach growled loudly.
Minato offered the bag to her and with a small huff of what he assumed was thanks, she took the food from him. He watched as she closed the front door, reset the barricade, and settled into her defensive corner. Kosu opened the bag and lifted the container of one of the miso ramens.
"Itadakimasu." She mumbled as she snapped the wooden chop sticks. Minato looked at the other container of ramen she'd placed to the side and took it as an invitation to join her in the corner of the room.
"Itadakimasu." He said and snapped his chopsticks. He watched Kosu over the lip of the container. She gently lifted tiny pieces of food and ate them slowly. Minato had seen Kushina all but inhale a bowl of ramen in the time it took Kosu to have one bite.
"With how loud your stomach growled I expected you to wolf this down." Minato tried to lighten the oppressive cloud that seemed to hang over Kosu.
"I've wolfed food down before and I threw it straight back up. Food doesn't taste as good the second time around." Kosu replied as she took another measured bite.
Shit. Minato frowned into his ramen. Great job at lightening the conversation, Minato.
"Why are you here Minato-san? You barely even know me." Kosu asked.
"You a part of this village now Kosu. I care for everyone within these walls."
"You don't need to campaign for Hokage here, my opinion is hardly going to matter." Kosu rolled her eyes. Enough people already had him pegged for Hokage once the third stepped down.
"That's not it." Minato's hardened tone caught her attention. She eyed him as he sighed and placed his ramen down. "We don't know each other, but that doesn't mean I don't know boys like you. I was a boy like you."
"You're an outsider too?" Kosu blinked up at him.
"No, I was born and raised here. But my parents were killed when I was about your age." He replied. "I came to live at this very orphanage, apartment 2A actually. When I found out they'd been killed I barricaded myself inside 2A and didn't leave for 3 weeks. I missed their memorial and it's the biggest regret of my life."
"Three weeks?" Kosu echoed. Minato felt like this for 3 weeks? She could last three weeks.
"That's when I ran of food and my survival training definitely hadn't been as intense as yours." He said, to his relief an amused scoff sounded from Kosu.
"But, the cold empty vulnerability, and the realisation that the very people who'd stood with me against everything are no longer at my side – well that's never really gone away. No matter how well you barricade your room." Minato said.
Kosu placed her ramen down and leaned into Minato's side.
"It hurts." Kosu gasped. She gripped his flak jacket and pressed herself into him. Minato wrapped his arm around her, and his hug gave more security than all of the traps in her arsenal could.
"I know." He said. "But the alternative is never knowing or loving them… and that's definitely worse. I promise, it might not go away, but it does get easier to bare."
Thank you, Minato. She welcomed the words she hadn't known she'd needed to hear.
"… Will Mito-sensei have a memorial?" She asked after a period of silence.
"She'll have a funeral. Kushina's been organising it, it's tomorrow at 3."
"What's the difference?"
"Between a memorial and a funeral?" Minato asked, he felt Kosu nod against his chest. Kosu's never been to one… never been to either. "Well, they're both ceremonies to remember those who've died, to wish them peace in the afterlife, and to say goodbye. Memorials are held when there's no body to bury."
A heavy weight settled on Kosu's conscious. How many corpses had she left abandoned and unburied behind her? Killed either by her own hand or in place of her and Hiro.
The memory of her mother slumped on the ground and painted red filled her mind. Her limbs bent at unnatural angles and her face fixed in horror. And that was where Kosu had left her. No memorial, no funeral, nothing.
A messenger bird tweeted from beyond the shuttered window. Minato looked up and frowned. Before he could comment Kosu had already pulled from his side and collected the cold ramen.
"You can join Kushina at our apartment if you want, I know she'll appreciate the company." Minato said.
Kosu shook her head and the bird tweeted outside once more.
"You should go Minato-san."
"Okay…" Minato sighed. "The funeral's at 3 tomorrow and you should know everyone wears black." Kosu nodded and watched Minato scan her with his concern filled gaze.
He finally left and the echo of loneliness bounced around the room, resonating with Kosu. She inhaled slowly.
She could bare this.
Even if it was the worst pain she'd ever felt.
X
After a breakfast of cold ramen Kosu stood in front of the mirror. Her black clothes seemed to exaggerate her harsh pallor and the dark circles beneath her eyes. From what Minato had said she thought she'd feel – not better – but more guided as the funeral neared. It was her chance to say goodbye. So why didn't it feel right? Why did it feel hollow?
Kosu rubbed her tired eyes and left her apartment. The sun burned against her bloodshot eyes as she slowly walked the familiar streets. The whole village seemed to be in black as they mourned the death of their beloved Mito Uzumaki. Though she supposed she'd be Mito Senju to most of them.
She stopped in the centre of the market street. Her eyes widened at the boutique teashop to her right.
The little cup.
A sad smile claimed her lips and she entered the small shop. The rich floral aromas filled her senses and filled her with a sea of warm memories. This was a better idea.
After a short stop at The Little Cup, Kosu took her basket of new purchases and made her way to the outskirts of Konoha. As she walked the winding, overgrown path to the Uzumaki mask storage temple the guidance she'd so desperately wanted from the funeral settled around her.
She sat in the worn patch of dirt and coaxed the fire pit into a flame. Kosu carefully set her newly bought tea set up to brew. Her gaze turned to Mito's empty spot and all the bitter-sweet times she'd spent there with her sensei washed over her. All of her advice, her wisdom, her love.
With the tea brewed she poured two cups. One cupped in her small hands and the other sat steaming in front of where Mito would sit.
"I hope you've found your peace Mito-sensei. And if you could find a way to share it… I could really use some about now." Kosu whispered. "Because I still need you. And I don't mean your teachings or your training… I mean you."
I miss you.
The sun dropped lower in the sky and the tea grew cold and undrunk in her hands. She looked up as the Hokage walked towards her still dressed in his black funeral dress. His aged eyes scanned the scene before him. He wisely chose the sit between Kosu and the place that was so clearly Mito's.
"Mito-sama loved tea." He commented.
"She'd frown at me for letting mine go cold." Kosu agreed.
"She loved you too." And Kosu loved Mito-sensei.
Though Mito-sensei'd probably be frowning in disgust at her right now. Kosu eyed her pathetic reflection in the teacup until she could no longer bare to look at herself.
"Mito-sama bequeathed this to you specifically." He pulled a small scroll from an inner pocket of his Hokage jacket and laid it before them. With a tap of his hand on the fūinjutsu a magnificent set of plated shinobi armour unsealed before them. Kosu recognised the elegant white design from the old drawings she'd seen of Mito and Hashirama. "It's her armour but I'm sure we can get it reshaped for a male physique."
Kosu smiled sadly and trailed her fingers over the plates. She'd asked for a share of peace and Mito had sent her armour. An item of strength and protection. A template of the woman Kosu strived to be. And a gentle push for her to heed Mito's last words. Kosu let out a melancholic laugh. Mito-sensei knew her better than she did.
"There's no need. I'm a girl. Provided I grow tall enough it'll fit just fine." Kosu said.
"Oh." Hiruzen coughed and scratched the back of his neck. Kosu pretended to not notice the embarrassed reddening of his cheeks.
He sobered as Kosu unwrapped the bandage on her left hand and gave Hiruzen his first glance of the tiny black kanji that covered her. Mito had obviously briefed him thoroughly on Kosu's ability and predicted potential, but to see it. He watched in amazement as she pressed her palm to the armour, and it disappeared. She casually rewrapped her hand, perhaps unaware of the sheer level of fūinjutsu she'd just practised.
It took the average shinobi minutes, if not hours to configure the correct seal. It took an expert shinobi a moment to think of a seal, but minutes to draw it out. Hence why fūinjutsu had become a tool for the prepared shinobi. But this was fūinjutsu, the likes of which he'd only witnessed from an Uzumaki. Adaptive, combat applicable fūinjutsu.
"Mito-sama was one of the smartest, kindest and strongest people I've ever known." Hiruzen began, drawing the attention of the small girl. "I have a great deal of respect for her judgement and council. Which is why you will not be returning to the academy." His words delivered a harsh punch, until he reached into his pocket once more and pulled out a Konoha forehead protector. "Because you've earnt this."
"Thank you." Kosu breathed. She took the forehead protector and ran the soft black cloth between her fingers. Her face shone back at her in the shiny metal, the Konoha emblem printed over her reflection.
Mito-sensei definitely wasn't frowning.
"I have a team ready for you to join. I know it's soon after Mito-sama's death, but I'd rather intergrate you into the team sooner rather than delaying."
"It's okay Lord Hokage. This is how I'll honour her." Kosu said and tied the forehead protector around her neck. He nodded and took a thoughtful drag of his pipe.
"Report to my office at 9 tomorrow morning. It's not a typical team for a newly graduated genin, but you're not a typical genin." He said. He stood from the fire and left Kosu to ponder his words.
X
So chapter 14! It took a little longer to write and edit, partly because it's one of the longest chapters I've written and partly because it was an emotional bomb.
Huge thank you to everyone who reviewed, favourited, followed, or DM'd. As ever my DM's are open if you want to drop a message.
RE: Reviews of chapter 13
In official canon it does say Mito died shortly after transferring the nine-tails to Kushina when Kushina was a child – I just took some fanfiction liberty with this fact and extended her death date to chapter 14.
So much fear for Orochimaru creeping around the orphanage! I mean, he is a creepy bloke. I'm really excited with that arc and can't wait to see your reactions to it!
Thank you to everyone on your love of Kosu as a character and your compliments on my work! This is a fun hobby for me and to know others are enjoying it means so, so much.