Heavy the head (that carries the crown)

by corentin.robert23

hi

Main Content

Archive of Our Own betaArchive of Our Own Log In

Fandoms Browse Search About Work Search tip: katekyou "alternate universe" sort:words

Skip header

Actions

Chapter by Chapter Comments Share Download

Work Header

Rating:

Explicit

Archive Warnings:

Graphic Depictions Of ViolenceMajor Character Death

Category:

F/M

Fandom:

Naruto

Characters:

Uzumaki NarutoHatake KakashiOriginal Character(s) - CharacterSenju TsunadeShimura DanzoNara ShikamaruNara ShikakuUchiha SasukeHaruno SakuraYamatoSaiUchiha Obito

Additional Tags:

SI/OCReincarnationActionAdventureAngstHumorOC is sick of everyone one's shitgirl has had enough and Everyone gonna feel itswords and pointy teeth make a person way scarier when pissedCanon Divergence

Language:

English

Series:

Previous Work Part 3 of A Broken Crown Still Shines Next Work

Stats:

Published:2020-10-12Completed:2020-12-08Words:184,716Chapters:100/100Comments:2,557Kudos:1,902Bookmarks:260Hits:53,238

Heavy Is The Head (That Wears The Crown)

Shiniko1898

Summary:

Naruto is Back and things are slowly spinning out of control. For Ishihara Katsumi, nothing is going to stay the same.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes and other works inspired by this one.)

Chapter 1

Chapter Text

The day Naruto comes back is a beautiful one. Warm air and clear skies. Katsumi is busy working with Kakashi-Sensei on expanding her fire jutsu repertoire. Sensei has been pushing her hard since Sasuke's disappearance. Wants her to be able to use fire jutsu with the same ease she does water jutsu. Wants to get her started on another chakra nature so she'll be ready for the jounin exams in another year or so. Katsumi isn't sure why Sensei is suddenly pushing to prepare her for those. She'll only have three, maybe four, years experience as a Chuunin by then. She's not sure that's considered enough time.

He's taught her all he knows of tracking. Taught her how to fight and lead and kill with an ease that Katsumi never thought possible. Even as Dog and Fox, he was teaching her. Teaching her how to keep going, how to keep from breaking, how to keep Fox and Katsumi separate. It's hard for Katsumi to picture being his equal in only a year or two. Hard to imagine him just being Kakashi instead of Sensei. It doesn't seem possible. Still seems like little more than a joke that she could ever be on his level.

Sensei doesn't seem to think so. He pushes her until her limbs shake and he has to carry her on his back out of the training ground everyday. Pushes her to take missions as a squad leader every chance she gets. Pushes her to be better than she was the day before. Doesn't accept a single excuse for not giving it everything she has and then some. Whenever she meets whatever bar he sets for her, he eye smiles cheerfully at her and tells her to do it again.

It's at the end of one of those sessions, when Sensei is carrying her on his back to go get the dango he promised her if she managed to do three successful Phoenix flower jutsu in a row (Apparently Kakashi-Sensei copied it off Sasuke at some point, because no jutsu is sacred to him) that they hear Naruto is back. Sensei turns his head slightly to look back at where she's resting her head against his shoulder, "Maa, hear that, Katsumi-chan? Our knucklehead is back. Dango or Naruto first?"

Katsumi yawns, as if that needs a real answer. Dango will still be there later. Anko is out on a mission right now, after all.

"Naruto, Kakashi-Sensei. Obviously." Katsumi rolls her eyes despite knowing he can't see it.

Kakashi-Sensei chuckles a little at her, and changes course. Katsumi's not near energetic enough after the training session to even bother questioning how he knows where Naruto is. Just chalks it up to Sensei being Sensei.

Even Taishiro and Chinami hardly have the energy to talk after the training sessions. They've taken to escaping back to the summoning realm to recover from Sensei's insanity. Katsumi would be jealous if she was left with the energy to be. Sensei is a slave driver once he decides on something. And getting her a jounin vest before she's eighteen is apparently his new goal. She wonders if it's another challenge with Gai.

She's hardly paying attention as Sensei walks towards wherever the man thinks Naruto must be. Just watches with one half open eye as they walk through the streets, lazily tracking the movements of the civilians around them. Katsumi hears Naruto well before they reach him. Loud and boisterous, but his voice is deeper and marginally more restrained than she remembers.

Katsumi raises her head from Sensei's back and starts straining to spot her boy. It takes her only a few seconds to zero in on bright blond hair. He's talking loudly with Kiba and Akamaru, looks like their usual good natured posturing and arguing. He's gotten taller. Looks older and more grown into himself. His hair is longer, not quite Yondaime long, but certainly approaching it. Katsumi is relieved to see he's toned down the orange, though she thinks it's only because of the Flak jacket he finally managed to get in the Kusa Chuunin exams.

She practically scrambles off of Kakashi-Sensei's back in her excitement to see her friend. She's missed his brightness, missed the ever present joy he exudes. Sensei laughs at her eagerness and calls out a lazy greeting to Naruto as he pulls his Icha Icha back out.

Naruto is immediately focusing on them. A bright wide smile explodes across his face. Katsumi grins back tiredly, even with her excitement she's still exhausted from her training.

"Kakashi-Sensei! Katsumi-chan!" Before either of them can say anything he's flinging himself at Sensei in a way that's so reminiscent of how he used to hug Sensei that Katsumi feels an even larger burst of joy at seeing it. Before she has a chance to prepare, Naruto has released Sensei and is picking her up in a hug and spinning her around. He's gotten a lot stronger, she can practically feel her ribs threatening to crack with the sheer force of the hug.

When she's final set back down, she's a bit dizzy from the wild spinning and crushing hug. Sensei steadies her with one hand on her shoulder as she regains her bearings.

"Maa, Naruto, lets not break Katsumi-chan, yes?" Sensei's voice is lazy and amused as he speaks.

Naruto scratches the back of his head with one hand and smiles sheepishly, "Sorry, Katsumi-chan! How have you been? I saw you're in the bingo book! That's awesome, dattebayo!"

Katsumi blinks at the reminder that she's worth quite a bit dead, "I've been good, Naruto. How was your trip?"

"It was awesome, dattebayo! I learned fuinjutsu and worked with summoning the toads while we travelled! And we went everywhere, there was so much to do! Pervy sage spent a lot of time perving on girls, but it's fine, I still learned a lot, Dattebayo!"

Katsumi smiles at his enthusiasm. She'd missed this. Missed his sunshine personality. "That's wonderful, Naruto, you'll have to show me some of the fuinjutsu. You know I'm hopeless at seals."

If anything, Naruto looks even more excited at the prospect of showing off what he's learned, "Of course! Team Seven is definitely the most badass team ever now, Dattebayo!"

Katsumi's smile dims a bit at that. Does Naruto know Sasuke is gone? Did Jiraiya tell him? A glance at Kakashi-sensei tells her he's wondering the same thing. When did she get so good at reading the man?

"Maa, Naruto, you should go let Lady Hokage know you're back. Meet us tomorrow at training ground three, I have a test for the two of you."

"Oh, yeah! I need to go see Baa-Chan! I'll be there! Believe it!" Naruto practically disappears in his haste to go see the hokage. Katsumi doesn't understand how he can be so close to the bad tempered woman.

Sensei lets her climb back onto his back to go get dango. He promised after all. He's never broken a promise to her that she's aware of.

"Sensei? Does Naruto know about Sasuke? Or the fact we're getting a new teammate?" Katsumi doesn't think it's going to go over well if he doesn't.

"I'm sure Lady Hokage will tell him, Katsumi-chan. Let's worry about getting you your dango right now, ne?" Kakashi-Sensei's voice is the same light cheerfulness it is whenever he's trying to change the subject nicely. Katsumi allows it. She's planning to ask him about the ANBU mission she was sent on and wants him in a talkative mood. She knows she's not supposed to discuss the ANBU missions with anyone, and really doesn't want to either. But something has been bothering her about the entire thing, aside from just the general awfulness of that mission. She figures if anyone will be able to help her figure it out, it'll be Sensei who practically lived in ANBU for over a decade.

"Kakashi-Sensei? Can we talk somewhere private after we get dango? I need to tell you about something." She shifts a hand to subtly tap on the shoulder that carries his ANBU tattoo.

She feels his body tense minutely before he relaxes, "Maa, Katsumi-chan, of course. We can talk at my apartment. It's private enough."

Katsumi doesn't know how this is going to go, but she knows he's not going to be happy. Sensei gets weird about things sometimes. She'll have to find away to explain without telling him about her actual assignments in ANBU. she still hasn't gotten permission to tell him about Uchiha Obito. Hopefully he'll understand. Sensei's been somewhat more distant since Sasuke disappeared. She can't let him know about Obito yet. Even if it's eating at her.

When she has her box of dango, Sensei Shushins with her on his back to his apartment. It's a nice apartment near the heart of the shinobi district. She knows from past experience it's undecorated and filled with dog bowls and toys for his huge pack.

He sets her down by the couch and pushes her down lightly before going to lock his door. When he comes back, he's utterly serious, and she thinks he might be more Dog than Sensei right now, despite the lack of painted mask.

"Well, Katsumi-chan? What is it?"

She shifts on the old couch for a moment and fiddles with the box of dango. Slowly starts, "I had a mission. A really fucked one. And the more I think about it, the less it makes sense."

Kakashi-Sensei listens silently as she explains the whole thing, explains the strange ANBU she was partnered with and the ANBU Head that took her mission report that she didn't recognize, and the fact that she's only supposed to take specific ANBU missions right now and that wasn't one of them.

When she finishes, he doesn't say a word for a long time. She can see his jaw working under the fabric of his mask though and feel the killing intent seeping into the air. Katsumi doesn't flinch from it though. It's been a long time since killing intent has felt truly threatening to her safety. Especially Sensei's.

"I'll deal with it. From now on, go to Lady Hokage and verify every mission Fox is sent on. It's one of the few allowances ANBU have in regards to challenging orders. We are permitted to confirm mission perimeters with Lady Hokage if we don't understand them. Do that next time. Alright?"

Katsumi nods quietly. She's only been on two ANBU missions, and isn't considered a member of an official division or squad yet. No one told her that.

"Good, you're not at fault, Katsumi-chan. You were following orders. You should never have been on that mission in the first place. You are not to blame." Sensei doesn't eye smile at her, or pat her head. Just looks her in the eyes and speaks as seriously as she's ever heard him. Speaks in a firm, unyielding tone as he tells her it's not her fault.

But that means someone is. Someone is the reason she was sent on a mission she shouldn't have been on in the first place. Katsumi is deeply unnerved by that thought. Thinks of the final thing on her list that hasn't been investigated and thinks she knows whose to blame.

Chapter 2

Chapter Text

Katsumi isn't amused. Sensei wants her and Naruto to do the bell test again. It was a mess the first time. Katsumi isn't interested in repeating it. Naruto is pumped though. He's practically vibrating with excitement where he's squatting on top of the post Katsumi got tied to a lifetime ago. Sensei eye smiles at them, bells dangling loosely in his grasp.

"Remember, If you want these, You'll have to be coming with the intent to kill me."

"Hear that, Katsumi-chan? Kakashi-Sensei is underestimating us, dattebayo." Naruto looks somewhere between thrilled and anticipatory in a predatory sort of way. Like he's been itching for a fight.

"Just you, I think. Better make him pay for it, yeah?" Katsumi bares her teeth in a mocking grin up at the blonde.

Kakashi-Sensei's eye smile intensifies and Katsumi knows he's not going to go easy on them. Knows he'll make last time look like nothing, since skill wise it was nothing.

"Begin."

Katsumi darts into the trees, This time not having to worry about Naruto, he follows her without question. Two years apart means they need to discuss what they can do now. Need to plan.

They settle in a tree well away from Sensei. Katsumi keeps an ear in his direction, waiting for the sound of his heartbeat to start moving. Naruto crouches on the branch across from her, his eyes glittering in excitement.

"Alright. I think the best plan is to make him use his Sharingan. It's extremely draining on his chakra. All we have to do is outlast him then." Katsumi's thought about this a lot in the two years of being his apprentice. She's of the opinion that if they can just wear him down, they'll win. Especially since Naruto has almost limitless energy.

Naruto narrows his eyes in thought, looking more focused than she's ever seen him, "I may be able to slap a chakra suppression seal on him if I can get close. Then we'll have the advantage. Even if he still has Taijutsu."

Katsumi likes that idea. It'd be a significant advantage, "plan A Chakra suppression, Plan B outlast? Unless you have a seal to knock someone out."

Naruto grins a little, "I could probably figure one out, dattebayo. Might risk putting him in a coma if I try right now."

Katsumi considers that. Sensei did say lethal force, after all. And a coma isn't lethal. "Plan C coma?"

Naruto looks happy enough with that thought, "Plan C coma."

Katsumi twitches as she hears Sensei begin to move, clearly deciding they've had enough time to hide or plan. Last time he'd let them come to him. They're both Chuunin now though, and Naruto has been training under a Sannin while she's Sensei's apprentice. Kakashi-Sensei would be a fool to play it the same as last time. She signs Naruto a warning. Let's him know they're being hunted.

Naruto gives her a wild grin and a thumbs up before setting to work. Katsumi remembers watching him build traps of explosives and wires and weapons. He doesn't do that now though. She watches as seal after seal is set into trees and dirt and even on leaves so quickly she can hardly comprehend it. Naruto doesn't sign for her to leave though. So this time there will be no running. No fleeing. They aren't rabbits anymore.

The blonde settles in against the trunk of a tree ten meters from her, crouched down on a branch, kunai in one hand. Katsumi lets herself have a feral grin. This is something she's looking forward to. She summons her Ninken as they prepare for Sensei's arrival. Shushes then before either can make a sound and whispers the plan to them. Taishiro balances on a thin branch beside her and bares his teeth, whole body strung tight as ninja wire in anticipation. Chinami is settled between Katsumi's legs— spread just far enough apart for the mastiff to fit— and is shifting from paw to paw, ready to launch herself at Kakashi-Sensei the moment Katsumi gives the order. Katsumi is so proud of them, they've become the best hunting partners she could ask for.

Kakashi-Sensei is definitely moving, but not quickly. Either he's in no rush or he remembers Naruto's proclivity for traps. It seems though, that Naruto has combined traps and Fuinjutsu and Katsumi thinks that makes Naruto one of the scariest people she knows. She wouldn't want to have to hunt him after watching him place those seals. It'd be a mess trying to work around them.

Sensei is no fool though. She can hear his heartbeat making a wide circle around their location. Can hear his heartbeat moving towards them faster and knows they won't have time for Naruto to put more seals down in the direction Sensei is coming from.

She waits until his heartbeat is almost on them and gestures in the direction. A quick shorthand command she developed for her Ninken alone. Makes sure both see it. The pair is moving in a heartbeat. Taishiro practically flying through the air while Chinami builds speed slower, until she's at her full speed, far less impressive than Taishiro's, but enough to make getting hit by her feel like being hit by a boulder.

Naruto makes a handseal and there's thirty Naruto Clones in the trees around them. Shit, Katsumi forgot how eerie that is. She can hear the moment her Ninken make contact. Hears Chinami yelp, likely just got kicked by Sensei. Hears a loud thud that means Taishiro probably got slammed into a tree. They have him paused though. The pair doesn't have a tendency to quit. They'll go until they literally can't anymore. She knows Sensei can't really hurt them either. He uses the same contract as her, which means if he does them any real damage, he'll be in violation of the contract despite having signed it with different Ninken.

Katsumi moves towards the sound. A pair of Naruto clones at her back. The Ninken dodge out of her way instantly. She attacks brutally, intent on keeping him too busy fighting her for him to be able to do anything about Naruto. She twists around Sensei, swords little more than silvery flashes in the sun as they fight. Sensei looks amused, but he's paying attention. Porn nowhere in sight. The Ninken aim for his legs, forcing him to dance around their teeth as he blocks her swords. Katsumi has a rough plan from here. She needs to turn him around and back him into the horde of Naruto clones behind her. Into a swarm of blonde menaces and seal work.

The pair of Naruto clones are of the same opinion. They come at Sensei from behind. She's not sure what their plan is, but all it results in is Sensei switches places with a log. Shit. Katsumi zeroes in on his heartbeat a second time. Closer to the real Naruto now.

A skirmish starts up there and Katsumi moves in that direction immediately. She's pretty sure this test if for seeing how Naruto has improved as much as testing their teamwork. So she's not super worried about it, but the idea of failing it a second time is a grating thought.

Sure enough, Sensei is murdering Naruto clones in noticeably brutal ways. Which means he's certain the real Naruto isn't among them. Katsumi wonders how, considering she can't tell any of them from the real Naruto. Katsumi waits a moment for an opening and flicks through the handseals for the Phoenix flower jutsu Sensei had taught her. Using fire natured chakra takes more out of her, but they work well. People tend to fear burning more than potentially drowning in her experience. At least until they meet her, that is.

Sensei simply flings a clone into her jutsu. Rude. Katsumi lets it go though. Darts into the fray with no hesitation. Working around the clones the way she used to, when the team was still whole and less scarred. It's not as easy as she remembers. She's gotten too used to working around her Ninken or Sensei or another ANBU. It's not as easy working around a mass of Naruto clones anymore. Like they get in her way more than they help her. Unfortunate. She only uses her katana this time. Needs to make sure when Naruto makes his move he'll have a clear opening. She doesn't want him to seal her chakra on accident.

Katsumi locks eyes with Sensei and grins viciously. Her plan is fucked. Is utterly rude to do to a comrade, but he's a jounin and he has the Sharingan. He'll be able to break it as long as he doesn't get to caught up in it. She lets go of the katana with one hand and flips through the seals for the deepest fear genjutsu. She's never used this around him, rarely uses it ever. She's almost certain he doesn't even know she has this jutsu. Which works perfectly well for her. A good surprise can win a battle in a single move.

She's not sure what he sees. Is certain she doesn't want to know. But she feels his chakra flare a second later and his killing intent explode. Shit. Katsumi falls back, Taishiro and Chinami joining her. She probably shouldn't have used that on him.

Sensei chases her, doesn't let her retreat. He's not going any harder on her than before, but she feels cornered. Feels like she needs to get the hell out. It's been a long time since his killing intent has had that effect on her. But it's been a long time since it's been directed at her that strongly.

Sensei is entirely focused on her now. Taishiro and Chinami and the clones little more than annoyances. Unless the real Naruto shows up, Katsumi is fairly certain she's going to bear the brunt of Kakashi-Sensei's ire. She keeps falling back, towards the seals Naruto set. She has no idea what they do, but she hopes they won't kill her along with Sensei.

Kakashi-Sensei manages to knock her swords from her and get her in a nasty hold that would break her spine if he applied pressure the right way. She stops struggling and breathes. Thinks through how to break it safely.

"Naruto! Surrender now, or I'll kill Katsumi-chan." Sensei drawls it in a calm voice, but she can feel how hard he's breathing with how the position forces her against him. He's exerting a lot of energy on this fight, even if he's not showing it.

Katsumi closes her eyes and breathes In slowly. She doesn't need handseals anymore to draw water from the air, though it costs a lot more chakra to do. Doesn't need handseals for her water shrapnel jutsu. She's going to need a soldier pill afterwards but that's fine. Sensei won't actually kill her. He's put too much time into training her to throw that away now.

She doesn't get a chance to do that though. The seals surrounding them begin to glow ominously. She can feel Sensei tense. He has to let her go if he doesn't want to be on the receiving end of the seals. Might have to get her out too if they're nasty enough. Katsumi has a flashback of the explosion Naruto made in the first bell test and hysterical laughter bubbles up in her throat.

No explosions come though. Katsumi can smell something faint though. Like lavender. Her head feels foggy as she breathes in and she can feel Sensei relaxing his grip on her. There's a blond and orange blur and she's being yanked from Sensei and up and out of the ring of seals.

Naruto sets her down on the branch beside him and holds her steady until her head clears.

"Sorry about that, Katsumi-chan! But I figured that'd work better than explosive, dattebayo."

"What the fuck kind of seals are those?" Katsumi didn't even know seals could do that.

"Ah just sleep inducing seals, I changed them while you were fighting him. Like a genjutsu you can't break while you're in the seals' range, dattebayo. Fast acting, but only works for a few minutes. Plan C was Coma, Dattebayo." Naruto shrugs like a genjutsu in a seal is something everyone can do. She wasn't even aware that was possible. They did agree on plan C though.

Naruto grins at her mischievously and shows her his hand. The bells are dangling from it. Holy shit. They did it.

Katsumi glances back down to their Sensei, still passed out on the ground, her Ninken asleep not far from him.

"So, should we wake him?"

Naruto squints down at the man, "nah. Payback for the torture he used to put us through, dattebayo."

Well. That's fair. She dismisses her sleeping canines and takes one of the bells from Naruto. The gentle ringing makes her smile. Success sounds like bells. Who knew.

Chapter 3

Chapter Text

They celebrate their success in true team seven fashion. With ramen and sitting on the Yondaime's head. As they look out over their village, Naruto tells her about his travels. Tells her about the people he met, the ones he helped when he could and the ones he mourned when he couldn't. Tells her about the villages he'd gone to. Little villages with no names and giant villages the Samurai guarded. Tells her about the nomads in The Land Of Wind he and Jiraiya had spent a week traveling with. How they wore beautiful, colorful, flowing clothes that looked like a mirage when he first saw them in the desert. How their swords were very curved and that he thinks she would have liked learning their style of Kenjutsu.

He tells her about traveling on a ship to a few of the island countries. Tells her the whole time he was on the ship he was sea sick, but if she'd been there he knows they would have had to drag her off the ocean waves and back onto the ship. Talks to her about how small he'd felt on the open ocean like that. How he'd never realized until that day how small their lives really must be in comparison to everything else.

He tells her about how he had to yell at Jiraiya until he taught him fuinjutsu. Had to cite his father to make the man give in. How eventually he and Jiraiya travelled to the ruins of Uzushiogakure. Tells her how the ruins are guarded by seals to this day. That anyone not of Uzumaki descent couldn't set foot there. A final fuck you to the people that destroyed it. How he'd spent a month on the island alone. How he'd buried every body he came across. How there were more bodies than he could ever count. All bones by the time he got there.

He tells her about how he'd learned from the scrolls they'd left behind fuinjutsu Jiraiya could never teach him. How he'd poured over the knowledge that by blood and birth was his right.

He tells her how he found wind chimes of sea shells still dangling in windows, and beautiful silver jewelry carved with seals. Tells her all he could see was how beautiful, how full of life the village must have once been. How he'd brought some of his heritage back with him. Fuinjutsu scrolls and a few wind chimes and some of the jewelry. Had even brought back a pair of swords carved with fuinjutsu.

Promised her once he finished identifying the seals and repairing them, she was to have them. Swords like them deserved a master who wanted to care for them, to use them. Who wouldn't leave them to rust and dull. Katsumi can't help but feel that's a gift she doesn't deserve. It's his heritage and she has nothing of her own clan to offer him in return. He won't take no for an answer, though. Tells her as the only Uzumaki left, it's his right to decide who gets to take part in his heritage. Tells her he will never have the skill to wield the swords the way they should be. Tells her he trusts her and her alone with them.

He hesitates a bit before telling her of the darker parts of that visit. Finally, slowly tells her about the bodies of the Kiri shinobi he'd found there. Hitai-ates the only way he knew that they were Kiri. Tells her about finding a few skulls with the exact same teeth as her. Not the deliberately carved and sharpened teeth the seven swordsmen had, but ones that were jagged and curved and longer than that, ones a person had to be born with. Ones that when he looked at the bleached skulls and saw them, made him see her.

Katsumi has no words to offer at the knowledge her clan had been there and participated in the genocide. Doesn't have words to offer when she's confronted with the fact that her grandparents and the aunts and uncles she never knew could have been there.

Naruto isn't angry with her though. Doesn't look at her and cast blame for the past. Tells her when he learned it was Kiri that did it, he knew there was a possibility. Knew her clan had still existed then and that they'd been loyal to Kiri. Says he was angry at first. Furious and hurting and hating Kiri. Katsumi thinks she can understand that. There have been moments where she hated Kiri too.

Finally, he shrugs and says he may hate Kiri, but he doesn't blame the shinobi that went to Uzushiogakure. Shinobi are tools of their village. It's no more a shinobi's fault for being used badly than it is a kunai's fault. Tells her he buried them too.

Katsumi thinks he's more forgiving than she could ever be. She'd lost only a clan, and still she woke up angry some days with that knowledge. He'd lost an entire village and was willing to grant forgiveness to the ones who'd swung the swords. Katsumi wonders if there was ever a time when she could have been that forgiving, or if by the time she learned of her own history it was already too late.

They sit on the Yondaime's head until it's dark out and the moon is high and the stars shine. Talking about everything that happened to them and all the things each missed. There's laughter and reminiscing on when they were genin and academy students and the future seemed so bright and the world so big. She tells him about some of her missions, the ones that went well and the ones she still wonders if she could have done something differently on them. Tells him about the fights she wasn't sure she'd live through and the days that were filled with easy happiness and relief after those missions. Tells him about the Kusa nin who tried to take her head and the Noble woman who wanted to arrange a marriage for her. That gets a laugh out of the blonde. Between choking laughs he tells her that anyone with half a brain knows she'd murder her husband on the wedding night if a marriage was ever forced on her.

They talk about the future too. Talk about taking the jounin exams together when it's time, about training genin teams of their own one day and how they won't let theirs break the way team seven did. How they won't make the same mistakes. Naruto grins and tells her when he's hokage he expects her to be his jounin commander, shikamaru will be his advisor, but he wants her to lead his jounin. Katsumi wrinkles her nose at the idea of doing all the paperwork Shikaku does, tells him he'll have to chain her to a desk if he wants that to happen.

Naruto laughs at that and tells her they'll just make Sasuke be their paper boy when they drag him back. Naruto thinks he's figured out the curse seal. Seems convinced getting rid of that will be enough to fix the wayward Uchiha. Katsumi hopes he's right. She's not sure if he'll be able to handle the disappointment if he's wrong.

Katsumi summons Taishiro and Chinami to properly introduce them to the blonde and Naruto looks like he's of half a mind to steal Chinami from her. Once the Ninken learn he's her pack mate who's been gone hunting, they act like they've known him for years. Taishiro calls him Yellow Pup and tells him not to leave for so long again. Chinami and Naruto trade curses and insults and Katsumi bemoans the knowledge that now Chinami is going to have an even more colorful vocabulary. Naruto can curse worse than a sailor apparently. Knows curses she's never even heard.

Katsumi feels good having her teammate back. Like she's a bit more grounded. Like she didn't even realize she was on shaky ground until he came back. Her sunshine boy returning is like the end of a harsh winter.

There's a lot she doesn't tell him. Too much of her life now is made up of secrets and lies and shame. One day, he'll know everything. When he's Hokage and her secrets are laid bare in a file on his desk, but for now, she holds her tongue. Let's him think she's still the same Katsumi he left behind.

Eventually, it's time to rest, and Naruto walks with her and the Ninken back to the Nara compound. Hands in the pockets of his flak jacket and shaggy blonde hair falling into his eyes a little as he looks down at her. The village is dark and silent and it feels like the night before he left. Same empty streets and darkness and walk home.

When they reach the Nara compound, he hugs her tightly. Hugs her like he wasn't sure he'd ever get to do it again. Like he was worried she'd be on the memorial stone herself by the time he got to come home. She accepts the hug eagerly though. She's missed him so much more than she realized. She breathes in his scent. Ink and something animalistic mixed with the smell of blood and metal and leaves. She can feel him rest his chin on her head. Katsumi breathes her teammate in and sends a silent thankful prayer to Kami for bringing her Uzumaki back to her. Tries not to think of all the dangers he'll be facing now that he's back.

When he finally releases her and tells her goodnight, Katsumi and the Ninken slip inside of the compound and come face to face with Shikamaru. His dark eyes assess her for a moment and the flick in the direction of Naruto's retreating back. He looks off for a moment, before giving her a lazy grin and telling her it's way past bedtime and it's too cold to sleep without her and her ninkens' body heat. Katsumi rolls her eyes and grabs his wrist. Drags him along behind her to bed.

She's out cold with a smile on her face as soon as her head hits the pillow. Naruto is back and they passed the bell test. Life is brighter than its been in awhile and Katsumi is thrilled by it.

Chapter 4

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kiba is to blame for what happens a few days later. Entirely his fault and Katsumi will not be taking constructive criticism on that opinion. He's the one who got the sake. He's the one who rounded up all of their friends. Teams seven, ten, eight, Sakura and Gai's team. He's the one who had them all go out to one of the empty training grounds. He's the one that lit the bonfire and brought a table for drinks and chairs. Everything is clearly the Inuzuka's fault. Clearly.

It starts well enough. Everyone is having a good time and talking and drinking. Even Neji is relaxed, talking with Naruto about destiny versus fate and the importance of free will. Hinata is practically hiding behind the other Kunoichi, water instead of sake in her hand. Even Aburame is there, talking strategies with Shikamaru as Katsumi sits in the Nara's lap and watches Taishiro and Chinami play with Akamaru.

Ino is four drinks deep and hanging off Sakura already, loudly talking with Lee who's banned from touching the sake according to Tenten and Neji who both yelled in panic when they thought he was about to drink some. Katsumi wonders what the story behind that is.

Choji and Kiba are having a drinking contest that Naruto got disqualified from because the Uzumaki's metabolism would result in all the alcohol being gone before midnight. She thinks Tenten is refereeing the contest.

Katsumi is pleasantly buzzed, drinking her third drink slowly, as she relaxes against Shikamaru's chest. Content to watch her comrades enjoy themselves. It's not often they're all in the village, and even less often none of them are on gate duty. Kiba was smart to take advantage of the one night they're all free.

Shikamaru's deep voice makes his chest rumble against her back, she isn't listening to the conversation between him and Aburame at all, just lets the voices of the people around her wash over her. Just enjoys being surrounded by her people.

For once, everyone is out of their uniforms. No flak jackets or Chuunin standards in sight. Even their hitai-ate have been left home. Ino is easily the most dressed up of all of them. Wearing an eye catching, skin revealing two piece outfit that Katsumi would never feel comfortable in. She has too many scars now to look good in something like that. Instead she's wearing shorts and a long sleeved, tight fitting black shirt that shows just enough cleavage to remind people she's a girl.

At some point Naruto ends up shirtless and Katsumi isn't sure how that happened but she's fascinated. Not by the muscles, though they're certainly impressive, but by the seals and ink covering his body and twisting up and down his arms. Neji's byukugan is activated as he looks them over and Katsumi thinks he's trying to guess what the seals do. She certainly can't begin to guess. Fuinjutsu is well beyond her knowledge sober. She can't begin to comprehend them when she's been drinking.

At some point Naruto grabs Hinata's hand and drags her near the bonfire. Starts dancing and spinning and laughing. There's no music but Naruto doesn't seem to care. Poor Hinata looks like she's about to pass out. Her face is bright red and Katsumi can hear the girl stuttering as a shirtless Naruto twirls her around.

Shikamaru's breath tickles her ear and in a lazy drawl, made even slower by the sake, he asks teasingly if she'd like to dance too. Katsumi grins a bit, she has no idea how to dance. If she were sober, she'd certainly never try to in full view of her friends. She's not sober, though. So she stumbles to her feet and drags Shikamaru up, laughing as they stumble to the impromptu dance floor.

It's a graceless thing as they dance too. Neither sober enough to be doing this really. But it's fun, fun to spin and twirl around the bonfire with Shikamaru. They're laughing the whole time and she knows they'll be embarrassed in the morning, but right now, they're having fun. Right now, there's no embarrassment.

Sakura and Ino are dancing together too. Both well beyond drunk and more stumbling than dancing, but clearly having the time of their lives right now. Lee is doing some kind of fast paced dance on his own and Katsumi can hear Neji telling him to quit being embarrassing. Tenten dragging Neji into the little dance party shuts him up quickly though.

Soon enough everyone is dancing. Every dance is different and none are good. The lack of music really gives them the freedom to do whatever dumb moves they come up with. Even Aburame is dancing, though it's mostly just head bobbing with the occasional side step thrown in. It's more fun than Katsumi can remember having in a long time.

Eventually Katsumi and Shikamaru break away from the dancing and stumble over to the little table with sake bottles on it. They each take two shots of sake and Shikamaru has an arm thrown over her shoulders as he pulls her into his side and they watch the spectacle in front of them.

Both of them are still swaying and Katsumi has no idea if it's from the alcohol or from their dancing. She doesn't care though. It's nice. She's enjoying herself. She hums a drinking song as she watches Ino and Sakura finally fall on their asses. Soon enough everyone is singing loudly and off key along with the humming. She sees why none of them normally sing. They're all awful at it. No one can get the notes right, half of them are too drunk to get the lyrics right and the other half are singing entirely different songs. It's a mess. An absolute cacophony of voices and the howls of the Ninken.

Eventually the chaos invites the attention of some of the older shinobi who are still up. Genma and Raidou show up and they watch the group for a long time, amusement on both of their faces. Genma rolls his senbon needs around in his mouth and Katsumi knows that means he's thinking over what to do. She grins and waves happily at him from across the bonfire. Raises a sake bottle in his direction in greeting. Shikamaru laughs into her hair at the way Genma blinks dumbly at the sight of Katsumi partying.

Finally Raidou steps up and breaks the party up. Training grounds are for training, not drinking after all. Makes them put the fire out and tells them to clean the mess up in the morning. There's groans and complaints at the party ending, and Taishiro and Chinami seem the most put out. They love playing with Akamaru. Ino and Sakura stumble home together and Naruto and Neji have to carry Choji home. Only Hinata and Lee aren't staggering. The only sober ones in the whole group.

She and Shikamaru stumble down the streets together a bottle of Sake being passed between them as they walk. Ninken trotting along beside them. They're laughing and using each other to stay standing, though that results in them stumbling onto walls more often than not as they walk.

Eventually they make it back to the entrance of the Nara compound. When they fall against the wall of the compound, Katsumi against the wall and Shikamaru's hands braced on either side of her to keep from hitting her with his weight, their laughter fades a little. Katsumi raises the near empty same bottle to her mouth and finishes it as they look at each other.

His hair is falling out of his spiked ponytail and in the dark his eyes glitter, seem to almost glow with what little light there is. She gets why Nara are feared at night. In the dark, they're Apex predators. She doesn't blink as she watches him. Keeps eye contact as she waits for his next move. She's not even sure what she's waiting for, but she wants to find out.

He doesn't keep her waiting for long. Bends at the elbows like he's doing a push up, until his mouth is a hairsbreadth away from hers. Doesn't move closer than that though. Waits like that for her to close the distance. She knows he'd back off if she wanted him to. She's not sure she wants him to though. So with the hand that's not holding the sake bottle, she pulls his head down and tilts her head. It's a slow kiss. No rush as his mouth moves with hers. She's never kissed like this. The peck Naruto gave her before he left is nothing compared to this. If she were of the right mind, she'd wonder when he learned to kiss like this.

She can taste mint and sake on his tongue as the kiss deepens and she feels his hands move to her hips and tighten a little on them. He kisses like they have all the time in the world for it. Like there's no reason to rush. Like he wants to savor it. Kisses like he's trying to slowly take her breath away.

When the kiss finally ends, his forehead rests against hers and she stares up at his closed eyes and tries to steady her breathing. Her lips feel swollen and wet and she wonders if they'll get to do that again. It's nice, kissing him, something she never really considered doing until now.

He kisses her on the forehead once before pulling back and letting her hips go. They're silent as they walk back into the house. Ninken already in her room and asleep. The kiss cleared her head a little and they manage to slip inside without waking Yoshino or Shikaku. Both of them pass out on top of her bed sheets after pushing the dogs over to make room.

When she wakes up the next morning with a pounding head and a mouth that tastes like stale alcohol, the full extent of what happened hits her and she thinks she's going to panic. She kissed Shikamaru. Holy shit. Oh fuck. They kissed and now she wants to do it again and fuck. She blames Kiba for the mess she's now in. Entirely his fault.

Notes:

Keep in mind, I have over 100 chapters left to go! This may end up not being the final ship! Or it might be! Who knows?

Chapter 5

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Nothing outwardly changes between Katsumi and Shikamaru. It feels like something has fundamentally shifted though. Like they've crossed a line they can't go back from. Katsumi isn't sure if that's a good or bad thing, but she doesn't regret the kiss. Shikamaru doesn't seem to either, touches her lower back and lets his hand linger when he moves passed her. Kisses her forehead when he wakes in the morning, pretends like he hasn't woken up with an erection at least twice since they kissed. Throws his arm over her shoulders when they walk places together. Small things that probably wouldn't mean anything if they'd begun before the kiss.

They don't kiss again though. Which confuses her. And frustrates her, because she very much liked kissing and would like to do it again. She's not sure why he doesn't do it again. Worries that maybe he only did it because he was drunk or maybe she was bad at it or maybe he's waiting for her to kiss him first. She's not sure and it drives her up a wall.

She doesn't get a chance to push for it though. Tactics has finally come to a decision on the Akatsuki and a location has been found. Hidan and Kakuzu are the targets. Katsumi really isn't looking forward to this. One has to have five hearts destroyed and the second is apparently fucking immortal. Last time, they lost Stag. This time Katsumi is certain they're going to lose more people.

The team is larger this time. Two full teams instead of one now. Her team is for dealing with Hidan. Fox, Hyena, Crow, and and Bear. Katsumi isn't thrilled to see Bear again, but she smothers her annoyance. The team for Kakuzu has Owl, Snake, Cat, and Dog on it. Technically Dog isn't supposed to be on Akatsuki missions, but as long as Uchiha Obito doesn't show, it should be fine.

The pair were sighted not far from the site of a massacred village in the Land of Tea. According to the intel gatherers, it looked like they were headed back north. There's no time to train with the teams. The Akatsuki have been keeping their heads down. So the teams move to intercept them. Moves quick and silent through the trees, Dog and Fox hunting for two unknown scents as they go, Fox listening for any sounds.

It takes three days to find them. Hidan's loud voice giving the pair away. Dog gives the signal for the teams to split apart. Fox, Hyena, and Crow fall in line behind Bear. The plan fo Hidan is simple enough. Take his head and dismember his body without getting caught in his ritual. Fox is confident enough in her team. Hyena is a slippery bastard, Crow is a genjutsu specialist, so he won't be in the thick of things, and Bear is the actual devil. If anything, Fox is the one most likely to die today of the four. She doesn't think about Dog's team. They have their own target, one that is arguably more dangerous. Let them handle him. Fox can't afford to worry about them.

The targets are walking down the road, a corpse thrown over Kakuzu's shoulder. Hidan has his scythe held over one shoulder and Fox eyes it warily. One drop of blood, and someone dies. She doesn't like those odds at all.

Dog's team intercepts the pair. Fox isn't a fan of that. Would have preferred a surprise attack to separate them, but Dog is her superior and the taichou of team one. It's his decision. Bear signals for team two to cut them off from a retreat. Fox and Hyena land side by side, Crow slightly behind them and Bear in the front. Fox focuses on the Jashinist. Loud and foul mouthed with slicked back hair and violet eyes. Shame such pretty eyes belong to this man.

Hidan moves to stand back to back with his partner and looks absolutely gleeful as he faces them. He opens his mouth, presumably to shit talk, and Crow immediately weaves a genjutsu. Katsumi has no idea which one. They aren't even sure how well genjutsu works on the immortal. But it will buy time. Their goal is to separate him from his scythe. Make it harder for him, if not impossible, to preform his ritual. They can see the moment his eyes glaze. Hyena, Fox and Bear move in instantly. Ignore the fight happening behind the man and attack.

The Jashinist snaps out of the genjutsu as soon as Bear reaches him. The scythe lashing out, Fox narrowly dodged it as she aims a vicious kick at the man. Hyena and Bear both let loose with jutsu that at this range should be lethal. Fox falls back and ducks a second time as the scythe comes back. Hyena nearly loses his head as he dodges it by the skin of his teeth as well.

Bear manages to stab the Nukenin in the major nerve of his right arm before being forced back as well. The man looks amused by that. Looks like he's actually fucking turned on by the pain actually. Gross.

Hyena circles slowly and keeps just out of the scythes range. Of the four of them, he was closest to being killed. Wariness is a natural response to that. Bear tilts his head and observes the man. Fox is crouched low near Crow. Waiting for the order to attack again. The blood dripping down the Akatsuki's arm is bad. It pools on the ground and Fox watches in frustration as the ritual circle is made. One step down. They can't afford even a single injury now. She hates this. She and Hyena are not suited to this fight. Both of them are close range fighters. Crow's genjutsu is good, but can't inflict real damage. Only Bear has any potential for winning this fight. Even he is more of a midrange fighter than a long range one. But this is the team that was chosen, unfortunately. They have to make do. She'll bitch at tactics for the poor choice when they survive this.

Fox pulls a set of poisoned senbon needles out, she's copied Kin's bell trick since her Chuunin exams. Hidan isn't overly intelligent. If she's lucky he won't realize what she's going. She has no idea if paralytic works on the man, but she's happy to try. She flicks three senbon at him, bells chiming prettily as they fly through the air. He dodges with ease. Never stepping out of his circle.

Fox does it again, hides a senbon with out a bell directly below one of the other ones. Genma's precision training in action. True to form the idiot Jashinist dodges all by the silent one, which buries itself in his inner thigh. A centimeter to the left and it'd be in his femoral artery.

He laughs at her and doesn't even bother to remove the senbon before swinging the scythe out on its chain. Forces her to dodge. Bear moves out of the way a second too slowly as it's jerked straight at his back in mid air. Fox watches as a bloody line is cut across the man's arm and knows he's doomed. Best bet is Her paralytic taking hold quickly. Before Hidan can cause any real damage. The problem is, it's in his leg. It will take longer than she'd like to spread to his nervous system.

She can see Bear twitch slightly as he sees the blood on the scythe. Knows he's realized he's fucked. Knows he knows his time is limited now. When the Jashinist licks the blood from the scythe and his skin turns black and white like skeleton paint, Fox has to bite back a curse. Bear is so doomed.

He knows it too. Shifts to only the team can see his hand signs and Fox immediately wants to argue. Decapitation. He wants them to take Hidan's head regardless of the fact he'll lose his too. Fox may not like the man, but she really doesn't want that on her conscience. Hyena tilts his head to the right and she knows from experience that means he doesn't like it anymore than she does.

They have their orders though. Fox wants to disobey, but the man is dead anyway. There's no saving him now.

Hyena signs at her one word, Mist. Hyena can fight blind too. Had practiced with her until it worked. He's not a master at it by any means, but Hidan is stationary and loud as fuck. It won't be hard to find him in the mist. She complies.

Ox. Snake. Ram.

The land of Tea is a thin nation with ocean on either side. It makes it humid all the time. It makes her mist work wonderfully. It's thick and heavy and impossible to see through. Only the byukugan Can do it. Hidan certainly doesn't have that. Crow stays back with Bear. Looks like he's putting the man under a genjutsu. Probably trying to make sure his last moments are nice ones. How sweet.

Fox swallows the bile building in her throat as she seeks out the Jashinist. She can hear Hyena cackling on his other side. Sometimes he uses a mild genjutsu to make it sound like its coming from every direction. The only genjutsu the man knows. It's unnerving no matter how often she hears it. The laugh is a mad one, promising blood and fear and death to anyone who hears it. It sounds more broken than usual too and she knows he's mourning what he's about to do. Even if that broken laughter is the extent of which he shows it.

Fox can smell the reek of blood on the Jashinist. Not a drop of fear in his scent. So confident they can't kill him. Looking forward to them killing their own teammate. Fox has no intention of dealing the killing blow. She knows Hyena has chosen to take that upon himself. Wouldn't have asked for the cover if he hadn't. She'll take the head though. Sink the damn thing in the ocean and let him drown for all eternity.

She hears the moment Hyena's tanto connects with Hidan's neck. Hears the Jashinist screaming curse words and laughing about how they killed their own teammate. Fox snarls and grabs the head by the hair and drops the mist. The head starts yelling at Kakuzu to stop dealing with Dog's team and put him back together. Fox has to dodge black tendrils shooting at her. Refuses to give the damn head back. Refuses to look at Bear's body. Hyena covers her as she retreats.

Crow deals with the body scrolls for Bear and Hidan's headless body. Fox slams the head against a tree in hopes of shutting him up. It just makes him louder and Fox would cut his tongue out if she didn't think she's lose her fingers doing it. Fox isn't entirely sure what to do with a talking head. Isn't sure at all how to deal with it. It's technically alive so she can't put it in a body scroll as far as she knows. It worked for his body though. So maybe.

Hyena solves the dilemma for her, kind of, by plucking the head from her hands and gripping the jaw firmly with one hand. There's a sickening cracking and tearing noise and now he's holding a glaring skull in one hand and a useless jaw in the other. Fox has no words for that one. He hands her the skull portion of Hidan's head and pats her on the head with a bloody hand before tossing the jaw to Crow. Crow manages to convey his disgust clearly despite the mask and he puts that in the body scroll too. Well. At least Hidan can't speak anymore. She still doesn't know what to do with him. So she settles for tucking him under one arm like a ball and looks toward Dog's team.

Snake is down but other than that, it's clear they're winning. Kakuzu is down to one heart. One more strike and it's over. She watches as Dog forms a Chidori and Cat uses the Mokuton to hold the man in place. A dead give away that it's Yamato. Watches as Owl destroys tendrils the way he destroyed Sasori's puppet strings. Clearly guarding Snake as he does so.

The Chidori strikes home. Shrieking loudly as it does. It's a brutal jutsu. One she's never seen used on a real person before. Only on Zabuza's water clone a lifetime ago. It's almost pretty. In a horrifying sort of way. Snake is alive. But hanging on by a thread. The Kunoichi is clearly struggling and Fox thinks she has maybe twenty four hours if she's lucky. They'll have to move at breakneck speed for her to even have a chance. Dog carries the woman as Owl puts Kakuzu's body in a scroll.

Fox shifts a little, shifts her hold so the head is dangling by the hair again. Dog looks down at the jawless head for a moment then looks at the distinct lack of Bear and she knows he's figured out what happened. Wonders how disappointed in her he'll be. Hopes he doesn't end her apprenticeship in response. She may not have killed Bear, but she was certainly an accessory to his death.

They do move at breakneck speed. Moving like they're trying to beat the Shinigami, because they are. Fox tries not to listen to Snake's rapidly shallower breathing or her quick, stuttering heartbeat. They're late to medical by three hours. Two dead.

The report is long. There are many questions. Many of which are the same but worded differently. Bear's death is the most questioned part. When it's over she still has the head and is beyond confused on what to do it. Everyone has seemingly forgotten it. Dog seems to realize the issue first and practically snatches the head from her. Damn near throws it at the people who have come to take the body scrolls. Fox watches all this in silence. Watches it all In an almost out of body experience type way. Hyena pats her on the head one more time as Dog drags her out of the door and straight to the showers.

The man practically threatens murder if the people in them don't get the fuck out immediately. Shoves her into one of the showers and goes to one on the opposite end of the row. There's silence as they shower. Fox fades back into Katsumi and Katsumi doesn't cry. She isn't happy the Bear is dead, but she's certainly not mourning the man. Won't visit the stone for him like she does once a month for Stag. She rubs at the scar he left on her cheek so long ago. She doesn't need a stone to remember a man who beat her into the shape of a weapon and told her it was improvement.

She's done showering before Dog, and when she asks if he wants her to stay, he snarls at her like the dog he's named for. Tells her to go home and sleep. Tells her no missing training tomorrow. So, he's pissed, but not that pissed with her.

She's still dialed up when she gets back home. Her Ninken are in her bed. She goes to Shikamaru's room instead. Crawls into bed and hovers over him, arms on either side of his head and looks at him. Considers him. Thinks he looks breakable in his sleep and she wonders if that's why he hasn't kissed her again. Because she's all jagged edges and bloodstains and when she succeeds someone always has to suffer for it.

When he blinks awake and looks up at her, he raises on eyebrow and they stare at each other in silence. He raises on hand and rests it directly over her covered ANBU tattoo. She has to suppress a flinch at that. No one ever does that.

"You're here, Katsumi. With me. Whatever happened. It didn't happen here. You're safe now."

Katsumi blinks. Is that what he thinks? That she feels unsafe? She feels more like the weapon she is than she ever has before. Feels like she's the threat. She doesn't fight when he gently pulls her down and rolls them onto their sides. He tucks her head under his chin and curls around her.

"Sleep it off, Katsumi. It'll be better in the morning."

Katsumi has followed much worse orders recently. She complies.

Notes:

So originally I was gonna Kill Hyena, but everyone seems to like him and I felt bad doing that, so he got a pardon for now

Chapter 6

Chapter Text

Sensei is gone on a solo mission the day they meet their new teammate. A summons to the Hokage's office is Katsumi's tip off that she's not going to be happy. Nothing good ever comes from a summons. She and Naruto go there together. Naruto is chattering a mile a minute and trying to guess what's going on. Really, it's too early for him to be so energetic.

When they arrive she has to close her eyes and pray for patience when Naruto greets the woman casually and called her baa-Chan. She knows they're close, but she wishes he'd be more professional when in meetings.

The woman smiles at him though before harshly telling him to settle down. Katsumi is deeply curious about Naruto's ability to make people like him. Maybe some kind of genjutsu?

Tsunade has a pile of files on her desk and her pig in her lap. Shizune isn't in the room, Katsumi thinks she saw the woman arguing with Izumo. The woman laces her fingers together and looks at the file open in front of her, "We've identified the location of two of Orochimaru's bases. Currently, we have no idea if Uchiha Sasuke is with him or not, but we're working under that assumption until proven otherwise. Your team is to go to one of the bases and try to locate and retrevial Uchiha Sasuke if he's there. Yamato will go with you as squad leader. You'll leave at first light tomorrow. Any questions?"

Katsumi runs her tongue over the points of her teeth, "Who's the fourth team member? Sakura?"

"No. She'll be going to the other base with a different team. Your fourth teammate's name is Sai. He's already been briefed on the mission. He's also going to be filling the gap in Team seven."

Naruto blinks, his blue eyes widening a little, "What about when Sasuke is back, baa-Chan? Team seven already has four members, dattebayo."

Tsunade's eye twitches a little and Katsumi eyes her desk in trepidation. She's seen it get thrown before. She really doesn't want to dodge desks today.

"As of now, you don't. You're both Chuunin, I don't have to keep your team together, brat. If you want it to stay that way, you're going to have a fourth teammate."

Katsumi cuts in before it con devolve any further, "Of course, Lady Tsunade. Will that be all?"

"Yes. Dismissed." The woman waves a hand at them and Katsumi is relieved to escape without any heavy objects being thrown.

Katsumi does her best to ignore Naruto's furious ranting about replacing Sasuke. She knows he understands the necessity of having a full team. Knows he's just venting.

Katsumi isn't worried though. She thinks of the pale boy with ink stained fingers in her memory and knows with time, the boy will fit in fine. It's just going to be an adjustment. A rough one if Naruto deciders he's utterly against the new teammate.

Katsumi can smell the new teammate on the wind before they meet him and she can't help but bare her teeth. She knows that smell. Blood and metal and Ink and rotten leaves. Lion. Katsumi comes to the conclusion the adjustment is going to be a very rough one.

She gets a flash of memory of him attacking Naruto. Testing him. She's not interested in playing that game. Not today. She pinpoints his heart beat and launches herself up onto the roof. Walks over to his location like she's not half prepared to stab him an glares at the boy leaning against the edge of the second floor of the building, scroll and ink brush in his hand.

He gives her the emptiest, fakest smile she's ever seen when he looks up. His eyes are entirely empty and Katsumi would be unnerved if she hadn't faked emotions herself before.

"You're Sai? Our teammate, yeah? It's polite to introduce yourself instead of stalking, you know." Even Katsumi understands that much.

"Ahh, Hello. I was merely observing my new team. I read it's important to get to know people." The fake smile intensifies.

"Yes. By speaking to them. Not creeping on them like you're working an assassination. Bit of a difference, I think." Katsumi raises an eyebrow at the boy as he stands. Tall and skinny and looks like he's never seen the sun. He'd be pretty if his eyes weren't so dead and he knew how to make facial expressions properly.

"Ah. I see. Thank you for the advice, midget."

Katsumi blinks, "what did you call me?"

"Midget. I read assigning nicknames is one way of fostering relationships among peers." She thinks he almost looks proud of himself. Almost.

Naruto picks that moment to join the on the roof, "Katsumi-Chan! Why'd you run off? And who's this guy?"

"This is Sai. Our new teammate. Say hello." Katsumi thinks even Sasuke had better social skills than Sai. Naruto is going to lose his shit by the end of the day if this is how Sai always is.

Naruto's eyes narrow at the boy who just smiles benignly back, "Hello. You're not replacing Sasuke, dattebayo. We'll get him back."

"Of course, Dickless. Mission perimeters do state we are to retrieve Uchiha Sasuke if possible."

Katsumi snorts at the nickname. Suddenly being called midget doesn't seem that bad. Better than Dickless certainly.

"Hear that, Dickless? He knows we're getting our dramatic Uchiha back," Katsumi grins at the affronted look on Naruto's face as she uses his new nickname.

"I- I'm not Dickless! I am a man, Dattebayo! I have a dick!" Naruto looks like he can't decide which of them to yell that at.

Sai's head tilts a little and she thinks he's trying to fake amusement. "I read that some men over compensate with yelling and obnoxiously large or noticeable things when they have a small—"

"Sai! No insulting Naruto's small package. It's rude." Katsumi is torn between loving having this guy as a teammate and wanting to throttle him for being Lion. Damn him for amusing her now.

"Ah. My apologies. I just wanted to explain to Dickless why he is Dickless." Sai's black eyes are utterly empty despite the smile on his face. They're going to have to work on that.

"I have a dick, dattebayo!" A vein is bulging out of Naruto's forehead. Interesting. Even Uchiha never managed that one.

Katsumi has found her new favorite entertainment. Sai and his utter lack of social skills. She has to smother a grin. It's not often the universe just gives her a gift like this. She claps her hands once, "Come with me, Sai. We should get to know each other. I'll introduce you to people."

"Wait! Katsumi-chan, you can't just run off with this guy! What if he's dangerous?"

"We're shinobi, Naruto. We're all dangerous." Katsumi grins and gestures at Sai until he follows her off the roof. Naruto makes an unintelligible sound as they go. Oh, She's definitely keeping this one. If only for the unending entertainment.

"So, Sai, You're a Chuunin too?" Katsumi eyes the taller shinobi carefully.

Fake smile. "Yes, I am."

"Field promotion or Chuunin exams?" Katsumi doesn't know anyone recently who got a field promotion, but based on her old memories, anything he says will probably be a lie.

"Field promotion, Midget. Where are we going?" Fake confused look around.

"Dango. If you're going to fake emotions, work on your eyes. They're empty no matter what expression you pull." Katsumi just doesn't like the creepy, dead eyed look. If he gets better at faking, maybe that will go away.

Sai looks at her with an utterly blank face and she thinks that's probably the closest to the real him she'll get, "Thank you for the advice. I was hoping it wouldn't be so obvious."

"It is. It'll make people not want to be around you if you look at people like that."

"I read smiling is an important part of social interaction and bonding and conveys a range of emotions, mainly happiness or amusement."

"Yeah. People can tell when it's not real though. Try crinkling the corners of your eyes when you smile. Looks more real that way." That's what Tou-San taught her at least.

"Ah. I will try that, Fox."

Katsumi slams him against the wall of the alleyway they're walking through immediately. All humor gone. He lets her do it, doesn't fight or struggle as she snarls in his face, "What the fuck do you want, Lion?"

"I am merely getting to know my comrade. I think I might know you better than Naruto does already. Unless he knows about you cutting a newborn's throat, Midget."

Katsumi sees red for a moment and a vicious growl tears from her throat. She's tried hard to forget that night. But she dreams of the bloody details more than she cares to think about. For a moment she considers opening Sai's throat for the transgression.

"Listen and listen well, Sai. I don't give a fuck that you're ANBU. I don't give a fuck that you apparently have to fake every emotion you feel. I don't give a fuck what you do or why. Just keep your mouth fucking shut about my ANBU work. Understood?"

Cue fake smile again with the corners of his eyes lightly crinkled. She thinks he's trying to look reassuring. "I understand, midget. I won't tell your secrets."

Katsumi lets him go and steps away. Gives him her own fake smile in return, "So, dango, right?"

Chapter 7

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi leans against Naruto's side as she tries to wake up. It's barely sunrise and she's ready to get the mission over with. Yamato is going over the mission perimeters with them while Sai stands a little ways off from Katsumi and Naruto. Katsumi eyes him as they wait to leave. If he says anything about Fox she'll cut his tongue out. Seal and all. She can figure out how he factors in later if necessary.

Yamato is his usual pleasant self and only does his scary face when Naruto starts trying to complain about Sai calling him Dickless again. Katsumi is less amused about the nickname today. Would rather he just be silent. Less risk of having to cut his tongue off.

They finally set off in the direction of The Land of Rice. Moving at a slower pace than in ANBU, but still making good time. Thirty-six hours to the border and another six to make it to the location. Nearly three or four days of travel with stops to rest. Not a hard run at all. Nearly the same path they used when hunting Sasuke the first time. Katsumi could probably find the tree she was stuck to if she cared to do it.

It's a tense run. Naruto is practically chomping at the bit to go faster, eager to see if Sasuke is at the base. Katsumi keeps glaring at Sai's back and trying to dig through the blurry parts of her old memories without giving herself a migraine. Sai seems content to just take the team's behavior in while Yamato seems determined to ignore the tension.

Katsumi knows the seal on his tongue that he doesn't know she knows about is linked to Danzo. She knows Danzo is linked to Zetsu and the Akatsuki and Obito and every other bad thing in the world. She knows he's why she went on that clan elimination mission. She knows Bear and Crane were probably his the more she thinks about how they were in comparison to other ANBU. Katsumi doesn't like the thought that she's been on the man's radar for so long.

It makes her wonder why Sai is on the team. For Naruto and his bijuu, for Sasuke, or for her? Katsumi doesn't care how amusing some of Sai's comments are, or the knowledge that one day he could be a friend. Right now, he's an unknown and likely threat. She doesn't like that. Could do without him.

When they stop for the night, Katsumi takes first watch and spends as much time watching Sai as she does their surroundings. She can hear his breathing and his heartbeat. Slow but certainly not sleeping. Or at least very, very lightly sleeping. She pops one of her migraine pills in her mouth and focuses on thoughts of Danzo and Sai and the tongue seal. Grits her teeth against the migraine and forces herself to think through it.

Eventually she gets flashes of memory. Faded and nearly out of reach. She really needs Inoichi to go through these with her. She sees the Sharingan and a boy falling off a cliff, blood pouring from his eye sockets. Sees blank masks and small children. Sees a young Yamato. Sees a young Sai and a silver haired boy. She's not sure how long she tries to push through the memories. How long she tries to understand. The visions and the migraine, manageable though the medicine makes it, cause her to lose all sense of time.

She's pulled back to reality by Naruto tapping her on the shoulder, his eyebrows pulled together in concern, "Katsumi-Chan? Hey, it's my turn to take watch now, dattebayo. Come on, Katsumi-Chan, bed time."

She blinks and looks into blue eyes for a moment before nodding. Murmurs a thank you before getting up and stumbling to Naruto's abandoned sleeping bag. Lays down with her back to Naruto and stares at the dark haired boy pretending to sleep a few feet away. Finally as she starts to drift off a single word comes to her: Root.

The word sends a chill down her spine that follows her into an uneasy sleep. She's woken the next morning by Sai crouched down beside her head, staring at her with that fake smile on his face, "Good morning, Midget. My books say that one way of bonding is to do nice things, so I decided to be the one to wake you."

Katsumi narrows her eyes. She doesn't like him hovering over her. Her lips peel back in warning, "Yeah. Thanks. Hovering is creepy though. Try a better method if you do it again." Or she'll stab him, she doesn't add.

"Of course, Midget. Your advice is appreciated." Sai stands and walks away. Kami, her Ninken are less socially awkward than him. She won't be introducing them for a long time if she doesn't have to. Not until she trusts him. Certainly not before she thinks he won't say anything to make Chinami attack him.

Katsumi gnaws on a ration bar and she helps break camp. Makes sure it looks like they'd never been there. Naruto sticks close to her side as they move, casts Sai uneasy looks periodically. Clearly he didn't like him waking her like that anymore than she did.

They wait to cross the border the next day. Yamato being noticeably more cautious than other squad leaders she's had. Not willing to cross the border at night is a surprise. Three of them are ANBU and Naruto is a Jinchuuriki. If anyone can safely cross at night into Oto territory, it's them.

When they finally cross the border, they fall into a tight formation and move slowly. Using her hearing to check for heartbeats. There's nothing. No one at all around except for them. It's eerie really. How little noise there is. She can't even identify the heart beats of animals as they get closer to the base.

Katsumi doesn't like stopping in Oto territory for the night. Doesn't want to be here a moment longer than necessary. But Yamato is squad leader and he wants to wait until daylight to finish approaching the base. So they stop and things come to a head between the Chuunin.

Katsumi is setting up the fire pit when Naruto makes some kind of comment that causes Sai to threaten to beat him if he doesn't stop. Which causes Katsumi to stop thinking because Sai, Lion, threatened her person and that's not okay. She's on Sai before anyone can stop her. He doesn't let her attack him without a fight this time. Blocking her strikes and ends up grappling with her on the ground viciously. She's snarling and manages to bite his arm before Yamato's wood release yanks them apart.

Yamato is pissed. Scary face full force as he glares at all of them. Katsumi isn't cowed though. There's blood in her mouth and all she wants is to spill more. She hasn't been this gone in her instincts since the invasion. Sai really manages to piss her off. Sai is utterly blank faced where he dangles in the Wood release's grasp. She can see the blood trickle down his arm and knows it will scar if an iryonin doesn't treat it.

Naruto is alternating between glaring daggers at Sai and watching her warily. She can see the dim glow of seals beneath his sleeves fade away as they calm down.

"Enough. You all are shinobi of Konohagakure. Chuunin! You will act like the comrades you are. Not children in a schoolyard brawl! Naruto, whatever your problem is, get over it. Katsumi, attack a comrade again and I'll see you demoted. Sai, do not threaten comrades. I prefer a kind approach to leading, but if I have to use fear to make you three behave like the shinobi you claim to be, I will."

Katsumi lowers her lips back over her teeth and blinks at the man. Comes back to herself and feels a sliver of shame. Sensei would be deeply disappointed to see her behave like this. Kami, she's going to be sent back to the Inuzuka's after this gets back to him.

Naruto speaks up first, contrition in his voice, "Sorry, Yamato-Taichou. It's just, he's like a replacement Sasuke and no one seems to care, dattebayo."

Sai's voice actually has some emotion in it. Too bad it's contempt, "I'm not interested in being compared to shit like Uchiha. He's a traitor to the Leaf. That you care so much for him still brings your loyalties into question, Dickless."

Katsumi blinks at Sai. How... logical. She's not sure what she expected really. She's had the same thought about the Sasuke situation too. Not that she would ever voice them. Maybe that's the reason she and Sensei were told to execute Sasuke if they couldn't bring him back alive while Naruto was still gone. Because the blonde would lose his shit hearing that order.

"Katsumi, anything to say?" Yamato's scary face is entirely focused on her.

"Don't threaten Naruto again." Katsumi peels her lips back slightly again to show Sai her teeth.

"Anything other than threats?" Scary face intensifies.

She gnashes her teeth but says, "Sorry for attacking you. And biting your arm."

The wood release tightens on her arms for a moment, like a warning, before she and Sai are released. Yamato considers them all for a moment before nodding once, "There's hot springs near the road. If the three of you can get along for the rest of the mission, we'll go there for a night on the way back. But one more altercation like this, and every one of you will regret it. Understood?"

Katsumi mentally curses her love of hot springs. Of course that's an incentive he'd use against them. Sensei probably suggested it. Regardless, she nods her assent and returns to building the fire pit. No one speaks for the rest of the night and tension is still high, but it's better than before. Everyone knows where they stand now.

When her watch is over, she goes to wake Sai for his. She's just settling down to sleep when he breaks the long silence, "You disapprove of bringing Sasuke back alive. Why do you pretend otherwise?"

Katsumi stares at the place the fire had been, ashes already reburied. Thinks the question over for a long time and wonders how he realized it. Finally gives him the best answer she can, "Naruto would be upset. We should at least try to return him. He was a friend before the curse mark, if that boy still exists, we should try to find him again."

"And if he doesn't?"

"What else is there to be done with a rabid dog?" Katsumi remembers Sasuke's threat and wonders if that's what he is now. A rabid dog.

Sai doesn't say anything to that and she can feel his gaze move away from her back. She doesn't sleep the entire night. Thoughts of actually having to kill Sasuke keeping her awake. Damn Sai for making the lines blur between how Fox views Sasuke and how Katsumi does. Naruto will never forgive her if she puts the Uchiha down. Even if he ends up deserving it in the end.

Notes:

Y'all, what I have planned for next chapter is gonna be brutal for Katsumi, fair warning

Chapter 8

Chapter Text

The base is utterly silent as they approach the entrance. Naruto deals with picking apart the seals on the entryway while Katsumi keeps an ear for anything other than their team. She's already scented the area. She can smell that people have been here. All of them have strong chemical smells on them. None of them smell like Sasuke though. No Ash smell anywhere. She doesn't tell anyone that though. Maybe she's wrong and he just hasn't been outside since it last rained.

When Naruto finishes undoing the last seal, he grins proudly and gives a thumbs up. Katsumi's not excited about going into the underground base. They have a mission though, so she swallows her distaste and falls into step behind Yamato and Naruto, Sai at her back. Katsumi does her best not to be bothered by having Sai there. He was a good partner as Lion, despite the awful mission. She needs to trust Sai will be a good teammate now.

They near immediately come to a fork in the corridors and she wants to curse because she knows they're going to be split up into pairs. Doesn't even need to see the hand sign Yamato makes to know it. She and Sai to the left. Yamato and Naruto to the right. Lovely. At least Naruto won't bicker with Sai the whole time.

She and Sai move in silence down the darkened corridor. She listens for heart beats and checks constantly for fresh scents. She doesn't like how quiet it is despite the fact some of the scents were definitely at least a week old. There should be some life here. Maybe their side is just empty.

They come to a set of doors first, metal double doors and she can smell blood and decay. No sounds that indicate life though. Sai opens the door just enough for them to slip through. They're greeted by the sight of rows of cells and Katsumi nearly gags at the stench of rot.

They walk slowly through the line of cells, pausing to look into each one. It's awful. There's a swollen, putrid body in the first one with maggots crawling out of the mouth. In the next there's a body that looks near mummified, and mouth still opened in a scream. One looks freshly dead and can't be older than eight. A few cells have more than one body in them. Others only have skeletal remains left. It's horrific. Katsumi hopes Sasuke isn't here. Hopes he's not with Orochimaru at all. If he is, he's either a prisoner, or complicit in this. Katsumi's not sure which would be worse.

When they find the exit to the cells, they're greeted by the sight of a medical room. It smells like bleach and stings her nose. Everything in this room is immaculate. Looks like something she'd see in the Konoha hospital. If she hadn't just seen the cells and corpses, she wouldn't think there was anything off about the room. She and Sai look at everything here. Search for any indication that Uchiha Sasuke might have been in this room. If it's used for more than just experimenting, maybe Orochimaru would have used it to try and fix the eye Katsumi ruined. There's nothing though. Not even files. Which means either those are destroyed or have been moved.

Sai takes lead as they slip through a door on the left wall. Down another hallway. Still no heart beats and Katsumi has never been more on edge. Everything about this place is wrong. Is vile. She does not want to be here.

They find a smaller door with a lock on it after a few long minutes. Sai starts picking it without hesitation as Katsumi keeps an ear out for any sounds. Nothing. No heart beats or footsteps or voices. She can't even hear Naruto and Yamato. Just eerie silence.

The lock pops open and Sai pushes the door open carefully, one hand above his shoulder and ready to grab the tanto strapped to it. Really, Sai needs a different tanto. That one is very clearly an ANBU issued one. Anyone who has ever worn a mask would recognize it. There's no one in the room. It's dark and smells like dust and paper and she knows they've found files.

She and Sai set to work in silence, opening each drawer and pulling out file after file. Pausing occasionally to open one and flip through. Just as awful as the cells. The files they're going through are on failed test subjects. Men and women and children, shinobi and civilian, healthy and sick. It doesn't matter, Orochimaru experimented on all of them. Vivisected some of them if they survived enough experiments.

She goes to look through a different cabinet when Sai closes the file he was looking at and hands it to her. Face blank and eyes watching her intently. She takes the file from him and looks down at it. Test subject six-eight-seven-IS. She's not sure what the letters at the end mean but she's not sure she wants to know. Sai is still staring at her though. Like he wants to watch her read the file. What she sees when she open it nearly makes her shriek.

There's a picture of the test subject before experimentation. It's Tou-San. He looks injured already, like he fought tooth and nail. His eyes are glazed in the photo and she thinks he was probably sedated to keep him from fighting. She's shaking as she reads the file, blood roaring in her ears. Captured outside Ame, already injured. He survived four experiments before being vivisected. She's not sure what the purpose of any of the experiments were, but they were horrific. Less experiments and more torture. Amputations and experiments on his nerve endings. Injections and electrocutions. Drowning and revival. Photos after every experiment.

Katsumi suppresses a sob as she sees the photo of his corpse. Her entire body is shaking and her teeth are bared in grief and she holds the file to her chest tightly. Sai finally taps her shoulder and signs in ANBU hand signs that they need to go. She's not even thinking as she slips the file into a storage scroll. Refuses to leave the facts of her Father's last days behind. She has no body to bury. This is all she can bring back of her tou-San and she won't relinquish it unless the Hokage herself orders her to.

She forces down her grief as best she can. Forces herself to focus on the mission. She can grieve and fall apart later. She's emotionally compromised now though. Knows that makes her a liability and she does her best to keep going. Does her best to scent out anything useful and keep listening for movement. Still there's nothing. Like everyone just left for the day.

Sai takes lead again and they come across more cells with more bodies and storage rooms, but nothing else of note. Eventually, they come to a dead end. They turn back and Katsumi does her best not to think about her father is one of those filthy cells waiting for a rescue that was never going to come. They pass through the medics room and she tries not to picture tou-San strapped to the table. Passes back through the first cell block and tries not to think about how his body probably reeked just like the corpses in the cells do.

They're nearly to where their corridor meets the one Naruto and Yamato went down, when the entire base starts shaking like there's an earthquake. Parts of the ceiling starts to fall in and immediately Katsumi and Sai are sprinting for the exit.

They make it out just as the ground seems to collapse in on itself, a sink hole forming. The pair move back quickly. Katsumi can't suppress a panicked yell. Naruto and Yamato are still in there. Sai actually stops her from trying to climb into the sinkhole, has to physically hold her back.

"Emotions on a mission are not acceptable, Midget. Yamato-Taichou has mokuton. They will be fine." His monotone voice is steady in her ear. Sounds like it doesn't matter to him if they aren't fine.

He's right though, she can see the wood release exploding up and out of the dirt and rubble. Yamato and Naruto look worse for wear when they appear but otherwise okay. What the hell just happened?

Yamato calls out to them as the pair climb out of the sinkhole, "Status report?"

Sai speaks, "No injuries on either myself or midget. All capabilities still available and functional."

"What happened?" Katsumi watches Naruto wipe dust and debris off himself.

"We found someone alive. They hardly looked human anymore. They attacked and ended up doing a earth jutsu that brought the whole place down."

"Is the threat neutralized?" Sai asks.

Yamato turns his wide eyes back onto the sinkhole for a moment, "Yes. Any evidence of Uchiha Sasuke's presence?"

"No. If Sasuke was ever here it was a long time ago." Katsumi knows that much at least.

"What was down there?" Naruto looks curious, "All we found were empty rooms except for crazy sinkhole man, dattebayo."

"Cells, corpses, the room experiments were conducted in and files on the test subjects. Midget has one of them."

Yamato looks intrigued, "Katsumi? You have one of the files?"

She stares at the man and swallows hard, her mouth feels dry and she nods mutely.

"May I see it?" He holds out a hand expectantly.

She's numb and her fingers fumble as she pulls the file from the storage scroll. Grips it tightly for a moment before finally giving it to Yamato.

He takes it from her and flips it open. She watches him freeze momentarily and his eyes flick to her. She stares back unblinkingly. Soon enough he closes the file and hands it back to her.

"You can hold onto that if you'd like, Katsumi. We'll give it to Lady Hokage when we get back. I'd like to speak with you privately when we get to the hot springs."

"What was in the file?" Naruto looks curious but wary. Like he knows it's not really an answer he wants.

"Nothing that concerns you, Naruto. I believe I promised the three of you a night at the Hot springs if you behaved." Yamato smiles benignly at them as he leads them away from the destroyed base.

They get there at Sunset and Yamato pays for everything. If Katsumi was in a better emotional state she'd be in heaven. She never gets to relax to this extent in Konoha. After finding her Tou-san's file though, the food is ash in her mouth and she just wants to go home and demand to know why he was ever in Ame.

After they eat, Yamato pulls her into her room and stands a safe distance from her. She can read the concern on his face and wonders if it's concern for her or her ability to hold it together.

She stares emptily at him. Waits for him to start because she doesn't know what she's supposed to say.

"That file is on your father." Is all he says.

Katsumi blinks, "Yes."

"Are you alright?"

"He was declared MIA months ago. He wasn't supposed to not come back." Katsumi says it stupidly. Like she was still expecting Tou-San to return home from his mission even now.

Yamato's kind, worried face makes her want to hide from the scrutiny. "I'm sorry that you had to find out what happened this way. If anyone had known, you wouldn't have been sent of this mission."

"No one knew. That's why he was MIA. No one knew where he was." Katsumi isn't allowed to cry. She can't cry until the mission report is turned in and she can go home. She can't. She didn't cry when she thought Sasuke was dead in Wave Country or when she thought she was dying on that tree. She can't cry now.

She's shaking badly though. So badly her teeth are clicking together. Yamato doesn't seem to know what to do. Finally, "we'll leave early tomorrow morning. I can tell the boys to leave you alone tonight, if you'd like time to yourself."

Katsumi nods once. Unable to speak for fear of sobbing. She's left alone standing in the middle of the room. When she starts laughing hysterically she thinks she must have finally snapped. Maybe this is why Hyena laughed so brokenly when he killed Hidan and Bear. Because crying on a mission isn't allowed, but no one said anything about laughter. So she stands there and laughs loud and brokenly, until she's on her knees with her head against the floor and struggling to breath through her hysterics.

She can't do any more missions involving Orochimaru. Ever. She will never be able to keep a clear head on them. Closure feels like her heart being torn out of her chest. Two people make a clan for the Ishihara. Now there's not even two.

Chapter 9

Chapter Text

When they return to the village and give their report to Lady Hokage, Katsumi hands her the file with steady hands. She's oddly calm. Feels like an explosive tag could go off behind her and she wouldn't startle. Tsunade looks the file over once and Katsumi can read the rage on the woman's face.

"I'll have his name added to the memorial stone, Ishihara." Is all she says on the matter.

When they're dismissed, she ignores Naruto calling out to her. Ignores Yamato hushing him and Sai monotonously trying to explain that he read about multiple stages of grief. She doesn't go home. It's still early enough Shikaku will be in his office. She has questions.

She's calm as she knocks on the door of his office. Calm as she enters too. Stares at the man's scarred face for a long time. Doesn't say a word until he asks her what she needs a second time.

All she says is, "Ame."

"What?" Shikaku's eyes narrow in confusion at her. She can practically see the gears spinning in his head.

"You're the jounin commander. You know about every mission a jounin is sent on." She feels like the walls are closing in on her.

She can see the moment the light flicks on, "Katsumi, as soon as we knew about the threat we sent him orders to fall back."

"He did. Would you like to know how his mission ended? Because he's not coming back." Katsumi tracks every twitch of muscle she sees on Shikaku.

"What do you mean?"

"Orochimaru used him for experimenting. Amputated limbs so he could experiment with the nerve endings. Electrocuted him and then would drown him and revive him. Vivisected him eventually. He died badly." Katsumi doesn't even recognize her own voice. It's soft and empty and sounds broken.

"How—"

"Sai found the file when we went through the base. There's pictures. Tsunade has it now."

Shikaku stands slowly and walks around the desk towards her like she's a wild animal. Katsumi tracks his approach with her eyes.

"Who sent him there? Tsunade wasn't Hokage yet, I don't think."

Shikaku pauses a moment, and she knows he's trying to decide if she'll go after someone if she has a name.

"That's not important right now, Katsumi. I'll help you however I can, but I won't give you that information."

She tilts her head, "If- if I'd told you about my memories earlier, would he have made it home?"

If so, she would never forgive herself for keeping her silence. She'll never recover if it's her fault.

"Katsumi, there is no way to know what might have happened. We took a long time after learning about the dangers there to recall him. It is no more your fault than it is his that this happened. This exact outcome wasn't even considered." Shikaku places his hands on her shoulders and looks down at her.

She stares straight ahead at the man's chest, "My entire family is on the memorial stone now. My Obaa-San, my Okaa-san, and now my Otou-San. I don't have any other family. The rest died in Kiri. He was the only family I had left."

Shikaku pulls her into his chest and hugs her tightly, "He wanted to come back to you. Every mission he went on, he went with the goal of coming back to you. You were his life."

"Then why was he never here?" Katsumi finally asks the question she always wondered. If he loved her, why wasn't he around?

"After your mother died, he was never quite the same. And he believed he was protecting you, I think. That to keep you safe, he had to do those missions."

"I didn't need that. I needed him to be here." Katsumi buries her face into Shikaku's flak jacket, still not crying.

"I know. I know, I wish he had spent more time with you." He rubs her back gently.

Katsumi steps back first, "What to I do with the apartment? His belongings?"

Shikaku blinks slowly at her, "I can have a genin team pack away his things and we can move them into one of the storage rooms at the house if you'd like to keep everything."

Katsumi twitches a little at the idea of moving his things. At someone touching his belongings. She can't go back in that apartment, but she can't just leave his things there to be thrown away when the lease runs out. So finally, she nods slightly. Just enough for Shikaku to know she agrees.

She's gone before he can say anything else. Gone before he can catch her with his shadow. She needs Inoichi. Her grief can come later, her grief won't go anywhere. She needs answers and she won't listen to any arguments from him suggesting otherwise. Doesn't care if she ends up in the psych ward for her troubles.

She avoids all crowds by using the rooftops to move. Ignores the greetings of any shinobi that passes her. Gets to the flower shop and he isn't there. Ino is though.

Ino smiles brightly when she sees her, "Katsu! You're back! Picking up flowers for Yoshino-San?"

Katsumi shakes her head, "Um. No. I need to speak with your father, though. He helps me think things through sometimes and I really need help with that right now."

Ino blinks in surprise, then her face softens, "He's working on a prisoner in T right now. If you want, if you're comfortable with it, I could mind walk you instead. I've gotten really good at it."

Katsumi tilts her head a little and considers it. Technically it's not telling Ino anything. Which is what she's not supposed to do. And she needs to know what that fuck is going on with Danzo and Sai. Then she can grieve. Then she can go home and break down.

"You have to promise not to tell anyone anything." She needs to know Ino will keep a secret.

"Of course, it's your mind, it's not my right to tell anyone about it. Come on, we can do it in my room." Ino wiggles her fingers at Katsumi, an invitation to hold hands. Ino has always been very tactile.

Katsumi takes Ino's warm hand and lets her lead her up the stairs to the bright, pretty room that Ino calls hers.

They sit cross legged on the bed across of each other. Katsumi watching blank faced as Ino gets comfortable.

"So just try and focus on what you want to think about, okay? Since I don't know exactly what you're needing to work through."

Katsumi focuses on the word Root . It's linked to Danzo and Sai and all the bad things, so she hopes it works. She can feel the migraine building before Ino's hand is on her forehead and the world tilts and spins away.

What she sees when the world rights itself is Danzo with his arm unwrapped. Sharingans covering it. It's grotesque to look at. Absolutely stomach churning.

"Katsumi? What is this?" Ino sounds like she's struggling to stay calm.

Katsumi watches as the images shift and it's a younger Danzo speaking to a small ANBU in a weasel mask. Itachi. The reason the weasel mask has been permanently retired. Listens in mild shock as he orders him to execute the Uchiha clan.

"Holy shit." Ino breathes. Katsumi thinks that's a fair reaction.

What about Sai though? Katsumi watches the world ripple and she's watching as Sai fights a silver haired boy, Shin. Watches the utter shock and grief as the silver haired boy dies. So Sai did have emotions. How could Konoha condone any of this?

As if in answer to her thought, they're watching the Yondaime disband Root. Do away with it entirely. It's not enough though. Danzo just continues it on his own. In secret. Sees him take young Yamato from Orochimaru and tell everyone there were no survivors of that experiment. What the fuck?

She feels the moment Ino pulls them out. The world violently shattered around them. Her head is pounding now and as she regains her bearings she can see Ino get up and start pacing the room.

"Katsumi! What the hell was that? Those images?"

"Memories. Of what was. Of what is. Could be. They're real though. All of them." Katsumi grits it out as she fumbles for her migraine pills.

"What the hell does that mean?" Ino sounds utterly panicked, "If those are real, why hasn't anyone done anything?"

Katsumi swallows her pills and shoots Ino an exhausted look, "Danzo likes the shadows and he was close to the Sandaime. Politically, he's near untouchable."

"This could get you killed if he finds out." Ino sounds near hysterical.

"Could get you killed too. So you can't tell a soul, your father not included."

Ino is silent for a long time and the pacing stops, "Katsumi, whatever game you're playing, tread carefully. You're playing against an opponent with far more experience than you, even if you know all his cards."

Katsumi grimaces. She doesn't even know all the cards yet. She's at a distinct disadvantage and she thinks she's already loosing.

"I'll be careful. Remember not to mention this to anyone." She stands up and sways.

Ino helps her out the door and gives her one last warning to take care. Katsumi gives a weak wave goodbye and makes her way home. Finally, she can grieve. Finally she can stop moving for a little while.

She slips into the house and does her best to avoid Shikamaru and Yoshino. Locks her door when she makes it to her room and just sits on the edge of the bed and stares into space. Doesn't react at all to Chinami and Taishiro's excited greetings.

Taishiro calms down first and stands in front of her, narrow, long head resting in her lap, "Katsumi hurting. Why?"

Chinami's ears pin back at that, and she crawls across the floor, whining softly as she approaches Katsumi. "Pack here. Who needs fucking up? Chinami fucking fix problem."

"Sire killed." She uses the term the Ninken use to describe her father. Makes it easier for them to understand fully.

Taishiro whines loudly and wags his tail weakly, trying to give comfort, "Sire hunts in pure lands now. Katsumi sleep sadness away?"

"Fuck sleeping. Hunt Sire killer. Make bleed." Chinami bares her teeth.

"Angry pup may have joined the killer." Katsumi says it bitterly. Taishiro named Sasuke that when she told him about the Uchiha.

Taishiro's lips peel back in a clear threat, "only one fate for pack traitors."

"Fuck pack traitors. Hunt shitty fuckface pup." Chinami looks murderous.

Katsumi doesn't say anything back but the bitter, angry, hurting part of her and the dark, vicious instincts Tsume taught her to control twist together into a tight seething ball. If Sasuke joined Orochimaru, she'll kill him herself and smile as she does it.

She does tell them one thing though, "There's a pack traitor in the village. We're going to hunt them."

Taishiro and Chinami don't say a thing to that, but she can see the aggression in both of them. Can read the agreement on their faces. Good. Danzo got Yamato from Orochimaru originally. Katsumi wonders what else the two men did together. Grief and rage are more than enough of a motivator for her to find out. For her to keep moving. She thinks Tou-San would approve.

Chapter 10

Chapter Text

Shikamaru hovers over her during the follows days. Keeps a silent watch with her the night she visits the memorial stone once her Tou-san's name is added. Takes her with him whenever Yoshino sends him to run errands and makes a point of keeping her out of the house the day the genin bring her tou-san's belongings. She doesn't say a word about her father. Studiously avoids the subject. Shikamaru doesn't push her on it.

They play shogi and talk about things that don't involve her father. Shikamaru's last mission, capturing a man who's been selling tainted drugs in The Land Of Hot Water. Tells her how his training has been going and how working in Tactics part time is a drag. Tells her about how he and Neji are taking the jounin exams together in two months. How he wouldn't be taking it at all if Yoshino wouldn't beat him with the wooden spoon if he didn't.

Katsumi considers that. Only one out of every twenty Chuunin pass the jounin exams. One out of nearly forty pass the first time. There's a reason most Chuunin who want a promotion tend to stop at tokubetsu jounin. It's why Sensei wants her to wait until he's taught her everything he can, before she takes them. Wants her to go into it overprepared, wants her to be so ready that it's comical how easy she passes. The only reason she would take them now is if the Hokage insisted on it.

She tells Shikamaru good luck. Knowing him, he'll be the one in forty out of sheer unwillingness to repeat taking them. Too much effort if he doesn't pass on the first try and he'll have to face Yoshino's wrath on top of that.

Chinami and Taishiro are subdued as she grieves. Spend more time pressed against her legs and being living walls between her and the world, than they do anything else. Both are tense and she knows they're waiting for her to start hunting. So when Shikamaru finally leaves her side to go deal with a problem in the Tactics division, they hunt Sai down.

Maybe it's a bad idea, but she wants to throw stones at Danzo. Wants him to know she's coming for him. Because if he had anything to do with Orochimaru and her father, she's going to end him herself. Especially since everyone has been avoiding the problem because of politics. she wants him to know he's being hunted. That he's not as safe as he thinks.

So she finds Sai sitting on a bench and drawing in his little art pad. Taishiro and Chinami circle around the bench growling at him. Sai doesn't look surprised. Merely looks at them before returning to his art.

"Midget, your dogs should be kept on leashes if they can't behave. I believe that's the polite thing to do. I've never had a dog though, so I'm not sure."

Katsumi stands in front of him and raises an eyebrow, "May not have had a dog before, but you certainly had a brother. Right, Sai?"

Sai's fake smile is gone. His face is an utterly blank mask as he observes her. She can see the fingers around the color in his hand tighten minutely. Blood in the water.

"What was his name? Shin, I think? Didn't you kill him? Why was that again? You'll have to refresh my memory for me."

She can see him trying to form a fake smile. Trying to put on a mask that doesn't fit quite right. "I have no idea what you're referring to, Midget. Perhaps you're confused. Grief can do that to a person, I've read."

Katsumi smiles an ugly smile, jagged and toothy and more of a threat than its ever been before, "I want to like you, Sai, I really do. I think you'd a really good comrade if I could trust you. The problem is, it's not the Hokage that holds your leash, is it?"

"I'm loyal to Konoha. Unlike your wayward former teammate."

"I'm not accusing you of being a traitor. Only serving one. If you report this, you better tell your master he can't hide in the shadows forever. His time is coming to an end. And Sai? If you want that seal off your tongue, I'm sure Naruto could do something about it."

Katsumi makes a gesture and her Ninken are at her side in an instant as she walks away. She can feel Sai's gaze drilling a hole in her pack. Certainly not subtle, but then, war never is. And Danzo fired the first shot when she was sent on that clan elimination mission.

Katsumi doesn't tell a soul about that conversation. She writes down everything she remembers about Danzo in the same code she used to pass the list to Jiraiya. Makes sure it's as detailed as possible, goes into one of her obsessive episodes as she works on it. When she's satisfied, she smiles brutally and makes an appointment to see Lady Hokage.

Whether the woman does anything with the information or not, Katsumi isn't going to stop. She even has the exact location to the entrance of the Root base written down. If Tsunade won't make a move, Katsumi will do it herself, consequences be damned. This is just formality. Giving respect where it's due.

Shikamaru clearly knows something is up with her besides just her grief. Corners her a few days after she confronts Sai, and outright asks her what's happening. When she tries to brush it off and walk away his shadow pins her in place and for the first time she bares her teeth in genuine rage because of him.

"Let me go. Now."

Taishiro and Chinami stiffen at the sound of her snarling at Shikamaru. They look uncertain for a moment, but eventually bare their teeth at him too.

"I will. As soon as I know what's going on. Ino is acting weird, especially if you're mentioned and you look like you're plotting murder. What is going on?"

"Nothing is going on, Shikamaru. It's not your business." She can feel his eyes on her back from where he holds her still.

"Does it have to do with your night job? You know most chuunin don't take a night job until they've been Chuunin for a few years."

Katsumi is well aware she's an overachiever in that regard. Well aware that he figured out she was ANBU before now. When he grabbed her arm directly over the Tattoo it certainly wasn't hard to figure out.

"Can't talk about it."

"Can't or won't? Ino certainly seems to know something. She's been whispering things in people's ears you know. Things about a certain Council elder."

Katsumi closes her eyes and all she thinks is shit. Ino is not supposed to be doing that. She's supposed to be keeping herself safe by staying silent. Not spreading rumors. Katsumi hopes this won't get the blonde girl killed.

"Oh, you didn't know that? You want to know some of the rumors going around now? I can think of one. Something about a secret ANBU faction made up of stolen kids. Anything to do with you, Katsumi?"

She nearly chokes on a laugh. He's asking if she's part of Root. Fuck, he thinks she's a baby Root agent. That she follows the orders of a lunatic.

"I can honestly say I'm not some little kid playing in the shadows, Shika. Now let me go."

Taishiro and Chinami are pacing a circle around the pair, but not saying a word. She gets it, they're her summons, but to them this is a dominance thing. Entirely between her and Shikamaru.

"Whatever is going on, Katsumi, I will help you. I can't do that if you don't tell me though." She can hear the frustration in his voice. Can hear the pleading for her to tell him, faint though it is.

She grits her teeth and it hurts to hear that tone in his voice. Hurts to know she put it there. But she's already out Ino in danger. She can't do that to Shikamaru too. But fuck it, since he won't let her go until he knows.

"I'm going to kill an elder. What do you think?"

There's a heavy silence as he processes that before he lets loose with a string of curses that sound more like something she'd hear from Naruto.

"Fuck, Katsumi. You can't just say that out loud. Fuck. That's treason ." Shikamaru sounds like she's just taken years off his life with that one comment.

"Gonna have me executed?"

"No, I'm not going to have you fucking executed, you troublesome woman. You need to tell me what the fuck is going on though."

Katsumi's already told him her end plan and if what he says is true, Ino is spinning rumors left and right all with the intention of dragging Danzo's name through the mud, she's already told Thrown the gauntlet down by confronting Sai, and Sensei knows about the ANBU mission. There's not much else to lose by telling Shikamaru. He's a genius. He won't get himself killed.

So she tells him everything. From the first memories she had to now. Everything pertaining to what he already knows, at least. Tells him about the training Bear and Crane gave her and the missions she's done her level best to forget. Tells him every gory detail she can think of and swears him to silence.

His shadow finally lets her go and she turns to look at him. He's kneeling down in his thinking pose. She can see his jaw working though. Maybe it was just too much information. She's so used to it all she sometimes forgets just how much it really is to take in. When his eyes finally open and he stands back up he looks extremely unhappy, but determined.

"Troublesome. All of it. Ino had the right idea, though. The court of public opinion is more powerful than you realize. Wear away his image as a war hero and trusted advisor to the Sandaime, and people will start looking harder at him. That's not enough to get rid of him though. We need evidence if we're going to take him down legally . If we're going to go the bloodier route you want, we're going to have to play it smart. Which means you can't be openly threatening him."

"We?"

"Katsumi, whether you want me involved or not, I'm helping. I spend more time in the tower than you do, I can search through old mission reports for discrepancies. Look into missing kids and shit. You need to get Sai on our side. And get Naruto to unravel his or Yamato's seals. That's our first move. Our second is to gather allies."

"You realize Sai probably hates me, right?" Katsumi is pretty sure he's not going to warm to her anytime soon.

"He has no emotions right now. So do what you always do and fix him ."

Right. It sounds so simple when he puts it like that. It's not like teaching Naruto to throw Kunai. She's not Naruto. She can't just talk to a psycho and make them not psycho. How is she supposed to shove emotions into a person? For Kami's sake her main example of social skills in the past two years has been Kakashi-sensei.

Shikamaru sighs and closes the distance between them in two long strides. Pulls her into a tight hug and rests his chin on her head, "We can do this, Katsumi. It's a total drag, but not impossible. We'll get it done."

Katsumi lets the certainty in Shikamaru's voice wash over her. Let's his warmth around her ground her again. She's not alone. She's not one person against a giant. They can do this. They will do this.

Chapter 11

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi learns through Naruto the outcome of Sakura's team going to the other base. Sasuke was there at some point. Kiba had been able to pick his scent up, but he wasn't there. Katsumi is overcome with a strange sense of clarity. She's absolutely going to kill Sasuke if Naruto can't fix him. Past friendship be damned. Naruto's just going to have to forgive her later.

She watches Naruto's excitement on the development with cold eyes. She bites out a single question that stops his joy in its tracks, "If you can't get rid of the seal, what's plan B?"

Naruto blinks and seems to fully take in her irritation, "Plan B?"

"Yeah, Plan B. If we can't remove the seal? Keeping him locked up failed. The Yamanaka's spent nearly two years trying to screw his head back on right. If he comes back, with that seal, do you really think we'll be able to fix him?"

Naruto runs a hand through his blonde locks, looks deeply uncomfortable with the question, "We'll find a way, dattebayo. We don't abandon comrades."

"He abandoned us though. Twice. I nearly died. Neji and Choji nearly died. Just about everyone who went on that retrieval mission spent a few days— at least— in the hospital. Do you really think he'd come back willingly? That he'd stay if we brought him back by force?"

Naruto's eyebrows draw together and she can tell he doesn't like the line of questioning, "What else do we do? Kill him? He's our friend, Dattebayo."

"He accused Sensei of fucking me when he visited him in the psych ward. Told me he'd kill me when I visited. Does that sound like a friend?" Katsumi recalls the uncomfortable feeling she's had when Sensei told her that in order for her to be prepared if she visited Sasuke.

Naruto looks away, out at the people walking by them as they lean against the side of a building. He fiddles with the sleeve of the black and orange shirt he wears under his flak jacket, "What kind of Hokage would I be if I can't save one person, a friend, dattebayo?"

"The kind that thinks of what's best for the village. The kind that worries about the people who can be saved. That want to be saved. You can only help a person who wants to be helped. I'm not sure Sasuke is one of those people." Katsumi finally speaks her thoughts on the subject out loud.

"You think we should just kill him." Naruto swings his gaze back around to stare at her, the hand that was playing with his sleeve falling to his side.

"I think we should prepare for that outcome. If you're going to be the Hokage, you have to be able to know when it's just not worth the effort it would take to fix something. Not every situation is salvageable."

"And Sasuke is that situation to you."

"I don't know, but I think he's dangerously close to ending up that way. If you can fix him, then I want you to do it. But, Naruto, if he's passed saving, you need to be able to let him go."

Naruto squeezes his eyes shut as if to block her words. Like they physically pain him to hear. Finally blue eyes open and she can see the pain in them clear as day, "I won't kill him. I can't do that."

Katsumi isn't surprised by that. Had figured that would be asking too much of the sunshine boy, "I know. You won't have to."

If anything that pains him more, "I don't want you to have to either, Dattebayo."

"I know that too. But I already took his eye. I think I can manage the rest." She doesn't tell him there's a large part of her that's looking forward to it if Naruto isn't able to fix the idiot.

Naruto doesn't respond to that. Looks back out over the villagers going about their lives in silence. She wonders if he's ever truly understood just how heavy the Hokage hat actually is. Just how much of a person's soul it demands. She wonders if he'll be able to live with the hard decisions when it's his turn to bear that weight. She hopes by the time the Hat is his, he'll understand it.

Katsumi stands up from her place against the wall and stretches. They have a Root agent to humanize. "Come on, Lets go find Sai. If we're going to be working together, I think we should try to befriend him."

Naruto scowls at that, "He's an asshole, dattebayo. Why would we want to be friends with him?"

"Comrades should get along. Besides, I think he just doesn't know how to socialize. You're friendly and I'm pack oriented. We can do it. Unless you don't think you can." A cheap trick that works on Naruto every time. Say he can't do something and he'll absolutely become hellbent on proving he can.

Sure enough, he looks affronted at the idea he can't make someone his friend, "Come on, We have a friend to make, Dattebayo. Just watch. I'll be his friend before sunset, Believe it."

It takes nearly two hours to find the boy. Two hours of Naruto ranting about how of course he can make Sai his friend, even if he is a stupid fucking asshole. Two hours of Naruto in full blown crazy mode. Katsumi doesn't remember the last time Naruto was this worked up over something. Probably when they were still genin.

They find Sai in one of the training ground and she gets to witness his ink based jutsu for the first time. The ink creatures are actually quite beautiful in a menacing sort of way. Sai doesn't seem thrilled to see them, but she thinks that's probably how he feels about everyone. Hopefully he isn't too displeased from their last conversation. She wasn't lying. She would like to have him as a teammate if she could trust him.

"Hey Sai! We should get to know each other since we're gonna be working together, dattebayo!" Naruto grins wide and excited at the stoic boy. Kami, maybe setting a hellbent Naruto on Sai is a bit much.

Sai stops what he's doing and puts his ink away, "Do we not already know each other, Dickless? We know each other's names and skill sets. For a working relationship is that not enough?"

"Ah, but we're teammates. We need to be friends if we want to work best together. Besides, don't your books talk about how important bonds are?" Katsumi slinks a circle around Sai, watching him with sharp eyes as she smiles widely at him, showing a touch too many teeth.

"My books are about human behavior and how to form bonds. Not the importance of them, Midget."

"Poor education, sounds like. Maybe try a different book." Katsumi reaches Naruto again and leans against his solid form.

"Yeah, dattebayo. If you have no bonds, you're all alone. That's a really painful thing too. So we'll be your bonds if you'd like!" Naruto looks so very earnest as he speaks. Such a good, naive heart he has.

"We'll be your bonds even if you don't like, really. You're team seven and unless you pull an Uchiha, you're very much stuck with us." Katsumi's grin widens as Sai blinks once and stares openly at her. Did he expect vitriol and threats in front of Naruto?

"I see. And how do you form such bonds? My books say smiling is important in many situations and that nicknames also help. Kind gestures too. Yet those efforts all seem to have failed on the mission."

"Well, tell us your likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams. Bonds are formed in part by talking to each other." Katsumi figures Kakashi-Sensei's original team seven introductions will work well enough.

Sai doesn't say anything for a long moment. She thinks his brain might be short circuiting. Maybe she shouldn't have used those?

"I do not think there is anything I like. I know I don't like traitors to Konoha though. I suppose my hobby would be my art? I'm not sure I have any dreams."

Katsumi thinks that's the most honest answer she's heard from him about anything. She claps her hands together and beams at him, positive reinforcement works on her Ninken, should work on him. "Very interesting, Sai. Maybe we can help you find things you like? A good way for us to bond as a team."

Sai fakes a smile at her, "I wasn't aware such a thing is an acceptable form of bonding, midget. Thank you for informing me."

"Naruto, your turn." She elbows him in the side and glares up at him.

"Oh! Right, I like ramen and fuinjutsu and Katsumi-Chan! I don't like when people hurt my friends and I don't like vegetables. My hobbies are pranks, traps and eating ramen, and my dream is to be Hokage!"

Katsumi doesn't remember what his original introduction was, but she's pretty sure he said he hated Sasuke. She looks back over to Sai, "I like Kenjutsu, shogi and onsens, I don't like traitors either, I also don't like loud noises or hospitals. My hobbies are playing shogi, working with my Ninken, and training. My dream is to be a strong Kunoichi like my mother and protect my precious people."

Sai seems to take all the information in quickly enough, "Have we properly bonded as a team now that we have shared?"

Naruto scoffs, "'Course not, dattebayo. You gotta come eat ramen with us sometimes. Katsumi-Chan prefers sweets though, so we'll have to go get those too. You'll need to pick a favorite food too. That way we can rotate through those after training, dattebayo."

"Yeah, Team seven tradition." Katsumi is going to make Sai theirs if it kills her. She grabs him by the wrist and studiously ignores the way he tenses up and drags him along behind her. She may not know how to deprogram his current brainwashing, but she can probably replace it with team seven brainwashing. She thinks that's how it works anyway.

Worst comes to worse, she'll introduce him to Ino. She likes the crazy pretty boys. Step one of the plan is going beautifully. Shikamaru will be so proud of her for not saying screw the plan like she considered.

Notes:

Katsumi Over here giving Sai whiplash

Chapter 12

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"What is the purpose of the 'Puppy pile'?"

Katsumi looks up from where she's trying—and failing— to stitch a tear in one of her shirts. Sai is pinned on his back on the floor of Naruto's apartment where they dragged him after the ramen. She's summoned her Ninken and now Sai is being steadily crushed by Chinami and Taishiro's combined weight.

"Good for the soul. Just enjoy the warmth and slow crushing of your rib cage. And no stabbing the Ninken. It's rude."

"Stab them and Katsumi will definitely stab you, dattebayo," says Naruto without looking up from the seal he's working on.

"I do not recall reading anything about this in my books."

"Like I said, poor education. Get better books. Inuzuka Tsume swears by this method."

"Method?"

"Training puppies."

"I am not a puppy."

"New puppy learn place in pack." Taishiro wags his tail where he's stretched out over Sai's thighs.

"Not fucking hard, new puppy. Follow Hunting Alpha and Biggest alpha, hunt and play with Yellow Pup and Katsumi. Fucking easy." Chinami's giant head is pinning Sai's right arm in place while the rest of her body is trying to fit on his narrow chest. Katsumi is impressed that Sai seems unbothered by the crushing weight.

"I do not understand."

"Kakashi-Sensei is team leader. You listen to him and lady Hokage. You're friends with Naruto and I. Very simple." Katsumi translates it without skipping a beat.

"And this is how team seven bonds?"

"Obviously. You decide on a favorite food yet? Or should we just have you try different things until you find one you like?"

Sai raises his head from the floor to look at her over the Ninken, "I have not decided yet."

"Ramen is awesome, dattebayo! How can you not love it?"

"It is acceptable sustenance, Dickless."

Naruto looks over and squints at Sai, obviously trying to decide it that's the closest to admittance of enjoyment they'll get.

"So, do you prefer that or dango?" Katsumi tilts her head, if they have to teach him how to have preferences she's definitely going to need Ino's help. She thinks Naruto can handle the emotions part, and she can probably teach him how to pretend to not be a damn robot, but Ino is definitely going to be needed for anything more advanced.

"Is it important to choose one?"

"People generally have preferences. If you want people to be comfortable with you, gotta act like how they act. So you need preferences." She's pretty sure he'll accept that if only because it's fair advice for blending in.

"Ah, I see. I suppose I would choose ramen over dango then. Sweets are unnecessary."

"Fuck yeah, dattebayo. Told you he'd prefer ramen, Katsumi-chan." Naruto looks triumphantly over at her.

"How do I get out of this 'puppy pile'? I cannot feel my arm anymore." Sai's voice is still monotone but she thinks she can detect a hint of concern. If she tries really hard.

"Ask them to get off, dattebayo. They can understand you." Naruto rolls his eyes as he continues working on whatever seal he's trying to make.

Taishiro raises his head up to look over Chinami at Sai, "New puppy learn manners. Important for pack bonds."

"New puppy fucking strange. Didn't Dam and Sire teach pack rules?" Chinami snuffles Sai's hair as she asks.

Sai stares up at the cracked ceiling of Naruto's apartment for a moment before a fake smile makes its way across his face, "I don't remember my parents. I suppose they didn't teach me that."

Chinami huffs, "Chinami fucking good teacher. Will teach New Puppy."

"I would like to get up."

"New puppy use manners first."

"What am I supposed to say?"

"You demanded, ask them instead." Katsumi gives up on trying to fix the tear and instead sits and watches as Sai interacts with the Ninken.

"Will you let me up?" Sai fake smiles at then Ninken.

Chinami grunts and gets up, pawing at Taishiro until he stands and stretches. Both just take up spots on the worn couch pushed up against the far wall.

"See, Sai? Gotta be nice if you want results." Katsumi has to restrain herself from patting his head. Sensei does that to her but she thinks it would just confuse Sai.

Sai blinks at her as he stands up, "Is this sufficient bonding, midget?"

Katsumi needs to walk home soon, so one last push, "Nearly enough for today. Walk with me home, please? Naruto normally does it but I don't want to interrupt his Fuinjutsu."

Naruto glances up at his name and his blue eyes flick to Sai in consideration. She wonders if he'll protest. Both dogs are watching too, eyes fixed on Sai. She knows they're not as warmed up to him as they appear. They don't trust him and are only going along with this because she asked them too.

She watches as Sai does his best to mime a pleasant face, "If it is necessary, midget. I was under the impression the Hellhound of Konoha did not need protection."

"I don't. But I like company. So keep me company." She smiles brightly at him and bids Naruto good night. The Ninken trot beside them as Sai trails after her down the stairs and into the street.

They walk in silence until they're alone on the thin street that leads to the Nara compound.

"Have you considered having Naruto look at your seal?"

Sai looks at her from the the corner of his eye, keeping a careful distance from her, "I do not believe it would be a wise idea to allow Dickless to touch me. How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot of things, Sai. Maybe one day you'll get lucky and I'll tell you about it. If you let Naruto take that seal off, I'd certainly consider it." Katsumi needs that seal off his tongue. Needs him to be able to speak on what Danzo is doing.

"My books say it is important for friends to be honest with each other, midget."

"It is. But I can't be honest with you until you're honest with me. Sleep well, Sai." Katsumi and her Ninken leave the boy there.

Shikamaru and Shikaku are playing a game of shogi when they get to the house. Shikamaru looks up at her and she can see his eyes scan her. Like he's looking for any sign Sai harmed her. Shikaku calls out to her as she takes her shoes off, "Katsumi! We need to talk before you go to sleep."

Katsumi knows this is probably about Ino spreading rumors. Inoichi is probably not happy, but technically she didn't break any rules. They can't get that mad at her. Not like they were doing anything about the Danzo problem.

Shikaku knocks on her door just as she finishes getting ready for bed. He slouches in the doorway and looks torn between frustration and concern.

"There's a reason we were going to wait to deal with Danzo. We can't afford infighting with the threats outside the village, Katsumi. I know you're smart enough to know that."

"The closer threat is always the most dangerous one. Letting him rot the village from the inside out is the same as helping rot it." Katsumi isn't going to back down. She's already committed to this. He won't dissuade her.

"Katsumi, you're in over your head if you think doing this is a good idea. I know you're angry and grieving and want to lash out, but this is not the solution."

She narrows her eyes. How dare he imply she's not thinking clearly, "I'm just dealing with the problem everyone else has let fester for too long. Don't ask me not to. I've barely started."

"Exactly. You can still stop. You do not want to pick a fight like this. Ino informed Inoichi and I of your memories. With time, we can gather the evidence to deal with him. But you? Shikamaru? Ino? You do not need to be waging your own personal war. It won't end well."

"Maybe it won't. But unless you can work faster than me, I'm not backing down." Katsumi bares her teeth at the idea.

Shikaku looks like he wants to throttle her, "give us two months. If we don't have anything by then, I won't stop you."

She doesn't want to do that but she knows full well he could really stop her if he wanted to. Stupid jounin commander. "Fine. Two months. I'm not going to stop trying to fix Sai. And the rumors are already spreading."

"I'm aware. The rumors are fine, they give us the excuse we need to look into him. As for Sai, getting him to betray Danzo will be the kindest outcome for him. Because we will get the information out of him one way or another when it's time." His voice is deathly serious and she knows if Sai doesn't switch sides, Inoichi will turn his brain to mush. Will have the seal ripped off by Naruto whether Sai wants it or not.

"Understood." She can live with that if she has too.

"Two months." He reminds her as he turns and goes.

Two months. Katsumi has to get Sai talking before Shikaku and Inoichi turn their attention to him. Because she knows he'll be one avenue they explore in the next two months. She can work with two months.

Notes:

Katsumi just wants to wreck Danzo's shit and everyone is desperately trying to make her calm down and think things through

Except for Naruto who is blissfully unaware and the Ninken who are very much for murder

Chapter 13

Chapter Text

Fox is showering in the communal bathroom after a spar with Hyena when Danzo returns fire. Fox hasn't thought about Crane in months. Hasn't seen the man since the training ended. For him to appear in front of her shower stall and stand there silently, blocking her from reaching the clothes she has just out of range of the water, is not a good sign. All she's wearing is her mask and Fox is deeply, deeply unnerved. This is not a situation she wants to be in. She forces her breathing to keep even as she and Crane stare at each other.

She takes stock of her situation. Naked, no weapons, confined space, cornered. The good thing is she's in the shower. There's unlimited water. If Crane tries anything she'll happily flood the entire thrice damned HQ.

She breaks the silence first, "Crane. Is there something you need that can't wait?"

"You've been summoned for a meeting. Dress and go to subfloor five immediately."

"Who called the meeting? Lady Hokage has already summoned me. I cannot go to a different meeting." A lie, but she knows no one other than Lady Hokage or Owl would summon her. Owl is the head of her Unit now that Stag is gone. Even if Tactics tends to make the decisions for the general look of a mission, Owl is the one to handle the details. If Owl were calling a meeting, Hyena would have sought her out. Lady Hokage would have summoned her to her office, not Sublevel five. She has no intention of following Crane anywhere. Last time she got summons from an unknown, she was ordered to murder an entire clan. Fox watches Crane's right hand twitch. That's as much of a warning as she's going to get.

She speeds through the hand seals before he can do anything.

Ox. Snake. Ram.

The mist comes down so hard and fast there's absolutely no visibility. She forms a water clone and sends it to the side of Crane her clothes are on. Makes sure they connect with his shoulder. She can hear the scuffle begin and bolts. She has another uniform in her room. Fuck it. Fox casts a basic henge so she's not just walking through the HQ naked and is out the door before Crane can get to her. Fox makes to back to her room and locks and traps the door. Dresses quickly and summons Taishiro. He can pass a message quicker than Chinami who gets more distracted when doing errands like that.

Sensei still isn't in the village. Shit. He's her only certain ally in ANBU. Hyena is a good comrade, but she can't trust him to help her with this. Fuck. Fox closes her eyes and tries to think. Who would help? Fuck, of course. Yamato. He's Sensei's Kouhai. It's a gamble but one she thinks will pay off.

Taishiro snarls and looks furiously around, clearly he can sense her stress and thinks it's time to fight.

"Taishiro, go to Yamato-Taichou and tell him Fox needs him in HQ now! Make sure no one overhears!" Fox snaps it quickly. Doesn't waste time with greetings or explanations. Crane will definitely be waiting for her to try to leave HQ. She can't stay here forever and unless Yamato is here she has no way of knowing if she'll be able to get out without Crane intercepting her.

Taishiro doesn't question her. Is gone in a puff of smoke immediately. Good. Fox holds the hilt of her Wakizashi and paces the short length of the room, twirling the sword in one hand as she does. Fox bares her teeth beneath her mask every time she hears a heartbeat walk passed her door. None stop outside of her room though. Fox has no idea if sending Taishiro for Yamato is a good idea, but Sensei isn't here and he's the only other person she knows for sure isn't Root in ANBU.

Taishiro reappears in another puff of smoke, looking entirely focused, "Found Tree Man. Says coming, Stay out."

"Thank you, Taishiro. Now I need you to get a message passed to Sensei, probably pass it through Pakkun, tell him not to loose his shit when Yamato tells him about this and that I'll explain. Make sure Pakkun doesn't tell him until he's back from the mission, alright?"

Taishiro licks his muzzle and stretches, "Got it."

A puff of smoke and Fox is left waiting alone again. Fox resumes her pacing, Wakizashi still twirling at her side. She's going to have to come up with a way to dismantle the fucker sooner. Shikaku's deal is definitely not going to work and she isn't even sure how many steps Shikamaru's plan has. She needs more immediate results if Crane is going to be cornering her in a damn shower.

There's a sharp two of knuckles against her door and Fox is dismantling the traps in a heartbeat. Cat is standing in the doorway perfectly still.

Fox hisses at him to get inside and re does the traps on the door once he's inside. Not a thought given to how paranoid she probably looks. Cat probably thinks she's coming off a bad mission or something with her behavior.

"Fox, Your summons was very concerned when he appeared. What is it?"

Fox twitches slightly as she finishes the last trap, "Crane. You know him?"

"Crane? What of him?"

Fox narrows her eyes at Cat, "You two share a tongue tattoo, don't you?"

Cat seems to stop breathing altogether, "What do you know about that?"

"I know Sai is Root. I know you were. I know Crane probably is and I know I just got cornered in the fucking shower and told by Crane I had to go to sublevel five for a meeting, But he wouldn't tell me with who. I know I'm definitely on Danzo's radar. I don't particularly feel like matching with you all so if you could help me make sure I'm not about to disappear that would be wonder."

A strange shudder goes through Cat. Fox isn't sure what that means but she's pretty sure this is all going to be relayed to Sensei.

"What did you do?"

"Pissed the man off, obviously." In retrospect telling him she was coming for him was a really bad idea. Probably shouldn't have done that.

"How?"

"Told him I'm gonna end him. Or something along those lines." Fox didn't memorize the exact message she gave Sai.

" Why? " She can hear the mild panic in Cat's voice.

"Why am I going to end him? Or why did I tell him?"

" Both! "

"Because I want him dead and I want him to know he's gonna be killed by a fucking teenager."

There's a strange wheezing noise from behind Cat's mask. Fox hopes he's not about to have a heart attack. She really doesn't want to explain to Sensei that she caused his Kouhai to die of a heart attack. She thinks he'd be a little upset with her.

"So, you gonna help me out or not?" Fox didn't send Taishiro to him for the man to lose his shit in her room.

"You're going to tell me how you know about this."

"Classified. Sorry, Taichou. Take it up with Lady Hokage or Shikaku."

Another strange sound escapes the man. She really hopes he's going to be okay.

"What you're referring to was disbanded years ago."

"Nope. Just moved further into the shadows and you know it. So help me out here?"

Cat mutters something unintelligible under his breath but grabs her forearm and drags her out into the hallway. Unlike Dog, Cat doesn't take her down to the secret exit. He leads her through the brightly lit areas where other ANBU will certainly notice them. Has her henge to look like herself as soon as they're out of HQ and away from prying eyes.

Pauses long enough to look her in the eyes and say, "From now on go nowhere alone if it can be helped. Not as Fox or as Katsumi. Always stay where someone can see you. Understand?"

"Hai."

"Good. And what do you mean about Sai?"

"Check his tongue."

Yamato looks like he's fighting not to curse as he starts leading her back to the Nara's again. Katsumi is mildly fascinated by the obvious stress of the normally peaceful looking Shinobi. She hopes he's gonna be okay, she doesn't really need panic and neuroticism from him.

Yamato just marches her to the entrance of the Nara compound and gives her his scary face, "Do not leave the compound alone."

"Yes, Taichou. I understand." Shit he doesn't have to use that face to get the point across. Crane cornering her in a fucking shower is more than enough reason not to be alone.

Immediately he's back to a pleasant smile, "Good! I'll be informing Kakashi-senpai about what happened, he'll want to know."

"I figured that'd happen. Thank you for helping." Katsumi bows slightly in thanks and goes to find Shikaku. Maybe this will be enough to get him a little more energized about dealing with Danzo. She thinks she can tell him anyway, pretty sure he knows she's ANBU.

Chapter 14

Chapter Text

Sensei shows up at the Nara compound two weeks later while she's jogging with Taishiro and Chinami and she can tell he's pissed. Looks like he didn't even wash his mission off before coming here. He's panting slightly and she thinks he may shake her.

"Katsumi-Chan. Pakkun told me to speak with you. And Yamato had a very interesting story to tell me, you know. Why don't you explain exactly what's going on for me? Just so we're clear."

Katsumi shifts slightly and glances around. The only company is her Ninken and the Nara deer that are watching with sharper eyes than the Nara from the treeline. There are no other human heartbeats that are within the range to overhear them either.

"So, Otou-San got murdered by Orochimaru who I'm pretty sure is working with Danzo— and Sasuke joined up with Orochimaru by the way— and New team seven member is a Root agent but we're gonna fix him so that's fine. Crane— who I'm pretty sure is a Root agent too— cornered me in the ANBU showers and tried to get me to go with him to a meeting but wouldn't tell me who I'm meeting with— very rapey, murdery vibes— so I said no and ran and got Yamato to come help out. So that was fine— oh and I may have told Danzo, I'm gonna end him. Also if you hear any rumors about Danzo, that's Ino's work."

She can see his eye twitch. The killing intent starts leaking and she can hear heartbeats of the Nara clan members closest increase slightly. She flares her chakra once in the standard pattern for no cause for concern. No need for a clan full of overprotective geniuses to come running. Shikaku really set a precedent for them all to keep a close eye on her once she mentioned what happened. She has no idea what exactly he told them, but she can hardly step a foot out of the compound without at least three people lazily joining her with a half assed but perfectly reasonable excuse to join her.

"Katsumi-Chan, has anyone ever taught you not to announce to your enemies your intentions?"

"Probably. Felt right at the time, though. You should talk to Shikaku. He wants to do this the slow way with a trial and all that shit. But that's a bad idea."

"Why?" Kakashi-Sensei looks like he's considering banging his head against one of the trees.

"Well, trials are public. And everyone is going to hear about it and all our enemies— Iwa, Kumo, Kiri, if it gets its shit together, and everyone else with a grudge— is going to take one look at the walking scandal that is Danzo and take it as an Invitation to take a shot at us. But an old man, dying alone in his bed? Or having a heart attack over dinner? Just a sad story."

Sensei makes a growling noise, "Just how do you think you're going to accomplish this Assassination you have planned?"

"Not sure yet, man has to die a few times, I'm pretty sure."

"What."

"He's got more lives than a cat right now. Gotta kill Him multiple times."

"...I'm going to go talk with Shikaku. No more threatening Danzo."

Katsumi practically skips after her Sensei, the Ninken trotting after them. Sensei said no more threats. He said nothing about not commiting murder. She counts that as implicit approval. This is part of why she likes him. Never seems bothered by her less than savory plans.

Shikaku is in the study when Sensei slouches in. Katsumi waves at Shikaku from behind her Sensei's lean frame. He doesn't look surprised to see Kakashi-Sensei.

"Yo. What's the plan for dealing with Danzo?"

Shikaku leans back in his chair and sighs, "Of course she told you. Clearance and Approval means nothing anymore. Based on what we've discovered, the man has been siphoning funds here and there for years. There's been children going missing for years. Mostly orphans, some civilian born children and clan children here and there. Not enough clan children to raise eyebrows though. Not enough to incite panic. Right now there's at least hundred missing children in the past twenty years. Obviously we can't trace them back to him. But there is one child we can. Sai. There's no record of him left, but the Orphanage matron when he was there retired two years ago and she's already dying so she was more than happy to tell us every secret she'd kept. Something about wanting to find peace in her final days."

"That enough for a trial?" Sensei's voice is as serious as it is when facing a battle.

"Nearly. We just need Sai's seal removed and to have him honestly speak of what happened to him. The problem is the man isn't going to go to trial quietly. It's going to be ugly. I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to stage a coup over the whole thing."

Kakashi-Sensei looks grave, "and the solution?"

Here, Shikaku looks far older than his forty years. As if the weight of the entire world is sitting uncomfortably on his shoulders. "Dismantle Root, piece by piece. It'll take months and he'll absolutely notice. Or try to kill him, however many times it takes. Tsunade has already given blanket approval for any Avenue we take as long as it's dealt with without causing a civil war. A trial is preferred, but less above the board means are tolerable. Until we take action, this is all of the record."

"Why are both of you implying Danzo is quasi immortal?"

"Arm Sharingan." Katsumi grins wryly at the baffled look Sensei turns on her.

"Excuse me?"

"Evidence has emerged that Danzo ordered the massacre of the Uchiha clan against the wishes of the Sandaime and implanted multiple Sharingan into his arm and one into his eye socket." Shikaku doesn't look pleased as he explains.

"And now he can't die?"

"He gotta die like ten times, I think," Katsumi's not exactly sure really how many times she's going to get to stab the man. She hopes it's a nice, satisfying amount.

"Why is my cute little apprentice involved in this?"

"Classified well above your clearance, Hatake. She's currently working multiple S-ranked missions. Should she survive them, she'll be given a field promotion. Currently her involvement is an SS-ranked secret, not that she seems to care about things like that anymore."

Sensei looks like he wants to slam Shikaku's face into the desk. Katsumi thinks that's fair, no one bothered to tell her that this is the way to jounin. Guess she doesn't have to take the exam, after all. Unless she wants to do it earlier, anyway. She figures she'll take it with Naruto if that comes before the missions are over. She started her time as a genin with the blonde, she'd like to start her jounin career with him too if she can.

"How is this above my clearance? My clearance is about as high as it gets."

"And this is still above your clearance. You want to help with Danzo? Fine, you're cleared for that, but nothing else." Shikaku has the same expression on his face as he does when he would tell her no as a child and nothing would sway him. Sensei will get no further with the man.

"So, what do we do?" Kakashi-Sensei can clearly tell he won't get anymore information from the man in regards to her involvement.

"We've found the entrance to his base. It's guarded by seals and extremely well hidden. If we can't take him into custody or do away with him quietly, we'll be taking that base by force."

That seems to settle something in Sensei. Something she has in common with him. The promise of a fight is something terrible that they both enjoy, in that dark, vicious way ANBU do. Even if they can't win.

"And the Root kid?"

"Katsumi is working on getting him to switch sides. She's going to have Naruto remove the seal on his tongue when it's time."

"Is Naruto aware of what's happening?"

"No. As of now, Uzumaki is only aware there's the threat of the Akatsuki and that Sasuke is with Orochimaru. He's not in the know with anything beyond those basic facts."

Sensei nods once, "And if Danzo makes a move first?"

"We end him. Whatever it takes."

Katsumi grins slow and viciously at the absolute surety in Shikaku's voice. Nice to see he's starting to come around to her point of view. After all, the only way this is going to end is in blood. Sometimes the simplest solution is the best one after all. He taught her that one.

Chapter 15

Chapter Text

Sensei drags Katsumi and Naruto out of the village for training, apparently they need to be far enough away to safely do it and Katsumi has never been more concerned in her life. Yamato comes to and he seems to be determined to pretend what happened at HQ remains Undiscussed. Which is fine by her.

Turns out they're working mainly with Naruto on improving some jutsu Jiraiya taught him before he left the village. Katsumi's not sure why it needs to be done so far outside the village when the explosive wind jutsu Sensei taught him as a genin was safely taught in village. Yamato is apparently in charge of helping. Katsumi isn't sure what she's supposed to be doing but she's starting to think she's here so Sensei can keep a close eye on her.

Once Sensei is satisfied that Naruto understands the concept of adding his wind chakra to the jutsu and Yamato is supervising, he turns to her and seems to be thinking.

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan, right now you're capable of water and fire jutsu and basic genjutsu, yes?"

Katsumi nods. In terms of actual jutsu, other than her chakra claws and augmented senses, that's a good enough summary. Unless her summons are supposed to be counted.

"So to be a full jounin and not a tokubetsu, there's a few ways to go about it. The traditional way to go in peacetime is to be proficient in three chakra natures, and meet a certain amount of missions of B-rank and C-rank. Considering your... particular situation, the mission criteria is satisfied based on the missions you've already taken. S-ranks are the equivalent of roughly ten B-ranks or five A-ranks and that's not even counting the actual B and C-ranks you've done. So you're more than ready for jounin level based entirely on missions. Skill wise you still need to become proficient in one more chakra nature. Then you need three jounin to endorse you and the Hokage to approve you to take the jounin exams. I'm aware you have a field promotion on the way but from the sound of it that's going to take years. So we're going to act like that's not even an option. Understand so far?"

"Hai, Sensei."

"Good! So we're going to see which of the remaining chakra natures you'll have the easiest time with. All else fails, I'll have Kurenai work with you on genjutsu. Though, I think your more miscellaneous skills may also be enough to get you an exemption, it's not unheard of."

"Um alright, so which am I starting with?"

"I already think you won't do well with earth natures chakra, so we'll try that one last. So lightning or Wind? Your choice."

Katsumi doesn't like the eye smile. This isn't going to be fun. Learning fire natures chakra was difficult enough and that was with the unforgiving teaching methods of Bear and Crane pushing her. She has no idea what to expect from Sensei teaching it.

"Um, Lightning? I guess?" Truthfully she has no idea which is the better guess.

The eye smile intensifies and she thinks that was probably a mistake. Learning fire natures chakra left her with a low grade fever until she got the hang of it. She's not even sure she wants to know what lightning natured chakra will do.

"You remember how to convert your chakra to fire natures chakra?"

"Yeah, made my whole body burn until I got good at it."

"Same concept but it's going to make you a bit staticky. And you need to start with very small amounts until you get comfortable with it unless you want to stop your heart."

"Stop my heart?"

"Don't worry, if that happens we'll just zap it back into beating. It'll be fine." Kakashi-Sensei pats her head and gestures for her to sit down.

Katsumi sits down as Sensei crouches across from her. Guess she should be sitting if she's going to be risking stopping her own heart.

"Use the Snake seal to start collecting a very small amount of chakra and transform it into lightning chakra slowly. You'll be able to tell if it works. Remember you're going to feel a bit staticky or your hands will feel like their being shocked a little. If you feel shocks anywhere else I want you to reduce the amount you're using. Lightning chakra is one of the most dangerous elements to learn, it can hurt you."

Maybe she should have said wind instead. If she kills herself doing this, she's going to be humiliated. She forms the snake seal and eyes Sensei dubiously. She really would prefer not to stop her own heart. At least fire nature chakra just made her overheated.

"Remember, small amount first."

Katsumi mentally prepares herself for needing her heart restarted and begins. Chakra transform isn't hard in theory. Directing chakra to take on the properties of one element or another theoretically is straightforward. Part of it is just understanding how that chakra is supposed to feel and move and making it do that. In practice, it's much more difficult.

Katsumi's never really needed to think about it for water jutsu. Water is flowing and changing and adaptable and her chakra naturally leans towards that so it's minimal effort for those. Fire is different. Fire doesn't move around objects, doesn't slowly erode away obstacles. It burns through it. Is hot and Unrelenting and hungry. Making her chakra work like that was difficult. It was hard to make her chakra what to force a change instead of work around it.

Lighting isn't like that. Is not an all consuming inferno eating its way through her chakra network, or a cool, ever changing current flowing. It's fast, terribly fast, and hot and painful. It's unforgiving and sudden and there's only a moments warning before her hands feel like she's just stuck a kunai in a power socket.

She releases the handseal and glares at her palms. There's tiny red lines spread across them like spiderwebs. She's pretty sure that's not a good sign.

Sensei takes her hands and looks at her palms, "Too much chakra. We'll put some burn cream on those tonight. They aren't very bad so they shouldn't scar. Calm yourself and try again."

Katsumi takes a deep breath. When her heart settles again and the stinging in her hands fade, she tries again. This time, there's a funny tingling up and her arms. It's not unpleasant, almost ticklish, but other than that nothing.

"Good, Katsumi-Chan, increase it just a bit more."

She definitely messes this up. About a second after she obeys, she feels the staticky feeling shoot up her arms to her head and it feels a bit like she's just had her head shaken and she's seeing two of Kakashi-Sensei and she thinks she smells smoke.

"Not that much, Katsumi-Chan. Your hair is a bit singed now. Take a minute to recover and try again." She things Sensei looks more amused than concerned. She wonders how many times he shocked himself doing this. Maybe that's why his hair is fluffy.

She waits until she's seeing one Kakashi-Sensei before trying again. Once again the staticky, tingling sensation works up and down her arms but doesn't hurt this time. It doesn't spread either. She's pretty sure she's doing it right.

"Good, Katsumi-Chan. Hold it like that until any staticky feeling goes away and then start increasing the amount you use. Slowly. I'm going to go check on Naruto and Yamato." Sensei eye smiles at her and rises out of his crouch to go check the others.

Great, alright. She can do this. Just wait until static feeing fades and slowly add chakra. Shouldn't be difficult now. The staticky feeling takes a long time to fade and more than once she increases the chakra by accident when there's a sudden loud bang behind her. What the fuck is Naruto doing? The red lines on her hands have started spreading up her forearms with each mistake. Shit.

She probably needs to do better at tuning Naruto out. She blames her lack of meditation lately. She's been too worried about everything going on in the past year or so to remember to meditate regularly. She'll have to be better about that.

Sensei is just crouching down in front of her again when Naruto does whatever he's doing behind her again and she fucks up. There's a sudden pain in her chest and before she can say anything she's blacking out. Fuck.

She's brought back suddenly by a greater pain in her chest and Katsumi's eyes pop open and her breathing is erratic as she tries to figure out what the fuck just happened. Sensei eye smiles at her when she finally focuses on him crouched by her head, his hand still over her heart.

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan, bit too much chakra there. Let's stop for the day. We can try wind tomorrow if you'd like."

No. Katsumi just stopped her own heart trying to get the hang of lightning natures chakra. She's not fucking quitting now. She will stop for today though. Her heartbeat is definitely off the charts right now and she feels like she just ran the circumference of the earth. She'll just try again tomorrow. That sounds good.

Chapter 16

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She stops her heart two more times before she gets the hang of it. Sensei has repeatedly tried to get her to try wind chakra instead but she was committed to getting lightning natured chakra down. She won't be using Lightning jutsu often but she's going to be able to. She willingly risked killing herself to do it and she is absolutely not going to just not use it now that she can.

When she hardly notices the staticky feel of the chakra anymore, Sensei gives her a very minor jutsu to work on. He already explained why she'll never be able to use Chidori, she thinks he's not exactly displeased about not passing that on to her. He doesn't even seem to like that jutsu. Instead he gives her a c-rank jutsu called lighting style: static discharge. She recognizes it as the one Hyena uses in tandem with her water shrapnel. Not lethal by any means but if done strongly enough can absolutely stun a person.

Naruto doesn't seem to be making much progress with adding the wind chakra to his Rasengan. Looks more like he's just going to keep nearly blowing himself up as he attempts it. More than once she's felt the malicious chakra of the Kyuubi come through as he blows through chakra like it's nothing and Yamato has had to shut that down. Every time it happens Kakashi-Sensei practically drags her away. She supposes he's concerned Naruto will really loose his shit and she'll actually get hurt. Which she doesn't think would happen, but she's also never been particularly close to Naruto when the Kyuubi chakra takes over noticeably like this so she really can't say how that would go.

So she just doesn't worry about that. Let's the jounin worry about if Naruto has a tantrum. She works on the new jutsu until she has it down. Then she gets bored waiting for Sensei to come back over and give her something else so she decides to experiment.

She flicks six Kunai into the ground in a hexagon around her and decides to see what happens if she tries to pump lighting chakra through them. They aren't chakra conducting, but metal conducts lightning so she wants to know what will happen.

She has no real clue what she's doing, but she's curious and Sensei can apparently zap her heart back into working so she's pretty sure it'll be fine. She hopes.

As a precaution she does step outside of the little hexagon and throws one last Kunai into the center. She flicks through the hand seals for the static discharge and aims it to the Kunai. She's not sure what she was hoping to see happen but suddenly having more than a small amount of electricity violently jumping between Kunai is not what she thought would happen. Fuck. Some of them are smoking and she's not really sure how to stop it.

She's not expecting Kakashi-Sensei to tell her name as she stands and watches her experiment continue to spark and smoke. Or for a wind jutsu to hit it hard and cancel it out. She forgot lightning is weak against wind. Well. Probably for the best.

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan, let's save the experimenting for when you're a bit more experienced with lightning, yes? That could have easily killed you." Sensei looks like she just took a few years off his life. Oops. She really doesn't have a way to explain it. She was bored and curious and it was more impulse than actual thought.

"Hai, Sensei." Some of her Kunai are partly warped and melted by the heat of the lightning bouncing off them. Fascinating. She kind of wants to try again. Sounds like Sensei won't be letting her repeat it anytime soon though.

"So, since you're clearly needing something else to do, I'll give you a choice: another lightning jutsu or add to your Ninken pack?"

Well. That's just not a fair choice. She would love to increase the size of her pack, and she would also like to become proficient with lightning jutsu. Sensei is just being cruel giving her the choice.

She knows she could increase her pack size on her own, but she prefers having Sensei with her when she does it. Just so he can tell her what a new pup will probably be good for, plus as her pack increases, she needs to work harder to find a pup to sign with because they have to want to work with her, Taishiro, and Chinami. Not just her anymore. Chinami is sick of being the baby of the pack though, even if she outweighs Taishiro. But she really wants to learn more lightning jutsu. Needs to become good at one more chakra nature.

"Well, Katsumi-Chan? New jutsu or new puppy?"

"Which would you suggest?" She'll do whichever Sensei recommends.

Sensei eye smiles at her and wags a finger at her, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan, the choice is up to you."

Katsumi tilts her head and eyes the jounin, "Will I get to do the other one later?"

"Maa, of course."

"Jutsu first then."

"Alright then. Lighting style: lighting hound. It's going to take the form of a dog. It'll stay connected to your hand the whole time. You're going to form lighting in your hand for this. It's very offensive, but safer than Chidori to use. The dog will attack for you. You just have to hold the connection for it. This is extremely chakra intensive however, so only use it once a fight. Probably as a last resort for now."

"I thought forming lightning chakra in my hand was too dangerous." Isn't that why she can't use Chidori?

"Maa, the Chidori is dangerous because without the Sharingan you get tunnel vision and you can't react to anything once you've begun the attack. This is more chakra intensive, but safer for you to use. The base is the chidori, but you're never to use chidori yourself, understand? This gives you a range of ten meters, and an opponent will be hard pressed to get away from it just because it will be going so fast."

"What rank is this jutsu?" It sounds like it has to be an A-rank if it's derived from chidori. Katsumi's jutsu repertoire is decent sized but only two or three are A-rank. The serpent mouth jutsu, blood reversal, and the Tsunami jutsu she learned but never uses. All water style. She's not sure she can even do an A-rank lightning jutsu. Ever. She can do B-rank Fire jutsu. She doubts she'll be able to do better with lightning jutsu.

"Only B-rank actually. Mainly due to chakra usage. It's less dangerous to the user so it's avoided A-rank. Watch carefully."

She watches dubiously as Sensei forms lighting into his hand, it doesn't scream the way chidori does. When it shoots out of his hand she can see the shape of a hound vaguely as it moves almost quicker than she can see to slam into a tree. Well. Damn. The trunk of the tree is smoking and she can see what looks like massive cauterized claw marks when it struck. How the fuck is she supposed to do that?

"You'll try twice a day. No more than that or you'll get chakra exhaustion. Not back to back either. Once in the morning, once in the evening. Give it your best shot each time. Do the hand seals now."

Right. She moves slowly through the handseals. And tries to imagine The lightning for it gathering in her palm. Oh fuck. That's not pleasant at all.

"Good, Katsumi-Chan. Now imagine one of your hounds running and trying to make the chakra take that shape. Remember, keep the connection too."

Katsumi narrows her eyes as she watches the lightning in her hand. Tries to make the lightning jump out of her hand and move like Taishiro does. She fails so utterly she's shocked Sensei doesn't laugh. The lightning leaps out of her hand and the connection is immediately lost. She watches in irritation as it hits the earth and dissipates. Fuck. She can feel the chakra drain too. He wasn't exaggerating on the cost of the jutsu. Even with such an abject failure, she feels like she just did ten jutsu in a row.

"Well. I wasn't expecting perfection on the first try. Good attempt though. We'll try again later. Practice your Kenjutsu for awhile, I'm going to help Naruto."

Katsumi watches curiously as multiple Naruto clones keep killing themselves trying to add wind to the Rasengan. Naruto doesn't even seem mildly bothered by repeatedly getting memories of dying brutally. Maybe he's used to it.

He's shirtless again and she's still fascinated by the seals marking his entire body. She hasn't asked him what they're for yet but she's seen the ones in his arms glow ominously through sleeves when he's gearing up to fight. She really should ask. Just to get rid of the curiosity.

"Katsumi! Stop staring at Naruto! Senpai told you to work on your Kenjutsu!" Yamato's voice carries over the air to her and she can hear the amusement.

Damn. She was just looking at the seals. She wasn't staring. She can hear Naruto laughing and her face burns red as she resolutely focuses on her Kenjutsu. She was not staring.

Notes:

So there is going to be one more fic after this one for sure! This one mainly focuses on Danzo, Orochimaru, and working to dismantle the Akatsuki. The next one will be dealing with Sasuke and Obito, and the repercussions that come from the current fic! So expect even more extreme canon divergence in the next one! We have a long way to go before then though!

Chapter 17

Chapter Text

They're out of the village for a full month. Katsumi's lighting hound jutsu is less impressive than Sensei's but still more than dangerous by the end of it. Naruto nearly destroys his arm trying to get the wind chakra into his Rasengan and at that point Sensei decides to call it a day and take them back finally. Katsumi is so very ready to sleep in her actual bed instead of a bedroll on the ground.

Sensei eye smiles when she voices this and reminds her they have a Ninken to summon before she can go home and sleep. As if she forgot. She's been treating increasing her pack as an extra reward for a month spent burning through chakra trying to master a fucking b-rank lightning jutsu after a week of practice with lightning chakra. She wants her puppy. Then sleep. Sounds like a valid plan to her.

They sign in at the gates just after noon and Naruto immediately disappears to go find Sai. Apparently, her plan of setting the blonde on him is working beautifully. Sai isn't going to be able to resist the weird magic emotional repair thing Naruto can do. She's still introducing him to Ino though. She'll really be able to fix him.

Yamato heads towards the hospital to go find Sakura. Their apprenticeship is coming to an end soon and She thinks he's going to be sad when it does. He seems to really enjoy teaching the pink haired girl.

Katsumi practically drags her Sensei behind her to training ground three. They need to hurry before Gai-san's Kakashi-Sensei radar goes off and he starts demanding another challenge. He's interrupted so many training sessions for those. They need to get this done before Sensei is roped into some ridiculous challenge.

Katsumi is bouncing on her heels as she crouches down and summons Taishiro and Chinami. Sensei eye smiles at them and pats them on their heads in greeting.

"Katsumi summoned?" Taishiro cocks his head curiously.

"Fucking about time. Gone too long." Chinami nearly knocks Katsumi over when she shoves her giant head into Katsumi's chest.

"Adding to the pack today. I need you two here for it." Katsumi grins as both dogs explode in excitement. Taishiro runs giant circles around her and Sensei as Chinami is excitedly rolling around on the ground and cursing an excited storm.

"Alright, calm down, Chinami, you don't want to scare the pup do you?" Kakashi-Sensei looks extremely entertained by her ninken's antics. It's easy for her to forget that they're the dog equivalent of her age. The weird accelerated aging then slowing down to match her age thing the contract causes makes things like that a bit difficult to keep in mind.

Once her Ninken settle, she glances at Sensei once to confirm he's not reading porn, bites her thumb and performs the hand seals for the summoning. The first puppy is cute and little and she's not sure what it would be suited for. Which is alright because it doesn't like her and her pack enough to sign anyway. The next one is all loose skin and big feet, kind of chunky looking too. It likes her and Chinami, but doesn't seem to warm to Taishiro, so that one goes back too.

The last pup is Black and Tan with long ears and a big nose. It's a gangly looking thing. All its proportions are awkward and it trips over its own ears because it won't raise its nose off the ground. Clearly a male. Chinami seems taken by the pup when it raises its head long enough to sniff her. Taishiro noses at him until the pup falls over and huffs air when it barks at him, clearly unimpressed at the little thing's high pitched voice.

Eventually, the pup seems to realize a person is there and is trying to clamber up onto her knees where she's still squatting by the scroll. Katsumi lets the pup sniff her hand when he gives up trying to climb her legs.

"Hello, pup. That's Taishiro and Chinami. I'm Ishihara Katsumi. Would you like to join our pack?"

The pup cocks its head and its tail wags like mad. He renews his efforts to crawl up her leg and she takes that as a yes.

"Well, we'll have to figure out what you'd like to be called, you know? So what do you think of Naoki?" Hopefully he's not as picky as Taishiro or Chinami. They were both nightmares to name.

The pup doesn't seem to care much what he's called, just wags his tail and throws his head back to bay until his voice cracks a little. Katsumi is going to assume that's a yes.

Kakashi-Sensei eye smiles, "Maa, Naoki, come here for a moment while Katsumi-Chan signs the scroll again."

Katsumi rolls her eyes as she adds a drop of blood by her name. Three drops, three personal summons. No more than three more possible based on her chakra levels.

"Maa, this one is a little tracker. Should be just as good, if not better than, Pakkun if you train him well. Combine him with Taishiro and Chinami and you have the makings of a very good capture unit. Naoki for finding, Taishiro for amushing, and Chinami for holding in place. Very good, Katsumi-Chan. No training tomorrow, take a day off."

The puppy is being placed in her arms as soon as the scroll is put away. He has bigger feet than Taishiro did, but smaller than Chinami's. He's going to be somewhere in the middle of their two extreme builds, she thinks. Probably as tall as Taishiro though.

Taishiro keeps stretching his neck up to sniff the pup as she and Kakashi-Sensei walk to the Nara compound, since she's not allowed to walk alone anymore.

"Naoki new pup now. What we call older pup?"

"Older pup?" Katsumi isn't sure who that means.

"Fucking weird one. No manners. No pack knowing." Chinami explains gruffly as she growls at a random civilian that she thought was getting too close. The civilian doesn't need a second warning to move away. Chinami is a bit intimidating like that unless a person knows her.

"Well, his name is Sai, but I guess you can call him whatever suits you." They already call Sasuke "shitty Fuckface pup" not like they could call Sai anything worse.

Taishiro's ears twitch and he gives her the dog equivalent of a grin, "Cave puppy."

"Why cave?" She has no idea how he came up with that.

"Looks like live in cave all life. Never see sun. Never know how pack works. Cave puppy."

Well. That's a bit depressing. Even Naruto is only "Yellow Pup". Seems a bit too on the nose if that's the reason. She did say they could call him anything though. Katsumi guesses it's better than anything Chinami will use.

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan, what have you been teaching your Ninken? So mean to your team."

"I teach them plenty. They like coming up with names for everyone, though. No point trying to discourage it if it makes them happy." She thinks they just don't care to remember people's real names like Sensei's pack does.

"Do I want to know what I'm called?"

"Hunting Alpha." Chinami says it like she's disappointed it's not an insult. Of course, Taishiro generally picks the names, and the rude ones tend to be reserved for those either not in the pack or those that are in equal standing of Katsumi.

"That's how you know they like you. It's not a rude nickname. They call Sasuke a 'Shitty Fuckface pup.'"

Sensei makes a strange choking noise at that and practically shoved her through the compound gates and Shushins away. Rude.

For the third time she proudly presents a Ninken to the Nara clan. Naoki almost immediately decides the kitchen is his favorite place and spends the rest of the day begging Yoshino for scraps as she makes dinner.

"How was the training trip?" Yoshino smiles at her as Katsumi moves to help. Chinami is collapsed in the middle of the living room floor and Taishiro looks like he's trying to decide if it's worth it to try and make Shikaku move to a different spot on the couch. Naoki is whining and getting underfoot as Katsumi helps prepare dinner.

"It was good. Naruto nearly destroyed his arm trying to improve a jutsu. I learned lightning release and now I have two new lightning jutsu."

"Oh? It that why you have those lines on your hands?"

"Yeah. I messed up a few times learning and Sensei had to restart my heart. It's fine, though. Beating normally again and all that."

Yoshino's smile becomes fixed, "Ah. I see. Well, I'm glad you're alright."

"Yeah, it was a lot of fun. Where's Shikamaru?"

"Jounin exams. First round started this morning. He'll be back tomorrow probably."

"Shouldn't Shikaku be observing those?"

"No. Don't want to be accused of Favoritism since Shikamaru's taking them!" Shikaku's gruff voice calls out as he strains to keep Taishiro from trying to push him further down the couch.

"Ahh. Gotcha."

Well. Shikamaru better pass. Yoshino might have his head otherwise. Her mood seems to have soured a bit since they've been talking. Probably worried Shikamaru won't do his best. Katsumi can't imagine another reason why.

Chapter 18

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi discovers quickly that Naoki is a brat. Chinami and Taishiro love sleeping in. Taishiro practically hibernates when they aren't training or on a mission. Chinami won't even get up in the morning until she smells breakfast. Naoki is not like that. Naoki wakes up before the crack of dawn and bays into her ears until she wakes up. No matter how much she and the older Ninken tell him to stop. This better be temporary. She will lose her mind if Naoki never grows out of it. She wakes up early for morning katas already. She doesn't need to wake up even earlier unless someone is dying or the village is under attack. Why Naoki thinks this is acceptable is beyond her.

Training him is different than it was with Taishiro and Chinami, too. He gets distracted easier. Whenever he finds an interesting smell he'll forget all about what's going on and follow it. Sensei helps her teach him tracking and helps find ways to keep him on track and even loans her Pakkun for help. Pakkun manages to help where she and her older Ninken failed. Naoki starts running along after him while practicing tracking like it's nothing. Hopefully he'll be able to do that without Pakkun. Chinami acts like the puppy is her baby. Overprotective and constantly checking on him. Taishiro seems amused by it all. He hadn't been the protective type with Chinami, preferring to let her make her own mistakes. He's the same way with Naoki. Tells him where his place is in the pack and what is and isn't okay, and helps teach him to work with them. Doesn't treat him like he's fragile though.

Adding Naoki to her pack has shifted the dynamic some. Taishiro and Chinami still bicker over how to do things, but now there's a puppy constantly underfoot and distracting them from the arguments. Katsumi's appreciative of that. Sometimes the pair can argue for hours. Such opinionated animals.

Shikamaru returns from the first phase of the jounin exams and stares down at Naoki for a minute. She can see him shifting things around in his head to make room for him. He looks exhausted. Like the first test took more out of him than a mission. She'd ask what it was, but the jounin exams are secret and no one is allowed to discuss what they entail.

"Went on a training trip, brought back another Ninken?" Shikamaru looks at her with tired amusement and she know he's already resigned himself to a never ending parade of dogs.

"If it helps, he doesn't talk yet." Katsumi grins as Shikamaru steps over the pile of dogs on her floor to sprawl out on her bed, dragging her down with him as her goes.

"Sure he'll talk just as much shit as the other two when he does." Shikamaru is definitely resigned to that future.

"Probably, how was the first test?" Katsumi rolls over so that her arms are crossed and resting on his chest and looks down at him. He definitely looks like he could use a nap.

"It was a drag. Neji and I made it through. Gonna be even more troublesome now."

"When's the next test?"

"Tomorrow. Asuma this coming by for dinner. Guessing you're gonna disappear again?" One narrow eyebrow raises at her.

Katsumi ducks her face and winces a little. She does that whenever people visit the Nara family. Clan elders, Asuma, Yoshino's friends. Everyone. It's not that she's not welcome. Except for clan meetings, she's more than welcome to stay for any visitors. She just... doesn't. She never has. She's not a Nara and it feels like intruding when she stays. So she goes to find Naruto or Ino or Sakura until it's over.

"You know, Asuma is starting to think we made you up, right? Since he's never seen you here, even though you live here." Shikamaru pulls the end of her ponytail until she looks back up at him.

Katsumi's lips twist a little in discomfort. She can see he's trying to get her to stick around for dinner with his Sensei. That's fair, but she still feels weird doing that. Yoshino has been trying to get her to stick around for visitors for years and she's just never felt comfortable doing that. Felt too much like she was intruding.

"Asuma is easy going. You'll like him. Hell, your Ninken will probably have a great time shit talking him. It'll be fine, Katsumi. If you don't like it, you can disappear for every other visitor forever, alright?"

Katsumi can hear the lazy, cajoling tone in his voice. Even though his face and voice don't say it, she can tell he wants her there. Can tell this is important to him.

"Fine, I'll stay." Katsumi would prefer to go to Naruto's and see how progress is going with Sai, but she can do this if Shikamaru really wants her to.

Agreeing gets her crushed to his chest in one of his rare full body hugs. He rolls them a moment later so he's above her. Even through the obvious exhaustion, she can see the lazy happiness in his eyes.

"Troublesome woman, that wasn't so hard." He kisses her on the forehead and rolls off her again. A moment later she can hear him snoring.

There's at least five hours to go before she needs to be here for dinner. She has a month left to get that seal off Sai willingly and get him talking or Inoichi is going to fry his brain. Time to visit Naruto and get a solution to the seal in the works.

Naruto is covered in sealing ink when she gets to his apartment. Sai is there too, painting something in his art pad.

"Hello, Midget and Mutts," Sai doesn't look up as he greets them.

"Cave puppy!" Taishiro excitedly greets him with the new name. Watching Sai blink slowly at the dog before giving a fake smile in return is calming. Maybe this will work. If not, things are going to go badly.

"What's up, Katsumi-Chan?" Naruto smiles at her widely as he returns to the mass of ink and seals and paper on his kitchen table.

"I have a seal that needs undoing." She gets straight to the point and keeps eye contact with Sai the entire time. From the way he's stopped painting, she knows he's figured out exactly where this is going.

"A seal? What's it do? And I'll need to see it." Naruto squints at her.

"A silence seal, I guess. And it's on Sai's tongue. It's hard to miss once you've noticed it." Honestly the seal is nearly impossible to miss, how no one has noticed is beyond her.

Naruto's gaze swivels around to look at Sai, and he's moving faster than she expected. One minute by the table, the next he's right in front of Sai and staring at the boy's mouth.

"Hey, Asshole, I need you to open your mouth, Dattebayo." Naruto looks entirely focused and like he might actually tackle Sai if the other boy doesn't agree.

"Dickless, based on what I've heard about you and the Uchiha, I'm not surprised you prefer males to females. However, I do not have an interest in—"

That's as far as Sai gets before Naruto's hand is grabbing his jaw faster than Katsumi could track and forcing his mouth to stay open.

"Oi, Shut the fuck up, Asshole, and let me look." Naruto is staring at the other boy's tongue intently and she wonders why Sai isn't fighting him off. Sai is more than capable of it if he wanted too. She wonders if Sai told Danzo about her offer to have the seal removed or if he just relayed her threat.

"Katsumi-Chan, can you bring me the full bottle of ink and a clean brush? This is a shitty fucking seal but it's a mean one, dattebayo. I'll have to work slowly or it'll trigger a kill switch. Have to go in a specific order too or it'll alert whoever placed the seal that it's being tampered with. Should be able to do it though. Will be easier than a curse mark, that's for damn sure."

Katsumi gets what he's asked for without arguing. They really can't afford for Naruto to kill Sai accidentally. Or alert Danzo.

"How long will it take?" Katsumi promised Shikamaru she'd be at dinner tonight after all.

"All night, Dattebayo. Shouldn't need more than that bottle of ink though. Leave one of your Ninken here and I can send you updates on it as I go?" Naruto's already started poking around on Sai's tongue as he speaks. He's obsessive once he gets working on fuinjutsu. Nothing short of Sasuke walking through his front door will distract him.

"Yeah. That works, Taishiro? You wanna stick around here for awhile?"

Taishiro is happy enough to flop on the ground. Studiously ignoring Naoki biting his tail. "Will stay. Bring messages on Cave Puppy."

Naruto is fully straddling Sai now as he continues working on the seal, "Thanks, Taishiro. Best dog ever, Dattebayo."

Chinami grumbles at that, "Chinami best fucking dog ever."

"You're both the best." Katsumi soothes the mastiff as she picks up Naoki, "Good luck, Naruto! Don't kill him!"

"As if I'd be that fucking stupid. I'm the best at Fuinjutsu, dattebayo. Fuck killing him." Naruto is clearly muttering more to himself than to her and she takes that as her cue to leave. She pretends she doesn't feel Sai's gaze tracking her every move as she leaves the little apartment.

They make it back home in time for Katsumi to shower and dress in one of the yukatas Yoshino has insisted on buying her. She figures she needs to look nice if she's going to have dinner with someone visiting the Nara clan head's household. Yoshino is always bemoaning her preference for only ever wearing her Chuunin uniform anyway. It'll be a nice surprise for the woman to see her in something different.

Dinner is weird. She feels awkward sitting at the table as the Nara family talk with Asuma. She's not sure if she's supposed to say anything or what she's supposed to say if she is. Shikamaru nudges her occasionally when she needs to pipe up, but other than that, she's mostly silent and just observes everything while hoping Naruto and Sai don't murder each other. Eventually the food is gone and everyone is just talking. Discussing how things are going and missions and Asuma keeps poking fun at Shikamaru.

She thinks she's sufficiently faded into the background and is quite content with that when Asuma focuses on her, "So you're Hatake's brat, aren't you?

She blinks once, she doesn't think anyone's ever called her anything but Tou-san's brat before, "I'm his apprentice, yeah."

"Thought so. You specialize yet?"

"Frontline combat with Tracking and Assassination." She's pretty sure that's her full specialty. Frontline combat for wartime. Tracking as her primary mission type and Assassination as her secondary. Almost identical to Sensei's, she thinks.

"Just like Hatake, sounds like. You not taking the jounin exams?" The man takes a drag from his cigarette and Katsumi has to dull her sense of smell to keep from sneezing at the tobacco and smoke scent in the air.

"Not now. Sensei wants to make sure He's run out of things to teach me first."

Asuma raises an eyebrow at that, "you've been his student, what? Two, three years? Seems more than enough time to teach you."

"Sensei is very knowledgeable. He has a lot to teach." Katsumi stares unblinking at Asuma. A habit picked up from her Ninken. Maintained eye contact is a challenge. Is a mild threat. First to blink looses. With the pale green of her eyes, she knows people tend to get unnerved by the extended eye contact. Especially if they know about her teeth.

"Suppose so. Your father was Ishihara Satoshi? Good shinobi. I was sorry to here about what happened." Asuma maintains eye contact with her steadily. She can see Shikamaru make a face at the man from the corner of her eye.

"Thank you. Otou-San was very proud to serve the village." She doesn't like this topic of conversation. Prefers not to discuss her dead parents at all.

"True enough, kid." With that he turns back to talking with Shikaku. Well. She supposes the dinner could have gone worse. Maybe she'll make an appearance every once and awhile. Just to see what happens.

Notes:

Asuma over here feeling out the chick his students mention at least once every time he sees them

Chapter 19

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Taishiro wakes her up at five in the morning to tell her the seal is taken care of. That gets Katsumi up and moving quicker than anything else. They need Sai to get talking and she thinks that's going to be significantly harder than removing that seal. What concerns her is what lengths he might go to to keep his silence. She's ANBU, and if Root is even more secretive than ANBU, then she knows he's learned the suicide jutsu too. A basic requirement of anyone in ANBU. So definitely a requirement in Root.

When she gets to the little apartment, Naruto swings the door open and he has a manic glint in his eyes, "Did it, Dattebayo! Like it was never there! Told you I could do it! Sai's busy spitting up ink and a bit of blood right now, but he'll be fine, dattebayo."

Sure enough, Sai is sitting on the couch with a bowl of blood and ink in his lap, periodically and stoically spitting more into it. Ew. She wasn't expecting that.

"He can't talk yet, once he's done spitting up the ink, he'll be good though. Wherever he got that seal, you shouldn't get one, dattebayo. Way nastier than it looked at first glance." Naruto is bouncing around his apartment cleaning up ink that's been splattered everywhere and washing the brushes he uses for his seals.

"Wasn't planning on getting one." She murmurs as she watches Sai continue spitting ink into the bowl. His black eyes stare at her calmly and she wonders what's going to happen next. She needs to take him to Inoichi and Ino. Let Ino make him an actual person and Inoichi mind walk him. Hopefully Sai does it willingly. She'd hate to have to drag him there. Without that seal, is he even Danzo's anymore?

"So what's going on with that seal anyway?" Naruto looks at her curiously as he finishes washing ink from his hands.

"Keeps him quiet. He's got things he wants to discuss with Inoichi, can't do that with the seal. Think he couldn't even discuss the seal. It's why I asked for him." Sai narrows his eyes at the way she answers Naruto. She can practically see the wheels spinning in his head. Wonders if he's going to tell Naruto anything. He did say he'd keep her secrets. She wonders if this falls under that statement. Wonders if anything really does.

"Gotcha. While we wait for him to finish coughing ink, want to see the swords? Finished the seals yesterday before you came over. Cleaned the swords up as best I can, but you know more about sword maintenance than I do, dattebayo. I'll tell you about the seals though." Naruto looks ridiculously excited to show her the Uzumaki swords. Like a little kid.

She gives him an excited smile back and lets him lead her the few steps to his tiny bedroom. He shuffles around the desk for a moment before turning around with a pair of swords in his arms and a proud grin on his face.

He ushers her to the table and makes her sit before setting the sheathed swords on the table between them. Wakizashi and Katana. No wonder Naruto thought she'd like them. They're the exact combination of swords she favors.

Naruto pulls the Wakizashi out first. And turns it over a few times so she can clearly see the seals etched and inked onto the blade. There's dozens.

"So, this seal runs the length of the sword's edge, I know it looks like multiple seals but it's just one, dattebayo. It should keep the sword's edge longer. Then these ones on the side are for chakra conduction. So chakra conductive Metal is hard to find, right? This was Uzushio's solution to that, dattebayo. Then the ones on the flat edge of the sword are to keep is from breaking. It's not impossible to break, Dattebayo, but it takes a lot more force now. Then this little seal on the handle is one I added. So you'll add a drop of your blood to it, dattebayo, and after that no one else is able to use them without getting burnt. The Katana has the same seals on it." Naruto beams proudly as he hands the sword to her.

Katsumi turns the sword over slowly, looking at every seal etched onto it, "there's a lot of the conductive ones, Naruto."

"Yeah, it needed a seal for each chakra nature on each side. Since it's not a naturally chakra conductive weapon, dattebayo."

She nods slowly as she runs a finger down the edge to test its sharpness. It'll need a minor amount of sharpening, but it's in good condition for a sword that sat unused on an island for decades.

"So, just a drop of blood in this seal?" She taps the one seal that's on the handle instead of the blade.

"Yeah, yours until you die after that, dattebayo." Naruto thrilled at her fascination with the swords.

Katsumi doesn't need to hear more than that. Uses the blade of the Wakizashi itself to cut her finger enough to draw the necessary blood. Watching it deep into the seal on the handle is interesting. It lights up a strange, eerie red color before fading back to black. She repeats the process with the katana and Naruto is practically vibrating in his chair awaiting her verdict. Even Sai is watching as he spits a little bit more ink out.

"They're beautiful, Naruto. I love them." She smiles happily as she damn near pets the sword in her lap. She's eager to try them out as soon as she drags Sai to the Yamanaka's. Once Shikamaru is back from the second phase of the jounin exams, she's going to show him. These are amazing and Naruto is the best for giving her these.

Naruto looks over the moon at her reaction. Bright beaming grin and eyes that practically glow from happiness. Katsumi really can't think of anyone sunnier than her blonde idiot. To think she used to not like him.

"Sai? You able to talk yet?" Katsumi forces herself to stop admiring the swords and glance over the check on the Root agent.

"Yes, midget. That was unpleasant."

"Yeah, well don't get a seal on your tongue, Dattebayo." Naruto doesn't look the least bit sympathetic.

"Great, well, since he's able to talk, he has a therapist appointment to go to. Thank you so much for the swords, Naruto. I'll take care of them." Katsumi ticks them under one arm and hugs Naruto around the waist with the other. She'll need to get straps for the sheaths to carry them.

"I do not have—"

"Yes, you do! Inoichi is getting impatient since you keep rescheduling. Really, Sai, that's very rude," she pulls him to his feet and drags him to the door, "Training later, Naruto?"

"Sure! Don't stab anyone!"

"No promises!" She's yanking Sai behind as she nearly runs through the streets. She's giddy from getting the new swords and she's got that seal off Sai's tongue and things are going perfectly.

"Midget? What is going on? None of my books mentioned this? Also, is Naruto in love with you? My books say giving gifts is a sign of romantic affection, but from his behavior I assumed he is in love with Uchiha," Sai sounds as monotone as usual but she thinks he's genuinely confused.

"No, Naruto isn't in love with me. Pretty sure he had a crush on Sakura in the academy. His first kiss was Sasuke though so who knows? And you, my dear emotionally stunted friend, are going to meet an awesome girl and her dad, the man who's going to pick your brain apart."

Sai is silent for a while. Probably shouldn't have worded it like that. Oh well. He'll like Ino once he meets her and Inoichi is done with dealing with whatever childhood trauma this kid has.

Inoichi blinks nonplussed at her when she shows up at his door at just past six in the morning with an emotionless, probably confused Sai in tow.

"Inoichi-san, this is Sai. He recently had a seal removed and I believe you need to talk to him." She grins widely as she presents Sai the way a house cat presents a dead rat.

"Ahh. Thank you, Katsumi-Chan. Sai? If you'd come with me, we can talk privately."

Sai stares at the man in silence before looking down at Katsumi, "I was under the impression you were introducing me to your friend first."

"Inoichi answered the door first. You'll meet her later. Be good, no stabbing Inoichi and no running back off to your master." She lets go of his arm and gestures enthusiastically for him to go with Inoichi. Inoichi seems entirely unimpressed at the entire thing.

After a moment of awkward silence, Sai slowly follows Inoichi inside. Katsumi considers her job done for now and nearly skips back to the compound to sleep a little longer before training.

Shikamaru is already gone for the next part of the jounin exams when she gets back and she tells Naoki under no circumstances is he to wake her up within the next two hours. She doubts he'll listen, but she can dream. She sets the new swords down on the dresser carefully and grins giddily again. These are up there with her Ninken in terms of best things ever.

She's back to sleep and completely content about how things are going in an instant. The dreams are, for once, not nightmares or weird visions. Instead it's a hazy, pleasant memory of when she was younger and riding on her tou-san's shoulders. She's not sure where he's taking her in the dream, but she can hear his laugh, a sound she'd nearly forgotten.

When Naoki's excited baying wakes her she throws a pillow in the general direction of the puppy. She hears it hit the wall instead and opens one eye irritably to see what has Naoki worked up. Shikamaru looks like he is just out of a free for all fight and examining her new swords quietly.

"You back already?" She raises her head and yawns.

"Yeah, this round was short. I'll be gone for two or three days for the next one, though. Where'd you get these?"

"Naruto gave them to me. They're from Uzushiogakure. He repaired the seals for me, aren't they awesome?" Katsumi is still a bit out of it but she beams proudly at the gifts.

Shikamaru gets a funny look on his face before nodding, "Yeah, they're real nice, Katsumi. Now move over. Wanna sleep too."

"Got training this afternoon. Can't sleep all day." She moves over and watches as he takes his flak jacket and Chuunin shirt off and unwraps the bandages on his feet.

"I sure fucking can, though." Shikamaru climbs under the covers with her and curls up around her like he's prone to doing.

"Lucky you. Got that seal off Sai, you know. He's with Inoichi now." Katsumi rolls over to face him and watches as a pleased look crosses his face.

"Good. Knew you could do it." One of his hands come to rest lazily on her head and threads through her hair. That's a nice feeling. It makes her eyes slide shut in contentment. She drifts back off to the feeling of Shikamaru kissing her forehead again and the distant confusion that he hasn't kissed her again since the bonfire. Shame. She'll push him about it later. When she's not sleepy.

Notes:

Sai's logic for allowing this shit: well Danzo-Sama said to do whatever it took to win Katsumi over

Chapter 20

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi makes sure to remind Shikaku that she wants her emotionless artist teammate back when they're done with him. Preferably in either the same or improved condition they got him in. Sai may be a spy and may be working for Danzo but she's warmed to the strange boy. Be a shame if she had to warm up to a new person. Shikaku doesn't seem surprised by the request. Just mutters about how troublesome she is and how much paperwork she's caused him.

Things are strangely tense now that Sai is with Inoichi. Everyone in the know is twitchy and over reactive. Like waiting for an explosion. Sensei is far more serious as he works with Katsumi and Naruto, Shikaku's eyes are sharper than ever and he has a look like he's waiting for someone to test him. Every time she sees Yamato he looks like he's having to consciously fight not to make his scary face.

ANBU HQ is in absolute chaos. Everyone has been called into HQ. At least twenty operatives have been dragged down to T within twelve hours and Hyena hovers around her giggling every time another person gets dragged off. So Sai is giving names. A lot of them. She doubts that's all of Danzo's operatives, likely he has plenty more in the Root base, but watching Crane get dragged off while Hyena snickers beside her is immensely satisfying. She's not even sure Hyena knows what's going on, but it's clear he's not sympathetic to the people being dragged, often after being drugged because they decided to fight.

She's almost certain Naruto is about to find out what's happening because they need his fuinjutsu to get information out of every one of the Root members and to get into the Root base. She figures he's going to be up in arms once he knows what's going on. An angry Naruto would really be useful for whatever is coming next.

The entire atmosphere of the village is becoming tense. Like it was before the invasion. When the ANBU start getting twitchy, it sets off every shinobi. It's an unpleasant side effect of living amongst paranoid mercenaries. ANBU stop getting sent out on missions for the time being and that just increases tensions. Having nearly the entirety of ANBU uniformed and present in the village, and clearly stationed around the village? It's putting everyone on edge. It's not normal and she knows they're going to move on Danzo soon. They have to or he's going to move first.

The ANBU guard around the Hokage has been doubled and the academy has even been given a temporary set of guards. In case Danzo tries a coup and uses the Academy as a potential hostage situation. Evacuation protocols are being reviewed with genin corps, who is traditionally in charge of civilian evacuations in cases of emergency. She knows from Sakura that the hospital is quietly preparing like before the invasion. Katsumi isn't sure if all this will be necessary, but she supposes the village should prepare for the worst case scenario.

In less than forty-eight hours, the village is on near lock down. Fox learns she's on a frontal assault team with Dog, Cat, and Hyena. Ideally, The base can be dealt with after Danzo. But if they can't get to him outside of the base, they'll be going in and dealing with both at once. Almost every ANBU is either preparing for attack the base or protect Hokage tower. The other elders have been placed under house arrest until it's determined how much they were aware of in regards to Danzo.

Everything is ready in record time. She's honestly impressed at how fast things have moved since Sai went with Inoichi. Sure enough, Naruto is brought in with the non-ANBU units that have been involved in the entire operation and briefed on the parts he'll be involved in. She isn't there to see how he reacts and won't be able to talk to him about it until it's over. She's going to need a valid explanation for why she disappeared.

Her team spends the forty-eight hours going over every possible scenario. Every possible way things could go wrong. Everything from chain of command to if they're outnumbered or cut off from each other. Dog runs them through all the possibilities. It's as much preparation as it is an outlet for the pent up energy as they wait. Everything is ready and all that's left is for Lady Hokage to give the word.

Danzo's home has been empty since the minute the first Root agent was dragged out of HQ. He hasn't been seen since then. Everyone figures he's somewhere inside the base. Fox is leaning against the wall of HQ, listening to Hyena snickering as he sharpens the ANBU issued tanto he carries. Dog is standing perfectly still and silent as they wait for their orders to move out. Cat is crouched down, back flat against the wall with his elbows on his knees and seems to be watching Dog. Every single team of ANBU has looked similarly itching for a fight. It's not often all of them are let out of their cages. Not often they all get called in for a fight. Even rarer that it happens within village walls. Fox can practically taste the killing intent in the air.

It's Crow that brings the news. It's time. Uzumaki is being lead to the base entrance to break the seals. All frontal assault teams are to go to the location and wait. In total there are six frontal assault teams. Twenty-four ANBU operatives who's sole job is to get into the base and deal with any enemy combatants. Support units will come in next. Clean up and search the base for information and any children. Take anyone left alive by the frontal assault teams captive. Comms are in everyone's ears. All connecting them to their team and tactics.

Hyena's laughter falls silent and Dog gives them the order to fall in line. Cat is to Dog's right while Fox and Hyena fall into step behind them. Fox can see Owl with his team just ahead of them as they move out. Crow is with support. Rat is the only field medic ANBU has and she thinks she spotted Rat with support as well.

It doesn't take long to arrive at the Root base. The village is eerily quiet. Like the whole world is holding its breath. Naruto is working steadily away on the seals with five ANBU surrounding him. Boar, Scorpion, Lizard, Hawk, and Panther. She's seen them all but hasn't personally worked with them. She's heard rumors that a few were the Yondaime's personal guards once. She supposes that makes them a good choice for keeping the one person better at fuinjutsu than Jiraiya alive.

Fox can hear the crackle of the comm in her left ear that means it's on. Unless she hits a button she won't be able to speak, but whoever in tactics that's going to be feeding her whatever information they have will be able to do so constantly. Hopefully they're competent. If she has a shitty tactician talking in her ear she'll happily and accidentally lose the comms set altogether.

"Testing. ANBU Fox, Please respond to confirm comms is working properly." The voice is very familiar and if it were any other time, Fox would bother trying guess who it is.

"Affirmative." Fox lets the button go again as soon as she says it. Eyes watching Naruto and the base door intently. She can hear the same thing happening with everyone else on the frontal assault teams. Did they all get their own personal Tactics? How fancy.

Naruto occasionally pauses as he works and glances around at the Masked ANBU all in the trees and watching him. He seems mildly uneasy being surrounded by so many ANBU all leaking killing intent in his general direction. Fox figures once he's done here, he'll be going to remove more silence seals. He's going to be a fucking master at seal removal before he's finished.

Finally he stops and takes a step back, nods resolutely time himself once and looks back at all of them, she can see him it the button on his own comms, "Seals are removed. Good to go."

The ANBU around him immediately usher him away. She sees him glance straight at her team and wonders if he's guess who she or Dog is. Dog is an open secret in Konoha really. It's not a stretch for most people to guess who Fox is if they see her around Dog a lot. She watches Dog nod once slightly as he stares at the entrance.

Her comms crackles on again, "Your team is going to go in first."

So. Tactics is relaying orders to the whole team as needed. Going in near blind with only a random voice in her ear to guide her. This is going to be a shitshow.

Dog makes a single sign and her team is moving forward towards the blackness of the opening. She can practically feel the atmosphere tense further as the other frontal assault teams fall in behind them. Each with their own set of orders on where to go in the apparent labyrinth that's below them. At least is Sai's memories are to be believed, it's a labyrinth.

Fox has a bad feeling about this. There should have been resistance before the seals were removed. Should be resistance as soon as the doors opened. Whatever is waiting in that darkness, Fox is certain it's nothing good.

Notes:

Getting Sai talking really lit a fire under everyone's asses.

Hyena is having a grand time already and he hasn't even started fighting yet

Chapter 21

Chapter Text

Fox is hyper aware of every sound as the unit moves slowly forward. It's dark, not pitch black, but dark enough that she may as well be fighting blind today. Hyena is right at her side, with just enough space between them that they won't get in each other's way. Cat and Dog are just in front of them, Cat moving like he's been here a thousand times before. Of course, former Root member. He probably has been here a thousand times. Even in the dark she can see how tense Dog is. No one is happy to be down here.

The frontal assault units are to split off from each other as they get deeper and deeper into the base. Fox can't decide if she likes that or hates it. They work best in teams of four, but separation feels wrong. Especially now. Here in the dark it feels wrong.

"Get ready to turn left, Fox. According to the blueprints that have been drawn, that's where your team will be going."

She doesn't respond and when Dog makes a sharp turn left she doesn't hesitate to follow. As of now, it's just their team. The other teams have already split off or are still heading towards wherever they're supposed to go. Fox increases her hearing as high as she can with the comms unit in her ear. She hates comms units strictly because they limit how much she can safely increase her hearing range. Right now, it feels like she needs every advantage she can get.

The hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she hears a fifth heart beat join them in the dark corridor. Then another. And another. Shit. All blocking the way they came.

"Taichou. Three behind us." She hisses it just loud enough for it to be audible.

Immediately the rest of her team is spinning around and Dog has moved in front of Fox and Hyena. Hyena starts laughing and in the dark it makes him sound monstrous as his only genjutsu makes it sound like there's a thousand people laughing cruelly. Even over that, she can hear the three heart beats. Twenty meters back and not moving any closer. When she hears three more heartbeats cut them off from moving down the way they were originally she curses and tells Dog.

"Opposition formation." Taichou's voice is grim and Fox twists around to stand back to back with Dog. Hyena beside her as Cat moves to stand beside Dog.

Fox draws her Wakizashi and bares her teeth behind her mask. In close quarters like this, using her Katana isn't a good idea. She'd like to dual wield, but it's just not an option now.

Hyena's fucking cackling is still going and she knows he's genuinely looking forward to this. This isn't the broken laugh she heard in the mist when he beheaded Hidan. It's full of rage and bloodlust and excitement. Sounds like he's just been given a gift.

"Fox? What's happening? The tracker in your comms stopped moving." The tactic's voice cuts in and she has to repress a snarl because now is not the time.

"Six combatants. Surrounded. Haven't attacked yet."

There's silence on the other end of her comms. Before she can check and make sure her tactics person didn't just drop dead, the heart beats move. Fuck. Fox has a split second to calm herself before she's moving on muscle memory and her Wakizashi is coming up to meet the blade of a sword she'd only had a moment to process the sound of. She can hear Hyena fighting the other two. Makes sense. He's the more experienced of them. And the bigger target. Over all, he's the bigger threat.

Fox chose to use the swords Naruto gave her for this. She hasn't had time to properly try them, but now is as good a time as any. She narrowly avoids a strike to her chest as she focuses on sending fire nature chakra down the sword. The seals work exactly as intended and holy shit, if Fox wasn't trying not to get killed she'd be mesmerized by the flames licking up the edge of the blade. It gives some much needed light to the room for a moment and she doesn't give the attacker time to react before the fire dies and they're plunged back into darkness.

It's fast and brutal, the way so many fights are. She doesn't block cleanly enough and ends up with a long cut down her bare upper arm. Retaliates with a slash to the Root agent's chest that immediately flows into a spinning kick to the skull that she learned from Gai-San a lifetime ago. The man's sword scraps straight across her mask and if she hadn't twisted out of the way, at best she'd probably have a scar even more prominent than the one her Tou-San had had. At worst, she'd be dead. She gets sick of the back and forth quickly and seeks out what little moisture is in the air. Enough for one hit but she has to make it count. Uses one hand to keep the Wakizashi steady as the Root's sword meets hers and pushes against it. One handed seals are a bitch but useful.

Ox. Snake. Dog. Ram.

What little water she pulled from the air is pulled to her sword as the seal for water nature chakra glows a vivid blue. The water only explodes out in the direction the sharp edge is facing. Horizontal and in a perfect line across the man's neck. She hadn't been certain it would work, but when she feels the spray of blood hit her she knows she won. Doesn't pause to listen for the body to fall before turning and using her nose and ears to seek out one of the attackers on Hyena.

Hyena is down to one opponent and she figures it's only fair that this one gets to deal with two people at once now too. She slides silently into place behind Hyena's last opponent, aims harsh kick to the back of the person's knee and grins as they automatically drop to their knees. She can hear them twist around to strike out at her. She dances back into the darkness and knows Hyena won't let that opening go to waste.

There's the flash of lightning chakra that signals he's had enough and in the bright flickering light from his lightning jutsu, she can see that Hyena has grabbed the back of the man's head and is holding it in a crushing grip as volts of electricity are pumped into the man's skull. It's brutal to witness. There's blood and foam bubbling up from the lower half of the shattered white mask and she can see blood dripping out of the man's ears. She probably would see the man's eyes melting if the mask were to come off entirely. The smell of burnt flesh and ozone is overwhelming and holy shit, she didn't know Hyena could do that.

As the light fades away again and Hyena finally releases the man, Dog calls out, "Status report."

"Enemy combatants neutralized. I have a cut on one arm but fine to continue on." Fox responds automatically.

"Minor head injury, but no concussion. Just a lot of blood, is what it is, yeah?" Hyena sounds manic as he answers, but that's normal for him.

"From now on, expect resistance. Lethal force at all times." Dog-Taichou ruffles her hair half heartedly as he walks by her to lead them further down the hallway. Dog only does that when no other ANBU can see. His way of praising her as Katsumi is the way he grounds her as Fox.

Things continue on in the same vein for what seems like a lifetime. Turn down a new hallway, get attacked, get a little injured and burn a little chakra, kill people and keep moving. Repetitive and bloody and the smell of dead bodies in such close quarters is awful but she's used to that smell by now. Normally she's not trapped in a labyrinth with it though.

Eventually they make it to where Danzo's office is supposed to be. Dog enters first and the light in this room is on and for the first time in what seems like forever she gets a good look at her team's condition. Dog looks bloody and she can see bruises and cuts forming on any exposed skin. Cat looks a bit better, but with his mokuton it's hard for people to get close enough to really hurt him. Normally they're impaled before then. Hyena looks awful. He wasn't exaggerating the head injury. His entire left side of his head is coated in blood and if he wasn't handling everything so well she'd be worried he was dying. She doesn't even want to know how bad she looks. The gash on her arm stings with the salt from her sweat and is still sluggishly bleeding. She knows it's been joined by plenty of other injuries. But now isn't the time to worry about that.

They're in the office and Danzo isn't fucking here. It's pristine and looks more like a model of an office than a real one with how organized it is. They circle the whole room, looking for traps and secret exits and anything that may tell them where the fuck their main target it.

"Danzo's not here." Dog sounds pissed as he speaks. She can see his finger pressed against the button for the long distance comms they wear and understands he's informing Tactics more than them. They don't need anyone to tell them that after all, their unit is looking at the empty office with their own eyes.

Hyena is pacing behind her and she knows he's as angry about this as Dog sounds. Cat is digging through drawer after drawer on the desk like he'll find the secret to life in one of them. Fox isn't angry though. She's worried. Where the fuck is Shimura Danzo? And how many agents did he have? She has an awful feeling the ones left here were more for a diversion than anything else. Fuck. That's it. Oh fuck. Most of ANBU is here. Not in the village. Fuck. They're going to have exactly what they wanted to avoid if they don't find Danzo now. A fucking civil war. All because one old man doesn't know when to retire. Fuck Fox's life. She's going to personally rip the old fuck's head off his shoulders.

She can practically feel the moment Dog comes to the same conclusion. He goes very, very still, like a hound that's smelled a rabbit before he signs at them to fall back. Quickly. Shit.

They're sprinting back out the door and back the way they came. Jumping over the dead bodies and sliding through pools of blood in their haste. She can hear Dog relaying to his Tactics person what the issue is and hopes they make sure to spread it through the rest of the teams.

Danzo is a smart bastard, though. Seals begin to glow along the walls and Fox doesn't need Naruto here to tell her what they are. Bombs. Oh shit. Oh fuck. There's no time for her to say a word before the explosions happen. Barely enough time to deafen herself. The world explodes around her and before she knows what's happening she's been pushed to the ground and things are even darker than before.

Chapter 22

Chapter Text

Fox is being shaken. Just a bit as she tries to regain her bearings. There's someone on all fours above her with one of their hands under her head and the other hand is being used to shake her. The shaking is getting worse and it takes her a moment to realize she hasn't increased her hearing again. Shit. They're probably talking to her.

"—Fox? Fox, can you hear me? Are you injured?" Dog is above her and he sound like he's about to lose his shit.

"I can hear you. I don't think I am?" Fox is pretty sure she's not injured anymore than she already was at least, "Hyena and Cat?"

"Uninjured." Cat sounds like he's panting as he answers and she thinks he's probably using his mokuton to keep them from being crushed.

"Not getting rid of me that easy, Fox," Hyena is somewhere near her head and he sounds dazed.

Dog is off her quickly enough and pulling her into a sitting position. Fox runs her hands over her swords and is satisfied when she finds they're undamaged. Naruto wasn't exaggerating how much damage they could take.

"What the fuck just happened?" Fox is trying very hard to stay calm but there are five other ANBU teams down here for sure. And they don't have a mokuton user with them.

"The seals. Explosives at weak points in the construction. The rest are there to keep the whole place from coming down." Dog's voice is very tight.

"What's the point of that?"

"Trap intruders and effectively make it impossible for them to run, probably. Without destroying the whole base. Probably a last resort type plan, so he won't have to rebuild it once he's dealt with a major threat."

"So everyone else is alive?" Fox thinks that's what Dog is getting at.

"If they were exactly between the weak points, maybe." Hyena grunts it and she can hear him shifting around.

Fox keeps her more pessimistic thoughts on that to herself. She's sure they're all having the same thoughts as her. No need to be the one to say it out loud.

"Cat? Can you get us out?" Dog sounds like he's forced himself to be calm. Fox can hear his heart rate is off the charts though. Hopefully, Dog will be fine.

Cat doesn't answer right away and Fox has to keep from snapping at him. They cannot be stuck here. There's a rumbling and they have their answer. She listens to the sound of the mokuton breaking through the ceiling about them and tries to ignore the fear that it's going to cause the ceiling to collapse on them. Cat knows what he's doing. She shouldn't panic.

Light eventually breaks through as Cat makes them an exit. Thank Kami. She did not want to be stuck down here. Fox checks her comms unit and it's clear it's broken. Oh well. She wasn't sure how useful it really was for her anyway.

"Fox, you first." Dog sounds like he's in no mood to arguments so with a glance at Cat she scrambles up the mokuton like a squirrel. Hyena is immediately following her in deathly silence. Dog is the last up once Cat has been convinced to go.

The sunlight hurts her eyes and it's baffling to her when she sees that above ground it's nearly impossible to tell there were explosions. Over than a few sunken in spots, it looks fine. She wonders if that's why the seals were used the way they were. Not to save the base, but to keep it hidden even after abandonment.

There's a few support teams out here. Only three of the original six and Crow's isn't among them. Shit. Owl is down there too. Fox hopes they survived. Rat is out here, at least the Medic isn't dead or trapped. That's a good sign.

Rat is on them as soon as they're out of the fucking hole. Green hands running quickly and efficiently over them. Lingering on Hyena's head for a moment longer than everything else. Probably fixing it, she hopes at least. She thinks that explosion probably did give him a concussion. Rat's hands pass over her ears and she understands that it's well known at this point that her ears are pretty damn vital for her to function.

The remaining support teams are already working to get into the base and Dog is explaining about the weak points where the tunnels collapsed. Hopefully the trackers in the comms are still working. They'll probably need those to find everyone.

"Fox, Summon your hounds." Dog is already doing the same.

Taishiro and Chinami show up and they look pissed when they see the state she's in. They don't greet her by name though. Thank Kami. They know when her Mask is on she's not Katsumi. She doesn't summon Naoki, he's too new and untrained. This is not a good time to have him on the field.

"We're going to Hokage Tower. The Ninken will help with recovering survivors." Dog doesn't give anymore explanation than that. Taishiro and Chinami don't argue that. Just go and join Dog's pack when she gestures for them to.

The team looks awful and all of them take soldier pills before going. She pretends she doesn't see Cat take two of them. The mokuton can be exhausting to use so much. They move fast, despite their injuries. When they reach the village it's eerily silent as they jump over roofs. So evacuation has happened. The village looks deserted. Fox doesn't like it. This whole thing is unpleasant and she really just would like for the day to be over already. That would be nice.

Things are more active around Hokage Tower. There's normal shinobi fighting alongside ANBU against Root agents and she can see shadows actually impaling one agent. Oh. Shikamaru. Guess the jounin exams were cancelled. Probably for the best. Shikaku is nearby doing the same thing to a few people. Fox can see where someone got caught in a trap that has all the hallmarks of a pissed off Naruto. She can see where someone got thrown through the wall of the Hokage's office, there's a person sized hole and she can see a smear of blood on the side of a building across the street. Ouch.

Fox doesn't let herself get distracted by all this. Follows her team without missing a step. The Hokage's office is in shambles. Looks like a tornado went through it and Fox wonders how monumentally stupid someone has to be to go after Tsunade. The woman is a monster. That's not even counting the super strength. Medics know a thousand ways to fix a person and twice as many ways to take them apart. Only idiots fuck with medics. Only suicidal idiots fuck with Tsunade.

Dog is back out the window and launching himself onto the roof as soon as they hear the impact of tsunade's fist hitting something above them. Oh shit. Fox does not want to be under this ceiling if Tsunade is raging above her head. Hyena and Cat are of the same opinion and they're all following Dog to the roof immediately.

Sure enough Tsunade is facing off with Danzo and his arm is bare for the whole world to see and it's a strange milky white color and actually seeing the eyes in his arm is very disconcerting. Tsuande looks absolutely murderous.

"The fucks with the eyes?" Hyena breathes as they assess the scene.

"Uchiha massacre was ordered by him. He kept trophies." Fox mutters back.

A strange twitch goes through Hyena's upper body and she thinks that probably doesn't bode well for anyone. Cat moves first and Mokuton is exploding through the hokage tower and the roof to try and impale Danzo or hold him in place. Fox gets the feeling Cat doesn't really care which one happens so long as one does.

Dog lands silently behind Lady Hokage, "Orders?"

"What the fuck do you mean, Orders? We have a traitor trying to take over and he needs to die eight more times." Tsunade looks pissed. At least he's already died twice? Sounds like progress to Fox.

Fox can see the moment Cat manages to make that seven more times. One of the eyes slide shut on Danzo's arm and isn't that just so satisfying to see. Dog is flipping through handseals that she vaguely recognizes. She thinks it's a fire jutsu. Sure enough the fireball jutsu Sasuke favored explodes out towards the old man. For someone older than the Sandaime now, he's surprising mobile. The mokuton shooting up behind him forces him to move left. Towards Fox and Hyena unless he wants to go straight into Tsuande.

Hyena and Fox immediately react. Hyena moving to hit the man straight on while Fox aims to go in from the side. Hyena aims for a strike to the head, lightning sparking, while Fox pushes water natures chakra into her sword again for a reparations of the water shrapnel jutsu and aims to stab him through the back. Both somehow miss and Fox can't see Danzo's arm to know if he managed to save himself again using the eyes or if he's just that good. Fox ends up crouched beside Hyena and she slides her sword back into the sheath.

Fox isn't sure Dog will want her doing this, but she figures if now isn't the time to bring out the big hits, it never will be. She forces herself to focus and flips through the handseals for the lightning hound jutsu Sensei taught her. Holding lightning in her palm still hurts, but it's manageable. Watching a Taishiro-Esque dog made of pure lightning hauling ass straight at Danzo? Makes it more than worth the pain and chakra cost. She can see Danzo survive it but she definitely sees one of the eyes close. Good. Fuck yeah. Sensei wasn't exaggerating how hard to dodge it is.

Dog's Sharingan looks like it's glowing in the shadows of his mask. She thinks it looks different. Dog launches himself at Danzo, chidori in hand and Fox watches in anticipation for another eye to close. Danzo dodges but barely as another eye closes and she nearly looses it when she sees a kunai slam into Dog's side. Fuck. That's not okay. She has to fight from loosing herself to the instincts that are screaming at her to tear the man's throat out for the insult.

Dog doesn't seem to give a fuck about that though. He just changes gears and and attacks Danzo like it's his sole purpose in life. Suddenly the fight seems that much more brutal and Fox isn't stupid enough to get near Dog when he's like this. As much as she wants to kill Danzo herself, it's pretty damn clear Dog has laid claim to that right and pack instincts won't let her challenge that claim. Cat has used the mokuton to effectively make a corner that Danzo can't get out off without Dog forcing him back. It's a nice reminder that Cat is less obviously vicious than Dog, but he's no kinder. Fox and Hyena move closer to the near cage Cat has made, ready to back Dog up if it's clear he needs it. Fox is nearly out of chakra, but she knows she can hold out a bit longer. She's more than ready to jump in the moment there's an opening or need for it. Dog is intent and unyielding though. Even with the stab wound he's not stopping and Danzo doesn't look very confident anymore. Fox wouldn't look very confident either if a royally pissed off Dog was coming at her like that.

Fox pulls the mist down to give Dog an easier time. The sharingan has many uses. Seeing through her mist isn't one of them. The byukugan is needed for that. Dog is perfectly capable of fighting in the mist though. She hopes Danzō isn't. This was the last jutsu she had the chakra for. She thinks he only needs to die three more times if she's counting right. She hopes she is at least. Hyena is breathing hard beside her and she figures the soldier pill is wearing off for him too. Those things are great for short bursts of chakra but they leave a person worse off in the long run. No one is in any condition to keep going. Except apparently a murderous Taichou.

She can hear the clash of metal and see the occasionally spark of lightning or a blaze of fire. Hears the scream of the chidori a second time. She doesn't let the mist dissipate though. Uses every last drop of chakra she has left to keep the cover for Dog. Eventually she hears a heartbeat start stuttering and Danzo yelling and when she sees a fucking tree grow up out of the mist Fox has to turn and Look at Cat, because what the fuck is with the tree?

Cat shakes his head at her. Letting her know he didn't do that. Well. Alright then. Guess that arm had more surprises than she expected. Finally she can't hold onto the mist any longer and when it clears Dog is leaning against the mokuton wall Cat made, bloody and clearly injured and breathing hard, and Danzo is on the ground, blood dripping out of his mouth and a hole where the second chidori was clearly used. There's a tree growing out of the man's shoulder where his arm used to be and Fox wonders distantly if they're going to keep the tree. If not, she wants to burn it in the next bonfire Kiba throws.

Everything is quiet and she can't hear the sounds of fighting anywhere. So it's over, she supposes. Great. Fox passes out from chakra exhaustion almost as soon as she thinks that. Fuck.

Chapter 23

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Fox wakes up in the ANBU medical area. She's been restrained. Lovely. She's fairly certain she doesn't have the energy to attack anyone even if she wanted too. It's standard procedure for unconscious ANBU though. They can be a bit unpredictable when waking up. Safer for everyone to just err on the side of caution.

"Good morning, Fox!" Hyena's chipper voice to her right makes her wish she was still unconscious. She likes Hyena, but he sounds like he's on more drugs than she is and loving every second of it.

"Hyena? What happened?" She turns to look at him and he's not restrained in his bed. He's sitting up and his mask is slightly crooked and she can see bandages covering his bare chest. So he definitely got injured worse than he said. Not surprising, she's pretty sure she did too.

"Traitor is dead, dead, dead. Owl's in a coma. Dog is still sleeping off his own chakra exhaustion, Tsunade fixed all his other damage, Cat is helping with fixing Hokage Tower. Gotta get rid of the arm tree, ya know? Crow might be blind from brain damage. Don't know yet. Tsunade gotta look him over. Think we lost at least ten operatives? Maybe twenty?"

Fuck. For ANBU, that's no small number. ANBU only has around hundred-fifty members. A fraction of the amount of shinobi in the village. That's going to cause issues. Especially if any of the dead are division heads. That's going to be a mess. They're going to have to recruit a lot of new people to fill the spaces.

"What's going to happen to the remaining Root operatives?"

"T will pick them apart, maybe keep the salvageable ones for replacement ANBU. If we can be trusted not to drown them in the showers." Hyena sounds too excited by the prospect of murdering people in the communal showers.

Fox is saved from responding by a medic who steps into her line of sight and starts efficiently checking her over. When Fox doesn't make a move to try and attack despite the restraints, the medic releases those and tells her she can sit up if she'd like. Fox is more than happy to do that. Sitting up she can get a good look at medical and it's very crowded. There's not an empty bed. Damn. ANBU really had a damn party going after Root. The ANBU who aren't unconscious are muttering amongst themselves and they all sound bothered by something. The low tones don't sound happy.

"Hyena. What's going on with everyone?"

"Weasel."

"Weasel?" She knows that was Uchiha Itachi's codename from her memories.

"Yeah. You said Danzo ordered the Massacre, right? Tsunade didn't deny it when Cat asked. Everyone is trying to decide if that means he's a traitor or an ANBU following orders, yeah?" Hyena giggles a little as he answers, picking at one of his bandages absentmindedly.

"Oh." Fox doesn't remember telling him that, "Why?"

"If he's a traitor, we wanna kill him. If he's just ANBU, we wanna bring him home. Simple, simple, Fox."

Fox tilts her head a little at that and supposes that's fair. He was acting in orders, is acting on orders. The Akatsuki won't be an issue for much longer, might as well drag the one apparently loyal Uchiha back home if possible. Sasuke will have an aneurysm when he hears.

Fox looks over the ANBU around her. Dog is two beds over and very clearly unconscious. The sharingan always seems to do that to him. Crow is awake with bandages over his eye and no mask on and seems to be arguing with a medic. Rat is wandering from bed to bed, hands glowing green as she tries to help heal the other ANBU operatives. Everyone has bandages somewhere on them. Some people have casts on their arms or legs and others look like they just need a good night's sleep to be good to go.

Fox is mildly jealous that Cat is well enough to be up and moving. She hates being stuck in a hospital bed. Aside from chakra exhaustion she's pretty sure she's functional. Nothing feels broken. She'll have a few minor scars, but it's not like anyone will notice. She has plenty of those.

She wonders if Rat will break her leg if she tries to leave. Rat is kind of mean for a medic. It seems like the type of thing the woman would do. Semi-retired or not, the woman doesn't tolerate any shit from patients. As if summoned by Fox's thoughts, Rat comes over and places a hand over her forehead. Shit. She knows what that means when a medic does that.

"Sleep well, Fox."

Yeah, great. Exactly what she expected. She swears Rat can read patients' minds. Fox is dragged into sleep by the medical chakra being pushed into her system. This is unnecessary in her opinion.

When she comes out of her Rat-induced coma Dog is up and sitting by her bed and Hyena is gone. She's pretty sure he's not supposed to be up before her. A few other beds have emptied and Fox thinks Rat was just being over dramatic by making her sleep.

"Fox."

"Hey, Dog. Finally felt like waking up?" Fox grins tiredly behind her mask.

"You were the one sleeping."

"Nah, woke up and Rat knocked me back out."

"Ah. Of course. How are you feeling?"

"Like we just had a hell of a time and I've been sleeping for a month." She hopes it hasn't been a month.

"You were almost completely out of chakra, you had a major vein in your arm that was nicked. So you were slowly bleeding out. And you had a minor concussion from the explosion. Very minor, but still. You've been here a week. Probably sleeping most of it since it sounds like Rat had opinions about it."

"But I didn't die." Fox is fairly certain that's a good sign.

"But you didn't die." Dog agrees in a tone she thinks sounds exasperated.

"You hurt anywhere?" Fox knows he was. He'd looked like he'd walked off a fucking battlefield after killing Danzo.

"Everything is treated. Medical leave for a month. Light training only." Dog sounds put out about that.

"What happens now?"

"We heal. The village is being repaired and lock down has been lifted. You aren't the Rookie ANBU anymore. We'll have the first group of ANBU hopefuls to test soon. A few of the Root operatives that were captured have committed suicide. A few will probably be executed. There's probably five, that might be reintegrated into the general forces and ANBU soon. Including Sai. There's going to be a hearing dealing with the other elders too."

Fox thinks Dog is as close to rambling as he gets. He hardly speaks this much with the mask on. Fox thinks he probably needs to decompress soon. Everyone probably does.

"Anything else?"

"Word of the incident has already spread. Iwa is pacing the border of Grass and Fire like a fucking caged animal. The next few weeks are critical. If Konoha is perceived as weak by anyone, we'll end up at war."

"Thought the Yondaime sent them running back In the third war."

"Short memories and old hatred, Fox." Dog sounds worn out just contemplating it.

"Well. Shit. And the Uchiha thing?" Fox wonders if a consensus has been reached on Itachi.

"Uchiha Itachi? Not yet. Right now, that's pretty far down the list of concerns."

She can't argue that one, "When can I leave?"

"When Rat clears you to. She's taken over medical and is being a dictator." Dog doesn't seem that worried about it. Of course, he's a master at breaking out of medical, so he'll probably escape Rat soon.

"Anyone outside of ANBU die?" Fox knows general forces were fighting too, she remembers seeing them.

"Lost a few people. No one you know, I think."

Fox considers this for a moment before filing it away for later. She feels better now that Danzo is dead, whether he played a role or not in her Tou-san's death, it feels like she's laid a part of her father to rest. It's a strange feeling. Not quite closure, but not the aching pain of before that she ignored in favor of planning murder. Now she needs Orochimaru. Maybe Kabuto and Sasuke too.

"Hey, Dog? Can you help me escape?" Fox figures if she asks nicely enough, he'll help her get out of medical.

"He will not. You aren't cleared yet." As if the mere mention of leaving has summoned her, Rat is looming over both of them and Fox gets the feeling she's being glared at from behind the painted mask.

"Sorry, Fox, you heard her." Dog definitely sounds amused now. Sadistic bastard.

"Are you going to knock me out again?" Fox eyes the woman warily.

"Are you going to try to leave without being discharged?"

Fox is pretty sure there's only once safe answer, "No?"

"You don't sound certain."

Shit. "No. I won't try to sneak out."

"Better."

Fox thinks Dog is snickering at her as she tries to appease the iron willed medic. She really doesn't want another medically induced coma.

Notes:

Hyena was less released from medical as he was kicked out for being a drugged up Hyena

Chapter 24

Chapter Text

Fox gets let out a day later. Dog is practically shadowing her as she goes through the process of showering and changing to be Katsumi again. Fox would be bothered, but considering they almost ended up crushed by a tunnel, she's not much better. She'd watched his every move once she was awake in Medical.

Kakashi-Sensei sticks to her like glue as Katsumi walks through the village. Things are quieter than usual but she can hear the murmurs. About Danzo, about Iwa, about the Massacre, about how the Sandaime just allowed a traitor to walk among them. Katsumi can hear the rage and disdain and uncertainty. This has left Konoha on strange new ground.

Katsumi pauses long enough to buy dango and Sensei doesn't leave her side once. Neither talk much, after all that happened, they're both too tired mentally and physically to want to discuss anything. Anko is nowhere to be seen and she figures she's holed up in T with a mess to clean up. She eats as she walks, far less paranoid than usual after an ANBU mission because she has Sensei guarding her back and Sensei can be fucking scary.

A few people at the compound stare at her in the lazy, calculating way Nara do, when she shows up after more than a week gone eating her last dango with Sensei following her like a guard dog. They can't see her new scars through her long sleeved Chuunin standards, but she's willing to bet they somehow just know they're there. Sensei walks her all the way to her house, where Yoshino practically suffocates her in a crushing hug when she walks in. Katsumi is fairly certain Yoshino doesn't know she's ANBU, but she's also Yoshino. So she's not about to bet on that.

Yoshino invites Sensei inside, but Sensei's people tolerance has apparently run out, because he waves the offer away and tells Katsumi to meet him at the training grounds tomorrow before disappearing in a swirl of leaves. She figures he's going to go talk to the memorial stone for awhile. Being stuck in HQ for over a week really puts a pause on that particular habit.

Yoshino doesn't ask her where she's been or what happened, which makes Katsumi suspect the woman has connected the dots. Just sits her down at the kitchen table and makes tea. The Ninken have all piled out of her room and are sniffing her all over. Katsumi plucks Naoki up from the ground and plops him in her lap, something she only has a little while to enjoy before he's too big to carry around anymore. Chinami and Taishiro sit on either side of her, effectively boxing her into the chair.

Yoshino talks as she makes the tea and apparently has decided Katsumi needs to eat more than Dango, because she's making onigiri now too.

"So Shikamaru's jounin exams had to be postponed with all the drama in the last week, but from the sound of things, they'll be finishing up in a week or so. Isn't that nice? Shikamaru in a jounin vest would be such a good sight."

"Agreed. He'll make a good jounin." Katsumi scratches Naoki on the head as she responds. Shikamaru will complain about all the work, but he'll be a good jounin if he gets the promotion.

"Oh, we'll have to take a picture of the two of you when you get your jounin vest." Yoshino says it like it's an inevitability, which Katsumi appreciates.

"Where is Shikamaru?"

"Oh, he's up in Tactics with Shikaku still. The Danzo mess has them up to their eyeballs in work. It's all a mess, really."

"Yeah. I believe that." Katsumi yawns as her tea is refilled and onigiri is set in front her. She pushes Naoki's nose away from the food and eats quietly as Yoshino continues to bustle around the kitchen. For once, no wooden spoon in sight.

"And tell your Sensei that he doesn't have to run and hide when he sees me. He's more than welcome to come over for dinner just like Asuma is."

"Of course. I'll tell him."

Katsumi finishes the food and tea and quietly thanks Yoshino who shoos her away. Katsumi leads her Ninken to her room and sets Naoki down on the bed and changes into the oversized sweater and shorts she likes to sleep In. It's the middle of the day and she's nowhere near sleeping, but she wants to be comfortable and isn't planning on leaving the house for the rest of the day.

With nothing to do, she systematically pulls every weapon she has out and sharpens them all. The repetitiveness of it is soothing. The Ninken are all sprawled on her bed and seem content to watch in silence. Which is nice, she really doesn't have the energy for talking.

When she's sharpened and put away everything she has, she gets up and paces the room for awhile. Eventually she digs through her dresser for the list she hasn't touched in awhile. Looks it over for a moment and slowly erases Danzo from her list and the Uzumaki Kushina as well. Two things down. It leaves an extremely satisfied feeling behind.

Katsumi wanders through the house and eventually trails behind Yoshino, helping with chores to occupy herself. She's restless and needs things to do but is too tired to go train and doesn't want to socialize. She looses track of time and it's late in the night before Shikaku and Shikamaru come back. Shikamaru comes into her room with a bottle of sake and looks as exhausted as she feels.

He hands her the bottle as he collapses on the bed beside her, "What a drag. Danzo caused a fucking nightmare of paperwork."

Katsumi eyes the sake bottle in her hand for a moment before tipping her head back and drinking some, "Danzo was a fucking nightmare."

Shikamaru snorts, "Yeah. That's fucking evident. You doing okay?"

"Yeah, why?" Katsumi raises an eyebrow at him.

Shikamaru rolls his eyes, "Your night job was busy because of him, right? Are you alright?"

"Oh. Yeah. Things will be hectic for awhile. I'm not injured though. Everything is healed." She passes the bottle back to Shikamaru.

"That's good. I was worried."

"Worrying is a bit troublesome to you, isn't it?"

Shikamaru gives her a dirty look, "You're troublesome, worrying about you is troublesome by default."

Katsumi shrugs a little at that and takes the bottle of sake from him and takes a long drink. After the week she's had she deserves it. Besides, she feels like she needs a little liquid courage to ask him what's been on her mind.

When the bottle is half gone from their drinking she finally works up the nerve, "Shika?"

"Hmm?" He's laying on his back with his eyes half closed while she's sitting beside him with her knees up and back against the wall.

"Why haven't you kissed me again? Was it only because we were drunk?" Katsumi is genuinely curious. She thinks guys kiss girls they like more than once normally. So maybe he decided he didn't want to do it again?

One dark eye slides open to look up at her, assessing, "Do you want me to kiss you again?"

Katsumi blinks down at him. She doesn't like when people answer her questions with questions. "I want to know if it was a one time thing or not."

Shikamaru pushes himself up into a sitting position and takes a mouthful of the sake, "Only if you want it to be a one time thing."

Katsumi considers that. So it's entirely up to her? As in it's her choice or as in he doesn't care either way? "And if I don't?"

Shikamaru leans his head back against the wall and looks at the ceiling. Same expression as when he's thinking through a difficult shogi game that isn't quite difficult enough for his thinking pose.

"Then we need to figure out what the end goal is, we already live together. We make this a thing and it goes south, I don't like the idea of fucking up something that's already good. I would prefer not to make you feel like you have to leave if things don't work."

Oh. Katsumi hadn't thought of that. The idea of things going badly and her not feeling comfortable staying anymore. She's not even sure where she would go if that happened. She knows her bank account is pretty full, her missions combined with the money Tou-San left her has given her a comfortable amount to live off. Sensei would let her crash on his couch and Naruto would too. But those aren't solutions. She hasn't really considered the day she needs to move out. Yoshino and Shikaku certainly never mention it if there's a point in time she'll finally overstay her welcome.

"Katsumi? If you want this to be a one time thing, we can forget all about it. Right now. But if you want more, we need to talk about it."

"What do you want?" He's asking about what she wants, but she wants to know which he'd actually prefer.

Shikamaru sets the bottle the nightstand and looks at her for awhile, finally, "I'd like to talk. Figure things out."

She tilts her head and grins a little, "It'll be troublesome."

He snorts, "Everything is troublesome. Some things are worth it."

Katsumi's grin widens. Well. Alright then. She thinks that's as good a response as she's going to get. It's certainly one she can live with for now.

Chapter 25

Chapter Text

Being a... couple? With Shikamaru is strange. Not bad, just strange. Even after their all night discussion over how to make it work, she feels like she's on unknown ground. She has no idea how a relationship like this is supposed to work. Tou-San had never brought another woman home after Kaa-San died. And Yoshino and Shikaku have been together so long she doesn't think she can use them as an example of how to begin a relationship. Kunoichi classes went over how to use emotions and sex on missions, not how to have relationships. Katsumi isn't sure what to do really. She doesn't know how and she doesn't want to go to Ino and Sakura about it yet because it's been a day and that seems a bit early to mention it.

For his part, Shikamaru doesn't seem to be near as confused on the change. Just Kisses her on the mouth in the morning and tells her they'll talk more later that night. Katsumi thinks that's a good sign. Talking is important for this kind of thing. Taishiro and Chinami are certainly pleased, she's already had to tell them twice no puppies anytime soon. Naoki is the only puppy in the house and will be until she adds the next Ninken.

She supposes Sensei hasn't fully decompressed from all the ANBU things because he's there to greet her at the Nara compound Gates when she goes to leave for the training ground and he smells like he slept in a tree?

"Sensei? Did you go home yesterday?"

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan, why wouldn't I?" Sensei's porn is out immediately.

"You smell like you slept outside all night." She knows. He smells like this when they sleep outside on missions. He definitely didn't go home yesterday.

"Do I? How fascinating."

Katsumi blinks up at him as they walk. So he doesn't want to talk about it. That's fine. She knows when to drop a conversation.

Naruto is still busy undoing Root member's seals, apparently even Danzo's death isn't enough to get rid of them. Sai is still with Inoichi, but Shikaku has assured her he's coming back soon. Which is good. She likes her emotionally stunted teammate. Now that he's not a spy anymore anyway.

Training just with Kakashi while he's on light training only is nothing new. He gets put on medical leave a lot. At least every few months. She's pretty sure he ignores it most of the time. His solution to it is to have her work with Naoki on his training. It goes better than last time. The pup is still easily distracted, but he's getting better at following one scent at a time for longer. She doesn't summon Chinami, because Chinami coddles him a bit too much during training and she needs him to learn without her constantly hovering over him.

When he manages to follow Sensei's scent for twenty minutes without getting distracted they decide that's enough progress for him for today and switch gears. Sensei has her work on using her Uzumaki swords and pushing different chakra through them. Has her use them for different jutsu. It's something she'd tried without prior practice in the Root base and she gets the feeling this is partly punishment for being dumb enough to gamble like that on an ANBU operation.

When her chakra is too low to keep going he has her stop. Gestures for her to come over to him and puts his porn away. He looks her over seriously for awhile. Like he's passing judgement. Finally he eye smiles at her, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan, there's only a few more things I need to teach you, I think. We'll work on your ability to fight Doton users when I'm off medical leave. If Iwa does decide to try anything, you're going to need to be able to deal with that. After that, if we aren't at war, I'm going to recommend you for the next jounin exams. I've already got two other jounin to agree to recommend you as well. If you want to take them in a few months of course. They're biannual."

"What about Naruto?" Katsumi tilts her head and squints.

"Right now, he's on track for Tokubetsu Jounin soon with his fuinjutsu. He'll be eligible for the jounin exams when his mission count goes up. This is all assuming no field promotions occur for either of you."

Katsumi doesn't like the way he says that, "You're talking like there's going to be another war."

"Iwa won't do anything until they have allies. Suna is ours, Kiri is just wrapping up its civil war and isn't stupid enough to get involved in another conflict so soon or shouldn't be. What Kumo does or doesn't do will decide if Iwa tries anything."

"Will Suna stay our ally?" She knows from her academy history lessons treaties and alliances change from one moment to the next.

"Their Kazekage likes Naruto. A lot. I don't think they're going to turn on us again." Kakashi-Sensei eye smiles again. Trying to be reassuring. He knows she doesn't trust Suna after the invasion. It's hard to warm back up to an ally who turned on them.

"What about the smaller nations?" She knows Kusa is a bit mercurial and Taki has a jinchurriki.

"Maa, they normally try to stay neutral for as long as they can. Smaller nations tend to suffer more in war when they pick a side."

"Do you actually think there's going to be war?" Katsumi is hearing a lot of ifs and maybes. She wants to know if there's actually a real chance.

"The fact that Danzo's treason and undermining and his recent execution have already been circulating out of Konoha, combined with the fact the Clans are in an uproar because their missing children were taken by him? Along with the fact the remaining elders are going to be out through a trial for being complacent? It makes Konoha look bad. It makes us look like we're falling apart. That's enough to cause the wolves to start circling. Whether they'll attack or not? Remains to be seen."

"And if we go to war? What does that mean for Naruto and I? For you?"

"Our team is officially an Offensive team. Frontline combat. We'll be right in the center of things." Sensei sounds grim as he answers and she knows he doesn't like that anymore than she does.

Katsumi's lips twist into a grimace. She can't think of a single Shinobi war that didn't see every major Shinobi village become involved. Everything she's ever read about them makes it sound like pure chaos. A damn near free for all every time. She'd really prefer it not happen and from the way Sensei sounds, she's certain he'd prefer it not happen too.

What's more is, she doesn't think Konoha can afford it. They still need to deal with the Akatsuki and Obito and Zetsu. Then there's Sasuke and Orochimaru. And possibly bringing Uchiha Itachi back. There's too much they need dealt with now. A war on top of all that would be too much.

Sensei ruffles her hair, "Maa, don't worry about that now. We have plenty here to focus on until then."

Katsumi eyes him carefully. The false cheeriness of his voice tells her he's far more concerned than he's letting on. As he leads her out of the training ground she listens to the whispers of the people in the streets. The gossip has increased. It's worse. Mentions of stolen clan children being found. Mentions of the other elders being just as involved as Danzo, questions about whether or not There's going to be war. She even hears mention of the White Fang. She can see Sensei's body tense momentarily and guesses he hears that too.

Danzo did a lot of things. Just how many awful things was the man truly responsible for? Katsumi almost dreads finding out.

Chapter 26

Chapter Text

Kiba throws another party as soon as the results for the Jounin exams come out. Another bonfire in a more remote training ground, Sakura has helped this time. She'd managed to acquire Danzo's arm tree somehow and they're using it for the bonfire. Katsumi is inordinately satisfied by that.

With everything happening, the pending trial, Iwa, being chosen to help judge the new ANBU hopefuls being tested, combined with every other mess in her life, this party is a nice reprieve. There's even more Sake, and the bonfire is twice as big and once again everyone is here. Kiba must keep track of when they're all free because this is getting impressive.

Naoki is tripping over his ears and paws as he chases after Akamaru who is alternating between roughhousing with Chinami and racing Taishiro. Kiba is wrestling with Naruto. Sakura and Ino are arguing over what medical technique is better in what scenario. Lee is shouting about Youth while Hinata stares at him with wide eyes. Poor girl probably doesn't know how to react to such exuberance. Not enough exposure to Gai-San. Choji brought food this time and now that Sai has been released by Inoichi, it's hilarious to watch Choji try to talk to the boy. She can see near constant confusion on Choji's face. Shino is talking to Neji and Shikamaru who are both sporting new jounin vests. Though Neji looks more pleased by the promotion than Shikamaru. Of course, jounin is even more work than Chuunin so she's not surprised by that.

Katsumi smiles at Tenten as they discuss her Uzushio swords. The girl is practically drooling over them. She doesn't know Tenten well, but she knows Gai-San and Neji even if she doesn't see them often, and the girl's sheer enthusiasm for weapons is nice. Even if she is more of a generalist in regards to weapons she knows enough that Katsumi can have a good conversation with her about swords.

"So the metal isn't chakra conductive?" Tenten looks like she's dying to try them. Katsumi would let her if the seal on the handle wouldn't burn the girl.

"No, the seals on the sides? These five? They're on both sides and each one is for conducting a different chakra nature. It's how Uzushio got around the rarity of chakra conductive metal."

"And it works just the same?"

"I think so? I haven't had any issues with it. I've never used chakra conductive metal before though, so I can't say for sure." Katsumi takes a sip of her sake and turns the Katana over for Tenten to get a better look at the seals along the blade edge.

Tenten's eyes are bright and intent as she looks over the weapon. Katsumi is planning to ask Naruto is there's any seals he could add that would allow her to keep poison in the blades but she thinks that might be a bit overkill.

"And these seals keep it sharp?"

"I still have to sharpen them, but it takes longer to dull them." Katsumi grins widely as the girl nods in understanding. Tenten is the only person she's met who is so genuinely interested in her swords. It's nice to talk to someone who appreciates Kenjutsu. If only more Konoha shinobi liked the skill.

Before they can continue the conversation, Kiba breaks from the wrestling with Naruto, grabs a bottle of sake and raises it high in the air, "To the new jounin! Shikamaru and Neji! We hope you won't get us killed!"

Katsumi throws her head back and laughs as she raises her own sake along with everyone else. Shikamaru and Neji both look embarrassed.

"To Shikamaru and Neji!" Everyone but Sai calls out. Sai just looks bemused by everything happening around him. Maybe Ino should have let him skip this. It's funny watching Ino periodically go check on Sai and drag him around behind her when he's done talking to Choji. Katsumi is very pleased Inoichi let Sai meet her finally. Ino seems to adore bossing Sai around and Sai certainly doesn't seem to mind it.

Shikamaru and Neji both look like they want to hide from the attention they're getting now. Shikamaru takes a long drink from his sake as he tries to hide his embarrassment and his eyes find hers for a moment and she can't suppress a grin as he rolls his eyes at Everyone's antics.

The night only devolves into insanity from there. Choji and Naruto are in an eating contest and Naruto ends up throwing up sake and food in the bushes. Sai says something to Kiba and Kiba tried to fight him, but Sai doesn't really understand how Inuzuka work and Katsumi has a feeling it's going to be a long time before either of them understand each other. Ino and Sakura drag Hinata over to them and now the girl seems overwhelmed by the sheer attention the pair are giving her. Hinata really is so shy. Hopefully Naruto doesn't end up shirtless again. Hinata looked like she was going to die the last time he did that in front of her.

At some point, Katsumi ends up much drunker than last time and riding on Naruto's shoulders once he's recovered from the eating contest. Naruto is dancing around the fire with her on his shoulders like he's trying to summon a demon with his dancing. Katsumi is cackling and drinking her last bottle of sake, since Shikamaru banned her from getting another one, while trying not to fall of the Blonde's shoulders.

She has no memory of how she ended up on his shoulders but she can see everything from her vantage point, and while she's not irritatingly short anymore, she's still only up to Shikamaru's shoulders. So she enjoys feeling tall. Even if Naruto's balance is extremely questionable and so is hers. She's survived worse than a fall from Naruto's shoulders. It'll be fine as long as they don't fall in the fire.

Tenten is yelling out of nowhere because apparently Lee drank sake instead of water and Katsumi isn't sure what she expected the reason to be for him not being allowed to drink, but it certainly wasn't this. Holy shit. Lee is a monster drunk. She thought he was good at fighting before, this is just ridiculous. It's chaos as Neji and Tenten try to stop the rampaging green kid. Shikamaru seems to be trying to catch him with his shadow but Lee is moving around so much it's just not happening.

Naruto and her finally loose their balance as Lee nearly kicks Naruto in the head and they fall back with panicked yells. Fuck. That would have hurt more if she'd been sober. Didn't even use chakra to soften the fall. Whoops. At least her sake survived.

Katsumi has to lay there for awhile laughing. Naruto isn't much better. He's practically rolling on the ground in glee as Lee continues his rampage. Shikamaru eventually ambles over and pulls her to her feet, wrapping an arm over her shoulders to keep her steady.

"We should probably go before Lee causes us all to have gate duty for a year." Shikamaru is watching Lee as Hinata and Ino have to duck him launching himself over them with a loud yell. Sai has made himself an ink bird and is watching everything with a mildly interested expression. Like they're an unknown species he's discovered.

"But Shika, this is great. Look how much fun everyone is having!" Katsumi waves an arm in the general direction of Choji who has used his body expansion jutsu to increase his arm size and is trying to grab Lee. Neji and Tenten are still yelling. So much fun.

"Fun until Tsunade kills us all." Shikamaru sounds mildly amused as he counters her.

"But, Shika! I don't wanna stop having fun." Katsumi whines it as she finishes off her sake. The world is spinning a little and she feels slow and she's having a great time.

"Come on, Katsumi. There'll be plenty of other parties." He sounds rueful when he says that and she lets him lead her away from the party. She's stumbling and laughing and yelling good bye to the others. Her Ninken eventually realize she's leaving and run after the pair, Naoki being carried by the scruff by Chinami.

They make it back to the house without issues, other than a few amused greetings from other shinobi out as they passed them. Shikamaru had to drag her away to keep her from chattering a mile a minute to them.

They collapse on Shikamaru's bed when they make it inside without waking Shikaku or Yoshino. Katsumi is still drunk and wide awake. Very much not ready to go to sleep. So, she does something she probably wouldn't have if she was sober. The room is still spinning as she sits up and straddles Shikamaru's midsection. She has to put her hands on his chest to steady herself.

His eyes pop open and he stares up at her, "Katsu? What are you doing?"

Katsumi isn't exactly sure what she's doing but he's not making her stop so she smiles widely at him in the dark and leans forward to kiss him. So far they've only kissed twice, and both times Shikamaru had started it. She wants to know what it's like to kiss him first and she wants to know if she likes it more when she kisses him first or if there's no difference.

Shikamaru's hands go to her thighs and hold slightly as her lips move over his. Kissing is fun but she worries whenever she does it that she'll hurt him. Her teeth are pointy and sharp and she's bitten her lips and tongue on accident enough to be wary of accidentally hurting him. Even drunk. So she's hesitant as she kisses him and Shikamaru doesn't seem to mind. It's a slow, lazy pace and Katsumi really feels like she has no idea what she's doing.

Shikamaru doesn't take long to take control of it. One of his hands runs up her back and twists loosely into her ponytail to hold her there and deepens the kiss. It's weird having a tongue in her mouth, but not terrible. If she wasn't so worried about her teeth she'd like it more. Shikamaru tugs her hair lightly and tilts his head up to break the kiss. She makes a quiet noise of dissent because she likes kissing and she really likes kissing him and why stop?

His eyes are pitch black in the dark, so black she can't make out his pupil from his iris and once again she wants to know why he stopped her.

"Katsumi, you're really drunk." His voice has a funny quality to it, rougher and raspier than normal. She likes that too.

"So are you." She pouts a little.

"Yeah. Not as drunk as you are though."

Katsumi shrugs a little, not caring at all about that. Experimentally, she grinds down lightly in his lap, and both his hands are on her hips and holding her still immediately.

He hisses quietly out between his teeth, "Fuck, Katsumi, I'm trying here. We should stop for tonight, alright? Let's just slow down. No rush."

Katsumi narrows her eyes, she's not rushing. She doesn't think so anyway. Just wants to kiss him a little more. But fine, if he doesn't wanna she won't. She lets herself fall sideways back onto the bed and off of Shikamaru. The world spins hard at the sudden change and she feels nauseated suddenly. Fuck.

She's stumbling up and off the bed, using the wall to keep herself standing and fights to hold the vomit down until she makes it to the bathroom. She can hear Shikamaru cursing quietly behind her as she kneels in front of the toilet. His hand holds her ponytail out of her way and she can hear him muttering about how troublesome she is sometimes.

Fuck. Kiba's fault all over again. Fucking Inuzuka.

Chapter 27

Chapter Text

The trial is less of a trial and more of a hearing, really. A private one that's going to take days. The heads of every recognized shinobi clan, on the clan council or otherwise are there, the heads of each division of the shinobi corps is there, Lady Hokage is there, and the ANBU guards are there. Fox somehow ends up one of those guards.

The result of nineteen ANBU dying and twenty Root members being flushed out. So many vacancies in ANBU mean the operatives are being used in far more ways than they'd normally be. Fox isn't even specialized in guarding. She doesn't do this normally. She's only okay with it because she gets to hear everything that's going to be discussed. Which is a lot.

There's the knowledge dug out of the skulls of Root members and the files Danzo kept religiously. Apparently his explosions were designed to not destroy them. Fox thinks that was a poor decision on his part. Then there's dealing with Utatane and Mitokado. The elders. Fox is fairly ambivalent about their fate. If they're traitors, they die. If they weren't traitors but knew what was happening, most likely house arrest for the remainder of their natural lives. Whatever everyone in attendance decides, she supposes.

Tsunade looks like she hates her life as the hearing begins. Fox doesn't listen much to the start. Mainly calling attendance and reviewing the Operation to bring down Root and Danzo. Nothing Fox cares about. She takes stock of the crowd from her hidden vantage point. Shikaku, Inoichi and Chouza are together. Hinata's father is there. Tsume is sitting by Shino's father. Sensei is sitting in the back. Fox had nearly forgotten that the Hatake were considered a clan. One member who doesn't discuss it makes it easy to forget. It's crowded. It seems no one who is allowed to be here was willing to miss it.

They start with shit all the way back in the second shinobi war. Fox doesn't pay much mind to it. Root was still official back then. Even if plenty of it's operations were considered unofficial and its operatives never claimed by Konoha if they were captured.

She is interested when Ame comes up. Apparently Root was involved in an operation there. T has too much of it classified to go into much depth but the migraine Fox develops hearing that tells her enough.

When the name Hatake Sakumo comes up, Fox can feel the atmosphere shift. Tense and shameful. Especially amongst the older generation. Sensei looks likes he's staring fixedly at some point on the wall. Fox listens closely as mission reports from Sakumo's team are read out.

A no win situation. Save team and probably fail the mission or complete the mission and leave his team to die. There's nothing in it that should have been enough to start the third shinobi war. One mission gone bad isn't enough of a reason. No matter how tense relations are.

Danzo's records explain Root operatives were sent to ensure it became enough of a reason. No reasons are stated for why that was. Why he wanted a war. she can see the utter shame on the faces of those who were old enough to have personally known the late Hatake. Root encouraged the rumors that Sakumo caused the war. The man was collateral. Nothing more than a convenient scapegoat. Sensei looks like he wants to be anywhere but in this room. Fox can't blame him for that.

She keeps listening as more atrocities are listens out. Unsanctioned Assassinations, human experimentation by Orochimaru that Danzo funded, the murder of various Konoha shinobi, often made to look like a mission gone bad, blackmail and bribery, theft. The list goes on and on.

A thousand sins laid bare. All with the justification of making Konoha stronger. Fox doesn't see how any of what was done did that. Can't see how even a single thing Danzo did benefited anyone but himself. Doesn't understand why the Sandaime had tolerated it.

From the tense murmuring, she's not the only one with questions. The Sarutobi clan head is getting more and more hateful looks and Fox suspects that clan may well end up being considered guilty by association for the Sandaime's complacency. Fox hopes that's not the case, infighting can't be afforded now.

They stop late in the night, after nearly fourteen consecutive hours of this, when they reach the point that the Yondaime disbanded the organization. Hours and hours of missions that should have never happened. Decades worth of pain and horror on the orders of a single man with too much power and not enough empathy for those he claimed to be protecting.

Plenty of missions are terrible and cruel normally. But those are sanctioned after being deemed necessary or acceptable. Are carefully looked over and planned and approved by the Hokage. No one person is in charge of the approval of a single mission. It's why mistakes like the Wave mission team seven went on are rare. There's an entire department set up for mission consideration and approval that missions go through before being sent for the Hokage's final decision. Even ANBU missions have more oversight than Root's did. More measures to ensure a mission is properly sanctioned.

Fox is disgusted. And this is only day one. They haven't even gotten to the missing children or the missions that occurred after it was disbanded. Fox has no doubt those in attendance won't be listening so quietly when more recent events are laid bare.

Fox and the other ANBU guards are the last to leave. Not allowed to go until every file that was brought in is properly stored away again. None of them say a single word when they return to base and Fox has been around other ANBU operatives enough now to know that doesn't mean anything. Body language is one of the only ways to tell what an ANBU operative is feeling when they're silent. The masks destroy any ability to read facial expressions, after all. Fox can tell from the tense backs and slight twitching in their arms that no one is pleased. She wonders if any of the victims mentioned so far were known by the other ANBU. Or if they're simply as bothered as she is at the sheer extent of the damage Danzo was allowed to cause.

Dog shows up at HQ not long after Fox is relieved of guard duty and she can practically taste the fury and grief rolling off him. She doesn't need to do much to convince him to spar with her down in the cavernous training ground in sublevel five. He needs an outlet and she needs to work some energy off after being stuck in a room all day.

It's a brutal spar. He's only supposed to be on light training by orders of Rat, but it's clear he doesn't give a damn. Fox is just managing to match him. For every blow she can't block she makes sure to give back twice as hard. She gets the feeling he's holding back just enough to not accidentally kill her.

Fighting him in the pitch black like this when he's so riled up is intense. Is fun. Fox doesn't worry about killing him. He's still too far above her level for that and she knows he won't really hurt her no matter how lost in his own problems he is. So she uses moves she normally wouldn't. Reckless ones hurt her just as much as him. Ones that leave openings for kill shots he never takes. Ones that if they were training, he would have immediately made her regret by making her restart the spar entirely. Instead he moves quicker, hits a little harder and aims for more punishing spots.

The spar ends and Fox is panting from exertion and she can feel bruises forming. She feels good though. After fourteen hours of sitting still, that was good. She can hear Dog breathing just as hard and she can smell sweat. Lots of it on both of them. She'll have to shower before going home.

"You know, if Rat finds out about this, She's going to personally break your leg so you don't even have the option of moving. Right, Taichou?" Fox asks in wry amusement once she catches her breath. Asking what's wrong with him is pointless, he won't answer and she already knows. He's not looking for a shoulder to cry on. She suspects he never has.

Dog is silent for a long time and she thinks he's not going to speak. She's poking at a spot on her side that she's certain is going to be black and blue soon when he finally speaks, "Go shower, Fox. You reek."

Fox narrows her eyes in the direction of his voice, "You certainly don't smell good either."

"Shower. Now."

Fox can tell he's not going to put up with any sass tonight. Fine. She won't grace him with her wit then. He'll appreciate it more when the hearings are over.

By the time she's done showering, it's nearly two in the morning and Fox just doesn't care to head home. She has a perfectly good bed in HQ and fully intends to make use of it. Just this once. She's on guard duty for the first three days of the hearing after all and only has four hours before she needs to be up for the next day.

Fox is half asleep before she even hits the little bed. Vaguely registers the sound of Dog entering his assigned room beside hers. Just manages to set her alarm before succumbing to sleep.

Chapter 28

Chapter Text

The next day of the hearing Fox is working is astoundingly bad. Her initial assumption was correct, everything after the Yondaime shut Danzo down causes an uproar. They don't get as far this time just because people are yelling and arguing over the mess. As if their complaints will magically reverse the damage Danzo caused.

The Kyuubi attack is what starts the arguments. Danzo had documented the orders he'd given the Uchiha clan to only assist in evacuating civilians. Fox has a feeling this is where the clan began to fall out of the village's good graces. All because of one order. There's arguing here. Some idiot from a minor clan yells out that the Uchiha's knew there was a chain of command, they should have known better than to just obey thoughtlessly.

Fox disagrees. So does everyone else. In the chaos that was the Kyuubi attack, so many died and it was so sudden, that an elder of the village giving orders must have felt like a godsend then. Some form of order in a night of chaos and destruction. There is no shame in obeying an elder if that's the only person to be found. Besides, they commanded the police force. His order coincided with what they were already expected to do. Their job was the civilians, after all.

Things just get worse from there. Rumors spread that an Uchiha was involved. Not inaccurate, but not quite right. It was an Uchiha, but not any of the loyal ones. Fox thinks that's an important distinction in a shinobi village. Loyal or not loyal means more than what clan a person is born in or what family name they do or don't carry.

Naruto's Jinchuuriki status was leaked too. Not his parentage though, because of course not. That wouldn't have benefited Danzo. This is another point of contention. There are those who still fear the Kyuubi and look at Naruto and only see the demon. They think Danzo was right to do that, others, many of which she knows, shout them down.

Multiple assassination attempts on the Sandaime. All forgiven. Fox is disgusted by that too. She can see similar disdain on the faces of the people in attendance. Mercy is a valuable commodity in the Shinobi world, a rare trait. Not unappreciated, but something to be offered to a person only once. Something to be hoarded and used sparingly. Especially by the Hokage. With an entire village to consider, they don't get to grant forgiveness each and every time a friend transgresses. It's a luxury they cannot afford.

On and on the list grows. Many, many things happen to wear away the regard the Uchiha clan had always been afforded. The respect replaced with disdain. Admiration with fear. An old clan of proud, strong, loyal shinobi pushed into a corner until the only answer they saw was to stage a coup. Fox thinks that was a mistake, but she can understand, a cornered animal doesn't just curl up and wait to die after all. Even mice will fight, and the Uchiha were no mice.

Fox knows how this story ends. Everyone does. But hearing the fine details is still a shock. Danzo kept far too good of records, controlling perfectionist that he was. Uchiha Shisui's death? A suicide, yes, but only after Danzo tried to take his eyes. A tragedy that should never have happened. A clan elimination to be carried out by a member of said clan? Directly against the Sandaime's orders? Fox is expecting shouts and arguing again. Instead, there's an eerie silence. Like the calm before a storm.

Hyuuga Hiashi is the one to break the silence. Cold, stiff voice asking if it could happen to one clan, to a founding clan, why shouldn't they expect it to happen to another. That causes pandemonium. Threats to leave the village, shouts that without Danzo here they're safe now, a thousand view points and still they miss the big issue. There's a Konoha shinobi marked as a Nukenin for following orders. Fox doesn't know if Uchiha Itachi is loyal to Konoha still, but she has her suspicions he is. She's heard the whispers in ANBU. There's no small number who want to bring him back.

It's Shikaku who pinpoints that issue and the room devolves into more arguments. Many think he should be considered a traitor regardless of orders. A man who would kill his kin is not a man to be trusted. Some want to retrieve him no questions asked. Others want to find out if he's loyal still before making a decision.

Fox watches Sensei the most. He's been utterly silent the entire time. Fox can't tell what he's thinking about all this, but she doubts he's happy. After yesterday's start, she has a feeling he's going to be unhappy for a long time.

They bring Yamato up and his very existence is brought into question. An experiment of Orochimaru's created with Danzo's blessing. Used as a weapon for years. Fox doesn't like the way some seem to be implying he shouldn't be allowed to continue living. Like killing him will magically wipe away the problem. Tsunade doesn't take well to that either and is quick enough to shut it down. To remind them that Yamato is not on trial. Is a victim, not a perpetrator.

It's at the very end of the night, after so many many horrors and relived atrocities, that Fox hears mention of her father. Danzo kept those records too. There's a grim satisfaction to know the man who had his agents deliver her father to Orochimaru is dead. Out numbered and taken captive. Already injured getting out of Ame, he hadn't stood a chance. They aren't given the reason for Danzo's decision to do that. Tsunade has classified it and Fox knows deep down, she's the reason.

Her knowledge is the reason. Bear and Crane had likely reported back to Danzo everything she said in front of them. Her knowledge is valuable, even with as many empty spaces as it has. Danzo would have loved to have it under his thumb. Fox wishes she didn't know the things she did. Life would be easier. Would be kinder. But she's a shinobi. Easy was never really a choice. Kind certainly wasn't.

Fox barely sleeps that night. One more day and a new set of guards will take over. Fox is looking forward to that. She's had enough of hearing about misery.

The next day is subdued as the identities of the children stolen and broken by Danzo are revealed. Mostly orphans and street children that showed certain skills. Children who were above average in intelligence. Children stronger than the others. Crueler than the rest. More resourceful. Children from the orphanage that were quietly allowed to be taken for a nice sum of money by negligent matrons.

There's clan children too. At least One from nearly every clan with two exceptions. The Inuzuka, who jealously guard their children, and the Nara, a clan known for high intelligence and long memories with no taste for mercy when properly motivated. Not all stolen. Some where recruited against the wishes of the clan when Root was still official. One from the Yamanaka clan is that way. Some given willingly with the thought it would increase their standing in the village. Others were taken and clans were blackmailed into keeping their silence. The Aburame were one of those clans. Aburame Torune taken in exchange for Shino being allowed to stay. The Aburame clan head makes it clear he'd like Torune back if he still lives. Inoichi makes it clear his clan wants their lost child back as well.

Fox wonders how many Root agents are actually going to be allowed to live. Fox has heard many have committed suicide to avoid questioning, and that others will likely be executed. Not that there are a great many left. ANBU was fairly merciless during the operation. Only a handful of Root agents that weren't already captured were spared. It's hard to spare someone trying to kill you, after all.

They learn of how only half of the children were allowed to live. Pitted against each other in a manner similar to Chigiri's academy graduation test. Fox thinks it's vile. Can't imagine being forced to kill anyone in the village for a test. For training. For whatever the fuck Danzo wanted it for. That doesn't make a shinobi strong. It breaks them. Fox sees no benefit to it.

Fox doesn't go home right away when the third day is over. Instead she showers and changes and summons all three Ninken. Goes to Sensei's apartment and knocks on the door, Naoki cradled awkwardly in one arm. The pup is growing rapidly and already carrying him is proving to be less and less feasible.

Sensei opens the door and stares down at her, eyebrow raised expectantly. "Katsumi-Chan? Bit late, isn't it?"

She shrugs and holds Naoki out to him. He gave her his pack when she wasn't happy. She figures the more dogs the better. Eleven are better than eight for things like this. Taishiro and Chinami don't even wait for his permission before going inside like they own the apartment. Sensei is still as a statue for a moment before finally taking Naoki from her.

"Maa, Katsumi-Chan? What are you doing?"

"Dogs are good for company. You need more dogs right now." Katsumi probably does too, but she thinks Sensei needs them a bit more. She'll be fine.

Sensei doesn't seem to know what to say to that. Just awkwardly stands there, holding Naoki and looking at her like she's lost her mind. Which, after three days of mild sleep deprivation and listening to nothing but terrible things, probably isn't far from accurate.

She smiles widely at him and decides this is probably all the kindness he can understand right now, "Sleep well, Sensei. Chinami tries to sleep on top of people, so be prepared for that."

She Shushins away before he can argue. It's oddly satisfying to do that. She gets why he leaves conversations like that. Much easier than trying to find a natural way to end one. Maybe she'll start doing that more.

Chapter 29

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi keeps an ear out for anything else that comes from the hearings. Technically, the information is supposed to be kept quiet, but things are leaking and there's only so much to be done when clans talk. Most of what's left is dealing with the living Root members who belong to a clan, the Itachi problem, and the elders.

There's just too much going on for her to pay attention to it all though. So she doesn't. Root, Itachi, the elders? They're all out of her hands. Whatever happens there is not within her abilities to control. She has the Akatsuki, ANBU, Sasuke and Orochimaru to worry about. And that's not even considering preparing for a potential war with Iwa or the jounin exams in a few months. She'll lose her mind if she tries to worry about every single thing. Her Ninken are still with Sensei, so she assumes they're appreciated.

Shikamaru is gone on a mission in the land of tea, something about stolen relics from a temple. Yoshino has been tense lately. Her eyes sharper and more calculating than she's ever seen them, and Katsumi thinks she can see the Kunoichi in the woman more clearly than she ever has before. Katsumi pretends not to notice that the woman has a kunai in her apron. Somethings are better left alone.

Sai is apparently living in Naruto's apartment now that he's been cleared by Inoichi. The only former Root member to be introduced to normal shinobi forces so far. Katsumi knows he'll be returning to ANBU as well soon. She thinks this is probably the best case scenario possible for him.

Team seven is sent on a mission under Yamato again. Sensei is Dog right now and testing the first round potential ANBU recruits. Katsumi is helping with one of later rounds. She's not going to be doing much beyond maybe sparring them, helping set up the tests and passing on reports to the ANBU division heads for final decisions. Apparently, she was fast tracked. Normally there's a whole process for determining whether someone is a good fit for ANBU.

Team seven is tense and need an outlet. They've been cooped up in the village for too long. Going near the Kusa border? Where Iwa is beginning to cause more and more issues? To go check out a potential sighting of Sasuke? That's the kind of outlet she thinks they need. Potential for a fight and potential to find their stupid fucking Uchiha. She can't see any issues with that.

The last time she was near the Kusa border, A few Kusa Chuunin tried to take her head for the bounty on her head. She's mildly curious to see what happens this time.

Yamato seems much more pleased with them now that Naruto and Sai are seemingly friends, and Katsumi isn't trying to murder Sai. Sai still won't call them anything other than Dickless and Midget, but Katsumi doesn't mind it. Better Midget than Cave puppy in her opinion. Besides, she thinks he's genuinely trying. Even if he goes about it badly. Naruto seems somewhere between uncertain and over enthusiastic for this mission. Like he can't decide if he wants to find Sasuke or not this time. She thinks he's had issues working on a solution to the curse mark. Something about how notes only go so far. He'll need to see the real thing in person to even begin to really start.

They leave early. Trying to cover as much ground as possible. None of them want to linger near the border for longer than necessary. Sooner they get there, sooner they come back. Less risk of any trouble. As of now, crossing the Kusa border has been banned for all Konoha shinobi. Kusa is refusing to choose a side and Konoha won't risk any team of shinobi for one nukenin by allowing a border crossing. Not even an Uchiha. If Sasuke is on the wrong side of the border, there is nothing they can do.

None of them say a word as they move, taking an extra two days to circle around to come into the area from the southeast to put as much distance between them and the border as possible for as long as possible.

Naruto is a ball of twitchy nervous energy that's somehow combined with intense focus. She likes it more than the wild, near hysterical energy of the first mission. More manageable like this.

The area they're searching is a strange one. She's not sure why Sasuke would be here really. There isn't much. Old, burned down ruins of villages that never recovered from the last war, graves and a few homes of elderly civilians that are too stubborn to leave despite the fact there's nothing left here for them.

Sai is on one of his ink birds, scanning the area from high above as Katsumi increases her hearing and sense of smell as strong as she can make them. Yamato is doing some kind of sensing thing with his mokuton. Naruto is busy going from one grouchy, elderly person to another trying to get answers.

Katsumi can hear everything within five kilometers and, as loud as that makes things close to her, she's gotten very good at knowing what she's listening to. In the entire area, there's no more than fifty hearts loud enough and beating at the right rate to be human. In five kilometers. Practically deserted compared to the constant, cacophony of life in Konoha.

Smell wise, she knows what Sasuke used to smell like. Ashes mainly. She has no idea if that's changed at all since he left, it happens. Blood and metal fade if a shinobi retires to civilian life, for example. Katsumi figures there should be the smell of ashes but she's not entirely confident in that. It's been long enough since he left for things like that to change. Certainly long enough that he won't have the fresh leaf smell of Konoha Shinobi anymore.

Still she paces the area, hunting out any trace of Sasuke's smell. She should have asked Kiba if there were any differences in scent when he went to the other base on Sakura's team. A mistake on her part not to have.

Katsumi has no idea what of value would have even been in the area to make Sasuke come through here. It's old people and burned out building mostly. Unless there's something obvious she's missing, she figures the sighting was probably false.

Naruto is the one who blows that theory out of the water. Calls the whole team back over to him after he talks to one old woman with a cane and one eye. He looks extremely focused when they get to him and is practically buzzing with energy.

"Naruto? Did you find something?" Yamato-Taichou gets straight to the point.

Sai hops down gracefully from his ink bird and watches Naruto in silence. Black eyes utterly focused on the blonde.

"So this old lady, she- she said that there was a kid who came through here, with black hair and a messed up eye and he wasn't very friendly and he was looking for this other lady who makes medicines or something, but she died like a month ago, so we can't ask her why he was looking for her, but this lady said the dead lady was supposed to be some kind of miracle worker type who could supposedly fix anything, dattebayo."

Katsumi blinks at the fast pace he tells them everything. She's not sure he took a single breath the whole explanation, "Naruto? Even Tsunade can't give Sasuke back his eye, if that's what he came here for. It seems a bit out there that he would come here to find one random woman that claims to be a miracle worker."

Katsumi hasn't smelled Sasuke anywhere near here, either. Unless he's learned how to hide his scent better than an ANBU or it's rained since he was sighted here, she doesn't think he's going to be around anymore.

"Uchiha isn't mentally sound from the reports the Yamanaka's made. He may be convinced it's possible," Sai sounds a bit interested in that possibility and Katsumi wants to know when the fuck Inoichi let Sai read mental health reports. She knows she's certainly not allowed access to Sasuke's.

Yamato-Taichou nods once, "Naruto, did she say where the healer woman lived?"

"Uh, yeah, dattebayo. She lived out that way," he pokes vaguely towards the east, "There's a little stone hut with a bunch of dried up herbs hanging from the windows. No one has bothered it since she died, though."

"Right. We'll head there. Sai, you're on scouting. Katsumi, keep your hearing, if you hear anything suspicious I want to know."

They fall in line, Sai in the lead high above them as they search for the hut. There's only eight heart beats in the direction they head. Spread out and easy to pinpoint the exact locations of each person. None are concerning, no one is moving to intercept them. Likely just more elderly people too stubborn to leave.

The hut is where Naruto said it would be. It's a tiny, run down thing that smells like the stale, dried herbs in the windows mixed with the faded smell on incense. There's no one here but when they go inside, she finds the faintest smell of ashes and metal and blood mixed with chemicals. It's nearly gone and Katsumi figures it must have rained since he was here since his scent is nowhere outside.

"He was here. A long time ago." Katsumi glances over at Naruto for his reaction as she looks through a messy pile of scrolls full of medicinal knowledge on the old, rickety table in the corner. She has no idea what most of it means, she wishes Sakura or Ino were here to explain it. The scrolls look like they were rifled through by someone in a hurry. She wonders if Sasuke arrived before or after the woman died.

"Can you track him?" Naruto looks so hopeful.

"No. The scent trails outside have deteriorated too much for me to even begin to guess where he went." Katsumi shakes her head and moves over to let Sai look over the scrolls. Yamato is blank faced as he hunts through the cabinets shoved against the opposite wall.

Eventually, they have to give up. Sasuke is long gone and none of the locals saw him again after he came asking about the old healer. There's no scent trail to follow and no leads to check. All they know is that Sasuke is presumably trying to find someone to fix the eye she destroyed. Maybe Orochimaru wasn't able to do anything about it.

It's one of the smoothest missions she's ever been on with Naruto. Other than not finding Sasuke, there's no problems. No surprise attacks or interference in the mission. Katsumi would like it more if they'd found a more concrete lead on Sasuke. Heading back, they take the same route, willing to take the extra time if it means avoiding potential border conflict. The border patrols have been getting into more and more skirmishes with Iwa shinobi. Not quite enough to declare war, but enough to set every single Konoha shinobi on edge. Katsumi hopes Kumo stays out of it. Sensei did say as long as they stay out of it, Iwa will probably not escalate.

None of them are thrilled by the outcome of the mission, but it's still more than she expected. Sasuke wants his eye back. That's something to work with. Better than nothing anyway.

Notes:

Inoichi did not, in fact, give Sai permission to read psychological reports on anyone, Sai is just a snoop

Chapter 30

Chapter Text

They return to a village that's not quite in chaos, but certainly filled with an unpleasant, nervous energy that makes Katsumi's hand go to the handle of her Katana. Naruto picks up on it too and she can see a faint glow appear under his sleeves. Sai and Yamato give no reaction to the strange energy. Stupid Root training made sure they are the best at not reacting to things. If that skill hadn't come about under such awful circumstances, she'd be envious.

They turn in the mission reports and Katsumi is immediately called to Lady Hokage's office. Which, well, is concerning. She doesn't think she's done anything extremely stupid lately. And it's normally Fox Tsunade deals with. So being called in as Katsumi is not a welcome thing.

Tsunade looks as annoyed as ever when she comes into the office. She doesn't think the woman has ever looked pleased to be dealing with her. Shizune is standing beside Lady Hokage with the pig in her arms, and she thinks the younger woman looks regretful. Fuck. No one else better be dead. Or a nukenin. They weren't even gone two weeks.

"Ishihara. You're aware you're blacklisted from diplomacy missions?"

Katsumi blinks slowly, "Yes, Lady Hokage, I don't have the desired social skills to be able to carry them out with a high enough degree of success."

"Correct. Unfortunately, you're going to be on one, of a sorts. Kiri is sending a delegation here to discuss a potential treaty between our villages. They've specifically requested you as their guide while they're here, Kami knows why. I'm sure you understand, with the current problems with Iwa, how important it is that this treaty is made." Tsunade looks like she's fighting not to open a bottle of sake.

"I see." Katsumi doesn't really want to be the glorified babysitter for a delegation of Kiri shinobi, "When will this begin?"

"They're set to arrive in two weeks. You are to make sure they don't go anywhere they shouldn't, that they do not have any problems while they are here, and that they do not cause any problems. Do you understand?"

"Hai, Lady Hokage."

"Good. Do not say or do anything that may cause problems in the negotiations. No attacking them, no cursing at them, no killing them. Got it, Brat?"

"Hai, Lady Hokage." She's not that bad. Lady Hokage needs to give her some credit. She knows how to be polite to a client.

"Good, Dismissed. And no taking any missions that would take longer than half a week, I don't need you not even being here when they arrive."

Katsumi bows once and Shushins away. She thinks the only person worse for this would be Sai. Fuck. She likes being blacklisted from missions that require social skills. She knows her strengths. Social skills are not one of them. She's good at killing people and tracking things. Not at talking. What fucking jackass requested her to be their babysitter? She's in the bingo books at a B-ranked threat with ties to Hatake Kakashi. Nothing about that screams diplomacy skills.

She goes to HQ to blow off some steam as Fox. The trainees are down in the arena and Fox eyes them critically. Ten left standing half way through the month long testing. The Masks they wear now are all painted black with a number painted in white on their foreheads. No animal masks for trainees. Only official ANBU get those. They all huddle together like they're trying to keep themselves safe from the full fledged ANBU milling about. Which is fair, Fox knows all of ANBU will have them under heavy scrutiny until testing and basic training is done. No room for errors for them. One mistake is enough to be cut.

Hyena is more than happy to tell her about the first round of potential recruits. Originally there were twenty-four. Trainee three managed to poison themselves so they got cut. Trainees six, fifteen, nineteen, and twenty-three quit. Seventeen was an idiot who told eighteen their identity. Eighteen was an idiot who told seventeen their own identity in return. Four was a suicidal idiot who tried to attack Dog outside of a spar and got hospitalized for his idiocy. Those are the only interesting ones, every other cut trainee was cut when they failed one test or another.

Fox wonders idly how much Dog must hate dealing with the newbies. He was reluctant to be a Sensei when he got team seven, she doubts he enjoys watching idiots try and fail to meet ANBU standards. It's not even hard. Don't piss the superiors off, don't remove the mask, don't disobey orders and no fighting with the other ANBU. That's not every rule, but it's enough to get by on. Enough not to get kicked out of testing for anything other than not living up to the Skill standards. Fox wasn't even given the rules when she joined. She just got thrown in and told not to drown. They're getting it easy. They don't have Bear and Crane breathing down their necks.

Hyena is using Fox's head as an armrest as they stand against the railing and watch as Dog commands the recruits to Get in the arena. Fox was going to see if anyone wanted to spar, but she's much more interested in this. From the unusual number of ANBU in the viewing area, she's pretty sure she's not the only one. Of course, the ones that make the cut will have to demonstrate their skills here to be chosen by a division and a team. Something Fox is also exempt from for the foreseeable future.

Fox isn't expecting Dog to call out to her. certainly not expecting him to order her to enter the arena too. Well. Shit. Okay. She isn't supposed to help with recruits until the next batch is brought in, but this is fine.

When Fox hops over the railing to stand beside Dog, Hyena's cackling chasing her all the way there, she watches the recruits exchange glances. Recruit twenty is the idiot who questions her appearance, "Dog-Taichou? Isn't Fox a bit small to be ANBU? She looks like she's fourteen."

"Fox has been ANBU for nearly two years now. She can, and if I allowed it would, kill each and every one of you for no other reason than that you just questioned her place here. One she has earned that you have not. She currently works Spec ops. If you become members of ANBU, you may well work under her." Dog's voice is cold and everyone can hear the warning in his tone. Fox wonders who got his panties in a twist today, "You all will each spar with her. One at a time. You will attempt to last for ten minutes. If she hospitalizes you, you're cut. If you forfeit, she will ignore it. If you are knocked out within the first five minutes, you will be cut."

Nine pipes up, "And if we win?"

"You won't." The finality in Dog's voice makes Fox grins behind her mask. Such faith. Dog continues, "You will use Kenjutsu and Taijutsu only. Even if Fox decides to use other skills. We will go in numerical order. One is first. Everyone else exit the arena. Fox, do not kill any of them."

"Don't worry, Taichou, I'll be gentle." Fox has to fight not to laugh when the emotionless Dog mask stares silently at her for a moment. She definitely spends too much time with Hyena. Hyena is already jeering at the new recruits. Honestly, Hyena doesn't give a fuck about looking serious in HQ. No impulse control at all outside of missions.

Fox goes deadly still as she watches One. She can see the slight twitching of the kid's hands. Nervous. Dog's little speech made them wary of her. She bets he won't go on the offensive even once in this spar. She's allowed to use more than just Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, but she'll play nice for now. No reason for it to be over too quickly. Ten minutes is more than enough to win, after all.

Dog calls out start and just as she thought, poor little One draws his tanto and takes a defense stance. Of course, that's smarter than rushing her. Fox only draws her Katana. She won't need both swords for this kid. She can spot at least three openings in his defense as she closes the distance. With his tanto, he can't get close enough for much as long as she's using her Katana. Two very different ranges. She barely pays attention as she fights him. Needs minimal effort to push them around the area like a fresh genin. Three minutes in and she ends up slipping through his guard out of sheer boredom and, quicker than he can react to, twists the sword around to slam the hilt hard enough against his head to drop him. Really. This is the best they could find? She's not impressed.

This continues on in much the same vein. No one makes ten minutes with her, even the ones with more skill in Kenjutsu than the others. She doesn't bother with ninjutsu or genjutsu. None of them are entertaining enough to warrant it. These are little more than warm up spars. She is nice enough not to hospitalized them, though. In all, she cuts three from recruitment by loosing interest in the spars within the first five minutes. Poor things just weren't fun enough to warrant ten minutes of her attention.

Dog sounds unimpressed as he leads the ANBU hopefuls away. She thinks this is a weak batch and someone was scraping the bottom of the barrel for these guys. Dog should save everyone the trouble and cut them all. Hyena is cackling gleefully as the three who were cut are removed.

"So mean, Foxy, Foxy, Foxy, don't you know you have to be nice to babies?" Hyena calls down to she turns to leave the arena.

"They should have been more entertaining. Not my fault a genin could beat them." Fox throws back, "Spar in the abandoned buildings?"

"Only if you promise not to play nice with me either, Foxy Foxy. I'll keep you entertained." Hyena sounds even more manic as he Shushins to her side. Yeah. She's certain he will. Unpredictable lunatic that he is.

Chapter 31

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi doesn't take any missions while waiting for her Kiri charges to arrive. She summons her pack to her and works with them relentlessly instead. Work until Naoki can track a scent without being distracted for hours. Works on teaching him to tree run and water walk. Works on everything she can think of until her pack has found its rhythm again. Makes sure they can all fight and fight well. That Naoki knows her hand signals. For two weeks there's a lot of improvement. Still a long way to go, but she thinks he'll be mission ready soon.

Shikamaru comes back from his mission a few days after she gets back and they end up in one of the clearing in the Nara forest that he likes to cloud watch in. Not that they do much cloud watching. Katsumi has very much decided she likes kissing him, and that she's going to do that whenever she can. Since Shikamaru doesn't have any objections to it, she ends up in his lap again, because she prefers that to laying down, kissing him languidly. There's never any rush when this happens, it's all lazy and slow and Katsumi doesn't know if that's how it's supposed to be, but it's nice. She has to quit though when she realizes the deer are watching. Lovely. They're the nosiest animals she's ever seen in her life.

Shikamaru just laughs at her annoyance and promises her he'll take her out on a date soon. Which sounds nice. They haven't done that yet. Missions and training and life get in the way of things like that. Makes her wonder how any shinobi manages to have a personal life.

She hears through the ANBU grapevine a decision was finally reached about Uchiha Itachi. Konoha has removed him from the bingo books and is sending a team out to locate and retrieve him. Katsumi's not sure how that's going to go. She hopes it goes well. If he refuses, she's fairly certain the opportunity won't be given again. Having Uchiha Itachi back in the village would be a huge benefit. An S-rank threat with just as in depth knowledge of the Akatsuki as her? More accurate than hers now that she's changed so much from her old memories? It would be a godsend.

The elders are still being dealt with apparently. They certainly knew about the things done when Root was above board and that means they can't do much as punishment for those. It's afterwards that questions are raised. How much did they know? How much was suspected? Those are the things that have yet to be determined.

The day before the Kiri delegation is to arrive, She's at Naruto and Sai's apartment. They're not doing much. She's playing with the seashell wind chimes from Uzushio that Naruto keeps in his kitchen as Sai and Naruto bicker over what types of groceries they need. Privately she agrees with Sai that they need healthier options. His list sounds much, much healthier than Naruto's list of ramen flavors.

Of course, she's pretty sure neither of them can actually cook. So she's not sure how they're actually surviving. She figures they've been eating out most meals. Or something like that. She wouldn't be surprised if Sai was living off ration bars.

The apartment really is too small for both boys. A second bed has been shoved into Naruto's already crowded bedroom and there's really just not space for two people living full time here. She thinks they should probably move to a new apartment, but Naruto is extremely attached to this place and she thinks it would take Tsunade forcing the issue to make him move.

Katsumi is called to the Hokage's office the day the delegation arrives and when she sees who it is, she immediately forgets Tsunade's reminder not to curse.

"Holy Fuck. You're not dead yet." Katsumi isn't sure what she was expecting, but Momochi Zabuza in a Kiri flak jacket standing behind the Mizukage with Haku and a kid with blue hair was not high on that list.

Haku looks extremely amused at her reaction. The blue haired kid looks horrified, and the Mizukage seems to be trying to hide a smile.

"Fuck you too, brat. How the hell haven't you died yet?" Zabuza throws back.

"Ishihara. What did I say?" Tsunade has a tone that's screaming at her to shut up.

"So this is the Ishihara child?" The Mizukage muses as she looks Katsumi over. Katsumi thinks she's stunning. Prettier than Tsunade, not that she's suicidal enough to say that.

"Yes. This is Ishihara Katsumi. Chuunin of Konoha. As you requested." Tsunade sounds like she's mourning the loss of the treaty or alliance or whatever it is already.

"Excellent. I'm sure she'll be a fine escort. Tell me, child, do you know how to use those swords you have?" The Mizukage looks far too interested in her and Katsumi has to resist the urge to bare her teeth instinctively at the scrutiny.

"Yes."

"Wonderful. You'll have to spar Chōjūrō while we're here. See how you compare. For now though, if you'd be so kind and show us to where we'll be staying, that would be greatly appreciated. I believe it's called the Lotus Inn?"

Katsumi bows once, not as low as she would for Lady Tsunade. "Yes, Lady Mizukage, I know where that is."

"Excellent. Thank you for having us, Lady Hokage, I look forward to negotiations. If you would, Ishihara?"

Katsumi nods once and leads them out. Tries to ignore the way the woman is saying her clan name like she's tasting it. Like she's savoring saying it. It's unnerving for her. No one ever says her name that way. Like it's actually of some value to the woman.

"So you're an Ishihara? I'm Chōjūrō. Are there more Ishihara here?" The blue haired kid seems friendly, and when he smiles she can see the same manually sharpened teeth that Zabuza has.

She flashes her own, much larger, much sharper, much more natural teeth at him and shakes her head, "No. it's just me now."

"So there were others, then?" Lady Mizukage sounds extremely interested.

"My Otou-San. My Obaa-San brought him here. They're both gone now." Katsumi eyes the Kiri delegation and tries not to think about the sword Zabuza is carrying. She still wants that thing. Badly. The years have not lessened that desire.

"Ah. I see. Unfortunate. Your clan always did best in pairs, you know."

"Yes. Well. Not much of an option these days." Katsumi doesn't mean for that to slip out.

There's an awkward silence at that and this is why she's not supposed to be on diplomacy missions. Fuck. Tsunade is going to kill her.

"No. I suppose it isn't. It's truly a tragedy what happened." Lady Mizukage sounds genuinely remorseful.

"Nothing to be done for it now. This is the inn." Katsumi leads them into one of the nicest inns in Konoha. Closest to the onsens and the most expensive place a person can stay when visiting.

They get the largest room, more of a suite really, with multiple bedrooms and a living room. Far nicer than anything she's ever stayed in. She lingers awkwardly in the living room as they get settled.

Haku smiles pleasantly at her when he returns to the living room, "It's good to see you again, Katsumi. You look well."

"Thank you, Haku. The years certainly seem to have been kind to you and Zabuza. You must be happy to have rejoined your village." Katsumi smiles back at the boy. She remembers him well. She'd thought he'd killed Sasuke. He'd been right beside her in the mist when she was killing Gato's thugs with them. He hadn't once raised a weapon against her or her team with lethal intent.

"It is what we've been working towards for years now." Haku's voice is just as soft as she remembers it. Even if he's older now, less teenager and more adult.

"Oi. Ishihara. You going to try and gnaw off my arms for Kubikiribōchō if we spar?" Zabuza slouches out into the room and eyes her like he's waiting for her to actually snap and try it.

"Is what I have to do to take that sword?" She probably could. It'd be tedious and messy, but she probably could.

"There will be no sparring today, Zabuza. We just got here. Best to settle in a little first. And Ishihara-chan? You may call me Mei, if you'd like. Lady Mizukage is a bit of a mouthful and I'd like to think you and I will become good friends."

Katsumi blinks slowly, not sure how to respond to that. She likes Haku and Zabuza has the sword she's wanted for years now. But she's not sure they're friends. Not sure she'd call any of these people friends. She's not Naruto. She's not good at making friends.

"Of course, thank you for the regard." She bows again because she thinks that's the safest response.

"Fuck, brat, Did Konoha finally make you soft?" Zabuza snorts as he watches her try to be polite.

She narrows her eyes up at the man, "Of course not, old man. When are you going to die so I can have that sword?"

Chōjūrō makes a funny, choked noise from his place on the couch. "Ishihara-San. Maybe you shouldn't say that. Zabuza-Sama can be quite dangerous."

"-Sama," Katsumi repeats the honorific with mild horror, "Zabuza-Sama. Kami, the world has ended."

The Mizukage laughs delicately, "Oh, I do think you and I will get along splendidly, Ishihara-Chan. Tell me, do you have a boyfriend yet? I've been looking for a husband, you see, and I'd love to hear all about a fellow Kunoichi's experience with love."

Katsumi's face burns red as Haku and Zabuza laugh at her. Babysitting a Kiri delegation. She wasn't expecting it to be so fucking mind boggling. At least she gets a chance to steal that fucking sword now though. Sensei will be so proud if she can get away with it.

Notes:

This Fanart of Katsumi was done by a reader of my fic who asked to be credited as such! thank you so much for the lovely work! it is deeply appreciated!

Chapter 32

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi isn't sure what she's doing really. Most of the day, the delegation is in negotiations with Tsunade while she sits outside and waits. Because her job is to stick to them at all times. She's not allowed to leave until they've gone to sleep. Has to be within spitting distance of them for sixteen hours of the day. This results in Katsumi sitting in a hall with nothing to do for six hours everyday as they discuss whatever it is they're discussing that needs six hours a day, for multiple days to work out.

She's also in charge of making sure the delegation eats. Which means finding restaurants they'd like. Which means actually finding places that aren't ramen or dango. Her solution is just to take them to Yakiniku Q and any other resultant Choji recommends. Thank Kami, She's getting compensated for this. Zabuza eats like he's never going to see food again. She's pretty sure he's doing it on purpose.

When the Mizukage and her entourage exit the negotiations room, the woman smiles at her in a way that seems both friendly and threatening and it makes something in Katsumi's head sit up and pay attention.

"I think we could all use with stretching our legs a bit, are there any Training grounds we could use?"

Katsumi stands up and thinks for a moment, "Um, depends, I suppose. Do you want one with more or less water? We have a few with small ponds in them, but I think there's only one with a river passing through it."

She doesn't mention that's not a very popular training ground. The Naka river passes through it and after Uchiha Shisui commuted suicide via that river and his body never recovered, people were uneasy going near it. Even though this part of the river is the safest part and upstream of where the suicide occurred.

"I think a training ground with a river would be more than suitable, lead the way." Lady Mizukage sounds like she's looking forward to this.

As they walk, Katsumi can hear the whispers of the people around them. Foreigners tend to draw attention. Foreign Kages tend to draw a lot of attention. Katsumi can practically feel the eyes on them.

"Hey, Brat. Where's that idiot blonde teammate? He get himself killed yet?" Zabuza's gruff voice distracts her from the uncomfortableness of being watched.

"Naruto? He's alive. Probably arguing with his roommate over different inks. He'll find us eventually. Mainly to see Haku, probably." She's pretty sure Naruto still thinks Haku is a girl, but she's not positive.

"I'm sure. Naruto is very friendly." Haku sounds quietly amused as he smiles at her.

"So, Ishihara-Chan, where did you get those swords? They don't look normal." Chōjūrō inquires. She likes him. He's a bit of a worrier, but nice enough.

"Naruto, my teammate, gifted them to me. They're Uzushio swords." Katsumi grins widely, always happy to talk about her Uzushio swords.

"Really? I was under the impression no one could go there. How did he get them?" Lady Mizukage's voice is a bit sharper now.

"Uzumaki blood. They're his by birthright." She shrugs carelessly as she explains it.

"Fascinating. You must matter quite a bit to him if he's willing to gift you something of such importance," Haku smiles benignly at her.

"Um. Yeah. We've known each other for years." Katsumi doesn't see what's so surprising about that.

"How nice, and you've used them in combat before?" Lady Mizukage glances over at her critically.

"Yeah, a few times." Katsumi doesn't offer any more details. She'd only used them against Danzo and his agents so far.

"Do you have someone you practice with often? Kenjutsu is a skill that's best mastered with a partner."

"No. Kenjutsu isn't a popular skill here. Occasionally I'll find someone to spar with, but not often."

"A shame. We'll have to fix that while we're here. Show you how it's done in Kiri." Chōjūrō grins widely at her.

"Bet the little brat wouldn't be able to hold up to one of our genin." Zabuza snorts as she leads them into the Naka river training ground.

"Now, now, Zabuza, I'm sure she's a credit to her clan." Lady Mizukage's eyes are gleaming as they stop near the river bank.

Katsumi bares her teeth at the swordsman from behind the woman. Rude old man. Gnawing his arms off is sounding more and more appealing.

"Well, it's no Kiri training ground, but it will certainly do," Lady Mizukage smiles as she takes in the wide river that is the Naka. Even this stretch, the safest part, is fast flowing and easy to drown in if a person isn't a strong swimmer or doesn't water walk well.

Katsumi takes a few steps back to give her charges space for whatever they plan to do. Figures it's the polite thing to do.

"Ishihara-Chan, where do you think you're going? You'll be participating too, of course," Lady Mizukage is watching her like she's prey. Katsumi instinctively raises her chin and twitches her lips back just enough to show a few teeth. That just seems to increase the predatory look in the woman's eyes. Like this is a game and Katsumi just upped the challenge.

"Get your scrawny ass over here, brat. I want to see if you're still a runty shit." Zabuza snaps out at her. Idly, she wonders if she left a scar where she bit his shoulder years ago.

She glances at the Mizukage carefully. Waits until the woman nods to step forward towards the river. Even with the bandages covering the lower half of the man's face, she can tell he's grinning at her as he moves onto the river, holding steady despite the harshness of the current.

"Rules?"

"Anything goes, Ishihara-Chan. We're Kiri, we don't believe in holding back. Do your worst." Lady Mizukage looks like she's paying them her entire attention. Katsumi's not sure why the woman is so interested in her. It's been a long time since her clan meant anything to anyone other than herself. She doubts it's that impressive now. One half clan member left is nothing to write home about.

"Well, Brat? Just going to stand there?" Zabuza jeers.

Katsumi growls at him, and steps out onto the water after him, taking a moment to get used to the flow of the water. She hasn't fought someone better at water jutsu than her in a long time. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't excited.

Katsumi narrows her eyes and looks Zabuza over. Aside from the Kiri flak jacket, he looks the same as she remembers. Not quite as terrifying anymore though. When she first saw him, she was absolutely terrified of him. Not so much anymore.

She doesn't wait for him to make the first move. Anything goes, so she figures starting big is a fine idea. Mouth of the serpent is a good opener. It's fun jutsu for her, one she doesn't use often.

She flips through the handseals and grins viciously at the minute widening of Zabuza's eyes as the giant snake twists up behind her. Not quite as brutal as the water dragon jutsu, but much easier for her to use. Only seven handseals compared to forty-four. Less chakra drain in comparison too. Sensei had chosen well when he taught her this instead.

She doesn't expect it to really do much to Zabuza. She's looking for a distraction more than anything. Something to keep him busy while she pulls the mist down. More fun to play with zero visibility, after all. So few people, Sensei and to a degree Hyena being exceptions, are any good at fighting her like this. It makes her blood sing to know she'll be challenged for once. That, for once, she doesn't have the advantage in the mist. What a rarity.

She can make out his heartbeat in the mist and has to repress an excited growl. Holds absolutely still and silent as she listens. Keeps one hand on the handle of her Katana and waits. There's no rush here. This is fun. This is something she wants to prolong. She can make out the quick, sure, nearly silent sound of feet running across the water. He's better at keeping silent on water than her. The sound of his blade singing through the air makes her grin wide. What a lovely weapon.

She draws her Katana in the same breath she launches herself straight up to avoid the giant broadsword. Pinpoints where his heartbeat is and aims a downward strike straight at him, letting gravity help her.

He dodges to the side and she can hear his dark laughter, "Better than last time, Sea Wolf."

She snarls in response as she hits the water with a quiet splash. Stays low and twists hard, aiming for his legs. Growls in fury when the strike hits and it turns out to be a water clone. Damn.

She has a split second warning before she has to move. Narrowly dodges Kubikiribōchō a second time. Flicks through one handed seals for her water shrapnel and grins ferally as the man curses. She can smell a few drops of blood. Not much but enough to wake the dark, vicious part of her head. First blood.

Evidently, it's enough to make Zabuza stop toying with her too. There's a moment of perfect stillness before a water dragon comes crashing into her. Oh fuck. She barely manages to switch places with a loose stone she'd spotted before bringing the mist up. Holy shit. That is not something she wants to be hit with.

The force of the water dragon jutsu is enough to dissipate her mist. Zabuza is still standing on the river, watching her with dark eyes as the mist clears. She growls at him, deep and low in her throat. Makes sure it's loud enough to carry with ease over the sound of the river.

"Where's all that rage you used to have, sea wolf? You've gotten boring, brat."

Katsumi bares her teeth even more. Let's the darker part of her instincts take over. The Mizukage did say to do her worst. She can do that.

She's on Zabuza before she can register thinking about it. Draws her Wakizashi and duel wields. That sword gives him a huge range. But it's not as maneuverable as her swords are. Brutal, but limiting to a degree. He has years more experience than her though. More than enough to know how to keep her from getting through his guard.

Eventually, he seems to decide he's had enough. Turns the broadsword perpendicular to the ground and slams it as hard as he can into her side. It sends her flying through the air. Forces her to twist around to land properly. She's breathing hard and still worked up with enough chakra left to keep going.

She Slides her swords back into their sheaths and flips through the handseals for the Fire senbon jutsu Bear forced into her skull. No one said anything about not using fire jutsu after all. Zabuza dodges those and before she knows what's happening there's a water clone too close to her and she's in a fucking water prison. Just like Sensei was years ago. Fuck. The density of the water makes it impossible to move. Fuck this. She doesn't like it and very much wants out.

The real Zabuza has strapped his sword back into his back and walks over to look at her in the water prison. His voice comes through loud and clear despite the water, "Not bad, brat. Won't get you Kubikiribōchō, though. Do better next time."

She's released abruptly from the water prison and hits the ground hard. Fuck. She's tired now and soaking wet and very much wants to gnaw his arms off.

"How do you do that?" Sensei hasn't taught her the water prison jutsu. She's not opposed to wheedling it of Zabuza.

He snorts, "Greedy Brat. Hear that, Mei? Brat wants my sword and my jutsu!"

The Mizukage smiles, "An appetite for knowledge is something all shinobi should have. You did well, Ishihara-Chan. Just what I would except from your clan."

Katsumi smiles slightly at the praise, "Thank you, Mei-Sama."

Haku and Chōjūrō take over the river while Katsumi dries off beside her other charges. She's enjoying this. Babysitting may be boring, but fighting certainly isn't. Tsunade can't even get mad about it. Lady Mizukage told her to.

Notes:

We have more fanart! Thank you so much to BigFluffyKitty for this lovely piece! its wonderful!

Chapter 33

Chapter Text

Katsumi finds that keeping her charges from going anywhere they aren't supposed to, mainly clan compounds without permission, the library, the missions building, and any Shinobi corps HQs, isn't that difficult. They don't seem interested in those. Instead, she spends most of the time following after the group when they aren't in meetings and making small talk. Has to studiously ignore the team of ANBU that she knows has been assigned to keep an eye on the delegation. She's pretty sure one is Owl, since he's woken up from his coma finally and been cleared for work again.

She's almost certain the Kiri shinobi know they're there, but none of them say anything about it. Which she appreciates. ANBU get twitchy about a lot of things. Kiri delegates mentioning them would probably do it.

Naruto finds them the day after the spar, and Katsumi watches the reactions of the delegation carefully. The Mizukage had seemed startled to hear about Uzushio. She's concerned she'll need to do damage control. Even more so because Sai is with Naruto.

"Haku! What are you doing here? How have you been?" Naruto looks thrilled to see the ice user again. Katsumi really can't imagine how he isn't exhausted from being so happy all the time.

"Hello, Naruto. I've been well. It's good to see you again." Haku smiles at the blonde.

"Naruto, this is the delegation from Kiri. They're here to discuss a treaty with Lady Hokage." Katsumi mentally wills Naruto to understand that he needs to either behave or use his magic talking powers. Tsunade will kill her if Naruto fucks this up under her watch.

Sai blinks slowly, and Katsumi doesn't like the fake smile that crosses his face, "So Haku is the one that you thought killed the Uchiha? Perhaps he would have done the village a favor if he had killed him."

"Sai!" Katsumi is going to strangle him. Right here in the middle of the street if Naruto doesn't get him under control. It's nice that Naruto and Ino are helping him develop a personality, but he has no filter at the moment. It's concerning.

"I'm sorry, midget. Ino said it is important to learn who people are in relation to others. For bonds and such."

"And who are you two?" Lady Mizukage looks torn between mild curiosity and being unimpressed.

"Uzumaki Naruto! Future Hokage, Dattebayo!"

"I am Sai."

Zabuza pipes up, "The Brat lets you call her midget?"

"Nicknames are important for forming bonds. That's what my books say. Uzumaki is Dickless, for example. Midget's dogs call me Cave Puppy. Though I'm not sure why."

Chojūrō is staring at her teammates like they're a foreign species as Naruto and Sai devolve into an argument over Sai's nickname for Naruto. Katsumi should probably do something but honestly she's not sure what she's supposed to do here. It's a bit like watching Kiba argue with Taishiro. She's probably supposed to interfere, but how to stop it is a mystery to her.

"Naruto! Sai! Why don't you go find Sensei? I think he owes you ramen, Naruto." Katsumi claps her hands once and hopes this is enough to distract them. Hopefully before Sai gives the Kiri delegation their own nicknames.

It works. Barely. Naruto is waving goodbye and having to drag Sai behind him to go find Sensei. Hopefully Kakashi-sensei understands. Whatever it takes to complete a mission after all.

"Those were your genin teammates?"

"Naruto is, Mei-Sama. Sai recently was assigned to us."

There's a pause before the group continues on.

"What happened to the Uchiha? He dead?" Zabuza doesn't sound like he's trying to irritate her this time. Just hunting for information. That's right, Sasuke's actual defection has been kept quiet. Unlike every other issue Konoha is having.

"No. He's just not on our team anymore. Too many differences of opinion." Seems like a good enough lie.

"It happens. Not every team is built to last. The blonde is the Uzumaki? I've never heard of them having blonde hair." Lady Mizukage sounds like she's rolling something around in her head. Like she's putting together a theory. Katsumi hopes it's not the right one.

"He's the only Uzumaki I know, I assumed blonde was an Uzumaki thing." Katsumi doesn't think lying about this would be wrong.

"Is he the only Uzumaki here? They normally have red hair. It's unforgettable."

"I don't know anyone with red hair. Is there anywhere you all would like to go?" Katsumi really wants to get off the topic of Naruto and his parentage.

"I think we'll just look around for awhile, Ishihara-Chan. It's not often we get to see other hidden villages. It's quite different from Kirigakure, you know." Lady Mizukage can clearly tell what Katsumi's trying to do. Which is fine, as long as she allows it.

"What's Kiri like?" Katsumi thinks that's what she's supposed to ask.

"Much colder than here, more humid too. It's terribly dry here, I can't imagine how you're able to use any water jutsu here well."

"You get used to it. You have to get creative sometimes." Katsumi shrugs. She'd learned to pull water from air easily enough and Hayase had taught her to make pools of water from her own chakra for use. She manages. She has no idea what they're talking about though. There's plenty humidity today. Far more than normal for this time of year.

"I suppose you would have to. Who is your Sensei? I didn't hear a name."

"Hatake Kakashi. I've been his apprentice for over two years now."

"Little Brat was practically clinging to Hatake's skirt last time I saw her." Zabuza snorts.

Katsumi twists around to glare up at the man, "Why has no one killed you yet?"

Chojūrō looks horrified again, really the kid is so nervous for someone who's from Kiri, and nearly squeaks, "Ishihara-Chan, please don't antagonize Zabuza-Sama."

"Brat doesn't know how to play nice, kid. No point trying to teach her manners." Zabuza sounds delighted. Katsumi wonders if setting Sensei on him would make him be less of an ass.

"And what is it like being the apprentice of Friend-Killer Kakashi?" Lady Mizukage cuts in.

"Sensei is awesome. He teaches me everything. And he's super scary when he wants to be. He's the best Sensei ever." Katsumi bounces on the balls on her feet excitedly. She loves talking about Kakashi-Sensei. He's the best. Definitely deserves more credit than he gets. She's pretty sure no one is better than him.

"And what does he teach you?"

"Tracking. Lightning and fire release. Working with my summons. Lots of sparing. Helps me with Ishihara clan jutsu too when he can."

"You have some of your clan jutsu?" Chojūrō sounds intrigued.

"Yeah. Only a few though. Obaa-San managed to take a few with her when she brought my otou-San here. The jutsu I hit Zabuza with was one of them."

"How interesting. You must be quite proud of those techniques. Your clan had quite a few nasty surprises for enemies from what I've heard." Haku muses.

"I've only learned two so far. The others cost a lot of chakra. And I haven't had a chance to work on them a lot recently."

"A shame. I'm sure you'll be a force to be reckoned with when you learn them." Lady Mizukage smiles at her.

"Thank you. They're certainly useful." Katsumi twitches a little when she catches her Sensei's scent nearby. So he's done with the new ANBU recruits. She wonders how many made it through. She has to fight not to roll her eyes at the scent follows them and she eventually pinpoints his heartbeat. Overprotective Sensei. Having Sensei and the ANBU guards following them is funny to her. She's fairly certain Sensei is either following them as Kakashi-Sensei or browbeat the guards into letting him on the rotation as Dog.

"How long have you been a Chuunin, Ishihara-Chan?" Lady Mizukage pauses to look at the jewelry being sold by one man in the market.

"Two years? Maybe a little longer?" Katsumi hasn't really kept track of time. She hardly remembers her birthday most of the time.

"Really? With your Sensei I would have expected you to be promoted by now."

"Sensei wants to make sure I'm fully prepared before recommending me for the jounin exams." Over prepared is probably more accurate.

"He worried you'll embarrass him, runt?" Zabuza glares at a man who was staring at him for too long as he speaks.

"Of course not. Stop embarrassing poor Haku. It's rude, you fucking mummy." Katsumi bares her teeth at him. Stupid former nukenin. She can't wait to gnaw off his arms.

Chapter 34

Chapter Text

She's sparing Chojūrō in Kenjutsu when Sensei makes an appearance in the training ground the Kiri delegates have taken over in their free time. They've been here a week now and Katsumi is starting to get bored. She's ready to return to missions she's actually supposed to be on. She won't even be able to do that for awhile anyway. She has to help deal with the next round of ANBU recruits and that takes a whole damn month. She's going to lose her mind being stuck in the village this long.

Chojūrō is good. Very good at Kenjutsu for all his nerves. Puts her on the defensive multiple times in a single spar. She enjoys it. It makes her work harder. She hadn't realized how much her Kenjutsu has stagnated lately until dealing with the Kiri shinobi. This is a much needed wake up call.

"Hatake Kakashi. Come to make sure we haven't killed your student?" Mei-Sama is looking at her Sensei like she wants to eat him alive and Katsumi is deeply uncomfortable with that. She would prefer the Mizukage set her sights on a shinobi that isn't Kakashi-Sensei. Preferably one from her own village. Not Konoha.

"Maa, just wanted to make sure she was behaving. Never know what my cute little apprentice will get up to." Sensei eye smiles as Katsumi automatically moves to stand near him.

"Ishihara-Chan has been a wonderful escort. You've trained a fine shinobi." Mei-sama smiles at him in a way that's weirdly sugary sweet and Katsumi is going to hide her Sensei from the woman. Clearly his virtue needs protecting from the Mizukage.

Sensei eye smiles at the woman and nods once in acknowledgement, "Momochi! My cute little apprentice hasn't bit you again, has she?"

"Not yet, Hatake. Fucking monster is playing nice. You put a leash on her or some shit?" Zabuza calls back as he approaches, Haku walking half a step behind the giant man.

"Maa, Just growing up is all. She's better at picking and choosing who deserves her attention."

Zabuza doesn't look impressed by that at all. Looks like Kakashi-Sensei just told him that the worst news this year, "Fuck, Hatake. Sounds like a fucking waste."

"Not at all. Much more efficient actually." Sensei ruffles her hair as he observes the delegation.

"I know! Why don't you two spar? See how you measure up to each other now?" Mei-Sama looks even more excited and Katsumi is definitely hiding Sensei from the woman. She looks like she wants to kidnap her Sensei and Katsumi is very much not okay with that.

Zabuza perks up at that idea and Katsumi wonders idly if she's about to witness Sensei commit murder. She's keeping that sword if he does. And hiding him from Mei-Sama. Can't let pretty Kiri lady steal her Sensei. That would cause problems.

"Maa, I'm not sure Lady Hokage would approve."

"I did it. If you kill him, I'm calling dibs on the sword." Katsumi grins widely up at Sensei.

"You don't call fucking dibs on Kubikiribōchō, you brat. You gotta fucking earn it." Zabuza scoffs.

"Sensei, you should definitely kill him. He'd be less irritating if he was dead." Her grin stretches even wider When Kakashi-Sensei stares down at her for a moment unblinkingly.

"Maa, that's not very nice of you, Katsumi-Chan."

"I'll be nicer when he can't talk."

"Well, Hatake? Gonna fight or not? Starting to think the brat has more balls than you." Zabuza sounds like he's looking forward to this. Sensei better kick his ass.

Sensei sighs like they're all inconveniencing him, but shrugs and steps forward. Katsumi is practically vibrating in place. Watching Sensei fight is awesome. She may have to summon her Ninken to watch with her.

Sensei looks like he's half tempted to try reading his porn during the spar. She hopes he won't pull that out in front of the Kiri shinobi. She thinks that would be rude.

They start easy. Clearly testing each other and seeing what they can get away with. Sensei is definitely not trying hard yet. It's little more than a harsh Taijutsu fight for awhile before Zabuza ups the ante.

The Kiri shinobi draws the broadsword and, quicker than when he was sparring her, aims a vicious slice towards Sensei's midsection. It connects with a log. Always a log when it comes to Sensei's kawarimi. She's pretty sure he keeps the stashed throughout the village solely for his use.

Watching Sensei pop back up directly behind Zabuza and blow fire in his face is deeply satisfying. Even if Zabuza saves himself easily enough with a water jutsu.

The fight evolves into a ninjutsu battle and Katsumi thinks this is the most entertainment ever. They're clearly holding back to some extent, but it's a mess of water from Zabuza and everything under the sun from Sensei. The only thing he's not pulling out is chidori. Which makes sense. No matter how much she jokes about it, they can't actually kill Zabuza. That would probably cause Tsunade migraines.

"He's very good. The stories aren't exaggerated." Mei-Sama is watching Sensei's every move.

"Kakashi-Sensei is the best." Katsumi should have told Sensei no seeing the foreign dignitaries. Now she has to find away to keep Mei-Sama from trying to forcibly marry her Sensei. Fuck.

"Tell me, does he have anyone important in his life?"

Katsumi is going to drown herself in the Naka River. After hiding Sensei away. She shrugs as she watches Zabuza narrowly avoid a kunai to the face, "Sensei is a very busy man. No time for... that."

"No time at all? How unfortunate." Mei-Sama looks like she's plotting and Katsumi is going to have to enlist Naruto and Sai's help for protecting Sensei's virtue. Clearly.

The fight comes to an abrupt end with Zabuza pinned to the ground with a kunai to his neck and Katsumi is extremely put out that she got distracted by plans to keep Mei-Sama from kidnapping her Sensei. Still. Kakashi-Sensei won. Like she knew he would.

Later that night, after she's done babysitting the Kiri shinobi for the day, she goes to Sensei's apartment and knocks. He's only wearing his undershirt and pants and stares down at her in confusion, "Katsumi-Chan? No Ninken this time?"

"No. Sensei. You should be careful. Like don't be alone while the Kiri delegates are here."

Sensei raises his eyebrow at her, "Maa, I don't think they're going to kill me because I beat Momochi in one spar."

"No. But Mei-Sama is going to kidnap you and make you marry her if you're not careful. And I don't want a new Sensei so you can't let her do that. It's important."

Kakashi-Sensei looks dumbfounded for a moment. Finally, he pats her on the head like she's one of the Ninken and eye smiles at her, "Thank you for the warning, Katsumi-Chan. I won't let her kidnap me. Now go to bed."

Katsumi beams once, pleased he understands the urgency, and Shushins away. Shikamaru makes an ompf sound when she finally makes it home and hops onto the bed to land on his chest.

"Katsumi? What the fuck?"

She kisses him once quickly and grins, "I have a new self-imposed mission."

"Uh? Alright? What is it?"

"Keeping the Mizukage from trying to fuck Kakashi-Sensei."

Katsumi kisses Shikamaru on the cheek and hops off the bed to change for sleep. Happily ignoring the choking noises he's making behind her. Obviously, he's as offended by the thought of her Sensei getting stolen as she is.

Chapter 35

Chapter Text

The Kiri delegation leaves a week later, no Kakashi-Sensei in tow, thank Kami. Unfortunately, Zabuza also leaves with arms intact and sword still in his possession. Katsumi figures it's a fair trade. She keeps Sensei and Zabuza can keep kubikiribōchō. Fair. Especially since she's had her Ninken making sure Sensei is no where near the Mizukage. Chinami and Taishiro are gleeful when she gives them that job. Naoki still isn't talking yet but he seems happy enough to help.

Katsumi is happy to see the Kiri shinobi leave. Shiny, new treaty intact. From what she understands, Kiri benefits more by being their ally than Konoha does by having them allied. Traditionally, Kiri has allied to Kumo or Iwa, but since devolving into civil war, they lost those connections. Just coming out of a civil war, they won't be much use if Iwa does start a war, but hopefully having Kiri and Konoha on either side of them will cause Kumo to hesitate to join in. They need all the hesitation they can get from Kumo. Anything to convince Iwa it's not worth it on their part.

Katsumi finds out Sensei is being sent on the team to retrieve Uchiha Itachi. And doesn't that just terrify her. Last time those two saw each other, Sensei was put in a genjutsu induced coma.

It bothers her, that she isn't going, because technically this is an Akatsuki related mission, but she understands the logic. Sending people Itachi knew and worked with. She's not sure what will happen with his partner. But regardless, if they can bring Uchiha Itachi back, that leaves Zetsu, Obito, Kisame, Konan, and Nagato. Not a lot, but much more difficult to deal with that the others. And Uchiha Itachi is supposed to be one of the strongest shinobi Konoha has ever produced. They'll need all the man power they can get if her old memories come to fruition.

Naruto and Sai are sent on a mission under Shikamaru to The land of Frost. It's uncomfortably close to Kumo for her taste, but they'll be fine. Iwa hasn't seemed able to convince Kumo to join in yet. She thinks it has something to do with being bodyguards or something. Well within the boys' abilities.

Pretty much everyone is gone on one mission or another. It leaves her with only the Ninken and ANBU for company outside of the Nara's. Which is fine. ANBU isn't as creepy a place to spend time in as people think it is. A person gets used to not knowing who exactly they're talking to, after all.

She find only three of Dog's group of recruits made it though. Two, Nine, and Twelve have become Rabbit, Horse, and Tiger, respectively. She's not sure what they're good at, she missed them being chosen by the divisions, but she knows Tiger is in spec ops with her now. Which is fine. He's not in her specific unit of spec ops. No rookies for Akatsuki hunting.

Crow has retired from being a shinobi altogether. Tsunade hadn't been able to repair his sight enough for him to continue going on missions. From what she understands, he can see some shadows and light, but that's all. It's a shame, Crow was a good teammate. She liked him.

The new group of ANBU hopefuls still haven't been selected yet. So, She and Hyena are bored. Very bored, and Fox has discovered that no one likes it when she and Hyena are bored together. Apparently they cause migraines. And scare the new recruits. Which, fine. Maybe combining her deepest fear genjutsu with his one thousand voices genjutsu was a bit much. But still. It was fun at the time.

That's how she and Hyena get commandeered by the Assassinations division temporarily and sent out to deal with a crime lord that's trafficking young children in the Land of Hot Water. Apparently he crossed the wrong parent and Konoha decided that taking this mission would benefit the village greatly. If there were more ANBU operatives left after the Danzo operation, they probably wouldn't be getting sent on it. But there aren't enough for anyone to be picky, and they sufficiently caused enough trouble with the genjutsu combination that their superiors would rather they do this than stay in the village a minute longer.

Going on a mission with just Hyena is probably a recipe for disaster. Probably no way In hell its not going to be one of the more ridiculous missions she's gone on. She's looking forward to it though. It shouldn't take longer than a week and a half to do. Provided things don't go too sideways.

They head out as soon as they get the mission. Hyena is her Taichou, and Fox figures that's fine. He's got plenty of experience and so far, they've worked very well together. Crazy or not, he makes good calls. Even if he threw her at Deidara that one time.

The pace Hyena sets is hard. She's been stuck in the village for a long time though, so it feels good to stretch her legs. They stick to the forest canopies as long as they can. With only two people instead of a full team, they move a little quicker than normal. Even while they're still in The Land of Fire they don't want to spend too long alone. Experience and natural paranoia keeps them from pausing to rest any more than absolutely necessary.

They slow down when they reach a few kilometers from the target's suspected location. They're supposed to put down the entire ring if possible. It's as much an assassination as a slaughter. They have to kill the ringleaders, that's the contract, but it was heavily implied in the mission parameters to eliminate everyone involved If at all possible. Neither of them can see a problem with that.

They spend two days watching the location and planning. Identifying every main target and deciding the best method to deal with the trafficking ring. Hyena is the kind of focused he only gets on missions. It's like a switch is flipped in his head and he goes from giggling lunatic, to hyper focused and cold. It makes Fox wonder which version is closest to the real Hyena. Or if they're both the real Hyena.

They wait until they think the most targets are in one place. Dropping off a shipment. Fox tries not to think about what exactly the "shipment" is. That's not their concern right now. They can figure out what they're supposed to do about that after the targets are neutralized.

Neither of them are particularly good at traps, they aren't Naruto, but they know how to do basic wire traps that garrote anyone who gets caught in them. With two main exits and a pair of side exits, it's easy enough to kill the guards and block off all the exits with the wire traps.

Fox and Hyena use one of the windows high up on the side of the warehouse to get in. They rest in the shadows of the warehouse ceiling, completely unnoticed despite there clearly being nukenin working for the ring. Fox just doesn't understand why these crime lord types only ever hire low Chuunin level nukenin at best. Even Gato was only willing to hire two nukenin that were worth anything. Really, the cheapskates should know better than to think quantity is better than quality.

Fox looks over the people. Groups of kids tied together or stuffed into cages better suited to moving small animals than children. It makes her lip curl in distaste.

There's a lot of people here. Guards and grunts and and the men identified as the crimelord's lieutenants. They'll have to find their boss when they're done here. He's the main target.

Hyena flicks through the ANBU signs for split and fast. Great. Fox can do that. Split up and work their way inwards from the sides as quickly as possible. From the directions they'll be coming from, Fox thinks they're going to see a few poor idiots garrote themselves on the traps outside trying to escape them.

She signs back an affirmative and moves into the position he wants her in. Keeps one eye on his hands and the other on the targets as she crouches on the ceiling like a bat and waits to begin. Does her best to calm her breathing as she selects her first target. An older looking man with a scarred face and what looks like a poorly made naginata. Fox figures she can kill him before he even has time to blink. He looks like he's not paying attention to anything around him.

Hyena's fingers twitch into the sign for now and then they're going. They hit the ground on opposite ends on the building and don't wait to give the targets time to react. It's a blur of blood and noise and steel. The smell of fresh blood and shit fills room and Fox barely notices the smell of ozone in the air as Hyena fries some poor fucker's brains. Someone manages to stab her in the shoulder with a knife— not even a fucking kunai, just the kind a person keeps in their kitchen— and Fox loses it a little.

Sees red and goes until the only people left alive are the kids and Hyena. Isn't satisfied yet, because the last target isn't even fucking here. She's snarling viciously as she puts her swords away and turns to Hyena for further orders. Resolutely ignoring the agony in her shoulder. Fuck they stabbed the same place the arrow had exited her shoulder. Dammit.

"Fox. Take the traps down then help dispose of the bodies. We'll find the last target when we're done." Hyena sounds as worked up as she is.

"And the kids?" Fox spares the crying, wide eyed children a single glance. She has no idea what they're supposed to do with the kids. This is an assassination mission, not a rescue. The mission parameters didn't mention what to do with the kids.

"We'll come back and take them to the nearest village after the last target is dealt with." Hyena is busy disposing of bodies. They only need the heads of the main targets for proof. Unless there's any with bounties on them, by morning most of the traffickers will be nothing but ashes in the wind.

Fox gets to work on the traps. Sure enough there's three people who thought they could escape and killed themselves by getting tangled in the ninja wire. A simple trap, really. Designed to tighten the more a person struggles. Victims end up killing themselves in their panic.

The smell of burning flesh is awful as she and Hyena finish the disposal. They pause long enough for Hyena to field dress her stab wound and for her to help him treat the large, but thankfully shallow, cuts across his chest. That done, they go hunting again. Working faster this time, because now they have a bunch of kids to move next and they need to do that quickly.

The last target is an ostentatious man. Likes his privacy. Likes his fancy house and pretty wife and expensive clothes. Likes having the best of everything. Fox wonders if it helps him sleep better at night, helps him keep his mind off the children that suffer to fund his lifestyle.

The man is easy to get to. It's easy to bypass the guards. Easy to sedate the pretty wife so she doesn't even wake up to her husband's last moments. Easy to cut the man's throat and watch him choke on his own blood.

Fox would normally use her blood reversal jutsu, but the mission specifically said not to make it look like an accident. The client wanted a message to be sent. Fox lets Hyena mutilate the body as per mission parameters. She doesn't see the necessity of this part, but client's wishes. Have to do it.

Getting the children out of the warehouse and into the nearby village is a chore. They can't do much for them, beyond checking them for injuries and getting them a few Ryo or a ration bar here and there. They can't bring any back with them. They need permission for that type of thing. Whatever happens to the kids now is out of their hands, and it makes Fox want to snarl more. She doesn't like leaving these kids to fend for themselves but they have no way of helping them all. Most aren't even from the area. They can't help them. Fox hopes someone takes pity on them and gives them the help she and Hyena can't.

They make it back to HQ within three days and give the mission report quickly. Rat is in medical again and Fox and Hyena both get lectured about proper field dressing of injuries. Apparently they aren't very good at it. Fox isn't shocked that Rat would find an issue with their medical skills. Rat would probably find a way to lecture Tsunade if she was in a sour enough mood for it.

Regardless, the mission went well, they got three small bounties they got to split between them, and Fox isn't bored anymore. Seems like a good outcome over all.

Chapter 36

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Twenty-five ANBU hopefuls this time. Fox hates them all. Half of them are reckless and the other half are too cautious and Fox thinks they're all liabilities. She and Hyena are helping Scorpion with them. Scorpion is the one deciding which get cut and which don't. She and Hyena are just here to move the process along. Apparently, The tests change depending on whose in charge of it. Which means Dog is particularly brutal compared to most. Which, after watching how Scorpion runs it, is mildly concerning. How did any of Dog's recruits pass?

First week is survival week. Drag them out to the Forest of Death, give them nothing but a set of kunai and a few soldier pills and tell them good luck. Every man for themselves. Each given a single flare for if they decide to quit. Anyone who doesn't make it to the gate they're assigned to exit at on the seventh day is cut. Anyone who needs rescue is cut. Anyone who attacks another recruit is cut. Anyone who tries to sabotage another recruit is cut. Any recruits who try to help each other will be cut. This should be the easiest part of testing. Fox expects less than five to be cut.

Fox and Hyena are assigned to retrieve anyone who sends a flare up. Which means a week spent sitting in the tower at the center of the training ground, alternating between watching the cameras for bad behavior and the skyline for flares. It's boring. She and Hyena spend as much time betting with each other on which recruits will become ANBU and bickering over the reasons as they do watching for flares. The bickering devolves into throwing Kunai at each other at least four times and how Scorpion has refrained from murdering them both is beyond Fox.

By day three, the recruits start getting entertaining to watch. Recruit Eight is talking to herself and Fox wonders if she's doing it out of boredom or to cope with the isolation. Or if she's already having a mental break. Hard to tell really. Fox bets Hyena two hundred ryo that Recruit Eight drops out first.

Turns out Recruit Eight isn't the one to quit first. Recruit twenty-four is. The Idiot managed to break both his legs after misjudging a jump between two branches. The flare gets sent up and after a game of Rock Paper Scissors, Hyena has to go take him to medical. Well. First one down.

Hyena gets back just in time to watch as recruits Two and Sixteen run into each other. If they don't want to be cut, they need to move on. Whoever instigates anything will be cut. If the other one is injured badly enough, they get cut too. If either help the other, both are cut. They should really move on. Sixteen is smart. They move to leave. Two is not smart. Two apparently thinks Sixteen has sabotaged his camp in some way. The ensuing fight is interesting enough. Two is definitely cut. But Sixteen isn't. Sixteen wins the fight with minimal injuries and moves on.

Fox goes to remove Two from the test, muttering about idiotic recruits the entire time. The idiot tries to argue with her. Tries to claim he doesn't need medical attention. Which is true, he can fix his dislocated shoulder on his own. Still cut for instigating a fight though. He tries to argue Sixteen sabotaged him. Fox watched the footage, this kid was just paranoid. Sixteen didn't do anything.

Two is an even bigger idiot than she originally thought, though. He's arguing with her like it's going to change anything and Fox is contemplating breaking his arm so he has to go to medical. Two tries to intimidate her with his larger size. As if that would bother her. Dumb fuck. Fox is pretty sure she's going to have to knock him out. She has her paralytic on her. She thinks she has a low enough dose not to kill him. If not, she should be able to get him to medical before he dies. If she rushes. If he keeps arguing with her, she may decide to take her sweet time and hope for the best.

He steps towards her like he's going to try and fight her with his dislocated fucking arm and Fox has enough. She doesn't continue arguing. Just flips through the handseals for her deepest fear genjutsu and while he's taking that in, hits the pressure point in his neck and watches him drop impassively.

Dragging Two's larger frame out of the forest isn't hard. She's had to drag Sensei home after missions before when he gives himself chakra exhaustion. Compared to that, taking Two out of the forest of Death and to medical is only a minor inconvenience.

Recruit Eight snaps on day six. After three straight days of talking to herself and not sleeping. Fires her flare and promptly starts screaming like a banshee. Hyena takes her to psych. Fox is surprised at how calm and soothing he's being with the poor thing. She doesn't associate those qualities with him normally. It's good though. She's not sure how she would have dealt with Eight's mental break.

Day Seven comes and she and Hyena have to go hunt down recruits thirteen, five, and ten. They never made it to their gates and thirteen found a blind spot in the cameras. Which is concerning. Suicides happen in the forest but Thirteen wasn't showing any signs of a mental break. Had seemed to be doing very well. She's hoping he just got injured and it'll be fine. They only need to glance at the video monitors to find Five and Ten. Five is at the wrong gate and Ten is limping along in sector four. Looks like she broke her ankle. Why she didn't use her flare is beyond Fox.

They go get Five and Ten first. Hyena deals with Ten, while she goes to let Five out of the gate he's at and inform him he's cut. He takes it better than Recruit Two did. Thank Kami.

Finding Thirteen is a trial. They know his general area. She ends up having to use her enhanced hearing to find him. Hyena is silent as they approach the faint heartbeat. It's quiet and slow and stuttering. It doesn't sound right. Like there's not enough blood for it to pump right and hasn't been for awhile.

Fox can't smell any blood though. Poison maybe? There's plenty of poisonous things in this forest. It wouldn't be a stretch to assume they'd eaten something poisonous or been bitten by something venomous.

Sure enough, Thirteen is laid out under a tree and she can see bite marks on his leg. She can see where he tried to bleed the venom out too and the make shift tourniquet he'd used to try and stop circulation. Fox can see the flare is within grabbing distance and it looks like they probably passed out from the venom before they could fire the flare off. Fox doesn't want to know what the fuck had venom that fast acting in here.

She and Hyena act quickly. Fox going on ahead to alert medical as Hyena moves to collect the man. Medical is not happy with her when she tells them they have a patient with some kind of venom in their system. Apparently she was supposed to just magically know what the fuck bit the kid. As she could divine that from just looking at Thirteen. As soon as Hyena shows up with the recruit, the medics forget all about Fox and turn their full attention to not letting Thirteen die.

She and Hyena get a day off to sleep off the seven days of babysitting the recruits while Scorpion works out the details of the next week of tests. Fox and Hyena end up yelling more bets at each other as they take showers. Fox is betting sixteen makes it into ANBU. Hyena thinks One will fuck up during skills week. Mainly because the kid flinches whenever someone moves too quickly around him.

Skills week is much more entertaining than watching recruits stumble through the Forest of Death. Watching recruits beat the hell out of each other daily is deeply entertaining. Its different than the survival test. They're all rated instead of cut when they fail. As long as they don't get hospitalized, they won't find out whose cut until the end of the week.

They get tested in everything. Taijutsu on day one, in multiple environments. From the main arena in sublevel five, to the abandoned buildings training ground, to fighting blind in Fox's mist. Then they have to spar Fox and Hyena at once to see how they do against multiple opponents. Fox thinks of all of them, Nineteen is the most adaptable, Sixteen struggles fighting blind the most, and One can't handle two opponents at once at all.

Day two is Kenjutsu. Every ANBU operatives carries a tanto or some other type of sword. It's requirement. They don't have to be masters at it, but they need to be able to handle one. Fox takes great pleasure in day two. She's impressed most by Recruit Four, with a bit of work, she could see her becoming a decent Kenjutsu user. One is also better with a weapon in his hand. Seems more at ease now. An interesting change.

Day three is ninjutsu. Sixteen is clearly a ninjutsu specialist. Twenty is very clearly anything but a ninjutsu specialist. Fox suspects genjutsu is probably Twenty's area. They need a new genjutsu specialist since Crow retired, after all. Recruits are chosen for specific reasons and then tested to see if they belong.

Day four is genjutsu and Hyena owes Fox eighty ryo because she was right. Twenty is definitely a genjutsu specialist. One does better here too. Is quick to break out of every genjutsu placed on them and good about keeping people under the ones he makes. Excellent. Maybe she'll win that bet with Hyena.

Day five is a written test. Strategy. Fox is extraordinarily bored watching the recruits spend eight hours working through different scenarios. She looked over them. Most are easier than the ones Shikaku used to have her do. None of them should have any issues. She nearly sets a few of the tests on fire when she sees the awful strategies some of them came up with. She knows who definitely should never lead a mission now. Fuck. Seven would get his whole team killed in a day. Eighteen would get a client killed. Fuck. They're stupid.

Days six and seven are interrogation resistance and Fox pities the poor recruits. Ibiki had made her start to think she was actually going to die when she went through it. She still has nightmares of the simulated drownings he'd put her through. Surprisingly One holds out the longest. Makes it to thirty-two hours before breaking. Fox thinks One is looking more and more like a new ANBU operative despite his nervousness and flinching. Fox knows anyone who failed to hold out at least twenty-four hours is automatically cut.

At the end of Skills week, seven of the recruits are cut. Seven, Eighteen, Four, Nine, twenty-two, Eleven, and seventeen are all sent home. Fox and Hyena exchange the ryos for their bets and prepare for the last stage. The mock mission. With twelve left, there's three full teams that Scorpion is randomly assigning. Two full weeks with each team getting four days to complete it. A day in between each one to give Fox and Hyena a chance to rest.

They're extremely excited for this. All they have to do is keep each team from retrieving a flag. Blanket permission to do whatever they want to hinder the recruits short of killing or permanently disabling them. That's a lot of wiggle room and Fox is thrilled. Teams that manage it get to stay. Teams that don't, every single one of their actions is reviewed and they're cut or kept on a person by person basis. Fox and Hyena have decided no team is going to succeed. They're all going to get their own personal reviews.

They trap the fuck out of the abandoned building training ground. Fox relying on every memory she has of Naruto's less lethal traps to help them. Hyena goes out of his way to make sure the flag is in a hard time reach area. With no maps to help them, Fox is fairly confident the recruits will need the entire time to manage it if they want any chance of succeeding.

The first team is made up of Three, Sixteen, Nineteen, and Twenty-three. Sixteen is the squad leader and Fox is extremely curious about how he performs. She did bet Hyena Sixteen would make it through.

She and Hyena leave them to it and just watch for awhile. After the first three traps get set off, it's clear Sixteen has realized how oversaturated with traps the training ground is. She watches him trying to look for a path through them and grins a little. If there's a path, she certainly didn't mean for it to exist. Too bad Naruto can't see this. He'd be so pleased to see she paid some attention to his trap making.

It takes the team literal hours to disable enough traps to even begin to make it though the training ground. Hyena is snickering beside her as they watch the poor recruits trying to be as quick as they can without messing up and triggering a trap instead of disabling it.

By day two, they've seemed to have worked out a path, Fox did get a bit lazy after the first five layers of traps. So that's on her. Hyena decides he's going to go cause them problems now that they've worked their way around the traps. Scorpion must have been feeling sadistic when he decided to let Fox and Hyena do this. Fox settles down in a different tree for a better view. Hyena practically chases them back through the traps before they seem to collect themselves and remember its four of them versus one person.

The confidence numbers can give is truly astounding. Fox watches as Three gets it together first and rallies the unit. Sixteen may be the apparent brains of this unit, but Three seems to be the heart. How interesting. Nineteen is giving Hyena the hardest time though. Most adaptable in Taijutsu. Fox remembers that. And once he gets up close, she can see that he's actually making Hyena work a minute amount. Not enough to win, but enough to highlight the potential this particular team has in it. Sixteen would be a good Taichou once he has some experience. Nineteen would be good in close combat situations. Three is good for morale, but that's not enough to earn a place in ANBU. Twenty-three is clearly a support type. She suspects a field medic based on the way they hang back and the medical kit they carry. Guess Rat found herself a potential replacement so she can finally retire in a year or two. If Twenty-three isn't cut, at least.

Fox takes her turn screwing with them that night. Gets Hyena to use his thousand voices genjutsu and cackle right as the team is settling down to sleep in one of the hollowed out buildings they cleared of traps. Fox grins viciously and brings her mist down as Hyena's laughter hits a particularly unnerving octave. Sixteen struggled with her mist, she remembers that. Fox toys with them for awhile.

Hyena's laugh has a certain rhythm to it that she uses to dance around the team in her mist as she hits or kicks them. She puts Twenty-three under her own genjutsu in combination with Hyena's auditory genjutsu and when the screams start, Fox grins wildly at the sound of the other three recruits' hearts practically beating out of their chests. Three manages to nearly cut her at the point her neck meets her shoulder with a kunai when she tries to do the same to him. Damn. Well. She's been playing for at least an hour now. She backs off to let them recover.

They don't get the flag. Just like Fox and Hyena decided. Scorpion sighs and shakes his head and Fox just knows he's pissed he has to sit down and judge this team individually now. She wonders if he realizes they're going to cause him to do it for every single one of the remaining recruits.

The other mock missions end in much the same vein. Recruit One is a surprise though. He gets his team closer to the flag than anyone and very nearly decapitates Fox when she tries to fuck with them the way she did Sixteen's squad. Fuck. Jumpy or not, Recruit One is a vicious little shit. She can respect that.

In all five recruits make it through. One, Sixteen, Nineteen, Twenty, and Twenty-three. All that's left is for Scorpion to choose their masks and for them to be chosen by divisions and units. Fox and Hyena are officially done with helping with recruits. Wonderful. She wonders how things are outside of HQ. Since she's been holed up here for a month.

Notes:

In case anyone is curious, Scorpion is Genma, and katsumi would have noticed the identical smell if she wasn't so engrossed in tormenting 25 poor, poor souls with her favorite bad influence, Hyena

Chapter 37

Chapter Text

Katsumi is curled up against shikamaru's chest, dozing as he cloud watches, he'd gotten back from the mission with Naruto and Sai sometime while she was helping with the new recruits. She's missed him. Even if he worries her sometimes. This mission, He'd come back with a large scar across his back.

Katsumi had many, many concerns considering that, jounin or not, Shikamaru isn't a frontline combat type. Guarding one girl in the Land of Frost shouldn't have resulted in the huge scar running from his right shoulder down to his left hip. She's just glad he was able to get it treated and that according to Tsunade, it won't have any lasting effects on his range of motion. Shikamaru swears it doesn't hurt now, Tsunade had managed to heal it well, but Katsumi has seen him flinch at least three times when he thought she was going to touch it. She doesn't push though. Shikamaru's no idiot, prideful or not, and won't pretend there's not a problem if there is one. She hopes, at least.

It's a warm day, and Katsumi is content to lay in the grass and soak in the sunlight for as long as she can. Nothing short of an invasion could make her move. Shikamaru's steady heartbeat in her ear lulls her into near sleep and the sounds of her Ninken snoring only make it worse. All of these things she associates with safety. And safety often means sleep for shinobi. Especially any shinobi that are of, or associate heavily with, the Nara clan.

Shikamaru has a hand against her bare skin where she's unzipped her flak jacket and the shirt underneath has rode up. The little circles he's doing with his fingers feel nice. It's nice. Everything is nice. Katsumi has no desire to get up. Which means, of course, that something has to ruin it.

Naruto and Sai appearing, Naruto in near hysterics, is not what she is expecting to be what ruins the calm, but she's not really surprised. At least this cloud watching spot isn't in the Nara forest. Those deer would probably murder the boys.

"Katsumi-Chan! Shikamaru! Kakashi-Sensei is back and— holy shit are you dating?!" Naruto sounds scandalized and Katsumi wonders how this has never come up before.

Shikamaru groans in irritation a little, "Yeah. What do you want?"

Katsumi opens one eye and squints up at the two staring down at them, "You said Sensei is back?"

"Oh! Yeah! Sensei is back and he brought Uchiha Itachi with him, dattebayo!"

"Dickless is correct. Kakashi-Taichou has retrieved one of the Uchihas. Also, how long have you been dating? My books say there is such a thing as a "honeymoon phase" that lasts around six months. Have you reached the end of it yet?"

"No, Cave Puppy. What's going to happen with Itachi?" Katsumi sits up and stretches, ignoring the put out noise Shikamaru makes at the loss of contact.

"I still do not understand that nickname, Midget."

"I don't know, dattebayo. You think Sasuke will come back now that his brother is here?" Naruto looks like he's thrilled by the prospect.

"He wants to kill his brother, Naruto." Shikamaru grumbles and rolls over onto his side as he speaks. Apparently, he's decided taking a nap is what to do now.

"Well, that was before everyone found out it was on orders, dattebayo. Maybe he'll come back now."

"Wouldn't that just make the Traitor angry at Konoha for giving the orders?" Sai tilts his head a little.

"I dunno? I heard the orders were given by some old man, dattebayo. Not the Hokage." Naruto squints at Sai.

"Shimura Danzo. A council elder." Shikamaru grumbles at them.

"Right! Him, dattebayo. I had to undo so many seals because of him! It took forever, dattebayo!"

"You are a fuinjutsu master. That's part of your specialty, Dickless," Sai turns his gaze back down to Katsumi, "How long have you been together? I have read that new couples often engage in large amounts of—"

Naruto makes a strange high pitched noise and slaps a hand over Sai's mouth, "You can't ask people that, dattebayo! It's rude!"

Chinami is more than happy to answer Sai and Katsumi has to pray for patience, "No fucking yet. No breeding smell and no pups. Humans fucking weird. So damn slow about breeding."

Taishiro is happy to jump in as if this isn't something she's tried repeatedly to teach them isn't an appropriate topic of conversation, "Pakkun said normal. Hunting Alpha not making pups either. Humans picky, Pakkun says."

Katsumi is going to drown herself. From the expressions of everyone but Sai, she doesn't think she's the only one, "So Sensei is back?"

"Yeah, He's with baa-Chan right now. Wanna go meet Itachi?"

"Um. Wouldn't he be in T ?"

"They got back two days ago apparently, dattebayo. He just got released. I wanna see if Itachi is as much of a Teme as Sasuke."

"Beautiful says we should leave Uchiha Itachi alone to let him readjust to life in Konoha. That it would not be good for him if we tried to befriend him now. Dickless isn't listening." Sai sounds almost exasperated.

"Who is beautiful?" She wants to know who got a nice nickname.

"Ino."

"Anyway! What do you think, Katsumi-Chan?"

"Ino says to give him time to decompress. I say listen to her. What do you think, Shika?" Katsumi glances down at the pretending to sleep boy.

"Listen to Ino." Shikamaru does even open his eyes to respond.

Naoki has started talking recently. Which is nice. The problem is he only says yes or no. Repeatedly. Apparently he agrees with Shikamaru.

"Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!"

"Thank you, Naoki." Katsumi scratches the gangly pup's ear as he curls up against Shikamaru's thigh.

Naruto pouts a little but she can tell he's going to relent. Which is good. She doesn't want to deal with him harassing an S-ranked shinobi. That would be bad.

"Is Beautiful aware you two are a couple? I was under the impression she is close to both of you. Are you trying to hide your relationship?" Sai is really to fascinated by this.

"No. Haven't got around to mentioning it. Been a bit busy." Shikamaru's eyes open to glare up at Sai and Naruto. Katsumi grins a little. She knows that look. He's going to find a way to make Sai suffer for this conversation if he doesn't drop it soon.

"Eh? Uh, congratulations, dattebayo! You're cute together?" Naruto clearly is more experienced at recognizing the angry Nara look.

"Naruto? Don't bother Itachi." With that Shikamaru closes his eyes and returns to dozing.

"Be good, Naruto. No bothering the S-Ranked shinobi. Sai. Don't ask people about their sex life. It's rude." Katsumi lays back down and curls up against Shikamaru's back, one leg thrown over his waist with the intent of making Naruto embarrassed enough to leave. It works. Naruto squeaks our a goodbye and drags Sai away. Hopefully not to go bother Uchiha Itachi.

Chapter 38

Chapter Text

Katsumi meets Uchiha Itachi after a training session with Kakashi-Sensei and Naruto. Mainly working on how to move out of the way of doton jutsu and explosives quickly enough not to get crushed or blown up. She's pretty sure Sensei is enjoying making them practically dance to avoid his jutsu.

They've spent a few training sessions focused on this and recognizing when a Doton jutsu may get used. Iwa is still at the border, but they've calmed down the skirmishes. Which means either they're going to back off or they're planning a legitimate attack now. From the way Sensei is acting, she's not sure it's the first one.

On the bright side, he's nominated her for the upcoming jounin exams and Naruto only needs six more b-rank missions to qualify for them. He can't get them in the time before the jounin exams begin, but she knows from Sensei's little comments here and there when the team is training together, that Naruto is going to be promoted to tokubetsu jounin soon. Sai is back in ANBU as Lion again. He and the remaining Root members had been reintroduced to ANBU and there is a wariness of them now, despite the professional manner ANBU seems to be treating them with.

She's not expecting to see Uchiha Itachi at the Nara compound. He looks tired and older than his twenty-one years. She can smell the lingering sickness on him. Naoki whines at the smell and mutters no over and over. Taishiro and Chinami growl low at him when he turns to observe them as she walks to her home.

"You were on my little brother's team, Ishihara Katsumi." His voice is soft and quiet and pleasant to the ear.

"Yes, I was." She's not sure what he's doing here or why he's talking to her.

"I've heard you are on the team tasked with bringing him back." He looks very much like a calmer, sadder Sasuke.

"Yes, I am. We haven't been able to find him though." Of course Itachi is aware his brother is gone.

"I see. It is my understanding Uzumaki Naruto wishes to bring him back alive. Do you?"

Katsumi tilts her head a little and considers him. Boldly meets his black eyes and flashes her teeth a little, "If it's possible. But I've already taken his eye. I'm not going to hesitate to kill him if necessary. If you want my honesty."

He blinks slowly at her and it feels a bit like he's stripping her skin away and peeling back the muscles and sinew to pass judgement on her very soul, "I would appreciate it if you could return him alive. I don't think killing him would bring you any satisfaction. Removing his eye seems to have brought you none."

"It's not about satisfaction." Katsumi watches him carefully.

"No. I suppose it isn't. I meant to thank Shikaku-Sama for the gift of the antlers used in the medicine to treat my illness, but he's in a clan meeting. If you could relay my thanks, it would be appreciated. And Kisame is here in the village too. If you'd like to learn Kenjutsu from one of the seven swordsmen, perhaps he can be persuaded." Itachi inclines his head to her once and walks calmly by her, ignoring the bristling Ninken at her side.

Katsumi has nothing to say to the offer. Isn't sure if he's trying to bribe her not to kill his brother or if it's part of how he intends to repay the debt he owes to Shikaku for the use of Rikumaru's antlers. The old stag isn't always happy to part with them after all. Can be a bit weird about it this time of year. Rutting season means they break off in fights easily enough though. She's pretty sure Shikaku had to bribe the stag with extra deer feed. Spoiled fucking animal.

She has no idea what having Itachi here in the village means in regards to Sasuke. Whether he'll want to come back for his brother or whether he'll want to lash out at Konoha for taking him back. With him it's hard for her to predict. She's not sure what it means to have him in the village in regards to anything really. She knows in her old memories, Uchiha Obito had waited for Itachi to die before attacking Konoha.

Will he still wait now? Especially since apparently The Nara deer antlers, specifically Rikumaru's, are able to fix his illness? Aside from skills and goals of various threats, her old memories are no longer valuable. Maybe that's why her migraines are starting to go away. Because they're not really memories anymore, just a story of what could have been.

She's more baffled by the fact he apparently brought along his nukenin Akatsuki partner. She has no idea how that's going to go down with Kiri considering he made it sound like the man was staying here. She has a lot of questions and she should really start paying attention to the rumor mill. Maybe she'll have to hunt down Anko or Genma. Anko is in T and Genma seems to know everything somehow. One of them would probably explain the Kisame thing.

Katsumi decides she's just not going to worry about it today. Just isn't going to deal with any weird Uchiha behavior. It's not in her job description so it's not her problem. Not today. She needs a trip to the onsen with Sakura and Ino because now Ino probably knows she's dating Shikamaru and Ino is going to have a fit if Katsumi doesn't give her every fucking detail. Sakura won't be much better, she's no fan girl anymore, but off duty, the girl loves gossip as much as any shinobi.

The trip to the onsen is nice. She has to use a henge to hide her ANBU tattoo but that's fine. She's used to it these days. Sakura and Ino act like they're going to drown her for not telling them she's officially dating Shikamaru. Apparently, she was supposed to tell them immediately. Not like anyone explained that to her.

Ino is buzzing with excitement and complaining on her behalf about the fact she and Shikamaru still haven't gone on a date. Katsumi reminds her they're busy. She's on missions or training most of the time and when Shikamaru's not on a mission he's in Tactics most days. For someone that hates work, he spends a lot of time working. She's pretty sure he would sell his soul for a week off of from Tactics.

They've both finished their medic training, and Katsumi is extremely pleased for them. Sakura is an approved field medic now. She apparently caught Tsunade's attention with her chakra control, but Sakura had turned an apprenticeship down, stating lack of time for it. Ino has taken an interest in psych. She doesn't have much desire to go into T like her father, but she likes helping people with their problems. Katsumi suspects that she's going to end up a part time therapist when she's not on information gathering missions. Apparently, Ino has shown a lot of promise in intel gathering. Which is exactly what Katsumi would expect from the girl. She's no combat specialist, but she can find out anything she wants whenever she desires.

Yamato has apparently nominated Sakura for the Jounin exams too. Which isn't surprising to Katsumi at all. She thinks Yamato and Kakashi-sensei probably planned it that way. Ino has become too specialized to qualify for the jounin exams anytime soon, and is probably going to get promoted to Tokubetsu Jounin alongside Naruto. Katsumi thinks Ino is probably going to stop there, she seems happy enough with that possibility.

Unlike Naruto, who is just using it as a stepping stone until he meets the mission amount requirements for the jounin exams. Two years out of the village on a training trip really set him back, only a handful of the things he did on those two years were counted as missions. She's pretty sure he'll end up with a field promotion before he ever sees the jounin exams. At least if things get any worse with the Akatsuki or Iwa.

In all, the onsen is a nice distraction from Uchiha drama. She's missed seeing Sakura and Ino. Missed listening to them trade gossip. It's nice. They need to try and make this a regular thing again. Maybe invite Tenten and Hinata. They're good. Katsumi likes them and Hinata needs to come out of her shell a bit. She thinks with Ino and Sakura's combined personalities it would be doable. And Tenten likes swords. Katsumi would love to talk weapons with her again.

Chapter 39

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

A week before the jounin exams, Itachi finds Katsumi in the Naka river training ground. She's working on one of the harder Ishihara clan jutsu. Water style: Tsunami of Wolves. Katsumi likes it. It's perfect for fighting anyone on or very close to bodies of water. Fifteen handseals are needed for it and it's primarily for taking ambushing a person. The water makes the vague shape of wolves as it crashes down on someone, and when done properly, drags a person underneath the water to drown. It's a lovely jutsu to see in person and very satisfying to do. A perfect one forms the appearance of five wolves. So far, she's up to four. Which is fine for now. She's learning it for the sake of learning it right now, not for the jounin exams. She doubts she'll need it there.

She's just finished trying it again when she notices the pair of heart beats on the shore. She very carefully masks her surprise. It's not often someone can get this close to her without her noticing. It leaves a sour taste in her mouth to realize Itachi and his pet shark apparently can.

She eyes them from her spot at the center of the raging river. It's rained a lot lately, and the Naka is even more dangerous than usual. Really, she shouldn't be on it right now, but she could handle the ocean in wave country when it was rough. This is not much harder. Just different in the way it's harsh.

She's not really sure which to focus on. Itachi looks a bit healthier now. The medicine is clearly helping. His black eyes are boring into her and she feels like once again he's peeling back her skin and muscles to look at whatever is underneath that. Kisame gives off the same sense of viciousness that Zabuza does. His sword doesn't give her the same obsessive need to possess it as kubikiribōchō though. Over all, he's the one her eyes are more naturally drawn to on appearance alone. But she thinks she has a greater issue with Itachi watching her. Thinks of the two, he's the bigger threat by virtue of who he is alone.

"Katsumi-Chan, I wasn't aware this training ground was in use anymore." Itachi's voice is as even as it was the last time she'd seen him.

"It's not popular. The whole suicide thing, you know?" She knows he knows exactly what she's talking about, and knows it's probably rude to mention, but she's not sure how she feels about him yet and trying to make him uncomfortable puts her on more even ground.

"Yes. I'm aware. Would you mind sharing the training ground? This is the best one of water jutsu, after all." Itachi inclines his head towards the shark man beside him slightly.

Katsumi's eyes slide to the side to eye the blue skinned man. He's watching her through narrowed, beady eyes. Looks like he's expecting her to have one of her feral episodes.

"I don't care. Do what you like." Once she gets the hang of the Tsunami of Wolves, she's done for today anyway. She thinks she'll have it in two or three more tries.

"Thank you." Itachi is irritatingly polite. Katsumi prefers the surliness of Sasuke when he was still sane.

Katsumi lets the river shove her further downstream to give them space. She's not sure how she feels about their presence but she doesn't own the training ground. Might as well tolerate them. Itachi seems content to watch Kisame work through Kenjutsu katas Katsumi doesn't recognize. They aren't the style her Tou-San taught her. They're harsher. More sudden. Less flowing and dancelike than the Ishihara style.

Katsumi eyes the huge man carefully. Itachi did say she could probably get him to work with her on kenjutsu. She's not sure how to ask though. Normally she gets help in training from people she already knows or is forced to be around. She's never really asked a complete stranger for training.

She decides to finish working on her own jutsu first. Worry about pestering a shark man later. She makes sure she's not aiming the jutsu in their direction. And begins again. Fifteen handseals, enough chakra to make her shake with the beginnings of chakra exhaustion and still only four wolves forms as the wave forms and slams back down on the river. Damn. She has enough chakra for one more but unless she can figure out what she's doing wrong, it's useless to try it again.

"Hey! Kid! Come here!" Shark man sounds like her failure irritated him just to witness.

Katsumi whips her head around to eye him. Instinctively, she peels her lips back and snarls a wordless warning at him.

"Kid, I don't give a fuck about your tantrums. I've met scarier assholes than you. Come here." He looks distinctly unimpressed by her as he flashes his own teeth at her. Shark teeth, similar to Zabuza's but larger, and she can tell they weren't carved into that shape. A different shape than hers. Hers are long and jagged and similar to dog teeth. Less needlelike than they were when she was little. She's not sure which it would be more unpleasant to get bit by.

Itachi is watching her eye his pet shark like he's amused by it almost. Katsumi isn't sure what game they're playing or why Kisame is even here and not dead, but she isn't sure she trusts it. Still, she walks cautiously across the river to stand a few meters from the huge man. Her teeth stay bared as they look each other over.

"You're a long way from the ocean, Sea Wolf." He circles her in a way that makes her think of a shark that's scented blood in the water.

"So are you." She doesn't turn with him, just follows his movements with her hearing.

"That jutsu, it's a clan technique, isn't it?" He sounds extremely interested as he circles her.

"Yes."

"Why ain't someone teaching it to you? Looks like you don't know what you're doing."

"No one left to teach it. Kiri was thorough. Bad luck dealt with the few Kiri didn't." Katsumi snarls in warning as he comes back into her line of sight.

"Yeah. Figured that. You're not pure Ishihara, are you? The eyes give it away, and the height. You're fucking tiny for an Ishihara." He sounds bored as he breaks down the ways in which she doesn't live up to her ancestors.

"Half."

"Mother or father?"

"Father was Ishihara." She doesn't see what the point of this interrogation is.

"Uh huh. Do the hand seals again. Itachi! You see what I'm seeing?" Kisame calls loudly when she does. Katsumi narrows her eyes, she's almost certain she's doing it right. She has the handseals memorized.

"Yes. Katsumi-Chan, you're hesitating for a moment too long In between Boar and Ox. It breaks the chakra build up momentarily. If you speed up there, it may work better." Itachi sounds like he's used to teaching people what they're doing wrong, he also sounds like he's used to people getting mad at him for it.

"That's it? That's my only fucking problem?" She wasn't fast enough moving between two handseals? What? She thought she didn't have the chakra for it.

"That's it, kid. Now try it then go away. I don't feel like getting executed for drowning you in a training accident." Kisame looks like he's gotten bored of her. Katsumi wonders if gnawing his arms off would be more Satisfying than if she were to gnaw off Zabuza's.

She does it. Four larger wolves and a smaller one that's less defined than the others. But noticeable progress. She makes a low noise of satisfaction in the back of her throat.

"Great. Now get off the river unless you want to drown." Kisame actually picks her up by the back of her flak jacket and tosses her through the air to the shore. She manages to twist and land on all fours like a cat not far from Itachi, who is watching this all impassively.

Itachi looks down at her as she straightens out of the crouch, "Good luck in the jounin exams, Katsumi-Chan. And wait until Kisame is in a better mood before you ask for kenjutsu lessons. It will go smoother if you do."

She raises an eyebrow at him, "right. I'll do that. Thanks."

He inclines his head at her and Katsumi is deeply confused on what just happened as she leaves the training ground. She has no idea what game Itachi is playing at and she doesn't like that. It feels like she's playing a shogi game blindfolded. Hopefully, he'll be worth the effort it took the village to retrieve him. And his pet shark. Since he's showing no signs of leaving anytime soon.

Notes:

Katsumi has only ever met pissy, antagonist and vengeful Sasuke. A polite, seemingly nice Itachi is baffling to her based on that

Chapter 40

Chapter Text

Katsumi walks with Sakura to the check-in for the jounin exams. Check-in is in the jounin HQ and Katsumi has no idea what she's supposed to expect of it. It's not like the Chuunin exams where everyone has a rough idea of what to expect. Jounin exams are irritatingly secretive and no one is allowed to discuss the details of it.

Her apprenticeship with Kakashi-sensei officially ended when he nominated her. Jounin don't need a Sensei after all. Now he's just the Taichou of team seven until the Sasuke situation is resolved. It's weird. Knowing Kakashi-Sensei isn't really her Sensei now. Weirder to think that if she passes, they'll be considered equals in rank.

The room they're sent to is smaller than the room they took the written test of the Chuunin exams in. There's no desks either. Just chairs and Katsumi is immediately concerned. There's only sixteen people taking the test. No shinobi other than Sakura that she can name though. There's an Aburame, an Akimichi, and an Inuzuka girl that she thinks is Kiba's second cousin or something. No one else from a clan she can name off the top of her head. Which means she only knows general skill sets of four people here with her.

She and Sakura take their assigned chairs on opposite ends of the room and sit in silence. They all do. Two minutes past the time the test is supposed to start, Katsumi gets bored. Subtly flares her chakra to break any genjutsu. Nothing. No genjutsu. Runs her fingers underneath the chair for any clue to what the fuck they're supposed to be doing. There. A tiny slip of paper, no longer than her pinky finger is stuck to the bottom of the chair.

Katsumi does her best to move it slow and subtly to her lap to read. Katsumi's not pleased by what's on it. It's a single sentence. An order. Take Kanzashi from chair six without being caught. So they planned out who was sitting where for a reason. Katsumi is in chair eight. Two chairs to the right of her target. Three from Sakura. The girl in chair six looks confused as fuck. She's not the only one. So either they haven't figured out what's going on yet or they haven't figured out how to accomplish their orders yet, either.

Katsumi thinks this is either testing stealth or strategy. Probably both. She has no idea what the full rules of this test are. Doesn't know if she fails if a person manages to take something from her or not. Doesn't even know how long the test is supposed to last. No information and one order. She doesn't like it. She gets the point though. There's plenty of missions where there's precious little information to go on, A-ranks and S-ranks get like that, especially once a shinobi is actually in the field and the mission is ongoing. A jounin needs to be able to find a way to follow the mission parameters even when there's not enough information to comfortably go off of.

Katsumi can't just get up, though. Even with her stealth training, that would be noticed. The mist is too obvious too. It would give others their cover too easily as well. She could use her genjutsu. The problem is it's not exactly subtle. People would know immediately they're under one. She would only have a minute at most before at least one person manages to get over the fear her genjutsu causes and break it. Would have to risk getting caught. Ultimately though, she's going to have to risk getting caught regardless. It's impossible otherwise. The only way to not risk getting caught it to do nothing. And doing nothing isn't a choice.

She doesn't use her genjutsu often. The deepest fear genjutsu is something she uses as Fox more than anything else. It's not something immediately associated with her by anyone other than Kakashi. A perk of not being a genjutsu specialist. No one expects it from her. Ino is the one most associate with genjutsu. It's a cruel genjutsu to use. But no one screams or does anything normally beyond their eyes widening when it's not used in combination with Hyena's genjutsu. She could probably stretch it out towards everyone in the room. Genjutsu are normally useable on multiple people if done right. And she's very good at this single genjutsu.

So, she swallows her distaste and hopes Sakura forgives her for this later. Her hands are already in her lap and it doesn't take much to make sure the people beside her can't see her hands and she moves through the seals and forces her genjutsu to take hold on everyone in her row and the two rows behind her. Doesn't bother with row one. As long as they don't notice her moving it will be fine. She can feel the subtle snap of her genjutsu falling into place. Spreading it thin like this means it's not going to be as potent, but it will do.

She moves slowly. With every drop of stealth she can, chakra fully suppressed and has to take the hair pin out of the girl's hair as smoothly and carefully as possible and replace it with a dull senbon needle. In all, it takes her thirty seconds of extreme anxiety for the entire operation to be done and she tucks the Tanzashi into the sleeve of her shirt. She can feel her genjutsu being broken over and over again. Hears the gasps and murmurs of complaint and she can tell some of them think that was part of the test.

With no other orders, Katsumi takes to watching the people around her. She has a feeling no two people received the same orders. She can tell who hasn't caught on yet. Chair nine looks irritated and confused, Chair three has begun to glance at the door every forty seconds. She can tell who has caught on too. Sakura is staring fixedly at chair one's head. Whatever she has to do, Katsumi suspects she's going to have an easier time than Katsumi did just by virtue of being directly behind her target.

Katsumi isn't sure if she's supposed to linger now. If this were a mission she'd get the fuck back to the village. Back to safety. The problem is, with no information to go on for this test, she doesn't know if safety is her chair or if she needs to get out without being noticed. Ultimately, she decides to stay put. The goal is to take the tanzashi without getting caught. She did that. There's no orders past that, so she has to assume they aren't supposed to leave the room.

She learns what happens when someone fucks up their orders not long after she settles in to wait. Chair Sixteen is spotted doing something, she's not sure what it is, and alarms go off in the room. So. They're definitely being watched. And it doesn't matter if the proctors watching them see them work, it only matters if the others in the test catch them. She wonders who the fuck is in charge of that damn alarm though. It has to be manual.

Katsumi turns back around to stare at the back of chair four's head. The Aburame. She thinks the people in the front row are going to have the hardest time. Every eye is on them. Sakura looks astoundingly satisfied the next time Katsumi glances over and she must have used the alarm and people covering their ears against the noise as cover for whatever she had to do.

The alarms goes off a second time when chair two tries, badly, to use chakra strings remove a bolt from chair three's seat. Katsumi tilts her head back and stares at the ceiling. Listens to the spikes in heart rates that she takes to mean someone is trying to complete their task. Counts off ticks of the clock as she waits for something to happen. When she feels something tug on her hip pouch hard, her hand goes to it and she can't suppress a snarl of warning. Immediately the alarms blare. Fuck. She doesn't even care who caused that. She just wants this test to end so she doesn't have to hear the alarms anymore.

At the forty-five minute mark the door flies open. A man she doesn't recognize enters the room. He looks irritated and doesn't bother to introduce himself. Just reads off a clipboard, "Numbers two, three, thirteen, and Sixteen. Fail. Everyone else report to room three-nineteen."

Twelve left. They go silently to the next room. Still in possession of whatever it is they each had to take. The next room has no chairs in it but as they pass by the proctor at the door she feels a piece of paper get slipped into her palm. Alright then. There's a chalkboard on the wall with a single order on it. Find the person with a matching paper to yours, five minutes. At least this is easier than last time. She glances down at the paper in her hand. All that's on it is a set of numbers: 18-05-40-236 . As soon as she finishes reading it, the paper bursts into flames in her hands. Oh. Fuck her. She runs through the numbers in her head rapidly. As many times as she can until she thinks she's got it memorized. Since apparently, someone thinks they had photographic memories.

Katsumi doesn't even think about it, there's no rule saying she can't do it and the chalk is still in the chalk holder of the board. So she walks over and writes down the numbers. No alarm goes off. Thank Kami.

There's a moment of silence as everyone stares at her blatancy. Before Sakura walks over and does the same thing with her numbers. There's a few seconds before Fifteen steps forward to stand beside Katsumi. An older Tokubetsu jounin, maybe Nineteen or twenty that she doesn't recognize. He smiles kindly at her and introduces himself as Tanaka Yuma.

The door swings open at the five minute mark and the proctor comes in again to tell them what's next. No one managed to fuck this part up, so Katsumi figures they'll pay for that later.

"The person you're partnered with will be the only help you have in the second test. You are not to speak with them or meet with them in between now and the second test. You will meet at the tower of Training Ground forty-four tomorrow at six in the morning. Do not be late, do not forget your numbers. Dismissed."

Well. Alright. She was expecting more from the first test. Thought it would actually be difficult. She has a feeling the second test is going to royally fucking suck though if it's in the Forest of Death. Fuck that.

Chapter 41

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Getting to the tower of training ground forty-four by six in the morning is not pleasant. She does not like it when she's Fox and she hates it the rest of the time. It means getting up stupidly early and moving through the training ground while it's still dark out to get there on time. Katsumi wouldn't be surprised if this was part of the test. She gets there fifteen minutes early and settles in to wait in the main entrance of the tower.

One by one, everyone else shows up. Sakura is third in. Yuma is tenth. He joins her where she's leaning against the wall waiting for the next phase to begin. When Morino Ibiki shows up to stare down at them from the top of the staircase, Katsumi has to resist the urge to groan. Everytime she's seen the man, it's been a bad time. Mind games in her Chuunin exams, interrogation resistance for ANBU. Whatever is going on for this test, she knows it's going to be unpleasant.

"Yesterday you all were given numbers unique to your team. Those numbers are your lifeline today. This is a mock mission. Your goal is to recover a missing person somewhere within the forest, they will not go with you if you do not give them the correct code and you cannot leave through your assigned gate without it. You will have seventy-two hours to recover them. If you or your partner is captured, you will be tortured for the code you were given. You will fail if the code is given up, if you can not recover your target and take them to the gate you are about to be assigned in time, if you are unable to escape after capture, or if your target is injured after retrieval. Line up to receive the gate you're to exit at and the target you're to recover. Now."

Katsumi and Yuma end up at the end of the line and Ibiki hands them a single photo of a girl with short black hair and a wide smile. No name or information given besides her appearance. Gate eighteen. Katsumi figures finding the girl will be the easy part. It's avoiding capture that will be the problem.

"Katsumi-san? Do you have any tracking experience?" Yuma glances over at her as they move to the exit and wait for the test to begin, "I specialize in escort and guard missions."

"I can track, but without a scent to go off of, it's going to take time. There's five other targets out there and teams trying to capture us. It's not going to be easy. I can make sure we avoid teams, but it's going to take time to find the right person." Katsumi's hearing will be more than enough of a warning for anyone headed their direction, and it'll make finding someone easier, but it's useless for telling her if the person she finds is the right one until they're looking at her.

Seventy-two hours. To locate one person in three-hundred kilometers. Without getting captured and subsequently tortured. She'll need the pack for this, she supposes. Taishiro mainly, he's a sight hound. He'll remember the girl's face best of her three. And he's stupidly fast. He'll be able to cover the most ground the quickest.

"Right. You focus on tracking, I'll make sure we don't get captured?" Yuma has a sweet face, reminds her a bit of Naruto with his wide bluish-purple eyes.

"Alright. Let's not get tortured today." Katsumi has never worked with Yuma before, but his specialty is apparently escort missions. She'll have to trust he'll be able to keep them safe. She'd prefer Hyena while she tracks, but he's not an option.

The doors swing open and Katsumi pushes thoughts of who she'd rather have with her for this from her mind. They have seventy-two hours and a lot of ground to cover. She doesn't have time worry about anything else. This needs her full attention.

"Begin." Ibiki's deep voice barks out the order and its like everyone has had an explosive tag go off under their feet.

Katsumi falls into step with Yuma just behind her, stretches her hearing out as far as she can, doesn't worry about increasing her sense of smell yet. She doesn't have a scent to follow which makes it unnecessary now.

She can hear a lot of heartbeats. The other pairs of participants spreading out rapidly. Can hear sets of three or four heartbeats spread out, probably the teams that will be trying to catch them. Fuck. She can't hear any singular heart beats in range of her. She relays the location of those heartbeats to Yuma who nods seriously.

They pause a kilometer out from the tower so she can summon her Ninken. Yuma's eyes never stop watching the area around them as she goes through the process.

The pack looks at her expectantly when they appear in a burst of smoke. Naoki is bigger than he was, nearly his full size, just needs to fill out really, she figures this is the safest mission she can start him on.

She shows them the picture and explains quickly, "This is who we're looking for, I don't have a scent but we only have three days to find her. I need you three to remember this face and spread out to help find her. If you do, I need you to take us to her, can you do that?"

Taishiro's tail wags once, "We hunt. No problem. Find lost girl."

"Fucking easy. Watch." Chinami bares her teeth.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naoki is shifting from foot to foot excitedly.

"Great. Go." Katsumi watches the three take off in separate directions, running like their lives depend on it. Good Ninken.

"Katsumi-san? Are we good to go?" Yuma tilts his head in a way that's eerily familiar. Katsumi swears she's seen that before somewhere but can't place it now.

"Yeah. They'll find us if they run into the target. Let's go, there's a team of three about two kilometers northeast of us headed this way. If we don't want a fight now, we need to go."

Yuma doesn't need any more information that that to fall into a run beside her, placed noticeably between her and the direction the enemy is coming in from. That's familiar too. She's definitely worked with someone who does that. Fuck. Where though?

The heartbeats stay in pursuit and Katsumi flicks her fingers through the sign for enemy pursuit to Yuma. They're going to end up in a fight. The heartbeats are closing in on them fast, no way to outrun them now. So they stop running and spin around to face the direction the enemy is coming in from.

Yuma's friendly exterior is gone as his hands move into position for handseals. His eyes are narrowed to slits and she can feel the killing intent beginning to leak from him. Katsumi can feel the water in the air. If she needs to, she'll be able to use her mist to cover them. Good. She draws her swords and bares her teeth in anticipation. She stifles a curse as she sees who was pursuing them.

Izumo and Kotetsu, lead by Raidou. Fuck. Izumo and Kotetsu are only Chuunin, but they're a bitch to fight since they work in tandem. Raidou is Genma's partner in Assassinations. That black sword of his is poisoned. She's not sure which she'd prefer to deal with.

"Katsumi-San, you take Raidou. I'll handle the other two. Sound good?" Yuma looks like he's plotting murder. She hopes he remembers not to kill the people they're fighting.

"Got it. You any good at fighting blind?"

"Not if we're trying not to kill them."

Alright. Guess no mist. She nods once and launches herself at Raidou as he draws his own sword. Fuck, she forgot how good he is at kenjutsu, he's too busy to spar with her most of the time. Tends to take back to back Assassinations when he's not on a mission with Genma. Part of why she hardly saw him despite Genma babysitting her when she was little. Fuck, even duel wielding, she's struggling to win. She can't use a lot of her techniques without risking killing him and she can only use her water shrapnel and hiding in the mist technique without handseals. Anything else would be too much on her chakra reserves to try. She snarls at the smirk on Raidou's scarred face as she's forced onto the defensive. She doesn't have time to check on Yuma but from the curses coming out of Kotetsu's mouth she assumes it's going well.

She doesn't know what poison his sword is coated in today, but she's not particularly interested in finding out. Finally spits a curse out and resorts to pulling her mist down. Hopes Yuma won't accidentally kill anyone. She can feel the momentary loss of focus as Raidou's vision is obscured and he slips up in his barrage of strikes. That's all she needs. She finds a single opening, pulses lightning natured chakra into the seals of her Wakizashi and manages to shove the flat of the blade against the side of his rib cage. She can hear his stuttered curse as the lightning gives him a strong enough shock to make his arms spasm and let go of his sword. Katsumi doesn't hesitate, flips the swords around and slams the hilt of her Wakizashi into his stomach and the hilt of her Katana into his temple. She grins in vicious satisfaction when he drops. Genma is going to give her annoyed looks for a week when he has to deal with a grumpy Raidou's bitching, but it will be fine.

She releases the mist and Yuma is standing over a panting Izumo. His eyes are wide and his irises are nearly gone with how huge his pupils are blown. Yuma looks like he's having the time of his life as his eyes track Izumo's retreat to the edge of the clearing, Kotetsu supported by the man.

"Yuma? I think they're done." Katsumi can feel the killing intent pouring off the shaggy haired man. She knows that killing intent well. To confirm, she finally increases the chakra flow to her nose. Yeah. She knows him. Never would have thought he was only Tokubetsu Jounin though. Interesting. Blood and metal and leaves and spices. She only knows one person that smells like that. Hyena. What the fuck? She thought he was full time ANBU.

Yuma tilts his head just enough to look at her from the corner of his eye— and that is so reminiscent of Hyena that she can't believe she didn't notice before— as he reins in the killing intent, "Think so too, Katsumi-San. Fall back, I'll cover."

Katsumi nods once. Focuses on the heartbeats outside of the clearing and picks a direction where there's no hearts. Doesn't react as Yuma slides silently behind her after a moment. She's certain he knows who she is. He's seen her ninken, and knows about her swords and her mist.

He hasn't said a word though. Which makes her wonder if he'd prefer not to discuss their night job. It makes her feel more confident in this test though. They work well together already. Someone made a mistake pairing them up if they wanted this to be difficult. Of course, their ANBU files aren't included with their regular files unless the Hokage is the one receiving them. It's not out of the realm of possibility the proctors weren't fully aware of their actual history. Ibiki probably knows, but she doesn't think he was in charge of picking the teams, since those were determined in the first test. Though, there's a chance the teams were entirely randomized and it was just good luck they got paired together.

"Katsumi-San? You hear anything?" Yuma calls out to her, and now that she's listening she can recognize his voice. Why she didn't notice earlier is beyond her.

She moves the chakra back to her ears until her sense of smell is near nonexistent and she has the full range of her hearing again. There. One heartbeat to the west of them.

"One person, west. Four kilometers."

They change direction in perfect tandem and Katsumi cannot believe she didn't recognize him immediately. Feels like an idiot for it, really. She's known Hyena for over two years now. She should have recognized him.

They get to where she heard the beating heart and Katsumi has to suppress a snarl. It's not their target. A young looking boy is sitting on a rock fiddling with a stick. Definitely not their target. Damn.

Yuma taps lightly on her elbow in the code used in ANBU and yeah, it's definitely her lunatic. No murder, patience. She rolls her eyes at him to let him know she doesn't think he's funny as they turn and go. Moving in a rough zig zag pattern as they circle the training ground. Avoiding any heartbeats that are in groups. It's night fall when her ninken finally come back. Taishiro looks thrilled. Chinami and Naoki aren't with him though.

"Lost girl found. Pack with her. Come now!" Taishiro is panting and looks like he's been running around like a lunatic for hours, which he probably was.

"Do you want to rest? If you tell us the location, you can stop." Katsumi doesn't want to overwork her ninken. And it's draining on her chakra to have them all working right now.

"No! Taishiro good. Let's go!"

Yuma snickers and once again she feels like an idiot for not recognizing him. They let Taishiro lead them though. To the exact opposite side of the fucking training ground. Even at the pace they're going it takes them nearly three hours to get there just to avoid any altercations with other shinobi and the fucking wildlife in this hellhole of a training ground.

The girl is leaning against a tree. She looks bored out of her mind. Chinami and Naoki are circling her slowly. Katsumi needs to remind them that most people find that threatening.

The girl eyes them when they come into view, "these your dogs?"

"My ninken, yes. Pack, dismissed." Katsumi needs them to go so her chakra can build back up. They still need to make it to gate eighteen without issue.

"And how do I know I can trust you?" The girl narrows her eyes at them.

Right. The stupid code.

"18-05-40-236," Yuma recites it quickly, "You need to be carried?"

The girl's distrustful expression fades and she smiles happily, "It'd certainly be faster than if I had to keep up with you. Genin corps and all that."

Katsumi blinks. Alright. Fair point. Makes sense they have to recover someone much less skilled than them. Yuma lifts the girl up bridal style and glances over at her, "You know where gate eighteen is from here?"

Katsumi has to close her eyes and think. There's thirty gates total. Numbered off counterclockwise with gate one at true south and gate Sixteen is directly opposite of it. The tower is at the center and opens towards gate one. They're roughly southeast of the tower, she thinks.

"Yeah, I think. If we head northwest, I think we'll get there eventually. Pretty sure, we're almost directly opposite of it. The river is close to it, I think. And we're nowhere near that." She shrugs a little, they have two days left to get there. The training ground is a circle. They'll get there eventually. Hard to really fuck that up unless they just forget what gate to go to. The gates all have giant numbers painted on them, after all.

"You sound confident." Yuma's eyes look almost reflective in the dark and Katsumi gets the feeling the night is to him what the mist is to her. She's never noticed that when they're working together. Strange.

"Confident enough. It's a giant circle. As long as we avoid confrontations, we'll make it there." She's really not that concerned.

"Lead the way, Katsumi-san. Let's try to avoid getting caught, yeah?" Yuma's voice has the manic undertones of Hyena when a mission is going right.

"We'll do our best." Katsumi rolls her eyes as they move again. Sleep can wait until they're out of the forest. They've handled far worse sleep deprivation before. The loss of one night's sleep is nothing. They'll be fine.

Notes:

And Hyena is revealed! He was very excited when she used her genjutsu during the first test cus he KNEW his partner in chaos was in the room too

Chapter 42

Chapter Text

Moving through the Forest of Death at night is creepy. She's done it before, but it doesn't make it less creepy. It's when all the nasty things come out and Katsumi isn't a fan. She can hear things crawling around in the undergrowth and the trees and on top of that she's having to zig zag to keep them away from the shinobi hunting them. Yuma has the genin girl and the dubious honor of making sure she doesn't get so much as a scratch, so Katsumi can't afford to mess this up. At all. If she does, Yuma will have to be on the defensive to keep their charge uninjured and Katsumi will be the one making sure they don't get caught and tortured. She's pretty sure they won't do much worse than they did for the ANBU torture resistance training, but she very much would prefer not to experience that again.

The path they take to their exit gate is convoluted as a result. So much doubling back and circling and detours. She's sure it looks like they're lost on the cameras. Yuma doesn't question it though, he's worked with her enough to know she's working to minimize risk right now. The problem is that she's pretty sure the shinobi hunting them have been informed of the fact they have their target. Which explains why there's three teams near the gate they need to get through.

She keeps just close enough to hear their heart beats. Just close enough to know their locations. There's not enough space to sneak by she doesn't think. At least one team is going to notice. Which... is not ideal. At best it's a fight. At worst one of them is going to get tortured and need rescue. Katsumi heard screaming start an hour or so ago and she's fairly certain someone got caught. From the way Yuma had moved between her and the screams, she guesses he thinks that too. It makes this whole test seem much worse. More real.

"Katsumi-san? What's wrong?" Yuma's voice is low and barely carries, the same way he talks as Hyena when he knows her hearing is enhanced as high as she can make it.

"Three teams between us and the gate. Too close to be able to sneak past without at least one noticing us." She stops on a branch high up in the canopy to crouch against the tree trunk and think. Yuma stops on a branch just beside hers and adjusts his hold on the girl. The girl has barely spoken the entire time. Seems content to watch them try and get her out.

"Would clones work?" Yuma's eyes are definitely reflective at night and it's eerie to see, like a cat.

"Maybe? Not if any of them have the Byakugan though." Katsumi doubts all three teams will have a Hyuuga on them, but she's willing to bet one will.

"You have enough chakra left for it? Three summons for nearly a whole day, combined with the fight from earlier?" Yuma tilts his head and watches her.

"It's been long enough I've recovered the chakra from the fight. If I take a soldier pill I'll be good for a fight, water clones take nearly a quarter of my reserves. I'll only be able to do that once as it is." Now isn't the time to overestimate herself, so she overestimates the amount of chakra she'll lose instead. She's got large reserves for a Kunoichi, a blessing that Kakashi had made sure to increase by working her into chakra exhaustion to force her reserves to further expand, but she's still working on a limited amount. She's not Naruto, she has to think about the chakra cost of every jutsu she uses. It's why she doesn't use some of her flashier jutsu unless she has too.

"Say we each make a clone, send them together to close to the middle team. Think we'll be able to fool them into making enough of an opening for us?"

Katsumi tilts her head and considers it. If they're lucky maybe, "Send dead center between two teams? See if we can't get both to move?"

"Bigger risk, might end up alerting all three teams, end up being chased by nine people instead of three. If you can carry her, I'll make sure they don't capture you. Just keep moving," Yuma's lips twist into a grimace, "Keep your chakra suppressed."

"I can piggy back her, but if you get captured, we're going to have problems." Katsumi doesn't want to think about her partner getting tortured, no matter how minor it is compared to if they were captured by real enemy shinobi.

"Your priority is to get her to the gate without getting her hurt, you're faster than me, and my specialty is this shit. I've gotten out of torture situations before, Katsumi-San. If it happens, you won't need to choose between her and me. Alright?" His tone brokers no arguments.

Katsumi narrows her eyes and thinks hard. It's not a plan she likes. She doesn't like the idea of leaving him to fend for himself while she sits and waits with their target by the gate if things go south. Kakashi would be ashamed of her and she'd be ashamed of herself. Leaving Yuma behind won't be an option if the worst case scenario occurs. It's the best plan they have at the moment though. Worse happens, she'll figure it out.

"Alright. Give her to me, and Yuma? Stay with me, okay?" Katsumi refuses to have to dig her partner out of a torture chamber.

"Make your clone first. Then we'll switch." Yuma sounds like he's a half step away from cackling the way he does as Hyena and she wonders how stressed the possibility of torture must be making him feel. Especially if he's been tortured for real in the past.

Regardless she creates her water clone, takes the genin girl and makes sure she's secure on her back. She's heavier than she looks and Katsumi prays this works because she already knows she's not going to be able to fight with this girl clinging to her. Not well at least.

Yuma's clone is weird. Feels staticky and Katsumi eyes it warily, "Yuma? What kind of clone is that?"

"Lightning shadow clone. Don't touch it. It'll do some damage when hit. Should keep them occupied. Especially if your water clone disperses beside it." In what little moonlight makes it through the leaves, she can make out the glint of a wicked smile on his face.

"Didn't know you could do that."

"Don't normally need it. Takes as much as a normal shadow clone to make too. So this needs to work."

Katsumi watches the clones move off to hopefully take the center team on a merry chase. Listens for the moment of truth. If this fails, they've as good as announced they're nearby and it's going to be a mess.

"Katsumi-san? We ready?" Yuma sounds the way Taishiro does when she's making him wait to give chase. Frustrated and excited and full of anticipation.

She hears the moment the team moves. Their heart rates spiking as they go to intercept the clones. She grins slowly at that, "Clear, we probably have a few minutes before they figure it out. Your clone better give them a nasty shock."

"It will. Go. Which side you want me on?"

"Right side." Katsumi Shushins forward. Has to suppress a curse at the slower speed she has to move at with the girl on her back. At least she's not in the way of her swords. That's the only good thing about this.

"Katsumi-San, if we hit the ground, can you use your mist for cover? Make them hunt a little?" Yuma huffs when they're a minute out from the point of no return. Katsumi can hear the moment the center team runs into the clones. Knows they probably have five minutes, maximum before a team gives chase. This is bad.

"We can try. You good to run blind?"

"I'll make do. Just need to make this difficult for them."

"If there's an Inuzuka, the mist won't confuse them." She remembers one fighting beside her in it when the invasion happened.

"Let's hope there's not one, then."

Right. They drop down through the branches until they hit the moist dirt. The rain the past few weeks has stacked the deck in her favor. This is the type of weather she can do damage in. Her mist completely destroys what little vision field they already had in the dark and with this much water already in the air, she can spread her mist out far further than usual.

She can hear Yuma's steady heart behind her and the spikes of heart rates of the team to their right as their sight is obscured. Fuck. The center team is heading back their way and fast. Shit. That's not good. Only two heart beats though. The third's been left behind. Yuma's clone must have stunned them. The far left team is with them now, she thinks. And right side team is trying to find their way in the mist towards them. Fuck. At least none of them seem to be sensors, but with how much fucking chakra is in her mist, she's not sure it would matter if there was a sensor when that's combined with their chakra suppression.

"Yuma. Two heading this way from the left. Three moving slower from the right."

"Don't worry, girly. I got this. Keep moving."

Katsumi grits her teeth and forced herself to move faster. They're only a kilometer from where they need to go and so close to being done she can taste it. She refuses to see either of them fail today. Not now. Not when they're nearly finished.

She hears the moment the center team engages with Yuma. Can see flashes of electricity and hopes he's not trying to kill them. Fuck. They're less than a kilometer away and they both need to make it out of the gate. She hardly thinks before she does it. Spins around and launches a kunai towards where she hears a foot hit the ground. She hears a voice she doesn't recognize curse and the sound of her Kunai striking flesh. Good. Slow them down a little.

"Katsumi-San! Keep going! Now!" Yuma commands her sharply and she can hear the sound of two Kunai scrapping against each other. Fucking hell. She has to trust he can handle two people. He handled Izumo and Kotetsu. He can deal with this. The right side team is still lost in her mist. This isn't worst case scenario yet.

She keeps going and does her best to ignore the panicked breathing of her target against her back. She's perfectly fine and there's no reason for this girl to be panicking. The gate is fucking locked fuck. In the dark, she can barely see the numbers on the goddamn lock and can't identify them by feel alone. Shit. And they can't even leave until Yuma gets here. Fuck, this is not good. She sets the girl down beside the lock and snarls her frustration. They aren't allowed to just hop the gate or she'd be half way up by now.

She squints down at the lock and starts working on the combination. Six numbers instead of nine. Fuck. Some of the numbers in the code are useless here. 18-05-40. First six numbers. Katsumi bites back a curse when the lock doesn't give. 5-40-236. Last six numbers. Nothing. Shit.

She can hear the sound of the struggle behind her stopping abruptly and forces herself to calm down and focus. The other teams are closing in rapidly and she'd had to release the mist to see what she's doing and she needs this gate open as soon as Yuma gets to her because they have to go now. 05-40-23. Middle numbers. Don't work. Shit. She taps her fingers against the lock and snarls. Thinks through the code for any possible patterns. Six numbers. Three unnecessary numbers. Three odd numbers, two zeros, four even numbers. It feels like a gamble, but she puts in 80-40-26. The lock gives at the same moment Yuma calls out softly to her and his fingers tap out the ANBU code for safe on her elbow.

They push their target through the gate first, ignoring her complaints about their rudeness, and make it through behind her a second before three shinobi she only vaguely remembers seeing in the past appear behind them.

"Good job. Thank you for taking care of me." The genin girl smiles brightly at them and bows. Great. That's nice. What happens now?

One of the shinobi in the other side of the gate answers her unspoken question, "report back to room three-nineteen in the jounin headquarters. Congratulations on passing the second test."

They stare for a moment in silence as the shinobi head back into the training grounds, the genin corps girl laughs at them, "Think that was an order. Probably should go do that."

Yuma glances over, "We need to escort you back?"

"Course not. Genin corps or not I'm still a shinobi. I'm not helpless. Good luck on the third test. You'll need it." The girl laughs and turns to walk off like she didn't just spend a day in the Forest of Death.

She and Yuma walk the way there. Neither of them feeing particular rushed to get there when the second test still has just over forty-eight hours left. Finally she can't help it, "Not the specialization I expected from you."

Yuma laughs and it's much quieter than the laugh she associates with Hyena, more tired, "I'm good at killing people yeah, everyone we work with is, but I'm also really good at keeping people alive."

"Why you just now taking the exam?"

"Remember that one mission? The beheading shit?" He sounds like just mentioning it makes him want to put his mask on and hide away.

"Yeah." Hard to forget that mission.

"Yeah, I wasn't doing great on the whole stability scale the Yamanaka's have before that, but afterwards I wasn't 'within acceptable range' for general shinobi corps for awhile and wasn't able to take the exam back then. Just got cleared, maybe four or five months ago?"

"But you were stable enough for ANBU?"

"Katsumi, everyone in there is fucked. You are. I am. Dog is. Cat is. Stag was. You don't end up there if you aren't," He laughs a little louder as he explains, "But general forces needs you to not be a danger to yourself, your team, or civilians. ANBU doesn't worry as much about civilians when they can just have you kept away from them, you know?"

"Yeah. I get it." She doesn't push further. Is pretty sure she already overstepped her boundaries. She just wasn't sure how to respond.

He grins as they finally make it back into the lights of the village, "Course you do, little Foxy. Besides, bet the Yamanaka's been keeping a close eye on you, too."

"Why?" She still has check ins with Inoichi but those are still kept off the books.

"Hokage seems interested in your continued existence. That probably includes making sure we're not scraping you off the pavement because you took a swan dive off one of the Hokage heads."

Katsumi's pretty sure they aren't supposed to discuss any of this. But they're already doing that, so she supposes it won't kill them, "That is an awfully detailed image."

"Overactive imagination. Courtesy of that demonic fucking genjutsu you like so much. Good idea on that, by the way. Real clever."

"Had to do something, you know?"

"Yeah. You definitely did." He sounds more amused than annoyed by it so she figures all's forgiven.

They arrive at the Jounin HQ just after three in the morning and the only person there to greet them is an exhausted looking man that she thinks works closely with Shikaku, he just eyes them for a moment before sighing and marking something on a piece of paper, "eight in the morning, two days from now. Indoor arena. Dismissed."

Well. That was anticlimactic. Katsumi hopes the next test will be more exciting. This is starting to feel like a joke.

Yuma bumps her shoulder with his as they leave, "didn't know you'd be disappointed we passed. Maybe we should have let them torture us for a day or two. Liven things up a bit."

"You have a very strange sense of fun."

He laughs and this time it sounds as mad as Hyena's as it echoes through the empty streets before lowering his voice to a conspiratorial whisper, "Wanna hear a secret, Foxy? You're no better."

He pats her on the head and grins toothily at her for a moment before shushinning away. Well. Good to know Hyena and Yuma probably aren't split personalities.

Chapter 43

Chapter Text

Katsumi figures the third test will be combat. Going to the indoor arena for it is a bit of a giveaway. With two days to rest for it, she runs through strategies by herself. There's an Akimichi and an Aburame that made it into the second test, Sakura, and Yuma. She doesn't know anything about the other seven people or their fighting styles. So she doesn't worry about them. Not all six teams are going to pass the second test, that's a given. She focuses on planning scenarios against the shinobi she can predict.

An Aburame is long distance and difficult to beat. Those little bugs do all sorts of shit and an Aburame is utterly logical. She can't outrun the stupid fucking bugs. Probably could burn them all, though. She knows enough fire style jutsu to do it. Shino isn't good at taijutsu, would an Aburame taking the jounin exams have the same problem when the bugs are removed from the equation? Katsumi's not above trying to find out if she faces them.

An Akimichi isn't going to be easy either. Their clan techniques focus on extreme strength though. Not agility. Size and strength are all well and good, but she's been facing opponents bigger than her for her entire shinobi career. If she plays it right and keeps moving, she should be able to manage it.

Sakura will be a pain in the ass. Katsumi hates dealing with Yamato's mokuton and Sakura learned to control her own at the man's knee. She spent months dodging the girl's mokuton when Kakashi was having her learn to track while being pursued. Sakura has less chakra than her too, much better chakra control, but less chakra. If she could force the girl into using the mokuton without getting thrown into a wall by it, she could wear her chakra reserves down and work from there.

Yuma would be the biggest challenge. They both know each other's styles of fighting. Her mist is nearly useless against him now. He's gotten so damn used to fighting her in it. He's unpredictable too. Good at close combat like her. Favors lighting style jutsu. He also knows her weak points. Knows she likes to use explosive tags as a fuck you to whoever she's fighting. Knows getting too close to her risks her water shrapnel jutsu. Knows she has a high pain tolerance and a short temper when fighting. He's smart enough to find ways around everything she throws at him too. Their spars tend to end in a draw these days. She's willing to bet he'll try to use lighting style jutsu to stun her. Just like he probably figures she'll put a paralytic on her swords. She hasn't used every jutsu she knows around him, but she's used a lot . She doubts she's seen every trick he has either though. She would prefer not to fight him. It would be more drawn out than she'd prefer.

Katsumi can't ask anyone for help either. Jounin exam secrecy and all that. Normally, she'd ask Shikaku or Shikamaru or Kakashi for help planning. This time, she's on her own. She doesn't stress herself too much over it though. Trying to plan out how to beat everyone is pointless and she'll have to change plans on the fly most likely anyway. She only needs a rough plan to build on. None of them are Shikamaru. This won't be a shogi game of a match. Even if Yuma would be a pain in the ass to beat.

For two days she doesn't do any training beyond stretching and Katas and lets her chakra reserves recover. Two days of staying in the Nara compound and thinking. Two days of quiet preparation. Two days until she learns if the Hokage thinks she has what it takes to be a jounin. If she fails, she hopes Kakashi won't be too ashamed of her. He trained her and nominated her and got two other jounin to nominate her. Her success or failure reflects on him. She wants to do him proud.

Katsumi goes through her father's things, still in the room Shikaku stored them in for her, the night before the third test. She finds her mother's picture and Katsumi wonders if the woman would be proud of her for taking up the Fox mask. Wonders if that's the kind of legacy her mother would have wanted her to have. She hopes she would proud. She'll have to visit the memorial stone after the exam and tell her family about it. She thinks it's okay to tell the dead secrets, after all. Not like they'll tell anyone. She finds her Father's spare Katana. The one he'd only ever used to practice with. It's dull now and needs to be polished too, lack of use and care has made the shine of the steel fade.

Katsumi turns it over in her hands and stares at it. Imagines she can see her father's face looking out at her from the metal. She wonders how much like her father she's turning out to be. She already gets irritable when she's in the village too long. She wonders if that's how it started for him too. If one day the desire to be anywhere else won out over his love for her and he just found ways to stay gone. If maybe he was just more comfortable on missions than he was at home. Regardless, she hopes he would have been proud of her. Hopes he approves of her desire to end Orochimaru and anyone who follows the man. Approves of everything she's done in the name of the village.

The morning of the third test, she's not nervous. She feels the way she does when she's being sent on an ANBU mission, cold and rigid and like Zabuza's hand is on her back again and shoving her forward into the mist. Like she's just waiting for permission to draw blood.

There's two indoor arenas in Konoha. One is attached to the stadium used for the Chuunin exam finals and the other is in the Forest of Death Tower. They didn't bother to specify which one it is, but she's going to assume since they weren't told to go back to the Tower at the end of the second test, its the one by the stadium.

She guesses she made the right choice, because Yuma is waiting outside the door when she gets there and he grins widely when he spots her, "Katsumi-San! Ready to have some fun?"

"Morning, Yuma. If we face each other, you better keep me entertained." She smiles back and bumps her arm against his.

"Don't I always?" Yuma sounds like he's injected himself with caffeine as they walk into the building. Sakura and the Aburame she was partnered with are already there and neither look like they got much sleep the night before. The entrance room has a few benches and there's a stuffy looking proctor that's standing in front of the doors to the arena and watching them all through round black glasses. She remembers him vaguely from her childhood when Genma would watch her. She can't recall his name but she remembers him arguing with Genma over how appropriate teaching a five year old how to garrote a man was. Genma won that argument she remembers.

There's ten minutes left before the third test starts when the last pair stumble in. The Akimichi and a boy she thinks is civilian born. No one else enters. So half the teams that went into the Forest failed. Well. Less competition that way.

Apparently, the proctor is satisfied that no one else passed and steps forward, clearing his throat to get their attention, "I am Ebisu. I am your proctor for the final test. This is the combat portion. Only the winners of each battle will be considered for promotion. You all are attempting to be recognized as the elite of Konohagakure. After the battles are over, the three of you who win your fights will each face a current jounin. You will be expected to last fifteen minutes against them. If you cannot, your chance of promotion will be lost. When your name is called, you will enter the arena. Not a moment before. Any questions?"

No one says anything as Ebisu looks them over expectantly. He made it more than clear what to expect. Satisfied, the man pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose and nods once, "We'll begin now: Aburame Shinichi and Takagi Yasahiro, follow me."

Katsumi watches in silence as the Aburame and the civilian born walk through the doors behind Ebisu. The sound of the door closes leaves an oppressive silence in the room. So she faces either Sakura, Yuma, or the Akimichi. She, Sakura, or Yuma is now guaranteed to fail this part. One of them is already out of the running for a promotion and The only question now: is which one?

She hopes she faces the Akimichi. She doesn't want to be the reason Sakura or Yuma misses the chance for a promotion. Let them fight out between them who continues on. Katsumi can hear the sound of fighting through the door, muffled enough that she suspects weak noise suppression seals are on the door. She can't hear any heartbeats even with her hearing enhanced so that's her best bet on that.

Yuma is beside her on the bench with his elbows on his knees and if not for the way his eyes flick from Sakura to the Akimichi, he'd look like a statue. Sakura has her mission face on and Katsumi suspects she's more than ready to wreck somebody's day. Her eyes are fixed on the wall behind Katsumi's head. Katsumi thinks she's envisioning her win. The Akimichi is the only one who looks remotely nervous. His foot is tapping the floor and the echo of it in the room is enough of an irritant to make Katsumi give up trying to hear what's happening in the arena and dull her hearing.

It's nearly thirty minutes later that Ebisu comes out, the Aburame behind him. He looks like the civilian born gave him more trouble than he expected. Ebisu adjusts his glasses again and calls out, "Winner: Aburame Shinichi. Tanaka Yuma and Akimichi Doryo, follow me."

Katsumi watches as Yuma stands and stretches like he just woke up from a nap. He glances down at her and winks mischievously before he turns to follow Ebisu into the arena. That poor Akimichi is going to get wrecked. Yuma isn't even nice when he's sparring his friends. She doesn't think he'll be nice to the person standing between him and a promotion.

The Aburame sits down beside Sakura again and the room falls back into silence. So it's her and Sakura. Great. She supposes she can work with this. Sakura can always try again next time. She glances over to see the pink haired girl watching her with an expression eerily similar to Yamato's scary face and Katsumi is certain she's thinking the exact same thing about her.

This fight lasts nearly forty-five minutes and Katsumi wonders how much of that is Yuma just toying with the Akimichi. He's mean like that sometimes. Likes to play with his food before he eats it. At least when he's Hyena, anyway. Sure enough, Yuma walks out of the arena behind Ebisu with a lazy, satiated smile and Katsumi has questions because he is dripping wet and She can see water dripping off the now open door.

"Winner: Tanaka Yuma. Haruno Sakura and Ishihara Katsumi, follow me." Ebisu looks like he's studiously Ignoring the water dripping off his glasses.

Katsumi stands and adjusts her swords on her back and follows after Sakura and Ebisu. Her heart is steadily picking up its pace and She can feel the ghost of Zabuza's hand shoving her forward more clearly than ever. She refuses to lose.

Chapter 44

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The first thing she registers as she walks in is that it looks like every jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin who isn't on a mission is looking down from the viewing platforms. All eyes on her and Sakura. She can see Kakashi, Yamato, and Gai all standing together. Genma and an annoyed looking Raidou are on the other side. Asuma and Kurenai are there too, Kurenai clearly pregnant and for once Asuma is devoid of a cigarette. Shikaku is standing behind Lady hokage, eyes narrow and a stern expression on his face. Anko is standing beside Ibiki, and she has a look on her face like she's waiting to see blood. Tsume and Kuromaru are beside Shino's father. There are others, so many she either knows from personal experience or has heard of. Katsumi wasn't expecting this part to be a spectator sport for the jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin in the village. Lovely.

The second thing she registers is the sheer amount of water in the fucking arena. There's at least a foot of the stuff covered the entire arena and she's going to have to pester Yuma about this, because since when does he know how to do this? She's pretty sure it's the jutsu Hayase taught her for making pools of water. Regardless of her mild confusion, she can't suppress a small smile as she and Sakura stop in the middle of the arena, five meters between them. Whether it was intentional or not, Yuma did her a favor. This is her arena now. From the way Sakura's lips purse momentarily, it's clear she realizes it too.

Ebisu moves back a bit as he stands in the center of the arena with them, "The match will end when one of you forfeits or is unable to continue. I reserve the right to interfere if it is clear the match is over. Begin."

There's a moment of stillness as the girls look at each other from opposite sides of the arena. Each waiting to see what the other does. Katsumi moves first, close the distance between them in a heartbeat. She doesn't draw her swords yet. Starts with taijutsu and Sakura matches her hit for hit. Katsumi aims a kick at Sakura's chest at the same time she moves through the handseals for her water shrapnel. Slows it down just enough to make sure Sakura sees them. She doesn't want to risk actually killing the other girl, but she's not going to let pressure up. If Sakura wants to beat her, she's going to have to bleed for it.

Sakura manages to get just far enough away to avoid any potentially fatal strikes. But there's blood in the water now and Katsumi grins viciously as Sakura's eyes narrow and it's clear the girl is finished playing. Katsumi drags the mist up, figures it won't mean much if Yamato taught Sakura any form of sensing, but Katsumi has always had an edge against most other Konoha shinobi when she's in her mist. It's something she won't give up easily. Especially not when there's so much water in the arena already that it barely takes any chakra to create mist.

She has a rough plan. Just needs to set it up. And do it without alerting Sakura to it. That's why she needs the mist. Chakra conductive metal can act as an extension of a jutsu. Her swords work similarly. She's learned she needs to trigger it with the last handseal of the intended jutsu if she wants it to work without her holding them. Something she discovered by trial and error and has yet to use in a fight. But water conducts electricity well. Katsumi just can't be on the water when she does this. So she needs to leave her swords behind, without making it obvious.

She draws her swords loudly enough that she knows Sakura will hear it. Loudly enough that everyone will know she's using them. Let them think she's getting sloppy. The mokuton explodes out near her in response and Katsumi has to use every single reflex she has to avoid being hit. Fuck. Sakura has gotten fast. Even after months of focusing on healing.

Katsumi ties ninja wire around the bottom of her blade as she dodges, lets the excess trail in the water. Works as she dodged the mokuton over and over again. In the mist Sakura's aim is just off enough that Katsumi's able to get away with the multitasking. Barely. She's going to have to take a hit though, if she wants this to work. She narrowly avoids getting impaled as she makes sure the lightning chakra seals on her swords are charged for an overpowered static discharge jutsu. Katsumi is fairly certain this won't kill anyone, but she's certainly not about to stay on the shallow water with Sakura to find out.

The next mokuton that comes at her, she braces and allows it to fling her high in the air, above her mist. She lets a pained yelp escape her at the feel of her ribs cracking— Fuck, Sakura is not playing. She lets go of her Katana midair, aims it unerringly straight at the ground and wonders if anyone saw the dull shine of the wires attached to it. Katsumi lands hard on the arena floor, the splash giving her location away easily, but she had heard her sword slam into the ground. Knows it's stuck nicely where it is. Now she needs to do that with her Wakizashi too. Then get the hell off the water.

Katsumi dodges more mokuton and she's struggling to breath because she thinks one of her ribs is actually broken and she really doesn't want to fuck her lungs up. She has to take a second hit though. Needs this to work. So she does it again. Let's herself get flung even higher into the air. Hits the ceiling with a pained hiss and barely manages to use chakra to stick herself on her back. She flings the Wakizashi straight down too. Smiles viciously as it drives home directly opposite of the Katana with Sakura in between both. The wires tied to each don't connect the two swords, but there's more than enough that in the water they should meet at least a little.

She lets the mist fall and can see the moment Sakura notices the swords. Can see her confusion. The mokuton has busted holes through the floor, but unless Sakura retracts the wood, the water won't be draining anytime soon.

Sakura spots her where she's now crouched above her on the ceiling and narrows her eyes, "Didn't take you for a runner, Katsumi. What are you doing up there?"

Katsumi grins down at her and studiously ignores the blood rushing to her head, "Don't feel like meeting god today, you know?"

Sakura looks perplexed by that, after all, neither are trying to kill the other, but Katsumi knows from experience getting electrocuted fucking sucks. She's not about to suffer through that with the pink haired girl. She moves her hands into the snake hand seal and smiles brightly when the seals on her swords glow an eerie whitish-blue color. She can smell the ozone fill the air a split second before the overpowered C-rank jutsu sends electricity exploding through the wires and the water.

Sakura's eyes go wide and she barely manages to get off the water and onto one of her mokuton structures. So her plan failed, but Sakura Is clearly dazed from what electrocution she did receive. Ebisu had hopped onto the railing of the viewing area only a split second faster and he looks pissed. Katsumi doesn't give Sakura time to reorient herself. Drops straight down from the ceiling to land on the same structure as Sakura is on and pulls a kunai. Sakura doesn't back down though. Pulls her own out and, even dazed and clearly not functioning at one hundred percent anymore, makes Katsumi work for every inch of ground she takes.

It's difficult. Her ribs are screaming in pain from the hits she let herself take and it took a decent amount of chakra for the gamble she took with her electrocution plan. Sakura has used the mokuton heavily though. And she's definitely recovering quickly enough from having her brain partially scrambled. They're both feeling the effects of the match now. She needs to end this.

She forms chakra claws on the hand devoid of a kunai and as soon as she gets an opening drags them roughly across Sakura's midsection. Not deep enough to do real damage, but enough for blood to start pouring. Sakura's free hand glows green as she heals herself mid combat, but that takes concentration and it gives Katsumi the opening she was hoping for. She manages to knock the Kunai from the other girl's hand and get her into one of the holds Kakashi had liked using on her. One of the harsher ones that would require Sakura to break her arm to get out of. Katsumi takes care not to force the girl's head under water though. Doesn't want an accidental drowning.

"Yield." She snarls it harshly. Tightens her hold until she's threatening to destroy the girl's entire shoulder if she doesn't tap out.

Sakura doesn't say a word and Katsumi can feel the girl testing her hold. If Sakura is insane enough to try and break her own arm, Katsumi may actually resort to trying to drown the girl. Friend or not.

"Don't do it, Haruno. Just yield and save us both the trouble." Katsumi's expecting Ebisu to step in soon. Sakura is done unless she manages to get out of the hold.

Katsumi can feel the moment the girl decides breaking her own arm is an acceptable outcome. Fuck. Iryonin really do not give a fuck about injuries. Katsumi manages, barely, to shift the hold at the last second and grab Sakura by the head. Doesn't even think before forcing her friend's head underwater. This causes Sakura to loose her absolute shit and what follows is a messy, wet, and vicious grappling session. Sakura hits hard and Katsumi is relentlessly trying to drown the other girl. Katsumi manages to use the static discharge jutsu at point blank range and both of them get electrocuted as it hits the water.

Katsumi can feel her heart stutter a little as she's hit with her own jutsu. Sakura takes the brunt of it though. Is out cold from the second electrocution she's had in probably thirty minutes, before Katsumi is can even blink. Which is good because Katsumi is seeing double and her ribs are killing her and there is no way she would be able to keep going if Sakura hadn't been knocked out finally.

"Haruno Sakura is unable to continue. Winner: Ishihara Katsumi." Ebisu's voice breaks through her minor daze and Katsumi stumbles back into her feet and watches as the medics come forward to deal with Sakura. Shakes her head in can attempt to clear it and gathers her swords, absentmindedly removing the wires from the as she does. Her swords look fine. The hilts are a bit scorched though. She'll need to fix that.

Ebisu leads her out into the waiting Area and Yuma grins widely at her when he sees her, "You look like hell, Katsumi-San."

"Feel a bit like it too, really." There's a medic in front of her suddenly and Katsumi just blinks in confusion as the woman starts working on her. No magic sleeping hand in her forehead though. Which is nice. She needs to be awake for the final part of the exam.

"You smell like you got struck by lightning." Yuma draws her attention back to him.

"Yeah. Little bit, I guess? Sakura got it twice, though."

Yuma laughs at that, "Of course she did."

Ebisu clears his throat and all eyes move back to him, "The final matches will begin in thirty minutes, once the arena is repaired."

Katsumi blinks a little as her the pain from her injuries fades away and her head clears a little. How bad is the arena? She doesn't think it was a disaster zone.

Yuma notices her expression and grins, "Arena was a wreck after my match, I'm shocked it survived yours. Vicious little bitch that you are."

Katsumi tilts her head and eyes him, "Did you try to drown the Akimichi?"

Yuma laughs and laughs at that and helps her sit down. Never gives her an answer though. She'll just get the details from him later. Worry about it when this is over and all that.

Notes:

So which jounin y'all think Katsumi will have to try and keep up with?

Chapter 45

Chapter Text

Katsumi's got no more than thirty minutes left before she has to hold her own against a seasoned jounin. Ebisu has just called in the Aburame and she and Yuma are sitting in silence, just letting their chakra recover as much as possible in what little time is left. She has roughly half her chakra reserves left and has already resigned herself to taking a solider pill or two right before her turn. She'll need to if she wants any chance of making it to fifteen minutes. At least she doesn't have to win. Just run the clock down. She thinks she can do that. Even if she can't do it, she'll find a way. She didn't just try to drown Sakura for nothing. She's fucking leaving with a jounin vest today.

"Hey, Katsumi-San. We make it through this, we're gonna steal a crate of sake." Yuma's head is tilted back against the wall and his eyes are closed as his deep voice breaks the silence.

"I don't think jounin are supposed to steal from the anyone in the village." Katsumi rolls her eyes despite knowing he won't see it.

"Pick a different village then. We're allowed to steal from enemy villages. It's practically a favorite pastime of half the shinobi force."

"Kiri. I want to steal a sword while we do it." Katsumi grins tiredly.

"Done. A crate of sake and a sword from Kiri. We can hack it." Yuma's eyes open and he gives her a sly grin as he glances over at her.

"Gotta be the good sake. None of the weak shit." Katsumi's has the sake Kiba finds and the Sake Shikaku hides in his office. Shikaku's is definitely stronger, even if she drinks a lot more of Kiba's.

"Katsumi-San, if you think I would ever steal weak sake, you don't know me at all." Yuma looks mock offended at the implication.

"Kiri will never know what hit it." Katsumi presses on her ribs gingerly, testing how painful it is. The medics only ever partially heal broken bones and she's broken enough ribs now to know fighting with partially healed ribs is far from ideal. She's going to have to avoid any strikes to that part of her body unless she wants to break them again.

"Five more minutes, you have any soldier pills I can have? Akimichi took a lot more than I expected out of me." Yuma sits up and stretches and Katsumi can hear joints cracking.

"Yeah. How many you want?" Katsumi has the good soldier pills. A Nara clan recipe that periodically shows up in her bedroom. Longer lasting and a bigger boost. Only draw back is worse come down. Higher chance of an overdose.

"One should be fine." Yuma is well aware of the soldier pills she favors. First time she let him try one as Hyena, he thought he was going to have a heart attack. Katsumi still laughs about that overreaction.

She digs through her hip pouch and pulls out the little cloth bag of pills. Tips it over and shakes it just enough that two fall out. Hands Yuma one and palms the other before tucking the bag away again.

Yuma swallows the pill a moment before an alarm goes off that Katsumi assumes is the timer. There's a long moment of silence before Ebisu walks out with the Aburame in tow.

"Tanaka Yuma. Fifteen minutes against Maito Gai."

Yuma looks like he just got told he was going to be forcibly sterilized without anesthesia. He blinks slowly and Katsumi can see his jaw working for a moment before he gets it together and follows Ebisu in. Yeah. She gets that reaction. Gai is a fucking nightmare and a half to face for five minutes, much less fifteen. Whether he makes it through this or not, she thinks Yuma is going to need that drink afterwards.

She and the Aburame sit in silence as Yuma's match goes on. Katsumi rolls the soldier pill between her thumb and forefinger and tries to figure out when she should take it. She has no idea if Yuma will be able to make fifteen minutes against Gai. From his reaction, she's not sure he knows either.

At the seven minute mark, Katsumi figures Yuma may actually have a decent chance if the alarm hadn't gone off yet. Unpredictable lunatic. She'll have to introduce him to Naruto. They'd get on amazingly.

Katsumi has no idea who she's going to be up against, but she figures evasion would probably be her best bet. At least for a few minutes. Not like she has to win. She just can't forfeit or get knocked out before the time runs out. She should be able to evade for awhile.

She swallows the soldier pill at the thirteen minute mark. Checks over her weapons as she waits for it to kick in and counts out Kunai and explosive tags. She's got enough to give someone a headache. That's for certain. Whether or not she can last for fifteen minutes against a fully rested, seasoned Jounin is another matter entirely.

She just has to keep moving. She doubts she's facing Kakashi or Yamato. Gai is facing Yuma. Kurenai is pregnant. Raidou is probably still nursing a headache from their fight in the Forest of Death. The timer goes off and breaks her from her musings.

Ebisu walks out and Yuma looks a bit like his brains got scrambled and she thinks his jaw might be broken. The medics are on him in an instant.

"Ishihara Katsumi. Fifteen minutes against Sarutobi Asuma."

Katsumi blinks as she stands to follow Ebisu. Shikamaru's Sensei. The one who comes to dinner. He's a chain smoker. Katsumi has no actual idea of what his fighting style is like other than he's supposedly the best close combat specialist they have. So, she'll just have to keep a bit more distance than usual between them. She's about to get her ass kicked by Shikamaru's chain smoking Sensei. Lovely. She can't wait.

Asuma is already standing in the arena as she comes in and there's a newly lit cigarette in his mouth. The water she'd used before is totally gone and there goes her biggest advantage. Asuma is watching her with an amused quirk to his lips as she takes in the lack of water.

"What's wrong, Ishihara? Don't like having an even playing field?" He calls out to her, a mocking edge to his voice. Not like how he is when he visits the Nara's for dinner.

Katsumi gets it. He's trying to get under her skin. Mess with her. Either to piss her off or make her second guess herself. She doesn't say a word. Just peels her lips back in a silent threat.

He narrows his eyes at her and nods once, like she's confirmed something for him, "That's right. You're not much of a talker, are you? No one really bothered to teach you how to be a person. Just a feral dog."

Katsumi doesn't react. She's heard worse. She knows he's just trying to make her too angry to think. It's a common enough tactic. She can feel the soldier pill finally kicking in though and feels like she's injected pure energy into her veins. Asuma won't be throwing her off with mind games today.

Ebisu breaks the stare off between Katsumi and the large man, "Ishihara Katsumi versus Sarutobi Asuma. Fifteen minutes. The match will end earlier if Ishihara is unable to continue or forfeits. The timer will start now. Begin."

Katsumi is immediately falling back because Asuma is coming at her as soon as Ebisu finishes speaking. Fuck. She didn't even have time to pull a damn Kunai, much less her swords. Katsumi can't put ground between them either. Asuma sticks with her every time she tries, and she's just being chased around the fucking arena, frantically evading the knives he's wearing on his knuckles. There's no enough water in the air for her to use her water shrapnel to force space either. Katsumi is not having a good time. She needs a plan. Needs space. Needs to not get her throat slit by Shikamaru's Sensei in front of the nearly every adult she knows.

She finally manages to pull a kunai with an explosive tag tied to it out at the same moment her cheek is sliced open from a strike she isn't able to dodge fast enough. Fuck. That hurt. She can feel the blood trailing down her cheek and she lets the dark part of her mind take over. He called her feral, she'll show him feral.

They make eye contact for a split second and her grin is vicious and wild and merciless as she flings the Kunai at him from point blank range. He manages to dodge is, barely. And her grin widens more as she deafens herself temporarily. She triggers the tag as soon as it passes him.

It works. He breaks his unrelenting chase to get away from the explosion and Katsumi ends up on the opposite side of the arena and she hardly notices the terrible growls pouring out of her throat. She has two choices she can see if she wants to go on the offensive. Use the water creation jutsu Hayase taught her and blow through a quarter of her chakra, or use either fire or lightning style jutsu. She can't get close enough to use her swords. He outclasses her in terms of close combat and she's not ashamed to admit it. Her eyes flick momentarily to the timer. Nine more minutes. Damn. This is only going to get worse.

She narrows her eyes at the man as he takes a long drag of the cigarette. His eyes are watching her every move and from the way he's standing she doesn't think he's really taking a smoke break. Katsumi snarls louders and moves through the handseals for her Fire senbon jutsu. Asuma dodges each thin, fast moving flame with ease and Katsumi's not sure what she expected but him exhaling far too much smoke for one drag of his cigarette is not it.

Katsumi tilts her head a little as the dark smoke cloud keeps grows and coming towards her. She hears his teeth click together and Katsumi has a split second realization that she does not want to be near that fucking cloud, before the whole thing ignites. Katsumi is up the wall and crouched on the ceiling again before she can register moving. What the fuck kind of jutsu is that? Holy fuck. That was badass.

The smoke clears and Katsumi draws her swords at she lets herself fall back to the ground. She only needs to hold out a few more minutes. And she would rather not do that by running. Asuma looks amused that she's decided to stop running. Obliges her desire to fight and his chakra blades block every strike she deals out. Now that she has her swords out, and she's just out of his range, she's feeling much more confident. She doesn't think he's actually blow her up. She hopes not anyway.

Katsumi's blocking twice as much as she's striking out at the man. She's dodging and twisting around the man and her only advantage here is that his size takes away from his agility. It's all she has going for her right now and Katsumi takes full advantage. Uses every trick Bear and Crane ever beat into her to use his own size and his momentum against him. To keep herself in the fight. She manages twice to use the force of his chakra blades meeting her swords to propel herself over him before he catches on to that and makes sure she never gets that chance again.

Katsumi lets him put her back on the defensive. Allows him chase her around the arena again. Think her options through. She doesn't have many. This may be the best it gets. Not enough water in the air for water shrapnel. Not enough chakra Left to make more water. Can't use any jutsu with handseals because she can't afford to put her swords away. Can't make space either because Asuma is unrelenting.

She snaps her teeth at him when he manages to get through her defense and his chakra blades slice a long cut across her chest. Fuck. That fucking hurts. There's a lot of blood and Katsumi has an idea. A fucked up, brilliant idea that she has no idea if it would actually work. It worked with poison though, against that Oto Kunoichi. Blood is nearly fifty percent water. Katsumi thinks she can make that work. One way to find out.

Of course, she has no idea how this will affect her though. Since she's actively bleeding and all. She really has no idea if this will work. Or if it will kill her. Combining water shrapnel and blood reversal is probably a bad idea. Even if she's only adding one handseal from the blood reversal jutsu into it. Katsumi manages to jump back and put her swords away in a half second before Asuma is on her again. She snarls again as she dodges his strikes again. Brings her hands together and thinks this is probably going to land her in the hospital if she's miscalculated. She moves through the handseals, with the addition of the horse seal, she has no idea why, but that feels right to put in the center of the hand seals. Like it's meant to be there. When she forms the ram seal her eyes meet Asuma's for a split second and she bares her teeth viciously. He's an elite jounin. If he can't get out of the way of her jutsu, he deserves to get hit.

It works. Her own blood explodes out the way the water shrapnel does and Kami, it is agonizing. Fuck. Fuck. Oh, shit that was not good. Katsumi's chest is burning and she feels like she just lost a liter of blood at once and she's struggling to breathe. It worked though. Asuma had to fall back and he looks dumbfounded for a moment, looks mildly terrified and she wonders if he thinks he managed to kill her or something. Her blood is on his flak jacket and she can see where the jutsu cut through his shirt sleeves and mesh armor and the edges of his flak jacket. Katsumi is panting and that was definitely the worst idea she's ever had, but it worked.

Her eyes go to the timer again. Three minutes left. She can do that. Katsumi pulls her Katana and drives it shallowly into the ground, eyes never leaving Asuma. He seems to have recovered from the shock of the blood she'd used in place of water, and is on her again. Which is fine. She lets him push her around the arena until she's far away from her sword and kawarimi's with it. She's not above running. She only has to hold out a little longer. She's sticky with her own blood and definitely going to have to let a medic look her over, but she can hold out. She can do this.

She's kneeling where her sword was because standing is getting difficult because she's still bleeding, far more than before she used that fucking jutsu. Asuma is eyeing her critically, pulls his cigarette from his mouth and speaks, "Kid, you should forfeit. You know you can't win."

Katsumi can't help cackling like Hyena for a moment. Can't help the wild baring of her teeth in a mocking grin as she drags herself into a standing position and draws her Wakizashi, "Don't need to win, Sarutobi. Just need to last."

With that she kawarimi's a second time with her Katana and she's directly behind Asuma now. He just manages to twist around and block her strike at his center of mass. She can tell he's trying to put her on the ground now. Trying to knock her out since she's just declared she won't forfeit. Only thirty seconds left though. She refuses to back down now. Blood loss and lack of chakra are ignored by her entirely as she keeps on. Ignores that she's slipping on small pools of her own blood here and there. It's almost over. Then she can worry about that.

The alarm sounds just as Asuma kicks her midsection and sends her flying through the air. Fuck. She manages, barely, to roll into the fall and lessen the impact. She's panting hard but the alarm is sounding and it's over and she's done. Whatever happens now is out of her hands.

"Ishihara Katsumi has completed the final exam." Ebisu sounds like just watching that exhausted him.

Asuma lights another cigarette and picks up her discarded Katana and turns it over. Walks over to her, drags her to her feet, and hands her the sword, "Good job, Ishihara. You did well."

Katsumi blinks at him as the medics practically mob her. Manages a shaky nod and slides the Katana back into its sheath. Hardly notices the medics trying to get her to get on a stretcher and just kind of stumbles after Ebisu as he walks back to the waiting area. It's just minor blood loss. She can walk fine. The medics are in near hysterics as she makes it out of the arena and nearly fucking collapses against the wall. Yuma is still there having his jaw fixed and his eyes go comically wide when he sees her. Yeah. She probably looks like a murder scene. But it's fine. The medics are fixing her and scolding her and she made it to fifteen minutes. Fuck yeah.

She has no idea what Ebisu says to them all, but she thinks they're supposed to stay here. Which works. She's not in any condition to go anywhere until the medics are done. Yuma is signing subtly to her in ANBU hand signs but she's really to exhausted to be able to understand them. Or respond. Manages to give him a weak smile though. Hopefully she gave a good enough show for a promotion. Having to aim for non lethal attacks is not her forte. Makes things so much harder. Oh well.

Chapter 46

Chapter Text

The medics have to have her take off her flak jacket and uniform shirt to fix her injuries on her chest. She gets a lecture from each and every medic over how she lost one and a half liters of blood. Ends up with them taking turns working to stimulate her bone marrow to produce blood quicker than usual until some intern shows up with a blood bag to hook up to her. Since she's stuck here until they're told who gets a promotion.

Yuma has been hovering over her since they finished working on his jaw. He won't be chewing on ration bars anytime soon, but he's able to talk for most part. Has just switched to hand signs, standard and ANBU, until his jaw stops hurting. Katsumi is too tired to really bother to speak. Or sign back to Yuma. Just wants to take a nap now. The medics won't let her though. Apparently, they want her to stay awake to judge her mental state as she recovers from blood loss combined with lack of chakra and a come down from a Nara soldier pill. Something about being worried about memory loss or seizures or something. Katsumi really wasn't listening. She really doesn't care. She's done. Exam is over and she is tired and she just wants her results now.

Kakashi comes sidling out of the arena, porn in hand, and doesn't look her, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan? What was that you did in there?"

Katsumi squints up at him and considers it, "Combined my water shrapnel jutsu with the horse handseal at the center like my blood reversal technique. Worked better than I thought it would. Figured it had a fifty-fifty chance of killing me. Seemed like good enough odds."

Kakashi lowers the porn and stares at her, "Let's not do that again, hmm? You scared poor Asuma."

Katsumi shrugs a bit as the intern arrives with the blood bag and she idly watches them hook it up to her arm. It worked. She doesn't regret it. She'd do it again. Not that she'll tell Kakashi.

Clearly he can read that on her face because he sighs and ruffles her hair, "Maa, you've done well. Tsunade is almost finished deliberating. We'll know if you got a promotion soon."

"Can we get dango afterwards?" That sounds really good. She wants sweets. And a nap.

Kakashi eye smiles at her, "Maa, if you can stay awake until then."

Katsumi nods weakly, she can do that. As long as the medics don't do the forehead-hand sleep thing. She watches as Kakashi walks back into the arena and she has questions about how it's being decided if they're finding out now.

The blood being added to her system is nice. She feels a bit more aware and less fuzzy as she receives it. Which is good. The dizziness wasn't fun. She grins at Yuma as she starts feeling better, "Still wanna steal Kiri Sake?"

Yuma looks relieved that she's coherent and talking to him. That's nice. Her partner worries about her. He nods in agreement to her question and pats her head the way he does when he's Hyena.

The medics are finally satisfied that she's not going to need a trip to the hospital and stop hovering around her, which is nice. She didn't think she messed herself up that badly. Not that she's going to voice that in front of the medics. Being lectured by four medics back to back once was more than enough for her.

She and Yuma lean against each other's shoulders as they sit and wait for the results. The Aburame is standing ramrod straight on the opposite side of the room and staring straight at the door. Like he's willing them to hurry up. Katsumi is wonderfully ambivalent about it now. It's out of her hands. She's done her best and now she just has to see if Tsunade thinks she deserves the promotion.

It's two hours later when Ebisu calls them back into the arena. Clearly, Kakashi doesn't have a firm grasp on what soon means. Yuma sticks close to her side as they walk in and she knows he's prepared to catch her if she falls. Which she appreciates. She's pulled her shirt back on and her flak jacket so she's not In just her wire mesh armor. She leaves the jacket unzipped though, and hopes the blood stains on it aren't too eye catching.

Katsumi lets her eyes move over everyone in the viewing area as she stays nearly glued to Yuma's side. She has to fight back a tired yawn as she takes in the calm, serious expressions on the Jounins' faces. Even Gai is surprisingly collected. Tsunade is standing in the center of the now spotless arena in the full Hokage outfit, hat and robe and all. The woman looks over them sternly as the three Chuunin stop in a row in front of her.

"Being a jounin is about more than just leadership. There's a reason it's Chuunin that are promoted based on the maturity needed to lead first and foremost. A jounin already has that quality. We don't need to test for it. A jounin needs to be able to think, needs to be able to work through problems that seem to have no good solution. All three of you demonstrated that ability in the first test. A jounin is often sent on the most dangerous missions. Ones where potential for capture is high and torture is a very real risk. They need to be able to keep a cool head under such circumstances, to be able to find ways to keep their information from getting into the wrong hands and complete the mission. Again, all three of you proved capable of that. A jounin needs more than those qualities though. They need the skills to back them up. Only the strongest shinobi are capable of becoming jounin. A jounin takes the lead on any mission they go on. They are the ones expected to bring their comrades home alive. Whether it's a team of Chuunin you'll only work with once, or a trio of genin you've been tasked with training. You must be strong enough to protect yourself and, if necessary, them on a mission. That was the first part of this test. All three of you proved you possess the strength expected of a jounin. The second part of the test was to judge how you handle a battle you know you can't win. Your resolve. There are times a shinobi cannot win a fight. Even a jounin. But they can't run either. Times when staying to fight and hoping back up comes is the only viable option. Today, all three of you proved you have the resolve necessary for a jounin."

Tsunade pauses and takes a breath. She gestures for Yamato, Gai, and Asuma to step forward, "Aburame Shinichi, you've earned the rank of jounin, congratulations. May the Will of Fire burn brightly in you."

Katsumi watches as Yamato steps forward and hands the Aburame a new flak jacket. Watches curiously as the Aburame takes off the Chuunin vest and replaces it with the jounin one. Compared to her Chuunin promotion, this feels much more ceremonial.

"Tanaka Yuma, you've earned the rank of jounin. Congratulations, may the Will of Fire burn brightly in you."

Yuma shifts beside her as Gai steps forward, new flak jacket in hand, and takes his old one off. Gai is beaming as they trade the flak jackets. Yuma looks down at her after he bows his thanks and gives her a small smile before giving his head a small jerk in the direction of the Hokage. Right. Guess it's her turn.

Tsunade eyes her like she's not sure about this, before speaking again, "Ishihara Katsumi, you've earned the rank of Jounin. Congratulations, may the Will of Fire burn brightly in you."

Katsumi mechanically takes off her bloody flak jacket as Asuma walks over with her new one. She takes the new flak jacket and slips it on before bowing to the man in thanks. She's not really sure what she's supposed to do now.

Katsumi just sort of slumps against Yuma as various jounin come and congratulate them. She really hopes they're allowed to leave soon. She wants a nap. And a shower. Yuma adjusts to accommodate her using him as a prop to rest against. It's nothing new. Happens all the time in ANBU. She doesn't point out that he automatically repositioned himself to make it easier to grab her and move if someone were to attack them. Never ending paranoia at its finest.

Genma ambles over to them and looks her over, senbon clicking rapidly between his teeth, "So, uh, just curious, did you know that thing you did with the blood would work?"

Yuma's eyes immediately swing down to stare at her, eyebrows pulled together. Right. She hadn't mentioned why she needed the blood transfusion. Katsumi shrugs and gives Genma a half smile, "Figured it was worth a shot."

Genma raises an eyebrow at her, "You're something else, kid. Try not to kill yourself, alright?"

Katsumi tilts her head and eyes the man, "Sure, I'll do my best."

Genma doesn't look reassured by that but nods his acceptance before moving off to talk with Anko. Yuma taps rapidly on her elbow the codes for blood and explain .

Katsumi eyes him, "remember what I told Kakashi about combining two techniques? I used my own blood in it. It was messy."

Yuma doesn't look satisfied with that answer and taps quickly later . Katsumi nods tiredly, she's not planning to try that again until she works the details out of how not to nearly kill herself doing it. Yuma will probably be entertained once she fully explains the story. She hopes anyway.

Shikaku walks over and takes in her less than perfect appearance, "You're a troublesome kid, you know that? I'm proud of you. Just make sure Yoshino doesn't see all that blood. She'll have a fit."

Katsumi grins at that. Yoshino would definitely not have appreciated what she did. Shikamaru probably won't either. Probably for the best that people who weren't here to watch don't get to know the details. Makes things easier.

That night, Yoshino insists on taking a picture of Katsumi and Shikamaru in their jounin vests together. Shikaku very pointedly changes the subject when Yoshino tries to wheedle details of the third test out of them. Katsumi just doesn't make eye contact when Shikamaru looks over at her curiously in response to Shikaku's subject change.

Katsumi spends the rest of the night out at one of Shikamaru's cloud watching spots with him, celebrating her success privately. Shikamaru's got her new flak jacket and shirt off, and sees the long cut through her mesh armor across her chest. His hands are on her hips and she can feel them tighten momentarily.

"Katsu? Which jounin were you up against?" He'd been trailing kisses down her neck and collarbone until he'd seen that and the long, narrow, nearly invisible pink scar she currently sported. The medics said it would fade away entirely, but she supposes she shouldn't be shocked Shikamaru had immediately seen it.

"Does it matter?" Katsumi tugs his hair out of the spiked ponytail and tries to bring his mouth back up to hers. She doesn't really feel like discussing it. She would very much prefer to continue celebrating her promotion.

Shikamaru's eyebrows pull together for a moment and she can tell he'll figure it out on his own. She doesn't need to give him any confirmation. Finally, he lets her pull his face back to hers and mutters a troublesome against her mouth. Katsumi just smiles as she kisses him and sets to work on his pants. She'd much rather do this than talk about her exam. Much better way to end the night.

Shikamaru certainly doesn't seem to be complaining about it. Just makes a noise in the back of his throat when she gets her hand where she wants it and rolls his hips towards the contact. Katsumi takes that to mean she's doing something right as she tries to work her hand up and down his dick like she read about in one of Kakashi's porn books she stole to mess with him. He's not making her stop so she's almost positive she's doing it correctly.

Shikamaru is anything but lazy in his response and Katsumi has so many questions about where he learned to do any of the things he's doing with his hands considering she struggles with it sometimes when it's just her. Not that she's complaining, dating a genius with a near perfect memory apparently means he figures things like this out quickly. Which she appreciates. She still wants to know where he learned it though. Not that she's that worried about it now. It can wait for when he isn't attempting to short circuit her brain. Best way to celebrate ever.

Chapter 47

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi's first mission as a jounin is not one she's excited about. She's dreading it actually. This isn't at all what she was expecting when she was called into Lady Hokage's office. She'd expected something simple. Or at least not something of this magnitude. She gets why she's going. She's got the stupid knowledge of what could be and extensive knowledge of the skill sets of the opposition. She gets that. She just would have preferred this be an ANBU mission, but until the number of ANBU is sufficiently increased, they can't afford to spar any more operatives on such short notice. Still, she'd prefer it. That way she didn't have to worry about Naruto. She's pretty sure this is not a mission for one jounin and three Chuunin. At all. Even if one of the Chuunin is former Root And one has the mokuton and the other is a thrice damned Jinchuuriki.

She gets they have a treaty with Suna. She gets that the Kazekage and Naruto are close. She gets that they really need to not let the remaining members of the Akatsuki get any of the bijuu. If at all possible. But, Fuck, she does not want to go chase down fucking Uchiha Obito. She does not want to go hunt down the creepy statue in the land of Rivers and try to get the very likely corpse of the fucking Kazekage back.

That she's only taking Sai, Naruto, and Sakura with her nearly gave her heart palpitations. She trusts them, really, she does, but she'd like Yamato or Kakashi or even fucking Uchiha Itachi to come along. She's not fucking picky. Just someone that has a chance in hell of not being slaughtered by an angry idiot in an orange mask.

Of course, Kakashi isn't allowed to know about Uchiha Obito, so of course he's not coming, and Yamato is on some other mission, and Uchiha Itachi is under a full ANBU guard at all hours of the day. She's pretty much stuck with what she has and she's going to lose her fucking mind and the mission hasn't even started yet.

She's having to work not to show any anxiety as she waits for her team to arrive. She's not even sure they've been told anything about this mission yet. Other than the fact it's an A-rank, bordering on and S-rank. The mission objectives are clear enough: retrieve the Kazekage, preferably alive, if possible seal the stupid magical bijuu holding statue, try not to die in the process. The issue with the second bit is that the damn thing has to be summoned by Nagato, if her memories are correct, which means they probably have to seal it while Gaara's bijuu is being extracted. She's not sure if Naruto will even be able to seal the statue, much less do it while Gaara is in trouble. It feels like they're being set up to fail.

Sakura is the first to meet her at the gates. Thankfully, she wasn't angry about Katsumi's win in the jounin exams. Which makes this easier, "So, Katsumi-Taichou, what exactly is this mission?"

Fuck. So they don't know. Katsumi checks the straps of her sword sheaths before responding, "I'll explain when the boys get here. It's not going to be fun."

Sakura's pleasant demeanor fades and she nods seriously. All pretenses gone. Good. They need that level of seriousness for this mission. Iwa is back to causing trouble on the border, but they can easily avoid that issue. Border patrol has that well in hand for now. She'd like Yuma to be on this mission with her, a lot. She'd asked Tsunade for that, the woman had even said she wanted to send him, but he's already busy keeping the Daimyo's daughter from being assassinated. So no Yuma. Katsumi's never dealt with the Akatsuki without him and it makes her uneasy.

Naruto and Sai finally show up and Naruto looks way too excited. Definitely wasn't told what exactly the mission entails. Fuck.

"Hey! Katsumi-Chan! Sakura-Chan! What's the mission?" Naruto is bouncing in place like an excited child.

"We're headed to the Land of Rivers for a duel purpose mission. This is officially an A-rank, but you all need to be aware that in reality it's likely S-rank. The primary objective is to retrieve the Kazekage from the Akatsuki, preferably ali—"

"Gaara?! The Akatsuki have Gaara?! We have to save him, Dattebayo!" Naruto looks like he's about to have a fit.

"Obviously, Naruto. That's why it's the primary objective. I get you're his friend, but I need you to hold your shit together. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgement, okay? That could get us all killed. I need you to stay objective, okay, Naruto?" Katsumi needs him to hold his shit together. There is no second option.

Naruto is staring at her like she's grown a second head. Has no one ever told him that before? Someone has had to, surely. He's a Chuunin, soon to be a Tokubetsu Jounin, for fuck's sake. There's no way he doesn't know to keep his emotions in check.

"Okay, Naruto?" Katsumi stares at her idiot and tries not to let her anxiety increase.

"Yeah. Got it, dattebayo." Naruto looks irritated but he's not fighting her. Good. She can live with that right now.

"Good. He was taken by one of the last Akatsuki members. A man who goes by the alias Tobi. We'll discuss the plan for dealing with him when we get closer to the location. Naruto, you have the most important part of the mission," Here, Katsumi pulls out a scroll that has every detail about the Gedo statue that her memories provided and that Itachi was able to offer and hands it to Naruto, "You need to make a seal for this. A permanent one, ideally. Potentially one that can tolerate having the Ichibi sealed in it as well. Can you do that?"

Naruto's expression turns grim as he skims over the scroll, "I don't know. Maybe? It'll need a lot of chakra, maybe a sacrifice. I won't know for sure until I see it in person, dattebayo."

"Do your best. Sai, Sakura, you'll be helping me recover Gaara while Naruto deals with the seal. That means the three of us are going to have to deal with Tobi ourselves. Questions?"

Sakura looks seriously at her for a moment, "This Tobi person, anything we need to know about him?"

"He can make himself intangible for up to five minutes at a time. We'll have to keep up a continuous attack if we want to kill him. I don't expect us to be able to do that though, if you want my honesty. We just need to keep him occupied while Naruto seals with that seal and one of us retrieves Gaara."

Sai isn't smiling at all for once, "and if the Kazekage is already dead, Midget?"

"We return his body to Suna." Katsumi may not like Suna much, but she's not going to be the reason they can't give their Kazekage a proper burial. Besides, if her memories are correct, there's a bitchy old lady there who knows how to bring the dead back to life. Honestly, she's not that concerned with getting to Gaara in time to save him from dying in the first place knowing that. Makes her a bit more concerned about the sealing part of the mission.

Naruto is focused on the scroll she gave him and she knows he'll manage. He's unpredictable like that. Can pull just about anything out of his ass. Sakura and Sai both have eerily blank faces. Both are ready to move. Good.

"Suna is sending a team as well, we'll likely get there first, since they have to wait for a hawk to arrive in Suna with the coordinates we're going to. So we're going to act as if we don't have back up on the way for now. We're going to come around from the Southwest. I want to avoid any potential run ins with Iwa. Border patrol should be keeping a nice buffer between them and where we're headed, but I'd rather not worry about it at all. It will take a bit longer, but if we hurry, we should get there quick enough to retrieve him. If there's no more questions, we'll go now."

Katsumi tries to ignore the feeling that she's leading her friends to their deaths as they move. Thoughts like that won't do them any favors. They have a mission and she's responsible for the outcome. She can't let her anxiety get the better of her.

They move in silence, a tense, not quite nervous, energy surrounding them. Naruto is bringing up the rear of the formation. With his sheer stamina combined with his fuinjutsu and Rasengan, he's their heavy hitter and the one responsible for guarding their backs. Sakura and Sai are on either side of her, ready to fall into offense or defense at a moments notice. At the front, Katsumi is the guide, as well as the shield and spear for the entire formation. A position she's more used to Kakashi possessing on missions she and Naruto are on together. She's done it before. Plenty of times on B-ranks with other Chuunin, it never gets less stressful. Knowing she's the one the responsible for the lives of her team and the success or failure of a mission is possibly the heaviest weight she's ever had on her shoulders.

She strains her hearing more and more the further they get from the village, until there's nothing in five kilometers she could track down by sound alone. Katsumi's has no idea if she would hear Obito's Kamui and doesn't really care. As long as no human heart beat suddenly appears out of nowhere, she's content with the utter emptiness of the forest. Makes her a bit less anxious.

They pause for the night twelve hours out from the border to the Land of Rivers and Naruto insists on taking two watches so he can work on the fuinjutsu he needs for the gedo statue. Katsumi could order him not to, but they need that seal and he never seems to run out of energy. Besides, even if she ordered him to only take one watch, he'd be up working on it in the dark regardless. Better to just have him multitask with his clones. Katsumi figures she'll take the middle shift while Sai and Sakura and flip a coin or something for the last watch.

Katsumi finishes helping make camp and forces her breathing to even out. She's a light sleeper on missions, most shinobi are, and her worries over this mission are only making it worse. Fuck. She hopes this goes well. If any of them die under her command, she's going straight into ANBU and staying there for the foreseeable future.

Notes:

And it's back to the grind for Katsumi, y'all didn't forget about the whole Akatsuki business, did y'all?

Chapter 48

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Naruto is even grimmer the next morning as they break camp. Pulls her aside to speak with her out of the hearing of Sai and Sakura. He chews his bottom lip for a moment before finally asking her something she doesn't like the implications of, "How much do we need to seal away this statue? Like what's it worth, dattebayo?"

Katsumi considers it, purses her lips and glances over at the others, "If we can seal it, the Akatsuki won't be able to collect the bijuu. That's worth whatever we have to pay for it."

Naruto looks like he knew that would be her answer, "I might be able to seal it. The only way I could find though... it's not good, dattebayo. It's going to take a while for one. And, I don't even know if I have the chakra for it. It'd probably take using the kyuubi's chakra. And that's just if we want to temporarily seal it, dattebayo. I can't even find a way to seal it forever."

"What about destroy it? Or a space-time deal?" Katsumi isn't picky. As long as this thing isn't an issue anymore and no one dies for it.

"Destroy it? I'm not sure that's possible. Maybe? But the amount of chakra that would get released from doing that would probably turn the land of Rivers into a new part of the ocean. I know you like water, Katsumi, but I don't think you want to do that. As for space-time? That stuff is screwy, dattebayo. Yeah, theoretically, with enough chakra and the right seal I could toss it into a separate dimension and make sure it stays there, but someone would almost definitely have to die for that."

Katsumi has to work to keep the worry off her face, "What about keeping it from being moved? Would that be possible?"

Naruto squints down at the scroll in his ink stained hands, "Hold it in place? It'll take less chakra, but that won't do anything about it being used, dattebayo. I could do it, but that's not going to be enough, long term."

"If we can't destroy it, or seal it away, that may have to suffice for now. A temporary measure so we can work on it longer without having to find it again. Keep thinking it over, we don't need the solution right this second." Katsumi is willing to take anything she can get in regards to dealing with the fucking statue. Honestly, she's not above risking sinking the Land of Rivers if that's what it takes. Not like anyone in it would be able to say anything about it afterwards.

They have twelve hours to make it to the border, and three more to make it to the location of the fucking statue. Fifteen hours before they find out just how much of a shitshow this mission is going to be. Katsumi thinks they'll have to move faster to get there before Gaara needs a resurrection.

They move is silence again. Same formation as the day before. They're moving as fast as they can push themselves while still being cautious of their surroundings. They have to slow down as they get closer to the border. It's not home territory once they cross that border and no matter how important this mission is, running in without thinking will get them killed.

They stop an hour away from the border so she can give them more details about Uchiha Obito. Technically, this information is all above their clearance levels, but if they want a chance in hell of surviving she needs to tell them. So, she does. Tsunade can kill her for it later it they survive.

"Before we continue, I'm going to tell you more about Tobi. This is classified, but if we want any chance of this working, I need you all to know these things. Tobi has the sharingan," Katsumi pauses and lets that sink into her team before she continues, "and he's able to use the wood release."

Sakura inhales sharply at that, "How?"

"Classified. The technique he uses to be intangible is a result of his sharingan. He can also use to drag us into a different dimension. I don't know what that means for those who get caught in it. He's dangerous. Very, very skilled, and very, very hard to kill."

"You said he has the sharingan. Is he an Uchiha or is this man like Kakashi?" Sai's eyes are narrowed as he processes all this.

Katsumi hesitates to answer. One on hand, it gives them a better idea of the difficulty level. Kakashi's eye causes him to experience extreme chakra exhaustion after prolonged use. An Uchiha wouldn't have that issue. On the other hand, telling them the truth would raise questions she doesn't want to answer. She settles for the best answer she can give, "He's not going to have the same issues with chakra exhaustion as Kakashi."

Naruto glances up at the sky like he's rolling something around in his head, "You said he can drag us into a separate dimension. What if I made a seal that would keep you all in this one?"

"Sounds like a space-time seal. Wouldn't that be hit or miss? Especially since we can't test it?" Katsumi's not about to agree to an untested seal on her teammates if Naruto isn't one hundred percent confident it won't do more harm than good.

"More like an anti-space-time seal, dattebayo. Might be able to? Like an anchor, it'd be one time use. Probably won't be able to keep you here either, but might be able to pull you back?" Naruto looks much less grim discussing this seal over the other one.

"We have four hours left, Naruto. We can't afford to add time for you to come up with a new seal. So you better be able to some up with it right now. And you better make sure it works. I don't want an untested seal killing any of us."

Naruto nods once and creates ten clones who immediately start debating fuinjutsu with each other. Guess that works. Katsumi turns to Sakura, "I don't know if he'll use the wood release he has, but I need you to be able to counter it if possible. I know you're technically a field medic now, so you can't be offensive, but you're the only one of us who can counter that."

Sakura cracks her fingers one by one and smiles without humor at her, "I can do that."

Katsumi doesn't like the way it sounds like Sakura is mentally preparing to die trying. She won't lose any of them if she has a say in it. She turns to Sai and they just look at each other for a moment, an understanding only ANBU operatives are capable of having passes between them, finally she gives him his orders, "I need you to be the one to retrieve Gaara. Your ink beasts can be in and out with him easiest. That comes after we've bought time for Naruto to place whatever seals he decides to use on the statue, alright?"

Sai smiles at her and she can't tell anymore if it's fake or not, "I understand, midget-Taichou. I will do my best."

Katsumi gives a slight smile at the nickname. Trust Sai to keep calling her that even though she's his superior right now. She hopes this goes well. She doesn't want to bury any of them, and she'd like to avoid being buried herself.

"Naruto? We're moving on now. Your clones can stay here and keep working on the seals, I guess. You get their memories when they disperse right?" Katsumi glances over at the blonde.

"Yeah. They'll figure it out, dattebayo." Naruto beams far too brightly for it to be real. Far too forcefully. Her team is as worried about this mission as she is.

"Great. Let's head out." Katsumi moves back up into the trees, her team falling into place behind her. She hopes the Suna team isn't too far behind them. They're going to need back up.

Crossing into the Land of Rivers makes something settle in Katsumi's chest. No going back now. They've come this far. They have to see this through no matter what. Katsumi knows based on her old memories, she'd bought about a year and a half of time before Gaara's extraction. Katsumi has to hope it's enough to give them an edge. It has to be enough.

Two hours out, Naruto calls out for them to stop. They pause near a river and Katsumi feels better knowing there's water here.

"So, I got a seal. It definitely won't kill any of you. But on such short notice, I dunno if it's gonna work, dattebayo. It's one time use and, if it works, will kinda slingshot you back into this dimension if he tries to throw you out? I dunno where you'll show back up though. So, uh, be prepared for that, dattebayo." Naruto scratches the back of his head as he talks. Clearly uncomfortable with explaining all this.

"Where does it go?" Katsumi's not sure if this will work, but it's better than nothing she supposes.

"Back of the neck. Right over that bump where your neck and back meet, dattebayo. It won't hurt when I put it there, but it'll probably be uncomfortable if it activates." Naruto is digging out his fuinjutsu ink as he speaks.

"You gonna wear one too?" Sakura looks skeptical.

"Can't, dattebayo. It'll interfere with sealing the stone thing if I do. The matrices of the two seals would be in direct conflict. It's only an issue if the person wearing the anchor seal is also making the containment seal. If I had more time, I could find a way around it, but I don't." Naruto is adding blood into the ink and stirring it as he talks. When he discusses fuinjutsu, he's startlingly focused and his eyes are much sharper than normal. Like fuinjutsu brings out his maturity.

"I'll go first, if it kills me, Sakura is new squad leader," Katsumi moves her hair and Haitai-ate out of the way and turns around. She's not about to have her teammates have an untested seal put on them without knowing if it'll kill them first.

Naruto works quickly and smoothly as he makes the seal. The ink burns slightly as it's applied and when he sets it, Katsumi feels a bit like someone hit her over the head for a moment, not in a painful way though. Like a sudden severe vertigo. When the disorientation fades, Katsumi fees a bit like there's something tugging on her. Like she's wearing a leash or something.

Sai and Sakura both seem to have the same reaction when it's applied as she did, though Sai's only indication of that is rapid blinking for a moment. Naruto looks satisfied as he puts his supplies away, "There. Should be good, dattebayo. Best I can do. Hopefully, no one ends up in a volcano if these activate."

Katsumi doesn't find that joke funny at all. That sounds too much like a very real possibility if this "anchor" seal doesn't have a specified location to bring them back to. It sounds far, far too risky. But it's the best they have. Better than being stuck in an alternate dimension, certainly. Gaara better be damn grateful when this is over with.

Notes:

Imma go ahead and warn y'all to put ur mourning clothes on. Cus things about to get real depressing soon

Chapter 49

Chapter Text

They make it within a kilometer of the location when Katsumi hears a heartbeat finally. A steady, human heartbeat. Just one. One that appears far too suddenly and far too close for her to be okay with it.

Katsumi makes a sign for them to stop, because that heart beat really is far too close for comfort. She doesn't think they're going to make it to the location without a fight. Katsumi was hoping they'd get a bit closer before Obito decided to cause issues, close enough that Naruto would be within eyesight of them. In case he needed help. She supposes that was just wishful thinking.

"Naruto, no matter what happens, you neutralize that fucking rock," Katsumi murmurs lowly as she turns her head to look up at the man in the tree above them.

"But—"

"That's an order." Katsumi refuses to argue with him when Uchiha fucking Obito is sitting in a tree, swinging his feet back and forth like a little fucking kid. She hates him on sight.

"Hello!! Whatcha doin' here? I'm Tobi! Who are you?" The childish voice makes Katsumi's eye twitch. It's a good cover, she'll give him that. If she didn't know how much of an act it was, she might fall for it.

"That so? You can call me Hana. We're looking for a friend, Tobi. Have you seen him?" Katsumi plays along with this stupid game. Figures it gives them the best shot at surviving for the moment. The last time she'd used her mother's name as an alias, she'd survived, hopefully it's a good luck charm.

"Ohhhh? Really? I haven't seen anyone else around here. Maybe your friend isn't here?" Obito tilts his head almost comically and makes like that's messed with his balance. Watching him dramatically right himself makes her want to curl her lip.

"I think we both know that's not true. His name is Gaara. Red hair, kind of short, likes sand. Sure that's not ringing a bell?" Katsumi moves slowly around, always keeping her back to her team as she watches Obito. Hopefully, Naruto will go on while they keep this guy occupied.

"Oh! Yeah! He's busy, though. You can't see him right now! Sorry, Hana-Chan!"

"I understand, would it be okay if we waited for him? You could keep us company," Katsumi does her best to smile and look unthreatening. From the long silence that follows, she doesn't think it works.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Hana-Chan!" Obito's voice takes on a falsely panicked tone. Katsumi wonders what it would take to make him drop the act.

"Why not?" She tilts her head and doesn't react to the way Naruto is slowly moving on towards the direction of Gaara and the statue. Good. He can follow orders.

"Well, it's gonna be a few days before he's done, you see. And- and Tobi will be busy helping him!" Katsumi watches his head turn just slightly towards Naruto. That's not good.

"Helping him with what? He's the Kazekage, you know. He has other responsibilities." Katsumi raises her voice a bit, hoping to draw his attention back to her.

It doesn't work. Katsumi manages to make a choked noise of warning as Obito is suddenly gone and appearing in front of Naruto. Fuck. No. No. Naruto doesn't even pause though. Just twists around the man, and when Obito goes to attack him, she sees what his seals do for the first time and she's not prepared at all. His arms glow so brightly she can see their details through his sleeves. The violent explosion of pure wind chakra out of them makes her have to use her own chakra stick her feet to the ground to keep herself in place. Even Obito seems to have been unprepared for that, jumping back entirely like he forgot he can make himself intangible. Naruto grins viciously and is gone before anyone can react to that. Fuck, she knew he was unpredictable, but what was that?

She doesn't have time to consider that though. She snarls and immediately moves through the handseals for her mouth of the serpent jutsu and pulls as much water as she can from the nearby river and directs it at Obito. Sakura and Sai are only a moment behind her with their own techniques. The mokuton explodes up towards the man like spears, while Sai's ink beasts are pouncing viciously. Katsumi is under no illusions that they'll actually hurt the man. They just need to make sure Naruto is capable of doing his job.

"That wasn't very nice!" Obito's whiny voice after their attacks end makes her bare her teeth. Fucking asshole.

"If you want nice, Tobi, don't attack my friends," she snarls, all pretense of friendly conversation gone.

Katsumi barely has a moment to draw her katana before he's right in front of her. Fuck. He's fast and she can see the glow of the sharingan in the one hole of his eye. What follows is what Katsumi would describe as a shit show. Utterly.

Sai is up in the air on an ink bird and relentlessly making Ink beasts. Sakura is frantically trying to use her mokuton against the man, and katsumi is just try to survive. Fuck. He's easily Kakashi's level. Better, probably, if his Kamui is taken into account. Because he's not even trying to dodge her strikes, just letting them pass straight through and Katsumi just has to keep doing her best to avoid getting murdered by the man. At least he's paying them attention though, instead of Naruto.

Katsumi has to stifle a shriek of pain when he catches hold of her arm and dislocates it. Fuck. That's bad. She reacts on instinct and water shrapnel explodes outwards. Her left arm is useless now. Fuck. She hates dislocations. Katsumi keeps hold of her Katana with her right hand and keeps moving. Dodging Obito as much as her comrades' attacks.

He catches her again and this time she's being launched through the air so fast she doesn't even have time to blink before she's slamming into a tree. Fuck. She can feel the concussion. And the whiplash. And the damaged ribs. Probably some organ damage too. Fuck her.

Sakura's mokuton explodes out in front of Katsumi and she thinks the girl is trying to impale the orange masked man. He's too fast though. She's not even sure he's making himself intangible. She thinks he might just be dodging.

Katsumi manages to roll into a crouch without crying out in pain, which considering the force she just got slammed into a tree with, she's pretty happy with. Sakura and Sai are doing their level best to keep the man busy. Five full minutes and he won't be able to be intangible anymore. Katsumi's hoping they make it that long.

She grits her teeth and goes through the hand seals for her lightning hound. She can see the moment that Obito recognizes the beginning of what, until she lets it go, looks like the chidori. She holds it for a moment, as the man continues making impossible dodges of the mokuton and ink beast. Holds it until he visibly has to dodge for real. Then let's it go. Her arms are burning from holding it so long, and she just used far more chakra than usual for it, but watching the Taishiro-shaped lightning make a beeline for Obito is satisfying as they come. He manages, barely to avoid it. But she can see the cracks in his mask and she can't stop the grin from forming on her face as she throws a soldier pill back. So he's not untouchable. She wonders how long it would take to wear him down enough to end him.

Katsumi forces herself to her feet, braces and slams her dislocated shoulder against the tree until it pops back into place. Still not much use, and painful as hell, but at least it's not dangling uselessly anymore.

Sakura is at her side near immediately as Sai takes over keeping Obito occupied for a moment. She works quickly and silently as she works to heal Katsumi, "If you'd hit that tree any harder, your spine would have broken. You had some internal bleeding, I managed to stop it, but another hit like that and you could very well die."

Katsumi nods at that. She won't back down. They need to give Naruto as much time he needs. Whatever it takes. Katsumi's been luckier than anyone she knows this life. If this is where her luck runs out, she's okay with that so long as the mission gets completed.

"Keep up with the mokuton. Five minutes of constant intangibility and we might be able to hit him again." Katsumi can see Sakura's resolve. She's not going to stop either.

Katsumi runs through the sequence for her Fire senbon and prays it draws his attention away from Sai flying above their heads. It fails. And they get to see if Naruto's fucking seal works. Sai looks like he's being dragged into a black hole or something for a moment before disappearing altogether with a noise that sounds like the crash of thunder. Fuck. She's not expecting Obito's reaction though. He grabs his face and screams in pain and Katsumi has no idea what the fuck just happened to him, but she assumes it wasn't good.

She and Sakura don't hesitate. The mokuton shoots out to try and hold the man still. Katsumi forms the lighting hound again. At the last second, the man becomes intangible and she thinks she can see blood dripping through the eye hole of his mask. He's in front of them before they can blink and Katsumi is picked up by the throat and flung straight through the air a second time.

Katsumi is dazed from the second blow to the head and it takes longer than she's okay with to stumble to her feet. Sakura is bleeding heavily even as she heals herself and Obito just keeps going. Is utterly relentless as he takes Sakura apart.

Katsumi doesn't even think. Just gets pissed and says the first thing she can to draw his attention back to her, "Rin would hate you if she could see you now, you know."

Obito goes dangerously still, entirely stopping his assault on Sakura's now limp form. Katsumi's pretty sure she just got his attention. Maybe a bit too well.

He has her up by the throat and against a tree before she can blink. His grip on her neck is so hard she can practically feel the bones grind against each other. His voice is deep and menacing, all fake air headedness gone, "What was that?"

She grins wildly and chokes out, "She would never love you for this. Nohara Rin? She'd hate you now."

Her head gets slammed against the tree and she sees stars for a moment. Fucking hell. She can't help the choked, feral laughter bubbling in her throat.

"Where the hell did you learn that name, bitch?"

"Wanna- wanna hear a secret? Kakashi... didn't kill Rin, you fucking... idiot," she has to fight for breath through the hand on her throat and her own laughter, "She fucking committed suicide via your teammate... bet... bet she'd do it again too... just to avoid having... having to look at the piece... of shit... you've become... Obito."

She can see the glow of the sharingan, identical to Kakashi's, from behind his mask. She wonders how he's going to kill her. Another hard slam of her head against the tree makes her bite her tongue and she can taste blood filling her mouth.

"You're going to tell me where you learned who I am, then, maybe I'll kill you quickly." His voice is deep and menacing and terrifyingly calm as he say this.

She doesn't say a word. Just spits a mouthful of her blood onto his mask and bares her teeth. She can feel a violent earthquake-like feeling come from the general direction Naruto is in and knows they've won. Obito can go fuck himself.

She says as much and she guesses he thinks what happened with Sai must have been a fluke. She has no idea how to describe the strange pulling and twisting sensation of his Kamui. It's unpleasant to say the least. She can feel the moment Naruto's seal activates too. The leash like sensation around her neck suddenly yanking her back hard. Fuck. That hurt way worse than she expected. The last thing she registers before blacking out is slamming through a wall and the Mizukage's shocked face.

Chapter 50

Chapter Text

Katsumi wakes up violently. Comes back to consciousness in a sheer panic. She has no idea where she is and she's drugged and restrained and instinctively tries to pull water to her for her water shrapnel when voices call out to her and hands push down on her arms and legs. She feels a sharp pain somewhere on her side and the shouts get more frantic and she thinks she smells blood. Before she can react any further there's a hand on her forehead and she's gone again.

The next time she wakes up, she can feel the unpleasant suppression of her chakra and panics again. This time no one touches her, and there's only one voice that cuts through her blind panic and makes her freeze, "Hey! Brat! Calm the fuck down. You're in a hospital, so knock it off."

Katsumi knows that voice and immediately snarls in the direction of it as her head clears and she gets a good look at her surroundings. It's definitely a hospital room. It's definitely not a Konoha hospital room. Katsumi stares at the fucking asshole leaning against the wall of the room and has so many questions.

"Brat, shut the fuck up. Your throat got fucked up and all that noise is only going to make it worse," Zabuza is glaring at her like she meant to end up in what she assumes is a Kiri hospital.

Katsumi squints up at him and thinks quickly. Sai is missing, Naruto was supposed to seal the Gedo statue, Sakura was unconscious, Obito was pissed. Fuck. She needs to go. She needs to get to her team. Fuck. She cannot be here. She's struggling against her restraints again before she knows it and Zabuza is cursing and beside her in an instant, strong hands holding her shoulders down and he calls for the medics.

"Damnit! Calm the fuck down! You are safe, you fucking idiot! You're going to hurt yourself again! Knock it off!" He's snarling in her face as medics run into the room.

Katsumi bares her teeth up at him but goes still as stone again. She needs to get home and he makes a good point. Hurting herself will delay making it home.

Zabuza lets her go but looks ready to hold her still again if she has another moment of panic. The medics are working quickly. Checking her vitals, replacing the IV drip, removing the tubes from her throat, and keep checking her head. A lot. She thinks she hit it once or twice. Must have a concussion or something now.

The medics leave the restraints and chakra suppressors on her and after a quick pass of green chakra over her throat inform her she can speak if she doesn't raise her voice at all for the next week. Katsumi doesn't even have the energy to consider raising her voice now that she's calmed down. Just watches as the medics leave as quickly as they came.

"Kid, you have a lot of explaining to do." Zabuza sounds like she purposely landed in a Kiri hospital just to inconvenience him.

Katsumi glares at him and says nothing.

"I'm serious, kid. You showed up, in the fucking Mizukage's office looking like you just escaped a war zone. What the fuck are you doing here? "

Katsumi struggles to form words for a moment, finally manages, "Mission went bad, untested seal."

Zabuza just stares down at her for awhile. Like he doesn't understand a thing she just said. Says in disbelief, "Untested seal?"

"Naruto. How long have I been here?" She needs to go. To get back to Konoha.

"You've been here a week now. Nearly killed yourself and one of the medics a few days ago when you woke up for a minute, you fucking brat."

Katsumi vaguely remembers waking up and panicking. Vaguely remembers feeling like she was stabbed in the side or something too. Wait. Fuck. Did he say a week? Fuck. She needs to leave and now.

"I have to go home." Katsumi says it blankly. It's the most important thing right now. She has to go back. She has to know how her team is. Fuck. She cannot be here anymore. She needs to be back yesterday.

"Yeah, no. Until we get a reply from the tree huggers, you aren't going anywhere. Deal with it, Brat. You aren't even in traveling condition yet. Medics were shocked you even woke up, you know that, right? Fucking Mei thought she'd have to explain to your fucking Hokage why we have a dead Konoha shinobi in our village." Zabuza looks like he's contemplating causing that problem for Mei if Katsumi tries to get out of the restraints.

"So I'm stuck here?" That's not going to work. She wholeheartedly refuses to sit here indefinitely.

"You could be in T right now, kid. Just be fucking happy we felt like being nice."

Katsumi doesn't say anything. She's well aware that treaty or not, she's on thin ice. She's in a different shinobi village without permission and she's in no position to argue. This really is the best case scenario right now. Even if she hates it.

"Sulking now, brat? Didn't take you for the type." The mocking note in his voice makes her hackles raise.

"Don't you have something better to do than watch me lie in a hospital bed? Like, I dunno, die?"

Zabuza narrows his eyes, "Mei's orders after you tried to kill the medics. I certainly didn't fucking volunteer to babysit your sorry ass."

"How'd I even try to kill them? Haven't I been restrained the whole time?"

He actually looks mildly disturbed as he explains, "You're a fucking Ishihara. You got cut up when you destroyed the wall in Mei's office. You nearly impaled them with your own blood. Reopened the biggest wound and everything. Fucking hell, kid, that's part of why your clan had a reputation in the first place. Teeth and water and steel and blood, it's how you fuckers are. It's fucked up. Not even counting the fucked up way your brain works."

"Oh. Should I apologize to them?" She's not sure what the proper protocol is for that problem. And she needs anything other than her team to focus on or she'll go insane. She can already feel the anxiety crawling under her skin over her team's— her pack's — fate.

He snorts at that and leans back against the wall by the window, "Do what you want, sea wolf. They're used to nearly getting maimed."

"Where's Haku? I like him more." Haku isn't a dick. Katsumi doesn't feel like she needs to attack Haku the way she does Zabuza.

"Busy. Be good and maybe he'll visit."

"Where are my things?" She thinks her Katana is back in the land of Rivers and hopes Naruto picked it up.

"Stored away. Don't need you trying to run off until this is sorted out, brat." Zabuza opens the windows and hops up onto the windowsill.

"Are you leaving?" Katsumi's not his biggest fan, but she likes having a familiar, if irritating, face around her.

"Sure am, Brat. Mei is gonna want to know you're awake and not trying to murder the medics now." He's gone before she can reply, window left open.

Katsumi can smell saltwater even without enhancing her sense of smell, and feels the cold air creeping in. There's no sun. Not like Konoha's brightness. It's overcast and grey and Katsumi gets the same feeling she had in wave country when she saw the ocean. Like something is settling down in her head to rest with the change of scenery. She's still worried, and still wants to get home, but it feels nice here. Nice in a way she doesn't think her comrades would enjoy.

Katsumi thinks about them. They'll need to find Sai. Sakura definitely needed medical treatment. Naruto is probably fine, nothing really seems to put him down. She hopes Yuma is still on his bodyguard mission, she thinks he'd be less than thrilled to hear about this. Shikamaru is probably on some kind of warpath, assuming they haven't received a letter from the Mizukage yet. She doesn't even want to know what's going through Kakashi's head. Fuck, Yamato. If Sakura is dead, on a mission she was leading, she'll never be able to look the man in the eyes again.

Katsumi can't believe her luck. First mission as a jounin and one team member gets, probably, severely injured, she gets sent to Kiri, and she outright loses a second team member. Fuck. She thinks Naruto probably managed to seal the stupid rock though. Hopefully, they got the Kazekage back too. Maybe Tsunade won't murder her for this if they at least succeeded in the mission.

Chapter 51

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She manages to convince one of the newer medics to take her restraints off after two days of cajoling. She's still not allowed to leave the hospital room or have the chakra suppressors removed, but now she's able to walk to the bathroom without having to ask permission at least. She gets let off the drugs after another day and starts plotting to leave early as soon as her head is clear enough for it. She needs to be allowed out of the hospital first though. Zabuza can apparently read her mind and every time she so much as glances at the door threatens to have the medics sedate her again. Which is enough to make her behave. Barely.

It helps that she's really not in much condition to go breaking out of a shinobi village. Apparently her head injury was worse than she figured. Which explained the constant headache as she recovered. And the fact she only has blurry memories of a single sharingan glaring at her and the taste of blood in her mouth when she tried to remember what happened immediately before she ended up here. She's pretty sure she said something, but she can't recall what.

Katsumi takes to pacing the room and sniping at Zabuza as the days wear on. Finally, after what she thinks is another week, he throws a set of clothes at her that are two sizes too big along with her hitai-ate and tells her to get dressed. Apparently, she doesn't get her ruined clothes back and gets to wait until she leaves to get any of her other belongings back. Fucking paranoid bastard of a babysitter.

"Hurry up, brat. Thought you wanted out of here," Zabuza sounds impatient as she changes in the bathroom, uncomfortable for once to change in front of someone. No matter how well she knows him, he's not Konoha. There's no real camaraderie here.

"Thought I wasn't allowed to leave," Katsumi snaps through the door as she works on the pants so they fit her at least somewhat better. Fit enough not to fall down at least.

"Hospital is done with your shit, until we can get rid of you, you're staying with me and Haku. You gotta go talk to Mei first, brat." Zabuza sounds like he would rather drown her in the ocean than let her stay with him, but he's her Mizukage-appointed babysitter and has to take her apparently.

Katsumi narrows her eyes at the closed door, "You have a house? Figured you just slept in a dumpster. You fucking smell like you do."

"Shut the fuck up and get out here, you walking fucking headache," Zabuza sounds like he's going to break the door down if she doesn't hurry up.

Katsumi isn't happy with the borrowed clothes and would like hers back, and everything still hurts, but she could probably manage to slip out of Kiri this way, if she could get the chakra suppression seals removed and find her Wakizashi. She needs to get back to Konoha and her team and she doesn't like how much she likes the way being in Kiri feels like almost home . It's an unpleasant reminder that in a different world, it would be home. It feels like that knowledge is written into her very bones. She hates that.

Walking through Kirigakure's streets, practically hiding in Zabuza's shadow, is strange. She finds it interesting to see vegetation growing on the roofs of the building, it's pretty. The streets are more narrow than Konoha's with canals cutting through the village. The people aren't as loud either. Low tones and quiet voices instead of the loud greetings and shouts she's used to in Konoha. There are young children swimming in the canals and older ones clumsily running across the surface of the water.

Katsumi can feel eyes on her even as she keeps close to Zabuza. She does her best to ignore the wary glances and cold stares of the Kiri shinobi. It's normal for a foreign shinobi to be watched after all. And if the story of how she arrived has spread, she's definitely not surprised at the narrow eyed judgement she's getting from them. It wasn't exactly a polite arrival.

The Mizukage's building reminds her vaguely of the Hokage's building when they arrive and she wonders if the general look of it was copied or something from Konoha or if it was just a coincidence. Hard to tell considering the general architecture style here is weirdly circular buildings.

Zabuza doesn't even bother knocking on the door of the office when they arrive. Just throws the door open and calls out, "Brought you the brat like you ordered."

Katsumi notices the hole in the wall as soon as they enter, pretty sure that was her fault. Oops. Katsumi quickly averts her gaze from the hole and looks at the Mizukage. The Mizukage looks disapproving at the entrance but doesn't admonish him. Katsumi gets the feeling she's used to Zabuza's rough way of doing things. Instead, Mei-Sama just rolls her eyes at the man and smiles tightly at Katsumi, "I see you're healing nicely, Ishihara-Chan. You'll be happy to hear that Konoha has responded to our missive about your... visit. They're quite eager to have you back. Of course, you'll have to stay a little while longer as our guest. I'm sure that won't be a problem for you."

There's a pause and Katsumi gets the feeling she's supposed to agree, "No problem at all, Lady Mizukage. Thank you for allowing me to recover here and I apologize for any problems I've caused."

The Mizukage's smile doesn't waver, "Ishihara-Chan, I do believe I told you to call me Mei the last time we met. That still stands. You'll be free to move around Kirigakure with Zabuza's or Haku's supervision. I believe Konoha is sending someone to the border to escort you home once you've been medically cleared for travel. And in the future, Ishihara-chan, perhaps you shouldn't use seals that haven't been tested yet. As you can see, there tends to be... unexpected results."

Katsumi smiles tightly at that and bows to the woman, "Of course, Mei-Sama. It won't happen again."

"I don't expect it too. Zabuza, do take care that nothing happens to our guest while she recovers. I would be extremely displeased if something were to occur." The woman's voice is still pleasant, but takes on a sharp steel-like edge.

"No need to get snippy, Mei. I'll keep the brat alive." Zabuza grunts out and practically drags Katsumi back out of the room and through the building to the street again.

Katsumi doesn't fight him as he practically pushes her through the streets. She gets the feeling he isn't thrilled to be stuck keeping her out of trouble. She didn't exactly sign up for this either, though. So she really doesn't feel that bad for him.

They arrive at a house that's a little bit away from what she thinks is the main part of the village. It's not huge, but it's nicely kept. Doesn't look at all like what she imagined Zabuza's house to look like. She'd pictured something more utilitarian than this. Katsumi thinks Haku is probably the reason it's nicer than a shack.

The inside of the house smells like dried herbs and a glance towards the windows shows bundles of them hanging in the sunlight. The living room is sparse and Katsumi can identify at least twenty places a weapon is probably hidden.

Zabuza eyes her warningly, "You're staying in the second room down the hall to the left. Bathroom is across from it. No running off or sneaking out, kid. Don't make me have to hunt your dumb ass down. You won't get far."

Katsumi tilts her head as she investigates a spot behind a bookshelf she thinks has senbon hidden there, "Old man, I'm harder to catch than you think. It's been awhile since you and Haku took me hostage."

That gets a snort, "Still the same brat. A few new tricks doesn't change that. Leave the senbon alone. They're poisoned. Unless you want another trip to the hospital, stop touching things."

Katsumi reluctantly leaves the senbon in their hiding place, "What am I supposed to do here?"

"Don't cause me problems and take whatever medicine Haku says to. If you're good maybe I'll let you do some training. Medical opinion be damned."

Katsumi perks up a bit at that, "Got any jutsu you'd be willing to share?"

"Fuck off, brat. You aren't getting those chakra suppressors off anytime soon."

"Why?" Katsumi doesn't even bother keeping the whine out of her voice. She'd finish healing a bit faster with her chakra active.

"You're a shitty brat. That's why. Don't need you twisting off and spraying blood everywhere again. You'll get them off when you don't look like you're gonna try to fuck off the second you have your chakra back."

"Can't run without my Wakizashi." Katsumi makes a slow circuit around the room, idly mapping out all the ways she could get out without being caught as she walks.

"Don't give a fuck. The suppressors stay on." Zabuza grunts as he leans back on the couch, head tilted towards the ceiling. If she were quick, she could probably try slitting his throat. She thinks that would go poorly though.

Katsumi shrugs and wanders into the kitchen to and starts going through the cabinets and fridge in boredom. She finds an entire cabinet of Sake and pulls one off the shelf to look at it. Some Kiri brand she's never heard of, "Hey, am I allowed to drink sake with whatever it is Haku's making me take?"

There's a moment of silence, then, "Touch my sake and I'll put you back in the fucking hospital, brat."

Katsumi eyes the man from the kitchen dubiously. She doubts he'll do anything that might extend his babysitting job, especially not after the Mizukage's warning to not let her get hurt while she's here. She and Yuma were planning to steal some Kiri sake. She figures Yuma wouldn't mind if she handled that without him. He's busy with the Daimyo's daughter after all.

Notes:

So Who would be interested in a fic focusing solely on Yuma/Hyena and his life? Cus i just posted the first chapter of Laughter is the best medicine (until it's poison) and it follows Yuma's life from childhood on!

Chapter 52

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

"That's Ratsbane. Very good for killing rats and people, it causes vomiting and circulation problems, nerve damage, and death," Haku's voice is soft and gentle as Katsumi looks at one of the bundles of herbs.

"I didn't know you used poison," Katsumi knows some poisons, the fast acting ones that are good for battle or capture. Not so much for assassinations. She really only uses her anticoagulant and paralytic.

"Sometimes it is necessary. As a shinobi, I'm sure you know that." Haku walks forward to stand beside her and gently pulls her hand away from the drying plant.

"I don't use poisons often," Katsumi looks over the other herbs and tries to remember them from Anko and Genma's lessons when she was little.

"You did when we fought together."

"Just an anticoagulant. Other than that and a single paralytic, I don't really use them," she's not ashamed to admit it.

"I see, if you're going to use poisons, perhaps expand into others. You never know when someone may be immune to one. Especially the more common poisons," Haku's voice is a gentle admonishment combined with genuinely meant advice.

"What would you suggest?" Katsumi is always open to learning.

"Perhaps a variation in your paralytic. What kind do you use? Plant based or venom?" Haku tilts his head curiously and long black hair falls elegantly around his face.

"Snake venom," Anko always gifts it to her for her birthday every year. Had taught her how to increase or decrease the potency on her own.

"Hemlock can be used for paralysis. You'll have to be careful with it, though. It's quite dangerous. You use the leaves when the flower blooms for making the poison. That's when it's most potent," Haku gestures to the dried plant by Katsumi's head.

Katsumi considers the plant for a moment, commits it to memory and resolves to ask Genma about it. She glances back over at Haku consideringly, "I thought you just used herbs for healing."

"Many of these herbs can work as medicine or poison, depending on the way it's treated and the amount used. Purging croton, for example, in the right dose can cause you to vomit up whatever is making you feel sick already; in the wrong dose, it can kill, quite painfully too." Haku smiles pleasantly at her and begins to pull leaves from different bundles.

"What are you doing?" Katsumi watches as he grinds them up.

"Preparing your medicine. This will help any remaining head pains from your concussion without making you drowsy, it may also help prevent any further memory loss due to it as well. You can only have it once a day, however. I don't want you getting sick," Haku explains patiently, "and no, Katsumi-Chan, you cannot drink sake after taking this."

Katsumi makes an indignant face, "I wasn't going to ask that."

"I'm sure. This is going to be a tea. Unfortunately, it's not a particularly pleasant tea, but it will help. Drink all of it, please," Haku gives her a kind, yet stern, look as he waits for the tea to boil.

Katsumi has been in the house for a single night now and this is the first time she's seen Haku. Zabuza seems to have left her for the calm boy to deal with today. Katsumi suspects that means a lot of medicinal teas for the foreseeable future.

"Of course, thank you for taking care of me," Katsumi smiles at the Kiri shinobi and turns to watch the tea boil.

"You're welcome. Once you've drank the tea, if you'd like, I can show you around the village. After spending so much time in a hospital room, I'm sure you'd like to stretch your legs."

"Yes, please," Katsumi has been forcibly stagnant for far too long. She needs to be moving or she's going to start worrying about her team and just keep spiraling into her more pessimistic thoughts.

"Here, drink it slowly. And I have an old kimono that will fit you better than those clothes. Zabuza-sama doesn't really think about those things. I'll go get it for you," Haku smiles kindly and hands her a steaming cup of dark colored tea.

"Thank you," Katsumi doesn't really wear kimonos but anything is better than the giant clothes she's wearing now. She takes a sip of the tea as she watches Haku walk away and has to fight not to gag. It's awful. Bitter and tastes like a soldier pill gone bad. It's fucking terrible and she'd rather take it like a shot but Haku has made it clear she has to drink it slowly.

She's only half way done with worst tea she's ever drank when Haku returns with a pretty light pink kimono with flowers on it. It looks nicer than anything she's ever worn, save for the kimono the noble lady had forced her to wear years ago. She may not wear things like this normally, but she can appreciate the fineness of it.

"Drink some water after you're finished to wash away the taste. When you're ready, we can go." Haku sets the kimono over the back on the kitchen chair and watches her as she drinks the tea. Katsumi gets the feeling he's making sure she doesn't try to get rid of it.

When the cup is empty, Haku plucks it out of her hands and replaces it with a cup of water that Katsumi gratefully takes. It doesn't do much to help the awful aftertaste but it's better than nothing.

She ends up needing Haku's help with the kimono. Her arm that got dislocated is still not bending quite right and it makes things difficult. Haku doesn't say a word about It, just helps her dress quickly and efficiently.

"There, much better. Tonight, I'll help you work on strengthening your shoulder. Have you ever had acupuncture? It's good for pain," Haku smiles as he leads her out of the house at a leisurely pace.

"No, I don't think I have," Katsumi isn't exactly alright with people trying to poke her with pointy objects most of the time.

"Well, if you're comfortable with it, I can give it to you," Haku offers.

Katsumi has a flash of Sasuke covered in senbon needles and not moving and has to swallow her immediate and resounding no , Haku isn't her enemy now. He won't do that again, "Maybe. Where are we going?"

"Just walking. I have a few errands to run later, but for now, we just want to get you moving again," Haku's pleasant expression goes sharp and dangerous for a split second when a strange Shinobi looks like he's going to comment on Katsumi's hitai-ate. Katsumi barely manages to swallow the automatic snarl at the man's close proximity and lets Haku's face do the talking. The man seems to decide it's healthier for him to go on his way.

They walk in companionable silence and Katsumi pays attention to every street they turn onto. Memorizing the path as best she can. The streets are all damp even the ones that aren't near the canals and Katsumi wishes she could access her chakra just to feel how much water must be in the air.

Katsumi doesn't need her chakra to feel like she knows where she's supposed to go when they turn onto a street that hasn't been as well maintained as the others. Katsumi hardly notices she's speed up as she walks, it feels like something is dragging her down the street and it makes her ignore Haku's voice calling to her entirely.

She turns down a street that looks like nature has done its best to reclaim it and her heart feels like it's pounding out of her chest and she needs to know why. The end of the street looks like the ocean had come up to swallow everything whole. There's a cracked and bloodstained wall covered in vines coming out of the water and Katsumi's mind goes blank when she sees the broken gates. She knows the crest that's made of twisted metal on it that's stubbornly holding the gates closed despite the rust. Like the waves of the ocean. She's seen it a hundred times. Traced over it with her fingertips countless nights. That's the Ishihara crest. It marks every one of the few clan scrolls she has.

She doesn't even think before she's walking toward the broken gates and water. Ignores Haku as he puts a hand on her shoulder and tries to pull her back. She stares at the gate and the lock that's not so much a lock as it is a sharp, metal edge that's pointed out towards her and she can see the seal work wrapping around it.

"Katsumi-Chan, we shouldn't be here. This area is dangerous," Haku's voice is stern and unyielding and Katsumi ignores him entirely. She knows what to do to open the gate, no chakra needed. Just blood.

She feels like she's not even in control of her body as she reaches her hand out and slices her palm on the points edge and lets her blood flow out over the seal. The water around them suddenly begins to move like a storm has suddenly come and slams into them hard enough to make Katsumi stumble back into Haku, before it all recedes faster than she can blink. There's a moment of stillness before the lock seems to undo itself, the seal glowing brightly for a moment before there's a clicking noise. The seal doesn't go away, but Katsumi knows she can open it now. So, she does. Ignores Haku calling out to her and steps forward through the gates that immediately lock behind her again.

For the first time, in over thirty years, the Ishihara compound is no longer vacant.

Notes:

First to chapters of Yuma's story is up! It's called Laughter is the best medicine (until it's a poison)

Chapter 53

Chapter Text

The compound is eerily silent as Katsumi takes it in. The buildings are overgrown with the vegetation that she thinks was originally only on the roofs. She can see the signs of a battle. Knows just by looking that her clan had not died quietly. There's old, brown bloodstains on the buildings and the water smoothed stones of the street. She can see swords still embedded in the walls and the ground. Can see Kunai and shuriken and evidence that devastating jutsu were used. No bodies though. As if the ocean had claimed the corpses for its own with no one here to tell it no. Other than the bloodstains and the overgrowth, it's like time has barely touched the compound. Like if she were to wait long enough, people would appear and carry on living their lives here.

Katsumi walks quietly through the empty streets and touches nothing. She feels like an intruder for all she also feels like she's returned home after a long mission. It's odd. To feel familiar with a place she's never even seen before. Never even thought still existed. She looks over each and every building without going inside any of them. They're all white stones and blue paints that have faded with age. All open to the streets, as if they'd never felt they needed a front door to keep out their own clan. Like every house welcomed every neighbor. Katsumi wonders how strong her ancestors must have been to have felt safe living that way. To feel secure enough not to have front doors beyond the pretty, brightly colored curtains of beads dangling in the doorways. The windows of the homes are all patchworks of sea glass. Greens and blues and purples and Katsumi has never seen anything like it. The entire place is surreal to be in. It feels like a lucid dream as she looks at everything. It looks nothing like the rest of Kiri. Even with the grey overcast that seems to permanently exist here.

She finally makes a circuit through the entire compound, and her heart feels like it's beating out of her chest as she enters the first of the buildings. Katsumi stares quietly at the living room. Driftwood seems to make up the furniture. There's rice paper walls, that somehow haven't rotted, painted with images of black and white whales swimming through the ocean, and what looks like skinny, ragged grey wolves pacing the beach. Katsumi wants to reach out and touch the images, but fear of damaging them stays her hand.

She can see bloodstains on the floor as she moves deeper into the house. Can see where a sword sliced through the rice paper, can see where a body fell through it nearby. Katsumi walks into the room that she thinks someone had been protecting and her breath catches for a moment. It's a nursery. There's a pair of cribs side by side in the center of the room and children's toys still scattered on the floor. Katsumi can see the bloodstains on and around the cribs and knows whoever was protecting those children had failed.

Every house is like that. Somewhere there's bloodstains where someone was either backed into a corner and could go no further, or turned and made their last stand. She can see where people either too young or too old to fight or not shinobi at all had died in their beds or in closets or anywhere else they could hide. Can follow the blood trails of the injured to where they'd finally died.

Katsumi enters the largest building in the center of the compound last. The only one with a door. Or used to have a door, the door was clearly broken down. She thinks it must be where they held clan meetings or something, because it's clearly not a house. She wanders through the blood stained building until she comes to what looks like a storage room. Katsumi ignores the bloodstains on the floor as she looks through everything. There's weapons, clothing, jewelry, but most interesting is that there's scrolls. Lots of scrolls. Katsumi can see where there's a few missing and thinks that's where her Obaa-Chan had gotten the ones she has now. Katsumi pulls them out, one by one, and reads them.

The first is genealogy. The entire clan's family tree is written in beautiful calligraphy. Names, Marriages, births, deaths, everything is there. For the first time she sees the names of her ancestors. Katsumi smiles in bitter pride when she finds the names of her father and grandmother. The only ones that Chigiri had failed to kill. Whether it was luck, or skill, or fate, or just pure fucking spite, they had made it out. They'd survived where all others had not. Katsumi likes to think she'd inherited whatever it was that had allowed that impossible feat. Likes to think she has lived up to them the best she can.

She finds others that tell stories about different clan members. The ones who'd been particularly strong or fierce or cunning. The ones who'd shaped the clan. The ones who'd been tragedies and heroes and villains. Katsumi wonders if any of them had ever had an inkling that one day there'd be no one left to know their stories. To know how they'd failed and how they'd succeeded and lived and died. If it'd ever crossed their minds that the clan was not destined to be eternal.

When she finds the scrolls that have detailed drawings and names of different clan members, Katsumi gets to see the faces of her clan for the first time since her father died. Long black hair, so like hers. Left to fall freely around their faces or done up in wild, messy, elaborate braids. Heads shaved on one side. Heads shaved on either side. All drawn with black, black eyes or deep brown ones. All with the same sharp teeth bared at the world. Like even as drawings they wanted the world to know they were not to be trifled with.

She finds scrolls filled with different ways to use the kenjutsu style her tou-San has taught her. Different ways to use the style in her own scrolls. Ways to fight alone and ways to fight as a group. Most to fight in pairs though. She finds scrolls that explain different katas and their value. Scrolls that detail how to care for their swords properly and how to forge them.

There's entire scrolls detailing how to raise an Ishihara child. Everything from multiple teethings to how to teach them to work with their instincts instead of ignore them or get ruled by them. How to teach them to interact with people outside the clan. The importance of pack bonds and loyalty are all written about by what she thinks is multiple people. The importance of treating a clan member's non-clan pack well or risking a feud with their own blood.

There's so much information that she thinks it would take her years to learn it all. She doesn't even touch the scrolls that are clearly marked as clan techniques. All she knows is she's going to need a lot of storage scrolls because she is not leaving a single thing here when she goes home. This is her inheritance. Whether Kiri is willing to let her have it or not, she's taking it with her. It's the least she's owed for the blood spilled here.

Katsumi finally leaves the building and it's nearly sunset. She hadn't realized how much time she'd spent here. Haku will probably be extremely unhappy. She can't find it in her to feel bad though. This is hers. This place and the things left behind are hers by right of blood and birth. She can let the place go. She won't let the rest of it go. It's hers and the ocean itself will not be able to pry it from her dead body.

When she leaves the compound, the gates glow with seals again and the ocean explodes forward to drown it again. Katsumi's thinks it must be some kind of failsafe. A last fuck you to Kiri and a way to protect the clan's secrets. She suspects the water is far more dangerous than it looks if no one has gone in it since the massacre.

"I was wondering if you'd ever come back out," Haku's voice is soft and holds no annoyance.

"That was my clan's home," she says it like it's not already obvious.

"Yes. No one has been able to enter it since the last of your clan died in it. None of the shinobi sent in to it to carry the purge out made it out alive once that seal was triggered," Haku's voice sounds quietly satisfied as he says that and Katsumi is struck by the memory that Haku was a victim of the blood purges too. That someone had managed to make the perpetrators bleed too must be pleasing to anyone who suffered it.

"It's mine." Katsumi meets soft brown eyes steadily and her voice is strong as she says that.

A small smile graces Haku's face, "Mei-Sama will not deny you that. We'll find you a few storage scrolls. For now, no more running off. Zabuza-Sama was quite displeased that I'd let you out of my sight."

"I'm sorry for any inconvenience I've caused," she's not lying. She's just not sorry for what she did to cause them.

"Apology accepted. Come along, it's nearly dinner and you still need your acupuncture."

Katsumi wonders if that's going to be some kind of punishment for ditching her babysitter. If so, she'll gladly take it if it means getting to go back into the compound. She's nowhere near done with it yet.

Chapter 54

Chapter Text

"Brat, that sword is half your weight, you're going to fuck your shoulder up again if you keep messing with it," Zabuza is watching her boredly as she tries to pick up the giant fucking sword that she is determined to find a way to steal. She fucking wants it. Not as much as she wants her clan scrolls and belongings, but damn close.

"I'm not gonna fuck my shoulder up," Katsumi bares her teeth at him as she tries to lift the thing again. Her first Wakizashi had been far too heavy for her when she'd first gotten it. She figures eventually she'll be able to manage this thing too.

"Yeah. You say that because you're fucking stupid," Zabuza snorts as she nearly falls over when she manages to pick it up off the ground by a few inches.

"You're an asshole. Why does anyone keep you around?" Katsumi snaps her teeth in his direction.

"I'm good at killing people, you little shit. What's Konoha's excuse for keeping you?"

"I'm good at killing shit too," Katsumi also knows more classified information that anyone has a right to, but that's not his business.

"Sure you are, sea wolf," Zabuza's dark eyes track her every move as she continues struggling with kubikiribōchō.

"When can I go back to the compound?" Katsumi is going to go by herself if he doesn't let her go back soon.

"Soon, brat. You'll get all your shit back the day before we get rid of you," Zabuza flicks a rock at her head that causes her to lose her balance and fall over when she dodges it, dropping the sword again in the process.

"When's that going to be?" Katsumi's been stuck here three weeks now and she's ready to leave. Ready to get back to her village and find out what happened to her team.

"Another day or two, then you're not my problem anymore," Zabuza sounds like the end can't come soon enough.

"You know you'll miss me, old man," Katsumi snickers at the doubtful look on his face. Haku is busy doing something, she's not sure what, so Zabuza is her babysitter for the day.

"No. I really fucking won't. You're a pain in the ass. Konoha can fucking have you," He stands up and takes the sword away from her and hefts it over his shoulder. Walks back into the house without bothering to tell her to follow. After a week of living with Zabuza and Haku, Katsumi's used to it.

"So, How am I getting to the border?" Katsumi trails after him, head cocked curiously, because no one has bothered to explain how she's getting home.

"Haku and I are taking you to the border where whatever Tree huggers your fucking Hokage sends will meet us," Zabuza explains as he takes the sword apart.

"So what's in this for Kiri?" Katsumi doubts they've been this nice to her out of altruism.

"Treaty stays intact and your fucking village doesn't have a reason to turn on us. Your Hokage made it damn fucking clear you were to be returned in better condition than we found you or there'd be hell to pay." Zabuza shakes his head like he can't believe she's worth that much.

"Interesting." Katsumi fiddles with one of Haku's senbon needles that she found and contemplates sticking it in the back of Zabuza's unprotected neck. She's pretty sure if she's careful she could fuck his nerves up without killing him.

"No more surprise visits, brat. This is a one time thing," Zabuza turns his head to give her a dark warning look.

"I'd prefer not to get launched across the elemental nations again, thank you," Katsumi spins the senbon around her fingers as she paces the room idly.

"Your dumb ass doesn't know how to stay out of trouble. Bingo book at thirteen? I'd be impressed if you weren't so fucking idiotic. You'll be dead before twenty if you don't start picking your battles better," Zabuza runs a finger over the edge of the sword until blood is drawn and Katsumi watches curiously as the scratches on the blade vanish.

"Seems like you should have died years ago, then. Sensei absolutely could have killed you on that bridge," Katsumi thinks of her old memories and how he had died there. Bastard should be grateful. He gets to continue being a walking irritation.

"And I could still kill you, fucking brat. Put the damn senbon down," he snaps at her.

"Can't kill me without pissing off Lady Hokage and causing an international incident," Katsumi flashes her teeth at him and drops the senbon on the side table. For once, her old memories aren't causing her problems. Thank Kami for being too valuable for Konoha to leave in Kiri's hands.

"Zabuza-Sama, Katsumi-Chan, I've only been gone an hour, don't tell me you've already devolved into threats," Haku's voice is full of amusement as he walks through the door.

"Haku, Your partner is an asshole," Katsumi smiles brightly, Haku is the best, even if he makes her drink awful tea.

"As you've mentioned. I've brought you the storage scrolls I promised. They should be large enough to fit whatever it is you want," Haku sets four large scrolls on the kitchen table and smiles back.

"That mean I'm free of the headache soon?" Zabuza sounds like the idea is thrilling to him.

"Yes, Zabuza-Sama. She gets today to collect what she desires from the compound, then we leave tomorrow. Mei-Sama said so. Your chakra suppressors can come off now as well," Haku takes her arm in his hands gently and pulls the first suppressor off and then does the same with the other arm.

Katsumi can't help but sigh in relief as she feels her chakra again. The familiar flow of her chakra feels wonderful after not having it for so long and she can't help but automatically increase her hearing back to the strength she normally keeps it at, "Thank you, Haku. Do you know when I get my personal belongings back?"

"Mei-Sama has them in her office. You'll get them back tomorrow morning. Your flak jacket will likely need replacing however. It's... in fairly bad condition," Haku explains with an apologetic look.

"That's what fucking happens when dumb ass brats go throwing themselves across continents," Zabuza snorts as he wanders over to look at the storage scrolls.

"You say it like I sat down and planned out how to do it just to spend time with your ugly fucking face," Katsumi bares her teeth at him.

"You're enough of a little shit to do it," Zabuza rolls his eyes, "Grab these scrolls, brat. You want your clan shit or not?"

Katsumi doesn't need him to tell her twice. She has the scrolls stacked in her arms in a heartbeat and looks between the Kiri shinobi expectantly.

Haku laughs quietly at her excited expression, "Come along, then. There's a few shinobi who maybe watching when we go. Words gotten out that you're an Ishihara and that the compound lets you in. It caused quite a stir among the ranks."

"Why? Not like I'm sticking around," Katsumi doesn't like the interested looks she gets when she walks with Zabuza or Haku through the village.

"That would be why. There's a small amount of people who think we shouldn't give you back to Konoha, they're the minority however. Your village would not take kindly to that, and I suspect you wouldn't either." Haku smiles as he leads her out through the streets. Zabuza bringing up the rear like a particularly prickly guard dog.

Sure enough, there's eyes on Katsumi as they turn back onto the old, worn street that leads to the abandoned compound. With her chakra back, she can pinpoint the sounds of people following them at a distance and she gets the feeling Kiri shinobi bet on things as much as Konoha shinobi do.

She has to put her blood on the seal again and this time she's prepared for the water washing over her before it's rapid recession. She can hear the sharp inhaled of breath that come from the onlookers hiding around the street and ignores them entirely. Just slips inside of the compound and sets to work.

She goes straight to the main building and it's storage room. Organizes her storage scrolls carefully and assigns them each a specific thing: scrolls, weapons, clothing and jewelry, and anything else. It takes her hours to sort through each storage room in the building before she even gets to start on the houses. Each house she collects whatever she can from it. Weapons, clothing, carvings and sea glass decorations. She starts out picking carefully. The storage scrolls may be huge, but she isn't sure how much they actually hold. So until she's gone through the whole compound, she's careful not to put too much in them from one place. After that she goes through them again. Katsumi takes one string of beads from every doorway. Plans to put them together to make a new beaded curtain since she doesn't think taking them all is necessary.

Katsumi ends up with far, far more things than she expected. Weapons, clothing, scrolls, books, pictures, everything she sees that looks like it mattered to the clan, she claims. She even finds a few stashes of unopened sake and figures Zabuza can keep his stash. Since apparently her clan hoarded the shit. That goes in the scrolls too.

She finds a pair of summoning scrolls and stares at them for a while. She'll have to check the Hatake contract and see if it's exclusive or not. If it's not, she'll see if these contract would be okay with her having another summons. Hopefully she'll have enough chakra to handle two more summoning contracts. If not, she'll just save them until she has a kid or student or something that the contracts would suit.

Katsumi comes out of the compound with more things than she could even begin to count, late into the night. Zabuza looks annoyed when she finally comes out and Haku looks content as ever. The other heartbeats are still watching and Katsumi makes a point of flashing her teeth in their direction. Just in case they needed anymore confirmation of who she is. Katsumi doesn't think her bloodline defines her, but having tangible evidence in her arms that her clan existed, that they were more than a tragic story, makes her feel lightheaded with pleasure. She wonders if this is how Naruto felt when he left Uzushio.

Chapter 55

Chapter Text

Katsumi gets her belongings back, sword and destroyed clothes and all. Katsumi's pants apparently had to be cut off her so they could reach her fucking femoral artery or something because apparently getting flung through a fucking wall via untested anchor seal is not exactly safe. So she's in a yukata Haku gave her and she is not happy to be returning home looking like she's confused on what her occupation is, Since she's resolutely wearing her torn up flak jacket over it with her scrolls and supplies carried on her back.

"Hurry up, brat! You wanna see your tree huggers before you're an old lady, move fucking faster!" Zabuza yells at her as she trails after him over the water. Apparently Kiri shinobi don't care all that much about the massive fucking ocean waves. Katsumi loves it, but more than once Zabuza has had to yank her out of the way of a particularly big wave.

"I'm fucking walking! What crawled up your ass and died? Your dignity?" Katsumi snarls at him. She's pretty sure he's just embarrassed she walked into the bathroom this morning to pee and got an eye full of his fucking ass and balls since the man doesn't lock the bathroom door like a civilized person. Katsumi is going to have Inoichi erase her mind or some shit when she gets home.

"I will drown you right fucking now, kid," He almost sounds like he means it. Almost.

"Your threats become emptier and emptier by the minute, old man. You sure you're not losing your edge?" Katsumi throws back.

"Kid, if you wanna see your precious trees again, shut the fuck up and move faster," Zabuza says it like she's not in a dress. Katsumi is terrible at running in a dress. She doesn't get how other Kunoichi are so good at it. She'll have to get Ino to teach her. Clearly she wasn't paying enough attention in Kunoichi classes.

It's nearly sun set before Katsumi and her escorts make it to the shore of the land of Woods. Now they get to hike to the designated rendezvous point half way to the border of the Land of Fire. Which means they won't get there until nearly midnight if they don't stop to rest. She's pretty sure, Zabuza will actually explode form sheer frustration if they stop, so she doesn't expect that to happen.

She's right. They keep moving through the pine trees that make up the terrain of the Land of Wood without stopping. Haku sticks close to her and she suspects he's concerned she's not quite ready to make this trip despite the medic's clearing her. Zabuza doesn't seem near as concerned, clearly he's ready to have her out of his hair.

She can hear heartbeats at the rendezvous point when they finally get there and guesses whoever Tsunade sent to get her got here first. She scents the air curiously as the approach. She's registering the first scent at the same time Zabuza has to dodge a kunai flying at his face.

"Hey! Fuck you! Thought you fuckers wanted the brat back! I can keep her if you changed your fucking minds," Zabuza snarls loudly.

"That wasn't very nice, Kakashi!" Katsumi laughs at Zabuza's irritation as Kakashi appears in the shadows of one of the pine trees.

"Maa, my bad, hand slipped," Kakashi shrugs carelessly as he watches them with a single sharp eye.

"Well, Hatake? You want the brat back or not? Haku and her been getting on like a house on fire. Sure be a shame to separate them if you don't really want her," Zabuza's rough voice sounds irritated but after so long around him, she knows he's just fucking around.

"I suppose we can take her, come along Katsumi-Chan. The two of you can stay in the camp with us tonight or go. Whatever is easier, really," Kakashi gestures lazily behind him.

"Fuck no. Haku, come on. Brat, stay the fuck here and don't bother me anymore," Zabuza glares fiercely at her in the moonlight as he turns to go.

Haku pauses and smiles in amusement at her, "Tell me, Katsumi-Chan, if I were to open the sake cabinet, what would I find?"

Katsumi blinks slowly, makes sure her face is completely innocent as she shrugs, "I assume you'd find bottles. I really can't be sure though."

Haku's smile seems to grow a bit, "I'm sure. Goodbye, Katsumi-Chan. Safe travels."

"Bye, Haku. Good luck with the old man!" Katsumi calls out as the pair melt into the darkness. She practically skips to Kakashi's side once the pair is gone. Figures she should stick by him in case anyone else feels like throwing a kunai or two.

"So, Katsumi-Chan, I think you should really tell your poor old Sensei all about what happened to land you in Kiri," Kakashi eye smiles at her as they enter the little camp. The fire is nothing but embers now, and she can just make out two other shinobi. By their scents she knows they're Yuma and Asuma. So a full jounin escort. She feels so special.

"Oh, you know, got lost on the road of life and all that," Katsumi tosses out casually, "Yuma! You got a shirt or something I can borrow? And some pants? Mine had to be thrown out."

Yuma is silent for a moment, "What the fuck happened to your pants?"

"Nicked the femoral artery, they had to cut the pants off to fix it," She explains carelessly, "So got an extra pair? I'm terrible at running in dresses."

"They won't fit you," Yuma warns her but throws her the clothes anyway.

"I can make it work. I had to wear Zabuza's clothes to see the Mizukage. You know how fucking embarrassing that was?" Katsumi sets to work changing happily as she speaks.

"Maa, Katsumi-chan, what happened to land you in Kiri?" Kakashi repeats his question.

"Untested seal, worked exactly as intended though. Thank Kami for that. I'll give my mission report when we get back. Speaking of, how's the rest of the team?"

"Sai is MIA. Naruto is fine physically, but worried sick, Sakura is in a coma and Tsunade has no idea if she'll wake up. The mission was a success from what Naruto said." Kakashi sounds like he's rehearsed that answer in the mirror.

Katsumi uses bandages to make a makeshift belt for the too big pants, "How bad is Sakura? Like just taking her sweet time waking up or needs a miracle to wake up?"

Asuma is the one that answers, "Second one. You don't seem that concerned."

Katsumi tilts her head and looks in his direction, her lips peeling back just enough to show the tips of her teeth, "Technically, I'm still on my fucking mission. Do you want me to have a break down now? Or is it alright if I wait until I'm in the village to do that?"

Yuma snorts a little at that, but it's Kakashi who intercedes, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan, no need to be aggressive. Asuma is just concerned, we all are. Being in Kiri for three weeks must have been stressful."

"Well, Inoichi is the one in charge of picking my brain, so I'm positive he'll make sure I'm not going to spontaneously defect like Sasuke," Katsumi growls it out before she can stop. She won't apologize for the sharpness, but she knows she needs to rein it in. She's spent a total of three weeks in Kiri, two of which were spent interacting with Kiri shinobi and even Haku has a tongue sharp enough to cut steel when he wants to. She's definitely gotten too used to responding with just as much venom as Kiri shinobi use even when they're just playing. That's not even to mention how it is when they aren't.

There's an awkward silence before Yuma throws his head back against his bedroll and cackles, "So mean, Katsumi, no need to bite Taichou's head off, what's with the scrolls?"

Katsumi can recognize one of Yuma's attempts at a peace offering, rare though they are, and takes it willingly, "It's my shit from the Ishihara compound. Got to take everything I could fit in them."

"That was kind of Kiri," Asuma sounds dubious as Katsumi sets up her bedroll between Yuma and Kakashi's.

"Not really, they can't get into the compound without dying so it's not like this stuff was benefiting them at all," Katsumi shrugs.

"Maa, that's very interesting, Katsumi-Chan. Did they say anything to you?" Kakashi has the tone he uses when he's trying to get her and Naruto to tell him things they don't want to.

"Like what? Haku told me about poisons, Zabuza cursed a lot and I got told not to show up in Kiri without an invitation again," Katsumi can't think of anything that was particularly spectacular that they discussed.

"You steal any sake?" Yuma tilts his head to look up at her from where he's stretched out beside her with his hands behind his head, eyes reflecting eerily in the low light.

"Oh, yeah. You missed it, no sake for you," Katsumi pokes her tongue out at him.

"Ahh, come on, Katsumi, that's just not nice, it was my idea to steal sake in the first place," Yuma adds a cajoling note to his voice.

"And I'm the one who did it," Katsumi's going to share with him, obviously, but she's going to let him sweat first.

"Katsumi-Chan, they said you were in a coma, how long have you been awake and walking?" Kakashi cuts in.

"Two weeks, spent one locked up in a hospital room with only the medics and a pissy Zabuza for company. Then another week living with Haku and Zabuza. Did you know Zabuza doesn't lock the fucking bathroom door when he's in it? Fucking awful sight to see in the morning."

"You have Summons, why didn't you send a message?" Katsumi doesn't like the mild accusation in Asuma's tone.

"Tried to murder the Kiri medics first time I woke up, so they stuck chakra suppression seals on me and wouldn't take them off until yesterday," Katsumi didn't seem much of reason to send Taishiro with a message by that point.

"Uh huh. And they just let you wander around Kiri?" Asuma definitely sounds like he's accusing her of something.

"No. Zabuza or Haku had to be with me at all times unless I was in the Ishihara compound. Then they had to sit and wait until I came back out."

"I see, I think that's enough for tonight. Get some rest, Katsumi-Chan. No watch for you tonight," Kakashi's hand falls onto her head to ruffle her hair and lingers there a few seconds longer than usual. She knows from experience that means he was extremely worried. He does that on missions they go on together after they go bad or they get separated.

"Yes, Taichou," Katsumi's not dumb enough to argue against that decision. Is entirely content to curl up like a cat with her back to Yuma while Kakashi crouches down against the pine tree nearby and resumes his watch. She pretends she can't feel Asuma's eyes on her as she lets herself fall into a doze.

Chapter 56

Chapter Text

They move at a slower pace than Katsumi expected. She ends up with Yuma and Asuma on either side of her and just behind her with Kakashi in front of her. Katsumi has to resist the urge to remind them she's a shinobi, and that she's had enough time to recover so she doesn't really need the bodyguard formation. From the look Yuma gives her when she turns her head to say so, she knows it won't be taken well if she tries to say that.

Asuma hasn't made anymore comments that make her hackles rise but she can still feel his eyes on her. Katsumi doesn't dislike Asuma, but she truly does not appreciate the suspicion. She has to restrain herself from snapping at him constantly. He's a comrade and she just spent three weeks in a village that is barely considered an ally. She gets it. She just doesn't fucking like it.

It takes two days to reach the village, and when she finally signs in at the gate, she feels a strange mixture of anxiety and relief at being home. Naruto is waiting by the gate and she only gets a split second to brace herself before he's picked her up and spinning her around. She can smell salt and knows he's crying and she can't make out what it is he's saying. She loves Naruto's hugs but right now it's just too much and she needs him to let her go immediately. Katsumi can feel herself shake a little with the absolute restraint she's having to employ not to make him let go.

Kakashi seems to realize what's about to occur if Naruto doesn't let her go, because one gloved hand falls onto Naruto's shoulder by her head and squeezes tightly, "Maa, Naruto, you can catch up with Katsumi-Chan later, yes? I think you have a sword you need to give back to her. After she's spoken with Lady Hokage, you can bring it to her."

There's a pause, and finally, she's being released, Naruto is staring at her like she just came back from the dead and she really, really cannot deal with his emotions right now. She's barely in a position to deal with her own at the moment.

"Oh, yeah! I didn't forget your Katana, Dattebayo! I even updated the seals on it for you! I'll need to do your Wakizashi too! I'm s–"

"Good bye, Naruto! She'll talk to you later!" Kakashi has moved a hand to her back and is firmly pushing her away from Naruto as Yuma and Asuma continue to follow after.

"No killing Naruto, Katsumi," Yuma murmurs quietly enough behind her that without her enhanced hearing, she wouldn't have been able to pick it up at all.

"I wasn't going to," Katsumi has to school her face into careful blankness. After being in Kiri, where the people aren't shouting and loud in the streets and the whole place has a grey overcast to it, the brightness of everything and everyone here is overwhelming and makes Katsumi want to hide away for a few days. She'd never realized how much she'd had to lower her hearing here until she was able to just keep it dialed up to nearly maximum in Kiri at all times. It makes her breathing pick up in pace and her fingers twitch towards her kunai pouch on instinct. This is home . There's no reason to be this anxious here, but she can't help it. It's just too much.

"Maa, we know that Katsumi-Chan. You just need a few days to decompress is all. Having someone jump all over you like that can be stressful when you first get back from a mission. Naruto should know that," Kakashi speaks in what she thinks is supposed to be a soothing manner.

Katsumi narrows her eyes when she sees Genma and Raidou unabashedly watching her as She's lead into the Hokage tower. She likes them, they helped raise her, but she can't stop the warning snarl in her throat from escaping at the way they're eyeing her. In Kiri, Haku and Zabuza had made it clear to the other shinobi to look somewhere else or they'd lose their eyes. Katsumi has gotten too used to reacting with aggression at any blatant staring.

"Easy, Ishihara. No reason to snap at your own comrades," Asuma drawls from behind her as he lights a cigarette.

Katsumi clicks her teeth together in response but doesn't react beyond that, Kakashi's hand is still on her back as he guides her to the Hokage's office and she gets the feeling he's trying his hardest to get her there without her losing her shit in public first. She appreciates that, she would rather not have a full blown break down anywhere near the watchful eyes of the rest of the shinobi corps.

Tsunade is sitting at her desk when they enter the room, and her brown eyes lock onto them like a hawk's eyes as soon as the door opens, "Ishihara. Welcome back. Kakashi, any problems?"

"No. We met the Kiri escorts at the rendezvous point and returned here without any issues," Kakashi's voice is bored as he answers.

"Good. The three of you are dismissed. Thank you for retrieving Ishihara. Ishihara, I'd like a verbal mission report now, including your time in Kiri." Tsunade's voice is surprisingly calm for all Katsumi is sure this mission has caused her migraines.

"Yes, Hokage-Sama, I do have memory loss to some extent due to head trauma I received pre and post arrival in Kiri. So there's a lot I'm unable to tell you," Katsumi can barely remember the details of fighting Obito. Only that She sent Naruto ahead and that Sai got sent somewhere and a bloody, lifeless looking Sakura. And she thinks she cursed Obito out or something. She's not sure.

Tsunade purses her lips at that, "Whatever you can remember, then. We can have Inoichi see if he can't repair the amnesia after he gives you a psychological evaluation."

"We were a kilometer or so away from the coordinates when Tobi appeared. I sent Naruto ahead. Tobi tried to stop him. Naruto didn't let him. The rest of us engaged with Tobi in an attempt to keep him from interfering with Naruto's sealing attempts and the rescue of Gaara. Sai was the first of us to be sucked into the alternate dimension. The seal Naruto placed on each of us to prevent that seemed to cause Tobi severe pain when it was activated. Sakura and I continued trying to fight him. Um. At one point he looked like he was going to beat Sakura to death. So, um, I yelled at him? I can't remember exactly what I said, but he got really, really angry? And then he tried to drag me into the alternate dimension, and that's how I ended up in Kiri," Katsumi isn't sure about much else in that fight.

"Those seals. According to Naruto, you revealed classified information to your team. That information is S-ranked classified. You could be executed for revealing it," Tsunade's eyes are hard as she looks at Katsumi.

"I know. But my team was dead if I didn't. I don't regret it," Katsumi meets the woman's eyes steadily, a strange sense of calm washing over her.

"I suspected as much, it won't be an issue. And what happened in Kiri that you can remember?"

"Woke up in the hospital with restraints and chakra suppression seals on. Apparently, I nearly killed a medic when I woke up momentarily before that. I spent a week in the hospital, before being released into the care of Momochi Zabuza and his partner, Yuki Haku. Nothing of note really occurred while I was there. I was allowed to entire the abandoned Ishihara compound and collect any of my clan's belongings that I desired. Haku had me drink medicinal tea and gave me acupuncture a lot. The Mizukage made it very clear I wasn't to show up like that again."

"And you remember nothing of what you said to Tobi?"

"No."

"This was your first mission as a jounin. One of your subordinates is now MIA and another is comatose, what do you have to say to that?"

"The mission should have had an all jounin or ANBU squad. Under the circumstances, the entire squad should be dead right now and the mission failed. It was a combination of information, skill, and luck that this mission wasn't an abject failure," Katsumi raises her chin, "if you want me to tell you all the ways it could have gone better, I can, but given the time frame we had and the information available to us, along with the specific skill sets of my team, this outcome is far from the worst it could have been. However, as jounin leader, I accept full responsibility for any problems that arise from this mission."

Tsunade leans back in her chair and taps the desk with her fingers, "I see. Thank you, Ishihara. I want you to have a full medical examination done by Shizune. Kami knows what Kiri's medics managed to mess up. Then you're to report to Inoichi and Ibiki in T for a psychological evaluation and the deprogramming session we use for those who have either been captives for a prolonged amount of time or in deep undercover missions. Understand?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Katsumi isn't looking forward to any of that.

"Good. None of that is a punishment, Ishihara. It's protocol for situations like this."

"Hokage-sama? Is there any word on Sai at all?" Katsumi hopes there is.

"Jiraiya is currently using his spy network to locate him and will personally bring him back if he finds him. So far, we think he may be somewhere near Iwa," Tsunade sounds exhausted as she answers.

"I see. Thank you, Hokage-sama," Katsumi bows low.

"Dismissed. Go directly to the hospital and Shizune will check you over," Tsunade waves a hand towards the door.

Katsumi doesn't need to be told twice. She's gone a soon as the words are out of the woman's mouth. She feels strangely let down as she leaves. She was half hoping for a punishment. She got Sai lost and Sakura comatose. She's pretty sure she shouldn't be getting off with nothing but mental and physical evaluations.

Chapter 57

Chapter Text

Shizune is far, far more thorough with her physical examination than Katsumi would like. She looks over everything. Checks Katsumi's blood work, her weight, body fat, urine, everything. Goes over every injury whether it's an old long healed one or a newer one from Tobi having a fit and her slamming full speed through the Mizukage's wall. Spends a ridiculously long time on Katsumi's head. Katsumi wants to know just how fucking bad her concussion was for every medic that's checked her head since to be so worried about it. Things get awkward when Shizune checks the seal on her abdomen that prevents pregnancies and menstruation. Katsumi generally forgets all about that thing except for when it needs replacing. And she only remembers then because it causes cramping until it's replaced.

When it's over, Katsumi pulls her shirt back on and looks over at the woman, "So what's the verdict? Am I good to go?"

"Just need the results of your blood test back, but you should be fine. You know the exercises to do for your shoulder already, don't you?" Shizune glances up at her from where she's writing something down.

"Yeah, I remember them, so do I have any brain trauma? You and the Kiri medics all seemed really worried about my head," None of the Kiri medics were particularly forthcoming with what all she had wrong with her.

Shizune shakes her head, "There shouldn't be anything debilitating, you were lucky getting treatment as soon as you did. Try not to take anymore hits to the head anytime soon though, alright?"

"I'll do my best," Katsumi doesn't go around asking people to try and break her skull. Prefers to avoid it really.

"Good. If your blood work shows anything abnormal, you'll need to come back in, other than that, medically you're healthy enough to return to active duty. Though, I do recommend you give yourself a few days' rest before taking another mission," Shizune gives her a stern look as Katsumi hops off the table and stretches.

"Understood, thank you, Shizune-San," Katsumi is out the door before the woman can come up with anymore tests to run. She still has to go let Inoichi and Ibiki pick her brain apart before she can go home and she'd really like to just get that over with. Besides, they'll send Anko to hunt her down if she doesn't go willingly.

She keeps to the roofs as she goes to T . Does her best to avoid the crowds and noise. Katsumi really doesn't want to deal with people today. She can't decide if she's wants to go through her Ishihara things or put her mask on and be Fox for awhile. She's not sure which would be better. As long as she doesn't have to talk to more people than absolutely necessary she's not sure she cares which one she decides on.

Katsumi makes it to the T building far too soon for her tastes. She normally has her psych sessions with Inoichi in his home office so he can pick through her old memories too, but since she's having to go through some kind of "deprogramming" session, she has to go here and see Ibiki too. Katsumi really isn't looking forward to that. It sounds like it's going to be unpleasant.

The T building doesn't have a waiting room or anything. It's not where the general population goes to get therapy or anything. Most of the Yamanaka's have their own offices scattered through the village for that, or they have an office in the psych ward of the hospital. Only psych evaluations and things similar are done here when it's ordered. Other than that, mental health isn't exactly T 's problem.

Katsumi isn't really sure where she's supposed to go, so she just wanders the hallways and looks for an office or something. Figures she find Inoichi's or Ibiki's eventually. She does. After wandering around for way too long without seeing anyone. Ibiki's office is the one she finds. She would prefer to start with Inoichi, but she figures she might as well get the deprogramming thing done with.

"Enter," Ibiki's gravelly voice calls when she knocks.

Katsumi opens the door and quietly walks in, shifting awkwardly when she stops in front of him, "Um, hey, Ibiki-san, I was told to come here."

"For a psychological evaluation and captivity deprogramming, yes, Ishihara, I'm aware. I'm surprised, figured we'd have to hunt you down like we do Hatake. Sit down," Ibiki gestures at the chair across from his as he continues writing on some form.

Katsumi looks quietly around the office as she waits for him to do something. It's a well lit office with shelves full of scrolls on one wall, and a lot of filing cabinets everywhere else. The entire place is overly organized. Which is pretty much what she'd expect from him.

"We'll start with a few questions. I need you to answer as honestly as possible, alright?" Ibiki sets his pen down and fixes his full attention onto her.

"Yes." Katsumi feels like a rabbit staring at a dog and hoping it won't attack. She doesn't like it. Last time she spent extensive time around Ibiki, he was walking her through her torture resistance training recovery. Not exactly a good way to get to know someone.

"Good. Let's start with how you felt when you first woke up in Kiri," Ibiki's eyes seem to track every minute twitch she makes.

"Um, confused? I guess? Scared maybe? I know I was drugged so I'm not sure how that affected things. Momochi Zabuza has to hold me down 'cause I wouldn't calm down," Katsumi shrugs. She doesn't see why that's that important.

"Momochi, you've met him before?"

"Uh, yeah. I had to keep an eye on him and the rest of the Kiri delegation when they visited. And i met him in Wave Country on my first C-rank."

"Would you say he's someone you trust?"

Katsumi's eyebrows pull together. She's not sure how to answer that. He's not a friend, certainly. If they ended up on opposite ends of a contract again, she knows he would kill her if he had to, just like she'd kill him if she had to. He also helped her? Repeatedly? Taught her the hiding in the mist technique that she uses so much? Katsumi has to shrug again, "He's not my friend. But I don't think he'd kill me unless he had to? He threatened to kill me a lot but I'm pretty sure he wouldn't actually?"

"And while you were in Kiri, you were under his watch?"

"Uh, yeah. His and Yuki Haku's."

"And what was that like?"

"Um, me and Zabuza cursed at each other a lot. Haku made me drink medicinal tea or something and gave me acupuncture. I normally followed one of them around Kiri, since they didn't let me out of their sight."

"And did you ever attempt to leave?"

"Not really? When I got let out of the hospital, they told me they were sending me back here once I was good to go? And Zabuza made it really clear he'd hunt me down if I ran off before then."

"Did you ever feel unsafe while you were with them?"

Katsumi looks up at the ceiling and thinks, "I don't think so? They made it really clear they weren't going to hurt me. Even with Zabuza's threats?"

"Did you feel like they would keep you safe if something had happened?"

"I mean, they didn't like when other Kiri shinobi got shitty about me being there. And their orders were to keep anything from happening to me."

"So you trusted them to follow their orders?"

"Yeah. I mean, it's kinda what us shinobi do, you know? We follow orders."

"Did you have any moments where it seemed like you forgot you had anything waiting for you outside of Kiri?"

Katsumi has no idea. She definitely did her best not to focus on the mission or Konoha, otherwise she wouldn't have held it together very well. "I tried not to think too much on it, I suppose. I thought I would have a break down if I did, since I didn't know what happened to my team."

"While you were there, were you allowed to interact with anyone other than Momochi and Yuki?"

"I mean, if the medics that treated me count? And I talked to the mizukage. I don't think I was specifically banned from talking to anyone?"

"Did you come to rely on Momochi and Yuki on a day to day basis?"

Katsumi tilts her head again and stares at Ibiki, "I mean, I didn't have access to my chakra or money. So I guess I needed them?"

The questions go on for what feels like hours. Katsumi is emotionally strung out by the end of the "deprogramming" and very much does not want to do her psych evaluation next. At least that part she doesn't really have to be aware for, she thinks. Inoichi's mind techniques are useful for that. Ibiki leads her to Inoichi's office down the hall and hands Inoichi a file that she's pretty sure is hers when they're let in.

"Good afternoon, Katsumi-Chan. How are you?" Inoichi smiles at her benignly.

"Good. Tired. Um. Sorry I lost Sai? I know he's your patient or something," Katsumi tugs on the end of her ponytail.

"We're going to focus on you today, alright?"

"Um, yeah. Alright."

"So in a psych evaluation, there's two methods we can use. We can talk to each other, and go from there or I can do a mind walk to ascertain your mental state that way, it's whatever you feel more comfortable with," Inoichi's pleasant tone doesn't change.

"Can you do the mind walk without me seeing anything? It feels like it goes faster that way." Katsumi doesn't really enjoy the surreality of mind walks.

"If you'd like. You understand that in a mind walk I have full access to your mind, including memories, emotions, thoughts?"

"Yes." So this is all on record if he's doing the verbal waiver thing. Lovely.

"And you understand that this will all be confidential?"

"Yes."

"And that the results of the evaluation will determine whether you are put on temporary leave from general forces and ANBU if your mental status is not within acceptable range?"

"Yes." Of course the T people know she's in fucking ANBU.

"And you understand what acceptable range is?"

"Not a danger to myself, my comrades, or civilians."

"Good. If you're ready, I'll begin now."

Katsumi makes sure she's in a comfortable position, and meets Inoichi's eyes as his hand comes to rest in her forehead. There's the familiar feeling of vertigo before everything goes black. Katsumi comes back to awareness after what feels like only a few seconds, but a glance at the clock after she regains her bearings tells her it's been nearly three hours. Lovely.

Inoichi's face is serious as he writes in her file. Katsumi isn't sure she likes that, "So? Am I within acceptable range?"

Inoichi doesn't answer for a moment, just keeps writing away in her file. She's not sure that's a good sign. Finally he stops writing and looks at her, "You are within acceptable range. However, I want you to continue coming in for weekly therapy sessions whenever you're in the village. You're showing signs of mild PTSD along with a concerning lack of care for your own wellbeing. You aren't so bad off that I can pull you from active duty, but you're certainly heading in that direction."

Katsumi figured it'd be worse honestly. Considering everything that crosses her mind, she's surprised she's not worse off, "So... I'm good? I'm not moving into Sasuke's old psych cell?"

Inoichi blinks slowly at her, "Do you want to?"

"Not really."

"Then unless a need arises, you will not be committed to the psych ward. Most shinobi who go there voluntarily admit themselves, believe it or not."

Katsumi wasn't aware of that, "interesting. Can I go home now?"

Inoichi looks like he wants to roll his eyes at her, but gestures to the door. Katsumi smiles at him as she leaves. Finally. She's ready to sleep for a month now that she's home. She'll make shikamaru look like an insomniac. That's going to be her goal until she doesn't feel like she's been dragged through the wringer. Then she'll visit Sakura.

Chapter 58

Chapter Text

That night, Katsumi doesn't sleep despite her exhaustion. She'd had dinner with the Nara's and Yoshino had practically crushed her in a hug when she came back. Shikaku had looked at her storage scrolls with a raised eyebrow when she told him what was in them and muttered about more paperwork before hugging her and telling her she's going to give the whole Nara clan grey hairs. Shikamaru had kept a hand on her leg or back the entire evening.

Now, she's sitting on the floor of her bedroom at one in the morning staring at the four storage scrolls. Now that she has them, she's not sure where to start. Isn't sure she even has enough space in her room for it all. She doesn't want to leave it all in storage scrolls though. So she starts with the miscellaneous scroll. Dumps it all out on her floor and winces when she takes in just how much was actually in it. She definitely got greedy. She starts with the beads. Untangles each and every strand and lays them all out on her bed in neat lines. She'll need Yoshino to help her with them probably. And a place to hang them.

Once she's satisfied with those, she turns to the rest. There's pottery and plates that have been repaired with gold. Kintsugi. Something she hardly sees here in Kohoha. She carefully organizes all of that too. Stacks them against the wall until she can figure out what to do with them. After that, Katsumi grins ruefully when she takes in how many blankets she'd brought back.

All the blankets are far, far more well suited for the colder climate of Kiri than Konoha. Nearly all of them are the bright blues and light greens her clan seemed to favor. Like the ocean, she thinks when she looks at the way the colors of the threads blend together. Her clan must have loved the ocean the way the Nara love their deer or the Yamanaka love flowers. Katsumi is fascinated by it. She fold them all carefully and separates two of them. One for Naruto and one for Sai when he gets back. Naruto gave her her Uzumaki swords, the blanket that matches his eyes may not be quite the same, but she knows he'll appreciate it. She's not sure if Sai has ever been given a gift, but she hopes he'll like the darker purples and blues of the one she chose for him. She thinks it looks like a storm, or maybe the ocean at night.

She stacks her many, many bottles of sake at the foot of her bed. Organizes them carefully into the ones she stole from Zabuza and the ones she took from the compound. She's not sure what she's going to do with it all, but she figures she'll split a bottle or two with Yuma at some point.

Katsumi organizes the jewelry next and it's beautiful. Hanafuda earrings decorated with ocean waves and beaches and wolves and whales. Hair pieces that she can tell were used for weddings. Necklaces of small, thin, simple iron bars carved with the kanji for different words. Bravery, strength, loyalty, sacrifice. There's others carved with names, names of her clan and names of others from outside the clan and she thinks this must have been their way of carrying their loved ones with them on missions. Katsumi's more pack orientated instincts can appreciate that a lot. There's hair needles with glass beads hanging from one side or pretty jewel flowers. Katsumi picks out one that's gold with pink jewel flowers on it and grins when she sees that the pink petals open to hold little vials of poison. She thinks Sakura would like this even if she doesn't use posion. She sets that aside with the boys' blankets.

Katsumi eventually gets it all organized as best she can until she can figure out what to do with it all, and starts on the scroll with clothing in it. She looks at her closet and her dresser and knows she doesn't have space for it all. She took a lot. There's baby clothes she's not sure why she felt the need to take. There's men's clothing that there's no one left to wear. Yukatas and kimonos. Furisode and shiromuka. There's even battle kimonos. All with her clan's symbol proudly displayed on the back. She'll have to hide the shiromuka from Shikamaru and Yoshino. Shikamaru would have a heart attack seeing a wedding dress and Yoshino would probably die of happiness or something. Shikaku would probably increase his drinking. Those and the baby clothes all go back in the storage seal for now along with the men's clothing. She ends up having to fight with the fabrics to fit the rest of it in her closet. Even then, she has to put a lot of it back in the storage scroll. Apparently, she lost all sense of self restraint when she was going through the compound.

She ends up giving up sorting the weapons out somewhere around five in the morning and ends up curling up on her bed surrounded by her piles of Ishihara belongings like a dragon on its hoard. She sleeps straight through the entire day with no one bothering her and ends up dreaming of her and her otou-San walking along the water of the Ishihara compound while her ninken run ahead of them. It's a pretty dream and when she wakes, Katsumi wishes she'd been able to summon her ninken in Kiri to show them the compound.

She's up around four and collects the blanket for Naruto and a tanto with the Ishihara symbol carved on the hilt for Kakashi. She'll give Sai his blanket when he comes back and Sakura her hair needle when she wakes up. She wants to give two of her people their gifts now though. Doesn't want to wait. So she slinks out of the house, avoiding Yoshino so she doesn't have to share her hoard quite yet and summons her ninken once she's out of the compound. The trio are on her immediately. Jumping up and running excited circles around her and frantically sniffing her.

"Katsumi not summon in long time. Why? Not want anymore?" Taishiro gives her an irritated look even as he whines.

"Of course I want you all, I haven't been able to use any chakra lately. A mission went bad and I ended up in Kiri for a few weeks. Sakura is hurt and cave puppy is missing," She explains gently. Taishiro seems to like Sai the most of the pack. But he likes most people.

"Need to find fucking Cave Puppy! We best damned trackers fucking ever! Where we gotta start?" Chinami is on the alert immediately. Naoki starts circling the street and sniffing wildly and she knows he's looking for Sai's scent.

"We can't track him. A space-time seal sent him somewhere and we aren't positive where yet. Tsunade said Iwa maybe," Katsumi gives Naoki an apologetic look when he grumbles no repeatedly.

"Want to help me find Naruto and Kakashi though? I want to give them things. We'll start with Naruto."

The ninken seem mollified by the task and are gone in a heartbeat to find the blonde. Katsumi figures she'll just check his apartment first. Easiest place to start. Naruto tends to spend hours working on fuinjutsu in his apartment when he's not training or on a mission or harassing Tsunade.

Apparently, she was right because her ninken are all at the door yelling at Naruto to let them in. Katsumi whistles once so they'll stop, no need to piss the neighbors off, and knocks on the door, "Naruto! You home?"

There's a crash and muffled cursing and she's not sure what she's interrupted, "Coming, Katsumi-Chan! One second!"

There's about thirty seconds of more panicking cursing and more crashes before the door opens and Naruto is standing there scratching his head and smiling sheepishly.

"Um, Naruto? You have ink in your hair," Katsumi points out delicately. It's an understatement. He looks like he shoved his head in ink.

"Oh yeah, you know the hiraishin? I'm trying to recreate it, dattebayo! But I can't get it right and my clones spilled a bunch of ink when it got messed up again," Naruto shrugs like that kind of thing is normal for him.

"Right. Should I come back later?" Katsumi raises an eyebrow.

"Nah, just don't sit down on the couch," Naruto swings the door wide open and gestures grandly for her to come in.

Sure enough, the couch is dripping ink. And so is the ceiling. Katsumi wonders if Sai was more living her for Naruto's supervision than anything else. She sidesteps an ink puddle and holds the blanket out to Naruto, "So, when I was in Kiri, I got to go to my clan compound, you know? And I got to bring stuff back. So, um, this blanket is for you. I know it's not anything fancy, but I thought you'd like it."

Katsumi feels like she has no idea what she's doing as she holds the pretty blue blanket out. She's bad at things like this. Naruto's extended silence just makes her feel like she's doing something wrong. He looks surprised as he finally takes the blanket from her and runs his ink free hands over it.

"Katsumi-Chan, you know you don't have to give me anything? I gave you the swords, because I wanted to, dattebayo. Not so you'd give me anything back," Naruto's eyes are wide and earnest as he looks back up at her.

"I know. But I wanted to give you something of my clan too. It has my clan's symbol on it and everything. And it's really good for the winter, 'cause in Kiri it gets really cold, so their stuff is all really thick," Katsumi shifts uncertainly under the bright blue gaze.

Finally, Naruto smiles widely at her, "Thanks, Katsumi-Chan. I really do love it, dattebayo. Just wanted to make sure you really wanted to give it away. Clan stuff is real personal, dattebayo."

Katsumi smiles back, relieved he likes it, "I know. But we're team seven, right? We should both have something important."

Naruto beams are her and disappears into his room. Katsumi watches as he near reverently puts the blanket on the end of his bed. When he comes back out, he's less happy, "Um, have you been to visit Sakura-Chan yet?"

"No. I'm going to go soon," Katsumi thinks she'll need to ask Ino what flowers to take., "Have you?"

"Yeah. Everyday, dattebayo. Katsumi-Chan... um... you don't think she's gonna die, do you? The medics don't seem like they're expecting her to wake up."

Katsumi bites her lip hard enough to draw blood before answering as honestly as she can, "I'm no medic, Naruto. I want her to wake up though. I can't remember much of that fight, but I know there was a lot of blood. I don't know if she was still conscious when my seal activated, but I don't think she was."

Naruto nods and she can see the grief in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Katsumi-Chan. If I'd been faster or I'd used a better seal, maybe none of this would have happened, dattebayo."

Katsumi can't help but growl at that and she can hear her ninken echo the sentiment, "We did the best we could with what we had, Naruto. There's nothing else we could have done differently."

"What if Sai doesn't come back, dattebayo? He might be in Iwa. Iwa is a bunch of bastards right now. What if they catch him?"

"Sai is smart. And he's good at what he does. He'll make it back. Besides, Jiraiya is looking for him, right? He'll find him," Katsumi refuses to consider otherwise. She can't potentially lose two friends on a mission she led. She'll lose her mind.

"Come with me to see Sakura-Chan tomorrow?" Naruto says it like a hopeful child.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll come with you," Katsumi owes them no less than that.

Finding Kakashi is a bigger pain in the ass than usual. Not in ANBU HQ. Not at his apartment. Not with Gai. Not at Jounin HQ. Katsumi's got a feeling he's at the memorial stone, despite how late in the day it is. She doesn't feel comfortable interrupting that, so she sits on the railing of the bridge outside of that training ground and waits for him to be finished. She enhances her hearing just enough to confirm it's him talking to the stone before reducing her hearing again to respect his privacy. Her ninken sit quietly at her feet. They're seemingly content to sit and watch the people that occasionally walk by.

It's well over two hours before Kakashi finally leaves the memorial stone. He blinks once at the sight of her before eye smiling, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan, what are you doing? Rest is important after a long mission."

"Been resting, Here, it's an Ishihara tanto, for you," Katsumi hops off the bridge and shoves the weapon into his hands, not giving him a chance to say no.

"Katsumi-Chan this really isn't–" Kakashi starts to argue, but Katsumi has already Shushinned away, ninken running full speed after her, barking excitedly. No need to make a spectacle out of it. Easier just to do it this way so he can't argue with her.

Chapter 59

Chapter Text

Katsumi hates hospitals. Hates them when she's the patient. Hates them when her friends are the patients. Hates them entirely despite knowing how vital they are. Sitting with Naruto beside Sakura's bed while holding a vase full of flowers that mean hope or get well soon or whatever the fuck Ino said, makes her hate them even more.

Sakura doesn't look right. Her face is all bloated from being comatose so long and there's tubes coming out of her mouth and nose and she looks less like her and more like a dead body. Katsumi doesn't even register whatever Naruto is saying to the girl. Katsumi wonders who the fuck even started the habit of talking to comatose patients. Wonders if they're actually able to hear or if it's just something to help the people who care about them cope.

Katsumi doesn't say a word the entire time. Just sits and stares and tries to keep her breathing normal. She feels like the walls are closing in on her the longer she's here and all she can think is that it was a mistake for her to come. She shouldn't be here. She lead the mission that landed Sakura here and she does not deserve to be allowed to visit her friend. Or maybe she does. Maybe it's a punishment. Katsumi has no idea but she knows she's going to lose her mind if they stay any longer.

They don't stay long, Thank Kami, Katsumi couldn't handle being there much more. It felt too much like a funeral. She can't begin to imagine how Naruto manages to do it everyday. He's a better person than she is, she supposes. As soon as they leave the building, Katsumi mumbles an excuse for why she's leaving and Shushins away. She needs to be Fox for awhile. Needs to not be her. So she stops. Goes to ANBU HQ and becomes Fox.

Hyena is already there and it's easy enough for her to convince him to spar with her. He doesn't hold back, which is good, because neither does she. She's had three weeks of doing near nothing, and that combined with her feeling like she needs to move or she'll explode in grief or shame or whatever it is, makes her mean. Makes her twice as mean and half as cautious.

Hyena isn't fazed by it. Just adjusts to match her aggression. His laughter echoing in the caverns, even without his genjutsu. They exchange blows as fast as they can, each confident in the other's ability to either dodge the strike or block it. They go until they're both panting and Fox is using the wall of the cavern to stay standing while Hyena breathes between bouts of tired laughter.

"Foxy, Foxy, Done playing already?" Hyena's voice is wild despite the fact he's clearly tired.

"Why? You want me to kick your ass?" Fox responds automatically.

"Don't think you can today, Foxy. Not focused enough. No fun at all that way," Hyena sounds disappointed about that.

"Well, fuck you too. And here I was gonna offer to share some Kiri Sake with you," Fox huffs as she straightens up and stretches her arms above her head.

Immediately, Hyena's voice shifts into the cajoling, sweet tone he only uses when he wants something, "Foxy, you know that's not nice. Gotta be sweet to your partner, you know."

"And the way to do that is to let you have my sake?" Fox can feel him move to be beside her as they turn to leave.

"Of course! Especially when it was that Partner's idea to steal the sake," Hyena's cackles increase exponentially when Tiger and Mouse walk by them in the stairway and Fox knows he's fucking with them. From the way Tiger twitches it's clear they remember the genjutsu she and Hyena had put on them.

"Hmm, lets find a mission or something to take. Maybe after we can have the sake," Fox needs to stay occupied and a new mission is as good as anything.

"Just got back and already running, not very healthy," Hyena says in a lilting, almost mocking, voice.

"I can always take a solo mission," Fox really doesn't care. She just needs to do something.

Hyena makes an exaggerated sighing noise, "No can do, Fox. You're not allowed to until Tobi is no longer among the living. Higher ups think you painted a big red target on yourself. So no solo missions anytime soon."

"You're joking."

"Nope! Gotta have a partner at least. So I come along or you don't go at all!" Hyena almost sounds apologetic, but considering he's her official partner in ANBU, since Dog had a fit or something regarding her clan elimination mission and the solution was to make Hyena her permanent partner, it's no surprise really that they go together or not at all. Solo missions aren't something she does often as Fox anyway. If what he says is true, she's no longer allowed to do it as Katsumi either, which is not something she's alright with at all.

"But, we could take a two man mission," Fox muses.

"Could. Assassinations is still short a few people, definitely behind on their missions," Hyena agrees easily.

"Bet there's an easy one. In and out. Then sake," Fox tilts her head as they change direction to go find the Assassinations mission director, an unfriendly man that goes by Beetle.

"Could do that. Random choice?" Hyena sounds like he's discussing the weather.

"Sounds good. Let's see if Beetle has anything for us to do," Fox grins behind her mask, feeling more settled already now that she knows she can escape her problems for awhile.

Beetle is not happy to see them. He never is. Fox is pretty sure he doesn't like them very much, but he gives them a mission anyway. They're good at what they do and like them or not, Beetle won't refuse them a mission when Assassinations is so backed up.

It's a mission that Fox definitely won't be the one doing the killing on. Assassinating a woman who runs some kind of drug cartel thing. She's a beautiful woman, and notoriously difficult to get near. Too much security and paranoia. Except when it comes to sexual partners. Lovely. Hyena tilts his head a little while they look over the file, "I'm gonna have to fuck this lady, aren't I?"

"Definitely going to have to convince her you're going to, at least. Why isn't this in the seduction department?" Fox raises an eyebrow as she reads.

"Target strictly prefers males, every guy in the seduction department is already on missions, probably," Hyena explains calmer than usual.

"So, I hope she's your type?" Fox offers weakly.

"A soon to be corpse is definitely not my idea of a hot date," Hyena laughs.

"You play sex on a stick and I make sure you don't die?" Fox assumes she's back up on this mission.

"Probably the best plan. You get to keep watch and deal with any problems while I handle the nastier bits," Hyena is nodding to himself like he's confirming he can handle this.

"That's good, you know I'm blacklisted from seduction missions, right?" Fox feels like that needs to be said.

"Blacklisted from the actual seduction, not the rest of the mission. There's no such thing as being completely barred from certain mission types. I've had to run back up for a lot of seduction missions. It's awkward," Hyena sounds apologetic.

"Let's get it over with, does it say how the client wants this lady dead?" Fox skins over the file.

"No, I don't think the client gives a shit. They just want her dead," Hyena says.

"If her security is as tight as it sounds, you won't be able to take any weapons with you, probably." Fox doesn't like the idea of Hyena not having weapons on him.

"Don't need a kunai to kill a person," Hyena's voice is light and easy.

"True," Fox has definitely killed with less.

"So, to the Land of Birds we go," Hyena closes the file and hops up, voice cheerful and excited like they aren't about to go murder some lady.

Fox laughs and goes to gather her things. Her Katana is still with Naruto, but she figures that's fine. She works just as well with one sword as she does two. Hyena is waiting for her at the ANBU only gate out of Konoha and he's in full mission mode already. No more fucking around until they get back. Hopefully Hyena doesn't actually have to fuck the drug lady. Fox is pretty sure he would rather pass on that.

Chapter 60

Chapter Text

The land of Birds is a small nation tucked between the land of Wind and the Land of Earth with The land of Stone to the southeast. It's pretty and, from what she's heard, a big tourist attraction when all the birds migrate there yearly. It's also got a large opium trade in it. Apparently, the climate is perfect for poppy growing.

They have to cut through the land of Wind to get there without drawing attention from Iwa. Fox hates it. There's hardly any water in the air and she feels far more exposed than normal. Hyena doesn't seem bothered though. Doesn't seem to have an issue with the heat or the dust or the vast emptiness of the desert. Just keeps on moving like he's part camel. Fox wants to know just how much time he's spent in the goddamn desert to seem so alright with it.

It takes them a week to get to the location and another week to scout it out and plan the best method of assassination. Hyena takes his mask off and becomes Yuma again, apparently he's managed to keep out of the bingo book altogether. Somehow. Which makes him free to not bother with a disguise while he tries to get close to the target. Fox stays unseen. Watches the places the woman spends the most time in and keeps an eye on the guards and their rotation. Her ninken do the same, acting like stray dogs as they wander the village and surrounding area, sniffing out common pathways and places people travel far less. Yuma is handling the more delicate part of this mission, Fox is just here to make sure there's an exit available and that nothing goes too sideways.

Yuma is dressed like a civilian, no weapons or hitai-ate in sight with his chakra entirely suppressed until he feels as much as looks like a civilian. He acts like a careless, drunk tourist. Laughing and talking to everyone he meets and flirting with men and women alike at the bars. Fox wonders how much of this mission is just a vacation for him. Fox can tell he's not really drinking though, when she watches him instead of the area, she'll catch him quietly switching his full drink with a nearly empty one from some unsuspecting person. They pass information between they through Taishiro as the week wears on. Eventually, Yuma has fully established himself as the pretty son of some wealthy businessman that would rather party and have a good time than work. It doesn't take much. He plays the role very well. Never breaks character and seems like he's genuinely a harmless idiot with too much money to spend and a love of a good time.

Fox has managed to figure out the best exit strategy after watching the target and her bodyguards go about life for the week. Her bedroom in the well protected manor she owns has a large window that only opens from the inside, no curtains or blinds, apparently she likes having a view at all times. Easy enough for Yuma to escape from. Provided no alarms are raised. The path she's figured out will work well. There's patrols, but that's easy enough to work around. It's getting Yuma in that's going to be difficult. She can't help with that.

It's day ten of them working and planning that Yuma finally manages contact with the target. Apparently, every few days, in between opium shipments, she likes to party. Never two nights in a row. Which means this is their one chance to get this over with now. Yuma doesn't miss it. He flirts hard with everyone but the target, acts like she doesn't exist at all. Fox doesn't get that. She thinks that's a bad strategy, but apparently it works somehow. The target approaches him first and Fox watches from her place on the roof outside the bar as she strikes a conversation up. Yuma shows absolutely no reaction to her whatsoever besides the same dumb, drunk flirting he's done with everyone else. Laughs loudly and stupidly and looks at the woman like she's seducing him instead of the other way around. Fox takes that as her cue to go.

She disappears into the shadows and moves quietly to the position she chose to keep an eye on the manor. It's the best position she has to be able to react to any issues quickly and still stay near their escape. It also, very unfortunately, has a clear view of the woman's bedroom. Which means a clear view of Yuma and the target. If she takes him home that is.

It's past midnight by the time Fox finds out if Yuma's managed to get an invitation to the woman's bed. Fox has already killed a patrol that got too close to her location and dragged the bodies up into the trees to hide them. Not her usual method of disposal, but it will do for now.

Fox's eye twitches when she sees a problem they'd had no way of accounting for. The fucking target has her bodyguards stay in the room with her when she has sex. What the fuck? Even to a shinobi, that's a bit much in terms of paranoia.

Yuma doesn't seem bothered though, just keeps his hands on the target's hips and works his mouth up and down her neck as he walks her backwards towards the bed. Purple eyes open and she can see him pinpoint her location immediately. One of his hands moves up to twist into the woman's hair and Fox can see him hiding the ANBU hand signs from view of the guards that way. Knows the woman probably just thinks he's pulling her hair a little. Fox doesn't like the hand signs at all. Potentially compromised. Prepare to fallback. Fucking hell. Just what they need.

Fox shifts into a crouch and waits for the time they need to go. Tries to ignore the fact that the target is now very much naked and so is Yuma, henged to look like he's never fought a battle in his life, and that he's on top of her, and this is so much more awkward than she expected. She has no idea what he's waiting for. Fox's hearing is suddenly much more of a curse than a blessing. She doesn't like hearing the noises the lady is making or the things Yuma is saying to her. It feels so goddamn invasive. This is so fucking weird. Why couldn't the lady invest in curtains or something? Just so she at least doesn't have to see it.

There's the sudden sharp cracking of a neck being snapped and Fox knows It's time to go. The alarms are sounding immediately even as Yuma dispatches the two bodyguards and hastily pulls his pants back on, abandoning his shirt entirely. Good thing Fox has his uniform and mask with her along with his weapons. Yuma is out of the window and to her in a heart beat, Fox hands him his clothing silently. They only have a minute, maximum before they need to be gone or have to fight their way out. He should be able to dress quickly.

It takes him fifty seconds to be Hyena again. Fuck. They're moving down the escape route she scouted as quickly as possible but with only a ten second head start, it's not looking like this is going to go in their favor. Hyena snarls a curse quietly under his breath when she tells him there's four in pursuit. At least Chuunin level from how quick they're moving.

"Couldn't have killed her quicker?" Fox snarls at him.

"Sorry, had to figure out how to do that without getting stabbed by her pissy fucking bodyguards. Wasn't my idea of an ideal date, you know," Hyena has his tanto out and ready to go. The pursuers are definitely not Chuunin considering they're keep pace with ANBU. Fuck.

"Fox, there's a river up ahead, we make it there and turn and drown them, yeah?" Hyena huffs out after a few seconds of silence.

"Add a little lightning for flavor?" Fox figures best way to dispatch their pursuers is by being a bit overkill.

"Yeah, I can do that, don't be on the water when I do," Hyena warns her. As if Fox wasn't already well aware of the dangers of that.

They makes it across the river and spin around just before the pursues catch up. Fox doesn't need more than a few seconds to fly through the hand seals for her mouth of the serpent jutsu. The smell of Ozone fills the air as Hyena moves through a lethally overpowered lighting jutsu that he combines with her water jutsu as she releases it. The pursuers don't have time to get out of the way. Hardly seem to have time to register what's about to happen to them, before her jutsu, chock full of Hyena's Lightning, slams into them. She can't hear any screams or heartbeats over the roar of the water or the violent crackling of the lighting.

There's a moment of stillness as she and Hyena take in the utter destruction the combination has wrought. Her jutsu had effectively carved a new branch of the river and there's burning, blackened trees that his lightning had hit. Fox is willing to admit that may have been a bit much.

"Think that did it?" Hyena muses as he looks the damage over.

"Don't hear any heartbeats left," Fox is going to assume that since she can't hearing anyone alive and they aren't under attack, they're good unless there's other teams that are going to be in pursuit.

"Let's go. We'll cut back through the land of Wind," Hyena turns west and starts to move.

"I fucking hate the desert, why does the safest route have to be through there?" Fox hates it.

"Because Iwa doesn't have an interest in sand. They want land that's actually worth something if we do go to war. Hard to grow shit on their rocks. Harder to grow shit in a desert, though," Hyena explains roughly.

"I fucking hate politics," Fox mutters as she hops from one tree to the next.

"Yeah? So does everyone else, be glad we aren't politicians," Hyena huffs out.

Fox doesn't bother saying anything to that. Just shakes her head and focuses on getting home in one piece. Where she can drinking sake until she forgets the awkwardness of watching Hyena and the target. Beetle must really fucking hate them to have given them this one.

Chapter 61

Chapter Text

Fox is on second watch when they stop for the night in a cave they'd found. They've got two more days of travel before they're out of the desert and Fox can't wait. She is so sick of sand and heat and dryness. She hates even more how cold it gets at night. Fox has opinions over how weather should be and this is not it. It should not swing from boiling hot to freezing cold in one day. She can't imagine how anyone actually wants to live here.

Fox stares up at the stars and does her best to ignore the cold. She's not even sure what the fuck she's supposed to be watching for. There's nothing around them. Just rocks and sand. She could watch her ninken run away from her for ten kilometers with how empty this place it.

It's near the middle of her watch that she sees something that makes her brain stutter to a halt. That is a bird. That is a giant fucking bird. That is an ink bird. Holy fuck. Sai. Fox is on her feet and shrieking Sai's name immediately. All idea of stealth forgotten. Hyena is beside her in a heartbeat, tanto in his hands and looking for a threat. Fox doesn't even glance at him though. That is Sai and his goddamn bird and he needs to get his ass down here right now.

The giant bird circles around them for a few moments before coming to land in front of them. Sai slides off gracelessly for once and Fox has to do a double take. He looks fucking awful and he's balancing on one foot.

Fox tilts her head as Sai automatically recites his identification number and their mission number, so he's well aware he's considered missing in action if he's giving them the mission number too. Lovely. Fox steps forward and her eyes keep moving over him and pin pointing different injuries, "Status?"

"Broken right ankle, low chakra, possible concussion from explosives, dehydrated," Sai recites it likes he's been practicing.

Fox can count quite a few more injuries, but she assumes he's only bothering to tell her the most pressing issues, which is fine. They need to deal with those.

Hyena is moving to support Sai so he doesn't have to hop on his left foot anymore and leads him into the little cave they've set up camp in. Fox is digging through her pack of medical supplies for anything could help as Hyena hands Sai his water canteen.

There's not much for her to do. Sai has already wrapped and stabilized his ankle. Soldier pills are unnecessary, his chakra will recover on its own. It looks like nothing is infected from what little she can make out in the dark. She can't smell infection on him anyway.

"Jiraiya has been looking for you," Fox breaks the tense silence.

"Has he? I was not aware. I've had to move at night only. It's been a very taxing few weeks," Sai's smile looks fake as ever.

"I'm sure. Where did you end up?" Fox tilts her head and tries to calm the hummingbird pace of her heart.

"Northeast corner of the land of Earth. If you would like a detailed report of what Iwa is doing, I can give it," Sai offers. Fox can almost hear the exhaustion in his voice. A bad sign from someone so disciplined.

"That's unnecessary at the moment. Lady Hokage will want to hear it, however. We'll move in the morning. Get any rest you can. Do you need a ration bar?" Fox forces herself to keep calm. She can't get excited yet. When she's Katsumi again she can hug her socially awkward friend once he's decompressed. And after Naruto has finished trying to hug his roommate to death.

"Unnecessary. I ate a rabbit earlier. I will be fine for now," Sai says placidly. He sounds more like he's just been on a stroll through Konoha than trapezing around Iwa, despite the undercurrent of exhaustion.

"If you're certain. You will return to Konoha with us." Fox says it firmly, making sure he's well aware that she's not letting him out of her sight.

Sai just smiles again, "Of course, Fox-San. It is a relief to be with comrades again."

Fox raises an eyebrow behind her mask, that's possibly the most normal thing he's ever said in regards to human interactions and bonds. She wonders when that change happened. Hopefully it's not a result of the sheer stress of being in enemy territory for so long. She thinks that could do even more damage to his emotional state.

Hyena is silent as he settles back and watches Sai intently. Fox figures he's trying to work out the logistics of getting him back to the village with a broken ankle. It's going to slow them down quite a bit, especially if he doesn't have enough ink or chakra left to make his bird again.

Fox had hoped, quite a bit, for an easy, straightforward mission. Not the awkward, seduction assassination thing they got. As happy as she is to have Sai back, this just complicates things even more. Five days was how long they figured it would take to get back. If they need to carry him, it will likely add a few more days. Fox hates adding time to a mission. Even for a good reason. It just increases the danger of something going wrong. Still, having Sai back makes it worth it.

They make Sai rest, because she doubts he'll actually sleep, while she finishes her watch. Hyena had handled first watch, so she sits and watches the emptiness of the desert. She waits for morning as she listens to her comrades' breathing behind her, feeling calmer than she has since she got shot to Kiri.

Sai doesn't have the chakra to make his ink bird again when it's time to go. Hyena has to carry him on his back. It does slow them down, but not enough to worry about since Sai has repeatedly assured them he'll be able to use his jutsu again in a few hours. Fox is inclined to make him wait an extra day before he tries it, unless something happens and they need to be gone much quicker.

There's not much talking as the days wear on, but crossing out of the desert and into the land of River is a morale booster. Especially for Fox. She can practically taste the water in the air and has to refrain from creating her mist just to prove she can.

Hyena is still insisting on carrying Sai despite the boy's repeated assurances that he can make his ink bird again. Fox is pretty sure he's doing it for something to focus on other than the fact he just killed a lady while having sex with her. Or at least about to have sex with her. Fox has resolutely not asked for the details of that.

They make it back to the village three days later than expected, and take Sai straight to the hospital and report his return at the main gate before going to give their mission report. Sai is fine. Fox feels extreme relief at that. Now all that's left is for Sakura to wake up. Then everything will be fine. Everything will be back on track and nothing out of place once that's happened.

Being back in the village is as much of a relief as it is stressful. She has to sit in her room in HQ and just be alone for awhile. Just needs the quiet of being alone and away from everyone. She and Hyena can drink later. Once she's Katsumi again. Once her head is clear again. It was a good mission to get back into the rhythm of things, but still. She feels no better than she did before she left. Maybe that's why her father took so many missions. To avoid his own issues. If so, she gets it now.

Chapter 62

Chapter Text

Jiraiya comes back a few days after Sai. Naruto leaves with him on some kind of training and all Katsumi can think of is what happened in her old memories when he went away to learn senjutsu. She has an unpleasant feeling that's what's happening now, considering the fact that officially he's going on a mission in the southern part of the Land of Fire. She only knows the truth because she'd given Sai his blanket while Naruto was packing and Naruto had told her privately while Sai was busy examining the blanket she'd given him with an almost soft expression on his blank face.

It puts Katsumi on extreme edge, she doesn't know if the Akatsuki will actually make a move, but the foreboding feeling doesn't leave her. It makes her sleep less, and obsessively sharpen her swords, both of them, since Naruto finished with her Katana. Katsumi doesn't know how to explain her paranoia to anyone, but she makes sure to remind Inoichi during her weekly therapy of what happened in her old memories when Naruto left for a second training trip. She doesn't know if he's aware of what Naruto is off doing, but he nods seriously and tells her he'll speak to Tsunade.

Katsumi takes as much comfort from that as she can. It doesn't help much. She shoves all her stuff back into storage scrolls one night and drags all her tou-san's belonging into her room and manages to shove all of it in the clothing storage scroll. She has no idea what she's doing, but she needs it all hidden away. She paces her room for two days and comes to the conclusion she can't stay here anymore. She needs her own apartment and her own place and her own privacy where she can have her less than same episodes without getting worried looks from the Naras. She's lived here since she was thirteen. She's nearly seventeen now, she has a sizable bank account courtesy of her father's hoarding of money from his missions and her own hoarding. She doesn't know if she's moving out because she's running from her issues, or Because she's actually ready for her own place. She doesn't really care either. She just can't be here anymore. Not when she feels like she's going to crawl out of her skin. Not when she feels like she's waiting for the sky to fall. She just can't. She feels like a coward, but the idea of moving out soothes something in her.

She tells Yoshino first. The woman looks extremely concerned and tries to dissuade her. Eventually, though, the woman relents and insists on helping her decorate and making her practice cooking until Katsumi finds an apartment. Shikaku stares at her for a long time, like he's trying to think through a particularly hard puzzle. Finally, he just shakes his head and tells her she's welcome in the compound whenever she likes, and he'll hire a genin team to handle moving her things and that he'll help her find a place.

Shikamaru takes it worst. He's about to go to Suna for a diplomatic mission with Ino. The argument is short and quiet and leaves Katsumi feeling even more like she's going to lose it if she stays. She understands his problem with it. They've lived together for years now. They're dating. Her moving out looks like there's issues in their relationship. She doesn't know how to explain she feels like the walls are closing in on her or that she has this impending sense of doom. Doesn't know how to explain it has nothing to do with them and everything to do with wanting her own space and her own privacy when she wants to be alone with her issues.

Shikamaru leaves two days after Naruto does, and their argument didn't get resolved and Katsumi is even more on edge. She deals with the stress by hunting dow Itachi and Kisame. It's easy enough. Itachi is watched by the entire village when he's out and about. A strange combination of pity and respect and distrust following him. Kisame is a giant blue shark man. It takes no effort to track them down.

Itachi watches her calmly when she wanders up to them near the dango shop, "Hello, Katsumi-Chan. I heard you made a trip to Kiri."

"Uchiha. Sure did," Katsumi tilts her head and looks up at the beady eyes of Kisame as he glares down at her, "Zabuza didn't tell me to tell you hello, by the way."

"Of course you're friends with that dramatic bitch," Kisame bares shark teeth at her.

"Something like that. You're good with kenjutsu, right?" Katsumi swears Itachi's lips twitch in amusement at the biggest understatement she's ever had leave her mouth.

"... I'm one of the seven fucking swordsman, what do you think, sea wolf?" Kisame stares down at her like she just grew a second head.

"I think you should help me work on my kenjutsu. If you're one of the seven swordsman, you're supposed to be one of the best. I like learning from the best," Katsumi isn't bothering with flattery, however it sounds. She's stating facts.

"That so, kid? What's in it for me?" Kisame looks like he's contemplating punting her across the village.

"Makes you look better in the eyes of the Hokage and everyone else. Which keeps you from getting thrown out on your ass for being fucking useless," Katsumi doesn't do much as blink when he bares his teeth at her.

"Useless?"

"Yeah. You're not taking missions. You're not a Konoha shinobi or a citizen. You're an S-rank criminal. Eventually, Kiri, our ally , is going to want you back. If you don't want to end up there, you really need to prove you're worth keeping around," Katsumi can read a room. Kisame has a limited time to convince Konoha he's worth the trouble of keeping around despite Kiri's annoyance.

"And you think this will do it?" Kisame snorts.

"No. But it's a start. Definitely helps make it seem like you're here for more than shits and giggles," Katsumi shrugs and her eyes slide to Itachi momentarily. He's watching the exchange with what she's almost convinced is genuine amusement at her attempts at getting his pet shark to help improve her kenjutsu.

"And you care about that?" Kisame looks entirely dubious and a bit like he's daring her to lie to him.

"Not really. I honestly don't care what happens to you. I just want to improve my kenjutsu," Katsumi's not going to lie. She stands to gain nothing from it.

Kisame throws his head back and laughs, "Thought you Konoha kids were supposed to be nice. You sure you were raised here, sea wolf?"

"You gonna teach me or not?" Katsumi ignores the dig at her village.

"Fuck it. We'll start tomorrow at the river. I'm not going easy on you just because you're a runt. You're a jounin, I expect jounin level kenjutsu from you. Don't waste my time," Kisame is still chuckling at her bluntness even as he answers.

"Thank you. Hoshigaki, Uchiha," Katsumi nods once to each of them, satisfied she got what she wanted, and turns to go. It's healthier than pacing her room until there's a hole in the floor for sure.

She ends up visiting Sakura next. She stops short when she sees Yamato in the girl's room already. Sitting beside the bed with his hands together like he's praying, despite the fact she knows he's never prayed a day in his life. Katsumi's feet feel like they've been glued to the floor and she has no idea what to do.

Yamato makes the decision for her, wide dark eyes opening to look at her, "Sakura would scold you for acting so nervous. She hates when Kunoichi act like wilting flowers."

"She's friends with Hinata." Katsumi's voice is soft as she steps inside the room, new flowers held tightly in her hands.

"Hinata is strong when it counts. You normally are too. It's why she likes you so much. She was very proud of how difficult she made your win in the jounin exams. It means a lot to her that you look at her and see someone worthy of your full attention in a fight."

"She's a strong shinobi. You trained her well," Katsumi whispers as she places the flowers in an empty vase.

"Perhaps not well enough," Yamato sounds like he's lost too much sleep over this.

"It was my plan. She gave it everything she had," Katsumi knows that much. Fragmented memories aside, Sakura is a fighter. She would not have held back anything.

"When she was given to me, she was weak. Terribly smart and stubborn and could make pretty flowers, but weak. More interested in boys than battle," Yamato laughs a little as he speaks.

"What changed?"

"I took her on a mission she wasn't prepared for. Let her see the reality of our world. Then gave her a choice: give training everything she has and become the type of shinobi others can rely on or walk away from the shinobi corps altogether. Mokuton be damned. She chose to stay."

"She probably saved my life when I was injured during Sasuke's retrieval. She made some kind of dome around me and the coffin. The Oto nin barely managed to get through it." Katsumi can still remember the wood coming up to surround her.

"She cried after that mission. Cried her eyes out in relief when she heard everyone survived. She was terrified that she'd left the team to die when you gave the order to continue pursuit." Yamato's eyes are fixed on Sakura.

"She never showed a shred of fear. Not on that mission or any other we've gone on. She'll wake up," Katsumi refuses to consider any other possibility until she has no choice.

"She's a fighter. Tsunade says it's up to her if she wakes up. She's too stubborn to stay in this bed forever," Yamato says quietly.

"Yeah. She is." Katsumi agrees.

Neither of them speak again after that.

Chapter 63

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kisame is a fucking sadist. That's what she learns. Itachi was clearly trying to kill her when he suggested this. And she was dumb enough to fall for it.

"Stop. You fight like there's someone fighting beside you. Biggest flaw you have. Even with two swords, you leave openings like you think someone is going to show up and cover them for you," Kisame says after the third time he's put a Katana to her throat. He's left samehada beside Itachi and Katsumi has no idea where he got the Katana in his hands.

"So how do I fix it?" Katsumi's well aware her father never finished teaching her kenjutsu. That she's been working with a half perfected technique for years.

"Remember no one is beside you, for one. You don't have anyone to cover your mistakes. You're the only Ishihara there is. There will never be a partner beside you. No matter how much you will there to be, kid," Kisame circles her slowly, like the shark looks like.

"I don't expect there to be someone beside me," Katsumi snarls.

"That's not how you fight. You're fast enough that most won't be able to hit you before you fix the problem, but all it takes is one person and you'll be as dead as the rest of your clan. You want to improve? Stop leaving yourself open or one day, you will get killed," Kisame's teaching voice is similar to Zabuza's.

Katsumi adjusts her grip on her swords and bares her teeth, "Again."

Kisame laughs low and viciously and obliges her. Katsumi is outmatched in just about every measure. Her only real advantage is that she's more agile than the large man. A bit faster. It doesn't mean much in comparison to his skill combined with his years of experience over her, but it's enough that she can keep up for a few minutes at least. She still ends up on her ass in the dirt with his sword against her throat, though. Again.

"Now you're overcompensating on your left side. And your wrists are too tense. Loosen them a bit. You get pissed and you get sloppy. It's not how you Ishihara are supposed to fight. You're supposed to get pissed and get dangerous. Where's that Ishihara instinct?" Kisame goads as she stands back up.

"Again." Katsumi snarls and she can feel that familiar darkness in her head beginning to come to life. It's been a long time since she's given into it and it makes her twitch a little.

"Get mean, kid. Or stop wasting my time," Kisame snaps at her as they begin again.

She's tired, and frustrated, and all her stress wells up in her. For once, she doesn't fight or repress the darkness in her head. Let's it sharpen her teeth and her rage. Let's it direct her strikes. Kisame laughs at the change and just pushes her harder. Katsumi loses again, as expected, but he doesn't get her on the ground again and she doesn't stop growling at him.

"So you do have a little ocean rage in you. Good. You're an Ishihara. I had an aunt that nearly married one. According to her, rage makes your instincts sharpen. Gives you that edge that makes your kind dangerous. Suppressing it in a fight is as bad as letting it rule you, so knock it off. That's enough for today. Don't need your fucking village to kill me for messing you up. Again tomorrow, now fuck off." Kisame doesn't turn his back on her until her swords are away and her snarls faded back into silence.

Katsumi bows once, "Thank you for your time."

"Whatever, Ishihara. Work on remembering you have no one fighting beside you. The style you're using is designed for two people, even if it's got a few moves in it that work for one." Kisame picks up Samehada and hefts it onto his shoulder before turning and walking away.

Itachi doesn't follow immediately, Black eyes, so like Sasuke's, watch her intently, "Katsumi-Chan, may we speak?"

Katsumi eyes the Uchiha warily, but nods, "Alright."

Itachi makes no move to come closer to her and he speaks softly, but she hears him clearer than a bell, "You faced the man named Tobi."

"I did. It seems you missed an Uchiha." Katsumi says blandly. She knows Obito helped Itachi with the massacre. Knows he did not miss anyone. She isn't about to tell him that though.

"He called himself Madara, when I met him," Itachi ignores her comment.

"He's no Madara. He's a fool with a few parlor tricks, and he'll die as just that," Katsumi knows she won't be the one to kill him, but she'll be damned if Obito lives to become the threat she knows he could be.

"You faced him and you are not afraid." Itachi muses.

"If he kills me, he kills me. But I'll take his eye with me when I go. See how he handles total blindness," Katsumi flashes her teeth.

"You think he only has the one eye?"

"One eye hole on his mask. Why hide his other sharingan if he has one? Maybe you can pull his eye out and give it to Sasuke. Since he needs a new one and all," Katsumi shrugs, not particularly bothered with how Obito is neutralized, so long as he is.

"I thought you desire to kill Sasuke," Itachi brushes a strand of hair out of his face.

"If it's necessary," Katsumi may stay her hand for Naruto's sake. If it's an option she'll let him live, but she'll never allow Sasuke the kind of blanket forgiveness he received in her old memories. She's not that kind.

"And if it is not necessary?"

"Then let him live whatever life Lady Hokage is willing to grant him," Katsumi is just a jounin. What the Hokage decides to do with a traitor is not in her hands.

"I see. Thank you for speaking with me," Itach turns and walks silently away, pausing for a moment as if he just remembered something, "Oh, and congratulations on your promotion."

Katsumi watches him go in silence, ignoring the raven watching her from the trees. He's not arrogant or idiotic enough to put her under a genjutsu while he's under probation. No matter how strong he is.

Fighting Kisame has calmed her a little, made her head clear a bit of the overwhelming paranoia. Not much, but enough she can think again. There's only so much she can do to prepare in case her old memories come to pass. But there is one thing.

Katsumi goes back to the Nara household and digs the summoning scrolls out. She'd already spoken to her ninken, and they'd confirmed her contract isn't exclusive, but signing a different summoning contract will limit her pack size to them in all likelihood. The first summons is orcas. Katsumi doesn't have a good place to summon them, for all they're powerful, nor does she have the chakra to support such a summons while she's already got another contract to support. The fact the contract is exclusive makes the sting of not being able to use it lessen somewhat. She wants an Ishihara summons, but she will not sign a contract that requires she breaks her contract with the Hatake dogs. Still. Having orcas would have been nice. From the way the contract sounds, they would have been able to use water style.

The second is interesting. River otters. Katsumi considers it. It's not exclusive. It's not like the Hatake contract. She won't be raising them. Less chakra requirement than the orca contact, but more than her ninken. It doesn't say what their specialty is, but based on the way otters are described as tricksters in every myth she's ever heard related to them, she thinks they'll be interesting at the very least.

Katsumi doesn't know what to expect, but she bites her thumb until blood wells up and goes through the motions to summon them. There's a puff of smoke, and then a sleek, brown otter is sitting in front of her, Beady black eyes staring straight at her, "Human. Ishihara. Long time, no see. Why have you summoned?"

"To form a contract, if I'm worthy," Katsumi suspects the otter requires more politeness than her ninken.

"To what ends?"

Katsumi doesn't take her eyes of the otter, speaks words that feel ancient in her mouth, like someone else is speaking them through her, "To guard the river and keep the waters clear."

"For what purpose?"

"The River is mine and the waters are mine and all within it is mine," Katsumi has no idea where the words are coming from, but her chakra seem to resonate with each syllable.

"What would you give for it?"

"Everything."

The otter's eyes seem to shine brighter at that, "And what would you do to keep it?"

"Anything." Katsumi feels a bit like she's having some kind of out of body experience and she has questions. Her Hatake contract was not this strange.

"And what is the river?"

"Life."

"And what is the water?"

"Konoha."

"And what is within it?"

"Pack and clan and future."

"What would you ask of us?"

"To protect the water and all within it as if it is yours."

"Are you worthy of such a thing?"

"Perhaps not. It is you who must judge that," Green eyes meet black eyes steadily.

The otter creeps forward until it's only a few inches from her and rises up to sit on its hind legs, "This is not your first time in the river, Ishihara."

"No."

"It will not be your last."

"Perhaps, perhaps not. That is up to whatever saw fit to allow me a second swim in the river."

"And yet what is within the River matters to you still?"

"The water and what resides within it will always matter. It is all there is."

The otter almost seems to smile at that, small, pointed teeth showing for just a moment, "We otters are territorial, Ishihara, and not easily outwitted. If we allow this contract, you will be ours all the days of your life, more so than you will ever belong to the mutts I smell on you."

"And what does that entail?" The contract hadn't specified the price beyond chakra.

"Once a year, you shall come to our realm for one day and prove your worthiness each time. If you are worthy, you will summon us only when the need arises. We are not your mutts, we've our own river and our own waters. Help will always be given, but only when you ask for it and only as much as you ask for. Blood and chakra and prey are the price you will pay us each time."

"Prey?"

"We are hunters, Ishihara, small, though we may be. You'll find us more than capable of bringing a man to his knees," the otter's voice is high but there's nothing childlike about it. She can hear the bloodlust dripping from its tongue.

"How?"

"You've heard the stories, have you not?"

"Tricksters and seducers. You lure men to their deaths."

"Seducers? Hmm, not inaccurate. Men and women alike are easy to tempt into our hunting grounds with the right incentive. They all drown the same. Even in a desert," The otter sounds truly gleeful now and Katsumi wonders who the first person was that was brave enough, or insane enough, to win a contract from these creatures.

"And how do I prove I am worthy?"

"You are worthy enough for now, Ishihara. You may sign the contract. In a year, we shall test your worth again and see if we shall drown you too."

"And what may I call you?" Katsumi thinks she needs a name for the otter.

"You may call me Urami. You will sign your name in blood, do not call on us unless there is a life to take. Or we shall claim yours." The otter warns her.

Katsumi signs quickly and the otter makes a noise that sounds extremely pleased. It leaves in a puff of smoke, but not before it warns her one last time not to summon them without cause. Message fucking received. She has no idea what the fuck is up with the otters, but she had no idea they were that fucking intense. Maybe she should have looked through the other Ishihara scrolls to see if her clan left some kind of fucking warning before she summoned them. She didn't know summons were allowed to kill their summoners. Fucking lovely.

Notes:

So the otter's name is actually made of two Kanji that mean Reverse and Hope/Chance respectively and also it part of the name of a Japanese folk story about otters, which I thought was cool. Same kanji used in the name of a waterfall too! Just thought I'd share the fun facts I learned while obsessively researching otters in Japanese folklore

Also, Katsumi is pretty sure she just sold her soul to the devil cus the otters are apparently fucking insane

Chapter 64

Chapter Text

Katsumi and Yuma are sent out to the Kusa border two days after she signs the contract with the otters. They are not sent as ANBU. For once, they're a team as themselves, not Fox and Hyena. They have six Chuunin under them and Katsumi will freely admit she doesn't remember a single one of their names. She wasn't listening that well when they introduced themselves. She'd only paid enough attention to know their general skill sets. She doesn't need to know their names to make sure this mission goes well.

It's simple enough. Iwa is getting bolder and Tsunade's had enough and until Jiraiya gets back to put the fear of god back into Iwa, she and Yuma get to take their little pack of Chuunins and cause general chaos. At least it won't take long. A few days of sowing chaos and thinning out Iwa's numbers here and there, then going home. It makes Katsumi antsy. She still thinks something bad is going to happen, but orders are orders and at least this way, she gets to take her frustration out on someone she doesn't care about.

The Chuunin consist mostly of trap specialists and close or longe range combat types. They'll be busy making a nice, pretty field on booby traps along the border to... discourage visitors. She and Yuma's main job will be keeping them alive and any Iwa shinobi they stumble across less alive. As soon as the last traps are set, they fall back. Katsumi sees no issues with it.

The Chuunin work fast, absolutely saturating the forest with traps for nearly the entirety of the Kusa border. Katsumi and Yuma have the easy job. Far less technical and far more bloody.

They come across three teams of Iwa shinobi in forty-eight hours and she gets to see if Kakashi's efforts to teach her how to handle East jutsu pays off. If does, the biggest trick to it is to keep moving. To not stay in place long enough for them to crush her legs. It's exhausting and exhilarating and Katsumi has a bloody grin on her face the entire time. Yuma isn't much better, his pupils are blown wide and he's laughing under his breath throughout every fight. The smell of ozone and blood fills the air and by the time they're done with the Iwa teams it looks like a natural disaster has occurred. Katsumi hadn't held back, had taken every drop of stress and frustration on her opponents.

She and Yuma take turns actively hunting Iwa shinobi down at the very edge of the border. She listens for new heartbeats in the area and they trade off going to deal with it. Their Chuunin give them wary looks when they come back from those excursions, but they don't complain. It keeps them able to focus on their task without worrying about Iwa causing issues.

She and her ninken hunt through the mist she pulls down and more than once, narrowly avoid having her leg or their feet crushed by the ground suddenly trying to swallow them. Chinami looks more like a demon than she ever has and Taishiro is utterly silent as he picks off whoever he zeros in on. Even Naoki is vicious. Sticking close to Chinami and helping her drag down and tear apart one unfortunate Iwa Chuunin.

She summons her otters for the first time a few hours before it's time to fall back after she's gotten a few cockier shinobi to give chase until she'd reached a small, stagnant pond. Urami appears and the Iwa shinobi look derisive at the small animal. Urami almost seems to smile at them and Katsumi has a feeling she's not about to witness something nice at all.

She pulls the mist down just so the shinobi don't have a chance to prepare for whatever he's going to do. She's not prepared for his mouth to open and a voice entirely different from his to spill out. A child's voice, full of fear and confusion calls out a name. Katsumi can feel the hairs on her neck raise as her blood runs cold and Urami's voice becomes higher and more panicked and more and more childlike. She can hear one of the shinobi call back, shock and confusion and worry filling the man's voice. Fuck. Urami sounds like the man's daughter. What the fuck. How the fuck? She can feel chakra flaring and knows they think it's some kind of genjutsu. Maybe it it is. Katsumi's got no idea what the fuck Urami is doing or how.

Katsumi decides to leave him to whatever the hell he's doing to the man, and hunts the others down. Tries not to listen when the shinobi Urami had been speaking to finally breaks and moves towards him, battle forgotten. She cuts down a Kunoichi that had looked far younger than the rest, probably recently promoted, and winces internally when Urami's voice suddenly returns to how it was when she first summoned him, and he's laughing and there's screaming and she can hear someone struggling in the water. The animal sounds of someone desperately trying not to drown. She's never getting on Urami's bad side.

The mist clears and the shinobi is face down and floating in the pond while Urami sits calmly beside the water. Katsumi doesn't want to know, but she really has to ask, "Urami? How did you do that?"

Urami's black eyes glitter in the sunlight cutting through the trees, "Do what, Ishihara?"

"That voice?"

"Nothing more than a genjutsu. You humans have many bonds. It is easy to make those a weapon," Urami explains it like she's a child.

"But how did you know that voice? And how come they couldn't break it?"

"My secrets are my own. You need not worry over such things. Safe hunting, Ishihara," Urami disappears as quickly as he'd answered her summons.

Katsumi decides she's not going to mention this to anyone. Her new contract is psychotic and might be able to read minds or some shit. She's not about to go advertising that to anyone.

The Chuunin are done not long after she comes back and she and Yuma move to lead them back. Four days in all. Quick, bloody work that Katsumi puts out of her mind as soon as it's over. They're back a few hours after sunrise the next morning and they arrive to chaos.

Katsumi feels a chill go down her spine and knows her bad feeling had not been unnecessary paranoia. The village is under attack. Fuck. She snarls at the Chuunin to help evacuate civilians, and goes to find Kakashi, Yuma at her heels. She summons her ninken without a thought and sends them out to look for Kakashi.

Katsumi can see Kisame and Itachi fighting what looks like monstrous summons. They look like they have it well in hand though, so she moves on. Yuma is a steady wall behind her as she hunts. They have no idea where they should be or what to do here. So she focuses on finding Kakashi for orders. Tsunade is kami knows where, and Shikaku is probably in Tactics or something trying to figure out how to deal with this mess. The pass by corpses and destroyed buildings and neither of them say a word. Neither of them have anything to say about it. There's nothing to say and too much to do.

She hears the scream of a chidori before she sees him. They never make it to Kakashi though. A rinnegan possessing, orange haired corpse with piercings all over it is in front of them before they can continue. Fuck. She snarls out an order for her ninken to dismiss themselves and draws her swords. This is going to be a mess.

She glances at Yuma as he moves to stand beside her, and he looks grim. As if he realizes just how out of their depth they're about to be. He doesn't say anything though. Just moves into the hand seals for one of his many lightning jutsu and bares his teeth. No turning back. Katsumi doesn't remember what this one does, she only remembers a few of them off the top of her head, but she guesses they're about to find out. She bares her teeth as she let's fire chakra work it's way up her sword. Katsumi feels all her previous worries drain away. She's left with an odd, accepting calmness as she looks at the Path. Hopefully, the village is still standing by the time this mess has been dealt with. It'd be a shame to have to rebuild it. She's rather partial to how it is now.

When the corpse tilts its head, Katsumi doesn't flinch. When it's speaks, she doesn't react, "Where is Uzumaki Naruto? He is required to repair what he broke."

She and Yuma stay grimly silent before Yuma releases a barrage of lightning. Katsumi drags her mist down in the hopes it will give the corpse some kind of handicap. Then it all begins.

Chapter 65

Chapter Text

They have no chance in hell of winning, she knows that as soon as they begin and the fucking corpse Path thing nearly impales her with some kind of long, thick chain thing with a scorpion like point on the end.

It's a blur of water and blood and lightning as she and Yuma fight it. She can see Sai join the fray on his ink bird, attacking with his ink beasts as much as he can while dodging attacks. It's chaos and Katsumi doesn't have time to worry about Kakashi and whoever is with him.

She pours chakra into her strongest techniques, her mouth of the serpent, her tsunami of wolves, her lightning hound, everything she can think of, she does. She's burning through chakra and already on her second soldier pill and nothing is getting through. The Pein doesn't even seem mildly bothered by her attacks or Yuma's or Sai's.

She has no idea what to do aside from keep fighting. It's one corpse. One person. One set of skills. And yet the three of them can't seem to make a dent. The corpse seems like it's made of weaponry and it just keeps coming. They're losing and it's only going to get worse. Katsumi's breathing hard and she's already half feral with fury and desperation.

Then Yuma goes down. The serrated blade thing slamming straight through him and Katsumi goes still for a moment as she processes the blood exploding out from around the metal as it comes out of his back. Purple eyes are wide with shock for a moment before they do dull and lifeless and his body goes limp. His body slides unceremoniously off the weapon and doesn't move from the awkward slump it's in on the ground. Katsumi's mind goes blank. That's Yuma. That's her friend. Her partner.

She hardly acknowledges Sai's call of her stupid fucking nickname as she sees red and it's as bad as the time she thought Haku had killed Sasuke. Worse actually. Because this time, she knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is real. That this is not a bluff. The smell of ozone fills the air again and she hardly notices as she blow even more chakra on another lightning hound. Hardly notices or cares about her exhaustion, her injuries, or anything else. All she wants is for this creature to cease to be.

She's hardly aware as she takes a third soldier pill and summons her otters. Urami appears again, this time with a small army of other otters with him and he stares in silence at the carnage, beady eyes gleaming dangerously.

"Ishihara, we shall handle this one. Worry about the next one. The water of your river is under threat and you must not falter now." A dozen high pitched voices snarl as one. Katsumi is still seeing red but she trusts her bloodthirsty little water weasels to handle this as Sai continues to rain inky hell down from the sky.

Katsumi turns her head to see a different Pein. One she does remember distantly. Yamanaka-like in its abilities and it's staring straight at her. She leaves her otters to the deal with the Pein she hates the most and focused on the newcomer. She can hear the ominous noises coming out of the otters as the sound of water rushing out begins. They'll take her pound of flesh for her. Psychotic, vicious creatures that they are. Katsumi bares her teeth and doesn't hesitate.

She attacks with every single drop of skill that she has, fueled by grief and fury and dark, dark instinct. This pein is fast. Dodges quickly but doesn't seem in a hurry to attack her in turn. She swallows her fourth soldier pill in midair as the furious sounds of the otters and water fills her ears. She has just enough chakra for once last jutsu and she doesn't hesitate. She uses the tsunami of wolves jutsu and watches in vicious satisfaction as finally, the pein fails to dodge her jutsu. Watches the watery wolves drag the pein down under the surface of the water her otters had created.

There's a moment of stillness and her growls never cease and she can hear Sai's voice calling her and Kakashi yelling her name and she doesn't move. Just waits. Watches the water as blood drips into her eyes from her hair. She doesn't have enough chakra to keep going. This had to have been enough or there's nothing else she can do.

It's not enough.

The long haired pein pulls itself up and out of the water and walks calmly towards her as if she hadn't just used a jutsu that would have killed anyone else. She doesn't have the chakra for any jutsu that would do real damage and she can hear her otters dismiss themselves, she just doesn't have the chakra to maintain them any longer. Had barely had enough to maintain them in this long. Katsumi is bloody and out of options and she knows she's fucked. Staring into the rinnegan of one of Nagato's corpse puppets, she knows she's not going to make it.

"Where is Uzumaki Naruto?"

Katsumi knows from her old memories this one will rip the knowledge from her mind like a Yamanaka on a bad day if she doesn't tell him. Katsumi also knows there's only four people with that answer. Tsunade, Jiraiya, Naruto, and herself. Naruto and Jiraiya are out of reach. Off with the toads while Naruto masters sage mode. Tsunade is kami knows where, but she's Hokage. She can hold her own. Katsumi is the weak link. She's the one that's vulnerable.

She can hear Sai's panicked shout of her name from somewhere too far away to help her. Can hear the familiar scream of Kakashi's Chidori and knows that he'll be too late if he's trying to help her. Katsumi is dead no matter what, but she'll take her secrets to the grave. Her eyes drift to Yuma's corpse and her teeth stay bared, but it's closer to a bitter smile than wrathful fury. She has just enough chakra for one single, tiny jutsu.

There's one jutsu every single member of ANBU is taught. One jutsu they all know the motions of. It's one hand seal, and a twist of the fingers. To protect their secrets and the secrets of the village. The one jutsu they all pray they never need.

Katsumi sends a silent apology to Kakashi who's sharingan will commit what she's about to do to perfect, detailed memory forever. Sends a second silent apology to Sai, she doesn't think this will do him any favors. She looks up into those lavender eyes as they come within arm's reach of her and brings her hands together for one last jutsu. Ignores the blue chakra cloaking the hand the Pein is bringing closer to her head and bares her teeth in bloody, spiteful victory. Ram seal followed by her right fingers twisting around her left like she's miming dislocating them. A pulse of chakra that goes straight to her heart and brain. There's a moment where she feels a sudden, awful pain so bad she can't even think. Then there's nothing at all.

Chapter 66

Chapter Text

She wasn't expecting anything really. Even with her old memories. Maybe ceasing to be. Or starting all over again in a new life. Or just unending blackness. Finally resting. She thinks that would have been nice.

She gets none of these things. Instead when her eyes open, she's standing in front of the door to the apartment she'd spent her childhood in. Where she'd grown and laughed and felt safest. Where her Tou-San had put her pictures and drawings and homework on the fridge. Where she and Naruto had planned how to win against Kakashi in their genin test so very long ago. Where she'd screamed her fury at her tou-San when she'd learned they had a clan.

She stares and stares at the door. Her hand hovers over the door knob for what feels like an eternity. Maybe it is. Maybe time isn't a factor when someone is dead. Opening the door is strange. It feels like she's walked back into her childhood. Her second hand shogi board is in the same spot against the wall it's always been, and the walls are still painfully bare and it still smells like weapon polish and fresh rain and everything she's ever associated with home. The first smells she every associated with safety.

"I'd hoped you wouldn't be in such a rush to come here, you know," a soft, pretty voice draws her attention to the little kitchen. A woman with short brown hair and pale green eyes watches her calmly, still dressed in her ANBU gear, the Fox mask, identical to Katsumi's, hangs on her belt.

"Kaa-San." Katsumi doesn't know what she's supposed to do when greeted with the sight of the mother that died when she was barely three months old.

"Katsumi, You've grown. You'll have to tell me everything that happened," Kaa-san's smile is the same sly smile from her picture.

"There's a lot to tell," Katsumi can't take her eyes off the woman.

"Good thing we have plenty of time then," a deep, calm voice she'd missed so much comes from behind her and Katsumi whirls around.

Tou-San is leaning against the wall by his bedroom and he looks like he never left. Wearing his flak jacket and uniform and his teeth are gleaming in the wide smile on his face.

Katsumi's hugging him before she knows she's moving, face buried in the flak jacket as she clings to him. Her mother's laughter ringing in her ears as her father hugs her back.

"Always was your father's daughter. He was the only one who could calm you down when you cried," Kaa-san's voice is filled with gentle amusement.

There's a moment where all she feels is joy, before all her hurt and grief and anger come back and she's pulling away to glare at her father, "You left me. Without even saying goodbye."

Her father looks impossibly sad as he nods, "I know. And I'll always regret that. I never meant to leave the way I did. Never meant to say gone either."

"Then why did you?"

"I thought I was doing what was best for you. I wanted to keep you safe."

"I needed you here. With me. I needed my father. Not some distant protector," Katsumi bares her teeth.

"I agree. You shouldn't have had to grow up raised by strangers and friend's parents," Kaa-San's voice is calm and perfectly collected.

"It was my mistake, little one. If I could go back, I wouldn't have done it." Her Tou-San moves around her to go sit on the couch. Kaa-Chan's hand falls onto her shoulder and she leads her to sit between them on the worn old thing.

"You can't though," Katsumi says it softly as she tries to decide who to look at more.

"I know. And I am truly sorry for it," tou-San sounds more honest than he ever has before and she thinks he's finally done hiding away. A shame they'd both had to for that to happen.

"I believe you." She can't say she forgives him yet, the old grief and pain feels brand new and she can't say she forgives him just yet.

Kaa-San's hand brushes the hair that's fallen out of its ponytail away from Katsumi's face, "If you're willing, I'd like to hear about what all has happened while I've been gone."

Katsumi laughs roughly at the wording. Like her mother just took a long mission instead of dying. She says the first thing that comes to mind, "I joined ANBU at fourteen. I'm Fox now. Or was, I guess."

"Ah. I see it didn't bring you any more luck than it brought me."

"I didn't die in the mask, at least. Never failed a mission when I wore it," Katsumi shrugs.

"Perhaps it did bring you some luck then."

"I was Kakashi's apprentice. Signed his summoning contract and everything."

"Of course. You trailed after the man like he was god when you ended up on his genin team," Her tou-San doesn't sound surprised in the least.

"He was a good Sensei. Good comrade. Good man," Katsumi's not ashamed to admit Kakashi was easily one of the most important people in her life.

"Got to go to the Ishihara compound too. Took a lot of shit home with me. Signed the otter contract."

"Oh? And what are the otters like?" Kaa-san sounds curious.

"Strange. Much more bloodthirsty than I expected from them." Katsumi snickers a little. Too bad she only got to use them twice. She thinks they were pretty damn cool.

"Your obaa-san used to tell stories about them. Even by our clan's standards, the otters were vicious creatures," Tou-San shakes his head, "Gotta say, I'm not surprised they chose to work with you. You have a mean streak that could match theirs when you put your mind to it."

"I had a partner in ANBU. Hyena. He died just before I did," Katsumi feels the grief of that hit her hard now that she's done fighting.

"Hyena. I remember him. Absolutely insane. Damn good to have in a fight though." Tou-San muses.

"Yeah. He really was." Katsumi wonders if she'll get to see him again.

"And how's that Nara boy? You two were attached at the hip if I remember right."

"Nara boy?" Her Kaa-San asks curiously.

"Shikaku and Yoshino's boy."

"Ah. Is he as lazy as his father?" Kaa-San tilts her head and her green eyes are filled with mirth.

"Lazier. We were dating. A few months now," Katsumi is extremely grateful Shikamaru was in Suna for this mess.

"Oh? Do you love him?" Kaa-San ignores the mildly panicked look on tou-san's face.

"I'm pretty sure I did? He was pack. Not much I wouldn't have done for him," Katsumi's not sure what love is supposed to look like. At least not romantic love that hasn't had decades to form. She likes to think she loves him.

"That's how it for any of your pack, little one. There's a bit of a difference between love and pack, though," Tou-San sounds like he would like to hide from this topic. Which is fair. Katsumi wouldn't mind hiding from it either.

Too bad Kaa-San seems very interested in it, "I hope he made you happy, Katsumi. Being a shinobi is hard, it's important to find joy wherever you can."

"I did. There was plenty of joy," Katsumi knows that much. For all the grief, she knows there was happiness too. She doesn't think she would have made it this far otherwise.

"Good. That's important. I want to know everything. About everything you've done," Kaa-San smiles encouragingly.

So, Katsumi talks. She tells them her entire life after her father's death. Tells them every mission. Every stupid story she can think of. Every good decision and every bad one. Tells them about terrorizing the ANBU recruits with Yuma and about the swords Naruto gave her. Tells them about Ino and Sakura and Sai and Yamato. About her ninken. About Danzo and the Akatsuki. About her jounin exams and that mission to rescue the Kazekage and seal the statue and how it went so very wrong and they still managed it. Tells them about Haku and Zabuza and Mei. Tells them everything. Leaves nothing out.

When it's over, when she's said everything there is to say, her mother smiles beautifully, "You did wonderfully. You became a finer Kunoichi than I ever dreamed. I am so proud of you."

"I'm sorry we couldn't be there to witness it, you've done beautifully," Her tou-San sounds as proud as he had the day she'd graduated the academy.

"I wasn't done. I still had things to do," Katsumi admits, somewhat bitterly.

Tou-San tilts his head back and looks up at the lights as they begin to flicker, "Seems you might get your wish."

Katsumi stares at him dubiously, "I'm dead. Not sure wishing changes that."

Kaa-San pulls her into a hug and a strange tugging feeling starts in her gut, "Seems it has this time. I love you, but I don't want to see you again for a very long time, little one."

Tou-San is laughing as he kisses her hair, "Give them hell, Katsumi."

Katsumi barely manages to breath her forgiveness out to her father before everything goes black and they're gone. She comes back to herself harshly. Shaking and disoriented as her heart beats hard in her chest. A heart she knows she personally stopped. It's beating like it's trying to make up for the time it wasn't and she just lays there, staring up at the night sky. It was daylight out when she died. So, Naruto pulled through. Katsumi just stares up at the sky for a while in mild shock even as the familiar flow of her chakra moves to her ears and she can hear Yuma muttering curse words dazedly somewhere off to the side.

It's Kakashi who appears above her first. Dried blood surrounding a massive hole in his flak jacket, straight over his heart, he's staring down at her like he's trying to memorize her breathing, "Katsumi-Chan. Welcome back. Don't ever do that again."

Katsumi has to consciously work to form words, "Kakashi, do you know dying is kind of fucked up?"

There's no eye smile as he kneels down and helps her into a sitting position, hovering over her like he's going to gut anyone who gets near her, even Yuma and Sai who look as dazed as she feels as they approach slowly, "Maa, it's not something I would recommend repeating."

Katsumi doesn't have anything to say back, just nods and leans against him as he helps her onto her feet. The pein she'd sent her otters after is laying on the ground, the piercings laying on the ground around it, she thinks there's little teeth marks in them. The village is still standing. Kind of. Part of it is a smoldering ruin, but it's better than she expected. Guess that's a good sign.

"Did we just die?" Yuma sounds like he's struggling to process it a bit.

It's Sai that answers, "Only temporarily, it seems."

Katsumi just keeps leaning against Kakashi. Just readjusts to being alive. What a strange thing. She wonders which of her nine lives this must be. Tora is probably jealous by now.

Chapter 67

Chapter Text

Naruto and Jiraiya managed to convince Nagato to revive everyone. Katsumi doesn't ask for details. She doesn't need them. She can imagine based on her old memories how that went. Sai had disappeared to find Inoichi almost as soon as they'd found Naruto surrounded by villagers in celebration. Kakashi's been practically carrying her since they'd been revived. It's awkward considering she's also refusing to release Yuma's arm and snarling at anyone who gets too close that she doesn't know. That night she and Kakashi summon their ninken and the three of them just sit in one of the tents that's been set up to house everyone and listen to the breathing and grumbles of the ninken. Yuma spends the night with Chinami in his lap, seemingly unaware of how heavy the dog is. Or maybe just uncaring.

There's a lot to be done now that the invasion is over. Katsumi has no idea what happened to Konan and doesn't really care. She wasn't the threat that Nagato was. The village needs to be rebuilt and Konoha can't look weak for a moment longer than they have too. At least no one stayed dead. That's something. Strength wise, they're fine. But looking at the destruction of over half the village is disheartening.

The aftermath is surreal. Within twenty four hours, there's tents set up for the shinobi and civilian's whose homes were destroyed. Yamato is working overtime using his mokuton to rapidly build new homes, while carpenters work en masse to rebuild, using the genin corps as extremely cheap labor. The Akimichi clan is using their strength to clear away the rubble. The Nara clan seems to have taken over the planning of the rebuilding process, while the Inuzuka are hunting through rubble looking for anyone that wasn't able to get themselves out. The Hyuuga clan too, is helping find everyone. The Yamanaka's are almost zealous in checking the mental states of everyone who died in the invasion. Inoichi's hunting people down like its his new mission in life to make sure they're all functional.

Katsumi and the rest of the jounin in the village are sent out almost constantly to maintain the appearance of Konoha being unaffected by the disaster. Any shinobi who isn't useful in the rebuilding efforts is. ANBU, jounin, tokubetsu jounin, all of them are nearly nonexistent in the village as they handle mission after mission to keep things flowing smoothly. Even Naruto, who'd earned himself a field promotion to jounin for his part in stopping the chaos, is gone nearly constantly. Itachi and Kisame too. Since taking down one of the Peins was seen as a reason to lift Itachi's village arrest and earn Kisame probational status of jounin in the village. Katsumi's not sure he really wanted to join Konoha, but he's stuck to Itachi like glue so she's not that surprised he stayed.

She and Kakashi come back from once again reminding Iwa that it really should fuck off to see Suna shinobi have arrived to help the rebuilding process. So Naruto's strange friendship with the Kazekage has paid off. Katsumi, for once, feels no discomfort in seeing the Suna nin. They're allies and she's well aware she needs to get over her distrust of them. Especially since they seem like they're actually going to stay allies this time.

They finish their mission report and get two days to rest before they need to report in for their next assignments. Katsumi's too tired to care that it's only two days. She just wants to rest. The Nara compound and its Forest was far enough way from the main village to avoid damage, and the Nara's have been allowing anyone, shinobi or civilian, that needs a place to stay to rent the empty houses in the compound until new homes are built. It makes the compound extremely crowded. The Nara clan is one of the smaller clans, and having so many people in the compound makes it feel much, much busier than it really is. Yoshino has been busy dealing with the newcomers and keeping the clan running smoothly while Shikaku has been practically barricaded in the jounin commander's office working on the village.

Katsumi's not prepared to see Shikamaru when she walks in the house, even knowing he'd probably be back if there's Suna shinobi here. He looks exhausted, like coming back to a village in tatters has aged him ten years. Katsumi hopes no one has mentioned she was very much dead for a few hours to him. Apparently Naruto's Sage training makes him a very, very good sensor, he'd told her he hadn't been able to sense her chakra when he'd arrived and that he'd hoped she'd just been on a mission. Turns out, Nagato had detailed her death to him in an attempt to make Naruto hate him. To prove his point about pain. Naruto had made her swear she'd never to it again. That she wouldn't die for him ever again, then promised her he'd make sure it was never necessary again. Katsumi thinks that's a fool's promise. He can't predict the future anymore than anyone else.

Shikamaru doesn't move closer to her, his dark eyes rove over her though. Like he's looking for evidence that she really was a corpse for awhile, she suspects Naruto told him what happened. He shifts slightly as the silence stretches and finally speaks first, "Katsumi? I heard what happened. Are you alright?"

"I died. Like really died. Not heart stopped and Kakashi had to zap it again died. Like was dead for hours. A lot of people were," Katsumi sounds distant even to her ears as she says it.

"Yeah... yeah, Naruto told me. Do you need anything? Can I help you? I'm sorry I wasn't there," Shikamaru doesn't look like he really knows what to say, like for all his genius he can't find an answer.

"Nothing you can really do, I don't think. And it's probably best you were in Suna. Safer that way," Katsumi's not sure what she would have done if she'd had to watch Yuma and Shikamaru die. No matter how temporarily it was.

Shikamaru's eyebrows pull together and she knows he's not happy, "I'm sorry about our fight too. I.. I overreacted. It just seemed like you were upset. Like I'd done something wrong or you weren't happy. I didn't know why though."

Katsumi can't help but cross her arms over her chest and shift awkwardly, "I just want my own space. I can't live here forever."

"The clan wouldn't care. They love you," Shikamaru smiles ruefully, "Pretty sure they think you keep me from sleeping my life away."

"The clan has been kind to me. I love it here, but I can't live here forever. I need my own space. Not like I'm moving out right away. There's a lot left to do," Katsumi's not leaving at least until the village is repaired.

"I know. But if you want your own home, there's houses here, in the compound, when everything's gone back to normal. The elders wouldn't say no, the rest of the clan certainly wouldn't either, if you moved into one of them," Shikamaru says it like he's been thinking about it for a long time.

Katsumi appreciates the offer, she does, but she's tired of living off the good will of the Nara clan. As much as she loves the clan and the compound and the peacefulness, she wants a place that's hers and hers alone. She needs it. It's not like she'll never come back, Shikaku and Yoshino and Shikamaru are here. She's not leaving the village. She shakes her head and tries not to flinch at the mild hurt that seems to pass over Shikamaru's face for a moment, "I just need a place that's mine. No one else's. It's not like I'm avoiding the clan or you. I just want something that's mine ."

"I figured you'd say that. Thought I should make sure you knew all the options though. Are we alright?" Shikamaru looks like he doesn't even have the energy to complain about what a drag this all is.

She's not sure they're good, not sure anything's really been resolved, her father's words have been haunting her, but she supposes they're alright for now, "Yeah, we are."

Finally, Shikamaru closes the distance between them and kisses her soundly on the mouth, more energy in this kiss than any of the others, before tucking her head under his chin and hugging her to him. Katsumi's still tired and still not sure they're good, but she welcomes the contact. Welcomes the moment of peace after so much that's happened.

Chapter 68

Chapter Text

Sakura walks out of the hospital like she'd only been visiting for a check up, not long after the Suna shinobi leave. Katsumi is one of the first in line to hug her when she hears. Presses the hair needle she'd chosen for the girl into her palm and smiles happily when Sakura rolls her eyes and jokingly asks her who she killed for it.

She and Ino sit her down on a bench in one of the still standing parts of the village and ask her what happened. When she woke up. Katsumi wants to laugh hysterically at the answer. Fucking Nagato fixed her. Managed to knock out the power to the machines keeping her breathing and since, technically that killed her, he just fucking revived her and now she's fixed. Katsumi has no words for the sheer relief she feels at such absurdity. Apparently, Tsunade's been keeping her in the hospital watching her closely ever since. Keeping the information quiet in case something went wrong.

Katsumi is practically dancing through the streets for the rest of the day after that. Feels better than she has in weeks knowing all her people are okay. It's a relief. Like she's been granted a second chance to do better.

She doesn't get long to revel in it though. She gets sent out on four assassination missions in a row, all solo, because whether she's banned from solo missions as a jounin or not, the village needs them done and she's available for them. So she goes.

Spends two months bouncing around the smaller nations chasing her targets. Drowns a man because his son wanted his inheritance and didn't want to wait. Poisons a woman so her business partners don't have to buy her out of her Share of the business. Electrocutes a young man who's village had enough of him extorting them. Garrotes the man who beat the wrong woman's daughter.

She's not expecting what she comes across as she slinks through the land of Rice on her way back. It's the smell she notices first, her and her ninken all going still as the smell of blood and metal hits them. Another shinobi. Then she registers the more subtle details of the smell. Ashes and chemicals. Sasuke. Well. Katsumi changes course without thinking. As she gets closer to the source of the smell, she starts notices the signs of a fresh battle and her curiosity piques even more. Her ninken are silent at her side.

She finds a smoldering, destroyed clearing that looks like it was turned into a sinkhole. She spots the body easily enough. Partial charred and very much dead. Orochimaru. So Sasuke got sick of the snake. She's surprised he managed to make up for two years of no training and become lethal enough to kill a Sannin so quickly. She wonders idly what his training regime must have been like. She doesn't even get to turn her head before there's a sword at her throat and breath tickling her hair. Katsumi goes very still, less out of fear and more common sense, as her ninkens' hackles rise and their snarls fill the air.

"Ishihara." Sasuke's voice is deeper than she remembers. Still harsh and angry though, as exhausted as it is.

"Uchiha, have a spat with your master?" Katsumi expected to be angry when faced with Sasuke again. Expected to want to kill him. She's not angry. Mostly she's just mildly curious about what happens now.

The sword presses warningly against her throat, "He's not my master."

"Anymore, you mean. Unless that seal is still on your neck, then I'd say he very much still is," Katsumi goads him.

He snarls at her, but no killing intent forms, it makes her feel better about her odds of walking away from the Uchiha without being set on fire, "I should kill you."

"That so? Still mad about the eye?" Katsumi grins meanly as she eyes the corpse in front of her.

"I told you I'd kill you. Don't want to break my promise," he says it almost like it's funny, like an inside joke or something, if he didn't also sound so pissed, it probably would be.

Katsumi starts drawing water in the air to her and twitches her fingers subtly for Taishiro to see and hopes Sasuke doesn't notice, "You also swore to kill Itachi and yet he's still alive and wandering Konoha."

Sasuke is silent behind her and Katsumi holds her breath as she waits to see how he'll respond to that. Her ninken circle quietly around them, ready to intercede at a moment's notice.

"So I've heard. Why are you here?"

"Just passing through. Itachi and Naruto don't want me to kill you, you know. Not if I don't have to. You seem pretty beat up, just from how you sound. Bet they'd love it if you came back nicely," Katsumi keeps her voice level and easy. Tries to feel out if he's batshit insane or not with Orochimaru is dead.

"Fuck off, Ishihara. Why should I come back?"

"Well. You did say you'd come back when you killed Itachi. Two birds, one stone and all that," Katsumi is almost certain he won't even try to kill his brother.

"Leave, Ishihara. Next time, I'll kill you," The sword is gone from her neck between one heartbeat and the next and so is Sasuke. Kami, her mission report is going to be a fucking headache now. She releases the water she'd pulled to herself and jerks her head towards Konoha, her ninken swarming around her in response.

She's right. She ends up having to tell Tsunade, Jiraiya, Shikaku, Ibiki, Kakashi, and fucking Naruto about the Sasuke sighting. Repeatedly. They even get Inoichi to mind walk with her to go through it again. She's not sure which part they're more interested in, a Sasuke that didn't kill her on sight or the corpse of Orochimaru.

By the time she's done, and they're satisfied, she's irritated as hell and needs something to take the edge off. It's not hard to grab two bottles of Ishihara sake and drag Shikamaru out to one of the secluded clearing in the Nara forest.

They drink slowly and Eventually Shikamaru lights one of the cigarettes she's known for awhile he carries but has never actually seen him smoke. It was the smell lingering, the only indication it was him and not Asuma the smell was coming from, that tipped her off. She doesn't think before asking for one herself, she's bummed one or two off Owl before in the ANBU HQ, when Kakashi wasn't around to murder them for it. They aren't her favorite thing and she rarely does it, but it helps the sake take the edge off further. Shikamaru looks surprised when she asks but hands her one and lights it for her.

Katsumi takes a drag and holds the smoke in for a moment before letting it out, "When I was dead, I saw my parents."

Shikamaru goes very still beside her and she can feel his eyes on her as she watches the burning end of the cigarette. She's pretty sure it's the same brand as Asuma's. Different from Owl's for sure.

"What was that like?"

"Nice. It was nice. I don't think I would have minded staying with them. It was peaceful," Katsumi admits it freely.

"I'm glad you didn't," Shikamaru sounds like he's imagine what would have happened if she hadn't been revived.

"Kaa-San said she hoped you made me happy. When I told them about you."

There's silence as Shikamaru takes a long drag from his own cigarette, like he's delaying his question. He waits until all the smoke has been exhaled to do it, "What'd you say?"

"I told her you did," Katsumi tilts her head to look back at the crescent moon hanging low in the sky.

"Do I still?" Shikamaru asks it like he doesn't care about the answer, but she can see the truth from the twitch of his fingers that hold his sake bottle and his cigarette in one hand. He's always been good at covering emotions with apathy. All the Nara clan is.

"Yes." She knows he makes her happy. Even with their disagreements, he makes her happy.

"Answer me this though, do you actually love me?" Shikamaru looks straight at her as he asks and his eyes are narrowed and intent on her face.

She supposes that's the question of the year. He's her oldest friend. The one she can always go to when she needs him. The one who never really leaves. Easily the most stable person in her life. She loves him, she knows that. She doesn't know if it's the way she's supposed to though. Still, she's not lying when she says, "Yes."

Shikamaru nods slowly, like she's confirmed something else for him. He leans forward and kisses her forehead softly, the smell of sake and smoke on his breath, "Troublesome woman, when you lie, the fingers on your left hand twitch."

Katsumi feels cold as she watches him lean back and drain a quarter of his sake bottle. Feels a bit like the air has been sucked out of her and she has to swallow hard before she manages to speak again, "I wasn't lying."

"Maybe not. Can you honestly say you meant the way I did though?" Shikamaru watches her calmly as he brings his cigarette back to his lips, as if he's already worked out every step of this conversation and is just waiting for it to play out.

Katsumi replays every conversation they've ever had in her head and comes to the startling realization neither of them has ever told the other they loved them. She wonders if he was waiting for her to say it first, or if he's in the same boat she is.

"I love you as much as you love me," Katsumi settles on that as she thinks about how they've never been on a date despite planning them. Together for nearly a year and they'd never been on a date or said they loved each other. Katsumi wonders if either of them had really considered how to make a relationship work between them, aside from how to handle it if it ended. Maybe that was their mistake. Preparing for the end before they ever began.

Shikamaru sighs quietly, the way he does when something is being a particular drag, "You know, during the Suna invasion I had a bit of this epiphany, then I never really thought about how to make it a reality. I should have. I made a mistake not actually thinking about that."

"What was it?"

"That instead of trying to find a girl you and my parents would like, I'd just marry you instead," he sounds amused and regretful all at once.

Katsumi has to drink when she hears that. She'd never known he'd been thinking about that all the way back then, "If it helps, I don't know how to have a relationship that's not strictly pack."

"I guess we both fucked this up."

"Is there a way to fix it?" Katsumi lifts her cigarette back to her lips and takes a long, long drag before blowing smoke rings.

"Do you want to fix it?" He counters, Katsumi hears his real question though, do you think it's worth fixing?

Katsumi tilts her head as she looks at him. Thinks carefully about who she's become and who he is and who they are together. Thinks of how it feels like they're strangers some days and how they know less and less about what each other is doing. She hates the thought of walking away. Hates the thought that they might be dead in the water, but she wonders if they've been that way for awhile now. Wonders if it's already too late to fix it.

"I don't want to just walk away," that's the truth, she's just not sure there's a way to wipe the slate clean and fix the fact they barely tried in this. The bare minimum just isn't enough, she knows it, and so does he.

Shikamaru doesn't answer her right away. Finishes his sake first and lights a new cigarette, "What do you want?"

There's a strange, hollow feeling in her chest as she finally gives him the utter truth, as unsatisfactory as it is, "I have no idea."

Shikamaru laughs quietly, a sad, unsurprised noise that cuts straight through her, "Can't fix it unless we both know we want to."

"So what now?" Katsumi doesn't want this to be happening. She knows that much. She doesn't know what to do if she loses him. She thinks if this ends, they end entirely. That's what it feels like. Like burying ten years of memories in an unmarked grave against her will.

"I suppose that's up to you," Shikamaru takes her burnt out cigarette from her suddenly cold fingers and drops it into the empty sake bottle with his first one.

"One more night. Just one more, then we worry about that happens next in the morning?" She knows delaying it will only hurt worse, but she doesn't think she can handle it now. She knows she wants one more night for sure. After that, she'll live with whatever she has to.

Shikamaru exhales smoke and nods slowly, "Yeah, yeah, we can do that."

Chapter 69

Notes:

Hope y'all like break up sex

Chapter Text

She ends up collecting four more bottle of sake from her room and rejoining Shikamaru in the clearing. She asked for one more night and he agreed and neither of them intend to walk away until sunrise.

They drink and smoke and talk slowly. About everything they never bothered to before. About everything they'd thought important or unimportant. It feels a bit like a funeral, but Katsumi can't stand the thought of silence.

He tells her how it's going in Tactics. How it's a drag and he'd rather be cloud watching, but at least some of the problems are challenging. She tells him about the Assassinations she's been sent on and how she can barely remember how she felt taking that first life when she was a genin anymore, even though she still dreams about it. He tells her he was her tactics guide on the Danzo operation, that he recognized her voice immediately and nearly had to leave the room when her comms cut out. She tells him how she'd been worried they'd given her a shitty tactics guide and how she'd been too distracted to realize it was him.

They talk about the jounin exams, even though they aren't supposed to. He tells her about having to face Genma, and ending up poisoned with a hallucinogenic and high off his balls for an hour after his fifteen minutes were up. She tells him about how Asuma cut her and she responded by using her own blood in place of her water shrapnel. Shikamaru's eye twitches and he mutters darkly about that explaining why Asuma was weird during training for a month.

He tells her about Suna and spending the entire time trying to figure out how to fix them. How to make it up to her for the fight. How he'd realized just how little he'd tried with them and couldn't believe she hadn't minded. She tells him about how she wanted them, wanted this to work. How she'd never considered how much wasn't right with them until now. Tells him about the Shiromuku dresses she'd brought back from Kiri and never mentioned, because she was afraid he'd freak.

That causes him to go silent for a long time and stare down at his second bottle of sake. She's not prepared for his hand to suddenly be under her chin and tilting it up, or his mouth to meet hers in a desperate kiss that tastes like sake and cigarettes and feels like pure grief. A terrible combination that Katsumi doesn't want to go away.

So she kisses him back with just as much fervor. Kisses him like it's the last time it will ever happen, because come sunrise, there won't be anymore kisses. Sighs brokenly against his mouth as his fingers work their way into her hair and loosen her ponytail. Laces her fingers behind his neck and focuses on this instead of the end.

His hands work under her shirt and he pulls her into his lap, her legs on either side of his, never breaking the kiss. The way they are, she's actually slightly taller than him for once, with his hands pressing against her back, and he has his head tipped back to accommodate the difference.

Katsumi is struck by the thought this is probably not a good idea, but it's gone as soon as it's formed. Her hands work on the zipper of his flak jacket and he lets her go long enough to shake it off before peeling her shirt over her head and discarding it beside her flak jacket, so they're both in just their pants and mesh armor. His hands run up and down her back from her thighs to her shoulders like he can't decide where to place them as Katsumi dips her head down and presses open mouthed kisses up and down his neck, letting her teeth graze him every so often and listens to the rapid beat of his heart.

He tugs her hips down until they fit perfectly over his, and his hands push and pull on her hips until she's moving them against him in little rocking motions. His hands move back under her shirt, and up to her breasts. Katsumi makes a whining noise against his throat and presses harder against him when he starts rubbing circles on her nipples the way she likes.

Before she knows it, she's on her back in the grass and Shikamaru has a hand down her pants and two fingers in her and she's entirely topless with his mouth working on her nipples in turn. Katsumi's fully aware this can't be a healthy way to end things, but she really doesn't care, because this feels good and it's Shikamaru and she doesn't want it to end. Her hands are working on his pants and she manages to work them low down his hips and one hand wraps around his dick while the other tugs on his spiky ponytail until it comes loose and she runs her fingers through it. He groans low in his throat and thrusts into her hand as she works it up and down him.

He's always been good with his hands, had figured out what she'd liked quickly and never forgotten it and tonight is no different. His thumb rubs circles on her clit, counterclockwise and clockwise until her back is arching and and she's gasping.

Her pants come off with her underwear and are discarded to the side with the rest of her clothes and his own pants follow shortly after. When he enters her, he does it slowly, his elbows holding his weight above her as her legs wrap around him thoughtlessly. He fucks her deep and slow and his mouth never stops working on her neck even as his hands work their way into her hair and her head tilts back automatically. It feels like he's trying to draw it out as long as possible, trying to make up for the fact he hadn't put the effort in before it was to late.

Katsumi can't stand that. So she flips them over, braces her hands on his chest and locks eyes with him, almost angrily, as she rolls her hips harshly. Watches his face intently as she sets a fast, unyielding pace and his hands grip her hips harshly in return. She can feel his hips coming up to meet hers even as she increases the pace. Doesn't let up even when his eyes roll back, and his body jerks and she can feel his hands tighten painfully on her hips trying to hold her still.

He's relaxed and breathing hard under her as she stays where she is. Watching his face still for anything resembling a solution to their problems. Tries to spot love instead of grief. Tries to spot anything other the sake and regret fueled lust. When she doesn't see it, even as dark, solemn eyes search her face right back, she climbs off him and redresses, ignoring the feeling of his come trickling out of her. She can wash that off later.

Katsumi grabs her third bottle of sake and opens it unceremoniously. Downs half of it before she hears Shikamaru moving to get dressed too. Looks up at the sky and knows it'll be morning in a few hours. Shikamaru passes her a lit cigarette and she takes it silently. They don't speak again for the rest of the night. Just drink and smoke and look at the stars instead of each other. When morning comes, Katsumi goes to the ANBU HQ while Shikamaru goes to see Asuma.

Chapter 70

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She swears she was intending to just find an apartment and rent it. Really, she was. In the aftermath of her and Shikamaru ending though, she got carried away. Wanted stability. Wanted to know where she lived would be hers and would stay hers. So, she'd run the numbers and found a house near the edge of the main village with trees surrounding it and just... bought it. Without thinking, had just coughed up the entirety of the money her father had left her along with nearly a year's worth of savings. For a house. She's not sure if that was what she was supposed to do but she's content.

It's a nice house, an older one. Not ridiculously huge, the kitchen is a bit cramped and the rice paper walls that divide the bedrooms from the hallway need replacing, but it's hers and she loves it. Shikaku raises an eyebrow when he sees it and tells her it's nice while he sets up a spot for shogi for her. That she should have Naruto come and place protective seals on it for her, since her bingo book entry got upped to A-rank after her multiple excursions to make Iwa fuck off away from the border.

Yoshino insists on buying her groceries, mostly food that won't go bad if she takes a longer mission. Helps her weave the Ishihara beads into a curtain and hangs it in the entry to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. Three of them. She only keeps one as a bedroom though, the biggest one, for her. She turns the smallest one into a storage room and the middle sized one into a what amounts a mini training area. only good for Katas and stretching and weapons storage, really, but she likes it.

She places the bowls and plates from the Ishihara compound into the kitchen cabinets she designated for them. Puts Ishihara blankets everywhere. On the little couch she bought and the overly cushy chair Shikaku had given her as a home warming gift. Ends up with even more on the bed that she'd made sure was big enough for her and her ninken before purchasing. Fills her entire, new, large closest with her uniforms and the clothes Yoshino had gifted her over the years that still fit, and every piece of Ishihara clothing that's not obviously men's clothing or a wedding dress or baby clothes. Those get hung in her little storage room. She hangs her father's swords on the wall of the living room, his photo and her Kaa-San's in frames on a little table underneath it, with Ishihara vases full of flowers from Ino beside them.

There's dog bowls and toys in a neat basket by the wall separating the kitchen from the little dining area, and she doesn't expect that to stay neat at all. Her ninken aren't that perfect after all. Sai gives her a pretty painting that looks like the ocean meeting the forest and she's beaming as she hangs it above her bed. Naruto happily carves seals into every doorway and window of her little house and the underside of her porch so no one can spot them easily. Gives her Uzushio wind chimes that never stop chiming, wind or no wind, unless there's a threat and that hangs proudly above her kitchen sink.

Yamato makes her an entire fucking dresser which means she moves her uniforms into that, and sets up jewelry boxes on top of it, filled with Ishihara jewelry and her mother's jewelry. Katsumi grins widely when Kiba drops by and gives her dog beds that smell like dogs already, even though they're clearly brand new. Those get scattered around the house so her ninken can chose where they want to sleep.

Yuma shows up and picks a cabinet for her pile of Ishihara sake and stolen Zabuza sake. Helps her pick good hiding places for Kunai and shuriken and senbon incase she needs them. Helps her put up the rest of her Ishihara decorations through out the house, picking places for the paintings and statues and little wood carvings. Helps repair the rice paper walls that's in some parts of the house. When Sai starts painting on them without a word, she happily leaves that to him, trusting the boy with anything artistic.

She's not expecting Gai and Lee to show up and promptly select a good area in her unfenced yard for Taijutsu practice and mark it out so she doesn't forget it. Yells of youthfulness fill the air as they use their Taijutsu skills to beat the ground the suitable firmness for it. Neji is with them and stiffly gives her a pretty white box with carvings of leaves on it for keeping scrolls in. She hugs him for the unexpected and welcome gesture and grins when he goes stiff as a board. She supposes her former physical therapy partner isn't as used to hugs as she'd expect from someone who had Gai as their jounin Sensei.

Ino continues to show up with flowers throughout the day, and she's not sure when it happened, but they started being poisonous and now Katsumi's got a poison garden in front of her porch and strict written instructions of how to care for them and when to cut them for maximum potency. And a reminder not to miss her therapy appointment or Inoichi will hunt her down like the dogs she summons.

Choji shows up too, with what looks like a week's worth of meals from his mother and a sweet smile on his face as he explains what each dish is and if it's supposed to be eaten cold or hot. They come with written instructions too. Katsumi guesses his mother probably remembers when she needed a special diet from their clan after her ANBU training. Looking at them, she's pretty sure that they all meet the dietary requirements from that time in her life. At least there's homemade mochi, though. So not entirely healthy.

Sakura shows up and then there's a bookshelf against one of her living room walls with a medical kit on the top shelf. She also receives a warning not to fill the bookshelf with porn like Kakashi probably would. From the dangerous look in Sakura's eyes she's almost certain it's not a joke. She also brings cleaning supplies. A lot of it. Also with written instructions of how, when, and where to use them. A lot of it specifically for cleaning up blood. Those, at least, she doesn't need instructions for.

Anko shows up too, Genma and Raidou in tow. The three wander her house looking at everything. Tell her not to hole herself up in here or Anko will have to kidnap her. Katsumi's only seventy percent that's a joke. Anko's done crazier shit. There's a new pile of senbon needles, a new whetstone, and two new jars of snake venom on her little kitchen table by the time they leave. Somehow, no one saw any of them set those down.

Tenten comes around to find her teammates and suddenly the girl is in her makeshift, weapons/training room and obsessively organizing the Ishihara weapons in order from most likely to be used to least likely. Katsumi's actually impressed at how accurately she manages to do that. Neji ends up having to literally drag the girl out of the room when it's time for them to go.

Kakashi doesn't show up until everyone has left. Ambling through the door like it's his house and eye smiling at everything as he looks around. Calmly, and without saying a word, traps the back door and the front door, pointing out how to disable each and every one of them so she can actually leave her house without being decapitated or something. Sets a picture of team seven down on her night stand, a replacement for the one she'd burnt after Sasuke left when she had a sudden fit of rage. She wasn't aware he knew about that. She also ends up with a bag of dog food that weighs as much as she does and a reminder to feed herself. Katsumi is starting to wonder if everyone thinks she doesn't know how to keep herself alive.

He doesn't leave without reminding her that she doesn't have to be alone if she doesn't want to be and that his couch is still open whenever she needs it. Katsumi gets the feeling he's concerned for her mental health now that she's living by herself.

Katsumi summons her ninken once he leaves and happily lets them explore the house, "New den, what do you all think?"

Naoki is full grown now but still only says yes or no, and today is no different. He runs through the house smelling everything and chanting, "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Chinami is calmer as she investigates, "New fucking den. Fucking good. Lots of space. Damn good for pack and pups."

"There's not going to be pups for a really long time. You know that, Chinami," Katsumi reminds her with a fond grin. Pups seem to be the thing dogs always circle back to eventually.

"Why? Nice den with nice nest and safe. Pack healthy. Katsumi has baby alpha for mate? Pups important for pack," Taishiro flops unceremoniously down onto one of the dog beds Kiba brought.

"Um, no. Shikamaru and I aren't together anymore. And I'm too young for pups anyway," Katsumi shrugs and ignores the sting in her chest at the reminder that she and Shikamaru aren't together anymore. That, of everyone she knows, he's the only one who hadn't invaded her new house today who wasn't on a mission.

"Why? Baby alpha bad mate?" Taishiro looks like he might go bite Shikamaru.

"No. We just weren't a good match like that. Better as pack mates. Not mates," Katsumi explains as she walks down the hall to her new bedroom, three sets of dog nails tapping on the wood floor after her.

"Find new mate?" Taishiro tilts his head inquisitively as he hops up onto the bed and watches her change.

"No. I think I'll be fine without a mate for awhile. No rush there," Katsumi rolls her eyes and pulls an oversized sweat shirt over her head.

"Fucking good. Bitches gotta be fucking picky. Make idiot fucking males work for mate," Chinami grunts as she sniffs the pale green Ishihara blanket at the top of the pile.

"That's very good advice, Chinami," Katsumi praises. Taishiro looks mildly offended at Chinami's description of males.

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Naoki woods his agreement and paws at Chinami until she picks a spot on the bed near the door. Naoki insists on cuddling up to the mastiff at night. Every night. Definitely her adopted puppy.

Having a house is strange, she thinks as she settles into the new bed. Expensive too. Definitely more expensive than she probably should have gone. Still, Katsumi loves it and feels utterly content with the decision. She feels like it was the best choice for her. Definitely wouldn't take it back.

Notes:

So a lot of y'all are saying that shikamaru's Suna invasion decision was messed up since it comes across like he was settling, which I get, I also didn't mean for it to sound like he was settling, he just kinda said it and it came out wrong, was how it was intended! I may go back and edit that so it's clearer! That was definitely a mistake on my part not to realize how it would sound when he worded it like that! Also, this series has 130 chapters left at least! So no final ship has been decided and they both are gonna get to grow as people and we'll see if that means anything good for them later! Bear with me y'all and please don't kill me for their break up! Also as an apology for the pain the last like 25 chapters have caused y'all, there's about to be a lot less angst for awhile to give us all a breather!

Chapter 71

Chapter Text

Things are settling down. Iwa is finally getting the message that fucking with Konoha is not in their best interests and that alone seems to cause some tension to leave the village. Rebuilding is nearly complete too, in record time with how many people were focused on it. The village feels lighter, even amongst the shinobi. Like they're finally able to breathe again. Katsumi's mission load lessens now that they don't need every every ANBU and jounin working. It's nice, having free time again. She'd almost forgotten what that was like.

She's less enthusiastic about what Naruto is asking her to do with her newfound free time. If Inoichi sees she's going to end up on suicide watch. Standing on the top of the Hokage heads and staring down at the very long drop is extremely unpleasant. Especially considering she's afraid of heights.

"You want me to jump?" Katsumi's voice is full of doubt.

"Yeah. So I'm gonna put this seal on you, dattebayo. It'll be fine. I've been practicing. It's almost the hiraishin. It should let me catch you midair and get up back to the seal on the top here," Naruto is beaming and near vibrating in excitement.

"Should. If it fails?"

"That's why Sai is here, dattebayo. He'll catch us. Right, Sai?" Naruto shoots the boy a look.

"Of course, Dickless. I will not let the two of you kill yourselves," He smiles slightly and tilts his head.

"You're explaining this to Inoichi," Katsumi's not ending up on suicide watch for this.

"No problem, dattebayo! So Sai is gonna be on one of his ink birds and If I can't catch you, He will!" Naruto is talking rapidly as he write the seal onto her back.

"And what happens to the seal? Will it go away?" Katsumi feels like this is an idiotic idea. Thank Kami, Kakashi isn't around.

"It'll go away. Haven't managed to make it permanent yet, dattebayo. Okay. When you're ready," Naruto steps back and bounces on his feet excitedly as Sai creates his ink bird and begins circling below them.

"Right." Katsumi eyes the steep fall dubiously and tries to ignore the small crowd gathering. This is definitely getting back to Inoichi and Kakashi.

Naruto grins and Katsumi's going to throttle him if this goes badly and she lives. She hates the things she's willing to do for her people sometimes. She inches forward until the ends of her sandals are over the edge and wants to vomit at how high up they are. She can handle heights. Just not the idea of falling from said heights. Fuck, the crowd is getting bigger and she can see the glint of Genma's senbon from here. It's moving rapidly and she knows that not a good sign right now.

Sai looks placidly up at her, "I will catch you, Midget. Do not worry."

Katsumi grits her teeth and doesn't let herself hesitate any longer. Throws herself off and prays Naruto didn't just convince her to kill herself. The wind is loud in her ears and she's can't even scream. Fuck, this was a bad idea.

She feels the moment Naruto pulls through, feels his arm wrap around her midsection and yank her to him. Then the world is spinning and she has tunnel vision and she's definitely going to throw up.

They're on solid ground in an instant and Katsumi is shaking from adrenaline as Naruto is practically dancing around her excitedly. Great. It worked. She has to vomit now. Katsumi's on her hands and knees and retching onto Hashirama's head.

Genma apparently decided to come see what the fuck they were doing, because the click of a senbon between teeth is coming from directly above her and she can feel killing intent leaking into the air, "What was that?"

Oh. That's his super angry voice. The calmest and most levelheaded sounding one he's got. She remembers that from when she was little. He's going to poison Naruto if Naruto doesn't give him a satisfactory answer. Her too, probably.

"I'm trying to recreate the Hiraishin, dattebayo! And it worked! I'm on the right track!" Naruto seems oblivious to the Assassin's ire.

"So you had Katsumi throw herself off the Hokages' faces?"

"Well, yeah! I had to test it, dattebayo! Sai was gonna catch her if I couldn't," Narut sounds sheepish now. Like he's realizing he may be in danger.

"That wasn't the hiraishin."

"Yeah? How would you know?" Naruto sounds defensive.

"Lord forth taught his guards the technique. That's not it. Katsumi? You okay?"

Katsumi sits back and wipes her mouth with the back of her hand, "That was fucking awful. I'm not doing that again."

"You shouldn't have done it in the first place, kid," Genma chides her and pulls her to her feet.

"Wait, people know the hiraishin?" Naruto is definitely not letting that go.

"Sure do, kid. Me, Raidou, and Iwashi," Genma drawls.

"Can you teach me? Do you have the notes? How did you make them permanent? And what's the difference between yours and his?" Naruto is talking so quickly she's not sure he's pausing to breathe. Sai joins them silently and watches with black eyes.

"No. You aren't getting shit on the hiraishin if you're going to be pulling stunts like this. It's not what it's for," Genma's teeth snap down on the senbon and his eyes narrow.

Naruto pouts, "Ah, I promise I won't! I just wanted to make sure I could do it, dattebayo. Katsumi's Afraid of heights and I wanted to be able to make sure that wasn't a problem anymore."

"By convincing her to throw herself off a cliff. Katsumi, you had more sense when you were five," Genma glares down at her and she's almost certain she's not going to hear the end of this for awhile.

"He did have Sai ready to catch me," She offers as her hands stop shaking.

"This is correct. Dickless trusted me not to allow Midget to die," Sai's monotone voice sounds almost proud. Katsumi gets the feeling she's the only one of the three of them who thought this was probably not a good idea.

"Get down from here. Tsunade wants to speak with you, Naruto. Katsumi, Inoichi is waiting on the street to do an impromptu wellness check. Sai, don't let these two be idiotic," Genma gives them all warning glares and ushers them away from the edge.

"Naruto, you better explain to Inoichi that wasn't a suicide attempt," Katsumi mutters.

Genma snorts behind them, "Could have fooled everyone, kid."

"Midget is not suicidal. Merely helpful," Sai says in what she would almost call a defensive tone.

"Didn't know those things looked so similar," Genma drawls.

Inoichi is standing, arms crossed at the foot of the stairs, pupilless eyes tracking them, "Katsumi-Chan, it's a bit early for your session, but my afternoon just opened up. We can get dango while we talk."

Katsumi raises an eyebrow at that and obediently slinks to his side, Naruto yelling explanations to Inoichi as Genma drags the blonde away. Sai smiles and waves at Inoichi as he trails after Genma and the blonde idiot. Inoichi's hand finds a spot on her elbow and leads her away. She's got to learn to say no to Naruto's idiotic suggestions.

Chapter 72

Chapter Text

Katsumi isn't sure who decided her house would become the official hangout for the Kunoichi in her age group, but it does. Ino and Sakura drop by one evening with Tenten and Hinata in tow.

Ino cooes over the Ishihara clothing and jewelry Katsumi has and insists on dressing Katsumi up in one of the fanciest kimonos in her closet. It's a deep blue color with white birds all over it with a pretty sea foam colored obi to go with it. It's long on Katsumi but Ino doesn't care. Just pins the bottom up like she's a fucking seamstress and beams happily at the end result.

She's not prepared for Sakura to get involved. Sakura is doing her make up and hair. She feels like a doll. Like a child's dress up doll. Her hair is done up in the Icho-gaeshi style and she's not sure how she feels about the way her hair feels piled on her head.

Ino and Sakura get Hinata and Tenten into other Ishihara outfits, ignoring their protests with a near militant determination. They all end up dressed like dolls by the time it's over and Katsumi has no idea how this happened. There's not even anywhere for them to go like this. Not that her friends care. They all look like princesses or something and Katsumi giggles hysterically at the way they look like they'd never hurt a fly.

They end up lounging in her living room, all dressed up, and eating copious amounts of sugar. It's nice, a girl's night isn't something she's done before.

"—And I told her 'I'm sorry, but I can't help you if you really think that a Shinobi and a Samurai is the same thing after I've already explained the difference'. Honestly, I just don't understand civilians soemtimes," Tenten rolls her eyes and pops a piece of candy in her mouth.

"Any insight, Sakura?" Ino laughs and looks at Sakura who's using Katsumi's lap as a pillow.

"They romanticize Shinobi. They're convinced we have the same codes of honor as samurai. Kami, don't ever date civilian boys. They think Kunoichi are so sexy until they realize we make them look weak," Sakura scrunches her face up in annoyance.

"Speaking from experience?" Katsumi grins and takes a sip the weird fruity drink that Hinata had made. Non alcoholic. She likes it but it's like drinking a mango or something.

"Ugh, I went on a few dates with this civilian guy, so pretty. Too bad he was an idiot. Once he figured out I was physically stronger than him, he got all insecure. Never waste time on civilian boys. They'll try to get you to quit being shinobi," Sakura bemoans and reaches for one of the cookies Katsumi made without burning them for the first time.

"What about Civilian girls?" Tenten looks curious.

"Oh, they're better than the guys. They like that we're stronger than them, makes 'em feel safe. They definitely fetishize dating shinobi though," Sakura waves her hand as she answers around the cookie, "Can't handle the reality of it when their fantasy turns out to be just a fantasy."

"Hmm I think I'll stick to shinobi then. Much less drama it sounds like," Ino sighs like having to restrict herself is a disappointment.

"Good idea, aren't you and Sai a thing?" Tenten glances over at the blonde.

"No, but he is cute, isn't he? And so polite. He calls me beautiful, you know," Ino preens.

"Yeah, that's because you are and Sai has no filter," Katsumi rolls her eyes in amusement.

"True! It's so nice, Tou-san likes him, too. They talk about psychology together," Ino gushes.

"He calls me ugly. Are you sure he's nice?" Sakura looks put out.

"Sai calls me 'Midget' and Naruto 'Dickless', it's just how he tries to bond with people. My ninken call him 'Cave Puppy'," Katsumi offers.

Hinata giggles, "C-cave puppy?"

"Yup, they think he was raised in a cave with no one to teach him to be a person," Katsumi drinks more of her mango thing.

"Your ninken have no tact. What was it they call Sasuke?" Sakura grins.

"Shitty Fuckface puppy," Katsumi still giggles whenever she thinks about that.

Tenten and Ino cackle in delight and Hinata hides her own laughter behind her hands. Katsumi smiles happily into her drink as Sakura's cackles grow louder than anyone else's.

"Oh that is beautiful, which one came up with that?" Tenten wipes a tear of laughter from one eye and smears her makeup a little in the process.

"Chinami. She's the big mastiff," Katsumi is so proud of her ninken.

"I hope you gave her a treat when she came up with that," Ino snickers.

"Of course," Katsumi glares in mock annoyance at Ino for the suggestion Chinami didn't get a reward for that.

"So, Hinata, you still into Naruto? Bet Katsumi here can get you an in," Sakura smiles beautifully at Hinata's suddenly bright red.

"Oh, um, no-no thank you, Katsumi, that's alright," Hinata looks like she wants to hide.

"Naruto is sweet. A bit stupid sometimes, if you want a date, you'll have to say it outright or he'll never figure it out," Katsumi advises earnestly.

"He's definitely gotten hot, though. Those seals he has all over him are fucking sexy," Ino throws in.

"Oh, no thank you. Don't want to think about 'Naruto' and 'Sexy' together," Tenten wrinkles her nose.

"That's because you're fucking Neji, and Naruto beat his ass in the Chuunin exams," Sakura reaches for a second cookie with a sly grin.

"No, we are not fucking. We went on one date. There is no fucking," Tenten is quick to refute.

"But you want to fuck him," Ino presses, passing Hinata a glass of water as the poor thing chokes from embarrassment.

"And you probably want to fuck Sai and Hinata definitely wants to fuck Naruto, Katsumi is an island unto her own these days, and Sakura is apparently over here trying everything. What of it?" Tenten takes the entire bag of sour candy.

"No need to get defensive, Tenten. You and Neji are adorable together. I think Kiba owes me money now," Sakura waves a hand.

Ino is now beating Hinata on the back as the girl chokes on the water and seems to be trying to sink into the couch, "You bet on Tenten and Neji?"

"Won a bet on Tenten and Neji, actually," Sakura says primly.

"You're all evil and I don't know why I'm friends with you," Tenten glares at all of them like Hinata and Katsumi are somehow responsible for Sakura and Ino.

"We work in a male dominated field. It's us or no one, I'd say," Katsumi drawls.

"I know! It's a dick measuring contest on half the missions I go on, because boys don't know how to act," Ino groans and rolls her eyes.

"At least most of them are pretty," Katsumi offers.

"Pretty stupid," Sakura counters.

The girls devolve into laughter as the food continues to disappear at an alarming rate. By the time Katsumi has her house back and her clothes and jewelry put away, she comes to the conclusion she's going to need to go grocery shopping for more sugar. Definitely worth it though. Even if she's pretty sure the make up is never going to come off.

Chapter 73

Chapter Text

"Better, brat, you're remembering you don't have a partner," Kisame's beady eyes appraise her as she moves back into her stance.

"Keep up." Is all he says before he's moving towards her again.

Katsumi twists and spins around him. Using her speed and agility to avoid what she can't block. She's gotten better with Kisame's unrelenting help. She'll never have the sheer strength that he does, or the size, so he pushes her for speed. Pushes for agility and precision and sheer viciousness. Reminds her every time they train that if she's not twice as serious and twice as mean and twice as good as her opponent, she'll be dead. It's good motivation, considering she'd like to outlive the ANBU life expectancy.

Katsumi's refined her kenjutsu style under Kisame. Has practiced until her swords feel like extensions of herself again. She has a long way to go before she can truly match the huge man, but she's seeing progress. Good, steady, noticeable progress. She's able to hold her own longer, able to dodge the strikes that before she wouldn't have. It's deeply satisfying for her and makes her want to keep clawing more skill out of herself.

Kisame's sword pressing against her stomach ends their fifth spar of the day, when she finally slips up and he gets through her guard. Katsumi works to calm her breathing as the man pulls his sword back and puts it away. He grins a vicious, sharp toothed smile that Katsumi returns without hesitation, "Good, maybe you'll see twenty after all. That's enough for today. Get lost."

Katsumi gives a mocking bow after she puts her swords away, and turns to go, hands behind her head to help her breathing. She still has nearly full reserves of chakra and needs something to do. So she figures it's about time to look through the Ishihara techniques. See what she can't master.

Katsumi goes straight to her storage room when she arrives home and digs through the scrolls for the basics. Chakra control exercises and d-rank jutsu to get the feel for them.

She fills her bathtub with water as a place to practice the little ones, since she doesn't have a pond near her house, it's one downside. She can see the progression of each exercise. How they build into each other so it's effortless to manipulate water. How the flower hand jutsu is merely a starting point for the water shrapnel jutsu. Pulls water to the user's palm and releases it. Nonlethal but unpleasant to get hit with. Good for using in combination with Taijutsu. One that pulls pushes water away from oxygen and pulls the air to their respiratory tract. It only works for five minutes though, then the user needs to either get out of the water or do the jutsu again. Katsumi nearly drowns herself on her first attempt. By the third try, she has it down. Useful if she needs to hide in water, she assumes.

She gets to the ones that manipulate blood and pricks her finger with a senbon. Watches blood bead up and tries the easiest one. A technique that merely drags the blood up her hand. A chakra control technique more than anything. Utterly useless except to maybe keep blood out of her eyes in a fight. Still she tries it and discovers it harder than it sounds. It requires she put every ounce of focus into her chakra control, something Sakura is infinitely better at than she is.

It takes her nearly half an hour to manage it and she's frustrated the entire time. She managed to make fucking blood shrapnel. This should be easy. Of course, she nearly bled herself dry to do that, but that's beside the point. She should be able to do this no problem. She reads the scroll again when she gets it, and snarls her frustration at the warning in it. Apparently, it's only safe to use higher blood techniques after mastering every single one before getting to one. Unless she wants to bleed out that is. Fucking lovely. So she absolutely should have died from trying that in the jounin exams. She calls it quits there for now. Drains the bathtub, rolls the scrolls back up and tucks them away again.

Four hours spent on the equivalent of academy techniques. She wishes her tou-San had had these scrolls when she was little, she'd probably be able to do more than two clan techniques by now. How frustrating.

With nothing else to do, Katsumi lays in the middle of her living room floor and watches the fan spin. She's not really sure what she's doing, but she's bored and doesn't have a mission lined up, unless something goes really wrong, for a few more days. So she lays there and watches the fan spin and listens to the Uzushio wind chime's pretty music. It's oddly peaceful and it's easy for Katsumi to fall into a light doze.

Her eyes fly open when she hears a knock on the door. She doesn't sit up though, just lies there, arms thrown out to her sides and keeps staring up at the fan.

"Traps undone! You can come in!" Katsumi yells when the knocking continues and her wind chimes stay chiming.

She can hear the quiet scrapping of the lock being picked and the door opening. Listens quietly to the near silent footsteps. Kakashi slouches above her head and looks down at her curiously, "Maa, what are you doing?"

"Watching the fan." Katsumi answers.

Kakashi glances up at the fan like he's expecting it to be something interesting before looking back down at her, "Why?"

"I'm bored. Already trained, already cleaned, already did everything. I'm bored," Katsumi whines.

"Take a mission," Kakashi shrugs.

"I have one in a few days, can't take one until it's time to go on that one," Katsumi explains.

Kakashi looks down at her and sighs, "Get up, Katsumi-Chan. I have a chore for you."

Katsumi sits up and eyes him dubiously, "I'm not cleaning up what ever mess you and Gai made during one of your challenges."

"Maa, of course not! Come along, bring your swords," Kakashi eye smiles at her the way he does when she's not going to like something.

Katsumi follows Kakashi through the streets curiously, and stops dead in her tracks when she sees the academy, "Kakashi? Why are we going to the academy?"

"Maa, Iruka wants his class to learn the very basics of Kenjutsu, none of the instructors are good with it, though."

"So I'm supposed to teach them? When it's not my job?" Katsumi really isn't sure what goes through Kakashi's head.

"Only for an hour, just show them how to hold swords and the correct stances, things like that," Kakashi pats her head and shoved her towards the doors.

"Why me?"

"Maa, no one else is available except Kisame and he scares the children," Kakashi sounds far too cheerful.

"And I'm not scary?"

"You won't make them cry. Much. Room two-o-four, I think. No stabbing the future of Konoha," Kakashi reminds her before Shushining away. Fucking devil human. She swears he does things like this to fuck with her.

With an irritated sigh, Katsumi enters the academy. It feels weird being back in the building. Not a place she's been particularly eager to come back to, really. The hallway is quiet, but Katsumi can hear the classes happening. She walks up the flight of stairs and doesn't need much beyond her hearing to find Iruka's class. He's yelling. Sage, that brings back memories. She'd almost forgotten how much she'd hated his yelling.

Knocking on the door, Katsumi would really prefer not to be here at all, but too late now. The door swings open and Iruka smiles broadly at her, "Katsumi-Chan! Kakashi didn't say he'd send you! Come in, how have you been?"

"I've been well, so this is the class I'm teaching kenjutsu?" Katsumi sweeps a critical eye over the children. Clan kids. She's fairly certain the majority will never show a genuine interest in kenjutsu. They'll end up focusing on their clan techniques. She recognizes one as one of the younger Nara children. A little girl named Nara Akiko. She likes puzzles.

"Class! This is Ishihara Katsumi! She's a jounin of Konoha and she'll be teaching you all the basics of kenjutsu today! Do what she says, understand?" Iruka sounds ready to yell if even one of them disobeys.

"Yes Iruka-Sensei!" Hearing thirty children all speak as one is weird and unnerving. Like the otters when they all speak as one.

"Katsumi-Chan, There's bokken in the storage closet on the way outside. The class is yours," Iruka smiles warmly at her.

"Thank you, Iruka-Sensei. Um, So I've been practicing kenjutsu since I was five. I look forward to showing you all the basics. If you'll follow me, we'll begin," Katsumi shifts awkwardly and glances at Iruka unsurely as the children all get up and she hears them muttering.

Katsumi is mildly discomfited by having thirty seven year olds follow her through the building, even with Iruka walking beside her. She hasn't been around this many kids this young since she was their age. She wonders what Kakashi's logic for this was.

"So, everyone grab a bokken. Then I want you all lined up outside, about a meter between you all," Katsumi thinks that's a good enough distance. Not like a wooden bokken will actually hurt them even if that's not enough space.

Katsumi eyes the thirty children all lined up in front of her, looking either bored or like they want to hit their friends with the bokken, and suppresses a sigh, "Alright, rules: no hitting each other, no breaking the bokkens, no taking each other's bokkens, keep your hands on the hilts at all times. Do any of you need me to show you the hilt?"

Thankfully, no one needs that pointed out. She'd have been very concerned otherwise. One boy, an Inuzuka by the looks of him, does raise his hand though, "Um, Katsumi-Sensei?"

She involuntarily twitches at the honorific, "Yes?"

"So, you have two swords. Why do we only have one?"

"Best to learn the basics with one. Duel wielding isn't common, there's drawbacks to the method, higher difficulty being one of them. You'll find more styles that only require one sword anyway," She doesn't mention she doesn't trust them with one bokken, much less two. She really can't believe her father trusted her with live steel first now that she's looking at how small these kids are.

The boy seems to accept that explanation and doesn't ask anything else. When no one else says anything she nods once, "So, first I want everyone to hold their bokken the way they think it should be held."

There's laughter and shuffling as the children obey. Katsumi wanders down the line and looks the grips over. None of them are good. Some of them worse than others. She nods slightly and works to keep her face blank as she quietly corrects each child's mistakes.

"Alright, Kenjutsu is a close to midrange combat style, generally. You won't see it commonly here in Konoha. I can think of three people aside from myself that practice it extensively here. You'll see it more in Kiri or Kumo. I want you all to try and mimic this stance," Katsumi pulls her Katana out and demonstrates one of the most basic starts to the most basic Kata set she knows.

She winces as a few children immediately lose their balance and fall over, while others drop the bokken altogether. She gives them a moment to stand back up or pick their bokkens up, before moving through the line again.

"Move this foot forward." She murmurs to one boy and taps the offending foot with her own. This stance is supposed to be about stability. Keeping in place. A good start for defense. She could tap his bokken weakly and he'd fall over.

"Your elbows are too far out. You'll lose an arm in a real battle if you kept them like that," She tells a girl from one of the minor clans. She can't recall the clan, but she recognizes the symbol on her qipao dress.

"Don't lock your wrists like that. They'll break if someone were to hit your sword hard enough," Katsumi chides another girl who grits her teeth and adjusts immediately.

"Your legs are spread too far apart. It ruins your balance," Katsumi tells an angry looking Hyuuga.

She gets to Akiko, who is simultaneously looking bored out of her mind and pissed off at the bokken. Like it personally offended her. Katsumi eyes her stance, "Straighten your back and bring your shoulders forward a tiny bit. You look like you're try to nap. And you're putting too much weight on your left foot. Even it out."

"What a drag," the little girl mutters as she adjusts. It reminds Katsumi of Shikamaru and she buries that pang of sadness down deep immediately.

"Better a drag now than dead later," Katsumi tells her calmly before moving on.

When she's satisfied with the first stance she nods quietly, "Good. Now I want you all to move the sword up and turn it parallel to the ground. It should be level with the your nose, these katas teach you the moves for defense. If you don't want to be gutted, they're necessary."

Iruka makes a small noise when she words it that way but doesn't intercede. She thinks she worded it pretty fucking nicely. She's gutted idiots who couldn't defend well herself. It's good incentive to learn well.

Watching them stumble through each Kata is exhausting. She doesn't understand how Iruka enjoys teaching. Thank the Sage she's only doing this once. She thinks she'd cry if she had to keep doing this. It is nice hearing them say "Thank you Katsumi-Sensei" at the end of the hour, though. And she didn't make any of them cry. She considers that successful enough.

Chapter 74

Chapter Text

Katsumi gets back from her mission, escorting the Nakamura family. Again. The wife is back on trying to find her an arranged marriage. Katsumi hates dealing with nobles. She can't believe they requested her a second time.

She's not expecting to see Nara Akiko laying on her porch when she gets home from the mission debrief. Is really too tired to question it, so she just steps over the girl, undos the traps on her door and walks in. Leaves the door open if the girl decides to move from the porch. She counts the minutes in her head as she puts her weapons away and changes into shorts and a tank top, it's been too hot and humid to relax in her uniform lately. Fifteen minutes. That's how long it takes the girl to stand up and stop awkwardly in the door way, slouching and making a scrunched up expression that Katsumi can't decipher.

Katsumi is content to wait the girl out. Shikaku is the only one who can consistently outlast Katsumi at the waiting game. This girl has nothing on him. Katsumi resharpens her swords as she waits. Not even giving the girl a spare glance. Ten minutes. The girl manages ten minutes before breaking the silence.

"You know kenjutsu." Her high pitched voice has already mastered the lazy drawl that only Naras seem capable of.

Katsumi hums her agreement.

"You used to live with my clan. I watched you practice in the mornings sometimes. It was interesting," the girl sounds like she's been rehearsing.

"That so?"

"Yeah. How do you move like that?"

"Years of practice," Katsumi wonders where this is going.

"I want to learn." The girl sounds like she's determined to be a headache if she doesn't get her way.

"So learn."

"From you."

Katsumi tilts her head and looks the girl over, dark, sharp eyes like the rest of her clan, spiky ponytail, longer than that of most Naras. Small. Not tiny. But small. Skinnier than a blade of grass. Katsumi isn't sure what to make of this, "Thought Naras value doing the bare minimum of work necessary."

"So? I want to learn," The girl's tone gets an edge to it. Katsumi can see that edge becoming steel as the girl grows.

"I gathered. Why?"

"It's not a skill most would expect from a Konoha shinobi. You said it yourself, mostly Kiri and Kumo specialize in it. Not us," Akiko stands straighter under Katsumi's scrutiny. Like she's trying to look more serious. How cute.

"Why do you want me to teach you? There are other choices." Not many, but there are some. Most shinobi can handle a tanto to a passable degree at least.

"None that move like you do. I want to do that. You look like you're dancing. Like it's effortless," Akiko says it flatly, matching Katsumi's tone.

"It's not effortless. It's work. A lot of it," Katsumi points out.

"I know."

"It'll be a drag," Katsumi gets the feeling this is a losing battle and it'll be easier to just see how long it takes the girl to lose interest.

"'Better a drag now than dead later', right?" Akiko parrots her own words back to her.

Of course the girl is the first Nara that actually wants to do more than sleep. Of course, Katsumi managed to give the girl something to fixate on. She raises one eyebrow at the girl, "Do you even have a bokken?"

"No. I'll get one when you agree to teach me," the girl raises her chin.

When, not if. Confident kid. Katsumi flashes pointed teeth at the girl, "Why should I teach you? I'm busy a lot. I'm not interested in wasting time teaching someone who's just going to lose interest."

"I won't."

"You say that now. When it gets to be too much work, you'll be singing a different tune. What's your grades in the academy? Nara bare minimum?" Katsumi has an idea.

"Yeah?"

"Manage to make it to the top five of your class by the end of the term, I'll teach you then," Katsumi figures it's as good a test as any. See how badly the girl actually wants this.

"If I can do that, you'll teach me kenjutsu?" Akiko narrows her eyes like she's daring Katsumi to take it back.

"Sure, kid. But you have keep in that range the entire time I'm teaching you or I'll stop. Got it?" Katsumi wonders if the girl will manage it.

"Got it. Thank you for your time, Katsumi-Sensei. I'll see you in two months," Akiko bows to her and leaves before Katsumi can react to the honorific. She has to give it to the kid, she's got a lot of confidence for a seven year old. Like she's already won. Katsumi is almost positive this entire incident will be quickly forgotten. She's never met a Nara who actually seeks work out. This one will come to her senses quickly enough. She figures this is the end of it.

It's not the end of it. Graded papers with Akiko's name on them start showing up on her porch every day. Fully completed with near perfect scores. Katsumi just picks them up and puts them in a drawer. Doesn't give them a second thought and continues on with jounin and ANBU missions.

Two months pass and Katsumi gets back from a rescue and recovery mission with Yuma to find Akiko sitting on her porch. A piece of paper in one hand and a new bokken in the other. Fuck.

Akiko proudly hands her the paper and Katsumi's eye twitches a little. Nearly perfect grades. Sage, the girl just singlehandedly ruined the Nara clan's ability to bullshit their way through life. She's going to get so much shit from Shikaku for instigating this.

"So what first, Katsumi-Sensei?" Akiko asks her expectantly.

"Stretch first. I assume you know how to do that already?" Katsumi is never making a bet with a Nara again. Apparently even the seven year old ones are too clever for their own good.

"Where?"

"Backyard, There's an area for Taijutsu marked out. I'll be there in a minute," Katsumi cannot believe she's just got bested by a seven year old. Little shit. Still, she did promise she'd teach her if she managed to get her grades up. Can't back out now. Katsumi is never gambling on a Nara's work ethic again. She feels like Tsunade now. Fuck. At least it's something to do when she's got free time, she supposes. Can't be worse than staring at a fan. Now she just has to figure out where to actually start. Why couldn't this girl be like the rest of the Nara clan and be content with their shadow techniques? Why did Katsumi think it was a good idea to challenge a Nara? She really dug her own grave here.

Chapter 75

Chapter Text

Akiko is determined, Katsumi can see that clearly. Her stamina is low though. So is her upper body strength. That needs to be rectified. So, Katsumi gives her a training regimen that would make Gai proud. Akiko doesn't complain, just sighs and does it. Katsumi keeps waiting for the girl to get sick of it all and quit but it never happens. It's interesting to see a Nara so devoted to physical work.

Katsumi watches her calmly as Akiko moves through the basic katas, "Slowly, Akiko-chan. Smooth and steady is more important than speed. Perfect the motions before worrying about doing them quickly."

Akiko glares at her own feet as she tries to perfect the transition from one move to the next, "Yes, Katsumi-Sensei. Smooth breeds speed, I know."

"If you know, why are you rushing?" Katsumi counters as she pushes the girl's right foot back a little with her own.

"I should have it down by now, it's been two months," Akiko groans.

"You're making progress. Slow progress is better than none. Bring your elbows back in, you look like a chicken with them out like that," Katsumi circles her as she watches.

"I don't look like a chicken," Akiko mutters, but fixes her stance.

"Now you don't. If you want perfection, you have to work for it. Repeat that transition again," Katsumi orders.

"When do I get to spar you?"

"When you have this set of katas down, we'll see how easy it is to knock you down," Katsumi assures her. These are all defensive motions. She figures the girl should be able to defend herself before she's able to attack anyone.

"Why do my feet need to be in this position?"

"Stability. Unless you want to fall on your butt every time you end up on the defensive," Katsumi explains and adjusts the girl's hands. She was holding the bokken too low.

"Troublesome." The girl mutters and moves through the transition again.

"Dead is more troublesome," Katsumi responds.

Akiko glares balefully at her for that comment but doesn't argue. Just keeps repeating the transition until Katsumi is satisfied. It's not entirely perfect, but once she manages it three times in a row, Katsumi calls it quits.

"That's enough for today, stretch again and you're done. You did well," Katsumi leans against the wall of her house and watches the girl practically flop onto the ground with a tired groan. It takes her ten seconds before she starts her cool down stretches.

"Katsumi-Sensei? Where'd you learn kenjutsu? Since it's not popular?" Akiko glances curiously over at her.

"My Otou-San. He gave me a sharpened Wakizashi that was too heavy and told me I'd master it. I did. You will too if you want it badly enough," Katsumi answers neutrally.

"After you got good with the bokken, right?"

"No. I never used a bokken. Otou-San believed I'd learn better with the threat of hurting myself if I made a mistake," She thinks that was the logic anyway.

"Did you?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. You aren't touching a real sword until I know you won't hospitalize yourself. I don't need your parents hunting me down," Katsumi also does not want to cause unnecessary pain to this kid. No reason for her to bleed before she's even a shinobi.

"That would be troublesome. They want you to come to dinner one day, you know. When you don't have a mission," Akiko says it like an afterthought.

"Sure, kid. After one of our sessions later," Katsumi agrees easily. She's pretty sure she can't tell the kid no.

"Okay. Do you have any food? I'm hungry," Akiko looks at her expectantly.

"No. I'm about to go grocery shopping," Katsumi's been putting it off.

"Oh. I'll come too," Akiko says it like an order.

Katsumi isn't surprised by this. Akiko seems determined not to let Katsumi out of her sight. Like she thinks if she does, Katsumi will end the training, "Alright. Come along then."

Katsumi has resigned herself to having a tiny escort everywhere she goes when she's in the village and the academy isn't in session. It's just her life now. It's just what happens when a person is dumb enough to bet Nara laziness will win out over Nara motivation.

"Katsumi-Sensei, you're a jounin, right?" Akiko asks her as she picks out mackerel from the fish stalls.

"Yes. Why?"

"So, that means you'll be a jounin Sensei, right?"

"Not necessarily. Jounins aren't always chosen to train a team," she doesn't mention they don't have to keep their team either.

"Oh. Well, Are you gonna be mine?" Akiko tilts her head curiously.

"Not up to me," Katsumi isn't sure who picks the teams and that's far off in the future anyway. Shikaku or lady hokage probably does.

"Who is it up to?"

"Jounin commander and Lady Hokage, probably," Katsumi pays for a box of strawberries.

"So, Shikaku-Sama?"

"He may have some say in it," Katsumi agrees easily.

"Who was your Sensei?"

"Hatake Kakashi. Fluffy white hair, wears a mask," Katsumi answers as she buys instant ramen. Naruto is onto something with that shit. Much easier than making full meals when she's just back from missions.

"Did you like your team?" Akiko hands her a box of chocolate covered almonds.

"Yeah. I'm still friends with them," Katsumi doesn't argue with the fact she's having to buy Akiko sweets too.

"How old are you?" Akiko asks it like she's oblivious to the general rudeness of the question. Katsumi appreciates the bluntness.

"How old do you think I am?" Katsumi is mildly curious about the answer.

"I don't know. Twenty? Twenty-one?"

"Seventeen." Katsumi laughs.

"Oh. How long have you been a jounin?"

"Almost a year." Katsumi doesn't mind the interrogation.

"Is it hard?"

"Lots of work."

"I was worried you'd say that, Sensei," Akiko sounds like she's dreading the prospect of more work.

"You can always join the genin corps and do d-ranks for the rest of your life," Katsumi suggests and has to suppress a grin at the horrified look on the girl's face.

"No. I don't think so," She says it like the thought is personally offensive.

"Then get used to a lot of work. It only gets more troublesome from here," Katsumi steals one of the almonds out of Akiko's box and grins.

"When do I get to meet your old Sensei?"

"Kakashi? If you want, we can track him down after I've put the groceries away," Katsumi's managed to keep the kid separate from her friends so far.

"Promise?"

"Um, sure, Akiko-Chan," Katsumi's not sure why the girl needs reassurance for this.

"Good. I want to see if he's any good," Akiko explains.

"At what?"

"Talking to people. You're not," Akiko smiles slyly at her as she jokes.

"So rude, Akiko-Chan. Maybe you need to run more laps," Katsumi threatens as they walk back to her house.

That changes the girl's tone, she groans and shakes her head, "No more laps, please, Katsumi-Sensei!"

"Can't be mouthy when you're too busy trying to get oxygen to your lungs," Katsumi shrugs.

"Why do you hate me, Sensei?" The little Nara does her best to give her pitiful, puppy eyes. If she wasn't used to Naruto, She'd almost be moved by them.

"You're not cute, kid. The puppy eyes won't work on me," Katsumi rolls her eyes at the child's dramatics.

"I'm adorable. You're just mean," The girl grumbles.

"Mean keeps a shinobi alive. Grow some teeth and bite back," Katsumi has no sympathy.

The girl grumbles unintelligibly begins her as Katsumi undos the traps on her door so they can actually go inside. Katsumi gets why Kakashi is the way he is in terms of training, messing with the kid is entertaining.

"So where can we find the Hatake guy?" Akiko clearly isn't letting this go.

"He's around. He's not hard to find if you know him," Katsumi's gotten very good at tracking him down. Akiko nods and runs her fingers through the beaded curtain as Katsumi puts things away.

"You have dog beds, but no dogs. Why?" Akiko glances over at her and wrinkles her forehead in confusion.

"I have dogs." Katsumi corrects her.

"I've never seen them."

"True."

"So where are they?"

"Maybe you'll see them some time." Katsumi grins in amusement at the frustrated look on her face.

"Why can't I see them now?"

"They aren't here right now." Katsumi loves messing with this kid.

"Where are they?"

"Around. You want to meet Kakashi or not?"

That gets Akiko to the door faster than she thought it would. Who knew the kid would want to meet her jounin Sensei. It's not like Kakashi is known for his brilliant way with children. She wonders how this is going to go. He better not have his porn out around her little shadow. She'll try to burn it again if he does.

Chapter 76

Chapter Text

Katsumi finds Kakashi up a fucking tree on the road to the academy, reading his porn. Akiko is practically buzzing in excitement, at least as much as a Nara can, beside her. With an exasperated shake of her head, Katsumi calls up to the Hatake, "Hey, Kakashi, put the book away and come meet my student."

There's a moment where it looks like Kakashi turns into a statue before the book is gone and he's jumping down, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan, I didn't know you were a Sensei already."

"I have you to thank for that. Went to the academy, came back with a kid," Katsumi bares her teeth slightly at him so he understands she's going to get him back for this.

"Ahh, I see. Hello...?" Kakashi eye smiles down at the little Nara.

"Nara Akiko. You taught Katsumi-Sensei?" Akiko is very clearly judging him.

"That's right, she was my cute little apprentice until she became a jounin," Kakashi waves a hand lazily in the air.

Akiko continues eyeing him, "You look old."

Katsumi can't keep from snorting. Oh, she's so happy she agreed to introduce the two. Kakashi looks dumbfounded for a moment before eye smiling again, "Maa, that's not very nice, Akiko-Chan. Katsumi-Chan should have taught you better."

"Katsumi-Sensei is mean too. You didn't teach her to be nice," Akiko retorts, arms crossed over her chest.

"She's always been mean. She was a lost cause when I got her," Kakashi is mockingly resigned as he sighs. Rude old man.

"Katsumi-Sensei says being mean is how a shinobi stays alive," Akiko tells him.

"Maa, she was poorly socialized," Kakashi eye smiles and says it like it's some kind of secret.

"I don't think you're one to talk, Kakashi," Katsumi blinks slowly at him.

"See, Akiko-Chan? She's mean. Don't be like her," Kakashi pats Akiko on the head like a ninken.

"Katsumi-Sensei?" Akiko stares up at her.

"Yes, Akiko-Chan?"

"I take it back. You're good at talking to people," Akiko looks like she can't believe Katsumi came out even somewhat normal with Kakashi teaching her.

"Thank you, Akiko-Chan. Feel free to pester Kakashi for training whenever I'm not around. I'm sure he'd be happy to teach you whatever you want," Katsumi smiles threateningly at Kakashi.

Kakashi twitches, "Maa, I'm a busy man."

"You don't look busy." Akiko narrows her eyes at him.

"Ahh, I believe I have a meeting with Tsunade... two hours ago? I should go. Have fun with your student, Katsumi-Chan!" He's gone in a spiral of leaves the next instant.

"Katsumi-Sensei?"

"Yes?"

"He's weird."

"I know." Katsumi is fully aware of that fact.

"Training tomorrow?" Akiko looks hopeful.

"Can't. I'm leaving on a mission in the morning. Keep up with the katas, I want to see more progress when I'm back," Katsumi tells her.

"What kind of mission?"

"The Jounin kind." It's actually the ANBU kind, but she's not about to tell the kid that.

"But what will you be doing?" Akiko presses.

"Following the mission parameters." Murdering a man who pissed the Daimyo off and making it look like an accident, specifically.

"What are the mission parameters?" Akiko continues digging as Katsumi wanders down the street to go home.

"The kind little academy students don't need to worry about," She calls over her shoulder.

Akiko catches up to her quickly, "Why not?"

"Because it's classified. You'll learn all about the kind of missions I take when you're a jounin," Katsumi answers calmly.

"Are you going to kill someone?" Damn the Nara intelligence.

"If I have to," Katsumi can play this game all day.

"Have you killed people before?" Akiko looks utterly intrigued.

"Most shinobi have," Katsumi nods easily. Not like it's not common knowledge what shinobi are trained for.

"How many?" Akiko is unrelenting in her curiosity.

"I haven't kept count." Not a lie. It's in the triple digits for sure though.

"Why?"

"Why would I keep count?" Katsumi raises an eyebrow.

"I don't know. So you know?" Akiko tilts her head.

"I don't care to know," Katsumi shakes her head in disbelief, such a nosy kid.

"Why not?"

"What's the number matter? All that matters is I'm alive and they aren't. It's very simple," Katsumi isn't sure how else to put it.

"That's kinda boring, Sensei," Akiko sighs.

"If it helps, I'm in the bingo book. A-ranked threat with the bounty to match. Interesting enough?" Katsumi offers.

"Really?" Akiko looks up at her with a bright gleam in her dark eyes.

Katsumi hums her agreement.

"How'd you do that?"

"By being an A-rank threat," Katsumi states blandly.

"Do people try to kill you for the bounty?"

"Sometimes. Obviously, they've failed," She grins a little at the entranced look on the little girl's face.

"Am I gonna be that scary?"

"If you work hard," Katsumi earned that bounty. She's not ashamed to admit she's pleased to be considered that much of a threat. That's not even counting the separate bounty for Fox. That's been A-rank for much longer.

"And you're gonna train me to be like that," Akiko isn't asking, she's telling.

"Until your jounin Sensei takes over. Then you're their problem. Go home, I'll see you after my mission," Katsumi pushes the girl gently in the direction of the Nara compound. Ignoring the mild pang in her chest at how she hasn't been back there since moving out. Shikaku and Yoshino visit her at her home, but she hasn't gone there lately.

"Alright. Bye, Katsumi-Sensei! Don't get killed!" Akiko calls over her shoulder as she finally goes home.

With a quiet sigh of relief at finally being able to relax without her little shadow clinging to her, Katsumi Shushins through the streets. Getting home and having some alone time is a relief. Katsumi likes having a few hours to herself. Especially right before and right after missions. Helps her get in the right mindset.

Katsumi goes through her pre-mission routine that she's developed over time. Check her weapons pack. Make sure all Kunai and shuriken are in good condition. Make sure she has her poisons ready. Double check her explosive tags to make sure none look like duds. She's no fuinjutsu master, but she knows what a working explosive tag looks like. Counts out smoke bombs and soldier pills. Checks her medical kit has everything in it. Sharpens her swords. Makes sure she has a roll of ninja wire. Counts out ration bars and throws any away that have finally gone bad, the bland things last for years.

Satisfied with her equipment, she checks over her ANBU armor. Makes sure the straps are still in good condition. That she doesn't need a replacement. Checks the arm guards for any damage that would be an issue. Does the same for the body armor. When she's happy with that, Katsumi relaxes.

Runs a bath for herself and uses the scentless bubble bath she got herself. She likes relaxing things, but she can't make her scent any stronger than it normally is. No reason to risk someone being able to track her. Sliding into the hot water until it's up to her chin is heaven. Katsumi adores those part of her routine. It helps keep the pre-mission nerves away. Otherwise, she'd be twitcher than Hyena right before the mission. She thinks Cat would murder her if she started cackling too. Beetle definitely would.

Katsumi goes to bed early, she has to be ready to go by five in the morning. She needs a full eight hours of sleep or she'll get pissy before the mission even starts. Then Hyena might try to drown her. Might. More likely, he'll conveniently forget the kill needs to look like an accident. Just to make sure he pays her back for the pissiness. As if he wouldn't be in just as much shit if he did that. She's pretty sure he wouldn't regret it either.

Chapter 77

Chapter Text

The mission becomes Fox's second least favorite. The stupid target just will not fucking die. They can't get close enough to him to kill him and then make it look like an accident, because he has more bodyguards than Fox and Hyena have scars. So they're basically playing low level saboteurs and trying to kill him that way. And he just will not die.

They cause a mudslide. The fucking target walks out without so much as a bruise. Fox creates a flash flood. The man gets a minor cold. They cause a fucking wildfire. The man walks out in need of a bath but fine. They slip poison into the food that mimics severe food poisoning. Four guards die but the fucking target is perfectly fine. Three months of this bullshit and Fox is ready to just walk up to him and cut his throat herself, mission parameters be damned.

Then the fucking target hires Samurai to replace the guards that weren't as irritatingly lucky as the target. That causes Hyena to have a minor meltdown. They're up in their fucking makeshift safe house on a mountain and Hyena is spewing curses and throwing things as he vents his frustration. Fox can relate. She's holding it together by the skin of her teeth. If this goes anymore sideways, she'll be the one throwing things.

Fox has devolved into incessant snarling as they try to figure out how the fuck to send this man to the afterlife and keep him there. She feels insane. Like this is a fucked up fever dream or something. What person is this fucking lucky?

"I've had enough. Fuck trying to make it look natural. Fuck it all. We're killing him. I don't even care how anymore. He's dead and so is anyone else who tries to stop us. I am fucking done, Foxy," Hyena is speaking fast and sounds half feral. She thinks if she could see his eyes, they'd be utterly wild.

"I say, we kill all of them, and make it look like an accident later," Fox is finished with this bullshit.

"The samurai are going to take issue with it," Hyena sounds like he's hoping they do.

"Then they die too," Fox is happy to vent her frustration on anyone who tries to impede their mission any further.

"We can start a new wildfire afterwards. Let the fire hide the proof," Hyena is nodding to himself rapidly.

"I will set the goddamn target on fire myself if I have to," Fox hisses.

"He dies. Tonight. I don't give a fuck how," Hyena almost sounds like Fox as he snarls is rage.

"Agreed," Fox certainly won't argue.

They plan in a near mania, deal with the samurai first, then pick everyone else off. Whoever gets to the target first kills him. Simple. So fucking simple. Burn everything later. Definitely not their most refined plan, but after three months of sheer frustration, neither of them care much. They're at their wits' end and fully intend to get this over with tonight or die trying.

There's only two samurai, thank the Sage, but two is dangerous enough. They're all sensors, one of the ways Samurai and Shinobi use chakra differently. Most shinobi develop some feel for chakra sensing, but they don't often train for it unless they have a natural inclination for it. Samurai do train it in all of them. It makes Fox wary of trying to get close without being noticed.

She and Hyena separate. Her chakra is as suppressed as possible. Anything to keep the first Samurai from noticing her. She circles the man from a safe distance. Listens to the clinking of his armor as she lays traps that Naruto taught her and sets explosive tags as she works. She's a shinobi, fighting dirty is what she does. She's been warned about samurai before. Their way of using chakra is different. It's better to keep out of their range unless she wants a massive chakra blade through her heart.

She goes still and slinks high up a tree when the Samurai approaches and stops a safe distance from her explosive tags. He's not wearing a mask. He's a young man from what she can make out in the moonlight. He looks unerringly up at where she's hidden and Fox goes still as stone.

"I do not desire to kill you, Kunoichi-san. Please do not force me too," The Samurai's voice is deep and collected and he genuinely sounds regretful at the thought of having to kill her. Samurai and their code of honor. Such a foreign thing to a shinobi.

Fox remains silent and still. Curious to see how long the Samurai's patience will last. Curious to see if he'll be foolish enough to move into the range of her explosives.

"You've been trying to kill my client. It would be preferred if you ceased the attempts. For you and for me," he continues.

She still does not speak.

"Surely the life of one man is not worth the lengths you've gone to end it," The samurai sounds almost consoling.

"It's not my place to judge the worth of a life," Fox answers finally, her own already short patience running thin. She needs him to step closer. Needs the samurai to walk to the start of his death.

"But it's your place to decide if they end?"

"No. I follow orders. That's all," Fox doesn't give a fuck if the stupid fucking target really deserves to die or not. She has a job to do.

"Ah yes. That's all you shinobi care for, isn't it? Orders," The Samurai muses.

"The mission is all that matters," Fox knows how Samurai view shinobi. She's happy to allow the misconception that shinobi care for nothing other than the mission.

"How empty your life must be. Emotionless tools in the hands of others," the Samurai takes a step away from her tags and Fox suppresses a snarl. She doesn't want to be drawn into combat against a samurai. She may not have a fucking choice though. She'll pull her mist down if she can't kill him with less direct means.

"Not as empty as you seem to think, Samurai. We shinobi aren't bound and chained by flimsy concepts as honor," Fox says back as she begins to stretch her chakra out to test the air for water.

"Will you not reconsider? I have no reason to kill you if you choose to walk away," The Samurai offers one last time.

Fox doesn't deign that with a response. Just drags her mist down and gives up on the samurai stepping into her traps. Battle it is.

She drops to the ground and summons her ninken quickly. Hisses out a single command, "Hunt."

Her ninken need no other orders as Fox listens to the Samurai sigh and hears the sound of his sword being drawn. Her ninken slip silently into the mist. Even Naoki, who's instinct is to bay loudly when hunting, is utterly silent, just the way she taught them for these situations.

Fox's swords meet the Samurai's in the next heartbeat and she hears a startled laugh from him, "Swords? Who knew a shinobi would choose such an honorable method of battle."

Fox tilts her head as she braces under the strength of his strikes. Like fighting Kisame. Almost. She doesn't often banter in a fight, but after three months of going slowly insane from trying to kill one man, she doesn't mind it, "I don't care much for honor, Samurai. Such things only get a person killed sooner."

She draws water to her sword blades and the water chakra seal glows eerily before water shrapnel explodes out from the sharpened side of her swords towards him. She bares her teeth behind her mask as he breaks from their stalemate. She can hear Taishiro accelerate into his full sprint. Can hear Chinami and Naoki aim for the Samurai's legs and feel them brush past her. The capture formation Kakashi had them work on. Rarely used, but it rarely fails when they need it. Not quite the same as his. Designed to knock a man down and keep them down rather than hold one in place for a chidori like Kakashi's. Smaller pack means higher creativity is needed for certain things. Chinami and Naoki knock out his legs, Taishiro's obscene speed is used to slam him into the ground. It's worked well in the past.

Then the samurai dodges and Fox gets to see firsthand why Shinobi are taught to be wary of them. Even in the darkness combined with her mist, Fox can see chakra coating the samurai's blade and growing out far longer than the blade. Fuck, she doesn't like that at all.

"I will not draw your death out, Kunoichi-San. Rest assured," The samurai sounds utterly serious. Fox suspects there would be killing intent coming from him if he didn't consider such intimidation tactics dishonorable.

"Tell me, Samurai. If You cannot keep your master alive, will you commit seppuku to regain your honor?" Fox asks idly as she moves through the handseals for her genjutsu. She wonders what a samurai fears.

"I will be long dead before you can ever touch him," The Samurai sounds utterly confident no such thing will happen. Sounds like he'd be telling her she's already dead if he weren't being polite.

"So be it." Fox begins the genjutsu. She can hear his heart rate increase. Fox takes full advantage of the momentary opening and so do her ninken. They lunge for his legs as Fox aims her Katana towards the Samurai's heart.

Fox hisses in shock as the Samurai's sword comes up to block hers at the last second. She doesn't think before triggering her water shrapnel again. Barely manages to dodge the massive chakra blade as it sweeps towards her even as he falls back.

Fox suppresses a quiet noise of pain as blood wells and the pain of being cut hits her. So she didn't dodge as well as she thought after all. That's not good, a single slash across her upper abdomen. Not deep, not fatal, but it's enough to make her want to end this quickly. Enough to piss her off even more than this mission already has.

Fox snarls at her summons to dismiss themselves and falls back to behind her line of explosive tags. Fox has no intention of getting killed by a fucking self righteous Samurai. And she has no intentions of needing Hyena to carry her back to the village. She's confident the Samurai won't move within range of her explosive tags, and as far back as she is, she doesn't think his chakra can extend his range this far.

She can hear his movements in the mist, the shift of his sword and the clink of his armor and his steady breathing. Fox begins to move through her handseals for the lightning hound. Overkill, maybe. But she really doesn't care. She just wants this fucking mission finished.

"Running away, Kunoichi-San? How cowardly," The samurai sounds like he pities her as he steps out of her mist and they lock eyes. He's just a meter out of the range of her explosive tags and Fox can't fall back anymore while she's building this jutsu up.

The lightning builds rapidly underneath her palm and his sword is drawn. Fox does not like how it's looking. The one who's faster lives. That's what it's looking like. Fox snaps her teeth and releases the Taishiro-esque lighting at the same time the Samurai's chakra expands to lengthen his sword and it sweeps towards her, perfectly level with Fox's neck. Fuck.

Fox bends backwards as quickly as she can, and lands awkwardly on her hands, the sword missing her by a millimeter. Fox's arms and hands are bleeding and mildly burnt from the way she had to break with her jutsu. Fuck. She flips her legs over her head and comes to a crouch, breathing heavily and adrenaline coursing through her. The samurai is still standing but he's got all the hallmarks of being struck by the jutsu. The smell of burnt flesh rolls off him and she can see the spasms in her arms and hear his heart struggling to beat. There's blood seeping out of where his armor was shattered by the force of the jutsu.

Fox doesn't bother to deal a killing blow, she doubts it will be necessary, just sidesteps and moves past him before he can regain his senses if he's not going to die. She can hear clearly that Hyena has already begun. Can here the sounds of his insane laughter and smell ozone and blood and the clash of weapons. Wonderful. Attacking the man's summer home means slaughtering the servants too. After all, a house fire cares nothing for rank.

Sure enough, Hyena has carved a fucking path. A pissed off Hyena is a genuinely terrifying thing to behold. Fox loves it. It gets shit done. She summons her ninken again and sends them off to continue picking people off. Fox joins in the chaos without hesitation. It's a blur of blood and steel, water and lightning. The cacophony is near overwhelming to her sensitive ears, even after partially deafening herself. She doesn't care though. Three months of bullshit. This is fucking cathartic.

Hyena gets to the target first and there's the smell of ozone as he electrocutes the poor man's skull like he did the Root agent. The target's luck has finally run out and Fox wants to shriek her glee at finally being fucking finished.

There's no heartbeats in the manor anymore. Just the sounds of blood dripping and she and Hyena's breathing. This is going to be a headache to explain in the mission report, but Fox could not care less.

"Burn it," Hyena mutters.

"Kitchen fire spread out of control?" Fox tilts her head. Not the most believable, but the Daimyo wanted this. He'll keep anyone from looking too hard.

"Yes. I'll move bodies around, make it look like there was mass panic or something," Hyena agrees.

They work quickly and Fox sits a safe distance away and watches intently has the house burns. Hyena leans against a tree beside her, shuriken spinning rapidly on two of his fingers. Until they're certain no one is walking out, they aren't fucking leaving. They want to know, beyond a shadow of a doubt this mess is over. Even with Hyena personally frying the target.

It's nearly morning by the time the fire dies out. By the time they're satisfied. They're covered in blood and ash and smell absolutely awful and Fox feels fucking amazing. Three months of trying to put a target down. Managing it was utterly satisfying. From the humming coming from Hyena, he seems to agree.

Fox pauses as they head out to disable her explosive tags and tuck them away again. Undoes her traps and rerolls the ninja wire. She hates wasting things. No reason to leave them here. Hyena stands over the Samurai and looks curiously down at him.

"He's not dead, Fox."

Fox increases her hearing and tilts her head. Sure enough, the man has a weak heartbeat and shallow breathing, "Does it matter if he lives or dies?"

"He may swear vengeance on you," Hyena muses.

"Do Samurai do that?" Fox can't recall the full list of do's and do not's samurai follow.

"I'm not sure. Maybe he'll cut his belly open instead. They consider that honorable, don't they?" Hyena steps away from the unconscious and likely dying man.

Fox puts the last of her wire away and shrugs, "Maybe. I'm not really sure what he'd do. I doubt he'll live long anyway. His heart sounds weak. I electrocuted him pretty well. A lesser man would certainly be dead by now."

"A lesser man? Sounds like you respect him," Hyena sounds amused as they move up into the trees and turn East towards home.

"He drew first blood. He very nearly decapitated me. It was interesting," Fox laughs quietly, "He didn't want to fight me, even asked I go home."

"Samurai and their honor. I'll never understand it," Hyena shakes his head in disbelief.

"Agreed. At least we're finally able to go home," Fox is thrilled to finally be done with this asinine mission. She swears the target was luckier than Naruto for awhile there.

Chapter 78

Chapter Text

Fox and Hyena make it back to HQ and Rat bitches at them both the entire time she's fixing their injuries. Mainly at Fox. Mainly about the electricity burns on her arms for releasing the lightning hound jutsu prematurely. Apparently, Fox is an "Idiotic, Reckless, short-tempered piece of work that exists to give everyone migraines." This, apparently, makes her unworthy of having the burns entirely healed. Fox gets to have all nerve damage repaired and just enough healing to prevent major scarring. Which is better than what she expected from the iron-fisted woman.

Hyena has no sympathy, he just snickers under his breath as Rat bitches at Fox for getting into a situation like that in the first place. As if she was hoping the fucking Samurai would be that much of a hassle. Fox is deeply offended. It's not her fault she got the worst fucking mission ever.

They debrief and have to explain, in detail, why the fuck a simple assassination mission that should have been done in a month, took three. Fox swears Beetle is enjoying their suffering. She's not sure how they've been permanently loaned to Assassinations, considering she's still technically only on the Akatsuki spec ops team. She supposes this means her stay in ANBU is not temporary. She's fine with that.

She and Hyena wash off in neighboring showers. After three months in close quarters with only each other for company while obsessively trying to murder one man, they're a bit clingy. Once they've decompressed a little, it'll go away. For now though, they stick near each other.

Even when they're Katsumi and Yuma again, they stick close to each other. It's late in the night and they end up in her living room, finally drinking the stolen Zabuza sake as they work to unwind from the mission. Katsumi's arms are wrapped in bandages up to the elbows, to keep the anti-scarring cream she has to use for the next two weeks from being rubbed off. Yuma is shirtless while his bloody shirt is in the wash. He keeps poking at where he got cut up by the Samurai he faced and wincing. As if it surprises him it still hurts each time he does it. Katsumi is in her favorite oversized sweater, which sufficiently covers up the now mostly healed cut across her own stomach and the bandages on her arm.

They don't do much speaking. Just drink the sake and listen to the wind chimes and try to relax now that they're back in the village. After three months together, there's not a lot to talk about at the moment. Neither really want to, anyway. The exhaustion of being on high alert and stressed for so long is finally catching up to them. Katsumi flips a kunai in her free hand idly, ignoring the minor pains in her hands when it hits a burn that Rat hadn't bothered to heal.

"What's with the kid?" Yuma breaks the silence after giving up poking his injuries and tilts his head back, eyes closed.

"The kid?"

"Yeah, saw some kid trailing after you before our mission. You never mentioned her, though," Yuma clarifies.

"Oh. Nara Akiko. Lost a bet with her and now I'm teaching her kenjutsu," Katsumi takes a sip of sake. She wonders if Akiko has kept up with her grades while she's been gone or not. She only gets kenjutsu lessons as long at she's keeping in the top five after all.

"Didn't take you for the kid type," Yuma sounds mildly amused at the thought.

"Don't mind pups. Don't really know about teaching them. But I did promise to teach her if she won the bet. So," Katsumi shrugs.

"You make her cry yet?"

"No. I'm trying to be nice," Katsumi rolls her eyes, "She's not an ANBU recruit. I think I'm required to go easy on her."

"So she's almost cried then?" Yuma is definitely enjoying this.

"If she has, I didn't notice," Katsumi snaps her teeth at him. Rude fucking man.

"Cute. Whatcha going to do when this gets you stuck with three brats?" One purple eye slides open to look at her.

"Throw myself off the hokage heads again," Katsumi laughs and takes a drink.

"Again? Foxy, remember when I said your continued existence is something Lady Hokage would like? That means no swan diving off high places," Yuma opens his other eye and gives her a stern look.

"It was for science. Obviously it wasn't a suicide leap," Katsumi waves her Kunai dismissively.

"For science? That's a new one," Yuma takes a mouthful of sake and she can tell he's hiding a grin.

"Yup. Inoichi wasn't amused."

"Oh, I bet. You fucked up his psych file on you probably," Yuma laughs.

"That probably would be enough to piss a Yamanaka off," Katsumi concedes.

"That clan doesn't fuck around with psych files. You're lucky he didn't murder you for that stunt," Yuma says sagely.

Katsumi yawns and nods her agreement. Nearly two in the morning. She's skipping her morning training. She deserves it after that mess of a mission. Hopefully Akiko won't magically sense she's back and she can have a day of rest. She stands up and stretches, before setting the sake and Kunai on the side table, "I'm gonna sleep, you can stay or not. Your choice."

Yuma nods, "Got a futon or something?"

"Should be one in the storage room somewhere," Katsumi trusts him not to mess any of her stuff up. He'll find it eventually.

"Right," Yuma trails after her as she pushes the beaded curtain out of the way and heads to her room.

"Night," Katsumi mutters to him before slipping into her room. She slips under the first two blankets and sighs happily at having an actual bed instead of a bedroll. She can hear Yuma shuffling around through the storage room for the futon and lets the steady sound of his breathing and the sound of the wind chimes in the other room calm her down. It helps her sleep to know there's no threat, even with all her senses still on high alert. That's just how it is post-mission.

She dreams of blood. Of fighting. Dreams of watching Kakashi dying. Of herself cutting down Naruto. Of watching Akiko die because she taught the girl how to fight. Dreams of her parents watching her die in a pool of her own blood.

She's woken by Yuma calling her name from a safe distance, "Katsumi, hey, wake up. You're having nightmares. You're safe, you know? Mission over."

Katsumi feels cold as she works to slow her breathing. Yuma sounds tired. She hopes she didn't wake him up, "Right. I know. Sorry."

Yuma sighs, "It's fine. Move over."

Katsumi blinks at him but obeys. When he joins her in the bed and rolls over to face the opposite way she gets it. They've slept back to back or in turns with each other keeping guard for three months. They've gotten use to that meaning it's safe to sleep, "...Thanks."

"Go back to bed. You're safe," Yuma mumbles back.

Katsumi rolls over to stare at the window. Can hear his heart rate and breathing slow back down to sleep. It takes her longer than she'd admit to follow suit.

When she wakes up, Yuma is long gone, there's a glass of water on the nightstand and she's alone again. Katsumi takes the day to herself. Doesn't leave the house at all. Sharpens every weapon she has. Cleans every room until it looks like she's got issues with dirt. Summons her ninken and lets them wander the house and play with the dog toys as she does laundry. Katsumi just does little things. One after another as she adjusts back to being herself fully instead of Fox. Eats sweets like they're a luxury as she reads through Ishihara scrolls. She's extremely grateful no one outside of ANBU knows she's back yet. She needs this time to herself. She changes her bandages and reapplies the cream Rat had shoved into her hands twice.

She ends up sitting in front of her bathroom mirror and trying to recreate some of the hairstyles the Ishihara portraits showed. She fails miserably and just ends up frustrated and realizing how fucking long her hair has gotten. Down to her ass. Almost Ino length. Katsumi cuts it roughly with a Kunai down to the middle of her back. It's not the best, but it'll do. She can get Ino to fix it later. She needs to start wearing it down occasionally. Just to remember when she needs to cut it.

It's a quiet day. A nice one just to herself. She can't remember the last time she got a day that she was totally alone for the entire time for. Normally, someone shows up or she has obligations to fulfill. This is one of the rare times she gets one that isn't because she landed herself in the hospital. Benefits of ANBU, she supposes. No one knows when she gets back from a mission except other ANBU, and most of them are polite enough to leave each other alone to decompress. Or have enough self preservation to do so if they aren't polite. Either way, it means she gets the closest thing to a vacation day she's had since becoming a shinobi. Now she just needs Chinami to give the cursing a break so Naoki will quit yelling no at her.

Chapter 79

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi watches silently as Akiko demonstrates how well she's been practicing the Katas she was left with. Almost perfect. Not quite there. Her transitions just aren't smooth enough yet.

"When you move through the second transition, you're jerking the bokken too much. It's more of a sliding motion. Like this," Katsumi demonstrates, slowing down enough the girl can easily see the difference.

Akiko frowns and nods, "Yes, Sensei."

Katsumi is pleased to see the adjustments made. With practice, the girl will get it. She's more than dedicated enough. Katsumi thinks another week or so and she'll test the girl in a weak spar.

"So this is your kid?" Yuma's voice sounds from beside the corner of the house and Katsumi has to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Took him long enough to announce himself.

"This is Nara Akiko, my kenjutsu student. What do you want, Yuma?" Katsumi spares him a glance as she has Akiko repeat the Katas again.

"Well, I was going to see if you wanted a spar, but you look busy," Yuma sighs like she's deeply inconveniencing him, but she can hear his amusement.

Akiko glances sharply over at him, "Katsumi-Sensei, can I watch you beat him?"

Yuma grins widely at the girl, "Katsumi-Sensei? Oh, that's adorable. Well, Katsumi-Sensei? Gonna beat me?"

Katsumi does roll her eyes at him this time, "If Akiko-Chan can get the Katas perfectly, I'll be happy to drown you."

"Oh good, Akiko-Chan, think you can do that?" Yuma looks extremely excited.

"Of course," Akiko sniffs like the very idea of failure is laughable now that she has motivation.

"One more time, Akiko-Chan, then cool down stretches," Katsumi reminds her.

"Yes, Sensei," Akiko gets her focused expression.

Yuma ambles over and rests his arms on Katsumi's head as they watch the girl, "She's not bad for an academy student."

"She'll master kenjutsu one day, if she keeps it up," Katsumi answers back, quietly enough Akiko can't hear them.

"Well, Sensei? Was that good enough?" Akiko tilts her head and watches her expectantly.

"How do you think you did?" Katsumi counters. She's curious to see if Akiko is beginning to notice her own mistakes yet.

"I misstepped twice, I think," Akiko admits.

"You did. You also need to work on adjusting your grip when you switch between blocking a frontal strike and a side swipe. You forget to do that," Katsumi expands on Akiko's answer. They've gone over the grip adjustments a few times. Small, seemingly inconsequential, things that help in the long run.

"Yes, Sensei," Akiko looks annoyed that she forgot that again as she stretches.

"Good, Come along. I suppose you've done well enough to get to watch us spar," Katsumi steps out from under Yuma's arms and flexes her bandage wrapped fingers. No pain, which means she won't have to restrain herself based on her own limitations.

"Training ground four?" Yuma offers. One of the unrestricted training grounds. Smaller than the rest, and mostly open ground. Good for observing.

"Sounds good, Akiko?" Katsumi glances over at the Nara.

"Ready, Katsumi-Sensei," Akiko looks more excited than usual as she holds the bokken over one shoulder.

Yuma looks thrilled at the tiny audience. Katsumi can feel the headache coming on if Akiko and Yuma hit it off. This is why she tried to keep Akiko and her friends separated.

They walk through the village lazily, None of them in a real rush to get to the training ground. Akiko bombards Yuma with questions the entire way.

"Were you on Sensei's genin team?"

"Nope."

"Do you practice Kenjutsu too?"

"Nope, I know enough that Katsumi won't kill me in the first two minutes. That's about it."

"How'd you and Sensei meet?"

"Jounin exams."

"So you're a jounin?"

"Sure am."

"What do you do? Sensei won't tell me about her missions."

"I specialize in escorting and bodyguard work."

"So you protect people?"

"Sure do."

"Do you ever protect princesses?"

"I have."

"What's that like?"

"Boring. Princesses are dull."

"Why?"

"They're supposed to be pretty and dainty and act a certain way. Not much in the way of interesting conversation. Not a lot in common."

"Oh. So you don't go on missions with Sensei?"

"Sometimes I do. When we're asked to."

"How long have you been a shinobi?"

"Like, ten years?"

"Who was your Sensei?"

"An Inuzuka. He's dead."

"Oh. Why are your eyes purple?"

"Because they are? I was born with them?"

"Okay." Akiko falls silent and seems content with her interrogation. She managed to talk the entire walk to the training ground, Katsumi is still impressed at how much energy this kid has in comparison to the rest of the Nara clan. She wonders if this is why her parents don't mind her trailing after Katsumi all day. They need a break.

"Sit by the rock, Akiko-Chan. No coming closer, okay?" Katsumi gestures to a medium sized boulder near the front of the training ground. She doesn't want to risk the kid getting in the way.

"Okay. Sensei? Are you able to fight with your arms bandaged like that?" Akiko looks doubtful.

"Yeah, they're just there to keep anti-scarring cream from being rubbed off," Katsumi shrugs lazily.

"Oh. How'd you get hurt?"

"Necessity," Katsumi looks over at Yuma, "Rules?"

"Nothing that'll hospitalize either of us," Yuma moves back a safe distance from their observer.

Katsumi nods, accepting that rule, "Keep all attacks away from Akiko-Chan."

"Obviously," Yuma scoffs a little at the idea either of them would fuck up that badly.

Katsumi steps forward and shifts her weight a little in preparation for needing to move. Watches Yuma's face intently as the amusement is replaced by flinty calculation. There's no call to start. One moment they're looking at each other and the next they're fighting.

Katsumi ducks a punch from Yuma and Yuma blocks a kick from her. They dance around each other in what's a fast paced blur of Taijutsu. They rarely hold back in their spars in ANBU. It's why they set limitations beforehand. Or they will hospitalize each other.

Kunai are drawn and the clash of metal is added to the noise of kicks connecting with arms as strikes are blocked. They connect and separate quickly, each searching for a momentary opening in each other's guard.

Yuma drops an explosive tag between them and forces space with the explosion. Katsumi snarls and aims Fire senbon at him for it. She ends up dodging nasty lightning jutsu the next second. Drags down her mist and hunts him in the low visibility. Yuma's learned to fight her like this. Learned over three years of working with her to fight blind too. She still has an edge, her hearing is better than his, her experience in this area better. Yuma has more experience than her as a shinobi though. And he understands the value of trickery well.

More explosive tags are dropped and Katsumi nearly gets blown up when he triggers them under her feet. The split second between them lighting up and them going off is the only thing that saves her. It clears her mist.

Katsumi snarls her irritation and spits her water creation jutsu from her mouth. Creates enough water to flood the area. Enough water that Akiko has to climb up onto the boulder to stay dry, despite being well out of the way.

Yuma is up one of the few trees in this training ground in an instant. Well aware she's fond of adding lightning to water to electrocute opponents. He's the one helped her develop that preference, after all.

They're both moving through handseals, him for what she thinks is a wind jutsu of some type, and her for her mouth of the serpent jutsu. She recognizes his jutsu the same moment she releases hers. The same one Kakashi taught Naruto for the Chuunin exams. The wind torpedo. A huge gust of wind that explodes on contact. Well. That's just fucking lovely, of course Yuma's been holding out on her.

The two jutsu hit each other at the same moment and the result is startling. Water explodes out violently as the wind jutsu ignites. Boiling water is falling from the sky and Katsumi has to grab Akiko and launch them out of range. No need for the kid to get burnt. Yuma takes cover in a different tree and she can hear his hysterical laughter as everything settles and she sets the kid down.

"We'll call that a draw, eh, Katsumi?" Yuma hollers at her before devolving into laughter again.

"Agreed! Get over here!" Katsumi calls back as she runs a critical eye over Akiko. The girl looks fine but startled at the speed of Katsumi's Shushin. She supposes no one has done that to the kid yet.

Yuma approaches them with a shit eating grin, clearly pleased with the sheer violence of that ending, "That entertaining enough for you, Akiko-Chan?"

"Yes. Can we get a snack now?" Akiko tilts her head up to stare at Katsumi.

"Dango work?" Katsumi has given up trying to avoid paying for the kid's food. It's just life now.

"Yes, Sensei," Akiko looks utterly pleased.

Katsumi manages to cajole Yuma into letting her ride on his back. Akiko manages to use her puppy eyes to get him to carry her princess style at the same time because she wants to nap on the walk to the dango shop. Yuma grumbles about them being spoiled but doesn't seem that bothered by having two people attached to him.

"You're both lazy, you know that?" Yuma mutters to Katsumi.

Katsumi just tightens her arms around his neck to hold herself up better and laughs, "You enable it."

"Am I supposed to tell you no? She's tiny and cute and you're an actual demon. It's healthier for me to go along with it," Yuma huffs.

"I'm not a demon," Katsumi snaps her teeth and grins when he turns his head and side eyes her.

"My mistake. You're the 'Hellhound Of Konoha', right?" Yuma rolls his eyes and adjusts his grip on the napping academy student, ignoring the amused glances they get from their fellow shinobi as he walks.

"Well, that's what the bingo book calls me," Katsumi laughs easily.

"And they aren't wrong," Yuma retorts.

They fall back into comfortable silence, and Katsumi contents herself with people watching as they walk through the streets. The village has bounced back quickly from Pein's invasion. It's almost impossible to tell it was ever destroyed. It makes Katsumi deeply satisfied to see.

She's not expecting to see Shikamaru walking down the street, hands in his pockets, with the Suna Kunoichi. Temari, Katsumi vaguely remembers. Probably here for another diplomatic mission. It's awkward when theirs eyes meet. She can see him rapidly analyzing the way she and Yuma and Akiko are all together. Katsumi looks away first. He hasn't tried to speak with her since they broke up. She's not sure how to break the long silence between them or if he even wants to. So she lets it go on and doesn't look over as Yuma walks by the pair.

The Dango shop is crowded, and Yuma makes Katsumi and Akiko walk in on their own feet. Something about them being too old for him to have to order for them. Katsumi pays for two sticks of Mitarashi dango for Akiko, and a single stick of it for herself. She raises an eyebrow at the four sticks of green dango Yuma leaves with. Anko would get along with him for his love of dango alone, probably. Akiko mutters a thank you to Katsumi for buying it for her and Katsumi just pats her on the head. It makes her feel like Kakashi. And that realization makes her choke on the Dango a little. Great. She's turning into Kakashi. She supposes it could be worse. She could have turned into Gai.

Notes:

One more chapter then off to deal with Sasuke

Chapter 80

Chapter Text

Katsumi fucks up. Royally. That's really the best way to describe the situation. She hadn't meant for this to happen. Had not at all intended to be dealing with this today, but she is. And she's not having a good time. At all.

She was playing with making poisons with the plants Ino had planted. Had been practicing. Used Genma's notes she'd borrowed to make sure she was doing it right. She still manages to fuck up severely. This is why she doesn't mix poisons often. Probably shouldn't have been using the tea pot she uses for drinks to make poison. That was probably her first mistake. Actually, that was her only mistake. Aside from drinking out of the damn thing that is.

Katsumi is trying to make a hallucinogenic. From Datura seeds. According to Genma's notes it technically causes delusions rather than hallucinations, but she doesn't really know the difference. It's also lethal if taken in the wrong dose or if made too potent. Katsumi's not sure what it's practical purpose is, but the preparation looks simple and she figures she'll try something easy first. She regrets it immensely.

She grinds the seeds up, a ridiculous amount of them, then boils them like tea. Has to let it sit like that for an entire fucking day and stirring the increasingly unpleasant looking concoction periodically. Her mistake is the next morning. She forgets, entirely that what she put in the stupid teapot is not tea. In her defense, it was early in the morning and Katsumi takes longer than she'd care to admit to start thinking clearly early in the morning, with the exception of missions.

It just looks like tea that's been burnt or something when she pours it in her cup. Which is disappointing. Yoshino had made sure she learned how to make the jasmine tea she liked before moving out, since that's the only kind she drinks. Still, no use letting it go to waste. Katsumi downs it quicker than she normally would, drinking it fast enough that hopefully the aftertaste or burnt tea wouldn't be so bad. That's when she realizes she fucked up. Because that definitely wasn't burnt jasmine tea. She's suddenly much more awake and much less happy with the morning.

It takes no time to feel the effects. She's extremely nauseated almost immediately and she feels like she's just drank ten bottles of sake in the span of a few minutes. Fuck. She barely makes it to the sink before she's vomiting. She's shaking and her hands are full of pins and needles and she very much knows she's not going to enjoy this at all.

Things get weird after that. Extremely so. She fades out staring at her vomit in the sink and comes to talking to a blanket on her couch that looks a bit like Kakashi and he's eye smiling and telling her she really should have been more careful. She agrees fully and asks Blanket-Kakashi's forgiveness. She's not sure she gets it before she fades out again.

She's talking to the wind chimes next time. They talk back. It's very interesting because they're speaking English, a language she doesn't remember but very much knows. They aren't very nice and she would prefer they don't speak at all. She stands there swaying for a really long time and her legs feel like they're made of jelly but also very heavy and the room is spinning and the wind chimes are still insulting her. She fades out. Again. This is a pattern.

She's naked when she comes to and watching her reflection in the bathroom mirror. She's honestly more concerned about where her clothes are than her not quite right reflection. Her reflection is talking but she can't hear it, which is nice. It doesn't look right. Her hair looks too messy and her eyes are the wrong color and Katsumi has no idea why. She doesn't like that her eyes are the wrong color. She can't move her arms to fix it though.

Next time she's aware, she's watching her parents' pictures talk to each other and she has no idea where her reflection is but she's pretty sure it's not in the mirror anymore. Very concerning. Her parents are discussing a baby brother she's pretty sure she doesn't have. He likes games apparently. And he's got a bad temper. Who knew? They don't know his name though and Katsumi still wants to know where her reflection is. And when she found her pants again.

She ends up watching the walls breath as Blanket-Kakashi drones on about how she should know better than to drink tea and the wind chimes continue insulting her in a language she's never heard before but knows all the same. She thinks she sees her reflection walk by, but she's not sure and can't move from the floor to check.

She comes to standing by the window and Shikamaru is in her house and he looks bewildered. Oh. She's still half naked. That's probably why. She's not sure if he's real. His flak jacket looks like it's shrinking on him and Katsumi tries to warn him it's going to suffocate him. Why can't she move? None of her body is moving. That's not right. She complains and is surprised when the not-Shikamaru grinds his teeth and tells her it's his shadow possession. Oh. Maybe he is real then. That would make sense. She's not sure why he would be here though. Very odd.

She doesn't register his response as she calls over her shoulder to blanket-Kakashi for his opinion. Her parents' pictures stop talking about the brother she's pretty sure doesn't exist to inform her he's just like her reflection and she should ignore him. She's pretty sure that's sound advice.

She fades out again and when she comes back her whole body feels itchy and maybe-Shikamaru is still here and her reflection is walking around. Katsumi doesn't like her reflection. She tells maybe-Shikamaru he should kill it. She gets distracted by watching her living room chair sink through the floor and take blanket-Kakashi with it. She didn't know that could happen. Like Obito. She doesn't like Obito. She tells blanket-Kakashi that he should kill him right before he disappears entirely into the floor.

She fades out again and her hands and feet are cold and prickly and hurt very badly. Maybe-Shikamaru is shoving a glass of water in her face and at some point she got a new shirt. She doesn't like the shirt and she's pretty sure her throat is swollen so no drinking water. The water is moving by itself too. Which means she thinks it's alive. So she can't drink it. That would be rude. The wind chimes agree. Maybe-Shikamaru does not seem to agree.

Her hands move by themselves and her reflection is behind Maybe-Shikamaru and it's being very unhelpful as her hands force her nose closed and the water down her throat. That was not fun. She doesn't think eating something that's still living is allowed and she's pretty sure she's going to hell now. The wind chimes are very, very adamant in their agreement to that.

She fades out again and the world is back to normal and it's dark out. She feels extremely hung over and isn't sure exactly what the fuck happened. She's got vague recollections of talking to different objects and them talking back. She's also pretty sure she was watching herself for awhile.

"Still high?"

Katsumi blinks a few times and looks to where a very real Shikamaru is sitting in her chair that's no longer melted into the floor. So, that wasn't a weird hallucination.

"I feel hung over," Katsumi feels like shit, actually.

"Yeah. I bet. Water is on the side table by your head. Do you need me to make you drink it again?" He sounds like he's exhausted just considering it.

Katsumi drags herself up into a sitting position and sways a bit as she reaches for the entire water pitcher and just drinks it straight from that. Sets it in her lap and hovers over it like it's invaluable when she's done.

"How long have you been here?" Katsumi really had no concept of time.

"Like four hours. Akiko showed up and said you weren't answering the door, but it sounded like you were arguing with someone. She got worried," Shikamaru watches her carefully.

"Fuck. I didn't mean to poison myself," Katsumi's not sure how to explain her colossal fuck up.

"Yeah. Saw the notes on how to make the stuff. How'd you accidentally poison yourself?"

"Just woke up. Forgot it was in the teapot," Katsumi eyes her parents' pictures warily. They were speaking when she was high.

"Maybe get a new teapot. If you're going to be playing around with making poison," Shikamaru suggests lazily.

"Good idea. Um, thanks for checking on me?"

"No problem. You were yelling at a shadow when I came in. Why weren't you wearing clothes?" He sounds mildly curious.

"I have no idea. My wind chimes were rude, though. I remember that," Katsumi nods slightly.

"So, why does Kakashi need to kill some guy named Obito?" Shikamaru looks far more interested in this.

Katsumi freezes. Of course, she was just saying things instead of thinking them. That's not good.

"Well?"

"I don't remember. I don't know anyone named Obito," Katsumi lies.

"Lie." Shikamaru doesn't even hesitate to call her out on it.

"Classified," she corrects with a flash of her teeth.

He hums and looks utterly unsurprised at the answer, "If you say so. Take care of yourself, Katsu. No more confusing poison with tea."

Katsumi nods and watches him stand and stretch. Silent as he walks out of her house like he'd never been there at all. If she didn't know better, she'd swear he's just another delusion with the way he just disappeared. She stares into the water pitcher for a long time after he's gone.

Chapter 81

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Jiraiya's spy network has located Sasuke. Katsumi gets called into the Hokage's office as soon at the information is confirmed. Naruto, Kakashi, Itachi, and Kisame are all there already. So a five man team. Unusual. All jounin too. All strong jounin. Katsumi gets the feeling Tsunade wants to make sure the Uchiha is dragged back this time. A bit overkill, but if he managed to kill Orochimaru on his own, Katsumi guesses it makes sense.

They're getting sent out to the Land of Iron. Apparently Sasuke's been seen traveling with a group of people. No one is sure what it is he's doing though. Katsumi has questions about why he would be in Samurai country. They get their instructions. Kakashi is team leader. Retrieve Sasuke living. Remove any curse mark he may still have. Kill his team mates if they prove to be an issue. Katsumi sees no fault in the orders.

They leave immediately, pausing only long enough to grab cloaks to keep the cold of Iron country out. Kisame looks like he's looking forward to this. Kakashi just seems like he wants to get it over with. Naruto is a strange bundle of nervous energy. Itachi is as hard to read as ever. Katsumi's not sure this is going to be a fun mission. Hopefully it goes smoothly at least.

It takes a week to reach the border. Sleeping in short shifts at night and moving full speed to reach the border. Sasuke is apparently in the far north of the damn country. Which means they get to trek through freezing snow for days. None of them seem happy about that.

They move more carefully once they cross the border. Samurai are neutral in Shinobi affairs, but still. They aren't exactly welcome on their territory unless it's for a Kage summit that the Samurai traditionally allow to be held here. Neutral territory and all that. Wandering around The Land of Iron outside of that is generally regarded as a bad thing.

So they stay away from roads. Stay away from villages and houses. Skirt areas Katsumi can hear too many heartbeats and areas Naruto can sense chakra above the level of a civilian. Itachi's crows fly through the air, hunting for the missing Uchiha. Kakashi and her hounds hunt through the snow for miles for signs of the boy. Kisame keeps watch as they search. His eyes sharper than she expected them to be.

Itachi's crows find Sasuke and his team first. In a tiny village where the ice meets the sea. No one is sure what the fuck he's doing up there. No one really cares either. They'll be dragging him back to the village regardless. It takes them four more days to actually find the location the crows had found them.

They don't immediately enter the tiny, practically nonexistent village. It's more of a handful of houses than a village. Katsumi thinks it's a bit pathetic. They find a cave that blocks out wind and plan. They decide to split up. Three ways. Katsumi and Kakashi circling one way, Itachi and Kisame circling another. Naruto, with his senjutsu and clones, would go from the front. The goal is to try to trap Sasuke between them and the ocean.

Katsumi and Kakashi slink down into the village from the East, their ninken spreading out to cover the spots Sasuke and his group might slip through. She can hear Sasuke's voice in one of the houses. He doesn't sound happy. He sounds very stressed, not that Katsumi cares. She reports the location back to Kakashi quietly and receives a sharp nod in return.

Katsumi can see the crows circling above their heads and figures Itachi has already found his little brother. Whether he'll have him in hand or not when they finish closing in, is up for debate. She has her doubts about how badly Itachi wants his brother's forgiveness instead of his fury. She gets the feeling it's going to be a very long day dealing with the Uchiha brothers. Which of the two will be more of a pain is up for debate.

Kakashi takes lead as they come to a stone house within spitting distance of the icy Northern sea. Katsumi has never been this cold and she's extremely irritated at Sasuke for causing them to come this far north. So is everyone else at this point. Except for Itachi, who seems entirely unaffected by life in general.

She can see Naruto, crouched low on a stone fence, his eyes focused eerily on the house and hunched over like a predator waiting for its prey to run. Katsumi can't recall a time he's ever made her uneasy before, now though, he looks like he'd genuinely hunt a person down. Like he'd enjoy it too. It's a good thing he hates killing. A good thing his moral compass seems so unshakeable. She'd hate to see him right now if it wasn't.

She can't see Kisame and Itachi on the other side of the building. She doesn't think that will matter. Sasuke's gone silent, and she can't even hear him shifting his weight. She can hear his heartbeat though, and those of his companions. Four all together. All steadily increasing. So, they know they have company. Hopefully, they'll be willing to speak. Katsumi's not eager to play in icy waters. Hypothermia is a bitch.

Crows coalesce into Itachi in front of the door. Katsumi blinks in bemusement when he knocks politely on the door. She swears Kakashi snorts a little beside her at the display of manners. Katsumi's not sure in the least what to make of it. She's got a feeling the rest of them are here as back up in case Sasuke and Itachi's little reunion goes badly.

Katsumi is even more surprised when the door opens. That... is not Sasuke. A girl. Red hair and glasses. Katsumi squints curiously at her. She's vaguely familiar but triggers no migraines, no old memories. Katsumi watches her curiously. She's blushing. Acting like Itachi is making her swoon. Katsumi doesn't really get it. She doesn't even know the Uchiha. Pretty or not, his reputation is far from pleasant. Katsumi wouldn't be swooning if he hunted her down. She watches the girl's face intently and understands. It's no more real than when Katsumi played innocent child when Haku has caught her spying in Wave Country. It's an act. The girl is just far, far better at it than Katsumi has ever been. Like Ino. Interesting.

Katsumi doesn't care about what Itachi and the girl are saying to each other. She's more interested in the renewed noise of movement in the stone house. She can hear weapons being handled. No speaking though. Likely using hand signs instead. Katsumi twitches a little when the redhead is replaced by a furious looking Sasuke with a sword. Katsumi wants to know when he decided he needed a sword to begin with.

Things devolve quickly from there. Sasuke apparently isn't in the mood to speak to his brother. Apparently wants to work a little of his anger out. Itachi apparently decides letting him to that in a genjutsu is the way to go. Kakashi grabs Katsumi on the shoulder to prevent her from going near the sibling spat, Even as Naruto slips around Itachi and pulls Sasuke's shirt down to look at the curse mark. She sees why quickly. One of Sasuke's companions, a large man with orange hair is standing in front of them. He doesn't look like he's happy to be doing this.

Kakashi shifts his weight in the familiar and comforting way that means he's ready to fight if he has to, despite how lazy he looks. Kakashi lifts one hand in a lazy wave at the man, like there's not killing intent leaking wildly into the air around the house, and calls out, "Maa, We're just here to retrieve a missing friend. We'd prefer not to fight, yes?"

The large man seemed almost startled at that. Like he'd expected anything other than an offer of no combat. Katsumi supposes it makes sense. Eleven ninken are pacing a half circle around them. Sasuke is locked in Itachi's genjutsu and Naruto is picking apart the curse mark as rapidly as he can. Plus, Kisame sounds like he's engaged in battle with one of Sasuke's new friends. Really, Kakashi's offer would throw anyone who didn't know the man well off balance. The strange man opens his mouth and hesitates, before responding, "You're attacking Sasuke. I won't stand by and watch."

"Helping him, actually. Our village would quite like him back." Kakashi's voice took a dangerous edge to it even as it stayed light.

"To execute him or throw him in prison," the man snarls out and a massive flood of killing intent fills the area.

Kakashi's stance looses its false laziness altogether and Katsumi eyes the icy ocean. If this man wishes for a fight, this is not the place he should have chosen for it. She watches him warily as his skin begins to turn grey. Seems he's made his choice.

Kakashi and Katsumi seem to have a similar line of thought. She's flicking through the mouth of the serpent jutsu rapidly. As soon as the furious water snake is formed and released towards the man, Kakashi's own water dragon jutsu is building up out of the ocean. Freezing cold water rains down on them as the two jutsu hit in quick, brutal succession.

Hers is more designed to send a person back thirty meters, and very likely drown them if they can't save themselves. The water dragon, with its insane and unyielding pressure, can easily drown a person where they stand if they're unable to escape it. Being struck by both at the same time? A shinobi would be hard pressed indeed to walk away from that.

This one manages it though. Dripping icy water and looking furious. His whole body is grey now. The ninken move in as one when Katsumi and Kakashi jerk their heads towards the man, a silent order to attack. Watching Taishiro outstripping every other ninken makes Katsumi's lips thin with worry. Her lazy, opinionated ninken, the one who'd been with her the longest, will be the first of the pack to reach the man. Which means the first of the pack to see what he can do. There's a danger in that. Still, Taishiro is no idiot, and he's almost impossible to hit when he feels like being difficult. She trusts him to handle himself.

Watching the man's forearm turn into a blade that narrowly misses cutting open Taishiro's belly is startling. The ninken keep coming though. Each one darting in and snapping at the man, testing his capabilities. Looking for a weak point. The man roars, and charges straight through the dogs, straight at Kakashi and her. Shit.

Katsumi is drawing water to herself for her water shrapnel even as she moves out of his way. She doesn't like the unhinged look of the man's face. Kakashi engages him quickly, kunai flashes as it meets the strange arm blade.

"Katsumi! Deal with the Kunoichi!" Kakashi yells at her before she can engage with the man too.

Katsumi twists around and snarls. The redhead is trying to force Naruto to stop undoing the seal. Something that, by his own admission, can cause damage to a person if he stops undoing a seal at the wrong time. Fuck. Katsumi gives a sharp whistle and her ninken break from Kakashi's pack to attack the girl, chasing her back into the house. Katsumi follow calmly. Slips behind Naruto and into the one room house, that's closer to a shack, and closes the door quietly behind her.

Naruto calls out to her just before the door clicks shut, "Don't kill her, dattebayo. She's an Uzumaki."

Well. That's explains why he was being so nice about keeping her from fucking things up. Katsumi will try to honor his request.

The redhead doesn't look air-headed anymore. Her eyes are sharp and watching as they circle each other calmly. Katsumi's ninken stand in front of the door, snarling viciously.

"You should know, trying to make Naruto stop? That could easily have killed Uchiha. I thought you Uzumaki knew seals," Katsumi drawls, mimicking Shikaku's tone when he's dealing with a particularly stupid person.

"Not like there's anyone left to teach it," Uzumaki's red eyes flash in irritation.

"Naruto learned. You were with Orochimaru, yes?" Katsumi tilts her head and considers the girl.

"Why?"

"Curious. You realize we aren't here to kill Uchiha?" Katsumi still is far from opposed to killing him, but she's outnumbered on her team.

"Doesn't seem that way, when you're attacking us." Redhead hisses.

"We didn't attack first. Itachi has him under genjutsu, Naruto is fixing him. I can't speak for Kisame, but your friend with the anger issues engaged us," Katsumi can hear the fighting outside.

"You cornered us!" The girl shrieks.

"Just to collect our missing idiot. Stay out of the way, and we won't have an issue," Katsumi's voice turns monotone.

"And if we don't?"

"Well, mission parameters don't say anything about you. Which means, you don't matter. So, you tell me what that might mean for you, if you try me," Katsumi isn't in the mood for dealing with Orochimaru's underlings.

The redhead adjusts her glasses and Katsumi can almost see her mind working, "Do you actually think Sasuke wants to come back?"

Katsumi shrugs, "Don't really care either way, he's coming back on his own feet or in a body scroll. You never answered my question. Did you work for Orochimaru?"

"Sage, yes! Why?" The girl looks furious.

"What'd you do for him?" An imagine of her father's file from the destroyed base flashes across her mind's eye.

"Um, does it matter right now?"

"Longer you talk, the longer it takes me to get bored. Which increases your lifespan," Katsumi flashes her teeth, happily toying with the girl as she fishes for information.

Uzumaki stares at her like she can't believe Katsumi would kill her out of boredom. The silence stretches out and her ninken's snarls pick up in volume. Katsumi cocks her head and listens to the sudden quiet outside, "Good news, we can continue this at a different time, Uzumaki. Stay here. Pack, don't let her leave."

Katsumi slips past the dogs and out the door. Sasuke is out cold on the ground, Naruto is breathing hard, Itachi's eyes are bleeding. Kisame has a white haired kid tossed over Samehada and the big man is out cold in a snowbank while Kakashi is busy fixing his own injuries.

"So is he fixed?" She eyes the unconscious Uchiha warily.

"The seal is off, dattebayo. Don't know who he'll be when he wakes up though. He's had the seal for years, dattebayo," Naruto explains, "How's the Kunoichi?"

"Redhead? I didn't kill her. The ninken are keeping an eye on her," Katsumi's not really that concerned with the extras.

"Good, that's good, she's an Uzumaki, dattebayo," Naruto smiles widely.

"You know you can't keep her, right, Naruto? She's one of Orochimaru's little workers," Katsumi's not keen on keeping any of Sasuke's little group.

"We aren't leaving right away, Katsumi-Chan. There will be time to decide what to do with them," Itachi is kneeling beside Sasuke and applying chakra suppression seals onto the boy. His eyes are still bleeding.

Right. Guess they're playing house now. Katsumi's not excited by this prospect in the least.

Notes:

Hey y'all! So sorry for missing an update yesterday! I hope I wrote this chapter well enough to make it up to y'all!

Chapter 82

Chapter Text

The four captives all have chakra suppressors on their wrists and restrained so they can't get it in their heads to try anything. Sasuke is the only one that hasn't woken up yet and he looks more like a corpse than anything else. Kisame is glaring at the white haired kid. Naruto is doing... something with seals. Katsumi's not sure what exactly. Kakashi is leaning by the door, hiding his chakra exhaustion from the captives while Itachi sits calmly in one of the worn out chairs in the building.

"Why won't Sasuke wake up?" Redhead demands.

Naruto answers her absentmindedly as he works on whatever it is he's doing, "He's recovering, Dattebayo. Needs to rest and all that."

"And what happens then?" The redhead seems to be the spokesperson for the group.

"We take him back to Konoha," Kakashi answers mildly.

"What about us?" White haired kid breaks his staring contest with Kisame and looks genuinely worried about the answer.

"Maa, well, that's up to your behavior and whether we want to put the effort into taking you back with us," Kakashi sounds like he doesn't really care about it.

"So you're going to kill us or something if we're too much effort?" White haired kid is definitely getting worked up.

"Maa, that would be Katsumi-Chan's preference, I'm sure. She doesn't like unknowns, you know. And that's what the three of you are. I, and I doubt I'm the only one, wouldn't be opposed to leaving you all here," Kakashi eye smiles like he didn't just tell them Katsumi would prefer them dead. If she didn't know he was just trying to mess with their heads, she'd almost be offended.

"Hey! No, you can't just kill us! We haven't done anything to you!" White haired kid gets louder.

Katsumi twitches at the sudden volume increase and snarls deep and low in her throat, teeth on full display. It gets her sharp looks from Itachi and Kakashi, a worried glance from Naruto and an entertained one from Kisame. It also shuts the kid up.

"I've killed people for far less, so shut the fuck up," Katsumi's not above playing into the game Kakashi is playing. It's not hard. Just let the darker part of her instincts come to the forefront of her mind for awhile.

"Maa, you may get to add three more to your kill count if they don't behave," Kakashi soothes, like she's a rabid dog. There's an amused look in his visible eye though, he's enjoying this to a degree.

"We can't kill them, dattebayo. They aren't involved in the mission," Naruto picks up on the game too. He's always been good at games, even the ones he doesn't like very much.

"They became involved when they tried to fight us," Katsumi counters.

"You surrounded us! He attacked Sasuke!" Redhead yells in frustration, jerking her head towards Itachi who is watching this all calmly.

"Looked like he knocked on the door, Dattebayo," Naruto glances up for a moment with a Fox grin on his face.

"And then put him under genjutsu!" Redhead shrieks.

Katsumi has enough of the volume and snaps a little. She's got her Katana to the girl's neck in a heartbeat, "Quieter, please. It's better for your health."

"Katsumi-Chan, please put the sword away, she's just asking questions," Itachi finally speaks.

"Don't see why she deserves answers. She worked for Orochimaru," Katsumi's sword stays against the side of the girl's neck, just under her jaw.

"Maybe T will find a use for her," Kakashi muses, Katsumi can hear his warning loud and clear, back down.

Katsumi puts the sword in its sheath again and steps away, "It'll be a pain in the ass to bring them all back."

"Might not be able to bring that one back, Dattebayo," Naruto points an ink stained finger at the big one.

"Why?"

"The chakra suppressors won't work on him forever. He uses natural chakra, I can sense it," Naruto doesn't sound happy, "It'll wear the seals away within a few days, dattebayo."

"That what you're trying to fix?" Kisame eyes the ink and paper Naruto is scribbling on.

Naruto nods absently in agreement. He's definitely only paying enough attention to have a vague idea of what's going on. Always gets hyper focused when he's working on fuinjutsu.

"So, that's one we leave," Katsumi shrugs lazily and watches the largest one's face. Fear, maybe. Resignation, definitely.

Sasuke chooses that moment to wake up, and wake up cranky, "You're not hurting any of them, Ishihara, or leaving them here to die."

"Oh? The man of the hour is awake! I don't think you're in a position to be making demands," Katsumi grins wide and wild. She is sick of this mission and the headache Sasuke has caused. She will happily kill all three of his teammates, Naruto's opinion about the Uzumaki be damned, if he tries to cause her further annoyance.

"Bitch." One black eye stares balefully up at her and she can almost, almost , see the boy he used to be.

"I think, Sasuke here should tell us just what he's been up to. And who his new friends are, of course," Kakashi's voice has a cheerful note in it that's definitely not genuine.

Sasuke goes stubbornly silent, his face twisting into an ugly scowl, made even uglier by the scars over his destroyed eye. It truly warms Katsumi's heart to know Orochimaru hadn't been able to fix that mess.

"Well, I guess you're overdue for an appointment with Inoichi anyway," Kakashi shrugs.

Naruto's blue, blue eyes flick up from his fuinjutsu to look at Sasuke, "Hey, Teme, just tell us who they are or Katsumi might actually kill them, dattebayo. And their relationships to Orochimaru."

Katsumi toys with the idea of stabbing the white haired kid in the leg, just to see if it'd piss off Sasuke. A look from Itachi tells her that she's not allowed to do that. Stupid fucking child prodigies. Too good at reading people.

"The white haired kid is the baby brother of Hozuki Mangetsu, a former seven Swordsman," Kisame tosses out casually.

"And you just considered mentioning that? Well, I say send him off to Kiri, let Zabuza and Haku play with him," Katsumi loves that idea. Deeply. It can be a thank you gift for putting up with her in Kiri.

"Maa, Katsumi, that's a lot of paper work," Kakashi points out.

"Can't be more than what it took to keep Kisame without Kiri ending the treaty," Katsumi counters.

"You caused baa-Chan six stacks of paperwork and you weren't even a nukenin, dattebayo," Naruto throws out absently.

"You helped with that, if I'm recalling correctly. My memory is still hazy, you see," Katsumi waves a hand before returning her attention to the big man, "Were you a prisoner of Orochimaru or one of his little workers?"

He blinks up at her and seems extremely uncomfortable with the attention. She bares her teeth at him and snaps, "Well?"

"I went to him willingly, I hoped he would find me a cure," he answers slowly.

"A cure? What for?" Katsumi prompts, content to ignore the glare Sasuke is sending her.

"I... get angry, dangerously so, I can't control it," He sounds ashamed as he admits it.

"How dangerous? Like throw a chair dangerous or murder babies dangerous?" Naruto glances over.

"Not the first one."

"This connected to the nature chakra?" Kakashi inquires.

"Yes."

"So when those suppressor seals fail, you'd be a danger to everyone around you?" Kakashi's voice sounds almost tired as he voices everyone's question.

"I—"

"No. He's not. I can keep him contained," Sasuke glares stubbornly as he cuts the man off.

"You don't have access to your chakra, otouto," Itachi points out, almost in amusement.

"What about Hozuki? How'd you end up with Orochimaru?" Katsumi doesn't feel like listening to the Uchiha family drama now.

"The snake bastard captured me," Hozuki sounds like he's still pissed about it.

"And Uzumaki? How'd you end up with him?" Katsumi's fingers tap the hilt of her sword idly as she looks at the only other Kunoichi in the vicinity.

The girl shifts a little, "I joined him willingly."

Katsumi can hear Kakashi's quiet, resigned sigh behind her and Naruto's shape intake of breath. Both know how she feels about Orochimaru and anyone who willingly served him.

"And what did you do for him?" Katsumi's voice is suddenly dripping sweetness as she smiles down at the girl.

"I was in charge of his southern hideout." The girl doesn't seem ashamed, but she certainly seems wary.

"And what type of things did you do for him?" Katsumi repeats, her voice loosing some of its sweetness.

"I assisted in research?" It sounds like the girl is trying to find the safe answer.

"Involving?" Katsumi's voice has lost all sweetness and a growl is building.

"What do you mean?"

"Did you ever run any human experiments?"

"Yes?" Uzumaki is glancing at Sasuke like she's hoping he'll help her.

"Naruto?"

There's a pause, "Yeah?"

"How much do you want to keep this one?" Katsumi figures they could find another Uzumaki somewhere. If they tried hard enough.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Katsumi-Chan," Kakashi's voice is part soothing and part warning.

Katsumi snaps her teeth in response, she's already sick of this mess, "I'll be on the water, keeping watch and all that, call me when a decision is made."

She's out the door and stepping onto freezing water before anyone can stop her. She may not like the cold, but right now she needs the way the ocean clears her head. Needs the reminder that the world is much, much larger than herself. Or she thinks she'll actually kill their little captives.

Chapter 83

Chapter Text

Kakashi walks out to call Katsumi back in from the cold, cold ocean near sunset. Katsumi's hair is frosted over and she has to blink ice out of her eyelashes. She's no happier than before, but she's steadier now, more willing to accept whatever the verdict is.

"We're only taking Sasuke," Kakashi gets straight to the point when she joins him again on the shore.

"And the other three?" Katsumi can feel a the dark part of her head twisting excitedly in anticipation.

"We'll leave them here. Not together. Kisame is going to walk Hozuki out far enough he won't be able to find his way back to the house, knock him out and remove the chakra suppressors. Let the elements decide."

"And the other two?"

"Jūgo, the big one, will be left in the house, the chakra suppressors will fade on their own in a few days. Likely the Samurai will put him down in time," Kakashi doesn't sound bothered by this.

"And Uzumaki?" Katsumi can't imagine Naruto just leaving the girl.

"She'll be walked out furthest. By you. Do the same thing as Kisame, take her in the opposite direction, though. You'll not kill her, Naruto was adamant," Kakashi sounds like he's exhausted just remembering what was likely a very heated debate.

"You want me to do this?" Katsumi blinks ice out of her eyelashes and raises an eyebrow.

"Yes. Again, you don't get to kill her, it's unnecessary," Kakashi sounds like he can't decide if he should go with her or not.

"I still think we should kill them all," Is all she says.

"We're sending them out with no weapons or food into what's looking like it will be a blizzard, Katsumi-Chan. They're likely dead already, no need to cut their throats," Kakashi's voice is stern now, a half step away from the tone he uses when giving her a direct order. Not quite though. He's left her more wiggle room than he realizes, or realizes she's noticed, at least. After all, he said no killing because it's unnecessary. The darkest part of her mind is practically purring at that logic. There's a lot of ways to interpret what's necessary and what isn't. All she would need to do is look at it from a new angle.

Katsumi keeps her face perfectly blank, "Fine, death by exposure is as good as anything, I suppose."

"Good, and Sasuke's not very happy right now, so maybe don't engage with him," Kakashi eye smiles and leads her back into the house.

Naruto has seemingly given up trying to make a seal for the Jūgo person. Kisame is beside Itachi and watching the captives intently. Sasuke is silent and glaring furiously at them all. The rest of the captives don't seem interested in being quiet now. At least not Uzumaki and Hozuki. They're trying to argue with the team, not that anyone is responding.

Katsumi isn't expecting Hozuki to address directly her, "You know, you're one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen. I bet you and I could have a real good time if you don't let them leave me in a fucking snowbank."

"I think I'll have a better time if you get left in the snowbank," Katsumi's face doesn't change. She's oddly settled.

"You got a lot of bite, I like that in a girl, Sasuke here hasn't mentioned you, but he burnt a bingo book when he saw you were in it. You and I could have a real good time pissing him off if you change your vote to letting me live," he continues, grinning at her with sharp teeth in what she thinks is supposed to be a flirty manner.

Naruto apparently thinks so too, and apparently does not like it, "Oi, Katsumi-Chan isn't interested in you, dattebayo."

"Don't speak for her, that's rude. Katsumi? That's a nice name. It suits you. You know what else would—"

"Kakashi? When are we getting rid of them?" Katsumi's not interested in a potentially dead man's flattery.

"What's wrong, brat? Not used to idiots hitting on you?" Kisame laughs.

Katsumi gives him a dark look and turns back to Kakashi expectantly, "Well?"

"In the morning, Katsumi-Chan. You have last watch tonight, alright?" Kakashi eye smiles at her and she knows he's pleased she's not reacting strongly to Hozuki's behavior.

"Alright. Thank you, Taichou," Katsumi mutters and moves to one of the corners furthest away from the captives to set up her bedroll. Naruto's is set conspicuously up between her and their little group of captives. Kakashi sets his up between hers and the door, effectively blocking her in. Katsumi doesn't need to ask to know it's his and Naruto's way of keeping her from prematurely trying to murder the captives while everyone is sleeping. As if she'd be that impulsive.

Kisame has first watch and he's very conspicuously sitting directly between the captives and the team. Itachi is in the other corner, seemingly happy to go to sleep.

It's cold, and Katsumi doesn't sleep well, she can hear the heartbeats and breath of the captives, none of them are sleeping. It's difficult for Katsumi to sleep when they're wide awake. It sets her on edge. She barely manages a light doze the entire night. Naruto wakes her up for her watch and Katsumi ends up crouched on top of the ratty table, watching the captives unblinkingly.

Sasuke is the only one who seems unbothered by the way she's watching them. Katsumi chalks that up to the fact they'd once been teammates and he'd grown used to it then. The others all either shift uncomfortably or seem to make a conscious effort not to make eye contact with her.

Uzumaki breaks the silence, "I'm Uzumaki Karin. You never asked for my first name."

Katsumi tilts her head, "I didn't care to know it, Uzumaki."

"You want to kill me for working for Orochimaru, but you don't want to kill Sasuke? What's the difference?"

"Never said I didn't want to kill Sasuke. Naruto and Itachi very much like him living, however. You, on the other hand... well, Naruto seems to be the only one in your corner," Katsumi shrugs carelessly. She's made peace with leaving Sasuke alive. Traitor or not, his life belongs to Konoha, she's just here to deliver him to the village.

"I haven't done anything to you," Uzumaki sounds frustrated.

"You were one of Orochimaru's assistants in his experiments, right?"

"Well yes, but those experiments were happening whether I was there or not," Uzumaki argues.

"That doesn't make you less guilty," Katsumi flashes sharp teeth in the darkness.

"And why does it matter to you?" Uzumaki sounds genuinely baffled.

"Orochimaru tortured my Otou-San to death under the guise of experimentation. I've long since lost patience for anyone who is willingly involved with the man," Katsumi's voice is light and airy, like remembering that doesn't make her want to murder them all.

"How do you know that?" Uzumaki sounds tense now, like she's realizing how little of Katsumi's desire to kill her earlier was an act.

"Found the file. Eastern hideout," Katsumi can still remember Sai handing her that fucking file.

Uzumaki latches onto that, "I was never at the Eastern hideout, at least not while I was actually helping with the experiments. I had nothing to do with what happened there."

"You still helped with others. Didn't you?"

"Well yes, but not any there," Uzumaki sounds hopeful, like this will be enough to get her out of being left in the snow.

"That doesn't nothing to absolve you. You're still guilty," Katsumi's not interested in hearing the girl argue her innocence.

"Look, I didn't join him because I wanted to, I joined him because it was better than where I was, I didn't enjoy doing those experiments," Uzumaki sounds like she's trying to find a way to convince Katsumi she deserves a chance.

"Just about everyone is a fucking tragedy. You don't get special privileges for being one too," Katsumi snaps. She knows too many people who had a shitty fucking life who didn't go help a lunatic preform human experiments. She has no fucking sympathy. A shitty past isn't an excuse.

Uzumaki opens her mouth to argue back, but Sasuke cuts her off, "Karin, Ishihara won't listen. She never does."

Katsumi's eyes slide to Sasuke, "Not wrong, Uchiha. I don't care to listen to idiotic justifications."

"I was following his orders. Just like you follow Konoha's," Uzumaki's voice is soft.

"Your mistake," Katsumi isn't interested in this conversation.

A tense silence follows as the morning slowly brings light back in through the tiny windows. Hozuki has given up trying to flirt his way out of this mess, Uzumaki keeps watching Katsumi like she's hunting for a way to convince her to argue against leaving her out here. Sasuke is glaring. Jūgo looks resigned. Katsumi's ready to get this over with as she hears her team beginning to stir.

"Oh good, You didn't kill them," Kakashi's voice breaks the silence as her watch comes to an end.

He tosses her a rations bar when she turns to glare at him. She catches it and retorts, "I do have some impulse control thank you."

"Maa, when it suits you," Kakashi eye smiles, far too cheerily for this early in the morning.

"Ishihara, hurry up and eat, we need to get moving," Kisame sounds like he's already irritated as he steps forward to glare down at Hozuki.

"No killing her, dattebayo," Naruto yawns and gestures towards Uzumaki.

"Yeah, yeah. Kakashi already told me," Katsumi rolls her eyes at the blonde.

"Otouto, are you ready to return home?" Itachi looks calmly down at Sasuke.

Sasuke glares back and refuses to speak. Honestly, Katsumi's impressed by how stubborn he is. At least he's quiet, she supposes. Not cursing people out and accusing Kakashi of fucking her. She'll consider this an improvement.

Katsumi swallows the last of the bland rations bar and hops off the table, "So which direction am I taking her?"

"Walk her out west of here, then come back," Kakashi directs.

Katsumi nods once and watches as Kisame drags Uzumaki and Hozuki to their feet, shoving the redhead over to her. Katsumi catches her and snarls low when the girl resists being shoved to the door, "Walk."

"I don't want to," Uzumaki snaps at her.

"Walk or die," Katsumi presses a Kunai against the girl's spine.

"Katsumi-Chan, no killing her," Naruto sounds concerned as he reminds her yet again that Uzumaki gets to live.

"Of course," Katsumi gives the girl a harsh shove forward with her free hand and is satisfied when the girl finally starts walking.

They walk through the deep snow for only a minute or so before Uzumaki decides to tell Katsumi her life story.

"I was from Kusa, you know. My mother and I settled there."

"Should have stayed there," Katsumi's voice is monotone.

"We have this healing ability, where if someone bites us they'll recover, it takes our life force away," Uzumaki continues. Katsumi knows she's trying to humanize herself to Katsumi. Is trying to make her sympathetic.

"Fascinating."

"They made my mother heal in return for sanctuary."

"Sounds like it was her own choice," Katsumi comments.

"One day she didn't come back from the hospital and they made me do it instead," Uzumaki continues.

"So you ran off to Orochimaru?"

"It was a better life for myself."

"Interesting story. You're still getting left to freeze," Katsumi plays with her paralytic dipped senbon needles in her weapons pouch. Mixes the weak dosed ones with the lethal ones as they walk. They're far enough out now, she thinks.

"Please, I'm useful, I'm a sensor, you know. That's not common." So they're at the bargaining stage.

"Interesting, stop here," Katsumi glances up at the sky. The snow is beginning to fall.

"Your chakra is like waves crashing against rock. Your friend, the blonde one? His chakra is like the sun itself," Uzumaki continues likes she's trying to prove herself.

"You have a choice. I'm not taking the chakra suppressors off unless you're either unconscious or unable to move. I can either knock you out, or give you a very weak paralytic that will wear off in half an hour or so," Katsumi doesn't react to the girl's description of her or Naruto's chakra.

"What?"

"I can give you a concussion or you can struggle to move for half an hour. Which would you prefer?" Katsumi pulls one of the poisoned senbon out and spins it between her fingers patiently.

"How do I know that won't kill me?" Uzumaki eyes the senbon in trepidation.

"It's what I use for capture. When I'd rather a target alive instead of dead," Katsumi doesn't mention she's got two different levels of paralytic and she no longer knows which one is on this senbon considering she mixed them all together. She'll have to wash them all and reapply the poison later.

"And it's only temporary?"

"Obviously." Katsumi doesn't give the girl any more time to consider it and stabs the poisoned end into her inner arm quickly.

"Ow! What the fuck?" Uzumaki looks furious.

"It'll kick in in about a minute," Katsumi puts the needle away and sets to work untying the girl's wrists.

The Uzumaki's legs give out just as the ropes fall away. Katsumi blinks down and considers her curiously. None of her team is here, it'd be easy, so easy, to end this girl. Her blood reversal technique would work perfectly.

Katsumi kneels down and flips one of Uzumaki's wrists over, there's the first suppression seal, both would need to be removed for proper and healthy access to chakra. A single pulse of chakra to the center of the seal is all it takes to remove them. A single pulse of chakra into a vein or artery is enough for her blood reversal technique. It'd be easy, so very easy.

Katsumi removes the first seal. Then sits and considers the second for longer than she should. The temptation in there and so is the instincts in her head screaming at her to remove the potential threat to her pack. Logically, she knows Uzumaki isn't really a threat. But, that doesn't stop her instincts from labeling her as one for being a willing participant in Orochimaru's experiments. Even if she had nothing to do with her father's death. Katsumi moves her hands and considers forming the necessary handseals. She does. She can feel the chakra sitting in her finger tips.

"Katsumi-Chan, are you finished?" Itachi's voice is soft behind her and it startles her back into awareness.

She glances behind her to look at the Uchiha, he looks entirely unsurprised at the scene, black eyes utterly calm as he takes it in, "Yes, almost, I'm sorry I've taken so long."

"It is no trouble. I was merely concerned," Itachi's voice is soft.

"Right," Katsumi releases the chakra into the vein beneath the suppression seal quickly and steps away. She schools her expression and pretends like there's no fresh corpse behind her.

Itachi doesn't say a word, black eyes merely consider her carefully before he turns and walks away. Katsumi trails after him, watching him and doing her best not to look like she just got caught committing murder. When they return to the house, Kisame holding onto Sasuke, Itachi doesn't say a word.

"Maa, Katsumi-chan, you dealt with her?" Kakashi looks her over carefully.

"Yes, I gave her a mild paralytic. It should wear off in an hour or so," Katsumi keeps her voice bored and a little resentful. Does her best to look put out at not being able to kill the girl.

"Good, Itachi? She was fine?" Kakashi glances over at the younger man.

"Yes, Taichou. The Uzumaki was paralyzed but fine," Itachi's voice is soft and calm and gives nothing away. It makes Katsumi relax a little for a moment before tensing again as they move to leave. Why would Itachi lie for her? What the fuck does he gain by doing that?

Chapter 84

Chapter Text

Things are tense. Naruto is pouting about not keeping the Uzumaki girl between bouts of arguments with Sasuke. Kakashi seems borderline ready to knock both out and carry them back to the village that way. Kisame is getting irritated too, and keeps threatening to use Samehada on the pair if they don't shut up. Katsumi is tense and paranoid about Itachi, who seems to be the only one unaffected by the atmosphere of the team.

It doesn't help that the land of Iron will not stop snowing and the cold is making everyone even more pissed. The constant snow is slowing travel time down on top of making it freezing. They're having to make even larger circles around villages too. Having a sixth member who is very clearly unwilling, isn't a good look. Too much of an attention grabber.

It takes two weeks to reach the border. Two weeks of freezing and bickering. Katsumi nearly weeps with joy as the temperature begins to rise and they finally see something other than rocks and snow. She hates the land of Iron. It's also around here she hears someone tracking them. A heartbeat that's just on the edge of her hearing and not really tracking them well, but after two hours of it steadily following them, she pauses and looks north behind them.

"Katsumi?" Kakashi notices she's stopped first.

"Someone's following us. A few kilometers back, has been for the last two hours, longer probably," Katsumi doesn't like being hunted. Has no interest in being prey when she's much better these days at being the hunter.

"Well, Katsumi-chan, I know you're disappointed at the lack of real fighting we did, so why don't you go give our guest a welcome?" Kakashi eye smiles at her as if he knows where her thoughts are headed.

"And if I need back up?" Katsumi tilts her head.

"I'm coming with you, of course," Kakashi eye smiles, "Naruto, no bickering with Sasuke while we're gone."

So. Katsumi gets to hunt with Kakashi. They haven't done this in a while. He lets her lead, sticking close to her back as they move through the snow and rock and trees. Let's her hearing direct them to the target.

It doesn't take long to get there. When she sees who it is, she rolls her eyes. Suigetsu. The idiot managed to follow them. Katsumi's not in the mood for whatever the dumbass wants.

She drops down in front of him, Kakashi a half second behind her and glares fiercely, "You know, leaving you up there was because we didn't want you, right?"

"Come on— uh, Katsumi, was it? Yeah, Katsumi, I was not a willing captive of Orochimaru, and I kinda don't like being left in the snow? Sucks balls actually. I don't want trouble, but, you know, I really don't know what else I should be doing right now?" He looks like he wishes he'd planned this better.

"So you're following us?" Kakashi questions.

"I mean, yes? Why not?" He looks like he's cringing at his own answer.

"Because we might kill you?" Katsumi's not sure what to make of this.

"Okay, um, lets be reasonable here, sweetheart. I'm good at what I do, which is killing shit, I currently have nowhere to go, and nothing to do, which leaves me with a bit of a problem, you know?"

"No. I don't. Kakashi? This is why we should have killed them," Katsumi glances up at Kakashi pointedly.

"Maa, next time, we'll send Naruto out instead of you during the decision making. He nearly went ballistic at the idea of killing them," Kakashi sounds utterly resigned to having a pacifist student.

"He's a jounin who wants to be Hokage. He needs to quit forgetting he can't spare everyone," She snaps back before redirecting her attention to the problem, "So what? You wanna petition to join Konoha or something? Or you want us to ship your ass to Kiri?"

"Uh, either? I don't know? I was in a fucking tank for a few years, Sasuke just got me out a few months ago?" He looks baffled that she's not trying to slaughter him yet.

"If you want to go to Kiri, then go to Kiri, " Katsumi hisses, "You're not our problem."

Suigetsu actually seems to pout a little, "But—"

"No, We allowed you to live once, against everyone's better judgement. Move on, or forfeit your second chance," Kakashi's voice is hard and the smell of ozone fills the air as he begins a lightning jutsu. That gets the kid running in the opposite direction.

They wait five, ten minutes for him to be well and truly leaving before Kakashi cancels his jutsu and they turn back to return to the group. Katsumi has a question that's been eating at her.

"Kakashi?"

"Hm?"

"You knew I wanted to kill Uzumaki. Why'd you have me get rid of her?"

"Because I knew you'd kill her," is the light answer.

"What?" Her brain comes to a screeching halt and she openly stares at him.

"Naruto wanted them all to live. Which wasn't a good idea. I knew you'd kill Uzumaki, even if given direct orders against it. Kisame was supposed to kill Hozuki, but it seems he failed. As for Jūgo, we left him tied up and without chakra in an explosive rigged house, it wasn't hard," Kakashi doesn't seem bothered at all.

"How'd you plan that all out without Naruto noticing?" She forgets sometimes that Hatake Kakashi is a genius. A prodigy.

"Naruto had the watch shift before yours. He sleeps hard. It wasn't hard to work around him. Why Kisame failed, I'm not sure. He doesn't like lying though, so maybe that's why," Kakashi shrugs.

"And you just assumed I would disobey?" Katsumi is pretty sure she should be offended.

"I bet on it. Itachi would have handled it if you hadn't. No mentioning this to Naruto, hm?" He eye smiles and pats her head.

"Right, got it," Katsumi's never questioning his logic again.

They return to the group and Katsumi is suddenly far less bothered by lying about what she did. Since apparently everyone but Naruto was in on it. Naruto glances over them quickly, "What was it, dattebayo?"

"White haired kid, he decided he didn't want to follow us, after all," Katsumi responds honestly.

"Why was he following us?" Naruto squints in confusion.

"He's an idiot," Katsumi eyes Kisame curiously. He doesn't look happy. She gets a feeling he didn't mean for Suigetsu to survive.

"Lets continue on, come along, Otouto," Itachi nudges a sullen looking Sasuke along as the group continues to head back to the village.

They walk in silence and Katsumi processes what she learned. She wants to laugh. Hysterically. Kakashi knew she'd disobey. Had left her in the dark about the real plan and just assumed she'd play the role he expected her to. Shinobi are cheats and liars, Shikaku's words from when he would try to get her to cheat at shogi come back to her. Cheats and liars, indeed.

She wonders how Naruto never learned that lesson. How, of everything he's good at, he's only good at the honest things. At helping people, at telling the truth, at protecting people. She wonders how he missed so many of the lessons she'd learned. How he's never really done the darker things.

It's a week of stiff silence and quiet bickering before they make it back to the village. Every single fucking eye is on them as they march Sasuke through the village. She's still not sure what he's been doing, or what happened in Itachi's genjutsu, but she has a sneaking suspicion she'll learn soon enough.

Tsunade calls Scorpion and Panther appear and take Sasuke off to T , presumably, before asking for their reports. One by one they give it. Naruto tells the lie they've given him about the team Sasuke made. So does everyone else. Except on the written reports. There, the truth and the reasons for it are given, on all except Naruto's. As far as Katsumi can tell, he's never going to learn the extent of what was done. Tsunade certainly hadn't seemed keen on informing him.

A trial. Sasuke is going to get a trial. And she, Naruto, and Kakashi all have to testify. So does everyone who went on the first rescue mission and whoever worked with him in psych. There's a lot. Katsumi already hates the prospect of having to dig through all those half buried memories of the first betrayal. Fuck. Maybe Tsunade will skip the trial. She's Hokage, with no fucking council since she ousted the elders. A trial is in Konoha is little more than the Hokage listening to testimony to decide how to punish the one on trial. At least for shinobi. The civilians have their own thing, Katsumi thinks anyway. Still, could be worse, she supposes. Sasuke could still be a fucking asshole lunatic. Now he's quiet at least.

Chapter 85

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Three days after returning home, Katsumi's cleaning obsessively. It's a stress thing and a guilt thing. She's stressed over Sasuke's return and upcoming trial, stressed over Obito and Zetsu and all that entails. Guilty over lying to Naruto. No matter how much she gets why they did. It leaves a sour taste in her mouth. It's one thing to hide a truth, like Obito living from Kakashi, it's another for her to outright lie to Naruto.

So she cleans, until her hands are red from scrubbing and the house is spotless. When she's done that, She runs through kenjutsu Katas until she's exhausted, the hardest and most advanced ones she knows. She's stretching when Shikamaru appears behind her and gets straight to the point.

"There's no one in the bingo book, past or current, named Obito," His voice is low and challenging.

Katsumi turns slowly to face him, he's leaning against the wall of her house like it's his, hands stuffed in his pockets and slouching. His eyes are sharp and narrowed and watching her for her every reaction. She raises an eyebrow, "That so?"

"So, I checked other records. Obito isn't a common name. Found a name on the memorial stone, though. Uchiha Obito. Care to explain why you wanted Kakashi to kill a dead man?"

"I was high. I can't begin to guess what I was thinking," Katsumi won't give an inch on this. She's not getting her people involved if she doesn't have to. She puts her swords in their sheaths and walks towards her house, both hands in her pockets.

"Uchiha Obito was Kakashi's teammate during the third war," Shikamaru continues and follows her up the steps into her house.

"How do you figure?"

"Easy enough to look up old records," She can hear the exasperation in his voice.

"Sounds troublesome," Katsumi takes her swords off and sets them against the wall by her door.

"It was. So why does Kakashi need to kill his dead teammate? What is it I'm missing?" He sounds like he really just wants confirmation on a theory he already has.

Katsumi shoots him a look as he slouches in her favorite chair, "I wouldn't know. Maybe there's nothing to miss. Just the ramblings of a high person, don't think too hard, Shika. It's a drag."

"I'll tell you what I think then, considering you admitted already this was classified. Kakashi possesses one sharingan, despite not being an Uchiha. It would have had to have been given to him or the Uchiha clan would have killed him. Naruto said some interesting things when he came back from that mission without you. Something about a guy named Tobi. With a single sharingan. From there, I'm sure you can figure out my theory."

Katsumi schools her face into blankness and considers him. Too smart for his own good. That's Shikamaru, alright. She takes her time before answering, hands stuffed safely from sight in her pockets, "I think, for once in your life, you should stop thinking. You're hunting for answers you don't need."

"I disagree. Like I said, Naruto was very vocal. At least until Tsunade shut him up. He mentioned something about this Tobi guy being able to drag people through dimensions. Sounds like something to be concerned about," Shikamaru's voice takes an edge to it even as it stays a lazy drawl.

Katsumi flashes her teeth at him, "I'm going to shower. Take my advice and stop."

Shikamaru's dark eyes never leave her as she turns and stalks to her bathroom. She doesn't get through her beaded curtain before she feels the familiar restraint of his shadow and can't move. She snarls a warning but doesn't say a word.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Katsumi grits her teeth and says nothing.

"Katsumi, whoever this guy is, he's dangerous. So please, stop lying," he sounds like he can't decide if he wants to demand or beg.

"Then let it go," Katsumi hisses back, she doesn't want anyone involved who doesn't have to be. Sakura is the only one left with Naruto's anchor seal. Anyone else would be in danger until Naruto is willing to make the anchor seal again. He's been refusing until he's managed to make it drop them at a fixed location. The hospital, she thinks, is his goal.

"Dammit, Katsumi, no. I'm worried. This guy nearly killed you! Naruto's seal sent you to fucking Kiri! That's the only reason you aren't dead or a fucking captive. So why are you so determined to hide it?" Shikamaru sounds like this has been eating at him.

"That was months ago. Over a year. I'm surprised you even still think about that, you certainly didn't seem that worried over it when it happened," She spits out, spiteful and furious. She doesn't want this conversation and will say anything to get out of it, anything to make him drop the topic of Uchiha Fucking Obito. It's a strange sensation, his shadow tightening on hers for a moment. She wonders if she's finally managed to get under his skin.

"You went missing. For a month. You ended up in godforsaken Kiri of all places! Do you know the fucking Mizukage tried to convince Tsunade to agree to letting you become a Kiri shinobi if they could convince you during treaty negotiations? There was a very real chance Kiri wasn't going to give you back! Of course I was fucking worried," His voice is low and dark and furious. A little hurt too, just enough to notice.

"Could have fooled me. Not like you ever cared to pay attention before," Katsumi snarls it. Covers worry for his safety with harsh, poisonous fury. She's aiming to hurt him, aiming to push him away, and with his shadow possession jutsu holding her still, her hands won't give away any lies.

There's silence. Long and tense and oppressive. Then her body is hers again and her front door is slamming shut. Katsumi is left in an empty, too clean house, with nothing but her wind chimes' noise to fill it. She has a sick feeling in her stomach. Like she's just made another mistake she couldn't afford.

She reasons it's for the best. The information is classified and Uchiha Obito is dangerous. It's safer this way. For everyone involved. As she goes about her evening, and goes to bed, somehow, that rationale isn't enough to make her feel better about what happened. Sleep doesn't come easy that night and Shikamaru doesn't visit again.

She gets called to T not long after that. Has to go over every single interaction she ever had with Sasuke. From the academy to the genin team to the retrieval mission. Every single thing. In her own words, Inoichi will only mind walk her to confirm the things she says.

Ibiki is the one to question her, Inoichi watching her benignly as he does, "When did you first meet Uchiha Sasuke?"

"He was in my academy class."

"So you've known him since you were young children?"

"We didn't interact much then. Before the massacre, he stayed mainly with the other Uchiha children. Afterwards he didn't really speak with anyone."

"Do you remember what he was like?"

"Before the massacre? Not really. Afterwards? Angry, I think, and sad. Arrogant. He thought he was above everyone, it didn't help everyone else seemed to agree with him. He wasn't someone you'd want be be friends with then." Katsumi struggles to recall those years, but she thinks that's a good way to describe him.

"You were on his genin team. What was that like?"

"He had a temper. He was proud. Very determined. There were arguments and he and Naruto were rivals. He was a good teammate, though. He cared, I think. In his own way." She can remember him keeping her from falling to her death in the Forest of Death. She thinks he cared at least a little then.

"And on your first C-rank, the three of you all made your first kills?"

"Um, no. No, I did, and Naruto did. Sasuke didn't. I think his was probably during the invasion? I'm not sure. He had withdrawn from everyone after Haruno Sakura beat him."

"And he had received Orochimaru's curse mark by then?"

"Yes, it was in the Forest of Death. He was different afterwards? Not obviously, like he wasn't murdering babies or anything kind of different. But less... restrained? Maybe? Or like he enjoyed hurting his opponents afterwards." She remembers the look on his face when he'd gone after the Oto nin when he woke up.

"Were you afraid of him then?"

"No, I was worried. Frustrated too. He blocked everyone out."

"Did you see him again at all after the Chuunin exams?"

"Twice before the first retrieval mission. Once when I was on gate duty and he and Hatake Kakashi were returning from a training trip. The next was the night he left."

"And what happened then?"

"I was leaving gate duty. I don't think he expected to see me. I asked him what he was doing. We argued. I took his eye out when he went to knock me out. I woke up on a bench the next morning." Katsumi can still remember the wild panic she'd felt waking up on that bench.

It goes on like that for hours. Question after question until Ibiki is satisfied. Then Inoichi takes over and mind walks her through every memory she hadn't been able to recall well enough for their tastes. When it's done, she's exhausted and wrung out. Inoichi and Ibiki seem pleased enough. Ibiki tells her to expect a summons again at some point in the following weeks for follow up questions. Katsumi's already dreading it, she likes the two men and understands why this is necessary, but it's a fucking test of mental and emotional stamina. It's nothing she enjoys.

She needs a break from it all. So, she goes home and drinks. Sits on her kitchen floor and drinks until the room is spinning and her vision is dark on the edges. It's not a healthy was to deal, and she knows it. It's what she has though. She doesn't want to be around anyone, her ninken included. Just needs a night alone to drown herself in sake until her thoughts are slow and her balance gone. She'll deal with all the issues in her life another day.

Notes:

Hey y'all! I just want to remind everyone that while I adore Comments and Reviews I do ask that any criticism be respectful! Commenting on multiple chapters that the story or characters are stupid, useless, or boring is not constructive criticism! It's hurtful and really says more about who you are as a person than it does what can be improved in the fic! I ended up having to take a day without updating while I second guessed my work because of this and I apologize to all my readers for not updating yesterday, as I adore providing y'all content. For my lovely readers who leave wonderful, helpful, or fun comments and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism I appreciate every single one of you! Unfortunately this A/N was recently made necessary and I wish i didn't need to make it at all. Thank you all so much for reading! Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter 86

Chapter Text

Katsumi sobers up and goes to see Tsunade the next morning. Hang over or not, she's ANBU and Shikamaru's figured out classified information and she's required to report it to Lady Hokage. It goes about as well as expected. She has to dodge a desk after explaining the Datura incident and she's not sure her hearing will ever recover. At least Shikamaru and Naruto are both going to be reminded of what classified means. Since Shikamaru decided to push for what she couldn't give and Naruto doesn't know how to shut the fuck up when he's worried. Classified doesn't care about feelings after all. And if this gets back to Kakashi, Katsumi's not sure how it's going to go over. Not well, is her best guess.

That done, she goes to find Naruto. She has forgiveness to beg for. It turns her stomach to imagine how the conversation is going to go, but she's never tucked tail before. She won't do it now. He deserves the truth whether he forgives her or not. Kakashi may have told her not to tell Naruto, but the mission is over and Tsunade never ordered her silence. She's free to tell if she decides to.

Finding him is easy, he's in training ground three practicing his Rasengan. He's shirtless and sweating and looks entirely focused as he continues perfecting the jutsu. Katsumi feels like she's walking to her execution. She doesn't stop though. Just steps forward into his line of sight and has to suppress a wince at his beaming smile when he sees her.

"Hey, Katsumi-Chan! Wanna train with me?"

"Um, not today, Naruto. I need to tell you something." No going back, Katsumi can feel the knots twisting in her stomach and her heart pounding out of her chest.

"Uh, alright? What is it?" Bright blue eyes are full of confusion as he scratches the back of his neck.

Katsumi's bowed before. To Lady Tsunade, To Nobles, to elders, to those who've taught her. She's never bowed this deeply before though. Has never fallen to her knees and pressed her forehead to the ground for anyone before. She does now though.

"Katsumi-Chan? What—"

"Uzumaki Karin is dead. I killed her. Kakashi-Sensei also gave the orders for Suigetsu and Jūgo to die as well. We lied to you to avoid your objections. I shouldn't have done it, and I certainly shouldn't have lied to you about it. I am sorry," She doesn't ask forgiveness, she doesn't know he would grant it. She would understand fully if he didn't.

There's a moment of silence before he croaks out, "What?"

"We lied to you. It's in our written mission reports." Katsumi's eyes are squeezed shut and she keeps her forehead to the ground.

"I— Katsumi-Chan? Why?" He sounds so hurt and Katsumi's wants to curl in on herself in shame.

"I did it without knowing Kakashi and the other's plan. I had a loss in my self control. I have no other explanation to offer for my actions and take full responsibility and accept any consequences." Katsumi is simultaneously relieved to tell the truth and full of dread at how he's doing to react.

"Why did you lie?"

"At first it was because I didn't want to get in trouble for disobeying orders. Then it was because I was told not to. I'm sorry."

"Please, just, uh, please go, Katsumi-Chan. I don't— I don't want to see you right now," He sounds like she's ripped his heart out. It makes her feel numb.

Still, She stands up and backs away, eyes downcast. She slips away silently, shame and relief and sadness all warring in her head. She doesn't pause to speak to anyone except Akiko when the little girl stops her on the way back to her house.

"Sensei? Now that you're back, can we begin the new Kata set?" The girl manages a strange mixture of nonchalance and hopefulness.

Katsumi wants to say no, wants to take another day to wallow, but she promised this girl lessons. She can't just say no. She swallows hard and smiles weakly at the girl, "Of course, Akiko-Chan, come along."

The girl walks slowly beside Katsumi, arms behind her head the way Shikamaru used to do when they were children. Must be a Nara thing. Katsumi forces herself to focus on the girl instead of her own issues. She's teaching this girl to give her a better chance of survival when she becomes a shinobi. She can't afford to give the Nara only half her attention.

"Before we start the Katas, I believe I promised you a spar. If you can block me five times, I'll teach you an offensive set of Katas."

"I've never spared kenjutsu before. How can you expect me to do it well?"

"Kenjutsu Katas exist to teach the movements, just like Taijutsu Katas. Muscle memory. Training spars are to put those motions into practice. To become comfortable with the motions and increase your own skill in using the Katas practically. I've put off the sparring until I was confident you knew the motions well," Katsumi keeps her voice light and calm as she explains why they haven't sparred yet.

"So I just need to block you five times? What if I fail?"

"Then we won't continue to the next Katas until you manage it. Not getting stabbed in a fight is arguably more important than stabbing someone."

"Are you going to go has hard on me as you and Yuma-kun did in your spar?" Akiko sounds like she's dreading that.

"Of course not. You're an academy student. I want you able to be on par with a genin for now. We'll work our way up from there." Katsumi's not about to go at ANBU levels with an academy student. That's just sadistic.

Katsumi watches patiently as the academy student goes through her daily stretches and the Katas one more time. Katsumi had to dig through her Ishihara weapons to find a single bokken. Apparently, her clan in general preferred to skip the bokken altogether when learning kenjutsu. She supposes it's nice to know it wasn't just her father being too harsh on her. As it is, Katsumi toys with the old bokken idly as she gets a feel for it.

"Sensei? I'm ready," Akiko is standing lazily, but she has a focused gleam in her eyes and Katsumi knows she's looking forward to this.

"Alright. Get ready then. Remember, five blocks are all you need. You lose if you're disarmed or knocked over," Katsumi steps forward and smiles with a few too many teeth.

Katsumi gives her a moment to get into her stance. Then she strikes. It's slow and easy for anyone above genin level to track. Hardly more than a weak swipe. Akiko doesn't manage to block it, the bokken comes to rest lightly against the girl's neck.

"Beheaded. Dead instantly."

Katsumi aims a slow stab towards the girl's heart. She manages to get her own bokken up at the last second to stop it from taping her chest.

"That's one."

Katsumi aims a second strike to Akiko's left ribs. It lands.

"And you're now drowning in your own blood because your left lung is punctured. Your left lung has one less lobe than the right, injuries to the left lung are more likely to be fatal than injuries to the right."

Katsumi aims a strike to girl's stomach. No block again.

"There goes your small intestines, along with a few major arteries. If the blood loss doesn't kill you, the sepsis will."

Katsumi swings the sword slowly to strike against the Nara's side. Blocked.

"That's two."

Katsumi shifts lazily and aims her bokken at the girl's hip. Too slow to block and Akiko nearly looses her balance.

"That's your hip bone. It's now broken. Good luck walking, much less fighting. You're as good as dead."

Katsumi grins at the look of determination on the child's face. Aims a bit straight at her face. Blocked. Good.

"Three blocks. You need two more."

Katsumi aims to cut across the girl's chest diagonally. Akiko actually jumps back to avoid it.

"Running is valid in a real fight if necessary, it doesn't count as a block though."

Strike to the diaphragm. Too clumsily blocked to do anything.

"Your diaphragm is now torn. You'll suffocate, and considering the exact spot, you'll also bleed out and your vagus nerve would be severed. You'll be dead in a few minutes."

Strike to the thigh. Blocked.

"Good. That's four. One more, Akiko-Chan."

Akiko looks ready to maul Katsumi to get that fifth block. Good, the girl will need some bite if she's going to be a Kunoichi. That drive will serve her well.

Katsumi continues, and the girl stays on her feet and doesn't let the bokken get knocked from her hands. Her teeth are gritted and she looks like she's going to manage this one way or another. Nara determination is truly an impressive thing. Ten more failures to block. Ten more ways Akiko would have died in a real fight. Two more retreats.

Katsumi aims a downward slice towards the child's shoulder, more out of boredom than anything. If it lands, It would kill a person at its angle in a real fight. Cutting through bone and muscle and lung tissue. And that's the best case scenario for someone unfortunate.

Akiko manages barely to block it, holds her bokken up and looks like she'd snarl if she were an Ishihara. Katsumi smiles lightly and pulls her bokken away.

"That's five. Very good, Akiko-Chan. From now one, you're to continue practicing these Katas along with the ones I'm going to teach you today. Understand?"

"Yes, Katsumi-Sensei," Akiko has a satisfied, lazy smile on her face even as sweat drips from the girl's forehead.

"Good. Now pay attention."

Katsumi focuses on teaching the girl the new Katas. Let's this take all her attention instead of the Naruto situation. That's out of her hands. This is not. The choice of what to focus on is easy. Besides, Akiko's childish excitement, even in the more contained way of the Nara clan, at learning new kenjutsu Katas is pleasing. It's a nice feeling to know this girl is genuinely improving under her attention.

Chapter 87

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Katsumi wakes up in the middle of the night to Urami sitting on her chest. The otter's eyes glitter in the darkness and he looks far too excited. Katsumi's already dreading whatever the fuck this is.

"A year has passed, Ishihara. Your worth is in question."

"And what must be done?"

"You shall run the gauntlet. Now."

"The wha—"

She's cut off by the dizzying and sudden pressure of what she guesses is being dragging by a demented water weasel into the summoning realm. She's really not happy with this wake up. Urami is a dick. That's what this tell her.

She recovers after what feels like a lifetime. The first thing she registers is otters. There's hundreds of the damn things and they're all staring at her. It's extremely unnerving. The next thing she registers is the massive river system. It's a bigger river than anything she's ever seen in the land of rivers. And looks like it has a stronger current than the Naka River. Lovely.

"Ishihara. You will have a choice to make. The river forks off. You must chose the side you will travel down and once chosen you may not turn back. Choose wrong, you drown. Fail to keep going, you drown. Refuse to choose at all, you will drown. Step onto the river now," Urami sounds like he's been looking forward to this.

Katsumi blinks and warily obeys. Uses her chakra to keep from being swept away, it's a challenge. It makes the Naka look forgiving. As soon as she's steady, mist appears, as thick and heavy as any she's ever made.

She's entirely blind, and has to go by sound alone and the feeling of the water rushing under her feet. She moves slowly, there's whispering ahead of her that she can't understand over the dull roar of the river. She walks towards the whispers slowly, having to take care not to let the current move her quicker than she'd like to go.

The closer she gets, the louder the whispers grow but she still can't understand them. She can tell she's getting close the the fork though. The current is getting choppy as water begins to go in different directions.

She stops dead in her tracks when she is finally able to hear the whispers. They're coming from both forks of the river but they're different. Entirely. Even though she's hearing the same voices from both sides, they're saying very different things.

On one side she can make out Kakashi's voice.

"Maa, my Kunoichi is strong. She'll be fine."

And Shikamaru's voice.

"She's good, if I play it wrong, she'll beat me in the match."

Ino.

"Oh? Katsumi? You just have to give her time, she's a good friend, you'll see."

Sai.

"Midget is a very good Taichou."

Katsumi twitches when she hears what's coming from the other side.

Kakashi.

"Too reckless, if she doesn't get it together, she'll be dead by sixteen."

Shikamaru.

"She pisses me off, it's like she doesn't care about anything but the next mission."

Ino.

"She's cold. Not who I remember at all."

Sai.

"Midget would kill her own teammates if it was for the good of a mission."

Katsumi wants to flinch away. Doesn't want to listen anymore. She has to choose though. And she has to choose the right direction. Katsumi doesn't even need a hint to know which side she's supposed to choose. It's not the nice one. As tempting as that fork is, she knows that's not the way she needs to go.

But going down the correct one makes her want to deafen herself. She has no idea if any of what she's hearing is real, it doesn't really matter. It's unpleasant and hurtful all the same. Still, she has no choice. Not if she doesn't want to die here.

She takes a steadying breath, lifts her chin and walks forward into the mist and unpleasant whispers.

"Terrible child, you'd thing she was raised by feral dogs."

"Dead by fourteen, mark my words."

"What a bitch. No empathy at all."

"Heartless. Bet she doesn't even have a soul."

"Everyone knows she's just the Nara clan's whore."

"I heard she slept with Hatake to get that apprenticeship."

"She'll go the same way as her mother."

"Can you believe someone like that is a jounin? She'd leave a whole team to die, I bet. I'll never take a mission under that psycho."

"She's friends with the fox brat. There's something wrong with that girl."

"Did you hear what she did to Uchiha? Taking his eye out, what an awful thing to do."

"She's an animal. Worse than. It's obvious."

"She enjoys killing. You can see it. What a monster."

"Have you seen those teeth? Kiri blood, that is, should have been drowned at birth. Would have been better for the village."

Katsumi wants to stop. Wants to turn back. To deafen herself to the whispers. Voices she knows and voices she doesn't. All saying awful things that might be truth. She has no idea if they actually said any of it. Doesn't want to know. She just has to keep going.

"Just watch, one day she'll be just another washed out Kunoichi."

"Too slow. She'll never survive a real battle."

"Impulsive and easy to piss off. She'll die badly."

"Not good enough. She's weak."

"Stupid fucking brat. Worthless."

"She'd be pretty if she actually tried."

"She's a pain in the ass. She'll send me to an early grave."

"Sometimes I don't know why I put up with her."

Katsumi finally comes to the end of the mist. The otters are waiting for her, Urami at the front. Katsumi has no idea what happens now and doesn't really care. That was much more awful than she'd expected it to be.

"Ishihara, you didn't drown, good. You are worthy still. Perhaps next year, then."

Katsumi's being sent back just as quickly as she'd been brought here. It's even more sickening the second time. She ends up staring up at her bedroom ceiling in the dark and just not thinking for a moment. It had felt like hours there, but a glance at her alarm clock tells her it's only been fifteen minutes. She's not going back to sleep. That much is clear. So she gets up and gets dressed. Goes off to find Yuma. After that experience she doesn't really want to be alone with her thoughts.

Yuma's apartment is only a few streets from the Flower district. It's a little place that she knows is more a place to sleep than an actual home to him. She can hear his heartbeat inside though, so she knows he's there. She knocks on the door and waits patiently as she hears his heartbeat increase rapidly as the noise startles him. There's shuffling and she can hear traps being disabled. The door opens and Yuma looks down blearily at her, purple eyes eerily reflecting light. His hair is messy and he's only wearing boxers.

"Foxy? What is it?"

"I can't sleep." Katsumi shrugs helplessly. Showing up this late might have been badly thought out.

"Nightmares?"

"Something like that." Katsumi's not eager to tell him about the Otters and their freakiness.

"Come in. There's sake in the kitchen if you want that," Yuma yawns and opens the door wide enough to step inside. There's no light at all. He has black out curtains and she almost immediately runs into the table.

One of his hands falls on her shoulder, "Careful, you want sake or sleep?"

"Sleep."

"Alright, come on, I won't let you run into anything." Yuma reassures her and leads her around the furniture to his room.

"I only have the one bed, I can take the couch, if you'd like."

"No, I don't want to be alone." Katsumi uses her hands to feel around the edge of the bed for where the pillows are.

"Got it. No problem at all there, Foxy." His hand leaves her shoulder when she crawls onto the bed and fumbles for the covers. She can hear his quiet footsteps move around to the other side of the bed.

The bed shifts under his weight as he settles back in it. Katsumi almost immediately curls up against his back, face pressed between his shoulder blades. There's a moment of stillness before he rolls over and pulls her gently into the hard planes of his chest, she can feel raised skin where old injuries have long since scarred over. He tucks her head under his chin and she can feel one of his hands come up to stroke her hair.

"Foxy? You alright?" Yuma murmurs softly, his breath tickling the hair on her head.

"I don't know." She's too emotionally strung out to really feel alright. Everything that's happened combined with her Otters' test has worn her out.

"How can I help?"

Katsumi pulls her head back slightly and tilts her head up, eyes straining to find him in the pitch black, "I just want to feel better. Just for a little while, I want to forget."

There's silence, "Katsumi..."

Katsumi leans forward now that she's had an idea, and manages, clumsily, to brush her lips against his in the darkness, "Just for tonight. Please."

The hand that was stroking her hair stops and she can feel his fingers tighten in her hair a little, "Is that something you actually want? If you need a distraction, there's other things we can do."

She does need a distraction. This is the distraction she wants. Just for the night, "This is what I want. Just for tonight."

Yuma lets out a slow breath and rolls them gently so he's leaning over her, "Yeah, alright, Foxy. Whatever you want."

Katsumi doesn't say anything back, just pulls his head down to hers in answer. Focuses entirely on Yuma and the distraction he's willing to provide her. It's not what she was looking for when she showed up here, but she decides it's not a bad outcome.

Notes:

So this fic is almost over! After this one there is one more fic for sure! It will also be 100 chapters! Thank y'all for reading!

Chapter 88

Chapter Text

Katsumi wakes up sore in a very good way. She can hear Yuma moving about in the rest of the apartment. Katsumi figures that's her sign to get up, with the black out curtains she has no real idea what time it actually is. She slips out of bed and grabs the closest shirt she can find along with her underwear. Satisfied she's dressed enough, she yawns and walks out into the apartment.

Yuma's back is to her and for the first time she really looks at his scars. Shinobi tends to become blind to other's scars after awhile, everyone has them, and after awhile, shinobi just don't really notice them. So focusing on them is startling. His back is a ruin. Burns and cuts and what looks like whip marks. He'd mentioned in the jounin exams he'd had to get himself out of captivity in the past. She supposes those are the proof of his words.

She can see where she'd dug her nails in and dragged them down his back too, stark red lines running over the scars. She hopes that hadn't hurt him. He hadn't seemed bothered when it happened. She clearly recalls the noise he'd made when she'd done that and how he'd adjusted his angle and speed in response. She thinks he liked it.

"Morning, Foxy. Food will be ready soon if you want to shower first," Yuma flashes her an easy smile over his shoulder.

Katsumi sniffs the air curiously and perks up happily at the smell, "Didn't know you could cook on anything other than a campfire."

"Necessary life skill. Go shower, we're going to go on a mission later, I think you need one to clear your head." Yuma informs her, not unkindly.

"What mission?" Katsumi tilts her head.

"You'll like it. It's about as straightforward as a mission comes." Yuma doesn't give her anymore details.

"Right," Katsumi nods and turns towards his bathroom. It's as undecorated at the rest of the apartment. Yuma is even less attached to this place than Kakashi is to his apartment. She showers quickly, poking curiously at the marks running down her stomach and inner thighs from Yuma's mouth the night before. They're not huge, and she'd hardly felt them being left with how careful he was while doing so.

She walks out with her hair in a towel and a second towel wrapped around her, both are a bright, sunny yellow. An interesting color choice to her considering how he doesn't seem to have any decorations anywhere. There's a bowl of miso on the counter along with Natto and fried rice. It's more than she normally bothers to make for breakfast, despite it not being a full breakfast.

"I'd have made more, but I haven't been grocery shopping this week," Yuma shrugs as he eats at the opposite side of the table.

"This is good, Yuma. Thank you," Katsumi smiles gratefully as she takes a seat.

"Of course. You wanna tell me what has you all twisted up?" He raises an eyebrow expectantly even as his voice stays casual and disinterested.

Katsumi sips on the miso for a moment and rolls the question around in her head. There's a lot. Kakashi's manipulation, Naruto's anger, Shikamaru and his pressure along with all her other worries. Eventually, between swallows of breakfast she tells him everything. Yuma listens intently and doesn't interrupt once. Let's her talk until she's explained it all.

When she has, he leans back in his chair and nods, "Let's start with the nonissue. Uzumaki. You told him what happened, right?"

"Yeah."

"There's nothing more you can do. You can't bring the girl back from the dead and you can't make him forgive you. Stop worrying over that, he'll forgive you or he won't. It's out of your hands now."

"But—"

"You can't fix everything, Foxy. And you can't control the reactions of other people. Don't bother trying. Just let it be," Yuma's voice is serious and unyielding as rock as he speaks.

Katsumi makes a face but nods. He's not wrong, he makes sense, but she doesn't have to like it. She likes resolving issues, not leaving them be.

"As for Kakashi, it's not obvious, but he's as pack orientated as you or the Inuzuka. It makes his logic as fucked as the rest of you when it comes to anyone he considers pack. What he did was fucked, but makes sense. There was a threat to the pack that needed to be resolved and conflict in the pack. He made a choice that kept the pack safe and avoided conflict at a time it couldn't be afforded. He shouldn't have manipulated you though. Just yell at him or something. That's about the only way to make sure he knows he fucked up. Hatake is stupid like that when it comes to people," Yuma sounds likes he's speaking from experience.

"That's the solution? Yell at him?" It did work for getting him to train team seven, she supposes.

"Pretty much. It's the only thing I've ever found that works. I guess you could try crying, but that might send him into hiding," Yuma grins mischievously.

"And your grand advice for Shikamaru?"

"Screw him, he's an idiot. He knows better than to push for classified information and he's a Nara. He damn well knows using the shadow possession like that on a comrade is wrong. Either he gets his head out of his ass and apologizes or he doesn't. Either way, don't let it slide. He needs to remember boundaries exist and that crossing them has consequences," Yuma sounds much less amused now. Like he's tempted to electrocute Shikamaru if he sees him anytime soon.

"For someone who's batshit insane half the time you're surprisingly good at advice," Katsumi raises an eyebrow.

"Yeah, well, I had a good jounin Sensei and the Yamanaka's have owned my ass for years now," Yuma looks like he's half amused and half exasperated just thinking about it.

"Uh-huh, so what's this mission you went and found?" Katsumi's curious.

"It's a fun one. We get to party and poison people," His grin is all teeth.

"Are we actually in the assassination division now?" Katsumi has no idea what her actual division is at the moment.

"Technically we're still in special ops. Since we aren't in use there right now, Assassinations has temporary jurisdiction over us. We'll be in the bidding ring soon though. Probably either end up with Assassinations or recovery considering our actual specialties other than assassination are tracking and escort," He shrugs, "Oinin Butai has expressed interest in you, I know that much."

"That's if we don't stay partners, right?"

"Yeah, I'd get moved to the bodyguard department again," Yuma nods agreeably.

"So as a team, we're looking at the wetworks squad or the Lost and Found?" Katsumi confirms.

"Yup, murdering idiots or rescuing them. Beetle's been trying to chase Oinin Butai away from you, though. He may not like us much, but he's not keen on breaking up a solid team," Yuma laughs as he takes the dishes away and sets to work cleaning them.

"Right. You mentioned partying, do I need clothes for that?" Katsumi isn't sure she's looking forward to that.

"Yeah, fancy clothes. It's going to be a fancy party. Don't forget make up and all that. It'll be a hassle, but we have ten people we need to poison and this is going to be the best opportunity to hit them all." Yuma sounds like he's looking forward to it.

"And you won't be fucking anyone this time?" Katsumi grins at the look he shoots her.

"Fuck no, Foxy. This time, it's good old fashioned poisoning the sake, no sex needed."

"Guess I should go get ready then," Katsumi stands and goes to find her clothes.

"Yeah, we'll leave at sunset, South Gate," Yuma calls to her back.

She yawns again and raises one thumb above her head in affirmative. She has a mass murder to prep for and a Hatake to speak to. Such a busy day. She loves when she has a clear goal for the day in mind. It makes things much simpler.

Chapter 89

Chapter Text

Katsumi finds Kakashi leaving the memorial stone. She steps in front of him and just considers him, head cocked like a dog who's considering giving chase to a cat. She says nothing until he's lowered his porn to his side.

"You gave orders you knew I'd have an issue obeying. Then, you deliberately put me in the position to have the opportunity to disobey them, hoping and expecting me to," Katsumi doesn't yell, her voice is soft and slick as oil as she speaks.

Kakashi blinks down at her before eye smiling, "Maa, Katsumi-Chan—"

"Next time you want someone fucking dead, grow a pair and tell me or do it yourself. Otherwise, you're being a shit Taichou," Katsumi's snarling now, despite her voice never increase in volume.

"Maa, I knew you would do what was necessary, telling you wasn't necessary," Kakashi waves a hand.

"Bullshit. You set me up to fail, what I don't get is why? You could have gave me a note with the real orders or fucking signed them to me or something if you were worried about Naruto overhearing, but you didn't. Instead, you let me disobey orders, hoped I would. So why—" it clicks suddenly and her smile is the same smile she learned from Kiri shinobi, all threat, "Oh, that's why, isn't it? I wasn't supposed to disobey. It's why you sent Itachi after me. It was a test, wasn't it? Checking to see if I was a feral dog? Tell me, Sensei, was killing the Uzumaki a failure or a success?"

"Katsumi-Chan, it was not a test, it was—"

"Either a lapse in your judgement or a test. So which was it? Either you failed or I failed," She snaps her teeth on the last syllable and glares.

Kakashi stares down at her and sighs audibly, "Neither. Be honest with yourself, if I had told you, would you have been able to keep from accidentally tipping Naruto off?"

"Of fucking course I could have! And even if I couldn't, it shouldn't fucking matter! Naruto is a goddamn jounin! If he can't handle that kind of thing, he shouldn't have been promoted," Katsumi snarls, "Babying him does no one any favors."

"Naruto hasn't had the same upbringing or training you have, Katsumi-chan, he doesn't always understand the necessity of certain aspects of being a shinobi. It's going to take time for him to learn them," Kakashi sounds like he's almost in lecture mode.

"He's had just as much time as I have. He's a jounin, not an academy student. He has to be held to the same standards as everyone else," She counters. Naruto's idealism is a wonderful thing, but a shinobi can't afford to live in a fantasy world. They have to recognize reality for what it is.

"Maa, Naruto is learning."

"Good. I hope so. Maybe you should too. Don't fucking manipulate me again, Kakashi," Katsumi bares her teeth one last time and Shushins away, satisfied she's said her piece.

Katsumi feels marginally better after that. She goes through her standard pre-mission routine with the addition of riffling through her closest for an outfit fancy enough without the Ishihara symbol on it. Or the Nara one. Yoshino had liked to give her things with the Nara symbol on it.

She finds one she'd glanced at but hardly tried. A pretty kimono that's such a light blue it's nearly white with pink flowers. Ino had loved it when she saw it. It's one of the smaller ones and thankfully Katsumi doesn't need to figure out how to shorten the hem. She hums happily as she packs that and a darker blue obi away in a storage scroll before picking through her jewelry.

She runs her fingers over the plain iron bars with kanji on them. Bypasses the ones with names on them and looks over the others. They may not go with the Kimono, but Katsumi thinks that's fine. It's not like anyone will see it under the fabric of the kimono anyway. She plucks one with the kanji for fidelity off the little jewelry holder and tucks it away. Packs the make up Ino had given her for her last birthday in the storage scrolls as well.

She picks up one of the hairpieces that Sakura had cooed over and shown her how to put in her hair and throws that in too. Finishes with a set of sandals and washi paper earrings. She figures that's fancy enough, Yuma didn't really tell her how fancy. Just that it needed to be fancy. She figures better to overdress than underdress.

She tucks a pack of senbon away and picks through her small collection of poisons that Genma had given her after hearing about the datura fiasco. Apparently, giving herself delusions is a good way to get free poisons out of the man outside of special occasions.

She arrives at the South Gate on time as Fox, her party clothes and the purging croton she'd selected for poisoning a group of people tucked away in a storage scroll strapped to her lower back. It causes vomiting and death, at least according to Haku. She figures it's a good way to make it look like a nasty case of food poisoning or something. She'd brought the antidote along with her as well, just Incase she or Hyena need to drink the poisoned sake.

Hyena arrives shortly after her and she can already hear his quiet giggling. Nice to see he's looking forward to this, "Ready, Foxy?"

Fox rolls her eyes behind the mask, "Yes. Where are we going?"

"Land of Tea. We have an inn all ready for us already," He sounds like that's the funniest thing in the world. Considering most of the time they have to sleep in the woods or in a cave, it is a bit funny.

"Well, Lead the way," Fox gestures towards the gate. South Gate is ANBU only, since no one is really supposed to see them in the village. Seeing ANBU is generally a sign something is very, very wrong.

They have a few days to make it to the location in time, so they push themselves to make it there earlier so they have a little extra time to talk logistics. They end up cutting a five day trip down to three. Taking turns keeping watch at night in four hour shifts, and moving without pausing the rest of each day. Fox and Hyena are both cranky and in need of a shower by the time they arrive at the location. They henge into random civilians, and Hyena tells her their fake identities, Suzuki Kane and Suzuki Hina. A newly married couple with ties to a shipping company on the coast of The land of Fire.

Fox rolls her new identity around in her head as Hyena smiles kindly at the innkeeper and checks them in. She keeps quiet and makes her henge smiles shyly as she gets congratulated on her marriage. She supposes she could channel Hinata and go the shy, quiet route. Less chance of messing up certainly. Let Hyena do most of the talking while she quietly poisons everyone.

The room is nice, very nice, which fits with the image they're trying to portray, wealthy newlyweds on vacation. It's spacious and well lit, which she knows Hyena won't appreciate. He'll probably end up sleep deprived from too much light when he wants to sleep. One bed. A very large bed with very nice, fluffy sheets. Fox can appreciate the way ANBU occasionally spoils its operatives with missions like this. These are the kind of missions that get fought over for accommodations alone. Hyena must have been on his best behavior to convince Beetle to let them have this one, or he psychologically tortured whoever was supposed to have this mission. Both possibilities are equally likely.

They pull the curtains closed and set traps along the window and door before dropping their henges. Fox perches on the dresser like a gargoyle while Hyena takes his mask off and grins widely at her as he collapses eagle spread on the bed.

"Told you you'd like this mission, Foxy, you can say thank you now," He sounds extremely pleased with himself.

"You'll get a thank you if this mission goes smoothly. Who'd you kill to get this mission?"

"No one you'll miss, don't worry," He raises his head to look at her and winks mischievously.

"Funny, where's the mission scroll?" Fox wants to get logistics out of the way as fast as possible. More time to enjoy the near vacation this mission is.

Yuma groans dramatically and rolls onto the end of the bed to dig through a storage scroll and tosses the mission scroll towards her, "Ten targets, tactics suggests poisoning everyone at the party and killing off any targets that don't get a fatal dosage, collateral damage is expected and considered a nonissue."

So poisoning innocent bystanders won't be frowned upon. That makes it easier. Fox won't have to worry about avoiding killing specific people. They'll just have to make sure the intended targets are dead by the end of the mission. That's more than doable. Fox grins behind her mask, Hyena found a fun mission. Such a sweetheart.

Chapter 90

Chapter Text

They have three days before the actual party to plan things out. They spend those days sneaking around the venue and scoping out potential exits and possible ways to get the poison into the sake, and any food for good measure while also exploring the village. She and Yuma henge into civilians again as the wander the area, behaving like love struck newlyweds the entire time. She has her arms wrapped around one of Yuma's and leans against him like she's seen civilian girls do with their boyfriends.

"What do you think of this, love?" Yuma smiles indulgently down at her as they pretend to look at an expensive necklace at one of the little outdoor shops, while they work to establish their covers.

Katsumi fingers the ornate gold necklace and pouts a little, "It's pretty. I don't think I have an outfit to go with it though."

The merchant running the little stand jumps on that, "There's a seamstress not far from here, if you were to buy the necklace and take it to her, I'm sure she'd be able to make you an outfit that would go perfectly."

Katsumi glances hopefully up at Yuma, his henge is a pretty, but forgettable man with light brown eyes and short black hair, "Oh, please, could we do that?"

Yuma laughs, "Lets look around a bit more first and if you still want to later, I promise we will."

Katsumi pouts but allows him to lead her away, eyes tracking possible escape route from this part of the village. Pretending like this is out of her element, her father could do it, but she's never really tried before. The result is that she follows Yuma's lead as they continue building their cover and getting a feel for the area.

"Husband? I was wondering, do you think I'll know anyone at this little get together we got invited to?" Katsumi widens her eyes and tries to look worried.

"Oh, maybe one or two people. You shouldn't worry though, I'm sure they'll love you," Yuma reassures her with a smile she knows is hiding laughter.

"Are you sure?" Katsumi ducks her head and pretends to look unsure as her eyes track the movements of one of the targets she'd spent the night committing to memory. They're in a store, looking at books. Quaint.

"Of course, and if it helps, I just need to speak to a few potential business partners and after that we can leave early if you'd like," Yuma promises it with the ease of a man very much in love with his new wife. Katsumi can't imagine where he learned to act so well.

"Oh, I suppose. I don't want you to have to end the night early if you're enjoying yourself though," Katsumi worries her lip and glances up at him.

"I want to spend time with you while we enjoy ourselves more than at some party," Yuma counters smoothly as he stops at a flower cart and purchases a red rose.

She smiles shyly as he tucks it behind her ear, "Thank you."

"Anything for you," he kisses her forehead before leading her on.

Katsumi hums quietly and smiles at a woman she accidentally makes eye contact with, as Yuma leads her back to the inn. The village is a nice one, somewhere between a tourist attraction and business hotspot. It makes for a lot to see, and it's easy to become just another face among the crowds. Katsumi enjoys the relative anonymity of it. As long as they keep in character, no one glances twice except to coo over how in love the newlyweds are.

As soon as they're back in the room, they drop the henges and Katsumi wanders over to the side table and pulls the mission scroll out again.

"We're going to have to slip the poison in before the party. Which means getting into where ever they keep that," Katsumi muses.

"They have a cellar. Problem is we don't know which Sake is going to be used and we don't have enough poison for every bottle," Yuma points out.

"That's a shame. If we're careful enough we may be able to slip doses in to drinks as we work through the crowd," Katsumi's not as fond of this idea, but needs must.

"We'll have to do that to more than just the targets. Can't have it be too obvious after all," Yuma spins a kunai on his finger as he thinks.

"Collateral is acceptable," Katsumi reminds him lightly.

"Ah, yes, collateral is acceptable. Such a nice little detail that," Yuma grins with a touch too much wildness in it.

"Certainly simplifies matters. Divide and conquer?" Katsumi questions.

"Pick your targets," Yuma points to the mission scroll with the Kunai.

Katsumi looks over the targets. Most businessmen who made the mistake of getting involved with people or organizations Konoha has decided need to be dealt with. A few are wives who help their husbands with their businesses under the guise of being simple housewives. Clever women, too bad they chose the wrong investments.

"I'll deal with the three women, along with..." she glances over the men, "Targets four and eight."

"Whatever my little wife wants," Yuma laughs and dodges the shuriken she lobs his way.

"We may have to drink the poisoned sake too," Katsumi says, seriousness returning.

"I probably will. You won't," Yuma shrugs.

"Why's that?"

"Well, officially we've been married four or five months, right?"

"Right?"

"More than enough time to make a baby. You won't be drinking because we just learned you're pregnant and bringing you along on this trip is my way of rewarding you for being such a good little wife," Yuma explains as he laughs at her incredulous look.

"And you think they'll buy that?"

"Of course. Civilians are easily fooled, besides that will make sure the women end up cooing over you and trying to give you all sorts of advice, which gives you the perfect opportunity to poison them," Yuma says it like he's done this before.

Katsumi rolls her eyes but concedes that it's not a bad idea, wealthy civilians have odd views about women and their roles in life. It would certainly fit the role they're playing. She's not sure how she's supposed to play it up though. She's rarely around pregnant women.

"So I'm your pregnant wife for this party?" She grins, "Does that mean you have to bring me things whenever I ask?"

"I'm not your servant, you know," Yuma laughs.

Katsumi sets the mission scroll down and hops onto the bed beside him. She pouts and adds a whine to her voice, "But, Kane-Kun, I'm carrying your heir, I think I deserve a little spoiling."

Yuma cackles and shoves her lightly, "I take it back, no pretend baby, you fucking nightmare."

"Too late, already made the pretend baby, do you have any name ideas or is it too early to be thinking about that?" Katsumi gets up and goes to stand in front of the full length mirror. She expands her stomach as much as she can and laughs at Yuma's exasperation.

"You have full control over fake baby's name, that can be a topic that comes up with the housewives," Yuma sounds like he already regrets this.

Katsumi quits fucking around with the mirror and looks seriously at him, "I have enough antidote to save you if you drink two glasses of poisoned sake. Anymore that that and at best you'll spend the night puking your guts out."

Yuma grimaces, "I'll stick to two then. We'll have to stick around a day or two to make sure all the targets die. This poison takes a few hours to kill, right?"

"Yeah, definitely not a good way to go," Katsumi shrugs. She prefers quick and easy deaths, but they want it to look like food poisoning so slow and painful is required.

Yuma tilts his head, "How strong are the doses?"

"Enough to kill most people. If they drink the whole thing. Hopefully, most will drink more than that," Katsumi doesn't feel like hunting targets down to put them out of their misery.

"Right, how long does it take symptoms to start?"

"Twenty, thirty minutes, somewhere in there," Katsumi makes a face and shrugs.

"So theoretically, if we time it right, we could have them convinced there was something wrong with the food?" Yuma conforms.

"Theoretically, we definitely could. It'd be cleanest that way," Katsumi's hoping that happens.

"Alright, since you're pregnant for this mission, pick a food they're serving and don't eat it since you can't stand the smell, that way there's an alibi since you won't be getting food poisoning," Yuma directs.

Katsumi nods, accepting that easily enough, "If anything goes wrong?"

"Like no one dies wrong or we get compromised wrong?"

"Second one?"

"We kill the problem and regroup," Yuma doesn't seem concerned at all by that prospect.

Katsumi figures that's a good enough solution, can't plan too specifically for that anyway. Better to figure that out depending on what specific issues it will cause. If it happens. They have a day left before the party and they've prepared about as best they can. All that's left is to get it done.

Chapter 91

Chapter Text

Fox takes her time preparing for the party. She sits on the floor and divides poison doses into different vials. Paints the tops of the ten vials for the targets with black paint so they don't get them confused with the slightly weaker poison concentrations for the collateral damage. She would rather not kill extras, but more than just the targets need to be sick, this is the best compromise, it won't ensure they live, but they'll have a fighting chance if they don't get poisoned more than once. She paints two green, in case Hyena needs to drink poison himself. She's diluted these the most, she would feel bad if she accidentally killed him. Even with the antidotes she gave him, she's not in the mood to risk it.

Satsified, she hands Hyena the five fatal doses, along with four nonlethal vials and his two. He grins at her explanation and calls her a bleeding heart. Fox responds by kicking him lightly in the shin, not like she hasn't gone out of the way to avoid killing extras before. Jokes aside, she's not interested in having that on her conscience if she doesn't have to.

It takes her longer than she's care to admit to do her hair and makeup. It's not as perfect as when Sakura and Ino do it, but it works. Her hair is piled high on her head and the pretty hair piece draws attention to her in a way she normally wouldn't like. In this case though, it's necessary. Young, wealthy trophy wives want to look good, she's pretty sure that's the point anyway. Her make up is a bigger hassle than her hair. It smudges easily and by the time she gets it right, she feels like her face is caked in make up. At least it looks good, she supposes. The red lipstick might draw too much attention to her teeth though. When she complains about it, Hyena pauses what he's doing and digs through his storage scroll.

"Here, fit these over your teeth, Wolf used to have to do this too. You'll talk kinda funny but it's better than people freaking out because you look like you eat people for funsies," He tosses a small case to her.

Fox opens the little case and raises an eyebrow. Sure enough, a set of fake teeth. That she has to put on individually. Lovely. She fumbles with them and when they're in she spends a lot of time running her tongue over the smooth, flat edges. She doesn't like it. It makes her teeth feel useless. She likes knowing she's got a fallback option if she gets into trouble. This is just weird.

"Quit messing with them, They'll fall off if you do that too much," Hyena scolds her.

"They feel funny, how to you live with dull teeth?" Fox winces at the way the fake teeth make her slur a little.

"How do you not bite your tongue off with those fucking fangs of yours?" Hyena retorts.

Fox glares at him as she pulls her kimono and obi out and lays them on the bed. The kimono has multiple layers and it takes her longer than she thought it would to put it and the obi on. She slips the Ishihara iron necklace under the fabric, and twirls in the mirror. She just needs to put the earring in and the sandals on and she'll be ready to go. The earrings are light in her ears and she's extremely pleased with the final result. She's pretty sure Ino and Sakura would be extremely proud of her right now for managing to dress up so well.

"So, Kane-sama, what do you think?" She does her best to enunciate more in an attempt to fix the slur the prosthetic teeth cause.

"Ah, Hina-Chan, you look stunning," Hyena circles her, he's been dressed and ready to go for awhile now, his own formal kimono is black with brown hakama pants. He's put brown contacts in to hide the unusual purple eye color and reflectiveness of them.

He pauses just behind her and she can feel his breath on her neck, "Don't forget to hide a few senbon or Kunai on you in case something goes wrong."

"As if I would," She rolls her eyes and slips her poison vials away in little hidden pockets one of her ancestors had sewn into the kimono, clearly, her clan had a firm belief in pretty and functional. She slides a few senbon into her hair as tastefully as she can manage, she's no Haku or Genma, but she figures she could always stab someone in the eye with them if necessary.

They arrive just after the first guests arrive, Hyena, currently Kane, smiling widely and greeting everyone as if he'd always known them. Fox, now Hina, keeps quiet and plays the shy, unsure new wife.

She listens with half an ear as Kane works the first few guests, smiling prettily and murmuring a greeting whenever he introduces her. Kane makes contact with his first target, and she quietly takes the opportunity to go try and make contact with the women she's targeting.

The wives are all together. Hina hesitates, unsure entirely on how to proceed. It doesn't seem to matter, as soon as one of the older women, target ten, notices her standing alone, the woman smiles kindly and calls her over, "Oh, come here, you're the Suzuki boy's wife, aren't you? I heard your wedding was lovely, you'll have to tell us all about it."

Hina smiles gratefully and steps forward, mind working quickly to recall the fake details Konoha had put out to build this fucking cover, they'd used a merchant civilian clan in Konoha for it. A common price the civilian clans agree to pay for the safety living amongst shinobi provides.

"Yes, I'm Kane-Sama's wife, Suzuki Hina. The wedding was quite nice, we held it in his clan's main house, I felt like such a princess," She smiles and speaks softly, trying to seem like the happy, but shy wife.

"Oh, I'm sure, his family is quite well to do, you must have really impressed them to get to marry into the Suzuki family. I'm Ito Arisu, my husband is the one already drinking," the woman gestures dismissively towards the man Kane is speaking to. She's willing to bet he's already poisoned the man's sake.

"He looks friendly," Hina offers hesitantly.

That gets a laugh from all the women. Target ten rolls her eyes, "Oh, he's very easy to handle, I'll tell you that much. Not quick on the uptake, if you understand my meaning. Really, it was the best thing that could have happened to me, gives me so much freedom with a husband like that."

Hina blinks in surprise. She wasn't expecting that admission. It shows on her face and a woman with long brown hair giggles, "Arisu-San, I think you've shocked her. Don't worry dear, you'll figure out quickly enough how to lead that boy of yours around by the nose. Men are notoriously easy to direct once you learn how. Ikeda Chikako, it's wonderful to meet you."

"Oh, um, it's nice to meet you as well," Hina has no idea what the fuck she's supposed to say.

"I heard Suzuki is looking to expanding into the shipping industry, your husband is involved in that, isn't he?" Chikako asks.

"Oh, yes, he doesn't really discuss his business with me, though," Hina glances remorsefully over at Kane, "He says I shouldn't have to worry about things like that."

"Nonsense, if that fool makes a mistake in business, you suffer right along with him. I'll give you a bit of advice, learn what you can about his business and as he comes to depend on you for comfort, slowly give him little bits of advice here and there regarding his business. Especially after you've been with him. Things like business need a woman's touch sometimes, though the fools we married will never admit it," Target ten sniffs disdainful as she glances at her husband again.

"You're such a lovely girl, don't let him squirt a baby into you too soon, they ruin the figure," a blonde woman who looks a bit like an older Ino advises.

"Oh um..." Hina touches her lower stomach and glances down uncertainly. She and Hyena did agree she'd play the pregnant wife.

"Ah, I see, didn't take him long, did it?" The blonde woman shakes her head.

"Men always think a woman needs a baby to keep her busy. As if we don't have nannies for such things," Target nine chimes in.

"Well, at least you get nine months of him spoiling you. They all do that, you see. Once that baby pops out is when your real work begins. You'll have to make sure his eyes don't stray while you're recovering. Don't hire a pretty nanny. Or a pretty servant in general. Fire any you already have, understand? A man with a mistress is a man you can't control," Chikako gives her a stern look.

"Oh, um, I didn't know I was supposed to control Kane-Sama," Hina had no fucking idea rich housewives were apparently like this. She's pretty sure this is not how a marriage is supposed to work. It's not how Yoshino's and Shikaku's works.

"What else are you supposed to do? Let him control you? No. You want him to think he's in charge, when really it's your tune he's dancing to," Target two smiles conspiratorially at her.

"It's really quite easy, shouldn't take you anytime at all to figure it out. Men are simple creatures," Target nine assures her.

Hina is pretty sure these women don't have the most unbiased view of men. She plays along though, "Um, what if he strays while I'm pregnant?"

"Pft, he won't. First pregnancy in the first year of marriage? He'll dote on you. It's once he thinks you're suitably occupied with the baby and he's bored that you'll have to keep an eye on him. Best to get him wrapped around your finger now, it's much harder once a mistress enters the picture," Chikako warns, "I think it's been long enough now that we can drink a bit, wouldn't you say, ladies?"

There's a murmur of agreement and Hina jumps on the chance, it's polite for the younger people to be helpful, after all, "Oh, I'll go get the drinks."

"Such a sweet girl, don't let any of the men try to get handsy with you, some of them don't respect a married woman if she's not trailing behind her husband," The blonde advises as Hina goes to find the sake.

She's relieved to get away, they seem nice, but the wives terrify her a bit. She wasn't aware the business world was apparently run from the shadows by woman in silk and diamonds who plot with each other at fancy parties. It's news to her and she's not sure what to do with this information.

She finds the overly fancy sake glasses, already filled with sake and grabs a tray, she's no servant, but they're all busy waiting on the men, so she counts out enough glasses for all the women and dumps each vial of poison except for two of her lethal dosages in them, she still has two targets after the women to deal with.

She memorizes which three cups have the fatal doses In them as she walks back to the housewives, a sweet smile plastered on her face. She accepts the thanks each wife gives her and watches intently who takes which cup. Target nine takes a lethal cup, so does Target two. Target ten takes one that probably won't kill her, provided she has good health or a good doctor. The blonde takes the third lethal one and Hina swallows her regret for that down. She can't do much about that without blowing her cover. Hopefully Kane is having less issues with his targets.

Target nine looks down at her cup oddly, "What an odd taste, almost herbal, I wonder which sake the servants brought out."

Hina doesn't react to the observation beyond an apologetic smile, "I'm not sure, I don't know much about sake."

"I'd have you try some, but we can't have you drinking until that little one comes out. Shame, it's not bad," the blonde drinks more of her glass and Hina has to look away. Collateral was expected, it doesn't make it easier to allow though. She can feel eyes on her as she watches the women, and steals a glance towards Kane. He's watching her even as he speaks to target five. Even the brown contacts don't hide the intensity of his gaze and she wishes she knew what that intensity was for.

"Suzuki-Sama is watching you, Hina-San, how lovely. You were arranged to marry him, weren't you?" Target ten inquires.

"Yes, I was quite lucky," Hina focuses on the older woman and smiles.

"Well, he hasn't so much as glanced at that pretty servant girl so far. You may have him wrapped around your finger already, good girl," The woman praises her like a dog that's done a trick.

"Oh, thank you, he was so excited when I told him about the baby, it's why he brought me here, as a present," Hina smiles and ducks her head.

"How sweet, most arranged marriages don't start so well, you two are some of the lucky ones then," The blonde looks a bit green even as she smiles indulgently.

"I think I've been very blessed so far, if you don't mind, I think I'm going to go find the bathroom, excuse me," Hina needs to find her last two targets, then figure out how to dispatch target ten.

Her eyes track each man as she walks, four and eight are her last targets. A man in his sixties and a man in his early thirties. Neither are memorable, but four has a beard, not a well kept one either, and eight has freckles. It's not hard to spot four after a moment. A half empty sake glass sits beside his hand where he's reclining in a chair and talking politics with a man that's not on her list. She palms a vial and discreetly dumps it in as she walks by the glass. One more then she needs to figure out what to do about Ten.

She slips into the bathroom and takes a moment to breath as she stands in the most ostentatious bathroom she's ever seen. It looks like a fucking palace bathroom to her, like it costs more than her house. She can't imagine the insane amount of money someone must have to be willing to build a bathroom that looks like this. And it smells like fucking roses, what bathroom smells like roses? She feels like she's in an alternate universe just standing in here.

She takes a look at herself in the mirror, bares her teeth and grimaces at how strange having dull, useless teeth looks on her. How anyone feels fine with teeth like these is beyond her. It feels like her last line of defense has been stripped from her. They're a deterrent. One she's always had. A way to discourage people from getting too close or pushing her too far, a reminder to those that don't heed the initial warning that her bite is far, far worse than her bark. Having them hidden away makes her feel like a cat that's been declawed. Like a dog that's been muzzled. She can't wait to do away with the prosthetic teeth.

She fixes one of the senbon in her hair and slips back outside, she has a new plan to deal with Ten and she's not sure she likes it. Blood reversal is supposed to be a fast, quick death. But too little chakra used could cause a stroke. Could cause a heart attack. Make it weak enough and it might not kill right away. A minor stroke combined with the poison would likely be enough to see the target dead.

Hina holds the last vial tightly in her grip, hidden safely in the flowing sleeve of her kimono. Eight is speaking to Kane. That's the excuse she needs to get close to the man. His sake is held low at his side and she slips the poison in as stealthily as she can as she smiles at Kane, "Kane-Sama, I hope your evening has been enjoyable. Thank you so much for bringing me."

Kane smiles indulgently, "Ah, there's my little wife, I hope you've made friends with the other women," to Eight he explains, "She was so worried she wouldn't make friends. She's shy, you see, hardly speaks at all."

"Sounds like a perfect wife. Mine could talk until she's driven a monk to murder," Eight laughs and speaks to Kane as if Hina is just a decoration. She sees why the other women are the way they are. She'd be plotting too if she was treated this way all the time.

"More the pity to you, my friend," Kane raises a sake glass in mock salute and looks down at her, "Why don't you go talk to the other women some more, we're talking business and I know that goes over your head."

Hina blinks and nods, "Of course."

He's very lucky they're just acting. She'd have cut his balls off for that comment any other time. Still, she's impressed, he knows how to act better than anyone she knows, Ino excluded.

She hides her hands in the sleeves of the kimono and flicks through the handseals for blood reversal as she approaches the women, most don't look well. The poison is definitely beginning to work. She channels as little chakra as she can possibly manage into her fingers and pushes it out hard and fast as they brush Ten's wrist. Not a major vein, but hopefully a stroke will occur. Or a minor heart attack. Anything to increase the chances of the poison becoming fatal.

"Oh! Hina-san, you're back, I saw you husband dismiss you, why?" Blonde manages even as she raises a hand to her mouth. The poison is definitely working now.

"He said they're talking business and that I wouldn't understand," she answers honestly, trying to look disappointed as she watches Ten out of the corner of her eye. Ten's mouth looks like it's drooping on one side. She guesses the jutsu caused a stroke.

"Foolish boy, listen, tonight, after the party— I know this sounds vulgar, certainly not ladylike, but it works— when you return to your rooms, he'll be feeling quite loose from the sake, all you have to do to make him pay attention and listen to you, is to get on your knees and— Arisu-San, are you alright?" One of the other women, who looks positively green and that isn't a target, looks at the older woman in concern.

"I don't— I don't— feel— can't feel arm," Target ten is slurring badly and only half her face is moving. Hina is torn between mild curiosity and distant horror. This is why she prefers quick and clean kills.

The woman collapses at the same time the vomiting starts. Fuck. Hina has no idea how to cleanly exit this mess. So she slips away from the chaos to fine Kane who's throwing up into a potted plant that looks like a tree of some sort.

"Kane-Sama, I thought you said you weren't going to drink so much tonight," Hina keeps her hands tucked in her sleeves as she watches him with false concern.

"I know, I know. Don't worry, I didn't drink more than two glasses. Not like the others," Kane stands and wipes his mouth, winking at her as they take in the chaos. Half the people are vomiting, Target Ten is stroking out, there's crying and shouting and general disorder. They've effectively ruined the party. How lovely.

"I don't feel well, I think all the activity is upsetting the baby. Can we please go back to the inn now, husband?" No one is paying them any attention, this is the best time to go.

"Of course, I think I need to lie down for awhile," He agreed immediately and leads her out as smoothly and unnoticeably as possible.

The pair walks quietly away, ducking down side streets and avoiding any crowds. Best no one sees them leaving the doomed party. As soon as them make it into their room, she's popping out the fake teeth and Yuma is Yuma again instead of Kane or Hyena and is frantically brushing his teeth to get rid of the taste of vomit.

She takes her earring out as she sits on the bed and watches him calmly. When he's done he turns and gives her a look, "A stroke, really?"

"She didn't drink the right dose. I had to improvise. I was hoping for a heart attack really, but things happen," She shrugs unrepentantly and starts taking her hair down as well. She may keep her hair in a ponytail most of the time, but the ornate updo she had it in was giving her a headache.

"So a stroke was your solution?" Yuma sounds more amused than annoyed as he takes the colored contacts out.

"She was an older woman, it's not out of the realm of possibility. It was just bad luck everyone got a bad batch of sake at the same time. Stranger things have happened," Katsumi puts the earrings and hairpiece away and brushes the tangles out of her hair. They have to stick around another day or two to confirm the targets are dead, no need to rush to leave yet.

Yuma walks over to her and leans down, hands on either side of her thighs, "I think my little wife had a bit too much fun tonight."

Katsumi bares her teeth and clicks them together to relish in the proper noise they make now, "I think my doting husband didn't pay me enough attention."

He drops his head until his mouth hovers over hers, "Well, if it's attention you wanted, all you had to do was ask for it, no need to give old women strokes."

Katsumi shifts a little and leans back, Yuma adjusts to follow the movement, the gap between their mouths never widening. She decides she likes the way this is going. She likes that he's coming to her and not the other way around this time. Likes that it's not just her looking to feel better this time. Her eyes bounce between his, "It worked, didn't it?"

He laughs a little and his breath tickles the sensitive skin of her mouth, "You're something else, Foxy," He pulls back and she makes a disappointed noise that makes him smirk, "I'm going to run a bath, you can join me if you'd like."

Katsumi finds she'd really, really like that. Best mission ever, even with all the vomiting at the party. That was just a small price to pay for the rest of it. Whatever he did to land this mission, she hopes it works a second time, because she could get used to this.

Chapter 92

Chapter Text

Katsumi leans languidly back against Yuma's broad chest in the warm water. Her eyes are shut as she relaxes against him, he's used his own legs to keep hers spread as wide as they can in the bathtub. He's been lazily teasing her the entire time. His mouth works up and down her neck and shoulder as one hand works slow circles on her nipples and the other touches her between her legs, everywhere except the exact spot she wants him to. He's teasing her and nothing she says or does is getting him to stop.

She can feel his hardness pressing against her and whenever she rolls her hips back against it to try and get him to give her more, he laughs against her neck and takes his hands away altogether. She's got one hand behind her and holding onto his hair and the other holding onto the arm between her legs, she tries again to direct that hand where she wants it most and he pulls away again.

"Yuma..." she rocks back against him and nearly whines her frustration.

"Shh... I'll take care of you, just be patient," Yuma murmurs against her neck.

His hand returns to its place and she sighs happily as he resumes his ministrations. He's been keeping her on the edge for far longer than she's used to, and it's slowly driving her mad. She thinks that's his goal as her body starts to tense again and pleasure coils right in her stomach. Then he lets up again and she kicks a leg weakly against the side of the tub in protest. He switches hands and Katsumi arches back against him as his fingers finally, finally go to the bundle of nerves between her legs and rubs small, slow circles on it.

Even now that he's touching her where she wants him to, he's still teasing. Using barely there touches whenever she gets close until she's come back down before increasing pressure again. Katsumi wants to shriek her frustration as he keeps it up. She rolls her hips back against him forcefully this time and digs her nails into his arm lightly.

Finally, he takes pity on her and increases everything he's doing. Doesn't let up until she's shuddering and his name is echoing against the bathroom walls and her eyes are rolled back in her head. Keeps it up until she's trying to pull his hand away because it's too much. His hands fall to her hips and he lifts them up enough to slide into her. Katsumi makes a noise of pleasure at the intrusion as he rocks up into her, slow and easy like they have all the time in the world.

Katsumi rolls her hips to match his rhythm. Experimentally tightens around him as he pulls back and is rewarded by a low groan against her throat and his hands tightening their grip on her hips. He rocks harder back into her and water is going over the side of the tub and Katsumi very much doesn't want this to end. One of his hands lets her hips go and moves back to between her legs, making quick, tiny circling on her clit in alternating directions until she's gasping his name and arching against him.

She feels him fuck into her harder, chasing his own pleasure now that she's gotten hers twice. Still, his fingers keep working on her until her legs are twitching and jerking and her core muscles are cramping from how tense she's become. Katsumi chants his name like a prayer and she's vaguely aware she's asking— pleading— for more. She's even more vaguely aware he's speaking rough and low into her ear and while she's too far gone to register what he's saying, she very much registers how much she likes the way he's saying it.

She reaches her peak the third time and she feels his hips stutter as he follows her over the edge. She can hear his gasps of breath and feels his whole body tense against her as he comes. Her body is still rhythmically tightening around him, entirely against her will, in aftershocks and she can feel his heartbeat racing against her back and few his dick twitch inside of her occasionally.

They rest like that for awhile and Katsumi is very close to falling asleep like that. Eventually, Yuma pulls out of her and gently helps her sit forward so he can get out of the tub, she makes a noise of complaint at the loss of contact and opens one eye to watch him pick up a few towels and come back.

"Come on, Foxy, bed time," Yuma murmurs and lifts her out of the tub like she weighs nothing. He runs a towel over her body, her breasts, her stomach, between her legs as she dries her hair with one of the other towels he'd brought over. Katsumi's legs feel a bit like jelly and She's extremely grateful when Yuma seems to decide she's not in condition to be walking and lifts her up into his arms to carry her back to the bedroom. Katsumi stretches catlike in the bed as he collapses on the other side, pulling her close to him once he's gotten comfortable. She's asleep almost immediately with his body heat surrounding her.

Even still, this is a mission and the next morning it's back to work. They need to confirm the targets are gone. He's supposed to be suffering from food poisoning food too, So Katsumi henges into Hina and goes information hunting. She buys a few flowers that supposedly mean get well soon, and goes to give her well wishes to the targets.

It goes... awkwardly, to say the least. None of the partygoers are in much condition for visitors. Most are still trying to sleep off the poisoning or dry heaving into pots. Still, she has every target, but eight, confirmed dead. Apparently, he didn't finish his sake. Which means she has a job to finish tonight. At least there's minimum security. They'll be done before midnight if they play this right. Then it's a straight shot home.

She returns to the inn room to report the situation to Yuma. He's sharpening shuuriken on the floor when she comes in and from the way he grins when she tells him about Target Eight, he's more Hyena than Yuma right now.

"I'll take care of Eight, Foxy. You get ready to go, yeah? Don't wanna keep Beetle waiting," There's a manic edge to his tone and she figures he's going to have a bit more fun than she would with putting the target out of his misery.

"Right, Let's try to be gone by midnight, no unnecessary delays," Katsumi sets to work packing her things. While Hyena is busy with the Target, she'll be erasing any evidence they were ever in the room. Her job will be to make it look like there weren't shinobi here. A hassle, but just as necessary as anything else.

Hyena has his things packed and ready to go and he's back in his ANBU uniform, painted mask grinning coldly at her as he slips out through the window an hour after sunset. Fox works quickly. She disables every trap and puts the materials away. She cleans the room, looking for anything that could tip someone off to the fact they weren't just tourists. Checks and double checks her packs and storage scrolls for anything she missed and tries to make it look like a room that two newlyweds spent the week in. Satsified she's cleared the room sufficiently, Fox slips outside, closing the window on her way out and goes to the rendezvous spot they selected at the north end of the village, crouching on the branches of an oak tree that had old marks on the lower branches from when it was used as a hanging tree for criminals.

It doesn't take long, two hours of waiting maybe, before Hyena appears, black eye holes of the mask staring up at her. He signs silently, Target neutralized Fallback. Fox needs no other instructions. They turn their eyes towards home and move like all of hell is on their heels. Easy mission is over and now they need to get back to the safety of the village. Things have the highest chance of going wrong during missions and returning from missions. Everyone knows that and it adds a certain level of paranoia to any shinobi that's been in the ranks longer than a year or two. It's just the way it is. Fox has been luckier than most, it's mainly outside of the mask that return trips have gone wrong for her.

She's not lucky this time. Two days of travel, and they're intercepted by what looks like a group of shinobi, none of them have hitai-ate though, so Fox has no idea where they're from or if they're nukenin. She doesn't like not knowing things like that. She also doesn't like delays.

"And we were having such a nice time, Hyena," Fox murmurs as she eyes the four shinobi blocking their way.

"Real shame," Hyena starts to laugh low and menacing and Fox knows none of the idiots will be walking away from this.

Fox smiles grimly behind her mask and summons the pack. It's been awhile since she's given them a good hunt, and one has just fallen right into her lap. The smell of ozone fills the air as Hyena primes his own jutsu. It's a brutal fight. The shinobi were good. Taishiro ends up with a limp and Chinami has long gashes Running down her side while one of Naoki's ears has been sliced vertically down the center. Fox's arm has burns and she's bleeding sluggishly from a wound on her thigh that missed her femoral artery by an inch. Hyena isn't much better, his ribs are bruised at best, and he's pulling shuriken out of his side. Without the ANBU armor he would have been in much more trouble from where they landed. The scent of Ozone and blood and death fills the air as they place the bodies in body scrolls for the coroners to examine. Maybe they'll figure out who the fuck these people were.

They pause for the night, there in that clearing turned battleground to tend to their injuries. Neither speaking as they clean and wrap each other's injuries. Fox works quietly in Chinami, doing her best to slow the bleeding and disinfect the wounds. She'll need to go see the Inuzuka vets. So will Taishiro for his back leg, she thinks one of the bones has broken and sets it carefully. There's not much she and do for Naoki's ear and she suspects it will always be split like that now, maybe Inuzuka Hana will be able to fix it. She's no medic but she's learned over the years how to field dress injuries. A necessity for every shinobi without the benefit of accelerated healing to save them. She thinks Rat will be pleased to see the improvements in her technique at least. The woman is always bitching about how bad her field dressing looks.

It takes them an extra day to make it back to the village with their injuries, especially with Fox's leg wound. She sends the ninken to the Inuzuka immediately with more than enough ryo to cover the expenses. Rat mutters under her breath as she repairs the injuries. Something about how they are either the luckiest fuckers or the unluckiest.

Mouse, the recruit Rat has made her replacement, helps where Rat allows. Mouse is quieter and less abrasive than Rat is, but Fox can appreciate the quiet firmness the medic speaks with. Mouse may be less obviously unyielding, but Fox can see why Rat picked him. An ANBU medic can't be a wilting flower, ANBU are the worst patients, generally speaking, and one of their medics has to be able to command respect from them if they want an easy time healing them. Restraints are nearly impossible to put on an ANBU that's not unconscious. Having the right temperament is required for ANBU medics. Unless they want to get thrown into a wall by their paranoid, keyed up patients.

They're released from Rat's tender mercy a few hours later and they have to report to Beetle and give him the body scrolls immediately. They leave out the bit about fucking in the bathroom of their room at the inn, but she gets the feeling Beetle probably guesses that happened. He's weirdly good at guessing things like that. It's why he's always the one to put a stop to their antics in ANBU when he's around. It's a strange superpower of his and she thinks it must be why no one else bothers to try and stop the chaos when they cause it. Best to leave it to short tempered, cold, strict Beetle.

They shower in the communal bathroom and Fox pokes at her new scar on her leg. It's the exact width of a kunai at its widest point and it had hurt like a bitch to deal with. Apparently, she was lucky; it nearly fucked up a nerve in her leg. Even the best Medics, save Tsunade, struggle to fix a severed nerve. At best, she would have been set back a year as she recovered; at worst, her career as a shinobi would have been over.

At least, they made it back in one piece. A few new scars are hardly worth thinking about. They're just a fact of life. Better a few scars than a body scroll, after all.

Chapter 93

Chapter Text

Her house gets invaded a week later. That's the best way to describe it really. She was cleaning weapons and her house is now invaded, Under siege, infiltrated, whatever word a person would use. Kiba again, always fucking Kiba. At least he brought sake again, she doesn't need what's left of her sake cabinet being emptied.

Her ninken are all recuperating still from the fight on the last mission. Naoki is near perfectly fine except for the way his ear has a split down it, so he's already playing with Akamaru. Taishiro is napping on her bed, his leg in a cast as the bones heal, he's been bitching about it since he got it. Chinami is extremely proud of the battle scars on her side, even as she complains about how itchy they are as they finish healing.

Katsumi's eye twitches a little as Kiba stands on her dining table, toasting Sakura who made jounin in the two weeks Katsumi was away from the village and Lee who's officially a tokubetsu jounin specializing in Taijutsu. Everyone is here, with two conspicuous exceptions: Shikamaru and Naruto. So Shikamaru is avoiding her and Naruto is still pissed. Sai is there though, sitting calmly on her couch as Ino talks to him about a long term mission she's going to be taking soon.

Katsumi takes in the sight of nearly everyone she graduated the academy with drinking and laughing and lounging in her house and smiles a little. It'll be a mess to clean in the morning, but this feels good, having them all here. Yuma is coming over soon though, so she supposes he'll be meeting the rest of her people tonight. That should be fun. Him and Kiba can rough house outside. As long as Yuma doesn't decide to swap Lee's water with sake she can't see an issue.

Katsumi grabs one of her own bottles of sake out of her cabinet and raises it in response when Tenten, who's very much crawled into Neji's lap, raises her in greeting, "Katsumi! Hope you don't mind, Kiba said you said coming over was fine!"

She definitely missed that conversation. Kiba is lucky she likes him, "Of course, don't get bodily fluids on my furniture!"

She cackles at the way Neji's face turns as red as Hinata's normally does and the mortified look on Tenten's face. Tenten is so fun to mess with. She gives as good as she gets, but still gets embarrassed so easily. Still, Tenten manages to holler back, "As if you haven't!"

Katsumi rolls her eyes, as far as her friends know she's been celibate since she and Shikamaru broke up. They don't even know about the break up sex, Tenten is just throwing Kunai blind and hoping one lands. She plays along and flashes her teeth at the girl, "Careful where you sit then, if you're so sure."

That gets a choked laugh from Kiba who's climbed down from her table, "You haven't, I can't smell anything."

"Maybe I'm good at cleaning," Katsumi shrugs and takes a sip of sake. She does clean a lot these days. Stress induced probably. Or just the inherent compulsiveness most shinobi develop. Cleaner the house, easier it is to tell if someone's been in it without their knowledge.

"No one is that good, where you been? I haven't seen you in forever," Kiba sniffs her as he gets within range. From anyone else that would be rude, but Inuzuka's do it out of habit. Their sense of smell is stronger than anyone's in the village, it's their way of checking someone over, it tells them of any changes in the person's life. Apparently, Tsume's is strong enough to pick up on the smells that signify changes in emotional states. Katsumi doesn't know how true that is. Fear and arousal are the only ones Katsumi can think of that do give off a scent.

"Been around, missions have been keeping me busy," Katsumi offers.

"Yeah? That why you smell like you've got a puppy clinging to you?" Kiba's eyes glitter in amusement, "Thought puppies freak you out."

"One pup. She wants to learn kenjutsu and wouldn't leave me alone until I agreed," Katsumi rolls her eyes, of course he could smell Akiko on her from their training session earlier.

"Cute, didn't know you had it in you," he downs half a bottle of sake in one go.

"Didn't know I did either. When you taking the jounin exams?"

"Ah, not going to. Up for a promotion to tokubetsu in a few months. Tracking is my thing, you know? Don't care much about the rest. If I get a field promotion fine, but I'm not going to be seeking it out," He smiles lazily, sharp canines glinting.

"I get that, don't think many can match you there," Katsumi concedes. Her main specialty is tracking, but she knows compared to the Inuzuka clan, she's about average. It's why most of her missions aren't primarily tracking oriented. The ones that are, she supplements her nose with her ninken and her sense of hearing. She can do it, and do it well, but she's nothing compared to those who were practically bred to track.

"My thoughts exactly. Why mess with a good thing? Me and Akamaru know what we're good at," Kiba glances fondly over at his massive ninken as he and Naoki run circles around each other in the yard.

Shino approaches, a small glass of sake instead of a bottle, in his hand, "Ishihara-san, Kiba said you needed us to help you relax, why? Because Uchiha has been returned and you will be required to attend his trial."

"Uh, yeah, I will be. Thank you for coming," she smiles at Shino and doesn't react to the bug that crawls down his hand and back up into his sleeve.

"You are welcome. Someone needs to keep Kiba from breaking your furniture. Why? Because that would be expensive to replace and rude to allow as your guests." She's pretty sure Shino is making a joke. Maybe. It's hard for her to tell.

"Oi, bug boy! I'm not going to break her stuff," Kiba retorts. Katsumi slips quietly away as the two devolve into what she thinks is a friendly disagreement.

Choji is making some kind of food in her kitchen that smells divine and she smiles happily at the boy, "Hey Choji, whatcha making?"

Choji returns her smile, "Hi Katsu, I'm just making udon with pulled pork. Should be ready in a little bit."

"It smells really good, how have you been?"

"Pretty good, Kurenai had her baby a few months ago, her and Asuma named Shikamaru the godfather. She's a cute kid. Cries a lot though."

"That's awesome. I'm sure having a kid around is fun," Katsumi's not sure how fun a crying baby is, but she knows babies are cute in general.

"Yeah, pretty fun. Hey, um, you should know, Shikamaru feels like shit for using his shadow possession on you," Choji sounds like he's mildly worried he's hitting a sore spot bringing it up with her.

"If he does, he'll apologize himself," Katsumi's not going to forgive and forget without at least a genuine apology from the boy in question.

"He wants to, thing is, until you tell his parents or Asuma-Sensei or someone it's alright, his clan has ordered him to leave you alone," Choji sounds apologetic.

"What? Why?" Katsumi's not very involved in clan politics and isn't sure how that works.

"So it works like this, the Nara clan has really important rules about using the shadow possession jutsu on comrades. Basically it's only okay in three circumstances: training, sparring, and if the comrade in question is at risk of injuring themselves or someone else. Anything else is a huge no-go. He fucked up and used it on you, someone who was considered a ward of the clan for like three? Four years? If you wanted, you could demand reparations for it, since it's a huge slight against you. Especially since Shikaku has been working to push paperwork through to see your clan instated as a clan of Konoha. Once that happens, since you have Hatake, Inuzuka, Akimichi, and Yamanaka backing, you could make life really difficult for the Nara clan if you wanted," Choji squints down at the food as he explains.

"The Yamanaka and Akimichi have been Nara clan allies for decades," Katsumi points out, filing the official clan bit away for later. That's just too much to process right now.

"Yeah, but everyone knows about him breaking that rule, a really major rule, it's well within your rights to demand compensation. Even our clans wouldn't try to interfere in that," Choji says it like this is common knowledge. Katsumi wonders if he's forgotten she wasn't raised surrounded by clan politics.

Katsumi's curious though, "What kind of compensation?"

Choji glances at her in consideration, "Uh, monetary would be the most common one. You could also effectively take it to Tsunade and get him court martialed. That's if you're super, super pissed and want the village to handle it. You could also demand they choose a different clan heir. There's lots of things, it's why the clan is waiting to see what you do before allowing Shikamaru any contact."

"Um damn, alright. I don't want to do any of those things? Um, yeah, he can come near me if he's genuinely sorry and can honestly say he won't do it again," Katsumi really doesn't feel like having a political battle against Shikamaru. She's pissed but nowhere near that pissed.

Choji looks relieved at that and smiles at her, "I'll pass that on. He'll be happy to know you'll even listen to him, he really does regret it, and not just because of the possible consequences."

Katsumi nods and takes a sip of her sake. That's a lot to take in. She'd know clan politics could get weird, could get complicated, but she hadn't been aware that she'd been involved in any respect. She vaguely recalls Shikaku's muttering of more paperwork when he'd seen her scrolls full of Ishihara belongings. She guesses now she knows why. Katsumi wonders if the man was ever going to get around to mentioning having her clan officially recognized or if she was going to be the last to know about it. Knowing Shikaku, he probably figured it'd be easier to not mention it until she was really needed in the process.

She smiles and murmurs a thank you to Choji for telling her before turning and wandering off to make sure the rest of her house was still intact. Hinata is talking with Sakura near the bookshelf the pinkette had made her as a housewarming gift. Shino and Kiba are still arguing. Ino has dragged Neji into the conversation with Sai. Tenten and Lee are talking about Taijutsu. It's the calmest this group has ever been.

She can hear Yuma's heartbeat before she sees him through the window, walking up to the house, hands tucked in the pockets of his pants and eyes reflecting eerily in the light of the full moon. She hopes, truly, that he's more Yuma than Hyena tonight. Yuma doesn't cause chaos for chaos's sake. Hyena does. As much fun as that is, Lee is here and she just knows Yuma would manage to slip sake into the kid somehow if he were to feel like spicing things up. She likes her house intact, thank you very much.

She grins at his raised eyebrow as he steps inside and takes in the pack of seventeen and eighteen year olds that have taken over her house. He smiles when Chinami promptly shoved her head against his thighs and greets him politely as "Fucking Wild Dog". Since apparently he qualifies as a dog and not a puppy. Katsumi has questions about how she makes the distinction.

He scratches her behind the ears before ambling over to Katsumi, "Seems like you've got guests."

"You're mistaken. It's actually an invasion force. My house is under siege," Katsumi corrects before drinking more.

"You're trying very hard to fight back against the invaders, I see," Yuma grins slyly and swipes the sake bottle from her.

"Mm, I'm outnumbered. Not much I can do now," Katsumi sighs in mock defeat.

"Poor thing. Oh, you got an Inuzuka, I'm going to go fuck with him. Inuzuka's are the best to rile up," He winks at her and hands the bottle back after taking a mouthful.

Katsumi shoots him a warning glare, "No starting a fight in my house."

"I'll drag him outside if we get to that stage," Yuma assures her and kisses her quickly on the cheek before heading the Inuzuka's way.

Katsumi sighs as he engages with Kiba without hesitation. Trust Yuma to zero in on the most obvious target to use as an agent of chaos. She pointedly ignores Ino and Sakura's twin expressions demanding an explanation for the handsome Shinobi that's just arrived. Well, this should be fun. No way they're going to let her be until they know every detail. She promptly chugs the rest of the bottle as Sakura comes her way.

Chapter 94

Chapter Text

Sitting between Kakashi who's reading porn and Naruto who's studiously ignoring them both is awkward at the best of times. Doing it while waiting for Sasuke's trial to begin increases the awkwardness tenfold. Tsunade is sitting in a chair at the front of the room in full Hokage regalia, and she looks irritated already. Itachi is sitting a few seats away, his face a perfect mask of calm, even with the flinty look in his black eyes. She wonders if he has it in him to commit another massacre if it means keeping his baby brother from getting executed if that's the verdict. She doesn't think Sasuke's execution is on the table, but she isn't willing to bet on anything. It really depends on if they think he's worth keeping and if he's done anything unpardonable.

Katsumi doesn't look around at the rest of the room that's steadily filling with clan heads and department heads and anyone else who's been permitted to witness. She doesn't really care to know who all is here for the show. She counts out the heartbeats hidden away from sight and figures there's six ANBU on guard for the whole thing. Idly she wonders which of her comrades those are. Probably the Hokage's personal guard and two more for if anyone tries anything.

Inoichi and Ibiki come in with large stacks of files while Izumo and Kotetsu lead a chakra suppressed, restrained Sasuke out. Katsumi watches the one eyed boy with a distant sort of curiosity. He looks a bit resigned. Not remorseful, but resigned. Like he's already figured out how this is going to go and doesn't see a point fighting it. He looks tired too, the way she felt after the clan elimination mission she was sent on. Katsumi is torn between pity and anger at her former teammate.

She listens with half an ear as the proceedings begin. They start simple. Inoichi discusses Sasuke's mental state and the effects the curse mark had on it combined with the trauma of a genjutsu Itachi had put him under the night of the massacre. Katsumi's eyes slide to the older Uchiha who has the decency to look abashed at that, at least. Apparently that trauma was never properly treated since as the de facto clan head of the Uchiha clan, a seven year old kid had full right to refuse counseling. That gets unhappy muttering from the audience. Katsumi has a feeling no one considered any possible issues with the way some of the freedoms the clans had could allow for situations like this. Maybe the Nara had, but who knows.

Severe childhood trauma that stunted emotional growth, combined with an extreme obsession with his brother than manifested into a need for revenge. Then throw in the fact that the curse mark makes a person drawn to Orochimaru and practically feeds off their negative thoughts, and the result is Sasuke. The result is a thirteen year old defecting, then defecting a second time two years later. The result is obsession with power and revenge. The problem is that no one is able to say if he would have done that without the curse mark to affect his mental state. Even Sasuke can't guess at that, according to Inoichi. Katsumi listens and considers. If Sasuke's mental state was so bad that they can't reasonably say he would have defected anyway, how much can he be blamed for his defection?

Sasuke is silent as Inoichi continues to break down his assessment of the wayward Uchiha's mental state. As of now, his mental state is showing signs of improvement, though there's no saying how long it will take to fully repair the damage caused by so much trauma combined with a seal that actively twisted a person's mind. Confusion and depression and uncertainty of what to do are combined with sudden flashes of extreme anger, followed by a withdrawal into himself. By all rights, he's not within acceptable range as a shinobi, Inoichi calmly announces the Uchiha is more a risk to himself right now than anyone else and recommends a stint in psych again followed by regular therapy for the foreseeable future. Katsumi notices he doesn't give an opinion on whether Sasuke should ever be allowed to be a shinobi again.

Ibiki takes over from there. Discussing the information they pulled from him about where he's been and what he's been doing since his escape. Kabuto had gotten him out of psych. Had helped him go to Orochimaru. Where Sasuke has trained everyday almost sixteen hours a day. Katsumi is quietly impressed by that level of dedication. She's also impressed at Orochimaru's foolishness. To train your own executioner. How bitter a pill that must have been for the man when Sasuke ended him. Sasuke looks almost proud for a moment when that very topic is brought up. Katsumi doesn't begrudge him that, she'd be proud too if she'd killed the snake Sannin.

That he went and made himself a little team afterwards is interesting. Apparently even with Orochimaru dead, the curse mark kept him less than sane. Combined with the fact Orochimaru had effectively kept him blind to the rumors coming out of Konoha about Itachi and Danzo and the massacre, Sasuke had spent months dicking around with his team and trying to figure out just what the fuck was going on and what to do. They'd taken missions and contracts here and there. Had kept to the shadows as best they could. Katsumi almost feels bad for the kid, it was probably an extreme mindfuck catching up with everything that had been going on. By the end of it, Ibiki's assessment is that while Sasuke defected and ran off to Orochimaru he didn't actually do anything that could reasonably be considered as working against Konoha. He recommends permanent chakra suppression seals and house arrest for life.

Katsumi can hear the murmuring start up again. Knows the fact no one is actively calling for his head on a silver platter is a good sign so far. Katsumi glances at Kakashi to try and gauge his reaction, but he's got his emotions locked down tighter than when he's Dog. Naruto is vibrating beside her and even when he's pissed at her, she can still tell when he's trying his best to stay calm.

Itachi gets called forward and asked to explain in detail just what he did to Sasuke. Apparently, making him relive his family's deaths repeated at age seven was an efficient way to screw a kid up royally. Inoichi looks like he has half a mind to hit the elder Uchiha over the head as he continues to explain his reasonings. The gist seems to be suicide by baby brother. Katsumi's pretty sure that's a new one. Inoichi looks even more annoyed by that. Which is fair, the man doesn't like people actively screwing up the mental health of Konoha inhabitants. It tends to make his job more complicated.

Itachi gets to go sit back down, and Kakashi is called up. As the jounin Sensei of Team seven, he'd been responsible for monitoring their physical and mental wellbeing and reporting any issues he'd noticed. The problem with that is Kakashi is so messed up himself, Katsumi's not sure if it was possible for the man at the time to recognize what is or isn't normal for a thirteen year old's mental state. Apparently, he did have some awareness. He'd marked Sasuke as a flight risk at the bare minimum. Hadn't recommended a psych evaluation though. Which, if she's honest, doesn't really shock her. Kakashi is pretty bad at people things. The fact he thought teaching the kid the Chidori after the Chuunin exams ended would help him feel better about his progress really demonstrates just how bad Kakashi can be about reading social situations at times. Kakashi seems to have realized his mistakes there because he looks a bit sheepish as he explains that. Sage, her Sensei is socially stunted. Someone should fix that. Katsumi would, but she's pretty bad at people too.

They called everyone that was on the first retrieval team up to speak. To discuss the mission and it's events for the second time in their lives. Shikamaru goes first, explaining finding Katsumi out cold on the bench and everything that happened from there. He glances at her once when he gets to the part about her getting impaled by the arrow, before looking away again. By the end of it, he's asked his opinion on if Sasuke was worth the efforts it took to retrieve him. His answer is a resounding no.

Sakura gets called up next. Discusses her role in the mission. Talks about how Sasuke had seemed when she and Naruto cornered him near the valley of the end. Angry and volatile and drunk on the new power of his curse mark. How he'd been using lethal attacks and how he'd seemed entirely willing to kill them to get his way. She too says he wasn't worth the effort to retrieve alive.

Katsumi is called forward next as the only other Chuunin that was one the mission. She sits facing the audience and her eyes can't stop moving from face to face as she answers questions and explains what happened. No, she didn't know he was going to defect. It was a coincidence she intercepted him. No, she didn't mean to take his eye, it was a reflex. Yes, she intended to bring him back alive. Yes, she had been worried for his mental health beforehand. No, she didn't tell anyone about her concerns. Why? She figured Kakashi would handle him.

Finally the golden question: was he worth the effort to retrieve? Katsumi doesn't look at Sasuke. Her eyes flick to Kakashi, to Naruto, to Shikamaru and Sakura and the faces of her friends who had gone with her to drag the Uchiha back. She remembers the injuries and the certainty they weren't coming back alive. Remembers the fear and panic as she held a coffin and played hide and seek with Oto nin intent on killing her. Remembers the way he spewed hatred at her the one time she visited him in the psych ward. She answers honestly, "I don't think I'm objective enough to answer that."

Katsumi refuses to elaborate. He was her teammate. Her friend. Her pack. Until he wasn't. She's too close to the situation to be willing to make that call. Let others more removed from it decide if he was worth it. She stands by her opinion when they first brought him back. Let him live with the consequences of his choices, whatever they are.

She doesn't care that most of the audience seems disapproving of her answer, had clearly hoped she'd condemn the boy too. Had expected it. She wants to, but still. Maybe it's nostalgia for the friend he'd once been or maybe regret for the person he could have been had the curse mark not happened, but seeing him now, clearly not well, makes her bite her tongue. The anger and resentment towards him have withered away. He's not a monster, not a villain. He's just a boy who really, in the grand scheme of her life, isn't all that important anymore. Not the way he could have been had he stayed. Not the way Naruto and Kakashi and Sai are now. It's not forgiveness, she realizes as she mulls the realization over, its just apathy. She just doesn't care anymore.

She takes her seat between Naruto and Kakashi again and calmly decreases her hearing into utter deafness for the remainder of the first day of the trial. She can read lips and she's heard these mission reports before. Had lived them. She doesn't need to hear them again. Katsumi is content listen to utter silence for awhile as she processes the strange apathy she feels as she looks at Sasuke. It's odd, to look at someone who'd been a friend, then a traitor, then a target, and only see a stranger. She wonders if she and the remainder of team seven look like strangers to him now too.

Chapter 95

Chapter Text

Katsumi summons her ninken the night after Sasuke's trial begins. She needs the ninken pile. It would be ideal if Kakashi were here to summon his pack too, but she's pretty sure he's handling something as Dog. So she puts her favorite sweatshirt and shorts on and summons the pack. Chinami almost immediately appoints herself as Katsumi's pillow, while Naoki and Taishiro press up against her sides, heads resting on her shoulders as she scratches their chests absentmindedly.

"Naruto won't speak to me and I don't think I care what happens to Sasuke," Katsumi breaks the silence as she informs the ninken of what pretty much amounts to a break down of the pack.

Chinami snorts, "Shitty Fuckface pup doesn't matter. Left fucking pack first. Not Katsumi's problem."

Taishiro questions, "Yellow puppy mad?"

"Yes." Katsumi looks up at her ceiling and idly considers if she could convince Sai to paint it like the night sky.

"Why?"

"Killed someone he didn't want me to kill then lied about it," Katsumi explains.

Taishiro raises his head from her shoulder to look at her, "Why kill and why lie?"

"She worked for the man that killed my sire. I lied because Hunting alpha said so," Katsumi answers.

"So Katsumi killed threat to pack?" Taishiro cocks his head.

"A possible threat."

"Why Yellow puppy mad? Threats to pack bad." Taishiro sounds like he can't understand the problem.

"I lied, for one, and he was related to her, distantly," She thinks that's part of why he didn't want the girl to die.

"Yellow pup's littermate?" Chinami questions.

"No. Not littermates," Katsumi forgets sometimes that the ninken don't really get the concept of cousins. To them, there's sires, dams, littermates, and mates. Beyond that there's just pack and pack positions. Aunts, uncles, cousins, those aren't terms the ninken really use. Pakkun seems to be the only ninken that understands things like that.

"Yellow pup's pack?" Taishiro tries.

"Not really? Kinda? Like if things had been different they would have been pack, probably," Katsumi doesn't know how to explain they were clan but the clan is scattered to the winds at best.

"Oh. Not pack then. Shit simple. Things aren't fucking different so they aren't fucking pack," Chinami sounds pleased with herself.

"He's still angry over that and that I lied." Katsumi counters.

"Yellow pup get over not-pack death. No reason for hurts. Shouldn't lie, not healthy for pack." Taishiro admonishes her as gently as a ninken is capable of.

"I know. I told him the truth after the hunt," Katsumi knows it was wrong.

"Katsumi say sorry?" Chinami asks.

"Yes."

"Yellow pup heal or doesn't heal. Stay or doesn't stay. Can't make pack be pack. Pack chooses pack," Taishiro says, "Katsumi lied to pack. Now pack must make choice. Katsumi keep living even if not choice Katsumi likes."

"Baby alpha still pack?" Chinami questions.

"We haven't spoken in a while. I'm not sure," Katsumi has no idea where she and Shikamaru stand.

"Lazy baby alpha leave pack?" Taishiro sounds like if it weren't for his healing leg, he'd go hunt the Nara down immediately.

"I don't think so. He's in trouble with Shikaku and his clan though, for breaking a rule. He has to apologize at some point to me." She thinks that's what's going on now that she told Choji that Shikamaru can talk to her.

"So Katsumi choose if Baby alpha stay pack," Taishiro declares in what she'd almost call a pompous tone.

"Having Hunting alpha still too, yes?" Chinami checks.

"Yes."

"And pink puppy? And Blonde puppy?" Taishiro adds.

"Of course?"

"And Foster Sire and Dam?" Chinami questions, using their terms for Shikaku and Yoshino.

"Yes. Of course."

"Cave puppy?" Taishiro continues.

"Obviously."

"And Wild dog is new mate?" Taishiro sniffs her cheek.

"Wild dog? Yuma? We aren't mates?" Katsumi dreads having to try and explain causal sex to the ninken.

"Smell like it. Hunt together and breed. Mates," Taishiro says it slowly. Like she doesn't understand.

"That doesn't make us mates. Humans aren't always mates with who we have sex with," Katsumi tells them.

Chinami makes a noise that if she were a person would be considered a scoff, "Hunt with Fucking Wild Dog, Play with fucking Wild Dog, breed with fucking Wild Dog. Fucking Wild Dog fucking Mate."

"He is not," Katsumi corrects, "Shikamaru was mate. Now he's not. Yuma has never been mate."

"Smells like mate. Acts like mate," Taishiro presses. Katsumi has no idea how to explain what casual sex is to a species who only has sex to make more dogs.

"He's not mate, though," Katsumi feels like she's speaking to a brick wall. At least Naoki has been content to just listen so far. He's learned two new words finally: Wrong and Right. Which she thinks were just so he can expand on the ways he says yes and no when he wants to argue. She's pretty sure Yuma sold him on learning those. The Sage knows she's never been able to convince him to expand his vocabulary.

She spoke too soon, Naoki pipes up with a single word, "Wrong."

"He's not mate. Why is he dog, but everyone else puppy?" Other thank Kakashi, Yoshino, and Shikaku, her ninken call everyone she knows either a puppy or in Shikamaru's case a baby alpha.

"Not smell like growing anymore. No more pup smell. Need new names for packmates soon, less growing smell now. Almost gone," Taishiro clarifies.

"Growing smell. You mean my friends are done growing?" Katsumi clarifies.

"Fuck yes. Katsumi done too. No more fucking growing smell. No more Pup hiding," Chinami crows.

"Pup hiding?"

"No more needing pack to keep hidden," Taishiro clarifies, "Katsumi Alpha bitch now."

Katsumi tilts her head and calculates the date. Has to take a moment to figure out her own age. For shinobi, with the way time is divided between missions and the village, it's easy to lose track of age if they don't actively work to remember. Duty doesn't care about birthdays, after all. She was born in late July. She thinks hard, July twenty-eighth. She's three months shy of her eighteenth birthday. She's firmly in the middle of her age group. Strange for her to realize she's forgotten things like that over time. Keeping only a vague memory of her age. Just one more thing being a shinobi causes one to cast aside, she supposes.

"I suppose that makes sense," she concedes.

"Don't act like puppy either. Most of Katsumi pack still act like puppies. Baby Alpha sleeps like puppy. Yellow puppy plays, not fight. Cave puppy confused," Taishiro offers in way of explanation.

"So you have to be done growing and act a certain way to not be a puppy?" Katsumi didn't know they had multiple criteria.

"Can't act like puppy and be Dog. Can't smell like puppy and be Dog," Taishiro confirms sagely.

"Can't be fucking Alpha if puppy," Chinami chimes in.

"What's the difference between a dog and Alpha?" Katsumi knows an alpha is a leader, but she wants to hear their actual definition.

"Alpha has to be dog or bitch. Dog or bitch not always alpha," Taishiro happily states the obvious.

"Yes, but what makes dog or bitch alpha?" Katsumi swears she starts talking like the ninken when they have these kind of discussions.

"Alpha decides. Alpha takes care of pack. Alpha guards pack," Taishiro confirms what she already figured it meant.

"Makes sense. Naruto wants to be the Big alpha. What do you think?" Katsumi is curious, the ninken see things in black and white, sees them as they are, not how they want them to be. It makes them very good at simplifying problems. It is or it isn't. It's this or it's that. A person is a puppy or a dog. A person is an alpha or not.

"Yellow puppy plays not fights. Not dog now. Not alpha," Taishiro sounds like he's trying to be nice about it.

"But later? When he is dog, alpha maybe?" Katsumi suppresses a wince as she comes to terms with the fact she is definitely mimicking their speech patterns.

Chinami huffs, "Yellow Puppy fucking play, not fight. Fucking dog later. Need fucking more for Alpha."

"More?" Katsumi's not sure what that means. In terms of sheer ability, Naruto is more than enough, a jinchuuriki with senjutsu and fuinjutsu? He's more than enough in that regard.

"Not thinking. Feels more than thinks. Alpha needs thinking more than feelings," Taishiro takes over.

"Aren't feelings important?" Katsumi counters, though she agrees with the idea.

"Alpha needs care for pack. Means thinking, not feeling. Feeling matters less," Taishiro lays his head back down.

"Fucking long run for yellow puppy," Chinami yawns.

"He may get there," Katsumi returns for looking at her ceiling in the dark.

"Alpha need strong and thinking. Yellow puppy strong. Not thinking. Puppy nature, Dog nature," Taishiro grumbles.

Katsumi doesn't say anything to that. Just mulls that over. It's an interesting idea. That who a child is will be who they are as adults. She's not sure it's right. She knows with dogs it's not entirely inaccurate. All her ninken's adult personalities were predictable when they were puppies, even if they weren't obvious. People are different. Things aren't so black and white.

Maybe he means inherent personality traits, like the way Taishiro is the calmest of her ninken and Chinami the easiest to anger. Naruto has always been outspoken, that has never changed. And his emotions have always been stronger than others. Maybe that's what Taishiro means. But plenty of shinobi feel strongly, a result of living brutal, bloody lives and expecting to die young. Better to feel as much as they can while they're still alive to do so. They're still able to put emotions aside for the sake of the village and their comrades. Normally, her ninken simplify matters for her. She supposes things like this just can't be broken down into the black and white view they favor.

Katsumi can accept that Naruto may never forgive her. That he may choose to break from her pack. Has accepted that her pack is likely not just one, but two people short of what it could have been. Still, she hopes, regardless of if Naruto forgives her, that he can learn to put aside emotions when necessary. She still wants him to be Hokage if that's his dream.

She takes a long time to go to sleep as she thinks over the trial and Naruto and Shikamaru and Yuma. So many things. All so trivial in comparison to the Uchiha Obito issue and the Zetsu issue. Still. They seem like greater things than they are. Probably a proximity thing. She needs a day with Sakura and Ino at the onsen. Those are always good for clearing her head. Maybe after the trial is over. Katsumi figures they could all use a day like that.

Chapter 96

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The second and last day of the trial begins and it's as tension filled as the last one. Sasuke looks just as resigned, just as exhausted as the day before. Naruto is calmer today, not vibrating beside her, even if he doesn't look at her. Kakashi slouches in his chair and reads his porn like they aren't at a trial. Tsunade looks like she wishes she'd turned the hat down. Katsumi runs through breathing exercises as they wait for the trial to begin again.

It begins along the same vein as the day before. This time the second retrieval team is asked to give their mission reports again. As the team captain, Kakashi is asked to discuss it first. Talks in perfect monotone about hunting through the Land of Iron. About finding Sasuke and his companions in a stone hut by the sea. About Itachi putting the boy under yet another genjutsu and about each of them fighting one of his companions as Naruto worked on the seal. About dispatching them and the alternating of Sasuke's silence and his bickering with Naruto.

Kisame is called forward next, and the large man disinterestedly reiterates what Kakashi said. In less words and he needs more prompting, but he does it. Katsumi can sympathize, unlike the first retrieval mission, everyone was with everyone for the majority of the time. It feels almost redundant to be repeating themselves five times. Still, protocol is protocol and who are they to argue?

She's called up and she keeps her face blank and picks a spot on the far wall to stare at as she answers questions. She answers calmly, like she's discussing the weather, as she repeats what Kakashi and Kisame said. Only breaking down what happened with Uzumaki and when Suigetsu showed up because most of the team hadn't been there for those. She doesn't look at Naruto as she give the details of the Uzumaki's execution, she doesn't look at anyone. She answers the questions about Sasuke. How he'd been quiet and angry and called her a bitch and tried commanding them not to kill his team. That same protective streak he'd had when he was on team seven hadn't died entirely, she supposes. Even twisted up and turned inside out by trauma and a curse mark, Sasuke was still trying to protect what he saw as his. She doesn't say that part out loud, but she files it away for further mental examination later.

She sits back down and Itachi steps forward. Is asked to explain in detail that genjutsu he'd used on Sasuke. Katsumi raises an eyebrow as he explains it. Some kind of Uchiha clan technique that he politely, but firmly, refuses to explain the machinations of. Sasuke looks twitchy as Itachi gives what she supposes is the censored explanation. Almost like he's having to keep from making a snarky comment about the whole thing.

Naruto gets asked to speak and Katsumi isn't surprised at how much more emotional he sounds even as he manages to keep to the facts. Even as he explains the undoing of the curse mark and it's possible effects. She holds as still as Kakashi beside her does as Naruto looks angry for a brief moment as he's asked to detail the mission from his perspective. She's quietly impressed by the fact he doesn't give his opinion on the action the rest of the team aside from saying he disagreed with their methods. If they'd been younger, she knows he would have been shouting.

There's quiet murmuring as the fact Sasuke didn't fight them on the return to the village is digested. That he'd been conscious and aside from bickering with Naruto and occasionally throwing insults around, had not struggled. Had not tried to escape. She supposes that must be anticlimactic compared to the first retrieval where he'd fought tooth and nail to get away. Still, it works in his favor if he doesn't want to die. Cooperation goes a long way towards earning mercy.

Finally, they have Sasuke speak. His voice is scratchier than she remembers from retrieving him. Like he's cried or screamed a lot since then and damaged his vocal cords. Sudden bursts of rage and bouts of depression, that was what Inoichi said. Maybe his voice is proof of that now.

They demand answers to questions she's certain they already have the answers to. Just like they'd had them tell things they'd already said. It's like a performance for the audience. She's not sure she likes it. Sasuke answers slowly each time, glaring out of his one good eye whenever they make him repeat an answer. They ask if he killed any Konoha Shinobi. No. If he plotted against Konoha. Briefly. Why kill Orochimaru? Didn't feel like being a body suit, thank you. Why not come back then? I needed to know what was going on first. Why? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know.

Sasuke seems to have a small break with reality there and they quickly usher him back to his seat. Inoichi looks mildly pained at the display. After years of being personally treated by the man, she gets it. Inoichi truly hates when someone is suffering from psychological problems. He may be one of the heads of T , but he is also in charge the psych department. He likes helping people. Seeing someone who is clearly not well must bother him deeply, especially someone under his official care. The Yamanaka's are a bit of a duality that way. As happy to heal a mind as they are to break one.

There's silence that follows. It's only been a day and a half, surely this is not the extent of the trial. She tries to think of anything that hadn't been mentioned and can't. It's an unsettling thought that Sasuke's trial has taken less time than it takes Katsumi to travel to to the land of rivers. A glance at Kakashi gives nothing away. It is disconcerting to watch Tsunade's face become carefully blank as she asks one by one that each clan and department head stand up and declare what they want done with the Uchiha. Katsumi supposes it makes sense, Tsunade may have done away with the elders and has yet to replace them, and she may have final say in what's done, but she still has to consider the opinions of those below her. Not doing so is part of what sent Kiri into bloody chaos after all.

Ibiki and Inoichi have already given their opinions. The minor clans go first, they're the least notable, the ones with the least sway, but they're numerous and how they feel as a while gives a good indication of how the major and noble clans will feel. The Kurama clan is asked first, their answer is expected from an ambitious genjutsu clan that had been the reluctant vassals of the Uchiha clan before the village was formed. Death. The Shimura clan has learned and learned well they're on thin ice since Danzo's sins were brought to light, they err on the side of mercy and suggest imprisonment. The Kohaku are quick to agree with the Shimura, old allies are that way. The Hōki clan agrees with Ibiki's plan, permanent chakra suppression and life house arrest. The Sarutobi clan wants a combination of Ibiki's and Inoichi's plans.

Kakashi speaks as the sole member of his clan once the minor clans have had their say. Inoichi's plan wins out for him along with stripping him of his status of Shinobi. The Nara and Yamanaka and Akimichi favor Iniochi's plan, though the Nara and Akimichi think permanent chakra suppression is necessary. The Aburame want the same. Katsumi has a feeling Sasuke is about to have a very dull life once this is said and done. The Hyuuga offer the harshest sentence, blinding him entirely. Katsumi gets it, for a dōjutsu user, that's a fate worse than death. The Inuzuka argue against that and throw in their lot with Kakashi. Hatake and Inuzuka are very distant cousins and the old alliances hold strong. Only Itachi is barred from giving an opinion. It is his brother on trial. No one expects him to be condemn his little brother.

Katsumi's not expecting Tsunade to ask her and Naruto for their opinions. Neither of them are officially members of a Konoha clan, no matter their heritages. But she gets it, as Sasuke's former teammates, how they feel about the matter will go further in swaying the verdict than the opinions of those who don't personally know the boy.

Naruto's eyebrows are pulled together and he looks like he's at war with himself as he stands up. His mouth opens once, closes, then opens again. He looks Tsunade dead in the eyes and, in the steadiest, most self assured voice she's ever heard from him, says, "He needs help, dattebayo. Psych should help him and he should be on house arrest. For a few years at least, with community service."

Katsumi tilts her head in consideration as he sits back down. Not at merciful as she'd expected, but still, more merciful than perhaps the rest of the room hoped for. She quietly approves though. Naruto was able to offer a merciful solution that did not offer full absolution. He sounds like he'd thought it over hard before offering his suggestion.

"Ishihara?" Tsunade prompts her.

Katsumi stands and thinks. She doesn't really want to be offering her opinion. She doesn't really care what happens to Sasuke so long as he isn't a threat. Still she raises her chin and meets brown eyes steadily, "Psych treatment, combined with house arrest and community service, at minimum. Preferably with permanent chakra suppression."

She sits back down and thinks that's maybe the most merciful thing she was capable of offering. Maybe too merciful. She doesn't know if that makes her look weak or not. Doesn't know if it would have been better to call for his head or not. She doesn't really care either. She'd only given them the minimum she thinks should be done. He's not her problem anymore. At the end of the day, it's not her that has to live with handing down the verdict. And it's not her who has to live with the verdict either. Katsumi can feel eyes on her and turns her head just enough to see Itachi observing her. Well, she didn't call for his brother's head, hopefully he'll quit being strange around her after this.

Tsunade nods and laces her fingers together. Katsumi knows that means the woman is considering all the evidence, both what's in the files and what was officially discussed in the trial. All while considering the opinions of those she leads. Only the Kurama demand death. Not enough to see the Uchiha dead. Only the Hyuuga want him blinded. Noble or not, they don't have enough clans backing them for that. The majority seem to want psych treatment and house arrest and Katsumi's not optimistic enough to think its out of pity or compassion. Two young Uchiha men in the village increases the chance that one will reproduce. Which means more Uchiha which means a stronger village. Katsumi imagines they're hoping Sasuke will get his shit together with the help of the Yamanaka and eventually settle down with some civilian girl, assuming he likes girls, and make Uchiha babies. Katsumi has no idea if women are even his preference and she's not about to ask.

Finally Tsunade stands up and looks out over them, her face is stone as she speaks, "On the matter of Uchiha Sasuke, he will be stripped of his status of shinobi permanently and placed into the care of the Yamanaka clan for the foreseeable future. If he is ever declared mentally sound, we will revisit what is to be done with him. Should he attempt a third escape, he will be executed where he stands. Is there any who disagree with this?"

No ones speaks up. Not even Itachi. The majority had wanted him placed in psych care again. Whatever happens after, Katsumi supposes, rests on Sasuke. She looks him over as he's lead away. His eye is wide and he looks like he has no idea how he's not dead. She wonders if he'd just felt the ghost of a kunai narrowly missing his jugular. She hopes now that the seal is gone, the Yamanaka's are actually able to make progress with him. Katsumi thinks this is the best outcome he could possibly have been given. She hopes it's not for nothing. After all, there will be no third chance.

Notes:

Thank you Namiiare For the Lovely Fanart of Katsumi in her ANBU uniform! its wonderful!

Chapter 97

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Kakashi finds her a few hours after the trial, watching the sun set from the Hokage faces. Katsumi spins a kunai around her fingers as she watches. He crouches beside her and calmly, carefully grabs the hand that's spinning the Kunai so she has to stop.

"Maa, he's back, Katsumi-Chan, and he didn't even have to die," Kakashi's voice is light and joking.

"What's that mean for team seven?" Katsumi's been wondering. They were reformed for the purpose of getting Sasuke back and now he's back.

"Officially? It's dissolved. Sai is going to go to ANBU full time, Naruto is expressing interest in diplomacy missions according to Jiraiya, you and I will continue as we have been," Kakashi explains in his lecture tone.

"So Naruto will be leaving again?" Katsumi knows most diplomatic missions can last anywhere from a month to a year. Most take far longer than when the Kiri delegation came.

"Tsunade agreed. He'll be going to Kumo, she wants to see if an alliance is possible and she's hoping their jinchuuriki can be convinced to teach Naruto how to work with the Kyuubi," Kakashi sounds like he's already pitying Kumo for having to deal with Naruto soon.

"Does he have any understanding of politics?" Katsumi tilts her head.

"Maa, he won't be going alone. He's going with Jiraiya and one of our more experienced diplomats. They'll keep him from causing an international incident. If he wants to be Hokage, politics is something he'll have to navigate," Kakashi shrugs.

"Do you actually think he'll be Hokage one day?" Katsumi's never actually heard Kakashi's opinion on the subject.

"Maybe. We'll have to see who he is by the time Tsunade is ready to choose her successor. I think we have a few years until then, best not to worry over it now," He eye smiles at her and pats her head.

"Are you going to be Dog full time?" Katsumi thinks that would be unfortunate, she thinks as well suited to ANBU as Kakashi is, he doesn't really like it.

He laughs a little, "No need to worry there, Hunting hound. I'll be around as much as I ever am."

Katsumi understands, "Good. I'd hate to have to hunt you down. You've gotten boring to hunt these days. Old age, I'd say."

Kakashi eye smiles, "So mean, Katsumi-Chan. What have I ever done to deserve such a rude apprentice?"

"You want an itemized list?" Katsumi grins a little at him.

He stands up and nudges her with his foot until she gets up too, "I think I'll pass. Sakura-Chan is looking for you, by the way. Something about a girl's night."

"Since when do you deliver messages for Sakura?"

"Since she learned Yamato's scary face," Kakashi deadpans.

Katsumi grimaces at the thought of Sakura mastering that particular expression, "I want to take a tracking mission soon. Not assassination."

Kakashi blinks at her, "Maa, we'll look for one soon, Katsumi-Chan. For now, take some time and relax. Some time in village will do you good."

Katsumi opens her mouth to disagree automatically, before closing it again and nodding. She spends nowhere near as much time in the village as she reasonably could. Like her father. She wonders if it's just in the blood or if she learned to choose missions over home by watching her father.

She turns and walks to the long, winding stairway down to the village and calls over her shoulder to Kakashi, "You better stick around too, Hatake. Only fair, after all."

Kakashi doesn't respond and a moment later there's the quiet sound of a Shushin behind her. From that sound, she knows he's gone to do whatever it is he does when he's not around. She feels oddly good now that the trial is over. Like relaxing a muscle that's been tense for too long.

Walking through the village, she can hear the rumors about the trial spreading rapidly as the court of public opinion weighs in. Whispers of leniency and softness. Whispers that Sasuke is mad. Whispers that by letting the Uchiha live it's the same as harboring a venomous snake. Katsumi doesn't listen long. Those saying such things were not in attendance at the trial. They know only bits and pieces. Maybe it was merciful, but it was not blindly merciful.

She's less surprised than she feels she should be when she sees Sakura and Ino have disabled her traps and are already in her house. She'll have Kakashi help make new traps. Since apparently, her friends have memorized her current ones. That's a security risk, she thinks.

"Katsu! Took you long enough!" Ino yells from Katsumi's room.

She follows the noise and raises an eyebrow, "What are you doing?"

Ino and Sakura are going through her closet. Like they're hunting for diamonds in it. Katsumi's mildly intimidated by the fierce concentration on their faces. Sakura answers her, "The three of us are going out tonight. Tenten is on a mission and Hinata has a clan meeting. So it's just us. We're picking an outfit out for you."

"Where are we even going?" Katsumi can't think of anywhere to go. The bars maybe, but they don't do that often. There's no fesitival, and Kiba is on a mission so no parties.

"There's a new restaurant, we're going to go out to eat. Nice, easy, and not enough socializing to stress you out," Ino smiles happily, "We figured you'd need a quiet night out after all this mess."

Katsumi blinks slowly at that and accepts that logic. She knows she's not in the mind frame for a chaotic night with a lot of people. She'd probably devolve to snarling at everyone. Trust Ino to find a compromise, "So what kind of restaurant is it?"

"Sushi. You do like sushi right? I can never remember if you prefer sashimi or sushi," Sakura pipes up as the pair continue to dig through her closet.

"I like both," She just doesn't eat it often. It's more expensive here in Konoha, where they aren't near the coast. When she was in Kiri, it was cheap and she had it more than she's proud to admit. Zabuza had allowed it so he could make fun of her for it, she's pretty sure.

"Good, here, change into this Yukata. Casual enough but still very pretty," Ino hands her one of the bright blue Yukatas with the Ishihara symbol on the back.

"You know there's less traditional clothes we can wear?" Katsumi has plenty of those too.

"Obviously, but where's the fun in that?" Sakura rolls her eyes and gestures pointedly at her own red yukata.

Katsumi grins a little, her friends are as willful as ever, "Alright, give me a second to change."

She has to discretely cast the henge ANBU use to hide their tattoos as she changes, since Ino and Sakura seem content to pick through the rest of her things while she does so. She dresses quickly and spins around for the girls once done, "Satisfied?"

Ino hums lightly, "Let your hair down, we'll brush it out, you never wear it down."

Katsumi wrinkles her nose but obeys. It's as long as ever as she lets it fall from her ever present ponytail. Brushing the bumps and tangles from it takes forever and Ino is in no way gentle with the tangles when she takes over. Sakura snickers as she watches the spectacle, "Ino-pig, are you trying to make her bald?"

"Of course not, Forehead, Her hair just gets all tangled. Do you just sleep in your ponytail?" Ino questions.

Katsumi shrugs, "Sometimes."

"Knock it off, it gets all tangled up," Ino admonishes, "How have we been friends for years and you still don't know things like that? After my next mission, I'm giving you a crash course in dressing up."

Sakura snorts at Katsumi's incredulous look, "I think she does fine as is. Katsumi-Chan has always been more comfortable in her uniform than in a dress."

Ino sighs and concedes the point, "True enough. There! Get your shoes and we'll go!"

Katsumi takes this all in stride as she obeys. A lifetime of being Ino's friend has made her more than used to her bubbly personality. Sakura is a bit like that too, though much more reserved. They're both hardheaded though, and Katsumi figures they'll end up bickering at least once by the time they're done tonight.

The restaurant Sakura leads them to is firmly in the civilian district and its crowded. Sakura is friends with the owners though and manages to get a table that's a bit more secluded. Sakura and Ino sit side by side while Katsumi sits across from them. The food is good, Katsumi likes it well enough. Privately, she thinks Kiri's was better, but that's the price paid for living so far from the ocean.

Ino and Sakura go back and forth on the merits of senbon versus Kunai while Katsumi listens contently. Of course they'd pick this to bicker over. She's pretty sure both prefer Kunai anyway, and have just decided to argue like they actually disagree. It reminds her of the academy and the way they used to bicker over Uchiha. With less violence. A lot less violence.

"What do you think, Katsu? Senbon or Kunai?" Ino turns to her.

"Depends on the situation and for what," Katsumi favors Kunai too, but she's good enough with senbon that if she needs to, she'll use them. It's shuriken she uses the least. Her aim with those has always been worse in comparison to senbon and Kunai.

"For what?" Sakura raises an eyebrow.

"Well, yeah. If you want to poison someone, Senbon are the way to go. If you're just trying to kill them, Kunai. Senbon need near perfect accuracy to be lethal in most hands," Katsumi answers, Genma had lectured her plenty on senbon and their uses and their difficulties. She suspects he was a bit disappointed to see she wasn't quite good enough with them to reliably use them the way he does.

"See, that makes Kunai the better choice, Ino-pig, they're more reliable," Sakura crows.

"Well, of course you'd think that, Forehead, you like blunt force trauma," Ino rolls her eyes in mock superiority, "No finesse at all."

Sakura shrugs it off, "Can't fight with a broken spine."

Katsumi grins, "Harsh, Sakura, haven't you ever heard of a clean kill?"

"I prefer efficiency to clean. Small chakra reserves and all that," Sakura waves a hand dismissively.

Ino laughs, "Hard to tell that with how much you use the wood release."

Sakura preens, "I'm careful not to waste a single drop of chakra doing that. And I never draw a fight out if I can avoid it."

Katsumi tilts her head and considers the pink-haired Kunoichi, "You're not Senju, so how do you have wood release?"

Ino blinks and glances over at Sakura. Apparently she's not the only one who doesn't know how that happened, "Yeah, how is that possible?"

Sakura doesn't seem bothered in the least at the question. She shrugs carelessly, "A lot of Senju married civilians before the clan died out. It was bound to happen eventually. Bloodline traits only die out when the bloodline is gone. It was a nearly nonexistent chance, but it wasn't impossible. I had good luck."

Katsumi blinks at the simple answer. It seems... underwhelming. Random chance and the good fortune of having a drop or two of Senju blood. Ino seems a bit surprised at the simplicity of the answer too. It makes sense, it's blood, not name, that makes for a Kekkai Genkai. Even if Katsumi didn't have the name, her blood would still be Ishihara blood. Katsumi's teeth are proof enough of that. And dormant Kekkai Genkai have been known to appear, rare though it is. It's why clans generally emphasize not having children out of wedlock, at least for the men. Makes it harder to keep track of things like that.

"Huh, interesting. So does that make you a Senju?" Ino tilts her head.

"Technically? If I wanted to be recognized as Senju I could be. Tsunade offered it since she's the last named and blooded Senju. I refused it though, I like being Haruno Sakura. I don't need a clan name. If anything, it would put more of a target on my back," Sakura talks like refusing to be recognized as a member of a founding clan is nothing.

"But you would have been seen as practical royalty," Ino looks shocked.

"Yeah, the Senju name carries insane weight," Katsumi may not be involved in clan politics, but she damn well knows this much.

Sakura shakes her head, "Maybe so, but I want my accomplishments recognized as mine, that I earned myself, not as a Senju. If I took the Senju name, people would see that before they see me."

Katsumi hums a little. No disagreement there, most do see clan names before they see the person. Sakura isn't wrong, with a name as old and feared as Senju, she would never be respected for being herself first. She'd always be a Senju first in the eyes of the shinobi world. Her accomplishments would always be held up and judged against those of the Senju clan.

The night passes quickly after that. They keep to light topics. Nothing that would cause any of the girls annoyance. Shikamaru doesn't come up, Sasuke doesn't come up, no one talks about any of the less than good missions any of them have taken recently. Ino mentions Yuma once and Katsumi is surprised to learn that Yuma friends with a large portion of the Yamanaka clan. She'd known he spent a lot of time in therapy with them, but it sounds like they practically adopted him.

All in all, it's a nice night. It's been awhile since it's been just the three of them. There's no drama or stress and Katsumi decides this was a good idea on Ino's part. Katsumi has no complaints. Her friends have always been good at finding ways to relax.

Notes:

Thank you so much Babychlo for the absolutely lovely fanart of an older Katsumi! its wonderful!

Chapter 98

Chapter Text

Akiko is improving in leaps and bounds. It makes Katsumi grin ferally when the girl is proficient enough with all the basic Kenjutsu Katas that she can teach her the more difficult ones. Ones that are actual styles, rather than just basic motions meant to build muscle memory, that can actually be used in real combat rather than just spars.

Akiko is growing more confident in her kenjutsu too, and keeps pestering Katsumi about when she gets to use a real sword instead of her wooden bokken. It's amusing to Katsumi, but she doesn't budge, no live steel until Akiko is a genin. Katsumi figures she'll be fine waiting until then, she's only got two years left in the academy after all.

"Sensei? Can I please just try with your Wakizashi. Just once?" Akiko is a bit too proud and too lazy to beg, but her tone is bordering on a whine as she works through the first set of new Katas, a style Katsumi's father had taught her, a basic Ishihara style that works best against slow but strong opponents.

Katsumi sharpens the sword in question as she watches the girl's movements carefully, "No, Akiko-Chan. My swords can only be used by me."

"Why?"

"There's a blood seal on it. Anyone who isn't me gets a nasty burn when they try to use it," Katsumi's not interested in explaining to Akiko's parents how their daughter got burnt palms. Her mother is scary.

"What about one of your other swords?" The girl tries again as she adjusts her stance carefully before moving onto the next Kata.

"When you're a genin, like I said," Katsumi isn't budging on this.

"You used live steel since you were five, Sensei," The Nara points out, dark eyes narrowed and calculating as she looks at Katsumi.

"Yes. And I bled quite a bit for it. Let's try to avoid you needing a trip to the hospital before you're even out of the academy."

"I wouldn't cut myself," The girl counters.

"Everyone cuts themselves," Katsumi responds blandly.

"So why not get it over with?"

"Because, right now, your blood volume is less than an adult's, which means you would bleed out easier, which means hospital or morgue if you mess up bad enough. Besides, your parents don't want you using live steel until you're a genin either," Katsumi deliberately ignores the fact her father had seen no issue with a five year old needing to go to the hospital because she'd cut herself to the bone.

"You're here to supervise though," Akiko looks like she's thinking about pouting.

"I'm not a medic. You don't want me trying to fix an injury like that. The end result would be ugly." She'd live, but Katsumi isn't keen on field dressing a ten year old.

"But you wouldn't let me bleed out."

"Obviously. You're still not getting live steel."

"What if my jounin Sensei isn't good at kenjutsu?"

"Then you can talk to them about letting me continue teaching you," Katsumi assures her, "you don't have to stop kenjutsu just because your Sensei isn't good at it. My Sensei wasn't a kenjutsu specialist, I had to teach myself after a certain point. It helps to find sparring partners."

"That sounds like a drag."

"What do we say, Akiko-Chan?"

"Better a drag now then dead later," Akiko chants automatically. Katsumi hadn't intended for that to become their training motto, but here they are.

"Good. If the choice is between working harder and dying, always choose the first option," Katsumi tries not to picture a child's coffin as she looks at Akiko. She hopes she's giving this girl something that will help her survive instead of giving her the means to die by.

"Yes, Sensei, I will," Akiko nods as she starts the Katas over. The girl seems to take Katsumi's advice like it's worth it's weight in gold, even though most of it amounts to "just don't die".

Katsumi's got her hearing lowered to just below what she thinks is average human hearing to better focus on Akiko, so she doesn't notice the footsteps behind her. Akiko notices their visitor though and scowls fiercely, "Did Shikaku-Sama say you could bother Katsumi-Sensei?"

Katsumi tilts her head and knows just by that statement who it is. She puts the Wakizashi away and sets the whetstone aside, "Akiko-Chan, that's enough training for today. I think Shikamaru and I need to talk."

"Are you sure, Sensei? He's in trouble," Akiko glares with all the wrath a small Nara is capable of.

"I'm sure. Run home now, same time tomorrow," Katsumi stands and turns to eye the Nara heir as Akiko gathers her things all while glaring at Shikamaru.

The little girl walks slowly away, like she thinks Katsumi needs a witness or something. Nara overprotectiveness is apparently more than just a Shikamaru thing. When she's certain the girl is out of earshot she addresses him, "Can I help you?"

He shifts, clearly uncomfortable with the blank stare she normally only levels at strangers, "I came to apologize."

Katsumi tilts her head, "Why?"

Shikamaru stuffs his hands in his pockets, "I shouldn't have used the shadow possession jutsu on you."

"Twice. You've done it twice. Both times to push for classified information. You're lucky I only reported the second time," Katsumi crosses her arms and keeps watching him.

Shikamaru visibly winces at the reminder that he's done this twice now, "I know. I'm sorry, I was just worried and—"

"I'm not a civilian. I'm not a genin. I'm not the little girl who cried on the first day of the academy. I am a shinobi. A jounin. An ANBU operative, which you damn well know. Where in that do you hear me needing protection?"

"Katsu, I don't think you need my protection, I know you're capable of taking care of yourself," Shikamaru's lips twist in frustration.

"Do you? You don't act like it. You act like I can't handle myself. I am your fucking equal, Shikamaru. What do you think I do on missions? Sit around and hope my teammates keep me safe?" Katsumi's voice has a snarl in it, but her face stays blank.

"No, I know you don't. I made a mistake, one I regret," Shikamaru sounds like this whole thing is stressing him out.

"What's your clearance level?" Katsumi asks suddenly.

"A-rank?"

"Mine is SS-ranked. As in I know things you are likely never going to be allowed to know. I don't know why you thought you had a right to know anything I do, but it ends. Today. I am your comrade, you do not get to treat me like an enemy shinobi. I am your equal, you do not get to use overprotectiveness as an excuse to demand answers you do not have the clearance to know. You know I'm ANBU, you know you were in range of my water shrapnel, which I don't need hand seals for. Do you realize how very lucky you are that I didn't react the way I was inclined to? The way I would have been fully justified in doing?" Katsumi bares her teeth.

"Yes, trust me, I realize all of that. I really am sorry," Shikamaru meets her gaze steadily.

"Are you actually sorry for doing it or are you apologizing because it got you in deep shit?" Katsumi increases her hearing so she can listen for the spike in Heart rate that would indicate a lie.

"I'm sorry I did it, at all. It was a breach of your trust," Shikamaru doesn't hesitate and his heart beat doesn't spike.

"So why did you do it twice?"

"I was an idiot the first time. The second time, I should have known better, and I did, but I fucked up and did it anyway," Shikamaru admits freely.

Katsumi blinks slowly, "Choji said I'm within rights to demand Shikaku choose a different heir."

Shikamaru looks stricken for a moment but nods, "You would be."

"So why shouldn't I?"

He's silent and she knows from experience he's running possible outcomes of this through his head. Finally he bows his head, "You have no reason not to, I made the mistake, whatever the consequences, I'll accept them."

She hums a little and circles him slowly, he stands stock still as she does, like he's trying to avoid provoking her. She runs her tongue over the tips of her teeth once before speaking as she stops in front of him, "I'll take your apology without demanding compensation. But, Shikamaru? Do it again, and I promise you, our friendship will not save you."

Shikamaru bows, like she's someone who's ever been deserving of something like that, and says, "Thank you, Katsumi. It won't happen again."

She waits for him to straighten and nods once, "Good. You're still my friend, Shikamaru, still my pack, but I deserve the same respect you give everyone else. Please don't make me have to let our friendship go."

Dark eyes meet hers and she thinks she reads relief in them, "I won't, Katsu. I've missed you and I'm sorry I did what I did."

"I've forgiven you. Let the matter rest," Katsumi waves a hand, "I'm making tea, if you'd like some."

The lazy, relieved smile on his face is nice. Him agreeing is nice too. Mercy is a concept she'll freely admit she's become a stranger to in the years she's been a shinobi, but lately, it seems, she's reacquainting herself with it. At least when it comes to her pack.

They sit in silence at the kitchen table, jasmine tea between them. Katsumi listens contently to her wind chimes as Shikamaru discreetly eyes the tea pot.

"It's not the one I used for the Datura poison. You won't be speaking to shadows today," Katsumi teases gently.

Shikamaru looks startled at her good natured teasing after her snarling earlier, but recovers quickly, "I hope not. It'd be a drag."

Katsumi takes a sip of her tea, still not quite as good as when Yoshino makes it, before saying, "Everything is a drag to you, sometimes I wonder if there's anything beyond cloud watching and shogi that isn't."

Shikamaru looks like he's wondering if they're playing a verbal game of shogi. As if she were that good at speaking. He gives her a half smile, "Drag or not, there's things worth the trouble."

An echo of the words he'd told her the night they'd become a couple. So, verbal shogi it is. She smiles lightly back, "I'm not so sure of that. You've been known to put in effort where you shouldn't, and put no effort where you should. Odd for a jounin with an IQ of over two-hundred."

He looks a bit abashed at that, "I'm not perfect. And strategizing in interpersonal relationships is more unpredictable than anything else."

"Well, the Yamanaka's certainly seem to have some skill in it. Maybe you should ask Ino for lessons," Katsumi takes another sip of tea.

He laughs a little and looks down at the table, "Maybe. Ino says you've got a guy now."

"Tanaka Yuma? He's a friend and comrade. What of him?" Katsumi raises an eyebrow in challenge.

"Ino said he was nice is all. That you've known him awhile," He shrugs a little.

"Met him at my jounin exams. We got along," Katsumi answers smoothly.

Shikamaru makes a face, "Thats a long time, you never mentioned him."

"We'd just met then. There wasn't much to mention," Katsumi leans back a little, "How's the Suna Kunoichi?"

"Temari? She's, uh, she's good. She's the official ambassador now," He seems a bit wary now. Definitely thinks this is a shogi match.

"That's nice. I've heard she's become a very strong shinobi," Katsumi keeps up with the gossip, and her old memories still help her from time to time with the more minor things, when she's not getting bombarded with the major things while Inoichi digs around her brain.

"Yeah. She's something," Shikamaru agrees easily.

She hums a little, "I approve."

Shikamaru seems startled by the suddenness of the statement, "What?"

"She's pretty and not weak. If I remember right, she's no idiot, I approve," Katsumi says simply.

Understanding floods his face before it turns red in embarrassment, "We aren't, uh, no I don't like her like that."

Katsumi smiles slightly, "Well, if you change your mind, I think you'd work well together."

Shikamaru drinks the rest of his tea quickly, like if he keeps drinking it he'll buy time to figure out how to respond to that. When his cup is empty, he speaks slowly, "I'm glad we could talk again, Katsu. It's been a long time."

"It has."

Shikamaru gives a slight smile, "I need to go, I'll see you later?"

Katsumi stands and walks him to the door, "You're welcome anytime, same as anyone else."

He nods in acceptance as he goes to leave. Katsumi watches in silence as he walks away and decides that like Sasuke, he's on his last chance too. She hopes he makes the best of it. She'd hate to remind him that her teeth aren't for show.

Chapter 99

Chapter Text

Katsumi is working on the Ishihara blood techniques. She's finally mastered moving her blood up her hand using her chakra. Now she's attempting to learn how to shape it. She's working on a d-rank jutsu that creates a single senbon shaped of blood. It's both easier and harder than it should be. Easy, because it's a d-rank jutsu and it requires hardly any chakra, difficult because blood is not water or lightning or fire. Blood is a bit more alive. The saving grace is that her chakra is in her blood already and it's just a matter of learning to adjust to shaping blood into a weapon. Her main issue is making it sharp enough. The blood senbon doesn't quite want to sharpen to the deadly point it should be.

Katsumi also isn't a fan of having to cut the back of her arm to encourage enough blood to use it. There's methods for using other people's blood, but those take time, take practice to use. Putting chakra into the blood of others is more difficult than manipulating the chakra in her own blood. It's going to take time for her to get used to stretching her chakra into blood that's been spilled around her the way she does with water. The concept is the same, but the application is more difficult.

She glares balefully at her target as once again the stupid blood senbon, a building block to a much more lethal technique, fails to pierce the target and just leaves a blood splatter on it. She just wants it to work once. Just once is all she's fucking asking. There's no one to help her figure this out, Kakashi had tried but had failed entirely to manage to use blood at all. It's an Ishihara technique alone apparently. There's nothing anyone can do to help her. If she wants this, she has to manage in her own.

She tries again and fails spectacularly when a knock on her door interrupts her concentration. She curses and pulls her sleeve down over the cut on her arm so she doesn't have to explain why she's bleeding. She gets to the door quickly and opens it. Naruto. She blinks in surprise at seeing the blonde, "Uh, Hey, Naruto. How are you?"

"I'm good. I think we should talk, dattebayo," Naruto's blue eyes are as serious as his voice.

"Yeah, sure, come in," Katsumi steps aside and holds the door open for him.

Naruto walks in and seems to be content to check over the seals he carved into the wood when she moved in. Katsumi shifts awkwardly as she waits for him to say something.

"This seal here, dattebayo," he taps on one that's in the center of the wall, "It triggers when you wipe blood on it. It'll attack anyone that's in the house who doesn't share your blood. A last resort seal, dattebayo."

Katsumi files that away for later, "Thats interesting, I didn't know any of them needed active triggering."

"That's the only one, dattebayo, just in case," Naruto lets his hand fall from the seal.

"I'll remember that," Katsumi assures him.

"Uh, yeah, that's good. Look, um, I'm not sure I'll ever really be able to forgive you, dattebayo, but we're team seven, and you were one of my first friends. I'm not going to turn my back on you," Naruto says it like he's spent a long time considering this.

Katsumi remains silent, she thinks this is one of those times where she needs to listen instead of speak.

"We have different Uh, different opinions. We're not going to see eye to eye on everything, dattebayo. I don't hate you and I don't want to fight with you, but I'm never going to think killing someone that's not fighting me is okay. I know it's necessary sometimes, but I won't do it," Naruto continues when she doesn't speak.

"I understand that," She gets it, even if she doesn't live in a world that his mindset could ever survive in.

"But you are able to do that. That's your life, I'm not sure what you do, but I know your specialities, tracking and assassination, you have to be able to do those kinds of things, dattebayo. I'm not— I don't hate you for that. I'm hurt and angry that you lied to me, that you didn't trust me, dattebayo. We were a team. That's not how teams work," Naruto continues, and she thinks she can read pain in his voice.

"I know, I wish I hadn't," Katsumi pulls the end of her ponytail, an old nervous habit she'd thought she'd out grown.

"But you did, dattebayo. You're still my friend, Katsumi-Chan. You are, but I don't think we should work on the same teams anymore. I think if we want to be friends, we can't be teammates," Naruto looks pained but his voice is resolute. He's made his mind up.

Katsumi nods, and buries the pang of hurt at that, "I understand. If you think that's for the best."

"I do. But I still want you as my jounin commander one day, dattebayo," he gives her a beaming smile that's a little too tight to be real.

"I look forward to trying to avoid the paperwork," Katsumi gives a weak smile back, "I heard you're going to Kumo."

"Yeah, Dattebayo, I want to learn diplomacy. It'll only be six months I think. Not forever," Naruto looks genuinely excited as he tells her.

"That's awesome, I'm sure you'll be great at it," She glances over at her wind chimes as Naruto goes back to looking over her home's seals.

"Yeah, hey, uh, would you mind if I put a seal on you, dattebayo? Just in case?" Naruto doesn't look over at her as he asks.

"What kind of seal?" Katsumi doesn't care for getting sent to Kiri again.

"Anchoring seal, Dattebayo. I improved it, if it gets triggered, it'll take you to the hospital. I made a secondary seal to it too, dattebayo," Naruto explains.

"A secondary seal?"

"Yeah, like if the Tobi guy attacks you again but doesn't try to take you into another dimension. I gave Sai and Sakura one already, it'll go on your palm and connect to the anchoring seal. It's a manual trigger that will make the seal activate," Naruto explains.

"How?"

"Pump chakra into it. This anchoring seal will work more than once if you trigger it manually. It's still a one use if the anchor is triggered by Tobi. I'm still not happy with what happened, but I don't want anything to happen to you, dattebayo," Naruto looks so earnest as he explains. Trust Naruto to be kind even when he's been hurt.

"So it's a last resort like the one on my wall?"

"Yeah, dattebayo, if it's between dying pointlessly and getting back to the village and sending back up quickly, it's an option, Tsunade wants me to make it a standard for shinobi, to reduce losses in the field," Naruto explains, "It won't work if you aren't really injured or near chakra exhaustion, though, you have to need it."

Katsumi considers that. It makes sense, a last resort when there's no other options and staying means a pointless death, made so cowardice isn't an option, "Alright, will it feel the same as last time?"

"Uh yeah, Sai said it was liked being yanked by the neck?"

"Yeah, I think so," her memory is almost nonexistent of that.

"So, it's never going to be pleasant, but it's better than nothing, dattebayo," Naruto stops looking at the seals on her wall and pulls ink and a brush out of his hip pouch, "If you want pull your hair out of the way and take your shirt off, I can do it now."

Katsumi obeys and sits awkwardly on her coffee table as he sets up behind her. They don't speak as he works. The cold, tingling of chakra-infused ink sinking into her skin is familiar. The feeling of a leash around her neck brings back the unpleasant feeling she had before meeting Tobi. She holds still as ink is painted down her right arm to her palm. When it's set, the little spiraling seal on her palm feels cold and dormant. Like it's waiting for use.

"There, it should work. Anyway, I need to go get ready for my mission to Kumo. Take care of yourself, Katsumi-Chan," Naruto puts his things away quickly and she pulls her shirt back on and makes sure that aside from her palm, the seal is properly concealed.

"You too, Naruto, have a good time in Kumo," Katsumi figures he'll end up making a lot of friends there. He has a knack for things like that.

She rubs the seal on her palm absentmindedly as she watches him go. She's always been impressed by his forgiving nature, but this is the first time she can imagine it working with their lifestyle. Forgiveness without absolution, she'd wondered if he was capable of it. She just wishes she hadn't had to learn the answer to that herself. Still, it's far, far better than she expected. Better than she probably deserved, certainly.

Chapter 100

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

She sits across her Shogi board from Shikaku and considers her next move. She's in a defensive position. A good one, but Shikaku is better than her at this game. He's already formed his attack and she has to answer. Katsumi looks calmly down at the board as she moves a pawn forward reluctantly.

"Defensive. Normally, you're much more aggressive, Katsumi. Interesting change," Shikaku muses as he moves a piece.

"You're the one that taught me to think. There's a time for aggression. Now isn't it," Katsumi considers her options. She'll have to sacrifice a one of her generals so in five moves she'll be able to start her attack. A shame, but if all goes well, she'll be able to capture one of his generals in three moves and use it against him later. Provided he doesn't catch on. She moves the piece.

"And when it's time to be aggressive?"

"Then I'll win," Katsumi doesn't so much as twitch as Shikaku sees through her attempt to bait him with her general, and moves an entirely different piece.

"In shogi, There's really two objectives you know: protecting your king and taking your opponent's king," Shikaku says it calmly. She's known this for years, he told her this when he watched shikamaru teach her shogi as a child.

"I know that," Katsumi looks the board over as she adjusts to her new problem. Her general wasn't taken like she needed it to be, and he has a lance exactly where she doesn't want it to be. He's pushing her to break her defense, which just won't do. She moves her general again as she settles on a new plan.

"Normally, when we play, you try your hardest to take my king and often leave your own king exposed. Now you're so caught up in defending, your king can barely move," Shikaku looks amused, "Are you trying to capture your own king?"

Katsumi glares at his next move. Fuck. She has to break her defense or she won't be able to win, "Of course I'm not."

"This defensiveness is interesting. Why after so long are you trying this tactic?"

"It's what's needed now," Katsumi answers as she watches him look the board over.

"In the game or in life? I've always believed how a person plays reflects who they are," Shikaku says it casually as he moves a piece. Damn, her defense has to break now, and a broken defensive line means end game.

"Both. We're approaching endgame," Katsumi means the board, but she also means the village. Two names left on her list. Two threats left that become entirely different threats should they be left too long.

"I see. You have the right idea, but you've lost today," Shikaku smiles lightly at her as he makes a move she'd missed, damn. Always such quick games with him.

"We need allies, if worst comes to worst," Katsumi points out.

"We have Suna and Kiri, if the delegation to Kumo succeeds, we'll have them too," Shikaku reminds her.

"We need Iwa too," Katsumi isn't fool enough to think that would be at all easy to achieve.

"Four against one, Katsumi, they're proud but not stupid. They'll join if we get Kumo," Shikaku assures her.

"How long would the alliance last if we manage it, you think?"

"Wars aren't started for fun, Katsumi. Suna invaded out of desperation, for example. Their missions were being given away to other villages. What's their main export?"

Katsumi considers, "Um, I'm not sure, Glass?"

"Glass. The land of wind is a poor nation. It's a harsh place and the majority of its inhabitants are nomadic. They have to be. Suna is one of the only permanent villages. Suna's main export is glass, but their main income is missions. Shinobi work. No missions means they starve. They gambled on an invasion to prove their strength, a desperate bid to convince their Daimyo to stop outsourcing missions. War happens when a people are desperate or a leader greedy or they feel wronged," Shikaku explains calmly.

"In the great wars, Konoha hasn't had allies," Katsumi recalls. Kumo and Kiri, Iwa and Suna. Konoha hasn't had a real ally since Uzushio fell.

"We're lucky as a village. In war, our people don't starve the way others do. Yes, we go on rations, but we get by without children starving in our streets. We are lucky in that our civilian industries make up enough of the economy that we can afford the loss of a mission or two. It's made us... complacent, I suppose. It lets shinobi like Naruto cling to their ideals. Because unlike other Hidden villages, ours is as close to peaceful as it gets without becoming Yugakure," Shikaku's in lecture mode.

"We can actually imagine what peace would look like," Katsumi murmurs.

"Yes, for other hidden villages, peace, real lasting peace, is a pipe dream. War is their income, because it has to be. Suna and Iwa are that way. Kiri loved its war in the past, but like us, it doesn't starve come war time. The ocean provides for them, war is a matter of pride for them and a matter of greed for Kumo. This alliance, if it's formed? I'd say, twenty years at most before desperation or greed wins again," Shikaku doesn't sound bothered by his verdict.

"You don't think real peace is possible?" Katsumi considers the jounin commander.

"Not lasting peace, that's not possible. Someone is always going to need something they can't get. Someone is always going to want more. War is the result. The best we can do is delay it as long as we can while building our defense up. Based on your memories, we've delayed the fourth war as long as we can. You're right when you say we're in end game, Katsumi. War is coming if we don't make the right moves," Shikaku meets her eyes calmly and she knows she's not speaking to the man that helped raise her. She knows she's speaking to her commanding officer right now.

"So what moves do we make?"

"Tsunade's decided to inform Hatake of the Uchiha situation. You'll not be mentioned in regards to the source. Our opening move is setting Hatake on him," Shikaku tells her matter of factly.

"You really think he'll be able to handle that?" She knows Kakashi, the man is one of her favorite people, but he has more issues than just about anyone.

"Hatake has the same abilities as Uchiha curtesy of his eye. And he's pack oriented. Uchiha is a traitor to his pack that attacked two of his students, his pups, so to speak. You're pack oriented, Katsumi, how would you handle it in his position?" Shikaku makes the first move in their new game.

Katsumi thinks of how badly she'd wanted to hurt Sasuke for the longest time and how by the end of it all, she'd still granted mercy. Then she tries to picture him harming Akiko. Thinking about that suddenly makes the idea of killing him appealing, "Considering this is his teammate brought back from the dead? I'm not sure how he'd react. But take that part away? If I were in his place, I'd be gleefully hunting."

Shikaku nods, "That's what we want out of him. We need him out for blood. Hatake has always worked best when he thinks his pack is in danger."

"So how are you going to make that happen?"

"Well, you've got plenty of experience working with Hatake," Shikaku doesn't sound remorseful for where she knows this is going. She gets it, right now, he's her superior, not her family.

"You want me involved with hunting Obito?"

"Yes. We'd pull you and have you go into hiding for awhile, but with the dimension jumping he can do, that would be pointless," Shikaku tells her, "You're a valuable piece on the board, Katsumi, a useful one. You're safest here, in your house, surrounding by the seals Naruto carved into it, or as Fox, where no one but a few people could identify you."

"Are you about to tell me I'm going to ANBU full time?" Katsumi raises an eyebrow, Sai is Lion full time now, and most of her missions have been ANBU, but she enjoys the mission variety of general forces. It's a chance to see a mission with a bit less blood when she needs it.

Shikaku inclines his head, "Lady Hokage's orders. As of now, If you're not Fox, you need to be in this house or with company."

"You think he's going to be hunting me while we hunt him?" She moves a piece to counter his.

"He knows your face. And according to the information you could give and what memories Inoichi managed to repair, you made him very angry. You're almost assuredly already being hunted." Shikaku's tone is severe.

"So why not just have me hide?" Not that she wants to hide.

"What use is a piece you never use?" Shikaku counters.

"It's not."

"Exactly. As much as I'd prefer to keep you safe, you're much more useful in the game than out of it," Shikaku moves a pawn forward.

"And if he makes the first move?" Katsumi considers her next move.

"That all depends on what his first move will be," Shikaku's voice is calm.

"And when he does?"

"We remind him why Konoha is feared, of course," Shikaku smiles slyly as Katsumi moves a piece forward.

Katsumi nods quietly in response. Konoha will survive. It always does. The trick is making sure more than just the village survives. That's the difficult part. Still, The goal is in sight, now they just have to reach it. The pieces are in place, all that's left to do is play.