#this one is hiraishin but i had to get rid of the first i so it works dmsmdmskkf | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

electraposts · 7 years ago

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AIC 26

“That one.”

Inoichi gave him a sidelong glance that was far too expressive for 5 in the morning. “As you say, Hokage-sama.”

Minato considered explaining. He was too tired.

'Kushina, I wish you were here for this. You're laughing at me, aren't you?'

There was no sign of her, of course, other than the ache in his soul where they should be touching. He pressed his lips together and waited for the genin he'd chosen to be brought in.

When he was led in, the boy had his shoulders back just a little too far and his hands were clearly aching to make fists. He was defensive. Not overly fearful.

'Is Naruto like this boy? Would he be wary of me, too?'

Minato smiled brightly. “Please, have a seat.” While the genin was dithering, he made a point of glancing down at the clipboard he was holding. “Inai-san, right?”

His daughter's favored student sat down with slow, deliberate movements. He straightened his back. He didn't make eye contact. “Yondaime-Hokage-san.”

'That's exactly the minimum amount of politeness required,' Minato thought. 'How familiar.' He didn't let the ghost of a smile reach his face. “How are you finding your stay in Konoha?”

Inai Yuusaku swallowed whatever smartass remark he'd been about to make. “Acceptable. How is yours?”

Well. Maybe he hadn't swallowed all of the sass.

'Disorienting. Highly concerning. I don't have the time or freedom to conduct the research I'd need to know what exactly has gone so wrong here.'

He felt his eyes crease in a smile. “It's beautiful, isn't it? I missed the plum blossoms last year.”

The Kiri genin gave him a mildly disbelieving look. “So you did. Maybe some other things too, but mostly the plums.”

Minato crossed his ankles underneath his chair. “I hear good things about Kirigakure lately. Is there anything you particularly like to do at this time of year?”

It was sort of cute, watching the kid strain to understand what Minato was hoping to glean from that question. In the end, he played it safe. “Not really.”

“How did you end up training under the Mizukage?” Minato asked casually.

The boy gave him a sharp look. “I am lucky to have a skilled teacher.”

He was neither confirming or denying that Aiko was the Mizukage. Even after she'd given her implicit permission for her team to talk about it.

“Of course,” he agreed politely. “But you shouldn't be so modest. I hear good things about your performance in the second task of the chuunin exams, in particular.”

If he hadn't already known the body language in that recorded fight belonged to Aiko, the stiff and defensive set to the genin's shoulders would have confirmed it.

“Thank you,” Inai-san said. He made eye contact and then looked away as quickly.

“Uzumaki-san was in Kirigakure's Black Ops, wasn't she?” Minato tried.

The shrug the genin gave seemed genuine. “I am not privy to the career details of my seniors.”

“Of course.” He uncrossed his ankles and adjusted his feet to be the perfectly proper four inches apart. “But it's an open secret, isn't it? It is unusual for someone with such a low-profile career to be welcomed into the upper echelons of government. There's not many other confidential departments where a shinobi can become powerful enough to become a kage.”

Inai probably didn't realize that he gave a minuscule nod of agreement. He believed that theory, then.

That was... Well. He hadn't expected that Aiko would have been honest about where she had come from. A classified career was the most comforting explanation that Kirigakure could come to.

“How long has she been your teacher?”

“Only since the weeks prior to the chuunin exams.”

'Aiko specifically told them to be honest about that, then. He's hedging ambiguous answers where he isn't sure what she wants and spitting out what he's sure is safe.'

Minato nodded and gave a conversational hum. “Is she a good teacher?”

Inai gave an answer to that easily, in the affirmative. But of course he would.

“Thank you for your time,” Minato decided. He stood up and resisted the urge to put his hands in his pockets.

The genin looked relieved. He actually gave a half-bow from his seated position.

Minato let his posture relax as he pulled open the door. “Goodbye.” He nodded to the foreigner. “Before I go, I have one last question.” Minato tossed it out as though it was an afterthought. He rubbed at the tendon behind his right ear. “If your teacher decides she wants me gone, how would she do it?”

He pretended not to notice how incredibly tense that was making the observing ANBU.

Inai Yuusaku seemed more than a little confused by the question. His eyes narrowed, looking for the trick. “I'm afraid I've never seen her in a difficult fight,” the genin hedged. “I can't say what she would do.”

Minato nodded. “Thank you. Have a good day.” He let the door shut behind him and immediately set off to his temporary office, not the conference room behind one-way glass. Yamanaka-san would follow after the genin had been taken back to his cell. He only had to wait a couple of minutes before Inoichi slipped inside with a mild expression and let the door shut quietly.

“Yondaime-sama.” Inoichi nodded. The way his long hair slipped over his shoulder was the same way Minato remembered, even if the wrinkles and scars were new.

He managed a thin smile. “What did you think?”

The Yamanaka took a moment to respond. “I do not think he gave any information that Uzumaki-san would have forbidden him to give,” Inoichi said.

'He thinks I made a mistake in choosing that genin to interrogate.'

Minato nodded. “Yes.” He folded his arms and leaned against the wall. “He did a good job.”

Inoichi looked at him, perfectly steady. There was no judgment in his clear blue eyes.

Minato snorted and made a waving motion. “You think I'm an idiot.”

The younger man shook his head solemnly. “Not at all, Yondaime-sama.” Inoichi let one corner of his mouth slip up in a smile. “I'm waiting to hear what you wished to accomplish.”

He eyed Inoichi, but indulged. “I didn't need any classified information that a genin would have been privy to.” Minato scratched the back of his neck. “But he did inadvertently confirm that Uzumaki-san has revived the dead before and that he believes the process to be permanent. I'd say that the breakdown of what Uzumaki-san did and did not classify would also indicate that she has dug her heels into Kirigakure, but has not been transparent about her history. She isn't especially friendly, but she hasn't ruled out cooperation with Konohagakure.”

He was hungry, again. That was so odd. It was a strange feeling to get used to again.

“I see,” Inoichi said slowly.” A frown line formed. “I had made the first connection myself- his answer about how Uzumaki-san would get rid of you was phrased ambiguously to protect knowledge of her fighting style, but clearly assumed that a fight would be necessary.” He tilted his head. “I... can see hints that evidence your later conclusions.”

Minato didn't answer the implicit question. He was going to have to, eventually. It hung like a rock in his stomach. He just... He needed some time to gather more information and come to a conclusion about what needed to be done.

“Thank you,” he said. He heard that his voice came out wooden, but didn't muster up the energy to falsify emotion. “That will be all for now. I'll speak with the Sandaime soon, but you may as well go first.”

Inoichi didn't bother to deny that he would be reporting to the Sandaime. “Very well, then.”

He couldn't work up the emotional effort to be offended that the Sandaime was distrustful of him. It made sense. The situation was incredibly suspicious.

'It's really starting to look like an alternate timeline situation.' Minato slowly collapsed to a seated position on the floor and ran his hands up his hair. 'Aiko, what have you done? Do you even know?'

She was different from the 14 year old girl he had briefly known in Rouran. At least, in presentation. It was a fair assumption that a lot of the same neurosis and traits were present, just better hidden. Less raw. He could easily see where the same need for control was playing out in this genin team she had adopted, the same protective desires towards younger and more vulnerable children. The oddity was that she had ended up bonding to persons in Kirigakure.

'If I can get her to come to Konohagakure, that would be best. I don't know if she can be convinced to leave.'

It was completely mad that this situation existed and he didn't even get the luxury of feeling confused about it. There was a terrible certainty in his gut. He knew what had happened- what linked him and Aiko. It was so terribly vulnerable to extra variables, simply because it wasn't meant to be subverted at all.

Minato wasn't under any illusions about what he was. He was walking and breathing and his heart was beating, but his soul belonged to the death god. He'd been given physical form to bear witness, but he hadn't truly been revived as one of the living.

The only question, really, was why Aiko had come to this place. Had it been an accident, like what had happened in Rouran? This was absolutely another dimension- there were only two live hiraishin seals in existence. One was in Kakashi-kun's possession, and the other one was being kept alive by the natural chakra in Rouran. Aiko had made certain that he wouldn't do that, ergo, there was either no Aiko belonging to this universe or at the very least, she was not the same as the Aiko he had encountered.

It seemed likely that he had never had a daughter in this universe, and not simply because no one seemed to think Naruto had a twin. Why else would Aiko have found herself in this specific timeline? This proved that alternate realities exist, and that probably meant infinite realities. Unless it was pure chance drawing Aiko to this universe, then there was some other factor involved.

Minato pieced listlessly through the reports he'd already studied. He kept coming back to focus on one paragraph in particular- Aiko had rather baldly interrogated a genin about siblings.

He wanted to think that her lack of subtlety meant that she had been upset or surprised by what she had learned- that perhaps she had never considered that there would have been no Aiko in this universe. Or that she had strong reason to believe she had a counterpart?

'She should be conversant with this theory.' Minato leaned back and ruffled his hair up. 'She's capable of adapting and using hiraishin. Maybe it's not her focus area, but I doubt that. So why wouldn't Aiko have learned about multiverse theory?'

From that he could posit two possible solutions- option one was that her fuinjutsu education was bizarrely inconsistent and patchy. Given that she should have been reared by Jiraiya, he would have said that was impossible. Of course, now in this universe he had seen that Jiraiya had abandoned his responsibilities to Naruto. Grimly, Aiko's selective ignorance was not as far-fetched as he would like.

Option two was that she had been upset by Naruto's answer because she specifically had reason to believe she had a younger counterpart. That was interesting. If there really was another Aiko in this universe, where was she? Why hadn't anyone ever mentioned Naruto's twin to him, if only to explain why she was absent? Why would Aiko know when no one else seemed to?

'Or Aiko could have just panicked. People do foolish things and forget obvious information when they are panicked.'

That theory was less interesting. Minato bounced his right leg a few times. He frowned when he caught himself fidgeting.

This office was a third the size of the Hokage's office. It felt like he was working in a dark cave and the walls would come down at any mo-

Minato dismissed the thought. He took deep, calm breaths. He did not ruminate on the soul that he'd never encountered in all his years wandering and reconnecting. It made some sense that forgiveness was still coming. Avoiding someone who got you killed was reasonable. Perhaps after a decade one's resolve might fade, but- it was what it was.

The walls were a pale green, textured with dust that made them scratchy. It was rather tasteful. He looked at them for a while, pushing down the blackness. If there was a window, he would have opened it. Or maybe he would have jumped out of it and chosen not to use any chakra.

That, he reflected, was possibly why there was no window.

He wasn't going to kill himself. Probably. He had a bone-deep terror that he wouldn't be able to pass back to where he belonged. Would his soul be trapped in limbo? Would he intrude on this Minato and Kushina's afterlife? Would Kushina wait for him until the world shook apart and death was unmade?

The only person who might be able to give him a hint was in Kirigakure playing at Mizukage. He was grudgingly, confusingly proud of her for achieving that. Aiko was a very odd person, but she didn't lack for ambition, did she? She was definitely his kid. And she seemed more stable than she'd been as a teenager. That was a good sign.

Talking to her in private would be... not impossible, but difficult. And unwise, given that the Sandaime was trying to figure out if Minato was under her control, as well as what had possessed him to keep a child completely secret and send her off to Kirigakure.

He hadn't asked yet, but he probably would, once investigation turned up nothing. It would have been a very strange choice, so Minato couldn't blame the Sandaime for wondering.

Would it be better or worse to tell the Sandaime that he was misplaced in dimensions? Would Sandaime believe him? Would sharing that information cause harm to Aiko?

Minato cleared his throat. “Excuse me.”

ANBU boar obediently entered the room.

“I want to interview the genin who wrote this report.” Minato handed it over. “Have her brought to me, please.”

The shinobi gave the report a cursory glance and then handed it back. “Of course, Hokage-sama.” He bowed and left quickly.

Minato spared a moment to feel a bit sorry for how alarmed that girl was going to be when told that the undead Hokage wanted to talk to her about a mission months ago. In all likelihood, she wouldn't remember anything more detailed than what she had written in her report. But if there was a chance he could push her to remember more details, specific wording that Aiko had used or facial expressions- well. It could help him.

He occupied the late morning and afternoon with the materials the Sandaime had arranged in order to help him understand the current political and social climate.

Three sharp raps on the door made him look up. That was Boar's hand, but he wouldn't be knocking to enter.

“Come in,” Minato called, more on reflex than as a decision. He frowned immediately. The list of people who was approved to come and see him was short. Who was- oh, already?

The door took a good long second to open, during which time Minato twirled his pen and leaned back in his chair.

“Please excuse me.”

He had melted at that timid little voice before he had a name to go with that pink hair. “Haruno-san,” Minato said gently. Just looking at her made him feel a bit squishy and parental. She was rather small. “Thank you for coming so quickly. I read your reports and had some questions for you. Please, have a seat.”

She gave the chair a fearful look.

Um. Maybe she was too polite to sit in her Hokage's presence. “Or you can stand.”

Sakura gave him a wobbly smile. After a moment's deliberation, she sat. She did not relax in the slightest.

Alright, then. He dug out the relevant report. “You mentioned that Uzumaki Aiko exhibited attachment to members of your team,” Minato started, as though he wasn't very aware of why this would be true. “Did you at any time have the impression that she might be willing to come to Konoha for the chance to be near anyone?”

Sakura twisted her hands in her lap. She looked up and then down quickly. “It's possible, Hokage-sama. She was kind to Sasuke and I, but I think she was very protective of Naruto.”

'Yes,' Minato thought dryly. 'She would be. She was worried about him when they were the same age. Now that he looks like a child to her, she would be more alarmed. My best guess is that she was checking to see if this Naruto had an Aiko to take care of him- she would have come back to Konoha at that point if she could have. But now that the shock has passed, she could have rationalized that he isn't in danger, or that she can protect him from afar.'

She was projecting those feelings onto her current genin team, most likely. But the bond there wasn't as strong. It couldn't possibly be.

The trouble was deciding what to do with that information. He wasn't willing to hurt those kids on the off chance that Aiko would come to Konoha without them to mother. Was separating them more or less likely to help? Should he keep them apart as long as possible and see if her attachment faded? Or would it demonstrate more goodwill to give them back to her?

Had he made a mistake by not removing the hiraishin seal Aiko had left on her genin? Had that been a message, or had she really forgotten that it would be no barrier for him?

He had to admit that he didn't really know his daughter well enough to guess. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

'She might return if Naruto asked her to. She wouldn't do it for me.'

Minato sighed. “How do you think she felt about your sensei? Was she relaxed? Fearful? Interested?”

Consternation crossed the genin's face. “Ah. Kakashi-sensei?” Sakura furrowed her brow. “She wasn't deferential at all, even when she was pretending to be a civilian. She might have...” Sakura looked a bit ill. “She might have flirted with him a bit. She exhibited a pattern of being apparently dismissive and disinterested, but she was very aware of him.” Sakura folded her hands more demurely in her lap. “And she took interest in ensuring his health, when I don't think it served her purposes.”

Well. He could see why she would make certain her genin sensei was healthy, even without a direct benefit. But still, Minato wondered at that possibility.

'Aiko could well have a crush on Kakashi. Or it could just be her familiarity and trust with her Kakashi bleeding over and looking odd to anyone who doesn't know why she cares about him.'

“Did you notice any concrete signs of attraction?”

She looked as thought she would very much prefer to forget this conversation. “Um.” Sakura grimaced. “She and Tsunami-san may have exchanged some meaningful looks and comments. But I didn't think it was serious.”

He mercifully abandoned that line of questioning for now, suppressing any amusement. For the next ten minutes he picked Sakura's memory. She did surprisingly well at repeating what seemed to have been verbatim quotes, and could recall specific body language.

When he finished, he leaned back. “Thank you, Haruno-san. You've been very helpful.” He tapped his pen against the paper where he'd been taking notes. “Do you have any questions or comments for me?”

Her eyes widened. “Hokage-sama,” Sakura said, as thought she was newly realizing that was who she was talking to.

He resisted the urge to see if someone was standing behind him. “That is me,” Minato said cautiously.

She gave a polite little bow, as though pre-emptively apologizing for the rudeness of daring to speak to him. Her hair swept forward to cover her face. “Yondaime-Hokage-sama.” She stopped. “I do have a question.”

“Yes?” he prompted, trying not to smile.

The girl put her hands behind her back and lifted her chin. “I want to know why no one has told Naruto that Aiko-san is his sister.”

He dropped his pen.

“What.”

The girl barreled on. “Naruto deserves to know. Does Aiko-san know for sure? I'm worried that will come around and cause political trouble down the line.”

'Good god, Kakashi. You trained this girl? I didn't give you enough credit as a teacher.'

Minato folded his hands on his desk, a plain one with the cheap plastic cover. He took a moment. “You are very small and frightening,” he told Sakura. “That's a good combination. Have you considered your career path?”

Her brow furrowed. Oh god, her big green eyes glinted when she looked at him so suspiciously. He wanted to give her an ice cream and teach her to make explosions.

He wouldn't have been surprised if Kakashi or Jiraiya had figured that out. But this little girl, who didn't have the extra hints of the connections between Minato and both of his kids.... How had she done it? Minato considered what she could possibly know and how that could point in the right direction. “Why do you think that?”

Haruno glanced down at her sandals. “Strong circumstantial evidence implied that she thinks she's Naruto's sister. She could be wrong, but she seems like she knows what's she's doing.” She dug a toe into the carpet. “Superficially, there are also some similarities in appearance and personality. They've got the same smile, for one thing.”

He'd never registered a particularly memorable smile from either of them. Minato tilted his head. “You know, I want a detailed explanation of the evidence and logic that lead to your conclusions.” He raised an eyebrow. “Can you have that on my desk today?”

“Um. Yes?” Haruno seemed a little confused, but that was alright.

“Just come back whenever you're finished. I don't know if Kakashi-kun is a good teacher for you, but I hope he's proud of you,” Minato told her. “You're going to have a great career. Thank you, you may leave. Please keep this meeting and all contents to yourself.”

Flustered, Haruno bowed far deeper than was necessary. She was rapidly turning a shade that threatened to compete with her hair. “Ah, yes. Thank you Yondaime-sama. Goodbye, Yondaime-sama.”

“Have a nice day,” he said.

“Yes, Yondaime-sama.” She closed the door.

Minato didn't bother to conceal a smile. He sat very quietly, leaning forward a little to listen for the sounds of the girl gathering her wits enough to leave. After two seconds, there was a quiet, “Damn.” Then she left.

He huffed out a laugh. “What a sweet kid.”

The morning dawned sullenly. Or maybe that was Aiko projecting on it. She struggled her way to the office and only remembered she was supposed to have fed Gaara as she was taking a report from Saito-san's hands. She accepted the papers with both hands and a guilty feeling.

'For two shining days in a row, I was a responsible adult,' she thought. 'I've hit my peak, it's all downhill into garbageville from here.'

“Saito-san, please have Sakurai-san report to me as soon as he comes in,” Aiko said. She transferred the papers to only her left hand. “When is my first appointment?”

If it hadn't been for the wrinkles that said otherwise, Aiko would have been forced to conclude that Saito had never smiled a day in her life. “From 7:45 until 8:05, you have the three hospital administrators. At 8:10, you could see Sakurai-san until 8:40. After that, you have three consecutively scheduled appointments in half-hour blocks that would begin at 8:50 and last until 10:30am. At that point, your schedule opens up until after lunch.”

Aiko eyed her. “The last appointment is with you, isn't it?”

Saito-san nodded sharply, but her halo of tight gray curls didn't bounce a millimeter.

“I'll look forward to it.” Aiko ran fingers through her hair, pulling it all to rest over her right shoulder. “Who is the young man who brought my coffee yesterday?”

“Kouzui-kun. Was there a problem?” There was a hint of teeth in that question.

“No problem at all,” Aiko said mildly. It seemed more politic not to express surprise at the slightly inauspicious name. But, really? Unless it was a really strange spelling, his name had to be Flood. What family living on an island would want to be named 'Flood'? “Please ask him to prepare refreshments for my first meeting, and to bring it in at 7:44 to signal the start of the meeting.” She tapped her reports against her left hip. “Thank you, that will be all for now.”

Saito bowed her way out of the office. Not two seconds later, she was barking out orders to someone who wasn't using both hands to transport boxes of mission scrolls. Aiko pressed her lips together tightly even though no one was around to see her smile.

In the brief window of time she had, Aiko managed to read through the missions report data from the last week. It painted a picture that was incrementally better than last week's, but formed a stronger pattern of improvement when she remembered what these had looked like when she had first started reading them. Her personnel had been engaged in 2409 missions during the course of the week, 2089 had been completed and 1988 of which had been completed successfully.

It was a far cry from the 100% efficiency mark of managing 3577 weekly missions, but it was better than she had seen in past.

The numbers were artificially inflated by the bloating of D-class missions, of course. On average, a team could complete 4 D-class missions per day, and ideally that would form about 15% of the overall mission intake. With 23% of the mission requests coming for low-paid D-class missions, the treasury wasn't repleting properly, and shinobi who really ought to be doing C and B class work were being pulled to missions below their skill level. If she-

“Mizukage-sama.” She looked up at the voice that came before two polite knocks on the door frame.

“Yes?” Aiko kept her tone mild to conceal the sharp spike of irritation she felt.

Nishikawa-san pulled the door open and gestured behind him. “Sanno-sama, Eirei-sama, and Namamura-sama are here for your meeting.”

“Of course.” She stacked the papers together and slid them into a folder. Then she came around her desk to greet her guests. Eirei relaxed during the pleasantries of bowing and being seated, but Namamura and Sanno were unperturbed from the start. That was a little off-putting, since Eirei was the only one who she had met prior.

“Mizukage-sama.” Sanno was the one to begin, once they were arranged in the trio of chairs in front of her desk. “Let me be the first to thank you for the honor of the invitation to talk.”

Aiko folded her hands in her lap unconsciously and ducked a couple of seated bows. “Not at all, Sanno-san,” she deferred. “I am pleased that you could find the time in your busy schedules.” The door slid open quietly. She glanced behind her guests to see that Kouzui was carefully balancing a tray in both hands while Nishikawa silently shut the door behind him. She turned her attention back to her guests. “The aim of our meeting today is to go over the new direction for the city hospitals. I would like your concerns, as well for you to communicate the new direction to the head of the hospital.”

The three-person board of directors must have already designated Sanno as spokeperson, because he didn't glance at his fellows. “I regret to inform you that the senior management is missing key personnel that will make enacting a change difficult. We are in the process of internal review to begin promotion, but it could take some time to complete hiring and other necessary changes.” The big man leaned slightly out of the way as Kouzui placed a cup and saucer on the sidetable at his elbow.

“I'm aware.” Aiko said evenly. “I consider filling the position of Head Doctor your most immediate concern. I would like to request that you waive the two-month probationary period in favor of immediately assigning one of the seniors to the role on a temporary basis. In my opinion, Kamimura-sensei would be suited to overseeing the changes I have in mind, as interim head or whatever designation seems appropriate to you.”

Kouzui left as silently as he'd entered. Sanno glanced backwards before making a moment of eye contact with Eirei.

“What did you have in mind for the hospital this year?”

Aiko glanced down at her desk for an instant to be sure she was handing over the correct papers and not her missions efficiency reports. “It's a two year plan, with a review scheduled in 3 months. I want to construct a new, more modern building for the main hospital within the year, and the two satellite clinics to be completed after that. I'm concerned about insufficient corridor width in the burn ward-”

Eirei was nodding as he passed the last paper on to Namamura. “Yes, I see,” he agreed. “That was renovated from an older section and it's really not up to code. But this project sounds prohibitively expensive, Mizukage-sama. Our current budget is not sufficient for 3 new buildings within two years, much less maintaining the current ones concurrently until the transition can be made.”

“Which I why I want you to direct the financial review to come up with a projection of expenses.” Aiko took a sip of her coffee- 3 creams, 4 sugars. Someone in the office was feeling kind this morning. Or trying to kill her gradually with too much sugar. Could the two be compatible? It might be Mei.

“That projection will need to account for additional hiring and training as well. I'm aiming to increase the staff by 2% this year, and 3% the following year.” She gestured at the notes she'd handed them. “I want to make a career in the medical sector more appealing to draw in more candidates to reduce the workload and head off the burnout. That's going to involve more aggressive recruiting and some mandatory aptitude testing, as well as a slight salary and benefits increase. Once we've dealt with the current glut of D-level missions, I think suitable candidates could be drawn from our genin population as well as aiming further recruitment into the Academy.”

“And the funds for all this?” Eirei was carefully neutral in tone, despite pressing the point.

Aiko favored him with a slight smile. “This is one of my highest priorities. If I find the budget requests reasonable, I will find a way to fund them. Additionally, the costs for the construction are not going to be on the hospital budget. I need your cooperation for drawing the blueprints to ensure the facilities will be adequate, but your other responsibilities for that project will be minimal.”

The meeting went on along those carefully polite lines. It wasn't ideal that they were too cautious to offer many thoughts, but it was efficient. She'd take it and probably miss it later, when people got bold enough to argue with her.

Kouzui slid open the door at 8:04 to begin collecting dishes, and wow she could get used to staff that insightful. The silent prompting helped draw the meeting to an easy close and usher the trio of older men out on their way only two minutes past the designated ending time. It took one minute for Kouzui to remove two of the chairs to the storage area and refill her cup. She leaned back and rubbed at her head in the two minutes before Sakurai let himself in.

“Good morning, Mizukage-sama.” He barely glanced at his inviting seat, with coffee steaming on the side table.

She gestured for him to sit. “Good morning, Sakurai-san. Did Gaara-kun report to you this morning?”

His mouth twitched. “He reported directly to Tazuna-san, Mizukage-sama. I have received his verbal report about his orders and aims for the day.”

Aiko tilted her head, prompting for further thoughts.

Sakurai didn't take the bait, because he wasn't a sucker.

Fair enough. She could go to the source for information, later.

“I've decided on your role going forward, based on your experience with international trade in past.” Aiko gave him a smile. “For now you'll still be handling the infrastructural projects, but we'll be moving new projects over to Utakata in future to free you up for setting up a financial department. Do you have thoughts about who you would like to work with?”

Sakurai blinked once, twice. He pressed his lips together tightly. “What would this position entail, precisely?”

“You'll be developing and implementing policy for ship-based trade,” Aiko explained. “That would involve working closely with the Treasury, as well as several civilian industry leaders.”

“I see.” He didn't move for a moment. Sitting straight and perfectly still like that in the sunlight, Sakurai cut a rather heroic figure. Aiko had the frivolous thought that the off-white stone of the Hokage monument wouldn't do justice to the dramatic warmth of his complexion but she didn't know what material would be better.

“May I speak freely?”

Aiko frowned more on instinct than displeasure. “You may. What's on your mind?”

Sakurai, impossibly, sat even straighter. “I would like to respectfully decline this assignment, if I may. I believe that my skills are better used in the area where I am currently working.”

What.

“The reconstruction won't be indefinite,” Aiko pointed out. “Tazuna and his team will leave. It won't keep you busy.”

“It's true that our immediate concerns will be addressed in short order,” Sakurai agreed levelly. “However, much of our infrastructure and housing is old, built according to out-dated standards. Our city planning does not reflect the standards of one of the greatest nations. We need a long-term plan to rejuvenate Kirigakure and bring our institutions, cultural and functional, to the pinnacle of modernity and international dignity befitting our status.”

She rested her arms on her desk. “You've been thinking about this,” Aiko said slowly. “What would you term as our priority long-term and short-term concerns?”

Sakurai didn't fully conceal a spark of victory in his expression. “Our waterways are relics made of inferior and unsafe materials, our flood protections insufficient, and our electrical infrastructure woefully inadequate. Our natural resources are not being efficiently utilized, and frankly, much of the capital city is dingy and depressing. Parks and other sites requisitioned for training grounds and bleak government buildings have reduced the visual appeal and affected morale and quality of life. We do not offer secondary education and other resources that would improve the quality of life here, and so we lose talent to minor nations that can offer other opportunities.”

Aiko licked her lips. She rested her chin on her palm, leaning into the conversation for the first time. “Utakata has some papers that you'll be needing. When can you have 2, 5, and 10 year plans on my desk?”

She only knew that the meeting time must have been up because Kouzui came in to take one of the guest chairs and accompanying table out from storage and whisked away Sakurai's untouched coffee. Aiko was sort of sorry to see Sakurai go, but she used her ten minutes of free time to scratch notes down and take out what she would need for her next consultation with the newly chosen Academy principal and the vice principal. After that meeting, Chojuro came in. He was adorable, and obviously passionate about outlining a system for recruiting more students to be mentored in swordsmanship.

But he was also obviously unprepared and off-kilter in the more general assignment he'd had to outline and staff parallel programs for other advanced skillsets.

“A very nice young man, but goddamn if he isn't a little bit narrow in his approach to problem-solving,” Aiko muttered to the closed door after he left. Someone else was going to have to pick up that slack. “Not every problem needs a hammer, you soggy daikon. Dingus. Parakeet.” She leaned back in her chair and hooked a foot over the support bar under her desk. “Poorly-wired waffle iron.”

Sanbi finally woke up enough to register some vague confusion and disapproval, but no actual disagreement with her analysis. He did the bijuu equivalent of rolling over and going back to sleep, because some people were unemployed slobs and could do that.

She waived off the next coffee because she'd had four and it wasn't 11am yet. Kouzui actually frowned at her, but he returned with water. She gave a little more weight to the theory of slow-burn assassination by sugared coffee.

Aiko snuck off to her home for a hasty bathroom break before Saito knocked on the door for their meeting.

Saito wasn't pleasant on a personal level, but she exhibited a sort of ruthless competence that Aiko appreciated in her staff. She didn't trust that Saito would call a doctor if Aiko had a heart attack in her office from drinking way too much caffeine, but she felt a bone-deep certainty that all the missions paperwork would be filed, insightful notes on staffing trends would be made, and and no jounin would hand in a mission report with fudged details while Saito reigned. That was, generally speaking, more important. If a little unsettling.

Aiko shook off the jitters that came from a closed-door meeting with someone who likely wanted her dead. She felt like stretching her legs, so she ran out to check in on the harbor. The lack of news was encouraging, because someone would probably have come to find her if Gaara had killed Tazuna.

She arrived to find the work crew continuing whatever arcane science would complete the pump and lock system while Tazuna sat cross-legged on the ground and monologued while drawing something. Gaara was crouched on the other side of the paper and leaning ever so slightly in.

Cheered, Aiko chose not to disturb whatever momentum they had going. She'd asked Gaara to report to her later. Nosing in would steal his thunder and probably undermine the whole damn point of entrusting him with a little bit of autonomy. And nobody looked even a little bit dead, so it was clearly going just fine.

“An absence of murder qualifies a project as acceptable? I notice that this is a different metric than you applied to the Chojuro,” Sanbi commented. “Is Gaara not being trained for a higher level of responsibility that would seem to require higher standards? Please explain.”

'Chojuro is a name, not a title,' Aiko corrected. 'Also, shut up. The 'no murder so far' thing is a very preliminary observation. I'll have more details about Gaara's competency later, whereas Chojuro is a grown-ass man who had a month to come up with something to impress me.'

The leader of the three-man team that Mei had personally picked to watch over Yamato gave her a nod when she went to the last residential complex next. Yamato, dripping sweat already, took a couple of seconds to notice her.

“Hello.” He glanced back to his work and used what she recognized as excessive dramatics in laying out the floorboards for the eastern section of the third floor.

Aiko folded her arms against the breeze and considered the even, smooth layout of the single piece of wood flooring that covered half of an apartment complex. She felt the left side of her mouth pull up. “That's impressive. Do you need to rest before you do the next part?”

Yamato tossed his hair and inadvertently flicked her with sweat. “Not at all,” he said levelly.

She stepped behind him and focused on what he was doing, because she was a cheating piece of garbage and her Rinnegan were basically souped up sharingan.

He flinched at the reach of her chakra, but he had absolutely no way of knowing there was a chance she could gain from testing the way his chakra felt as he worked. So he laid out the next floorboards and built up the ceiling on the next level before he pleaded exhaustion to take his break.

“Thank you,” Aiko said, because manners mattered even when one was secretly stealing another person's technique. “It's a pleasure to watch you work. I'll stop back in this afternoon to watch some more, if I have the time.” She'd make the time, if it was at all possible. She might be giving him back to Konohagakure any day now.

His ears reddened.

Aiko nodded to his handlers and left. She felt a little bad about benefiting from his obvious years of hard work, but she didn't have time to be that diligent just for the sake of it. Her guilt didn't stop her from going to her private training grounds to replicate what she had observed about manifesting uniform, strong wood instead of a gnarled mess.

It went very well.

'Intellectual theft is very useful. I sort of get the Uchiha now.' Aiko guided a ring of stone up with her left hand and whacked it into the dirt with mokuton. It made a pretty inset. Contemplatively, she warped the wood and convinced it that it would like to be a decorative arch over the stone. It took a minute or two for the wood to agree with her and bend into a tall “U” shape, burrowing sturdy legs into the ground as a base.

Someone should put some flowers inside it or something. Actually yes, she'd do something like that when they got around to improving the city parks. She was going to have so many decorative bridges and pavilions. She could be just as classy as Konoha. She'd have so many unnecessary gardens. It was going to be great.

Every attempt to replicate what Yamato had done was vastly superior to her amateur fumblings in the dark. Aiko made a mental note of it: Stealing really paid off. She wasn't keeping track of time while she experimented with control and power, but it was at least 12 when someone came to find her.

After about 2 minutes of standing silently, Terumi cleared her throat. “Mizukage-sama,” she allowed. Her tone was bland. “There's someone at the gate claiming to be your guest.”

“That's... bold.” Aiko blinked excess power through her body and concentrated it in her hands. She molded it into heat and pressure and pushed it out as a white-hot ball of fire that consumed her experimentation. Mei watched this with no particular expression at all, but Aiko was feeling slightly proud of her improvements with both the wood and the fire element, thank you very much. “I should go say hello, see if they need to be taken out to lunch or imprisoned or whatever.”

Mei might have betrayed some irritation in the twitch of her eye, but her tone was implacable. “As you say.”

“I remember that struggle,” Aiko said absently. “You're too used to using the mask as a crutch for hiding your thoughts. Work on that.” She let her hair out of the ponytail she'd used to keep it off her face while she trained and shook it out with her fingers. There were only a couple of splinters in it this time. Nice.

Mei's mouth neatly dropped open in outright outrage, but Mei didn't deny the criticism. She followed Aiko on the run to the gate and fell behind a polite couple of steps only when they reached the small cluster of wary shinobi at the city checkpoint.

“She is my beloved sister,” Karin said, in the tone that meant she was daring someone to disagree with her. “We are very close. She would want you to give me tonkatsu. Probably ice cream, too.”

“So you have said,” one of Aiko's shinobi said. “Many times.” The man was wearing the pin that identified him as from the outer patrol and a long-suffering expression that identified him as the poor bastard who had carted Karin to the main island.

Mei looked a bit ill when Aiko glanced back. Perhaps she hadn't heard that Karin was claiming to be related to Aiko. Or maybe she just hadn't believed it until she saw them at the same time.

She considered, for a moment, that Karin was almost certainly here to spy for Orochimaru. The chances were like, 98%.

“That sounds like a problem.”

'Not really.' Aiko turned on her sunniest smile. 'She's not as slick as she thinks she is. She's 12. But her scheming is absolutely adorable, you'll love her.'

“Karin, I'm glad to see you.” Aiko waved off the tense gate guard overseeing the potential disaster. “Stand down, everyone. There's no problem here. I've may or may not have some relatives that might show up from time to time.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Karin sniffed. “Can't the Mizukage's sister get some respect around here? A hot lunch?”

Aiko rolled her eyes. “I'll treat you to lunch and we'll talk. Terumi-san, thanks for bringing the situation to my attention. And-” She gestured a question.

“Kamimoto,” said the man who'd escorted Karin. He probably needed hazard pay and a hot drink.

“Kanimoto-san,” Aiko continued. “Thank you for your diligence and bringing her to my attention. Stop in to my office before you return to your post.” She slung an arm around Karin's shoulders and began steering her away. “Afternoon.”

They didn't talk after that. Karin was perfectly capable and appeared a lot more confident than she was, but even her iron will was apparently a little tested by the sudden awkwardness of reaching the kage to whom she'd claimed a relationship. Aiko steered them into a restaurant that seemed decent. She and Karin were ordering drinks when Utakata strode in and seated himself.

Aiko noticed something very interesting on the menu that required a lot of her attention.

There was a very long, very uncomfortable silence. The waiter shifted on their feet.

“Hello,” Karin broke in. She kicked her heel against her chair. At least, that was probably what the little thump from under the table was. “Are you going to order something, or do you just subsist on hair cream and the smug satisfaction of being where you aren't wanted?”

“I'll have tea. Hot.” Utakata didn't take the bait.

The server beat a hasty retreat.

“Aiko-san,” Utakata said, in an incredibly pleasant tone. “I believe that we have had a very similar conversation before. May I request clarification? I had previously assumed that this issue was concluded.”

“I didn't kidnap this one, either,” Aiko defended. “She came here. And it's not even a lie. She's my relative, look at her.” She gestured. Karin preened on reflex. “Those cheekbones are telling the truth, Utakata. The pretty, pretty truth.”

“She's your sister,” Utakata said with no inflection.

“Oh.” Aiko shrugged, checking that no one was within hearing distance. “That's a lie.”

“Then it wasn't the truth,” he said patiently.

“It was basically the truth. It's close enough.” Aiko tilted her chin up, combative. “What the fuck is this? Do you tell me what to do now?”

He leaned in. “You can depart upon whatever course of action suits your fancy, but it would be helpful were I to have accurate information so that I might support you.”

She bristled.

“Mom, dad, I hate it when you argue.” Karin rapped her knuckles on the table. She raised an insolent little eyebrow.

“That's ridiculous,” Aiko rejected. She leaned back from Utakata's personal space. “I'm not old enough to be your mother.”

“Unless you are,” Utakata muttered.

“Maybe I am,” she allowed the possibility. “I could be as old as fifty.”

“Is she older or younger than your other ambiguous sibling or offspring?”

Aiko eyed Karin up. Side by said, she'd be able to pass Karin off as a year older than Gaara, but not the other way around. “Older,” she said, and that was true. She was pretty sure. “Or they could be twins. Depends.”

“You must choose one story.”

“Why?”

“Because-”

“I'm really starting to feel left out.” Karin sounded more bemused than anything. “Are you two actually married? Should I know you?”

“Yes,” Aiko said, because she couldn't parent two teenagers alone. “That's your stepdad Utakata, a great big slug person who likes to blow bubbles. He's a very nice man and you'll be helping him imprison some nice Konoha nin. Darling, sweetheart, please tell my sister daughter person all about your current project and have her show you how she can help.”

There was a lull around the table, but Karin and Utakata were probably reacting to different things.

“Goodbye. Enjoy lunch.” Aiko stood up and waived the server over. By the speed with which they made it over, no one had quite managed to forget the just who she was. “These two are having a working lunch, I'm afraid that I have to back out of. Please send the bill to my office, I'll balance the account within an hour of receiving it. Excuse me.”

She beat a hasty retreat.

When she made it back to the office, Gaara was waiting for her. She guiltily ushered him in, because it was a total fluke that she hadn't left him waiting through the lunch hour. If she hadn't fled Utakata and Karin, he'd be sitting here alone. How sad.

“Good afternoon, Gaara.” She stopped herself from patting his head as she passed by. “What did you think of Tazuna?”

Gaara considered this. “Old,” he said. “Knowledgeable. Lacks the self-preservation of a sand vole.”

She blinked. She thought about that for a moment. “Fair enough. I guess that's all empirically true. I was hoping to hear about his plans for city development.”

“Ah.” Gaara nearly let his eyes close. “Today, I learned....”

Silence stretched out while he mulled over his words. Aiko used it to check hopefully if someone had brought lunch yet. Nope.

“Irrigation and drainage,” he said.

Apparently he considered that enough.

“That they're important?” Aiko prompted. “Or you learned about the basics?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“I will drain water where there is too much. I will bring water where it is scarce.”

“How?”

“Through drainage and irrigation.”

She threw a pen at his head. The sand caught it and crushed it to pieces.

Gaara might have been smiling, but it was way deep on the inside. His actual expression remained impassive.

“You are a little shit,” Aiko informed him. “I saw you having a perfectly civil interaction with Tazuna-san earlier. I am asking for macro-level analysis.”

He made the saddest little motion with his shoulders. It was probably meant to have been a shrug. But it was so slow, small, and controlled that there was no possibility it was anything but a calculated imitation.

“I'm going to put you in the ocean,” Aiko said calmly.

“I will practice drainage.”

She blinked. “What, what?” She felt her brow furrow. “I don't think you can drain the ocean.”

“Do you suggest irrigation instead?”

The worst part of his insolence is that his tone was perfectly level, and his expression was the same as ever. Aiko crossed her arms and sat on her desk, on top of her folders. She looked at Gaara long and hard.

He was waifish and adorable, really, with his oversized clothes, mop of hair, and sleepy eyes. He was also the child of a kage, brilliant and damaged and separated from everyone he had ever known in a situation where everyone treated him differently than before. He was deeply suspicious, waiting for the other foot to drop.

He was imitating her interactions with Utakata as a way to relate to her, because he had few models of positive interaction. Probably he felt that she would abandon him if he offended her, and he was desperate to change his entire being in order to find a new purpose. He both admired and feared her.

She felt... sad, suddenly.

“You are a lot like me,” Aiko said, meaning absolutely nothing to do with the way he'd been needling a powerful figure. That wasn't really him, or at least not necessarily him.

Gaara gave her the same black stare, but there was somehow disbelief in it now.

“You're a good kid,” she said. She averted her eyes, because that was edging dangerously close to forgiving herself for having once been young and vulnerable. “I'm really starting to wonder if lunch is ever coming. I did ask for that to be brought here, didn't I?”

“Yes.” Gaara finally gave her a straight answer. “You did not give specifics. Therefore, my preference was asked.”

“Oh.” Aiko pursed her lips. “That's just fine. What are we having?”

“Rice, barley tea, tsukemono.”

She waited a couple off seconds for him to continue, but he didn't. “...Is that all?”

He frowned at her.

'I should have eaten with Karin after all. I'd be having pork.'

“Alright, then.” She brought her legs up onto her desk to sit more comfortably. “While I have you here, I wanted your thoughts on something. We need to contact Suna, to ensure that they won't count you a missing-nin once they realize you're here. I think being proactive is better. Who would have the clout to legitimize diplomatic action?”

The list was short, and the names he thought of were the same ones she knew. The two elders would be able to lend weight to anything, but were unlikely to get involved. There were some senior jounin who might be able to gain public trust and authority, but no one truly stood out.

“So... To be honest, your genin team might be the biggest concentration of influence,” Aiko half-asked. It was what she'd wanted to hear. “Temari is not a genin in anything but name. The 16 year-old heir of the last Kazekage, an experienced jounin, and her 15 year old brother- it would be hard to countermand them, if they had some assurance of support or influence?”

“You want to lure Temari to Kirigakure.”

Aiko frowned at her apprentice. “Lure is a strong word. I'm going to send an invitation from the newly inaugurated Mizukage to Suna no Temari, eldest child and presumptive heir of the 4th Kazekage. To be honest, it's a bit rude, but it would be hard for other interest groups to protest it. They won't want to outright offend me, but it would make it very difficult for anyone to limit her influence by claiming she's an unknown. She probably won't want to come, but it would be hard to turn down that golden opportunity to position herself as an authority.”

Gaara did not seem impressed by this logic.

“I think that Suna and Kiri can benefit each other.” Aiko crossed her legs. “We have too few personnel to handle our mission load and reconstruction, which means that higher level contracts are getting filled slowly and in fewer numbers. That will hurt our clientele and influence them to take their business elsewhere. Suna, on the other hand, has been hurting for lack of missions to support the populace.”

Gaara startled, green eyes firmly fixed on her.

“It's obvious,” Aiko dismissed. “Do you agree with my suggestion?”

He narrowed his eyes at her. “How many?”

She bit her lip for a moment. “Twenty, for now. Including you.”

Someone knocked on the door. They both ignored it.

“How long?”

“Six months, to be re-evaluated later.”

He shook his head. “Far too long. Shifts of two month, in three waves.” He frowned. “Staggered, so that more experienced shinobi can help the newer ones acclimate.”

“Are you supervising them?”

Gaara actually grimaced, which was hilarious.

“Point taken.” She leaned over to pat his head. He accommodatingly moved his head forward just enough that she didn't overbalance and fall off the desk. “I'll draft the letter requesting that your sister visit.”

Saito-san pushed the door open and gestured a genin in with two trays of food. She didn't even pretend that she hadn't been listening in. “I could have a messenger sent to the business district, Mizukage-sama.” She sounded incredibly, depressingly resigned.

Gaara's eyes widened.

“Other sister,” Aiko said hastily. “Karin.”

“How many are there?” Saito-san asked, but she didn't seem to be talking to Aiko.

“Karin?” Gaara said quietly. His brow furrowed.

She considered fleeing this interaction, too, but actually she was pretty hungry. So she slid off of her desk and cleared off a space for her tray and Gaara's. The genin set them down and began backing away. “Itadakimasu.” She picked up her blue chopsticks, noted the slightest scent, and sighed. She set them down. Gaara had never made a move for his own food. “Saito-san.” Aiko made eye contact. “Are you trying to poison me?”

The older woman was very still. “I am not, Mizukage-sama.”

That was the kind of statement that compelled her bodyguards to come out, even before Aiko had to beckon.

“I wondered how long this would take,” the Sanbi said cheerfully. “I was surprised no one had tried to kill you all this time. Admittedly, you were out of the village often.”

Aiko kept her stare as cold as possible. “Please take yourself and your assistant out. Provide these professionals with a list of the people who provided the food and utensils. I hope to see you tomorrow morning.”

Saito was so pale as to look ill. “Mizukage-sama, my loyalty to Kirigakure is absolute. I have nothing to do with this.”

“I hope so.” She waved the requisitioned Hunter-nin out. “I think that Gaara and I will find another lunch.” Aiko watched her office head escorted out of the building in custody, head held high.

“Fuck,” she said. “Who is going to finish that report before my meeting tomorrow?”

“Aiko-sama?” Gaara's arms were crossed again, body language closed off.

It probably wasn't a good time to try touching him. She took a moment to really fucking hate whoever was trying to kill her this time. Gaara had been relaxing, before. Fuck.

“Goddamnit,” she said, apropos of nothing. Aiko sighed. “At least I know you can sense poisons. I smelled it, did you-?”

He shook his head. “There's grains of something plant-based in the tsukemono.”

“It's sweet,” she agreed. “Too sweet for daikon. Goddamit.” Aiko gritted her jaw. “Let's... go out for lunch. You should meet Karin.”

“Who is my sister?” Gaara said, dry as the desert he came from.

“Probably.” Aiko locked her office door from the inside with a sharp, irritated movement. “I might change my mind on that, so don't quote-”

The ichibi rose.

She darted to the side before turning, but the sand wasn't aiming for her. Gaara was stretching his palm towards Obito. He was sitting on her chair.

Her shoulders dropped. “Rude. That's just rude.”

He didn't smile at her. “Good afternoon, Aiko. You should go rescue your brother before he dies.”

“Brother?” Gaara asked, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Obito.

“Explain that.”

“I believe that Itachi went to check in on his younger brother under the pretense of pursuing a target and gathering information on a target that has disappeared,” Obito said, not sounding especially interested in any of this. “He met with several Konoha shinobi, and has taken a hostage. A summon conveyed this information less than an hour ago, as well as the fact that they have left Konohagakure but not Fire Country.”

“Where is he going?”

Obito snorted. The answer was obvious.

“There directly?” Aiko demanded.

“I believe so,” Obito said. “Akatsuki would be most prudent to go in order, but Pein has been angered by the disappearance of a target whose location was thought to be fixed.” His one-eyed gaze rested on Gaara. “Taking the kyuubi at this juncture can be explained as opportunism, by a man with a grudge against Konoha. It won't send the other jinchuuriki to ground.” He huffed. “Last I heard, they were planning to pass the 3rd border patrol between Shi and Sho stations. They're probably through already, but you could pick up the track there.”

She grabbed his arm, thinking of probable routes that Kisame and Itachi would take out of Konoha. “I'll need you. I can't fight them both.”

Obito pulled his arm away gently. “I have a cover to maintain.” He gave her a one-eyed squint. “I'm hoping you'll help me deplete Akatsuki's ranks, but I can't be associated with your efforts if one of them escapes. Happy hunting, Aiko.”

She nodded, reluctant. “Thank you.” Aiko swallowed. “I appreciate the information.

He gave her a thin smile and then melted away into Kamui.

“Aiko-sama?”

“I need to go.” Aiko gritted her teeth and tried to remember the most likely location to cut Itachi and Kisame off. If they'd left Konoha with Naruto hostage, they'd be traveling fast, directly to Ame. Once they made it past the final rings of tight security, they'd travel fast until they hit the border.

She needed backup.

Gaara was too young, and a jinchuuriki besides. She wouldn't bring another target to Akatsuki, which ruled out Utakata except in direst need. Mei was probably trying to kill Aiko. Ao was her man, she didn't trust Chojuro would do any damn good against a more experienced swordsman, and-

“Right,” Aiko said, slightly regretting what she was about to do before she did it. But the list of people who were powerful and trustworthy for this was rather short. Okay, so she'd go get him, rescue Naruto, and then- right. She'd almost forgotten. Aiko pointed at her apprentice. “Gaara, my wallet is in the top left drawer, go get lunch.”

He scowled.

“I love you, be good,” she said quickly, and then she was gone.

It was hard not to flinch when a hostile suddenly appeared behind you. Yamato kept down the grimace and turned to face his visitor. “Mizukage-sama,” he said mildly. “You look well.” The sweat running down his back itched.

Uzumaki-san glanced around the area, checking 1-2-3 on the guards. “Yamato-san.” She gave him a thin smile. Something about it sent a warning to his hindbrain. “I'd like to make a deal with you. I need to deal with a – threat to my personal interest,” she said. Her pulse was jumping. “Two powerful figures have taken the kyuubi jinchuuriki, as part of their campaign to acquire all of the bijuu.”

He felt the blood drain out of his face.

'If she's telling the truth, this is bad.'

“Neither of us want that,” Uzumaki-san said. She wasn't wrong. “Come with me. You can escort Naruto back to Konoha.”

“Who are we talking about?” Yamato pushed his hair back, missing his happa. “I'll need my equipment.”

'This feels like a trick, but I can't see what benefit she could get from it. Why would she choose me? To legitimize her presence in an operation in Fire Country? Because she can't trust her people to keep a Konoha jinchuuriki safe? That could be it. But it would imply she doesn't have good control over her people. Interesting, if true.”

Uzumaki nodded sharply to the closest guard. “Get all of his equipment,” she ordered sharply. “Bring it here. And you, pass over your soldier pills- medkit? Yes. You, come with us.”

The Hunter-nin scattered to do her bidding, which did make this seem convincing.

She finally turned her purple gaze back to him. “Akatsuki's Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame are the enemy,” Uzumaki-san said. “Leave Uchiha to me. I suspect that Hoshigaki will be carrying Naruto. You two will retrieve him safely and occupy Hoshigaki until I can help you.” She paused and addressed the nin whose equipment she was requisitioning. “You take a message to Utakata once we've left here informing him of where we've gone. I'll be taking your other teammate as well.”

“Two Hunter-nin and I against Hoshigaki?” Yamato asked. Hoshigaki, Hoshigaki. “He was a hunter-nin too, wasn't he? He'd know the tactics well.”

“Yes,” Uzumaki said shortly. “That's why you'll be taking point while my people run interference and backup.” She gave the remaining hunter-nin a look over Yamato's shoulder. “Is that acceptable?”

He wasn't certain she was talking to him, but he nodded just the same. “I want my teammate as well,” Yamato tried. “I'll work well with him.”

“He'll just get killed,” Uzumaki-san said shortly. “He's weak against water jutsu.”

'How does she know that?'

She appeared to dismiss him- ah, the hunter-nin had returned. Yamato got changed as quickly as possible, shucking the sweat towel around his neck in favor of his flak jacket and hastily fastening weaponry and equipment pouches. He pulled his uniform pants on directly over the pants he'd been given, because he wasn't flashing his underpants to the Mizukage. She waited with what he was now recognizing was tightly leashed violence, not calm.

'She seems to think she'll be able to take on Uchiha. I don't like making a plan based on that assumption. If she's wrong, things will turn ugly quickly.'

But she was taking him back to Fire Country. He'd get no better offer than that. As a Konoha nin, he couldn't pass up a chance to escape custody and aid in retrieval of a Konoha shinobi.

“I'm ready,” Yamato lied, feeling his stomach clench. The Mizukage held out her left arm to her hunter-nin. After a pause, they both took hold of her forearm. The two gloved hands dwarfed the Mizukage's arm, making her look disturbingly fragile. Yamato copied the gesture when she reached out with her right.

And then they were in a forest.

#extracontent #aiko in canon #26 #hey yo #it up #waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay late #slightly sorry about that

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