This is the Lucky Start?
by harryoftherubysword

III
MURIKA FUKKIĒ

Heavy was the head that wore the Hokage hat.

Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed as he read the report in front of him.

A great tragedy had been averted on that afternoon–all the merit of a ready ANBU squad, and the quick work of the competent and brilliant iryō-nin of the Shinobi Hospital: mere civilian physicians wouldn't have saved the girl from such a great fall, otherwise.

But what should be a thankful near miss turned out to be a handful great mess when the case was investigated further.

At first the ANBU patrol was ready to dismiss this as an accident and hand it to the Police, which was only now beginning to take a respectable shape after the Uchiha clan had been almost completely wiped out. But something held their hand, and they proceeded with the investigation.

And then it Torture and Interrogation had to assume the case.

Hiruzen glanced over the report at Yamanaka Inoichi, Mitarashi Anko and Nara Shikaku as they awaited his command.

"The link remains unclear to me. Is there any way this can be proved? Was there evidence of it in her apartment?"

Anko straightened up as she answered.

"Yes, Hokage-sama. Partial blood sample results point to the girl's father being the spy T&I captured last month. There were a set of incriminating items and messages hidden in the ceiling, inside the doors and jammed down a bathroom sink," she said, while handing a transcript of them to the Hokage. "We also found a scroll containing what is apparently a codified message. With your permission, it is ready to be sent to the Cryptanalysis Team."

Hiruzen nodded, while glancing at Shikaku to measure his opinion of it.

"There is conflicting information on the girl's name. Tell me the whole story from the start."

Shikaku shifted his weight to the other foot, his stance apparently relaxed, but his stare intense as he relayed the events of the afternoon.

"Around twenty minutes before noon, a little girl was seen descending the stairs from a building in the Fruit district, owned by Takao, an orange merchant originally from Nami no Kuni, who settled in Konoha a few months after the Kyūbi attack."

"He was already questioned about it. It seemed whoever had rented the place used a Henge of an elderly ink seller who'd died three years ago," added Anko. "We're already re-opening that case, too."

"Chōza believes that he used Takao-san's caravans and contacts to send his messages. He has frequent deals with Grass country, and there were rumours of roaming rogue shinobi periodically scouting their countryside and harassing some of the civilians on occasion," complemented Inoichi. "He moves to gather more information on his contact network as we speak."

Hiruzen nodded, as he waited for Shikaku to continue.

"The girl seemed quite delighted to be out of the apartment. We suspected that her … father sheltered her and hid her for the first years of her life."

"If he indeed is the one who was captured last month, he would have reason to do so," said Inoichi. "Iwa does not tolerate their spies siring children on the job–they would've preferred sending assassins to kill the both of them."

Shikaku weighed his words–it wouldn't be something Konoha would tolerate, also, but that went without saying.

And perhaps they at least would try to find recourse, before killing an innocent child. At least that was what they all believed. Or would like to believe, anyhow.

"She seemed quite taken with the market, introducing herself and greeting every passer-by."

"And how did she introduce herself?" asked Hiruzen.

"That is the conflicting part. Some say that she quite cheerily introduced herself as Muri Ka, which would fit with what we know about the spy. Some however said she was saying Amerika; some even said she presented herself as Merika Fukkiē. She speaks a dialect not known to us with a great amount of rhoticity in her speech–some thought it resembled a language of the westernmost part of Kaze no Kuni, but none of the words fit."

Shikaku paused then, looking at Inoichi, who gave him a curt, almost imperceptible smile before saying:

"I thought that perhaps with her limited knowledge of our language she had assumed that putting ka at the end of her phrases would signify her question. It is right, after all, but it is a little more complicated than that. So when she asked for Muri Ka …"

The Sandaime Hokage closed his eyes for just a sliver too long–there it was: a little girl, stranded and lost, apparently abandoned by her father since he was captured as a spy a month ago, asking around for him after she finally gathered the courage to leave her hiding place. When taking into account her fall …

Shikaku seemed to understand what the Hokage was thinking as he went on.

"We cannot rule out suicide yet. It is a daunting prospect, and we will not necessarily have more information after she wakes up–the iryō-nin responsible for her case says that it will be a miracle if her mind is functional after she wakes up; the head trauma was extensive. We'll have to rely on the civilian accounts–some shinobi saw her and briefly interacted with her, but none of them had more than an impression to report. Mikami-san, an elderly lady who runs a tea shop near the apartment, reports that the girl seemed quite nervous and pleaded to her to give some green tea to calm down–she was also speaking that strange dialect mixed with the Common Language," he then paused, as he carefully considered his next words. "We also cannot rule out malicious intent–not with her supposed lineage."

Anko couldn't help but let out a frustrated sigh at that supposition. The girl was only 8 years old, after all. But she understood it, nonetheless.

The Hokage then glanced at the next file, that of Muri Supai, an infiltrated Iwa agent, 63 years old, that had been captured last month but managed his suicide while in custody of T&I even after the sedation and the suppressors on him. It had been a huge upset to Ibiki, but knowing more about their clan, it should be inevitable at some point. It was fortunate that he hadn't took anyone with him.

"I had thought that the last of the Muri had died in the war," said the Hokage, the question hanging in the air.

Inoichi and Shikaku exchanged a quick glance.

"Muri Shunko was defeated in battle by Chōza–he was the last presumed Muri alive. It was a wonder so many survived for so long with their kekkei genkai, but they were really troublesome when the tide turned against them–it made them the perfect last-standing efforts of the Explosion Corps, as they didn't even need the Bakuton (Explosion release); they only needed to stay conscious to activate it. Only Chōza could have survived it," said Shikaku.

"He saved me on that day. I studied the clan extensively after that encounter, but with the last Muri dead and the dearth of reports around them, there was little to study. I only managed to uncover some secrets with Supai's capture and … a personal theory. Apparently he forged his death to serve as a spy before his son was killed," said Inoichi. "I would be willing to bet he only reigned in his revenge because of the girl–she has their eyes, after all" completed Inoichi, somewhat melancholic.

The Hokage inclined his head in his direction, motioning him to continue.

"Long ago, in the Warring States Period, long before even Ino-Shika-Cho, when we were nothing but a clan of herbalists, our techniques yet too unrefined to make our stand in the world, we had an alliance with another clan, the Aoi.

"They had one eye of each colour, like the little girl, and commanded either Suiton (Water release) or Doton (Earth release). Their legends told that a goddess spinned a silver plate whenever a new Aoi was born, and that it would either fall face down, falling on the earth, whereupon the soil would bear their produce on it and fill the plate, or it would fall face up, serving to collect water from the sky and serve as a source of clear water to roaming creatures. The legend also said that if the plate stopped on its side, it would only serve to reflect the light from above and focus it on a single point, bringing fire and destruction.

"Ever since the encounter with Shunko I wondered if they were descendants of the Aoi–a family shunned by their inability to bear their gift. It is a loose theory, but what I've seen in Muri Supai's mind greatly reminds me of the Aoi description. Not their abilities, properly, but their capability of transforming the energy from the Heavens into that of the world."

Hiruzen considered that for a moment.

"The Muri kekkei genkai, capable of transmutating spiritual energy into physical energy, compressing it and storing it for a final release, or for strengthening their bodies. A great ability, but one that came with a heavy price: it could only be used in its full extension at the moment of death, when they would explode as they have their final breath; it fortified the body while they were still alive, but at the expense of the spirit–addiction was commonplace amongst them: drugs, alcohol, gambling," and the Hokage's eyes glinted as he read the report. "And women," he said, while Anko frowned. "Which would explain the girl's sudden appearance–each person grieves in their own way, after all."

They were working on a lot of assumptions, but Hiruzen felt that they were close to figuring this out.

And who knows, perhaps Konoha would have another kekkei genkai after it was all over.

Or perhaps …

His eyes hardened as he continued to read the report.

Or perhaps they would have to end this at once. He glanced at Inoichi, who had a far-away look on his face; at Anko, who was uncomfortable with the girl's prospects; he glanced, finally, at Shikaku, who seemed to have already figured it all out.

But for now, he would wait. Her supposed father had not betrayed her, and apparently took good care of her before she was left alone. Even if he was an enemy, Hiruzen wasn't so inclined to dismiss his sacrifice so readily. He had risked his position and his identity to keep her safe–he could respect that.

But he would only reserve judgment up until a point, when he would have to make his decision. And perhaps then he would truly see if Danzo's warnings about him going soft really did ring true. Many lives were in his hand, and an apparently innocent one was at the tip of his kunai–too bad this one tended to explode when he did that. He would pass his judgment.

But not now.

One day … but not now.

He sighed and rubbed his temples.

Heavy was the head that wore the Hokage hat.