a peek behind the curtains of plot

Jiraiya caught the girl as she passed out. The pack on her back, previously overlooked, dug into his arms. She was so small, so light. He laid down the girl, carefully, then opened the pack and, yes, there was the scroll that confirmed her identity.

As if the two stone corpses in the clearing weren't enough proof.

He looked over his shoulder at Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was picking through the shattered remains of the two mercenaries, expression unreadable.

"This is her," Jiraiya said. "You keep looking. I'll bring her back."

Orochimaru didn't immediately respond. He stooped down, picking up a chunk of rock. "I told Tsunade to come." He sounded irritated.

By sheer dint of experience, Jiraiya was able to extract the meaning behind the comment. Orochimaru was lamenting the lack of a skilled medic-nin on hand because he wanted to know how much chakra the girl had used to kill two mercenaries right now, instead of back at the village, where the hospital was waiting, and where the girl's condition could've deteriorated or recovered.

"She's going through a lot," Jiraiya said. Orochimaru scoffed, but his heart wasn't in it.

The topic of Tsunade was a well-worn argument between them, enough that it had been reduced to a single back-and-forth.

Orochimaru sighed, as quiet a sound as the wind between grass. "Return to the village with the girl. I'll track down the rest of these men. If Tsunade isn't receptive, ask Mikage."

"I know." Jiraiya picked up the girl again. Her heartbeat fluttered worryingly fast. He would have to hurry — chakra exhaustion was a serious matter in normal people, and at her age, could permanently damage her chakra coils, not to mention kill her.

He nodded at Orochimaru, but Orochimaru wasn't paying attention. He was preoccupied with prying something from a sell-sword's belt.

Jiraiya suppressed a sigh, then turned to leap into the trees in the direction of home.

He knew Tsunade was going to leave them, he was resigned to it. Would he have to resign to Orochimaru drifting away as well?

No matter how much Hiruzen-sensei spouted that stuff about all the village being a family, there were some people Jiraiya just didn't like. Chief on that list was Shimura Danzō. (Jiraiya never had a family, either, so it wasn't as if he understood the finer details of that metaphor.) How had the old viper found out about their detour tonight, anyway?

"It is unbecoming of one of the great Sannin to hold such sentiments for a deserter, Jiraiya," Danzō said. His voice did not echo down the quiet, empty hospital corridor. It was not a corridor designed for echoes.

"Senko's crimes do not extend to her daughter." There was no use hiding their relation. Why else would Danzō be here, requesting entry to Haiko's hospital room?

"Precisely. Which is why I would like to appraise the girl myself, to make sure none of Senko's taint has been brought back to the village."

A load of bullshit. Jiraiya held his tongue, counted to three, then replied, "Mikage is still working. The girl's chakra exhaustion is life-threatening. It will be a while before he comes out. Respectfully, I think you should retire for the night, Elder Shimura. I will keep you updated of her progress."

Gods bless Nohara Mikage's kindness. Not everyone would be willing to set up a top secret hospital room for a top secret patient on such short notice. Tsunade, as expected, had not been in the hospital.

Danzō switched the grip on his cane. Did the man even need a walking aid? It was certainly a hidden sword of some sort. Did he hope to exude a harmless air with it? If so, he was failing miserably.

"Many thanks, Jiraiya. I hope my name will be considered when you decide to foster the child. To send someone with her background into the orphanage system would be too much of a waste." Danzō tipped his head the barest inch, then turned and walked away, his cane clicking.

It was only when the door closed behind Danzō that Jiraiya let out a breath.

There was no chance in hell he would let Shimura Danzō take in Senko's child. Haiko wouldn't only disappear off the face of the earth, she'd be put into the Foundation. It wasn't a fate Jiraiya wished on anyone, and times like this, he really questioned Hiruzen-sensei's judgement.

The door behind him opened a crack. Mikage's messy brown hair emerged, then the next clan head of the Nohara crept out of the hospital room and shut the door behind him. Beneath his clan's dark purple facial markings, the man was white as a sheet.

"Is Elder Shimura gone? Gods, he gives me the creeps."

Jiraiya hummed, amused. "How is the girl?"

"Finally stable. I don't think she will have any scarring. But, is Uchiha-san arriving soon? I couldn't check Haiko-san for a concussion because of the—" Mikage gestured to his eyes awkwardly. "Otherwise, she'll be fine."

"I'll bet Yōko-san just wanted to wait until Shimura Danzō left, just like you."

Just then, the corridor door opened. Uchiha Yōko, current head of the Uchiha clan, came through. She paused by the door, taking in the scene, then walked towards them. When she reached Jiraiya and Mikage, she pulled out a bright orange toad from her wide sleeves and brandished it in Jiraiya's direction. "What is this, boy? I get a summons—summons—from you in the dead of night to the hospital's hidden wing without an explanation, and when I arrive who do I run into but Shimura Danzō?"

Uchiha Yōko was a veteran from the First War, one of the few they still had in active duty. Like most shinobi of her experience and age, she didn't think too highly of the Sannin. Thought the fame was getting to their head, especially so when it came to Tsunade. They didn't approve of the loose rein the Sandaime Hokage gave them, thought he was practicing unnecessary favoritism. Still, Jiraiya didn't have any problems with Uchiha Yōko, nor she with him, except that all First War veterans intimidated Jiraiya a little. He wouldn't have asked for her help if it wasn't the only option he had.

If he asked the Hyūga for help, the secret would be spilled within the month, from clan head to clan elder to clan member to general populace. Yōko knew how to keep a secret, and most importantly she didn't give a fuck about her clan's elders.

She also had the Sharingan.

"Did he say anything to you?" Jiraiya asked, dismissing the toad. It disappeared in a puff of chakra-smoke.

"He gave me a suspicious look, but when did that man ever drop his paranoia? Never mind him. I hope you didn't decide to bring home strays after all, boy."

Jiraiya hid a wince. He was never going to live down his three-year absence. "It's one of ours." He hoped Yōko wasn't one of those who held a grudge against Senko's desertion.

Yōko merely raised a brow. "Well? Out with it, Jiraiya, before I turn to Nohara-san and give him a heart attack."

Mikage was pressed up against the door of the hospital room, looking like he'd rather be anywhere else. When Jiraiya and Yōko's attention turned to him, he managed a weak smile.

Yōko shook her head. "You have to shape up, boy. You'll soon be sitting at the same council table as me, and I'm hardly the worst there."

Jiraiya ran a hand through his hair and took the plunge. "Orochimaru and I picked up Senko's daughter earlier tonight and I need you to check the progress of her dōjutsu."

Yōko pinned him with hawk-like eyes. Jiraiya held firm. After a moment, she exhaled sharply. "Senko has a kid? How do you know this? Why's she coming forwards now?"

"She's dead," said Orochimaru.

Jiraiya took his teammate's silent appearance in stride. That was both a dramatic entrance and a skilled one; he hadn't sensed Orochimaru's return in the slightest. By Mikage's clutch at his chest and Yōko's scowl, they hadn't either.

"Have you checked her bloodline yet?" Orochimaru directed this at Yōko. Her scowl deepened, but she merely jerked her head at Mikage, who hurried out of the way, then entered the hospital room.

"Erm," said Mikage. "I'll go set up the staff list for Haiko."

"Best case scenario, how soon will she be cleared for release?" Jiraiya asked quickly, before he could escape.

"Shortest, a week. Longest, two. Unless her bloodline gives us trouble, five to seven days of rest for her chakra reserves to return to normal functionality would be enough."

"Will she remember tonight's events?" asked Orochimaru.

Comfortably settled into his specialty, Mikage didn't flinch at being addressed by Orochimaru. "Hard to say. Children are resilient, but responses to trauma are always varied. Once she wakes up, you can always ask."

Orochimaru looked away.

"Before you go, Mikage," Jiraiya said, suddenly remembering Danzō's words. He would have to find a home for Haiko. "Any Nohara willing to take in an orphan?"

They still had to seal Haiko's eyes, which would make raising her a significantly easier job. The Uchiha weren't going to take her, Jiraiya was sure, even if they were the most compatible clan. Not the Hyūga, despite the more widespread Byakgan— they'd be the last clan he asked, because gods only knew what they would do with an outsider bloodline. He couldn't with good conscience slot her into a civilian family, either— it was too big a burden, and as Shimura Danzō's presence proved, Haiko's life was going to be wrapped up in politics. Best to have her familiar with bloodline politics from an early age. Jiraiya hated to agree with Danzō on anything, but the orphanage system was already over-taxed dealing with war orphans. Placing Haiko there would be a last, and terrible, resort.

"I can ask, but…" Mikage scratched his cheek. "It's pretty sudden and … big. I don't know."

"Ask," Jiraiya said. "But carefully."

Mikage nodded. Then he turned, and left them alone.

After a minute, Orochimaru sighed, very quietly.

"Tsunade?" Orochimaru's voice was even, but his eyes were slanted to the side, something he did whenever he brought up a topic he didn't like but was morally bound to discuss.

Jiraiya shook his head. "Still in the village." He hoped. Tsunade's last words to them rang in the silence of the corridor.

For her? Why? Tsunade had scoffed, an ugly sound. I'll show up for her funeral, and that's all.

"Did you bring back a body?"

"What I could," Orochimaru said, grim. "Which reminds me."

From his sleeves, he pulled out a vial. Jiraiya recoiled from the object, then steeled himself and picked it up.

It was a pair of eyes, suspended in liquid tinted pink with blood. The pupils were clouded over in a film of grey, like a bad cast of cataracts. There wasn't a speck of green in it, but there was little doubt to who they'd belonged.

"All of them seemed to be hired swords. I found no visible village associations." At Jiraiya's raised eyebrow, Orochimaru added, "I checked." He tapped the side of the vial. "This wasn't even in a scroll. It was just in a pocket."

"How many?"

"Seven, with a straggler."

They must've gotten the drop on her somehow, took the eyes first. There was no way she couldn't have fought off seven untrained shinobi — if she was in top form, which wasn't guaranteed. It was a grim, depressing thought. It did not escape Jiraiya's notice that Orochimaru worded it ambiguously: 'seemed to be', 'no visible associations', as though a conspiracy was laying around to be unearthed.

Jiraiya passed the vial back to Orochimaru, who tucked it back into a sleeve. "It wouldn't have done the contractor any good, those. Did you find their contract?"

"I did not," Orochimaru said. He looked at the door. "We'll talk about this later."

Yōko was probably listening in to their every word. Jiraiya didn't fault her if she did. No one was sure why Senko left. She had just … walked out one day, and never came back. They didn't even realize she'd gone until she failed to report back to active duty. At least, that was the story people told him. He'd still been in Rain Country.

It'd been after the fighting, sure, and Hiruzen hadn't labeled her a rogue-nin since she didn't become hostile to Leaf, but desertion was desertion. Senko wouldn't be put to rest in the main cemetery with rest of the war veterans.

The door opened. Yōko stepped out. "You didn't tell me how much she looked like Senko."

"Children grow," Orochimaru replied, almost snidely.

"How did it look?" Jiraiya asked.

"Like her mother's. You have to seal it." Yōko's eyes, dark, flicked between them. "I heard what you asked Nohara-san. If you're looking for foster parents, you'd better work fast. I wouldn't be surprised if Shimura-san had gone straight to the Sandaime."

"We're aware," Jiraiya grumbled. It was a miracle Tsunade hadn't gone to their teacher yet. Or, not. She'd been avoiding them all like the plague.

"Why don't one of you take her?"

Orochimaru's nose wrinkled, ever so slightly, then smoothed out. Jiraiya blinked rapidly.

Yōko shook her head. "Forget I said anything. What about Tsunade-hime? A child—"

"No."

"Not a good idea."

Jiraiya glanced at Orochimaru, who's mouth was turned down at the corners. Orochimaru wasn't going to elaborate, but if they wanted to dissuade Yōko, they'd need to. Jiriaya reached for the most convenient excuse. "She already has the Katō girl."

Yōko looked contemplative. "I could ask around the compound for you, but I have a suspicion you don't want her presence broadcasted around the village."

Senko didn't have a last name and she managed a low profile all throughout the war, but she still had a bingo book entry with an artist's rendition of her face. It wasn't likely that anyone would put the pieces together… except whoever hired those sell-swords. No, better to keep it under wraps as much as possible.

"Thought so," Yōko said, watching his face. "Well, I'll drop hints. How long do you have to deal with this?"

"Mikage says a week or two until she's cleared to leave."

"Don't cut too close, or Hiruzen is going to give custody to Danzō," she warned.

Jiraiya sighed roughly. "I know. Thank you for coming out tonight, Yōko-san. Thank you."

"I understand the need for secrecy. I'll keep it for you. Best of luck, boys."

With that, Uchiha Yōko strode down the corridor. The door slammed.

They looked at each other. Finally, Orochimaru said, "Hatake Sakumo."

"I couldn't," Jiraiya instantly replied. The loss of his wife had weighed heavily on Sakumo, and Jiraiya had seen the Hatake brat. He didn't want to be the source of more stress for his friend.

"Then who? Who else would you trust to raise a bloodline child? Half the Noble clans are out of consideration. The other half is incompatible. Most other clans have hijutsu — they will not prioritize an outside child."

"Sakumo already has a kid!"

"What's one more?"

Jiraiya glared. Orochimaru returned it evenly. "Think it through, Jiraiya. Most of the larger clans are still struggling to recover. If they take her in, it'd be to incur a debt with one of us, no more. Sakumo, however, is a trusted confidant. He will keep her out of politics. The son can be a playmate. Their clan is no bigger than those two. It's perfect."

Trusted confidant. Orochimaru could be adorable, sometimes. Jiraiya frowned, but Orochimaru's logic was hard to refute.

"…Sakumo returns in two days. I'll ask him then."

Orochimaru gave a single nod. "Now. I still have one of Senko's older designs, it should be enough. I shall retrieve it. You watch over the girl."

Jiraiya sighed. "Alright."