Yeah, Kunai are cool but have you had dessert?

by Authorship

Okay, I'll admit seeing my new dad's Hitai-ate was a massive kick in the (thankfully metaphorical) balls. Sorry, but I don't kill people! AKA an SI/OC fic where the girl is more concerned with the alarming lack of pastries...and appropriate female role models...and adopting misfits and cinnamon rolls...err, oops? At least, I get to troll people!

30. 30) Hana is the Only Intelligent Person

…

Chapter 30:

Hana is the Only Intelligent Person Here

….

Ever had a pie leak in the oven and make a huge mess?

I am that pie

…what a terrible metaphor

…..

"Kiharu...what?"

Shisui's bewildered exclamation really seemed to sum up the general vibe.

Kotetsu chose that moment to stop hacking up a lung. "What is that?"

The incredibly rude finger he jabbed at a still-slobbering FuFu had the baby dropping her dad's tail (to obvious relief) and lopping closer. I quickly reached hand out and grabbed the thick scruff of her neck, skidding forward a little at her strength.

The display wasn't, apparently, reassuring anyone.

"Isn't she gorgeous!"

As if she could understand me, FuFu puuuurped with great relish.

Dad beamed, hopping down the stairs and extending a hand for the cub to sniff, which she did with vigour. "She sure is, hime! Congrats, Hitoshi, you sly old-"

"Don't, please. Seiichi-sama." Hitoshi bit out, eyes averted and subtly flicking his tail against the droplets of spit still dampening his fur.

Shisui staggered forward a step, forgetting to glare at Izumo when he caught his elbow. "Wait, wait, wait- Ki-" dark eyes begged mine, "-don't tell me that-"

"Hitoshi fucked a tiger." I confirmed, dryly remembering my own descent into madness. As it was, I crushed his innocence under the heel of my metaphorical boot.

Distracted by the extremely entertaining view of everyone lose their shit, I really didn't think my select choice of words through.

"Kiharu! Where did you learn- that word!"

I ducked the lunge my wailing father made for me, under the pretence of shepherding FuFu towards the porch steps. "Nee-san," I replied blandly.

Genma snapped his very-much-metal senbon between his teeth. "Fuck."

Once I'd gathered everyone inside, my birthday was, overall, a roaring success.

Sure, Izumo and Kotetsu looked green and couldn't physically look at either cat.

Sure, Dad spent the first twenty-five minutes having an extremely serious and adult conversation with Genma outside which absolutely didn't involve a small scuffle before Raidou intervened.

Yes, Hitoshi sulked in the corner.

Yes, dad's food wasn't the most edible thing and Ensui was so tired he started eating it without looking first but-

Shisui brought me heart shaped cookies that Mikoto had helped him make, icing them a pretty blue that was, actually, almost the same colour as my yukata! (Which I'd picked to match my eyes and wear with the scarf from Yuri-oba.) He'd blushed furiously but, biting into one, I'd made sure to assure him that baking for a baker was actually a lovely change. They'd been pretty damn good too.

I was so proud!

As promised (threatened), Ino came around with her parents who, in turn, preceded the Nara and the Akimichi.

"Nee-chan!" A blonde blur of squealing child smacked into my stomach, making me bend over with a resounding "oof!"

"Happy birthday! Look, look, look! Do you like my dress? Kaa-san-"

"Yes, imouto," I laughed loudly, eyes crinkling at the massive grin that stretched my lips, dimples divoting my cheeks. Over by the island, Seiichi and Shisui stared. Ino, for her part, was dressed in an adorable green frock with emerald shoes. Which, actually, looked a lot like the red T-strap ones I wore to work…

I glanced across at Sora, who shrugged with a graceful roll of her shoulders. "She looks up to you, Kiharu-chan; what did you expect?"

I glanced back down at Ino's excited sapphire eyes and my heart thumped at the innocent adoration there.

Oh.

Ohhhhh-

A tug-tug-tug on my sleeve and I glanced down, this time meeting the almost-black gaze of one Nara Shikamaru.

I kneeled down to his height when the tugging didn't look like it was stopping. "Yes, Shika?"

The little boy stared at me with obvious impatience for a long second before, with another gusty sigh that was way too old for him, jerking his chin towards the back corner, beside the back door.

I twisted to see, taking note of how Chouji had gallantly moved to protect Shika from Ino's annoyed poking at the interruption.

By the back door, which was ajar to let in some fresh air, Hitoshi licked a huge, wet stripe up FuFu's foofy forehead, making the sooty fur stick up oddly. The baby visibly preened under the attention of her daddy.

I choked around the heart in my throat, eyes sparkling. "That's my FuFu. Hitoshi had a baby, just like your kaa-san and Tou-san did, didn't they, Chouji-kun?"

The little redhead - really not so little now, he'd had a bit of a spurt recently and I wasn't exactly up to scratch on my own growth - nodded solemnly and, when the other two shifted to glance at him, I gestured furiously for Hitoshi to take Fuji-chan outside.

"Have you three tried some of my Tou-san's onigiri! They're cat shaped!"

They really weren't - dad was not the most artistically gifted.

Shisui came ambling over when I'd shooed the kids over to the table, offering up a silent prayer to the gods that hated me that three babies wouldn't incite their wrath by association via food poisoning.

Why couldn't dad cook more like Chouza-oji or Ensui? Or, better yet, Shikaku? (There was a reason Yoshino was so bitter and one of the main ones was that her husband, despite being a great cook, never helped out with meals.)

On second thought-

"Hey, Ki-chan," Shisui beamed, apparently recovered from the shock earlier. "Akane-sama told me yesterday that I was coming off my crutches I'm just over a week! I was just telling Ensui-"

Did I say this birthday was going well, I meant terribly-

My mouth opened in unconcealed shock, gazing down at Shisui's legs and taking in how he was barely even using the crutches to move or stand these days. I'd noticed the improvement, of course I had, but what that meant for Shisui's sick leave...well, it hadn't clicked.

"Really?" I breathed.

"Yeah," Shisui's voice was noticeably softer. "She thinks I'll be in the field by May."

I swallowed hard. "I'll miss you."

Shisui sucked in a breath and laughed lightly - shakily - on the exhale before shuffling a little closer. "I'm not going anywhere, Ki-chan. Just because I'll be on missions, doesn't mean things have to change."

I nodded, knowing he wasn't exactly wrong, before the movement tapered off because he was and I didn't want to pretend things were okay anymore. Things didn't use to be so complex.

It was going to be different.

How could I explain that, everytime he or Ensui brushed off my questions about Itachi or Danzo, it felt like they didn't trust me? They trusted each other but they didn't trust me.

That, without Shisui coming to the stall everyday or going out to dinner every Friday or lazing around together, I was worried I'd loose him even more?

It was almost warm enough to go back to Shisui's field again, the ground firming up and the grass grazed by sheep. The poppies would appear, like always, in summer and the grass would grow wild again, rippling like earthen waves in the wind and sun.

Things will change, Shisui, because I'm worried about Kabuto here and you'll be out there, with Tobi and Danzo, and I don't want you to go out, only to die as soon as you're out of my sight-

"Kiharu! Hana-chan is here for your day out!"

My mouth, half opened with eyes boring into Shisui's - who had also frozen - stuttered for a long, suspended moment before I managed to croak out a simple "be right there."

Shisui was still staring at me, haze falling away to reveal dawning concern, as if he was only just realising that, for all my bravo, I wasn't okay.

I told myself we'd talk about it later.

But not on my birthday. Not at my party.

"Later, Shisui-kun," I patted his arm, ducking around him towards FuFu on the back step. "Thanks for coming 'round."

"A-Always-" Shisui stared, head snapping back towards a suddenly much more attentive Ensui. The Chuunin shrugged but I could feel them both tracking my movements as I joined the two felines by the door. Internally, I cursed my own stupid damn timing.

"Hey, baby~" I cooed as soon as FuFu noticed my approach and, ignoring how Shisui choked behind me, burrowed my hands in the plush fur around her cheeks. "You've been so, so good today - yes you have! Yes you have!-"

"Get to the point!" Hitoshi sniped, flashing his fangs. "You sicken me."

I ignored him too.

FuFu started bumped her nose against my cheeks, mouthing her fangs along my shoulder in a relatively harmless play. Still, the yukata was new, so I pinched her ear and tugged her away. "You've not made a mess or fussed with all the strange faces-"

"Watch it, brat," Genma smirked from the sofa with Raidou. I was nice so I didn't mention how close they were sat, plenty of space either side.

"-but it's time to take you back to MaMa, yeah?"

Fuji licked my finger.

"I'll take her back, cub," Hitoshi grumbled, turning his face away when FuFu scooted closer at the rumble in his chest. "The Girl who smells of Dog is waiting and I have no patience for children."

I rolled my eyes, well aware that Hitoshi knew everyone's names. He was just being flighty again.

Hitoshi was such a sweetie.

"Okay," I leaned back, unconvinced by his reasoning but knowing he wasn't necessarily wrong. FuFu had been here for a couple of hours anyway and, no matter how relaxed the little lunchtime get-together had been, I really didn't want to stress her. The only reason she was here was because Hitoshi had insisted that socialisation was fundamental, especially around 'the Pride'.

That Hitoshi had known and acknowledged the love I felt for everyone who had come around to wish me a good thirteenth…

"Thanks 'Toshi," I smiled, pressing a messy kiss to FuFu's forehead and stroking the fur around her honey eyes.

"Go on."

I quickly did my rounds, thanking everyone for their thoughtful gifts and pressing soft kisses to the kid's foreheads - just like FuFu, actually - before I found myself on front for Ensui and Shisui again.

"I'll see you for lunch, Ensui?" I prodded the older guy gently, aware of how irregular his work had been recently. Lunches had faded in the last two months, so my question was a little futile. I asked it anyway, motivated by my sudden thoughts earlier.

"I'll try," he replied and I didn't push.

"How about you, Shisui-kun?" I turned to the final third of our trio and tried to grin.

A warm, larger hand snatched mine up and I blinked at Shisui's earnest expression. My fingers twitched, cradled between his.

"I promise, Ki."

Over Shisui's shoulder, Genma quirked a single brow and a sudden flush burned my cheeks, almost seeming to slap me with it.

Shisui's jaw dropped.

"Right, Okay! Hana's waiting, though, sooooo later!"

"What was that about?" Hana tilted her head, rather like her (currently absent) dogs.

"Nee-san made it weird!" I hissed, pushing her out the door and down the steps.

"'Weird'?" Hana's nose crumpled before her eyes popped wide. "Don't tell me you fancy him!"

I stopped in my tracks and, resting hands on my knees in the middle of the street, genuinely cried with laughter.

"Oh Kami!" I wheezed, the air almost whistling in my lungs with every desperate, hiccuping breath. "I didn't lose my mind when I turned into a teenager, you do realise that?"

Hana, a few meters ahead, jutted out her hip. "What? You've been friends for years!"

"And I've spent most of them calling him 'sister' and trying to get him together with Raidou!"

Hands on hips as I straightened up again, I threw my head back with another roar of laughter.

I missed the dawning realisation crossing Hana's face, as if something that had rested just beyond her grasp was finally in her possession...only to be something completely different from expected.

A dawning realisation that shifted her worldview.

"You're actually stupid, aren't you?" Her voice was, strangely enough, filled with genuine awe. "I know you can be a bit silly but...blind? Really?"

"Phew!" I tried to calm myself, stepping up beside the younger girl and pressing my cool fingers to hot cheeks. "That was hilarious, and thank you, but we better get going or we'll be late."

For the record, the onsen was great. Essentially a huge bath/spa combo? Kami, I could stay there forever.

Hana had certainly enjoyed it too, hair pulled back in a high tail and a strong flush on her cheeks. My own curls were stuffed in a tight ballerina bun but...even slicking it back wouldn't save me from Bushiness™.

On Hana's other side, Akane gently washed her face in the warm water.

When Hana and I had made our joint-birthday plans for today's little trip, we'd had to factor in that neither of us were considered emancipated adults (although Hana would be terrifyingly soon) and, therefore, required an adult.

Yuri was working today but had promised to come around for dinner. Mikoto had given me a lovely hairbrush the other day after work but, well, it was a day off for her too. She should spend it with her own kids. Same for Sora-oba.

So I'd asked and Akane had agreed.

The onsen wasn't busy, a pair of older women in the corner and an elderly lady examining her nails on the steps. Great curls of steam twisted artistically in the air, the water tinted the faintest green with tea and the wooden walls shining from condensation.

I splashed Hana a little, conscious of disturbing the others present, and giggled quietly when her nose crumpled, one eye peeking open.

Her foot kicked mine, languid and harmless, but we shared a smile anyway.

Resting my head on the ledge behind me, I stared up at the blue sky, the faintest of amber on the horizon as the afternoon faded away. There was a slightest haze of cloud but, for the most part, the sky was an undisturbed void of blue above me.

I felt small but, in the grand scheme of things, the thought almost made me feel better. Like I was just a girl, not a bug under a microscope.

Lips parting, I sucked in a deep, revelling breath.

My mind unwound.

…..

The following week, when Mikoto had commandeered the shop so the new staff could familiarise themselves with the layout, I found the time to catch up with Ikeri-san.

We were sat in one of the more casual tea houses in the merchant's district, a pot of cooled peach tea between us. We were also silent.

Weirdly enough, it wasn't a bad silence...but I just chalked it up to another of Ikeru-san's interesting effects.

Like how she'd made the waitress walk into the table next to us with just a look.

I wanted to learn how to do that!

(Buying groceries with his Aunt, Shisui shivered in dread)

"Have you thought any more on what I said?" I blurted.

Browsing the menu with great relish, the Kumo woman darted smokey eyes to meet mine over the top of the card. "Do you not possess food colourings?"

I blinked hard, as if I could snap myself out of some kind of trance. "Um. Yes...but I'm looking for a more decorative effect and colouring isn't the same. It's watery and, yes, I could add sugar to thicken it, but then it would be an icing not a paint."

She simply smiled, a faint and amused lilt to full lips and I almost asked if she could sell me her makeup too.

"I see." I wondered if she really did. Maybe. "I enjoyed your food...I can do it."

She was a strange woman but, then again, I supposed I wasn't an ordinary girl either.

I beamed, reaching to tap my cup gently against hers.

The buzz of another good business deal faded slightly when, sat in Yoshino's kitchen, I bemoaned my lack of property.

Why was this always so hard!

"Why is it so hard!?"

"You're complaining to me," Yoshino shot back, "as if you aren't here to step in for my wayward godson!"

My head, rested against the kitchen table, shot up at the daring words and, with a burst of adrenaline, I rushed to reassure the terrifying Nara Matriarch. Leaning against my side, Shikamaru snuffled in his sleep.

"Not at all, Yoshino-sama!" I spluttered with hands half-raised beseechingly. "You asked me to dinner, remember? Nothing to do with Ensui-"

A sharp bark of malicious laughter had both myself, Shikamaru and Shikaku (sat at the end of the table with a newspaper) all but jumping to attention.

"Just checking, Kiharu!"

I shared a quick, wide-eyed glance with the no-longer-sleeping kid beside me.

"Why not buy a house?" A gravelly voice piped up, not quite blasé enough to conceal how his wife's moods affected him.

I grimaced, successfully distracted. "That's a bit of a risk, isn't it, Shikaku-sama? I'd have to completely change the inside, on top of kitting it out."

"Isn't that the same with any kind of expansion?" The scarred man smirked, crooked and sharp. "Or do you have your heart set on a shop front?"

Unwillingly, my eyes skittered to the side. Shikaku took it as the admittance it was.

"There are a few houses close to the onsen and richer neighbourhoods."

He'd...looked into it?

I hadn't mentioned it to any Nara beside Ensui but, judging from the Chuunin's own stresses, I doubted he'd have pulled his Uncle aside to randomly ask him to intervene. And he wouldn't have heard from Mikoto or dad.

A thought struck me and beetle-eyes glittered.

"You want to invest…?" Even to my own ears, I sounded wondering.

"I take an interest in ventures with good prospects. And you have excellent ones."

"How much are you looking for?" I cut straight to it, eyes narrowing and deaf to Yoshino's bite about business at the table. "In the business as a whole or just the next shop?"

"15...in all of it."

I sat back.

"I need a new accountant," I muttered.

Shikaku's smile was as sharp as the blades that had marked his face. "Yoshino?"

The Nara Matriarch placed a jug of water on the table and grinned wolfishly. "I am excellent with numbers."

"Surely that's a conflict of interest?" I pointed out weakly.

Mikoto thought it was a great idea.

I wondered if I was the only sane one here. (Hana, when I voiced this aloud, vehemently disagreed.)

Yoshino, conflicts of loyalty aside, was pretty fucking fantastic with maths.

And she was human too, which I guessed was a plus.

What with Kaiya busy with the new baby, Mikoto covering the grunt work of teaching the Fresh Meat (that was what I called them and I wasn't gonna apologise), I was invited - read: bullied - into many more Nara dinners.

When Tou-san left on a longer than (recently) usual tracking mission, I was actually glad for it.

Sure I was used to an empty house by now but that didn't mean I liked it any more.

Add on my strangely resentful thoughts towards Ensui and Shisui and…

Well. I was glad for the distraction.

Yoshino had completely gone over our budget for the expansion, cutting down on the estimates for equipment (by insisting that I order everything beforehand, despite still lacking a property) and increasing my advertising.

("What do you mean a banner? In the street? Isn't that a little...tacky, for what we're going for-?")

I felt more secure than ever with the Nara's involvement. Not only had Yoshino been managing her Clan the same way for a decade but, with Shikaku investing, I felt as though I could really make it happen.

Nara didn't do anything without great consideration and, to have both the financial and literal backing of the Heads was a real boost of confidence.

(It was almost enough to let me overlook Yoshino's coldness when she inevitably bumped into Naruto with Ino near the shop. I'd kept her away from him but...it hadn't been too pretty.)

(I only took her back when knew that Naruto wouldn't be anywhere near and, via Teuchi, made sure Naruto knew his latest Ramen indulgence was on my tab.)

(Okay, so nothing could excuse it.)

(I was proud of Canon!Shika for befriending him anyway, despite Yoshino's coldness and Shikaku's neutrality.)

….

My birthday had been on a Sunday. I'd met with Ikeru-san on Tuesday.

On Thursday, closing up slightly earlier so I could leave before the other shops started doing the same, I went book shopping.

For the most part, I wasn't a big reader. Partly due to business but the language barrier was still a sad and persistent thing. I'd been a bookworm in my last life...evidently, until things slowed down a bit, that trend wasn't gonna continue in this one for a while yet. However, I did know where the shops were and, from also occasionally helping Sora shop for Ino, I knew where the best baby books were.

The ones that didn't obviously talk about ninjas like they were superheroes at least.

When I came home with a good few books and some flash cards - I know, I know, I was a raving hypocrite with PTSD to my own flashcard experience as a kid - it was to an incredibly sceptical Hitoshi.

"Ooooh could we send her to the academy!" Yeah, I didn't want to indoctrinate the baby either but I wasn't the most suitable teacher and Hitoshi couldn't turn pages very easy. Not that he was proving at all supportive.

Rolling out a the dough, I grimaced when it proved too sticky and clumped all over the countertop. But the sideboard was oiled so it was easy to gently coax loose again.

Sprawled in front of the (unlit) fire, Hitoshi's voice continued with his very rude argument.

"I told you, cub; the chances of her being able to talk at all are incredible slim. Some full-blooded summons cannot manage that and Fuji-chan is only half. Do not expend precious time and resources on a fruitless venture."

"Hitoshi, even if she can't speak that doesn't meant she's stupid! She can still learn to read and write! You're great at calculations and money!"

I rolled my eyes, imagining the smug expression on his face from the admission, and added the cinnamon to the butter and sugar. Caster sugar, that is. Icing sugar won't caramelize the same and granulated never melts down enough, leaving you with a very grainy texture.

"Pfft," Hitoshi snorted. "How else do you think Seiichi-sama survived his teens?"

I snorted. "Tou-san isn't that bad at cooking…" Well.

So long as it wasn't, um, birthday party food.

"Yeah, because Aki-sama refused to do all the housework."

I smiled at that.

"Sora-oba brought jasmines this week, did you see?"

They'd looked beautiful on the grave, my mothers favourites swaying delicately in the spring breeze and under the clear, blue sky. I could've painted it if it wouldn't have made dad so sad.

"I did."

I rolled out the dough, snapping on my washing up gloves and started spreading the sugar mix all over it. You could do this with a spatula, yes, but...one, where's the fun in that? And, two, it just worked? Better?

When I'd finished, washing my hands and, shedding the gloves, started to carefully roll one of the shorter sides inwards. Like a Swiss roll.

"...Toshi?"

"...yes?"

I carefully eased the cord under the completed 'Master Roll'. And, twisting the loose ends together and pulling tight, cut through the dough with a satisfying fump. Rather than cutting with a knife, this technique kept the roll's shape better and didn't ruin the spiral inside. It was really soothing to do too.

I bit my lip on my question.

"What was your kaa-san's name?"

Hitoshi was silent for a long moment, long enough for me to finishing dividing the rolls and start nestling them into lined cake pans.

When he spoke, it was so quiet I almost missed it.

"Akira."

I sucked in a sharp breath, eyes flicking towards the cat, even though he was hidden from view behind the sofa. So similar to Kaa-san...

Carefully, I slid the cake tins onto the oven shelves, shutting the door and clicking on the egg timer.

Then I padded around the sofa, into the front room and sunk down onto the carpet beside Hitoshi's prone form. He was still an a statue except for the slow rise and fall of his vast ribcage.

Carefully, I lifted his huge head into my lap, brushing my thumbs over the fur around his closed eyes. He let me.

I wondered if his fatherhood had brought back memories of everything he'd lost. The father he didn't know.

I knew it made me think of mine.

I hugged him close. He let me.

….

The following weekend, almost two weeks since she'd been born, I went with Shikamaru and Ino to meet the new baby.

They weren't very impressed.

Chouko was, for all her over-due-ness, a rather small baby, still pink and still wrinkly. She was sleeping when we came in and, since I'd had the foresight to clap my hands over Ino's mouth when she went to yell, she stayed that way.

Oh, it was baby season!

"Why is she so...old looking?"

Shikamaru cast bored eyes over the room before starting to bite his nails.

Wow. Huh. Enthusiasm.

"Have you held her yet, Chouji-kun?"

The bashful redhead slowly shook his head, ambling over from his dad's side and slipping in between his two playmates. "Small…"

"I held you when you were that small!"

Ino rolled her eyes. "You never let me forget, Nee-chan."

Shika pouted, leaning into the curve of my arm regardless, as Chouji giggled.

A loud clamour of voices, all calling greetings and congratulations, heralded the arrival of even more well-wishers and, as the group poured into the front room, I shephered the trio to the sofas. This way, at least, they could avoid being trampled underfoot.

"Ah, Dazai-chan, it's been a while!" A jovial voice called out to me and, popping Ino next to Shika on the big couch, I twisted to see who'd called out to me.

Oh! It's was Kaiya's business partner!

I beamed openly, bowing politely before bouncing upright. "Indeed it has! How have you been-?"

Oh fuck.

…

...I couldn't...remember his...name.

My eyes bulged out but, if he caught my slip, the other Akimichi (oh fuckkk) didn't call me out on it.

"I am well! But what's this about a new shop?"

"Ahh," I smiled as naturally as possible. "It's still in the early stages but we're hoping to find somewhere soon."

"Ah ha, sometimes it's all about the timing, no?"

"Hai, Akimichi-san. I'm house hunting."

"House hunting...that's an idea." He snapped his fingers and laughed again. Again. It was like talking to Santa- "I know a place up for sale, if you're interested?"

Eyebrows winging up, I sensed Shikaku's hand on this. Again. But the older man was watching me, so I smiled. "That sounds... intriguing. Would you mind taking an evening next week to meet with Mikoto-hime and I about this?" And Yoshino.

"Certainly, Dazai-chan!"

"I'll let you know the best dates via Chouza-oji?" Maybe Shikaku would be an even quicker option, hmm.

"That sounds just fine." And he wandered off with a polite bow.

Shika heaved a huge sigh, squashed on the sofa between Chouji and Ino. "That was boring."

"Well," I turned to quirk a brow, "that's just business, Shika-chan. I have to talk like an adult because I'm so short!"

"I'll be taller than you next year," Ino burst out, leaning forward and almost falling off the seat if not for the fist Shika had on the back of her top. Ino continued, unphased. "Naruto says so!"

My mouth dropped but Sora, passing behind me with tea, cut in before I could gather myself. "Naruto-kun, Ino-chan!"

Naruto...talked about me?

"Nee-chan doesn't use 'em!"

Oh hell.

Shifting away from Sora's quelling glance, I cast around for a distraction before eying the foot and a half height difference between us. "Umm, I don't think that'll work, imouto. Maybe when you're Hana's age?"

Ino looked mutinous, but, then, distinctly thoughtful. "Hana is cool…"

"And," I almost bit my tongue to choke the words out, "she's the best in her year. Are you gonna be smart too? Smart and tall?"

An unholy fire sparked in Ino's eyes and Shikamaru groaned low in his throat. Already he knew when to spot the early signs of trouble.

I sipped the tea Sora passed me in consolation.

…..

"So," Hana squinted at me over the top of the scales. "You're not mad?"

Measuring out the flour, I grimaced. "When did I say that?"

"Oh, thank Kami!" The younger girl immediately groaned, slamming a hand on the island countertop. At the sharp noise, the Triplets skittered over curiously before wandering off when it became obvious nothing truly exciting was happening. One of them plopped down on my foot and I immediately started calculating how I could finish the cupcakes without moving an inch. "At least you're not taking it lying down," Hana continued, rolling dark eyes heavenward.

Automatically, I jerked my chin back in affront, spilling a little flour onto the counter. "Since when do I take anything lying down?"

Hana swiped a finger through the little pile of flour, dragging the powder across the counter and tracing a flower in the spill. "Not loads, to be fair, but you definitely let some stuff slide."

"If this is still about my nose-"

"No," Hana cut in, "But I wasn't wrong then either, was I?"

Okay, so she hadn't been but still. Hana hadn't even given the boys the time of day to be friends, so it wasn't like she wasn't biased. She was surprisingly picky like that and I wondered, passing her a sieve, if meeting as kids had spared me that same scrutiny. Maybe we just clicked like that.

Then again, she did only like Ensui.

Hana dumped the flour into the sieve and white dust poofed explosively upwards, dusting our dark hair slightly grey and spilling loads of the mixture onto the floor where the puppies immediately started investigating it.

"Get out of my kitchen."

"Pfffft-"

When we'd cleared up, removed the dogs from the spill and wiped their paws (I was not going to be dealing with floor trod everywhere, thanks), I cautiously handed Hana the sieve again for Take Two.

The younger girl rolled her eyes.

"As I was saying, if you are mad at Ensui-san and Shisui, why aren't you guys talking about it? You've been passive aggressively at war with Itachi for ages and suddenly Shisui acts like it's all your fault?"

I started measuring out the cocoa powder with more force than truly necessary and noticed, despite myself, how Hana had neglected to use honorifics. Well...she was pissed.

"I mean, communication is key and you guys are bad at it."

The cocoa jar was slammed onto the counter with a loud clack. "Look, Hana, you're almost a Genin, right?"

"Next week is graduation, yes…" The Heiress drawled, slow and weary.

"So, basically, yeah. You are. And, the stupid thing about ninja is that...they think that, just because I don't know how to kill someone or do fancy jutsus or whatever, that I'm not entitled to knowing stuff."

Hana's eyebrows spiked up. "They're playing the 'You Can't Handle The Truth' card?"

I really shouldn't have taught her those lines but...well, they were perfect.

"That and that they've nothing to even hide, yeah." Even to my own ears, my laugh sounded tellingly brittle and Hana's own one hardened into something sharp.

"I wouldn't do that." She didn't even phrase it as a possibility.

I used to think that Ensui and Shisui wouldn't either and I'd been proven wrong. They would bluff and lie to my face. And the smart part of me knew that Hana would most likely do the same. It wasn't just the indoctrination that ran deep but the innate superpriority between civilians and Shinobi. I shouldn't believe her.

I, somehow, did anyway.

Watch this come back to bite me...again.

"Yeah."

Hana left just as dark was falling, a box of red velvet cupcakes under her arm and with her dogs, now to her hip, scampering after their mistress.

I closed the door after her with a snap, a thoughtful furrow to my brow.

"You're capable, more so than most people."

"If you have an issue, spit it out. I can't imagine you'd want to resent them, 'senpai'."

"You're an idiot, Kiharu."

My low scoff echoed around the empty house, dad working late at the Tower and 'Toshi with FuFu and MaMa.

I stood there for a long second.

The hall clock tick-ed.

And I grabbed my keys, shoving them in my pocket whilst spinning back around to shove the rest of the cakes into another box.

Hana was gone by the time I'd locked the door behind me.

But, dammit, I wanted my grandmother.

I ran most of the way there, conscious of the lateness of the hour and the slight, springtime nip in the air, and arrived outside of the seamstresses puffing and out of breath. The streets were empty, most lights off as people went to bed. Whilst those who lived in the neighbourhood areas would be awake for a while yet, the shopkeepers and the like all had much earlier starts to their mornings so settled down earlier. Really, it did make sense.

The pat of my feet in the steps, the knock of my knuckles on the shop door, seemed obnoxiously loud in the stillness of the street.

Gin answered the door.

"What are you doing here?" We blurted in tandem before scowling, accidentally mirroring each other again.

"I'm working on tomorrow's display."

"Well, I'm visiting Yuri-oba!"

"Ah," The older girl smirked, leaning against the doorframe and crossing her arms. Her talon-like nails sparkled in the dull light, her blonde hair shining moonlight silver. "Yuri-Shishou has gone to bed already. Leave the box here, you may as well go back home, kid."

I pursed my lips but allowed her to take the box. My eyes caught on her bag behind her when she twisted to pop the cakes onto the ledge just inside. So, Gin was leaving too, Huh?

"You live a few streets over from mine, right? I'll walk you."

One sharp, white-blonde brow spiked upwards with a judgemental leer when she twisted back to face me. "You're a kid, surely I'd be walking you."

I smiled blandly, stepping back to allow the older girl to cross the threshold, bag on one bony shoulder, and lock the door behind her. "Are you going to leave a small child to fend for herself in the dark?"

She kissed her teeth but made no other move to deny it. Gin, for all her serrated edges, wasn't a total Bitch. Well.

"How's Hoshiko and her boyfriend?" I piped up as we headed down the street, the pavement washed blue under the navy sky with the occasional spotlight from the streetlamps, only just flickering on.

"How should I know?" Gin grumbled, adjusting her bag strap. "Ask her yourself, kid."

I hummed non-committedly, gaze sweeping idly around the street.

We walked in silence a little more before I couldn't take it, still internally itching to blurt everything out onto someone's shoulder. Unfortunately, that shoulder would never be Gin's so I had to chatter about something else.

"How's the house hunting?"

"It's a flat, actually."

"Oh," I blinked. "You found one…?"

"What's it to you?"

I shrugged, mind cast back to all the stress of student accommodation before, paying bills and fighting over the dishes. I missed the girls, sometimes. When the memories resurfaced. It was hard not to forget some things, especially when I was completely cut off from them.

"I'm house hunting too, remember?" I gently rebuked, taking in how her defensive stance had yet to relax. Asking about Hoshiko's boyfriend was probably a terrible move. "Why wouldn't I be interested?"

When we turned another comer, entering the darker streets, Gin turned to squint at me. "I've said it before and I'll say it again. You're one weird little girl."

"Isn't it endearing?"

"Don't push your luck."

I rolled my eyes, scuffing a shoe on the ground as we dawdled to a stop. "Thanks for walking me home, 'senpai'~"

We were both a good few minutes away from our respective homes but still.

"Go away, Kiharu." The older girl rolled her eyes but I smiled at the slight twitch of her glossed lips. "Get lost!"

I snorted, staggering forward a step at the light shove between my shoulder blades.

"Hai, hai….night!"

A scoff was her only reply.

Gin, I knew, lived in a house with her brother and his new wife. Understandable why she'd be so keen to move out. Her parents were from one of the small villages nearby - I forget which one - and had sent their two kids here for their apprenticeships. Gin's brother was a bookkeeper at a shop just down from Ichiraku's. Her sister-in-law was a waitress at the dango stall beside the Academy…

The street was quiet, empty aside from a raccoon snuffling through someone's bins, and I puffed out my cheeks, kicking up some dust. I had so much so to tomorrow, it was insane.

I was working all day at Nekki's most of the week and then going home to do most of the baking for the next day too.

Hmm, I mused. I'll go to see Teuchi-san and Ayame at lunch tomorrow...maybe I'll bump into Naruto or Iruka ther-

I stopped walking.

Awareness, something almost like fear, tickled my spine.

Like when you're home alone and scare yourself, imagining something chasing you up the stairs or staring out of the shadows of your room-

My hearing was sharp, had only gotten sharper the longer I was bonded to Hitoshi. Maybe it was fear that made it possible. Maybe it was the grave-like silence of the street. Maybe it was because of my recent bond to FuFu.

I heard muffled scuffling.

A life of carrying a heavy torch, of glancing over my shoulder whenever a man walked behind me, of plotting how to make sure all of my friends got home safely after a night out, had made me paranoid in a way almost all girls would understand.

I turned and started running back the way I came.

- I was overreacting, Gin was going to wring my ear with her talon like nails, but better safe than sorry and how many guys copped a feel regardless of consent-

I came barrelling around the corner, the soft soles of my sandals almost silent on the hard packed earthen streets and I'd made a conscious effort to quiet my breathing, to keep to the shadows.

A girl, her blonde hair shining like moonlight in the dark street - Gin, it was Gin - struggled against the arms wrapped tightly around her. A cloth was pressed over her mouth, even as her heels dug into the soil as he pulled her down a side alley and I could see how her arms spasmed-

Feet planted, I did the best thing I could.

I screamed like a tortured soul from fucking hell.

"Help! Help! Fire- Police!? Rapist! help!"

Gin's head snapped around to me and the man bodily picked her up, the strength and frantic speed of his response belying his own panic.

Lights in the surrounding houses started flickering on.

"Police! Someone save us! AhhhhhhhHhhhhhHhhhhHHHHH-!"

Gin lashed out and I lunged forwards, throat aching from the sheer volume of my shrieks, gripping her ankle and then throwing myself back with all my body weight.

The man jolted, losing balance and staggering into the alleyway wall. Gin's head hit the rough bricks with a dull, but sickening, thud. Still screaming my heart out, I felt the blow more than heard it.

She went limp.

And my brain screeched to a halt.

The fist came out of nowhere.

Pain exploded from my nose and I felt the bone crack, blood splurting outwards immediately as I staggered back. I felt like I couldn't see and only my bruising grip on Gin's leg kept me grounded. I fell to my knees, arms wrapping around the blonde's sprawled shins with a steely, bitter determination and the man tugged once, twice.

A call in the street, more voices yelling, and, suddenly, Gin was dropped on top of me in a dead weight that cracked our bones together and jarred my teeth.

Squinting against the pain, I managed to peel back an eyelid just as the man turned to flee-

A torch flickered down the alleyway, the thumping of feet and I stared into panicked, grey eyes in a young face.

He turned and fled.

"Can I talk to her yet?" A familiar voice interrupted the healer holding an ice pack to my broken nose. Already I could feel my eyes swelling shut. Fuck.

A faint tremble shook my limbs, had started when I'd been running and hadn't stopped yet. I felt numb, caught between howling rage and voiceless horror.

Gin had been taken away on a gurney to the hospital and I had been escorted soon after. Her head had been bleeding really badly and her ankle was definitely dislocated. I didn't even feel guilty about that because she was still here at least.

The Officer's voice sounded again, murmuring lowly to the healer, and I glanced up, eyes half glazed and wary. My hair, dusty and sticking a bit to the blood on my yukata, was shifted away from my face, where I'd kept it as a kind of shroud against the harsh hospital lights.

Ensui, eyes widening in sudden recognition and running over my hunched, bloody form in disbelief, paled rapidly.

"Kiharu...what.."

I swallowed hard. My throat was tight but, for once, my eyes were bone dry. "It was Gin, Ensui. He tried to take Yuri-oba's apprentice, Gin."

Slowly, slowly, Ensui crouched to my level, where I was sat sideways on the hospital bed.

"I heard a scuffle and went back...he was holding her and she was crying and-" my voice disappeared and I desperately gulped the water Ensui pressed into my hand, his expression desolate. "A-and he tried to run when I screamed, but I grabbed her leg so he punched me. And then Gin wasn't moving so he threw her."

"Hey, hey," Ensui shushed me, helplessly fluttering hands brushing against my knees. "Do you think you can call Hitoshi and talk to my boss?"

Before he'd even finished, I was shaking my head. "No," I denied thickly. "I haven't learned how to tell if I'm summoning FuFu or Hitoshi so I can't risk it. Can...can someone get Tou-san?"

"Yeah, of course, Ki," Ensui sighed, setting his hands on my shoulders so lightly I could barely feel the pressure. "I'll be back in a sec, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered.

I knew Uchiha Ryuu by face alone. I'd seen him with Ensui, talking lowly or not at all, a few times before. And, with an innocent question posed to Mikoto, I was able to identify him as Ensui's 'partner'.

I stared steelily back at him when he entered the room, icepack still pressed to my nose.

"Those bastards went for a little girl? She's the youngest yet."

He whispered quietly but obviously Ryuu either didn't recognise me or he didn't get the memo about Dazai and their senses.

"No," Ensui corrected him, his grip around my shoulders tightening minutely. "She's a witness."

Black eyes flashed back to mine, trailing over the blood on my clothes with increased interest.

Ensui answered the unspoken query. "She fought back for her friend."

The hospital was quiet, lacking the frantic hassle that I was used to. Then again...they didn't exactly have many patients.

A light rap on the door, courtesy for me I guessed, before a tall man stepped inside. Under his arm, he carried a folder and his police badge was much more impressive looking than Ensui's. Despite all that, I found my eyes lingering in the stress lines that creased his young face, pinching his brows no matter the effort he seemed to put into looking as calm as possible. Again, for me, I guessed.

"My name," He almost seemed to smile, careful and low, "Is Detective Inspector Uchiha Osamu."

"Dazai Kiharu," I replied, voice pitched low to match his.

"Do you mind answering some questions for me, Dazai-chan?"

I flicked a glance up to Ensui, still sat close on my left side, as Osamu-san pulled the nurse's desk chair to sit opposite me. Ryuu loomed by the door, rather like a security guard. Somehow, the thought made me feel better.

"Thirteen."

Ryuu blinked but I didn't even take advantage of it. Yeah, I was small. Oh well, I'd be glad for my youthful face when I hit 30.

"Okay, and who looks after you?"

"My Tou-san, Dazai Seiichi. He's a Chuunin."

Osamu hummed, jotting the info down on some kind of form.

"Now...can you tell me what happen?" Dark eyes, actually a very deep blue in the merciless light, flicked up to meet mine. "Take as long as you need, Dazai-chan."

I sucked in a hard breath through my mouth, the tang of copper-blood still lingering in my throat. "I was delivering cupcakes…"

"…"

"Right," the older man, sighed, finishing his sentence and sitting back from where he'd been leaning on his bent legs. "Anything else?"

"Senpai," Ensui piped up quickly and jutted his chin towards the door, "the healer wants to see her." Sure enough, my nurse was waiting on the otherwise, visible through the blurry privacy glass. Ryuu turned, cracking it open to murmur something.

Osamu nodded. "A smell, anything, Dazai-chan-"

"I saw his face."

The room went very, very still. When I glanced up, Osamu was tense with well-concealed anticipation and it was only my understanding of Uchiha in general that hinted to his underlying tension.

"He was young, no older than you. His skin was pale but not too much...he...he was clean-shaven with a dark fringe…" I glanced up again, remembering how he'd pressed Gin so close to him, how his face had been tucked into her hair until the last second and revulsion curled like toxic smoke. "His eyes were grey and angry."

I swallowed hard and turned to look at Ensui. "He wasn't sorry at all. He was mad he couldn't take her. That's why he punched me."

Ensui's jaw clenched, hazel eyes like stones in his olive toned face.

I waited for the fear to come but it didn't.

"Thank you, Dazai-chan. You've been...incredibly helpful. If you do remember anything else, please don't hesitate to get in touch. I wish you well on your recovery."

"Thank you, Detective." I nodded, not quite able to smile.

With another nod, Osamu-san left. Ryuu waited until his superior was heading down the corridor before turning back to look at Ensui.

"Corridor, now."

Ensui didn't even twitch. "No, I'll report in later. I'll stay with Kiharu-chan. Maybe you should locate her family?"

Ryuu almost scowled, pink creeping along his cheekbones, but any kind of retort was interrupted by the healer reentering and starting to fuss with my icepack.

The tingle of iryo ninjutsu was a bizarre thing. One I didn't have time to ponder over.

"Kiharu!"

Sora-oba and Yuri-oba came into the room, worried but gentle. The nurse, still pinching my nose as she finished up fixing the ruined cartilage, shot them a quelling glare regardless.

"Any news about Gin?" I asked immediately. But then...the sight of Yuri reminded me and another terrifying thought struck me like ice down the spine.

"Is Hana okay?!"

"Hana-chan?" Ensui blurted, shooting Ryuu a sharp look.

"Sh-she left my house just before I left!" Oh my fucking god-

"I'll run to the Inuzuka Compound and check immediately," Ryuu barked out but any gratefulness was destroyed when he kept talking. "An Heiress would make this even worse!"

"What?!"

Unfortunately, the Officer had already strode to the window and ducked outside.

This night was a nightmare.

Ensui ripped the tie from his hair to scrub agitated hands through his shoulder-length locks.

"Gin-san is being examined now-" Sora-oba piped up, stress creasing her forehead through her brown hair.

Are we going to ignore that that just happened?!

"The healers are looking at her head now," Yuri leaned forward to reassure me and Ensui hurriedly gave her his seat, moving to stand near the door whilst my grandmother slipped an arm around my waist. Soft, periwinkle blue eyes trailed over the blood dried to my front. "You were just at the shop, both of you…"

I breathed, slow and shaky, through the knot in my throat. Anger at Ryuu could be set aside for later. Let him find Hana first. "Is," I coughed, "is Hoshiko-senpai here?"

Yuri-oba smoothed a soft, wrinkled hand through my hair, ignoring the knots and droplets of blood. "She's just on her way now."

The nurse leaned back, tilting my head from side to side with light brushes of her cool, gloved hands. "I think you're good, Dazai-san. Any bruising, the Nara can sort you out."

"Right," I muttered. "Thanks."

With a sharp nod, the healer swept out.

"Come on, Nekki," Sora-oba soothed, running a hand down my arm and smiling when I snapped around at the old nickname. "Let's get you changed."

The corridor was empty when our little group came out of the room and it was a silent walk to the nearest toilet cubicle.

Sora-oba pushed open the door and stepped inside, Yuri following her with her hand still in mine. But I paused on the threshold before hesitantly glancing back over my shoulder.

Ensui, eyes still hard, tried for a smile and didn't quite manage it. "I'll wait right here, Ki. Don't worry."

Warm fingers curled around mine, gently prying them off the edge of his flak vest and giving them a squeeze before letting go. Oh. I didn't even realise I'd..

I still didn't move, gaze shifting from Ensui's jacket to his eyes once more.

"Will you sleep over tonight? I'll bring my duvet down to the sofa and we can watch TV."

Ensui was safety. He was strong and an adult and I trusted him.

He also had his Nara shadows and a Police warrant.

This time, when Ensui smiled, it looked a little less like he wanted to kill someone (to kill that man). "Sure."

Satisfied, I let Yuri-oba guide me inside and to the sink.

Only to stop short at the sight that stared back.

Oh.

I'd been pale when I was younger, mainly because I was essentially a shut-in, but I'd slowly gained more and more of the olive tan like that of Iruka and my dad, Hashirama and Gai, as I made a conscious effort to go outside more and exercise.

Against the garrish crimson smeared over my collar, the half-wiped pink stains on my face and the column of my throat…

I looked like a ghost.

Eyes closed exhaustedly and I staggered forward until the ceramic sink edge bumped my middle.

"Here, Kiharu," Sora-oba prompted me, coming out of a toilet cubicle bearing a long-sleeved undertop. She must've been wearing it under her dress.

I was bundled into a cubicle, peeling off both yukata and the strap top underneath that hadn't been spared, sliding them under the door for Yuri to rinse a bit in the sink. Maybe they'd be salvageable.

The top was, expectedly, too big, but I simply tilted the neckline higher and pushed the sleeves up. My hair was a hopeless case so, leaving the cubicle, I allowed Sora to pull it into a quick tail.

I was...tired.

"Can I see Gin?"

…

Gin had a very severe concussion and, yes, I had helped dislocate her ankle. The ankle was healed rather quickly but her head…

She was on bed rest for three weeks. Just to be sure.

Leaving the toilet, I'd found Shisui with Ensui, being berated by a member of staff for trying to enter the female toilets.

The older boy had looked to be on the verge of tears, arms frozen and not quite daring to return my hug when I'd thrown myself at him.

"I'm not spun sugar." I'd snarled into his collarbone, dangerously bitter.

His responding embrace had been warm and solid and tinged with regret. Even the awkward stab of his crutches, the way he had to lean slightly on me for balance, didn't take away from that.

Hitoshi arrived ten minutes later, preceding a very angry Cat Dad.

I'd been sat beside Hoshiko when he came barrelling in, trying not to freak out as she sobbed into my shoulder. Gin's family, her brother and his wife seeing as their parents lived several day's travel away, sat on the brunette's other side.

On my other side, Hana had threaded her fingers through mine. Ryuu had come racing in with her, her dogs five minutes trailing behind, and dumped the apocalyptically angry Inuzuka almost in my lap. She'd arrived home without issue, having raced her dogs, and, apparently, had thrown her chopsticks into the dining room wall when Ryuu had interrupted the meal with the news.

Hana knew Gin, just as she knew Ayame and Hoshiko.

The double doors had opened with a bang that had me leaping upright, tripping over my chair and staggering back a step.

The room froze and my heartbeat, trying to thrum out my chest, seemed to shake my entire body.

"Kiharu."

When dad started crying, I went home.

Hana had come too and we'd shared my double with plenty of room to spare.

Ensui, as promised, slept on the sofa, wrapped in my fluffiest blanket with his head turned towards my room.

….

Mikoto was waiting outside front door by seven the next morning, sweeping inside with a dignity that didn't quite conceal the shake of her palms when they cupped my jaw.

"Kiharu-chan," she sighed, dark eyes running over my tired features and lingering on the barely-there bruising around my nose and eyes. "How did you sleep?"

Pale fingers tucked my bangs behind my ears. Behind the Uchiha matriarch, Ensui watched us over the rim of his coffee. I'd left dad upstairs asleep, Hitoshi sprawled in Ensui's makeshift sofa bed.

Hana had left half an hour before, picked up by Tsume, who had clasped her hands in my shoulders in unspoken solidarity.

"Fine," I sighed.

For once, it wasn't even a lie. I was too exhausted for any kind of pretence and...I'd been too exhausted last night to do more than collapse on my bed. Hitoshi had curled around me, like he used to when I was even smaller, and rested his heavy paws on my back. With Hana on my other side and the puppies at our feet, which hadn't even drawn a complaint from the resident cat...the weight was grounding and my shudders - shock, Akane had called it - had eventually slowed, allowing me to slip into a dull slumber.

Somehow, Mikoto must've sensed the truth, leaning back with muted satisfaction and turning to survey her 'apprentice'. "Well, Ensui-kun?"

Dark eyes flicked up to meet dark eyes and I was suddenly struck by the realisation that Mikoto looked quelling. She was nonverbally chastising Ensui…?

"Well?"

Lips parting, my gaze flickered between the duo at the sudden tension of the room.

Ensui took another sip of his coffee, tilting his jaw back to drain the mup. His adam's apple, dotted with a smattering of stubble, bobbed in a long swallow before the cup was set back down with a thud. Mikoto's gaze didn't falter, except managing to look even more expectant.

"You know I can't, Shishou."

"You have no excuse now, Ensui-kun. Kiharu-chan will help you, you know this."

"It's nothing to do with her." I didn't think I'd ever heard Ensui be so...curt to the Uchiha Matriarch before. Cool, yes. Respectful, always.

"She is. She saw him. And I don't want her to be in the dark; it's not fair, Ensui-kun."

"I'm right here."

Ensui's eyes flashed back to mine and I squinted at the uncertainty I could see there.

"It's too early for this. Tell me what's happening."

The Nara hesitated.

And I snapped.

"Okay, listen. If Mikoto-hime thinks I should know, they why don't you trust her counsel? You always seek her advice on cases, what's suddenly changed there? And me! Do you not trust me, do you think I don't deserve to be kept in the loop if something involves me?"

"It's a fucking trafficking ring."

Mouth ajar, I stared at Ensui's stressed face. His chin was angled down, leaning back from the counter and rubbing one large palm over his forehead. His skin looked poor, uncared for and slightly sallow, as if he hadn't been eating or sleeping right. I felt guilty for my outburst but…

Mikoto was right.

I'd seen that fucker's face. If it was an organised crime ring at work, they could try and take me too in order to cut off any loose ends. They could try and blackmail me in silence.

They could react in any way and I couldn't predict this shit. I'd ever heard anything about a trafficking ring or anything in Canon but...then again, it wasn't like Kishi had been particularly forthcoming about anything regarding civilian or less super-powered crimes or actual police work. We'd barely been allowed to scrape the surface in Canon.

We were - I was - blind here.

For the most part, I hated it. Because I was limited and my knowledge useless and I hated not being able to predict the outcomes of events.

A fraction of my mind though...didn't. That's not to say I liked the situation any, that it didn't sicken me to my core and shake my bones with a rage that had almost no outlet, but I knew it was healthier this way. To be forced to acknowledge that my memories of before weren't omnipotent. That this wasn't a story.

And that, as my actions affected people and events and everything, that knowledge would become less and less relevant. Less applicable.

One day, I wouldn't be able to know the future events at all.

Like with Chouko-chan's birth, with Danzo and the meeting with Tobi, things already were different. And it was really important that I didn't forget that.

I really, really wished I knew who those bastards were. So I could have prevented it, so I could march over and turn them in right now. So I could end this now.

But life didn't work like that, wasn't supposed to work like that as much as it fucking pained me, so I'd have to do what I could. From a more mundane position.

I closed my mouth, only for the corners to quirk up in an expression no one called call a smile.

"Let me draw him for you."

There was one of my (many) notebooks tucked into the bookshelf in dad's office, a cheap flip book of plain paper with a stolen pencil tucked through the ring-binding, and it took but a minute to run and fetch it.

Mikoto sucked in a low breath when I started sketching. I didn't do it much, preferring to jot out songs and short stories from before, but i wasn't bad. I'd been better before because of muscle memory, practice and a tonne of other influences, but I had the memories of how to draw ingrained. Even if my hand didn't quite know the feel and movements anymore.

Ensui leaned over to examine Gin's attacker just as I was finishing up, lightly shading in his hair to hint at the dark colour.

"I didn't get to hear his voice," I sighed through the bitterness. Maybe if I'd hit him back, if I'd started a tossing around verbal abuse, he would've at least given away pitch or something.

"You saw more than anyone else has managed too. Previous girls...they were either too traumatised to remember much or didn't get the chance to so much as turn around."

I pushed those mental images aside. "Okay. What now?"

Ensui sat back down on his stool, hands spread on the island as if to prop himself up under a heavy load. Mikoto shifted to sit beside me.

"Now? Now I break conduct-" Ensui shot Mikoto a mildly aggravated look, "-and tell you everything."

"Everything about the case?"

The Nara pressed his palms together and rested his forehead against his fingers. He almost looked to be in prayer or about to perform a jutsu. "From the beginning."

With a nod from me, Mikoto clicked on the kettle.

"Okay, so. After you told Shishou about the possible ramifications of Hitoshi's attack via Sharingan Technique and then went missing, Shisui told me everything. He was also, as you know, bound to inform his Clan - as in, Mikoto-hime - and Sandaime-sama of reasons why you may have been targeted. And so the situation of a traitor or informant inside the village came to light."

"Nothing's come of it, though," I pointed out. We'd learned nothing of Tobi, of why he'd attacked or even been in the village. I still stood by my belief that he'd been meeting Danzo because it was way too early for him to approach Itachi.

"Not of the investigation, no." Ensui agreed. I blinked at the inferred 'but'.

"Sandaime-sama knew that, if the Uchiha felt they were under surveillance, they would only react even stronger and the possibility of lashing out would become even more dire."

The kettle clicked and tea was poured all round.

"So," Ensui blew on the steaming surface of his drink, "a less obvious mode of tracking was needed. The Uchiha would sense ANBU and that would sour relations."

"It was my idea," Mikoto piped up. "To send in Ensui-kun."

I blinked. For once, my brain wasn't whirling out of control.

The word I'm looking for is 'flabbergasted'.

"He'd been excellent investigating your own case," my partner continued, smiling faintly when Ensui's sallow cheeks coloured the slightest degree. "And I knew we could trust him. To represent my Clan fairly and to tell the truth of his findings. His connection to Shisui-kun and myself wasn't viewed as a fault because, in identifying anything wrong, he would be saving us."

Still looking faintly abashed, Ensui coughed into his fist and my eyes were drawn back to him at the sudden noise. "So, I joined the Station. Fugaku-sama knew I was still working with Mikoto-hime and allowed me to discuss my case findings with her. I guess calling myself her apprentice did send out some meaning we'd not fully taken into consideration. Namely that, despite my being a Police Officer, I was learning under Shishou first and foremost."

"No wonder I used to see you everyday."

Hazel eyes half-rolled at my dry tone. "You know how shit I was treated, so I'll gloss over that part, but one thing I noticed was that I had a very limited access to the files. The case reports, archives, systems, everything. Osamu-senpai, you...met him yesterday, was helpful but I think he's just the sort of man to get the job done."

Beside me, Mikoto smiled against the rim of her cup.

"One night, however, I noticed that one of the casefiles was missing a page. At first," Ensui waved a careless hand, "I thought it was another Officer taking the sabotage a little further but...the pages had been amended. If I could notice it, it would've been apparent to any of the Uchiha. But no-one has reported it. And then, I thought, maybe someone had been counting on the fact that I was used to similar difficulties. So, I went to Fugaku-sama."

Someone...had been covering their tracks?

My brows furrowed, mind beginning to whirl at the possible connotations. Somehow, I knew this wasn't a case of fraud or protecting a loved one from the law.

"The Chief, as I suspected, didn't know anything about it. I was ordered to investigate, quietly, and not inform anyone except Mikoto-hime," Ensui nodded to the woman beside me, "without his express permission. My findings were slow, on top of my difficulties and own caseload, but I managed to gather 15 other files with signs of tampering. Most...most I only knew had been altered because of my own notes of what happened.

"Then the Chief brought in Ryuu. We…didn't get on. Still don't."

Ensui sighed, fingers twitching around his tea. He'd yet to take a sip.

"A week and a half ago another woman was attacked."

The stone in my stomach dropped to my knees and I gripped my tea tighter. Fuck.

"She managed to escape-" my grip loosened minutely, "-but was only able to tell us a few details. Still, more than we'd had before. Well. Until you."

"When I came in to Nekki's with a black eye...it was the day after our fight. When questioning the young woman, Osamu-senpai revealed that Fugaku-sama had informed him of what was happening and Ryuu and I were sent down for the files I'd gathered. Ryuu mentioned off hand about the poor skills of traffickers but he hadn't shared that theory with me. I...snapped."

Absently, I hoped Ensui came out on top. But, for the most part, my brain was just struggling to...compute.

"Needless to say, we got in a fight. Senpai saw the state of us and tore us a new assh-" Mikoto coughed delicately "- a strip out of us, sending us home and giving us the day off."

Mikoto coughed again and Ensui grimaced. "His exact words were for us to get out of his sight before he showed us what a real beat down felt like and not to come crawling back until he had everything under control."

My eyebrows shot up and Ensui snorted knowingly. "Yeah, I know. Senpai looks straightlaced - and he is - but he can get very stressed and, well...we all run when he goes on a rage. Usually about organisation or incorrect field reports but...yeah."

I tried to reconcile that image with the man I'd met last night, the Detective with the soothing voice and neat little ponytail. He'd been tall and broad in the shoulder without being scary, calm and in control without being cold or superior.

I couldn't see him angry or lashing out but, then again, I'd been a victim to be questioned last night. Ensui had known the man for nine months now.

(I never wanted to be a victim again but I knew, a civilian pacifist in this violent world, that was appallingly likely-)

"Has anything new cropped up? Is," I swallowed, mouth dry and took a quick sip of tepid tea, "Is Gin awake?"

Ensui's eyes dropped to his hands. "No. No, she's not."

"Are you going to get in trouble for telling me?"

Mikoto hummed, jaw tilting upwards and, in that instant, she looked more like a Queen than ever. Ensui seemed to agree. "No-one will find out so they'll be nothing to berate."

"Oh?" My brows crumpled.

"Ensui-kun is free to discuss the cases with me. And I am free to discuss anything I wish to with you, Kiharu-chan."

"And the cub is free to discuss everything with me."

Ensui lept a foot in the air, staggering upright from his stool and whirling around to glare at Hitoshi, his huge head now visible over the back of the sofa.

"What are you- I thought you'd left!"

A large, pink tongue slid out from behind impressive fangs and languidly swiped over the panther's maws. "What kind of predator would I be, Shadow Boy, if I couldn't remain undetected should I wish it?"

Ensui scowled. "You're not gonna tell Seiichi-san, right?"

"No," I cut in before Hitoshi, from the dark glint in those narrowed eyes, could push Ensui even more. I could almost feel how tightly wound the Chuunin was. "He won't. Tou-san might be his partner but Hitoshi is my summon too and he's not stupid."

The cat in question sniffed, turning away with haunty indignance.

"While we're here…" I lickedy lips and traced a silent finger around the rim of my cup. "Mind telling me why-" why Itachi hates me?

The words caught in my throat.

Mikoto was. Sat. Right. There.

I couldn't just-just bitch about her son! Why might be close but, before anything, Itachi was Mikoto's child.

Maybe it was Itachi who made them cut me out. Itachi, one of the most important people I'd been trying so hard to save. He was cold and difficult to read, even more repressed that most Uchiha but with a slither of tenderness. Reserved strictly for his family and friends.

And I'd thought I'd counted as one.

Why, Itachi, why?!

God, I just wanted to scream. I just wanted to help! Do you know how difficult it is to save the world without being caught?!

Hitoshi suddenly shifted, sofa springs groaning in complaint as he dropped from the leather and padded into the kitchen.

Emerald eyes gleamed at me knowingly. "Ask him."

When Mikoto and Ensui, having turned at the carnivore's approach, glanced back at me, I paled.

"Not now, 'Toshi."

"Kiharu-chan?" Mikoto's hand was soft on my shoulder and I crushed the urge to scoot away.

I felt...claustrophobic. Overwhelmed.

"Why not?" Hitoshi continued, frustration broadcasted in every movement as he swaggered closer. "You need support at this time, anyone can see that. So ask for the truth."

Suddenly, it was too much.

The events of last night. Shisui. Ensui's information dump and Mikoto's presence beside me.

I couldn't stand their eyes on me. Not right now.

"I'm going to see Gin." I shoved back from the island, making a break for the stairs and dashing up them, for once not even caring for rudeness.

I pulled on the first thing my hands touched - one of Tou-san's huge jumpers - and yanked my leggings on to replace my pijamas. I'd be warm, too warm, but I didn't bother reevaluating.

"Kiharu-chan, I'll walk you there!" Mikoto called up the stairs, surprised and concerned.

I shoved my feet in my sandals, leaving my hair loose to curl wildly and tying a burnt orange bandage to keep it from my face.

When I turned around again, Hitoshi was stood on the doorway.

"You're running from answers again."

My heart thumped. "No."

In the corridor behind him, the panther's tail lashed once, as if he wanted to beat the sense into my head.

"You agonise over ignorance but flee from enlightenment."

"Oh, so you're a philosopher now?" I laughed bitingly. "I don't need a moral lesson, Kitty."

"Cowardice, then."

I almost punched him.

Fists curled and half-raised threateningly for a long second and Hitoshi's eyes gleamed with open curiosity.

The boiling urge to make someone else hurt lasted for a scant few seconds.

My hands fell, limp, back to my sides but my Summon didn't stop staring. Like he'd never seen anything like me before.

"You will not hit me, even now."

"No," I agreed. "Violence is meaningless. It would improve nothing, only worsen. I'm pacifistic like that."

Emerald eyes surveyed me for a long second, seeming to understand that my fight or flight mechanism had been triggered.

My fight response wasn't the violence he understood so...flight was, in his eyes, the only viable option.

The doorbell rang.

Ensui's eyes closed, feeling as though the shadows he was always aware of were dragging him down. A cloak of fatigue. The weight of the world.

Mikoto, still worried and openly maternal - and didn't Kiharu hate that, hate seeing her partner like another pseudo-mother and, briefly, Ensui wondered how Sora-sama and Shishou could stand it - opened the door.

At the clack of crutches on the steps, Ensui didn't bother to swallow his groan.

Shisui. Not. Now.

"Kiharu! Are you here?!" The younger boy called, breathless and anticipating. He'd been gutted that he couldn't stay over like Ensui and Hana-chan had.

Ensui knew he'd come over but, dammit, he thought they'd have more time.

Time. A precious commodity these days.

"Ensui!" At the call, the Sergeant slowly twisted, one foot still on the first step, to look at his best friend. Shisui, picking up on the atmosphere pretty quickly, glanced up the stairs.

Dark eyes flew back to his face, wary and so, so sad. Ah...he gets it.

"What's wrong? It is last…?" Last night?

Hazel eyes flickered between the Jounin and Mikoto before slowly tilting his jaw to call back upstairs.

"Kiharu?"

No reply but Hitoshi's tail flicked. Just the very end of it. Cats do that when they're mad, right?

"Shisui is here!"

All quiet again and Shisui shuffled, restless.

Slowly, Ensui turned back to the Uchiha Matriarch, a determined gleam in his eyes and mouth firmly set. "Maybe, Shishou, you should leave this to us?"

The older woman glanced between the two boys before her gaze returned to the ceiling, as though she could see straight up and through to the young baker. Red lips pursed, evidently unhappy, but she eventually aquiested.

"Don't hurt her." The threat was brief but they got the picture.

"Hai." They mumbled in tandem, gazes skittering to the sides.

The door closed behind her with a snap.

And Shisui burst into action, setting aside his crutches and, leaning rather dependently on the bannister, slowly started ascending the steps.

Ensui's lips parted, sore from biting, at the scene unfolding before him.

"Are you...okay...to do that?"

Shisui was slow but steady and quickly reached the middle of the staircase. He didn't turn around, grunting lowly when he underestimated the next step and stubbed a toe.

"I'm off them Monday. It's just been a while."

It looked like there was a little more to it that that but...Shisui was stubborn. And stupid.

Silently, Ensui started up after him.

Kiharu's door was still open, Hitoshi stood on the threshold but, when the top of Shisui's head became visible to her, the door slammed with resounding bang that shook the wood of it.

Hitoshi, inches from being smacked, growled. Loudly.

It was a rumbling rasp, that pitched and rose deep in his chest until Ensui was half certain the floor was trembling under the sheer force of it.

Without meaning to, Ensui tensed and, beside him, Shisui did the same.

It was the sound of a predator and, while Ensui had never truly forgotten how easily the panther could maul him, it was at times like this were the Nara had to remind himself that he wasn't a mouse between the Summon's huge paws.

He didn't know how Kiharu (or Seiichi) could stand it.

But she did withstand it because there wasn't a peep on the other side of the Baker's door, no hesitation or instinctive spike of chakra.

"Do not fight with me, cub. You will not enjoy the consequences."

"Oh but you'd love a good ol' fight, wouldn't you?" Kiharu called back, muffled through the wood. Despite that, the bitterness in her voice was glaringly obvious. "Seems everyone wants to fall out with me these days! Glad I'm so good at playing the villain!"

Beside him, Shisui winced.

Hitoshi padded back a step, forcing Ensui and Shisui to move aside and further down the landing, before he reached up and smacked a paw on the bedroom door was a thunderous roar.

The door shuddered but held as the panther's muzzle crumpled, revealing fangs longer than Ensui's fingers and the Chuunin backed up again, adrenaline spiking.

And then Shisui - stupid, stupid Shisui - stepped closer.

"What the hell?!"

Hitoshi twisted to glare at the interruption, angling his long body across the entrance to his Summoner's room. "Don't you get involved."

Slowly, slowly, as if broadcasting to a caged animal - and, really, where was the lie in that - Ensui reached to wrap his hand around Shisui's elbow.

"Shisui," His soft voice cut through the tension like a knife, a flood lamp in the fog. "Step back."

The panther's pupils were like scratches of black, impossibly thin, and Ensui was uncomfortably aware of how much he seemed to want to take his next meal from Shisui's recently healed thighs.

"No!"

Oh, fuck-

"He's being horrible to her!"

The bedroom door was flung open, bouncing on its hinges and stopped in its tracks by a small, freckled hand.

"You hypocrite!"

Kiharu, wearing a holey red jumper with loose curls flying, looked rather like a cat herself when she was mad.

An uncommon occurrence, to see her truly enraged, but no less terrifying. If anything, a mad Kiharu was even worse, a sign of how terrible things were for her to get to such a state.

Ensui rather though she would have stomped over if not for the carnivore blocking her doorway.

"How dare you preach, all righteous, about being rude and mean! You who have been blaming me for Itachi's coldness for months! Months, Shisui!"

The curly-haired boy's jaw dropped, expression twisted by anger and hurt and, fuck, if Ensui wasn't uncomfortably aware of just how many nerves Kiharu had stabbed at.

"I'm just trying to stand up for you!" The Uchiha stabbed a finger at the panther and Ensui lunged forward again, ripping the extended hand back before he fucking lost it. "Why the hell are you getting angry at me!?"

Blue eyes popped wide. "Are you fucking-" oh shit "-stupid?"

Hitoshi chose that moment to butt his great head against his mistress's chest - as if he hadn't just been trying to break down her door - and shoved her back a foot, further into her room. "He's a thoughtless boy, cub. If he doesn't realise his wrongdoings, he will not lear-"

Kiharu, completely ignoring how the panther was trying to get her away, proceeded to step over the panther and into the hallway.

"You can cut that protective bullshit, 'Toshi. Just because you're of the opinion that I should force things to go my way, doesn't mean I'm going to start demanding stuff."

The petite brunette, abruptly much more put together, sucked in another breath before twisting back to the other two.

Ensui's eyes narrowed.

A minute tremble to her fists, eyes as hard as their Sapphire colouring, mouth pursed bloodless.

On the outside, Ensui looked wary, hand still restraining Shisui's advance with one eyes always trained on the dangerously stiff carnivore.

Internally, Ensui cursed.

Shisui, you idiot. Itachi's secrets were his but you could have at least admitted that to Kiharu.

The Nara knew he wasn't blameless.

He was one the who'd found out, who'd started all this. But, dammit, he was trying to be responsible. And Kiharu, for all her intelligence, was a child.

Except…

Ensui turned thoughtful eyes back to the younger girl, taking in the steel of her expression, how she was unfazed by the enraged panther behind her, Summon or no.

This was Kiharu, who'd saved herself and Hitoshi from an assassin, who'd sniffed out false play with the Uchiha.

Hana was graduating on Friday. Kiharu's friend, three years her junior and soon to be considered an adult. A Shinobi.

And Kiharu, the girl who recoiled at weapons and fighting, had defended a girl from her would-be abductor and succeeded.

She wasn't a ninja and she wasn't powerful.

But Kiharu had power.

"It's not just that you have secrets. Everyone has them. But when you hide them from me because I'm not a Shinobi…!"

Shisui faltered and, finger by finger, Ensui let his grip drop away.

Hitoshi's maws slid back over his teeth.

"It's that you didn't believe me when I worried about Kabuto. All because he was Itachi's teammate and you don't want to upset him. As if I've ever kicked up a fuss about anything that didn't mean something. As if I was just being spiteful."

Kiharu's hands were limp by her side, eyes dry as they bore into Shisui's. They'd always been huge but, right now, they looked old. Striking against the tan of her skin, the darkness of her loose hair.

Shisui was pale, black eyes unblinking.

When Kiharu's eyes flickered over to his again, Ensui crushed the urge to evert his gaze.

"You made me feel like it was my fault, that I felt this way, and I brushed over it because it hurt. I pretended it was okay because I wanted it to be okay. And that's why Hitoshi's angry," Her hand gestured limply towards the panther. "Because it's not right. And I...I can't deal with this right now."

Blue eyes lowered to the floor.

"And...maybe you should go. Both of you. Ensui, you only told me the bigger picture because Mikoto-hime forced you to. And, Shisui...I think you need to talk to Itachi. Because, despite what you seem to believe, I've done nothing to him. And I can't cope with this all right now. It's too much. I'm stressed and scared and…"

Shisui brought a shaking palm up to cover his eyes, shoulder propped against the wall.

After all the screaming and tension, the silence of the house felt desolate.

"I'm going to see Gin."

Kiharu slowly backed up a step before turning the corner of the stairs and starting down them. Hitoshi, with a final glare, padded after her.

Her small feet tapped lightly on the floors as she crossed the hall.

The door unlatched with a clatter.

A breath.

And then the door shut behind her.

They were silent for a long second, Shisui's shoulders dropping and, when the gate sounded faintly, Ensui didn't bother concealing his own flinch.

What...a fuck up.

Disappointment weighed like a stone, like a drop off a great height, in his stomach. Kami, but Ensui was supposed to be an adult, a Officer. Have his shit together, all that stuff.

But he didn't. He really, really didn't.

He'd had fights with his friends before, small spats and nothing compared to the fallouts of the other two but…

Kiharu had had to cope with an attack last night. And, not just any attack, but witnessing an attempt at assault.

Men feared being murdered more than anything. Women feared rape.

Fuck...

The clock in the hall tick-ed once, twice, and Shisui visibly trembled beside him.

Hazel glanced to the side.

Against the wall, Shisui started crying.

…..

'Akira': the light coming from the sun

Itachi: For those of you lost, please reread previous chapters. During Itachi's POV after Kiharu's return, he revealed internal suspicions regarding her motives. It's not a secret in the sense that I'm planning on a plot reveal later with it...it's already out there. Kiharu doesn't know which is why her perspective is so confused about it. The audience has been made aware. Kiharu hasn't.

A/N: Yo! I really, really wasn't going to update for a long time again because, one, work and, two, I was ngl a little disappointed by the reaction (or lack therefore) to a two-month-late update. But I'm gonna just chalk it up to my Americans out there being distracted by Thanksgiving. Yeah, so. Here's an update?

Thanks for reading! 3

Cinnamon Roll recipe: 'Kanelbullar!'

Makes: 10 (yes, I eat this without help)

Ingredients for the dough:

Sunflower oil, for oiling work surface.

300ml milk

1 teaspoon ground cardamom

50g butter

425g plain flour, plus a little bit more for dusting

7g packet of fast-action yeast (dried)

50g Caster sugar

½ teaspoon of salt (do not use rock salt, you crazies)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Filling shit:

75g butter, softened (learn from my mistakes and don't trust it unattended in the microwave, please)

50g soft LIGHT brown sugar (can be pricey but worth it! Yasssss)

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (no more...trust me, this isn't the Challenge™)

½ teaspoon of (you guessed it) FINE salt

Glaze:

1 egg, lightly beaten with a dash of milk (can do without milk but then I think it makes them smell a bit like omelette. Weird)

Pearl or Demerara sugar for sprinkling (we're being authentically Swedish here, get that icing awayyyyyy)

Directions!

I'm lazy so this is gonna be fucking fast

Preheat oven to 200•C, 400•F, Gas Mark 6

Lightly oil a baking sheet or line, like Kiharu, some cake tins with greaseproof parchment. If you're very fancy, hunt down a YouTube video on life hacks and figure out how to do the latter one prettily.

Put the milk in a saucepan, preferably a small one, and add the cardamom and simmer. Don't boil. Bring off heat and add butter until melted. Set it aside until it's just warm, like a nice blanket. Cute.

Mix all the dry stuff on a big bowl and make a 'well' in the middle. Add the egg to the little pond bit and then pour the milk stuff on there too. Like landscaping, yeah? Okay, Now mix it very gently, slowly moving outwards and including the flour bit by bit. Go quick and you'll get lumps and then kill your Yeast when you're beating the shit out of the mixture trying to get rid of the lumps. Trust me. Just follow the damn instructions.

Ta dah! It's dough.

Oil a work surface, on top of cling film if you think you're clever, and turn the dough out onto it. DON'T BE TEMPTED INTO ADDING MORE FLOUR BECAUSE IT'S SO GOOEY. Just knead it softy and it should get it's shit together. You could use a stand mixer with a dough hook but we're not bitches.

Lightly oil a bowl (BTW, oil everything lightly, you don't want greasy bread WTF) and put your dough baby in it. I censored this bit in the fic because it's boring. Cover with cling film or a clean tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for 30-60 mins. Or until double. Don't put it in a low setting oven, no matter how shit your central heating or if you're low on handy patches of sunlight in countertops. Let's not lose our heads.

While the dough is rising, make the filling by beating the shit out of them in a bowl.

Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface (shit I should've made Kiharu do this bit in the fic-) until it's about 3mm thick. Thin but, then again, it's gonna rise and you don't want it raw in the middle but burned on top.

See Kiharu ^^^^ for this bit. Like hell am I describing it twice.

Place the rolls on a baking sheet or pack reasonably tightly (don't be stupid) in a cake tin. Leave to prove for another 30 mins. Again, I censored.

Brush the buns with beaten egg (remember, a drop of milk is optional) and sprinkle with the sugar LISTED.

Shove in the oven for 20-25 mins, until golden brown. Probably better to turn them out hot because they're more flexible then but I'm sorry if you get violent and they fall apart.

Enjoy!

(recipe from 'Lagom' by Linnea Dunne)