The clock face reads 4am. A figure materializes from underneath the monotonous sheets and quickly cooling fingers tuck the corners back and folds the top of the grey sheets, revealing a paper thin white sheet, over. A long-sleeved black shirt and black pants quickly cover up a surprisingly bright blue polka dot pair of underwear and matching white bra with a tiny blue ribbon. The cold air that seeped into the room from the eighth-of-a-centimeter gap between the metal door and frame at the bottom quickly defeats the warmth in the bed sheets that her body had carefully cultivated the night before and would've done the same to her clothed body, kneeling as she wraps white tape around her legs from her mid-thigh to ankle, if a slow, meandering, but persistent, flow of warm, thick, and slightly blue chakra wasn't fending off the cold. A gloved hand flexes in relief as the chakra reaches the tips of her slender fingers feel the warmth before those same flexing fingers relax and grab a scroll and place the still-white roll of paper decorated with ink and bits of dried blood and chakra in a pocket. Her feet slip into standard issue shinobi sandals and warmed hands place a hitai-ate in the same pocket as before and cover her face with a porcelain mask.
Along the railing, her slender fingers trail the cold metal, a few stories up. Her obsidian-colored eyes flick over the railing and down to see the new recruits 'training'. Their overseer stood with his hands behind his back, staring at the young children, ranging in age from five to fifteen. A few moments later a sharp yelp comes out from one of the boys and a girl is sitting atop his heaving chest and blood begins to pool underneath his arm. The woman purses her lips and stops watching. She flickers away from the railing and reappears at the bridge where a heavily robed man stands with most of his body weight on his wooden cane.
"Danzo-sama," she intones. "It is early."
He understands what she is implying: that it is rather early to not only be woken up, but also summoned for a mission directly from the Hokage. Danzo has a faint idea of what it is, but not the whole picture. It irks him, but he wasn't a student of the Nidaime for nothing, so he keeps his face stony and calm.
"The Hokage wishes to speak to you," he answers.
"May I ask why?" she questions, not raising her head from her kneeling position with one fist on the ground.
"No," Danzo says, for he doesn't know why. The reminder that Hiruzen was keeping something from him, his trusted advisor, irks him further. Still, he remains calm. She would return and inform him of what Hiruzen wants and come back for an assignment. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, for the past four years and then some time before that, was, is, what happens. It always did. Danzo is absolutely sure of this. No matter what reason Hiruzen may have for suddenly requesting his top agent at an early hour, Danzo is convinced that his top agent will come back and assist Hawk in training the new recruits and assist Monkey in destroying the village where a few rogue assassins from Kumo were drinking and gambling like Konoha was stupid and didn't know where they were and wasn't about to blow them up.
"Go," Danzo says, "And do not forget your assignments today."
"Yes, sir," she says. A frown threatens to pull down the corners of her lips, but she wasn't Danzo's top agent for nothing; keeping a frown from forming was well beneath her level of expertise.
And with that, she disappears in a black blur. The hallways are a maze as she briskly walks through them. Her feet carry her to a familiar door, which her gloved hand grips the knob of. The mere prospect of sunlight makes her heart skip a beat. How long had it been? Since I saw sunlight?
The amount of prospects makes her head spin so much so that she places a hand on where her forehead is underneath her porcelain mask and allows a small sigh to escape her. Two words flash in her head: too long. She pulls open the door and her head turns to the only thing that moved in her sight: a boy walking with a steaming pastry in his hand. The scent of the sweet, the sugar, makes her fingers curl and uncurl over and over.
Do I want that?
The answer is no. Sarutobi Hiruzen had summoned her for something that Danzo would either not disclose (a cringe forms under her mask) or was not informed of (her blood chills at that). A gut feeling points to the latter and she closes the door, not turning to watch the door melt into the wall to leave only a small paper with a boring seal that no one noticed stuck to it. Her body is propelled over rooftops and out of the corner of her eye she sees the cemetery with rows of grey graves. A pang of guilt rises up. How long had it been? Since I replaced the flowers and scrubbed the stone? The woman cringes again, too afraid of the number to calculate how long it had been.
Once again, she kneels and Hiruzen leans against the railing, waiting for the sunrise. On the roof, she notices, there is a wonderful view of the still-sleeping Konoha. Her wandering eyes, a wisp of her youth catching her professional mind off guard and sabotaging it easily, do not go unnoticed by the amused Hokage.
"Would you like to watch the sunrise with me?" he asks as a wizened smile lifts up his wrinkled face and makes him look like anyone's grandfather.
"If you would like," she replies. It is not correct to insert any sort of preference in the presence of a superior, especially the leader of a village like the Hokage. She doesn't move from her spot, since he didn't ask her to.
"Come now," Hiruzen says kindly, "You don't have to be so polite. For now, I am not the Hokage and you are not my subordinate. We are shinobi, seeing eye to eye. Would you like to watch the sunrise with me?"
Yes. I haven't seen sunlight in Kami knows how long.
"If you would like," she says again. It is not correct to impose preference when an elder is around. She was in her twenties and he was nearly seventy.
Hiruzen sighs, clearly in annoyance. The smile fades from his face and a few tense moments pass before a group of regular Jounin come up from the stairwell, chatting like close school friends after class let out. She doesn't turn around, since he didn't ask her to.
"Would you like to watch the sunrise with me?" Hiruzen calls out to the Jounin.
"Sure," their replies are easy-going, like water flowing.
"Now," he looks right at her, "Would you like to watch the sunrise?"
Her face heats up and something is caught in her throat. Not only Hiruzen's eyes, but also all of the other Jounin's eyes, glue to her. The answer is clear and she knows that this is an order, but just a funny and cynical way of placing it because saying no would only make him make her stay and watch. She would watch, but Hiruzen decided to play a mind game.
It works.
"Yes, sir," her reply is stony and neutral.
"Very well," he smiles, clearly forcing himself, "You have my permission to take off your mask."
Another game. She inwardly bristles at it. In front of all these people? The answer is clear, too clear, and she bristles more at it and the implications and wants to gouge out the Jounins' eyes.
Calm.
She calms herself and wordlessly takes off her mask and clips it to her belt. She doesn't turn around, choosing to just look at the ground before her. She feels childish and embarrassed and wants to run away, to flicker away, and return to the dark corridors without sunlight and Danzo's orders. It is comforting and the routine is simple and the same day in and day out, unlike this ridiculous sunrise-watching event that the Hokage had quickly turned into a party. No one has seen my face in a long time. I had intended to keep it that way, but…
One kunoichi squats at the grey-clad shinobi's side and peers at her face and eyes the white scar on her neck. To her horror, recognition lights up the kunoichi's face.
Run!
But that is impossible.
"How unyouthful!" a man pulls the shinobi up in a tight side hug and her entire body goes downright rigid. The color drains from her face and her reflexes finally kick in and the green man is sent flying, skipping like a stone across the surface of a lake, on the roof. Another kunoichi, scantily dressed, pokes the dazed Gai while a smoking Asuma cautiously places a reassuring hand on the ANBU's shoulder and almost says some comforting words that would've gone something along the lines of: 'Calm down. Don't you remember me?' if she hadn't grabbed him and thrown him on the ground and kicked his vulnerable stomach in pure fear, exacerbated by anxiety and misunderstanding.
"Hey," a sharp voice cut into another to-be kick aimed at Asuma's head. Strong hands grab her and physically hold her back and his warmer chakra flows into her system and a wave of calm crashes over her. Fatigue from sleeping only an hour or two and near-chronic chakra depletion made him the only thing holding her up. Kakashi tucks his book away. "We're not trying to hurt you. Just watch the sunrise."
From former ANBU to current ANBU, he understood the discomfort she felt. Here, orders weren't direct and hardly black and white and having people not only without masks but also without the strict formalities around and blurring of superior-subordinate lines coloring the air, it was no wonder that she'd reacted so violently. It was clear to Kakashi that she hadn't been around normal people for a long time. So, giving her an order of 'watch the sunrise' made her a bit more at ease since orders had been all she was fed for quite some time.
Thank you. She looked up at him and was astonished to see Kakashi. She stepped back and her face almost deepens in color when she saw the scandalized looks of the other Jounin. Shame made her look away again and Kakashi didn't pat her shoulder like Asuma did. No ANBU did that and she was still in the ANBU mindset and might just end up electrocuting him if he did that.
Touchy, very touchy.
Kakashi understood better than any of the others. "Give her a little space. She'll calm down after a while."
"What's your name?" Anko asks nearly immediately. Kakashi sighs in dismay. Hadn't he just said to give her space? Did Anko have a death wish?
"Hound," she replies in a neutral tone.
Anko groans, "Like, the one your parents gave you."
The ANBU narrows her obsidian eyes, "What is your clearance level?"
"Who gives a damn?" Anko challenges.
"Anko," Kakashi intervenes, "What did I just say?"
"She isn't going to calm down by herself, so we need to take action and make her warm up to us," Anko says, "Watching the sunrise is supposed to be a happy thing that isn't bogged down by some cold ANBU."
"How many years have you been in ANBU?" Kakashi queries. Anko squawks at his hypocrisy. Hadn't he just fucking said to leave her alone? So he can ask stupid questions and I can't? Just who the fuck do either of them think they are?
"Four," the ANBU replies. "Almost five."
Genma whistles, "ANBU's some black hole, huh? Must've sucked away all of your emotions to make you react so violently towards an emotion radiating Gai."
"I think she's in Black Ops," Ao says quietly.
Finally. The sun begins to rise. Relief washes over the ANBU and Kakashi is heart warmed to see life glimmer, if only for a moment, in her eyes. It fades just as quickly as it comes, but it existed and that was what counted. Hiruzen coughs and brings the group to attention, silently thanking Kurenai with a nod for hauling up his son.
"I didn't exactly bring all of you to watch the sunrise with me this morning, but I will admit that it is a nice reunion," Hiruzen's eyes twinkle with amusement at the ANBU. She doesn't react, but he doesn't expect her to, "There is a more serious matter to be dealt with. All of you are high-level Jounin, if not Elite Jounin or Tokubetsu Jounin. All of you have proved your loyalty to Konohagakure and as such, I trust all of you with my life. You all are not the suspects, but there are spies within our ranks, particularly within the high-Chuunin and low-Jounin ranks. My student Jiraiya, the village's top espionage and recon specialist, came back a few days ago with chilling news. He has found an organization called the 'Akatsuki' whose members are comprised completely of S-Rank rogue shinobi, including our own Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Shisui and formerly Orochimaru."
The Jounin shifted at the mention of the Uchiha killers and Anko bristles angrily at the mention of her old sensei.
"Why have S-Rank criminals gathered?" the ANBU asked. "Where have they last been spotted?"
Hiruzen taps out the used-up tobacco leaves on the rail and watches them sail down until they hit the ground and are swept up by a gust of wind, "They have been gathering information on bijuu. Jiraiya believes that they intend to collect and extract the bijuu, which will kill the bijuu's host. I doubt that this is a coincidence, but Orochimaru has also gathered information regarding the bijuu and Konoha's past and present kekkei genkai. A few months ago, Jiraiya discovered the Akatsuki's apparent hideout in the Land of Tea, but it was deserted with nothing truly substantial besides a few Konoha kunai and bingo books lying around. Around the same time, Orochimaru's hideout was also discovered underneath a tavern in the middle of a forest at the edge of our border with the Land of Earth."
"That damn snake bastard…" Anko mutters, her eyes burning with hate.
"They knew Jiraiya and the few ANBU teams I'd sent out were coming and quickly left with only bits and pieces of information, perhaps taunting us. They most likely have spies posted day and night, watching the village. This is a serious breach of security, level 5—"
A few eyes widened at that.
"—so, if you do find any suspects of spying, turn them into Hound, Anko, or Ao," Hiruzen says.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," the Jounin reply in serious tones.
"Is that all, Hokage-sama?" the ANBU asks. The look on Hiruzen's face already tells her the answer, but it was obvious that not all of the Jounin had noticed, or knew how to read faces.
"No," he says with a sigh, "Kumo and Iwa have recently opened up trade with one another after twenty long years of bitter hatred for one another. In wake of both villages' growing economy and healing financial statuses, they have expanded their military greatly and are carrying out military exercises more and more frequently. Not only are they attempting to make grabs Suna's stake at the international mineral deposit in the Land of Iron for the raw weapons materials, but they are trying to take over Konoha's stake as well. Without the materials to create kunai and other weapons, we cannot fight if they intend to make their obvious threats reality and spark a war."
The mention of war makes a shudder in all of the Jounin standing before their Kage nearly tangible. Even the ANBU winced ever so slightly at the notion. War? Again? It has only been half of the time that elapsed between the First and Second Wars: twenty years. It has been just a decade but the deep crying and painful color of red blood still burns within every Jounin and Chuunin who fought.
"Watching a sunrise means another day has come and symbolizes hope, for the tree cannot grow without it," Hiruzen says, "Yet, this is not the only reason I had summoned all of you. War must be prevented at all costs and there is still time to work this out diplomatically. Hound," his brown eyes flick over to her obsidian ones, "I am trusting at least you with this," he looks at the other Jounin, "Sending one shinobi may hint at a struggling economy. At least one more must go."
"I'll go," Kakashi is the first to step forward, determination in his eyes. There is no way his comrades, whose hearts beat right next to him, will die.
"So will I," Gai says seriously.
"In addition," Hiruzen says, "Do not speak of anything I have said and what will happen today to anyone," his eyes are dead serious, "The head of the hospital has also voiced a wish to accompany you. She is waiting by the gates. I expect the four of you to be back in two weeks, at the most. Suna's representative is already awaiting your arrival in the Land of Iron. This is an Unclassified mission, so good luck."
"Yes, sir."
And with that, the two Jounin and one ANBU flicker away.
Hound doesn't immediately notice Danzo arriving at her door. With a fluid motion, she places clothes on a few matrixes, including a pair of bright pink polka dotted underwear that he wishes he never, ever saw, and seals them away with a bit of chakra. Her scroll is replaced in her pocket and she drops to one knee with her head bowed after noticing the man. Her mask hides her shame at not noticing, but he was the Konoha's best at concealing his chakra until no one could ever detect him. Mentally, she pins that fact up to his clan, the Shimura clan, was highly skilled in chakra control and even though he is the last one left, he certainly makes his ancestors proud.
"Forgive me, Danzo-sama," she says flatly.
He grits his teeth, but annoyance doesn't rise to his eyes, "What are the details of your mission," he nearly spits out the last part, "that you blatantly neglected to report to me the moment you returned?"
Hound replies, but anger makes his bones rattle, "I'm afraid I'm unable to say."
"Why?" he demands. Danzo is beyond irked. Hiruzen…the man the Nidaime had entrusted him to advise, was keeping secrets from him? The implications and obvious danger to village safety makes his blood boil. Nidaime was a shortsighted man, Danzo decides. He thought only of Hiruzen's pacifist ideals in a time of bloody war and not of the long-term, which Danzo could've and would've delivered. Rage courses through the war hawk and the ANBU before him does not flinch in the face of an irate shinobi with the ability to kill her instantly without drawing a drop of blood.
"Hokage-sama wished for the information discussed to be private," she explains, simply going through the motions. She knows that Danzo knew what she had implied and understands his anger. He'd earned her respect long ago, having proved himself in every drop of blood that he spilled that every life ended was meaningful, for it was for the safety of the village. She knows that Danzo is Hiruzen's advisor and withholding information from the one man who'd lost his clan, his wife, his son, and cut off all of his friends, the one and only man willing to risk everything, for the sake of his village is unwise. Hell, Hokage-sama is trying to kill everyone. It is not correct to advise when her voice is not credible and unnecessary, but if she were Hiruzen, she would at least tell him.
"Can I even ask how long?" anger seeps into his voice and he isn't even ashamed. He trusts her and only her with his life and his secrets and knows she won't tell anyone of his lack of control.
She contemplates this for a moment, "I'm afraid not. However, I will say this: it will not be for very long."
Danzo recalls the clothing she packed, consisting of a large ratio of warm and thick clothes, "Here," he tosses her a scroll.
"May I ask what is contained?" she asks formally and catches it deftly.
"It will keep you warm with a minimal use of chakra in a snowy place," he says. Hound understands his straightforward logic: the items are to help minimize chakra use. Since Hiruzen had sent the ANBU Black Ops' top agent, he anticipates fighting, in which she must win, meaning that she must utilize all her chakra. Danzo intends to help her with chakra management.
"Thank you, Danzo-sama," she inclines her head until his feet are out of view.
"I expect you to work twice as hard when you return," he says, "Which includes training or eliminating all of the new recruits without Hawk and performing all of Monkey's assassination missions for the entire month."
"Yes, Danzo-sama," she says.
"You are dismissed," he says and she flickers away. Her heart races in her chest and her ears ring with his anger. Fear wasn't the right word, but she settles with it. She calms down slightly when she sees Kakashi, the only one who understood what it meant to be an ANBU. Next to him Rin is wearing her Jounin vest and looks at the ANBU in wonder. The medic had never truly seen one of Konoha's Black Ops up close and is mesmerized by the intricate porcelain mask and messy, unkempt hair.
As they travel over branches, Gai attempts to strike up a conversation with the stoic ANBU who'd assaulted him earlier. "My name is Maito Gai!"
The ANBU doesn't respond.
"Gai," Kakashi groans, "I hate repeating myself."
"My name was Kosari," the ANBU suddenly says. Her obsidian eyes are visible at Kakashi's angle and he sees her form two crescents in a smile at him. He is stunned to silence.
"Kosari, then?" Gai grins, "Nice to meet you!"
"Yes," Hound replies.
"What division in ANBU do you serve?" Gai asks, "Kakashi used to serve in assassinations."
"Recently, ANBU configuration changed. To put a shinobi's skillset, which is not solely limited to one specialty, to better use for the village, as an ANBU rises in rank he serves at least two divisions. As for myself, I serve in many divisions, such as recruit initiation and training and assassination," she said in a formal tone.
Gai briefly recalls seeing Kakashi ruthlessly kill on his assassination mission, out of pure coincidence. The scary dark look in Kakashi's eyes, the rage and hate and grief, made him cringe a little. The ANBU before him looked a lot like Kakashi when she had her mask off, and he supposes that she might make the same face that Kakashi made.
Rin eyes the white scar on the woman's neck that ran from behind her ear and stopped at the hem of her shirt. The ANBU gave her a sideways glance, sensing the woman openly staring.
A few days passed until the forest stopped and snow crunched under the Jounins' feet. Despite the ANBU's cold exterior, Gai remains unfazed and keeps the questions coming, "So, do you have a love life?"
"Having such a thing is strictly prohibited," Hound replies back tonelessly.
"What about Kakashi? Doesn't his mask intrigue you?" Gai grins. Hound sees through him easily. Gai wants to have her help him see under Kakashi's mask. You mean 'you', idiot.
"No," the ANBU says, a hint of disgust barely concealed.
"You can take off your mask," Rin said, leaning against a tree and warming her hands by the fire under the starry sky.
The ANBU finds herself in quite a predicament. Superior-subordinate and age lines clashes and somehow, she's overlooked who would be superior in rank, in importance, between herself, the Black Ops' top agent, and the head of the hospital, the top medic in the village. If it were anyone else, the ANBU would've declined. Is this an order…or just another game? The ANBU is unsure. She knows that she's at least a few months older than the medic, but superior-subordinate lines supersede age lines.
…right?
"Take it off," Kakashi says nonchalantly, his nose stuck in his book.
The ANBU complies with the order, feeling ashamed that Kakashi had to help her once more. A thought pops up in her mind: leaving ANBU. Then the games and confusion and pitiful shame will end. The ANBU destroys the idea. ANBU is something she needs. I need it. It is the only thing, in a world of pure chaos that provides stability. Rules and regulations, however tedious she once thought they were, are what is truly important.
The woman's glinting silver hair and obsidian eyes take Rin aback and she looks at Kakashi and then back at the ANBU and can't help but see the resemblance, "Kakashi…Kosari-chan…"
"Hm?" Kakashi pretends not to notice her astonished face. "What?"
"A-are you two…" Rin furrows her brows. Had Kakashi had family? Had he had a sibling? She can't remember and curses herself for it. The ANBU's face is carefully blank as she stares up at the sky with her arms folded behind her head and one leg bent, giving her an air of indifference.
Kakashi waits for his former teammate to gather her words.
"Siblings?" Rin finally says.
Kakashi looks over at her slowly, "Yes."
"How come I never knew?" Rin demands suddenly.
The Hatake man shrugs, "Never thought it was all that important."
Rin's head whips around to the ANBU, who is completely unfazed, or looks unfazed, she reminds herself, by Kakashi's harsh remark.
"Besides, if the enemy knew that the Copy Ninja had any remaining family, what do you think would happen?" Kakashi asks her seriously, "One Hatake is enough to scare off Iwa and Kumo and Kiri."
Rin knows, deep down, that he's right. But that doesn't mean I necessarily agree. She frowns and stares into the fire. She closes her eyes in concentration, of what to say to that, but ends up waking up after the Gai shakes her awake. The medic flinches slightly before relaxing.
"It's not far," Kakashi says, "Come on, Rin."
Samurai, not uncommon in the Land of Iron, guard the tall wooden gates underneath a sign reading 'International Mineral Deposit'. The three Jounin and one masked ANBU continue towards the gates, pushing through the looks of skepticism and scorn from mostly Iwa shinobi who don't recognize Kakashi at first.
"State your names and purpose," the samurai says and narrows his eyes behind his mask. Gai looks around, a little confused. I don't sense a lot of samurai. Understaffing?
"We are Konoha shinobi. This is Nohara Rin, Maito Gai, Hatake Kakashi, and I am Hound," the ANBU steps forward, "We have come to confirm that Konoha's treaty with the other villages to share this neutral land's resources are being respected."
The samurai shifts slightly and turns to the other samurai and gives a minute nod and opens the gates. The gates reveal a large pool that stretches on and on and on, blacker than night from the iron deposits at the bottom, with a few yellowing reeds growing sparsely around the edge. Hound's eyes flick over to it briefly, seeing a glint from the sun reflecting off of…she looks closer. Fish? In such iron-rich waters? She sees another fish floating on the surface, dead. Past the pool is a few buildings, one of which that glows red and that surrounding buildings, somewhat dilapidated, tuck away from the large central building with the character for 'iron' written thickly in paint. The four walk, ignoring the sneers from the Iwa shinobi milling about.
One shinobi has the audacity to grab the ANBU's hair. Kakashi nearly slices his arm off, getting quite tired of the sneers and glares and looks that he and his comrades were being given, but the ANBU stops him. In a motion that Rin can barely see, the Iwa shinobi is thrashed, loses a tooth, and thrown several feet away from the shinobi. A few moments pass and a mild electrical shock renders him conscious, but moaning and howling in pain. The ANBU turns on a heel and continues towards the building. She bursts through the doors and glances up at the surprised receptionist through her mask, "We would like to speak to the daimyo."
"I-I'm afraid he's in a meeting with Iwa and Kumo and Suna and other shinobi," the receptionist says, a bead of sweat running down her cheek.
"Which way?" the ANBU demands and her voice holds no room for 'no'.
"T-to your right…at the end of the hallway," the woman says nervously and in a sigh of relief watches the shinobi flicker over.
The doors burst open and the daimyo frowns slightly. The ANBU drops to both knees, "Please forgive our interruption."
"But we're here to discuss our treaty," Kakashi says.
"I was just in the middle of discussing such a thing with your shinobi counterparts," the daimyo says in a cryptic voice, "Take a seat."
The Konoha shinobi comply and Rin glances around at the two Iwa shinobi, one Suna shinobi, and four Kumo shinobi. The daimyo takes an exceptionally long sip of tea before looking accusingly at the Konoha shinobi, "What good timing. I was getting tired. All of you: leave. We will resume our pointless talks later. For now, my servants will show you to quarters I have prepared. Fighting is prohibited in the Land of Iron, especially here in an internationally shared area. Any fighting will result in the immediate termination of your contract and the privilege of getting iron from this deposit ever again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, sir," a murmur throughout the room sounds.
"Dinner is in one hour. I expect," the daimyo looks disdainfully at the ANBU garb, "Better attire for dinner. Dismissed."
A snicker ripples through the other shinobi and Rin sends them a dark glare. Someone mutters something about 'ooh, scary kunoichi' but they leave before Rin can identify and throttle them. The Konoha shinobi are led to their room with four futons that lay over pristine tatami mats. The shinobi change into more formal attire and Rin is floored by Kosari's transformation.
Here, Rin had thought that Kakashi and Gai looked dashing in dark blue yukata with black stitching of reeds on the hems, but Kosari wears a dark blue kimono without long sleeves, in matching color with Kakashi's, but with a glowing river that wound its way around her back, over her shoulder, and down to her ankles. Small red flowers grew on the thick reeds that sprouted at the banks. The wide cloth at her waist is in sharp color contrast with the dark blue: it's a red background with thin lines of yellow thread outlining a series of puffy white, red, and orange flowers with dark green-grey leaves adorning the flowers sparsely. Pure white toe socks are slipped over her feet and she holds a pair of formal wooden shoes. Kosari had applied minimal makeup, simply making her face a few shades lighter since she was a shade darker than Kakashi, and pale pink coloring to her lips. The dark circles around her eyes were gone after applying a liberal amount of makeup. Her hair was washed and free of the dark matter that Rin had a feeling was blood, brushed, dried, and pulled back in a loose bun.
Gai frowns, "Where did…Kosari go?"
Kosari tugs uncomfortably at the necklace around her neck. Pearls, pure white, catch the light and glimmer as if they were still in the ocean. "I am right here, Maito-san."
"Y-you! You have Kosari's voice! Where is she?!" Gai grips her with a concerning amount of force.
"Let go," Kakashi says, closing his book and standing to leave, "You're holding Kosari."
"What?" Gai looks at his Eternal Rival with confusion, "But…"
"We cannot be late," Kosari pushes him away and slips on her shoes at the doorway and begins to walk slowly towards the dining hall. Rin looks at her own clothes, a simple smart suit that matches the two purple rectangles on her face under her lab coat and low slick black heels. Kosari takes a step too hastily and trips and begins to tumble towards the ground. Rin catches her with a worried expression.
The ANBU gives her an ANBU smile, "I am fine."
Rin has an inkling that Kosari is absolutely not fine, but Kakashi opens the door to the dining hall that is silent enough that the drop of a pin would be deafening, but so thick with a tense and heated atmosphere that even Kakashi is having a hard time remaining calm and collected.
At the corner of the table, right across from the seats that the Konoha shinobi take, are several silver-haired men wearing suits and blue ties, glancing at Kakashi and Kosari every so often and murmuring. Out of sheer boredom and after Rin snatches his lovely book away, Kakashi decides to eavesdrop on the people across the table. To his surprise, he understands not a single word of what they say. Perhaps a code?
"Good," the daimyo appears out of nowhere, "This is an international meeting, a peaceful one, so it makes no sense to me for you all to have come wearing your country's respective clothing, especially if you have come to represent your country in words already."
The doors at the back burst open and servants come out with cart after cart of food. Chicken, beef, pork, fish, and duck are braised, fried, steamed, and boiled in various seasonings along with seasonal vegetables. Within half an hour, the food is gone; flesh picked from all the bones until they sparkle white and not even a morsel of vegetable is to be spoken of. Desert in the form of fruit is served and that, too, is devoured.
Only then does one speak up, "The fish was dry and under seasoned."
Everyone's heads whip to the source of overindulgence and disrespect to a boy, around ten, with a scowl and his arms crossed. His black eyes and messy slightly curly black hair glare at his plate with a fish nearly untouched. The daimyo looks at the child carefully, "And who are you?"
"I am Korohi, from Kumogakure," the boy says sharply. "After coming all this way, I would've expected better from you, daimyo-sama," his voice drips with sarcasm at the honorific, "After all, part of this international deal with the five countries is that you get half of the profit from all weapons sales like kunai or shuriken. You're swimming in money, drowning even, but," the boy stabs the fish with a deep black kunai and the plate breaks in two neat halves, "It seems your fish are high and dry."
The boy sighs with a small smile, "Perhaps it's because of this ugly cesspool that you've gotten all of the nations to kiss your ass? I saw a fish that looked like this one swimming about in those murky and metallic waters. Are you feeding us poisonous fish?" a gleam that Kakashi does not like shines in his black eyes, "You're too easy to read, daimyo-sama. You wanted to feed us poisonous fish, killing at least one of us who ate too much, and have their respective village blame the other villages for killing one of their own. War would eventually break out since all these Kage are too proud and you'd make even more money from the sudden demand for materials for smiths to make kunai and shuriken and such from. Well, maybe you do need the money. You only had five samurai at the main gates and two at the other eastern gate. As to why you need money if you somehow aren't making enough of a profit from all of your, how shall I put this, benefactors, is beyond me. And, I don't care. Come clean, and I won't slice that shortsighted head of yours off," the boy smiles and makes two crescents with his eyes at the daimyo.
Hound stands up, "Daimyo-sama, is this true? If it is, this is a violation of your contract with all five nations. Please," she smiles sweetly at him and his traitorous heart skips a beat at the young woman, "speak up."
"N-no, of course not!" the daimyo insists.
"Then why is your heart rate increasing?" Rin asks and narrows her eyes.
"It isn't!" the daimyo cries, feeling the aura of killer intent growing in the room from the various shinobi.
Hound materializes in front of him, slams him against the wall, grips his collar in one hand, and feels his pulse with the other, "I'd trust Konoha's top medic, Nohara Rin, who saved countless lives on the battlefield, including Hatake Kakashi, the famous Copy Ninja behind me. Please don't lie, daimyo-sama. I promise I'll protect you from Korohi-san if you just tell me," she says in a low voice.
"Y-you will?" he asks, his face heating up despite the slow tightening around his neck.
"Of course," she says and bats her eyelashes, "Anything for you, daimyo-sama."
The man tries to suppress a sick grin and fails. Kakashi quietly gnashes his teeth as angry lightning is just beneath the surface of his hands, itching to kill the man.
"Yeah, the fish, they were from the iron deposits," the daimyo admits, "There…I said it. You said you'd do anything for me, so meet me tonight, alone…"
Kosari's smile fades and in a clear voice states, "Daimyo of the Land of Iron, for the attempted murder of international representatives of the five shinobi countries and violation of your contract with countries therein, are formally sentenced to death by evisceration."
"H-hey, e-evisceration?!" the daimyo begins to scream and thrash, but remains futilely pinned to the wall with her single, smooth, light arm.
"Yes, daimyo-sama," she says formally, "As an ANBU, we do not acknowledge last words as valid," and the moment her words leave her mouth, the man is stabbed and sliced several times in the stomach and he can only scream in indescribable pain and horror. His eyes bug out of his face when he sees his intestines freely hanging out of his now open and heavily bleeding abdomen cavity. Her arms arc and he is sliced in half before she finally runs a kunai through his neck, destroying his larynx and ability to breathe.
Ironically, the last thing he tastes after coughing and blood gurgling from his mouth is the iron from her kunai.
Blood had spurted across nearly the entire room and the ANBU is covered in it. Pure calm exudes from the woman who'd just killed a dignitary and she turns around to look at her fellow shinobi, not just her own Konoha shinobi.
"Now, who ate the fish?" she asks slowly. The odd faces she is being given by the other shinobi baffle Hound. Some eyes are wide, some eyes are narrowed, some brows are furrowed, some brows are raised, and a few, particularly the Iwa shinobi who'd felt her hair earlier, take a few steps back. Hound repeats herself, "Who ate the fish? Please hurry and speak up; you have a short time until treatment is useless and you die of iron poisoning. I cannot take responsibility if war breaks out. If it does, I would hate to see any of you as my enemy," Hound bows deeply.
"I did," a Suna shinobi says.
"So did I," an Iwa shinobi quivers.
"Me too," a Kumo shinobi says.
"Nohara-san, please start treatment immediately," Hound says, "The rest of you please return to your rooms. Diplomatic discussions will be delayed until notice of the daimyo's demise reaches our respective Kage, however."
The shinobi, shaken and shocked by Hound's lack of hesitation and pure control during the execution of the daimyo, leave as quickly as they can and clamber and nearly stampede one another to get away from the Konoha assassin. Gai shifts over to Kakashi, who kneels by Rin and offers her chakra to help speed up the extraction and healing processes. He doesn't look at Kakashi's sister and a bead of sweat runs down his face. Scarier than when I saw Kakashi on his mission…I felt no paralyzing killer intent from her but I couldn't move or look away when she killed the daimyo. And…why didn't Kakashi stop her? He could've simply been put to trial, especially with the numerous witnesses to his confession.
The ANBU sheds her kimono and reveals a simple black turtleneck and black pants. She shoves her pearl necklace in her pocket and ties her Konoha hitai-ate loosely around her neck. She winces slightly, feeling someone staring at her. Her eyes slide over to the doorway and sees Korohi leaning against the wall with one leg bent and his arms crossed. He eyes Rin for a moment. Then he gazes at the ANBU warily with grudging respect, "And here I thought all Konoha shinobi were weak."
The ANBU says nothing. It's Konoha's strategy, after all. Underestimation is an invaluable tool. The boy didn't ask a question, so she has no answer. The boy makes a face, as if annoyed she didn't respond.
"And you're not. How come?" he asks impatiently.
"Are you asking why Konoha shinobi defy the preconception of weakness, or are you asking about how your assumption that Konoha shinobi are weak was incorrect?" she responds. Normally, under any other circumstances, she would ignore a subordinate, especially one from a different village, but he was a great help in making sure she wasn't attacked or berated for killing the daimyo. He saved her time and energy and she was grateful. As thanks, he deserves an answer to his query to an older and much more experienced shinobi.
"No," he says, his scowl lessening a bit at her reply and she can see respect, a tiny flicker, blossoming, "I'm asking about you. How are you not weak, unlike your oblivious fellow Konoha shinobi?"
Hound looks up at the ceiling for a moment, "I'm an Elite Jounin, among other things. The higher in rank you get, the more you are forced to sacrifice. Being able to hold yourself together and cherish your remaining precious things even after your most precious things are taken before you can blink or cry is my answer. Still," she looks at him with an unreadable expression, "I wouldn't expect you to understand loss yet. You're still quite young; only nine, or ten, correct?"
"I'll be ten in December, two months away," he says.
Hound nods, "A Genin like you should prepare to lose someone you care about, though. It's inevitable, especially with the Chuunin Exams coming in a little over a year."
Korohi's eyes widen, "How did you know I was a Genin?"
Hound would've smiled and chuckled and patted his head if he didn't strike her as a serious boy. Kumo shinobi through and through, I suppose. Instead, she keeps a straight face, but her eyes soften sadly, "I saw your hitai-ate in your pocket. That, and the kunai you used, a darker and more iron-concentrated kunai for better electrical conduction to compliment the higher incidence of raiton shinobi in the Land of Lightning, is of Kumogakure origin," she pulls out her own Konoha kunai, "Look closely," she holds one kunai in each hand, "This lighter colored one is made of two metals, iron and steel, for better conduction of heat for katon jutsu in the Land of Fire. And yours," she allows an electrical current to flow through both of them, "Allows for my chakra to be better conducted, as you can observe from the way it is more evenly distributed throughout the metal, instead of the concentration at the hilt and one side of the kunai."
And she is right. Her lightning is evenly being released from the entire surface of the Kumo kunai, rather than her own Konoha kunai. The boy looks at the kunai in wonder before a frown appears on his face, "Where did you get that Kumo kunai?"
"Your holster," she replies.
"When?" he demands, his frown growing deeper.
"When you were looking at Nohara-san," Hound says. As a Genin, you should pay more attention when shinobi, especially foreign ones, are around you. At this rate, you'll lose everyone you care about before you even reach the Exams.
The boy scowls deeply at her and turns away from her with a 'hmph'.
"For your lack of awareness, I will be keeping this kunai," Hound says, keeping a smile from her face. This…warmness in my chest…why do I feel this?
"What?" the boy cries and his face dons a look of scandal. "No way! Give it back!" Korohi makes a grab for the kunai in her hand, but she simply sidesteps, too quickly for him to see. He whirls around with a leg raised for a roundhouse kick, but she simply ducks under him and pokes him roughly in the stomach. Shocked, he stops and clutches his soft flesh with a wince and falls on his behind. His face burns red with humiliation and he glares harshly at her.
"Well, you can have my kunai. From the chakra residue on this, I can faintly sense that you have a katon affinity," she holds the Kumo kunai in her hand delicately, "Which would be better complimented by a Konoha kunai. I have a raiton affinity, so having a Kumogakure kunai would be ideal."
The boy eyes her with a critical eye, "Affinity?"
Hound looks at him seriously, contemplating if she owes him more favors. I've already said way too much. "Please read about that in the library when you return to your village. Thank you for this, Korohi-san. Good night," she says and plucks him up from the ground with two fingers, staining blood on the back of his collar, drops him outside the dining hall, and shuts the door.
"H-hey!" Korohi grips the door and tries to unlock it, only for strange black markings to snake around the lock. "Open up!" He bangs on the door—
"Korohi," a man says from behind him, sharply.
Korohi turns around, "C-sensei…"
"What are you doing, talking to a damn Konoha shinobi like that?" C roughly grabs his arm with a furious look on his face and drags him away from the door, "I don't want you to talk to those weak Konoha shinobi without my supervision again. Kami knows you'll spill all our village secrets."
Korohi grit his teeth, but says nothing. They're not weak, at least…Korohi mentally curses himself. Truly, she isn't. She even got my name, my kunai, and my 'affinity', whatever that its. All I got was her rank and something about raiton jutsu and information about kunai and chakra distribution.
That night, Korohi stares up at the ceiling in his room while C sleeps soundly. Do Konoha shinobi act weak…on purpose? Is secrecy their specialty? Is that why I didn't get any information, while she got a ton of information on me? Still, he can't help a small smile, even though it twists into a smirk, from forming on his face. I can't wait for those Chuunin Exams. The next one is in Konoha and she's a Konoha shinobi, so I'll probably see her. Just you wait, Elite Jounin.
"Hokage-sama, urgent report!" a woman from the Decoding Division runs into the man's office. "It's from an ANBU called Hound."
She hands the scroll over and Hiruzen hunches over intently, his eyes narrowed at the lines of ink.
Hokage-sama—
It seems that Kumogakure and Iwagakure were not the only ones with malicious intent. The daimyo of the Land of Iron had served fish from the iron deposit, which nearly killed three shinobi from iron poisoning after ingesting it. Should they have died, blame would be placed on the other attending villages, and war would break out. This war would cause an increase in the demand for weapons and, directly, iron. The daimyo knew this and purposefully tried to poison and turn all of the shinobi against one another for his own profit due to a weakening economy. However, he quickly admitted to this attempted murder and necessary action was taken. The daimyo left with no second-in-command, so I ask you of how to proceed. The other shinobi have already sent word of this to their respective Kage.
—Hound.
Hiruzen sighed and turned around his chair, taking a very deep breath from his pipe.
"Hokage-sama, it seems that Hound wishes for a quick reply," the woman says.
"I know," Hiruzen says tiredly. He takes up his brush and a sheet of paper and places weights on the paper, as thick as cloth. His gnarled fingers are quick to ink out a reply and he waits a moment for it to dry, "Here," he hands the paper to her and she quickly takes it back to another part of the Hokage tower to code and send out on a hawk.
Hiruzen shakes his head in dismay, having a bad feeling about where his Jounin and ANBU were. He stands and begins to walk out of the tower.
"Hokage-sama?" his secretary furrows his brows.
"I'm just taking a walk," Hiruzen says and descends down the stairs outside. He hopes that the somewhat chilly breeze will take his mind off of what he'd just read, but it hardly helps. The Hokage shuffles to a nostalgic building for all shinobi of Konoha. He spies a bench where another person is sitting and takes a seat beside the man.
The two men lean back on the old wooden bench and watch the Academy students finish up practicing their shuriken accuracy and spars.
"How long have you been sitting here?" Hiruzen asks after a while.
'Not long,' the man signs in ANBU code.
"How is Sasuke?" Hiruzen looks over at his old friend with his very messy ink-black hair and black eyes wearing a black yukata with a red and white fan stitched on carefully.
'Good. Still the best, but he has competition,' he signs back.
Hiruzen's eyes crinkle upwards when he sees Sasuke thrown to the ground by a boy with bright red hair and soft blue eyes. Sasuke lunges at the boy and lands a punch, only for smoke to engulf him.
"Uzumaki Naruto, huh?" Hiruzen muses, "That boy is so much like his father."
Kagami frowns slightly but doesn't say anything for a moment. Then his face darkens, 'I saw the hawk. Is everything alright?'
Hiruzen looks up at the tree that provides both men reprise from the sun, "Three of my Elite Jounin and my top medic are in the Land of Iron, making sure Kumo and Iwa don't take our stake for iron deposits. The Land of Iron's economy is weakening, so the daimyo concocted a plan to bring in revenue: he tried to start a war by attempting to kill the attending shinobi and have them blame one another. His plan was ruined when he admitted to attempted murder and, as my ANBU put it, 'necessary action was taken'. I had hoped for better. But, the ANBU didn't say that war was going to break out, so at least this generation's Genin will be safe from war."
Kagami knows his friend better than Danzo knows Hiruzen, 'I doubt a happy ending like that is what's truly bothering you. But, I won't pry. You know where to find me if you need to talk.'
"Dismissed," the Chuunin teacher says and the students disperse.
Sasuke catches sight of Kagami and walks a little faster. The Uchiha boy looks at his Hokage, "Hokage-sama," and bows.
"Sasuke-kun," Hiruzen replies with a small smile, "It looked like you had quite the competition back there."
Sasuke glances over at two blue orbs boring holes into him and glares, "What do you want, Naruto?"
"Rematch?" Naruto smiles, his hands in his pockets as he walks over to the three.
Sasuke crosses his arms with a smirk, "Fine. Get ready to lose."
"Let's go to the training grounds," Naruto turns on a heel, "Last one there buys the other dinner!" and Naruto is gone. Sasuke gasps before sprinting away, bringing a smile to the two old men's faces.
"Just…make sure Sasuke enjoys his childhood," Hiruzen gets up and begins to walk away. He doesn't have to look back to know that Kagami will take that to heart.
A/N: I hope you enjoyed this! Please review, if you have the time. And, any spelling mistakes, criticism, questions, or comments will be highly appreciated!