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!

32. 32) Smoke and Mirrors

Smoke and Mirrors

…..

Unfortunately, whilst neither smoke or mirrors are recommended for consumption, they do make a snazzy title.

(This chapter was almost called "I'll find what I have to do, 'Cuz talk is cheap"... You'll geddit by chapter end.

Happy...first...anniversary...fourmonthslatesurpriseeeeeeee~)

…...

"There you are, Uchiha-san. All done."

Shisui lifted a leg, only a few inches off the floor, and swivelled his ankle, eyes wide and gleaming with something like triumph.

(Which was pretty ridiculous seeing as he'd been in physio for ages and had been using his legs almost normally for the past week and a half-)

A smile quirked the corners of my lips regardless, my nose still a bit snuffly from the earlier tears and my eyes a little fuzzy. Those crutches had been a shackle, there wasn't any doubt about that, and I had no doubt that Shisui would cry in a few decades when he had to get a cane again. Fuck, he hadn't been 'free' two minutes and I was dreading it already.

I sighed internally, still sat opposite the nurse whilst Shisui visibly preened at his new-found liberty.

The older boy rolled onto the balls of his feet, bouncing a bit, and grinning like a loon. His nurse, although I supposed she was just 'the' nurse now, smiled good-naturedly and passed me the paperwork that Shisui was a touch too distracted to accept himself.

"Make this one take it easy, please?" She dipped her head in Shisui's direction and discomfort curled in my stomach. Bad enough that she'd walked into the waiting room to find the both of us standing at opposite ends of the room, crying, but I didn't want to think about what was gonna happen now.

"C'mon, Shisui-kun," I steadied myself, reaching to snag one of his wrists and wrapping my fingers around the limb, pulling us both towards the door. "Thank you so much, again!"

As soon as we were out on the steps, avoiding the gaze of the smiling receptionist - who looked far too invested, I was just glad it wasn't that redhead -, I dropped Shisui's wrist and turn to face him.

"So-" He cleared his throat.

And I threw my arms around his waist and squeezed him hard.

Shisui jerked in shock, torso beneath my cheek twitching with an aborted reflex, before freezing. I didn't move, regardless. His top was well worn and soft to the touch and Shisui's chest was hard; he was...growing up, and the thought made be strangely wistful. His heart thumped against my ear, warm and strong and a little fast and familiar and I pressed closer.

Then, the older boy's arms were coming up to hug me back, hands splayed across my shoulder blades and pulling me up onto my tiptoes.

I huffed, nose burrowed into the divot of Shisui's collarbone.

I loved this boy, this utter idiot, and knowing he was all healed and well put a lump in my throat and an ache in my chest. Both happy and sad. He was going to be leaving again and we still weren't okay and he wasn't going to be in Nekki's every day. I'd miss this, had been spoiled in a way. As Ensui became busier, I'd always had Shisui to fall back on. It had been...novel, at first. Like every day was a holiday, somehow; but I'd grown dangerously used to seeing that goofy grin at work. I mean, I'd seen Shisui more than my own dad these past few months.

His top smelled of skin and warmth and gingerbread and, without the hunching crutches, I finally noticed that he was almost a whole head taller. He was growing like a weed whilst...whilst I stayed the same.

After another endless moment, maybe a second and maybe an hour, I stepped back, swallowing a bit when Shisui's hands lingered, reluctant. His palms, big like a puppy that hadn't grown into it's paws, cupped my shoulders for a moment before falling away.

The relieved joy was gone from his face now, replaced with something sad and knowing and tender in those dark eyes.

He looked older, more knowledgeable. I'd never felt more my age, an awkward teen a few years behind the Jounin before me.

"I'm really glad you're okay now, Shisui-kun." I let my eyes meet his, the genuine relief shining in my own gaze. "So, I'll let you be on your way."

I meant it. I honestly to Kami did, however which way he chose to interpret my words.

Shisui seemed to understand that too. He'd talked before the appointment, when I'd found him, about meeting up with Itachi and I was almost able to see the moment in my mind; how he'd smile, all awkward and worried about upsetting me, and explain that Itachi was waiting.

"A-are you working today?"

I blinked at the random stutter before swinging my arms slightly, as if to draw attention to my outfit. Which wasn't my uniform, nope. "Um...no?"

Shisui shoved his hands in his pockets, seeming at loss with what to do with his hands now he wasn't constantly holding crutches. Bizarrely, I wondered if I should hold them for him, so maybe we'd both stop being so damn uncomfortable.

No, no, that would probably make it weirder-

"Tomorrow, then?"

"I-" I racked my brains, "-yeah, Mikoto-hime is taking the day to help Sasuke with his target practice, so, yeah. I'll be working."

There was something determined, almost stubborn, about the set to his mouth. "Can I come in for lunch?"

I wanted a phone. Right here, right now, I wanted a phone. Purely so that Ensui could call me and I'd have to take it, walking away for 'privacy', and playing the 'oh no, there's an emergency that I have to see to right this instant and you don't need to be involved at all' card. I wasn't above calling someone myself and bluffing that they'd been the ones to dial.

Long story short, I wanted an excuse. I wanted a bird to drop dead out of the sky and distract Shisui. I wanted to have a spontaneous allergic reaction to the damn anything. Something. Give me something-

"I never turn away my regulars," I hedged.

Shisui's shoulders didn't drop and neither did his expression. That he'd expected nothing more was a relief as much as I felt guilty.

I'd come today to support him and be there. He'd said his piece inside and we'd cried our tears but-

I valued us too much to stick a plaster over a stab wound.

"I'll be sure to come in then, okay?"

His arms flexed for a second as if he wanted to reach out before thinking better of it. Instead, he descended the steps before turning back to me.

My own arms almost ached to fold across my chest but I resisted the urge, not wanting to look defensive. Body language was such a thing and most of the time you didn't even realise how it transferred.

"Okay."

The older boy's mouth finally relaxed, curving into a hesitant smile that I was helpless to return, before trotting off down the street, seemingly unable to help breaking into a light jog.

I watched him go, eyes lingering even after he'd turned the street corner, and something unfurled in my chest.

…

Shisui made it two blocks before he threw caution - or, rather, the nurse's words - to the wind and, with a flex of chakra, sent himself onto the nearest roof.

The energy, both chakra and pure adrenaline and freedom, sang in his veins and, coupled with Kiharu's hesitantly encouraging response on the steps, he couldn't help the breathless laugh that bubbled up in his chest and passed smiling lips.

The good mood lasted up until he remembered, skipping in frog leaps over the shopping district, exactly where he was supposed to be heading.

Some progress made and then another problem. He'd lost the crutches and managed to speak to Kiharu (and she'd hugged him and smiled and-) but he still had to have a talk with his cousin…

"Fuck," He bit out, jaw tilted back and hands on hips.

"Let me guess-" a sudden voice drawled, sending Shisui whirling around. "-You've got legs but now you've fucked your back?"

"Ensui!" Shisui groaned, even as he stepped closer to the older ninja and clapped a hand on his shoulder. The Nara, propped up on the chimney with ankles crossed, swayed slightly from the motion, only responded by slipping his elbow through Shisui's. "I thought you were working today?"

The arm looped through his squeezed for a moment. "You think I'd miss you getting off your crutches?"

The Uchiha's eyes dropped, embarrassed, for a moment. "It's not a big deal."

He was still watching the streets below when Ensui spoke up again, his tone steady and deliberate.

"Well, Kiharu asked me to go to your appointment, you see. She didn't want you to go in alone but...well, it wasn't necessary in the end. But I'd already called an early lunch and I wasn't going to stick around to hear Ryuu whine, so figured I'd catch you after."

Shisui's mouth opened. "Y-you could've come in, you know?"

Sharp eyes, hazel green in the bright daylight, rolled towards him, half-lidded and amused. "And why would I interrupt?"

A blush, hot and mortifying, burned across the Uchiha's cheekbones, radiating warmth from his ears and crawling down his neck. "It wasn't like that," even to his own ears, he sounded weak.

"Wasn't it?"

Shisui's hands were mercifully cool pressed over his eyes, his arm having been released, and the darkness gave the illusion of safety, privacy. Only one of which Ensui was good at providing. "Why are you doing this to me-"

"Because working with Ryuu drives me insane and he's your cousin. Besides, it's funny."

Oh, Kami, of all the days for Ensui to find himself in a savage mood-

"Oh, relax. If you want to survive the next decade or so-" Shisui bit down on a whimper, "-You're going to need a bit of immunisation. Anyway, how was the nurse?"

"Fine. Good." Shisui inhaled, dropped his hands and blinking at the lingering fuzziness from the slightly too hard pressure. "Need to take it easy for a bit."

"On roofs. Makes perfect sense." Ensui nodded sagely.

A child started crying in the street below, his mother immediately scooping him up and onto her hip.

"You're going to see Itachi, aren't you?"

Shisui tore his eyes off the scene, scattering thoughts of his own parents. He barely recalled their faces now. "Who told you?" The Nara gave him a look. "Does everyone know what I'm doing but me?"

"Nah," Ensui looked like he almost wanted to laugh. Either that or yank his hair out. "But I figured, if you had any brains left, you'd go."

Shisui's voice was very small, almost lost to the breeze. "Are things that bad?"

A hand, warm and large - Ensui was endearing, as Kiharu would have said, like that. Big hands and long legs and a long nose - settled on his shoulder, tugging the younger man until he fit under the Nara's arm. "No, no, its not."

"Really?"

"Well, I mean," Ensui's brows furrowed but Shisui felt better that he was giving his answer such thought. "You both fucked up but, so long as both you and Kiharu want to fix things and you actually do, I don't see how things can't be good again. Kiharu has her own issues that need dealing with."

Shisui ran a hand through his curls, fingers catching in the tangles. "Not the same, though."

"No," Ensui agreed. "Not the same. But things aren't supposed to go back to the starting point. It kinda defeats the point of growth. Relationships are constantly changing. I mean," and here his mouth twisted like he'd tasted something bitter in his throat, "look at that bastard Ryuu and me."

Shisui side-eyed him. "If you tell me you're best friends and plan on moving in together, I quit." As if to illustrate his point, the younger boy jabbed an elbow into the older's ribs, snickering when Ensui's head jerked back in obvious affront.

"Kami no, what the fuck, Shisui? No. I mean, we started off passive aggressive as fuck and Ryuu always shoved his work onto me at the last moment. Then we had that fight-"

"I knew it! 'Scuffle with a thug', yeah right-"

"-and now, well. It's a better working environment."

Shisui's eyebrows threatened to disappear into his hairline. "Mikoto-sama said that Osamu says-"

"Bloody gossips." Ensui gnashed his teeth.

"-that you cuss each other out all day, every day."

"Yeah, well, he's still a stuck-up drama queen but at least he pulls his weight. The point is, Shisui, that you need to go talk to Itachi."

"...That was the most convoluted advice I've ever heard."

A hand lashed out and smacked him hard between the shoulders and Shisui was sent staggering from the force, biting back a yelp and twisting an arm to get free in the process.

"Oh, go on."

Shisui went.

Itachi was supposed to be training by himself today, at the insistence of Fugaku-sama when Sandaime-sama and the teachers had had the audacity to assign the Uchiha Heir a Hyuuga sensei. Which, Shisui thought, was more than a bit stupid. A Hyuuga, whichever one aside, would be incredibly helpful when working with chakra regulation when using a Sharingan, nevermind the ridiculously long list of other things a Byakugan could help with.

Hiashi-sama was as terrifying a man as he was an easily offended one too. Shisui didn't know what the Elders had been thinking.

(Oh, right, he internally moaned. They probably hadn't been, too busy being stupid-)

Shisui had some issues with his Clan Elders, he'd admit.

Regardless, Itachi had 'individual training' twice a week. Shisui hoped the other two Genin still met with their sensei anyway; they were both at a disadvantage as it was and it wasn't fair if his cousin held them back by being more advanced.

The training fields were, mercifully, empty when he arrived. Despite his obvious reluctance, Shisui wasn't dragging his feet. The area where Itachi liked to go was well-known to the Jounin, near the treeline...they always, when they trained together, inevitably ended up in the woods. Whether that was running between the huge trees, sparring upside-down on the sprawling limbs or whatever, these woods were filled with happy memories of easier times. Itachi wasn't a social butterfly by any stretch of the imagination but, here, away from ever-watching and ever-judging eyes, he'd seemed to unfurl from himself.

Landing in the clearing, Shisui took a breath before stepping into those very trees.

It wasn't hard to find his cousin. (A part of him wished it had been.)

"Itachi-kun," the Jounin spoke up, letting his mouth curl into a delicate smile.

The younger boy, kunai poised to throw from his shoulder, turned just enough to catch his cousin's gaze. "Shisui." His eyes dropped to his legs before, rising again, they warmed considerably. "Glad to see you well."

"Thanks. The appointment was more symbolic than anything, really." Shisui chatted, making sure that every gesture, every movement was as natural as possible. He was a ninja and a damn good one; he wasn't going to give his nerves away. And, as good as Itachi was right now, Shisui was still better. That probably wouldn't be the case in a few more years, but as it was now, he was. "Ensui and-" he stepped up beside the younger boy, eyes on his face, "- Kiharu-chan seemed to think so at least."

Itachi's mouth shifted, minute and missable...if he hadn't been looking for it.

The trick with Itachi, just like with so many of his clansmen, was to look. Microexpressions, tone, what little words he did speak.

He wasn't angry. He looked...discomforted.

Shisui's heart dropped a little at the sight of it.

He didn't ask if they had made up; he didn't have to.

"I'm taking things slow with them-" grouping Ensui and Kiharu together helped, made it seem like it was a general friendship issue than isolating Kiharu-chan by herself. "-trying to see where we went wrong, where I went wrong."

Itachi's lips tightened this time, the skin around his eyes stiff. He didn't agree that Shisui did something wrong then. Considering that his cousin didn't even know the details of what had happened, Shisui was a little flattered in his faith...as much as it exasperated him.

"What do you think?"

Itachi tossed the kunai, the weapon whistling through the small clearing between the trees to stab the target, half an inch from bullseye.

Shisui's eyes narrowed.

"About, Shisui-nii?"

The older boy smiled patiently, his expression as open as possible. His performance, for what else was it, threatened to twist his smile into a grimace. He always liked to be as genuine as possible with his loved ones. "What do you think I should do?"

Itachi was obviously thrown by his words. It wasn't like he had a lot of experience. Even now, after a short time at the academy with no friends and having lost a team already, he was only starting to learn these things.

In the end, after a solid minute, he simply picked up another kunai, testing the blade's weight in his small hands. He looked like any other kid at the academy, far too young to be training like this-

Kami, he was starting to sound like Ki-chan.

"Maybe it's better this way."

The words, so softly spoken, were almost missed. Shisui kinda wished he had.

He swallowed, throat bobbing, and the leaves shivered in the gentle wind. "...what?"

Solemn eyes, liquid and so dark a grey they almost looked black, met his. "Maybe it's better this way." If there was one thing Itachi wasn't, it was hesitant once he'd made up his mind.

But Shisui had to try. And he had to know. "I know you don't like her," he started off slowly, "but-"

"It's safer this way."

Shisui lips parted, breath puffing out. Safe...r?

"Safer?"

Itachi's mouth tightened. Oh Kami but he meant it.

It was willpower that kept Shisui's jaw from dropping right then and there, eyeing how Itachi carefully selected yet another kunai and lined up in front of his target. As if he hadn't just insinuated that Kiharu was what? A threat? "'Safer'? Itachi-chan, I'm not in danger and from Kiharu? She's a civilian!"

The kunai hit the inner ring with a dull 'thump'.

Shisui shoved his hands in his pockets so he wouldn't be tempted to reach over and fucking rattle the sense back into his little cousin.

Itachi seemed to choose his words carefully. Or, rather, even more carefully than usual. Shisui wasn't sure if that made it even worse. "...Are you sure?"

Worse, definitely worse.

Shisui was flabbergasted. It was like some bizarre dream, the ones where nothing makes sense but reality appears almost normal. Those were the worst, Shisui thought, because he always forgot they were just dreams and waking up felt more like the fantasy.

"What?"

And, suddenly, Itachi was whirling back to face him, expression pinched and dark gaze bottomless. "Are you sure? How can you be so sure-"

"Itachi." Shisui gently rested his hands on the younger boy's shoulders, taken aback by his sudden fervour. A quiet panic that had left almost as soon as it had come. "Is that what this is? All these months of ignoring Kiharu and pulling back...you think she's- what? A plant?"

The idea was so alien, it might've made him laugh in any other situation. But not when Itachi was so spooked and Kiharu had cried.

The small shoulders in his grip, still childish and soft despite Itachi's considerable training, twitched. "Haven't you ever wondered? She's involved with so many people, a prime location like no other."

"That wasn't of her own doing," Shisui pointed out in an even tone. He was the elder here and Itachi was his kid cousin. He couldn't just pick a fight, like he'd do with anyone else. "It was Hitoshi that brought the trouble calling and, without that mess, Danzo would still be around. And she's clever, just like you."

"Yes," Itachi agreed but his eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Just like me. How is it, then, Shisui-nii, that she's not been recruited?"

"It's different for her. She's not in a Clan, she doesn't have a dojutsu and she's never been to the academy. And you've seen yourself how against being a ninja she is."

He hated how pleading he sounded. It made him feel like he was losing, somehow. Even though Itachi was so wrong it almost hurt.

The doubt in Itachi's eyes had yet to falter.

The worst thing was that Shisui, now Itachi had planted these thoughts, could see where he was going with this. Kiharu and that mysterious figure, Kiharu and Danzo...how she'd known about the Clan troubles and how she sought out Naruto-kun, the orphaned jinchuuriki. How she was so damned clever but slipped through the cracks.

It was a good cover, would make an excellent one for a plant.

But Shisui knew better.

He was shaking his head, slow and final, without even realising it. "You're wrong, Itachi. I'm sorry and I know you mean well but you're wrong."

He didn't step back but, somehow, it felt like he had.

"Is this because of Danzo?"

Itachi looked away first, stepping out of his cousin's gentle grip and picking yet another kunai. He ran a thumb, barely touching, along the sharpened edge but didn't draw blood. He aimed and released. This time, it was only a hairsbreadth from the centre mark.

"Ensui?" Shisui tried again.

A smile, rueful, curled Itachi's mouth very slightly. "Not your Nara friend, no. No-one told me these things."

Shisui closed his eyes for a long moment and, lids still firmly shut, started speaking. "I'm not asking for an informant, Itachi-kun. I'm asking...what made you feel this way?"

The thing about having your eyes closed...was that it helped elevate your awareness of the other senses. An Uchiha was considered nothing without his eyes. But Shisui had grown up with Kiharu, who pretended everything was normal but still sniffed out her ingredients more often than not, and Ensui, who listened intently above all things.

His might've missed anything visual...but his ears picked up the slightest crunch of Itachi's feet, shifting minutely. How his breath barely stuttered.

That was nerves.

Oh, Itachi. Shisui's stomach clenched slightly. Who was it.

Hands limp and unthreatening by his sides, Shisui's lids peeled back and his gaze settled on the younger boy again. Steady. "Who were you talking to, Itachi, when you came to these conclusions?"

One of the Elders? No, I can't imagine a casual conversation between one of them and Itachi, except Akane and there's no way-

"Genma-san."

Shisui's confidence stuttered. Kiharu's...pseudo-sibling? The assassin may put on a reluctant front but he wouldn't spend so much time town Kiharu, freely, if he didn't care. And he did, it was obvious.

"What did he say?"

Itachi just shrugged and Shisui felt the first real stirrings of impatience.

Yes, they were ninja, but a conversation between cousins shouldn't have felt like an undercover mission or intelligence scouting.

"Well, he must've said something?"

"It doesn't matter, it's unrelated."

Shisui sighed loudly through his nose, mouth set unhappily. "Why-" Why won't you talk to me?

He knew better than to say that. It would only make things more difficult.

But Shisui wasn't done yet.

"By rights, if you're so similar," he tried again, "then you're involved in something too, Itachi!" gesturing around the clearing, Shisui couldn't help the incredulous laugh that bubbled up. Itachi stared at him with something like pity, defensiveness in the slant of his shoulders. "This is- is this why you've been avoiding her? Because you think she's a plant? Kami-sama, Itachi, I've known her almost half my life."

So had Genma. Even longer, actually, since Kiharu's not-friendship with the frickin Yondaime. Urgh but what had Genma said?

...or, maybe, it had just been the sight of him. Seeing Kiharu with Genma...Inoichi-sama...Mikoto-hime…

So many important friends and family members. But, in a village like this, the strong tended to band together; it wasn't surprising that the almost-niece of the Head of T&I would have the means to befriend ANBU and Jounin alike, bumping into and talking to Clan Heads.

Maybe Genma hadn't said anything really at all. Maybe he hadn't had to.

Itachi spoke up and Shisui snapped from his thoughts at the sudden harshness to his young voice. "I am part of something, Shisui. I fight for the Sandaime. She's above suspicion because she's a civilian but she's close to my kaa-san, has a friend in the Force and two on the Guard, an Uncle in T&I-"

They'd been thinking along the same tangent but...on opposite sides of the scale.

"Almost everyone knows someone!" Shisui threw up his hands, frustrated. "This may be the largest hidden village but almost everyone has a relation to someone of importance. Kiharu hardly designed for this to happen. Her Tou-san was friends with the Yamanaka in the war and Yondaime-sama was the one to approach Kiharu-chan! Over a dessert at Ichiraku's. You're looking for something that isn't even there." Itachi stepped back and Shisui's heart hurt. The anger was gone as quickly as quickly as it had arrived, simmering low but just barely there. Now, Shisui just sounded scarily close to pleading. "You can't think everyone is an enemy, Itachi-kun. That's no way to live."

"Listen. I know it's been hard and your teammates are new and everything is changing. But trust me."

The forest was quiet after their raised voices and, to Shisui, it felt more like the eye of the storm than the aftermath.

"Do you trust me? You know I'd never betray you, Itachi."

He stared for a long moment but, when Itachi failed to immediately reply, Shisui tucked away the hurt. He was just a kid, scared and too smart for his own good.

That he was standing here and having to ask hurt, though.

"Talk to your kaa-san about this," he sighed, stepping back and waiting for any sign that Itachi was listening or even a tiny bit convinced. He saw nothing. "She's been with Kiharu from the get-go."

"...Okaa-san always wanted a daughter." Itachi was barely louder than a mumble.

Something like fear, trepidation, fizzed in the older boy's stomach.

If Itachi wasn't talking to him…

If he felt he couldn't go to his mother, and certainly not his father…

He didn't really think it was like that. Sure, Mikoto-hime was very maternal but...maybe it was more like a close Aunt/niece relationship. On Kiharu's part, he knew she thought of the Matriarch as a much older sibling. Maybe because she remembered her mother so closely, maybe that's just the way it was.

"Itachi, Itachi, listen. Mikoto-hime, Inoichi-sama, Shikaku-sama...they'd know. Even if I was blind, they wouldn't be!"

Itachi didn't move away when Shisui wrapped his fingers around his elbow, a gentle grip to reassure, not trap. "You can't do about you life not trusting anyone. You need to believe in other people too and, even if you don't believe me, have some faith and some trust in your Kaa-san."

Moving slowly, Itachi peeled his cousin's fingers loose and stepped back towards his weapons and the target. His eyes didn't meet Shisui's, fixed somewhere between the trees.

"I think you'd better go. Your friends probably want to celebrate."

Shisui swallowed, throat bobbing. "Itach-"

"Go away, Shisui."

…...

By the time I got to the station, two take away coffees in hand and a bag of donuts (some jokes never died), Ensui was just walking up the steps.

I blinked in surprise, mentally checking the time and confirming that Ensui's break should have just been starting...not over? "Where have you been?" I wondered aloud.

"Break," he replied smartly, plucking one of the coffees and holding the door for me. The Uchiha receptionist didn't so much as glance at us but the intern stationed just inside the next door perked up at the sight of me and my labelled goodies.

"Not a delivery, sorry," I threw over my shoulder, walking quickly to keep up with Ensui's longer strides, and almost smiled at the way he wilted.

Ryuu was at his desk, opposite Ensui's and just outside of Detective Osamu's (if the door plaque was to be believed) office. He visibly perked up at our approached and I felt my eyes widen.

Ensui didn't so much as spare his partner a glance, flicking through the small collection of papers on his desk that had probably appeared whilst he was out.

"Ryuu-san," I nodded politely.

Black eyes, that had a permanently wicked glimmer, flicked to me. "Dazai, right? Kigali?* The kid with the nose."

Said nose wrinkled. "Uh...Kiharu and...most kids have noses."

Ensui grinned into his coffee. "Alright, alright, moving on. What brings you here, Kiharu-chan?"

I needed to take my mind off Shisui and Itachi. "Here to lend another set of eyes," I shrugged.

Ryuu smirked, lips tilting in a vicious line. "Oh?"

Ensui ignored him, hazel eyes boring into mine.

Oh.

Ohhhhhhhh-

"I thought you were on break and wanted to help you pick out beads." I explained, bland as rice.

Ryuu squinted, mouth still twisted in that evil little grin. "Beads?"

Evidently the older man wasn't aware of Ensui's small-scale but popular jewellery side-gig. I decided against enlightening him. He was far too….gleeful...for my liking.

The skin around Ensui's eyes crinkled in amusement as he flopped into his desk chair. "No."

Oh. My input was to be off record then.

"How's your morning been?" Ensui inquired idly, prying the still-warm paper bag from my arms and rifling through for a jam filled donut.

I hummed non-committedly, eyeing the way everyone around us was pretending to do work and definitely not eavesdropping. For Kami's sake, Ryuu was reading the recycling information on his coffee cup.

Sighing, and deciding that note-passing wouldn't be worth the hassle in a station filled with Dojutsu users, I decided to fuck it. "You saw Shisui-kun yet?"

Ensui swivelled his chair slightly, thighs spread and donut in hand. His free hand moving a pile of work so I could prop my hip on the edge of his desk. "Just bumped into him, actually. You guys had a talk."

He didn't phrase it as a question, just as I didn't need clarification where he'd spent his break now.

"The secretary started weeping with us," I grimaced, fiddling with a stack of colourful post-it-notes.

"How touching."

Ryuu turned a snort into a cough. We ignored him.

"Have you thought about what happens now?"

Why did Ensui get to be the mature one?

"Most people would ask if I'm going to forgive him or if we're going to forgive each other," I pointed out, now digging through his pencil pot and emerging with a hot pink highlighter. I swatched a stripe on my wrist, pleased with the rich fuchsia colour.

"I'm special and I'm glad you agree."

Just for that, the highlighter was going in my pocket. "...Yeah."

"Yeah?" Ensui quirked a perfectly groomed brow.

"I mean, yeah, I think things are better. They certainly look it and I want them to be."

Ensui smiled, a simple curve to his lips. Uncomplicated. "I'm glad."

I smiled back. "Me too."

"Well, this is touching," a sharp voice commented behind me and Ensui and I rolled our eyes as one. "But save the dramatics for a rainy street corner. You're on shift, Ensui-kun."

"You've been inside ten minutes; aren't you due another hour smoke break, Ryuu?" Ensui threw back.

Sensing the lightning crackle between the duo's locked gazes, I decided to cut my losses before I became a casualty of war.

"Come over for dinner sometime," I straightened from my lean. Ryuu's mouth opened "-Ensui."

With a final nod, I picked my way back out of the station, ignoring how Ryuu immediately started bitching about respect and I'd only met him a few times, how could I be so cavalier?!

Just before I left, I managed to hear Ensui's reply:

"Respect? That's rich coming from a guy with a stick up his a-"

I clapped a hand over my mouth, snorting into my palm, and ducked down the steps.

But, once I'd made it to the end of the street, I realised I was at a crossroads. Both literally and figuratively.

Obviously Ensui wasn't going to be an option to keep my mind busy…

A fruit vendor trudged past with his heavily laden cart and, spotting a certain tropical fruit, I immediately perked up.

When in doubt-

"Yoshino-sama, I don't think-"

"Tush, Kiharu-chan! You're an entrepreneur, you're more than capable!"

Dubious as fuck, I peered at the older woman who was currently bending her spine in a way that looked frankly unnatural. "I'm not sure how business equates to that…"

"If you spend all your life behind a counter, you're going to go crooked before you get to my age and give your old man grandkids and we both know what a crier he is."

My mouth popped open incredulously. I was thirteen. I bit my tongue on the spiteful remark that i wasn't ever gonna have kids; I sure as fuck was (dying early made life-planning much more important, I guess) but anyone who thought I was gonna retire or slow down for it needed re-educating. Yoshino...I expected better from such a badass.

"I thought I was going to babysit Shika-kun, Yoshino-sama?"

Said Heir was currently huddled in a fetal position on the porch, as if his mother wasn't fully capable of dragging him down (obviously head elevated, she wasn't a monster) the three steps into the garden. Which I had seen her do before. On multiple occasions.

"Tch," Yoshino clicked her tongue, grabbing her calf and pulling her leg almost over her shoulder. It was both awesome and disturbing. "He needs to learn this stuff too."

Dark eyes immediately appeared over the top of small, folded arms. The pleading sentiment there was met by my own grimace. Sorry, buddy, but you don't try and talk down a hurricane.

The Nara household had been in a state of peace when I arrived, a little sweaty from the walk but fingers cold in the spring breeze, and I'd very foolishly thought I was in for a nice afternoon.

Oh, hindsight.

Upon knocking and slipping in the front door (ninja houses, especially in Compounds, rarely 'locked up' because it was a futile endeavor for those with their skillset. Their security was much more… err...effective. Yoshino had probably been aware of my presence since I'd walked through the gates), I'd found Yoshino knocking back tea like it was a spirit and Shikamaru griping over the maths sheet she'd insisted he start learning.

Nursery wasn't a thing apparently. Heaven knows how much Kaa-san had had to blackmail me into completing my own worksheets.

That was one thing I'd found entertaining, however. Seeing Shika actually learning. The Nara supposed 'genius' didn't pop from the womb after all; Shikamaru hated the rudimentary classes kids were subjected to. It was a gem to see Chouji-kun complete his number sheets faster. Truly, this life was a blessing.

"Ohayo," I'd greeted cheerfully, in ignorance.

"Nee-chan…" Shikamaru had immediately shoved his numbers aside, arms rising impetuously like he was still a baby.

He ended up on my hip regardless.

"Kiharu-chan," Yoshino had smiled, ankles crossed and smirk as wicked as usual. She wasn't dressed in her usual yukata but in cropped, loose-fitting trousers with a cross-tied blouse. The warning signs should have been ringing at this point but never let it be said I wasn't trusting. "What brings you over today? I was under the impression today was your day off. Aren't young girls supposed to get up to trouble then?"

I'd smiled through another shrug, bouncing Shika lightly on my hip when he started to slip. He really was getting a little big for my comparatively short figure. "Can't a girl see loved ones when she's free?"

Yoshino sat up. "That calls for a bonding activity then."

I had paled rapidly when she pulled out what could only be described as the narutoverse-version of yoga mats.

"This is something everyone should really do," she had started, laying out the ratten rolls and kicking aside stones in a clear patch of earth just beyond the back porch. "It's not a Nara 'thing', so don't look so shifty."

Shikamaru grouched from his slump by the door.

"Sit, sit!"

Trying not to look like an utter brat (and probably failing), I could only follow her lead, folding my legs into an ungainly cross-legged pose.

"Shikamaru!"

The Nara Heir, when he failed to respond, was promptly hauled over and plonked on my other side. With no means of escape, he gave an almighty sigh (that rather belonged to an old man than a kid) and slowly copied my stance.

Glancing over, we shared a look of commiseration. Misery loves company after all.

"Now!" Yoshino smiled, a truly terrifying sight. "Deep breath and arms up on the exhale."

Maybe it was the cool air, protected as we were in the shade of the house, but breathing in so deeply made me feel rather light-headed. Fuck my life.

"And down again. Breathe in-"

I sucked in a lungful, chest cold, as my arms slowly lifted again. Somehow, the almost-constant-yet-easily-overlooked tension of my shoulders, the plague of a baker, seemed so much more present.

"Do it three more times….okay, good."

With all this breathing, Shika somehow managed to look that much more drowsy. I had to give him credit for consistency.

"Now, Kiharu-chan-" I jolted slightly, bent double for our second stretching position. "There's a house on the market, the paperwork came in yesterday. It's a fast sell, the family upsizing for twins due in the new year. It's not a shop front but houses are so easily convertible. I think you should apply for a viewing."

Fuck the not-yoga. I straightened up, hands falling limply into the valley of my lap as I gawked at the older woman. She can't just- just- drop that kind of thing so casually!

"What?"

Yoshino merely stuck a leg out, grabbing her ankle and leaning into another stretch. "It's not in the marketplace, but if it was you might have been competing with yourself a bit there. A nicer neighbourhood has less traffic but the customers will come."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa-" I flapped my hands, a little bit whiplashed. "Back up- you want me to buy a house?"

"Modern houses have lovely living spaces, the dimensions are good for a more 'boutique' atmosphere."

She was quoting my own words back at me, what vibe I'd envisioned for the new branch. The devil.

"Can I even afford a house?"

I got a look for that one.

"Who here is your accountant, Kiharu-chan?"

"Right - sorry, Yoshino-sama."

Said Matriarch sniffed pointedly, looking appeased nonetheless.

Something inside me was still balking at the idea, blabbering on that it was too big of a risk and too soon. It was nerves, the proper kind that heralded a life-changing decision.

"You're running away, Kiharu-chan. This is your business, your dream. If you cannot take the initiative, you cannot expect anyone else to support you."

Kaiya-hime was right. I was running. I knew this. But knowing my problems and actively combating them were two very different things. I had a… thing… for running.

Maybe it was because everything I'd ever worked for before had been wiped away, like pen on a whiteboard, by a car running a red light. It was funny to think but Nekki's had never felt like a risk, or at least not like an expansion did. People opened little stalls all the time, lived their lives by them and that was it. But growing a business, with specific trade deals and a plan for the future… it was suddenly like shit had gotten real. And as much as I wanted it, I also wanted to stop.

Like practising and practising for a contest but as soon as it came to be your turn, wanting to bolt.

Maybe that had been my issue all along. Convincing myself that inactivity was better. It sounded too deep, too philosophical, for what it was. Surely I should've had these thoughts in a dangerous situation, like a hero that flees or flings themselves into the line of fire, but that wasn't me.

I'd made it this far.

Maybe it was time to make things simple again.

"Do it."

I didn't have to repeat myself, Yoshino simply smiling (truly smiling) with the faintest trace of smugness.

"Good," she praised. "...Now, stretch your shoulders, they look tense as rocks."

…..

Returning home with the setting sun, legs shaky and shoulders as weak as jelly, I almost tripped over Hitoshi in the dim light.

"Gahk-!" I squeaked, barely catching myself on the door handle, the panther himself stretched over the porch like a spill of ink. "Toshi, what-"

"Hmm." Emerald eyes bore into mine, half-lidded and unimpressed. "So you did go."

Oh, this bloody sour-puss.

"Well?" I quirked a brow, opening the door and stepping over the great lump. "What's it to you?"

Petty, yes, but valid.

Making absolutely no motion to follow me, Hitoshi allowed his eyes to slip closed again. "Urgh, teenagers."

"Um, is it any wonder that teens get crap for speaking up?" I voiced out loud, his tone rubbing me the wrong way as I slipped off my shoes and deposited my keys by the door. "I've literally been a teen for a week, Hitoshi. Try again."

"I give you advice and you toss it aside… how typical."

"I believe," I smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile. "You merely said that panthers only drag worthwhile carcasses into trees. Maybe you should save those nuggets of wisdom for FuFu?"

Dangerously lethargic, the cat finally heaved himself up, padding far enough inside that I could close the door and make my way up to my room. Yoshino had fed me and Tou-san wasn't due back tonight (he was long overdue an evening with Ino-Shika-Chou, in my opinion), so dinner was going to be a miss tonight.

Still huffy, Toshi followed me up regardless.

"What's the point in making my bed every morning," I griped as soon as I stepped into my room, "if you just make a mess of it anyway?"

Already slinking passed me and hopping up into the rumpled pile of duvet - which I had, meticulously, made pretty from nerves this morning - Hitoshi sent me what could only be called an incredulous look. "I'm a cat." The 'you dumb fuck' was unspoken but still obvious.

"Yeah," I peeled off my sweaty - thanks, Yoshino - top and dropped it by the door for washing. "But you're supposed to be civilised and stuff. An adult. Parenting 101 and all that."

"What drivel."

Pausing in pulling on my pyjama top, I blinked. "Wait, have you just been chilling in my bed all day?"

My partner simply licked a long stripe up his paw.

"You insisted that I 'don't wait up'."

"Then, how did you-"

Emerald eyes cracked open, white teeth flashing in the pitch-black of his face. "I can smell him on you."

"Oh."

Hitoshi's eyes were careful, tracking me as I gathered up my washing, slipping bare feet into slippers, and immediately following me again as I went down to the washing machine. "Is that all you're going to say for yourself?"

I stuffed the wash into the machine barrel, frowning without turning around. "No-one else is trying to stop me."

A heavy weight, hot and tense under plush fur, suddenly leant into my hip as Hitoshi sat right into my space but, when I glanced over, the cat was stubbornly turned away. My heart softened anyway.

"No one else cares like I do."

My fingers, occupied with pouring out the right amount of detergent, abruptly fumbled, spilling the sticky liquid across my knuckles. Swallowing a swear, I shoved the draw closed and cranked the machine on. "Repeat that in front of Tou-san." My half-hearted joke fell flat.

Hitoshi spared me and didn't respond.

"Oh, come on," I bumped his shoulder with my hip. "Don't be so dramatic-" how hypocritical, "- when I fell out with Kotetsu-kun and Izumo-kun, you just bit them!"

"You're older now."

Subconsciously, I felt my lips quirk up in a little, kittenish grin. "Has fatherhood changed you so, Toshi?"

Moving away from the carnivore, I quickly rinsed the detergent from between my fingers before it could dry sticky. What was with him? And honestly? There was only room for one drama queen in this household and we both knew that was my dad.

The tap splashed dully into the sink, a thrum of water against metal that echoed loudly in the tiny utility room. My hands were going to stink of white lily soap now.

"Seriously, though," I glanced at the hulking form from the corner of my eye. "You're the only one who's been so against me making up with Shisui-kun."

Those huge shoulders heaved a put-upon sigh.

"You haven't helped each other, cub."

A thrill of awareness danced down my spine.

Without prompting, Hitoshi continued, no doubt aware of my eyes glued to the back of his head. "You're too anxious, it clings to your scent for weeks on end. And, for months, you've spiked whenever close to the Uchiha Heir brat, even randomly with no discernible cause."

My throat bobbed, dry.

I… didn't like where this was going.

"You're stressed. More stressed than you have to be. And the Uchiha make you stressed. The solution, cub, is therefore simple."

"Th-" my voice cracked, so I tried again. "That's not how it works, Toshi." My voice, without even meaning to, was soft, cradling the words as if gentleness would soften the blow. "I know I have… issues."

I had almost… anticipated them. Trauma didn't just disappear and the guilt of a decade could not be internalised to this degree without ramifications. But it was a useless argument to have with myself? Who could I talk to? Noone, absolutely noone and that's what made everything so much worse. When you felt yourself in that trap, could see the door, but options were so so...limited.

I didn't want to think of it, to be honest. Thinking made it so much more real, like I would drown but there were no life rafts or rescue boats to tug me from the water. Or, at least, none that I could grab.

"But," I continued, belatedly. "Cutting my losses and running isn't the solution."

"I want you to live." The words rumbled, like ripples in the air, deep from Hitoshi's throat.

I could almost imagine what it was, with that single sentence, that Hitoshi wanted me to do. Cut all ties to the Uchiha, leave the Clan to their troubles, internal and within the village, and continue on my life like I hadn't come to love them deeply. Like I hadn't sworn to myself, after Minato and Kyuubi, to take action with the knowledge I possessed.

It would be so hard, damn near impossible perhaps. Because Uchiha loved fiercely and they were stubborn and Mikoto would never let me, business aside. And Shisui, I hoped in some crevice of my heart, would come around every single day. Maybe even keep an eye out from a respectful distance. And Akane…

But Hitoshi wasn't thinking of the schematics, of his plan in real terms.

He was thinking like an animal and he'd smelled my fear, born witness to my sleepless nights and tears, and he wanted me to run.

Shisui was the final straw on the camel's back.

I licked my lips, eyes dancing around the room. Long, amber shadows cast from the fading sunlight, the bruise-purple shadows… the house was silent. Our neighbourhood was always a peaceful one, with little disturbance to the quiet except ourselves and, now, it almost felt suspended in time.

The house existed in a bubble, seeming so secure as my eyes trailed from the dust-speckled windows to the panther's broad back.

...like I would drown but there were no life rafts or rescue boats to tug me from the water…

And, for the first time in what felt like a while, I did something recklessly spontaneous.

"Itachi is vulnerable."

A plush, rounded ear flicked just enough that I knew he was paying absolute attention.

"I'm… worried. Something changed after Danzo escaped and I don't know what but it involves Shisui-kun, Ensui and Itachi. They started almost...checking in on each other. And I don't trust that it's just-" I floundered for a second, breathless that, holy shit, I was saying this. "It can't just be shared trauma, or whatever. They, they watch each other. And I'm so obviously not in the know.

"And then!" The words, like a crack in a great Dam, were suddenly spilling out. My fingers, still dripping, clenched onto the counter-edge to ground myself as I blurted out my suspicions like a sinner in confession. "Then Kabuto is slinking around and he stinks of death, like no one I've ever met and I don't believe for an instant that Itachi's teammates weren't chosen with utmost scrutiny…

To my mortification, my eyes started burning, even as they stayed dry. I was all out of tears. "Dad's up to something too and Ino and Shika and Chouji are already starting their lessons and-"

"Stop."

I stuttered, breath caught high in my throat.

A velveteen warmth smoothed along my arms, along my side, across my back. Rubbing against me like a common housecat, Hitoshi's next words reverberated straight from his chest into mine.

"You are not responsible."

Slowly, uncaring for their wet state, my fingers sank into the panther's plush pelt. "Surely," I started slowly, "if I know these things- that is, how can I do nothing?"

Hitoshi turned his head, nudging with his jaw until I conceded and cradled his head (truly an armful) against my chest. I was far too short if this was still comfortable. "I did not say 'do nothing'. I said that you are not responsible. People do as they wish, you cannot anticipate and control these things."

Somewhere inside me, the stone in my sternum eased slightly, a cramp with tension released.

I… couldn't orchestrate events how I wanted them.

One of the rarest moments in life is a true revelation. So often, things lack true surprise because you anticipate them. And I don't mean events but words, interactions. Truths, particularly about yourself. In a fight, people throw names and accusations and it's the most obvious example of that kind of...reflection of self, I guess you could describe it, you get. Maybe if you read a particularly poignant, self-fulfilling prophecy of a horoscope or have a loved one devotedly describe why they love you.

These truths are often either distinctly positive or negative. Maybe they make you confused or deeply thoughtful if particularly moving.

It's rare to hear something resonate so profoundly that you are able to reflect so objectively.

As it was, this instant could perhaps be described as an out-of-body experience.

If Hitoshi continued talking, I didn't know. It was like a static in my ears and I felt guilty and stupid.

Because, like with so many revelations, it seemed to obvious. I'd been conflicted for years and how could this cat, without even knowing the truth, pierce me so succinctly?

I was living in anxiety because, every step of the way, I was, consciously or subconsciously, drawing links and comparisons to my fore knowledge. I was living one step in the past and one in the future.

Which left no time for the present, for me.

Abruptly, like flipping over a marked exam or opening your eyes in the Morning After, I knew what I'd done.

Hitoshi didn't know, couldn't possibly understand the ramification of those few words but, for me?

It was like it was all written out for me, a neat bullet pointed list of the domino effect my mentality had had.

I didn't know how to even go about fixing it, didn't know if I even could. How can you reverse self-inflicted paranoia and anxiety without confessing all? I'd never sought this kind of help in my first life, hadn't really needed to, so there was no format for this.

I-I-I-

I'd looked at everyone here, no matter how much I loved them and how much better I knew them, through the veil of before. Maybe I had succeeded in moving passed that but it had still coloured both my initial intentions and my perception of them. I hadn't been necessarily wrong to do so but… it was like living life in sunglasses. The sky wasn't quite that shade of blue.

And, like anything under pressure, I'd finally had my 'moment'.

Shisui… Shisui had asked too much of me but only because I had allowed it. I should've had it out with him when he first made me feel guilty but I'd been scared and stubborn and I'd panicked.

Sometimes, I wished I knew jack shit. Like I really was a little girl with a high understanding and creative ingenuity to make these recipes from scratch. Maybe that was the root of it all; I'd been faking it until I'd made it but as soon as shit got to me, the girl before Kiharu and the girl who would always be Kiharu now, I'd just… lost it.

I didn't know why this hadn't happened with Tobi or Danzo. Or, even, with Kyuubi and Kaa-chan.

I doubted that I would ever know the reason. Sometimes, these things didn't make sense. You could have such strong foundations but one stone to a window and smash.

I'd died before, after all.

But what I did know, right now-

I felt fragile.

Not delicate, like there was nothing substantial. Nor like I could shatter if handled too roughly, like spun sugar.

I was like an icing-wet gingerbread house, the roof at risk of caving in and a messy, tricky affair but...with the potential to harden into a sturdy little building given a chance.

Breathe in… out… I glanced down at Toshi again, a tremble to my fingers still smoothing the hair around his green, green eyes.

Well.

They did always say that knowing there's a problem is half the solution.

…..

They had resisted turning on a single lamp as the evening drew in, shadows deeping to plum and then indigo before settling on the deep navy of a sickle-moon night. Natsuko was probably asleep but.

They were ninja. Working in the shadows was, in many ways, easier to them than working in the sunlight.

Inoichi's clones (one, naturally, disguised as Seiichi himself) had left well over three hours ago, with a fake file under one arm and an excuse about paperwork on their lips as they bid goodbye to the grieving widow.

The ease of the ruse, to one so close to them as well, left a bitter taste on Seiichi's tongue.

But they hadn't been able to leave as soon as the desk's secrets had been discovered. Ninja learned the hard way that you couldn't leave a source, even re-covered, and expect to find it again. You took everything on the spot.

And Inokumo's desk was a trove.

Well. In comparison to all other routes of the investigation so far.

In amongst the sheath of notes, which detailed seemingly anything and everything from trade routes to produce on sale in the marketplace, were scraps of Inokumo's thought processes. Scribbled in the margins, on the back of photographs, the whole display screamed 'desperation'.

"Kami," Seiichi finally dared to break the hushed silence that had fallen over the duo, breathing the curse as he stepped back to survey the extent of research before them. "What happened…'Kumo…"

Grief coiled like a snake in his throat. Inokumo looked… like he'd lost his mind.

"He kept this hidden extremely well," Inoichi admitted, running a hand through his hair, fingertips grazing and lingering on the scar at his temple.

The diaries, Seiichi discovered, were well-maintained for the most part. A new entry at least every four or five days, Seiichi gazed, appalled, as Inokumo's hand had become more and more illegible.

"Inoichi...look at this." The blonde set a pouch of photographs aside, stepping around the displaced desk on silent feet. The tracker allowed his finger to graze the line in question, eyes following the motion as he read aloud. "The records of metal deposits told of a delivery 5pm 10/10. The day of Kyuubi."

"He was tracking who entered and left the village."

Lips pressed tight, Seiichi merely nodded.

"Fuck," the blonde cursed, plucking the notebook from the older man's grasp and thumbing through the pages with skillfully quick eyes. "It's all about traders." He snapped the book shut, the thud of the cover barely audible. "Are there any others, perhaps they're topical."

Already nodding, Seiichi gestured to the small collection he'd rooted around for, rested on the lip of the discarded table top at his hip. "Just scenting them, Inokumo has been the only person to ever touch them. They must've been wrapped when sold to him… or bought so long ago, that the shopkeeper's touch has long since faded. It's mainly dust now anyway. And knowing where he bought them would tell us precisely nothing regardless."

"Right. How about I take a look at them, maybe we can glimpse what he was planning. You take a look at the desk itself, maybe start organising the rest of the shit in there."

Under any other circumstances, Seiichi probably would've responded with something along the lines of a half-sarcastic 'aye, aye, captain' but-

Well.

Stepping aside to let his friend at the books, Seiichi ducked to bend almost double, nose running along the edges of the hollowed desk. It had used to feel stupid, like he was some bloody sniffer-dog, but whatever got the job done. A cat's nose was not to be underestimated.

Beside the constant stifling musk of dust, which was mainly skin and acrylic fabric fibres, there was nothing of consequence. Wood, naturally, with a tang of varnish and glue. The faint metallic hint of discreet nails embedded into the frame.

The papers inside smelled no different, although there was the faintest lingering trace of Inokumo as well. Paper was so much more absorbent than wood, and things he had touched most frequently smelled minutely stronger.

Fuck, but if only they'd found this earlier. Maybe he would've had more to say than simply 'dust', 'Inokumo', 'nothing'.

The hollow inside the desk couldn't have been more than a quarter of a foot deep, just enough for the structure to look sturdy without being obviously intentional for any other purpose than strength.

But the thought circulating through Seiichi's head wasn't the technicalities of a hidden compartment.

What was he doing right up to his death that got him killed?

Inoichi closed the sixth diary with a silent sigh and, at the finality of the motion, Seiichi glanced over.

In the deep shadows, clearer to his eyes than to the Yamanaka's, the faint moonlight through the windows highlighted the bags beneath exhausted eyes. "Anything?"

Calloused fingers grazed, almost wistfully, over the cover of the top book. "He investigated everyone, Seiichi. It's all in here… The farmers, the merchants, the civilians… even the families of Inoko's friends."

Seiichi's eyes flashed to the books themselves, as though his keen eyes could peer straight through the bindings to see for himself. "Are we in there? Is Kiharu-chan?"

Inoichi paused for a moment. It was all the confirmation Seiichi needed and it fell like a hammer blow to his already bruised chest.

He'd lost his wife that night, Ki-chan had lost her mother- and yet, Inokumo had checked up on them.

He'd known Inokumo for most of his life.

The conspiracy theories, the secrecy, his death- that had all ached like an old, half-healed wound in poor weather. But this? The paranoia that extended to even him?

The Summoner swallowed roughly, feigning blindness to the sorrow in Inoichi's gaze. Pretending that his eyesight wasn't quite strong enough to pierce the dark solemnity of the night.

"We should move the evidence." Inoichi had the kindness, the discretion, to ignore the roughness of the brunette's voice.

"Where?"

Lips pursed, Seiichi surveyed the amount. Six journals, eight folders and then several sheaths of maps and packets of developed film. "My office would be best. There's a safe in the floor I can give you the combination for. The only one who knows it's location besides myself is Hitoshi. Kiharu had her curiosity sated years ago...she knows nothings changed in there, so she won't even enter."

Inoichi aquiested. "Let's go. We can come back to them in finer detail once they're secured at yours."

It took barely five minutes to gather the evidence, brushing careful fingers over the wood to make sure nothing was forgotten and carefully placing everything back where they'd found it. Seiichi made sure the photographs were placed back in their exact markings in the dust. They didn't bother with fingerprints. No-one would be coming here for a culprit and, as the deceased's old teammate and brother, their prints would rouse no suspicion anyway.

Inoichi took the books, wrapped carefully in evidence bags the blonde had mercifully had the foresight to start carrying around since the investigation started, and Seiichi handled the loose papers.

The run across to the Dazai house was manufactured with a heavy dose of paranoia; fast enough but not so much so that, if they were spotted or recognised, they would look out-of-sorts.

The temptation to Shunshin was pressing.

The house was dark when they dropped down into the garden, unlatching the back door and slipping into the kitchen without turning on a single light.

The only noise was the dull beep of the washing machine, signifying a completed cycle, and it was such a bizarrely domestic contrast - that Seiichi mentally reminded himself to hang the clothes out later, even as he planned to hide evidence in the safe - the Chuunin felt his lips twitch in an amused smile.

"Seichi-sama," Hitoshi greeted them, padding down the stairs with such absolute silence, he appeared more of a Nara jutsu than a corporeal animal.

"Hitoshi," Seiichi returned, nodding Inoichi into the study. "Is Kiharu-chan asleep?"

Waiting until his summoner had entered the room before following, the panther nodded. "She tried to stay up but nocturnal she is not."

Crouched on the floor by the furthest bookshelf, Seiichi twisted to feel for the latch just underneath the lip and spike his chakra into it.

'Click'.

"I thought she'd stopped doing that years ago?" Another latch, another flair, another 'click'.

Against the far corner, a small square of the floor lifted a scant centimeter and Seiichi immediately hustled over on his haunches to pry his fingers around the edge and ease it up, revealing a concrete-reinforced trench. Inoichi was instantly beside him, books pulled from inside his jacket and placed inside.

"She's had a tough day."

As one, both men glanced at each other before turning towards the panther sat in the doorway.

That's a terribly generous statement from Hitoshi, Seiichi squinted. His own haul went into the safe and then the floor was being slid back, sealing seamlessly with another chakra signature. Inoichi helped this time, so the sealing configuration would know to respond if he ever came here alone. It was perhaps simple. But it was highly effective.

"What happened?"

Hitoshi blinked, seemingly unconcerned. Seiichi knew better; if Hitoshi really didn't care, he wouldn't have said anything.

"Ask her yourself."

For all their partnership had heightened Seiichi's own senses, Hitoshi was still the top predator in the house. He was also the dramatic one.

So, naturally, he had timed it perfectly when, a second later, they all heard the dull thump of stockinged feet on the landing. Hitoshi had probably heard the moment her breathing had changed.

Like a well-oiled machine, the two shinobi were a flurry of action. The lamp was suddenly switched on, Inoichi shifting to lean in front of it so the sudden light wouldn't shine incriminatingly through the open door, whilst Seiichi grabbed a random file - a glance revealed it was his tax paperwork from the April Quarter - in time for his daughter to appear in the corridor behind an unmoved Hitoshi.

"You're back!" Blue eyes, almost black in the low light, blinked as the second figure registered. "Inoichi-oji?"

The blonde was nothing if not a professional, offering a quiet smile. "Good evening, Kiharu-chan."

Those curious eyes flickered between them and Seiichi could almost see her brain whirling. She was so clever~ "Oji-san, I didn't know you were… coming after dinner?"

As one, they all glanced at the desk clock. 21:16.

Ah. "We were working late, I'm sorry if we woke you, Hime-"

Kiharu stepped closer, running a thoughtless hand from Hitoshi's forehead and down the curve of his spine as she squeezed past. "You've come straight from the Office?" Oh no "- you never have to work that late… has something happened?"

Ah, fuck.

"Nothing," the lie burned his tongue. "How about some tea?" And then, because Kiharu was still watching him with those eyes of hers, Seiichi slumped over to her with a puppish expression. "I'm parched~"

As intended, Kiharu's nose crinkled, even as she allowed him to guide her out and to kitchen. Whilst Seiichi ushered his kid into a chair, Inoichi started on the tea.

Sitting beside her, brushing a strand of thick hair behind her ear when it finally slipped from her thick sleep braid, was a simple treasure. Emotionally wrung out from the revelations of the day, the temptation to pull Kiharu into his lap and mercilessly cuddle her was nigh irresistible.

Actually.

"Waa-" Kiharu huffed when he looped his arms around her and basically dragged her across his knee. Bracing her back against his left shoulder, tugging until she let her forehead flop into the junction between his neck and clavicle-

She was small enough for this to still be effortless, not quite tall enough to feel gangly. But she still felt so grown up and Seiichi's throat grew thick when he abruptly remembered how grown up she really was.

"I'd say something about having a bad day, but you're like this all the time, Papa," Kiharu huffed a laugh across his collarbones.

"You're so big, Hime," he admitted quietly.

Inokumo had never seen Inoko-chan grow and laugh and flourish like Seiichi had seen Kiharu. He held her a little closer.

The day must've caught up with him.

Kiharu paused. Behind them, the water boiled and Inoichi started pulling cups from the cupboard.

"Yoshino-sama thinks I should buy a house."

Seiichi glanced down at her but the angle only allowed for a glimpse of her forehead, the slope of her nose and the fullness of her cheeks.

"Dappling in property now, Hime? Planning a corporate empire?"

A chortle. "Yes, duh."

Sometimes, like now for incidence, it struck him how… little time he had had with his daughter. It felt like, as soon as she gave in to walking, Kiharu hadn't stood still. Ironically. Other children played in the streets whilst she was play fighting a panther and creating a massacre of their kitchen. And he'd been gone for such long periods that sometimes he'd walk in and realise her hair was so much longer, that she was taller, that she'd mention someone in passing that Seiichi didn't even know she knew.

He sniffed, blinking at the wetness gathering along his lower lashes.

Kiharu's head shifted, cheek pressing against the top of his shoulder so she could peer up at him. "Are you crying?"

In response, Seiichi could only cuddle her closer.

Small but strong hands slipped into his, only a little paler than his own, and squeezed gently. "Are you sure nothing's happened?"

She sounded so concerned, the Chuunin's heart broke a little at the prospect of lying. Maybe...the simplest truths, then. "I just miss you, sometimes."

Her smaller frame froze for a second before huddling even closer, as if she wanted to slip right inside his jacket. He'd once had to carry Hitoshi, when he was but a cub, like that in a thunderstorm. "I'm right here."

Inoichi silently placed the tea down in front of them, smiling through an understanding grimace. "I'll see you in the morning," he mouthed, jerking his head towards the door and Seiichi, completely on the same wavelength of emotional exhaustion, simply nodded.

"Goodnight, Kiharu-chan," the blonde's hand came briefly down on his niece's head and her reply was barely a whisper.

Inoichi slipped out of the house, no doubt set upon cuddling Ino-chan as soon as he returned home.

…..

That night, his flat dark and cold but clean and everyone should be proud of him for that, Ensui slept like the dead.

Flak jacket cast aside, sandals clumsily toed off by the door, the Nara had only just given himself enough time to brush his teeth, slip out of his uniform and wash his face before collapsing, face first, onto his bed.

"Grufth," he groaned, garbled, into the pillow. Thankfully, no-one answered back.

He was exhausted, bones melting into his futon mattress. The days, even more so recently, had been long. Questioning witnesses, filing reports and keeping an eye on other cases for similarities and possible interference…

Well. At least Ryuu was helping now.

But wasn't that another bucketful of stress. Ryuu was as touchy as a Bijuu, spitting and chaotic about every damned thing, even shit that was his responsibility. Getting him to pull his weight took twice as long with the fights he'd always pitch...but then, he'd do the work anyway.

He was...troublesome.

Dark, bitchy eyes and an arrogant smirk-

Ensui's last thought, before oblivion claimed him, was that he'd quite like to try breaking his nose again.

Sleep swept over his mind like a concussion, disorientating and fuzzy with limbs weighed to numbness into the mattress.

The morning sunlight, blazing through the curtains he'd been too lazy to close properly, was obnoxiously bright.

It was far, far too early for the Chuunin.

Ensui's day, already piss poor from the early rise, sunk to lower depths at the sight of a certain, cocky Uchiha waiting on the street corner.

Legs crossed at the ankle, black hair coiffed and smirk in place, Ryuu openly judged Ensui's own tired appearance with a slow, up-and-down drag of his eyes. He already smelled of smoke and Ensui wondered how long he'd been waiting.

Hopefully, for fucking ages.

(Hana-chan had - very surprisingly but, then again, not - given Ensui a new eyeliner the other week and the older boy had faithfully tried it this morning. A contrast to his usual olive tone, the liquid liner pen was cherry red, the same colour as the Inuzuka markings, and Ensui had had to promise the Heiress to teach her his makeup tricks in exchange for it. That she'd obviously picked the colour with intent was...precious. As it was, he'd traced the blood-red pen in a cat flick sharp enough to stab. It made his hazel eyes look greener than usual and, alongside his neat topknot and tea-burn reddened mouth, Ensui looked pretty damn hot.)

Ryuu stared for a long second before shoving a coffee cup into the younger man's hand with so much unnecessary force, the hot liquid managed to slosh through the sippy-opening and drip onto the Nara's skin.

Hissing, Ensui narrowed his eyes. "What the fuck is this?"

"We're not going into the office." Ryuu straightened, unapologetic. That was apparently all he had to offer as, with nary a glance, he twisted and started walking away.

Ensui took another moment to contemplate the coffee, weighing the consequences of tossing it at his partner's retreating back and going back to bed.

He'd bitch for weeks… nah. The instant gratification still wouldn't make it worth it.

"Ay-ahhh…" Ensui caught up quickly, his legs a little longer despite their similar height. "I have a repo-"

"Already filed it."

Half way through his first sample of the Definitely Suspicious Beverage, Ensui almost spat the mouthful out. (White, no sugar; just as he'd been taking it the past few weeks, his choices usually shifting semi-regularly.) "What."

"Yeah," even Ryuu sounded bemused at his own, uncharacteristic, thoughtfulness before, with a snap of his fingers, he held a palm out to the Nara. "For that, covering for you yesterday and that drink? That's two of my night shifts. Pay up."

Ensui clicked his tongue. Should've known better. "You're a dick. I'm not doing your damned shifts."

The coffee was snatched from his grasp before Ryuu, sidestepping Ensui's tired swipe, took a generous swig. "I'll be taking this back then. Urgh. Milk."

"You drink tar but I suppose it matches your character." Ensui sniped, sidestepping some kids - their walking having taken then into the higher traffic areas as they bickered - and bumping shoulders with his partner.

Ryuu's nostrils flared, mouth pinched white. He looked like an affronted bird or, maybe, a stuck-up lizard. "In that case," he snarled, miffed. He almost walked into a sign before Ensui snagged a finger in his shirt and jerked him an inch into safety. "You're bland and far too weak-"

"Weak?" Ensui scoffed. "Wanna schedule a training session in the courtyard?"

Ryuu turned away, flicking his hair with the motion and sticking his nose up. Worse was the fact it wasn't done ironically. "I don't have time to carry your broken ass between informants."

The Nara made a wordless sound of comprehension, waving an expansive hand at the shitty neighbourhood around them before it was tucked back into his pocket. "Is that where we're going?"

"Yeah. Whilst you went off trying to savage your social life, I read the files you gave the DI. And the note you sent in the other night. Unreported crimes? It's pretty obvious who our first stop should be."

Ensui rolled his eyes, eyeing how the Uchiha fished in his uniform pocket for a sheet to start rolling as they walked. Twenty minutes? That must be a new record. "Dealers?"

Batting his Uchiha-long lashes, his partner leaned over the Chuunin's shoulder. His expression was not particularly friendly. "Pretty Clan boy doesn't know?"

"That's hypocritical."

Ryuu bared his teeth. "Ignorance is no excuse."

Around them, the neighbourhoods steadily became rougher, the quiet bustle of the streets replaced with a much more still, bated atmosphere. The concrete was dirty here, buildings falling into disrepair and patched up just enough to get the job done.

Eventually, however, Ryuu dawdled to a stop, kicking back to lean on a street corner and jerking his chin down for Ensui to join him.

Seeing the curious look on his face, Ryuu rolled his eyes, licking the edge of his cigarette before fishing for a light. "If we came later on, they may have mistaken us for customers. As it is, most people here will be too exhausted to see a couple of Officers poking around. Especially after the night they'd have had." At the end he snickered, wicked, around his cigarette.

"You're taking us to a Whorehouse." Hazel eyes glanced lazily up the street, noting the red lanterns, unlit, outside of various doors.

"Yukaku," Ryuu finally gave up on the lighter, tossing it into the gutter and ignoring Ensui's resulting frown. With a low utter, he lit the end himself with the teeniest flicker of chakra between clicked fingertips. Ryuu took a deep drag, something easing in the line of his shoulders, before continuing. "Call this district the Yukaku...Kami, you're conspicuous. In fact, when we get there...don't speak."

"B-"

"At all."

Ensui slumped backwards, shoulders curving to brace his torso against the concrete wall behind them. "And leave you to handling everything so smoothly?"

Ryuu flicked ash in his direction, which tellingly didn't come close to hitting, in retaliation. "Oh, I didn't realise you'd visited these parts before, Ensui-kun."

"You've just admitted to being a regular yourself," Ensui parried back, dry as dust.

Far from embarrassed, Ryuu merely took another drag, the lingering smoke settling like a mist over their immediate area. Ensui didn't like smokers, even if by now Ryuu had probably had him inhale a few cigarettes-worth second hand. If he told Ryuu to stop, he'd probably start breathing directly into his face.

There was a reason Akane-sama had started insisting on 'cleaning' his lungs almost every time they met.

Two hours later - which included (but wasn't limited to) one scuffle, three games of naughts and crosses (Ryuu was a sore loser, hence the scuffle) and five cigarettes - Ryuu abruptly announced that it was time to knock.

Brushing dust off his ass, Ensui eyed the six red lanterns, unlit but dangling in particular doorways, he could see just from here. With great tact, the Nara didn't mock his partner about which one.

Which, it turned out, was the fifth one up the street, the little doorway painted a faded grey and with a mat for, ahem, guests to wipe their shoes.

Ryuu made another sign for Ensui to keep his trap shut before knocking politely once, twice, three times.

On the other side of the door, there was silence before the quiet, but drawing closer, shuffle of slippered feet.

The paint was badly faded in places, bubbled and peeling from the relentless sunshine in others.

The door cracked open a scant inch a moment later.

In the thin break between door and frame, Ensui eyed the older woman with veiled curiosity. She was advanced in years, closer to Yuri-san's age than Yoshino-oba-sama's. She looked tired, barely put together in a way that spoke of long nights and constant stress, and the dusty shadows of the corridor stretched her face gaunt.

And, by 'barely put together', Ensui meant that her makeup didn't quite cover the tired bruises under her eyes, her yukata a little askew and some hairs escaping her elaborate updo at the back. Positively undressed by the usual standards of these establishments.

She kept her eyes cast low respectfully, even as she begged them to return during opening hours. Stomach heavy with a sort of resigned sickness, Ensui wondered how many customers returned in the light of day to harass the women here.

"Not even-" Ensui leant in closer and curled his fingers around the door threateningly, "-for tea?"

She finally raised her eyes and Ensui felt his interest spike at the undercurrent of shrewd strength there.

"...Of course, honourable customer-san ...please, follow me."

Ryuu didn't take off his shoes and, understanding the move even if he was sceptical, Ensui followed his suit.

The woman pursed her lips, almost imperceptibly, but led them further inside regardless.

The, er, house was set out like a normal home. Merely...repurposed.

And, strangely but not unsurprisingly, opulent. Silk cushions, polished floors that shone like mirrors, and delicately painted walls. Even the lingering mist of incense and smoke was still heavy on the air from the previous night's antics.

Something about the cloy of the air, the frazzled yet hushed atmosphere, has the Nara wondering if other… indulgences were provided or facilitated here.

Sex and drugs always seemed to go hand in hand somehow.

The woman led them through the main corridor, the pad of her feet the only disturbance and the quiet was eirry. Finally, however, she puttered to a stop, resting a thin hand upon another painted screen, this one much darker, at the very back of the house.

"Madame," she called, barely a breath.

"Come in, Retsuko-san."

The woman - Retsuko - slid the door open less than two feet, slipping inside and pitching her voice low in an illusion of privacy.

Civilians found that comforting, to pretend.

"Madame-" Retsuko-san was murmuring, "Two gentlemen are here to see you. They're Shinobi but they knocked."

The shuffling of paper against wood, fabric catching on skin as the 'Madame', presumably, waved her further inside.

Without another word, Retsuko-san stepped back and gestured for them to enter.

Shoulder barely brushing his, Ryuu entered first, Ensui close behind him.

Retsuko slid the door closed again, bowing, and then leaving back the way they had come.

The office - for surely what else could it be described as - was dark, filled with deep plum fabrics and dark mahogany woods. A long, tapered cigarette rested on a brass stand and a sheath of papers were carefully spread across the low desk. Behind the desk, knelt with a grace that belied her years, was the Madame.

She was garishly white, chalky from powder, and even the telling blots of charcoal at the parting of her thick hair couldn't conceal the grey completely.

She was as lovely as a rotten strawberry.

"Madame." Ryuu dipped into a polite bow, Ensui imitating him half a beat behind.

"Shinobi." She returned, teeth yellow against the plaster of her skin. "What brings you to my house? Has there been a crime?"

Ryuu didn't fidget, hands relaxed by his sides and expression deeply professional. It was rather peculiar. "Why don't you tell us, Madame?"

The cigarette was plucked from its stand. "Do sit, Officer-san... Officer-san."

They sat. She didn't offer tea.

"Has there been a criminal?" She cut to the point. Houses like this, for all their reputation, were incredibly strict about providing services for criminals. A man, or indeed anyone, who could bring the weight of Konoha down on their heads would find no allies here. Even the most resentful of the Yukaku wouldn't risk it. They existed in a grey area already, not explicitly illegal but certainly not respected. "None of the girls have associations."

And if they had, it wouldn't be the Officers they'd tip off. Anko, for all she was young, had already made a name for herself in these parts as 'someone with whom they could do business'. She was one of the only Shinobi to gain begrudging respect from these women and would be their first port of contact. Yet another tension between T&I and the Station.

"It's about your girls, Madame." She seemed to sit back, slightly. "Have any… disappeared? Not just from here, but the other houses too?"

"My girls come when they need to and they go when they must."

Her face had hardened to little more than a Geisha mask.

In the back of his mind, Ensui wondered how this woman had come to be here. Madames did not usually have to dress up like this themselves, were often much more...matronly.

She was an enigma. Ensui knew he'd never solve the puzzle she presented.

"Have any left on less… autonomous terms?"

The Madame simply quirked her head, a show of polite enquiry. She was playing with them, a master.

Ryuu, for all his presence and composure, could only maintain his good behaviour so long. He was a biting man. "Have they gone missing without notice. We aren't here to cause trouble. We just need to know the breadth."

She smiled.

"Good." Ensui rather felt like a dog with it's head patted. "We've had no such occurrences, Officer-san."

Like a struck match, Ensui leant forward with an unholy light in his dark eyes, ignoring the tightening of Ryuu's jaw. "And the other houses?"

"Perhaps you should ask them, Nara-san."

That wasn't a 'no'.

They couldn't go knocking on every door, anyone who was in The Know would undoubtedly get a heads-up. Officers sniffing around? Every man and his dog would disappear like smoke. And she knew something. If she didn't, she wouldn't have dared hint otherwise.

"But, Madame," Ensui leaned even closer, eyes slipping half lidded. In the dim light, surrounded by rich reds, the scarlet of his makeup and the darkness of his eyes, sooty lashes cast low...Ensui looked like he belonged. "We're asking you."

The sun was at that terrible, perfect angle in the sky. The light hit the pale, dusty roads in such a way that they somehow became too bright to gaze upon directly and, when looking away, still managed to have both Officers squinting uncomfortably.

The Madame had been taciturn, as slippery as an eel and just as likely to bite and bite deep. They'd talked to her for several hours, with no refreshments and no food.

Ryuu, an hour in, had developed a light tremble to his hands. By the second hour of their little visit, he started discreetly thrumming his fingers, out of sight of the Madame but noticeable to his astute partner.

Now? His hands were shaking as he fumbled with a roll, distracted to the extent that Ensui had grabbed his elbow, steering him through their fellow pedestrians.

Remembering his faulty lighter and not fancying watching the Uchiha loose a fireball by accident, Ensui wrapped his fingers around Ryuu's wrist and yanked the cigarette closer. "Let me."

Ryuu let him. "You don't smoke."

Ensui shrugged, snuffing the light by tucking his thumb into his fist, and watched as Ryuu took a long drag, like a diver surfacing for oxygen. "It's a neat trick." His cousin smoked.

"I'm surprised you're allowed to be so… attached." The Sarutobi men, the chronic smokers that they were, were also very careful about nursing too addictive of a habit. That Ryuu was so dependent was...concerning. Not merely because of the health effects.

"Huh," Ryuu huffed, the taut line of his muscular shoulders unravelling like a wrung towel with every drag. "What's the point in it if it doesn't make me feel good?"

Belatedly releasing the other man's sleeve, Ensui raised both eyebrows incredulously. "Right. Because you looked so hot back there."

The street opened up into the broader main streets, the Station visible at the end, and the duo were forced to walk closer together as the number of people out and about increased.

Twisting so Ensui could see his expression over his shoulder, Ryuu smiled lecherously. He looked vaguely evil. "At least you admit I'm hot-"

"Good afternoon, Ensui-san!"

Head rising at the cheerful call, eyes still rolling at Ryuu's typical antics, Ensui couldn't help the bemused quirk of his brow at the sight of Uchiha Kagen waiting by the Station steps.

The other Uchiha looked flushed, the apples of his cheeks tinted a bashful pink and a self-conscious smile hinting at straight, white teeth.

"Kagen-san," Ensui had almost forgotten about their little run in. "...Hello."

Ryuu shifted next to him, arms rising to fold in front of his chest and elbow bumping Ensui's. Well, who spit in his red bean paste, huh?

The older man - he looked around Ryuu's age and hadn't his partner said they were together at the academy? - strode down the steps, rubbing his palms nervously on the thighs of his uniform and smiling at Ensui.

Ensui allowed himself to smile back. Just a bit.

"Are you-" Kagen glanced at Ryuu and then back to Ensui, "-free for coffee?"

…

...well. Why not?

"...sure."

"We still need to report, yo-" Ryuu started, turning to Ensui as if he was the friend you betrayed when picking teams during playtime.

"Two night shifts, the earlier deal?" It wasn't like Ensui wasn't gonna end up working them anyway. This way, he didn't have to put up with Ryuu's raincloud at one shoulder. "Done. Now, shoo."

Baring his teeth in a wordless snarl, Ryuu disappeared inside, only staying long enough to shoot his Clansman a furious glare.

Said Clansman, having sidestepping Ryuu's forceful advance up the steps, gazed after Ensui's partner with obvious trepidation. Hmm. Maybe Shisui wasn't the only expressive Uchiha.

"Ignore him," Ensui continued pleasantly, calling Kagen's attention back to himself, bracing a foot up two steps and watching in amusement as the quieter man's gaze dropped to the curve of his thigh. "As I'm sure you're aware, Ryuu is a dickhead."

Ensui stepped back, an invitation that Kagen was slightly flustered to take, and the two started moving off down the street together. At Ensui's derisive comment, Kagen choked a little on his inhale. "How hasn't he killed you by now?"

Taking the lead towards the market district, Ensui shot him a smug smile, a little warm inside at how...easy...this felt. "He'd have to catch me first."

(Kagen was chill, refreshingly so. He wasn't sarcastic or snarky, sure, but he was intelligent without being obnoxious and the whole thing hadn't been exhausting in the slightest.

They'd ended up in Nekki's, at Kagen's suggestion. Ensui, a little confused as to why the other man would want to place himself in such a prime spot to get roasted, had aquiested with little more than a slow blink and, consequently, had born Genma and Raidou's ribbing - the assassin having wolf whistled upon their immediate entry with Raidou having the audacity to laugh - with admirable composure. What was even worse was that they'd had to order from the duo, the bakery conspicuously Kiharu-less with no Mikoto in sight…

The Tokubetsu had waved off his questions, because Ensui was certain Kiharu had said she was working today. Whilst it did mean one less smirk boring into his head, Ensui still didn't know whether to count that as a positive or a negative. On one hand, they'd dodged the Matriarch magnificently. On the other… Kiharu hadn't been there when Shisui had arrived, the hesitantly hopeful expression on his face crumbling when he wasn't met by the panther Summoner but by a vaguely guilty Raidou.

Dammit, Kiharu, Ensui had internally cursed. Even Genma piling the Jounin with all his favourites, on the house by order of said absent baker, wasn't enough to lift his friend's spirits.

Four drinks later, when they did leave, Kagen had asked if they could get dinner instead next time.

It had been easy with Kagen. No drama or pressure, despite the audience.

Lips quirked into a bemused smile, Ensui had found himself agreeing.)

…..

One of the most obvious drawbacks of being a baker, of owning your own bakery, was no doubt the early starts.

And, with batter needing prepped and at least two hot cakes needed for the warm display, I forced my decrepit body from the warmth of my bed (and the security of Hitoshi's belly) and into the shower.

It was with great regret that, at the end of a blissfully hot shower, I turned the temperature to cold. "It's for your own good," I chattered to myself, knowing that if I left the shower even the slightest bit drowsy, I'd collapse back into bed and then we'd be fucked.

The cloudless sky, a sure sign of a hot one, had me pulling a short-sleeved yukata up my arms and stepping into rose-pink leggings. Against my dark hair, which I pulled into a sopping wet French braid, the dove grey shift and my red sandals reminded me of a sunrise. 'Red sky at night', and all that.

Sparing a final glance at Hitoshi, who was slumped like an expensive skin throw over my bed, I dashed down the stairs.

Coffee… I needed coffee…

Usually, I liked to eat before hitting up the bakery. It made me feel more… in control, arriving to work ready to get immediately stuck in.

I glanced at the fridge, contemplated the rice cooker, and poked my nose into the bread bin before giving it up as a lost cause. Who in the actual heck was I kidding?

Shisui's quiet promise to come in for lunch was hanging over me.

It wasn't that deep, right? God, were the dramatic tendencies hereditary?

Grimacing slightly at the thought, I ended up snagging a peach from the bowl on the island and taking my coffee to go. As expected, closing the front door behind me and crossing the front garden, the morning was crisp with the promise of heat later. It was too early for most people, the streets still empty and houses still at peace.

The peach wasn't quite ripe yet, a little harder than I'd like, but it was all I had so eat it I did.

"Morning!" I offered a smile to the few early risers I met, names escaping my still groggy thoughts.

Nekki's was perfectly clean when I unlocked the shutters and stepped through the door. Not that I expected anything else from Mikoto; she would have been friends with Mari Kondo had it not been for that teeny little hiccup of different universes.

Still, I was washed with relief knowing I could get straight into the preparation, start cranking out the pastries in time for Eiko to arrive to set up the counter and tables.

Apron tied, bandana on, and hands washed, I quickly lost myself to the recipes.

Yesterday had been… an emotional rollercoaster. I'd woken myself up at stupid o'clock fretting over whether I should do to Shisui's appointment. I was the girl who'd put off the dentist until I got an ache; running scared got the better of me more thank I'd like to admit sometimes. Then, after pacing like a caged panther (shout-out to Hitoshi, who'd been severely unimpressed), I'd gone.

And we'd cried.

And then hugged.

And now Shisui was coming over.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh-

Realising I was handling the overnight-chilled pastry with about a bhjillion percent more force than necessary, I cut off the thought and grabbed my rolling pin.

I was big-ing this up in my head. Massively. I knew this, I did this all the damn time. But, after last night, I was trying to be better.

Portioning up the pastry sheets for croissants, I took a slow breath.

Okay.

Okay, I'm good.

Don't waste time worrying over things, things you can't control, things you don't have to fear. I'd burned a wheelchair with Shisui, he wasn't going to come in with gnashing fangs and bite my head off.

The croissants and pain au chocolat went into the oven in no time at all as I finally settled into my groove, the motions all muscle memory after years of repetition. It only got tricky the more I thought about it; like over thinking a catch and getting smacked in the face mid-rounders match. Not fun, 0/10 wouldn't recommend.

By half eight, the one of my girls (despite all being my elders, the nickname had stuck) had arrived to finish setting up. Straightening from where I was wiping down the counters and doing the final washing up, I smiled warmly.

"Ohayo~"

Eiko smiled coolly (as in, she was super incredible, not that she was cold) and it took me a second to look past the turquoise layered on her full lips.

"Did you make that lipstick yourself?" I blurted, unable to tear my eyes away. Oh my god, was that gradiented to navy in the corners? "Take the white apron!" I interrupted her as she hung up her jacket.

One sculpted brow rose sharply.

"It will contrast better than red," I reasoned, not at all embarrassed. I knew my fashion, okay.

Eiko looked back at the aprons hooked up nicely before, pouting in agreement, she plucked off the white one.

I smiled.

The morning was peaceful - of course, I didn't mean that in the sense that business was low but, rather, that I was able to complete everything to smoothly that, with every finished task, my confidence was bolstered - and that, more than anything, made me feel so much more myself.

It was when I was left to think, idle hands and idle minds, that my mentality tended to spiral out of my grasp.

By ten, the fresh morning pastries were gone and I'd been forced to turn away three separate enquiries for more. Eiko, looking as unflappable as usual despite the steadily increasing temperature, bent low enough to murmur, "it's a blessing to expand, no? Twice as many chances to satisfy their hunger~"

It took over ten minutes for the hot flush, burning across my cheeks, to abate. Fucking hell, how was Eiko so passively flirtatious, I was bloody thirteen with only my period as evidence of hormones at all.

Then again, I mused, ringing up another order as Eiko wiped down the tables, she had everyone eating from the palm of her hand. Even Hitoshi had admitted that Eiko was tolerable.

I figured he just liked her cold hands and moody poetry.

Then, when the server in question was taking her morning break in the form of an espresso by the window, I blinked at a familiar face.

"I-Iruka-kun!"

The older boy smiled bashfully, crinkling the scar across his nose. His cheeks looked a little darker, the tips of his lashes bleached golden and I guessed he must've had a lot of outdoor missions recently. "Morning, Kiharu-chan."

Mood firmly uplifted, I planted my palms flat on the counter. "Well, shinobi-san? What'll it be?"

It was really too enjoyable to see Iruka cough awkwardly, scratching his neck where a dull flush was rising. What a bean. "Two Yondaime's, please…"

"Huge or the normal ones?" Wow, I really couldn't resist.

"Oh-err-norm-"

"First one to the counter, coughs up the bill, kid," Genma interjected without warning, completely bypassing the queue and dragging a socially-aware Raidou with him by the arm hooked around his shoulder.

Which he promptly dropped as soon as he spotted my smile.

"How's it hanging, brat?" The assassin asked, tucking a thumb under my chin just to be a dick. Jerking out of reach, I nodded back towards the door.

"Freeloaders - don't interact~"

My eyes shifted to Raidou, expression softening even as I fished Iruka's two egg tarts from the cold display. "Raidou-nii, I trust you've been well since I last saw you?"

"No contagious diseases since the weekend, Kiharu-chan," the older man returned good-naturedly.

"That's a new record!" Chortling, I pulled a third tart from the tray, popping it onto a napkin and sliding it across to him. "A reward for a job well done."

And then I slipped over to the till to ring Iruka up.

"Really?" Genma groused, following me down. Raidou was blushing… Bless. "What job?"

I counted out the change, blinking wide, guileless eyes. "Putting up with you, of course, Nee-chan?"

The deadpan look that comment earned was dry.

"You owe me a small fortune, you know," I pointed out reasonably. Lifting a hand, I waved the next customer forward. "But… if you join the line like everyone else and pay, I might consider serving you."

The Tokubetsu jerked a thumb at his partner, currently chewing on the final bite of his freebie. "You literally just gave him that, unprompted."

I grinned, gummy and a little evil. "Eiko-san, can you do the teas?"

"Hai, sensei."

I was too young to flip Nee-chan off when he bit his lip on a laugh at the honorific.

Eventually, the two older Shinobi did retreat to what I loosely considered their table, by the window and tucked into the (defendable) corner. Iruka, to my pleasant surprise - and his own, considering the bewildered expression he never managed to quite shift - stayed at the bar.

It was an hour later when I finally convinced the older teen to invest in a drink. The sun was glaring through the floor to ceiling windows in the shopfront, like being caught under a magnifying glass.

Pouring him a water - boo, boring! -, I kept one ear tuned into his rambling story about a farming mission last week.

And then a familiar face ducked inside.

My smile froze.

"Masaru-san…"

Iruka wasn't an idiot, trailing to a stop in his story and casting a furtive glance at the newly arrived women.

She looked unwell, the faint dappling of bruises along her throat just dark enough to catch the attention of anyone looking close enough. Or a shinobi.

I fought the urge to compare the sight of her to a bucket of cold water. You're in your space right now, Ki-chan. She can't make you talk about the case, especially not here.

Over her shoulder, I finally registered Genma's watchful gaze.

His head tilted minutely, looking for all the world as though he was merely resting his head against the wall behind him.

I barely twitched a negative shake in return. It was fine. I wasn't going to make a scene. She didn't deserve that, she was just scared and looking for answers. Easier to pump a girl for information than a Station filled with Uchiha Officers. Even if Masaru was dating one.

Obviously, she'd decided I was telling some truths when I'd visited.

Abruptly, I wondered if she'd come in yesterday too. Mikoto-hime…

Clearing my throat and refocusing my eyes, I addressed her in my most serious tone. "Unless you're here as a customer, Masaru-san, now is… not the time."

Her lips, already chapped and sore from nervously biting, pursed white. Iruka squirmed. I glanced at the waiting line. "This isn't going to wait - Kiharu, Dazai, right?" I dipped my head in confirmation. "I need to talk to you. Now."

I blinked, dropping my eyes to her white fingers pressed against the counter edge.

No rest for the wicked.

"Give me two seconds."

In a flash, I was dashing around the counter corner and making a break for the two brunettes in the corner, hands already fumbling behind me with the ties of my apron.

"Nee-chan, please, please, please-"

Genma's eyes narrowed, shrewd as the senbon tucked away behind his ear. "What?"

"-please, please can you run the counter - Eiko-san can do all the drinks and any fresh orders! Just the till and tables, I'm begging you-"

"Calm the fuck down, brat," Genma leaned forward, arms folded and braced on the tiny circular table. It was small enough for Raidou's hand to rest along his forearm as they twisted towards me conspritoruly. "Are you in trouble?"

I...didn't honestly know. "No-" no reason not to be optimistic for once. New day, new me and all that. "-But it is an emergency."

Genma glanced across to share a look with Raidou. "Coffee for a month-"

"Deal."

A bundle of fabric was bustled into Raidou's arms. "Wear Aprons-" Scrambling fingers yanked the raspberry-pink bandana from my forehead, releasing wispy curls to tickle my temples and shoved the accessory at the assassin. "-No loose hair-"

Masaru-san, mirroring my urgency, was already on the doorstep and I headed straight toward her.

My hand caught the door before it could close behind me, seized by a sudden thought. But I couldn't not-

"Tell Shisui-kun there was an emergency, nothing else… all his favourites are unlimited on the house."

The sound of the bell chiming behind me was lost in the bustle of the market. I didn't look back at their whiplashed expressions.

"Where to?"

Masaru jerked her head towards the other side of Konoha centre, where the hospital was.

"You said you have a friend who got away? Right?" Masaru wasn't a tall woman but the stretch of her strides were forcing me into an uncomfortable half-jog. I nodded quickly, eager to understand what was happening. "So it's just the three of us?"

Uncertainty wiggled like an earthworm to the forefront of my mind. "...yes."

Clammy fingers latched onto my wrist, following the motion when I automatically tried to jerk myself free. At this stage we were running. "I saw him again- I know it was him, and he was looking at me and criminals clean up after themselves - that's what my girlfriend always says-"

The hospital loomed ahead of us as we staggered and stumbled, ungainly with our hands locked so tightly. It didn't help that I couldn't even being myself to look where I was going, eyes fixed on the naked panic on Masaru's face.

"We need to stick together. Now that I've seen him-"

All the fear, all the paranoia that Masaru's appearance had revived in my chest, suddenly solidified like an iron bullet in my gut.

Masaru's grip on my hand twisted, my stride lengthening, and suddenly I was the one pulling her along.

We burst through the doors like a house fire, completely skirting around reception and feigning deafness when the receptionists, one a familiar blonde, called out behind us.

The elevator, like some horrible cinematic cliche, was just about to close when I shoved my hand in the gap and yanked us both inside.

Masaru finally dropped my wrist. The skin was red like a so-called 'Chinese rope burn', contrasting against the metal walls as I braced myself and tried to breathe evenly.

"When...exactly...did you see him?"

The young woman swallowed, audibly dry. "I was watering my plants in the allotment outside and he was just...standing there, on the street corner."

I glanced up at her. Under the merciless hospital lights, we both looked garish. "Why didn't he just grab you then and there."

Surely, these men weren't the type to fearmonger? That was far too risky. This hadn't been motivated by vendetta or personal emotions...it was so businesslike.

Visibly just as lost, she weakly shook her head. "My neighbour let her cat out."

"Why didn't they come at night, do you think? If they know where you are."

Her eyes shifted away and my brows creased almost imperceptibly. "Rikari has been staying over...since the attack…"

My mouth formed an 'o'.

The elevator finally chimed but the ride, whilst brief, had been just long enough to quell the roaring initial adrenaline.

Saying that, as soon as the doors were open, Masaru was dashing off again, her hand around my bicep, and I found myself dragging her down the right halls until-

Gin's room.

Inside, a dark head of hair was bent over a folder.

When I shoved the door open, yanking the both of us inside and slamming it closed again, Officer Rikari herself jerked to her feet.

"Uchiha-san," my voice echoed breathlessly, "would you mind bodyguarding two more?"

…...

A/N: what do you mean I can't end every single scene and chapter with a cliffhanger?

On a side note, I'm a terrible parent because the first birthday of this fucking fic was in Feb and it's May….how not to parent, by Dumbass Torship: 1) Freely forget your child's birthday, the more of a milestone the better~

Hellooooooo~ it's been months. I'm so sorry about the wait but well...this stuff is for fun. And when it stops being fun, there's an issue there. Also, wow did my final few months of degree life kick my fucking ass. But my undergrad thesis is submitted, I'm a free goose, and, more importantly, Kiharu is ANGSTY. She's been suffering, they all have...occupational Hazard when you're in the last few chapters of an arc I'm afraid. Anyway, a massive thank you to everyone, old and new, who has read this dumbass fic and another special shout-out to those who have reviewed/commented :'3 I hope you enjoy this chapter and I love you all a lot…. Shout out again to discord crew too, my crazy babies (´∀｀)

Note: Both Katlou303 and I discussed (I did the googling) what terms to use in regards to the prostitutes. I was pressed for time so don't think of this as historically accuratebby any stretch of the imagination. Creative licence *flashes a Maccy's coupon like police badge*. The "Madame" was decided because….Wiki failed me and it was very complicated. So...sorry!

*Shout out to Temper's auto-correct in discord haha

A nugget of dating advice from Ensui: Never commit to dinner or a movie for a first date. One, if it's fucking awful, you're stuck for a certain amount of time and can't just bounce. Also cinemas… you can't talk or get to know each other and lots of people, especially if you don't know them well, might try to cop a feel in the dark. For people just "hanging out sometime" as a first date, it's always better to have a purpose or destination in mind. That way you know how to dress appropriately and you also don't just end up walking aimlessly with the looming potential awkwardness. If you're great friends with the other person, a destination can make it feel less like hanging out with a buddy and if you don't know them well, it give you a sense of purpose. Sometimes people say "drinks first, then dinner"; one, this is obviously for those able to legally drink and those who actually can. Two… if you don't know them, Ensui and I wouldn't recommend getting drunk, or even tipsy, the first time. Coffee sounds dull but it's really not and you can do anything….milkshakes, Tea, ice cream now that summer is on it's way… and yeah, maybe they don't sound as seductive or whatever as meeting someone for dinner or a drink, but who gives a fuck?

Lots of readers have commented about liking Kiharu's perspectives on everyday stuff, so I thought I'd offer up a word on Ensui's date^ This is obviously not applicable to everyone but I couldn't resist haha