Context: The Sandaime's reasoning on his decisions and actions in chapter 72 and 73, specifically, how he handles Naomi and Kichiro in second person.

Author's note: This is my very first attempt to write anything of substance in second person. Personally, I don't like to read anything in second person because it forces me, the reader, to take on traits I don't have and sometimes, completely oppose. I tried to avoid doing the thing I hate, but the problem with second person is that there seems to be no choice. I might try again in the future, but for now, this will remain the extent of my experience in writing second person.

Two things happen at once. The first, you find out that your enemy turned what you thought was a minor weapon into an attack that was comparable to what your strongest weapon could accomplish. The only problem is that you would never order Kichiro to launch an attack on that scale. Doing so would escalate the war far more than anyone can afford. The Tsuchikage crossed a line with that attack. Before, you had no intention of letting Kichiro leave the village for the rest of the war, no matter what he wanted. You planned to delay his orders as soon as you managed to come up with a convincing reason to revoke them, but now that Iwa launched an attack of that scale, you have no choice but to place Kichiro on the lines to prevent them from trying again. You lost almost a quarter of your army overnight and your mind goes into overdrive as you process the implications.

You've barely dismissed the terrified Chuunin who informed you of the attack when one of your guards appears in front of your desk and tells you about an information breach they've almost finished neutralizing. Your chest seizes in panic. For the first time in this war, you're utterly convinced you will lose. Information breaches can never be truly neutralized because any ninja could memorize profiles in minutes and there is no limit to how far they can spread the information, as well as no way to know who it was shared with. The only thing keeping Konoha from destruction was her advantage in information—her ability to predict attacks. You fear the destruction of your Iwa front and the newly-discovered leak in your information department spell the beginning and the end for Konoha.

You guard says that the situation is delicate, and you barely manage to hold back a derisive snort at the obvious statement. You're lucky you did because when he asks you to interfere, you know something is much more serious than it first appears—if it could get more serious than your village's imminent destruction. Even so, you consent to follow your ANBU down to the interrogation rooms.

The moment you lay eyes on the individual in the interrogation chair, you freeze. One of your other guards run into your back and you're so locked in shock and horror that you topple forward. A half century of well-honed instinct and reflexes are the only thing that stops you from breaking your nose on the floor. Several of those present accidentally release barks of shrill, hysterical laughter, but it is silenced before the guilty could be identified. You gather yourself up off the floor and walk towards the little girl chained to the chair. She is either unconscious or too terrified to look up. When you grab her jaw and lift her head towards you, you realize she's unconscious.

"Inari, Amaterasu, and Hachiman spare our lives from the destruction that is about to rain down on our heads," you murmur as you gently allow the girl's head to fall back to her chest.

"F***," someone says behind you.

"Yes, we are well and truly f***ed," you confirm. It was a testament to the gravity of the situation that no one even blinked at your uncharacteristically crass language. You order them to never speak a word about the girl to anyone, not even among themselves and to pretend that it never happened.

Unfortunately, it is now your responsibility to inform the girl's clan head of her actions. You desperately pray again that the unofficial truce between you and Kichiro will hold. Even so, you know that you're likely to become a smudge on the wall by the end of the day. The last time you threatened Kichiro's family, he tried to release the Kyuubi on the village. You still wake up in cold sweat from that nightmare.

This time, it is far worse—this time, Kichiro might just destroy you himself for raising a hand against his family. The treaty between the Uzumaki and Konoha had first been broken a long time ago when you had the Shitagau placed on Kichiro. You had frequently broken it in your dealings with the boy, and occasionally with his sister (you still thank whatever kami is looking out for you that the boy knew nothing of your disagreements with his sibling).

You know your tension with Kichiro is as much his fault as it is yours but your sour dealings with his sister are almost entirely your fault.

In the back of your head, you know that the destruction of the Iwa front and the girl's theft of information cannot be connected because the second operation is far beyond any of your enemies' capabilities. Several possible ways the girl could have breached the security popped into your head and all of them relied on close contact with high-level ninja in the village, which she possessed. You're lucky she was acting entirely alone and had no desire to sell the information.

Only then do you realize three things. First, had you known sooner, you could have stopped the protocol for an information breach from being carried out, but it's too late. The damage to the little girl has already been done. There is no way the girl is still loyal to you. You're lucky if she's still loyal to her clan and hasn't gone completely around the bend. The second thing you realize is that the little girl is the beloved baby sister of the teenager who literally holds your victory and defeat in his hands. The third thing is that you're losing a war. Your underlings are going to get very, very antsy if you show any weakness. They don't understand the delicate position you're in with the kid and they sure as hell won't hesitate to strong-arm the kid into destroying your enemies. To put it crassly, you're completely f***ed. (well, you have one clearshot out of this, but the only person who might be able to mediate between you and the kid to make sure everything turns out okay is currently somewhere in enemy territory with his student, out of reach, taking a mission that you were supposed to take, but decided to hand off because while the kid was on his deathbed, you couldn't bear to tear yourself away on the off chance that the kid might wake up and you'll get the chance to apologize for the way you've treated him in the past.)

It's too late to hide the girl and cover it all up. You know at least one of your underlings knows about her and several others will know within a few hours and there's nothing you can do about it. The girl has to be punished to keep your position in the village. There is no apology you can give, no threat you can issue, no reparation you can make to ensure that the girl keeps her head down, doesn't try again in revenge, and doesn't speak a word about what happened. No matter what, you can't trust her and you don't have the manpower to prevent her from trying again. You can't imprison her. She's the little sister of your impulsive, teenage Jinchuuriki and you know he'll come looking as soon as he finds out. If you're lucky, he won't find out until after the war is over, but you know your luck won't hold out that long. It's not just the kid you have to worry about. It's his entire clan. You don't know exactly how sophisticated their communication is, so you can't leave Kichiro on the lines and attempt to cut communication with him when his clan inevitably finds out what happened. His actual sister is far more dangerous because she has information and she knows how to use it to its fullest capacity. She's also much smarter than the kid, more impulsive, and you haven't had a chance to settle the grudge she has against you for letting her big brother almost die on your watch.

Your preferred course of action would be to kill her and be done with it, but the girl is five years old. As much as you hate it, you agree with what Kichiro has been advocating for taking the young out of the war, to stop executing people for all but the direst offences, to stop trying to always one-up everyone else (even though he always had to win any confrontation against you and wouldn't stop until he did). Now, the effects are starting to worm their way into your conscience. Killing the girl would be killing an innocent. You know she didn't mean to pose such a threat to the village; she had no way of knowing about the circumstances.

You want to just confess everything to Kichiro (unburdening your conscience was such a relief of a weight you didn't know you carried and never want to carry again). You would rather be straight with him now before you personally incur any responsibility for the situation. The kid has matured a lot and you don't think he will blame you for something genuinely outside your control. You'd rather risk him knowing now then incurring responsibility later and knowing that he will certainly hold you accountable. Perhaps he'll be in a good mood and be able to provide a solution that you haven't considered. The more you think about the idea, the more you realize that it's not a particularly wise decision. The kid likes to keep his family close and would throw himself in front of a death blow to protect him. (you squash the tiny, guilty voice that reminds you he's already took a blade to the heart for you and he hasn't done the same for his family. Granted, it could be argued that he submitted himself to becoming a Jinchuuriki and taking a seal that made him a slave in order to save his sister from what might have become a fate worse than death, but you squash that thought too. You can't afford to give your conscience any more power over your decisions.)

The more you think about it, the more you realize that it might work best to let the kid have what he would inevitably demand. The girl needed to be punished for you to keep your political position solid, but you don't have the resources to contain her or enforce her punishment—not without getting the girl's family involved. Doing that would cause political ramifications you can't afford to deal with because then everyone will know what the girl did, and you would have to protect her from misguided fools, which you don't have the resources to do either. If the kid takes responsibility for her, he would have to take her out of the village. In that case, he would be with her at nearly all times. He could not only protect her and carry out an appropriate punishment for her actions, but she would limit him to make sure that he wouldn't completely annihilate Iwa for their crimes, starting a fight Konoha won't be able to finish with the other nations. He wouldn't dare risk her becoming collateral damage. There was always the risk that he found a way to keep her safe if such an event were to occur, but it is the best shot you have. If possible, the girl might be an asset. A disturbing chunk of the infiltration force died during the attempt to locate the Biju the kid defeated a few months ago (had it really been only a few months since Kichiro died for you?) and the kid will almost certainly help in the attempts to gain information. Unfortunately, the kid would be too unreliable in a role such as that. Although it had been years since the kid was a prisoner there, there was no way to predict the effects being so close would have. The worst possible event was that he would remember—no, you can't afford to even let that information cross your mind. If the kid got even a whiff of that information, he would be out of control. It was too late to reassign him.

The kid was undoubtedly needed in the war and it would be foolish to put him anywhere but alongside his sister. She was the only person who could control him and she knew the risks. She was also one of the very few who might be capable of subduing him without an overabundance of collateral damage, mainly because the kid would never fight her.

The girl is smart enough not to be a distraction. The kid shouldn't be fighting anyway, although you know that it's only a matter of time before he picks up those thrice-damned sticks of his and joins the fighting. He could never stand by while others were hurt on his behalf without throwing up a stint about it. During the last war, he was quite the brat about it. During the last war, he was small and weak enough that he could be bodily picked up and carried away. Luckily, he is a strong enough ninja now that you shouldn't have to worry about his wellbeing; perhaps the girl's presence will stop him from taking some of his risks. The longer you think about it the smaller the drawbacks become.

Satisfied with your decided course of action, you know that it is time to notify all relevant parties of the massacre. They arrive alone and in pairs over the course of ten minutes. Most of them chat easily with their peers. They think it is just time to get their formal orders for the upcoming deployment. The kid is the last to walk in. The moment he steps into the room, he's on guard. Your stomach twists and you know that he knows something is very wrong. (the tiny voice hysterically hopes the kid will be too distracted by the news of the massacre, but you know the hope is in vain.)

The kid stays irreverently slouched against the wall furthest from you. Despite the peace you managed to build between you, the kid still doesn't trust you. (the tiny voice insists that you deserve the kid's mistrust. You never gave him any reason to trust you from the beginning. It's too late to change anything now, so you just have to deal with what you have.)

You deliver the news of the massacre without any fanfare or an attempt to ease the strength of the blow. The kid shrinks in on himself until he realizes that his sister and her teammate survived. He does his best to keep his expression neutral after that, but you know he's not listening anymore. You have no idea what is going through his head and you're sure you don't want to know. You leave his answer for last. When you get his attention, his response is remarkably level-headed. You know he's about to walk out and you biggest fear is that he'll take off to fight. While you still have control, you issue your orders then dismiss the rest of the room to handle the shock in their own way. When the others leave, whatever was holding the kid upright started to buckle. He slumps down in one of the chairs and you can't help but wince at his atrocious posture. Even so, for the first time, the kid is willingly showing a little bit of vulnerability to you. (the tiny voice angrily hisses that the kid should never have feared you in the first place.) Regret threatens to suffocate you from the inside because you know you're about to completely destroy what little progress you've managed to make.

You take a deep breath. Since you know the kid is going to storm out the first chance he gets, you make sure to get what will probably be your last update on his condition and what he's been up to. He gives his answers easily, although he is somewhat close-lipped about it. He knows something is wrong, but he's hoping that it has nothing to do with him. You find yourself desperately wishing you had any other news to give him. (the tiny, traitorous voice is begging you to just hide the situation from the kid. You want nothing more than to keep the hesitant peace you've established with him. When he offered the truce and proved himself willing to make an attempt to be something other than enemies, you felt a decade younger. Even as you open your mouth and tell him what happened, watching him stiffen in the chair, his grip splintering the wood, you feel that horrible weight return in triplicate.)

He doesn't say a word and only spares a glance for the girl. He has you caught in his gaze and you can't look away from his bright green eyes.

It takes a long time for him to process the information. You finish as quietly as you can, fearful of shattering the kid's self-control. He's angry—no, he's utterly livid, but you can't be sure what or who he is angry with. You can't help but hope his anger is not directed at you. Even though you didn't have any responsibility for the girl's situation and you stopped it as soon as you knew, you know the kid is just as likely to explode at you. You watch him carefully as he directs his gaze to the floor. You have mistaken the action for submission far too many times. This time, you know he is on the brink of losing control and say nothing. The longer you have to wait and watch, the harder your heart is beating against your ribcage. Every beat is like someone taking a sledgehammer to the inside of your chest ringing a death knell as if it knows how close it is to ending.

You're about to order your guards to incapacitate him before he genuinely loses control.

"Understood," is all he says before he stands up, roughly gathers the girl in his arms, and disappears.

Your guards are just as surprised at the boy's sudden acquiescence and they swoop into the place where the boy was, checking it for traps. There's nothing there.

There is no choice but to set the problem aside. There are more pressing matters to deal with because deep inside, you know you can't do anything further to help the situation with the kid. After issuing standing orders to leave him alone, you focus on repairing the damage from the massacre several days before.

Ch 73

What surprises you is two days later, the kid appears outside your office. From what you can tell, he's not upset. Instead, he's hyper-focused on something. You have no choice but to call him in. He's so focused on whatever is going on in his head that even though he's looking right at you, he's not seeing you. It's an unnerving experience, but it's not the first time the kid has done so.

He wants to change the assignments. Even before he tries to explain why, you have to grudgingly admit that he's right. The girl will only end up dead if she's a part of the general command. You've already decided to make the changes before he suggested them. Of course, you can't just tell him okay. Doing so would make him think he has far more control over you than you're willing to allow. Since you can't refuse him, you ask for the reasoning behind his request. He doesn't come up with anything you haven't already thought of.

The next thing you know, the kid looks ready to tear your head off. The abrupt change in demeanor catches you by surprise and you resign yourself to the same circular arguments he would no doubt provoke.

Pride and frustration rise up before you can stop them and suddenly you find yourself refusing his request just to spite him. Without warning, the kid goes perfectly still and what you just did comes crashing over you and for the very first time, you let your head fall in front of him. It takes longer that you're proud of to force the compromise out of your throat.

You expect him to leave as soon as you give him what he wants, but he stays. You can't help but stare at him. Luckily, you managed to keep you mouth closed—not that the kid even looked at you for almost the entire exchange. For a moment, you can't help but wonder why. Although it unnerved and frustrated you, he always looked you in the eye, even when he wasn't trying to pick a fight.

There is no choice but to wonder why the kid finally decided to stop. You try to make light of his actions, but he just shrugs it off with far more cheek than you like. Disciplining him now would only be counter-productive, so you let it go.

When you bring up his father, you can see the tears glistening in the corners of his eyes. It takes you by surprise and your throat tightens in sympathy. For a moment, you wonder how much he remembers of his father. It had been almost eighteen years since the kid last remembered seeing his father. Even so, the similarities between the two have always been remarkable. You should have recognized him as his father's son the moment you first laid eyes on him. You're ashamed that it took the kid all but telling you his father's identity before you realized it. You're even more ashamed that you never told him anything about his father.

Although you couldn't be sure, you think it could have mended the rift if you had told him after he returned from Iwa. You had wanted to mend your relationship with him. Instead, you decided to wait until he healed and then you waited too long.

You're not surprised when he rebuffs your attempt to share, but you hope it is pride that is making him uncooperative, but before you can do more than introduce the story you want to tell him, he finishes the task you set him and leaves. Perhaps his good will was too much to hope for.

The next time you see him, you can do nothing more than give him orders. The entire time, he is more focused on his fellow ninja than he is on you, but you didn't expect anything else. He leaves and you know that something has changed. You have yet to know whether the change is good or bad, but you let yourself hope its good. The kid hasn't tried to attack you yet and best of all, he understands the position you're in. That's far more than you can rightly expect from him.