Knock On Wood Konoha

***

Chapter 9: :Mono-No-Aware

the pathos of things

***

I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain. 

Frank Herbert

***

Fear is the only enemy that cannot be bled slowly. It must be destroyed utterly in a single fell swoop, or its power will only grow.

Kikyo had fought long and hard to teach the Uchiha to master fear, for they struggled with it more than most. 

The curse of their Kekkei Genkai, that inability to forget, made it a far greater struggle than it was for any other shinobi.

How did you forget what it felt like to die on an enemy's sword? 

Or at the hand of one you loved?

How did you stop looking over your shoulder when you remembered what the betrayal felt like when someone put a knife in your back?

How did you go on when you remembered burying the people you loved over and over?

The Sharingan and its evolutions were the most powerful dojutsu in existence. Probably the most powerful anything in truth. 

But it was also a curse. 

Any sword was just as capable of cutting the hand holding it as it was at cutting the one across from it.

Everything had a price, especially power, and the Sharingan was singularly adept at reminding the Uchiha of that.

Maybe they'd kept it too secret? Maybe if they'd explained, shared, the world would be more understanding. Would want to help instead of erase. 

Or they'd have destroyed them long ago.

But that wasn't where they were now, and there was no way to go back and undo it all.

Now, Sasuke was terrified and angry, confused and hurt, and so many other things that it all crowded into his head, and he refused to get out.

Naruto was, too, but he was so used to clinging to hope that everything else was dulled by it. It's easier to push the fear and the anger down when he has hope.

He just has to figure out how to give it to Sasuke, and he'll be okay. Until then, he'll just cling and cling until the other boy realizes Naruto isn't going anywhere. 

It's not the best strategy, but it'll take him a long time to realize that. 

Too long.

He's clung too hard, he's started to realize, as Sasuke's screaming at him and Sakura's trying to calm everyone down.

Iruka's friends left an hour before, still refusing to answer questions which definitely didn't help, and Iruka himself had ducked out to go pick up one of his students. Hinata, Kiba, and Shino were trying to stay out of it right up until Naruto started screaming back, and Iruka's wards began to strain under the uncontrolled chakra leaking out.

"Let fucking go, dobe!"

"No, you're going to run away again!"

"Are you calling me a coward?"

"You are! You're running away!"

"Guys, calm down, please!"

"Everybody sit the fuck down and shut up!"

"You keep running away!"

"Because I don't want to be here!"

"Because you'll leave."

"Guys, seriously."

"What are the wards doing?"

"Oh no-"

"Calm down right now!"

They'd all been so worked up that it hadn't taken much to rip through Iruka's straining wards.

"Sasuke, no!"

He'd teleported out before anyone could stop him, but he hadn't been focused, so he just ended up at one of the training areas near the Forest of Death.

One of the more heavily trafficked ANBU training fields.

Not the best option.

It took him a moment to realize where he was. That he was free and alone, and then he wasn't because he was surrounded.

By ANBU with blank masks. 

Root.

Good. 

Sasuke wouldn't feel bad about killing them.

He'd only gotten through half of them when Naruto showed up.

"Sasuke, you bastard! How dare you run away! I was-what the hell?!"

As soon as he'd shown up, Sasuke had remembered that more than anything, Root had wanted Naruto. 

And all that rage turned into visceral fear. 

"Naruto, run!"

Even Naruto was smart enough to realize what would happen if they caught him, and he tried. 

He did.

But they were both still weak, and his new arm was a little iffy with jutsus and Sasuke was in the same boat, didn't even have his sword. 

And more and more Root operatives kept arriving. 

At the very least, he wasn't going to let go of Sasuke, and they weren't going to take either of them alive. 

Although it seemed incredibly stupid to die at this point. Literally in Konoha and just because they'd both lost their tempers and ruined all the effort Iruka had put into keeping them safe.

"Naruto, when I say run."

"I'm not leaving you."

"Dobe, stop being stupid-"

"Both of you brats should shut the fuck up before we make you."

"Just surrender. It'll be less painful."

There was no surrender in the shinobi way.

One of the many things Minato, Fugaku, and Iruka all hated. 

There was value in learning to live to fight another day.

But even they could admit that sometimes, death was the preferable route.

Root would never let them escape, and as they closed in, it was hard to think of anything but what they'd make Naruto and Sasuke do to the people they cared about if they didn't get away.

Birds began to chirp.

The wind picked up.

A painful last stand.

A sudden whoosh of chakra surprised everyone, but it wasn't Iruka that appeared between Naruto and Sasuke and the Root operatives.

It was Asuma.

Team 10 right behind him.

He wasn't trying to conceal his chakra either. A steady, bright blaze alerting the entire village, and, as expected, everyone came running. 

By the time Sakura arrived with the rest of the Rookie 11, there were almost as many random shinobi as there were Root operatives.

The Council arrived with Tsunade. Kakashi with Taka and Gai and a contingent of ANBU.

It was unfortunate that the first thing all of them noticed were the bodies strewn across the training field.

Sasuke hadn't been kind, and Naruto had been fighting to survive, and the relief at seeing them was tinged with horror.

"Move, Sarutobi."

"No?" Homura sputtered in disbelief.

"Someone explain what is going on. Now."

"They tried to kill us, baasan!"

"You attacked Konoha Shinobi." One of the Root operatives claimed, voice loud enough to carry across the entire field.

"You liar!"

"They are missing-nin. Arrest them."

"Stand down."

"You have no authority to give orders, Sarutobi. You were dead two days ago."

"Should I thank you for bringing me back?"

And Koharu had visibly seethed as Tsunade and several others cast suspicious glances at the Council.

"You should watch your mouth, boy. Making false accusations is a crime."

"So is treason."

"What the fuck are they talking about?" Genma, because his language always degraded dramatically when he was confused.

"There are many things we could suddenly decide to discuss in the open, Asuma. Should we decide to do so?"

Asuma fell silent. There was a great deal of secrets that could be aired on both sides, and the sheer number of them meant no one would get out unscathed.

Iruka arrived in a bright, silent flash of smoke and leaves. 

"Iruka-sensei, they tried to kill us! They're Root!"

"Silence, boy. Arrest them!"

"Umino-sensei, please move."

"No."

Naturally. Iruka liked that word more than a toddler, Kakashi mused, not that he knew many toddlers. Mirai had loved it, though, and had said nothing else for almost a year before she'd finally grown out of it.

Koharu had actually stepped forward and, in a rare fit of temper, raised her hand.

Only Kurenai's timely arrival saved Iruka and she'd appeared between them in her battledress.

"Someone tell me what the hell is going on!" Tsunade roared, shaking everyone.

"You are ignoring the laws of the village." Homura snapped back. 

"I am ignoring nothing. We know nothing." Tsunade snarled back. "Kakashi, apprehend your students."

And Kakashi found himself face to face with Asuma.

"Move."

"No."

"Sarutobi-san-"

"Don't do this, Kakashi."

"You are ordered to stand down."

"They're children."

"They're shinobi."

It's the safest way, Kakashi wanted to say but didn't. Let me be the one who takes them in. At least I won't gut them in a dark corner.

But Asuma didn't move.

Had they gotten to that point then? Where they no longer trusted one another.

The Sharingan pulsed.

Asuma's fist clenched chakra gathering.

They'd never faced one another with an actual intent to harm. Even when they'd spared in the Academy, and Kakashi had been more than willing to hurt, Asuma never had been. It had infuriated Kakashi when they were young, but the intervening years had worn that fury down to respect.

"Enough." Kurenai's voice was sharp. "Tell them, Asuma."

The ripple of surprise and fear through Naruto and his friends didn't go unnoticed.

Iruka's chakra went carefully still.

"It's not mine to tell."

"Tell them now." And then she'd glanced at Iruka with something akin to regret. "He will remember that I made you."

***

This is the story of Umino Iruka's birth, as told by Sarutobi Asuma to the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade, and recorded by the Godaime Hokage's personal assistant, Kato Shizune.

Witness list included in the attached addendum.

Sarutobi Mari was the oldest child of Sarutobi Hiruzen and his wife Biwako. She had her mother's beauty and her father's brains and no kindness to be found anywhere. She was born sixteen years before Asuma, delivered by the Nidaime Hokage before her parents were ready for children, and she was doted on. Princess of the Sarutobi clan and the great beauty of her age with dark eyes and sun-kissed skin. A kunoichi of impressive skill and no sympathy. 

When she was seventeen and Asuma only one, she set her mind to finding a husband. Or so she told her parents.

She choose Uchiha Fugaku. Youngest son of Uchiha Isamu, clan head and Commander of the Konoha Military Police. He had three older brothers of impressive skill and reputation and seemed determined to support his family and stay on the sidelines. 

He wasn't even the spare's spare, but he was still the son of a clan head. Mari set her eye on him one day, and then five days later, they were Fugaku and Mari.

Hiruzen and Biwako, despite her dislike of the Uchiha, were pleased. A strong match politically as well as personally, and a love match on top of that, for Fugaku was absolutely devoted to her.

Asuma had not understood it when he was a child. Fugaku, despite his bearing and cold personality in public, was warm and friendly in private. Even giving Asuma training tips when his parents weren't around, and Mari had decided to ignore Fugaku for her hobbies. 

Mari, in contrast, was loud and arrogant and spiteful to those who disagreed with her. She refused to share new jutsus or fighting techniques under the argument that someone would use them against her, and when she made Jōnin, she failed her first team so badly that they refused to return to her. 

Despite it all, her parents were blind to her faults for many years.

It wasn't until she started disappearing for months at a time that Hiruzen finally accepted a private meeting with Fugaku to discuss the Uchiha's concerns. 

Trouble had been brewing in the Uchiha clan by then. An attempted coup by Isamu and his older sons had forced Fugaku to make a choice, and he had fought and killed both to take control of the clan. 

Mari had been pleased.

Fugaku had been distraught. 

His mother had committed seppuku over her son's betrayal, and his surviving older brother died of a broken heart when his wife burned beside their father. Only his oldest brother's widow of only two months, Mikoto, had stepped up.

She was the one who'd realized something was wrong with Mari and whose judgment Fugaku trusted enough to follow. 

To this day, Asuma thought that may have been why Hiruzen could never recover from what happened next. Why he'd always blamed Fugaku, when the other man had been as much the victim as Hiruzen himself.

After three years of disappearing for months, Hiruzen and Fugaku had finally followed Mari when she left and found her at what looked at first glance like a safe house outside Konohagakure.

But it hadn't been a safe house. 

It had been a research facility based on Orochimaru's design, and one, they would find out years later, Orochimaru had built for Danzo to continue their work.

The sent of rotted blood and flesh had been so overwhelming that Hiruzen and Fugaku had almost not been able to enter, and their Inuzuka escort had been forced to remain outside.

Mari had been inside, along with two of Danzo's most trusted operatives. 

She was still recovering from the birth and utterly surprised. 

The infant, only hours old, was screaming as they tried to see if he'd been born with the Sharingan. 

The report that was submitted for the official record detailed the discovery of the children in an abandoned lab, the body of Sarutobi Mari found in another, dead from childbirth.

The truth, admitted to Asuma one night when Hiruzen had not been able to control his drinking, was this:

The Root operatives had attempted to kill them when they realized Hiruzen and Fugaku were there but were killed in the attempt by Hiruzen himself.

Mari, unapologetic, had dismissed her father's demands to repent and instead confirmed what Mikoto had suspected. 

An intimate partnership with Shimura Danzo with the ultimate goal of birthing a Sharingan for him to study and control.

The Uchiha, she had said, were beasts that refused to fall in line. Meant to be bred and controlled. For what other reason existed for the Sharingan?

She'd been devoted to Danzo's cause, to the man himself, as much as she could be to anyone that wasn't herself. The infant she'd given birth to only hours before was the fourth of Fugaku's children she'd born in an attempt to gain a Sharingan. The first, born four years previous, was found in a locked room in the facility. Held and studied from the day he'd first breathed, he'd never seen the world outside those walls. Hadn't even seen the sun until Fugaku had freed him. 

The other two were dead. The second, born with a birth defect and killed shortly after. The third was thrown out by Mari herself when she lacked the Sharingan. They'd found the girl's skeleton in the trash heap outback. 

She'd expected her father to pardon her. To protect her. To turn a blind eye to her work.

Hiruzen had not. 

And he had killed his daughter to save her children.

And Fugaku had stood by and let the love of his life die for the same reason.

Fugaku had loved Mari too much to strike her down himself, but his willpower had been strong enough to stop him from intervening when Hiruzen had done what he could not.

Uchiha only really loved once, Asuma explained. Passionate, obsessive, and emotional, they picked one person, and that was it. 

Mikoto, despite her happy marriage to Fugaku, had never gotten over his brother. Fugaku's mother had died rather than live without her husband. Fugaku bore the memory of Mari in his heart every day of his life. The clan had welcomed in strangers and enemies without question in the past because they had been loved by clan members. 

It had made them ripe for the picking by the likes of Danzo and Mari.

Hiruzen had wanted the children but had acquiesced to their father out of guilt.

The four-year-old, feral and under-developed, was taken in by an older Uchiha couple with experience raising children. They'd named him Obito, given him a kindness that had brought him out of the darkness, and though they died a few years later, everything good he had ever done was in credit to them.

The infant was given to a couple newly arrived in the village from a seaside town in the Land of Iron. They had joined the KMP and were greatly trusted by the Uchiha. 

They were also barren and desperate for a child.

They named him Iruka.

That neither boy had ever turned to Hiruzen and the Sarutobi after losing their parents had twisted the knife, Asuma believed. Something else Hiruzen could not forgive.

The children were safe with their new families by the time Danzo returned and learned what had happened. Ever the snake, there was no evidence of his involvement beyond Mari's deathbed confession, and he denied any knowledge of her actions. 

He had, Asuma said, fists shaking in fury, denied his involvement while wearing Mari's pendant around his neck, in full view of the father that had given it to her.

Danzo blamed the Uchiha, spinning stories of betrayal and revolution and planting seeds fed by grief that Hiruzen had never been completely able to forget. 

To save face, Hiruzen had told a story of his beloved daughter dying in childbirth along with her child. Fugaku, deep in mourning for the children he hadn't even known about, hadn't even had to pretend to play the part.

Asuma had always known it was a lie, but it had taken years for him to find out the truth. He'd never forgiven Hiruzen for it either, convinced that his insistence on hiding the truth had allowed Danzo to continue his schemes without punishment.

He'd been wearing Mari's pendant the day Sasuke killed him. It had made its way back to Konoha via a convoluted route of Sasuke not knowing what he'd taken - Itachi recognizing, stealing, and sending it to Iruka via a chain of oblivious couriers. 

Iruka had buried it in the Sandaime's grave as a favor to Asuma.

She'd always been his favorite.

Hiruzen and Fugaku's relationship had fallen apart not long after. Hiruzen could not forget his daughter's death. At the same time, he could not forgive her actions, and Fugaku would not forgive the hurt visited on his children. They had become a tangled mess of guilt and regret and could barely look at one another amid the secrets they held. 

When Itachi had been born, Danzo and the Council had put forward a petition for the execution of Fugaku's sons, claiming the sheer number born to the head of the Uchiha was damaging to the balance of power throughout the village.

The Uchiha's saving grace and Danzo's downfall came from his own overconfidence. He had requested the execution of Obito and Iruka, failing to remember that they were Hiruzen's grandchildren and incorrectly assuming that the Yondaime's refusal to entertain continued discussions about the balance of power meant that Danzo had swayed him.

The Yondaime and Hiruzen had flattened Root in response. Enraged, they'd stripped Danzo and the Council of much of their power, crippling Root for a time.

When Fugaku had offered Asuma a place on the Hanta, a bridge meant to build trust as he would have been the first Sarutobi to join, Hiruzen had lost his temper again, ended their friendship, and forbade Asuma from joining. Infuriated, Asuma had left the village for several long-term missions that had ended up spanning years, refusing to speak to his father even after he returned.

Hiruzen had blamed Fugaku, and it had only been made worse when word circulated that Mikoto was pregnant again.

Grief makes bastards of us all, Asuma commented, lighting another cigarette. 

Someone listening lost the battle and puked in a garbage can.

He and Hiruzen had never mended their relationship. Asuma's anger had only grown when he'd returned, learned of Obito's death, and seen his father's pseudo-parental relationship with Iruka. 

And Danzo crawling back to power. 

Asuma had rented an apartment in the same building as Iruka, as far from the Sarutobi compound as he could get, and flat-out refused to speak to any of them.

Asuma had hopes when Minato had become Hokage. One of the few aware of the Yondaime's friendship with Fugaku and that the Namikaze had nominated Fugaku for Hokage, only to have Hiruzen block the nomination in favor of his own.

But Minato had died so young and so suddenly. 

Hiruzen had asked for Asuma's support when he'd returned to the position of Hokage, but Asuma had refused to see him.

And then everything had collapsed, and the Uchiha were gone too. Asuma had rushed to warn them that night, only to be stopped by his own father. Only a lucky misstep had saved Hiruzen from Asuma's blade, but it had been enough to give him an advantage, and Asuma had woken the next morning to find the clan massacred, Itachi exiled, and Iruka comatose. 

Despite Hiruzen spending the night by his bedside and apologizing when he woke up, Asuma had disinherited himself from the clan and never acknowledged his father again.

The Sandaime had, eventually, destroyed Danzo's second grab at power, but it had taken many years and many lives and had never been enough to earn Asuma or Iruka's forgiveness. 

He'd even dragged Kakashi into his mess, and Iruka and Itachi had paid for his protection. 

But that was another matter entirely, and one Asuma would only discuss with Kakashi in private. 

***

There were so many things happening at once that Tsunade wasn't surprised to find herself struggling to keep up. 

Her hands were shaking.

Sasuke's chakra was erupting like boiling water.

Iruka was chillingly still.

Kakashi was shocked, horrified.

"Lies," Koharu seethed. 

"The execution request still exists." Asuma returned, "A legal, government document recorded for the official record. It's in the Hokage's Private Records."

That stupid filing cabinet no one had told Tsunade about. 

What else was in there?

"It's filed alongside the execution order for the Uchiha Clan."

The man who taught her, who practically raised her, was not the kind of man who would make choices like these.

Hiruzen was too kind to do this.

***

One of the many reasons Kurenai loved Asuma was because when he was in, he was all in.

She just wished sometimes that he'd give her a heads-up beforehand.

***

"The Hokage knew? Does that mean it wasn't Itachi?" One of the newly promoted Chūnin, and she had a gaggle of friends with her. 

Word would reach every edge of the village by nightfall.

The whispers started.

"If he knew, why didn't he stop it?"

"Does that mean he wanted them dead?"

"If they killed an entire clan, what's to stop them from killing one of us?"

These were the kind of whispers that leveled cities and turned empires to ash.

***

Sasuke could hear everything. Could see everyone, even the most experienced and skilled shinobi, Kakashi, struck still in shock. 

Rumor was one thing.

A respected member of the village, with close enough access to know, announcing it outright was another.

He knew it was happening.

Could feel Naruto next to him, panic and rage and sadness exploding through his chakra.

Could feel Sakura and the others right behind them, the same heady mix.

So Naruto hadn't been lying when he'd said he'd kept Itachi's secrets.

He knows it's all happening. 

Knows he's thinking about it all, absorbing everything and storing it away for later.

But the only thing Sasuke feels at the moment is rage.

At Iruka.

His brother.

His older brother.

Itachi's older brother.

Who's been his brother this whole time.

His entire life. 

Who stood in front of him and taught him. Who lectured him on proper eating and sleeping when he was the only soul left in the family compound.

Who comforted the grandson of the man who ordered the murder of their entire family.

Who's been hiding Sasuke and Naruto from everyone and slowly, so slowly, hinting at things Sasuke can't even comprehend.

Maybe he was going to tell Sasuke.

Did Itachi know?

Maybe he was going to be honest.

Maybe there's a good reason he never said anything.

Did Naruto know? Because Iruka doesn't like to lie, and he's always claimed that Naruto is his family. His brother by choice. Practically his son.

Instead of Sasuke, who was alive and there too and breathing and desperate for someone so he wouldn't be alone.

Who else knew and never told Sasuke that he had another brother? Two more brothers.

That he wasn't alone.

The sound of birds filled the air, Chidori effortlessly coming to his hand as Iruka looked so, so sad.

Why does he look so sad?

Naruto's fingers slipped as he moved, desperately grabbing for him, but there was just rage. Iruka was the only one he could see, and Iruka's chakra was terrifyingly still.

He looks sad but not surprised as Sasuke lunges for him.

"You knew the whole time."

"Sasuke, wait-"

He's faster than Sasuke expected, realized. Slips away from Chidori like a flame dancing in the wind.

He won't let Sasuke land a blow, but he won't strike back either, and it just makes him angrier.

"Why didn't you say something? You left me alone!"

"I couldn't, Sasuke. I can explain."

"Excuses!"

Everyone always has excuses, and it's not enough.

Sasuke was alone for so long. 

Why did he get left behind?

Why was he the one no one wanted?

Excuses. 

Excuses. 

Excuses.

***

And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.

Roald Dahl

***

Iruka doesn't know how to make it better. 

He wants to. Wants to take away the pain and the sadness, but he's lived too long in his barely thirty years, knows it just isn't possible sometimes.

They knew that when they chose this course. 

Knew they'd have to answer for it someday. 

There are a lot of things Iruka will have to answer for before he dies, and Sasuke being left alone is one of the larger ones.

Iruka couldn't explain why then. He might still not be able to. Putting words to that night, to that horrible, horrible night, is still difficult all these years later. He and Itachi can barely discuss it between themselves, and they've always been able to talk about anything.

Speaking it out loud gives it a power they've both spent a decade denying. To do so now almost feels like giving up. Admitting that someone else had such power over them that it resulted in them willfully harming their baby brother.

Iruka is not a good man. 

Itachi and Sasuke were supposed to be, but Itachi is covered in blood now, and Sasuke wears armor made of hurt and rage so strong it's practically unbreakable.

He could let Sasuke land a blow, the strength of his chidori would probably kill Iruka, even with Tsunade only feet away.

She'd have to willingly heal him for one.

Two, Sasuke is strong. His chidori has surpassed Kakashi's, whether either of them realizes it or not. A clean hit and Iruka would be dead before he hit the ground.

This is an assassin's attack. Use it when you want to kill.

It's a beautiful attack, really. Much more elegant and pinpointed than the Rasengan. Which figured, when you considered the men who created them.

And the two boys who claimed them now.

There's no doubt in Iruka's mind that Sasuke is well within his rights to kill him, just as there's no doubt that the boy would feel horrible later once the anger had faded just enough for him to listen.

Iruka doesn't want to be another regret Sasuke dwells on in his deathbed.

And the Council is here, Root is watching, along with a crowd of people whose allegiance is unknown at best, up for grabs at the worst.

Kakashi won't be surprised into stillness for long. He's far too good for that.

Chakra-based attacks have one glaring weakness, Iruka remembers as he twists to the side, feels the heat of lightning across his cheek. 

Itachi arrives, swift and silent, slipping between them and knocking them both back several feet.

"Enough, Sasuke."

"Get out of my way."

Because the attack requires the gathering of a significant amount of chakra in one central location, i.e. the hand, until the attack is released, the gathered chakra can be nullified by an equal but opposing force.

Iruka doesn't teach this at the Academy. Doesn't think any shinobi really does, outside of the Hanta, because of the control and concentration it takes. 

The forces have to match exactly, or you risk killing yourself along with your opponent.

It was Kikyo's specialty. 

Hap-ki-do.

The Art of Coordinated Power.

Sasuke's Chidori, the affinity for lightning in his chakra that's second only to its affinity for fire, is easily balanced by Iruka's own fire affinity. Where Sasuke's has split and left his fire affinity weaker, Iruka's remains strong in solidity, and it gathers in his hand as Sasuke dodges Itachi's kick and reaches for Iruka.

Fire for fire.

When his hand slides under Sasuke's, their chakra connects and dissipates instantly, leaving a cavernous emptiness behind.

The surprise is enough to shake Sasuke out of his rage.

***

I thought about how there are two types of secrets: the kind you want to keep in, and the kind you don't dare to let out.

Ally Carter

***

Maito Gai knows that most of his fellow shinobi think he's a little slow on the uptake. They pay too much attention to what they can see and hear and not what lies underneath the underneath.

Although, he does think Shinobi these days are a little too obsessed with the idea of the underneath the underneath. Personally, he doesn't think they remember what that lesson was originally about. Now, it's just about secrets and lies, and it's become so complicated that no one knows where the origin point is anymore.

How do you know what is the truth? It depends so heavily on who you ask. On the subject. Neji's truth had been so different than Lee's.

But that's a discussion for another day.

Right now, Gai is worried about Kakashi and Asuma. Two of his closest friends, Kakashi might as well be his brother as far as he's concerned, and he's always held Asuma in high, high esteem. 

Kurenai is in the middle of this, too, now. So much for their plan to quietly gather information before going to the Hokage.

His students have always spoken highly of Iruka, and Gai likes him just for the fact that he smiles so often. Chakra might not be Gai's specialty, but he knows whatever Iruka just did is impressive.

If Kakashi had been one of his own hunting dogs, he would have sat up and pointed.

Neji, flanking Hiashi, was openly staring, Byakugan active, but he looked confused, so whatever it was, the Byakugan couldn't see it.

And Itachi is here.

Gai had nightmares about him for months after their run-in prior to the war. An honorable opponent who had fought more fairly than they'd perhaps been entitled to. Gai had enjoyed fighting him, had mourned the child who'd carried so much when he'd died, and mourned for Sasuke as well, having to strike down his own brother because of some stupid Kekkei Genkai.

Gai had never been more pleased that he didn't come from a clan line as he was when he'd started learning about the Uchiha.

Except maybe for now. If Itachi is alive, then that is one less burden for his little brother, and Gai has spent long enough trying to help an unwilling Kakashi with his burdens that he can appreciate when anyone else's are lessened. 

He should be more concerned about the Godaime, but Gai is just one man, and the Hokage can take care of herself. His students are standing across from one of the most dangerous shinobi Konohagakure ever produced, and even Naruto and Sasuke together are not yet experienced enough to take on Kakashi and win.

A man Gai considers family.

And his students, who are the closest thing to children that he will ever have.

And a man who's caught Kakashi's attention the way no other has before.

Kakashi will regret harming them. Will never recover if he has to kill any one of them.

Gai knows most of the village thinks he'll power through like he always has before. Powerful, untouchable Kakashi of the Sharingan.

But Gai knows him better than that.

If Kakashi has to kill Naruto or Sasuke or Iruka or Asuma or any of Gai's kids, he will never recover.

Gai will just watch him slowly wither away until he's nothing but an empty husk.

If he doesn't take his father's way out.

Gai will not allow that to happen.

Even if that makes him Kakashi's enemy on the battlefield.

Kakashi doesn't outwardly react when Gai's hand lands on his shoulder, and deep down, Gai is so pleased that his rival trusts him enough not to kill him for attempting to touch him right now.

"Maito-san." 

Ah, Kakashi only called him that when he was truly angry. "Eternal rival!"

"Apprehend Jōnin Sarutobi."

"I cannot."

Heh, it had been a long time since Gai had actually managed to surprise Kakashi.

"That's an order, Jōnin Maito."

"Indeed it is, Dear Rival." He even let Kakashi and everyone watching relax for half a second, "However, it is one I cannot in good conscience follow."

Asuma wilted in relief, and even Kurenai and Iruka relaxed. 

Itachi just smiled, "Welcome, Maito-san."

Even when they'd all been in ANBU together, back in the day for that brief time, Gai had never seen Uchiha Itachi surprised, and when Gai winked and gave him a thumbs up, Itachi returned it flawlessly with even more sparkle, which probably did more to disarm the tension in the training area than anything else could have.

Sasuke made a pained noise, and Naruto's mouth was opening and closing without a sound.

"Oh, for god's sake," Iruka muttered.

"Are we in the twilight zone?" Kiba muttered.

"I'm scarred for life," Ino added.

"Enough!" Koharu shrieked. "Insubordination is grounds for arrest."

And Root closed in. 

Gai's hand tightened on Kakashi's shoulder as he felt his body tense. Gai still wasn't at a hundred percent after the war, but he had enough left to distract Kakashi for a short time. 

Iruka shoved Sasuke, still slow with surprise, and Naruto behind him. The others behind Itachi and Asuma.

Kurenai in front of them all, and Gai as ready to fight Kakashi as he was to protect him and hoping someday Kakashi would stop being mad enough to listen to why.

He's both relieved and concerned that it doesn't get that far.

A crushing chakra settled over the training area, oppressive and unyielding and nothing like he'd ever felt before. The smell of blood and smoke, the battlefield, and the stench of the dying.

The Kyuubi's chakra is safely locked away inside Naruto.

This was something different.

Something just as ancient and inhuman.

It's so distracting that he doesn't notice the shinobi surrounding the training area at first. Not until his battle instincts flare to life and start screaming that he's surrounded.

Kakashi's clearly doing the same as his rival turns away from Asuma to assess the threat.

He's not the only one. A good chunk of ANBU and the Jōnin turn, finding an enemy behind them more dangerous than the one in front.

It's the Inuzuka Clan. All their active shinobi of all ages and ranks and a few elders back in battle dress. Enough to ring the training area, all forty-something of them, surrounding everyone inside.

Tsume, flanked by Hana and Gaku, and interestingly enough, looking like she just rolled out of bed. Dressed in a blood-red yukata loose at the chest and revealing the vicious raised scar that ran across her breasts and chest.

"Well, well, well. What's happening here?"

Uchiha Shisui was standing next to Hana, blindfold over his eyes, tanto on his hip.

"Is that?"

"Oh my god!"

"Uchiha Shisui!"

"How-"

Fugaku had been feared in the village. Obito mourned and then hated. Itachi had left under a cloud of confusion and pain. Sasuke, angry and vengeful.

Shisui had been the only Uchiha in recent years to leave the village with fond memories.

He'd been beloved by his comrades in ANBU. Respected by his fellow shinobi. There were even some who credited the downfall of the Uchiha to the loss of him.

***

Those few were closer to the truth than they'd ever realized.

But that will be explained later.

***

Now he's standing beside Inuzuka Hana, barely looking older than when he died. 

Tsume's glee is palpable, though she pointedly ignores acknowledging him. "Did somebody start a fight and not invite us? How mean!"

Gai hasn't had much reason to interact with the Inuzuka Clan head. They've crossed paths on a few missions, enough for him to know that she knows what she's doing but that she's a bit too unnecessarily bloody for his tastes.

Kurenai speaks highly of her, her love for her children and her clan, and balancing being a kunoichi with everything else in a world that still has a tendency to turn to men first.

But even Kurenai has admitted, on the nights where she's had a bit more to drink than usual, that there's something unsettling about the woman. 

That she never, ever wanted to face Tsume across a battlefield.

Her loud personality and short temper distract from the violence that simmers just under the surface. Not the impotent violence of a normal short temper, there are plenty of shinobi that are quick to yell and fight. Tsume's violence was much deeper. Dark and lurking and, at times, seeming to try and fight its way out from under her skin.

There's no doubt in Gai's mind that should it get out, there would be many dead before they managed to put it back in.

"ANBU, Jōnin, stay. Everyone else leave."

Tsunade must have noticed it too and decided it was worth the risk to protect those weaker and less experienced in the face of a threat from Root and a Clan. Between ANBU and the remaining Jōnin, she only had twenty or so shinobi on the field, granted two of those were Tsunade herself and Kakashi, but still.

There are more nearby, too, just waiting for her order.

At least a dozen of the ANBU present were Root, and they were gathering around the Council like they were preparing to ward off an attack.

Which would be pretty fucking bold, given that the Hokage, the Jōnin Commander, and the ANBU Commander were all present. 

Hard to deny something with witnesses like that.

But Tsume just laughs, strolls forward like she's had a few cups of sake before she showed up, and couldn't care less that she's openly threatening the Hokage and the Council of Elders.

***

When I like people immensely I never tell their names to anyone. It is like surrendering a part of them. I have grown to love secrecy.

Oscar Wilde

***

Tsunade grew up in a world still struggling to see the value of women, and she doesn't come from a clan that was known for equal rights. 

They got there in the end, but it took her grandfather dragging them, kicking and screaming, and she is grateful for that, but she's also still kind of angry that they needed that push to get there at all.

She's always, even when it was obvious that she was stronger, better, faster, had that little voice in her head reminding her that she had to prove herself. That she had to be better.

Dan had always said she was worrying for nothing. That everyone recognized exactly how good she was, but Dan didn't have to worry about the same things she did.

He tried, bless his heart, he tried, but she doubts any man will ever really understand.

Just like most women will never understand the pressure of her family legacy. Living up to her grandfather and his brother and the pressure that killed Nawaki. 

Tsunade's not even sure how she made it this far, but she is the Godaime Hokage now. 

And she's finding it's not all it's cracked up to be.

She should have trusted her gut and refused instead of letting Naruto inspire her.

That brat, he's at the center of all this new trouble, and try as she might, she can't really blame him.

Naruto does what he thinks is right; he doesn't just blindly follow orders or assume that those who came before him knew what the hell they were doing and did the right things.

The best of intentions and all that.

The Hiruzen Tsunade loved and followed would never have made the kind of choices his own son is accusing him of.

But Tsunade was gone from the village for a long, long time.

And Hiruzen had lived a long, long life.

Perhaps too long.

Heroes that live too long don't tend to end well, she thinks. Maybe that's why Shinobi died young.

She's ancient by their standard, Kakashi's an old man, Iruka's almost there, and neither of those boys has lived half as long as civilians tend to. They're decades short of that mark.

And Tsunade's years are starting to wear on her. She won't even deny that she's desperate to hand off the hat and spend her last years drunk in a gambling hall, trying to forget everything she's had to do.

Everything this village has taken from her.

She thought she might be able to leave the vestiges of Root to Kakashi. He had a personal reason to want them gone, that dead mark on his tongue from a man who just gets worse and worse every time someone mentions his name.

What price had Iruka and Itachi paid?

It will bother Kakashi, she knows. He won't be able to let it go.

Naruto and Sasuke and Iruka weren't the only orphans created by the village.

And now there's this woman, this upstart, picking yet another fight.

Tsunade's never really paid attention to the Inuzuka. Just another clan that's part of the village she's sworn to protect.

And, to their credit, less of a headache than others, like the Uchiha and the Hyuga. The Shimura and the Sarutobi.

Maybe Asuma will finally step up and get his damn clan in line.

She never thought she'd be on the precipice of a battle inside the village, with Root ten feet away, Sasuke and Itachi twenty, and neither of them the biggest threat.

Because Tsume is absolutely the most dangerous person present.

Tsunade has felt chakra like this before. Hanzo's was similar in that inhuman way. Ancient like the Kyuubi's. Blood filled like that yokai she and Jiraya and Orochimaru faced all those years ago that they agreed never to speak of again.

They'd never even dared mention it to Hiruzen, who'd shared his clan's belief that the Yokai were long dead.

Too afraid of the disbelief and doubt that would come as a result.

That fear was probably something she should have stopped and thought about before. Maybe she would have ended up with some kind of forewarning about Tsume then.

Was she a yokai? Or infected by one? For how long? Was the entire clan compromised? Because they certainly seemed willing to follow her.

"This is treason, Tsume." Homura, taunting.

Tsume's lip curled, revealing a sharper-than-normal canine. "You'd know."

Maybe they'll kill each other, and Tsunade won't have to deal with either of them.

A fool's hope.

She's preparing to break her seal and smack some sense into all of them when that stupid Root operative jumps.

Attacks Tsume like he thinks he might actually win.

Later, she'll wonder if he did it of his own free will or someone else's. 

Later.

Now, all that matters is that Tsume rips his head off with little effort. Smiling while she does it, and something pulses through that oppressive chakra as her pupils dilate, and she breathes in deep.

Tsunade has met Shinobi who love the smell of fresh blood before.

She wouldn't turn her back on a single one of them.

His body falls, but Tsume tosses his head up and down like a ball, and the unease in the shinobi occupying the training area grows.

Even for shinobi, casual displays of violence are generally taboo. They know better than to celebrate the violence they peddle.

She does finally drop his head, only to step on it and crush it to pieces when she steps forward.

She's walking to Tsunade, the Godaime realizes.

"Go back to the compound."

She hopes Tsume's referring to her clansmen, but she's not. 

Iruka and Itachi share a brief look, grab Naruto and Sasuke, and disappear in puffs of smoke and leaves. 

Kiba looks like he might argue with his mother, but a look from Hana silences him, and the rest of the Rookie 11 follow suit. 

Their chakra flares once they're safely behind the walls of the Inuzuka.

Tsume only has to glance at Shisui before he flickers away.

"How obedient," Homura mocked and Tsume's smile has lots of teeth.

"My godsons know when to listen."

Which is interesting. Tsunade'd had no idea the Inuzuka and Uchiha were close enough for Tsume to be the godmother of Fugaku's children.

What did she know then? And how long had she known it?

Why was she saying it now?

Tsunade couldn't tell Iruka a single damn thing without him finding something to argue about, but Tsume told him to get lost, and he went?

That was annoying.

"Get lost." 

"How dare you," Koharu, "You have no right to give orders, Tsume."

"Get lost, or I'll rip you all limb from limb." And that oppressive chakra settled heavier and heavier until it was an effort not to stoop.

A couple of the Root operatives moved towards the bodies of the fallen, only to come face to face with Taka.

"No."

"They're comrades."

"We're all comrades, aren't we?"

"You have crossed a line, Tsume." Koharu's last warning.

"I'm so scared," Tsume, mocking as Root teleported away, followed by the Koharu and Homura.

Leaving Tsunade and her shinobi to face the wolf wrapped in sheepskin.

The marks on Tsume's cheeks were vivid as she approached. Tsunade's chakra gathered, sitting just behind the seal, ready to break free in a single breath.

But suddenly, Kakashi was there, between Tsunade and Tsume.

Loyal until the end.

Damn it.

Tsunade's not the only one who moves to intervene, Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai are closest, and while they're too slow to stop Tsume from getting a hand around Kakashi's throat.

It is reassuring to see that while they're willing to stand opposite in defiance of orders, they're just as quick to leap to protect Kakashi.

They are enough to hold her back somewhat, and Tsunade feels the sudden roar of Kakashi's chakra as the Sharingan activates.

Tsume's not squeezing hard enough to actually choke him, but he still can't break her grip. Asuma, Kurenai, and Gai have trapped her other arm and legs, but Tsume doesn't seem all that concerned.

Breaking free from four of Konoha's best and most experienced should inspire more, but it just makes Tsume laugh. "Little pup, you think you're going to use that pretty eye against me?"

The chakra gathering around Kakashi's Sharingan suddenly dissipated, leaving a blank void and a stunned Copy-Nin behind.

Tsume hauled him closer, forcing him to bend awkwardly over Asuma's arm as the bearded Jōnin tried to protect Kakashi's throat.

"It won't work." And she leaned in and kissed the scar bisecting his right eye, "The Sharingan won't strike me."

And then she was gone, leaving four grown Shinobi falling over one another like toddlers in surprise, and she was right in front of Tsunade.

Tsunade reached for her chakra, met Tsume's eyes without fear, and….

Stopped.

Tsume, for all the blood she'd just shed, stood patiently in front of Tsunade. One hand tucked into her yukata, the other forearm resting on the sworn tucked at her waist. There was still violence to her; she smelled like blood, but her eyes, half-lidded and dark, rested on Tsunade.

One predator to another.

One leader to another.

One soldier to another. 

One woman to another.

She may have been willing to pick a fight with Root, but she wasn't here to fight Tsunade.

Not yet, at least.

Tsunade tucked her chakra away, affected as relaxed a visage as she could. It shouldn't be a problem to out bore a mere clan leader, but all it did was make Tsume cock her head like a dog trying to figure out what his master was saying.

Tsunade doubted Tsume had a master.

"Princess."

"Jōnin Inuzuka."

"Your teacher's cowardice nearly destroyed this village." She paused to see if Tsunade was going to react and smiled when she didn't, "He used up all your chances."

"Are you threatening me, Jōnin Inuzuka?"

"Sure, call it that, princess. I'll tell you the same thing I told Hiruzen the day he signed the execution order for the Uchiha. The Hokage, who cares more for power and peace than the people in the village, won't live long. Or be remembered well."

Almost as one, the Inuzuka flickered away, leaving Tsume standing alone among Tsunade's soldiers. 

And then she'd reached out and dragged two bloody fingers down Tsunade's cheek.

"Be careful you don't end up following your teacher's footsteps instead of your grandfather's. One of them tended to kill his own soldiers more than his enemies."

Tsume licked the blood off her fingers. "You know where to find me."

Tsunade watched her step away and turn her back. "And you'll be there?"

"Until the day I burn it all down, princess. Until I burn it all down."

***

All families have their secrets; most people would never know them, but they know there are spaces and gaps where the answers should be, where someone should have sat, where someone used to be. A name that is never uttered, or uttered just once and never again. We all have our secrets.

Cecelia Ahern

***

~tbc~