Five months later...
As much as Kana wanted to hate her clan for being a bunch of twisted ritual-obsessed freaks, she had to admit that her ancestors had come up with some pretty nifty tricks in the last few hundred years. Her eyes scanned each and every page of the heavy tome she held in her lap, hungrily memorizing techniques and jutsu while simultaneously transcribing them into various scrolls and blank books. She honestly wished that she had something akin to the Sharingan just so she could copy all of the information into her head without needing to study the diagrams and explanations.
What she found particularly interesting was how the page she was currently on explained how one could combine both types of chakra and store it in a single point on their body. Kana had heard of this level of chakra control before, with the most famous user being Lady Tsunade herself, but the possibilities surrounding that achievement would be endless. There were so many yin and yang releases that she could release in combat both in offensive and defensive maneuvers that the thought left Kana feeling both dizzy and excited.
There was a loud bang that snapped Kana out of her musings – she jerked her head up and whipped it around to see another Anbu member stumbling between the rows of bunks. Her codename was Haru, and the bang must have been her slamming the door open.
Judging by the way she favored her right leg, Haru must have been injured on whatever mission she was coming back from so Kana shut the tome and stuffed it into her bag with the scrolls, performing a quick fuinjutsu for safety purposes. She pushed herself off of her bunk and rushed over just in time to catch her comrade from face planting straight into the floor.
"Thanks," she gasped.
Kana shook her head, "Don't worry about it. Shower or bed?"
"Bed."
Scooping Haru up bridal style, she rose to a standing position and carried her over to the bunk that neighbored her own, gently setting her down before turning her attention to the blood splatters soaking through the dark pant fabric.
Kana looked up sheepishly, "Can I try out a new technique on you?"
Haru peered down at her suspiciously for a moment before shrugging and draping an arm over her eyes, "Just don't blow ma leg off."
Despite not laughing, she could hear the intended humor in her comrade's voice and Kana couldn't help but smile as she turned back to her backpack and pulled out the notebook she had designated medical ninjutsu to; she quickly flipped to a specific page and set it on the floor next to her for reference.
"Hey…" Haru murmured, "Can you talk to me?"
Kana looked up quizzically at first, and then understood what was going on when she saw the deep-set frown on the woman's tanned face. "Of course," she answered gently while focusing some of her white chakra to her fingertips, and healing chakra to the other in case she messed up.
"Now… I don't think I'll blow your leg off, but I've only been working with this for about seven months I'm not that… Proficient," Kana admitted. She had been focusing so much on the offensive side of her kekkei tota that she had lagged behind in her medical ninjutsu. "But I'm getting the hang of things pretty quickly. Honestly I just kind of wish I had my old eyes back."
Haru peeked out from under her elbow, "I dunno, I kinda like 'em. Make ya look like some sorta fairy, with that hair of yours. How'd loverboy take it?"
"How do you know about…?"
She rolled her eyes and tucked her face back under her arm, "How many people in Konoha look like a fairy? And ain't he a part of the Hokage Guard Platoon? Ya stick out like a sore thumb. You two are kinda a power couple."
Kana tilted her down to hide the blush that tinted her cheeks, feeling the last of the torn muscles and chipped bone regenerate beneath her fingers, "Ah… Well… He hasn't really said anything about them, honestly. I guess they glow brighter with stronger emotions, so he sometimes jokes about how I'm going to blind him, but he hasn't said much other than that…"
She ended up prattling on about Raido for the next couple of minutes as Kana worked over her injuries. It was late at night, maybe eleven or twelve, but the Anbu barracks were always having people coming and going so neither women bothered with looking up when the door opened again.
At least, they didn't look up until the whispering began.
"Isn't that a Root guy?" someone asked. His buddy snapped his book shut and followed to where he pointed.
"Yeah… What's a guy like him doing here?"
Someone else whispered something about him being away from home, and another mentioned how he had taken a wrong turn somewhere. Towards the back corner of the barrack there was a catcall that was immediately shushed.
Kana's eyes narrowed and her muscles tensed when she realized that the Root member was looking straight at her as he closed the distance between them. He was maybe four inches taller than Kana and wore an all black outfit composed of some sort of long black coat, black pants and the standard black cropped jacket with red straps for Root. The most striking feature, though, was his black mask covering everything but the tip of his nose and his mouth.
He looked intimidating as fuck, in short.
Still, she cut off the chakra flow to her hands and rose to her feet to face the man squarely after tucking her notes away.
"Captain Tsuki?" his voice was deep but had kind of a weird creepy vibe to it that made Kana's skin crawl. Root Foundation members were typically raised to be emotionless, from what little they knew, and their social skills definitely suffered because of it.
"Can I help you?"
The Root agent reached into one of his pouches and pulled out a small envelop with a familiar looking seal holding it shut, "Lord Danzo requests your immediate audience."
More whispers ensued.
She took the envelope from his gloved hand and channeled enough chakra into it so that the seal broke, pulling out a plain white slip of paper with a short message that was basically exactly what the goggled shinobi has just said. except it was signed and sealed personally by the village elder.
Her brow furrowed as Kana folded the message back into the envelope and tucked it away into her pocket. When she reached for her flak jacket and gear, the agent raised his hand and shook his head, "It was requested that you come unarmed," he said flatly.
'Danzo doesn't request shit,' the kunoichi thought grimly as she picked up her white captain's cloak and swung it over muscled shoulders before yanking her cloth mask up.
The whispers gained a sense of uneasiness at the bizarre situation – it was never, ever requested that a shinobi ever be without their ninja tools and weapons unless they were being "Escorted" to some place private to be officially arrested.
"Captain?" one of the newer recruits called, concern laced in his voice.
Kana slipped her forehead protector on and let her eyes flit from person to person, "Don't worry about me, nothing's wrong," she said, keeping her voice steady and authoritative. One by one shoulders loosened up, but the room still gave the pair wary looks as they exited the barracks.
A cool gust of wind blew through the open breezeway of Root, but that wasn't why Kana had to force back a shudder. When she walked through the Leaf, she always felt safe – the village always had a warm and friendly vibe. As she navigated the dark labyrinth of the Anbu branch's base, led by the goggled agent that had remained silent the entire time, Kana couldn't help but feel cold and unwelcomed.
They took a staircase that felt as if it went on forever before approaching a set of large metal double doors that were guarded by two Root members in black cloaks. There were torches on either wall and Kana couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason the old man insisted on not taking advantage of modern electricity.
"Lord Danzo is right through these doors," her escort said plainly.
'Eugh, everything about this place sucks,' she thought to herself as she pushed her way through one of the heavy doors, 'What the hell does Danzo, of all people, want from me?'
This must have been some sort of meeting chamber, because the room was almost completely empty with the exception of one wooden throne-like chair sitting atop a raised platform. Of course, Danzo sat in that throne – but it was her commander kneeling before him that caught Kana by surprise.
She swiftly crossed the room and kneeled just behind and to the right of her superior officer, tilting her head down, "Lord Danzo, you summoned me?"
"Miss Shimi you are aware of the events that lead up to the Uchiha Clan's downfall, correct?"
'Holy shit, don't beat around the bush or anything,' she thought dryly. Kana knew that her answer could make this conversation go bad, or really bad, so she chose her words carefully as she spoke, "I understand that Itachi Uchiha had been facing mental instability and snap-"
"Do not lie to me, child!" Danzo barked, causing Kana to bite her lip to keep herself from flinching.
Wrong choice of words, she decided with an inward sighed, "Lord Hokage explained the situation to me the night Itachi left the village, yes."
In front of her, the commander shifted uncomfortably.
"And you know of his current predicament?"
The vision of Itachi stifling a cough never ceased to gnaw at her heart, but how the council member was aware of her meeting with Itachi was something that made Kana very, very nervous."Yes, Lord Danzo."
"From what I've heard, you have also recently fully unlocked kekkei tota as well."
Her commander shifted again, and Kana could see a large amount of tension in his shoulders as the conversation continued, "Yes sir. It activated a couple of days after Sasuke Uchiha left the village."
She heard fabric rustle as Danzo stood from his throne, cane ticking against the stone floor when he leaned onto it. "As it stands, Itachi will not live to see more than a year and a half," he said coldly.
Ice gripped Kana by the heart, and she suddenly desperately wished she had brought her full mask with her – she had been lulled into a sense of security by being hidden in the mountains that housed both factions of Anbu, and left it in the barracks.
"He has approached Hiruzen and myself multiple times over the last few years for relatively routine check-ins, and has recently informed me that his illness has progressed to its next stage. His involvement with the Akatsuki is more than vital to the safety of our village, and a loss such as that would surely spell disaster for the Village Hidden in the Leaf." Danzo paused his monologue to step down from the platform, stopping just in front of the Anbu Commander, "Normally I would be forced to convict you of treason for associating with an S-ranked criminal, Miss Shimi, but you're just as invaluable as Itachi is thanks to your bloodline traits."
Her heart thumped painfully in her chest, and Kana kept her head low and eyes screwed shut as to not convey her flustered feelings to the man standing before her. What did he want? Why was she here?
Danzo cleared his throat and Kana could hear his hands squeezing his cane, "So, instead, I have decided to have you transferred to Root under my command, where I will properly train you. I had been planning on doing so regardless of the situation, as I believe your skills and powers would be much better suited to the tasks I give to my agents, but your inability to fully unlock your advanced bloodline trait until now proved to be an inconvenience."
He began to pace, "But now that you have proven that you can successfully wield both forms of the unique chakra bequeathed to you by your ancestors, and with Orochimaru having set his sights on you for reasons unknown, I felt it was the proper time to conscript you into service," Danzo stopped, "However, it's... Unfortunate that I will not be able to keep such a unique creature for very long. In one year's time, you will leave the village to accompany Itachi as his medic."
The thumping stopped.
Everything stopped.
"And... If I refuse?" Kana's voice was feeble, barely loud enough to be heard by the old man that stood before them. Surely this was optional? You couldn't just force someone into Anbu, so you couldn't force them into the subset of Root, right?
Danzo chuckled and tapped his cane, "Did I ask for your consent, child?"
Blood froze in her veins.
Kana finally opened her eyes to lift her head high enough to look at her superior officer, "Commander..?" she whispered hoarsely.
"The paperwork has already been filed," he answered thickly, "The transfer is immediate."
Oxygen dissipated into nothingness from her still lungs.
The kunoichi had to grit her teeth and gnaw on her lip to keep her composure, letting her head drop back down, "I understand."
"Torune will show you to your team's barracks and allow you to select your jacket," Danzo continued on, as if he didn't notice the slight quiver in Kana's shoulders, "You may then go back to Anbu Headquarters and gather your things. Rest assured, you will retain your title as captain, but your codename from here on out will be Yokai. I also discourage you from pursuing that trivial relationship you hold with the tokubetsu jonin, and what friendships you have. Root does not advocate emotional ties."
Kana remained silent, as she didn't trust her voice to not crack if she spoke; she only nodded her head in understanding just as the old man reached down for her chin. The one exposed eye leered down at her blandly, as if this was just another day for him, and Kana saw his other hand drop the cane he held to pull down her mask and slide three fingers between lips that parted in surprise.
He tasted vile, like dirt and oil and ink and dust and it took a fair amount of self discipline to not viciously bite down on the intruding fingers that threatened to gag her. Danzo's other hand removed itself from her chin and began forming seals Kana couldn't recognize.
Her eyes darted over to her commander for something – anything. There was a burning sensation in her mouth that was very similar to the one she felt when Orochimaru cursed her, if only somewhat less intense, and Kana held her breath against the pain as to not groan or whimper. There was an angry edge beneath her bewilderment that didn't want to give this sick fuck the satisfaction of her being in pain.
Even as he withdrew his fingers Kana could still taste the repulsive flavor of his skin in her mouth and she wanted to scrape at her tongue with a kunai until it was gone. Her eyes narrowed angrily in the first expression of emotion she allowed herself to portray since arriving to the Root base as Danzo picked his cane up off of the floor.
"What did you just do to me?" she hissed, one eye finally squeezing shut against the harsh pain that seemed to only increase.
The elder slowly made his way back to his throne as he spoke, "Every member of Root receives the Cursed Tongue Eradication Technique – a curse seal that prohibits you from relaying any sensitive information about the organization. If you attempt to speak about anything that could prove to be detrimental to us and our goal, your body will become paralyzed."
Kana rubbed at the underside of her jaw as the pain began to subside. She was well aware of Root's shady background – they were the only Anbu that didn't answer to the Hokage, instead answering to a madman that lusted for power. They did shit that was more than just illegal, things that were supposed to be even worse than what normal Anbu went through. The seal made sense, but the knowledge didn't stop the rage and shame that swelled in her chest like a fiery blossom.
First, Orochimaru. Now, Danzo.
It seemed that Kana was a very easy person to claim.
The thought made her nauseous.
"You will receive your first assignment tomorrow morning. You are both dismissed."
The two Anbu members stood upright from their crouched positions and turned towards the faintly lit doors – Kana's legs moved without her paying attention to what was going on around her, the next hour passing by in a haze. She faintly remembered being led to a dark room with ten bunks, all with a footlocker at the end and a set of traditional lockers on the far wall that also led to a small restroom with two stalls.
At some point she must have been handed a jacket, because when Kana found herself outside she was wearing a short sleeved cropped jacket with two red straps on the shoulders with her Anbu captain's cloak bunched in her fist. As small as she was and as poor as her circulation proved itself to be, she couldn't be bothered to care about the chilly breeze that rolled through the mountain path.
Her commander came to an abrupt stop, but didn't turn to face Kana as he suddenly broke the silence.
"This was out of my control," he said stonily, "I had no say in Lord Danzo's decision."
It took her a few moments to realize that the large man was apologizing to her; she soon released a long sigh and closed her eyes against the storm of conflicting emotions that all fought desperately to be on top. "I don't blame you," she said quietly.
The Anbu Commander looked over his shoulder, "You're a good shinobi. I could have easily seen you becoming my successor one day."
Kana tasted blood as her teeth sank into the soft flesh of her bottom lip. For her, there was no higher praise.
But praise didn't mean a damn thing anymore.
"Goodbye, sir," she whispered.
The kunoichi walked through the puff of smoke that remained from his teleportation jutsu and soon found herself standing at the door of the barracks she had been assigned to after the attack during the Chunin Exams.
All eyes were on her when she entered the large room, her comrades dropping their conversation and allowing a heavy silence to weigh down on the group. Kana forced herself to ignore the curious, shocked expressions that followed her as she made her way to her bunk, opening up the locker and emptying it of its contents in slow, measured movements. She didn't have much to pack, considering the majority of Kana's belongings could fit into the large duffle bag she had stuffed beneath her plain bed. That much she was thankful for, as the act of putting an item into the bag felt like one more crack being added to the exterior of her heart.
A small pad of paper flopped out from a uniform pocket, silently bouncing on the comforter with a pen still attached. Kana reached for it to place it with the stack of books and other notepads resting on the foot of her bed, but then remembered Danzo's words.
"I also discourage you from pursuing that trivial relationship you hold with the tokubetsu jonin, and what friendships you have"
Somehow she found the capacity to smirk dryly at how he had worded the sentence - as if it were a request and not a direct order to break things off with Raido and the others. The smirk quickly melted into a hateful, angry scowl, though, and the sound of her teeth grinding together followed soon after. Everyone knew that the village elder was a slimy bastard that did underhanded shit without the Hokage's consent, hence the entire existence of Root, but this was... This was too much.
Kana knew she wouldn't be able to face her friends and just tell them that she couldn't see them anymore - Kotetsu and Izumo probably wouldn't understand, and both Genma and Raido would fight it. Hell, Kakashi and Guy would probably march down to Root, assuming Kakashi still remembered where it was, and raise all sorts of hell...
Kakashi, Guy, Lee... Neji... It hadn't occurred to her that they would have been included in the order until just then, and furious tears pricked at her eyes. She couldn't function without them, that much Kana knew; they were just as much a part of her as she was herself. How could she possibly even begin to think about living a life where they weren't present?
"Captain?"
Shedo's questioning voice snapped her out of her thoughts, bringing her mechanical movements to a stop; Kana looked up from the uniform she had been folding to place her eyes on his. Shedo was a good deal older than she was, about twenty-eight, but she knew he looked up to her – as her eyes scanned the room, it struck her that they all did. No one in this room had been in the Black Ops as long as Kana had; this was her platoon. These were her people. Her brothers and sisters in arms.
"What's going on?" Imai asked.
She swallowed against the lump in her throat and set down her uniform so she could fully address her squads, "Lord Danzo... Has made the decision to have me transferred over to Root," Kana announced, trying to keep her voice strong, "I will be serving under him directly from now on."
Anger, shock and despondency of varying levels filled the faces of her comrades that weren't wearing masks.
"Wait, you're just leaving us?"
"You've been in Anbu for almost ten years! You can't go!"
"I don't understand, Captain, why now?"
Their questions and hurt voices caused her will to break as she continued, "I don't know who your next captain will be, but…" Kana knelt down and bowed, "It has truly been an honor to have served with each and every one of you. Please understand… This wasn't my decision. Anbu has been my life – it's been my purpose for bettering myself as a shinobi…" her voice cracked as angry, scared and hurt tears sprang to her eyes, "I would never abandon you if given the choice. I can't begin to express the grief I feel over having to walk away from my brothers and sisters."
Something rustled, then more. Kana sat back on her heels to look at her platoon, and immediately felt her heart twist violently in her chest.
Every single one of her teammates were down on their knees with their heads tilted towards the floor and a closed fist held over their chests.
"I've admired you since long before your promotion," Kaito said firmly from the far side of the room, "Nothing will change that."
Imai nodded, "I agree. You have always been a strong kunoichi. You'll always be our Captain, Tsuki."
"I'm proud to have served by your side for these last five years," Totoro added.
"And I'm proud to have entered Anbu under your command," said Unko from behind his plain mouse mask.
Haru wiped at her leaking eyes, "You taught me so much over tha last few years," she whimpered, "Even before ya were captain ya always knew how to take charge of a situation and get us home in one piece. I can't even begin to count the number of times you saved my ass."
"I learned more during training with you in the last year than I ever did," Saeko added proudly, thumping her fist over her chest, "I'm a better shinobi because of you."
"You went against protocol and came back for me when I was critically wounded and pinned down in the Land of Tea," Shedo declared with a nod, "I'll never be able to repay you for that."
Totoro pulled his bear mask aside to expose his scarred face, large brown eyes glistening with unshed tears, "You've been like our den mother. We've got your back - no matter what."
The platoon looked up almost simultaneously to meet her gaze. On a whim, Kana wet her lips and whistled seven tunes. All forty of them whistled the seven tunes back, plus two more, in a perfect sync.
Oly oly oxen free, all clear. Their sign that they were all okay.
"Kana?"
Looking over her shoulder, Kana saw Kakashi and Guy walking down an adjoining street looking dirty and exhausted; they must have just returned from a mission.
She had been walking in a daze down the empty street that was illuminated just right by the brightly shining moon, not really paying attention to where her feet took her. The letter she had written for Raido and the others had been tagged to his door with a shuriken, but now there was no real place for Kana to go other than the Root barracks, which she had no intention of staying in.
They stood there for a few moments, just looking at each other, with both men looking confused until Kakashi's eyes focused on her chest in alarm.
No, not her chest. Her shoulders.
"Why are you wearing that?" Kakashi asked in a low voice, his eyes widening in a look of horror that told her that he knew exactly why.
Kana couldn't bring herself to respond; only pressing her lips together in a tight line behind her mask and keeping her eyes locked on theirs. Her legs quivered and threatened to give out from beneath her, and her shoulders jerked with a silent sob.
It wasn't long before Guy caught on and his own expression darkened as he closed the distance between them. The large man quickly pulled her mask down and gently stroked her chin, asking permission. Kana opened her mouth and stuck out her tongue for him, hearing both his and Kakashi's breaths hitch when the striped curse mark was revealed.
"Baby… Why..?" he breathed, releasing her chin so Kana could pull her mask back up. When she didn't answer, just choking out another sob between tight lips, understanding filled his face and his dark eyes began storming in both anger and pity for the trembling figure standing before him.
To her right she could hear Kakashi's teeth grind audibly as he began to feel the same rage she experienced earlier. "That fucking piece of shit," he snarled under his breath.
"He… I…" Kana curled her fingers into a tight fist until her nails bite into the flesh of her palm with a satisfying sting, "Dad I'm so sorry – I should have just stayed in the village," she whispered just as her knees decided to no longer support her.
Guy caught her by the shoulders and knelt with her when she sank to the dirt road, "I don't understand, what are you talking about?"
"The day Itachi came back… You told me… A-and now…" Unable to form a coherent sentence, Kana hung her head and coughed against the tightening of her throat.
Kakashi crouched down next to the pair, "Are you saying he's blackmailing you for helping Itachi escape last year?" His voice was tight as he spoke, and Kana didn't need to look up to know that he was just as furious as Guy, who sighed at her silence, "What is he making you do?"
"She's got his mark, Kakashi," he reminded him thickly, "She isn't able to tell us anything that could incriminate that monster."
All this time, Kana kept her mouth shut about what had happened with the Uchihas and the Third. No matter how much it pained her to hear those around her speak of Itachi as if he were the devil, she kept the oath she made to the two. Now she was physically incapable of doing so, as her own countdown began to where she would be forced to leave and branded falsely as a traitor, and Kana had never so desperately hated Hiruzen Sarutobi and the rest of the council.
Everything had happened so fast over the course of an hour that nothing had truly set in until just then, and Kana decided that she didn't want to deal with the two jonin right now. She pushed herself up onto shaky legs, readjusted her backpack and continued walking, ignoring the worried calls that rang through the empty streets behind her.
It must have been three or four in the morning by the time Kana climbed through Neji's bedroom window, dropping her duffle bag and backpack at the foot of his bed. She shrugged her jacket off of her shoulders, slipped off her headband and kicked her boots off of her legs before lifting the sheets back.
Neji stirred when she crawled into his bed, lifting his head to blink blearily at her while scooting closer towards the wall to give her space. "Kana…?" he mumbled sleepily, "What happened?"
She only shook her head and curled into him.
A soft sigh escaped her lips when the teenager wrapped slender fingers around hers and brought them up to cup his cheek. Kana couldn't remember the last time she had come to Neji in the middle of the night like this, but she urgently needed him by her side.
Because, right now, he was the only thing that was keeping Kana from falling apart.