Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto


Chapter 37: Fleeting Moments of Clarity

Itachi walked down the steps of the basement. He was surprised to see a particular face.

"Oniisan," he walked up to the table that Shun was sitting on. It was empty. In fact, the whole basement was empty. It was just Shun. Sitting in the quiet all by himself.

"Itachi," the older Uchiha gestured to the seat across from him on the round table.

Itachi sat down.

"Say, Itachi, have you ever killed someone?" Shun asked him levelly.

Itachi felt his dark eyes studying him closely. "No," he answered.

Shun tapped the tabletop with his fingertips. "I see," he leaned back in his chair. "You're like me."

Itachi's eyes spoke for him.

"A late bloomer in that regard," a humorless smile broke across Shun's face. "I joined the police force right out of the academy. I was too young to be patrolling on my own. I was also too green. Not having a genin squad, not going on missions, not taking the chunin exam - I lost out on a lot of experiences. Just like you." He scratched his jaw.

"Because of my low rank, I could not even help out in the war. I was fifteen when I first killed someone." His expression was reflective. "How old are you again?"

"Thirteen," Itachi answered. It was his first birthday that he did not celebrate with his family. Sakura had baked a cake and she had done her best to ensure the occasion was not completely consumed by feelings of loneliness and sadness. Naruto had made him a card.

"So a little older than you. It was a routine call. One I had handled before on my own. So they did not think to send me in with backup." His voice had a far-off quality to it like he was stuck between now and then.

"Only the call, the report, was inaccurate. It was a domestic case. A drunken ex-chunin and his civilian wife. He was stripped of his rank due to his behavior in the war effort. He was a liability. Nearly got his whole squad killed due to his negligence. He was an embarrassment. The Third let him off too easily. He should have been thrown in prison for life. Or simply just left to die on the battlefield. Iwa would have taken care of him."

"Everyone in the force knew him. We got called into his residence at least once a week. His wife would always beg us not to arrest him. She claimed he was having a hard time adjusting to his new reality."

He drummed his fingers on the table and bobbed his knee up and down.

"He was in the middle of a rampage. He was convinced she was cheating on him. He was so drunk that he did not realize the extra pair of boots at the door were his own and not another man's."

Itachi continued to listen intently. He monitored Shun's facial expression closely for signs of dishonesty or embellishment. He found none. Shun was being candid. No facade. No showmanship. No fuss.

Shun's eyes were not focused on anything particular.

"He was a mean drunk. Big, too. He easily had seventy pounds on me. He was at least four inches taller. All muscle." Shun paused. "He had a kunai. He was pointing it at his wife and his son. There was glass on the ground. The wife was bleeding from her head. Headwounds bleed a lot. I didn't know that before that day. I could not believe that she was still conscious. There was just so much blood."

His eyes scanned the room as if he were picturing it all happening right in front of them.

"When he saw me he started to scream. He said in front of his son that he was probably a bastard. That his whore mother lied to him all these years and forced him to raise another man's son. He called her every name under the sun. The boy was forced to listen, forced to see it all. The boy was no older than seven. He was terrified. Frozen in place."

Itachi felt his stomach twist into knots.

"I tried to talk him down. To get him to calm down. Like they taught us to de-escalate a situation. Only that I had never handled a domestic. The call was for a robbery you see. A neighbor who called it in thought the woman was being robbed. The neighbor was new to the building. They did not know this was commonplace and they got the apartment number wrong. So dispatch did not put two and two together."

Shun rubbed his forehead slowly.

"He got more angry. More belligerent. He grabbed his son. He held the kunai to his neck. He threatened to kill the boy right in front of his wife. She was hysterical. I didn't know what to do."

"What did you do?" Itachi asked him in a soft voice, breaking the uneasy silence that had settled into the air.

"I used my Sharingan to incapacitate him. To get him to loosen his hold on his son. I got the boy out. I told the wife to take her son and lock themselves in the bathroom until I could call for backup. That was the plan. But it wasn't that strong yet. The genjutsu did not last. He broke out of it sooner than I anticipated."

"He was fast. He had me by the neck and he was wailing on me. I had no choice. I had to kill him before he killed me."

"Sounds like it was black and white." Itachi did not have to fake the sympathy in his voice. "You did what you had to. You saved the boy and the wife."

An emotionless smirk tugged at Shun's lip. "Uchiha-scum," he said the slur impassively.

Itachi furrowed his brow. "What?"

"That's what his son said to me after he spit on me."

Itachi's stomach dropped. "The boy saw."

Shun nodded his head.

"I arrested him today for beating on his girlfriend. He remembered me. He remembered me as the officer who killed his father with his own kunai." His expression was full of regret. "He said I ruined his life that day, ten years ago." Shun looked around the empty room yet again. "He said his life stopped that day. He was in the same building, the same apartment, the same situation as his father. It was all the same."

"It's not the same." Itachi cleared his throat. "No one died this time. You grew as an officer. You learned."

"Don't you get it, Itachi?" Shun asked him with visible frustration. "Nothing changed." Shun pushed his bangs from his forehead. His forehead protector was on the table in front of him.

"Ten years ago I took my first life. I thought I was acting to protect, to save two lives from one hellbent on killing them. That was the only thing that made it easier to stomach the fact that I killed a fellow Konoha shinobi. Today I learned that I was the villain in both of their stories. I was never the hero."

He took a deep breath.

"I was and I am the Uchiha-scum. Nothing more and nothing less."

Itachi blinked at him silently. The weight of Shun's words settled onto his shoulders.


Kushina tried not to fidget with her hands. She smiled at Karin and Tukiko. It did not feel natural. It felt forced. She tucked her hair behind her ear. They were looking at her expectantly. She folded her hands in her lap. Tukiko watched her slowly with a blank face. Karin pushed up her glasses.

"Kushina-Obachan?" Karin asked her in a timid voice.

Kushina tapped her fists against her thighs lightly.

"Okay, here goes." She said to herself. "Karin-chan, Tukiko-chan you both know that Karin-chan is starting pre-academy in a couple of weeks right?" She waited for the girls to nod. "Well, there is something you should know before that day comes." Kushina took a breath. So far no one was crying or screaming. They were good.

The girls looked at her intently, patiently.

"You may hear some things at school, Karin-chan. Some pretty mean and nasty things about me." She exhaled slowly.

"Why?" Karin asked her with a curious expression. Tukiko looked on.

Kushina bit her lip. "A long time ago, when I was a little older than Tukiko-chan, I was brought over from Uzushiogakure to Konoha. You remember Uzushiogakure, right?" She asked the girls.

Tukiko nodded. Karin tilted her head. Tukiko pulled out the folded photograph and pointed to Kohana. Karin's face lit up.

"Mama was from there!" She said excitedly.

Kushina nodded. "Right, I was brought here to do a very important job, one that only I could do."

Tukiko stared into her eyes deeply. Kushina could see the gears turning in her head. Kushina smiled kindly as she read what Tuikio wrote on the small whiteboard the word 'what'.

"As Uzumakis, we have an incredibly strong life force. It means that we can live very, very long lives. We can store a lot of chakra. We can handle a lot honestly. We're really strong. It's pretty cool actually." She cleared her throat.

"Because of that Konoha needed my help. I was chosen. So I came to live here." She said in a light tone even as her eyes became strained at the memory.

"All by yourself?" Karin asked her in a mix of surprise and apprehension.

Kushina nodded.

"Was it scary?" Karin asked as she hugged a couch cushion to her. Tukiko crossed her legs under her.

"A little. It was very lonely at first." She smiled. "But it was okay. I made friends. Not long after getting to Konoha, I had to do the job I was brought here for. They needed me to hold the Kyubbi." She looked at their blank faces. The word meant nothing to them.

"What's that?" Karin asked.

She took a second to gather her thoughts. "There are nine tailed beasts that were created a long time ago. They are very strong and very dangerous. In order to control them they had to be sealed away, like when we were catching fireflies the other day we put them in jars. You remember that?" She studied them closely.

The girls nodded. "Well, I am kind of like the jar for the Kyuubi. Which is this fox with nine tails. He's really strong and mean." Kushina explained.

A fearful look crossed Karin's face. "But we let the fireflies go." She reminded Kushina.

Kushina nodded. "Right. But this case is different. We can't ever let the Kyuubi out. Ever." She put a hand on her stomach.

Karin and Tukiko stared at her. "Is the fox in there?" Karin asked, not fully convinced.

Kushina lifted up her shirt. She brought glowing fingers and touched the seal. Their eyes widened as black markings covered the skin of her abdomen.

"Whoa," Karin breathed. They were leaning close. "What happened here?" Karin traced the scars.

Kushina smiled sadly. "I had an accident. I got hurt."

Karin looked at her with concern. "Does it hurt now?"

Kushina shook her head. She lowered her shirt. "It was a long time ago. Your Sakura-Obachan took good care of me. I hardly feel it." The scars remained because of the poison. Just as Sasori's blade left a permanent reminder on Sakura.

"He can't get out?" Karin asked again.

"Can you feel him?" Kushina read Tukiko's question out loud. "Not usually no. Only when I'm really, really mad does he try to control me but I've learned not to let it get that far." She explained.

Karin and Kushina watched as Tukiko erased the board and started to write again. "I feel something too when I get mad." Kushina read. "Your Sharingan," Kushina nodded. "Don't worry Mikoto-Obachan will teach you how to use it if you ever want to learn. No pressure." Kushina patted her knee. Tukiko nodded. She wiped her board and closed the cap of her marker.

Kushina looked at them. "I know you must have so many questions but before we jump into it I just want to tell you that the Kyuubi cannot hurt you. The Kyuubi is not in control. No matter what you hear. People are scared, they have been scared of the fox for a long time. They only see the fox. They do not see me. I want you to know that I will never let anything happen to you. I promise." She said adamantly.

She looked at them with unease. She did not know how they would react. It was a lot. Maybe they did not understand. Maybe she could have done a better job of explaining she looked at their blank faces with dread building in her.

"Do you have any questions?" She asked in a soft voice.

"I do." Karin held up her hand. It was something she learned from Ino. The Yamanaka got a kick out of playing teacher. She made all the kids sit quietly and raise their hands before speaking. The girl was a genius.

"What is it, Karin-chan?" Kushina waited with bated breath.

"You've had the Kyuubi inside of you since you were little?" Karin asked.

Kushina nodded. "I was ten when they sealed the fox inside me."

"Did the fox ever come out since then?" Kushina read Tukiko's question. "No," Kushina shook her head firmly. "Never and the seal gets checked every year so we are fine."

Tuiko nodded. "No more questions." Kushina smiled at her.

"I have one more," Karin shot up her hand. She did not wait for Kushina to acknowledge her before she opened her mouth. "Can we have ice cream after dinner?" She asked.

Kushina blinked. "That's it? No more questions? I just told you I have a monster in my belly." She looked at them bewildered.

Karin shrugged. "I have a monster under my bed. He doesn't bother us."

Kushina looked at her strangely. "Remind me to check under your bed."

Karin rolled her eyes. "Obachan you can't see him. You're a grownup."

Kushina did not know whether to be relieved or weirded out.

"Besides," Karin scratched her head. "You're warm like the sun. I'm not scared." She beamed at Kushina.

Kushina stared at her with an open mouth. "You sure?" She asked Karin.

Karin nodded. "Yep. Ice cream?" She asked, completely over it.

"Sure," Kushina said in a dazed tone. She looked at Tukiko. "How about you, Tukiko-chan, any questions?"

The girl pounded it. She shook her head. Kushina looked at the two of them in a state of shock.

"Well okay then." She cleared her throat. "You can ask me anything if something comes to mind later."

She watched as both girls nodded. She smiled. Relief filled her. It could not have gone better if she had dreamt it.


He watched as they left the house together. It was their routine. The four of them. The raven-haired boy parted with the rest at the first intersection. The trio made their way to the hospital. The blond, the boy, would hug and kiss the pink-haired woman, his target. The target would wave at them until they were gone before she stepped into the hospital. There she would spend hours indoors.

It was not until early evening that she would come out and the two blonds would greet her. The man, the father, would carry the boy on his shoulders. They walked slowly on account of the target. But they did not seem to mind. The boy beamed the whole time. On occasion, they would stop by the grocery store or the sweet shop on the way home. Sometimes they would spend a few minutes in the park.

It was all very domestic. Nothing noteworthy. It was hard to believe the man and the woman were feared. They lived perfectly ordinary lives. Nothing about them hinted at their rank or their bounties on their head.

His target was seemingly doing better. There were no more unexpected changes to the target's schedule. There was stability and with that came predictability. Predictability increased his probability of success.

He no longer had his restrictions. He could do as he pleased. Killing her was not only about being paid anymore, it was a matter of his reputation. The lady - the one that never smiled - Koharu had made it clear that she was no longer interested in his services. But it was now personal, the pinkette had managed to best him thrice. It did not matter if it was skill or luck. She was still alive despite him trying to kill her three different times. He had come closest the second time with the gas leak. Another ten minutes and she would have been gone. She had been lucky and he had been the opposite. She still lived.

He had been watching them for days now. Getting their routine. She was never alone. She had that pesky ANBU, the one with the magenta mask with her when she was not with her husband. He may not look like much but he knew looks were deceiving. He would be a fool to attempt anything with him around. He could manage to kill her but what was the point of glory or reputation if he were too dead to enjoy it?

No, he had the right idea in the first place. The only way to kill her was in the walls of the hospital. There were occasions in which she was alone. When she saw patients. That was his in. He would kill her there. She would see him as he squeezed the life out of her. He fantasized about seeing those jade eyes lose their light.

The man with a thousand faces watched as the trio walked back home. Unbeknownst to them it was their last night as a family of three. Tomorrow he would strike. The woman would not survive the fourth and final attempt.


"Good night, Itachi-kun," Sakura smiled over her shoulder as the teen stood in front of the doorway to his room. She could see Naruto and Minato getting into bed from the corner of her eye.

"Good night, Sakura-san." Itachi nodded his head at her.

She hesitated. She lightly tapped her fist against the doorframe.

"I'm okay," he assured her. "I'm fine." He said firmly.

"Okay." She gave him a warm smile. "Sweet dreams. I'll see you in the morning." She waited for his door to close before she stepped into the master bedroom, leaving the door open just a crack.

"Mama!" Naruto wrapped his arm around her the second she got into bed. His head was resting on top of her green pillow.

"Good night, Baby." She stretched her neck to kiss the tip of his nose. "Sweet dreams."

Naruto closed his eyes. She rhythmically tapped Naruto's shoulder. Lulling him to sleep. He had long forgotten his fear and how scared he had been of her. She could never forget. She would never forget. The memory would live on in her mind. A scar on her soul. It would be a reminder that she had come close enough. Poisoned or not. That was as close as she would ever get to losing control. The Kyuubi scar on her arm pricked. The skin around it felt tight.

The beady, lifeless eyes of his giant toad plushie stared at her in judgment. It completely obscured her view of Minato.

"Good night," she called out into the void.

"Good night." He answered back.


He pushed up his glasses. He smoothed the wisps of hair on his head into a ghost of a hairstyle. He straightened the fabric of his sleeves. He rested his ankle on his knee. His dark eyes watched as the patients came in and signed in on the sign-in sheet. In and out they went.

She was running the clinic more or less alone. She had already seen a handful of patients. It was a walk-in first come first serve. With each name she called she was getting closer and closer to clocking out forever.

He was amongst civilians. They operated in a completely different world than shinobi. The civilians who had watched him come in, sign in, and sit down had done so with completely different eyes. They did it out of curiosity and boredom, even. They were looking at him as entertainment and not trying to scope out if he was a threat or not.

It was almost anti-climatic how simple it was. He did not see the ANBU guard, again maybe it was because she was surrounded by civilians. She had let her guard down too despite knowing the fact that someone died in her place not too long ago. It had been unfortunate that an innocent had become mixed in with this. He had visited her grave. It had been spotless, without even a speck of dirt. The woman who never smiled had a conscience after all. He had said a little prayer. He cleared his own conscience.

He would do the same for his target and for the life inside of her that was not meant to be.

He counted three more names ahead of him. He watched as an elderly woman with hair as black as a raven's wing stood up when her name was called. He looked at the medic. She smiled at the woman and held open the door for her. She instructed her to enter the first room on the left. As she turned to her side he could tell that she was not too far from full term.

He had contemplated waiting until after the baby was born to kill her but he ultimately decided against him. He was no longer being paid for this job. Each day he wasted the more of a nosedive his value took. He could not afford to wait any longer. And besides something inside of him told him killing her then would be a whole lot more difficult.

He stared at the clock. Fifteen minutes. She spent fifteen minutes with the woman. The glass door swung out. The woman left. She called another name. They disappeared behind the door. The patient, a middle-aged man, only took five minutes. He came out with a smile on his face. The door opened again and she called the last name before his.

His fingers twitched in anticipation. She had beautiful skin. It was clear and the texture was even, it was taunt. Her neck was long and slender. His hands could easily envelop it. He leaned his head back against the wall behind him. He could visualize his fingers leaving indents and purple bruises on her creamy skin. He exhaled through this mouth.

He would be quick. His hands would be at her neck before she knew what was happening. He would threaten to kill the baby if she screamed. It would be glorious. He shuddered in anticipation. He licked his bottom lip slowly. The door opened. She called his name.

He stood up. He greeted her with a dip of his head. She smiled at him. He could see the sleeplessness in her eyes. She was making it too easy for him. He stepped through the door she held open. He walked into the room as all the others had. He sat on the exam table. She lingered in the doorway. She looked at him sheepishly. She told him that she needed to use the restroom and that she would be there in a minute. She apologized profusely.

He told her it was alright. He relaxed his fingers. He would wait. She smiled at him in thanks and walked down the hall. He sighed. The lines on his forehead disappeared. He could be patient a little longer. He closed his eyes. The curtains billowed in the breeze. He furrowed his brow.

A hand came to cover his mouth. He felt himself being pulled back before force was pulled up upwards. His glasses fell on his face. He could not even make a sound.


Sakura yawned into her hand. It was embarrassing, to say the least, the baby had decided to kick her bladder at the worst possible time. At least the patient was nice about it. She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. The fluorescent lighting was not forgiving at all. The bags under her eyes were almost as dark as her Yin Seal. She looked awful.

She hummed as she fixed her hair. She was sticking to the low ponytail. The braid was too much work right now. She wondered if Minato even noticed. He had been all she could think about when she was not thinking about Spider. It was not great that she could not think about one without thinking of the other. She had to wait until she could get proof and get Minato started on the antidote.

Sakura gave herself one last glance over.

"It's as good as it's gonna get." She said to herself. She grabbed the handle of the door and pulled. She walked down the hall. She opened the last door on her right.

"Sorry about that -" she blinked and the rest of the words died rather abruptly in her throat. She looked around the room. "Sano-san?" She frowned at the open window. It had been closed when she saw her last patient.

"Did he really climb out of the window?" She asked herself. Sakura walked to the window and stuck her head out. She looked to her left and right before looking up. She stuck her head back inside.

"Strange." She said as she walked back to the front. She crossed off Sano's name. She called the new first name on the list. She smiled as a woman with a baby stood up. Sakura made a face at him. He laughed. Sano was long gone from her mind.


She held him by the collar. She narrowed her eyes behind the mask.

"What do you want with Haruno Sakura?" She asked in a dangerously low voice as she tightened her grip on his collar. She held a kunai just under his chin.

He stared back at her blankly. She did not trust his appearance one bit. He was not a pathetic meek middle-aged man.

"Show me your true face," she let out slowly. She watched as his skin began to peel away all that was left was an even more forgettable face. "I heard of you," she said with narrowed eyes. "The Man with a Thousand Faces." He was completely nonplussed by her connecting his fame to a face.

She had considered hiring him after her plan had failed. But that was before she learned of Sakura's condition. She felt validated by going with her plan B instead of him. He was underwhelming. He could not even manage to kill a heavily pregnant woman.

"You are not worth your rate." She said with mild disgust. "Who hired you?" She asked him calmly.

He blinked lethargically at her.

She scoffed. "Let's try that again." She stabbed him with the kunai. His eyes widened. "Answer the question and I'll make your death quick." She whispered.

She watched as his face transformed. Her own face was pulled into a mask of disappointment.

"There really is no such thing as loyalty these days." She clicked her tongue.


Koharu stepped out of the bath. It had long grown cold. Water dripped off of her as she wrapped herself in her plush dark gray robe. It was wasteful the labor it took to draw a bath especially when the water only seemed to stay warm for less than ten minutes. She liked her water scathing to the point that it almost burned. She pulled the pin from her hair. She let her graying locks fall to mid back. She took ten steps to reach her vanity. The dark tile underfoot glistened with the wet footprints she left behind.

She had visited the grave again today. She was becoming predictable in sentimentality. The girl was collateral. She was in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was not the one that should have been in the ground. Her grave, her marker, and her death were a testament to her failure.

Koharu looked at the ashen reflection staring back at her. She hardly recognized her face. She supposed the guilt of her act clouded her eyes. Perhaps the girl's death would have been more palatable if the pink-haired medic had died along with her. Maybe it would not have made a modicum of difference either way. There was a body in the ground but her problem remained.

She looked at the neatly, thoughtfully placed accessories laid out on the vanity in front of her.

She ran her bamboo comb through her hair. It was thinning. It made her sad - nostalgic for a time when she was younger. During her peak. She only admitted that to herself. She could not risk giving anyone ammunition to use against her. For decades she was used to being the only female in the room. She used to detest that word: female. Her colleagues would call her that. It made her less human. It made her less than them. When she pointed it out they would call her sensitive or ask if it was her time of the month.

So she learned to endure to not let anything bother her. She steeled herself. She proved that she could not only keep up but outthink, outplan, and outsmart them all. Then when they could not find weakness in her, because she had shed it, they resorted back to name-calling. They called her cold, frigid. It hurt to be reduced to that. She could not let it show. It was just another thing to add to her armor.

When Sarutobi told them that he was to marry she had been excited. She thought to herself that this was her chance to finally have something she craved, a friend who was a woman. All the excitement she felt at the prospect came crashing down when she realized he meant Biwako. She had been cold and cruel to her during their academy days.

Koharu had thought Biwako was her friend. They had even sat together on the first few days of the academy. They played during recess. On the fourth day when she went to sit next to Biwako just like the previous, Biwako was aloof and less receptive. Koharu has asked her if something was wrong but Biwako insisted they were fine. It was later that she learned Biwako was exchanging notes with another girl in their class. Biwako ignored her during recess. She chose to play with the other girl, and she joined their group. Koharu was ostracized. She could hear them talking about her. It was not in nice tones. She poisoned the waters.

Biwako was awful. She had tried to warn Sarutobi but he was smitten by her soft hair, soft skin, and rough nature. It was too late. Biwako got her claws into him. It was not enough that she dissolved their budding friendship. She had to take Sarutobi too. She saw him less and less after he was married. He never said the reason why directly but she knew it was Biwako. It had to be her. Nothing else had changed between the former teammates.

She never got over that. She was caught between worlds and spaces. She did not belong with the men, the shinobi. They only saw her as a female, a kunoichi. The women never accepted her. They saw her as stuck up when in reality she was just intimidated. She did not know how to break into their cliques. She did not belong anywhere.

So she focused on what she was good at. She excelled. She dedicated her life to her village. That much she could do. Konoha was there for her. Konoha welcomed her with open arms. She had a place and a home here. She had respect. It would have to be enough. She was held in esteem. She was an Elder of Konoha. A position that was for life. She worked hard for it. It was all she had.

Women like Sakura, beautiful women, and intelligent women had everything. She had everything. She had her youth and thanks to Tsunade's jutsu she could maintain its appearance for another 50 years if she wanted to. She had a husband who loved her so much that he repeatedly dropped everything for her without her even having to ask. She had a plethora of friends both male and female. She had respect. She was the head medic. She had skill and talent. She had a type of chakra release no one else did. She was picked by the Gods, for Kami's sake. She had everything. She had everything so why was she coming after the only thing Koharu had? Why was she trying to take Konoha from her?

She lowered the comb on the counter with a soft click. She did not react when she saw a floating white mask with purple markings. She turned around slowly.

"Explain yourself, ANBU." She said in a cold voice. She wanted to know how the ANBU summoned the audacity to walk into her home.

The ANBU's arm flicked out from her dark cloak. There was a loud thud and the sound of something rolling. It rolled all the way to her feet. She looked down at her own face staring back at her with cold, dead eyes. She narrowed her eyes and her nostrils flared.

"How dare you?" She asked in outrage.

"Funny. I was going to ask you the same thing." The ANBU, Spider judging from the markings of her mask, walked to her.

She towered over Koharu. She was at least a head taller. Koharu glared at her shoulder. She refused to tilt her head back to see her. She said nothing. She pressed her lips together until they were a bloodless line.

"Are you not going to deny it?" Spider asked her lightly.

"Would it matter?" Koharu shot back at her in a frigid tone. "Are you here to arrest me?" She was disappointed. Only one ANBU. She was an Elder in name only. She was still spry. She could kill her.

"No," Spider said in her velvety voice.

Koharu narrowed her eyes. She spared Spider a suspicious look. "Why not?" She paused. Her eyes widened a fraction as the realization dawned on her. "You're the ANBU behind the attack. The one that tried to kill the Hokage," she stated surely.

Spider did not so much as flinch. Her frame remained confident and menacing. "Are you not going to deny it?" Koharu asked through barely moving lips.

Spider shrugged. "Maybe we can be of use to each other."

Koharu frowned. "What use could I possibly have for a traitor? What do you hope to gain by killing the Hokage?"

Spider sighed. "The plan has changed. I have no reason to kill the Hokage. You will not go near Sakura." She all but ordered.

"What's to stop me from reporting you?" Koharu asked her with a snort.

"Mutually assured destruction. You come after me, I expose you." She said with a hint of condescension. Spider sat down at the edge of the dark clawfoot tub with gold legs.

Koharu felt anger coursing through her. She was being blackmailed in her own home.

"They will never believe you."

"Maybe," Spider said conversationally. "But I have a feeling the Hokage will. Let's just say I have his ear." She folded her hands over her crossed legs.

Koharu narrowed her eyes until they were nearly closed.

"I will not betray my home." She said adamantly.

"I couldn't care less what happens to Konoha. The Hokage and his wife are off-limits. The boy too. Stay out of my way and I will stay out of yours. These are my terms." Spider regarded the woman. She looked so far from admirable in her dark robe, in her dark bathroom in her dark home.

Koharu paused. She stared at the ANBU. She really detested the fact that she could not see the woman's face. She looked down at her foot. The decapitated head wearing her face stared lifelessly back at her. There was blood on her tiles. It would take forever to get out of the grout.

"Fine." She said tightly. "But the head stays."

"Consider it a gift," Spider says graciously. "Whether or not there will be a matching set is up to you."

"There won't be. You don't have to worry about me." Koharu said. She should have saved her breath. The ANBU was gone.


She spiked her chakra. Three heads looked up at her as she hung from the ceiling. She could see the alarm in Minato's eyes. Its presence angered her. It was not for her. She knew that. His eyes darted to Naruto.

"Naruto," Shikaku called out. The blond looked up from the tower he was building with his blocks. "Do you want to go to the park?" The Nara asked him in a level voice.

"Can I, Dada?" He looked at his father with excitement in his eyes.

"Yeah, go have fun!" Minato matched his enthusiasm. He waited for the two to be on the other side of the door before looking up at her again. "What are you doing here? Why did you leave Sakura?"

Wolf had come to stand next to him. She jumped to the ground. She landed with a ruffle of fabric. They both stared at her expectantly. She could see the barely contained panic in their frames.

"The threat has been neutralized." She said evenly. Neither of them relaxed. "She is safe." She said the magic words.

"Tell me everything." He said the words so quickly that there was hardly any pause between them.

"It was the Man With a Thousand Faces. A known bounty hunter. He learned that Haruno-san was in a vulnerable position so he decided it was the best time to try to collect the sizable reward for the price of her head." Spider said impassively as if she were reading the ingredients on the back of a cereal box. It was how she gave all her mission reports.

"How?" Minato furrowed his brow. Sakura had not left the village in years and he knew that no one would dare breathe a word of it to anyone. It was not adding up.

"I don't know, Hokage-sama," she said. She let a little bit of disappointment bleed into her voice. "I'm sorry to let you down."

"Why did he go through all the trouble of making the first two attempts look like accidents if he wanted to collect a bounty?" Wolf asked with clear disbelief in his voice.

Spider schooled her face behind the mask. "I don't know." She repeated.

"Did you not think to ask, Spider?" Wolf asked her with clear frustration in his words. "Your training prepared for such situations. Why did you not fall back on it?"

"I had to kill him as fast as I could, It was in a public place." She kept her tone neutral. She could not afford to be defensive.

"Where is the body?" Wolf asked.

"Disposed of. I burned it." She answered without hesitation.

Minato rubbed his face. "Spider, it could have given us invaluable information. It should have been delivered to the coroner." He could not help but think how that damn Bingo Book was still haunting him after all these years.

"Right. I am sorry for failing you, Hokage-sama." She bowed her head.

"Does Sakura know?" Minato asked her.

"No, Haruno-san is unaware." She struggled to keep her tone level. The name left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth every time she said it.

"I'll go tell sensei." Wolf offered. Minato nodded. Wolf disappeared. It was just the two of them now.

"Thank you for saving her life, Spider. Things can finally go back to the way they were." He looked relieved like a massive load was taken off his shoulders.

"Anything for you, Hokage-sama," she said. She hesitated. "Can I come back now?" She said in a small voice.

He smiled. "Yes."

She walked behind his desk. She took her rightful spot to his left.


"Sensei," Wolf said with more force.

Sakura blinked.

"You spaced out on me," Wolf said in a measured tone.

"Sorry about that. I'm such an airhead these days." Sakura smiled sheepishly.

"You're safe again. You don't have to worry." He said gently. She could visualize the expression he was wearing on his face behind the mask.

"Thank you, Wolf." She closed her eyes and smiled. He did not know the half of it. She was not safe, none of them were. They had a traitor in their house. Minato was the least safe of them all. Spider had her sights on him.

Sakura looked at the white mask with navy markings. "Is Spider back in the tower?"

Wolf nodded. "She's resuming her post there." He watched Sakura's face closely. It was closed off.

"Thank her for me, will you?" She asked Wolf. "She left rather abruptly."

Wolf nodded. "Should I bring Naruto over?" He asked.

Sakura smiled. "I would love that, thank you."

He nodded his head. He disappeared into thin air.

Sakura sighed. She put her face in her hands. She did not put it past Spider to have hired the bounty hunter herself. Sakura did not have any memorable kills after Madara and even that was never reported. There was no reason for her to be a worthwhile target in the Bingo Book. She was yesterday's news.

Spider was lying. The only reason she could think was that either she was covering for someone who wanted her dead or she hired him directly. She had no proof of the first. She could only assume the second. If she were dead there would be nothing standing in her path to Minato. Sakura for the life of her could not figure out if Spider wanted him dead or if she wanted him for herself. She supposed it did not matter. She would not get him. The only way Spider could was if Sakura were dead. And she had no plans of dying just yet.


She smiled. She could not keep from smiling. It was a little obnoxious but it had been a long time coming. She wanted to scream until her lungs were out of breath and her throat was out of sound. She wanted to squeal but somehow she managed to keep it inside. She did curl her toes though. It was as good a compromise as she could think of.

She sighed in contentment. She gathered the nerve to sit up. She put on her discarded undergarments that she had been thrown about without a care. Thankfully she did not have to go far.

"I feel cheap when you do that." His unamused voice cut through the still.

Kushina did not turn around as she finished pulling up her pants. "Why? I'm the one that has to leave."

"At least let me make you something before you go." He watched as she pulled on her shirt.

"I've already had my snack." She winked at him before she tossed her hair to the side and ran her fingers through it. "We got the groceries in the fridge this time."

"It's progress." He rubbed his eyes. "Mako deserves a raise."

Kushina frowned. "Not all of us can afford to be cavalier with our money. You don't give her any ideas, Mr. Money Bags."

"Money Bags?" He raised a brow.

She sat on the foot of the bed. "Yeah, you have a business now."

"You found out about that?" He scratched his cheek.

"Konoha is lousy with gossip. Half the village knew by the end of the first day. It just took a while to get to me because I was busy with the girls." She sighed. "I feel bad."

"About?" He asked. It was next to impossible to keep up with how much her brain bounced around.

"Tukiko. I told her that she would never see you again if that was what she wanted. I feel like I'm lying to her." Kushina looked at him sadly. "But I don't want to stop seeing you either. I don't know what to do."

"Did she tell you that she didn't want to see me again?" Joben asked her with full seriousness.

"Well," Kushina darted her eyes as she thought. "She didn't not say that either. She didn't say anything."

"So you're worrying about nothing?" He asked her with a grin.

"Ugh," she huffed. "You're kind of the worst, ya know?" She grumbled.

"Come over here and say that to my face." The large smile on his face completely undermined his gruff tone.

"I'm not falling for that again." She did not have the time. She got up. "I should go." She looked at the door. "I'll see you on my next errand day." She padded out of the room.

He flopped onto his back, he cradled the back of his head in his hands.

"Your shirt is inside out." He called out. He chuckled as he heard her mutter darkly from the kitchen.


Flashback

Wolf walked to the compound. He supposed he could have been more subtle but he was the Hokage's ANBU of choice and he was meeting the Hokage's advisor so it all passed the sniff test. It was hot outside, disgustingly so. It was early evening but the sun did not go down until seven. It was a hot August, the hottest they have had in a while. He was sweating profusely. His uniform clung to him. The sun baked the exposed skin of his arms. He had the most unflattering tan. His arm guards did not do him any favors. Maybe that was why Spider wore her cloak religiously regardless of the temperature.

Wolf pushed through the heat. He could see his destination. The porch light was on. It was their signal. He walked to the left side of the house. He ignored the giant oak and its shade as well as the grassy mounds. He kept walking.

The smell was the first thing to hit his nose. It was terrible. The deer excrement spent all day baking in the residual heat of the sun. It was foul. He saw the tip of Shikaku's hair. The Nara sensed him. He stood up at full height.

"Thanks for coming all the way out here." Shikaku seemed unbothered. He was probably nose blind to the odor.

Wolf nodded. He was breathing exclusively through his mouth. "I did not find anything that would tie the four ANBU to the seal." He did not hide his disappointment. "Where does this leave us?"

Shikaku tugged at his beard. "We knew it would be a stretch. Still, it is concerning that we came out empty-handed again." He sighed.

"Why did you ask me here?" Wolf cut to the chase. He did not want to be here a second more than strictly necessary.

"I needed to tell you that you need to keep what you learned to yourself." Shikaku looked him dead in the eyes.

Wolf furrowed his brow behind the mask. "You want me to keep this from Hokage-sama?" He was not comfortable with that at all. It was one thing when Sakura asked. He paused, it was Shikaku the man who rarely did anything just for the sake of it. His sensei trusts him. There was a good reason for that.

"Tell him that you've narrowed down the suspect list to two. Pick any names I don't care. Tell him you need more time." Shikaku cupped his elbows with his palms. "Tell him it's too soon to act on it. That you want to be sure."

Wolf waited for him to give him something, anything to work with.

"Do not tell anyone about the antidote. Not any of the other ANBU. Do you understand me?" Shikaku looked him dead in the eye.

"There's an antidote?" Wolf asked, taken aback. "That's great. We can start giving it to everyone."

Shikaku shook his head. "Tsunade-sama and Sakura are worried the ANBU will change their formula if they find out. We can't afford to keep playing catch up. We're constantly reacting. That is all we've been doing. Having an antidote is the only upper hand we have right now. Do not breathe a word of this to anyone." Shikaku looked at him seriously.

Wolf nodded. "Who knows so far?"

"You, me, Tsunade-sama, Sakura, Inoichi." Shikaku tugged at his goatee. "Minato knows Sakura was working on one. I don't think she told him she figured it out yet."

Wolf furrowed his brow. He did not understand all this secrecy. "You think the ANBU has placed a seal on Hokage-sama?" He asked the unspoken assumption.

"I don't know. We would be foolish to not operate under that assumption." He sighed. "This also stays between you and me."

Wolf nodded. "You have a suspect in mind."

"I have a theory. One I need to test." Shikaku corrected.

"By lying to Hokage-sama," Wolf connected the dots.

"By keeping the suspect in mind in the dark." The Nara said flatly. "Can you do that?"

"Do you think I've been marked?" Wolf asked in response.

Shikaku tugged at his silver hoop. "I don't know what to think anymore."

Wolf looked at his rigid frame. He was under a lot of stress. They all were. He was running on fumes.

"Yes." Shikaku looked at him confused. "I can do it."

Shikaku nodded.

End of Flashback


She flipped through her notes. Everything she knew was not enough. Even the vast resources contained in her grandparents' house were coming up woefully short. She took a sip of her beverage in her hand. The hot tea soothed her headache even if it was making her sweat from the inside out.

She pressed a curled finger against the space between her eye and her nose. She turned her head in time to see him turn the door knob.

"You should really lock your door, Hime. Anyone can just walk right in." He said with a large grin on his face.

"I'd like to see anyone dumb enough to try." She scoffed. She had a strong sensation of deja vu. She folded her legs under her to make room for his.

"I heard they caught the man." He plopped down on the couch. She lifted her arm holding the tea so that the vibrations would not cause it to spill. He draped his arms on the back of the couch. He sighed dramatically.

"Just some bounty hunter. The Third really screwed up by attributing Orochimaru's death to Sakura." She offered her opinion with ample bitterness. "Senile old man," she added for good measure.

"All's well that ends well." He rubbed his tired face. "Maybe now Minato and Sakura will get their shit sorted."

Tsunade raised a blond brow. "So we're talking about them now?"

He shrugged. "This isn't a date so I don't see why not."

She rolled her eyes. "I'd rather not." She was up to her elbows in their weirdness at work. She did not need to bring it home with her. Talking about it would make it real. She was not ready to accept that just yet.

"What have you been up to? You've been oddly quiet." She looked at him suspiciously.

"Would you believe me if I told you I took knitting up as a new hobby?" He stared at her shamelessly.

"No," she said flatly.

"I was working on my new book. I kind of got lost in it. It's good. You should read it. I'll dedicate it to you." He tilted his head back. He stared at the ceiling. The old houses had such beautiful details and craftsmanship. The checkered wooden paneling was exquisite.

"No thank you. I have better things to do than read smut." She said half-heartedly. Her attention was back to the scroll she had been reading.

Jiraiya frowned. "You don't even know what it is about. It's romance, Tsunade."

She snorted. "Now I definitely won't read it. What do you know about romance anyway?" Her amber eyes implored him.

Jiraiya set his jaw. "I know that I love you." He said unapologetically.

She sighed. "Jiraiya, we've talked about this." She set her tea down on a coaster. "Do you want something to drink?"

"Do you have anything stronger?" He asked her apathetically.

"I need to stay focused. I have a lot of research to do." She looked at the scrolls.

"Doesn't impact my ability to drink." He grumbled.

Tsunade took in his dejected form. She felt a pang of sympathy. She got up. She walked over to the kitchen. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a bottle along with two glasses. She walked back to the couch.

"Just one for me."

He watched as she poured them both a drink. They held them up and kicked them back. He refilled his cup.

"I'll eventually learn not to keep leaving my heart out for you to play around with." He said darkly.

Tsunade rolled her eyes. "All this because I said I won't read your book? Fine, I'll read it. Drop it off any time."

He glared at her. "You know that's not it." He opened the bag that was sitting at his feet. He pulled out a stack of papers so high that it probably took no less than a forest to achieve.

Tsunade eyed it, apprehensively. "Damn, how much did you write?"

"I poured my heart out. I wrote two books." He held out the exact number of fingers. "I had a lot of feelings." He took another swing.

She made a contemplative face. "You really shouldn't sit still in one place too long. Did you sleep at all?"

"What are you reading?" Jiraiya pointed to the pile of scrolls expertly sidestepping the question and the judgment the answer would surely bring. "Don't you know everything there is to know about the human body already?"

She grabbed his lips. She pinched them closed.

"Don't," she warned. "I'll only let go if you promise not to say something stupid. Alright?"

Jiraiya nodded. She let go. He was only going to suggest they collaborate on a book together but now he did not feel like it anymore.

"I may know everything there is to know about medicine," she corrected him. "I don't know all that much about seals. My grandmother was an expert so I figured maybe she had some scrolls lying around that could help me bridge the gap."

Jiraiya took a slip of his drink. It made sense to him. "You're trying to find a way to detect a seal without activating it."

She nodded. She frowned as he poured another glass. "You should pace yourself. You can't sleep here. I don't care how drunk you are. You used up your one and only exception the last time."

Jiraiya waved her off. He downed the glass. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. She tapped his forehead. It was missing his forehead protector.

"Take it easy, you big lug." She said gently.

"Like how you took it easy with my heart?" He asked her.

She sighed deeply. "You've got to cut me some slack, Jiraiya. There is so much going on right now."

He spared her an unamused look.

"There will always be so much going on. We live crazy lives in a crazy world. You're scared. Admit it." The alcohol was making him bold. It reduced his filter, it made everything more permissible.

She pinched her lips together. Her eyes narrowed slightly but she said nothing. He was right. She was scared. If she let him in that way and something happened to him, she would shatter into a million tiny pieces. She would never be whole again. It was not worth the risk to either of them.

He must have seen something he was not expecting on her face. His eyes lowered back to the scrolls. He pointed to one.

"Any luck?"

She followed his gaze. "I've narrowed it down to three possible types of seal bases that they could have used. They all have different ways to go about detecting them without setting them off." She sighed.

Jiraiya gave her a long, measured look. "Show me."

She furrowed her brow. "I don't think that's a good idea. You're in no condition to be utilizing jutsus that require stricter control."

He set his cup down on the table with a clicking sound. He did not use a coaster but Tsunade did nothing more than frown slightly.

"I'm not that drunk." He pulled the scroll. "This one here?" He pointed to the intricate seal.

She rubbed her lilac rhombus seal. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Jiraiya concentrated. He read the signs and mimicked them. He rolled up the sleeve of his left arm. He pressed the palm of his right hand on his forearm. Tsunade watched closely.

There was a popping sound. Jiraiya pulled back his hand. His forearm promptly caught on fire. Tsunade grabbed the throw blanket that was pooled at her feet and smothered the flame.

"That wasn't supposed to happen." Jiraiya finally said, torn between surprise and disappointment.

Tsunade glared at him. "It would be great if you didn't burn down my house." She waved the smoke that had settled between them. She took his burnt arm in both her hands. She assessed the damage. "You're as lucky as you are stupid. It won't scar." She began to pump chakra into the wound.

He frowned. "You were right." He looked at her teacup. "You got any more?" He asked her as he met her in the eyes.

She looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

He gave her a grave look. "I need to sober up fast if I'm going to be of any help to you."

She rolled her eyes. "Who asked you for your help?" She feigned the agitation in her voice.

Jiraiya grinned. "That's the thing, Hime. You never have to ask." He reached across her. Tsunade froze. She could not believe he would try something so bold and reckless. She could feel his breath on her face. She could smell the sake. Their lips would be touching if he moved his head a little to the left.

Heat poured into her cheeks. His eyes paralyzed her. She could not move. Her breath hitched. He was so close. Her heart was pounding so hard that there was no way he did not feel the vibration of each beat given how there was no space left between them. She could feel the blood rushing through her veins. She was tired of fighting it. She closed her eyes. It was her way of giving him the green light.

She waited. She felt his presence shift, the pressure against her chest was gone. She opened her eyes. He had moved back to his spot. He held up her teacup and showed it to her. Realization hit her. He had reached over to grab it from the table. Nothing more and nothing less. Her face turned even redder this time for a different reason. She realized that she was still holding onto his arm. She let go.

"I'm going to get some more tea." She said all in one breath. She got up. She turned around. She could not deal with looking him in the eyes right now. She walked the seventeen or so steps to the kitchen. She filled the kettle with water. She set it on the burner. She stared at the flame. The hotter the pot got the cooler her face became.

She could feel his eyes. She could practically imagine the smug look on his face. He had done it on purpose. She knew that. He had misled her. He was teasing her. Just as she had been all these years. This time was different for her. She had been receptive. Willing to cross that line that she had gotten so good at toeing over the years. She always knew where it was.

But today, at that moment, she was disoriented. She did not even remember that there was a line. She pulled out a matching ceramic cup and held it in her hand. She had wanted it. She had wanted him to touch her, to hold her. The first man since Dan. Dan had not even crossed her mind until now. He had not been on the forefront of her mind for a while now. His loss, the pain of it was always there. But it had dulled into something she could live with. She missed him dearly and she would give anything to have him be alive. That would never change. Yet, she was ready to let go. At that moment she wanted to be among the living.

'Kissing is gross'.

She heard Naruto's voice in her head, reminding her of her stance. Only, she found herself wanting her pervy, knucklehead of a teammate to kiss her.

The kettle hissed. It broke her out of her thoughts. She turned off the gas. She grabbed the canister of tea bags and walked to the table. She fixed herself a cup. She moved the tea bag containing black tea up and down. The water grew darker with each flick of her wrist.

She froze when she felt his hand on her elbow. Something about the act gave her the courage she needed. She slowly turned to look at his face. She did not see the smug mask that she was expecting. Instead, she saw sober promise.

"Not like this," He said. "I want the first time to be when I'm all here." He said gently. He punched the air completely out of her lungs. She looked at him breathlessly.

They sat there unmoving. Her tea bag was poised in the air, the water dripped from the corners into the cup below. A slow smirk pulled at her lips.

"Cocky. Who says you're ever going to get another chance?"

He grinned. "Trust me. There will be. And I won't let you off so easily."

She licked her lips. She dipped the teabag back in the hot water. "Drink up," she ordered. "We have a lot of work to do."

"Yes, ma'am." He downed the tea. He refilled the cup with hot water and tore open the paper wrapper of a tea bag. "So three huh?" He asked with absolute seriousness.

Tsunade nodded. "Three," she handed him a scroll with the second type of base seal. "You seal and I detect?" She asked him.

Jiraiya nodded. "As good a plan as any." He rubbed his eyes, willing them to focus. He was getting more and more clarity with each passing second. He looked at the grim lines of her face. "Have I ever told you that I'm glad you stuck around?"

She smirked. "No. But the same goes for you." She looked at him. "I don't think the village could do without either of us at the moment."

"Me too." He nodded. He knew what she was trying to say. He read underneath the underneath.