About playing games and being Batman

She hated board games. Rolling a dice and then, well, just rolling with whatever you got wasn't her style. Shiori scrutinized a flat box before her with a dry expression. She had to do everything in her might to be actively bored, otherwise, if she had to just sit here and wait, her head would implode for sure. Because waiting was different. It was a gray fog that pressed in around her, sucking away at her energy. Without form or weight, it thrashed her worse than Kushina's bone-crushing hugs. It reminded her how helpless she really was. How little control she had.

And that's why she took Minato's shogi set and was now lying on the floor zeroing her golden pools on the game, trying to remember its rules. When the blond jonin explained them to her some time ago, rather than listening, Shiori might have been trying to pull him into a food fight, and now she was… ok, she wasn't regretting it, not really. She hated to play games according to other people's rules and that's why now she was setting the board as if to play something akin to normal chess.

Because her feelings toward a game of chess were a little more complicated than simple hatred.

The reborn woman was five in her previous life when her father took her to a kid's chess club. To put it simply - it was an awful experience. The game's rules were simple enough to learn. Every piece had clearly established moves and had only one affiliation, it could be hers or her enemy's, third option didn't exist. In other words, everything was black or white. For a slightly antisocial child with a tendency to overthinking things, the game had potential to be a pleasant escape from reality.

If not for its human factor.

She could play against computers; they were calm, collected and what's the most important - logical. While her breathing opponents were not. And so however winning was nice, it wasn't nice enough to deal with a bunch of sniffling children. She had no problems losing as long as she didn't need to listen to their shrieks. The woman was a member of the club for three years when finally, her father mercifully decided she wouldn't be the next Kasparov and let her resign. Chess had been slowly forgotten, succeeded by years of studying and climbing the ladder of success. Of course, there was also poker, but it was nothing more than a source of additional income during university.

Shiori rotated one golden general in her fingers.

"And what shit you should do, ehh?"

"I thought Minato taught you how to play?" Asked Kushina slumping at the couch with a bowl of instant ramen in her grip.

"He tried but I wasn't listening."

"Ah yes. You two ended rolling on the floor, wholly smeared in red bean ice-cream." The older redhead slurped a noodle. "He smelled really yummy after that."

"That's the part you may omit. My baby purity is at stake here."

Kushina, hearing Shiori's statement, choked up so hard that one noodle nearly came out of her nose.

"Baby purity my ass. Minato would pass out knowing how pure you are. You know that I remember that one time when you recorded cousin Kioshi and his fiancé while they were being intimate, and later played it in the Village's plaza. How you pulled it off I have no idea. Did you hide under their bed or something?"

"Pretty much. I put a recording machine under their bed. I barely had time to jump out the window before they paraded into the room. But to be fair he deserved it. He took my scrolls without asking and stained them all with tea. Besides, his girlfriend was stupid. She was always talking to me as if I was unable to understand proper human language."

"She was cooing. You were what then? Three?" Kushina's face balanced somewhere between a deadpan and mirth.

"Nearly four." Corrected the girl.

"I see. It really was a peak of your adulthood, wasn't it?"

The golden general would hit Kushina straight in the forehead if not for Shiori's loose aim. And so, it just fell into the woman's soup with a splash. In retrospect, it was far worse.

Shiori gulped. It looked like it was time for another game – a play of tag. The reborn soul knew that playing games could speed up people's learning curve to develop the right kind of thinking processes, but she doubted it was true while losing was associated with all-those-almighty-gods'-retribution-fucked-into-Kushina's-wrath. Shiori truly hated games. Especially when she was forced into a game of tag with her chess-player reflex against a freaking ninja. She was so dead.

Ω

Rin smacked Kakashi upside the head. Further injuring her patients wasn't acceptable but the medic thought about it more like a treatment for severe case of stupidity. Everything had its limits and her patience was no exception.

The silver-haired jonin started to mumble something under his breath but seeing his teammate scoring gaze stopped immediately. Might Guy witnessing the whole scene wanted to snicker but Rin's grim expression made him stop even more abruptly. The medic tent was practically vibrating with the kunoichi's displeasure.

"What were you two thinking? You were to draw them away for five minutes so I could sneak away and go for help. You weren't supposed to engage them. Those rock-nins had tenfold advantage. Five full four-people squads against you two wannabe heroes. I want to smack something just thinking about it."

Rin wasn't screaming. Her voice was even and fully controlled but it didn't change the fact that she bandaged them far too tight. Guy, resembling a mummy more than anything else, was pretty sure that if not for all those painkillers which Rin injected him earlier, he would feel like a squeezed gammon. Thanks to previous explosions he even smelled alike.

"We just wanted to make sure you made it."

"You know what, Kakashi? I'm starting to think Shiori-chan was right. You aren't simply a dummy. You're a dummy with auto-destructive tendencies." To emphasize her point the girl tied his ribs so tight Kakashi's eyes nearly popped out.

"I don't have auto-destructive tendencies."

The kunoichi just hummed and smacked him second time for a good measure. Kakashi with his big brain and marvelous instincts sometimes was nothing more than an idiot. He wasn't capable to see how much everyone worried about him. She, sensei, Kushina and even Guy with his youthful rivalry was more considerate than ever before. But surprisingly it was Shiori who was the most troubled. That little girl tried to convince her that Hatake wasn't simply mourning, but that he had been killing himself with overwhelming guilt. Rin couldn't understand why would he blame himself. Kakashi wasn't more at fault than she was, and she just knew Obito wouldn't want them to think like that. He would want them to live. Wasn't it all about it? But apparently mister genius was too stupid to see it. Shiori made her to promise to watch over him, because one more step, one more self-inflicted blame and Kakashi would end in place with no way back. Now, seeing how the young jonin pushed himself, Rin knew that the tinny redhead was right.

"I'm sure. That's why you won't have anything against waiting here while I'll go with Arata-san and his team to evacuate wounded from the north base."

"But…!"

"You're our captain but I'm your medic. And if it's about your health, it is I who have the last word." With every second Rin's pokes into his bandaged chest grew stronger. Kakashi could only wince. "That's why Guy-kun is going to the main camp with Aoi-san, while you are taking chakra supplements and keeping it easy for the next twenty-four hours until I'm back. Understood?"

She didn't give him time to respond since she turned on her heel and left, leaving behind two flabbergasted youths.

"I never knew Rin-san could be so bossy." Muttered Guy, not sure if besides broken leg he also had a concussion.

"Sometimes she is like that." Kakashi fell on the bunk remembering all this time when Obito was squirming under her strict gaze. He smiled sadly, once more thankful for his mask. "At that point, it's better not to piss her off more. I'll try to catch some sleep. Night, Guy."

"Sweet dreams, my youthful rival."

Kakashi had only nightmares that night.

Ω

The stuck-out tongue wasn't the most elegant thing. Usually the person exhibiting it wanted to convey a message similar to I'll show you, you dumbass, just wait. Now however, with knitted brows it was symbol of the biggest focus. Shiori took a deep breath and carefully put down the last piece. She let the air out only when she was certain her domino toppling wouldn't fall. She had been building it for the last six hours and now it was covering a sizable section of the kitchen floor, two chairs and table. To build this impressive design the girl used eight sets of domino, Minato's shogi and tiles from a few other board games.

The reborn woman looked at her work with satisfaction that left her golden pools in less than a second. Pretending excitement before Kushina was tiring enough. She didn't need to lie to herself. The girl huffed. She tried to convince herself that what she did was simple pragmatism. All that for the greater good shit. Funny how she always hated characters in stories who were working on that principle and yet now here she was. Some freaking supervillain. And because she more resembled a tiny gremlin than anything else she couldn't even get a drink to drown her sorrows. It was just no fair!

It wasn't even that she felt bad. She didn't, well maybe a little but still not enough – that was her problem. She knew she should feel guilty but she decided she couldn't afford it. So, at the mourning ceremony she bid her humanity farewell, put it into a safe and after tying it with chains of stubbornness, put it six feet under and was done with it. But… it shouldn't work that way! Her emotions had no sense. She was the lamest motherfucker villain ever.

"Tadaima, shrimp!" Roared the older Uzumaki from the entrance. Thank goodness for small graces – now at least Shiori would have something sweet to bury her distresses.

"Okaeri." Mumbled the child, preparing herself for arrival of the red tornado. "I've just finished so enter the kitchen carefully."

"Don't worry, kiddo. Wow, this is something." Commented the woman coming into the room with hands full of groceries. "To think you worked so hard just so you may destroy it."

"Well, destruction is always the most fun." Said the girl diving into the bags.

"I've bought chocolate chips to bake cookies later. But I couldn't find any dorayaki so I took a bag of arare. Oh, and there is also a surprise for you. I left it in the corridor."

Shiori suspiciously eyed her older cousin but nonetheless strolled to the hallway. Looking into a pair of exhausted black eyes belonging to even more exhausted looking man, she decided that it was a bad idea. The girl felt so numb that even Kushina's hand messing her hair was almost unnoticed.

"Yesterday you spoke about shogi so here you go. I can't imagine better person to teach you how to play than Shikaku-san."

Shikaku groaned as he straightened. Thanks to all these all-nighters at the desk, not only Yoshino was mad at him but also a simple act of removing his shoes was a true pain in the ass. His poor back was dying. At least Kushina found him and offered a warm meal in exchange for a small favor. Shikaku focused on the younger redhead. He heard that the brat was a devious piece of work but standing here gaping, she looked like normal if not slightly dumbfounded kid. Maybe she was shy?

"Yo," he greeted and then blinked. The girl vanished and judging by the noises, ran to the kitchen evoking general chaos and destruction.

Kushina stood there, motionless like a glacier at first glance unshaken. Only small vain on her forehead spoke otherwise.

"Excuse me for a moment. I need to murder someone." She explained and marched after the kid.

Curious Shikaku followed them. Children mostly liked him. He wasn't any kind of kid-whisperer but no child before ran away from him like that. Apparently, this toddler disliked him quite a bit, since she climbed into the cupboard under the sink and using a pan shielded herself from Kushina's advances. Was it just him, or did that kid really have a pot on her head?

"What the heck, shrimp? Come out, right nowaahh!" Kushina shrieked when Shiori hit her hand with the pan. "That hurts. Seriously, what's wrong with you?"

The reborn woman opened her mouth but no sound came out. Truth be told she had no idea what she had been doing. Seeing Shikaku she panicked and now was in even bigger mess than at the beginning. She needed a believable excuse why she behaved like a total moron, otherwise Kushina would never stop nagging her, or what's worse, she would pique interest of that particular Nara.

The six-year-old adjusted a pot helmet on her head and puffed her cheeks so they would look red from anger and not from utter mortification and shame.

"I refuse."

Kushina sighed and rubbed her temples. She feared where the upcoming answer would take their conversation but she had to ask.

"You refuse to do what, exactly?"

"Accept another man in this household. Mini-nii is gone for few days and you already want to replace him. I refuse. Besides, Mini-nii is far prettier and nicer than this slowpoke. Once again, I refuse to be cuddled or hugged by that dude. Mini-nii is the strongest. He is as strong as Orochimaru-sama. He won't die and will come back. You just need to wait. He… he will be back, right?"

Kushina blinked.

"You're afraid Minato won't be back and that I'll find someone else?"

She was answered by one hesitant nod.

"Shiori-chan…" When Kushina cooed and caught the girl in a bone-crushing hug, Shiori knew that playing the sentimental card wasn't her brightest idea. But now she had to play her hand to the end. "You don't need to worry. Shikaku is our good friend. He's here only to teach you how to play shogi. He won't replace Minato. Our blond wonder-boy will be back in no time."

"Obi-nii didn't come back."

That heart-wrenching statement gained her one more hug and dessert before dinner. The reborn woman knew she was being a manipulative bitch but on her road to being a villain it was nothing more than one small step.

Ω

Protect Rin, protect Rin, protect Rin, protectRin, protectRin, protectRin protectRin, protectRinprotectRinprotectRinprotectRin… it was like mantra, like his own heartbeat or sound of his breath. Kakashi repeated it in his head in every waking hour since Kanabi. It was his most important mission and he failed it. He failed Obito, again.

When he heard about the attack on the northern camp, he was running before he even understood that his legs started to move. His destination wasn't too far away. For determined shinobi it was no more than four-hour run. He made it in two. However, what he found there somehow made him regret his haste. Dead bodies lay everywhere. They were leaking, recoloring the dried grass and earth from shades of brown and yellow to a deep, dark crimson. Some were stabbed, others strangled, crushed, burned or simply lacking at least one essential body-part, for example a head.

The teenager's eyes franticly perused the sea of faces in hopes of finding the one with big, doe eyes and gentle smile. But none even remotely resembled Rin. When he entered the medic tent, or rather what was left of it, he couldn't have been gladder for it. The wounded konoha-nins were lying in their coats with open eyes and throats. They would look peaceful if not for the lips opened in their last cry. But it was nothing compared to the three dead medics piled on one another. Their bodies had numerous stab wounds in different places, and based on diverse shapes of the injuries and their angles – they were inflicted by several attackers.

It wasn't normal for so numerous forces to be focused on recovery wards. Two or three shinobi would have been more than enough, but he saw sings for at least seven. Why they needed so many people here? Not for killing, that's for sure. That and the fact Kakashi still couldn't find Rin, triggered an ill feeling in his guts. Feeling that words of one of the survivors changed into a pure dread.

Nohara Rin has been taken.

Those words were his undoing. The last ounce of his self-control disappeared and in place of the ideal jonin appeared a wild hound tracking his victim.

And that's how thanks to his pack's noses he was here and nowhere else.

Kakashi ran his hands over the grey rocks, feeling their bulges and nooks. The stone walls, firm and cold, were coming loose like the paint that flaked from the side of his family house under the still soft skin of his hands. A few more years of this life and drill would take care of that; a few more years of hardship and death and there would be nothing soft in him anymore. He pushed harder. The earth cracked and parted before him like a water, only to be lost in the surrounding him darkness.

When the boy and his dogs emerged from the wall, they saw a large cave full of Mist's black ops. But for Kakashi only one figure mattered, all the rest were just an obstacle. Pakkun offered to distract the mist-nins together with his brothers. It was brave, bold and stupid move, nonetheless the best they had. The pug's voice had recently completely lost the childishness, sounding mature and deep. Combined with his wrinkled muzzle it made an impression that you looked at veteran ninken and not at barely grown puppy. Pakkun put on a brave front but those curled up paws were a clear give away.

Kakashi thanked them and anxiously watched as the hostile units moved, pursuing sound of escaping steps. Everything went according to plan. The teenager could even tell it was easy. If he wasn't so focused on his teammate he might call it too easy.

He raced to the girl and released her from genjutsu. When she looked at him with recognition Kakashi let happiness soak right into his bones. He closed his eyes and savored the moment, but never stopped tugging her bonds. The moment the rope loosened and he had Rin in his arms, he made another promise.

"I'm here now. You're safe. Everything'll be alright."

This one he intended to keep.

Ω

Planning a murder never should be easy, and yet some could say it wasn't hard enough.

First, you had to decide if it truly was what you wanted. Reborn woman could answer it, it was obvious. No, she didn't want it. The second question you needed to response was: is it necessary? This one was harder.

She already found out that the almighty plot was a bitch. It had odd skill of counterbalancing her every move and precaution. Shiori had to be pragmatic. She wouldn't be anywhere near the upcoming clusterfuck so she wouldn't be able to change anything in real-time. She could only plan and operate beforehand. And there was only one thing the destiny couldn't undone - dying. Rin had to be practically dead the moment she put foot outside Konoha. There was no other way if the reborn woman wanted to spare Obito the view of dying Rin and prevent him from going completely nuts. Half-nuts should be easier to handle.

However, making it happen also wasn't easy.

For start, the thorough research had to be done.

Kushina and Minato were sweet and loving people. They also weren't stupid (even her cousin, not that she would ever tell it aloud), but more times than not, they tended to be blind regarding her actions. Luckily for her, they weren't too careful with their fuinjutsu scrolls. For an outsider, the biggest problem would be entering the house, which probably had better wards than Hokage building, but the scrolls themselves were protected by a simple blood seal. It was enough to say that sharing a bathroom with them had given her enough opportunities to gather necessary samples.

When she had the knowledge, the reborn soul realized that she knew too much and at the same time too little. There was an infinite number of combinations of techniques that could be used to seal a Tailed Beast. And without knowing precisely which one was going to be used, reversing it was impossible. It was a big problem that she managed to resolve only thanks to Orochimaru's help.

The snake Sannin reminded her that seals were seals; no matter if they exploded, made barriers, contained a kunai or something akin to an atomic King Kong. They all had one thing in common – chakra. It had to flow in strictly defined pattern from which their application depended. If something disrupted the pattern everything went to Hell. Sometimes in spectacular and highly explosive way. And that destruction was Shiori's answer.

She needed a seal that would stay dormant if not disturbed by foreign flow of chakra. Then it should destroy any chakra network to which it was connected. In this case Rin's, and if all would go well, also her abductor's.

After few months of hard work Shiori managed to achieve it. At least on paper since the reborn woman had no chance to try it on any human being. Although her lab-rats were burning from inside, their chakra network was practically nonexistent compared to the one belonging to a medic-nin. Unfortunately, she tried it only three times. The stench was too intense and almost impossible to remove from her clothes and hair. And those squeaking rodents were making her involuntarily rethink her decision. Imagining Rin in such state wasn't pleasant. However not as much as vision of the world if Shiori failed.

Putting the supposed-to-work seal on the Nohara girl was a different matter. Shiori used the inner need of every woman to be beautiful, and offered to do the older girl's make-up. She couldn't put the whole seal at once or Rin would notice, so with every redoing she was infusing chakra in other part of the pattern making it passively active when finished. Later she just made sure to always deactivate one loop. She closed it only when she hugged the older girl as a good-bye before missions. She also set a minimum level of alien chakra needed to discord the seal as relatively high, otherwise any medical treatment would end with boiling organs. It should go down the same second the biju's transfer would start - no sooner or later.

In other words, Shiori did everything she could. She prepared for every possibility she could think of. And now she waited, sitting in her room and looking at the embodiment of laziness eyeing her over Minato's shogi board.

With a two-day stubble, greasy hair, rumpled clothes and breath slightly smelling of sake the man wasn't looking too threatening. But Shiori knew better. She made the most intimidating face she could and declared with the whole resolve she could muster.

"No funny business with Kushina-san. I have an eye on you, Slowpoke-san, remember it."

"Troublesome brat." Mumbled Shukaku and pushed his rook. "Your move."

Ω

Kunais and shurikens whizzed over Kakashi's head as he ran away from the cave with Rin in his arms. Adrenaline coursed through his body as a fight or flight instinct. In this case it was run away with your tail between your legs. But it didn't matter to him, he had to get her away. After five minutes of pursuit the boy knew he could never out run them, especially with the additional weight. The girl had a fever and could barely stand up, not to mention escape from an angry ANBU squadron.

He looked back. They were closing in. He had to make it to the border. Kakashi saw out of his corner of his eyes as one of them was almost close enough to make a grab for him. He turned around with the last exploding tag he had. It was the odd one Shiori had given him months ago. The masked shinobi fell over trying to dodge but to no vail. The explosion was so powerful, it sends a large fireball into the sky. The teenager turned almost too late to see a wall of fire racing towards him and the girl. He jumped into a nearby chasm closing it with an earth jutsu and listened.

Hearing nothing for a while, Kakashi put Rin down and tried to control his breath, which was short and shallow. His ribs weren't properly healed and his chakra levels were swiftly going down. He even had to dismiss all his ninkens to better maintain it. The fear travelled in Kakashi's veins but never made it to his muscles or skin. His visible complexion remained pale, his dark eyes as steady as if he was buying socks. The boy let out an understated sigh and turned to his teammate.

"We're almost there." He uncorked a canteen and leaned it to Rin's mouth. "After we reach the border we'll be home in no time."

However, the girl shook her head and weakly protested.

"Kakashi, please. I cannot go to Konoha."

"What?" the young jonin felt numb. His heart still beat, but against his chest it felt kinda hollow. "What do you mean?"

"When they took me, they put some kind of seal on me. I heard, I heard it's a Tree-Tail's seal. Kiri intends to release it when I'm back in the Leaf."

No, that one word accelerated inside Kakshi's head. He wanted his thoughts to slow so he could breathe but they wouldn't. His breaths came in gasps while he hesitantly started to rise Rin's shirt, revealing on her abdomen rough, red swirls. The boy gulped. It was nothing he understood. Where the heck was sensei or Kushina when they were needed? Hell, even that pintsize devil would be welcome now.

"It's nothing. We'll just wait outside the Village and then sensei…"

"Kill me."

"WHAT?!"

"Kakashi, you have to kill me."

He couldn't scream his objection because the world around them exploded, engulfed in an inferno of orange flames. In the last moment, the silver-haired teen grabbed Rin and using substitution reappeared outside the directly damaged area. Where they had been surrounded by small army of mist-nins.

"Stay behind." Kakashi ordered making hand seals.

A sound of thousand chirping birds filled the air.

Ω

Both poker and scheming were games of partial information. You had a certain set of details and were looking for situations where you might have an edge, whatever the edge was emotional or simply statistical.

Sadly, it wasn't poker.

Shiori zeroed her gaze on the board before her.

"Can I already give up?"

"No."

"But why?"

Shikaku didn't stop starring outside the window.

"What kind of shinobi would you be if you're always going to give up?"

"Give up and run away. Then, I suppose, I would be a living one." The tiny redhead moved her knight forward without thinking. "Besides, I'm not going to be a ninja. Mini-nii would have kittens if he has to send me on a mission. Further, I could get dirty and I don't like it."

The man just smirked languidly. Shiori doubted he could do anything that wasn't even remotely lazy or sluggish. The reborn soul liked her laziness, even very much so, but the man had been taking it to completely other level and it infuriated her. One more lazy thing and she was going to do something illegal with a spoon and he wouldn't like it, at all.

"You're an oddball, little one."

"Speaks the pot."

The man smirked again at her instant comeback and moved his pawn.

"A clever oddball. You should think more about your moves. Otherwise I'm going to win in the next six moves."

"That's the point." The girl once more pushed one of hers knights without thinking. "Then I can be done with it and with you, Slowpoke-san."

Shiori reasoned that showing anger and dislike was safer than showing fear. However, the strategist before her could care less. He was simply amused by her defiance.

"Show more respect for the game. Shogi can be pretty useful."

"Right." Doubt in her voice was even more evident than the sneer on her face.

"It helps to develop strategic thinking not only in games. Also in life. Humans, just like shogi pieces, have their unique skillsets, and clever use of them can…"

"Bull."

His silence was a question in itself.

"That's a total bullshit." She clarified. "The world isn't some game you can play. It doesn't have rules. People don't have to behave in clearly defined ways. Sometimes, they do things unexpected or simply stupid. It's a chaos where a mere accident can change everything. There is far too many possibilities to foreseen the right outcome. Not to say that people aren't game pieces. They're alive."

And yet she did it. Everything she told him to be wrong and amoral was on her conscience. However sometimes…

"Sometimes there is no other choice." Shikaku's voice echoed her thoughts. "There're situations, when we have to reduce this world to a game and people to nothing more than empty numbers which purpose is decided by our choices. Those choices won't always be good and we have to live with their consequences. Shinobi are the ones who suffer so others don't have to. That's the responsibility we bear for our loved ones. It isn't good nor bad. It's necessary." He moved another pawn. "I believe I just won."

"You told me that you need six more moves." The girl hissed, unable to stop overflowing her waves of irritation.

"I lied. Shinobi also do it. And I thought you wanted to lose."

Angry flames in those golden pools could incinerate the universe.

"I don't like you, Slowpoke-san. At all." Mostly because he made her feel foolish and little more human.

Ω

Everything was moving slow just as if the world hold breath between its heartbeats. Kakashi was seeing, hearing and processing everything normally, but no matter how hard he tried he couldn't make his muscles move or even better stop moving. With lighting in hand, he was flying towards a kiri-nin, in the same place Rin was running to.

At first, he didn't know what she was doing. Rin's limbs moved as if some newbie was controlling them; and her eyes were wide, looking right at him, but not really. There was sadness in her eyes, the brown too glossy. Then it kicked him. As soon as he understood her intentions his mind jumped over the disbelief part straight to the why. However, the why wasn't important, nothing was. His momentum was too fast. He couldn't stop.

And then miracle happened. The girl went motionless.

Kakashi was so focused on Rin, he had completely forgotten about their enemies. His eyes didn't catch the step aside his attacker made. Or the second kiri ANBU, who emerged from the ground under his feet. The teen barely managed to see menacing gleam of steel coming his way.

Ω

"Fucking ducklings!"

"Language, shrimp!" Kushina's tone was more bored than angry but still the older woman had been bothered enough to go and see what made the little Uzumaki curse.

The six-year-old sullenly sat on the floor next to a knocked glass and completely soaked book.

"Sorry, I destroyed fairy tales from Mini-nii."

"I see that." Kushina crouched down and reached for the book. "I'm sure we can do somethi…" Yeap, it was a blueberry juice. No saving this one. "We'll buy you a new book."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Or maybe even better? Maybe Orochimaru-sama will give you one of his? I know you like them more than those kid books." Seeing the child beaming at that, Kushina also smiled and took the girl into her arms. "Great. Now, to the bathroom. You're all sticky. We'll take a bath together and later I'm going to show you a new barrier seal I'm working on. Sounds good?"

Shiori smirked. Her grin became genuine when the book landed in the trash. There went the last evidence of her involvement into Rin's death. All her notes and research went to hell, courtesy to Kushina. Now, the only thing that was left to worry about was success of her machinations.

Shikaku helped her understood one thing. She still couldn't care less about shogi but she knew she wasn't some rational good guy. Also, she wasn't a supervillain. The reborn woman was fuckin Batman.

Yeap, another cliffhanger, I know how you love them :]

Also one more thing. Some of you don't like that Shiori isn't nice to Rin. Well, she isn't too nice person, at all. Shiori is manipulative and egoistical. I wanted to do something different than most OC and I hope I succeeded so I wont apologize for it. I love you, my readers, but sadly I cannot make you all happy, you have to accept this.

Enough explanations, thanks for reading and to the next time.