Sarutobi Hiroko is tasked with murdering her own niece. Everything goes as planned.
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I do not own Naruto.
prisoner
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"Our princess has been quite the social butterfly these days, wouldn't you think so?"
If it were anyone else - if it'd been said in any other context - perhaps the words might have seemed innocent enough. Sarutobi Hiroko knows, however, that there is nothing innocent or naive about Shimura Danzo.
The middle-aged kunoichi keeps her mouth shut, partly because she doesn't want to answer, partly because it's not her place to. There are way too many eyes on the two of them, hidden in the safety of the shadows, and she knows better than to show insubordination.
Hiroko has made that mistake exactly once, back when she was first ordered to keep a close eye on Chiyuki, and the price she'd had to pay burns cold in her tongue.
"She's managed to escape her cage and each day stray further from home." Danzo continues to talk in a calm tone, as if they were simply talking about the chilly weather. "A pity, really."
The Sarutobi woman feels the familiar sting of regret in her chest; the ache of guilt and sorrow once again soak her up from the bones all the way through her muscles and her skin, until she doesn't have the strength to pick herself up.
"Today, our little butterfly comes back to her garden for the last time."
The old man says and vanishes, taking half of his entourage with him. The other half keeps narrowed eyes on the kunoichi's back, until she too disappears from sight.
Hiroko goes home and does her chores automatically, feeling stings from time to time. There are people constantly watching her and her clan, and there's nothing to do about it because she's failed once, and that's the price she has to pay.
Her niece comes back home after her birthday party and the older woman is swimming in a pool of helplessness and regret. She knows very well what she has to do, knows exactly why she was chosen to do it. She attempts to hold the weight of a village on her weakening shoulders, steals children from under her older brother's nose for the greater good, for Konoha, for her nephews and niece.
The middle-aged woman swallows her guilt like a dry, bitter herb every time she watches another kid become part of her village's roots. None of them look like the apple of her eye, the young child with ash blonde hair and chocolate eyes, and for that she is immensely grateful.
When she breaks out of her stupor of sorrow and remorse, she's making tea for three. A mild muscle-relaxing drug goes into the cups without much thought, and a kind expression schools itself on her face. Her brother and his wife take the tea without a second of hesitation, and the Sarutobi woman prays-
Chiyuki does not accept the tea, and she's only half-relieved.
She waits until the child falls into a deep slumber before attempting the unimaginable. Proving herself to be a true shinobi in training, her niece wakes up just as she's about to do it, and the hurt directed at her nearly makes her drop the kunai.
She can't fail.
"A-aunt… why?"
Hiroko stalls for time. Hesitates and covers it with mindless babbles. Gives her niece time for her brain to kick-start and find a way out.
Please.
She can't fail.
Her legs go numb and the rest of her body is soon to follow. Just as she's about to embrace unconsciousness like a dear old friend, a breath of relief enters her misery filled lungs.
Nara Shikaku shows up and she nearly drops her facade. There couldn't be a better person for Chiyuki to have by her side, especially now as the child watches her world crumble before her pained, young eyes.
If she were perhaps just a bit more aware of her surroundings, maybe her niece would have backed down before catching Danzo's eyes. The Sarutobi princess is most definitely a prodigy, but perhaps her inexperience and arrogance blinded her so deeply that she couldn't help but find herself entangled in a spider's web, helplessly flapping her beautiful, colorful wings.
Hiroko knows she's hurt the child deeply, although it is not beyond repair. The middle-aged woman looks at how fiercely the Nara clan head protects her-
"The jounin commander? That might be a bit annoying-"
-knows she's intelligent and strong -
"Some of my shinobi have reported locking eyes with the little princess, even though she's not supposed to know-"
-knows she's charismatic and bright -
"The reports say the Uchiha are also supporting her-"
Above all, the Sarutobi kunoichi knows it'll be tough, but her niece will learn from this. The deer and the cats may have rescued her from the dreadful spider's web and trampled on it, leaving a pool of crimson behind-
-but butterflies are able to feed on blood, and Hiroko wants Chiyuki to thrive from it.