A/N: Very sorry for the wait on this one. I was originally planning on uploading this a whole week ago, but I honestly needed a break after cranking out an entire arc in two-ish weeks. I'll be back on schedule for the next little while. Things are about to pick up
Hope you can forgive me
Time for Chapter 17
Enjoy!
Hiruzen's eyes dragged up from his desk as the sound of his office door opening caught his attention. Three days had passed since the return of Team Seven from their assignment in the Land of Waves, and to say that the process of parsing out what needed to be done had been a headache would have been a massive understatement. In fact, the meeting set to begin in mere moments would be the first regarding the mission itself. The elderly leader had required time to ponder his options. Now standing just inside the office with a guard at her side was the primary subject of controversy.
Apparently named Haku Yuki, the girl had fought on the side of Zabuza Momochi, a deadly and sought-after rogue from the Hidden Mist. She had reportedly brought Satsuki to the edges of death, and was only brought down by what Hiruzen could only assume was the first recorded occurrence of Naruto's seal well and truly weakening. These truths were not what made her such a complicated problem to solve. No, that honor fell at the feet of Shikamaru Nara, who would be having his own meeting with the Hokage directly after Haku's hearing concluded.
For reasons Hiruzen could not specifically discern, Shikamaru had gone out of his way to save the girl from freezing to death in a river after she had been savagely beaten and tossed aside by Naruto. A direct violation of protocol, and a confusing one at that.
"Leave us." Hiruzen said with a sideways glance to the guard. The man nodded and stepped back out of the office, closing the door behind him. Haku's wrists were bound at her waist, and the plain tunic she had been afforded in her brief confinement was fitted with a seal that would paralyze her should she attempt to utilize ninjutsu of any kind. It appeared that she had hardly slept in the past several days.
"Take a seat. We have much to discuss." the old man said with a curt nod. Doing as she was told, Haku sat herself down in the chair opposite Hiruzen across the desktop. Once they were both settled, Hiruzen cleared his throat and rested his elbows on the wood in front of him.
"When I first heard of your involvement in the near-murder of one of my own genin, I was perfectly ready to simply lock you up and let international authority deal with you. I figured this would be a simple matter, but as it turns out, it has been anything but." he began. Taking a moment to study the girl's reaction, he found that she was still completely stone-faced.
"What about this is anything but straightforward? I attacked and maimed her. Under orders, yes, but that doesn't change a thing." Haku replied flatly. The Hokage shook his head and maintained eye contact with her.
"You're in an odd legal position. The reason I took so much time to finally speak with you is because I needed to clarify a few things about you. First and foremost, from what you told Kakashi during the brief interrogation he subjected you to on the journey back from the Wave Country, you've never been aligned with a village. I didn't quite buy that until I did some digging into your surname." he said, taking a deep breath between thoughts to continue what was bound to be a lengthy explanation.
"Based on what little I was able to find on the Yuki Clan, you lived in a small hamlet in the Land of Water, well outside the jurisdiction of a major Village. You were never a producer of Ninja, though you did possess a Kekkei Genkai." he said. Before he could continue, Haku cut him off with a bitter laugh.
"Spare me the history lesson. I know all too well. We were slaughtered for our bloodline. Civil War is a cruel thing. We had nothing to do with it, and yet they saw fit to kill us all." she spat. Unfazed by her sudden outburst, Hiruzen's expression and posture remained unchanged.
"As such, that leaves you as the last member of your family currently living. It also puts you in an odd place in terms of what I can and can't do to you. You technically aren't a rogue, since you never held any allegiances to begin with, but you're certainly a criminal. It would be a serious headache to try to get you executed given just how much of your criminal record is impossible to confirm for sure." he said, drawing a puzzled look from Haku.
"I knew of Zabuza Momochi and his endeavors. Every Hidden Village did. You, on the other hand, are a very new development. In no report of Zabuza's hits and underhanded dealings was a young girl dressed as a huntress mentioned. Not in the catalogue I have access to, anyway. I'm sure you had a hand in many of those scenarios, but with no evidence to concretely prove it, the worst I can do is indict you for attempted murder." Hiruzen continued. Haku wiggled her wrists in her shackles and shifted in place.
"I'm assuming you're going to imprison me, but not kill me?" she inquired. Hiruzen folded his hands on the desk and eyed her intently.
"Given your precarious status as an unknown commodity, I find it difficult to justify wasting the Daimyo's time by calling for international law to be enacted against you. As such, your fate falls to me. Imprisonment is certainly one option, but a man in my position has the ability to bend the rules a bit." he said vaguely. The girl frowned, though her eyes held intrigue.
"Go on…" she said. The elderly leader then straightened his posture and considered just how wise it was to propose what he had in mind. It was certainly less than conventional, and could be political suicide, but logic existed at the idea's core.
"According to Kakashi's report, you were a complete impossibility for Satsuki to contend with. There was also a side note that claimed Zabuza declared you to be a threat to even him in battle. Given just how much brute force Naruto had to exert to put you down, I would say that there's a grain of truth to these statements. Combine that with you possessing what is likely a completely unique Kekkei Genkai, and I think there's some reason to explore other choices." he said. Finally resolving himself to go through with the thing he had been considering, Hiruzen folded his arms across his chest.
"Zabuza was more than just a hitman for hire. He also carried out black market espionage. Iwagakure was caught employing his services nearly a decade ago. Only a fool would come to the conclusion that Iwa was his only client. Given that you've allegedly been his companion since you were a child, I'm assuming that you've accompanied him on similar missions before." he said. Haku pursed her lips.
"Maybe I have." she said. The Hokage nodded and leaned forward across the desk with his chin resting on his interlaced fingers.
"I'm going to extend you an offer that I probably shouldn't make. I want you to write me a detailed summary of any and all information you have acquired over the years that would be useful to a sitting Kage. You strike me as observant, so I'm going to trust your judgement." he said. The girl absently tapped her foot on the floor.
"What would I gain from doing such a thing?" she asked pointedly. Hiruzen leaned back in his chair once again.
"A chance at freedom. Your case will likely net you anywhere from ten years to a life sentence. Closer to the latter, I'd say. If you do as I say, however, I'll give you an opportunity to make your first allegiance. Write that summary, and I'll assign you to Konoha's Anbu Black Ops Unit." he revealed. Haku stared at him silently for a number of moments.
"This feels extremely illegal." she pointed out. Hiruzen shrugged his shoulders and rummaged around in his desk drawer briefly. He then produced a mask with markings designating its appearance as a type of hawk.
"You've quite a bit to learn about how this world operates, my young prisoner. Laws are mere suggestions at the highest levels of government. I have to follow them publicly, and I tend to follow them in private, but in situations like this, I can't quite swallow the notion of wasting what could be such a golden opportunity. Now, you may still refuse my offer, but if you do, know that you won't get another like it." he said, setting the mask down on the desk as he spoke.
"Tell me a bit about what this 'deal' would mean for me." Haku pressed calmly. Hiruzen drummed his fingers on the wooden surface.
"You would still effectively be a captive, at least for a fair stretch of time. You would live in the Anbu barracks, subsist on handouts provided to you by the Corps, and carry out assignments under harsh, meticulous scrutiny. Any signs of foul play on your part would land you right in a jail cell. No trial, no discussion." he said bluntly. Haku raised an eyebrow.
"That doesn't sound much like a chance at freedom to me." she shot back. Hiruzen placed a hand atop the mask.
"Prove yourself to be unproblematic and loyal, and you'll slowly be granted your freedom. I'll even pay you a wage if you behave well enough for long enough. In other words, patience is your friend." he clarified. For a time, the girl said nothing. She had much to process. Much to consider. Eventually, she reached forward and took hold of the mask.
"Fine, I'll agree to this. Just don't expect anything groundbreaking from my summary. I know small things, and maybe a few fairly important things, but nothing mind blowing." she said. Hiruzen responded by pulling the mask back into his own grasp.
"Good, I'm glad we're on the same page. You won't be getting this until that summary is written. You have forty-eight hours. A typewriter will be provided to you in your temporary holding cell." he said. The girl sighed and nodded. She then rose to her feet, sensing that the conversation was largely over.
"Escort her back to her confinement." the Hokage called out to the guard he knew to be just outside the office. The door promptly opened to reveal the same burly man. Haku took a step toward the guard to return to her cell, but stopped. She then glanced back over her shoulder.
"What will become of Shikamaru Nara, Hokage-sama?" she asked. Noting her adoption of his proper title, Hiruzen studied her for a moment. Haku's tone had softened significantly upon saying the genin's name.
"He'll be punished. He's set to speak with me in just a few minutes, actually." he replied. The girl turned her eyes back toward the corridor beyond the office.
"Will I be able to see him?" she asked quietly. The Hokage shook his head and returned the Anbu mask to his desk drawer.
"Not anytime soon. In the future, possibly, but that all depends on your behavior, and how he goes about his next few assignments." he said. Haku nodded dejectedly and stepped out into the hallway. The guard then closed the door to the Hokage's office. Once he was alone again, Hiruzen glanced up at the clock. Fifteen minutes remained until Shikamaru was scheduled to arrive. He had intentionally placed the two meetings directly after one another for the sake of observation. Sighing slightly, Hiruzen wiped sweat from his wrinkled brow.
'The ignorance of youth. Inevitable and tiring.'
Shikamaru exhaled through his nose and turned the handle to the door before him. He had put himself in the position he was presently in, but that in no way meant he was looking forward to the conversation he was about to have. With one last push, Shikamaru entered the office of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage. As expected, the man himself sat behind his desk with a look of expectant calm on his face. He looked quite weathered, and the Nara could sense that his mood was far from pleasant.
"I'd like to make this brief, so please sit down. I don't have the energy to waste time." the old man said sternly. Shikamaru followed the order and took a seat across from his superior. There was little left to do other than brace himself for the verbal shellacking he was bound to receive.
"You know exactly why you're here, so I'm not going to bother explaining it to you. Instead, I'm going to tell you exactly what could have happened had you not been exceptionally lucky." Hiruzen began. Shikamaru nodded and kept his eyes glued to his own lap.
"Look me in the eyes, boy." the Hokage sternly commanded. Though he initially hesitated, the Nara did as he was told and met the firm stare of Hiruzen. With eye contact established, the old man began his oration.
"Did you not once stop to think to yourself that a complete stranger being so openly social is cause for suspicion? Especially given the timing?" Hiruzen questioned. Shikamaru nodded dejectedly.
"Yeah, I did, actually. I was suspicious of her right away." he said. Hiruzen rubbed his temples and shook his head.
"Then why on earth did you, in chronological order, say nothing to your direct superior, apparently spend three days messing about with her in the forest, argue against Naruto ending her life immediately after Satsuki, your own teammate, had been critically injured, and then finally pull her from a freezing river? No matter what way I look at it, I can't make sense of your logic." he asked in a dumbfounded tone. The Nara clenched his jaw and held his tongue. He was undoubtedly on the losing end of the reasoning. Afterall, he was not there to argue. He was there to accept.
"I...just didn't think she deserved to die. Not like that. Maybe I was stupid to spend any time with her at all, but she's not a bad person." he said. Hiruzen sighed heavily.
"There are a few things wrong with that. First and foremost, it really should have been more prevalent in your mind that she was merely using you for information. Second, you had no way to know that Satsuki was still alive after she was struck down. Did her supposed death not anger you?" he asked. Shikamaru's expression soon took on a new theme. One of repressed agitation.
"Do you want me to be honest?" he said, eliciting a curt nod from his superior. After mentally preparing himself for the backlash he was bound to receive for what he was about to say, the Nara spoke.
"I'm not exactly attached to either one of them. They spend most of their time at each other's throats, whining about one another, or something like it. They're off in their own little world, and I do my own thing because I don't have much of a choice. Not even Naruto is super friendly most of the time." he said bluntly. The Hokage seemed to consider the statement for a moment.
"In that case, you had better work on your social skills, because reassignment isn't an option. They're both decent people, but both have had a nightmarish early start in life. That's something you can't exactly claim. Give them time, and I think you'll come to like them." he responded. He then shifted in his seat.
"That aside, I'm still more than a bit disappointed that your emotions weren't ones of grief when your own comrade fell. You aren't a sociopath, that much I'm sure of, but some empathy would do you good." he added. Shikamaru's hands balled into fists in his lap as he recalled the awful day on the bridge.
"It's not as simple as you want it to be. I wasn't numb to Satsuki just about dying. It freaked me out, and it hurt. Even if she doesn't mean a ton to me personally, she gave herself up to protect Naruto. I wasn't as heartbroken as Naruto, but I was in pain. When Naruto broke Haku's mask I just...felt so stupid. I'd known it was her in the back of my mind, but seeing it really laid out was horrible." he said. He then released the breath he had been forcibly holding and relaxed.
"I deserve any kind of punishment you want to send my way, but at least keep in mind that I didn't try to stop him from killing her. I just told him that I thought it would be wrong." he said as an addendum. Hiruzen gave no discernable reaction.
"You were a fool to think he would listen to you, and I'm glad you felt like a simpleton, because you became a complete and utter slave to your emotions. If Haku Yuki were even a touch more cold-hearted and cynical than she already seems to be, she'd have carved you up and left your body to rot long before you fought on the bridge." he said. An odd chuckle then escaped the elderly leader.
"In a way, your childish sentimentality may have saved your life. I spoke with that girl less than twenty minutes ago, and she certainly doesn't strike me as particularly gentle. Her near-killing of both your teammates backs that notion up quite nicely, I'd say. Whether or not you think she's a good person, she certainly has no qualms about ending lives when she must." he said, almost more to himself than Shikamaru.
"Perhaps you were able to touch her just enough to find yourself in her good graces. She certainly could have killed you. It matters little, though. Your actions in the Land of Waves were more or less indefensible." he concluded. The Nara pursed his lips and nodded.
"I'm going back to the academy, aren't I?" he asked quietly. Much to his surprise, Hiruzen shook his head in refutation of the idea.
"In most cases, you'd be right, but I'm going to spare you from that fate based on one single detail of the mission and your actions therein. While you did save Haku from near certain death, you did not interfere with Naruto's attempt to end her life in the line of duty. I'm going to do you a favor and interpret that fact as proof that your loyalties still remained with your team at the end of the day." he corrected. Shikamaru felt himself relax ever so slightly.
"Alright, then tell me what's going to happen. I want to get this all over with." he pressed. The Hokage took a deep breath and straightened his posture so as to reassume his authority.
"I'm putting you on probation, in a way. From here on out, until I see sufficient evidence to suggest that you've matured enough to be trusted left to your own devices, Kakashi will be writing detailed reports of your actions on each and every mission your team partakes in. I'll also be slashing your paycheck in half for the next year." he explained. Shikamaru internally winced at the decrease in pay, but shelved his disappointment.
"Should the reports submitted to me reveal continued issues, you will be disciplined accordingly. Those are the official terms of your punishment. Harsh scrutiny, a pay cut, and the potential for further, increasingly-intensive discipline should you break protocol again in any way at all. I'd be grateful if I were you. I'm letting you off gently because you're young and inexperienced. Just know that you'll have your status as a Shinobi revoked if anything like this ever happens a second time." the Hokage concluded. Shikamaru sighed and nodded his head.
"Yeah, I get it. I'll...do my best to make the most of it." he said. Life had suddenly become a fair amount more stressful, but it was nothing compared to what could have happened, and likely much better than what he deserved.
"Good. I think you're a good lad, Shikamaru. In a naive way, your heart was in the right place. You wanted to save a life. There's nothing wrong with that, but you need to understand that there's a time and a place for everything, and the battlefield is no place for mercy." Hiruzen said a bit more evenly. The Nara shook his head and rose to his feet.
"No, I was just a moron. I won't let it happen again. I'll die before I do." he said as firmly as he could. The Hokage remained silent as the genin turned around and headed for the door. Just before he could leave, the old man spoke up.
"Haku Yuki has been spared from execution. She also won't be imprisoned in a traditional sense. I'm not sure how you feel, but you may see her again at some point." he notified the Nara. A feeling of relief worked its way through Shikamaru's system, but he suppressed the emotion to remain outwardly calm.
"At least it wasn't pointless, then." he said in a blank, tired voice. He then gripped the handle on the office door once again.
A moment later, he left the office to take a long walk.
Satsuki carefully stepped into her dwelling and kicked off her sandals. Her ability to walk had fully returned to her the previous day, and while she was still slightly sore, she was in infinitely better shape than she had been in the Land of Waves. She had seen little of her teammates in the three days they had been back home. Shikamaru had, expectedly, immediately been whisked away by Kakashi to explain to both his parents and the authorities what had transpired on the mission, and Naruto had secluded himself in his apartment.
Shikamaru's absence was easily explainable, and it was justified, but Naruto's was slightly concerning. The blonde had been anything but talkative on the journey back from Tazuna's residence, and his mood had notably dipped compared to his usual joking joviality. It made a fair amount of sense, given just how violently his greatest secret had been laid bare, but no matter how logical it was, the Uchiha girl hardly liked it.
'I get all sentimental with him and give him a hug, and he still goes and gets depressed about it all.' she mentally complained. She hardly meant it despite her desire to be irritated. He had every right to be apprehensive about showing his face for the next few days. His own internalized emotions were almost certainly a mess at present.
'He'll get over it in a few days. I'll make him buy me lunch or something. I did save his life, after all.' she thought to herself with a chuckle. She then turned her attention to the two things she was carrying in either hand. She had never expected to make a voluntary stop at the Yamanaka Clan's flower shop at any point in her life, but she had suddenly been struck by the urge during an aimless walk several hours prior.
'Maybe I am a girl after all.' she mused to herself as she took her time making her way to her room. Having not only an entire house, but an entire clan compound to herself had its perks, but one of its many drawbacks was the issue of cleaning. Though she usually made sure to pick up any stray trash that lay about, she hardly ever dusted more than a few times per year. As such, a film of dust had settled on most of the surfaces that weren't her room, kitchen, or bathroom.
'I should hire a maid. I've probably got the money to do it.' the raven-haired girl pondered absently. Before she could sink into any more mundane and uninteresting thoughts, she reached her room and nudged the light switch with her elbow upon entering its open door. Once inside, she took a quick glance around to ensure that everything was as it had been since her departure that morning.
Thieves had never been an issue, but for whatever reason, the fear of a break-in had always stuck with the girl throughout her young life. Satisfied with the state of her room, Satsuki walked up to her bed and crawled onto it to reach the windowsill at its head. Once she had made it across, she placed the two pots she had bought from the flower shop in the window just above where she slept. After assessing the presence of the two new flowers in relation to the rest of her room, Satsuki smiled.
'Maybe I should decorate more. I like the contrast.' she thought to herself proudly. The two flower pots had been placed on either side of the window, which was shielded halfway from the sun by a tree in the yard just outside.
In the light, she had placed a Sunflower. In the shadow of the tree, a Black Rose.
A/N: ONCE AGAIN: I AM SORRY FOR THE WAIT ON THIS CHAPTER. I just really needed a break after grinding out so many chapters at once. I know a lot of you are going to find the Haku-Hiruzen scene controversial, but I tried my best to explain why things are happening the way they are.
I also punished Shikamaru as per request, and no worries, team relations are a bit...shaky right now. The Chunin Exams will make that nice and clear.
Tell me what you thought of the chapter in a review :)
See you next chapter! Read and Review!
