Ikeda Akiime was average as far as kunoichi went. Average in Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, and Genjutsu. She was average in Fuinjutsu in that she could tell a storage seal from an explosive tag and not much else. The only remarkable thing the med-nin could discern was a well-hidden pregnancy and a file so bare that it could only be on purpose.

Not that Arako minded. Secrets came with the job, even when it came to working in the hospital. More so a month after the great nations had entered conflict again. Aside from the first day of fighting, there hadn't been a significant uptick in injuries. The lull wouldn't last long. Shinobi wars are slow creatures that involved scouting, spying, and subtle maneuvering before unleashing a horrible outpour of violence.

Right now, they were still in the scouting phase. Quick skirmishes and small gains would be the primary source of his work until the next significant shift. Today, most of Arako's patients had come from a fight within the village walls. They were uprooting known spies if a particularly chatty chunin could be believed.

The monitor's beep interrupted Arako's thoughts, shifting them to his newest patient. She had yet to stir in the few minutes he had been reviewing her file. Physical and Chakra exhaustion had put her under sterile white sheets, but it was the pregnancy that kept her there.

The whole thing was rather odd. Even if nothing about Akiime's situation stood out on its own. A record wiped of anything useful, bone-tired and bone-dried of chakra, yet not a mark on her. Being an active kunoichi while pregnant wasn't unheard of. Being sent out on a mission while about to burst was. Coincidences happen, he had been a med-nin long enough to know that, but it didn't stop him from wondering.

The gasp that filled the room kept him from thinking further on it. His patient had awoken with a shout, and her child was hoping to be close behind.

Akiime's kid freaked Takeda Hin the hell out. From the first day she laid eyes on it, the little bastard was creepy. Well, a little bitch, Hin corrected with a snort. Ikeda had been crying, the nurses had been shouting, and Hin had been puking in the corner. Genin teammates for life my ass, she thought. If Akiime hadn't saved her life about every time they had gone out on a mission, Hin would've run the moment she was told to get to the hospital. The shitstain messenger boy had said it was an emergency. He neglected the birthing part.

But she had stayed like the gift from the gods she was. Eight hours and eight senbon ruined with nervous chewing later, Ikeda Rinko had emerged screaming into the world. At least for a time. Rinko had only been exposed to real air for about five minutes before she got quiet and started squinting those big brown eyes at everyone.

Hin was too busy checking her shirt to think it was weird until the nurses started panicking and the med-nin started glowing green on the baby. The panic went away once the doc gave the all-clear. If only Hin hadn't felt like puking again, she could've laughed at the look on Akiime's face.

The new mother had gone from pain, joy, despair, and then relief so fast that it left her face looking like sensei's when he was constipated. If the kid had just stuck to causing her mother grief and leaving Hin alone it would be alright. Unfortunately, kids were as disappointing as she had expected. Little Rin-chan had turned into a weirdo at six months and never looked back. She talked, walked, and made sense far sooner than she had any right to. Akiime got happier at each milestone Rinko passed. It didn't really matter how Hin felt about it. Not that she was going to say anything to her. Anytime Akiime could praise Rinko, she would.

It was getting to the point that Hin preferred the delivery missions to Konoha's outposts. Well, almost preferred it. Maybe if it weren't for all the running and being scared shitless once she couldn't see Konoha's walls it would be up for debate. Whatever.

What matters is that Rinko has a staring problem and speaks clearly enough to make a teenager jealous. For example, 5 minutes after Akiime abandoned her with the child. "You say something brat?" Hin asked.

"Can you teach me how to throw that?" it said while Hin stared at the dark-haired menace.

"Why?"

Rinko shrugs, thinks, and stares at her for good measure before answering, "Kunai won't fit my hand yet, and mother says I have to wait until the academy."

And isn't that just another bag of worms? Even shinobi mothers show some trepidation in throwing their kids into the fire. Akiime pushed Rinko right into it the moment the girl expressed any interest. Rin had sat in on their little training sessions without complaint. Watching them go through small stretches and fundamental kata. Akiime would talk Rinko through shinobi life the whole time they worked. Hin had never seen Akiime take her training nearly as seriously. Whenever Rinko answered a question correctly or worked through a kata, Akiime would grin in a way she'd never seen from the woman.

It wasn't like the Ikeda were some big clan where service is expected. Just a minor family that had slightly more ninja than most. Or at least they once had. Now kunoichi and her child were the only ones left. The rest had died in or shortly after the first shinobi war. It was a tragedy on a scale few other clans could match.

Not that you'd know that by looking at how seriously the kid took everything. The baby fat on her face and the stern look she gave her building blocks should have been cute. Or it would have been if that stern look wasn't also used as she struggled to copy their workouts.

The smell of fresh food and Akiime coming through the doorway was enough to pull Hin out of her thoughts. But it wasn't enough to keep Rinko from eyeing a senbon left out on the table.

Rat found the village less tolerable the longer the war went on. He loved Konoha of course. The will of fire burned through him so hotly that he could taste ash on his lips when he wasn't in the field. It wasn't as bad before the war started. But each day it lasted was a day he boiled over inside without any release.

It was his own fault he was here. Rat might've been… overzealous, but that didn't mean he was an idiot who didn't realize it. He had run into some rocks far away from home and felt that Mother Nature wasn't eroding them fast enough. His only saving grace had been keeping one of the pebbles alive long enough for T to find out what they were doing in the land of noodles.

It didn't change the fact that he missed the pickup time by hours. Whatever package Rat was meant to scurry away had grown legs and ran. When he returned to Konoha with the wrong package in tow, he'd been locked down doing menial tasks inside the village for a month. It burned him to be stuck here when Konoha needed him. It burned even more to not be trusted enough for guard duty when the village desperately needed manpower.

At the moment, he was playing delivery boy. Typical during times of peace for high-priority messages, humiliating during times of war for basic check-ins and clerk duty. As part of the punishment, he was required to report on the actions and loyalty of those whose messages he took. His squad commander had torn his first report in half the moment he handed it in. He had given a page worth of writing on the seamstress clerk, who handed him a list of supplies needed for winter clothing in an act of petty revenge.

After that, it was ten pages minimum. Actions, motives, the way they talked, moved, spoke, the inflection of the voice, why they would defect, how, the risk, and anything else he perceived. None of them were remotely close to being spies. He dealt with secretaries, orphanages, merchants, and occasionally mothers.

The latest round of deliveries was the worst. He was delivering his reports directly to the Hokage. Rat could feel his heart pounding in his chest the closer he came to the doorway. The last time he had been face to face with the Hokage he felt weak from the blood loss. Now it was nothing but nerves and shame that dripped past his mask.

The office was, as he remembered, regal beyond anything he had ever seen. He wondered how many leaves of Konoha had died because of his failure since the last time he had knelt in this room. Even with his eyes on the floor, Rat could feel the Hokage's gaze. Sarutobi Hiruzen was as close to god as a Rat could ever reach. His reports were a poor offering but accepted as one nonetheless.

The Hokage took his time, reading some reports while passing by others without a second glance. The last one he read in full and only after he placed it done did he acknowledge that Rat had entered, "It is rare for ANBU to act alone even during wartime," smoke hanging in the air as easily as the Hokage's words, "That you did was a sign of trust. What am I to do with a limb that acts on its own?"

The smoke had not reached him, yet Rat could feel the weight of breath in his lungs. He did not know the words to say. The room had shrunk on him, yet each word felt like it was coming from further away than the last. God had judged him and had found him lacking.

His silence hung in the air. Another puff from the pipe was the only reply. Hiruzen's gaze slid over him once more. Giving Rat his full attention for the first time since he had entered. "The will of fire burns in you. I have seen the smolder and the smoke. Then the blaze that it could become." Rat had never jerked his head up faster before. Yet, Hiruzen continues, "I trusted in the fire that you held. Even now, I believe that you are more than smoke." the Hokage flashed his arms quicker than Rat could track. It was all he could do to catch the scroll thrown his way. "The land of rain has dampened our fire at the front. See to it that it becomes an inferno once more."

Hiruzen leaned back once the ANBU had left his office. Stillness pervaded the air for a moment before the only loving voice he feared spoke, "You were too gentle-handed once more," Sarutobi Biwako noted as she glanced down at one of the reports on the desk, "For both of them."

AN:

First ever story up. I hope you all enjoy it or at least don't find it as terrible as most first attempts.

Some notes on the setting. This is an OC/SI not based on myself. I plan on makings things a little darker, but not 13-year-old and edgy dark. If we make it to the end, Kaguya does not exist in this universe, Madara is the final villain, power scaling will be toned down a bit, and there will be substantial changes to canon eventually.

I hope to have some fight scenes that boil down to more than just hitting the man/woman with the big jutsu and winning. There will be those of course, but I hope I can produce fights that seem won more by skill or strategy instead of magic.

Please leave any suggestions, criticism, or positivity in the comments. I'll take all the help I can get when it comes to being a better writer.

Updated: All chapters revised as of 2/26/2025