Summary: Eyes glistened with a golden hinge, blood dripping out of her nose. She would save them, even if it killed her. Slight SI. Third War Era. OC

….

Chapter 9: Memoriam

"Never forget what you are, for surely the world will not. Make it your strength. Then it can never be your weakness. Armour yourself in it, and it will never be used to hurt you." ~George R. R. Martin, A Game of Thrones

….

Mitsuko hadn't been much of a dreamer in her youth. It was hard to dream when your childhood was spent fighting in a war. So when she did dream, her brain always showed her the most impossible things. And that was coming from a ninja. She ran her fingers through her lose hair thinking.

She had been chasing a solid white serpent through the thick underbrush only to come upon a strange clearing. The whole area look as if it had been burned severely. Grass crunched under her feet as she walked, after what felt like an eternity a small house came into view. Suddenly the sky roared with thunder, an ominous glow crackling behind the forming rain cloud.

Hurriedly she ran up the creaking steps to the abandoned home. Shutting the door behind her she was amazed by the prospects of the house. The outside looked to be falling apart, but inside the home had a certain put together character.

The konouchi explored cautiously, what was this place. She rounded the corner to what could only be the kitchen and came face to face with an older woman. Civilian, she deduced from the state of her clothes. "I'm so sorry.." However her excuse was waved off, the woman handed her glass of tea.

"Sah, I've been waiting for yah." A sense of wrongness passed over the blonde woman, but also a feeling of ease followed. It was rather contradictory feeling if you asked the blonde konouchi. She didn't like it.

The woman made a motion for her to sit. "I'm dreaming." Sudden realization dawned on her, the figment of her supposed imagination nodded its head.

"Somethin' like that." She muttered taking a sip of the tea, regarding the girl with a slight ere.

The blonde couldn't help but follow the other woman's motions. "You're in a bit of a situation Namikaze-san." Sharp gray eyes met golden and blue orbs, her words cut through the moment.

"What do you mean?" For someone who was apparently have a conversation with her subconscious she was rather calm.

"What do you remember?" Of course it wouldn't actually be any help to her. Mitsuko's memories were a bit hazy.

"It's a bit of a blur." Her apparent subconscious sighed shaking her head while doing so.

"Figures. How'd you get here?" She frowned at the questions, hadn't the other woman been expecting her?

"Knew you'd come at some point." Her frown only deepened, how did she do that?

"I was following a pure white serpent." It was the other woman's turn to frown.

"That bastard." She hissed, her knuckles turned white from the force her fist were clenched. The Anbu captain regarded the seemingly civilian woman curiously. Perhaps this wasn't her subconscious. And if that wasn't the case than who was she talking to?

"Miss?" Her tone questioning. The woman gave her a sad look, the blonde wasn't going to like what happened next.

"So here's the deal, once upon a time you and I were the same person. However I died, and came back as you. You know this, knew you used to be someone else." Mitsuko nodded her head, she always knew she was someone else. But it hadn't mattered to her because this was her life now and she had people to protect. Cue the nodding of head from 'herself'.

"Yes, that's why you forgot me and became a new person. I wanted to be forgotten too, but I stayed here lock up in this place. Waiting for you to set me free." Freedom, the word tasted almost bitter to the dead woman.

"Set you free?" The woman nodded her head at the question. But she didn't answer the question Mitsuko had asked.

"Yep, you see we've been captured by the Snake Sannin and he'll probably try to place a seal on us. But I'm going to take control for a bit, it'll be fun." Mitsuko didn't look too reassured by that. The blonde didn't much care for the idea of not being in control. Besides there was something in the other woman's tone that made her feel restless.

"Why do you say that?" She demanded standing suddenly from the chair knocking it over in the process and slamming her hands down on the table.

"The serpent you were chasing is a piece of his soul trying to latch on. Unfortunately for him you have me. Although what I have in mind will probably kill me, him too if I'm lucky." The woman was rambling, her arms crossed over her chest a contemplative look over her face. Mitsuko was stunned into silence, she watched as the woman thought to herself.

"What are you going to do?" The woman smirked then, Mitsuko knew that look.

"Something crazy." Mitsuko then found herself alone in the room. She rushed out of the kitchen, through the living room and too the front door only to find herself locked in.

"Fuck."

….

She groaned, their eyes snapped opened. Just as she suspected, they were trapped in a fucking underground lair. Great. There was a sensation on the back of her neck that vaguely reminded her of being burned. The cold air that touched her bare shoulders made her aware of one thing though. Mitsuko would be pissed when she got control back. Those bastard had cut their hair.

"Nice to see you again Namikaze-san." She raised her brown at the unfamiliar brown haired woman. AH! That's right the imposter who poisoned them. That woman got a very nasty look from the woman. Mitsuko would thank her later. For good measure she also spat at the woman. Hey, the blonde girl was the polite one of them.

She remained silent though, even as the brunette hit her across the face. That would leave a mark. Another problem for the former mentioned blonde. "Our patient is awake Lord Oorochimaru." The imposter spoke as she walked away from the supposed Namikaze woman.

The woman took that moment to make another assessment. Well this was terribly uninteresting. How typical. Of course she would decide to steal the show and it was going to be so boring for her. Muscle memory was a wonderful thing, plus she had unlimited access to Mitsuko's memories. At that moment he approached interrupting her internal musings.

"It's been a long time Namikaze-san." He forced her face up to look him in the eye. She didn't even blink, or deem him worthy enough to speak. Instead she began to plan. Half listening as he began to droll about his plan, how since she was a little girl he knew she'd be something special. So imagine how he felt when he heard of what she was. That caught her interest, how had he known? No one but the Namikaze boy, those three ame nin, and the toad sage knew.

"Pray tell how you found out." Mitsuko never even questioned how word had gotten out when she killed Kaoru's father. But she wasn't near as farsighted as her emotional stunted counterpart. Her job prior to death would have never allowed it.

"So she speaks, tell me Mitsuko-chan how does it feel?" She rolled their eyes at him.

"Anyone ever tell you have bad breath." Man she was on a roll. The snake summoner snarled at her.

The dark haired sannin narrowed his eyes at her. "You are not Mitsuko." A huge grin broke across their face. Finally they were on the same playing field.

"No I am not." He recalled a little at her dark tone. Her killing intent was quite potent.

However he was a man of science, and this was very intriguing. It would actually explain why his curse seal wasn't doing anything. The woman was actually ignoring it, like it didn't bother her in the slightest. "Who are you?" Her grin widened, this was going to be fun.

"No one." Thank you Odysseus. While he had been distracted with his question and her vague answer. The legendary sannin failed to notice she had slipped her binds. She slammed her head forward hitting him square in the noes. Her eyes gleamed with pride as the blood trickled out of his broken nostril.

She fingered their short hair, gave him a distasteful look. "I'm pretty sure cutting Mitsuko's pretty blonde hair wasn't necessary." How had he let this oddity distract him? The woman was an interesting concept. He jumped into a defensive position, he wasn't going to let her get away.

She watched carelessly as he made move to get his sword. But the sannin wouldn't be fast enough to beat her. After all she had time on her side. A burning sensation tingled around her eyes, she could feel the hairs on her arm standing up. The air whirled around them, this was going to be fun. Because she didn't have to worry about compromising her chakra system. Eyes glistened with a golden hinge, blood dripping out of her nose. She would save them, even if it killed her. And it was going to. This woman intended to kill them both.

Oorochimaru watched in utter amazement as the woman took a new form. The light engulfed her body all he could make out was the silhouette of the female. It was an alluring sight. One he couldn't fully appreciate. Because in that moment he knew she was going to kill them both. In a flash she was in front of him, her arm outstretched hand tightened around his neck. "You're coming with me."

She did the one thing Mitsuko would never be able to do, so she'd let the girl remember it. The sannin stood across from her. They were standing in a field, surrounded by tall golden grass. He then saw her for who she really was. No she was most certainly not Namikaze Mitsuko.

The woman was taller than the blonde konouchi by several inches. Her hair was a murky brown that had a reddish hue to it when the sun hit it in the right angle. But it were her eyes that spoke to him the most. Cold unfeeling eyes, eyes that had seen the harsh reality of living. He was curios though. "What is this place?" She shook her head an amused look in her eye.

"I'm not one to kiss in tail." She was standing next to him then, she laid a soft peck to his cheek. His whole body then felt as if it had been set a flame.

"What have you done to me!" He yelled, outrage clear in his tone. She walked around him, like a predator circling her prey.

"I thought since it was so useless on me you'd want it back. Although I might have spread it up a bit." She bit her lip trying not to snicker. It was his fault after all, she had been listening while he gloated over his plane. Briefly she was reminded of something she'd once read while still alive. The field around them started to turn dark.

The edges of the clearing began crumbling. She gave the sannin one last look. "Enjoy your immortality, Oorochimaru-sama." A reality encased by darkness, although it would still kill him. She had never been honest. Maybe now she could be truly dead.

She appeared back in the kitchen, the blonde girl exactly where she had left her. "I've taken care of the snake for you. You're gonna have to escape on your own though." A smug look crossed her face. Mitsuko frowned. The other woman wondered if that was a frequent look for the blonde. Because it hadn't suited her.

"What did you do?" The woman placed a hand on the smaller girl's shoulder.

"You'll know soon enough. It was nice finally meeting you." Mitsuko vanished from the kitchen. A small sigh escaped her lips, as she finally let out the cough she had been holding back. How interesting. Blood. Finally, she was at peace.

….

Mitsuko barely noticed the feeling of someone scooping her up in their arms. She didn't noticed the familiar smell of petrichor, or the feeling of being carried over tree tops. The only thing she felt was a sense was safety.

Kakashi held her close to his chest as they jumped across the branches. The other man kept a steady pace, she was in critical condition he was her medic after all. No one was supposed to hurt his tachio. Obito brought up the rear of the party watching their backs. "Rin is going to be so pissed." Tenzo nodded his head, because he wasn't happy about her state either.

The tracker among the search party kept quiet. When they found her she was collapsed against a large rock. She had blood dripping out of her nose, and mouth. Upon further examination she had sever charkra exhaustion and what appeared to be a successful attempt to remove some form of curse mark. Tenzo healed her to the best of his abilities but she needed a doctor. More importantly she needed the medical mastermind that was Lady Tsunade.

"Where getting close." Obito informed them both, then nodded his head at his teammate. The anbu captain carefully maneuvered one hand from holding the dying woman to his weapon pouch. His fingers curled around the handle of the special three pronged kunai. He surged his chakra into the seal on the handle. One last nod to the other two men before he was being pulled through the Flying Thunder God seal from jumping treetops to standing in the white walled halls of the emergency ward.

A nurse pulled a stretcher up to him, he placed the woman carefully on it and watched as they rolled her away. Helpless, unable to do anything to help her now.

…

"Oh your back?" Auburn haired woman commented idly. She wasn't stupid, she knew her actions would take some toll on the blonde woman across from her.

"I think I'm dying." The blonde muttered quietly. She shook her head.

"Nah, you'll be fine. I might have over did it a bit." She dismissed the younger girl concerns with a casual wave of her hand.

"What you did?" The woman rolled her eyes.

"Ain't nothing you need to worry 'bout. He's gone, and can never come back. I might have manipulated his reality a little." And smothered him in darkness, then burned the reality. But who was keeping track.

"Why?" She knew how the younger girl thought so she wasn't shocked by the question.

"Cause he deserved it. You don't know everything he told me, and you never will. I ain't got much time left." Mitsuko frowned, were the edges of the kitchen turning white?

"Yep. You'll be going soon for sure. We'll never see each other again." The auburn haired woman was right, she was still dead and wanted to return to the quiet. Mitsuko frowned at the thought, a shame because she rather liked this woman. She wasn't comfortable with the concept that they were the same person.

"What's your name?" The auburn haired woman actually looked surprised. But found herself smiling.

"Katsumi." Victoria, she thought to herself. But she gave the blonde a name with similar meaning. It didn't matter now. Mitsuko nodded her head a similar smile on her own face.

"It was a pleasure Katsumi-chan." The kitchen was soon empty, stillness overcame the area as peace settled in.

…

She grasped for air upon waking up. Her mouth felt dry, a nurse handed her a cup of water. "Everyone will be excited to hear you've woken up Namikaze-san." The nurse received a rather dry look.

"How long?" How long had she been under this time around?

"Only a few hours miss. Your recovery is going better than expected." She nodded her head.

"Thank you." The nurse smiled at the woman before writing something down in the chart and excusing herself. At least it wasn't long, or else she'd never hear the end of it. She sighed, how was she supposed to explain this?

Mitsuko leaned back into her pillow, wincing slightly in pain. Her escape fuzzy, what had she done? She was saved from the wondering by the door almost flying off the hinges as her sister-in-law came through the entrance. Soon after she engulfed in a careful hug, for both their sakes she ignored the tears wetting the fabric of her hospital gown. Just like Kushina would ignore her own pooling in her eyes.

"You had us all so worried." The Uzumaki woman cooed. She however couldn't find herself to respond. For the first time in her whole entire life Mitsuko felt like something was missing. That was then when she realized what Katsumi meant. It felt as if her heart had been ripped apart, a piece of her soul was gone. Of course they would never know the eternal battle she now faced. This would be the longest recovery yet.

Mitsuko would come to hate the things she'd remember about her time as prisoner of the snake sannin. But she would never forget who she was. Of what was done so she could move forward

Kakashi became her anchor. Physically and emotionally. She needed his physical support until she could walk on her own again, apparently she'd broken that same leg in four places during her escape. Mitsuko still couldn't recall the details from it. But she also needed him to keep her spiritually grounded, she didn't tell him the full details of what they'd done to the sannin she couldn't stomach the details on a good day but she told him what she could and that had been fine with him. He was apparently content to be her support.

Mitsuko was beginning to realize that her feelings for him went way past the crush faze. She might just love the last Hatake clan member. That thought made her stomach flutter with apprehension. The blonde hadn't loved someone like that in a long time. To be honest she didn't know if she'd ever felt love like that so strong for one person.

They still had a lot to learn about one another. But if anyone asked about those two, the Uchiha who they both cared for would get this stupid grin on his face and sputter some nonsense about how he always knew they'd end up together. And then follow up with some sarcastic remark about both of their stunted emotions. He usually ended getting hit, but didn't care the look on either of their faces was always great. Today was no different.

"Obito I'm so kicking your ass the next time we spar." Mitsuko hissed at him from her position on the couch. Her leg propped up on a several pillows. This was probably where'd she'd be for the next few hours. He stuck his tongue out at her, because he knew it too.

Obito had agreed to check in on her while Kakashi was on a mission. Obvious to her now it was just so he could pick on her. She pouted at him. The Uchiha smirked. "No doubt at all sempai." He gave her a teasing smile, Mitsuko hurled a book at his head. Her pout deepened as he effortlessly caught the book.

"Better luck next time." He handed the book back to her, she did give him a grateful look for that.

"I got to go check in at the Station, Rin said she'd bringing lunch by. Her shift ends early today." He was grinning with his statement and she briefly wondered what was going on.

"Something you want to share with the class?" He shook his head offered a toothy grin and vanished in a gust of leaves. Damn Uchiha.

Mitsuko leaned back into the pillow he'd gotten for her. Might as well take a nap.

…

She needed a good laugh, however when she asked her former student why his little brother was such a brooding little brat the look she received kind of topped the whole thing off. Itachi had taken the special jonin slot instead of anbu, Mitsuko was proud of him. That meant he spent more time out of the village though. The woman was begging to miss her little protégée. Sure the other two still came around, but Itachi would always hold a certain place in her heart.

He was the reason she became a jonin sensei. So these moments when she got to see her former student always made her happy. She considered him family, and the little weasel knew it too.

"Sensei, I don't think you want me to mention Naruto-kun's quirks." She smirked at him, because she did not need him to tell her that her nephew was sometimes a hyperactive brat.

"Nah, I just thought it was funny. Iruka-sensei was telling me all about the argument when I came to pick Naruto up the other day. Thankfully it's the last week that poor man will have to put up with those two." Itachi nodded his head then took a bite out of the dango she had bought for them.

"I still think they'll end up together." He told her after swallowing the dumpling. Mitsuko had a hard time keeping her expression natural. She didn't want him to know just yet.

"My brother has final say, but I'm pretty sure the academy instructor paired them and a girl together for a team build." Itachi nodded his head at that string of information.

"Who do you suppose the other genin teams will be made off?" He wondered outload. Mitsuko had a thoughtful expression on her face, it wouldn't do any harm to tell him her suspicions of it.

"Eh, I think it's pretty obvious how they're going to be grouped." He nodded his head, because she was right. Itachi almost sighed he should have known sensei wouldn't give him a straight answer.

"How is Shisui-kun?" Mitsuko hadn't seen the boy in a long time. He was someone who ran frequent missions with her former genin but she very rarely saw him.

"He's putting more hours in with the Police force. I think he's trying to beat Obito-san's scores." Mitsuko snorted, that wasn't going to happen.

"Good luck to him them. Anyway, the next time you see your team mates tell them their sensei wants to see them from time to time." Itachi smirked at her tone nodded his head as she stood up. Her break was over, she'd be heading back to the Hokage tower to start on another pile of never ending paperwork. Someone had to take Bear-sama's spot.

"I'll let them know." She vanished in puff of glittering mist.

….

Mitsuko sat down on the couch in her brother's office, made a discreet gesture at the two anbu on guard to dismiss them before turning questioning eyes to the real copy of her brother. Minato liked to implore the help of shadow clones in his day to day Hokage work, so at any point during office hours you were more than likely going to come in to at least two Minato's doing various task. She prided herself on the ability to always tell which one was the real Minato. He looked up from his work once he felt her gaze.

"What is it?" Cue concerned older brother tone.

"Why had he deflected?" Minato sighed at her question. Mitsuko for the most part didn't question things often and when she did it was normally for a good reason.

The snake Sannin deflection from the village was one of those things that if you hadn't been directly involved in it you didn't know anything other than the fact he deflected. Mitsuko was among those who hadn't been involved, seeing that she was in a coma for it. But now she felt as if she deserved to know. Katsumi might have made sure to poke holes through the memory of her entrapment but there were somethings that still managed to slip through.

Minato dismissed his shadow clone and place seal down for extra privacy. "Your previous captain had something to do with it." She made a face, "Hawk-tachio?" Her brother nodded his head.

"What did Hawk-tachio have to do with it?" It seemed her once jonin sensei turned anbu captain had a bad habit for getting into things.

"As you are aware your squad had been investigating ROOT. Well while in the process of that Hawk discovered something just as sinister. The only reason Oorochimaru escaped was because he managed an almost fatal blow on your captain." Mitsuko frowned, Hawk had kept a lot from her she was beginning to discover.

"The burn on his neck." She muttered quietly. Mitsuko thought that had been the consequences of the raid on the ROOT lair. Her brother nodded his head at her quiet assumption.

"We believe it was his second attempt to place a curse mark on someone. Hawk found Oorochimaru's apprentice half dead." Anko, she thinks that was the girl's name. Mitsuko knew she was a member of T&I.

"But the seal wasn't complete resulting in the burn. His chakra system would have been compromised regardless. That's why he died during our ROOT raid." Minato nodded his head. Mitsuko leaned back in her chair. It all made sense now, Hawk had been an accomplished anbu captain and jonin. What killed him during the mission shouldn't have even bothered him.

"I know it's a lot to take in." Minato began to say, but something suddenly made perfect sense to her. Mistuko looked down into her hands. A train of thought taking off.

"Oorochimaru knew." Her voice was low. That traitor had known all along. Minato gave her a confused look. He wasn't about to pretend he knew the thought process of his little sister. She had a mind all to her own, one he wasn't ever going to try to decipher.

"Knew what Imouto?" She looked up at him, her eyes wide.

"That he's alive. I mean where else would he gotten DNA of the Shodai from?" She knew all about the experiments. She'd seen the results from them firsthand. Tenzo was one of her closest friends and most trusted anbu agents.

"Mitsuko.." She stood up, it looked like she had work to do. Because the harsh reminder that they still didn't know where Madara was or if he was still alive was slammed into her lap.

Minato was left alone in his office, he felt the presence of the two anbu agents as soon as his sister was gone. He was going to have to talk to her about just leaving like that at some point. He still didn't exactly know what she was thinking or planning to do. An unsupervised and highly volatile Mitsuko might not be a good combination. It looked like final decisions for genin teams was going to have to wait.

The Yondaime stood, he was going to track down the anbu commander. Because if she didn't want to be found he needed a head start to find her. He briefly wondered what exactly had gone on in her mind scape and why she reacted like she did. Another sigh left his lips, this was going to be a long day.

Of course he knew the answer to most of his mental musings. His sister had always been at least two steps ahead of everyone else. But if what she suggested was true, they were going to have bigger issues than one elderly Uchiha. Because if word actually got out that he was still out there, hell would break loose.

He shook his head, closed his eyes. Namikaze Minato, Konoha's Yellow Flash, the Yondaime Hokage. Reverted down to nothing more than a concerned older brother with a very acute sensor ability. Mitsuko would not be getting off that easily.

XOXOX

Hello everyone! How goes the day?

So I'm going to start things off by saying, I'm terribly sorry for how long this took. This story is getting harder and harder to write.. I won't complain however. Secondly I want to say thank you to everyone who has taken their time to write reviews.

Now I'm going to answer a few questions. The biggest being Oorochimaru's deflection.

I'm going to begin by saying this. This fanfiction is an Alternate Reality story, because it cannot be canon if there is a partial SI OC as the main character. Now, the deflection of the sannin is earlier and during the war because a) That is during the time when Mouse former Anbu squad is most prominent in their investigation. b) Nothing stays hidden when you're trying to uncover a conspiracy. c) From what I can tell Danzo worked with the Sannin to some extent and if it meant covering his own hide he'd throw the snake summoner under the bus with no hesitation. Hawk wouldn't have just stumbled upon the information if that was not the case.

Furthermore, sometimes things just happen for the sake of the flow of the story. I do however apologize if it seems confusing or not in line with was is canon but it's fanfiction for that reason. If I just wrote the story with just the addition of my OC what good would that do? Because this change with the addition of characters. Nothing can be exactly the same. Simply because of the butterfly effect.

Thank you so much for reading this story, I love to hear from you guys! I thank you for your questions and hope that the answer is satisfactory. I do apologize if I step on toes or seem a bit bitchy that is not and never will be my intentions. Thank you again!

Please review, and let me know what you think!

Sincerely, La'Rae

Music inspirations

Prologue Beauty & the Beast OST- HollowRiku(Piano Cover, youtuber)

Echo- Jason Walker

Dean's Family Dedications (Americana) Theme- Liam Seagrave(Piano Cover, youtuber)