I'm convinced this chapter hates me. It took so many drafts to get something I could remotely consider posting and uuuugh! I'm sorry for the wait and the sad excuse for a fight scene! Thank you everyone for your support!
~Enjoy
Tsunade had a problem. Rather she had a series of seemingly unrelated quandaries that gave her the sinking feeling that they all funneled into one much larger problem. The Hokage had learned nothing inf to trust her gut when it plummeted the way it currently was.
She sighed steaming up a small space of the window directly behind her desk. Mounds of paperwork served as hedging around the workplace. The piles were sorted from domestic to inter-village then pressing to downright pointless. They had been organized by Shizune. She left four folders neatly laid out on her desk. Tsunade turned from the window pulling her seat away from the desk fluidly, She picked up her brush and took a knew ink block from a drawer.
The folder farthest to her left made little noise as she slide it towards her. It held all the uptodate data she had from Jiraiya's final mission. There was a new enemy she need to research and a lot of empty spaces she needed to fill. Jiraiya left behind clues for her now it was a matter of how quickly she could piece it all together.
"I'll handle this one after the meeting." she murmured pushing the folder back to it's corner. Her focus shifted to the right side. Her eyes slipped over the folder she knew it was to early in the day to handle just yet. "Two folders, huh," she glared at the newly titled Uchiha 's file. There was a highly skilled, kunoichi working on her staff. Said kunoichi was well liked by the her over all shinobi force and was close friends with a number of the high ranking shinobi under her charge. A smirk played over the fifty-one year olds mouth. "Credit should be give where it is do. Chi is a proving to be more cunning than I originally thought." Tsunade laughed softly. She thought over how all of them had been taught to look underneath the underneath yet people like Chi still managed to exist. Secrets well kept.
She flipped open the file marked 'Chi'. It was more obviously updated file on the woman considering the size of it. The first document held the standard information required of a Konoha soldier. He name, with no surname, age: nineteen, along with her shinobi skill set, and mission's completed by rank. Tsunade read over the brief description of the other female while comparing it to her photograph that was clipped to the top of the page. All of it seemed to be in order. But now Tsunade had reason to doubt some of the information was either half truths or entirely smudged.
"Nothing out of the ordinary. There's nothing that even indicates this woman is-" She stopped short when she noticed an official, non-mission related, document beneath various reports poke out. "Is that..." Moving the other papers to the other side of the folder she looked down at what she knew to be a housing petition. "When did she put this in?" Tsunade's mouth set in a grim line. She checked back to the front information page noting the last listed address to be an apartment a few streets over from, previously thought to be abandoned, Uchiha compound. The petition was for her to live in the compound and allow for renovations.
The Godime searched the document over finding her predecessor's signature and it dated to be four years after the massacre. Tsunade glared at the paper beneath stippled fingertips.
"Shizune!" She called. The younger woman rushed into the room.
"Yes milady?" She switched Tonton in her arms concern for his superior deep in her face.
"Send word to Izumo and Kotetsu that should a woman name Chi try to enter the village she is to be sent straight to TI." Shizune's eyes widened.
"For course my lady but Chi...what did she do?" Shizune bowed almost regretting the question when she took in Tsunade's darkened expression.
"I'm not sure yet."
The sounds of metal scraping against metal seared against the Uchiha's ears. Warm blood dripped down their faces congealing into darkened globs against the cool air. They felt it sluggishly slide off on their fists making the blades, already slick with sweat, nearly impossible to keep a grip on.
"It's a shame it's come to this," Itachi heard his sister across the room snear. "But I have a family to protect, Zetsu and you're becoming a hindrance to their safety." He was fighting his own formidable Zetsu blindly attempting to maneuver the struggle closer to Chi. He was not certain which half of Zetsu he was battling though judging by the lack of commentary he assumed it was the black portion.
'Chi how are you holding up?' Itachi felt his back his the rough rock wall. He could sense his Zetsu directly to his three o'clock. Twisting, he lunged forward Kunai in hand. Working with chakra signatures alone Itachi could only estimate that his blade made a fatal plunge before jerking it up violently.
"TCAK!" Itachi's body suddenly slammed into the metal railing of the singular bed. It made a screeching noise as it slid back from the force of impact. Itachi's head throbbed. He could feel a nice bruise forming where the railings were still pressed into his back. Fumbling for a moment Itachi held tight to the cold steel to push himself up fighting the sudden vertigo. He could hear his Zetsu yank the blade from his chest. Itachi knew the injury was less than a flesh wound for the plant man but it would make him slow enough for Itachi to flip the bed and use it as minor block. He pushed the bed hoping it would hit it's mark as he rushed across the room towards Chi.
"A family?" the white Zetsu snickered "You're younger brother is gone and you older brother," Itachi had no time to brace for the hard slam he suddenly took to the ribs. "Well he'll be better off than you." Zetsu taunted.
"The hell! You FUCKIN-" Chi's swear was cut off by a sickening thud that echoed in the hallway. Itachi gritted his teeth against the pain coursing through his body.
'Damnit!' Itachi shimmied the last of his kunai down his sleeve. He listened to Zetsu's foot steps in scrap into the hall. 'I've got one chance.' Carefully Itachi edged towards the wall keeping an ear out for the creatures darker counterpart. Reaching into the wrappings around his thigh he slipped out a stiff parchment and attached it to the end of the Kunai. Running forward, Itachi activated the explosive stabbing it deep into Zetsu then sling shotting around him to grab Chi.
"'Bout...time." She croaked. Itachi pictured the cocky smirk on his sisters face. Itachi rounded the corner just in time to escape the brunt of the the explosion. They pair listened to the tunnel collapse behind the.
"Just wait until I can see you." Itachi chuckled hitching slightly as the pain every where reasserted itself. "Ugh. We can't stay here. Wherever "here" is." Gently Itachi placed CHi on her feet. Her own head was ablaze with pain. Between the contact with the wall and the surgery her body felt like an eggshell waiting to crack. Chi moved to run her hands over the walls. Itachi followed behind her with one hand firmly on her right shoulder, the other skimming the wall.
"Give me a second." Chi said softly, "All the afternoons spent walking around here with my eyes closed are about to pay off!" When everyone was still around they used to tease her for it. At any given moment they could find her fumbling about the endless tunnels tapping and marking various spots "for good measure." Coming from a family that was prone to sight loss, however it made pure common sense to her. "Should we do this right; it'll be two lefts and one right to get outside towards the north." Itachi smiled squeezing Chi's shoulder.
"Lead the way taichou."
"Did you hear that?!" Konan's body bolted upright, rigid. The earth around them shook with a intense aftershock.
"Yeah." Nagato breathed. The epicenter of if it felt to be somewhere close to their old headquarters. The Peins around them tensed.
"An enemy?" The pair sat quietly, senses flared for any indicators. But there was nothing. No more sounds came in the tense silence.
"Must have been a rock slide." Nagato supplied flimsily. They shared a look. Konan looked back towards the direction of the thunderous noise. A sinking feeling was shaping into a lead ball in the Ame woman's stomach. Something was going to interfere with their plans. Her amber eyes watched her only form of family from their corners. He was concentrated on a detailed dirt map.
Something was going to intervene, and she was not sure if it would prevail good or bad for them. What if the attack went horribly wrong? What if by some freak chance Nagato was killed? Konan's throat constricted.
'What am I doing?' She berated herself, shaking her head. 'Nagato took on sensei. He's go the Peins and me!' She reassured in her mind. Konan moved to sit next to the red head. He looked up through his hair.
"Do you...Can you show me how to make one of your shuriken?" He asked suddenly. Konan smiled softly. A smile only he was ever gifted now.
"Sure." She pulled a plain pair of papers from her pouch and scooted closer to him.
Telling naruto was painful. Tsunade felt like she had betrayed the other blond. There was no other way to define the instant shock, that quickly deteriorated into rage she saw in her adopted grandson's eyes. She understood though. Almost condoned it considering she still felt rotted and hollow personally.
half of her mind told her to visit Naruto. The half that still operated like a field ninja. The dutiful side, on the other hand, was the side she lent her ear to. It was the side that kept her in her study instead of racing off to wallow in her hurt with the teenager. She kept a decent sized tissue box next to her warmed sake jug. In front of her was the drying death certificate of the man she know realize she had fallen in love with.
"Heh, just me and Orochimaru now." she slurred out loud. "God knows he'll outlive me." Tsunade sighed at her own cynicism. She pulled out the picture of the code Lord Fukasaku had let her take. Jiraiya's last efforts burned into the back of the sage toad. She recognized the "ta" at the start of the code. Aside from that she could not fathom for the life of her what any of the numbers represented.
"I should probably tell Shikamaru that's not a nine." another long-suffering-sigh escaped her lips. She dropped the picture picking up her sake cup in it's favour. The mouthful of alcohol burned away the ache from her throat. She rubbed her tired, swollen eyes. "Code, autopsy, Uchihas." Tsunade listed off. Laying down on the desk she untucked the other folders that had made themselves a constant presence in her life as of late. She opened the outwardly empty folder labeled "Uchiha Chi". What greeted her sobered the Hokage rapidly.
"What?" Dead center of the file was a seal. Once with distinct style and high complexity. "Danzo." She hissed sitting up once more. She leaned over the seal determining it would only open to the war hawk's blood. Of course. Tsunade dropped that folder and reached for her jug. "Code, autopsy, Uchiha, Danzo ." A migraine edged her thoughts. She looked over to the clock on the wall. By it's time she had not slept for nearly twenty-four hours. That used to be nothing.
Itachi pulled his wife close. Somehow they had managed to wander a ways into the surrounding forest of the recently vacated Akatsuki hideout. Thankfully the explosion proved to be enough to keep Zetsu away from the siblings. At least for a limited time. Itachi would bet his new eyes that the botanical creature was long on it's way to report to Madara.
Regardless, Chi had successfully guided them out of the cave system. No they were huddled between thick vegetation under a thin blanket Chi had snatched from a room during their escape. Itachi could tell it was late into the night. Even the nocturnal animals had settled down and there was a lucidity to the air in the cool of the darkness.
That very atmospheric clarity was stirring anxiety in the elder Uchiha's gut. Itachi was not overly familiar with the sensation of being nervous but he recognized the welling churning in his chest quickly.
He was going back to his birth home. He was going back not as an enemy or a threatening reminder of precarious agreements. He was returning as a proud shinobi of the Leaf. He would finally be able to people he once called comrades in the eyes again and say "I did it for the village." Or could he? His crime was more than heinous. He was not naive enough to expect readily available acceptance. Why should they not harbor hatred towards him. His family was not exactly ever on good graces with Konohagakure.
Itachi's musings were interrupted by a building pain in his bicep. He realized Chi was pinching him hard enough to leave a little scar.
"You're thinking too loudly." Her voice was muffled. He moved his free hand to feel the furrow of her brow and the disapproving turn of her soft lips. He pictured the expression deeming it adorable for past experiences with a freshly woken Chi.
"Sorry." He chuckled softly pushing her bangs out of her face. "I'm just..."
"Unsure everyone will accept you back?" She finished confidently. She pushed herself off his chest only to sit up straighter before leaning back into his warmth. Itachi could hear the grit of her teeth in her voice. Her body radiated soreness and underlying pain.
"They won't. Not right away." If ever. He added was a pop of a bottle then the feeling of a small pill pressed into his palm.
"For the pain." Chi brusquely supplied. "Naruto will." Her voice softened. Itachi thought of his more recent encounter with the Uzumaki. "Kakashi and Tenzo will take sometime. But the truth has great power in out life style." Itachi leaned his head on top of hers.
"Last time I saw Kakashi," Itachi swallowed the pain killer dry. "he seemed to have cultivated a genuine hate towards me. It will be difficult to dissuade him."
"Difficult but not impossible, dearest." She took his hand in her's entwining their fingers. "Forgiveness is still a thing. A particularly powerful thing I might add." She placed a kiss along his jaw. "We'll save our little bratty otouto, and restore faith in the Uchiha's. Now sleep. It's my shift."
A smile ghosted over Itachi's mouth. Hope was not as a familiar feeling as nervousness was to Itachi but it always lingered in his heart especially when he looked to the future. More so now that he had one. Slipping into sleep Itachi wondered if was all too good to be true.