THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE PAST COMES BACK TO BITE YOU IN THE ASS


Training with Naruto was...actually kind of fun in an annoying, talk-you-to-death, hair-pulling, ear-biting, kind of way. Training with Sakura made my head hurt, but...I actually kind of liked Sakura, so things evened out. Training with Sasuke was not fun. At all. Doing all three at the same time? I wanted to kill myself by the end of the first week. But I could see the functionality happening. I trained with Sakura, and once the whole chakra control thing clicked, the rest came rather easily. Shadow clones were hard, and used up a hell of a lot of chakra, but if you didn't use them in bulk like Naruto, you could slip by okay with one or two. Kawarimi was fairly self explanatory, as well as the escape jutsu, but I was still working on those two. However, out of all of them, transformation came easiest. It was almost like second nature. And with shadow clones down pat (barely) I was able to conform to Sasuke's killer schedule and ended up learning on the fly how to become an expert multitasker. Even when I was sitting in class taking notes on the ninja code, I could still be training. It was goddamn useful. And you couldn't argue with the results.

I kicked Ami's ass in an amazing comeback from being dead last to up a good couple of ranks on the class sparring chart. Next I was up against a guy named Masuo, who was a lot bigger than me, a lot stronger too, and I did lose to him, but again, this was sort of to be expected. Masuo was at the top of the chart in spars after all. So, he was my next target. And I was fairly confident about which strategy I would use against him next time... The same one I used against Sasuke would probably suffice: Run like hell—then strike when he's least expecting it. It's too bad Sasuke always expected it. I'd yet to get a hit on him. But in comparison, Masuo was a pansy. I had nothing against the guy—he was actually pretty nice about handing me my ass—but it was just the facts. In any case, my next goal was to have him beat by the end of the week.

One downside to shadow clone training, however, was the immense strain it put on the body. I wasn't used to all the crazy exertion just yet, and my system was still struggling to acclimate. Every night, I'd turn in early, falling into a death-like sleep, and waking up was even harder than normal. The upside to this was that I was usually so fucking tired that even my usual nightmares decided to give me a break. Dreams at all seemed not to be in the cards for my foreseeable future at the academy. However long that might be, though, was up to fate... I'd been honestly overjoyed when I received a letter from Hanako.

Hey, Squirt!

Just got back from chasing down my lead! And now I've got another one. Thrilled, aren'cha? Anyway, they were here alright, but I was too late. This guy says I can head 'em off in Nami no Kuni though if I hurry. They're not gettin' away from me this time, Yuka, I can feel it!

Be good~ I'll be back soon! (Hopefully)

I stared at the scrawling script with a scowl. Hopefully? Hopefully?! That's not good enough! If you don't get here before graduation, I'm screwed! How could you do this to me?! I hate you!

I flung the letter away, and, when my ears were met with a flapping noise, turned around curiously to see that it had been caught by someone. Scowling, I grated out, "What are you doing in my house without my permission again?!" I paused, then focused on the more important point, "How do you keep getting in?"

He directed a thumb over his shoulder towards the the sliding door to my balcony...which was right next to his. Brilliant. "You really shouldn't leave your doors unlocked." He then turned his attention back to the missive in his hand and arched his brow.

Glowering at him, I pointed out, "And now you're reading my mail. To think you once called me nosy... Hypocrite." I turned away from him, leaning back in my chair with a crabby scowl aimed at the wall. I honestly didn't care anyway. I was just giving him a hard time because he was there.

He sat down in the chair across from me, ignoring me in favor of the letter, completely unapologetic, then slid it back across the table towards me when he was done. "Nami no Kuni. Our team was just assigned a C-rank escort mission there. I came over here to tell you training will be suspended until further notice."

I eyed him incredulously. "A C-rank mission? From a tiny country like Nami no Kuni? That's..." I paused, my face becoming suspicious, mirroring his own. "...coincidental." There was a silence between us at the unspoken understanding. It was too much of a coincidence. And we'd already established that neither one of us believed in that sort of thing anyway. Narrowing my eyes I warned, "Hanako-sensei may try to play everything off cheerfully, but she made something clear to me before she left... Whatever trouble she's into is dangerous." Staring at him pointedly, after a pause, I told him, "...Keep your eyes peeled. This doesn't sound like a normal C-rank mission to me."

He gave me a calculated look, as if asking, Who do you think I am?

I let out a heavy sigh, standing up and making my way to the door, holding it open for him. "I'll see you off, I guess. Seeing as how I've lost my only three training partners, I haven't anything better to do at the moment..."

I watched as he packed stuff up. We hadn't gotten to the mission preparations section at school yet, so I silently took mental notes as he lined up supplies, asking questions every now and then.

"You're taking this seriously," he noted, as we walked out of the complex.

I arched a brow at him. "You said to take it seriously. So that's what I'm doing. You better follow your own advice."

"Hmph." That was his version of a laugh. "You worried?"

I sent him a sideways glare, but admitted reluctantly, "...Yeah. I've got a bad feeling about this. Promise me something."

He eyed me warily. "What do you want?"

"Make sure Naruto doesn't end up dead. Keep an eye on him. Same with Sakura-chan." I frowned. "And if you find out anything about Hanako-sensei...keep me posted."

He looked half decided between calling me a worrywart, and telling me off, but he did neither. This was one of those choose your battles wisely things, and he chose correctly, with a one shouldered shrug. "Whatever..."

"Good." I elbowed him in the arm. "Race you?"

He sent me a wary look. It was the village gates after all... "You don't have to—"

"You're gonna lose!" I took off like a bullet, leaving him in the dust. But not for long. For all intents and purposes, Sasuke was obviously much faster than I was. But that was on the training grounds. This was not. Plus, now he was weighted down by a full travel pack, and I knew how to use the surroundings to my advantage. Today was Cart Day—the day when all the businesses got restocked. Sasuke wouldn't know this, seeing as how he had never been employed in a bakery before. Wish I could've seen his expression when he got a face full of chicken. No, I mean I threw an actual chicken at his face. He dodged the first one by bending backwards in an almost disturbing show of flexibility, but I timed the second throw precisely, so that when he straightened back up, he was spitting out feathers. It was funny, but it ticked him off, and when he got ticked off, he got trickier. Cart Day may have been a surprise with all the traffic and congestion in the streets, but he was a fast learner.

We ended up neck and neck when we arrived at the gates and he elbowed me back from before. "You like to cheat."

I sent him a shit-eating grin and waved my fingers at him, "Hello? Psudo-ninja here. You don't like dirty fights, stay off my playground." After a second, I reached up to pluck a feather out of his hair, and he glowered at me. At that, I just couldn't take it anymore. I had to laugh at him. But it faded as I looked passed him out the main gates. An odd feeling of fear gripped me, and somehow I remained frozen to the spot. That was until I was tackled by a certain hyperactive idiot.

"Yuka-chaaan! You came to see me off—" I couldn't help it. I opened my mouth and bit down hard. "OW! What the—Yukaaa! Why do you always do that?!"

"Natural reaction," I supplied, brushing myself off as I stepped away from him. "You bring it on yourself."

"You bit me! How is that in any way natural?!" He swung his arms a bit to emphasize his point.

I held my hands out on either side of me in a careless shrug. "You surprised me. Just felt like the right thing to do at the time."

"Didn't anyone ever tell you it's not nice to bite your friends?" Someone bopped me on the head with something hard. A book, I realized, then aimed a glare at the useless jounin who owned it.

"Mom might've mentioned it a few times...or a hundred." I shrugged. "Seeing as how she died right there," I pointed to a spot directly outside the gates. "I don't exactly have to listen to her anymore, do I?"

There was a long, awkward silence, and the teacher sighed, patting me on the head sympathetically. "You really know how to make everyone around you feel awful. I suppose that's one of your talents..." I crossed my arms and looked away from him stubbornly. After a moment, he asked, "You know, my favorite bakery recently shut down... You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

"If you run into Hanako-sensei out there, you can ask her..." I grumbled.

"Unhelpful, as usual." He sighed.

"Look who's talking," I shot back with a scowl.

But he wasn't listening, looking back over his shoulder to make out the forms of his third student and an old man. "Looks like Sakura-chan and Tazuna-san are here."

Sakura seemed puzzled when she came up to meet us. "How come I'm the last one here. This doesn't make any sense. Sensei, you're always late."

"Am I getting scolded for being on time?"

"No, but—"

"Then let's see," He paused, taking a head count. "One, two, three, Tazuna-san—looks like everyone's accounted for—Yuka-kun, you're staying here."

I sent him a sour look. "I know that."

"Really, no matter how I look at it, all I see is a bunch of super-brats..." the client—I assumed he was Tazuna-san—griped, taking a swig out of a large sake bottle.

I snorted, and shot a smirk at him. "Haha...hey, you get what you pay for."

All three members of team seven aimed glares at me.

"Yes, yes, you're very funny, Yuka." Kakashi patted my head infuriatingly as Tazuna sent me an odd look. Then surprisingly, he agreed. "You're also right. But don't worry. I'm a jounin. You'll be perfectly safe with me around, Tazuna-san."

"Hey, hey, Yuka-chan." Naruto sent me a shit-eating grin. "I'm leaving the village before youuuuu—"

Without thinking about it, I punched him in the face. Didn't even feel sorry afterwards. "You deserved that." With that accomplished, I turned on my heel with a wave at them all as the boy shot curses after me, but aimed a glare back at Sasuke and ordered, "Hey, You! Remember your goddamned promise! Or I will find you and make you sorry!"

He made a face at me and Sakura sent a strange look between the two of us before she murmured to the scowling boy, "Ne...Sasuke-kun, what promise—"

"She's saying unnecessary things again..."

To tell the truth, I was worried as hell. What was worse, I couldn't even pinpoint why. Although that Tazuna guy had looked really familiar... I couldn't put my finger on it. I was halfway home by the time it hit me, and I felt like Naruto had just clobbered me with a shit ton of clones when it finally did. I even ran all the way back to the gates, jumping over and ducking under carts, sending chickens flying in every direction. I was a mess when I got back nearly five minutes later... I shouted curses up at the sky when I found they'd already disappeared.

"Oi!" called one of the familiar chunin guards, "Would ya keep it down?!"

Furious and agitated as I was, I had absolutely no reservations in cheerfully flipping him off. The other guard just laughed at his spiky haired friend who stared after me in wide-mouthed reproach. Ha. Let them be shocked. That was my specialty after all.

Oh, and stockpiling useless information apparently. Since it couldn't help anybody now...

I sighed heavily and eyed the top of HQ towering over the rest of the village. I was pretty sure they had messenger birds there...but they were for authorized users only. Not to mention, I hadn't the faintest clue how to go about using them. To think I'd been reduced to using carrier pigeons...

...Well, fuck.

Panic time? I think yes.


A FEW DAYS EARLIER

It was like the axe weighed nothing. And Tazuna found it very hard to believe that it was a woman twirling it around like that no less. She looked to be around her late twenties, if that. And she was holding off the throng of thugs as if they were nothing. He'd never seen so much blood before, not even when...he didn't like to think of that. In any case, this was worse. And each time she cut a man in half, he could hear the woman laughing harder until it became a crescendo into something like insanity. And the screaming… He'd never heard men scream like that before. There was an aura of blood in the air that made him almost picture himself in the place of a man that had just been cleaved apart by the waist. He had to get away. If not, he was positive he was going to die in that derelict square.

And with that thought in mind, he turned tail and ran. His only thoughts were of escape. Run, escape, live. He needed to get back to Tsunami and Inari. They were counting on him. Everyone was counting on him. If he died here, everything would be lost. The blueprints he'd consulted with his more experienced colleagues about would be useless. He'd been tracking down his contacts for a month, and finally, his hard work had been rewarded...just for everything to go to hell in a handbasket. Those thugs...had to have been sent by Gatō. It had his handiwork written all over it. Some of them had been shaky with withdraw. Tazuna could see the signs. Gatō was probably withholding drug shipments to get that gang to do his dirty work. Narcotics were just as dangerous a weapon as that axe in his opinion... It's how he'd taken over the country. Money, threats...and addiction.

It was his job to stop it, once and for all. And he'd be damned if he was going to lie down and die in some filthy back ally far from his home—

"My, my, what do we have here...?"

That was the last thing he heard before there was a sharp pain in the back of his neck and black spots clouded his vision, slowly spreading as he fell and plunging him into darkness...

Waking was a slow thing. And boy, was he super sore. He likened it to waking with an enormous hangover. That was the first thing he noticed. Second, the surface he was on seemed to be moving in a slow, rhythmic pattern. A cart, maybe? He groaned and tried moving. Bad idea. But he forced himself to wake up anyway. Maybe a more subtle approach? He tried slowly blinking his eyes open, and the first thing he saw was the sky overhead, blue and cheerful. Funny how it always seemed to reflect the opposite of what he was feeling at the time.

"Oh, you're awake. 'Bout time." The familiar feminine voice sent a jolt of adrenalin through his system and he jolted up hurriedly pinpointing the woman who was unfortunately situated in close proximity to his person, sharpening her fearsome executioner's axe nonchalantly. But his senses seemed to indicate no current threat, as the aura of death appeared to have passed, and, sans the axe sharpening, she seemed...normal. Beautiful, actually, but he'd seen what she could do, so he remained on high alert. But since she wasn't attacking...

"Wha'd'ya want with me?" he garbled out, still somewhat dazed.

"Straight to the point, hmm?" she hummed, pausing in her sharpening to turn and look back at him with a grin. "I like that in a man." He was stunned to see two rows of filed, shark-like teeth. She blinked once at his expression and giggled. "Don't worry. Everyone reacts like that at first. That's sorta the point. Back where I come from, we use it as a fear tactic, 'cause sometimes that in itself can be used as a weapon. Try not to mind it too much. Ya got nothing to fear from me...for the moment."

Still guarded, but relaxing somewhat, he sat up, rubbing his aching neck. He shot her a distrusting look and demanded, "Who are you?"

She thought for a moment, as if musing to herself about something obscure, then shrugged. "I suppose it can't hurt to tell ya the truth. The name's Momochi Matsuki...and I'm looking for my bastard of a husband. Ya seen this guy around?" She held up a picture of a fierce looking man and three kids along with herself. One of them, a girl—or was it a boy? He couldn't tell—looked a bit older than the other two and stood next to the man with a serene smile on his...her face, while the remaining kids seemed to be...twins? Not identical, but definitely related. "I don't suppose you have, otherwise you'd probably be dead." She shrugged again, then pointed out, "This is my husband's apprentice. Sweet kid, but can't think for himself to save his life. These two are mine—Hangetsu is the oldest and Yangetsu is the youngest." Both sported their mother's filed teeth and had ash blond hair—the only difference in them being one's stuck out every which way, like his father's, and the other's fell lightly to his shoulders.

His only response was to note flatly, "I suppose even super-axe murderers have families..."

She seemed to be having trouble trying not to laugh, because she let out a dainty little snort as if remembering something hilarious. "Ahaa...sorry 'bout that. I get a little carried away sometimes. And it's been a while since I've had that much fun. I was laying low for a bit after the Great Purge, ya see. Gathering information. Trying to find leads."

He eyeballed her for a moment, frankly disturbed by this woman's idea of 'fun,' but his curiosity drove him to ask, "'Purge'? What do you mean by that? I'm just a simple bridge-builder, what information do you need from me?"

"Information? From you, Sir?" She blinked innocently at him. "How do you know I wasn't just being a good samaritan, or somethin'—savin' you from those weaklings an' all?" He stared at her flatly in response until she laughed and waved him off. "Okay, okay, ya got me. I'm just jerkin' your leg. I guess I should start at the beginnin' then, huh?"

"That would be super-helpful." He nodded back.

"Alright, but before that...I need a drink..." She reached back and pulled out a large bottle of sake, uncorking it, then throwing her head back and downing a long swig of the stuff. She finished with an audible 'ahh' then handed the bottle off to him. "Ya look like you could use one too, Old Man."

Tazuna, still struggling to kick the stuff couldn't help but agree, and replied, "Don't mind if I do..." He'd just witnessed the brutal murders of several human beings, and badly wanted to forget—or at least numb the residual horror just a bit. He figured one drink couldn't hurt...

He passed it back, even though it still didn't seem like enough, but then the woman, Matsuki, went on to explain in a serious voice, devoid of the accent he'd grown used to, "As I'm sure you've already guessed, I am a ninja—a Jounin of the Village Hidden in the Mist, or, as some call it, Blood-Mist Village." She smirked somewhat bitterly, one of her gruesome teeth overlapping her lip to make it that much more disturbing. "I was born originally as Houzuki Matsuki, but I suppose that won't mean much to a fine, upstanding citizen such as yourself. As it would turn out, I was born, raised, and educated in my clan for the sole purposes of torture, assassination, and espionage... However, surviving that was only the half the battle. I still had the graduation exam at the academy to look forward to..." She laughed darkly. "which came as a bit of a nasty surprise, seeing as how it entailed several fights to the death against your comrades whom you would inevitably come to know and love. However, my graduation year was a little bit different... It seemed my future husband had gotten it into his mind to walk in and slaughter every single last one of us. He's always been like that. Making split second decisions without asking anyone else's goddamned opinion about them..." Her fingers tightened on her axe and she took another long drink before passing the bottle back to Tazuna. "For some reason, he left me alive, and I ended up marrying the sorry sonofabitch. Funny how things turn out, yeah?"

"I'd say..." he agreed grimly, reluctantly gulping down another dose of alcohol. It still wasn't enough.

"Turns out, he wasn't as much of a demon as everyone thought he was. Loved the village with all his heart, that one. He even joined the special assassinations unit—infamously monikered as the seven swordsmen—and my oldest nephew took right on after him. Took in a poor orphan kid with a bloodline limit—special genetic abilities—too, which brings us to your question. The Purge."

She sighed. "One day, Mizukage-sama went completely bat-shit insane, and that's all I can say for it. One day he was fine, and the next, he turns around and starts ordering the eradication of all clans with bloodline limits. I mean, sure, there was anti-bloodline sentiment before in localized groups—people get scared of people that are different, you know—but never in such large scale. With the Mizukage backing them, they started an all out purge—hence the name. And that wasn't even the worst of it. It seems Mizukage-sama had been going downhill since a long time before the Purge even started. He was the reason the cutthroat academy policy was even inducted in the first place. But the policy in the beginning of his office was completely different. There was a 180° turn around somewhere down the line as if an entirely different person were calling the shots—not the Yagura-sama everyone loved. And then...my husband pulled the stunt he'd been planning ever since before the incident at the academy, apparently. One day, out of the blue, without even consulting me about it..." This seemed to be the key point here. "he staged a coup! And what's worse, along with promoting the start of an all out civil war, it failed!"

She slammed her fist down on the wood of the cart they were traveling on, at which point, Tazuna vaguely noticed a rectangular glowing tag with odd, archaic symbols on it pulsating strangely. But his attention was brought back to the volatile woman, who was gripping her axe dangerously in her anger. "And it gets even worse...in the chaos, the bastard took off with the kids and left me to die..." Her teeth were bared in a snarl, and to Tazuna, she looked frankly anything but the beautiful woman she pretended to be. She was a mother out for blood. And, with her explanation, he honestly couldn't blame her. After all, he knew if anything were to happen to Inari, he and Tsunami wouldn't rest well until the ones responsible were brought to justice. He assumed this Matsuki had a different sense of 'justice' however...

"That's one hell of a story..." He nodded to her in something like respect. "But I still don't know what any of that has to do with me."

Her anger seemed to dissipate slowly out of her frame as she turned her blue gray eyes to fix upon him with a slight tilt of her head and a mild smirk. "You're my key to finding him. I want my kids back, and I'm going to kill him for not only taking them, but my home away from me as well. Now...I understand you're familiar with a man named Gatō." Her smirk turned into a full on grin as she watched his face change. "And it seems I am correct... Here's how this is going to work, Mr. Tazuna. You're going to tell me everything I need to know about this man, or—"

"I wouldn't suppose you'd take him out too on your way to that super-husband of yours, would you?" He interrupted in a moment of bitterness as he took another gulp of alcohol. "It'd make my job a lot easier..."

She stared at him, intrigued. "Seems as if you have quite the story as well, Mr. Tazuna... Tell me, and maybe I'll consider it... Call it a pro bono assassination." She giggled at the thought.

He eyed her warily over top his round glasses, but drawled through the beginning hazes of alcohol impairment, "I don't see why not. You've been honest with me—which is more than I would expect from someone like you—and I've got nothing to hide after all..." He went on to tell her the rest, all of it, down to the nitty gritty death of his son-in-law and the loss of hope for his country, and finally, the goal he was dead set on accomplishing. She listened with avid attention, switching the bottle back and forth several times, but for some reason, unlike Tazuna, she seemed to have an infallible tolerance to the stuff. If he thought about it for a second, he could almost be having this conversation with a beautiful, sympathetic woman and not a beautiful, deadly assassin. And so that's what he did. It was just easier that way.

And for some reason, it also softened the blow when she 'hmm'ed in contemplation after he'd finished his story. "Ya know...I was just going to kill you after all this was over—loose ends and such. Don't take it personally—but I think I've changed my mind. You and I...we're not so different. We've both lost our homes, in one way or another. You might even say you're worse off than I am..." She lapsed off in thoughtful pause, then smiled at him genuinely. "In any case, you've been more than helpful. I'll try to return the favor. Where'd you say you were headed again?"

"K-konoha..." He sputtered, still dazed by the fact she'd been planning on killing him. But then, maybe that's why she'd spoken so freely. There's no risk telling a dead man all your secrets... Then again, he wasn't planning on talking anyway, because it went without saying she'd come after him with a bloody vengeance if he did.

Her smile brightened considerably at the mention of his destination and she chirped, "Brilliant. This works out well for me. Do me a favor, will ya?" She then took a moment to pull out a scrap of paper and an envelope from the pack on her hip and talked as she scrawled out a short note. "Deliver this to apartment D-14 Hanamichi complex across from Sakura Lane when ya get there, 'kay? There's this kid—real piece of work, but she's interesting. She'll want to know what I'm up to. Don't let her see you deliver it, 'cause I know she'll have questions and she won't let you off the hook until ya answer 'em. Got me? I like you, Old Man, I really do. Don't make me regret leavin' ya alive." She sealed the note, then handed it off to him. Afterwards, she tilted her head and questioned, "Why were ya headed to Konoha again? Seems like it'd be simpler just to head back home, yeah?"

He shook off his uneasiness, seeing as how she seemed to be—at the moment—against killing him, and answered. "Because of people like those men you murdered. Gatō's got a price on my head. I need super-protection if I'm ever going to get back home in one piece."

"Hmm... Escort mission, huh?" He hummed, eying him carefully. "I only found around about fifty-thousand ryo in your bag. Don't be mad at me for snooping. It's just what I do. Anyway, that's about enough money to hire a team of genin to weed your garden... What you're thinking of is easily a B-rank mission or above... At least that's how it works in Konoha."

Flustered, he took another swig of sake and grated out, "Well, unless you're offering—"

"Sorry!" She grinned, holding her hand up to stop him right there. "No can do! I'm way too busy. Plus, you're slow, and old, and you'll only get in my way."

"Well, at least I can always count on you to be brutally honest..." He rolled his eyes at her blunt response.

She giggled, and shook her head at him as if he had just accused her of doing something obscene. "Oh, Tazuna-san...don't ever think that." She then fished through her hip pack and withdrew a pack of bills, handing them over and surprising him immensely, "In addition, I still need you to deliver that message, so take this as payment. This cart should get you the rest of the way to Konoha and the cash should at least get you a decent C-rank mission, and that should be enough to get you back home! Maybe then we'll run into each other again, hmm? I'll be looking forward to it!" She then hopped off the back of the cart before he could protest, and waved at him with a pointy-toothed smile and the cheerful reminder, "Remember! If you talk...I'll kill you!"

Tazuna gulped with mute horror, and waved back weekly as she disappeared in a splash of water in front of his very eyes. After a moment, he cursed and thanked his lucky stars she'd left the sake bottle with him. He needed to be drunk for this—Tsunami's nagging be damned. Maybe then he could imagine it was all just a horrible, alcohol fueled nightmare. It's too bad he woke up in Konoha a day later to a real hangover and a chicken pecking him in the head.

And when he checked his pocket...the letter was still there.

It seemed as if he had a delivery to make.


"...Is there a reason you tried to sneak into the aviary, Yuka-chan?"

I stared flatly back at him from across the desk, covered in scratches from multiple tiny talons, and replied quietly, "I was trying to send a message..."

"Well, yes, obviously...but to whom? And for what purpose?" He steepled his fingers as he stared back gravely. "You understand why I can't just let this go. You could be in serious trouble. I wouldn't want you to end up back at Torture and Interro—"

"Okay, okay," I grated out through my teeth, my mind narrowing down and running frantically through lists of excuses and half-truths until I finally landed upon the most desperate one I could concoct. Then again, desperate times... "I just...had a bad feeling."

The Hokage frowned and eyed me with confusion. In all honesty, he was right. This could be a lot worse. But I was a kid. And he knew me. He knew what I was and wasn't capable of, and betraying Konoha wasn't one of those things. Despite all I boasted about wanting to leave this town behind in the dust, and how mentally evolved I was, I hadn't completely escaped the brainwashing. What's worse is that some of it wasn't brainwashing at all. That's the best kind. Fact of the matter was, for all the bad, there was also good here. Good people too. They didn't deserve to be betrayed. I knew that. He knew that I knew that. And that was all there was to be said about the matter.

However, something seemed to be puzzling him. "Why don't you explain to me what you mean by this...'bad feeling.' Better yet, start over. Who were you trying to contact?"

I stared down at my hands in my lap, brain still working furiously towards what was safe to withhold and divulge. But I was already in deep shit, not to mention caught red handed, so some sacrifices had to be made. "...Team Kakashi. They left on an escort mission about a week ago."

"And this...'bad feeling' you're talking about. You think their mission has been compromised?" He was taking this dead seriously. Something I was not hoping for in the least. In fact, I was counting on him to do the opposite. "Do you have any evidence to back this up?"

Pursing my lips, I contemplated handing him the crumpled up letter in my pocket, but decided against it. I wasn't going to throw Hanako-sensei to the dogs. Besides, I wasn't working for that angle. I was just trying to get my ass out of this situation...and then go back and try again. So I grumbled out, "...No."

Yet he still considered me critically. Damn, Hiruzen was, if anything, growing even more cunning in his old age. Didn't he have better things to be doing than listening to a juvenile breaker and enterer. Apparently not... "There must've been something to bring on this feeling of yours that you'd go so far as to break into a highly protected building just to send out a message. It might've even worked too, if you'd had any idea how to use messenger birds in the first place..." He looked on the verge of laughter.

Clenching my scratched up fists in my lap, I glared at him and shot out, "Look. I had a bad dream, okay? That jerk Sasuke almost died, and I freaked out, alright? In my experience, it's better to be safe than sorry. Are we done?"

He stared at me for a long moment, and I fidgeted uncomfortably under his eyes until he murmured, "No, not quite, I don't think..." I sighed, but looked up in surprise as he went on, "Yuka, I think it is good that you are worried for your comrades' safety. You've made vast improvements in your attitude these past few weeks, and I think your friends have a lot to do with it. When you're forced out of your comfort zone, you adapt—sometimes in ways that are self-destructive when left alone, but I digress... You can be extremely resourceful when given the proper shove in the right direction." He spoke in a matter-of-fact sort of tone, without bias, or any real opinion of his own. "I've been keeping an eye on your scores at the academy, as I said I would, and the results are more than I could've hoped for someone so long out of proper instruction. I believe if you'd applied yourself before, you'd have been nothing short of prodigious—perhaps even graduating before your year group."

"...I thought early graduation during peacetime was some sort of major social faux pas," I grumbled dubiously at the praise—matter-of-fact though it may have been.

"In your case, things may have been a little different..." He pointed out. "But since that's in the past, and this is now, things may have worked out for the better. I believe you've reached the top of the charts in your class's sparring records, yes?"

Frowning, I shrugged. At least the conversation seemed to have shifted from T&I. "I beat Masuo on Friday. He's big, but he's not very smart... I got called out for foul play though, so the match was undecided..."

"Yes, Daikoku-sensei told me that quite fervently in his report... I've never exactly seen the point of fair play during a real fight, however, so the point is therefore moot." He shuffled through some papers on his desk until he came upon a file with my picture scowling up at us, pinned to the folder with a paperclip, then he flipped it open, and shuffled some more papers around before he continued. "As for intellectual scores, to my knowledge, you've never had a problem with such things. Although your teamwork skills are what worry me the most. However..." He eyed me dubiously. "with your display tonight, I hardly doubt that will be a problem with the right placement. I'd almost grown to believe you lacked the ability to play nice with others..." I sent him a sour look. "But don't think I don't know about your extracurricular training schedule. I've seen how you cooperate with those you've come to know, and care about—don't try to deny it. Your actions tonight, however unfounded, prove this to be a fact."

I'd opened my mouth to argue, but closed it again as I realized with a dawning horror that he might just be right. After all, why try to warn them at all? What did I gain? My raise? Ha! With Hanako gone, it was unlikely I'd ever see anything of the sort. Yet still, even after she left, I'd continued to associate myself with Sasuke, Naruto, and even Sakura, who I had no real obligation to. Sure, they helped me with training, and stuff, and Naruto was Naruto, but then how do you explain stupid Kiba! I'd let my guard down. It was the only explanation. And now I was already screwed. I felt my head drop in defeat. "...What do you want me to say then? So what if you're right? It's not like it makes things any different... My feelings are still the same."

"Hmm, maybe so..." He agreed with a slow nod, studying the file again, but his eyes flicked back up to study me critically. "Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of considering those. As it is now, I believe you should be ready to take the next graduation exam in a month, and I expect you to do so if you wish to remain in the program."

"What?!" I exclaimed, shooting from my seat. How did the conversation suddenly turn into this? "How can you even—you're crazy—"

"And you're out of line. Sit down." His face suddenly went hard and I felt a burst of fear that had me dropping back into my seat without argument. This wasn't the Hokage that sat with me and patted my back after he brought me a glass of water when I was being interrogated about spies and dead parents. This was the Hokage that issued out orders and assassination missions.

But still, I couldn't just sit there and let it happen. "Look. I'm sorry. It's just not possible! I've worked hard, yes, but I'm still not even close to catching up with someone like Sasuke, Sakura, or even Naruto." I then listed off the jutsu I knew on one hand, "Kawarimi works one out of five times for me, I can do clones, sure, and maybe squeeze out two or three shadow clones—barely functioning shadow clones—if I'm really, really determined. But that's it—"

"And Transformation?" He inquired, "Traps? Accuracy? Strategy? What about those?"

"That's different—" I tried to insist, but he cut me off again.

"Of course it is. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, Yuka, including you. It has a lot to do with your genetics—"

"What do you know about my genetics!?" I hollered. What the hell did that even have to do with any of this?

"More than you do." He told me gravely, and from his tone, I got the feeling he wasn't sugarcoating it for me. "If what we learned from your Mother's autopsy is to be trusted, you have the potential to either become an asset to this village or a threat to it. I'd rather it not come to that—"

Staring at him in bewilderment I choked out, "...What are you talking about? I didn't know she had an autop—hold on—why wasn't I told about any of this—"

"You were too young. You weren't ready. You still aren't..." He sighed, and eyed me warily. "The day your group arrived at the gates was a dark day here in Konoha... There have been too many of those recently. In any case, you need to be smart about this, Yuka. There are people in this administration that would use you...given the proper circumstances. So understand, you need to put your personal issues aside, because the sooner you graduate...the sooner I can start protecting you. You'll be under my direct command."

Still beyond confused I stared at him in complete shock. "What...you don't mean ANBU? You can't seriously be thinking—"

"It's a possibility. If I don't plan ahead, then you could be picked up right out of the Academy and enlisted in something out of my hands. There are risks to that I don't even want to contemplate. We don't know enough about your mother's heritage to be sure of anything, but intelligence picked up some rumors of a certain clan near Kusagakure... I don't want to jump to conclusions, and it's too dangerous to investigate further at the moment, but I believe, if pushed, it's possible you could become a weapon that could backfire severely, and I won't subject the citizens of this village to another incident like that of twelve years ago...or worse. That's all you need to know for now. That, and graduating from the Academy as fast as possible would be best course of action for everyone—"

"Oh yeah?!" I nodded, my anger flaring up. "And what about our deal? Huh? What about what's best for me?!"

He stared at me wearily for a long moment, "...I won't lie to you. If Hanako returns, she will be questioned. She was interrogated six years ago when you arrived here, but my head interrogator had a hunch she might've been holding something back. It's not customary to hold civilians on a hunch, though, so she was set free. I assigned Kakashi to keep an eye on her. Yet the fact that she still managed to leave Konoha without anybody but you knowing about it begs the question of whether or not she was ever a civilian at all..."

My brow furrowed at the unfairness of it all. "That's bullshit! She's a baker, for the love of— She's just looking for her family! They got separated during the war! I knew her before we even got to Konoha!"

"And no one would be happier than I would to find that to be the truth, however," he replied gently in a way that made me glare at him—it sounded patronizing to me. "it is also a truth that she has not told you everything. For instance, has she ever talked about where she comes from?" I opened my mouth to answer right away, but closed it again slowly when I realized I didn't know. Hanako had told me lots of stories from where she came from. Funny ones about her home town, and I think I vaguely remembered her telling me about a nephew or two in passing before but...as for location? I had nothing. My silence seemed to confirm that, and the Hokage nodded once. He seemed nothing but sympathetic as he went on. "Believe me, I'd like nothing more than for the two of you to waltz out of this village hand and hand. It would save me a lot of paperwork. But if that happens, what guarantee do I have that she will not use you for her own purposes? Or worse, a weapon against us?" He stopped me before I could interrupted heatedly with merely a raised hand as he explained, "I will honor our deal, should Hanako return before graduation...but only after thorough questioning, an integrity assessment, and proof that she is physically able to handle the burden that comes with you..."

I clenched my fists tightly, glaring at the scraped knuckles that were turning white, and, after debating with myself about whether I really wanted to know, or not, I grated out, "...What burden are you talking about?"

"I'm still not quite sure myself. The investigation remains ongoing. I have a suspicion that your mother was from what was once a very dangerous sect of religious fanatics...though what they worshipped was no god. What became of them...no one is a hundred percent certain. The last anyone heard of them was before even the warring clans era, and records are spotty from that period at best. But what we've managed to find is...not good." He sighed, shaking his head. "My task force managed to track down leads as far as Kusagakure, but then the trail went cold...and with the incident with the Refugee Riot finally starting to smooth over, and tensions increasing elsewhere, I had to pull back my resources to focus on more pressing matters. However, if you play your cards right, I could assign you to another task force... It might be a good idea for you to tag along this time. Or you could leave with Hanako. She may have information, and she may not—"

"I remember, she said...she said something like, 'Don't go poking through prickly bushes...a fox might jump out.'" I frowned at the odd saying. And in a rare moment of self doubt, I admitted tentatively, "I know she knows something...but she wants me to leave it alone. She seemed...disturbed." Hanako was many things, but if there was one thing I knew for sure, she was not a pushover. Whatever had her spooked...had to have bad news written all over it. But still...

"I won't lie to you," he repeated, shaking his head. "...Most of the information we found was disturbing. It's not a job for the faint of heart. But graduate with top marks, and I'll put you on the case. Who knows? Your presence could prove to be useful." He sighed. "It's your decision. But whatever that may be, make it soon. My colleagues are starting to become nervous. Also, keep in mind that whatever personal affection I have for you—and I do care about you, please know that—the village is my first and primary concern..." A pause as this sunk in, and then he said quietly, "I can't hold them off forever, Yuka..."

My lips pursed as I studied a spot on his desk, carefully avoiding his eyes and noticing the intricate way the grain of the wood curved around an eye in the polished oak surface. For some reason, a tremor went though my voice as I agreed, "...Yeah. I get it." But then, I felt a strange calmness wash over me out of nowhere. It was like the big picture slid into place in front of my eyes and I spoke without thinking, without boundaries. "You know, I think you do the best that you can... I know it seems like I hate you sometimes, but I actually admire you in some ways...I sure as hell don't envy you though." A smile played at my lips with a sort of gallows humor in my eyes that only I could understand. "I bet if you could go back in time and change everything, you'd find a way to save my parents...and Sasuke's...maybe even Naruto's... Because you do care. That's why you're good at your job...even though caring only makes it harder." I wondered if kids my age were supposed to feel so bitter. "...That's why I'd suck at your job."

He stared back at me for a long time. "...Don't sell yourself short. You never know what'll happen in the future." And I guess I didn't. Not really. He sighed once more. "Go home, Yuka. Get some sleep. You look like you could use it."

"Doesn't matter." I shrugged, standing shortly at the dismissal and heading for the door. "Nightmares. Remember?"

"You're going to have to tell me about them one of these days," he warned.

With my hand on the doorknob, I looked back at him over my shoulder and assured him with a stony face, "...You wouldn't believe me, even if I did."

I was beginning to think he was the place where all sighs originated from as he rubbed the lines between his brow in exasperation. "That's because nightmares aren't real, Yuka..."

"Hm, funny..." I laughed grimly, shaking my head as I exited the room. "That's exactly what I used to think..."

I walked passed the ANBU guard on my way out. I couldn't see them, but I knew they were there...watching. Since when did I become a person of interest? I'd been doing so well before now, staying off the radar, out of the books. Nobody except Hanako noticed me, and anyone else wasn't important. I'd been out of the loop, and I liked it that way. Now it seemed I was more important than I thought possible, and I still didn't even know why. Damn that man, and his ability to avoid a straight answer... I was used to knowing everything. Not knowing made me nervous, and angry. Whatever it was sounded like it had the potential to be bad though. Like, Naruto-level 'bad' even. That meant I absolutely had to find out about it.

And what had that cunning old man done? Given me the opportunity to find out for myself—handed it to me on a silver platter, in fact. And what had Hanako said? Leave sleeping dogs lie. She'd never tell me anything, because she was afraid.And that's the part that terrified me the most. If this...bad thing...whatever it was...had something to do with my family...to do with me...didn't that make what she was afraid of...me? Now, don't get me wrong. I was all about terrifying my classmates. It was funny. And I didn't like them very much. But...it's different with the people you actually care about.

And the only way to fight fear is to acknowledge that it exists, but don't give it power over you. Right now, I knew what was making Hanako afraid, but I didn't know enough. How can you fight fear when you don't even know what it is? I needed more information. And Hanako had already made it perfectly clear that she wasn't going to give it to me. But that information came with a price attached to it. And that price meant giving up what I wanted most...getting the hell out of here.

If I dove into this...there would be no going back. I would be tied to this village...and worse...according to what the Sandaime had said, there were politics involved. It was a very real possibility that I could find myself in way over my head. And I didn't like to admit that about anything, but it was the truth, and the truth deserved acknowledging. Not only would I be tied down, but I would be weaved and interconnected with everything dark and twisted inside this clusterfuck of a village. That meant getting involved, and there would be no possible way to return to where I was. No escape...unless I wanted a rain of fire to come down on my head—quite possibly in the literal sense of the term.

The way I saw it, I had two options. Go with Hanako. Never come back. Never see Naruto, Sakura, Kiba, Sparky, or Mii-chan, or Sasuke, or even Ami ever again. But Hanako...Hanako called me family. She was going to bring the rest of her family back, and I could be a part of it. We could start up an even better bakery in a peaceful little town somewhere, far away, and maybe I could even start up a pizza place once I got older and get filthy stinking rich. I could put the past behind me, and forget all about the nightmares. I could be happy...

But the past few weeks had already proven to me that running from the past only brings it down harder. It was the reason I was in the situation I was in now. And that brings us to my second option. I could stay, and find out about everything. And that probably didn't just include my mom's clan. Inevitably, if I stayed, I'd end up helping Sasuke. I mean, I couldn't just not... Remiss of me as it was, the bastard had become my...friend. There are no takebacks with that sort of thing, as Naruto had proven to me—which was exactly the reason I'd been trying to avoid it, but that ship already sailed without me even noticing it a while back. Even if I could force myself away now, I'd still never forget them. And if I stayed, it would mean protecting them, and putting their interests ahead of mine. It was a foreign concept to me. Because at the heart of things, I was essentially as self-serving as one comes. And I sure knew how to pick 'em... Because if I remained friends with Sasuke...I think I knew where it would lead. And that might be towards the entire derailing of the village infrastructure. Possibly even anarchy. Because if I was self-serving...that had absolutely nothing on Sasuke.

Maybe Naruto and I could talk some sense into him...maybe. Sakura would be no help in that, obviously, because as I learned from dinner with the two of them the other night, trying to get them to argue about anything was like pulling teeth. I started up something with Sasuke, tried to bring Sakura into it, she'd just agree with everything he said, and they'd end up tag-teaming me. I swear, even if I managed to catch Sasuke in the act of declaring all women as slaves to men, she'd just smile and nod, maybe giggle a bit in that cute way of hers and skip along after him. If there was one downfall to that girl, it would be Sasuke. But Naruto? Now that was an entirely different story... He wasn't afraid to stand up to him and tell him what was what. So maybe between the two of us, and Sakura too when or if she ever decided to properly rewire that big, brilliant brain of hers...just maybe...we could get Sasuke on board with a plan that wasn't completely idiotic... He was in serious need of an intervention.

And as these thoughts spiraled through my head on the way home, thoughts of option one began to seem more and more distant. And the farther away they got, the more a certain sinking feeling in my chest started to became apparent. Until I stopped in front of a familiar building with shiny display windows that now stood empty. Hanako's Bakery and Confectionary Delights. It was then my shoulders sunk with an invisible weight, and I really wanted to just drop to my knees right there in the street. Because that's when I realized... It was gone. All of it was gone. Hanako was never coming back. And if she did, it wouldn't be in time. If she did, she'd be brought in for questioning, and who knows what else if the rest of Konoha's twisted politics were involved in this. My arms shook as I reached to grip something hard and round and I stared at my trembling reflection in the shiny windows I'd worked so hard to scrub day in and day out. And as realization dawned on me, I found that I didn't want her to come back. Because I found that even as I thought I'd had two paths laid out before me...there was only one I could take without hurting the people I'd come to care about. I didn't have a choice. All I'd been given in the Old Man's office was an ultimatum. Clenching my jaw and squeezing my fist around a rock, I stood and hurled it with all my strength.

"Don't you dare come back! I don't want you here!" I screamed at my reflection in the window of Hanako's Bakery as cracks splintered out from the impact point, fracturing it into a dozen different reflections. And it was in one of them, as I stood there, raw, and shaking...that I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. I caught a flash of a grinning festival mask—a fox, maybe?—and there was a faint echo of someone laughing on the wind. I looked around in all directions. ANBU, maybe? But that didn't really make sense... If the Hokage wanted me escorted back, they would've just done it, not been all sneaky about it. But...that didn't rule out everything...

"Come out, right now!" I demanded, my eyes darting to every corner and shadow. I felt entirely too exposed in the flickering light of the streetlamp, but there was nothing I could do about it now except put up a false bravado. "I know you're there! Hurry up and show me your face before I get angry!"

When another whispering laugh reached me, I felt my heart start to speed up. And when a voice began to echo all around me...I truly stated to become afraid. "A little fox cries because it is lost..." I whirled around, but couldn't find an origin point, no matter how hard I listened. Another shiver inducing giggle rooted me to the spot as the next whisper sounded like it was delivered directly next to my ear. And as my eyes met the cracked glass once again, I swear, I felt my heart still as I saw another reflection next to mine. A shapely woman in a traditional kimono, tall zori, and a leering fox mask stood at my shoulder. I watched in horror as the figure inclined her head and another whisper reached my ear as she reached slowly for my shoulder. "I will help this cute child find the way back home..." The nails on her hand looked sharp...like claws.

I unfroze at that moment, reaching into the pack at my waist, pulling out a knife, and rounding on the spectral woman. My heart was beating so quickly I felt like it would jump out of my ribcage. Something...something was wrong here. Especially when I felt my knife meet nothing but thin air. There was...no one there. Whirling around again, I saw the figure in the window's cracked reflection once more, standing in the shadow where no one had been standing just a moment ago.

"Come...come here, to me..." She beckoned with her hand."I sleep where the Lady Fox sleeps..."

I looked back over my shoulder to see no one, then back to see the ghostlike woman standing there in the reflection. This was impossible. It had to be a trick. But...why? I stared at the figure in the mirror and trembled out, "...Who are you?"

Another whispered laugh, and the figure beckoned once more. "Come...come..." And then she sunk into the shadows, disappearing from view.

I stood there, frozen for about five seconds before using all my speed to get back to the apartment complex, stumbling up the stairs, catching myself on my hands and pushing back off in my haste to get away. I don't know what possessed me, but I ended up headed straight for the apartment door next to mine and banging my hand on it as if trying to knock it down. Another door, two down opened up after a moment to reveal a furious old woman and her walker, scowling at me, "What's that blasted banging!? It's the middle of the night!"

"I—" I looked back down the hall to see...nothing. No one had followed me. Then I looked back to the woman as a certain realization dawned on me and I apologized, "...Sorry, I...forgot my friend wasn't at home."

The old woman snorted and hobbled back around grumbling something like, "...Brat, you better be sorry... Loud music... Kids these days..."

After she was gone, I turned to lean my back against his door and slid down it to bury my face in my knees right there in the hall. I almost expected him to open it and have me land flat on my back without the support. Seemed like something he would do, just to give me a hard time. Especially for nearly breaking his door down in the middle of the night.

My lips trembled as I murmured, "You Bastard...how come you're never here when I actually need you?" I elbowed the door viciously, probably giving myself an unnecessary bruise. But then I hugged my knees closer and felt tears streaking down my cheeks. What made it all the more pathetic was, "...I'm scared." Which made it even more odd that this was the first place I came. Why would I run to Sasuke, of all people? But then, the answer hit me like a flying brick.

He's the only one who'd believe me.

I shivered as, in the distance, laughter could faintly be made out...and I hid my face.


"Which one dies first?"

"Eh? Do we have to...? The one with the fan on his back is cute..."

"Ugh—gross, Han! How many times have I told you to cut that out!"

"Cut what out?" the older brother blinked back, then lost interest in the answer, instead resuming his appreciative observations of the two boys in the group guarding the Old Man.

The younger brother cringed and inched away from him apprehensively where they remained carefully hidden in the underbrush, speaking in hushed tones. "Sometimes I don't understand how we're related..."

The older boy sent him a pout and condemned him with, "Why are you always so mean, Yangetsu?"

He scowled back and, suppressing a howl of frustration, he grated out, "Because you're a goddamn homo, and it's pissing me off! We're on a mission for the love of—you know what? Fuck it. Let's just kill the old geezer and report back to Dad. No more screwing around. If we get this done quickly, maybe I won't cut up that poor bastard you keep oogling. You make even one more nasty remark though, and I'm cutting off his head. Maybe I'll even let you keep it."

Hangetsu sighed heavily. "Why do you always have to be so morbid...?"

"Don't be a hypocrite," the other shot back. "I saw what you did to that girl who made fun of your hair. Even I wouldn't go that far."

He flipped an ash blond lock over his shoulder reproachfully after taking a habitual gulp from his readily accessible canteen and insisted, "My hair is gorgeous—the trick is hydration; I've never once had a split end, you know—and anyone who believes otherwise deserves what they get..."

And as he sent another glare at his younger brother, the shorter haired boy averted his eyes quickly and waved it off, "You won't see me arguing with you there. I rather like my sword where it is, thanks—even more if it's sticking out of someone else's spine and not rammed up my ass."

Hangetsu sent him a pointytoothed grin and hummed, "This is why I love you."

Again, Yangetsu moved away from him. "I hate it when you say creepy stuff like that. This isn't some messed up shoujo manga where the twins suddenly start making out."

"...You actually read that stuff?" the older brother grinned wider, amused as his younger brother's eyes went wide with horror.

"NO! Just—shut up! I'm finishing the mission now, with or without your gay pansy ass!"

"I love it when you call my ass gay—it's a total turn on."

"That's it. I'm cutting his head off."

"H-hey, hold on a second, Yan—I was just joking—"

"Too late."


"Wait!" An oddly dressed boy with shoulder-length hair dashed to the middle of the road to block their procession, skidding a bit in his haste, and breathing in and out quickly with a distressed look upon his face, his arms held out on either side of him, "You can't! He's coming!"

Kakashi immediately took in the long, slim choto strapped across his back, recognition setting off alerts in his head. He'd only heard of it in horror stories of the battle field, but somehow this kid seemed to have gotten ahold of Nuibari...the sewing needle. Whether or not he could employ it effectively in combat remained to be seen, but Kakashi didn't underestimate others as a rule, and was hoping it wouldn't come to that at all, frankly. Luckily...the boy appeared to be uninterested in attacking them for the moment. He tried to negotiate, waving his hands in a placating demeanor, "Hey, calm down, calm down... Who exactly is coming?"

"I tried to stop him! Really, I did! It was just a joke, but he got mad, and—"

"Calm down..." Kakashi tried again, gently but firmly. "Take a deep breath, then repeat. Slowly."

"I-I—" The boy's eyes then flashed to Sasuke, who had already drawn a kunai and was on edge. Then, all too suddenly, the boy broke down and wailed, "Yangetsu is going to cut the pretty one's head off! I won't let him!"

Naruto let out a loud snort, and glanced at Sasuke, who now sported an extremely disgruntled look, and whispered loudly, "Hey...he just called you pretty."

"He was talking about Sakura."

"He was looking right at you—"

"Shut up, Idiot."

"Why you—" the blond paused for a second, then grinned slowly, "Hey, I might be an idiot, but at least I'm not—"

"Naruto! Leave Sasuke-kun alone!" Sakura clenched her fist threateningly, then rounded on the newcomer, her face blushing some, "And you! Sasuke-kun is not pretty! ...He-he's ruggedly handsome! Get it right!"

If possible, it made Sasuke feel worse.

The boy, still recovering from the minor breakdown looked affronted for a second at being addressed as 'you,' but since they had no other way to address him, decided to forgive the slight, and sent her a slow grin instead. There were varying reactions from Tazuna and the genin to the dental alterations, including a complete recoil from Sakura, but the boy addressed her amicably, "It seems that a rival has appeared."

"Oi!" Naruto pointed at him, "What the hell is wrong with your teeth?!"

"It's a scare tactic," Tazuna answered immediately, eying the boy critically with recognition. "Usually employed by ninja of the hidden mist."

"And how would you know something like that, Mr. Tazuna...?" Kakashi sent a mildly curious glance back at their client, inwardly assessing the comment and the situation.

Tazuna was still fixated on the boy though, and explained, "Their mother helped me out of a sticky situation a while back. She's looking for you, you know."

The boy's face suddenly went blank as a brick wall, and that's when Kakashi knew he was acting. This was a ploy—a distraction of some sort—and what Tazuna had just said had enough power to blow it clear out of the water. But that's also when he knew the boy was dangerous, and if that wasn't his first clue, a torrent of killing intent washed over them all like a wave. It was mild enough for Kakashi—who had handled worse—but for the kids, and Tazuna...even Sasuke was frozen. And then the boy bit out, "...My mother is dead."

It seemed that Tazuna had more steel than he first thought possible though, because he managed to shake off the fear enough to reach back into his bag and pull out a faded photograph, holding it out shakily. "I-if that's true, th-th-then I must've met a s-s-super-axe murdering g-g-ghost."

He sent it spiraling towards the boy like a shuriken, and he deftly snatched it out of the air with an expert's practice, his deadly, pale gray stare never leaving the old man but to glance at the picture. But when they did, they stayed there, widening, and then he demanded, "Where did you get this, Old Man?!"

"It's just a lie, Hangetsu. Don't listen to these fuckers." Another boy with spiky ash blond hair appeared at their rear. Shunshin, Kakashi noted with a narrowed eye. This could be a slight problem...it'd have to be handled carefully.

"It's not a lie!" Tazuna insisted, pointing at the first boy. "Her name is Matsuki, she speaks in an accent and carries around this super-scary giant axe, and boy, does she know how to use it... She threatened to kill me a couple of times too, but I figure letting the two of you know she's not dead might put me in her good graces. She's got a super-vendetta against your father from what I hear. She left in a bit of a hurry—left that photo with me on the cart to Konoha."

The one called Hangetsu stared on in wide eyed fascination, but the second boy—Kakashi figured him to be this 'Yangetsu' the other boy had mentioned in his former playact—drawing a long, narrow blade, looked thoroughly unconvinced. "That doesn't prove anything. You could've picked that up anywhere. Dad said he saw her die with his own eyes!"

"But...Yan, that sounds just like her—" Hangetsu protested, and Sasuke, having shaken off the waning killing intent, agreed...although she sounded like someone else he knew. That girl would be interested to hear about this when he got back... If he could just get ahold of that picture and confirm it...

"It's a fuckin' lie, Hangetsu!" The other boy swung his sword around to bare it defensively in front of him. "These guys are full of shit. Let's just kill the lying old man, and get the hell out of here."

"Wait!" Hangetsu reached back with a hand on the hilt of the nightmarish needle sword, pocketing the picture carefully with the other one. Sasuke narrowed his eyes in irritation. "Let's at least interrogate him first. He had to have come across the information somewhere—"

Finally, impatience getting the best of him, Sasuke cut him off with, "Did she ever go by an alias...? Hanako, maybe?"

Kakashi eyed his student critically. The boy was sharp...he had to give him that. And Hangetsu's sword arm dropped limply, his eyes darting to the boy he'd singled out in the beginning with bemusement. "...How did you know that?"

"Because she runs a bakery out of Konoha," he supplied flatly. "I know her apprentice. Said she left a few weeks ago...looking for you guys apparently. The axe murdering thing is new..."

"Ehh?" Naruto exclaimed wildly, "You mean Yuka-chan's boss is... No way! Sasuke, you're crazy—"

"Naruto! Cut it out, I mean it!" He cowered away from Sakura's fist, but she looked at Sasuke uncertainly as well and murmured, "Sasuke-kun... Yuka-chan always says nice things about Hanako-sensei..."

"He does have a point, Sakura-chan." Kakashi suddenly spoke up. "I was assigned to keep tabs on her, after all, since she came from one of the refugee groups around the time of the tragedy at the gates. It took place because of a rumor about a spy amongst their numbers, and it just escalated from there. Now I have a sinking suspicion it might've been her that caused the whole debacle, and I have to admit...I was a little paranoid to begin with. There were tiny clues... If someone is a ninja, even if they're extremely skilled at hiding their chakra, and disguising themselves, you can still tell if you pay close enough attention." he paused with a critical eye on the boy in front of them. "In addition, you look exactly like her, Hangetsu-kun, so I'm fairly sure this is no coincidence. I'm positive there's more to this story...perhaps we can help each other out and put the pieces together, hm?" The boy blushed slightly at the comparison, but Kakashi then addressed Tazuna with a crinkly eyed smile, "Oh, and Tazuna-san? You and I need to have a little chat after this is over."

The old man cringed somewhat, thinking longingly of the sake bottle in his rucksack with a sigh. But then the boy at their rear exploded with a curse, "I've had enough of your lies! Dad said she's dead, and that means she's dead! That means you're dead too, Old Man! And so is anyone stupid enough get in our way!"

He swung his sword in an arch, and Kakashi bristled as he felt the wave of hostile chakra brimming from it. That was no ordinary weapon. Of that, he was positive, though any further nature of it was obscure to him...and he didn't know whether that was a good or a bad thing. One thing was for sure though. He would need to stop it, and fast. However...as it would turn out, he didn't need to. Hangetsu got there first.

There was a shattering clang as one weapon met the other, Yangetsu's longsword clattering against a horizontal Nuibari held firmly by Hangetsu in a guard. He then entreated in a careful, level tone that spoke nothing of the trembling power struggle between offense and defense taking place between the two brothers—as if they'd done this a hundred times before. "Brother...I'm begging you. Let me interrogate them."

Yangetsu glared into his older brother's eyes, and seemed to consider it for a long moment. But in a split second, his eyes went cold he stated without emotion, "The mission comes first," and then promptly swung his sword past his brother's guard to cut him clear in two. Sakura screamed, and Kakashi went into action. If possible, he would've liked to take him alive for questioning.

That was proving difficult, however, as the boy was more skilled than he'd previously guessed. He was also wary of the sword itself and was careful to remain out of its range. If one brother had been in possession of a powerful tool like Nuibari, what then could the other have in store? As it was, the boy was making it hard for him not to retaliate in a way that wouldn't kill him. He was reckless, and fought like a berserker, but his swings were powerful, and he moved without pause or hesitation, as shown by how easily he had hacked through his own brother; the bloodthirsty grin on his face indicated a propensity for no remorse.

"Stay back, Naruto, you idiot! You'll only get in the way!" Sakura grasped the back of his collar, restraining the boy from entering the fight, after getting over his shock at seeing someone rendered in two—which was surprisingly quick, but considering the desensitization training at the academy...

Since he couldn't get free without hurting Sakura, he exploded, "How could you do something like that?! Aren't you supposed to be brothers?!"

"Yeah, you jackass! That hurt!" there was a sudden splash as a puddle exploded into life and Yangetsu was promptly impaled through the shoulder. With a sharp kick to the square of his back, Yangetsu cried out in agony as he was then forced face first into the ground, and the newly reattached Hangetsu drove the needle sword once more through his younger brother's shoulder, pinning him firmly to the ground below. "How's that feel, huh? That's nothing compared to being cut in half!" Yangetsu let out a string of violent curses in response, but Hangetsu just stomped on him ruthlessly, twisting the needle a bit with a cruel grin which turned the cursing into a pitiful groan. Hangetsu only laughed, his face transforming from the innocent mask to a sadistic killer. "If Haku-nee-chan was here, he'd probably stop me...but you know what? I'm really in the mood to see your blood today..."

As the Konoha genin reacted in varying degrees of horror and disgust, Yangetsu managed to choke out, "Remember...the mission—"

"Ha! To hell with the mission!" Hangetsu shouted with hysteria in his voice. "I'm going to find Mom. If it means cooperation with the enemy—" His frenzied eyes flicked over to Kakashi, who watched on in practiced restraint. "—that can be arranged too. From this point on, I'm hereby putting a hiatus on the mission. I don't care what Dad says. The whiskers kid is right. You're my brother. Are you with me, or against me?"

Yangetsu's fingers curled into the dirt, and he gritted his shark-like teeth, trembling somewhat from the pain. But he still managed to turn and face a glare at Hangetsu over his impaled shoulder and spat out an obstinate, "Fuck you, Faggot!"

Hangetsu's face turned to stone in that moment, and he twisted Nuibiri heartlessly once more, eliciting another cry of torment from his brother. He then retracted the weapon from the boy with the sound of a bone cracking, raising it up, poised to strike, and he spoke without sentiment. "You brought this on yourself."

As he brought the unforgiving point down for a vital strike, however, his movement was halted by a grim Kakashi whom nobody saw move. "That's quite enough, I think. Your mom would probably be extremely upset with me if I let you kill each other right in front of me." Hangetsu stared at him coldly, but made no move to go against the jounin. With that sort of speed, he knew he was outclassed. Kakashi then moved to step on Yangetsu's fingers, which were slowly inching their way towards the hilt of his sword. "And I'm not an expert on injuries, but I'm fairly sure you shouldn't be moving in your condition..."

He cursed halfheartedly at him in response, but Yangetsu was weak when it came to endurance. He could dish it, oh yes, but when it came to taking it...? Not so much. Being impaled was not something he handled well. Hangetsu's cold stare slowly morphed into something like cruel amusement at his assessment of Kakashi, though, and he laughed, "Dad was right about one thing... All you Konoha shinobi are too soft." He cast his pale gray eyes over to the genin, landing on each of them individually for a few seconds before they stopped on Sasuke, and he amended, "You look like you've seen worse though. That's what I like about you. You're not like them."

In fact, he'd been the only one—with the exception of the seasoned jounin—not to flinch during the entire scene. He resisted the urge to sneer at the boy. Maybe he wasn't like them, but he certainly wasn't like him either. However, he just arched a brow and repeated some words he thought he remembered hearing from a rather irritatingly clever girl once, "You'd be surprised at what you can find in Konoha's dirty laundry if you look close enough." He sent a glance at the blond. "Isn't that right...Naruto?"

The other boy sent him a look, emitting a rather unintelligent, "Huh? Sasuke, what the hell are you—What does dirty laundry have to do with anything?"

"Sasuke." Kakashi sent him a warning glance, as the impaler eyed them both with even more interest. "Now is not the time to be acting up."

The dark boy scoffed softly, with a shake of his head. Now that Kakashi seemed to have everything under control he was losing interest in the situation. "Whatever."

"S-sensei..." Sakura eyed her crush with worried eyes, still somewhat shaken from the previous display, then asked the instructor hesitantly. "H-how should we proceed with the mission?"

"Well, that depends," his eye crinkled in a perfectly merry smile at the impaler, whose stabbing arm he still held firm in a vice-like grip. "We should take these two in for questioning, and Tazuna-san? Your escort may need to be rearranged, the mission status changed to a B-rank at least. Also—" he gestured to Yangetsu casually "—your brother seems to have lost consciousness due to blood loss. I'm no expert, but I think it might be wise to get him to a qualified physician."

Hangetsu rolled his eyes. "He'll be fine...I avoided the major arteries. He's just a wuss with a weak pain tolerance."

"I take it you're willing to cooperate?" Kakashi asked warily.

"Hmm...our goals seem to be the same for the moment." Hangetsu gave a one shouldered shrug. "I need information from the old man. That requires him being alive. Therefore, my previous mission is now moot. You also have a secondary goal that matches mine—finding my mother. Until then, we'll get along just fine...afterwards, all bets are off. Think you can live with that?"

"For the moment..." he mimicked the words, releasing Hangetsu's wrist slowly. The boy then holstered Nuibari expertly and began the thorough work of hogtying his younger brother. Normally, this would cause at least some sort of pause due to moral issues, but all Hangetsu was thinking about was how funny it would be later when he made a joke about poor, homophobic Yangetsu and BDSM. At that thought, he was suddenly quite thankful the Konoha jounin stopped him from murdering his dear little brother. The reaction alone would be worth keeping him alive. Especially when he couldn't move, and threats of beheading all attractive males in the vicinity would be completely empty. He wondered idly if it was possible for a human being to explode due to sheer frustration...and smirked. This was going to be fun.

After cautiously eying the disturbingly cheerful way the boy was restraining his equally violent brother, Kakashi turned to his students and concluded, "Ultimately, it all depends on what you three decide. I can handle pretty much anything, and I really do need to find Hanako. So after seeing what you're up against, do you still think you're ready to defend Tazuna-san with your lives?"

"Hmph..." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "We've already made it this far. It'd be useless if we had to go all the way back without accomplishing anything..." Secretly, he wanted to test himself. During the fight, he'd watched the two carefully. Whatever level they were on was one he was completely unfamiliar with. He wanted to find out just what it would take to defeat them...not to mention, the connection between them, Hanako, and by extension...that girl...was unmistakable. She was right. Something strange was going on here...and he was determined to find out what it was.

Sakura then did something she'd never done before in the history of ever. "But...Sasuke-kun, don't you think it's too dangerous?" Her eyes flicked to Hangetsu fearfully, who, to her horror, caught her staring, paused in his ruthlessly tight knot tying, and sent her a charming grin—the double set of pearly pointy whites doing their job perfectly. She let out a squeak.

Naruto bounced in front of her protectively. "Don't worry Sakura-chan! I'll protect you, and Old Man Tazuna—guys like these are no problem for someone like me! I can take you on any day, you pointy-toothed freak! 'Cause I'm the one who's going to be Hokage! Believe it!"

"Oh great..." Tazuna groaned. "You're going on about that nonsense again, Shrimp?"

"HEY! WHO ARE YOU CALLING—"

"YOU'RE LOUD!" Sakura exploded, slamming her fist down on his head, prompting the poor boy to drop like a brick. Sasuke didn't think it would help matters to point out that they were both equally as loud as the other...

By that point, Hangetsu was finished tying up Yangetsu and hoisted him over his shoulder. The wound had stopped bleeding, so he must've been telling the truth about not hitting anything vital. It'd still have to be patched up though, he noted with some distaste. He really didn't feel like going to the trouble... Anyway, something the whisker kid—now wallowing on the ground from getting curb-stomped by the abusive bitch—had said struck a chord with him and he smirked. "Hmm...Hokage, is it? Well, I hope you're telling the truth about that. 'Cause the next one that comes after the old man isn't going to be nearly as nice, or half as good looking as I am." He started forward, down the path they were headed, then looked back over his shoulder with a malicious smirk and the truth, "...Even I'm afraid of that guy."


Hey, it's me again! I actually managed to get to a computer this time, and it's a good thing I did, because it appears that Orokashii is having just about as much trouble as I am at the moment. I don't want to keep on asking her to update for me because that's not fair. I'm saving up to buy a new laptop cord, but that could take about another week, so I'm warning you in advance: THE NEXT CHAPTER MAY BE A WEEK LATE!

However, the email function and PM on the mobile fanfic site still works on my phone so I can still answer REVIEWS ^^

Put something in the magic box right there. Why? Because it's MAGIC.