Chapter 10: Warnings


Team 7 concentrated, sitting cross-legged in front of blank pages. If someone were to walk in, they would have likely thought that the three were meditating. If that person had walked closer, they would have seen a blip pass over the face of Sakura's scroll, a flicker where one moment there was smooth ivory parchment, in the other a fully articulated diagram that matched the one Kakashi-sensei had copied himself and placed in front of them.

She looked up triumphantly.

"I got it!"

"Me too." Of course Sasuke-kun had got it. She looked over to Naruto's, which had started smoking lightly once he'd realized the other two had succeeded.

"Naruto, you idiot, you're using too much chakra!"

He released the hand seal to throw his hand up in the air in frustration. "I'm using like nothing!"

"But you're not though." Sasuke said, eyeing the curling edges of the blackening page.

"Now, now. We all have our specialties. Naruto likely just isn't a fit for infiltration."

"You can say that again." Sakura said, giggling a little at the idea of Naruto trying to sneak anywhere in his orange jumpsuit.

"Let's take a look at your copies."

Kakashi-sensei nodded at Sakura's, then flicked an eye over to Sasuke's. The unsuspecting genin received a stern rap on the top of the head from the jounin's knuckles.

"I told you not to use the Sharingan."

Rubbing his head, the Uchiha squinted up at the jounin indignantly. "Why not? You did."

Kakashi-sensei jerked a head at the sheet. "Guess."

Sakura took a look. Sasuke's copy was almost perfect, while hers...

"Wait, why does mine look so different?" The names in the bubbles were written in Sakura's own neat handwriting, whereas Sasuke's copy was filled with the lady's elegant script.

Kakashi-sensei plopped down in front of them.

"The limitation to this jutsu is that you can only copy what you observe and can hold in your mind. Our brains take shortcuts, so when you moved it over, you entered the text in the way most familiar to you." He tapped the page. "This is how your brain actually sees the page."

They nodded. The henge worked the same way, which was why Academy student henges looked so often like caricatures of their subjects. Truly seeing what was there took effort, and training.

"As to why not, Sasuke, there are limits to the Sharingan. There were hundreds of Uchiha once, do you know why only I'm known for copying jutsu?"

"Because you never do anything else." Sasuke said mulishly.

Kakashi-sensei grinned at the sulking boy. "Because, I had learned jounin-level jutsu without the help of the Sharingan before. The Sharingan is an aid, Sasuke, it doesn't fully replace the understanding you get from struggling through the basics. You haven't had the chance, but you'll find that you can't copy any nature-release jutsu that isn't fire. I'd learned all the nature-releases I could by your age, and the understanding that came from that let me use the copy aspect of the Sharingan more freely than most of the natural-born sharingan users before me." He pulled out a new page. "And I was able to learn those by learning the basics. Try again."

With Sasuke set to redoing the task next to the struggling Naruto, Kakashi-sensei turned to Sakura. "So, Sakura-chan, have you figured anything out from the diagram?"

Sakura shook her head. "Not anything more than the obvious. The black is obviously Kawagu and his people, and red the people that support the Earth treaty, but I'm not sure about the green. There are too many new names there."

Kakashi-sensei nodded. "Well, for what it's worth, it probably doesn't make much of a difference if we figure it out either way. We should be well out of here before anything more unusual happens."

Sakura smiled impishly. With the matter of the previous night resolved, she'd been able to reprocess the fact that the lady had been flirting heavily with sensei the night before, and sensei had not necessarily pulled back. And he'd been gentlemanly. It had to be true love.

"Are you sure you'll be okay leaving Lady Hinogawa?"

Sensei aimed a long-suffering eye down at the beaming genin.

"...yes?" he tried.

The beam intensified. "Are you suuuure?"

"Sensei! Sensei! It's on fire! Everything!"

Kakashi-sensei moved to put out the conflagration with a relieved air, leaving Sakura behind to giggle to herself about jounins and forbidden romances.


Kawagu had been lying on his couch when his little sister barged in, sliding door clanking against the frame with the force with which she opened it.

"I just spoke to the daimyo."

He raised an eyebrow at the brazen intrusion, though he stayed reclined. "Is he well?"

Her pretty eyes narrowed.

"Kawagu, this is no joke. What have you been up to?"

"Nothing more than the usual, sister."

She eyed him, clearly worked up.

"You're planning something."

"You wound me, Kawane. Kawaru's the schemer, you know that."

Kawagu wondered idly what the daimyo could have said to rile her so, when not even the incident with the ninja had ruffled the girl. Ah, she didn't know yet.

"I'll be going home with you by the way."

"What?"

"I've decided. There's nothing more left for me here without Kiyo. I'm going to go home and take Father's place."

Her alarmed eyes swept over his figure, taking in the new calm in his body language. The mood, unfortunately, was clearly not contagious.

She pulled closer, bringing her voice lower.

"Did the daimyo speak to you as well? Is that why you're coming home with us?"

"The last I saw the daimyo was at dinner with you. What did he say?"

She kneeled beside the couch.

"Kawagu, he warned me. He warned me not to try to fix everything in the world. Whatever he was talking about, it definitely wasn't about taxes. I don't know what you're doing, but the daimyo thinks I'm doing it too. Please, Kawagu, you're putting me in danger." She grabbed at his hand. "Whatever you're doing, tell me, or stop doing it. I'll trust you if you tell me you'll stop."

He sighed.

"Kawane, it's fine. I promise I have this handled, and you probably wouldn't understand these court matters anyway. Your attention is best focused on finding me a wife here before we leave."

The pretense of being the frightened little sister came off like she was shedding a robe. She rose up, high spots of rage coloring her cheeks. The next words came like she wished each word could cut him through.

"I've been running the entire border with Earth for seven years. The money you spend here, with what you laughably call "court matters" was collected by me. Our vassals, the true ones that hold down the grounds and know your lands, bow to the laws that I set in Takahishi. Earth sends its messengers to my court. You dare, dare, try to assume Father's mantle and put us in danger? Tell me now, you simpering idiot of a man."

She glared down at him. "And sit up," she hissed.

If Kawane had been any less well-bred, Kawagu had no doubt she'd have attacked. He'd never been more appreciative of the manners Kimuhara-san had drilled into them now that those were clearly the only thing holding back the woman from physically attacking him. He sat up.

"Kawane, the only reason I am going home is to rule Takahishi as Father wanted."

The glare held.

"And you're leaving behind your hare-brained day dreams about getting back at Earth?"

His voice turned cold at her disdainful tone. "Watch yourself, Kawane. I am fond of you, but you're overreaching quite a bit today."

"I am watching myself. Are you leaving behind your idiotic plans with your idiotic friends regarding idiotically attacking Earth?"

"Kawane."

She closed her eyes, taking a breath.

"Fine. Tell me what changed your mind then."

He responded with his own question. "Did the daimyo mention Earth to you?"

She shook her head. "Answer me first."

He chose his words carefully. "I considered where I could be of the most use and found that without Kiyo here, my place is home."

"That's a trash answer."

"It's the truth."

"Is it because of what Hayao said?"

He stilled.

"You heard that?"

"Little happens in this house without my knowledge."

He put his face in his hands.

"No...No, Kawane. That has nothing to do with why I'm going home. I'm sorry you heard that."

She sat next to him, gingerly.

"Are you really?"

"Yes, Kawane. I just...can't control myself at times."

"Do you believe it?" Her tone was cool and disinterested, belying the tension that Kawagu knew must lie behind the question.

"...Kawane..."

She twisted her lip to the side. "Well, at least I know now you're still keeping the samurai code of honesty."

"Kawane, just look at us. Father's eyes are blue. Mother's eyes are blue. How are yours brown?"

"I didn't say I didn't believe it."

"I tried to, Kawane. I spoke to her, you know." He turned to hold the shoulders of his half-sister. "I asked her if you two were truly Hinogawas. Do you know what she said?"

She pulled back. "There's no way she said we weren't."

He nodded. "She said you were, just not in the way I am."

The incriminating dark eyes glared at him. He went on. "She put in in our names, Kawane. Kawagu-river mouth- I'm a physical part of the river. I'm a true-born son. The only true-born son."

She tried to rise, but he held her back from leaving. "But Kawane, isn't the sound of a river just as much a part of the river? If not more so?"

He tugged her back to face him.

"You have the soul of a Hinogawa, Kawane. Father knew that. I know that."

Kawane blinked hard and fast, and the sight made Kawagu draw her fully into his arms, hugging her for the first time in almost two decades.

"I spoke harshly to Hayao, but that's because the bastard deserves it. I don't actually feel that way about you or Kawaru. We're family."

She sniffled lightly into his shoulder. "What about when you said we'd take control over the house over your dead body?"

He pulled away a little, mock-inspecting the damage to his shirt collar. He grinned at her. "Well, that part is true. Kawagu will literally take power over my dead body." This didn't seem to console her much. He held her face in his hands gently.

"Don't fret, sister. You need to look pretty for Hiro-kun later. We'll need him for the war on Earth."

The cold, angry look from before slammed over her face. She yanked away, leaving Kawagu bewildered.

"So the war is still on."

"Kawane..."

"You don't need to explain further. I understand, brother." She straightened her robes. "I will not be attending the court dinner tonight. Please give the daimyo my apologies."

She swept out, giving Kawaru a disgusted look as he quickly pretended to be occupied. Where was the point, when they both knew he'd been listening?

She put her disgust for both her brothers aside. She knew now that the daimyo had been warning her to keep away from the war party, that Kawagu was unsalvageable but she was.

One question had flitted across her mind the moment she heard the mission pricing.

How quickly does a hawk fly?

Kawagu had been doomed since the moment his father had died. The only difference she could make now was how the new Lord Hinogawa would meet that doom.


Kakashi had left the genin to their own devices after putting out Naruto's fire. A couple of priceless paintings had been lost in the process, but Kakashi paid that little mind. Priceless meant price less, right?

The task at hand now was to find the only person in the capital that likely knew everything that was going on.

Toru-san.

It shouldn't have been hard. The woman seemed to never leave the kitchens and it was only a matter of jumping down from his window to get there. But things never ever worked out for Kakashi, did they? That just wasn't how life worked.

He jumped down just to find himself face to face with Asana. She'd been lying in wait for him, chakra suppressed.

"Come on."

He'd followed. What other option was there? He now found himself in the Hall of Guardians. It was an imposing open arena with huge stone statues of the founders of Fire Country set between each decorative pillar. The legend went that each statue was inlaid with ancient seals that were bonded to a Guardian during initiation and at a word, the Guardians could call these huge stone golems to defend their country. Not even Minato-sensei had been able to confirm if this was the case, though he'd asked Mito Uzumaki herself. Kakashi knew this though: it had never happened in living memory.

A group of ninja waited inside in various states of ease, Kakashi and Asana's entrance causing only the slightest visual ripple as their attention turned to the pair. Hitoru lounged like a cat, half-lidded eyes viewing his senpai noncommittally as he draped from a rafter. A shadowy figure stepped out from behind the nearest pillar.

"Hey Kakashi."

"Shinau."

"Thanks for coming, we weren't too sure you'd be too keen to talk to us."

"I wasn't exactly given the impression I had a choice."

That had brought a smile to the man's face.

"Yeah, you really didn't."

The two studied each other, though Kakashi noted the formation of the casually lounging ninja in the background probably non-coincidentally matched the formation taught in the academy for a group attacking a lone opponent. It was a hair-raising realization, though one he was more grateful to have noticed than not, since the distances each chose from him gave their hands away. Asana stayed by his side, almost touching him. Shinau's appearance had placed him just an arm's reach away. The brown haired ninja, the large gentle one that had been so kind to Naruto, hung back to the left of Shinau, completing the triangle formation. Three close-range fighters, though he'd known that already for Asana and Shinau. Hitoru was crouched now in the rafters. There was one more, remaining hidden in the shadows. Five total. He could take that. Maybe.

"Figured I owed you an explanation, Kakashi. And a warning."

"Sounds like something I might appreciate. Go ahead."

Shinau rested his forearm on the pillar and sighed.

"You fought in the war, right? You were Kannabi Bridge."

Kakashi nodded.

"It was good work. There was a lot of excitement here in the capital over that, that's when when everything came crashing down for Iwa. The daimyo was baying for blood, did you know? Ready to tear into Earth. The Hinogawas too. I had to run to Konoha and back over 20 times that week. I was younger then, I'm never taking another messenger assignment ever again." Shinau tried to share a grin with Kakashi, an attempt that was flatly ignored. He coughed, embarrassed. "Anyway, it was a hell of a time, because the Third was adamant not to go on fighting now that Iwa had retreated. The daimyo has good aim for a civilian, he tried to bean me with a pen."

"Get to the point, Shinau."

"Well, I managed to turn the daimyo's mind. But some of the people here never forgave us."

The vision of the angry faces of the samurai in the banquet hall flashed through Kakashi's head. "That was fourteen years ago. You're saying they're still holding on to it?"

"Oh yes. And Lord Hinogawa wasn't dead before. Now everything's happening. You may not have killed Kiyomasa-sama, but the Hinogawas are acting to reignite the war. We know this for a fact, Copy-nin, and now here's our warning."

Kakashi stood still as Shinau stepped close, his mouth hovering next to Kakashi's ear.

"The Third accepts your explanation for why you can't leave the mission. But he warns you. You're not just guarding a pretty flower. The lady has ruled the Hinogawa house for years, and any movement happening now requires that she be complicit. If by any chance, you're doing more than just guarding her...if there's anything you've hidden, know this: the war could be on your head."

He clapped a hand on his shoulder. The hand turned into a claw, digging into Kakashi's shoulder almost painfully. "You don't want to make it a family tradition, now, do you?"

Feeling as if the wind had been knocked out of him, Kakashi's lone eye widened at the insinuation. The hand stayed there, the venom in the grip an echo of the poison that had been directed at Sakumo Hatake, when everything had gone wrong.

"Just a friendly warning."

Shinau lifted the hand. "Scatter!"

Kakashi found himself alone in the Hall of Guardians.

The second report he'd sent the night before with Lady Hinogawa's plans would not arrive fast enough.

He called a nin-ken. Pakkun appeared.

Someone watching from a distance would have seen a brown blur disappear into the trees shortly thereafter.

Kakashi leant back and hoped that the Hokage would get the news before any new events broke in the capital.

He doubted that.


The next morning, Kawagu was found dead.


A/N: I just can't stop killing. Half of the daimyo's court may be dead by the time I'm done with this fic. And good riddance too.

A quick rundown of our current cast of characters by family:

Daimyo:

-1st son: Kiyomasa (deceased previous leader of the War party )

-2nd son: Hiroyuki (new heir to throne, besotted with Kawane)

'

Hinogawa:

-1st son: Kawagu (only true born some of the Old Lord and Lady Hinogawa)

-2nd son: Kawaru (Hayao's bastard son, now new head of house)

-Youngest: Kawane (AKA the young Lady Hinogawa)

Retainer(minor nobility servants of the house) : Kimuhara, Hayao

Notable slaves: Toru (kunoichi serving Lady Hinogawa), Kimiko (fourteen year old slave)

Kawaru has a son named Kawamaru.

'

Guardians:

-Shinau (brown-haired defacto leader of Guardians)

-Hitoru (purple-haired shinobi, served under Kakashi in anbu)

-Asana (blonde kunoichi)

-As yet unidentified brown-haired ninja.