A Bewitching Dance

by Haerrlekin

When Naruto opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful, red-haired woman with violet eyes and a warm smile. Oh, and a white void, but that was besides the point! In which Naruto fails to summon Gamabunta and goes splat in the chasm; Jiraiya did a whoopsie, Kurama is a jerk, and Hinata brings good vibes. Who knew that crippling, life-threatening injuries could feel so good?

28. My confession

Heya,

Chapter's finally here! I got a little stuck on this one for a bit, hence the slightly longer wait time; thanks for your patience, by the way!

And special thanks to all of you over at the discord for helping me figure this chapter out. It definitely would have taken longer if I didn't have so many creative people around to bounce ideas off with.

Alright, enough yapping. Let's get to it.

---

Hanabi met her at the entrance of the hospital. She was accompanied not by their father -and thankfully, at that-, but by a friendlier face.

"I knew I'd find you here!" Her younger sister exclaimed, the etch of victory woven proudly into her youthful features. The little girl warily eyed the silent Tayuya for just a moment, who for once seemed uninterested in being the center of attention; Tayuya smartly drifted a bit further apart, seemingly intent on giving the family their privacy, and once again Hanabi had eyes only for her sister.

Behind Hanabi, standing patiently, if a bit awkwardly, was a rather tall young man: Ko, a kindly caretaker from the branch-house; he had overseen Hinata's care as well, back when she had been Hanabi's age.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama." Ko bowed politely- a gesture which she readily reciprocated.

Ko had always been kind to her; Hinata did not doubt for a moment that his presence here was most-deliberate. Though, whether that was the work of Hanabi's intervention or his own initiative, she could not guess.

Hanabi bounced from one foot to another, her impatience demanding her elder sister's attention. "This is for you-" From her shoulder, she peeled away a tightly-packed backpack, immediately thrusting the overstuffed thing into her sister's shaking hands. "So… Father wasn't happy at all when he got home. Word got around the compound and- well, I figured you could use some stuff…"

"This is- this is for me?" Hinata breathed, her eyes flicking back and forth from her sister to the bag she'd been gifted with.

"Um- yeah…" Biting her lip in nervousness, Hanabi then added- "So- um, I think you should probably stay away from the compound for a few more days. A-at least until he cools down a bit. I packed you a change of clothes and a towel; some toiletries too, and your toothbrush- oh, and some snacks! Ko-san and I picked up those cinnamon bite-things you like so much, 'cuz we figured you were probably feeling pretty down." Her smile was teeming with such innocent affection. Then Hanabi blushed, rambling on even further. "And I got the honeyed ones too for- er, for L-Leper-san, since he's probably housing you, right? Tell him I said thank you."

Hinata blinked.

Was she really that transparent?

"So- um, about father-" Hanabi continued to babble, once again demanding her sister's focus. "I'll tell him I saw you; maybe if he knows you're around, he won't freak out too much, looking for you? Oh, but if I knew where you'd go then he can probably figure it out too."

That was a concern for later. For now, Hinata could only clutch at the gift her sister had given her, hugging it to herself. "H-how long have you been here?"

"Huh?" Hanabi blinked, slowly. "Oh, not too long; maybe an hour or two?"

And that thought, that her younger sister had done such a thing for her- had packed her a bag with spare clothes and amenities, and bought her snacks to cheer her up; that she had waited so long, just to give it to her…

Hinata stepped forward, swapping the bag to one hand so she could embrace the girl; she hugged her little sister like the lifeline she was, a shaky sob stuttering out. "T-thank you, Hanabi-chan…"

Hanabi only nodded, awkwardly patting Hinata's arm. "It's gonna be okay, a-alright?"

And honestly, Hinata really wished for nothing more than to believe that. "Yeah… Yeah."

"It was good to see you, Hinata-sama." Ko's genuine warmth still did not disguise the underlying bid for retreat. "Hiashi-sama will grow upset if we are gone for too long."

"Yeah, we should go, huh?" Hanabi hugged her one more time, then let Ko take her hand. "We saw cousin Neji for a bit before his team showed up; he's awake! He said he'd like to see you."

Then the two left.

Some time later, Hinata and Tayuya found themselves seated at a hospital bench. The clock wound forward, and before the former had even realized it, they had been seated there for the better part of an hour, Hanabi's gifted backpack clutched like a lifeline in her lap. She was stone-still, save for her rapidly darting eyes; her byakugan pulsed periodically, searching past the door ahead of them, watching her cousin interact with his team.

Beside her, Tayuya fidgeted, throwing her shoulder this way and that to readjust the fabric of her shirt. Unlike her companion, she had felt every second of the time they had waited.

Damn Konoha clothes were way softer than she was used to; they didn't rip as easily, either…

"Can't you just- I don't know, pop in real quick?" Tayuya whispered, harshly.

Honestly, sitting still for this long just wasn't for her!

"I-I don't wa-want to disturb t-them," Hinata whispered. She tried to swallow, but it was like a wall of lead had expanded at the midway point of her throat; she choked the spittle down, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "He- he probably hates me…"

"Ain't he the one who asked you to kick his ass?" Tayuya raised an eyebrow at the girl. "Sounds to me like your cousin's a masochist who likes getting elbow-dropped by little girls; you probably made his day."

"Snrk!" Hinata ducked her head down, the faintest blush gracing her cheeks as she wiped her face; Tayuya cheered internally at the minor victory.

"Cmon," The redhead insisted, jumping to her feet. She grabbed Hinata's hand, trying to drag the other girl up with her. "Upsie daisy, short stack; we're kicking the door down!"

"No," Hinata whined. She pulled back, and Tayuya groaned as her own momentum was cut, leaving her half-hunched, both hands fighting against the other girl's one. "I can't," She whispered, harshly.

"What was it with everybody in this damn village being built like a damn gorilla?" Tayuya groaned, hunching down proper to look Hinata in the eyes. She nearly grabbed the girl's face too, but figured that'd be a bit much. "Alright girly-pop, we can do this one of two ways. You can open the door like a regular human being, or I can fucking flying kick that bitch and announce you like you're my tag-in to a pitfight. Your choice."

Just like that, the Hyuga heiress was on her feet.

Because if there was one thing she didn't doubt either Naruto or Tayuya in, it was for them to do exactly what they said they would do, and damn the consequences.

"I'll knock…"

Really, no wonder they seemed to get along so well.

She crossed the distance far faster than she would have liked, knuckles raised to impose.

But then the door was wrenched open, and a brown-haired girl nearly smashed directly into her. Hinata took a step back on reflex, but it wasn't quite enough as said girl stumbled a bit, catching herself on the smaller girl's shoulder.

"Er- sorry! I didn't mean to-" Tenten blinked twice, then her gaze darkened as she properly registered exactly whose shoulder she was leaning on. "Oh."

One word, oozing with- well, not resentment, per se. Her tone was not truly hostile, but she was certainly unkind as she gave Hinata a proper once over. Then again, she looked over Tayuya, just a bit of that attitude melting in the presence of the surprising new face.

"Er- I don't recognize you," She led, confusedly. "I'm Tenten-"

"Out of the way." Tayuya bullied right past the aghast girl, dragging Hinata along with her as she forced her way in. "Alright, which one of you boy-kissers is Neji!?"

She looked between the three males in the room. There were two, vaguely identical males, both sporting finely cropped bowl cuts; their hairs practically glistened under the lights above. The smallest of them, a young man seeming about her age- he was dressed in the loose-fitting clothes that denoted him as another patient of the hospital. His left arm and leg were heavily bandaged, with his right arm thrown over a cast; the boy's body hunched abnormally against his lopsided weight distribution.

Huh, he seemed injured enough for the part. His face was creased faintly with the lines of suppressed pain, and his eyes, while not exactly cold, seemed to ooze with some kind of fresh bitterness.

Tayuya's eyes flicked between him and Hinata.

Nope. No resemblance at all.

The larger of the two was-

"Hot damn," Tayuya breathed. He was huge, dressed in skintight, green spandex; the green flak-jacket thrown over his torso denoted his status as a high-ranking ninja- likely these guys' jonin instructor, then. The orange leg warmers were- well, they were a choice; she was sure that Naruto would find them chic, at least.

But damn, if the guy wasn't absolutely jacked. It was like somebody had taken a chisel to a slab of meat. He wasn't huge, per se; he was lean and green, with a muscle definition that oozed right through the fabric of his bodysuit.

And were his teeth glistening?

She shook her head free of those thoughts, finally finding the last of the trio. A long-haired, pale-eyed-

Yep, that was definitely him. "That'd be you then, huh?" Tayuya did not wait for confirmation, forcing the crutch-wielding boy to jump out of her way as she gripped the leg-side of Neji's bed. Tenten followed closely behind with a scowl on her face, seemingly aborting her earlier leave; she passed right by the paralyzed Hyuga visitor. "Princess is here to see you." The redhead jutted her thumb after the frozen-still Hinata, whose face had colored to match her companion's hair since Tayuya's rather bold entrance.

Neji looked past her, the tiniest impression of amusement breaking through his stoic features. "I can see that…"

"What a wonderful sight to behold!" Their green-clad sensei declared.

Damn, he was loud, huh?

"Your dear cousin has come to visit you; isn't that sweet of her, Neji?"

There was something leading in the man's tone. Tayuya saw past the bombastic demeanor, noting how the man's eyes observed Hinata's clear anxiety. A faint touch of pity seemed present behind his charming grin.

Neji seemed to see it too, quickly catching onto the unspoken prompt behind his teacher's words. "Yes… It was kind of you to come visit, Hinata-sama."

"U-um…" Hinata shook her head, aborting some unspoken thought before it could make it through. "I'm sorry."

"You have no reason to be." Neji's reply was quick. " It was I who challenged you; it was I who egged you on. I knew well what I was getting into when I did so, so I am not upset at all." Then he chuckled a bit. "Though, that fake-out of yours was quite the surprise…"

Gai's booming laughter followed. "That's right! Young Neji here was quite miffed all this morning about letting himself fall for such a trick." He gently palmed Neji's shoulder, and though Neji seemed embarrassed, he did not contradict the man. "But all's fair in ninja battles. Why, I once defeated my glorious eternal rival by spewing a tube of Kumo-imported hot pepper sauce into his sharingan eye!"

Everyone in the room winced.

"Ah… Yeah…" Hinata looked down, clutching her fist to her chest. "The doctor- er, he said you'd make a full recovery."

There was something so desperate in her voice as she spoke, and Tayuya watched the group's expressions like a hawk. The bun-wearing girl seemed to have softened just a bit, hearing the younger Hyuga's clear worry and shame. The two bowl cut-wearing guys- the small one remained oddly distant, while the larger only smiled encouragingly.

"I'm glad," Neji only nodded. "I'd like to fight you again, once I have recovered."

Tayuya blinked twice. Then she grinned. "See, I told you he was a masochist."

"Tayuya-san!" Hinata didn't quite shout, but it was damn close. Her eyes flicked between the other observers.

Tenten and Lee both seemed scandalized- enraged, almost; Gai-sensei seemed to struggle to hold back his laughter; Neji though-

He did laugh. His teammates threw their heads dizzy, snapping back to look his way in shock.

"Yes, I suppose I am a glutton for trouble." He leaned up though, inclining his head in a clear effort at a seated bow. "But I enjoyed our battle- well, wounds, notwithstanding; I learned a lot from you."

Hinata shook her head; she clutched at her elbow and bit her lip, worrying at the thought for a moment. She looked between the two hard faces of her cousin's teammates, and shook her head again. "U-um… We'll see… Please excuse me!" Then she turned on her heel and left, leaving Tayuya alone for a moment with the four nonplussed faces of Team Gai.

The redhead shrugged, having eyes only for Neji. "She worried sick all night for you, ya know…"

Neji frowned. "I'm… Sorry to have worried her."

Tayuya shook her head. "Her pops gave her hell too. She's afraid to even go home, 'cuz she's worried he'll dive in her ass like a shiv in a watchman's sternum." Several dumb looks rewarded her analogy.

Geeze, tough crowd.

"Look, she didn't take any of this shit well at all, man." Now, Neji looked almost guilty. Even Gai's grin seemed to dim a bit. Looking at Tenten and Lee, Tayuya sneered. "So you two can fix your fucking faces. It ain't her fault pretty boy over here is in a cast. He knows it; your hot piece of ass sensei knows it-" Gai blinked in surprise. "-And I sure as shit know it."

Then she turned on her heel and left, too.

By the time she had reached the door, Gai was right in step beside her. "I'll see you out, young lady." He closed the door behind them, once they were out in the hall.

"Er- if this is about calling you hot-"

"I'm flattered, but no." Gai's grin was unshakable. "Please forgive my students, miss-

Ah right. He and his team had no idea who she even was, huh? "Tayuya."

"Tayuya-san!" Gai gave an exaggerated nod, then bowed at the waist. "I assure you, they mean well."

It was the first time anyone had ever bowed to her. "Uh… Okay?"

Gai was undeterred. "Tenten surely holds no ill will to young Hinata; I presume that she is simply wary, due to the suddenness of the poor news… As for Lee-"

"Your sulky little mini-me?"

"Hah!" Gai rose back to his full height with a 'snap' and gave the girl a thumbs up. "Lee is my most youthful protege! He can be quite the serious fellow, but none can match his energy when he gets rolling, I assure you!" Then he frowned. "Unfortunately, my dear student received a rather- well, difficult dilemma completely separate from Neji's case, just this morning. So please do not hold his demeanor against him. It's simply a bad time for my boy."

"Ah… Right…" Tayuya shrugged. "You don't owe me an explanation, man. Er- I was just trying to sound cool, is all."

Gai laughed again, but this time it sounded a bit more real to her. "Oh, I know all about that." Then he was all smiles again. "Well, please excuse me; it is half-past noon, and my body will hate me if I don't get my regularly scheduled, fifteen-hundred calorie protein shake!"

Then he was off, leaving a blushing Tayuya in the dust.

"God, what a man…"

Now, where had that girl gone?

---

She didn't know for sure why she had run away like she had. Maybe it had been the scathing glares of Neji's two other teammates, which had cooled her feet. Or maybe she just couldn't stand to look at his injuries any further, knowing it was her who had done that to him.

But her flight had taken her down the stairs, pacing aimlessly through the halls.

Everyone kept telling her that it wasn't her fault… But Hinata really wasn't so sure.

"I guess I don't really hate fighting so much as how they have to end…"

She shook her head. All that talk- posturing like she was some kind of gentle soul…

And yet, as she had stared over Neji's heaving body, in the wake of his impact with her rotation-

She still remembered the wry smile that had briefly teased her face. For just a moment, unconcerned with his condition- only reveling in one singular fact.

That she had won… That she wasn't weak anymore, and this was proof of that.

And it was that, she found, which had come to dominate her thoughts; it was the source of her guilt, more so than even Neji's condition, itself.

Because she was a liar and a hypocrite, and too cowardly to admit it to anyone, even as they showered her with warm words and comforts.

And she had never hated herself more for it.

It wasn't until a familiar nurse stormed out of a room that her attention was torn away from those self-destructive thoughts.

"Oh!" The woman's slight scowl brightened a bit as she looked over Hinata, who startled at the sudden exclamation. "Hello, Hyuga-san!"

"A-ah… Hello." Hinata bowed, perhaps deeper than her father would have cared for. Frankly, she didn't think she could bow enough. After all, this very same woman had restarted her heart and mended her ruined fingers. As far as she was concerned, it was the least she could do. "I- um, I'm sorry for getting in your way."

The medic, Mirai, if she recalled well, waved the apology away. "You're fine, dear." She cast a glance backward, her expression souring a bit as she shut the ajar door. "Hardly the worst part of my day." The woman sighed, and curiously, Hinata traced the numbers on the door, realizing silently exactly whose room this was.

"Er- you seem upset… D-did something happen with Sasuke-san?" She surely hoped not. Naruto's smile seemed as chipper as ever, but she knew him well enough to see the chinks in the armor- unshed tears and screams that he kept too busy to really indulge in; she knew well how hurt her boyfriend was, that his friend seemed so unwilling to see him. The last thing the boy needed was more bad news.

"Oh, right. You went to school together, didn't you?" Mirai seemed to count under her breath for a moment before nodding, confirming the two ninjas' close ages. "Well, he's just a little difficult, is all. Oh, but nothing to concern yourself with, dear."

Well, Hinata figured she wasn't exactly at liberty to discuss Sasuke's condition with someone like her. Hinata nodded, silently conveying that she understood, to which the medic sheepishly smiled.

"Um- would it be f-fine for me to… To see him?" Hinata looked between the woman and the door, not truly even knowing why she had asked.

If Sasuke didn't want to see Naruto, then he surely would not want anything to do with her; the two had hardly spoken more than two words in all of the time they had known each other.

"Well, he doesn't really want to see anybody…" Mirai frowned, but then only shrugged. "Oh, but I'm sure it's fine. Besides-" Then her eyes gleamed with just a hint of spite. "It would do that boy some good to talk to somebody his age!"

The woman gestured with her head, inviting Hinata to go ahead. "Just don't stress him too much, alright?"

The Hyuga youth nodded, letting Mirai step past her before she made her way inside.

The room was pristine, save for the deep gouges that charred along the upper walls and ceiling; the staff had clearly tried to repair it all as best it could, but no doubt, nothing short of a complete renovation of the room would be able to undo the damage that had been done.

Very impossible, given the fact that Sasuke seemed unwilling to leave it.

Said boy barely even seemed to notice her as she entered; he only stared into space, his gaze searching for something beyond anything that she, herself could see. That same peculiar pattern that had nearly killed her, the day Lady Tsunade had awoken him- it lay etched in his empty gaze, still.

"S-Sasuke-san?" Hinata twitched in sync with Sasuke as his eyes suddenly fixed to her, watching her movements with some focus that had not been there moments prior. "Er- good afternoon…"

Sasuke did not speak immediately, only watching her silently for a moment longer. He read the tension in her posture, the girl being ready at any moment to leap out of the way. Seeing that, Sasuke scoffed.

"No."

"Er- no?"

"Leave." Then Sasuke averted his gaze, staring down stubbornly at the comforters bundled within his fists. "Why are you even here?"

She was still trying to figure that out, herself. "Naruto-kun is worried about you."

Sasuke's gaze flicked up for only a moment before he forced it down again, but Hinata's own perception did not miss the further tightening of his grip on the blankets. "Ok?" He shook his head, only marginally. "And what does that have to do with me?"

Fury spiked in her for only a fraction of a moment, but she cooled it in her next breath.

Right. She had forgotten how difficult Sasuke could be; there was a reason they'd never talked to each other- well, aside from her own poor social skills. Hinata withheld the urge to sigh, shaking her head and empowering herself with the strength to remain placid.

"I think he'd really like it if you'd talk to him…"

"Mind your business," he uttered back, the faintest lines of a sneer pressing into his face. "Didn't I tell you to leave?"

Would striking a hospital patient land her in a jail cell? Probably…

Hinata shook her head, staring up at the ceiling again. "Erm- you know, m-my sister told me something interesting, the other day-"

"I don't care." Now, Sasuke's sneer dominated the entirety of his face. "Leave-"

"I'm speaking," Hinata snapped back, and Sasuke fell silent, some surprise filling his face at the clear rebuke from Hinata of all people. His visitor continued. "She told me that I never let anybody help me; she said I just love to play the martyr." Hinata shook her head, the corners of her lips quirking upward for just a moment. "I-I guess that's something that Naruto-kun and I have in common; we both tend to think about other people more often than we do, ourselves. Er- a lot of the time, it's to our own detriment."

Then she glared at Sasuke, meeting his gaze properly for the first time. And for the first time as well, Sasuke seemed to actually take her seriously, just the smallest piece of curiosity in his posture at the clear reproach in her own. "So he and I both know the signs, is what I think I'm trying to say…" She looked up, and Sasuke uncomfortably followed her gaze, eyeing the blackened scars his eyes had left in the room. "You nearly killed us that day."

Sasuke said nothing, but she knew she'd find shame in his eyes if she would only look for it.

"I nearly killed my cousin this morning," She offered, and now she did look at him, finding the boy staring at her, almost bug-eyed at the grisly confession. "I-I… I baited him into my family's Heavenly Rotation- it's a defensive jutsu designed to divert physical attacks and- er, when approached incorrectly, it tends to crush people on contact…" She clenched her eyes, still envisioning that impact. How his body bent and wrenched; the way his flesh rippled and tore, and his bones twisted and snapped apart. "He didn't see it coming; he-he dove headfirst into it, and he-"

A breath.

"He's currently lying broken in the Intensive Care Unit…"

God, just admitting it- she was feeling sick, all over again.

"Oh…" Sasuke swallowed, no longer harboring that same disdain he had spoken to her with only moments prior. Now, his lame tone belied some interest just as it did, discomfort. "Why?" One word, filled with something foreign in the boy. It was almost a plea.

The answer stuck in her throat. Suddenly her shoes felt so much more interesting than the rest of the room. But it needed to be said. She needed someone to know… And if it was Sasuke-

Well, she could live with Sasuke thinking she was a terrible person.

"I wanted to win." It was a simple answer, and she hated herself all the more. "I don't- I don't think I was thinking much more than that. But now I regret it; I really wish I hadn't-" She shook her head. "And so I think I know at least a little bit of what you're feeling right now."

"I see…" She half-expected Sasuke to blow up on her, at that. To reject her attempt at connection. But to her surprise, he only looked down again.

"Please leave," He croaked, now seeming so much more vulnerable than when she had walked in. "I'm sorry. I just want to be alone."

Hinata nodded, turning and palming the door knob. But before she left, she had one more thing to add. "Naruto-kun loves you very much, Sasuke-san. He talks about you every day- how much he misses you; how much he worries about you... You may think you're protecting him by doing what you're doing, but he hurts far more, knowing you won't share your burdens with him."

She made sure not to slam the door behind herself.

---

Tsunade took in a deep breath as the door parted, and Danzo's bandaged form shuffled inside.

"You called for me, Lady Hokage?" His tone was even, but she sensed just the tiniest shred of anticipation in the man's chakra as he approached. She withheld a grin; even within just the few short days since she'd last seen the man, her work with Naruto to further refine their Mind's Eye jutsu was yielding some results.

"Have a seat," She offered the man without looking. "I'll be with you in just a moment." The old Warhawk did so, waiting with silent patience as Tsunade cleared a pile of books from her purview; she rolled up a bundle of her own notes, sticking the bunch between the weight of the foremost textbook.

Danzo watched her movements with a keen eye. "It is humbling to see that even a medical nin of your mastery still has something to learn.

Tsunade followed his eye to the book in her hand

The Ivory Tower- one of many textbooks she had managed to finagle throughout her travels with Shizune; this one had been purchased from some quack in one of the labor-cities bordering the Hidden Stone Village, which discussed several medical theories in relation to the human spine. While the man in question had been a few screws loose, he'd been surprisingly right on the money in a few key areas.

"It's a good read," Tsunade offered, noncommittally.

"I assume this has to do with that poor boy, who was crippled by Sand's jinchuriki?" Danzo's tone betrayed nothing, but she could swear she sensed something pitying in the flow of his chakra.

Regardless, it was a spot on guess. Actually, based on his interest, Tsunade doubted the man was guessing at all; he had always been uncomfortably well-informed.

Juggling the 'not-guess' for a moment, she finally nodded. "He has quite the wealth of potential, even in spite of his lack of talent in many of the traditional ninja arts. I wouldn't be a very good leader if I let him squander that."

Though, Gai's most earnest demands had been the deciding factor. "There's this surgery I'm toying with; before this morning its odds of success were only about forty-two percent."

"And now?"

Tsunade grunted. "About forty-six."

Danzo bowed his head, and Tsunade sensed no falsehoods in this clear show of respect. "A four-percent increase is quite the jump, in just a morning's worth of time."

Sure, but it was hardly enough. Tsunade was a betting woman, sure; but she refused to bet forty-six percent on some young man's life. She grunted again, unwilling to discuss the matter any further. "I've considered your request." Danzo's excitement jumped, but the man masterfully said nothing, only waiting for her to elaborate. "I'll be frank- I have my hesitations when it comes to letting you have this freedom of authority. I still remember Hiruzen giving you similar freedoms during the second war."

"We won." Danzo's confusion seemed genuine, at her clear accusation.

"A pyrrhic victory. I don't consider it a win when we lost just as much as the enemy." Tsunade shook her head. "We lost the Uzumaki- and it was only through that loss that we were able to deal decisive blows to the enemy."

Danzo tilted his head, marginally. "I should think that our allies would feel fulfilled, knowing that their sacrifice was to our benefit."

Of all the insensitive-

She watched his flow like a hawk, all but begging the man to give her reason to reach across the table and pluck his head from his neck.

But Danzo betrayed nothing- not even to her sharpening senses.

Tsunade sighed. Then, her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I'm a picky kind of woman, Danzo. You'll not treat any of my people like pawns to be used and discarded; that's not how I do things."

A spark of annoyance flared now in the old man across from her. Whether from the accusation or the pushback, she could not discern. Ultimately though, Danzo only bowed his head. "Then what would you have me do?"

"If we're to fight Orochimaru, I won't settle for anything less than the complete disassembly of him and his assets."

Danzo paused. Then- "I'm sure someone of his genius- however inhumane-" he tactfully added. "-Would have a remarkable yield of research and assets that would be of great aid to the village."

"We'll see." Tsunade leaned on the desk, palming her cheek with clear disdain at the thought. "Unfortunately, we lack the manpower to wage total war. If we take a fight to him above ground, that may expose the village to unfavorable hostilities from other major powers."

That, Danzo could get behind.

"You're to build a team- a small operation specially crafted to work under the table." Tsunade plucked up a manila folder, stuffed almost haphazardly with documents of all shapes and sizes. She opened the thing, snorting to herself at the crudely made drawings and coded letters and notes. "This came in last night." Sensing Danzo's question, she spared him the trouble. "The fruits of Jiraiya's research. He traced Orochimaru's operations back to Rice Country, and has documented operations that he and the toads were able to track down."

Danzo slowly stood, reaching out to accept the document she'd offered to him. But then Tsunade pulled it back, prompting him to eye her warily.

"I want to make something perfectly clear." Danzo paled just a bit, even his own tight-fisted self control waning as the room itself seemed to shift with the sudden change in her energy. Suddenly, pressure bore down on him from all sides, like the fist of a predator clenched around his torso. Just a twitch, and she'd splatter him like a bug.

Tsunade's lip curled, the woman baring her teeth in clear threat to the man. "We're doing this my way. You run everything by me. I won't tolerate any slinking around behind my back; you do anything to spurn the trust I am putting in you and you become my enemy. And unlike Hiruzen, I have zero qualms about having you killed if you cross me… Are we clear?"

Danzo let out a ghost of a breath and nodded, stiffly. "Understood… May I ask then- how should I form this team of yours?"

"Make a list. Choose multiple candidates for each role you need filled. I'll approve or deny it once I've seen it."

Fair enough. "I have a few in mind already, if I may-"

Danzo was interrupted as the door flew open, banging harshly against the wall at its peak.

"Heya hot stuff! I need a word!?" Anko Mitarashi's familiar croon belied her identity easily enough. She strode into Tsunade's office with nary a care, stopping only after her Hokage's unamused glare pinned her in her place. "Er- is this a bad time?

"I'm in a meeting," Tsunade chided the woman, tersely. "What do you want?"

Anko's smile slipped back into place; she puffed her chest out with some faux bravado. "Some blonde, effeminate little goofball came my way earlier; he said I've got orders to strip for him- and see, I need confirmation." Her tone seemed to flip flop between serious and oafish on some whimsy that Danzo could not discern. "So tell it to me straight, momma. Why are you letting some shrimp waltz around, masquerading as a seal master, huh?"

It was why he had never tried to recruit her, and why he had always advised against the woman's promotion to the rank of jonin. It was nothing personal at all; Anko Mitarashi was an exceptional kunoichi, whose skills far exceeded the typical standard required for their jonin. With the right master to sharpen her further, the woman could no doubt make for a truly phenomenal weapon.

But she was unpredictable, belligerent, and very unstable, and Danzo hardly had the patience to handle that kind of chaos.

Though, given her history with Orochimaru, she likely knew well of the man's habits. No doubt, she could pose some value, if managed correctly.

Additionally, her mention of a seals master was interesting. If she was speaking of who he thought she was speaking of, then that was yet another asset to consider...

Tsunade cut him a warning glance, then glared back at Anko Mitarashi. "Watch your tongue, girl. That's my protege, you are insulting."

Anko's face drained a little. "Er- he was very pretty? Do you do his hair and makeup- 'cuz I've really been looking for a stylist-"

"Shut up." Anko's babbling ground to a dead stop at her Hokage's order. "And I'm sure I handed him a letter with my seal of approval just this morning, explicitly so that we would avoid this nonsense."

Anko scoffed, making a show of running her hands along her coat pockets. "Well tough luck, 'cuz your cute little girl-boy didn't hand me shi- oh… Oh…" Slowly, she pulled free a thin, white, square. Tsunade raised an eyebrow, and Anko nervously opened the thing, her eyes scanning the contents of the obvious letter, then fixing to the seal engraved onto its bottom. "I appear to have been swindled! Deceived! Bamboozled- dare I say!" She grinned, her bottom lip quivering as Tsunade's glare scalded her further. "Hehe… Whoopsie daisy!"

Tsunade only sighed and shook her head. Clearly, that boy had slipped the letter onto her after the fact. A sly glance at Danzo confirmed to her that the man thought the same. She could already see the gears turning in the man's head.

"If I may, Lady Tsunade?" Tsunade already knew what the man would propose. With a huff, he tilted her head; Danzo rose to his feet, leveling an appraising glance on Anko. "I believe that Mitarashi-san would make for an impeccable addition to this team of ours, if you would be so inclined?"

Anko frowned, clear interest lacing her posture. She stood up just a bit straighter. "What's this supposed to be?"

Danzo looked her way, and Tsunade merely waved her hand for him to continue.

"I won't mince words with you then, Mitarashi-san. Tsunade-sama here has granted me the authority to put together a team, of sorts. A weapon, to be aimed in the direction of your old master, Orochimaru."

Tsunade glowered at the man.

Once upon a time, Anko Mitarashi had been Orochimaru's star pupil- back before there had even been a hint at the man's disloyalty. God, how he praised her, back then. Tsunade shook her head, knowing well just what the mere mention of the man would do to the poor girl.

Sure enough, Anko seemed petrified. All traces of that whimsical energy that she had entered with had withered away. Only a moment later, this desperate, ravenous longing began to creep upward, from the festering pit of bitterness that was the young woman's chakra.

"I'm in!" Her announcement was more of a demand than an offer or agreement. "Whatever it is, I want his head!"

"Quiet." And the girl did so with a yelp, even her passion quelled by Tsunade's clear irritation. To Danzo, she huffed. "What do you want her for, exactly?"

"Mitarashi-san here is one of the village's premier experts when it comes to interrogation; her proficiencies would be a phenomenal boon to acting on the information that Jiraiya-sama has bestowed upon us."

A damn good explanation, and not one she could easily refute. Certainly not when the young woman seemed to nod so eagerly.

For her, this was two-fold: An opportunity to make Orochimaru bleed in whatever way she could, sure; but it was also a chance to prove herself in the eyes of an honored elder and the new Hokage. A big responsibility, unlike anything she had ever been offered, prior. Tsunade knew well that for Anko, it would not matter what the job was anymore- just that she was needed.

And rejecting her, even for her own protection, would do more harm than good, in this case.

As always, Danzo was a masterful manipulator, because she knew damn well who he'd ask for next.

"There was one more I wished to discuss with you, Lady Tsunade-" And he had come prepared; Danzo procured from his robes a surprisingly thick dossier, and Tsunade sucked her teeth, fighting the urge to leap over the table and throttle the man. "Young Naruto Uzumaki's sudden rise throughout the ninja ranks has been nothing short of meteoric. From just a dead last problem child at the academy, to an A-ranked mission within his first two months of service." Anko's eyes went wide, at that reveal. "He faced Orochimaru and lived; he managed to subdue the rampaging One Tails during the Sound and Sand invasion. He was able to fend off two S-ranked ninja with the aid of Jiraiya-sama, and he survived the incident that Orochimaru brought to Tanzaku."

"Just say what you want to say already," Tsunade groused.

"After reviewing the available information, I believe he would make a phenomenal addition to this team you've ordered me to assemble."

Right, pin the onus onto her. He was such a bastard.

"No." Tsunade's response was immediate.

"He would make an excellent infiltrations' expert." Danzo's response was as if he had not even heard her rejection. "I have heard incredible stories- his uncanny ability to change his shape completely surpasses the traditional transformation jutsu, such that he is able to freely manipulate his size and shape. He clearly has the proficiency needed to outmaneuver even an esteemed kunoichi of Mitarashi-san's caliber." His smile may as well have been fog on a window. I believe that under my leadership, he could do great things."

"I don't trust you near Naruto," Tsunade could not even bother with niceties anymore. Anko seemed rather nonplussed, looking between the two, but Tsunade did not bother to explain.

To someone like Anko, who ranked so much lower on the totem pole, Tsunade ought not to have any reason to distrust a man as esteemed as Danzo- a war hero, who had lived, fought, and killed for Konoha since its most humble days…

If only that poor girl knew even half of the atrocities that Danzo had committed in his time.

And that was just the things that Tsunade knew of, given her privilege as one of the Sannin. Only Hiruzen himself might know just how much darker the man's soul really was.

Then Danzo smiled, and Tsunade inwardly cursed. "Then I will not approach him. I can supplant a capable middle-man- one of your choosing, to interact with him and the rest of this team in my stead." He bowed his head, seeming intent to convey some measure of deference to the Slug Sannin. "As we discussed, we shall do this your way; I simply see potential in young Naruto Uzumaki and Anko Mitarashi. I believe they have what it takes to go far within our ranks, if only given the chance."

Anko blushed a bit, surely unused to such open praise from such a decorated veteran. She was savvy, sure; but Danzo had manipulated far better, in his time.

"I only ask that you consider it." Then, that veteran stood and bowed once more. "Thank you for your time." He left, leaving Tsunade alone with Anko, who now stood stock still, as her Hokage glared at her.

"You." That one word bled so much of her exasperation with the woman.

"Er- me?"

"You…" She pinched the bridge of her nose. "You have no idea just how annoying you have made my life, just now."

Anko at least had the grace to look sheepish. "Hehe… Whoops!" She yelped a bit as Tsunade's glower only darkened further. "M-my bad…"

Really, there was no helping it. Danzo would have asked for Naruto regardless, she knew. The man would surely seize any opportunity to get his hands on or even near the boy. Rejecting him would just make him bolder, or barring that, sneakier- likely both… No, she needed his hands above the table- to limit his influence to only what she could directly intervene with.

And to do that, she would need to play his game a little. Her heart was telling her to just kill him now and be done with it, regardless of whatever the man had or hadn't ever done…

But her gut knew that she needed him. She wouldn't be able to deal with Konoha's recovery and take on Orochimaru without help. Maybe if Hiruzen was awake-

But despite her best efforts, that man's recovery was at a snail's pace.

She pressed her temples, sucking her teeth at the migraine that was creeping up on her.

No, she would simply need to play along. Naruto would not question her if she told him to be wary of that man- she knew that, at least. Anko Mitarashi though-

Tsunade pinched her brow and bit back a groan.

Yeah, that woman could make for a rather problematic wildcard.

But on the other hand, there was an opportunity here…

"Listen and listen well." Tsunade leaned back in her chair again, forcing herself to relax a bit. "Naruto is currently researching the curse mark. It may be hard to believe, given his age, but he is probably the most knowledgeable person in the village regarding them, even in the awfully short time he has been working on them. I gave him this task for a reason." Tsunade's glare narrowed further, leaving Anko feeling somewhat foolish all of a sudden. "So long as that thing is on your neck, you'll never be free of Orochimaru's influence-" Anko flinched, and Tsunade bullied on. "And if you ever plan to have that thing removed, cooperating with him is your only chance. So I'd suggest you humble yourself a bit and do as he says. Now he's about as patient as I am, so whatever you did to get him to mess with you like this-" She raised the note that Anko had been holding, and the woman blinked; she looked down at her hands, then back at Tsunade in awe. "Means you're already teetering on his bad side. So don't give him a reason to break any more of your ribs, got it?"

Anko palmed her chest with a wince. "How'd you know about that?"

"Your breathing is unsteady, and you keep leaning." Tsunade shook her head. "Don't make mine or his jobs harder than they have to be, got it?"

"Er- sure…"

"Then you're dismissed." Tsunade waved her hand, as if swatting something away. "Shoo."

---

It wasn't common for Hinata to miss training with her team. They had waited for her for a time- maybe twenty whole minutes. But Hinata was rarely late.

Thus, after some unsure loitering, Kurenai had let the remaining two members of Team Eight get to work.

"Full contact sparring. No weapons. Get to it!" Kurenai ordered the two boys.

Something simple to keep them occupied.

She watched them go at it, arms crossed and tapping at her bicep from her seat on the grass.

She'd let them go a bit early, then track that girl down. She wasn't offended, per se, that Hinata would skip her training; she knew well that, given recent circumstances, the poor girl surely had her reasons. But as her sensei, she really didn't appreciate being kept in the dark.

Then a presence dropped down beside her, and Kurenai jumped a little as a familiar blonde took a seat.

"You look pissed," Naruto observed with a grin.

Kurenai's glare found him. "Your habit of skipping my classes appears to have rubbed off on my third, missing student… You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"

Naruto's smile tugged down a little. "She put her cousin through the meat grinder- Neji's wrapped up like a mummy in the ICU." Kurenai's glare froze and cracked away at that. "Her pops ain't really helping the situation, so she's laying low."

Kurenai gathered herself quickly. "So she's with you, then?"

Naruto nodded, and she breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's fine, then…"

The boy blinked, watching as the stress seemed to melt away from the woman. "Er- right… I'll send her your way shortly, if that helps? Also, sorry again about missing your tutoring and all; if you're still willing to do them, I can start meeting for them again whenever you're able- er, that is, so long as you're fine dealing with a clone every so often?"

A clone, huh?

Kurenai looked the boy up and down, and suddenly she couldn't find it in herself at all to be annoyed with him.

Clone or not, he looked exhausted.

Kurenai only smiled and shook her head, reaching up to brush a stray lock of his hair back into place. "Perhaps when your plate is a little less full. I appreciate you trying to be considerate to me." Then her smile melted, a worried frown in its stead. "But I'd rather you take care of yourself first."

Naruto frowned too, now looking a bit self conscious. "Er- if you insist..."

"I do."

He nodded, then, once again plastering on an easy smile. "Sounds good then! As soon as I'm done with all of this business you're gonna teach me how to fry somebody's brain!"

"I'll look forward to it," She chuckled. "Now go on, and send Hinata my regards."

"Will do!" He jumped up then, brushing himself off and offering a thumbs-up. "See ya, mommy!" Then he was gone in a cheery puff of smoke, leaving the woman to only shake her head in amusement.

"Honestly, such a silly boy."

---

They had all convened briefly for lunch, with Naruto treating Tayuya and Hinata both to a meal. After that though, Hinata had rather sullenly split off, obeying Naruto's insistence that she see her team.

"Here," Naruto handed the girl a spare key. "When you're done, come back to my place. You can stay as long as you need."

She had only nodded, taking the gift before throwing her arms around his waist and kissing the corner of his lips with a hot blush.

"T-thanks…"

Then she'd left, leaving two Uzumaki alone with each other.

Now, Tayuya watched Naruto's work with awe.

He had dragged her along to a rather run-down set of grounds. The grass had been stripped almost entirely from the field; cracks and holes littered the barren surface, panning out past just the ground to impose upon felled trees and loose stone, alike.

The source of it all, an innumerable abundance of identical blondes, running rampant throughout the space.

"The fuck is this?" She breathed, her jaw nearly hanging loose at the sight.

They were organized; dozens of like minded bodies were congregated apiece, each team working tirelessly on one project or another.

One set of clones, nearly a hundred-strong, each seemed to be holding a tiny spark of flame between cupped palms; their secondary arms were clasped below, white-knuckled into a 'tiger' hand sign. For the life of her, she couldn't see its purpose, but each and every one of them showed their strain plainly- red-faces huffing and sweating; their knees quivered under some weight that she couldn't quite understand.

"What're they doing?" She pointed at the group. Beside her, the original -or at least she thought he was, based on the presence of Katsuyu- followed her gesture; he sucked his teeth when he found the group in question.

"They're beginning to believe," Katsuyu whispered, a lick of faux awe in her tone.

"Fire Release ain't my natural nature transformation," Naruto admitted, a touch grumpily. He put away the thick pad he had been jotting into since they had gotten there and squinted his eyes in thought, throwing his arms up behind his head and leaning against the tree at his back. "So I've had to do a lotta work to up the potency of my fire release. That goes extra for my hellfire… They're basically trying to pack as much heat into as small a space as possible." Then Naruto leaned forward again, mimicking his clones and forming a spark in his hands. "Er- but see, concentrating all of that chakra and heat in one place is tricky, 'cuz fire doesn't really like to be controlled; the hotter you make it burn, the more uppity it gets."

Tayuya frowned. "You're talking about it like it's alive or something."

He snickered. "In a way, it kinda is." Naruto held his own flame up between two fingers for his companion to observe. It was a tiny, orange bead, condensed down to a perfect sphere. Tayuya leaned in just a bit to eye the thing.

"What's it I'm supposed to be looking for, here?"

Then the sphere surged, its tone rapidly shifting to a light purple, and Tayuya could swear she heard it scream. She scrambled back a few paces, eyes wide and bugging. "The hell was that!?"

"My Hellfire-Style works by strongly blending Fire-Release with a Yin-Release alignment shift. By infusing my fire like that, I am in essence, giving my fire a mind of its own. I can command it to target specific things or ignore others with its burning effects; I can change its direction mid-flight, or even set it to auto-target." Naruto flicked the bead up above them, and it did not come back down; the pair eyed the spark of heat as it continued to writhe, slowly rising in size and heat, until Tayuya's clothes began to feel damp from all the sweating that was imposed on herself.

"Hell, there's probably a whole lot more that I just haven't discovered yet. But see- it obeys me, 'cuz I'm strong enough to command it. But fire hates to be contained; make that double when you go and give it some kind of pseudo-intelligence, ya know?" Naruto gestured for the bead, and it flew into his grasp where he snuffed it out. "So my clones are working on upping that potency and maintaining that shape without losing control to the flames."

"Okay…" Tayuya pulled at her top, grumbling a bit at the sudden discomfort. "Well humor me then, genius- what happens if you lose control?"

"Oh, it'll explode the shit outta me!" Naruto laughed sheepishly, and as if on queue, an explosion sounded near the clones they had been observing. Tayuya gulped at the gigantic crater that had been scarred into the earth underneath some unlucky, and very gone clone's feet. "All the more reason to push my limits though, so I know how far I can push it without getting exploded, ya know?"

"Sure…" Suddenly, Tayuya wasn't quite as keen on learning it for herself. "Anything else you're working on that won't flash fry you if you sneeze?"

Naruto pointed at another group. Tayuya followed, her eyes being drawn to one specific clone who seemed to be manipulating dozens of small, rose-gold spheres.

"There ain't much of a limit to what my chains can do, except for myself." Naruto groaned. "But that's a pretty big limit, 'cuz I can only handle so much at once. It's hard as hell to multitask with them, so I'm trying to refine that a bit. By splitting my focus between a whole bunch of those spheres, I'm trying to get comfortable using my chains entirely separate from myself while I fight."

"What, like that raccoon-eyed kid?" She remembered that he was able to control sand from that gourd of his…

Naruto shrugged. "That'd be the end goal, but unlike what Gaara seems to do, controlling my chains on that scale ain't really instinctual. I gotta dedicate focus to every individual mass I create; trying to control what- millions of grains like he does? Getting to that point would be a miracle."

"Maybe it'd benefit you to reach out to him then. He seemed quite taken with you by the time he left!"

Naruto considered his mother's suggestion.

"I think he'd really appreciate a letter, ya know?"

He nodded, silently, a pondering frown at his lips.

He'd write him tonight- see if he could hit the post office in the morning after.

Speaking of Gaara though-

Naruto's frown was short lived, a proud smile taking its place. "When I fought Shukaku, I could manipulate a bunch of chains like that to make constructs, but I couldn't move or fight while working with them that way, 'cuz it took so much focus." His grin only widened. "But now, I can handle a dozen or so spheres like that while fighting at nearly one-hundred percent."

That was a scary thought to Tayuya. "That's a lotta progress in just over a month, huh?"

Naruto gestured again to his clones. "When shadow clones dispel, I get back any experiences they've accrued, separate from me."

It was why he could afford to split his focus so much- to keep up with his training while still splitting so much of his personal time to focus on Orochimaru's curse mark.

Of course, "Using clones to train ain't exactly one-to-one in efficiency, since a bunch of factors can change how much value I get out of them; however, with the right oversight, even a bad day is worth a couple dozen days of good training."

Tayuya felt her mouth go dry. "So- w-what's a good day, then?"

"Like I said, it ain't one-to-one; that goes both ways." Naruto grinned, but didn't elaborate any further.

"Asshole," Tayuya wheezed. She shifted uncomfortably, really stewing in just what all of that meant.

Even lowballing his gains down to just a dozen days of effective progress, if he'd been at this since they'd returned two weeks ago, that was nearly half a year's worth of progress at the absolute minimum…

That was scary to think about; far too scary to even entertain. So, shaking her head free of that thought, Tayuya tried to change the subject a bit. "Er- sooo… I can do this:" Procuring her flute, she blew a harsh note into the thing, a nervous grin teasing her lips as a branch fell, not far off.

Naruto's eyes seemed to glimmer with interest. "You're a wind nature!?" His grin was nearly contagious, and Tayuya let her chest puff out just a bit with pride.

"That's right! Your cheatsy clone bullshit doesn't have shit on my ability to cut flimsy branches with the power of music!"

"She's right, you know-" Katsuyu wiggled out from Naruto's sleeve, admiring the clean cut of the branch. "Chicks dig music."

"I can confirm," Kushina agreed, a bit too readily. "I'm a chick, and I love music. Your father could play a mean triangle, ya know!"

The thought of Iwa's boogeyman jamming out on the triangle with his old war buddies was one that made Naruto's laughter spill over.

Not missing a beat, Katsuyu offered- "I could teach you the ocarina, if you'd like! I learned years ago, because I'd heard they give you time powers!"

"I'd be down." Naruto was happy to humor her. Katsuyu was far more fun than he could have ever imagined. To Tayuya though- "You wanna teach me the basics?"

"Of wind?" Tayuya blinked slowly. Then her face pinkened a bit. "Er- I mean, I'm not some expert or something. Orochimaru had started to teach me back in the day-" Then her expression darkened. "But I didn't have a lot of talent for it, so he lost interest."

In the end, he'd been far more interested in her proficiency for genjutsu- enough at least to humor her passion for music.

"Get me started," Naruto insisted, his smile still as eager as ever. "And we can work on it together, after."

"Dumbass, I told you, I ain't talented at it-"

"It's fine." Naruto's grin softened a bit, shifting into something that was more encouraging- more understanding than before. "We'll do it together. Genjutsu too, if you want. Kurenai-sensei taught me a bit about spirit control, if you need a partner."

Together, huh? Tayuya shook her head a bit, unwilling to let the boy see her flustered. "W-whatever… But ain't it bad for you to be splitting your focus so much between so many different things? Even with clones or whatever, that's a lotta shit to juggle."

"She's right, ya know." Kushina interjected, quickly. "Even if your clones can focus on things separately from you, there's still a big mental burden that we shoulder from having so many of them active, constantly relaying information between each other. Then there's having to regularly direct them as well so they don't lose efficiency; between all of that, then all the work you're doing with your dances and chains… I can help you juggle some tasks and process information, since we're connected like we are- but even that has its limits. If you take on too much, you're gonna start burning us both out."

Right… He had to remember that he was now splitting the burden of his efforts between them. It wouldn't be right for him to over-stack their priorities, in that case.

Naruto frowned in thought. "I can probably afford to rearrange my priorities a bit to put the curse mark and wind-release closer to the top, and shelve a few things to make room."

Tayuya grinned. "Well in that case, I'll teach ya, but I wanna learn your dumb clone thingy!"

Naruto was ready enough to agree, but it was Katsuyu who interjected. "Hold on." Her tone was a bit more serious than he was used to. "Forbidden jutsu like the Shadow Clone are called forbidden for a reason."

Ah, right… Naruto winced. "She's right; they're super dangerous… If you mess up even a little, it could kill-"

"That's why it's important to have proper protection!" Katsuyu cheered. "I've got a bulletproof vest, some painkillers, and a crate full of bubble wrap back at my place; let me just pop on over real quick, and we'll have you snug as a bug and ready for action!

Then she was gone in a puff of smoke, leaving her audience stunned silent by her antics.

"Signing that contract was the smartest thing we ever did, X'omaa."

Naruto could only nod dumbly at his mother's words.

---

It had taken a few days, but Iruka had really stepped up, judging by the whole crate that he had personally delivered to his old student's door.

"Don't worry about returning them," He had advised with a wry smile. "I called in a favor; they're all just copies."

Inside of the thing, books, manuscripts, and notes, each painstakingly put together on Naruto's behalf. There was so much, he didn't think he could go through them all in a year, let alone a mere month!

Good thing he was great at cheating. Though, he could do without the constant headache. His head throbbed something fierce as he snuck a look around, wincing a bit at the harshness of the light above.

Hinata had visited Neji again that morning, and he knew she would be meeting with her team after; they had started taking missions again, now that the lion's share of the reconstruction effort had come to a close. He had personally pushed for Tsunade to give her team a long one…

It wasn't like he didn't want her around, but he really wasn't looking forward to having to deal with a pissed off Hiashi Hyuga; hell, he doubted Hinata was ready to speak to the guy either..

But that meant it was just him and Tayuya for the time being.

Oh, and Katsuyu, of course.

"What am I, chopped liver?" Kushina groused. The spider- Kumoko, as he forcibly corrected himself- hissed in tandem with his mother's faux annoyance.

Naruto rolled his eyes, as she knew well that both she and Kumoko were very much implied, at this point.

Good to see that those two were seemingly getting along, at least.

He shook his head, once again trying to focus himself on his surroundings. He really couldn't afford to let his mind drift at a time like this.

Clones littered the apartment, taking refuge along the floor, walls, and even ceiling. Tayuya sat cramped between his legs, knee-to-knee with a clone on either side while he the original once again looked over the mark on her neck.

"You tied this shit too damn tight, you ass," Tayuya grumbled, picking grumpily at the hairband he'd used to pin her hair up.

"My bad. I'm almost done," Naruto tried to reassure the girl, but she could tell his focus was elsewhere; his hands deftly inscribed yet another iteration of the same thing that had begun to dominate the pages of his sketch pad. "Alright, we're good."

He undid the tie and let her stand, and the redhead groaned as her bones all seemed to click just right.

"Fuck, that's good!" She bent backward until her spine finally gave with an audible pop; Tayuya yelped, slipping and falling back down. "Don't you dare laugh…"

But Naruto hardly seemed to notice the blunder. Instead, he flipped through the notepad with focus like a razor's edge. Back and forth, he seemed to cut to each iteration of his work, and his frown only seemed to grow more pronounced with every flip.

"What's up?" Tayuya plopped down onto the couch beside him, leaning over the boy's shoulder to inspect his work.

None of it made much sense to her. "This shit looks like it oughta be written in chalk on some prison walls."

Right there." Kushina confirmed it first. He followed her focus, and groaned.

"Oh for the love of-" Naruto petulantly tossed the thing, letting it fly over a clone's head and slide a few feet; its pages broke apart and scattered across the floor, where one frowning clone immediately began to recollect them. "God, I fucking hate this guy!"

"O-oi, what the fuck are you getting so worked up for-"

"Not now!" Naruto stopped her, burying his face into his hands.

"Er- a-alright?" Not sure what else to do, Tayuya could only sit silently beside him, eyes flicking all around in search of some reprieve. She thankfully found that solace in the form of Katsuyu's dog-sized form, who peered over the couch at her disgruntled summoner. She was wearing an apron, off-white and embroidered proudly with neat, blocky letters that read: Don't Ask Who's In the Stew

"I think it's time for a lunch break! I made burgers!"

"How the hell did you do that without arms?" Tayuya eyed the peculiar creature with unmitigated awe.

"Oh, I was a fast food worker on the side for a year or two, back in my college days when money was tight. Y'know, the secret is all in the seasoning- tons of MSG."

That didn't answer her question at all…

Naruto took a deep breath, prying his hands from his face and exhaling. "Yeah, lunch sounds good."

They cleared some space at the table, and it was halfway into his meal that he finally explained.

"Orochimaru is a fucking cockroach, y'know that?" Tayuya and Katsuyu eyed him questioningly, and he sighed. "The seal self-updates."

Tayuya frowned. "But didn't you expect that that might be the case?"

"Sure, but it's literally the worst case…" Naruto clenched his eyes for a moment, then scarfed down the rest of his meal in an instant. "Problem is I don't know what triggers it to change, and I'd almost convinced myself that it didn't, 'cuz the differences were so hard to spot."

It was only his own growing intuition that had made him suspicious enough to keep looking, and Kushina's more experienced eye that had even managed to point it out at all.

Another sigh. "I need to get a magnifying glass."

A clone spoke up from across the room- the same one who had begun to meticulously re-bind the pages of the notepad he'd tossed. "Shouldn't be too tough to modify some goggles, yeah?" He waved the book in his hands for the original to see. "I'm all done with this, if you want me to figure that out."

"Yeah, please. And- er, sorry for chucking it…" The clone only waved him off, so Naruto stood and brushed himself off. "I need a break. I'll be back."

He ignored the other two, rushing for retreat by exiting the home.

Hasty steps took him far from the place, and Naruto found himself seated at his favored grounds, simply staring into the lake.

The proctor woman was really dragging her feet in coming to see him; a problem that was quickly growing more frustrating by the hour.

He had already made peace with the fact that he might have to put his foot down with Sasuke soon enough. That mark had to come off, with or without the guy's say-so. And hell, if he wasn't dreading that particular conversation; god, he could just picture it!

As for her- well, his well of patience with her had well and dried up. Unlike before, she was getting increasingly difficult to just track down- especially when he had to dedicate so much manpower to the current task. Tsunade had chided him for pranking her too, along with delivering a warning.

"Danzo was asking about you."

Just what he needed: Danzo-fucking-Shimura trying to recruit him. Especially while his hands were tied so utterly with Orochimaru's deranged pet project!

"I'll crush it in a month!"

Heh… He really needed to learn better than to run his mouth so recklessly.

"What did you expect?" Kushina chastised him with a half-laugh. "Orochimaru isn't just some regular schmuck; you can't afford to underestimate him, ya know."

"I ain't underestimating him." Naruto knew well just how terrifying Orochimaru could be. He and his team had nearly died to him in the Forest of Death. Hell, the guy had nearly killed Hiruzen so dead that weeks of care later, Tsunade the Legendary Turbo-Medic was still piecing him back together. Plus, Orochimaru had left that fight with the old man nearly unscathed to then wreak havoc on Tanzaku Town. He knew the man was a monster- somebody to be feared, or at least barring that, to be truly wary of. "I ain't underestimating him," He said again. "But I have to be better than him…"

He shook his head.

Before she'd left, Hinata had told him that she'd visited Sasuke; his friend's mental state wasn't getting much better, but the doctors were running out of reasons to keep him there under watch. Soon enough, they'd have to discharge him, and who knew what Sasuke might do in his current mental state, between both Itachi and Orochimaru's meddling…

Tayuya and her friends as well- the more he learned about the seal, the more desperately he wanted it off of them all.

Forget a month. He couldn't even see the threat, but he knew well that he was running out of time.

A sigh. "I can't afford to let him just do what he wants, ya know?"

"I know, dear…"

"You talk to yourself often, bud?" Anko Mitarashi's voice startled him out of his thoughts, a duo of shuriken slipping between his fingers as he jolted to his feet.

When had she-

"Hehe… Yeah, that's my bad," Kushina chuckled, sheepishly. "I was resting a little."

No- he shook his head. He'd been off guard too; if anything, it was on him doubly so for overworking them both. He really oughta know better by now.

Glancing back at the peculiar woman, Naruto shook his head, a tired fake-smile filling his face. "Only when I'm alone." The metal in his hand melted back beneath his flesh, and he brushed himself off. "Y'know, I expected to see you a few days ago." He hardened, a stern glare manifesting for her. The migraine bulging in his skull certainly wasn't helping his patience with his charge. "It ain't cool to waste peoples' time, ya know."

"Hehe, whoops!" Anko's smile was as fake as they came. She waved her hands before her, as if seeking to ward off the boy's judgment. "I guess I got a little shy!"

Naruto's frown only deepened; he took a breath, cooling his head. "Yeah, no." Then he shook his head and began to leave.

"Uh-" Anko tried to fall in step beside him. "Ain't you supposed to- er, you know…"

"Are you gonna punch her?"

God, he was sorely tempted.

Mito's fury was beginning to stir again; the old woman had hated to have her time wasted. Naruto drew to a stop, fighting with himself to keep all of that under lock as he collected his thoughts. "Let me make something perfectly clear, girl" He began. The hard light of his glare punched through her facade, and Anko found herself sobering up a bit more at the clear threat behind that stare. "That seal on your neck is a disease. You can't stop it; the best we've got at the moment can only slow it, because every second that that wretched thing stays on yours and my friends' necks is a second that it bloody evolves! For all we know, one of these days, you're gonna keel over, and Orochimaru is gonna be staring right through your eyes!"

Anko paled. "O-oh…"

"Yeah, oh!" Naruto hissed, a violent sneer etching its lines for her to see. His eye twitched, and Naruto took a half-step after her, his fist clenching; then he drew back with a sharp curse. "Fucking- I don't have time to play around and bullshit with you, alright? I'm busting my ass trying to figure all of this shit out before it gets out of control; I'm trying to help you, and here you are wasting my fucking time with that smug, idiot smile on your face like you didn't just piss away two days to make some dumbfuck point!" His teeth gnashed as took another half-step forward, the shriek of metal grinding from within. "Grow up!"

Anko winced, suddenly looking very uncomfortable." Er- I-"

Naruto steamrolled her. "Now I don't care if you're pissy that you have to listen to a kid, or if you just ain't taking any of this seriously because you don't believe I can do it, but you're gonna get your shit together, or I swear to god I'll make you regret it!"

She hesitated a moment, but then she nodded, now looking terribly chastened. "M-my bad. I- uh, I guess I can be a bit of a pest, hehe..."

"Oh, now she's pouting." Kushina teased him, prodding at her son's sneering cheek. "Lighten up, dear. She gets the point."

Right…

He took a breath.

Inhale…

Exhale…

"We're going to my place," He breathed. "I'll run a basic diagnostic and compare it to Tayuya's, then I'll draw yours and note the differences."

He needed to find that pattern. If he could just figure out what triggered it, he could isolate and deactivate it.

"If I can shut down whatever matrix is triggering adaptation, I can be sure I've got a handle on it. And once I know for sure what we're working with, his mark will fall apart…"

"You're- uh, you're talking to yourself again…"

Naruto shook his head, waving off Anko's critique as if swatting it out of the air.

A few of his clones had already started to dispel, their findings charring into the back of his skull, but lightening the burden overall.

"I'll see if I can't get those organized for you; we'll go over them together, tonight, alright?"

Yeah. 'Thanks'.

"Let's go."

---

Hinata had gotten used to Tsunade's rather standoffish demeanor. The woman could be quite sweet with Naruto, but getting her to even crack a smile otherwise seemed an impossibility.

She knew though that it wasn't really personal with their Fifth Hokage; it was just how she was…

In any case, she had gotten used to it. But she was realizing with some silent amusement that the rest of her team, Kurenai-sensei included, were far less savvy to the Slug Sannin's ways.

"Shut up," She ordered the quietly bickering Kiba and Shino, as soon as the duo entered her office. "Whatever you twerps are whining about, you can save it for outside."

"W-we weren't even whining-" Kiba tried to defend himself, but Tsunade cut in again.

"Shut. Up." This time, her eyes were hard, pinning Kiba under her reproach.

"Er- y-yes ma'am…"

Even Kurenai seemed a bit put off by the woman's surly attitude. Nonetheless, she guided her trio of students, letting the three line up ahead of herself in proper fashion. As Hinata found her place before the stern face of her village's leader, she smiled just a bit at the near-imperceptible nod that the woman gave her.

Well, maybe Lady Tsunade was warming up to her a bit- even if she still wasn't sure that the woman remembered her name.

"I'm sending you out of the village," Tsunade started with little fanfare. She shuffled a few documents, prying one particular bundle of pages out from a manila folder that Hinata noticed with concern had her name on it.

Oh, okay. Maybe she did!

When Tsunade noticed her attention, she made a show of waving the thing for her whole team to see. Bluntly, she explained- "I heard you got into some trouble with your head of house. Naruto called in a personal favor- asked that I get you some space from your father for a little bit… You're welcome."

"Hokage-sama?" Kurenai eyed the folder with just a bit of reproach. "You're sending us out of the village… Because Narut- Uzumaki-san-" She tried to correct herself. "-Because he asked you to?"

For a Hokage to so blatantly play favorites- and with a mere Chunin, at that. Was that really okay?

"Yeah, ain't that a bit weird? I mean- at least try to be sly about it-" Kiba yelped as Tsunade slammed the folder down without so much as looking his way.

"This mission was originally meant for Team Gai," She carried on as if she had not heard either of the two. "But seeing as one of their strongest members and set of eyes is currently wrapped condom tight in a full body cast-" She gave Hinata a wry grin, but the young Hyuga was more aghast at her crude choice of wording. "I figure the one who did it oughta pick up his slack for him, huh?"

Hearing that, Hinata was suddenly far more attentive, and Kurenai was beginning to understand what this really was.

Clearly, Hinata's guilt over her cousin was something that still plagued her, even after Neji himself had assured her several times that he held no hard feelings for the girl. By assigning her this mission- was Lady Tsunade meaning to distract her student under the guise of helping young Neji Hyuga?

Well, judging by Hinata's reaction, Lady Tsunade's wisdom was perhaps spot on.

"We'll accept the mission, Hokage-sama," Kurenai announced. Kiba, Hinata, and Shino each perked up at her sudden change in tune. "Thank you for the opportunity."

"Hmm…" Tsunade eyed the trio's sensei, looking the woman up and down through a half-lidded gaze. "Naruto did say you were damn smart… Good."

Kurenai blushed, at the clear show of praise from the living legend. "T-thank you, ma'am. I'm truly honored-"

"Don't be a kiss ass, now." Tsunade rolled her eyes and tossed the jonin the folder; it soared right over Shino's head and into Kurenai's readied grasp. "And don't screw this up either. It's important."

"R-right…" Team Eight's sensei looked over the mission in question that they'd been offered, and then she blinked, twice. "A B-ranked mission… Ts-Tsunade-sama, are you sure that my team is qualified for this?"

"Well I certainly hope you are, for all of your sakes." Then Tsunade waved them away. "Now get lost. I'm busy."

---

Kimimaro had been acclimating well to his symbiosis with the Yamata no Orochi. In the weeks since he had retreated with his boys away from the wreckage of Tanzaku town, the young man's health had improved by the day. Where once, his dear boy would have struggled to be active for more than a few short minutes at a time, now he walked confidently on his own two feet, revitalized- night and day, as if given new life!

"You know-" Orochimaru began, his knuckles finding his cheek from the stone throne that had become the centerpiece of his chamber. Oh, if Sarutobi-sensei could see him now. "-If there's one thing that I am beginning to understand in my years, it's that the simplest answers are often the best ones."

"Is that so, Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto seemed to only half pay attention to his master, kneeled over a spread of tools and a half-wrapped body, right before the Snake Sannin. Tufts of light-blue hair retreated further and further still behind the layers of sealed wrappings that worked away at him. His face was not one that Orochimaru remembered well, even frozen stiff with the paralytics that Kabuto had injected into his system.

Though, he at least remembered that this one had held particular talent that Orochimaru had held an interest in.

"Why, of course! We spent- oh, how long- exhausting such precious resources to restore my dear Kimimaro, and yet it turned out in the end that simply healing him faster than his body could break down was all it took in the end." He laughed, fondly.

A shame that the poor boy seemed rather distant, since he'd been bonded to Orochimaru's pet. Perhaps he was simply embarrassed, to have been made to appear so pathetic in the presence of his master.

Oh, but he'd get over it…

Kabuto though, didn't seem to share the man's sentiment.

"Surely you understand that his fix is not permanent? His condition is ever-advancing, my lord. Some day- it does not need to be now or even soon-, but someday his illness will overwhelm even the stopgaps you have put in place for him…

Orochimaru sighed.

Honestly, would it kill the boy to let him be at least a little optimistic?

"Sure, sure… But that day is much farther along than before. We have weeks or months now, where we once had mere days."

Which meant he had more time to plan. And oh, would he need it, for he knew better than to take Tsunade's threat likely.

No, before long she would be at his throat, and he would need every resource available to remain one step ahead.

The innate adaptation of the Yamata no Orochi would at least help Kimimaro to stay ahead of his body's deterioration for some time. The rot, controlled as it was, would also keep the boy's cancerous growths from continuing to develop. However, Kabuto was correct that it was not at all sustainable.

For just as Kimimaro's new roommate could adapt its host for survival, so-too did the rot that it housed within itself. Some day, it would grow well beyond what its host could withstand.

"But I have a solution for that too," Orochimaru crooned.

"Oh?" Now, Kabuto finally looked interested.

"Mhm…" He raised a palm, a trio of ink-like blotches seeping up through his skin and onto his palm. They twisted and shaped themselves, taking the familiar form of his ultimate prize. Three blackened tomoe stared back at him. "The curse mark was originally designed with a great number of functions."

The modern mark was far more straightforward. By steadily overwriting the body with new material and suppressing the host's will, they would, over time, become the perfect vessels for him to control. That function was disguised by the rush of power and addictive drugs that it passively used to keep its hosts compliant. Ultimately, it was simply designed to future proof his potential hosts, so that they could not attempt to reject him or seize control back after the fact, especially once he swapped again and took their talents with him.

But when he had first worked on the earliest stages of the mark, things had been far less set in stone. He had not even been sure what its final purpose would be! It was the sum of his life's work- both the good, and the bad.

What would its final shape become?

Would it be a power up, so that his dear apprentice would remain safe when she was no longer under his wing?

Or perhaps a messaging system, so that he might never be far when she needed him most…

Maybe a leash, for when she would inevitably betray him…

He sighed. "I marked my dear Anko with some sloppy mess of a seal. It was a wealth of potential- a bunch of zeroes, which should one day become something great, but never truly would."

He had lost faith in the mark entirely when his student failed to acclimate to it.

Memories of the girl's limp body in his arms, her tiny heart sputtering to a dead stop. Frantic flashes as he hurled himself about in search of his notes as her condition worsened.

Relief, as the antivenom set in and her condition finally stabilized.

Pain, at the terror and distrust that she looked at him with, when she had awoken.

"Tch!"

Surely, she should have known that he would never have hurt her… That he had always wished for her to be by his side- that everything he had built could have been hers as well, if she could only have trusted in her master's vision.

Clearly then, the problem was with her. Kimimaro held no such doubt in his lord, and Orochimaru had rewarded that faith in full.

"Orochimaru-sama?" Kabuto's call restored his focus, and Orochimaru let out a fake laugh.

"Ah yes, where was I?" His thoughts arranged themselves neatly before him, organizing an explanation that he hoped would satisfy the young man. "Many of the original functions of the curse mark were eventually phased out, as my research grew more sophisticated."

More obscure functions, like the built-in can-opening sequence- "It just wasn't feasible to include them all in the final product. Let alone to chase all of their potentials to the very limit.

Then the Snake-like man sneered. "Unfortunately, much of my early research was torched by that old monkey after he chased me out of the village."

It had been his own damn fault. Not only had he been foolish enough to let Anko live, knowing that she would betray him, but he had even snuck back into the village for a time to observe her on the sly; his curiosity had overtaken his sense, for he had wished to see what lasting effects his work would leave on the girl.

"It's not like you to not make copies, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto chided the man, a teasing lilt in his tone.

"Oh hush, you. Even I was young and foolish, once!" He chuckled, his good mood returning, some. "But I was going somewhere with all of this… Anko's mark is, for all intents and purposes, some hodgepodge mess of all of my old work."

"And you believe that if you can reclaim her, then you might be able to salvage some of that work?"

As usual, Kabuto truly was sharp.

"Indeed," Orochimaru breathed, some affection for the young man surfacing. "The problem with my dear Kimimaro's condition is that his illness is self-replicating. The cancers in his body grow faster than the mark can correct them. I suspect that this is in part because I had marked him only after his disease had already started to develop." Orochimaru shrugged. "If we truly wished to cure him, we would need to either find a way to burn out all of those growths entirely until nothing remains-"

A risky play, especially given the fact that the boy was only just beginning to recover his strength.

His snakelike jaw twisted, fixing itself with a smile that was far too wide. "-Or find a way to reset him all at once."

Kabuto frowned. "And you believe that there's something in that mark that could be used to do exactly that."

"More or less," Orochimaru hummed. He stood and stretched. As he walked past his underling, he patted Kabuto's shoulder. "Come."

"And what of this one?" Kabuto stood as well with a grunt, hauling the fully wrapped body into his arms and following after his master. "Shall he wait?"

"Well he's certainly not going anywhere, now is he?" The two shared a morbid chuckle. "Yes, he can wait. In the meantime, I would like you to get a message out to an old associate of mine."

---

That's the chapter!

We're moving into the next arc, proper. For the next couple of chapters, I'm planning to do something a bit ambitious, so keep an eye out for that! Hopefully it turns out well.

Let me know your thoughts in the reviews- things you liked; things you didn't like. I'm here for all of it.

Thanks again for reading. Until next time, but before I go, I'll leave you with a little something else that I wrote.

---

Omake: A Children's Card Game

"You can't do that," Naruto chided Katsuyu with a sigh.

"Pardon?" She looked up at him, her two eyestalks drooping a bit in disappointment. "What do you mean I can't!?"

Another sigh. "Your card says you can only drop it if you either pay six-hundred life points, or you sacrifice two units of the same subclass. You've got a mecha unit and a fae unit on board- which by the way have anti-synergy, and you only have five-hundred life points… You can't do that," He repeated, this time more firmly.

"B-but I've always done this!" Katsuyu whined, now looking between her fresh-faced opponent and the board beneath them. "It's always been fine before!"

"Katsuyu-san, it says it on the card's flavor text. You've been doing it wrong!"

Flavor text?

Katsuyu glanced down, following the point of her summoner's finger, for the first time noticing the wall of script that lay on the lower half of the card. "Huh… You know, I've never noticed that before."

Naruto palmed his face. "So you've just been making shit up!?"

"Er- I suppose? I just watch videos online." Her befuddled expression cheered quickly. "So I guess everybody is making things up, huh?"

Naruto let out a half-snicker from behind his palm.

"I don't think the fans of this game actually read their cards, darling." Kushina joined in laughing, but stopped abruptly at the sight of Kumoko's oversized mouth drooling over the mirroring set of cards she'd spread out before her. "Ack! Kumoko, no! Those are collector's items!"

They were imaginary copies…

"They're imaginary copies of collector's items!" She insisted, wrestling fruitlessly with the oversized menace.