Chapter 10: The Weapons Depot

Noon, 4 March 53; Training Field 5

A cool breeze blew through the trees when Katya and Shisui stepped onto the field. This training field was unfamiliar to them. Normally, they stuck to training ground three when they were allowed to train with Team Minato.

It had only been on special occasions that Kagami Uchiha deigned to leave his manicured backyard to train the children. He had always said that they were far too inexperienced to bother leaving his house. Of course, that had always goaded Shisui into trying harder. The obstacles along the garden path made practice with his tanto-sized bokken tricky. Avoiding the painstakingly cared for flowers was always a pain in his butt, but Shisui could confidently say that he had excellent footwork to fall back on. A thousand of Minato's 'standard punishments' could not stack up to the look on Kagami's face if just one of the flowers were crushed.

Kushina, on the other hand, had opened the Senju dojo when she trained Katya. It was secluded from the rest of the village and situated in the forest itself. Seals that had been placed by Mito Uzumaki to protect her husband, Hashirama's privacy, were still working almost one hundred years later. All she had to do was charge them with her chakra.

It seemed sad in a way, that Katya could not charge the seals. They relied on Uzumaki chakra, and Katya was only one-eighth Uzumaki. Eventually, Kushina supposed she would have to rewrite the seals. That would take at least four months to figure out though, and time was far too valuable when they were fighting a war. All she had been doing for the last few years-charging this seal, rewriting that one, chastising a dumb chuunin every now and then for burning them up with too much chakra-it was exhausting. War was exhausting.

Katya's grip on Shisui's hand tightened as they drew closer to their new team. The woman looked fiercer than Katya remembered her being. Her hair was wild and dark brown, and burgundy eyeshadow covered the tops of her feral eyes. The last time that Katya had seen her, she had looked softer-maternal. This was a completely different woman.

This was a jounin-sensei, and she was terrifying.

The boy standing next to her was around Kakashi's age. He was about eight inches taller than Shisui with short brown hair, shaved completely on the right side of his head. Katya hadn't realized she was ogling his deep purple eyes until Shisui nudged her ribs. They reminded her of the hyacinths that grew in late winter, right as the snows melted.

"Katya…" Shisui grunted as he pulled her hand down with him, forcing her to bow along with him. She shook her head to get her mind straight. "We're very sorry to have heard of your recent loss. We know that in no way will we ever compare to what you have lost, but we hope you will accept us as your new teammates."

"What the hell?" their new teammate said.

"Up to your usual tricks, Kuromaru?" Tsume asked, amused.

"I merely implied that they did not get up after having fallen," the dog chuffed in response.

"Uh… so your former teammates aren't… you know?" Shisui asked quietly, afraid to upset any possible lingering spirits. Katya could feel her foot absentmindedly tapping on the ground behind her, and she stilled it.

"No! Those losers got promoted to chuunin. I got left behind because I'm the best, of course." Tsume's fist came down on the boy's head.

"He didn't get promoted because he still has a lot to learn about the chain of command," she corrected. "One thing you pups will learn about me is that I do not tolerate disobedience. If I tell you to do something, I expect it done that instant or you will face the consequences. If I tell you to run, you run. If I tell you to hide, you hide. You do not under any circumstances decide to flout my orders and face down a platoon of Iwa-nin alone." The boy next to her turned red. He crossed his arms over his chest and looked towards the treeline.

"Now then. Introductions. I am Tsume Inuzuka. I will be your jounin sensei. How does this go again?" she addressed the dog.

"I am Kuromaru. You may address me as nin-ken-sama or Kuromaru-sensei. I am your sensei's partner. I like pig's ears, swimming in the lake, and long naps in the sun. I do not like miscreants, baby vomit, or nettle bushes," he supplied.

"Ah, thank you. I am Tsume Inuzuka, jounin sensei," she started again. "I like steak, baths and, roses. I do not like vegetables, laundry, or the dark. I have a two, almost three-year-old daughter named Hana. There will be many times where Kuromaru may lead you on D-rank and possibly low C-rank missions because of family obligations." The children's eyebrows quirked at 'roses,' but they otherwise said nothing. The nin-ken nodded in agreement and pointed a paw towards the older boy.

"Hi! I am Isamu Tanaka! Someday, I'd like to be a kenjutsu master and serve on the Hokage's guard. I like Three-Wolves whetstones from the Land of Iron."

"Those are great whetstones…" Shisui whispered to Katya. She agreed. Neither her father nor Kagami Uchiha would buy anything else, no matter the cost. The boy smirked at the two younger genin before continuing.

"Volcanic steel and strawberries. I dislike iron kunai because they always rust and break, ramen, and that rat bastard Ibiki Morino."

"Isamu," Tsume warned.

"Fine. He's not a rat. Just a bastard." A fist came down on top of his head. He rubbed the lump and added under his breath, "Worth it."

"Alright. You, boy. Your turn," Kuromaru nodded towards Shisui.

"I'm Shisui Uchiha. I'm very honored to be a part of this team," he bowed politely towards his new teammates, and Katya smothered a giggle that threatened to escape. "My goal is to protect Konoha from the shadows. I like early morning runs with my cousin Obito, sweets, and Katya but not in that way."

Isamu sniggered and made a kissing sound before another fist landed on his head. "Ow! Sensei, you're going to give me brain damage!"

"You forgot the huge crush you have on tou-chan!" Katya teased.

"I don't have a crush on the Yellow FLASH, Katya-chan! I just think he has the coolest jutsu! And he's so fast! He promised he'd show me how he did it if I ever made chuunin, I'll have you know!"

"It's because you're his biggest fanboy..." Katya was bent over from laughing.

"Woah? Wha? The Yellow Flash is your…" Isamu was cut off.

"On task, if you please," Kuromaru gruffed.

Shisui sighed, "I also don't like ramen, eating breakfast at home, or snakes."

"Snakes? I didn't know that."

Shisui shrugged his shoulders. "Just something about them throws me off. And they eat crows."

"Ah. That would make sense. Oh. My turn. Hi, my name is Katya Senju. I'd like to work in R&D with my uncle someday. But probably different kinds of experiments… I like flowers, my dad's chocolate cake, and Shisui. I don't like ramen (but I'll eat it because it makes my kaa-chan happy), sharpening kunai, or being cold."

"Ne, sensei. I don't think these two can be my new teammates," Isamu said quietly.

"Why not? I know we're young. But we've trained and studied hard to be here," Shisui defended.

"It's not you, personally. It's that you're both clan kids. You both come from famous lines as well. That puts a larger target on the team as a whole. You're both valuable as hostages… I'm from the orphanage and worked my tail off for this spot...but that means nothing to the enemy."

"You're worried that you're expendable?" Katya asked, matching his tone.

"Yeah. Yeah, I am."

"No one in this village is expendable, pup," Tsume groused. "You're all equal in rank. I'm not making special exceptions for anyone. You will all train hard and work hard. If you do that, then you will be able to avoid or deal with problems as they arrive. We're a tracking and defense unit. It is highly unlikely we'll ever be sent to the front. There's a reason for that. That one's paperwork said she's a highly skilled sensor, and that one has the sharingan. You are a budding traps master in the making and you have solid kenjutsu skills. Don't worry so much. Everything is going to be fine."

"Right. We have a mission. I'm glad you like sharpening kunai, Katya-chan," Kuromaru said. Katya could feel the barely healed calluses on her hands ache in anticipation. She swore that the nin-ken was smirking at her. "A previous genin team collected old kunai and shuriken from a battle that happened a few days ago. It's a common mission for more advanced teams. Isamu has been on a few."

"They're… gruesome. You become used to the smell though," he added, wrinkling his nose.

"...the smell?" Katya asked.

"Yeah. The bodies stay out in the sun, and you have to collect the metal so it's not wasted."

"That's terrible…"

"We're at war, silly girl. What'd you think that meant?" Tsume asked, placing a hand on the girl's shoulder. "My advice as your mentor? Find something that makes you happy. Something far removed from the horrors of the battlefield and hold that in your mind. You'll be better off for it."

The team walked solemnly towards the weapons depot. This was a necessary task. Konoha didn't have the funds, iron, or available weaponsmiths to constantly produce expendable shuriken and kunai. Only the worst of the weaponry would be recycled and forged into something new.

3 p.m., 4 March 53; Konoha Weapons Depot

The latex gloves Katya wore beneath thick leather covers grew slick with sweat as weapon after weapon was sorted. The three chatted quietly despite the grim work. Shisui and Katya were happy to find out that Isamu also read 'The Innocence of a Bijuu' manga like they did. They bemoaned the increased pricing of the popular story. Isamu said that he had to wait two months for the library to get ahold of it. Katya gave Shisui a nod. He pulled out the latest edition and handed it over to their new teammate.

"Just be careful with it. My kaa-chan makes me run laps if my books get messed up. Have you ever run laps with a crazy woman? It's not about the speed to her. It's about the endurance… She makes me wear seals! WEIGHTED seals."

Shisui laughed. "Yeah, Kushina-san is on the crazy side of normal."

"You're lucky to have someone who cares so much about your training, Katya-chan," Isamu said, returning back to sorting.

"Yeah. I know…"

Isamu sighed, "Go ahead and ask. I know you're dying to know."

Kuromaru lifted his head slightly from the sunny window he was napping under. Tsume had long since left to care for Hana.

"How did you avoid the genin corps?"

"Avoid it? I worked my tail off. I studied for six hours a night reading about how to perfect my aim and my jutsu. I practiced hour after hour by myself until a police officer had to escort me home because I was late for curfew. I didn't have anyone to ever tell me what I was doing wrong outside of class. No mentor, no tutor, just the books. I kind of lucked out by graduating with a class that only had a few clan kids. If I had graduated the year before me, there wouldn't have been any chance. Not with the amount of clan heirs and heiresses."

"That would have been Obito and Rin's class?" Shisui asked.

"Yeah, those two were there. Obito always caused a commotion running late through the halls. He still graduated a year early, he and Rin both. Not like the command has much choice, nowadays. You two probably know all about that. What are you guys? Five? Six?"

"Six. Tou-chan was opposed… As was Kagami-sama… but… well…" Katya looked down and became quiet.

"The council tipped in favor of lowering the graduation age and simultaneously moving us up when my grandfather was murdered," Shisui said monotonously. "My grandfather had been the tie."

"Who else was against it?"

"Shikaku-san. He said that as jounin commander, he couldn't in good conscience send unprepared genin along with his jounin. Although, I think tou-chan's vote swayed his."

"Hmm. Well. I don't know what to say to that."

"We really did study hard to be here. It wasn't just given to us," Katya quickly tried to reassure her teammate.

"I believe you met the current standards."

The way that he said it brushed slightly on Shisui's nerves. He and Katya would have met the standards for graduation even ten years ago. He had checked!

They moved the boxes of weapons and set themselves up at a workbench. They divvied it out amongst themselves between shuriken, Konoha-standard kunai, and miscellaneous weaponry. Isamu was gracious enough to take the shuriken after finding out that Shisui and Katya had very little experience with sharpening them. Shisui quickly set down the heavy box of miscellaneous weapons next to Katya with a smirk before taking the two boxes of kunai for himself. To the inexperienced eye, it would seem he had given her the better half of the deal. After years of Minato's 'standard punishment,' though, they both knew that the miscellaneous box would take five times as long as the two boxes of kunai.

"I really dislike you sometimes…" she groused.

Shisui winked at her. "Nah, you like me fine." His smirk turned into a cheshire grin when Katya's ears turned bright pink and the blush spread into her cheeks. He held in any further comments. Afterall, he didn't want to embarrass his friend until he knew that Isamu could be trusted.

An hour had passed, and Katya was halfway through the box when she found one of Minato's special kunai. She held it in front of her and stared. All three points were covered in dried blood. The handle had bits of mud and grass stuck to it.

"Why'd you stop?" Isamu asked as he set down a shuriken.

"I… I never thought of them this way."

"What way?"

"Tou-chan's kunai… I mean. I knew what they were but…"

"Knowing is different than understanding," Shisui ended. "He used his kunai on that day though. Surely you made the connection then. That Iwa-nin didn't live for more than a second after he came for us."

"I was so overwhelmed with having tou-chan rescue us that I didn't notice. And the drugs that they gave me made things fuzzy."

"This is what it means to be a kunoichi, pup. You take lives to save the ones that matter to you," Kuromaru said from his window. He got up and moved to a new position and continued sunning himself.

"Wait a second. You guys have already been kidnapped?"

"Yeah, it was a few months ago."

"Oh gods. I knew it. I'm going to die young because of you two."

Katya set to work guiltily. She felt bad bringing up the last few months twice in one day. Shisui didn't need to be reminded of it anymore than she did. It took five hours for the trio to finish. The sun had long left the room, and Kuromaru had started to get antsy about leaving the depot.

"Ne, Kuromaru-sensei, can I take tou-chan's kunai home with me?"

The nin-ken shrugged his shoulders. "I don't see why not. Specialty weaponry like that is left in the jounin's weapon room for pick up anyway. Might as well take it straight to the owner."

Katya nodded and neatly slipped ten kunai into her own weapons pouch. Ten were brought back, which meant her father had taken at least ten lives in one battle, if not more. How does one go from baking chocolate cakes every Saturday to taking lives in cold blood?

'Because that's how he copes,' a small male voice said in the back of her mind. 'He doesn't do it in cold blood. He feels every death. He's a sensor too, and he can feel the moment when someone's chakra stopped moving.' Katya's footsteps faltered on the path. She seldom could hear 'papa's' voice when she was awake.

Minato did what he had to to protect the will of fire. To protect the villagers, his team, and his family. Could she do the same? Could she do what her father did? Did she even have a choice? Even if she became fast enough to avoid her enemies, to dance around them, she would still have to kill them in order to prevent them from hurting her loved ones. This was proof. Even Minato had to kill.

A soft head butted her hand. "Keep moving, pup. We're too far away from the village center to stall."

"Right. Sorry, sensei."

2 p.m., 5 March 53; Konoha Market

Katya walked through the Konoha market with a bag around her inner elbow. The smell of ramen wafted through the air intermixed with fresh bread. The flower shop was still closed due to the war, she saw as she passed. An older lady jostled her in the crowd, and Katya quickly had to pull in her chakra to avoid feeling so many signatures in one place. 'Just the ones that matter...just the brightest ones…' she chanted until all of the civilian signatures vanished in her mind's eye.

Obito's familiar hickory chakra was nearby. Abandoning her search for the perfect eggplant, Katya went off to find him. Recently, he had made chuunin and she had a present for him. That, and he'd be able to answer the questions that she had. When she found him, he was looking through a set of bushes in Konoha park.

"What're you spying on?" she whispered over his shoulder. He jolted and fell through the bush with a loud crash.

"Agh! Kit-Kat! Don't out me like that!"

Katya covered her mouth as a giggle slipped through. "You shouldn't be spying on Rin, like that, Obito-nii."

"I can't help it. I love her."

"You're twelve," Katya replied skeptically.

"And yet, here we are. Anyway, what can I do for you?" he replied, eager to change the subject.

"I forgot to congratulate you on making chuunin!" Katya reached into her pocket and pulled out a small book, 'Advanced Chakra Theory.' "Nii-chan studied it to make jounin. I thought it would be useful to you too."

Obito blinked owlishly at her. "You stole this from Kakashi for me?" His smile sharpened before he started howling with laughter. "Well, damn, Katya-chan. I'd love to take Kakashi's pilfered book off your hands."

"I didn't steal it!" Katya waved her hands frantically. "I bought it at the store! Look! Your name is on the cover! I had it embossed and everything!"

"You… you had it made special?" He didn't believe her. Only his grandma and Rin had ever given him something just for him.

"Of course I did! You're important to me. You're important to Shisui, too. He has the matching volume. Although, I don't know if he'll remember to give it to you. You might have to track him down later."

Obito's eyes watered, and he roughly grabbed her into a hug. "Thank you, Kit-Kat. I love it." He lifted his goggles and wiped his eyes.

"You're welcome." She smiled when Obito released her, and she slipped her hand through the crook of his elbow. They walked through the park and listened to the babble of the distant market.

"Ne, Obito-nii, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Sure. Whatcha got?"

"I… found a brace of tou-chan's kunai when we were working at the weapon's depot yesterday. I brought them home to the weapons closet. But I guess… I'm not sure how to put it into words… or what to ask."

"Hmm. So you're trying to reconcile the dad you know with the person who used a brace of kunai on an enemy?"

"Yeah."

"Let's sit down. I have a story for you." The pair sat on a nearby bench and watched as a group of civilian children played in the park. "A couple years ago when I became a genin, they weren't pushing us to complete war missions just yet. So our missions were regular peacetime missions, for the most part. Catch a cat, weed a garden, paint a house, that kind of thing. Well, when Rin and I were placed on his team, Kakashi and I competed with each other. In fact, we completed the entire week's worth of D-rank missions in one day. The Hokage was pressed to give us another one, so he just attached us to Minato-sensei's next C-rank.

"The task was to escort some Kiri-nin across the Land of Fire to the other side with a missive. I was foolish and arrogant. I ran ahead during that mission and tried to face down ten enemy nin by myself. One of them had a knife to my throat." He touched a light silver scar underneath the edge of his jaw.

"Minato-sensei had me tagged with his seal, though I didn't know it then. He grabbed that man and broke his arm in the split-second it took to throw him into a tree. He made a hole in a tree with that man's body. And I… I was so relieved, Katya. So relieved to have a jounin-sensei who was experienced enough to know what to do. One who was capable of using violence to defend my life. To defend the village.

"I know you understand that. You already know what to say, Kit-Kat."
"Yeah… I just don't remember that day so well…" Katya rubbed her arm. "Can I ask you another question?"

He fingered the edge of the new leather-bound book. "Sure thing."

"Why won't nii-chan talk to me?"

Obito sighed and reclined back. "Your brother isn't as much of a cyborg as you and Shisui assume. I try to remind him of that every now and then-he forgets that he's human too."

"Ya know, you're really wise, Obito-nii."

"Sometimes. Besides, I never say no to a cute little genin." Obito mussed the top of her head with his fingertips before standing up. "Thank you again for the book, Katya-chan. I'll go track down your counterpart. He'll probably want to run, anyway."

"You're welcome. Thank you for the advice."

Obito jogged off towards the Uchiha compound. Katya's face dropped, 'Oh, Obito, can't you feel his chakra in the opposite direction?' she thought.

"Other way, Obito!"

"I knew that!" he yelled over his shoulder, changing course. Katya smacked her face with her hand and shook her head. His tracking skills were hopeless.

9 p.m., 5 March 53; Namikaze Residence

Minato tiredly unlocked the front door and sat down on the inside bench. He slipped his shoes off and stored them before spacing out for a moment. There was a clatter from the kitchen as small feet pattered around.

"Tou-chan?" came the small voice from around the corner.

"Shouldn't you be in bed?" He had been aiming for friendly in his tone, but it came out flat instead, this last mission had been S-rank and he felt utterly drained.

"I made you a cake, tou-chan."

Minato pulled himself up off the bench and walked to the kitchen. He washed his hands in the sink and tried to give his daughter a smile.

"Thank you, Kit-Kat. How'd your first mission go?" Katya pulled out a chair for him and he sat down. "Oh, what excellent service. Who did you and Shisui prank today to warrant such trouble?" he teased.

"No one, tou-chan." Katya put her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. "We cleaned and sharpened battle remnants yesterday."

"Oh?" he asked between bites.

"I found ten of your kunai in the miscellaneous box. They're in the weapons closet."

"Oh. I see." Katya could feel his chakra cloud over.

"You're still my hero, tou-chan. And I still love you. I'll always be your girl."

"Thank you, musume," he whispered, kissing her head as a tear slipped down his cheek. Truth be told, Minato had been dreading this day. There was an ocean of difference between knowing your parent was a killer and truly understanding what that meant. He mourned Katya's loss of innocence over the last few months. And he grieved the fact that she had to be born in this era of war where such things were common.

AN:Thank you so much for reading! Please leave a review, the interaction is encouraging. :) If you liked this fic be sure to hit follow/subscribe to have update alerts! Probably going to switch to Tuesday updates, it seems like that works out better for everyone else. If you have a different preference, let me know in the comments or dm me on ffn or tumblr. Thanks!

Musume means daughter in japanese.

'A Little Undrunk' a stand-alone one-shot featuring Katya and Shisui is now live. They're aged up to 20 and it contains mild smut. So 18+ only, please.

Feel free to follow me on my tumblr at katydid001

Beta'ed by: The incredible, prodigious cherryberry12-sama