Sasuke was the first to come back. Hitomi and Shikamaru were waiting in the kitchen, their hands wrapped around their cups of tea, a shōgi board between them. All the others had gotten home to see if their families were okay, and Naruto had joined Karin to make sure everything was alright at the hideout linked to the hospital. Several hideouts had been discovered by the enemy: just before the gates to the Nara lands, a secret door had been torn away from its hinges and the body of one of the ninjas assigned to the defence of the civilians hiding inside was visible in the gaping opening. He looked peaceful, as if he had died in his sleep. The two Nara had huddled together when they'd seen him, both trying very hard not to think about the other hideouts.
When she heard footsteps outside, Hitomi jumped on her feet so hard her chair got knocked over. This kind of clumsiness was rare coming from her. She exchanged a hopeful look with Shikamaru. They had lit all the lights in the house and made sure to send their chakra in the air despite their exhaustion so all shinobi walking around with the slightest sensor skill would know they were there, they were home. Twisting her hands with worry, Hitomi went to wait by the entrance. She couldn't totally muffle a sob when she saw her adopted brother walk in, seemingly unharmed.
He looked surprised and relieved to see her there. They stared at each other for a few seconds, at a loss for words. "I'm home," Sasuke whispered after a moment.
"Welcome home," she answered, her voice maybe a bit choked. She watched as he removed his shoes covered in crusted blood and put on slippers. He walked over the genkan and opened his arms with a faint smile. Immediately, she went to hug him and breathed his scent under the blood, smoke and death sticking to his skin like a shirt two sizes too tight. After just a second of stillness, he wrapped his arms around her.
"I'm so glad you're okay," he sighed close to her ear.
"I was sure no one could land a hit on you."
They both knew it was a lie. Orochimaru wasn't the only outrageously powerful shinobi in this world, or even in the Otojin forces. The Sannin's experiments were famous in the Elemental Nations, just as famous as the products of these experiments were. If Jūgo had been part of the attack, or even Kimimaro who could probably still walk and push himself… The number of casualties would have probably doubled.
Soon, Shikamaru joined them and they decided to forget the kitchen and settle in the living-room instead after they made a cup of tea for the young Uchiha. He looked exhausted, heavy shadows under his eyes. His limbs were twitching, probably because of his almost empty chakra reserves. Dry blood was making his hair stick to his head – in fact, he was almost covered from head to toe in the stuff. Hitomi didn't seem able to walk away from her brother, so Shikamaru was the one to go in the teenager's room to fetch clean clothes for him. Sasuke changed in front of them without any shame – they were beyond that, and constantly watching each other seemed so much more important than a bit of skin.
"How was it for you?" the Uchiha asked.
Hitomi didn't want to tell the tale, but she understood his need to know, because she felt just the same. She didn't flinch away from the numerous deaths at her hands, went over her mastery of the Shunshin without showing any emotion, even though only Chūnin and Jōnin could use that technique usually. She told him about the hospital and the prison. Her voice only started quivering when she told him about what she saw afterwards. The destruction, the dozens of dead bodies she sometimes had to walk around or over, the children with broken limbs and unrecognisable faces.
Sasuke listened carefully, his body perfectly still. Hitomi didn't need him to nod or speak, only to listen, to know before she shut down, to prepare her for the report she'd have to write and hand out once her hands stopped shaking and her ears stopped buzzing. She wanted to curl up and disappear, but it was only a distant echo in her Library, a caress on the weakest parts of her mind. She couldn't quite ignore it, but she was still able to function.
"What about you?" she asked when she was done. Her voice was shaking – by asking about him, she also asked about Kakashi, about Gai, about all the others who had stayed in the stadium to defend the civilians trapped there. She had seen Aburame Sugi and Hyūga Hanabi there. They were only two of numerous very talented students present in the building. How many ANBU had been Otojin shinobi in disguise? She felt sick just thinking about it.
"Kakashi-sensei was there with me in the beginning. He ordered me to help civilians to reach the hideouts underground. Sometimes, I got to a group before the Otojin and Sunajin… sometimes, I didn't. Kakashi-sensei, Gai-sensei, and the referee, Shiranui-san, watched my back as well as they could while doing their part. They had to kill several ANBU operatives who tried to attack me – later, I learned they were enemies who had found a uniform."
The teenage boy continued his recounting of the events for long minutes. He told them about the chaotic atmosphere of the stadium, about the nobles who didn't understand anything and refused to listen to a simple teenager, and told them about the wounded, the dead. Once they had gotten control back over the place, he had been sent to the Tower to defend it. There, he had seen Kurenai and Shikaku, busy with their own opponents. He also had seen three Otojin fleeing – based on his description, Hitomi recognised the three remaining members of the Sound Quartet. From Orochimaru and Kabuto, he didn't even see a shadow. Hitomi couldn't hide her relief when he told her that.
Sasuke had ended up back to back with Jiraiya of the Sannin, who was desperately trying to go to the place where his sensei was fighting for his life, and had used his mastery of Lightning Release and ninja wire to give the man the opening he needed. If Jiraiya had managed to reach Hiruzen, then the old man could still be alive, but the young Uchiha didn't know if it was the case: he had been requisitioned by an ANBU team to clean the streets of the remaining attackers. It explained his exhaustion: from Team Seven, he was the one with the weakest chakra reserves and, by the blood covering his right hand, Hitomi could tell he had used the Chidori at least once.
"The village will be an utter mess for at least several weeks," Shikamaru estimated when Sasuke was finished with his tale. "Gaara's order spread very efficiently through the Sunajin troops, they quickly quit fighting or even helped Konoha, but the question of their betrayal remains, as well as the one about retaliation against Otogakure."
"And that's not even taking into account how pissed our daimyos will be. The peace treaty after the Third Shinobi World War had to be respected at all costs, and now…"
"Yeah, we can count on problems on that front too. It's lucky that our own lord was in the tribune today. He saw that we only defended ourselves, and so did the daimyo of the Land of Birds and several dignitaries from the Land of Wind. We should pray that it is enough for them."
They stayed silent for a moment, contemplating the eventuality of a war that would destroy everything they knew. They weren't ready, they knew that after the day's battle, but lower grades were always sent to ridiculous suicide-missions during big scale conflicts. If war started, how many of the Fellowship would survive? What would be left of their heritage, of what they had started at the Academy and amongst their clans?
"Ruminating is useless," Hitomi sighed after a while. "I'm gonna take a shower. You should do the same when I'm done, marinating in blood and sweat is disgusting. When we're all clean, we'll think about eating, and then we'll wait."
The two boys grunted their approval. As she walked away, Hitomi heard them start talking again. She didn't need to eavesdrop and felt far too tired for that anyway. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she stepped into the shower. Water ran pink and grey all over her body, washing blood and dirt down the drain. The memory of Kakashi, of the careful way he had cleaned her bloody arms the night she had found Hayate, came back no matter how hard she tried to push it down.
She came back to the living room dressed in her most comfortable pyjamas, a dark blue t-shirt that had belonged to Ensui and a pair of too big shorts that descended to her knees. Her master's scent was faint on the fabric, but the simple knowledge that he had worn it once appeased something in her mind. As Sasuke disappeared in the bathroom, she leaned against the back of the couch and put a hand on Shikamaru's shoulder. "You handled it all well, you know?"
He rested his head on the cushions to look at her from below. "Hm… I had my first kill today. I can't forget the expression on his face."
Slowly, the girl bent down until she was able to wrap both her arms around his shoulders over the back of the couch. It wasn't comfortable at all, but she didn't care about her own body. She wanted to make him understand that she was there, that he wasn't alone, that they would pull through it together just like they had so many times before.
"You won't forget for a while, or ever," she said. "I can still see the faces of my first kills. And the ones from today as well. But… I think we learn to cope, to put them in a corner of our mind we rarely visit. It isn't exactly forgetting, but it's better than endlessly torturing yourself with them."
"My father always says that the weight of war is heaviest on the geniuses, and today I… I understand what he means by that. When you went to handle the barrier, I was terrified that one of my decisions would get even one of us killed. I don't know how you can even manage under that pressure."
"Frankly, Shika, I don't know either. I make mistakes, I regret them, I try to learn from them. I repeat that cycle again and again, until the mistakes die down to a faint buzzing at the back of my mind."
Naruto came home some time after that, while Shikamaru was in the shower. Karin was with him. Parts of her red hair were mingled, as if someone had yanked on it. Naruto looked ready to sob with relief when he saw Sasuke alive and well. It was weird to see him, to be at his side again after a month apart. His eyes and posture had changed, but it was hard to determine if it was because of Kakashi's training or his role in the defence against the invasion.
While the two boys compared their mentors, Hitomi took Karin to her room. The Uzumaki girl was taller, with a curvier body type, but since she was a fan of oversized pyjamas, Hitomi found clothes to give her for after her shower. They chatted as they waited for Shikamaru to be done in the bathroom – according to Karin, the hospital had started taking patients again sometimes in the evening, but only for the most serious cases. The other injuries were handled by the rare shinobi with a knowledge of medical techniques without an actual medic training. Never had Tsunade's shadow been heavier on the village than now; the civilians were arguing that her training system should have been maintained even after she had left the village.
Later in the evening, as Naruto was piecing a meal together from what they had in the fridge, they heard footsteps in the street. Hitomi immediately recognised that chakra; with a choked sob, she ran through the living-room and the hall then almost tore the door from its hinges in her eagerness to see her shishou again.
She immediately noticed the cut on his cheek and the blood that hadn't quite dried out from it yet. She would have inspected the wound, but he didn't give her time for that, hugging her hard enough to make her ribs protest. She hugged him back, inhaling his scent as if to drown in it despite the overlaying smell of fire, blood and battle over it. After a few minutes, he pushed her at arm's length, his large hand cupping her face to inspect it under the light of the moon. His dark grey eyes were piercing despite his obvious exhaustion, inquisitive even. Finally, he sighed with relief, his calloused thumbs tracing little comforting circles over her cheekbones, one smooth, one marked with the scar she had gotten in the Forest of Death and didn't even notice anymore in the mirror.
"You're okay," he whispered. "You aren't injured. You're alive." His voice was hoarse, but he could have screamed his relief to the moon and it wouldn't have been any more obvious than this trickle of a sound. She took one of his hands between hers. His nails were nicked, his fingers covered in blood, ashes and dirt.
"Come inside, shishou. Naruto is cooking. Sasuke and Shikamaru are here too, with Naruto's cousin, Uzumaki Karin. We're all okay, I promise. Take a shower, change, then we'll heal the wound on your cheek. Everything will be okay."
They didn't dwell on how weird it was for the student to reassure the master. Hitomi knew all too well which fear had suffocated Ensui's heart, and why his eyes had hardened with a fierce, protective gleam when he had been able to look at her, to see for himself that she was well. He had already lost a son to war. He was terrified by the idea of losing his student too, they were both aware of that. If she didn't make sure to survive for herself, for her family, she would at least make sure she did for him.
Sasuke and Shikamaru seemed to relax a little when they saw Ensui, even after he went to the bathroom for his own shower. After all, he was an adult, and a legend amongst his clansmen. It wasn't up to them, mere Genin freshly out of the Academy, to take matters into their own hands anymore. They didn't have to decide or face their mistakes now that someone was there to do that part of the job. He was better qualified, had more experience, and was so much stronger.
When he came back from his shower, his damp hair down on his shoulders, Karin approached him, her cheeks red with shyness. "N-Nara-san, excuse me to bother you but I learned some medical ninjutsu before coming to Konoha for the exam. I could heal your wound, if you wish."
Ensui looked at the girl then met his apprentice's eyes and saw her nod her approval. She looked certain, at peace, so he accepted the proposal without wariness. He would ask for explanations later, when he'd be alone with Hitomi and the situation would be calmer.
"Here you are," the Uzumaki girl said after a moment. "You shouldn't even have a scar."
"Thank you, err, Karin-san, isn't it?"
"Yes. Uzumaki Karin, nice to meet you."
The Jōnin's eyes stopped on Naruto, who beamed with obvious happiness and pride. He was probably the only one who could smile with such purity and eagerness in such a situation but, ironically, it seemed to be what his peers needed to feel better.
"Shishou?" Hitomi asked. "What can you tell us about the current situation, about the village and Hokage-sama?"
The man seemed to consider his options for a while, his eyes staring into nothing. His apprentice, her brothers and her friends were only kids, but… they had fought, and with more bravery and determination than some of their elders. They had advanced through this whole ordeal with perspicacity and teamwork to make some ANBU jealous. The Nara didn't believe in retaining information; they said any form of dissimulation pushed the young to stick their nose where they didn't belong and put themselves at risk. It was better to inform them, to answer their question and make sure they understood everything they encountered. Knowledge was power, and power was to be shared so it could never be lost.
"Orochimaru managed to flee with some of his men," he said after a while. "Hiruzen-sama was badly injured when the ANBU arrived on scene, but so was the snake. He won't be able to come after us like that in a while, and now we're aware of his intentions. Hokage-sama was taken to a medical team. The word in the hospital is that they had to put him in stasis so they have time to decide what to do to heal him. He won't ever be a shinobi again."
Hitomi's thoughts trailed towards Hayate again when she heard that news. She had, again, failed to save a life completely. This time, however, she didn't feel real remorse about it. Was this because she was learning, or because nothing in the world could have made her step inside the seal, where were standing Orochimaru and probably two reincarnated Hokage? She couldn't say. "I see… Has someone been chosen for our next Hokage already?"
"Danzō tried," Ensui said, his voice the quintessence of bitterness. "Fortunately, Shikaku-sama and Kakashi-san stopped him. For now, they share the duties of the job together. They will soon send Jiraiya-sama to find Tsunade-sama, since she's the best person for the post right now."
"Hm… That's gonna be difficult, right?" Shikamaru asked.
"You have no idea how hard that's gonna be, kiddo. Tsunade despises Konoha. Jiraiya could convince her, but only through ruse or feelings."
Hitomi's eyes stopped on Naruto, who listened but didn't look away from the stove. He knew, at least, that he was too young and too inexperienced to try for the position himself. The day would come when he would put on the hat with the fire kanji but, for now, he still had so much to learn, and so much uncertainty ahead – he wasn't ready.
"Jiraiya-sama won't go alone," Hitomi mused. "Orochimaru's minions still mill about the whole country, and we can't risk him being attacked or captured. I wonder who he's gonna choose as an escort."
"I was there when he discussed it with Kakashi-san and Shikaku-sama. Naruto's name was offered. Yours as well."
Hitomi forgot how to breathe for a hot minute. "Mine?"
"He heard about your talent for fūinjutsu. He wants to assess how good you are and maybe teach you a few tricks I don't know about myself. I can only take you so far in that subject. He's a Seal Master."
"What does he want with me then?" Naruto asked.
"Well, first of all, word in the village is that you're his apprentice since he took you in for a whole month to train you. He hasn't done that since teaching the Fourth. He also wants you to play on Tsunade-sama's feelings. She had a brother who wanted to become Hokage and looked a bit like you."
What he didn't say but Hitomi was aware of was that Tsunade had known Naruto's father, Namikaze Minato, and that the son bore an uncanny likeness to him. The Yūhi girl still didn't understand why that information wasn't public knowledge. If the civilians had known who Naruto's parents had been, maybe they would have been nicer to him. Besides, at least he deserved to know. She would have told him herself, but she knew it wasn't worth getting thrown in prison for the rest of her life. The ANBU really didn't take too kindly to high treason.
"Is it still time to suggest people for that trip?" Hitomi asked with a thoughtful expression.
"I think you still can, yes. Do you have people in mind for it?"
"Zabuza-san and Haku-san. They aren't part of the village and are currently in the Land of Waves to settle something about the rebellion's support, but they said they were done with it. If I send them a message tonight, they could be here in a few days. Zabuza-san is really strong, and so is Haku-san, especially with his Kekkei Genkai. I wouldn't mind having two more Jōnin with us."
She had been sad to see them leave a week before the tournament. She would have liked to train with them more. Zabuza knew Water Release techniques she could only dream of and couldn't find any trace of in Konoha. Even the ones Senju Tobirama had created white at his peak had been lost to time. And then there was his kenjutsu, which was worthy of legends. As for Haku… It was his quiet friendship that she missed above all, his soft voice and the unique view he had of the world. He could have helped her cope with the many corpses in her wake.
"Who knows. Jiraiya-sama has an open mind and you can be very convincing, can't you now? Flattery is the key to make him bend, if that can help you."
The girl beamed in thanks then lowered her eyes to the plate Naruto had just put in front of her. Squeezed between Sasuke and Shikamaru, she started to eat. Only then did the hunger roar inside her, as if all the needs she had neglected through the day were coming back to her at once. She had used a lot of chakra and, even though most of that energy didn't belong to her in the first place, her body was showing serious signs of exhaustion.
A brutal spasm ran through her biceps, sending a surge of pain along the whole limb. With a groan of pain, she let go of her chopsticks, the shape of them deeply embedded in the delicate skin of her fingers. Ensui didn't miss any of this and stared at her. It wasn't the first time it happened to her that night, and she wasn't the only one suffering from it: Sasuke and Shikamaru were almost out of chakra and suffered as well. The thing was, her reserves were okay. It was the overuse of chakra, the extreme opposite of chakra exhaustion, that was hitting her full force.
The rest of the meal was quiet. The boys were getting to know Karin. They had immediately accepted her as one of their own, encouraged by Naruto and Hitomi, both attentive and trusting towards the girl. Ensui had watched that whole affair with a mix of relief and pride. The agitated, violent instinct inside him had calmed down as simply as that, as coming home, as seeing his apprentice in good health and psychologically stable despite the ordeal she had just gone through.
He didn't hold any illusions about it, though. The backlash would come. He could almost see the way she was keeping the trauma at bay. The fact that she looked so used to it, did it so easily, made him want to scream and sob for his girl. She was only fourteen. She was a child. In a better world, she could have focused on learning without being thrown everyday into a new danger too large for her, she could have learned to heal from her trauma with constant, attentive help, until she was able to bloom into a healthy adult, confident and at peace with herself. He could only offer her a parody of all that, and that felt like failure to him. His failure. Trying his best didn't make this all okay.
Once they were done eating and the dishes were in the sink – washing them could wait – he followed the teenagers to the living-room. If Kurenai hadn't liked having a house full of life so much, they would have been forced to pile over one another, but there was room for everyone. Hitomi sat next to him, at the centre of the couch, and Shikamaru took her other side. Naruto and Karin were each in a chair and Sasuke sat on the ground between the couch and the coffee table, his back against his sister's legs. A family. Ensui breathed in deeply and felt his apprentice put a hand on his knee, as if she knew, as if she understood. With a little grunt, he wrapped a hand around her shoulders and pulled her closer. She was alive, she was well. It was the only thing that mattered to him.
"Where are your cats?" he asked after a while. "Did you send them back to the spiritual world?"
"Some of them, yes. Hoshihi, Hai and Sunaarashi stayed but, after a day like this, they preferred to spend time in the Deer Forest. They'll come back tomorrow morning and check into Inuzuka Hana's practice if she has room to take them in."
The shadow of a smile appeared on the Jōnin's lips. Hitomi's protectiveness over her cats looked a lot like what he felt for her. His hand on her shoulder, he casually formed neutral chakra and used it to massage her aching muscles. She didn't say anything, didn't pull away, only slumping a bit more against him with a sigh of comfort. After that, silence united them for a long time. They had to wait… There was nothing left to do for now, anyway.