Chapter 1: Chapter 1
Chapter Text
“Oi Big Bitch” There’s a sharp kick to the back of her chair as raucous laughter rings in her ears. Her stomach cuts painfully into the desktop as she lurches forward, chair clattering as she tries to keep herself from falling over. A hand snakes around her, as Nao the instigator unhooks her bag and flips it over, showering her in crinkling snack wrappers, half eaten chips and loose stationary as the contents clatter around her. The room seems to grow claustrophobically smaller as all Ren can hear is her own sharp breath and laughter.. Ren curls into herself as she wills herself smaller, and smaller until she can vanish completely.
“Look at me Piggy!”
Nao leans into her space oppressively, so close she can smell the faint grease of his parents’ barbeque restaurant, filling the gnawing pit in her stomach with nausea, bile burning the back of her throat as she’s forced to inhale sharply. His hand rifles through the pile of wrappers and snacks, throwing most of the trash back into her face as she shakily focuses her vision on the back of her hands. He picks up a half eaten candy bar, melty with late august heat as Nao’s other hand forcefully grabs her chin, squishing the fat of her cheeks together as he pulls her head up to meet his cruel grin. Ren’s hands fly up, her pudgy fingers trying to pry his hand off but finding no purchase.
The class all watches on, no one objecting as she is surrounded on all sides by Nao’s lackeys. Willfully ignorant, malevolently aligned, or woefully complicit makes no difference to Ren’s reality. Inescapable dread as torment festers. Nao who is top of the class, food chain, athletic for his age and Ren who towers over the girls in her class with her plump figure and quiet demeanor is a big target. If only there weren't some minor defects? His personality for one. Really he was actually quite congenial a majority of the time with one exception. A true role model for his class.
“You see, I'm on food monitor duty this week.” He sounds gleeful. “Don’t you know it’s rude to not finish your food, Piggy?” He smears the chocolate bar over her face as he tries to force it past her unwilling lips. His friends laugh as Ren grunts from effort, tears welling in her eyes as she tries as she might she cannot overpower him, powerless. She feels like a thousand rubber bands pulling taunt and Nao is a razor blade held to the delicate flesh of her, something in her snaps. Leveraging her strength she stands instead of trying to break free, angling the top of her head for the bottom of his chin as she pushes her weight into him and they both come crashing down into the neighboring desks that have been pushed together for lunch. Ren prays he bites his sly tongue or breaks his pretty straight teeth. Her arm rears back and she delivers a truly loud slap to his cheek.
They stayed there in that moment, equally shocked that she fought back. Silence descends over the classroom and for a moment it feels like they are in a world of two. Predator and prey locked in uneasy eye contact. There’s a shout.
“Serves you right!” and for a brief moment as Ren tries to process she thinks maybe it is directed at her, that she deserves this humiliation. Like a breaking tide “You went too far this time” and Nao’s head snaps up looking at faces staring back at him. For once the ire is not directed at her but him as the social dynamic and Ren’s entire world shifts uneasily under her. “You, bully! Leave her alone for once.” There’s a fear in Nao’s eyes, one Ren recognizes with shocking familiarity. Pity wells in her chest as she wipes her mouth on the back of her sleeve. It’s a horrible feeling on the other side, rejected by the majority as they whimsically decide that today they just don’t like you anymore.
“What’s going on in here?!” The door clatters open as their teacher shouts. Ren scrambles to her feet, the mass of faceless bodies letting her pass as she runs from the class. Tail between her legs. She rushes to the bathroom, running down the stairs, heart hammering in her chest. She hears someone running after her.
“Wait!” It’s Nao’s voice, fear courses through her body she descends another flight of stairs and hand catches her elbow forcing her to turn her body towards him. “I said wait god-” Her ankle buckles twisting painfully over as she goes careening down. Ren’s body is a tangle of limbs as she hears a sickening crack, her head meeting the sharp corner of the step. Her world spinning out of control as her body hits the landing. She remembers screaming, warm liquid pooling around her temple, and the look of horror on Nao’s face as Tanaka Ren takes her last shuddering breath.
As an Akimichi she never knows hunger, but is well acquainted with longing. There is no grand epiphany, no realization or actualization that she is anything more than normal. Well normal is relative, she like in her previous life is born plentifully, large for her newborn age. Her mother thought the labor was troublesome and complained loudly about how tired she was but once the nurse put the freshly wrapped bundle in her hands, her mother went quiet, her fat baby fingers outreaching wrapping around her mother’s. Her father remarked that she was big for Akimichi, he said it like it was a remarkable thing, a good thing.”She’ll be strong.” Strong, rough hands run over a tuft of fine baby hair. Her mothers snorts, cradling her closer to her chest, the cheek of her skin over her mother’s thumping heart. “She should be, she almost ripped me apart with her fat head.”
“Pleasantly plump and cute head!” Her father squawks indignantly. Her mother looks down at her and smirks, flexing her finger in her grip “Troublesome.”
Her parents are ecstatic. She has been born, a bouncing baby girl. Except. There is another’s memories distant and fading underneath a surprisingly early consciousness. But they make it so easy to forget. Her mother likes to stare at her in wonder, pressing their foreheads together until their two eyes shift in perspective to one. She remembers her mother not by her face but her two dark eyes blurred together like a cyclops. Her mother refuses to put her down, instead propping her up in her lap while she spreads paperwork around her, waving off her father’s concern when ink accidently drips on her head. Or resting her babe on her chest while she naps in the yard. Reveling in the sun and sky. Her mother stretches basking in warmth as she basks in her mother. A hand resting on her head petting dark auburn tufts. “This is the life, kid.” she agrees before joining her in contentment. ‘Yeah, it is.’
They make her feel wanted. Wholly loved and cherished. They hold her so much, much more than she can ever remember from her first childhood. They shower her with love and affection, so much so it wipes away the muck from her previous household. The grievances Ren once had with a family that thought her unsightly and ashamedly hid from view, washed away in summer rain and mother’s milk provided to her in abundance. There is no cold, empty apartment to return to, no family to deny relation. There is a home, with sky blue ceilings that her father painted, a nursery of soft things, and a small garden to nap in.
Her legs wobbly as she stands in her crib using the bars to hold her weight. Her father is a quiet, mountain of a man. One who excludes a proud aura, whenever she does the littlest thing. He exclaims happily at her latest trick, as he lifts her in the air and giggles bubble from her mouth like a babbling brook. “My little Kichou” He cradles her gently, hooking a finger under her chin as his thumb caresses her cheek.She feels his calluses, evidence of his hardwork and fortitude. He holds her delicately like if made from glass. “Tou-tou!” Her mouth stumbles around syllables but can form a majority of one word.
Solid, and unyielding, who doesn’t doesn’t try to take space for himself but his family, the man who calls himself her father, is truly gentle. Who despite always seemingly being busy still comes home and makes food every day for his wife. Who holds her, so her mother can sleep. A man who is attentive, kind and nurturing, who waits on his wife hand and foot and treats her like a princess.
He isn’t at all like her negligent first father who said maybe 5 words to her in a decade. He tells her secrets while her mother sleeps nearby. His hopes for her, his dreams of the future. Musings about his day and things he looks forward to eating with her when her baby teeth come in. Her nose wrinkles at the mention of his favorite barbeque spot, but she’ll get past her trauma from a previous life for him. Her complicated relationship to food changes with just an excited musing from her father, she can’t imagine how hopelessly she’ll be wrapped around his finger when she gets older. Filling her with filial piety. His cheer is infectious, as she can’t help but find this man so endlessly endearing.
If only she had known what heartbreak had awaited her.
No matter how much she pleaded those halcyon days come to end, and retrospectively a deep gratitude to her situation that allowed her to remember them. Or on a particularly bad day she cursed every god and the universe for showing her love and taking it away.
A messenger in an ox animal mask had apparated in front of her very eyes, on a sleepy fall day where they were all snuggled under a tonkatsu, telling her parents they were needed, the baby was coming. They scramble to put her in a crib, donning war armor and dark cloth and metal plated headbands before they walk out the door to her nursery, closing it behind them. She remembers sticking her hand through the bars, willing them to come back.
She remembers a night, all encompassing darkness, as an unease envelopes her.
She remembers air so oppressive, she chokes on breath, the sirens that wail and wail louder than her own. Air stained red like a forrest fire.
The world quakes, rumbling with malice as sky blue ceilings crumble into dust above her head. She cries and waits and waits till she thinks her heart might break. Then it all goes still, tranquil with daybreak filtering through her nursery window but her parents do not return. They're just not there. And they just don’t come back. She remembers crying herself to sickness, she remembers clamoring over rails and crawling her way slowly and painfully to that door. The door opens but her parents are not on the other side. Just faceless strangers she can’t stand to look in the eye, remembering her mothers. Screeching when hands ungentle hold her. They visit but a few times a day, to feed, bath and check on her.
They don’t take her from the nursery but once, a man pulls a young girl with fingers dyed black on pale skin and smudges of white paint on her clothing into the nursery, they set up ladders and easels covered in large swathes of black paint while her caregivers take her to the living room and she can’t help but scream and wail. It was gone, all her parent’s things, their kotatsu, the clay pots and pans, the tea sets they collected from their travels, the antique glass jars of honeys and jams that dad would dip on her thumb for a taste, were gone. Her mother’s scrolls, the bookshelf of romance novels and shogi kifu, and mysterious scrolls that mom couldn’t wait to show her. The kitchen table that was an heirloom from her grandparent's covered in her mother’s paperwork. She hits her caretakers, screams till she goes red in the face, and the shadows wobble. They put a bitter pill in her mouth, force it between her gums and down her throat, and she wakes up in the nursery. She prays it was all just a nightmare.
They talk in hushed voices, with sickly tones trying not to convey their pity, only growing bolder with time when she refuses to respond.
“Poor Chouten and Shizuki-sama. Leaving behind Kichou like that. She looks so pitiful”
“Don’t you know? They died heroically in the Kyuubei attack. It’s such a shame.”
“She’s so quiet, are you sure she’s not…you know?”
For a while she’s in denial, but her fantasy of her parents walking through that door are the only thing that seems to give her reincarnation any sort of reason or purpose. She knows it isn’t logical, that her parents perished that night, they wouldn’t be coming back. “Kichou” wishes so fervently that her imagination becomes passing specters, and her closest companions.Their visage, this longing is maybe the only thing keeping her sane as her father’s silhouette casts a shade over her, so she can hide in his warmth.
She is well maintained but not loved. Picking her up only when necessary, cleaning only when necessary, trying to get her attention only when necessary. Then she doesn’t feel like doing much of anything. Her caretakers are worried. As she stays in her crib staring past them at the door. They remark callously that she has too much Nara blood in her, and her nature is too slothlike. Ire rises within her, there is something dangerous hidden under the soft rolls of her body, a sharp mind recognizing a slight against her mother’s family. She huffs and with a well time kicked to a bowl of mush, manages to make a mess out of her nanny who huffs and leaves her before she loses her temper at the child. Good, she hates her too. “Kichou” decides she doesn’t care and resumes her favorite pastime of watching her nursery door. She waits, and waits, and waits.
They feed by bottle and she never knows hunger but longing for her mother’s warm embrace as she cradles her. They whisper in hushed tones, that she’s missed another milestone, another marker of development as they beg her to speak, to stand again, to walk. They worry about deficiencies. She grows bigger but doesn’t really feel older as there isn’t much to mark a passage of time except maybe a few painful months of teething. They switch to oat or rice porridge, disgusting unpalatable gruel, she refuses to eat more than a few spoonfuls, even when the hunger is all consuming. Her weight is only maintained with fortified formula bottles that she knows she is too old for. They try other solids, but it all turns bitter and tasteless in her mouth. It did not smell like her father’s cooking so she refuses anything else. She goes from a truly massive baby to a waning toddler, She wonders why her caregivers refuse to give her up and give up on her in return. She’d rather cut her own nose to spite her face. She is spiteful, she is stubborn, and she is powerless, it never seems to change between lives, so it must be an intrinsic part of her soul.
She understands, she listens but does not do much of anything. Her door opens one night and a scarred man with an eyepatch walks through, flanked by two individuals in blank masks. She acknowledges his unusual features but can’t really force herself to remember his face if pressed. He might as well be wearing another blank mask for all that did for her. There’s something menacing about his aura, like he means harm, means to do her harm.
She finds instead of fear, apathy invades her senses as her vision goes past the mysterious man and his retinue and continues to stare at the door. Willing them to disappear if she fails to acknowledge them, much like her caretaker. The man peers down into her crib, that she has admittedly outgrown, assessing her as her eyes remain locked on the door. A gnarled hand reaches down and tries to manipulate her body, instead she goes slack while she plays dead, her head lulling to the side and back to the door. “Look at me.” He commands and Kichou would snort if she could.
“A Failure! An unfortunate mix of gluttony and sloth. Useless” He sounds disappointed. Like she isn’t what he expected when he seems little more than a boogeyman himself. It's okay she reasons because she’s hopelessly disappointed that he isn’t the person she is waiting for either. The light from the cracked door stretches a shadow, the murderous visage of her mother darkens the frame, likely another hallucination of her subconscious. Her beautiful mother wouldn’t look so scary, the babe is sure, nor drawing a gleaming white katana in preparation for striking.
The man grabs her arm and squeezes painfully, but Kichou’s eyes remain on the inky black shade of her mother. “LOOK AT ME!” He screams, twisting her arm. She refuses to look. Kichou has never obeyed a command in this life and she won’t start now. The shadow of the blade stretches from her mothers hands towards the man standing above her cradle. Her mother’s long black hair crawled like a writhing mass of tendrils, creeping along the walls inching closer to them. Like something out of a horror movie. “I said, Look at me! YOU DEFECTIVE THING!” He commands and Kichou stares at the wall where the silhouette of her mother who has sword overhead ready to swing down.
Tensions rise as one of the masked ninja turns their head toward the door. And for a moment Kichou is unsure if someone else can see what she sees. They alert the man regardless by placing a hand on his shoulder, he radiates frustration as if deliberating something. His fingers uncurl from her bicep, letting her go. “I’m sure a failure will be cut down sooner rather than later. I’ll collect samples then.” Just as quickly the man disappears from her sight, and all she can think is good riddance.
The next morning one of her handlers remarks on the hand shaped bruise on her bicep and there's unease in the air when she says she will have to report this to the elders. One of the women who takes care of her, disappears after that. Kichou thinks maybe she quit unexpectedly but the other women seem nervous about something, they begin dropping like flies till only her main caretaker remains. Frustration mounts as the woman is unprepared for the taxing task of taking care of such a difficult child alone. Baths, and food become more infrequent. The visits as well. ‘Good, it’ll be over soon.’
She’s pretty sure by her size and mobility in her limbs that she should be a walking, talking toddler by now, a few years must have passed. More time than she spent with her parents. Her heart breaks all over again. A depression takes her deep and uncaring. It felt so unfair.
It was after a week of refusing to eat more than a few spoonfuls of mush that her nanny seemed to give up and arranged an appointment at the hospital. This might mean they will institutionalize her before sending her to the orphanage, but apathy continues to numb her limbs. Until the aforementioned day rolls around and nanny dresses her in her least stained clothes, a simple shirt and shorts, no shoes and no socks, Instead choosing to secure her with a sash around the woman’s waist. For the first time in a long long time she leaves the nursery, the first time in her life she has left the house and beyond that a compound she never knew existed for that matter. As row houses and dusty streets pour out into a bustling village of activity. She marvels at the architecture, a weird mish mash of feudal japan with modern amenities mixed in, before she thought she was just in an old house with some renovations but now looking at the electrical lines criss-crossing the bright blue sky she realizes not a linear time frame she stumbled into but that this is not the same world at all.
Or at least no location that she’s heard of. Most of the people seem to prefer modern western clothes and open toed shoes which Kichou finds most strange because all their roads are dirt. Wouldn’t their toes get dusty? Many are content to not pay them any mind but some, especially the people around the clan compound stare her down. She tries her best to avoid their gaze as she instead looks at the blue sky. The hospital is strange too, a modern building with none of the modern medical equipment to go with it. Instead there’s nurses with glowing green palms that check patients in rotation. They then take her to a play room with a glass panel on the side that Kichou surmises must be for observation as it’s one way glass. Their first mistake is the nurse who lifts her from one of her caretakers hands, places her on the ground on her back to see if she at least flips over. Instead a mullish part of her hind brain flicks to life and she lets her head lull to the door. Watching it intently.
They call her name but her gaze remains fixed. “Kichou-chan can you look at me?” “Kichou over hear.” “Look at me” She squirms away. A nurse invades her vision wagging a finger in her face instead of following it, she rolls her eyes around it to the nurse’s consternation. The jig is up it seems as a nurse places either hand under her arms and lifts her up setting her on her two feet.Their second mistake. Let it never be said that Akimichi Kichou is not the most stubborn girl to walk this new and strange earth if it can even be called that anymore.
She sticks both arms straight out from her body as she tilts forward, falling with a rather satisfying thump as her belly cushions her fall. She lies there, motionless as she turns her head towards the door. A huge belly laugh so familiar it makes her eyes water comes from the wall with the one way glass. Her head snaps up startling the nurses and her caregivers with more mobility than she’s every previously expressed, gets up and RUNS to the glass pane slamming her open faced hand against it, startled by how her hand is a little bigger than she remembers. The hallucinations have never been auditory before, maybe there’s a chance, a small insignificant chance that her dad survived and maybe he was just in the hospital for a really really long time. It’s possible. She can survive on possible. She slams her hand down again. Kichou seems to even surprise herself as it shakes from her effort before a hairline crack appears on the darkened glass.
A sheepish “oops.” Leaves her mouth. She stands on her toes, willing herself taller as she raises her chin on the window seal, trying to peer past it despite her futile efforts. “Dad?” she calls out hesitantly, hoping against hope. She’s gentle this time as she presses her hand on the glass. Her chest arrest with an anxious sort of wonder as the shade of a hand much bigger than her own presses back. The hard skin of calluses leaves prints on the glass. Her dad’s hand. Kichou can barely contain her excitement as she jumps up and down. “Dad!!” Only to flinch from the pity in her caregiver's voice as she murmurs a watery “Kichou-chan” behind her. The hand disappears from the glass and Kichou cries out. She bangs on the glass, her hand doubled in size, she knows she's scaring the nurses, she’s scaring herself to be honest. When there’s no response. Her mind reeling as she scurries to the door on the opposite side of the room, determined instead of waiting, to open it on her own. As her hand reaches for the handle it opens revealing not her father but a man that looks similar. The same long reddish-brown hair, the same strange face paint and the same strange clothes her father wore, but there’s no scar under his left eye, no bow in his lip pulled wide in a smile or open arms waiting for a hug. Just another stranger of some relation to pity her.
The light leaves her eyes with an “Oh.” Energy waning, she drops first in a sitting position but her sadness can’t even stand that as she lies back down, turning her head towards the door looking past him. Instead of invading her personal space or even obstructing her vision like people are want to do. Her not father sits down beside her, looking out the open door with her. Her caretaker and the nurses seem to take some sort of offense to this as they exclaim “Chouza-sama!” “Akimichi-sama you need to stay out like we talked…” before out of the corner of her eye, the man raises one hand to silence them. The man almost sounds like her father too when he assures them with a simple nasally. “It’s alright.”
He’s someone important, important enough not to spend time with a pitiful orphan like her, despite their apparent relation. They sit in silence until Kichou grows frustrated with no one passing by, it was a hospital, there should be carts, nurses, something, instead nothing as she stares intensely out of the door. Whether that's a tense couple minutes or a few hours she can’t really tell. She hears a crinkling, a rustling of a chip bag and the man opens it in a smooth motion. He can tell she’s intrigued as he holds it out to her.
“Want one?”
She’s uncertain of her voice from both underuse and how tight grief has made it. She turns fully on her side to look at him. One hand supporting her head.
“Th-” she clears her throat with a chuff. “the first one?” Her handler seems surprised, and the nurses likewise, but it seems like her first words belong to this stranger. The bag isn’t withdrawn, his eyes closed serenely as he patiently waits for her. She gets the feeling he’ll continue to wait for her. Hesitantly she reaches in, fingers reaching for the first chip she comes across, before she quickly plucks it from the bag and shoves it in her mouth in a sharp motion. It’s bbq flavored, not her favorite, it tastes of the remnants of a cruel boy she used to know, but it’s not bad as the flavor explodes over her tongue. It’s her fathers favorite after all. She hums in consideration before turning to lie flat on her back again.
Thoughtfully the man questions “Why just the first one?”
In her past life, the flavor grew tiresome to her after the first few bites, food an aching crutch when she felt sad, or lonely, or happy for that matter, and everything in between. So much so that it lost its flavor rather quickly. There was a science behind it, one her first mother no more than a faceless shade in memory was quick to remind her. She was a health and wellness influencer of sorts and if asked she would say “Ren” was the daughter of a distant relation she was helping. “Ren” would hoard snacks and food for that matter after her mother put her on a restrictive diet that left her starving and in pain. Her bag became filled with half eaten snacks, that she grazed on when the need arose. Refusing to throw them out even when weeks old. Not out of fear of being wasteful but because even a stale snack was still a balm to her stress cracked soul. It's too complex an answer the man is looking for though,and if Kichou tries to articulate it might reveal the Ren underneath. She considers all the same, a beauty in simplicity.
“The first one tastes the best.” She watches him out of the corner of his eye, he’s so large he doesn’t fully fit into view. Much like her father but not quite. She can at least see the corners of his mouth crinkle upward, amused by something she doesn’t know.
“I’m a last chip kinda guy myself” as he jams a handful in his mouth, like it’s a big secret between the two of them. Choza-sama clearly has her father’s mannerisms, maybe it’s a family thing. She contemplates nature versus nurture from her admittedly unique perspective. If her past self was like her father, what did that mean? The only thing that brought her any comfort was that maybe there was some guiding force that chose them to be her parents. Or maybe they were the most suitable for her soul. A connection that felt like fate rather than an ambiguous coincidence of life.
She grows listless as her mind boggles, she feels like she’s drowning in gray tiles and not cheerfully painted blue skies. Kichou tries to sound woefully pitiful as she pleads. “I want to go home.”
He sounds truly regretful as he says “You can’t.”
Her vision tunnels, as her breath sharply picks up. She clamors onto uncertain legs, barreling into him, her tiny fists beating on his solid shoulder dwarfing them by comparison. “WHY CAN’T I?!” Tears burn her eyes, as she recognizes she’s past the point of a tantrum and into a full meltdown. She screams as she flails into him. “I WANNA GO HOME! TAKE ME HOME!” Her chest heaves into unimaginable proportions, her fists swell into balls so large that Kichou can’t chalk up to a child’s perspective anymore, she’s a monster. Red-faced and rampaging as the frightened nurses rush from the room and a tearful caregiver runs forward to collect her “Choza-sama I can-”
Yet again he halts her with a wave of his hand, and his calm demeanor, stern and unyielding (patient) like her mountainous father sends her into a further fit of fury. She wants to hurt him, spread her pain outwards as she clobbers his shoulder. He doesn’t even flinch and that just incenses her further.
He calmly addresses her. “You and I both know why. I can’t let you anymore.” a large rough hand, endlessly gentle rests on unkempt spiked dark auburn locks.
“IF I WANNA ROT! LET ME ROT! WHAT DO YOU CARE?!” It's an acknowledgement, a harsh reality of her depression. The first one to truly see her struggle for what it was, is a man she hates so much at this moment, who wears a familiar frame that just doesn’t fill the hole in her heart. A not father. She hits harder, faster. Puffed up on heated anger. She feels the room shaking, or maybe she’s shaking. She isn't sure, but he is sturdy all the same.
“I love you.”
Something in her breaks, overwhelming grief as words not even her parents have ever said to her brought her to heel. It was three little words, something in passing she always heard but never received, unworthy of everyone’s affection. The unfairness of it all overwhelms her as she deflates, steam rising on her skin.
She looks at him squarely in the eye, the first time since her parents died. The first face she’s seen and has been seen by since. The shadows stretch, and behind this stranger she sees the apparition of her father, his mountainous body eclipsing her own. Shade from the eroding fury that burns hotter than the sun. She can feel her skin cooling, comforting her. Fat globs of tears well in her eyes and rivet down her cheeks. Her chin scrunches as snot runs down her nose. The thought she’s an ugly little monster, intrusively enters her mind.
“You don’t know me. How can you love me?” Its barely more audible than a whisper as her voice breaks midway through.
“I loved them and they loved you. I don’t need to know more.” It’s so kind. So endlessly kind that she chokes on it. She feels herself curl into her body, fetal by his side. He gently pries her into his lap, wiping her nose on his sleeve before he pulls another chip bag from a waist pouch, opening it in front of her and looking at her expectantly. She pulls another first chip from the bag before putting it in her mouth, letting the flavor sit on her tongue. Barbeque chip meets drying unyielding tongue as she another wave of tears breaks through. Not father is patient. The tears dry leaving swollen blotches of skin and a raw feeling spread over her skin.
“Where will I go?” Kichou whispers. Akimichis never know hunger but are no strangers to longing. Yearning.
He looks at her thoughtfully before jamming a handful of chips into his mouth, a greasy lip quirks at her. “Wanna stay with me?” He says it’s like a nonchalant afterthought but Kichou thinks it might have already been a foregone conclusion.
Chapter 2: Chapter 2
Notes:
Disclaimer: If you think a chapter needs a specific trigger warning I'll add it, if you put in comments
Chapter Text
He doesn’t move to pick her up, he doesn’t immediately assume her incompetence, it’s a startling difference. Instead he takes her hand and patiently matches her tottering stride as they make their way down the tiled hallways. Her caregiver, portly and only vaguely looking like Choza-sama, seems embarrassed and apologetic as the doctor clears her developmental testing. Discussing the results like she’s not there, like she doesn’t understand. Choza meets her wandering eyes and smiles, and Kichou finds that maybe just for once she can focus on just this moment for him. It turns out Kichou is five, close to six years old and only a handful of months away from being able to enter the academy, whatever that means. Choza-sama seems to inquire further only about this fact but the doctor looks hesitant, looking through Kichou like something is lacking. The doctor asks her a few questions, to which she responds with a few words “yes, no, I didn’t care, I don’t care, tastes bad, can read some, I’m tired….” before rovering green hands over her. Her “coils” are abnormally large but not underdeveloped, her “gates” are small whatever that means. Anger pours off of Choza like steam when the words malnutrition are uttered, but the doctor quickly tries to joke it off, something about having the right clan for the job.
Choza seems to consider this for a moment before moving on. Her not father only quirks his lips when the doctor wishes to run an IQ test to rule out further learning disabilities and says it won’t be necessary, she’s her mother’s daughter after all. Something about the way he says it makes Kichou want to puff up her chest, and gloat. “It won’t be accurate, it’s a Nara trait.” He thanks the doctor with a shallow bow, and fully dismisses her nervous caregiver, whether this is a permanent thing or not Kichou has yet to figure that out. They turn to leave, her not father inclining his head to her caregiver asking where she left Kichou’s shoes. Yet again she looks embarrassed as she admits Kichou doesn’t own any. She didn’t know that Kichou was even capable of walking, having never shown an indication before.
Choza-sama seems to crinkle his face at this, making her caregiver scramble with excuses.It must sound lame in the woman’s ear too because she hangs her head which she doesn’t lift. He easily dismissed her with another wave, before leaving the woman and the doctor behind, opening the door for them to leave. Kichou tumbles through, her head swiveling at anything that interests her instead of keeping it fixed in place. She quickly becomes obsessed with the pattering noise of her own feet hitting the tile, tapping experimentally. Choza does not seem to mind as she takes her time to wander. The doctors and nurses all seem to wave or bow in his direction and he takes time to bow and wave back. She can be patient in return.
They pass an open room, with a nurse roving a green hand over the chest of an old man, marking things down on a chart. Kichou stops and stares.
“Wanna ask me something?” Choza-sama inquires delicately.
“Why are her hands green?” Kichou’s voice is hoarse from her tantrum earlier, but her curiosity outweighs her discomfort.
“She’s channeling chakra to perform medical jutsu.” He patiently explains before a gentle tugs pulls her along when it’s no longer polite to look.
Several words jump out at her. Nothing she can logic out or make reasonable jumps to.
“What’s chakra?” Kichou inquires further, hoping to unravel the mystery with one question.
Choza seems deep in contemplation, carefully choosing his words. Kichou wonders if this a personality quirk or circumstance dictates his consideration of her. She hopes it's the former.
“The energy of all things.” Kichou’s mind boggles at the simplicity, the implication being that every living thing in this universe can channel chakra or maybe just humans can. As simple as talking or walking. But if that was the case, her caregiver would have channeled it. Maybe only special people could.What was jutsu? Context clues implied it was a technique or maybe the term application was more accurate. Choza chuckles before swiping a thumb between her eyebrows.
“You got the Nara thinking wrinkles for sure.” A frown adorns her face as it isn’t the first time Kichou has her mother’s maiden name applied to some sort of feature or negative trait.Kichou isn’t sure Choza means the same thing, he says it almost fondly. But she isn’t sure how to articulate her question without offending her new benefactor somehow. Instead she diverts, she wants to observe more before she says anything.
“What am I to you?” Kichou jerks as Choza stops in his tracks, he looks at her with half-lidded eyes. It’s not unkind, not assessing but considerate. A personality trait for sure, as he struggles to not give her some sort of complex as her newfound place in his life.
“A beloved niece.” It's choked with emotion, she wonders if he felt the same grief. Ugly jealousy rears its head as she realizes she had nowhere near the same amount of time with her father, she knows she can’t compare grief but the dark twisted part remains all the same. Often there was a passing thought she would suffer through a 100 horrible lifetimes for just one more year spent with her parents. Maybe this man knew the same longing.
A not father becomes an uncle, but doesn’t assuage her lingering questions. ‘Then why have we never met before’ Kichou has always passively gained information about this world, she knew there were clans or she was the byproduct of two prominent ones. It’s just hard to differentiate what’s fact and what’s fiction, that her subconscious cooked up in her early stint of isolation. There’s a breeze on her neck as a tear in collar proves that her limbs expanding wasn’t her imagination but didn’t seem to alarm Choza at all. Was it a trait specific to the Akimichi or maybe the Nara? She couldn’t tell, and for some reason she’s afraid to ask.
“Older or younger?” she inquires. Choza’s lip quirk.
“You’re the daughter of my younger brother.” Kichou stops and considers this.
“So you’re the head of the family then?” At this Choza gives another full belly laugh.
“And how did you come to that conclusion?” He only seems to become more cheerful as Kichou gives him a rather sarcastic, and in her opinion rude look, but sometimes it’s hard to control herself.
“Please, every doctor stopped you to pay their respects. You could be somebody high ranking, but nanny seemed scared so you have way more authority at least, Choza-sama” They resume their slow toddle down the hallways as Choza seems to plead with her, why he was cajoling a toddler confounds her all the same. “You don’t need to call me that, Kichou-chan.” his smile jolly as she quirks a brow at her new nickname.
“What would you prefer to be called, then?” Without missing a beat he says “Uncle.” She nods sagely. “Most honorable Uncle then.” Choza’s shoulders shake with laughter at her joke, his belly jiggling with concealed mirth. Ruffling her hair only grimacing when he tugs against a knot or more accurately a matte at the nap of her neck when she refused to lift her head from her crib bed. “We’ll work on it.” It's a promise that seems to fill her with a sort of brevity.They settle into a comfortable sort of silence until they get to the front desk and therefore a door. She has to move forward. With almost no effort he pulls her up by the arm and onto his hip as they make their way back to the Akimichi compound, slowing only to wave at the wide grinning faces of the Akimichi clan.
It only becomes a problem when they don’t make a turn that Kichou knows would lead her back to her home, somewhere that sits on the edge of the compound, two rights and left from the main street and food stalls at the edge of the forest and the trees and instead keep to the big road that leads to an even bigger house. The clan head’s house probably does not have painted blue ceilings. Choza-sama seems to look at her with intent concern as her head seems to gravitate that way no matter how he jostles her or adjusts her on his hip. Her head rotating when they pass by it like a homing beacon.
Eventually, they make their way past a final gate and into a well manicured garden leading to a gazebo, and what looked like a stacked ornamental koi pond and a rather comfy looking engawa. Kichou could see her mother taking a catnap in the late afternoon sun there with full clarity. The shadows of pillars and slivers of sunlight filtering through the trees freckling her pale skin. Her long black hair fanned out behind her, intertwining with her arms as they cushion her head. The vision peers up at her with sharp dark eyes before the mirage winks at her, vanishing between Kichou’s blinks.
He opens the grandiose house to a rather modern looking entryway and a shout. “We’re home!” Kichou’s heart quickens at the use of we. There’s a series of slams and a rapidly approaching pittering as what looks like a large ball shoved into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt barrels into them. The ball sprouts limbs and unfurls into a pudgy toddler maybe a little smaller than herself. Maybe that was a jutsu? A boy into a ball jutsu.
A near mini-replica of her uncle clings to the adults' ankles looking pleadfully up at them. “Dad! Dad! Is this her?” The kid only seems to squeal when Choza-sama nods, while Kichou can’t help but stare. This world had magic that was just glossed over and common place “Shika and Ino are gonna be so jealous.” He smiles gummily like a cat that got the canary before he paws at her bare foot, urging Choza-sama to let her down.
“WOOah there! Hold your horses, Choji. Remember what I said? Delicate. Manners. Patience.” Choji seems to pout abashedly before clearing his throat and bowing deeply in front of them. “I’m sorry onee-san. I’m your little brother Choji! I love barbeque and chips. My favorite flavor is barbeque chips! What’s yours?” Kichou’s eyes soften as Choji exudes the same proud aura of her father and uncle. She finds it’s the same sort of endearing to say the least. She is still a little put out at the introduction. The implication being that this arrangement was an inevitability and that she was to be treated delicately, chaffs her. She quirks an eyebrow at Choza regardless, a warning in her favor would have been nice.
Not one to crush a kid’s enthusiasm, especially not one that seems so excited to meet her. “Call me Kichou, Choji-sama” She offers breathily with an inclination of her head. The little boy seems to frown at the mention of the boundary she set with the honorific. But she tilts her head in consideration. “...Mountain yam, and honey butter.” It seems to renew his fervor as he rapidly nods his head. “Those are some good flavors.” Choza seems to think nothing of it, but she’s pretty sure she’s never eaten either as Kichou, her caregivers preferring gruel unsure of if she would eat or if her stomach could even handle more complex solids. They said how incredibly picky she was, when she threw their terrible cooking back into their faces.
The little boy blinks up at her, and she lazily blinks back. He squints serenely, rather pleased about something. He pulls on his father’s pant leg again, whispering. “Dad, isn’t she kinda like Shika?”
The man laughs, deep chested, Kichou finds herself entranced by the vibration of the rumble. Choza ruffles his son's hair and fully steps into the genkan taking off his sandals with a practiced east never once putting her down before making his way further in the house. The toddler scampering behind them. There's a humming and wafting smell of food and Kichou can only assume they are gravitating towards the kitchen. There’s a woman behind the counter, strikingly beautiful with drooping eyes smudged with red powder, wearing a bright pink checkered yukata and a frilly apron. She has blond hair curled gently in a styled short bob and a beauty mark above full lips. She turns her head and exclaims a loud “Maaa! Dear you didn’t say how cute she would be!” Kichou can find herself blushing and resists the urge to hide her face in her uncle's shirt. Kichou has never looked at her own reflection in this life and it makes her wonder what iteration of features of her parents has she inherited. It fills her with a gentle excitement.
Choza only seems to nod and smile before maneuvering Kichou into a chair at the table. There’s a scuffle of chair legs as Choji tries to get himself up to the seat next to her, grinning when she pulls on his hand to help when she starts to see him struggle. “Thanks!” He says cheerfully. He doesn’t let go of her hand once he’s settled. “Mama! Her favorite flavors are Yam and Honey butter!!” The woman seems to load a massive tray with snacks and cups of barley tea, before she sets it deftly in front of them. It almost makes “Ren” freeze, not once has anyone told her to watch what she eats, no one has commented on her size. “Ren” waits with bated breath, ‘a lady should always be delicate, she should never eat till she’s full, wait till the men have eaten their fill’ but after an encouraging nod from Choza, Kichou thinks that maybe this is different, has the space to be different, and not will herself to be smaller.
“Maaaa! Is that so? We’ll have to stock up.” The woman sets a cup of iced barley tea in front of both of them before Choji tears in. Her hand grazes the hem of Kichou’s torn collar and sleeve as she passes. “Anata, this isn’t expansion wear.” The madam of the house says it more like a question than a statement directed at her husband. Choza, who is helping himself to a large bowl of chips, looks up at his wife with solemn eyes. “They didn’t know she could mold before today. They didn’t seem to know anything in general” Mold? What was she a fruit? How would she mold? Whatever that meant seems to morph the peasant shape of the lady’s mouth into a frown before she quickly smooths it over. The hand continues to rove over the nape of her neck before the woman clicks her tongue finding the matte Kichou has been growing.
“She’ll need a new wardrobe and a trim. It’s such a shame, the color is so pretty, maybe we can save it.” Panic rises in her chest at the thought of forcing her gracious hosts to do something as tedious as brushing her hair out in what could take hours. “It’s fine! Ano...” Her eyes shift nervously, as she struggles to find a polite way to address the older woman. Kichou turned her head to look at her. “Call me Auntie Momoko. OOOoo… Momo-baa-chan sounds cute too. Kicchan! Call me Baamomo!!” A poised hand rests on her chin as Momoko-sama contemplates airly, Kichou gets the sense her aunt is a little ditzy. “Maybe even Mamako. Ehehehehehehe”
“Momoko-sama” Another frown quickly smoothed over. “It’s alright I don’t mind a trim, we can shave it off if that’s more convenient.” Lady Momoko looks her straight in the eye, a pleasant smile never dropping from her face. “Absolutely. Not.” She makes an x shape with her arms before taking one of her husband’s chips and plopping it in her mouth. “We’ll go shopping tomorrow, maybe even get a few things for your new room.” Kichou’s thoughts take a dark turn at the mention of the new room but she tries to will it away. Maybe if she’s good and doesn’t make a sound, or any inconvenience in general she can ask to paint her ceilings blue or go back home sometimes. The lady wanders back into the kitchen, Kichou’s eyes boggling at Momoka-sama flipping a heated wok the size of her body frying something delicious smelling in the process. It smells like her dad’s cooking and all the sudden Kichou is embarrassed at the rumbling sound coming from her stomach.
“Mama’s cooking smells so good right? It makes my tummy grumble too.” Choji looks up at her with large sympathetic eyes, before patting his stomach and turning back to his “snack” Her embarrassment washed away in a flash as no one seemed to even mind. Choji too seems to be kind.
But mostly hungry, he’s voracious with his crunching. An appetite she’s both in awe and jealous of. She eyes a few of her things she knows she enjoyed in past life, as she daintily tries to take what she wants, as much as etiquette can allow. She isn’t sure how much her new stomach can handle, she knows not much. The Akimichi are all pump (nourished) so it doesn’t really seem like a problem like in her last life, but it's her relationship to food that’s troubled. Somewhere along the way, a neurotic thought that she just simply could no longer digest whatever put in front of her created a pathological response. It drove her caretakers mad. She puts a rice cracker in mouth, marveling at the crisp crunch, tasting heavenly. It’s so good she moves quickly to grab another, trying to recreate the sensation. Equal parts new found vigor and hunger are gnawing at the pit of her stomach, that's no longer tight and unmanageable. She scarfs down a few more before she realizes there’s only one left on the tray. Kichou stops herself.
She looks up to see all three people looking at her with wide pleased smiles. She ducks her chin. Kichou remembers her uncle likes the last chip and might want one so she offers it up to him by placing it shyly in front of him. Her uncle guffaws before taking it and snapping it decisively in half and placing one half in front of both the children. Choji takes it with a pleased hum, quickly downing it and looking at Kichou with an expectant stare. She slides it toward Choji but Choji slides it back without a second thought. “”Eat, you’re too skinny! Kichou-nee.” Face fraught with concern, only looking pleased when she takes that last satisfying bite.
This world was filled with ninja organized in almost militaristic frequencies as her world view expanded, it was concerning to learn how dangerous this world was, how many of the people in her life were shinobi or training to be shinobi as Choza-sama asks if she wants to attend the academy. He seems to think it’s a good idea, that apparently she has a deposition for it. Mold meant the ability to mold chakra to her will, her fits of rage where her body morphed seemed to be an unintended ability of her bloodline limit. She had a lot of chakra it seemed, but there was something wrong about it as she cannot perform jutsu as easily as Choji can after uncle shows her how to mold chakra with hand signs. Or other talented children in her class, even though it wasn’t required they liked to show off at any chance they got.
It seemed to be something important that they all mocked her for along with her weight, eventually being nicknamed Kujira or whale. Kichou just snorts as she falls to the bottom of the class rankings. Like children squabbling over who could die faster, Kichou worried as she saw the gentle indoctrination in lessons, trying to drown it out as children seemed actually proud to have their parents die in battle. One of the first things they learned about was the Kyubei attack. More than a few children raised their hands and proudly proclaimed their relatives had died for the village that night. Like her parents had …. She shares a look with the scarred instructor of her class, a man who would teach general studies in a traditional format that she was used to. He seems just as shaken at their proclamations as she is, as he tries to gulp away the wince of pain on his face. There’s a silent acknowledgement between them, the only sane ones in a class of insanity. It sets her tone of treatment for the rest of the year. One of her refusing to acknowledge her class and Iruka trying to force her too.
She fails the first year of the academy, which seems a feat in itself because she is pretty sure this class is like first grade where all you have to do is show up and socialize. Kichou neither shows up, nor socializes with any sort of regularity, and when she does show up she would much rather stare at the door than pay attention to a lecture going at such a slow pace. She liked learning in her past life but even she reviled at certain bits of patriotism and dogma being taught to children. Kichou often couldn’t wait to run home, eventually skipping and wandering the city when she felt like it. The year spent with the clan head and his family has proven to be kind to her as she flourished under their care, but maybe she has flourished a little too well, and with it came a new set of problems. Kichou towers over even the tallest boys of their grade and she now weighs maybe the same as two or three of the snot nosed brats combined.
Akimichi’s bodies turned out to be special, they could expand their mass at will in all sorts of strange configurations at the cost of burning their adipose fat tissues. Suddenly the fact that ninety percent of their clan was overweight despite being active shinobi made so much more sense. Kichou is still trying to wrap her head around the ruling class being ninja, clans, jutsu and chakra. The academy cleared up a lot of her confusion but maybe only after the first day had she gotten the gist of it. She read the texts for the year that night then after that it was so boring she thought she might pass out. In fact she did. Multiple times. Much to the chagrin of her chunin instructors. There wasn’t even much in the way of having to prove their knowledge either, it was a world that never developed standardized testing, much to her horror and delight.
Participation was a majority of her grade the first year. Participation was a majority of her grade the first year turned out to be her downfall.
Adding to her lament was the fact she was pretty sure she had developed some sort of communication disorder. It wasn’t a simple matter of being shy either. She met any stranger that wasn’t part of Choza-sama’s family with exasperation and hostility. Including her own clan, which meant she rarely left the house and next to disappeared when there was a meeting with the allied clans at their home. Often slipping off to her old home where no one seemed to follow her, Choza-sama would come to collect her at the end of the night. The hope had been by sending her to the academy on time that she would maybe learn to socialize outside of her newly developed dependency to some degree. ‘The tallest nail gets hammered down’ It turns out to be no different than her first school experience.
The girls all instantly reject her on principle and the boys make jokes at her expense. Somewhere along the way the rumors that she was stupid, ugly, smelled bad and was useless was met with the general consensus of being unabashedly factual and anyone seen talking to her was to be sentenced to social suicide as decreed by the high council of brats. It was all okay by her to be honest, she hated a majority of her year, especially the snot nosed brat with the bushy eyebrows and perfectly circular eyes who spent a majority of the class staring at her while she stared at the door with a blank expression on her face.More than once had a teacher reprimanded her when they caught him slacking off. Blah, Blah, blah, bad influence, don’t bother the others who might actually become shinobi, blah, blah, blah. The lecture she got for sucker punching the Hyuuga boy in the face after he said she was a ‘disgrace to the noble house of Akimichi not that the bar was set very high’ was legendary, and so was his double black eye and broken nose.
Kichou didn’t know how they could turn learning literal ninja magic into an exercise in torture tactics but hey it’s school, and the last school she went to she was murdered, so…Actually no looking at the mortality rates of shinobi, this life would probably end in a premature death too. Best not to think too deeply about it. Bleakly she wonders what her next life would be, hopefully a nice fat house cat.
Kichou just hates that she disappointed Choza-sama, even though he said it didn’t matter and she should just keep trying. She knows deep down he’s regretting bringing her into the household that day. How could he not when she’s sent home with a scroll that nearly drags on the floor pinned to her new clothing each day.
She’s pretty sure the only reason is because they are too chicken to summon the head of one of the four noble houses of Konoha to essentially a kindergarten meeting. They can’t tell her to drop out either for the same reasons so it’s a unique limbo they caught themselves in. Their solution, hold her back a year so maybe Choji-sama can help her with her studies. She’s pretty sure they are assuming she can’t read or doesn’t have the mental fortitude to do so anyways. After the third or fourth letter, she can’t take it anymore. Kichou learns pretty quickly that they use chakra to bind the notes to her clothes, and just a spike of chakra is enough to disrupt it. So she walks part-way home, unsticks the scroll they stuck to her clothes with chakra, trashes it, then goes about her merry way. Sometimes she doesn’t even feel like going and instead breaks into her parent’s home and takes a nap or two before locking back up and pretending she went to school in the first place.
She would feel guilty but one look from Mizuki-sensei’s smug patronizing crusty face when she can’t throw a kunai straight to save her life, it's only when one of the girls in her class takes pity on her that she can finally cut the mustard. The girl was too congenial to be considered a friend, her popularity often diverting her attention mostly leaving Kichou to her own devices. Still the girl holds her hand, correcting her wrist as a perfectly straight training kunai flies from her hand hitting the target dead center. They drift apart when Mizuki separates them, allowing certain students to use real sharp kunai. People like the Hyuuga boy and Tenten-chan fling real weapons with accuracy that is scary, never once showing fear at possibly losing an eye, it wasn’t for her.
It’s only when Iruka-sensei gets involved that it becomes a problem. He’s a busy body, that doesn’t seem like a ninja at all and whose true calling was being a teacher all along. She could tell he had a bad habit of getting too emotionally attached, he cared too much.
He’s the one who finally summoned Momoko-sama to discuss her performance. Begrudgingly, Kichou can admit that was the play because on the surface it might look like Choza would be the scary one to get her in line and Momoko a pushover who just wanted her children to be fat and happy but really it was the opposite. Whether it was an intentional choice or not Kichou is still trying to gauge her teacher, but she has a sneaking suspicion Iruka knows what’s up. In fact he even blindsided her when school was over and Kichou was raring to go home, Lady Momoko was outside the academy, waving from the tree swing nearby as she girlishly kicked her legs. It made Kichou turn as she gathered strength to sprint away. But a delicate hand catches her collar and with ease she’s lifted in the air before Lady Momoko tucks her under her arm preventing her escape. She can hear her classmates snicker, and whistle in passing, but the woman makes no move to put her down it's how she can tell Lady Momoko is pisssseeeedddd.
She was grounded for the entirety of summer break although that wasn’t much of a punishment, she liked staying in her room anyway. Lady Momoko quickly modified it to playing outside with other miscreants and Choji for a certain amount of time each day, quite literally child’s play. Compared to the agony of the present. It was embarrassing holding Choji’s hand all the way to school, it was tortuous having to be stopped every five seconds so the Akimichi clan could congratulate the clan heir on his first day of school with food and well wishes. It was like pulling teeth from a baby when she told Choji it was best to let go of her hand and try to separate himself from her when they got closer to school. Next to impossible to explain to a toddler how social hierarchy works and how she would tank his.
When his stupid baby tears made her feel like she killed a litter of nindog puppies. Choji would only stop when she relented and hummed the rest of the way there. She wanted to drop dead when her old classmates wolf whistled and snickered when they saw them together. And Choji….dear sweet Choji….. bless his sweet unassuming soul ....waved back to them like they were great friends.The kid with bushy brows and bug eyes even stopped to ask where she was going when she passed the year two classroom.
“Kichou-nee is going to class with me!” Choji loudly exclaimed which immediately followed her own loud facepalm.
To her further anguish, the boy who she was pretty sure was the bottom of the class like her and has never in her academic career once said a word to, slaps a hand on her shoulder but to do so has to stand on his toes “KEEP FIGHTING KICHOU-HIME!” and looks so deeply into her eyes she thinks she might self combust from embarrassment. Choji looked back and forth between the two before pulling out a bag of chips and jamming a fist full in his mouth. This had to be worse than the nightmare about coming to school in her underwear while people turned into man eating mochi….This had to—
“You’re blocking the door. Some of us are here to learn, and you seem to be in the wrong place.” The Hyuuga boy takes this opportunity to slink by, making a rather pointed look at Kichou who is pretty sure all the blood has migrated to her face before loudly opening and slamming the door.
“But we aren’t in front of the door nee-chan?” Choji only looks up at her, confused. Kichou can only sputter before dragging Choji along with a few quickly mumbled words “We gotta go. Bye.” If the strange boy with bushy brows says anything she can’t really hear it over her thundering feet and pounding heart. Anymore and Kichou thinks she might explode.
When they finally get to the right room, she tries to gather herself with a few quick breaths before sliding open the door. Thankfully Choji lets go of her hand when he spots the Nara heir posted up by the window seats to sit next him, looking at her expectantly to join them. Rookie move in her opinion, the window seats were the hot seats both out of popularity and with the frequency teachers directed questions there. But hey they’ll learn the hard way, and in the meantime she can make a little distance between her and Choji. ‘The tallest nail gets hammered down' She could be the stubborn tallest nail for the little butterball, and tank the negative attention till she graduates or drops out whichever comes first. She tries to ignore his disappointed face in the meantime.
Instead Kichou takes her usual second row seat on the end so people don’t ask to get by her in the middle of the lecture. It’s annoying and gives her anxiety when they try to squeeze past or she squeezes past them in turn. Kicking up her feet and Kichou zones out at the door, letting her eyes unfocus and her fingers go numb. She’s pretty sure this might be akin to sleeping with her eyes open, in fact she’s caught herself snoring a few times too. The rest of the class usually just comes to the conclusion that she’s just a drooling idiot, which she can live with in all honesty. Its the first day so nothing she hasn’t heard before so really no harm no foul.
That’s her second, third and fourth mistake. The first being that she even woke up and came to school.
There’s a jostling to the left of her enough to knock her over and out of her seat as a fist collides with her head. “-MAKI NARUTO! AND I’M GOING TO BECOME THE HOKAGE! ‘ATTEBYO” Kichou lies on the floor for a second thinking ‘Well that’s one way to make an entrance.’ She picks herself up, dusting off the plain green yukata Lady Momoko purchased for her first day last year. And looks at her new seatmate, he’s a scrawny thing with whiskered cheeks and blonde as the sun hair, in fact they are shaped like cartoonish rays. “OH! SORRY! I DIDNT MEAN TO HIT A TEACHER!!” The whole class laughs, at whose expense she isn’t quite sure. She’s been confused for someone older before, but never mistaken for an adult. Even though she feels closer to one mentally, she lets it slide because the boy didn’t seem inherently malicious about it.
As the blond looks around in confusion. “Naruto-kun, that isn’t a teacher. She’s a student like you” Iruka sighs from the teacher’s desk. Kichou retakes her seat next to the boy who is sheepishly scratching his head, trying to laugh awkwardly along with the class. “A student who was paying attention, and would know we are doing introductions.” Iruka grinds out, testing her. Icebreakers……great, because she didn’t have to do enough in her first life apparently, they had to create a special ring of hell that was just school icebreakers for her personally. She can already feel herself zoning out again. “Akimichi Kichou, please don’t bother me.” The vein on Iruka’s is looking pretty plump and juicy the way it’s pulsating in her opinion. She gives a little bow of her head and goes back to staring at the middling distance in front of the door. Time has past when she refocuses again, cartoon sunshine is pulling on her sleeves, with one hand covering his mouth obscuring it from the teacher trying to whisper at her. “Ano sa, Ano sa, Obaa-san do you have a textbook?”
Kichou can feel her forehead tighten at being called a granny, still he seems rather precocious than malicious. Her patience hasn’t completely wanned “I’m only a year older.” She takes a quick look at the board. There’s some diagrams about the seven gates which means they are doing an early lecture on chakra. Leave it to Iruka-sensei to actually try to teach on the first day. Kichou flips open her bag, digs around the bentos and snack bags, grabs the aforementioned text book that she’s already written in the margins of, rifled through to the right page, and slides it over boy, before slamming her head down on the desk. If she knew it was going to be like this, Kichou would have tried the first year, maybe that’s the point, and Iruka is just doing this to torture her.
She feels breath tickle her ear as a hand cups around it, and the kid whisper-shouts “Thanks! Onee-san” like it’s some big conspiratorial secret to share a textbook she isn’t using. Well it is kinda cute, she guesses. Kichou only nods in acknowledgement, her head still pushed against the desk. Soon after she feels another tugging on her sleeve, to which she lets out a lengthy groan. Kichou turns her head up and squints at the boy who looks rather embarrassed about something. Sighing she forces herself to sit up. “What?” The boy seems to flinch at the question but quickly tries to recover. It's kind of jarring to be honest, it makes her feel like a bully. Itchy like her collar is too tight. He’s truly quiet when he whispers “How do you read this?” refusing to make eye contact as he points to the hiragana on the page. Kichou peers at the book, before looking back at him “...Cha.”
He nods, looking even more nervous and mumbles a quiet “Catra” under his breath, trying read along. Kichou can’t contain herself when she looks at him blank faced and goes “Meowww” The boy seems to redden, as he shakes with anger, jumping up in his seat in the middle of a lecture “ARE you making fun of me?!” She should have sat with Choji. Kichou puts a hand on his shoulder and slams him down back into his seat. Giving a quick bow of her head when Iruka looks at them irritated. She can feel the noose of detention slipping around her neck. She whispers back “No, sorry it was a dumb joke. The Cha is for Chakra. The next line is the 8 gates of Chakra, they are talking about this line here.” Kichou points to the exact spot, Iruka is reading aloud. The boy looks a little taken aback that she apologized then covers it up with a quick grin.
“Kichou-kun, since you seem to have already explained Chakra to Naruto, why don’t you stand up and tell the class?” For the love of of-! Iruka looks particularly smug when she shoves herself out of her seat. “Chakra is the energy of all living things.” She goes to sit down but Iruka puts his hands on his hips and smirks. “And?”
“What do you mean and, sensei, I gave you my answer?” Kichou grounds out, Iruka is trying to push her buttons she knows but it doesn’t really change the situation. He’s already proven her academic success in his hands, he and Lady Momoko are scheduled for afternoon tea every month for the foreseeable future.
“ANNNDDD, I found it lacking, would you mind providing the class with more information Kichou-kun?” Iruka looks like he’s going to force her until he’s satisfied, it’s a silent battle of wills, but she knows she’s already been beaten.
She can feel her anger blister, as she molds chakra into her chest to expand her lungs taking the deepest breath possible, much like a puffed up bullfrog. The kids around her all seem to move back or lean over in their seats as if she might explode. Which in all honesty she might.
“Chakra-is-the-energy-of-all-living-things.-Only-Shinobi-are-capable-of-molding-in-any-meaningful-capacity-This-is-due-to-the-years-of-extensive-training-it-requires-to-develop-in-the-body-and-conciously-molding-it.-There-are-two-types-of-Chakra-Spiritual-And-Physical.-Physcial-Chakra-can-be-expanded-through-rigourous-exercise-Spiritual-Chakra-can-be-expanded-through-intense-meditation.-Most-Shinobi-refine-control-rather-than-try-to-increase-natural-reserves-as-all-humans-are-born-with-a-chakra-circulatory-system-called-chakra-coils-that contain-finite-reserves- and-develop-with-age.Instead-Shinobi-train-tenketsu-or-gates-in-order-to-correctly-mold-chakra-and-use-hand-signs-to-perform-various-jutsu.THE-HAND-SIGNS-ARE” Kichou can feel her face go purple from the lack of oxygen, but let it never been she isn’t the most stubborn, spiteful girl in Kohonoha. She molds more chakra in her hands to enlarge them for a demonstration of the hand seals, she knows she’s pushing the edge of her energy, but she really wants to wipe that fucking smug smile off of Iruka’s face.
“MONKEY-DRAGON-RAT-BIRD-SNAKE-DOG-OX-HORSE-TIGER-BOAR-RAM-HARE!”
“HAND-SIGNS-ARE-MOSTLY-USED-TO-MOLD-CHAKRA-INTO-5-MAIN-ELEMENTS-FIRE-WATER-EARTH-LIGHTNING-IN-A-PROCESS-CALLED-ELEMENTAL-CONVERSION.THE-LAND-OF-FIRE-PREFERS-FIRE-TECHNIQUES.”
Kichou takes another sharp inhale of breath, too light headed to continue. The students around her duck for cover, with the exception of the brat next to her.
“THE-BODY-CONTAINS-AFFINITY-FOR-TWO-ELEMENTS-ALTHOUGH-MANY-JOUNIN-KNOW-JUTSU-FROM-ALL-FIVE.THE-HOKAGE-KNOWS-OVER-A-THOUSAND-ELEMENTAL-JUTSU-NICKNAMED-THE-PROFESSOR”
“THE-GATES-IN-ORDER-ARE-OPENING-HEALING-LIFE-PAIN-LIMIT-VIEW-WONDER-AND-DEATH.ONLY-A-SELECT-FEW-TALENTED-SHINOBI-CAN-OPEN-THEM-IRUKA-SENSEI!”
Kichou collapses back into her seat and takes a few startling gasps of air to catch her breath. The boy next to her is already yanking on her sleeve again with an expression of wonder on his face, another question on his lips.
“Wonderful explanation Kichou-kun! Although next time you may wanna go a bit slower” Iruka-sensei claps sardonically. Kichou screams in frustration before throwing herself out of her chair and stomping to the front of the class and tearing the door open. “TOILET!” She offers indelicately, before slamming the door closed behind her. Iruka pops his head out when she’s four steps down the hall. “Kichou-kun! Be back for lunch. I know Choji-kun is looking forward to it!” he jollily calls after her. Of course, he’s using her cousin against her, the sadist. Kicchou only stomps away harder.
She sits in the toilets for about two hours debating what to do. She left her food in her bag, which was in the classroom with Choji. She could skip and maybe go to an Akimichi restaurant for lunch but quickly decides against it. Lady Momoko ordered the clan to send her back to school if they spot her midday. She can't not eat, when she used so much multi-size jutsu today, and to be honest her stomach already kinda hurts with how hungry she is. They might buckle if she brings Choji though, as they are want to spoil the cute heir, and they probably are going to celebrate his first day anyway. Choza-sama might not even be mad if they quickly go to her favorite Okonomiyaki spot and are back before Iruka notices. Yeah that sounds like a good plan. Before she can bring it into action she hears the bathroom door open and what she can only assume is a gaggle of girls clods through, probably to wash their hands before lunch.
“-My brother was right, I can't believe what a freak she is.” A girl giggles and Kichou can feel herself sinking. “I know right? If I were that fat and ugly I would just drop dead!” The girls continue to laugh, and Kicchou feels herself twist into a dark place, “Ren” would sit her and lament, scared of opening the door, fearful of a confrontation on the other side. ‘A bucket of dirty mop water is shoved over the top of the stall, Its cold and filthy as it pours down on her, her uniform soiled, the bucket leaving a scratch on her forehead as it clangs against the floor. She never wore her bangs short after that. The laughter of cruel girls.’
“Are you sure she’s even a girl? She looks more like a pig with hair! What did that demon boy call her? Oh thats right! Teacher! She’ll probably be as old as one before she drops out or graduates.” They all seem to screech with laughter at this but it only leaves Kichou confused. Demon? Kids could be demonic sure? But how much trouble could that kid get up to in two hours? Wait, maybe he did do something crazy after she left, he did seem a little hyperactive. “God, that fat bitch and demon in the same class. I might have to ask my dad for a transfer if they don’t drop out.”
‘Oi! Big Bitch!’
Yeah fuck that.
Kichou kicks down the door with a thundering slam, she steps out, towering over the trio of girls who are now too frightened to say anything. She corners the purple-haired one, who she thinks may have been the loudest.
“Punch me.” Kichou says succinctly.
“Wha-a?” The purple haired bob looks confused, but the girl with the curly hair and the shuriken clip has backed away to the door and looks ready to bolt. Probably to grab a teacher. The girl with black hair and glasses is trapped having the misfortune of being on the wrong side of the bathroom.
“I SAID! Punch ME! Or are you too stupid to understand? You're training to be kunoichi aren’t you? Surely you can throw one punch!” Kicchou provokes but by how the girl trembles under her gaze she doesn’t hold out much hope she’s anything more than all bark no bite.
“YOU-U FREAK!!” The girl turns to move and split out the door but Kichou blocks her path with one arm.
“You’re not leaving until you punch me, coward.” The girl looks like she wants to cry, before she lifts a single small fist and swings it down in a chopping motion, barely skimming the thick of her belly.
“THERE! N-NOW MOVE, YOU FAT BITCH!”
Kichou cracks her knuckles. “Academy guidelines state that whoever throws the first punch outside of academy sanctioned sparring is deemed at fault, and everything thereafter is labeled as self-defense. You might wanna tense your stomach.”
All three panic but the curly haired one makes a break for it with the cries for a “SENSEI!!! HELP!” Down the hall.
The girl spits up on her yukata sleeve when her fist finds the soft flesh of her belly, that’s kinda embarrassing in Kichou’s opinion. What’s more embarrassing is how she faints immediately in a One hit KO as they say.
“AMI-CHAN!” Glasses cries out, having fallen to the floor. Kichou makes sure to grab the back of her head and gently lower her. You can die if your head hits a hard object after all. Glasses is crying in a corner, hiccuping. To which Kicchou just rolls her eyes and strolls back to the classroom. She is going to eat her god forsaken lunch.
Turns out the ninja equivalent of getting sent to the principal's office is getting sent to the hokage’s tower. Aka the military dictator. Which is kinda crazy if you ask her. Also turns out, Ami’s dad is in fact a high ranking chunin in said tower. Whether he can actually push weight in the face of Choza-sama who is looking very stern at the moment is another thing entirely. Currently they have been waiting for thirty minutes for the Hokage to spare them even five minutes of his time. Like she said, using a military leader to handle petty squabbles is absolutely insane. They are sitting in the hallway, each party camped out in the provided chairs separated by the door to the Hokage’s office. Ami has been sniveling the whole time and with each watery sniff and sob, Choza-sama seems to tense with his arms crossed over his battle armor tightening each time.
Kichou is already planning her runaway attempt, she has enough snacks hidden under her bed to hide out in her parent’s house for a few days. After that she thinks maybe she can cut her hair and masquerade as a boy looking to work in construction. Change her name, and find a new village to settle down in, maybe find another job. Kichou thinks she’s maybe not cut out for customer service or hospitality when a fresh bout of sobbing echoes through the hall. Tea farmer in the land of Tea sounds rather cushy. Choza, and Kichou are very pointedly looking forward and not making eye contact but she can feel the Chunin’s glare burrowing into her head. Iruka looking rather worn out opens the door around ten minutes later, and Kichou dutifully follows Lord Choza as quietly as possible while keeping her head down. The dimensions of the room feel wonky? Maybe it’s genjutsu. A military leader’s office probably is filled with a boat load of defensives. She bumps into the back of Choza-sama when he stops unexpectedly, his hand finds its way to her shoulder before guiding her in front. Hesitantly she looks at the Hokage, from behind her bangs, who…..doesn’t look like much more than an old man with liver spots and a billowing pipe. And a really stupid hat, not that she’ll ever voice that out loud. Iruka stands post silently at the door, she can tell he doesn’t really wanna be here either.
“I heard there was an altercation at the academy.” His voice is raspy but there’s a stern no nonsense quality to it. Kichou scrunches her nose at Ren’s thought of lung cancer. Choza-sama moves to open his mouth but the Chunin beats him to the punch.
“That’s right Lord Hokage! That little ruffian assaulted my daughter! I demand she be expelled from the academy!” Kichou’s face scrunches again, letting her displeasure be known. Which the Hokage is quick to pick up on. She can’t see Iruka but he’s never one to hold himself back when he grunts loudly at the aforementioned expulsion. Choza-sama’s hand grip unintentionally tightens on her shoulder till it becomes painful, but he quickly lets go when she winces. A thumb brushes against the back of her shoulder blade in apology.
“And your thoughts on the matter, Akimichi-kun?”
Kichou stands up straight, choosing to stare at a far corner where the shadow’s seem the thickest. Hands behind her back as she plays with the hem of sleeve.
“It is true Hokage-sama that an altercation occurred, However, the guidelines are absolute, A-Ami?” Kichou tilts her head back toward Choza for confirmation, her bangs falling away as she looks at his face unobstructed, he nods and Kichou’s head snaps back in place along with her bangs as she clears her throat after focusing at the Hokage’s left ear which is 1.5 cm bigger than the right. “Ami-san initiated the physical altercation, therefore any adjudication should deal her equal if not greater punishment.” The Dad-nin squawks indignantly. “She provoked the fight! Surely you can’t be serious! She is clan born if Ami was a civilian she would be striped of rank and -” The Hokage seems to toke on his pipe before holding up a hand as a gesture she’s seen Choza-sama use on a pesky clan member before. “Enough Obata.” The Chunin can do nothing but shut his ugly trap, even though Kichou can tell there’s more venom on the tip of his tongue.
“You’re more articulate than your file suggests. And your thoughts on Obata-san’s argument, Akimichi-kun?” Iruka clears his throat when the Hokage moves his eyes over him. She can feel her guardian tense, this could get bad fast. Thoughts? Oh she had some thoughts alright. She remains tight-lipped, unsure if she’s digging her own grave or securing her freedom. “Ren” slams to the forefront of her mind showing her memories of times that this has happened before, back when she still had fight in her. Before they beat it out of her. ‘Sit down, shut up, take it. It doesn’t end well no matter what ’ However Choza-sama squeezed her shoulder lightly, urging her to continue. It makes her feel….supported….secure…. Maybe this has the space to be different.
“It’s ridiculous. Ami-san is not a civilian, she is a kunoichi in training with a middling rank father. She should be acquainted with shinobi law. Nor is she above academy law which supersedes Konoha law while on academy grounds. Moreover I did not initiate provocation, I overhead Ami-san and her friends making disparaging comments towards me and another classmate.” At this the Hokage seems to quirk a brow and Ami flinches while her father pales. Iruka seems to jump into action at this “Lord Hokage, I think this matter is best….” But he quickly halts from a mere look.
“May I inquire what was said?” The Hokage ashes his pipe and puts more tobacco in. Kicchou wonders if this is a tell that he’s exasperated.
“Excuse my language Hokage-sama, I believe Ami called me a fat bitch,”
“Pleasantly pump” Choza-sama roars. An idiosyncrasy of the Akimichi clan might be her saving grace. Calling one of the clan fat was a quick way to a fast fight.
“a pig with hair,” Kichou continues. ”and she called that Maki Naruto kid a demon.” Choza-sama seems to choke on his indignation as the room tenses.
“SHE’S LYING!” The chunin seems to lose his mind and jabs a finger in her face, “Hokage-sama you cannot believe a word this re-” Iruka-sensei rushes forward and grabs his hand to remove it from her face “Obata-san control yourself, she’s just a child!”
“Are you sure?! She looks like a fully grown genin to me! And she had no problems ASSAULTING a girl barely a third of her size. I want her arrested!” Kichou flinches at his onslaught. Choza-sama looks murderous and moves to stand between her and the chunin, an imposing mountain for her to hide behind. “I didn’t know your hand pained you so comrade, I’ll gladly aid you in removing it if you don’t get it out of my wards face right now.” Choza-sama barks and it’s hardly an empty threat as he has over his kunai pouch. Probably drawing a weapon in the Hokage’s office is a bad idea. The Hokage snaps a finger and two animal-masked shinobi appear behind Obata-san and escort him and his daughter from the room. Her wailing reaching an unholy decibel. Iruka-sensei sighs before looking at her softly from behind Choza’s back. Her uncle has made no move to move.
“Apologies Kichou-kun. Akimichi-sama.” Iruka follows with a quick bow to her and the Hokage before gently closing the door.
It’s only after the entourage has had enough time to make their way from the hallway that the Hokage breaks the resounding silence by addressing Choza-sama. “I trust Yamanka-kun to remain impartial in this matter.” Anger pours from Choza-sama in waves at the implication, she knows the Yamanka are an allied clan but she is a low ranking member of the Akimichi who he has never met at best. Why would he be partial? What was he even judging?
“You don’t even need to waste such breath, Sarutobi!!” Choza-sama stomps, a habit she’s only seen once when someone said something truly out of line. However, Kichou doubts this will end with the Hokage dunked half-way out of the wall.
“Um, I’m sorry I don’t understand.” Choza-sama seems to take pity on her, a hand petting the top of her head, smoothing down an errant spiked tuft. Visibly deflating, he looks towards the Hokage with a silent question dancing between the two.
The old man sighs and empties his pipe yet again, already filled with ashe.
“To call that boy a demon is a truly unkind thing and more punishable than a children’s squabble.Tell me Akimichi-kun if a fellow citizen of the leaf committed crimes against your person but you inadvertently expose a larger crime of higher severity how would you punish said citizen?” He’s evaluating her every word, every move, his eyes look like they can peer into her head and read her every thought. As far as de-facto principal dictators go, that's a trait that sure could come in handy. Kichou tries to process his words, and formulate something appropriate but finds herself at a loss. How would a petty name be punishable by a capital crime? Something to do with his clan maybe…..Ninja bigotry, perchance? Well I guess people don’t change no matter the dimension.
“I think….I think I don’t have enough information.” There’s a loss of glint in the old man’s eyes, clearly she’s said something disappointing, as his expression is reading as dismissive.If she’s already toed the line of impropriety and death she might as well go all the way. To true insubordination.
“Excuse me Lord Hokage, but I would need to know the severity of the crime, the punishment, the context. If it were me—” Kichou puffs out her chest and decides to dance with death. “If it were me I would think the law is ineffective if even children are disregarding it. It means the populace does not agree and it will perpetuate for the next generation to come. Moreover it seems to be a systemic problem to the point of having lost control of the situation already. If I were to punish the citizens it would seem unfair.” The Hokage is not even trying to hide his disappointment now and it makes Kichou’s blood boil.
“However, it has to be protecting that Naruto kid right? If the situation is already out of control I would ask if there was not a better policy to protect him. If it’s said even in passing then it must not be a far-fetched conclusion to reach that he has heard the same if not worse.” The hokage leans back and swivels in his chair to look out the window behind him. There’s a meaningful squeeze on her shoulder and she can tell Choza-sama agrees with something she said.
“And your punishment? You too have unknowingly broken said law, not to mention you instigated a fight on your first day back to the academy.” Pins and needles prick across her back, the thought of masked nins escorting her from the room to take her to Yamanaka-sama seems to fill her with dread.
“Sarutobi!! The girl has done nothing wrong! In fact she rooted out something that is a job of the academy instructors. Whom have been proven inept yet again!” Choza-sama admonishes, mad on her behalf. The Hokage has snapped back around and she can tell this won’t end well. Especially with how Choza-sama is 10 cm taller and visibly growing by the second. The Hokage remains silent, staring but there’s a twitch of his hand that sends Kichou scrambling to give him an answer. She searches the wisdom from her old world, civil law, hours of watching legal dramas at four in the morning to stave off loneliness.
“Reparations!” Kichou scrambles hoping to diffuse the situation. ”Then reparations must be paid to Naruto-san as it is damage against his person, not yours and not the village. Capital punishment is too steep and already proven ineffective, and does not resolve the issue but reparations would acknowledge the damage done to Naruto’s personage and benefit him in kind. Ami can pound sand though…..” All the way to Suna. At this the Hokage seems to truly smile but why does it feel like Kichou has royally stepped in it?
“Reparations, huh?” The old man tests it on the tip of his tongue, a concept that maybe he hasn’t considered. “Reparations could cause resentment to fester further, how would you handle it?” Kichou blinks but Choza-sama seems to take further offense. “You’re taking advantage! She is just a child and yet you ask her to solve a problem that’s been plaguing you for years. You ignored our advice until now! Enough of this foolishness! We’re leaving!” Her uncle is already trying to hustle her out of the door, bristling when he hears “I haven’t dismissed you yet Akimichi Choza” Choza-sama is gnashing his teeth and she can feel dread at his creeping anger. The Akimichi were simple creatures, putting their family and allies above all else. They considered themselves protectors, but she didn’t deserve Choza-sama’s, especially not enough for an insubordination charge.
“Resentment will always fester Lord Hokage, if they do not see the boy as human, if they call him a demon, then the answer is not punishment but rehabilitation. They need to see him as a human, reparations don’t necessarily need to be monetary gain. Skills and services are worth their weight in gold in a ninja village. They’ll see he’s just a boy the more they are forced to interact, otherwise they can have no complaints if they face even steeper punishments.” The Hokage leans back, seemingly pleased as he exhales a thick pillowy puff of smoke with a quirked lips. He takes the pipe from his mouth before and raising it in a mock salute towards her.
“Well said.” Oh yeah, she royally stepped in it.
Chapter 3: Chapter 3
Notes:
I'm not naming another chapter again lol. It messed everything up. Hopefully this fixes it but if I missed something feel free to let me know
Chapter Text
‘Be his friend and tutor him Akimichi-kun, yes I believe that to be adequate reparations.’’
Easier said than done, tutoring sure but be his friend? Troublesome. Kichou looks down at the slip of paper in her hands, checking it again, she knows she has the right address but it never hurts to be sure right? Kichou sighs at the sound of the excuse in her own head. The Hokage gave specific guidelines on what not to say but not what to say and how to broach the topic at all. Her hand hovers over the door, ready to knock any moment now……. Any moment now. Kichou turns around and takes two steps before sighing loudly and turning BACK around. Steeling her spine she gave four quick knocks, panicking when she heard a series of crashes coming closer to the door. The door cracks and a small set of blue eyes peeks out at her, before throwing the door wide open. “BIG NEE-CHAN! What are you doing here?” The boy exclaims while tilting his head. ‘Remember Kichou, precocious not malicious’ as she swallows her ire. “The Hokage sent me.” The boy squints at her. “Jiji?” She nods, if the Hokage is a paternal figure to the kid that would make a lot of sense.
“Why?! Am I in trouble?!” He moves to close the door and Kichou plants a hand on it to keep it still. She sighs from her nose. “No, Naruto-san. You’re not in trouble. The Hokage hired me to tutor you.” His nose scrunches up at that, finding it distasteful which she can’t really disagree with. “Tudor? Why do I need a tudor?” Kichou rolls her eyes the “Maybe it's because you say tudor instead of tutor.” slips from her lips before she has a chance to filter it out. Naruto immediately goes to slam the door in her face, looking upset. He has surprising strength for a shrimp as she has to put more than a considerable proportion of her weight back to keep it open. “Wait! The academy is difficult, and it’s especially hard for the non-clan born kids. The Hokage thought you might like some help.” Which is true but that only seems to make him more upset.
“THE ORPHANS YOU MEAN!” as he grunts and tries to put his whole weight behind the door but Kichou is not moving. Kichou softens, the forest finally becoming clear from the errant trees, the kid has no one in his corner.
“I’m an orphan too, that isn’t what I mean.” This gets Naruto to stop pushing for a second before his face squishes into thin lines like he’s thinking. “LIAR! YOU’RE CHOJI’S SISTER.” And immediately begins to turn red faced as he continues to push behind the door, running in place but his feet finding no purchase. While this isn’t the best neighborhood, she can hear the distinctive banging to shut up and nosy oba-sans peek their head from behind the curtains. Kichou sighs. This really isn’t going well. “Look Naruto-kun can I PLEASE come inside. I mean no harm.” Kichou pleads, her last ditch attempt before she runs away to the Land of Tea to become a tea farmer. The boy seems to stop considering it, not knowing he holds Kichou’s future shinobi career in his tiny hands, considering Ami’s dad being dragged away at the mention of a kid being a demon, maybe this a common occurrence.
‘They should add the body count that to his bingo book’
“Sure I guess.” He’s pouting while he opens the door and she gratefully steps through before closing the entrance behind her, eyeing the three different locks that bind the door usually. There at child’s height. Damn that’s rough, to be six years old and in charge of your own safety. What did shinobi pop out of the womb with a kunai in hand?
She takes in the rest of the apartment. There is no genkan, or formal entrance, just a half step that naruto has hastily thrown his shoes at the bottom of and a single room layout, similar to a modern 1 bed 1 bath. Her first impression is it’s messy, nothing out of the ordinary though. It’s really if anything kinda plain especially for someone as vibrant as Naruto, there's a couple posters and some plants by the window but no curtains which really raises her hackles up. What is this? A fishbowl? She might gift him a few sets, just for the sake of her own privacy when she comes by. There’s a specialty furniture shop in the Akimichi compound, she could maybe commission a few sets with her snack allowance.
Naruto is busy trying to tidy but she prefers if he does not bother. “It’s okay Naruto, nothing I haven’t seen before.” And it really isn’t, it’s actually pretty clean for a six year old living alone, ‘Her apartment was barren but trash still accumulated, food wrappers and empty containers, her conquests littered the floor. She slept through another garbage day, and the one before that. Why did it matter, there was no one to clean for anyway’ “Ren” was a fully grown teen in highschool when her mother moved her into a shitty apartment, under the guise of her being closer to her school. Out of sight and out of mind. Kichou can’t help but think this is the same situation. Naruto is out of sight, therefore out of Hokage’s mind. Hypocrite her mind sneers. Naruto scratches his cheek sheepishly and Kichou finds she doesn’t like it when he does that, she’ll have to think why later.
“I wasn’t lying by the way. Choji is my cousin, his father took me in last year.” Kichou clears away some empty ramen containers at the table before sitting down. Opening the bag and throwing a handful of snack bags and some handouts she got from Iruka on the table. Their homework for the first week. Naruto seems to flinch at this “Oh..must be nice.” He whispers at the end, it’s filled with jealousy and wistfulness but Kichou has always had good hearing and Naruto isn’t exactly subtle. “It is nice. I’m grateful to Choza-sama.” Kichou moves on even though she knows Naruto seems fraught with an internal conflict, as he bites his lip taking a seat next to her.
“Here is our homework for the week, with my help it shouldn’t take more than an hour then you’re free to goof off for the next couple days until we get more.” Naruto seems to visibly deflate as she slides the slips of paper over. He fiddles with the page, spins it around, picks it up, squints at it, looks up at her then looks down again before exploding in a flail of limbs. “I don’t get it!” He’s a dramatic one for sure. “What part?” Kichou inquires.
He seems frustrated as he tugs at his hair, and she hopes she isn’t kicked out immediately. “All of it!” Kichou frowns and reads the page, it’s pretty simple, unless….”Can you read?” She tries to say it with no malice but it makes Naruto flinch all the same before physically withdrawing. Crossing his arms over his chest and turning away. He reminds her of a hedgehog, all prickle when frightened.
“That’s alright, probably no one has tried to teach you. For now I’ll read the handouts out loud and we’ll work on it over time, there’s no point in rushing.” The boy slumps over and looks back at her pitfully. “R-really?” He sounds so hopeful like this is the first bit of effort he received on his behalf. It actually might be. There’s a reflection of Kichou staring back, cradle bound and non-responsive, she could become his Choza-sama. Something about that lights a fire of determination in her.
“Yeah, it’s my job as your tutor. I’m here until your academy grades pick up at least.” Or you make a real friend….the second part is left unsaid but Naruto is staring at her again. There’s a tug on the sleeve of her yukata.
“Ne ne is it true you punched Ami so hard she pooped her pants and dropped dead?” If Kichou bursts out laughing and snorts like a pig, well, then Naruto keeps that secret to his grave.
“Big-Nee?” Naruto is looking at her questioningly as he looks over her handout. “Hmm?” It’s the third week of this arrangement and it’s going relatively well. Kichou responds as she finishes transcribing his sheet, carefully copying the answers and showing the work, making sure Naruto understands. Iruka probably won’t mind as long as he knows the answers. “What are these funny squiggles at the top?” Kichou braces herself for a potentially awkward conversation as he compares their homework.
“My name.” True to form the boy looks at her and scrunches his nose. Pointing at the hiragana on top of his own sheet. “So this is mine?!” Kichou nods and he studies it. “Why is it different?! How come you get those extra bits?!” She points to the first character of her name. “That’s because it’s kanji. This character means rare or unusual ‘Ki’ and this one means butterfly ‘chou’. Together they mean Kichou. The kanji for Akimichi is another way of saying Autumn Road” She says carefully however despite her efforts Naruto looks excited as he points to the top of his sheet. ”Then what does this mean?!”
Kichou can literally feel the upcoming eviction from Naruto’s apartment. She shakes her head. “It’s a different alphabet, It just says Naruto. I don’t know yours. You usually get them from a….adult. The hokage never showed you? It might be on some paperwork lying around, maybe a bill?” She says hopefully looking around the apartment trying to spy something that might have his name to save the boy's feelings. Naruto just looks sad and angry as he sits dejected at his kitchen seat. “I don’t have anything like that! I never had anything like that.” Naruto gruffs out. He then slams his hand on the table, and screams at her. “When I become Hokage then I’ll get those fancy characters and sign my name with them, so you can’t look down on me anymore! So don’t think you’re so special!’Attebyo!” Kichou just sighs before looking down at the half-finished homework. This was not going well, she’ll have to tell the Hokage this won’t work out.
“WHAT YOU THINK I CAN’T DO IT EITHER?! You’re all the same…” Kichou feels her heart clenches woefully. “No, I just don’t know what to say…….” She spies the hiragana on Naruto’s sheet and erases it. Surely there was no harm in doing so, Iruka or the Hokage could just yell at her, not that she’ll care in the grand scheme of things. “Fishcake or Maelstrom?” She asks tentatively. The boy looks up at her bewildered. “What?” he says quietly, like a fragile baby bird who tuckered itself out from chirping.
“Your name, it could mean Fishcake like the stuff you eat in ramen or Maelstrom like a big storm. Your clan name isn’t a good hint either because it could mean spiral like the spiral of red in a fishcake or spiral of a storm so Maelstrom again. If you’re going to be Hokage, fishcake sounds cute and funny but maybe the Maelstrom angle will strike fear into the hearts of your enemies. Like you’re an unstoppable force of Nature. I don’t know anyone we could ask other than the Hokage, it sounds like your parents immigrated from a seaside village with all the water imagery.” She deliberates externally, propping her head against her hand as taps the pencil against the paper, as he looks at her in awe and wonder.
“I guess I should ask, do you wanna be a funny hokage, easy to approach, letting your skills speak for themself like the First or a fearsome hokage, whose cool that everyone looks up to but is maybe too difficult to approach like the Second?” Trying to glean what kind of military dictator Naruto wanted to become. Curious as to the boy’s personality. “BOTH! Or…whatever you think is best! The one which will get people to acknowledge me the most!” He nods at her, fired up from her question. It makes Kichou frown all the same. “You don’t need to become a Hokage to get people to acknowledge you. You become Hokage because you think you would be a good leader and good at the job. Take Hokage-sama for example, people don’t alway listen to him and he has to force them to…” be friends with a lonely boy that everyone calls a demon. “You in particular may not like it…”
The boy looks angry again as he slams his fists into the table, sending their empty instant ramen cups flying. “WHY is it because you think I can’t do all that stuff?!” Kichou shakes her head. “Ninety percent of the Hokage’s day to day is paperwork. Hours of reading and writing, then you have to solve petty squabbles all day that people will dislike no matter what because you’re forcing your decisions on them. You may even have to send friends into a hopeless situation one day, for the good of the village. Even now I’m sure you’d rather be outside playing or having fun not that I think you can’t do those things. I’m just not sure you’ll like it.” She spins the paper as the boy quietly mutters a “...Oh.”
Kichou sighs, flicking off some used erasing rubbings off of the table. This was a pain. “You should strive for whatever makes you happiest, don’t let me stop you. The Hokage always has advisors or aides to help him run the village or make decisions. Hundreds of people are helping him, he would struggle if he didn’t. Listen, I don’t really know how to get people to like you either, I don’t really know how to do it myself. But…..” She flips the paper over and begins drawing the characters of Naruto Uzumaki settling for Maelstrom Spiral, something cool that people can’t really make fun of him for. A name they can’t bully him for like her Kujira. The tallest nail gets hammered down first .
“I can help in the meantime.” With a shaking hand he traces the back of the paper, he looks like he’s about to cry and he throws himself over the table hugging her. Mumbling endless thank you’s. If the Academy instructors sans Iruka glare at her every time she turns in their homework well then they can go and pound sand till they take their asses to Suna.
Kicchou groans as Lady Momoko opens up the curtains in her room. The girl blearily blinks around the room trying to take in her surroundings. Her side table with the chicken alarm clock is smashed to pieces and in a crater the shape of a large fist has broken the wood lacquer. “Shit!” Kichou launches herself out of bed only to trip over her own sheets and crash into a pile of limbs on the floor. Lady Momoko leans over her and smiles “It’s okay Kicchan, you still have time for breakfast! I think I’ll need to do your hair though, sorry. Oh and I completely forgot Yoshino-chan wants you to walk little Shikamaru to school, something about him having trouble finding his way there when his father is out of town.” Kicchou groans, the Nara compound was on the other side of the Akimichi compound and the opposite direction of the school, isolated from everyone and everything. They would have to hoof it to make it to the academy on time.
Lady Momoko holds out two hands towards her “Upsy Daisy!” to which Kichou reluctantly gives. It’s well known to the Akimichi that the lady of the clan is deceptively strong, a trait when she was a field nurse that proved useful. Apparently there was a whirlwind romance where an infirmed Choza-sama got swept off HIS feet during the third war. There’s a strong yank and Kichou finds herself flying through the air before a hand corrects her mid air somersault and her feet find the floor. It’s enough to wake her up at least, as Lady Momoko is pushing her out her bedroom door.
Choji is already downstairs, polishing off a large breakfast. Lady Momoko is following close behind her pajamas in hand, somewhere in the scramble downstairs there was a change of clothes that still leaves Kicchou confused. The younger kids preferring simple streetwear and not shinobi gear of the upper years was a simplicity Kicchou could enjoy for now. They were still too young to be fitted for battle armor. Choza-sama has been sent to the land of grass for a month-long mission and Kichou prays it wasn’t retaliation for the Hokage tower incident.
There’s several plates of dishes: salt-roasted fish, rice, radishes and miso soup. She takes a seat and slides a salt roasted fish onto Choji’s plate who gobbles it down. “Thanks!” She chugs her soup, and tries to scarf down her rice, as gentle hands work a brush through her hair. “Your bangs are getting long, maybe we should go to the salon this weekend.” That was the point, it was easier not to make eye contact if they can’t see her eyes. Kichou finishes her rice, eats the small silver fish in one bite. “No need.”
Lady Momoko hands her a layered bento box for her and Choji to share, and her messenger bag. “I’ll get you yet, Kicchan. One day you’ll know the joys of some pampering” A hand ruffles her hair into a styling more akin to how she prefers it before she sees Choji grab his bag from the genkan where it hasn’t been touched from the day before. Did he do his homework? Fuck. It’s too late to do something about it now as she kicks on her sandals. Lady Momoko pressed a kiss to her cheek before she gave Choji a hug pressing a giant kiss to the top of his giggling head. Kichou looks at the clock in the entryway and swears under her breath. It Is already later than their usual time and they have to jog to the Nara compound. She loves Choji but he’s slower than a snail sometimes. Kichou kneels in front of her little cousin. “Piggyback.” The little boy squeals before clamoring on. She whirls around and gives Lady Momoko a mock salute who returns it in kind before running out the door and to the edge of the Nara forest line.
Choji seems like he’s having the time of his life, as the little prince is waving to his subjects as they pass. The smiling faces of the Akimichi are all waving back as they leave a trail of dust in their wake. “Nee-chan, nee-chan can we get dango after school?” Kicchou grunts in affirmation. As the bustling streets peter out into dense forests. They make their way to the edge of the compound, this place always gives her the heebeegeebees something about the way shadows stretch here and the way the deers always watch her as she passes. Dozens in the treeline watching her unerringly, stock still and staring. Her hallucinations are more frequent here, and it’s just as unnerving as the deer. She never tried to step foot on Nara land and she isn’t about to now. However, there is no kid and mother in sight. Kichou jumps from foot to foot nervously. “Cho, did Momoko-sama say where we were supposed to pick them up?” Choji rests his head on her shoulder. “I think the main house!” Kichou swears loudly and weighs the pros and cons.
Option A, they turn around and ditch the kid, then Yoshino-sama talks to Lady Momoko, Lady Momoka is disappointed in her. Death.
Option B, She runs as quickly as possible, grabs the kid, they are massively late, Iruka-sensei calls Lady Momoko, Lady Momoko is disappointed. Death.
Option C, she uses the Multi-size technique to make herself bigger, bigger gait equals more distance, can pick up kid number 2 then run to the academy. They aren’t late, Lady Momoko is not called. Profit. She may scare the deer but that’s a sacrifice she’s willing to make.
“Hold on Chou.” His grip tightens like a snake around her neck, before she gets down on her haunches, Kichou could never get used to the tingle that molding chakra throughout her body caused.
“Expansion Jutsu!”
She’s now as big as Choza-sama but she can’t hold this form for long, hopefully enough to get to the academy before the first bell. The ground seems to quake and the deer who have previously stood stock still are now bounding to and fro. Kicchou frowns not having accounted for a possible stampede.Out of the corner of her eye a blur is amongst the herd, a woman with long black hair jumps from tree branch to tree branch running alongside them. She would think it might be one of the Nara clan members but the woman’s form collapses into the shade of deer, intertwining with the herd and back to the woman’s form again next blink. The boy on her back seems to pay no mind to the danger of getting kicked in the head by like a thousand pairs of hooves as he breaks into a fit of giggles, unaware of the danger. ‘The Nara deer will not hesitate to kill any intruders. My mother’s land rejects me.’ was a fear that gripped her heart for years. Kichou moves to speed up, the main house traditional and elegant, coming into view, where the boy in question is napping on the engawa and an equally elegant woman with long black hair is waving at them.
The woman grins at her approach so maybe the deer thing isn’t as big as she thinks it is. “Sorry-we’re-late *puff* Yoshi *puff* No-sama ” The woman seems to wave it off, paying no mind. “No worries Kichou-chan. I’m the sorry one for raising such a lazy son. OI! SHIKAMARU!” The boy in question only rolls over and mumbles “ What a drag.” Making no move to move, Kichou anxiously looks between him and the direction of the academy. Late. Iruka yells. Momo-sama. Death. Fuck.
“HI SHIKA!!” Choji shouts from behind her back. To which the kid opens one eye and yawns, waving back at him. Then doesn’t have enough energy to get up so he yawns again and assumes another comfortable sleeping position. So he’s not a morning person. Not her problem.
“Come on narcolepsy-nin we gotta go.” She reaches down and scoops up a rather startled looking Shikamaru, tucking him under her arm. Yoshino-sama who claps in cheer “Wow so reliable! Thank you Kichou-chan!~” Her tone is saccharine as the lady Nara waves goodbye to her son “Bye, brat! HAVE FUN AT SCHOOL!” as Kichou takes off at a galloping pace. “Man, this sooo lame.” as the kid goes slack in her arm hold and presumably back to sleep. How? But also HOW?!
Iruka sips on his morning coffee, class starts in about three minutes and he’ll savor every. last. minute. Thank you. He sighs looking at his class. Kichou isn’t here, which isn’t unusual. Her bad habits have lessened in the past month, compared to last year but haven’t completely cleared. What’s troubling is that the Nara, and Akimichi heir aren’t here as well, they could be ditching together but Iruka will need to nip that in the bud earlier rather than later. Despite her lack of self esteem, Kichou has influence, not among the kids that Iruka would define as popular but the eccentric and the misfits all seem to flock in droves, and rally behind her. If she wasn’t here, Choji would ditch, and then Naruto, then Shikamaru is a given, Kiba who says he can’t stand to sit still in class when the losers get to roam free and a few civilian children follow, especially girls who are on bad terms with Ami.
Now that girl is a real piece of work, her father was demoted to genin and his wages garnished to pay “reparations” to Naruto’s living expenses, and she was back to her old ways within a fortnight. Her targets just were now carefully selected to be weaker than her. Usually civilian girls who might be rivals for Sasuke’s attention. But… “Get out of here before I call Kichou over, you wouldn’t want to poop your pants again would you, Shitty Ami?!” Iruka’s lip quivers trying to hold in laughter, he tries to hide it behind the rim of his coffee cup. Kids can be so cruel, awful really.
It was an interesting thing when the biggest strongest kid in the class was also kind. Kichou was becoming a natural bully deterrent. Still if he could just curb her truancy problem a little more, find out where she’s going, he has no doubt she would be top of the year instead of at the bottom. He loses the trail somewhere in the Akimichi compound, he asked around the restaurant district to rather frustrating results. ‘That girl? No I haven’t seen her, such a shame, she lost her parents in the Kyuubei attack, she’s never been….right’ It’s not the head’s house either, Lady Momoko seems to know but is fringing ignorance, the same with Lord Choza but they seem content on letting her run somewhat wild. Well…within reason. He’ll have to make another house call to Lady Momoko, he refuses to let another child fall through the cracks. Not like he did.
The liquid in his coffee cup ripples and a fat droplet splashes in face, the students in the class all murmur in fear. What in the world, there was another quake right after. It couldn’t be an attack there would be sirens, a landquake maybe? Or some idiot was practicing doton jutsu on academy ground. Iruka can feel the headache start to form. “Alright, everyone calm down! I’m sure-”
The door flies off it’s hinges as an enlarged Kichou, carrying a gleeful Choji and a fed up Shikamaru collapse on the floor. “SAAAFFEEE”
The two boys get up and dust themselves but Kichou bursts in a shroud of smoke which Iruka tries to fan away with her hands. “KIICCHOU!” He screams feeling his head threatening to explode with blood pressure. Except she isn’t getting up off the floor, she is sweating profusely and is gasping for breath. Showing signs of chakra exhaustion, he’s instantly on alert, as he kneels beside her head to check her pulse. It’s…okay, but… a tongue lulls out as Kicchou plays dead. “BIG NEE! Is she dead?!” “Troublesome” “What a joke.” Some of the students start screaming, as he makes a move to silence the class. He would tell her to knock it off but he’s pretty sure under the joke she’s actually suffering. “Choji help me carry her to the nurse's office. Everyone!-” Choji just shakes his head and riffles through his bag before finding a small box of pills. Akimichi soldier pills, but smaller and a slightly different color…
“Behold, Sensei!” He holds 3 pills between each fingers in his hand while he poses like the kids playing ninja in the park. “With this super secret ancient Akimichi medicine I, the great Choji shall revive the dead! Muahahaha!” he kneels down, popping the pills in her mouth before puppeting her jaw “Chew,chew, chew” then massages her throat to get her to swallow. The effect is almost immediate, as loud snoring is heard throughout the class. Kichou fast asleep. Choji smiles at her before bounding over to his bag and back “Mama said to give you this!” There’s a slip of paper that Choji shoves in his hands written in Lady Akimichi’s neat script.
‘Hi! Hi! Iruka-sensei! If you’re reading this Kichou has overdone it and Choji has given her some chakra pills we formulated for her. Please don’t worry, that girl doesn’t know how to read her intuitive body limits. We are working on getting her to stop ignoring her discomfort. Let her sleep it off and make sure she eats her lunch! If she looks a little skinner send her to hospital! Thank you for your continued cooperation Iruka-sensei! FIGHTING~ Akimichi Momoka <3’
Iruka crushes the paper in his fist, he can feel his blood pressure rising by the second. He clears his throat before addressing the class, never one to turn down a learning opportunity. He props the sleeping child away under the teacher’s podium away from prying eyes. “Class change of plans! Today, we will be learning about Chakra exhaustion and how to spot the symptoms! Please turn to page 149! Choji! Shikamaru! Take your seats!”
“What’s up with the deer?” Shikaku grunts, removing the soiled mission clothes and armor into the waiting arms of his wife who’s holding out a basket in anticipation. They have long since come to the agreement that if he goes on any mission that gets messy, he’ll hose down outside first before stepping in. ‘A happy wife is a happy life.’ A motto he lives by religiously.
The deer aren’t agitated but anticipating something, energetic, playful. The young bucks are butting heads and the does are prancing. The elders are huffing, stripping the bark from the trees. It’s too early for spring, and the branch members say they didn’t interfere at all when he passed them on the road, watching the deer lazily from their porches.
His wife only smiles, knowing and wide. She knows something he doesn’t, she always loves to gloat when that happens. “I enlisted the Akimichi siblings to get the brat to school on time.” A truly tactical decision from his wonderfully wise wife. Shikaku grunts and nods, undoing his shin guards which he tosses them in a pile with his shoes. Those might need to be burned, unsure if the smell will come out without considerable effort. What a drag.
What’s left unsaid. Shikamaru informally met his cousin. Memories of a young girl happily playing amongst the herd, frolicking as they writhed to and fro. The exhausted happiness as she triggered a stampede, a true wild child. That explains the deer. They wanted to play more like they used to.
Shikaku scratches his beard before resting his forearms on his knees, propping his hands under his chin, his usual thinking posture.
“How was she?” He asks, Yoshino just sniffs and picks at his clothes before putting the basket down and sitting next to him. She finds something distasteful, a subtle unhappiness in her undercurrent. His wife loved his sister in spirit Shizuki as much as him, loved Kushina just same, she petitioned Hokage so many times to adopt either of them, turned away each time because of her proximity to two clans. She was conspiring with Mikoto and Momoko to stage a revolt if they didn’t receive proper care soon, not after hearing about what condition Kichou was in and Naruto’s growing reputation as a trouble maker.
“Skittish, too respectful to adults, she stood outside the clan lands too long, I think she was afraid of coming in.” ‘She thought of herself as an interloper.’ They are not a big clan, only a dozen or so active members. Too slovenly to produce children unless absolutely necessary not for lack of trying but because child rearing was too troublesome and branch members all the more rare. Shikaku thought about adopting her even if the Akimichi blood ran true, but Choza’s claim was better in the end, the girl’s anatomy proved nearly identical to the clans. The council preferred to keep bloodline limits with bloodline limit, what about her mind? It needed to be nurtured just as much as her stomach. Shizuki was just a younger cousin, one he treated like a little sister, a different sort of eccentric than her twin Suzaku. Endless amounts of energy just when it was something she fixated on, indifference at anything that didn't. Sharp, swift, and silent. Loud, prideful when the need arose. A cynical romantic. Oxymoronic and confusing in the most interesting of ways. In other words, the perfect Nara.
An eloping couple and a big headache when the Daimyo demanded his dowry back. The sympathetic Fourth who was secretly an even bigger romantic telling him to kick rocks with the ryo in hand. She worked under him for years, a faithful companion and companion, ‘Oi! Another game aniki! I’ll force a stalemate this time’ a like mind whom Shikaku missed dearly. They lost too many good people that night. A board without a king or a silver general and a lonely rook alone on the battlefield, hoping it all turns to ash, wondering where it all went wrong.
But there was a chance for new pieces to take center stage. A new era, a board reset. Shikaku was jealous of the games Shikamaru would play. The moves he would see where Shikaku couldn’t.
It sparked his curiosity, a dangerous thing to a Nara, but it can never supersede the hunger of an Akimichi. Shikaku wanted to meet his little cousin’s daughter, pick her apart, see how her mind worked, put her back together, watch her grow, sharper, stronger. He wanted to see her play with the deer and teach her their favorite pastimes. Choza craved to have her by his side. He would wait for her to be ready, to come to them. ‘Make the first move little one, what strategy will you take?’ Choza said he sees her mother in Kichou and it makes Shikaku yearn. The silver general was a unique piece, strong in its aggression, awkward in retreat, never a step behind. The antithesis to the stalwart defense of the Akimichi. Interesting. Oxymoronic. The best possible contradiction. Yoshino did not want to wait, she prefers a more hands on approach. Hence inviting her onto clan lands under the guise of a small favor. Troublesome.
Shocked out of his reprieve when a splash of cold water washes over him, his wife holding a garden hose in her hand. “GODDAMNIT WOMAN THATS COLD!!” There’s another blast of water on his face that he has to shield with his hands. “You’re thinking too much!” She yells over the spray of water. “I’m inviting them over for dinner!” She huffs before throwing down the hose, grabbing the basket and stepping inside. Shikaku shakes out his hair, wiping the water from his eyes. She doesn’t know what he knows ‘She’s not ready yet.’
Chapter 4: Chapter 4
Notes:
TW: Child Abuse and Sexual Assault. I'm debating splitting these chapters out but I sort of like that they are bulkier chapters.
Chapter Text
Naruto doesn’t know what to make of his tutor. If you ask him, she’s really annoying like the rest of his classmates ignoring him in class to stare at the wall for hours on end. It makes school so boriinnnnggggg. Except. That’s only in the classroom, it’s like there’s some kind of invisible bubble around her. Where she keeps everyone at arm's length. Kiba says she’s a stuck up bitch and an idiot but Kiba is a SUPER annoying guy so no one actually listens to him. Not after Big-Nee beat his ass for calling Choji a fatass and saying he couldn’t play ninja with them. Not that Naruto got an invite or anything. He wouldn’t want a stupid invite anyway, not to a stupid baby game like that. He doesn’t get why it was such a big deal in the first place, the Akimichi siblings are fat in his opinion so he doesn’t see why they take such offense to being called fat.
They can do that super awesome technique where they can get all big because of it! No one else in the village can do that, not even Jiji, and he’s asked! Apparently their dad can be bigger than the whole Hokage mountain! How awesome is that?! Kichou gets so mad when the boys in the class call her names, but she never does anything about it! If it were him he would just. BAM. BOOM. POW. KNOCK EM INTO NEXT TUESDAY WITH A GIANT FIST! She’s so big she doesn’t even spar with the girls because Mizuki-sensei says that would be unfair and Shit-pants Ami always gets SUPER annoying about it. And she doesn’t even complain! That’s kinda badass if you think about it.
Outside of that though, she’s not so bad! She comes over a few times a week and helps him with homework. She taught him to read and write better. Her handwriting is like super pretty and neat like a teachers, sometimes it's even better, it doesn’t get all jumbled up! She even brings groceries and gifts! She said if he’s not hungry in class he can focus more, that it’s her excuse at least, Naruto knows she is lying. She just feels sad when she hears a stomach growl, it doesn’t matter whose. The other civilian born and war orphans find snacks from the ‘snack fairy’ in their desk all the time. They are always her’s, he knows because Kichou always takes the first bite out of all of them. She’s a big softie under that rough exterior!
The first gift were these super cool orange and blue curtains, that had nothing to do with the Academy! Her most recent gift was a new box of kunai because she noticed his were dull and not weighted properly in class, well really they are from Jiji but Kichou is the one who asked him for it. He was already passing shurikenjutsu class because of it, no thanks to Mizuki, he always makes the hair on the back of his neck stand up. No one believes what he says about her in class, that she hates him, hates all of them, that she is trying to sabotage him.
She even got him a birthday cake last year even though she was like super sad that week! It makes him feel bad as she stares at the door of class, Iruka doesn’t even bother her. Her aura was so gloomy and sad, but she wouldn’t tell him what was wrong. Then she doesn’t show up to class for like another week and Choji just said she’s really sick and needed to rest. Then next week she’s back to being a badass, she even broke Sasuke’s perfect nose during a spar and needed to go to the nurses office! Serves the bastard right! It was so funny when teme had to walk around with cotton rolls shoved up his nostrils. She’s really not too bad at all. Just people are super weird about them hanging out. He’s used to the whispers, but she never cares, it’s almost like she can’t hear them as she boldly walks around the village with him.
They go everywhere, training grounds even the restricted ones, camping trips, the library. Kichou called him a hands-on learner, that he had to get his hands on something to learn it, she was like magic. Anything she learned, she would share with him too! She was interested in seal work lately when she saw someone using a storage scroll in the tower, it made her like super duper excited. She said it was like the ultimate cheat code, unlimited inventory! He didn’t know what that was but it sounded cool. Now that he could read and write, they had been practicing. They were always training, sometimes even Choji and Shikamaru came along when Big Nee was working on clan techniques. They knew his name! They were nice! He had friends! People who nodded to him at the academy and let him hang out with them. They even sat together and played games! All thanks to her! Not that Mizuki seemed to like that, he was always trying to separate them in class.
He’s always in her face, and whenever they are going through taijutsu kata he’s so handsy just with her. Especially when she corrected one of Naruto’s forms that helped him get the drop on Sasuke in a spar. Pervy-Mizuki yelled right in her face and demanded that she spar with him. Then shoved her face in the dirt and didn’t let her get up. Naurto really hated that. Choji and Shika didn’t like that either. And! AND! If Naruto said Kichou helped him with his homework it comes back covered in red marks even though everyone knows Choji and Shikamaru just copies hers five minutes before class and they always get full marks when they do. Mizuki just gives her zeros because she was cheating or whatever, but that’s so frustrating! Why doesn’t she say anything! She isn’t cheating, Choji and Shikamaru are! Even though Shika is like freakishly smart, he could do it on his own if he tried. Naruto asks why he can’t copy her when that’s what they do and she even helps him understand the material! He knows the answers! It’s the teacher’s fault for being unable to read his writing, Nee-chan’s better anyways.
Pervy-Mizuki says it because she hates them and she wants to sabotage him by giving him wrong answers, but something in the pit of his stomach says that’s not right. Mizuki is wrong on so many levels. Iruka-sensei thinks Kichou is really smart and he’s not at all pervy like Mizuki, so she must be smart.
Also! ALSO! Jiji wouldn’t have asked her to help out and tutor him if she was gonna prank his grades or whatever. So that doesn’t make any sense. It’s only after their second year at the school that Naruto is determined to get to the bottom of it. She shows up to his door this week in a plain black dress, even though she never wears dresses! She says she won’t be coming by for a bit and shoves a wrapped box in his hands. It’s his birthday again and she’s given him another homemade cake two days before and then took off like last year. It gets kinda stale two days later but it’s still super tasty if you ask him! Iruka even offered to buy him a bowl of ramen this year, Naruto races to old man Teuchi’s shop, this birthday is already shaping up to be better than the last. And the last was the best before that!
Naruto pulls back the flap and see’s Iruka at the counter, but he’s wearing all black too, maybe it's for the festival or something. “Old man! One bowl of Shoyu, extra pork, extra toppings please!!!” Naruto jumps up on the seat next to his teacher, slamming his hands on the table. “Hey Iruka-sensei! Looking sharp! What’s with the cool clothes?” Iruka gives him a sad sort of smile and sighs. “Teuchi-san one bowl of tonkotsu” Iruka pulls a pair of wooden chopsticks from the container and breaks them, wincing at the uneven split.
“Hey Naruto! These clothes well…they’re called mourning attire. People wear them when loved ones pass away and they wanna honor their memory.” Naruto feels embarrassed as he ducks his chin and scratches his head. Iruka never reprimands him about the truly bad stuff Naruto does, just the stupid stuff like the pranks. He doesn’t understand. A hand ruffles his hair before two steaming bowls are placed in front of them “Sorry. My bad sensei” he mutters before quietly digging in.
Iruka-sensei waves it off and loudly exclaims “Itadakimasu!” He slurps loudly, and kinda fake eggdragrated, if you ask him before he says “It’s alright Naruto you didn’t know” Naruto hates when he doesn’t know stuff, especially when it comes to people like Iruka and Kichou. “She was wearing them too.” he mumbles under his breath before poking his egg and watching the yolk spread across the broth.
“Who? Kichou-kun?” Iruka asks between slurps.
Naruto nods silent, it must mean she lost someone too. The broth tastes salty on his tongue as he drinks the rest of the broth in his bowl.
“Yeah she’s like us in that respect.” Iruka-sensei is staring down into the bowl, absent-mindely spinning a chopstick in one hand. Something he does with pens in class when he’s thinking about something.
Naruto scrunches his nose at the empty bowl in front of him, still not filling the pit he has inside.
“What do you mean?”
Iruka looks at Teuchi all weird, who makes a small gesture with his hand and turns around to the back of the shop leaving the two of them alone.
“She lost her parents today too.” Naruto gulps, feeling like the food caught in his throat. He guesses that's true, Jiji always said his parents died in the Kyuubei attack. So that means Iruka’s did too. ‘All three were orphans’ It always sucked that his birthday was today. Usually he wouldn’t even leave the apartment but lately things have been good, like really really good for him.
Naruto guessed he had Iruka and Kichou to thank for that. But it was just frustrating he couldn’t do anything for them! Naruto furrows his brow thinking, he really hates not knowing anything!
“Ne ne sensei, where does Big Nee go all the time? She isn’t in the big field with Choji and the others!”
Iruka chuckles and when he sees Teuchi return he orders two more bowls for them! Automatically the greatest birthday ever in his humble opinion!
“Thanks for telling me where you skip, you punk!” Iruka wraps an arm around his head and grinds a fist into his hair playfully like he’s seen older brothers do to their younger siblings sometimes. It makes Naruto giddy.
Iruka quickly lets him go as the empty bowls are taken away and replaced with brand new ones. Both shouting their appreciation in tandem before taking a big slurp of noodles.
“If you can keep it a secret, and never tell a soul!” Iruka makes a cross over his heart before sticking out his pinky and Naruto is quick to return the gesture. “Promise!”
Iruka scratches the back of his head. “Well I don’t really know.” “SENSEI-YOU-LIAR!” “Calm down Naruto! Patience!” Iruka admonishes.
“It’s somewhere in the Akimichi compound where most people aren’t allowed to go, even the Police don’t like intruding in the noble compounds, so I can’t get them to look for her for a truancy charge. I have a few guesses from there.” Naruto polishes off his second bowl.
“You mean the place with all the restaurants?” Naruto asks.
Iruka nods.
“Thanks for the grub and the info, Sensei!” Naruto takes off in the direction of the Akimichi compound.
“Wait, Naruto! Where are you going?! Goddamnit!” Iruka is trying to inhale his ramen, wasting it wasn’t an option after all.
Naruto follows the smell of wafting meat to the Restaurant district, this place has always smelled amazing but he has gotten yelled at for walking into many of the joints here so he tends to steer clear. The places are packed though, everyone celebrating the Kyuubei festival, with masks and fox meat, although Naruto gets kinda creeped out at the thought of eating fox meat.
Sometimes the hunters will even catch live foxes and release them for people to chase down and kill, they used to call it the fox hunt. Not that Naruto participated, the foxes were cute and never did anything wrong, they would cry from their cages, it was the Kyuubei that was the bad guy. But Jiji outlawed it four years ago after they got too rowdy one year, that was actually his fault, he couldn’t take it anymore and let the foxes all go at once, before he made a pitfall for the hunters. Now the hunters will just stock up on fox meat and sell it for a super high price this time of year. It’s a big ripoff if you ask him! It doesn’t even taste good!
Later there will be fireworks. Naruto has always watched those from his bedroom window, those are cool!
He wanders around for a bit but sees neither hide nor hair of Big-Nee and she’s kinda hard to miss. Iruka said something about it being a place where people aren’t allowed to go and he spies a row of houses that peter out onto a side street leading to a forest road that a lot of adults are going down. All wearing black. Naruto keeps to the shadows, trying to keep at the tail end of the crowd. Making a break for the trees when he runs out of houses to hide behind. They are kinda like ants, marching along, until they get to a piece of sugar which in this case is a big rock covered in white rope.
The Akimichi aren’t the only ones either, there’s people that look like Shikamaru and Ino too. They kneel at the rock and pour a cup of water over the stone before touching it in a spot and praying. Sometimes they leave something like a piece of fruit or a candle. Then they get up and the next person takes their place. Over and over again, Naruto stands entranced.
Then he finally sees Big-Nee! She's holding a cheap shogi board and a bag of chips in her hand, looking the saddest he’s ever seen her. Next to her there’s a big man that looks just like Choji and behind them is a man who looks just like Shikamaru, and a tall woman with black hair. When it’s Big-Nee’s turn she collapses in front of the stone, putting down the shogi board and the bag of chips. She’s crying so hard her cheeks are shining in the candlelight, washed aflame in orange light and when she prays she bows too deeply as she grinds her head into the shogi board as her chest heaves to near epic proportions reminding him of the first day in class when recited back the chakra lecture Iruka-sensei had planned for the day. She could do stuff like that, remember things said exactly a year ago. Kichou was so normally calm, cool and collected like a total badass in his opinion but this was ... .something he’s never seen before.
It looks painful. So painful. Naruto instantly regrets coming here, his heart heavy. Her dad has to pick her up and carry her off so the people behind her can pay their respects. The man that looks like Shikamaru but with a cool beard and scars puts a wooden piece on the board, and waits staring intently at the stone before bowing and moving on. There’s a small gathering near the treeline that observes, their hands covering their mouths, saying mean things. It’s eerily familiar to how the villagers talk about him that is sending shivers down his spine.
‘Always so dramatic. I don’t know why Choza-sama indulges her so, I bet she can hardly remember them if at all, she was so young when they died. He can’t even mourn his brother in peace.’
‘Poor Choza-sama, he takes his brother’s daughter in and all she does is bring trouble. Aki-san went gray trying to take care of her, I don’t know how he manages’
‘I hear she’s about to be expelled from the academy. Defective. They should just marry her off. Maybe they’ll finally turn over Chouten-sama’s home to a family that will use it.’
‘She cries herself sick every year, so embarrassing.’
They mock and snicker, like the villains on tv. These people were supposed to be her clan, so why? Why?! Why were they so mean?! What did she ever do to them?!
The unfairness bubbles in his gut like boiling water, steaming whistling through his ears as his heartbeat pounds and Naruto chokes on unknown emotion he later identifies as indignation.
“WHAT WOULD YOU KNOW?!” He shouts from the tree lines, the snapping of twigs breaking the tranquility. They scatter like the cowards they are, having been caught for their snide remarks.
“Naruto?” Shikamaru and Choji are standing in the clearing, they are wearing black but aren’t a part of the group. The adults have quickly dispersed and are moving back to the main road in a hurry frightened by being caught. Choji has a bag of chips in his hand, stuffing his face like crazy and Shikamaru looks angry.
“You shouldn’t be here. This is private land.” Shikamaru asserts, taking a step closer to him. This is maybe the most energy Naruto has seen him exert. He’s sort of scary when he’s like this. Intense.
“Sorry! I got lost!” Naruto lies easily scratching his cheek and looking down and away.
“Troublesome.” Shikamaru clicks his tongue “You!-” Choji wraps a hand around Shikamaru’s
“It’s okay! It’s fine, Shika.” Except Choji’s head is no longer pointed in their direction but to the other end of the clearing where his father is holding Big-Nee who is curled in arms. She’s still sobbing as wails rack through her form, She looks so small. “He’s fine.”
Shikamaru’s eyes follow Choji’s line of sight and just nods.
His eyes snap back to Naruto.
“Take the road back to main street. Next time ask permission.” Normally Naruto would chaff at being ordered around but he still feels guilty, like he saw something he wasn’t supposed to see. ‘Next time ’ is not a ‘never come back.’
Choji is bounding towards his family, a faint shout of his name in the wind. Shikamaru followed at a sedate pace behind. The people have finally cleared out and Naruto approaches the stone before clapping his hands together. “Um sorry Big-Nee’s parents! I was just so curious, she’s just so quiet and never talks about herself. I just…..Nevermind! Anyways, like I said sorry! And thank you! Thank you for giving birth to Big-Nee! She’s like my best friend!” Naruto claps again before bowing and making his way back to the main street. A gust of wind rustles the back of his head as he turns around, out of the corner of his eye he swears he could see two shadows of people that disappear between blinks, waving at him from behind the shogi board, a bag of open chips scattering against the ground.
Naruto develops a deep seeded belief and fear of ghosts that night as he heart pounds running back to the main street of the Restaurant district.
There’s fireworks coming from the Hokage mountain illuminating the fourth’s face in sharp relief as he runs home.
Just like last year and the year before, Kichou skipped a week’s worth of classes after October 10th. After they visit the memorial stone she usually gets sick, and is confined to bed by Momoko-sama until her fever breaks. Most of her teachers are sympathetic but some…well, she vehemently hates Mizuki-sensei. He teaches their weapon skills and taijutsu usually, she really doesn’t know how he manages to hold down his job because he dotes his attention upon the clanborn and neglects the civilians and orphans, the ones who need the most help.
He’s so incompetent he teaches them actively wrong things, things that will get them killed. She’s already had to correct Naruto’s forms several times. The academy standard katas are a dumbed down version of the Akimichi’s, famed for their defensive stances and astonishingly high survival rate among their young mixed with a few other clans’ taijutsu. She can see Choza-sama’s body as he shifts through the set meant to repel enemy attacks, how they dodge when their hardy bodies can’t talk the blow. They are taught to put their bodies on the line to defend their comrades.
The Akimichi remain stalwart protectors. It gives her fat purpose and meaning, it makes her feel good about her body. The academy’s katas are more flighty, meant for lighter bodies and smaller frames but the base is still there. Mizuki has long since moved her over to the boy’s group, the girls all sighing in relief when they no longer have to approach her in hand to hand. She’s not offensive at all, most classmates she simply wears down until they forfeit, it’s a good exercise in her endurance and what felt like a fair solution but the silver-hair instructor didn’t think so.
The boys have long since stopped viewing Kichou as one of the girls and go for hits that she knows she can’t take. Mizuki has met her absence with short spiteful lectures about slacking and has moved her to the front of the spar ring, doing bouts until she falls to make up for the week and then some for the classes she missed. Sasuke the top student of their class was agile and with decisive strikes went first, she could still outlast him.
Their match still ends with a tap out when he firmly sweeps her off her feet with a Konoha Police tactic, an over the shoulder throw that was illegal in sparring because of how likely a bad throw can break the thrown’s neck. Something meant to disarm larger opponents, probably done out of reflex. ‘He’s using Aikido! That’s unfair!’ Ren cries out as Kichou goes sailing through the air . He looks apologetic about it at least, offering her his hand. She doesn’t take it mostly because she’s worried about pulling him down with her. Kichou gets to her feet and brushes over her shorts giving him a tight nod. “...no worries, thank you.”
A quiet boy in their class Shino adjusts his glasses and from behind his collar speaks coolly. “Mizuki-sensei I believe that was an illegal move specific to his clan that we were not taught. It should be called in her favor.”
“Sasuke-kun used every resource available to take down a larger opponent. Kichou cannot make herself smaller.” Choji actively snickers at their sensei behind his back, turning his head to Shikamaru “She can but Uchiha would become a pancake.” The lazy boy nods, but Sasuke seems to have overheard and is now glaring at her. Over what she doesn’t know. She knows the Uchiha’s are prideful at least, Sasuke who has his clan mon embroidered on even his pencil case is no exception.
“That was merely equaling out the playing field. Shino, why don’t you go next?” Their sensei continues unable to hear the boys at the edge of the field. There’s a static buzz in the air that quickly quiets, Shino walks into the ring bowing to her, which she returns shallowly. He moves efficiently through defensive stances never once striking out, forcing her to go onto the offensive but then actively avoids any strikes especially to his torso.
She manages to land a particularly hard hit to the stomach that she swears crawled under her knuckles. He grunts with some effort. She apologizes while he clutches his stomach.
Before bowing, conceding to her. “Well fought Akimichi-san, I concede.” Walking out the ring to Mizuki’s visible frustration. Shikamaru quickly follows, saying he hates fighting girls. Choji does the same forfeiting with a crunch of a chip. When Naruto is called they exchange playful blows, things that glance off their intended target as they both hold back before she sees him drop his elbow when it needs to stay up to block a face attack. She quickly taps it up, and moves his stance with her foot to be more rooted in his center. She stands still “...try it again.” She now blocks a much stronger hit, that has her slide back in the dirt. “...Feel better?”
He nods, looking happy, “Umu!” Kichou puts up her arms in striking position “...You’re fighting on your toes again, put more weight on your heels or you’ll be knocked down and for my own sanity-” She rushes into his strike zone, she has more reach, more weight, by any means this wouldn’t be a fair fight if she wasn’t winded by his exuberance. She puts all her power in a strike to his head that he flinches back from and squeezes his eyes tight expecting the impact of the blow. It never comes as she taps her fist on the side of his head above his ear. “Keep your arms up! If you get knocked in the head or ears hard enough it’s over.” He looks sheepish and he mirrors her stance.
“That’s enough! Kiba you’re up!” Naruto looks upset “BUT WE AREN’T DONE!” Mizuki sneers “Get out of the ring, Naruto.” Naruto clicks his tongue muttering ‘perverted-sensei’ under his breath to their instructors' darkening glare and glares of his own at something Kiba has said in passing. Kichou has long since been winded, feeling sweat collect along her skin, she was puffing out breath enough to know her metabolism was kicking up. Choza-sama said this was their comfort zone in battle, they were built to grow stronger in endurance. Kichou feels her muscles hum with chakra, light headed from the feeling, as her adrenal glands kick in, burning her stockpiles up like kindling to a flame.
“Oh man, you really look beat up, not that you could get any uglier, Bitch” Kiba taunts.
Kichou says nothing as she maintains form. There’s a unique focus and clarity that sits under her skin. Kiba in particular is tenacious about trying to tear her down, probably trying to get her back for their early childhood scuffles when he saw an easy target in Choji and Naruto.
He moves to sweep her leg again, trying to unbalance her, like a dog nipping at the heels of livestock. Most of her classmates pull their punches, afraid of hurting each other seriously. Still he looks like she knocked the air out of him when she lands a few good punches to the head and stomach. He gets her on the ground after abusing a stomp to her ankle that’s certainly not legal by any stretch of the imagination because it would normally break bones and continues to wail unto her. While she holds up her arms until they turn a bloody pulp trying to protect her face. He grins viciously as he thinks he has won but does not stop. The match was not called then and she had to wait till he wore himself out, breaking against his soft lock before flipping their weight, using her mass to overpower his, she reels her bruised arm back ready to return the favor. Trying to ignore the look of fear in his eyes as he’s overwhelmed. She doesn’t feel it in heart to be guilty when he so readily kicked a downed opponent. “--LOOK. AT. ME! AKIMICHI!”
Kichou feels her mind go blank and her body freezes as her head snaps away from the source of the shout. She feels a pressure on her side as she’s thrown to the ground, her mind urging her to not look up at the sky, there’s a pressure on her front as something much larger pins her down. A lethargy settles in her chest as she stares into the middle distance towards the treeline. The shadows of forest wobble as a woman peeks from behind the trunk.
A woman that is more black shadow and illusion than form. She is leaking shimmering light from her neck and head like bleeding stars.
“Class you do not kick an opponent once they are defea-!” “YET YOU LET KIBA DO IT?!” The woman has hair like creeping black roots that burrow into soft soil, and an outstretched hand that disappears once it reaches the sunlight of the field. “-cannot always overpower a weaker opponent! Just because you're big for your age is no excuse-” “-LL ALWAYS BE BIG. IT’S OUR CLAN PRIDE! You!-” The woman steps back into the treeline, she draws a gleaming white katana from her back that seems to be radiating soft pale light like moonlight. “-KUNOICHI SHE MUST BE PREPARE FOR THE REALITY-” “....what a pain. Then why have you never treated her like a kunoichi? Your argument is illogical. You-” The woman swings the sword overhead, rearing back. A voice like tinkling bells and wind chimes whispers something she cannot hear. There’s a hand on her face exerting pressure downward “THERE WILL BE NO SYMPATHY ON THE BATTLE FIELD. Women will always be weaker! They cannot--” The woman charges the field sword in hand vanishing as she reaches the edge where rays of light break through, she is segmented in half spread across thin shadows before she disappears in a gust of wind scattering the branches . “LOOK. AWAY”
“GET OFF HER YOU PERVERT!” Naruto screeches as Kichou blinks to life, throwing a hand off of her face. She looks up, a man with silver hair is pinning her down, he’s screaming at her classmates arguing but Kichou can’t see a mouth. No nose. No Eyes. To her horror her sensei is faceless.
There’s something wrong with her.
Her arms look horrendously bad, covered in denting bruises and scratches as Kiba had the audacity to use his nails like a wild animal. She bandages them herself in the nurse's office when she’s sure with a few uncertain shaking clenches that they are not broken. The nurse on duty was thankfully busy with an older student who somehow got a kunai to the back in training, the kid threw it himself.
She returns to the classroom later to a steely silence as the boys all seem to be watching her weary. Choji in particular is splaying her fingers under the desk where he can reach them like he’s trying to check for himself if they are broken. Throwing her worried glances every couple of minutes like clockwork. Kichou stares off into the middle space by the door for the rest of the day, ignoring everyone and everything. Iruka is upset with her, she can tell as he calls on her but she doesn’t respond.
As they walk home. Choji and Shikamaru follow at a sedate pace behind her.
“...Nee-chan we should tell dad…” Kichou's mind spins wildly out of control with shadow people that are not there and faceless men. There is something very wrong with her, there was a word for it in Ren’s world, a place for those people too that they never came out of. The stigma from Ren makes her want to hide away the truth, a thin shell to hide the very thing Kichou has feared since she woke into this world. “We’re crazy. Don’t tell anyone. They’ll take you away” It inspires a jerk reaction in her as she spins on him to see his anxious face.
“You can’t tell him! Promise me! Please!” Kichou pleads wildly. The boys look uncomfortable, shocked, uncertain but Choji nods. Shikamaru’s eyes flicking across her face like trying to read the movements of her mind but nods reluctantly too.
Something out of the corner of her eye wobbles, three familiar shades are standing in the stretching shadow of a lamppost set in a Konoha sunset, bleeding starlight, staring at her endlessly, a gaping maw with no end.
Kichou turns away.
Chapter 5: Chapter 5
Notes:
TW: References to Sexual Assault, Graphic Language, Torture.
This is the conclusion of the Mizuki arc, he'll be mentioned very little from here on it
Chapter Text
“THE REASON THEY HATE YOU, THEY DESPISE YOU IS BECAUSE YOU KILLED THEIR PARENTS!! YOU’RE THE KYUUBI NO KITSUNE!”
“LIAR!! AND YOU'RE A GROSS PERVERT AND YOU OWE ME REPAIR RATIONS!”
“ *Cough* I think you mean reparations, Naruto-kun.”
“Yeah what the police guy said! You’re going to jail for a long time you dirty child toucher! Book em’ chief!”
“Chunin instructor Mizuki, you are here by under arrest for suspected treason and the reckless endangerment of a minor. How do you plead?”
“Everything I DID I DID FOR THE GOOD OF THE VILLAGE! THE FACT YOU ALLOW THESE MONSTERS TO WALK AMONGST US IS WHAT’S TREASONOUS! I WILL BE THE ONE TO CLEANSE IT”
“A simple “guilty” would have suffice.”
In the end, it is Mizuki who forsakes his humanity.
Uchiha Fugaku rubs his aching eyes. This whole thing was a mess. A bloody fucking mess.
First it starts when Minato and Kushina’s child, Naruto his mind supplies , reports that there’s a pedophile at the academy. Something that sets his teeth on edge, and his hand itching for his tanto. A man that has been laying his hands on young girls from the report Naruto offered has recently escalated in behavior. Alarm bells, great flaming alarm bells. A few intake officers thought it was another prank by the notorious trickster but the look on his face, Minato’s eye and Kushina’s fire. It made his withered heart ache so woefully. A fear in Fugaku that this man is potentially teaching his son has him personally launching the investigation.
After careful investigation Mizuki no clan name doesn’t necessarily exhibit any tendencies but there’s always something to be said about Uzumaki instincts. Fugaku wondered if Naruto inherited the Uzumaki empathic sensing capabilities, Kushina could feel whenever his wife was upset with him from across the village. Telling him to fix it when he couldn’t tell something was wrong in the first place. Kushina would have caught this deviant in their midst, caught the warning signs. Minato would have flayed him alive by now. It was useless to ruminate, regret but they were a clan built on regrets. Mizuki was grooming certain students, civilian students, misfits, the socially vulnerable, Naruto included and the pedophilic behavior in question is accurate to a degree. He’s definitely exhibiting inappropriate behavior toward Choza’s ward, the Akimichi heiress Kichou.
Fugaku is inclined to agree, the way he manhandles her like she is a seasoned kunoichi during sparring demonstrations is…creepy. He watches from treetops, masking his chakra signature and outrage. Definitely creepy. Too assertive, trying to establish dominance with pinning moves, taking pleasure when she concedes then rubbing her face in the dirt, trying to humiliate. Touches that are a few seconds too long to be socially acceptable in his opinion. Grabbing moves that graze places he should not touch.
He catches it, his Mangekyo sharingan whirling to life, a microexpression of lust too quick for the children to catch when his hand grabs the meat of her thigh. She just as quickly knee’s him in the face and grapples him in return. Fugaku smiles as she wraps him in an disabling arm bar that came from the Uchiha’s Taijutsu, their contribution to the academy’s kata. He watches in fascination as she enlarges her torso, stretching her spine likely subconsciously with her bloodline limit, to make it more painful for her instructor. To match his proportions. It’s perfect execution as he hears the soft pop of a dislocation. It is then when Fugaku thinks of interceding, the the instructor grabs onto her hair with his other hand instead of tapping out, pulling painfully enough to make her flinch and break out of the hold. He then pins her to the ground, sitting on the small of her back and he forces her head into the dirt.
To which the girl is oblivious while her classmates grow increasingly uncomfortable at the display. Sasuke has his hands on his kunai pouch, Fugaku can tell he’s debating it. The Akimichi boy is growing, visibly inflating without hand signs, while the Nara boy has his head turned away, towards the direction of the classrooms. Naruto is starting to look feral as Mizuki ignores a tap out. No other instructors are around, no one is watching because Mizuki has moved the training grounds to the far side of the school where the building’s windows don’t face the students training. Disgusting. Fugaku resists the urges to castrate him then and there, there’s protocol and due process. He finally lets her up when she taps again, apparent enough that he can’t ignore it.
She’ll need counseling. Her proximity to the Yamanaka clan should be sufficient but there’s something deeply disturbing about the academy classes.
He pulls her file anyways, and his headache reaches a new magnitude, it’s riddled with inconsistencies and holes that have the stench of the Hokage and his damable counselors written all over it.
The child of one Akimichi Chouten younger brother of current head and Akimichi nee Nara Shizuki a branch member of the Nara clan and from what he can remember childhood sweethearts that went against the clan elder’s wishes. Something about an engagement to a princess. All very scandalous on the rumor mill for a few years until it died down. Although their bingo book titles were ‘the lovers’ as they were flamboyant with their flirting on the battlefield. Mikoto might remember, her and Kushina were gushing on how romantic it all was. The cynical part of Fugaku’s mind sees what would entice the greedy bastard, two prominent clans with well known synergy intermingling in a rare union. All the best traits could be distilled into a child, all the power of one’s Konoha’s cornerstones in a neat package, easily separated from her guardian.
They perished in the Kyuubei attack ‘suspicious like the whole incident in general’ and both families petitioned to take charge of her as no will was in place, but all miraculously got denied by the council a total of seventeen times as she’s named a ward of Konoha under the Akimichi’s elders proxy. The stench of carrion as the war vulture descends.
There’s a personal report from Choza as he finds intruders have broken into his late brother’s home managing to dispatch one of the intruders while the other interlopers manage to evade his pursuit. The body is sealed, no information can be obtained and Choza demands her caretakers be interrogated as the intruders knew about several gaps in the compound's security, as well as the barrier wards being disabled on the house to accommodate the revolving door of proxies allowed to take care of his niece. He remembers the frustration from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio in council meetings, how everything came grinding to a halt as they were also captains of industry in Konoha’s economy and the retaliation in return over what Fugaku thought to be petty squabbles and displays of dominance. He had no idea there was a child on the other side of the scales.
A formal complaint to the council.
Another formal complaint to the council.
A caretaker that died mysteriously in T&I.
A counter investigation into the Yamanaka, a smoke screen.
Fugaku flips through the small stack with exhaustion overtaking his hind brain. There was still so much more to go.
A sealed scroll that turns out to be a lengthy hospital report saying that Akimichi Kichou is non-verbal, non-responsive, verging on catatonic to everyone except Choza, her uncle. ‘Why is his care insufficient then?’ Bed sores, and atrophy. Her coils were twisted, damaged. Malnourished, which is fucking ridiculous for an Akimichi. Anger issues, suspected developmental disorders, clinical depression, a generalized anxiety disorder and possible mental retardation, the doctor wishes to institutionalize her. Fugaku can imagine Choza’s panic, whispers of stolen children, empty beds in the middle of the night, students never returning from the academy. Choza pulls rank on the doctor and simply walks out with her. Smart man, they are never given credit for their brains.
Another formal complaint to the council, which is heard this time and a request for wardship is granted, not formal adoption though. Maybe the hospital report scared them off, disgust sours his mouth. A strange footnote from the caregiver’s report. “Defective” Like she is a broken good. Fugaku flags her name, a secondary investigation to follow.
Sanctions against the Akimichi for insubordination are interesting. Is that the only tool in their arsenal? They sure like to use the same plan over and over again. Choza only outmaneuvers them when he threatens a price increase on their produce and food industry. Watch your population starve, your treasury dwindle or your military might wither, Choose. It is a few months of civilians complaining about the price of flour and eggs, in turn not paying for missions to save on household expenses before the council buckles . The Akimichi civilians then wrestle control away from Choza, the fools, to ingratiate themselves to the council.
Then it somehow gets worse from there.
Fugaku eyes Uzumaki Naruto’s academy file, his fingers graze the manilla folder he has read a thousand times, Minato’s son. It's somehow nowhere near as thick as Akimichi Kichou’s. Naruto is a notorious troublemaker of ill repute, he’s apprehended him enough times to know he’s just a hyperactive kid that wants attention Fugaku always pulls him to the side and gives him some tea and blanket, and some crayons and paper while he waits for the Hokage, but somehow the girl is the bad influence. In tandem they read like Akimichi is a criminal mastermind who is manipulating Naruto, and an overly passive Hokage that uses her to shield the boy from hatred. Fugaku tastes ash in his mouth.
Inconsistent reports, some saying she shows great academic promise, others that she should immediately be dismissed from the program on the grounds her mental handicaps would make her a liability on any team she is placed.
No social skills to speak of, remain the only “fact” between the two reports. A few scuffles. Fugaku smirks about a report of her breaking the nose of a smarmy Hyuuga boy. She’s growing on me. Their repeated altercations, when it’s reported she can’t even remember his name or face. But many teacher’s note the same, they suspect some sort of face blindness and selective hearing, dissociative episodes. She doesn’t seem fit for duty, but…..something doesn’t sit right with him. Nara were like that, depressed Nara especially when they were understimulated, unengaged, wallowing in boredom.
He had fought alongside Shikaku’s father to know he suffered from the same symptoms during the war, his comrade once told him that his father was a brilliant tactician but could only see the names of Shogi pieces across the features of his subordinates’ faces, how he had forgotten his own son’s face. He remained a brilliant tactician but lost all sense of empathy, humanity, and the ability to connect. How his mind withered when his wife died, how haunted that made his son look. He died after being confined to the estate when he deteriorated further, Shikaku having to take over his father’s grand legacy. Kichou sounded the same, she never had a chance after her parents death.
There’s a startling pattern of disciplinary actions and truancy when in contact with Mizuki. Another push for institutionalization. Easier to spirit away.
A rather thorough report from Iruka, his son’s homeroom teacher, about how she shows great promise, a high mental acuity, and that she’s simply bored by the Academy’s pace. How she cannot connect with the other children or remember their names is not her fault. Kichou will not do homework, but will read anything handed to her, you just have to ask her an interesting question or say something purposefully wrong to receive an answer. It won’t work if she senses condescension or purposeless work. Iruka notes she knows more beyond their curriculum, a self-sufficient learner, curious about their world. Stubborn, defiant, authority issues, Nara to a tee. She knows everything when asked, he tests her separately, sixth year material that she answers all perfectly, the academy committee still will not advance her in the academy. He suggests after speaking to her guardian that they hold her back a year like they originally intended so that she may attend with her little cousin to ease the process of resocialization. Iruka struck him as an honest man, and a good teacher, he’ll take his opinion over someone like Mizuki any day of the week.
A mostly redacted report he already knows the contents of, or an approximation of, “Reparations” seemed to be the Hokage’s new favorite word in regard to civil matters within the village. The beginning of Uzumaki Naruto’s tutoring, the rumors of a girl more eloquent than even the sharp tongued councilors finally changing the stubborn old fool’s mind, who spoke of complex and abstract legal issues spread throughout the tower, eventually reaching his ears.
The Uchiha in particular have benefited from the goods and services rendered from a few notable malcontents who accused them of treason against the village. It eased some of the sting of their ill repute like a balm while they were begrudgingly awarded boons. The clan was particularly enjoying discounted rates in the general goods store, his wife nearly buying out their entire stock of premium grade tea leaves and cosmetics at the cost of a man who screamed at one of their children in the street. The men loved the free baths at the bathhouse after their shifts after being denied. And of course the even prouder Hyuuga having to bow before them in apology and offer up their services, the burden of patrols eased greatly. Priceless.
It also vastly improved the condition of one Uzumaki Naruto, who was now swimming in cash from garnished paychecks and free meal vouchers for life. A personal tutor and companion in Akimichi Kichou. She was isolated, how would she know of unspoken village rules and etiquette, a kind child, a protector with no preconceived notions of Naruto, the answer to all of Sarutobi’s prayers. He even was awarded a few scrolls from some minor clan’s personal archives. A rare futon and some suiton if he remembers correctly, something that would suit the boy well knowing his parents.
The Hokage has been using the concept to divert power from the council to their consternation, giving him unique power over civil matters that previously plagued him but it signals the slow but sure decline in the Akimichi’s academic success. She never complains, a quiet child who suffers in silence. He wonders if Choza is frustrated, he could fix things if they only communicated. Fugaku tries to blink away the hypocrisy in that thought.
Then Fugaku finds the Orochimaru and by extension the Danzo plant.
It starts as a pattern of formal complaints against Mizuki aligning with disciplinary actions meant to isolate certain students from the herd. Then Choza’s ward not complying and an escalation in aggression and behavior, singling her out in particular. Maybe she inadvertently foiled some attempts of grooming the other children. It’s easy to see the spitefulness bared towards her underneath. How did none of them see the sycophant in their midst?
Was it because they had no empathy for something they found an eyesore? Were they truly unsympathetic to the cast offs and forgottens? Fugaku has to reel himself back, it’s dangerous to feel sympathy for a victim, it can skew his perspective. Yet he sees his clan when he looks at her file. ‘Speak out against injustice! Rave at the unfairness of it all!’ He goes back further and Fugaku has to sit up in his chair, flipping back and forth between files, turning his attention to Mizuki’s. Disappearances aligning with formal complaints being dropped, suspicious periods of time spent on sick leave, doctored mission reports.
A proximity to Orochimaru’s labs, before the illicit experiments were discovered. It’s messy, there’s none of the usual finesse, none of the snake oil and smokescreens to smooth things over. A loose end that Fugaku prays could unravel the whole blasted knot. He sees a path to victory stretch before him, a saving grace for his clan that has been backed into a corner for too long. And he will rage! Oh, how he will rage at the unfairness of it all, until this blasted village finally sees the light! He made an oath to speak out against injustice, that’s his ninja way!
He orders a tail, and has Itachi send a missive to the Ino-Shika-Cho formation requesting a clandestine meeting away from the prying eyes of the tower. His son is flippant lately, but he’ll soon see what Fugaku sees, it’ll be the last thing he does if he’s going to be arrested for treason by his own son. Itachi has yet to truly open his eyes, Fugaku doesn’t know what will get him to open them. He goes home with a pounding headache and a heavy heart. The topic weighs on his mind at dinner, keeping him from enjoying his meal, instead choosing to sip on the new tea Mikoto’s obsessed with. Watching Sasuke gently pick apart his dinner, a look of quiet exhalation when he eats the tomato salad, the dutiful nature in which he eats bell peppers although it’s apparent he finds them bitter, and a general look of innocence…. he had to know.
“Sasuke.” His son’s head snaps up, startled, spine straightening as he puts his chopsticks down and tucks his hands under his legs. “Yes, Chichiue?” Fugaku thinks about his query. Do you find your teacher inappropriate? Have you noticed any unfair treatment? Do you feel uncomfortable at the Academy? Should we pull you and homeschool you instead?
Mikoto warned him of his overprotective nature, to tone it down so it doesn’t feel overbearing.
“How do you feel about one of your classmates, Akimichi Kichou?” Sasuke’s nose ruffles but quickly smoothes over.
“She’s large, and uses the Akimichi techniques well but I can best her if I can out maneuver her. Slow but resilient. Her punches hurt.” Sasuke nods like that’s a perfectly adequate description and it is, Fugaku supposes.
“And her personality?” Sasuke looks embarrassed then confused as a hand goes to his chin, a tell that his son is thinking deeply.
“Oh um….Quiet. and….Stubborn, mostly stubborn. But then, loud randomly. Quiet-Loud, sort of a… contradiction. She mostly hangs out with Naruto and her brother, no one else ... .She hates bullying. She’s strong and…she likes protecting the weak. She’s….not bad.” It sounds exactly like the conjecture and narrative Fugaku invented in his mind. Relieved to know his gut feeling was right. She definitely needs counseling but her file is troubling, anything documented could be used to discredit her in the future. Leave her more vulnerable. Undermine the slow painful work Choza has put in, he’ll have to approach him privately. The amount of effort to separate an Akimichi from their child is staggering and he hopes it was frustrating for Danzo. Maybe personal counseling from the Yamanaka off the record will undo some of the damage, maybe he’ll take Itachi there and they’ll undergo counseling together.
Fugaku takes a sip of his tea, as Mikoto looks curious, he’ll tell her later when the children are in bed. A potential coup was not something to hide from one’s wife. It’s time he thinks, to release his burdens. “And what do you think of Naruto?” He unburdens his curiosity at least, he wants to know what he’s like when not around authority figures, what would Minato’s son be like. He seems more like Kushina if he’s honest, he can see his wife’s eyes widen, there’s a gentle wonder on her face. She’s endlessly curious about her late best friend’s child having been denied as his caregiver. They miss them.
Sasuke looks like he just ate a dozen bell peppers. “He’s so annoying! All he does is challenge me to spars or random contests. Then when he chokes, he’s a sore loser about it! Then he yaps and yaps like that small annoying dog next door…he is kinda fun though. And surprising! Unpredictable in a way that makes things interesting…Like the academy isn’t a waste of time…” Sasuke blushes pushing rice around his plate. It’s shockingly familiar to a pair of girls he used to know, and the hours of complaining he listened about his girlfriend’s greatest rival. Mikoto looks like she’s in love with the dreamy expression on her face. Fugaku knows how much she misses Kushina, how much she wants to know his son.
“Do you like him?” It’s the small hopeful words from his wife that makes his own pang for a second. Sasuke blushes and nods shyly refusing to look either parent in the eye. Mikoto catches his eye and smiles.
It’s a rare but lovely sight when his normally stoic family is so expressive. He secretly likes it when things are lively, like they are truly living.
“...And Mizuki-sensei?” He asks.
Sasuke’s face shuts down, his shoulders hunch forward, Mikoto reeling back from the whiplash. He balls a chopstick into a tiny fist and stabs at an errant piece of meat on his plate.
“.......I hate him.”
Fugaku frowns, he hopes Yamanaka and Morino will let him have a piece.
Inoichi stands behind a one way mirror in the very depths of T&I, his own personal dungeon. He sips coffee from a paper cup lamenting at the taste, he’s trying to cut down on his sugar intake. Studying his target, a handsome man with silver hair that hangs in his face. Or he was handsome, once upon a time, not so long ago, he now is a repulsive growth, a walking talking malignant tumor that cursed Inoichi’s eyes with his ugliness. Anko is standing to his right having taken personal interest in this case. A failed experiment from Orochimaru, too insignificant, too weak to be true root, a loose thread, that dangles so enticingly in front of them. The list of crimes all have them chomping at the bit for just a nibble of his agony. His daughter’s instructor and accused of the sexual assault of Choza’s child, the kidnapping of countless castaway children and orphans, the lowest of the low, scum not fit be called dirt. He taps a gloved finger on his jacket arm, crossed in consideration. He wants to start ripping away and not stop.
“What angle should we play?” Anko asks. There’s two openings, one the Hokage wants, and one Inochi wants. He wonders how they interplay. If he angles it just the right way, in just the right spot everything will unravel and bloom so beautifully in front of him. “The girl, I think he’ll loop back around to Uzumaki and the kidnappings if we lull him in.” Anko snorts, “Are you sure you’re not getting soft. Otoooou—san?~” She’s teasing him, thinking his personal interest in the case is clouding his judgment. He shrugs, with a sardonic smile on his face. “It seems I can still teach this brat a thing or two…5 minutes~” Inochi slips from the door, looking back over his shoulder. Smirking “Oh… be a good girl and bring dad his shears, if you will.” Knowing full well Anko is flipping him off behind his back, he closes the door with a smirk.
Schooling his features into a polite but nervous smile. He holds Mizuki’s file, a doctored one to be thinner, ‘they don’t have enough to hold me on, they didn’t find out’ Inochi predicts, trying to get into the right headspace. He opens the door, nervously trying to juggle paperwork and his paper coffee cup in hand. “..Sorry I’m late! You know how those Uchiha’s are.” Inochi sits down making a big show of settling in. “So long-winded, they always have something to say!” Inochi opens the file, taking out a single paged police report containing none of Fugaku’s notes and observations before looking confused and flipping it over, knowing there isn’t anything printed on the back.
He leaves the page on the table and folds his hands over the manilla file. “I’m sure we’ll get this all sorted out.” Mizuki stirs, Ibiki having deprived him of sleep in his overnight containment, purposefully putting him with undercover chunin who worked in T&I posing as true hardened criminals fighting over food and resources in the same holding cell. Inochi is pretty sure one has taken Mizuki’s shoes as the man sits barefoot under the table. Black eyes falling way to eye bags. He looks like shit in Inochi’s opinion. Outsides to match the in.
“Now it all started with this report…” Inochi takes a slip of his coffee before sliding the page across the table. Mizuki makes a move of grabbing it, his hands falling just an centimeter short from where there bound in handcuffs. It’s intentional. “Oh! Sorry about that! Let me get those off you.” Inochi presses a finger on the chain block releasing his chakra. The purposefully too tight cuffs pop off as Mizuki rubs his bruised wrists. Grabbing the report and reading it silently. “That Uzumaki….brat was spreading these tall tales about you touching the Akimichi girl in class, and I told them how ridiculous that was. Girls in that clan aren’t known for their looks after all.”
‘Come on you delusional half-wit. Play.’
Mizuki lifts his head. “It was just a demonstration! Just because no other man will ever touch that woman doesn’t mean I should be punished! She should be thanking me for preparing her for reality!”
Inochi feels his eyes tighten and he upturns the corners in a practiced smile.
“You know how little girls can be! A little rough and tumble and they’ll go crying to anyone who will listen.” ‘Make yourself an ally.’ “Akimichi has always spoiled that little girl rotten, doesn’t see how she has him wrapped around her little finger. I swear the fat has gotten to his brain. Doesn’t see how that little bitch of a snake is ruining his clan.” Inochi supplies, mentally arranging the bouquet in his head, not knowing yet what shape it will take. Guiding it along all the same. Summer lilac, butterfly bush, full blossoms, a shade of red, known for their fragrance, giving body to form.
Mizuki snorts “She can hardly be called little, she sits on a high horse just because she seduced the Akimichi head into taking her in. The sow is undeserving, she doesn’t put an ounce of effort in. They don’t know how defective she is, not an ounce of intelligence, thinks she’s strong because she’s big for her age. She cheats off her cousins you know, she shouldn’t be passing the academic classes. I had to teach her what being a kunoichi means, not that she’ll make it in infiltration. I told the Hokage she and that little demon brat are cheating and I get a pay cut! It’s ridiculous”
Inochi sees orange trumpet flower, loud and boisterous, energetic, climbing ever forward, tenaciously wrapping around verdant green stems of butterfly bush, with a little support they shine.
Inochi nods, summoning all his vitriol, disguising his repulsion and shimmering anger.
“He walks and talks like a human, masquerading behind that putrid smile is ridiculous. The fact he shares a classroom with my daughter disgusts me.” Inochi leans back. “Iruka, that incompetent-” Mizuki perks up at this, brightens. Jealousy in high bloom. “Defends him because he can’t see, deluding himself that he’s nothing more than a malignant growth that needs to be weeded out.”
The words fall from his lips and Inochi means every one. There’s a weed in his garden, leaching nutrients from the flowerbeds of sproutlings. A cancerous network underneath. Inochi will cut it back, tear out the roots, burn the bed and fertilize for new growth as he replants the budding flowers. Starting with this little weed. His fingers itch for his shears.
Mizuki slams his hands down on the table, excited that someone else can see his delusions.
“I’ve TOLD them for years that Iruka is unfit to be a teacher, yet they all come running to him because he coddles them. Celebrating their mediocrity, licking each other's wounds, he should be investigated, not me! You should see how that bitch and demon cling to him, he even goes to visit them after school hours, unsupervised. Who knows what they get up to?! Especially that fat bitch I hear he does weekly home visits! It’s probably how she stays in the academy…” Inoichi has to quickly kill the urge to pluck out his tongue, to gouge out his eyes and shear away fingers that have been reported to touch .
“The Hokage always calls him for special duty and commends him and what has he ever done except get in MY way?! That fat bitch and demon brat would be well in hand! Yet the Uchiha will believe their lies?! It’s all a little convenient don’t you think?! Then again they always had that demon brat under their thumb!”
Spider lilies, a signifier of death and remembrance, fireworks in bloom, the color of crimson, dripping with elegance, a statement flower. This bouquet is starting to look beautiful.
“The Hokage has always played favorites, he practically bows down to the Uchiha and lets that de-Uzumaki brat run wild. That senile monkey grovels before the Akimichi just because the greedy bastards control all the food. Look at the Yamanaka. We've been the central pillar of this village for years, running the barrier but all we do is shovel the shit of those fat bastards and lazy slobs because they kiss his feet. This village needs structure, not someone who got his position through nepotism and rewards mediocrity.”
Mizuki nods wildy, Inochi can see the moment he falls into the trap, Dahlia, vibrant red and white, the flower he’s always associated with Konoha, petals spew from his mouth as he sees bright blossoms spring to life from the talking corpse in front of him. Inochi hums.
“They need to be cleansed for the good of the village, then the truly worthy can rise to the top. The Hokage has gone senile, it's time for men of vision to step forward! Then mediocre filth can serve their true purpose.”
Inochi is eyeing where to place the first cut.
“Is that why you took those children so they could serve their greater purpose?”
There’s a manic glint in Mizuki’s eye as he bursts from his seat howling at Inochi like a lunatic .
“What can they do otherwise?! They’ll never be shinobi! That fat bitch would be on the streets starving because she couldn’t cut it in the flower district! But her body can still be used. All the defectives can, they can do such amazing things with them. They should be thankful! I’m giving them the chance to serve great men!”
Mizuki slumps, falling back into his seat, wide eyed, as Inochi siphons the forefront of his mind. He sees the root blacksite hidden on the border of grass, a head of auburn being pushed into the dirt the ecstasy of power heady, children’s faces dwindling from the facility as they beg to go home he’ll have to get more soon , Iruka talking to his fiance a hand on his elbow and gentle smile on her lips, Jealousy so bright it makes Inochi choke, Naruto failing to rise to his manipulations, endless frustration, Danzo’s disappointment, the embarrassment of his delusions of grandeur shattered, undeserving of being Root, Orochimaru’s experiments when he was deemed of no use, grunts of exertion, soft flesh under hand as blood rushes …..
Inochi does not look anymore. There’s still some minds he refuses to tread, this filth is one of them. He makes a hand signal to the one way window.
Anko kicks down the door not a second later, shears in hand.
“How did I do?” Inochi asks, having stood up, rolling his sleeves up.
“Seven minutes, see what I mean? Soft!” Anko seems smug as she hands him his shears but Inochi just shrugs, giving it a test chop, they look extra rusted and blunt today. Perfect.
“He was a talker.” Mizuki slack jawed and vacant lifts a hand onto the table. Inochi deliberates on what little piggie he’ll take first. A wedding band glints on the table, Mizuki had just gotten engaged after all. The poor woman.
He positions the shears over the digit just below the engagement band. They’ll have to send it back. It’s only the right thing to do, Inochi believes in the sanctity of romance, and her heart can still recover if she forges just the right note. Light returns to Mizuki’s eyes but he can’t move, trapped in his own body.
Anko slides her body down Mizuki’s back, arms coiling around him like a serpent. Curved lips pressed to his ear.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure your body can still serve a great purpose~”
The shears close shut.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”
He’ll pass out soon from the pain, a lot sooner than five minutes by Inochi’s estimation. He moves them over the man’s pinky next, the finger that ties lovers together by a red string of fate, in his mind’s eye still an afterthought of Mizuki’s reflection it was darker, more twisted the barest shimmer of red, the color of auburn. No, Inochi wants that one too as he wonders which cuts of meat Choza will want.
He closes the shears rusted over and dull, excruciatingly painful on said offensive pinkie.
There was a reason his bingo book alias was the gardener. Inochi hums as he finally gets to tend to his garden.
Sarutobi stands on the top of the Hokage tower, the moon is high, as Hiruzen smokes. A recurring thought, he’s too old for this has been prevalent thoughts for years now.
“So it’s really come to this Old friend” He mutters, he had forgiven the previous assassination attempt but this was a point of no return even for him. Danzo stands behind him, nearly a dozen root agents flank him on either side. An ambush intended for a final struggle, the death throes of a dying beast.
“You were always too sentimental, you old fool. My era has come.” Hiruzen turns back around, his shade stretching over him, a final insult that Danzo will never escape the Hokage’s shadow. One he shall not bear!
Danzo lifts a single hand, a signal to end this senseless struggle as he assumes his right place as the leader of the Leaf. All for the good of the village.
A sword pierces his chest. Blood pouring from his mouth as he finds he cannot move, rooted in place in the Hokage’s shadow. ‘Dan..zo-sa…ma it…is….not” A mindwalker. The agent goes slack as he falls. Then the next one falls, and the next. The Konoha police force have body flickered onto the roof, the tomoe of their accursed eyes vermillion and spinning. Genjutsu…A shade looms. Real… Fingers too large, the hand of a god, encloses around him, blocking Sarutobi, Konoha, his dreams from view.
“I shall pluck that wandering eye from your rotting head for daring to covet my family! YOU GREEDY WORM” The last thing Danzo Shimura sees is the shadow of a titan encompassing all around him. Committing his downfall to memory.
‘No.’ Hiruzen thinks eyes gazing upon the mount which he wishes he could scrape clean of his own face. ‘Our era has long since ended.’
Chapter 6: Chapter 6
Summary:
There's a new kid in class, a rival in romance and growing pains.
Chapter Text
Mizuki-sensei disappeared, absent for a week now. Iruka-sensei informs them that he will be replaced shortly, in the meantime they will practice basic exercises under the supervision of an aide. No one knows anything but Naruto has a rather foxy wide smile when the news dropped. So maybe he knows but the usually braggadocious kid is rather tight lipped, so maybe not. “Good riddance, the guy was a creep.” Shikamaru grouches, his hands crossed behind his head as he kicks up his feet on the desk and looks at the window. Choji opens a bag of potato chips and nods.
These are celebration chips. The man had no right to touch his sister, Choji frowns. Choji was gonna see how much longer he could make his life hell before he told Dad, he knows he promised but he couldn’t stand the sight of nee-chan suffering any longer. The problem even fixed itself, lucky~! Choji was having trouble trying to acquire more ipecac and laxatives from the pharmacy, there’s only so many times Uncle will believe he has a tummy ache before telling Mom. Naruto helped him slip it into his coffee while Shikamaru played lookout. Watching the teacher all the girls said was hot, having to run to the bathroom holding his stomach was pretty worth it though. Kichou-nee not skipping taijutsu class and taking it easy instead, priceless.
Choji’s hand reaches to the bottom of the bag only to find one broken chip and some crumbs. Such a sad last chip. He’s slightly disappointed at it, he should have savored his celebration chips more. Choji slides the pitiful last chip in his mouth before he turns to shake the bag of crumbs into his open mouth. A new bag slides across his desk, and he gasps. These are the limited edition roasted garlic and spicy barbeque XXL bag he finished off a month ago. How? “..trade you.” Kichou-nee looks bored with her hand propped under her chin, Choji knows that this might be her most attentive at school. Half attention meant that she was in a great mood.
Today is a really good day. “DEAL!” Choji holds up the truly glorious bag of chips paying homage to the subtle blend of delicate roasted garlic melting into the flavorous umami of barbeque pork. The piquant of spice, breaking up the monotony of each chip in a building heat. The granules of salt perfectly accenting the crunchy texture of the kettle cooked chip. Worthy of being called celebration chips. Choji pops open the bag, that first puff of crisp air blasting him in the face with purreeeeeeee rawwww flavor. Kichou reaches her hand in and steals the first bite, like she always does, leaving the rest for him. Choji feels a single tear brought to his eye. Changed by this holy experience. Thank you, Kami-sama, Thank you, Kichou-nee, thank you Mo–
“Do you need a moment alone with your new lover, Fatso?” Kiba snickers. Choji feels his eyes sharpen at the boy in front of him. Ire rocking through his body as he eyes the arrogant ninken user. “PLEASANTLY PUMP!” He should flambé that little dog in front of dog breath and see if he’s still laughing. There's a yelp as Kiba is launched forward, falling out of his seat as Kichou-nee’s foot finds his back. Choji smirks. “Ouch! That hurt you bitch!” “ Yip !” Kichou-nee only leans back and shrugs in her seat. “Oops…. sorry puppy. My legs are just soooo long. It really is a pain. You’ll understand when you’re older. Maybe, if you’re lucky.” Kichou-nee kicks up her feet and yawns and Choji only snickers at Kiba’s shaking anger.
“We can’t all be giant motherfuckers like you, you old hag!” Kichou-nee has already turned away from him and Choji is smug watching the boy fail to get her attention. Keep barking dog boy she won’t look your way. Choji slides a chip into his mouth, intent on enjoying his delightful snack. “Chou, I want zenzai….” Choji eats another chip and considers, mochi does sound delicious, and it is the perfect mochi enjoying weather, with snow lining the trees like icing on sugar cookies. It sounds so cozy in his tummy and that dictates like ninety percent of his decisions. “The new place that has the peanut dust or the usual?” He asks but he already knows, she’ll want the peanut dust from the new shop on main street. She loves savory sweet and has a hidden sweet tooth that only her most special people know about. Choji puffs himself up in pride when he correctly predicts “...Peanut”
He signs in their secret language that Kichou-nee made-up special for them. ‘Skip snack or After-School?’ Main street is usually crawling with kmpf officers but they’re pretty good at getting around them. ’Multi-size is pretty good for looking like an adult.’ Kichou looks at his hands, or he thinks she’s looking there, her bangs have been covering her eyes completely lately and signs back ‘Skip snack.’ So much for not skipping taijutsu class. There’s a click, Shikamaru is already opening the window latch, he always just seems to know. As the three slide a leg under them onto the bench ready to jump, getting closer to the window.
There’s a pressure on the other side of his head as Iruka has snuck up behind them and smacked their heads together between his palms. “NOT TODAY YOU THREE!” Ow.. All three are rubbing their heads but he feels bad for Shika the most, they have hard heads. The lazy boy clicks his tongue and looks out the window, mad that they got caught. Iruka-sensei clears his throat. “As I was saying today is a special day, we have a new student in class. YOU WILL!” he looks down at their section which is notorious for its trouble makers. “BEHAVE! AND YOU WILL GIVE HIM YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION AS HE INTRODUCES HIMSELF!” Choji always wondered if Iruka-sensei was a distant cousin the way he made his head bigger when he yelled or was imitating their awesome technique with genjutsu. “Troublesome” Shikamaru groans, begrudgingly turning his eyes forward. Choji was kinda curious, new students are rare, only if they were moving up or moving down a grade. Sometimes civilians, who showed aptitude suddenly but that was rare. Or the even rare case of a clan migrating to the village from another elemental country but Choji has only ever heard rumors of that.
Iruka-sensei clears his throat. “Sai-kun if you will.” There’s a pale boy standing at the front of the class smilingly pleasant. Creepy if you ask him. Vacant. Choji frowns as Ino titters about how cute he is and how he looks just like Sasuke to Sakura from where they are sitting behind them. He didn’t understand the obsession, Sasuke didn’t even eat barbeque, saying it was too greasy. A mortal rival. This new kid, a derivative dish of a classic pretty boy. BORRRINNNGGG. Choji feels his eye roll back in the skull.
In the new boy’s hand is a bright yellow book titled how to make friends. “Hello my name is Sai, I hope we can all get along!” Mechanical and stiff. No flavor. Lame! ‘No clan name.’ Choji puzzles, missing something. He’ll have to ask Shikamaru later. The girls all squeal and Choji has to huff a huge sigh between chips. At least the girls will have another pretty boy to fawn over, maybe Ino will shut up about Sasuke. The new kid’s head surveys the room before looking towards their window seats, then walks up to their row, right up to Kichou-nee and stares. ‘Back the fuck off weirdo!’ He glares back. Shikamaru tenses too, he gets pretty territorial around his seat. Kichou-nee is just staring up at the front, not even looking at him, probably dreaming about mochi, sweet beans, and peanut dust.
“I’m told in new social situations to assert dominance, one must walk up to the largest person in the room and punch them.” ‘Wha-’ Choji seems to watch in slow motion as he rears back a fist and socks Kichou-nee straight in the nose who flies back in a spray of blood. The whole class, taken by surprise before Kiba and Ami burst out laughing. “Oh that’s too good! I can’t breathe!” Naruto looks like he’s about to climb over his desk but Sasuke is holding him back by the collar. “LET ME AT EM’ TEME!”
“Kichou-kun!” Iruka is shaking sis who is knocked out cold. “Kichou-kun can you hear me? One blink for yes—oh for the love of” Iruka pulls up her bangs to see that she really is out cold. Without thinking Choji jumps out of his seat, grabs the new kid by the lapels of his stupid fashionable winter jacket and headbutts him in his stupid creepy face. Knocking them both down as Choji’s head spins. ‘I..hate…the…new…kid.’
“-at was an ineffective headbutt. The point of a headbutt is to anticipate and tense your forehead so you don’t inflict damage to yourself as well.” Kichou and Choji groan as they sink in their chairs outside the hokage's office, nursing their wounds with ice. The new kid wouldn’t shut up. Considering Choji knocked out a tooth while he’s only nursing a swollen knot on his forehead, he did pretty good. ‘I hope it’s a grown up permanent tooth, see if all the girls go gaga over you then.’ Kichou-nee has two cotton rolls shoved up her nose and a black eye because when she woke up not even a minute later she gave the new kid a black eye. Nee-chan always gave as good as she got. Except he returned the favor, giving her an even bigger black eye the same creepy smile never leaving his face. Eventually Iruka broke the three of them apart and sent them to Hokage's office.
“This sucks…” Kichou groans. Choji nods. “I don’t understand the euphemism, how does it suck?” The Akimichi siblings groan in tandem, sinking further. Kichou turns to him and makes the puff-puff hand sign which means mochi. They have a lot of food specific ones. He adjusts the ice bag on his forehead before he signs back. “We run.” Kichou throws back an affirmative before they sprint out of their chairs and jump over the chunin on duty serving as a secretary’s desk. “WAIT, KIDS!” They make it out of the Hokage tower and to the end of main street into the restaurant district and therefore the safety of their clan compound. They grin before making their way over to the popular new mochi shop. “Where are we going, Fatties?” Kichou-nee jumps when the new kid speaks up behind her and makes his presence known. Holding Choji back from wringing his neck as he screams “PLEASANTLY PLUMP!”
He just smiles at them, missing his right front tooth. Kichou-nee looks at him, he looks back. They stare like that for a while. Choji feels like his face is melting off from the DRAMA, the tension, a battle of wills so epic not seen since the battle of Madara and Hashirama. He opens a new bag of chips and slams a handful back.
“...Mochi.” Kichou-nee states. Like challenging him to say something. He says nothing, just staring back at them. The first blow.
“I never tried it.” The boy volleys back with a straight face, and the two have to stifle their gasps. Criminal behavior if you asked him. Choji decided this kid was a psycho. He would never trust this kid again in his life. A mighty strike in return.
“......Would you like to?” Choji’s head snaps up to look up at Kichou-nee. Sometimes he can’t tell what's going on in her head and it’s so frustrating. He prides himself on being a Kichou whisperer.
The boy nods hesitantly, the smile never dropping from his face.
Kichou-nee snorts through her nose but it looks painful when the corked cotton roll doesn’t budge and her face cringes.“You’ll be eating soft food for a while anyway.”
His older sister walks toward the shop but Choji makes a point of motioning with his hand. Pointing to his eyes with two fingers and turning it back on the boy. ‘I’m watching you motherfucker.’ Before moving on to follow Kichou-nee.
The boy silently followed his new friends, he couldn’t wait to tell Shin. Mission accomplished!
“Dad, where are we going?”
Ino adjusts a large bouquet of White Anemones and chrysanthemums, it's very strange for a get well soon bouquet, it reminds her of a funeral wreath they sometimes do at the shop. “A celebration of death and rebirth” was the clear message of the arrangement. It made her chest sink when she first saw it after coming home from school. They were hand delivering it too. Something her dad never actually does, instead leaving it for Ino or her mother after school.
“We’re going to pick some interesting kids up today. It's a gift for them” Her dad says breezily as they walk towards the hospital, somewhere she knows by heart because she has to deliver there so often. Their shop is strategically close for a reason.
Ino moves in step behind him as they make their way across the halls before finally stopping in the private wards that are isolated and quiet. Her dad pulls back the door and she’s greeted by the soft sight of boys her age speaking in muffled whispers to each other. A secret world of just the two of them framed in the petals of White Anemones and chrysanthemums as she peers behind them like a voyeur as Ino is stunned into silence.
Her dad always had perfect taste, always made the best arrangements. Nothing suits these two more than the flowers he hand selected for them. She thought so before in class but couldn’t get close to give a good look before, her heart hammering in her chest as she spies pale skin, and long lashes. He looked like Sasuke but somehow more “...pretty.”
Ino startles have realized she said it out loud hiding behind the flowers.
“Thank you for the compliment, you are too. Pretty that is” Sai answers honestly, devoid of any insincerity or malice. Ino didn’t know boys could be like this, straightforward, not afraid to voice their feelings. She feels so flattered.
The older boy bound in a wheelchair turns his head toward him.
“Ah Inochi-sama, good to see you again. Sai was just telling me about his day.” He smiles softly like blooming petals, delicately and pure velvet beneath her finger tips. The older one is washed out, subtle and soft.
Next to him is a boy she saw earlier, devoid of color like a work of art dipped in ink as he smiles at the father and daughter duo missing his front right tooth.
Dad laughs heartily at her side. “Yes I heard he already made quite a splash.”
Ino blinks, having finally been freed from the vice grip on her thinking processes. “Ah you're the boy that punched Kichou!”
He nods, smiling wider, more genuine, showcasing the void where his tooth once was.
“Yes! She’s my first friend! The book Inochi-sama gave me was right! We ate mochi together after class! I’m told this is a classical recreational activity among school friends. She bought me everything on the menu to try when I said I never had it! It was delicious! Then she let me take the rest back to Shin when I said I would like to! She is very generous nor did she ask for anything in return! Is it normal how much she and her brother can eat? It made me a little sick from how full I was, I have never felt that before. It was truly exhilarating!” The boy exclaims for the first time showing true childish excitement, his face lighting up to her father’s laughter and joy. There are boxes upon boxes on the table of all types of mochi and variations of dango. Sai holds up a stick of sticky Mitarashi dango to show her dad. It seems to be his new favorite food.
Ino’s heart clenches painfully, filled to the brim with jealousy. Kichou, who never showed up to kunoichi classes, wore boy clothes and fought like one too. The biggest kid in class in both the height and weight categories hands down. Who had a sad story whispered about behind closed hands. Someone Ino thought she would never be jealous of, who she could only pity. Someone she couldn’t even compete with because they weren’t playing by the same rules, not even the same game.
Had stolen his eye without even trying.
Ino never hated her more as she was forced to acknowledge her as her greatest rival yet, even fiercer than Sakura.
Kunoichi classes were a mandatory skip in her opinion, they were essentially culture classes. A cheap veneer to cover up the reality that the people writing the curriculum thought young women would always need to rely on feminine wiles and attractiveness to be useful. There seemed to be an internal bias to a lot of things, no classes on the practical uses of Genjutsu or Fuinjutsu and these fucking useless kunoichi classes in comparison to the boys who were given extra sparring lessons. Kichou learned about yang and yin chakra very early on, her ninjutsu would always fall short outside of Akimichi techniques but fuinjutsu was something of a great equalizer. It fascinated her endlessly that the magic everyone else seemed to perform was still possible with a well drawn seal. Ren’s past hobbies blending almost seamlessly with this new world.
But like everything else, the academy deemed it useless like medical jutsu and genjutsu because it often had the connotations of being a female or tradesmen craft. That’s what they should be learning instead of how to apply makeup, arranging flowers, or how to seduce men by making themselves smaller, less noticeable. Infiltration seemed like a specialization that should be carefully nurtured in people who actually showed potential, not her.
Kichou would never be cute or pretty, she made peace with that long ago even in her first life. Despite the fact Akimichi body type would never be considered traditionally attractive and it would hinder the Akimichi techniques to start dieting, Kichou had plenty of traits she wouldn’t consider attractive either without blaming it on her fatness either.
The Akimichi tradition of chakra tattooing their young with a distinctive cheek pattern gave her a permanent round red blush making makeup nigh impossible to apply without looking like a clown. Her hair, a rather lackluster dark brown with a strange red tint in her opinion, was often worn down and purposefully in the way, the texture a strange amalgamation of spiky and straight which she didn’t know how to style. What Kichou thought was secretly her most attractive feature were her eyes, sharp and angular, lined naturally in dark long lashes and smudged lids that already looked like she applied eyeliner a relief to look at in a field of soft and round, she hid them away behind overgrown fringe too afraid to look people in the eye. It made changing her appearance, trying to blend in, a nightmare in kunoichi classes.
She found the instructor Emiko-sensei to be a simpering idiot who favored the stereotypical feminine students, Ino in particular who remained the most popular girl in class, not that she had anything against them except maybe Ami but she couldn’t connect with them. They all had developed burgeoning crushes on Sasuke or Sai and were competing for their attention, dividing themselves into fan clubs that made them unapproachable. The dieting fad, Kichou found especially unbearable. As the boys seem to now think girls traditionally substituted off of morning dew and a single apple slice and therefore her appetite all the more abnormal and was quick to point it out when she ate layered bento’s and snacks.
Not to mention the boys were all now treating Sasuke like their biggest rival both romantically and as shinobi. He was a nice kid, just quiet, shy, he was firmly overshadowed by his prominent clan and there’s probably something to the appeal of the name and not the kid underneath. She could say nothing about the looks. Sai was…..Sai, and she’ll leave it at that. There was something creepy about her developing a crush on someone her physical age. All crushes just felt like a horrible quagmire of inappropriate and awkward. Memories of false confessions given to “Ren” out of malice, all the loneliness and heartbreak when the thought of loving her was just a joke was not worth it.
She knew what she was, a placeholder romance and a warm body in terms of her career, probably she would be placed on a low skill assault style team as a genin. As an adult she would leave the main house and return to her parent’s estate. If she could make it to chunin she probably would push paper for the rest of her life. Then? She didn’t know…. She made plans to never marry. While Choza-sama favored her, the outspoken Akimichi civilian elders did not, they were….traditionalists to say the least. They likely would never allow her to keep her parents house in the clan compound if she did marry. No, she couldn’t give that up for likely a lukewarm romance. Nothing was worth that.
Kichou runs her hand along the pale colored glass panes that her father personally made instead of the traditional paper, each pane unique with bubbles and imperfections. They sparkle when the light hits them just right, when the day breaks over the Hokage mountain. She makes her way to the back of the house with blue ceilings pouring into blue skies as she slides open the door to the backyard. The engawa seemed to be the focal point of the house, considering how much time she remembers her mother spending out here. Her fingers trace the hand carved poetry grooved into each post, love poems passed from her father to her mother bound in the house's very foundation.
‘Do not let men find out, By smiling at me so apparently, Like the clouds that clearly cross, Over the verdant mountains. -To my heavenly butterfly”
‘Casually, To see just your shadow, I passed through Your house’s gate Several times. -To my tranquil tree.’
They were so cheesy, taking a kanji from each of their names to make hers. It makes her smile all the same.
An unused shogi board sits on the porch gathering dust, the pieces sun bleached and withered from the weather. Kichou thought about taking it inside, putting it somewhere safe and away but something about it makes her sad. A foolish part of her thinks her mother’s spirit is resting there. If she were to move it inside her mother’s soul would never see the sky again. She reaches down and kisses the silver general before putting it back in place. She never learned how to play, because her mother would never get to teach her favorite pastime to her daughter.
The garden is coming in nicely, creeping vines of chilis and honeysuckle litter the fence post. She allocated a quarter of the yard to neat rows of tomato stalks rich with green fruit, potato sprouts hiding untold treasure, and an abundance of spinach leaves. Kichou planted giant milkweed, hollyhock and summer lilac to feed passing butterflies, lining the back wall breaking way to a stepping stone path ending in a fruit tree planted when she was just a baby. The persimmon tree bore fruit last year, the buds promising a plentiful harvest this year. Her father’s favorite. She placed a large jizo statue she carved out of remnants of Choza-sama’s earthen wall dotonjutsu at the base of the tree, adorning the cheeks with her father’s signature green squares in paint.
Kichou has just finished watering the plants, the vegetables in particular are thirsty things. The utilities have long since been cut off, so she has to steal water from the restaurant district, water cans hidden out back as the staff let her fill them in sinks and from spigots. It was the height of summer and her sixth year at the academy and her classmate’s fifth. Her routine fell into a precarious tedium, a deep melancholy aching in her bones. Sticky with sweat, Choji’s hammy downs cling to her skin, never wanting to inconvenience the household for more clothing. ‘There’s boxes of her parents clothing, too small to fit into whats left of her father’s armor, too big for her mother’s flak jacket, nothing fits’ She stretches her spine along the wooden planks letting the sun dapple her skin, the cicadas lulling her to sleep.
The plan to keep herself aloof, separated from her classmates was a massive success and with that success came a loneliness. She made herself scarce after school, and during and sometimes before. Instead preferring to spend her days sequestered away. Choji has friends of his own, a fast friend in Nara Shikamaru but considering their parents would likely be lifelong best friends, and was a part of a motley crew of tangential misfits that all ditched together. Amongst them being Naruto, who no longer required her services after forming a rather tenuous friendship with Sasuke Uchiha and by extension the Uchiha clan, he looked happy finally. ‘...Must be nice.’
If the tallest nail is never hammered down, it’s moved on, ignored by the hammer, watching all the other nails fall, it becomes the loneliest nail
She’s stagnating like a puddle of putrid rainwater or a stone boulder that’s reached the bottom of the hill and moss stuck in its place. Kichou has reached the limit of the Akimichi techniques, without the synergies of the Ino-Shika-Cho formation she feels like she is missing limbs. That her clan through years of codependency have grown stunted in terms of ingenuity. She’s not industrious enough to create her own and her butterfly form is rather pitiful compared to Choji’s. Her wings are small, they burn too brightly and too fast. A life of mediocrity stretches before her.
A large shadow eclipses her, cooling her skin. Cracking her eyes she sees Choza-Sama is sitting beside her, the only other one with a key. He rarely uses it but every so often Kichou see’s that the rooms have been dusted and fresh incense placed in front her parent’s shrine.
“Those tomatoes are coming in nicely. I’m sure Momo would appreciate a few if you find yourself with too many.” He’s wearing a summer yukata with the sleeves rolled, fanning himself with a paper fan with the Akimichi mon, iconic to the nearby barbeque restaurants. “Or maybe we can make a curry, just the two of us, Chouten loved curry.” Kichou closes her eyes and tries to imagine her father cooking, coming home from the academy to a bowl piled high with rice and piping hot curry, her mother at the table doing paperwork as dad convinces her to eat. Their kind smiles and attentive faces as she tells them about her day. “With an onsen egg on top?” She asks slyly, not skilled enough to make it on her own, a trifling matter for a skilled gourmand like Choza-sama though. The heat is bearing down on her, making her sluggish. She sits up, leaning back on her arms to take in her kingdom of one.
Her uncle puffs up his chest “Of course! Would it even be a curry dinner without a rich luxurious egg yolk mixed with a deliciously spicy curry and delicate white rice?” Choza-sama smiles when Kichou wipes the drool from her mouth with the back of her hand, stomach grumbling.
“What class?” Kichou feels her mouth go dry when Choza-sama asks. Reality crashing down on her. “...kunoichi.”
“Ahh…well, at least it’s not an important one.” Kichou smiles, Choza-sama always gets it.
“Your instructors are worried, That Iruka boy comes every week now” Or…not. Kichou huffs. Iruka-sensei is an annoying busy body.
Her uncle tucks a tuft of hair behind her ear, thumbing the blank lobe. Choji got his ear pierced last week, having taken his oath to carry the torch of the next generation of Ino-Shika-Cho.
“I never asked if you wanted to be a shinobi..” He says delicately, regret seeping into his tone.
“I don’t know what else I could be.” She replies solemnly back. Nothing interests her, feeling ill-suited for other lines of work but life in general. The thought of dying painfully in battle scares her, but so does the thought of endlessly living.
“Well, what do you want to be?” She’s scared to say nothing. She wanted to be nothing, it was robbed from Ren and by extension her in death. Never knowing peace.
“I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.” Kichou says, even though she knows she’s not being completely honest.
The man leans forward his red mane of hair glistening in the overbearing sun, he’s silent in contemplation.
“Do you regret it?” Kichou tentatively asks. She was more trouble than she was worth, Choza locked her nursery for her own mental health but sometimes she wonders if she shouldn’t have stayed there, if she was meant to become stuck by her own mediocrity regardless was it even worth trying. She tried clawing her way in once, laying on the floor for hours, staring at the door before Choza-sama found her and pulled her out.
“Regret what?” He seems weary, sweat trickling down his brow.
“Picking me up that day?” She lays her head against the meat of his arm. It’s too hot to be doing this, but she always craved physical affection in his presence.
“Never.” a gentle breeze runs across her face as Choza-sama fans them both. He’s always so serene, she’s envious.
“If it doesn’t matter, then I think you should live as if it doesn’t matter. You were never a burden Kichou. Have faith that you can be whatever you want to be, I only ask that you try to be the best you. Only you can decide what that is, failure should never worry you.”
Kichou hides stinging tears into the skin of her uncle’s arm. It hurts. It’s so bad. She feels too old for growing pains.
“AAAAh” Choza-sama screams into the paper fan. “It’s so hot, we should get some Kakigori!”
‘ Taiyaki Ice cream would be even better, or they could split a giant parfait.’ She would make it one day for him.
Chapter 7: Chapter 7
Summary:
Final Exams take a surprising turn
Chapter Text
Naruto and her are competing for last place, for the title of dead last that only she covets. Well Naruto is actually trying, she is just doing the bare minimum to graduate, even Shikamaru seems impressed by what she can get away with. She scores a perfect 50 percent on the exam, blowing Naruto’s 61 and Shikamaru’s 63 out of the water. Shikamaru curses and snatches the papers out of her hand looking over her exams. “Fuck, you misspelled the First’s name and when on a detailed tangent about the Second on the written proportion. It’s so perfectly average. Why didn’t I think of that?” Kichou ignores Choji’s panicked eating at the sight of her test scores, he has a 93 after she helped him cram the last couple days. Iruka has marked her paper in red circles, and lines, there’s an angry face and a see me after class written in the margins. Kichou doesn’t plan on going. This is the last day of class after all. Kichou plucks the papers from his hand and rolls them up before shoving them in her bag.
“BUT YOU KNOW ALL THAT STUFF THOUGH!” Naruto shouts from the row below them, angry at her. Kichou shrugs before looking smug at Iruka’s pulsating vein. He’s looking directly at their section now, frowning at her. This war of attrition ends today, Kichou’s total victory after Iruka has to pass her by bare minimum requirements is in sight.
Sasuke is quick to hide his 100 down the wide neck of his shirt and away from Naruto’s squinting eyes when Naruto turns his head away to look at the row above him. The dark haired Uchiha looks ruefully at her when she smirks at him, Sasuke seemed to be banking on the deadlast paired with the top student formation. Not that Kichou has any plans of actually passing without the perfect bare minimum of score, it’s fun watching the normally cool boy sweat under his too big collar though. Naruto is climbing on top of the desk looking down at Sasuke, squatting while Sasuke tries to play it cool with his hands folded in front of his chin hiding the paper peeking out of his collar that Kichou can see from here.
She really doesn’t know why he’s taken to sitting right next to her, but she can guess it’s because she’s a fangirl deterrent. They were all too scared to pick a fight with her, she was the only girl in class besides maybe one other who showed no interest in either Sasuke or Sai. It still made her anxious to be boxed in though because Choji refused to leave her side and Shikamaru needed a window seat and he had to compete with the perpetually early Sai who liked to draw landscapes during class or doodle any number of classmate from the vantage point and sunglasses clad boy who Kichou couldn’t remember the name of right now, ‘Shino’ who claimed the top and bottom window seats respectively so that left just enough room for the Sasuke to squeeze into their row.
Naruto then sat directly in front of them. It made it easy for Kichou to intervene with a kick to his chair when he wrote a wrong answer. She had taught Naruto morse code just so she could relay short answers, not that the hand copied tests helped.
Iruka’s handwriting was pristine but Naruto still struggled reading it. He often didn’t need more help than having certain words repeated back to him. He relayed his confusion with a scratch to his cheek that Kichou would watch for. Their teacher tended to ignore their blatant cheating because he knew of Naruto’s struggles with reading comprehension but couldn’t accommodate him at risk of being accused of favoritism but the Academy had no actual system for handling disabilities. Kiba usually hovered in the same row while the actual good students tended to be on the left side of the room in the other six sections.
It led to endless antics and an uneasy accord to Iruka’s lament and reluctant acceptance as it gave him a chance to direct his attention in one spot as all troublemakers congregate in an easily accessible section.
A civilian born boy who not even Ren remembered the name of, elbowed Naruto in the back pushing him forward into Sasuke and Kichou is witness to a lip smacking accidental kiss to the entire classroom's surprise. ‘Oh my!’ Their placement literally gives her a front row seat to the ensuing pandemonium. Kichou holds a hand over her mouth trying to hide her mirth as they pull themselves apart and both start gagging exaggeratedly. Sakura and a handful of other girls in class have cornered Naruto, as they emit a dark aura that makes the boys of Kichou’s seating section shrink away. Sakura cracks her knuckles while letting out a guttural “NARRUTTOOO” Kichou catches her fist, shielding Naruto with her body as she surges forth. She grunts at the force, Sakura was packing some heat in her right hook. “It wasn’t intentional, and everyone knows that first kiss shit isn’t real…. Besides, even if I’m wrong I’m like a hundred percent sure that shit doesn’t count!” Kichou proclaims to the group of rabid girls.
Ami pushes herself forward amongst the crowd “How would you know, whale?! Like anyone would kiss your big mouth.” Kichou isn’t afraid to get right back in the girl's face, towering over her. Ren’s first kiss was something not even worth mentioning after all, something she tried to drive from her mind. That isn’t to say Kichou is unaware of the mechanics. “I wasn’t aware you were so concerned about where my big mouth has been or the sanctity of first kisses, Ami. I would say you should worry about yourself, your breath is starting to smell a little dog-like right now.” More than a few people on both sides of the room snicker as it was well known that she and Kiba would make out on the benches outside the academy. Kichou when she sees them immediately turns around and routes through the forest to go home instead. That only seems to goad Rin further as a furious blush rises to her cheeks in embarrassment.
Kichou can feel the eyes of everyone in the class following her, it makes the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.
“What, are you jealous that I even use these lips at all?! The only thing you’ll kiss your entire life is the bottom of a chip bag.” Rin says snidely.
There’s a sharp cooling anger in Kichou’s belly as she lowers her head, so that she’s looking directly into Rin’s brown eyes. Who can maybe catch a glimpse of her own as her bangs dangle against Rin’s cheeks.
There’s a gentle arrest between them before Kichou snorts right in front of her face, Rin flinches at the gust of air. “So you’ll accept whatever slobbering trainwreck or smashed together mouths and call it a kiss? You’re right I haven’t been kissed before but neither have you. Real kisses are slow and passionate that make your toes curl and your body hot.” Rin shivers and a blush has formed across her cheeks. Kichou grabs her chin. “It isn’t just romance novels, they’ll make your fingers go numb from want as all the blood rushes to your head in a heady yearning that will leaves you dizzy and breathless as you shudder to break contact, it’s a mutual surrender in vulnerability as you both are purely in the moment. Becoming one as you share the same breath.” She swipes her thumb across Rin’s lips sticky with tacky lipgloss, too much in their opinion, her breath shudders from the touch. “Where you won’t even think about ruining your makeup because the only thing you can think about is the feeling of their lips on yours.”
Kichou removes her hand, wiping the gloss on the shoulder of Rin’s shirt just as quickly and she shoves Rin back, the purple haired bitch falling into the mass of girls behind her, bowling a majority over. “You fucking whale! Like you understand anything and haven’t just paraphrased some softcore romance novel that old grannies read! Don’t get ahead of yourself! As if anyone wants to kiss your disgusting self ever in your fucking life.” Rin quivered in fury as she stands as Kichou snorts again.
“Maybe not but I at least know what a real kiss is, or do you believe every playground promise to marry your snot-nosed childhood sweetheart? At least I don’t play make believe.” Rin sounds like a tea kettle as she screams, stomping her foot.
“If you think that mess of teeth and skulls bumping together was a first kiss then I hate to break it to you but it wasn’t. Run along now little girl, you’ll probably look back at this as a silly and funny academy memory in a few years anyway. Fuck off before I start throwing punches.” Kichou waves them off and they all quickly disperse at the petty threat and their anger abates, a few in the classroom are red faced, however many dejected and ashamed. Sakura and Rin linger, a blushing bashful and red-faced enraged look respectfully as Ino wraps a hand around Sakura’s and drags her back to their row seat, across from Sai. Naruto thanks her for saving his skin after both boys mutually spit on the ground. Kichou sighs before sitting down, her head hitting the desk, Choji patting her on the back.
Naruto turns to her, tugging on the sleeve of her shirt like they were toddlers again and he didn’t know what to do. Kichou picks up her head as Naruto whisper-yells into his ear. “You really put her in her place, I’ll bet she’ll be thinking about that for a while. Ne ne is what you said true? It would be so lame if Duck butt was my first kiss.” Kichou nods certain and a happy grin blooms on Naruto’s cheeks as Sasuke seems to turn bright red at that as he asks for someone to kill him mercifully or something to at least wash the taste out, out of the corner of her eye she sees Sai get up. Kichou has to stop Sai from taking it literally as he pulls an academy kunai from his jacket. The metal glinting in the overhead light. Standing up to stop the kunai from coming down on Sasuke’s back, as Kichou grabs his wrist in his palm.
“It wasn’t literal! A euphemism! I repeat a euphemism” Kichou exclaims, trying to stop a murder from the only boy in class who would take it literally. Sai just seems to nod before sitting back down with a smile on his face. Sasuke gasps having realized he was about to be assassinated, quickly turning on the boy to glare at him. “Just try it and see what happens you freak I’ll beat you into the ground.”
Sai just tilts his head “If it wasn’t for Fattie, you would be dead. You should be more careful with your words if you don’t actually mean them. Especially when it seems like you liked it, Boy-kisser.” Kichou has to immediately pull Sasuke back from strangling him, she was getting tired of this shit fast. “Really, Sai?! Do you have any sort of self-preservation?” She implores, he never seems to have gotten better.
The boy tilts his head “I don’t understand what I have to be afraid of. He is not as talented as his brother.” Kichou takes one last look at Sai committing his face in memoriam before she lets go of Sasuke’s collar and the raven haired boy launches himself forward over the desk to presumably punch Sai’s lights out. He really needed to learn one of these days. Although Sai seems to be fending Sasuke off fairly well, the other dark haired boy was also the contender for the top of the year.
Somehow managing to draw a pretty decent rendition of the aforementioned kiss while dodging agile strikes, and shuriken attacks at the back of the classroom. Waving the ink painting around like a banner as Sasuke makes a tiger seal, probably to burn the scroll and the boy to a crisp.
Kichou quickly makes the bird sign channeling her chakra to her hand using the multi size technique of her clan, then she makes a chopping motion separating the two boys, before she feels something snap in her arm, biting back a wince. “No katon in the classroom! Are you fucking crazy?! Do we look like kindling to you?! Take it outside!” Sasuke looks like he’s holding light in his throat as he swallows, smoke rising from his nose like a dragon. Kichou quickly releases her hand and feels her muscles cramp painfully in her arm, Sai grabs her retracting wrist and twists her hand over, facing her palm up towards the ceiling. The smile does not leave his face as she gasps in pain and tries to twist her body with her arm to correct it. Out of the corner of her eye Kichou can see Sasuke swipe the scroll while Sai is distracted, tearing it into paper confetti.
He touched the middle of her forearm as Choji rises from his seat, glaring at the boy holding her arm. Kichou yelps loudly, attracting more attention from the knucklehead group. “I thought so, you sprained a ligament that you didn’t enlarge correctly, Fattie. You’re not ready to use that ninjutsu yet, you’re going to hurt yourself.” There’s a dark sharp undertone as he holds her hand steady despite pulling back with the full force of her weight. The boy pulls a jar of salve from his pocket before applying it to her arm, tiger balm from the burning tingling sensation but somehow more potent as it goes numb along with the rest of her limbs. He lets her go before she falls like jelly to the floor.
“Nee-chan! What did you do?!” Choji interrogates Sai before propping Kichou up against her desk. Sai smiles “I applied a powerful muscle relaxant and something to reduce inflammation so she wouldn’t do any permanent damage although she might be out of luck for the practical later, I’m told we are going in alphabetical order by last name unfortunately. Of course I will do my best to stall as I am going first along with the other clanless.”
Shikamaru looks over from his desk, as Kichou looks exhausted, her head lulling to the floor. “What a drag, why are you even carrying that shit around?” It seemed like a pointed question but Sai just shrugs. “You’ll never know when you need it~ Sloth Face” Shikamaru scoffs before returning to his nap, too much excitement from them. Sai continues to smile looking down at them while Naruto shivers “Why are you so creepy?” Choji glares at him while trying to administer modified solider pills Mom formulated for Kichou and chips to jumpstart her metabolism although to most students in the class it looks like he’s just jamming shit into her face. Sai leans over with a smile on his face as Kichou stirs not even a moment later.
“Although she’ll need a dose to knock out a large cow for it to be truly effective and even then she’ll probably work it out of her system in an hour.” Choji glares at Sai knowingly, he always seemed to allude to secrets he shouldn’t possibly know. Their clan secrets weren’t out of reach for the boy as he was a ward of the Yamanaka but he knew others too. He knew even before Choji that Nee-chan didn’t even use their own clan technique properly, a common mistake dad often warned them about, to practice in small increments before attempting anything big and unproportional.
It set most people’s teeth on edge as he was familiar with all the clanborn families and techniques. It was possible he knew what the Akimichi were hiding in their bodies, joking under the guise of calling them fat. Choji narrowed his eyes before holding Nee-chan’s throat, feeling her neck warm under his hand. That was good at least, watching as her fingers twitched.
Naruto sniffs the air before rifling through Kichou’s bag, adjusting her bento box and checking her thermos. Kiba and Shino are both looking at her, there’s a sense of knowing that Choji hates it was a clan secret for a reason. He sees dog breath licks his lips, rage fills him. There's a crinkling of wrappers as Naruto has broken into one of her storage seals of candy. “Ne Choji~ did Big-Nee spill her tea and sweets again?” Choji’s eyes widen and he swears quietly, taking off his scarf and wrapping it around Nee-chan’s neck, exposing his neck guard to the class.
He can see the other children around get curious at the thick metal band around his throat. He feels fingers on the neck and Shikamaru has tied the green armband he wears around his vest around him like a handkerchief. There is a silent acknowledgement between them. “She must have! Toss me her tea!” He lies as Choji holds out his hands to Naruto, the blonde hands him the thermos and Choji unscrews it and puts it against her mouth, breathing a sigh of relief as she chugs it herself.
Iruka walks in with a clipboard in hand ready to call them back individually for their ninjutsu and exit interviews and evaluations.
“Choji you’re up!” He panics looking down as Nee-chan is drooling on herself as she tries to swallow. “What about Sai?!” He points blindly behind him but Iruka gives him a look like he’s about to come back there, and that would be bad, Iruka often collectively punishes them.
“I decide the rules, and this year you and Kichou can go first. Or is that a problem?” Their entire rows stiffens as Iruka glares daggers at them. Kichou shakily rises from behind the desks. “N-not at all, Iruka-Sensei!” Choji exclaims. She’s sweating bullets and flushes in blotchy red skin, she is propping herself up on her knuckles. Kichou is sweltering in Choji’s scarf, she hates how restrictive it feels as overturns her bag dumping a massive amount of candy and chips, a small mountain as she gives a thumbs up to her teacher, shoveling food into her mouth.
“Go!” Kichou throws a bag of chips at Choji as he hesitates by her side. “Are you sure? I-”
“Remember what Choza-sama said. I’ll be fine” Choji’s fist tightens, a fire lit beneath his eyes.
“FOR THE ALL YOU CAN EAT BARBEQUE!” He says as he charges down the steps, and out the door.
“I hate sitting here.” Kichou sighs between bites. Pausing when she feels a choking sensation as Sai is tying Choji’s scarf tighter around her neck into a bow. “You looked cold, Fattie” Sai chirps when she leans her head back to look at him. Ino is glaring at her, motioning that she’s a dead woman with a thumb drawn across her neck. Kichou takes a bite of a chocolate bar and chews. Sasuke snorts next to her as he continues to squabble with Naruto, going over his test marked in red. Apparently they had studied more without her , not that would help Naruto, Sasuke didn’t even have a concept of what Naruto’s problem might be. Ren’s world did but Naruto didn’t ask his tutor. He didn’t need her anymore.
Kiba taunts her. “Bad news, then you’ll be sitting here next year with those scores. Might as well give up now, Bitch. I can already see it now, you tied to the apron strings, slinging meat for the rest of your life.” They all thought she would work in the restaurant ward soon enough, a waitress or a service worker.
Kichou is silent as she smirks down at him kicking up her feet. Pouring a bag of sweet potato sticks in her mouth, crunching loudly.
Shikamaru recognizes the cloying grin with exasperation. “You have it all planned out don’t you.”
Kichou did, a life of perfect mediocrity stretched before.
“YOU PASSED!” “YATTA” Choji and Naruto cheer.
Kichou walks back into the class with a forehead protector tied tightly around her neck, Choji’s scarf folded neatly, tucked under her arm. A look of disapproval on Iruka’s face as she throws a victory sign to her seat section. Shino silently gets up and walks out the door, despite Iruka not asking for him. He seemed agitated in passing, pushing up his glasses at her. “You seemed to have made a clerical error. Iruka-sensei I was meant to go first.” Iruka-sensei laughs sheepishly, scratching his cheek as he closes the door after them. Kichou wordlessly walks up the row before climbing up on the desk, stepping over Sasuke’s paperwork and laying down in front of Choji taking up both of their desk space.
“...You’re not gonna wear your forehead protector like that are you?” She asks as she takes a chip from his bag of chips, which is really her bag that he took from the small mountain snacks she left behind when they switched. She pushed them into her seat, clearing the table top so she could lazily slink while she waited for Naruto to finish his test. It was her last duty as his tutor. Ensuring that he passed his exam with flying colors.
Choji frowns “What’s wrong with it?” Kichou feels mean but he really needs to know as she hooks her finger under the strange bandana configuration and pulls it out where he has it tucked in the back. She leans in closer and makes the sign for underwear then head. He seems embarrassed as he ties it around his head normally. Kichou ruffles his hair “Handsome, the girls will be fighting over you in no time.” Choji chuckles as Kichou sighs happily glowing in her perfect victory.
Kiba scoffs loudly but Kichou starts throwing her trash in his general direction.
“Do you know your ranking, Akimichi?” Sasuke asks his hands in front of his face again as Kichou hums as Choji shrugs at the Uchiha as she takes another chip from the bag. “...The other Akimichi.” Kichou opens another bag of extra spicy pepper flavored chips. Alternating bites between chocolate candy bar and chips. She finishes chewing to answer, smirking at his apparent disgust.
“...Deadlast.” She says with an aura of pride. Naruto jumps up from his seat, draping himself over her middle. “I thought I was last in class rankings?!” Sasuke is frozen while Sai’s smile widens. Not her problem anymore, she doubts she will see them again after today. She isn’t going to waste the energy on their motives and expressions.
Kichou twirls the chocolate bar into the air. “Not anymore….I stole last year’s grading rubric from the archives and studied the exams going about ten years back. I set a record and everything.”
Sasuke seems astounded “So you cheated to fail?” Kichou makes no motion to answer him, instead opening another bag of spicy chips and another candy bar. Choji has started stress eating again, his anxiety picking up. It was not academic dishonesty she checked with the Hokage first but Iruka caught on very fast, warning her that she may not like the consequences of doing so.
She sighs loudly. “Not to fail, to prove a point. It’s the academy’s fault for having an exam that’s so inefficient and easily manipulated. Half the time special exceptions are made anyway for clan-children, their reasoning is that they don’t need the basics if they are already strong at their specialization. A new curriculum and standardization needed to be devised years ago. There hasn’t been any updates to the system since the last war.” Kichou sits up before leaning over the mountain of snacks. She takes a large bite of her chocolate bar, turning her head to Sasuke’s “Do I look like a sexpot to you?” All the boys around her seem to freeze, it brings a smirk to her lips. Sasuke turns bright red before gulping and shaking his head rapidly. Kichou licks the chocolate from her fingers.
“It’s what the girls don’t tell you.” They glare at her from the other side of the room, some look away, their ears burning. “Kunoichi take a different exam, one designed to see how well they can seduce their target to extrapolate information. It’s a charming little mock scenario that you have to act out with a fake agent. Did you know women make up ninety percent of the medical corps and they don’t teach us a lick of medical ninjutsu or first aid even? Not that I think there should be two exams anyways or that men can’t become excellent medical-nins, some of you might make excellent doctors but you’ll never know. Hell even Naruto has a higher chance of seducing someone with his Oiroke no Jutsu and passing. A hold-over from the war and bygone era where kunoichi were rare and their specialization was infiltration, culture and baby making. The expectations of this curriculum don’t accurately nurture shinobi into accurate modern specializations. Nor is prudent for the longevity of the village. Even the top kunoichi’s of the year are vastly underutilized and underestimated. It’s okay in Ino’s case, she is a prodigy already being groomed for T&I by her father, but Sakura is wasting her potential, through no fault of her own. She scored the highest in the genjutsu unit over you, an Uchiha.” Sasuke narrows his eyes at her, he has an inferiority complex that he hides under that quiet exterior. He’s a nice boy Kichou knows, she’s in a unique position of knowing how hard it is to be the spare to the heir. Not that she wants to be. How people are quick to compare, anything and everything. Belittle his accomplishments and individuality.
“Even though it isn’t taught, and she always got ninjutsu faster than the rest of you probably because she has the control needed to be a medic like Lady Momoko. You wouldn’t know that though because of academy standards and needless separation by gender, Mr. top of the year prodigy.” Kichou polishes off the bag of chips and candy. The two girls sitting next to Sai and behind Sasuke seem to blush and puff up respectively, they are brilliant despite their framework. They deserve more praise. “Or you have noticed, you wouldn’t stop staring at her during the genjutsu unit. You would benefit from some of the subtleties of espionage taught in Kunoichi classes.” Kichou pulls out another thermos of barley tea, pouring a cup from Choji before she drinks straight from the canister.
“How did you pass then? You’re about as seductive and subtle as a bag of potatoes.” Kiba asks from behind her, she doesn’t even turn around to look at him before she throws both wrappers in his direction.
“Wouldn’t you like to know dog boy? I’ll tell you I scored an even 50 though. Not that it matters but that score determines my kunoichi ranking which differs from my class ranking. That test was the hardest by far though, not when it’s so arbitrary and subjective. You boys always have it easy~ It’s probably why the gender ratio is always so shitty.” She made small talk with the fake enemy agent, a nameless chunin she’s seen around the tower with bandages around his face, for ten minutes before Kichou figured out everything she needed to know.
Kichou doesn’t want to presume but she’s only ever seen him around another Chunin even off duty and all their assignments together even the guard duty when Naruto and her go camping. They always seemed pleasant. Maybe he was already in a committed relationship with the other man. It eased some of her anxiety, to know they had some foresight with the assignment. She only reported half of the information she gathered however. Her henges were actually horrible otherwise she might have pretended to be someone else, someone more attractive. For the test she had just transformed into a perfect copy of Choji, it was easy with his clothes after all, exactly what she needed for a fifty percent.
Shikamaru sits up and slaps his forehead. “You scored the absolute bare minimum in every category, you got a perfect 50 in every subject. No matter what Naruto does he will still have a higher ranking than you even if he fails a singular category because his other scores will augment it. You’re actually insane.” Kichou is smug as she lies back down on the desktop, propping her hands behind her head.
“All he has to do now is pass and I win. Naruto is going to pass too, I made sure of it.” Kichou has rigged this whole exam, and their academic system. It was child’s play compared to the hours of cram school she went to, trying to prepare Ren for a college she would never get to attend. The greatest source of her consternation his cloning technique was actually was the biggest headache she had yet to face. Naruto had received a number of jutsu scrolls over the years from reparations, tricky little things meant to stump him that he couldn’t possibly do. Naruto took to them like a duck to water when she looked them over and helped him figure it out, quite literally when more than a few of them had some sort of water or wind nature.
Kichou knows these were hand selected by the Hokage himself for Naruto’s use, things that would benefit him best from the clan’s personal archives, another allusion to Naruto’s heritage that she had yet to figure out. The boy had no problem making water clones when he had some sort of water source but produced weak wimpy little things when performing a normal cloning technique like she did but maybe he had the opposite problem of her.
He could funnel too much chakra into a single clone, he could make thousands an amount that wouldn’t fit into an academy classroom, a problem that fixed itself a week later when the Uchiha showed him a modified version that consumed more, was physical. She couldn’t mold easily, she had the energy it just always warped somehow, it didn’t want to come out. Kichou didn’t have the yin chakra to perform even the weakest genjutsu like the cloning technique, by the time she summoned her third it was a little pale and a little weak, still passable. A true weakness of hers that she hid behind a grand failure she needed for point. Not that a clan exception wouldn’t be made for her. Not that she wanted one.
“Choji is also the highest ranking alliance child. Not that you care but Choza-sama does, he wants to brag to the other dads. He promised either one of us our choice of restaurant for a celebratory dinner if we got a higher score than you or Ino.” They could technically leave now but Ino and Sai would be last, they would all be going to the restaurant together. Then she had a meeting with the Hokage after, a six year assignment coming to a glorious end. Then she didn’t know what the future held. She would be a genin she guessed, no longer Naruto’s tutor. He no longer needed her, hasn’t for a long time. School was Ren’s whole life, was her whole life, she didn’t know what came after. She is surrounded by young vibrant people. Most if not all pass as they get called back one by one.
They all had brilliant futures ahead of them. Ren was fearful of watching them die. Kichou wished the same as with her parents that these peaceful days would never end.
“BIG-NEE” Naruto pushes into her side after he returns to the classroom. “I passed! With extra points! Just like you said!” He summoned more than the academy standard, see child’s play.
Her smile is brittle trying to cover her errant sadness “That’s great! Congratulations, Naruto!”
Kichou is pushing Naruto on the swing while the children all show their parents their shiny new headbands, telling them they passed. Their parents saying how proud they are in return. Choji and Shikamaru had already head over to the barbeque restaurant, with Ino and Sai heading back to the Yamanaka compound to get changed into party clothing from her words, Kichou felt sorry for Sakura third wheeling behind. Her parents were likely also eating out tonight, there was a discount in the Restaurant district for all passing graduates and their families.
The Hokage was late to their meeting as the sun was beginning to set, she would be here for a while. It might be better to wait outside his office but when she saw Naruto sitting alone on the swing looking forlorn at the families from the classroom window she couldn’t just let that go, and she was waiting anyway. His face immediately brightens as she breaks away from the crowd gathering at the entrance. “Yo! Oki-chou!” He cheers in greeting, giving her their normal wave. She positions behind him and gives him a gentle push, he pumps his legs and they settle into an easy rhythm.
“Yo! Naru-to! Why are you here didn’t Iruka promise you a bowl if you passed?” His posture tightens slightly. The smile a little wider, a little more fake at it reaches creeps past the sides of his cheeks that she can see.
“Yeah but he said he has to deliver the scores to the Hokage and he kept getting stopped by parents like every two seconds to give him thank you gifts. So I’m waiting out here. Why aren’t you at the Barbeque spot? Choji already left.” His voice is somewhat sad, somewhat dismissive like it was the first time they met. He was mad at her….
She grabs the ropes and leans over him as he looks up at her, the tips of his hair grazing her stomach. “Can I tell you a secret Naruto? Something you can never tell anyone, especially Choji.” His eyes immediately open from his fox like squinting as he blinks in curiosity and wonder. He nods immediately.
“I hate barbeque. I might be the only Akimichi who does.” It reminded Ren of Nao and she couldn’t really taste it, no matter how succulent and tender it always was turned to a tasteless meat gum leaving a film of grease on her tongue. Just the smell alone was enough to make her vomit but for years she has grinned and bared it because it was Uncle and Choji’s favorite. Naruto gasps before he nods, letting out a twinkling “I promise!” She begins pushing him on the swing again.
“Besides, I have to meet the Hokage later anyway.” Naruto stops pumping his legs and dragging them against the ground. So that’s what he was mad about.
“Big Nee, were we ever friends or were you always just doing your job?” It’s small and sad but no less bold, no less courageous. Naruto always put his heart on the line, she was filled full of admiration and terror in equal measure. “Not at first but…” He flinches, fists tensing around the rope swing. “I’m not really good at the whole friendship thing, but I don’t know if I’m capable. But I like you, you make it really hard not to like you. You're persistent even though I’m a terrible friend, you deserve better you know. It won’t always be so hard, one day you’ll have a village full of friends.” Naruto flips around in his swing sweat, wide eyed and disbelieving.
“You’re a great friend?! I know the Hokage asked you to tutor me but he didn’t ask you to give me gifts and groceries and those birthday cakes! That orange chocolate cake you made me last year was so good, it looked better than even the ones in the bakery windows! You hand make them every year right?! Non-friends don’t do that! I don’t understand! If we’re friends then we’re friends!” Naruto is mad, yelling unknowingly, attracting the unkind eye of a small crowd of parents, their hands lifted to their mouths gossiping. She looks up at them and flips them off, before she spits in their direction, so they know she’s glaring even though her eyes are hidden. They gasp in indignation before scattering like rats. She has a reputation, she knows as children tug on their sleeves to get them to leave before she comes over and picks a fight with the newly minted genin and not their civilian parents. It was better that they learned now, that they could no longer hide behind them anymore. They were adults, shinobi, by every legal standard, they would be held responsible by the Hokage now and not the civilian council law.
That only seems to make Naruto madder, he’s cheeks puffing up to pout at her. “See you always stick up for me! You’re my friend! Just say it already!”
Kichou sighs, seeing that Naruto has locked his jaw over something truly pedantic. “Fine, I'm your friend.” Naruto looks smug, happy, fox-like and conniving. “Best friends?” At that Kichou smirks. “Isn’t Sasuke your best friend? Or do you want him to be more now that you had taste?” He swings his fists wildly at her shoulders, punching her lightly. “Hell no! He’s still like a giant nerd! All he does all day is train and read mystery novels, it’s so boring!! Not to mention he’s like a total bro-con!” He turns around again, looking towards the door of the academy, there’s families left, the sunset as set and the air is light with dusk. “He’s my best friend and you’re my best friend! I can have more than one you know!”
Iruka won’t be much longer. Kichou laughs and begins pushing again. “Still, I thought he would have invited you to his celebration dinner, I would have invited you out to barbeque if I knew.” Kichou muses and Naruto nods “They did but I don’t know I didn’t want to interrupt, Itachi and the chief are like super busy and Sasuke gets all mopey when he can’t see them. Besides, ramen with Iruka-sensei is like way better! You said you hated bbq right? You should totally come grab a bowl with us!” Kichou politely refuses.
“Nah I can't, I'm still waiting for the Hokage. Besides, it's your big night! First step to becoming Hokage, done and dusted. No sweat for the great Uzumaki Naruto! You even passed with a pretty good rank!” She praises him easily. It was true everyone expected Naruto to be in dead last but he actually had a middling rank despite everyone's expectations. Her manipulations and study prep aside, he worked very hard.
“Cuz’ you and Sasuke helped me like crazy! That study guide you made was like super good! The cartoons and illustrations were good, did Sai draw them for you?!” Kichou nods when he looks at her, Sai seemed to need no bribery but happily accepted her chakra sumi ink and calligraphy brushes from her failed fuinjutsu endeavors. It was time to give up those childish daydreams and useless expensive hobbies. It was too wasteful of Choza-sama’s money when she had no room to grow. Ren’s father walks uselessly through his mind. “Even Sasuke learned some stuff from it! Mikoba-chan said it was awesome! Chief said you would make a good academy instructor but I told him you’re gonna be my chief advisor when I’m Hokage!” She envied him, he never stopped dreaming. He was braver than her, boldly proclaiming it like he wasn’t afraid of failure just that he would keep trying.
Iruka opens the door from the Academy, the Hokage by his side.
Naruto jumps up from the swing waving wildly “JIJI LOOK WE PASSED! You better watch out because we’re coming for that hat! Dattebayo!” The old man chuckles while Iruka sighs fondly. “I can’t wait Naruto, these old bones could use a break.” Sarutobi-sama says good naturedly. “Iruka was just telling me you placed 13th in your class, that’s a good number.” He ruffles Naruto’s hair and glances toward her. “...Flying colors, some might say.” Kichou smirks at his remark. “Here take this, have an extra bowl on me. Congratulations, Naruto. You did well!” The older man slides some fire promissory notes in his head, Naruto could truly wrack up some damage, not that it wasn’t something she thought unusual as Akimichi. Although they preferred a little more variety in their food. They didn’t feel dissimilar, Choji’s obsession with chips, her sweets, and Naruto’s ramen. He always felt like a second little brother.
That seemed to be Iruka’s que to leave. “You ready to go, Naruto? Let’s leave them to their meeting.” Naruto nods exuberantly to his tired, fond smile, Iruka then leans over and ruffles her hair. He’s never done that before, he always seemed cautious about touching her unless necessary. He was after….Mizuki. Kichou wondered if there was a connection. “Congrats on passing Kichou! I have no doubt you’ll make an amazing ninja.” He compliments while Naruto grins and nods “Thanks Iruka-sensei…for everything” She bows, deep and respectful. The two head off as Kichou takes Naruto’s spot on the swing seat. She’s so fucking tired. She doesn’t attempt to swing like him while the Hokage looks down and ponders something.
“...You have done extremely well. You have more than exceeded my expectations Kichou-kun. You have already proven yourself to be a credit to the village.” Kichou wonders at that, her mind spinning at the double meanings. “With Naruto you mean? Iruka probably told you I’m deadlast, I only passed by the skin of my teeth.” Kichou jokes before she pushes her feet, rocking herself back and forth. “Ah yes…your protest against our curriculum, ensuring Naruto can’t take last place…” The old man rubs his chin beard. Thinking about something. “And derailing the notion you would ever make an adequate heir to the Akimichi clan, I heard some rumors that you are trying to steal Choji’s title after all.” Kichou flinches at the mention, her clansmen were not necessarily happy with her in the hierarchy of the clan, she was from the main line, with only a few degrees of separation from the head’s position.
She was second in line to inherit the title of clan head if something were to happen to Choji. Kichou was making sure she wasn’t a viable choice when they held council. A lot of people didn’t like that, they wanted Doto or their baby cousin Makaro to be named instead, taking her position in succession. Neither accepted the position, not that Choza-sama offered. Kichou thought that was a mistake. “So you elevated his test scores and devalued your own. A permanent mark on your record. Showing your prowess at your assignment, showing both a consideration to the needs of your clan and the village at the expense of yourself. Although I imagine Iruka failed to consider that aspect. It was truly a masterful stroke.” The Hokage muses.
She nods as she begins to pump her legs lightly, the Hokage moves aside to let her. “Tell me Kichou, do you know why I put you and Naruto together?” Kichou swings forward and falls back, her hair swishing in the wind.
“You said it was to punish me right, for calling Naruto a demon. But you didn’t give me hard guidelines like you did for others. You were leaving our relationship room to grow. Naruto’s grades weren’t horrible, and he made a friend yet you kept asking for next week’s reports. He needed someone to protect him, who better than someone from a clan of known protectors. His parents were someone important right, Choza-sama asked me to look out for him privately, and always gave me extra money for groceries. He didn’t tell me who they were so don’t worry. The Uchiha all seem to love him though, as well as the Nara. Shikamaru keeps trying to invite us to dinner on his Mom’s behalf and I’ve noticed a lot of people following us, checking in while we walked around the training grounds or around the village, Jounin in particular. Almost like the commander Shikaku-sama has organized patrols around him. They were competing with the Police patrols and there were too many resources used just in case he pulled some minor pranks. That’s a lot of clans vying for his care. It’s like he needs to belong to the village. You can’t let anyone from one particular clan have him, he needs a village to raise for him, a friend, when he had none. I was a bad choice though, you just took the first opportunity because I didn't mean….. Shikamaru, Choji or Sasuke would have been better, I was the only one who didn’t know who he was because of my isolation. I presented a good opportunity, not the best one.”
The Hokage seems to be lighter, eying her. “No you still remain the perfect one, the best option, it was one of my finest decisions in years, but that’s not the only reason. You have a peculiar blindspot Kichou-kun, one that I hope you overcome one day.” Kichou stops swinging.
“I don’t know what you mean.” Kichou admits before the Hokage smiles at her, positioning himself behind her, her back tenses as he very gently pushes her forward like she did for Naruto not even a few moments ago. She falls back and the Hokage pushes her again. “You never played like other children, it stands to reason that friendship with someone extremely playful, unpredictable was just what you needed to end the boredom ruining you. The academy was not challenging enough, you found Naruto unique, interesting enough to engage again.”
“....Has anyone said you’re pretty wise, Hokage-sama?” Kichou begins swinging again, pumping her legs while the man laughs, a deep, earthy chuckle. “Is that all you wanted to meet me for? I would have thought I was in trouble for the ranking manipulation. Or have you come to take the headband back? I know I can’t do the academy three proficiently. I know I only got away with it because of the clan born exception.”
“No, an exception would have been made regardless, besides your plan didn’t come to full fruition.” She failed at something then, maybe just overall it was fundamentally flawed plan but she read that rubric backwards and forwards. It was almost perfect, maybe she was right in that the Kunoichi exam was more pass/fail. How could you subjectively grade how well you were seduced by a little girl. It was creepy and weird and Kichou hated it. The only empirical data she could surmise was intel how much you received and how much you gave away. So she talked about the weather, and their favorite foods and went from there. When the twenty minutes were up she wrote down only half of what she figured out.
“I failed the kunoichi exam?” Not that she minded that much. She didn’t seduce after all, just made baseless conjecture.
“No you passed with flying colors, you probably overestimated the amount of intel from the examiner. You started prying into his real life by mistake.” Kichou jumps from the height of the swing, falling gracefully on her toes, trying to avoid sliding in her sandals. She hated the feeling of their ninja sandals, preferring just normal woven sandals that most civilians wore. A habit she just can’t break. Even though Lady Momoko kept saying she needed the ankle support. Choza-sama just told her that if she got strong enough she could fight in anything. Lady Momoko a die-hard-fan of Tsunade-hime, said the female Sanin did fight in strappy heels, but it took her twenty years to get to that point. And a lot of broken ankles that she healed herself apparently. Probably meant to scare her into the dangers of improper gear and not meant to encourage her. Kichou kept her cheap sandals all the same. That wasn’t the only specialized gear Kichou ignored and probably wouldn’t be the last.
“Well that’s…..surprising.” The Hokage seems to be looking at her, eyes imploring, testing like the first time she met him.
“Humor me, Kichou-kun. How would you change it?” Kichou couldn’t begin speaking soon enough, her answer concise and immediate.
“Get rid of Kunoichi classes, make a specialized course in infiltration and intel instead, available to all genders, the Yamanaka should lead a series of guest lectures. We desperately need courses with specialized tracks. Including medical research, genjutsu, and fuinjutsu. We are only taught to dispel and not weave properly. We have no seal masters and Lady Momoko said that the hospital has been understaffed for the fifth year in a row. I know that’s a sore subject for you, the Sannin were your students right? But it does not foster the next generation to wallow. I want to learn more, know more, do more, specialized tracks open more doors to civilian born students. Being a ninja sounds so nebulous, especially when the term is generalized and not highly defined.” The hokage nods, stroking his chin.
“We should have guest lectures especially from the Uchiha as I’m told they make up ninety percent of our police force and are our foremost genjutsu experts. That’s a lot of burden on one family, the Ino-Shika-Cho at least split our responsibilities between our clan alliance. Nor do you ask anything of the Hyuuga yet they sequester themselves in their compound while the Akimichi and Uchiha overwork themselves towards the betterment of the village but that’s besides the point. I just find it odd when you run the other Noble clans ragged. I also don’t understand the three core ninjutsu of the academy, I’m told most shinobi don’t even use them once they find a specialization, it seems like a waste of time, generalization seems to promote mediocrity as a ninja, there shouldn’t be standardization amongst all Shinobi, it should be across fields. Also! No one in the class knows how to file a mission report except for a few people, that sounds like hell for the administration…. I could say more but I would start with specialized courses and chakra control, less theoretical lectures, more practical training.”
The man chuckled before walking up to her and ruffling her hair.
“Well said. Next week at our usual meeting time I want a rewritten course curriculum on my desk, in your usual level of detail, please also prepare a list of proposed guest lectures. I am making it a requirement for your passing of the exam. I will work on getting you a seal master for you and Naruto in the meantime. You have a lot of work ahead of you Kichou-kun. I know you will rise to the challenge.” He smiles, cloying like cigarette smoke, as she once again signed herself up for more work. Once again she royally stepped in it. The Hokage snaps his fingers before a man in an animal mask appears out of thin air.
“Would you mind transporting her to the Akimichi barbeque? Her family is getting rather cross with me.” Kichou’s eyes move to the direction of the restaurant district in the distance, it’s rather glaring, her attention keeps moving back to it. “I can walk Ho-” The man in the rabbit mask with the red circles nods, putting a hand on her shoulder. Before she blinks and she’s standing outside the Barbeque restaurant. Fucking ninja magic. Choji has spotted her waving at her from the jammed packed table, where all the alliance heads and their families have gathered with Haruno family and the Yamanaka wards. They seem to be done with their meal as the kids sans Choji are doubled over with stuffed bellies. She wondered if the Hokage knew she didn’t want to eat…..maybe that was the point of the meeting. A small smile on her face.
Kichou walks in with the bell chime. Walking up to the table and pulling up a chair next to Choza-sama sitting on the end.
“Sorry the meeting ran late, I ate while I was waiting. Save any room for dessert?” Choza frowns before laughing. The table all groans except the Akimichi who have glinting eyes including lady Momoko.
“What are you craving, Kicchan?” Her Uncle asks.
The world. Food you can never have imagined. A home she cannot return to. With you by her side. Parents who loved her more than air. Everything and nothing.
“Taiyaki. I heard about a new stand that just opened up next to the general store in the commercial district. The owner just moved from the Land of Waves. Word on the street is it's good. Better than the one in the restaurant district.”
Choji and Choza-sama’s ear perk up, their eyes opening as a look of seriousness descends their normally relaxed features. They share a look.
“I like their Matcha batter with sweet beans but the owner said he was experimenting with a Sakura shell with sweet bean and strawberry jam filling last week for a limited edition spring flavor. He said he would give me a special sneak preview for his best customer.” Ren’s favorite was nutella and custard with tart strawberry powder dusted on the scales but that was impossible. Kichou reaches into her shorts pocket and pulls out her wallet with her loyalty cards inside. She’s been saving as she hands ten already filled out ones to Choza-sama promising a free taiyaki with her sixth purchase.
Choza-sama fans himself with the stack while the other clan heads groan. “Go on without us, I feel bad for the stand owner if we try to put in an order that big. The man isn’t even in the Restaurant district.” He doesn’t know how much the Akimichi can eat, enough to offer them loyalty cards. Inochi-sama says. Shikaku-sama nods before Yoshino-sama scoffs, crossing her arms. “You just want to drink and play shogi on your day off. I’m going with Momo-tan! What about you Nori?!” Yoshino-sama turns to the Lady of the Yamanaka, Norika-sama, an elegant woman who was perpetually smiling and gentle. She ran the flower shop on Inochi-sama’s behalf, everyone knows it was truly her domain.
“The girls are on diets, I’m afraid.” Lady Momoko and Yoshino both scoff. While Ino and Sakura nod, looking queasy and vindicated. “I would love to indulge though, that Sakura one sounded delicious, would you mind getting one for me Kichou-kun?” She nods and Norika smiles at her. “Truthfully I’ve been wanting some plum wine as well. There’s a bar down the street we can wait at. Shin. Dear, would you both accompany me?” Shin nods with a smile. Inochi-sama reaches up and kisses her hand. “Anything for my blossom.” Sai instantly pipes up. “I wish to go as well!” Ino instantly does a 180 from her previous stance and drags Sakura along with her on their desert expedition, her civilian parents telling her to have fun and not to stay out too late. Kichou marvels at how the party’s mood immediately changed. Norika-sama was truly formidable.
Yoshino glares at her husband before he sighs. “Well sounds like a plan to me. Nara clan, we're moving out!” Shikamaru groans from where he’s resting on Choji’s shoulder, his stomach is full under his mesh shirt. Choza-sama settles the tab with a stamp of his hanko on the bill. It’s so many zeroes…..
Lady Momoko gets up and unties her headband from her neck, before retying it on top of her head, unfurling the bandana. Of course Kichou knew they probably wouldn’t let her wear it around her neck. “There that’s much better! I can’t believe how cool you look! What did the Hokage want by the way?”
“He wanted to know how I would change the curriculum. A mock report to supplement my exam scores to a passing grade. Turns out I failed the kunoichi proportion.” The fresh genin all seem to freeze at this, a look of pity on their face, it might have been embarrassing if true after talking such a big game in the classroom.
She lied because her family….didn’t really like the Hokage. Scratching the back of her head, trying to look sheepish. Lady Momoko especially seemed to hate any mention of him and Choza-sama always said he kept taking advantage of her, he had counselors and aides for a reason. Kichou in turn didn’t really mind, the Hokage at least kept her mind from idling, pulling her from classes occasionally with a message to Iruka. Filing a little extra paperwork and filing out a mission report on what Naruto learned this week was hardly a tough ask. Currently there’s a look of deep distaste on Lady Momoko’s pleasant mouth. While Choza-sama rubs her back, trying to console her.
Shikaku-sama, who is usually hunched over, hands in his pockets when he’s off duty, is tall and towering, intimidating when she has seen him in the tower. The man leans over her from where he has gotten up to let his family out from the booth proportion of the table. Looking at her bangs, probably searching for her eyes. Evaluating her.
“You already have it all written out don’t you, kid?” Kichou smirks, she had it written out since her third year, revising it ever since. She digs through her bag, the wrappers from this afternoon were somewhat overwhelming, crinkling loudly. Naruto fucked up her bag again probably looking for food, she didn’t have enough energy to re-store everything.
“Ah Ah young lady,” Lady Momoko is tutting her finger at her. “We’re cleaning out your bag tomorrow, so help me if you have another bag filled with storage scrolls of trash. You know most would say making a storage scroll is more effort than just throwing your trash away.”
“It’s fine isn’t it? It’s what she’ll have to do on missions anyway.” Choza-sama argues for her benefit while his wife sighs. The Akimichi will always carry their food and garbage in said manner on missions, they usually just buy their scrolls though. She’s the only one she knows that writes her own. “She’s not on a mission right now is she, Kicchan has access to a trash can, or she could even burn them, it’s not like she can’t make more scrolls.” Lady Momoko has always gotten onto her case about her food hoarding. Kichou tries to keep her room tidy, but the storage scrolls made things much more convenient.
Kichou flinches before finally finding the largest scroll at the bottom, and shaking it free of crumbs, and licking off some smudged chocolate with her thumb. Shikaku-sama just looks used to it before he plucks it from her hand with long graceful fingers. Shogi player fingers. Kichou finds herself transported into a garden for a moment before she blinks. He unfurls it, eyes moving across the scroll.
“Damn it’s true you write like a strange printing press.” He’s reading it at what Kichou realizes it’s an accelerated rate, maybe not as fast as her. He gets through it within a few minutes. Choza-sama is leaning over his shoulder, it’s clear he’s curious but can’t keep up. Shikaku-sama then bonks her head with the scroll.
“Add shogi classes to the administration track. They need more strategic thinking, I like the idea of the joint calligraphy classes with the fuinjutsu students but move them to the general courses, it’ll save me a headache for sure. And add Yoshino and Momoko’s name to the drug and ration synthesis lectures. It’ll end up being more work for me if you don’t outright assign people, just name drop kid if you know they are perfect for a lecture, no one turns down easy mission pay. The idea of expanding the Police force with an Inzuka canine unit is also interesting but beyond the scope, the Hokage probably redacts those sentences in the official reports, write those thoughts in a side proposal.” Shikaku cracks a truly large yawn. Kichou takes the scroll back. He leans in close whispering in her ear away from the party. “You shouldn’t mimic other people’s tells when you lie, it stands out. Break out of that habit now.”
Kichou stills before sitting up ramrod straight in her chair. “It’s just a mock report. Homework. Shikaku-sama.” The man seems to snort, he likely knows about the story of how Kichou became Naruto’s tutor. How seriously the Hokage takes her. The other kids at the table do not.
Shikamaru is watching them interact sharply, his fingers flicking like he’s moving shogi tiles. Yoshino is smiling at her brightly before coming over, joining her husband by wrapping an arm around his waist. “It sounds fun! Put me and Momo-tan down for anatomy and sex education too. Did you put those under general courses?” Kichou nods. “Thank the sage. That’s already an instant improvement.” Lady Momoko giggles from behind her sleeve. Kichou blushes, praising the higher beings of the universe that she already graduated. Shikamaru looks horrified and Choji has snapped his head back from the idle chatter happening with the Yamanaka group.
Inoichi-sama, who was also listening from next to Momoko-sama, turns his head. “Did you do away with the Kunoichi class in general?”
Kichou again nods. “...I repurposed it to an Infiltration and intel specialization track, genderless. I listed the Yamanaka as guest lectures…I thought other people from T&I might be too rough and tumble. I also proposed aptitude tests for sensors and people with high chakra control to help alleviate the burnout rates for the barrier team and the medical corps. A yearly career convention as well for civilians and students alike. That way the overburdened departments can actively recruit, non-combat roles might be more attractive to civilians.”
“Excellent. It seems very well thought out.” Norika-sama turns to her head as well after looking at her husband endorsing a fake bill. “Please put me down as lecturer on poison synthesis, and cyphers. I don’t like being left out, little Kichou.” Her smile is sharp and fettered. Somehow scarier than Lady Momoko in one of her bad moods. Kichou gulps before she salutes. They too get up from the table.
Choza-sama stands before motioning Kichou to follow him. The Akimichi all stand together as he leads the way out of the barbeque restaurant. A hand on her back guiding her forward. “It sounds brilliant like always, just don’t overwork yourself….Put me down for nutrition and team synergy please. Oh! Have decided what flavor you’re going to get yet? I think I’ll want six of everything.”
“Team 13!” Iruka cringes at the number, he thought it was discontinued out of superstition. He pales as his eyes glance over the names. What was the Hokage thinking?! “Sai!” The boy smiles having looked up from his drawing. The other students gave him a wide berth with a gap in the seating at his more than eccentric behavior. With the exception of a clingy Ino and Sakura hovering awkwardly at the edge of her space, still elated over her placement with her own crush Sasuke. “Obata Ami!” She bursts from her seat before turning in Ino’s direction and yelling “HA! Suck it pig-face!”
It was well known that Yamanaka Ino had more than just a slight crush on Sai, at the look of pure and utter hatred on Ino’s face, Ami can tell she got under the Yamanaka's skin as she flaunts her placement. Ami was a firm admirer of anything someone else wanted and she wanted Sasuke And Sai. The girl wouldn’t be gloating for long though, Iruka was sure. “And Akimichi Kichou!” Several students laugh at the look of horror on the rapidly deflating Ami. Ino in particular was smug as she held her nose “Do you smell that Sakura? Something stinks like shit.” speaking nasally as the two kunoichi sitting together cackled madly. Ami bullishly tries to rebuke them with a scarlet blush on her face.
Sai had stood up trying to replicate Naruto’s earlier behavior at being placed on a team with both Sasuke and Sakura but falling rather flat with his simple poignant “yatta.” raising his hands in the air before sitting back down. Arms still raised, still smiling……Sai was sai. It was possible he was actually happy at being placed on a team with Kichou, he did like to follow her around but like he said. Kichou attracted misfits.
The girl in question was half way out of the window, her brother trying to hold her back by clinging to her leg and deadweighting himself, “It’ll be okay Nee-chan. Calm down!”
Iruka gets the feeling he’ll be seeing them again next year, Sage protect his sanity. “Your Jounin instructor will be Yamanaka Santa! Please report to room 204 tomorrow at 0…400?” He flipped through the packet… There's no way he selected four in the morning. Kichou on a good day shows up to the academy around noon ready to eat lunch. Iruka liked to think the best of his students but….. They won’t last one day.
Chapter 8: Chapter 8
Summary:
New teams, beyblades, and drinking buddies
Notes:
TW: Consumption of Alcohol
Chapter Text
“I will not lie to you, this team is doomed to fail.” Well…so much for that. Kichou wiggles in her sleeping bag. She’s tired, she’s cranky, and she wants to go home. She also knows herself well enough to know there was no way she was going to attend this meeting without camping out in the classroom the night before. She’s pretty sure she’s scared a bunch of younger academy students by accident. The lore of the man-eating caterpillar with a human face was told to frightened academy students and acted as a test of courage for years to come.
“The active pass rate of genin teams is 66 percent, this team-”
She swirls the pot of coffee on a lit camping stove, it’s a shame that they only developed a gas stove in this universe. A conduction hot plate would be more convenient. Then Choza-sama could have hot meals on missions without attracting enemy nin with the fire. There’s something there that lingers in her hind brain, she’ll have to remember that later.
“This team lacks synergy, teamwork, if you are to progress as a Shinobi you must work as a unit. I’ve read your files and there’s an alarming history-”
Kichou pours herself a cup in her empty thermos that Lady Momoka packed her the night before. Taking a small sip before deciding it needs more sugar she dumps it back in the pot swirling in about 50 grams of sugar that she produced from a paper sleeve used for medicine. She pours it back in her mug and blows on it. Before taking a tentative sip. mmm. Just Right.
“You all have individual talents. I have no doubt you will one day be genin, you even show potential to become Jounin. However, you lack discipline! One of you in particular shows a flagrancy-”
Kichou takes a lengthy sip of coffee. It would taste better with a splash of cream in her opinion, maybe dried milk powder and sugar? This world hasn’t developed anti-clumping agents and shelf-stabilizers yet. There wasn’t much progression into gastronomy or food science at all to her disappointment, they had indoor plumbing and electricity in every house but not other influences of food from around the world. It was so strange. They had rudimentary gelatin but not agar-agar powder which wouldn’t be too hard to make considering it was just red algae. She would die for a raindrop cake. Or you know a carbonated energy drink in any of the twenty kajillion vending machines around Konoha. You could probably make a killing by inventing pizza and making a restaurant.
“ Simply put, the other teams that have been hand-selected by the Lord Hokage are better! Consider-”
Kichou unseals a scroll containing eggs with a bit of chakra, rations have to be dried to be safely stored in seals but eggs never really go bad in her opinion. Especially rubbed in mineral oil. She was sad her research into vacuum seals never panned out, a fuinjutsu powered freeze-dryer would be revolutionary. Freeze-dried fruit would be a huge hit in a Shinobi village, due to their mission. There is jerky and dried fruits but it isn't the same. She cracks an egg in, before testing the heat and adding another five and scrambling it with the handle of a kunai. It’ll have to make do. She’ll try her damndest to make a six egg omelet. She flips the pot experimentally the lip is too wide so she has to angle it deeper on the burner, watching in satisfaction as the egg rolls perfectly in the air.
‘Yes’ The girl congratulates herself ‘you still got it Kichou!’ She pours the rolled omelet onto an untoasted piece of bread. Not toasted like she wants. A chakra heated knife that toasted the bread while it cuts it maybe? She was pretty sure that was a popular sci-fi concept in Ren’s universe. She takes a bite and moans. It’s a shame a near perfect omelet is wasted on an untoasted unbuttered piece of bread. Kichou turns off the burner before they all die of carbon monoxide poisoning. She’ll have to crack a window. Maybe she should have bought some cured pork belly…
“ARE YOU DONE, CATERPILLAR-CHAN?!” Kichou blinks at the face that’s invaded her personal space. Her new sensei is kinda….pretty? A tall man with the signature Yamanaka pale blue eye and a long lustrous ponytail of light auburn hair. Even while mad he was smiling daintily, it was kinda wobbly like Iruka’s smile, his forehead veins are just as plump and juicy . Or maybe it was more like Ino, the curve of their lips looking pretty similar as she bickered and mocked the other girls in their class but never Kichou. They never shared much interest in each other to begin with.
Originally Kichou had a hardy laugh at the name Santa privately, it had no where the same connotations in this world but Kichou has only ever interacted with one yamanaka, that being Ino and only by proximity or when she was making vague threats against her life after being a victim of Sai’s antics. He certainly wasn’t jolly nor had the belly. She guessed they were all kinda into aesthetics, she’s never seen a Yamanaka look bad or ugly per say. Ino’s dad or the glimpses she's caught of him at the allied clan meetings before she runs away to hide in her room were attractive too. She nibbles on her not toast. Bread…just bread. What a bummer.
“...Did you want some?” She offers the coffee cup, still steaming. There’s a general look of pure repulsion on his face as he gets a whiff of pure hot sugar. Pushing it back. Still she offered, Lady Momoka taught her manners after all.
“I do!” Sai raises his hand from his crouched position on the floor next to her, his ever present smile not cracking at even 4:30 in the morning. He scared the soul out of her when her alarm went off at 3:55 and he was standing over her smiling. But he was….Sai, so that’s to be expected. Kichou whips out a kunai, cutting the rolled omelet and bread in half, before handing it off to the boy. With a very quiet “itadakimasu” he takes a very polite bite. “It’s good, Fattie! Thanks”
“Eh. It needs ketchup.I like rice omelets better too, but I thought bringing a pot of fried rice was excessive” Kichou shrugs in her sleeping bag having tucked her arms back in. Ami looking exhausted is in a corner applying makeup with a hand mirror who gives a little snort at the ‘fattie’ Kichou takes another sip of her coffee before asking “Are you done Yamanaka-sensei?”
He seems visibly annoyed. His ponytail swishing behind him as his arms cross over his chest. “..Yes” He says begrudgingly.
“Great, then if we’re officially failed, I’m out of here.” If she leaves now she can probably sleep in her own bed and get a decent lunch before having to report to the Hokage’s tower for her readmission into the academy, if she isn’t completely dropped from the program that is. Kichou without leaving her sleeping bag channels chakra into her fingers and toes and makes the bird sign, elongating them enough to propel herself forward like centipede legs. “Eeeek! HOW ARE YOU SO GROSS?!” Ami shouts. Kichou scurries towards the door before she finds herself in the talons of an ink flacon, swooping her out of the sky and holding her in place. Sai is smiling, eating his open faced sandwich in one hand, an open scroll and calligraphy brush in the other.
“Sensei hasn’t dismissed us yet, Fattie” Sai takes another bite of not toast while Kichou finds herself at a loss, she didn’t want to clean up ink for the three hours if she breaks the summons. She couldn’t imagine a larger waste of time than this meeting.She wiggles her finger and toe legs before dismissing them, it was too early to waste chakra. “Excuse me for failing to understand this exercise of futility. We all knew that we would have been sent back to the academy. Team 13 is a retired number for a reason, not one genin team has passed. That was probably the Hokage’s intention.”
Ami scoffs, having applied a lip gloss with annoyingly loud plop. “Please, everyone knows you’re a future dropout anyway, if anyone is wasting our time it's you! If only you weren’t here Sai and I would have passed with flying colors.” She says haughtily, slamming her compact closed.
Kichou sighs, this girl never changes. She really doesn’t think she can handle her until a chunin promotion “Then I’ll go the Hokage and tell him I will personally rescind from team 13, you can get a replacement and then you’re welcome to take whatever test Yamanaka-sensei has devised to evaluate your teamwork or your worth or whatever.” Kichou channels chakra into her chest retracting her limbs inward into the classic human tank technique formation that her clan is known for. It’s a little funny to watch an ink falcon very clumsily try to grip an unpierceable ball before she slips from the talons and begins rolling toward the door.
One thing she didn’t account for was her sleeping bag not one to one shaping to her form, leaving a slight tail for their prospective but not really sensei to step on. Holding her in place as she slips with no friction against the floor.
“Now wait one minute, if you are to fail, you fail together, that's true in the field and true in life-”
Maybe she could stick herself to the floor with chakra. Choza-sama showed both Choji and her the tree walking exercise last summer to try to improve their chakra control to develop the butterfly form , the concept should be the same. The only thing about their clan jutsu is it often moves their tenketsu, relocating their vital organs and regulatory systems behind a thick layer of fat to avoid injury. Expanding matter and mass. She has to focus so she can feel a few in her back that might work, Akimichi always had their strongest tenketsu in their backs it’s why they always formed wings. She opens the points, compressing chakra like the wings on their back for butterfly form and pressing it experimentally as she pushes herself forward, it catches feeling slight friction. Bingo. Kichou begins to roll forward, accelerating in momentum.
Except there’s something wrong as Kichou feels a tearing, fabric of her sleeping bag shredding as she more rapidly spins out of control. The chakra is consolidating into the center of her spine like the wings of the butterfly form as intended but she can feel them lie flat across the width of her spine more pointed outwards like a butterfly in top flight. Kichou panics. It doesn’t stop at just the sleeping bag. The wall is next, quickly becoming nothing but slivers of timber and crumbling plaster. Blasting through it with no signs of stopping as her chakra propels herself forward at a rate she’s not used to. Then the outside wall and the shattering glass window, Kichou wants to stop but she keeps rolling, spinning out of control. If she cuts the chakra, closing the gates, she cuts the jutsu and at this velocity a proper safety rollout might make her a very flat pancake.
It’s going too fast, she might throw up.
Kichou can feel the groves she leaves in the ground and an overwhelming fear as she’s rolling towards the treeline. Only Choza-sama and the jounin of her clan could barrel one down. The trees grown by the first Hokage that surrounded Konoha were thick and chakra dense, which would buckle first, her spine or the trunk of a hundred year old tree? If she didn’t make her way partially through before running out of chakra and fat and said tree toppling over onto her. This was gonna hurt.
There’s a swift kick to her side as she feels herself tilt off axis and begin to spin onto herself like a spinning top with the centrifugal force, finally coming to a stop on her side. Like a coin that fell on the ground then clattered. It would be fascinating if she wasn’t so dizzy. Her chakra receding enough let herself unfurl in a dizzy heap in the field behind the school.
Woah ... .did she always have four potential senseis?
“-How did you do that? I have never seen that technique before. Did Lord Choza invent it?” There’s a light slapping on her face, trying to get her to come to, as Kichou moves to get up she finds herself stumbling. Wobbling on her heels trying to establish equilibrium.
“..Tree-walking…tank technique….together….thought would be a…..good idea. Compressed like….butterfly” Kichou sticks her arms out wide, and can stop wobbling enough right herself. But Yamanaka-sensei grabs her shoulders and shakes her and she suddenly feels very queasy.
“Do you think you can retract it and extend it at will?! It’s like a blade. You can turn if you do! Do you understand?! You might be able to turn in the bullet tank form, not to even mention the destruction you caused! Do you know what this means?!” Sensei seems like the very excitable type.
“....Vomit.” The hands immediately retract as the Jounin jumps back in repulsion. Cleaning up academy student puke is probably not in his pay grade as Kichou empties her stomach on the desolate playground under the cover of night. What a waste of a perfect omelet she laments.
She feels a bit lighter too, maybe too light as she looks at her wrists, usually the first place she loses her excess fat and see’s they are indeed thinner. Lady Momoka will be so cross with her, that's if….Kichou even goes home. She won’t be a genin and she was already a year older than her peers, sitting in a classroom of eleven year olds when she was fourteen verging on fifteen didn’t seem like a fun prospect. A tea farmer in the land of Tea was looking kinda plush right now. Maybe there was a way she could seal her house in like a giant scroll and transport it to the land of tea. Oh that was an idea, a house moving ninja company.
She feels a chakra strengthened flick to her forehead, that sends her head back. “-re you even listening, Caterpillar?!” She holds her head and rubs the tender spot. There wasn’t a concept of CTE in this world but goddamn shinobi were not afraid of head injuries. “....No, I wasn’t.”
Her sensei sighs. “I don’t know why you give up so easily.”
He crosses his arm, looking at her. “Sai, without disclosing anything is closer to a chunin in skill level and administration knew so before entering him into the academy, Ami is a well rounded kunoichi and there’s you….Tell me what do the three of you have in com-”
“Personality problems.” Kichou twitches her nose not letting her not-sensei finish, having already known the answer. “....Career ending ones, not just the usual idiosyncrasies and eccentric behavior common in ninja.”
“...You’re a Yamanaka jounin, who has probably worked in T&I under Inochi-sama, well-versed in the art of manipulation and psychology, the Hokage probably gathered a team that had the potential to enter the genin corps but was hindered by their personality. Selecting you specifically, to either psychologically evaluate us for problems that would have made us a liability or in the unlikely chance you passed us be an emotional support system in terms of rehabilitation…….He probably chose the number 13 because that’s his humor from what I’ve gathered.” Her not-sensei-not-santa-sensei looks annoyed as he leans down to look at her eye level, or what would be eye level if not for her bangs.
She wondered if maybe they hindered his clan techniques. “It doesn’t.” Fuck he was a mind reader like the rest , Kichou quickly flips her head toward the sky.
“Relax caterpillar, it was a cold read. If you know all that then why are you so quick to give up, you said it yourself despite being certifiably crazy your skills can easily make up for such shortcomings.”
“...Because I’m the outlier.” Kichou says loftily to the sky. There’s no stars, stuck in the twilight of dawn yet no puffy clouds to look at either. Just void. “I do not meet the formation’s criteria.”
“How so?” Sensei offers, Kichou can tell he’s probing. Well she’ll explain it to him then, what she’s always feared but known to be true.
“.....My skills cannot overcome my shortcomings.” A hand reaches for her bangs, pulling them up exposing her forehead and eyes. She feels a mounting anxiety as the pale blue eyes search hers, like she’s a book cracked open for anyone to read.
“Self-esteem issues and stubbornness is my number one least favorite combo.” Kichou slaps his hand away before smoothing a hand back over her bangs.
“....As opposed to narcissism and vanity?” It was a gentle jab at some well known traits of the Yamanaka, one of core eccentricities of their clan, hoping it would stick to him too. Not-her-sensei smiles, the very picture of lovely, spring wind, flowers in bloom, moving poetry. He is annoyingly pretty.
“Of course, the greatest love you can have in this world is the love you have for yourself. I pity you for not knowing this ecstasy.” It makes a shiver roll up Kichou’s spine and she’s decided she’s had enough. “You failed the test, by the way.” Her very-not-hers-sensei says to her retreating form. “But..I see the potential.” Turning on her heel, Kichou sees Ami and Sai standing at the edge of the field next to the large gaping hole in the academy and the Chunin stationed into the tower overnight inspecting the damage. Sai is waving at her with that same sardonic smile.
“Ah you have forgotten, caterpillar-chan.” Not-sensei leans his forearm on her shoulder, leaning against her, bringing their faces eye level again. What was up with him and eye contact? Stiff she turns her head to look at him in the corner of her eye, his lips quirked into a sadistic grin, glee glinting from his eye and her dawning horror draws her face open.
“The number 2 enemy of all ninja, the bane of paychecks, the ruiner of reports…….Property damage. You get to fill out the paperwork for this one.”
Team 13’s first genin mission is repairing the academy, to no pay. And despite all preconceived odds a fourth genin team was passed that year. That was also, bad luck.
Looking out at his clansmen Torifu hasn’t felt this light in years. Not since…….
A handsome boy with black hair and dazzling red eyes, who danced amongst the leaves, his most loyal friend, who believed in a future of peace and prosperity for the leaf. Betrayed for something as petty as greed, jealousy. Kagami…I didn’t think I would still miss you so much. Not after all these years. And Danzo… how I wish I could forget you.
The horror when he saw Kagami’s sharingan, rotting in the crushed head of his only surviving teammate, clouding in death, the pyre as they burn the abomination of a body Danzo has become, consuming greedy flame cleansing greed. Kagami, finally able to return to the Pure Lands hearty and whole. The Senju might finally be able to rest in peace. It does not ease his weariness. Torifu demands to be on the cleaning crew, trying to salvage the bony corpse of a titan already calcified by suffering. There is no will of leaf there, no chance for regrowth, no life from the senseless death as they try to cut out the cancerous growth that was Root. They save a few of the children who are not yet corrupted, but ‘empty tanks, embryonic fluid congealing on stone floors, twisted flesh, malformed and shivering as Torifu births it into this twisted world and kills in its first breath because it was not created to survive but be collected.’ it’s not enough.
Torifu curses him, curses him for a thousand upon thousands years to walk this land as a specter that is flourishing without him, that is prosperous despite him. One day they’ll walk hand in hand for Torifu’s ignorance. His most egregious sin. He’ll bind Danzo in the hatred of his embrace and drag them both into the belly of hell.
A breeze blows across training ground 27, the private one for the Ino-Shika-Cho Alliance, that sits on the intersection of all their properties. Leaves dancing on the wind, he feels Kagami by his side. ‘Nature’ he remarks ‘finds a way to achieve balance.’ The smell of wafting meat as they roast cow and pigs whole over charcoal grills they have set up, a rotating influx as the famished Shinobi devour plates by the dozen. The branch members and spouses cook, basking in the day on patterned blankets as if on a picnic, chattering excitedly at their spouse’s progress.
Laughter, melodious and beautiful hangs in the air like an embrace. Bodies rolling into wood, wood rolling in turn, timber littering the field as they are demolishing anything in their wake at a frightening pace. They’ll probably haul it off to a building company later and add the lumber proceeds into their alliance funding. An apology for deforestating their shared land. The active shinobi of Akimichi have all gathered to experiment with a new variation to their human tank technique. One of their brightest, a young sprout literally fresh from the academy discovered they could combine their butterfly form and the human tank form by manipulating their tenketsu placement.
A new variation hasn’t been developed in generations and despite the kinks that needed to be worked out before it was entered into their canon, it had their clan in down right tizzy. Literally.
The ‘twins’ Maruten and Shito tear through a row of trees before activating their wings allowing them to pivot and cross each other's path. A beautiful figure eight looming togther before they settle on circling each other into tighter and tighter turns before they collide, turning off their wings, ricocheting away, a crater between them as they have to bail out of the human tank form or suffer from emaciation. It’s fascinating and beautiful. Reminding him of maple leaves caught in an undercurrent of breeze.
They look at each other, from across the crater before nodding and running to the barbeque pit, both men committed to consuming double their weight in meat before trying again. The younger saplings that can’t maintain the form long enough fill in the holes left behind with a simple doton jutsu as they can’t leave the grounds too in shambles. They have to be mindful of their partners after all.
He hears a boisterous laugh of their clan head Choza-kun, Torifu spies the man eating with his wife, son, and just the girl he wanted to meet.
Quickly hobbling over using his bo staff as a walking stick, ‘forgive his old bones’ he approaches the group.
“CHOZA!” He exclaims, smiling. “Just the man I wanted to see.” Age makes you forget a lot of things, propriety and social etiquette being chief among them. He doesn’t leave his house much these days, too stuck in reminiscing, it’s nice to see his family and not the ghosts he survived.
He slams his body down on the ‘picnic blanket as Choza claps him on the back and slides a sake saucer in his aged hands. “Good to see you, Old man!”
“Thank you. Thank you~” Torifu says bringing the saucer to his lips, it goes too smooth down the hatch. Celebration of life warming his cockles. “You dog! Had to break out the good stuff!” He laughs, feeling full of vim and vigor.
“Maaaa~ of course Torifu-jiji. It’s a splendid day after all.” Torifu always loved Lady Momoko, Choza-kun and her made such a lovely match, but then again so did…. “It’s a tremendous day! I can’t wait to show these whippersnappers how it’s done!” He turns to the youngins’ “I have to say when I first heard the concept I was in awe at the simplicity! The other clans are too fussy, like to reinvent the wheel, codswallop! It is a great idea, a little energy intensive though. I got some ideas of my own, you see. You little ones have to tuck your limbs in but” He throws a thumb to his chest puffing. “When you get to our age you can get a little tricker with your configurations.” The girl lifts her head, a little sheep dog of a thing with Torifu’s cheek pattern in a different color and doesn’t that just make him gush with pride. “...Do you have access to more tenketsu, Torifu-sama?” Sour bile rises to the back of his mouth. No he doesn’t like that not one bit.
He gently smacks his bo staff on her knee. She flinches but it seems like it was just out of surprise and not pain but it doesn’t ease his guilt. “NONE OF THAT LORD CRAP! Just Torifu or Jiji! I didn’t survive two wars to make babies bow down to me.” Danzo would and the mere comparison makes his self-hatred burn brighter than he can breath.
“You’ll have to excuse her, old man. Kichou-chan has always been a polite child.” Choza speaks up but by the way his son Choji snorts trying to hold in mirth like a secret joke, Torifu gets the sense the girl’s politeness is selective. So she hasn’t emerged just yet, hasn’t stopped holding herself back. “Kichou….huh.” Tasting it on his tongue. “That’s a good name. Mmmm I like it! I’ll call you little kaichou” Torifu begrudgingly admits that he’s spent a majority of his life with his head under a rock, the weight of trying to hold everything aloft made him forget there was a sky in the first place. The life and death of a great nephew being just another casualty to his ignorance.
“To answer your question little boss, we can form our limbs to be one half of the shell and our torso another. It requires more control and diligent training. But it should free up the points in our hands for a more precise control. Just you wait, I’ll give you a taste of what ol’ Torifu has been cooking up.” He taps the side of his head and winks at her, before he uses his bo staff to assist him in getting up, wincing at how his knee’s crackle like oil hitting a smoking pan.
“Are you sure that's a good idea, Old man?” Choza seems concerned but Torifu waves him off.
“Baa there’s still some broth left in this old hotpot!” as starts to hobble to the training before turning around a little meekly. “I may need you to catch me though.” Before speed walking away.
“Catch?! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY CATCH?! OLD MAN WAIT!” Choza-kun is running after him but it’s too late.
Torifu has made his way to the center of the field, the youngins’ all giving him room, in respect he would like to think. He morphs into the human tank, he looks inward, internally, clearing away that turmoil that has plagued him as of late. Right now he’s having fun playing with techniques just like when he was a boy with his sensei. Something he never thought possible again. He rolls in a straight line before activating his wings, marveling at the feeling of his spherical body spinning on a dime, with a change of trajectory. Oh yeah that’s the chili sauce! He does a few more turns building speed just before he passes over his hand gates. He has to get the timing just right. He closes his back tenketsu and flares open his hand points in an all-or-nothing burst.
“HUMAN TANK : SUPEERRR BOUNCE!!!!” Torifu rockets into the sky, leaving a giant crater behind.
Torifu is flying. He’s honest to sage flying. His finger grazes a cloud marveling at the wetness. Rain on the horizon, to wash their sins away for tomorrow’s generation. He’s run out of juice and he has to drop the jutsu, he saved nothing for the journey back, just a feeble old man hurtling in the sky.
Konoha, the land he loves, his home, sprawls before him. The Hokage mountain looms in the distance, his teacher’s face staring back at him.
“TOBIRAMA-SENSEI DO YOU SEE ME?!”
Sensei agonized over Madara he never understood, never until Danzo. It wasn’t his fault, he couldn’t change the past. He wouldn’t let go when he should have been looking toward the future. He could see what Sensei envisioned, what the First tried to make him see. Torifu was the last alive to see Konoha prosper. He could see the sky.
“KAGAMI!! DO YOU SEE ME?!”
The boy who danced among the leaves, whom he had loved most ardently. Close but always out of reach. It was never reciprocated but it never needed to be. It was the kind of love that was everything. His brother, his best friend, his partner, his family, His love had made him a better man, he spent too long grounded by fear, worrying about such silly things.
“I WON’T TURN AWAY ANYMORE!”
He would fling himself into the sky. And see all the heights his kin could reach.
Tears flew from his eyes, lost on the wind.
The ground fast encroaches as Torifu closes his eyes and lets go.
“OLD MAN!”
A mountain springs before him.
Plucking him from the sky.
For what is flying but falling kept aloft by hope.
“Choza! What took you so long?! I thought I was gonna die!” Torifu smacks his grand nephew's palm, reveling in the delicate warmth of family as he lies in his palm..
“How was I supposed to know what you were gonna do, you crazy old man?!” Torifu laughs while Choza shrinks them toward the back to the land of the living below.
The youngins’ all surround him.
“That was amazing, Torifu-jiji!” “Gramps! You really flew!” “Who is this skinny, Old Man?! I don’t recognize him!”
Torifu has to hold his back while Choza hands him his bo staff. He spots the girlie who brought them all together today at the back of the pack, on the outside where she doesn’t belong and he pushes himself forward. Three men including Choza stick their hands out around him to prevent him from falling and he has to wave them off with his staff. He toddles a little uneasily in front of her. Before grunting and sitting down, it’ll be hard to get back up. He’s too proud to ask to be carried.
“So little kaichou. What do you think?” The girl looks at him or at least he thinks she does, Torifu will really have to convince Momoko to cut her bangs, she has to see the sky unobstructed too.
“....You could have pulverized us into a pancake if you kept up the form…But then the name would have to be different…Meteoric bounce strike…. ” Torifu laughs boisterously as he ruffles her hair, spying a sharp dark eye underneath.
“Yeah well, you’ll have to excuse this old man, I’m not in my prime.” Torifu coughs, he always hates this state. He can never get warm.
The girl panics all the same. “...Umm do you need water or maybe some barbeque?” He waves it off, Makaro-kun already having scrambled to the picnic area to grab him some refreshments. That boy was always so serious.
“Just keep an old man some company will you?” Momoko and Choza are shuffling around their little camp to revolve around him. He gratefully accepts a sitting pillow from Momoka, that eases some of the aches in his joints now that it's just bone scraping on bone. They go back to resuming their duty as their clan heads. The girl quietly resettles too, sitting by his side, her brother following soon after munching on barbeque chips, watching the adults have their fun. Their bodies too young to hold onto a technique that burns from both ends for more than a few seconds without some damage, Torifu remembers. He remembers hating that feeling. Wanting to run with the big boys, then with the war, wondering why he wanted to rush all.
“...Torifu-sa-” “JI-CHAN!” He doesn’t smack her this time, a tough nut to crack is best done slowly, patiently but stern. The girl just bows her head forward.
“....You said you could get tricky with the configuration. Has anyone tried to hold onto their staves when they do? You know, like a spinning top?” His mind boggles.
“CHOZA! CHOZA! BRING YOUR PLUMP ASS OVER HERE! RIGHT NOW!” Torifu bangs his staff on the ground like a child. He whips his head at her, and she startles, she’ll just have to get used to it. He has a feeling this is just the beginning. “MOUUU~ LITTLE BOSS WHY CAN’T YOU TELL ME ABOUT THE FUN THINGS BEFORE I CAN’T DO THEM?! DO YOU LIKE TORTURING POOR OLD MEN?!” He cries tearfully.
It turns out the Akimichi really loved the idea of beyblades.
Choza never thought it would happen, she had had so many breakthroughs lately, she had just been promoted to genin. Kichou was usually so polite and considerate to their feelings, so foolishly he thought he could leave it for a little longer. It was stupid of him really to abuse her gratitude toward them. And yet…..and yet. He and Kichou are fighting and now she’s avoiding him.
She wanted to move out and he didn’t want her to. “No.” “... But! Choza-sama!” “I SAID NO!” He knows she has grown, and he is so proud! He knows that by every definition set by the village and their peers she is a legal adult. When she told them her plans over dinner, all he saw was a baby girl starving, with knots in her hair, and dead sunken eyes. Who didn’t even own shoes because she couldn’t walk, not because she didn’t know how but because she didn’t want to try.
They never even attempted to teach her! He should have rung Aki’s neck right there and then. Instead he has to watch her scurrying about his compound like a sniveling rat because the council was rotting from the inside out. He wonders if that still holds true with Danzo disposed of. He’ll expel her from the compound and ask forgiveness later, he still has his suspicions she was a plant all along. A filthy little tumorous root that got overlooked, he’ll cut it from their side.
He should have never……. It’s too late for that. It’s too late for many things, as Choza ruminates about the sour taste in his mouth. He left too much unsaid between them. Choza has failed Kichou too many times. Bears too many sins, she never even asks for anything. She never asks for anything and the one time she does, he has to say no. His guilt would be assuaged if she was spoiled, she was allowed to be a brat. She could scream, and kick, and curse him out and Choza will still tell her to want for more.
Kichou wouldn’t even be that far, he reasoned. She wanted to move back into her home but then….
‘He spies on her, he doesn’t mean to but he can’t help it. She’s too careful around them, too polite. She plays dress-up in her parents clothes, he wants to tell her about the cedar chest of colorful kimonos hidden in the attic. The ones Nara wear to their new years celebrations, some of his mother’s that he passed down when he learned Chouten was having a daughter and a crisp white wedding kimono.
Watching her trace the poems his brother carved for his wife, in actuality a complex seal, he wants to tell her about the third that they carved for her, hidden next to the barrier matrix. How it made their resident seal master wanna tear his hair out and ask his teacher for help but do the same for his family when he learned he had a baby on the way. He never wanted to tell her how they touched it with their filthy hands, how they wore it away. How the kanji is faded and Choza doesn’t know how to fix it. Kakashi might….
He watches her pick up the shogi pieces, touch them but never play them, he wants to take her to the Nara complex and have Shikaku teach her. Watch her struggle as she finally eeks out victory by narrow margins and pretends she saw the path to victory all along.
He watches her plant a garden of his brother’s favorite things and pretends that he doesn’t know where they come from when the ripe produce wanders into the house. He wants to feed her his brother’s favorite dishes, wants to know what she loves and what she hates amongst them and not have her be thankful for everything and takes whatever she can get. Choza knows she hates barbeque yet never says anything, sits through it with a pained smile while she easily has the biggest sweet tooth and spice tolerance in the clan. The peppers she has grown, crossbred for years are enough to even knock him on his ass. Chouten would have loved them.
It’s like her own secret world, he doesn’t want to take that from her. Choza wants for too much, he’s ungrateful he finds. Most of all he wants his brother back, and a bratty spoiled know-it-all niece who calls him uncle and not lord.
He worries that once she does leave for her secret world, she will never come back out. A fear gripping his heart that he will never see her again. It’s the selfishness in him that hates her independence. It’s his foolishness that thinks she will fester without him. He blubbers into the bar top, feeling snot run down his nose, flanked on either side by his eternal brothers and teammates.
He chugs his tankard of beer before slamming it down and screaming “Another!” Shikaku sinks into his seat. “Troublesome, this is why I didn’t want daughters….” While Inochi watches him carefully, politely sipping own drink. “...You should let her.” Shikaku nods at Inochi’s statement. “But! But! But!.....I don’t want to” Choza says pitfully.
Shikaku groans, taking a drag of his cigarette while Inochi messages his temples. “You knew she was going to move out one day. She’s not an heir, one day she’ll have a family of her own.” Choza slams his fist on the table. “Then they can live with us!”
“And if she marries a clan-born?” Inoichi teases.
Choza stomps his foot. “They are unworthy of her! I’ve seen the other clan brats when I picked them up from academy, none of them look like they can appreciate an appetite. I’ll only settle for a once-in-a-century love match for my children!” Fire burns in his eyes as he chugs his beer. He burps, unable to bear the carbonation any longer before sighing and spinning the empty mug on the counter. “...It’s what Chouten would have wanted.”
Shikaku ashes his cigarette into a tray, bumping his elbow into Choza’s side. “You've been using his house as her personal playground for years. But for her it's probably the only way she can feel closer to them. You should treat her seriously, they understand more than you think.”
Choza only wails before tearfully asking the bartender for another. Inoichi and Shikaku sigh, sinking off of their bar stools. They're close to being kicked out of another drinking spot. They’ve already scared off the other patrons, hardened shinobi.
“I just wanted her to be a kid for a little longer. I’m not ready to treat her like an adult” He says wistfully.
“Then don’t. You never set boundaries with her and it’s starting to bite you in the ass.” Shikaku snorts, “Says the king of no boundaries and bratty daughters.” There’s a small squabble that breaks out behind Choza’s back, that he has to separate with a slam of his body.
“....In my opinion you should seal the nursery and remodel the master bedroom. There’s no telling what triggers could be hidden in there. Family dinners and check-ins are mandatory and for the love of Sage buy her some actual gear. -hic- Santa won’t stop complaining about it. Don’t make the house a conditional reward by taking it away if she doesn’t meet the requirements, communicate why the rules are important to you and reestablish the routine, Invite….” Inochi stops and hiccups. “I’ve lost my train of thought…sorry.” Inochi grinds out.
“...Yoshino would bite my head off if I didn’t angle for a dinner invite. What a drag.”
A blush rides his cheeks as Inochi takes another swig of his beer, a notorious light weight.
“Hicc– A house-warming might be too overwhelming. But it might help her establish ownership in mind–Hicc– a family dinner -HICC!- sounds good. Just tell me when she invites her teammates over, Ino has been needling me for ways to meet with Sai now that he has moved out of the compound..She -HIC!- has been harassing Santa non-stop.”
Choza gasps offended. “You will not abuse Kichou’s hospitality for your daughter’s paltry crush.”
Inochi slams his tankered on the bar, splashing the rest of the contents everywhere. “WHY -HICC!- Not! IT’S UNFAIR -HIC- THAT I HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE BOY CRAZY PHASE ALONE! -Hic–HIC-hi- BUT!!”
Inoichi throws back a near empty tankard like he’s chugging it before giving a satisfied exhale through his nose like he drank more than a sip.
“Muehehehehheh. Not for much longer! -Hic- You have no idea -Hhh- Of the storm coming for you. Ino always said that-HIC-Kichou is a-HIII-” Then promptly passed out, his head hitting the bartop with a thud. Snoring with no thought to the land of the living.
“Oi, Inoichi! What does that mean?!” Choza shakes his side, violently. “INO! WAKE UP AND EXPLAIN!”
Shikaku takes another drag of his cigarette before slapping a hand on Choza’s back “I’ve long made peace that Shikamaru is gonna marry a serious ballcrusher.” before getting up and paying his bill. “I gotta get home before my wife crushes mine. Ja ne!” Throwing up a lackluster wave behind his back.
“What does that mean?!” Choza flips his head around bewildered. “Oi! Don’t just leave like that!” He quickly throws Inochi over his shoulder before slamming down ryo to cover them and an inconvenience fee, there’s not too many bars left that will take them as patrons. Running out the bar. “SHIKA! TELL ME!”
Chapter 9: Chapter 9
Chapter Text
“Maaa~ Lord Choza. To what do we owe the pleasure?” Team seven was late for their daily check in at the Hokage tower. The usual business. They were going to scrape the absolute bottom of the barrel of d-ranked missions. The usual business.
However when they got there a rather irate looking Iruka - the usual business - was sitting with a rather bemused Lord Choza a mountain of empty chip bags around them. -the unusual business-
“AH! It’s the big Choji man” Naruto exclaims, swiftly dodging the two knuckle sandwiches flying towards his head. Choza’s boisterous laughter, following closely behind.
“Dobe! That’s his dad, you idiot. Lord Choza, he’s the head of the Akimichi” Sasuke, always one for clan etiquette, gives a shallow bow in acknowledgement. A hand to the back of Naruto’s head forcing him to do the same.
“No need~ No need.” Choza easily dismissed such pleasantries. Out of the four noble houses, they were always the most easy going. Kakashi flips a page.
Sakura reliably gives voice to the children’s mutual curiosity. “Why are you here, Choza-sama?” The man only smiles wider behind a chip laden hand.
“Congratulations team seven. Despite being late…” Iruka clenches a fist around his clipboard. “Four. Hours. Every. Day.” The veins around Iruka’s head are threatening to burst. “You have been commissioned personally for your first c-rank. The first among your peers.” Team seven seems to puff up their chest in pride.
“REALLY?! That’s so cool!” Naruto exclaims “What are we doing?! Saving princesses? Fighting Bad guys?! Killing a corrupt Daimyo under the cloak of night while we evade enemy ninja?!”
Choza’s jovial laughter fills the room. “You got a good batch of genin Kakashi! Naruto is even more spirited than what I’ve been told.” The aforementioned boy preens under the compliment while he smiles with his eyes obligingly. Choza and Kushina often got along notoriously, they were proud members of sister clans the same way the Inuzuka and Hatake were intertwined over the years. The red-heads stuck together. The Akimichi had even secured the Uzumaki refugees a parcel of land for a shrine to their god, Death. Old folklore says they bested the Shinigami in a duel and as a reward it offered eternal youth and longevity. They said that eating the flesh of an Uzumaki plucked from the sea would cause one to return to their youth. It now sat abandoned and sealed hidden in a restricted training ground. Another restricted secret he wasn’t allowed to share.
Iruka stands to address the eager children. “Team seven! Should you choose to accept, you have been sworn under an oath of secrecy. Should you fail, the penalty chosen by Lord Choza could result in demotion, exile and potentially death! Do you accept?!”
“A super-top secret mission just for us?!”
The children seem to be bursting with curiosity as they inch closer to the table while Kakashi rolls his eyes, never one for the dramatics of ninja law. Secrets were not something one bore lightly, they were burdensome things. They throw their puppy eyes at him all the same.
“Maaa~ if it’s for Lord Choza specifically, we have no choice but to accept.” Kakashi flips another page, Choza commanded the respect of the village, for him to ask a favor especially not from his alliance clans was no small thing. What could it be, he wonders? He knows at one point Naruto was close to Choza’s ward, a rather strange creature, her academy scores and profile incredibly abnormal. Kakashi questioned why the Hokage showed him her profile at first then he realized how deeply intertwined with Naruto’s evaluations they were. How her academic standing was manipulated purely to elevate Naruto’s.
“ Don’t leave me hanging here! I’m gonna die if I don’t know what it is right now!” Naruto is practically crawling towards the mission desk, held back by his teammates.
The chip bag crinkles. “You will be -munch- remodeling a house. -crunch-”
“WHAAAATTT?! THATS IT?!” Naruto falls over, while Sasuke and Sakura hunch in defeat to Choza’s resounding laughter. ‘Well’ Kakashi thinks. ‘At least they won’t have to leave the village.’
“Sorry kids!” Well Lord Choza seems jovial at least, at least he isn’t intimidating like Sasuke’s dad, Sakura thinks. She was kinda nervous to be honest when she heard it could result in death. That was probably just to express the importance of keeping secrets. Oaths of secrecy were things not taken lightly, they usually had to pay more for such rules to be written in the contract. But the restaurant district was always a pretty rich part of town, so she supposes they can afford it.
“Really I needed the expertise of your Sensei. But I can’t commission him directly without commissioning his genin team. Do not worry though, your skills will be put to good use” They are making their way through the restaurant district now and much deeper into the Akimichi compound than she has ever been.
She spots team eight and a bored looking Ino from the barbeque restaurant who stares in turn. Sakura gives a little wave which Ino returns but Ino head whips around, probably to blab to Shikamaru and Choji. And from the way the whole team is now looking at her, it looks like the rumor mill will know about the mission within the hour. So much for the oath of secrecy. She laughs nervously.
They walk like that for a while, passing streets and stores who look back at them curiously in turn. Sakura catches a flash of pale blond hair every couple of turns. Lord Choza and Kakashi-sensei don’t stop and turn around though, so maybe they are okay with team 8 following them. They stop in a carpenter's shop who exchanges three small scrolls for a truly staggering amount of ryo. “I have commissioned new furniture that can get a little heavy, it’s made special for the Akimichi. Apologies in advance. All three of you will probably have to lift it if you can.” Sakura shudders. She’s seen Choji and Kichou break their fair share of academy furniture, throwing their weight around. Naruto flexes an arm and strikes a pose. “Don’t worry we’re super strong, dattebyo!” Lord Choza’s ever present smile widens.
“I hear you like painting Naruto!” Lord Choza looks at the boy inquisitively. The Hokage mount vandalism incident and the resulting five hour police chase on foot pursuit was the talk of the town for a solid year now. Naruto looks smug, thumbing his nose. “Yeah! I’m pretty good if I say so myself ‘dattebayo!”
“Most excellent!” Lord Choza cheers then buys a multitude of buckets of paint all in different shades and colors. Every hue of blue, green and white imaginable. The carpenter then bites his thumb and stores them in a fourth scroll. “Storage seals!” Naruto exclaims! “They’re so cool!” The man smiles down at the boy “Do you like seals, Naruto?” Her teammate rapidly nods. “Big Nee was always trying to learn them in the academy, but we could never find anyone who knew what she wanted to do. We even went to the library, dattebayo! And she hates the library because they don’t allow snacks so we-”
“Get to the point, dobe”
“JEEZ AS I WAS SAYING TEME! They said it was too complicated or something, that we would blow ourselves up. So we just copied seals from books we stole from the restricted section!” Naruto slaps a hand over his mouth. Before scratching his cheek sheepishly. “Oops, I wasn’t supposed to say that part. I got really good at making explosive tags before she gave up!” Kakashi-sensei flips a page as their benefactor frowns. Leave it to Naruto to incriminate himself in front of their new jounin instructor and a clan leader. It makes Sakura a little uneasy.
“You can make explosive tags?” Sasuke asks wearily to which Naruto nods happily. Eyes bright and Innocent. Making a massive explosion sign with his hands and sizzling noise with pressed lips. Unaware of the destruction he could wrought.
“Who is this big-nee?” Kakashi-sensei inquires. “Akimichi Kichou” Sakura says without missing a beat. A weird but kinda cool girl she never interacted with at the academy. Having always been curious about her but found her kind of unapproachable. She never hung out with the other girls but never looked down on them either. Sort of like Hinata but she also put Ami in her place.
One time when Ami’s group had cornered Sakura alone with a kunai in hand, threatening to cut her hair. Kichou dropped from a tree branch probably where she was napping, breaking it off on the way down, swinging it wildly overhead and had literally chased them down with it, silently running like a seasoned shinobi dragging a gigantic branch behind her while they screamed for their lives in terror. Till the group was out of sight and Sakura was left bewildered at what she just witnessed. Like she said, kinda cool in her opinion. Then what she said at the academy, how she praised her in front of Sasuke. Sensei nods before flipping another page of his smut book.
They leave the store a little after, Lord Akimichi looks troubled by something and it’s kind of souring the mood. Maybe the lord knew her, maybe she was an immediate relative and they were secretly insulting him. The class called them the Akimichi twins or siblings and this was apparently Choji’s dad but Ino said that they weren’t actually brother and sister. They must be taking care of her then, like how Sai was a ward of the Yamanaka and would help out at the flower shop after school with Ino and her. Sakura sweated, about to tell Naruto to shut his trap.
“Do you remember what she was trying to do, Naruto?” Kakashi-sensei asks nonchalant but two tangential questions in one day proved her hypothesis. He was curious. Sakura and Sasuke perked up their ears. Kichou and Naruto sometimes had some crazy ideas but kept them to themselves unless someone pushed Kichou to share or asked in a certain way. Naruto usually could but they had been drifting apart lately, Sakura can kinda tell it was making him sad. They were thick as thieves for most of the academy. ‘Like she and Ino were…’ Well it couldn’t be helped, they were genin after all, they couldn’t hang out every day like they used to. They were adults, no matter how much she missed hanging out with them nor how Naruto missed her.
One time Kichou and Naruto got caught secretly raising giant carrier pigeons behind the school that would tactically crap a neon goo on specific people’s heads Ami, Kiba and Mizuki before he disappeared and could evade both Kunai attacks and the Uchiha war hawks that patrolled the airspace above Konoha. No one knew how they did it, but the birds got confiscated to their great disappointment when Iruka-sensei found out. Sakura heard a rumor from Ino that some are still used as missive birds. Naruto gets so excited when he spots one in the tower or the sky, and makes a big point of saluting it while crying.
“Uummmm….. Something to do with food, I think. She always wants to do a lot of food stuff. Big Nee eats a loooooooooooooottttttt.” Sasuke grinds a fist into his head. “Don’t say that in front of an Akimichi, Dobe” He hisses. Naruto only glares, rubbing the bump. “....She uses a lot of big words I don’t understand and I get tired of asking what they all mean.”
“ Impressive , usually it’s the other way around.” Sasuke smirks.
“Teme! I’ll kick your ass!”
“I’d like to see you try, dobe.” Sasuke dodges a few half-hearted strikes.
“Children!” Kakashi admonishes “May I remind you that we’re in front of a client.” A quiet client , Sakura worries. “Focus, naruto!”
“The Shelf-live of rations, I think.” Naruto is grinding a finger against his head “and something about vacuums. She said alot of stuff about sugar content and proten structure that I didn’t understand.”
“It’s called protein idiot. You would know if you had any in your diet.” Sasuke rolls his eyes as he dodges another strike.
“Shelf-life of rations and vacuum seals?” Kakashi-sensei offers helpfully. Naruto snaps his fingers. “That’s it!”
“Maaa~ It’s good you guys stopped when you did. You could in fact blow yourselves up and you would’ve taken Konoha with you.” A shiver runs down Sakura’s spine as Naruto visibly deflates, kicking a rock down the road.
“...She could have figured it out.” Naruto grumbles it under his breath but she was sure everyone had heard.
Lord Choza choses then to speak up, it's quiet and contemplative. “Do you think it’s possible, Kakashi?”
An uneasy silence falls over the group, it’s obvious that this isn’t Lord Choza’s jovial personality.
“No clue.” Another page flip. “I don’t know what exactly she had in mind. I doubt anyone in Konoha would know.” The emphasis on the end makes Sakura think there was some sort of secret meaning.
Lord Choza nods and silently walks ahead, they are at the edge of the compound now. At an edge of the forest and fields, Sakura spies giant deer staring at her from the trees.
“Ah, here we are.” He stops in front of a house that looks like something out of a children’s book. A traditional house of dark stone and wood and bright plaster walls was the base but rather clumsy additions: a bath and a stonework chimney were patchworked onto the design. A second floor and a balcony sat proudly at the front of the house overlooking the yard. While the side flowed into a large porch area and overflowing garden teeming with life, rife with fluttering butterflies. Everywhere she looked she could find little whimsical details, green and pink pastel colored glass panels, prancing deer carved into the banisters, pickets made to look like forest branches, jewel-toned butterflies in flight hand painted on the siding, hand stamped roof tiles with shifting hues of dark green. Stone lanterns to light a path. It was so charming!
Choza-sama wanted to remodel this?!
“Cool!” Naruto exclaims before trying to scramble up the stone path, but Kakashi-sensei grabs him by the scruff of his neck before lifting him off his feet.
“Now, now, Naruto. I know you’re excited but we’re being quite rude to our client don’t you think?” Kakashi-sensei asks silkily, reprimanding him. Choza-sama hasn’t stopped smiling though so the damage couldn’t have been too bad.
“Plus I don’t think you would want to cross that threshold right now.” He lets Naruto down.
“Why not?!” Naruto crosses his arms over his chest and squishes his face into one line, his usual deep thinking face.
“Because, Dobe, most private residences in ninja compounds have barrier wards to keep intruders out. The Akimichi are one of the four noble clans, it would stand to reason they would have more protections than most. Konoha ones usually light people on fire but each clan has special ones, I think the Akimichi ones make someone really sick and unable to eat. The Uchiha ones hypnotize and make them get lost in a genjutsu. You have to be either keyed in or with the owner of the house to be let in. Usually only family members get keyed in, but it’s a sign of disrespect to have another clan visit with it closed so it has to be left “open” as a sign of trust.”
“That’s exactly right Sasuke.” Kakashi smiles with his eyes.
“I knew that, Teme! Wait! How come I never had to key myself or whatever when I went over to your house?! I’ve never gotten lost once!” Sasuke blushes and looks away. “..because mom keyed you in when you first came over.” Naruto gets into the boy’s personal bubble and squints. Sasuke fully turns around.
“So what’s the problem?! Aren't we with the owner of the house or whatever?! Can’t we just walk in?!” Naruto is sitting on the gravel path tapping his foot impatiently while Kakashi leans against the stone wall, flipping through pages of his book.
“No….I’m not the owner.” The rotund man has a distant look in his eyes as he looks at the cottage, melancholy lining the creases of his lips. “My late brother built this house for his wife, unfortunately she passed away with him and their baby was too young to operate the wards and they never thought …. I had forced it open so the child could be cared for but I fear that caused irreparable damage. No one new can be keyed in which was fine…..but I think it’s time for a change. Redone from the ground up, as they say!”
Lord Choza turns his head back to them, a brave smile flush on his face but Sakura can see dewy tears gathering at the corners of his eyes. It makes her own eyes water in sympathy, Naruto is wiping streaming tears and snot away on the back of his sleeve, Sasuke gives a rather large sniff before turning his head, hiding his head in his collar. The spell is broken by the snap of Kakashi-sensei’s booking closing as he stashes it away. This seemed serious.
“How can we help, Big-Oji?!” Sakura smiles, blinking away her tears, ‘leave it to the big goofball to bulldoze his way through awkwardness.’
“I’ll have to destroy the barrier first in order for your sensei and I to work on a new seal matrix. So this might get a little messy, stand back and wait for further instructions.” Their sensei ushers them a ‘safe’ distance away but it's a lot farther than Sakura expected. The man walks past the gate, opening the door, before disappearing inside. They wait in anticipation, staring like maybe if they could look hard enough, they could see the inner machinations of the process.
All of the sudden Sakura’s heart starts to race and she feels herself sweating, her foot takes a half-step back as something tells her it’s not safe here. She needs to leave. Hands gripping the chest of her dress, clenching the fabric between white knuckled fists. A gentle hand on her back keeps her from retreating further.
With shaky eyes she looks up at her sensei who is smiling with his eyes.
“You’ll be alright, Sakura. It’ll be over soon anyway.” It sounds ominous but doesn’t correctly prepare her for the pillar of visible chakra that comes from the center of the house reaching into the heavens. And what looks to be shattering light falling from the sky before vanishing in a fading glimmer.
“COOL!” Naruto exclaims, jumping up.
“..Yeah” Sasuke quietly agrees before holding out his hand like trying to catch snow.
“It seems you're sensitive to influxes of chakra Sakura, it's the sign of being a sensor. A strong mind is required to sense beyond oneself.” Sakura feels her face heat up as she has to look down. Silently pleased with herself at the praise.
“A SENSOR?! What’s that?! The barrier thing was cool but that sounds cooler!” Naruto praises.
“It’s self-explanatory, dobe. Some Ninja can sense chakra at a distance, it’s super useful for gathering information and finding enemy ninja! It’s a good thing our formation has one.” Sasuke called her useful…..He nods at her before the door of the house opens, and a completely different man walks out.
“WHAT?!” Sakura and Naruto yell in unison.
Sasuke sighs “It’s the bloodline limit of the Akimichi, they can stockpile chakra by converting their body fat into energy.”
“WAIT DOES THAT MEAN BIG-NEE AND CHOJI COULD DO THAT THIS WHOLE TIME?”
“...So loud. Of course they could, idiot.” Shikamaru sits on the wall with his pinky rubbing the inside of his ear.
Choji, having appeared in the road next to him, is cackling while he shovels chips into his mouth, his face smug.
“Not like this fatso will do anything with this belly anyway. It’s becoming more useless than a double-sided kunai at this rate.” Ino says haughtily, while patting his stomach.
“I’M PLEASANTLY PLUMP!” He says while swatting Ino’s hands away. She then slinks over to Sakura and leans on her shoulder.
“Whatever makes you feel better, Fatty.” She sticks her tongue at him.
“I’m not FA-” Ino hides behind Sakura as Choji charges at them, pulling on the back of Sakura’s dress to force her to dodge errant swings.
“Mendokuseeeeeeee.” Shikamaru sighs before laying down on the wall and closing his eyes.
“...Well, there goes that oath of secrecy.” Kakashi-sensei says, sardonically flipping a page of his smut book.
“That's right we’re on a super top-secret mission! Get out of here!” Naruto yells, waving a fist through the air.
Choza-sama looking only a little stockier than an average ninja has the same boisterous laugh although his belly doesn’t jiggle anymore, as he approaches them.
“Don’t worry about it, these three little gossip-mongers saw a big, juicy, secret and couldn’t pass it up. Could you, you hooligans?!” The three interloping genin stiffen, a dribble of sweat rolling down their temples.
“Where’s your sensei, Choji?! Did you ditch training, again ?!” The Akimichi lord demands, crossing his arms over his chest and Sakura takes back what she said about the man not being imposing. Choji flattens, looking pitiful.
“Don’t buckle….” Shikamaru whispers, throwing a hand over his eyes.
“....but I was hungry.” Choji whimpers.
“Damnit” Sasuke and Naruto snickering at Shikamaru’s lament.
Ino clicks her tongue. “That old man reeks of smoke anyway. Don’t you know bad smoke is for my skin, Uncle? Do you know how expensive my face cream is?! I’m losing literally hundreds of thousands of ryo every time I stand downwind!” Ino sticks her nose up in the air, still hiding behind Sakura who is trying to hide how awkward she feels being used as a meat shield.
“So your sensei won't mind if I run you ragged?” Team seven watches as the Ino-Shika-Cho formation freezes. Choza leans down looking his son in the eye, a threatening smile on his lips as his hands enlarge and extend to pluck Shikamaru and Ino up by the back of their clothes.
“..What a drag”
“I knew I should have ditched these dorks too!”
The man begins pulling them toward the house with team seven following close behind. Only Choji is standing still in the middle of the street. Unsure of what to do.
“Choji! Come!” Choza barks out the order but his son doesn’t move. The normally chilled out boy looked anxious.
“...Is it really alright?! What if-” He yells to his father’s retreating back. The two teams awkwardly tense, inadvertently caught in some sort of family drama.
“We’re moving forward! Come what may.” It was resolute as Choza-sama interrupts, and Choji furrows his brow having made up his mind, and then sprints forward past them at a surprising speed. “Then I call dibs on taking the first step inside! Do you hear me?! DIBS!!” Choji throws the sliding door open and stares wide eyed at the interior ahead of them
The kids all itch with curiosity as Choza lets the caught traunts down. Sasuke and Naruto share a look before racing after Choji but they too have stopped “WOAH! THAT’S SO COOL?! HOW IS IT DOING THAT?” Naruto is squatting down trying to crawl past Choji but he’s puffing up blocking the path, trying to push him back.
Sasuke twists his head around squinting “.....I don’t know” Sakura has never heard him sound so uncertain about anything.
Ino catches her eye and they share a shocked smile before Ino grabs her hand and drags her to the entrance as well. “Let us see fatso! Move already!”
“NO!” Choji grunts in effort as Naruto is trying to pry the inflated boy from the doorframe. “I -grunt- called dibs!”
“You’re all so fucking annoying it’s not like it’s anything amazing or anything.” Shikamaru scratches the back of his head before lining up at the back of the pack.
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW YOU DIDN'T EVEN SEE ANYTHING!” Naruto now resorted to pulling while Sasuke looked visibly confused, his hand tucked under his chin, ruminating on whatever he saw. He puts his hands together in a triangle pattern and sakura can’t see it but feels a burst of chakra come from his hands. Genjutsu release.
“Choji! Stop being a brat! You’re going to damage the door!” Choza kicks his son through the threshold. Sakura looks up and marvels..
The ceilings are moving? The color, a gradient of a late afternoon Konohan sky. Sakura can almost tell what time of day it is too, which means it’s emitting light but the shadows from the furniture stretch outward not pointed down so that means there can’t be. Shikamaru’s mouth is hanging open slightly as bright puffy white clouds swirl overhead, lazily drifting towards the garden, as if he’s looking at the very sky outside except it’s more vibrant. Sakura feels happy just looking at it. Naruto reaches his hand out, trying to catch a jewel-toned butterfly that shifts into a new color with each breath of wind that goes flying by. It’s maybe the most beautiful thing she’s ever seen.
“...is it genjutsu?” Sakura's mind wanders as she pulls her hands together and spikes her chakra like she learned in class. “KAI!” ..but the illusion doesn’t release. Sasuke’s head swivels as if looking for someone.
Behind her, her sensei whistles low “Now I know where the daimyo’s dowry went. Oof-” Lord Choza elbows him in the ribs. “Not in front of the kids.”
He clears his throat.
“ATTENTION!” Immediately team 10 goes stock still and lines up across the entryway. Sasuke is the first to catch on and follow, Sakura has to drag Naruto into formation, they gulp as Lord Choza paces in front of them.
“TODAY I AM YOUR COMMANDING OFFICER! Your rules of engagement are as follows! First,” he tosses a scroll to Shikamaru. “You are to move all the furniture you see with the exception of the cedar dresser and jewelry box in the master bedroom and store them-CAREFULLY!-In this scroll.” The man moves to the other side of the line to where Sakura and Naruto are standing. They stand even straighter if possible. “UZUMAKI!” Naruto claps his feet together “HAI! COMMANDER-JI?!”
“I have heard rumors you know a suiton jutsu, do you know said jutsu?” Naruto salutes and Sakura salutes too. She doesn’t know why. “THE WATER CLONE JUTSU! DATTEBYO!” The man nodded in acknowledgement “Excellent Uzumaki! Currently this house has no utilities, you will be captain of the deep clean squadron, you are to release your clones at will and follow up with cleaning products the quartermaster will provide. You will clean this house from top to bottom once cleared of furniture! Do you feel up to the task, Captain Uzumaki?!” Sakura has never seen Naruto look so proud. “HAI COMMANDER-JI!!” The man walks down the line and Sakura can feel her breath return. “THIRD! You are to patch and repair any damage you see, DO NOT TOUCH THE CEILING! I REPEAT DO NOT TOUCH THE CEILING! COME GET ME IF YOU SEE ANY CRACKS IN THE CEILING” They all gulp, especially Shikamaru who guiltily tightens his arms behind his back.
“YAMANKA, HARUNO!”
“HAI!”
“H-HAI!”
A scroll finds its way into her hands as it slips from her fingers as she scrambles to catch it. Fumbling before finally tightening it in her grasp. And another one into Ino’s who catches it in one hand sliding her hands to behind her back in smooth practiced motion before standing back at attention. She’s just a little…..jealous.
“YOU WILL BE IN CHARGE OF A JOINT TASK FORCE! You WILL focus your attention on the master bedroom upstairs! This will become your new battlezone! You will first survey, you will collect your information, you will sort your information! I WILL trust your judgment in arranging the room and all its contents as you see fit. Your objective is to make the room hospitable to a young girl! In your hands is additional clothing and furniture I have provided. I do not expect you to use it all so do not worry! Your judgment will supersede objective one! I have given you the authority to break chain command! I have high expectations! DO YOU UNDERSTAND JOINT CAPTAIN HARUNO YAMANAKA?!
“HAI!!//HAI!!” They say in unison. So redecorating? Sakura sneaks a peak at the scroll in her hand. Wondering what could be inside.
“UCHIHA!”
“HAI COMMANDER!”
“Your mission will be the most delicate in nature, arguably the most important mission. Am I right to place my trust in you SPECIAL CAPTAIN UCHIHA?!”
“ABSOLUTELY COMMANDER!” Sasuke looks elated, and proud as he steps forward, in a tight military stance. Another scroll is tossed his way, smaller than the others and a different color.
“You are the only one who has permission to access the first room on the first floor to the right side! No other captains may enter! You will find your instructions are written explicitly inside. You will read your instructions, THRICE! You will follow them to a tee! Then you will destroy your missive as directed! DO I HAVE YOUR TRUST, CAPTAIN UCHIHA?!”
“YES COMMANDER!” Sasuke steps back in line.
“AKIMICHI!”
“YES DAD! -CRUNCH-” Choza glares at son. Choji gulps his mass of chips down stuck in throat and claps his feet together.
“I MEAN YES COMMANDER!”
“I have named you quartermaster and chief provisioner! Your job is to secure and supply this outfit with anything they might require. You are the lynchpin of this operation, so take pride! Once the electricity has been restored you are to secure this order.” He hands his son a receipt. “From the grocer. Once you have retrieved your query you are to escort Every. Last. supply. Back and restock the kitchen. No snacking. Your side directive is to collect any weapons, armor, reliquary, or Akimichi specific scroll you may find. AM I UNDERSTOOD QUARTERMASTER AKIMICHI?!”
“YES DA-COMMANDER!” Choji exhales through his nose like a bull while he salutes.
“NARA!!”
‘Grunt’ Choza keeps pacing the line.
“I know that's as good as I’m gonna get. Nara I have given you a supervisory role! You are to eliminate any inefficiencies you see and redirect division of labor as you see fit. Work smarter not harder! You will be the director of this operation while your superior officers are absent. Do I make myself clear VICE COMMANDER NARA?!”
“What a dr-”
“Do not finish that sentence Vice commander Nara or I will report your repeated truancy to Nara supervisory councilmember Yoshino!”
“Grunt.”
“A word of warning, you will fail your missions if any of the following is to occur. Property damage! Insubordination! In-fighting! Do not touch the garden! I repeat, do not touch anything in the garden! You have 6 hours to complete your directives! Any questions?!”
Naruto raised his hand.
“YES, CAPTAIN UZUMAKI?”
The boy scratches his cheek, “So what’s up with the ceiling?!” The other five genin nod, curious as well.
Choza sighs “It was specially commissioned from the Kurama clan whose kekkei genkai can weave permanent genjutsu into paintings as a wedding present. It can only be broken by a more powerful genjutsu user. No, it can’t be broken by traditional methods. Yes, it is extremely expensive! It is a one of a kind heirloom. It goes without saying that everything in this house is of great sentimental and MONETARY value, please-PLEASE- be mindful. Any more questions?”
Naruto raises his hand again.
“Yes Captain Uzumaki?!”
“...Ano sa, what’s a kekkei genkai?”
“Captain Uchiha!”
“...YES COMMANDER?”
“Explain what a kekkei genkai is to Captain Uzumaki later.”
“....yes, commander.” His teammate sighs.
Naruto puts his hand up again and waves it. Choza ignores it to everyone else's relief.
“YOU ARE DISMISSED! GO FORTH AND CONQUER PROUD NINJA OF THE LEAF!”
“Grunts. HAI COMMANDER!/HAI DAD!HAI COMMANDER!/HAI COMMANDER!HAI COMMANDER-JI!”
As the genin disperse, running down the halls exploring this new magical environment. “TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!” Choza calls after them. Kakashi claps. “If only I can trick my students into doing chores so easily.”
Choza puffs, feeling weary from barking orders for so long. He slaps a hand on Kakashi's chest. “You’ll get it, You’ve always been too hard on yourself, kid.“ Choza’s tired, there’s nothing more he wants to do than sit down to a nice big family dinner, he’ll have to push on. For his daughter’s sake. He reaches into a pouch before pulling a soldier pill out, crunching it between his teeth. He can see a war on the horizon. The last time someone invaded his brother’s kingdom it ended in disaster for Kichou.
“Come on, the first set is this way.”
Santa’s eyes drift to Akimichi Compound, it’s not visible from this far but it’s like a beacon. Inochi-sama had to clear it with their barrier team beforehand just like Akimichi picnic. Santa always marveled at the amount of chakra Akimichi could dump out at any given moment when pushed. It was almost blinding. Chouten was always dazzling. So the operation had begun. He watches carefully from the edge of the field that Kichou is tilling by herself because Sai knows about said operation. They have to elongate this D-rank mission as long as possible and he obligingly agreed after Choza explained directly about the surprise for Kichou, promising not to summon any inken ox to help her. Instead he was doing figure poses of Kichou as she pushed the backhoe in the early throws of summer heat alone.
Sitting on the edge of the field with their client and his other student Obata Rin. Rin was……worthless in Santa’s opinion not only watching Kichou sweat her ass off by herself as she broke her back with manual labor but insulting her as well. Insinuating she was born to be a beast of burden. Santa could not sense any will of Fire in her, nor could he foresee a promising future Rin needed no prompting to not help her, she did it all on her own. It was already months into her placement but she only seemed to be getting worse, and not better despite the Hokage’s beliefs that she would serve as an acceptable placeholder, she wouldn’t even make it to the Chunin exams at this rate.
The fact that the Hokage forced this ridiculous three man formation, the council had done away with accelerated promotions in this time of peace but he never saw two more individuals deserving. Sai was close to Jounin level for sage’s sake, Santa had very little to actually teach him as he was mostly self sufficient in terms of training, his techniques were unique and self invented, as an instructor he could only help improve his more personal interest in making friends and connecting to people.
Santa could easily see him becoming Anbu in the future, but that seemed…. exactly what Danzo intended, not good for his lack of emotions and connections. He needed more nurturing, more time to be a child. Santa talked to him privately, he wanted to be on a team with his best friend and go on adventures, bringing back stories and paintings to regale Shin with. Sai wanted to find rare flowers to bring back to the Yamanaka, things they haven’t seen before. He wanted to see the world, and nurture his home. Sai needed a guiding hand for shared human connection. Santa could more than easily provide him that.
Kichou on the other hand had already invented a new technique entered into Akimichi canon the first in 7 generations and off-handedly invented an advanced version one that had all the Akimichi jounin clamoring. If Shizuki were here, she wouldn’t have stopped gloating about her daughter, it would have been insufferable. You sure you don’t want one Santa~ They are so cute, and chubby. I’ll let you hold her if you promise not to drop her~ Although Ten-chan said they become little balls soon and roll around everywhere. Don’t you think I have the cutest baby in the village? You could bounce her around Uncle Santa~ She’s like a mini Ten-chan~
Ensui said it was crazy when Doto asked to be launched like a chakra bladed spinning top using his shadow technique like a string, an exciting twist on their advanced formation. It demolished two bandit camps and a group of enemy Rock-nin. He couldn’t wait to see it in action, it sounded fucking awesome. Kichou’s strength needed work, her taijutsu was still clumsy, she didn’t feel the drive to train properly but her mind oh how Santa craved a teensy tiny peak. It worked in such unusual ways, but endlessly effective. Her handling of Uzumaki Naruto and Sai was masterful, as well as her interest in vastly improving their education system, she should have been promoted directly to Chunin and made an instructor, or at least a teaching aide, she would have greatly enjoyed it, Santa could already tell. However what was troubling was some of her underlying issues, things she refused to acknowledge. Kichou needed a vast injection of self-esteem however, she still felt herself expendable.
A true diamond in the rough that made his mouth water, she would be his best work. Their daughter was truly a once in a generation kind of genius. They would have loved her. Yet he finds himself so melancholic every time he looks at her. It makes Santa wonder how Kakashi-senpai is doing, just one reminder is enough to make him depressed, three reminders and the same team number might just have fucking killed him. Old man Kage really was twisted. Santa was functioning better than Kakashi though, he was their strongest sensor and member of their barrier team. They had only gotten the drop on him once. But that once was devastating.
They were fucking geniuses dragged down by mediocrity. Santa had to be impartial, and shower them with the same attention. He offered Rin ninjutsu, supplementary taijutsu lessons, she only thought his attention meant romantic interest, Santa quickly had to recede after, his disgust waved off as most girls developed harmless crushes on their senseis. Rin showed some modicum of proficiency in genjutsu and infiltration, Santa thought maybe he could nurture the craft in her, it was more insightful into her mind. He had with permission delved once, it was boring, a series of twisted reflections and warped mirrors. Santa had broken one she had of Kichou, a grotesque thing, suggesting some sort of body dysmorphia by proxy tendencies just turned toward her teammate while people like him and Sai were beautified to near ethereal features.
He wanted to see what would happen when he shattered it, to his disappointment the shards refractured and grew. Rin was quite literally obsessed with Kichou’s body, obsessive compulsive disorder….The reflections grew and twisted until all she saw was Kichou, her features things she saw over the years, a body pieced together in shards of glass, the dip of a hip bone, long chubby fingers and short nails, a belly button and a curved stomach from when her shirt rode up, the perfectly clear complexion of her skin stretched all around Santa. The color of auburn It was disturbing, she should immediately be removed like he had recommended. Rin needed her cognition changed drastically and her proximity to Kichou was not conducive to either girl.
Meanwhile, Kichou just grunting and bearing with it, as she yet again has to stop to wipe the sweat from her eyes from under her bangs. Why she was stubborn about her problematic hairstyle he had no clue, even if she was trying to replicate the length of Choza-sama or her mother they at least had the good sense to tie it back for missions. Santa even offered her a spare hair tie on more than one occasion. How she could even see anything behind her bangs was beyond him….His eyes snap open when a random thought occurs to him. He tenses when his student’s head snaps up pointing in the exact direction of her house. Fuck that was why he was pulled from T&I by the Hokage for this assignment. He was never informed. Why was she never formally tested if the Hokage knew? Fuck! It was a test for him, one that Santa failed spectacularly. Sensors were unheard of in the Akimichi, the Hokage had exposed Santa’s bias. He can see the exact moment when she has a panic attack. Her breathing becomes erratic as she takes off in a dead sprint.
He has to run at top speed to catch her, having already gotten back to the edge of the forest line and main road back to the village grabbing her by the hand. “Woah, there caterpillar it isn’t break time yet! It’s only been an hour and twenty nine minutes” He jokes hoping Kichou is in one of her better moods, knowing exactly what is wrong or so he thinks. Maybe he can talk her down, stall her out, make her think in the moment. It’s been three hours, and thirty six, she’ll correct him, it’ll make her think about the time, doing the calculations in her head. She rips her fingers from his grasp with tremendous strength.
“I have to go! Something is wrong! It’s wrong! It’s all wrong! ” She’s having a meltdown, Sai has approached her behind clearly concerned. Santa tries to warn against it but Sai’s hand touches her shoulder and she violently throws him off to his pained expression. “Don’t touch me! Stop looking at me like that! I’m not crazy! I said I’m not fucking crazy! Stop looking at me! I need to go home!” Kichou is muttering to herself, she puts a finger in her mouth and bites down, drawing blood, tearing a chunk of nail with it. Looking back in the direction of her house exactly even though the road back into the village is not a straight line.
“Can you explain to me exactly what’s wrong? We can help you if you just tell us.” Santa tries to reason with her. There was an emerging deep rooted psychological issue attached to the house, a phobia of being looked at that she’s never expressed before, completely new behavior. They thought maybe ripping it off like a bandaid might be better. This was not going to plan, but nothing involving Kichou ever did. Santa was missing something and he hated it.
“Thieves…They’ll take it! They’ll take everything! I have to…” Kichou doesn’t have to finish her sentence because she is emitting killing intent, rolling off in waves. Santa internally curses, he He can’t let her go there like this. He glances at Sai who immediately begins drawing an octopus behind her. It’s tentacles eclipsing her shadow, grabbing her reeling her back. She’s fully disassociating now as she screams and struggles to be released. Santa makes the hand signs for a mind transfer, he’ll knock her out if he can’t calm her down.
He’s instantly repelled from her mind by something, a shade or a shadow, his body devoid of his soul as it slumps forward into the mud. Stuck outside of his own body as he can only watch Kichou make a bird sign and transform into her human tank form. A blade of chakra, slicing tentacles off in a spray of ink as she barrels top speed down the road.
Sai is securing his body, waiting for orders, waiting for his commanding officer to return even though he knows he should follow his teammate, wants to but it’s already too late, even a missive bird couldn’t catch up to her now and warn Choza-sama.
Her house was 48 km away, and she was already out of sight, with him out of commission, once again Ami sat at the sideline, useless, unattached from her teammates who carried her weight for her.
Inochi-sama was going to kill him.
Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Chapter Text
“Hey! Do you think we should seal this as well?!” Naruto asks, pointing to a sort of bookcase with a picture on it and some incense. Choji and Shikamaru look at him like he’s dumb and it really irks him. “...No you idiot, it's a shrine to the last owners.” Naruto mentally reels, having stepped his foot it in again.
He looks at the photo, a really big man with green squares on his face and short cropped spiky red hair with a massive smile on his face. Wearing some really cool red and gray plate armor and in his arms is a woman with like insanely long hair, the longest hair Naruto has ever seen, pitch black and shiny as it drops down and goes out of frame, her face framed in spiky tufts. It reminded him of those paintings of princesses except her were sharp framed by long lashes and dark lines almost like a cat’s with red painted under the eye. She was wearing a flak jacket over a grey shirt and fishnet, pointing a sword towards the Cameraman who took the picture, looking smug. The man was throwing up victory signs. They looked seriously cool! It brought a smile to Naruto’s face as he saw holders full of incense ash on either side, and a worn out spot on the wood floor in front of the cabinet. Like someone has spent hours sitting in front of it.
Choji claps twice in front of it, praying after he leaves his bag of chips there before Naruto does the same.
“Ano sa~ Choji this was your uncle right? Do you know their names? Wait if we’re remodeling this place for their child do you know their name? Have you met them?”
Shikamaru groans from behind him and Naruto frowns. “There’s no way you can be that stupid, you’ve met her, dumbass think for just a moment. Who hangs around Choji all the time except me? Another Akimichi kid”
“.....NO WAY! This is Big-nee’s house?! These are Big-nee’s parents?” Naruto grabs the photo from the shrine to look closer. Trying to see the resemblance. “She looks like her dad but she has her mom’s eyes.” Naruto squints, he rarely has seen her eyes, glimpses her hair moves a certain way. Shikamaru picks up the photo, before looking at it briefly and putting it back in place. His toes kicked at the worn spot before the shrine. He makes a quickly praying motion with his hands before he turns to him.
“Just dump out the ash outside and wipe it down.” Shikamaru says clapping him on the shoulder.
They both leave the area busying themselves in the kitchen and checking the bathroom on the first floor before Naruto makes the same praying motion, kneeling in that same worn spot. It feels sad here, salty like ocean spray. Like that night on his birthday that felt like an eternity ago.
“Hello again. You look better here. Less scary….” It feels dumb talking to dead people like this but Naruto is sure they’re here, watching over their daughter. It’s just a feeling he has in his gut. “Your house is super pretty, I can see why big-nee kept it a secret….” Kichou never talked about her parents, it just made her so sad to and Big-ji had that exact same sadness, so they must have been really great. Too bad he never got to meet them.
There’s a longing in his heart that makes his fingers go numb the same longing he’s had for as long as he can remember since he could at the orphanage. There’s cobwebs in the corners and dust on every surface like it’s been abandoned. Naruto puts a hand on his bicep to show off his strength. Feeling pumped up even though he hates cleaning. “Don’t worry we’ll fix it up for you! Good as new ‘dattebayo!” Naruto raises his hands and squeezes his eyes shut.
“So please don’t haunt me! I have permission to come here this time!”
Naruto cracks an eyelid but the picture doesn’t move, remaining inanimate. He sighs thankful as he feels no moisture in the air here to draw on water clones. He’ll have to go outside and give it a try.
‘Just you wait Big-nee! You’re gonna be so surprised!’
He smiles happily daydreaming about big nee being so happy with him they go out to Ichiraku ramen to celebrate, before inviting him over for a party where she bakes one of her special cakes.
Sakura’s fingers glide along the flak jacket, they first decided they were going to fold all the clothes in the closets. Two of them, the room split equally meant for partners in mind. Everything about the room screamed harmonious union. If she could see the room for what it once was, knick-knacks lining the walls, a giant fluffy futon that might have once been adorned in colorful quilts, soft tatami mats that could be cleaned and repaired. Although a few were broken, half-destroyed as if animals had been clawing at it. They had opened the sliding door to the balcony to rid the room of the damp stagnant air, the futon left on the railing air out as they worked in silence. Gentle luxuries were missing, It wasn’t stagnant here, like a room without masters held in stasis, it felt scavenged.
Details were emerging, dampening the mood. A broken handle on a jewelry box, a half empty armor stand and displays on the wall that were meant for more than a few boxes of old kunai they found. A weapon stand meant to hold a sword on the wife’s side sat empty. A faded photo of a man and woman who bore a striking resemblance to an old classmate, who was kinda weird but kinda cool. Adorned in wedding attire, next to the frame was another photo of a genin team with a younger version of that same man and woman. Sakura feels a blush on her face rise, when she realizes they married their childhood teammate. A dream, an aspiration of her own, realized when she saw a third photo of a large baby looking in a sown onesie with antler horns attached to the hood looking up at a camera with a foot in its mouth. Another photo, a baby girl with sharp eyes and dark red curls, wearing a bright white dress and costume butterfly wings, a flower crown atop her head. Laying on a bassinet. An insane 100 days celebration with the most delicious food Sakura has ever seen laid abundantly on the table as she is held by her mother and her father brings the food up to her face on prepared chopsticks. There’s no one else in the photo which is strange considering the oldest person in the child’s family should be the one feeding them.
“...Ino, is this?”
Ino nods from across the room, folding another pair of large shinobi standard pants.
“Yeah.” She’s uncommonly solemn for the usually bratty bubby girl Sakura has grown to know and love.
“...I didn’t know.” Her parents were dead. Ino snorts before setting a pile of clothing aside, Ino told her they would seal it with the utmost care all at once. Showing her how to operate the sealing scrolls, they were expensive things with storage based upon how much chakra you could use. Not something Sakura has handled before but most clan children have.
“How would you? She never talks about it.” Sakura looks out the balcony towards the garden. A really well maintained garden. What if Kichou was coming here instead of class? A startling contrast to here ‘the downstairs was barren as well.’
“...How did they-?” She can’t say die. It’s too hard to swallow in her throat, the reality of a shinobi never felt this close before. This is real. Childhood sweethearts who married each other on the same genin team. Who had a baby who looked so cute and untroubled. In a fairy tale cottage. The reality was, it wasn’t pretty on the inside. It was tattered and torn, destroyed and scavenged.
“The kyuubei attack..They were tokubetsu jounin, an assault-style unit, sort of black sheep from what I hear, their squadron was one of the first to be lost.” Ino says, roughly folding another standard shinobi style of pants. Methodical like she’s talking about something else and not the deaths of their ex-classmate’s parents. Sakura can tell she’s getting frustrated by the repetition. There’s so little personality among the clothes, she can’t help but to hope Choza-sama has stored the important mementos somewhere safe. There’s a cedar chest Sakura spies in the corner, can feel spiderwebs of chakra over it. It’s been sealed closed, like the jewelry box even though it looks like someone tried to get in all the same..
Ino always knew when her mind was trying to fill in the blanks, giving her all the information she gathered, she usually can’t stop gossiping once started but she was being distant, respectful. Sakura had never seen them interact in the academy, a unique indifference, maybe that valley between them was done out of mutual respect and not dislike like Sakura had always assumed. Sakura got to the bottom of her pile depressingly fast, there was no way a woman just wore five sets of shinobi standard, and a flak jacket.
“....Was it always this bad?” She asks, it’s such a pretty house, why is there nothing inside of it. Ino looked up and towards the garden when they can hear doors rattle and slide downstairs, Shikamaru was goofing off on the porch, the lazy bum. She scoffs,
“Worse….They-” Ino looks haunted. Before she slides her hand over a singular shin guard on the armor stand, missing its pair. She gets up, and kneels by Sakura’s side, her forearm resting on her leg with her palm open. It was a game they used to play in class. They would write secrets in each other's palms with their fingers. Tracing messages across. Secrets never meant to be said out loud. Sakura mirrors her posture, ready to receive, receptive and open-minded. Ino holds her hand gently and with her other hand’s index begins the transmission.
“Uncle…Hurt….Badly...During….Attack….Found...Out…After….brother....died….3….days…..baby….forgotten…”
Horror settles in the pit of her stomach. ‘I had to force the gate open to care for the child and I think I caused irreparable damage.’ Was a baby stuck in this house for 3 days, with no one to get in or or out?! She doesn’t know the statistics but that seems impossible, that a baby could survive that long, that she remained forgotten by her clan. An empty celebration with just the three of them.
“Opened….gate…as…head….kept….away….given…to…distant…family..” Ino strikes through the word family and replaces it with “vultures….stole….everything…..said…caring….for….her”
Sakura goes to close her hand thinking that was the end of that sad tale. Heart saddened with pity for a girl she never talked to. A childish dream, her whole reason for becoming a ninja and a harsh reality of fairy tales. Ino holds her by the wrist flexing her muscles forward keeping her hand flat and open.
“They…LIED….” Ino taps the hiragana, it’s how they express importance. She traces unknown kanji in her palm that Sakura belatedly realizes is Kichou’s when she feels the symbol for butterfly
“Kichou…had…no…care….half…dead…”
There’s a warm droplet on Sakura’s palm, she cannot see it or Ino’s face as her best friend hunches over it.
“Uncle…saved…Kichou….vultures….wanted….house….Uncle…closed….gate…permanently..”
Ino closes her palm but wrapping her fingers over her fist. Sakura brings it to her open mouth, swallowing the air around her palm, zipping her lips, and throwing her hand over her shoulder. A promise they always kept. Ino hides her face, with a quick swipe at her eyes before she lifts her head and puts on a wide grin.
“Come’on billboard brow, let's see what goodies uncle gave us.” Ino moves the piles out of the way before unfurling the scroll on the floor and biting her thumb.
Sakura hopes Ino can read her mind, like she always seems to. ‘We’ll fix it’
….. ’It was a nursery’ it was not what he was expecting when he had opened the door. Thinking it was maybe a secret room or a clan archive like they have hidden over the Uchiha estate.
It was too still in here, too unsettling, something was wrong with this room. There was almost no light, it wouldn’t make sense to have bright skies all the time in a sleeping room. There was no windows either in a house this airy and light, that wasn’t uncommon in a nursery Sasuke has seen, Father once told him that it was because they were fearful of kidnappers. But there’s no built in light either, or lamps. There was a smell of dust in the air, no damp like the other places, but that shouldn’t be right, there was a small vent in the corner but no way for air to move. And…..it felt like Sasuke was in a cave, deep and vast but he was in such a small room. He emulated his father looking for evidence, peering around for trap doors or seal marks. Seeing none he sits on the ground before opening the scroll, reading his instructions thrice.
‘Sasuke,
I want you to burn everything in this room, break the furniture down and take the refuse to the field on the far side of the property. I never want to see it again. I hear from your brother that you are rather talented at katon.’ Sasuke blushes, aniki was always quick to praise him when he was the genius. “One of our jounin Doto promised he would teach you a technique for helping. Please keep this special directive a secret from your team.’ Sasuke stiffens. Uncertainty waffling through him. It was generally against code to hide something from your comrades or commanding officer ‘This room has been tampered with in the past.’ Sasuke looks around, why would you tamper with a nursery? … The baby was valuable. A sourness grows in his mouth.
‘I have spoken with your father about this matter.” Relief spreads through body, relaxing his tense limbs, if his father knew then everything was alright. ‘He speaks highly of your critical thinking and your annoying knack for finding secrets that you shouldn’t get into. He told me of your promise as a future star detective of the Police Corps.It is partially the reason why I have selected your team.’ Sasuke feels like his heart might threaten to burst out of his chest.
‘A formal investigation felt too silly to ease an old man’s fears. If you can look discreetly for evidence of tampering, the barrier seal is weaker here, no one can figure out why. If you find anything unusual or suspicious no matter how small, come grab me or your sensei, we will seal it and it is my hope that you would hand deliver any evidence you do find to your father or mother, absolutely no one else. When you are done, throw this scroll on the burn pile with the other trash.’
It was really simple instructions in his opinion, look for clues, break down the furniture, burn it in the field out back, destroy the scroll. Sasuke read it two more times just in case.
Detective Uchiha Sasuke was on the case! Sasuke lifts himself off the floor and takes a cursory glance around the room. The first thing and maybe one of the only things that sticks out is the crib. It's large but Sasuke supposes it needs to be for Akimichi children, father said they are the only clan in the village that specializes in yang release. It stands to reason that over the generations of selective breeding their children will be larger and stronger like the Uchiha grow more agile. His hand touches the head board bent outward, it’s loose. Sasuke tests the footboard. Which is sturdier but not by much. The sides were the sturdiest. Maybe something pressing against it for a long time, but…Not to be rude but the Akimichi seems like they grow wider faster than they grow tall.
Sasuke looks down at the mattress, it was ... .stained. But the spots were weird, not in the middle where the baby would be comfortable and may have had an accident but dark yellow patches that looked like sweat and dry skin at the absolute top in the middle and two spots on the bottom. Ankles. Almost perfect outlines. Like the baby had been rubbing up against it uncomfortably. Did it even move at all? He frowns. There’s no seal marks and nothing out of the ordinary beyond a disgusting mattress. To preserve Choza-sama’s dignity Sasuke gives the crib a swift kick watching it shatter. He’ll collect the pieces later. Sasuke turns to the dresser pulling it off the wall peering behind it, inspecting the floor looking for scuff marks or sliding panels.
Seeing none he sighs before going through the dresser. Frowning when he sees not baby clothes but stained dingy toddler clothes. Did a toddler sleep in a crib that small? Big for a baby , small for a toddler. Sasuke’s perspective shifts. Three stained shirts and a pair of shorts that had a raw frayed edge cut in the waist, they are smaller than shirts, like a clumsy attempt to tailor them to be wider. He puts them back before running his hand against the bottom and along the back looking for false panels or switches. Sasuke is frustrated when he finds nothing. He tears the shelving out before snapping the planks over his knee. Nothing is in the frame either. Sasuke huffs before punching it in half. Kicking the broken pieces away.
What else? There wasn’t anything in here! He’s been in his baby cousins’ rooms, over twenty! even babysat for some of his aunts and uncles. There should be toy chests, and rocking horses and soft blankets, baby books to read to them, there should be a comfy chair so you can hold them while they eat, A mobile to stimulate them to sleep! There’s nothing! It’s so annoying. Sasuke crawls on the floor, feeling around with his hands and feet, there had to be something hidden in the floor. Like when he found the secret clan meeting room in the temple spying the elders drinking and playing dice with the nincats.
He does that for a bit before huffing and giving up to pull the splinters out of his knee. He lies on the floor, staring up at the ceiling thinking. What were the facts telling him? Lord Akimichi hired team seven to re-establish the ward barrier on the house. Their sensei being one of the last seal experts in Konoha…Lord Choza is remodeling the house for his ward…Akimichi Kichou….Naruto’s other best friend….The ceiling is a permanent genjutsu….That only a more powerful genjutsu user can break. The Akimichi are a yang based clan susceptible to yin based technique. The …cieling….is…sky…so….pretty…he…. could….look….forever….
Sasuke feels his mind begin to slow, internally he’s panicking, his fingers twitch but he finds he can not lift them no matter how hard he wills it. A depression sinking over him. Bone deep apathy as he feels his breathing slow to a stop. It’s like his soul is outside of his body. Help…someone help…mother…father…brother
His eyes strain, an unbelievable pressure behind them. The shadows of the room stretch, pulling toward the ceiling. Babies have mobiles to help stimulate them to sleep, a baby always on their back, the ceiling is genjutsu. The ceiling is fucking genjutsu.
Sasuke feels pinpricks in his eyes like someone has jabbed senbon in his pupils. He blinks.
When he opens them again he’s greeted with a mawed abyss, an all consuming greed meant to steal the very will from his body. He jabs palms over his eyes and rolls over before standing to his feet. He had to get sensei, his sharingan was more developed he might be able to..his sharingan…
‘Please keep this a secret from your team…Come grab me or your sensei’
Lord Choza didn’t want the other children to know. Sasuke points his head down and lets his feet guide him from the room. He calmly closes the door, everything is too bright, he can see colors he’s never seen before, the world is spinning. Sasuke is afraid to look up, scared to see if anything else is hidden underneath. He closes his eyes and frowns.
“OI VICE COMMANDER!! I NEED SOME SUPPORT!”
“...Tch so troublesome” The boy in question’s voice is coming from the garden where he isn’t supposed to be. Sasuke frowns, if he had use of his functioning eyes he would punt him for daring to risk their mission to insubordination. Sasuke’s ear twitches when he hears the boy slowly get up and shuffle over to him.
“...What. do. You. want?” Shikamaru drawls out lazily. But Sasuke can feel him in front of him, get closer and lean in. Sasuke can feel his breath on his face as he hunches over lowering his head and peers up at Sasuke’s face like he’s trying to peer past his eyelids.
“...Oi, did you?”
Sasuke makes a middling motion with his hand. “Not sure. Actually, no, pretty sure. I need sensei and Choza-sama now. Lead me to them.”
Shikamaru sighs before wrapping his hand around wrist and pulling him along. His gait is truly odd, a meandering shuffle and Sasuke finds it off kiltering. His eyes flicker open for just a moment then closed again, before falling perfectly in step.
“....Stop that. It’s creepy.”
“Sorry. I always wanted to do that.” Shikamaru only sighs before knocking on a random door, opening it and shoving him in.
“....Sasuke. What brings-?”
Sasuke opens his eyes, shining bright red, a single tomoe spinning.
“Sensei, how do you turn it off?”
Sensei shows him how to close the tenketsu in his eyes. Putting a hand on his head and applying a light pressure. Sasuke presses his palms into his aching sockets, rubs them thankful, it hurts way more than he thought, feeling a pulsing headache coming. Kakashi-sensei quickly grabs his hands and pulls them away.
“Maa~ Sasuke your eyes are delicate, it may feel good now but I promise you it’ll hurt more in the long run. We will get you some ice later.”
Sasuke nods.
“The ceiling is genjutsu.”
Choza looks over to the boy. The seal work was delicate, to even lose focus for a second is a gamble. Kakashi had already laid down the trigrams now it was just a matter of ‘ownership’ The slow and steady chakra loss he would suffer on Kichou’s behalf.
“...Yes? You heard the lecture, a priceless family heirloom.” Kakashi conjoles, thinking he must have inadvertently stared too long and triggered his kekkei genkai in the process.
“No! In the nursery, the ceiling is a powerful genjutsu! It almost killed me!” The world stops as the two adults stand at attention.
Choza curses when the seal backfires, a chakra burn spreading up his arm.
“Choza-sama!” Kakashi-rushes over, the seal gate is wrecked, they will have to start over. Choza fists his loose sleeve, wrapping his flesh over the fabric. It will do until he sees it with his own eyes.
“Show me!” Choza stomps, making his way to that fucking accursed room.
Kakashi quietly closes the door behind them, Naruto had apparently flooded the bathroom with water clones and soap and now the hall was filling with suds. Thankfully a perfect distraction.
Sasuke stands in the center of the room looking pointedly down at the ceiling.
Choza is irate looking at the ceiling like he can make it catch fire with his glare. Gnashing teeth.
Kakashi looks up and blinks. He doesn’t see anything, not even a hint, and he could smell a genjutsu down wind 200 kilometers away…..
“...Are you sure? I don’t doubt don’t you, Sasuke but I’m not getting anything.”
Sasuke has put his hands over his eyes and peaks up at it between fingers. Which would be cute normally but Choza looks ready to dig Danzo up and crush his head into a pulp all over again.
“I think it’s double layered, I only saw it for a second but I think the first genjutsu is the appearance of the normal ceiling masked by the sense of illusion in the main room, the second genjutsu is underneath and trigger based.”
Choza’s head snaps to the boy and Kakashi can tell the boy is trying to keep from flinching back.
“And the trigger?”
“You have to lay on your back where the crib was and look up” The boy says quietly.
“The baby showed signs of being too sedentary, I thought it was strange. It was a body-locking curse of some sort. I almost stopped breathing altogether.”
“THAT WRIGGLING MAGGOT!” The normally jolly lord screams.
“Maa~ Choza-sama calm down the children will overhear.” The man is visibly shaking in anger.
“Reveal it to me! I’m upping the mission grade to A. RIGHT NOW KAKASHI!” The Akimichi lord demands.
Kakashi sighs, rubbing the back of his head. ‘So much for a nice easy mission’
He gets to the middle of the room before sitting down where a pile of wood has been kicked away. He lays down, immediately feeling the pressure, it weighs down his limb, feeling like pure fatigue. The kind of bone deep tired he felt during the war, when he thought he could no longer go on. He frowns.
He pulls up his hitai-ate, a blood-red eye and three tomoe spinning faster than the human body can detect. Kakashi feels he breath slowing, his heart beat…can count the seconds in between….getting longer.
He sees the first layer. A notice-me-not woven with normality plastered over something truly sinister. Kakashi pushes through. The shadows in the room all stretch upward. Moving towards a center point. Kakashi can feel his soul leaving his body. The first layer does not shatter or stutter away but is sucked inward. The room is devoured in twisted imagery. A tree, large, gnarled, barren, and diseased . Dying. Dead. look at me…. Bending shadows, lost souls being drawn in, a knot of exposed roots burrows its way into black loaming soil, leeching life away, pure entropy -look at me- and at its center a gate, a circle holding a rotating triangles slithering in black ink. The Akimichi mon shifting-realigning to the symbol for death for a second before rearranging it again. Look at me… Only visible in the gleam of dying light. ..look at me! He sees faces in the bows and burrows, Rin, Obito, Minato, Kushina, Father, miserable silhouettes stretching towards that gaping maw. A silent man stands in the hollow, face pure white, red eyes with concentric rings stare back. ….look away, look away, look away. The whisper in overwhelming cacophony. LOOK! AT! ME! His father’s shade flies forward. Kakashi is shaking, shivering, his heart has stopped and the adrenaline from fear is the only thing keeping him alive. “I SAID LOOK AWAY!” His father’s shade devours his eyes, plunging blinding white wolf fangs into his skull. A hairline crack appears.
Kakashi gasps, surging forward. Choza checks his shoulders, studying his face.
“I’m sorry…. I didn’t know what I asked for. I–” Kakashi’s breath regulates. He can feel his heart rate speed up as feeling returns to his fingers.
“How did she survive that, for that long?” He marvels, the genjutsu still holds. Hellish and resolute, no longer hidden behind a notice-me-not. A single crack in the plaster is all he could manage. He didn’t know how much time had passed but certainly not four years in early infancy.
Choza-sama seems pensive “....She always had this bad habit as a kid, she never looked up at the ceiling no matter what way you put her. She would always turn her head towards the door. I thought it was just eccentricity. ” Hands pinching the bridge of his nose, as he squeezes his eyes shut.
Kakashi nods, looking over to his student who is looking down at the floorboards, hands clenched in tight knots. “It’s okay, Sasuke. I don’t think I ever said congratulations by the way. We will have to celebrate later. Also, great work you were the first to notice! Your family will be proud.” The boy flinches. Kakashi gets up and dusts himself off, he can still feel it overhead the roots and branches undulating, creeping ever closer, trying to pull him in. There’s a silhouette of a boy with only one eye, a pair of googles glinting on his head, stretching across the wall.
“We will have to seal the room Choza-sama, I can not handle it alone. I do not feel comfortable letting her live here until it is broken.”
All Choza can do is nod.
There is a crashing noise from the engawa.
“OUT! OUUTTTT! I SAID GET OUUTTTTT! NOW!”
Choza’s heart sinks as realizes ‘Kichou came home early.’
Chapter 11
Summary:
A confrontation amongst cousins spells disaster.
Notes:
TW: Depression and Anxiety.
I'm not sure the exact tags but when I wrote this I was in a bad headspace so it's pretty angsty. I wouldn't recommend reading this chapter if you're also suffering from depression or anxiety.
Chapter Text
Shikamaru isn’t sure he likes Kichou, he doesn’t hate her, but it’s….amblievence that dictates their interactions. She’s just so troublesome and not in the way other girls are. Kichou can make moves, bold and arresting that draws his eye, sparks curiosity, she’ll be decisive and aggressive when she can control the terms of engagement, but withdraw, retreating awkwardly if someone approaches her. Running back to her empty dollhouse that no one but her can get into. It leaves her open to counter attacks, like Choji she cares too much about what others think about her despite what everyone else seems to think. A silver-haired instructor comes to mind that he quickly slashes out, he might think girls were troublesome but that was something different, something twisted. Men weren’t supposed to be like that. She ignored him with the same indifference that she ignored Mizuki-sensei and that set his teeth on edge.
Close, always tangentially hovering at the edge of his field of vision like an inconsequential shogi piece but putting needless boundaries in place that hurt the people he cares about. Choji is depressed that she’s moving out, uncle always pushing himself for an ounce of her affection, his annoying ass mom asking when she is going to come over, and his dad who asks how she’s doing during their shogi games. They all wanna know her, to pivot around her playstyle but she never makes concessions pushing everyone away. ‘Her body hunched over a shogi board in front of their memorial stone, crying her eyes out, wailing like a dying animal, yet he’s never seen her play once. A promise not to tell as a man grinded her into the ground.’ She was hurting herself, by keeping them out. Troublesome.
He steps through her playhouse, the place she always goes when she gets overwhelmed and thinks ‘man this shit is depressing.’ They really took everything that wasn’t nailed down. He knows some of the Akimichi civilian counterparts were scum, it’s what happens when you multiply like rabbits, a few foxes are bound to sneak in. It’s even scummier to steal from a baby and think you’re justified. Animals that picked a carcass bone dry but my what pretty bones these were, he thinks while staring at what must be a million ryo painted ceiling. One of the most beautiful things he had ever seen, it filled his heart with a deep sense of yearning. Dad always said Auntie had expensive tastes, Shikamaru just thought he meant cosmetics or cutlery ,he had no idea this is what he meant. As they packed away furniture he couldn’t help but notice how it wobbled and warped. They even had the audacity to replace the furniture with the cheap knockoff shit that isn’t comfortable for Akimichi to use. They have to be conscious of how they throw their weight around all the time, they are naturally strong, big, they like to bounce, live without abandon, this shit made them too conscious not to break it. They also had weird shit going on with their kitchen tables, handcrafted heirlooms meant to raise their family at, nowhere to be found. It couldn’t all be taken, though. His eyes intrinsically follow the clouds above leading him to candy colored glass panes washing the garden aglow, this house was still marvelous, still intrinsically hers and not theirs and man that must have them grinding their teeth.
This whole day was a massive drag really, while the others were too happy to play ninja, Shikamaru could see it for what it truly was. A waste of time. They were just accessories or manual labor to Team Seven’s weirdo sensei. Would Kichou even appreciate all this effort?
She’s always been closed off and private and now they were running through her own personal paradise. Nah she’s gonna be a massive brat about it. Shikamaru thinks about ditching, Sasuke just unlocked his sharingan, and while the Uchiha are pretty tight lipped about their kekkei genkai, Shikamaru is under the impression that Uchiha and the ceilings here don’t exactly see eye to eye. Genjutsu versus renowned Genjutsu users. While they are all fussing over him he could probably slip out.
Shikamaru slides open the door to the garden again, the only place that looks lived in. It’s nicer out here, where the air is fresh and there’s no smell of lingering sadness. He’s been napping for the past hour since the knuckleheads Naruto and Choji are taking this too seriously. Not that he’s complaining, less work for him. He stretches his spine along the planks, feeling the sun on his face. Yeah this place was like the perfect napping spot. He peers around, taking it all in. Sprawling vegetation and dancing butterflies sipping on nectar lackadaisy from fragrant flowers. Chili peppers on the fence facing the Nara forrest line, Shikamaru narrows his eyes, a natural deer repellent. He clicks his tongue before he sees something.
He spies a shogi board sitting on the end of the porch that breaks off into a sitting area surrounded by flower bushes he doesn’t know the name of. Curious, he goes over sitting on a faded silk cushion that was probably uncle Choza’s based on how wide it is. Sitting across from a smaller silk cushion that much be Kichou’s. Maybe they play in private and not at the Nara estate, Uncle will humor his dad but since Kichou never makes a point of coming over to his mother’s disappointment he’ll just have to assume they dabble. That’s infuriating.
“Damn this board is a wreck.” It really irks him to see what was once probably a beautiful set from the dark lacquer and inlays is now destroyed due to negligence. Each piece is sun bleached and withered, everything showing signs of water damage, the lacquer is spotty having been worn away unevenly and carvings next to illegible with how they faded become. He can make out the groves of a Nara-mon carved on the bottom though. Probably inherited from Kichou’s mother, a nara clanswoman. There were inlays all along the bottom of the block, a complex pattern of mother pearl and green glass beadwork now chipped or missing. Scratch marks in the corners that looked like something was pried out of the pattern, the shape lost to him. Shikamaru runs his hands along the top, repelling at dryness. This board has probably never seen a lick of oil or polish that would make the pieces feel satisfying to play. The pieces are even out of place from their starting position. His fingers itch to put them the right way.
He picks up the silver general, the most egregiously placed. Sitting directly in the center of the board, all the other pieces arranged haphazardly around it, as if made to bow to a minor piece.
He hears running footsteps bulldozing towards him, top heavy to be Naruto’s, too fast to be Choji’s. ‘Don’t touch anything in the garden.’
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” Kichou is standing in the door frame, irate, a whirlwind of energy.. Shikamaru feels himself be irritated in return.
“I’m resetting the board, not that you would care, Woman!” Kichou looks like she had been physically hit.
“PUT IT DOWN, NOW!!!” She comes stomping over, an Akimichi on a warpath. He stitches her shadow to the post as she passes by arms outstretched. She’s struggling against the bind. He taunts her by smirking, making a show of placing the piece down in the correct spot.
Her face is ruddy and red blending into her cheek marks. He’s never seen Kichou get this angry but she’s throwing an honest to god tantrum.
“YOU’RE RUINING IT! STOP!! STOP IT!” Shikamaru frowns.
“No, I’m saving it. The board is almost fucking unplayable, I’m doing you a favor.” He works quickly resetting the pieces to their correct orientation. She could thank him with a game later, when she sees reason.
She starts screaming like a whistling tea kettle, high pitched and needling.
“OI SHIKAMARU WHAT’S GOING ON DOWN THERE?!”
Ino and Sakura lean over the edge of the balcony trying to peer down into the porch. Kichou hears them before she sees them, while his shadow stitching is okay it doesn’t completely bind yet and her head snaps up at the sound.
“That’s their room! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!” She’s crying out of her mounting frustration, her bangs sticking to her red-marked cheeks.
Shikamaru can feel his temper slip.
“We’re busting our asses to help you, if you’re going to be ungrateful about it, take it up with Uncle and stop bitching, you goddamn troublesome woman!”
“GET OUT! GET OUT! OUUTTTT! I SAID GET OUUTTTTT! NOW!” Kichou is struggling, her hands trembling with effort, making grabbing motions in the air, probably to wring his neck, as if he’ll let her. Shikamaru stitches her shadow to the banisters. He can see the shadow stretch too thin, the tether about to break. He stitches the other post’s shadow to her back, she is in for a rude awakening when the first one breaks and she’s yanked back. She can’t hit him if she can’t reach him.
“You’re being such fucking brat right now. Like I said Uncle let us in because he needed help. Asked for us to help you! Open your ears” Shikamaru scratches his head furiously in frustration before he adds. “What a drag. I wanna be here just as much as you want me here. The second he’s done I’m out.” Shikamaru picks up a pawn and plays it, replaying the game he played with his dad earlier. Shogi boards were made to be used after all.
The first shadow predictably breaks and she is yanked back like a dog on a short leash. Her fingers trying to reach him, grasping at air.
Rook to E5. Knight to A4. Rook to G3. Rook takes silver general. Mate in 2…as he moves the piece off the board and on the wood plank next to him, the world seems to stop as she lets out a guttering wail.
It happens lightning fast out of his peripheral vision.
The shadow holding Kichou back stretches, allowing her to run forward. And keeps stretching till it’s maybe a hair’s width as she lunges forward, barreling on top of him. Sending him, her and the board flying.
“WHATS YOUR FUCKING PROBLEM?!” Shikamaru sits up rubbing his head, he’s about had it. She’s clutching the broken board to her kneeling body, hands wringing through dirt trying to collect the pieces. Crying desperately. Out of the corner of his eye he sees all the genin standing at the edge of the precipice, too cowardly to intervene. Leaving Shikamaru to the wolves. The traitors. Some much for teamwork. It made him angry, why did everyone treat her like glass when she was a raging maniac. If no one else wasn’t going to say something then he would fucking say it. He was tired skirting around this board his whole fucking life.
“IT WAS HER BOARD AND YOU RUINED IT” Shikamaru is usually calm and logical, aloof and dispassionate, usually. In his mind, it was even more insulting that she would leave her mother’s board to face the weather and outside elements and have the audacity to not even play it. Kichou treated her mother’s inheritance like she treated her Nara heritage, with negligence. It hurt his pride, something his ego would never allow.
“IT WAS ALREADY RUINED! SHOGI IS MADE TO BE PLAYED, NOT LEFT TO ROT OUTSIDE! DO YOU REALLY THINK SHE WOULD WANT THAT?!”
She whirls around on him, her bangs disheveled and sticking to the sweat of her temples, lodging in her unruly hair. Nara eyes glaring back at him, twisted in rage. Looking wild.
“HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?! YOU DIDN’T KNOW HER!” She yells painfully.
“NEITHER DID YOU!” It was a low blow that instantly makes him feel guilty, the look on her face as if he struck her only makes him more angry. Angry at himself mostly. He hates that even more, redirecting it back at her. He pushes the assault while she retreats into herself.
“YOU ALWAYS ACT AS IF YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE TO HAVE LOST THEM! ‘Dad plays one-sided games in the garden, asking what she would do, the slight clack of tiles the only thing to break the silence’ You really think they would have wanted you to rot and fester in this house alone?! That she wanted her board to rot when you never learned to play? You-”
“I WANTED HER TO TEACH ME!” It makes Shikamaru still. Finding the logic vexing.
“So what you’ll never learn? You’ll just stagnant because they’re not around to teach you? When there are others who would be overjoyed to teach you?! Beg even?! ‘His dad, chief among them when Shikamaru has to beg him for another game these days.’ You’ll just watch yourself rot along with this house?!” Shikamaru scoffs. “What about the people that care about you? Do you know how hard it is for them?! Do you know how much Uncle sticks his neck out for you? How much Choji is forced to cling to you so you don’t push him away?! Do you even care? They waste so much energy trying to make you happy when all you do is mope around here ungrateful. I don’t get you at all.”
She’s sobbing holding the board to her chest, teeth bared at him clenched in anger. Unable to refute him. Thoroughly defeated. Shikamaru sighs, getting up and dusting off his pants. He’s had enough of this shit.
“...Figures you would buckle when pushed, like always. What a drag.”
Shikamaru turns to leave, seeing the frowning faces of Uncle and Choji’s dejection. He clicks his tongue knowing the lecture he is about to get.
A thin shadow sticks to his foot, as Kichou tackles him from behind. She twists her weight, bringing them off the porch and tumbling into the yard. Sitting on his chest while she pins his arms in place. ‘ She’s heavy as shit.’ Looking like a force of nature. A tempest of all encompassing clouds and fury with no end in sight. All shikamaru can do is stare up in awe.
“I DON’T GET YOU EITHER! I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT FROM ME! WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY?!-”
“THAT I’M SAD EVERY DAY?! THAT I’M ANGRY ALL THE FUCKING TIME?!
DO YOU WANT ME TO LEECH THE HAPPINESS AWAY FROM EVERYONE WHO HAS THE MISFORTUNE OF BEING AROUND ME?! I PUSH THEM AWAY BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BRING THEM DOWN WITH ME!!”
“I KNOW I’M A BURDEN! I KNOW I’M MESSED UP. I KNOW I’M NOT OKAY! I’VE NEVER GOTTEN TO BE OKAY! I KNOW I’M DIFFICULT TO LOVE. I KNOW OKAY?!”
Teardrops fall unto his face, like summer rain, hot and stinging.
“SO YOU ALL DON’T HAVE TO REMIND ME ALL THE FUCKING TIME! YOU ACT LIKE YOU ALWAYS KNOW BETTER! BUT YOU’RE FUCKING WRONG!! I DID KNOW THEM! I REMEMBER THEM AND HOW MUCH THEY LOVED ME!! I MOPE AROUND BECAUSE I JUST DIDN’T WANT TO FORGET THEM!! SO I’M SORRY OKAY! I’M SORRY FOR BEING SUCH A SAD SACK OF SHIT ALL THE TIME!! I’M SORRY FOR BEING SORRY!! I’M FUCKING SICK OF BEING SORRY!! I’M SORRY THAT I’M BROKEN!! SAYING AND DOING THE SAME SHIT OVER AND OVER AGAIN!!”
“SO TELL ME OH GREAT AND MIGHTY GENIUS HOW DO I FIX MYSELF! WHAT SHOULD I DO TO MAKE MYSELF WORTHY OF IT? SHOULD I GROVEL AND BEG? BECAUSE I’VE BEGGED EVERYDAY OF MY FUCKING LIFE TO BE BETTER! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?! TELL ME AND I’LL GIVE IT TO YOU!! BECAUSE I’M TRYING THE ONLY WAY I KNOW HOW!
I KNOW I SUCK AT IT! I SUCK AT ASKING FOR HELP BECAUSE IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I’M GONNA THROW UP FROM GUILT EVERY TIME I DO! LIKE MY HEART WOULD FALL OUT OF MY ASSHOLE IF THEY TURN ME AWAY!! IF I COULD CHANGE HOW I FELT I WOULD HAVE DONE IT BY NOW!!
I CAN’T BE NORMAL!! I CAN’T PRETEND LIKE EVERYONE ELSE CAN! I CAN’T JUST MOVE ON LIKE EVERYONE ELSE CAN! I KNOW WHAT PEOPLE SAY ABOUT ME! THAT I'M DEFECTIVE! A PARASITE TO THIS CLAN! I KNOW PEOPLE ARE SICK OF ME! TRUST ME WHEN I SAY I’M SICK OF MYSELF TOO! IF YOU DON’T CARE THAT'S FINE! IF YOU HATE ME THAT'S FINE!! IF YOU WANT TO LEAVE THEN LEAVE!! I COULDN’T GIVE LESS OF A SHIT!! BUT HoW-” She chokes back acid and tears. Her throat clicking shut when she swallows. She clenches the lapels in his jacket between her white knuckled fists and pulls him closer.
“...how dare you come in here where they LOVED ME and tell me how to grieve them, you fucking troublesome asshole.” Shikamaru’s head hits the ground with a dull thud when she lets him go.
She rages, surging and receding. Vanishing leaving only the clear skies above him after the storm.
She gets off of him, feeling the weight lift off his chest, before sprinting to the edge of the garden and jumping the stone wall, running off into the streets beyond.
“Nee-chan! Wait!” It sounds like Choji is running after her, he wouldn’t know he can’t look away from the Konoha sky wondering what the fuck just happened. It felt like defeat.
Uncle’s face painted in stern disappointment breaks into view as he stands over him. “I told you not to touch anything in the garden.”
Shikamaru gives a small nod, still looking up at the sky, still dazed.
“...yeah, my bad.”
They are half-way to the Ino-Shika-Cho memorial stone when Choji finally catches up.
“Nee-chan, I said wait up! -huff- “ She’s ignoring him, she’s just so angry that she knows she’ll lash out at anything that comes across her path right now. She doesn’t want to do that to him. Not Choji. She keeps walking, but he keeps hobbling behind her.
‘Do you know how much Choji is forced to cling to you so you don’t push him away?’
“Have you eaten today? -pant- Let’s get barbeque! It’ll make -huff- you feel better.”
The smell of barbeque grease fills her nose. A boy who was once kind, who’s parents owned a barbeque restaurant where they used to do homework after school, tortures her over something as simple as a clothing called fat. Things that she can shed and put on with ease. He cannot change who he is. The boy who was bullied for the smell of grease deflected it onto her, he made her the taller nail.
She spins around and he looks exhausted and out of breath, surprised like he’s never seen this side of her. Like he’s never seen her.
“I HATE BARBEQUE! I ALWAYS HATED IT! I only ever….. Ate it because it was your favorite. Choji, please, I just need to be alone…for a little bit. I don’t want to be mad at you.”
She moves a hand to her head trying to will a headache away.
“I don’t know how else to help you.” Her little cousin admits quietly.
“I don’t want to leave you alone either. Let’s go home, okay? We can make something. All your favorites so let’s go.” He pleads.
He goes to grab her hand, she rips the fingers away. He looks like that little boy she met all those years ago. A look of hurt when he didn’t get his way, like she murdered a litter of ninken puppies.
“FOOD CAN’T FIX EVERYTHING!” She snaps.
‘An apartment full of trash, mindlessly binging on food, a bag of half eaten snacks and smeared chocolate on her lips.’ Ren’s life assaults all her senses. The grief of her last life bleeding into her next.
“I never want you to feel this way, like your feelings are bottomless. Like food can fill it, I never want you to know the disappointment when you can’t” She holds the back of his head and rests their heads together, like her how her mom, her real mom used to do.
“You’re not like me, Chou. You’re kind and gentle. You don’t deserve that kind of pain.” his arms wrap around her sides squeezing her tight. It forces his chin on her shoulder. He’s crying into her hair
“I only ever wanted to be like you. You’re kind too. Nee-chan.”
“I never want you to end up like me, Chou. Please” She begs. “Let go.”
He shakes his head on her shoulder and hugs her tighter. “..no”
“I SAID LET GO!” Kichou pushes him away as he tumbles backward. He looks as if he’s been struck, she wonders if actually hitting him would make her feel guiltier.
“You’re destined for better things, I’m just gonna hold you back from them. One day you need to be the head of this family. You need a strong back that people know they can rely on, that they can depend on like Choza-sama. We were never the same.” Kichou smiles sadly at him, and turns heel to start walking back to the memorial stone.
Kichou can hear him get up and follow her.
“Go home Choji!” she screams, hoarse from yelling.
He hesitantly stops in the middle of the road.
“Please. I just need some space.”
“Promise me you’ll come back! Mom is making unagi” Choji is sobbing “You love Unagi! I know you love Unagi! So you have to come back! Food tastes better when we eat it together! SO PROMISE!”
Kichou stands in the middle of the road, Choji sees her nod through stinging tears.
“I’ll be home soon”
She never promised.
Team seven walks home in the setting sun, Lord Choza having dismissed them for the day when it was clear Kichou wasn’t coming back. The wards remain undone due to Lord Choza needing to rest. Melancholy tracing their form like the dusk that surrounded them. They are unusually quiet.
“....Ne, sensei?”
Kakashi trails behind at a sedate pace, his nose buried in Icha Icha paradise.
“Yes, Sakura?” Sakura kicks a pebble down the road.
“...Do you think we failed our mission?” She asks hesitantly, revealing her anxiety. The two boys walking ahead of her paused mid-step.
Kakashi adjusts his mask.
“In some ways, but overall I would say no, not at all. In many ways you individually exceeded Lord Choza’s expectations. Where do you think you failed?”
“...I saw Shikamaru go into the garden and didn’t stop him.” Next to her Sasuke nods, clearly feeling guilty.
“BAA It was only because that asshole Shikamaru couldn’t follow orders when commander-ji gave him like the easiest job!” Naruto pipes up clearly frustrated.
Kakashi closes his eyes. “Let this be a learning opportunity to all of you. In the end you are also held responsible for your superior officer’s actions….” A page turn. “Normally, this mission would be considered an abject failure, the original request remains unfulfilled and having left a client this dissatisfied, they aren’t as likely to commission the village again….Fortunately Lord Choza is a generous and reasonable person, he’ll likely summon us in a few days to try again.”
Naruto pulls at his hair, flailing his limbs and screaming in frustration. “Ahh man this is so lame! I hope Big-Nee is okay, when I see Shikamaru again I’m really gonna give him a piece of my mind.”
“...Maa~ Naruto, something tells me that really won’t be necessary.”
“What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei?” The boy turns to look at him.
Kaka shrugs. “Maaaaa~ who knows.” he says cryptically.
“GAAAA I hate when you do that!!”
They receive notice two days later at the mission desk that the request has been canceled. No longer necessary. Full reward for an “a” rank and a bonus having been paid out regardless. It remains the biggest stain to team seven’s record and one of their lasting regrets for years to come.
Chapter 12
Summary:
Shogi and mistakes.
Chapter Text
Shikamaru grunts in frustration as he furiously erases at a paper sketchbook, before tossing it down next to the shogi board that he’s pulled out to the engawa in their usual spot. He wasn’t a fucking artist like Sai and he couldn’t ask for help either because Ino got to him first. Well Sai too, like Kichou more than him. He arranges the shogi pieces on the board, the silver general in the middle, before clicking his tongue when that too doesn’t feel right. It was more…..revenant somehow.
Nothing felt right lately, not when everyone decided to give him the cold shoulder. Choji all together giving him the silent treatment and not the fun kind either. It made the mandatory practices and meetings awkward and a drag. So Shikamaru stopped showing up. This was the third time he skipped this week. Going back home to his mother who was silently washing dishes in the sink. She already read him the riot act until she was blue in the face, and hasn't really said much to him since. Making her disappointment clear. Troublesome .
Their sensei, having finally been looped in late by Team seven’s sensei, was growing frustrated at their lack of unity. Asuma-sensei was a slacker after his own heart, hoping for an easy ride with a prebuilt team. Yet, they were out of sink more so than usual. On the verge of disbanding if they didn’t get it together. Leave it to him to destroy sixteen generations of tradition. Shikamaru furrows his brow, determined as he tries another configuration.
His father steps into frame from his peripheral vision peering down at the sketchbook and board.
“Try a golden castle defense and a ranging rook opener with the goal of promoting a bishop. Then play it out from there.” His dad sits down with a grunt before moving the pieces in a familiar pattern. “It allows the silver general to shine, taking center stage, while they act as a vanguard for your king. An aggressive defense.” Finally as the last piece clacks into place Shikamaru finally sees it, it is oxymoronic and convoluted as you race toward checkmate trading pieces like an all out brawl. He could see the meat grinder set up in preparation for an all out assault while aggressively taking up territory and solidifying defenses. His father then removes the kings from the board, a stalemate the hardest thing to achieve in shogi made possible by a single silver general in the middle of the board, as it all comes together. It was how the board was set up that day.
“It was Shizuki’s favorite strategy, loved anything that used the silver general in particular. I think she saw herself in that piece. I made Choza a kifu of the placements to replicate, I thought the kid might like it.” Shikaku yawns loudly. “Well she did apparently, to keep it in play for six years.”
Shikamaru flinches and hunches over the board trying to commit the placements to memory, once he feels confident. His father removes all the pieces and the dissection begins.
“I hear you lost, a crushing defeat actually.” Shikaku leans his elbow on his knee and looks at him with a lazy smirk. The signature Nara posture. “Where did it go wrong?” What move lead to his first mistake.
Shikamaru looks down, afraid to meet his dad’s eye, embarrassed. “Early game, I was arrogant. It lead to mindless aggression. I was…jealous and angry, I think.” Shikamaru admits.
Shikaku scratches his beard before propping his chin on both hands, leaning forward. Thinking. “Explain.” he commands.
The boy continues “I didn’t see what the fuss was about. I thought she was a weaker player due to constant misplays. I thought she…..didn’t want anything to do with us. She never acknowledged me….I always initiated and she never reciprocated. It made me so angry. I couldn’t understand why everyone liked her so much when she wouldn’t give them the time of day. She kept diverting attention from Choji and Uncle so yeah I was jealous.” Shikamaru scratches the back of his head in frustration. “You and mom kept getting on my case about hanging out with her, I couldn’t tell you she barely spoke two words to me. That she hated me. Then she goes around and beats some kid’s ass because they called me a lazy nepo baby. Then she snubbed me the next day! I got the feeling she would have done the same regardless of who I was, it made me feel stupid for thinking I was special and finally got past her walls.” His father chuckles.
“Yeah that sounds like her…” He says but Shikamaru can hear the way he reminisces in his tone.
“Then I saw that board, I thought she didn’t play, otherwise…. We could have played, I could have gotten past her defenses. I was….. jealous that they were playing without me.” Shikamaru admits through clenched teeth. “I thought….. She didn’t know how to take care of the board, that she didn’t know to take it inside and how to maintain it. I thought she treated it like a children’s toy and so I treated her like a child. Then I found the Nara-mon underneath and got irrationally angry. We could have taught her, we could have fixed it. I was arrogant. I thought she did it intentionally, inconsiderate to our clan, that she inherited a beautiful board and didn’t even want to take care of it. I was jealous that you always asked if she played when you’re busy. I didn’t….How the pieces were arranged didn’t make sense to me I thought it was a sign that she didn’t know how to play…. I thought I would help her…..that I knew better and would show her. So I reset it, thinking we would play after she calmed down”
His father seemingly considerate resets the board in silence before taking his first move after Shikamaru is finished. A silent offering to play.
“Poor midgame after a bad start.” Shikaku drawls as Shikamaru has to look away, embarrassed at being reprimanded.
They exchange pawns, his father opting for a ranging rook opener while Shikamaru settles on static. His father is expanding his territory aggressively, setting an unusual pace for their games. A faster tempo that has Shikamaru off kilter and his heart racing as he tries to see every angle or opening. The way he places his tile in a fast decisive clack every time is unnerving him, different from his normal patience that barely leaves a trace of presence..
“Choza was taking care of it, or what was left of it anyway, then he kept noticing it being moved to the same spot in the garden, every day, over and over again. One day he asked the kid why, she said that her mother’s soul was resting there and the board wanted to be in her mother’s favorite napping spot and watch the real clouds go by. Even though Choza never told her where her mother liked to nap or that shogi was favorite…..well, he never moved it after that.”
Shikamaru flinches and curses when he loses a knight and two more pawns in a duel that provided him no real value. He puts his hands together in the formation that brings him comfort, trying to clear his mind. Kichou did remember her parents then, he felt a pit settle in his stomach. If she could remember that then could she remember everything … Like always his father seems to read his every thought without the mindwalker technique their alliance clan was known for.
“That kid was always strange as a baby, she could talk and read very well without having being taught. She was observant and could remember early infancy, we’re not sure how far back she’s pretty tight lipped about it...Needlessly polite like she could see a clear hierarchy between people, like she was always evaluating herself and her place in society. Knew complex etiquette without being taught social ques or customs.” Shikaku mercilessly takes another piece and moves a lance into the promotion zone, now becoming a bishop. Checking aggression with golden generals and a wall of pawns.
“Choza always chalked it up to being a Nara thing, I had to tell him even by our standards she was an outlier…. They come around sometimes in clan history but they usually are….unstable. He looked so scared for her…I still regret telling him that….” Shikaku looks pensive as he moves his king to the forefront, a silver general falling in place by its side, having built his golden castle.
“So she remembers…” It’s an anxious question passing from Shikamaru’s lips.
“Not everything. But more than you would expect. She was so territorial about that house, probably watched them all rip it to shreds. Choza wanted to show her that having strangers there wouldn’t result in negative change, that she could trust enough to let people in. Despite what she wanted… His efforts might have been well received if everyone respected the boundaries…” Shikamaru feels guilt numb his fingers and toes, hunching in shame.
Shikamaru felt his body fill with determination as he eyed the sketchbook by his side.
“....The board. Have you seen it before?” The boy responds in kind, having mustered the resources to launch an assault, breaking through the castle, losing precious pieces in the process.
Shikaku nods. “Yeah, I’ve seen it. Too decadent and flashy for my tastes but it was still what I would consider a beauty. Then again Chouten spent every penny he made on his family, loved to spoil his wife. Shizuki was quick to jealousy you see and her romantic rival was a princess. Chouten never wanted his partner or family to feel inferior…” The man chuckles fondly. Shikamaru filing for information later, he would subtly try to ask around, not that he could turn to his usual sources.
Would they be sad to see what their legacy has become? How they failed another. Shikaku eyes the king and silver general, sees their faces. How disappointed they are in them.
Shikamaru cringes when he hears the words decadent, almost too afraid to ask “The corners had knife marks on them like something big was missing. Do you know what it could be?”
Shikaku’s eyes narrow in anger, tapping a finger on the wooden planks. waiting for his son to see the likely stalemate. “Carved mutton fat jade medallions, four sets of prancing deer, eight in total, four stags and four does, meeting their counterparts on the edges in a dance. Each pair was uniquely designed around the seasons. Bound in ornamental silver corner decorations resembling forest scenes that transitioned in design to match the coupled deer that they held. One of a kind handcrafted by artisans.”
Shikaku scoffs “They probably knew they couldn’t pawn the whole board and risk us finding out or alerting the Uchiha, so they took the most valuable parts to break down……It’s something you can’t really afford on a genin salary, not that you are taking jobs right now, brat.” His father smirks between his fingers. Seeing the dawning horror on Shikamaru’s face at the potential price tag combined with the now seen forced stalemate.
He panics, trying to retreat.
Shikaku adds “And what was your final mistake when dueling Kichou?”
Silver general takes king. Checkmate
“....I turned my back on a stronger opponent.” Shikaku smiles and nods before stretching the kinks out of his back.
“Damn I want a beer!” His father exclaims. Shikaku slides the sketchbook towards him, taking the pencil and scribbling something down before ripping it off and handing it to his son.
“Here, that's the craftsman who made the original, he’ll still probably have the original design. No offense but I don’t think you’re cut out to be an artist, I wouldn’t quit your day job.”
Shikamaru rolls his eyes, saying sarcastically “Jee, thanks”
His dad looks at him seriously, trying to gauge his sincerity. Shikamaru looks unflinchingly back.
“Good. I won’t bail you out this time, it's your mess to clean up. I know you don’t have enough allowance saved to even get close to the original but you can afford glass and steel, help out in shop to cut down on labor costs. It’ll be a lot of work.” The father tests.
Shikamaru nods without even thinking to utter the word troublesome.
He spies another address below. Recognizing the neighborhood as a no man's land where he was never allowed to step foot. “What’s this second one?” He puzzles.
His dad gets up, heading towards the kitchen likely to grab a beer.
“Her new address. She moved out of the Akimichi compound.”
“.....AND INTO THE FLOWERS DISTRICT?!”
Shikamaru feels his heart drop out of his ass, grabbing his forehead in exasperation. He would be trying to fix this for a long time.
Troublesome.
“Kichou I’m sorry but it had to be done! You can’t keep pushing people out, I know you’re angry at me. I don’t even have to be the one you let in but I don’t want you to end up alone!”
“YOU DIDN’T ASK!” Choza-sama is forced to pause. Kichou feels vindicated glee.
“YOU DIDN’T ASK ME WHAT I WANTED! YOU ALWAYS ASKED ME WHAT I WANTED FIRST! BUT NOT WHEN IT’S SOMETHING TRULY IMPORTANT?!”
“BECAUSE YOU DO NOT WANT YOUR OWN HAPPINESS YOU FOOLISH CHILD!”
“You always asked for so little that I thought indulging in your worst behaviors was the little amount of respite I could provide you but I see my error now. This whole time I was nourishing your depression, not raising you!”
Choza-sama never lost his temper with her before.
“What do you care?” It’s mean and petty and she says it through gritted teeth.
“I LOVE Y-”
“LIAR! IF YOU LOVED ME YOU WOULDN’T HAVE LET THEM IN! YOU WOULDN’T HAVE LET THEM DESTROY THEIR HOUSE! Don’t you dare say you love me!”
“IT IS YOUR HOUSE! EVERYTHING I HAVE DONE, I HAVE DONE BECAUSE I LOVE YOU!”
“I HATE YOU!” She feels guilty the moment the words leave her hips but she feels herself burn, burning from both ends.
“IT IS NOT MINE! MY HOUSE HAD BLUE CEILINGS! MY HOUSE HAD SHOGI BOARDS! MY HOUSE HAD PARENTS WHO LOVED ME! YOU LET THEM DESTROY EVERYTHING!” She wails.
“THEY ARE NOT COMING BACK! IT IS LOST! NO MATTER WHAT YOU DO THEY ARE GONE! YOU HAVE TO MOVE FORWARD! YOU HAVE TO LIVE KICHOU!”
“What if I don’t want to?” Kichou can see the exact moment Lord Choza’s heart breaks.
“THAT IS EXACTLY THE PROBLEM! You NEED help! You need me! You need family and friends! LISTEN TO ME, PLEASE!” He pleads but she has already turned away. Opening the door that always remained closed. She was tired of waiting.
“I DON'T NEED YOU OR YOUR SHITTY FAMILY. I DON’T NEED ANYONE!!” She didn’t mean it, she really didn’t. But she was so angry, Choza-sama had pushed her forward. She felt compelled to move. She was not the immovable object that he was, she had buckled first. Humiliated. There was no more going back.
“YOU’RE WRONG! COME BACK RIGHT NOW! THAT IS AN ORDER! KIC-” She slams the door in his face. He can spend that time waiting for someone who won’t come back. He could know her pain.
She leaves. And doesn’t come back. Not that night. Nor the next.
“God you stink!” Ami says, holding her nose and turning away.
“I believe that is because our team is homeless and living in the woods in the height of summer. The odor is truly repugnant.” Sai replies, with a slight nod and his patent ever present smile. He makes no move to move away or plug his nose which she appreciated she guessed.
“....There’s a waitlist for genin apartments.” She finishes lamely, she was already walking on the side of the street out of consideration for her teammates. She stops and waits for them to get a bit farther ahead anyway.
“One usually thinks of these things before they run away from home, and now you're suffering from the repercussions of your own hubris.” Santa-sensei is the one farthest away with the mask hidden under his shinobi standard pulled up.
“...I know. I’ll bathe in the river tonight.” There was rain the day before last, the riverbed was too high, the undercurrent too fast for her to safely wash herself or the clothes she had on her back. She hopes it's a little bit better today. She waits a little bit further back, they are almost at the Hokage tower. Somehow going inside an enclosed space with her peerage and authority figures seems like a bad idea. She’ll have to ask Santa-sensei for her share, she really needed the money, she needed to eat tonight…
Ami whirls around with malicious glee “The reality finally setting in, huh? Life is hard on these mean streets without a big clan to hide behind, no money and no clan jutsu. I think I like you better this way, the pathetic look on your face really suits you, no-name!” She giggles hoping to get under her skin.
She wasn’t wrong though, she was stubborn and formally petitioned the Hokage to be striked from the Akimichi family registry. He granted it with little fanfare, seeing nothing wrong with her paperwork, she was never officially adopted apparently, only a provisional ward. That hurt more than she thought it would. So she had to leave it behind. Otherwise she could be ordered by Choza-sama to return and there was nothing she could do about it legally as it supersedes her rights as a Konoha citizen.
She couldn’t be arrested but she couldn’t legally own property or use Konoha services until she abandoned it and was not in direct violation of clan law. Which meant no genin apartment. Or mission board. But if she did abandon her name she could no longer use Akimichi techniques even one’s she had a hand in creating because she had done so under her own name at the time. Either way she was shooting herself in the foot. She just had to pick which one she needed less for her survival. There was third option, but….. It was certainly awkward as a third foot for sure, she would have to go back and grovel before Choza-sama and likely the elders. She wouldn’t have the same status as before. It just felt like…their relationship was irrevocably changed. She didn’t know how to handle it.
It hurt to let her clan name go but in a way it was freeing, she was no longer the parasite of the Akimichi, she was now just a parasite flailing without any lifeblood to take. Pitiful but not hated, she no longer had anything to envy after all. You can’t hate nothing.
“…We’re teammates, Ami. I think we know each other a little bit better than that. You can call me fat bitch like you usually do. OR I’ll take bitch, big bitch, ugly bitch, any variation of bitch really or your any of normal nomenclature. I don’t feel comfortable with you using my name though, no offense but I don’t think we’re that close.” She says behind her hand, knowing she hasn’t brushed her teeth in a few days.
Santa-sensei laughs, Sai mechanically following a touch too late when he realizes its a joke he should laugh at, as Ami huffs at not getting a reaction she wanted. Whipping her purple bob back around. If there was one thing Kichou could still do it was win against Ami.
“Would you like to use the amenities in my apartment, Fattie?” Sai asks, genuinely sincere. Kichou freezes at the invitation to shower in her male teammate's apartment. She was entering into dangerous territory fast. Ino would gut her like a fat fish . Kichou panics as a blush runs up her cheeks and turns her ears red. Santa-sensei wolf whistles “Wow youth is so bold these days!”
Ami clings to Sai’s arm “You’d really let her stink up your apartment? When I could make it smell so much better~” She draws circles into his chest with her pointer finger. Sai fails to grasp her innuendos, merely tilting his head. “I do not believe you need it Obata-san, Fattie is the one who is lacking basic necessities to survive and in need of charity.” Sai never means any ill will, but damn if he doesn’t have some scorchers sometimes.
Ami cackles madly mean-spirited and grating, Kichou didn’t know if they were compatible as Ami thought she and Sai were. She didn’t know if Ami could tell the difference between them though.
“Mou~ You’re always so cold to me, Sai-chan~ Call me Ah. ah. Mi~.” she says, phonetically emphasizing each syllable, popping perfectly glossed lips and snuggles into his arm.
“I’m fine, I like my limbs and li-” She lets the words die on her tongue, she’s sure Santa has noticed. “Ino would kill me, thank you for the offer, Sai.”
He nods politely in her direction, and Kichou thinks that is the end of that conversation.
If only she knew of the horrors that awaited her.
Santa-sensei freezes suddenly, body tensing as if preparing for an enemy attack.
“Oh-no” He moans.
He snaps his head around his ponytail whipping behind him.
“Team 13, quick—”
“---OOOOODDD AAAAFFFTERRNOOON TEAM THIRTHEEN!”
Twin green dots were fast approaching in the distance, a trail of dust billowing behind them.
Santa-sensei is trying to tactically retreat as Kichou notices from her position behind the pack, leaving them behind in the process. Kichou thinks about booking it as well. But all of the sudden A man with a shiny black bowl cut, wearing a tight green bodysuit and orange leg warmers slams a hand on their sensei’s shoulder, giving him a dazzling white grin that would have put a toothpaste commercial to shame. Kichou too has good enough sense to cut her loses but an exact replica, a near perfect mini-me grabs her hand as well and holds it gently between his hands.
Kichou’s immediate impulse was to pull away, equal parts skeeved out, embarrassed about her smell, and blushing from the way he was staring at her. She moved to pull her hand away but it didn’t even budge.Just how strong was this guy?! She pulled again. This time with her hand on his shoulder as leverage and still nothing. She tried leaning back with her full weight, and grunting in effort but his grip remained firm like a steel trap.
His round eyes and bushy brows look familiar but she couldn’t place where she’s seen him before.
“What a JOYOUS and FORTUITOUS Day in the beautiful Village of Hidden in the leaf to run into the most mysterious and YOUTHFUL Team 13! I’ve been waiting for an introduction but you all mysteriously vanish before our paths can cross. I’m MIGHT GAI, the beautiful green beast of the Leaf village. The sensei of team three!”
Santa-sensei’s eyebrow tweaks.
“And some might say it’s our LUCKY day~” The man holding Santa-sensei in place strikes a pose and winks and Kichou swears she sees a twinkling star come out.
The boy who's still holding her hand that she’s grunting in effort to release pipes up.
“INDEED Gai-sensei! I might be the most lucky shinobi in all of Leaf Village to gaze upon the splendorous beauty of Kichou-hime.” The boy winks at her and she swears she’s experiencing a visual hallucination when a heart flies out and smacks her in the face. ‘He must be joking, it’s always a joke’ She freezes in shock and remembers a little boy in her first year of the academy with bug eyes and bushy brows who was always staring at her. Blush hidden by her already pink cheek marks, thankfully, by the way her team is looking in at them.
“I have longed for the days in which I could admire your grace again, however I am no longer satisfied doing so from afar. Would you do me the honor of being my girlfriend?!” The boy screams so loudly, shaking the crows from the nearby trees his eyes squeezed shut.
“They’re -hehehehe- Perfect -hahahah- for each other -BWAHAHAHA!” Ami is wiping tears from her eyes. However the boy merely seems gleeful. “Thank you for saying so!” Not recognizing he was making fun of them. She would beat Ami’s ass later for it. Kichou frowns trying to ruminate on how to remedy this situation, she certainly wasn’t expecting a joke confession this morning.
“I don’t-” even remember your name.
“I KNOW, I am not worthy yet. However on this day I vow to become a man who can one day protect you. I shall come running whenever you are in danger. I will show you I am worthy of being by your side.” he looks at her with such determination that she feels her heart sink. He was…..being serious. He actually liked her. It feels like her body is on fire.
The boy then leans in and sniffs her. She goes scarlet from the tip of her ears to her toes as shivers run down her spine.
“I always find myself intoxicated by your fragrant scent, my little butterfly~ Ah I wish to bury myself in it~” A rosy pink blush that mirrors her own cheek marks appears on his own. Intertangling their fingers, he twists her hand and places a kiss on the back. Klaxons blair in her mind as she heads towards total nuclear meltdown.
She’s torn between gnawing her own arm off and dropping dead. Instead she short circuits. “I- I- I- I- I- I- I-”
Santa-sensei has wiped out a notebook eyeing the interaction before writing something down furiously, mumbling to the man named Guy’s amusement. Ami bursts out laughing hysterically again holding her stomach doubling over while Sai turns his head in confusion
“I do not understand, Fattie is neither beautiful nor smells intoxicating, is he being facetious?”
The boy’s head whips around his bowlcut fanning around him as he whirls on Sai, but more frustratingly doesn’t let go of her hand, now holding her wrist in one vice grip. She turns and tries to run the opposite direction and she thinks she might actually dislocate her shoulder before slipping and falling to the ground. Still firm in his grasp.
“I assure you I am not!” The boy points to her teammate “HOW DARE YOU CALL THE MOST BEAUTIFUL CREATURE IN ALL OF LEAF SUCH AN INSULTING NICKNAME. I DEMAND A DUEL TO DEFEND HER HONOR.”
Said beautiful creature is splayed out on the ground like a starfish, a pink blob of embarrassment, hand still in his.
“NICE, LEE!” The crazy man winks with his 24-watt smile encouraging his student.
“I will have to politely decline!” Sai exclaims the smile never having left his face.
“OH HOW VEXING! On one hand you exhibit such youthful manners but you say such degrading things about my heavenly butterfly! I’m afraid I must insist!” There’s a fire in his eye as he clenches his left fist while swinging his right in the air, fully forgetting he was still holding Kichou’s hand. She goes flying like a ragdoll wide eyed, as a boy half her size, not only lifts her but sends her flying, wiping around in the air. Finding herself speechless.
“LEE! Put her down, you idiot. You can’t hold a girl’s hand like that!” A girl in space buns comes running up, panting. “You left us behind again, by the way!” The girl seems mad as another boy slinks into frame. One if Kichou had one functioning brain cell left would recognize as the Hyuuga boy who she gave a black eye for calling her a disgrace to her clan. Well that wouldn’t really be a problem anymore would it?
The boy named Lee lowers her to the ground still with one arm, showing no signs of effort or physical strain.
“Apologies, Kichou-hime! It seems I was too toward in my most ardent affection for you. Can you find it in your most magnanimous heart to forgive me?” He’s leaning into her face again, his round eyes shining with tears but he still hasn’t let go.
“C-C-Ca-ca-ca” She finds she cannot form syllables. She just feels like jelly.
“Ca?” He tilts his head in confusion looking at her questioning, leaning his face even closer if possible so she can feel his breath on her lips. An few centimeters closer and….She’s reminded that she hasn’t brushed her teeth in three days. She throws a hand over mouth.
She reels back turning scarlet. “CAN LET GO?!” The hand over her mouth quickly became a face palm. Can let go?! Can let go? Was she a babbling idiot? Ah so embarrassing, she tucked her head into her shoulder something she hadn’t done since before the academy, trembling.
He smiles dopey at her “Of Course! Anything for you my glorious butterfly~!” He blows her a kiss. She can feel her soul leaving her body.
The moment she feels her hand release.
“Well-gotta-go-Thanks-BYE!”
She turns heel and spirits with all the speed she can muster
Which isn’t much when her sensei grabs her by her collar. She falls back to the ground with a hard thud looking up at him.
“NOT SO Fast Little Caterpillar! Or are you forgetting you need mission money if you don’t want to starve.” Her sensei smirks with a devilish gleam in his eye.
The girl with buns tilts her head putting a finger to her chin. “Isn’t Kichou-chan an Akimichi heiress, why would she need money for food.” Kichou tries to remember her name but is drawing a big blank, although ... .She looks similar to a girl in her first year class that was unusually good with kunai and showed her how to fix her aim with a few lessons. Tenten! It was tenten! She committed it to memory because she had the same kanji as her da…
Her sensei puts his hands behind his back, and smiles down at her. Like a towering plinth “Yes, why would Kichou need money when she has the vast Akimichi resources backing her? One would say it makes no sense.” Santa-sensei as a Yamanaka already expressed his disapproval of her leaving the clan, ‘Choza-sama was not wrong, you are acting little more than a child throwing a tantrum, you DO need him, at the very least to help you foot the bill to sustain your strength.’ He looks at her ruefully. ‘There’s nothing more pathetic than a starving Akimichi. Let this be a lesson in reality. You. Need. People. You. Are. Weak. Alone.’ Kichou just pulls at the weeds harder, their d-rank objective, as he raps his knuckles against the top of her skull. Like trying to beat the words in.
He’s a sadist. A sadist with a pretty face but a sadist all the same.
The Hyuuga boy scoffs.
“Yamanaka mind games remain a waste of time, Her petition was granted by the Hokage to strike her name from the clan registry. She is no longer an Akimichi”
The larger green clad man picks her up off the ground by the shoulders. A red sunset, like a mirage appears behind him as he stares at her. The visual and auditory illusions are increasing by the second. She has to get checked out for brain damage.
“I’M TRULY MOVED BY YOUR YOUTHFUL BEHAVIOR! To say goodbye to everything you have ever known to stand proudly on your own two feet. Surviving off of the fruits of your own labor! WHAT COULD IT BE BUT THE BEAUTY OF YOUTH! To scream to the world I am here! STU~PPEN~DOUS~!” Tears stream down his face.
“Aaa–a—aaa—aa”
Over her shoulder, Lee is now standing next to her, tears streaming down his face as he rests a hand on her shoulder.
“I vow on this day to become a man worthy of your affection, to follow you on your youthful pilgrimage and stand by your side!” It sounded like a marriage proposal. She begins to squirm away.
“Lee! I find myself inspired by such blatant acts of youth! Let's do fifty laps around the village!”
The boy stands over her body embracing his sensei clenches his fist before steam flies through his nose
“Gai-sensei I WILL NOT SETTLE FOR ANYTHING LESS THAN TWO HUNDRED TO MATCH!”
“LEE!”
“GUY-SENSEI!”
“--H-HH-HH-HH-H”
Kichou is trying to inch-worm her way to safety. She can turn in her headband. A tea farmer in the land of Tea.
“FAREWELL, MY BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY! I ANXIOUSLY AWAIT THE DAY WHEN OUR FATED PATHS WILL INTERTWINE AGAIN!” Lee blows her another kiss before running after his sensei to presumably run two hundred laps around Konoha.
“They left us behind again!” Tenten says to her chagrin.
Ami is also lying in the road with a cool rag over her eyes as she apparently laughed so hard she passed out a while ago.
“I suppose I can no longer call you the disgrace of the Akimichi clan.” The Hyuuga boy steps in front of her. Kichou blinks, having her senses return to her.
“....No, probably not, I suppose you can just call me a disgrace now.” The boy snarls a look of disgust on his face with lips.
“You always use humor to deflect your mediocrity. Without your clan techniques to prop you up, can you even stay a kunoichi?”
The air around the group changes. Kichou sighs, picking herself up and dusting herself off.
She holds a hand in front of her mouth.
“...Can you, Hyuuga?” Quirking her eyebrow.
He rears back a fist and strikes her in the mouth, busting her lip, she tries not to flinch. Considering most of their interactions ended in a bare-knuckle brawl this wasn’t even that bad.
She checks each tooth with her tongue, thankful none of them wiggle. Spitting out the excess blood filling her mouth on the ground.
“You never knew how privileged you were, you still don’t. Do you even know the last time the Hokage approved such a thing? Yet you act as if you’ve never been spoiled or coddled your entire life, your mediocre self can no longer scrap by on your clan name.” Rage bubbles in her stomach.
“....And you were always a ‘grass is greener on the other side’ kinda guy. Jealous over nothing. You don’t know shit about me but you never did, glad to see you still think everyone is a side character. One day your arrogance will knock you on your ass.” Kichou spits back. Working her jaw to make sure it’s not cracked.
“Do you think I envy you?! You are a pathetic nothing! You have no money, no home, no techniques, just a brute too stupid to realize you’ve crippled yourself.” She still had her bloodline limit, if they tried to part her with it, her metabolism would slow down until she croaked. He would be smart enough and too obsessed with his own to not make the differentiation. Kichou knew how strict the Hyuuga were, it felt mean to brag about the one thing she had left.
“I don’t know why you would be either. You tell me.You seem to want something from me.” There’s an awkward standoff for a couple seconds before Neji turns whipping her in the face with his ponytail. Kichou has to sputter and spit when a few strands fly into her still sore mouth.
“Jeez, Neji! And Lee too! You’re both terrible! She’s going to hate our whole team at this rate.” Tenten cries out. Admonishing them for their insane behavior, Kichou has never pitied anyone before but she pities the congenial girl who has always been kind to those around her.
“...Don’t worry about it, Tenten-chan. I don’t think I could ever hate you.” Kichou says it honestly as the girl blinks up at her owlishly.
“You remember my name? I always thought you were horrible with names! You called our teachers by designated numbers for the first half of the year.” Tenten blushed looking rather pleased. Kichou scratches the back of her head sheepishly.
“Yes well, your lessons were extremely helpful, I never properly thanked you for them …your name is also cute it makes it hard to forget.” Kichou admits and shrugs. Santa-sensei is back to furiously scribbling in his notebook.
“You remember that! It feels so long ago! Hey, you might need new gear soon right?” Kichou tries not to look self consciously down at the shorts and shirt she walked out the compound with.
“You should swing by dad’s shop and we can hang out again! We never outfitted an Akimichi before! Oop! Sorry I guess I shouldn’t say that.”
Kichou quickly waves it off. “It’s okay Tenten I know what you meant, the reason you never outfitted one is w-” she quickly corrects “they need speciality clothing made to expand and contract with their body.”
Tenten leans looking excited and yet again Kichou has to step back. “Do you know how they are made?!” There’s a fire in her eye. She remembers how interested the girl was in manufacturing, how invested she was in textiles and weaponsmithing. The hours spent at the target range while they babbled about things like melting points and tensile strength. How could she forget? She remembers the face of a silver hair instructor separating them, moving her to the boys section, having to deal with harder hits, tougher fights, the demonstrations and quickly wipes it from her mind.
Kichou nods. “I don’t think I am supposed to tell anyone though, clan secret….I don’t really wanna get arrested.”
The girl clenches her fist in front of her chest “That’s okay! Me and my dad are really good at figuring stuff out! And you always had the most far out ideas! I still have that shuriken yo-yo you made me but I really improved the design! You have to see the Rolling Ki-ten MARK V!” She looks excited as she throws up a victory symbol with her hands and Kichou really doesn’t have it in her heart to break that excitement.
“Sure I’ll swing by after I get my apartment.”
Tenten frowns “You didn’t get issued one yet?”
“...There’s a waitlist. I apparently picked a really bad time so soon after graduation..” Tenten crosses her arms over her chest, her eyes closed as she thinks.
“Hmmm. I know a good place that just opened up but the location is kinda….” Kichou instantly perks up in interest.
“Does it have running water?” Tenten nods.
“A kitchen?” Tenten nods.
“Cheap?” Tenten nods twice. Kichou’s heart fills with glee.
“I’ll take it!” Kichou exclaims.
“But!-”
“I’ll take it”
“...It’s in the flower district, you might wanna think about it.” Tenten hesitantly tells her.
Kichou pauses to think about it. The flower district was what they called their red light district. Which normally would give her pause but wasn’t that ... .Choza-sama could never step foot there without demeaning the Akimichi clan and not to mention Lady Momoko would flay him alive. Everyone else she knew were children too young to be there. It was likely cheap and she could defend herself. Viva la solitude.
“It’s perfect! I’ll take it!”
Ami, having recovered slightly, immediately started laughing again. “This is too good~Oh how the mighty have fallen.” she says while kicking her feet on the ground.
The Hyuuga scoffs, before walking off.
“Wait!- Neji! Mou~ Kichou-chan can you believe them? You’re picking up mission pay right? I’ll meet you outside the Hokage tower and walk you there then. SINCE ALL MY TEAMMATES LEFT ME” She shouts after the Hyuuga but he doesn’t turn around to acknowledge her.
“Are you sure, Tenten-chan?” Kichou asks unsure
The girl nods.
“The nee-sans there are all really nice!”
Chapter 13
Summary:
A destined meeting. Some might call it a canon event.
Notes:
I really like that aligned with the 13th chapter.
TW: There's mentions of sex work but just a general disclaimer that it's only mentioned, there will be no participation in illicit activities until they are much older. Even still I put an underaged tag on it.
Chapter Text
Kichou sighs, sliding down the wall of her empty new apartment, toweling dry her damp hair. The place wasn’t bad at all, plain, no furnishings, ample bed space, the bathtub built for two people was a boon if anything. Kichou could ignore the bright pink motif in the bathroom, the dimming switches and the kitchen drawer filled with condoms but not the suspicious stains, she would wage a holy war on them when she could afford cleaning supplies. She had just enough for a partial deposit with promises to the glinted-eye tiny old woman who smoked from a decorative pipe that she would have the rest soon, and a few toiletries.
She already had to awkwardly launder her clothing in the sink and it was now on the line outside. Tenten, the angel sent from above to answer all her prayers, had thankfully gifted her a pajama set with shorts needed to beat the scorching Konoha summers that she was currently wearing and an adult set of shinobi blues to wear in the meantime as a housewarming gift. She had to roll the cuffs and sleeves of the blues but it wasn’t horrible, she might wear them tomorrow to the team meeting. She really didn’t need Choji’s hammy downs anymore.
It’s not like she could use Akimichi techniques in front of her sensei ‘a mandatory reporter’ as both an allied clansman and a jounin-sensei without the steep punishments either. Fines, arrest, insubordination, treason charges, so on and so forth based on the level of severity and damage to Akimichi clan secrets. Life or death situations were stipulated as acceptable use but each occasion would be reported and scrutinized for its necessity by both Choza-sama and the Akimichi elders. If any of her children exhibited her bloodline limit it would be returned to the clan, which hell no, she’d rather cut her womb out now.
So really the fact she wasn’t really wearing expansion wear anymore wasn’t really a problem. It opened up some possibilities of buying other clothing at least, maybe she could even experiment with fashion and not feel guilty. Kichou sighs sliding onto her back on the floor. She’ll save up for a futon next, other than the fact she’ll be eating cup noodles for a while things were going swimmingly. Staring at the white ceiling. Reminded of what started this whole mess. She had been inconsolable after her mother’s board was destroyed. But she still went home, she still forgave Choza, could still find it in her heart to forgive. It was not his fault but that asshole Shikamaru. Then he informed her the next day the ceilings had been taken down and she had lost her mind. There was nothing left in that house for her, nothing to remember them by.
She acknowledges nothing that was said to her was wrong, they were right she can begrudgingly admit. But she wasn’t wrong either. They had taken everything from her, all the while saying they loved her. Kichou knew that song and dance by heart by now. The angry part of her mind buzzed that if she wasn’t an Akimichi in the first place she would have been awarded the war orphan stipend that Naruto got, she could have already had a much nicer apartment after graduating to a genin, with a bed and food in her fridge. Better off than where she inevitably ended up. The mullish part of her mind wishes Choza-sama never picked her up that day, that they sent her to the orphanage instead. She would be better off, they all would be. What have they given her that she couldn’t get for herself?
Never let it be said that she wasn’t the most stubborn kunoichi in all of leaf.
She is startled out of her reprieve by a banging on her door. The great thing about living in an apartment for working girls is that their nightlife while active was usually kept to the clubs and actual brothels unless a personal client caught their eye. Soundproofing tags weren’t all too complicated thankfully. That and they usually slept off their hangovers during the day. The only problem is men liked to hang around like flies on ripe fruit and honey.
“Saaayaaaakkaaa-chan~ Daddy is home. Are you mad at me? I didn't see you at the club! Saayaaaakaa-chan~”
Kichou sighs getting up and checking the peephole. There’s a strange old man with white hair and stranger headband that reads ‘oil’, drinking from a large green bottle of sake and grinning pervertedly into the keyhole. Probably a civilian or a member of the nobility that liked to pose as ninja but not actually allied to a village. Looks like a creep. Better to scare him off then let him swarm thinking he would get some action. She hides a kunai in right hand and opens the door onto the walkway.
“She got married. Doesn’t live here anymore. Have a good night.”
Then goes to quickly close the door but the man slams his hand and keeps it open. There’s equal pressure meeting her force to close it and she finds herself getting nervous, he’s stronger than he looks. He’s not drunk either, looking down at her with a stern glint in his eye. She’s fully unnerved now and putting more force but it’s not even budging.
“You’re too young to live here.”
Kichou blinks, there’s a hint of concern. At least he doesn’t seem like a complete degenerate she can work with that.
“This isn’t a club. Try Meow Meow kitty heaven down the road. Have a good night.” She moves both hands behind the door now and pushes her entire body weight behind it. It still doesn’t budge so she thinks in this situation with a man who is not a ninja she can probably get away with a little rule breaking. She channels chakra into her hands and inflates them; she almost succeeds in closing it but the man sticks his geta clad foot into the door and pushes it back open.
“You’re an Akimichi. You shouldn’t be here…”
She’s full on sweating bullets as she goes to dispel the technique, the kunai she hid up her sleeve slides down it into her hands. She can’t admit to that now, this dude could report that a girl assaulted him using Akimichi techniques in the flowers district and she would be shit out of luck.
“Listen man the girl you’re looking for isn’t here, now leave.” She bradishes the sharp end towards him and that’s usually enough to give civilians pause. With one finger he touches the top of the blade and pushes it down. Not even pulsed.
“Does Choza know you’re here?”
Shit he definitely is a member of nobility or some ninja she’s she hasn’t seen, jounin at least by the eccentric way he’s dressed. If he personally knows Choza-sama, then he would snitch her out and there would probably be Akimichi to come and collect her by morning. She would lose. She really didn’t want to lose.
She stares at him and he stares back.
Without warning she gives him a swift kick to his groin “OWWW YOU BRAT” and slams the door closed, quickly operating the three locks that all these apartments had installed.
“Oi! Akimichi brat! OPEN UP! Or I’m telling Choza! You shouldn’t be here! Oi Akimichi brat!” The door is now rattling as he turns the door handle scaring the fucking life out of her.
Kichou mind reels this was fucking bad. Like really bad. She deliberates on what to do. One, she could open the door and try to appease the pervert, but he was clearly stronger, death or worse…doesn’t want to think about it. Two, she could let the man wear himself out but by morning all of Konoha will know there’s an Akimichi girl living in the flowers district and possibly bringing martial law into effect for her breaking the clan's secrecy contract that she signed. Jail, disgrace, having to talk to Choza-sama which equates to death. Third, she could slip out the back and come back. Leaving her open to attack, absolutely a horrible idea. Fourth, most working class girls are provided a distress beacon, a bit of seal work that once snapped in half would release a spike of chakra that will alert any passing Police patrols. The Uchiha can handle him. The landlady tossed her one, even though she assured her she didn’t need it. She was a ninja and ugly. Egg on her face.
Shaking, she goes to the half-way wall separating the kitchen and moves the grocery bag containing a toothbrush and paste and a cup of noodles she was going to eat for breakfast. She finds the capsule buried at the bottom of the bag and snaps it in half.
“Did you just call the cops on me?! Kid, you're really testing my patience!”
Fuck he had to be a ninja of some sort to sense that.
There are more voices gathering in the hallway now. And banging coming from below and above. What a great way to ingratiate herself to her new neighbors. Kichou holds the doorknob closed all the same.
“What’s going on~?”
“Ji-chan is bothering the little girl next door.”
“Oi! Leave her alone! Come play with me instead~”
“Go away Ji-chan, she isn’t taking clients!”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP, I'm trying to nap!”
“Ehehehe ladies, there’s plenty of me to go around.” The man has a perverted laugh as Kichou peers back through the peephole. Scantily clad women are dripping off of him trying to drag him off and part him with his money. Kichou fists bumps. Tenten was right, the nee-sans here are really fucking nice. Two of the Konoha police corps body flicker on to the railing. One looks more congenial than the other with short curly hair and a taciturn smile while his partner has wrinkle lines at long hair in a ponytail.
“Excuse me ladies, we’re responding to a distress signal. What seems to be the problem?”
The curly haired man turns to the old man and addresses him with surprised recognition “Ah Jiraya-sama?! I wasn’t aware you had returned. Has he bothered any of you tonight?” The Uchiha turns to the women who all giggle and shake their heads no, some peeling off probably realizing the situation was in hand.
Shit, if that wasn’t bad news one he had a position of authority, two he was a known pervert and still allowed to frolic in the flower fields, so to speak.
One of the girls pips up.
“It was probably the little girl that just moved in, Ji-chan was messing with her. It’s probably all a misunderstanding, right~ Ji-chan doesn’t like messing with kids does he?” He vehemently shakes his head no. The girl smiles up sweetly at the old man and with a perveted grin when his head turns down to look at her breasts pressed against his arm. “Yeah. ehehe. A misunderstanding.”
The girl bounces, jiggling her assets before flouncing to Kichou’s door and lightly knocking
“It’s okay to come out, honey the police are here!”
Kichou opens the door and stands in the doorframe, feeling self-conscious that she’s not only meeting her new neighbors but also wearing bright red pajamas covered in blue shuriken from the bargain bin in Tenten’s shop. The only reason she accepted them is because they never sold. She didn’t leave the precipice. Looking at the Police-nin she gives a slight nod, who returned it with a nod of his own.
“Old man was looking for the last girl that lived here, I told her she wasn’t here. We had a disagreement, he wouldn’t leave so I kicked him in the dick and closed the door. He was attempting illegal entry so I broke the distress beacon. Make him leave.”
The girls all seem to cheer and whistle at her bravado.
“AH!” The old man is pointing at her, “The way you said that makes me seem like a pervert”
Kichou raises an eyebrow “...You’re not a pervert? The police know you by name.”
The police officers seem to be hiding their laughter behind tightly drawn lips. The older man then detaches from the girls and strikes a pose. “That’s where you’re wrong girlie for I AM THE GREAT PERVERTED SAGE.”
Kichou immediately slams the door, and turns every lock confident the police will handle it.
She peers back through the peep hole.
“I’M NOT A PERVERT THAT TOUCHES UNRIPENED FRUIT!” he screams at the door, pointing a finger at it. The girls have all peeled off at this point.
He then turns his head to the police officers “The Akimichi and Old man actually allowed that? Have they fucking gone crazy?!” God damn this asshole is going to get her into some serious shit.
Kichou undoes the locks and tears open the door again, sure the other party can here the clicking. “I’m not part of the Akimichi clan and I’m a legal adult. What’s your fucking problem?! Just leave already!”
The man pops a vein in his forehead as he the giant that he is bends down to her eye level, jutting out his lower lip to mean mug her. “Well kid I hate to break this news to you but you’re mama hasn’t told you the truth about your daddy then, that shit you can do with your ha—”
She screams in his face sharply trying to cover up the statement “AAAAAAAAhahahaha you’re so funny grandpa you must need to get your eyes checked you might be seeing things, I have no idea what you’re talking about!”
A smirk slides across his face when he realizes he has her in a corner. “I’ll have you know I’m still strapping and virile with perfect vision.” He sticks up his nose to gloat about himself, it feels familiar somehow. “I suppose I’ll just have to tell Choza-kun one of his clansmen has been getting frisky with the girls. Since there’s a little girl here with their bloodline limit.” Anger roils her stomach. So you really can’t blame her can you? She really wasn’t thinking when she rears back her fist and punches him square in the face with a pair of clipped deformed chakra wings tearing through the back of her brand new pajamas, in front of Shisui of the body flicker and Itachi Uchiha, clan heir. Sending him flying in a spray of blood from where she popped him in the nose.
“I SAID I’M NOT A FUCKING AKIMICHI! CAN YOU NOT FUCKING LISTEN?!”
She takes one look at the man on the floor, one look at the police, and one look at her bare legs clad in only pajama shorts.
“Would you let me change before you take me to the station?”
The police officer with curls nods with a smile before she closes the door and puts on some real pants.
“...I would argue that that was an extension of my bloodline limit which was not stipulated as being sealed as it would prove detrimental to my health and life when I signed. Also!” She points to the man holding a bag of ice to a broken nose and two black eyes that seemed like nowhere near as bad as before, there’s barely even a bruise now. “That man is Jiraiya of the Sanin and was harassing me to the point of the police being called which I believe constitutes a credible threat to my life, therefore meets the criteria as applied in the life or death clause. Part of which was only witnessed by the reporting police for all you know he could be lying. Hence, I don’t believe this should even be reported at all! I’m willing to accept the charge of in-fighting as stated in section 9 paragraph 4 sentence 3 of Konoha Shinobi law and spend the night in lockup.”
Turns out she was fucked and arguing her case not at the police station but at the Hokage tower. In front of the Hokage, who had been pulled out of bed. Because the dude was Jiraiya the Sanin. Sealmaster extraordinaire. Smoke flooding the room at a rapid rate as the older old man holds his head to stave off his growing migraine.
“Kichou-kun, Jiraiya is the master of intel and reconnaissance for the Leaf, if he was lying over such a trifling manner that would be concerning.”
Kichou takes one look at the man, who is mean mugging her and licking the blood from his nose bleed. “...Respectfully Hokage-sama, that seems like an oversight.” Side-eyeing him.
The man stomps and points to her, he does that alot it seems “Why you little brat!”
He whips his head towards the Hokage. “What are we even doing here, Sarutobi?! Just send the brat home to Akimichi. This is insanity! You’ll let this snot nosed brat who is barely out of diapers run around in a brothel?!”
Kichou stiffens her back and sticks out her jaw, clenching her fist
“....Disrespectfully, Jiraiya-sama I am a legal adult and it’s none of your business! Also again, it’s not officially a brothel, there is not a single owner or operator. Therefore the business conducted there can’t be considered a brothel by legal definition” The man scoffs in anger.
“Girlie, you're acting too big for your britches right now! The things you’ll hear alone will probably scar you for life, running home crying to mommy and daddy in no time! I’m doing you a favor!” A lot of bastards have been doing her too many favors lately. He’s getting in her face again, trying to look menacing as he contorts his face at her. She sticks her tongue out and pulls down her eyelid with her middle finger, not that he can see her eyes behind her bangs so it’s mostly just middle finger.
“They make sound proof tags for a reason, erectile dysfunction sage-sama~”
“YOU LITTLE FUCKING BRAT!” He gets in front and clenches his fist like he’s about to hit her. Kichou is a firm believer in an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. She’ll take this hit, that means the next one is his right after.
The Hokage leans back into his chair.
“It’s true she’s always been talented in seal work for her age, even taught a thing or two to some of her peerage. I believe you were the one who taught Naruto to modify an explosive tag were you not?”
The perverted man spins on the mention of Naruto blocking her vision of the Hokage. Kichou quirks an eye at Jiraiya’s back.
“I fail to see how that’s relevant to this incident Hokage-sama”
A plume of smoke rises above the mound of white hair, blocking her visual contact of the Hokage to gauge his social ques.
“Indulge me.” It’s a simple command from the Hokage but a command nonetheless despite its relevance.
“After learning a basic explosive tag together that changed in size of combustion and thermal intensity, we compared the two and identified which characters were different. After slight experimentation we figured out which characters would result in the variations. Eventually developing a smoke bomb. I thought smoke bombs were harmless enough. So we considered adding a character that could affect color with, no to middling success. Naruto himself had the idea of layering a storage seal and an explosive tag, I tried to dissuade him as I could foresee potentially disastrous applications. However his idea of a glitter bomb was intriguing and I felt innocuous if we could use the smoke bomb base. The pink goo was his own personal touch to which I take no credit.”
The man whips back around at her, staring at her in disbelief.
“Disastrous applications! Ignoring the fact you could have blown all your fat little baby limbs off messing with the characters the way you did, do you have no idea what you could have made?! Do you have a death wish?!” ‘ yes, I did’ She looks past him to the middle zone where she was previously looking at the Hokage.
“The idea of shrapnel never occurred to him nor did I want to put the idea in his head, it just simply isn’t in his nature. His brain is too focused on innocuous pranks and fun, I saw no harm if I made him promise to never teach the tag to another or commercially sell them. He quickly outgrew my own capabilities and showed too much initiative. I was worried he would attempt an undertaking on his own if I wasn’t there to temper some of his wilder ideas. I grew…. frustrated when my own ideas did not succeed, so I decided to drop seal work. Naruto is different from me though I have no idea if he’s experimented further or continued the craft. You might wanna ask him about it instead.”
The old man finally seems to take her seriously then. He produced seal paper and a chakra ink set. Shoving it into her hands.
“Draw it.” It was a command but not from someone with authority over her. When she makes no move to actually do it he rumples and looks at the Hokage for support.
“Indulge me, Kichou-kun.” A command from the Hokage was different. Still she wanted something for it though.
“Will you report this incident to Choza-sama if I do?” She asks.
To which she receives a curt “No.”
Kichou drops to the floor, drawing on the ground first the storage seal, the trigrams looking neat and orderly. The center swirl perfectly circular. There was something soothing about this work. ‘Ren’s’ father was a circuit board engineer at a large manufacturing plant and neglectful, she brought all sorts of hobbyists books and was a regular at the electronics store down by the train station, trying to develop a passion and have something in common to talk about. It was her last ditch effort to talk to him. The last thing he said to his daughter was ‘You’re wasting your time.’ and left for work, she was moved out shortly after. It wasn’t the same as circuits but similar. The connections, timings, energy all run on a two dimensional world of her own creation. All her thoughts turning off as she focuses solely on making everything perfect. It gave her a sense of control…. usually.
“You’re hovering..” She can feel his presence above her. It’s throwing off her groove.
“Why have you laid the time trigrams that way? It is more stable in the other position” He asks, ignoring her hint to back up.
Kichou feels her brush shake and she has to brace her wrist with her other hand as she adjusts her angle. She finished another trigram eight in total before she thinks ‘yes it’s perfect’ as she holds out her hand to the man
“The time delays interfere with each other if we stacked on directly on top, the effect was similar to a cannon because the storage seal would release at the same time as combustion. Creating more propulsion than intended. I saw some interesting applications but ultimately let it go.” ‘it looked like a gunshot.’ “Give me something to seal” She makes grab hands at the perverted old man still not looking up from her work.
He slides a crisp earth country promissory money note in her hands. The kind that merchants use to handle large amounts of physical money.
“Something that isn’t worth five hundred thousand ryo.” She says annoyed, the thought that she didn’t even own a bed but he wanted her to destroy the monetary value of ten futons irked her.
“Oh yeah, the news hasn’t gotten back here yet. Suna’s economy tanked, the daimyo was embezzling funds meant for gross domestic product and import of foodstuffs. Which in a desert climate is disastrous. They are scrambling to secure more foreign commissions to sustain their populace. It isn’t worth the paper it's printed on. Rip away.” Jiraiya rattles off the information while he’s still intently studying the tag with crossed limbs.
She still hesitates before Jiraiya loses his patience. “Come on kid! I’ll give you a hundred thousand ryo if you finish and the thing actually works.” No need to tell her twice. She begins shredding the note into tiny pieces before sealing it in. It works well enough, the sealing rate could be increased, she’s rustier than she thought. Kichou then begins with the trickier smoke bomb seal she runs the ink off of the seal paper as one normally does when making a layered seal, it was curvier and had delicate bits which she did not excel at like Naruto did. She had to hold her hand above the floor and slowly shuffle around to align the characters just so.
“You used both a delay character tied to the combustion portion and a remote trigram. Why?” He’s circling her like a shark making her nervous.
“...Like I said earlier if you were actually listening. Our working theory is the delay would allow the payload to release correctly before combustion occurred to evenly distribute the glitter outward. If both seals resolve at the same time the storage seal releases at the time combustion occurs causing a cannon effect that I deemed too dangerous to experiment with. The remote detonation was for Naruto’s safety….” Not her own .
Once finished she inspects the whole thing, nothing is glaring or out of place.
“Back up please.” The man’s toes are invading her vision again before they take a few tentative steps back.
She pours her chakra in, the smoke bomb recedes off the floor before tightening onto the storage seal, stabilizing. She ties it to a kunai with some ninja wire…..
“...Is there somebody hiding over the pervert’s head?” Choza-sama told her the office was filled with invisible guards, she just always thought it made sense. He was a dictator, assassinations were bound to happen. Still the warning was there, never appear like a threat.
The Hokage quirks his lips. “No”
She throws the kunai above his head and remotely activates it with a snake seal.
A harmless confetti shower of ripped money and a billowing cloud of smoke explodes above Jiraiya’s head, raining down on him.
It clears away not more than thirty seconds later, to his violent coughing. The back window mysteriously cracked open to allow ventilation when she wasn’t looking. Holding out her hand to Jiraiya, “One thousand ryo. Pay up, I need a new futon.”
The man grumbles while he pulls out a near identical frog wallet to Naruto’s, down to the stitching, something she’s only seen in his hands and no one else's.
She blinks, curious, tilting her head at him.
“...You and Naruto. Any Relation?”
The room chokes.
They tell this brat a few easy lies, it’s a speciality product in Ame, all the rage, it was just a coincidence. Jiraiya can tell the brat doesn’t believe them but doesn’t push it. Then Old Man Saru sends her back to her apartment because apparently she has a team meeting in the middle of the night before mission work in the middle of the day. Sounds like a torture tactic if you ask him and he wouldn’t be entirely surprised if the little hellion was being groomed for T&I. He whirls on Sarutobi once he watches her chakra signature leave the building walking in the direction of the whore house where she “lived”
“What’s her deal?!” He points and slams a hand on the old man’s desk. “You willingly allowed her to walk away from the only mentally stable clan in the entire village? Choza will have your balls if he learns one of their children is living there.” The old man just blows his pipe straight in his face to which Jiraiya knocks the air away with a singular hand wave.
“Not everything in the village is the same as you left it. The Akimichi have been ….struggling to say the least. Their civilian council has become more dominant.” Jiraiya feels something in his gut curdle sourly. Konoha has built their village propped on the backs of those gentle giants, only to abandon them when their knees give out from their burgeoning weight. It was a statement intent to insight guilt but all it did was fill him with rage. He hated how the old man just always turned a blind away with his head stuck in the sand. How he was content to watch the world turn to absolute shit, worse than a layer of hell. Jiraiya hated it with his very soul, it’s why he couldn’t stand to be here, why he couldn’t take Naruto and split. Politico nonsense and power games.
“Who are her parents then?! I’ll talk to them, hell I should be talking to Choza right now and not your ignorant ass. I thought things would get better with Danzo six feet under but you still let shit like this happen!” Jiraiya rages and rages, like a cauldron boiling over. The man merely just leans back in his chair and looks out the window towards the Hokage Mount. Jiraiya could tell when he was feeling nostalgic his head pointed at his mentors and when he was feeling too old and brittle his heading pointing at his late successor. Their eyes both flick to Minato’s face and feel the weight of his stare and burdening guilt, stone executing flawless judgment over their multitude of sins and failings. The old man makes a hand signal to dismiss his Anbu guards as they all salute and body flicker past the room and defensive seals.
“....They are dead, targeted by Danzo for their child and bloodlines. We managed to raid the root compound and secure evidence of his crimes, but…..” Sarutobi ashes his pipe. “The damage was already done.” Sarutobi pulls a scroll from his sleeve, unfurling and releasing it for Jiraiya’s prying eyes.
“He let an unknown assailant into the village and orchestrated the Kyuubei incident to kill a number of political rivals and spirit away the bodies for experiments. The orphans would become the next generation of Root. Her parents in particular were Kushina’s personal guard.” Jiraiya feels his heart stop and he grabs the scroll to read those wretched words feeling himself going blind from rage and horror.
A report from Intel high command, connected a mostly redacted mission report to two dossiers. He wonders what other scrolls the man might have hidden away, how many? Do they at least keep him up at night? Like they do for him.
Chouten and Shizuki Akimichi. The ‘lovers’. The ones he based his best selling Icha Icha paradise on, Icha Icha Paradise: Eternal. It was being made into a movie next spring. Who could ignore a romance so gripping. Jiraiya was now standing in the ruins of happily ever after, as he comes to terms with his student death, a new novel free from emotion and love held betwixt numbed fingers. Choza’s little brother and Shikaku’s beloved cousin who he treated like a sister. His precious student, and his beloved wife, he thought he grieved enough but this was too much. Hurt too bad. Naruto and the girl, they had failed them so tremendously. The third had protected Naruto albeit poorly in his opinion, he looks happy, well-adjusted and hangs out at the Uchiha compound more than his own apartment but who was protecting the girl? The brat had Nara in her. Brains and brawn in one tidy package for the Warhawk to snatch with none of the troubling emotions of the Yamanaka to vex him in his aesthetic world. Except, clipped deformed wings, coils that were too big and tenketsu that were too small, heaps of yang chakra stagnating inside of her, boiling over, one hell of a stubborn streak. Obstinate. Ingenious. Novel. She wasn’t perfect. Not to someone like Danzo.
‘Perfection invites bad luck, Jiraiya-sama.’ A wide smile stretched across wider cheeks as they sip tea on a foundation not yet completed and discuss romance and seals. A woman with long black hair like dripping ink lounges nearby before picking another spot, her husband watching intently as he changes paper floor plans in front of him on her ficklest whim. He’s building a house for his wife, asking him if he and his student can hide poems in seal matrices, the romantic sap in Jiraiya’s withered heart willing it so, implanting impurities in a pure world. ‘It keeps the envious at bay.’ The man continues. ‘They don’t realize a perfect world is devoid of spontaneity and romance. It will stagnant while they stare down in envy at the imperfectly happy. Imperfections are what make the world endearing. Driving ambition and ingenuity as we learn to overcome and become happy when we accept our imperfection. I pity those static envious perfect people, they’ll never achieve eternal happiness…. Imperfections are eternal as they say.’ The man says satisfied , finally finishing waxing long winded poetics as the woman drips, fluid and lethal, into his lap using his leg as a pillow, looking more content then any of the previous spots. ‘Only you say that you, fat sap.’ Looking up at him cheeky. ‘Your Pleasantly Plump Sap!’ She snuggles in deeper, stretching. ‘Mine…eternally.’ She agrees like a cat who got the cream, smug and assured in her superiority. Looking pleased when her husband runs his fingers through her hair. She winks at Jiraiya who is furiously writing in his journal. ‘I expect royalty fees, Old man. I want a new shogi board. A perfect one.’ She rolls into her husband's side, grabbing his hand possessively and intermingles their fingers as she runs a thumb over the back of his hand. ‘I want them to be envious. I dare them to take what’s mine.’
Jiraiya doesn’t have it in his heart to pity a man like Danzo. The Akimichi were too gentle for their own good. Choza crushed his head, the Uchiha burned the remains, the Yamanaka adopted the root children, The Nara staged a coup forcing Danzo into a trap thinking the Hokage to be vulnerable. A valiant group effort but it did not quell his anger. He died too effortlessly, it raises the hackles in his hindbrain. Nothing is ever that trite. That was too quick, too painless. He needed to suffer for what he did. Robbing the world of love and romance and replacing it with such a disgusting facsimile of a perfect world.
‘Operation:success - Retrieved targets’ stomach/intestinal tract and head for further experimentation into the [Redacted] and [Redacted] bloodlines respectively. Masked involvement by disposing of bodies in the path of the rampage. Returning to base as samples are rapidly degrading. Results inconclusive further samples required. Ongoing operation to retrieve tertiary target is proceeding as planned. [Redacted] clan has promised cooperation. [Redacted] successfully implanted into the compound. The child is locked behind a sealed house, [Redacted] will come for her soon. Could not breach the barrier. Awaiting further instructions. Further observation to follow.’
“SO YOU LET HER WALK AROUND UNPROTECTED AFTER READING THIS?! IN THE WORST PLACE FOR HER TO BE?!” Jiraiya rages. Failing to understand where things could have gone this wrong, where he had gone wrong. So busy looking for Orochimaru that his home had become hell behind his back. How he failed Minato, failed Naruto.
“...Danzo no longer poses a threat, she’s at no risk for having her kekkei genkai stolen.” An excuse right after another excuse. He shouldn’t have dismissed the Anbu guards, Jiraiya would kill him if he wasn’t the next likely Hokage candidate.
“ THAT DOESN’T MAKE HER BODY WORTHLESS” Especially in a place, where men liked to take.
“She is a kunoichi of the leaf, prepared for life…You are also an abnormally strong man who is difficult to fend off.” Sarutobi reasons. But it just makes Jiraiya want to scream and shake some sense into him.
“And the fact you did what Danzo could not and separated her from her clan, gimping her in the process?! She was too scared of martial law to use an Akimichi technique to defend herself! Does Choza even know she’s there or have you failed to mention his niece is running wild amongst the whores and degenerates?!"
The old man sighs, a headache seeming to have gripped his senile mind.
“This is a recent development, though I imagine he will find out shortly...The rumor mill is that they had a fight, I am ....sympathetic to her plight. It is up to her to choose reconciliation or separation. You cannot force such matters. Despite what you might think.”
“You’ve gone fucking senile. This is actually crazy. I’m leaving. I’ll report in the morning after checking in on Naruto.”
Jiraiya has already decided he’s gonna take the brat, dump her on Choza’s doorstep. Then grab Naruto and split this hellhole, travel around, visit Mount Myoboku when the kid was old enough, hell they could even rebuild Uzushiogakure, poach the clans like when Konohagakure poached the Uzumaki after their travesty , disgracing their legacy like greedy little maggots. Killing their last princess when she was most vulnerable for more control and power, not realizing what was lost.
Like always Sarutobi seems to read his mind, calling out when he turns around.
“....You aren’t a parent,” Not to Naruto , he drags from his pipe. “Sometimes you have to let the child rebel, if you force their hand they will only rebel harder. I order you not to interfere in this matter” His own son was better for it after all. Their relationship hadn’t improved at all but Asuma was calmer, sharper, stronger than he had been under Sarutobi’s thumb. He had become a better man without him. It was painful, to his pride, his ego but Asuma was not Sarutobi’s legacy. Kichou could evolve beyond the Akimichis’ shadow, forge a legacy all her own. She just needed space to do so. They could all hate him for allowing it, it made no difference to him in the long run, what was another sin in a mountain face of many.
“...Let’s hope this doesn’t become another one of your regrets, old man. I don’t think you can survive another.” Jiraiya says over his shoulder, eyeing him as he leaves the room in a deadly fury.
The old man is back not even an hour later and Kichou has to stare at him through the peephole as he furiously paints her door with chakra ink. Kichou rips it open.
“I'm trying to sleep, leave before I file for a restraining order.” Jiraiya looks annoyed at being interrupted mid stroke. Kichou peels back the door further to see what vandalism he’s disgracing his door with.
It’s a seal she’s never seen before, rooted with earth signs, favored for defense. She spies the Uchiha-mon in the center of sigil, the police symbol tied to an alarm beacon. An Akimichi-mon sitting opposite is tied to an even bigger chakra alarm, probably due to their distance from the glamorous tourist-ridden restaurant district and Akimichi compound. Irritation settles in her stomach. “What’s this?” The Sannin looks smug at her ignorance.
“You don’t know? Little miss know it all, huh~” He looks smug and superior.
She takes her hand and slides it down the door, smearing it when she reaches the Akimichi mon. Her hand now covered in dripping wet ink that she flicks the excess off at him. She smirks up at him.
“Now you don’t either.” She met with a spray of water as it washes her and the door clean in a weak water release streaming from the man’s bulging mouth like a puffed up frog. Eventually coming to a trickling stop and a wicked grin.
She can’t scream, the girls are knee deep in their business hours or sleeping after a shift from the clubs but by the sage she wants to. She runs leaving the door open to get her only towel. Trying to push the water and ink out of the apartment before it stains the floorboards. Kichou doubts she’ll lose her deposit but she doesn’t want to pay a fine either. Jiraiya looks solemn as she returns, probably having spied that the apartment is truly void of anything.
“It’s a sealing matrix designed to alert the authorities of who comes and goes out of these doors and to ward off intruders.” He’s leaning against the outside wall watching her push out the wring out the towel on the pavement, she’ll have to wash it in the morning. Sealing matrices were kept under lock and key, clans all keeping their networks secret and interworking them with Konoha’s security, to know exactly the seal network and what the specific clan defense’s were one had to be head of clan. For example the Akimichi made an intruder violently sick while the Hyuuga’s or Uchiha’s might make you temporarily lose vision. It had to do with how their mon interacted with the seal, or at least that was the best conclusion she came to.
“The Akimichi don't have authority over me.” She says mulishly.
“No, but they should.”
Kichou doesn’t say anything as she scrubbed the floor boards. “You never seen a sealing matrix before? Your parent’s house had some crazy ones. Although to you they might have looked like poems..” The old man says eye closed with his hand on his chin in contemplation.
Kichou’s head snaps up. “How do you know that?”
Jiraiya puts a hand on his hips, jabbing a thumb to his chest “Because I the Great Jiraiya, resident seal master of Konohagakure personally did them!”
She tries to imagine, the kanji must have been mind boggling to layer in. She furrows her brow. Filled with doubt and uncertainty, those poems were gone now, ripped up when the seal matrix was destroyed. Kichou knew the Sanin was a seal master, that much was certain as most manuals that they stole from the library bore his name and another’s.
“Prove it.” Kichou narrows her eyes in suspicion.
“Let’s see….There was one they really enjoyed that they had to add in later”
Butterflies fly
Alone amid the fields:
Shadows in the sunlight.
To our Rare Butterfly
….Kichou huh~ it’s a good name”
Kichou never found that one, but that sounds like them. She sputters out a laugh, moving to sit in the door frame bathed in the pink neon light of Meow Meow Kitty heaven watching the women and men pass. Lust, love, jealousy, brevity, disgust, delight swirling together in an overwhelming cacophony of sights and sensations. It was bereft with activity, nothing was stagnating here, it was hot and writhing. A stark contrast to her previous quiet tranquil worlds, the world Choza held up for her. She thought it would last forever. Before he completely destroyed it.
“What were they like?” It’s a delicate question, vulnerable for her. Praying her voice doesn’t betray the quiet hope simmering beneath her skin, yearning to be closer to them again.
A book falls in her hands, popular in this district for its smut scenes. Kichou quickly draws back her arms and repeals, kicking it away on wet inky pavement.
“A porn book?! Are you making fun of me?!” She glares up at the man who bursts out laughing. There’s a banging from below for her to shut up. She stomps back.
“It was based on your parents, they had a somewhat infamous romance if no one told you.” He reaches down, picking up the book and shaking it off and handing it back to her which she hesitantly takes. Curiosity was the guiding motivation for most Nara. She may look like Chouten but that brattiness was all her mothers. Her fingers slide under the front cover without opening it.
“I heard the author even signed it for you.” He teases, dangling knowledge like bait.
Her hand flips the front cover, her eyes gleaning the information.
“Of course you’re the author.” The brat says sullenly. Still she turns the page and reads the first sentence. Then the next and the next. Jiraiya finds himself smiling despite himself. He slides down the wall next to her form in that bordello door frame. A lonely figure out of place and
“They wouldn’t want you here kid, they would want you with Choza and his family. Safe and loved. You should go back home, I’m sure it’s not that bad. They probably miss you.” He says solemnly but the girl is in a world of her own flipping through pages at an alarming rate.
“....You should talk to Naruto. I know you lied about being related. He doesn’t say anything but he gets lonely. He misses the idea of you. He would probably love a proper seal teacher. He takes to it like a duck to water.” Jiraiya sucks in breath.
“Hurts doesn’t it, to be told what you’re supposed to do but can’t allow yourself. It’s not as easy as people say it is to dismiss complex emotions.” She says with gentle snideness before flipping another page.
He gives a watery laugh “Damn you’re just like her aren’t you? She cut everyone down to size, didn’t care who.” Until they cut her down instead.
He spies her blush redden hidden behind pages, trying to hide her pleased embarrassment.
“Did she really punch a princess?” She asked, having already reached the climax of the story, damn they should get her on desk word with that read speed. Jiraiya nods.
“Crashed a royal wedding too, stole the groom and carried him off into the sunset…..You might wanna hide that in the Land of rivers kid, it’s outlawed.”
She kicks him.
“Goddamn spoilers.” She grumbles as she turns the next page.
“.....Did they get a ‘happily ever after’?” There’s a sound of water droplets on the paper like rain in Ame, her face completely hidden in the pages.
The joke of ‘I thought you didn’t want spoilers’ tongue. Looking at her solidarity figure, set in contrast from the neon in front of them and the dark apartment behind, devoid of anything a child needs to grow. Where she ended up was too real, the joke a reminder of reality where she could escape in a world of fantasy and contentment.
Jiraiya lets himself be bathed in the flowers district. Meditating, letting it all slow down as nature does not grow in abundance here but rises like steam in its most primal forms. The glowing neon, the raucous laughter, soft moans, the smell of liquor, piss and depravity. An unusual butterfly with deformed wings who lost her way from the fields, resting in the scent of artificial flowers. He prays that one day she finds her way back home. Imperfections are eternal as they say.
“Yeah kid I think they did” Neither acknowledging the lie.
Chapter 14
Summary:
Icha Icha paradise and pudding.
Notes:
This is a shorter chapter because we are moving into the next arc.
I'll probably upload a 100k more words tomorrow. I need to start a new document because it's getting pretty unwieldy and it breaks my computer every time I try to reload it so I would like to get to a stopping point with the uploads soon and work my way up. I find it really funny when I saw hits during this process because I think the first three chapters had 5 or so hits? Imagine you refresh and see it's gone from 20k words to almost 100k.
Anyway, if you get through it all by tonight~ Go to bed. Hydrate. I'll see you tomorrow!
Chapter Text
Kichou’s next guest was not even a full day later as she rolled around the new futon she purchased, it took three different store visits after training. She needed something extra wide and extra firm in order for her to feel comfortable. They all had mattresses at the compound, full of sturdy springs and downy tops. It felt like sleeping on clouds, Choza-sama hammered in ‘joint health’ into her head, from an early age, it was the number one reason an Akimichi would retire from active duty, they had a secret problem with bone density the older they got.
Torifu-sama, even though extremely old and wisened by shinobi standards, was an excellent example as he had mobility issues without his bo staff even though he was still spritely and energetic for his age. It meant milk with dinner and calcium supplements once a week and her current lament trying to find something that she could actually sleep on. Kichou was cranky and snapish when she didn’t get enough sleep but her sensei seemed determined to kill her with an insane work schedule. Sai didn’t seem to mind but Rin had already lodged a complaint at the hokage tower that got thrown out. She had lodged several to be on a different team or have a different instructor. Her father, having slowly worked his way back up the tower hierarchy, now working at the complaints bureau. Was usually the one to throw them out after pulling her aside for a lecture where she returned quiet and withdrawn.
After the second salesmans recommended she visit the Akimichi compound furniture store for what she had almost given up, but the third store turned out to be fruitful. He had argued that she buy two, one firmer and thicker and then a soft pillow top for her comfort. It was more expensive but with a hundred thousand ryo minus the rest of her deposit burning a hole in her pocket so why not. The walk back was awkward as they didn’t have storage scrolls on hand, being a civilian store so she had to roll both onto her back as tightly as possible and heave them back to the flowers district on foot because she was too embarrassed to ask for a delivery. Loaded up like a beast of burden, she began her slow pilgrimage home. Kichou had another unfortunate run in with Lee who was jogging lightly around Konoha for his post work-out cooldown. He thought it was some new workout routine, making it a competition to her embarrassment, running off to borrow three futons to join her on her evening routine. She couldn’t get a word in to tell him this was a straight shot to her apartment and that she wasn’t doing laps around Konoha with mattresses on her back. She wasn’t crazy. Well not his brand of crazy.
She ignored the wolf whistles from patrons and the odd comment from the passing girls, a few of them bringing a genuine blush to her ears.
‘Good for a roll but not a bounce~. No fun oja-chan~’ An onee-san teased, patting the back unexpectedly when she wanted to be let through on the staircase. A group of them all slid by when she pressed herself against the railing apparently a line forming behind her clogging the foot traffic. Kichou was really turning out to be a terrible neighbor. That comment stuck out in particular, that seemed to spark the gaggle of girls into all calling her young lady. Kichou found it hilarious they thought her too prim for this place but she was too rough and tumble anywhere else.
She managed to square them away, well enough. It was still the beginning of summer. She wouldn’t need blankets yet but she could probably buy some colorful quilts in autumn. She might even be able to afford a feather blanket in the winter or a kotatsu. She would have to decide then after carefully weighing the pros and cons. The stacked futons look so inviting but she knew she would regret it later if she didn’t shower now, and ruined them with her sweat and dirt. Her towel was still stained with ink and ruined, so it felt gross to dry her hair with it, deciding instead to use the old t-shirt. Kichou sighed in contentment letting herself sink down into the mattresses.
“Knock~ Knock~” A ditzy airy voice came from the door, the only place where she didn’t put sound proof tags. No it couldn’t be.
Kichou pales before scrambling off the mattress and running to the peephole to see Lady Momoko prim and proper, two large grocery bags in hand.
“Open sesame, Kicchan!~” Kichou rips open the locks and throws up open the door. Pulling Lady Momoko inside before anyone else can see her.
“It worked! Maybe I’m becoming a witch!” Lady Momoko puts the bags down before striking a pose replicating a magical girl cartoon that was popular with young girls and Lady Momoko in Konoha. “Magical- girl- Momoko~ is here to punish you!” She winks at Kichou before picking up the groceries and unloading the bags into the kitchen. “Lady Momoko! Wha-?!” “You’ve been a very naughty girl Kicchan. You picked this place because Anata and Choji couldn’t couldn’t come here, didn’t you?”
Lady Momoko flicks her forehead lightly after walking over when Kichou lets a guilty face slip through. “You underestimate how much we care for you.” Lady Momoko ruffles through the bags and shows Kichou her favorite pudding with the extra thick caramel sauce on the bottom. “Look, it was on sale! Super Lucky~ We should have a little treat for our hard work don’t you think?” She puts two on the counter before grabbing a box with cutlery and putting a spoon on the counter for both of them. Kichou hesitantly takes it while Lady Momoko digs in and lets out a shiver of ecstasy as she puts that first spoonful in her mouth. Kichou follows by letting the sugary treat burst over her tongue.“...They would follow you into hell if you needed help, you know.” Lady Momoko says unusually somber, stirring the pudding “They only stayed away because they didn’t want to make things worse. They think you hate them.” Kichou flinches around her bite of pudding well she certainly said that didn’t she. “Me on the other hand…well I’ve always been pretty shameless!~” Lady Momoko throws Kichou a victory sign while sticking out her tongue.
The woman turns around to fill her fridge with meat and fresh produce. They were endlessly generous with her, nothing she could say would turn them away. “Lady Momoko, I-” “I never liked when you called me that. You are no longer an Akimichi, you really don’t need to call me by such a stuffy title.” Lady Momoko gasps exaggeratedly “Unless you’re saying I’m an old biddy?” Crocodile tears well up in her eyes as she pouts “How horrible Kicchan!” The woman wails. “Momo-chan is still in her prime!” Kichou scrambles, feeling herself fall victim to Lady Momoko’s tempo yet again. “Momo….san” Feeling embarrassed at the lack of boundary between them. Lady Momo— Momoko-san smiles at her, pleased yet again that she got her way. “Much better.”
“I— don’t hate you or them…. I just always…” Kichou spins the empty container of pudding between her fingers. “I felt like a cuckoo bird, an egg that fell into the wrong nest. I thought….if I was too loud, my mouth too big….Choji would suffer because you were too busy taking care of me. I know how Choza-sama wore himself down because of me. How you never complained about having another mouth to feed or care for. I’m grateful for everything you did for me. I just wasn’t a piece meant to fit.” It was honest, too honest about the feelings she had been bottling for so long. In front of the second most person she wanted to be honest in front of. There’s a hand resting on top of her, red-colored fingernails scratching her scalp gently as Momo-san rakes a hand through her damp spikes.
“You’ve always been such a good girl Kicchan. I just don’t know where you got all these crazy ideas from. People took so much from you that I just thought you didn’t know how to handle getting things given back. You never said when anything was bothering you, until it was too late. I suppose this fight was inevitable. We wanted to protect you, but it was probably a little overbearing. We didn’t want to tell you everything. Still thinking you were a child.” Momo-san has a teasing smile. “Sorry…our bad Kicchan. We didn’t notice you were growing up, that you could handle it.” Kichou feels tears sting the corner of her eyelids. Momo-san leans on the counter, her chin propped between two hands. A dreamy look on her face, as she reaches over wiping a tear drop from her eye and caressing her cheek. “You should enjoy your rebellion while it lasts because once they work up their nerve they are going to come barging down your door and refuse to let go. Akimichi stubbornness is so cute~”
Lady Momoko finishes her task of putting away groceries and starts opening draws to fill with snacks, cutlery, plates and rations. Kichou doesn’t think about it before it’s too late
“WAIT! Not that drawer!” It's too late as Lady Momoko opens the drawer filled with condoms marked with all the various clubs around the district.
“Those aren’t mine! I was going to get rid of them! I swear!” Kichou feels herself going scarlet before Lady Momoko picks one up before inspecting it closer.
“Kicchan this is very serious.” She wants to drop dead right now.
“Half of these are expired Kicchan! I sure hope you were going to get rid of them!” Lady Momoko slams a handful of them on the counter. Kichou pales before remembering Momoko-san was a retired member of the medical corps that served in a war. The lady sighs. “It’s our fault for never making you go to Kunoichi classes, they never put the same responsibility on the boys so it felt unfair but!” She clenches her fist. “We already gave Choji the talk so that means I’ve been remiss in your education. Listen, Kicchan—” Lady Momoko wags her finger at her with a hand on her hip. “Lady Momoko, I know what-” “No you listen Kicchan, I will not leave here today until you have everything you need to survive! Now–”
True to her word Lady Momoko did not leave until she felt overwhelmingly prepared…. Too prepared.
Her new habit of continuously reading Icha Icha Paradise: Eternal in public is met with mixed reaction. The main being repulsion, the other righteous indignation at someone so young reading them, there’s a more rare exasperation and the occasional perverted glance. A few have a sad, knowing look but those are even more infinitesimally rare for her sample size. She finds she doesn’t really mind. The sex scenes are tawdry at best, having read worse webnovels on ‘Ren’s’ phone, but Jiraiya writes the heroine inspired by her mother well. She’s dynamic and riveting, imperfect and jealous, possessive but endlessly loyal and hopelessly in love with a man she’s know her entire life so she doesn’t realize she’s in love until someone tries stealing him away.
The hero is a romantic dreamer who falls in love with his childhood friend, in love with all her imperfections and strength. But they are torn apart by miscommunication of interest and their clans' wishes. The various tribulations they face to finding their way back to each other are her favorite parts. A slew of romantic rivals one after the other that are on the surface a perfect match for both of them, but none making them happy. Their love is palpable to everyone but them, spurred on by jealousy and romanticism they achieve eternal bliss in each other's arms. The ending scene is them growing old in a hand built cottage surrounded by their numerous children, telling their story of imperfections and eternity while they drift slowly into rolling butterfly dappled meadows and crossing clouds.
‘They say a world of imperfections is eternal, for every act of love there is equal or greater suffering and yet for their many imperfections they still found love and companionship. For all they suffered, they had loved more passionately, for every aching sorrow soothed by the balm of their embrace. The young lovers had achieved true happiness by accepting that the world and they themselves would always be imperfect, thus together they had found eternity. As a young boy who once fell in love at first sight to the girl who was perfectly imperfect. ‘ Imperfections are eternal as they say’
It was a perfect happily ever after. It tasted bittersweet on her tongue.
‘Ren’s’ brain clicks on, running wild with memories and thoughts of a life spent alone in an apartment reading and watching tv to stave off loneliness. ‘I’m reading fanfiction about your parents.’ It supplies needlessly, she wasn’t sure when the split happened exactly. It feels like Ren is just a voyager, living vicariously behind her eyes, showing her things and giving her ideas more inline to her world.
‘You’re different in this one. I like you more than me’
‘I am you’ Kichou argues back.
‘Ren’ never responds, going quiet for a while. Kichou thinks that their personalities and memories are assimilating, trying to reconcile the difference. ‘Ren’ is growing fainter with each passing day, like her brain has limited capacity for both and Kichou is slowly pushing her out. One day she might even disappear. Kichou believed wholeheartedly in the concept of a soul. Like a torchbearer she’ll carry this life on for the both of them, one day washed clean by the next life. Maybe then she can rest peacefully.
She feels a rift grow between her and her teammates lately, their communication breaking down as Ami grows more aggressive with her. Kichou usually takes it, and Sai gets caught in the middle. It’s subtle but Sai usually sides with her, even though he insults her more, it spurs Ami on thinking that they both mutually hate her. Rinse and repeat. Their sensei is trying to break them down, Kichou knows. Sleep deprivation, a taxing schedule, mental games challenging their behavior, unfair treatment to get them to riot and turn on each other. They are admittedly buckling with the exception of Sai who is always perfectly content it seems. They are going on their first c-rank tomorrow according to Santa-sensei, she feels like this will be the make or break for their team. She’s walking down the dirt road on the way back to her apartment for a nap when she hears a pair of rapidly approaching footsteps.
“Big-Nee!!” Naruto is approaching her excitedly. Well at least he’s having a good time, team seven seems to be going swimmingly from what she hears on the grape vine.
She turns around, book in hand flipping a page with one hand and with the other gives Naruto a short wave.
“ACCK IT’S SPREADING!” Naruto shrieks, halting dead in his tracks pointing at their book in her hands.
In her best Kakashi impression having met the man all three maybe four times they ran into team seven while doing missions around the village.
“Maa~ Naruto-kun don’t you know that these books are masterpieces of culture and refinement to a connoisseur like myself. You always say such hurtful things.”
Naruto bursts out laughing “THAT'S JUST LIKE HIM!” clutching his sides as his team sedately approaches behind him, Kakashi included.
“Maa~ they say mimicry is the best form of flattery. I suppose I should be honored.” Kakashi smiles with his eyes before flipping a page in his little orange book.
“...It would be more effective if I could do the eye smile, we have opposite face coverings I suppose.” Kichou considers it before pulling up her bangs with her hand and smiling with her eyes at Naruto while hiding her mouth behind her own Icha Icha.
“Maa~ Sorry I ran late. I was secretly in the Daimyo's house, liberating Tora-chan to fund Konoha’s economy, I have to fund my Icha Icha addiction somehow! Think of it as a learning opportunity.~ Naruto, focus! Today we’re going to scale Mount Kage with one hand because Gui-sensei bet me last night that his genin we’re better.”
Kichou lets her bangs back down before flattening them with her hand and putting down the book, while Sakura and Sasuke seem to blink at her in wonder and Naruto is now busting a gut on the ground. “YOU’RE TOO GOOD AT THAT FORREAL!” Naruto wipes a tear from his eye. “I see you’re in a great mood today Big-Nee!” he smiles happily at her.
“...I wouldn’t say that. Anyway, what’s up Naruto?” She asks bracing herself for his usual stories..
“OH MAN! I have so much to tell you!” She sits down to him mirroring his posture, settling in for one of his usual long rambling tales. She learned early on to just let him go, he does his best thinking while rambling and she usually can glean some good information from them. “First of all I was hanging around the bathhouses in the steam district because we were practicing water walking for our mission in waves the next week. We're escorting this drunkard bridge builder guy, I really don’t like him but the mission is gonna be cool not like our last c-rank!” “DOBE!” Sasuke hisses. Looking at her uncertainly. She waves it off as Naruto continues, scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “Oops. Sorry Big-Nee I’ve been pranking the shit out of Shikamaru if that makes you feel better!” She nods. And he grins impishly. “Anyway! Where was I?”
Kichou helpfully provides “The bathhouses or the bridge builder?”
“Bathhouses! The bridge builder is just an asshole! Anyways I was water walking, the hot water helps me kinda because I don’t wanna fall in.” Kichou nods, “That sounds like a good idea but be careful and stop if you get light headed okay?” Naruto just pumps his arms “I never get lightheaded Dattebyo!” Sasuke seems to snort at that. “Then I spy this big pervert creeping on the girl’s baths! Why do all the creeps have silver hair?” Looking at Kichou inquisitively, she looks towards Kakashi, eyeing him. “You’re sensei has silver hair…” She sees the man stiffen, looking panicked. Naruto waves it off “He may read porn books but he’s one of the good ones. Hey?! How did you get one of those books by the way?! You have to be eighteen to buy them!” He is squinting at her. It’s what he does when he’s trying to figure something out, he’ll pester her till she tells him anyway.
Kichou flips a page. “The author gave me a copy, even signed it...It’s actually pretty good.” Their sensei’s eyes upturned “You can never judge a book by its cover. You’re a lady of refined taste I see.” Whether that was a slight against her or a slight against the book, she didn’t quite know. The man always seemed a bit enigmatic to her senses. “REALLY?! That’s kinda cool” Naruto is on his hands and knees now crawling over, she moves the book away, out of reach like when they were still in the academy. “No way, when you’re older.” The boy crosses his arms over his chest returning to his sitting position albeit closer. “YOU’RE BARELY OLDER THAN ME! LIKE ONLY A YEAR AND A HALF RIGHT?” “....Older….Anyway the pervert at the bathhouses?” It was Jiraiya she was sure but she would pretend to not know. “I was gonna beat his ass for being a pervert but then he sends me flying! And get this he’s an honest to god seal master! AND a Sannin sage or whatever that is.” “A three man team of legendary ninja who trained under the Hokage.” Kichou provides and Naruto nods “I showed him one of our glitter bomb tags and he took me on as an apprentice! Can you believe it?!”
He’s shaking her shoulders back and forth, and she lets it happen. She could in fact believe it.
She claps anyway..
“Congratulations, Naruto I’m sure you’re gonna do great things! Your brain is practically wired for it.”
That wasn’t a lie by any stretch of the means, she had a theory his had a certain type of dyslexia that she managed with monospace text and bottom heavy writing a solution having known about that solution in her world ‘Nao had it, I stayed up with him translating his books at the restaurant table in primary school before he was too embarrassed to be seen with me.’ She struggles not to frown. The peculiarity arrived when it came to seal work, it was like he instinctively knew how to read the characters and strokes. There were leaps of logic she just couldn’t follow, she largely gave up because she could feel the gap between their skill levels growing. And… .no motivation to make things anymore
Kichou makes a money sign with her hands and pulls Naruto closer “You should go celebrate on his dime. I heard he’s loaded.” Naruto grins impishly. “Like 10 bowls.” Kichou shakes her head. “20?!” She points up. “There’s no way he can afford 30 bowls?!” She gives Naruto a thumbs up. Sakura chimes in “I know your stomach is bottomless Naruto but there’s no way you can even eat 30 bowls.” Sasuke and Kichou just look at her. She shrugs at Sakura “Naruto has more Chakra than a fully stockpiled Akimichi, we had to learn that the hard way when we were trying to figure out what was up with his cloning techniques.” Kichou yawns, the schedule lately was really getting to her. Kichou wraps her arm around his neck and gives him a noogie. “Probably could out-eat one too.” A thought occurs to her as she does “You need to tell him you take things too literally, it never occurred to you to just make more clones because they only requested three. Anybody who teaches you has to think as dynamically as you do.”
He puffs up at the praise. “I don’t know what dynamically means!” He says it like he’s gloating at her but because it’s praise coming from her lips he trusts it doesn’t have double meaning. “Just tell him you can handle whatever he throws your way. You think best when it’s sink or swim.” Naruto salutes at her and she nods. “Apparently he travels a lot and won’t always have time to teach me but he said he can follow us on our escort mission and show me a thing or two! You should swing by my place before we leave and we can finally work on those things you wanted to make! You know the ninja camping stove! And the dry-freezie! And the food storage scrolls! …You know like we used to…”
Kichou wondered how much of this was prompted by the old codger versus how much Naruto actually missed her. She didn’t want to steal any of his valuable time with such a precious resource. “You’re the only one in the village who would give up their chance to learn from a Sannin to help me build a fireless camping stove. You should be hogging up his time to break the sealing arts cannon, write a manual of your own or something.” Sakura and Sasuke both nod agreeing while Naruto vehemently shakes his head. “You always wanna make cool stuff that improves people’s lives or makes them happy! That’s way cooler than learning to seal a fart 3 seconds faster or something stupid!”
Their sensei chooses then to pipe up “A warm meal on a long mission is often greatly underrated” Naruto points to his sensei and yells at her “See Kaka-sensei agrees! And he barely agrees with me on anything! The pervy sage thought the ideas were really interesting too! So you’ll come by right?!”
She wondered if Jiraiya was testing her, if he could get out of his own way, so could she. ‘Go home, kid’
She ruffles his hair, before getting up and dusting off her standard blues. “Sorry, we’ll have to raincheck.” Naruto looks dejected, her eyes softened “I’m also leaving on a mission outside the village tomorrow. I’ll bring you back something to make up for it. Afterwards I would love to work on a freeze-dryer…. You might even be able to take Ichiraku’s ramen on missions if we do figure it out.”
Naruto looks like he’s about to burst out of the seams with excitement. “Really?! The nectar of the gods on missions?! You wouldn’t lie to me would you?! Big-Nee, let’s go now! Ne Ne can’t we?!” He’s tugging on her hand and all she can do is smile sadly “No can do, I have to prepare for a week camping with Ami and Sai.” Naruto visibly shivers. Having never liked either of them. She holds out her pink to him. “I can promise though. After.” He happily grabs her pink with his own. Shaking it.
She bows to the rest of team seven.
“I hope you have a safe trip, Team Seven. May the will of fire be with you.” It was a common saying to the departing teams.
“HAVE A SAFE TRIP BIG-NEE! And with you!”
She waves goodbye, off to buy a new sleeping bag.
“Ne…don’t you think she’s changed.” Sakura waves to Kichou’s retreating back.
Sasuke nods. “I heard something from aniki, he says she’s going through a tough time right now but she seems….happier, more free….it’s hard to explain” He gazes at her retreating back, in the academy he pitied her for being bullied so badly for butting heads with said bullies, it was how he wanted to be, valiant and righteous. Then he envied her for being so close to Naruto, it looped back around again pity and envy in equilibrium. He still felt guilty about the mission for the Akimichi, His father had assembled a group of their elite jounin to investigate. Those who had activated their advanced Sharingan had been sent to the house after and had completely torn down the genjutsu painted on the ceilings. They didn’t want to risk more hiding underneath. After the request cancellation he was concerned but thought she just must have returned to the main house. He overheard Aniki talking to father that he responded to a distress beacon in the flowers district involving the wayward Akimichi and asking if it was legal for her to live there. His heart sunk from his hiding spot.
‘It’s distasteful but our hands are tied legally, I’ll discreetly inform Choza-dono’
Guilt burns his stomach at that, even though he didn’t do anything wrong, it still felt like his involvement actively made the girl’s life worse. He knows he didn’t ‘A baby that didn’t move and a mind breaking genjutsu implanted above her head.’ Looking back he realizes now that all her strange behavior was understandable, no one could withstand three years of torture and not be crazy but he couldn’t tell anyone, not even Naruto. The oath of secrecy was meant for him, meant for that room. It wasn’t the ‘truth’ which he so valiantly pursued. He wasn’t even sure that Choji knew, Sasuke got no indication that she knew either with how much she seemed to hate herself without knowing why she was broken. It made him itch, and like bugs and frost crawling along his skin.
He would tell her, when she got back from her mission, having made his decision. He couldn’t keep her at a distance and be silently jealous of how much Naruto liked her anymore. How much he spoke like she hung the moon and stars while he was hanging out with Sasuke and not her. She needed to know, maybe that would fix things, maybe she would realize how much Choza-sama cared for her. Maybe she would return to her main house, and not be so lonely anymore.
The girl seemed happier though, even though her life got objectively worse….It made no sense. Sasuke can’t even remember having seen her eyes before. She never looked anyone in the eye, it was like a unique trait, like Shikamaru’s laziness or Naruto’s hyperactivity. ‘Look at me!’ Sasuke’s finger twitch when he has to blink away pinpricks behind his eyes. Still feeling the remnants of the genjutsu leaving his mind. And it’s been weeks. What was her mind like? He feels fear for her.
“What do you mean?! She’s always been like that……oh! I guess not in school maybe.” Naruto says with his hands behind his head walking backwards to look at them. “She wasn’t like that when she was….” with me.
“She’s super fun once you get to know her!” Naruto smiles cheekily. “Crazy smart too like you Sakura or Shikamaru!” Sakura blushing at the praise as she scratches her cheek.
Sasuke snorts “That’s because her mom was a Nara, dobe. They’re all smart. What did you think the Shogi board fight was about?”
Naruto looks shell shocked “I didn’t know they were related!! I just thought he broke her mom’s stuff, doesn’t that make it like super more messed up?! That makes their fight family drama right?! NO! That really makes it way worse! I’m gonna get that guy!” Sasuke and Sakura just have their hands on their heads in exasperation.
He’s already running, probably to prank Shikamaru but Kakashi grabs the back of his jumpsuit.
“Maa~ something tells me that won’t be a problem for much longer.”
“GAAAAH YOU’RE ALWAYS DOING THAT CRYPTIC SHIT! I HATE IT”
Chapter 15
Summary:
Look Away, He's coming.
Notes:
TW: Body horror that might be triggering to some
I also noticed I messed up a tag involving Shikamaru which was a big whoopsies that I fixed now.
Chapter Text
Ami was uncharacteristically quiet, nor antagonistic, which raised alarm bells in her head but no one else it seemed as Santa was charming up the client. The mission desk was manned by her father that morning, having finally worked his way back after his demotion at the start of the academy years. He glares at her from behind the desk, malice hidden behind a tight smile. He introduces them to their client. An old biddy who wanted to be escorted to the Land of Hot water to a remote village. There was an onsen there that was renowned for its health benefits and actually prescribed by her doctor. Which isn't too far fetched if you ask her but the client was strange. She would stare unnervingly when she thought no one was looking at her. Her eyes mottled with age and cloudy tracked their every movement.
It was a quiet walk to the village for Kichou, thankful for her bangs because she could observe the client out of the corner of her eye without being too direct. Santa-sensei was a renowned sensor, he could see any enemy ninja coming for them in a 200 km distance. He still made them fall into a tactical formation as Rin and Sai acted as a vanguard on either side of their client and she as a rear guard. She flipped through the pages of first act again, her father a known wimp and coward breaking into the facsimile of the Nara compound to catch glimpses of her visage. Her fictional mother had a boyfriend that made her fictional father writhe in jealousy and lament that she should be treated better, watching her heartbreak from afar as he stood her up yet again. They break up in the next scene but he’s still mentioned throughout the novel as a silent rival for her attention. Fictional dad is overjoyed at this news, but realizes she still doesn’t view him as anything more than a childhood friend.
Kichou wondered how much was real and how much was dramatized, Did her mother have exes? It was often spoken about that her father was going to marry the princess of the Land of Rivers, the confrontation in the book seemed true enough to form. It felt less lonely maybe, to know there were other tangential people in Konoha alive to remember them. Was her mother the one that got away? Or did he wipe her from his mind because his feelings didn’t match her intensity. It made them feel real.
After two days of terse walking they make their way deep into the heart of the Land of hot water. They pass by the main village in the center of the country and depart just as quickly making camp in the forests in rotating shifts. She spends most of her shift reading. It’s beautiful but empty in the summer months when the cicadas sing and the heat makes your shirt stick to your skin. They are essentially being paid to take a week long vacation as the client Fujikawa Mariko has booked them a hotel in the mountainous hills to rest in their onsen promoted for it’s unique medical properties said to aid in vision and provide clarity. ‘Maybe it aids in relieving hypertension?’ memories of lectures on her salt intake flood her mind. ‘Maybe. It’s ninja shit maybe it’s magic. Like unicorn piss or the sweat of a slug or something.” Ren laughs in her head like tinkling bells. It brings a smile to Kichou’s lips.
The hike up to the mountain path remains uneventful but Kichou stops every so often to pray at the startling number of Jizo statues and roadside shrines. There was a ban on the worship of most gods in many countries as issued by the Daimyos and an iconoclasm of anything connected to specific deities, in particular a moon goddess whose name was wiped from the annals of history. Instead most had a spiritualistic faith similar to buddhism in relation to nature and prophetic figure in the Sage of six paths. Jizo statues and withheld the test of time as they merely offered blessings to ward children and travelers. Their broad forms always reminded her of her father.
“Are you religious?” She asks curiously. “My~ I find that surprising with the amount of illicit books you seem to read.” The client turns to her, peering up with pale cloudy eyes. Kichou finishes her prayer to the Jizo statue, ‘I humbly ask for your protection for a safe journey for my team and Naruto’s. May you guide us home. Father.’ Kichou turns back to the group who have seemingly stopped for a small break before they continue their journey. She untucks the book from under her arm and flips a page. “...Not particularly.” The old woman seems to take offense to her flippant attitude. Leering at her even though cataracts have already taken most of her vision supposedly. “Is that so?” before turning around as the group resumes their journey. Something about the interaction doesn’t sit right in her stomach but then nothing does.
Rin is clinging to Sai’s arm silently having abandoned her position as they walk along a roadside cliff they pass under gates, once bright red and ornate faded and worn to show the brown underneath. The details are no longer sharply defined. Santa has his head turned to the far left towards the mountain as Kichou pretends to read but really watches the client for the rest of the day. They pass through a gate built into the roadside of the mountain in the pitch black darkness, Kichou holds her breath as she swears the client is staring beneath the veil of shadows. They come out the other side to Kichou’s relief but has niggling feeling buzzing in the back of her skull to look back, turn back. Kichou turns her head, seeing the shade of her father standing at the edge of the tunnel, beckoning to her, a breeze sweeps back over the mountain carrying a faint whisper. Something illegible she can hardly make out.
“Is something wrong, Fattie?” Sai has stopped, looking at her but Ami is still turned around, still wrapped tightly around his figure.
Her hallucination of her father has always been more passive than her mother’s, a tall looming figure. It’s never been so…. active before. Even though it’s still sedate.
“...No”
Kichou turns back around as the trees rustle with a gust of mountain wind.
The sun is just beginning to set as they arrive at a veritable ghost town. There’s a large gate with a sign that reads Inunaki village and a man with a gaunt frame wearing a plain blue happi that hangs from his frame. “Welcome Honored guests! We are so pleased to welcome you to Innukui village. I am the mayor, Kobayshi Saburo. ‘Third son? What happened to sons one and two?’ Ren jokes in her head. Kichou ignores her, still unable to shake her feeling of unease. “We're elated to host such esteemed ninja from the Land of fire and of course the magnanimous Fujikawa-sama for your patronage” The man brown noses while Santa-sensei bows “Thank you for your hospitality, Kobayashi-dono. I was wondering if you might show us the way to the in. We had a long journey.”
The man gasps before ringing his hands together. “My how impertinent of me, right this way. I will take you there.” He turns around and Kichou nearly jumps out of her skin when she spies a creepy mascot printed on the back, it was a cartoon yamawaro or a one eyed mountain kappa with a singular red eye. Santa-sensei covers Sai’s mouth quickly with his hand as he inquires about it. “That’s an interesting item of clothing you have Kobayashi-dono” It looks like Sai’s jaw is flexing under Santa-sensei’s hand, intent on saying what he was thinking.. “Yes it was my idea! It’s the village mascot! We call it Oyaji-san. It’s very popular with tourists! We sell merchandise at the local general store if you too wish to own your own.” He smiles blithely as Kichou sarcastically asks herself what tourists they could possibly have and in what world would it be popular in. They idly chatter but Kichou largely ignores it as her eyes roam the village.
It’s largely abandoned, empty houses sealed and store fronts remain open but no wears are showcased or seen from the outside. There’s an old man that is selling steamed mountain yams wrapped in paper, she stops telling them to go on ahead as she will catch up. But the mayor brings the group to a halt, and follows her to stand. “You’ll have to excuse old Kou, he lost his voice to a fever when he was younger. Isn’t that right Kou?” The man sitting on the porch eyes her wearily.
“...How much?” The mayor answers for him “One hundred ryo per” Kou’s eyes flick to the mayor’s and back to hers, it’s not expensive by Konoha standards but they had a bustling economy this was a dying mountain village, the mayor was probably overcharging her. Kou nods all the same after a second or two in affirmation. She opens her wallet, a simple coin purse that Lady Momoko embroidered a butterfly on. She pulls a string of 20 gold that Kichou got specifically from the bank because not every country took fire promissory notes. She ties them together for her ease and hands it to the man. Who looks surprised grasping the strand of glittering gold coins in two hands. She doesn’t spy any butter or condiments that would have been equally delicious, but it speaks more toward their economy. No pasture land or easy water access, so no sugar cane or milk. Nothing in passing was this bad. The other villages in the Land of Hot Water, especially the main village they passed through had bustling commerce and produce.
She grabs all the potatoes wrapped in paper, even though it’s six short of what she paid. Still she expects him to be annoyed or stop her as she buys his lot for the day. Like the mayor he is thin and looks haggardly put together. A short yukata shirt hangs off his frame and sweat collects on his brow from manning the charcoal grills that are radiating heat, his hair tied back in a fraying ponytail. A few wispy strands of a patchy beard combined with a vacant stare. Something Kichou felt like she saw in her own behavior. The mayor turns around and Kou looks at his back making eye contact with a singular red eye on the back of his happi. Kichou hands him a yam, placing it next to his lap on the porch in front of him but he catches her wrist suddenly. Lurching forward as he opens his mouth to speak. He mouths words to her but all Kichou sees is that his tongue is missing a clean surgical stub flexing in an empty mouth of partially pulled teeth like it’s been cut out.
Kichou can’t focus on his lips as he lets her go just as suddenly as he grabbed her. She nods at the man, her anxiety mounting, turning around to see the mayor and their client both staring at them unerringly. Her hair on the back of her neck stands on end. She returns to her team and distributes yams, Sai and Santa both graciously accept theirs, tearing them in half to reveal fresh steam and a gooey, fluffy pale yellow and white inside specific to mountain yams. It makes her mouth water to have one for herself. She goes to hand one to Rin who refuses to take it before Kichou adjusts the bundle herself and devours it in one bite, breathing around the steam and she expels the heat through her nose. “Mmmmm that’s good!” It was her favorite food for a reason. Kichou immediately devours another one whole before breathing out the steam like a dragon. “...Could use some butter though.” Santa is looking at her in middle disgust at her lack of manners as he daintily blows on his rapidly cooling potato while Sai copies his behavior, he usually always ate whatever Kichou would hand to him. “Is it much better with butter, Fattie?” Kichou nods.
They didn’t have yams this rich in Konoha, not enough iron in the soil for a good crop. For the first time since leaving the village Rin speaks to her “What did that old man say? Amazed by the number of potatoes you can fit in your fat mouth?” It sounds weird in Kichou’s head. Why was what he said to her that important at all? Should she respond with her usual snark? It felt mean spirited at the yam seller's expense to bring up his missing tongue. “....No. He just warned me that they were hot.” Kichou breaks another in half this time before slowly chewing this one, letting the steam obscure her vision. Rin huffs and turns away, arms crossed over her blue dress. Their client and mayor rejoin the group after reconvening up the path on the main and only road that existed through the village. She too offers them both a yam but neither takes it, the mayor reasoning it would be rude and their client Fujikawa saying it would interfere with her numerous medications. “It slows down your metabolism if you eat too many, dear. You should be watching your figure more, us humans only get one body after all” ‘Ren’ had heard that normally patronizing statement before. ‘The way she said it was weird, why did she specify humans.’
The mayor stops them not even two storefronts later.
“And this is our gift shop!” The mayor rushes into the stand filled to the brim with ugly hand sewn dolls, hand painted commemorative plates, and happi bearing the same logo as the mayor’s as said man is looking at them expectantly. Kichou walks forward, in hopes of finding a souvenir for Naruto and a tea set to remember the journey by. Santa grabs her hand, stopping her in her tracks and whispers in her ear. “Remember this is not actually a vacation caterpillar always be on your guard.” Kichou nods at the ominous message. “Excuse me Kobayashi-dono” Santa-sensei looks truly apologetic but she knows he is most always insincere in these matters. “We are extremely travel-worn, I'm afraid. We promise to visit the gift shop on our way out.” The mayor has a look of pure and utter contempt darkening on his face, before quickly smoothing it over. Kichou tenses under her sensei’s knowing grin “Apologies! Apologies! Where are my manners? It isn't much further.” The mayor walks out from behind the stall and they continue down the mountain path eventually coming to a diverging split. The path veering left heads deeper into the mountain and it’s framed by more red ornate gates faded from their former glory, that snake up the treeline and mountain elevation.
The path to the right has a road marker for the Inunaki’s famous inn and restorative onsen. But that isn’t what immediately catches Kichou’s eye because at the base of the mountain is a singular payphone box. Placed against a stone wall built with two diverging staircases. It seemed out of place, Konoha had them in most households, clunky things that were popular in non-shinobi households but this village didn’t even have cows for butter, maybe they needed a phone if an emergency were to occur. But…There were no phone lines, no telephone poles, or electricity on that side of the street. It shouldn’t be working. And in that box was a little girl in a pink yukata holding a bright red ball and a bright red phone in her little hand pressed to her ear. Quietly giggling as she whispered back into lower proportion.
“Ichika!” The girl startles by dropping the phone from her hands as it dangles by a curly red chord from the box. “I thought I told you it’s not a toy!” The little girl, assuming she was in trouble, runs off into the surrounding forest not bared off by the wall with her red ball bouncing in her wake. The mayor walks briskly to the phonebox and hangs the phone back up. The moment it touches the receiver it begins ringing. The mayor doesn’t turn around to address it, but it’s incessant and pounding in her ears, louder than klaxon sirens. “....um I think someone is calling back, it won’t stop ringing.” Everyone turns to look at her, like she grew a second head.
“Fattie, the phone isn’t ringing…” Sai says gently, an unusual frown on his face.
“Oh haha my bad, I thought it sounded funnier in my head.” Kichou lies easy using her hand to scratch the back of her head. She tries to imitate Naruto hoping to appear like a prankster and mischievous.
The mayor sighs with the tension leaving his body “That was a very poor joke ninja-dono. It hasn't been working for years!” ‘HIII! This place is scary. We need to get out of here!’ Ren cries out. The phone hasn’t stopped ringing if anything gets louder in her mind. Santa-sensei is peering at her with a stern poker face as if considering something. Probably how fast he can send her to the looney bin once they get back to Konoha “My bad! Hahaha~ It’s been a long day. I wasn't thinking clearly. Is this the way to the hotel?” Kichou points to the right path and the mayor nods. She begins running up the stairs two at a time. Hoping to put some distance between her and the ringing telephone that shouldn’t be.
The hostess and proprietress much like the town was waning, Kichou could tell she was once beautiful, but that beauty had faded behind lines of stress and while she wasn’t as anywhere near as thin as the Mayor and the yam seller she was still drowned her embroidered kimono that was frayed at the knees and sleeves like she had spent too much time kneeling or working the inn by herself.
“Welcome to the Inunaki Inn, most honorable guests, I am your host Moriko. My humble self will show you to your rooms so you may freshen up before dinner.” She smiles with lips the color of wild beetroots stained to look like lipstick although it lacked the luster of proper cosmetics probably to bring more color to her pale face. Santa-sensei smiles at her, blooming like white lilies “Thank you Moriko-san, that is most kind. Thank you for your hospitality.” Bowing before her. She returns it with practiced grace. “This way, please.” The mayor was still following them, with a sort of uneasy smile. No one says anything, not even their client. Kichou wishes someone would. They sedately make their way through the halls. All empty, quiet and devoid of other guests. Dimly lit with candles instead of electricity. Ren wouldn’t stop screaming about ‘This is a horror movie. This shit looks so haunted. We should get out now.’
‘Can’t abandon the mission.’ Kichou argues but silently agrees
‘Tea farmer in the land of Tea remember.’
They move to the more lavish part of the hotel, and Kichou spies a banquet hall with place settings for their upcoming dinner. Moriko-san glides by taking them to a series of rooms that empty out into the courtyard. The rooms with the best view.
“The men’s room is here.” Moriko slides the door open for Santa and Sai. It's a nice room with two futons prepared but they both make no move to reside in the dwelling so she quickly closes it with a gentle clack of wood hitting wood.
“This is our best suite for Fujiwara-sama” Moriko opens the door revealing a much nicer room with a tea area and sweeping view of the courtyard. Except there’s a young boy sitting on the porch, wearing a plain gray yukata, with spiky dark brown hair. He exudes a pressure that makes Kichou’s knees quake when he looks over his shoulder with a singular dark dead seemingly staring at her and her alone. Then the boy gets up and walks slovenly towards the left where the perspective of the room ends, not a care in the world. Moriko turns and bows deeply to Fujiwara with her head still turned down. “Apologies Fujiwara-sama, my son Shinzo has been feeling restless lately, he probably wanted to enjoy the courtyard.” The old woman’s blind eyes were still turned to the boy who had disappeared beyond the screen doors. “That’s quite alright. However I wonder if we could take a bath before we get settled in.” Moriko straightens “Of course.” She too closes the sliding door before moving to another room. Walking to an adjoining room, “This will be the girl’s room”
Rin even though she was probably told to be on her best behavior decided she had enough. “No way I’m going to share a room with her!” She’s pointing a finger at Kichou and there was no way she wanted to share a room with Rin either. “...Do you have any vacancies? What are the rates?” Kichou asks tentatively before Santa-sensei decides he too has had enough. “Do not forget you’re on a mission right now you two.” He turns to the hostess who has an anxious smile. “The one room will be fine, Moriko-san.”
Rin huffs crossing her arms over her chest when hasn’t gotten her way.
Moriko smiles as a few strands of black hair fall out of her loose bun, held in place by a cracked bead pin. “This way to the baths.”
The mayor revealed he also stays at the inn during the off-season, when he follows the men to the baths. Santa-sensei quickly covered Sai’s mouth again, before hauling him towards the baths. Kichou tries to put distance between her and other women, choosing the other wall to get undressed. Throwing the clothes, feeling the eyes of the old woman and Rin on her back as she undresses. Shivers run down her spine. The shadows in the corner of the room seem to creep along the wall as Kichou wraps a towel around her back.
The old woman sits next to her on the showering benches betraying all social etiquette when there’s dozens of empty stalls to pick from. Kichou spies Rin directly across from her, catching Rin watching her scrub her skin, her hair is wet and Kichou has draped it over her shoulder. Rin’s eyes seem to narrow at the nape of her neck and her shoulder blades or when her towel loosens and falls too far down. Kichou is quick to correct it, she feels uncomfortable.
“My, what supple skin you have, I would have thought you would have more stretch marks but I see not a blemish in sight. Care to tell this old woman your secret?” Genetics you old bitch.
It was true Akimichi skin had more elasticity, their bodies littered with genetic anomalies to accommodate their bloodline limit, more collagen production in their intestinal tract, larger thyroid, extra adrenal glands, more cortisol, more adrenaline, more hunger hormone ‘ghrelin’, that turn off and on as the needs presents, thicker stomach lining and they had an extra organ where their gallbladder should be, that they only roughly called their chakra bladder. It didn’t actually store chakra but collected the excess byproduct that had collected in their blood stream after burning their adipose fat cells at such an extreme rate, so literally a second bladder that could also filter chakra like a liver. Not that Kichou would say that even if it wasn’t illegal for her to do so. It was one of her ex-clan’s best kept secrets.
“...Suna palm oil.” Kichou lies easily. It was a cheap oil used in a variety of even cheaper cosmetics, as one of their main exports their struggling economy sold it by the gallon.
Rin snorts “Did you learn that from the whores? I never seen you give a shit about skincare.”
The old lady snaps around “Language young lady.”
Rin throws a bucket of hot water on her head and slams it back down with an echoing thunk.
“Well you can keep your secrets. Would you mind washing an old lady's back?” The woman smiles and Kichou’s skin crawls. She wants to violently say no but sensei would probably reprimand her if she upsets their client. Grabbing the lathering soap, Kichou kneels behind the woman and she lets down her own modesty towel. Kichou is aghast when she sees a long gnarly surgical scar that goes from her spine to wrap around her front like her skin had been flayed off and resown.
“Ah sorry, it must be a gruesome sight back there. I have had three spinal surgeries.” Kichou nods hesitantly before lightly applying a soapy rag to her back. Her skin is wrinkled and sagging, gray with age, sun damage and liver spots. She scrubs before eyeing the scar. It’s cracking open with a different skin underneath, younger, firmer skin, white pale youthful flesh. Like another’s flesh was emerging underneath. Kichou doesn’t make any sudden movements, it’s probably another hallucination. She pours a bucket of water Fujiwara’s sudsy back watching more peels of skin flake away, revealing a different back underneath.
“All done, Fujiwara-san!” Kichou says, catching the old woman’s eye in the mirror, who is watching her reaction in the mirror. She looks like a different person, her cheeks sagging unnaturally with gleaming slitted yellow eyes. Snake fangs protruding from her lips where there should be teeth. A tongue flickers long and serpentine between smirking lips before Kichou blinks and she’s back to a normal old woman.
“Thank you dear. I believe it's time for a soak.” Kichou watches as the old woman and Rin go to the onsen area. It was said to restore vision and make things easier to see, only she wanted to see things less. Already making up her mind, she cleans herself silently, harshly scrubbing at her skin.
Dumping cold water on her body she quickly exits back into the dressing room to see that her clothing is gone, even her undergarments and shoes. Replaced with plain gray garments with wrap around ties at her front. She’s heard of onsen yukata but this looks more like a hospital gown .
Kichou needs fresh air and room to breathe before she has a panic attack. Ren is quiet, after all her screaming earlier there’s nothing in her brain guiding her along, no faithful companion, she feels alone in her delusions. She probably shouldn’t leave the inn but she remembers the courtyard off of their adjoining room.
Running footsteps echo down an empty hall as sliding doors rattle in their frames and soft flesh meets pebbled garden.
Kichou breaths.
Her heart rate calmed down. Shadows wobble and a gust of wind rustles the trees. A man, a woman and a girl appear between the trees, bleeding starlight. Not walking but inching forward as if floating toward her. The woman draws her sword, the man grows giant wings of stardust, the girl opens her mouth revealing a gleaming white maw.
They charge and Kichou runs, runs with everything she has. There’s an open gate and a large orange flame, lights twinning up the countryside on the other side of the mountain, where the left path leads.
Kichou finds the path to the staircase falling down in skips steps two at a time before she tumbles, it feels like she’s dying, she’s dying right? If there’s no one there to witness her breaking the law in the forest, is she really breaking it? She makes the seal for the expansion jutsu before morphing into the human tank ball, rolling down the mountain. She comes to the bottom of the staircase with the payphone before she barrels into the wall leading to the left side path. She unfurls on the ground panting for air and life.
A red ball drops and falls by her side. Kichou peers her head up to see the little girl from earlier huddled behind the payphone box terrified.
She licks her dry lips before rolling the ball back to the girl. She grabs it clutching it to her chest before crawling over.
“Ball-nee-chan are…you alright?” she asks from her side. Her pink kimono and short messy bob remind her of lady Momoko.
Kichou nods gasping in pain as her panic attack starts to recede.
“Yeah…-huff- yeah I’m fine….Sorry -huff- for scaring you.” The girl’s face is still scrunched in concern as she Kichou pulls herself up to a sitting position.
Kichou spies the gates and pathway all lined with lit candles. She gives a long exhales through her nose before her breath catches.
“It’s okay…” Ichika says, still looking concerned. “How did you do that ball thing?”
“...Can you keep a secret?” Kichou says, holding a finger to her lips. The girl nods. “I’m actually a ninja.” She whispers quietly and the little girl marvels at that. Before her face drops and she starts rolling the ball across the ground again.
“...Say Ichika?” the girl looks up from rolling the ball to look at her curiously. “What’s up there?” Kichou nods her head to the left side path.
“...It’s the shrine….the adults are praying to Oyaji-san.” An ugly cartoon of a kappa with a red eye pops into her head.
“...The mascot?” The girl flinches, but doesn’t say anything, just continuing to roll the ball back and forth.
The red payphone starts ringing. Kichou does her best to ignore it.
Except the little girl turns her head looking at it before she looks back to her.
“...They don’t wanna talk to me.” Kichou freezes before grabbing the girl’s arm. Acknowledging her delusions.
“Can you hear it too?” The girl winces from her grip. Kichou needs to make sure the girl is real as well.
“Let go…you’re hurting me.” Kichou’s hand flies back. Pain. Real pain.
“....You said they don’t want to talk to you?” The girl nods, tears welling in her eyes.
“Who…who are they?” The phone rings louder, nearly falling off the hook.
“...I don’t know…I thought it was Shinzo.” The girl says pitfully.
“...The hostess’s son?” The girl flinches again.
“That’s not her son.” The world stops. “.....That’s oyaji.” The mountain god.
“W-what do you mean?”
“The adults gave Shinzo to Oyaji because Oyaji put the baby in Moriko’s belly after her husband died, Shinzo was Oyaji’s son. They said he must be returned to him….I miss him.” She rolls the ball back and forth endlessly between her hands.
The girl looks at the payphone again. “You should answer it…”
In a fugue state Kichou walks to payphone her world narrows to a single spotlight on a payphone, she feels like she’s having an out of body experience as someone else’s shaking hand picks up the receiver.
She slides it up to her trembling ear.
“....H-hello?”
Three voices, a cacophony of sound all scream in unison.
“GET OUT”
She falls backward on her ass, propped up on the skin of her palms. The phone dangles from the cord as it goes silent.
Kichou gets up to run.
Sensei’s voice rings out in her mind except he is screaming, blood curdling screams of horror, agony. Interposed with the command to run as fast as she can.
She left them behind.
Sai. Santa….Ami.
Fucking shit hell fuck.
Kichou runs up the stairs leading to the inn four steps at a time.
Shades descend from the trees, an endless repeating pattern of the same 3 figures over and over again, like a line of soldiers, peering down the stone wall casing the stairs.
All point the opposite direction.
‘Look away.’
‘Look away.’
‘LOOK AWAY.’
They whisper with each step she takes.
Never let it be said that Kichou of the Leaf was not the most stubborn shinobi alive and although probably for not much longer.
Kichou finds them seated around the banquet hall, there’s a veritable feast laid before them. Yams cooked in brown sugar and butter, roasted pheasant with nuts, what looks to be wild game simmering in a pot. Fresh white rice and tea, with ripened citrus. It’s too luxurious for them. It was a banquet fit for not a king but a god. A god of this mountain. Her teammates were all wearing hospital gowns except…… Rin.
The boy is sitting at the head of the banquet drinking a cup of tea being served by the mayor and the inn hostess. The old woman was sitting next to her sensei who was splayed out on the floor as Ami and Sai sat tersely at the end of the banquet table, an empty cushion between them.
“...Caterpillar…run” Her sensei grunts out as the old woman's hands flash green touching the small of sensei’s back, he starts screaming bloody murder as he is mangled. Blood pooling from the small of his back.
The boy speaks with a commanding presence although it’s years before he’ll hit puberty his voice not changing with his body. It’s jarring.
“Silence.” Her sensei’s eyes tremble. It’s too late. Kichou wants to turn heel but finds her feet rooted into the ground.
He turns to Kichou. His left eye glowing bright red, concentric spiked circles rotating around a black pupil.
“You. Sit.”
Against her will Kichou jerkily walks forward between Sai and Ami before dropping her body weight and sitting.
Ami shifts. “I did what was asked of me Danzo-sama, I wish to return home now.” ….What?
The boy’s head turns towards Ami before holding up a hand. “No, we shall return to base. You have failed your mission. You were to deliver me team 13. The girl almost ran.”
Ami pleads “BUT SHE CAME BACK?! DANZO-SAMA THIS IS UNFAIR. IT'S ALL HER FAULT! IT’S ALWAYS BEEN HER FAULT! IF FATHER-” Denial shifts on her skin when she realizes Ami has betrayed her team. Has turned them over to the village and a wrathful god. To these bodysnatchers and skinwalkers…
The mayor screams “YOU WILL NOT TALK TO GOD IN SUCH AN INSOLENT MANNER!”
“Silence. I have no more use for you.” A wave of chakra rolls over them, like an avalanche. Ami’s mouth seals shut.
The boy stands and the mayor and his ‘mother’ bow in dogeza before him. He walks straight over the banquet table, with no regard to the food as he ruins a feast that would probably feed the whole village happily for a night. He stands before her. Kichou refuses to look up.
“Look at me.” Her neck snaps upward not out of her own violation but Kichou finds some will to resist as she averts her eyes behind her hair.
The boy reaches down before grabbing her by the hair and pulling, yanking her up by the scalp as his fingers dig into skin.
She trembles watching the shadows in the corner.
“Why could you alone defy me? What is in you? A mutation? Your bloodlines are not enough to defy me but they never were. You were the one anomaly I could never figure out. I assumed you were defective. I said "Look at me!””
Kichou could play with death, she could be bold.
“...Y-you’re not using that eye are you?” The fingers break skin as she said it. Death couldn’t hold her. Kichou smirks as she keeps looking at that corner.
“Y-you need us… to l-look at you. B-but y-you have… something going on with that t-tongue of yours, c-cuz…I-I don’t l-listen for shit.”
The old snake-like woman snickers as the boy becomes enraged and swings her by the hair into the wall that craters behind her from impact. Kichou falls to the floor unable to break the earlier compulsion of sitting down. The boy walks over, peering down at her.
“It no longer matters, I have no use for you in my new world. I cannot remake something that is so imperfect to its core. I will have to dismantle you instead. Congratulations, you can still serve a glorious purpose, I shall reward the undeserving you of this.” Fear overwhelms her mind as Kichou feels the back of her head burst in agony.
“Sai, secure them for transport.” There’s no chakra behind it. No wave of discomfort in the back of her head.
“Hai, Danzo-sama” Sai turns to her, his everlasting grin on his face. Never under compulsion at all.
“Sleep.” Kichou’s eyes close against her will and she prays they will not stay that forever.
Chapter 16
Summary:
Run.
Notes:
TW: Graphic Body horror and depictions of Torture // Character death.
Chapter Text
When Kichou wakes up she stares down, head strapped to a cold metal table as she feels air on her scalp and her bangs are cleared from her vision. Her clothing ties were undone as she was laid bare. They were hospital gowns after all. A searing pain from the sternum to her pelvis as she had been sliced open and gut like a pig for slaughter, skin pinned back to the table, muscles pulled aside and manipulated like a blooming flower, organs exposed. A man with long black hair and yellow slitted eyes is holding her stomach in his hand as he lifts it from her torso.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHH” Kichou convulses off the table.
“Oh dear it seems you have woken up. Your kin has always metabolized anesthesia at an extraordinary rate. Apologies but I can’t administer more, it would degrade the samples.”
A needle thinner and longer than a senbon is slid into the side of her neck, she feels it hit bone and enter her spine fluid. She feels her body still. A paralytic agent. Kichou’s eyes shake as she can still feel everything yet cannot move. Her guts hanging out of her body as he pulls her apart, the way the pins pull and stretch her skin, cold air moving across bare body. Her coils and veins are all still thrumming with life. A breathing mask over her face, keeping her visible lungs inflating. She wants to scream, her mind is wholly consumed by the pain.
The man gently places her stomach back in place before pulling up a chair and grabbing a small book off of his surgical tray. Her book. He has a brush in hand as he scribbles characters in the pages. As casually as one would take notes. ‘ A live dissection’ her mind supplies.
“...Some of his better work to be sure. Although he had better inspiration for this one than his own failed romance. Tales of a Gutsy ninja is a better read, more philosophical thought than the other franchise. Sorry I took it, It caught my eye in intake. I see he’s even signed it” If Kichou could think more than primitive guttural thoughts she would but all she feels in unending agony and disbelief as the man smiles at her like discussing the weather. There’s visible purple chakra pouring from his hands as the ink recedes. He’s sealed something in there. Something in HER book.
He puts the book on the table next to her hand. And leans over her inspecting her organs. “I’ve always been fascinated with Akimichi. They say the four noble clans of Konoha are all descended from the sage. Yet your clan was the only one to retain the body of a god, they may have his eyes or nature, they claim they are the closest to divinity, to raw power but your clan and your clan alone was the only one that was able to retain his yang chakra, his body. The Uzumaki were similar in a way, they too retained their godhood. I’m told you were close to the last one in Konoha. I tried so hard to preserve their population, I even saved a few! It’s a shame I do not have a compatible male for you, the children would be delightfully monstrous, the closet in yang to the sage in eons. I could even make an argument for your continued value.” His eyes shift to her pelvis, her womb is visible, horror fills her very being as she wishes she could bite her tongue. Kichou considers death preferable.
It sounded like he wanted to breed her like livestock. Spit dribbles from her mouth that he wipes away with a soft cloth, and a chuckle like he knew if she had control of her facial muscles she would spit in his face. He frowns at the pooling blood on the cloth, internal hemorrhaging beginning. He suctions away some blood in a long tube as another line is being pumped into her kidneys like a dialysis machine..
“They kept the longevity and healing factor in the diaspora I’m afraid. It’s a shame the red hair did not breed true between your clans. It was an eye-catching mutation.” A green chakra coated hand roves over her chakra bladder. It was filling at an alarming rate, chakra and endorphins were flooding her blood stream and circulatory system, as carbon dioxide and water were left behind. “This on the other hand is fascinating.” He marvels. “A live Akimichi, what a treat. Your kin usually fight to the death. Such stubborn little things. Oyaji was smart to secure your team first, despite all the wasted resources to do so. Tricking that pesky sensor was more trouble than it was worth in my opinion. I would have just killed him. Oyaji thinks he can be repurposed though.” The man scoffs. “You could be repurposed the same, but he-” He freezes momentarily her eyes flick across his form. She can feel her metabolism kick up, the stress, the anger keeping her conscious and alive as her heart still pumps and her stomach is churning chakra. Her fat begins to burn.
“Careful, little one I had to remove some of your largest stockpiles around your abdomen. Don’t burn yourself out.” True to form there’s a table of gelatinous pink and yellow fat with streaks of blue sitting on one of the trays next to her. It was horrifying to see pieces of her outside her body. Dread sits in her exposed chest as she releases that chakra might have bought her an hour or two of life. She was burning on both ends now. “Let's see what's happening up here.” His hand roves over her throat slipping under her double chin clutching her thyroid, enlarged by human standards not for the clan. The naturally butterfly-shaped organs, their organs. Choza-sama called it their second brain, it’s what controlled all these processes and bloodline limit. It’s why they all wore neck guards of some kind, when they got older at least, wiser. Choji just hid his under a scarf while she refused to wear the stylish metal choker Lady Momoko offered her. She desperately regrets it now. She regrets so many things. She never got the chance to apologize. She was going to die alone on this table. Ripped apart so this man could see her body's nervous and chakra regulatory system live. In pure fear.
“So utterly delightful. I never got a macroscopic view, it’s pure poetry. Your body, little giant, is miraculous.” The man says with a glint in his eye watching her eyes writhe in fury and shining hatred at him. Sweat collecting on her brow, as her vision tunnels on just his face.
“I would love to study you further, I hear you’re a rather rare specimen. Ah, what was your name again? Kichou?”
He leans over, a curtain of black hair brushes across her skin, yellow-slitted eyes glinting with curiosity upturning at the corners and smiles with pale waxy lips. “It’s fitting. Ah, I want to keep you so badly.” His fingers play along her ribs before he frowns.
“It is unfortunate Oyaji has ordered your body be collected for samples. Your genealogical makeup has led to perceived imperfections. Your tenketsu are rather small but these coils, oh how I want to wrap myself in these coils.” running a finger up her stomach, tracing one of her exposed coils as he channels chakra into the tip; it feels like shards of glass. A silent scream rips through her. “But your body is large for your age, you haven’t even reached your true pubescent stage either, your kin are always late bloomers. I wonder how much larger you would be if you were not stunted, that barbaric fool I hope he-” His mouth seals shut and his body freezes. Looking frustrated as he taps along the bottom of her ribs. He manipulates her rib cage and pulls her lower ribs open then with a tear pulls the two smallest out with a sickening snap, setting them on the surgical table. Kichou thinks she might die then and there. All to have access to her adrenals, all four of them. Branching like butterflies in her body. Flexing them in his grip as his hand crawls under her ribs. He observes them pumping her body full of hormones to keep her alive. “Your clan used to be giants that roamed the land. Titans. Each generation your kin have gotten smaller and smaller. The blood of the sage grows weaker in your line…..or maybe it’s evolving…..adapting….to a new era. A theory I unfortunately can’t test” The shadows wobble. The long haired man observes the phenomenon. Chuckling like a parent would at a child doing a party trick for attention.
“The nara blood, we have tried artificially crossbreeding your clans before you know, they all usually end in abject failure, stillborns and the like, something in your bloodlines eludes us still. You are truly a one in a million defect. An anomaly that could spur a thousand mutations.” The man sighs melancholy “I’m surprised you haven’t died of shock yet. I wonder if your secondary adrenal glands are preventing it. Then again you resisted all attempts of Oyaji trying to sink his claws into you, the painted ceiling was particularly nasty and broke a number of the artist’s assistants from what I hear. Maybe you yourself are resilient, you could be the key.” He sounds wistful and almost proud. There’s a clicking in her throat as she tries to form words, mind racing. “Astonishing, you are even starting to metabolize the paralytic, I’m afraid once it wears off you will likely experience a heart attack and die.” He seems truly sorrowful at this.
He holds her hand, cold corpse like fingers wrap around hers. Kichou wasn’t sure he was really alive either. “I am truly sorry little one, I cannot disobey my orders. Please do not forgive me.” He unseals his tongue from behind his lips, long and slithering, revealing a long trigram seal that stretches to the back of his throat. It feels wrong, exuding pressure like the boy with the red eye. The snake-like man licks his lips as Kichou realizes to her horror he’s salivating. It stretches endlessly before it licks a trail of tears escaping down the side of her face. He pulls it back with a relish, literally savoring the tears on his tongue. “I wish I could have saved a rare specimen like you.” He caresses her cheek, thumbing the red cheek mark before turning her head to the side. “Do not worry, I take no pleasure in torturing you. I simply needed to bear witness to your pain. I will make the rest quick, it’ll be painless soon as Oyaji also wants your brain.” There’s large jars of bubbling green liquid on the table next to her. Waiting to receive.
True unending fear grips her. She doesn’t want to die. SHE DOESN’T WANT TO DIE! She begins to squirm feeling her muscles like jelly but still responsive.
He grabs a scalpel from the table tray. Grabbing her chin holding it tight, he moves the blade across her temple, flaying her skin from her forehead to behind her ear, creating a flap, leaking blood along the cut. The man stops suddenly and her eyes shake at him, filled with fury and confusion.
He turns his head to the direction of the lab door.
“It seems you are a rather lucky little one, I wonder if you will deliver a message for me, to our mutual friend. Oyaji’s body is not yet perfect, still just a monster masquerading as a god, he needs more samples to achieve divinity. He must not get them, do you understand? Protect the noble clans, protect yourself. Do not let me see you alive again little giant, I will not let you slip from my fingers a second time when you’re this interesting.” He prepares a syringe of green fluid, taping the base to remove any air bubbles before he stabs it into her thigh and plunges. It feels like her veins are on fire and her heart races. The book is placed under her twitching fingers, as the restraints come undone of their own accord. The man stands stock still over her smiling as she hears it. The door bursts open.
“MIND TRANSFER NO JUTSU!”
He slumps over and blinks.
The man’s tone and intonation changes. “...Shit.” Fingers move to the side of her neck, checking her pulse to see if she is still alive. Sai approaches the table, carrying the body of their Sensei on his back. “...Is she…dead?” Tears are welling in his eyes. Her eyes flick to him. “.....F-fuck n-no...hurtss t-too m-m-much” Blood drips from her mouth, spraying in flecks off of her teeth. A smile returns to Sai’s lips as he wipes the specks of her blood from his face.
“She’s probably only propped up on adrenaline and whatever they gave her. Caterpillar, we don’t have much time. We have to move. Forgive me”
Her sensei puppetting the man shoves her organs back into her body trying to tuck it back into the folds of her unpinned skin, suturing torn muscles stapling them to her abdominal wall as best he can with the same glowing green hands that masterfully pulled her apart, now cluelessly putting her back together. Removing the needled tubes from her kidneys in the process.
“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH”
“Sai put something between her teeth. I don't want her biting her tongue.” Sai nods, grabbing his kunai pouch and pulling down the breathing mask and her jaw placing the handle of a kunai between her teeth.
Her sensei’s hands glow green “I only know how to stitch you up, you can kick my ass when we get you to a hospital.” It sounds hopeful, like they can actually make it to the hospital. Like she will actually live to make it to the hospital. Kichou will die before she sees her home again.
He sutures her skin shut but she can still feel everything loose, the fat and connective tissue peeled back and not in the right place .
The man who is not their sensei tries to move her off the table and she feels blood drip from the seams dribbling down her pants, unable to bear the weight. He ties the front of her clothing closed methodically, wrapping it extra tight, she can’t really feel shame in this scenario, her teammates have seen her naked, it seems like a post adrenaline thing to process. Kichou holds her stomach, praying it will stay on the inside of her body. She sees her book on the table still and with shaking arms slides it down her shirt. If they have any thoughts about it, they don’t say anything.
Sai is drawing an ink summon with his calligraphy set on the floor, and a lion appears before them. Her-not-sensei picks her up and she screams bloody murder unable to stand the pain. He places her gently on its back, trying to stabilize her.
“Ssshhh ssshhh, I know caterpillar I know. Listen you have to run far from here. I don’t have much more time left in this body.”
Sai nods before he slides her on the lion's hips holding her in place as he carefully positions her head onto his chest, Their sensei’s original body is held in place with ninja wire. The lion bursts forward as they make their escape. The last thing she sees is a man with black hair and slitted yellow eyes smiling at her. Why did this feel like goodbye?
The lion moves fast and decisively down the halls. Sensei still hasn’t returned to his body. Kichou worries he never will. The location is dark, lit by candles and tiled with swirling lines meant to boggle the eye, trapping you in; they pass cells, as Sai seems to have a path in mind before stopping suddenly.
“W-whats w-ron-?” Blood dribbles down her mouth as her tongue rolls off the paralytic agent, she can feel herself sweat as her body is burning fat to maintain her adrenaline not knowing that her organs are already damaged and only causing her to hemorrhage out faster. Her chakra bladder hurts like really fucking hurts but then again everything does.
“Don’t talk, you’ll bleed out.” He adjusts her in his arms.”I know the exit but I don’t know if there are guards. We cannot afford a conflict. I hope sensei returns to his body soon, we got lucky in that...” He whispers in her ear and she’s never heard Sai so stressed before, he still freezes unexpectedly as he suddenly looks like pain is wracking through his body. “Orochimaru is most certainly a higher risk though and once sensei leaves his body we will have to move regardless. This might be hopeless.”
“B-book it. I c-can make t-time. Just-” she coughs, blood pouring out. “L-leave me. I w-won’t make it” Sai stills underneath her body before holding her tighter. The lion lurches forward “I thought I told you to shut up, fattie.” Whatever decision he’s made he sounds resolute. As they make their way further into the compound, not trying to fight their way out.
The cell doors are thicker here. Reinforced with small caged windows and what looks like feeding slots. Sai is peering through bars, the prisoners either ignoring them or howling that they’ll tear Sai to shreds. They seem to think he’s a warden of some sort as their limp bodies hang from the back of a lion. He’s looking for one prisoner in particular it seems as he makes his way through another block. Sai peers between the bars and immediately turns to look through the next one. The lion hugging the far wall away from the cages hiding in the dim spots of the candle light.
“....S-sai?” …It’s Ami’s voice.
Her hands wrap around the bars and a head of purple hair and a desperate face peers through the bars.
“Sai! Let me out! Hurry, he’s going to wake up soon. Please!”
She’s crying, desperate but Sai gives no indication of stopping.
“...S-sai, what a-are you doin-” Sai immediately turns and puts a finger to his lips motioning for her to be quiet. Kichou does not listen, huffing while looking at Ami’s face, worse than on that day in the Hokage tower.
“Sai” Ami wails desperate and heady. Tears and snot running down her face in legitimate fear and anguish. “Save me…please…Sai.”
Sai keeps walking the lion following behind.
“W-ait…save h-her.” Kichou huffs out, she feels hot now like lava pumping into her veins.
“I can not carry all 3 of you.” He says with brutal honesty. “She is not necessary for our survival. And I cannot fight the monster in there and protect you and sensei.”
Ruthless and callous. His worst traits were amplified on display.
“T-then leave m-me. -cough- I’m a g-goner anyways. S-save her instead. Please Sai…Please” Ami screams behind the door, something...... “him” has woken up probably due to her wailing.
It sounds like she is being mauled to death. Flesh tearing, and violence as her screams rake over Kichou’s mind. Gripping to her psyche, something she thinks she can never forget. Blood sprays outwards of the bar window. As small arms outstretched from the bars, trying to claw at air before a giant red hand rips it back, ‘your children will be delightfully monstrous’ tearing the arm from its socket. She’s….being eaten alive.
She watches the cell as a white knuckled hand slips from the bars and the screaming fades. The crunching of bones echoing off of chamber walls in its absence.
Sai soldiers on.
“She was already dead, fattie. The moment we left the village. Maybe even years before. She chose her survival over ours, countless times, I would not feel guilty.” Hot tears roll off the top of her face and down her cheeks, as she realizes her teammate, the annoying girl who was so formative to her life, was dead in this den of monsters.
He rolls a finger over her cheeks “She is not worth your tears, stop crying. You have to conserve your strength for the journey home. Kichou, please listen to me. I’m going to get you out of here.” He sounds so desperate, it is then she realizes Sai has never called her by her given name before.
They move to another cell block before Sai finally sees the prisoner he is looking for. He pulls a key from his pouch and opens the cell. Inside all Kichou can see is overwhelming darkness and washes of black, white and red paint. Brushstrokes of harsh lines and powerful aggression dance about the cell before Sai pulls a woman out, pale like him with orange hair and a braid. Fingers dyed black, and white smudges on her hospital patient clothes. A palette in her arms.
He hands her a spare calligraphy brush which she takes in shaking hands and wields it like a knife and not a tool designed for creation. The woman steps closer to the lion. Peering down at Kichou’s face, instinctually Kichou’s eyes flinch away, and the stress lines and frown lessen on the woman’s face. Recognition dawning. She clutches a palate of dried paint.
“She is?! It worked then.” Sai nods before the woman has a look of determination on her face. Sai rushes forward. The woman stumbling after him, brush held straight forward like a sword. A paint palette on her arm like a shield. The lion bounds behind.
The were guards, were, being the operative word as the woman weaves powerful genjutsu with a flick of a paintbrush. Brushstrokes hanging in the air that interweave with Sai’s ink summons in near perfect harmony. They leave a trail of enemies in their wake trapped in a living hell or dead from heart attacks as they clutch their hammering chests, faceless masks from a nightmare long time ago. The man above her crib. It dawns on her.
The tunnels peter out into light ended exits as they run towards it and find a lush forest around them. They weren’t that far from Konohagakure. Sai is sweating, exhaustion clearly evident on his face. He pulls a little black orb ‘ a soldier pill’ from a special pouch on his jacket where he usually keeps brushes and pops one with his mouth with a decisive crunch. He unfurls 4 scrolls setting to work to draw the largest hawk ink summon she’s ever seen from him.
“S-sai-san is it really alright?” The woman clutches the brushes to her chest as if she hasn’t helped them escape by the skin of their teeth.
Sai doesn’t even look up as he responds too focused on his task. “Your uncle has already been executed for his involvement with Danzo.” Instead of falling in the depths of despair like one would expect she has a look of hopeful relief on her face. “The Akimichi are forgiving, if we get Fattie home alive then I’m sure you’ll receive a full pardon. Grab her quickly, try to keep her stabilized. I cannot maintain both summons.” The woman slides her arms under Kichou’s and pulls with her full body weight pulling them both to the ground. Kichou feels her body quake and muscles contract painfully, fraying down her center.
“AAAHHHHHHHHHHH” She wails painfully leaving a smear of blood and crushed grass behind her.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” The woman whispers crying over in her ear over and over as she shakily drags them to the downturn wings of the hawk. Sai is carrying their sensei behind them, concerned Kichou can tell that he still hasn’t returned to his body. All four of them settle onto the hawk before taking off with a powerful gust of wings.
Wind whips around her face as shivers rack her spine, the adrenaline is wearing off. The cold jet stream bathing her body does not help. A shiver becomes a violent convulsion as the woman tries desperately to hold onto her. As her mouth fills with blood that she can not control. “What’s wrong with her?!” The woman cries out desperate. Sai cannot turn as he pours his already exhausted chakra into the bird.
“...She’s going into shock. Turn her on her side or she’ll choke on her blood.” Sensei’s hair has been shorn short in almost a military-esque haircut, like all individuality has been robbed from him. Not that her actually skin-bald head was better. He sounds exhausted, truly exhausted. He held back the man in the lab from them. Orochimaru . Sanin of legend. He stitched her broken body back together, no matter how badly. Just so she could escape with them. Sensei drags his body over to her. Before pulling pills from his flank jacket, a box of three, red green and yellow and the mud color of a blood replenishing pill.
Oh no. no. no. no. no. Kichou knows what he plans to do. How badly it will hurt. She can’t handle it. He wraps his body to hers binding their legs together, before embracing the woman and binding an arm to her torso. It confuses her. He pushes Kichou onto her side, forcing her to nestled between the woman’s knees. Sensei forces her mouth open. Blood pours out onto the wind, fingers find her way into her mouth that she bites with an involuntary convulsion as the green pill and blood replenishing break between her teeth. Her body flairs to life as it burns everything in her. Thrumming with yang chakra as her all of her organs sing and spasm. Blood is filling her abdomen, the blood replenishing pill working as they race against organ failure.
A speck of the Hokage mountain looms far off into the distance. She won’t make it.
“Sensei!” Sai cries out. Warning clear in his desperation not to do whatever he’s planning
He only grins. “You’re not dying on me today Caterpillar. I have yet to see you bloom, I’m too invested at this point!”
“HOLD HER STILL I CAN’T MISS!” He yells air whipping around them. The woman tightens her clutch on her seizing body.
“MIND TRANSFER NO JUTSU!”
Deformed wings flair from their back. As her sensei bares her pain for her.
Chapter 17
Summary:
Santa in Yearningland.
Notes:
I didn't want this chapter with the others, so it'll be relatively shorter than the rest.
Chapter Text
There’s a third presence in the back of Caterpillar’s mind. Something faint and weary. Santa has seen it before another ID or Ego fragmented from the mind by trauma, not uncommon in Ninja but rare. It’s honestly not surprising Kichou has one. But there’s no distinction between the two; they feel the same. Santa feels the same skittishness, the same self doubt. He tracks it down as the kid's mind sleeps from exhaustion.
Her body is suffering, in absolute agony but her mind remains strong. Santa is multitasking as he fills her body full of water and life saving medicine, trying to buy her time. Choza and Shikaku-sama had given him a veritable pharmacy to carry for her, even giving him the three colored pills. Staving off shock as he works through the pain. He should have slapped that belly fat back in like whale blubber for her to burn but his anatomy was lacking, he had no idea if that would help or kill her. Momoko-sama will kill him for sure for not securing a medical nin as their third.
He’ll request one in training as a replacement for ‘That disappointment’ Despite Obata’s claims the one always being unworthy of the team was Kichou and not the other way around. She was an average student with little to no potential and a dominating personality. He had tried to work with her, knock her down, break her, so he could fix that nasty personality ‘jealousy, pettiness, vanity’ were fine, her ‘inferiority complex' and emotional immaturity were not. Santa was sure now she had undiagnosed obsessive compulsive tendencies, noticed the pulled angry skin under fresh manicures and missing hair hidden by hair accessories, artfully pulled back. Noticed her rapid deterioration, he had offered help, private training, offered countless outs from both the team and this profession when that didn’t work. But instead she went running to daddy who just as quickly sold his daughter down the river as she did her team .
No, Santa decides. He should have replaced her from the start. Found a better balance for his students who wished to be fixed, even though they relapsed and regressed, in the end they never abandoned their comrades even though they faced certain death, the will of fire burning brightly within them, the worthy ones. He couldn’t wait to crack Obata senior in T&I, and inflict half the pain he and his students were going through.
He wanders Kichou’s mind, shamelessly rifling through memories and thoughts, working through her pain. Santa wanders her mental landscape an exciting and terrifying mix of tranquility and patched together landforms buzzing with eccentricity. The main form being a verdant glade at the bottom of a vast valley. Studded by two stone statues not of Konoha’s founders but of Choza-sama and his Brother Chouten. Pedestals. Reverence. Mountains. Giants. Posed like Jizo statues, freckled with moss and giant yellow butterflies that jiggle like pudding, patterns streaked with caramel sauce on wings. Flowing bubbly rivers of hot green tea, pebbled by mochi banks run between them. The soil, like sweet beans and cocoa powder. There’s a shade on the edge of the river, the split personality, that’s playfully balancing along the mochi river bank, hoping with each step. It’s wearing different clothes, a long skirt and a sailor’s uniform bouncing in silhouette. It turns its head, and runs clearly scared by his presence, hiding in the passing shade of clouds.
Fluffy clouds the color of festival cotton candy, pastel and soft sweetly drift overhead converging over a mass in the valley breaking shadow over a world of black and white. The land shifts into a black lacquered Shogi board. The pieces, pressed granular sugar work pure white that matching white jade deer push with their noses, licking them like salt licks towards the center of the board. Like little shogi players.
A woman made of pressed pure sugar of natural white and dyed black sits in an elaborate kimono in the center of the board. She is beautiful but only has one large black-dyed eye. A queen representative of Shizuki-san, Kichou’s mother. Santa touches the figure curious as to the disfigurement smiling at the memory of the woman pressing her head against her infant daughter. Giggling as her eyes shifted into one. Raspberries blown onto her stomach, and wiggling fingers tickle his belly. It’s rare to have such vivid memories from early infancy. She might have been maintaining them, and isn’t that a terrifying thought. She was aware about this place, endlessly cultivating it.
Santa startles pulling from the memory when the sugar sculpture moves and blinks her eye playfully like one would wink. She draws a sword, Santa thinks it will try to attack him but the figure points to the retreating figure of the shade escaping further into the landscape. Before becoming a sugar statue again. There’s a sound of rushing water beneath the land before Santa realizes it’s a bridge. He walks from the board and follows the tea river that grows hot with steam before pooling out to a lake of boiling ramen. It’s filled with literal Naruto that swirl around by the dozens, each likely a fond memory rather than a singular complex representation.
A red horned toad with green spots sits atop an energetically swirling giggling fish cake lily pad, croaking in mirth as it scribbles in an orange book, blowing kisses to noodle sirens that laze like seals on the fishcake lily pads. Santa knows she had met Jiraiya, the report was the highlight of the tower for weeks, and it marked the beginning of her Icha Icha addiction. A monkey wearing a hokage hat, smoking from a pipe, sits on the edge relaxing like monkeys are known to do around hot springs. The water breaks Santa’s eyes drawn to a tea-egg dolphin with a eggshell-stained scar over its bottlenose emerges sporadically flipping naruto pads with its tail and angrily spraying erupting yoke from its blowhole as it squeaks in reprimand. Santa spies a small snapping turtle made of seaweed and thick konbu eyebrows swimming laps furiously around the lake, leaving large wakes behind as he stirs the broth like a whirlpool. ‘So he made an impression after all’ It’s all so whimsical, so childish he has to choke back giddy laughter as he realizes her landscape is a pure fantasy land. The shade is kicking her feet in the broth water before it spots him and runs off towards an undulating scroll road.
They have passed Konoha borders, the sensor unit will catch their trail soon. Anbu will intercept. They were somewhere close by. Sound country hiding like rats in Konoha’s carved out borders was so Danzo-esque. With a shaking hand Santa chews another blood replenishing pill downing it with another canteen of water he has stored on his body. Santa presses the book caterpillar stashed into her shirt against her gut feeling blood congeal on the back cover trying to create a pressure seal. Sai is shaking from exhaustion, he won’t be able to hold out much longer. Neither will she, organ failure was a real possibility soon.
The woman that Sai freed is clutching them tightly to her body. He sees the beacon flair in warning. Ally or foe? You’re approaching too fast. Santa rifles through one of his pockets before finding the emergency flare. With Kichou’s hands he pulls the cord on the firework letting the bright red flair respond. A black and green flair respond in turn.
“SAI KEEP IT UP! ANBU AND MEDICS ARE ON THE APPROACH!” Wind wipes around their heads.
“YES SENSEI!” Sai was a testament to the success of Team 13, he was so broken when he came to the Yamanaka compound. So afraid that Danzo would return from the dead and steal his brother Shin, steal his smile, his friends. Waking up every night in terror. Yet he confronted it so valiantly when it came true. Posing as a still loyal agent of Root, using his old master’s own arrogance against Danzo. Who launched a daring rescue on their behalf. Disabling the root agents trying to recondition Santa and facing off against Orochimaru the Sanin to stop caterpillars' live dissection. Inochi-sama was truly a miracle worker.
He tactically freed a key part of their escape, a woman who he suspects is the missing Kurama clan heiress renowned for her powerful genjutsu. Probably sold to the greedy war vulture by her equally greedy uncle. Something Danzo looked down on despite his propensity of stealing Uchiha eyes. Something all Root members are susceptible to, by design. Danzo’s glorious plan backfires against them.
Sai who is now pushing his body to its limit because of Santa’s own incompetence. If only he had seen the sensor dampeners in the mountain distance, the fucking genjutsu tunnel, if only he could see through Orochimaru’s agent’s disguise, if only he had known Rin had fallen. Santa had gotten arrogant, he overly relied on being able to see everything coming, that he never suspected sabotage under his nose. Kichou saw it though, Santa should have listened to her apparent discomfort. Kichou didn’t trust her gut, didn’t trust her sensei either. He couldn’t blame her.
Santa retreats back into her mindscape. The noodle sirens, likely a representation of the girl's neighbors, are trying to beckon him into the boiling broth, to almost certain death, strangling him with kombu and noodle reeds below. He waves them off to see their pouting forms swim back into the spiraling noodles. There was no chashu in the ramen, no meat. There was a person in Kichou’s life that he could see slotting in that role so perfectly. But saw no hide nor hair of the boy. Or the shade for that matter. It strikes him as wrong, a gut instinct. He wanders from the lakeside before finding the scroll road the shade ran off on, torn and tattered angry with revisions before ultimately going blank, Santa frowns. This was likely her feelings towards her seal work. Out of the corner of his eye, a nimble white rabbit made of mochi dipped in sugary soy sauce leaves footprints on the paper as it bounces down the road, on it’s back a stick worn like a sword. That must be Sai, Santa thinks.
Glad to know Sai’s feelings of friendship were reflected here. He follows the road further, it’s lined with pulled sugar work lilies the same color of his hair, entranced by their beauty Santa touches a petal watching it bloom, his own face is reflected back, smiling as he challenges Kichou’s thinking. His student thinks he’s pretty, sadistic, and… right. A smile like blooming lilies. He touched another flower, as she reflected on her mistake that he forced her to see. Like a proper teacher. She saw him in such a positive light. He had always thought Kichou disliked him, couldn’t see what he was trying to do with that thick skull of hers. But this was…..dozens of sugar lilies glistened like crystals, refracting soft sunlight, stretching reflections of the environment as she was forced to rethink her perspective, tinkering like windchimes on the wind. He was…wrong. He didn’t deserve these.
He hears a ripping noise and a pitiful cry. His head whips around when he sees a paper doll, crudely colored in cosmetics crayons carrying a large pair of crooked scissors. It’s a spiteful thing that is cutting everything, the road, the flowers, itself, in its wake. It cries pitifully before it tries to attack Santa with its scissors, focused on his long hair making snapping motion at the end of his ponytail. He narrows his eyes. It was ‘ the disappointment. ’ It looked too pitiful, while it actively wreaked havoc in Kichou’s mindscape. Kichou only ever felt pity for the girl, when she shouldn’t. A fond memory still toxic to her well being.
The doll cries and whines when it cannot cut him, like he should allow it; it grates on his nerves. He wrestles the scissors from it breaking them in half, before it curls in onto itself, sobbing. He hands the broken scissors to the watching rabbit who stands on its hind legs and salutes. Wielding it like Sai would his sword in the physical world. Cutting the roll of paper that was once a fond memory of Obata Rin in half ‘a spray of blood, hands outreaching, calling for Sai pitfully before silence and the sounds of crunching bones’ so that’s how she died . Santa looks at the pitiful paper doll, flat and two dimensional, cut to ribbons, trying to patch itself together before the mochi rabbit huffs, stamping it away with its sticky rabbit feet. The bunny thanks him by bouncing in a pattern drawing arrows with directions in soy sauce footprints. It leads to Choza-samas statue looming in the distance.
The bunny smiles and bounds off.
“You need to release her mind.”
“She’ll die if I do!” Santa argues using Kichou’s voice. They are on the way to the hospital now.
“I won’t release it until she can be put in a medically induced coma!” The medical nin shakes his head.
“She won’t make it to the hospital before you die of chakra exhaustion! Your odds of survival are astronomical compared to hers, even then you may never walk again! Let me do my job!” Santa refuses.
“Then let me do mine as her sensei! We are getting her to the hospital! End of discussion!”
Santa retreats before they can argue back. He’s still looking for the split personality. The shade. He’s on the other end of the valley now, under Choza-sama’s statue. There’s a kokeshi doll made of peaches with leaf hair sitting on the statue's feet. Lady Momoko.
“Ara ara~ a visitor to the yearnland.” It spoke like her too. It was a sentry, designed to protect the deeper parts of Kichou’s mind. No one has stopped him or even acknowledged his presence unless he intervened, it was concerning. It jumps down before hoping in front of him like a child moving a peg across the floor.
“Momo spies with her little eye an invader~.” Speaking sharply the sentry brings a pink sleeve to her mouth, it’s evaluating him.
“...but a helpful one, the cute little caterpillar is slumbering. You may not like what you find below once you leave the land of yearning. Do you still wish to proceed, invader-chan?”
This was only a surface level. Santa marvels at the complexity of his students' minds. He saw no other sentries because this was only the first layer.
He nods before the kokeshi doll smiles sweetly, and jumps between Choza’s feet revealing a staircase and smoke. The smell of wafting meat. It’s hot as Santa descends the academy stairs seeing boiling pools of lava and little oni rolling barrels down the stairs labeled oil. The shade sits on a staircase landing. She is missing on shoe, her hair cut into a short black bob is leaking white. “HEY! WAIT!” Santa calls wishing to talk to it, the stairs stretch and elongate before he’s moved forcibly back and away from it, the landscape literally shifting to keep him out. “I SAID WAIT GODDMANIT” but it startles, looking at him and flees down the spiraling case. At the bottom was a Barbeque shop with an ironic shop sign that read Temperance. The grease sticking to his skin. It’s massive.
Santa pushes open the door with his dwarfing stature before bouncing up to the table using dream logic and is greeted by the sight of a giant blue skinned Akimichi Choji dressed like a prince complete with a crown and painted on beard as he orders the oni to stoak the charcoal flames, roasting large slices of ruby red and tantalizing meat. That he doles out like the King of the grill but also a ruler of hell, to grateful and gluttonous oni. On his shoulder a gray pineapple that Santa snorts at. There’s a red skinned oni with one horn breaking through a bob that sticks up in the back that is Santa’s size wielding a giant Uchiha-mon fan, fanning the flames on the prince's orders, breathing fire across the coals in katon. There’s a crack from the rock ceiling and leaking dark amber brother drips onto the grill next to him as Santa realizes they are above the boiling ramen lake and flowing tea rivers. A cauldron. Santa ducks behind the sauce condiments when the prince turns his way. He’s pretty sure it’s this tiers sentry.
The shade is there, except smaller and younger, sitting on a too large chair doing homework showing the papers to an invisible presence next to her, talking animatedly. It pauses, the oni prince puts a piece of perfectly cooked meat in front of her, urging her to eat it, before the shade wrinkles away and slides under the table. The prince rumbles in discontent of his offering being denied before picking up the sizzling meat slice and dropping it into his awaiting mouth. He pats his stomach content “DELICIOUS! MORE PLEASE AND THANK YOU!” The oni are all bustling around Santa to serve the prince’s wishes, with platters of meat and barrels of oil.
Santa ducks under the table looking for the shade, afraid of getting caught but also looking for it. There’s a pink oni with buns operating the bellows of the grill, jumping on handles twice her size below. Blowing smoke and air. Tiny but powerful. As she shovels charcoal into the furnace but the pile is dwindling to her grumbling concern. Tenten works in her father’s blacksmith shop from her recollection, she always struck her as helpful even when Santa wished she wouldn’t help Kichou, that she would apologize and return home to the Akimichi compound when she got uncomfortable enough, when her real hunger gnawed at her stomach making her realize she needed to be raised still, it was okay to be dependant.
“Have you seen a shade around here?” He asks.
The girl doesn’t stop operating the bellows. “A shade? Shade? No, I don't think so. Do you mean maybe a faceless?”
Santa’s eyebrows furrow “I don’t think so, what's a faceless?”
The pink oni explains. “A faceless, is someone the caterpillar can’t see, they hide in the tree roots,and attack us. The barbeque can’t get wood for the charcoal with them around. We haven’t gotten any wood in days. Mou~ They are such a pain!”
A fire goes out and the table rumbles with discontent. The pink oni says “Uh oh.” before running off. The prince is moving underneath the table to check on the grill below.
“Interloper!” The prince spots him, leaning down and peering at Santa with large eyes. Santa feels himself tense expecting to be forcefully ejected from the mind as what is likely a sentry speaks to him. “Can I ask a favor?” The Prince smiles, before breaking off a small piece of meat for Santa and putting the rest of the slice in his own mouth. Santa humbly takes it, greasy barbeque exploding over his tongue. This is how Kichou tastes barbeque. She probably hates it as Santa chews rubber, bland and flavorless, swallowing with acid.
“Yes, your majesty?” Santa clears his throat. He’s never heard of an Akimichi not liking grilled meat before. The prince waves him off with a tight shake of his head. “No. No, call me Choji, interloper. This is an emergency! We have run out of charcoal for the grill! My kingdom of will perish if we do not balance the sadness of this world” The prince holds out a palm which Santa climbs on. Placing him on a table that blends into a dirt road that stretches forlornly out into the distance. “Please steal some branches from the dead tree oh and don’t wake the caterpillar she’s sleeping! She needs her rest.” Kichou is there. Santa nods before eyeing the forest devoid of color and life. A stark contrast to the colorful explosion above.
“She’s flatlining, Yamanaka! Let go!”
“THEN FUCKING RESUSCITATE HER! Her mind is still holding strong!”
Santa can feel her heart slowing as he clutches it. The aftermath of a heart attack, it felt like four of her clansmen were sitting on her chest, he would keep breathing for her. The poison from the spinach pill is working its way through her system. All her reserves are empty as Santa exhausted everything to get her here, little more muscle and bone. They are almost to the operating room, they are so close. Sai has long since been carted away for chakra exhaustion. His own body was on a stretcher being prepared for spine surgery.
He grabs the yelling Medical-nin by the front of his shirt and brings him close.
“I ALREADY TOLD YOU I’M NOT LEAVING UNTIL LIGHTS GO OUT! SO SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GET THE PADDLES READY!” Yamanaka weren’t known for being nice.
The medical-nin swears before cutting the shirt from his student’s body. The surgeon moves to peel the book back, stuck to the worst of Santa’s hack job but Kichou’s hand stops him, grabbing his wrist.
“I HAVE TO SEE!” The medic screams.
“THAT ISN’T ME!” Santa panics “It’s her!”
Santa is forcefully pulled back into Kichou’s mind. The forest dark and dreary rumbles before him. Faceless figures, a man with silver hair, a round woman, another version of Obata Ami spring from the roots like scattering cockroaches as they save themselves. The space collapses in itself, the path folding as a giant dead tree comes to him and not the other way around.Then more bone-chillingly, a faceless Shimura Danzo in his old form stands in the middle of the path before Santa is pushed through and the man’s form, evaporating into dark mist around him. The tree looms before Santa. It’s horrible and dying, with creeping roots, a dead hollow and graying bark devoid of life and leaves. Except among its dead twisted branches is a bright blue pupa, chrysalis cut open and leaking luminous blood. ‘The caterpillar is slumbering’
She had forcefully been woken up. The sac bursts open in rocketing streams of blood and Kichou, translucent, is little more visceral goo than flesh and skin. Her organs, veins, and bones on full display as she falls to the forest floor in a puddling heap, twisted and deformed. She isn’t done gestating, she needs more time. He’ll get her more. His student twitches as she addresses him.
“...Sensei”
She sounds so weak as the world collapses behind him in a gnawing void. The lights are going out. Panic sets in for Santa. He’ll be forcefully ejected soon.
“book…important…the toad…. Promise…” Her form is melting before him. As her wings begin to wither and her body shivers in the cold air. He covers her in his flax jacket trying to form a skin around her.
Santa watches as the ground shakes as a mighty statue of Choza-sama breaks through the layer of her mind. Shattering the sky revealing the top layer with the peering faces of all the denizens. Crushing the tree under a mighty palm now cast in glittering sunlight. The wood splinters, as her cocoon falls, now within reach.
He smiles, reinforcements are arriving.
Choza-sama is leading a charge of doctors including a fully surgery-gowned Lady Momoko the premier expert on Akimichi physiology and Shikaku-sama. The man slips an unknown regent in Kichou’s hands which Santa gratefully takes. “It’s an experimental medicine that'll counteract the effects of the spinach pill! Hurry, Santa!” Santa downs it without hesitation, feeling relief as the pain lessens. “Save the book! She says it’s important! She needs Jiraiya!” Choza fishes the book out of the biohazard burn pile and nods.
The shade is there in the mental landscape. Kneeling by Kichou’s side, trying to hold her hand but phasing through. Neither solid enough to touch. Nearly identical. Her shadow.
“I cannot carry her here, I could never come to this place before, we could only help from afar… You have to put her back into the cocoon…before the snake smells her” From the burrow of the broken tree a gigantic white snake slithers, body wrapping around the broken tree, tongue tasting the air as his student congeals on the forest floor. Fear of Orochimaru. Of being devoured. Its yellow eyes gleam from the dark but do not move.
“As far as epic quests go, that’s easy enough” The dream logic of it all fits her rich fantasy world.
Santa nods, scooping up his student in her arms. Cradling her like a babe. The shade walks alongside him.
“...What are you?” He asks pensively.
“I am her, she is me. But not. She is braver, can stand in the sun. Just as alone. But not. She lets me hide in her shade. We keep each other company. She shares her world, so I share mine, she shares her mind, so I share mine.”
“Two heads better than one, huh?” The shade, the split personality smiles at him. A silhouette in pale moonlight. Nodding at his statement.
“She’s worried she’s crazy. I think that’s my fault. My expectations are different from her reality. It’s always been that way. I was trying to protect her but I did so much damage in the long run. I need to change.”
Santa kneels before the cocoon, sliding his student into its cradling embrace, trying to reform the fragile broken vessel.
Warm, soft, floating. They got her into surgery. Into rest and a rejuvenate state.
She’ll be okay.
Santa feels himself let go, returning to his own body sedated and in surgery. Watching the shade hug the cocoon filling the cracks.
“We’ll work on it.”
Chapter 18
Summary:
A New Era.
Notes:
TW: Graphic depictions of surgery.
Chapter Text
Sarutobi looks towards the face of his successor, staring out the window. He’s much too old for this. All the Jounin of Leaf had been gathered, the news having broke that Danzo was in fact alive with a powerful new dojutsu in a brand new body had many of the upper echelons of his ranks rioting.
He was too old, too brittle, to wage battle with a reincarnated madman and his old student. He needed to name a new successor.
He ashes his pipe as they all murmur amongst themselves. The Hokage holds a hand in the air as a hush descends.
“I have called you all here today, to announce I am once again resigning from my position as Hokage. It is time for a new era for the Village of the Leaf and mine has long since came to an end. I hereby nominate Uchiha Itachi as my successor. All in favor, raise your hand and let your support be known.”
The air becomes electric as a near unanimous decision has been reached, the current advisors notwithstanding.
Kichou died on the table, Momoko is hiding from her husband and child as they hover over her medically comatose body. She’s in the hospital's smoking area, trying to light a cigarette with a shaking hand cursing at her own inability to get the lighter working. Her hands are clean but she can still feel her fingers slick with her daughter’s blood.
“Here” Shikaku takes the lighter from her hands and holds it steady to her gratefully awaiting cigarette. She hasn’t smoked since the war but she remembers the girl who she loved like a daughter dying on that table. How she held her breath watching them defibrillate her, watch her chest convulse off the table, how they had to pump her with epinephrine when they found a heartbeat. Momoko could only think about how that would fuck up her calicum deficiencies and destroy her metabolism but there wasn’t a suitable alternative, after Kichou experienced a near fatal second heart attack that day.
How Momoko couldn’t breathe when she and a whole team of surgeons had rearranged all her organs, muscles and circulatory systems. Everything touched and bruised with fingerprints, defiled, praying that they were still functioning after the stress they were put under. Documenting oddities like missing ribs, needle marks, skin flaps when Akimichi skin always bounced back and core sample marks where they stole fat deposits like they were sampling livestock. Momoko couldn’t breath when she drew the comparison in her mind that they prepared her like a pig for slaughter. Shaved her beautiful long hair and left her disfigured. Half-moon circles like fingernails trying to rip her scalp out. They had to do major reconstructive surgery on her abdominal wall and minor surgery on her face as she now had a scar that stretched from her temple to the back of her head. Like they were preparing to remove her scalp and top skull.
Danzo stole Chouten’s stomach and Shizuki’s head. He wanted Kichou’s. She scrubbed her hands furiously under steaming water, watching them turn red while the scrub nurse derobed her. She told her husband and her son the good news, the glorious news, that she survived and she ran like a little girl, unable to breathe. Momoko borrowed a pack of cigarettes from the shift nurse, and rushed outside.
They didn’t get what they needed from poor Chouten and Shizuki, so they hunted their daughter instead. Like she was a prey animal.
Momoko couldn’t breathe out of fear that they would never stop until she had been torn to shreds. She couldn’t make herself forget. Life was fearful, so was breathing.
Momoko couldn’t breathe when a doctor had to do a pelvic exam to see if Kichou had all her reproductive organs and materials still. Because that was a possibility with these thieving maggots.
How Momoko had to look down at the emaciated form, and not see her daughter but a corpse she didn’t recognize. She couldn’t breathe for the duration of nine hours it took to repair her broken body. Not even after they finished and intubated Kichou so it could breathe for her while they put her in a coma to heal because it was too much trauma for one body to suffer. Why was it always Kichou that had to suffer? Why was she so misfortunate?
No, her misfortunes started before Kichou was born when that worm Danzo started coveting the idea of her. Disgusting filth, a blight. Pestilence masquerading as a man. Why couldn’t he just stay dead?
She couldn’t steal that joy from her family, that Kichou lived when Momoko knew she died on the table. How she couldn’t help but calculate her odds of survival and knew it was grim at best.
Momoko inhaled. Lighting her cigarette, letting the smoke fill her lungs instead of air “....I wonder if this is how Lady Tsunade felt?” Momoko murmurs aloud. She was her mentor during the war. Was the whole medical corp’s mentor. Momoko attended every lecture, every class, spent every hour in the hospital and not in romance, she had more than a tiny crush. Nor was she the only one, having inspired a fleet of young girls to be nurses, frontline fighters and combat medics, more than just honeypots and clan wives. How their leader had faltered in the face of these wicked men, and how Momoko had faltered now. Momoko has never known fear like this. She never imagined that fates worse than death would still look like victory to another.
Shikaku lights a cigarette of his own. Staring out at that same dusk as her. “...Probably.” They spend a moment in exhausted silence before Shikaku breaks it. “...Sarutobi retired during surgery.” Momoko bitterly scoffs, nearing crushing her cigarette between her pinched fingers. “Of course he did. Who did he nominate?! Jiraiya?! Hakate?! Or he left it up to the council?!” Momoko is bitter, endlessly bitter at all these irresponsible men who ran away from their problems when they had to stay behind and do the tough work of having to piece the broken together again. Calling them weak and childish when they had to run away too when they couldn’t bear it anymore. Kichou died today. Momoko thought she might die with her. How she was forced to keep going because her family needed her. A mother’s plight. She wouldn’t serve a Hokage who wouldn’t understand the sacrifice of staying, of having to keep going. She had retired the month the fourth died when it became clear they were just going to leave things broken, while the children suffered.
“....Uchiha Itachi.” Momoko blinks, surprised the council would allow it before her eyes soften. Momoko wanted to see a female hokage in her lifetime but she could settle for a Mama’s boy with a good head on his shoulders and even better support. He would at least listen. “Ara~ Ara~ I bet Yoshino is ecstatic.” she teases, as a branch member too distantly related to develop her sharingan it made Yoshino no less proud of her mother clan. Her sister in arms, an expert in reagents and medicine, found her way into the Nara fold when she tried to steal deer antlers of all things. Looking for a cure for the Uchiha congenital blindness, a hopeless cause. Shikaku grunts “They are planning this giant festival to celebrate. It’s bound to be a mega pain in the ass.” Momoko looks at the end of her cigarette threatening to burn her fingers, watching it smolder.
“ A festival huh….I always wanted to see Kichou enjoy a festival, instead of that shitty Kyuubei memorial every year. Why we still celebrate it is beyond me…. ’the civilians never learned a decorated veteran was the cause, still blaming poor Naruto.’ “She would look so cute dressed up, making herself sick on sweets and fair food, do you think she would be good or bad at carnival games?” Shikaku lights a new cigarette and holds it out to her, she crushes her old one under heel before gratefully accepting the new one. “Horrendous, she’s not what I would call coordinated or dexterous...Doesn’t need to be though, I think a few people would fight to get her what she wanted if they saw something catch her eye.”
“...Isn’t that more charming though?”
Shikaku huffs, the corners of his mouth upturned around a new cigarette of his own. “You always had strange tastes, woman.”
“Guilty as charged~” Momoko shrugs, knocking her head with the hand not holding the cigarette . “....Think we’re headed for a new war?” There was always the hope this would be the generation of peace. It was too optimistic of them. One of her children was already on the verge of becoming a casualty, she didn’t know if she could do this again.
“Yes….if I’m honest… but” The man is thinking deeply. “I don’t ever think the war stopped, we were just too stupid to see they were playing a different game altogether.”
“They are calling this a new era.” Shikaku says, and Momoko hates how old that makes her feel, like an outdated relic, she was still in her prime. “What would a new era war look like, I wonder?” The man asks and to be honest Momo doesn’t really know, it just seemed to be a pretty concept slapped overtop the same hell like a fresh coat of paint.
“Think they’ll finally grant our adoption petition in this new era? I can’t imagine Itachi denying Mikoto’s request to formally adopt Naruto.” Momoko says sarcastically.
“Not if I beat you to it” Shikaku challenges. “She can bend shadows, don’t pretend you haven’t seen it. It’s my turn.”
Momoko gasps in anger “Good luck Sloth-stain~ after what happened with Shikamaru she won’t give you the time day. How dare you steal a march on me though, I should pound your lazy ass into a pancake!” She puffs her cheeks, pouting angrily.
He smirks at her. “The kid got him off his ass and working for an apology of all things. He admitted he was wrong . I’m prepared to fight to the death for her. I’ll happily offer joint custody though, since we’re old friends. I’ll even give you all the troublesome bits you like, first crushes, makeovers and all that fussy girl shit she’s overdue for…You may have to fight Yoshino for it though. It’s only fair if I have to fend off Choza.”
“....She has to wake up first.” Momoko furiously wipes tears from her eyes “I’m so scared she won’t. I don’t know what to tell Choza…I don’t think Choji could even handle it.”
“.... Troublesome .” She smacks his chest with a hefty thump. “When did you get all doom and gloom? Come’on, this is where you say some cutesy shit. Didn’t you say she was the most stubborn girl you ever met?”
“So fucking stubborn.” She laughs through her sobs.
The Uchiha threw a seven day festival to celebrate Itachi’s inauguration as the fifth Hokage while Kichou formerly of the Akimichi clan fought for her life. It felt so incredibly wrong to Itachi. She had survived a live dissection performed by none other than the defector Orochimaru and suffered four hours of tortuous travel as they escaped to the Leaf village bringing news of their country’s imminent demise thankfully averting disaster. She was finally stable against all odds but hadn’t yet awoken. They were calling her a miracle child. Yet, they desperately needed for her to survive.
A message bearing Orochimaru’s chakra was sealed and encoded in her copy from Icha Icha paradise that Intel still hadn’t cracked yet, meant for his former teammate Jiraiya driving the man to near madness trying to figure out what it could be. There was a keyword or phrase that likely only Kichou knew and there was an underlying suspicion now formal theory that Orochimaru had let her escape. Yamanaka Santa claimed that Orochimaru’s mind was pure and utter darkness before he was expelled after two large eyes had opened and focused in on him from within that darkness. All the while buying enough time to conveniently escape the compound with no active pursuit. Sai’s report was also bothersome, revealing more into the organization. It was structured like prisoners, the prisoners in this case Orochimaru’s experiments, scientists and wardens which were Root agents hand selected and trained by Danzo. Sai was given unique access to the compound, which posed another problem, the boy so closely resembling his brother once again bore a modified root seal. One that could be remotely activated to punish Root members should they disobey Danzo.
Itachi’s only saving grace in this scenario was that Jiraiya seemed to be staying in the village for the time being. He managed to dampen the effects of the seal and was working on how to dispel it in its entirety, but was running into roadblocks. Probably waiting for Kichou to wake up to decipher the message before departing again. They needed to know if the village of the Sound had allies, information, too many loose threads, and a rather glaring one, an unknown assailant had caused the Kyuubei attack. They needed their spymaster. Combined with the fact one of his, it feels weird to think of the ninja of leaf as his, like playthings, when he has always been a plaything.
Well…one of his best sensors had a spinal injury that might permanently end his ninja career. The recovery outcome looked grim without some divine intervention. He needed Lady Tsunade to return, it was clear their medical innovation was dawdling behind their new enemy. But Itachi didn’t know how to convince her when she couldn’t be convinced in the decades it’s been since she left.
The Akimichi breathing down his neck to come to a decision about the woman held in T&I who had been sold into servitude by her uncle but still committed permanent damage to the Akimichi clan. Itachi’s heart went out to the Kurama clan heiress who was just a victim to the whims of her clan, but the Akimichi wouldn’t be easily appeased if Kichou died. A lot of things were riding on if the girl survived. The key complaint, the money the Akimichi paid for services rendered, and the embezzlement committed by Danzo, a near annual budget for a country, was missing. And a mysterious new country on their border posed for war. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. This was an actual mess, which was now technically his mess.
There’s a clack on his desk as a sake saucer is filled by his best friend and newly appointed advisor, Uchiha Shuishi. He needed to appoint another non-Uchiha advisor, maybe more than just one but had no idea who to pick, all the clans were too politically aligned, maybe an Aburame or civilian born. He didn’t restructure much beyond the counselors but the process of reevaluating all Anbu personnel and administrators was still ongoing. The Obata were the last straw for many, it was now a fox hunt for traitors and root double agents in fear that what happened to team 13 could happen to any one of their loved ones. So easily ambushed and overwhelmed. Itachi would increase their mission manpower allotment, it made no sense to stick to the four man format when everyone was expecting and going to overwhelm said four man format.
There’s a parade beneath the tower, with red candy apples and fire breathers. Happy smiling faces of his clan as this is the proudest they’ve been in their history. Everything their forefathers had fought for coming to fruition. It gave him a headache.
Itachi wordlessly grabs the saucer and throws it back. “Another, please.” Shuishi just smiles and pours him another. He chooses to sip this one. “As your trusty advisor, I have to admit I have no idea what to advise you on.” Itachi sighs and slides a folder in front of his cousin. Shuishi picks it up. “And what’s this?” He asks, flipping through a three-man profile. “Intel?”
Itachi laments “A Chunin exam application….from sound. Sent a month ago.”
Shuishi’s eyes widened before rereading the dossier. “You’re kidding me?!”
“We haven’t ruled out the possibility of a secondary faction among Sound. There seems to be antagonism between the two. We won’t know more until Akimichi Kichou wakes if she does.”
“The girl from the flower district?” Itachi nods, pouring himself another saucer “One in the same.” Shuishi tuts, “Poor kid, we should send her something.”
Itachi considers, not questioning Shuishi’s ridiculously kind heart. “What though, I’m sure they have food, games and flowers covered?”
Shuishi puts a finger to his chin before snapping his fingers “What about one of those good luck charms granny sells at the shrine? Or maybe a shrine maiden’s blessing and purification ceremony, that village worshipping Danzo sounded haunted as fuck. I heard from Naruto and Sasuke that she always prays when she sees a Jizo statue or roadside shrine and If there’s one thing the Uchiha have in abundance over other clans it’s spiritual mumbo jumbo”
Itachi nods. “Excellent advice, Advisor.”
Itachi then sighs again “All jokes aside. The country of Sound hasn’t withdrawn the request, it’s been silent. They could think team thirteen died in transit but I still think there are plants among the force.” His guard had been parred down, on personal recommendation from Kakashi-senpai, people he trusted.
“Those “genin” could be Orochimaru’s monsters or Danzo’s root agents. If I accept then we could monitor the situation and learn their motivations, but they’ll know they have been made potentially. If they are still uncertain about team thirteen’s survival. They will most likely kill our genin. Little reward, too high of a risk in my opinion. Alternatively, they will likely try to slip in agents under different banners. If the smaller countries ban together they could greatly diminish our strength and claim more of our borders. The land of Hot water has not responded to any more missives regarding Inunaki village other than to disavow citing mass hysteria in their isolated environment. Suna has also shown aggression, conflicts on the border patrol, raided watch posts and merchant caravans, increasing demands for tax relief and missions. They could already be allies but they could not and we risk offending our biggest alliance, the one that keeps Iwa at bay.” Itachi slides another folder across the desk he now has to claim too “This is the Suna team.”
Shuishi’s eyes boggled at the file “What is this mission list?! They should easily be Jounin….And the Kazekage’s kids. Nah brother this reads as a giant trap. No other teams submitted either. They must expect a slaughter. Thank god we got the drop on this one, the chunin exams were about to be a bloodbath.”
Itachi nods. “One the third was going to unknowingly march us all into. Sasuke might have….It strikes me as a lot of effort to just kill our genin, Obata probably leaked the amount of clan heirs that were in the recent graduates. I can only assume their actual goal was to get into the village but also cripple it in one foul swoop.Then declare war right after while they carve us out from all sides. Right now we are in the weakest tactical position in all the elemental countries. What would you do?”
Shuishi shrugs “I would promote all the teams to Chunin before they step foot in the village and tell them to go the fuck home. It’s not like Suna and Sound are thriving on their commission base to benefit from their promotion. Hell, neither have functioning Daimyos. We starve them out, and stop throwing out freebies. I say we cut the mission trade and import tax relief tomorrow, if they wanna act big, then they can stand on their own two feet.”
Itachi leans back in a chair, not his chair yet. Spinning slowly, looking at the faces of his Anbu guard, who last week were his colleagues,senpais, they all seemed amused by his lament instead of awkward. “It’s a bigger problem if they rally support from Cloud or Waves, they hate each other but they hate us even more.”
Shuishi seems to jolt at this before rifling through the paperwork on the hokage’s desk “Where was that mission report from that C-rank Sasuke went on? The one with the Waves defectors that they brought back?”
Itachi blinks, before pulling out a drawer where he planned on keeping all his little brother’s mission work. Ignoring the blush rising to his face at Shuishi’s knowing smile. He takes the file silently and flips to a dossier, showing Itachi for his benefit. “Zabuza, demon of the bloody mist, staged a failed coup against the fourth Mizukage, was saving funds to start another but received news from Jiraiya that the fourth Mizukage recently died and lost steam in face of a Sanin and Kakashi, killed their corrupt employer and came back to Leaf to recuperate on Team seven’s recommendation. We are currently negotiating a prisoner exchange while the defectors rest here. I say we name him a Mist ambassador, I hear Zabuza gets along with our T&I staff famously. They’ve been going out for drinks damn never every night from the patrol reports”
“The old biddes” what Shuishi called the previous advisors, no one seemed to respect them, no one knows why they hung on for so long. “Were fumbling a great diplomatic talk in my opinion. They were still holding a grudge from the third war, not that they were even active during…..” They didn’t bleed like they did, didn’t recognize the loss more than some numbers on paper. Living through three wars and never once being injured didn’t ingratiate themselves to those they commanded.
“The new Mizukage struck me as amiable and focused on social reform, even commended us for killing that corrupt businessman Gato and was willing to grant a full pardon and reward for returning one of their seven swordsmen. Like Suna, most of their imports are foodstuffs, we could easily improve their economy with a healthy trade route, with the added benefit of fresh seafood. Uncle and Auntie would probably love that. They would be a great ally to put pressure on Sound and keep Cloud at bay. Also…..”
Itachi quirks an eyebrow “Also?”
Shuishi grins before framing Itachi’s face between angled fingers like he was taking a photo. “I hear the new Mizukage has a weakness for pretty boys.”
Itachi grimaces “You’re not as funny as you think you are.”
Shuishi grins before producing another carafe of sake and some sticks of oden and dango with a body flicker. He takes a big bite of oden and grins before handing Itachi the dango. “I think by Uchiha standards I’m a genius of comedy.”
Itachi grunts “That bar isn’t set very high.” before taking a bite of hanamachi dango. Rolling the sweetened millet ball in his mouth. Sweetness exploding on his tongue.
“They’ll still want a show of power, as everyone always does before a war. Pomp and circumstance….. The council will want to show off a new alliance as well, warning against a large-scale war….. The mist has never participated in an allied exam before, if they are trying to get away from the bloody mist moniker it would be a great showing of cooperation and friendship…. But I can’t justify the security risk of infiltrators to the village, we would overtax the police force again . ” Itachi drinks another saucer of sake as he deliberates. “...Is Sasuke enjoying himself at least?”
Shuishui takes another bite of oden and chews both his thoughts and food over. “Naruto is distracted, he and that Kichou girl were super close apparently. His eyes were puffy, and he had that fake smile that can fool no one. Sasuke wants to see you, maybe you should take a break and play some carnival games with them.”
Itachi holds his temples. “I need to think of a solution to the chunin exam problem by tomorrow.”
“What if it's not on village soil? There’s still four months before the exam. We build an arena closer to the Sound border that will serve as a forward garrison should they declare war. We could have one hell of a seal barrier installed with Jiraiya in town. The construction will stimulate our own economy to make up for loss of revenue from hosting the exams. Hell we could even build a hospital there under the guise of having medical services on hand. Somewhere with some dramatic flair to make them quake in their boots~”
There’s only one place that matched that description, a ground sacred to the Uchiha but also ashamed of. Perfectly situated between their lands.
“Let’s show them our power with an all out tourney starting with allied teams fights then filtering out to individual combat. We got them beat manpower wise 3-to-1, that’s where our strength lies. Our prosperity. It’s the blood sport everyone wants, everything before is just a teaser.” Shuishi grabs Itachi’s saucer and drinks it before refilling it to the brim and placing it back in his hand.
It would need to be modified to showcase their tactical prowess, their variance against the traditional idea of the Shinobi. Their genin needed to shine somehow but most of all stay safe.
“Have the elite Jounin and Anbu proctor the exam while the Police force, Chunin and clans stay behind to protect the village. We televise the whole thing so people don’t have to take off from work, revitalizing the hospitality industry by installing the broadcast in local bars, minimize civilian casualties. Hell, we add some production value and color commentary then we run a few ads supporting local business and make a fuck ton of profit. Pomp. Circumstance. Explosions.” Shuishi looks pleasantly pleased with his own idea, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back on the desk.
Itachi takes another bite of dango. “Dad will kill me if I deface the valley of the end like that.”
His cousin looks solemn. “It’s a bold statement from The first Uchiha Hokage, don't you think? Enough symbolism to make all the primmadona’s mouths water and chomp at the bit. We can lure them out in the open. Let the genin tear that fucking place to shreds. You’re the leader of the ‘new era’ after all. That goes for our clan as well.”
Itachi sighs before crumpling on his desk. “You’re actually a great advisor, it’s frustrating.” Shuishi grins. “Where are they at now?”
Body flicking away before returning not even a minute later. “Gold fish scooping, Naruto is on his forty second attempt, he wants to name a big white and red one Pouty. Trying to match an orange and black one Sasuke caught for him, delightfully named Dobe Jr.”
“Alright…..Let’s go”
Kichou is floating in a dark place, wet and warm. Comforting like a mother’s first embrace. And fears the worst. She has died and is in the process of reincarnating into her next life. Kichou will become the Ren to her next pitiful iteration. It felt like she had failed them, she was just as miserable as she was in her last life. Had accomplished even less. Even died sooner, Ren had been seventeen. Kichou was a good three years off from that. She hadn’t reconciled with her family either, had been the one to push them away. Failing every benchmark that felt important to them. She couldn’t guide the next her, she couldn’t provide the comfort Ren had.
“....I’m so sorry.” A finger pokes her cheek. Ren’s voice is to her left even though she can’t see anything.
“Ren!” Kichou finds that she can’t move.
“Didn’t you say you were tired of being sorry.” She feels a shadow wrap over her blocking her own body from view.
“You have to wake up soon. Come what may. No matter how much it hurts. You never failed us Kichou. We’re just beginning.”
Chapter 19
Summary:
Wake up.
Chapter Text
It was the last day of the festival and Big Nee still hadn’t woken up, she would miss the fireworks.
Chief had ordered them special, the finale would release a giant red and white hokage symbol, the colors of Konoha and the colors of the Uchiha. It was a whole show really that needed to be set up with a precise placement and the wicks cut just right, a perfect job for the anal retentive teme. As he wandered the field with a diagram in hand and a ruler making sure everything was right down to the last centimeter. Naruto snorts, he never got what made all the girls go gaga over him when he was such a giant dork. Said mega nerd was remeasuring a wick for the third time with his sharingan out AND a ruler, he didn’t need both. The creepy eyes made him like uber precise or whatever.
Naruto just cups his hands around his mouth and shouts. “Teme it’s good! Just let it go already!”
“Tch. It has to be perfect. You wouldn’t understand, Dobe! You have the precision of a blunt spoon!”
Naruto just groans and falls into the grass. Itachi really became the hokage didn’t he? …..And he was undeniably jealous, everybody loved him. Naruto could even admit that he was strong, that everyone looked up to him. He was just really a cool guy, and he made it hard to dislike him especially when he taught him and sasuke cool shit. But he doubted the village would celebrate for seven days if he did manage to steal the hat one day. He doubted Chief, Miko-kaa-chan or Teme would be as happy about it either. This…….sucks. Naruto frustratedly muses his hair before splaying out on the hard ground they chose as a launch spot that would be perfectly displayed from the Hokage monument. They were going to start carving the next face in the mount starting next week. Something twitches in the back of his mind, an urge to spray paint it, to deface it. But then he doesn’t think that would make Chief happy or teme.
Itachi wasn’t even enjoying the festival! He was already stuck in the Hokage tower doing boring stuff. He popped in and out for like five minutes! ‘Ninety percent of the Hokage’s day to day is paperwork. Hours of reading and writing, then you have to solve petty squabbles all day that people will dislike no matter what because you’re forcing your decisions on them. You may not like it.’
Big-nee……
Sasuke sits down next to him, adjusting his navy blue shirt and grey hakama pants. Miko-kaa-san had dressed them up special for the last day. He really liked the orange yukata she got him with the red spirals on the hem.
“Careful dobe you might blow a gasket thinking so hard…..you should tell me before you combust.”
Naruto holds up a hand trying to catch a cloud passing by, even though he knows he’ll never reach.
“I was just wondering when Big-nee will wake up.”
“....Dobe.” Sasuke says and it grinds his gears about how much pity was in his voice. She was gonna wake up any day now. He could feel it.
Naruto closes his hands and watches the cloud move past his clenched fist.
“...Do you know she gave me the Kanji for my name? The orphanage never gave me any and Jiji said to learn hiragana first. I asked her why I couldn’t have any and I was being such a brat about it and I said I was going to sign my name with those funny letters when I became Hokage!” Naruto watches Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, and sees the look of concern on his face. He turns over in the grass to face him, a hand propping up his head.
“Do you wanna know what she said?” Sasuke nods decisively. Sasuke always wanted to know things.
“She asked me what kind of Hokage I wanted to be, what kanji would be best to sign my name with, friendly and funny or cool and scary, and I said whatever would make people like me best. She said I wouldn’t like being Hokage…..and I think she was right. I just wanted people to like me.”
“Dobe! I like you!” It’s earnest and honest and so unlike Sasuke.
“But…not as much as you like Itachi, right?” Naruto watches as Sasuke’s face falls, when he swallows tersely. He thought as much.
“It’s okay! Really! I know I can’t compare to your real brother. But it made me realize that if I became Hokage I would still be me and it wouldn’t make people like me or acknowledge me.”
Sasuke has that constipated look on his face that he gets when he wants to cry but doesn’t allow himself to.
“It doesn’t mean I’d be good at it either, she said the job was ninety percent paperwork and that sounds like a perfect job for you mega nerds.”
“We aren’t nerds!” Naruto eyes the ruler in Sasuke’s hand and that he quickly hides it behind his back.
“She was the first person to acknowledge me. The first one to help me! So I wanted to protect her from that pervert Mizuki and then I met all of you because of it! Sometimes I think all the good stuff that’s happened to me was because she helped. And I can’t help her! It’s so frustrating! All of the sudden my dream of becoming Hokage felt less important, I didn’t want it for the right reasons. My dream became protecting my precious people, the people who acknowledged me. And I can’t even do that.” Naruto digs his palms into his eyes to stave off frustration and tears.
“When I went to go visit, I overheard the nurses talking, they said she might be brain dead, that she might not wake up. That means she’s already dead right?! The machines are just doing all the work for her?! She didn’t even look like her, she had all these tubes in her and….she looked so small. She wasn’t Big-Nee! I thought the nurses were pulling a prank! I even yelled at them and got kicked out!” Naruto violently sobbed into the sleeve of his yukata. Back heaving with each wail like a breaking tide as he whimpered out shallow breaths. Sasuke grabs his shoulders.
“She’ll wake up!” Sasuke sounded so confident. “And when she does you’ll build all that stuff you were talking about! We’ll help her, we’ll pig out at Ichiru, and train her back up. You made a promise right, when did you ever go back on a promise” Sasuke grabs his hand, standing up and lifting them up together.
“That’s the spirit!” There’s a noise behind them and they spin around to see Shuishi-nii squatting in the field lighting the first firework to start the show.
“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt. The show was a little late and I thought I would check in.”
“Aahh” Sasuke panics, having forgotten temporarily that the Chief gave them a job.
“Sorry Nii-san!”
Shuishi just waves it off and pushes them a safe distance back. With a blink he’s back with red candy apples with black tomoe for each of them. Which they both gratefully take while the first firework goes off. Naruto thinks once again he’s maybe the coolest Uchiha. Not that he would tell Teme or Itachi that, they get super broody about it. The night is heady with heat and fireflies that drift upward from grass of the field. It’s an explosion of white and red flowers and smoke hawks soar through the sky.
The candy apple tastes sweet on Naruto’s tongue as they stare in awe at the sky. Shuishi is lighting fireworks, flicking back and forth to light them at a safe distance. Sasuke is bathed in red flickering light. Illuminating delicate features and a fair face. Naruto’s breath catches in his throat. Their hands graze in the grass as he and Sasuke share a smile at the touch. Thankful the dark and tan skin hides the heat running up his cheeks. Naruto can hear the cheering from the square when a firework reveals a Uchiha mon made out of flairs that fades away into the Hokage symbol and bursts into a giant explosion of fireworks. The grand finale. As stars twinkle, studding the sky like salt spilled across black countertops of Ichiru’s.
Itachi walks into the field holding a paper lantern that most police used during night patrols. He wears the hokage coat off his shoulders, holding an elbow in at all times. Draping his long hair off the other side. It looks cool. Itachi makes the hat look cool. Naruto is still kinda jealous.
“Nii-san!” Sasuke jumps up and greets him with a bow.
He smiles and ruffles Sasuke’s hair.
“How did you like the show Hokage-sama?” Shuishi says cheekily.
Itachi huffs.
“I’ve come bearing good news, Advisor. Kichou of the leaf has woken up.”
Naruto flies off the ground running in the direction of the hospital.
“Wait Dobe! Visiting hours are probably over, we can go first thing tomorrow!”
“I CAN’T WAIT THAT LONG! I’M SNEAKING IN!”
Sasuke is running behind him.
“IDIOT! STOP ADMITTING TO CRIMES IN FRONT OF THE HOKAGE AND POLICE!”
He doesn’t stop running after him though. Naruto's smile widens.
Kichou wakes to the sound of explosions and a world of pain and panics. She starts to struggle, feeling tethered to tubes and lines like fishhooks in her body. She feels trapped, disjointed. Her eyes are blurry, unable to focus beyond a short tunneling sight. Seeing withered hands and sagging pale skin she doesn’t recognize. Kichou’s breath doesn’t even have the chance to be short because there’s a plastic breathing mask over her nose forcing her lungs to inflate. She’s not thinking when her first reaction is to grab the IV drip line and before she can pull a shadow descends over her, holding her in place. “.... Troublesome. You’re safe kid, relax. If you tear that out the nurses might have to restrain or keep you sedated and no one wants that.”
“Nee-chan!” The familiar voice of Choji comes stomp running into view, so uniquely the sound of her little brother as he flings himself at her legs, probably the only place that isn’t horribly invaded by bandages and medical intervention. Wrapping his arms around them in an awkward embrace, as he nestles his head on her shins.
Kichou tries to form words but finds that she can't because there's a tight wrapping of bandages around her throat and what feels to be a million stitches and shunts going down her centerline. Her mouth is too dry, everything feels cracked and sore, like desert earth, barren.
There’s another explosion to her left that startles her and she turns her head sluggishly to see a hospital window, curtains drawn wide open as she sees the Hokage mount illuminated by red and white fireworks. Kichou was home. She blinks wider to see rows and rows of lit streets bustling with activity. It looked like the Kyuubei festival… Has she been asleep for four months?! She turns her head to the other side to see the patriarch of the Nara clan, Shikaku Nara playing shogi on the couch across from a wheel-chaired Santa-sensei. From the way Santa-sensei is slumped over he was half asleep. There was a passed out Shikamaru next to his father who had an abandoned bag of potato chips next to him, probably where Choji was sitting.
Kichou blinks again. Her head is groggy. Too groggy, spying what looked like a morphine drip with a suspicious pink tint. That would explain it. Having released the shadow technique the man is now making eye contact at her smirking, he looks exhausted with deep bags under his eyes. Kichou feels like she’ll rip everything if she talks right now, so she makes a writing motion in the air with her index finger. “Brat, wake up.” He elbows Shikamaru, jostling him awake. The boy lurches forward and Shikamaru blinks, going through the process of waking up that she just did a few moments ago. “Go to the nurses station and tell them to alert Choza and the Hokage that Kichou woke up. Ask for a pen and paper, oh and some ice chips if they’ll let her have it.” Shikamaru’s head snaps to Kichou’s form, she gives a hesitant wave, she repeats the writing motion.
“...Troublesome.” A yawn blooms from his mouth. “If you refuse to learn standard, at least learn our clan alliance set” Shikamaru the asshole grouches and forms his hands in a sign set that she thought only Choji and her knew. “Anything. Else?” Like he’s asking if she wants anything else from the nurses station. Trying to save trips there probably. She has more pressing matters on her mind than an extra pillow as Kichou points to the window. “Four. Months?” There’s another firework and Kichou flinches at the noise and a murmuring roar of far off cheering. She hated the Kyuubei festival with a fiery passion.
“Eight days, July 15th, not October 10th. I’ll tell them to turn on the soundproof seals.” ‘There’s three days of time missing. From the last day she remembered and when she woke up on that table’ He drawls. Choji whips his head up from where it’s resting on her shins and scrambles to close the blinds and curtains while Shikamaru slinks out the door frame, scratching the back of his head.
“Sorry Nee-chan! I wasn’t thinking about it. It’s not the Kyuubei festival so I thought you wouldn’t mind. Not that you would know it’s not the Kyuubei Festival. My bad.” He smiles at her anxiously and hovers by her side too afraid of hurting her to hold her hand. Like she’s made of glass, she hates that she does feel just that way. She motions to “Sit” pointing to the couch with the chip bag. Choji seems to take this as grab the chip bag and sit on the end of her bed. He adjusts the blankets and Kichou cringes when she catches a glimpse of her legs. Stick thin and mottled, she can see each bone in her foot, each vein.
She signs to Choji “Looks. Bad. How. Bad. Rest.” Seeing the panic behind his eyes as he scrambles to comfort her. “It doesn't look bad at all!” He smiles too wide when he lies, the corners of his mouth too upturned.
“Never trust an Akimichi to lie.” Santa-sensei wheels around pushing his wheelchair to her bedside. “You look like shit, but you usually do so I would say about the same. It’s nowhere near as tragic as your fashion sense though so maybe it’s an improvement.” He jokes light heartedly and there’s a burst of pain in abdomen feeling like she’s splitting open. A laugh rips through her and she has to clutch her side, thankful that her guts are at least inside her insides. “Nee-chan!” Choji cries as her eyes squeeze tight in pain.
“Leave! You’re upsetting her!” He demands of Santa-sensei, not knowing their dynamic. She holds up a hand “Stop. Laughter.” Kichou manages to unclench after she hears a tiny “Oh” from Choji. Santa-sensei pulls back her blanket and lifts the bottom hem of her hospital shirt to examine her. Kichou looks down and sees a row of ugly black stitches, emerging from angry red sagging skin, that disappears into the waistband of her pants knowing they stretch further down. None of them look pulled or bleeding. The scars wouldn’t be pretty. Stick thin and somehow uglier. Kunoichi classes taught her to avoid scars at all cost and how to minimize them as best as possible. The beauty standards were the same in this world, and she would never fit into them.
“Scars add an air of danger and mystery to a Shinobi. Doubly so for kunoichi. Some even call them a ninja’s romance, they make civilians swoon and easily earn the respect and admiration of comrades for having survived. They just make infiltration harder, long embeds especially, but you would never be sent on those anyway. Choza wouldn’t allow it.” He always reads her mind somehow. Santa seemingly satisfied after peering further up to where the stitches start at the middle of her bandaged throat. Seemingly sensitive to the fact the jounin commander she’s never talked to is observing her in the room. Kichou doesn’t mind that sensei does, he’s seen much more of her than that after all. He and… have probably seen more of her than any romantic partner she’ll never have, she’s made peace with that. He lowers her shirt and readjusts her blankets. “They’ll heal straight, and it’s frustrating how smooth they’ll probably be. Goddamn Akimichi skin.” Santa-sensei grouses. “We fatten you up, and you’ll be good as new. You’ll have to rethink your hairstyle though but then again so do I.” Her sensei laments.
“Fucking Danzo, Does he know how many years it took me to grow it out?!” He says with a clenched fist.
She sighs “Who” to Choji who is anxiously speed eating his way through chip bags.
“Nee-chan wants to know who Danzo is.” Acting as an interpreter for her.
Sensei’s eyes widen and his head whips around to the Nara leader who sighs.
“...You know how overprotective Choza is. Why would you think otherwise?” There’s a rising tension between the two men. As Santa whips his head back around at her.
“You met him before! He looked different but he was in your mental landscape. You called him a faceless. The man in the woods with the bandages over his eye if he would have them. I couldn’t get a memory off of him but you remember him at least. You’ve seen him before.” There’s something accusatory in his tone that she really doesn’t like. Shikaku seems to sit forward while propping his arms on his knees in a weird hand sign.
Kichou grows frustrated at her limited communication, too many feelings tearing through her at once. “Broke. Boundary. Intruder. Frustrated. Want. Paper. Now. No. More. Until.”
“She says you weren’t supposed to go there, she’s frustrated and wants pen and paper right now and she won’t say any more till then.” Choji dutifully paraphrased, their made up signs were too disjointed and inadequate for this conversation.
Santa-sensei scoffs. “That slow ass punk was right, you really need to learn the standard set! You don’t remember at all?! I went in there so you wouldn’t die of shock, you had a heart attack by the way that I suffered on your behalf, a thank you would at least be nice! What about the book?! You made a whole fuss about it.” Fireworks have been going off this whole time, bathing the room in orange light as they peaked through the currents. She’s been ignoring it but there’s a truly loud one that bursts at just the right time that makes her feel like her head is exploding.
Kichou’s pupils turn to pinheads as she remembers the book, yellow eyes and roaming hands touching everything inside her. She makes a horrible gurgling, croaking, noise trying to yell at him. It scares Santa, and Choji and even herself to be honest.
“Stop.” It was a weighted but poignant command from the Jounin commander and her sensei stills. There’s a few more moments of terse silence as Shikamaru walks in with a young nurse holding a bucket of ice and a warm cheery smile.
“Hello! I heard our sleeping beauty is awake.” Kichou flinches at being called a beauty, more like a beast. Sensei seems to get even more incensed. The nurse whose name tag reads ‘Meimei’ jokes as she touches the wall activating the soundproof seals. “Lord Akimichi and Momo-chan ‘Lady Momoko did volunteer at the hospital often, they were probably friends’ will be here soon, and The Hokage wants to know if you’re up to meeting Jiraiya-sama and Lord Yamanaka tomorrow after you rest?” The woman looks at her and only her, questioningly like she doesn’t care that the Jounin commander and her Sensei are in the room and could force her consent.
Kichou nods regardless and weakly points to the Ice bucket. The nurse smiles and walks across the room, she moves the bedside table to be easier in reach. “Sorry cutie, we can’t give you water for a while, go light on the ice chips okay, let them drip down the back of your throat, you’ll feel crummy if you try to eat them. It’ll be our little secret for a bit~” She winks at Kichou and she can definitely see Lady Momoko and her getting along swimmingly. She moves to adjust her in a slightly more upright position.
With deft hands she moves down her breathing mask and holds a smidgen of Ice chips in her hand. “Say ahhhhh~” It’s embarrassing being hand fed ice chips in front of so many people but it’s really worth it. When Kichou lets out a small moan of pleasure as ice cold water drips down her devastatingly parched throat. The nurse smiles and readjusts her breathing mask so it only hooks around her ears and not the back of her head. It feels like mountain mist in the back of her throat and Kichou thinks she might be an angel sent from above.
She makes another writing motion. “Oh that’s right, paper! We didn’t have any at the nurses station that you could have but we did have a dry erase board and marker!” The nurse holds out an array of brightly colored markers pulling them from her pocket “Any color preference? Or do you want all of them?” She doesn’t spy a black standard marker so she hesitantly takes a green one, her favorite. The color of her father’s cheek mark. “Excellent choice! That’s mine too~” Belatedly she realizes Meimei has a head of green hair with greener fringe the exact shade of the marker worn in a bun beneath her nurse’s hat. She’s glad her blush is hidden.
A small dry erase board slides onto her lap and the young woman leans over and taps against the sideboard of her bed. “This is the call button to the nurses station. Call me if you need absolutely anything okay~ Or if you need me to kick any of these guys out.” There’s a sharp glare sent around the room that even the Jounin commander seems to flinch back at. Meimei grabs her hand, wrapping it around a button switch on a cord. “And this– Is the good stuff~ Just press it if you’re in pain and want to sleep. Okay?” She’s all smiles. Kichou uncaps the marker and frowns at her shaking hand, steading it with the other like while doing seal work.
She writes a quick “Thanks Meimei! You’re awesome!” drawing a smiley face that Ren used to send on her phone all the time, and flips the board up at her.
“My~ Momo-chan wasn’t lying, you are a little charmer~” The nurse gushes before waving at her which Kichou clumsily returns and walks towards the door.
“Behave.” A tight scary smile was directed to the room before she closes door, sealing the soundproof seal in place.
Kichou unhooks the breathing mask before jamming back a fist of ice chips and storing them in the side of her cheek that feels hot. The cut side. She hooks the mask back over and uses her blanket to whip the board clean. Humming in pleasure at the feeling of icy mist.
“Was she always this oblivious?” Santa seems to ask a disgusted looking Shikamaru who still standing next to the door.
“...Worse.” “Worse” Choji and Shikamaru say in unison although Shikamaru is a beat or two late.
Shikaku-sama clears his throat. “Kids step outside for a second, we have to ask Kichou some questions.” The man riffles through his pocket before throwing some money at Choji. “Get yourself some more chips, there’s a vending machine down the hall.”
“Dad isn’t here yet.” Choji refuses to leave the foot of her bed.
“I’m not asking as the Nara head. I hate pulling rank kid” Choji looks like he wants to argue.
“Come on Choji. I’m sure it’s some troublesome confidential shit.” Choji seems to relent at Shikamaru’s reasoning
“I’ll be right back Nee-chan! Just down the hall okay. Mom said you won’t be able to eat for a while.” ‘theres a feeding tube pumping a milky substance in small intervals going to her hip, her lower intestinal tract, it makes Kichou realize how bad it is.’ “But she said I can sneak you some hard candy if you don’t eat it. Do you want something minty or fruity? Maybe green tea if they have it?”
‘I’m fine, Chou. I don’t want to get you in trouble.’
“But!”
She erases it away quickly, her hand shakes with effort. ‘I’ll be alright. I have ice.”
He pouts sadly and reluctantly leaves the room with Shikamaru in tow.
Once the door is firmly closed and the soundproof seal is in place, the man drags a chair set against the wall to her bed, sitting it backwards so he can lean forward on the backrest.
“Now…down to business. I’d rather Inochi be here to discuss Danzo. There’s more than a small possibility that your memories have been tampered with and Santa says your mind is one of the most complex he’s seen. Nor does a split personality make things any easier.” Kichou feels a sense of confusion ‘That’s me, I never clarified. I just let them come to that conclusion on their own.’
‘How much did they see…’ Kichou asks.
‘Pretty much everything. They didn’t find the cloud layer though. So your dreams and my memories are safe.’
‘That’s still….’ Too much. And they wish to go again.
‘You don’t remember anything?’ Ren asks uncertain.
‘No.. Some but there’s things that don’t make sense. Holes’
‘I think you should let them in, if you give them information, we’ll probably get some back in return.’
Kichou huffs. The men at her side seem to be observing her.
“I don’t know why I never came to that conclusion sooner. She was having conversations with herself. I just thought it was disassociation and an overactive thought process.”
“....Well she does seem good at masking. The bangs were probably covering up the eye reflex.”
Kichou huffs.
‘I’m right here.’
She quickly erases it. ‘The boy with the red eye. Shinzo.’ She crosses that out and puts Oyaji instead. ‘Was the man in my head? Danzo?’ and flips the board to show them. Santa nods.
‘How did he look different? Genjutsu?’ Kichou asks.
“No….Orochimaru….” He’s searching her eyes for a reaction. Ah, he must be the mad snake doctor. “Is pretty talented with forbidden techniques, Danzo was executed a while ago. We only recently discovered Orochimaru likely swapped his body with the boy’s.”
‘So the boy is dead?’ Shikaku nods and answers in Santa’s stead. “Yes and no, in a manner of speaking. The boy still inhabits the same body but he’s likely been strangled out by Danzo now. Danzo’s original body was just a decoy it seems. Do you remember where you saw that man before? We weren’t aware you had contact.” There’s so much subtext to sort through, it felt like something she shouldn’t know. He was offering her details on forbidden techniques, extending an olive branch of information.
‘Tell them’ Ren urges.
‘He visited the nursery once. Stood above my crib with masked men. He wanted me to look at him. I didn’t, and somebody interrupted before he could force me. Said he would collect samples when I died. The vocal command thing is new.’
They look somber at that information, Shikaku contemplative as he flicks his fingers. “What makes you think it’s a vocal command and not the dojutsu? Santa reported you could defy orders when others couldn't. I was wondering how.”
‘I’m a bad listener.’ Santa snorts when he reads it. ‘I let the other me handle hearing usually and she’ll filter it for me and process out the non-essential bits. He said the same thing both times but couldn’t force me-’ She runs out of room on the board and goes to erase when she sees their eyes stop moving. “You share senses with your split personality?! Parallel thinking and not you switching between personalities?! How does it work? What else can you do?! I can’t believe you've been holding this out on me” Santa seems excited by the prospect. But his boss stops him with a closed fist in his direction. The allied hand sign for silence. ‘The only thing I could think of was he was hijacking the temporal lobe and shorting out the fear receptors, taking control of the cortex in the process. I felt like the back of my head was exploding. Dojutsu and genjutsu affect the occipital lobe which is–” She runs out of space again. She clicks her tongue. And flips it over to them.
“Which is above the cortex and can easily be confused!” Santa finishes. “Are you the one usually in control of the vision and that’s why you can tell the difference?” Kichou nods, confirming his theory. ‘We share the frontal lobe but we like reading together.’
“Is that why you can read so fast?! You’re reading different sections at the same time and processing the information simultaneously?!” Santa has grabbed the railing of her bed and is leaning over. Kichou nods while he looks like his mind has been blown as he falls back into the wheelchair.
“ Troublesome ….Enough. We’ll discuss it with Inochi tomorrow. We’ll probably need to loop the Hokage for his expertise into the dojutsu” Shikaku says gruffly. Kichou shoves the board in his face because they stopped looking at her.
‘He’s a dojutsu expert? He doesn’t have one?’
“We got a new Hokage kid. It’s a pain in the ass to explain everything all at once. I want to talk about the book and then I’m gonna press that pretty drug button you’ve been ignoring, so you can get some sleep. Your handwriting is getting worse.”
Kichou stills, feeling the soreness split down the very center. ‘Get it to Jiraiya. Snake man sealed a message inside for him.’
“It’s sealed behind a passcode, we thought you might know when he let you escape. Did he say what it was?” Passcode? That was bizarre to her. But confirmed an underlying suspicion
‘No, the sealing was before. Whatever he sealed inside was meant just for Jiraiya, way before he let me go. He gave me a different message. Oyaji's body was incomplete and he needed more samples. That we must protect the noble clans. He said a lot of shit. Experiments he wanted to do to me but couldn’t because he was pretty sure I was going to die.’
Shikaku seems to ponder that information. “...What kind of experiments?” Santa seems to take offense to this wanting her to stop but is quickly motioned to stand down.
‘He wanted to…breed me with an Uzumaki but didn’t have a compatible “mate” in the compound. He implied there were more Uzumaki there, that clans were distantly related. Talked alot about our genetics. The goal was to get the body of the Sage? The sage is real? Art-”
She runs out of goddamn space again.They don’t say anything to that information, but their eyes darkened. Nor do they answer her question about the sage. As she continues. It was terribly frustrating.
‘Artificial crossbreeding doesn’t seem to work for the Nara and Akimichi bloodlines. Implied the same for Uzumaki. He said he could make a case for keeping me alive to make monster children if Oyaji didn’t order him to collect “samples” . The way he said it was weird, kept calling him Oyaji and nothing else couldn’t use pronouns or anything else referencing him. He had something going on with hi—’
“His tongue?” Shikaku asks like she’s said something serious, and not medicated rambling. Kichou nods. Licking the breathing mask leaving a trail of spit behind. Santa winces at this.
‘Weird seal, drank my tears.’ Shikaku nods processing the information while Santa-sensei fist clench in his lap.
“That doesn’t explain the book. You said that he sealed it before he knew. Did anything he said stick out as odd or repetitive?” Kichou has to roll her eyes at the question. They seem to smirk at the movement, but hide it quickly with stoicism.
‘Did you try Oyaji?’ Kichou tries, that seems like something else. Something he was trying to negate.
Santa nods “Yes. Everything in connection to Danzo. It’s an interesting work around to the cursed seal.”
Shikaku stops her from writing what cursed seal on the board by holding the back of her pen. “Answer my question then it’s time to say goodnight.” She has the urge to smack him with the board.
‘There was one thing. He talked about Jiraiya’s works a lot before he sealed it then he went real fucking nutty on me. He doesn’t seem like the type to read Icha Icha Paradise. He said his other work was better but I never heard of it. That I should read it. I forgot the name.’
“The Tales of the Gutsy Ninja.” Shikaku supplies.
Kichou nods.
“We’ll pass it along. Well even if it’s wrong… You cleared up a lot of things….. I’m glad you woke up kid, we’ll see you tomorrow.”
Shikaku reaches down and presses the button. The morphine drip tinged pink steadily trickles a dose that she’s sure will knock her on her ass.
Santa turns his head “You have some visitors outside. We better let them in quickly, its way past official hours.”
They usher in a litany of people. Choza-sama and Lady Momoko. Naruto, Sasuke, Shikamaru and Choji. It was getting a little crowded, she thought but Choza-sama seemed to comment on this as well.
“We’ll have to move her to a bigger room. Maybe something with an overnight bed.” He turns to his wife, who has connections to the hospital. She seems to be considering it. “I’ll talk to the director, we might be able to swing the Hokage suite or a counselor’s room now that there isn’t the worry they’ll have a stroke or a heart attack at any moment~”
There’s a sharp edge to Lady Momoko’s usual teasing, the old Hokage, just Sarutobi-sama now, must have done something to make her mad.
Uchiha Sasuke pipes up. “Could I ask Aniki? Would they accept permission or a request from him?” Lady Momoko turns to him with a soft smile raising her sleeve. “Thank you Sasuke-kun! That would be most helpful actually!~” She pats his blushing head.
Kichou blinks, already feeling woozy. ‘Why would you ask Uchi-Itachi for’ even her words are slurring as her left handedness brushes over the ink smearing it ‘help?’ She flips around the board and taps it with the back of her marker to get their attention.
“Itach-nii got the hat while you were asleep Big-nee!” Naruto bursts forward from the pack and reaches the bed. He looks so happy. “You missed all the fun stuff though. They had these red candy apples with these crunchy black bits that looked like their creepy eyes. You would have loved them and the fireworks, they had vanity seals on the smoke! I was gonna ask how they made it but they were being so stingy about it!”
‘Itachi is Hokage really?’ Sasuke seems to take offense to this “Why wouldn’t he be?” There was gritted undertone that Kichou couldn’t really parse right now. Her eyelids were heavy.
‘He’s so young and a total smokeshow.’ The whole room seems to freeze with the differing reactions. Lady Momoko pulls up her sleeve to hide her smile. The Nara’s seem to snort and sigh exaggeratedly, Choza and Choji deflate in horror while Sasuke goes bright red and Naruto nods sagely from his new perch, sitting cross-legged on the end of her bed. “I get what you mean I thought being old and frumpy was mandatory. He isn’t your usual type though…Oh, wait maybe he is your type now that I think about it.” Kichou feels giddy and playful, everything was kind of spinning if she turned her head at all.
‘And yours’ before pointing her board at Naruto.
“AHHH You’re wrong,” He points at her “Shuisui is way hotter! He gets at bare minimum a plus five because of the cool nickname and he doesn’t have the old man wrinkles!”
“DOBE?!” Sasuke who is bright red like tomato skin chokes.
“What? We have eyes Teme”
‘We had to suffer through SIX years of your fanclub nonsense.I’m sure you can handle one off colored comment.’
“Don’t remind me if I had to sit through one more minute of how hot Sasuke’s duck butt hair is or pass along another confession I was going to vomit!”
‘Do you know how many times I had to stop girls from cutting each other’s hair just because–’
“Big-Nee?! What’s wrong?” Naruto looks distressed when Kichou stops writing and is just staring at the middle distance towards the door.
Santa peers over from his notebook where he catalogs Team 13’s behavior for further observation, to look at her board.
“...Naruto-kun, did Obata Ami perhaps try to cut girls' hair in the academy?” The scissors and paper doll. It wasn’t documented behavior maybe because it never became a teacher’s problem. Naruto scrunches his entire face, the information released to the public was that Ami died in action not that she was a traitor to the village. Her name wasn’t entered into the memorial stone however, the older Jounin would notice. Naruto was easy to gauge however, a literal open book, Uzumaki gut feelings had more accuracy than their intel unit. Santa reaches over and erases the board. Noticing how Kichou’s eyes have started flicking back and forth, likely in a conversation with her secondary consciousness. He’d have to time how long it took for her to become responsive again.
“She was the worst! I guess I shouldn’t speak bad about her anymore but Big-Nee had to follow her around and make her stop like a million times. Ino was too scary but everyone else cornered with kunai and scissors, even Sakura-chan! And her hair is so pretty!” Then he gets a devious smile. Santa can see the mischievous prankster come out.
“She put a huge wad of gum in the back of Big-Nee’s hair to get back at her during class so I modified a glitter bomb tag, filled with gum and paint and put it in her backpack. She wasn’t so hot when she had to come in with a short bob the next day was she?” Naruto cackles looking smug. His teammate looked exasperated with a hand on his temple but no one in the room had a positive opinion about Obata Ami, the Uchiha needed to know his audience and read the room better.
Choza ruffles his hair “You can speak bad about that girl, she was a rotten apple from the start.”
Naruto nods, looking pleased.
Kichou blinks, Santa wonders how much did the Split personality filter out to protect her conscious. It was fascinating. Santa did commit a Yamanaka taboo and altered a memory on a whim, he wasn’t going to apologize for it. Kichou didn’t let things go, didn’t compartmentalize trauma in a healthy manner. The paper doll was pitiful but there was a duplicate faceless Rin in the woods layer that suggested Kichou didn’t view them as the same person. She was, Santa just rectified it unknowingly. Kichou fell into the Akimichi trap of being too forgiving.
The shade mentioned she couldn’t reach the woods layer on her own. Didn’t process trauma the same way. Did the split personality have a name? He would have to ask.
‘Tired. I want to sleep now. Please leave.’
Most take pity on Kichou and make sad promises to come back tomorrow. But to Santa it just looks like Kichou is pushing away again. Should he allow it?
“Wait Big-Nee! You promised we would work on the freezie-dry when you got back. What do we need?! I’ll get it so we can start working right away!” Naruto looks at her expectantly.
She’s drawing something on her board for a while, he spots a few people shift trying to take peeks.
The girl flips the board around, it’s a detailed schematic, something that speaks of technical experience, a little sloppily drawn and simple but Santa could see the brilliance.
Naruto squints at the board studying it. “So an airtight metal box lined with rubber, with a tempered glass panel to see inside that can withstand a moderate amount of internal pressure so it has to be at least 5cm thick steel. Wide removable trays with shelf railing. A freezer of some sort, and a weak vacuum seal to apply pressure constantly to the contents put in the back.”
“Dobe…how can you understand all that but you can’t read a mission scroll?” The Uchiha boy looks shocked. The boy seems to be considering the sealing notes as he lowers his head to re-read that proportion, with his index and thumb on his chin. It was a known phenomena that Uzumaki had trouble reading any text but their own and sealwork. It was dyslexia, sealwork was just precise with exactly positioning and varied brushwork, each character had to be exactly the same down to the width and errant hair of the brush. Kichou had trained herself on gridded paper, had made Naruto use gridded paper, lending it’s to the bottom heavy letterforms and monospacing.
“Big-Nee has like magic handwriting! Even if it’s sloppy it’s like boom! I just know you know!”
They didn’t know, Kushina-sama struggled till the day she died but Kichou had apparently cracked the code.
He turns his head back to the board holding his hand out for the marker and board. Kichou so easily turns it over, there’s a level of trust between them that’s palpable to Santa. The academy notes were not adequate….yet again.
He adds note to the sealing proportion in his own chicken scratch. “I asked pervy-sage and it turns out they are just failed storage scrolls with weight and gravity trigrams but no dimension so it just constantly applies pressure creating I guess like a wind tunnel thing, like a hurricane.” Kichou tries to sit up and Choza puts a hand on her shoulder to get her to lay back down when she falters and pulls too tight on an IV line. There’s a glint in her eye that speaks to Nara's curiosity fighting against an Akimichi modified morphine.
“We should add a limiter character tied to the weight and gravity trigrams, this is a small application because of the box right so it should be extra weak. Pervy sage was telling me about flow characters that control the flow of chakra like a faucet, we should do a secondary portion like this here.” He scribbles a prototype seal on the board and Kichou points to a section. “Hmm you think this is wrong? Oh you mean like…” He changes the character and she nods “So more like a Suna storage scroll, cool! Oh but this is for food right? Shouldn’t it be bigger? A bigger box equals more food!” The Akimichi perk up at the mention of this. She shakes her head and Naruto frowns, not understanding. “It’s a prototype idiot, a proof of concept, what you’re talking about would be for commercial applications. How would it even affect the food and what would you do with it? Nothing like that even comes close in Konoha” Shikamaru scratches his head.
Kichou seems frustrated by her lack of communication methods and throws her hands up in the air. Having washed her hands of the situation.
“Ice crystals?” Choza asks, squinting at the schematic. “You said you needed a freezer, are you trying to increase the shelf of food? Or make a new ration type?”
Kichou nods, making a weird series of hand motions. Choji just looks confused and Shikamaru more so, they shake their head when the room glances their way. She’s making the writing finger motion again like she wants another board. He sees a glint in Choza’s eye and Santa fully expects there will be several piles of paper and a full board in her room tomorrow.
“Big-nee said we could take Ichiraku ramen on missions!”
Choza sighs “You know you need to patent this right, this sounds like new food technology, seals are one thing, closely guarded trade secrets but just the construction of the box needs to go to a trusted craftsman, I can’t help you with construction.”
Kichou waves her hands again and this time to Choji’s delight it seems to be in a recognizable pattern. “Nee-chan says I don’t want money, I just want strawberries and candy bars to eat on missions. Naruto is making the seal if he wants to patent the seal he can.”
Choza’s normally nonchalant expression morphs as his eyes open wider in a steely stare and his mouth creases. “You are no longer apart of the Akimichi clan, although we hope one day you’ll return, I didn’t want to pressure you. We are also the largest food and pharmacy conglomerate and distributor in the land of fire perhaps in all elemental countries. If you were to leave this unprotected I have no doubt those schematics will end up in our company. Aki-san’s husband is currently the lead merchant. I will say so directly, if you do not patent your inventions and they do what you say. They will directly benefit Aki-san who will actively use it to crush smaller competitors like Ichiraku Ramen. Do you want that?”
Kichou’s eyes dart away looking at the corner of the wall. She makes a motion fot the board and Naruto hands it to her thinking she wants to write a response, or add something to the margins. Instead she takes her blanket, wiping the board clean.
“AHHH BIG-NEE WHY?!”
Throwing it on the floor, along with the marker. Words scrawled across.
‘Forget it. Leave.’
Choza sighs, picking up the board, returning it to her bedside. He must think he pushed too hard, and in many ways he did. She refuses to look at him and what should be a happy moment is ending on too sour of a note for Santa’s tastes.
“Dear maybe we should just go for today. Let her rest.” Lady Momoko supplies.
Kichou just stares mulishly at the corner of the ceiling waiting for them to leave.
‘She always gives up too easily.’ Santa snorts, for all her brilliance and facade of maturity she’s still a kid.
“You wanted it to be a gift to Lord Choza, didn't you?” Kichou flinches and Santa knows he got it one, smirking while he thinks he’s finally cracked his student’s hard shell, one of his biggest costernations. “You wanted to make people happy and you became upset when Lord Choza expressed anything other than a purely positive reaction. It's why you get along so well with happy personalities and respond so strongly to negative ones. You are being selfish, you wanted to hog Lord Choza and your parents in their house, you didn’t want it to be yours because you don’t think you can protect what is yours. You can’t get upset if things are taken from you if you willingly give them away. You love them too much, so you push them away, so they can’t take away their love from you.”
Kichou is pressing the nurse station button, to kick them out. Santa’s smile widens because he knows he’s right. Santa lifts himself out of his chair with his forearm strength and hefts himself over her shins. Planting himself in place, he’s not going anywhere. He’s too invested at this point. He can see the beautiful bloom from the dowdy bud.
“You wanted him to praise you, you crave validation but are too afraid to ask for accolades. You fear rejection so you starve yourself from acceptance. People stopped giving you praise thinking you didn’t want it because of how embarrassed you were at how happy it made you, you don’t know how to handle it. Making this machine won’t get you what you want so you let it go before it becomes toxic to you, so it can’t be taken from you.” Santa stretches like a cat on Kichou’s legs, content that he’s finally figured her out.
Santa starts clapping. “Good job Pupa-chan! It sounds brilliant. I can’t wait to have ramen and fruit on missions. I’m so happy you woke up. You’re so strong! You did so well. I love my cute little pupa student” He says cheekily, watching the pink rise to her ears past her permanent blush.
Naruto, lacking all social grace and shame, quickly joins in clapping loudly. “BIG-NEE IS AMAZING! YOU’RE THE BEST! I LOVE YOU!”
Not one to be outdone in brotherly affections Choji claps in “Nee-chan is always so cool! I’m so happy you woke up! Food always tastes better when we eat it together! I love you!”
“It’s Momo’s turn! I love you lots Kicchan! You’re so cute! I’m so so so happy you woke up!~” Lady Momoko joins along merrily.
The Jounin commander was the next to join in to everyone’s surprise “Good job kid. You survived impossible odds and brought back invaluable intel. You probably saved thousands of lives. I can’t wait to see what you do next.” Shikaku finishes coolly, looking expectantly at his son.
“...Troublesome.” He starts lazily clapping along only meeting every other beat. “You’re not bad or whatever….You’re kinda cool when you’re not a pain in the ass. I’m glad you woke up.”
Even Sasuke, who comes from a very reserved clan is feeling emboldened by recent events, joins in. “I always wanted to talk to you in the academy, I thought you were cool when you always stood up for what’s right. I’m glad you woke up as well.”
Choza steps forward, Kichou has partially curled into herself but unable to fully because Santa is still curled over his legs and will likely need assistance getting up. He isn’t clapping.
“...The morphine has worn off hasn’t it.” Kichou flinches but nods. “I never wanted to see you in pain. I’ve been foolish. I thought protecting you, providing the best I could, giving you your space was showing you how much I loved you. I never said it much, did I? ….I have never stopped loving you, since the first day I met you. You’re my pride and joy and I’m so thankful you woke up. I never told you anything thinking I could still protect you but I kept failing you. So now I’ll tell you everything. I hate seeing you in pain, it makes me feel like my heart is breaking. I wish you would press that button again and get some sleep. I don’t want to take that choice away from you but it hurts me so badly. I want to see you tomorrow. And every day after. I want you to be happy. I want you to stop punishing yourself for wanting things. I want you to love yourself as much as I love you.” Choza picks up the button and puts it in her hands. She presses the button. There’s a loud applause, embarrassing and whole. The door slides open.
“What is going on in here?!”
Santa looks up cheekily, like a venus fly trap who got butterfly, a slow arduous process that he would savor every last bit. “Exposure therapy.”
Chapter 20
Summary:
The truth of the matter
Chapter Text
“I heard you had another tantrum brat.” Jiraiya says dismissively, leaning on the wall. The nurses have prepared her as best they could for a meeting with the new Hokage, his advisor, and the head of T&I Analysis division, Yamanaka Inoichi. Timed it so that she was in between pain management doses so she could be clear and level headed, at the request of Lord Yamanaka, checked her vitals and propped her up with an adjustment of the bed and pillows. They then sealed the room with some of the most complex sealwork she’s ever seen. Soundproof tags, locks, alarms, barriers and sensors all rolled into one beautiful matrix.
‘Respectfully Hokage-sama, I fail to see why Jiraiya-sama is necessary for this meeting. It’s cramped in here as it is. Disrespectfully Jiraiya-sama, You can fuck off, youre stinking up my room with your old man stench.’ They have given her a large writing pad and pen for this meeting. The man points at her “You’re on death's door and giving me lip, if I didn’t pity your tubed bratty ass I would give you a wallop!” He’s shaking his fist in the air while the advisor Shuishi of the body flicker clears his throat. The Hokage is truly smoldering in every sense of the word, smooth like the previous hokage’s smoke. “Jiraiya-sama's foremost duty is tracking the activities of Orochimaru, in recent years there was a level of inactivity and silence and our attention turned elsewhere so we lost track of his movements completely. This development is deeply troubling and we wished to discuss in further detail the book that was decoded last night.”
‘Who is Orochimaru again?’ Lord Yamanaka lets loose a tepid chuckle, despite the seriousness of the situation. “You were always terrible with names… He is the man who performed your surgery for lack of a better term.” Yellow eyes, snake like, a sealed tongue. He looks apologetic as he leans forward. “We were hoping to completely view the encounter through an invasive siphon technique however I’m told your mind is complex, and extenuating circumstances-”
“Stop beating around the bush. You’re crazy, kid. They need to ask some questions to bring the memories to the forefront then they’ll snatch them with a mindwalking technique.” Kichou can tell Inochi-sama is trying to swallow his ire as Jiraiya is unusually standoffish, irritated by some invisible spector. She is hesitant as she tries to word her next question carefully. ‘Will this count as an official mental evaluation? This may not work regardless I have already compartmentalized it and buried the memory. I’d rather not if it isn’t going to work.’
“Santa mentioned you have a rather expansive and layered mental landscape. It seems as if you’re unwilling to guide us there. I wish to clarify I wholeheartedly do not think you’re crazy and I have asked for a release of classified information in the hopes they offer you assurance that you’re sane. Tell me-” The man unfurls a scroll, unsealing a canvas painting from it. A depiction of a dead tree. Kichou’s heart races as the shadows in the room wobble and flicker, as she averts her eyes towards the door before she feels herself being pulled back into her mental landscape.
She is soft and translucent in this world, Kichou has no skin, she can see her veins and organs and deformed wings that are withering like specks of dust in the wind. She feels viscous and intangible as she’s transported into the woods, there’s an intruder here. A man who has bypassed all her fortifications.
“WHY DID YOU SHOW ME THAT?! DID SENSEI SHOW YOU?!” Kichou whirls on him, he is looking down at her, inspecting her, judging her, she can’t push him out. Inochi-sama is something insidious and creeping like a weed burrowing, rooting into her mind and not releasing. The Yamanaka crest was bush clover, beautiful but invasive, a transplant that could take over.
“Apologies, I too didn’t wish to talk to Jiraiya anymore. I like the man well enough but he’s not a taste I acquired over the years. We have to work closely together in Intel, he’s brilliant, but I sometimes find him tiring. I also wished to talk to you with a modicum of privacy and I find this form of communication more pleasant. I was hoping I could meet your alter as well. Is she around?” He’s so pleasant and calm as if he was discussing something as banal as the weather.
“She can’t come down here! Seriously you can’t-” Her shadow elongates and shapens before rising from the ground in a three dimensional form. Ren is in this layer…..When did that happen? There’s a hole in the sky, gleaming spiderwebs of sunlight reach this tier, casting light in the glade instead of eternal darkness and bleeding starlight. “I can.” Rin speaks before grabbing her hand.
“She doesn’t remember much of what happened after the laboratory, her sensei was the dominant consciousness throughout the aftermath by his own design. She was sleeping in this layer while the mind was trying to repair his interference and struggled to not collapse. Her mind compartmentalizes and deals with traumatic events here.” Kichou feels betrayed as Ren who normally is the first to tell them to hide is forthright with her personal information, who is showing herself to a man they don’t know. Ren doesn’t meet her gaze, only holding her hand tighter.
“We are missing a large chunk of time, I have checked all the layers but the memories are not there. I am concerned for Kichou. Her mind is not healing like it should, she will not report the problem to her sensei.” the 3 days between the Inn and the lab. The snake that is devouring much of this layer, infesting unrelated memories.
Inochi looks at the shade considering her. “Is it not your mind too?” Ren flicks and wobbles, growing weaker before reshaping. “No, Kichou remains the dominant personality at all times, I just help her when I can.” Inochi seems to stop and consider this. “Passive, living vicariously through her, sharing senses, well I guess your form is accurate, Do you have a name?”
Ren flinches, and Kichou feels agitation at Ren being reduced to something so simple as a fractured personality. Kichou can feel her wanting to withdraw, disappear, when it’s him who is intruding her mind. “Her name is Ren.” Kichou grounds out. “Only refer to her as Ren.” Inochi smiles at the pair.
“I’m sorry I’ve been rather rude myself, I’m sure you already know who I am but for the sake of etiquette I am Yamanaka Inochi please call me Inochi-san or Uncle, and I must admit I’m very excited to meet you two.” He smiles and looks at the hole punched through the sky. “I wish I could have seen the other layers as well, I’m told they are quite fantastical. I hope you’ll invite me some day.” He smiles serenely and it reminds of her sensei, blooming flowers, and fragrant breeze. There’s a twig snap that has the group snapping their head to the treeline, A man with silver hair and no face comes shambling out of the woods. Aggressively intrusive when Kichou was in this layer, this memory would seek her out to remind her of her weakness.
Arms outstretched reaching for Kichou, she flinches as her eyes clench tight, except the blow never reaches her as she opens her eyes and sees Inochi gripping the man’s face with force, holding him back as if it was a minor inconvenience. Kichou can tell he’s siphoning the memory. Full body embarrassment and shame flushes over her, she can feel herself melting into the forest floor. Ren clenches her hand tighter, intertwining their fingers.
“You have nothing to be ashamed of.” She whispers. “He was wrong, filthy.”
“I had wondered why you never reported it.” The man straightens his jacket as the silver haired man morphs into a flower bed containing a wild assortment of flowers, the primary being a red butterfly bush. “You weren’t crazy by the way, your mind did something very clever. You processed your trauma after identifying a root agent by making them faceless like the root mask. It protected you from trauma by producing a diverting visual hallucination while I’m assuming Ren was actively filtering out your audio.” He kneels down before touching the altered memory of her chunin instructor, inspecting leaves and bloomage.
“He was a traitor by the way, one I personally handled. He was selling academy children that no one cared for to Danzo and Orochimaru, he targeted you because you protected your lowborn classmates and Naruto fervently. His deviancy towards you in particular…. was not something you provoked, he liked making you feel as insignificant as him because he was jealous of you. He was truly a vile human being who didn’t deserve breath so I turned him into fertilizer. I planted these flowers from his body, much more pleasing to the eye, no?” Kichou’s breath catches in her throat as tears sting her eyes. She should be scared that Inochi just admitted to killing a man and turning him into plant food but, thinking of her classmates, just children struggling to survive in a cruel world, this world’s idea of social welfare was attached to deep and incessant strings of violence and usefulness and the laboratory where they must have died in fear. A fate she narrowly escaped.
“...What’s a root agent and why did he target Naruto?”
The man doesn’t answer right away instead moving back towards the dirt path to the center of the glad. Ren drags her along following him closely.
“That is a difficult answer, and what was originally highly confidential material, I have received a release of the information if I deem you can handle it. It is the type of information that once you know you cannot go back to the way things were. You must only move forward.”
“We can handle it!” Ren is adamant while Kichou is unsure. She thinks of the red butterfly bush and a man she hated being a part of a much larger conspiracy. How deep did it go, how did he have that painting?
“Naruto is something very special, called a Jinchuriki. Within him is sealed the spirit of Kyuubei no Kitsune.”
“....I already knew that.” Inochi smiles at Kichou’s quiet admittance. It was hard to ignore the whispers, the amount of people pitying her for having to befriend her parent’s murderer. The warnings from grocery store owners and Akimichi civilians when she fed him. It’s hard to think the boy was anything other than a boy when she had to buy him stomach medicine after he nearly died on the toilet because he drank spoiled milk. Or when he brings her giant baby pigeons wrapped in his shirt who fell from their nests with broken wings, crying and pleading to her desperately to save them. Her own idea of reparations did in fact work perfectly….on her.
“The Uzumaki in particular were once a powerful noble clan from a fallen village whose body was uniquely predisposed to containing bijuu or tailed chakra beasts.”
“Was Naruto’s mom the previous container then? Did you know them?”
Inochi’s head snaps to her at her line of questioning. “How did you come to that conclusion?”
Kichou feels her mind churning. “There is no other Uzumaki in Konohagakure.”
Ren intercedes “The Kyuubei attack happened on Naruto’s birthday. Meaning the previous container died during Naruto’s birth.”
“If the Uzumaki are the only capable containers in Konoha to the point of a baby being the next best candidate then that means the previous container must have died right at the point of childbirth.”
“It’s unlikely that a man would die in such a timeframe but it’s possible, usually the simplest solution is the correct answer.”
“The last name might be a fallacy, she would have had to be a ninja right? She would have had so much chakra. Kuniochi have a large level of independence, she may not have been married.”
“Women can give birth from ages 12 to 51, 12 years ago would have put her between the ages 24 to 63 if she was alive currently. A more accurate median would be 32-48.”
“The toad is connected, he is at the older end of that age range, it’s possible he is the father, he seems like the deadbeat type. Naruto is talented at sealing. Doesn’t have blue eyes though, brown eyes are still a dominant genetic marker, was he blond when he was younger? Did the mom have blonde hair?”
“The snake mentioned red hair not breeding true. She might have had red hair or she possessed blonde hair and blue eyes.”
“Inochi-sama said from a fallen village maybe we were right in thinking she immigrated from a water based village with all the storm imagery in Naruto’s name, and Naruto favoring water clones suggests water chakra.”
“Water chakra is more common in the water country. When did the Mist escalate in conflict? Sometime during the third war, correct? She could be a refuge.”
“It seems doubtful to be a lone refuge in that age range, the smaller countries also emerged during the second period and didn’t necessarily disappear. She could have also lived through that war from the range.”
“The second ninja war happened twenty years ago so maybe, Naruto’s mom would have been a teenager in the third war making her—
“Your parents generation! Yeah that feels more likely, so a woman in her early to late twenties when she had Naruto who immigrated alone from a water country sometime during the second war making her a refugee with red hair or blond hair. That really sticks out.”
“Wait when did the toad leave the village?- Sometime after the second.- Maybe he’s not the father then.- He could have come back temporarily- Other than the spiky hair I don’t see much in common-Well the sealing maybe..”
“...They were friends!” Inochi calls out further down the path. “Your parents were friends! That parallel thinking is terrifying by the way. I can see why people think you make massive assumptions or jump to conclusions. You are like two Nara thinking at once, spitballing conjecture and scenarios. You came to the conclusion of that train of thought in less than a minute! I would love to have you in T&I, I might just poach you!”
He’s sorting through roots, looking through the dark corners for what Kichou doesn’t know.
“WAIT?! My parents?!” Kichou runs to catch up, Ren stepping in tandem. Her Shadow walking along side her. “There was an animal masked messenger when I was a baby, who said the baby was coming, then they died… If that baby was Naruto and they were friends, did that mean they were nearby when the Kyuubei became unsealed?!”
Inochi has stopped up ahead, a round woman with short brown hair was ripping the bark from the trees and filling her pockets to the brim with it, scratching and scittering like a rat in the walls. There’s an oni group trailing her, hoping to take the wood in her pockets for the barbeque, they are too small to do anything, too powerless. If they cry at all the woman will snap and kick them away, sending them scattering.
“They were her personal guard…I’m surprised you remember but also not. Do you remember the animal mask?”
“Ox.”
“Is that so?” Inochi-sama trips the woman, as she goes careening the wood falling from her pockets scattering to the forest floor. The woman unleashes a guttering moan as her hands dig trying to get the wood back in her pockets before Inochi steps on her hand and presses, siphoning the memory. The oni all cheer with glee and scurry to snatch up the wood before running off to the barbeque.
“We are still trying to prove her involvement, she’s managed to evade expulsion from the Akimichi clan numerous times by using connections and stolen wealth.”
“....Is she also a Root Agent?” She asks as the man picks up his foot and stomps, her form bursting into verdant grass that stretches.
“We believe she might have been at one point, Akimichi children are usually celebrated and cherished, there was someone actively trying to turn public sentiment against you from an early age. It was tactical, they wished to portray you as coveting Choji’s position as heir, a parasite that would lead the clan to ruin or strife or institutionalize you claiming you were defective, when they tried to hide their abuse. It was easy to envy you, they wanted your parent’s house, their wealth, your position, you were vulnerable. They were scrambling to deal with you before you could grow into your power. You were never those things.” Kichou feels numb, in a fugue state for the years she had always known they were greedy and that they wanted her parents' house. In the end they had won, she abandoned the house, and left the clan. She had made herself a target, because she was too stupid to see past her anger.
“They could not spirit you away as easily as other children, the barrier on the house also was designed so you couldn’t leave in early infancy. Your parents were worried about Iwa kidnappers…..they never expected internal forces. Choza was the only one who could remove you, and only because he was head of the clan. It doesn’t mean they didn’t try.” Ren is growing stronger by her side, she is becoming more here as light is both figuratively and literally being shed. The man above her crib.
“...Why did he never take me? Choza-sama, that is.” Inochi heaves a deep bone weary sigh.
“He wanted to, he applied for adoption seventeen times, the council blocked it, we didn’t know why at the time, we only learned later. They had lied about your wellbeing and falsified reports with additional help. He ended up taking you without permission when he had to remove you from the house, he almost starved Konoha like you were starved when the council demanded you be returned to Aki-san’s care. In the end the Akimichi civilians managed to wrestle control back, enough to reduce Choza’ agency”
They walk in silence for a while, Ren is trying to hold her together. The more she tries, the more Kichou is melting, returning to primordial goop once again. Ren is angry on her behalf, Kichou can tell. The cloud layer is raining, Ren is strongest there while Kichou always sinks through the cloud floor much like how Ren previously could never come here, a flood is pouring from the hole in the sky. They pass a faceless Rin in the woods, snapping twigs like crunching bones, sobbing echoes muffled by rain.
“So it was all just one big conspiracy?! Santa said Danzo was executed years ago, why was he allowed to go unchecked for so long?! The council just allowed all this?! Are they not democratically elected?!”
He stops on the path. “I ask myself that every day, Konoha’s forefathers had a vision of extending beyond one’s clan becoming a united village. Yet we stopped communicating with each other, we only went through the village. Strife was driven between the clans to weaken them, it made it easier to do what Danzo wanted. He had formed a secret sect among our ranks called Root, stole our children, brainwashed them to serve him and not Konoha. The …previous Hokage allowed too much, too sentimental to his megalomania. You could say Danzo’s biggest mistake was targeting you. In his arrogance he thought he could steal an Ino-Shika-Cho alliance child as easily.”
The man from her crib now stands menacing in the middle of the path guarding the tree, that’s been crushed and exposed. A great wyrm, a white snake circles the tree coiling, tasting the air with a rather human tongue covered in black ink.
A single finger is touched to the faceless’s bandaged eye as the memory is siphoned. “Santa never showed me this forest, the copy was actually done by a young woman currently held in T&I, she helped you escape the compound. She was a particularly powerful member of the Kurama clan at one point. She painted the original, hidden above your crib. It was designed to remove emotions, make you pliant, however you remained stubborn. The woman, at the time a young girl who felt sorry for you, implanted a secret weakness, faceless spirits that would take on the form of your loved ones, shades hidden in the roots to tell you to look away, to guide you outwards.” Ren lets go of her hand, Kichou finds herself leaning right looking for her support. Inochi looks towards her sad and apologetic as she feels her world crumbling underneath her.
“The apparitions you saw, the shades of your mother and father, even the split personality next to you was your mind’s way of trying to heal. You were never crazy. You were never broken. You survived.” Inochi destroys the faceless Danzo, lighting it a flame, burning his body that scatters on the wind like ash, leaving only a snake and a destroyed dead tree. Ren wobbles before falling flat into the ground, like an ordinary shadow. The clouds dissipate after pouring empty of rain and despair. Kichou falls to the muddy forest floor without Ren to hold her up. She struggles to get up but finds herself muddling in the muck, as she slams her fist into the ground sending a splash of mud towards the intruder's direction. “You’re wrong! Ren is real! She isn’t a split personality, she is me! I am her reincarnation…” Inochi kneels in front of her, the mud refuses to stick to him, she’s not in control of her own mind. He is, and that’s horrifying.
“Ren is a beautiful name, it could mean lotus right? In the language of flowers it means reincarnation and transcendence, the ability to rise above murky water of hell with no stain, untouched and pure. It is the flower of strength and resilience. You likely invented an idealized version of yourself, one to help you overcome impossible odds.” He seems so certain and so assured that she herself questions her reality. What if Ren was a split personality, she has memories of her previous life but what if she fractured and personified her presence, so she wouldn’t be alone. She was Ren and Ren was her. Did it matter? Kichou’s wings completely crumble away until there’s nothing left, her limbs and body dissolve into the muck before a giant caterpillar, with banded blue and red color and rounded simplified anatomy emerges in her place. This was her original form. But there was no life to eat here. No viridescent foliage in a dead forest, she would starve in this layer in her mind.
“So I’m just a delusional child then. Egg on my face for hoping I had a people protecting me, that I had special connection….Just take your fucking memory and go, you’re not any better than them. That’s why you’re all here right, I hope you enjoy falling apart before your very eyes. Enjoy every minute of it” The caterpillar bumps her head against his shin urging him forward towards the coiling snake, who has been watching them in mirth. Taunting her.
The man picks her up, as she tries to wiggle out of his grasp. “I told you before didn’t I, that once you knew the information there was no going back. You will not survive, if you do not grow, if you do not adapt and evolve. You are weak and vulnerable, you will spend your days in terror being targeted by Danzo, never knowing why and you will end up like your parents. You cannot remain a child Kichou.”
“They died in the Kyuubei attack! It was unavoidable!” She screeches but there’s a new found uncertainty in her voice that Inochi latches onto.
“No, the reason Danzo was executed was because it was revealed he orchestrated the Kyuubei attack! He killed your parents before the biju was even released, he wanted the secrets hidden in their bodies, and because they stood in the way of his true goal, to gain control of the Kyuubei and by proxy the Leaf. For the exact same reasons you were targeted over and over again. Choza cannot protect you from this anymore.”
The caterpillar stills no longer squirming before losing color, becoming gray and swallow, it curls in onto itself before it becomes intangible slipping through Inochi’s fingers. Dying in his grasp as she liquifies in translucent inky vicious fluid. Cursing when he cannot catch shadows like his Nara counterparts.
A lotus bud emerges from the mud, catching her, unfurling its petals like a soft bed.
From the shade of the flower emerges as a field of lotus springs forth before his eyes, endless. Looking straight at him. Cracks in the wet loaming soil appear erupting lava that pools and puddles. Burning away the forest in a white hot anger. The lotus is not deterred, only growing stronger in the heat as the ground falls away from Inochi’s feet. Only the tree is left, floating above a landscape of magma and roiling water and the snake who is coiling is trying to retain ground and protect the burrow and shadows beneath. The caterpillar wriggles to life before devouring the bloomed lotus flower, growing bigger.
“I told you we could handle it.” The split personality has returned. “She’s angry, you need to take the memory and leave before she destroys the wyrm. Kichou will expel you soon if you don’t.” Inochi panics as he witnesses lotus root tangling and restraining the snake, overtaking the tree, roots wrapping around his own ankles. The caterpillar has nearly doubled in size before stretching towards another flower. Inochi touches a petal of a flower blooming from his leg, he feels his mind bending at complex math equations, information pure and abstract, ideas on philosophy, strategy, self-actualization, technology, advancement.
“What are you doing?! Is she feeding on memories?!” The shade only smiles blithely. “I am feeding her enlightenment. She is assimilating me. One day we will be whole again.” The caterpillar has grown to his size, and is still consuming flowers with reckless abandon. Oni emerge from the lava vents, cheering as they gather lotus blossoms that serve on giant platters like an offering to a god. The caterpillar’s round mandibles unhinge devouring platters in a flurry of petals. Ravaging the area around her as she surges forward, like a natural disaster. They are knocked harmlessly in the air before more emerge, surging around it, offering it more, taking the bulbs and grilling them over lava flow, throwing them into the creatures mouth. He panics when he feels the lotus roots start to pull him down, sinking him into the field of hell below him. He tears away the roots with furious steps.
He reaches out a hand to touch the tail snake rapidly retreating, lotus roots like ropes wrap around him and cling to his form. The world shakes and rumbles as a giant lotus bud bursts forth from the remnants of the dead tree, destroying the hollow, a growing green stalk shattering the glass sky further, a vibrant bloom unfurling in the sunlight. Revealing the giant valley above, three statues looking back down at him. A Kokeshi doll made of peaches jumps down landing in a spin before bouncing towards him. A sentry. It bounces up and down on his head, stomping him into the invisible ground pushing him closer to hell.
“Look how big the caterpillar has gotten! So cute~ I just wanna squish those chubby little legs~.” It looks fondly at the caterpillar who is now the size of a house and still growing. It turns to him. “You have overstayed your welcome Intruder-chan~ The caterpillar does not want to hurt you but you’re standing in her way. Momo will help you if only so you leave faster.” The caterpillar is the size of the snake now, turning on it. Rearing back with a monstrous screech as the snake writhes and snaps it’s jaw breaking free of roots if only momentarily before more latch on. Engaging in mortal combat.
The doll jumps from his head, rearing back an empty sleeve serving as an arm. “Momo-Magic-Love-Tap!~” the punch launches him from the vines and towards the snake. He rolls in air before running towards the white scales glinting the glow of magma and pink petals. The snake has locked its jaw on the caterpillar’s middle in their tussle. It cannot devour Kichou whole. His hand is mere inches away from the gleaming scale before blue light cascades across the surface. Clipped wings flair to life as the giant caterpillar rears back with the snake's jaw still latched onto her body, stomping its full weight on the snake.
Sending entrails outward, spraying blood into this circle of hell that sizzles from the radiating heat. He gets snippets, a man who holds his stomach in his hands, a silent scream as he is torn open, his organs laying on the table, bones plucked from his still heaving chest. He’s still conscious , he can feel everything, Inochi was foolish to assume they would give her anesthesia, any numbing agent, or genjutsu to lessen the pain. He is kept alive by the secrets Orchimaru is retching from his body. The man is inflicting pain to study her nervous system, simulating a battle that she cannot possibly win. Nauseousness overtakes him, as he feels himself falter, washed in blood and green ichor. The Oni relish in the shower, hungrily eating bits of raining meat, tearing at the carcass, bowing to the caterpillar. Memory cannibalizing itself. With united effort they carry it to a barbeque shop built into a cliffside roaring with smoke.
Hundreds of lotus blossoms still remain, filled with knowledge. The giant blossom’s shadow flickers, forming “Ren” illuminated by magma from the field below. She rubs his back. “It seems like you were the one who couldn’t handle it.” Inochi clenches his eyes before he grunts, resettling himself. “I am sorry we could not give you the knowledge you came here looking for. But that was never your true goal was it?”
Inochi smirks, wiping his mouth on the back of his sleeve.
“...No, it wasn’t.” The shade falls flat, racing back to the lotus blossom before another giant shadow looms over him. The caterpillar has reared back, a monster towering over him, crushing him flat.
He for the first time in a decade, is ejected from a mind.
Inochi comes too in a choking gasp clutching his stomach, trying to hold his innards in while Kichou remains still stagnant, dormant, likely restructuring her mental landscape, rectifying memories. There’s a steading hand from Uchiha Itachi as Inochi quickly catches his breath.
“Apologies.” He takes a shaky breath before crushing an anti-anxiety medicine developed by the Nara between his teeth, it was hard sometimes to rebalance their mental chemistry after delving into a particularly difficult mind.
“...So, did you get it or not?” Jiraiya impatiently asks. He is agitated that Orochimaru was so close, slithering under his nose. He had been caught with his guard down, and lashing out like a child.
“No” He crushes another pill between his teeth, feeling a rush of calm wash over him. “She destroyed it before I could fully siphon it and forcefully ejected me….She is a true monster.” He says it fondly like he’s proud. “I got some snippets. She was awake the whole time Orochimaru gave her a paralytic and not a numbing agent. She kept herself alive by burning her stockpiles to produce more adrenaline. Unfortunately I think Orochimaru saw everything he needed to.” The men remain silent processing before Jiraiya clicks his tongue. “So you learned nothing new and got kicked out. Great job kid, it would have been better if you hadn’t gone in at all.” The sage sneers at him, and Inochi can’t really argue.
“I wouldn’t say that Jiraiya-sama.” The man stills before all eyes in the room turn back to the hospital bed. Kichou’s eyes fly open before focusing and unfocusing on the light above her bed. There’s more light in her eyes as she holds herself differently. A softer cadence to her voice, as her head turns looking about the room, clenching and unclenching her hands. There’s a growing red splotch coming from Kichou’s stomach as she sits up further. “Oh no! ummm….What do I do?! Help!” Inochi rushes out of his chair before administering first aid, it’s just a popped stitch that he seals shut with a thread of chakra. “I thought you said you were never the dominant personality Ren.”
He can feel the stares assessing the girl before him. A completely new entity. “I’m not, but Kichou started slumbering again, she built a new cocoon and everything, and I felt bad you didn’t get what you needed when you gave us so much information in return. Did I mess her up?! I didn’t mean too, I wasn’t thinking! I’m not in control of pain!” She’s frantic as she looks down at the work, trying to check herself over. “That might explain why Kichou’s so brazen, you’re in control of all of her fear and anxiety. Santa told me you control her audio processing, I didn’t expect it to be the whole temporal lobe.”
“Kichou usually is in control of the cortex, the stimuli allows her to react faster.” Kichou is crying, trembling. It’s bizarre to say the least “I’m sorry Inochi-sama. Umm…C-can I ask what you needed to know? Then I’ll leave.” The Hokage speaks next. “You were awake…or a proximity of you was awake during the surgery. Were you speaking the whole time to Orochimaru?”
Inochi stops her from bowing her head. “Oh Kichou was… and I was too I guess. Kichou couldn’t speak, the snake injected something into her neck to keep her still. I was processing our audio and trying to reduce the fear hormones in her body. I thought she was going to have a heart attack because of how fast it was pounding.” Jiraiya snorts. “She did have a heart attack. Two.” Ren flinches before receding back. “I tried my best! Santa-sensei was the one chasing me through the layers, I got distracted….sorry. The second wasn’t my fault!” She says sheepishly. There’s a gentle hand placed on Kichou’s head. “You did amazing, Ren! You got her home and everything.” She looks rather happy at that, as a blush crawls past her cheek marks. She felt more childish than Kichou, a people pleaser. “Thank you Inochi-sama!” She grins with a lightness that Kichou has never possessed. Inochi wished that Choza was here to see it. “I can repeat the meeting verbatim if you would like. I will have trouble with some intonation though, he was a bit repetitive and melodramatic….it worked in our favor though! Kichou thought he was maybe stalling for time from the beginning.”
“Do you know why she thought that?” Inochi inquires.
“Yes, he had sealed the book right after Kichou had woken up, also….there is still the matter of three days missing! We were theorizing why that might be.” Inochi nods at her to continue.
“There was a command from…..Oyaji to sleep, that was the last thing we remember before we woke up during a dissection. Orochimaru said he couldn’t administer any more anesthesia because it would degrade the samples but we thought that might be a lie, he never gave us any at all. We think he saw an opportunity; he wanted to see how Kichou’s body reacts to stimuli but didn’t finish harvesting organs. We learned later from Sai-san that Oyaji had left the compound. We think he had traveled a certain distance away, to where the command to sleep wore off. We think the snake saw Kichou waking up as an opportunity. It seemed like the snake’s true ambition was to preserve life, he spoke of at length other Uzumaki in the compound-”
“OTHER UZUMAKI?! Do you know how many?!” Jiraiya roars as Ren recoils backward, falling into herself against the pillows. “Jiraiya-sama! Control yourself please! She is a fragile superego not meant to act as–” Inochi stands between them.
“I have no time for children or mind games! If you had just done your job correctly we would already have all the information we needed! She speaks as if he’s some saint that didn’t butcher her open like a pig!”
“...H-hokage-sama, can you order him to leave? Kichou might wake up.” She asks timidly.
“Jiraiya-sama, maybe a walk and a drink might clear your head.” Shuishi opens the door in a gentle bow urging the Sanin to step out with him. Jiraiya bristles before he eyes her quaking form.
“....Hmph! I liked the other brat more, at least she had some fucking backbone.” Ren flinches as the sliding door slams shut.
“I know…I like Kichou better too…” She says quietly as Inochi can see her retreat in on herself. He grabs her hand. “Can you answer the question Ren? The Uzumaki were once an allied clan. It is our duty to save them if they are in trouble.” She shakes her head in a jerking motion.
“No…He only said there wasn’t a compatible male for….breeding. ” There’s a blush on her cheeks as she finishes her sentence. “So maybe only females or males that are too young to reproduce. An o-older male didn’t seem like a problem, the medical facility looked advanced enough to produce….that medicine. He said Kichou would have….monstrous children with the yang chakra to rival the sage….Kichou thought that was worse than death….” She averts her eyes as she says this. Inochi refrains from physical comfort as he apologetically lets go of her hand. Ren withdraws from the contact instantly, holding herself in comfort. She is much more reserved than Kichou and without her by her side seems less emboldened than how she felt in their mind. A shadow without anything to stand behind.
“So that’s why you asked him to leave…” Inochi muses. Jiraiya would have lost his mind when he heard that. Inochi wondered if Orochimaru said it intentionally for the girl to lure Jiraiya on a reckless rescue mission. Reframing the whole conversation as intentional leak of information to Konoha. More specifically to Jiraiya.
“Did anything else stick out to you, I trust you, you've already shown you’re extremely adept at processing information.” That seems to cause her to unravel slightly as she put her thumbnail in her mouth and absentmindedly chewed on it. A nail-biter, a habit Kichou never exhibited herself as Inochi continues to catalog their differences for her profile later. There is no doubt in his mind that they are fully fleshed out entities, despite the detractors from the phenomenon.
“Kichou already told Shikaku-sama that there was a seal on the snake's tongue. Santa-sensei said it was an interesting work around to call him Oyaji. The snake seemed to not be able to make any reference to Oyaji, I think he couldn’t even allude to him, there must be some sort of disassociation in the snake's mind that could make the difference. But couldn’t say anything disparaging either. There’s a massive rift between the two with differing goals. He seemed… very remorseful to actually kill Kichou. We thought the Snake was actually more interested in the Akimichi bloodline than Oyaji was. The snake knew Sensei and Sai were coming, he acted like this was a moment of opportunity to save her and injected a serum into her leg. I don’t know what it did. Kichou was going to tell a doctor but I was too scared to. So much has been happening since she woke up, I feel overwhelmed…”
Inochi aims for his best sympathetic tone. “It’s alright, I’ll tell the doctor and we’ll get them to do an additional check up on the stomach stitch you popped and run an extra blood panel. You won’t get Kichou in trouble.” Ren nods thankful.
“The snake gave us a warning, never to show up in front of him again as he specifically would not let us go and not Oyaji. He seemed rather fanatical about scientific inquiry. Oyaji has only ever called us a defective person that was not needed in his new world. The snake told us to tell our mutual friend which we thought meant Jiraiya that Oyaji’s body was incomplete, that he was directly targeting the Noble clans for more samples but showed no interest in the Uzumaki in the compound if that body was new and he had access. Oyaji’s body had dark, spiky hair, but he didn’t look like Naruto at all, he looked closer to Sasuke-san and other Uchiha we’ve seen. Oyaji’s Eye…..”
Itachi leans forward at this, rapt with attention. Ren averts her eyes away instead focusing on Inochi’s jawline. “Was it some kind of modified Sharingan maybe? The girl in the village said they put a baby in the Inn hostess’s belly. Artificial insemination, a designer body of tailored genetics maybe. Kichou never looked at it directly but the cartoon in the village was bright red. Everyone else seemed to be pliant, compelled to do whatever he wanted. We think Oyaji’s goal is trying to recreate the Sage’s body, to achieve godhood. We didn’t think the Sage was real. The sage seemed more like…..a prophetic metaphorical figure. If the noble clans all have some genetic variation of the Sage then Kichou would represent the god’s body? But all Oyaji ordered was to collect samples of Kichou’s stomach and brain…but didn’t take Kichou’s….special parts, to make more. If he already has a sharingan, the Senju are extinct with the exception of Tsunade-sama, he either wants a perfect Akimichi or is not interested… then….what about the Hyuuga?”
“Do you…..store your memories separately from Kichou?” Inochi asks after a moment of quiet contemplation. “Like the lotus flowers?” Ren flinches but nods.
“Yes, it’s a secret. Kichou knows but if it specifically references her I’ll leave the information in the main layer.”
“But there’s a fourth layer that just you use. Like she had the woods layer. One we haven’t found the entrance to but saw right?” Ren visibly panics.
“No!” When Inochi gives her his sternest look that he usually gives Ino then the girl buckles into telling her the truth. “Umm. You just….can't tell Kichou you know about that layer. We hide a lot of …..private things up there….I ummm store some of the excess audio information there in case Kichou needs it later. Why do you ask?”
Inochi smiles. “Up there? So I was right, there's a heaven layer hidden amongst the clouds. Yearning, Anger, Sadness and …. Dreaming maybe?” Ren doesn’t respond to his conjecture but Inochi knows he’s right.
“Would you happen to be curious about what was sealed in the book? The one you both so desperately tried to save?” A spark of curiosity glints her eyes.
“The code worked then?!” It was an animated response. Inochi nods, before turning to the Hokage who gives a relenting nod.
“The message itself was rather short, “Turn your eyes to the Hyuuga.” This is of course a top-class secret.” Ren stiles, as she looks wide eyed at Inochi’s lips. “We are investigating what that could possibly mean but the Hyuuga have a seal that acts similarly to the seal you saw in Orochimaru’s mouth and we found no Hyuuga ancestry among the original Root agents. I only say this to warn you, don’t not relay any of this information or conjecture to a Hyuuga or Hyuuga related entity. You might be inclined to warn other children of the noble clans. Please let Kichou know too as soon as she wakes up.”
Ren nods. “I will be leaving soon…Kichou’s layer has finally settled, and I’m really tired! Umm Inochi-sama, can you relay a message to Jiraiya-sama for me? I know he’s mad at us and It’s ummm not important though, so feel free to say no!”
Inochi blinks and nods and Ren waves her hand closer while eyeing the Hokage on the coach. Curious he brings his ear to her cupped hand. “Ummm…Can you tell Jiraiya-sama we want a new signed copy of Icha Icha Eternal. And that I thought his sex scenes were really tawdry especially after the crashed wedding scene, the female lead should have taken the reins to have truly shown her possessiveness. He’s also too focused on the male perspective. The MC had a lot of dreamy qualities that would have been better showcased if there was more emphasis on his unrelenting devotion and less on overcoming his cowardly nature to become a “man”. Also his act one pacing is like….really really really bad. The ending was really nice but too conclusive. I think there were unresolved storylines that could have been resolved in a sequel novel. The ex-boyfriend from act one just dropped off the face of the earth, and a confrontation between the mc and ex in act 3 would have been perfect symmetry and would have upped the steamy factor….”
Ren pulls back and nods at him before laying down returning to a resting state, a different expression resting on the girl's face as Inochi laughs full bellied, wiping tears from his eyes. “I'll be sure to let the author know your thoughts.”
“Well, that actually went better than I expected.” Inochi turns to his new Hokage. Stretching his back feeling it pop. “We got more than enough information. What was your impression, Lord Kage?” Itachi waves his hand at the older man, he is leaning over Kichou’s form inspecting her.
“Just Itachi, please Inochi-dono. I was hoping to formally speak to her, I’ve been intrigued since Naruto’s archives were turned over to me. Sarutobi-sama made Naruto give weekly reports on his well being, I can see why he’s so attached. Sasuke too finds her likable and that’s more than enough endorsement from me. Her own file is woefully small though, nor did I see any psychological evaluation, is this dissociative identity disorder a new development?”
Inochi sighs, truly exhausted. “It’s been sealed in T&I since the Mizuki incident, I could pull it for you if you want Itachi-sama. Santa has been developing a complex psychological profile on all of team 13, he had suspicions that she had some form of avoidant personality and documented dissociative episodes with the potential of bipolar disorder. This new prognosis is more rare but that ironically is par for the course for her.”
“Will it prove an issue? Sarutobi-sama was hoping she would reach the status of Chunin quickly, he was hoping to fast track her through Administration, or secure her a teaching position at the Academy. If she is not fit for active duty I have no problems reassigning her.” Inochi scoffs at Itachi’s good intentions. A note from the Hokage in her tower file to put her in charge of the mission board and assignments. Naruto and some ninja who had difficulty reading had no problem processing her handwriting. It would nearly double their efficiency then having to give mission orders orally. That might have been the last straw for Obata Renji, learning that Akimichi Kichou would become his supervisor, a girl the age of his daughter who had at an even younger age caused his downfall. Itachi was well aware of the jealousy of age that was caused among his comrades.
“He just wanted the kid on paper work duty, she’s sort of a prodigy at it, if you haven’t noticed all of team 13’s mission reports are in her handwriting. She’s even faster than Santa at it. You could steal her for the tower if you’re falling behind and struggling but it’s a waste in my opinion. She has so much more potential than that, I’ve already decided I’m poaching her for T&I, Analysis division.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Itachi nods. “She is rather astute, it is unfortunate we could not recover the memory but her retelling did confirm our suspicions.”
“More than that! I ascertained three new vital pieces of information from this meeting that I would not have gotten otherwise.” Inochi holds out three fingers on his hand.
“First, Danzo having a range is plausible from Santa’s testimony, Sai first established contact a day after they had been captured, meaning Danzo had traveled to a location in two days time that was far enough to release the compulsion on the third day. We can conclude he could have traveled to Ame, or Suna in that time but not Cloud. The working theory that it’s some vocal command is still being worked through. We won’t know more unless we have more information I fear.”
“Second, Orochimaru is intentionally trying to provoke Jiraiya into a confrontation. The tales of the Gutsy Ninja was the passphrase to the encoding, it is where Naruto’s namesake comes from and the mention of more Uzumaki, It’s possible some survived, he could have some imprisoned, but it also might reference someone with Uzumaki heritage. Jiraiya was originally named Naruto’s godfather and Tsunade his godmother. I believe this was intentional, and meant to reference Tsunade, putting her in danger. A majority of the Mokuton research was destroyed, but much of the research and source material was not recovered. We also never knew about the Sound base, I now believe that Mizuki and that base was a decoy meant to distract us, that body was already failing. It also might explain why Kichou survived. If Jiraiya was actually of a clear mind he would see that, but anytime Orochimaru is involved ....”
“Do you think she was injected with the Senju’s bloodline?” Itachi askes, peering at her closer. His anbu platoon contained one such person, the only living mokuton project from root. A near perfect replica of Senju Nawaki and the first Hokage’s cells.
“It would explain her survival and recovery. Although I hate to say this aloud, by all means she should be dead. Jiraiya gave no indication of sensing nature chakra within her but perhaps they found a way to isolate the recovery rate.” It was harrowing to think about, Danzo had had a transplanted arm with Senju dna, holes for eyes like he was preparing to….take them from his family, filled with glass placeholders. Itachi remembers feeling cornered, the clan’s growing discontent, the distrust towards the Hokage and his advisors that in his foolishness he couldn’t quite understand. There were talks of a coup d'etat at the clan meetings. He was going to report it, play right into Danzo’s hands but then father had found Mizuki. It had opened his eyes, there was more to life than perfection, more than what was asked of him. He should have trusted Father, should have trusted his clansmen. To break the cycle of hatred, love and trust must exist in tandem. Otherwise he would be the last Uchiha, going extinct like the Senju.
There was no more Senju except one; it made the source material a precious commodity. One that Orochimaru had no hesitation in giving her, with no regard to how horrifically she would have died if she rejected the cells. There seemed like an assurance she would live regardless. Maybe there was something to be said that all noble clans were at one point related to the Sage. The noble clans had all looked down on the Akimichi for being the weakest among them….maybe their bodies were the secret to stabilization. They alone retained the yang chakra of the sage, while the other clans were blessed with his yin, his eyes and nature. Yet it was all rotting them all from the inside out, their bodies rife with congenital diseases while the Akimichi remained healthy and prosperous. Orochimaru must be hiding it from Danzo….He’ll have to think about it more later. Maybe discuss the theory with Father.
“And the third?” He asks when Inochi does not continue.
“She remembered the Anbu agent that walked her parents into the trap on the night of the Kyuubi attack. Someone that I know was not in the Fourth’s inner circle.”
Itachi’s eyes narrow. Another traitor amongst their ranks.
“Intriguing, Let’s summon them to the tower shall we. I believe a trip to T&I is in order”
“It would be my pleasure Hokage-sama.”
Kichou sits on a ground that is not a ground, floating above like the floor is invisible, below her a molten core of water and magma and a floating field of lotus, the roots stretching far below. Above is a gigantic lotus shedding light into this layer and at the center of it’s petals is an equally gigantic silk cocoon. She is gestating, in an unknown metamorphosis of something, there’s nothing more terrifying than not knowing what she is becoming. Her shadow stretches and grows as Ren rises from the ground.
“Is it true….that you are just a split personality?” Kichou asks sullen.
“...No.” Kichou can feel herself brighten, it just didn’t make sense in her mind. She had memories so vivid of her past life, of Ren existing. “....You are.” The world shakes. The entire mind is threatening to collapse. Truth. The heart of the matter. Kichou was not the original. Ren was. She came first, the one before her. An eruption of lava and geysering mists rocket below hitting the forcefield that they are standing on. Ren is illuminated, no longer a shadow, a memory of a dying girl. The original her. “Inochi-sama was partially right, he mistakenly thought the dominant personality came first, bearing our given name, normally that would be true. I am not an idealized version of you. You were the idealized version of me. One that is brave, that would fight back. One that could survive such a terrifying world. You, Kichou are perfect.” Ren says it so lovingly.
“I was just so tired. So scared. So weak, so I gave you control.” Ren grabs her hand, intertwining their fingers. “I was dying in that crib. I went insane. So I made you. You're her. Their child. I knew you could survive.”
“I wanted to watch, hoping one day I would become you. That you would kill me. I wonder if this is a form of self-hatred.” Ren mused as Kichou wiped an errant tear from her cheek.
“That’s kind of fucked you know?” Kichou says as Ren laughs.
“I know.”
“So what now?”
“Well….We live I guess. Whatever you want to do Kichou.”
Chapter 21
Summary:
Oaths.
Chapter Text
Kichou wakes up in a completely different room, spacious and grand. She blinks, turning over.
Spying a bedside long cabinet and table lined with Flowers and fruit baskets she couldn’t eat. There was a shogi board pulled in there, even though she doesn’t play shogi, and in the corner on the couch is a smiling Sai who is drawing her…..sleeping. Shivers go down her spine. Sai knows that she hates people standing over her watching, she’s snapped at more than one teacher for doing so in the academy. She would reprimand him for being creepy but it was no use. People watching was his favorite pastime.
“Good Morning, Skinny. Stay still please.”
Kichou wonders if he’s being sarcastic when she can barely move her limbs and can’t at all move her torso. She was already pushing it, turning her head the way she did yesterday. Her throat didn’t hurt as badly as it did yesterday though. Maybe she should test it.
“..S-s-ai” She croaks her voice breaking midway through, she doesn’t feel strong enough to say anything else. Her voice cracks as she feels blood in the back of her throat. Sai frowns and gets up, pulling his chair over as he winds the scroll up, snapping it closed. “You shouldn’t be talking right now, Skinny.” He unfurls a blank scroll and hands her ink loaded brush. What should she say? Kichou finds herself at a loss. Settling on a simple and poignant ‘Thank you’ Sai’s fingers trace the wet ink. His head leans forward a curtain of black hair falling over his eyes. He’s muffled, holding his tongue in his mouth in an unusual way. “....Do you hate me?” It makes her pause, catching her off guard.
‘No. Why? You saved us. Almost-’ All of us. She quickly realizes what she’s saying and crosses it out in a blob of ink.
“Do you blame me for Obata Rin’s death?” Kichou winces as her first reflex is to rapidly shake her head no.
‘You said it yourself right? Rin was dead the moment she left the village. I just….pity her. I don’t think….anyone loved her. I think that’s why…’ Her strokes are slow and methodical as she tries to formulate her thoughts.
“It’s not an excuse! She knew you would die and you’ll still forgive her?! Her actions lead to crippling sensei and….she betrayed the village.” She gave them to Danzo, all of them. There’s a moment of searing pain that crosses Sai’s face and she worries for him. It’s rare for him to get worked up, if ever at all. Kichou asks for more ink that he dips in the inkwell for her.
‘I don’t forgive her. I just pity her. I can’t even say I would do the same. But, I think I understand why she did. She just wanted her dad to love her. I hope she finds peace in the afterlife.’ Sai smiles, the corners of his mouth turning upward in his usual easy smile. “I think you’re projecting your daddy issues onto her, she sucked.”
‘I don’t understand the euphemism, Bro-con. Can you tell me why and how she sucked?’ She teases in return, referencing the first day they met but Kichou wasn’t sure he would remember.
He laughs wholeheartedly, wiping a tear from his eye. It startled her to be honest as she stared slack-jawed at his face. A mild look of discomfort shivers over his skin and his jaw locks not even a minute later.
“I’ll bring you some mochi after they remove your feeding tube. It seems like you’ll be eating soft food for a while.” He grins and his eyes seem to twinkle. There was an ease to Sai that people often ignored. He desperately wanted to be liked, and a sincerity although misguided was real and genuine as anyone else. Sai was real, and not just some moving painting or tool.
‘I wanted to ask you about a few things but I….don’t want you to think I blame or hate you.’
“I—” Sai hesitates. “Can’t answer everything I’ll try my best. I cannot say much about …..”
It was a hunch but it seemed similar to how the snake was talking.
‘Can I see your tongue?’ It’s such a weird, surreal strange sentence but she feels justified, almost validated when he flinches and hesitantly nods. He sticks out his tongue and reveals a dark ink seal, a cursed trigram similar to the snake’s but not, enveloped by different curvy characters meant to diffuse what’s probably a layered seal.
She reaches her hand out wanting to bring it closer, study it but pulls her hand back. Sai wordlessly puts his tongue back in his mouth. “I don’t regret it, I would do it again. If it meant we could leave.” There’s a resolution in his voice that she envies.
‘We really are unlucky, huh?’ Sai tilts his head confused, she dips the brush in the inkwell, reaching over him. She was getting pretty tired of these forums of communication, her kingdom for Ren’s cell phone and text to speech. ‘13 is an unlucky number, it’s also never passed as a formation so it was a retired number. We are the highest numbered team to pass that year, making us the fourth team to pass. That is also considered unlucky. They call us team bad luck or the unlucky team 13 in the tower. We were doomed to fail from the start. You never wondered why they said that?’
“Ah I thought they were commenting on our formation. We were a rather disjointed composition due to a lack of adequate candidates. Santa-sensei is one of the strongest sensors in the village. You are an excellent frontline fighter, I excel at long-distance support, Obata Ami had no specialization or skills, she would have been a low-level administrator like her father or more unlikely achieving her dream to become a housewife to a high ranking clansman. If we had a mid-range specialist or a combat medic we would have made the perfect assault team with the versatility to move into Intel or upper level administration. You would make an excellent Aide or a Jounin-Instructor, the previous Hokage was grooming you for such. I suspected we would have made Jounin in three years if not for our dead weight.”
‘Eh?....I thought it was because of mental problems, the Hokage thought that we needed support from a Yamanaka, that was the common denominator.’
“And people call me clueless? The previous Hokage had an incredibly high opinion of you, he based a social reform movement on a discussion he had with you and trusted you with the village’s most important and difficult to handle asset. It’s true we were outliers, we had no suitable third candidate so the third forced a bad formation. The reason you were targeted so relentlessly was because…..” Sai goes silent and clenched in pain as his fist goes white knuckled on his lap. She reaches her off-hand out letting it rest on the top of his hand.
‘Don’t push yourself, are you okay?’
“No! I’m not! I was shown a beautiful new world of colors, experienced so many wonderful things, I had hope! And now I can’t even say what’s making me really upset! I have to go back into a dreadful world and I can’t feel anything about it! I’m stuck in a limbo of gray and I can’t even despair! I was free but now….I’ll never be what I once was, I’m a security risk, I no longer belong here and I would rather die than ....”
Sai’s eyes were rimmed in bright red like he wanted to cry but couldn’t. She realized now why Sai was never compelled, he was Danzo’s agent before. He was doomed from the start. She remembers the awkward little boy who punched her in the face because he thought it would make people like him, how badly he wanted friends. Who had never had mochi before and was carrying a manual on how to make friends. She didn’t pity him. Not like Ami. It felt like it never had the room to be so petty of an emotion. She admired him for fighting for what he wanted, even though it was ripped away from him. Something she so completely lacked. Sai could have easily left them behind, saved himself.. But didn’t, her life came at the cost of his freedom. The guilt was eating her alive.`
‘I wouldn’t be here if not for you. I wouldn’t be alive if you were not brave. I owe you a debt and I’m going to repay it…Can you pierce my ears?’
“I don’t understand, you’re not making any sense!” There’s a visual look of confusion on his face as Kichou unhooks her breathing mask and slowly, painfully, sits up. The stitches hold, thankfully as she uses a pillow to keep her back as straight as possible. Kichou felt stronger than yesterday, all these people were helping her, loved her, but Sai was suffering too, she wouldn’t be here to accept their love if not for him. She reaches over, putting the brush in ink.
‘It’s a Ino-Shika-Cho tradition, parents will pass on their piercings to the next generation when they become genin and replace them when they complete the oath they make on the earring, for the traditional formation it’s to make the rank of chunin. I never made mine, I was too cowardly. Inochi-sama probably offered it but you turned it down too right? But, I want to make you an oath, I am going to kill Danzo and I will break that seal. If you’re not allowed to hope I will carry your hope for you. When I accomplish it, I’ll pass it back.’
“I–! Didn’t bring my senbon and I don’t….You don’t have to promise me that. I’m just content you’re alive, fattie. You don’t understand how miraculous it is. I thought you were dead on that table, it was horrifying, you looked like a corpse, yet you kept breathing. You never cared how ugly living made you, it is what I always admired about you. You just kept living and that’s more than enough for me! I need you to live! You won’t survive those monsters and I can’t—”
‘I’ll be a bigger monster then, I’ll be the fucking ugliest, most horrifying monster you ever seen alive. So, you better pick out something you like, two sets. because once I do, I’m piercing yours! You’ll promise me you’ll live each day to the fullest, full of color and for sage sake you’ll promise me you’ll take Ino out on a date.’
“Eh? Why? What does Piggy have to do with this?” Sai tilts his head in confusion but his complexion betrays him a dusting of pink too small to be called a real blush.
‘She fell in love at first sight and I don’t think you know what a crush is, you always called her pretty unlike the other girls in our class. You’re always softer with her. You never got the space to explore your feelings, I wanna give you that. Romance is one of the most vibrant colors there is and I’m a big sucker for it. ’ Kichou winks at him, trying to emulate the playfulness of her mother. Plus I'm pretty sure if she sees these earrings she'll be plotting my murder.
“Is that why you always read porn books?” Kichou gives a non-committal head shake, if she tries to shrug right now she might have her insides as outsides again.
“No she reads porn books because she has voyeuristic tendencies, likewise she wants to play matchmaker because it allows her to ignore her own romantic self interests. Isn’t that right pupa-chan?” Kichou startles when sees her Sensei has silently rolled into the room and is reading the scroll and her conversation.
“I see, so I’m enabling Fattie’s perversion?” Sai questions.
“Yes, perversion is a strong word but it's harmless to you and you could always turn it to your benefit and redirect Inochi-sama’s agitation when you start dating his precious daughter. It’s a tactical decision, no?” The sadists are conspiring against her.
Sai nods and Santa-sensei pulls a chain from under his shirt, on it were two small black hoops that he releases from the chain with deft fingers.
“These were my parents, I never got the chance to make chunin and give them back before they died in the second war. I’m not sure children are in the cards for me anymore either.” He jokes light heartedly but it makes Kichou clench when she looks at his wheelchair. She hoped it might have been temporary, that he was just recovering but it’s…permanent. None of them walked away unscathed.
“I would be honored if you used them for your oaths. I am determined to see Team thirteen through to the end. I have rejected our dissolution and have nominated you for the upcoming joint chunin exam.” Sensei smiled and Kichou wrote a huge ‘Are you crazy?!’ before holding it up to him like a banner.
“I have to agree with Fattie, our team is in no condition and we are lacking a third man. You in fact might be suffering a form of mental instability. It’s fortunate we are already in the hospital, I shall get a doctor to check your mental facilities.” Sai argues calmly but Kichou nods along regardless. Sai gets up to quite literally grab a doctor but Santa angles his wheelchair in the way.
“I am crazy! Crazy mad! I can’t believe Sound had the audacity to submit a team to the chunin exams before our mission.” The two genin still after hearing the news, it meant that Sound was planning on infiltrating the village to get access to their peers, their home, their loved ones. What nefarious plans they were up to, what sort of destruction would they wreak if they hadn’t come back. Anger, furious and righteous bubbles in her chest, boiling over.
“I’m fucking livid they submitted two more teams when our Hokage announced he was allowing them to participate. Those scum are still hiding behind the tenuous alliance treaty and because they haven’t announced war yet, we have to kneel. They think besting and crippling our genin is a trifling manner, so sure we pose no threat. And despite being told this all other rookie teams submitted their teams.” Kichou’s finds her breath wrestled from her aching chest, all the other rookie teams had noble clan children. Naruto and Choji would be targeted. “I will not let the other Jounin senseis show me up! Especially that chain smoking monkey!” It’s good to see Santa-sensei’s ego is thriving at least.
‘Sure I’ll let them wheel out my hospital bed onto the stadium grounds’ Kichou writes sarcastically. “Where was that determination that you had a moment ago, Caterpillar!” Ah, she got demoted back to caterpillar, well she could see that one coming at least. Santa already probably talked to Inochi-sama “We have the element of surprise on our side, no one expects our team to participate and no one expects more than our immediate dissolution as a team, even our allies! Since your clever sensei has discussed this matter with the Hokage privately. It’s the perfect storm and we’re gonna ride this lightning! My adorable students~ We are temporarily disbanding!”” Shivers roll down their spines as there is a wildfire roaring behind Santa’s eyes, a look of pure mania at a Yamanaka’s scorn. Gesturing wildly with his hands he looks like the very definition of madness.
“Or that’s the cover story! Which is why I enlisted a little help~ Your most magnanimous sensei has secured you pity placements on other teams under the guise that our formation has dissolved. So don’t go telling anyone we haven’t actually, the same goes for our exam participation. They won’t know what hit them, I can’t wait to see the looks on their faces. KeKeKeKeKeKeKeh~” Sai has the luxury of being able to scoot away from their sensei’s mad cackle, Kichou is stuck in place.
“Starting tomorrow Sai-chan will report to team seven. I want you to focus on expanding your jutsu repertoire, Kakashi is an invaluable resource and it will allow you additional access to Jiraiya-sama to study the curse seal. I also think you will seamlessly fit into their team dynamic! And you~ Caterpillar-chan~” Sensei looks possessed as his head jankily turns to her. “You will report to team three once those stitches come out~ You have another week and a half of rest and relaxation till then, enjoy and I’ll pray for you.” Horror sinks into the bottom of her stomach at the thought of her extending training regimen with Gai’s team. Tenten wasn’t even bad but Hyuuga…. And Rock Lee. Somehow the suspected treasonous Hyuuga wasn’t nearly as awkward as the forced proximity to a boy who pronounced his undying love over and over again.
Santa-sensei is actually clapping his hands together and actually praying for her, Sai follows a half second later. ‘NO!’ Santa swiftly turns his head away from the scroll no matter the angle she turns it at. “Gai might be the most certifiably insane ninja in the leaf but he’s also our foremost Taijutsu expert. You have a brilliant mind and endless ingenuity, but your ninjutsu is laughable and you will never achieve the same success as Choji at Akimichi techniques with how little you can sustain them. Gai eats up that quirky underdog shit for breakfast, he was practically frothing at the mouth at the chance to teach you.” It gives voice to an insecurity she’s always had, a truth she had always known, Sensei was giving her a path forward. It sucks that it just feels like the point of no return. She was no longer going to stand down, she wasn’t going to run away or avoid her problems. Kichou didn’t have any other options.
“If anyone in the village can whip you into shape in time and turn you into a hideous monster, it’s the Beautiful Green Beast of Konohagakure. He was Choza-sama’s student you know, if anyone knows what your body is capable of it’s him. You might vomit blood and wish you were dead at some of their training regimen though, but we all know you can handle that.” There’s a serene smile on his face as he signs her death warrant. “In the meantime I will be reporting back to the Intelligence division, I expect daily reports from you both at our usual meeting time at 0400, I will be in the analysis department trying to track enemy movements, they will not get the drop on me again.” There’s a grit and resolve in his voice that’s unexpected, a Yamanaka's wounded pride was a dangerous thing. When will they sleep?….Here sleep cycle was already fucked as it is. Sai just nods complacently, never once complaining at their insane team hours.
“I’ll pull us if I feel we aren’t ready but I want to give as good as we got, I want them to rue the day they targeted our team. I want them to suffer for how we have suffered, and I will not be satisfied until I get my pound of flesh. If they are going to call us Team bad luck then we’re going to be the fucking harbingers of misfortune. I want to bring them disaster and ruin. And most of all I will avenge my fucking hair! It took me fucking years to grow it out so long.” Santa slams his fist on his wheelchair and wields a two senbon gripped between his fingers. “Now, who wants their ears pierced first.” There’s a glint in his eye as they both point to each other with no hesitation.
What do you get the girl of his dreams who has everything and nothing at the same time?
In many ways it was like the object of his affection, a contradiction that both vexed and delighted him. Sharp and soft, bitter and sweet, friendly but unapproachable. Someone who had nothing and everything at the same time. A genius and a loser. In his world of definitives nothing felt more unsure than her, but he believed in nothing more than her with the exception of Guy-sensei.
It was a quandary that puzzled Lee endlessly as he made his way to the flower shop, the only one in Konoha, wedged between the restaurant district which he used to frequent just to catch a glimpse of her and the hospital. It was a strange but perfect coincidence in his opinion, one that felt like auspicious fate as he made his way there after his morning training. When he had heard the news Kichou-hime had woken up he had wanted to rush to her side but he had been turned away so many times. It was understandable, after their daring escape behind enemy lines where they lost one of their own teammates, that she would only be allowed restricted visitation from officials, her team and family. Lee in the grand scheme of things was not one of her important people but he so desperately wanted to be.
He was ecstatic when he heard the news from Guy-Sensei that she would be joining their team for training, it was the perfect chance to get close to her. Something he had never had the nerve to do ever since he first met her at the academy, ever since he first began admiring her. There’s a soft chime of a bell as he opens the door. A lush cornucopia of abundance greets him as always the case when he thinks about Kichou-hime he is overwhelmed by indecision.
“Iras-shai-masee…” Says a bored looking girl behind the counter, the shop attendant, who is drumming her fingers along the counter while a boy a little older than their age with gray hair chuckles at her lack of enthusiasm from where he’s tending to flowers. Lee, not spying what he’s after saunters up to the counter, a fire in his eye as he asks for “A hundred of your reddest roses please!” slamming five fire promissory notes on the counter, it’s thousands of ryo, usually something in their line of profession that they would spend on jutsu scrolls or specialized gear or tools. Lee considered himself fortunate as he never had any use for such items. It was Tenten who suggested that he maybe buy Kichou-hime flowers or a nice card, and try to be normal for once. Lee didn’t quite get the sentiment but nothing spoke to his love more than 100 roses, although maybe he should fold a thousand paper cranes as well for good measure. Both sounded good.
The girl takes one look at him, and one look at the money on the counter before rolling her eyes and muttering “Lame” under her breath, making no move to help him.
“How is it lame?! Nothing personifies my most ardent affections than the red rose and nothing exemplifies her beauty more!” Red like her painted cheeks, the color of her dark hair when the sun hit it just right, the color of the passion she inspired in him. Classic, beautiful, romantic.
The girl just snorts at his declaration. “They’re clique and tacky! No girl in Konoha would rejoice at being compared to such a thing. There’s nothing interesting or beautiful about such a shitty bouquet! If it were me I would throw them back in your face, that’s not even taking into account your personal taste!” She yells back, unafraid at his volume that usually makes others pull back. Shock floods his system at his gesture being called clique and tacky. What was wrong with his taste?!
Before Lee can even gather the breath to exhale his response he hears someone speaking behind him.
“Now, now Ino.” The boy with gray hair joins them at the counter, trying to diffuse the situation. The shop attendant immediately calms down but stubbs her nose at Lee before crossing her arms over her chest. It makes Lee clench his fist at her brazen lack of respect. But the boy has now fully stepped in front of the counter and Lee, putting himself between the two of them. There is something sickly to his constitution, an unnatural paleness like all the color has been washed out from him that Lee notices, but his gait is strong and he has silent footsteps that even he can’t hear. “Dear customer, can I ask what the occasion might be and how would you describe the girl in question.” There’s a small smile on his lips that reminds Lee of Kichou-hime’s teammate, the one with the inconsiderate glib tongue, Sai, he thinks his name was. Lee blinks, being derailed by the conversation.
“She is the most beautiful girl in all of Konoha and recently she….” woke up from a coma after a failed mission resulting in the death of a teammate, she probably doesn’t even want to see me. Lee clenches his fist. “Has been in the hospital and is finally allowed visitors.” They both blink at him and look towards each other. “She wouldn’t happen to be a genin would she?” The girl behind the counter asks while throwing on a navy colored apron and grabbing a pair of shears. She steps out from behind the counter and opens a door to an adjoining greenhouse. The boy with gray hair motions for Lee to follow them further in, as the glass shines brilliantly on all sorts of living flowers Lee has never seen before or know the name of.
“She is! How did you know? Her beauty is like a rose bloom. My butterfly is kind, always standing up for what’s right and unbelievably strong! Yet she keeps everyone at a distance like a rose’s thorn.” He waxes poetic, while the girl snorts “Lucky guess” and makes her way to the back of the greenhouse. Lee still remembers the day Kichou broke Neji’s nose for talking down to her, how she showed no fear in engaging the strongest in their class, he couldn’t stop watching her at that point. She never once responded to any of the names they called her but the moment anyone mentioned the Akimichi clan, she tore them down with no abandon.
He has been in awe ever since, watching her from afar as swept through life not caring that people called her a loser or thought she was inferior. Kichou-hime simply showed them through the power of action. The girl with the long blonde ponytail approaches a strange looking bush that has wispy sort of blossoms of all shades of colors, some of them even bicolored as Lee spies a red center in each of the buds. Even he can smell the sweet scent from here. Fragrant like Kichou-hime’s own saccharine aroma. He grabs the blossom nearest to him and inhales, reminded of the dizzying fragrance she always exudes, a blush rising to his face as the girl cuts an array of blossoms from their stems, mostly picking ones with red and pink hues.
“What is the name of this flower?” Lee asks tentatively. The girl was right, these were much more fitting somehow than Roses.
“Summer lilac, otherwise known as butterfly bush.” She says smugly, guessing that Lee finally realized she was right as well. “It attracts butterflies like crazy and in the language of flowers it means renewal, rebirth and first loves” She winks before cutting a handful of crazy looking red flowers that look like a mixture of daisies and spider lilies. “Beebalm, from Iwa. Sympathy, prosperity and protection.” She studs them through the flowers in her hand already forming a bouquet that looks expertly done in a way that looks intentional.
She grabs handfuls of other things to compliment, marigolds with red in the leaves “joy and excitement” and camomile bushes “tenderness and energy in adversity” with blooming white flowers. Lee watches as she then approaches a black container that has water running through it, plucking out Lotuses mostly white tinged with the barest hint of red and pink at the tips, and bright yellow seed pods that bring an even bigger blush to Lee’s face. The flower namesake after his signature techniques. It looked like they belonged together after the girl made the two flowers stand out and intertwine with each other. It was perfect. “Lotuses also mean rebirth and renewal. They too attract pollinators. They are the same as butterfly bush, like two halves of the same coin.” The girl looks contemplative at the bundle, before she rearranges green fronds and leaves to be just so, finally stopping when it looks just right to her.
The girl wipes her brow before gathering the bundle of blossoms in her hand and leaving the greenhouse. There’s a hand on Lee’s shoulder as the gray haired shop attendant has been silently watching them the entire time guides him back to the register where she has taken only three of the promissory notes and is wrapping the flowers in crisp white paper, tying it off in a red bow.
Lee pushes the two promissory notes forward anyway before bowing. “Please keep it, you were right, that bouquet is truly better than anything I could have imagined. It was wrong of me to question a true master of their craft such as you!” The girl puffs up at the praise, before pocketing the two notes for herself. “Well it’s good that you recognize my unparalleled genius. However!” She points to him smug, implying that he should ask about whatever trick she has up her sleeve. “However?” He blinks imploring for her to continue. “The best part is these flowers can be brewed into a medicinal tea known for their health benefits, especially if one has a sore throat ... .Well you’ll understand if you see her at least. Good Luck Loverboy, you’ll need it if you have a crush on Kichou.” The girl says almost snidely, smug as he rests her head on her hand looking at him.
“Do you know Kichou-hime?!” The girl snorts before tapping the counter which is engraved with the Yamanaka clan mon. Lee blushes and bows in apology again when he realizes he was probably talking to a member of the allied clan and someone was probably in Kichou’s graduating class. Fellow ninja of the Leaf from the way their steps were light and masked, their movements precise. Lee is embarrassed at not having recognized them as such without their headbands.
“You could say that. But, you should hurry. Those tend to wilt faster than most flowers outside of water.” The boy with gray hair smiles towards him.
Lee takes the large bouquet in his hands, cradling it gently. “Thank you again! Your brilliance is truly unparalleled when it comes to flowers, Miss Yamanaka” The girl snorts before waving him off. “You heard him didn’t you? They’ll wilt if you aren’t quick about it.” Lee nods and dashes out the door and bounding to the hospital.
Lee hovers outside her hospital door trying to muster up the courage to open it, the flowers are already looking limp as the lotus in particular is withering under his hand heat. They also lost a fair amount of petals in transit when he started running. He’ll need to go soon, before he has to hand her a pile of stems. Out of the corner of his eye he spies Neji’s cousin, hovering too, a single white iris in a vase held between her hands. Likely here for the same reason. He’s caught her before, staring at Kichou when she wasn’t looking, they even tended to congregate in the same liminal spaces looking for her, just to catch a glimpse. Lee always felt a sense of camaraderie towards her even though they never spoke of an acknowledgement between the two of them, the silent admirers of Kichou-hime. One he’s determined to no longer be silent about, when he became a genin he promised himself he would make his affections known. He nods at her as she flinches away, ducking back behind the wall like she tended to do. Lee exhales his breath before opening that door. What lied inside however betrayed any expectation he had.
The girl he spent a good majority of his time at the academy thinking about was so small, covered in tubes and bandages. All Lee knew is they required fat to make a lot of their techniques work, Guy-sensei seemed overly familiar with the Akimichi clan. More than once Lee saw a team picture on a shelf in his apartment that revealed Guy-sensei’s genin days, their sensei a man that Lee had seen at the academy before picking up the Akimichi siblings. Her dad was Guy-sensei’s sensei. Another auspicious thing that felt like fate to him. Except Kichou no longer looked like how he remembered, he barely recognized her despite the fact he never minded her bigger size or build like the other boys in class seemed repulsed by. Another thing that made her strong, the fat she wore proudly while Lee tried to hide his round eyes and bushy brows. Didn’t that mean it was really bad she had next to none left? Kichou was sleeping, an activity she often engaged in as Lee’s eyes rove over her fallen form. Kichou was always bigger than life, casting a large shadow which Lee would chase endlessly, trying to catch up to her. Instead like the flowers in his palm she was withered, and waning, her musculature and fat depleted to thin willowy limbs that did not suit her.
He frowned as he looked at her wrists, bones jutting out, hooked to IVs, Lee had no doubt he might even be able to see her ribs as her diaphragm was both were indented, her ribcage unnaturally smaller and swollen and line rising from her middle where errant stitch strings were pushing up clothing from her neck all the way down her torso. Her normally pale skin was sickly making her cheek marks stand out all the more. Lee always thought them to be cute, her complexion doll-like and charming There was an angry red scar that peaked out from her left temple, Lee leaned over her seeing it stretched to the back of her skull, he saw a black hoop in the inner fold of her ear, that too was new. It was jarring to see her so drastically different. Lee has to let go of his clenched jaw because he almost cracked a tooth from how hard he was grinding them. What happened to her?
Her glorious dark hair that glowed with a red iridescence, always kept long and unmanageable, like a proud lion’s mane was sheared away. Lee had never seen her eyes before as Kichou always hid behind her bangs. They were sharp, angular, dark and lined boldly and kind of really beautiful. It was a shame that she hid them away, and not for the first time he wondered what her eye color might be.
A deeply held fantasy that wouldn’t remain a mystery for much longer as the girl rose from her slumber, blinking blearily at him as she rubbed the sand from her eyes. Her irises were large and cat-like as she had no visible pupil that blended into the rest of her eye color. Black the color of coal and ink, of starry skies and glittering dust with just the barest hint of glistening honey brown stared back at him. Lee shoves the bundle of flowers in her face, a palette of red, white and yellow petals falling on her as she stares at him wide eyed.
“Many apologies, Kichou-hime. I’m sorry I interrupted your rest! These are for you! I know they wilted! I tried my best to get here fast enough but I think in my panic to get here in time I might have made it worse. ” He shouts eyes closed, extending himself and the flowers out to him.
Cold fingers, thin and long still rough with calluses, still her, graze the top of his hands, taking the bundle from his fingers. The flowers completely eclipse her torso and Lee feels like his breath is taken away when she nestles into them and takes a deep heady breath. Lee’s eyes are drawn to her ruby red lips cracked probably from recovering dehydration. There’s bandages wrapped around her neck and a line of black stitches that pokes out from her neck bandages between the ties of her shirt. Kichou nods and points to a desk nearby where Lee spies a small marker board with markers, her finger waves in the air and he frowns trying to decipher what it means. Could she not talk? The flowers can be brewed to a medicinal tea, good for a sore throat. You’ll understand when you see her….
Lee tries to hide his frown as he turns and grabs the board, forcing a bright smile when he turns around, handing it to her. There’s a squeak as a green marker touches the board Lee peers over her shoulder, but Kichou just hunches over it more. He backs up a few steps when he remembers that she hated when people did that in the academy. There were few that she allowed in her personal bubble, and he just wasn’t one of those people. She turns the board over and he reads ‘Did Ino tell you they were my favorite?’ Ah the Yamanaka shop keeper, the boy referred to her as Ino, Lee knew that it was weird to call her a pig. She did know her better than Lee did. His fist clench, his nails biting in to the half moon circles into his palms ‘Yes! She was most masterful at the art of flower arrangement, I was lucky to have run into her…Oh! She said they were good for a sore throat! That they could be brewed into a tea!”
The girl pauses, eyeing the bundle before rubbing her hand over the board, a green smudge of ink collecting on her palm bandages. ‘There’s a refreshment cart next to the nurses station, can you steal two cups, one with hot water, a stir stick, and another cup with lemon and some sugar or honey if they have it?’ She makes a praying hand motion above her head like charades, asking kindly for it. Lee would have gotten it for her regardless. He nods before remembering the cart he passed in the hall, the nurse who had refuted his entry before guarding it like a treasure, as the shift nurses congregated around it, drinking small cups of coffee, staring at him. A fire lights in his eyes before he prepares himself for battle. He dumps packets of sugar and drizzles honey into a cup, and a lemon wedge. He can feel their gazes on the back of his neck, as he desperately tries to clean up after himself, knocking grains of sugar into the trash next to him. He’ll offer to take out the garbage or grab another hot pot of water from wherever they get it from after he’s done visiting Kichou-hime.
He returns with very little fuss but a green haired nurse eyed him when he took a second cup, “That wouldn’t be for Kichou-san would it? She hasn’t been cleared for liquids yet.” It made him flinch and Lee had to think on his feet as he doubled up the cups, storing a large amount of sugar and honey in one, pretending to need protection from the heat as he poured the steaming water from one dispenser. He didn’t like breaking nurses' orders but Kichou-hime had never asked him for anything before. Blowing on the rim, dispersing the vapor, before giving them a wobbly smile and bowing to the nurses who waved him off when he explained that he didn’t want the cup to break. Lee hurried back to her room, however Hinata was hovering before it, the vase gripped tight between her fingers. “You should go in!” Lee encourages but that seems to frighten her as she stares at him with that same look of horror she always has when she sees him, looking over his shoulder for Neji.
Lee knows about the vitriolic hate he has for his cousin, how he spouts sayings involving destiny to Lee that he can’t comment on, that people like Kichou and Lee will always be inferior to him. That his cousin Hinata and Kichou were unworthy of their status as princesses of noble clans and their treatment. Lee knows neither girl actually was given any privileges or favoritism. The third granting Kichou’s emancipation was not the boon Neji thought it to be. It only seemed to attract more unkind rumors about her, disgusting, insidious things, the wildest being overheard in a bar that ninja frequented.
Guy-sensei sometimes let Lee tag along after training, looking for other Jounin-senseis, mainly Kakashi-sensei, to challenge to duels, even though he never drank anything himself and forbade Lee from drinking, even though as a genin he could, well the property damage when he had he still remembers. There was a group of loud, boisterous chunin who were shying away when Lee heard him speaking of Kichou-hime, his ears always perking up at her name, even when they said disparaging things. A man, a nondescript chunin spouting such nonsense, emboldened by alcohol and his friends spewed such drivel to a bar of active Shinobi.
Vile things he dared not repeat.
Neji always called her such, a disgrace to her noble clan, it left a newfound sour taste in his mouth as if his teammate was alluding to such tasteless drivel, while jealous of her freedom, her strength. Like the Third gave it to her out of pity of her gender. Lee didn’t have the strength to deny him, the same strength that alluded him when he said Lee couldn’t be a ninja. But a fire burned in him. All the same.
Air seemed to draw out of the room, as the man seemed assured that she no longer had the protection of the Ino-shika-cho alliance, that prevaded every shinobi department and business in the village. Certain individuals emerged, clansmen of the alliance, allies and Jounin-senseis but Lee was the fastest as he slammed his fists into their drinking table, knocking their beers and sake to the ground. Lee challenged the disgusting creature who didn’t deserve to be called a man to a duel for her honor. He puffed up at Lee like he could take him, be Lee was sure he just another paper ninja of the tower. But Guy-sensei interceeded as slammed his elbow on the table,forcing the man to engage in an friendly arm wrestle between comrades, that the man shook in fear at. He was egged on by the other shinobi in the bar.
A kunoichi with a revealing trench coat and fishnets sauntered up and whispered something in his ear, encouraging him, who winked at Lee abating his anger when he agreed to Guy-sensei’s proposal. Scary individuals surrounded the table who bore killing intent at the man that felt like razors on Lee’s teeth. Guy-sensei smiled as he broke his arm in half over the table, the man screaming in pain, wriggling like a worm on the ground. There was a look of steel on Guy-sensei’s face as he watched him struggle, the group cheering around them for another round when Guy-sensei was chastised for being soft and breaking his non-dominant hand. Before a scared man broke away from the crowd and nodded at his sensei taking the nameless Chunin away by the scruff of his flak jacket. Lee never saw him in the bar again, but the sour taste in mouth when thinking of his teammate’s treatment of Kichou and his rival in love remained. He would one day beat Neji and prove him wrong.
“He’s not here, it’s just me.” She sighs in relief at she bows her head “U-um. I-i don’t want to i-in-interrupt. I-I’ll c-c-come back L-LATER!” Lee reaches out to stop her and to encourage her to talk to Kichou-hime but Hinata turns on her heel and runs down the corridor. The bowl-haired boy sighs, he knew she felt just as strongly about Kichou as him, she was growing bolder as well. Picking fights in town on Kichou’s behalf, Neji seemed pleased when she had been arrested for using gentle fist on a civilian when she heard another rumor. Only to click his tongue when he learned that she was released to her sensei only a day later with barely a reprimand from the Uchiha’s. It became a huge point of contention within the clan, that she somehow owed a debt from their clan rivals, there were very few things that the Hyuuga seemed to hate more than the Uchiha. And yet…..
There was an undercurrent that his butterfly was a temptress and a bad influence, that Hinata would sink to the likes of the Uzumaki boy that hung around Kichou and the Uchiha, that caused the village such endless trouble. Neji spoke with a level of disgust that made even Guy-sensei uncomfortable.
The warm water was rapidly cooling in his hand and if it was not uncouth of him to do so he would curse. He slides open the door to see Kichou-hime plucking petals from the bouquet and his heart withering slightly as she tears the blossoms apart. Her head turns up and Lee freezes when he sees the white of her eyes as they rapidly flick back and forth from left to right before they settle back into eyes that are more honey brown and less black, they flick once more and they are black again once again, the light dying from them. Maybe that’s why she always kept her bangs long, it was discerning to him, but he was fast enough to see her reflexes, to the average person they must look like a flashing blur of white. Unnatural.
Kichou smiles at him waving him over to her side, he feels emboldened as he ignores his previous hesitation. Who was he to think something was unnatural about her loveliness. She sits up with a small look of pain and a groan before she grabs the cups from his hands. Eyeing the cup filled with water, as she pulls the second from underneath the first. “Apologies! The nurses wouldn’t let me have a second cup, they said you weren’t really cleared for liquids yet.” Kichou frowns before pouring the water into the second cup, filling it with a handful of petals watching the cup turn to a lovely herbal tea tinged red, leeching yellow from a majority of the petals before turning bright red when Kichou crushed the red blossoms of the sweet butterfly bush in. Lee watched as she grabbed the stick and stirred it until it was a calming fragrance. Kichou fished the lemon wedge out and squeezed it over her fingers keeping out seeds and pulp.
It smelled wonderful as his butterfly took a small sip of the nectar, Lee gulped as she licked her lips and a little bit of color and gloss returned to them. She poured half into a cup that still held a majority of melted sugar and honey that had settled on the bottom. Kichou stirred that as well before taking another sip, she had a look of pure ecstasy on her face. It felt almost obscene to him but Lee knew it was the look all Akimichi made when they had their favorite food. Kichou-hime always had a massive sweet tooth, she could be seen at desert shops around town, Lee felt sympathetic for when Guy-sensei would take control of her diet for training. There would be little room for the sweets she loved when sensei built her back into fighting shape. The amount of protein and calcium he was proposing was nearly triple of Lee’s macros, his sensei was wise and Lee learned never to question him but he didn’t know if Kichou could eat three whole roast chickens in a day and enough tofu and milk to make even Lee feel queasy.
Kichou pushes the cup she had just put to her lips into his hands while she gulps down the cup of sugary tea. “Eh…for m-me?” Kichou nods as she bites on the rim of her cup and pushes it again at him, causing it slosh. Her voice is raspy and croaky as she coughs and the cup drops from her mouth. “I-it’s good. Thank you…for the flowers.” She trails off as Lee gingerly takes the cup from her hand and presses his lips to where her’s were, a blush rising to his cheeks as she often shared food like this with her little brother and Naruto, handfed, sharing cups and cutlery with little thought of where her lips had been. Guy-sensei said there was no greater honor than an Akimichi sharing their food with you, they were fanatic and picky about it even then they might not give you their favorite bite. Her’s was the first of anything, the first bite, the first sip, Lee never considered himself luckier. Lee closed his eyes as he downs the cups, imagining how her lips might taste of honey and blossom petals.
“It is no problem, my beautiful butterfly. I’m so glad you woke up, and that they made you feel better.” She flinches at being called beautiful but she doesn’t seem to know the truth.
Her voice is still scratchy. “W-why do y-you like me? Is it a joke?” Lee is horrified, his hands waving wildly in the air as her sharp eyes study his sincerity. He has never been accused as duplicitous or insincere before, it hurt slightly like she never truly looked at him, recognized him but he knew that! He did, but it still hurt all the same. But it also made him somewhat hopeful, he felt like maybe now he had a chance, a unique opportunity to express his sincerity finally.
“I-.....I always admired you in the academy, you probably don’t remember but everyone called me the “hot-blooded loser” I used to cover my ears and runaway, pretend I didn’t hear. People in class, even the teachers said so many mean things to you….and you just took it all on the chin. You weren’t ever afraid of what people thought of you. I’ve always admired you since then.” Kichou shakes her head.
“I-I just have selective hearing. The-” Her voice breaks painfully as she coughs and Lee is almost bold enough to pat her on the back. She instead switches back to the writing tablet. ‘They were not very original, kind of boring to be honest, so I just tuned them out. It’s not really what I would call admirable. Your…” She pauses writing this as she considers the right word, the end of the marker pressed to her chin. ‘I don’t want to invalidate your feelings, but I have a hard time believing they are well placed in me. You seem more admirable than me.’
Lee blinks before his cheeks go red from the compliment. “Thank you for saying so! What do you find admirable about me specifically?! I don’t believe I’m more admirable by any stretch of the imagination” Kichou erases her board before. ‘You became a ninja over all those people who called you a loser. You didn’t listen and just plowed straight ahead. You also lifted me at one of my heaviest weights too, flung me like a sack of potatoes with one hand, so you must be strong. Training your ass off probably. You didn’t really run away, you just ran ahead. Did you always want to become a ninja?’
Lee feels like his heart might explode, falling in love all over again. He nods fervently. “Yes more than anything! I wanted to show everyone I could be a respectable ninja using only taijutsu!”
He’s prepared for heartbreak, for incredulity, for laughter and pain, he would bear it all the same, Lee would one day convince her otherwise.
“I-I was right.” Kichou breathes through her nose. ‘There’s nothing more admirable than someone who knows what they want and fights for it. Why only taijutsu?’
“I can’t…mold chakra” Lee says bashfully. “There was a sickness that swept through my village that ruptured my coils. I got sick after… My parents had to immigrate to Leaf to save my life but they too died…Even still one day one day with Gai-sensei’s help I’ll become a truly respectable ninja. I’ll defeat my eternal rival Neji and show everyone through the power of hard work and a youthful attitude we’re equals that I’m just as good!”
Kichou looks at him, for the first time might truly see him, before her eyes flick again, longer this time. Gai-sensei was the first person to acknowledge him but Kichou no less made his feel invincible. Like he could do anything by her side.
‘You’re already more respectable than Hyuuga, you have a unique advantage. You know one day you’ll be the biggest pain in his ass right? His clan techniques all revolve on the ability to block his opponents from using their chakra. He'll eventually stagnate. Like me.’
Lee frowns, no other conversation can make his heart soar one moment, she truly believed in him. Like it wasn’t even a question and have it come crashing down the next at her disparaging attitude towards herself “What do you mean by stagnate?”
‘There’s a limit to all clan techniques, no bloodline is perfect and all come with pretty heavy drawbacks. They are sort of like shortcuts to becoming strong. You’re just going about it the traditional way, the way that doesn’t fuck you over in the long run. I haven’t been training properly for a while now and it….’ Kichou is crying, honest to god crying as tears well in her eyes and her mouth buckles. Lee has been admiring her for years, never once did he see her cry. Her normally red cheeks have become blotchy as she sobs. Lee doesn’t know what to do except cry in sympathy with her.
She erases her board and starts writing again. ‘Got my teammate killed and I couldn’t even do anything. I didn’t even put up a fight, we just walked into a trap and… I thought I was strong enough but I didn’t know so many people were actually saving me all the time. Everyone was right, I was just big for my age. I’m actually weak. I deserve-’ Lee grabs her marker before she can finish her sentence. She didn’t. No matter what he knows neither of them can handle it. No matter what it was, she didn’t deserve it. The world was just unfair and she was just unlucky enough for it be her. This just seems to frustrate her as she looks up from her board. Lee can only think about how beautiful she looks, like a natural disaster, a typhon of fury with snot running down her nose.
“I deserv-ed it. I saw– things and I d-didn’t trust myself. I could have saved them if I j-just said something. It’s my fault! Sensei can’t walk because of me! Rin is dead because I didn’t say anything and my parents! I wish I was never born! If I wasn’t then- then-!” Her voice is breaking as she curls into herself, or tries to, Lee can see she doesn’t have much mobility in her torso. She’s pressing her hands into her eyes blocking them from view. Lee didn’t know what to do. Tears and snot are running down her face.
“IT WASN’T YOUR FAULT! You were ambushed by cowards because they were scared of your strength. Guy-sensei said your sensei was the most insightful in the village, to trick him required the work of powerful men. I’m not sure what happened exactly but I’m thankful! That you were alive and you were born. So please don’t say that! You gave me so much hope, you gave so many children in the academy hope just by existing! I can’t inspire the same hope in you yet because I’m still weak so I’ll hope for the both of us. Until we’re both strong. I promised to protect you but I failed, you asked earlier if it was a joke. I meant every word, so I’m sorry. I’m truly sorry Kichou-hime that I made you such an empty promise.”
“I-i’m not who you think I am. I didn’t even remember your n-name till a few months ago. I’m a h-horibble person.” Lee just laughs, watery and boisterously.
“I knew that. Everyone knows you are terrible with names. And I….never said anything to you, never introduced myself because I was a coward. You are not a bad person. You do not remember this but one time you dueled Neji in a spar because he said I was unworthy of being a ninja, that all civilian-born were, that it was our destiny to be mediocre, he called us future field fodder and paper ninja. That made you so angry, so you requested Mizuki to supervise a spar, everyone thought you were going to lose but I knew. You said that things like destiny didn’t exist, that the universe is all just random chaos, that it was an excuse to blame all the bad things in his life on an abstract concept to make himself feel better that he was powerless to stop it.” That sounds like something she would do. Ren shows her the exact memory. Chakra, jutsu and clan techniques were not sanctioned, they couldn’t separate an Akimichi from their metabolism, so it really wasn’t fair. Kichou would have lost against the byakugan or the gentle fist techniques.
‘Dojutsu are just unfair.’
“You called him the biggest loser in class. I’ve never seen him so speechless. Then you punched him so hard in the stomach he had to go to the nurse’s office. There’s only two things I’m sure of in this world, that Guy-sensei is the best sensei in the world and that I fell in love with you because you’re a good person. Even if you do not remember all your good deeds, that makes you an even better person.” Lee has never been more certain about anything in his life.
‘Something makes me think if I argue with you anymore I’ll just wear myself out.’ Lee grins, showing all of his pearly white teeth and dazzling smile. He gives a thumbs up, “You were always smart my butterfly! Some say I’m the most stubborn in all of Konoha” Kichou bursts out laughing before she is racked by a series of coughs. It sounded painful. She flinches as Lee lays a hand on her back and rubs. He retracts it just as quickly. They weren’t there yet, enough for casual touches. He wanted to be. Lee wanted a long life ahead filled with Kichou by his side in whatever capacity he could get, still he would shoot for the stars.
“Kichou-hime! I’ve known since the moment I met you, that you were the girl of my dreams! I wanted to ask if you would do me the honor of being my girlfriend?” Lee promised Tenten he would keep the declarations of his youthful passion to a minimum at least while she was in the hospital and recovering, but he couldn’t help himself. There’s a tapping, the sound of a marker meeting board. He braces himself for an instant rejection. He knows he’s not anyone’s ideal partner and girls in general seemed to be either repulsed or fearful of him and tenacity. He isn’t exactly clueless when the girls in class made fun of his eyebrows or eyes. Nor was he ever popular like Neji.
‘You’re putting the cart before the horse aren’t you? You should ask me out on a date first.” Lee feels like his heart might really burst out of his chest as she hides her head behind the board, jamming it in his.
“AMAZING! YOSH! I promise to take you on the most amazing date to celebrate the springtime of our youths. I can’t contain my excitement! I must climb the Hokage mountain with one hand!”
He’s already halfway out the door. Unable to notice Kichou’s waving hands.
‘He forgot to ask you out first.’ Ren laughs.
Chapter 22
Summary:
Let's talk business
Notes:
This will probably be the last chapter for a bit. I wrote a lot after this none of which I like particularly, the voices and plot are too muddled. Which is why I'm treating this chapter sort of a checkpoint as I start a brand new document.
Be seeing you soon~.
Chapter Text
“Nice earring. Does Uncle know?” It was a blissful day and half before she had any visitors again. A sweet blissful, perfectly boring day. Her doctors had remarked how she was recovering at such a remarkable rate and they had removed her feeding tube, even the stitches were coming out soon. She healed fast but never this fast . Something was wrong but it benefitted her so maybe it was the good kind of wrong. After so much bad kind of wrong had happened this felt like a blessing she could stew in without catastrophic results. Until Shikamaru had to ruin it and just Shikamaru. No Choji, No Shikaku-sama, just…. Shikamaru.
Who’s looking intently at black loop pierced through the daith of her left ear and not the lobe. Killing Danzo, avenging her parents, protecting her loved ones and breaking Sai’s seal seemed really like a lifelong ambition, not really something she could accomplish by passing a chunin exam. Santa had suggested the placement jokingly because there was an unsubstantiated rumor that it relieved anxiety and headaches but was likely a placebo effect. Kichou learned later it was a placement that the branch Yamanaka and Santa sensei traditionally wore theirs in.
She wanted it either way, Santa didn’t have to manipulate her into it. Shikamaru would see the matching pair in Sai’s right ear eventually, his forced proximity with Ino meant impromptu third wheeling when she decided to “drop in” somewhere she knew he would be. If Ino didn’t kill her first to be part of Sai’s matching set, although Kichou thought that maybe Sai’s will come out much sooner than her’s, if hers does at all.
“Does it matter? I’m still technically not an Akimichi. It is sensei’s” Shikamaru sighs loudly like the wind has been knocked out of his sails. “Troublesome….So you turn tail on both our families and throw your hat in with the Yamanaka’s. For shame, cousin.” Kichou freezes when he nonchalantly addresses a silent point of contention between them. She avoided the Nara’s like the plague. She was worried about how that might look to the Akimichi if she spent time there, worried that the Nara would hate her. Kichou also was worried about being stomped to death by deer, something the errant adults in her early childhood warned her about. She wondered how much of that was by her free will or design. They hadn’t talked directly since the board incident. She blinks. “Why are you here? Choji isn’t…” Shikamaru grunts before pulling a chair off of the wall meant for visitors, he was setting up for a long haul conversation.
“I wanted to talk to you before you left the village but then all this crazy shit happened and…” He’s scratching the back of his head before there’s a serious look in his eye, daring her to maintain eye contact. “I was wrong, I thought you hated our family and I’m sorry for not listening. I was arrogant and you suffered for it.” Kichou is shell shocked, that already seemed like a lifetime ago, all the revelations that she had in between. “Oh… its okay. I can get why you thought that…I knew I was… wrong too…about a lot of things. I thought everyone hated me, so I kind of stayed away.” Shikamaru shivers and lets out an uneasy breath. “Listen, I didn't come here expecting a troublesome pity party. I hate that sort of thing. I came here expecting you to punch me and to maybe see if you wanted this.” Shikamaru pulls a small storage seal from his vest and unfurls it on the floor. He bites his thumb and releases the scroll.
Her mothers board, the way she remembers her mothers board in her memory, in those heavenly days is before her, within grasp. She stares wide eyed at it, perfectly black lacquered sides revealing the white hinoki wood grain still smelling of pine, not the traditional boxwood that most boards were made out of and sharp black lines carved into the surface. The mother of pearl inlay leaves were not the same but glass bead work was no less pretty. The lustrous ornamental work was not gleaming but the deer, the jade deer were there in frosted glass. The forest was whole again.
“I WANT IT!” She almost knocks over her i.v. drip scrambling out of bed to grab it. “I REALLY WANT IT!” Shikamaru dodges out of the way before Kichou heaves herself on top clutching it to her chest. “ALRIGHT I GET IT! JUST CALM DOWN! YOU’LL GET BLOOD ALL OVER IT AT THIS RATE!” Kichou gasps and reels back, sure enough there’s bright red blood stains spread across her shirt. She rips it off, knowing she’s sealed her chest with bandages the day before, it was a popular method among Kunoichi. Shikamaru is turned around like she’s indecent, Kichou snorts as she presses the shirt to her stomach. “You act like you’ve never seen a hint of boobs before, half the women in town walk around with enough cleavage to make a monk blush.” She runs her fingers along the sides, feeling the familiar peaks and valleys, she coos touching the deer. “Not yours. You always wore Uncles or Choji’s clothes. This feels wrong on so many levels.” Kichou spies a matching black lacquered box, it’s double latched which she has to fiddle open with one hand and is failing.
“Ino doesn’t wear pants if that isn’t enough to freak you out on a daily basis. I don't know why my currently very covered, currently very flat chest would. What’s in this box?” She places it by his foot as he hesitantly turns around with a massive sigh and a hand over his eyes. “Don’t remind me, the bandages unraveled during the last training session and she refuses to change because it’s fashionable or whatever. It’s the pieces by the way, the original ones. Not the replacements you were using.” Kichou lets out an excited squeal “Open it!”
“Can’t you do it yourself?!” Shikamaru asks, sitting on the floor across from her, before he opens his eyes and very purposefully keeps his eyes pointed above her head. “Nope~ You don’t want me to bleed out on this pretty new board do you?” Kichou jokes but the bleeding has suspiciously stopped. She was going to grab a nurse if it soaked through but the stains have stopped spreading, the slow gush stemming to a stop. And, Kichou didn’t want to get yelled at just yet, she wanted to savor this feeling. Seeing her mother’s board again was literally one of the best goddamn things to happen to her in a while.
“You’re so goddamn troublesome.” Shikamaru grabs the box, opening the contents and holding them out to show her. Sure enough it is the sugar white hinoki wood pieces with black pearl from the coast of Kiri…it wasn’t pearl though, it was smooth black glass inlays as she runs her fingers over the raised characters. It wasn’t the original. It wasn’t perfect. Mom would have loved it more.
She picks up a pawn and holds it to her nose. Inhaling that deep earthy cypress scent that she associated with her mother. Closing her eyes as she is transported, a baby in her mother’s lap, nestled in her embrace. “Kami I missed that smell.” The boy before her hums before picking up his own piece and cupping it in front of his nose as well. “It’s wood from the heart groove in our lands. In the spring when the deers velvet they’ll tear up the bark and the whole forest will reek of pine sap. I thought it was weird at first but… Dad cut down the tree himself.” Kichou nods before taking more pieces in her hand from the box and huffing the air. “Tell him I said thank you…..You too. Thank you. It must have been expensive…. Mom would have loved it.”
Kichou sets to work arranging it in the exact positions she remembered “Such a pain, it damn near cost five months of mission pay and all my savings and it’s just glass none of the crazy shit that was originally in it. Uncle must have been crazy in love.” Kichou nods before working on the next row of pieces. Heart filled with nostalgia and cherished memories, of a glittering kingdom of three. “He was, liked to bring home surprise gifts all the time, I think it was his love language but Mom bought it for herself. She used to invite Suzaku-san over to gloat and play matches. She liked to make people jealous.”
Shikamaru frowns at the unfamiliarity and formality she intentionally put on her mother’s twin’s name. Before she died she wasn’t strictly on speaking terms with her family, just her brother sometimes and Shikaku-sama more regularly. Or at least from memory, however faint and blurry now. She mostly learned things over the years, picked up bits and pieces from poorly concealed whispered rumors in passing. Her maternal grandfather was a Nara elder named Enchu, who was a politician and a vassal to the Fire Daimyo. Still alive but never expressed any interest in meeting her, the same could be said for Suzaku-san. They reminded her of Ren’s family, out of sight and therefore out of mind.
Enchu probably opposed her marriage vitriolically when mom punched a foreign princess resulting in loss of status for the Nara clan and damaging his own position in court. They called her a thieving cat and a homewrecker behind Choza-sama’s back. They always had so much to say when it was just Kichou listening. Neither clan approved, but they had the approval of the young heads in their pocket. It was an unusual and ill-matched union to say the least. Not that there was much martial intermingling between their allied clans to begin with, it just wasn’t done from Kichou’s understanding. Maybe it came down to a simple difference in aesthetics. Added to the fact they got married so young, even by Shinobi standards. They would have only been a year or two older than how old she was now. It was crazy to think about. She had only come later, either after they were ready or years of trying. She suspected a mixture of both, they had seemed so ready for a child, so prepared, but they always made her seem like a miracle. There’s a look of curiosity on Shikamaru’s face at the mention that Kichou’s mom bought it for herself on an aide’s and Tokubetsu-Jounin’s paycheck. She answers him, even if he remains silent.
“Ah, that, I was wondering for the longest time how she afforded it too, I recently learned they sold their likeness to the author of a famous franchise and she secured a royalty deal with the publishers. The first thing she bought must have been that board, then she invited her twin brother over to rub the wealth of her love story in his face. Even propped me up in her lap and held my hand to move the game winning pieces. In retrospect it seemed like the biggest fuck you, you were wrong I could imagine….She was so damn cool….”
Shikamaru frowns with a knee propped in front of his face in silent contemplation of the board. She felt bad, the Nara family was by no means bad, Her mom just put them in a really difficult position and Shikamaru had alot of clan pride more than the other clan kids in their class hidden under his laziness.
Her mom just wanted things she could not have, but fought tooth and nail them for anyway. Kichou is pretty sure her mother cast her family and twin away first. “You know she used to do paperwork on this board. Sometimes ink would even drip down my head. Then your dad would come over and she would clear it all away.” She traces the kanji of the tile in her hand, feeling the bump of it.
“Sometimes, it would be so dark out, I was kind of a nocturnal baby, so mom would take me in the garden so my dad could sleep and I think your dad was stopping by on his way home from the tower. Sometimes he would stay till dawn, probably because he didn’t want to wake his wife and they would play pick up games.
They wouldn’t talk, they just played in silence for hours. Mom made these tiles so you could feel which pieces were which in the dark easily. She probably asked for it that way because she wanted to play with Shikaku-sama no matter the time.” She strokes the back of the silver general tile with her index finger while it was balanced on her middle finger, emulating them. Shikamaru does the same motion a moment later with his own piece.
Kichou remembers how the tops of their favorite pieces would turn tarnish from finger oil giving the black pearl inserts an iridescent green hue, it was so thoughtful, so beautiful. Everything with her mother felt intentional. The board was meant to remind her of home. To play with a man who she loved as family more than her own twin. “Your dad always struck me as a cool guy.”
There’s a look of gentle pride on Shikamaru’s face that he tries to hide behind a facade of nonchalance. “...He’s not bad.” Kichou finally finishes adjusting the last tile, the two kings still left in the box. She never used those.
“...He’s waiting for you, you know. You can say you’re not an Akimichi all you want but you know you are. You're a Nara too. Dad is waiting to teach you.” Shikamaru says behind his knee and Kichou hums while caressing the Autumn stag and winter doe boldly meeting each other on her left hand side, one of her favorite pairings. “Does that mean you’re gonna run around with Sasuke and learn Katon jutsu?” Shikamaru scoffs “Hell no. It’s a waste of time and energy.”
Kichou smiles with congeniality. “It’s a waste of Shikaku-sama’s time and energy. I can only bend shadows when I’m extremely angry or scared, not consciously. When I’m not thinking clearly and can’t use it strategically. Not with the mindfulness Nara technique requires. I’ll never be truly good at either clan’s techniques.” Shikamaru is staring at her eyes, no longer hidden by bangs, sharp and angular.
“...That’s not all there is. You’re a Nara. You think like one of us. You got the napping down already, even though you waste too much energy, I’ll let it slide because you have more to spare. But you have to at least learn Shogi if you’re too scared to herd deer.” Kichou frowns, feeling stubborn at his display of stubbornness.
“I’m not scared of the deer, I just…I don’t want to be stomped to death. They got all jumpy whenever I got close. That big stag would charge at me with his horns down. They think I’m an intruder and are trying to chase me out, everyone warns kids of not getting too close for just that reason.” She remembers when she used to drop Shikamaru off from school and pick him up. It scared the shit out of her. The Nara just laughed from their porches while the stag chased her all over the compound ground trying to gore her on its horns. Like a bunch of assholes.
“Troublesome…They wanted to play, idiot. The herd jumps like that because they wanted you to lead them to the heart grove or the meadow. That “big stag” was actually a young buck who was challenging you to fight because you looked strong enough to handle it. Their antlers pop right off at the slightest bit of force, because they butt heads to shed them. He wanted you to help him. They recognized you as Nara. Because. You. Are. A. Nara.” Shikamaru gripes.
“Fine, I get it. Stop wasting your breath, you’re going to pass out because you find breathing too troublesome at this point. I’m a Nara and I’m scared of the deer alright and I don’t want to be taught Shogi. What if I want to be a Nara that doesn’t do those things. What if I want to be a Nara who learns Go?” Kichou challenges, hating the feeling of being pigeonholed and caught looking like an idiot.
Shikamaru gasps as if he’s been physically struck. “Sacrilege! Go is the game of warmongers fighting for territory like vultures pecking at each other for border control, idealistic fools who believe all pieces are born equally strong and weak, and simpletons. A Go stone better not touch this board woman. It’s a game we teach our children when they can’t read yet. This is a Nara board and it will play Shogi.” Sure enough as Kichou reaches under the board the familiar Nara-mon is carved underneath. Shikaku-sama must have approved its usage. A gnawing fear that the boy might take it away because she isn’t being gracious.
‘My favorite anime was about a Shogi prodigy, I played a couple matches online at the peak of my fixation. I think we can take him.’ Ren encourages in her ear. She didn’t want the board to be taken away, she wanted to keep it. She really really really wanted to keep it. She wanted to use it. ‘ You can have what you want without punishing yourself.’ Ren seems rather incessant about this one, purposefully showing her memories of Choza-sama. Surrounded by all sides with nagging.
“FINE! I’ll learn then! Teach me already!”
“Wha–” Kichou is already resetting the board although she doesn’t know all the placements by heart she second guesses herself a couple times.
“I wanted to learn from my mom or bust but then her board rots and I think that's a waste of her feelings and coolness! I don’t want to waste Shikaku-sama’s time! You’re the next best thing and you apparently won’t stop bothering me about it. So teach me while I still have time to learn and you have time to teach me.” Kichou watches as Shikamaru rearranges some pieces before removing the kings from the box and placing them on the board fresh.
“Why wouldn’t you have time? You’re literally in a hospital recuperating” Shikamaru asks before resettling into a kneeling position, intently looking at the board. Brimming with new possibilities.
“Our team is disbanding.” Shikamaru flinches and stills at the information. It’s not a lie, just not quite the whole truth. “The earrings were a promise to Santa-sensei to become stronger even though we are going our separate ways. The hospital might be paid for by the village but I’ll need mission pay soon to keep my apartment if they haven’t already evicted me and I need to maintain my genin status. They gave me a temporary team placement to evaluate me before they move me to the tower for paper work duty or drop me from the program. It’s a massive drag as you would say.” Shikamaru has fists tightly clenched in his lap. “Congratulations by the way, I heard you got nominated for the exams in a couple months. I wish you good luck~!”
He snorts and smirks before saying “What is a massive drag is training for the exams, apparently they aren’t even going to be held in the village but some creepy ass valley. Now I’m getting wished good luck by a member of the infamous team yaku, I might as well drop out now before lightning strikes me down on a sunny day.”
Kichou dismisses his snark. “Ino would kick your ass…besides I need you to look out for Choji for me. He’ll get hungry and want to run away the second you leave the village.”
“He can take care of himself, he just likes when you fight his battles for him, he’s gotten better when you aren’t there to spoil him all the goddamn time.” A small sad smile flits across her lips.
“That’s good to hear.” She couldn’t go back, Choji needed to stand without her. He needed to start fighting his own battles or he’ll get snared just like her. Shikamaru seems to realize he stuck his foot in his mouth again.
“Troublesome….. Forget about that shitty apartment. Just move back home already and leech off Uncle and Choji, be thankful you’re not an heir, a beloved louse is a role I can only dream of. Naps and Shogi all day. Also, you’re coming over for dinner, I’m tired of my mom bitching at me.”
“Yeah, yeah, just start teaching me shogi already, I don’t need life coaching.”
“...There are three forms of Shogi, small, middle and large. We only play small formats on missions when we have no time, even then it’s not popular, your time is better spent napping. Most shogi boards are mid, 9x9 with 20 pieces but sometimes we play tai shogi or grand shogi in duos and the clan throws exhibition matches throughout the year. It takes a course over a few days because there’s 177 pieces with over a thousand moves and requires more abstract strategy and endurance. You’re going to be my partner for the new year's exhibition match against dad and Ensui, I’m tired of losing so you can’t suck, at least not as bad as Maen, this is a pawn it moves one space laterally, and this……”
“I HAVE A BONE TO PICK WITH YOU, YOU KUJIRA!” Ino kicks down the door being held back by Choji digging in his feet, clutching the back of Ino’s blouse. “NEE-CHAN NEEDS TO REST! GO BOTHER SAI INSTEAD” Asuma sighs and lip twitches for a cigarette that he can’t have in the hospital, he’d go outside to the smoking area but he’s pretty sure he’ll have to separate a cat fight in just a second. Ino really was ruthless to pick a fight with an infirmed genin who was on death’s door over a childhood crush. Women were so scary sometimes. Ino immediately stills at the sight before her.
Kichou shirtless with her chest bound in bandages is sitting hunched in front of an elaborate Shogi board with a bloody hospital shirt pressed to her stomach. Across from her is Shikamaru in his usual meditative pose, hands molded in a sign that helps him think best. There’s a smug aura on Kichou’s face as a smirk tugs at her lips, looking at the boy who seems lost in thought.
“Shut the fuck up, Woman. I need to think.” He yells at Ino without leaving his pose.
Kichou snickers at the boy's declaration. “Does the great Shikamaru-sama need some peace and quiet while he loses?” There’s a blushing furious indignation spreading across his cheeks.
“Shut up, I can't believe you sandbagged me. Beginner my fucking ass.” Asuma blinks before walking over to the board, sure enough, Shikamaru is in check in one of the wildest boards he’s ever seen. They've veered distinctly from canon strategies “I never said I didn’t have any idea how to play, I just said I didn’t want to be taught~ I guess I’m just a Shogi prodigy. kekekekekeke.” She mocks before her eyes flick away revealing white and flick back, it felt strange….To Asuma at least. The light behind them seemed to change, momentarily.
“Nee-chan! You’re bleeding! I’ll go get a nurse!” Choji is already scrambling from the door frame before she calls after him. “It’s fine! It stopped already! I might need a new shirt though!” Kichou turns to Ino “Do you think he heard me?” Ino puffs up, eyebrows furrowing before pointing at her. “You’ll need a nurse before I’m through with you bitch! I can’t believe you’re wearing a matching couples set with Sai!” There was an earring looped through her daith. It was originally a tradition for a member of the Sarutobi clan to give out the Ino-Shika-Cho earrings. But that’s drastically changed in this generation and the one previous. The allied clans have long since lost respect for his dad along with him, his brother was not even a ninja and Asuma himself has recently only returned from his guardian duties having completed his pilgrimage.
Earrings were now handed out from parent to child, it felt better to Asuma that way, more fitting. Why was their declining clan meant to intrude on their tradition, impede their adulthood? Was Konohamaru-kun expected to hand out earrings to people like Kichou when he hadn’t even graduated from the academy? Like he was. He was glad it wasn’t expected of him anymore, it would feel more meaningful given from their parents than any ceremony he could provide. But it was still being felt out, and there were awkward misunderstandings amongst them. Chief being how they would pass between siblings, or how an oddity like Kichou would choose between multiple sets.
Kichou yawns, waving it off. “Like I could steal a march on you. They are from Santa-sensei. We made a parent’s oath to him. Just think of them like a sibling set instead.” Ino seems to instantly deflate before Asuma’s eyes before Kichou takes on a haughty air. “Sai might have been a little shy to tell you in particular, his oath has to do with asking out a pretty girl he likes.” Asuma can practically see a cat tail swishing behind the injured girl as she’s perfectly diffused the situation but actually placated Ino who is now blushing and gushing stuck in her own fantasy world. Yeessh. Women were scary. Shikamaru opens his eyes before making a move, Kichou looks at it for a second before moving another piece “Checkmate, promoted Lance to King.” Shikamaru tears at his hair. “You have to be cheating! We’re playing again!” The boy is already resetting the board while Kichou smirks wide, leaning on her arm on knee
“Maybe you’re just not that good, O’ Great Shi-ka-ma-ru-sama~” Asuma who never once has come close to beating his student, is now sitting off to the side of the board himself, intent on spectating.
“Just shut up and make your move woman, I’m not playing with a handicap this time.” Shikamaru bristles. Kichou moves a pawn forward. When there’s a distinct thundering footstep of Choji down the hall, followed by an even more distinct clacking of heels on tile. Kichou freezes, eyes flicking again, before scurrying back to her bed, flipping the covers and trying to look like a model patient. She throws the shirt covered in dried and flaking blood out the window. Rookie mistake in Asuma’s opinion. “I’m taking this as a forfeit! You left the board” Shikamaru grouses after her.
Kichou waves it off. “So we’re even, congrats!” She motions to Asuma, rapidly flapping her arm to sit in front of the board. He looks down at it. Noticing the decorations that would cost an arm and a leg at any artist’s shop in town. It might explain why he spied on his student working part-time at a specialty shop despite his lazy nature. “Damn this board is crazy, which Daimyo did you rob?” He jokes, but neither genin answers. Asuma does sit before it, mindful of the crazy decorations. Shikamaru makes a move, locking him into the game. Goddamnit. He reluctantly tries to think of an opening move. Somehow they always seem to bully him into matching their tempo.
“Nee-chan I’m back! Don’t die okay!” Choji huffs from the door. Looking frantic.
“Sleeping beauty~ Did you pop your stitches again? You wouldn’t be doing anything naughty like getting out of bed would you?” Kichou tries to put on her most innocent tearful look as she looks bashful at the green haired nurse that just walked in.
“I’m sorry MeiMei, My shirt was uncomfortable and I wanted to take it off. I think I overdid it.” Asuma can definitely see the pitiful look Choji gives him, when he says he’s hungry, an almost verbatim line to invoke sympathy. Ino and Shikamaru both snort before the Nurse coos at her and goes to check the stitches. The nurse pulls a wet rag from the medical station on the other side of the bed before washing away the dried blood on her stomach. Asuma tenses when it's apparent the nurse senses something wrong, ready to escort his students from the room. The nurse starts frowning before waving a green hand over her stomach and moving it all the way up to her throat. Choji blubbers at Kichou’s side while she tries to hold him at bay. The nurse’s face lightens before a smile turns up her frowned lips.
“Well, you’re healing beautifully! These might even need to come out soon, you’re reopening the wound that's already healed. Let me get that scheduled right away, okay sweetie~ We might even take them out tonight!”
Kichou grabs her hand. “Please Nurse Meimei, it would mean the world to me to keep them in for just a little longer. A matter of life and death really. Is there nothing I can do to change your mind?” The puppy eyes were killer in Asuma’s opinion but all Medical staff in Konoha were trained veterans at handling difficult ninja.
“Nope~” The girl’s face falls and Asuma chuffs with laughter. “You wouldn’t happen to be dodging your new temporary Sensei would you? He rather incessantly left you a “youthful” packet containing a new dietary plan and rehabilitative exercises you could do from bed.” Kichou blanches as if having been caught. Looking truly pitiful. There’s only one Jounin he knows in all of Leaf who would go out of his way to do that. Asuma claps and prays the way the monks taught him, Sage rest her soul. Shikamaru looks curious at the interaction, likely gauging the situation. The way Ino peaks over the edge of her magazine and her ears perk up when she senses juicy gossip.
“We can make a deal though, I can order some new lab work to run up the clock and then maybe I’ll put off the discharge papers till the end of the week. Deal?” The nurse holds out a pinky before Kichou exuberantly nods, wrapping her pinky in her own. “Deal.” Smiling sweetly when she got her way. Asuma blinks and looks toward Shikamaru who just looks tired, pointing a finger at the interaction. ‘Is this normal?’ His student just nods, before moving his pawn and taking one of Asuma’s bishops. He curses, trying to focus on the game. The nurse leaves as Kichou waves happily at her having been provided with a fresh shirt, Ino who is now reading fashion magazines on the couch rolls her eyes at the display before flipping the page. Kicking her feet as she lounges about.
Choji stops momentarily snacking on his chips, happy the girl seems to be recovering so well. “Nee-chan, is it true you got your ear pierced? One that matches Sai’s.” Kichou sighs before leaning her head forward and turning it to the side, revealing a black hoop piercing the fold of her ear. It’s one Asuma has seen some Yamanaka men wear, that Santa wore, one that has Chouji’s eyes watering.
“What a drag, I knew this would happen. She should have asked Uncle first.” Shikamaru gripes his chin in his palm of his hand as he rather boredly moves a lance to the promotion zone.
Ino just nods before flipping a page. “Suiton incoming, dive for cover.” Ino says exasperatedly. Asuma is somewhat in the dark, like usual. Before he hears Choji sniffling, fat tears dripping from his eyes. “.....-hic- I wanna match too. Nee-chan. It’s not fair.” Choji cries while Kichou panics. Asuma can distinctly hear “Troublesome…Don’t buckle.” murmured under Shikamaru’s breath.
“Don’t cry! We can match! I don’t have my lobes pierced yet, so we can just get a pair-”
“GREAT!” The boy immediately chippers up, tears forgotten like rain on a summer’s day. While his other two students sigh deeply. “Dad has been saving Uncle’s pair and Auntie Yoshino picked out a pair special on behalf of Auntie Shizuki just for you. You’ll wear them all won’t you?~ I want to match ours, and Auntie Yoshino will get sad if you turn down Auntie’s pair. It’ll look cool and pretty. Pleasee~?” The girl has clearly been had as she looks up at the same puppy dog eyes she wore just a minute ago. She was clearly the student imitating the master. Kichou nods, defeated. “Of course. How couldn’t I say no?”
Ino snorts. “It could be worse…We could have a family tradition of face markings.” Choji and Kichou just look at her, cheeks adorned with red swirls and circles. “Well, more face markings. You wouldn’t want to look like a prank Naruto did, would you? At least you can pass this off as a fashion choice.” She drawls before flipping another page.
The stitches had come out, long black rows of string were cut revealing a massive bright red hypertrophic scar, quite literally where she had been split in half. Her head had healed similarly, the peach fuzz of hair giving the scar a wide berth. Her hair would likely never grow back there. She hated it, hated how people could see her eyes. It was apparently obvious when she was talking to Ren and people liked making eye contact that made the small of her back tense and want to look away. Her gaze flicks away, unable to stand her own eye contact in the mirror.
They settle on the three piercings in her left ear, a black hoop in her daith, a gleaming kunai metal stud on top of silver dangling earring with a triangular clasp acting as a closure. Her father’s set that his brother was waiting patiently for her to be ready for, to take her oaths before he could pass them on. Lord Choza looked so pleased as he smiled happily, arms laden with fruit baskets and cheerful oaths to grow happy and strong, to protect her loved ones. Lady Momoko handed her a crushed velvet box with the earrings and a thick black metal choker with interlocking triangular clasps serving as a closure, an expansion seal carved on the inside. The neck guard, she was always supposed to wear but was too arrogant to. She gratefully accepted it as Lady Momoko fastened it to her neck. Thankful, it covered the beginnings of her scar.
Lord Choza pierced her ears personally and told her how proud her parents would be, tears in his eyes. All she could think about was the guilt she felt at having to make him wait for her for so long. To continue to wait, she wouldn’t ask to go back home yet. She didn’t feel like she deserved it. She wished them a good night with hugs and promises to meet tomorrow before she drifted off to sleep. There were no woods anymore, just a black void of lava rock, cooled anger and budded lotus flowers as far as the eye could see. She had cocooned at the base of the largest lotus, a dull hardened shell. She felt unsure, vulnerable. Ugly.
She only had a few days left before she had to face reality, before she had to figure out what to do from here.
She stepped out of the shower, in the bathroom attached to the hospital suite. Looking at her body in the full length mirror. Engaging in reality.
What was even more disfiguring in her opinion was she no longer had a belly button, it looked strange. Like she wasn’t human or even born. Kichou knew there was a massive reconstructive surgery on her stomach, her body shape had changed, her waist smaller, her hips wider, but she felt weaker, more exposed. It might have been attractive but all she could think about is a man ripping ribs from chest so he could clutch her most sensitive organs. Squeezing them in his palms, as she screamed silently in agony. When she first had woken up the area had been black with bruises and now the skin at her waist was putrid yellow and lavender. It was harder to breathe. In more ways than one.
True to his word however her Sensei had been right and it was smooth and even at least, the skin was loose but not the horrid flaps studded with shunts and stitches like it once was. It was better but it didn’t feel like her body, it felt freakish. The scar reached too many intimate parts of her body, her throat, between her breasts and reaching the natural seam between her legs.
Tears well in her eyes. She thanked every god in this multiverse that she had woken up when she had, and the snake didn’t get a chance to harvest more than Danzo had ordered. It seemed like something Orochimaru would do to ‘preserve life’ no matter how twisted, as it were. He talked too much about bloodlines and genetics not to covet those parts of her body, even if they were flawed. Kichou could never show anyone, she was scared of intimacy but now even more so.
She was worried if she gained weight would the seam become apparent, creating a valley between fat while her body grew or would it expand with her, a bulging and buckling seam grotesquely poking out from under her clothes. Sai was wrong, she was scared about how ugly life made her, she just forced herself to abandon those hopeful bits of herself that craved attractiveness. Kichou was never more sure romance wasn’t in the cards for her.
It felt too fast, not being able to rectify the change in her mind before she was whole again. She could move and walk again. She should be thankful, Santa would be confined to a chair for the rest of his life, forced to watch his legs atrophy. But he was still moving forward.
Done looking at herself in the full length mirror she tied her hospital gown extra tight and pulled up her pants. She would get more sets of Konoha standard uniforms once she could out of here. The turtle neck would hide the guard and the new seam running down her torso like a zipper.’
She steps out of the bathroom to see Naruto sitting on her bed rocking back and forth in excitement, Jiraiya sitting in front her mother’s board and a rather lovely looking girl with long black hair smiling pleasantly in a pink yukata sitting on the coach. ‘You should ask before assuming, look at their choker. Use gender neutral terms before we know’ Ren whispers into her ear, her world while more conservative on the surface was marginally more progressive like the Shinobi community, Ren was largely the odd man out and was empathetic to other countercultures in comparison. Much like how ninja rarely cared about eccentrics and abnormalities than their civilian counterparts did. Kichou herself has only seen it rarely in the flower district, in speciality bars where women are not allowed. It’s none of her business regardless.
“Yo Naru-to~!” She waves before depositing the soiled towel and hospital clothing into a laundry hamper hidden next to the medical station. Greeting the boy in a way they often did in private when Kichou would come over to tutor him.
“Whatsup Oki-chou~! I love the accessorizing! It looks super cool!” Kichou chuckles at Naruto’s new vocabulary. “You’ve been hanging out with Sakura and Ino I see. Are they finally gonna convince you to change out of that jumpsuit?” She walks over to the cabinet next to the wall pulling out the fruit basket and snacks Lord Choza gave her. “Hell No!” He shouts jovially, pumping his fists into the air. “Chips or senbei?” Kichou didn’t have ramen to offer. Naruto seems to consider this for a moment before shouting “Chips please!” Kichou tosses an apple and a bag of chips. “Thanks Big-nee!” She throws a box of Kaki no Tane at the back of Jiraiya’s head as hard as she can but he manages to lean over and catch it without even turning around. “My favorite! How did you know?” He rips open the box, pouring the spicy senbei and peanuts into his mouth. Smirking at her while he crunches. Kichou clicks her tongue. Before turning the beautiful person on the couch. Inspecting them.
They smile at her, radiating beauty…..”Umeboshi maybe…..no more refreshing…Mikan!” She digs through the basket, there’s a bag of fresh oranges with Kiri’s trade stamp that smells wonderful, she even spies a Suna pineapple in the center of the basket. Choza-sama always goes all out wherever food is involved. She grabs the rest of the basket, grunting at the weight and moves over to the couch. Sitting on the other side. Before handing them an orange “These are out of season here, but I’m told they are grown year round in Kiri. It should be pretty tasty.” They blink and nod before taking the orange and carefully peeling it. Naruto bursts out laughing and pointing at Jiraiya. “See I told you, Pervy-sage! It’s a super power!”
Their voice is melodic and more importantly androgynus, carefully practiced pitch. “How did you know?” Kichou shrugs, assuming she guessed their favorite snack correctly “Your complexion is pale and smooth. You have no acne scars, your build is slight and tightly managed, your hands are perfectly manicured with ninja polish, and your hair is lustrous. Indicative of a high vitamin c and antioxidant diet. You’re too health conscious for processed food, nor do you like messy foods that can ruin your perfectly maintained appearance. You might enjoy apples but you didn’t bring a knife to prepare them and correctly don’t trust using the kunai these two knuckles heads have on them to prepare food. Naruto told me he was going on a mission to the land of Waves recently. And…..you might be able to hide it in Kiri because of all the mists but now that I’m sitting next to you; you’re about five degrees colder than the rest of the room. Not that I’m complaining, it's so hot right now.”
Kichou resumes digging through her basket gasping when she finds a deluxe manju set buried at the bottom which she rushedly digs out and kisses. Before peeling the box open. And biting into one with a content sigh. “I’m Kichou of the leaf by the way. It’s hard to tell but I’m a girl and use female pronouns. What about you? What scheme did Naruto rope you into?”
“IT’S NOT A SCHEME!” Naruto interrupts from her bed, eating chips.
The person smiles, tearing a perfectly segmented orange free and putting it in their mouth. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m a boy, although you spotted me rather fast. I suppose I’ll have to work harder. My name is Haku but you can call me Freezer-kun I suppose.” Kichou snaps her head to Naruto. “I thought I said I didn’t want to make it anymore Naruto!” She snaps. “BUT YOU PROMISED! And you never break your promises! Also Kakashi-sensei said the Chunin exams are gonna be longer this year and out of the village. There’s no way I’m going a whole month and half without Ichiraku!” It’s hard to argue with Naruto when he gets this way.
Kichou scrubs her head in anger, lamenting on the fact she no longer has hair. It might be fine, as long as it doesn’t get back to the Akimichi's ears, Kichou would rather die than line the pockets of that greedy rat Aki. “I’m guessing you already had the box made, if you dragged the old man and Haku-san here.”
“Yep!” Naruto pulls a storage scroll from his jumpsuit, with a puff of smoke revealing the box with a few modifications like a pressure gauge and removable plate in the back to slip in a finished seal. Kichou gets up and inspects the craftsmanship. Spying the Uchiha stamp on the lower left side plating. “Does Sasuke trust them?” Naruto nods. “I don’t get the big deal but yeah, Chief even made the shop sign an oath of secrecy.”
Kichou sighs, eyes flicking as she weighs the pros and cons with Ren. Before settling on a reluctant yes this had manageable risk. “When we’re done, go with Jiraiya-sama and get the seal patented at the Hokage’s tower. Put it in your name only, you’ll get proceeds and can manage its usage that way if it ever gets out. If someone asks, say it’s a device Jiraiya found in Suna, they are known for dehydrating their food.”
Naruto scratches his head. “But it’s your idea and we worked on the seal together! You should get credit too. Big-ji said we just get it patterned or whatever! It sounds easy peasy.”
“...It’s complicated.” She’s very aware there’s two near strangers in the room right now, listening, watching her. “Basically if it’s mine and they want it, they’ll try to take it. So far they’ve succeeded. Choza-sama can’t protect me anymore either” She glances forlornly at her mother’s board that isn’t the original, it’s only a replacement that’s better at making her remember the original. Naruto seems to squint and look at the board that Jiraiya is shuffling pieces around. The old man has probably seen the original, knows the treasures that are missing from it. The man who controls the Intel that comes into the Leaf village probably already knows everything and that scares her.
“Then you just gotta get stronger and protect your stuff right?! We’ll just beat their asses if they try again!” Naruto always had a way of just making things so simple. So straightforward.
‘What if you make a rival company?’
The Akimichi trading company would crush me.
‘Not if you have the proprietary information and seals under someone else's name. Someone they always underestimate. The most unexpected business man in Konohagakure.’
You’re a genius.
‘No you’re a genius’
Kichou’s eye flick back to Naruto who startles, a wicked smile blooming on her face. The boy gulps as she grabs his shoulders.
“Naruto, how would you like to be a kage but of your very own business?” Jiraiya stiffens and the temperature drops in the room but she doesn’t know Haku well enough to know what that means.
“Like I can be a big boss and order people around and stuff? Can I get a cool hat and desk?” Kichou nods.
“You can order employees around, which is just me. When we get an office space I’ll get you the biggest desk and the coolest hat.”
“Sounds good to me!” Naruto sticks out his hand for her to shake. Which she wraps her hand around.
“Excellent. Now Naruto, Founder of Uzumaki-Chou Industries. Let's get started on our first product.”
“LET’S DO IT! DATTEBAYO!”